Clearing the Air

Annalise sat in the room she had deemed their meeting area, she had received a summons from the Wereleopard King and knew she they needed to figure some things out. She had noticed, lately, that the fight had shifted. It wasn't only between the vampires and the werewolves. Other species were getting involved and she wondered if the wereleopards were trying to save their skin.

They were weak as far as she was concerned. She had seen them in battle before and they didn't bring much to the table and they were often overshadowed by a werewolf's sheer ferocious attitude. An she had seen on more then one occasion that werewolves treated the wereleopards as if they owned them. Which was why she was intrigued enough with the invitation to want to go, but she needed to brainstorm a few things with Alastair and anyone else who wanted to man up and speak.

"Alastair!" She yelled impatiently, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger as she swung her legs back and forth over the arm rest of her seat.

Alastair was walking towards the meeting, already knowing what it was about. The Wereleopard meeting. Alastair personally thought of the whole idea as being pathetic, and that the wereleopards were purely putting in a feeble attempt to garner an ally in the war, however Alastair could see some benefits from it. Expendable troops for one, even if they couldn't hold well due to their frail fighting ability, they could at least cause a distraction. He smirked to himself on the idea, before speeding up after hearing his name shouted.

He quickly went up to their leader and bowed before her. "I apologize Milady, I should have been much quicker to get here, but in all honesty I dawdled slightly. I will endeavour to make sure it does not happen again Milady." he apologized earnestly, staying bowed before her as he waited for her to speak.

Annalise brightened when she saw Alastair rush into the room, she always loved seeing her devoted second. Unfortunately, he tended to bring out a softer side of her when they were alone and she didn't know how she felt about that yet.

"Just don't let it happen again, you know how impatient I can be at times." She replied flippantly as she grabbed his hand, pulling him to sit down with her. "I'm sure you've heard the news, the wereleopards are trying to start something. I received the message this afternoon about a meeting and I'm assuming it's for some sort of alliance." Annalise scoffed at the thought of any sort of alliance with them.

Annalise fiddled with the fabric of his shirt as she spoke. "I want you there of course, I doubt it's any sort of ambush, they're not that smart, but you go where I go," She said darkly, fist tightening in anger when she remembered a time he hadn't been there. She had lost someone very important and it wasn't his fault, but she preferred to always be prepared. She waited to see what he had to say about the planned meeting.

Alastair nodded at the orders. "I apologize again Milady." he said, before being taken off-guard and made to sit down. His leader always caught him surprised with things like that for some reason. He listened to what Annalise said, thinking it through in his head. "I have heard about the Wereleopards, but I haven't found anything out about their plans just yet. I agree on the idea of an alliance however, and believe it is some weak attempt in order for the leopards to salvage their own path through the chaos of this war." he admitted, finding the Wereleopards quite idiotic for thinking such. They didn't need any allies.

He began to drum his fingers on the chairs armrest, nodding solemnly. "Of course Milady, I will be certain to be by your side in the meeting. If you feel you need to give the orders to attack a few, then I'll make sure to take out double." he said with a smirk lining his face. His face became neutral again however as he began to consider the options. "We are going to accept their offer I take it then?" he queried. It would make sure they didn't show weakness at least, and he supposed a little recon wouldn't hurt.

Annalise's grin widened at his display of loyalty. This was why she kept Alastair around, he was her best fighter and he understood what needed to be done without her constantly hanging over his shoulder barking orders. That was why he was her favorite, her second.

She sighed softly as she held the stem of her wine glass between her fingers, gazing up at the red liquid within. "Good, and I won't, but this gives us an opportunity see within their ranks. They probably aren't much of a threat, but if they're seeking help I want to know what they have to offer me." Annalise's eyes glowed dangerously for a moment as she thought of the other possibility. "An if there plan is to kill me, then they won't be here any longer. I don't like games or treachery. I'll give them what they want, me on a platter, but they ending will be something they'll never expect."

