Lightning strutted confidently through the Everfree forest, soaking in the beatuifal night. The moonlight shown down brightly on Lightning as he walked further into the forest. He stopped, and looked at the moon, devilishly grinning as he continued on. Lightning wasn't entirely sure of where he was going, but it didn't matter to him. He was finished with the town he was just at, and had no other option other then to move on. So, that's what he did. And besides, the ponies in that town didn't take to kindly to Lightning draining half of the townsfolk of their blood. So, even if he wanted to, sticking around wasn't really an option.
This was how the last couple of thousand years of Lightning's life almost always played out: He would find a new town, make a few bits and drain a few people. Then, he would be on his way to the next unsuspecting town. Though, most times, a pony would spot Lightning as his fangs were sunk into somepony's neck, and he would have to silence them as well. Just not as quietly. And, this usually attracted all of the town, and the outcome usually wasn't to pretty. This happened more often then Lightning intended, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He did try to be as careful as he could be, but things don't always go how you want. Lightning stopped and sat down on a tree stump, resting his hooves. He had been moving for a while, and only now was he getting irritated.
"There's got to be a town somewhere near...I've been walking for almost an hour." Lightning said to himself. He sat for another minute or so, then continued moving. He wasn't fond of staying out his late, as this is when slayers favored coming out. Not that they were much of a problem. They were really annoying more then anything else. As Lightning continued, he looked at the inside of his coat, making sure that his weapons was still there.
'Of course they're still there, who the hell is gonna take them?' Lightning thought to himself. He carefully pulled out a .357 revolver, eying his reflection in the silver barrel of the gun. He smiled, looking at his two white, pointy fangs, before observing the rest of himself.
Lightning had long, messy midnight black colored hair, with red streaks going through it it. He had bright, bloodthirsty red eyes, covered by a pair of orange sunglasses. He dawned a black army field jacket, a black shirt with a blood red skull on it, gray pants, red boots and white gloves. He did try to model his wardrobe after his favorite fictional vampire, Alucard, but he didn't exactly have the proper amount of bits to have an entire outfit tailored for him. And even if he did, like always, he never stayed in towns that long. You see, Lightning comes from a powerful vampire family, the Chasers, making his full, official name, Lightning Chaser. He wasn't to fond of his family though, hence why he wasn't still with him. They had gone a little overboard with the extent of their powers, vowing to one day rule the crystal empire, so Lightning decided he wanted no part of, leaving the family and everything he knew behind. Without really any true purpose in his life, Lightning decided that he was going to spend his life doing whatever the hell he wanted. So, he did just that, going to towns, sucking some blood and slaying some mortals. It was fun, but Lightning didn't always escape unscathed. After he was almost burned alive, Lightning decided that he needed to set down some rules. As stupid as it sounded, they had kept him alive for about the last nine hundred years. They were simple, and went as followed.
1. Be quiet, careful and swift. Never let a mortal know your intents.
2. Once your blood lust has been filled, leave. There's no need to destroy a whole town.
3. Never get close to anyone. Unnecessary relationships can get you killed.
4. Leave names at home. Names are for friends, and you aren't making any of those.
5. If everything goes to hell, leave. Killing more of them will only fuel their desire to kill you.
This is how Lightning lived and survived for the last few hundred years. He didn't much care for rules, but they kept stability and order in Lightning's life. And stability and order meant life. Lightning finished observing his reflection in the revolver, and replaced it back in his coat pocket, treading further into the forest. He didn't get very far, before stopping in his tracks, and laughing a bit.
"Haha...I know you're there, Ophelia." Lightning said aloud, as a silver crossbow bolt flew past his head, staking itself into the ground next to him. Lightning turned around, looking into a tree. The branches rustled a bit, before a pony dressed in all black jumped down, crossbow aimed at Lightnings head.
"Stay exactly where you are, or I'll-"
"Put one between my eyes? Oh shut it kid, I've heard that one already." Lightning said, with a devilish grin. Ophelia pulled the trigger, sending a bolt through Lightning's skull. His head reared back for a second, returning to show that the bolt had stuck itself quite far into his head. She thought for sure that the bolt had ended him, and was rather shocked when Lightning simply laughed, pulling the bolt out as the wound regenerated. Lightning grabbed Ophelia, pushing her against a tree, quickly flicking out his butterfly knife, pressing it against her neck.
