DISCLAIMER: no matter what I do there's no way to avoid this... so I'm just gonna get it over with... I don't own the Night World or its characters, the amazing L.J. Smith does
Step by step—summary—Ash has to take his first big step towards slaying a dragon for Mary-Lynette- joining Circle Daybreak. How will the Daybreaker's react?
It's a little out of order because all the soulmates are there except Hannah.
It kind of goes back and forth between ash's p.o.v and the narrator's p.o.v… In a way
Ash Redfern stood outside a huge mansion in Las Vegas, arguing with himself.
Why can't I just walk in? I used to be confident enough…wait used to be? No I still am! I'm Ash Redfern for goddess' sake. So I'll just walk right up and knock… But I can't! They'll never let me in, not unless they kill me and need to put the body somewhere before the burial. But they are Circle Daybreak, aren't they supposed to be gentle and not murderers? AGH! Making decisions is so hard…
Confused? Why don't we backtrack a little bit, shall we?
Well, Ash Redfern used to be your everyday, out of the book vampire. Thought of humans as food, nothing more. And he used to be known for his ruthlessness, cruelty etc. But see, the key phrase here is used to be. Right up until this summer when he met her. His one and only, his second half, his soulmate. Mary-Lynette Carter. Can't be a "vermin" hater when your soulmate is one, now can you? See, when Ash met her, as soon as they shook hands, he fell head over heels for her. No, it wasn't completely his fault; there was the soulmate principle to blame. The soulmate principle has recently been spreading like a wildfire through the Redfern family, and Ash was no exception. So to make their long story short: thanks to that lovely silver cord connecting them, Ash and Mare met, she kicked him in the shins a few times, they figured out that were soulmate's, killed a werewolf who had killed ash's aunt, and seen each others minds. (Mostly in that order)And there lay the problem. By seeing his mind, Mary-Lynette saw his past. His dark past, where he did many things, things that now even he shuddered at the thought of. So M'lin sent him packing to make up for what he had done. For the two and a half months since he had left quaint little Briar Creek, he had been wandering around, looking for people he had some how wronged. He had also saved humans from night worlder's. Then he realized, the best way to help out and atone for his sins in the past, was to join Circle Daybreak. So there he stood
Get it now? Good.
Ash gathered up all the courage he could muster, and strode towards the door; in that lazy cat-like way of his, of course. On the inside, Ash felt half empty. Being without your soulmate could do that to you. But no one else had to know he was feeling this way, right? So, on the outside, he acted like good old fatuous Ash Redfern. This also helped when he met with night worlders who did not know he had changed. And yes, he had changed, more than even he knew. He was willing to go to the end of the earth and back, willing to do what ever it took, so that Lady Lynette would take him.
Ash began to grow more confident with each stride. Yea, he had changed. He was good now, perfect Circle Daybreak material. They would let him in with open arms. Right? Before he could let that hint of doubt left consume him, he rang the doorbell.
It was a few minutes before anyone answered, probably coming from the other side of the huge mansion. Suddenly the door creaked open, and stormy gray eyes peered out at him.
Ash flashed his best smile. "Hey, cuz-" he began, but was cut off as he was punched in the face, hard, flying backwards.
Ash looked up to see his cousin, James Rasmussen, sitting on top of him, stake poised above his heart
"What the hell, James! And where did you get that stake!" Ash yelled, annoyed.
"Why are you here, and what do you know?" His cousin asked bluntly.
Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! An announcer stated in his head. "I am here to… well…" just spit it out! Gulp "Join…Circle Daybreak" He opened his eyes and looked hopefully at his cousin.
James face only hardened. "Where did you hear about Circle Daybreak?" he asked, stake still in place
Ash sighed, rolling his eyes. "Does it matter? I don't even remember anymore. I just want to join. Is that not good enough?"
James narrowed his eyes. "And why should I believe you?"
Ash looked up at him with eyes that were probably an honest blue. "Because," he sighed "I-I found my soulmate. She is human"
James wasn't moved "Oh yea? Then where is she?"
Ash winced. This was a touchy subject for him. "She's-I- look, can I just tell the whole of circle daybreak at once? I would rather not tell my story 20 times"
James contemplated this for a few minutes, then finally heaved himself up off of his cousin. "Alright, I suppose I'll give you a chance. After all, I didn't trust Quinn at first, but it turned out he had really changed" James stated, lowering a hand and helping Ash up.
