A/N: Thanks for all your comments on the last chapter! It's nice to know your ideas on pairings =) While I didn't do a lemon for this chapter, there will certainly be one for the next. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!
"They did what?" The horrified voice rang out through the hall of princes, making generals cringe in their seats.
"S-Sire, please calm down," one general pleaded, but it was in vain.
"I can't believe this," came the enraged voice again, as Mika Ver Leth began pacing back and forth in front of the thrones.
"I assure you, it is quite true," came a smooth voice that sent chills down everyone's spines. "Vancha March and Darren Shan have indeed joined the vampaneze along with Harkat Mulds."
This in completely insane, Arrow thought from his throne as he listened to Mr. Tiny. To think that two princes would betray us... It is unheard of!
Mr. Tiny had arrived at Vampire Mountain less than half an hour ago, and wasted no time in marching to the throne room and telling Mika and Arrow about what the other two princes were up to.
Arrow's eyes narrowed. This was Mr. Tiny who was talking. He wasn't the most reliable source, plus he wanted war between the vampires and vampaneze. "Show me proof," the vampire prince said quietly, and a few generals gasped in what could either be admiration or fear at Arrow having told Mr. Tiny that. Talking back the small man in rain boots wasn't encouraged for fear the roof over your head would collapse, or something worse.
Mr. Tiny frowned at Arrow, but seemed not to be too upset, for a minute later, a small, round orb, like a crystal ball, appeared in the palm of his hand. There was dead silence in the hall as Mika and Arrow slowly came forward to look closely into the orb. There, clear as anything, were Darren, Vancha, and Harkat sitting in a room with what were no doubt vampaneze. The two princes didn't seem at all afraid or even uncomfortable, so it was obvious they were there on their own free will, not taken hostage or anything.
Mika's face was death white, even paler than usual as he stepped away from Mr. Tiny and proceeded back to his throne, sitting down with a thump.
Arrow felt his rage growing as he stared into the orb. There were two princes, talking with the enemy. The very vicious beings that had killed the one he loved more than anything. His hands were clenched into fists as he sat down in the throne beside Mika. "We must do something. Quickly."
All eyes in the room turned to the doorway, where a large, purple-faced being with a giant scowl on his bearded face stood, glaring daggers at Darren.
"You… I will kill you, dammit!"
The man charged into the room, knife in hand, heading straight for Darren. Before he could reach him, however, Gannen was in front of Darren, an exasperated look on his face. One enraged vampaneze was enough for the day; he didn't want to have to deal with another. "Enough, R.V.," he said, easily taking the knife from him. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you. If you know what's good for you, you will stay away from the vampires and Little Person."
The protector of the Vampaneze Lord knew R.V. would never want to join with the vampires, not after what Darren had done to him so many years ago, but he also knew R.V. was a weak man, someone who wouldn't want to be left alone. And, if his hunch was right, he knew R.V. wouldn't put up a fight against the vampaneze.
As expected, R.V. took a step back, though he was still glaring ferociously at Darren. "What the hell are vampires doing here, man? They're evil!"
"Clyde will explain it all," Gannen said warily, not wanting to go through everything again.
Clyde glared at his superior, but grabbed R.V. by the arm and dragged him out of the room.
"Are you sure you'll be all right alone?" Arrow asked as he watched Mika sharpen one of his many knives.
"Yes," Mika replied firmly. "There are already many vampires out fighting. We need the rest to stay here and guard the mountain. And if I run into trouble, I can always hook up with a few already out somewhere along the way. But it's not likely. I wasn't made a prince for nothing, after all." Mika cracked a small, tight smile, a very rare thing for him, especially considering the circumstances. "Well, I best be off now." The raven-haired prince sheathed his knife and held his hand out to Arrow.
"Even in death may you be triumphant," Arrow said gravely, shaking Mika's hand firmly. Then he watched as his best friend, the last faithful prince besides him left, hoping with all his heart this wouldn't be the last time he'd see him alive.
One night later and Mika was still trudging through muddy wetlands. He had flit for a while, but then grew too tired and had to walk. After Mr. Tiny had shown him and Arrow the proof that Darren and Vancha had indeed betrayed the vampires, the two remaining princes decided they must stop them as soon as possible, thus sending out Mika. He was supposed to just talk to Darren and Vancha at first, try to reason them and get them back on the side of the vampires, and if that didn't work he would start to get rough. However, at the moment Mika was in no mood to just talk. Rage flowed through him, and it was all he could do to stop from punching a tree. He just couldn't believe Vancha and Darren would betray the vampires like that! But there was no other explanation.
