Kindred

Part of the Omniverse Project

by Benji: The Vampire Confuser

Vampire The Masquerade belongs to White Wolf Games. Buffy and them were created by Joss Whedon. This story is based on an actual campaign that my LARP Group played.

Chapter 1

They were here. Or if not here yet, they would be. And he swore that it would be their final resting place. Especially one. The one that had escaped him twice. Not again.

He awoke screaming. It was the same nightmare he'd had ever since he was a child. Their screams, and then the laughter. Figures. he thought. The one memory that I want to forget, and I can't seem to shake it. Lugh rose from his bed, and glanced at the window. The sun was just setting. Time to go out.

There was another in the designated spot. What would probably become Elysium. They eyed each other warily but let each other be. They waited. But not for long. Soon, an older looking man appeared before them. Literally appeared.

"Who are you?" the other one asked.

"The name is Gramps." the older man said gruffly. "Nosferatu." He looked at them. "What about you?"

"Lazarus." the other introduced himself. "Gangrel."

Lugh grinned. Ooh, sewer rat and werewolf wanna be. he thought. Aloud he said; "Lugh. Malkavian."

"That's what I would have guessed given that smirk on your face." Gramps said. "Shall we get down to it?"

"Why are we here?" Lazarus demanded.

"What did your superiors tell you?" Gramps replied.

Lugh decided to answer that. "Go to Sunnydale and get something. Said we'd know it when we saw it."

"Not much to go on." Lazarus complained.

"All right," Gramps said. "Let me tell you a little bedtime story."

"Whee!" Lugh squeaked. "I want to hear the Three Bears!"

Gramps ignored him. "A long time ago, a group of Elders got sick of the Jihad, and decided to do something about it."

Lugh began to whistle "Give Peace a Chance".

Still ignoring him, Gramps continued with his story. "So they created several rings, one for each clan in the Camarilla. The ring would lower one's generation."

Both Lugh and Lazarus were intrigued. The only way they knew to lower their generation, was by diablerizing someone of a lower gen. And that was one of the worst crimes a Kindred could commit.

"But," Gramps concluded. "In order to find, and activate the rings, all the clans have to work together."

"And if they don't?" Lazarus asked.

A huge pillar of fire rose up over the town, in the distance.

"Oooooo, aaaaaaa." Lugh cooed.

"What the hell was that?" Lazarus asked.

"The answer to your question." Gramps said simply.

"So we're basically at loose ends until the others get their asses here." Lazarus guessed.

"Basically yeah." Gramps confirmed. "But don't worry. I'm sure they'll get here soon."

"So how do we amuse ourselves in the mean time?" Lugh whined. "You mean I won't have any Ventrues to tease until-"

"Shut up." Gramps said, craning his head. "You smell that?"

"No." Lugh said. He had no sense of smell.

Gramps' eyes narrowed. "A stereotyper."

Lugh and Lazarus both knew what that meant. Stereotyper was Kindred slang for Hunters. Those who assumed that everything supernatural was evil. Lugh hated Hunters.

He grinned. "Oh, why didn't you say so. I'll have some entertainment after all!"

Gramps merely grunted, and vanished as soon as their eyes were off him.

Lazarus began sniffing the air, and Lugh was tempted to make a Lupine joke, but didn't as he soon saw the Hunter approach them. He was obviously new at this. Any experienced Hunter would know better than to attack two Vampires, when there was only one of him. Lugh grinned. He stepped out of the Hunters line of sight and became invisible.

"Weren't there two of you?" the hunter asked, as he got closer.

Lazarus didn't answer. He just stood in his place, watching the young man approach.

"Doesn't matter." the hunter said. "I'll take care of him when he gets back."

"You'll be dead by then if you attack me." Lazarus told him.

Lugh materialized right behind the hunter. "Boo!" he cried.

The hunter whirled, revealing a cross in his hand.

Lugh, who was charging, ready to attack, blanched, and turned tail. He ran until he was a safe distance away, and sucked in deep breaths. "Damnit," he swore, fighting bloody tears, "Damnit," he tried to shut out the screams. Clutching at the torc around his neck, he managed to do so. He opened his eyes, and grimaced. He hated hunters, and he was determined to take this one out.

He had to say he was a little impressed. The man was still alive when he got back. Though obviously losing the fight. Lazarus looked like he'd been burned by something, but the Hunter was bleeding. And not paying any attention to his flank.

Which was exactly where Lugh hit him. Keeping out of sight, and therefore invisible, he crept up on the Hunter, and at the last moment, leaping onto his back, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Buffy sat trying to pay attention to what Giles was telling her. Something about always being alert.

"And then the Elephant stepped on her and had to wipe his feet before entering." Giles said, eyeing her closely.

"I am paying enough attention to know when you're checking to see if I'm paying attention." she told him.

"Buffy are you all right?" he asked her, concerned. "You seem fatigued."

"Well gee," she answered not even having the energy to be sarcastic, "Two weeks of Maximum Slayage and studying for finals hasn't exactly been conducive to my minimum sleep requirements." she said, yawning. "The big bad demon migration season is over right?"

