Captured Hearts

Chapter Eight: The Protected

The Next morning

"All right, guys, go on in," Mukuro said as the doors opened.

Hibari and Basil walked into the hunting area, just as Dino burst into the room, shouting, "No, wait...!"

The second the two entered, Hibari could smell something really good, and it immediately made him quiver. Basil, however, ignored it, and went to fish, as though it was a normal occurence to smell blood in the hunting grounds. But Hibari couldn't handle the temptation. He followed the scent until he found the source- an injured werewolf. He identified it to be Hayato, scratched up and bitten like he and Belphegor had gotten in a fight. His senses clouded by the delicious smell, Hibari bent over the werewolf and softly bit down on his neck, barely hearing the whimper that the other creature emitted.

Hibari gently sucked on the wound, swallowing mouthfuls of blood at a time. "G-get off," Hayato breathed, "stupid vampire..."

The vampire answered the voice with a quiet moan, trying to tell the werewolf how much he was enjoying the taste of him. Hibari continued to drink for a while longer, ignoring the distant pleas from Dino for him to stop, and not caring when the tamer's arms locked around his own, pulling him back. As his body was yanked backwards, his jaws tightened around Hayato's shoulder, and his body was heaved up as well. The werewolf whined gently, trying to support himself as the fangs pulled his skin taut, threatening to tear it off.

Finally, a voice broke through. "Hibari Natsu Kyoya II, get off him, or I'll shoot!"

Hibari's jaws opened instinctively, and the werewolf dropped down, then hurriedly scooted back, before his eyes suddenly rolled back and he passed out. Hibari looked behind him, and licked his lips, picking up some more of the sweet liquid as it dribbled down his chin. Dino was standing there, relieved that Hibari had parted from his victim, but definite disappointment shone in his eyes.

"Hibarin, why did you...?"

Hibari looked back to Hayato, who was still unconcious, and murmured, "But I smelled blood," in an innocent voice that made the tamer sigh.

"Look, you've got to control yourself," Dino said, placing a hand on the vampire's shoulder. "If you don't... what are you looking at?"

"Hm?" Hibari looked away from the pooling blood by the werewolf's neck and back to Dino. "You said something?"

"Mukuro! Carry Hayato back to the lab and get him treated! I need to show Hibarin something," Dino called to the hunter who was simply passing by. Mukuro rushed in when he saw the unconscious werewolf, and Dino leashed Hibarin, before leading him out of the hunting area. "Sorry, Hibarin, but you've had enough of a meal," the blonde sighed, opening another door that was very well disguised with the wall. They walked in, and Dino had to light a lamp, and the two walked down a flight of stairs in pitch-black darkness aside from the dim light of the flame. Soon after they reached the bottom, they came up to a cage, and Dino unlocked the door, then opened it, indicating for Hibari to enter. The vampire nervously did so, and the gate closed behind him. "A day down here and you'll be as tame as Basil," Dino said, starting to leave. "Sorry, Hibarin. Looks like you fooled us all."

Becoming excessively nervous, Hibari looked around the cage, his silvery eyes glowing slightly as he adjusted to the darkness. Then, he smelled it. A strong, rancid odor that made him wince. A couple footsteps, and a low growl, before the mysterious being grunted, "Who are you?"

"Me? Hibarin," Hibari said, still looking for the source of the sound. "Who are YOU?" A hand touched his shoulder.

"You're thin. I could crunch you up like a bird," it said, making Hibari jump in fright. "Hehe... let me take your blood..." Hibari could feel someone holding his wrist, lifting it up, and he could feel breathing as they waited, before an abrupt and piercing pain shot through his hand. A sickening crunch could be heard, and then another chuckle. "So weak." Hibari felt cold lips nursing on the wound in his hand, and he blinked. When he reopened his eyes, he had fully adjusted to the dark. His hand was between bars into a seperate cage, and the being who had taunted and bitten him was now in full sight. He had spiky, black hair, scars running over his face, and the reddest eyes Hibari had ever seen. Terrified, Hibari pulled his hand back, yelping when some of his skin snagged on a fang and tore off. Hibari looked at his bloodied hand, trembling, and looked back at the other vampire, who had begun to rattle the bars. "Get back over here, kid, I wasn't done with you!" he roared. "I need more blood! Give it to me, damn it!"

In order to get rid of the strong, iron smell of his blood, Hibari sat down and batted dirt up from the ground into his hand, trying to seal the deep wound unnaturally. He gasped with pain at the feeling of rock salt on the open wound, then began to cry, cradling his wrist as he whimpered over the pain of his hand. "What the hell's wrong with you?" Hibari asked in a paniced voice. "It... it hurts, you pathetic excuse for a vampire!"

The other laughed dryly, before kicking dirt and rocks through the bars of the two cages, hissing, "And what are you? You're but an ugly duckling, caught by a lion!" Hibari looked up into the cruel, soulless eyes, trembling slightly when he heard the insult. Never had another vampire called him weak before, and it hurt, for Hibari now knew that it was true. The crunched bones in his hand made that evident. The smaller vampire quivered in fear at the loud, cruel voice that continued to assault his ears, amplified by the walls of the cave. "You unsightly pidgeon! You just wait until I get my hands on you! I'll tear you to pieces! You're going to die, weakling! I'm going to kill you!"

"Stop!" Hibari yelled. "Shut up!"

"Xanxus, that's enough," said someone from another part of the cave.

