I want to thank everyone for the positive reviews I've been getting from everyone. It really encourages me to write. Due to the feedback I was going to post over two weeks ago, but I ended up going in and out of the hospital a few times.

Some of you had the question if other Yugioh! Characters will be in this ff and I can say that most of the common ones will be in this ff, as I am a strong believer in Yami-hikari relationships, but they won't necessarily be in the courts you would suspect…

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Over emphasized/sarcastic word

Chapter 2- streams of life

The sound of swift steel rang through the forest, before a dull thud was heard throughout the dense trees. Gleaming metal tumbled to the muddy earthen forest floor, falling from trembling hands.

The soft whispers of life within the forest, which had been seemingly holding their breaths, were once again heard within the cold night, as Yami looked down at the nearly lifeless wolf.

He couldn't. He just couldn't do it. Even though he knew it was the right thing to do, his hands and heart couldn't bear to go through with the action of killing this young one. Especially not after seeing the sheer helpless and defeated look in his eyes.

Letting out a defeated sigh he sank to his knees, on the bloody ground, not knowing what he should do now. His only choices were to leave him here and let his body ripped to shreds by nightly predators or take the dying youth with him, but what was he supposed to do with a dying boy?

And worse, what would his people think if he showed mercy to a werewolf?

Werewolves had been known for devouring the dead vampires or their own kin on the field of battle, leaving nothing for the families to mourn over. If the bereaved were lucky, a vampire spy would find a hand or some flesh of their loved ones to bury, but chances of that happening were few and far in between.

He himself had lost friends in such a manner and yet, here he was...having sympathy with a wolf.

His heavy sigh danced on the wind, as he grasping for the silver broach around his neck, swiftly undoing the cape from around his shoulders with the ease of well-practiced fingers. He gently laid out the fabric over the small body before him.

The young wolf didn't move as the soft fabric touched his wounds. Either the boy was unconscious or death was already parting his soul from his battered body.

Yami felt his heart uncertain of what it should be feeling, as he gently wrapped the fabric around the small boy. It was already blossoming with stains of blood that seemed to bloom along the fabric, as more blood soaked its silken thread. It looked like a field of bloody roses had been painted on his cape by the most skilled artisan. It was a sickeningly beautiful sight that even Yami had to force himself to look away from.

Steeling his resolve he made up his mind on what to do with the frail wolf.

His only relief was that if the boy was unconscious or had already been taken from this world, then he at least wouldn't suffer from what he had planned next…

(Time skip)

Fleeting gray swished passed the dim light of a torch, hanging on the ancient walls of the vampiric stronghold like a shadow fleeing the very rays of the sun.

Soundless steps rushed through the beige and crimson halls, like the silent bringer of death, carrying with it the promise of ill fortune.

Within its strong arms it carried a small red bundle, from which the most tantalizing blood slowly dripped, leaving telling tales and secrets the figure couldn't afford to be known.

Never in all of his days had Yami ever believed he would have to sneak into his own palace, like the assassins who would come for him and his advisors. All of this however made it painfully clear just how easy it was to bypass his security.

He was so getting rid of the drunken guards he had passed by! But that had to wait for now.

At the moment he had to reach his private garden without being seen, a task that was getting harder and harder as he rushed to his goal. In his arms he held his cloak, wrapped around the small wolf he had found during his surveillance of the boarders.

He just couldn't bring himself to kill the fragile young one and so there was only one other action he could live with, but if he got caught, it could be his end.

Yami intended to give the small wolf a proper burial, where he could be sure the corpse wouldn't be dug up again by scavengers and other starved wolves. But the real problem was that there was only one place he could think of…his personal garden.

And to make matters worse, he couldn't risk being caught.

His people despised anything wolfen due to all the cruelty that they had seen on the battlefield. They wouldn't care how young someone was, or if they were even old enough to hold a sword. As far as they were concerned, if you were a werewolf, you deserved to die.

He himself understood the resentment, as his father had been killed by a werewolf, but he knew that cruelty was on both sides.

He had seen his own kind be just as low and cruel as any wolf, when he was leading his armies. He himself felt the need to punish some of his generals for orders they had given, that were more like genocide than warfare, but his council had stopped him. They were more than happy as long as a wolfs blood flowed.

He didn't even want to know what they would do if they saw him burying a wolf on vampire territory, let alone in the palace ground…The few assassins that he had been faced with before would be the least of his worries.

Feeling practically hunted in his own palace he crept around the last corner leading to his study, which was the only way to reach his garden.

