Shade: Hello everyone, this is a new project, based on the popular character from "The Count Mickey Dragul" webcomic by Twisted-Wind. [Link here: twisted-wind/gallery/28917409/the-Count-Mickey-Dragul]

(Preliminary clarification: The same story is published in the Disney + Misc Cartoons Crossover section, so no, it's NOT plagiarism)

Warnings: Rated T to M in some scenes. Blood/Violence/Gore. Future sexual references. Furry/YIFF.

Van Helsing I: Baptism of Blood

Created by Shade Shaw Reilly and ArmoredAvenger.

"The voice of blood can be heard in silence."

José Narosky

I

The End of the Hunter's Path

The world is composed of two forces, so disparate and antagonistic to each other, but chained forever and condemned to always pull between each other, like children playing to pull a thick rope, to see who is the one who will win at the end. The forces of good and light were constantly fighting against the forces of evil and darkness, without rest, without ever giving up or giving truce, in various ways. On the one hand, there were those who always fought through faith and the strength of their spirit, driven by the desire to help others in a honest way... And then there were those who always fight face to face against them, in a fierce way and with infinite risk of never returning, and even with the dice thrown at the luck of an uncertain result, they kept doing it, again and again. Either to protect their loved ones, friends and neighbors or either for money and recognition. These people were known as slayers.

Whether it's beasts, monsters, ghosts, vampires... It doesn't matter what kind of creature is.

The existence of slayers goes back a millennia, from the moment when humanity learned in a very bad way that out there were beings that could easily make their lives miserable if they wanted. They knew then that they had to defend themselves against them, whatever it was. The struggle for food and shelter was splattered as well by the fight against the beings of darkness, first by using torches and then with stones, spears, arrows and all kinds of weapons. Throughout history, the slayers were evolving, improving their weapons and their strategies, because they knew that, along with the civilizations that arose and changed by time of time, new dark beings were appearing and with them, those who were already there and had learned new tricks. Thus, they were developed, flourishing, expanding more and more, refining especially during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, going through the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and beyond.

Just as illustrious and famous families of kings, popes and bankers appeared for the history books, slayers's families began to be known from the coldest points of northern Europe to the furthest corners of America. Many of these families gained much prestige due to the great feats of their members, but others also drank the bitter brew of unpopularity and even dislike for the brutal effectiveness of their hunts and the very nature of their work in the eyes of the people that judged them and begged them for protection at the same time... And one of those families that had to go through all that was the well-known Van Helsing family.

This is the story of one of its most legendary members, both praised and despised. That he achieved a lot in all his long, illustrious and at the same time so uneven career.

And it began, like many other legends told by so many troubadours and storytellers who travel the roads, in the humblest way possible, in the midst of the adversities placed by the gods and fate.

...

Enkhuizen, The Netherlands, October 12, 1874.

The cooing of the female black rabbit was softly heard in the small room painted in blue. Her arms surrounded the five-year-old little black rabbit that she had been carrying for a few hours to force him closer to her chest and he happily obeyed, for the sound of her voice complemented very well with the rhythmic pumping of her heart. He had closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep at any moment.

"Rueben," he heard her say in a soft voice, perhaps believing he had actually fallen asleep. He smiled when he felt a broad hand with long fingers stroking the short fur of his head and his long ears. "Try not to wake him up, okay? He has been very restless since morning."

"Hehe, that was inherited from you, sure. Who knows what other things he will get when he grows up," his father replied with a hint of laughter in his voice, seconded by the laughter of his wife. He then slipped out a piece of paper. "This was just put on the porch, they want us to move there as soon as possible."

"What a barbarity, just like that?"

"Apparently, but this has a stamp of a well-known Count in southern Europe, so it sounds to me like something real. Also, look at what they are offering us as a reward... 10,000 gold coins."

"That much? That sounds like maybe an army of giants or, even more, an extremely strong vampire lord," she murmured in a worried tone, squeezing her precious baby more against herself. "Honey, I don't know, I... I..."

At that time, he had half-opened one eye, watching the big black rabbit with a couple of scars on his face and scratches on his long ears approaching the female rabbit, gently taking one of her paws between his own: "I know what you´re trying to say, Susanna, I know." he noticed his eyes on him, looking at him with a mixture of tenderness and pride. "I also have trouble leaving him when we have to go, but look at it this way: With that reward, we can leave the job for several years, dedicating ourselves completely to him and helping him to develop his potential".

