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When the ash and dust clears, Pearl finds herself not atop the hill with Scott, but in a dark, wooded forest. She looks around, the explosion still clear in her mind. Scott had sacrificed himself for her, despite everything. Now, she is alone, just as she has been all this time, but she is no longer just Scarlet Pearl; she is Scarlet Pearl the Victor.
As much as Pearl would love to dwell on that, given how preposterous it sounds, she is far more interested in where she is. She doesn’t recognize any of the towering pines, nor the notably grey atmosphere that seems to mute everything but her blood red cloak. It’s strange, certainly, but then again, she has seen stranger. Perhaps this is what each victor gets as a prize?
Pearl picks her way through the forest, eventually coming across a path. She follows it through the forest as it winds between the trees until they slowly begin to thin. Soon, the trees break to reveal a grassy slope leading down from the forest to a meadow. The path loops through the meadow into the distance, where Pearl swears she can see faint trails of smoke.
She is about to start towards it when a flash of movement catches her eye. She blinks twice, unable to believe what she is seeing. Is that… a swarm of bats flying in broad daylight? It seems unthinkable, and yet, upon a second check, that is what Pearl sees. She follows after the swarm, not towards the potential town, but towards a rocky cliff. It’s painstaking; each step is heavy after the hunt she’s had only hours earlier, but Pearl is used to hunting.
What she isn’t used to, though, is bats. They move erratically across the terrain, sometimes lingering near the ground before flying halfway up the trees. Every so often, the swarm congeals together before splitting, so Pearl pays them little mind when they consolidate into a shape. What surprises her is when rather than flying apart, a man appears in their midst and the bats vanish. Even more surprising, though, is the fact that she recognizes the man: Scott.
“You!” Pearl shouts, her voice booming through the cliffside. She strides forward, able to pin Scott across a boulder in seconds. “How dare you blow yourself up instead of giving me a fair fight, after everything.”
Scott, for one, seems remarkably unperturbed by the sudden onslaught. He simply grins, and Pearl can’t help but notice the sharp fangs that glint in the sunlight. One moment, Scott is beneath her and the next he is five feet away, a coy grin sneaking across his face.
“Do I know you?” he asks. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
”oh, we’ve met,” Pearl says. She reaches for her axe, only to pause when Scott shakes his head.
“I fear an axe will be too little to protect you, if you’re afraid of me.”
Pearl huffs. “I’m not afraid of you, Scott. In fact, you should be afraid of me.”
”And you are?” Scott asks, running a finger Alaina his nails in disinterest.
”Scarlet Pearl,” Pearl says, lifting her head high. “I have hunted all who opposed me and brought them to their knees. I am the last standing in the arena, and I do not like to be trifled with.”
“Oh no,” he says, feigning a faint against the cliffside. “How terrible. And here I thought I should be scared.”
Pearl is about to protest when he moves impossibly fast. His face is now seconds away from her/“s, but far more concerning is his bared fangs. “I take it you’re not from around here, Pearl,” he says, his voice a sliver. “Be careful who you mess with. You never know when one might be an ancient vampire.” He pulls back. “Though I suppose that you aren’t from around here. Oakhurst is lovely, but not for too long, if I have anything to say about it.”
Pearl glances back towards where she’d seen the smoke. “What do you mean?” she asks cautiously.
“I mean that those humans—“ Scott closes his eyes, almost as if relishing the thought. “—will not be human for much longer, if I have anything to do with it.”
“No,” Pearl says without thinking. She pulls her axe out, brandishing it towards Scott. “Not as long as I’m standing.”
At that, Scott’s grin widens. “Oh, how I hoped you’d say that.”
Pearl can’t react before a piercing pain in her neck alerts her to a bite. She swings wide with her axe, feeling it sink into something. The weight in her neck releases , leaving her rattled as a cloud of bats fills her vision. They are there for a moment and then they are gone.
She reaches up runs her hand along her neck. Two puncture wounds are clearly defined, though they are not deep. As she looks back towards the village of Oakhurst, Pearl can only frown.
She doesn’t know what she’s gotten into, but one thing is for sure: Oakhurst is in trouble, and she’s not sure she can save it.