Miyu: The Vampire Hunter

Chapter 10: Unclear Future

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Princess Miyu, only the characters I have contributed to the writing of this fanfiction and the poem.

Try to be angry

Beat, beat, beat against your chest

Tear ruts into the ground

Swallow your pride

Don't let the extremes consume

your already dying heart

The truth is harsh, you cannot handle

But a lie will make the truth jagged

And cut you like a knife.

Larva turned, surprised to see Miyu standing behind him. Her hands went to her mouth."It was you!" She gasped then she screamed. "You did this! You killed them!" Tears were streaming down her face and before Larva could stop her, she ran from the house and disappeared into the night.

Larva reached out towards where she had been and grasped air. He had not intended for her to know so soon. In fact, he hadn't intended for her to know at all. He clenched his hands so tightly that his nails dug into the palms and blood soon swelled from the shallow wounds. Her reaction made him feel ashamed for what he had done. Descending into a state of bloodlust had shielded him from his misery but only for a short period of time. When he had resurfaced from it, he had felt hung over, as if he had drunk too much, and the feeling of misery had intensified. He had pitied girl whose parents he had slaughtered without reason. They had been taken away much like how Lemures had been torn from him. He had tried to go after the girl, but as weakened and emotionally drained as he had been, he had been unable to track her to the best of his ability and she was given ample time to flee.

Remembering this, he flew through the front door. He couldn't allow that to happen again, especially at such a crucial time. Miyu was in no way capable of being out on her own. She hadn't spent enough time in the water to survive more than a couple days' exposure to sunlight. And if she did anything to exhaust herself, that time would greatly diminish.

The night was no longer young and the sun would soon rise. He was racing against the clock and he could literally hear the seconds ticking off.

(-)

Miyu should have been exhausted ten times over had she been human, but being the opposite she continued to run. Tree branches, rocks, weeds, dead brush, and high grasses either yielded to the force of her body as she past or were torn from their places. She would not slow down for any obstacle even the tears that were still streaming down her face, obscuring her vision, sometimes to the point where the only way to clear it would be to run with both eyes closed and willingly crash into anything that may come up in her way.

Her situation had gone from bad to worse and she had thought being turned into a vampire was as bad as her life could get. Apparently that wasn't the case. A long time ago, she had sworn to slay the vampire who had destroyed her life as she knew it. That had been her sole reason for joining the ranks of the vampire hunters. And now, she had finally found the identity of the vampire who had killed her family and it turns out to be the one who had changed her. That was one too many kicks to the face.

And she had suffered through many.

Although she was upset, she started to push her emotions aside so she could plan her next move. The longer she ran for, the further away from the cavern she would get, and the farther she got, the harder it would be for Larva to drag her back. And she wouldn't be going without a fight. She would have to find a place to hide first. Already she could make out the faint outline of her shadow running ahead of her as the sun rose behind her back. The few rays that were beginning to reach above the horizon made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She should be able to withstand the sun's light. She had spent more than enough time in the water. Regardless of the fact, she decided to find a place to hideout while it was day time. Some place crowded: a city.

But Miyu had no idea where she was or if she was even running in the right direction. So far, she had taken no notice of any populated places or landmarks she would be familiar with. She peered over her shoulder. The sun was rising fast and it wasn't like she could outrun it. She changed her direction and started running north to see if she could come across an area with people with the precious time she had left and still found nothing. She cursed herself, knowing she should have gone south, but she was out of time. She halted and watched as the sun revealed its full body to the land. She didn't burn up but she didn't feel like she wanted to sit out and sunbathe either. She looked around and spotted a weeping willow surrounded by foliage set off a ways from the woods. She jogged lightly over to the spot and crawled under the tree's vines. It was shady and cool underneath, not entirely dark but it was good enough. She placed herself under the bushes that grew half inside and half outside the shade of the tree so if Larva came upon her hiding place while she slept, he might look over her.

Sleep didn't come easy, though. Her mind was still racing around trying to build up a solid and workable plan to execute. Once the sun started to set, she would emerge from her hiding place and take up running again: to try to get as far as possible from the cavern. She would eventually come upon a city and then from there it would be a cakewalk. She would go into hiding and lay low until this past. Larva would eventually forget about her and she would go about her vampire-hunting ways. The changes she had incurred would be hard to live off though. She licked her dried lips. Such as right now, she had an ache in her stomach and her tongue felt as if it had been starched. She was craving something; sweet, thick, wet, warm. She shook it from her mind and tried to focus. It wouldn't be too hard to go back to her hunting schedule. She had, in the past, done her hunting at night and. . . .