Ash rubbed his broken nose, already quickly healing. Then what James had said sunk in. Ash's jaw dropped. "Quinn?" he asked, incredulous "Quinn, John Quinn, joined Circle Daybreak?"
"Yep" James said, shrugging. "Found his soulmate too, and she is human. She was also a vampire hunter. But not just any vampire hunter, she was the cat"
Ash's eyebrows shot up. "Really? The Cat? Well isn't that… ironic."
James just shrugged again, walking towards the door. "But I still don't trust you" He said, and Ash noticed he was still holding the stake "And a lot of Daybreaker's know exactly what you look like, so don't expect any warm welcomes"
Ash smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it, cuz"
They headed in, and started heading down the lavishly decorated hall. Ash looked around, completely awed. Then he heard quick footsteps heading their way.
"Oh there you are, Jamie! We were wondering why you were taking so long! The meeting's about to start. So who was at the door?" A petite girl with copper curls said, peering over James.
Poppy froze when she realized it was Ash. She looked like se was deciding whether to run away in fear or lunge and rip his throat out. James must have said something to her mentally, because she immediately relaxed. "Ash joining Circle Daybreak, never thought I'd see the day." She stated, shaking her head
Ash smiled at her quick acceptance. "Neither did I, little dreamer" He said, wiggling his fingers in an almost wave. James glared at him. "Sorry, I meant Poppy"
James sighed. "Well don't trust him just yet, Poppy."
"Why not?" she asked, puzzled. "What reason could he possibly have to lie?"
James cocked his head to the side "Do I really have to answer that?"
Ash glared at him. "Gee, thanks cuz. Glad to know you have faith in me"
"Well why don't we just let Thierry decide whether we can trust him?" Poppy asked James, wanting to get back to the meeting.
Ash's jaw dropped, again. "Thierry is a part of circle daybreak? The Thierry Descouedres?
"Not just part of-" James started
"In charge of" Poppy finished
Ash's eyes bugged out, probable a golden-yellow in shock "An elder, the elder, of the night world council, is the leader of circle daybreak?" he whistled "well these certainly are new times"
Poppy rolled her eyes. "Come on, their all waiting for us." Ash assumed she meant the meeting. "They're all soulmates" Poppy added, probably for his sake "so not all of circle daybreak is there. You will have to tell your story a couple of times" Ah, so that's what James had told her.
"Wait." Ash said, "Look, I just wanted to apologize for what I did two summers ago. It was really outta line, and I hope you can forgive me."
They both stared at him, bewildered. He could practically read their expressions. Had Ash Redfern just apologized?
After what felt like forever to Ash, Poppy spoke up. "Well, Ash, it was very nice of you to apologize. Apology accepted." Then she glared at James.
He held up his hand in surrender. "Alright, alright, I forgive him. Doesn't mean I trust him, though."
Ash was about to retort when he realized that James had forgiven him, and that was something he hadn't expected, so he let the trust bit slide.
They turned and followed Poppy down a long corridor and into a big, cozy den. Multiple tan couches sat in a semi-circle facing the door, and the back wall was lined with decorative windows. The room was painted a comfortable cream color.
"Wait in the hall." Poppy whispered to him, pushing him back out. James stayed with him, probably thinking he would try and run off. Ash rolled his ever-changing eyes.
"Well the person at the door was indeed a new member," he cold hear poppy through the door. "But he may come as a surprise to you, kind of like when Quinn came, so just try not to, like, kill him, kay?
He heard Quinn snort "you could have told them that when I showed up. I still have a bruise from where Morgead hit me, and that staff was wooden, mind you."
"Seriously Quinn? I thought you were over that" he heard someone groan. Probably that Morgead person Quinn had mentioned.
"Shut it, you two" The way Poppy said it, he could tell this had probably been going on for a while. "I'm gonna bring him in, okay? Just everyone stay in your seats. James? Ash?" she called
Ash could hear gasps at the mention of his name, and he couldn't help but smile. He slowly walked in, following James. Looking around the room, he saw many familiar faces, and his eyebrows shot up.
"Thea, Delos, Jez?" He said, genuinely surprised that his cousins were here. "Is it just me, or is this room filled with Redfern's?" He stated, smirking at the appalled faces of those who knew him, and the confused faces of those who did not.
