Shout out to queen of beyblade! She was the first person to comment on this story and she seems to like it, so I would like to thank her! This chapter is where we get Hyoga's side of the story, and what the Vampires are like and think of the Werewolves. We'll also see Shiryu after nine years, though we really hadn't seen him in this story before... and we'll meet a few other characters that I failed to mention in the first chapter but weren't really that important to the story at that point.

So anyway, I hope you enjoy because this story is about to get stranger!

Chapter Two: The Boy Who Walks With Vampires

Hyoga finally paused after a while in the forest, breathing heavily. He had been running for a while, and now that he was alone he suddenly felt very foolish. It wasn't really Shun's fault. It was an accident. And now he felt completely horrible. He had said some rather nasty things to the boy. He didn't mean any of them of course, but they had slipped out. He had made Shun cry, something he had always dreaded doing. The boy was just too pretty to be crying. It broke his heart. He wanted to make it up to the boy...

He froze. He had finally realized where he was. He wasn't blind with anger any more. He was often blind with anger. It was just in his personality. He didn't mean to be. He was in the forest, and that could only mean that Shun was too. He suddenly felt very afraid. But he wasn't scared for himself. He was scared for sweet little Shun. He couldn't just lie down and hide from Werewolves. They were everywhere. They could see in darkness and smell many things. He turned and began to run back the way he had come. He just had to see if Shun was alright.

He knew something was deadly wrong the moment he heard nothing in the forest. It was deadly quiet. Too quiet. It made a feeling of dread settle into Hyoga's stomach. The creatures of the forest only fell silent for one reason: there were deadly predators nearby. Suddenly unsure of what to do, the boy climbed up the first tree he could find and hid there. He wasn't a moment too soon.

Seconds later, an army passed. It was unlike one he had ever seen. An entire clan of Vampires passed beneath him, marching as if to war. They probably were. Werewolves and Vampires were always fighting over territory here. And his village was always caught in the middle of it. He wondered sadly who was going to die today. But he didn't dare move, not with all of these Vampires. He didn't want to be found. Pure instinct and a learned terror of the beasts made him wait silently as they passed.

A few of the Vampires paused beneath his tree for a moment, as if they sensed him there. But they never lingered long. They were on the war path. They couldn't wait for the Werewolves to beat them to the battlefield. But one lingered longer than most. She was a beautiful woman and looked to be about twenty, though Hyoga knew better. Vampires could live for centuries. She looked up towards him, and Hyoga froze. But she didn't seem to see him, though she gave the tree a sad look. Hyoga almost wondered for a moment what she was thinking. Then he stopped himself. He shouldn't wonder things like that. She wasn't human anymore. She was a remorseless assassin. She too passed on, and Hyoga remained hidden.

Even after the last of them had passed, Hyoga remained where he was. He wouldn't dare move until he was sure that he was safe. Then he winced as he heard the battle begin. He was scared and exhausted by the day's events. But he was still worried about Shun. He prayed that the boy would be alright. But he had to rest. Perhaps he could just close his eyes for a moment...

Hyoga hadn't remembered falling asleep, but he knew when he had woke up. He shot up quickly, looking around. What had happened? There was no sound. Hyoga felt sadness at the thought. That could only be because the battle was over. How long had he slept then? He was so exhausted that he had fallen asleep, even with the battle waging, and only when it had fallen silent had he awoken, startled by the sudden lack of sound rather than the sound itself.

Slowly, he slid down the tree to the ground. He knew he should remain hiding and survive, but he couldn't bring himself to. He had to know if Shun had gotten mixed up in that battle. He knew that this was dangerous. If there were still Werewolves or Vampires around then he could die, but he was more worried about Shun. He crept slowly over to the battlefield, watching for any signs of the creatures. But there was none.

His heart grew heavy as he finally saw it. There were about a dozen bodies, none of which were moving. Then he felt very cold. Underneath one of them was a small head of green hair.

