Many years later, on a bright and sunny day, three young girls hopped out of an open window at the back of their home and started running towards the nearby woods. The girl in front, a freckled girl with light-brown hair, was laughing as she ran; she was the oldest, and out of all her sisters she loved running around in the great outdoors the most. Behind her was the second sister, who wore glasses over her weak eyes and whose brown hair was styled in a bun, which gave her the appearance of a very young schoolteacher. She didn't giggle like her older sister, but she smiled as she chased after her. And last but not last, behind them both was the youngest sister, who despite her youth carried a head of snow-white hair that spilled over one of her eyes. Her skin was less tan, her limbs less muscular, and her demeanor less cheery than her sisters. She wore disinterest on her face as she raced after the other girls.

When the brunette in front reached the edge of the woods, she stopped and spun around on one foot, flashing her sisters a self-assured grin. "Lynn, Lupa, hurry up!" she cried.

"Bite me, Lacy," said the one named Lupa. "Not all of us like to go through life like four year olds high on sugar."

"It might do you good to run more," said the one named Lynn (who was actually Lynn the Second, named after her and Lacy's mother). Lupa just scowled at her and waved a dismissive hand.

"Focus, guys, focus." Lacy took a deep breath, then made a brave fist and held it high. "Today we're going to make history. Many will object to what we plan to do, but it is of vital importance that we do it. It will be one small step for us girls, but one large step towards our freedom of choic-"

"We're just going into the woods," interrupted Lupa. "It's not a big deal."

"But… but it is a big deal!" Lacy whined. She deflated like a hot air balloon, and Lynn had to suppress a chuckle. "Dad always told us to never go in the woods, so us going into the woods… that's a big deal! Come on, we all agreed we'd do it!"

"Why did we even agree to this? I don't even care about the woods."

"Since when do you take Dad's side when he makes dumb rules for us?"

"I'm not taking his side. I'm just a contrarian." She shrugged. Lacy had to restrain herself from strangling her.

"Lupa does have a point," Lynn said. "Dad said he and Mom once saw a werewolf eat someone in those woods. He's just trying to keep us safe."

"Oh yeah, they totally saw someone get eaten in there," Lacy responded, rolling her eyes. "I did the reading-"

"You can read?!" Lupa said with faux-surprise. Lacy really, really had to try her best to restrain herself from strangling her.

"Ahem, like I was saying… I did the reading, and it turns out most of the werewolves live on the other side of the forest. You see The Town way over there? Yeah, the werewolves are on the other side, far away from us. So it's perfectly safe, other than the bears and snakes and regular plain old wolves… so yeah, perfectly safe."

Lupa rolled her eyes, but she didn't feel arguing the point anymore. "Okay, fine, let's do it."

"Awesome!" Lacy then looked to Lynn. "You gonna chicken out now or not?"

Lynn bit her lip nervously (something she tried not to do too often, because her extra-long fang ensured she would bleed when she did) but ultimately shook her head and said, "I'm in."

And with that, the three girls stepped into the forest.

The canopy was thick enough to block out the sky. Everything below, including them, was covered in murky shadows. Only occasionally did the light find a way to poke through the leaves, illuminating the otherwise dark path. Every step the girls took had them pressing on dead plants, the satisfying crunches filling their ears. Mushrooms were growing everywhere, some tall and lean, others short and fat. There were squirrels and chipmunks rushing about, and out of the corner of her eye, Lacy thought she saw a fox.

She sighed. This is the life, she thought. Unlike her sisters, she hated almost every moment she spent indoors. While they could just pour over all the books they had, Lacy didn't want to just read about other people's stories; she wanted to live her own! Just like her parents! She'd heard Mom and Dad and Aunt Lucy discussing in low voices about some witch named Maggie causing trouble somewhere faraway, and Lacy fantasized about being the one to defeat her. She couldn't do it yet, though – a girl that couldn't even explore her own backyard couldn't fight monsters.

You can't fight monsters anyway, that small part of herself named Insecurity told her. Only boys can become hunters.

She sighed weakly, feeling somewhat defeated. Still, she perked up as she remembered where she was. She was in the forest for the first time with her sisters! Nothing could bring her down.

"Alright Lacy's squad," she said as she came to an abrupt halt, "what do you want to do now that we're here?"

"Lacy's squad?" Lupa repeated.

"That's what I named us. Our team."

"I never agreed to that."

"This country ain't a democracy, and neither is our team!" Lacy chirped brightly, forgetting that she had just asked her subordinates what they wanted to do a la democracy.

