Zomtober Day 3, October 26th: Species Swap
this turned out way longer than intended, but I don’t think anyone reading it will actually be disappointed by that. So… ya! Enjoy this king of long one shot, about Nova and Victor… but the opposite species.
Nova wasn’t quite sure what to do about this development in her life.
I mean, it wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong. She was dreaming. Dreams were harmless things, things that couldn’t hurt anyone or anything. They weren’t even something you could control.
But still, Nova felt responsible for everything she was seeing.
She was a vampire. The niece of the eldress, the heir to shadyside, and the future leader of all vampires alive today. The coined, “princess of darkness”.
And yet, her dreams were filled with images of the sun.
Well, not the sun specifically. But something pretty damn close to it.
All the dreams started the same. She was on a beach, similar to the one in shadyside, with a cliff overlooking the ocean nearby. The sky was a familiar shade of night, the stars their usual winking bright color.
But then, the sun would slowly start to rise.
She had never seen it before, but she knew this was the sun. it was large, and bright, and it spread over the darkened horizon in a map of colors. It was mesemerizing.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” a voice spoke up behind her. She whipped around, and saw someone standing there.
He smiled at her, and she felt frozen in place. It was a boy, maybe her age, but possibly older, with dark hair streaked in gold, and brown eyes. He looked like sunshine personified, with tan skin, and clothes in shades of light red, gold and white.
“Who are you?” she asked. He shrugged, his hands still in his pockets.
“I don’t know. Who do you think i am?” he asked, that smirk never leaving his face. She narrowed her eyes, but she knew he was right. The clothes, the sunrise happening behind them. Gold hair, gold clothes, and the simmering fire behind his eyes.
“Why are you here? What do you want?” she asked. He smiled, glancing at the horizon behind her.
“I don’t know sunshine. Maybe you need to come find that out for yourself.” he said simply. Then, he looked out at the horizon, and gestured forward.
She followed his gaze, and her breath caught at the sight of the bright sun, its colors blending perfectly into the night sky. She didn’t know if she had ever seen anything so beautiful.
“Ill be here.” he said softly.
She whirled around, about to demand more answers, and ask infinite questions.
Nova woke with a start, her brain foggy, and her mind spinning with all the possibilities of the things she had seen. Sunrises, and boys with charming smiles and fire behind their eyes.
She rubbed her eyes, standing to go look out the window.
Down in the streets below, there were children playing, laughing as they spun through the air. The moon was low in the sky, and the light darkness of twilight stretched out.
She sighed, backing up again. She couldn’t dwell on it, they were only dreams. But.
She couldn't get the picture of the boy out of her mind. He was a daywalker, obviously. He had the clothes, the persona, the hair. It was textbook.
Except… it also wasn’t. Because he didn’t attack her. He didn’t seem violent, or like he would burn you to a crisp at the first sign of trouble.
She rana hand over her face. It was confusing enough to be a leader, and learn all of these things about daywalkers and the vampire's history with them.
It was infinitely more confusing to have all of that contradicted.
She didn’t know what to think. Was it real? Or was she just imagining him?
But the main question was. If it was real… was he really waiting for her? Did she really need to go find him?
She looked around, pictures of her aunt and her, and the ribbons of won competition that covered her walls.
She had sworn to stay loyal to her people. No matter what. But now… could she keep that promise? She had to be what they needed. But…
Still, as the day wore on, it would haunt her.
Maybe leaving the border was necessary. For this at least.
Victor knew this was a bad idea. In fact, it wasn’t just a bad idea. It was a very, very bad idea.
Did it stop him from sneaking past the border guards in the middle of the night, and going out to the beaches?
He sighed, leaning back against the cliff as he panted to catch his breath with his eyes closed. Turns out, running away from people that were meant to catch you, while you were trying to not let them know you were there at all, was very difficult.
He sighed, laughing slightly at the absurdity of it all. He was the son of the sun. or, the commander of the daywalkers.
Coincidence, that the leader of their people was called “commander” like they were some sort of arny? No. because they were. Born, raised, and bred to fight against vampires. Trained since childhood.
And him? No one had been trained more than him. Logistics, battle strategy, ability training, physical combat. He had done it all. No one was more of a weapon than he was.
In reality? He was the biggest disappointment to ever grace the halls of his ancestral home. At least, he was in his fathers eyes.
