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Realms Converge	By : Candice Category: +G through L > Legacy of Kain Views: 3562 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.Don't get to Nosgoth itself til chap 5

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
I do hope that you enjoy.

Edits as of 04/16.

Chapter Eighteen: A Successful Hunt and a Surprise Visit.

I let out a sigh after Kain had left the area and reached out with my Aura Pulse ability to get a sense of where he was. It worked rather like a spherical radar system and a moment later I found him above me, just on the lip of the canyon. I avoided looking his way, he was easily strong enough to have sensed the testing Pulse. I growled low to myself, equally uncomfortable and relieved that he was there.

I wrapped my Gift around my form to conceal myself and then ducked into the shadows along the right wall of the canyon to conceal my shadow. Oddly, the knowledge that I was being watched forced me to slow down and consider my actions more than I might have otherwise. I shook my head and smiled to myself when I realized that I... wanted to impress him by doing well in this hunt.

I moved forward carefully as I tried to listen and scented the air for the bandits Kain had spoken of. It was... surprisingly easy to find them in all actuality. Despite their efforts to be quiet, I could easily hear them as they argued in the distance. Their voices echoed off of the canyon walls despite how quiet they were attempting to be. I ducked down as I neared where the voices originated from and peaked around a large boulder.

Three bandits stood over the corpse of a poor traveler. The man's blood pooled in a fresh puddle on the ground. His throat had been recently slit open. I frowned and had to suppress the thought that had I moved faster, I might have been able to save him. The fact that I had not heard a scream meant that this group of bandits were either skilled or lucky to have taken the traveler down silently. I could not assume that they had gotten lucky, so I would deal with them as carefully and swiftly as I could manage.

One of the men, taller than the others, knelt down and began to dig through the pockets of the body. He pulled free a small pouch a few moments later and emptied the bag into his hand with. Coins clattered and jingled as they landed in his open hand. He let out a cold laugh as he sorted through the coins.

"Look't this boys!" he said as he stood up and flipped one of the coins into the air before catching it again. "Ten gold this one had!"

"Tha's a good haul," the bulkier of the three said appreciatively as he held out his hand.

I watched as the taller man dropped three coins into the bulkier man's hand and then two into the hands of the last male who was a gangly looking individual. The third man let out a growl, I assumed at the small amount of he got for his 'take', and he shoved the coins into his pocket before he stood and moved off toward where I was hidden. I shifted further into the shadows of the boulder I was crouched next too, even though I didn't really need to given my Gift.

"Gotta piss," he said to the others as he walked past me. "Don't go wanderin' off like last time ya assholes."

The other two laughed darkly at the gangly man's words.

"What, ya didn't like bein' left alone in the dark?" the taller man jeered.

"Need your ma' to hold yer hand?" the bulky man laughed as he pocketed the gold he had been handed.

Both of the other men burst into cruel laughter and the gangly man snarled in response. I shifted in place a moment as I eyed the other two. I shook my head and then trailed after the gangly male as he separated from the group. I made sure to keep to the shadows and tried to listen out for the other two males to make sure they didn't follow after the man or that if they did I would have warning enough to duck away.

"Bloody wankers," the man growled out as came to a halt and looked around warily to make sure he was alone.

He nodded to himself and then started to undo his the leather ties that held his trousers closed. I lunged forward as my instincts screamed to attack now. I grabbed him from behind and slashed his throat wide open with the claws of one hand even as I slammed my other hand over his mouth to keep him silent. He did nothing but gurgle softly as I eased him to the ground as my claws had cut deep enough to damage his larynx.

I wanted to feed then and there as the scent of fresh blood filled the air. I had to fight down the urge to sink my fangs into his throat as doing such a thing would leave me open to attack if the other two followed after him. Instead of feeding, I eased him into a sitting position as he rapidly passed out from blood loss. I leaned his head forward to hide the obvious wound. It was easy enough for me to see it given my enhanced sight but it would take a human a few moments to notice. Moments that I could use to my advantage.

