Chapter Text
He had an arrow nocked in his bow, crouched down amongst the bushes of the small woodlands, dirt and mulch pressing into his knees, his dark pants rolled up to his thighs.
A piece of parchment rested beside him on the soil, instructions written on it in beautiful purple ink, sparkling slightly under the dappled afternoon sunlight.
Instructions for beau Rook Hunt by order of Vampire Queen Schoenheit.
Bring back a human fit to have their blood consumed for the ritual of bringing back the deceased former ruler.
The human must NOT know of the plan.
The human must never have had their blood drunk before by a vampire.
The human should not be from a powerful community, lest their family or friends come searching.
Additional note from the Queen: Huntsman, don’t risk going near any vampire hunters this time. I trust this note will not fall into the hands of a human.
Rook was tempted to laugh at the last note from Vil. His Queen was such a worry-wart, even if he tried to hide it.
Currently, he was lining up his arrow so that it didn’t do any major damage to his target - afterall, they needed to be healthy for the ritual.
The arrowhead was blunter than usual, he just had to inconvenience his prey, not kill.
Swish.
Rook swiftly released his gloved fingers, the arrow flying through the air and impaling itself on the target's ankle.
There was a soft yell and then a flurry of swear words. Rook suppressed a small chuckle, rising to his feet and pushing the bushes away, walking into the clearing the human was standing in, note forgotten in the mulch.
“Oh la la la, what a pretty sound, I forgot how fun it is to hunt cute little humans.” He said, grinning at the boy, who had fallen to the ground with a scowl. “It’s been a while since I’ve been outside the palace.”
“Excuse you?” Piped up the boy, his pale purple hair covering his eyes. Though he sounded polite, he was giving Rook a rather amusing deathglare. “What do ya mean by cute little human? Are ya one of those vampires? My memaw said they didn't bother humans anymore.”
Rook shrugged, plucking the arrow from the small boy’s ankle and placing it back into his quiver, wiping the blood onto his pants. “Why, that’s a secret, Monsieur Cherry Apple.”
“So what are ya doin' here then? if ya try anything, aah'll take a stick to your eyes 'n set memaw own ya! I may as well do it already since ya shot me. She used to be a vampire hunter, y’know!” Rook watched with a smile as the boy struggled to his feet, limping from the injury.
“Oh no, no, that would ruin the plans of my beloved.” He said, striding up to the human. “What’s your name, little human?” Purred the huntsman, grabbing his shoulder and holding him in place.
He looked so uncomfortable that Rook thought it was absolutely adorable. He wanted to know more about this human - if only he wasn’t fated to death.
“I… It’s Epel Felmier.” He said quietly.
Rook hummed, looking Epel up and down. As he looked at his legs - mostly to check on the wound - he noticed an apple on the ground, partway through a carving. From the curves and outline, he assumed it was being worked into the shape of a spade.
“What’s that?”
“None of some vampires business!” Epel said under his breath, reaching into his pocket.
Just in time, Rook caught a glimpse of silver as the country boy pulled a knife out of his pocket, thrusting it towards the vampire. Spinning to the side, Rook barely avoided getting nicked in the chest.
Thus started a dance of sorts, Epel lunging forward with the knife, and Rook dodging, hair billowing in the wind.
The vampire had never been so glad to have pre-prepared his prey for a situation like this, as his eyes flicked from the knife to the cut in his ankle. “Oh little human, you have to get worn out soon,” he said through gritted teeth, as Epel slashed a hole in the side of his jacket, tearing it open.
“Well how 'bout ya get your bloodsuckin' self back to wherever ya've bin' hidin'! I ain’t plannin’ on becomin’ a blood bag!”
Rook ducked under the knife, grabbing Epel by the waist, holding him against a tree and grabbing his wrist with his other hand. Epel faltered, letting out a hiss, his leg starting to shake, at risk of giving out underneath him.
“You won’t be a blood bag, Monsieur Cherry Apple, you’re a special present for the Queen,” Rook spat, twisting his wrist with a sharp crack, feeling the bone break under his sharp nails.
Epel sniffled. The silver knife clattered to the ground, coming to rest at their feet.
The adrenaline faded, and he shivered, leaning against the tree, bark digging into his back. Rising up from his ankle were offshoots of pain, the teen’s breath caught in his throat. He was wide-eyed, like a scared rabbit.
“Be quiet now. I can do worse,” Rook said, eyes sliding to the poison tipped arrows in his quiver, ones that keep a person paralysed for hours.
Nodding, silent tears fell down Epel’s cheeks as he let Rook pick him up, carrying him like a bride through the forest.