"Now...I thought I told you to leave me alone. We had a deal..." Lightning said, slowly pressing the blade deeper. A small trickle of blood fell from Ophelia's neck, staining her black hunter uniform.
"Did...you...really think a slayer...would let a vampire go?" Ophelia managed to choke out. Lightning laughed, flicking the blade closed, releasing Ophelia.
"If you think you're ever going to successfully kill me, you've got a lot to learn," Lightning said, as he walked forward into the forest. He could've sworn he'd seen an opening ahead...
"AHH!" Ophelia yelled, as she lunged at Lightning, wooden stake in hand. She landed on him, pushing him to the ground, staking him in the chest.
"Ack, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Lightning yelled, pushing Ophelia off of him. He stood up, and ripped the stake out of his chest, tossing it to he ground. He pulled out his .357 revolver and aimed at at Ophelia's head.
"Look kid, you're lucky I've let you live this long. Now scram, before your brains repaint that tree behind you" Lightning said, pulling the cocking hammer back. Ophelia's bright blue eyes widened as she realized Lightning wasn't bluffing. She scrambled up to her feet, and backed up to the tree behind her.
"Now go. I don't want to see you again." Lightning said, keeping the sights on her as she ran out of his field of vision. He sighed, releasing the trigger of the gun gently, making sure not to fire off a bullet, before putting the gun back in his coat pocket.
"Damn girl..." Lightning said to himself, as he dusted the dust of his coat. Ophelia and Lightning weren't necessarily friends, but Lightning didn't consider her a threat. She was a new recruit at the Slayer academy, and was just learning the ropes, so Lightning had given her some breaks, whereas he would normally drain the life force of any slayer who would try to stake Lightning. Ophelia was young, maybe eighteen years old at most. She had fiery red hair, and icy blue eyes. She wore the standard black suit that all slayers wore, followed by standard black army boots. Lightning always admired her bold personality, and thought it was a shame that the Slayer academy would fully oppress that soon enough. Lightning shook his head as he walked. He never would understand those slayers. Though he completely understands a mortals natural fear of a bloodsucker, he saw no reason to set up a whole organization who's purpose was to try and commit genocide, simply because they are afraid of dying. Everyone dies at one point, and that was something most mortals couldn't quite grasp like vampires could. Lighting continued this rant in his head, unaware of the opening he was coming up on.
'And they don't even-...hey wait...what is this?' Lightning thought to himself, as he found himself shrouded by giant trees. He stood still for a second, looking all around him, seeing nothing but huge trees for miles.
'Must be a farm of sorts..' Lightning thought, carefully observing his surroundings. It was free of any human that he could see, and it didn't look like anyone was living on the land here. He walked carefully, inspecting each tree with care. He didn't want to start anything at this hour. It was late, and surely anyone would shoot an intruder on sight. Upon further inspection, he saw that almost all of the trees had ripe, red fruit hanging from them. Curious, he reached up to grab one, when he heard a click behind him, freezing him in his tracks.
"Ah reckon that you're gonna leave mah apples alone, and get on ya knees real slow, or this ain't gonna be pretty." Lightning looked in the reflection of his sunglasses, and saw that a girl in her late 20's, blonde hair and some farm wear had a Winchester double barrel aimed at his head. He could have easily solved this little problem, but she would most likely fire a shot in defense, and shotguns aren't very quiet. Lightning deiced he didn't need the whole town after him, and complied with her, getting on his knees.
"Now..get ya hands behind your head" She said again. Lightning hesitated for a moment. Was she really just going to try to kill him out in an open filed? She prodded Lightning with the end of the gun.
"Do it if ya treasure your life" She said. Lightning sighed. He really was in a jam here. He put his hands behind his head.
"Now, I apolo-" Was all Lightning managed to say, before the girl whacked him in the head with the stock of the gun, rendering him unconscious, while a small pool of rather dark blood spilled from Lightning's head.
"God damn varmint..." She said, leaning down, picking up Lightning's unconscious body before carrying it away out of the field. She had no idea what this strange looking man was doing out in her field, but he was most definitely not getting away with it.
Lightnings eyes slowly opened, flooding with light.
