LEGALITIES: I DO NOT OWN DARKSTALKERS OR ANY CHARACTERS THEREOF.
[]-Indicates thought.
Hello once again, fellow fanfiction.net readers! I've got a new fanfic up you might enjoy reading. It's a Big O one-shot, but it's a rather large spoiler. If you haven't watched the show, you are apt to become more confused than a hungry baby in a topless bar. However, for those that do watch the show, it's set in the last episode, when Roger has his "vision" while he was sinking into the lake with Big O. The name is " The Wakening of the Wanderer," and it details my own personal opinion on most of the show's themes.
As for Darkstalkers, here's Chapter 14. Big shout-out to my readers and reviewers- particularly Tiger5913 (glad to have you back, Tiger!), Galandria the Vampire Queen, and all my fans!
And now, it's...
"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter 14
Journey into Memory
Dimitri was spinning through darkness, falling through dream and nightmare, heading towards the one concrete reality of this world...
Blackness.
He was in a courtyard. It was just like when he had traveled back and viewed his own sins, but he felt that this had happened long ago. How long ago, he had no idea. He didn't know why he knew, much as a compass doesn't know why it must point to true north- it just does.
Dimitri looked around. Unlike before, he could move his eyes. It was night on Makai, and a bright moon rose into the sky. On the face of the moon, the Grinning Man was seen, his eternal cheerfulness radiating down towards the planet he watched. Faint stars, weakened by the sheer brightness of their lunar companion, glowed dimly in the velvet darkness. The courtyard Dimitri was standing (existing? floating?) in lay near the side of Moongrace. Although thousands of years later trees would only grow in the soil next to it, supported by it's power, the closest trees here were several miles away. A cobbled stone path ran up to a door in Moongrace's side that Dimitri hadn't seen on his first visit here. The place was a meadow, and a few beautiful trees grew here and there. The wind sighed softly through their leaves, whispering as it went. Dimitri looked up at Moongrace, once more in awe of it's beauty. The full moon rose up behind it's towers and cast a silvery light upon them. The black castle seemed pleasant and somehow right in the moonlight, and although Dimitri did not know it's name then, he would have perfectly agreed with it. The castle's beauty was four-fold in the moonlight.
Dimitri heard a huffing, panting sound, and he turned. Behind him were five riders. Each was wearing a black, hooded cloak, and Dimitri felt his heartbeat speed up. These were the ones he had seen when he had been feeding on the human soldier. Dimitri studied them as they approached.
The people he were watching wore a strange, silvery armor underneath their cloaks, and some of them were carrying strange weapons he'd never seen before. Though he did not know it then (and it was only later, when he began researching the history of Moongrace, that he found out), these weapons were firearms, rifles and shotguns, to be exact. These men were riding creatures that looked like wolves, but they were enormous- each was as big as a horse. They seemed gentle creatures, though, and one nuzzled and licked it's rider when he dismounted. The creature's rider patted it's head and said something to it that sounded like, " Good boy." The courtyard's cobbled path clicked with their footsteps as their booted hills strode down the path. Dimitri tried to walk after them, and discovered he could. He found out, not very surprised, that they could not see or hear him. They entered the stout oaken door in Moongrace's side, and Dimitri followed them. Though they shut the door as soon as they entered, Dimitri simply walked through it, feeling a moment's disorientation but otherwise unharmed. He followed them through Moongrace's halls, and eventually they reached what had been termed at the time the Conference Room, where the current generals of the Four Races met.
Dimitri walked in with them, and gazed about in awe. A large military force was gathered here, and he saw four different races. One he recognized, but the other three were entirely alien to him. Humans sat together with strange, human-looking creatures that had dark green skin and were larger than the humans. Their hands looked strong enough to crush rock. One in particular, sitting back from the others at the head of one of the two long tables in the hall, was enormous. Dimitri guessed him to be almost seven foot tall, and about three hundred pounds (none of it fat). His hugely muscular arms looked like green marble columns. He had an eyepatch over one eye, and what little hair was on his head was tied into a ponytail. Dimitri had no idea what his race was, but he thought he was a leader of some sort. A giant sword rested on the table next to him, and he was wearing the strange, silvery armor the riders were. All the creatures in the hall were wearing it.