Mika began to walk quicker, eager to get to the vampaneze's hideout. He had checked to see where Vancha and Darren were through the stone of blood, and he was glad to find it wasn't too far off. At least not too far for a vampire. He should reach the place somewhere around 5-7 hours from now.
It had been a long night for Darren, Vancha, Harkat, and the vampaneze. In the end they had decided to begin searching for vampires and vampaneze to try to convert to their side. Darren knew it wouldn't be easy, but they needed to start somewhere. Besides, if they couldn't convince regular vampires and vampaneze to join them, how in the world would they convince the vampire generals and two remaining princes?
The other princes. This was something that had been worrying Darren for a long time. Out of everyone, Mika and Arrow would no doubt be the hardest of all to convince. He hated to think of the looks on their faces when they learned about what was going on. They'd probably learn before Darren had the chance to tell them too, since the other vampires would surely report back to them what was going on. But not yet. There were a few more days before Darren and the others set off on their mission, a few days to relax and think over what they were going to do, and for that Darren was grateful. Even though it did make him extremely nervous.
"You're still awake?" came a sleepy voice from next to him, and Darren rolled over to face Steve, who was looking at him with sleepy eyes. Damn, he was sexy when he was tired!
"I was just thinking over what's going to happen," Darren said quietly, reaching out and brushing a strand of white, silky hair out of Steve's eyes. He moved closer to Steve in the Vampaneze Lord's large, cushy coffin and wrapped his arms around his lover, who yawned and rested his head on Darren's shoulder. Gannen had offered to get Darren his own coffin, but the half-vampire refused, wanting to be as close to Steve as possible.
"You should get some sleep," Steve murmured, snuggling against Darren.
"I will," Darren replied, moving to kiss Steve's cheek softly. "I love you, Steve."
Steve smiled sleepily and returned the kiss. "Right back at ya. Now sleep."
Darren nodded, eyes closing. Within minutes he was asleep arms still tightly wrapped around his love.
"You'd think there would at least be a dear somewhere," Clyde muttered as he walked through the forest, grumbling under his breath. Dusk had just come, and, on Gannen's request, he set out (not exactly willingly) to hunt for food for the vampanze and (oh joy) the vampires.
"Someone has to do it," Gannen said firmly, staring into Clyde's eyes. "Everyone else is still resting, so it's your job."
Clyde wanted to ask why Gannen himself couldn't do it, but held his tongue reluctantly. He knew causing a fight wouldn't be the best thing to do, and so he set off seconds later, knife in hand.
"Where the fuck are all the animals?" Clyde cursed, sniffing the air deeply. "There must be something here!" Kicking at the ground, he changed direction and started walking to the east, sniffing all the way. "Dammit, where are-"
Clyde stopped in his tracks, sniffing hard. He smelled something all right, but it certainly wasn't an animal. Vampire. Slowly he began walking forward again, the smell getting stronger with each and every step. Yep, there was no doubt about it, it was a vampire.
A vampaneze. Mika's eyes narrowed as he walked cautiously in the direction of the scent, being careful not to make a sound. Finally, someone to kill. Drawing a knife out of his coat, he stood still, waiting, then threw the knife silently into the darkness.
After a few seconds, Mika frowned. He hadn't heard any grunting in pain, nor the sound of the knife hitting the ground. So what-
"Got ya!"
Mika didn't have time to think as he was tackled to the ground by a well-muscled vampaneze.
So the man had caught the knife; pretty good, Mika observed. But he wasn't a prince for nothing. With an act of pure strength, the raven-haired vampire threw the vampaneze off him and was on his feet in an instant. Drawing a short sword, he longed at the vampaneze, but it was met with another sword.
"Give up," the vampaneze growled, a smirk on his face. "You'll never win."
But Mika was never one to give up. He jumped backwards, only to move quickly behind the vampaneze and slash at him again, this time managing to make a gash on his back.
The vampaneze roared in pain, fire in his eyes, and seemed to go completely berserk, stabbing at Mika at an alarmingly fast rate. It was all the prince could do to block the attacks, and he was tiring quickly.
Suddenly, before Mika could move to block him, the vampaneze had smashed him into a tree, making his head pound, and stabbed him deep in the chest.
Pain raced through him, and his knife dropped from his hand as Mika reached to cover the wound, blood pouring onto the ground. Dizzily he tried to lean against the tree, but his legs gave out and he fell to his knees. "No… it can't end like… this. I must… stop…." Then everything went black.
