Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Prince of Persia games or the companies that make them.

A/N: I'M BAAAAACK! Just like I said I'd be.

Review Responses:

Gijinka Renamon: Here ya go! (laughs) And thank you.

Belzebu: I'm not making him out for a weakling, I simply wanted him to be more emotional. And yes, I am considering the fact that he re-obtains his powers over time, but for the time being, I want this story to revolve around vampires only. Thank you.

RubyHawk: Whoa. (blink blink) I don't think I've ever gotten so many reviews from one person at a time! Thank you very, very much!

Ocecat: No, you weren't being thick, I made a mistake which I have now fixed. XD Thank you for pointing that out, I never would have noticed unless I went back and re-read the chapter.

And now, on with chapter 36.

Resurrected

Chapter 36

The Prince paced outside of the infirmary hut, waiting to hear any sign of news from his werewolf friend. Arsalan was unconscious, out cold. Layla refused to let him, his fledge or Roya enter the tent, in fact, she made sure they were at least a few yards away from it. She didn't want to take the risk of Arsalan's mysterious illness spreading, and to be frank, neither did the other vampires.

Shahin, concerned but still bored with the matter at hand, was occupying himself with practicing his pouncing skills by himself on birds and small animals, such as ravens or rabbits. Currently, he was hiding behind a pine tree, stalking one particular white rabbit that had been eluding him for who knows how long, only assuring his fruitless efforts of catching the long-eared rodent. His sire watched with interest now, carefully sitting down against another tree trunk and pulling his knees up to a comfortable position, eyes never faltering from his practicing fledgling. He wanted to help him, it was only natural for a vampire parent to teach its fledge how to do anything to survive, especially hunting, but he also wanted to see if Shahin knew what to do and how patient he was. He remembered his own lack of patience back on Fereshteh's Isle when he'd hurriedly sprung from a pouncing distance onto Arsalan, the poor rope-bound vampire getting bitten in the process. He smiled at the recollection. It was only young haste, simply fledgling excitement, the thrill of the kill.

He was snapped out of his memories when he heard a sharp snapping noise, most likely the breaking of a small animal spine, and a triumphant howl. He watched as Shahin, wolven, carried the white hare in his canine jaws to his sire. He quickly morphed back as he maneuvered through the thick snow. Kamal rolled his eyes, smiling, as he placed the dead rabbit in front of the older vampire, as if it was a gift. Like a cat giving a dead bird to its master. This was certainly odd behavior from the vampire fledgling, but then again, maybe this was also something he wasn't meant to know.

"You know vampires are just as fast as wolves. Have you not gotten the hang of the springing muscles in your legs? That's what they're there for." The older of the two informed, as if his fledge did not know. He pointed at Shahin's recent kill. "Who is that supposed to be for?" He asked.

"You." The youngling said sheepishly, obviously embarrassed. But Kamal could tell he was also very proud, just shy to show it. He decided to embellish the fledgling's fear with confidence, and reached out, picking up the dead hare. He brought it to his mouth and searched for the jugular, then briefly sunk his fully developed fangs into it, drawing out the cooling blood. The fledgling's eyes twinkled with pride, and his sire did not stop drinking until the rabbit was drained beyond less than a drop of blood.

"Thank you, very much." The Prince said. "That was a fine gift. I was hungry." He said, sitting up to where he could pull his childe close to him. Shahin fumbled to get out of the way, but was not quick enough. His sire was much faster, snatching him before he could flee. The older vampire chuckled at Shahin's attempt to get away.

"What is that for? Was that your 'parting gift'?" He joked. The fledgling grinned.

"Yes, I'm packing my bags tonight." He said sarcastically. The Prince growled at that, firm but playful.

"Better not be. I would follow you anyway." He said quietly. A beat. "Would you like me to teach you to hunt? You seem to need some work on your skills in that criteria." He asked. Shahin's eyes lit up immediately. Of course he wanted to, this was something he'd been anticipating.

"You're really going to teach me, right now?" He chirped.