"Dear," he heard a dry snap from his mother. "Do you really think he would become a...?"

"I wasn't necessarily referring to that, my love. If Oswald wants to become a slayer, it will be decided from his heart." He stroked his little head again, with affection. "Hehe, this little rascal is lucky, both my grandfather and I were forced to enter this world."

"And that's why I'm so glad you're not going to train him just like the way it happened to you. I just want him to be happy, in whatever he decides to do."

"Let's allow time to decide, my dear. We will know by the passing of the seasons. And we have many years to live to see it."

"Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs. Van Helsing, little Ozzie will be very well taken care of with us!" A plump female badger cheerfully said holding the restless black bunny, who was trying to keep his mother as long as he could before she leaves to some remote and unknown place in the company of his father, as they had done on other occasions, for days and even weeks.

"I promise we'll be back before you know it, my little one. And when we return, we will go on vacation to a very nice place, where the sea can be seen. Would you like that?" A giggle from the little rabbit reassured the already disquiet heart of Susanna van Helsing, giving him one more hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I love you so much, Oswald, be good and obey Auntie Badger, okay?"

"We'll give you an orc or vampire fang as a gift, I'm sure that it will look great on you as a pendant or earring when you're older." Rueben van Helsing answered with a good-natured smile, making the child laugh. Although, truth be told, not shared by the stout female badger who, for a few moments, had twisted her mouth at his words.

Little Oswald Abraham van Helsing watched with his big dark eyes as his mother and father, while waving their hands in farewell, entered the light carriage with purple draperies which, moments later, it would be lost in the streets of Enkhuizen, in search of the point located to the lands of the east, beyond the dense territories of the Black Forest, in search of their new mission.

He continued to make pitiful noises in an attempt not to cry, moving more against the arms of the female badger making ring in her pockets the gold bag that her neighbors had given to her (as on other occasions) as payment for taking the trouble to taking care of their little and only child until their eventual return.

He already wished they would return from the moment he lost sight of them and began to hear the somewhat insidious comments about his parents from his so solicitous neighbors.

"Did you hear what he said? Good Lord, what kind of father would say that?"

"They're slayers, you already know that. Those who receive money from us for supposedly protecting us. They're a bunch of scavengers."

"Especially those of the Van Helsing family, just seeing them gives me the creeps. I hope they don't take long to come back."

…

The shadows of the trees lengthened along the narrow, bumpy road through the small woods. They had already traveled more than 20 leagues in less than two hours, so they calculated that they would reach their destination in the letter just at dusk. The galloping of the horses was making a thud that echoed a little in the dense stillness of the place. After a hasty week-long trip through the mountainous region of the German Empire, crossing the different towns and cities still convulsed by revolutionary outbursts since 1848, they had already reached the borders of Serbia and Montenegro, on their way to their final destination: Moldova.

Susanna van Helsing couldn't help feeling restless for great part of the trip.

According to the mysterious letter, the order was to eliminate a strange group that had been wandering through one of those lost villages that were on the border between Moldova and the kingdom of Wallachia. The nature of the group itself was unknown, even if they were mortals or not. The possibilities were several and each one was more disturbing than the other: A group of vampires, hybrids, demons? They had no idea and that was what she hated most: Unlike her husband, she was not very fond of playing blind, she liked to fight on solid ground, with full knowledge of the rules of the game. But unfortunately, things had turned out that way and, as Rueben had said at the beginning of the last trip: "We'll have to improvise, dear."

That decidedly wasn't good to hear. She forced herself to think of something that would give her the strength to move on and, of course, her mind catapulted thousands of miles back, where the object of her infinite adoration was, both for her and her husband: Oswald. Their little one, their bread from heaven, their beautiful jewel, their greatest source of joy and the little candle that illuminated their lives darkened by the hardness of their work. For the marriage of the Van Helsings, he undoubtedly had been a huge blessing from God and the Holy Mother to have him in their arms, after a long journey of anguish for both: Oswald had been the only one who had been born alive of Susanna's litter on that stormy night of 1878, something that they had attributed as a sign of blessing and good luck.

"God has allowed us to at least preserve this one for some reason, my love. He's going to be a lucky rabbit and he will be destined for great things, I'm sure!"

