(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)
I should have updated last Friday but I was too tired after running from here to there. Gods, I hate school.
Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you like the story so far.
6
Ernest yawned. The sun was rising as the patrol ended for that night. He and his group were heading back to the Guild, hoping to get a nice breakfast before dropping dead on their beds. That night was exhausting. New Culiacan seemed to never empty of monsters and Ernest forced a retreat when the first sun rays started to illuminate the remains of the Dark Castle. No one of his men wanted to stop, but Ernest knew they were tired and needed a nice rest. During the day, he could ask another group to finish what they started.
He didn't find Aaron or Lucian in New Culiacan. He wouldn't hide there either, it was too empty, too risky for the young human and there wasn't enough food for him. All what they found were rotted fruits, rotted meat and vanquished drinks still inside their unopened bottles. Definitely Lucian would not risk Aaron's life out there. He hoped that either Bea or Kay came up with something. Maybe Toasty would come with something, seeing how much he wanted to boy back. Ernest wanted Aaron stay in the Guild too, just for the boy's safety. The man knew too well how dangerous vampires are in those specific nights.
His thoughts came to Lucian once more. Even when he was a dhampir, the old Sartana that it's still inside the dark swordsman never changed. He still was bad mouthed, arrogant, impatient, taking risks. Ernest smiled. He had to admit he was a bit jealous of the way Sartana always saw life. Always getting the better of each passing day, as it was his last one, talking with the others gunslingers, going into long walks, practicing in the Guild with his favorite guns; Witch and Bomber. Ernest also was jealous of how good Sartana was with the Solar Guns, mastered them all even when he was an explosive expert. No wonder why Witch and Bomber were his favorites. Sartana loved to help others in their problems, especially when the rookies seemed to have problems holding the Solar Guns, and liked to demonstrate himself to others, saying to them how good he was. Perhaps that kind of self love was what attracted Ella to him.
The young woman was a bit shy but she had a passion about helping others to get a new home or enough food for their family after each rampage of the vampires that destroyed everything in their path, which amused Sartana to no end. Why would she dedicate her life when she could perfectly help the gunslinger kill the ones that were making others life miserable? Sartana once asked her about it, and Ernest was there too, since he and Sartana were good companions, not close friends but the two of them were tolerable with the other. Besides, Ernest had also a crush on Ella and wanted to see if he could get her before Sartana, even if his feelings for the woman weren't too clear for him.
"Because I like it.", she answered. "It's actually a nice feeling to see that you can give what you have and help others, seeing how they need it."
"Wouldn't be better for them to came to the Guild and help us? The faster we get rid of vampires the better.", said Sartana. Ernest was about to reply when she laughed. "What?", said the gunslinger man, lightly annoyed.
"Not everyone has that natural talent you have with weapons, Sartana. Perhaps you and Ernest, and Kay and Trinity are good with them, but some people even practicing day by day, they will never master it or get better in what their are doing.", she sighed and sat on the chair, resting. She has been working all day long. "For example, even if you are good with your weapons, you will never be as good as Trinity in infiltration.", Sartana blushed in embarrassment. Ernest chuckled. It was true. Sartana really sucked for infiltration missions, since he always grew too anxious about attacking and killing the monsters in the dungeon that they ended up being spotted thanks to his passion. Upon this, Trinity forbids him to go to any infiltration mission. "Don't give me that look! You know better than me is true."
Sartana grunted and left. Ernest and Ella watched him leave.
"Deeply inside him, he admires you for what you are doing here.", said Ernest looking at her. He sat next to the tired woman, who smiled.
"It's hard for him to show or express his feelings to others. I admire Sartana and you for what you are doing in the Guild.", this time, Ernest blushed. He thanked his dark skin to prevent the redness to show, but somehow, Ella noticed but didn't say anything. "The work you are doing is really hard and risky, seeing as one day you may not return to the Guild anymore."
"Don't worry about that. Sartana is too difficult to beat; even strong vampires had their time with him in battle."
"What about Earl's moves?", asked the woman, seeing how Ernest got into the subject.
"It's hard to picture what will be his next move, since it seems he not only wants to fight Lord of Destruction, but he also wants to take over New Culiacan.", explained Ernest. Ella stood up. "You should rest a bit more. You have been working all day."
