Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlines	By : devilsdoormat Category: +S to Z > Vampire Hunter D Views: 1732 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Vampire Hunter D is obviously not my original property. I will make no money and benefit only emotionally from sharing. The title character, D, is pulled from both animated movies and not from the manga.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Trees had grown through the broken, stone ground and where once there had been steel and concrete had become twisting plant life trying to reclaim the city. There was moss covering some of the steps nearby, the hull of a building laying on its side, collapsed and hollowed out after eons of rain, snow, heat and wind had ravaged it.

There were many buildings like that in the ruins. Meredith had picked one closest to the only thing resembling a road despite the broken concrete and tall grass growing up through it. It wasn't much of a road anymore, but it hadn't stood a chance against the test of time. She sat there, huddled in a shadowy hole in the fallen tower, and wiped at her eyes.

In her mind she kept replaying the moment she'd been called a monster. The tone in that voice.

Being called a freak.

She sobbed into her hands again.

Why did she ever leave home? Oh yes. An adventure. Some hero she was turning out to be. She had to hide what she was from the people she was trying to save. What was the point in that? Didn't they see that she wasn't a danger to them? People at home always smiled at her, offered her free wares and had watched her grow up, running through the town. They'd picked her up and spun her around.

She'd walked hand in hand, skipping along with her little hand attached to Aatrak's. Or maybe she'd ride on his back and the baker would lean out and have a chuckle before offering Meredith a bagel.

"Can I, Aatrak?" Meredith would ask.

"It's almost supper. Don't spoil your appetite." Aatrak would answer.

"Oh, let her have it, Aatrak." Shoyan would laugh, floating beside them.

"Yeah, I always have room for supper!" Meredith would say proudly.

"Always? How often are you giving her snacks?" Aatrak would ask Shoyan and they would all smile.

Meredith wiped at her eyes again.

She was hungry again and pulled out a bagel from her pocket, but found that she didn't want it. Instead, she threw it down the many feet to the ground and heard it bounce.

The sound it made was soft, but she heard the crunch of dirt and broken stone somewhere else, somewhere further away. Then she heard it again. It was coming in a soft, rhythmic pattern, not too far from where she was sitting and Meredith peered around the corner of her little hideaway to see a horse with a rider on it coming down along the road.

She instantly recognized the other hunter, the Dhampir, on his black, cybernetic horse. His black cloaks were moving like ink behind him, his head lowered. His wide brim traveling hat hid his face, the long, dark hair moving in waves at his shoulders and back. He looked intimidating even from a distance. There wasn't much of a breeze that day, but the ruins had currents within them that sent small gusts rushing out now and then and one hit the hunter, sending his cloaks rippling.

His paused his horse, the sound it made metallic as it turned its head.

Meredith watched him, very sure that she was hidden well enough. Her security cracked though when she realized that he was looking at her. How had he seen her? She was barely leaning out of the shadows. Meredith frowned, feeling suddenly doubtful. What was he going to do? She imagined him attacking her, or grabbing her up. Maybe not. He looked much too calm to be considering that. He could have done that earlier, in the stable, but he hadn't.

He dismounted, keeping a hand on his horse's reigns, and then walked over to the side of the road closest to where Meredith was hiding. The hunter, D, left his horse there and then came to stand about twenty feet away from where Meredith sat high up in the crumbled ruins.

"Do you just not talk to them? Is that how you do it?" Meredith finally called down to him, feeling her tears spilling down her cheeks once more. She turned away from him, looking at the shadows beside herself, "Is that how you come and go and not care?"

He didn't reply but she knew that he was still there.

"I'm not a monster! I'm not!" Meredith said, closing her eyes and hugging her knees. She buried her face into herself.

"To most, you are." D's voice was calm and deep, like still waters.

"But I'm not that different." Meredith told him, lifting her head, "I've never been treated like that. I didn't even do anything wrong."

"You were born. That is enough. This is not your world." D said to her, "You will be treated that way here."

"If they're so horrible, then why do you do what you do?" Meredith wiped at her eyes, "If they treat you so badly.."

