Disclaimer- I do not own Vampyre Hunter D. I am a poor sophomore in high school without a job. This is merely a hobby and I do not make any money off of it. On the contrary though, Radha is mine! Maude and Lie are also my creations. Please do not use them without receiving MY permission first. You may contact me via e-mail. Crede, however, is a character that belongs to my little sister and is being used with her permission.
Author's notes: Yes I realize many people spell vampyre as vampire. I do not. If this different spelling bothers you then I apologize. This chapter is pretty much clean with some mild violence and bad language, not much though.
Dhampire
Side-tracked
D was soon fully recovered from the heat and pulled himself out from the ground. Sitting against the cave wall, he glanced over at the other Dhampire. She did appear to have regained her strength yet and was still in her earthen hole. She just laid there like a limp noodle looking at nothing. D wondered what was going through her mind but did not dare to take a peek.
The rain poured on, sounding like a soft drum against the cave. The drumming slowly lulled the two weary Dhampires into a restful slumber. So deep a sleep was it that the screams of Radha's mother lay silent in the abyss of her dreams. The storm grew angry and tried with all its might to destroy any living thing with its winds, water, and electricity. Sometime during the tempest, D woke when he felt something lean against him. It was Radha. She was huddled against him like a child frightened by the storm. "How young is she?" He mused. Feeling her shiver against him, he put his cloak around her and returned to the peaceful snooze Radha had awakened him from.
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Crede passed back and forth uneasily. "Where's Maude? Those two should have been no problem for her."
"Maude is cocky. She very well may have made some fatal mistake." Lie informed while adding more kindling to the fire.
"Maude doesn't make mistakes." Crede growled, punching a wall of the large cave that sheltered them and the carriage from the raging storm outside. Lie stood and walked over to her. He gently grabbed the hand she had just thrown into the stone wall and held it against his cheek.
"Does it really matter what happened to that stuck-up snake girl?" Lie asked, trying to ease Crede's mood. She smiled at him; the cold cruel mask she wore lifted to reveal a warm and loving woman. Lie moved closer to kiss her but was stopped by something tingling in the back of his head.
"Lie…the storm is waning…quit fooling around with your wolf and return the carriage on its course." A voice whispered in the mutant's head.
"Yes, Master Blaise…We will be on the road again shortly." Lie responded mentally. He then reverted his attentions to Crede. He kissed her softly before whispering in her ear, "The master commands we go." Releasing her hand, Lie returned to the fire to snuff it out. Within minutes, the carriage was ready to go.
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She felt warm and safe, a combination that Radha rarely knew. As her mind slowly forced its way out of the numbing rest the rain had coaxed it into, she was able to determine where these feelings came from. The warmth was provided by a heavy cloak much like her own. The security was given to her by a powerful arm around her slender shoulders. That's when it clicked. "Someone is holding me!" Her mind raced over the memories of the previous day, trying to put the pieces together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. She decided that it had to be D and it was therefore safe to open her eyes. As her eyelids slowly opened, she prayed that D was still asleep. He wasn't. She looked up to see his clear blue eyes staring down at her. Radha quickly pulled herself away and sought solitude against the other wall. The other hunter remained silent.
Radha couldn't take the silence for very long. She looked over at D, her eyes confused. "We didn't…"
"No…" Radha sighed with relief at his answer.
"Then why the hell were you holding me!?" She spat, her hellcat demeanor returning.
"That's a question you should be asking yourself." D said as he rose. Without saying another word, he turned to mount Nightmare.
"What in a frozen hell does that mean? How can I ask myself of what I do not know?" Radha hissed through clenched teeth. D's refusal to explain was really started to scrape her nerves. But, he did not answer, merely rode away. "HEY! I'm not through with you!" She yelled. Seeing that he wasn't going to stop, she jumped on Goliath and galloped after him. When Radha was riding side-by-side with D, she reached over and grabbed his reins, pulling Nightmare to a stop. "Now explain what the hell you meant." She ordered.