Every little noise was making him flinch, as though death itself had decided to whisper him a greeting, while he felt his arms growing seemingly heavier with the white wolfs body.

With a sigh of relief he entered his own study. Unlike the rest of the palace, not a single spot of red could be found in any of his rooms. Ever since he had witnessed his father being slain, he had hated the color with a passion.

The plastered walls held a light green color that was harshly accented with the dark mahogany shelves, filled with old leather bound books, along the walls. In front of the floor length windows was a fitting mahogany desk, with a large throne like chair. Behind the chair was a small column like portion of the wall, separating the two windows, upon which was a metal shield with his families' coat of arms; a blood red dragon curling around a diagonal sword.

The windows themselves were crisscrossed by metal bars, to make a lattice like pattern and the moonlight that was still filtering through them lit up the plush white carpet in the room.

Yami walked over to his desk and gently laid down the small wolf he had wrapped in his cape on the white carpeted floor, so he could open one of the windows, when he saw the bloody trail he had left behind. Droplets of blood trailed from his office door to where he had laid down the young wolf, harshly contrasting the white carpet that was now stained beyond repair.

Due to the pungent smell of blood he had smelled on the body he was carrying he had failed to smell the treacherous trail he was leaving behind.

'Damned it! How in the world am I going to get rid of the evidence?! Someone is bound to see or smell it', he cursed.

Now he really had to hurry if he wanted to get away with what he was doing. As a king he should have the power to just do as he wanted, but his council still held too much power and he knew all too well that a good part of them wanted him gone. But he wasn't going to do them that favor.

Hurrying as much as he could he opened one of the windows and quickly turned around to grab the young one. If he could bury him before anyone found him, he could always say it was just another attempt on his life.

Yami had already gathered the small werewolf in his arms, and turned towards the window, when he heard it…

Sounding and resounding in his ears like the very whisper of death itself…the soft click of his office door.

As the possible scenarios played before his eyes, he slowly turned his eyes wide with shock.

There in the doorway was one of the very council members he hated most, Noah.

Noah was only a few years younger than Yami. He had been voted into the council, by bribing other council members. The vampire King knew it, but he couldn't do anything to Noah without proof and with his luck, he would probably bribe any witnesses Yami could hope to find anyway.

Noah's eyes swiftly travelled to the bundle in Yami's arms, with a sick look of lust in his eyes.

"It seems the king has found a taste for the finer things in life. Finally lost your silly little aversion to blood?" he asked Yami in a condescending tone.

"I don't kill my meals Noah. I don't have a god complex like you"

That only got the king a disbelieving snicker. The council member strode confidently further toward Yami, making him tense. If he came any closer he was bound to notice what that the thing he was holding was.

"So you want to tell me that the thing with such tempting blood is still alive?" he asked. His gaze yet again filling with bloodlust and the need to destroy.

"That is none of your business Noah. Now why are you here?" Yami asked with a commanding voice. His patience with this man had never been good, but with the added stress of possibly being caught, it was practically nonexistent.

"Oh I think It is my business when something as delectable as that comes here", he answered, not even bothering to act like he actually yielded to the kings' authority.

A deep, predatory growl left Yamis throat and his eyes gained a blood thirsty glow as he hissed back at Noah.

"I suggest you remember your place councilman!"

"My place? My place?! I think you're the one who should remember their place, my king", Noah answered mockingly; "We both know that you don't really have a hold over the throne, let alone the council. Let's see. Who has that again? Oh, yes, that's right. I do and I suggest you remember that"

As much as Yami wanted to prove him wrong he knew he couldn't.

He had yet to prove himself to his people and the council was so corrupt and power hungry, that even if he did manage to prove himself a worthy ruler in some way, they would still try to gain more power, or get rid of him.

Yami had failed to be an absolute ruler like his father and become a mere scape goat on an ornate chair.

"You know Yami…it would be in your own interest to do what I want. Who knows? In the future I may just return the favor", Noah said, as his teal gaze drifted over the vampire kings form and this time it held a gleam that made Yami feel practically violated. As if that gaze alone had somehow managed to taint him, but even as his mind screamed at him to run from those malicious eyes, he held his ground.

"You may have most of the council on your side. But when it comes down to it, I am still the king. Something you will never be" Yami spat.

"Well…I tried being nice", Noah said in a playfully wistful tone, "But if you won't give me what I want, I'll simply take it!"

Noah lunged at Yami whit his razor sharp claws raised high. Yami quickly let go of the bundle in his arms an fell into a defensive crouch.

