A/N: Someone asked me to write a vampire/werewolf AU and I got carried away.
The humans' territory was much quieter at night than her old home was. For a long while there was little Shiena did other than pace around aimlessly, filtering out occasional catcalls and provocative whistles from people across the streets. While the occurrence was rare, there were also a few times she was forced to physically fight off a few especially stubborn individuals, which was barely a problem even in human form. Having superhuman strength had its perks.
On the same night she took a cheap-looking steel pocketknife from one of these stubborn individuals, Shiena took a seat near a bus stop, cautiously running a finger over the flat of the blade to make sure it wasn't silver. Feeling no burn or sting on her fingertip, she was about to pocket it, when she picked up a voice from behind her, small, lifeless and weak. The voice of a dying girl.
She hated how it managed to send a chill up her spine while still being strangely compelling, almost as if it was physically pulling Shiena backward by a leash. Sitting frozen on her seat, she waited to hear it a second time before making any movements.
A few painful seconds passed, and it returned with a hint of underlying desperation.
"Help me…"
The moon was fullest on that night, and at the zenith when Shiena was spoken to. She should've felt stronger than she did at that moment. But she didn't, so she moved toward the voice with short, puppet-like movements. It led her to a dark space between two brick buildings, deep inside an alleyway do dark that she was only able to walk through it with her enhanced sight. As she advanced, the metallic and sickeningly familiar stench of blood gradually became stronger. Her breath hitched when she found her.
The girl who owned the voice had green eyes, half-lidded, and long, jet black hair that contrasted sharply with how colorless her skin was. A ray of moonlight reflected off the side of the large knife jutting out of her chest, fighting through a flowing coat of blood that dripped down to her skirt. If it weren't for the weak twitching of her fingers and the slight movement her hand made toward Shiena, she would've easily mistaken it for a fresh corpse.
"Please…" The weakness of her voice grated on Shiena's ears and made the air turn colder, yet it was just as persuasive as before. "…come closer…"
Somehow Shiena was able to find her voice. "No," she said softly. "Y-You need an ambulance. Right now."
"There's not enough… time for that…" said the dying girl, who managed to reach toward Shiena. "You need to know something… Please listen…"
Hesitantly, Shiena submitted, crouching so close to the girl that she had to be careful not to bump the knife handle. "What is it?"
A cold hand gripped Shiena's shoulder as the girl moved closer, until Shiena could feel shallow breaths against her ear. Her voice came in a bizarrely serene whisper. "Thank you."
Shiena heard the nauseating squelch of moving flesh before she saw the knife being pulled out of the girl's chest. Reflexively, her legs tensed to back away, but the grip on her shoulder was like iron, and the next instant, she saw the flash of teeth displayed in a wide grin before feeling a searing pain on the side of her neck. Seconds later, she was choking on her own screams, crumpling onto the body of her attacker while scraping at her back. The burning sensation from her neck began to travel down her veins in slow waves, dulling and sharpening at short intervals. As soon as she found the mind to do so, she bit back onto the other girl's cold neck, both to help stomach the pain and as a feeble attempt at retaliation.
To her shock, it was met with a low moan and a pause in the pulsing in her veins.
It took what felt like hours until Shiena finally felt her neck get released as the last waved of pain coursed through her body. Her breaths came in uneven, heavy gasps and her limbs were shaking and nearly numb, but somehow she was able to feel the girl's arms around her torso, holding onto her to lick at the thin stream of blood that trickled down the wound on Shiena's neck.
Once Shiena's breathing returned to normal and her blood no longer dripped down her neck, she began to regain her strength, and at the same time, the girl tossed her to the ground, licking her lips in satisfaction.
"I hope you're okay with dying here," she said, smiling as she looked down at Shiena's drained body. "Maybe if you find me after you wake up, I'll pay you back and lead you to the other vampires. Good night." Chuckling, she turned around and began to walk away.
Shiena wasn't going to take that.
Within five seconds, Shiena shoved herself off the ground and took advantage of the girl's surprise to pin her against the wall. She snarled. "What did you do to me?"
The girl's eyes were wide with shock, but her speech flowed like it would've in any conversation. "Apparently not enough."
Shiena pressed harder into the girl's arms. "You tried to turn me into a vampire, didn't you?"
"Not really." She shrugged despite Shiena's grip. "I just wanted some food. Turning people into vampires is an inescapable side-effect of feeding."
Beside herself with anger fueled by physical pain, Shiena let go of one of the girls's arms to punch her in the face before taking deep, calming breaths. "Excuse me," she said, holding a hand to her face. "The past few… minutes… or whatever… have been exhausting for me. I just needed to let it out."
