A soft sleepy whisper, the pleasant sound of giggling as she presses her face against her warm pillow and wraps her arms around it. A brushing of fingertips against pale scarred skin, palms resting against her waist and the small of her back as the faintest traces of delicious crimson nectars slips inside her mouth soothing her sore throat. Shauna purrs, a flicker of consciousness illuminating the abyss of her mindscape chasing away the dizziness of sleep and Shauna's heart aches, because Vayne doesn't want to wake up. Oh no, she doesn't want to abandon her soft mattress and warm breathing pillow just to return to the cruel world of reality where everyone despises her and wants to hurt her. She doesn't want to return to the cold confines of her chamber, her lonely hunts, the hateful glances of her not-mate and the mocking laugher of the guards as the iron gauntlets shatter her bones repeatedly.
She's had enough. Enough of the pain and the guilt crippling her already broken spirit, enough of the hate and the insults and the mocking remarks being flung her way. Enough of the solitude and hopelessness, the bitter tears, the lonely road she has to walk as the Night Hunter. She is done with all of those.
Kalista will personally drag the souls of her tormentors to hell or even gift them to the Chain Warden, hell she can even use them as spears and hurl them at her enemies for all the vampire cares, and her mat-Quinn is safe for the time being, but Vayne's very soul is… fractured.
She can feel it in the way her thoughts shift and her emotions change, the flare of anger overwhelming her mind wherever she closes her eyes, the way the color drains from her irises as if to remind her of how broken and lifeless she truly is. To remind her that even her own soul, her very essence itself is fading.
Something inside her psyche has changed since her encounter with the Eternal Nightmare and even though she hates to admit it and the thought itself terrifies her deep inside her Shauna already knows that she is not just injured or weakened. Oh no, she is utterly broken and Shauna can't even think of pulling herself together now that she has confirmed that the scout is alive, safe under the Institute's protection and that her sacrifice wasn't in vain.
Why should she even attempt such a hopeless, dreadful thing anyway? Her family is dead, the once renown Vayne manor is now in ruins, burnt to the ground thanks to some nameless individual setting it ablaze mere days after the king had announced her departure to join the League of Legends, as if the inspiring arsonist wanted to make sure that she will never have a reason to step foot into the glorious capital of Demacia ever again.
He didn't really have to, Vayne didn't have any intention of returning to that horrible city anyway, but the sudden loss of her parental home, the last vestige that reminded of her admittedly short-lived childhood and the peaceful smiles of her parents had shook the young huntress to the core.
Shauna could still remember her reaction, the shock, the grief, the silent tears she had shed while thinking of that house. Her father's study filled with various books and journals written in the tall man's weird crooked handwriting that Vayne still had some trouble understanding. The master bedroom still housing her parent's old faded clothes, a bottle of her mother's favorite perfume there to remind her of their rare outings: the dances, the parties, their occasional walks in the park whenever her father wasn't too busy tending to the crown and its council of sycophants. Vayne would never really forgive them for stealing so much of her father's relatively short time.
Bitter thoughts she admitted, the outings with her parents were not that uncommon, but still there could be so many more! That though alone was infuriating. Aaand she's lost it again without even so much as opening her eyes or realizing that she has regained consciousness. So much for the famous calm composure of the Night Hunter which she'd managed to build and maintain over the countless years she has spend hunting monsters.
The rage consumes her, her throat is aching and Vayne growls, bitter tears already rolling down her cheeks as her fangs start extending inside her mouth as if to remind her that those days are over, that her whole life has once again ended and that she now has no other choice but to continue living like a mindless broken husk or fury, hurting and killing the ones surrounding her in order to stay alive. Like a parasite. Shauna can almost hear Kalista's hollow voice reverberating inside her unstable beastlike brain.
"We can see the hunter becoming the prey and the prey becoming the pet until it turns into a ravenous beast and devours its master."
Vayne chokes, her growls turning into soft whimpers as she buries her fangs into her warm fragrant pillow intending to mute her anguished cries of despair and the vampire jolts away in surprise as her pillow suddenly recoils and screams in agony using the voice of the woman she loves.
Her eyes open in an instant, body slumping in a heap on the floor, her mouth still leaking hot blood and Vayne can only stare in horror as Quinn suddenly emerges from beneath the covers, her amber eyes filled with worry, but even more than that, compassion as her hand moves sluggishly, sun-kissed fingers clenching around the red bleeding wound in her shoulder.
Shauna freezes, eyes still wide open, gaze darting between the scout and her injured shoulder before suddenly noticing the crimson droplets of blood pooling under her jaw.
