Arisen

Fantasy-Horror-Adventure
Jaune Arc / Sienna Khan / Saphron Cotta-Arc / Terra Cotta-Arc

Saved from death, Sienna Khan must now come to terms with her new existence. Jaune Arc finally free from his imprisonment, once again walks the lands of Remnant. Still bound by her bigoted views, can Sienna truly be a guide and servant to a horror that the rest of the world has forgotten the existence of?

/==/

Sienna knew it had a grave error in judgment trying to seek refuge in the rundown remains of the small unnamed settlement. It had been a mistake to lead the raid on the small SDC lumber camp south of Mistral. Now her companions were paying the price. The camp had been an elaborate trap. An ambush by the combined forces of the SDC, Atlas and Mistral. Her force of twenty had been whittled to five plus herself. The others injured and captured to facilitate her escape. They had been harried the entire flight through the forests and fields surrounding the compound; and it was only through the deepening of night that they were finally able to gain distance from their pursuers.

The abandoned village with it's rotten palisade like walls, breached gate and derelict stone and wood buildings; was what she would have considered a blessing. It gave them shelter, and a place to hide. With a little work one of the sturdier buildings would be easily defensible. It had been a literal miracle that the anger, frustration; and fear hadn't drawn any grimm upon them. But they wouldn't let down their guard, not with the chance of discovery by the combined SDC, Atlasean, and Mistralian forces in pursuit. With a little luck they would go unnoticed and after a couple days could reunite with the main White Fang forces at their Mistral base of operations.

She had made so many mistakes, and miscalculations over these last few hours. So many that now her loyalists were paying the price. Coming to the village had been a deadly mistake. She had crumpled against a low stone wall. Her breathing ragged, pained and forced. She had felt the snapping of her ribs when the blow landed; driving her off her feet and into the wall. The crack of her skull meeting stone had echoed into the darkness. She could feel the sticky warmth upon the back of her head. She fought to remain conscious, her vision swimming.

They had no defence for the thing that attacked them. It almost felt like it could travel from shadow to shadow. Striking at the small group, grinding down their numbers. In a final desperate attempt to survive her two remaining guards and herself and stood back to back in the centre of a small grown over garden. Their night-vision blessed eyes scanning the surrounding darkness. The first two of their group had vanished. Not a sound or a trace. The third was taken before their eyes, dragged off by something surreal, screaming her lungs out into the night. It had burst their formation sending everyone sprawling. As she rolled to her feet and whipped herself around, her weapon ready; it had struck her.

As she sat crumpled, with her vision blurred she thought she could see cloudy images; but she certainly heard the screams. When silence finally fell, she knew she was alone. She had no way to defend herself now. Her weapon had been torn from her grasp when she was struck, and now she was crippled; defenceless.

/=/

For decades, near an eon he had been a prisoner. Nearly driven mad with his thirst. The wards that kept him secured with in the stone crypt; unbreakable in his weakened state. He had been forced to suffer the growing thirst. Trapped to wither away to a former shell of his once healthy stature. With no other options remaining he allowed himself to drift into slumber; and with in a dreamless sleep he waited. Allowing time to wear away at the magical energies that kept him confined. He remembered those who had risen up against his rule. They had discovered his true identity. Weakened him with silver during the height of day, and contained him by use of archaic rituals.

As he slowly was almost driven mad with need, he heard them approach every few years or so, though he was uncertain of the passage of time. The wards were renewed, strengthen. It had become a ceremony, a celebration, a festival. The real reason for it fading into the past. So he slept. Roused only when they approached to mark the anniversary of his imprisonment.

A score ago, give or take a couple years he was awoke. The screams of terror, the tantalizing scent of split blood wafting through the air. Something was happening to the small village below. Bandits, maybe grimm? He did not know. All that he was aware of was what the wind brought to his senses. For hours the chaos raged, and then it died. Everything became as quiet as the crypt that he was trapped with in.

So time passed on. The wards grew steadily weaker, though still more than capable of keeping him secured. Again he forced himself to slumber his dreamless rest. Waiting for the villagers to return and once again renew the bulwark that kept him caged. But it did not happen. They did not come, and the wards continued to degrade. Below his prison, silence reigned.

A faint scent wafted from below. Sweat, fear and warmth, brought him out of his slumber. Paper like skin flaked as he rose from the stone coffin in which he laid. Bleached hair, fell near his shoulders, cracked nails decorated his thin fingers. White eyes searched the darkness. He stumbled forward, weak and nearly powerless. He could hear the pulse of six living, warm creatures down the hill from where he was confined. He licked his lips in anticipation as he shuffled forward towards the threshold of the crypt.