Chuckling lightly, the girl waved a hand. "No problem, I get it. You practically died there, so I can understand how tired you must be."
"But you have to answer me," Shiena said. "Vampires nowadays aren't usually allowed to feed on other human beings, are they?"
"Nope," the girl answered as she rubbed the side of her face.
"Then why did you drink from me?" Shiena asked.
The girl hummed in thought. "I'm not sure if I should just give such sensitive information so freely," she said. "What about you, though? I doubt a regular werewolf could naturally resist vampirism. So what are you? Some kind of new youkai?"
Shiena looked to the side. "…Half werewolf," she shrugged.
"That doesn't explain much at all," the vampire said. "In fact, it even makes things a bit more confusing. What's the other half?"
"I wish I knew," Shiena answered. "Human, probably, but either way, being a mutt is a bit of a problem back at home, especially if no one knows what else you are."
Shaking her head, the vampire clicked her tongue. "You poor thing," she said.
Shiena tightened her grip on the vampire's arm. "I don't need any pity from you," she said. "Now answer my question. Why did you drink from me?"
The vampire laughed. "Sometimes an outcast gets a little strapped for food, you know? When rare steaks and raw meats just won't cut it anymore?"
"Outcast," Shiena said. "I knew it. If that's the case, then I want your help."
"Oho, aren't you a rebellious little puppy, getting help from a vampire." She effortlessly yanked her arm out of Shiena's grasp, ignoring the shocked expression on her face. "'Scuse me, it was starting to get uncomfortable. Anyway, about your negotiation. I don't think I'd be quite alright with working for someone whose name I don't know. Who are you, mutt?"
"Kenmochi Shiena," Shiena answered. "Do not call me 'mutt.'"
The vampire's grin widened, fully displaying her pronounced fangs. "I don't think I will. 'Shiena' is a beautiful name, so I think I'll use that instead. My name is Takechi Otoya." She bowed, and Shiena was half-sure it was meant to mock her. "So, what do you want me to do, and what's in it for me?"
Two crescent moons had come and gone before Otoya had received her first payment for her agreement with Shiena—a long, satisfying drink of her blood in exchange for refuge away from the rest of the werewolves.
In comparison to when they met, Shiena's reaction to the pain was noticeably more restrained, as if it hurt less than before. The clawing on Otoya's back and the biting on her neck were reduced to just painfully forceful grips on her shoulders and screams muffled into the shoulder of her shirt. It made enjoying her meal a bit more troublesome than Otoya liked, but at least now she didn't have to spend nights upon nights of fruitlessly searching for people to drink from.
Her appetite sated, Otoya released Shiena's neck, lapping up the last few stray drops of blood while rubbing Shiena's back in soothing circular motions.
Though her voice shook with her strained, trembling breaths, Shiena was able to force a few words out. "Does… it ever… stop hurting?"
"I wouldn't know," she said, finishing up with a few short licks. "Like I said before, you're the first person I've met that's been able to resist turning."
"I'm not sure if I should be—" Shiena shuddered as she exhaled. "—should b-be thankful for that or not."
"I think you should!" Otoya whisper-shouted. "Most people only get to experience death once in their life. You experience it multiple times every time I bite you! I'm no masochist, but that sounds like a privilege to me!"
Shiena groaned. "That's what this is? Some… kind of cycle of death and resurrection?"
"That's what logic tells me it is," Otoya said. "Think about it. Vampires are technically dead, and when they bite people, those people die so they can turn into vampires, too. And since the bites I give you pack a bit more punch than what I give to regular people, you die more than them without dying at all! Neat, isn't it?"
A breeze rushed through the leaves of the tree they sat under while Otoya waited for a response. When it settled down and she received none, she continued. "Did it hurt as much as last time, though?"
"S-Surprisingly, no." Her heartbeat began to return to normal—Otoya had an ear for it as a vampire. "Either that, or I can just take it better now."
As she nodded silently, Otoya pulled one of Shiena's braids back over her neck to better hide the bite mark. "Mm-hm."
The next few moments were filled only with sounds of Shiena's breathing and Otoya's hand running over the cloth of her shirt. Around the time Shiena settled enough to breathe through her nose, Otoya slowed her rubbing to a stop.
"You okay now?" she asked.
Shiena grumbled. "You're strangely concerned about my well-being."
"Well the way this deal goes," Otoya said, "we'll be stuck with each other for a while. Might as well try to get along, right?" A mischievous grin appeared on her face before she moved to rub her face in Shiena's hair. "Besides, you're pretty cute. As in, puppy cute, not little girl cute. Isn't it natural to want to take care of cute things?"
