[Meme] Numbered OC Meme - Vampire Hunt

Volke now turned around, holding the parchment in his right hand. He took a few steps towards Inigo, then lifted it between two fingers.
"This." He said, narrowing his eyes slightly. At this point, he couldn't care less about it being seen anymore.

"Ehh?!" Inigo screeched as he saw the parchment. In response he checked his pocket, only to find that the parchment he put in there had disappeared - so the one the man was holding must have been the one he picked up! "How did you...?" Inigo asked, rather than responding to the parchment-thief's question.

"I thought I asked you something."
He replied sternly, after which he repeated his question a second time, a little more urgently.
"Why have you been hiding this from us?"

"Well," Inigo stammered. "I thought it was just some Pegasus dung-loaded horror story.. I-I mean, it just can't be true, now can it?"
Fully aware that his statement is currently contradicting his recent behaviour, Inigo got more and more nervous with every word. The glare he was receiving wasn't like any he'd seen before- no, it was as if this man could kill him on the spot if he would mess up any more..
"I- I apologize? Ha...ha... Hrk.."

"Listen closely." Volke said, his voice growing ever more unfriendly. "We're stuck in a dark forest. Mysterious things are happening here. This--" He pointed at the piece of parchment. "--is the only clue we've found. And it's warning us for something that could potentially kill us."
He paused briefly, allowing his last few words to be emphasized. The parchment was lowered again, but his attitude remained hostile.
"Now tell me again you thinking 'it was a pegasus dung-loaded horror story' is a reasonable excuse for not telling us."

"Err," Inigo stammered again, hoping to find a better excuse. To avoid looking directly into the man's scary eyes, he averted his sight to the Angel of Death that was in their group of three, making him realise one other thing: "I actually didn't have much chances to yet do so, actually. But now you know. Maybe we should avoid going to wherever that scream came from. Maybe another direction or--"

"We are not going to avoid anything." He disagreed. "This piece gave us information. An advantage. Now, it's being the hunter or being the hunted. Personally, I'm not going to pick the latter."
Ofcourse, without having much information about their enemies, they were in no position to take them down yet. Nonetheless Volke insisted upon them taking charge, an idea he preferred strongly over turning their backs and fleeing. As long as they remained unnoticed, observing signs, tracks or further investigating anything suspicious was the first step to getting to know their enemy.

Relieved that he managed to change the subject, Inigo decided to just follow this plan no matter how gladly he wanted to avoid it.
"Well then.. t-then we'll go on. Aren't we almost there?"

Volke sighed, then finally averted his eyes as he looked around briefly. Still not able to find any clues as to where the scream came from, he turned back to Inigo again.
"This was the last time you hid something from us." He demanded, pushing the parchment back into Inigo's hands before walking on again -- further leaving his question unanswered.

While Volke already continued walking again, Naesala remained in place for a few more seconds and took his time scanning the area thoroughly. It was incredibly hard seeing things in the distance what with the thick fog and dark surroundings, yet at one point he appeared to catch eye of something else than just trees. What it was, he couldn't quite figure out yet.
".. I'd say we are." He answered Inigo, gesturing ahead. He didn't bother to inform Volke as well; he knew the information had been heard either way.
"Now, in case this is our enemy.. Do make sure to keep low." He warned. "You wouldn't wish to truly become our bait, hm?"

"I do have fighting experience.." Inigo whispered to himself. But this place where they were now was perhaps even eerier than the world he'd grown up in - if a vampire situation would've happened in his future, he wouldn't be this worried. He'd handle it and make the ladies smile! But this world was different.. he didn't know anything of the surroundings, the history, nothing- which made everything just so much harder.

He tucked the parchment away in his pocket again, uncaring whether the parchment thief would nab it away again - after all, they now all knew of the situation.

Faked determination on his face, Inigo looked at Naesala. "No- I don't want to be."

"So I thought." The raven answered, glad to see a glimpse of determination, as it would save them a lot of effort trying to get the young man to cooperate.

