( Credit for the title inspiration and opinion on a certain question goes to my good friend Nikki )
Its been three days since he last had a decent meal. Angel managed to keep off the floor and out of sight for certain amounts of time till he had no choice but to go down. Currently, and fortunately for him this was one of those times were he could walk the beams above and stick to the shadows. Angel was down to one blood capsule. The only form of nourishment he had with what water he could collect from fountains he may cross. Desperately he searched for a kitchen, food storage, pantry, anything that may contain the proper nourishment to sustain his hunger and keep him from being in a weakened state. The thought of feeding on one of the guards didn't sit well with him. The sounds of their hearts alone made him grimace with disgust. They sounded like wet swooshing, like someone was swooshing water in their mouth for long periods of time. The precious ruby red eyes that once held wisdom, and a hint of wildness lost their luster and slowly began to turn into a cold hardened gaze with every passing day. The five o'clock shadow now more visible with its black shade against his face. The nails on his fingers dirtied from grabbing and digging into the dirt and dust covered ledges and ground. Cuts lined his cheeks and eyebrow, his jaw, lip, arms, and mostly his hands. His normally pale skin tone looked a little more on the tanned side from times he had to make an extended run in areas that hardly had shady cover. Not that it bothered him of course. His usually long black locks had been cut slightly above the shoulders. This happening do to one of the more tougher guards grabby the dhampir by the hair and almost lopping his head off. But with Angel's quick speed, he dodged, and retaliated. Ending the guard's life on the spot while loosing his hair length in a sacrifice for his life in the process. He almost looked like a different man. Normally it wouldn't be this fast to turn someone who couldn't be broken easily like this. But this place can prove anyone wrong.
Angel had to ditch his disguise seeing as it didn't do him good anymore for something more fitting. This new attire that he stole consisted of a leather vested armor. Looking as if it lightly hugged his upper torso in a perfect fit. On the back of the leather armor would be the only signs of metal protection. At first this baffled Angel till he figured out later as to why it was designed as such. There were no shields in this place. The back had the metal plating as a means to protect the wearer's back while they defended their front when against more then one enemy. Not only this, it gave them free arms and hands to wield more then one weapon and move about more freely with less weight. This proved useful on more then one occasion. The rest of Angel's new attire consisted of dark blue pants that looked like an almost gray ting, overlapping boots, a red cloth slightly wrecked but soft to the touch wrapped around his waist and hanging from both sides at the hips, two belts buckled on the outer area of the leather top at the bottom base, and one leather wrist band that went up to the elbow with metal to the side.
Stopping mid step on the beam he'd slowly start lowering himself downwards. Rays of light that shot through the wooded window and door of basket like design danced on his frame and even still once he reached the stone ground. Slowly with caution the dhampir pushed the door open. Keeping in a crouched position he silently made his way out. The blinding light flashed before his eyes before they cleared to reveal the current area that now held him. Walls and pillars heavily covered in vines in a hang or a crawl upwards. Vegetation spread around the ground both small and large. Moss and grass grew on the dirt and wooden floor. Giving this place an almost jungle like feel to it. Angel had entered one of the outer garden areas. Not far off he could hear the sounds of birds large and small sounding off. Memory served him well as he recalled one of the more dangerous birds on this island were big enough to feed one man. Keeping in his low crouch he began making his way silently forward. If he could just sneak up on one on the ground or perching low enough to give him a good jumping start to grab, he'd be well fed till the next time it was time to eat.
From were he was, he could see a large four story cage. The sounds of many birds captured and caged coming from within. Angel quickened his pace but stopped when a near by chirping caught in his slightly pointed ears. Carefully he directed his attention and headed that way. The closer he came the more he lowered till doing a complete belly crawl. Once he reached were the bird's chirping lay, Angel stared. Inside a hanging small cage would be an odd looking bird. It's skin a dark brown tone with bits of fuzz emitting off. It's beak brown and tiny, while its eyes large, and yellow with just as large black pupils to match. No wings so the kiwi looking bird hopped around its cage. Unconsciously Angel's nose sniffed. It smelt exactly like the kiwi fruit. Slowly standing up the dhampir made his way to the cage. Sliding the door slowly upwards he'd use his other hand to reach in and quickly snatch the bird. The skin texture felt like a kiwi, and the firmness matched that of a kiwi as well. Maybe if he ever gets the chance, he'll return and steal a few more of these birds to take home. Closing his eyes he listened to the exotic creature chirp away till his hand covered its head. With a snap, the bird stopped chirping, and what he assumed was blood splashed against his hand. Angel murmured something under his raspy breath before opening his eyes. It wasn't blood on his hand, but juice. Further inspection showed that its insides looked identical to that of the kiwi fruit too. Without further hesitation as his stomach churned with hunger Angel quickly bit down and began to eat. A man's gatta eat to live after all.