"For the next decade yes." Giles reassured her. Every ten years there was a Demon Holiday, celebrating their origin, and the Hellmouth was a popular place to hold the celebration. For two weeks, Buffy, in addition to her concerns about the Mayor had been dealing with the mass migration. "And fortunately there usually follows a quiet period." he told her. "At least a week. Might I suggest you avail yourself of that and recover. You'll want to be at your best when we have to fight the mayor."

"No arguments here." she said, and left the library.

He watched her as she left the school. She was young, but they usually were. And of course she was quite pretty, but he was only vaguely aware of the fact. Physical pleasure came secondary to all else, and Christoph Harlo had little appreciation for beauty anyway.

It was her destiny that interested him. The Slayer. He had heard of her, or those like her. Doing God's work. Destroying evil in all it's forms. They had a lot in common. He did not see the hunters who flanked her, but he knew they were there. He had after all, dispatched them himself. He knew soon it would be time to approach her, but not yet. He wanted to see for himself just how good she was. Hopefully she was better than the last. The pillar of fire earlier told him what he feared. That the Cainites were already searching for the lost rings.

Lugh looked around at the assemblage. He'd been joined by a clan mate, a young woman named Cecelia. It was nice not to be the only one with a sense of humor. Another Gangrel had shown up as well, by the name of Cameron. To his barely concealed glee, there was indeed a Ventrue present. Zephyr by name. "Damn, don't any of us have normal names?" he'd asked when the introductions had been made. Sangria (Brujah), Pyramus (Tremere), Dominique (Toreador), Guinevere (Toreador again) for crying out loud. Okay so his wasn't too normal either, but at least his made sense. To him anyway.

Ireland,

January 1, 1978

"One more push Deirdre, come on!" Brigit, the mid-wife encouraged firmly. With an exhausted scream, the mother to be brought forth her son, and collapsed, gasping.

"Is," she panted, fighting sleep and fatigue, "Is he-" Her question was answered by a lusty cry from the newborn babe in Brigit's arms.

"He's fine love, just fine." Her voice betrayed none of the worry she felt. As the boy squirmed, his right arm never even twitched. "The first Beltaine birth of the season." She said proudly. "What would you like to call him?"

"Oh Goddess I can't think anymore." Deirdre said softly, her eyes closing. "What do you suggest?"

At that moment, the first rays of the rising sun spilled in the window and bathed the infant in their embrace. Deirdre smiled. "It seems the Gods have their own suggestion. His name is Lugh. For He has greeted this boy personally." With a wry smirk she looked at the now sleeping mother. "Maybe we know the father after all eh?"

The Celtic god of the sun. Nicely ironic once he was embraced. Most Kindred did not keep their mortal names once they became undead. He was of the few who did.

"Now listen up!" Gramps said loudly over the conversations going on about him. Zephyr was on his cell phone, Guinevere and Dominique were ragging on the Brujah and the Gangrel's choice in clothing. It was only a matter of time before they got to the Malks. The Tremere, Pyramus and Deacon were saying something in Latin. The Gangrel and the Brujah were keeping to themselves.

Reluctantly, they gave their attention to the Nosferatu. "We're not the only nasties walking around this place. Ever hear of a hellmouth?"

"It's what you get when you eat a chili dog right before bed and don't brush your teeth." Cecelia said.

Sangria snickered.

It was Deacon who answered seriously. "Yes I am aware that this is a hotspot of supernatural activity. Hardly the most powerful in existence, it wasn't even worthy of a Chantry."

"Well worthy of your attention or not," Gramps said. "It's a tourist trap for things that go bump in the night. You got demons of every type wandering around, mostly The Soulless."

Guinevere and her fellow Tory grimaced in distaste. Soulless. Lesser Vampires. They were not the children of Cain, but an abomination of a different species. They were not typically associated with.

"Now," Gramps continued, "That means-"

"The Slayer." Pyramus interrupted.

"Okay spooky clan," Sangria said. "Stop being teachers' pets and let the man explain to us yokels. Damn if I'd known there was gonna be a test I would have studied."

"Really?" Cameron asked her.

"No I'd just cheat off someone else."

"Can I copy your notes?" Lugh asked her.

"Children," Guinevere said imperiously. "If you'd shut up for a moment you might learn something."

"I've got nothing to learn from you Joan Rivers." Sangria snarked.

"So the Slayer." Zephyr said, getting the conversation back on track. "Is what, some manner of Vampire hunter? So what? We've all faced them before. Hell, the Gangrel and the Malkavian managed to take one out all by themselves." He glanced down at the bricks at his feet. There were still traces of blood there. "Nice cleanup job by the way."

"I'm a prankster," Lugh said, "Not a janitor."

"This isn't just any Hunter." Gramps told them. "She's something special. Somehow she was born with super powers. She's as strong and as fast as any of us. Maybe more. And she can fight. I've seen her."

"Has she faced our kind before?" Cameron asked.

"No."

"Then it remains to be seen how good she is then doesn't it."

To Be Continued…