"Because I have to." D replied.

"And I guess I have to, too." Meredith exhaled, "It's just not fair. I am what I am. Why would anyone hate me for being me?"

"Because you are a Dhampir. Neither world will take you." D said, "You should get accustomed to that now, Meredith Morrow."

"That's not true. I have a home." Meredith said.

D did not reply at first. A few moments passed.

"Time doesn't stop for us." D told her, "You will have that home for a long as time allows you, but one day, it will be gone. Then, it will just be you."

"Why are you so cheerful and positive?" Meredith asked him, but managed a smile, holding back her tears, "I'll enjoy the time I have then.."

She collected herself.

"If you hunt vampires, do you also hunt Dhampirs?" Meredith asked him.

"If I am paid to." D answered.

"So you don't kill them indiscriminately?" Meredith continued.

D looked up at her, tilting his head. She was turning to hang her legs from the edge of her hiding spot, staring down at him after coming back into the light. The sun was setting, but she was still easily visible. Her hair shone like fire in the dying light.

"If I am attacked I defend myself." D said.

"Is 'D' short for anything?" Meredith asked him, kicking her feet in the air ever so slightly.

He did not reply.

"Does time make you all super brooding too? And vague?" Meredith was still drying her eyes but seemed to be shaking off her previous mood.

"Time makes you a lot of things." D answered.

"My brother Gabriel is really old too. Not like old man old. He's vampire old. Still looks young. But all he does is sulk and wax poetic." Meredith told D, "My sister, Lucia. She's this aloof priss who acts like humans are pests. The only reason she doesn't eat 'em like she wants to is because my dad keeps her on a tight chain. Ugh, my dad. He's totally out of it. Doesn't care about anything but the tithing and keeping up appearances. He didn't even care that I was leaving. I guess it was my mother who ordered all my protection."

D simply looked up at her, listening.

"Not that it matters out here, huh?" Meredith kicked her feet a bit more fervently, her head lowered and her eyes nearly closed, "I had to leave my friends at home. I'll probably die trying to help these hunters kill my own brother. I'm a lame excuse for a Dhampir. I'm just a suped up human. If they didn't need my blood and the magic in it, I'd actually be more of a burden than a help."

When the hunter continued not to speak, Meredith found herself annoyed.

"And what will you do, huh? You can't even get into the maze, let alone open any doors in it, without me. What did you plan on doing? Digging your way through?" Meredith asked him.

"I will manage." D told her.

"Not without my blood. Not without my magic." Meredith looked at him, her lips parted, "Unless you were planning on just attacking me and taking a sample."

"I was not planning on that." D said.

"That's good, because I'm not as strong as you." Meredith sighed, "I can hardly even do any magic, so I don't even try. It's pathetic. I'm a freak and I don't belong out here. I should have stayed home."

"They're looking for you." D told her then.

"I know." Meredith closed her eyes, "I'll go back soon."

He walked back to his horse and mounted the mechanical beast, moving with a grace that Meredith envied as she watched him straighten himself up. He was like a liquid.

"Did you come out this way to talk to me?" Meredith asked him, raising her voice.

D was turning his horse away, moving back to the road.

"It doesn't get easier, Meredith Morrow." D said, speaking loudly enough for her to hear. Though he had also raised his voice, the tone was still somber and even.

"Really? Are you used to it though?" She watched him as he began to ride off, traveling in the direction leading north. He wasn't heading back to town. The hunter was continuing on his journey.

"No." D replied.

Meredith crawled around the ruins as he rode off, his horse's trot becoming a fast gallop after he'd gotten about a hundred yards away from her. He was disappearing into the decaying city. All of the self pity she'd felt mired in seemed to lift as soon as she realized how pathetic it was. She wiped at her face, angry at herself.

She imagined Aatrak there, giving her a stern look.

'Do not give up, Meredith! You are better than that!' Aatrak would have said.

She jumped to her feet, feeling something hot surge through her insides.

