Note: Ah, once again I'm pretty sure I left too many things vague and up for interpretation. Okay, I'm really thankful to flaming-amber for pointing out my mistakes. I was just going with the vampire hierarchy I figured from reading VK. I did also correct that Kaien – Kain thing. Blame the spell check. There is also a reason why I'm using Kain. Partially for his perceptive personality…you'll find out the true reason later in the story.
I'm also aware that there is confusion around why Hunter's species is "more dangerous than a vampire." I'll explain it in the story. Right now the main key as to why it is so is because I associated her with Fenrir/Fenris. If anyone's familiar with that Old Norse myth they'd know who Fenrir was. But I'm also taking into account that not everyone is a mythology freak like me so I'll be explaining who and what Fenrir was and why being a descendant of him is being dangerous. I also forgot to mention that "werewolves" as in Hunter's kind were in existence before humans and vampires and why they are extinct now for the most part. That will be also explained in the story.
I'm not going with the stereotypical notion of what we think of werewolves now. I'm using the old pre-Hollywood idea of what those beings were. I'm also combining the actual traits of the wolves we have in existence today. I hope that clears things up. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
[Handguns and Second Chances]
-06: Second Revelation -
Othin spake:
46. "Much have I fared, | much have I found,
Much have I got of the gods:
Whence comes the sun | to the smooth sky back,
When Fenrir has snatched it forth?"
Vafthruthnir spake:
47. "A daughter bright | Alfrothul bears
Ere Fenrir snatches her forth;
Her mother's paths | shall the maiden tread
When the gods to death have gone."
– The Ballad of Vafthruthnir (Vafthruthnismol), The Poetic Edda
Knuckles rapped on the wooden door. "Come in," said the Chairman, not looking up from his busy work. When the visitor came in, the blonde man's eyes lifted. "I have a package for you from Sister Katherine," the visitor said. "Ah yes," Kaien said pleased that it arrived so quickly. He had consulted the nun the previous night indeed, in regards of a little problem named Hunter.
The delivery man walked up to the wooden desk, placing the package upon its surface. "Thank you," the chairman said, "that'll be all." The man gave him a small bow and excused himself. "Now, let's see what we have here…" Kaien said to himself as he reached out to the package. We're forbidden to talk about other gods…but I can send you some things that may be helpful…the woman's voice sounded in his head. He opened the package and before him was a stack of books: The Codex Regius, The Legend of Hati and Sköll, and Prose Edda. Judging by how thick two out of the three volumes were, he had plenty of reading to do. Thinking his best bet would be the thinnest book for now, he picked the Legend of Hati and Sköll by David E. Wolf.
"Hush now, for it was foretold by Norsemen ages ago. The wolves Hati and Sköll chase the sun and the moon across the heavens each day, but it shall not always be so. The time of Ragnarok will come, the time of the Gotterdammerung, when the world shall be plunged into a winter as it has never known. This is the Fimbulvert. There shall be three such endless winters, winters of unspeakable cold that will freeze the hearts of men and gods alike, for this is the beginning of the end. The wolf Sköll shall devour the sun and his brother Hati, the moon. The world will know no light. Yet, there is a wolf still more terrible, and he is called Fenrir."
"That's interesting…" Kaien thought as he glanced at the other books. A small note caught his eye. Picking the piece of paper, he noticed it had Sister Katherine's handwriting on it.
"Dear Kaien,
I'm sorry I couldn't talk more about Hunter last night. Here at the convent we're supposed to revere only God, if you know what I mean. Most of the world is oblivious to the existence of other creatures other than what they know. Here I'm sending you three books that might be helpful. Just as a clarification, Fenrir had sons and the two most known ones were Hati and Sköll. Hunter is a descendant of their bloodline. I don't know how pure her blood is, yet you know what will happen if this goes public. Everyone's so afraid of Ragnarok that they're willing to kill anything that has Fenrir's blood. No wolf from the Fenrir bloodline should have been left alive. Anyway, I hope this helps. Until next time,
Sister Katherine"
Kaien Cross read the note twice. Ragnarok – what was that? Apparently another term he wasn't familiar with. Yet he knew one thing, and that was Hunter's bloodline. Since Fenrir was imprisoned by the gods, Hati and Sköll were still free, doing their thing of chasing the moon and the sun. He didn't know how true this whole myth was, but the fact that Hunter was there as a descendant it did have to have some truth to it. Now the million dollar question – which of the two wolves did she originate from? Was her blood just a mix of wolf and human or was the other half something else?