"I can't, Ernest. There are still people who needs my help out there.", she paused, watching from the other side of the window. Then, she smiled. "Come. You have to see this."
The gunslinger man stood up too and walked to her side, smiling when he saw Sartana helping a family that just arrived with their belongings. It was a very odd sight, but it made Ernest admire Sartana even more. The man sure was filled with surprises. Just like the present. Lucian had still that passion that moved his body, something that he learn from Ella but didn't want to practice at seeing how much pain to his broken heart brought. But the presence of Aaron made the pain go away and he started to behave like the old Sartana, the one that Ernest has known all his life. He just hoped that Lucian didn't transform into a full vampire. It would bring a lot of doubts into his duty as gunslinger from the Guild.
"Rest well, guys, you deserve it.", said Ernest to the others. The rest of them smiled and nodded, disappearing in the stairs or in the elevator to go to their rooms. "Ah, Bea.", he said at the sight of the tired, blond woman. She was sitting on the main room of the Guild, with the Witch next to her. "How it went?"
"Boring. The Aqueduct is so dark, but it wasn't that infested like Thirteenth Street or New Culiacan, so we got lightly bored. Besides, without light we ended up walking in circles a few time.", Ernest sat next to her and a rookie came to them and offered coffee. Both of them thanked him. "We didn't find Lucian or Aaron, and Kay hasn't come back yet. Hopefully, he will bring news.", she took a sip of her coffee.
"Have you seen Master Toasty?", Bea shook her head. "Maybe he is still outside."
"Doing what? He has poor night vision.", said the woman. Ernest couldn't help himself and smiled. "Musing?"
"Perhaps.", agreed Ernest. "Aaron told me he often does it when something is concerning him."
"I thought you knew him more time than him.", said Bea lightly surprised.
"That doesn't mean I know Master Toasty that well. Trinity used to, since Master Toasty always hanged with him.", answered the man, drinking his coffee. "Glad to know you are safe."
Bea laughed. Ernest's stomach gave a light twitch in excitement. He loved Bea's laugh.
"You worry too much, Ernest.", she said. "I'm not the idiot rookie anymore."
"True, but sometimes you forget to think before going into a mission.", the woman blushed in embarrassment.
"A bad habit, I guess."
Ernest remembered that Sartana used to do that a lot.
"Well, you should be more careful. One of this days it well get you killed.", warned the skin tanned man, standing up. He took his Dragoon in hand, leaving the empty mug on the table. "Will you?"
Bea smiled and Ernest thought he was going to melt right away.
"I will try. But be careful you too, alright?", he nodded and walked away.
Bea thought how much she would miss Ernest if he died.
Toasty was floating back to the Guild. He spent the night on the roof of the Vambery Tower and when the first sun rays hit him, he woke up. He needed to be back into the Guild and talk with Ernest and the others to see if they found traces of Aaron or Lucian. He highly doubted it, but he wanted to be sure the boy wasn't in those places to start a plan and getting inside the mountain forest to search there.
When he returned, the rookies told him that only Ernest and Bea returned, and both of them went to sleep. Toasty patiently waited for Kay's arriving. The dog-man entered the Guild, looking tired, grumpy and wounded. Kay took sight of Toasty and rubbed his temples before saying that he didn't find anything concerning Aaron and, if he excused him right now, was going to sleep. Toasty let him be, and rushed out of the Guild from the nearest window, to sit on the roof of the building.
The light Terrennial tried to calm himself. Aaron should be alright, he was a smart kid even if he acted dumb sometimes. He had his weapons, he knew how to hide, how to fight. Toasty let out a groan. He needed to know where and how he was! It was something he promised Trinity before dying, that he, along with Ernest and Kay, would take care of Aaron. Besides, Alexander hasn't come back yet and that was frustrating him more. He hoped that the owl wasn't hurt or something.
He returned to the Inn in Acuna and stayed on its roof all morning, just watching how Acuna woke up that bright day. He did nothing on the roof not even thinking about Aaron or related. He tried to relax, keep his mind in blank all the morning but failed, as seeing how concerned was about Aaron's safety. Toasty was about to leave the Inn and return to the Guild when two shadows covered him from the sun. He looked up and saw Alexander and, with surprise, Nero.
"You shitty cat!!", yelled Toasty to the black cat. "You made Aaron go to the mountains to see that stupid dhampir!"