"Well, I won't get used to it either!" Meredith called out after him then, "Because I'm not going to let it bother me! They're wrong about me, and I'll show 'em! I'm better than that!"

***

"Aw, that was sweet of you."

"Quiet." D muttered.

"Maybe she'll remember that touching little moment when she's assumed her mother's power and you run into her again, eh? She might go easier on you." It was chuckling.

"If she survives against Raziel." D stated, urging his horse onward through the ruins. He was sticking to the path, looking for the next deviation in the road, "I don't expect her to though."

"And that actually.. bothers you."

D did not respond.

"It does! It bothers you! You want her to live!" It sounded so pleased with itself.

"I don't want her to be killed that way." D corrected it.

"You'd rather be the way she goes out? You want to hold the sword that pierces her heart? Is that what you're saying?" It asked.

"No." D answered it, his voice low.

Truth be told, he wasn't sure what he was saying. He'd seen her running from the tavern with her face in her hands, her speed inhumanly fast as she made her way toward the ruins. She'd run carefully, not leaving tracks, but he'd had no trouble at all figuring out exactly where she'd went.

Why then, did he follow her there?

It seemed unwise to spend too much time dwelling on it.

"Maybe you want to save her, offer her the chance at something more. Maybe prove to yourself that something more even exists." It whispered.

"I'm not a fool." D said, his tone sharper, "I'm not going to lie to her either."

"No, you'd only be a fool if you tried to lie with her." It chortled, "You're tempted. I know it. You've always had that silly adoration for human qualities like strength and bravery, finding their determination admirable or even desirable. You love that about them. Especially human women with those traits. You saw her tears and how quickly she got back to her feet, and, for a second, you forgot that Meredith wasn't human. I know you. You forgot that she wasn't human in the stable too. "

D was silent, jumping the horse over a fallen beam of dented steel.

He'd reach the open fields again in a few moments. Out there, where the roads ended, there was only gravel and sand.

There was movement in the ruins around him.

Figures were waiting far ahead.

***

"There you are." Renshen had actually rushed Meredith and given her a hug. The entire scene had surprised the others, save for Meredith, who was more than happy to receive the affection, "Don't do that again, you got it? You crazy little girl!"

"Mmph! I'm fine, Renshen." Meredith felt him try to pick her up. She was released after a moment and she stepped back, rubbing her neck, "I'm sorry."

"We were worried sick about you!" Val snapped, leaning against the Bella. She had lit a cigarette and was puffing away on it, "I thought he'd taken you, or you'd run home or been attacked.."

"I said I was sorry." Meredith sighed, kicking some sand. She walked up to the car too and pressed her forehead to the metal hull next to the hatch door, "That whole thing just really sucked though."

"Did we learn a lesson today about people?" Renshen tried to keep the waver out of his voice as he spoke to her.

"Yeah, a lot of them are jerks. Stupid and scared." Meredith mused.

"Kid." Gencho exhaled and then, after cracking his neck, lay a hand on her shoulder, "You gotta get used to the world being the way it is. Especially for your kind. Yeah, it's really shitty, but what else are you gonna do? After all this is over, you'll be home again in Morrow Valley. It won't get any easier for you out here."

"I know." Meredith turned around, "I know it doesn't get any easier. The Dhampir told me that."

"The Dhampir? When? When did he talk to you?" Renshen asked her.

"When I was hiding in the ruins. He rode out and talked to me a little." Meredith replied, "He's not a bad guy. I think he's really sad though. I can tell when people are really sad."

"I told you to stay away from that guy, Meredith!" Val approached her, palms out, "What were you thinking?"

"He wouldn't hurt me." Meredith shook her head, "I know it."

"You can't trust him." Val pushed her point.

"Why, because he's a Dhampir?" Meredith asked, scowling and lowering her head.

"No, because.. because.." Val stuttered.

"Because he's not your friend, Meredith." Tengen cut in, coming to lean next to Meredith, "We are. We're your friends, Meredith, and, eh, you know, we're kinda fond of you. You're a hip chick. We don't wanna lose you, Ok? And maybe he's not a bad guy, but he's still our competition and we're still out to make money. We're glad we got you with us, but he's not one of our team. Get it?"