As he was contemplating the different possibilities, his office door burst open and two vampires rushed in. He recognized the first one as Aido Hanabusa and the one behind him as Akatsuki Kain. "Chairman!" Aido suddenly said as he moved aside, now revealing an unconscious Hunter in Kain's arms. "What happened?!" he asked the vampires as he rushed out of his seat, dropping the books and knocking some papers off his desk.
"She was attacked by a Level-E," Kain said with a calm face, though the blood from Hunter's arm was dripping down onto his pants, staining them crimson. "Oh my, place her here on the sofa," the Chairman instructed as he shuffled about for first aid supplies. Kain did as he was told to and Aido placed the bags by the door. "Where was Kiriyuu when this happened?" Kaien asked as he poured some hot water into a bowl and got a rag. "He wasn't there," Aido answered, but he realized that he should have kept his mouth shut when he saw the Headmaster's face. "What? I specifically said that they were supposed to go together–"he stopped mid sentence and looked down at Hunter. She didn't ask Zero to go with her did she?
Kiriyuu Zero might be moody and rude but he wasn't disobedient. Sister Katherine did warn him that Hunter was a troublemaker as well. "Aido-san get Zero for me," he ordered then knelt down beside the sofa to clean Hunter's bloodied arm. The door closed behind Aido and soon his footsteps faded. "Can you change the water for me, Akatsuki-san?" the headmaster asked the vampire. Kain took the blood-stained bowl and emptied it in the bathroom sink. The scent of blood excited him but he knew he couldn't taste it. It was a forbidden fruit after all. Such cruel is the fate of a vampire.
When he returned he saw the Headmaster still where he was, with the bloodied rag in his hands, applying pressure to the wound. "Thank you," the blonde man said as Kain placed the bowl back down beside him. "Tell me one thing Kain…" the Chairman began, "did anything strange happen?"
Kain knew what the Chairman was asking – did Hunter go psycho. "She killed the Level-E." He answered honestly. No need to lie.
The vampire's answer confirmed Kaien's worst fears. Hunter's wolf side was beginning to surface and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. It's one thing when the person in question is a pureblooded wolf, a cursed werewolf, a demigod in the form of a wolf, or a demon. It's another when you're a human with the blood of a demigod wolf. He knew that Hunter wasn't going to remember an ounce of what she did when the beast took over.
Chairman Cross sighed as he continued to clean Hunter's wound. He knew very well that her kind was feared by all who could remember when werewolf packs used to roam the forests. Humans had their obvious reasons to fear wolves but because of Fenrir even the gods feared them.
Humans and gods aside, vampires had their own reasons to fear the wolf, depending on the werewolf's lineage, of course. A mere turned werewolf, also known as the beta, was never more dangerous than a Level-E vampire. An alpha werewolf on the other hand – that's where the true fear lied. Legends say that weres possessed extreme strength and remarkable fighting abilities. Some stories even said that a werewolf could tear a person's head off with just one quick bite. With its powerful jaws and claws the werewolf was always a vampire's doom in a close combat situation.
In the end the gods made sure to hunt down just about all the werewolves. All that's left are the human-werewolf hybrids like Hunter, or at least he thought she was. Even those are hard to come by. It really is true that we fear what we don't know and destroy what we fear.
Kain watched the Headmaster's contemplative face. He heard him sigh several times and judging by his expression he could guess what the man was thinking about. "How much do you know about werewolves, Akatsuki-san?" the blonde man suddenly asked him. "Just what my grandmother told me. I personally find them interesting," he replied.
"So you know that Hunter is a werewolf…" Headmaster Cross stated more to himself than Kain. "Yeah, I was surprised to find out she was of the Fenrir bloodline though. Grandmother told me that the gods slay them all."
Chairman nodded at the vampire's words. Hunter's ancestors were very much extinct. However, her existence defies that belief. Another tired sigh escaped his lips. "Let's keep this between us, alright?"
Kain gave him a nod of agreement. He was fascinated by this supposed-to-be-extinct creature and wanted to get to know her more. It was nothing romantic. He was just genuinely interested in learning more about a creature like her. Who wouldn't be after hearing all those legends about how terrifying the werewolves were?
"She's supposed to be a descendant from one of Fenrir's sons…" Chairman Cross said offhandedly, seemingly more to himself than to Kain. "Aa, judging by that mark behind her ear I'd say she's from Hati – the one that chases the moon." Kain said though he wasn't sure if the Headmaster knew already or not.
Kaien was surprised that the vampire already figured it out. Pulling out some fresh gauze, he gave Kain a small nod and wrapped Hunter's arm. "She's at a difficult time right now. They say that born weres start transforming for the first time around seventeen-eighteen years old…she's right at that mark." Another sigh escaped him. What was he going to do? Come next full moon and Hunter might change.
