Chapter Six: Meetings
Dirk was waiting anxiously at Leila's side when D returned.
"You all right, Dad?" Dirk asked, when the elder Hunter had dismounted.
"I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." D replied; his earlier confusion hidden behind his usual aloof calm. Dirk breathed a sigh of relief.
"He got his ass handed to him." Left quipped, enjoying the chagrined look he momentarily got from his host as a response.
"You did a good job bandaging her wounds." D murmured, taking notice of Dirk's almost expert handiwork, "You've even managed to disinfect them." Dirk shrugged.
"I can only say that I'm glad I decided to fill my med-kit before I left Ransylva. If I hadn't, then it's likely I wouldn't be sitting here right now, since Uncle Dan would've prevented me from leaving in the first place." Dirk said, half-joking and half-serious as he concernedly glanced at the only female member of the Markus Clan.
"True enough." D stated, with almost a hint of a smile in his voice. Dan had indeed lived up to his promise.
"So, what do we do now? Stay with her till they arrive? Or continue on our way?" Dirk asked, watching as his father quietly considered the next course of action.
"We'll stay, since we can't very well leave her to fend for herself...especially since we don't know how far behind our competitors actually are." D replied. Dirk nodded in agreement.
"Good call. And I know I scented some werewolves not too far away from here...It wouldn't have been a good idea to leave her alone; armed to the teeth or not." Dirk murmured, as he eyed Leila's gun with some distrust. D resisted the urge to smirk at his son's discomfiture, yet could tell that, even though professionalism separated him from the unconscious woman, he was still human enough to care about her well-being.
"He'd inherited Doris' common sense and kindness, all right." D mused, as he and the young quarter-vampire settled in beside the female Hunter to wait for the Markus Clan to catch up.
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Leila groaned as she slowly roused up. Her left shoulder was positively on fire; and she vaguely remembered that the shots that she'd fired at the escaping Meier Link had been bounced back at her.
"Undead bastard." Leila mentally snarled, as she opened her eyes and took a look around. She instinctively stiffened when she spotted D moving towards his horse, and then Dirk sitting about three feet away from her; securing what appeared to be a medical kit back into his saddlebag. It was in that moment that she remembered her wound, and looked down to see that the top of her outfit had been opened, and the wound had been bound.
"Hey, what'd you two do to me?" Leila asked, suspiciously, after she'd checked her neck for any fang wounds.
"Bandaged your wound, and stopped the bleeding. That's all." D murmured, giving her a very slight glance when he said that.
"Yeah, right. As though I could believe you. You think you can tear off the clothes of every woman you meet...Isn't that right, Dunpeal?" Leila snapped, putting as much bite into her words as she could, and feeling satisfaction when the younger of the two Hunters flinched in response.
"Be that as it may, you should go home and nurse your wound." Dirk stated, as he also stood up and approached his horse with the saddlebag in hand.
"What're you? My mother?" Leila asked, angrily. She was taken aback when Dirk looked back and gave her a grave look.
"You called out for her earlier, I thought you might be needing her." Dirk replied with a hint of sadness in his grey eyes that made her wonder. With a start, she realized that they were leaving her behind.
"Hey!" Leila shouted, her voice trailing off in a pained groan when she moved her injured shoulder too quickly; the pain distracting her from the fact that her brothers had just caught up.
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At a river crossing a couple of miles away, Meier found himself thinking, once again, about his current situation.
"When the last of the vampires finally die out, who will mourn our passing? Will she? Will anyone?" Meier wondered as he descended into the carriage and gently gazed at the woman he loved. She returned his look with one of very gentle concern.
"Meier? What is it? You look troubled." Charlotte said, noticing the worry that was deep in her beloved's garnet eyes.
"It is nothing. Only a passing worry, that's all." Meier replied; even though he knew that Charlotte could see right through him.
"What are you worried about? Is it the Hunters my father had hired?" Charlotte asked, noticing when Meier flinched and knowing that she'd hit the reason for his concerns right on the nose.
