//------------------------------// // The Red Ocean (2) // Story: Song of the Moon // by BlackWing //------------------------------// The Red Ocean "Hey, you two head below deck. Wouldn't wantcha ta catch cold. England's still a week away with this lax wind we've been having, you won't miss a thing." Flandre looked upset at having been disturbed, glaring at the swab who interrupted us. Just as she did, a strong wind came from the aft of the ship, doubling it's speed. The deckhands scurried about, trying to take advantage of the new gusts. "What are you two doing up so late anyways?" The captain asked. "When one hunts, do they not follow the seasons? We are up at night because night is the season of that which we hunt." She explained with an innocent smile. "Demon hunters, little girl like you and a scrawny guy like him? Bah. I'll believe it when I see it." He scoffed. "Care to make a wager then?" Flandre smirked. "200 gold denaries says I can beat every one of your crew members in an arm wrestle." "What are you doing?" I asked. "Making back my fortune." She whispered. "You're on little girl. Easiest money I'll ever make." The captain boomed. "Aw come on! She's just a wee lass! Are ya even tryin?" A scotsman bellowed. "She's got the strength of twenty men! She's like a rock!" A man defended his masculinity as he sweat and strained to move Flandre's arm, which wouldn't budge. "I think that's enough of this." She said casually as she slammed his arm to the table. One by one, the crew of our little ship became humiliated. Even the captain, although she put on a show feigning weakness to show his crew that he was their superior, she did eventually beat him. He counted out the coins which she put in her purse, the entire crew becoming distraught. "I don't know whether you've got the god's might or the devil's luck, but you beat us fair and square lassie. They save having a lady on a ship is bad luck, but ever since you stepped aboard, we've had nuthin but smooth sailin." The first mate decreed. They didn't stand a chance. "Ya might want to get an extra blanket tonight, the lass is colder than the sea we're sailing on." The buffoons didn't say a thing, but the captain suspected. "What did ya say you were doin again?" "She is a hunter of the damned, I am but a simple musician in her company." I deadpanned. He was on to us. "And why might you be doin that?" "A cursed wolf slew my family, and a dracule hers. We seek the hag responsible for bringing these abominations to the world." I explained, not liking where it was going. "Neither of you happened to get bit did ya?" He said, raising his eyebrow. His crew was starting to get worried. "No. We were fortunate. Seeing our plight, we begged for the strength to right this wrong, and it was mercifully given." "I see." He didn't buy it, but didn't want to make a scene just yet. "Anyway, why with the somber mood? What say you to some music?" I offered, desperately trying to change the subject. The crew seemed pleased with the idea, so I drew my violin. Several sea shanties later, with myself and Flandre being the only ones not drunk, we slipped out of the hall and onto the deck. "Alright, let's kill them." "Whoa, wait, what? Hold on a moment!" I argued. "They know what we are. Soon as we reach port, we're dead. You forget, they dock during the day, I won't be able to help." "Then who sails the ship?" I asked, trying to find any excuse not to slaughter the entire crew. "This thing is headed straight for port, I just cast a little spell for wind and the thing will sail itself." I looked at her sternly. Sailing wasn't that simple. "And what of the day? You shall be powerless to move the ship then, and I know nothing of sailing." "Then I'll simply commandeer the ship, and have them sail it for me. I can be very persuasive." She was talking about murdering a hundred men like it was nothing. Men with wives and children! She was about to do exactly what I was sought to prevent. The death of innocents. "I can't let you do that!" "That is unfortunate, because you don't have a choice. You lack the power to stop me without your lycan form. I am far more clever than you as well, you will not win." She smiled evilly. "I am a vampire after all. What did you expect? A week long trip without feeding? You truly are a fool." "I never asked you to come along." I replied sternly. "Yet you were quick to accept when I did." Then, I remembered who I was dealing with. She had no intention of helping me. She would likely kill me before the witch to keep her immortality. The only reason she accompanied me was that she had lost her estate, and was looking to start anew in England. Feigning innocence, and I fell for it. I forgot what she really was, and had now doomed over 100 men. "I do not have the power to stop you, but I will have no part in this, damned hell spawn." "Fool, flattery will get you nowhere." She said as she skipped back to the hall. She looked quite happy for one who was about to commit mass murder. I stood on the bow of the ship under the light of the waning moon, and played a song trying to drown out the blood curdling screams I heard coming from below deck. A single tear betrayed my eyes and rolled down my cheek. A week passed, and miraculously, the ship arrived at port on time, manned only by myself and Flandre. Another miracle is that I did not throw myself into the ocean from the stench of death and decay coming from below deck. It would have been unbearable, even for one without senses such as mine. I did not wish to even think of the state the bowels of the vessel were