"Hey, calm the fuck down!", answered the dark Terrennial, already pissed. "He wanted to go; he had the right to go!"
"It is dangerous!", Toasty floated to be face to face with Nero, forgetting about Alexander. "How could you let him go up there when vampires are in heat?! Only an idiot would go to the wolf's mouth like that!!"
"You don't think it twice if you have to help a friend.", said Nero and Toasty froze, remembering that sentence. It was the same the black cat said to Sartana when he awoke from his coma, eleven years ago. "Aaron was too worried about Lucian, knowing the situation like we do. He wanted to help Lucian through his transformation, and you have no right to prevent that."
"Wait, what?", this time, it was Alexander who interrupted. "Is the dark swordsman transforming into a vampire? Was he bitten?"
"No.", answered Toasty, getting more irritated. "Nero slip from Perrault and shared his powers with Sartana, making him a dhampir back then. The eyepatch prevented the powers to take over his body and change him into a vampire, but since he trained for ten months without it, the dark powers are claiming his body to transform it for once."
"Oh, now I know why you were so worried about Aaron.", said the owl. He looked at Nero. "Either way, you shouldn't have taken the boy up there.", the black cat groaned and Toasty smiled in victory. "And you shouldn't have acted the way you did.", ended the Terrennial looking at the sunflower. This time, Nero smiled. "Was Aaron's choice to go?"
Nero and Toasty said 'yes' and 'no' at the same time, and Alexander sighed when the two of them started to argue once more. That day was going to be a hard one.
The owl succeeded into calming both opposites for a while. It was already three in the afternoon and Alexander suggested going and seeing Ernest to tell them how Aaron was doing. Nero accepted, since it was his main reason of coming down, while Toasty was still grunting about how careless was the cat for letting a young human go by himself into the mountains.
They ignored each other as Ernest came in sight into the common room of the Guild. The man was still tired, but his duty woke him up. He sat on the chair and noticed the tension between the cat and the sunflower, but didn't ask anything. Alexander was the one telling him what happened and when he finished, he let Nero talk about the situation in the cottage. He talked firstly on Lucian's transforming and how it was erasing his human memory. There was a high chance that when they saw him, the dhampir would not remember who they were. Ernest felt his heart give a twitch. Yes, that made him sad. He cared a lot for Sartana and he still did. He was also relieved to know that Aaron was safe but didn't like the idea of the former Duke being with both of them. Even when Nero assured him that Dumas wasn't that bad, Ernest still suspected from him not knowing how Lucian ended asking for his help, but seemed logical due to his current condition.
"Did...", said the man. He wanted to know, after all. "Did Aaron mate with Lucian?", asked. If it was the case, he and the other gunslinger would have to move with a lot of precautions.
"Yes, he did.", answered the cat with a sigh.
"What?!", yelled Toasty. "How could you let that happen?! That's going to help the dark powers to keep corrupting Lucian's body!!"
"Damn it! Aaron doesn't fucking care if Lucian is a dhampir, a human or a vampire as long as he is with him! Can't you fucking see that?", screamed the black cat back. He was getting tired of Toasty's selfishness. "Or are you jealous of their relationship?"
And with that, Toasty snapped.
He glowed in a bright, yellow light. The Terrennial had transformed into a human shape, the same one that Aaron adopted when he and Toasty traced. He called a spell and shot Nero to the nearest wall, chaining him up with his solar energy, seeing how the dark Terrennial hissed in pain at the constriction on his small, beast body. Alexander cried to Toasty to a stop, but he wasn't listening, not even to Ernest's begs on letting the black cat go, who was gasping quickly for air to fill his lungs.
"Where is Aaron?", asked the Terrennial, not paying attention to the other ones inside the common room. He growled when Nero smirked.
"Even if you slice my cheeks open, I will not say it.", snarled the cat back. He mewed in pain when Toasty hit him again. Alexander's pleads ringing in the air. "Why are you so mad?! Can't you see that this is what Aaron wants?"
"Can't you see that he is a vampire hunter?!", yelled Toasty back. Finally, Nero and Alexander understood why he was so angry about. "And he falls and mates with the creatures he hunts and kills! How do you want me to react?"
"Lucian didn't born as a vampire, you know that too well. Aaron fall for him not for what is he, but for how is he.", replied Nero, lightly more relaxed even when his body ached in pain. Toasty seemed to have relaxed too, since the cat felt that the energy wasn't as strong as when he hit him.
