Again, don't own D or the Frontier or the Nobility or... Well, yeah, you get it ;)
As D walked into the inn, the tired-looking man at the front desk seemed to be shocked into awareness. "Well I'll be..." he muttered, his eyes fixed on the dark figure gracefully coming over to him. Both fear and awe resided in his gaze.
"The mayor said you had a room for me," D said simply.
The man at the front desk didn't seem to know what to do for a moment, his eyes still trained on D's face. Then, with a quick shake of his head, he fumbled around for the room key. "Follow me, if you will," said the man. He seemed distracted.
Leading D up the stairs, the man-presumably the innkeeper-showed him to his room. Not surprisingly, the inn was almost silent. Small villages such as these rarely got any visitors when it wasn't harvesting season. Before handing over the key, the innkeeper turned and began, "I'm sure I don't need to tell you," he took a deep breath, "but we're all a little wary of you. You probably know that I'm gonna have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't, well, do anything to none of the townsfolk." The innkeeper waited for a response, then became flustered. "Not that I think you would, but I'm sure you know how it is." Saying this, he gave D the key and headed back downstairs. "Goodnight," he called to the man in black, who was retreating into his room.
It was nearing midnight on the Frontier. There was a calming wind blowing through the village. The sound of the rustling trees seemed almost like a lullaby issued from Mother Nature herself. This sect of the Frontier was strangely void of mutants, especially surrounding this town. That was probably one of the services offered by the now abhorred Lady Khardina. Alone in his room, Vampire Hunter D had disrobed his long black coat, hat and sword. Lying upon the small bed of the inn, he appeared to be asleep.
Until, suddenly, his eyes flickered open. There was the soft, muffled sound of footsteps coming down the hall towards his room. In one fluid motion, D grabbed his sword and stood. There was a light knock on his door. "Come in," he said. After a moment's hesitation, the door slowly swung open. Daniel, the stable boy, stood in the doorway. His clothes were torn in several places and bruises stood out vividly on his starlight-bleached skin. Here and there, smears of blood could be seen as well.
"S-sorry for coming to you so late," he started. "I'm sure you were resting and all... I just didn't know of any where else to go. Most folks don't like me 'cause of my dad," he explained in a tired, pained voice. D said nothing and remained standing, sword in hand. Daniel shifted his weight on to his left leg and seemed at a loss for man before him seemed as welcoming as a wall of ice. "Well... I guess it was silly of me to have come here, huh?" the boy smiled weakly. "Yeah, it was. I'll just go on back home, I suppose."
Just as Daniel was about to limp away, D put his sword to the side and stepped up to him. Unable to contain his surprise, Daniel stood stock still as D began to examine the various cuts and bruises on his face and arms. The boy's heart thundered in his chest, but was it excitement or fear that made it do so? He knew that the man before him was a dhampir, and despite his admiration the boy had been ingrained with the terror of the Nobility since he was a small child. What would this man do at the sight of Daniel's blood, which was slowly leaking from his wounds?
After a few more silent moments, D said, "You may stay here tonight." Relief fluttered through Daniel and bright smile rose to his lips, revealing a chipped tooth. The crookedness of the grin only made it that much more endearing.
"Thanks so much," he breathed. D stepped back into the room, followed by Daniel. He looked around the small room, at the single bed, then back at D. He seemed a little lost.
"Take the bed," D said succinctly.
"But I-" Daniel was about to protest, when he realized that there was no arguing with D. His tone and demeanor brooked no objection. Without another word, Daniel climbed into the bed and fell fast asleep.
D, on the floor, shut his eyes lightly. Not long after, a hoarse voice floated up from around his waist. "Why are you being so sweet with that kid?" Not surprisingly, there was no reply. "You sense it too, don't you? There's something familiar about him. You know, come to think of it, he does look a quite a bit like-" The voice was cut off quickly. D had clenched his left hand into a tight fist. What had it been about to say?
After awhile, the sounds of sleep and the rustling of trees once again ensued.
Just as the sun came peeking over the mountains surrounding the village, there was a large commotion in the lobby of the inn. Several of the town's men had gathered there and an air of violence hung about the room. Soon, the din escalated to the second floor of the establishment, where there came a loud and infuriated knocking on the door of a certain guest. D, who seemed to have already been awake, got up to answer the door. From the other side of the room, Daniel shot up in bed. His cuts from the previous night had since scabbed over, but he still looked a mess. "Wait!" he whispered. D's hand stayed for a moment as he turned towards the boy. Another angry knock came on the door. "If they find me here, you'll get in trouble! I'm sure it's my pop out there."
"What would you have me do?" D asked. Daniel didn't know what to say. Without further conference, D opened the door. As soon as he did, two men came spilling into the room. On the other side of the door frame, several other people could be seen crowding the hallway.
The first man through to door had been the innkeeper from the previous night. The second man was one D did not recognize, but when the man glared over at Daniel, the boy froze. It had to be his father.
"We're sorry to have come to you so early, but-" the innkeeper began, before he was interrupted by Daniel's father.
"'But' nothing! Why the hell d'ya think my boy is here? That damn dhampir musta got to 'im last night while I was sleepin'," he looked back out into the hall at the other men. "What do y'think y'all are doing? Get your asses in here and get my boy away from that thing," he spat. A couple of the men stepped forward cautiously, readying their spears and rusty pistols.