The only reply she received was a tired groan. More or less satisfied, Otoya gently propped Shiena up on the tree trunk behind her before wrapping a thin blanket around her. Shiena shuffled under it for a while, getting into a comfortable position, before she spoke again.
"So, no fires?" she said.
"If you want one, you're going to have to start it yourself." Otoya took a seat next to Shiena, resting her head on the other's scruffy brown hair. "Fires make me physically ill if they're too close."
"And speaking of too close…"
With a small chuckle, Otoya smiled into Shiena's hair. "If I'm bothering you so much, you're not doing anything about it."
Shiena nudged Otoya's head with her own. "It's hilarious how you assume that I can move when all my limbs are aching."
Almost immediately, Otoya sat up. "I thought you said you were okay."
"I never really answered that question," Shiena said. "Pay more attention next time."
For the next few moments after that, the forest around them seemed to be unmoving and frozen, with the only signs of time passing being the ambient buzzing of cicadas and the occasional screech of a bat. In her idleness, Otoya noticed the half-moon visible through a gap in a cloud, its shape vaguely reminiscent of a wide smile. She found it a little pathetic how much it amused her.
"And what are you smiling about?"
Otoya glanced to the side for a second to find Shiena trying to follow her gaze. Looking at the arrangement of branches and Shiena's particular placement on the ground, Otoya knew that she wouldn't be able to see the moon. A drifting cloud had already hidden it by then, anyway.
"Just a funny thought," Otoya answered after a pause.
"Well if you're done grinning to yourself," Shiena said, "then I think we should get going before the sun comes back up."
"Eh?" Otoya leaned forward to look at Shiena. "But didn't you just say you were hurting just a few minutes ago?"
Wordlessly, Shiena pulled the blanket off and stood up with a bit of a struggle. "See? I can move now," she said, despite the slight pained twist in her countenance. "I recovered from this one a little faster than before. If this keeps up, then I'll be good as new in just a few minutes."
Otoya stood up next to Shiena, hands hanging at her sides in case she stumbled. "Then why not wait a few minutes? No need to push yourself too hard, you know."
"We're pressed for time as it is," Shiena said. "And I've got a hunch that you're feeling pretty weak, too. Why else would you have begged for my blood in the middle of escaping to another city?"
The air was silent for a moment as Otoya searched her mind for a good answer. She found none, and from the way Shiena turned around and began to walk away, Otoya figured it must have been plainly apparent on her expression.
"That's what I thought," Shiena said as she took slow, heavy steps toward the thick backpack that lied on the ground nearby. "The more time we spend sitting around here, the less energy you'll have left for actual travel once we get around to it. So, the sooner the better."
"Okay, okay," Otoya said, defeated, as she caught up to Shiena. She helped her slide the backpack onto her shoulders. "So, how do you plan on staying away from the other werewolves, huh? They'd probably try to kill you or something once they find out you've been actively avoiding them. Maybe they'll do even worse, since you're working with a criminal vampire."
"Takechi," Shiena said, "the moment I start thinking this deal is a bad idea is the moment I'm taking it back."
Otoya clasped her hands behind her, smiling coyly as she advanced a few short strides ahead of Shiena. "Don't worry, I have to lie low in the first place, and I don't think we've been…" She made a series of unintelligible noises. "…enough to share scents or something."
Shiena picked her pace up. "What was that gibberish just now?"
"That was me, not coming up with a word for an idea in time," Otoya said. "I could've said 'intimate', but that implied affection. Whether we start hugging or shoving each other around every five minutes, it'd end the same way—two scents on one monster."
"What about earlier, then, when you were rubbing my back?" Shiena asked. "You think my back might smell like you now?"
"Psh, I don't think it's that simple," Otoya answered. "Even if you did somehow end up smelling like me because of that, it's windy tonight, and even if we get attacked by your pack of werewolf stalkers—"
"I don't have a pack of werewolf stalkers."
"—I'm sure it'd be fairly easy for me to beat them. I think. I might've gotten rusty after a few years."
A glow became visible in the distance, bearing a distinct dullness that set it apart from the natural sunlight that Otoya made a point to avoid. 58 years of wandering made her quite familiar with that sight. She looked meaningfully at Shiena, wordlessly telling her that they were nearing their destination, and upon seeing it, Shiena seemed to liven up and walk faster toward the city ahead.
As she cracked a joke about Shiena's unexpected energy, Otoya pondered to herself. Maybe the wandering would stop soon.
So this chapter sucks as a standalone story, but I'm not really sure I can pull off a full multi-chapter fic, so depending on what happens with this, I may or may not continue it. If you're interested, you could leave a review, or if you're not but still have something to say, then you could also leave a review. Either way, feedback would be appreciated. :3