Ascension

Chapter One: Into The Light

Disclaimer: Though the plotline is mine, the rest isn't. I don't own anything belonging within the Inuyasha, Hellsing, Twilight, or Samurai Deeper universes.

Seras blinked.

She watched silently through the thick covering of forest foliage, thick with snow and ice, not leaves and flowers, at the thing fumbling in front of her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was a vampire on the forest floor.

She blinked again, then sniffed the air. After a moment, she nodded. The stench confirmed it. It was indeed the stink of petrified decay that always accompanied such creatures.

It was no illusion. It was a fact. There was a real-live, well sort of alive, vampire kneeling on the forest floor. It was covered in snow, the same color of its death-like complexion. Its hair was slowly freezing in the wind and it was crying silently, completely basking in what appeared to be - Seras grimaced - self-pity.

Silently, she tilted her head to the side, her mind shifting with the movement. She peered closer, then tilted it back just as silently. Shaking her head, she quickly changed her mind. Seras let her tail curl in on itself. No, maybe it wasn't self-pity. It seemed… angry. Or frustrated, Seras thought. She sighed pondering the reasons why.

The vampire quickly stumbled to its feet, brushing off the snow drenching the bottom of its jeans.

No, Seras corrected. Quickly wasn't the right word. She tilted her head the other way. Though for a mortal its speed was still considered amazingly fast. In the eyes of any immortal, however, the amount of acceleration was noticeably lacking.

Why was that? Was it injured?

Seras furrowed her eyebrows, then noticed the girl limping as she shifted her weight.

Great, Seras thought. There's an injured vampire crying in the woods.

The vampire wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. They looked dirty. At the female's new height, Seras could tell it was a "she" and not a "he" due to the now noticeably long, wavy hair the color of chocolate, the slim feminine figure, and the - she frowned deeper - bright pink highlights of her Columbia brand skiing jacket. Seras' eyebrows leveled heavily over her yellow pupils. She has a fashion sense? She nearly rolled her eyes at the concept, but then she thought of a bright red great coat, white gloves, and a sophisticated, yet elegant looking charcoal gray suit. She thought of the mass murder and insane laughter, of the blood that normally surrounded such things. That stilted her thoughts. Appearances could be deceiving, after all. Seras nodded. Indeed, they could be fatally deceiving. She narrowed her eyes even further. She was often forced to remind herself of this.

Seras stilled. The vampire was beginning to leave the area. Bending low, back arched and tense, the vampire made ready to run. Then it paused. With a quick movement, the girl threw her hands clumsily in the air and just walked… no stomped… yes, she's definitely stomping… out of the small clearing. Curious, Seras watched her movements, her sharp eyes never leaving her. She made a decision. She would follow. The girl was… interesting.

Within moments, Seras also left the small clearing. Clinging to the shadows, she silently ensured that her seal was in place as she rose from her hiding spot. She left nothing in her wake, not a print, nor a sound; nothing to still the late afternoon silence. Long after, the last rays of the sunlight continued to hang snuggly in the deadened branches, casting the woods in light.

It had taken Seras a grand total of a half an hour and thirty seconds for her to realize that the vampire was hunting. Then, it took her a grand total of two seconds more to realize that the girl sucked at it.

She's too frustrated, Seras thought with a sigh. She has no patience, and no skill, just brute force. The girl's knee buckled and Seras's tail flicked. I guess being injured doesn't help, either.

Seras watched a few moments longer amazed at her own inability to look away, even as the young teenager stomped after and ran off every single rabbit, deer, and hedgehog (really a hedgehog?) she came across into some hole or den that the vampire was clearly unwilling to venture into. She snorted. Apparently, she wasn't that hungry.

Pleased with her conclusion, Seras prepared herself to leave when she caught glimpse of something in the fading light; a slivered smudge of the color of the girl's eyes. They were jet black; ebony, deep, dead. It was a color that made her stomach clench.

Perhaps, I was wrong, she thought. She's absolutely starving and with the rate she's going… Seras tapped a clawed finger on the tree trunk it was currently resting. Her mind coiled in on itself, and her heart argued. It fizzled lightly. Then, she pushed off of the tree. With the same simple silent grace that she'd used to stalk her current study, Seras turned and left not once looking back.

When she returned, Seras couldn't help but roll her eyes. Again.

What was with this vampire's habit of crying in the snow? Her eye twitched. I bet she's lost too, and I haven't found any other vampires in the surrounding area. Seras snorted softly. Was she stupid? Seras eyed the incredibly bright pink jacket and bared a fang. Or maybe, she's just highly dense.

She sighed. I hope I don't regret this.

Taking a breath, Seras slowly lifted her tail and let it purposefully fall with a low thud back onto the snow covered ground. As a result, birds flew, trees shook, and Seras found herself looking into the startled black eyes of one really, hungry vampire. She stretched her neck forward.

