Artemis walked into the cave extending off the back of the castle that contained the clan's washrooms. She quickly stripped off her coat and corset, undoing the front fastenings with a flick of her wrist. The garments fell to the floor, quickly joined by her skirt and boots. She kicked them to the side to burn later, and stepped into the flow of the underground waterfall. Her hair streamed down her back and her mind raced with possibilities.
Everyone in the Valley had heard of Wally West, as he was next in line for pack leader once Barry kicked it. Being second in command gave you some perks in your own clan, but not in everybody else's. However, Wally hadn't learned that yet. All the elven girls ever talked about was how annoying he was and how he wouldn't leave them alone.
As she scrubbed the wolf stench off of her body, she felt the pangs of hunger strike her stomach. She sighed in the realization that there was a hunting trip scheduled for when the sun set.
The sun had set and the vampires set out for the cities, a select few mounting ATVs acquired from the humans that they had turned or had drunk dry. Artemis leaned over the handlebars, attired for hunting, hair loose down her back, and not smelling of wolf. Ra's pulled ahead of the group, speaking into a megaphone to carry his voice across the roar of multiple engines.
"Fellows!" he cried, his voice reverberating through the amplifier. "We ride tonight to put the humans in their place, and recruit new members to our clan!"
Cheers echoed around the company, many of whom hadn't drank in weeks, Artemis included. She flexed her jaw, anticipation pooling in her stomach. She revved her ATV experimentally, her black boots digging into the foot holds. Ra's executed a beautiful three-point turn and sped off down the dirt road towards the city, Talia following close behind.
Artemis stepped on the gas, speeding down the dirt road after her leaders, the rest of the clan following after. The dirt road carried them through the shadow of Zatanna's tower, the two leaders of the company pulling astride of each other to undoubtedly speak about the witch. Artemis had never met Zatanna personally, however she had heard many things about the great witch, most of which cast the woman in a bad light. The blonde, however, preferred to reserve judgement for a person's character until she met them, and the very few good things that she had heard about Zatanna were things that she admired in many others.
The ride to the edge of the woods was short, but enjoyable. The group slowed their mounts, coming to the forest. Ra's hopped off of his ATV, and walked up to the edge of the woods, his megaphone ready at his side. He brought it to his lips and cleared his throat before speaking.
"Kal-el the Mighty, we, the humble clan of Al Ghul, request passage through your forest to the city," he said. The trees rustled slightly, several beings coming into view. The Golems towered over the vampires, their head brushing the treetops, their feet sinking into the ground like mycelium. The foremost Golem bowed, ever so slightly, to Ra's, picking up it's foot and gesturing towards the forest pass. The Great One nodded and dropped to one knee as Artemis noted that even the greatest of the great knew when they were outmatched.
The Golems slowly turned and merged back into the forest, a deep rumbling following after them. Several mushrooms had begun to sprout where Kal-el had stood, the grass around them withering away.
Ra's turned and motioned for the company to dismount and follow him. Artemis swung her leg over the vehicle, ecstatic that she didn't have to share with Cam for once. She wasn't thrilled that he was dead, as the taking of any life appalled her, but she was very glad he was gone. A small group of people flocked around her, ready to go find the nearest hospital.
Artemis and several other vampires broke away from the main group, going to seek out a hospital or blood bank to steal from, rather than kill more innocents than necessary. If they ran across some Joe Chill or rapist, they would act accordingly; however, killing was not prefered.
The ragtag group ran down the street towards their favorite Red Cross, Olliver quickly and routinely kicking in the door and silencing the alarm, allowing Artemis, Dinah, Roy, and Harper access to the blood bank. They quickly raided the shelves, Olliver passing out bags, making sure to give everyone their favorite.
"O positive for Harper, O negative for Roy, B positive for Dinah, A negative for me, and... aha, AB negative for Artemis," he rattled off. Artemis jumped at the sound of her favorite blood type. This was a treat. Her blood type being the rarest made hunting and scavenging difficult, and almost unbearable at some points. She sank her fangs into the bag, not bothering to bite the nozzle off like the others in her group. The blood seeped out of the bag, pouring into her mouth, some spilling over the sides of her lips.
The red liquid ran down her neck, soaking the collar of her white t-shirt under her leather jacket. She finished the bag quickly, wiping her mouth with her hand, smearing red across her cheek.
"Anymore of that, Ollie?" she asked, swallowing thickly. He nodded.
"You're in luck, Arty, two more bags on this shelf," he said, tossing them both to her. She caught them deftly, biting the cap off of the first bag. She spat the plastic out, about to tip the bag back into her mouth and drain it, but Dinah stopped her.
