Welcome to WereWorld

Alex face-palmed in the background at Blue's painful enthusiasm and complete lack of caution.

"Very well" Tarantino said. "I'll expect your weres in the morning."

He then walked back into his house, and shut the door.

Ezekiel sighed, and shook his head.

"What new mess will happen tomorrow, I wonder?"

He walked towards his house, whistling a tune.

Roza looks at Blue. "Are you going to ask everyone we pass and we ave to be careful because we are so close to "Uncharted woods" as we call them." She smiles then looks at Blue.

Yi has absolutely nowhere else to go and nobody else to follow. She figures she should accept Blue's offer, even though she hardly understands what she meant.

"Uhmm... Alright. I'll join you." She smiles.

Blue frowned a bit at the other's comments, but smiled brilliantly at Yi's assent. "Wonderful! I've known of you for awhile. You'll be an excellent addition to the team."

She pulled a map out of her pocket and reviewed it. If anyone was to look over her shoulder they'd see an impenetrable mass of scribbles with no discernible legend. Presumably it was crackable, but it would take time and a great deal of skill. "Okay. We need to get to the Carter house. And preferably stop somewhere we can disguise ourselves. I have stuff for me and Roza in a cache, and Yi and Zaizi can just wear whatever, but Alex...I guess I can assume you have disguise stuff. Do you have appropriate stuff for visiting with a young vampire?"

--

Chrysalis nodded "Indeed! It is one of the grandest parts of flying." After a few hours of flying they landed in front of grandiose manor painted in brick red and forest green. It was kind of an eye sore.

She gave Virgil a hand off the eagle, and dismissed him after he shifted back into his human form. Pan hopped off and shifted back following them silently as Chrysalis dragged him through the house. "Now, Virgil if you want anything don't hesitate to inform the servants! They're all very well trained. Gracious, where are my manners. Are you hungry?"

Ezekiel entered his household, sighing loudly.

Two were servants walked up to him. One greeted him, and the other passed him blood tea.

"I love this stuff. Thanks."

He grabbed the cup, and sipped loudly as he walked through the foyer.

"Son, you know you do not need to thank the slaves," said Tobias, hurriedly.

"But..."

Tobias shook his head and whispered to Ezekiel, drawing in closely.

"They get used to it, and then what happens? They defy a vampire guest."

"Fine," Ezekiel said, quietly. "Sorry, father."

Tobias nodded, and continued walking towards the entrance, grabbing a cowl.

Ezekiel continued sipping his tea as he walked up the stairs towards his room.

Alex shrugged and replied. "Honestly I have changes of clothes at my safehouse, which isn't very close to here really. I could go and change...but I really this is the best clothes I have for meeting other vampires and not driving a stake in said vampires' hearts...."

Virgil nods, "Thank you, I am a bit peckish, but I can hold off until the evening meal. I am more interested in seeing what you have done so far, and how I can be of assistance."

Blue nodded. "Right then. Follow me to my stockpile if you will." She leads them for a few miles to a well-disguised lean-to with a tightly sealed box. Opening it up she hands a dress to Roza, and takes the rest of the contents off with her to a small brook nearby.

---

Chrysalis shrugged. "Alright." Walking down a flight of stairs she nods to the massive werebull guarding the door. He opens the massive steal barrier and the three of them walk through to a large, well lit, and state of the art lab.

"I must say I've been at a bit of a boring point in my research, and I mostly went to visit your mother for an excuse to get out of the lab. You know how it is I'm sure. Some experiments just need time, and tapping the glass does not help matters."

They stop in front of several large glass cylincers, which look similar to the clone tanks in the first Pokemon movie. Most of them contain weres floating in the liquid, but the one they stop in front of contains a dark-skinned weregirl with sandy colored hair. Her brown-furred tail and ears could belong to either a cat or dog, but most eye-catching are the pair of bat wings growing awkwardly out of her forearms. An undeterminable expression flits across Pan's face when she sees the experimental subject.

Chrysalis spoke, "This strain of experiments lies in creating chimeric weres, that can ideally breed and pass on the traits. The main problem, is after working on them there transformative abilities seem to be impaired. That paired with the trickiness of getting a were to accept foreign cells in the first place, as well as that after each treatment the grafts require time to set...makes these unusually tricky. As you can see my preference is attempts to make them more useful, such as endowing otherwise land bound subjects with the power of flight.