"Ag...wh-where am I...?" Lightning mumbled out. His vision was hazy, but he could tell there was someone in front of him. He tried to move, but was unable too. He closed his eyes, then re-opened them, trying to clear his vision. He looked down, seeing that his arms were strapped to a chair. He tried moving them, but they were strapped on tight. Using vampiric powers was an option, but there was a good chance that the room was guarded. Without much else of a choice, he looked back up to the person sitting in front of him. He could tell that it was indeed female, and seemed to be sitting at a desk. She had a tan suit on, and looked to be around her fifties. Her mane was a mix between solid, and light gray. A pair of golden bifocals loosely rested on her bored, expressionless face.
"Wh-who are you?" Lightning managed to say, while still struggling in his bonds. Lightning planned on making himself look weak.
'Most mortals take petty on their weaker kind..' Lightning thought.
"I believe the more important question is, who are you?" The lady sitting in front of him asked, leaning a bit forward as she finished her sentence. She had deep, blue eyes that seemed to scan the very essence of Lightning as he sat there.
"I-...I don't know...I do know that your friend over there knocked me on the head with something...and next thing I know, I'm...wherever I am now.." Lightning finished, dropping any hints of power or arrogance in his voice. The lady before Lightning stared at him for a second, before talking again.
"I'm not sure whether to believe you or not, but Ponyville is under a pretty strict lock-down, and Applejack over there found you in her apple farm with THESE in your coat pocket." The lady gestured to Lightning's revolver, butterfly knife, some spare bullets, his orange sunglasses and his brass knuckles laying on her desk. "So... I'm going to take it you're not from here. Correct?" She finished.
'Ponyville...' Lightning thought. At least he knew where he was now. But, how would he explain the weapons?
"Uh...no. I'm not from here...and those weapons are purely for self defense. You probably know how dangerous it is out there, right?" Lightning said, still struggling in his restraints. The woman sighed, before continuing to speak.
"I'm not sure what to do here...I don't need someone dangerous running around my town. We've had enough incidents here already." The lady said.
'My town?' Lightning thought. "She must be the mayor...' Lightning concluded.
"Mayor-is it mayor?" Lightning started.
"Mare Mayor to you." Mare answered back.
"Mayor, I can assure you I am of no threat to you, or your town. I can't even break free of these bonds. See?" Lightning said, pretending that the bonds that restrained him actually could contain him. "I'm not a threat, and I really don't have anywhere else to go...please, let me stay here in Ponyville." Lightning said, sounding as helpless as he could. The Mayor looked at Lightning, contemplating her choices. She breathed in deeply, and sat back in her leather chair before speaking.
"Look...since we have no other choices, I'm going to let you stay here, but in return, you're going to work for your right to live here. I don't care what you do, where you're going to live, or who you talk too, but you will work and live here under my rules. Understand?" The Mayor said, a very firm tone in her voice. Her eyes beamed coldly at Lightning, and he could tell by the tone of her voice that they wouldn't be the best of friends. Lightning nodded, pretending to be grateful.
"Release him, Applejack." The mayor said, as the blonde country girl from earlier approached Lightning. "Wait-before you do, what's your name?" The mayor asked. Lightning gulped. The Mayor stared at Lightning impatiently. She obviously wasn't going to let him go until she had a name.
'Here goes rule four...' Lightning thought. He sighed before speaking.
"...Lightning." He said. The Mayor nodded in satisfaction, and grinned slightly.
"Can't remember, is that right?" She said, laughing to herself. Lightning pondered what she meant for a second, before realizing that he had earlier told her that he couldn't remember.
"My memory must be returning-" Lightning started.
"Save it, it doesn't matter, and frankly, I don't care. Applejack..." She said simply, waving her hand towards Lightning. Applejack undid the leather straps that held Lightning to the chair, muttering every curse she could as she did. Lightning stood up, looking at his wrists, then to his guns. He put a hand towards them, placing his hand on top of his revolver.. Mayor Mare stood up, putting her hand on top of Lightning's, stopping him from picking it up.