"Pop," Daniel began weakly. "You know that's not true. D never did nothing to me. I came here 'cause I wanted to." The boy's father gave him a look full of loathing.
"That's only what he wants you to think," said another one of the men, motioning to D. D, however, remained impassive."He's probably got some kinda spell on you, boy. If you can, you try and come on out of there. We've got the dhampir covered," the man finished, raising a stake gun and leveling it on D's chest. D's sword was now in his hand, though no one really knew how or when it had gotten there.
The innkeeper, flustered, said, "N-now gentlemen! Before we do anything we'll regret, we might want to get some hard facts. Let's not go shooting first and asking questions later." Coming forward tentatively, the innkeeper stepped into the firing zone. D, who seemed completely relaxed despite the escalating tensions, made no move to stop him from going over to the boy. With a careful eye, the innkeeper checked both sides of Daniel's neck and his wrists. Daniel said nothing, staring blankly at his father all the while. The innkeepr let out a shaky sigh. "Now, you see? The boy is just dandy." The man with the stake gun lowered his weapon a fraction of an inch. The innkeeper no longer thought that D was a threat to the boy, but rather the mob itself. Would they have been able to shoot accurately and in time if things had turned for the worst? "Though where'd you get them bruises and such from?"
"I fell off a rafter in the stables," Daniel said quickly.
"Well, you best be more careful about where you go from now on," the innkeeper said meaningfully, turning back to face the dhampir Hunter. "I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think I'll be able to keep you here for another night. You're going to have to find somewhere else to sleep while in town." Guiding the boy by the arm, the innkeeper got Daniel to his dad, who promptly dragged him out of the room. Daniel gave D one last apologetic look before being forced out the door. Within minutes, the crazed crowd of people cleared the hall, leaving only D and the innkeeper in the room.
"If it's any consolation, I never believed you did nothing," the innkeeper said. "I heard the boy come in last night and asked him what he was up to. And I know that he didn't get them cuts from falling off no damn rafter, though he would never say as much." He looked up at D, who was gathering his few belongings. "I'm sorry about this craziness, but I really can't have you staying here. There's an old residential sector on the far east end of town. Most of the houses are unoccupied, and I'm sure you could hole up in one of them for a few days."
Silently stepping up to the innkeeper, D placed a handful of gold coins in his shirt pocket. "Wait a minute! You don't have to pay me! The mayor already saw to your expenses here." He began to fish the money out of his pocket, when he looked up at the Hunter.
"It's my thanks to you," D said simply. The innkeeper stared wordlessly for a moment, and then nodded his head. D stepped past him and exited the room.
It was still quite early when D arrived at the mayor's house. The sun was just beginning to shine fully, signaling that it was perhaps seven Morning. Nevertheless, when D came up to the front door, the sounds of activity reached his ears from within.
D's light knock on the front door was quickly answered by a young serving girl. Looking up at his face, her cheeks were instantly stained scarlet. Awkwardly, she ushered him in to the same drawing room as yesterday. As soon as they entered, they mayor joined them from another entrance. "If you'll excuse us, Jenna. I have some important business to discuss with Mister D," he said to the serving girl. However, she didn't seem to hear him, still lost in the beauty of the Hunter. "Jenna!" Startled, the girl looked over to the mayor.
"Ah... Yes, sir," she stammered, then left.
"Please excuse her. You know how girls get at that age," D made no response. "Yes, well, I have here for you a map of our village and the addresses of the victims' families." Stopping suddenly, Totner turned around. He had heard giggling from the kitchen, which was off to his right. Looking in that direction, he found all four of his house servants standing in the door frame, gazing at D. The Hunter, on the other hand, seemed oblivious. "Ladies, back to work!" Quickly, the girls all scattered and retreated back into the kitchen, tittering quietly amongst themselves.
"Will that be all?" asked D, taking the aforementioned papers from the mayor.
"Yes, I suppose it will be... Well, perhaps not. I heard about the incident in the inn this morning. I hope you understand, but we can't have you socializing with the villagers any more than need be."
"Understood," D said.
"Then thank you for your time. Feel free to come back if you need any help." With that, D left the mayor's home and headed to the stables.
"Not a real friendly bunch, are they?" asked a hoarse voice as D walked.
"This village is like many others on the Frontier," D replied. Who was he talking to?
"True, but doesn't that ever get tiring? We've heard it a million times. The same old 'keep away' spiel over and over. It gets annoying after the first dozen times."
"It's just how they are," D said, turning into the stables.
Much like yesterday, the air was thick and warm in there. However, this time, there was no eager boy waiting to meet with the Hunter. "Where do you think the boy went to?" the hoarse voice asked. Not answering, D walked over to the stall that contained his horse. Outside the stall hung his saddle, polished and freshly worked. As he strapped it to his mount, he noted that the horse had also been washed and groomed. "Sheesh, the kid really wants to impress you."
Leading his horse out of the building, D mounted up and looked at the map and list of addresses. With a gentle tug at the reigns, he headed in search of the home of the first victim.
Awwww, I love Daniel. Probably one of my most developed characters. Blah... Continuing on!