She lapped at her lips again. They were so damned dry. They felt scaly, like the skin of a snake. And she felt that hunger gnawing at her. It disgusted her so much but it would be dangerous to ignore it. She had seen what a nearly-starved vampire can do when it becomes desperate. The "normal", everyday police officers first thought that it would be a good idea to try to trap vampires in their hideouts, to try to "starve" them out. But hunger had the opposite effect on vampires that it did on humans. Instead of becoming emaciated, they became more powerful in their desperation, and in their desperation, they became even more dangerous. She would have to find an alternative to feeding from humans. She couldn't stand the idea. She was a vampire physically but she wasn't going to act like one. That was a downright refusal. Perhaps she could raid a blood bank or steal from an on-going blood drive when she got to the city.

The thought eased her hunger. By giving in to it just a little bit slowed her racing mind. That was it, now all she had to do was sleep and regain her strength. She licked her parched lips again before she slipped into an easy sleep.

She woke up only a few hours later nowhere near fully-rested, her lips dry and her skin burning. The sun was right over her head and the few rays that managed to break through the weeping willows canopy caused her agonizing pain. She crawled back towards the trunk of the willow and pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging her knees. Her arms were sunburned a bright pink that hurt more than any sunburn she had ever experienced before in her life. Even out of the sun, the intense heat irritated her. She began to gnaw on her lower lip as her agitation grew. Larva had said that the water she laid in gave immunity from the sun's rays. She hadn't burned up but she wasn't relishing the feeling of being slowly cooked.

She peered out between the vines to search for another spot to lay, a darker, cooler spot. The forest she had emerged from was her best bet and only laid a couple hundred yards away. She would probably end up burnt in the process of getting there but it would be worth it. She stood up halfway and walked while hunched over to the edge where the willow's vines met the edge of the world. No matter how much it burned, she would just have to keep running. She pulled back the vines and dove into the light but hesitated. Although, the sudden exposure to the daylight temporarily blinded her night-accustomed eyes, her vision was clear enough to see the outline of a person coming towards her. She backtracked into the shade of the willow while her head spun around trying to come up with a conclusion. It should have been simple enough but her brain was confused. One side of it said she had seen this before, this person outlined by the moisture-weighted air like a mirage in a desert. But how? She had only glimpsed it for a moment, an inky black cloud coming towards her, but her brain was conjuring up an image of a dark red phantom emerging from the tree line. But the forest line her mind was giving her and the one she had planned on running towards were nowhere remotely alike. There were differences; how the trees were spaced, the undergrowth, the colors. Where had this image come from?

No matter. Someone or something was coming towards her and she had to run. She stood up but was taken down by the hunger that had gnawed at her gut. There was no use promising it blood once she got to the city. She was thirsty and her body wanted to be fed now! Her head swirled with mixed images of a red then black figure coming towards her from two different forests and she collapsed back onto the ground.

It was only moments later that Larva showed up, slowly parting the vines with his pale hands and red nails. He had to haunch down even more than she had to, to get under the willow's low canopy. He sat off a ways from her to give her some space. He knew she would not want anything to do with him; not now and perhaps not ever. It hadn't taken him long to get back on her trail again. She had left a fresh trail comprised of broken branches and kicked up earth. He noted the fresh burns on her arms and legs. It was apparent that the water's effect was wearing off.

The silence was touchable. Miyu wished she could grab a chunk of it and hurl it at Larva's face. The emotions she had managed to evade now swelled back in a torrent but this time she was angry. Angry and thirsty: a bad combination. She was about to swear at him but he spoke first.

"Now do you understand why?" he put shortly.

She sat up. The vagueness of his question pushed her even closer to an edge she didn't want to go over. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Larva shifted so he was facing her. "Why I turned you into a vampire?"

Miyu suddenly felt a new swell of emotions wash over her: guilt coupled with shame. She swallowed back a lump that was forming inside her throat. It had suddenly hit her like a bag of bricks. "You felt sorry for me?" she whispered. Then the wash ended and she was back to being enraged. "You killed my parents, felt bad for it, and then tried to make it better by turning me into the same damned creature that killed them?"

"I wanted to give you a gift of immortality. A chance for you to start your life over again with no limitations, to live it as you wanted too, as long as you wanted too."

"To live even longer with the memory of what you did. You bastard, what kind of gift is that?!"

"One that I felt would bring you back in touch with reality."

"You're the one who needs to be brought back to reality. Feel this!" Miyu chucked a rock that she found at him and it hammered him in the face. He took the blow like a man and didn't even wince. "I became a vampire hunter to hunt creatures like you. That is the reality."

Larva wiped the blood from his face where the rock had struck him. "The reality is you left yourself behind that night. You're still back at that house."

Miyu paused in her harassment. "Why would you care if I still have nightmares about that night or that I was changed by it? You didn't even take into consideration that I have no sympathy for your kind."

Larva nodded. "Yes, we tend to take things by force." He momentarily drifted back to the night of his change and Miyu was washed over with an emotion that assuaged her anger, diminished the fire inside of her.