He then proceeded to move ahead, following Volke, who was already quietly heading in the direction he had gestured at. As he tried to see more clearly into the distance, which was still rather difficult, he could barely make out some sort of particular shadow on the ground. Whether it was an object, a person, or perhaps even just a shadow at all, he couldn't point out just yet. They'd have to get closer to it, first.
He only checked behind himself once, to see if Inigo was following.

Treading carefully, still alert for any sort of traps or ambushes, he slowly approached the pained person until there was no more than a couple meters distance. From here he thought it'd be best to keep the distance for safety reasons.
By now, Volke was fairly certain about this person's identity, and confirmed that he was also clearly wounded -- badly so. He figured that's what must've caused the scream. Something or someone had definitely attacked, and would no doubt still be nearby.

He saw Inigo had remained behind a little further, as had Naesala. Usually, he himself wouldn't have bothered to check more closely when it held a risk of this kind, but right now he was in dire need of any information this individual might carry with him. After all, so far, they knew practically nothing.. At all.

".. You." He whispered lowly, trying to not startle this person and with that draw the attention of any possible attackers. He noticed said person had his head turned away, which made Volke unable to see the face and confirm or disprove his idea of who it was for certain.
"Turn around." he said. "I need to see who you are." He couldn't care less about sounding inconsiderate or perhaps even rude.

While Soren had kept his eyes agonizingly closed, he opened them in the same surprise as an animal who'd prick up their ears as soon as they'd hear any suspicious sound. This voice he heard just now was one he recognized. He hadn't heard it often, but the speech had been imprinted in his mind. The voice belonged to a person who Soren might've hated a little less than others he had ever met, because this person would willingly be manipulated for money. And people who agree to be less than others could be .. interesting assets to any strategist.

Considering THIS man had found him, he didn't have much choice but to reveal the answer.
Soren turned his head around slowly. His brand was covered up by a few strands of his hair combined with some leaves that had gotten into it during his fall on the ground. His crimson-eyed glare however wasn't to be matched with anyone (with the exception of perhaps Volke's), making Soren as equally recognizable as when his Brand would be in sight.

"... My. And you of all people find me here." He managed to say before groaning again.

"If I were you, I'd be glad I was found at all." His only reply was. His voice carried a nigh imperceptible hint of approval, as if Soren's personal reply had assured him that it really was him, and not a lookalike bait of some kind.
The next thing he wanted to figure out before anything else, however, is what had happened and what sort of situation Soren was in. With the parchment in the back of his mind and the word 'vampire' written freshly in his memories, Volke wanted to absolutely be aware of any possible danger. Even if the information Soren had about his attackers was merely at a minimum, it could help him piecing things together.
"Now what happened here?" He asked.

"Me? Glad to be found?" Soren inaudibly laughed at the joke Volke just cracked. Ha, being found! Soren didn't consider it his lucky day at all: why would he of all people be relieved?

Whatsoever - he was not interested in answering the rest as he was still face-flat. One way to describe the situation was embarrassing. And not just embarrassing, but incredibly embarrassing for the famed strategist.

Knowing Volke however, Soren was aware the man would wait for the answer or get it out of him by force. So Soren put his hands besides his shoulders and attempted to push himself up, which was pretty darned hard to do with all the pain.

"I got warped here. Wasn't paying enough attention."

Finally getting himself up a little, he turned around enough so he could sit straight. His head all dizzy and turning, he took a moment to breathe before continuing.

"Attacked from be.. behind... uah.."

Watching the scene, Inigo wanted to rush in and help the wounded person, but the thought of vampires - and this person being possibly bitten by one ruled his mind more.

Inigo glanced over at Naesala.
"Hey, what do you think? Surely we should help, right? But.."

Volke watched expressionlessly as the other attempted to get himself up with all due effort. He was well aware that Soren didn't take any liking to the current way of events at all, but frankly he felt like it wasn't his concern. Neither were the wounds, aside from any possible hints they could uncover about the attacker. At this point, everything on his part was strictly informative and practical, which no doubt reflected in the way he treated the situation.
“Did you see or hear anything right before the attack?” He asked in a factual manner. Without any source of light, only a few wounds were visible enough to give him a decent indication of how things happened, but it was by far not enough to create a solid image.