Clyde studied the vampire below him lying in a pool of blood, breathing shallowly. He wanted nothing more than to give him one last, satisfying stab, but was stopped at the thought of Steve. Steve wouldn't want him to kill this vampire, he knew, as much as it disgusted him. He would want to try and bring the vampire over to their side. Oh, how his lord had changed, and though Clyde hated this change, he respected his Lord more than anything.
And so, with Steve on his mind, he lifted the limp vampire in his arms and began carrying him toward the mansion. Maybe Steve would reward him.
The knock on the door startled Gannen and made him almost drop the toast in his hand. It was still early evening, so no one else was up yet except for him and Clyde, who still hadn't returned yet.
Maybe it's him, the vampaneze thought, getting up and walking to the door. Though why he'd bother knocking Gannen didn't know. Clyde was the rude, obnoxious type that would barge right in, even if it wasn't his house.
As he opened the door, Gannen found that it was indeed Clyde, though he certainly didn't expect him to be carrying a bloody vampire. Waiting until Clyde got in, Gannen closed the door and stared at the other vampaneze wordlessly, question in his eyes.
"It attacked me," Clyde said simply, dropping the vampire on the floor. Gannen cringed at the thud. He still wasn't completely awake.
"Get it off the floor," Gannen replied, watching in distaste as blood began to soak into the carpet. The lovely beige carpet!
"Well where the hell do you want me to put it? The couch?" Clyde growled, lifting the vampire and glaring at Gannen.
No, not the couch! Not the beautiful, pure white couch!
"NO!"
Clyde blinked at Gannen, wondering what the other vampaneze was getting so worked up about. "You take it then!" Clyde muttered, thrusting the vampire at Gannen, who jumped backward, nearly knocking over a lamp.
There could be no blood or anything dirty whatsoever on the perfectly pressed navy blue suit!
"Take him down to the basement." Gannen replied, trying to sound as calm as possible despite having almost gotten vampire blood on his month old suit. "There are cells down there with bars you can put it in. It looks like prisoners used to be kept down there a while ago." Gannen had discovered this about a week ago while looking for stain remover after one of the vampaneze spilled ketchup on a sheet. (The pretty flowered sheet!)
"Bandage his wounds and stay with him. When he wakes up he may try and attack again, so watch him closely." Gannen walked over to a drawer and pulled out one of many keys. "Lock him in."
"What? Why do I have to stay with him?"
"Because you're the one who did this to him."
"But he would have killed me otherwise!"
"I don't care. Now go. He's dripping blood all over the carpet."
Muttering to himself, Clyde stalked out of the room, leaving Gannen mumbling something about 'the beautiful carpet!'.
Once in a cell, Clyde lay the vampire down on a bed and locked the door behind him, in case the man woke and tried to get away or something while he was bandaging his wounds. Not very likely, but still.
Cursing under his breath, Clyde began to strip the vampire of the upper half of his clothes, until his chest was bare and the wound could be seen clearly. Dipping a cloth into a bucket of water, he ran it over the wound, attempting to clear away some of the blood. Much to Clyde's relief, it had stopped flowing on its own, not all that surprising since vampires were fast healers.
There was a low moan from the vampire under him, and Clyde froze as the man shifted. A minute went by though and the vampire moved no more, so Clyde proceeded to bandage the wounds best he could. As he stood up straight, finished, he found himself unable to move, only able to stare down, transfixed, at the unconscious vampire. Long, silky raven hair rested on pale, milky shoulders, the vampire's muscled chest moving slowly up and down as he breathed deeply. His skin… was it possible for skin to be that beautiful, that creamy? Was it really as soft as it looked?
As if possessed, Clyde reached over, hand slowly brushing the vampire's cheek.
Dark, piercing hawk-like eyes opened.
Startled, Clyde tore his hand away and jumped back, jostling a table and knocking it into the bars of the cell.
The table the key was on.
Clyde lunged toward the brass key as it fell, but was too late. It fell through the bars, just out of his reach, and landed with a clank on the floor on the other side.
Fuck. He was locked in a cell with a vampire who no doubt wanted to kill him.
A vampire whose dark eyes bore into him like daggers.
A vampire of beauty unlike anything he had ever seen.
And he didn't even have any toast.
A/N: I don't think I did to well on this chapter, at least compared to some of the other chapters. I don't do well at all with fight scenes. I feel kind of bad that Clyde won against Mika so easily. It wasn't really how I had planned it, but I didn't know how to make it better.
The only pairing that is definite is Darren/Steve at the moment; anything can happen with the others, though I have some ideas. Also, I may make an OC vampaneze.
Please tell me what you think; I love reviews! ^_^
