Of Rats and Kings [Robert]

Xeral paused, his keen sense of hearing picking up on the sound of empty bottles, cans, and other junk being moved around. A smile slowly formed on his face. It appeared that his desire to find another being would not go unfulfilled. He slowly made his way over to the unit that the noise was coming from. When he arrived, he found the large hanger doors to be closed tightly. Whoever this was, they had obviously gone in another way. If he wanted to, he could rip the large metal doors right off their hinges, but he had to keep a low profile. So, he began to circle the building, looking for an entry point. Once he found the entrance, he made his way inside. As he walked, he made sure to make his footsteps a little bit louder than usual. The vampire did not want to spook whoever this being was.

As he walked, he looked over the boxes and items, casually examining them. He didn't want to seem like he was specifically after whoever it was that was in here. His eyes scanned over the unorganized piles of unwanted human items. It was a shame to have so many things go to waist, but so was the course of life. One never knew when an event may arise that would make you leave everything. His mind flashed back to what had happened in Pompeii. What a disaster that had been. Reguardless of how powerful each race was, mother nature outshone them all.

Xeral held his hands up, a look of shock coming over his face. This human was quick, he would give him that. The vampire never faltered as Robert made his remarks. If he could help it, he wanted to prevent any confrontation that would make him bleed on his suit. Judging by his tone, Xeral guessed he was frustrated at finding nothing of use. The man's reaction also showed that he had quite the temper. I had better stay on his good side, Xeral thought to himself.

"O-oh, I am so sorry! I did not mean to do that. I didn't even know anyone else was in here." Xeral took a few steps back before pausing. He slowly gestured with one hand at a pile just to his right. "I mean you no harm. I-if you want, there are some canned goods in the pile right here." He looked to Robert with a worried expression.  "I was going to save them for when I came back around, but you can have them, considering that it looks like you haven't found anything worthwhile. " He smiled sheepishly, secretly hoping that would be enough to satisfy the armed human and possibly help the man to relax enough to lower the gun. The vampire had easily spotted the food in the dark with his night vision. He had noted the cans before as a possible means to bribe any scavenger that he may confront. Food was a valuable resource in this world, and those who had it were the ones who survived. His last statement though was a pretty big gamble, and he knew that the frustrated scavenger before him might not get too chummy after hearing that.

Xeral began to lower his hands as Robert lowered the gun. Phew, it looked like he had gotten away from that nasty situation. Just as the vampire began to think that, Robert snapped the gun back up into position. Tch, Xeral's gamble didn't pay off. He quickly raised his hands back to their original position, his body tensing as the gun was pointed once more at him.

"Woah, woah. C-calm down." Xeral's voice faltered, sounding more worried than before. It would be worth his while to let this human think that he had the upper hand. "M-my name is Z-zander, and I have been following you since the sun went down. Some people had told me that you knew where all of the good loot was, so I decided to track you and find out. It seems like they were right..Heh...I didn't want to confront you, but as you can see, I guess I wasn't the quietest..." The vampire shook more as he told his story, giving off an air that he thought that he was going to die. He gulped. What was he doing? This story was another gamble, but hopefully with the show that he had put on, it would pay off. Mentally, he chuckled. This was actually quite fun, pretending to be a helpless human who wanted nothing more than to find some supplies. He just hoped throughout all of this, he was putting on a good show. After all, it wasn't the time to let his identity be known to the public. If it came down to it, he may have to kill this poor unfortunate human, and that was not on his list of things to accomplish tonight.

Xeral let out a sigh of relief as Robert lowered the gun. He straightened his suit as the other began to speak. Well, that was one sticky situation avoided. It had been a close call, but the two of them made it out of this encounter without a scratch. Deep down, Xeral was just glad that he didn't have to kill this man just yet. Blood stains could be a real pain to remove.

The vampire looked to the human and chuckled. "You're a funny guy Robert. At the same time though..." Xeral walked over to the pile he had mentioned before and took out a can of beans. He tossed it in the air a few times, watching it on its flight path up from his hand and back down again. After the third time, he tossed the can to Robert, sticking his left hand in his pants pocket. "...You're a horrible lair." The vampire smiled charmingly at the man. "You can have all of the food that is over here as a part of my thanks for letting me live. I truthfully don't have a need for canned goods." He began to walk around the area around Robert, examining boxes as he went along. "You wanted me to be truthful before, well I don't wear this suit out of stupidity. Trust me, if I was out here having to scavenge, I wouldn't be wearing something like this." Xeral let out a small chuckle and glanced over the the man. "I'm not that dumb."

He sat down on a box near to the exit to the warehouse and leaning forward, placing his elbows on his knees. His blue eyes focused in on Robert, he was searching the man, wanting to know his thoughts. "I am a leader of a new group that has come to the city to rid it of all vampires and lycans. I know it sounds a little farfetched, but that is the honest truth. I had been sweeping the area for any of the filth when I stumbled upon you. Out of curiosity, and concerned for your safety,  I followed you here. I of course had other motives as well.." Xeral remained focused on Robert. What he had just told him was a partial truth. He had stated his true goal, but he forgot to mention quite a few things. But hey, this kept things interesting.

Xeral nodded, his expression becoming grim. "You are right about everything of course. With just a small group of individuals, I could do nothing. That is why for the past few weeks I have been hunting down people like you." The vampire went silent for a few moments, letting that last statement sink in. Xeral had underestimated his own ability to persuade. This human was following perfectly along his bread crumb trail.

"I need soldiers, warriors who are willing to stand up for our kind. Personally, I see the truce that was called between our races as just a farce. Have you seen either of our enemies stop their attacks on humans? If anything, they are just growing in numbers while we are just sitting here, barely holding our own." Xeral's expression was one of hate and distaste for what was happening. Of course, he wasn't truly thinking about what he had said, but rather his back stabbing race that had imprisoned him. He was using those thoughts to achieve the genuine look on his face.

"Slowly, I have been going around the world, collecting brilliant minds who can build weapons for us to wipe out those scum. We have succeeded in building several, including one that you may have heard of, Solos...A hand held device that is capable of storing up sunlight and then releasing it when needed. Together, we cleared out the city of New York." Xeral looked to Robert, wondering how he would take this information. It was true, New York City was clean of vampires and lycans, but it had also been cleared of humans as well. The destruction Xeral had caused had been a welcoming gift to the North American continent, and was proof that he was on no one's side. When was there, he also gathered any who would be loyal to his cause, creating a new group of humans, lycans, and vampires.