"I guess I get it." Meredith said and then Tengen gave her a squeeze, sliding an arm around her. She smiled when she felt his touch and turned to look at him.

"You're a team member." Tengen told her.

He lifted the eye patch and closed the eye.

"It's hard to wink at someone when you're wearing this thing, doll." He explained, grinning ear to ear.

His words placated her and soon they were loaded into the Bella again.

"Luckily I was able to get in and out the market before the whole town got wind of us." Val was muttering, "And we got gas too. Can't go back to that town again."

"Good. That was a shit town anyway." Tengen laughed.

"I'm gonna keep driving tonight." Gencho said as the Bella roared to life, "Don't feel much like sleeping."

Meredith looked at the man as she sat down on her cot bed.

He looked distant. Something was bothering him.

Tengen surprised her by sitting next to her and sliding an arm around her middle. Meredith leaned into him and closed her eyes, placing her head upon his shoulder.

Val watched curiously while Tengen rested his cheek against Meredith's hair. Tengen and Val exchanged glances. Everything in Val's eyes said 'no' while Tengen smiled nervously back at her.

Renshen passed by, exhaling softly.

The Bella fell quiet.

***

Gencho had been driving in silence for a good hour before he finally spoke.

"I don't wanna alarm anyone, but if you look over at the ruins, you'll see that we're not alone out here." His voice was low.

"What's out there, Gencho?" Val went to a window portal, cautiously peering out.

Meredith did the same, looking at the darkness. The headlights from the Bella were cutting a bright swath into the land ahead of them, casting a glow backward and sending little glimmers back from the broken glass out there in the ruins. There were other light sources out there though, like bright white eyes and neon green pupils reflecting back at the vehicle.

There were things moving in the ruins out there.

"Not attacking. Just watching." Renshen commented, looking out into the darkness, "You wanna steer us clear of the ruins, Gencho?"

"I was wondering when Raziel would send Barbaroi at us." Tengen shrugged.

"Barbaroi?" Meredith whispered, "He's paying them to guard him?"

"Yeah, that's typically what they do." Val said to Meredith.

"Why are they just watching?" Renshen seemed vexed.

The headlights caught something else, far to the right. Bodies were strewn across the ground up ahead, the corpses left tangled at a mouth exiting the ruins. One body was hanging from a sharp spire of steel, impaled. Another was cleaved right in half. They weren't human. The impaled form was some sort of winged reptilian man. The sliced body was a humanoid blob of fur and spikes. The last body, tangled up and broken, had been a woman, her fingers all long like swords. Her head was missing.

Meredith gasped.

"Looks like the Barbaroi reached out and poked our Dhampir friend, doesn't it?" Renshen smirked, "And we missed it."

"I would've wanted to have see that!" Tengen cried out, "Holy shit, look what he did to those guys!"

"They're dead." Meredith brought her hands to her mouth.

"That's why they're letting us through, looks like." Renshen shrugged, "They already lost their best to the Dhampir and now they're more cautious."

"I'm just, uh, gonna go a little faster. Just to be on the safe side." Gencho laughed.

The Bella pressed on.

***

They'd driven clear through the night by the time they reached the open plains of sand and hills. It wasn't quite as oppressive as other deserts the hunters had seen as there were still little patches of dead grass out there, scattering around in little dark spots in the tan sea, but it was still hot.

Meredith pointed out a shriveled tree each time she saw one.

"Tree." She said, pointing out the window.

Her sketchbook was in her lap and she was drawing a rather desiccated looking shrub.

"That'll be five." Gencho murmured, his voice strained.

"Gencho, stop the Bella and for God's sake, let someone else drive!" Val hissed, scrolling through her large book once again, sitting on her cot.

"M'fine, Snowflake." Gencho mused.

"No, you're not. Let Renshen drive." Val stated, looking to the driver's seat.

