Moonlight Flower

Shinigami Yumi

presents

Moonlight Flower

Summary: In his fight with a certain silver-haired vampire, Leon chose to save his enemy from fading away. The two become unlikely friends, and Joachim takes Leon as his Host. The years pass as Leon continues to hunt the night with Joachim's aid while searching for Mathias. Meanwhile, Joachim finds himself wanting far more than he already has. Possible JoachimLeon, MathiasLeon and MathiasLeonJoachim later. Implied WalterJoachim. Yes, it's YAOI. You have been warned.

A/N: And I've finally finished up the second chapter. I'm really not sure if people are generally liking/disliking this, since I haven't heard many comments (although the ones I did receive were very nice; thank you!), but I figured I'd see how things go after this second chapter. More of Joachim here, and I've hopefully maintained a consistent characterization.

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Chapter 2: Here We Stand In the Morning Light

Leon looked back upon the falling castle as it crumbled into ruin. It was finally over. He sported several large gashes and severe burns in places from fighting Death, as ironic as that may sound, but all things considered, he figured he was in decent shape. Behind him the sun was rising, bringing the long–awaited end to what was once Eternal Night. Perhaps he should go visit Rinaldo and ask about his plans for the future now that Walter was gone. He turned and walked the short distance to the alchemist’s wooden house, letting himself in as usual to find the old man packing what few belongings he had that were important. Rinaldo looked up and straightened.

“Oh. So you made it back. Congratulations, Leon, you have succeeded where hundreds have failed. What are your plans after this?”

“I will continue to hunt the night,” the blond answered without missing a beat. “And fulfil my promise to Sara.”

“Oho, a steadfast and honourable man indeed,” Rinaldo said with a short rich laugh, finally free from his decades of unavenged grief. “Well. It should be easier after this with the main threat down.”

“It’s not over, Rinaldo,” he corrected grimly.

The old man’s face grew serious then and led him over to the table, pulling two wooden chairs over for them to sit. “What do you mean?”

Leon sat down and buried his face in his hands, finally letting out his frustration. “Mathias, of all people!”

“Lord Cronqvist?”

“He had the Crimson Stone all this while. He snapped after the death of his wife Elisabetha and decided to defy death and curse God for all eternity. That wretched fool! He used us, used us all, caused Sara’s death, just so that he could acquire Walter’s soul and curse himself!”

Rinaldo said nothing, stunned by this revelation. Mathias Cronqvist was a learned man he respected. It was shocking that the wise tactician would lose it and do something so radically emotional and extremely foolish.

“Why, Mathias? That’s not what she would have wanted. You could have met again in heaven,” the knight whispered into his hands sadly. “Damn it, Mathias, I trusted you!”

A long moment of silence followed. Finally, Rinaldo suggested, “Why don’t we treat those wounds first? I’ll do it for free. A final service before I leave.”

Leon nodded, swallowing the somewhat unpleasant–tasting potion he was offered and allowing the alchemist to apply a strange–smelling ointment to the many burns on his body. “What will you do after this?” he asked when the elderly man was done.

“Possibly travel around,” the other replied with a shrug. “Sell the potions I make. I expect there’ll be a market for medicines wherever the Crusades are raging. Maybe I’ll settle down somewhere nice someday.”

“Then I bid you good fortune for your journey.”

Rinaldo nodded, packing the last of his possessions into the straw suitcase and picking it up. “Will you not set out now as well?”

The blond shook his head. “No. I’d like some time alone to remember Sara. Thank you for everything, Rinaldo.”

The alchemist nodded again, turning to the door. “Then I’ll be on my way. May the blessings of the heavens be with you throughout your noble quest. It God permits, perchance we shall meet again.” He lifted his hand in a wave as he let himself out.

Leon sat, staring up at the wooden ceiling blankly, mind wandering randomly. He didn’t feel like perpending the problem at hand; just the thought of Mathias and Sara filled his heart with a deep, suffocating sorrow. It was a long time before he finally rose, letting himself out of the house and circling around to the back where Sara had been buried in a makeshift grave. The flowers he had left there were beginning to wilt, the way her presence in his life was fading. He placed his hand over the whip, whispering his beloved’s name. He felt a warm glow emanate from the weapon at that. Even knowing that she would always be by his side in the whip did not decrease the sadness he felt at her undue sacrifice. All for one man’s selfish foolishness.