His years on the battlefield already told him he would never draw his blade in time to defend himself. He had already lost valuable time by letting go of the small wolf boy, whose bundled up form was now lying between him and his attacker.

If one thing was for sure, it was that there would be at least another corpse joining the young one on this night. The only question was who that corpse would be…

Yamis initial actions had cost him enough time that he could only hope that the first blow wouldn't wound him too badly. His only chance now was to deflect the oncoming blow as much as possible.

He was already braced for the likely pain of Noahs claws racking over his skin…but the impact never came.

A sharp whistle like sound split the air, the very moment Yami had taken his defensive stance.

Yami felt as something passed through his gravity defying hair, only moments before the distinctive gurgle of a dying man hit his sensitive ears. He opened his eyes just in time to see Noahs wide eyed stare, as he sunk to the white carpeted floor with spasms.

A wooden crossbow bolt was sticking out of his right shoulder, causing the white uniform the man had so favored to soak in his blood. His pained gasps rung out in the silence like the toll of funeral bells…

Yami instantly dropped down even further, using his own desk as a shield against whoever had loosed the arrow. Only one thing held his thoughts captive now; a single little word that he hated so much and yet hat been anxious for: 'Assassin'.

Being careful to be precisely in the middle of his desk, Yami did a backflip over his desk, to get closer to the open window and still be protected by the beam holding his families coat of arm. Drawing his sword he carefully glanced around the corner, into the lush garden, that was incased in large, imposing walls.

Taking a risk he sprang into the garden and took cover behind a tree, that grew close to the window he had opened prior.

Being careful to use all his senses, he searched the small garden for any signs of his would be assailant, but as he had suspected, after the failed attempt, the assassin had apparently fled, leaving only the faint smell of werewolf and poison.

He knew enough about poison to tell from the way Noah was spasming with his last breaths that it had most likely been an arrow drenched in the poison of the Perigrina, a red flower that made the very blood in a vampires body decay on contact. There was no cure, just a slow and painful death.

He had been right. The quiet between the vampires and werewolves was just too fragile to last. There was never going to be peace between them, even if a small persistent part of him still refused to give up that feeble hope.

But those were things he couldn't afford to dwell on now. It was only a matter of time before someone found them, and he still needed to cover his tracks. After all, it was bad enough that he had a dying councilman in his study, but that was something he could explain away with the assassin. But he couldn't afford to let anyone else see the young wolf boy.

Quickly sheathing his sword he walked back towards his study, only to freeze in the entryway.

There before him was a sight so grotesque, that it made Yami almost hurl.

There on the formerly white rug lay the now unconscious Noah, not frothing at the mouth, with his blood seeping into the carpet. His body lay only a few feet away from the small wolf, who was still covered in his red cape, but what revolted him was not the sight of the corpses, or all the blood, but what the blood was doing. It wasn't just soaking the fluffy carpet in a typical circular form, no. Thin lines of blood seemed to form out of the circle that was forming under Noah and they flowed in the direction of the young wolf, in an unnatural way.

The lines thickened and joined into one as the bloody stream flowed toward the young one and seemed to now be pouring out of the dying councilman.

The red fluid disappeared under the already stained fabric of the red cape, as Yami still stood in the windows frame, unable to tear himself away from the unsettling display.

He was only knocked out of his trance like state by a sudden movement.

The wolf was moving!

How in the world was this possible? The boy was dead. There was no way he could still be moving! And yet, as the last of the blood seemed to flow towards the young, thought dead, boy, the young werewolf shakily stood.

Yami was transfixed by the sight of the red fabric slowly sliding to the ground, to reveal icy violet eyes and a fully healed white wolf.

Yamis mind raced, trying to make sense of what he had just seen, but he only came to one conclusion, that terrified him more than the thought of being caught saving a werewolf.

This couldn't be! There had to be another explanation! But as his terrified, racing heart only beat faster, he knew there wasn't. The wolf could only be one thing…

How could he? What had he done?!

He had done the unthinkable.

By trying to aid the soul of a dying werewolf, something his kind would see as something akin to a crime, he had ended up doing something far worse…helping a being whose very existence alone was considered a literal curse; a being said to cause endless suffering wherever it went and left death and destruction in its very wake. He had brought such a being to the very capital of his people …a blood hound.

I kind of wrote the last bit at 3 in the morning so please excuse the spelling! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please remember to RnR!

In the next chapter I'll be explaining what a blood hound is and why Yami is so afraid of them and we'll be meeting some more characters ;-)

Hope to see you next chapter!

-LGK