"How about hide and seek?" the moody girl suggested. She really liked hide and seek, mostly because it gave her a few moments of peace from her sisters. Sometimes, when it was her turn to seek, she just forgot about them and went off to do something else.

It seemed like her sisters remembered that. "You promise you're actually going to try and seek us this time?" Lacy asked.

Lupa put a hand on her flat chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Not like I really have anything better to do, she thought snidely.

She put her arms up against the nearest tree and put her face into them. Behind her, she could her sisters rushing off to find places to hide. She loudly counted from one to ten, then turned around and stared into the empty clearing. "Ready or not, here I come!" she shouted, and with that, her hunt began.

Lacy was the easy one to find. Unlike Lynn, who had smarted discarded her boots and fled, Lacy had kept her shoes on, which meant all Lupa had to do was follow the path she had left in her wake. When she found her older sister's shoe-prints in the mud, she groaned. "Seriously, Lacy, you're making this too easy," she said.

Two minutes later, and there she was, hiding in a bush with her rear poking slightly out. Lupa stepped up behind her and kicked her in the ass. "Found you," she said as Lacy howled in pain.

"You just got lucky," she shot back, rubbing her sore butt.

"Sure. Go with that."

Lacy picked herself up off the ground and dusted off her red clothes. Putting her hands on her hips, she asked, "So I'm the first one you found?" When Lupa nodded, she flashed her a toothy grin. "So we can look for Lynn together, right?"

"You can look for her by yourself, if you want. I just want to go back home and read."

"Come on, we almost never get a chance to just hang out. Me and you, in search of the most dangerous game: man. Or woman, in this case."

Lupa mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Lupa said.

"Well, it wasn't nothing if you said it. So spill it. Before I spill you."

"I was just… you said man and woman when you're talking about Lynn. Like human people. I was just thinking… do you think that maybe Lynn isn't human? That... none of us are human?"

Lacy cocked her head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you ever wondered why our teeth are a little sharper than the ones in the medical books?" Lupa said, swiping her finger over her sharp fangs. "Or why we have to leave up here, away from the rest of civilization? Or why your mom and my mom don't seem to age? Or why when Dad got a new cookbook, he ripped out all the recipes that had garlic in them?"

"What are you saying?"

"You know what vampires are, right?"

Lacy's eyes widened with disbelief. "You think we're vampires?"

"No, we're not vampires. We're… okay, think of the neighbor girl. Leni, right? Her mom is human, but her dad was an elf. That's why she has those knife ears. Because she's a half-elf."

"So we're… half-vampires?"

Lupa nodded. "I think so."

Silence settled in as Lacy absorbed her sister's words. It was quiet enough to hear the breeze rolling through the trees. Lupa swallowed nervously as she watched the tomboy digest the information, put it up with what she already knew, coming to her own conclusions…

...and bursting out laughing.

"HAHA! You think we're half-vampires?" Lacy laughed. "Geez, those books have really rotted your brain. Next thing you'll be telling me is that we're also knights of Camelot or something."

"I'm telling the truth!" Her cheeks were flushing red from the embarrassment.

"Look, Lup, I know you want to think that you're special, but come on, our moms are vampires? Take it easy, our parents aren't hiding any dark secret about us. We're normal, our genes are normal, just like any other kid."

"But the teeth! And the garlic! And how our moms have looked the same for the past eleven years! Hell, I think they might be shape-shifting, because one time I saw my mom look as young as me-"

"Not everyone ages the same way, you were probably just dreaming, my mom is allergic to garlic, and maybe we have different teeth… just because. Not everything weird about our bodies is because of, I don't know, a vampire mutation or something."

"Lacy, sometimes I see Dad cooking, and he cuts his finger and spills the blood in our food."

"Yeah, people cut themselves when they use knives. Accidentally. Sure, it's pretty gross to keep the blood in our food, but it's probably just a mistake."

Lupa looked like she wanted to strongly rebut, but she didn't know how. She just made angry fists and flung them aggressively about, frustrated that her older sister just refused to believe her. She felt like an idiot; if she were a crying girl, she might've started then.

Her sister stepped over and put a hand on her shoulder, gazing sympathetically at her. "Lupa," she started slowly, "I don't think you're dumb for thinking that. I just think that… well, you and Lynn are always pouring over those books, reading about other people discovering family secrets like that, and how that makes them special. But that's not how life works. If you want to be special, you have to pick yourself up and make yourself special."

"I can't do that," said Lupa bitterly. "I'm not as strong as you or as smart as Lynn. I'm just a weird, skinny, weak girl that can't do anything right. Other than whining."

