A/N: Okay. I am fed up with my previous LOK fanfic. I hate it. I'm going to at least revamp it at some point, but I have been coming up with some plots for more stories in other fanfic sections. Plus, I have lost my interest for LOK. But then I figured I should do something about this story I had. So this should be an off shoot from a would-be-revamped version of "I'm a WHAT?"
Melchiah knelt in front of the shortened pillar of balance where Kain sat patiently, a deceivingly calm yet thoughtful look crossed his features as the last of his lieutenants presented himself and his new gift of becoming insubstantial. Not that it surprised Kain, having received the gift himself. Melchiah eventually got up from kneeling, looking around at his brethren assembled around him, noticing that two where missing; the two eldest sons of Kain where not present. He frowned, presuming that both Raziel and Turel, as stuck-up as they were, would not bother to witness Melchiah's transformation, as it being beneath them. That at least would have been typical after all the centuries that Melchiah knew them. But the Turel would at least have been loyal enough to Kain to come when he was summoned. The group of vampires was eventually dismissed and Melchiah scratched his bald head. He turned towards Zephon, the one other vampire lieutenant that he trusted the most as he, too, was considered as a lesser vampire by their elder kin. "Greetings Zephon." He nodded.
"Greetings Melchiah it is good to see you have awakened"
It would have been polite to start the conversation asking of what the latest news was. But Melchiah was too eager to hear Zephon confirm Melchiah's suspicions about Raziel's and Turel's absence. All the better to feel justified in his anger against them. And so he asked Zephon; "Why weren't Raziel and Turel present at my presentation"
"Oh that." Zephon shrugged. "Apparently Raziel had lost his mind after and accident when he and Dumah where sparring. In his madness, he has made several attempts to run away. I do not know too much about the situation as I have tried not to get involved in the whole debacle. "But I think that Raziel escaped again and this time has succeeded in not getting caught again. And seeing as how it has been a long time since Kain has seen even a glimpse of what used to be his precious first-born, he has sent Turel out to find Raziel, and bring him back"
"What the..." Melchiah raised his eyebrows in surprise. This wasn't exactly the reason for their absence that he was expecting. But he quickly furrowed them again. "How long has this been going on"
"Not long after you had began to undergo hibernation. But it has been some time since then. And now, I think Turel has not been heard of for almost a month"
This time Melchiah's eyebrows stayed up. "He has?" He stayed silent for a moment. "Not that I care about those two conceited brothers." He added quickly.
Zephon merely shrugged non-believingly. Despite the lie, though, Melchiah knew that although he often tired of both Raziel's and Turel's behaviour towards their younger brethren, he found all of this new troubling and he found himself concerned. Even if the concern was minor.
From the throne, as the two lesser lieutenants left the richly adorned room, Kain listened quietly, tracing the blade along the reaver he held absently. He, however, was more concerned than Melchiah was. It was bad enough to lose one son. But now Turel was missing too. And though he cared more for his first-born, this did not mean he did not care about his other lieutenants either. He wondered if he had made a mistake sending Turel after him, after the Razielhim proved to be of absolutely no use in finding their former master. Perhaps, the Sarafan Raziel whom Raziel had become may have attacked, and succeeded in killing Turel. The man obviously held no reservations against killing a vampire, even if it was his former brother-in-arms. But that was just an assumption, however likely that would have occurred. They may have not even have found each other, let alone fought. Kain would never know what had happened to either until he went and found out for himself. And thus thinking that, Kain gave the reaver one last glance, seeing a distorted reflection of himself in its surface, before placing the reaver unsheathed on his back. He got up, informed a Razielhim that was to wait on him of his plans, and set off to look for his two missing sons himself. His other vampires could look after his kingdom themselves, and hopefully he would not be gone for too long.
Turel, however, was not dead. At least, not anymore than he had been during his entire unlife. No, what had happened to him was much worse...
Turel had been looking for Raziel for some time, doing his best to search for his brother and obey his master, Kain. He had lost Raziel's scent ages ago and had passed his own clan's territory. Past the stacks used to cover Nosgoth's skies with smoke and block out the sun, which was harmful to many vampires, although Turel was old enough not to worry so much about sunlight. He was getting further and further away from Kain's empire and was now almost within the mountain ranges, which the smog-stacks lined. Turel shook his head, wondering to himself why he should search this place of all places for Raziel. He had spotted the "day" before a humanoid figure on one of the mountains, towards where he knew to be a system of caves. It was quite a distance away, but even though his sight was not as good as most vampires, he had at least catch that one glimpse. But that figure could have been anything. It could have been any vampire. It could have even been a human. Although, if he hadn't known any better, he could have sworn that that figure in the distance had a pair of wings. His curiosity getting the worst of him, Turel had began the journey upwards into the mountains, hoping to still find Raziel, or at least find something of interest that might be of use to him or Kain.