"I don't care about that! I'm trying to picture how will be his life after Lucian becomes a full vampire! Did he think of that? Did he think that he was going to be chased down, because he has a vampire mate, a vampire that kills humans just to drink their blood? Or hunts them down because they 'felt like to'? Who will protect him from those shadows? Who will protect him for the gunslingers?", Nero didn't talk for a few moments. Toasty let his energy disappear and the cat fell to the floor, hissing in pain. Then, a cage with solar bars formed around him, caging him up. "Do you understand now, Nero? Why I was so... seclude to let them be?"
"You are being harsh again, Toasty.", said Alexander with caution. He didn't want to Toasty snap again.
"Alexander is right.", mumbled Nero from below. The light Terrennial's eyes were locked with his. "Lucian will not let anything happen to Aaron, which brings to the question you never answered."
"And what about Dumas?", said Toasty instead, avoiding the question once more.
Nero sighed. This was getting them to no where.
"Honestly, the Duke has changed a lot in these four years he been missing. And Aaron started to trust him up there, and seems that the Duke is slowly trusting the kid too, and Lucian surprisingly, even if Lucian doesn't want to have nothing with him."
"How he ended up helping Lucian? He is not the type of person to say 'yes' without receiving something back."
Nero clenched his teeth but not from pain.
"I can't."
"What?"
"I can't tell you.", said the black cat, flopping on the cage's floor, suddenly too tired to keep talking. "I promised Lucian and Dumas to not talk with anyone about this. I'm sorry Toasty, but I can't talk."
"Fuck!", he yelled, rushing in a ray of light from the common room window. Nero fainted in the cage.
The sun was setting, the cold winds blowing in the Guild's roof sent shivers into Toasty's back. He was sitting, watching the mountains in the horizon. He was still transformed, not really feeling like changing back to his plant form. He spotted dark, grey clouds on the mountains, guessing if those clouds would bring either a strong rainstorm or a blizzard. But for the looks, it seemed to be a blizzard. The wind was too cold to be a simple rainstorm. Toasty hoped wherever Aaron was, he would be safe enough to stand the blizzard.
He hoped, too, that Nero wasn't too injured from his earlier snap.
He didn't mean to, but he was too angry to think about he was doing. He suddenly changed into his human form and hit Nero, locking him with his solar energy knowing that the black cat was weak against it. Alexander was just trying to help the poor cat and he snapped at him, too, when he came to the owl asking for help. What type of reaction was that towards the one that offered his help? Toasty groaned, silently cursing himself. He was an idiot, one of the biggest idiots on the planet.
He hated to admit that Nero was right, and was jealous of Aaron's relationship with Lucian. The Terrennial thought it was going to be similar like it was with Trinity, like long time ago, but it seemed it wasn't that way. Even when Trinity and his son shared physical features, Aaron was far from being like his father in what personality respected. He was a lot like his mother but sometimes Toasty felt like he was with Trinity once again. Maybe it was for that that he was so mad about the boy being with the dhampir, a thing that brought him to one question he asked himself yesterday night. What would been Trinity's response? What would been his words for the matter? Would the man let his single son go and mate a dhampir that was close to becoming a full vampire? If the dhampir would be another but Lucian, was there still a chance for Aaron to be at its side? Or it was only because it was Lucian? Toasty groaned again. He needed to calm down before he fry his brains with all that deep thinking. But couldn't help it and kept musing.
Ernest seemed, quiet about it. He didn't say anything when Nero said that Aaron mated Lucian. Was he scared about their fights? That would have prevent him to say anything related to the matter. Toasty knew that Ernest have to leave the Terrennial alone when he was too mad about a certain subject, knowing that he would snap anytime without motive, like he did earlier. He still needed to apologize to Alexander for treating him like that.
Toasty blinked in confusion upon feeling another force on the roof. When he turned, he saw the human shape of the ice Terrennial, her three-fox tails waving softly at the wind. Regardless of the others, her form was naked and didn't mind the lustful gazes she received from other males. Her body was human, like his, but her feet were canine alike just like her fox face, that watched the horizon, more precisely, the dark clouds that were coming closer.