"She's right, Gen. Stop the car. I'm taking over. It's your turn to sleep." Renshen gave Gencho a nudge, standing behind him.

Gencho slowed the Bella down and put the brake down before being evicted from his seat. He walked by Meredith and Val before he sat on his bed, directly behind Meredith's. Gencho exhaled and was taking his shirt off. He rolled his strong shoulders and then unfastened his belt buckle.

There were dark circles under his eyes. Though he seemed unfocused, he managed to glance at Meredith, turning to look at her and offering a smile.

"See somethin' you like?" He asked her. She'd been watching him.

Meredith stuck her tongue out at him but then smiled soon after.

"That an offer?" Gencho said and then returned the favor, showing off the ball of his tongue ring.

If he was going to flirt with her, she could flirt right back.

"Not with all these people here. I'm not totally shameless." Meredith winked at him and then went back to drawing her dead tree.

"Hnnh.." Gencho was studying her, still grinning. His eyes had narrowed, "I'll remember that. I'm sure we'll be alone sometime.. Princess."

"Jeez, shut up already!" Tengen had his pillow over his face. He was on his own cot, on his back.

The Bella was alive again, the engine revving and rolling.

"Seriously, if you're going to do it, just do it and get it over with. The bathroom is small, but you can fit two people in there if you try." Val snickered.

"Agh!" Tengen threw his pillow at Val.

"Hey! What's that for?" She shot him a look and threw the pillow back. Tengen caught it, sitting up on his cot suddenly.

"It just gets tiring. Hearing that kind of shit." Tengen muttered.

"Never seemed to mind it before." Gencho commented and then curled up on his side on his bed. He stretched, letting a leg hang off the side of the cot. He was yawning, "Meredith's a good sport. Calm down."

Tengen looked at Meredith briefly and she met his eye.

His feelings were hurt. He was trying to hide it, but he was jealous.

Something within Meredith shifted and she paused her drawing.

"I'm just joking around." Meredith said, smiling. She didn't want to draw attention to that flush in Tengen's cheeks and so she shrugged a little and looked back to her sketchbook, "I was trying to joke like you guys do. I'm sorry if it sounded really bad."

Gencho was snoring presently.

"Eh. He was really tired. He says dumb shit when he's like that." Tengen looked off to the front window, watching as Renshen drove, "We're not really creepy perverts, I swear."

"I know you're not." Meredith offered him a little grin when he did turn back to her.

"Speak for yourself. I'm the creepiest pervert ever." Valeria Talbot chuckled.

"But it's endearing." Meredith laughed

Even Tengen was smirking before Renshen slowed the car a bit. When Meredith turned to look at the front window she realized why. There, off on a hill many, many yards away, was the Dhampir hunter. His inky horse was standing far from him and he was there, a black clad figure in the tan sands. His sword was drawn and there were two figures in the sand. More Barbaroi corpses.

"Well hol-ee shit." Tengen ran to the window portal by Meredith's cot, kneeling beside her.

She had to turn as well as the Bella passed by the hunter.

"He's like a Barbaroi magnet." Renshen commented.

"Why don't we hang back and let him go first? He can clear the entire way for us!" Val was at Gencho's cot, kneeling next to the man's sleeping body. Gencho was out cold, "Should I wave?"

"No, that'd be rude." Meredith spoke.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to be rude, would I?" Val smirked.

"We're gonna keep going." Renshen stated, "If they attack us next, we've handled their kind before. We can take them."

The hunter was mounting his steed far behind them.

"Huh.." Tengen watched, "Can the Bella outrun a horse out here?"

"Yeah, she sure can." Gencho mused, groggy but aware, "Bella can outrun anything."

"What if he's hurt?" Meredith asked, her brows lowering. She couldn't see him anymore.

"He'll heal. He's a Dhampir." Renshen told her, looking at the plains before them, "You ever been injured badly, Meredith?"

"Not really." She replied.

"You heal fast too, most likely." Renshen said, "Don't worry about him."

