I feel amazing, was Katze's first thought as he slowly blinked his eyes open.
He felt full, sated, completely content, there really wasn't a word to describe the feeling, because he had never felt like this before.
"Powerful, is the word you're thinking of," came a deep husky voice from behind him.
It was only then that Katze realised where he was and who he was with and… how naked they both were.
Katze lept off the bed in flurry of silk sheets.
"Wha-… who…" Katze started to question but stopped suddenly and clasped his head in his hands, images flooding his mind.
He could see a fuzzy image of himself in his vampiric aspect. Then another image of a tall blonde ancient with ice blue eyes speaking yet Katze could not understand what he was saying; it seemed muffled somehow as if he was hearing it underwater.
Katze gasped realizing that these were memories, but not his own.
"Ah," said Raoul, the vampire still leisurely lying on silken sheets, "You seem to be feeling the effects of our blood bond."
"Blood bond?" Katze asked rubbing at his temples trying to relieve the tension there.
"Yes, I put my seal on you do not remember?"
Katze suddenly got an image of himself with a very intricate black pattern centered around the bite mark that Raoul had left on him after their fight. Katze reached for his neck feeling the slightly raised scars of the bite.
"Yes I do remember," he replied to the honey blonde that was watching him curiously, "but I do not recall ever hearing of a seal that creates a two way exchange of thought and memory."
"I see. Perhaps you know it by another name, a soul bond or a... Seal of Fate."
Katze's eyes widened, Seal of Fate?, he remembered hearing that exact phrase from someone else a long time ago…
His mother.
She had always said that his father and her shared such a bond.
"Really?" Raoul said, his blond brows furrowing, "Your parents shared a bond yet you are only half ancient?"
Katze flinched and quickly turned his eyes back to Raoul, "You can hear my thoughts, can't you?"
Raoul chuckled distracted from thoughts of Katze's parents, "Not so much as reading your thoughts as just catching images from your memory. I have been told that as our bond grows stronger the exchange of information between us will grow as well. Our current bond is just thoughts and images of memories soon it will expand to include complete memories as we have experienced them."
"I can't say I'm looking forward to that," Katze said in a quiet murmur.
Raoul chuckled again, "I cannot say the same, my beautiful Katze. A Seal of Fate cannot be broken. It was our last gift from our Creator Jupiter, that we may find the one who shares the blood of ancients that is our perfect equal and opposite. Our true love, to borrow a human term."
Katze shifted uncomfortably pulling the sheet he managed to grab tighter around his waist. He knew what Raoul was saying was not wrong. He had finally found someone with which he could be himself and share his entire being with. Katze felt excited and happy for once in a long long time. But that did not completely remove his feeling of unease at being thrust into an entirely new situation with little to no information with which to rely on. The last time he felt this so unknowledgeable, uninformed, was when he had decided to take in Riki.
"Riki!" Katze exclaimed with alarm, "What happened to Riki?" he asked Raoul sending a mental image of Riki along with his question. He was starting to get a handle on how to utilize their bond.
Raoul suddenly looked embarrassed and slightly ashamed, "I am sorry Katze but I was so excited by my discovery of you that I completely put your friend from my mind."
"What!? You left him there injured in a graveyard easy prey to any vampire that could get him!?"
"I am sorry Katze," Raoul said again, trying to send feelings of remorse and apology across their bond, as he stood from the bed. "I will of course help you retrieve your friend and make sure he is all right before you move completely into Tanagura."
"Of course," Katze started to agree before taking in everything that Raoul said, "Tanagura? That's just a legend!"
Raoul smiles, "I assure you it is not, Katze. You are in Tanagura now. But as time is of the essence to find your friend I will get my servant to find you some clothing that you may wear to an audience with Iason."
"Iason," Katze questioned with a confused look.
"Yes the leader of all the Ancients," Raoul replied and Katze suddenly got an image of the Blonde he had seen earlier from Raoul's memories.
"Iason wished to speak with you once you were... yourself again," Raoul said referring to Katze's earlier blood frenzy.
Katze flinched, "Yes, I'm very sorry for my conduct earlier," he said in a very formal tone with a bow.
Raoul looked at Katze surprised, "I am impressed that you have not gone into a blood frenzy earlier, Katze. You were half starved! When was the last time you truly fed?"
Katze could not hold his gaze and he quickly glanced away. The last time he fed was only months ago but that's not what Roaul meant. He meant when was the last time he had truly fed enough so that the hunger was completely gone. Katze couldn't remember the last time that he had not felt hungry. He's not sure if he had ever not felt the thirst constantly in that dark corner of his mind where his vampiric side lurked.
"Just as I thought," Raoul said with a certain amount of sadness. "Believe me when I say this Katze. No longer will you be hungry, that is another blessing of our bond. We will always be here to provide for each other."
Katze felt an emotion stirring somewhere deep in his heart that he had not felt since he first took Riki in, love.
Raoul smiled a secretive smile when Katze looked away again at his declaration. He could feel the soft warm emotions starting to form in Katze's heart.
"Come let us cleanse ourselves and prepare for our audience with Iason."
"Yes," Katze agreed with a blush staining his normally pale cheeks.
A/N: I'm still alive! :D