Hyoga stumbled backwards suddenly, tears forming in his eyes. It couldn't be true could it? Shun couldn't be dead. It seemed too impossible. The boy had been laughing this morning...right...he had been laughing. Hyoga began to tremble, something he had never done. He couldn't believe that Shun was dead. He didn't want to believe it. He had said such horrible things to him and made him cry...and now he would never be able to make it up to him. He had betrayed Shun, and it hurt. It hurt more than any wound he had received from playing too roughly or even from his sometimes abusive father. Now he finally knew sorrow. And he couldn't stand the choked pain he felt inside of his chest.

Hyoga had never had a good relationship with anyone. His mother cared for him and tried to make him feel loved, but he always felt like a burden. He wasn't a good boy like Shun. He didn't stay where he was told. His father was scared of his ability to attract Vampires. Hyoga didn't blame him. He understood why. He had grown up in a town where Vampires and Werewolves really ruled, by the fang. His father loved him, but sometimes when he got drunk he hit him. Hyoga had grown used to it, and didn't blame his father. Though he did resent him a little for letting himself get out of hand. Hyoga was very grown up for a seven year old, though he felt bad for that too.

He tried to imagine his family. They had always seemed so happy. Now they would be crying. He knew. And so would Shun's family and their friends. They would think that Hyoga was dead. But Hyoga felt dead. Why should he return home when Shun never would? Why should he survive when he had never been anything but a burden to everyone in the village? Ikki, Seiya and Shiryu could just replace the toy and never worry about them breaking it. They wouldn't have to worry about watching them when they'd rather be playing because there would be nothing to watch. Except maybe an empty corner...why was Hyoga thinking this way? He knew that all of this was wrong. It was just his head filled with sadness. But Hyoga couldn't imagine his life without Shun. He couldn't imagine his light extinguished. He had always run to Shun when he was upset. Now, that was gone. He wanted to be gone too. He didn't deserve to go back, not alone.

Hyoga began to wonder if he would chance walking into the clearing to try and grab Shun, but he heard a growl. It was a Werewolf, and a large one too. It had noticed his scent. Hyoga didn't have to be able to tell what it was saying to know that it wanted him gone. Fear overtook him again, and he ran into the forest. He was praying that the creature wouldn't follow him, crashing into the undergrowth. It took him several long minutes of running to realize that it wasn't following him. He paused and looked back the way he came, but had no clue how to get back to where he had been.

He heard a twig snap, and even that seemed muffled under the creature's strange tread. He froze, wondering if the Werewolf had followed him after all. But then she stepped out where he could see her. It was the female Vampire from before, with long, waist length blonde hair, and deep sea green eyes. Hyoga took a step away from her, but she knelled down and grabbed his wrist before he could move away. The young boy trembled under her gaze.

"Hmm..." She said. "You don't seem to be injured. That's good. I was worried for a minute. I thought you might have gotten stuck in that battle. That would have been bad for you little one."

"W-who are you?" Hyoga asked before he could stop himself.

"My name is Sarah." the Vampire said. She was obviously an English speaking Vampire, but she spoke flawless Japanese. "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you." Hyoga remained quiet, still trembling and expecting some trick from the Vampire. She frowned a little. "This is all Humans see isn't it? They see that we're cold blooded killers."

"Wasn't it your battle that killed all those people?" Hyoga asked a little angrily. "That killed..." he couldn't finish the sentence. It trailed off and he felt tears threatening again.

"Oh no..." She said. "Did someone you know get mixed up in that?" Hyoga didn't answer. He couldn't. It seemed too outrageous for a Vampire to be pitying him. Sarah watched him sadly for a moment. "It was the green haired boy, wasn't it?"

"Was he dead?" Hyoga couldn't help but ask.