Too hopeless to try and hide his crying, Epel kept his gaze trained on the partially complete spade apple. There’s a chance. There’s a chance someone - or two someone’s - recognizes it and the knife.
He held onto that shred of hope, carving a place for it in his heart and keeping it safe amongst his fracturing strength as the rest of his body shut down and his eyelids fluttered shut.
Rook found the journey back to the castle tedious and tiring. Thanks to the boy in his arms he couldn’t take the liberty of speeding from tree to tree like he usually would with his inhuman speed.
He would be so fucked if he brung back damaged goods for the Queen. Nor would it be in an enjoyable way either.
So instead he walked through the forest, skirting around the village, lest he or Epel were recognised by one of the many humans living there.
From what he knew, the boy had only mentioned having a grandmother.
He really does seem like the perfect fit for the ritual - you don’t even need to be a vampire to beat up an old lady.
Who cares if she’s an ex vampire hunter? Rook thought with a smile, If Roi du Poison asked me to, I would kill her even if it meant laying down my own life in the process.
The afternoon was steadily turning to night, and Rook grew restless and hungry.
He looked down at Epel, once again admiring his soft features. Obviously a mere human couldn’t come close to being as beautiful as his Queen was, but he was a pretty sight nonetheless.
“...When are ya gonna quit starin' at me?” A sliver of life from the boy. His voice was quiet, a whisper of wind in the dark woods. “I'm not convinced that ya won't drink my blood.”
Rook raised an eyebrow. So he had been awake. “As much as I wish I could, it would reset all my progress. Do not worry, Monsieur Cherry Apple, I’ll find someone else soon.”
As soon as he mentioned progress, a sense of dread settled into his stomach.
Lips pressed together in a tight line, he set Epel down next to a thin pine tree, expertly lashing him to it with a rope.
“What the fuck.” Epel said quietly, though the huntsman ignored him. Instead, he was too busy searching his pockets.
No, no, no. He couldn’t have. Did he really leave it all the way back there? Rook’s hand curled into a fist, his knuckles paper white from how hard he was pressing his fingers into his palm, leaving red marks on the skin.
“Ah, my beautiful Queen… It seems I was wrong. I was not as thorough as I promised,” he said, voice breathy, “I simply would not be able to live with myself if I failed you.”
Rook pulled out his phone, leaning against the tree Epel was tied to as he went into his contacts.
He wasn’t close with this point of contact, however they had crossed paths in the castle before and from their few conversations, the other vampire seemed useful, if not a little incompetent at times.
Rook had checked the mission logs before leaving, and knew he was the only other vampire in a similar radius to him.
@RookOnTheHunt: Bonjour Monsieur Sleepyhead, are you able to help me for the night? I’m afraid I messed up and Roi du Poison would likely have my neck if I didn’t complete this to a tea.
He looked up at the sky as he waited for a response, pleasantly surprised by how compliant Epel was being.
Speaking of Epel - “Monsieur Cherry Apple, what’s your favourite thing about being human?”
Epel gave him an odd look, looking up from a makeshift sling he was attempting to weave from a flax bush.
Rook slid down next to him, gesturing for him to pass him the sling. Epel scowled, but couldn’t deny that Rook was in a much healthier state for weaving.
Afterall, the pain from his broken bone was only getting worse as he attempted to move it to weave.
“Why’s a vampire care about that?”
“How presumptuous. I used to be human once, you know. So I’m just curious - what makes it worth it for you?”
Epel shifted uncomfortably, forcing himself not to cry again, bringing his knees to his chest and hiding his face. “I guess… Growing old sounds nice. Like my memaw. I want to be like her.”
Rook hummed, seeing a notification on his phone. “Intriguing. A stark opposite to what I expected, usually humans tend to fear death and age.”
‘So?”
“And that’s why I asked to be turned. So I could stay with my Queen forever.”
@ElysianSleep: Oh... What is it you need, Rook?
@RookOnTheHunt: Could you retrieve a note I accidentally left here? It’s in a clearing near the village. Should be a knife and apple carving nearby. Merci.
He responded, sending a link to the approximate coordinates.
@ElysianSleep: I will head there as soon as I can.
@RookOnTheHunt: Merci again, Monsieur Sleepyhead! ♡
@Elysian Sleep: Speaking of sleepyhead… I hope I don’t fall asleep soon, if the note is related to what I think it is. I will not fail you, Rook.
@RookOnTheHunt: Wonderful. You’re a lifesaver.