He found his mind drifting back to all the time he’d spend with both his best friend and late fiancée. He had met Mathias some time after the Crusades had begun. Mathias had been the leader and tactician of a company of knights, he a wandering crusader whose company had recently been almost completely wiped out after a crushing defeat at the hands of heathens. After a battle in which he’d saved the strategist’s life, they had become fast friends. Joining the company, he fought many battles alongside the learned man, and this only served to deepen the trust and friendship between them. The Mathias Cronqvist he had known was a reliable friend and a doting husband; he’d greatly admired the other’s sharp and inventive mind as well as extensive breadth of knowledge.


It had been through Mathias that he’d met Sara, a close friend of the tactician’s wife, Elisabetha, and the daughter of a fairly wealthy merchant. They were introduced at a function at Mathias’ castle, and he’d found her an intelligent conversationalist and pleasant company. After several more meetings, they had gradually grown on each other and fallen in love. When Elisabetha died of illness without even seeing her husband one last time, they had all been greatly saddened. Indeed Sara and he had postponed their wedding in memory of her passing. Mathias was, of course, grief–stricken; illness claimed him shortly after, and he became bedridden, eating little and leaving his room even less. But never in his wildest dreams did he ever conceive that such darkness lay in his friend’s heart as to arrange for Sara to be abducted by a vampire the night before their wedding a year later only to acquire a monster’s soul and curse.


He thought of their conversation before the final battle with Death, and felt his heart overflow with that choking anguish again. Elisabetha had been a kind, gentle and god-fearing noblewoman; she would be aghast at what Mathias had done. How foolish and accursed was he! It pained him that his closest friend would now be a family nemesis for generations to come. He thought of the battle with Walter; Mathias would probably have the same abilities now, and his powers would only grow over time. Walter had been a formidable foe; he shuddered to think of facing Mathias in the coming years and wondered if he was perhaps cursing his descendants with this fate and burden.


It had been a tough fight against Walter, ironically almost a more difficult battle than against Death. Had Joachim not warned him against… Joachim. All other thought processes drew to a halt at the memory of the other vampire. Joachim Armster had been trapped in the basement of the Dark Palace of Waterfalls when the castle had collapsed, and he wondered if the other had survived. A part of him wondered why he cared; Joachim was a monster of the night just like Walter and now, Mathias. It was probably a good riddance that he had perished along with his sire. Another part of him, however, whispered that Joachim was an honourable man that had unwittingly come under this curse due to Walter’s deceit and trickery, perhaps also being slowly driven to madness by centuries of solitary confinement. That part wondered if the lesser vampire had survived.


Leon turned in the direction of the ruined castle. He should probably go and check if the lesser vampire had survived and if so, make sure he wouldn’t cause any trouble or else finish him off. Bidding his beloved a final goodbye and savouring the warm feeling emanating from the whip, he walked back towards the castle. Now that he couldn’t use the transportation circles in the castle’s hub room, he’d have to find another way to enter the basement in the Dark Palace of Waterfalls. Instead of walking towards the castle entrance, he made his way around to the back. All the water in there had to come from somewhere; perhaps if he found the water source, he could use the inlet as an entrance.


The sun was high in the sky by the time he came upon a river fed by a waterfall after several hours of walking through the dense forest. There had been some remnant monsters, but most steered clear of him. Following the river towards the castle, he finally discovered an opening in a mountainside a small distance from the ruined caste after about an hour’s leisurely walk. It was just wide enough for a man to squeeze through. A metal grate had been nailed over it, assumingly to keep monsters and/or intruders from either entering or leaving. Drawing his knife, Leon carefully pried out the somewhat rusty nails. It took a bit of time, but he finally managed to pull away the grate. Dropping in a nearby stone and, by listening to the sound it made when it hit the bottom as well as that by the waterfall, determined that it was quite a long fall into reasonably deep water. Unable to make out anything in the complete darkness beyond, he hoped it was the right place and that the waters weren’t infested with monsters. Taking a deep breath, he leapt in.


The icy cold water was like a shock to his system after the hours in the hot sun as the knight surfaced in almost total darkness, shaking the water out of his eyes to look around. Yes, it was indeed the right place. He was underneath the drawbridge leading to Joachim’s prison. The bridge was still raised, so he’d just have to find his way up to it. In the distance, he could just barely glimpse a beacon of light on a small plateau of land above the water and immediately began swimming towards it. It was probably where one of the switches he’d had to trigger was located. Suddenly, the whip at his side emanated a sense of anxiety and foreboding. He instantly started swimming faster; Sara was warning him; there must be monsters close by.