Oh, how she had come to believe that! She remembered that she had spent all of the first week awake, praying fervently to God and the Holy Virgin for the welfare of their little Oswald. But soon, seeing the energetic dark-eyed bunny glide over her breasts as he sucked hungrily and look at her with a bubbly smile full of innocence, she had ended up believing in the words of her beloved husband. He would live, she was sure of it: He would grow up to be a strong rabbit as his father was and as wise as his grandfather, the great Abraham van Helsing, famous throughout Europe for having fought face to face with Dracula himself, of whom Oswald had inherited the second name. Like every new mother, Susanna had already imagined a whole lifetime for her beloved son, she would see him grow and develop into what he wanted to do... While not really wanting Oswald to become a hunter someday... still, very, very deep of her being as a already consecrated slayer, it would be great for her and her husband that the little bunny follow the tradition of the family. She strongly prayed to God to give them both enough life to see that day.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Rueben's whistle to his horse, making them stop in the middle of a clearing surrounded by large oaks.

The last solar rays had just disappeared; the sky, which previously had a soft, faded orange color, had been replaced by a velvety dark blue as a forget-me-not petal. Soon the Moon, like a pale and spectral face, would emerge from the darkness. Already, the slayers began to hear the enigmatic noises that produced the invisible beings that lived in the depths of the trees. There was a smell of sap and humidity in the air. Several meters away from them, something could be seen... Rueben had taken his old copper binoculars and was making gestures at his wife to take them and see for herself, something she did immediately: Indeed, a far away, partially hidden among the trees, one could see the roofs of a set of houses and, in the middle of them, a tower that had a kind of Maltese cross (1) engraved in relief, although it had all its pointed sides for some reason, and also a ring surrounding it. Susannah looked away from the binoculars and looked at her husband with a question in her eyes that he understood right away.

"You saw the same thing, right? I don't recognize that cross from there... Although I'm sure I've heard it from somewhere... " He frowned. "This is where, according to the map attached to the letter, where the group to be eliminated is currently residing. Let's go slowly and around those houses there," he added, pointing to his right, receiving a compliant nod from Susanna.

Leaving the horses tied in a fallen trunk that was close to there, the two hunter rabbits approached as quietly as they could, reaching one end of the small village, with their senses at maximum and their long ears raised, attentive to any sound that sounded amiss that could emerge from the trees or from some of the houses. After five minutes, they realized that the stillness that dominated that place lost from the hand of God was far from normal: Nothing was heard, as if it was a ghost town. In fact, that strange stillness and silence was only causing a tension that was rising in level every second, becoming increasingly unbearable. Susanna clung to both her musket and her little locket hidden under her bodice, with her eyes wide open, trying to see something, anything... A tiny crunch to her right puts them on alert and they automatically looked to that side.

…And that were their mistake.

Something hard and heavy, perhaps a mallet, had smashed into Rueben's back suddenly, wrenching him a scream of pain and alerting Susanna, who had taken out the musket and started firing at that direction, noting a few seconds later with absolute disbelief that behind of her husband there was nobody.

"What the...?" She could not say more, because another mallet had hit her, this time on the side of her head; a lacerating pain pierced her skull and a sudden hot liquid that started to slide of her cheek could only mean that they had managed to make her temple bleed. She screamed in rage and turned on herself, managing to notice a figure wrapped in a hooded black robe behind her with a kind of giant hammer held high, ready to strike another blow, which she countered this by throwing a powerful kick with her feet, sending the attacker away. She turned again to her husband, noting that he had taken out his famous six-inch hunting knives and was fighting furiously against two hooded figures at the same time, armed with long butcher blades, making their weapons emit silver flashes in the darkness. Moments later, she had taken out her own knife and was fighting against a hooded figure who was doubling her in stature. They had no idea where the hell all these hooded figures had come from, but they knew they had to fight because they seemed to want to fight to the death.

Suddenly, several cries of pain coursed through the air: It was from one of the black figures, who's hood had slipped, revealing himself as a weasel that was making horrid screams to have one of the knives of Rueben buried deep in his left eye... Also showing to have two extremely long canine teeth for his species, making him look more like...

"They're vampires! Use your stakes, honey...! " That was what he managed to say, because two thousandths of a second later, the rabbit let out a heartwrenching scream, as he fell to his knees on the ground, squeezing hard on his left side, which was slowly darkening red.