First of all, he had to tell Hunter what she is as soon as the time was right. He also had to take into account that no one knows how pure her blood is. The higher the purity content the fuller the transformation – she might just grow out a tail and some ears if she's a half or she might completely turn into an oversized wolf if she's 80-100% pure.
He finished bandaging her arm and stood up. Looking down at her he scratched his head. "I have no clue what to do with her – vampires are so much easier to deal with."
The office door opened before Kain could reply. Aido and Zero came walking in, the latter looking quite agitated. "Ah, Aido-san, Zero-kun!" The Chairman greeted returning to his usual self, his personality doing a one-eighty within seconds. "Thank you Aido-san," he said, "now Zero-kun, did Hunter-chan ever ask you to go to town with her?"
Zero eyed him suspiciously. "No," he replied bluntly. It was true, in fact he hasn't seen her since Friday once classes ended, which he was thankful for. "Why does it stink like blood in here?" he finally asked, feeling as if this was some sick joke they were trying to pull on him, just because he wasn't born a vampire. Not like he ever wanted to be one in the first place.
"Hunter was attacked by a Level-E in town earlier today." Kain answered just as bluntly as Zero asked the question. The two vampires stared at each other, the tension in the air rapidly gaining weight. "Ah, my, my," Kaien said trying to ease the tension. "It's okay, Hunter-chan just didn't ask him to come with," he added waving his hand dismissively trying to change the subject. "From now on you just won't let her out of your sight Zero-kun."
Zero glared at the Chairman. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice icy.
"Because she's a born werewolf and she's reached the age where she's beginning her first transformation, that's why." Kain said as if it was obvious. Well, maybe to some. "What?" Aido asked out of confusion. "Since when is she a werewolf? Aren't those things extinct? Didn't the gods kill them all thousands of years ago because they thought they would help that one big wolf kill them?"
"Yare, yare….this is a mess." The Chairman said. He was hoping to keep this a secret but looks like it couldn't be helped. "How about I explain it over some tea, hm?"
* * * * * * *
His violet eyes looked up at the dark night sky. A werewolf, huh? He thought to himself. That's why she made the hairs on the back of his neck stand. First vampires, now werewolves – what else was he going to have to deal with? Originally he just had to keep the existence of the vampire race a secret. Now he has to keep the existence of a single werewolf secret from most vampires and all humans.
Chairman Cross made him, along with Kain and Aido, swear upon their lives to not reveal Hunter's true identity to anyone. He couldn't even tell that to Yuuki. Not until there was a way to tame the beast within her.
"If this goes public, she might be killed…"
What did it have to do with him? Why does he have to watch her 24/7? Oh yeah, because he's a vampire he's strong enough to hold his ground if she ever snaps. Or at least that's what they told him, though he personally believed that they were just using him as the sacrificial goat because he's only a Level-D vampire.
Zero grunted with annoyance. As if watching some werewolf pup was what he really needed. Yeah, right…
This chapter was confusing. Lots of information so I'll clear it up here if some of you didn't get it.
1. Fenrir is a HUGE wolf of the Old Norse mythology that is destined to bring Ragnarok. Because of that the gods had some dwarves make a binding that was strong enough to hold him. It's called the Gleipnir and it's pretty much a thin silk ribbon. In other words when the time comes he's supposed to break free from his binds and kill the gods and all the chaos and destruction (started by him) is to bring "the end of the world" but two humans are to survive and repopulate the new world without gods and such.
2. Fenrir had 2 sons: Hati and Skoll. Hati chases the moon and Skoll chases the sun. Hunter is a descendant of Hati. The identifying mark is behind Hunter's ear and it's a tribal style crescent moon. It's small and unnoticable.
3. ONLY IN MY STORY (not actual myth) - The gods feared their fate and because of that fear killed all the werewolves they suspected of being related to Fenrir under the excuse that they'll help him bring about their death. As a result 99% of the werewolf population was destroyed even if the wolves weren't from the Fenrir bloodline. It happened BEFORE the vampire culture became dominant.
4. As far as I'm concerned Kain doesn't have a grandmother in the manga or anime but in my story I made him one. She's dead anyway. It's only to solidify his purpose in my story.
5. There is a reason why I'm having Zero, Kain and Aido team up. You'll find out later why.
6. I know this story sounds serious right now and not like a romance at all but that will change. I'm just sticking to the characters and creating development. We all know that Zero isn't this lovey dovey I'll fall in love with you at first sight kind of character so it'll be a while before there will be any romantic development.
After all this is about HANDGUNS and SECOND CHANCES.