"I don't know why you were huddled against me. I awoke in the middle of the storm and you where there. You seemed cold so I merely put my arm around you. That is all." D didn't even look at her from under the brim of his hat as he spoke.
"That's it?" D nodded. Radha took off her hat, allowing the sunlight to sparkle in her eyes. She tried to look D in the eyes but his hat block her view. "Well…since you are going my way…I suppose I could let you come with me." She placed her hat back on her head and handed D back his reins. D remained silent but did not seem to reject the idea. "Maybe he misses true company as much as I do…" Radha thought before kicking Goliath lightly with her heels. Goliath reared up and was off with D and Nightmare close behind.
At mid-day, the two hunters reached the outskirts of a town. The vampyre had been through here. Radha could feel it in her bones. She wanted to pass through quickly, but was stopped by a very upset man. He came running at them with tears streaming down his face and his arms flailing in the air.
"Stop!! Hunters!! Please!! I beg you!!" The man yelled as he grabbed hold of Radha's cloak, nearly yanking her off Goliath.
"Sir! Calm down and release me!" Radha hissed, grasping the saddle horn to stay mounted.
The man did so but the tears did not cease. "It killed her! The werewolf killed my only daughter! My baby! Please!! You must kill it so no one feels the same fate as my dear Lucy…God rest her soul."
Radha felt both enraged and sorry for the man at the same time. Ever since wolves had caused the tortuous end of her mother, she never refused to hunt them when asked. "I'll do it. Don't worry sir. The death of your daughter shall not go unpunished."
The man lowered his head to the mounted rider. "Thank you."
"There are no wolves. Let's ride on." D said in his usual monotone voice.
"Ride on!? D, you are a cold-hearted bastard…You go ahead and 'ride on.' I'll kill the wolf." Radha growled before dismounting to follow the man.
D shook his head as the sym. spoke, "So…we're gonna leave and let her die, right?"
"No." D turned Nightmare around to return to the outskirts of the town, using his vampyric senses to keep track of Radha.
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When Radha arrived at the man's house, she saw pictures of his deceased daughter on almost everything. She picked one up off a table. Lucy had long dark hair and a slender face with wide eyes. The color of which she was not sure since the photo was black and white.
"We buried her this morning." The man said. He grabbed a chipped cup and poured some luke-warm tea in it. Upon offering it to Radha, he began his story. "It was a warm night and the moon was high and full. Lucy had always loved to watch the stars and on such a clear night, they were irresistible to her. She wore a cross and had a silver dagger with her so I thought she would be all right. Around midnight, the whole town was awoken by a dreadful scream. We rushed to the woods to see what was amiss, but we were too late. The wolf had ripped my beautiful daughter apart…She was…eviscerated…Um…excuse me." He said as he wiped another tear away.
"It's quite alright. I will bag this wolf of yours. Tonight is the last full moon…it will die." Radha said decisively. "Do you have a map of the area?"
"Yes, Ms…"
"Radha"
"No last name?"
Radha thought for moment. It had been decades since she had used her last name. "Fujimiya."
"Ms. Fujimiya…" The man said to himself as he retrieved a map from a drawer. Radha took the map from him and studied it.
"Point out were your daughter was attacked." With on grubby digit, the man pointed to a clearing in the forest.
"The girl was stupid enough to go into the forest? This is starting to smell fishy…"
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"Oh this is definitely getting rather fishy." Radha mumbled to herself. She had been sitting in a tree by the clearing for hours. The moon was just beginning to set and she was really starting to ache. "Curses! What if D was right and this was just a plot to slow us down…dammit!"
"Ms. Fujimiya?" A voice said suddenly causing Radha to almost fall out of her tree.
After regaining her balance she looked down to see the father of Lucy standing bellow the tree, holding a large lantern. "Get out of here! If that wolf comes it'll kill you !"