With but a meagre fraction of his original strength he tested the stone door. The wards had faded. Time wearing them away. The door ground against the forest detritus, that had piled and grown up against it. With some struggle he was able to force it far enough for him to squeeze his way past, and into the freedom of the darkness beyond.

His hunger returned with maddening force. A Tidal wave of need, and want driving him down into the former shell of a once vibrant settlement. He licked his lips as he finally was close enough to fully sense them. Like a shadow he moved through the darkness. Even though he was sightless, their scent allowed him to close. He wanted to be renewed, and could feel their vitality. Even in his pitiful state he was more than enough to snatch the one furthest from the others. His incisors grew in length, his eye teeth growing much more prominent. There was but the briefest of struggle before he tore into his victim silencing them before they could raise an alarm. Driven by ravenous hunger he tore into the poor deer faunus' throat. A flood of warmth and sweet iron filled his mouth, coating his tongue. He drank greedily.

He dropped the cooling corpse to the ground. He was only partially slated. He wanted more, needed more. With his eyes growing clear, he could now see. With his mind growing sharper, he could no focus. They were afraid, and that made him desire their warmth even more. Terror made his drink so much better, stronger and more filling. He relished it. He wanted more, craved it.

/=/

Through her blurred vision, she saw the figure approach. She was starting to feel numb, cold seeping into her body. She could make out only a few of his features. Her sense of smell picking up the scent of rot. Trying to focus she could make out blonde hair, and tattered clothes, but not much else.

"My, you are a pretty one." came his soft, almost nervous voice.

Blinking her eyes, she was able to force her vision to sharpen just enough to take in the boyish features of his face, and his piercing blue eyes. Defiance welled up in her brutalized chest; and despite the pain; despite the growing numbness she used what was left of her strength to spit at him. It had no force, not strength, and the saliva just dribbled from her lips, down her chin to fall upon her chest.

"Fuck you human." she pathetically snarled.

"Wrong on both accounts." he chuckled, as he leaned forward allowing her dimming vision to gain a better view of him. "You will not be... fucking me... nor am I human."

She inwardly recoiled as the over powering scent of blood filled her nostrils, and the sight of his openly smirking mouth showing off the prominent eye teeth and incisors. After allowing her only a few short moments to take in his twisted visage, he leaned back.

"You are a pretty one. I can smell your strength."

"Fuck you." she wheezed.

"Maybe another time." he responded, "I have an offer I wish to make. Will you politely listen to it?"

"Offer?"

"Yes. I have need... for a guide. I have no idea of this age, I have spent much too long away. I require someone with knowledge of it. I can help you, if you help me. Would you like for me to help you?"

"Help? How?" she coughed. Her chest was burning, her body growing even colder. The warmth of life she knew was draining from her. So this is how I end she mirthlessly thought. Murdered in some ruined village, with no one to know.

"I can bring you back from the brink. I can heal all of your wounds, make you stronger than you have ever been... all you need to do is serve."

"Serve? I would never serve a filthy human." she hacked.

"You do know you are dying." he softly laughed. "You do not have much longer. I can either save you, or hasten your passing. Which would you prefer, because in the scheme of things neither truly makes any difference to me."

"I... I... don't..."

"You don't what?" he asked once again moving close enough for Sienna's fading vision to take in his features, "Want to die or to suffer?"

"Die." she gasped, as panic began to take hold of her heart.

"Well you are. So which way would you like me to assist you? Make it fast and almost painless, or save you?" He smiled softly, the sight of his enlarged teeth gone, replaced with what would be normal for a human or faunus.

"Save me?" her voice was growing weaker.

"To save you, you need to swear service to me. Will you swear?"

"I... I... ca... ca... can't"

"Then I guess you have made your choice. Pity, you are a pretty one."

"Please..." her voice growing faint.

"Please what?"

"He...hel... help me." she gasped.

"You made your choice. All I can do now if cut short your suffering." he sighed as he reached forward. His fingers curled through her hair, and he gently turned her head to the side, exposing the side of her neck. "A waste of your strength. You had promise."

"Please... no..."

"I am giving you a mercy. Be thankful." he whispered.

She felt his grip tighten upon the hair between her ears. She felt the exhale of his breath upon her skin. She knew without any doubts that he was closing upon her. Fear and terror welled up inside her. She was going to die. She didn't want to die. She couldn't die. Not here, not like this.

"I'll... I'll..." she offered weakly.

"You'll what?"

"Se... ser... serve." she choked out.

"Truly?"

"Yes..." she wheezed.

