Of course Ursala knew Moira. It was Ursala who'd helped her learn to control her hunger and learn to live as a vampire. She felt sorry for the girl rather than jealous, with Mog always bothering her. She had been jealous of her at first, and thought she was a whiny little twit. But then after Ursala figured out what sort of a greedy, power-mad pig Mog was, her attitude toward Moira changed. That's when she decided to help her and teach her. Ursala's moment of clarity came when Mog told her that the only way he'd take her for his queen was if she made him the King of the UnDead. She'd been Queen for nearly 400 yarens, so that wasn't going to happen any time soon! Ursala had fought too hard and too long to get where she was and no new-born upstart was going to take that away from her. What HAD happened to Moira? Ursala inquired of some of her stalkers who haunted the moors. None of them had seen Moira for at least half a moon if not longer. Time was nothing worth noting when you lived forever. It simply passed and the days and nights bled into one another almost seamlessly after a time. Only humans had some silly notions about keeping time - and if it were to be believed, weres. But a true were could change their form any time. That bit about the full moon was naught but a spurious tale. Hmmm. Ursala needed to feed but first she went to the Haunted Glen to find her best shadow-walker, Beren. Humans and the fey couldn't see the shadow-walkers, but other vampires could...unless they were newborns, but even they learned - eventually. She found Beren sitting on an old tree stump near the pond there, staring at the moon like the lone wolf he was. Beren was not only a vampire, but a shape-shifter...a were. "Ya really should come back 'ome now an' then, Beren," she whispered in his ear, startling him. "I miss ya." It was Beren who'd seen what happened with Mog and Gwidion. "By the gods o' darkness, my Queen! Ya out ta feed?" He might have been surprised by his visitor, but you'd never know it. He was unflappable. "Aye, Beren...but there's two things I want ya ta do fer me." She allowed him to stand and bow to her, then she tilted his head upward with a talon. "First, I want ye ta find out what happened ta Moira." Her red eyes drank him in. As far as Ursala was concerned Beren was utterly delicious...in many ways. "An' after ya done that fer me, I want ya ta come an' tell me what ya found an'...visit me awhile. It's been too long - don't ya think?" "Ya know, now thet ya mention it, I aint seen 'er in quite some time...nor you in all yer glory ma Lady o' the Night," he grinned. A deep throaty growl rumbled in his throat. "I shall make haste then to discover what ye would know and return as soon as possible." He began to bow in leaving but Ursala stopped him. "Aye? Ya want me ta bring 'er to ya?" "Nooo. I simply want ta know what happened to 'er. An' if ya 'appen ta hear any sort of tongue-wagglin' whilst yer out regarding Mog or see 'im about, I want ta know that too." "As you will, my Queen." Beren then turned and walked into the shadows, disappearing completely. Vampires didn't just 'poof' disappear - not without a lot o' hubub an' ta do. Nah...there was something strange about all this, Ursala thought as she turned her attentions to the road up ahead. What should she be tonight? A maiden in distress? A traveler seeking directions? Or just a deadly shadow? ***** Beren is the Lochan figure by Muted Banshee (funnily enough) from RDNA. The only morph I made to him was his body size. Also in this image, everything about him is set to 15% Transparency in the Material room, except for his hair. I wanted him to be a little more transparent but he came out paler than he would be normally and that's okay. Both Ursala and Beren are wearing Kouros Hair by StudioArtVartanian. Thanks for looking and your great comments my friends. Enjoy your weekend! Cheers, Rayvn ~;>