My nose scrunched up as the stench of piss, shit and death suddenly filled immediate vicinity and I held my breath to avoid taking in any more of the foul scents of the fresh corpse. The average human could hold their breath for thirty seconds to a minute but due to my vampiric nature, if I was prepared for it instead of being grabbed in my fucking sleep, I could hold my breath for up to almost ten minutes without any issue if I needed too. There were benefits to having had my vampiric blood Awakened, though the method of finding out about this particular part of my nature had not been... fun. Being sealed into a glass room and having had that room rapidly fill with water had not been an enjoyable experience. I was still surprised that I did not have any real issues with pools, lakes or water in general.

For this though, I just needed to hold my breath for a few moments, long enough to get away from the death scent that permeated the air. I let out a soft huff through my nose to clear away the scent as much as I could before I stood and moved back toward the other two. I took a slow breath as I reached cleaner air and tucked myself back in against another boulder. I tilted my head and listened in on their conversation.

"The fuck is takin' 'im so long?" I heard the taller of the pair ask.

"Ah, fuck 'im," the bulkier one said. "He ain't back in a minute then we jus' leave without 'im."

"And loose our flusher?" I raised a brow at the unfamiliar term even as the taller one smacked the bulkier man upside the head. "Think ahead ya ass. We're goin' to need him for future targets."

"A'ight, a'ight," came the pained response. "Let's go get his dumb ass then."

Both men started to move toward and then swiftly past my position. They moved in the direction the first man went without pause. I drew my sword carefully from its' sheath at my back and waited for them to approach their fallen comrade. I shifted into a standing crouch, ready to move in an instant.

"Seriously? Fuckin' hell man if you had to take a shit you shoulda said so," the bulkier man said as he put a hand to his nose and came to a halt several feet from the corpse. "Fuckin' rank!"

"Hol' on. Somethin' ain't right," the taller man said as he drew his sword and slowly started to approach the body.

I lunged forward in order to stab my sword through the bulkier man's back and through to his heart. The man let out a gurgle as he fell to his knees. I leapt back swiftly so that my shadow was melded once more with the deeper shadows of the canyon walls. The last man spun around at the death gurgle of his ally. He crouched low as he moved back a few steps so that the canyon wall was at his back. Smart of him. I was glad I decided to take down the other two first. I shifted slowly as I tried to ease closer to him and then froze as the man looked at the ground in my direction.

Footprints.

He was looking for fresh footprints.

I bared my fangs, annoyed at myself at the realization and went still. I glanced down and noticed that, thankfully, my footprints were not immediately obvious what with all the foot traffic that this part of the canyon saw of a daily basis. Hasty movement however would draw attention to my position. The man's eyes shifted as he looked around the area carefully. His eyes never left my general location for long. I reached down to carefully pick up a stone while his eyes were briefly averted and then froze again. When he looked away from my location once more I tossed the stone toward the other side of the canyon in a way that caused it to skitter against the ground as if I had kicked the stone on accident.

He turned his attention in that direction and I lunged forward to grab the wrist of the hand that held his sword. I used that grip to slam him against the wall in order to stun him. I had to focus to keep my Gift from coiling around his form. I still needed to see the bastard in case he pulled another weapon. He hit the wall with a loud grunt and I had to pull back quickly as a dagger flashed out, aimed for my stomach. I lashed out swiftly with a solid kick to his groin and he went down with a high pitched whine of agony as my knee crushed his groin. In order to keep him from pulling another weapon on me, I snapped his wrists which elicited another pained cry from the man. I then stabbed my claws into the back of his neck to paralyze him by severing the spinal cord. I started to move to feed from him and then stopped. I looked around and tried to get a sense of where Kain was with a softer push of my Aura.

It still felt like he was above me somewhere on the lip of the canyon. From what I could sense of his location, he was near a perfect spot to pounce on me from above if I started to feed on the man from the current angle I was at. Cat and mouse tactic, but one I was used to. Auron had occasionally left a weapon nearby that could help me, or someone I could feed from when I was starved, when I was occasionally left unchained in a room. He would then would attack me when I lunged for said weapon or food source. That particular lesson was learned a long time ago. I moved behind the man and grabbed a handful of his hair. I swiftly put my back to the canyon wall and used the man as a meat shield as I sank fangs into his throat to feed.