The man laughed haughtily at her. "Ms. Fujimiya…there's no wolf. Lucy is a figment of your imagination."
"What?"
"It's all a ploy to kill you, ya see? Master Blaise doesn't need you interfering…And don't worry…I'll hunt down your partner after I've washed the ground with your blood. Too bad, though. You look like a lovely little whore."
Radha was about to launch herself from the tree at the man but stopped as he contorted in pain, his limbs twisted and bent in ways no man could. Her expression changed from shock to mute horror as the man grew in size, his body still contorting from the shape of a man. His arms and legs grew lean and long. Horns seemed to sprout from his head. His neck extended several feet from his body while large wings and a flexible, powerful tail slowly ripped out from his body. His eyes turned a bright gold as his skin appeared to have become a beautiful shade of green. The beast raised its head to the sky, roaring, and singling the end of the transformation. In front of her no longer stood a human, but a lean and well-muscled dragon. Two words came to Radha mind, "Holy…Fuck…"
The dragon wasted no time. Before Radha could blink, she was sent flying from the tree due a deadly 'thwack' from that powerful tail. The dragon flew into the air then dove down at her. She rolled out of the way in the nick of time. Radha then used her cape to launch herself into the sky, unsheathing her sword in midair. "Two can play at that game," she thought as she herself dove down, slashing at the beast with her sword. The dragon did not shy from the blade. In stead, he snapped out at it with long, sharp teeth. Pulling up, Radha soared over the dragon's head. "This isn't going to work…I need to slice open its belly to kill it…" She quickly landed and laughed at the dragon. "You're not a dragon…You're just a rabbit with big, pointy teeth. And a rabbit's fate is to be eaten by a hunter…such as myself."
The winged-beast reared on its hind legs, screaming in a rage. As soon as its front feet contacted with the ground, it charged at Radha at a blazing speed. She didn't have time to react. She never thought it would be that fast. It had her in its claws before she could move. "You're no ordinary rabbit…" She gasped as the dragon raised her to eye level while he slowly crushed her in his talons. She couldn't help the scream that emerged from her lips as she felt her ribs ready to give way.
"HAHAHA…WHO'S THE RABBIT NOW, MS. FUJIMIYA?" The dragon's voice boomed. If that was the dragon's normal conversational tone, her ears winced at the thought of him yelling. "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIE, MS. FUJIMIYA? I COULD CRUSH YOU, IMPALE YOU ON MY HORNS, OR," a nasty smirk formed on the beasts lips before he spoke the finale option. "OR I COULD EAT YOU ALIVE."
Radha grimaced. Her best chance for survival was option number three and even then her chances were slim to none. If she could just claw the roof of his mouth or shoot it with an arrow, she might have a chance at jumping and running while he was distracted by pain. "I choose…curtain number three."
"I WAS HOPING YOU'D CHOOSE THAT ONE…YOU DO LOOK TASTEY." The beast said while he dislocated his jaw to make his mouth open more. Radha felt like fainting from the stench of decaying flesh emitted by that set of chompers. Before the dragon had a chance to sink his teeth into Radha, he was interrupted by the sound of a horse trotting toward them. Radha couldn't help but giggle slightly at D riding towards them like a knight in black armor there to save a damsel in distress. Well, maybe not a damsel, but she was in distress.
"All I want is the girl," he said calmly to the beast.
"Girl!? Girl!? I'll show you who's a girl!" Radha's mind screamed at the other Dhampire. D didn't reply to her mental scolding but the sym. would have laughed his head off if it had one while just thinking about how Radha could 'show' D.
"WELL THAT'S JUST TOO BAD BECAUSE SHE'S MY MIDNIGHT SNACK...BUT DON'T WORRY, OH STUPID HUNTER…YOURS IS THE SAME FATE…SO JUST STICK AROUND LIKE A GOOD LITTLE DHAMPIRE SO I DON'T HAVE TO CHASE YOU," the dragon laughed while running its long, serpentine tongue over Radha's face. The dragon kept his eyes on the hunter, tasting Radha with his rough tongue causing her to squirm.