Quinn was the first to find his voice. "Ash? What the hell are you doing here?"
He heard the others voicing similar questions, not all as, uh, nice, as Quinn "hey, hey, calm yourselves," he said, holding up his hands "I'm here to join"
"Yea sure, and I'm the tooth fairy" A girl said, standing up next to Quinn. She was human, with dark hair and blazing green eyes. She also had a stake in her left hand.
"Ugh" he groaned "not another stake, please"
But she ignored him, and started advancing on him. He saw Jez also coming his way, and she had a stake too.
"What, do you all carry stakes in your back pockets?" He asked, slowly backing away
The dark haired girl smiled evilly "And silver daggers in our boots."
He heard poppy attempting to stop them, but he could tell it wasn't working. James just stood there. What a nice cousin he is, Ash thought. Fight or run? Well since its circle daybreak, and there are a lot more of them than me, running would probably be smart, He decided. He was about to turn and sprint for all he was worth when he heard a voice. Quiet but determined, it rang out "Wait!" everyone froze, turning to look at a tiny girl with very short white-blond hair and violet eyes. Witch. "I-"She shrank with all the sudden attention. "I think he's telling the truth." Another girl, who looked almost exactly like the black haired girl with the stake (except he could tell she was a shape shifter), narrowed her eyes at the witch. "What makes you say that, Jill?"
The small girl, Jill, or Gillian as he assumed this was a nickname, got up and strode toward Ash, as if to get a better look at him. For some reason, she looked familiar to him…
"It's him!" Gillian exclaimed
"Who?" Asked a Boy with dark hair and brown eyes, sitting next to the empty spot Gillian had occupied.
"The boy, or vampire rather, that saved me from the Black Iris club! Angel had told me to go in, but I was still, well, human in a way, and the vampires new that, But he-"She jerked a finger towards him"- got me outta there before they could- well you get the point. I knew that I recognized that name!" She smiled triumphantly.
Ash remembered now. So she really was a witch? "So you really are a witch?" he voiced his thoughts "sorry I didn't believe you."
She turned and smiled at him "That's okay, not even I believed I was a witch then."
The black haired girl, the human one, looked extremely confused, as did Jez. "But why would he help you, if you were- well if he thought you were human?"
Gillian thought for a moment, then she seemed to remember. "He said-oh yea! - He said he met a human girl last summer." She turned to face him "I didn't really get it then, but now I understand. She was your soulmate, wasn't she?"
Ash gazed at this girl, who had suddenly come to his rescue, when she thought she knew him, wasn't even sure. He was immediately grateful. He looked around the room, and slowly, he nodded. "Yes, she was my soulmate."
"Well why didn't you just say so in the first place?" Jez said, rolling her silver-blue eyes. "Could have saved me the energy of standing up"
"I'm sorry Jezebel, but I was busy trying not to get staked, twice"
The black haired girl lowered her arm, mumbling sorry. Jez growled, taking a fighting stance once again. "Don't call me that!" she snarled, eyes going completely silver.
"What, Jezebel?" He joked. He wanted to retain some of his dignity after almost fleeing from a fight.
"Dude, not smart" Laughed that boy, Morgead, probably Jez's soulmate. Jez lunged, and probably would have caused some serious pain to Ash, had Thierry not walked in right then.
"Stop!" rang out his voice, full of authority.
Jez froze mid-lunge, cursing under he breath, and took her seat. The others, who had gotten up in anticipation of a great fight, followed her lead. Ash heard someone mumble "would have been so fun to watch…" sounded like Quinn.
"You can't just attack a new member! No matter whom it is, or what he says!" Thierry shouted, exasperated "And to think you learned this when you almost killed Quinn." Quinn snorted at that. Thierry turned to Ash. "I apologize, Ash. I would have been in here, but I had some business to attend to, so I was late to the meeting.
"No, it's all right, Lord Thierry. I completely understand their reactions. Hell, I wasn't even expecting to get past James at the front door" At this everyone turned to look at James, who smiled sheepishly.
Ash thought he saw Thierry roll his eyes. "So, Ash. You found your soulmate."
He looked at the ground, knowing what was coming. "Yea"
"Well, Where is she?" when he didn't answer, just stared at the ground, Thierry gasped. "Oh my, is she-did something happen to her, Ash?"
