From SuspireWiki

Truth, as with many things, lies in the eyes of the beholder. I knew a vampire the first time I saw her. She had a sweeping dark brow, long black hair, the perfect idea of a woman, and some part of me went chill, cold, and down my spine crept the passing of death. I knew her for what she was, and she saw me. Her dark brown eyes affixed on my wide, doe eyes and she smiled ever so slightly. It wasn't even a smile, it was just a faint tilting of the side of her mouth. Instead of running far, far away, I left my table with the other members of my band, and walked across the floor towards her.

She was surprised I approached her, she said. I later found out that she had found out which was the bravest in the room, through the Call of Courage, but didn't expect me to come forward. She took me outside and then I was attacked enmasse by black ravens. I wasn't afraid, it was something else, I think it was more a sense of disbelief that overtook me. Half of my body was in panic, while some other part of it was wanting to know what kind of drugs I'd been slipped after the show. When my better half took control I grabbed a trashcan lid and started batting for birds until she called them away.

She told me that night she would have rather embraced a sister spirit, and that I would have to work doubly hard to earn my place.

I don't remember a lot from that night, other than she didn't embrace me in a back alleyway. We went somewhere else, I was given a purifying agent, something that made me sweat out all of the impurities of my body. It was honestly kind of nasty. I remember being disgusted by being human in that moment. They tied up my hair, and told me that I would keep it, that it would serve me well, and then I was bathed by a group. I think by that time I knew what was going on and I wanted it so badly.

When I was pure of the body, cleaned and marked, she took me to her and embraced me in her cult's temple, and when I awoke, I did so and found myself shortly afterwards in grueling tasks.

A defender is what I would be, so I had to learn how to Defend first: it started with a whip. I would roll side to side, one could say for nights - no, probably weeks - on end, trying to avoid the lashing of a common bull whip. And if it would land, the exercise would start anew. Over and over until I knew the precise moment of the lashing crack and could twist my body away. When I finally passed the test, she added barbs. I heard some of the other chorus say that she did not want a male childe, and so she treated me more harshly, but I didn't and don't believe them. What she was doing was to train me, and training was hard, training was dangerous, and training was pain. When we went through I could avoid the barbs for one whole night, we moved on to fists and fingers. She never drew claws on me until the very end of my training, and it was a split second. She was slicing at me as she did with her fingers, to imitate a clawing attack, and frankly I was being lazy in my defense. The claws raked across my face and chest and I screamed in pain, and the beast howled inside me. When I healed in a week... I did not ever act lazy again in my lessons.

She taught me of our line, and told me of our place. To defend, she would always say, and to die to a superior foe while weakening them enough to be slain, would be the greatest honor that I could ever bestow to you. I always thought not dying sounded like a better plan. She would laugh.

I don't know where I got the name Tex, but I think it was in jest. I did try hard because I never forgot the words of my sire, so I tried harder than others, and I suppose in doing that perhaps I came off too arrogant or cocky. No, not perhaps, I think that is exactly what happened. It started off slow "Get 'em Tex" followed by laughter. But it kind of grew on it's own. Soon everyone called me Tex, and that's what I was known as.

She told me that after twenty-five years, I would have to leave her and seek out the defense of another group of Acolytes and in time embrace another, and do the same for them. I understood. Though my nights were mostly spent with the cults of Los Angeles, I learned about other Kindred by taking trips to Elysiums. After all, you can't simply ignore the fact that you do have to know what you're up against, even if it's a period of peace, and sometimes it was a welcome change from the grind. That's not to say I was a social butterfly, but I enjoyed the occasional change of pace and even made some pretty interesting associates.

Still, I knew my duty. I never really did get to ever test it out, sure, there were occasionally Kindred that had to be tracked down, and was part of the group to go do it, but I always felt like there was something missing. Like I had the blood in me of someone who'd rather be in the thick of a battle of five hundred, swinging an axe wildly. Something always felt so hollow. But I ignored it as best I could.

As the years drew nearer and nearer to twenty-five, I could feel my blood changing. They said it was fast, but not uncommon, especially with such rigorous work ethic I had maintained for years with my sire. The more you use the blood, the faster it grows strong is what the women would say.

When I was old enough to take the line of my sire she finally told me that I had earned my right to be a Stormcrow, regardless of my gender. And then she sent me away.

That was seven nights ago, and now I'm walking into a city known more for it's lights than it's beliefs. Perhaps it will be my new test of will, or perhaps I will find that honor she spoke of so many years ago.