The relationship between our two main characters here is supposed to be an attempt at displaying love in as pure a form as I can imagine it. The boundry between friendship and romantic love is fairly ambiguous, but I'll leave it to you to decide which it is. I will point out, however, that this will not be sexual in nature. The closeness between these two is beautiful to my mind, and I will attempt to display this on paper, but I just want to say that they are not going to be making love. I don't think. We'll see how it goes, shall we?
Unbidden, her companion picked her up without pause, placing the small girl into her arms in a bridal style that would have left the girl blushing at the insolence had their situation not been so dire. As it was she simply grabbed onto the muscular woman's neck, not wanting to disturb her concentration. Quickly she manoeuvred herself as best she could so as to look over the woman's shoulder, analysing the surroundings for any mention of the creature that was following them. Without seeing it she allowed herself to focus on her rapid breathing, attempting to think up a way for them to escape from it.
Suddenly, before her thoughts managed to work their way out of the predicament, she found herself flying forward only to hit the ground at an alarming pace, twigs and earth scratching and bruising her skin. Upon her stopping she looked up with wide eyes and found to her horror that her companion was being held up by the neck next to a tree.
"Marion" She whispered in shock, never having seen the strong swordsman left so vulnerable to the hands of another. The monsters head suddenly turned it's vicious grin toward her, the sadistic smile it held only becoming wider as it watched her. She winced, well aware of the fear building inside her, but she attempted to keep her gaze regardless. It was not a difficult task given the predicament of her friend.
"Marion, hmm? And tell me, what is your name, little one?" The monsters voice cut into her reverie, it's false beauty matching that held by the creature itself, all the more so by its usage of the nostalgic term. Despite that however, she refused to allow herself to give into her turmoil of emotions, answering the query as much for her own sanity as for its curiosity.
"L-Lilinette. My name is Lilinette, witch." She silently cursed her brief moment of hesitance, knowing that the monster would undoubtedly pounce upon it.
Unexpectedly, the creature gave a slight frown at her way of address toward it. A small part of her mind noted its dislike at the term, though the monster's next words dismissed the point.
"Your accent… It sounds like it's from the Kingdom of France, yet it is not… Tebauran perhaps..? Yes that is Tebauran. You are far from home, little one. Or, whatever home remains of that little country." The creature gave a look of idle surprise toward her, before grinning it's mad smile again.
Lilinette, uncaring of her former home, looked desperately at her companion who was failingly attempting to hold onto consciousness. Noting her face, the monster gave a look toward it's prisoner as though it had forgotten all about her. Then it gave another grin, this time obviously holding some evil notion within mind.
"So, Lilinette, let us play a game. I think I have only the stomach for one of you. Who's life should I take, and who's should I leave? I give you the choice." It's mischievous smile turned into a smirk, evidentially assuming which choice she would make.
Knowing the witch's trickery was inescapable, no matter the answer she gave, she decided to give an honest remark to it. Quietly, she voiced her response.
"To take one is to take the other. I would have you take both, or take neither. Of that, I have no decision to make, witch." Her hands silently squeezed the trimming of her dress, watching in anguish as her friends hands fell from their hold upon the arm of the creature, the strength from them lost.
The monster itself, however, had blinked in surprise at her answer. Apparently, she mused in dark humour, it had not considered her response the one she would give. It frowned at her for a moment before its face suddenly lit up in glee. She shivered.
"Oh my, what an interesting answer! I confess, I had not expected such a thing. I do believe it shows well the strength of bond you two hold. I am indeed impressed by it! But, you see, that leaves me in a predicament. I find that I would rather enjoy this more if you were to spend your last moments in misery. It sweetens things somewhat, no? But, if you say that it would be fine for me to kill you both, then that would ruin things." It gave a gloriously tempting pout, which scared her with the innocence and evil it held. But she found herself truly frightened when the smirk returned upon the delivery of its next words.
"But… If I were to make one of you immortal… To face a life in anguish without the other. Now, that would be interesting. But… I fear little one, Lilinette, that I find you to be just a bit more… Appetising than this one here. She I'm afraid, is the one I think shall live." Lilinette covered her mouth in shock, her eyes wide as she took in just what the evil thing had implied. Her Marion would be subjected to an eternity without her. To a torture without end, as she knew it would be for herself.
It had managed it. Even given her answer of pure truth, the monster had managed to find a way to subject them each to misery. She had known the witch's trickery would apply whatever her response, and yet she had given it an answer anyway. Despite herself, she gave a quiet whimper as she thought of the future that her closest friend had been punished with because of her own words.
The monster's hand suddenly dropped its captive. The girl appeared to be unconscious as she hit the base of the tree. Gracefully it knelt down next to the body, bringing it up into an almost loving hold. Lilinette attempted to push herself off the ground, despite the absolute weakness she felt in her muscles as they lay bound by her fear. As tears began to fall from her eyes she gave away the last of her sensibility, murmuring her friends name desperately she began to beg, fervently hoping that the devil-spawn would rather take her soul than leave her friend to an eternity of torture.