Sorrow.

It was sorrow she felt. She didn't know why but the vacant look in Larva's eyes led her to believe that the emotion was implanted in her mind to control her. Or was it? She shook her head to wipe the emotions clean and decided to stay neutral.

"Several people died that night because of my poor judgment and lack of clear thinking. You were the only one who was profoundly affected because. . . ."

"Because I was the only one who lived." Miyu finished for him. Although, forcing her emotions to stay neutral, she managed to glare at him. "That still doesn't excuse what you've done."

"Nothing ever will."

"And I'm still going to kill you."

Larva blinked. He should have expected that reaction from her but for some reason it took him by surprise.

"I swore that I would slay the vampire who killed my parents. Knowing that it's you and how you've impacted my life at this point does not change that. I am still a vampire hunter."

Larva nodded, and to Miyu's surprise and half to her irritation, he smiled. "A vampire who hunts vampires? If you're not destroyed first you'll go down in history."

"Don't make light of this," she growled.

"I won't. I take you in all seriousness. I consider you an equal to me." He nodded to her burns and changed the subject. "Now, I hate to detour from your plans but we must return to the cavern."

Miyu stiffened. "I will do no such thing."

"Oh, but you must. You are exhausted beyond resources and the water will replenish your reserves. Immunity wise but you are in no way immune to your thirst."

Miyu scowled. "My thirst is none of your business."

"But it is, my dear," Miyu rolled her eyes at him but he continued regardless. "I can feel your thirst tearing you apart. I can feel it right here." He pointed to his chest where his heart was, a heart that she was looking forward to staking. "Your blood sings to me and it's crying out to be fed."

"I don't pride myself upon my singing so I hope you're suffering," Miyu muttered.

Larva chuckled. "Now, Miyu, please try to cooperate as we journey back to the cavern." Larva pulled his cloak off and draped it around Miyu's shoulders. "You won't admit it but you're helpless to resist at this point.

Miyu mumbled under her breath as she pulled the oversized hood over her head to hide her face. It was unbearably stuffy under his black cloak and with how long and big it was she was practically drowning in the fabric.

"Take my hand." She could feel the presence of his hand in front of her.

"You ask for a lot, don't you," she grumbled.

"I wasn't asking. How else will you be able to navigate to the shade of the woods?

He was right. She reached out and he took her hand in his, pulling the sleeve of the cloak over it so it wouldn't be exposed to the light. They walked hand in hand out into the sunlight and into the woods and remained that way for the rest of the day. This was much to her annoyance but walking wore down the sharp edges of her senses and if he had let go of her, she would have wandered aimlessly. Finally, when the sun started to set, she shed the cloak to the ground and relished the cooling air. Larva gathered up his cloak and wrapped it around himself.

"If we continue to move, we should be at the cavern when the sun rises."

Miyu stifled a groan. She hadn't realized how far she had gotten until she had to walk all the way back. And that burning thirst at the base of her throat made things worse. It became worst every time she licked her cracked lips. Larva watched her while he adjusted his cloak. She wasn't going to make it back to the cavern without feeding but she would never feed from him directly, not after what happened. When they returned to the cavern, he would have feed her indirectly by offering her a chalice of his blood disguised as wine. That didn't matter if she wasn't going to make it at all.

"I am about to suggest something to you that you are going to reject violently," he began slowly.

"Then why suggest it at all?" Miyu lapped at her lower lip and winced as the cracked skin gave way to blood. She started to feel dizzy and her equilibrium went off balance. Her throat felt like a freshly erased chalkboard.

"You need blood."

"Go to hell!" Miyu snapped at him. She began to walk in the direction they had been going but he stopped her and pulled her back into a protective embrace that she liked even less.

"You're not going to make it, my dear. The feeling will worsen until you fall head first into a condition called bloodlust."

Miyu rolled her eyes. "You would know about bloodlust. All you vampires do is lust for blood."

"It is a rather erratic state. Once you fall into it, it cannot be stopped until it wears off."

Miyu stared at him incredulously. "You act like this is some big deal."

"It is quite detrimental to your state of mind and to those around you. Many people will die at your hands. . . . . ." he trailed off seeing that Miyu had put the pieces together already in her mind.

"It's a state of weakness," Miyu said, coming to her own conclusion. She meant for it to stab into him and she wanted to twist it like a knife. "I won't be that weak."

"Then you'll have to drink." He pulled back his sleeve and slashed his wrist. In seconds, dark, rich, red blood welled up from the wound. The burning in her throat became so intense, Miyu was sure she could breathe fire. "This doesn't mean I'm warming up to you," she warned. "Remember what I said."

