- Round 2 -

Chapter 11: And so it all begins by SlaYo

Marjorie slowly recovered over the next few days, thanks to the good care of the innkeeper and his wife. ‘The green dragon’ had not been busy and no more than three merchants occupied the rooms. A few of the older hares from town had gathered around to play cards and talk about the situation on Diamondus. The wife of the innkeeper was sweeping the floor and Louie was helping her husband carry some kegs of Ale to the cellar. “One more and we’ll be done with these, thanks for your help.”
Louie didn’t reply, the work made a nice change from sitting around while waiting for the girl to recover. As the last keg was installed in the cellar, the men stopped and the innkeeper offered the vampire a smoke. “No thank you, I have been having a little trouble breathing lately.”
Upstairs, Majo had woken up after a good night’s rest finding a bowl of porridge waiting on her night stand. She was feeling rather well, but enjoyed the luxury of having food, water and a warm bed at absolutely no expense. The vampire covered all of her expenses and was there whenever she needed him to be. After eating a few spoons full of porridge she got up and rung the bell.
Louie showed up mere moments later, with a small, yellow flower in his hand. “Good morning, did you sleep well?” His face revealed little, no sign of any interest or empathy. He put the flower on the end of the bed and sat down next to it.
“I decided that I want to leave this room today and take a little walk. Would you like to accompany me?” Her voice lifted up his spirits and seemed to find its way into the thick exterior he had formed over the many years he was alone in that large house. He actually smiled on the inside.
“Yes, I think I would enjoy a change of scenery, even if only momentarily.”

"..Governor Pneumeth of the To'Adin province on Diamondus has advised its citizens to stay indoors during the evening, as the situation on Diamondus grows worse. Many people have lost their lives since the civil war started three months ago and there still seems to be..."
The newsreader held her hand against her earpiece; she looked at several people who were standing behind the cameras off-screen. "Oh..." She seemed at a loss for words and clumsily shuffled the paperwork in front of her. “Ladies and…”

"Turn up the volume Jake." A man in the back of the inn yelled. The innkeeper reached for the remote control under the bar, and was able to turn up the volume before the newsreader could continue. The attractive and slender young fox was still at a loss for words, but took a deep breath and continued the show. "My apologies for the interruption, we just received the news that the southern army has moved on to the city of Depada. General Necra has started an attack on the north, word has received us that this attack is fully supported by the government of the south, we now go live to our reporter in Nari, several miles to the west of Depada. Jonah, are you there?"

An elderly, white furred lynx appeared on the screen, the people in the bar were very silent, including Louie and Majo who, after their little venture outside, were now sitting in two small wooden chairs at a table in the back. Louie had ordered a glass of water, not to cause too much suspicion. He took advantage of the moment; all of the people in the bar were staring at the screen, so he quickly emptied his glass in the vase that stood in the middle of the table. The dry bundle of flowers in it looked like it could use it more than him. Majo whispered "I'm a little scared, what if it escalates into an all out interplanetary war."
She wanted to be comforted, but it fell on deaf ears. Louie just looked at the TV, it seemed that they were having some problems with the audio, which is understandable, this was live broadcasting from only a few miles from the warzone, the young reporter stood in front of a big building, he looked into the camera without any sign of fear on his face, the grip on his microphone was firm and steady, he was waiting for the audio problem to be fixed, while a few headlines were rolling through the bottom of the screen. " Situation on Diamondus has escalated, attack on Depada. Gary Parker running candidate for the governorship of Peddleburg. Earian Thunder wins the Carrotus Cup after a nerve-wrecking final against the Farodine Blizzards. "
An old and grumpy fox came back from the toilet.”Darn it, how long does it take those idiots to fix an audio problem? Change the channel." "Easy Ted, have a beer on me." The innkeeper yelled back at the grumpy man. He had a couple of relatives and close friends living in Nari. He accepted the foaming lager with a little, fake smile. Being grateful for the moral support shown and sat down in his seat. He was offered a cigarette by the woman sitting next to him and accepted it with a shivering hand. The innkeeper had a strict policy about people not being allowed to smoke in his bar, but when Ted looked at him he nodded in agreement, in situations like these, one should not be too strict.

"Thanks Jenny, I’m here." The young man said, the audio problem had been fixed.
"Hello Jonah, has the president of the Northern front given an official reaction yet?" Jonah shook his head. "No, the president is currently in a meeting with several ministers of his council, but the minister of the media has informed us that he will give a speech to the people of the north tonight.
He moved out of Depada as soon as the news reached him, word is that he has moved to Nincada, where the spaceport is located and he might leave for Carrotus later today."
"And king Jazz, has he given a reaction yet?"
"He has not, he will give his reaction soon however. We do not have a lot of information yet, it is told that there were a lot of northern troops stationed in Kathmana, which is the closest military base from here, the troops have been mobilized and will arrive here in a matter of hours. We will be leaving for Nincada soon; the station has called us back."
"Thank you Jonah.”

The people in the bar started talking, within a breath, the silence was broken, and everybody found someone to talk too.
Majo put her hand on Louie's, she shivered at the touch of the coldness of his skin, he enjoyed the warm flesh covering his hand, he could not hide that he was slightly worried, concerned for the wellbeing of the people on Diamondus. He looked at her, she was close to crying, everyone in the bar but he looked moved, sad and angry. "Calm down, let me get you another drink." He said in that same indifferent tone. He did an incredible good job at hiding his feelings was the first thing that came to Majo's mind.
Louie got up and walked to the bar, that damn government he had heard so much about could care less about the well-being of it's people. It had always been like this, the king had lost sight over the many who roamed his planet. He had given to much power to his cabinet, filled with people you couldn't trust. Tobias had warned him this would happen. His stomach was restless, a sign of his hunger. Louie quickly walked over to the bar. "I'd like a glass of the strongest ale you have... and a water please." He looked around, seeing if no one noticed him, the only two people looking at him were the little girl and Majo.
"Here you go buddy, it's on me. I can see that your girlfriend over there is in quite a shock." The friendly, old bartender said.
"Thanks sir, that is very generous of you." Louie said just as he felt a terrible sharp pain in his stomach. His body shook and his pupils slowly faded.
"Are you ok buddy?" Jake asked him worried.
"Yes, i have to go... to the toilet.
Jake pointed at a small door in the back, decorated with a flower and the word 'hares' in fancy letters underneath it.
Louie stumbled to the door, pushed it open with his shoulder and fell into the toilet.
It was a small but clean place, with three Shakelsbee urinoirs and three small fountains shaped like a turtle’s shell, for washing your paws.
He looked around, he had a highly evolved scent and could smell a prey from miles away, he noticed a very thin rat crawling in trough a hole in the far corner underneath one of the small fountains.
Louie got up and immediately fell on the floor again, he reached out his hand for the rat and tightly squeezed his paw around it, he could feel the rat's small rib cage cracking in his hand, put it to his mouth and let his life's juices flow down his throat. His pupils became clear again, and his canine teeth returned to their normal size.
He got up and threw the rats corpse out of the small window above the urinoir in the middle of the room, turned to his left, he washed the disgusting scent of the rats fur off of his hands and looked up. As he gazed into the mirror he saw nothing but the wall behind him and the blood red corners of his mouth. He leaned over the fountain for a moment and then decided it was time to return, he would be good to go for another three hours now. The meal was small, but sufficient for the time being