I wonder what breed she is? Being young meant nothing, Seras knew. Though it was a well known fact that new vampires across species lines had their own brand of strength, a lot of weight of a vampire's overall worth came from the vampire's familiar line; in short, from its Maker. He determined everything, breed, ability, strength. Seras couldn't keep herself from admitting that she was curious. This vampire's Maker hadn't seemed to have taught her anything. Where was he?

Seras watched the girl slowly scan the area trying to figure out what had made the sound. Her posture was stiff and guarded, ready for the last shoe to drop. Seras waited patiently, a second, a minute, and then when the vampire' shoulder began to slump. She moved.

The timing was perfect. The vampire turned away, and Seras let it fly. With a gentle toss of her massive head, the large carcass flew, falling heavily through the air before crashing to the ground with a thud.

The vampire reacted in a snap. From pure instinct alone, she'd sprang to her feet and barely escaped being crushed by the massive corpse flying at her. Alarmed, she looked down at the broken body. It had landed at her feet, a full size, fully antlered buck. Its neck was broken. Its blood unspilt. The vampire took a breath while her irises darkened further. She backed away, her eyes visually widening. Seras watched them closely.

"He – Hello?" The girl's voice was small and clearly expressed how frightened she was. Seras watched her edge towards her meal one small step at a time. "Please, if there's anyone there. Please come out."

Seras let her mind reach towards the girl's only to reassure her, if for nothing else. She was strictly unable to speak at this moment, at least not in any way that this slip of a girl could understand. So, she didn't try to. Plus, she reasoned. That could unnecessarily complicate things. She took a breath. No. This was the best way.

So, Seras's mind extended, then it stopped. She tried again and then again. Then, her mind questioned the circumstance. To her surprise, Seras found that the girl had successfully blocked all of her attempts to penetrate her mind, each block stronger than the others. She head tilted. So, the dimwit isn't completely helpless, she thought. She was impressed, somewhat.

"Is?" Seras looked back to the girl. She was now pushing the corpse gently with the toe of her booted foot. "Is this for me?" she asked quietly, unsure in the continuing silence.

Grudgingly, Seras shifted her weight allowing the snow to squelch softly under her paws in answer. Then, she silently stalked to the other side of the clearing.

The girl's head snapped to where the second sound had come from. She was shaking. "Was this because of my hunting," the vampire asked rather sheepishly. "You probably live here right. I'm… I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I know that I'm a pretty bad hunter right now. I don't know why I can't seem to catch anything and I haven't been able to find much game anyway."

The girl was rambling and lying. Seras let a small grin spread across her lips. I hate liars, she thought.

The girl's voice quickly snapped shut upon noticing another corpse being thrown at her from the left and another immediately afterwards from the right. Seras watched in amusement as the vampire stumbled over her feet and the corpses now piled around them. She could tell that the girl was afraid, but that didn't particularly bother her. She was curious to see what she would do with that fear. How weak was she? Where did her strength lie?

The vampire laughed nervously. "You are laughing at me," she said, climbing around the large game. She turned in a small circle to gaze at the forest around her. She was fully aware that something or many somethings were circling her. She didn't know why or who it was.

Seras made sure of that. With a smile, she made a small cluster of sounds that made the girl visually bristle.

"Oh come on, I wasn't that bad," she said more loudly, more enthusiastically. "And look at these. I – I can't eat all of these myself. I'm so small."

Seras audibly grunted.

"And I might as well share with you your hard work. Would you come out so that I could see you?" The girl paused. "Umm… see you all. All of you. I mean." The girl fake coughed, trying tp cover her uncertainty.

Seras didn't do anything. She waited, she paced, and she watched. She was solely focused on the girl and then the world changed.

During the last few hours, the late afternoon sun quickly perished with the dawning of a brilliant full moon. A glorious evening, an evening like another she remembered.

Seras looked up into the sky through the leafless branches of the woods. Though the moon in its fullness could bask the entire forest in its silver mystical light, in its darkness imitating the light, it didn't make it glow golden like the girl had began to do.

The glow quickly caught Seras's eye. The light had started out small like a wreath that first formed around the girl's body. Then the girl's weight shifted and the wreath expanded, lightening up the clearing and the woods around it. It was so bright, it was almost day. It seemed, Seras mused, the girl was able to push out her aura – her life source – and form a barrier around her. The brightly glowing dome circled around the girl, clearly separating her from the corpses and the rest of the area.

Seras felt her eyes widened significantly. She can form barriers?! She asked herself, amazed. She stopped pacing. She watched the girl letting her mind shift again from side to side. Perhaps, it couldn't hurt, she thought, letting her gaze shift from the girl to the corpses to the barrier. What could happen?

Seras tilted her head. Then on steady confident feet, she stepped into the light.

Note: This fan fiction melds multiple stories together with the four listed in the disclaimer being the main ones. Please have an open mind and just enjoy the story as it unfolds.

Thank you.