Klance vampire/werewolf fic for @redvioletz‘s art here. Check it out, it’s really awesome!!
Warnings: violence, unimportant character death, injuries
Word count: 2.7k
Summary: The Bonding Moment is a universal constant.
I am only writing more when Red draws another picture. Step it up, bro.
~~~~~
Keith swings his short sword in a wide arc and it sings as it cuts through the hunter’s body. The hunter doesn’t even have a chance to cry out in pain or rage before Phoenix drains his life force through the fatal wound. He collapses to the ground a moment later, lifeless. The purple design on the length of the sword flashes with purple light, freshly charged with the life force.
“Vampire bastard!” another hunter roars from across the room. Keith narrows his eyes and tightens his grip on his blade. Phoenix pulses in his hand like a heart beating and the stored life force energy starts to bleed into Keith.
He dodges a crossbow bolt that the hunter fires at him and focuses the life force energy into his agility. Keith runs sideways up onto the wall and speeds around the archaic sitting room to the hunter. At the last moment, he jumps off the wall and throws his body into a spin, decapitating the hunter right as he’s fumbling to load another bolt onto his crossbow.
Phoenix drains this hunter’s life force too, and the design on the sword flashes again, brighter. Keith spares a moment to regain his balance and then sprints into the connecting room.
There are no hunters here, so he keeps moving through the Maria werewolf clan’s mansion. As Keith runs, he grows irritated to sense that the rest of the Marmora vampire clan have already escaped. Damn it, after all that work to negotiate this meeting to ally with the Maria clan, they’ve abandoned it all. Just because a bunch of hunters crashed the meeting. Keith knows they could have easily overpowered the hunters if the Marmora vampires and the Maria werewolves worked together.
Keith quickly changes direction when he smells spilled blood nearby. It’s either from the hunters or from the Maria werewolf clan. Or both.
Keith finally arrives at the second floor balcony that oversees the Maria clan’s ballroom, where he sees almost a dozen of the werewolves fully shifted into their huge wolf forms, fighting off about a dozen and a half well organized hunters. The hunters are shooting repeatedly with their bows and crossbows, and keeping the attacking wolves back with gleaming silver bladed weapons. Most of the werewolves have arrows or crossbow bolts buried in them, and Keith winces in sympathy. He knows those are all tipped with wicked silver barbs that burn the werewolves’ flesh and poison their blood.
As Keith hesitates, looking for the best opening to utilize his element of surprise, he notices that a handful of the werewolves are struggling to maintain their wolf forms. One or two are slowly changing back into their human forms, and it doesn’t look like it’s intentional.
“What the hell…” Keith mutters, focusing on one in particular who has what looks like five crossbow bolts embedded in his back, plus a few arrows. That one is at the edge of the pack, and it’s moving sluggishly.
Damn it. Keith has never seen silver’s effect on werewolves before, despite knowing about it. This looks really bad. Hunters really don’t have any qualms using the most painful means to attack and kill vampires and werewolves, do that? All the hunters Keith’s dealt with always have some disturbing desire to watch the vampires suffer before they die. These hunters seem no different.
One of the hunters separates from the others, advancing on the injured werewolf at the edge of the pack. Keith narrows his eyes. The werewolf suddenly collapses on the ground, his body now much more human than wolf.
Keith doesn’t wait a moment longer. He leaps off the balcony and lands directly in front of the werewolf. The hunter is taken by surprise, and Keith wastes no time cutting him in two. Then Keith tenses, not sure whether to charge at the other hunters or to stay with the fallen werewolf.
In moments, however, the remaining werewolves start to force the hunters back. The largest of the werewolves snaps its powerful jaws around the neck of a hunter who can’t run back in time. Over the noise of the hunters yelling and the wolves snarling, Keith hears the hunter’s bones snap.
Another one of the hunters throws some kind of smoke bomb--similar to the one they used when they interrupted the meeting in the first place. The Maria werewolves back away from the smoke, unwilling to make the same mistake as before.
The noise dies down, the smoke soon clears, and Keith scowls when he sees that the hunters have gone.
Cowards. Cheating murderous cowards.
He’s not enough of an idiot to go chasing after them now that they’ve gone, so Keith instead turns around to examine the werewolf on the floor. To his surprise, he finds it’s the young one that he had argued with at the start of the meeting. Lance. Keith quickly sheathes Phoenix, deactivating it, and kneels down next to him. Ever so carefully, he lifts Lance off the floor so the silver-barbed bolts aren’t being pushed any further into his body.
Lance is shaking, covered in blood and sweat. There are some patches of brown fur all over him, but most of his body has reverted to his human form. He cracks open his yellow eyes.
“Keith,” he says, panting laboriously. “You stayed.”
Keith blinks. He wasn’t expecting that response. “Yeah. I did.” What else was he going to do? Run away and leave the werewolves to deal with the hunters on their own?
Lance closes his eyes. “Guess we can work together after all,” he says. “Vampires and werewolves...”
Two of the Maria werewolves arrive on either side of Lance. They’ve also been injured by the arrows, but not nearly as badly as Lance. Keith moves so they can take Lance. They move tenderly, taking care not to disturb his injuries any more than necessary.
“Thank you,” says one of them, a young female werewolf who looks remarkably similar to Lance. Maybe a sister? She and the other werewolf, an older male, pick up Lance and carry him out of the ballroom.
Keith gets up and faces the other wolves. Most of them have left the ballroom, but four remain. The most senior members of the Maria werewolf clan. Guadalupe, the head of the clan, is standing in front of the others. Her eyes are still glowing yellow and her fists are clenched as she approaches Keith.
“So, only one of our new allies chooses to stay and defend us?” she says in a low, dangerous voice.
Keith stands his ground, even though his senses are telling him to get away from the werewolves and get out. To escape, just like the rest of the Marmora clan did as soon as they killed the hunters who pursued them.
Keith knew that action wasn’t right. What sort of message would it give the Maria werewolves if the vampires fled at the first sign of trouble? This hunter attack wasn’t the werewolves’ fault, and it wasn’t the vampires’ fault either. It was an unfortunate reality of their existence, and it was better for them to face it and fight it together. That’s the hope that Ulaz and Thace both died for.
Keith resists the urge to grab Phoenix’s hilt. “Yeah. I stayed.”
“Where are the rest of the Marmora vampires?” one of the other werewolves snarls. “Run away like the cowards they are?”
Keith bristles. “We told you that our clan has been attacked by hunters so much in the past decades that our numbers are low. My friends chose to--”
“They chose to abandon their attempt at an alliance,” Guadalupe finishes. “But for some reason you decided to stay. Why?”
Keith thinks about Shiro and grits his teeth. “Because I wanted to kill those hunters more than I wanted to protect myself.” It’s the honest answer, if not the one the Marmora leaders would have chosen.
Guadalupe’s face twists in a smirk. “Interesting.”
Keith waits for the werewolf to tell him to get out of their mansion. Or to tell him that he should tell the other Marmora vampires to consider the alliance attempt a complete failure. It sure feels like he’s standing in the aftermath of a disaster.
But instead, Guadalupe says, “I would like to offer an invitation to you. Stay here, for a while. The Maria clan may reconsider your Marmora clan’s alliance if you are truly earnest about your hatred for the hunters. I do not trust your companions, but I will trust you… for now.”
Keith doesn’t know what to say at first. He glances from Guadalupe to the other three werewolves remaining in the ballroom. They all seem to have mixed reactions to Guadalupe’s offer. One doesn’t seem pleased at all, one is frowning at Keith although without any real hostility, and one is nodding at Keith with something like respect. Keith looks back at the bodies of the dead hunters. There’s a chance that the hunters may send more people to attack the Maria clan, in order to avenge their fallen comrades.
Keith thinks he’d like to be here, ready for when they come.
Also… if he stays, he’ll be able to make sure Lance is alright. Since Keith went and pretty much saved the werewolf from getting killed by that hunter, he wants to be sure that he’s going to survive his injuries.
“Okay,” Keith says. “I’ll stay however long you want me.”
~~~
The next day, the werewolves patch themselves up and spend time recovering in their rooms across the Maria mansion. Very few of them escaped injury, and those lucky few have their hands full removing the silver barbed bolts and administering medicines to combat the silver poison. After a day of resting in one of the guest bedrooms, Keith offers to help. He asks to help with the treatments, but it’s quickly made clear that Guadalupe doesn’t trust him that much yet. Or maybe she doesn’t want him in the way of the Maria clan’s healer.
Instead, he’s put to work helping Anne, a werewolf in charge of preparing meals and bringing supplies to Vivian, the healer werewolf.
Anne is pleasant. She’s probably the friendliest werewolf Keith’s ever met, although he notices that she doesn’t like to turn her back on him. But she speaks nicely to him and she allows him to do simple tasks unsupervised. Keith counts that as a win. He does his best not to mess up any of the jobs she gives him, and she grows a little less uncomfortable in his presence as time passes.
Keith sees Lance whenever he and Anne go to his room with Vivian’s supplies, but every time, he’s asleep. Vivian has them leave Lance’s food, but Keith doesn’t know if he actually wakes up to eat it. Anne tells him not to worry, but Keith worries nonetheless.
After five days of helping Anne, Guadalupe takes Keith out of the kitchen. She brings him to a different werewolf, an older male with a soft smile names Ricardo. Ricardo takes Keith through the mansion to remove all the remaining traces of the hunters’ attack. Like Anne, he speaks to Keith with some respect and even smiles at him.
It’s nice that Guadalupe is setting him to work with werewolves who won’t bite his head off when they’re alone, Keith thinks.
All the hunters’ bodies have been removed from the mansion, but there are still traces of them everywhere. Blood, missed arrows and bolts, and even a few silver daggers and bottles of poison. With gloves on, Keith picks up the silver weapons and puts them in a wooden box for Ricardo to dispose of. They scrub at wooden floors and carpets until the bloodstains are out, then move on to the next mess.
The work doesn’t take very long. Keith and Ricardo are finishing up in the ballroom when Ricardo says, “I really appreciate it… you saving Lance.”
Keith stops and looks up at the werewolf. While they were working, Ricardo mostly kept the conversation to cleaning tips or instructions. Now he’s… opening up? Anne didn’t do that even after five days of working together.
“I didn’t realize he was so hurt,” Ricardo says, keeping his eyes fixed on a bloodstain on the wooden floor. “I was right there and all I could think of was killing the hunters. Lance is my nephew and I... I didn’t.” He swallows shakily. “If you hadn’t--”
“He’s going to be alright,” Keith says firmly.
Ricardo nods. “Vivian is going to try and wake him up in a few hours,” he says. “If. If you’d like to be there.”
Keith feels his chest grow tight. “Please,” he says.
~~~
Keith stays at the back of the room. Ricardo is leaning against the wall next to Keith, but only because there are seven other werewolves taking up most of the space in the room. Guadalupe and Vivian are nearest to Lance’s bedside, sitting in chairs on either side of his bed. Vivian is doing something with her strong-smelling medicines. Keith doesn’t have a very good view of her, but only because he’s focusing on watching Lance.
Despite the crowd in the room, everyone is silent. The only sound is the beaded bracelets on Vivian’s wrists clicking together as she moves. And then, Lance groans softly and starts moving in his bed. There’s a collective sigh of relief that resounds around the room. Keith is relieved too, and he moves to try and get a better look.
Lance is still lying in the bed, but he’s moving his arm up to reach for Guadalupe. The clan leader takes his hand and strokes his cheek.
“You gave us quite a scare,” Guadalupe says, her voice full of tenderness. “Five crossbow bolts and two arrows in you. I was worried the silver poison would be too much.”
Lance gives a weak snort. “Takes more than that to beat me,” he says.
A few of the werewolves chuckle softly.
“Clearly,” Guadalupe says. “Although it might have been worse if our vampire friend didn’t jump in to save you.”
Lance frowns. “What are you talking about? I thought all the vampires left.”
Guadalupe turns and makes eye contact with Keith. “Come,” she says. Keith obeys and stops a few feet from the bed. He looks much better than when Keith last saw him, although there’s nothing but confusion in his face. “You remember Keith?” Guadalupe prompts. “He came back to fight with us.”
Lance looks skeptical. “That guy? Are you sure about that?”
“Are you telling me you don’t remember?” Keith says, indignation at Lance’s tone starting to overpower the voice of reason telling him to stay on his best behavior around the werewolves. “I saved your life and you don’t remember?”
Sure, Lance had been a bit drained from the fight. But he was still conscious! He talked with Keith and there was a moment there!! An actual vampire-werewolf moment that wasn’t just hostility or outright fighting! That’s something really fucking important!
Lance scoffs. “Yeah, nothing’s coming back to me. Apart from your clan disappearing after the hunters showed up.”
“Keith remained to fight,” Guadalupe says, patting Lance’s hand.
Lance still doesn’t look convinced. Keith throws up his hands in frustration. “I don’t believe this! I saved your life! Nothing like that has happened between werewolves and vampires for over three hundred years, and you can’t remember it!?”
Keith shakes with rage. He can’t believe he’s hearing that stupid fucking nickname that Lance gave him before the meeting again. “We had a bonding moment!” he cries in desperation. “I cradled you in my arms!”
“Lance,” Guadalupe says, before Keith or Lance can argue further. “I’m glad to see you’re well enough to pick a fight with our new ally. But I would rather you not aggravate him.”
“Ally?” Lance repeats.
Guadalupe rises from Lance’s bedside and turns to Keith. “Yes. If you would follow me, I would like to discuss terms of that with you.”
Keith gets up and leaves Lance as soon as he can. That ungrateful little… he’s lucky Keith is still so happy to see that he’s okay. The other werewolves crowd around Lance and start talking as Keith and Guadalupe shut the door behind them.
Hi there I have a random question. I love the Punisher and really want to see the new show, but I've only watched Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Would you recommend watching the other shows like Defenders and Luke Cage before watching the Punisher, or is it a show that doesn't require it?
shit this is so late i’m sorry. you don’t need it. the punisher is mostly a standalone silo thing of the marvel netflix series, which would be the first of them. it would be helpful if you watched defenders to know what karen has been going through since DD S2 but not super required :)
Hello I have a question for artists looking to collaborate: If you have a fellow writing friend who is applying that you would enjoy collaborating with, are you able to mention it in your application? Or will collaborations be decided at random?
Ooooo, what a great question!
As I’ve mentioned before, this is a collaborative zine. So, if you both get in, you are welcome to pair off together! I won’t assign anything unless it gets out of control, but I’m hoping we can just all work together without me having to go into Mom mode. But if I have to, I will! In the end, Jessie and I have final say over everything. Also, please do leave us a note on your applications!
Hi there! I just wanted to say I am a super huge fan of your comics and art-style (I actually originally thought they were canon voltron comics cause your style is on point lol), and was wondering if you would mind me asking what software do you use to make them. If not I understand, but thank you anyways :3
Hi, thank you so much! I do reference the voltron characters a lot since it’s difficult to keep them consistent, though I didn’t think they’d look that close to the canon style lol. As for which software I use making comics…. I actually draw most of them on paper. Here’s a pic of my inked vld pages:
After scanning, I edit them in Photoshop, sometimes re-drawing parts and rearranging stuff (to fit the dialog better). I shade in PS, but when I use screentone I apply it in ClipStudio (MangaStudio). Sometimes I draw 100% digital comics, and then I only use CS.
Part 2 of @redvioletz klance vampire/werewolf au, based on this art. Set directly after this fic. This took a while to finish, but it’s here now!!
Warnings: mentions of violence
Word count: 6.2k
Summary: The leader of the werewolves makes Keith an offer, and Keith starts going places.
Watch Red draw another picture like right after this. I’ll have to start planning another fic. Actually I do have a series planned
~~~~~
Guadalupe takes Keith back to the large drawing room. Several days ago, this space was used for the tense meeting between the Maria werewolves and the Marmora vampires. Tonight, it’s empty save for Keith, Guadalupe, and the three werewolves who had waited the other night when Guadalupe questioned him for remaining in the mansion.
Keith knows their names now: Rufus, Seneca, and José. Anne told Keith that Rufus is an older member of the clan who hates vampires. By the cold glare Rufus is directing at him, Keith thinks that he’s not likely to change his stance anytime soon. As for the other two, Anne said Seneca and José are much more tolerant. Seneca is rational and was apparently one of the strongest voices in favor of the alliance. And José is Lance’s father who, like Ricardo, has been moved by Keith’s actions.
Guadalupe directs Keith to sit on a couch, in the same place Kolivan sat several days earlier. She then takes her place in the couch on the other side of the beautifully detailed carpet. The three werewolves move as soon as she’s seated. Rufus stands behind her, and José and Seneca each take an armchair on either side.
Keith grows tense under the werewolves’ stares. They’d better not expect him to take over the negotiations for the Marmora clan, because he’s definitely going to fuck that up. He’s just a young vampire and he’s definitely made more enemies in his life than allies.
Thankfully, Guadalupe doesn’t leave him suffering in the silence for long “Keith,” she says. “We’ve been discussing what to do with you for the past few days. While all the Maria clan members have their own opinions on vampires in general, you have earned our respect. Therefore, the leadership of the Maria clan has agreed to offer you a position as an ally of the clan.”
“Only you,” Rufus says sternly, his eyes glinting threateningly in the light of the candles and fire. “Your Marmora friends are not welcome here.”
Keith clenches his fist. Indignation quickly rises in him. “You can't just cut off all-- After all the time they--”
“Keith, please do not argue,” Seneca interrupts. “You can appeal for another chance at the alliance later. But now is not the time for that.”
“Do you accept our offer?” Guadalupe asks. “All we ask from you is your respect, your backing, and your confidence. We won’t ask you to swear loyalty; after all, that would cause unnecessary conflict with your loyalty to the Marmora.”
Keith looks from Guadalupe to the floor. Fuck, he wishes Ulaz or Thace were still alive. They’d agree in a heartbeat, but they would have also stayed to defend the Maria clan along with Keith. They would have saved the alliance, somehow.
Shiro, what would you…
“Yes.”
Guadalupe looks pleased at his answer. She stands up and the other three werewolves rise along with her. Keith follows suit, although he remains where he is on the other side of the carpet.
“We look forward to working with you,” Guadalupe says. “Against these hunters, especially. Time for recovery is important, but I am quite serious about retaliating against hunters with the gall to invade my clan’s home.”
With those final words, Guadalupe and Rufus leave the room. Seneca and José, however, remain.
José approaches Keith first. “I want to thank you for what you did,” he says. “For whatever reasons you had, you saved him.”
Keith feels a bit weird at that. First Guadalupe, then Anne, then Ricardo, and now these guys. Everyone thanking him, making him think over that action more than he normally would have. He’s not really used to this much attention for something he did in a fight. The other Marmora vampires would maybe applaud him for acting quickly and efficiently. But then they’d move on, because there were more important things that recognizing someone’s accomplishments.
Here, it’s different. The werewolves who had previously glared and argued with the Marmora vampires are now treating him with some kind of respect. Keith’s noticed it as the days passed with Anne and then Ricardo. They thanked him for his help around the mansion, and even talked to him, albeit awkwardly.
“It’s… I’m glad he’s okay,” Keith finally says.
Seneca waves for Keith to follow him and José out of the room. “Actually, on the topic of Lance,” he says. “I think it may be best if you spend some time with him as he recovers. It will be good for you, while you’re with us.”
Keith knows he’s making a face at that suggestion.
Seneca adds, “I believe the two of you have more in common than you might think.”
Keith thinks back to the meeting five days ago. “I’m not so sure about that…”
Seneca chuckles. “Your first impression of him and of all of us was not the best. That was a stressful moment for all of us. I had expected it would be a bit of a disaster, seeing as how it’s been almost two hundred years since our clan has been anything but hostile to vampire clans. There was bound to be insults and offenses. I’m glad that the tension was broken, at least on our end, by Lance and yourself. Do you understand that?”
Keith thinks he does. “So… better that me and Lance argued than Guadalupe and Kolivan?”
“Yes,” Seneca says.
“You don’t want to see Guadalupe arguing,” José warns.
No, Keith doesn’t. She’s huge when she’s in her wolf form, and she’s just as intimidating in her human form.
“There’s another benefit of this,” Seneca says. “You and Lance are both young. The two of you may be more likely to change your opinions by just spending the time to get to know each other. If it’s not too much to ask, I want you to try to bridge the gap between our kind and yours, starting with Lance.”
Keith gapes at him. “No pressure, huh?” he says after a moment of horror.
José chuckles and pats Keith on the shoulder. “Don’t worry; I’ll talk to Lance. He’ll be better.”
Seneca starts leading Keith away, towards the east wing of the mansion. “I’ll give you time to think more on that, Keith,” he says. “You’ve been through a lot. I expect you’ll want to return home to the Marmora clan?”
“Oh,” Keith says. Yeah, they might be thinking he was killed, since he didn’t follow them out five days ago.
“We have some horses and carriages,” Seneca says. He pauses as they reach the doorway outside and they both see a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. “And we also have some sleighs. I’ll help you prepare one. You do want to go back and let them know what’s been happening?”
Keith takes a heavy cloak that Seneca hands him from a closet. “I think so. That’s okay? Guadalupe’s not going to be mad that I’m leaving?”
“You’ll be returning soon, right?” Seneca says. Keith nods. “Then there’s no problem. We don’t mean to keep you prisoner here. You’re an ally now, and you can come and go as you please, as long as you’re not endangering us.”
“Okay,” Keith says. Seneca opens the door and leads him to a large carriage house and stable connected to the house. There’s a young man inside, who doesn’t share much familial resemblance to any of the other werewolves Keith’s seen.
“Zachary,” Seneca says. “I don’t think you’ve met Keith yet.”
Zachary glances at Keith a little warily. “The vampire, right?”
Keith nods and waves at him instead of offering a handshake. The werewolf gives a little half smile and waves back.
“Can you get the small sleigh ready for him?” Seneca says.
“Yes sir, right away!” Zachary quickly sets to work bringing out a small sleigh with just enough room for one person to sit inside. Two if they were huddled close together. He also brings out a light brown horse who waits calmly as the harness is secured on. Keith helps where he can, although he doesn’t really know much about horses. He’s ridden them enough to know that he prefers walking. The Marmora clan took a carriage to the Maria mansion since there’s enough distance between the two that a walk would be unpleasant, but Keith didn’t have to worry about driving that thing.
But neither Seneca nor Zachary ask him if he’s ever driven a sleigh, or steered a horse this way before. When they’re done preparing it, Zachary has Keith climb in and hands him the reins.
“Alright,” Zachary says. “Deb’s a good girl. Be light on the reins; she knows what to do. Steer her nice and gentle, and don’t pull too much when you need to stop.”
“Okay,” Keith says. “Thanks.” Experimentally, he shakes the reins and the horse starts moving, walking at a brisk pace out of the carriage house.
Neither Seneca nor Zachary run after him yelling that he’s doing everything wrong, so Keith feels a little better. He still has no idea if he’s doing this right. However, as the horse pulls the sleigh away from the mansion and onto the road, he relaxes a little. He pulls as gently as possible on the reins to direct the horse in the direction of the Marmora home, and it works.
On the road, the horse picks up some speed, but Keith thinks it’ll still be at least an hour or so until he’s back home. He moves the reins to one hand so he can wrap the cloak more snugly around his body, to keep the snow off his skin.
A road breaks off the main road and continues into Johnstown, and Keith nervously stees the horse away from it. While he and Anne were moving around the mansion, he had heard several of the werewolves discussing how they were sure the hunters were from Johnstown, or had at least stayed there before attacking.
They might still be there.
Keith watches the town as he passes by the outskirts, but there’s nothing much to see. It’s late at night, and there aren’t any windows or lamps lit. Maybe another time then.
The rest of the journey back is uneventful. After some time, Keith passes another road that branches away from the main road which leads to Brickwell. Not long after that, Keith finally directs the horse onto the series of smaller paths that take him to the Marmora home. It’s a large house on a large farming estate, but now that Keith has seen the Maria clan’s home, it pales in comparison. Besides the farmhouse, the Marmora estate has a barn, fields, an orchard, and a series of hidden underground caves.
Keith gently guides the horse to stop at the barn. Nobody is inside, and Keith has no idea how to take off the harness, so he brings a bucket of water and some hay to the horse. She seems fine with that, and remains in place as she drinks the water and eats the hay.
“Please don’t leave,” Keith says. The horse ignores him.
Keith turns and exits the barn, heading over to the farmhouse. Instead of the back door which is definitely locked at this time of night, he goes for the front. He knocks and waits for a response.
Echo opens the door and lets him in.
“Strange seeing you here.” she says. “We thought you were dead.”
Keith holds out his arms. “I’m not,” he says.
“Clearly,” she says, eyes narrowed. “What happened, did you get lost in the snow? It’s not that far to walk.”
Keith sighs. He has no interest in wasting his time with Echo. “Is Kolivan here? I need to talk with him.”
She jerks her head at the second floor. “He’s upstairs.”
Keith walks past Echo without another word. He goes upstairs and knocks on Kolivan’s door. The leader of the Marmora has turned half of his personal room into a study, with shelves full of books and maps. It’s where Kolivan spends a lot of his time, making plans to help the clan survive or fight back against hunters.
The door is already open when Keith enters. Kolivan, Vasilisa, and Kapral are all gathered there, leaning over a map spread on a table. Kolivan looks up when Keith enters and his face twists in bewilderment.
“Keith?” He says. He strides over to stand in front of Keith, looking from his face to Phoenix hanging at his belt. “You’re alive?”
“I stayed with the Maria clan to help,” he says. Kolivan nods slowly, as if he hadn’t even considered the possibility of the Marmora helping the Maria without an actual alliance in place. What the hell, Keith knows he didn’t.
“Very well,” Kolivan says. “It’s good that you’re back. You’re dismissed.” He turns back to the map. “I’m sorry, Vasilisa as you were saying, we need to--”
“I want to go back and keep helping them out, against the hunters,” Keith interrupts.
Kolivan looks back. He doesn’t appear very happy to hear that. Vasilisa and Kapral both look at Keith with expressions of confusion and disgust.
“Why would you go back?” Vasilisa says. “The clan is fine without an alliance with those beasts.”
“The Marmora clan doesn’t need the help of werewolves,” Kapral hisses, thumping a fist against the table. “We are strong. We will endure. If the hunters eliminate the Maria clan, then so be it.”
Keith feels his blood grow hot. “Are you just going to let all of Ulaz and Thace’s work go for nothing! They did so much for us! They knew, if we work together we can drive the hunters back!”
“There will always be hunters who want to kill us,” Vasilisa says bitterly. “The best we can do is defend our property and fade into obscurity.”
Keith looks at Kolivan in desperation. He looks impassive. “Keith,” he says. “If you want to… pursue this, then you may. But whatever you choose to do, make certain not to bring unnecessary attention to our clan. We don’t need it, at this delicate time.”
Kapral scoffs. “He’ll ruin us in a week. We should at least take his blade so--”
“No.” Kolivan says firmly. “Keith is a Marmora. He will keep his blade until he dies.”
Keith clenches his hand around Phoenix’s handle. His soul is tied to his sword. If he was forced to leave it…
Kolivan sighs and shakes his head. “Keith, if you truly want to do this... If this is just about honoring Ulaz and Thace--”
“It’s not just them,” Keith says softly. He’s had some time to think about that on the ride here. “It is but… I also want to do this. I think we can actually… okay, maybe not defeat the hunters but at least defend against them better. I think the Maria can help.”
Kapral makes another noise that makes it very clear he doesn’t agree. Vasilisa crosses her arms and shakes her head. Kolivan looks uncertain.
“I won’t force you to stay, if you’re determined to do this,” Kolivan says. “You will always be a Marmora vampire, even if you’re not physically with us.” Keith breathes a sigh of relief. Kolivan continues, “I know you won’t share any of our secrets with the Maria clan, and I won’t ask you for theirs.”
“I’ll try and be back someday soon,” Keith says.
Kolivan nods. Vasilisa doesn’t look happy and Kapral looks pissed, but they say nothing else now that Kolivan’s given Keith permission to go.
So Keith leaves the room. He hesitates on the second floor landing, and then walks down to his room. He doesn’t have much that could be considered personal belongings, but he does have one important thing that he wants to keep with him. Hidden under the floorboard is the black bladed knife Shiro gave him before he… before he disappeared. Keith wraps his fingers around the handle, cold from the winter weather. He hadn’t taken it with him to the meeting with the Maria clan--a last second decision that he regretted even with Phoenix comfortably at his side.
This knife is special. Keith doesn’t want to lose it. He hadn’t thought he would need it, because even if the werewolves had turned on them, he would have been fine with Phoenix.
Keith straps the knife to his back, hidden under the cloak. Then he leaves the room.
He goes downstairs, and avoids talking to Echo twice in one night by going to door at the back of the farmhouse instead. Echo will lock it after him, no doubt after cursing his name for being inconsiderate. He returns to the barn and finds the horse in the same place he left her. That’s good. It takes him a while to figure out how to turn her and the sleigh around, but once she seems to realize what he’s doing, she moves on her own. She waits for him to climb back into to sleigh, and then he’s off again.
It’s a long ride back to the Maria mansion, and the dark clouds overhead start to brighten as he makes his way across the countryside. The air is still thick with falling snow that continue to paint everything white. The cloak keeps the dampness of the snow off of Keith, but the chilly wind still stings his face. The horse keeps at her brisk pace, and even speeds up a bit when they finally turn onto the short path to the Maria clan’s home.
The horse heads straight for the place they left several hours ago. Zachary is still there when Keith arrives, and he takes charge of the horse and the sleigh.
“You can go back inside, I can handle this,” he says, and he almost seems a bit more comfortable around Keith now.
“Thanks,” Keith says. “Where’d Seneca go?”
Zachary shrugs. “He’s got his work he has to do. That guy from the Merbak clan is probably going to be back again today.”
“Who’s that?” Keith asks.
“He’s a fool if he thinks he’s going to get anything from us when his clan has done nothing but ignore us in times of need for decades,” Zachary grumbles.
That sounds like deep rooted bitterness. Rather than ask more about it, Keith leaves the carriage house and returns to the mansion.
He goes to the kitchen first, hoping to find Anne, but nobody’s in there. So then he starts wandering around. He’s bound to find someone eventually. And he’s hoping whoever he finds is going to be someone who likes him more than they hate vampires. Preferably Anne, Ricardo, Seneca, or maybe even Guadalupe.
Instead, after a minute of walking around the first floor of the mansion, he runs into Lance. Keith is surprised to see him out of bed so soon. He was asleep for days. Keith doesn’t know much about silver poison, but he’s pretty sure it can’t be gone in such a short period of time. Either Lance is pushing himself or he’s stronger than Keith thought.
Lance is clearly surprised to see Keith. “Hey. You.”
“Hey, you,” Keith says, unsure of how to proceed. Seneca wants him to possibly befriend this guy, and Keith has sort of resolved to try, but how?
“I, uh,” Lance rubs the back of his head. “Thanks. For what you did. I… still don’t remember it. But I had a lot of poison in me, so… yeah. Sorry about how I… and thanks.”
Keith struggles to think of a way to respond. “Uh. Yeah. How are you feeling?”
“Bad,” Lance says bluntly. “But I hate just lying in bed. I mean, I love being in bed when I feel fine. But you know, when you’re sick, you get tired of it. Ethel kept talking to me like I was about to die. I wanted to get out of there.”
Keith nods.
“Where have you been?” Lance says, looking curiously at him. “You’re covered in snow. Were you outside? Here, you should hang that up somewhere.” Lance shows him to a small side room and Keith sheds the cloak.
“I went back to the Marmora,” Keith says. “I wanted to let them know I’ll be staying here for a while.”
“You’re staying here?” Lance says, his voice raising a bit. “Why?”
Keith’s thoughts flit between different options. I want to try and bring the Marmora and the Maria together. Your clan might know about the hunters who might have taken Shiro. Seneca wants me to befriend you and I actually kind of agree that it’s a good idea, even though I don’t really know how to make friends.
“Guadalupe asked,” Keith decides on.
Lance groans and leans against the wall of the room they’re still in. “She’s been making some weird decisions lately. First she finally agrees to meet with you guys after being pretty strongly against it for years. Then she has me do… a lot of stuff. She asks me to be part of the meeting when plenty of other guys in the clan have seniority. And Ethel just told me that she had Vivian do some serious stuff to heal the poison. And now she wants you to stay here?” He squints at Keith.
Keith shrugs. “You know her better than I do,” he says.
Lance shakes his head. “Yeah, but that’s why this is all so weird. She’s been acting normal, but just doing some things that she wouldn’t have done ten years ago. I don’t understand it.”
Keith doesn’t know what to say. Lance thankfully doesn’t seem to expect anything. “Come on, Twilight, let’s get away from all the adults.”
“Don’t call me Twilight,” Keith protests, but still follows Lance out of the small room and down a narrow hallway.
Lance laughs. “It’s an amazing book.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Keith says, annoyed. “Vampires aren’t like that. We don’t drink blood and we don’t--”
“I know it’s not accurate,” Lance says. “But who cares about accuracy? Besides vampires, I guess.”
“Do not do that,” Keith says. “And yes, I can read.”
“Alright, cool. I’ll take you to our library later and you can read it whenever you’re ready.”
“I don’t want to read it!”
“Come on, Twilight.”
Lance opens a door at the end of the hallway and takes Keith into a small kitchen. This one is different than the kitchen Anne has been using with Keith. It’s got several cauldrons of varying sizes spread around, and shelves full of things that don’t look like they’re all for food. Shadows of things suspended in opaque liquid, bundles of dried plants, and more glass and ceramic jars than Keith can count. There are even live plants in pots in a row at one side of the kitchen. Everything has a label, but they’re all in a language Keith doesn’t understand. Keith looks around in amazement. There’s a painted nature mural on the ceiling and colored candles everywhere. He’s never seen anything as cool as this place.
Lance walks straight to a wooden box at the far end of the room. He takes a bundle wrapped in a white cloth and turns back to Keith.
“I forgot to tell you, but don’t touch anything in here,” Lance says.
Keith points at the bundle in his hands. “You’re touching something.”
“This is different,” Lance says. “This is breakfast. Vivian told me she left this in here for me. Everything else is… well, it’s safe to assume everything is dangerous. Most witch kitchens are like that, I’m sure.”
Keith quickly moves away from the cauldron he was just standing next to. “Vivian’s a witch?”
“And the best healer you’ll ever meet,” Lance says proudly. He claps Keith on the shoulder. “Alright, Twilight, let’s find a place to hide from everyone before the clan starts waking up!”
“What?” Keith says. He must have missed something here.
Lance pauses. “Uh, breakfast? I don’t want to have to listen to everyone saying that I was almost dead while I’m trying to eat. Come on, if we’re lucky, we can make it to the secret room in the study before anyone knows I’m up!”
Keith follows Lance as he races across the mansion, still wondering what’s going on. This… this wasn’t exactly what he was anticipating. Trying to make friends in the Marmora clan either involved failures of conversations or attempting to bond while working or training. He was expecting that with Lance, not sneaking through a hidden sliding panel in a wall to eat breakfast with a guy who was still visibly exhausted.
But, as Keith eats half of the food in the bundle and listens to Lance tell him about his family, he thinks he likes it better like this.
~~~
Keith is a bit taken aback at how willing Lance is to spend the days with him. He doesn’t think Seneca had a conversation with Lance like he did with Keith, so it can’t be because of that. And Lance has mentioned several times how much his family has been hovering around him since he woke up from the hunter attack.
“I got better,” he tells Keith the day after Keith returns from the Marmora. “They’re acting like I might still fall over any minute! It’s not just Ethel and Charles, it’s everyone! Even Angela! My older sister,” he explains at Keith’s bemused expression.
“You had a ton of arrows in you,” Keith reminds him.
Lance groans. “I know, but… look, my younger brother and sister came crying to me last night saying they didn’t want me to almost die ever again. Who told them I was almost dying? They’re children!”
Keith admits that’s messed up. Lance then insists on telling him all about how amazing and cute his younger siblings are.
Keith has noticed that Lance tends to take Keith to quieter areas of the mansion where they avoid the rest of the Maria clan and just talk about things. It’s probably less stressful on Lance’s recovering body to do so.
Lance tells Keith ridiculous and even embarrassing stories from his past at times, but also talks about his family, and about fiction or interesting facts he’s read. He jokes with Keith sometimes, and not all of the jokes are at Keith’s expense. They poke harmless fun at him, although Keith still gets flustered at them. Keith tries to respond to Lance with his own stories, but they don’t feel as fun as Lance’s. Lance does like his stories about the places he’s been, but Keith leaves Shiro out of those stories.
The third day, Lance tries to take Keith on a tour of the mansion, but they end up stopping in a room full of portraits while Lance rests on a couch. Ricardo finds them and laughs loud enough to wake Lance, and then brings them down to have a midday meal together.
That evening, the entire Maria clan gathers in the large dining room to eat. Lance apologizes to Keith that he couldn’t avoid it. Keith tells him it’s fine, although he grows nervous as the dining room fills with werewolves. Lance makes a space for Keith near him, and Lance’s mother Sarah kindly sits on Keith’s other side. Nicole and Diego, Lance’s younger siblings, sit on her other side and peer around their mother to stare at Keith. He tries to smile at them, even though half the clan is watching him distrustfully.
Keith gets a lot of stares at that dinner, but thankfully nobody really acknowledges him apart from Lance, Sarah, and the two children.
The next day, Lance takes Keith to the library as a way of making up for the tension at dinner. It’s nice until he brings up that terrible romance novel again.
“It’s better thrown in a fire than opened and read,” Keith says.
Lance laughs. “Oh, come on, Keith! It’s a passionate love story about a young woman who falls for a mysterious young man! Pale icy skin, eyes that change color, faster and stronger than the others...”
Keith crosses his arms stubbornly. “It’s terrible.”
“You’ve never even read it!”
“And I’m not going to!” Keith turns away and starts looking at the titles of the books on all the shelves. They look like they’re all in another language, so he keeps looking around.
“Okay, okay,” Lance says. “Then what do you like to read? You’ve never told me about any stories you like.”
“I don’t know,” Keith says. He picks a book titled Historia de la Arquitectura off a shelf and opens it. Nope, he can’t understand those words. He puts it back. “I want to know more about the history of vampires. And werewolves. And why hunters want us dead.”
“Oh, you like history?” Lance says, coming up to walk around the library with Keith. “We’ve got plenty of that. Teófila has a huge collection, and it’s all organized. Come here,” Lance guides Keith to another bookshelf. He points at the different shelves. “That’s the stuff about werewolves, we’ve got at least a few about vampire clans from hundreds of years ago, and there’s some records and things she took from some hunter dens.”
“What?” Keith says, immediately taking one of the books from the hunters. “Were they from around here?”
Lance shrugs. “I’m not sure where they were from. But I think that was about a hundred or so years ago, when she and Hernando and Zeru regularly went around fighting hunters. Guadalupe had just become the clan leader after the last one was killed. Teófila told me a bunch of stories about fighting hunters when I was a kid, but--”
“Where is she?” Keith asks. “Maybe she can come and help.”
“She might not like you,” Lance says apologetically. “She’s sort of… she has some bad blood with vampires. Sorry.”
Of course. Last night was a pretty clear reminder that there are plenty of werewolves in the clan who strongly disliked him, even with Guadalupe’s support. Maybe if Keith had grown up in the Marmora clan instead of joining it only four years ago, he would have felt a similar hatred for werewolves.
He takes a couple of the hunter books and sets them aside, and then starts skimming through the books on werewolves and vampires, trying to figure out which ones will be the best resources.
Lance points at one of the books. “This one’s a good guide to… I guess werewolves in general. It talks a lot about a bunch of clans that don’t exist anymore but it’s good history. It’s actually pretty exciting in places.”
“Thanks,” Keith says, adding it to his pile.
Lance points to two other books. “I haven’t read all of these two, but they’re also good. Records about vampire clans that have been in the region for a while. There isn’t anything on the Marmora clan, but there’s some information on the Galra clan and Altean clan in that one. The other is more obscure. I think it’s the only thing that talks about the Samuddarar.”
“I’ve only heard about the Galra clan,” Keith says, taking those books.
“The Samuddarar live in the ocean and they’re amazing,” Lance says excitedly. “They’re vampire sea nymphs. I want to meet them someday.”
“Are they the reason you read Twilight?”
“You know, I hadn’t thought about that. Wow, now I’m imagining Edward as a Samuddarar. It’s so much better than him as a normal vampire. Thanks, Keith!”
Keith regrets bringing that book up again. He takes his stack of books over to an armchair near the fireplace. The fire is burning steadily, and Keith has no idea how, since neither he or Lance has touched it. Maybe another witch thing? He’ll ask Lance later.
Keith starts with the book about werewolves. It is interesting, although the historical records have a lot more names than Keith can keep track of. He ends up skipping much of the history, but still reads about how different clans of werewolves have gathered in different areas, taking on characteristics of the people and land. Some clans are old and long lasting, some clans split to form new ones, and some clans assimilate into others. Each has its own history.
Keith loses track of how much time has gone by until Lance suddenly pokes his arm. Startled, Keith looks up. He’s in the middle of a very interesting section that talks about the Arusian clan, a group of smaller werewolves who could pass as large dogs. Apparently they lived peacefully with a band of northern-dwelling humans for centuries until a bunch of superstitious religious leaders drove them away.
Lance is carrying a tray full of food. Keith’s stomach grumbles at the sight, reminding him that its noon.
Lance smiles. “You seemed really into that. I figured I’d go get something from the kitchen and you could keep reading.” He sets the tray down on the floor, where he’s spread a blanket over the thick carpet in front of the fire.
“Thanks,” Keith says, putting aside the book and moving to sit on the floor.
Lance sits down across from him and they eat their meal in silence. Then as Lance takes the tray away, Keith picks up the book again and resumes reading. He remains on the floor, because the carpet isn’t bad for sitting on. If he got back onto the armchair, he’s a bit concerned he might fall asleep. The room is warm enough and he’s full from the food he just finished.
Lance returns and sits down on the carpet next to him. Keith briefly glances at the title of his book. It’s something called The Iron Knife. Is that another weird romance? Lance said earlier that he also likes thrilling stories about adventure and mystery. It could be something like that too.
Before Lance catches him staring, Keith returns to reading about the fate of the Arusians. Oh, they were hunted down until they had to split up and join other clans for protection. That’s kind of depressing. Maybe he should move on to something else.
Keith puts down the book about werewolves and picks up one of the hunters’ books. This one is… it looks like it’s a manual or a log about killing werewolves. And vampires too, Keith discovers as he skims through the pages. And… fae? Keith slows down with a frown, noticing several mentions of other creatures he’s never heard of.
He goes back to the beginning to start. He does end up skipping some of the more gorey descriptions, but there’s a lot of discussion about the properties of different metals. Especially silver. How silver will kill vampires quickly, but will only poison werewolves. According to these hunters, the best way to defeat werewolves is to weaken them with silver and either burn them or stab them in the heart or the head. There’s a terrible few pages full of an account of the hunters trapping a bunch of werewolves in a cave and burning them to death. Keith skips that, although not before his mind envisions Lance and his nice family in their place.
Truly horrifying.
Keith keeps going, until he finds a large section on a clan of vampires the hunters had fought against. He doesn’t recognize the name--the Ctirad clan. The book notes that the clan had close to thirty members, and it took these hunters years to kill them all.
Keith keeps reading, split between disgust at these hunters and fascination for all the things they learned and documented in this book. Suddenly a weight falls on his knee. Keith looks away from the book and his eyes widen.
Lance is lying on his knee, using it as a pillow. Keith is about to shake him awake, but he stops when he notices Lance’s shirt has shifted and there’s a pale scar just below his collarbone. Keith stares for a second until he remembers, there was a silver-tipped arrow there. If it hit the other side of his chest, it would have struck near his heart. And after what he’s read...
It’s only been a few days since Lance awoke for the first time after the battle with the hunters. Keith can’t just wake him up.
He tries to go back to reading, but Lance’s breathing is kind of… distracting. It’s soft and steady, and Keith finds himself relieved at that. It’s got to be because he’s glad that Lance is recovering.
He sets down his book and reaches hesitantly for Lance’s head. Lance’s wolfy ears are relaxed and Keith just wants to… find out what they feel like. He’s been seeing them nonstop on all the Maria clan werewolves for days and they look so interesting. He carefully touches one of Lance’s ears.
It’s soft. It twitches and Keith pulls his hand back quickly. But Lance’s breathing doesn’t change. He’s still asleep.
Slowly, Keith reaches for the soft-looking hair on Lance’s head. Maybe that’s the same? He very gently places his hand on top of Lance’s head and strokes it.
Lance lets out a gentle sigh and leans in closer to Keith. Keith freezes, sure that Lance is about to wake up and realize what he’s doing and move away. But he doesn’t. He lies there, sleeping peacefully on his side.