Annalise brightened as her mood shifted. "I need your opinion though, on who I should keep close within the ranks. I need to know who is stronger and keep them closer." She sighed softly as she took a sip of her drink before offering it to him. "I need that list soon, so make it quick Alastair." She knew that things were changing and she wasn't stupid enough to let her pride get in the way. Things would happen and she wasn't going to be one of those leaders who were too blinded by their own success to see other possibly outcomes. She planned on winning this war, but she wasn't going to do it by walking in blind.

"You'll probably need to fight them all one on one..." she trailed off as she thought of helping with that. "I will help with that and we'll make a decision from there." Loyalty was key, but she needed strength within her ranks. It would keep them all alive.

Alastair nodded, and listened intently as to what his leader said next. He nodded and waited for her to finish before adding in his own comments. "Agreed, we can hopefully find out plenty about them... Maybe even attack them from the information we gather, we could even sell it along to another species. It keeps our hands clean and we don't have to put in as much resources if we don't want to." He suggested. Alastair himself would much rather take to the fight, but he knew it might just end up with casualities... If the wereleopards got lucky.

Alastair bit his lip when it came to deciding who to keep close. It was a difficult decision at times. There were those who were smart and strong, but would likely cause a lot of un-needed arguments... Then there were the ones who were just smart... And those just strong... He thought on it for a moment, trying to mentally compile a list in his mind before finally nodding. "Yes Milady, I will be sure to have the list completed post-haste." He said.

Alastair's eyes lit up at the thought of dueling some of the other vampires... It should be an interesting test of strength. "As you wish Milady. I shall make sure to test all those who would be considered worthy of remaining close to your side." he said, bowing low. He had to admit, they needed to find a balance between loyalty and strength. They couldn't do with an over-concentration of either.

Annalise nodded solemnly, "That sounds like a good idea, keeps us clean of any direct issues, but it leaves the possibility open to hopefully manipulate others into doing what we want. With the right incentive we can walk away from this better off and without having to do a single thing blamed on us." She liked that idea very much, she always liked when she was able to cause trouble without making some complicated and extravagant plan that only failed in the end.

"This decision would be so much easier, if they were more like you. Then I would know I would never have to worry about who's taking care of what. I would know that it already is taken care of." Annalise sighed as she leaned her head on Alastair's shoulder. She nodded when he spoke, "Good, get it to me as quick as possible and please find a way to deal with Lux before I rip her to pieces. That woman has been nothing but trouble for him lately."

She nodded in satisfaction when she saw the flicker of excitement that passed over his face. "I'm sure you know that strength isn't the only thing I'm looking for. We will need well rounded individuals who are up to the task. I trust you to do as you must. I'll come by to check on your progress with them periodically. They'll have to learn to work under pressure as well." Annalise groaned, these next few days were going to be rather difficult, she could feel it.

Alastair was thankful that Annalise had found his suggestion to not be one of no merit. "Milady, I'm hardly the most experienced here, Luxanna and many others would probably serve as better seconds than I in reality." he admitted quietly. He liked to think he was the best, but in the end, a lot of the other vampires in The Underground were much more skilled than him. I'd happily assist in shredding Luxanna though, especially if she's been a bother to you Milady." he said afterwards zealously.

Alastair felt his confidence begin to return once his mind was on the idea of duelling the other vampires however. If he was to be unsure, it would be after he had fought these others. "Yes Milady. I swear you that I will search for those that are good minds as well as having good strength." He promised. He was willing for a good fight, excited about the prospect of finding those within the ranks who were strong and tactical... But no doubt the next few days would be tiring.

Saskia felt a little woozy from her travels, having heard word of the . What made her want to meet up with others of her kind was that she never felt like she could live among humans. Sure, she could pretend that she was a sun sensitive human and therefore take night classes to pass her time. Or maybe even ignore the red skin and go outside some of the time. But living with other vampires had other advantages. Like protection from other species, and a constant food supply.

She walked into the room that she had been directed to when she had arrived. The people who had greeted her had told her that she should wait for their leader to finish in her conference, but she refused to wait. If she would not be accepted there, she would rather be on her own way as soon as possible. Saskia knocked on the door and waited to be admitted into the room. She did not intend to be rude to anyone, and she toyed with the hem of her coat as she waited.