"Mister...Lightning? Is it? Go ahead. Take your weapons. But know...if I hear anything...ANYTHING bad going on in my town, don't think I'll hesitate to find you, and kill you. This is my town, and not you, not anyone is going to ruin it." Mayor Mare said, taking her hand off as she finished her sentence. Lightning stared for a second, before nodding, picking up his weapons, putting them back in his coat pocket. He slipped on his sunglasses, and turned around, going down the stairs that lead out of the building. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going, but Lightning had assumed that he had came to an exit when he was faced with a large, mahogany door. He looked around for a second, before pushing open the door, and steeping out into the crisp, cool night. Lightning looked up to the bright moon, then around the town. From what Lightning could tell, either Ponyville was fairly new, or it was rather late into the night, as he saw not a single soul out roaming the town. into the quiet and desolate town, hearing nothing but the sound of birds chirping, and of his red boots lightly crunching the gravel below him.
'The hell is everyone? At least one has to be out here somewhere...' Lightning thought to himself, carefully observing every shop and home he could, searching for someone who he could easily drain. It had been awhile since he last fed his hunger, and remembering the sensation of warm crimson spilling into his mouth made it all that more important to find someone. He tried looking as casual as one could be at three in the morning, lurking in the dark streets of a tired Ponyville. Lightning sighed, and leaned against a lamp post, resting his feet.
"Damn town..." Lightning murmured to himself. He knew that if he couldn't find a human, then he was going to have to resort to drinking from an animal, which never tasted as good as human blood. Lightning's fangs elongated in his mouth, just at the thought of blood, slightly cutting his lower lip. He broke out of his trance, pushing himself off the pole, and patrolled down the dark streets one last time, in hopes of an unsuspecting human. He was about to give up hope, when he heard it. Very faint, but his enhanced hearing picked it up immediately. He made sure not to stop moving, which would most likely draw his targets attention. He took a quick glance, to see a girl, mid 20's with very light, bright blue hair, a single streak of white through it. She had on an equally bright blue hoodie, and a simple pair of black jeans. Her most dazzling feature though, were her bright amber eyes. Lightning could smell her O positive blood, gently pumping through her delicate veins. He saw that she was sweeping, and took his chance here. He walked up to her porch, and began speaking
"Hey. Sorry to just pop out of nowhere, but why are you doing chores at this hour? " Lightning inquired. The girl stopped, and looked at Lightning.
"I-um...couldn't sleep. Decided to do some chores around the house since it's really the only thing to do around here." The girl said, in a very morbid tone.
"Would you like some help? I got time." Lightning replied back, holding out a gloved hand, She must've notice the protective seals on them, and gave Lightning a weird look. Lightning took of his shades, revealing his blood red eyes, half the reason he kept them on. It usually indicted the vampiric genes in you, but to Lightnings surprise, the girl did nothing. Lightning realized he was just standing there like an idiot, and finally spoke.
"The names Lightning." He said, extending his hand forward again. She shook it firmly.
"Lyra. Fancy gloves you got there." She said, observing them closely.
"Just a family heirloom. So...should we get started?" Lightning asked. He waited patiently for Lyra to look him in the eye as she responded.
"Yeah I gue-...." Lyra managed to say, before Lightning's eyes turned bright purple, captivating Lyra in their hypnotic glow. All Lyra could do was stare, as Lightning mentally barked orders at her.
'Alright, not a sound. Bare your neck, and stand still.' Lightning said telepathically. Lyra simply nodded, as she pulled back any clothing that hid her neck, and slightly tilted it to the side. Now, normally Lightning would go in for the kill, and lunge at his pray before sinking his teeth into their jugular, but it was night, and there was the off chance that Lyra might've screamed. Lightning opened his mouth, his fangs extending father, like those of a serpent. He positioned himself over her neck, and got ready to bite down. He almost closed the gap between her skin and his fangs, when he heard something from behind. Lightning reacted quickly, drawing his revolver, and pulling back the hammer, aiming it at his attacker with vampiric speed. He revealed a fang as he talked
"Get the hell out of here before I-" Lightning realized the error of his ways as he saw what kind of barrel he was looking down into. It was a .454 Casull Raging bull, which was usually meant for big game animals. It could easily have made oatmeal out of Lightning's skull. His attacker must have seen the realization in Lightning's eyes, as it laughed, gently let the trigger go, disarming the gun. Lightning was shocked and weary, but he lowered his as well.