"Don't worry, Meier. I have faith that we'll get to where we're going." Charlotte said, confidently; trying to boost his morale a little bit. Meier gave her careworn smile.
"If you are able to say that, my love, then I also have faith that we'll make it." Meier agreed, as he planted a brief, soft kiss on Charlotte's lips, then got back to his seat on top of the carriage; his thoughts bringing almost a wry smirk to his face as he did so.
"She has more faith in me than I do." Meier mused, as he flicked the reins a little bit, and had the horses pick up the pace.
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"I'm a travelin' man and I've made a lotta stops all over the wooorld..."
"Shut up Marv." Dirk grumbled, as he and D rode side by side.
"Need some masking tape?" D asked, dryly.
"Yeah. Got some?" Dirk replied, his expression deadpanning when his sword starting singing even louder than before.
"Here." D said, as he tossed the spool of tape to his son, and watched with amusement as he taped the enchanted sword's mouth securely shut.
"At least I don't do that." Left grumbled, getting an unreadable look from D for that remark.
"I think Dad begs to differ, Leftie." Dirk murmured, his voice softening when the distinct sounds of footsteps on stone came to his ears.
"I do, indeed." D muttered, also having noticed what his son was hearing, and paying closer attention to his surroundings.
"Unless I'm wrong, we're getting fairly close to Barbarois territory, aren't we?" Dirk asked, after a few moments of uneasy silence. D nodded.
"Yes. The trail leads here, unfortunately." D stated, as the sounds slowly became louder, and those of growling and voices also came to their ears.
"You're nuts, the both of you. We'll never make it out of Barbarois alive." Left mentally grumbled, as both D and Dirk rode further and further into the forbidden territory. When they arrived at the huge gate that barred the way between the land beyond and humanity, D turned his gaze up, and spoke to the unseen watchers.
"I am D, a Hunter. I have business with the Barbarois." D murmured, watching as the gate swung slowly open, and allowed them both to enter. Almost at once, Dirk became aware of the dark presences within the 'town'; he could feel his vampire blood rising to the challenge that these presences presented, and silently snarled at them. He could hear it when some of the mutated beings within the village recognized him, and started whispering amongst themselves about the infamous werewolf Hunter of Ransylva.
"You seem to have acquired quite a reputation here, Dirk." D quietly stated, noticing Dirk's almost shocked expression at some of the whispers he was hearing.
"Yeah...I didn't know I was that well known so far out!" Dirk replied, as they rode into the village's center, and dismounted before what appeared to be the old leader of the Barbarois.
"Ah, so I see that you both have respect for your elders, seeing that you have dismounted. Very good." the white-haired elder said, with a smile.
"We've come in pursuit of a vampire." D murmured, patiently. The old man nodded.
"That I can see, young man, that I can see." the old man sneered, before adding, "Though you are both quite the sight for these old eyes to see. I have seen many a dunpeal, but the likes of you I have never seen before. Even your other companion is quite a beauty." Dirk then gave his father a confused look, and was only further confounded when a hint of the same emotion emerged in D's grey eyes as well.
"Other companion?" Dirk and D both thought, turning to look when another rider emerged from the shadows to their right, dismounted, and stood alongside them.
"Why were you foolish enough to follow us?" D asked, noticing when the strange creatures within the Barbarois village warily backed away from the cloaked rider.
"Well, actually..." a girl's voice replied, as the rider reached up and pushed the hood away from the face, "I wanted to try my hand at Vampire hunting, too." Dirk's eyes widened with shock, and even D appeared to be momentarily surprised.
"Belladonna?.! What the heck are you doin' here?.!" Dirk yelped, seemingly as startled as the mutants around them at the girl's appearance. The girl only smiled, secretively.
"Yet another suicidal kid...You've started a trend here, D." Left mentally muttered, as D resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"I must admit you three were quite brave to come in here, but I highly doubt you will leave here alive." the village elder said, with a sneer.
"We'll just have to see about that." Dirk thought, as he listened to the bolder of the mutants get even closer, and readied himself for the fight of his life. Little did he realize that things were about to get even stranger than they already were.