He looked up quickly, "No!" he shouted, "its just-well she- this would be easier if I could tell you what happened. In a short version, of course." He added quickly, not wanting to have to share everything.
Thierry nodded, "alright, go ahead." He said sitting down to get comfortable. "You can sit down if you would like, Ash" Ash nodded, taking a seat on an angle from the window, so he could see the stars. They had a way of calming him, since they always reminded him of Mare. Alright, story time. Now where to begin…
"Well I guess it all started when my sisters, Rowan, Jade and Kestrel" He added for the humans and those who did not know his family "Left our isolated island. See, our great aunt, Opal Burdock, had been contacting them from a small human town in Oregon, called Briar creek." It took all of his self control not to flinch. He explained how he had brought Quinn. The human black haired girl turned to Quinn "Ya, didn't you tell us that ash staked his aunt, and burned a werewolf?" He saw heads nodding in agreement. Quinn nodded "well that's what he told me." They turned back to Ash
"Well, assuming you had not found your soulmate yet, I couldn't tell you the truth, could I? But your right uh-"
"Rashel" the girl supplied
"Well Rashel, your right, that is what I told him. And speaking of names, I may be popular, but I don't believe I know everyone here."
"Oh, please excuse me Ash, I forgot. Well, since we are all eager to get on with the story, why don't we just go around in a circle? Thea? We will start with you. Name and species."
Thea smiled "Well Ash, you already know me, and that I'm a witch, and this is my soulmate Eric Ross, human" The sandy haired boy waved. "Yup" He added, probably wanting to at least be a part of the conversation.
"you already know who I am" Jez stated, rolling her eyes."But what you don't know is that I am a Wild power"
"And I'm Morgead Blackthorn, Jez's soulmate, vampire" Said the boy who had allegedly hit Quinn with a stick. Ash immediately respected the dark haired biker.
They skipped over Poppy and James.
"I'm Gillian Lennox, and I'm a witch. And yes I am a Harman, distantly, I was not lying at the club. But I am not using the name." Her soulmate was the dark haired boy who had asked 'who?' when she had remembered Ash. "David Blackburn, Human and Gillian's soulmate" they looked at each other and smiled. Ash quickly looked away.
"Quinn" Quinn said, Folding the cuffs of his long sleeve shirt "John Quinn"
Ash just rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure everyone else did too.
Rashel pushed Quinn. "Rashel Jordan, human, Keller's twin, and one helluva vampire hunter, if I may say so myself" She was obviously Quinn's soulmate
"Keller." Said the other dark haired girl "well, it's Raksha Keller, but please just call me Keller. And I am a panther shapeshifter. And yes, Rashel and I are twins"
A boy with gold hair said "I'm Galen Drache, Keller's soulmate. And I am a leopard shifter."
Drache…as in the first house of the shapeshifters? (A/N: That's what it's called right? And is that how you spell his last name?) Wow, he knew Delos was a prince, but who knew circle daybreak could get two princes?
Delos nodded, knowing that Ash already knew him. "I am also a Wild power. I was not sure if I had told you or not, so if I have, well, I am telling you again" He said, smiling
"Maggie Neely" Said the auburn haired girl next to him. "Human"
He wondered how Delos had fond her, since she was human. Had she been a slave? But she looked completely at ease with the technology surrounding her, whereas Delos looked very uncomfortable. I bet their story is pretty interesting… Ash thought
"And I'm Iliana Dominick," said the last girl. She was very beautiful, with the telltale violet Harman eyes. She didn't seem to have a soulmate either. Good, Ash thought, I'll have someone to hang out with "I'm a witch, and a Wild power."
Thierry nodded. "And that's everyone. Well, everyone in this meeting, anyway. So please, go on with your story."
Ash swallowed. What, did you think they would all forget about your story if they all introduced themselves? Ash told himself, sarcastically. Maybe… He told himself back.
"Alright, so Rowan, Kestrel and Jade ran away, Quinn and I were sent to bring them back…."
He recounted vaguely how he had met Mary-Lynette. Not even mentioning her name, he simply told them that they had met, figured out that they were soulmates by shaking hands, but neither had wanted it. He added her shin kicking for comic relief.
Quinn snickered "Looks like someone figured out how to keep you in line" He joked. Rashel punched him, hard. "Ouch…" He murmured.