While he had been conversing with a fellow vampire, Epel had continued talking to him.
“Your Queen? Do vampires really do sappy romantic bullshit?” He said dryly.
Rook smirked, resting his chin on his knuckles with a loving look, thinking of his dearest waiting for him back at the palace.
“I mean Queen in the literal sense, as he is the current ruler of us vampires, but you are right. Vampires have feelings, just like any other humanoid.”
“...Hard to believe, considerin’ ya snapped my wrist.”
“Only because I am on a mission for my Queen and I would do anything to succeed. Don’t take it too personally.”
“Yeah, like that’s easy,” Epel rolled his eyes, wincing in pain, “an’ my ankle too. Fuckin’... Ow.”
He stared bitterly at the floor. If he wasn’t injured and tied up, and if it weren’t so dark out, Epel would have escaped by now. Or at the very least, attempted to.
Humming again, Rook finished weaving the sling for Epel, passing it to the boy and helping him adjust it for his wrist.
“What to do now, hm?” Rook muttered, spinning his pompous cowboy hat around on his finger.
A gnawing feeling in his chest reminded him of how hungry he was, and he kept stealing glances back at Epel.
He couldn’t.
Standing up, Rook untied the human, picking him back up.
Epel bit down on his tongue as the movement jogged his wrist. “Hey - be careful!”
“Would you rather I make you walk on that injured ankle?” Rook retorted, shutting him up fairly quickly. “Now, now, hush, you’re going to come hunting with me.”
Silver rubbed his eyes, as if that could rid himself of his drowsiness. He had found the area Rook had messaged him about.
Unlike most vampires, he had rather bad night vision, and it was taking him a while to find the note. It’s been approximately 10 minutes as of now and he was starting to lose hope.
“Hm?” Silver blinked slowly, noticing something rather shiny a few metres away. Drifting over, he crouched down, his mouth forming a small O shape as he looked the knife over.
Being highly skilled in swordsmanship, he’d taken a few years cultivating his interest in how they’re made, which covered knives too.
“Steel… With a wooden hilt, probably oak.” He murmured under his breath, turning it around and tracing a finger across the hilt, eyeing the bits that tended to sparkle more. “The tip is covered in silver. Which means it’s made specifically for killing vampires. Who is Rook going after?”
He said, shaking his head and standing up, tucking the knife into his belt. “Are you there?” Silver called out, looking expectantly into the sky. “I need your help.”
A minute passed, then a familiar shape flew overhead, zipping down into the clearing and landing on his shoulder.
Silver gave the bat a fond smile, stroking the fur on its back. “Can you find a piece of paper for me?”
It seemed to nod in an oddly human way, lifting off into the sky again and flying around in circles, eyes trained on the ground below.
Silver sat down under one of the tree’s, a skinny pine that looms over him, branches swaying in the wind.
Several pine needles were already tangled in his hair from being in the woods for so long, yet it was oddly relaxing.
He likes it better like this.
When he isn’t in the castle, when he can be the closest thing to himself. Just him and the bat.
Wind blew into his ears, the call of nature further enhancing his sleepiness. I can’t fall asleep here.
A little squeak coming from the bat briefly brought his attention back to the real world, before he slipped into another daydream like he does far too often.
With a small pang in his chest, he remembered the first time he’d been told off in his first year of training, it had been for sleeping in class. The instructor had given him an hour-long detention that he also ended up sleeping through.
Now that he knows why he falls asleep all the time, he hasn’t been punished for it again, yet it makes him feel so useless.
Silver has worked hard to seem serious and unperturbed by everything, after learning about his narcolepsy and cataplexy.
Once, he’d been mock-fighting with Sebek, and started laughing so hard that his legs gave out under him.
The result wasn’t pretty.
He remembered waking up to a pool of blood, with people crowded around him. What a clutz, Silver thought, impaling myself with my own sword.
Squeak. Squeak.
Insistent squeaks woke him from his daze, the bat nipping at the edge of his ear to get Silver’s attention.
“Ah… You’re right, I lost focus. What were we doing - oh, yes, the note. You found it?”
The bat purred, leading him towards a spot behind a bush. Silver peered down next to it, brushing a leaf or two away, grabbing the edge of a piece of parchment.
It was too dark for him to read it, and he wasn’t one to pry into other people’s business, so he tucked it into his pocket. He knew the gist of the plan anyway.
Treat people how you want to be treated, right?
“Why won’t you stop squeaking?” Silver said under his breath, shaking his head with a perplexed frown. “Is there something wrong?”