Even with the winged-serpent's eyes glued to him, in moves quicker than a human pick up, D threw a dagger at the arm that held Radha captive. The beast reared up in pain, slinging Radha into the trees. While the dragon was distracted by its injury, D jumped off his horse at the wyrm. His sword pierced the soft underside of the beast's belly causing it to scream in mixed tones, sounding both human and not. After a moment of writhing and thrashing of limbs, the dragon fell to his side. Its breathing was reduced to dry heaves, which soon ceased all together. D pulled his blade out its reptilian sheath and returned it to its true scabbard.
That's when he smelled it. He could smell someone bleeding besides the dead winged-wyrm. Following his sharp senses, he tracked the sent to its source. It was Radha hanging upside down from a tree, her boot caught in a branch. D looked up to see a trail of broken branches. She had obviously collided with one before crashing through the rest of the branches before becoming stuck in that awkward position. He called Nightmare over and mounted up so he would be tall enough to get her free without dropping her. As gently as possible, he freed her boot and then dismounted, laying her on the ground to check over her injuries. She was spitting up the blood, which could mean a rib had punctured a lung. She needed a doctor fast. Picking her up once again, wincing slightly as she cried out as something forced her to move her somewhat crushed ribs. She should have been placed on a stretcher, but she didn't have that much time or the luxury of one. D just hoped he didn't cause too much damage by carrying her like this.
Luckily for Radha, the village doctor was in because even thought she was a Dhampire, she'd die without treatment. "Place her on this table," the woman said gently. After D had done so, she shoed him out of the room and said she'd call him when finished. The woman then turned back to Radha and, with careful but precise fingers, she removed Radha's cape, bodice, and the top piece of the body suit. The doctor covered her mouth at the sight. Radha's left ribs were purple and appeared all out of place. If it looked this bad from the outside, she hated to think about how bad it would look when she cut her open. "Well…shall we begin?" She asked her unconscious patient.
Grabbing a sterilizing solution, she carefully rubbed down Radha's left ribs. Then she took her scalpel and pierced Radha's skin with finely controlled movements of the little blade. "Oh…my…God," the doctor gasped. Radha's ribs were practically crushed and one had pierced her lung. What amazed her was that they were slowly healing before her very eyes. The woman used her elbow to some of Radha's hair back to reveal her ear. Yes, she was a Dhampire. "Oh well…they all need a doctor sometimes," the doctor laughed to herself, returning her attentions to the crushed ribs of her patient.
The woman was in there for about an hour before she came out, looking just as she had when he brought Radha to her, not a drop of blood on her. "She's got a real fighting chance, sir," she told him with a smile.
"Thank you."
"Yes well…she's going to be in a lot, and I do mean a lot, of pain when she finally comes to. Her left ribs were crushed and had pierced a lung. I realigned them as best I could…what was funny though was that as soon as I pulled the rib out of the lung…the lung healed…"
D sighed, "I don't know her well. She is a vampyre hunter by the name of Radha…Yes…she is a Dhampire."
"I figured as much…well…have her take three of these three times a day to stop infection and one of these whenever the pain becomes too much for her…although by what I saw…she'll only need these pills for a couple of days…And here…this slip will allow you to stay at the local hotel for free since Radha is one of my patients," the woman chirped while handing D the medication and hotel pass. D nodded and headed toward the room to picked up Radha. "Oh no you don't," she said, standing in his way. "Some of the damage was from being carried on a horse…I realize that was necessary, but now it isn't. You go and get the room ready…I'll have my apprentices carry her over on a stretcher." D nodded once more and left for the hotel. The doctor grinned to herself while mumbling something like, "Two Dhampires sitting in a tree…"
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