"Here ya go bloodsucker" The attacker said, tossing a blood bag Lightning's way. Lighting was puzzled, as the attacker sounded almost feminine. Lightning didn't question it though, and sloppily bit into the bag, sucking out the fluids, while spilling some on the floor. He tossed the bag to the side, then, got a good look at his attacker. It was in fact a girl, but she looked...odd. She had long, blue hair, with electric blue streaks going through it. She wore a pair of purple sunglasses, and had on a torn blue vest, with a shirt picturing a vinyl record on it underneath. She wore torn, black skinny jeans, and electric blue Supras. She looked like something out of some kind of Dubstep club. She held out a pale, white hand.
"Names Vinyl." She said. "Pleasure to meet you." She finished, giving Lightning a half smile that revealed an elongated fang in the left side of her mouth. Lightning was awestruck, and simply shook her hand.
'Another vampire? It's been so long since I've met another bloodsucker..' Lightning thought. Vinyl removed her purple glasses, revealing her blood red eyes as she pulled Lightnings gloved hand closer to her face. She studied the Elasyian writing on it for a second.
"A Chaser? Damn, they were legends dude! No one even knows where they are anymore, or if they even exist! Tell me you're not some faker..." Vinyl excitedly said. Lightning grinned slightly, revealing a fang.
"Lightning Chaser, at your service" Lightning said, taking a slight bow. Lightning could see Vinyl's eyes physically widen.
"What are you doing here in Ponyville man?" Vinyl asked. Lightning felt something tingling on his back, and turned around slightly, to see that the sun had started it's slow journey to the top of the sky. He pointed to it.
"Look, I'd love to drone on about my life story, but people are going to be up soon. Do you have a place where we can just... talk? Preferably in private?" Lightning asked. Vinyl nodded smoothly
"Sure do. It's where all of us kind of take refuge. Follow me....Oh, aren't you going to do something about that?" Vinyl said, pointing to Lyra. Lightning simply snapped, releasing Lyra of his control. She fell to the ground, hitting her head on the wooden porch.
"She'll think she hit her head. So...we should be fine..." Lightning said, looking down at Lyra momentarily, before looking back up to Vinyl. She looked at Lightning.
"Alright man, follow me! If you can keep up..." She said, taking of with incredible speed, darting down the streets of Ponyville. She ran across the walls of buildings, bending the laws of physics to her every whim. Lightning laughed for a bit, muttering
"Is that it? Ponyville's best?" He said, closing his eyes momentarily, reopening them shortly after, showing that his eyes had adopted a very eerie orange glow. He simply walked through the streets, searching for Vinyl. He saw her up ahead, moving incredibly slow. He laughed. Lightning hadn't slowed her down, he was actually moving at an incredibly fast pace, so fast that everything around him seemed to be slowed. This was usually how Lightning got around mortals that had either noticed him, or when ones he just didn't like. Lightning resumed, watching Vinyl slowly make her way across the town He sighed, then laughed a bit before stepping in front of her, letting time return to normal. Vinyl went from running past the brink of comprehension, to tripping over Lightning in a matter of seconds. He laughed as he held out a gloved hand for a confused looking Vinyl.
"Whoa...how did you-" She started. Lightning cut her off.
"Family secret..." He said, his gloves glowing an eerie red color. Vinyl took his hand, and he helped her up to her feet. They continued walking to Vinyl's destination, not talking about anything that important. Just small talk mostly, and some questions from Lightning about Ponyville. It was rather awkward for Lightning, since he had been relatively void of any human contact that didn't involve him sinking his fangs into another persons neck. Lightning pushed the thought of blood out of his mind as the two reached a rather old looking building constructed from cobblestone and bricks. It had an old wooden sign on it that simply read,
Ponyville Tavern
In old black, faded letters.
"Here's the place" Vinyl said, flashing Lightning a rather proud grin. Lightning looked at it, obviously not as impressed as Vinyl was.
"This is...it?" Lightning asked, looking the place over again. There simply was nothing spectacular the place held. Vinyls grin widened.
"Just take my word for it.." She said, cracking open the big wood door, gesturing for Lightning to go in. "Ladies first.." She said, snickering as Lightning slowly walked in, his boots clicking against the old wooden floorboards. He slowly looked around while Vinyl slid up to the bar, knocking on the table, gesturing for the bartender to get her a drink. A rather bored looking man pulled out a glass, and poured Vinyl a deep, blue drink. Lightning slipped next to her as she raised her glass, downing the whole glass. She slammed the glass down, and looked at Lightning, flashing him a cool smile. Lightning stared blankly at her for a second before speaking.