"Sure. If you want to. And it will kill time while we're waiting for news from Layla, so we're killing two birds with one stone." The Prince replied with less haste, standing up and stretching. He did not motion for his fledgling to follow him as his booted feet crunched the snow towards Roya, Shahin always followed him anyway. He grinned. 'Like a lost puppy.' Kamal thought.

"I'm going to give Shahin his first hunting lessons," he said as he approached his female friend. She smiled and nodded. "Have you heard anything about Arsalan yet?" He asked. She shook her heard vehemently, wildly concerned with her love.

"No…she has yet to say a single thing about him…it might be serious…" She sighed, hanging her head. She of course didn't want to believe it was serious, she loved Arsalan, and he loved her. Love was much too strong to part them.

"Why don't you come with us? …It will give you something to do, and take your worries of Arsalan away. At least for a while it will." The Prince offered. She gave him a look that made him think he was crazy.

"No." She said firmly, bluntly. "I would much rather stay here, and be with him. What if he was to wake up and I would not be here to see him? What would he think?" She said with sorrow. Kamal nodded.

"Alright. If you were to feel better staying here, then so it will be. Come along, Shahin." He stated paternally. The fledgling followed.

"Where are we going?" He asked his sire. The older kindred sniffed about as they coursed through a worn path into the thick brush.

"Well first, we have to find something large enough that you can practice your springing skills on." He said.

"Like a deer?"

"Hm…no…perhaps not, they have antlers. Pouncing on them will most likely lead to your impalement." The Prince said thoughtfully. At this statement, the fledgling following him almost turned blue. Impalement? Wouldn't that lead to suffering, since vampires could only be killed through a stake to the heart, decapitation, holy water and immense sunlight? He would hate to be stabbed by anything…

"Aha. I think I've found something…" The Prince announced suddenly. They found a fork in the path, where a tree split it. Shahin followed his parental figure onto the right path and instinctively froze as they came upon what looked to be some kind of small, funny looking hooved animal with sparse stripes. The Prince smiled at the sight.

'What in the world is that thing?' Shahin spoke telepathically to his father, as not to disturb their unwary prey.

'That is an okapi.' Kamal replied, using the same psychic technique. Shahin stared at the strange little creature.

'We're going to kill it?' He asked, partially feeling sorry for the okapi.

'With other carnivores roaming about, we'll be putting it out of it's stress, as well as misery. If we don't, it will fall prey to something much more vicious than we.' The Prince said sagely. Shahin glanced at his sire when he said this, then back to the animal. 'And you're going to kill it, not I.' He added bluntly. This caused nervousness in the young fledgling. He didn't want to make any mistakes in front of the older vampire, one of his main goals as Kamal's childe was to impress. It was simply in his nature.

'What do I do first?' Shahin asked.

'Do you see that large rock?' The Prince did not point to it. Okapi were relatively sensitive to everything, one false movement would cause it to become alert and run, which would of course trigger an instinctual chase.

Shahin glanced at the boulder. 'Yes, I see it.' He began to stealthily move towards it, but he heard a frantic cry from his sire in his head, causing him to jump.

'NO! Not yet. Wait until it turns around. From where it is standing, it can look at anything it wants to look at. And if you move from your position, it will see you for sure.' He said quickly. Shahin made an "oops" look and crept back to the Prince, clearly embarrassed.

They waited for the creature to turn around, lowering its head and daintily pulling up some scarce grass from thick sheet of snow. The Prince knew that since Shahin's footsteps would be heard in the snow, he would have to move very quickly in order to reach the animal before it fled. Of course, he could always pursue it, but this was a more a pouncing lesson for him…

'Wait.' He told the eager younger vampire. They stood as still as statues, as wary and dangerous as hungry wolves. (Even if Shahin was a weaker vampire, a fledgling, he was still very, very dangerous). As they watched the okapi suddenly raise its head with an alerted fervor, Shahin's eyes intensified. He knew it was about to break into a run. He knew the animal knew it was being stalked.

But 'Wait…' came the calm reminder of his sire. Wait… 'Now, move behind the boulder. This is the only chance you will find before it flees.