The bat squeaked one last time, its red eyes boring into Silver’s oddly discoloured eyes, before flying up into the sky, heading far North.
“Such curious behaviour…”
Blurry. Everything grew blurry. Silver barely had enough time to lay down next to the bush before his brain turned off and he fell asleep.
While he must have slept for no more than 3 minutes, it seemed that the entire atmosphere around him had changed by the time he woke up.
“Ace, quit shining your flashlight into my eyes! I hate being on night watch with you,” huffed the voice of a teenage boy.
“Hey, Deuce, why don’t you be quiet and focus? You aren’t supposed to be talking so much on night watch,” retorted a much snarkier voice, likely the Ace person referred to by Deuce.
Silver held his breath, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword. Luckily he had trained himself not to feel anxiety in these situations.
The voices got louder, soon accompanied by the sound of hooves clopping across the dewy grass.
They were quiet for a bit until one of them sighed. “It really sucks that you got stood up though. Like damn, he isn’t even answering your texts? Pretty shitty if you ask me.”
“Yeah. My mum was really excited for me, and now I don’t know what to tell her. I don’t want to disappoint her!”
“Disappoint her? Dude, bro, Deuce, your mum is literally so chill. Just tell her what happened with the guy.”
“Yeah, I know but I’m still kind of worried-”
“Oh, hey, there’s an apple!” The voice that Silver learnt was Ace called out for them to stop, “My horse needs a snack, let's break for a bit and stop here. Maybe we can find more!”
“Man, you sound like it’s your first time seeing an apple…”
Silver sucked in a breath as two horses and their riders came into sight, trying to shrivel up and become short enough to stay concealed by the bushes and trees.
“Uh… Deuce? Come and look at this.” Ace shone his torch down on something hidden amongst the grass. “Doesn’t this look like one of those carvings your not-yet-boyfriend makes?”
Silver watched Deuce scramble off his horse and join Ace, pulling out his flashlight and shining in on the ground.
“Oh, woah it is! What is it doing out here? It’s in the shape of a spade too.”
Ace frowned, kicking it gently. “If it wasn’t so dark I’d tell you that you’re blushing. Seems like some sappy romantic shit. But then why would he have stood you up?”
“This isn’t right.”
“C’mon, Deuce, let’s look around for more clues.”
“Yeah… I’m worried now.”
Every so often one of their flashlights would bounce off each other and Silver caught a glimpse of their white, black and red uniforms.
Are they vampire hunters? Silver thought, his eyes widening in surprise. I suppose it makes sense. Vampires start to come out of hiding and humans come back to hunt them.
Wanting confirmation, Silver tried to get a better look at their weapons, for any tell-tale signs of silver.
Ace had a gun tucked into his belt, however Deuce’s was much easier to spot, an axe resting on the floor next to his horse. He leaned a bit above the bush, trying to see anything and-
Ow. Blinding light hit his eyes. Flinching, Silver jolted away from the bush, back hitting the tree.
Standing right in front of them with their flashlights trained on the man, were the two soldiers.
“Hey, you, what are you doing out at night? Ignoring the village curfew?” Accused Ace.
“Wait,” Deuce tilted his head, looking closer at Silver. “Look at his ears. And his teeth - both pointy.”
Silver sighed, mentally face-palming. “I am not here to harm either of you.”
Ace’s eye twitched and he tensed up, pointing his gun at Silver’s head, loading it with a silver bullet. “Shut up, vampire.” His voice wobbled.
“I mean it,” Silver said, sincerely pressing a hand to his chest as he bowed down. “I am simply passing by.”
Deuce joined Ace, frowning. “What did you do to Epel then? I knew he would never stand me up - so what did you do to him!”
“I was not the one who met your friend,” Silver promised, knowing what they would assume if they found the knife (presumably Epel’s) in his belt. “It was another vampire.”
Ace glared, “Yeah, as if. You’re just bloodthirsty beasts. You should run away like you did last time we beat your ass’s and killed your old Queen.”
Silver’s gaze hardened, beads of sweat forming against his skin. “Do not insult our late queen. You don’t know how nice he was. He just wanted to reach a treaty with you - but you killed him instead.”
“You’re wrong. He tried to assassinate our leader while they were discussing the treaty.” Deuce said, as if he was parroting a line from a textbook.
Silver drew his sword with a flourish, the dull grey blade barely visible in the darkness.
“If you badmouth our former Queen one more time I will-” He broke off the sentence, his vision doubling as he stood there. No. No. No. He let his emotions get the better of him.
It was happening again.
“And again, I have failed my brother,” Silver muttered as his legs gave out once again.