Returns
It was late afternoon before the wagon began rolling back towards the castle. By them, the snow had stopped falling entirely, and the temperature was creeping back upwards. Inside the wagon, it was cramped, but warm.
The wagon was normally used as a rolling home for a small family and the interior setup demonstrated this. At the end by the driver was a small brazier used for cooking, which also kept the driver's seat slightly warmed via the chimney, a very intelligent arrangement. It had been stocked up with charcoal, and was keeping the rest of the cozy wagon somewhat warm as well. Narrow cots lined the walls, bunked two high, and each bed was currently occupied by a sleeping human. The thin floor between the beds was piled with coats and blankets, and Abraham slept soundly on it. Arthur, being the tallest of the group, had taken the floor rather than one of the shorter beds, but the vampire had been vaguely awake at the time and irate at Arthur's proximity.
Dracula had taken the end of the wagon for himself, sitting on the floor and wrapped up in blanket as well, and as far from the others as he could be while remaining in the wagon. Abraham was aware of a low-level anger and discomfort in the monster, but with the sun bright outside, the Count had clearly decided that a forced proximity to the exhausted group was the lesser of two evils. He hadn't seemed aggressive; nothing in him made Abraham fear for the safety of anyone else, just upset, irritable, tired, and Abraham had himself fallen asleep. He was nowhere near as worn as the group that had been trapped out in the blizzard, but as a result, he'd been up all night helping them and needed sleep as well. He would be helping take the other wagon back later in the day, but for the morning, he slept.
The driver had roused around noon, and after checking on his passengers and getting directions from the Count, had roused Abraham as well. The two of them had taken time to work on the horses's hooves, removing balls of ice from a few of them. Abraham was not skilled with the beasts; that had been Mina's and Quincy's forte, but he was able to help somewhat, feed them, melt snow for their water, and load the wagon up. The peevish monster had taken a few moments after waking to tilt the battered wagon upright yet again before returning to glower at the others from the back of the caravan. The wheels wobbled somewhat, and the Romani had spent time tinkering with the wagon, making what repairs he could.
After a quick lunch, the cart horses were hitched, the others tethered in a line behind the wagons, and the slow journey back through the snow to the castle began again. The four ponies plowed through the snow, their sturdy legs breaking a trail for the taller horses, their pace steady but slow. As darkness fell, Abraham was unsurprised to see the vampire leave the caravan; he'd felt the creature wake, and it was clearly unhappy to be with the others in the cramped confines of the gypsy wagon. The emotions were not quite human emotions, but anger, irritation, and what appeared to be a sort of nervous worry? fear? were present. It was difficult to read the creature, difficult to tell for certain, but even without knowing the specifics of what was going through its head, Abraham knew that it was NOT happy about waking up in the wagon with no Abraham, and four sleeping humans.
The vampire leaped gracefully down from the wagon, waiting at the trail side until Abraham's wagon was abreast, then casually walked through the deep snow alongside the wagon seat. The beast's strength was uncanny, the knee-deep and more snow slowed it down no more than if there had merely been a light dusting. Abraham had attempted to make a bit of conversation with the vampire, but Dracula seemed uninterested, content to merely be out in the cold clear away, away from the stifling confines of the little caravan. A seat in the back of the wagon had also been offered, but the vampire insisted that he preferred to walk. He was positively radiating a nervous energy, probably remnants from being enclosed in the caravan, and Abraham did not insist.
Abraham was startled to see the vampire suddenly twist about, eyes glowing brightly, sniffing hungrily at the air. The sense of bloodlust, of predatory glee, that rolled off the beast nearly knocked the man from his seat. With a purring tone to his voice, and a grin that was much too sharp, the vampire finally spoke. "Deer, there are deer nearby, and I always hunt for the Romani in the winter." Head cocked a bit, the vampire continued. "We could fit a few fat does or a buck in the back of this wagon..." The creature trailed off, eyes bright and fixed on Abraham, expectancy in every muscle of his body, and it took Abraham a few heartbeats to realize something rather extraordinary.
