Virtua Forest

"Demon Flames!"

A pillar of fire erupted underneath the injured fenrir, making it howl in pain before bursting into pixels. IF wiped the sweat off her brow, looking around the empty clearing. The sun had just set, and she squinted to see if anything was moving in the clearing. Looks like that was the last one she thought, turning to head back to Planeptune. Time to head back and turn in the quests. She walked only three steps before she heard footsteps behind her and turned, thinking that maybe a fenrir was trying to sneak up on her. When she turned though, she saw only the empty clearing behind her.

That's weird, she thought. I could've sworn I heard something. But just as she turned to continue walking back, she saw a blur in her peripheral vision, and everything went black.

Planeptune

"She should've been back by now." Compa muttered to herself worriedly. When she asked the clerk at the guild whether or not she had seen IF, she said that the last time IF was here was when she had picked out some quests yesterday after lunch. It wasn't unusual for IF to take a little bit longer than she had thought she would, but an entire day was out of the question. Compa ran into the lobby of the Basilicom, getting let through to the elevators without question. Usually she would stop to chat with the receptionist, but the worried look on her face had let her know that there was something wrong.

Compa rushed into the elevator and selected the floor Neptune lived on, worrying about what could've happened to IF all the way up. When the elevator dinged, she barely gave the doors any time to open before running all the way to the communal living room and bursting in, shouting: "Iffy's gone missing!"

Meanwhile, in Virtua Forest

IF groaned as she regained consciousness, slowly opening her eyes to see the roof of a cave above her. She tried to remember how she got here, then the ache in the back of her head reminded her. She sat up quickly and looked around, not seeing much in the darkness. She went to unsheathe her qatars, only to find that they weren't there. "Ah, you're awake," she heard a male voice say from the darkness. "I was starting to get worried that you'd never wake up." IF stood up and got into a fighting stance, not willing to go down without a fight. "Oh please," she heard the voice say. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Hitting me in the head earlier seems to state otherwise," she replied, inching away from the voice. She heard a light chuckle come from the man. "I needed you disarmed, and that was the safest way for me to do it. If I wanted to hurt you any more than I already have, I would've done it already."

He walked forward until she could just make out his silhouette, and gestured to a small part of the cave wall which formed a sort of chair. "If you take a seat, I'll explain everything."

"I'll stand, thanks," she replied, and he shrugged and took a seat. "First, introductions. My name is Vladimir. What is yours?"

"IF," she replied cautiously. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark, and she could begin to make out part of his appearance. He was wearing what looked like a black trench coat with red trim, a white shirt underneath it, and a pair of black jeans. He sighed, muttering something about getting the hard part over with, and said: "Well IF, you might not believe this but I am actually a vampire." She scoffed, and replied: "Yeah, sure, and I'm a CPU." He sighed. "Don't believe me? Well, you're not the first. Just look at my face, and I think you might be swayed a bit." IF leaned forward a fraction, trying to get a better look at his face. "You can come closer, you know. I don't bite. Well, I'm not going to right now, at least."

IF inched closer until she could make out his face, and her eyes widened. He was deathly pale, and his hair was such a light blonde that it appeared white at first glance, but that wasn't what caught her attention. What did catch her attention was the tips of fangs poking out of his mouth as he was grinning, and his blood red irises. She backed away quickly and went to feel her neck, only to find two small punctures over her jugular.

"Sorry about that," he said, gesturing towards her neck. "Usually I wait until the person's woken up to do that, but I needed blood badly."

IF turned and started to run, and Vladimir sighed. "Why do they always have to try to run?" he muttered, before slowly standing up.

IF was nearing the entrance, and she could see sunlight streaming into the cave from around a corner. However, before she could get to it, she felt a gust of wind go by her and suddenly Vladimir was in front of her, blocking the way out.

"Sorry IF, but I kind of need you." IF slid to a stop, realizing that she was trapped. "What do you want?" she asked, putting as much hate into her question as she could. Vladimir sighed. "If we go back to our seats, I'll tell you." IF thought hesitated, trying to think of a way to get past the vampire, but sighed and realized that she couldn't before walking back into the cave, being followed closely by Vladimir.

They took their respective seats once more, Vladimir letting out a sigh as he did. "Alright, now I know you don't like this, but at least listen to me, alright?" IF simply glared at him. "Good. So to put it simply, I'm travelling and I need a source of blood."

"Then why don't you just get it from nearby villages?" IF asked sarcastically. "Because," he replied, "where I'm going there aren't any villages to get blood from. If you let me finish, I'll tell you why." He looked at IF questioningly, and she didn't say anything. "Ok. So, I'm going high into the Planeptunian mountains looking for a shrine. What is supposed to be in this shrine is a spell book with a spell in it which can make vampires immune to the negative effects of the sun."

"So basically you're chasing rumors," IF said sarcastically. Vladimir sighed. "If you want to put it that way, then yes, I'm chasing rumors." He stood up and started walking deeper into the cave, saying: "We leave at sunset. I'd try to get some rest if I were you." He stopped walking and said over his shoulder: "Oh, and I wouldn't try running away. I'd hear you before you took a second step." And with that, he walked deep into the cave, out of sight.

Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and if you did please leave a review! I'm kind of unmotivated, and reviews help motivate me to write. Constructive criticism is also appreciated! I know I have a lot to improve and you guys can help! Anyways, I know that this was a bit of a short chapter, but I have another one on the way, and it's most likely going to be released tomorrow or the day after. Anywho, have a nice day! (or night:) )