A/N-Yes, actually, I am an Anne Rice fan. My favorite book from her is Queen of the Damned. What about you? Anyway, I thank you for all the reviews! Sorry that this has taken me so freaking long to get to, but my mind has been in total and complete Star Wars mode. Now, I must warn you, this may sound like a series of fics placed into one, but this is how it has to be for any plot to happen. Hopefully, nobody will mind. Enjoy and review!
Chapter 2- Lesson the First
It had been only days since D and Lilah had met, but somehow, D felt that he had shared more with this girl than he had ever shared with anyone before. The first thing he had told her had been, of course, of Left Hand. He had been shocked, if not a little pleased, to see that the sight of a complete other person in his left hand had not disgusted the girl. In fact, the scene had been almost comical.
Lilah had curtsied to the parasite and formally introduced herself. Left Hand had laughed. Then, turning his attention to D, he had made the statement, "Finally, someone who respects me and my uses!"
The dhampire had merely scoffed. He had also told Lilah of his exact parentage. This had shocked her, but, yet again, she did not shy away from him.
This girl might actually make a decent Hunter, D thought as he dismounted now in their present encampment.
"Why aren't we in an inn?" Lilah inquired as she dismounted Princess and tied her reins to the nearest, strongest tree. D did the same with his horse.
They were in a large clearing, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. But this is what was needed for D agenda for the evening. Lilah was now pitching the tents. D busied himself with starting a fire. When they had both finished and Lilah had started something to eat on the fire, D unsheathed his sword.
Lilah went ridged where she sat on the ground.
"Do you hear something?" she whispered.
"No. Get up," he said, going to his saddlebags and withdrawing another, shorter sword.
She stood, and D tossed the weapon to her. She unsheathed it slowly.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"You and I are going to be partners, as it were. Every Hunter needs to know how to fight. I'm going to give you your first lesson," he explained.
Lilah tossed the sheath to the side, a sudden, fierce determination in her eyes. She nodded. Left Hand laughed.
"The girl's got guts! I hope D doesn't end up showing them to you, Lilah," he said.
"Quiet," D said, tightening Left Hand around the hilt of his sword. "Now, I'm just going to be teaching you some basic defense movements tonight. I have to be somewhere in the morning. It's a long ride and we'll both need our rest."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Somewhere. Now, pay attention. I'm going to lunge at you. If you were human, you'd have nearly no chance of blocking me, but you're not human anymore. You have to remember that. Let your mind let go of its human tendencies. Trust your instincts, those given to you unwittingly by that vampire. Do what will come natural. Do you understand?"
Lilah nodded, holding the sword rather awkwardly out in front of her. D waited only moments, trying to see if she'd let her guard down. She didn't. That was good. Finally, he lunged. However, the results were not as good. She slashed wildly missing him by a mile and herself by inches.
"Stop," D said, and she did, huffing and puffing slightly as she did so.
"I think the sword is too heavy for me," she said, dropping the blade to the ground.
Left Hand laughed. D sighed.
"Perhaps a sword is not the weapon that you'll need. I had planned on practicing more tonight, but I think we'll stop here," he said, noticing that Lilah was now sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. "Maybe fighting at all isn't your thing."
At this, she leapt to her feet. "I can fight! I can! I just need to practice! Don't give up on me! Let's go again!"
She picked up the sword and D smiled. "Very well."
…………………
The long ride had taken them to the outskirts of a old Frontier town, to a house so large that, had it been kept in shape, it could've been called a mansion. D stopped at the bottom of the hill that was just before the house. Here, he turned to Lilah, now wearing brown leather pants and a white, button-up, man's shirt.
"They'll have shooters mounted on every able place. We'll meet our clients outside. You must show no fear. In fact, you must act almost as if you don't know the shooters are there," he said.
"Almost?" Lilah asked.
D smiled ever so slightly. "You must put a bit more caution into your movements."
Lilah nodded and kicked lightly at Princess to get her moving again. Sure enough, as they topped the hill, she could see the glare off the scopes of the guns. She could also see a large, stone patio, slightly raised off the ground, right in front of the house. Their employer was sitting there. D was right. Outside it was.
D and Lilah dismounted and walked slowly up the side stairs of the patio. They came to a stop a little less than twenty feet from a man with blond hair who appeared to be of middle age and a maid who was serving him tea, by the smell of it. The man gestured for D and Lilah to sit.
"What is the problem?" D asked, apparently declining the seat, for he had not moved. Lilah found it hard not to keep her stare from drifting back and forth from their employer and D.
The man laughed. "Very well. My name is Sir Thomas McKensly. I built half the town you just rode through."
"I've heard of you. Go on," D said.
"Yes, well, my wife, Geneva, was kidnapped last night on her way back from the village. She's a midwife there."
Lilah shuddered involuntarily. That situation sounded awful close to what hers had been. Sir Thomas sighed.
"Yes, well, the vampire who did it demands a ransom, of all things. But, although I appear wealthy, I don't have near enough money in my name to cover what he is asking. I am willing to pay you five hundred million dollars, which should give you some idea as to the amount that this vampire is asking, and I'll give you half in advance. What do you say?"
He tossed the money, encased in a brown draw sack. D picked up the sack and seemed to weigh it in his hand before he decided that the correct amount was there. He then looked out at Sir Thomas from under his hat and said, rather darkly, "If your wife has been tainted, turned by the vampire…"
Thomas's chest puffed out. He seemed on the verge of insisting that Lilah and D should find some miracle cure that she, at least, knew didn't exist. Then, he sighed.
"Destroy her…Just…Well, I'm sure you get this all the time…" he said, looking away.
Lilah was, for her part, shocked that he had come to this conclusion so quickly. In fact, she was sure that it must've shown on her face, for D gave her a sharp look before stating, "Yes. I understand."
And with that, they left, walking and mounting their horses silently. Once they were back at the bottom of the hill they had first stopped at, Lilah sped Princess so that she was neck-in-neck with D's horse.
"Don't you think that he was being rather cold in regards to his wife?" she asked.
"Ah, honey, that's a typical bounty," Left Hand said.
"As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. And there would be nothing else to do. Sir McKensly knew that," D said.
Lilah sighed. She supposed that they were right.
"It's only hard because this is the first time. You get used to the apparent coldness once you realize that it's not all that it appears to be," D said.
He then spurred his horse to go a few paces ahead. Lilah watched him for a few moments. Then, deciding that her staring was doing her no good in any aspect, she contended herself with playing "Name the Bird Calls" with Left Hand. She was sure D loved that.
End Notes: So, how was it? I hope it wasn't too choppy. Please review! Thanks!