A beat…the small animal's heart rate increased rapidly…

'NOW!' The Prince urged. Shahin let loose the tensed muscles in his legs and sprung fiercely over the boulder, his body eased but still quite tense. His mind, however, was cut short of the thought of coming in contact with his target and instead panicked when he heard his sire let loose a loud strangled cry. He felt his lithe body crash into the blanket of snow and he quickly stood, rushing to look around to see what had happened.

His breath caught in his throat. There, beyond him and his sire, stood a reddish brown wolf. The okapi was hanging lifelessly in his jaws, and by the vicious gleam in his eyes and his size, this was not a werewolf. He felt a sting of envy and loathing writhe over his body and he hissed at the large canine. He'd stolen his target, and this was not something vampires ever took lightly. The wolf certainly didn't look ready to give up his steal, and in fact, he didn't look ready to leave, either.

He looked ready for a fight.

"Shahin, run!" Came the hurried cry of the Prince. He saw his sire's body quickly change into that of his black wolven form and he once again heard the older vampire's desperate plea, 'Run!' Kamal barked.

And run he did. He shifted also into a wolf and fled the scene, sprinting as fast as he could away from the upcoming battle. Yet, as he thought of what could happen to his sire, his lopes became slower and slower, and soon he wasn't running at all. He decided to instead watch the fight, or whatever happened next. He moved to a considerable distance to where he could see what was happening.

They were circling each other now, eyeing each other with a mutual hate. The enemy wolf had still not dropped his prize, and Shahin watched as the Prince's triangular ears flattened and raised, displaying obvious anger. Suddenly, the opponent wolf lashed out with his paw, but Kamal was prepared and he leapt out of the way. He lifted his lip and let loose ripping growls, like that of a chainsaw.

The red-brown wolf's eyes narrowed at this elusion. His opponent was smart. Of course, most of his kind were, it was something that came with having canine blood. But this one, he thought, this one was not a wolf. This one was a humanoid, he could smell it. Yet, he couldn't place his paw on what was the matter with his scent. He almost smelled like…

A corpse.

He barked angrily when the Prince advanced towards him slowly, carefully, obviously with the intention of harming him. Well, the enemy wolf thought, then he would kill the black wolf and his friend, and devour them too, no matter what they really were and even if they DID smell like they were dead...

The Prince leapt close from his stalking distance and his claws met the fur and flesh of his enemy, who gave a yelp and dropped the dead hooved animal in his mouth before he struck back with his fangs, biting deep into the black wolf's shoulder. Kamal yipped and stumbled back, glancing from the okapi as it was once again snatched up into the enemy wolf's jaws and eyeing the dark blood oozing from his wound. But, with the thought of his child's life on the line, he righted himself and thought, it was no matter. He would kill this wolf to protect Shahin, this was the Prince's goal. He just hoped his fledgling had listened to him and ran.

Somewhere, off in the distance, the fledgling vampire was watching the battle with rising dread.

They circled each other again, trying to spot weaknesses. The Prince was the first to attack next. He lunged forward jumped onto his hind legs, swinging his front paws at the red-brown wolf's eyes, trying to blind him. His claws came in contact with the opponent's ears instead, and he was caught off guard by his unbalanced position. The red wolf furiously knocked him down into the snow before he could leap out of the way and next Kamal was pounced on, literally like a wolf jumping for the kill. He desperately tried to avoid his attacker's lunging bites, but was caught in the neck by sharp fangs and he howled with agony as a spurt of blood shot from his throat. The enemy wolf almost got him again in the same wound, but he rolled out of the way, the only strength he had being his need to protect Shahin. He was still beginning to weaken, but he would fight until he couldn't fight anymore.

The red wolf seemed to laugh at him as the Prince heard a grisly, jagged voice enter his head.

'Give it up.' Came the offer from the wolf. Kamal shook his canine head.

'I will not. I will kill you to protect him.' He growled. The opponent once again laughed at him.