"So...why did you choose this place to talk?" Lightning said, looking around the abandon tavern. There was really no one in there except for them and the bartender, who was keeping to himself and cleaning some drink glasses. Vinyl simply said,
"Hey bartender! This here is Lightning, heir of the Chaser family." The bartender stopped, and raised and eye for a second.
"So, I suppose you want me to open the door." He said, going back to toweling off some glasses. Vinyl nodded smoothly
"Damn right..." she said, standing up. The bartender sighed, and pulled on a beer tap, causing a brick wall behind the counter to swing open, revealing a rather dark tunnel.
"Thanks Harry" Vinyl said, walking past the bartender. Lightning followed, and heard him mutter something under his breath. As soon as the two were farther into the tunnel, the door shut behind them, sealing them in darkness.
"Where the hell are we going?" Lightning asked, making his way down the dark hallway. He couldn't see it, but he was sure Vinyl was grinning one way or another.
"This is where we come to talk or hangout or...wherever. Ya know?" Vinyl said.
'We...' Lightning thought to himself. 'What does she mean we?'
"I mean that there are more like us in Ponyville, and since we can't just talk about vampire stuff in public, this is a good place to chill." Vinyl said. She had obviously invaded Lightning's mind, but his thoughts would probably be as far as she would be able to push. She soon realized this.
"Damn dude, you got some strong mind restraints." She said.
"I don't like other vampires in my mind. I'll share my stories with those who I trust if I feel like it." He replied back, though the last part was a lie. He had never really shared anything personal with anyone, and even talking like this was pushing his limits a bit. Eventually, after a couple of minutes of walking, the two had reached a simple room. It was rather large, and held a small kitchen, a couch, a TV and a dining table. Though, as the two walked in, Lightning saw that about three other ponies had occupied the room. Lightning instinctively reached for his gun, but Vinyl stopped him halfway.
"Whoa man, these guys are cool." She said, gesturing to the three ponies sitting in various locations, not really even batting an eye. They did turn to see what the commotion was about.
"Who the hell is this guy, Vinyl?" A guy in his early twenties said, getting off the couch. He was about as tall as Lightning, and had short, spiked forward black hair with blue streaks going through it. He wore a simple gray T-shirt covered by a black hoodie, and a simple pair of blue pants.
"He's a Chaser. Found him wandering the streets, almost drained Lyra." Vinyl responded. The guy looked Lightning over, trying to look past his sunglasses. He had icy gray eyes, that stared coldly at Lightning. Lightning took of his sunglasses and extended a gloved hand.
"Call me Lightning..." He said.
"Storm..." He said, shaking his hand without taking his eyes off of Lightning. Storm let go, and stepped back for a second. He seemed to be thinking hard about something, though Lightning was sure about what.
"A Chaser...is that right?" He said. Lightning nodded.
"At your service." He finished. Storm sat back down into the couch, shaking his head slowly and continued watching whatever was on the TV. One of the other guys barley looked up from whatever he was doing, and managed to mutter out a
"What's up my man..." Upon closer inspection, he seemed to be reassembling a stranded issue M1911.
"Nice work on the gun..." Lightning said.
"Thanks..." He said.
"Sorry Lightning, he doesn't talk much when he's messing with his guns." Vinyl said.
"Rain Rider's the name..." He said again, still tinkering with the gun. "You need any kind of weapon related problem solved, I'm your guy." He said. He had bright, blue eyes with long, red hair with golden streaks going through it, with a simple blue pullover hoodie and gray jeans, followed by gray sneakers. Lightning looked at the the last guy, who was fast asleep on the floor. He had short, gray hair with black streaks going through it, and had on a gray long sleeve shirt, black pants and white shoes.
"That's Spark. He usually just sleeps so leave him alone I guess." Lightning studied him for a second.
"Nice to meet you.." Lightning muttered. Vinyl motioned towards the couch.
"Make yourself at home man." Vinyl said. Lightning sighed in deeply, and kicked his boots off, sitting down on the couch. Storm looked over at him, and handed him a glass of deep, red liquid.
"Welcome to Ponyville, Lightning.." Storm said. Lightning studied the glass before taking it in his gloved hand.
"Thanks..." He said, staring into the glass, before drinking deeply. He could tell that he was going to like this place. It was different, that was for sure. But change never really hurts anyone.
End of act one.
