WHO: Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs WHAT: An adventure in New Orleans WHEN: Backdated to the NOLA by Night Portal WHERE: The NOLA by Night Portal WARNINGS: TBD STATUS: Closed/Ongoing
When Julian had seen the description of this portal, he knew that it would be something that Emma couldn't pass up. A trip to New Orleans, with the added advantage of fighting Downworlders was right up her alley. And he loved the idea of getting to have fun with her, instead of all the melodrama that had been their lives lately. It would be a chance for them to blow off a little steam and have the chance of scenery that they so desperately needed.
As he'd told her over the network, he got changed into his gear and grabbed some weapons. One of the reasons they were going to New Orleans in the first place was that it was dangerous, and it was only best that they be prepared. He also grabbed some money, just in case they needed it for whatever reason, and made his way to the portal to wait for Emma.
He was early, as usual, so he kind of leaned against a nearby tree, watching as other people jumped through. It was very much like the portals that Warlocks made back home...at least that was familiar.
***
Emma had been out at the time, but she had her gym gear with her. It was easy enough to change into a t-shirt and sweat pants, and having asked Julian to bring along Cortana, she was all set to kick some Downworlder butt.
When she spotted him by the portal, her eyes lit up and she bounded over to him.
“Oh I’ve missed you,” she crooned. “Come here, baby.” And she held out her arms for Cortana.
***
Julian couldn’t help but laugh a little as he passed over the sword. Of course her cooing and love wasn’t for him, but for Cortana. He’d expected as much. She wouldn’t be Emma if that sword wasn’t the most important thing in her life. Well, almost.
“So I’m guessing you’ve done your research into all the vampires and ghouls and werewolves they have here? We’re not just going to go around mindlessly slaying everything, okay?”
He grinned at her, and there was a great deal of love in that grin, no matter how much he tried to keep it out.
***
Almost. Emma couldn’t express her love for Julian, so she had to do the next best thing: declare her love for her very laudable sword.
She cradled it lovingly in her arms before slinging it over her shoulder.
“Hey, I’m not that violent,” she said, feigning offense. “I just like to kill things.”
She gave him a sharp smile. “Tell you what: I’ll let you identify what needs slaying, and then I get to go to town. Deal?”
She’d been itching for a good fight. Cheerleading and fight practice kept her in physical shape, but there was nothing like a real fight to keep her fighting instincts honed.
***
Julian just looked at her in disbelief when she said she wasn’t that violent. Okay, she wasn’t like a murderer, or anything like that, but he wasn’t stupid. She loved killing things. She loved the violence of being a Shadowhunter. Julian was competent at that part, but not nearly as good as Emma was. Together, though? They were amazing. And he couldn’t help but believe that there was more than their parabatai bond at play.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said. Of course, Julian had done his research on what was going on in this town, and what was good and what was bad, and what needed slaying. It was just one way they complemented each other so well.
***
That was all she needed. With an exhilarated grin, Emma grabbed Julian’s hand and together, they jumped through the glowing portal.
It was night when they landed, and the alley they’d arrived in was dark and quiet, illuminated only by the street lights off the main road. Emma took a moment to assess their surroundings. No signs of threats so far. Oh well. She couldn’t really expect them to be so lucky right off the bat.
“Any idea where we should go first?”
*** “Huh, I’ve never been to New Orleans,” he said. “Let alone in the mid-nineteenth century,” he said. Of course, that didn’t mean at all that he hadn’t done some researched and looked into the sorts of things that were available.
“The cemeteries are supposed to be fascinating,” he said. “Real cities of the dead. Because they’re below sea-level, they had to build everything above ground or the flooding would wash all the bodies away.”
He looked over at her. “And I bet there are lots of vampires there, too, yeah?”
***
Emma smiled back at him. “You always know just what I like.”
She did love cemeteries. There was a certain peace, a certain majesty in the quiet tombstones. These were people who had once lived and breathed, and who were now remembered through copper plates and stone tablets.
And there were usually vampires around.
She let Julian lead the way to the New Orleans cemetery. Here, all the graves and tombstones were above ground; in the darkness, they cast long shadows on the muddy ground.
Emma turned to her parabatai, eyes shining with excitement. “I’d almost forgotten how this felt like. The hunt. The promise of a fight.”
***
Julian smiled indulgently, amused but not surprised by her reaction. Fighting was something that Julian could do, but not something he enjoyed with the passion that Emma did. Still, fighting with her was about as intimate as they could get right now so he did look forward to that.
“Yeah, we don’t get to do a lot of fighting in Madison Valley,” he said. “The vampires and demons are all friendly there.”
That was still weird to him, and he was sure it was to Emma, too.
***
“Yeah, actually friendly,” Emma agreed. That was strange to her. Even Anselm Nightshade, for all his apparent friendliness, had murdered and indulged in dark magic. The experience had made Emma wary about the Downworlders who did seem harmless in Madison, but so far no one had done anything that would make her suspect them of being dangerous. Julian wasn’t suspicious either, and she trusted his judgement of people more than she trusted even her own.
Which meant there were no Downworlders to fight in Madison. She hoped there would be lots here. So far, however, the cemetery was as silent as...well...a grave.
“Picking up anything?” Her voice was a low whisper; she wasn’t sure if he could hear it. She stopped and turned to see if he had, and realized he was right behind her. So close they almost touched. Suddenly the graveyard faded away, and all that was left was Julian. Just Julian. Always Julian.
***
“Not yet,” he mouthed. It was strange, really. Vampires loved cemeteries, and they knew for a fact that there were vampires in this place. So where were they? It was eerie, the silence that surrounded them. It wasn’t the gentle silence of night but the overwhelming silence of death, and Julian couldn’t help but shudder.
He traced the words on her arm Too quiet, and met her eyes, which caused him to shudder again for a very different reason. He swallowed and closed his eyes, trying to hold back his desire for her.
Now was not the time and place. Not when he was nearly certain they were being watched.
***
She was glad he closed his eyes. It broke the connection between them, which allowed her to bring herself back to the present.
And realize, as he had, that they weren’t alone.
She shifted, took a casual step towards a tombstone. A shadow shifted.
She turned, ever so slightly, to Julian to indicate where it was.
***
That was all Julian needed to be on full alert. He hadn’t done any sort of fighting in so long so the prospect filled him with both excitement and nerves. He wasn’t worried, but he was anticipating and definitely fully aware of the danger around them.
His eyes flicked to the movement, and he turned so his back was to Emma, one of their best and most defensive fighting positions.
“We know you’re there,” he said finally. They were watching them, there was going to be no element of surprise, regardless.
***
The group that came out of the shadows looked like they’d just crawled out of the grave. With decaying flesh hanging off their gaunt frame, they smelled like they’d just crawled out of the grave.
“Ugh, New Orleans really doesn’t play when it comes to vampires,” she muttered to Julian. “Are these okay to slay?”
***
“Well, it is New Orleans,” he said. “They have a reputation to uphold.” These vampires were particularly nasty, much more disgusting than anything they had back home. They really looked more like zombies than anything of the vampire variety.
He’d read about them, though, before arriving here.
“Yes. And I think we’d better do it soon. You know, before they slay us.”
***
That was all Emma needed. With an almost manic grin, she unsheathed Cortana.