Chapter 1: Hunter named D
Title: Bloodlust 2.0
By Uchiha-chan
A swing of the batwing doors of the saloon brought the attention of all occupants to the newcomer. The plump and jolly bartender greeted the visitor with a customary evening greeting. The new arrival pulled off the cloak's hood, returned the man a little nod while surveying the room. Sharp eyes peeked from the brim of her cap as slim elegant fingers tipped it upwards. Spotting an empty seat at the end of the room, the traveller shrugged off the cloak and made a beeline towards it. A group of rowdy youngsters made snide remarks about on the traveller's worn and dirty clothes and laughed among themselves.
The visitor's short slender figure and a sword on the belt would given many a thought that he was a young boy but to everyone's surprise, the cap was removed, revealing a waterfall of smooth midnight blue hair. Slim waist, young elegant features, unblemished skin and those sharp malachite green eyes; there's no doubt that this young girl turns heads of both men and women. The rowdy youngsters ogled at the beauty and let loose a wolf-whistle.
"Hey there pretty! How about a drink with us?" The girl paid them no attention and walked past their table to the empty seat at the far end of the counter. She waved the bartender over and slapped a silver coin on the counter.
"I need a room and dinner." Her voice was surprisingly feminine, a little husky and a little hoarse from travelling. She set her backpack on the floor with a thud and lowered herself on the chair. The man took the coin in exchange for a key and set a glass on the counter and poured her a drink. "Tis on the house young lady!" After which he turned around to the stove behind him and got to work with her dinner.
Today is a good day! He thought to himself. Surely you don't get pretty girls coming to your dusty old inn in some backwater town everyday! "It's rare to see travellers alone in these parts of the country. Let me know if you need something!"
The girl nodded with thanks and sipped the drink. Hmm... Alcoholic...Do I really look older than my age? Not that she cared even though there was a certain someone cautioning her on alcohol consumption in her mind. Yeah right, call me a lightweight just because I got tipsy once! Once! She tipped her head and tried to mentally shake off that annoying memory.
"Here you go!" The bartender returned with a plate with two bread rolls and some bits of smoked meat and pickled vegetables. In the depth of winter, fresh food is hard to come by and what little meat that was served was considered a luxury. The girl looked up and gave him another thankful nod and reached into her backpack. Deft fingers soon found the object of desire which turns out to be a small round container.
The bartender stood still and watched with curiosity as she twisted the cap off and used the spoon to scrape out the last bit of something thick and creamy. She murmured softly in reply to his silent question. "Mayonnaise. From the capital." she cursed under her breath. Damn...That's the last of it.
She stirred that little bit of mayonnaise into the food and took a bite. Finding the thick consistency of that white goo revolting, the man turned away to serve drinks to his other customers. Tired and famished, she ate at inhuman speed. When the last of the food is gone, she sighed happily and asked for her glass to be refilled but a young man popped out of nowhere and waved the bartender over with a few gold coins in his hands. "I'll be buying all of her drinks tonight! Bring out your best booze!"
Recognizing him to be part of the noisy group when she entered the establishment, the blue haired girl looked at him frostily and turned down his offer. "No thanks." But persistent he was.
"How about just a drink with us my beautiful lady?" He indicated to his group of crass looking youngsters. MY beautiful lady? What a douche... One would have noticed a little twitch of annoyance on those handsome eyebrows if they looked close enough. Alright... Chill...and...
"Get lost."
"Aww... come on! We can show you a good time!"
He reached for her backpack in an attempt to relocate it to where the group was sitting hoping that it'll make the girl follow him. That's it. Last straw. And follow him she did.
The girl stepped out of her seat and gave the side of her belt a light pat that unclipped the sword and it's scabbard. The metal object landed squarely onto his soft boots, making him curse in pain. "Why you!... No one messes with the Detroit's gang leader like this! Get her! I want to hear her scream!" Bring it on!
All five buff looking youngsters stood up in unison. One of them picked up a nearby beer bottle and smashed the bottom against the wall for a makeshift weapon while another flipped the obstructing table aside. The bartender cowed behind the counter in fear, knowing very well that his Inn was going to be thrashed in this bar fight.
The girl skilfully clipped the sword back to her belt and reached into her coat to a pouch behind her. A skinny looking man with the makeshift weapon commenced the attack and swung the bottle down heavily towards her, however with a quick flick of her hand, the broken bottle was shattered at the neck, leaving him stunned and a face full of glass shards. She smirked hearing him howl in pain and proceeded to kick him aside in the stomach just as another figure with a hunting knife lunged at her. The girl dodged and gave the air a swipe and in a fraction of a second, the knife clanked lifelessly onto the floor. Unsure of how he was disarmed at such a distance, he gaped awkwardly and was soon ended with a roundhouse kick to his jaw.
"OH My Gosh! She uses witchcraft!"
The leader of the group stood in a corner observing her with interest while his underlings did the dirty work. The next contestant was a teenage street brawler. He had his knuckles bandaged up. She knew that this man fights bare handed and judging from his size and footwork he must be deadly quick as well. Immediately she dropped the little things that she held in her hand and took him on in the contest of speed. Sharp little metal rods clinked noisily on the floor.
She dodged the first round of punches then returned it with good grace and lightning reflexes. Soon, that boy slumped out cold against the wall with a bloodied face.
"That was not magic! Get her with your gun, Skye!"
The leader called out to a average size man by the far wall. The girl had her back turned to him as another attacker dove at her with a section of a lead pipe. The man named Skye was probably a gunslinger judging from his gun holsters. The girl was suddenly alert at the mention of a gun. She stole a glance to where the said gun wielder was and saw his hands reach for his revolvers.