No, no, no, no, no. She didn't. There is no way that she almost took a chunk out of her soulmate's shoulder.
"We can see the hunter becoming the prey and the prey becoming the pet until it turns into a ravenous beast and devours its master."
Oh silver it is already happening.
"Shauna?"
She is so lost in her thoughts, her mind is in such a complete and utter disarray that she doesn't even notice the absence of the pain she usually experiences when she harms her soulmate and mistress or the calming gestures of the scout for that matter. Blood, there is fresh blood inside her mouth, it is so warm, so sweet, it doesn't hurt her or sups away her strength and Quinn is bleeding. Delicious! The blood inside her mouth is not her own, it is…
"Shauna?"
Quinn's. Quinn is bleeding, she is bleeding because she hurt her, she bit her shoulder and made her bleed rivers of warm crimson nectar.
Tasty
"It's ok, Shauna. It was just an accident."
Blood, Quinn is losing so much blood, Vayne can clearly see the red droplets slipping between the younger woman's fingers. Quinn is dying because of her and yet Vayne can't help but think that the scene in front of her is beautiful. A meal and a lover, two in one, she just has to reach out and grab her, pin her down under her weight and…
Sick, she is sick, demented and she almost throws up when the voice of the specter suddenly return cold and uncaring, like… like herself.
"We can see the hunter becoming the prey and the prey becoming the pet until it turns into a ravenous beast and devours its master."
"The start of a war…"
Shauna starts trembling, brown eyes filled with terror staring aimlessly towards the injured woman, a long broken howl escaping her throat like the lament of the wolf that has lost its cubs.
"It's alright, Shauna, it is just a scratch, see?"
"The end of a country…"
"Countless souls embracing the afterlife…"
"Sent to hell by your own two bloodstained hands wrapped around their throats…"
The guards were right, the prince was right, she is nothing but a beast barring its fangs at innocents. And what a feast is that she has in front of her, her mouth is already watering. She is sick.
"Shauna, can you even hear me?"
"You are truly a monster among us ghosts and walking nightmares."
Her fangs, her fangs are coated in blood, Quinn's blood because she bit her like a rabid animal. She has to get rid of them. She has to get rid of the fangs that hurt Quinn, even if the shock kills her. Or… or else Quinn is doomed. She smells so good like trapped prey under the moonlight, the scent of blood makes her dizzy with desire, her fangs are aching.
"You are…"
"Shauna? Did you hurt yourself when you fell down? Do you need help climbing back on the bed?"
Her hand reaches towards her mouth, scarred pale fingers brushing against bloody lips, fingernails plunging into soft unprotected flesh as she tries to get a hold of the offending canines, the ones meant to sustain her life, eyes still wide open, her face frozen in fear.
Pain
"Truly a monster among us ghosts…"
It takes Vayne a few tries but she finally manages to get a hold of her fang and she is about to pull it out when Quinn suddenly slaps her hand away and pulls her into a tight embrace.
Warmth
Her life-tooth is evil, so why? Why is this woman stopping her? Why is her not-mate protecting it? Removing it is going to hurt a lot but Vayne is almost sure that she is going to survie the shock of its removal. Well, probably...
Fear
No, oh silver no, she can feel the beast inside her roaring, escaping from the shattered cage of her psyche, slowly clawing its way to the surface and Quinn... Quinn is baring the mark of its mate.
Mate
"Among us ghosts and walking nightmares…"
"The start of a war…"
"Sent to hell by your own two bloodstained hands…"
"No, its ok. You don't have to hurt yourself anymore in order to protect me. See? I am fine. I am safe because you sacrificed yourself and saved me, so it's ok if you would like to have a little snack or in your case a bit of blood as compensation. It is the least I can do for my brave savior."
Food? Prey? Brave? Savior? The beast is confused, is this woman offering herself in order to appease its hunger?
Quinn is even smiling.
"Until it turns into a ravenous beast and…"
" ...devours its master."
She is trembling, she is probably having a heart attack and Quinn is still hugging her tightly, whispering to her softly. Why is the damn woman still here, why isn't Quinn just laughing at her or hitting her now that she is more vulnerable than a newborn kitten. Why is the stupid scout still stroking her back as the beast is about to take over her body? Can't she see the madness in her eyes? The state of her shattered soul crying out in despair or even recognize the danger she poses for her life and everyone around her? Has Quinn not realized that her fangs have actually recovered enough for her to feast on the unfortunate woman?
Confusion, she is prey and yet she is not, she is mate and yet she is untouched. Her heart loves her, her body desires her and yet the human-soul wants to flee the room and suffer without a mate. This whole situation is confusing.