"There is no going back. I will take you at your word. You will not be permitted to renege." his voice was soft, his breath tickling her ear. "Do you swear?"

"I... I... sw... swe... swear."

"Good girl." he whispered. "Hold on for a little bit longer. I will return."

She didn't hear him leave, she just felt him release his grip upon her. She was struggling, trying with what pitifully little strength she had left to remain conscious. To resist the growing pull of numbness. She struggled, but she knew deep inside that she was failing. Sienna didn't even know he had returned until she felt his hand twisting in her hair, and something being pressed to her lips. Her sensitive nose caught a whiff of the contents of the cup or mug, and she gagged. It was blood. He was trying to get her to drink blood.

"Drink. It will make you whole, and improve you. Drink, or perish."

She wanted to retch, as the thick metallic liquid crossed her tongue. Her fear of the closing darkness spurring her to obey his words. She swallowed reflexively, and choked. Her body was cold, and she felt the liquid curdle in her stomach.

"Good girl. Keep it up. We're almost done." he whispered in a comforting tone.

She continued to allow the blood to flow down her throat, the heaviness in her guts starting to churn. The cold was taking even greater hold upon her, and she gagged and retched as soon as the container he had held to her lips was pulled away. She dimly heard it get tossed aside, shattering against some hard surface. Sharp pain began to rip through her gut. She gasped, and then choked. Bile and blood rising into her throat. She didn't have the strength to vomit, or cough. It filled her, cutting off her shallow breathing.

"Good girl. Soon you will be better than new, but first... you die." he said those final words in a icy remorseless tone.

Sienna's eyes grew wide as the pain intensified, over powering everything else she had been feeling. She tried to twist and writhe, but her ruined body resisted. So she was forced to sit there, her back pressed against the low, cold stone wall. She seized, every muscle and tendon in her body instantly growing tight. She sputtered, hacked, coughed, choked and wheezed, as her breathing failed. With fear wide eyes she sat there, until merciful darkness swallowed her.

/=/

Slowly the sounds and warmth of the world began to fill her. The sun felt glorious upon her face, and caused her amber eyes to flutter open. As she gazed in wonder at the sudden sharpness of everything before her, she noticed other things. She could hear the minute movements of tiny bodies through the grass around her. She could smell the earth, the odours of starting to putrefy flesh, old blood, the cleanness of the air. Everything was so sharp and well defined.

Reaching up and behind her she used her grip on the top of the low garden wall to assist her in standing. The pain was gone, and as she regained her feet she twisted and turned confirming that she was completely healed. She caught the faintest of scuff through the dirt and grass. Turning her attention towards the sound she saw him. Now in the light of day, with eyes unclouded by pain, she could actually take in his appearance. His style of dress was very old fashioned, almost to the point of looking like a Halloween costume. He was lanky, but carried himself with a powerful bearing. His face was boyish, but could be called handsome. It was topped with a mat of long and scruffy blonde hair. But it was truly his eyes that drew her attention. They were the deepest of blues, entrancing, inviting, and predatory.

"Good, you're finally awake." he addressed her in a cool even tone. "You must be famished. Let's go."

"Go?" she asked, as his words brought to her attention the growing thirst burning with in her.

"Yes. You need to feed, so we're going to hunt."

"What did you do to me?"

"Questions after. You need to feed." with that he turned on his heels and walked off.

Grabbing her discarded weapon from the ground she hooked it upon her hip, and made her way to follow him. She marvelled at how she was moving. It was so seamless, so light, it felt almost as if she was gliding across the ground. He finally closed upon him as he stood at the ruined gateway through the rotten wooden wall. She wasn't sure how she had been able to so easily locate him, after he vanished from her sight. She had just felt drawn to his location.

"There is no true prey nearby, so we'll have to settle for lesser beasts." he turned his predatory eyes upon her, and gave her a smirk. "This will also be a test."

"Test?"

"You have been remade. You are no superior. You need to understand how much more you are now, than you had been. So this is a test. To see if you can adapt." he turned his gaze from her and back upon the semi-thick brush and forest before them. "reach out, see if you can sense something worthy."

Sienna focused her attention on the brush ahead of her. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to actually do. Was she to close her eyes and reach out in like a semblance sort of way? Was she just suppose to stare into the forest and hope she notices something? As she was contemplating her options, sounds and scents began to filter into her mind. Inhaling further she began to create a picture with in her head; that was further completed by the soft sounds she was noticing.

"There's a small pack of wolves..."

"Where?"

"In that direction." Sienna pointed off to her left.

"How far?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe half a kilometre?"

"Very good." she saw him give her a slight grin, "Anything else?"

