Queen's Note: Dabble attempt, and I fully blame Fatala for this. Its all your fault sweetie! :3 but this was fun to bang out in a day, trying to do more shorts

Barnyard Kitten

She remembered the first time she saw a horse, it wasn't alive, nor dead but to her young mind it had been a real horse. Reflecting the afternoon light on the semi polished white stone of the horse. That day had been a happy one, full of warm sun shine, harvested crops and the smell of flowers from the woven chain in her hair and the flower chain her father had put around his neck along with some of her brothers.

Did any of her family remembered that day too? Her older brothers had working with her father and grandfather as she toddled behind them, gathering small potatoes left for her to have a task. Maybe her father and oldest brother did, as it was her father that had lifted that tiny young self of her back then, his big work strong hands holding her up by the waist. Her skirt bunching a bit as she had looked up to her brother's own outstretched arms. She had been pulled from her father's grasp from under her arms to be sat in front of her brother's young frame, her legs dangling over one side of the stone horse. Even now she remembered the wonder at being higher than her father, of being up on that old statue, seeing the world around her from a new perspective for the first time.

Papa! Papa! I'm on a horse! I'm on a real horse Papa!

The youthful voice called from her memory, it was an odd think about in her current situation as the grip on her hips tightened fractionally more. She remembered the pride in her father's face, and a small bit of sadness at the pure joy from the youngest his and his brother's children at being able to ride on an immobile marble statue, perhaps never to see a real one, instead of the short mules of the farm. There had been another statue, a darker color but not in as good condition, with deep lines that past self hadn't know, but she now realized had been talon marks. Back then the aged horses on the property were the pride of the kids, of the family and something the boys loved to play on.

That stone horse hadn't been like the truly real thing, something she saw a few times sense, normally from a distance but once up close. Unaware in that youthful, oblivious way when one was never warned of possible dangers. She had been scared, but still filled with wonder at seeing the massive war horse as it bucked and ran, heading two where she was standing with two younger brothers. She had been older then, old enough to be trusted with minding the babies. A toddler had been holding her skit and her mother's newest a baby clutched in her arms with a bag filled with the cooking herbs they had been sent to get half on her back. That big horse had ran, bucked and came to where she had stood with her brothers, later on once she was older still would find out her father thanked any and every god that the horse had slowed, spotting the tiny humans, as it was known to be a creature of bad temper.

Look brother, it's a horse...

Her toddler brother and her had fed it spindles of herbs, getting the large but impossible soft nose and lips of the horse investigating the three.

The mass behind her in the present shifted, leaning down closer to her and there was movement on the edges of her vision.

That being was so different than what her life had been expected to be. Even if the way to being in his presence was less then pleasant, again falling to a danger that she hadn't been warned about. Telling her about a 'creature that looks human but is dangerous' is like telling a toddler, 'see this drawn picture of a lion? It's like those barn cats you like but its dangerous.' She hadn't know the danger, nor any signs of it coming, pausing in the walk back from the barn with a small pail of milk for her new sister in law's baby, as the woman could produce her own milk. So she had been sent to milk a cow for the infant, the woman left some of the thick milk in a dish for the barn cats, carrying the pail back up the trail to her home, but paused as an unknown instinct perked up. It had puzzled her, this was home and home was safe but suddenly there was that little voice in the back of the mind that said she was in trouble.

A pointed sound drew her attention that spring night, staring up at a tall man. He was pale, not tanned by the days worked in the sun that a farm does to a man. He had sniffed at the air, glancing at the house, her pail of milk, the house and back to her, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes like dark rubies. That man had smiled at her, stepping closer, sensing what would turn out to be one of the easiest meals he would have in some time, as she had been confused and tired from work in the day, and fetching milk at night.

The pail of still warm milk had dropped, slopping out some of the fluid, though oddly the pail hadn't completely spilled as the 'man' closed the distance, lifting her up and pulling back into the darkness before those in the house still awake would be drawn to her yip.

She remembered his frame trapping her, but not so much after the teeth broken the skin between neck and shoulder. She remembered being held, like and unlike the big hugs from her older, taller brothers, this was more than holding as the vampire hummed in hungry delight. Unfazed as she pushed and smacked him with a rock from the ground where he had stopped to feed, it was more like he didn't even notice until she had mewled in pathetic protest when she couldn't resist, dizzy and weakened from blood loss. She remembered the feeling of the vampire's fangs pulling out, the intimacy was invasive as the man that wasn't a man stopped sucking to start licking the puncture spots without lifting his head up or pulled his lips back, until the bleeding was stopped. The vampire pulled back, his eyes brighter now in the dark.

Be careful little one...

A deep rumble drew her back to the present, like and unlike that vampire that fed off her, only deeper from a larger frame that vibrated when he was speaking, or purring. She looked back as she was lifted up off her feet, aware of some of the similarities of the past, of the strange sensation of being picked up like a child again. Though, she reasoned logically that she likely was a child to Him, and his great age. The young woman glanced down at the thick talon tipped digits, the large hands that almost completely encircled her waist. She wasn't touching the ground at all, looking up to the vast shelves before her as she was lifted.

Hesitating she reached up, her fingers were just shy of touching the book she wanted, having seen it before. The orange cover had been a tantalizing promise after she had worked out the word on the binding not long after being taken here.

There was another rumble, this time sounding amused as she was lifted a little more to get a proper hold on the large book and draw it down to hug against her chest. He lowered her down and leaned over her, one three digit and blue tinted, powerful hand moving up in a silent request for the book. She offered it willingly, it looked like a normal size in his hand, and it was really. All these books were his, and made for those of his kind after all.

"Hmm..." The tall vampire stood back up right letting her go as he did so, it let her to turn and wait for his opinion. Glowing, golden and copper eyes moved from the book to her, and then she could breath when he smiled, those killing fangs briefly visible as he spoke, "A good choice, perhaps most chapters will be above… your education level child, but a good choice."

One of the arching, dark appendages shifted to curl in a slight movement, moving behind her to draw her closer and back in range for his free hand to lightly press behind her shoulders back to the fireplace and table. She moved at once, glancing at the dark, long feathers as the wings folded back in a way that belied how large they were.

Her host, that was more than host perhaps a master, continued to speak, his voice richer than any man she knew, "As you should know at your age Anda, herbs are more than cooking spices. They can help with healing, even be used in magic."

"Magic?" She asked, leaf brown eyes widening at this new concept, even as she put the past thoughts aside for now. It took two almost three of her steps to keep up with his long stride, the cleft and almost cloven hoof like feet making a steady click-click-click as he walked.

The wings shifted, lifting partly so their owner could glance down at her, pausing a moment to let her catch up. "Yes, magic. But not for you, not for some time, yet knowing healing might be a good education for you I think. Come my child, I have time for a short lesion," he tilted the orange book back and forth thoughtfully as he continued, "Before I must hunt. While I do, you can finish cleaning the table before you sleep tonight." Janos gave an almost indulging smile as he moved to sit in a backless chair at the smaller table, waiting for the human padding after him to take her seat to look at the book. It was an amusing image, a comparison of a barnyard kitten fallowing after the 'devil' of the land.

Janos smiled, feeling a softness that his fledging and others might gag at, but there was an instinct of his own that enjoyed having someone to take care of again. Anda wiggled a little, a small movement another human might miss but the predator senses picked it up, and had him chuckling and reached out to run his talons through the long hair of the woman before opening the book, "Now child, you try to read as much as you can in the first six pages."