Swimming with a breastplate and gauntlets on was difficult, but the blond eventually made it to the plateau without incident, clambering over the metal fence with some effort onto dry land. As he sat to catch his breath for a while, Leon noted that the switch was exactly as he’d left it and the coast was clear as usual. After a while, feeling somewhat rested, he rose and made his way through the door. He had barely taken two steps down the corridor when several lizardmen abruptly lunged at him. Dodging swiftly, he quickly uncoiled the whip at his side and silently asked both Sara and God to protect him just as a large number of fishmen dropped from the ceiling, and the thundering footfalls of a cyclops was heard from around the corner. They appeared to have gone berserk from the commotion caused by the castle falling apart and seemed more aggressive than usual. This was bad. Joachim had said that, for whatever reason, only hunters entered his prison. He’d best get there as soon as possible. Lashing out with the whip to clear his way, Leon started running.

–––===***===–––

Lingering at the haze of his consciousness, he could sense a disturbance outside, but it was only when the door of the cavern opened and the footsteps of someone running in were heard that a sliver of fear brought Joachim’s mind to full alertness even as he continued to feign unconsciousness where he lay on his back inside his cage. He tensed as a strong malicious energy pervaded the chamber. This was a horrible time to be attacked by a powerful foe. Much earlier, the castle had collapsed, which meant that Leon had probably succeeded in defeating Walter, as unlikely as that had seemed, and the vampire had almost immediately felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. The Ebony Stone’s hold over the forest had been broken, and the sun had probably risen for the first time in centuries. Vampires usually slept during the day, and their powers were often more than halved. Coupled with how little he had fed over the years, he hadn’t felt so lethargic and weakened in a very long time.

“Joachim? Are you there?” a familiar voice called out.

Leon. The vampire couldn’t even manage to feel annoyed that the hunter was using his first name so casually with all the relief flooding his system. At the very least, the honourable knight probably wasn’t here to kill him. Probably. Joachim opened his eyes slowly and tiredly dragged himself into a sitting position. His heightened night vision allowed him a clear view of the blond’s familiar profile.

“Foolish human,” he answered with a little effort, watching the other turn in the direction of his voice. “Why have you returned?”

There was a very brief moment’s hesitation before Leon made his way towards the cage, saying, “To make sure you won’t cause any trouble, of course.”

Joachim scoffed slightly. “If you mean abducting humans for twisted games, then I assure you I don’t share Walter’s interests.” Propping an elbow on his knee, he rested his head on one hand as a wave of vertigo swept over him. He really wasn’t used to being awake at this time.

The knight paused at the broken–down door of the cage, squinting at him in the darkness. “Are you alright?” he asked tentatively.

A bluish gray eye cracked open blearily. “You woke me up. It’s daylight, is it not?”

The blond nodded.

“This is when the Nosferatu sleep, from sunrise till sunset. Our powers are halved at this time anyway.”

“Then…” the hunter mused. “This is the perfect time to vanquish you.”

Joachim stiffened at the other’s words. Guardedly, he climbed to his feet, trying his best not to stagger as he moved closer to Leon. “Is this what you came back for?”

Leon hesitated before cautiously stepping into the cage. “That depends.”

The vampire took another step nearer. “On what?”

Moving closer, the knight replied, “On whether or not you agree to my conditions.”

Suddenly, just as Joachim closed the distance between them by yet another step, a blast of energy lanced forth from the whip, sending the vampire flying back into the far side of the cage. That lean body hit the metal bars with a resounding thud and slid to the base of the cage, shockingly motionless. For a moment, Leon simply stood still, stunned and aghast. Then, he rushed over to the other’s side, concerned. Feeling the rage rising in the weapon at his side again, he halted for the fear of hurting the other unnecessarily and placed his hand over the whip as if to restrain it.

“It’s alright, Sara. Joachim doesn’t mean any harm,” he murmured to it soothingly. When the fury emanating from it did not abate, he added, “Please.”

The angry energy slowly dwindled to a warning simmer, and Leon quickly knelt beside Joachim to help him into a sitting position, propping the other up against his side. Bluish gray orbs were glazed over and half-lidded as the vampire groaned softly in pain.

“Sara… Is that the power you used to destroy Walter?” Joachim whispered the question with great effort.

Clear blue eyes looked away. “Yes. That bastard turned her. Rinaldo said it was the only way. Sara… begged me to make the pact.”