But the witch paid no such attention to her, as it lent down to her friend and gently bit into the base of the neck. And Lilinette realised that it was not a witch that had been chasing them. Not a witch, but a vampire.
And she wept in the knowledge of just what her friend had been punished with. For she realised the true extent of what her Marion was to face. What she was to endure. After a moment, her friend began to scream as the pain ran through her system, the noise mixing in the air with Lilinette's sobbing.
To the vampire's idle interest, the scream stopped upon the sound of the sobbing reached the ears of the now near comatose girl. Such control while in that level of pain was a rare thing. She was impressed yet again by the pair. Despite this, her hunger had not yet been sated , only tempted by the draw of the wound she had opened upon the taller girl's neck. She moved over to the crying one, licking her teeth in anticipation of the wonderful liquid held within. Gently lifting the petite thing up, she brought her lips to her neck, silently in awe of the jugular's warm, consistent pulse. In the back of her mind, she registered the movement of woman behind her, but it was an insignificant nothing when compared to the temptation she was about to indulge in.
Until, with only the smallest of a split seconds warning from her senses, the blade of the woman she had just infected went straight through her neck. Her body collapsed under her, her desperate mouth falling away from what she had been so close to enjoying. When her mind had caught up to her what had happened, the brief, near silent sounds she had heard behind her replayed, she realised in complete shock just who had stabbed her.
And she was scared.
For if that woman, paralysed in a pain known only to those who had experienced it, had attacked and impaled her near impenetrable skin with barely a sound as a human... She feared just what such a creature might be capable of as a vampire.
Lilinette looked up, staring at the woman who struggled even to stand at the unbearable pain. She was awestruck, and ashamed at her own willingness to give up. Her lack of ability to save her friend.
"M-My… My Lady." Marion whispered softly, attempting to hold in the scream that threatened to leave. "M-My apologies, for not being… Quicker…" The woman fell to her knees, as the excursion of moving spread the poison through her veins so much quicker, and the pain with it. Losing all her strength, she finally came against the floor, whimpering at the sheer intensity of what she was experiencing.
Lilinette stared at her, before closing her eyes for a moment, focusing her thoughts so that she might be of some use once more. She attempted to bring her mind's whirlpool of emotion and activity to a stop in order to reaffirm her status, and deal with the issues at hand.
Opening them, she brought her eyes to the body of the vampire, whose face was twitching but still very much alive. She quietly whispered to herself all the vulnerabilities she knew of. "Garlic and Holy water, none of either. Stake to the heart, skin too hard. Silver cross…" She looked down at the small necklace hanging around her neck, noting it's lack of effect. "Ineffective. Sunlight..." She quickly glanced at the sky, noting the cloud covering overhead. Cursing silently to herself she continued thinking, her line of thought becoming clearer to her as each second passed. "Sunlight. Sunlight… Heat and light. Purity through fire." Her eyes widened at this conclusion, and, with a brief glance at the now scared expression of her would-be predator, it appeared her thinking was correct.
Quickly, she gathered around herself wood from the forest floor, rapidly attempting to create a flame from the small tinderbox she had laid open. Once she set a large blaze going, she dragged the body of the immobile creature onto it. Her already red eyes started watering once more at the smoke made, when the body rapidly set alight. Pulling her companion's sword out of the smoking remains before it became too hot, she set her eyes once more onto her friend, who appeared to be only moments away from screaming once more.
Looking around herself, she realised that she had little idea where exactly she was. Acknowledging this, she simply pulled her companion closer to the warmth of the fire, though remaining careful not to bring her too close lest the flame catch. She knew her companion was destined to a life of eternal suffering, but she could not gather the courage to take the life of her dearest person. Instead she simply held her close, hugging her tightly as the whimperings continued.
Above her, it started to rain.
For the next three days Lilinette remained at her companions side, leaving only briefly for wood to keep up the fire. She did not even allow herself the time to scavange or hunt for food. She did not wish to spend the time away from Marion's side.
Through the time she spent at Marion's side she ate nothing, and drank little more than was offered by the intermittent periods of rain that had occurred. Though she knew she should be taking better care of herself, it could not be helped. She couldn't bring herself to leave the side of her companion with the knowledge of what had happened. And what her friend had become.
Throughout the time, she had felt the steady decline in the strength of the woman's heart. She could guess what the end result would be, though the chilling fear she felt when thinking of the heart stopping, and what it might bring with it, ran deeply through her veins.
And yet, though she made sure the fire kept burning throughout the time, she could not bring herself to allow her friend's destruction, nor indeed even regret that fact.
But then on the third day, when she was finally beginning to consider the need to acquire some sort of food, she felt it stop. The hand that had been lying idly on the woman's chest was pulled off in haste, as she pressed an ear to it, listening for any sign of the beating. Finding none she sat up, giving a worried look at her charge.