The other two races Dimitri didn't recognize were studies in contrasts. One race was short, the tallest barely reaching four ft. high. They were broad and stocky, and heavily bearded. They were human in features, although proportioned differently. The other race was tall, and even their shortest members easily reached six foot or more. They had long arms that stood by their knees when they stood up, and their entire body was lanky and muscular. They had large, hooked noses and two tusks that stuck outside the corners of their mouths. Their skin was green, but bright, like newborn leaves in springtime. The hair that covered their heads and forearms was a bright red color.
At the head of the other table sat one of the small creatures. He wore a battle-helmet with an insignia Dimitri easily recognized: a howling wolf. He sat next to one of the firearms, his hand never straying far from it.
At the top of all this, what Dimitri guessed were Dukes sat alongside a round table. All wore helmets and shields emblazoned with axes, wolves, and other symbols. They were a mixture of the four races present here.
The robed men walked up to them, and the Dukes (as Dimitri thought them) turned around. When they saw them, they nodded to them.
" Yes? Jason, Lucadra, what news?" one Duke asked. He was one of the tall green-skins, and Dimitri felt that his voice would be at home in a dragon's throat; it was deep and rough, and yet had it's own strange beauty. His red hair, swept down in a crest from his head, swayed as he talked.
One of the black robes took off his hood, and although Dimitri was afraid he would once more see himself, he only saw a normal human instead. The human had brown hair and eyes, and his face was haggard. He was young, and his face bespoke someone who has suffered too much, too soon. His eyes were badly blood-shot.
" We've done it," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. Dimitri's eyes widened as he saw the fangs in his mouth. He was a vampire!
" What?" another of the Dukes yelled, his small and wiry body almost leaping from it's seat. " What do you mean?" His shout carried far, and conversation ended throughout the room.
Another black robe took off their hood, and Dimitri saw it was a woman. She was hauntingly beautiful, with black hair and eyes. Her face was as lined with care and pain as the man's.
" We have mastered Chaos," she said, and her voice was a whisper too. Her eyes were also blood-shot, and Dimitri finally figured it out; they had not fed in a while. With the strain of having to pump too little blood too far, the heart of a vampire pumped harder, and the veins became enlarged, primarily in the eyes and hands. Dimitri, his own hunger just recently assuaged, knew how they felt.
The green-skin who had spoken before spoke again. " What do you mean, Lucadra? If you have mastered Chaos..."
Without saying another word, Lucadra lifted her hand. Dimitri saw that the veins were visible there as well. She concentrated, and fire erupted in her hand, merrily dancing. The soldiers in the room were all visibly amazed and awed, and a collective gasp emitted from them.
The fire wavered, then collapsed as Lucadra felt the effects of using her power with too little blood. She gave a weak cry and would have collapsed to the stone floor if another black robe hadn't caught her.
The man looked at her, and then back at those near the round table. " We need blood," he said hoarsely, his body shaking as he fought to stay conscious. " We've mastered Chaos, but now we can't produce red blood cells. Our psi needs it... we need it..."
He shuddered suddenly, drawing in breath. His breathing was harsh, labored, the breathing of a man near death. The Dukes looked at one another, then one (a human, this time) shouted: " Men! We need blood! Somebody get a cup-"
The large, one-eyed green-skin Dimitri had noted before had rushed to Lucadra's side. He had grabbed his sword and now cut his forearm with it. He dropped his sword down and put a cup out under the flow of blood from the wound. The blood was just as red as a human's. He then handed the cup to the fallen Lucadra. She put it to her mouth, and her fangs went into the dark liquid inside. The hollow area inside her fangs filled with crimson as she drew blood into herself. Vampires do not actually drink blood, for inside their stomach it does them no good; it must be drawn into the hollow fangs, where it is taken to special glands that make it fit for use in their blood vessels. Lucadra sighed audibly when she was finished, and looked pleadingly around. Several goblets were already being filled, the men cutting themselves and then stoically placing goblets beneath the drip as their lifeblood flowed out. These were then handed back to the five black robes, all of whom were taking blood as fast as it came. When they were all restored to good health, the one-eye spoke.
" Lucadra, what happened?"
-Hate to leave you like this, but this chapter was getting pretty long anyway. Review me please- and if the "psi" mentioning confused you, it will be explained. You'll see...