"Huh?" the wild-eyed vampire grunted "Who said that?"

Neither vampire knew what was going on, but both could hear a watery sound, and then, wet footsteps. "I was wondering where the hell you went, Xanxus," said the voice. "So you were here." Hibari gasped, finally seeing the newcomer. It was Squalo, wearing only a thin, scaly material around his waist. "By the way, Hibarin, it would seem that that thing was true. I certainly do have legs, now don't I?"

"The hell you doing here, shark trash?" Xanxus growled. "Thought I killed you years ago."

"You thought that a little nibble on the neck would kill me? Then you are poorly mistaken," Squalo said. "But if you'll excuse me, I'm not here to help you."

Squalo picked the lock to Hibari's cage with what looked like a small dagger, and the vampire quickly came out. "Thank you," he said more sincerely than he ever had before.

"Whatever, vampire, Fran wanted me to help you out. Said I'd get to see Xanxus, and indeed I have. Xanxus, or should I call you boss? I'm going to lead the vampire back to my place, and then I'll come back out here and we can catch up."

Squalo held Hibari's shoulders, and brought him up to a tunnel. "I've been digging this damn thing for years, waiting for the chance to come down here and see Xanxus. Well, Fran saw you being led in here and informed me of the situation, so here I am."

Hibari wiped at his eyes, and nodded, and the merman backed into his chest. "Hurry up and hold on so I can get you into the merpeople tank." Hibari hugged the merman with only slight hesitance, and Squalo quickly dove into the tunnel, almost losing Hibari with the swift move. The thin, blubbery material around his hips extended and widened into a dolphin tail, and Squalo began to swim quickly, Hibari hanging on for dear life. They soon came out into the merpeople's tank, but then Squalo made another turn into the rock tunnel, and took Hibari into the depths of a cave, where a huge air pocket remained. As soon as they surfaced, Hibari saw Fran, and, after catching his breath, he happily greeted the other merman as Squalo turned and left.

"Man, look at your hand," Fran groaned, "here, lemme see." Hibari held out his wounded hand, and Fran sighed, muttering something about the blood mixing with the water, before he dragged Hibari up to a stone area and pulled him up so that he was practically sitting in the merman's lap. "You ever hear about merpeople's songs having healing powers?" Fran asked.

"Yeah?" Hibari replied, getting hopeful.

"Well it's a load of crap," Fran said. "I can't do anything about this."

Hibari sighed, and tried to inch himself off of the slippery dolphin tail, but Fran held him firmly in place. "You're already sick as it is. Stay up here. And lose the clothes; they only make you colder. Hibari couldn't really protest as the merman stripped him to his undergarments and set his clothes on the rest of the rock. Fran then hugged him tightly, and said, "Here, I'll keep you warm until Dino comes looking for you."

Hibari sighed.

It was going to be a long wait.

Approximately Three Hours Later...

"It's up, Fran, gotta return the vampire to Dino," said Squalo, before pausing. "The hell's going on here?"

"Just me, him and a little man hug. Why?" Fran asked.

"All right, just get him out of here, would you?" Squalo said. "Vampires and water don't mix, Fran."

Hibari got the sense that Squalo wasn't just talking about literal water when he said water, but he didn't say anything on the matter. "Don't get any funny ideas, Squalo, you know I've got a crush on the werewolf, I'm a pretty decent guy, too, I don't cheat."

"Well Poseidon knows you're damn desperate," Squalo snickered. "Give Hibarin back to Dino."

"Fine," Fran said, shoving Hibari's clothes into his arms and lifting the vampire into the water. "C'mon, Hibarin," he sighed. Hibari held onto his clothes in one hand and onto Fran's shoulder with the other, and it wasn't long before they surfaced again at the top of the tank.

"Hibarin!" Dino said. "What the hell are you doing in there?"

Hibari held out his injured hand, overjoyed that he wasn't in saltwater. "I don't want to go back," he murmured. Dino sighed.

"Sorry, boy, those are the rules. If you've got to withstand a night with Xanxus in order to be tamed, so be it," he replied. "That's how it's always been for vampires."

"You're not putting him back with that maniac," Fran said, swimming out in front of the vampire and holding out his arms. "He's too much like me. I can't let him get hurt."

"In what way is Hibarin like you, Fran?" Dino asked, kneeling down at the water's edge. Fran paused, then leaned back, and smacked the surface of the water with his tail, splashing the tamer.

"First of all, he's different from the others," Fran said. He slapped the water again. "Second of all, he's not intrested in his own species." He did it a third time, this time managing to completely soak Dino in a wave of water. "Third of all, he's always putting on a tough face! Get it now, airhead?"

Dino held up his arms in defense, then, when he realized that Fran was finished, said, "All right, fine, he'll go back to the vampire enclosure." Fran splashed him again. "What was that for?" the tamer protested.

"You keep feeding us the same dumb diet. It was basically for good measure."

Dino groaned and reached out a hand. "Come here, Hibarin." Hibari hesitantly reached out and took the offered hand with his uninjured one. He was pulled up onto the rocks, and Dino sighed. "And now you're staying in the tank almost naked? You're crazy!"

Hibari mouthed a thank you to Fran, who grinned and submerged again so that he could squish his face into the glass as Hibari and Dino passed by the lower part of the tank on their way back to the vampire enclosure. Hibari smiled to himself.

He'd found himself a pretty nice friend.

-End Chapter

Okay! And that's that. :) This'll be my last chapter before school starts again... bummer.

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