"Marion..?" Suddenly the lying woman's eyes snapped open, only to flutter shut when she took in a breath. Placing a hand upon her chest, Lilinette attempted to communicate with her again.
"Mari-" Before she could get the name out, the person at her knees had disappeared, only for teeth to implant themselves within her neck. Though the suddenness of it had come as a surprise, she could not consider herself shocked. She had known this would happen.
And as her blood quickly left her body, her best friend draining her dry of it, she could not help, in her light headed state of mind, but consider the fact that she did not regret it. She still could not regret allowing her companion to live.
"M-Marion..." She had managed it. She had spoken her last words. Or word, for there was only one of which she wished to speak. But the moment it had left her lips, so too did the teeth upon her neck leave. And as she looked up, she saw her Marion, standing wide-eyed against a tree, a look of horror on her face.
But horror was nothing compared to what her friend was feeling at that moment. Looking down at her Lady, she at that moment wished for nothing more than to feel the pain she had endured cover her again. To punish her for the most terrible of sins she had just committed.
She had just hurt her Lady. She had killed her, with the amount of blood she had taken. The same blood that was calling to her again. Desperately, she took in a deep breath, trying to find another source for her thirst, so that she might not harm her Lady further. Searching through the delicious taste that filled her nostrils so fully, she finally found what she was looking for, and clung to it.
An old man, two miles ahead of her, was walking alone upon a forest path. She rushed so avidly toward the point of relief that she covered the distance in what felt like less than a second. Part of her mind noted that her feet had barely touched the floor more than a couple of times, but that fact paled dramatically in comparison to the great relief she felt as she drained the old man dry.
Dropping the corpse to the floor she stared at it for a long moment, realising that the neck had already been broken. She supposed by herself when she had taken him, but that seemed odd as she couldn't remember deciding to do such a thing, kind though that act might be.
But then her thoughts turned back to her Lady, dying by her hand, and she panicked. Rushing the distance back, which by comparison seemed to take an age to cover, she lent down and gently took the girl up in her arms. "M-My Lady…" She whispered to her, stroking her arm gently as tears stung her eyes. Sorrow at her own actions rushed through her like lead, when she heard the faintness of the girls breathing.
The thirst, though exceptionally strong, was only another aspect of her life. And like all such things, it took second place to her Lady in the woman's mind. She hectically attempted to think up any and all ways she knew to save her companions life. But none would work.
Until she realised, there was one way she might save her. One way she might be allowed to live with her Lady. But the idea of forcing this life upon her scared her so greatly. Would she allow such a thing?
She knew that the chivalrous thing to do would be to allow her death. To not force her to live with such a curse as she had been laden with. But then, she also knew Lilinette's stance on such things. She whispered quietly the words this amazing girl had taught her. The truth she had revealed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I-If neither can live without the other, then to die for the other is meaningless. Both are one and the same, both in life and death. A-And must be considered as such." She sobbed tearlessly, acknowledging the words to herself as she made the decision. And she knew that really, it was the only choice there was to make.
"My apologies, my Lady, for this. But… I must take heed of your words." And she lent down, biting the neck of her beloved friend.
As she created the wound, she felt the enormous strength of the blood. The cries for her to drink, filling her mind and body. It took everything she was and more to resist the sheer power of the thirst, as she let the venom from her mouth flow into the veins, her newfound instincts guiding her.
The moment her mouth had left, she rushed straight at the closest tree, biting into the trunk and ripping off a mouthful of bark, as she fervently tried to get the blissful taste of temptation from her mouth. Though it worked in part, the smell remained just as potent, and she set down against the tree, putting her hands together in prayer for the safety of her Lady.
So desperate were her words that thoughts of whether monsters of her kind would even be allowed to pray did not ever occur to her. She simply wished and hoped fervently upon the cross around her neck for a full day without pause. On the second day as she agonisingly endured hearing her companion's screams of pain, she tested herself, attempting to move closer to the girl. After a day of this trialling herself she finally managed to conquer the ebbing strength of her friend's liquid ambrosia, pulling her close so that she could embrace her. Though she knew it was almost useless she still pulled the girl in close, gently squeezing the body so that she could provide her with what little comfort she had to offer.
Finally, she heard with her infinitely sensitive hearing the last beats of the heart she loved so dearly. Waiting for a few more minutes, she simply stared impatiently at the girl's face. Finally, those eyes snapped open, their shade no longer blue but a bright red, taking in what she knew to be more than they had ever seen before.
"Marion?" A voice queried, and she laughed in delight. Both for the safety of the girl, and for the fact that the voice, unlike her own which had altered dramatically into a deep, smooth, womanly tone, had remained so perfectly like it had always been. It seemed to have simply become even more suiting to the young girl, now holding an air of authority and strength it had before lacked, yet still threateningly capable of whining when it was felt needed. It belonged so perfectly to her.
"Aye, My Lady." She answered with a joyful smile. "I am here."
So, your thoughts?
This is an introductory chapter, so a lot of things will be explained later on, but if there's anything you don't understand feel free to ask.