Vampire of the Orient

[Ran Yoko]

VAMPIRE OF THE ORIENT

 

 

The full moon was partially overshadowed by the dark ominous clouds that traversed the sky. The wind howled, and all good creatures stayed in their homes, with a feeling of foreboding.

In a large field of grass, two people stood facing each other. The man had fair hair tied in a short ponytail, his black eyes looked haughty, and he wore dark clothes, with a pitch-black cloak flapping around him in the wind.

The woman's knee-length hair was as black as ebony, and tied near the end with a red ribbon. Her eyes seemed to have a silvery tint in the dark blue. She wore a kimono that was golden-brown, and the ends of the pale blue obi, instead of being tied in a proper bow, hung loose. A long katana was strapped to her back, she wore short boots instead of sandals, and around her neck on a cord hung a piece of gold in the shape of a sharpened piece of wood.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes. The wind sighed in the tall grass, making the ends dance around the people. Finally the man spoke, and when he did, the wind died down.

"So the rumors are true, then."

"What rumors?" The woman's voice held a trace of Oriental accent.

"About an Oriental vampire, carrying a long sword, wandering around this continent. She never seems to drink from humans, and fights with other vampires and creatures of the night."

"I do believe that's me then," she said, with a hint of a smile on her lips. "Owaru Kikuyu, or as you Europeans say it, Kikuyu Owaru."

"Nice to meet you. Victor Bellisari. It's sometimes nice to know the name of the person you'll be killing."

"Why must you kill me?" Kikuyu asked mildly.

"Well, another vampire has put a bounty on your head. I don't know why, but it suits me just fine." He drew two daggers out from under his cloak and dropped into a fighter's crouch.

"Even though we are brethren?" she asked. Her tone, if anything, had gotten milder.

Instead of replying, Victor charged. Kikuyu sighed, and jumped into the air at the last minute. She rose almost 50 feet, and drew her katana in one swift motion.

Victor leapt after her. Blades clashed, and they landed, crushing the long grass under them. Victor's fangs were bared, but Kikuyu was simply smiling pleasantly.

"Aren't you even a bit angry?" Victor asked, puzzled.

"Yes," came the answer. "But I was taught self-control." She shot forward, cutting deep into his left arm before he jumped back. He threw a dagger, before she could move, it plunged into her right hand, forcing her to drop the katana.

Before she could do more that yank the dagger out, he was in front of her. He sliced thin air, for she had jumped again.

With her injured hand, Kikuyu tugged on the end of her hair ribbon. It almost seemed to come alive, as it untied itself and one end wrapped itself around her wrist. She landed, and flung her hand towards Victor. The ribbon seemed to grow in length, and the free end wrapped itself around the katana hilt. She tugged, the ribbon's length diminished, and Kikuyu grasped the katana in her left hand.

Upon seeing this, Victor seemed to lose his nerve and fled towards a nearby grove of trees. Within seconds, he was hidden in the trees. Kikuyu smiled, and started after him. She knew his strategy, but had decided to play along.

Among the trees, she could sense his presence in the hundreds of bats hanging from branches. In effect, she was surrounded. The words to a song from her childhood came to mind. One child would crouch and cover their eyes, while the other children would form a circle and move around the one. They would sing this song, and after it was sung, the child in the middle would guess what child was behind it.

Almost unconsciously, Kikuyu started to softly sing the song in Japanese.

"Kagome, Kagome,

When, oh, when will that bird

Come out of it's cage

The crane and the turtle slipped

Into the morning twilight

Who is behind you?"

She whirled suddenly and plunged her katana into Victor's heart. Her eyes widened as he dissolved into shadows. The real Victor, standing behind the fake, rammed a wooden stake through Kikuyu's heart. She gave a choking sound and collapsed to the ground.

Victor's lips curled into a triumphant sneer as he turned her over with his foot. Her eyes were closed, and she gave no sign of breathing.

"If you're anything like us European vampires, that stake had merely paralyzed you. I won't completely kill you, for then you would turn to dust. Instead, I think I'll have a meal, and then I'll take you in for the reward."

He lifted her up and leaned in, his fangs almost in her neck. Suddenly, the golden stake around Kikuyu's neck grew larger and plunged into Victor's chest. Her eyes snapped open as the cord untied.

"How. . ." Victor gasped.

"Because, I'm not like you European vampires," Kikuyu said mildly. She pushed the stake further in, and his eyes closed.

She sighed, removed the stake from her own chest, bared his neck and then her fangs. She had a meal then and there. When she was done, she licked her lips and teeth thoroughly.

Standing up, she flicked her hand. The ribbon still hanging from her wrist stiffened into a steel-like texture. She swung her hand from right to left, and off came Victor's head.

As his body dissolved into dust, the blood on the ribbon was absorbed into the cloth, which seemed to then be a little darker and longer. Kikuyu tied her hair back again, picked up the golden stake, which had shrunk, and fastened it around her neck again. Pulling a cloth out from inside a sleeve, she cleaned the katana thoroughly and sheathed it. She glanced at her right hand, making sure it had finished healing.

Her eyes fell on Victor's daggers, which had fallen to the ground, and picked them up. Good craftmanship, good quality steel. They might bring her a nice bit of money in the next town. A pity she hadn't thought to retrieve the sheaths before Victor dissolved.

"Que sera sera, I believe is the term," she murmured with a smile. "The sheaths would have brought more money, but these will do."

She slipped them into her obi. Then Owaru Kikuyu, Vampire of the Orient, disappeared into the night.

 

~FIN~

[Ozymandias]

Why, Sora! What a pleasant surprise!!