Alastair was waiting for a response from Annalise, before hearing a knock at the door. He sniffed at the air, detecting only another vampire, he glanced at his Lady for a second, before supposing he should open the door, as to not be incourteus. No doubt if this person were to appear at this meeting, then they would either be important or have something important with him. He stood up, and walked towards the door, stepping aside as it was opened so that the person behind it could step through. "Good to meet you." he said, though he hadn't seen them yet.

Alastair quirked an eyebrow as Luxana came into the room, watching curiously at the quite insane show she put on, while sighing. Luxana knew the rules, he didn't understand why she flaunted breaking them so often, all it did was aggravate a lot of people, and put more of their strength into stopping civil disputes over trying to strengthen themselves from outside assaults. He raised an eyebrow at the 'cheering up' comment, perhaps they would be cheerier if they weren't forced to bicker between themselves all the time. He moved towards the new person. "Sorry, she can be a little insane at times. She's a good vampire though... I think." he whispered, grinning slightly.

Alastair blinked in shock when a man walked in who had bindings on him, looking at Luxana in disbelief. His main questions were: Why the heck was she flaunting as many rules as he could. Also, why was she giving this to him? Why not find another female for Annalise to drink on if she was going to try this, or the person who had just walked in? He shook his head from surprise, trying his best to ignore the blood. He was the youngest, perhaps that was why? Out of the three, he knew he was younger than Annalise and Luxana, as for the new woman, he wasn't sure. He bit his lip and shook his head. "You know rules as well as I do Lux, we're not to have our food here." He said, trying to maintain some level of decorum.

Annalise was pondering over Alastair's words, rolling them over in her head trying to choose her words carefully. "Luxanna may be stronger then you, Alastair, but she lacks something very important to me. She has no loyalty, I couldn't trust her to do anything for me unless it suited her personal interests. I can't have someone at my side that I can't trust to have my back." she replied as she stared into her glass.

"That would be nice, but we will need Lux for the time being, so we'll wait on what to do with her. She's been getting out of hand, so a way to leash her would be nice," a wicked grin spread across Annalise's lips as she thought of locking Lux up. She was just about to respond to his fighting the other vampires to find people to keep close when a knock rang throughout the room.

She glanced over at Alastair to see if he had invited someone without her permission when he left her side to open it. She frowned and waited, she found it best to be patient with her actions. She eyed the girl up and down and she couldn't remember having ever seen her. "Do I know you?" Annalise drawled, beckoning Alastair to come back to her side.

As she waited for the girl to respond Lux pushed her way in and Annalise resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't seem to know any manners and she shouldn't be showing such insubordination, especially in front of a new person. Annalise seethed, this wasn't the first time that she had done this and Annalise's nerves were frayed enough as it was. "Drop the big bad ass act, Lux, we all know you got your heart torn to shreds. Your lover obviously didn't care enough about you to stick around, so quit trying to run everyone else away." Annalise growled, shoving Lux off of her.

Annalise hissed angrily, grabbing the man by the collar and shoving him back, away from Lux and Alastair. She was aware of his limited control and tended not to push food in his face. Her eyes remained on the man's as she captured his attention. "You will leave here with no memory of what transpired or how to get here," Annalise dragged him to the door before shoving him out, during to face Lux angrily. "Do. Not. Bring. Food. Here. Again. I don't need the smell of human on my carpet or their stench in my home. I allow you to stay here, do NOt push me Lux or I will do much worse then that man ever did to you." She whispered harshly, beyond caring if she was overreacting about such a simple thing. There was only some much disobedience she could handle and Lux seemed to bring them in spades.

Alastair rolled his eyes at Luxanna's boasting. "Lux, sure you might be able to defeat the humans, but what about the wolves? And then the Leopards, and then the Angels and Demons. You might want to get it into your head that you can't kill everyone." He drawled out,, now standing next to Annalise again, walking away further from the man. He stayed quiet for a moment, only glancing over at the woman to try and see her reaction to all of this, before facing forward coldly again. He was thankful once the human was pushed away, he was worried that he would lose control if the smell was there for much longer. He looked gratefully at Annalise, before watching the other two vampire, cautious as to what would happen next.