“I’d expect no less of Walter…”

The blond’s head whipped around to face him. “You knew?!”

“That Walter would pull something like this, no matter how early or late you found her?” The vampire sighed. “Yes.”

Leon tensed. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he demanded angrily.

“Would it have stopped you?”

“No, I’d…”

“There was nothing you could have done,” Joachim interrupted quietly. “It was too late from the start. He probably bit her the instant you obtained the fifth orb. Did you really expect that crazy bastard to return your lady without incident?”

Calming down, the knight had to admit that his companion was right. He shook his head in silence, feeling anger, sorrow, despair and helplessness washing over him and drowning him. He uncurled his legs under himself and plopped down gracelessly to sit leaning against the cage’s bars. Sara had been doomed from the start, all because Mathias was now a selfish, foolish psychopath. Feeling his eyes begin to sting, he squeezed them shut and bit his lip, burying his face in his hands; he refused to cry in front of the silver–haired vampire. A cold hand closed around his wrist.

“I’m sorry,” that velvety baritone whispered, the hand around his wrist squeezing lightly before letting go.

Leon shook his head again, slowly exhaling a shaky breath.

“You were saying something about conditions?” Joachim asked then, changing the subject in hopes of distracting the blond from his anguish.

The tension in lean shoulders eased slightly at that, but he knew the hunter was only holding his grief in for the time being. “Yes,” came the answer in the other’s mellow tenor. “Most important of those is that you must agree to never turn any more vampires.”

“This is a gift and a curse I have no intention on sharing.” He could smell it, Leon’s scent, as unique as every human’s. Even under the dank stench of somewhat stale water and musty air, it tempted him, teasing him with the ever distant promise of the drug-like elixir he couldn’t stop thinking was just beyond it.

Leon managed a small smile as he turned to look at him, distracting him from his instinctively predatory thoughts for the moment. “Secondly, you must promise never to terrorize humans.”

Joachim paused, pensive. “Depending on what you mean by ‘terrorize’, that may be difficult to agree to.”

“How so?”

“You do realize…” he reasoned slowly. “…that I’d have to feed for subsistence reasons.”

“I see…” the knight mused, growing thoughtful.

Joachim hesitated before continuing quietly, “Unless, of course, someone were willing to supply his or her blood on a regular basis…”

In a trice, Leon had removed his gauntlet and offered him his left wrist, the same one he’d fed from the first time, and he swallowed thickly at the memory of the hunter’s blood. “Then will you drink from me, only from me, as long as I live?” the other asked.

Gladly, Joachim thought, taking the proffered wrist in both hands and gently caressing the soft skin over the artery with his right thumb. There’s no one else I’d rather have. Aloud, he enquired, “If I decline, will you kill me?”

“You would leave me no choice. I do not hope it will come to that.”

“Why?” he asked as the perplexing question abruptly occurred to him. “Why are you doing this?” He continued to trace the blood vessels he could see through the other’s pale skin.

“I…” the blond began uncertainly, not even sure of the answer himself. Somehow, whenever he tried to put rational thoughts together in his mind, he would always end up thinking of Mathias and failing in his endeavour entirely. “I… Killing you won’t change anything,” he said sadly at length. “So I would prefer not to…if I don’t have to,” he added hesitantly as a warning.

“That wasn’t what you thought when you first came here.” It was a statement, not even a question, yet it seemed to almost demand explanation.

“I…” Leon paused, really perpending the matter as best he could. “You don’t seem like a monster,” he concluded quietly after a long moment of silence.

The look in blue-gray eyes was unreadable. Then in a sudden flash of movement, he was on the floor of the cage, cold metal bars pressing into his flesh, with the vampire pinning him down from above, a predatory smirk on that elegant visage. “Don’t I?”

Before he could even answer, he felt the whip respond to his alarm, and Joachim was violently thrown off him to hit the cage’s wall again. The other made a sound of pain as his body crashed to the cage’s floor not far from the blond with a sickening thud that reverberated through the metal bars. Leon rose and felt Sara preparing to attack again. “Sara, wait,” he ordered calmly. He recognized this, this almost suicidal tempting of danger, from their first encounter, and while he didn’t quite trust Joachim, he felt almost certain that the silver-haired nightwalker had not truly intended to harm him. Cautiously, he moved to the Nosferatu’s side. The other lay motionless, eyelids so pale they seemed almost lavender closed over those blue-gray eyes. “Are you?” he asked, barely above a whisper, knowing that he would be heard nonetheless. “Or do you simply want to die so badly?”