Virgil looks at the experiments, clearly impressed, "That does sound problematic. You could try placing stem cells next to one type of were, then have them grown on the subject while it's in it's mothers womb, integrating them at birth. Or perhaps virally alter an adults genetic structure prior to breeding... This is definitely worth thought. Inducing mutation in a species will always be at the forefront of scientific research."

Roza follows blue and looks at the dress. She nods and follows Blue. She Changes into the dress. She ties her hair up in a neat low bun and looks over at Blue. "Need some help?"

Alex stood off in the distance, giving the duo space as well as turning his back to them while he waited. He idly took a sip from his canteen as he waited.

Tarantino walked back into his living room and sat back down in his armchair. At last, he had a chance to go back to what he loved. At last.....

.....and then he fell asleep.

Yi walks along with the group calmly, constantly trying to neaten herself up. As they arrive to the stockpile, she stands idly, scratching her ears.

OOC: WELP. TIME FOR ME TO SUCK IT UP AND JUMP ON INTO THIS MESS. I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY WTF-ERY THAT FOLLOWS]]

Laurent Frazier sat at his desk, playing with the edge of his empty tea cup as he stared holes into his stack of unfinished writings. Good lord was he in a slump. The masses expected to be entertained. They expected drama, romance...THE STRUGGLES OF A WERE IN LOVE UNDER THEIR CRUEL MASTERS. And here, all the vampire had managed to write was a simple scenery description and a few pointless drabbles about a weremouse preparing her master's dinner. Was he losing his touch?

He'd released his tea cup to stroke the end of one of his horns as he thought, Fae his werefox taking that moment to refill it.

"Ah, thank you Fae."

"It's no problem Master Laurent." She bowed and backed up, tail giving a happy swish as she set down the kettle and went to straightening up some of his papers for him. "Master...may I give an opinion?"

"But of course Fae. Any suggestion right now is perfect to relieve me of this block." He leaned back in his chair, releasing his horn to smile to his little were.

"I...well I'm really fond of your weremouse character. She's super sweet...but gosh she seems awfully timid and her master seems awfully horrid. Are you really gonna pair em up? "

"That was the plan, yes. You don't like it?" One hesitant shaking of Fae's head was enough for him. He sighed and crossed out a few lines. "I suppose I wasn't going anywhere with it anyways. And it's been overdone. "

"What if you pair him with someone else?" Fae tried to be helpful, not wanting to see her master so deflated. Her suggestion seemed to do the trick, a flicker of realization across his face.

"That's it, Fae! I'll create a new love intere--OH! Oh what if he was another vampire she fell for. She could run away-- a were on the run that's always fun to write about!" The man stood up and started pacing now. "Fae, take this down quick!" The little were rushed over to the papers, ready to take notes.

"She meets another vampire...a visitor of her masters. They hit it off and...and her master does something cruel. Something that just pushes her over the edge! She goes into disguise and--WAIT!" He spun on his heels. "She disguises herself as a VAMPIRE! Now that hasn't been done in writing before! Imagine the twist! The lover could fall in love with what he thinks is a vampire only to find out--YES it's PERFECT!" He suddenly rushed over to nab his coat and dress more formal. Simple clothes were only good for staying in the study. If he was to go out he'd have to be presentable!

"Fae, your friend...Blue was her name? That strange were that does missions for whatever master of hers...I recall she dressed as a vampire once, yes?" He started buttoning the coat, Fae rushing over to help straighten it out. "Call over Lori. We're going to go find her. I need to ask how she does it...how she feels about parading about as a vampire. Imagine the writing GOLD-- Where is she usually?"

The little werefox backed off. "I don't know, sir. She tends to simply come around when I least expect it."

"Well then...I suppose I'll have to put all my appointments on hold. They'll all understand. We need to find that were and ask her about her experiences! This will be a hit, I know it!"

As Laurent rushed to gather some paper and pens, Fae dashed off to fetch Lori. Together the three of them set outside the estate, keeping their eyes open for the mischievous werecat.

Blue has a bottle of dark brown roam and is stripped down and standing knee deep in the water. Her ears are covered in clear cling-wrap and her hands are gloved. They twitch creating a cascade of crinkles at Roza's entrance. "Not yet dear! This is a delicate operation!" she paused. "Though I suppose I could use your company while the dye sets. It gets sorta dull."

---

Chrysalis laughed, "Darling, while stem cells are a lovely thought they're counterproductive to my purposes. And long-lived though I may be, I do have a limited amount of patience. I'd rather not have to wait half the life cycle of these mongrels to see my results.