"I pray so. If he wasn't, he's in for a rough time. Werewolves are not patient creatures, and they love to kill the young of Humans especially. And they aren't fond of Humans at all. They're beasts. There's nothing Human about them. They'll kill him in the most horrible ways they can if he's still alive. That Werewolf took him. That's why we have these battles. We're trying to protect the Humans that live here, because Werewolves will attack anything that they think has invaded their territory. Though, unfortunately, we're beasts too. When we get into a battle we lose control of ourselves. We leave the bodies though. We know how fond Humans are of burying their dead. But the Werewolves take dead bodies...they really are disgusting creatures..." Hyoga began to sob quietly. He didn't want to believe her, but at the same time he felt like it was true. The boy was in pain and didn't know what to do.

"Then why are you here?" Hyoga asked. "Didn't the Werewolves win?"

"I was looking for survivors." She said. "There usually aren't any, but I have to try to help if I can. I'm sorry I couldn't save your friend. But that Werewolf was simply too big for me to fight on my own." She watched the boy crying for a moment. She hated to see Humans cry. She gently wrapped him into a hug that he was too distressed to fight. "I'm sorry. But everything will work out in the end. Fate seems strange that way. But now you have to come with me. I can't leave you here to let the Werewolves eat you. You're too cute for that."

Hyoga wanted to hate her. How could she say that anything would be OK after what he did? How could fate or time fix the hole that had opened in his heart? There was a place in his heart when Shun had managed to crawl inside, and now he was gone. How could anything ever be right again when he had betrayed the one person he had come to love...

Yes, he realized. He had loved Shun. They were just alike, and even though they were only still children, Hyoga had fallen for the small boy. But he had betrayed him. His last image of the boy was of him crying and scared, all alone. Hyoga didn't want to ever fall in love again. He couldn't bear the pain of losing them...or of knowing that he hurt them...

Hyoga awoke with a start, tears in his eyes again. He had tried to forget that night, tried so many times...but he couldn't. He couldn't forget the pain. But he was glad for that in a way. It reminded him why he remained so distant from everyone. He couldn't stand to think of Shun. He couldn't stand to think of the one thing he had lost. He couldn't stand to think of how he had hurt Shun, and would never be able to make it up to him. He couldn't stand that he had made him cry. Hyoga hated love now. He saw it everywhere, and he couldn't stand it. Because he had lost it.

Hyoga sat up and looked out the window. This large mansion was the home to a large clan of Vampires. And he lived with them along with several other Humans. The Vampires really were kind, and they kept their instinct to drink blood in check. They mostly drank animal blood, but every now and then they would have to drink Human blood. Hyoga winced a little as he touched the fresh pierce mark on his neck. Sarah had fed off of him last night. She had been gentle, but it still hurt. It was impossible to make it not hurt. Her fangs were simply too sharp for that. But he trusted her. She had raised him for nine years here, and she was always fairly gentle with him. She never hurt him badly. She was like an older sister to him, though he knew they weren't really related in any way. She was actually over two hundred years old. He must seem like an insect to her.

He thought of his family suddenly. He couldn't imagine what they would be like after all this time. Or Shun's family either. He couldn't imagine their friends, giant Geki, gentle Javu, strange little Ichi, or even Nachi. He wondered if they even remembered him at all. They had been friends, but they had resented him as children as much as Ikki, Seiya or Shiryu. He sighed. He was letting himself get caught up in the past again. He couldn't believe how sentimental he had become here lately. It must be that dream...well either way he couldn't afford it. Only a few Vampires were here, and the rest were all out hunting and patrolling the area. They had won the last battle against the Werewolves, and they were in better spirits for that.

But they were also deeply troubled. The Werewolves weren't really fighting hard this time. It was like they weren't really interested in fighting for territory. But Werewolves always wanted to fight. It was strange. There could only be two explanations: they had either moved their pack, or they had sensed something big changing in the world that had made them nervous. The second seemed like the best choice of the two, because they had still seen the Werewolves in their same old cave. Vampires were intelligent creatures, but their senses couldn't compare to the Wolves'. They could sense danger coming from much farther away than Vampires could, sometimes even as far away as a week's journey. The Wolves were nervous, and it made the Vampires nervous too. They might have been enemies with the Wolves, but they weren't so embittered that they couldn't see when the Wolves knew something was coming.

