The Meaning of Fear
"Hey, Dad...have you ever been afraid of something?" a young man's voice asks, as the owner of it rides along beside two others.
"Yes...Why do you ask?" a soft, rusty voice responds; having heard the curiosity in the younger man's voice, and reacting to it.
"It just seems as though you have an invincible aura...Like nothing can harm you...that's all." a woman's voice says, quietly, and a bit hesitantly. For a few moments, there is silence...and then the older man sighs.
"While it is true that I have lived far longer than either of you...There is but one creature that can still strike fear into me..." he admitted, as he ushered for them to stop; pulling on the reins of his own mount as he did so.
"What is that creature, Dad?" the younger man asked, filled to the brim with curiosity.
"Have you ever heard of a creature called 'Crusnik'?" he replied; answering a question with a question. Both youths sat ramrod straight, exchanged confused glances, and shook their heads.
"What is it? Is it something we need to be afraid of, too?" the woman questioned.
"It is something that you two would be wise to fear, because of the vampire blood you have in your veins...even though it is more dilute than mine." He murmured, before steeling himself and continuing, "A 'Crusnik'...is a vampire that feeds on the blood of other vampires..."
"A vampire that feeds...on...other vampires...?" the younger man gasped, aghast at this bit of information. His father nodded, grimly.
"I have only seen it once...and it took me years to get the images to fade enough to where I could sleep soundly without waking up screaming..." he said, not even bothering to silence his possessed hand when it muttered something along the lines of 'It scared the hell outta him'.
"And you're not afraid to admit that you were...and still are...afraid of it." the woman stated, actually impressed by this admittance, for some reason. The elder Hunter gave her an almost wry smile, before turning his gaze back to the road ahead of them.
"The beginning of wisdom, Belladonna and Dirk, is fear. Only a fool is truly fearless." he stated, as he put the spurs to his horse's flanks, and took off down the road; the pair of younger Hunters following not too long after.
"If Dad is that afraid of the Crusnik, then I hope I never meet it." Dirk muttered.
"Same here. Killing bloodsuckers is one thing...but to think of a bloodsucker that eats other bloodsuckers is rather disturbing." Belladonna agreed; unaware that, as she spoke, a certain silver-haired, bumbling priest had just sneezed in response to the jab.
Owari
Author's Note!
Just a short little ficlet that came into mind as I was sitting here! Hope this was at least a passable attempt!
Gemini14