"A herd of deer." she reported as she focused on her sense of hearing and inhaled deeply. "A couple of hundred metres to our right. Five of them. Two bucks and three does."

"Very good." he gave her a nod, "Which do you think would be better prey?"

"The deer."

"Why?"

"They are closer, and larger."

"You are taking to your new abilities exceptionally well." he returned his attention to the forest, "In wonder if maybe it is because you were at first a faunus."

"I'm still a faunus. Just as you are a filthy hum..."

"No you are not. Like I said you are something superior now." he didn't even look at her as he continued to speak. "Humans, Faunus, all the beasts of Remnant are beneath us. Remember that."

"I don't..."

"You will." He started to move forward with lithe fluid grace. "Come it is time to feed."

Still unsure of what had happened to her. Why her senses seemed to sharp, and her movements so graceful; she followed. As much as he appeared human, she instinctively knew he was something different. His scent confirmed that, and she wondered how much more she had been changed from what she originally was. Where Human's and Faunus beneath her now? She had always felt that humans were, but his words, and the confidence with which he spoke them made her mind wander. She was different, she could feel it. So she followed him. Something spurring her to defer to his lead.

/=/

The savagery of his attack, and the blossoming scent of fresh blood drove her into a frenzy. She bolted from the edge of the clearing barrelling into the side of one of the bucks as it attempted to flee. With speed and strength she had never felt before, she bore the panicked animal to the ground. Snapping out her left hand she coiled her fingers around one of its antlers and yanked backward. She could smell his fear, hear the pounding of his heart. Driven by an instinctual need, and a almost insatiable thirst she opened her mouth. She felt her eye teeth and incisors extend. It felt so natural, almost sensual to her as it happened. As the buck twisted an squirmed in her iron grip she pulled back on its head even harder before dropping her own head and closing her jaws about the terrified animal's throat.

The rush of liquid metallic warmth, rich with fear and life flooded her mouth. It danced across her tongue and she drank greedily and deep. Beneath her the animal twisted and writhed. Its struggles growing weaker and weaker, until finally they stopped entirely. She felt excited, and fulfilled. Ecstatic and driven for more of what she had just swallowed. Inside her the gnawing thirst exploded. Dashing off from the cooling carcass she blurred across the small clearing and into the brush. She was easily able to follow the panicked flight of the rest of the small herd, and quickly without any hesitation leapt upon one of the does. She dragged it down to the leaf strewn ground and bit deeply. Once again she was flood with the delight or warmth, fear and life. With each swallow she felt stronger, more alive. It was a joyous and welcoming experience.

Rising from her most recent kill she prepared to chase after the remainder of the dwindling herd only to come face to face with him. He blocked her path, causing her to snarl, baring her teeth. She never saw the back handed blow that threw her to the side, causing her to crash into the undergrowth. She quickly pushed herself from the ground. Hissing as she lay poised on her fingers and balls of her feet. He moved before she could react, steel like fingers fastening around her throat. Effortlessly he yanked her from the ground and held her in the air with a single hand. Her own hands clawed and pulled at his exposed arm, as her feet kicked in the air uselessly.

"Remember your place." he snarled, baring his own fangs. "You are to serve."

Sienna shrieked as she felt his free hand suddenly impact her chest. His palm crushing her tits and fingers spearing into her flesh. She thrashed and twisted in vain as he held her, aloft. Slowly pushing his fingers deeper and deeper into her chest.

"Bare your fangs at me again, and I will rip out your rotten heart." he hissed. "Remember your place. I created you, you are mine, you will serve. Understand?"

She nodded. All her fight having fled her. She felt his finger pull free, and then was dropped, crumpling to the ground. She grabbed at her chest, pressing both her hands to her bosom. Slowly she raised her head and looked into his predatory blue eyes.

"This was your first feeding. I understand your mania. The drive to feed, to slate your thirst is always greatest during the first days." he spoke down to her, his eyes never straying from hers. "You will learn restraint and decorum. Falling into blood-lust does not serve my interests, nor will it extend your existence."

Sienna dropped her head, her eyes looking at the torn ground beneath her. She couldn't place why she felt so dismayed at his words. She could feel the compulsion to follow his direction, to heed his instructions. It confused her.

"Come. We'll return. You have questions, and I would rather sit in someplace with the resemblance of civilization; over the dirt and grim of the forest."

Still clutching her breast Sienna rose from the ground, and in silence she followed.

/==/

So before anyone burns me at the stake, I am using inspiration from several different sources for abilities; and YES according to some sources Vampires can survive sunlight, it just makes them weaker.