The man let out a choked gurgle as my fangs sank into the soft flesh of his throat. Paralyzed as he was, my bite would not affect his body with any pleasurable effects. He was barely conscious as it was due to the injuries I had caused him. I let out a pleased huff through my nose as I drank deep. His blood was... strong. For a bandit, the human was surprisingly healthy and I could taste that in that warm, coppery fluid. I was not sure when I'd closed my eyes, but they flew back open in an instant when I heard the soft impact of Kain's boots as he landed on the canyon floor.

"Well done my Little One," he purred out as he approached slowly. "Now drop your Gift."

My fangs sank deeper into the mans throat and he made an abortive struggle against my bite with his head. I felt Kain's Aura flare slightly in warning and his eyes narrowed when I did not immediately respond to his order by dropping my Gift. I slowly released the power of my Gift in response to that narrowed gaze. Every part of me was tense and wary as I became visible once more. I had to fight long ingrained instinct that was strong even now with the knowledge that he probably wouldn't attack me right now without a real good reason.

His eyes locked onto my half-hidden form and a dark, hungry, look flickered through his gaze as those blue-gold eyes flashed white briefly. He took a few slow steps toward me and I tucked myself further behind the bandit's larger form on instinct. I couldn't help the small warning growl that escaped me at Kain's approach.

Kain's eyes narrowed on me and his lips curled as he bared his fangs at me in brief warning. I winced as I realized that my growl might well be taken as an outright challenge. I stopped feeding from the bandit, though I kept my fangs in his throat, still tense and wary even with the blood that started to trail down in a line along my chin. I lowered my gaze from Kain's eyes to his mouth. I did not take my eyes off of him completely but I tried to convey a sense of apology for my growl as I remained still.

After a few tense moments of silence Kain let out a contemplative sound and then moved over to grab the neck of the man I'd stabbed in the heart. He lifted the body up and sank his fangs into the man's neck. He fed deep though he kept his gaze locked on mine for several moments before he closed his eyes. I swallowed the blood that had pooled in my mouth during the interim and watched him feed for a few more moments before I turned my focus back to my own meal.

I finished feeding before Kain, having already drained the bandit quite a bit before he had startled me. I slowly pulled my fangs free from the dead bandits throat and eased the drained body to the ground. I quietly shifted a few steps away from the corpse and then crouched off to the side as I watched Kain polish off his own meal. He let the corpse fall to the ground with a loud thud. He licked his lips clean and then turned his full attention back on me.

My breath hitched in my throat at the odd look in his eyes. I straightened slowly as he approached me. He reached up and threaded his fingers through the hair at the back of my neck. He ignored the nervous twitch I made at his movement and his grip tightened to a near-painful hold when I tried to pull back. He leaned forward to lick away the blood that had trailed along my chin even as I let out a small hiss at his tight grip. He chuckled low and dark as he pulled back.

"Willful and stubborn," he growled as he pushed me backwards with a hand on my shoulder until I was pressed up against the wall of the canyon, "but you did well overall my Little One."

"Blood hell, but your moods are mercurial," I muttered softly.

I squirmed and tried to wiggle free of his firm grasp. He let out a dark laugh at my words and pushed his body against my own to hold me in place. I fell still and licked my lips as I blinked up at him.

"Indeed. You are not the first to mention such a thing," he said with a smirk.

He ran a claw over the skin underneath my right ear and I twitched with the sudden pulse of pleasure as his claw brushed against his Mark. I let out a shuddering sound at the touch and shivered as he repeated the movement. His next question was out of the blue and made me blink at him in surprised confusion.

"What did Vorador do to vex you so? You were oddly upset with him when I came to fetch you," he asked.

I could feel the heat of the blush as it spread over my cheeks as I registered the question. I tried to swat his hand away from my neck and he caught my hand in his easily. I squirmed and tried to pull free of him again. He let out a low warning growl and pushed against me in a way that made me gasp and go still once more. He raised a brow as he looked down at me, his expression made it clear that he expected an answer to his question. I shrugged and knew that my blush had deepened.