"Rueben!" Susanna had run to her husband, after making a deep cut in the stomach of the colossus, causing him to fall backwards. She fell to her knees beside him, staring in horror at her own blood-filled hand after placing it on his wound. "We have to get out of here, they are too many for us, we have to...!"

"...You are not going anywhere, van Helsings."

Both black rabbits were stunned and watched bewildered as, from the depths of the trees and from the same houses of wood and straw... more and more figures covered in black robes emerged in their direction, some of them with their faces uncovered, looking at the couple with avid eyes. Susanna looked in all possible directions, breathing raggedly, looking for some way out, still holding Rueben against herself, who seemed to have difficulty breathing because of the depth of his wound. The throbbing pain of her head became more notorious, giving her a sense of absurd unreality: No, no. This couldn't be happening, it isnt't true, it isn't...

"...Oh, but of course it's true, my sweet Mrs. Van Helsing. You can see it with your own eyes," the harsh, mocking voice had once again said, shaking the female rabbit. Had they just read her mind? She looked frantically everywhere, looking for the source of that sound.

"Who you are?! Show yourself! "She screamed, clenching her teeth in anger, still clinging to her husband against her in a vain attempt to protect him. The figures in black began to laugh wildly, some throwing boos and even spitting at the wounded couple:

"So this is what the famous van Helsings really are, a couple of weak rabbits!"

"That's how we wanted to have you, a couple of wretches! You will pay for what your family has done to our great leader! "

"...At last we meet, van Helsing" the voice of before had spoken one more time, but this time it was heard much clearer and so, both rabbits could see him..: A figure also wearing black robes, but also had stamped on his chest the same strange cross they had seen before, now with complete clarity, causing Rueben to gasp in surprise.

"That cross... You are..."

"...Faithful followers of our master and lord, the true king of this world, who has given us the wonderful gift of eternal life, a gift that you, pathetic mortals so aspire to have and that your false and deceitful god will never give you, because our lord is the being we should all adore," the apparent leader said, approaching to them with unbearably slow steps. "I imagine that you both know who we are, because your ancestor, the first van Helsing, dared to confront our great god, making us lose a great part of our power."

"Hehehe... Aggghhh... You adore a vampire who fancied himself a god, who was beaten up by our grandfather? I think you should revise your sense of logic." Rueben said between gasps, staring defiantly at the cult leader, already struggling against the fulminating pain in his side. The hooded figure just laughed.

"I understand that making fun of those who are superior to you is just a way of mask your own terror and failure," the priest replied in a soft voice that sincerely chilled their blood. "But I must admit, even though you both are mortal creatures and, therefore, inferior to us, you have shown great value in the face of your imminent death. Something that we may find... useful for us."

And before one could snap his fingers, the van Helsing couple were caught by the claws of several weasels. As the screams of Susanna echoed, trying to break free from her captors, Rueben had pulled a dagger hidden in the lapel of his jacket with the intention of helping his wife, but then felt a hand that grabbed his arm with an iron grip and then twisted it, splitting his bones and making him scream like a madman, all that before the impassive gaze of the priest, who had lowered his hood, revealing himself as an aged weasel full of gruesome scars.

"Now, now... Stop shouting you two, if you behave and obey us, we assure you that the wounds that so afflict you will disappear in a few moments... It's just a matter of making every little thing so insignificant that it won't last for long and that will mean everything..." And after saying that, he opened his jaws, revealing his huge vampire fangs, making clear any other explanation.

Rueben and Susanna van Helsing looked in horror at this dilemma: Become vampires? The very beings that their family had sworn to destroy and that his grandfather, may God bless his soul, had fought against one of the most terrible and legendary leaders until death? Would they condemn themselves to serve forever that abominable cult to do who knows what atrocities against their loved ones, against... against... him?

"…Well? What do you say, van Helsings?"

Rueben van Helsing, already on the verge of fainting by the loss of blood, shared a look with Susanna, the love of his life, his lifelong companion, both on the battlefield as in the house and in the bed, and, by the stare that the female black rabbit had given him back, he knew that she had understood him perfectly. He closed his eyes for a moment. And when he opened them again, he exclaimed:

"We say... GO TO HELL!"

And before they could do anything, Rueben had buried the small dagger against his neck, slashing it and making him collapse to the ground, inert. And seconds later, Susanna had taken the gun out of her pocket and pulled the trigger, straight at her heart, causing her to collapse as well. Undoubtedly, in the last moments of life, those that seem eternal, an image was embedded in their minds at the time of falling into the dark pit and without any possibility of returning:

…Oswald.