"Yeah, you do whine a lot," Lacy conceded. The younger girl shot her a nasty look as she continued: "But you do a lot of things better than we can. You can argue better. You can handle spicy food better. Hell, you once beat Lynn at chess. Chess! No one ever beats our sister at chess."

"Yeah… I did do that..."

"See? You've got a lot of things going for you. I think you could be great if you gave yourself the chance."

Lupa's lips curled into a mildly gracious smile. This would be the second of three times that she would smile that year, but that didn't detract from its warmth. Lacy smiled back, and raised her arms to hug her little sister, but Lupa stepped back and held out her arm to keep Lacy at bay. "Smiling is one thing," she told her, "but hugging is still a big no-no."

"Right. Forgot. Sorry."

"It's fine. And thanks."

"No p."

"Pfft. You're starting to sound just like your mom," Lupa said, smirking. That was the final third smile.

Lacy shrugged, and started stretching to pop her joints. She did a little jog in place, then clapped her hands loudly together. "Alright, we've probably left poor Lynn waiting for too long," she said. "Time for us to team up and find her. She could be anywhere, so keep up your-"

She stopped talking when she heard a scream.

"Lynn!" Both her sisters shouted.

Without a moment of hesitation, the two rushed towards where they heard the scream. Leaping out from the bushes, they found Lynn on the ground, holding up her arm weakly to shield herself as a large black dog-like creature snarled at her. White froth dripped from its sharp teeth, and its eyes were fiery.

"HEY!" Lacy shouted.

The beast looked up at her, and without hesitation, charged at her and Lupa.

The two girls jumped to the side, and Lacy rolled on the ground. She coughed up the grass and dirt she accidentally swallowed. Opening her eyes, she saw a long stick on the ground. She grabbed it and rushed to the giant dog's side and smashed its hide with it. The stick broke, but it didn't hurt the creature at all. Growling, the monster swiped at her, knocking her off her feet with its large paw.

"Agh!" she cried as she hit the ground. She quickly got up and called to her sisters: "Lynn, Lupa, get behind me!"

The giant black dog watched as the two other girls rushed to Lacy's side. She held up her arms defensively, as if that were enough to protect them. It snarled viciously, and started to charge towards them again.

Lacy was just preparing herself to fight it while her sisters ran for safety when the sound of a gunshot burst through the air.

The beast stopped for a moment, staggered, then fell to the ground. Blood spilled from a little hole between its eyes.

"Wh-What?"

"Girls!" they heard a masculine voice shout. They turned and saw a man coming out of the bushes, a smoking firearm in his hands. He threw it down to the side and rushed to embrace the three girls. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. "Did it hurt you?"

Lacy looked up at the man, and the white hair that grew from his scalp and cheeks despite him being in his early thirties, and she sighed. "Don't worry, Dad," she said. "We're alright."

Lincoln sighed in relief. "Good. In that case… does anyone here mind explaining to me what you're doing in the forest? I expressly forbade you from coming in here so you wouldn't be attacked like this!"

"But I thought there were no werewolves in here!" said Lacy.

Her father blinked, confused. "Werewolf? That's clearly a barghest. Looks more like a dog than a wolf. But whether it's a barghest or a werewolf or the Mongolian Death Worm doesn't matter, you shouldn't be here at all!"

Lacy and Lynn lowered their heads. Lupa just looked awkwardly off to the side.

The man sighed, and rubbed his head wearily. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you three?" He got up off the ground, picked up his rifle, and nodded at his daughters. "Come on, we're going home. Your mothers have been worried."

The march back to the house was quiet and shameful. None of the girls seemed to look up from the ground at all. They marched out of the woods and the sunlight spilled on them again. As they made their way back home, a young woman with fair blonde hair noticed them, and waved politely at them. "Yoohoo, Linky, girls!"

Lincoln stopped and smiled when he saw her. "Good afternoon, Leni," he said.

The half-elf approached them, a basket filled to the point of spilling with roots and berries in her hands. She looked down at the despondent girls, and her pleasant smile flickered. "Oh, what's wrong with them, Linky?" she asked.

"They went into the forest after I told them repeatedly not to, and now they're probably wondering how I'm going to punish them," he said sternly. He left out the part about the barghest on purpose – Leni scared easily, and knowing a monster like that was around would have her in hysterics.

"Oh, don't punish them too hard. They probably just wanted to play," implored Leni.

Lincoln growled, but Leni's pleading eyes were too much. "Alright fine," he said reluctantly. "I promise I won't be... too harsh."

The three girls looked up, hopeful expressions on their faces, and Leni winked at them. It was a very obvious wink that Lincoln noticed, but he decided to just drop it. The young woman straightened herself up and said, "It was nice to talk, but now I need to get home and make lunch for Grandpa Grouse."