Next Chapter: the truth of the past and Traveler's return!
[]-Indicates thought.
Hello once again, fellow fanfiction.net readers! I've got a new fanfic up you might enjoy reading. It's a Big O one-shot, but it's a rather large spoiler. If you haven't watched the show, you are apt to become more confused than a hungry baby in a topless bar. However, for those that do watch the show, it's set in the last episode, when Roger has his "vision" while he was sinking into the lake with Big O. The name is " The Wakening of the Wanderer," and it details my own personal opinion on most of the show's themes.
As for Darkstalkers, here's Chapter 14. Big shout-out to my readers and reviewers- particularly Tiger5913 (glad to have you back, Tiger!), Galandria the Vampire Queen, and all my fans!
And now, it's...
"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter 14
Journey into Memory
Dimitri was spinning through darkness, falling through dream and nightmare, heading towards the one concrete reality of this world...
Blackness.
He was in a courtyard. It was just like when he had traveled back and viewed his own sins, but he felt that this had happened long ago. How long ago, he had no idea. He didn't know why he knew, much as a compass doesn't know why it must point to true north- it just does.
Dimitri looked around. Unlike before, he could move his eyes. It was night on Makai, and a bright moon rose into the sky. On the face of the moon, the Grinning Man was seen, his eternal cheerfulness radiating down towards the planet he watched. Faint stars, weakened by the sheer brightness of their lunar companion, glowed dimly in the velvet darkness. The courtyard Dimitri was standing (existing? floating?) in lay near the side of Moongrace. Although thousands of years later trees would only grow in the soil next to it, supported by it's power, the closest trees here were several miles away. A cobbled stone path ran up to a door in Moongrace's side that Dimitri hadn't seen on his first visit here. The place was a meadow, and a few beautiful trees grew here and there. The wind sighed softly through their leaves, whispering as it went. Dimitri looked up at Moongrace, once more in awe of it's beauty. The full moon rose up behind it's towers and cast a silvery light upon them. The black castle seemed pleasant and somehow right in the moonlight, and although Dimitri did not know it's name then, he would have perfectly agreed with it. The castle's beauty was four-fold in the moonlight.
Dimitri heard a huffing, panting sound, and he turned. Behind him were five riders. Each was wearing a black, hooded cloak, and Dimitri felt his heartbeat speed up. These were the ones he had seen when he had been feeding on the human soldier. Dimitri studied them as they approached.
The people he were watching wore a strange, silvery armor underneath their cloaks, and some of them were carrying strange weapons he'd never seen before. Though he did not know it then (and it was only later, when he began researching the history of Moongrace, that he found out), these weapons were firearms, rifles and shotguns, to be exact. These men were riding creatures that looked like wolves, but they were enormous- each was as big as a horse. They seemed gentle creatures, though, and one nuzzled and licked it's rider when he dismounted. The creature's rider patted it's head and said something to it that sounded like, " Good boy." The courtyard's cobbled path clicked with their footsteps as their booted hills strode down the path. Dimitri tried to walk after them, and discovered he could. He found out, not very surprised, that they could not see or hear him. They entered the stout oaken door in Moongrace's side, and Dimitri followed them. Though they shut the door as soon as they entered, Dimitri simply walked through it, feeling a moment's disorientation but otherwise unharmed. He followed them through Moongrace's halls, and eventually they reached what had been termed at the time the Conference Room, where the current generals of the Four Races met.
Dimitri walked in with them, and gazed about in awe. A large military force was gathered here, and he saw four different races. One he recognized, but the other three were entirely alien to him. Humans sat together with strange, human-looking creatures that had dark green skin and were larger than the humans. Their hands looked strong enough to crush rock. One in particular, sitting back from the others at the head of one of the two long tables in the hall, was enormous. Dimitri guessed him to be almost seven foot tall, and about three hundred pounds (none of it fat). His hugely muscular arms looked like green marble columns. He had an eyepatch over one eye, and what little hair was on his head was tied into a ponytail. Dimitri had no idea what his race was, but he thought he was a leader of some sort. A giant sword rested on the table next to him, and he was wearing the strange, silvery armor the riders were. All the creatures in the hall were wearing it.