He was waiting...for permission.
Far too proud to simply ask, but, unexpectedly...he was...subservient. Wanted to be given permission to leave and hunt, though Abraham could feel the urge to do so beating through the monster.
Surprised and somewhat touched, Abraham nodded. "That there is, indeed. And fresh venison would be a treat. Not too many, the horses are too tired to pull a heavy load, but an excellent idea. Do you need me to wait here for you?"
Eager to be off, the vampire only paused briefly, shaking his head, then darting off the road towards the trees. Abraham had expected him to change to his wolf form, but the beast was as much a predator in his more human form as well, and clearly intended to hunt the deer on two legs.
The almost immediate rush of joy and bloodthirsty glee marked the first kill, and Abraham was entirely shocked when, within a few minutes, the vampire had returned, hauling a gutted doe behind him, blood streaked down his tattered clothes. The beast had taken time to change clothes before seeing the Romani, out of the few rags he'd had left on himself, but those clothes had already taken a beating from the wilderness. His face was clean of blood, but the thick trail down his neck and chest showed how the doe had died.
With a smile, the vampire leapt agilely aboard the wagon, dropping the doe onto the floor of it, then said happily, "Time for a buck!" before darting off into the trees again. The horses spooked slightly at the blood, but continued to follow the ponies, and Abraham relaxed his mind slightly, seeking out the vampire, wondering what it was doing.
He could feel it searching for the remnants of the small herd, knew when the vampire began to stalk the herd, creeping downwind, body taut with excitement and the thrill of the hunt. Oblivious to his own surroundings, Abraham felt the vampire spring on the buck, felt the head twist and neck snap, then the bloody delight in eviscerating the deer, the sharp flash of annoyance that he'd have to take time to return the buck, rather than continuing his gleeful pursuit of prey. As the vampire lifted the deer onto his shoulders, moving from the tangle of brush where he'd taken it down, Abraham blinked back to awareness of his own surroundings. The team of horses plodded onwards, following the caravan down the road.
The monster was so inhuman, so bestial...but not quite so alien as Abraham had expected. He was simply a predator, a hunter, and that resonated through their bond. The vampire showed up then, tossing his new catch onto the back of the wagon, then paused to look up at Abraham, red eyes glowing in the dark. "Rabbits, there's a covey of them. Another deer? Or a brace of bunnies?" Abraham thought a bit; this was quite a lot of venison, and if they stopped hunting deer now, they could get more later. This could give him an excuse to get the vampire out of the castle in the future if it proved necessary. And he was certainly partial to rabbits, a fine coney stew seeming very appealing.
The vampire clearly caught this last thought, or at least the emotions behind it, and its grin widened. "Rabbits it is!" he announced with an almost child-like joy, at odds with his bloodsoaked appearnce. He bounded off, and Abraham listened with his mind to the stalk and the hunt, as the vampire scooped fleeing rabbit after fleeing rabbit from the ground, snapping their necks and then impaling them on a slender branch. It was nearly an hour later that the vampire finally caught enough to be satisfied, and returned to the wagons at a much more sedate pace.
His mind, too, was calmer, more rational...and Abraham realized that the vampire had been working off nervous energy and agitation by pouring the effort into the physical activity of a hunt. Another deer would have ended the evening too soon, but the rabbits had kept him occupied until he was settled enough to rejoin the caravan. It was a much calmer, no longer remotely irate vampire that rejoined Abraham, two branches of a half-dozen rabbits each slung across its shoulders.
Instead of pacing beside the wagon, the vampire tossed the rabbits onto the deer, then pulled himself up, lounging comfortably against the caracasses as they continued towards the castle. After a few moments of shifting about, unable to get himself into a satisfactory position what with the lumps of rabbit, deer hooves, and then the still body of Quincy taking up a large portion of the wagon's floorspace, he asked for permission to join Abraham on the seat.
Asked. Worried that he'd offend Abraham. Abraham was quick to grant permission, and the rest of the trip was spent wondering at his new servant and the seeming obedience it proferred, all unasked-for.