Clearly bored, Zaizi looked over at Yi.

"So," she asked, "I've only ever seen one werebear before. Have you ever seen a werehyena?"

She idly began ratting around in her own pockets and beltpouches for some source of entertainment.

Alec mildly coughed in the distance: Being the only male in this group had its serious drawbacks...

Blue jumped out from behind Alex her hair now dyed a rich brown, and shifted so that her ears simply appeared to be a pointed vampires and with no stripes and tail. She was also dressed in a fluffy rose colored dress with black boots.

"Boo!" She giggled. "I look like a proper vampire lady now don't I? ...I'm afraid we may need another detour though. I just got the weirdest feeling that someone's looking for me."

Tarantino woke up the next day. He immediately went back to reading, forgoing his usual morning routine.

After turning several pages, he angrily slammed the book shut and got up. He just couldn't wait any longer. He walked out of the house and walked to the spot where he and Ezekiel had fought the weres yesterday. Their corpses were still there; the slaves must have forgotten to do it or something. He would have to punish them later.

He looked down. There were still footprints in the ground. Maybe if he followed them.....

A tall, black-clad vampire walked up to Chrysalis's house, and knocked upon the door, accompanied by a small, hunched-over humanoid.

One of Chrysalis' ears twitched as she registered the sound. "Pan, check the door will you? I suspect we have a lovely surprise waiting for us."

The werelizard rolled her brown eyes before slipping off to the door. He is greeted by a fairly short girl with a black lizard tail and shoulder length brown hair. Her human-shaped ears are adorned with piercings and she flicks out a forked tongue. "What do you want."

"Kristopher, Lord of Falkenrath Estate." the vampire responded in deep, measured tones. "I have heard your mistress is conducting some experiments, and I would wish to inquire into a partnership. I have an academic interest in the nature of those experiments.". The small humanoid looked up at the girl. "Mathter seekth ekthperimentation."

Virgil hardly seems surprised at Chrysalis' statement, nodding in agreement. After a moments thought, he speaks up, "Starfish."

Roza walks out in a a long midnight black dress with her hair tied up high in a simple bun braid. She has on slight heeled open toed black sandal shoes. She looks away as she then stands next to Blue. She has a purple flower holding the braid in place. "You remind me of other high class vampires just not as lively." She smiles and places a white flower behind Blue's ear.

Blue smiled at Roza. "Thank you : D The flower is lovely, and you look wonderful!" Smiling she walked out to meet the others. "Alright, if we continue along this path we should find our way there in no time! Fair warning though my friend is a bit strange!"

---

Pan shrugged rolling her eyes at the interloper. "Follow me." She led him down to the lab where Chrysalis awaited.

---

Chrysalis blinked. "Excuse me?" "...I have tried grafting organisms with more effective growth rates on, but they never seem to take. It seems like they must have something resembling a spinal cord to be effective. Otherwise they simply get rejected by the host.

At this point Pan came down leading Kristopher. Chrysalis smiled pointily "Aaah. Kristopher was it? It is so good of you to come. What is the nature of what you seek?"

Kristopher nodded deferentially towards Chrysalis. "I would wish to humbly request a temporary partnership in the natural sciences." He looked around the laboratory. "I believe there is mutual benefit to be gained from a partnership. As a token of good faith, I give you this." The stunted homunculus stepped forward, clearly nervous. "This is the result of my latest experiment. He is a genetically engineered construct incubated and grown in a vat." A slight twinge of pride appeared on Kristopher's face. This wasn't a mere trifle - creating organisms from nothing was his star accomplishment - at least, thus far.

"Are you getting anything yeeeet, Fae?" The werefox shook her head before sniffing at the air again.

"I never find Blue. She usually finds me, Master. This might take some time."

Laurent simply huffed at that, falling behind to walk beside Lori while Fae continued to attempt catching a scent. They'd been walking for some time now, steadily heading deeper and deeper into the woods with no sign of were or vampire. The man was anxious to get things rolling with his book while his muse was still active and inspiration still strong.

"You would think we would've found something in these woods by now. They're woods! Aren't things always crawling around in here?" He glanced to Lori for some sort of answer. She was his bodyguard so surely she would know if they passed anything even if she didn't possess heightened smell like Fae.

"We have passed small animals, sir. But nothing noteworthy or life threatening."

Laurent groaned at that and decided to amuse himself with jotting down notes instead while they walked. Lori simply arched a brow at him.

