all these things that I have done

___________________________________Danny Rassi

Danny Rassi, at the age of twenty-three, was currently in a good position in life, at least by his family's standards. As far as he was concerned, his family was a powerful and wealthy one in the city where they lived, and though they pretended to harbor good feelings toward the supernatural beings in their town, secretly hunted out those who were not of humankind. Danny was the heir to the his father's grandfather had built up, but with that inheritance came great responsibility, and Danny wasn't sure if he was ready. All of his life, he had been taught how to fight the supernatural brings, that had, as he had been told, had wrought and were still in the process of, killing humankind off. What Danny didn't know was that his family were the ones killing both humankind, and supernatural, in order to blame others for what had been done.

Danny stood alone in the forest that surrounded his home city, eyes closed. He was weaponless, but all he was trying to do was concentrate on the sounds around him - distinguish one sound from another. It would help him, he had been told, when he was ready to start hunting the creatures that tormented humankind. Many roamed in the woods, or so all had been taught, though they did not live there. The young man wasn't hearing anything out of the ordinary, yet, but he wasn't ready to go home just yet.

Niko was in the forest again, taking a brief respite from the blaring sounds and lights of the city. He'd say it was for the fresh air, but the cigarette between his fingers counteracted that argument. Niko was seeking the lake, calm and cool as it was in these months, and the closest thing to the sea he supposed he would ever get. He'd never seen the ocean, but his mother had told him enough stories to make him miss it regardless. The lake made up for it, despite it's lack of waves and tides, the water could encompass him and it was deep enough to dive in. No one to ban him from going in either. The local pool had rules against Sirens, and whilst Niko supposed it wasn't as bad as the old days, the ones from the books where beings like him were the stuff of myth and hunted ruthlessly, the discrimination still stung occasionally.

He took a drag from his cigarette, tilting his head back to blow the smoke into the sky. His hair whipped in the light breeze and twigs crackled and snapped under his boots as he walked. The fresh water scent carried through the air and Niko quickened his steps, the want for submersion niggling at the back of his mind the way the nicotine cravings did.

Danny stiffened slightly when he heard footsteps echoing through the woods. His eyes opened, slightly wide in panic, and he whirled to hopefully face the direction said footsteps were coming from. Though Danny had been trained to hunt supernatural beings, he was weaponless, and that made him extremely nervous. He relied on weapons, not including his fists, to keep him safe. "Wh-who's there?" he stammered out, voice echoing. It had to be the enemy, right? It only made sense. The young man trembled ever so slightly. He didn't trust anybody who was in these woods, though he himself was there.

Niko slowed his step as a voice rang through the trees, altering his course slightly towards the source, curious. Those that were like him would rarely call out so loud, predators were unlikely in these woods, at least the sort that would choose him as a victim.

He stepped out from among the trees and raised an assessing brow at the owner of the voice. A young man who looked close to his own age, trembling as he stood his ground. The bitter taste of filter caused him pause, and he dropped the cigarette to the ground. Niko took his time crushing it out with a boot heel, before looking back up at the man and tossing his hair over a shoulder.

"Who's asking?" he countered.

Danny's eyes widened a bit more when someone actually came forward out of the trees. That he had not been expecting. Nor was he expecting someone as handsome as this to come forward either. He watched him as he dropped a cigarette to the ground and crushed it out. "Danny. Danny Rassi of Ithersta," he spoke, his voice a bit shaky. He should've known better than to give out his name, his full name at least. He took a slight step backwards defensively, thinking he might get attacked or something.

"Danny Rassi of Ithersta," Niko echoed, a small smile curling at his lips as the man stepped back.

He held his hands up, palm out, a gesture of peace.

"I mean you no harm, Danny Rassi of Ithersta," Niko said, expression dropping into a outright grin. "Merely here for a swim, I'd have passed straight by had you not called out. Though Poseidon knows why if you're going to act like that. Surely you'd be better off scurrying back home?"

At his mocking words, Danny stiffened again, eyes narrowing. "Why don't you mind your own business?" he said quietly, glancing to the ground momentarily to regain his calm composure. "I sure didn't come here to be insulted by you, or anyone else of your kind..." He figured the other had to be something other than human. He took another step back, each step bringing him closer to his home. He distrusted the other immensely, especially since he didn't know the other's name.

Niko's grin dropped at the mention of his kind. One of those, he should have known.

"No," Niko pondered, voice soft. "You came here to stand and startle instead, no doubt."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and watched the man.

"Run, if you want," he told Danny. "There's no more of my kind around, I'm certainly not giving chase. You're safe to stand and startle in the comfort of your home."

Danny lifted his head up to look at the other. He would be lying if he admitted the other male's words stung a bit. He was about to retort with a comment of his own, but just then, a knife struck the tree by the other's head. Danny turned pale. He had lingered too long and his brothers had come searching.