"I... well," I let out a grumbling sigh as I glanced upwards. "We... um... we figured out which written language here in Nosgoth compares to the one I'm used to..."

"Hmm? And?" he asked in an amused tone.

Kain leaned forward suddenly to nip along the edge of my ear. I shivered at the scrape of his fang over flesh and started to pant softly for breath as he nuzzled and nipped at my neck. He turned his attention back to my ear and his tongue swept along the shell of it. I let out a soft moan at the wet caress.

"That would not seem an upsetting event to me," he purred into my ear.

"..." I muttered something unintelligible and earned a sharp, warning nip. I winced at the small flash of pain and let out a soft keen of noise.

"What was that?" he asked in dark amusement.

"Smut..." I said a little louder as I looked to the side. "He handed me a book and asked if I was able to read it... it was a book of smut."

Kain blinked at my words and then burst into dark laughter a moment later. He pulled away and let go of my hair though his hand lingered briefly on my neck in a sensual touch. As he moved a few feet away, I eased from the wall. I eyed him warily with a raised brow.

"That does sound like something that hedonistic bastard would do," Kain tilted his head and smirked at me suddenly, a dark look in his eyes. "Run."

"Wait? What?!" I asked. My eyes widened in confusion at the strange order.

His Aura flared dangerously and his eyes flashed solid white with power so that it seemed as if he had no iris nor pupil.

"I said 'run' Little one," he purred in a wicked tone.

I did the sensible thing and bolted as I wrapped my Gift around me in an attempt to conceal myself.

-*/*-*-*/*-

Kain had tracked my movements back through the canyons easily enough and caught me just as I'd reached the point where the canyons opened up enough for me to fly. I'd extended my wings and skidded to crouch in preparation to leap into the air and take flight but my skidding tracks easily gave my location away. He'd caught me mid-leap into the air and I let out a surprised yelp.

My head had cracked against the ground at the impact and my Gift faltered enough for him to latch cleanly onto my throat with his fangs as I flickered back into view. I'd struggled briefly both against him and the pleasure of that bite as he pulled us off of the main path and into a shadowed path that led nowhere. He'd had to use his Aura and the Mark to still my embarrassed struggles as he'd first tugged off my breaches and than his own. Afterwards, satiated multiple times over, I'd made a brief objection about him erm, showing his attentions with us being out in the open the way we'd been. He'd just laughed at my resultant half-hearted and drained glare.

Things continued along the same vein for several weeks; sparring lessons followed by writing lessons and then rounded off with hunting lessons. Kain seemed to be good at knowing just when to swing by to pick me up for the hunting lessons as he normally showed up when my frustrations with Vorador's anitics had reached a peak on any given night. That or Janos had been tasked with alerting Kain just when that point was reached. I started to find myself feeling more 'at home' within Sanctuary because of it all.

Kain and Vorador had made little progress in finding out more information on the Sarafan Lordling. Neither male seemed intent to send me on another scouting mission to the Keep any time soon to try to obtain more information, not if he had a way to sense where I was. I did get sent out on other missions in order to thin the Sarafan ranks or hinder the supply lines meant for those loyal to the Sarafan.

I'd learned over time that the main events of Blood Omen 2, with the Hylden Sarafan Lord as the main enemy, had actually happened over the course of an entire year once Kain had awoken from his forced slumber. That knowledge explained the near lackadaisical attitudes of the vampires as they moved carefully and with purpose to counter the young lordling's minions by taking over surrounding areas and cities. It was a war of attrition and the vampires were slowly gaining ground.

I had gone to Janos at one point over the following weeks and had shown him my wings. The Ancient Vampire had been both shocked and wistful at the reveal. He readily agreed to teach me the finer points of flying and also how to properly take care of my feathers after he'd looked over my wing structure. That had involved a lot of nervous twitching on my part considering the fact that I did not like having my wings touched. My twitching had grown worse when Kain had wandered in to listen in on Janos' lecture.