No, she probably knows and that's the scary part, because Quinn is still kneeling on the floor hugging her, staying by her side even when every other sane person would have already fled in terror and Shauna… Shauna can't stop herself from returning the embrace even though she should be jumping out of the window or putting some distance between herself and the damn ranger. The beast is breaking every obstacle and barrier thrown in its way, it is going to be here soon, her vision is fading.
Light, Warmth, Freedom
"It's ok, everything is going to be alright."
Quinn's voice finally manages to reach her ears and Vayne suddenly feels like slapping her. The bird-brained idiot is still trying to comfort her for almost taking a chunk out of her shoulder. Vayne really prays that the scout survives the encounter with her other half. She is going to rip her own heart out of her ribcage otherwise
FREEDOM!
"I love you."
And then the scout kisses her and the beast finally reaches the surface breaking the last mental barrier with a roar and…
…
Nothing, nothing terrible or violent or cruel actually really happens and Vayne just presses her lips against her lover's all the while smiling softly, because it might have taken her years to realize it but she finally understands. The beast, the vampire, the monster, the demon, even the twisted dark persona taking over her during the nights of the full moon, all of those grim hateful entities that anger and scare and terrify her are just different parts of herself, normally suppressed under the veil of reasoning and her own pitiful efforts, soul fragments hidden in plain sight. And like Shauna Vayne and the Night Hunter and the little girl that died in the red manor so many years ago, they all love her mate. They love her to death and they are never going to let anything bad happen to her, so Vayne just sits back and lets the beast purr softly and the little girl give the scout a hug and even Hope is here thanking the woman that healed her daughter's heart and the murderer cries in remorse, hanging her head in shame even as Quinn gently wipes away the tears from the mourning Night Hunter's cheeks and leads Vayne back towards the mattress.
And when Quinn whispers that she loves her and the scout starts removing the vampire's hospital clothing the beast can only croak a three word reply, slowly repeating the other woman's sentence and that's all Vayne really manages to whisper before the scout starts kissing her and with every trembling kiss a scar from the vampire's soul disappears. And as if from some distant faraway place hidden in secret realms untainted by the influence of man Shauna can almost hear the words of the spectral spear wielder but this time the words are filling the blood-demon's heart with hope.
"We see the end of the beast that loved the lamb and the lamb that protected its kin-killer."
And somehow that's enough for Vayne and the vampire smirks in amusement when Quinn suddenly grabs her wrists and pins them over her head before sinking her teeth into the vulnerable fresh of her throat, probably trying to give the stronger woman a taste of her own medicine.
Vayne lets her lover have her way for just a few more seconds before the situation is abruptly reversed and Quinn suddenly finds herself buried under the weight of the Night Hunter and the ranger can only whimper when vibrant crimson eyes finally meet mischievous amber ones.
"C-could we please keep the biting to a minimum? Just for today, please?"
Vayne's eyes soften and the beast retreats back in its cage as soft ruby lips brush against the scout's flaring red ear.
"For you, anything."
"We see the end of the beast that loved the lamb and the lamb that protected its kin-killer."
And Vayne can only smile in return because if a predator can fall in love with its prey and a woman can forgive the killer of her sibling then maybe, just maybe there is still a place in this world for a sinister rabid beast and the kind little sparrow that managed to tame it.
The End
Writer's Note: So yeah, I am not really good at ending a story and I tried a couple of things and thought of even more possibilities during this chapter before I finally managed to scrap what I could to the best of my abilities and the result is the chapter you just read. This is a really old story after all and the ideas behind it have actually mutated before recognition.
I could have played a bit more with the perspectives and did a little more foreshadowing, maybe showing Vayne conversing with her inner demons after her adventure with Nocturne and even seeing the shades or maybe having her converse with the persona of Beast and share his thoughts at times, but I think that the story was already long enough and bore the reader to death so I didn't want to keep prolonging it indefinitely.
I also really wanted to insert a love rival, maybe someone that took a liking to Quinn or learned about Vayne's future and wanted to seduce her in order to use her later on. A dark predator like Evelynn could probably see Vayne as a compatible partner or maybe I could turn Riven into a werewolf and let them form a love triangle, competing for Quinn's attention ( I really like that ot3 ) but yeah, too many chapters on an already dead story. Anyway a bad story is better than an incomplete one in my opinion and some people seemed to enjoyed it, even if only certain chapters, so I would like to hear your opinions about it. Was it terrible, did you expect something else, is the ending that bad, what is my most common typo or grammatical mistake? Things like that. Anyway have a nice day.