Heeeyy so i fixed the last part of this chap and cut the mush by about 70%. I am pleased. Hope you are too! Arrow didn't know what to think as he walked up a set of roughly hewn, hard, cold stone stairs behind an old Vampire Prince known as Paris Skyle. The last few hours had been...painful...to say the least. After barely getting to Vampire Mountain, he'd collapsed of exhaustion once finding his way inside on a combination of sheer luck and instinctually remembering vague directions Faren had described weeks ago. He woke up who knows how many hours later surrounded by Vampires he'd never seen before. They demanded to know who he was, if he was a Vampire, if he'd arrived Vampire Mountain on purpose, how old he was, did he have a mentor? It dragged on and on. And it didn't help that he'd had to re-tell the Vampaneze attack again and again, and the message he'd promised to keep alive. Each time he recited the story, he didn't hear his own voice, rather his beloved mentor and his last words "It is worth it." said Faren determinedly. "WHAT'S WORTH IT? TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" Arrow screamed half scared, half furious. "I would have thought you were smart enough to figure it out. The Vampaneze don't know about you. They won't know you've gone ahead to bring the news." "I still don't understand..." "Charna's guts, Arrow! Do the math." Faren... "Go." said Faren viciously. He's not even letting me say goodbye. Giving himself up... A line of twenty or more Vampaneze soldiers stepped out of the trees to face Faren Dunraven. Their apparent leader was almost six feet tall, with dark purple skin, long black greasy hair, and the reddest eyes of any Vampaneze Arrow had seen. "Rasa." Faren greeted stiffly. "Faren Dunraven. It has been too long." the Vampaneze called Rasa sneered. Mocking his attackers... "Not long enough. I'd almost forgotten your ugly face, but it appears you have deemed it nescessary to jog my memory." Faren noted coldly. Even in the darkest of times, Arrow had to admire his guts. "Kill him." Rasa concluded unceremoniously. His voice sounded immensely bored, as though he ordered bloodthirsty killers on innocent victims every day. And the attack began. Arrow tried to stop the avalance of blood-fresh memories as his only friend had been slaughtered by heartless killers of the night... "GET BACK, HE'S MINE!" The son of the Vampaneze who'd lead the attck. Arrow closed his eyes. And heard Faren's peircing death scream. Even as he followed Paris Skyle through the quiet stone halls, the scream echoed all around, ricocheting off the cold walls, assaulting Arrow again and again. Although Faren had survived the initial death blow, he'd died of his injuries and exhaustion in the eternity of minuites that followed. And every second of it was carved into Arrow's soul forever- "We're here." Paris's voice gently broke the scilence that had been invisibly strangling the young Vampire that accompanied him. "Where's here?" Arrow could barely believe the dull, cold voice belonged to him. "Your bedchamber until you get a bit more settled in, then you can have one to yourself." The Prince smiled and opened the heavy wood door. "What makes you think I'm staying?" Paris seemed not to hear. "Mika?" he called softly. "Right here." answered a young voice from inside. A boy, no older than ten came to the door. He was a cute kid, he'd be a handsome fuly-grown Vampire someday. He carelessly spiky black hair that tumbled into his dark eyes, toned muscles and an easy, relaxed way of moving that suggested he was very comfortable with life inside this huge rock called Vampire Mountain. "Arrow, this is my student, Mika Ver Leth." The named flashed a friendly grin which Arrow did not acknowledge. "He is currently the only underage Vampire in existence, other than yourself. He lives here in Vampire Mountain with me, and he spends many days training in the Hall of Games, or else exploring our beautiful mountain." Beautiful? It's a giant rock. Paris turned to Arrow. "Since you...no longer have a mentor...I will supervise your training, along with Mika's. I am sure both of you will get along and come to appreciate each other's prescence." I don't want to stay here! Arrow could have sworn he saw Paris flash a meaningful look at Mika, and continued: "I have business to attend to regarding the unpleasant news you have brought us, Arrow. I will be in the Hall of Princes for the remainder of the night which will not be accessible to you for the time being, but if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask Mika. I wish you both a good sleep." His tone was professional and polished, but radiated warmth and sincerity Paris left, closing the door and leaving the two young Vampires along together. Arrow said nothing. Just stared into a flickering torch mounted on the wall, hypnotised, willing himself to dissapear into the flames and forget he ever existed. "So..you're Arrow?" Mika broke the scilence. "That was well-figured out." the older Vampire answered cooly. Mika frowned, but said nothing. After another long scilence, he spoke again: "I'm sorry about your mentor." Arrow said nothing. "Must be a horrible way to die..." Mika added quietly. "I know what you're going through-" "SHUT UP!" Arrow screamed, causing Mika to recoil and stare at him in shock. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE! YOU'VE NEVER HAD TO STAND THERE AND WATCH AS YOUR ONLY FRIEND GOT BUTCHERED BY VAMPANEZE! TO FIND THAT HE'S ALIVE AFTERWARDS ONLY TO HAVE HIM DIE IN YOUR ARMS! THEN DRAG YOURSELF INTO THIS GIANT ROCK TO BE ASKED THE SAME QUESTIONS AGAIN AND AGAIN WHEN I JUST WANT TO LIE DOWN AND DIE, THEN GET TOLD THAT I HAVE TO STAY HERE AND TRAIN WITH A LITTLE KID AFTER SPENDING YOUR WHOLE LIFE OUTSIDE WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE SKY INSTEAD OF TRAPPED IN A GIANT ROCK! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT'S LIKE!" The outburst left Arrow gasping, and fighting back tears. Mika blinked, then stared long and hard at Arrow, then spoke in a chilly, measured tone, with words chipped from ice: "Alright, a few things. First of all, you're right, I don't know what it's like to be you. I'm not you. Second, how do you know anything about me? I've lost people I love to the Vampaneze as well, how do you think I became a Vampire? I didn't just show up here. Third, for your information, I have been a half-Vampire for two years. And one last thing, Vampire Mountain has been home to great Vampires for centuries. I'd appreciate it if you would stop insulting it." Arrow bit back a retort he was longing to yell at the little brat before him, it was hard to believe he was so young when he spoke so maturely. He suddenly felt very dizzy, and his head hurt like hell. "Where do I sleep?" he mumbled awkwardly. Mika ignored the question and continued, although in a softer voice. "Look, I'm sorry you have to be here, okay? I didn't ask for a room mate." "Where do I sleep?" Arrow half-yelled, losing patience and wanting only to close his eyes and forget he was alive. Mika gestured towards a coffin lying on the ground beside the stone-cold wall, his eyes never leaving Arrow. Arrow set his small bag of posessions -how he managed to keep them, he'd never know- next to the coffin, and lay down inside. The blanket was thin and uncomfortable, but it was the last thing on Arrow's mind. "No...You just survived a battle with twenty Vampaneze! And now you're telling me that this is it? It all ends here? Why?" "Are you okay?"Mika whispered into the darkness. The kindness in his voice made Arrow hurt even more. Desperately blinking back tears, he didn't reply. "Arrow?" Mika said quietly. In the exact same tone Faren always used, with love, kindness, and respect, the tone he used when he knew somethig was troubling his student. "I'm scared." Arrow blurted out. "Don't be. Vampire mountain is...only a hundred miles away. You're almost safe." "I don't care about me." Arrow snapped. "I have to save you, I can't just leave you here, you can't just...There has to be something I can do!" Suddenly he found himself sobbing, cries of grief and agony that shook his whole body as he remembered those last moments. Those moments would never leave him. Wordlessly, Mika Ver Leth stepped out of his coffin, and walked silently to the other side of the cell, and lay down on the comfortingy cool floor beside Arrow's coffin. While it didn't take away the pain of losing someone so close, his small dark presence was enough to make Arrow feel less alone in the world. "You'll feel better tomorrow." Mika promised without a hint of doubt. Whether it was desperation taking over, or the innocent conviction in his voice, Arrow believed him. Broken bones, broken hearts Stripped down and torn apart A little bit of rust - I'm still runnin' Countin' miles, countin' tears Twisted roads, shiftin' gears Year after year - it's all or nothin' But I'm not home, I'm not lost Still holdin' on to what I got Ain't much left No there's so much that's been stolen I guess I've lost everything I've had But I'm not dead, at least not yet Still alone, still alive, Still UNBROKEN I'm still alone, still alive, Still unbroken Ya knooow what to dooooo :) Ohhh and I changed the song lyrics. "Still Unbroken" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. This fic is somewhat based on that song. Love it :) *Roxxy,