The other two races Dimitri didn't recognize were studies in contrasts. One race was short, the tallest barely reaching four ft. high. They were broad and stocky, and heavily bearded. They were human in features, although proportioned differently. The other race was tall, and even their shortest members easily reached six foot or more. They had long arms that stood by their knees when they stood up, and their entire body was lanky and muscular. They had large, hooked noses and two tusks that stuck outside the corners of their mouths. Their skin was green, but bright, like newborn leaves in springtime. The hair that covered their heads and forearms was a bright red color.
At the head of the other table sat one of the small creatures. He wore a battle-helmet with an insignia Dimitri easily recognized: a howling wolf. He sat next to one of the firearms, his hand never straying far from it.
At the top of all this, what Dimitri guessed were Dukes sat alongside a round table. All wore helmets and shields emblazoned with axes, wolves, and other symbols. They were a mixture of the four races present here.
The robed men walked up to them, and the Dukes (as Dimitri thought them) turned around. When they saw them, they nodded to them.
" Yes? Jason, Lucadra, what news?" one Duke asked. He was one of the tall green-skins, and Dimitri felt that his voice would be at home in a dragon's throat; it was deep and rough, and yet had it's own strange beauty. His red hair, swept down in a crest from his head, swayed as he talked.
One of the black robes took off his hood, and although Dimitri was afraid he would once more see himself, he only saw a normal human instead. The human had brown hair and eyes, and his face was haggard. He was young, and his face bespoke someone who has suffered too much, too soon. His eyes were badly blood-shot.
" We've done it," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper. Dimitri's eyes widened as he saw the fangs in his mouth. He was a vampire!
" What?" another of the Dukes yelled, his small and wiry body almost leaping from it's seat. " What do you mean?" His shout carried far, and conversation ended throughout the room.
Another black robe took off their hood, and Dimitri saw it was a woman. She was hauntingly beautiful, with black hair and eyes. Her face was as lined with care and pain as the man's.
" We have mastered Chaos," she said, and her voice was a whisper too. Her eyes were also blood-shot, and Dimitri finally figured it out; they had not fed in a while. With the strain of having to pump too little blood too far, the heart of a vampire pumped harder, and the veins became enlarged, primarily in the eyes and hands. Dimitri, his own hunger just recently assuaged, knew how they felt.
The green-skin who had spoken before spoke again. " What do you mean, Lucadra? If you have mastered Chaos..."
Without saying another word, Lucadra lifted her hand. Dimitri saw that the veins were visible there as well. She concentrated, and fire erupted in her hand, merrily dancing. The soldiers in the room were all visibly amazed and awed, and a collective gasp emitted from them.
The fire wavered, then collapsed as Lucadra felt the effects of using her power with too little blood. She gave a weak cry and would have collapsed to the stone floor if another black robe hadn't caught her.
The man looked at her, and then back at those near the round table. " We need blood," he said hoarsely, his body shaking as he fought to stay conscious. " We've mastered Chaos, but now we can't produce red blood cells. Our psi needs it... we need it..."
He shuddered suddenly, drawing in breath. His breathing was harsh, labored, the breathing of a man near death. The Dukes looked at one another, then one (a human, this time) shouted: " Men! We need blood! Somebody get a cup-"
The large, one-eyed green-skin Dimitri had noted before had rushed to Lucadra's side. He had grabbed his sword and now cut his forearm with it. He dropped his sword down and put a cup out under the flow of blood from the wound. The blood was just as red as a human's. He then handed the cup to the fallen Lucadra. She put it to her mouth, and her fangs went into the dark liquid inside. The hollow area inside her fangs filled with crimson as she drew blood into herself. Vampires do not actually drink blood, for inside their stomach it does them no good; it must be drawn into the hollow fangs, where it is taken to special glands that make it fit for use in their blood vessels. Lucadra sighed audibly when she was finished, and looked pleadingly around. Several goblets were already being filled, the men cutting themselves and then stoically placing goblets beneath the drip as their lifeblood flowed out. These were then handed back to the five black robes, all of whom were taking blood as fast as it came. When they were all restored to good health, the one-eye spoke.
" Lucadra, what happened?"
-Hate to leave you like this, but this chapter was getting pretty long anyway. Review me please- and if the "psi" mentioning confused you, it will be explained. You'll see...
Next Chapter: the truth of the past and Traveler's return!