"Looks like I'm not the only one being kept in line" Ash glared at Quinn, then continued his story. He explained how he had found out about his Aunt being staked, and how Rowan figured out he and Mare were soulmates, still without using her name. He talked about the werewolf, saying the name Jeremy with disgust clear in his voice, but he let them assume that this was because he was a werewolf. He discreetly skipped the part about him and Mare in the trees, going straight to the fight.
"Well all I know about it was that I got knocked out" He ignored Quinn, Jez, Delos, and James chuckling. "Then the first time I woke up my soulmate was tied to a tree, and the werewolf was in front of her, almost completely wolf. I started to jump, but he jumped first and knocked me out again" He ignored more snickers.
"The second time I woke up, she was kneeling next to me, and her car was on fire. She told me she had killed the werewolf." He paused, remembering how she had cried, and how much he had wanted to help. But all he could do was hold her and say "its okay, at least it's over now. There won't be any more killings. Its over"
Then he finished his story by telling them how he had explained it to Quinn, with Quinn cursing when he realized what he had fallen for. He did not tell them how he had left, or the cheesy line he had used, the one that got him through the difficult days
"Even when were apart, we'll be looking at the same sky!"
"I believe him" Said Gillian.
"Everything checks out" That was Quinn.
"He said human, not vermin" David
Iliana turned to him. "So why isn't she here?" She asked gently
Ash sighed "Well, you guys know how you see each others mind, when your soulmates?"
Everyone nodded, even Iliana. Well all her friends have soulmates, Ash thought. They probably tell her about it.
"Well when she saw my mind, she saw the things I had done in my past. She-uh-well she sent me away to make up for them, and for her to finish growing up."
Quinn, being the asshole he sometimes is, stated "So, what you're basically saying is, you got rejected."
Ash used all of his self control not to rip Quinn's throat out, knowing this was his sick and twisted sense of humor.
"You know, you really are a jackass sometimes, John" Ash glared at him
Quinn ignored the john comment, mostly because is soulmate was pissed at him for the rejected thing and she still had the stake. He flashed a slightly unnerving smile "what are friends for?"
Eric spoke up. "How come you didn't use her name?"
Before Ash could answer, Thierry said "It's hard to be away from your soulmate. Telling that story was probably hard enough for him." He smiled at Ash.
"Well, yes, but, no offense Thierry, but how would you know?"
Thierry's face clouded over. "I too have a human soulmate. She is the reason I re-started circle daybreak. She is an old soul. Every time she turns 17 in one of her lives, Maya kills her, making her think it was me. I have not found her again, yet."
Ash immediately felt sorry for asking. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
Thierry smiled. "Tank you. Alright-"suddenly the door burst open, and everyone sprang up. A girl with shocking hair the brindled color of a wolfs fur, had just ran in probably a werewolf. She was bloody and bruised.
"Lupe!" Thierry exclaimed. "Are you alright?"
"Ya I am fine, but you should have seen the other wolf-"
"You got into another fight!" Thierry sounded furious.
"Yes but sir, I found her"
Everyone in the room froze. Ash was thoroughly confused. Then he remembered Thierry saying "my soulmate is an old soul" and "I have not found her again, yet" could this mean...
"Her name is Hannah snow and she lives in the Badlands of Montana, Sir" Lupe was saying. "She has the birthmark and everything."
Thierry nodded,"alright, then lets go!" He started walking briskly towards the door.
"Wait!" shouted James "what's the verdict on Ash?"
Thierry looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I trust him, but I understand that some of you do not. To be fair to Quinn, Ash will also be guarded for two months until we are sure he is trustable." With that he spun on his heel and practically ran out of the building, excitement in his eyes. Ash wished him luck.
Ugh, guard him for 2 months? Really Thierry? Well… I suppose it's a start. Ash smiled ya, see, it's all working out. You'll see, Mary-Lynette. I'll make you proud…
Quinn smiled "congrats, you're un-officially a damned Daybreaker."
Ash had never been happier.
So what did you think? Amazing? Okay? Horrible? I don't care if its any of those! plzz review! (but if you think it was horrible i would prefer constructive critcism)
and yes, I know other people have wrote their own versions of this story, but I reeeally wanted to write my own version :)
should I add another chapter of Ash goin on his first mission?