Kain had taken that lesson as a chance to have free reign at forcing me to get used to his touch upon my wings. Janos had smiled at my unease and had continued to go over proper grooming habits for my wings if I intended on leaving them out. It was during that very lecture that I found out I had just the smallest patches of white and silver feathers left at the very base of each wing, small reminders of what color my wings should have been. The spots were extremely sensitive to... 'preening'... as well, much to Kain's amusement and my own embarrassment. I had actually ended up purring when he'd started to gently run his claws through those small patches of white feathers.

I had also decided to let my hair grow out since I finally had the chance to. I'd only had my hair shoulder length before my capture as it was easier to take care of when I'd had so little time to myself due to both my job and the college classes I had signed up for. My hair had always grown at a rapid pace but Auron had 'liked' the shoulder length look on me and had put me through regular 'grooming sessions' through the long years like some kind of living doll. I'd managed to get the scissors from him once to hurt him during one of those sessions.

Just once.

I went to the other female vampires in the Cabal, almost all of them Vorador's Brides, and spoke to them regarding ideas for deterrents in order to prevent people from grabbing my hair once it had gotten longer. They had given me several strips of leather with dozens of narrow and sharp spikes embedded in them. They had then taught me how to braid the strips into my hair. Anyone who grabbed at the braid would end up with bloody hands as a result.

Kain had actually been mildly impressed with my forethought when he'd grabbed my braid during our sparring session one night. Mind you, it didn't stop him from tossing me across the sparring ring, but his hand had been suitably bloodied by the sharp spikes as a result.

Vorador continued to teach me Nosgothian script, with Janos to act as a constant referee. I would often be given a stack of books and told to translate pages at random when Kain entered the room to argue a particular point in strategy with the green-skinned Eldar. One night during one such spat, I'd grabbed a book and started to translate it only to have my brain stutter to a stop as I translated the words 'polished cuirass', a sentence involving the words 'turgid length' and something about 'heaving mountains of rose-pink flesh'.

For fuck's sake! I thought to myself as I closed the book and let my forehead bang hard against the wooden table with a loud 'thud'.

"Childe? Are you alright?" Janos had asked in a surprised tone.

I'd jerked up and, instead of answering the winged Eldar, I'd turned and without thinking of the potential consequences chucked the offensive book in question at Vorador's head with as much force as I could manage. He'd caught the book before it could impact against his skull, without even looking away from Kain. Kain raised a brow at me at the sudden interruption of their argument.

"Something the matter Childe?" Vorador asked. "Your words project such distress through the Whisper."

His voice had been full of lingering annoyance with Kain as well as what I was certain to be pure amusement at my reaction. I had gone beet-red as I realized that I had indeed been projecting random thoughts over the Whisper ability when distressed. I had simply face-palmed and growled softly in embarrassed annoyance.

"Is death by mortification a thing?" I had groaned out to the amusement of the three males around me.

That led to even more lessons, these involving how to avoid projecting my thoughts without meaning to and then how to Whisper to a specific person. It was an ability I had never been able to cultivate until then.

I was grateful that Kain would take the time to either train me in fighting or take me hunting. The hunts would normally end with the order to 'run' as I in turn was hunted by a superior predator. I got better over time at avoiding him when he hunted me like that and had almost managed to get back to the Blue Lady a time or two before being caught. All in all he seemed to approve of my growing skills as time passed.

The dreams in which Auron would attack me and somehow injure me in the process, did not repeat immediately. I had been in Nosgoth for three full months before the dream had repeated and by then the others had not yet figured out a way to block said attacks. Because I had no defense, I had woken from the dream with further claw marks marring my flesh. I had been alone at the time and had decided to try and find a different room to rest. I did not wish to accidentally claw Kain up as I had Vorador, nor did I wish to disturb him with it. I had been certain that I could deal with the situation by myself.

Kain had taken umbrage to my presumption and, after having found me easily by my scent, he'd drained me to the point that I was weak as a human, flung me over his shoulder and swatted me on the ass. He had then proceeded to carry me back to his room in order 'correct my erroneous assumption'.

Needless to say, Kain was a horny bastard...