…

He saw the rotten leaves being blown by the wind from the narrow window where he had been huddled several hours ago, after a long nap, always dreaming of them. His gaze seemed to be lost from time to time at some distant point of the cobbled street, still full of passers-bys at that hour, imagining that at any moment, in the middle of the crowded mass of coats and shawls, the faces of his parents would be shown, tired and perhaps bruised, but smiling at him, as they always did, no matter what. During all those two weeks that had passed since their departure, he had been dreaming of that moment, savoring the prospect of spending a very long season with his parents, without any news of any bad monster or anything like that could ruin it.

Monsters... Oswald never saw a monster before. Of course, Oswald knew what they were. Once his father had shown him some toys and puppets that he had brought from one of his trips: They were big, ugly and bad creatures that had to be taught a good lesson. And then his mother had added that if he ever saw one in the garden or the backyard of the house, he had to run to tell his mommy or daddy and they would teach him a lesson immediately.

Giving the monsters a lesson, that's what his parents do. And although like any child of his age, Oswald was proud of them, he couldn't help but feel a hint of disquiet when he was left in the care of his neighbors and saw them depart for some mission. Deep down, he wishes that they never have to leave, that they were always there with him, playing with him, talking with him, teaching him about everything they had seen in their travels around the world ... Being a complete and united family, the Van Helsing family. He smiled, closing his eyes, imagining that the pillow against his cheek was his mother's chest, and in some point, he would feel the big and heavy hand of his father caressing his head...

"What are we going to do? How are we going to tell him? "

"You're going to tell him. Don't look at me."

The voices of dad and mom badger had begun to be heard from the other side of the room, Oswald stood still as he could, pretending to sleep, listening.

"Poor thing, this is going to be a terrible blow for him, being so young. What will happen to him?"

"Isn't it obvious, dear? We will send him over to those institutions for children, there they will take care of him."

"Are... Are you saying we're going to take him there? Woman, what the hell are you saying? We cannot leave him there, we can't... We promised to take care of him, we promised that to them, Imelda."

"Well, they didn't say anything in the case that they died and that's what's happening now." he heard the woman say harshly, "He's not our responsibility, Jack; they didn't foresee anything, and they only went where God knows where and now look how they ended up: Slaughtered. Everyone is talking about that in the street... Hmph, I always knew the dangers of that risky job, almost always unnecessary and which is only to earn easy money, would explode to their face some day."

"I didn't know you disliked the Van Helsing family so much, and still, you always accepted in taking care of their son."

"Of course, money is always well received in this house, and you know it. It's never enough to feed everyone, and now we're stuck with an extra mouth here and he's not even part of our family." He heard a sigh. "There they will take care of him, better than what we could do here".

"Very well, do what you want, may God listen to you and what you say be true."

And they had retired to the other room, leaving him alone, with his childish mind now erupting in complete and absolute chaos: "... In the case of dying" "Slaughtered" "...Slaughtered" "Slaughtered..."

He would never feel his father's hand caressing his head or hearing his songs and stories about his many adventures. He would never feel the comforting beat of his mother's heart, nor her kisses nor her lullabies in the small room painted in blue.

They wouldn't return. Nevermore.

He didn't sleep that night, trying not to cry in the already crowded room full of badger babies, who slept soundly, completely oblivious to the pain that was tearing the small heart of that black bunny who, in the end, was just a visitor, a stranger to all of them.

The next day, the tall black bars that made up the doors of the orphanage would open for the badger of sad and distant expressions, who would holding by the hand a reticent and even more distant Oswald, who would see with apprehension the huge solemn orphanage that from now it would be his "home"... Even though he knew that it never would be his home. Never.

He no longer had a home, no parents, no toys, not even his favorite blanket with which his mother had wrapped him when he was born.

Only his surname was the only thing he had and would have for now.

Van Helsing.

Oswald van Helsing.

To be continued.

Notes:

(1) The Maltese Cross is identified as the symbol of the knights who served in the Jerusalem hospital, known first as the Knights of the Hospitaller Order and later as Knights of St. John. The cross is eight points and has the shape of four "V" joined by their vertices, so that each arm has two points. Its design is based on crosses used since the First Crusade.