"What brings you up here, Ezra?", asked Toasty. Ezra was a valuable friend and sometimes he went to see her when he couldn't talk about certain subjects with Aaron or Ernest.
"The storm.", she answered. The female fox turned her gaze from the storm and took a look at Toasty. "It's a strong one, and I fear for the young one and his mate in the mountains."
The light Terrennial stood up and walked to her, matching her gaze on the dark clouds.
"How strong is? Enough to bring down a cottage?", asked Toasty.
"It will depend of where the cottage is placed. If it has natural protection of the trees and rock formation, we should not worry, but we must be sure that is that way."
"And Nero knows if is safe enough.", whispered the Terrennial before sighing. "I shouldn't have snapped at Nero like that."
"You shouldn't have done anything of what you did.", answered Ezra and Toasty whined.
"The last reproach I needed is the one coming from you."
"Well, you deserved it.", said the female fox closing her eyes and twitching her tails. "You are mixing feelings and that is not a good idea.", Toasty looked at her not catching what she was saying. That made Ezra sighs in irritation. "You think that Aaron is like his father and that is not true, but seeing how you get carried away with the feeling that Trinity is back once more besides you is proofs that you haven't get over his dead yet. When are you letting Trinity go for once? You can't be like this forever or you will lose him again, seeing as Aaron is his only heritage.", she stopped him for talking. "Let's go back. Nero should be awake by now and we must ask him if the cottage is safe enough to stand a blizzard of this magnitude."
Toasty nodded, following Ezra and turning into their smallest, beast and plant form. They both entered from an open window and floated to the common room once more. There, they found Bea and Ernest talking with each other with Nero's cage in between. The cat was healthier after the fight and was now lying on the cage's floor, paying no attention to his surroundings. His sensitive nose noticed the other Terrennial's scents and made him open his eyes and lock gaze with them. Bea was the first one to ask Toasty what he wanted and the sunflower floated to both gunslingers, followed by Ezra.
"Nero, are you feeling better?", Ezra was the one that cut with the awkward silence that formed in the room.
"Just a bit.", said the cat, wings folded on his back and tail curled besides his aching body. "May I know your reason for being here?"
"A blizzard is coming this way, taking its path down on the mountain.", Nero sighed. "I want to know if the cottage where the boy and his mate are staying can resist a storm like this. Otherwise, we should let them know and see where they can stay to not interrupt the dhampir's mating cycle."
"I... don't think Lucian will like the idea of leaving the cottage.", said the cat. "I really don't know if the cottage can resist blizzards."
"Do you trust me enough to go there and see it for myself?", asked the ice fox.
"You don't know the path to it."
"I will bring either you or Alexander to show me."
"No, the cat stays here.", said Toasty. He didn't want to Nero go. Being captive like this, Aaron will have a reason to climb down from the mountains and, hopefully, he will obligate him stay in sight, meaning that he will have to stay either in the Inn's room he and Lucian rented or in the Guild.
Ezra sighed, irritated once more. But couldn't blame him. He wasn't going to change from a minute to another; he had to find it on its own that the way he was behaving wasn't the right one, especially towards Aaron. Nero thought about it too, but didn't reply; knowing that arguing for the matter once more would only get him a painful headache.
"Alright, I will take Alexander.", said the female fox. "Just try no to kill Nero while I am away."
"For what kind of creature you take me, Ezra?", Toasty was really offended by her words.
"Oh, I know you better than Trinity did and I know you will do everything to get the information from Nero. Alexander knows it too, and that's why he is staying as far as he can from you."
Toasty whined again and the female fox smirked in victory, knowing very well the next phase Toasty will come with.
"I hate you so much.", yes, definitely Ezra knew Toasty way too much.
It was already seven in the evening, and Alexander was surprised by how dark the forest was with the thick mantle of dark clouds over it. Ezra had warned him that the winds would be blowing harsher and faster, but he didn't know it was going to be like a hurricane. He now truly feared that the cottage wasn't safe for the ones living in it. Even the vampire that always were there for the mating season weren't there anymore, as seeing how dangerous would be to stay in the open upon a blizzard like that.
"There.", said the owl when they came at the cottage and the fox immediately knew it wasn't going to stand too much in the wild storm. "Are you sure you want to sneak in?"
"Of course. I had enough temper to bitch on Stoker when he held me captive I will have enough guts to yell at the idiot of Lucian if he refuses.", Alexander couldn't help it and chucked.
