A/N: Written in dedication to Monty Oum on 2/01/16. Thank you for being my hero and an infinite source of inspiration.


The Valkyrie bloodline was considered one of the oldest family of vampires to have lived. Their ancestors went as far back as the Middle Ages.

Unlike most of the other bloodlines, the Valkyries were some of the only vampires whose main diet did not consist of consuming human blood. Instead they lived off of animals' blood or in some cases a substitute that is specifically prepared for them. It is also not unheard of for a vampire to eat a regular human's diet to sustain themselves, but the craving of blood is an instinct so engraved into their lifestyle that none can go long without it.

Nora herself preferred human food over blood. She enjoyed the delicious tastes that flooded her mouth; a variety of flavors that you couldn't get from blood alone. There was only one instance in which Nora had tasted fresh human blood. It had come from her best friend Ren when he accidentally cut himself in a woodworking class.

The two were currently in the school's cafeteria. It was their lunch break, and while Nora wolfed down her meal Ren ate slowly and sparsely. Once her plate was empty Nora eyed Ren's still full plate and watched the boy curiously.

Ren was slowly eating away at his second apple, which Nora had given him, and was reading a small novel splayed open on the table in front of him.

Nora had always noticed that whatever Ren ate was often fruits and vegetables. The boy hardly ever ate any meats or anything else that wasn't typically organic. Though she figured that it did explain a little bit on why the boy was so pale and fair featured.

Ren turned the page of his book, never taking his eyes off of it, as he took another slow bite from his apple. Despite having just eaten, Nora couldn't help but watch the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed the piece. She began to remember the warm and uniquely flowery taste of Ren's blood before her thoughts were interrupted.

"You know, if you're still hungry, you can have the rest of my plate, Nora."

Nora snapped her gaze away from Ren's throat with some embarrassment, nodding vigorously at his offer.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks Ren!" She said in an excited tone.

She replaced her plate with his and immediately scarfed down the remainder of his meal. Once finished she couldn't help but stare at Ren again. Though this time not at his throat.

"If you ask to eat the rest of my apple, I'm going to tell you no." Ren said.

Nora shook her head and laughed. "I'm not that hungry." This response brought a small upward twitch to the corner of his lips.

For the remainder of the lunch hour Nora simply studied Ren. Whether he noticed or not, she wasn't sure, he never said anything about it bothering him.

Ren was the only person who wasn't a vampire that knew of Nora's lineage. It was strange how he wasn't the least bit terrified or intimidated by such knowledge, like most humans should be. He never told her secret to anybody, and he even let her stick around him despite some of the unwanted attention it brought to him.

Nora greatly appreciated Ren's attitude towards her. Trust was something rare, even among the other vampires Nora knew.

Despite how she considered Ren to be her best friend, she still knew next to nothing about his life outside of school.

Albeit it isn't easy to hang out with other people, aside from in school, when her family was rather strict about curfew. Many of them still didn't trust humans, and they wanted the possibility of being discovered to be less likely to happen by staying home.

Ren himself never spoke much about his own home, even when questioned by other students. Somehow the teachers didn't seem to be bothered much about his situation.

The few chances Nora took to ask him about his home led to a dead end. Ren would either deflect the question by pretending he didn't hear, or he would redirect the question away from himself and lead Nora into talking about her family situation.

Though there was one rare instance where Ren let slip a bit about his home.

"It's a very…warm place."

He had said this with a wistful look on his face and a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. It was rare to see Ren smile so in that moment Nora wanted to know more, but she knew better than to pry and prod at him.

The bell for the end of lunch sounded and the both of them left the cafeteria together. Eventually Ren went on his own way to class, while Nora went to hers.

The rest of the school day Nora couldn't get the idea of Ren's home out of her head. Now that she had begun thinking about it again she wanted fervently to learn more about it. It was odd for her to be so invested in the well-being of someone other than herself or her family. Then again, with the lifestyle they've been living she didn't have much time to make many friends.

The thoughts were bothering her so much, that when it came time for school to be over Ren was surprised when she didn't tackle him into a hug by his locker like usual. Instead he found Nora deep in thought, her brow furrowed cutely as she contemplated.

"Nora? Is something the matter?" Ren said as he waved a hand before her face.

Nora snapped out of her thoughts and noticed Ren was looking at her with a slightly worried expression.

"Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking about something." Nora gave him a smile and a thumbs up. "Nothing to worry about."

However Ren wasn't buying the act and Nora knew he wouldn't, though she had hoped he would.

"Nora." He said in a more serious tone. "Something's up. You can talk to me."

Nora pouted, ready to protest again, but there was a glint of distress in Ren's eyes that made her do otherwise.

"I was kind of hung up about your home." Ren looked at her quizzically as she continued to elaborate. "You never really talk about it, and not to make it sound like you owe me something, because you definitely don't, but you already know a lot about me- way more than you should- and I feel weird not knowing next to anything about you. I mean, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, but I've been thinking about it a lot recently and—"

Ren held a hand up in front of him and Nora clammed up. He smiled at her, shaking his head in disbelief, before replying.

"It's okay, Nora. It's only natural for you to be curious about me, and what you say is true. I think it's about time that I show you more about me."

Nora couldn't help the huge grin that spread across her face as she lunged at Ren and brought him into a tight embrace.

"Oooooh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Nora said excitedly and began hopping up and down. "This will be so much fun!"

Ren chuckled at her bubbly demeanor, patting the shorter girl's head as a signal to separate.

"We're going to have to be quick though. I know you have a curfew, and I won't be able to stay out too late myself if we're going to do this."

Nora nodded and skipped merrily beside Ren as he led the way.

It wasn't a very long walk until they ended up at the town's largest park. By then Nora became bewildered by why they were there and not at a residential area. She didn't ask Ren though, fearing he may back out if she started probing him with questions.

They took one of the paths that led deep into a trail surrounded by trees, and it was a little ways off on a dirt path when they stopped.

Ren turned to her and Nora watched him curiously for an explanation.

"I need you to keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them. Okay?"

Nora nodded slowly, still feeling a bit weirded out by this situation, and complied with his statement.

Behind her eyelids Nora could tell there was a bright light growing in front of her. She felt warm suddenly, and she felt even warmer when Ren took her hand and led her towards it.

Nora did feel like opening her eyes to see what was going on, but Ren trusted her and she trusted him, so she kept her eyes tightly shut the entire time.

"You can open your eyes now."

Nora slowly opened them, her eyelids fluttering open and close at the sudden brightness that surrounded them.

Nora looked out ahead of her to see that they were in the middle of an open grassy field. The sun was shining above them, despite that it should be past noon, and she could see people of various shapes and sizes walking around and some flitting about on wings.

…..Wait a minute.

Nora stifled a gasp as she realized that the people before her were in fact not really human at all. They were creatures with pointed ears and other odd features that totally didn't make them human.

Nora was shocked at what she was seeing. When she looked beside her to ask Ren the meaning behind all of this she found the words caught in her throat.

Ren was dressed in a garb different from what she had always seen him wear at school. He wore a jade long-sleeved tunic that was embroidered with gold and silver. He had on pure white pants but he wore no shoes so that he was bare footed.

The most amazing thing to Nora was the change in his appearance. He no longer looked pale in that sickly way he seemed to present himself, rather he had a healthy glow about him. His ears were also pointed, like some of the other creatures she had seen. Behind his back he had transparent wings that fluttered ever so lightly with the breeze.

Perhaps the most mesmerizing thing about him that awed Nora was the beautiful pink that colored his eyes. She had noticed the color of his eyes before, but they were always a muted version of what they were now.

Ren was smiling down at her with a gentle expression, and Nora found herself becoming flustered by his look.

She wasn't used to this type of Ren.

Nora managed to draw some courage, and spoke in a shy tone. "So, what exactly are you, Ren?"

Ren laughed, a noise that came out sounding almost musical to her ears.

"I am what you would call a fairy."

Nora nodded, now the pieces were starting to come together. Everything was starting to make sense about Ren's seemingly unnatural habits and why he never took offense to those bullies earlier in the day.

"Are you sure it's alright to show me this? Wouldn't you get into some sort of trouble?"

Ren contemplated the question for a moment before looking at her with a smile.

"Yes, but I trust you."

Nora felt an immense rush of emotion, and without a second thought she leaned up to Ren on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. After the act she felt embarrassed again, but Ren's soft smile only reassured her that everything was alright.

Nora then resumed her observation of the area, now talking to him in fascination about his home. Ren only continued to observe her.

He reveled in Nora's exuberance, and in the fact that her hand was still in his.