Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

'thoughts'

"talk"

XxX

Jun tapped her foot impatiently as she awaited her brother's arrival. Normally, it would take less than a minute for him to get there, but it had been over half an hour. The werewolves were getting impatient as well. She was about to suggest that she go and look for them when a faint knock came from the door.

"Who is it?" Jun called.

"It's me."

Without a second thought Jun flung the door open and pulled Ren into a hug. "What took you so long? I was worried that you'd gotten caught."

"Well... Yoh is still a bit out of it and almost threw up when Horohoro tried to carry him, so we had to walk here at a human pace." Ren sighed.

"Are Yoh and Horohoro alright?" Mikihisa asked quickly.

"I think Horohoro's pride is wounded and he's got a couple scratches while Yoh is going to be sick for a bit from loosing a bit too much blood, but other than that they're fine." Ren replied.

The moment the others entered, Lyserg and Mikihisa checked Yoh and Horohoro for any injuries. They wanted to make sure that Ren was telling the truth, he was a vampire after all. Like Ren had said, Horohoro had a few scratches from what hey figured to be from a fight with a vampire. Yoh, however, looked fine, excluding the apparent bite mark on his neck.

Once they were done checking Yoh and Horohoro they looked over to Hao, who was standing by the corner behind Ren. He looked rather nervous, flinching when Mikihisa tried taking a step forward. Lyserg frowned slightly when he caught Hao's scent. He had hoped that the vampires were lying when they said that they changed him, but his scent was unmistakably vampire. It looked like he didn't even know how to hide his fangs yet.

Mikihisa stayed behind with Yoh and Horohoro while Lyserg made his way over to Hao. Among the werewolves, Lyserg was probably the one that hated vampires the most. His parents were killed by a vampire when he was little and when he was a bit older, he was tricked and his friend was murdered by a different vampire. He'd hated vampires ever since, but at the same time he felt sorry for those recently turned.

"What's your name?" Lyserg asked softly.

"Hao." Hao replied.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" Lyserg asked.

Hao slowly nodded his head.

"Where?"

Hao hesitated a moment before pulling down the collar of his shirt to reveal two small holes in the side of his neck.

"Did you know of vampires before you were bitten?" Lyserg asked curiously.

"Kind of. I've liked reading horror stories, excluding the blood, and vampires were one of my favorites. I'd wanted to believe that vampires and werewolves were real. I'd been able to see spirits since I was little, so a vampire's existence wouldn't be too strange, right? Although, I only truly believed after Yoh told me about them." Hao said quietly.

Lyserg nodded to acknowledge that he'd heard Hao before walking over to Pirika. He knew that they'd have to leave soon, they needed to get Yoh and Horohoro back. However, what were they supposed to do about the vampires? After Jun had called her brother, Jeanne promised that the werewolves would keep them safe from the vampire king, but it was against the pack's law to let a vampire into camp. They might be able to let Hao in since he was only recently turned, but they couldn't do that for the others.

"What are we going to do?" Lyserg whispered.

"We promised we'd keep them safe from their king and we don't go back on our word." Pirika said seriously.

"But we'd be going against the pack law if we took them into camp. I know you're werewolf queen, but even you can't break that law." Lyserg said quietly.

"I know... Horohoro will accompany us to the main camp while you and Jeanne show Hao, Yoh, and the two vampires to our outer camp. It's not too close to our main camp but it's not to far either. That way we'll be able to keep or promise and stay within the pack law." Pirikia replied.

The two of them made the silent agreement before turning to face the others. Jeanne appeared to be contemplating something as she stared at Hao, who looked unnerved by the red eyed werewolf's gaze. Mikihisa was looking after Horohoro and Yoh while Amidamaru guarded the vampire siblings.

"We'll be taking off in just a moment. Jeanne and I will guide Yoh, Hao, and the vampire siblings to our outer camp and Mikihisa, Amidamaru, and Pirika will take Horohoro back to the main camp. Is everyone ready?" Lyserg asked quickly.

"Just a moment. I have a question... for Hao, actually." Jeanne turned to the vampire and narrowed her eyes.

"Have you ever bitten anyone?"

The room fell silent as the question hung in the air. No one had actually thought to ask that before, but it was a very important question. To all vampires blood was vital, but there's more to it than that. However, the specifics of it were known only to vampires themselves and the highest class of werewolves, mainly Jeanne and Pirika.

Hao's gaze shifted to the ground, hair covering his eyes as he slowly nodded his head.

Lyserg growled, making Hao cringe as he took a step forward. Despite having pity for those recently turned, he felt an intense anger for those who'd fed before. He didn't hate Hao... yet, he still felt sorry for him, but it pissed him off to know that he'd bitten someone.

"Did they die?" Lyserg snapped.

Hao quickly shook his head no.

"Were they just thrown in a room for you to feed on? Do you even know what happened to them afterward? Was it just-"

"Lyserg, the one Hao bit was me."

XxX

Me: I'm back :)

Ren: You left?

Me: Yup, I was gone for a few weeks. Now I'm back.

Ren: And writing I hope.

Me: Yup, but I've got something special in mind.

Ren: What?

Me: You'll just have to wait and see.

Ren:...

Me: Please review.