Joachim opened his eyes to look up at the blond knight. Even in the dark…no, especially in the dark, the other’s features seemed to take on an angelic quality. A monster with an angel…the thought was laughable. His cold heart sank. “I don’t know…” he replied softly as his vertigo returned full force. Speech was becoming an exertion; he supposed it was to be expected of a power that could even destroy Walter. He squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment before opening them again. “I may have become one without noticing…” He turned away, not wanting to look into those blue eyes as they judged him. “I prefer death over more saccharine lies, no matter their intent,” he added finally, letting his eyelids flutter shut again.

For a long time, neither moved or said anything. Suddenly, the oppressive energy in the cave dissipated just as warm arms lifted his upper body. The whip had probably sensed its master’s acceptance. “So you’re saying I should withhold my judgement until I know for certain?”

Joachim gasped sharply as he caught Leon’s scent again in their proximity. He needed to feed desperately, and he trembled with the effort to fight the nearly irresistible instinct to grab his companion and drain him. His memory of how the blond tasted was only making it worse; it was like a drug, a drug he was hopelessly addicted to, and addicts were dangerous when faced with temptation after prolonged withdrawal. “Don’t… You shouldn’t…be…this close…to…me…” He opened eyes that he knew were glowing a dangerous red and pushed weakly against the other’s chest. “I can’t…hold back…much longer…” He was salivating, and he could feel the sharpness of his fangs against his tongue. He didn’t want to kill the human before him, so it was best that his prey leave before he lost himself completely.

Leon’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening even as he saw fine wrinkles begin to form on pale smooth skin. “You…” He pulled the cold body in his arms closer to lean against him, so that he could free his left arm to hold it before the silver-haired one in offering. “Do you agree to my second condition?” he asked urgently.

He felt the slide of silver silk against his neck as Joachim tilted his head back to rest on his shoulder. The vampire’s shaky exhalation was almost a moan as his senses were clouded by everything about the former baron…his smell, his warmth, his lean body, the hand on his waist, the memory of his blood…it was too much; Joachim could virtually taste it, and the need that flooded his system was overwhelming. “Anything…” The whispered word came out as more of a gasp than he’d intended, but that was the least of his present concerns. If that is what it takes to keep you by my side… He hurriedly opened a small incision in the other’s artery, educing a slight wince, and reverently pressed his lips to it, tasting the knight’s pain and grief in his blood as he drank ravenously. Only two pints… he reminded himself silently and hoped he could bring himself to stop in time.

Angry energy filled the whip again, and Leon quickly covered the handle with his other hand, reaching around the other in a loose embrace in the process. “Sara, it’s okay,” he whispered.

His reassurance seemed to suffice for Sara, since the presence about the whip calmed down. Thinking of his sweet fiancée had sorrow welling up in his chest again, and he sighed as he repositioned them both to drag them to the wall of the cage. The sensation of a soft wet mouth suckling gently on his wrist gave him a strangely warm and pleasant feeling despite the depressive emotions swirling in his chest, and he found himself sighing again. He leaned back against the large cage’s metal bars as the vampire licked the wound shut with surprising tenderness before putting some distance between them, probably for his safety. Joachim held his hand a full arm’s length away but did not release it as he panted for several moments with his head bowed so silver tresses obscured his face. Then the panting stopped, and the vampire allowed a slight smirk to curve pale lips as he straightened slightly and turned his head to face him. The red glow had dimmed in blue-gray eyes, thankfully.

“Feel flattered, human,” the nightwalker murmured smugly despite his physical condition, meeting the blond’s clear blue gaze. “The Nosferatu do not often restrict themselves to feeding from a single prey over an extensive duration of time. I must like your blood very much to be agreeing to this.”

Leon could not help but chuckle a little despite his dismal disposition and their present circumstances at Joachim’s last-ditch attempt to salvage his pride. “It’s not like I’m giving you a choice in the matter.” He paused as a thought struck him. “Say, you are not the type to acquiesce so easily to another’s wishes. I did not expect you to simply consent so quickly even like this.”

Joachim averted his eyes at that, secretly somewhat pleased that the other had observed that aspect of his personality, but unsure of what to say. “Your having spared my life obliges me to repay your compassion in some way. If those are your only requests, then I shall honour my life debt to you and fulfil them,” he lied at length, finally releasing his hold on the knight’s arm. What could he say? That he’d fallen in love with the blond vampire–hunter? He was fairly certain that would not go over very well.