Other than that, my budding friendship with Nikolai bloomed. He also started to take a more active role in helping the Cabal fight the Sarafan. Over time I learned more about his past, his family and even the woman he would have married; Cora. I reminded him of her, both in the fact that we had similar looks and similar attitudes. She had been his best friend growing up. The marriage planned between them had been intended both as a political match between their families and as a shield of protection for them both. Neither of them had preferred the company of the opposite sex and would have been able to protect each other from unwanted advances with the act of marriage.

Unwanted advances such as the female vampire that had taken a stubborn liking to him.

I had suggested that he simply tell her about his sexual preferences, but as a noble it had been firmly ingrained into his head that some things 'were not spoken of' outside of close friends and immediate, trusted family. I respected his choice to remain silent on the matter but that silence led to several confrontations between myself and the vampiress, Alma, as I continued to protect him. The only good point to the entire mess had been that said confrontations had never gotten violent.

Nikolai was clever in his tactics as a human member of the Cabal. By the time I'd been in Nosgoth for seven months, we had worked together and had managed to organize a kind of underground railroad for the families, noble or otherwise, that found themselves targeted by the Sarafan just as his own had been. We made it our goal to get those families to the neighboring cities that were not under Sarafan rule.

Kain had decided to trail after us during a rescue and had frowned as he watched over our efforts. Nikolai had been helping a wounded mother down the ladder as two youngsters, non-identical twins around ten years old by the look of them, fretted at the bottom of the ladder.

"Why do you help these cattle?" Kain had asked me quietly.

"I..." I'd paused at the question and then shrugged one shoulder. "One; they would have died needlessly. Two; alive they can get word out that the Sarafan are not truly a group devoted to a 'holy' cause but instead are just power grabbing bastards. Three; the more people we help, the more people that might well follow us willingly instead of having to be beaten into submission."

Kain snorted at my responses, "Four; you are simply that soft-hearted."

I shot a brief glare at him but was distracted from saying anything else as the twins came to a halt at my side while Nikolai helped their mother hobble past us.

"Are... are you really vampires?" the boy asked me with wide eyes.

I raised a brow at him and his sister jabbed her elbow into his side which caused him to wince. I indicated Kain and myself with a small gesture of my hand.

"We are, yes," I indicated Nikolai with another gesture of my hand. "He is a human like yourselves."

"Thank you for helping us m'lady," the young girl said, after she had stepped on her brother's toe to stop him from blurting out another question.

I had felt a spark of mischief fill me and then indicated Kain with a nod of my head.

"Thank Lord Kain, not me," I said with a small smirk. "I follow him."

Kain glowered at me at that and had barely acknowledge the children as they pipped out their thanks to the silver-haired vampire. Nikolai hid a smile and continued on ahead as he led the small family through Sanctuary and out one of the secondary underground exits which would lead them to either Provance or Freeport, cities which were free of outright Sarafan control. Kain narrowed his eyes on me once the group was out of sight.

"You do this in my name?" he growled out, sounding more curious than upset.

"Why not?" I raised a brow at him and waved my hand in the direction the others had gone. "Those children lost their father to the Sarafan. They damn near lost their mother as well. They may well grow in either political strength or physical strength and become willing allies later on, eager to fight under the banner of 'Lord Kain'. Willing followers are easier to deal with than those that might rebel at any given moment."

Kain snorted and shook his head. "Humans will never 'love' their betters. They are cattle and must know a healthy dose of fear to keep them in line. I need only their obedience."

"How Machiavellian of you," I said as I shook my head, faintly amused by his reaction to my words.

"Hmm?" he made a querying noise as he looked at me.

"A term in my world originating with a man named Machiavelli," I shrugged. "To be Machiavellian is to... ah, let me see if I remember it right. To... to have a 'duplicitous interpersonal style, a cynical disregard for morality and a focus on self-interest and personal gain.'"

He raised a brow at the description and waived a hand for me to continue. I chuckled at the fact that he did not deny the description.

"He's also famous for a particular quote, 'It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both,'" I shrugged as I turned and started toward the main part of Sanctuary. Kain moved to walk at my side. "Most take that to mean that as a leader you should be one or the other, feared or loved, but I always thought that it was more that you can be both. People can love you, but still fear the thought of crossing you. Merciful to those who prove loyal, swift punishment to those who betray you."