Hyoga wished that just once they could talk to the Werewolves and find out what was wrong, if the Werewolves even knew. But they couldn't speak to them, and the Vampires would let no one near them. It's like they were terrified of them. Which may have very well been the case. Vampires didn't like Werewolves at all. It was kind of inherited through the "generations" of Vampires. Hyoga was glad that they had let him remain Human. He didn't think he would like to live for centuries, unable to escape from his past. It was already bad enough with the one life he had. He looked out towards the forest. The sun was up now. Most of the Vampires would be asleep and trying to recover from the wounds that they had received in last week's battle.

Hyoga paused a moment however, because he had noticed movement at the forest's edge. A young man stepped out, followed by four others. Hyoga felt the breath leave his lungs. Not only did he recognize them as Undead Hunters, but he also recognized them on a personal level. The first one was a tall and strong looking young man with long, waist length black hair. A bandage was over his eyes, but Hyoga knew they were blue. It was Shiryu. Next was a large bear of a man filled with muscle. His hair was black but had almost a purple tint to it. His eyes were dark brown. This was Geki. Next was a shorter young man, also well muscled. He had short brown hair and green eyes. This was Javu. Next was an even shorter young man with dark black eyes and hair that seemed like it was a pure white Mohawk. It didn't surprise him, looking at him. It was Ichi. Last there was a young man who was taller than Ichi but shorter than Javu. He had dark black hair that was cut short, and dark black eyes. His name was Nachi.

Hyoga felt a mixture of happiness and dread. He had changed over the years, growing strong and fit under the care of the Vampires. He had a well muscled physique. His hair was still stark blonde and was cut to rest on his shoulders. And his eyes were icy blue, like the tundra. They were probably the sole reason he was called Hyoga by his mother. He had changed so much, he wondered if they would even recognize him. Then, despite himself, he turned and ran down the hallway into the main hall. Several Vampires had already gathered.

"What should we do?" one asked.

"Don't attack." another said. "They're only young ones."

"I know them." Hyoga said. "Let me go out to them." all of the Vampires turned to look at him. They seemed a little sad. Then one of them stepped forward.

"Then you should go talk to them." he said. "I'll lead them into the forest and tell them to wait there. Then you can go talk to them alone."

"Alright." Hyoga said, agreeing though he really didn't want to.

"Follow at a distance." The Vampire told him. "And be careful."

The Vampire turned and disappeared out of the door. Hyoga watched him approach the Undead Hunters carefully, and say something to him. While they were distracted, Hyoga carefully slipped out and followed. The Vampire disappeared into the forest, and nervously, his old friends followed. He kept at a careful distance from all of them, and then at last paused behind a tree. They were waiting as instructed in a small clearing. The Vampire stopped by him.

"Good luck." he said. "Find out what they want."

He left Hyoga alone then. It made him slightly uncomfortable. He didn't really want to see them. He didn't want to find out what they really thought after all of this time. It might hurt him more than what he thought now. He remained where he was. The Undead Hunters waited in the clearing nervously. Hyoga barely shifted his weight, and Shiryu whirled around to face him suddenly.

"Come out here!" he demanded. "I heard you! Come out and speak with us!"

"Always such a loud mouth." Hyoga sighed aloud without meaning to. "You may have lost your eyes, but that hasn't changed. None of you have really changed that much." they all paused and looked towards the sound of his voice. They seemed to be trying to not believe something they had given up hope in long ago.

"Who are you?" Javu asked.

"You know about us, or claim to..." Nachi said.

"But you live with Vampires?" Ichi asked uncomfortably.

"Could you be..." Geki said. They all paused uncertainly, and Hyoga sighed. Then, he stepped out where they could see him. There was a collective gasp from the group, all except Shiryu, who was waiting patiently.