Meredith frowned, sitting back down on her cot and facing the empty cot Val had been occupying. Val was returning to it, opening her book again. The white haired woman was dressed in her black leather pants but hadn't put her boots on yet, her black sleeveless blouse very conservative.

"Val?" Meredith asked, looking up at her.

"Yeah, Meredith?" Val replied, not looking up from the book.

"Can I ask you a question?" Meredith shifted where she sat.

"Is it about the brand on my shoulder?" Val had still not met Meredith's gaze.

"Kinda." Meredith shrugged.

"It says 'shame'. It was a gift from my mother when I was very little." Val said, her voice devoid of emotion as she thumbed to a different page in the tome, "Our mothers were quite different, Meredith. Mine treated me like shit. I ran away. She gave me this gift on my way out. In a way, we're both marked by our mothers, aren't we? But mine was not done from love."

"Oh." Meredith sighed, "She was a witch too?"

"Yep." Val nodded.

"She taught you magic though." Meredith stated.

"That she did. Before I ran away." Val flipped to another page.

"Mine didn't." Meredith hugged her knees, "You guys are a really happy family. You and Renshen, and Tengen and Gencho. You're lucky you found one another."

Val smiled, her lips pulling back.

"We are lucky." Valeria Talbot nodded her head.

"Are you really a gambler?" Meredith asked her then.

"Hah.." Val grinned, "I have a habit of betting, if that's what you mean. I also never miss. Not when I'm firing my pistols or throwing something."

"Magic?" Meredith asked her, offering Val a grin of her own.

"I'd like to call that luck, so it doesn't sound so much like cheating." Val looked up, winked at Meredith and then returned to her reading.

***

The sands had begun to bleach paler and paler until they were stark white, like snow. The patches of plant life had disappeared miles back. The sand was finer here, kicking up a heavy dust that fell quickly in their wake. There were hardly any tread marks left from the Bella's tires as the sand seemed apt to heal itself, hiding their passing.

Meredith was fixed to the window portals, transfixed as Renshen drove onward.

"I've never seen anything like this place." Val breathed.

"We've never been out this far this way." Renshen replied.

Gencho was still sleeping.

There was strange growths appearing. They were trees, tall and crystallized. There were no leaves on those opalescent stalks, huge and tall. They drove passed a tree every few moments, but there were not enough to make it a forest of any stripe.

"Wow.." Meredith blinked at the sight.

The sky outside was clear and blue, no clouds anywhere to be seen. The sun was bright and caused the trees to sparkle like diamonds. The white sand shimmered.

There were pools ahead, round and scattered in a strange pattern across the flat plains. There was a network of those huge, blue pools of water. Some were as large as lakes and others were tiny. The Bella had not needed to swerve around the pools as a path of sorts had taken shape and the sand they currently drove on was harder and firmer, wide enough for two Bellas to drive side by side.

"It looks like a holy place." Tengen murmured.

Gencho stretched and woke up, finally, rolling onto his side. He was hunting for his shirt.

"Where are we?" Gencho asked.

"On the map Kendle gave us, it's just called Crystal Pools." Renshen answered.

"Neat." Gencho was looking out of a window.

The Bella was speeding down the main path, the white sand and pools seeming to go on until the horizon.

"I can take over again now, old man." Gencho was standing, scratching his own side.

Meredith saw something move in one of the pools, the surface of the water rippling. Her eyes widened and she pressed herself to the glass.

Val must have seen it too and let out a gasp.

"Something's in the water!" Val said.

It was at that moment when the thick, impossibly huge worm burst from the lake sized pool directly to their right. It was gigantic, shimmering and white. Its head, or whatever it was at the very tip, had a huge gaping mouth with so many small, sharp teeth that Meredith couldn't help but let out a cry. The thing's head was almost as big as the Bella itself.

"Lumbricus terrestris!" Meredith shrieked.

"What?" Tengen cried out.

"Earthworm! But.. bigger!" Meredith couldn't look away.

"That's a whole lot fuckin' bigger than an earthworm, Princess!" Gencho was bellowing.

