RAISING MERIDIAN
Chapter 2 : Dualism
Young Kain, sniffing suspiciously at the mixed scents of his rescuers, bares his fangs and hisses. Old Kain leans down and bellows into his face like an angry tiger. Young Kain does a moment's stunned double-take, eyes wide with shock, then struggles defiantly to his feet, still hissing like a scalded cat. He is favouring one arm.
Old Kain: *disdainfully* Show some respect, whelp!
Kurt: *to the younger vampire* What happened to you?
Young Kain: *sharply* Who are you, half-breed peasant filth? How dare you speak to me in that familiar manner?
Old Kain: *smacks him* Manners! Honestly!
Raziel: *who is enjoying this immensely* Oh, I don't know. I rather like him.
Old Kain: *furious* Be quiet, Raziel. Everyone knows you have no taste.
Vladimir: *suddenly fearful* Is he bleeding? Oh, my god, he is. He's bleeding on my new carpet. Someone tell him to stop.
Lupa approaches the young vampire with trepidation.
Lupa: *softly* I just want to look at your wound.
Young Kain growls, but a deeper growl from his older self makes him think better of it. He reluctantly holds out his injured arm and winces as Lupa examines it.
Krobelus: *dryly* Someone try to stake you, vampire?
Young Kain looks daggers at him. The necromancer, being almost a vampire lord's equal in the arrogance stakes, is unimpressed.
Young Kain: My name is Kain, fool.
Raziel: *never one to miss an opportunity* Then I shall call you fool, for short.
Lupa: *aside, to the mage* It's not serious. Will you heal him?
Krobelus sighs and waves a hand vaguely. Young Kain watches the ragged edges of his wound seal together under the golden mage-fire with interest.
Vladimir: Kain -
They both look at him.
Vladimir: Oh, this is ridiculous. You. Teenage pin-up Kain.
Young Kain: *horrified* Who, me?
Raziel: Yes, you. Don't argue. You're lucky you still have your boyish good looks.
Old Kain: *in a rare moment of clarity* And he's hardly going to be talking about me, is he? Look at me. I'm green and vaguely chitinous.
He looks sulkily at Lupa, who sticks her tongue out at him unrepentantly.
Young Kain looks around the room, from Kurt (who is perched comfortably on the sofa-back, devil's tail switching) through Krobelus and Vladimir with his lion's ears and paws, past his older self (who is currently trying to see if his tongue is also green) past Raziel (who is enjoying the whole situation far more than is healthy for him) and finally to Lupa, who is staring at him as if he isn't quite real.
Young Kain: *bewildered and still angry* Who are you people?
Lupa: I'm Lupa. This *she points to people in turn* is Vladimir, the one who fixed your arm is Krobelus, the bright blue one is Kurt, the paler blue one is Raziel -
Raziel: *nastily* Nice to meet you. I'm sure we're destined to be great friends. Who knows? We may even turn out to be golfing buddies.
Lupa: *gives him a look that says, quite clearly, "put a sock in it, Raz"* - and that one there…well…he's sort of you.
The Kains regard each other with mutual loathing.
Young Kain: Really?
Old Kain: *heavily, in a I-dare-you-to-make-something-of-it tone* Really.
Young Kain starts pacing the room, looking haunted.
Young Kain: And where am I?
Vladimir: This is my house. Are you going to be staying?
Young Kain looks even more pitifully confused.
Vladimir: Because if you are, you have to sleep in the woodshed. And I don't have enough blood in the fridge for both you and him…I mean you and you…Oh, I think I have to sit down.
He does so.
Kurt: *concerned* Are you all right, Vladimir?
Vladimir has buried his face in his hands.
Vladimir: All this temporal instability - two Kains in the same place at the same time…it's giving me a headache…
He looks up and the group react badly to the sight of his face. His eyes, one yellow, one blue, are glowing like flame.
Vladimir: What?
He reaches up as if to wipe away tears, and his fingers come away red. This is a symptom common only among Gatekeepers - when the gates are going wrong, they speak in no uncertain terms to their minder.
Vladimir: The gates…
He scrambles to his feet.
Vladimir: *angrily, to Young Kain* What did you do to my gates?!