Quick draw and probably deadly accurate... well shit... The girl ducked from swing of the pipe just in time and elbowed her attacker in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. As she watched the man fall, she let her hand relax. Something bright and shiny materialized in her hand. Skye was already in motion of pulling out his weapons when a shot rang out from the opposite side of the room. The leader switch his gaze from Skye to the girl then back to Skye.
The girl held a weird looking gun pointing directly at the other gun man. He looked bewildered. Sharp pain shot through his arm from his wrist and he dropped the gun. The glass on the gunman's wristwatch cracked and a smoking bullet hole had mysteriously appeared behind him. Skye grabbed his wrist and winced in pain. What in the devil's name! He watched the gun pointing him move to aim at his chest. I'm screwed.
"Stop! Who the hell are you? Don't harm my brother!"
The leader stepped between the gun and the stunned individual. This is such a waste of time... The girl narrowed her eyes and glared at the two of men, a flick of her hand was enough to convey her message. Scram. The brothers almost wet their pants as they backed away and picked up their unconscious friends. "No one messes with a hunter. Or I'll make them scream. Keep that in mind." The girl kept a keen eye and steady aim on the men as they left through the front doors.
When the last of them were gone, everyone present let out a breath they had held unconsciously. Just then, a little boy rushed in from the back door behind the bar counter, a roll of creased brown paper in his hand. "Dad! Look!" The child did a double take when he saw his father pale and breathless. "What happened!"
The girl no longer sensed danger and lowered the weapon before it scared the child. He couldn't be older than ten. She held the gun behind her back and made it disappear as she used her other hand to run through the top of her long silky mane as a distraction.
"Was there a fight?" Blue eyes gleamed with excitement. His father, the bartender, stood up shakily from behind the counter to survey the damage. A smashed table, a couple of chairs, broken glass and a bullet hole is all that he suffered. He breathed a sigh of relieve. Could've been a lot worse I guess... "We're closing early today, son."
The boy climbed a tall stool and reached for his father. "Dad! There's been an attack again! Look !" He unrolled the poster and slapped it onto the counter. The girl walked towards them and glanced at the poster. It was a notice which offered gold in return of information or capture of someone or something. "Dad! There's a big reward to capture whatever that attacked the Mayor's daughter!" Short grubby fingers pointed to the few zeros on the rewards section. Quite a pretty sum indeed! She thought.
"Hey boy!" The girl leaned against the counter, looking nonchalantly at the child. "Who got attacked?" The boy with a mop of healthy brown hair grinned and replied. "It's the Mayor's daughter, big sister Nao! She was attacked early this morning. Woodsman found her in the woods nearby. The town folks say it's a ...Vampire..." The boy added some scary effects to the last word, his father cringed and covered his son's mouth with a hand.
"Daniel, you do not speak of such evil in this place!" That wiped the grin off the boy's face, the girl however had the tiniest of a smile on hers.
"The boy doesn't know what he's saying. Please don't mind him." The bartender offered an apologetic smile. "And I must thank you for taking care of those freeloading bums. The girl nodded her head in acknowledgement, her attention was still on the poster. Vampires eh? Hello payday!
"Well... Sorry about your furniture." Both of them turned to the mess again, the man shrugged. "Nothing that I can't repair. As I was going to say, would you like me to show you your room?" The blue haired beauty straightened her coat and reached for her hat, dusting it a little before putting it on.
"That won't be necessary." She turned her attention to the youngest member of the conversation. "Boy, would you show me the way to the Mayor's house?" The bartender looked surprised and worried at the same time. "Young lady, are you intending to hunt those things and claim the reward?" The young girl simply nodded and tightened the straps of her backpack that she was packing. " That's madness! Only specially trained hunters have skills to kill them and most of them don't live long!" The grown man look like he would shit his pants anytime. Vampires tales often spoke of those creatures of the night as intelligent, powerful, bloodthirsty fiends with strength of a thousand men. They were also depicted as vengeful, cruel and uncompassionate things. Who knows if those creatures would come into town to seeking vengeance on those for hunting them? No one would be safe! The owner of the establishment thought, unaware that he is still holding onto his son with increasing pressure over the boy's face. The boy struggled and broke loose from the hand that kept him quiet and went towards the girl.
"Sure! Are you a hunter?" The girl swung her backpack over her shoulder, ruffled his hair and nodded. "Yea..." She sensed the growing fear in the man but it didn't bother her. As an apprentice she'd had seen a fair share of vampires and those were not as deadly as common folks thought. Probably some rookie vampires who had no control over their bloodlust... She thought to herself. The young boy caught her attention by tugging her sleeve. "Cool! I'll bring you to the Mayor's office immediately!" Alarmed, his father tried to catch the boy by the collar but failed. "Wait a second! Don't drag my boy into this!" The boy ducked when the hand went for him again. "Hunter or not, that Vampire family should not be taken lightly!" She shrugged and tossed the key and a coin to the bartender. "I'll be back, please keep that room for me." Turning to the boy, she said. "Let's go shall we?"
Realizing that he couldn't change her mind, he resorted to pleading. "Please! You're making a mistake! All these years we've kept a safe distance away from them, a hunt will upset this balance! What's the Mayor thinking!" Another fool who believes in this false security. "No one is safe... There's no balance until we wipe them all out." She shook her head and continued to the door. "W-what are you-" With a smirk, the blue haired girl left him parting words.
"I'm a Vampire Hunter. My name is D."