The thing slammed back into the water and sent a tidal wave their way. The Bella plowed right through it, the windshield sprayed and momentarily blinding Renshen.

"Dammit!" Renshen cursed loudly.

The car swerved.

There was more movement on either side of the car. More of those white, shimmering worms were becoming active as the Bella drove down the single path between all of the pools.

Another worm, thinner, came bursting from the surface of the water and opened its mouth. Many smaller, longer tendrils were flailing out. The thing came at the Bella, almost knocking it off of the road into the pool to her left.

"Fuck!" Gencho was thrown into the wall, "Old man! Let me drive!"

Meredith stared out of the window and saw movement under the water again. It a thick shape and a thin shape moving together. It moved from one pool to the next, passing under the white sand dividing each pool.

"It's not a worm in each pool.." Meredith whispered, "It's the same worm, traveling through underwater caves to each pool!"

"The same worm?!" Renshen asked her, avoiding another tidal wave as the huge beast hit the surface of the pool to their left with an explosive force.

"It just has two heads.." Meredith breathed.

"Are you sure?" Renshen called back to her.

"Who cares? Keep driving!" Tengen was holding onto a guard rail near the bench seats.

"We can kill it!" Meredith stood up, raising a fist, "We just need to stop the car and attack it! I have my sword!"

"You can't cut a worm into pieces! Each piece will become a new worm!" Tengen yelled at her.

"That's actually a myth! It's not true at all!" Meredith yelled at him and ran to the weapons rack, "If we cut it into pieces, it'll just die!"

She was grabbing her sword, still hanging there, and she was fastening it to her hip by the buckles.

"Meredith, do you see how big that thing is?" Tengen was shaking his head.

"I think she's got a point." Gencho was holding his musket, swinging it over his shoulder, "Com'on, guys, let's go out and say Hi."

"W-what?" Tengen shook his head. Then, he began to laugh, "You guys are crazy. Fine.. haha.. Ok, let's go out and fight the big worm. Either way, when we die, we get eaten by the damn things, right?"

Val was fastening her belt, adjusting the holsters to her pistols.

"Hah hah.." Renshen slammed on the breaks and the car skidded to a long, grinding halt. He was grinning, putting the brake down, "Ok, gang."

Meredith was the first one out, exploding from the opened hatch as soon as she could. She ran out across the sand, pausing to have a look around. At just that moment, the worm came up like a geyser in the pool to their left. The waves were frothing white, shimmering like the beast towering into the air. The second worm, thinner, erupted then too, and the two headed monster cast a shadow upon the four hunters as they stood on the ground far below.

"We're sitting ducks out here.." Val noted out loud.

"I can distract it." Meredith said, "You know how the mark on me protects me from the things that hurt Dhampirs? Do you know what they say about water and my kind?"

"Your kind.. you.. sink in water.." Renshen breathed.

"Yeah. That's what I hear." Meredith grinned, showing teeth, and drew her long sword. She then took off down the road, veered hard to the right when the beast began to lunge for her and began running across another pool.

She was running across the surface of the water.

"How is she-" Val began.

"Stop starin' and help her!" Renshen cried out.

Gencho was firing his musket, the thing custom made to allow for multiple shots before needing to be reloaded. It was reloaded similarly to a pistol. The bullets hit the worm and bright white blood gushed from the wounds.

Val was firing too, a pistol in each hand. Her shots were fast, the bullets hitting the beast in a nearly straight line through its jaw. Though her aim was impeccable, the beast's skin was too thick.

Tengen drew his twin swords out and ran toward the beast. It was trying to pull back into a pool to attempt traveling between them. He was on it for a few seconds, driving a sword into what might have been a cluster of eyes. He was thrown off easily but landed with a grace more becoming of a cat.

Meredith circled around again as the beast rose up.

The thinner body dove down, the mouth opening and letting loose the many tentacles. Meredith leapt across a sandy area, landed on the stem of the thinner worms neck and ran up along the length of its body, three times thicker than she was. She slashed with her sword, taking off its head and spilling white blood.