"How is he, by the way?"

"Oh! He said that the next time I see you, I should tell you that you're a piece of spit." Leni then frowned, and rubbed her chin. "No, wait… that's not it. I think it was something that rhymed with spit..."

Lincoln could guess what he meant for her to say. "Have a good day, Leni," he said, clearly annoyed.

His daughters giggled until he shot them a glare.


When they reached their home, both Lucy and Lynn the First were standing there, arms crossed and expressions crosser. Their daughters filtered into the house one by one, bracing themselves for a scream-fest. They began marching up the stairs, but when Lacy put her foot on the first step, Lincoln grabbed her by her shoulder and held her back. "I'll talk to Lacy by myself," he said to Lynn. She nodded and herded Lupa and Lynn the Second upstairs.

The patriarch gestured towards a room down the hall. "Let's go," he said. Lacy followed him towards the room, not knowing what to expect, since she had never been allowed in that particular room.

Lincoln opened the door for her. "Lacy," he said, "this… is the weapon room."

His daughter gasped. She looked around with wide surprised eyes. She had never seen this many weapons before in her life. The walls on one side were adorned with shields and swords, and on the other stood bows and arrows. Pistols, rifles, and crossbows lay in crystalline glass cases in the middle of the room, and in one corner sat what looked like a cannonball.

"Dad… where did you get all this stuff?" she asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Long ago, this house was haunted by the ghost of a long-dead heiress," he explained, "and when I came here, she showed me this room. It's what made me and your mother decide to live here when we left The Town. Lots of good weapons to put to use… or sell. Whichever comes first." He chuckled at the end.

"So… why am I here?"

"Because Lacy, as mad as I am with you for putting your sisters in that kind of danger – yes, I know you were the one who convinced them to follow you into the forest – I'm also very proud of you."

Lacy's eyes swelled. "Proud?"

"Yes, proud." He nodded, and accidentally allowed a smile to slip onto his face. "You were brave back there, and… to be honest, you reminded me of myself, back when I was close to your age. Fumbling for whatever I could find to keep the people I love safe. And it's got me thinking… Lacy, would you like to train as a hunter?"

Lacy gasped. She felt like her heart was squeezing itself. This couldn't be happening, no way! "M-Me? A hunter? But girls aren't allowed to be hunters!"

"True. At least, officially they're not. But if I trained you myself… well, how would that be any different from you getting training from a school?"

"You would do that? For me?"

He nodded. "Of course."

"Well… I gotta say, Pops, this is probably the least effective punishment you've ever given me."

"Oh, this is part of your punishment. I'm telling you that I'm willing to train you, but only after… hmm… two months? Three?"

"Dadddddddd!"

He chuckled as she uselessly assaulted his leg. He never admitted it out loud, but sometimes, he felt like Lacy was more Lynn's daughter than his. His daughter Lynn was, in spite of the name, more like him, more book-smart than fist-smart. But when he saw his eldest daughter shielding her sisters in the woods, willing to sacrifice herself for them, his heart swelled, knowing that she really did take after him.

Not that Lynn wouldn't sacrifice herself. She just had less chances to do so over the years.

He patted her chestnut hair and directed her attention to a sword on the wall. "You see that sword, Lace? That sword will be yours. There's actually a funny story behind it; your mother won it in a gambling match. It's a very good sword, though, and I want to give it to you. It'll be yours to train with, and hopefully yours to wield in battle one day. But only if you're up for my training, of course. My instructors at the academy didn't go easy on me, and I won't go easy on you either. Even if you are my daughter."

The precocious girl grinned wickedly at him. "It's a good thing I'm not asking you to go easy."

"That's my girl!" He laughed and hugged her tightly. "Go run to your mother now. It's not fair for just your sisters to get scolded."

"I will. Thanks Dad. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart. Even if you are a handful."

She looked at her promised sword one more time, and looked at her reflection staring back at her from the clean metal of the blade. Her resolve firmed. I'll be the best student ever, she promised herself. She dashed off then, and Lincoln watched her go.

He wasn't just watching over his daughter; to him, it felt like he was looking at the great potential of the next generation of hunters.


I said this before, but doing a medieval AU was something I've wanted to do ever since I first started writing for this fandom two years ago. Now that it's done, I'm glad so many people tuned in to read it. Seriously, thanks you guys.

Going forward, my only real plan is doing a LincolnXLynnXLuna one-shot. Maybe a two-shot, but it'll definitely be on the shorter side.

That's all I really wanted to say. Until next time.