The trip up was uneventful, albeit long and tiring. Once he reached the cave entrance, he was not at all surprised to see that the figure, whoever it might have been, was gone. He started off into the caves, eyes adjusting to the pitch-black darkness. Not far into the cave, however, he saw a glimpse of a swift side-to-side movement. A shadow against shadow.
"Who goes there?" He asked aloud. He did not hear an answer, however, but he did hear the shuffling of some slight movement. After a moment of waiting, Turel called out again. "Raziel?" He asked, hopefully. He heard something move quickly behind him and spun around to face a being hidden in shadow that Turel had difficulty seeing past. A being who towered over Turel and glared down at him with glowing green eyes, a pair of wings predatorily hooding themselves around Turel, before Turel backed off, hissing. The being grabbed Turel's forearms, and Turel retaliated, striking the face of the being with his talons. The being hissed back and let go of Turel, who backed off further closer to where there was at least some light. He raised his fists, ready to fight if needed. But as the being approached Turel's fists relaxed, and his face gave off one in recognition. "Wait! I know of you! You're..." Turel didn't get a chance to finish the sentence however as a flash of green light enveloped him.
Raziel, however, was some distance away from where Turel was looking, though. He had kept himself as far away from any vampiric territory as much as he could. This time, he was going to stay free. This time, he would not be captured again. He stayed some distance from human settlements, too though. Not only because they seemed to have animosity towards sarafan, but also because he feared for them with his presence as a risk to them. The fear seemed ill-founded, however, as somehow, after hearing about Mobius' murder, his resolve had become strengthened and he no longer had to worry so much about any vampiric urges, sustaining himself on other various liquids instead of human blood. And so Raziel dared to venture close enough in an effort to protect at least some humans, though it never seemed to be appreciated.
His efforts in keeping himself hidden from Kain's empire had this time been more successful. It had been months since he had escaped and had stayed free. He smiled underneath the black hood, which he used to hide his vampiric face. But it fell when he considered that he had no idea what to do, for although he could now fight blood lust, he now had immortality to contend with. He contemplated the dead rabbit in his talons, before tossing it towards the young girl before him. He did not know the family that lived in the shoddy home that he stood near, but he knew enough to know that this particular family was poor. He didn't say anything, turning to leave once the girl received the Coney, only to almost run into a rusty knife aimed at his neck.
"You! Stay away from my daughter!" An old, raggedly dressed man threatened as his daughter scurried away to hide. "We don't want anything from you"
"Don't worry." Raziel lifted up a concealed talon in a peaceful gesture, trying to reassure the old man. "I'm not going to hurt her. I'm not like other vampires"
"No, no..." The old man jabbed the knife closer, which Raziel dealth with by batting the man's hand away to the side. "It's not because you're a vampire. Oh, no! I know who you are! I'm don't want you near our family again... Because I know that you're really a pr..." The old man didn't get to finish, as a female dropped down on top of him and deftly twisted the man's head in a blink of an eye.
"NO!" Raziel gasped as the old man fell limp into the arms of a Razielhim. Apparently he had not been as well hidden as he had though he had been. By the look of things, this was the Razielhim which he had seen in Vasserbunde, and had been trailing him ever since. His face contorted into a snarl as he faced her.
"See how it feels?" Rouge smirked; indicating the attitude the old man just had before she killed him. "No!" Raziel growled, spinning around. "Leave me alone! Stay away from me"
Rouge watched Raziel run off, with a speed only a vampire could move at. But as the hooded figure shrunk as Raziel disappeared, Rouge didn't give chase. She just shrugged at Raziel's response and proceeded to feed off of the dead man before her. She was much too thirsty to travel too much further anyway. She would catch up with Raziel later. Vasserbunde wasn't too far away and perhaps she could take a chance to tell other vampires of the missing Raziel's whereabouts... After all Melchiah should have arisen from his sleep by now.
And speaking of sleep, Rouge noticed that not only was she too thirsty from her journeying, but tired too. She noticed the poorly constructed home nearby and decided it was as good a place to stay as any. The humans who resided within it would not be a problem.
Raziel was equally as tired, but he ignored the heavy feeling his body gave him, wanting to get as far away from the vampire that was following him as much as he could. By the time he let himself rest, he was on the other side of the Human Citadel, although he had kept towards the North. But he couldn't run any further. By the look of things, he had lost the vampire, and now would be as good as any time to get some rest.