Chapter 10 – Rahab
Rahab let out another soft sigh as he floated silently on the surface of the deep, blue pool. The first change had granted him immunity and he so enjoyed it. He floated on the water, feeling all the stress of leading a clan leave him, as if it floated away with the water that lapped against him. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound the water made as it lightly splashed against the edge of the pool. There was nothing in the world that made him feel more at peace than relaxing in his element.
A new sound met him; the sound of the chamber door opening and closing. Rahab's already closed eyes squinted as he frowned. His clan knew better than to disturb their master when he was in this state; this state of pure tranquillity. The last vampire who interrupted him ended up burning in the very same pool Rahab floated on, feeling the wrath of his angered master.
Rahab snapped his eyes opened and glared over at the intruder, though his anger softened when he saw who it was. Mioko was sitting at the edge of the pool, dangling her legs over the edge so she could splash her feet in the water.
"Does Raziel know you're here?" Rahab asked, quietly. Mioko jumped, she hadn't seen the fourth born, floating there so silently. Rahab moved to stand in the water and he waded towards her. She giggled as he ducked under the water and then surfaced, spraying her with the droplets from the ends of his hair. "Does Raziel know?" he asked again, wondering if his brother had approved her visit, he knew also of Rahab's anger when disturbed. She shook her head,
"No, daddy's with Uncie Kain and Chibi Kain wanted to go for a walk." Rahab looked at her, curiously,
"Chibi Kain?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Mioko smiled and reaching behind her, held her beloved Chibi Kain up to the vampire. His laugh was instant and he tried to stifle it, looking around as if he expected to see his sire there to disapprove. He studied the doll and admired just how much it looked like the master, in a cartoon sense. The doll wore a red tunic emblazoned with Kain's crest, it had a stuffed Soul Reaver placed on its back and even had a fabric ring through his ear. Every part of the doll reflected the master perfectly, with the added bonus of being exceptionally cute, able to melt the heart of any vampire, 'except that of the master', Rahab thought.
"What's your name?" Rahab asked, realizing that apart from knowing she was Raziel's daughter, the girl was a mystery to him.
"Mioko," she answered, taking Chibi Kain into her arms and cradling him, "Are you Rahab?" she asked. Rahab nodded and in the water gave an instinctive bow. Mioko giggled at his show of courtesy and he looked back up at her with a smile etched on his perfect features. He glanced around the pool and turned back to the child,
"Do you swim, Mioko?" he asked. Mioko looked terrified for a moment and shook her head. Rahab watched curiously as Mioko raised Chibi Kain to her ears and after a short silence, whispered something to it before turning back to the patient vampire,
"Chibi Kain doesn't swim either," she told him. Rahab chuckled and held a hand out to her, unlike her father, he hadn't been blessed with claws yet and so he still had his human-like fingers. She looked at it uncertainly for a moment, but glances into the vampire's gentle, reassuring eyes made her set Chibi Kain into a sitting position at the edge of the pool and accept Rahab's invitation.
As soon as she'd slipped into the water, she clung to the fourth born, immediately aware of the sheer depth of the water beneath her. Rahab placed one hand behind her head, holding her comfortingly as she got used to the foreign idea of swimming. After she became accustomed to the feeling of the water around her, she became more confident and pushed herself at an arm's length from the vampire, enjoying the water's caress as she bobbed up and down with the help of the fourth born.
Rahab took both her arms and positioned her behind him. She climbed up onto his shoulders and as he held both her legs, he pushed himself forward in the water. Mioko laughed and squealed with excitement as she felt the rush of air as Rahab moved with astonishing speed with Mioko sitting on his shoulders.
Kain watched his eldest leave. They had spent much of the night discussing the brethren, their clans, what they had seen and what they would see. Raziel didn't mention Mioko, Kain was still angry with her for her childish games, even though she was, as Raziel had pointed out to him, just a child. Kain reclined in his chair and closing his eyes, inhaled deeply, letting the breath out slowly, feeling the relief from this one act spread through his body.
"Mioko?!" he heard his son's shouts from the next room. Kain chuckled, she was gone...again. He sat up suddenly, realizing something. The last time she had vanished, she had been with the master vampire, this time she was not. She had wandered into Rahabim and even though the Rahabim were the most peaceful of any of the vampires in Nosgoth, they could still be dangerous, especially to Mioko; a young human child whom they would look upon as nothing more than a slave. He could hear Raziel frantically tearing his room apart in his desperate search for his daughter, obviously realizing the same thing as Kain.
Kain reluctantly rose, he told himself that he was doing it for Raziel as he tried to imagine what Raziel's reaction would be when he realized that Mioko was dead, but at least a part of the vampire overlord, if only a tiny part, was concerned for the child. Maybe an even smaller part of him had actually grown attached even fond of her, annoying as she was.
Kain wandered through the halls of the Rahabim palace and he had to admire its serenity. From the ceiling hung small glass bowls of water, not only reflecting the Rahabim master's love of water but also casting beautiful reflections of light in every direction. The pools brought an indescribable feeling of peace and tranquillity to the palace and even though Kain himself knew that should water touch him it would burn, he couldn't help but feel completely at ease as he looked for the missing child.
Eventually he came to his fourth son's hideaway, as the brethren had so amply named it. He stopped to listen, all his vampiric ears could pick up was the sound of his son's hands moving easily through the water. Knowing how his son hated to be disturbed and being the polite gentleman he had always been, Kain gently knocked the door, before he entered. He was mildly surprised to see Mioko sitting in the middle of the pool on what appeared to be nothing but water. Upon looking closer, Kain realized that there was no miraculous force supporting her in the water and that she was sitting on Rahab's bare chest and stomach as he lay on his back, floating on the water's surface, using his inhuman strength to support her.
Rahab's eyes opened slowly and he glanced over at the new intruder, "My lord!" he gasped, faltering in the water. Mioko let out a small scream as his movement caused her to lose her balance and fall into the water. Rahab and Kain watched as she vanished beneath the water. "Mioko!" Rahab dove, swiftly under the water and quickly brought the girl back to the surface, setting her on the poolside, at Kain's feet. She coughed and spluttered, choked by the water she had swallowed. She was sobbing loudly, more from shock than anything. Kain knelt down beside her, ensuring there were no lasting effects from her sudden fright. Forgetting her earlier anger with the lord she fell against his chest and clung, desperately to his shirt.
"Want daddy!" she screamed, "I want my daddy!" Kain lifted her up as Rahab tried in vain to comfort her. With a brief nod, Kain assured his son that he would see the girl safe with his eldest. Rahab nodded and watched, with a strong sense of guilt, as his father took Mioko from the chamber. The door snapped shut behind Kain and even though Rahab normally revelled in the solace he was left in, tonight he felt the pangs of loneliness. Looking over with a heavy sigh, he realized he was far from alone as the frozen, piercing blue eyes of his master's image looked, sympathetically at him. Rahab half swam over to the doll and picking it up realized how comforting the Chibi Kain could be.
Kain returned Mioko to Raziel's chamber where Raziel was still frantically searching. "Raziel!" Kain called, sternly. There was a loud bang followed by his son's cry as his head hit the wooden beams on the underside of the bed. Raziel pulled himself out from under the bed, where he had still maintained his search. His face split into a smile of relief when he saw Mioko, still clutching the master.
"Mioko," he breathed. Mioko reached out to her father who willingly and happily took her into his own arms, and as Kain watched, it was hard to tell which of the two received the most comfort from each other's embrace.
TBC