The fox changed into her human form and walked at hot speed to the cottage, knocking on the door several times. The owl took his human form too, which its height surpassed Ezra's by two heads. He had a black, yellow and purple hakama, with sandals and a katana resting on his hips. His purple hair was tied in a short ponytail and his eyes were as clear as the sky, with some yellow make up on the eyelids. His face reflected the expression of a young man on his twenties and was really attractive. The door in front of them opened and Perrault gasped in surprise but let them step in.
"Good evening, former Duke.", said Alexander bowing. Ezra bowed too, not saying anything. Dumas blinked at the sight of both Terrennials knowing that something was wrong when Perrault let them in. "Where is young Aaron and Lucian?"
"Lucian is out, and Aaron is still sleeping.", said Dumas from the couch. "What's the matter?"
"There is a blizzard coming this way and I am afraid that this cottage will not stand it.", explained the female fox, seeing how the vampire stood up with a concerned look on his face. "I know you and Lucian will not like it, but you must move and rest in another safer place."
"I know.", replied the vampire. "What happened to Nero?"
Alexander sighed.
"He and Toasty fought, and Toasty damaged him pretty bad. He is now held in a cage and Toasty is waiting for him to split out your location.", Dumas laughed.
"Does that idiot know that Nero will not give up the information even if he had to die to protect it?"
"Apparently, no, he doesn't.", said Ezra smiling too. "Or he does, but doesn't want to believe it."
"Well, leaving that aside, how fast the storm will strike?"
"Mm, in about twelve hours. Perhaps sooner."
"I need both of you to look up for a place where we can hide but is comfortable enough for us to be until the mating cycle is over.", said Dumas while opening Lucian's room to start waking Aaron up to tell him about the circumstances.
"But, you already know a place to stay.", said the fox following the former Duke.
"The castle is in ruins. New Culiacan is not in shape to let us live there.", replied the vampire shaking the boy's shoulders softly.
"I wasn't referring to New Culiacan, neither to the Aqueduct or Vambery Tower.", before the vampire could talk, she continued. "The Hunting Mansion is a perfect place to stay, seeing that the gunslingers aren't patrolling it anymore, as Ernest told me."
Dumas became silent. Come back to the Hunting Mansion? To his painful past? To Rymer? No, he didn't want to! It would bring those memories once more, those feelings he wanted to forget. He was trying to get it over and it seemed he was going to be chained to that for the rest of his life.
"Never knew you were living here, Earl.", said a soft male voice from the doorway. The presents looked up at the sight of the grinning, albino vampire that stood there. "Since you haven't been out yet, I decided to come to you.", Nish said with a smile on his face.
"Great.", mumbled Dumas. Unknown to him, Nish was going to be a very important person in this situation.
"What do you want? Can't you see I am trying to sleep?", came the angry voice of Aaron. Nish seemed curious about the single human boy in the room, but didn't ask since Dumas was already on him.
"I know kid, but something had come up. There is a blizzard coming this way and Ezra said the cottage will not stand it."
"Great.", whispered the boy and the vampire laughed. Was Aaron being influenced by him or by Lucian? Dumas only imagined. "Where should be going?"
"Hunting Mansion.", said Ezra without hesitation. "Ernest told me gunslinger doesn't patrol it anymore and is a nice place for all of you to stay."
Aaron seemed to put together the name of the place and Rymer, and looked at Dumas. The vampire shrugged and stood, telling him to grab his things and call for Lucian. The boy bit his bottom lip and felt sorry for Dumas, once more. The former Duke stepped outside the room and ignored Nish, but the vampire followed 'Earl' along, saying he was going to help into packing his things, too. And, amazingly, Dumas didn't yell back.
"Young Aaron.", said Alexander. The boy looked at him. "Please, hurry."
"Oh, yes. Sorry."
"Don't be. Do you allow me to go and search for your mate?", asked the wind Terrennial, bowing. Aaron felt like the owl beast was talking to his master and the boy didn't know why he was acting that way. He started grabbing his things and put them in the bag.
"Of course.", answered and the owl beast retreated from the room, leaving him alone with Ezra. The boy looked at her. "Why he bowed like that?"
"I wouldn't know.", admitted the fox, helping the boy with his things. "But my closest guess is because he admires you.", Aaron smiled.