Leon moved closer to clap a hand onto his shoulder at that and squeezed gently, pleased with his answer. “Your honour proves that my choice was not wrong. Don’t change.”

“How did you get back in here?” Joachim asked suddenly, leaning back against the metal bars behind him tiredly. The Thirst was still strong, but it wasn’t a life-threatening need now, so it took little more than a modicum of self-control for him to restrain himself.

Leon blinked, then replied, “I found the water inlet from the river.”

“You’ll need a more convenient path than that if you’re to come by several times a week.”

“So often?!” he questioned, taken aback.

“Optimally, I would feed a little every alternate day.” Well, Joachim had to admit that the keyword was ‘optimally’. He could actually go for a week without feeding as long as he didn’t use much of his powers or get injured, but Leon was practically saying that he should not even leave the forest; what was he going to do with all that time? At least if the hunter came by often, he’d have some company.

Leon hesitated briefly before nodding. “I’ll visit as often as I can.”

The vampire hid a smile. “Sleep a little and stay till sunset,” he said softly. His head felt heavy; he was weak, and it was probably a little past noon. “Having lived here for over 200 years, I know this castle like the back of my hand. I’ll help you find another way out.”

Leon simply nodded. A moment later, something abruptly occurred to him. “Say, if… If you could have left the castle at any time, why didn’t you?” he asked, curious and just a tad suspicious. After all, Joachim had created the transportation circle for him to get back to Rinaldo’s house. Theoretically, that meant that he could have used one of them himself.

Joachim paused to think about this before answering. “Do you…remember what happened when you entered this forest for the first time?”

The knight perpended this for a long moment, trying to remember. “I… Something changed..? I think I felt something, but I’m not sure what it was. I remember that Rinaldo said I couldn’t leave though.”

The other nodded. “I was bound by the same curse. The power of the Ebony Stone that keeps the daylight out also keeps the inhabitants of this forest in as Walter wishes. If he didn’t want you to leave, you would never find your way out. Even if I could have left the castle, I couldn’t have left the forest.”

“I see…”

“And even if I could…” Joachim added more quietly. “…where would I go?”

Not knowing what to say to that, it was some time before Leon spoke again, changing the subject. “You are not a monster,” he repeated his earlier words. He was certain now; if that were not true, Joachim would have drained him dry earlier -or at least tried-, but instead, the vampire had asked him to leave. “If you were, you would have killed me just now.”

“Had you been anyone else, I would have. I told you: I cannot kill one who has spared my life, that’s all. Moreover, you have just volunteered to become my Host for life. As your Master, I may turn you, but I may not kill you,” the silver-haired one replied matter-of-factly, eyes closed again in exhaustion. “Even creatures like us have our laws.”

“Monsters have no honour,” he reasoned. “It’s enough.”

There was the ghost of a genuine smile on the other’s face when he glanced sideways. “Thank you.” The velvety baritone held a hint of an alien warmth.

Once again at a loss for how to respond, Leon changed the subject once more. “I hope you enjoy reading. Math–” He paused, taking a deep breath, before continuing. “Mathias… he taught me to read a little and left me many of his books. Sadly, I was never much into books by nature. I expect…” He smiled wistfully, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat. “I expect he won’t be needing them back anymore. I may even get all those left in his castle as well, since he has no relative remaining. If you like, I could bring you a few to pass the time with every now and then. At least they–”

He stopped short as a slight weight fell gently on his right shoulder and strangely found himself unable to help the slight chuckle that escaped his throat. Joachim Armster, that condescending and disdainful vampire, had fallen asleep on a human’s shoulder. It almost seemed like he was dishonouring Sara’s memory by befriending one of the Nosferatu, but even the warning simmer had vanished from the whip now; she appeared not to mind.


He supposed that if even the man he’d most trusted and counted as a best friend and confidant could betray him, then maybe he had been looking at the world all wrong all along, and he probably shouldn’t judge a person’s nature so quickly and superficially. Joachim had proven himself a good and honourable man despite his biological identity. There was no reason not to give the other a chance. Perhaps, if he could simply put aside that difference of species and his prejudices, he would find in Joachim an even better friend than Mathias had been. There were lessons to be learnt from the past, but neither should he allow them to embitter him to blindness to the truth. He closed his eyes. Maybe it was time to move on.

A/N: I sincerely hope you've enjoyed this. So...should I write any more of this..? Yes? No? Thoughts? Please tell me!