in, confining myself to the captain's quarters for the duration of the trip. "We are finally here. After what has occurred here, I think the ship should be burned and sunk." I said upon arriving at dusk. "Yes, we must not leave any trace of our presence, but how to do it?" She inquired, stroking her chin. If I wasn't there when she slaughtered a hundred innocents, I would have forgotten what she was with the way she was trying to act cute. "Our? I don't recall making such a mess. There is wine and rum in the hold. I assume you know magic for making fire?" "Naturally." She replied, snapping her fingers, setting the cabin alight. We departed the vessel shortly after, letting it burn and sink into the harbor. We were in a carriage and out of town before the inhabitants were alert to the presence of the burning ship. "Blackwater. Never thought I'd return."" I remarked upon entering a small town a little ways inland. "You know this town?" Flandre asked. "I was born here. I grew up here. Every Saturday, the traveling musicians would gather in town square, playing their music long into the night. The preacher wasn't too happy, as it meant most of his congregation was asleep in church the next morn." "And now?" "Since five years ago, when the knights came and took them away, the shop was turned to a hunter's shack. Apparently, the tools used for making instruments are also quite efficient for making archer's gear. If he hadn't been burned to ash, my father would be rolling in his grave at the sight." I said as I began to weep. "If you lived here in England, how did you slay your sister your first full moon?" She asked. "She had wanted to see the world, travel with me, but I believed her to yet be too young. I went to Transylvania, and she followed in my footsteps, a day behind as to remain hidden from me. I was bitten the first night of the full moon, and so, with no time to seek the cure, my curse was fully set the very next night, the same night she came to town. I wished not to return to my family after what I had done, but I had no choice. They deserved to know, and that knowledge cost them their lives." I no longer attempted to hold back my tears. This place had far too many memories. I had changed my appearance, my usually short hair brown hair grown quite a bit longer, and my normal stubble replaced by a clean shaven face. I would not be recognized. "What is it like, when you transform?" I did not wish to answer this question, but one does not simply deny a vampire of their thirst for knowledge, lest they decide to sate a different thirst. "I suppose it is how a moth feels near a flame. When the moon is high, if I can abstain from looking at it, and prevent it's pale light from coming upon me, then I shall remain as I am. Yet, at the same time, it is an uncontrollable urge. I simply MUST look at it and bathe in it's dim glow. Once I do, unbearable pain. As though all my bones are breaking, over and over. Finally, relief as the transformation is complete. I feel.... good." "And what of the hunt?" She asked with a smile pertaining to blood lust. For lack of a better term, I believe she 'got off' on hearing stories of blood and gore. "It is the same. I know what I am doing the entire time, and am in control, yet, compelled to do things I would normally wish not to. I still feel anger, pain, sorrow, but, it is different somehow. When I saw my sister come to town, I was drawn to her right away. I hunted her down. She tripped. Looking up at me as I stood over her, she begged me not to do it. I looked right into her crying eyes, and ripped her throat out with my teeth. Her death was slow and painful, and I enjoyed every second of it." I felt sick. My stomach evacuated it's contents into my mouth, only to be forced back down. "And after?" "And after, once my hunger was sated, realizing had transpired, I felt miserable. I howled at the moon in anguish over what I had done. Every night since I was bitten, I dream of being run down by that beast, save three. The night's of the full moon, once I have changed, I eventually slumber in wolf form, waking in the morn as a human once again. Those nights, I do not dream of being chased. On those nights, I am the hunter, not the prey. I still see her face, eyes wide in horror, tears streaming down her face as she begs me not to kill her, but I am an animal, and I slaughter her, devouring her till there is naught but bones." I had stopped crying, I simply stare at the town that was once so familiar having turned so cold, as I try to prevent myself from choking on my own heart. I wonder, if I were to eat my own heart, would I be cured? "The worst part is that it was me. If I had been possessed by some demon or fell spirit, acting against my will, it would have been different. I did this, me. I gave in to instinct. Knowing that there are those who can control this curse makes it far worse, as I know that it can be done, yet I cannot do it." "Do you wish to hear of life as a vampire?" Flandre asks me, which I am grateful for as it breaks the silence. "No. I have no desire to know the innermost workings of one who murdered one hundred innocent men in cold blood. I heard their screams, the gurgling as their throats were torn asunder. If my mind was not already occupied in my slumber, I would have nightmares about it." Remember, Lark has been a werewolf for the past five years. Five years his life has been out of control. He basically feels helpless. It's like being drunk. You say and do things you don't mean, yet it's still you who does them. The difference is he's fully aware of it.