"It's good to know that."
Since Aaron didn't have many things to pack, he went with Ezra and helped Dumas out, finding that Nish was talking quietly with him even if the former Duke wasn't in the mood to talk back. That didn't bother the albino vampire, who still talked with him. Lucian returned with Alexander, curious about the new vampire in the cottage. He didn't ask and when they were ready, the left the cottage and walked down the mountain to a better place to start racing down. The wind Terrennial grabbed the bags while Lucian helped Aaron to get on his back and, when where ready, they raced down the forest, following Dumas as he lead the way to the Hunting Mansion.
No one talked in the path towards the mansion. The only sound was the winds harshly taking it on the trees and the steps each vampire and Terrennial did when they landed, jumped or stepped on the ground. It was getting colder quickly and Aaron already felt it. He was shivering but rejected that Lucian stopped to get him some warm clothes for him. Their priority was to get to their target before the storm hit without notice or the gunslinger found them in their way to the Hunting Mansion.
Dumas kept his gaze on the forest's path, running from to the others; he used to come with Rymer some of those nights to have a little fun with themselves and other vampires, too. And he didn't like the idea of going back to the Hunting Mansion, where most of his memories were locked. He was trying to get over it and the past was now seeking him once more. Dumas thought that it wasn't to never let him go, always captive with strong chains to that painful past. His red eyes moved to the left and saw the blurring, white hair of Nish. The vampire noticed it and smiled to him. The former Duke found himself blushing for a second time that he was with Nish and quickly lock his eyes on the road. What was with him? He wasn't looking for a new mate so, why was he lightly nervous when Nish was around him? He didn't feel those butterflies in his stomach, the same feeling when he and Rymer were dating, and shouldn't worry that he was falling for someone who just met, especially after a rough, wild, passionate sex. Dumas noticed how many adjectives he added to the sex he and Nish had the previous night.
He had to admit that Nish was handsome, seductive, had a nice body. He was taller than him but didn't mind that aspect. He seemed to be lightly carefree and surely interested in the former Duke. Dumas wondered why. Was because he wanted another round? Was because he wanted to mate him? Couldn't be. He told Nish that he wasn't looking for a new mate. Was he ignoring that rule? Was Nish just trying to get new companions? Or just numbers in his list to prove that he was a winner? Well, almost every vampire on the planet was promiscuous due to the mating cycle so Dumas didn't care about that. He did that too before defeating Ratatosk, seeing the others as mere numbers like many other did.
If Nish wanted another round, he would leave seeing as they were moving to a safer place due to the blizzard. But he stayed. If Nish wanted to mate him then he surely would go after him and try to seduce him to mate with him, but the albino vampire wasn't talking to him or trying anything to get his attention. Perhaps he would when they are settled in the Hunting Mansion. Dumas would have to wait to see what happens then. But the smile he got from Nish... The former Duke blushed again, unable to help himself. It was so embarrassing! He! Once the strongest of vampires blushing in front of others! He sighed, unaware that the albino heard him, and kept thinking about the situation. There was still a long road to Hunting Mansion; he could keep musing about the subject as long as the road endured.
He wasn't sure that he would be ready for a new mate. It's true that four years passed after the incident, but it was a small amount of time since that and now. The wound was still open, not bleeding, yet it was in pain. He still cried sometimes for his dead, he still wandered through his happy memories. Dumas was sure that he wasn't ready for a new mate. Why would Nish try? Was because he didn't care? Was because he was too desperate for one? Besides, the vampire would know who he was by the sole codename he gave him. Earl was his name when he was still under Ratatosk's orders and everyone knew about him. Every vampire feared him and when he was defeated and taken from the castle, when he refunded in the community, he was highly rejected and couldn't go back after that. No vampire wanted a weak leader. No vampire wanted to be with a weak partner. Why Nish was with him? Why Nish wanted him? Why Nish seemed to care a bit?
Was life giving him another chance? A new beginning in his life, with a new mate to guard over him and Dumas to look at? The idea was comforting. To have a strong pair of arms around his body, silently saying 'I'm here, with you. Don't worry about anything', of hearing those three little words being whispered into his ears, of those lips kissing softly on his neck, of those same lips claiming his in a chaste kiss. It was too good to be true and Dumas noticed, for the first time in his life, that he was afraid.