"You seem rather disappointed by that, sir."

"Well at least if something chased us it would give me something exciting to write about later. Or at least make an interesting news heading. Don't you think?"

The were simply threw him a slightly amused stare before resuming her watch over the three of them. Laurent returned to jotting notes about the woods. It could make for setting reference later. He really never walked this far, nor did he really want to simply to write scenery. Might as well take advantage of the moment.

Virgil glances at the homonculus, impressed, but concealing it. "Well, Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say. If the solution was simple, you wouldn't have requested my aid." Approaching Kristopher, he extends his hand in greeting, "My name is Virgil, nice to meet you."

Chrysalis' mouth twisted. "I...see. I suppose I'll accept your aid. You'll probably be working closely with Virgil here so it is best to get yourself aquainted." She turned towards the homunculus. "As for you, I suppose we'll start you off in the kitchens and see what you can do from there."


---

Ears perking up, Blue detected Laurent and company. Smiling broadly she ran in front of them and skidded to a stop. "Greetings Laurent, Fae, and...other girl whose name I cannot immediately recall! What business do you have in these woods?"

Kristoph nodded to Chrysalis, putting his hand on the hunched shoulder of the homunculus. "Don't worry. He will be upgraded to the labs in no time." A bit of reproach entered his tone. "I did go through many rough drafts before creating him, you know. He's wasted in the kitchens. But no matter." He gave a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Do whatever Chrysalis tells you, unless, of course, that involves bodily harm to me or damage to my experiments or estate."

The homunculus bowed. "Yeth, marthter." And with that, he hobbled off to the kitchens.

Kristoph then turned to the younger man. "Pleased to meet you. I am Kristopher Falkenrath. Kristoph to those who know me well, which is woefully few." He smirked a bit. "No doubt Chrysalis is correct, and we'll be working closely, Virgil. Anyway, regardless, what are your research topics? We have much to discuss..."

Virgil cringes slightly at the question, "My research isn't for public knowledge. Very hush hush, you see." knowing full well this excuse will not hold anyone with a shred of curiosity, he continues, "I was commissioned by a prominent family who wishes to remain secretive of their identity, reasons, and motives. So, yeah... I can't talk about it. Had to jump through hoops to get approval to aid Ms. Chrysalis here."

Kristopher smiled. "Oh, well. A shame. How will we work together, however, if we don't know what we're doing? It seems rather pointless." He shrugged. "Well, other families are other families. I prefer not to indulge myself with that political business." The well-dressed vampire smiled, his red eyes flashing.

"Lori," the owl were answered off handedly as she eyed the newcomer. She was only vaguely acquainted with Blue. Enough to know she was...welcomed on the Frazier property. Which was well for her since it seemed the little sneak kept worming her way in at random times and she really had better things to do then hunt down stray cats. Fae had a much warmer welcome as she bounded past the other two and closed the distance between them. "Blue! There you are! We were looking all over for y-"

Snap. Laurent had shut his book and somehow wound up back next to Fae, cutting in with his earlier enthusiasm.

"I need you to be my muse! Let me interview you, tell me everything you know about-- ah where in the world are your ears? How do you--? Sorry I just need this for my new story you see! Weres in disguise and all that- perfect writing material you know how it is and you're just so wonderful at i--honestly dear if not for Fae I wouldn't even KNOW!" Personal space? Forget that. Laurent was circling around Blue trying to take in every detail and attempting to poke at her here and there. The man was just enthralled with this, oblivious to any other company watching his antics.

Lori merely rolled her eyes at the display and took up glaring daggers at the others she didn't recognize. Fae on the other hand was more friendly. "Ah...sorry about this. He gets like that a lot."

Blue smiled at Laurent. "Oh, you know. When weres want to hide our ears we can rip them off and eat them only to morph them back when the situation is safe. I shall answer whatever question you ask." She stuck her tongue out at Lori.

Virgil smirks a bit, amused by this statement. As he does when in such a state of mind, habitually, he rubs his middle finger against his thumb in a circular motion. "Sometimes the best experiments are done while not knowing what one is doing. Combine two chemicals you don't know what they are, they react in a way you didn't know was possible. Combine two chemicals you are familiar with, and they will behave how you expect. Combine a new element with one you know well, and your entire world might be shattered."

He stops suddenly, turning to Chrysalis, "So what if we find a True Were, and see what's different between them and the lot you've been dealing with?"