 

(and about friggin' time, too. )

 

Excelsior!

[Ran Yoko]

kay, Ozy. why zactly a surprise, and whatcha mean bout time? (confused)

[Ozymandias]

Well, You've been with us sincs January, but had never applied...I'd thought you had decided you were comfortable with *not* being a member, thus, it was a pleasne surprise to see your application all of a sudden.

 

As for time, well, it's been seven months, you're good people, you're a good writer, thus your application is only logical (to *me*, anyway. ), so that being the case, it's taken FAR too long to get you through the door!

 

Don't think for a moment that that means that means having you as an Initiate is any less awesome. ^^

 

(YO! WYVERN!!! Where dat acceptance, yo???)

[Wyvern]

Sora sighed and tapped her fingers on the armrest of her applicant easychair, glancing up at the Office's Rolodex clock and wondering where the reptilian scoundrel of a recruiter could possibly be. Ozymandias' jumbled hip hop slang had been a comfort, but his "Yo yo Wyvern"s had turned to mere echoes as the hour had grown late, and there was still no sign of the Elder of Initiates. Sora began wondering whether it might be better to check up on Xiao and then return to the Recruiter's Office in the hopes of spotting Wyvern then, but paused as the Office window suddenly opened with a forceful shove. A crimson tail stinger found its way onto the window sill, followed by a scaly rear and finally a set of crooked wings as Wyvern tumbled into the Office in a wholly unprofessional manner. The reptilian Elder quickly hopped to his feet and dusted off the confetti still clinging to his Hawaiin party shirt, then turned to Sora Hikari and spread his arms with a very wide grin.

 

"Ssssssoooooorrrraaaaa! So great to finally see you here, welcome to my messy lil' Office. I'm guessin you watched the infomercial then?" Wyvern raced up to Sora and gave her an overextended handshake. "Well, trussst me when I say that you won't be not (only sometimes) regretting your investment in Almost Dragonic Brand Nanotoknonnen Style Pyramid Schemes.™ Can I ssstart you off on a 300 geld plan?"

 

"Errr, well actually, I was just here to..."

 

"Riiight, we'll fill in your geld donation number later. Don't worry, it's a pretty ssswift climb to Quillbearer, you'll see." Wyvern winked at Sora, then snatched up her application story from the top of his crowded and rather dusty desktop. The overgrown lizard scratched his chin curiously as he glanced at the title. "By the way, if you look in the pile of paperwork at the far east end of the room over there, there should be a brochure for Almost Dragonic Brand Kimodo Kimonos™ that might interessst you. I'll only be a minute..."

 

Wyvern grinned, then proceeded to read over Sora Hikari's application piece thoroughly. He skimmed back over a few passages with a curious glint in his beady eyes, and finished before Sora could say "Almost Dragonic Brand Kimodo Kimonos™?"

 

"Nice ssstory you have here, Sora." Wyvern nodded and held up the application sheet with a slow motion of his claw. "Quite a bit of revealing information in here as well, posssibly even Almost Report tabloid column material. I gotta asssk, are you a long-time acquaintance of Ms. Black Paws? A long forgotten relative or old ally perhapsss? It'sss certainly intriguing stuff, either way."

 

Sora raised a brow, uncertain of what the reptilian Elder was implying.

 

"See, I had no idea that Kikuyu had vampire rootsss." Wyvern drummed his claws on his desktop, wondering if the "I <3 Wyvern Fan Club" was going to be requesting cold blood donations now. "I guesss that's pretty hot though... I mean, Tzim's got vamp rootsss as well and ya don't see anyone complaining when she ssstrolls into a room nekkid."

 

"Oh." Sora raised a hand as she suddenly realized Wyvern's Kikuyu mix-up. "No no, you see the Kikuyu in this story is-"

 

"Ya think she'sss just out for my blood? I mean, I figure us reptilesss ain't as tasty in that department, but who knowsss." Wyvern stamped Sora's application ACCEPTED, then handed it back to her along with a business card with a 1-900 crystal ball incantation scribbled on it. "Anyhoo, call me at that number and we can discusss this Kikuyu sssituation further. Thisss could be big news... just don't expect any compensation outssside of your choice of Almost Dragonic Brand Kimodo Kimono™. Now if you'll excussse me, I gotta be off."

 

Wyvern struck a quick bow to Sora Hikari, then scrambled for the open window as Ozymandias' "YO WYVERN, WASSUP"s could be heard approaching the Office door...

 

;-)

 

OOC: An ACCEPTED application story, Sora Hikari. Welcome to the Mighty Pen! Of course, you're hardly new here and it's been a joy writing with you and reading your stuff, but I'm glad you decided to submit something here and am looking forward to writing more with you in the future. Thanks for applying.

[Degorram]

Far off in the distance, Degorram roars with laughter.

[Kikuyu_Black_Paws]

Wyvern leaned back in his chair with a comfortable sigh and picked the last of the confetti from his shirt. The thoughts of a vampiiric Kikuyu continued to roll around in his head and he chuckled over the image of selling Almost Dragonic Kikuyu-Bat Plushies ™ during Halloween.

 

The Elder shivered as a chill wind blew in from the still open window. The Almost Dragon glanced towards the window and frowned-- the air was still outside. Where had that breeze come from...

 

The Almost Dragon almost fainted as a pair of cold hands rested on his throat. A pair of eyes slitted with a wicked grin peered at him over the edge of his chair, and a flash of black teardrops on cheekbones made the Elder whimper. "Out for your blood, Wyv?" Kikuyu grinned. "You know I'm more of a sake person. Wine, however well aged, doesn't suit me."