'It is a fruitless effort. I'll kill you before you get the chance…' He said as he circled around the vampire wolf. The Prince felt a growing dread in his heart as he saw the other slowly begin to back away. He was going to pounce on him again. This time, he didn't know what he was going to do…his only resort was to sprint out of the way. He saw the wolf cautiously begin to lower, haunches tightening. And then, he sprung.

A tremendous howl of agony.

Shahin watched as the enemy rolled unceremoniously off of the Prince, and he was shocked to find that his sire had changed back into his normal vampire form. He had morphed at the exact right moment, and in his haste, he'd unsheathed his sword and held it out in front of him before the enemy wolf could realize his mistake. He'd been impaled through the heart and killed. But, Kamal had also been too late…he'd been stabbed with the wolf's claws in his chest.

Shahin felt tears of shock and worry form in his eyes as he saw his sire remain still in the snow covered ground. The Prince made an attempt to sit up, but it was a fruitless effort. He let loose a cry of pain and fell, steadily falling into unconsciousness.

Shahin ran to him from his hiding spot, still in his wolven form. He nudged his sire with his nose, careful not to harm him any further. He yipped and barked at him, trying to get him to wake up.

But he would not.

Shahin changed back into his vampire form and sobbed over the body of his sire, his body racking with trembles. Bloody, demented tears fell from his eyes, falling onto pale Vampiric flesh. His blood mingled with the Prince's own. He didn't seem to notice the Prince's scarlet red eyes crack open, weak with exhaustion, because he had fallen down onto the body of the older vampire.

"Shahin…" Kamal said very quietly. The young fledgling, shocked, zipped straight up, then grabbed his sire in a tremendous bear-hug.

"I thought you were dead!" He cried. The Prince struggled to chuckle.

"I am dead…" He said softly. Shahin glared at him.

"You know what I meant!"

"My friend, as vampires, we cannot die from a wolf attack…" He said to the younger vampire. Shahin looked sheepish, but did not say anything. He simply helped his sire up from the wet snowy ground and began to walk back with him to the village. The Prince scooped his sword from the ground and cleaned it in the snow as they walked before sheathing it in its proper holster.

"I guess we're going to have to finish your lessons sometime later." The Prince said. "There's always another day." He added. Shahin nodded at his wise statement.

"And next time, let's not go alone." He said. Kamal smiled at that. Yes, next time, they would bring the watchful eyes of a werewolf friend.

When they arrived at the village, it was growing dark outside again, and they found Layla speaking to Roya outside the infirmary.

"…doing fine…yes, yes…he should be fully recovered by tomorrow…" The Prince and the fledgling caught this statement before they came to stand in front of the two women.

"How did your hunting lessons--…" Roya faltered in her question directed at Shahin as she spotted deep claw-gashes in the Prince's chest. She put a hand to her mouth in surprise and concern. "Oh, my. Are you alright?" She stood and in a mothering move, made to examine the wounds. The Prince sighed, almost rolling his eyes. Even now that he was an adult vampire, she still treated him like a fledgling. He drew his cloak over his chest and partially turned away from her prying eyes.

"I'll be fine, and don't ask how the trip went. How fares Arsalan?" He questioned. The tribe leader Layla smiled.

"He is doing much better. I found out what was wrong with him, as well." She said. "He has caught a very common depressive symptom I like to call VDS, or simply, vampire depressive symptom. Most vampires have the durability of catching."

"I thought vampires couldn't get sick?" Roya asked. Layla shook her head.

"It is not a sickness. It is simply a symptom. He is not ill in any standards. Vampires can catch this very easily, it is caught by deep, extreme emotion mixing together in a vampire's soul. Once it becomes too much, they get VDS, and they go into a very, very brief coma. During this coma, their soul mends back together, and when it is fully healed, they wake up. But once they awaken, they can be a little groggy." She smiled. "He is awake now, if you would like to see him." She offered. Roya was the first to zip straight into the tent, and the Prince and his fledgling simply laughed at her haste.

"Love is a mystery…" Shahin said surprisingly wisely before joining his sire in entering the small infirmary.

