Bleeds-Night

**Bleeds-Night** is a Rokea.

## Biography

The Betweener known as Bleeds-Night is young for his rank. A Darkwater in the Cold Sea, he has only swum the seas as a Rokea for three decades, and has spent the last ten years living on Unsea. He first ventured inland as part of a Hunt—already a Darkwater in the Shallows, he assisted in the search for a rogue Rokea called Bloody Stripes, a Brightwater who had embraced Qyrl as his totem. The slew, which included Bleeds-Night, two Brightwaters still on the Surface, and a rather hidebound Dimwater called Guards-the-Shoals, found Bloody Stripes hiding out in Tampa. They attacked, certain of victory in their numbers. The result was tragic. Bloody Stripes fought them not with tooth and claw, but with silver. He slew both Brightwaters before either of them realized what was happening. Bleeds-Night fought back, injuring the rogue, but Guards-the-Shoals fled for his life. Bleeds-Night, alone and wounded, managed to turn Bloody Stripes' silver weapon on him. Bloody Stripes fell dead, changing back into Swimming Jaws, just as the police arrived. What they found was a naked black man, bleeding from a bite wound, surrounded by the corpses of three sharks — and to crown it all, Bleeds-Night spoke exactly three words of English ("I don't understand").

Escaping the police required Bleeds-Night to venture to Unsea's Soul. He found it fascinating, strange, and even a bit frightening, but certainly not the pit of certain doom that he'd been warned about. He decided to return to Sea to tell the Rokea that Unsea's Soul might hold some answers to the modern world and its trials. When he did return, however, he found himself marked for death. Guards-the-Shoals arrogantly believed that since he couldn't defeat Bloody Stripes, there was no way Bleeds-Night could have done so. When he found that his slew-mate was still alive, he decided that Bleeds-Night must have sided with Qyrl rather than face death. Enough Rokea believed him that the Darkwater had to flee again — back to Unsea. Since then, Bleeds-Night has learned more about the surface world than any single Rokea in the Sea. He holds down a job, pays his taxes, and still manages to fulfill his duties as one of the Kunspawn.

Over the years, he has made contact with many Betweeners, and teaches them about the surface world and how best to avoid the Hunts. He has also ventured into Unsea's Soul many times, and is probably the most knowledgeable Rokea alive with respect to the Umbra. Guards-the-Shoals has been hunting him during all of this, of course. Most recently, the Dimwater's priorities changed. The New Wound — the ominous Red Star — promises some ill tides for the Rokea, and no Darkwater in the Sea can offer any explanation or hope. Guards-the-Shoals, as much as he hates Bleeds-Night, believes that the Betweener may just hold the answer. Bleeds-Night, however, has no idea why the Hunts for him have grown so vigorous lately. He just makes his way through life as a simple man in Southern Florida, surviving.

## Quotes

*"I just told you to leave him be did I not?"*

*"You know who I am?"*

*-To  Mateo*

*"Yeah. I'm the idiot who saved your sorry ass. Guards-the-Shoals is a cocky bastard. I'm sure I surprised him."*

*-To Mateo*

*"Not long. Few hours. We'll be okay here for a while longer."*

*- To Mateo*

*"For you? Hell, yes. They'll send a whole slew for you. Me, I'm just a betweener. They've been hunting me for years; few more ain't gonna kill 'em. You, on the other hand, are a new thing. You aren't supposed to exist at all. You're a human-born shark."*

*- To Mateo*

*"Good question. Guess you didn't get a chance to ask Guards about that?"*

*-To Mateo*

*"Want one? No? Okay, but fair warning, this isn't normal tobacco, and it'll help calm you down. No, don't think that way, it is tobacco. Just not normal.*

*- To Mateo*

*"As far as the actual facts of life for Rokea go, we breed with sharks. If you saw me in Swimming Jaws (that's "normal shark form," just so you know) I'd look like a great white."*

*-To Mateo*

*"By far the rarest of the Rokea are the Darkwaters, like myself."*

*-To Mateo about Darkwaters*

*"What are you, 19?"*

*-To Mateo*

*"Oh shut the fuck up, kid."*

*- To Mateo*