"H-hyoga?" Geki gasped.

"Long time no see." Hyoga replied with a roguish smile. He had always used to give them that look. He only did it now because he was nervous about seeing them. "How's life been treating you?"

"U-uh," Javu suddenly asked. "are you...?"

"Human?" Hyoga asked. "Yes. The clan here doesn't turn people if they can help it."

"And you've been here for nine years?" Geki suddenly growled. "Why didn't you come home?"

"Have you ever tried to escape from Vampires?" Hyoga asked. "They're good people, but they're a little overprotective."

There was an awkward silence for a moment. No one seemed to know how to continue. Hyoga seemed even more icy than he had when they were children, much more distant. And they couldn't blame him. They had never been very nice to the poor boy, but they were glad to see him. Hyoga was also wondering about how their lives had been without him. He didn't know how Shiryu had lost his eyes, and the thought saddened him. But Shiryu hardly seemed to need them. At last, Shiryu sighed.

"So you've been here for nine years?" He asked. "Have you seen Shun?"

"Last time I saw him I was pretty sure he was dead." Hyoga said sadly. "After that I don't know much except that a Werewolf found him."

"We've heard that he might be alive somewhere." Shiryu said kindly.

"From what I know of Werewolves," Hyoga sighed. "I'd almost pray that he wasn't. Werewolves don't help Humans. And you don't want to know what they really do."

Again, there was an uncomfortable silence. They all knew that what Hyoga had said was right. They knew of Werewolves too, and they had seen how barbaric they were. They shuddered, trying to imagine what they did to Humans but unable too. It seemed too horrible to imagine. It also seemed too impossible that sweet little Shun would have survived all of those nine years with Werewolves. They knew that sometimes Vampires helped Humans when they could remember the Human part of themselves, but Werewolves? No, that never happened.

"But why are you here?" Hyoga asked. "Undead Hunters never just come to Vampires' lairs without wanting something. Especially not to just talk."

"You got us." Nachi sighed. "We're in trouble Hyoga, Humans, Vampires and Werewolves."

"Really?" Hyoga asked.

"There's someone using dark magic to hurt all three races." Ichi said.

"Right." Javu added. "And the Council that runs the Undead Hunters want us to form an alliance with Vampires and Werewolves to fight this person."

"If we don't, we'll all likely end up dead." Geki said.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Hyoga said. "but who in their right minds would think a clan of Vampires would trust a group of five Undead Hunters?"

"Do you trust us?" Shiryu asked.

"I do."

"Then convince them for us." Shiryu said. "We need their help. We need your help. You're one of the few people that know how a Vampire will act."

"You still don't have anyone to talk to Werewolves." Hyoga sighed. "I say it's impossible. But...I'll talk to them for you."

"Thank you Hyoga." Shiryu said, smiling a little. "We're glad to see that you're alright after all of these years. Everyone will be so relieved to hear it."

"Everyone who?" Hyoga asked.

"All of our friends." Shiryu said. "You remember them: Shaina, Saori, Aphrodite, June...everybody. The whole town's become a beehive of Undead Hunters, so much so that they put a base there."

"I don't know how the Vampires will like that..." Hyoga said.

"And Ikki and Seiya went to see if they could find Shun." Geki said. "So don't worry. Help us out, and we'll help you."

Hyoga watched them all a moment, his face impassive. It seemed impossible. Here were some of his friends, who had been worried about him for nine years. He had thought that they would not mourn him, but it seemed he was wrong. And they said that Shun might be alive. That suddenly gave him a new purpose. He wanted desperately to protect the boy now. Everything did seem to be turning alright. Perhaps Sarah had been right, and fate did play a strange game. He seemed to be caught in the middle of it. He gave them a rare smile.

"Alright then. Follow me." Hyoga said.

So there's chapter two. Things are going to get more interesting from now on, and there will be a lot of confusion and tearful reunions. Nice combination don't you think?

I hoped you enjoyed and will continue to support me!