"I have a good memory. I won't forget," Larva assured her as she pressed her lips against the bleeding wound. The blood was so warm and so sweet, the fire was instantly quenched and she temporarily forgot about everything that had happened the hours preceding this moment. Drinking his blood was like for a human drinking water after being in the desert for days without it. It was so refreshing that when the wound started closing under her mouth, she wanted to tear it open for more but Larva was quick to intervene, perhaps to save her dignity.

"Are you ready to return to the cavern?"

Miyu wiped the droplets of blood that had managed to miss her tongue off her lips. She nodded and they began to move, first by walking, but the new energy that buzzed through her body made her restless and they soon were running side-by-side. Two shadows in the night.

(-)

"And where have you two been? Is it time for the honeymoon already?" Kyroku was standing within the entrance of one of the tunnels that would lead into the cavern. "I wasn't sure whether or not to send a search party after you both."

Miyu shot him a glare only to be met by his glare that was equally as vicious. Larva came into referee. "We were met by some aggressors when we left the cavern. Have there been any more incidents?"

"A few," Kyroku replied.

"A few?" Larva pushed deeper.

"Maybe like five."

"Five? In a twenty-four period?"

"They occurred to different hunting parties. For all we know, it was just one large assault group that had divided into smaller groups to antagonist us. I'm sure it's no big deal."

"No big deal? There are people who know where the cavern is located."

"It's not like they can do anything about us. We greatly outnumber any group that might want to oppose us. Anyway, we did away with every member in the group, I'm sure of that. Whoever is campaigning against us will surly give up after that."

Miyu tugged on Larva's sleeve for him full attention. "Have there ever been attacks on the cavern?"

"Occasionally we'll have a human stumble across an entrance and travel inside but they're either picks off by a vampire or become lost and die of starvation or injuries." Miyu frowned not liking his response.

"We're in no real danger. We're more than capable of handling every vampire hunter in Japan if it comes to them utilizing against us," Kyroku's statement was clearly meant for Miyu. "You were never really a match against us."

"Leave her alone, Kyroku," Larva warned him. Miyu gave him a swift kick to his shin. "I can defend myself, thank you very much," she said.

"Ha!" Kyroku barked. "Barely." Larva shot him a warning glance and Kyroku laid off his harassment. "I want you to take Miyu to her resting place." Larva told him.

"Are you serious?" Kyroku and Miyu both asked in unison.

Larva sighed, the night's events suddenly wearing him down. "I need to be somewhere. I will join you both shortly." He was about to part from them but then he added. "Oh, and Kyroku. I don't want to come back to hear about any further harassment of our my Miyu, is that understood?"

"Yes," Kyroku replied solemnly but when Larva turned his back to them, he quickly rolled his eyes. "Come on, vampire hunter. Let's go."

"Just lead the way so I don't have to walk next to you," Miyu hissed and they disappeared down another tunnel.

Larva waited in the shadows of a tunnel opposite theirs to make sure they didn't get into a fight before making haste down the tunnel. He had been able to hold himself well in front of Miyu but now he was drained and his emotions were beginning to nag at him. Guilt, shame, and anguish. They all hurled themselves at him, attempting to tackle him to the ground. They weren't nearly as strong as the fourth emotion that tore at him.

Loneliness.

He hadn't only changed Miyu because he had pitied her for being indirectly effected by his actions. He and Kyroku never spent enough time together to become close and now that the younger vampire had sired a son, he was spending more and more time with his wife.

The tunnel suddenly became narrow and he had to turn and walk sideways to have ample room to get through. During his first few months spent in the cavern he had never left this area. The past couple of years, he only came down here when he felt extremely lonely almost to the point where he wanted to tear himself to shreds and weep. Now, since turning Miyu, his loneliness had been tamed for the most part and he had been well-occupied up until Miyu's disappearance and the walk down memory lane. That had almost been enough to shred him once again.

The tunnel widened again and he was able to walk forwards. Ahead of him was a thick slab of rock, four inches in depth and wider than a door, it almost touched the ceiling. It would have taken a human at least five sticks of dynamite to blow it away but with his vampiric strength, his muscles barely rippled from the weight as he slid it away from the open as easily as a sliding door.

He stepped inside and paused to take in the beautiful crystals that grew from the wall. This is the first place he and Kyroku had come too and slept. And this was the final resting place of his dear friend.

He choked and suddenly gagged. Something was wrong. The room felt too big, too spacious.

Too empty.

He followed the crystals down to the various pools spaced about the room. He had left Lemures's body here. It was his burial site.

But all the pools were empty.

To Be Continued. (Naturally)

BlueDragonGirl1: I know it's been a whole year since I last updated (my bad) but I will be trying to update more this summer since I will be going off to college this Fall and I've noticed that many fanfiction authors who go off to college don't, well, come back. (sweatdrop). I'll be posting on my profile what fanfics are in the process of being written and which ones have been updated. Thanks to all who've read. R&R!!