Niko startled as a knife sunk into the wood beside his head, looking wide eyed at the man before him. Once again, he supposed, he should have known.

He didn't linger for much more than a glance before he turned back into the trees. He'd no clue if they were to give chase, no clue if they'd more than a mild passing interest, but he wanted to get to the safety of water as quickly as possible. Danny had been a lure, he supposed, there to catch attention until the cavalry chose to spring. What he himself had done to earn such a welcome, he'd no idea. Some gentle teasing, perhaps? Although he supposed some hunters took any excuse at all.

Danny watched the other leave, shaking his head. This had not been part of his idea at all. Danny's eldest brother, Sam, came up first, eyes narrowing as he looked at his youngest brother. "What the hell did you think you were doing, conversing with him like that?" Danny ignored Sam, looking out in the direction the handsome male had fled in, feeling guilty for all he had said now. Sam roughly pulled Danny's hair, turning his head so they were looking in each other's eyes. "Did you hear me? Or do I have to spell it out?" Though Danny was the youngest, his father had made him heir because he wasn't like his two older brothers, at least when it came to fights. The other two were too rowdy and provoked to anger to make good heirs. Sam noted the way Danny was looking at him with disdain, and hit him hard across the face, enough to bruise. "Just because father made you heir doesn't mean I have to put up with your shit," he snapped.

Niko could hear no sounds of pursuit behind him as he reached the lake, for which he was glad for as it allowed him pause to remove all clothing but his undergarment. His belongings on a rock, he stepped into the lake. The rapid decline of the lake bed meant it was up to his neck within a matter of steps, but he kept going. Sinking below the surface until all sounds were cut out, nothing but the dull press of water to his ears as his hair floated around him.

He thought of Danny, as he idled beneath the surface. Now out the way of the man's curious attitude, and potential danger, he could admit the young man was attractive. And, better than that, interesting. His words, his reactions, his body language. He'd heard of hunters, rarely had much to do with them, but he'd never expected any of them to be capable of that sort of behaviour.

Danny had attempted to lash out at Sam after being hit, but Sam had merely stepped out of the way and used his own brother, beating him up, as part of his plan to convince their father that the supernatural beings were becoming bolder, braver. He left Danny in the forest, wondering, hoping, that supernatural beings, those in the forest, would kill his youngest brother, which would get him one step closer to being the heir. Danny leaned back against a tree, gasping quietly. He didn't try calling out again, and only hoped he wouldn't die out here. He kept thinking about the handsome male, wondering what he was, and if he might see him again.

Eventually Niko resurfaced, lying back to float on the smooth surface of the lake, causing ripples when he lightly circles his hands to stay afloat. The sky was clear above him, with nothing but trees pricking the edges of his vision to mar it.

He wondered if the hunters would be a threat, or if it were a case of wrong place and wrong time. Informing his family would mean running the risk of never being able to enter the forest alone again, but then was that loss of freedom worth it if they were up to something?

Finally, something caused Danny to let out a cry of help. It was the thought of dying out here that frightened him, dying with nobody he loved or cared about there to be with him. Though he highly doubted he'd be found by someone who would mean him well. As far as he knew, these forests were filled with those who would kill him, if given the chance.

The cry jolted Niko from his thoughts and he splashed upright. The water settled around him and he waited for more sounds, ears pricked for any sign of a trap.

Slowly and cautiously Niko left the water, pulling his clothes on over wet skin. His boots he kept in his hand, stepping silently through the woodland floor towards the source of the sound.

The boy from earlier... Danny... Niko stepped forward towards him, eyeing him warily, breath drawn to shriek should their be any need.

Danny's breaths were coming out shaky. He had never expected his brother to beat him up like this, though he figured he should've been prepared for anything, with his brother's volatile temper. His eyes looked up to meet with... He inhaled sharply, seeing the attractive man from earlier. "P-please help," he begged quietly, trembling.

Niko watched Danny for a moment, waiting for a trap to spring or something to happen. But nothing did.

The young man before him was badly beaten, and barely holding himself together. Niko dropped the boots he was holding and approached further. His breath was coming out in short, sharp gasps and he looked a few moments away from a full blown panic attack.

"You need to calm down," Niko said, coming close enough to set a hand on Danny's chest over his rapidly beating heart. "You need to breathe."

Danny shivered, feeling the other's hand on his chest, where his heart would be. He willed himself to calm down, trying to take deeper breaths, his mind spinning. As he took his deep breaths, one of his hands moved to rest on top of the other's. Danny cursed inside his head. It was bad enough to want help from Niko, but he also found him attractive as well. If his family ever found out... No. He couldn't think about them.