The headless neck flailed and Meredith was caught mid air by its movements, hitting her and sending her flying backward. She twisted in the air and landed on her feet in the sand.

The severed head went splashing into the water nearby, the waves rippling. Those tentacles were still thrashing even as it sunk into the depths.

Meredith was breathing hard but she was smiling, her eyes on fire.

The beast roared, the one head left behind exposing its many teeth. It was huge, the offshoot having been much less girthy. When it charged the hunters they could only dive to the side to avoid being plowed into the next pool.

The force of its impact sent Meredith down and she hit the sand, unable to catch herself that time.

Val fired at the beast, blinding it in two of its many eyes. Gencho reloaded his musket and ran closer to the thing, a grin on his face. When he was close enough he took aim again and loosened a chunk of white flesh, the milky blood spraying outward as Gencho hooted victoriously. The thing roared but did not drop. Gencho stepped back and aimed for another shot.

Tengen and Renshen did their best to find opportunities in which to slash at the beast as it was above the surface, trying to drag itself back into the water. Tengen, not wanting to lose one of his swords, chose instead to jump on the thing's back once more, the same tactic being used as before. Renshen swung his bo-staff at it, embedding his ax into its flesh. The ax sunk in deep but Renshen was able to yank himself and his weapon away before the worm pulled away.

Meredith ran across another pool of water and heard the thing roar. The roar became muffled.

"Meredith!" She heard Tengen crying.

Meredith looked down. It was right under her in the water.

She jumped back just in time for it to burst from the surface and she found herself running along its body. Her sword found purchase but the beast was just too big and too thick. Meredith would need to a good, clean shot and enough speed to back up the strength of the swing she would require.

It threw her off and she found herself in the air. Her feet attempted to find purchase, but there was nothing under her. It had flung her up and over itself.

Below her, its mouth opened and it rushed at her. It would snap her out of the air like a dog catching a treat. She swung her sword back and then prepared to swing it forward. The mouth was too big.

There was a flash of black, the ripple of cloaks and Meredith saw time pause. It was D, sliding right through the beast, right behind its head.

His sword was so long, so sharp. His movements liquid again.

D hit the ground, landing on his feet. He didn't even need to turn around to see the worm's head detach from its body, the white explosion of blood spraying out in a grotesque display as Meredith managed to catch herself and run down along the decapitated worm's long neck and leap to the water. Again, she ran across the surface and got to the white sands, turning to look as the worm sunk into the pool.

D was standing, ten feet away from her. His cybernetic horse was waiting for him a yard back. He cleaned his sword in the water and then sheathed it.

"We didn't need your help." Val spat at him, "We had it handled."

"Huh?" Meredith shot Val a look, "Hey, he helped! I mean, I totally had it in the bag, but it was still appreciated."

Val rolled her eyes and made her way to the Bella.

"Thanks!" Meredith waved at D. He didn't even acknowledge her as he approached his horse.

"Guess he doesn't wanna be your friend, Princess." Gencho gave Meredith a bump with his elbow.

"He could've just kept going. Gone around us." Meredith said, "But he didn't. He stopped to help."

"What a saint. Com'on." Tengen called back them, sheathing his own swords.

"I'm drivin'!" Gencho pulled Meredith along.

She looked back at the Dhampir hunter and saw him mounting his steed. He began to trot behind them and only sped off once the Bella had started.

Meredith was sitting in the front bench seat, holding her sheathed sword in her lap.

"You did a good job out there, kid." Tengen said to her, "I was thoroughly impressed."

"Yeah. I'm kinda turned on." Gencho said to her from the driver's seat. They were beginning to roll off again, following in the Dhampir's wake.

Tengen scoffed and then smirked. The smirk was forced.

"Watch it, Gencho." Renshen muttered.

"That was actually a lot of fun." Meredith mused, "I'm gonna draw that worm. And I'll draw you, Tengen, Ok? You'll be stabbing it."

"Sweet. Give me mad pecs." Tengen came over to sit beside her.
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlines