[So there's a few things going on right now. The first is that the cloak absolutely explains a few things, mostly in what eyes he thought he was looking at a few moments ago. They're moth wings, made to the size of a cloak. It's...actually, that's pretty cool, Alucard can admit that in all his fourteen year old boy-ness.
The rest though, the rest sets off klaxons in his head. There may have been no mention of fae from his father, but Alucard is well versed enough in dealing with night things to know better than to make deals where favors are involved.]
[ He's having such a good time right now. His first hunt as an adult (well. Sixteen. Close enough.) was always going to be an important day. And now, now he has a- a something. A something that needs something from him. A something that's just talked himself into paying only in what he can give here and now. ]
What are five memories worth to you? Be quick about it, my sisters will be here soon.
[He'll take the risk. Tell his father what he saw instead, because that? That's something he can trust to be effective. This thing, whatever it is, Alucard doesn't know how effective it will be then.
And as if to make the refusal absolute, he does hit vampiric speed now, wordlessly moving through the woods as only youth and vampire abilities can allow. Lupu may not be visible yet, but the smell of wood smoke from fireplaces fills the air, and that in and of itself is a sign of home.
Just fifteen minutes of light left. Maybe half an hour. He can manage.]
[ He huffs, but he makes chase. It's for the sport of it, now. It's hard to keep up, with Alucard moving so fast, but he can stay close enough that he can track his scent. He never quite catches up, though, and by the time he lands by the small clinic Alucard is safely inside.
Night falls not long after, and the silence is broken as the sun dips below the horizon. Dogs barking and howling, singing and wailing, horns and pipes playing, the storming of hooves. At dawn, little seems different in Lupu itself. Lisa is called away at dawn to see to a man found dead in his bed, whose wife and children had often come to her clinic for injuries they couldn't explain.
There is a bottle by the clinic's door, containing five silvery masses suspended in a clear liquid. When Alucard runs into the hunters at market, they do not meet his eyes but nor do they seem to take any note of him. ]
[When Alucard runs into his own house like the hounds of hell are after him, his mother drops everything and runs to him. It isn't childish in his view to nearly collapse into her, nor is it wrong to tell her what's come to pass. He leaves out the moth man for her ears for now, the focus being only on the villages and what may come tomorrow morning.
She isn't happy, but something like this was bound to happen in the end. The true concern is Vlad's reaction, and to the shock of neither of them, he goes as still as the dead when he awakes and is told the news. He goes even more quiet when Alucard speaks of Trevor, and there is a single, tired word breathed out by Dracula when all is said and done. Fae.
So the night is spent in front of the fire, his parents discussing where to move the clinic versus the humans nearly had our boy for dead and you're content to risk his safety by staying outside of the castle? Alucard is a silent spectator to all of it, and he eventually falls asleep in front of the warmth of the hearth, safe and able to ignore all the noises of the Wild Hunt. He's too tired to pay them much mind.
He shows his father the bottle when Dracula awakens the next night. There is a very low, displeased noise, and Dracula takes it elsewhere. The explanation, it's to modify memories is all Alucard needs. No deal. Just help.
The years pass. The clinic moves deeper into Wallachia, always on the edge of wilderness. Alucard understands why, and it has never escaped his notice that his father has been traveling less over the years. Worry is not something that looks right on Dracula's face or in his actions, but it is plain to see.
He explains the particulars of the fae with some reluctance. It confirms that to have avoided a deal was a good thing, and that if they speak of a hunt ever again, be gone from them. Alucard nods, absorbs the information, and is otherwise so very quiet.
Today, Alucard travels as a man. There are books in the bag across his back, en route home with a treasure trove that was ordered from elsewhere in Europe. Printed books are a blessed rarity right now, but oh they are wild with what some of the humans thinks about the world. They're being purchased for the sake of creating a version of the printing press for the castle though, far more advanced than anything that can be made in some time. One of the books has illustrations of the workrooms for printers. Everything else is to throw men off the scent of Dracula's intent.
They're heavy books, and home is still a day or two away. He takes his break off the road itself, a little into the forest where there's a stump to serve as a seat.
Alucard tenses. He can hear movement behind him, deeper from the woods. There's no noise as he rises to his feet, only the sound of his sword being unsheathed.]
[ Seven years have passed, and Trevor is no longer the least of his family. His nephews are in their fourteenth year now, just about old enough to be entrusted with riding through the day and sending men into their homes, and this means that the long day before the hunt is his own to do as he pleases with.
And what he pleases is trailing the not-vampire. It was sheer luck that he caught Alucard's scent a day or so ago, and that makes this, in his mind, a completely normal and not creepy thing to be doing. Never mind that he's been stalking the not-vampire for two days now. It's fun, seeing how long he can remain unnoticed as he tries to puzzle out what, precisely, Alucard is. And maybe- maybe he's a little concerned. He can't be close enough to home this time to make it before nightfall tonight.
A familiar pair of not-eyes stares out from the shadows of the trees. It's tempting to remain hidden, but Alucard's caught him, it's only fair. ]
Alucard doesn't stand down, nor does he lower his sword. He knows what Trevor is now, and he knows that he barely escaped making a bad deal last time. His father had made that very clear, and in that anger there was the tiniest bit of praise for keeping a cool head and not accepting the help of a fae.
Trevor's grown though. Wider, more muscled, it's a good look on him. Stalking? Not so much.]
Forests are harder to hide oneself in. Your movement's too different from what normally lives here.
[So that is to say only just now. Alucard would be ashamed to know that it's actually been two days.]
[ There's no shame in it, because hunting is what he does. Why would he feel ashamed of following prey when he's been doing such a very good job of it? He lets his wings drop to wear them like a cloak again, looking at the sword in consideration before grinning. ]
[He's far better at hiding fear these days. Those three words are asked with total confidence, the kind of thing a man who knows he can handle the fight he's about to pick asks.
Because a hunt only ever ends in a fight and a death. That much Alucard knows both as predator and prey when men are fools and he fails to watch himself.]
I never learned what you are. I still want to know.
[ A fight would almost certainly be one way to get him closer to finding out, and so he doesn't really make any effort at deescalating. But he does, almost casually, add- ]
And I don't think you can make it home before sunset.
What I am is half of the thing you said I was not the last time.
[He remembers. Not-vampire. Let the fae do the hardwork, and let it be without giving away any names. Alucard remembers that instruction. He can hear his father's voice in his head.]
There is an inn an hour's walk from here. I have no fear of you or your people's Hunt.
[ He gives this some thought, and it's obvious when it dawns on him what Alucard must mean. His wings twitch, a fur of his collar stands up just a little. That's new. That's interesting. The feigned disinterest is gone, and he looks over Alucard again properly. ]
The inn isn't your home. Won't protect you. Can you make it home?
[There aren't many vampires out there. It may be easy to deduce, but as far as true names go, Alucard has at least two to afford him protection. In the immediate aftermath of the last time, his father had added other titles as well, carefully crafted and purposely long to deal with any fae that might want to be clever.
At least the question throws the vampire off, just by a hair. His eyes narrow, his eyebrows come closer together in quiet confusion.]
So in theory, that would apply to a main room, not a private room that's being rented out and occupied, thus requiring permission to enter.
[Confirm the rules. That's key here, Alucard remembers that. Be calm is the other, and that is put to the test as the fae speaks far too casually of taking the vampire away from Wallachia.
Alucard knows that he can't mention his father and what might happen if that happened. It'd be encouragement, not deterrent, and demand a higher ransom.]
[ His grin only grows wider. He moves closer, within sword range now. ]
Are you sure? I could keep you safe and warm and fed on honey and figs and songbird blood. It would be so much better than wandering around forests with books.
[Firm. Demanding. A command, because that's one of the few good ways to deal with the fae.
Alucard doesn't move an inch from where he stands. His sword is as straight and steady as if he's anticipating moving to attack. He may, at this rate.]
[That is a problem. Alucard knows he's two days out from home.]
By your laws, what does make the difference?
[It's a step too far. There's a flash of movement, and the blade of the sword is no longer simply ready. It rests against Trevor's neck instead, the razor thin edge of it drawing blood in the tiniest amount. There's a chance it might heal, Alucard doesn't mind. He's made a point, and that his hand is so steady should signal to the fae to knock it the hell off.]
Anything that requires being held apart or departing these lands will never be a thing that holds interest for me.
[ He moves back only a little. Only enough to wipe a finger across the cut and extend the hand toward Alucard's face in offering. The cut doesn't heal immediately, but nor does he seem overly bothered by it. ]
[Alucard's cold confidence is something that is absolutely inherited by his father. Even if this caused a Problem with the fae, he knew his father. The rage that some fae would even consider taking his son into the realms beyond would be more than enough.
It wasn't a smart thing to fall back on, but some truths never were.
Alucard takes a single step forward, so that the sword remains within the same range it was only moments ago.]
[ His tone is warm, despite the blood trickling from his throat. Warm and soft and almost a little too earnest, in a way that makes dishonesty almost seem preferable. He reaches forward, wiping the blood against Alucard's lips. ]
Whose blood does? I could find them for you You could feed only upon them.
[Alucard doesn't like this one goddamn bit. He can't respond with Trevor's blood on his lips, he has to take a moment to raise his other hand and wipe it off on the sleeve of his coat. That's...actually not the worst thing he could do, if he understands how fae magic works. But the blood's gone, he can respond.]
Right now you've made that so.
[The sword moves from throat to shoulder in one flash, and this time there's no teasing. In a moment, the blade digs into Trevor's shoulder, right below the bone moving in.]
I take care of my own needs, fae. Whatever you offer, I know it comes with terms and conditions, and I am not that foolish.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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The rest though, the rest sets off klaxons in his head. There may have been no mention of fae from his father, but Alucard is well versed enough in dealing with night things to know better than to make deals where favors are involved.]
I'm not that big of a fool.
[Alucard snarls those words out.]
I pay now or not at all.
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[ He's having such a good time right now. His first hunt as an adult (well. Sixteen. Close enough.) was always going to be an important day. And now, now he has a- a something. A something that needs something from him. A something that's just talked himself into paying only in what he can give here and now. ]
What are five memories worth to you? Be quick about it, my sisters will be here soon.
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[He'll take the risk. Tell his father what he saw instead, because that? That's something he can trust to be effective. This thing, whatever it is, Alucard doesn't know how effective it will be then.
And as if to make the refusal absolute, he does hit vampiric speed now, wordlessly moving through the woods as only youth and vampire abilities can allow. Lupu may not be visible yet, but the smell of wood smoke from fireplaces fills the air, and that in and of itself is a sign of home.
Just fifteen minutes of light left. Maybe half an hour. He can manage.]
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Night falls not long after, and the silence is broken as the sun dips below the horizon. Dogs barking and howling, singing and wailing, horns and pipes playing, the storming of hooves. At dawn, little seems different in Lupu itself. Lisa is called away at dawn to see to a man found dead in his bed, whose wife and children had often come to her clinic for injuries they couldn't explain.
There is a bottle by the clinic's door, containing five silvery masses suspended in a clear liquid. When Alucard runs into the hunters at market, they do not meet his eyes but nor do they seem to take any note of him. ]
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She isn't happy, but something like this was bound to happen in the end. The true concern is Vlad's reaction, and to the shock of neither of them, he goes as still as the dead when he awakes and is told the news. He goes even more quiet when Alucard speaks of Trevor, and there is a single, tired word breathed out by Dracula when all is said and done. Fae.
So the night is spent in front of the fire, his parents discussing where to move the clinic versus the humans nearly had our boy for dead and you're content to risk his safety by staying outside of the castle? Alucard is a silent spectator to all of it, and he eventually falls asleep in front of the warmth of the hearth, safe and able to ignore all the noises of the Wild Hunt. He's too tired to pay them much mind.
He shows his father the bottle when Dracula awakens the next night. There is a very low, displeased noise, and Dracula takes it elsewhere. The explanation, it's to modify memories is all Alucard needs. No deal. Just help.
The years pass. The clinic moves deeper into Wallachia, always on the edge of wilderness. Alucard understands why, and it has never escaped his notice that his father has been traveling less over the years. Worry is not something that looks right on Dracula's face or in his actions, but it is plain to see.
He explains the particulars of the fae with some reluctance. It confirms that to have avoided a deal was a good thing, and that if they speak of a hunt ever again, be gone from them. Alucard nods, absorbs the information, and is otherwise so very quiet.
Today, Alucard travels as a man. There are books in the bag across his back, en route home with a treasure trove that was ordered from elsewhere in Europe. Printed books are a blessed rarity right now, but oh they are wild with what some of the humans thinks about the world. They're being purchased for the sake of creating a version of the printing press for the castle though, far more advanced than anything that can be made in some time. One of the books has illustrations of the workrooms for printers. Everything else is to throw men off the scent of Dracula's intent.
They're heavy books, and home is still a day or two away. He takes his break off the road itself, a little into the forest where there's a stump to serve as a seat.
Alucard tenses. He can hear movement behind him, deeper from the woods. There's no noise as he rises to his feet, only the sound of his sword being unsheathed.]
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And what he pleases is trailing the not-vampire. It was sheer luck that he caught Alucard's scent a day or so ago, and that makes this, in his mind, a completely normal and not creepy thing to be doing. Never mind that he's been stalking the not-vampire for two days now. It's fun, seeing how long he can remain unnoticed as he tries to puzzle out what, precisely, Alucard is. And maybe- maybe he's a little concerned. He can't be close enough to home this time to make it before nightfall tonight.
A familiar pair of not-eyes stares out from the shadows of the trees. It's tempting to remain hidden, but Alucard's caught him, it's only fair. ]
How long have you known I was here?
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Alucard doesn't stand down, nor does he lower his sword. He knows what Trevor is now, and he knows that he barely escaped making a bad deal last time. His father had made that very clear, and in that anger there was the tiniest bit of praise for keeping a cool head and not accepting the help of a fae.
Trevor's grown though. Wider, more muscled, it's a good look on him. Stalking? Not so much.]
Forests are harder to hide oneself in. Your movement's too different from what normally lives here.
[So that is to say only just now. Alucard would be ashamed to know that it's actually been two days.]
Better question. Why are you here?
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[ There's no shame in it, because hunting is what he does. Why would he feel ashamed of following prey when he's been doing such a very good job of it? He lets his wings drop to wear them like a cloak again, looking at the sword in consideration before grinning. ]
Hunting.
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[He's far better at hiding fear these days. Those three words are asked with total confidence, the kind of thing a man who knows he can handle the fight he's about to pick asks.
Because a hunt only ever ends in a fight and a death. That much Alucard knows both as predator and prey when men are fools and he fails to watch himself.]
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[ A fight would almost certainly be one way to get him closer to finding out, and so he doesn't really make any effort at deescalating. But he does, almost casually, add- ]
And I don't think you can make it home before sunset.
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[He remembers. Not-vampire. Let the fae do the hardwork, and let it be without giving away any names. Alucard remembers that instruction. He can hear his father's voice in his head.]
There is an inn an hour's walk from here. I have no fear of you or your people's Hunt.
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[ He gives this some thought, and it's obvious when it dawns on him what Alucard must mean. His wings twitch, a fur of his collar stands up just a little. That's new. That's interesting. The feigned disinterest is gone, and he looks over Alucard again properly. ]
The inn isn't your home. Won't protect you. Can you make it home?
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[There aren't many vampires out there. It may be easy to deduce, but as far as true names go, Alucard has at least two to afford him protection. In the immediate aftermath of the last time, his father had added other titles as well, carefully crafted and purposely long to deal with any fae that might want to be clever.
At least the question throws the vampire off, just by a hair. His eyes narrow, his eyebrows come closer together in quiet confusion.]
How do you mean?
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[ Concern crosses his face at that, just for a moment, before it's replaced with something altogether more devilish. ]
I could hunt there, if I pleased.
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[The last comment though, that has Alucard tense up. His entire body does so, snapping to attention, sliding into a more combat ready stance.]
You gain nothing from it.
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[ He watches, amused, as Alucard tenses. His smile widens. ]
I could gain you. That'd be something.
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[Confirm the rules. That's key here, Alucard remembers that. Be calm is the other, and that is put to the test as the fae speaks far too casually of taking the vampire away from Wallachia.
Alucard knows that he can't mention his father and what might happen if that happened. It'd be encouragement, not deterrent, and demand a higher ransom.]
Mm. I'll pass.
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[ His grin only grows wider. He moves closer, within sword range now. ]
Are you sure? I could keep you safe and warm and fed on honey and figs and songbird blood. It would be so much better than wandering around forests with books.
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[Firm. Demanding. A command, because that's one of the few good ways to deal with the fae.
Alucard doesn't move an inch from where he stands. His sword is as straight and steady as if he's anticipating moving to attack. He may, at this rate.]
I categorically refuse.
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[ He moves closer still, until he's very much starting to be within Alucard's personal space. ]
A shame, my kind's reputation as lovers is very well-earned.
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By your laws, what does make the difference?
[It's a step too far. There's a flash of movement, and the blade of the sword is no longer simply ready. It rests against Trevor's neck instead, the razor thin edge of it drawing blood in the tiniest amount. There's a chance it might heal, Alucard doesn't mind. He's made a point, and that his hand is so steady should signal to the fae to knock it the hell off.]
Anything that requires being held apart or departing these lands will never be a thing that holds interest for me.
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[ He moves back only a little. Only enough to wipe a finger across the cut and extend the hand toward Alucard's face in offering. The cut doesn't heal immediately, but nor does he seem overly bothered by it. ]
I could convince you.
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[Alucard's cold confidence is something that is absolutely inherited by his father. Even if this caused a Problem with the fae, he knew his father. The rage that some fae would even consider taking his son into the realms beyond would be more than enough.
It wasn't a smart thing to fall back on, but some truths never were.
Alucard takes a single step forward, so that the sword remains within the same range it was only moments ago.]
Your blood does not interest me.
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[ His tone is warm, despite the blood trickling from his throat. Warm and soft and almost a little too earnest, in a way that makes dishonesty almost seem preferable. He reaches forward, wiping the blood against Alucard's lips. ]
Whose blood does? I could find them for you You could feed only upon them.
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Right now you've made that so.
[The sword moves from throat to shoulder in one flash, and this time there's no teasing. In a moment, the blade digs into Trevor's shoulder, right below the bone moving in.]
I take care of my own needs, fae. Whatever you offer, I know it comes with terms and conditions, and I am not that foolish.
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