"Artemis, you won't be full on just three bags. There's some B negative on the shelf here too, drink at least two of those before you finish the AB positive," Dinah said. She had become like the girl's mother, teaching her about the different customs and the rules of Castle Al Ghul when Artemis had arrived. Dinah, her husband Oliver, and their twin sons, Roy and Harper, had practically adopted Artemis into their family, providing clothes and protecting her from Cameron for her first months.
The group finished off their haul, Artemis moaning as the last of the AB negative trickled down her throat. The two boys snickered, turning away from cleaning up the evidence of the vampires' feast.
"Having fun there, Arty?" Roy said, his brother barely containing his laughter behind him.
Artemis glared at them, snapping back, "Fuck off. At least I can keep it down when I drink a hot guy with my prefered type. Damian told me that he went hunting with you once and not only did you get excited when you started drinking a girl, but you started dry humping her corpse!"
Roy blushed bright red, scuttling off to go find Oliver and Dinah, while his brother broke down on the floor laughing.
Dinah came back into the room and picked Harper up off the floor. She gave him a stern look and turned to Artemis.
"Arty, go find the Great One and tell him we're through, would you?" she asked. Artemis nodded, walking out the door to go hunt down their leader.
It didn't take Artemis long to find Ra's as the city wasn't very large. She came upon him and Talia in a narrow alleyway outside of a tacky club called "Harlequin Hookers," complete with a glowing pink neon sign. There were several other men with him, men that she had never seen before. She was wary in approaching the group, walking slowly down the alley.
Suddenly, one of the men said something that made her jump behind the nearest dumpster and her blood run cold in her veins. Ra's had called one of the men he was speaking with "hunter." She listened to snatches of their conversation, picking up only a few words like "wolf" and "safety" before the group started walking down the alley towards her. Soon, they were close enough that she could hear them clearly.
"The Alpha's nephew, you say?" one man asked. Talia scoffed, but was shushed by her father.
"Yes, Jonathan," Ra's said, "And I'm sure that you can obtain any information you would like about the rest of the wolves from him, Savage."
"Or we could just skin him and sell his pelt!" the third man exclaimed, cackeling at his own cockamame idea. Artemis could practically hear Ra's and Talia rolling their eyes.
"And all you want in return for the boy is safety for your clan?" the man called Savage asked.
"Yes," Ra's agreed. The men and Talia walked back towards the club, the three hunters murmuring amongst themselves. Artemis was about to get up and leave before one of the men started shouting.
"You have got yourself a deal, old man! It's time for Jack the Joker to have a little fun!" the man who was apparently called Jack shouted. Having heard enough, Artemis picked herself up and bolted for the end of the alley, not caring if she was seen by any of the group at the other end.
She didn't stop running until she reached the pass between the forest and the mountains, her breathing heavy. She sat down on the side of the path to wait for the first of her clan to come along, hope to whatever deity might be listening that it was not Ra's or Talia that came back first.
Soon, the rest of the vampires started showing up, first Damian with Ollie and Dinah's twins, then the couple themselves. Next came Mia and Connor, Dinah's younger sister and her husband. Ra's and Talia showed up last with their squadron of guards in tow.
Artemis' ears perked, hearing something rustling in the woods. Several of her fellows heard it as well, most of them turning to look at the trees leading to the Stone Forest. A young boy emerged out of the trees, wearing nothing but a pair of ratty old jeans. The company stared at the little boy questioningly and he stared back, an innocent look in his big eyes.
Suddenly, a long, victorious howl came from where they had left the squadron of ATVs. Their attention ripped from the smiling little boy, the vampires sprinted back towards their mounts, Ra's and Talia having pushed their way to the front. They were met with an unpleasant sight.
The rest of the pack of werewolves, Barry included, were doing donuts and wheelies on the ATVs. The little boy burst through the line of awestruck vampires, his orange hair darkening, fur sprouting on his legs and arms, and a little bit of a tail poking out through his jeans. He ran to Barry and jumped on the back of the ATV that the Alpha was perched on, latching on to the blond in front of him.
As soon as the boy was aboard the vehicle, Barry sped off, being sure to spray the vampires with road dirt as he past. The rest of the wolves followed his example, those that weren't already half formed transforming on their mounts as they blew past the stunned clan.
The werewolves disappeared into the night, their howls still reverberating through the trees of the Stone Forest. Some of the vampires had begun whispering amongst themselves; Damien, Roy, and Harper included. Ra's slowly turned around, raising his megaphone, which Barry had thrown at his feet after howling into it, and started shouting.
"Do you all realize what an injustice these inbred dogs have done?!" he hollered into the amplifier. "I will not stand for this and neither will you! Let it be known that I, Ra's Al Ghul, declare war on all werewolves tonight!"