He wanted to be different. Try new things, make change. Leave the border.
In his mind? Things that would make him a better leader, and better equipped to take on the role. In his fathers mind? The thing that made him such a screw up.
Either way, it's very fun.
He had known for a very long time now that he would never fulfill his dreams. He was never visiting anywhere outside the border. Never seeing the moon and the stars.
Stars. The things that fascinated him to no end his whole life. And even more so, since the girl with the stars appeared in his dreams.
She was beautiful, with bright blue eyes, and goldened hair streaked in red. She wore black and red, and she sat on the beach staring up at the stars. In his dreams at least.
She never spoke to him. But she was a constant. And ever since he had seen her he had an inexplicable desire to the stars.
What did this desire to see night, combined with the continuing desire to leave Sunnyside get you?
It got you a boy running out to the beach in the night. To see it, the outside world and night. Even if it was only once.
He sighed, and opened his eyes. And then, he promptly gasped.
He hadn't been able to see the sky fully while running. But now that he stopped, he could see it in all its shimmering glory. And glory it was.
He walked across the shoreline slowly, a dumbfounded expression on his face. The sky was dark, a brilliant midnight blue. Across it, thousands of prinpicks of lights covered it, like a twinkling map of glitter. And in the distance, the silver moon hung like a beautiful sun.
It was breathtaking. It was amazing, and he felt grateful to even be in the presence of something like this.
“Wow.” he said softly. Because. Well. wow.
He could have stood there forever. But instead, he suddenly felt a sudden strong gust of wind. He looked around, confused.
And then, another gust of wind, strong enough to throw him at least 20 feet, blew and threw him across the sand.
He yelped, and landed with a roll in the dark sand.
He landed on his back, groaning, clutching his side. He glanced up long enough to see a figure standing nearby, hands outstretched in a gesture he recognized well enough to be for power casting. It didn't take a genius to guess what had happened.
“Do you mind?” he called, groaning as he propped himself up on his elbows.
But then, the figure came into focus. He nearly gasped, trying not to freak out at who it was. Still, years of training against enemies made him school his face into a neutral expression as he looked over her.
It was a girl. Not just any girl, but THE girl. Same blond hair, blue eyes, red hair streaks. The dark clothing, the way she stood. It was all the same. It was HER.
And even though he didn’t show his own shock, he couldn’t help but let out a quiet sentence under his breath.
Nova wasn’t sure what she had been expecting when she came out here tonight. The sunrise mostly. Something she was both incredibly curious about, and terrified for.
But when she heard another figure quietly whisper out “wow” as she stood nearby, she acted on instinct.
She turned, and threw a massive gust of wind at the figure. They flew at least 20 feet, and she nearly gasped as they fell with a heavy grown.
She watched as he, (She quickly saw that this was indeed a boy from his voice) groaned, and rolled over painfully.
“Do you mind?” he called out, propping himself up on his elbows.
She was about to call out that she was sorry, and go see if he was okay, when she caught a sight of his face.
She froze, as she looked him up and down her eyes scanning him like she didn’t know where to look. Because she didn’t. Because he was the same.
Dark hair, with gold streaks. Gold light red and white clothing. Dark eyes that shone gold when he hit the ground. A daywalker. The boy from her literal dreams.
“It’s you.” she said with surprise, probably louder than she should have. She could see a flash of surprise in his expression, before it returned to indifference, and he stood up, stretching his arm and back muscles in a way that made her grateful for the dark to conceal the color of her face.
“Yeah, it's me. Mind telling me who you are, and why you just threw me like a sack of flour?” the boy said, surveying her up and down. She tried to regain her composure, and looked at him apprehensively as he dusted sand off of his clothes.
“You’re a daywalker.” she said finally, like that was the only thing she could notice. She felt like even more of an idiot, when he raised an eyebrow, before looking down at his clothes and fire gauntlet, and then back up at her with a smile.
“Well spotted.” he said with a small laugh. She scowled, and then looked him up and down.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked. He tensed before shrugging.
“Why are you here?” he asked back, smiling as she gave him a look. She huffed.
“Don’t play this with me, I need to know if you are not… out here to spring a surprise attack on my town or something.” she said, her eyes flashing once. He snorted, looking her over again.
“Crazy thing to say, considering we are practically on the border of sunnyside right now, and I could say the same thing about you… vampire.” he said with an amused look, tracking the red in her hair. She gave him another look, and then a mocking smile, where she flashed pearly white fangs.
This seemed to make him only smile more, his eyes flashing gold once, as she saw flames flicker in his hands. Neither of them needed to do anything more to prove that they were dangerous. They understood.
“Victor,” he said simply. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“What?” she asked in surprise. He smiled and shrugged, sticking his hands casually into his pockets.
“My name. You asked who i was, and since you clearly already know WHAT i am… my name is Victor.” he said. She looked at him for a minute, skepticism in her eyes. But there was something about the look in his, that made her trust his words.
“Nova.” she finally said.
He smiled, and gave her a nod.
“Nice to meet you Nova.” he said.
Then, he plopped down on the sand, and looked up at the sky. She looked at him, confused. It was quite possibly the most vulnerable he could have made himself. She didn’t know what to do, until he glanced over at her.
“You asked me why I came out here tonight. The answer is that I came to see the stars. And I will, at least until sunrise.” he said firmly, before looking back out at them all.
Nova was surprised, coming to sit next to him cautiously.
“A Daywalker who likes stars.” she said curiously. He shrugged, smiling.
“We are all fascinated by things we do not know. I’m interested in stars, like im interested in you. Beautiful… but hard to figure out on a first impression.” he said with a wink.
She was once again, grateful for the dark color of the night.
“You shouldn’t be curious about me. I shouldnt be curious about you. I should hate you.” she said firmly, like it was a fact. He turned to her curiously.
“Then why are you here?” he asked simply. She froze momentarily, before swallowing and looking at him thoughtfully.
“Maybe I’m not scared of you, even if I should be.” She said simply.
It was his turn to have pink cheeks, and unlike her, he couldn’t hide from vampire night vision.
“I can show you them.” She said without thinking, as he turned to look at her.
His eyebrows shot up, and he looked at her in confusion.
“Really?” He asked, his expression looking surprised. She nodded, surprising even herself.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s kind of my thing right?” She said with a nervous kind of laugh. He smiled, and nodded.
“Yeah. Show me the stars Nova.” He said quietly. And if his words sent a shiver down her spine, as she drew slightly closer to point out the constellations… then nobody needed to know that.
Victor was absolutely mesmerized by Nova, as she drew a map of the stars in the sand quietly.
He was fascinated by them, of course. But there was something about the way that she looked there, that couldn’t not make his breath catch.
He was beginning to think he may have found something more beautiful than the stars.
But as beautiful as those stars were, he saw the familiar line of light that was breaking over the horizon as he sat there with her, and he knew that he would have to soon return.
The thought of leaving her now after the night they had been there filled him with an unexplainable sense of dread. Or maybe it was explainable and he just didn’t want to listen to it.
Nova on the other hand, seemed to be mesmerized by the Sheen of gold that was overtaking the night sky.
“Wow.” She whispered softly.
“I knew that it would be beautiful but… I didn’t think it would be this.” she said in amazement. He raised an eyebrow looking at her.
“You've seen the sunrise before?” he asked. Her cheeks flashed a light shade of pink, and she shook her head slowly.
“Well no, not exactly. But… once I guess. In a dream.” she said quietly, glancing over at him.
And maybe they didn’t see it just then, but something unspoken passed between them. Dreams. Funny things they were indeed.
“ I like watching the sunrise with you.” Victor said with a smile.
Nova smiled back. And for once, they weren’t just a vampire and a day walker together there. They were something else entirely. Something new.
The sun was a painful reminder, and he stood with a sigh.
“I have to get home,” he said quietly. Never seemed to understand, nodding, and standing up.
“Me as well.” she said just as quietly. Neither of them moved.
No one seemed to hesitate saying something. But then she searched forward and kissed his cheek.
“Thank you Victor. It was… nice to meet you.” she said with a small smile. And for once it didn’t feel forced to smile back.
He had to force himself to walk away after that because he knew that one more second there he wouldn’t leave. He could feel his eyes on her as he walked away, and as he got to the arch that would make him disappear, he turned around to wave one last time.
No waved back. And even though it felt like a goodbye… It didn’t feel like a goodbye forever. But a goodbye for now.