Inside, a bright warm fire burned to warm the sick patient. Arsalan lay bundled under many, many furs and animal skins. His eyes were cracked open, and the purple streaks had mysteriously vanished from his face. He smiled weakly at his love and his friends as the sat down next to him, glad for the company.

"Hey, you guys…" He greeted. His voice was cracked and quiet, but Roya didn't care. She gave him a gentle, loving hug and a kiss. He returned it, and Shahin groaned.

"Please don't suck face when I'm around…" He said. His sire laughed at his desirable statement.

"If you had a girlfriend you would be doing the same." He commented. Shahin regarded this thoughtfully.

"So how do you feel?" Roya asked her vampire love. He brushed annoying strands out of his eyes and sighed.

"Better, but my whole body is sore…" He complained. Roya frowned.

"I know, but Layla said you'd get better. Don't fret about that. She said you'd feel right as rain in the morning." She consoled. He half smiled at that.

"There's something I'm looking forward to…" He said.

Then, before anyone could say anything else, Layla poked her head into the flap in the tent, said, "If you four are hungry and tired, I suggest you come and retrieve some blood from the elders now. They've just collected some from a few deer our village has been stockpiling. And, you all need to rest. It's been a tiring day." She said. The Prince nodded in agreement.

"That sounds like a plan." He stood and his fledgling followed that movement, intent on getting something to feed on and finding a place to rest his head. Kamal watched Roya and Arsalan stare at each other in the eyes, both of them filled with relief over their reunion. The vampire Prince smiled. "I don't think they're going to join us. They deserve to be with each other, it's been a hard day for them."

"It's been a hard day for us too," Came the complaining voice of Shahin. His sire laughed again.

They left the tent and sat around the fire in the village square, warming their cold bodies with radiating flames and warm blood. Afterwards, the two found their hut and readied themselves for a good night's sleep.

"Sire…" Shahin said as he crossed his arms behind his head, lying in his own make-shift bed of animal skins and furs and blankets. He didn't watch his sire as he prepared for bed, stripping his clothes until he was dressed in his simple tan shirt and thin night pants. He carefully slipped under the blankets of his side of the room before acknowledging his fledgling's question.

"Yes?" He asked in return. The younger one remained silent for a moment.

"What is your purpose?" He suddenly asked, and the Prince was so surprised by this question that he didn't know how to act. "For finding the temple and discovering your destiny. What is your purpose for it all?"

The sire was not fully prepared for a question like this from his childe. He pondered on it. "My purpose is to…be reunited with my loved one."

"Do you not love me?" The fledge returned. The Prince sat up from his bed, propped on his elbows and his mouth agape, his fangs glinting in the moonlight through the small open space that served as a window in the hut.

"How can you say such a thing?" He whispered with shock. He noticed his fledgling's eyes beginning to become wet with tears. "Of course I love you!"

"Then why do you pursue your death!" Shahin suddenly yelled with fury and sorrow. The Prince was taken aback, deeply hurt.

"Shahin I…" He started quietly, but faltered when the youngling began to softly cry.

"I love you! And yet you don't! If you cared for me as much as a sire should, then why would you willingly pursue danger, putting your life at risk? Is this so called loved one of yours more important than me?" He demanded with fervor. If the sire vampire wanted to know one thing, it was how the youngling had become so emotional all of a sudden.

'Perhaps he's been hiding it…' He thought, careful to shield this thought from the younger vampire.

"Shahin…" He sighed, crawling out of his bed and carefully moving to the other vampire, sitting down next to him. He was immediately embraced by Shahin, and the young one placed his forehead in the crease of his neck.

"I love you with my life. I'm your sire, your Vampiric parent. You're my childe, my fledgling." The Prince said. Shahin was consoled by these words, he remembered them from his Vampiric rebirth.

"You scare me with these words of leaving me…please…don't ever leave me…you didn't leave me when I was reborn, and yet you would leave me now?" He asked. Kamal buried his face in his child's hair.

"I will never leave you."

A/N: There's another chapter for you all. Hope everyone liked it. Please review!