Kain made a noncommittal noise and we continued to walk in silence for several minutes. As we re-entered the main rooms of Sanctuary he looked down at me with another frown. This frown was equal parts contemplative and annoyed.

"Janos has taken it upon himself to look after you as a Sire might," he growled out in an annoyed tone. "He had brought it to my attention that you are doing nothing but running missions or attending to your various lessons."

"And?" I looked up at him with my own frown. "I prefer to keep myself busy. You know that."

"Indeed," he let out a 'hmph' sound. "We each deal with our past in our own ways. Vorador has put it best by saying that his Sire is being a 'mother hen' about you."

I groaned and rolled my eyes at the thought even as I felt warmed by Janos' concern for me. Kain let out a chuckle and reached to scratch his claws lightly down my bare back. As his hands reached my hips he gave the back of my pants a tug. I swatted at his hand when I heard the slightest rip of cloth. He smirked at me even as I shot a glare his way. I lowered my gaze a moment later when his eyes flashed white and I let out a sigh and shook my head even as a smile curled my lips upwards at his unrepentant actions.

My current outfit consisted of a long sleeved, open backed shirt and a pair of pants done in the style of cargo-pants from my world, made by special request, along with a pair of steel-toed, knee-high boots. It was what I felt most comfortable with and I had quite firmly told Kain that I would very much appreciate it if he would avoid tearing this particular outfit into ribbons.

He'd made no promises.

"So why the sudden concern anyway? Now that I am getting better with Nosgothian script, I've been able to actually enjoy a few of the books. At least as long as I don't come across those damned books that Vorador keeps slipping into the pile," I rubbed the bridge of my nose as Kain chuckled at my discomfort. "Not funny. Anyway, it's not like I'm doing things that I find no enjoyment in."

I turned my head to the side when I sensed Vorador's and Janos' Aura's approaching our location. Vorador had smirked at me even as Janos' gaze narrowed on me. His eyes were filled with concerned worry.

"You find fault with my taste in literary arts?" Vorador drawled out before his Sire could say anything.

I let out a huff of annoyance and opted to simply ignore the mocking question. Vorador was by far stronger than I was and I knew that throwing what amounted to a hissy fit would lead to nothing good for me. He'd hand me my ass on a silver platter before I could so much as blink. Instead, I focused on Janos.

"I am fine," I said firmly to the winged Eldar.

"You take no time for yourself," he insisted with a kindly frown.

"I hang out with Nikolai. I practice fighting skills to let off steam and I do enjoy learning how to hunt," I started as I ticked off points on my fingers. "I like to read and I always have. You've been teaching me to fly properly and that is also something that I find enjoyable."

"Kain often keeps you busy on the nights that he has no pressing tasks to complete," Vorador butted in suddenly with a point of his own and a knowing smirk. "Loudly."

"Fucking hell Vorador! Do you have to be such a hentai!?" I yelped out as I blushed.

All three vampires looked at me with raised brows and I face-palmed.

"'Pervert,'" I clarified for them with a groan. "Hentai means 'pervert'."

Janos let out a soft sigh and shot Vorador a disapproving look.

"Enough, Childe," he said firmly. "Leave be."

"As you will Sire," Vorador said with a nod of his head and a shrug, though the smirk did not leave his lips. "Mind you that you are the one who decided to take her under your wing, literally. Is it not the purview of the 'Eldar brother' to annoy the 'younger sibling'?"

"Seriously?" I asked with a blink. "That's why you are being such an annoying bastard? You see me as a 'little sister' and keep doing shit to annoy me because of it?"

"Would you prefer I look at you like a, hmm, 'second cousin'?" Vorador asked with a leer as he blatantly looked me over.

"Oh, dear lord, no," I said as I paled and shook my head. I waved my hands even as Kain issued a low, warning growl at Vorador. Janos face-palmed as I started past the lot of them. "Done, just done."

Vorador's laughter followed me down the hall and I flipped him off as I stalked away. Janos' voice, scolding yet mild in tone, started to echo in the halls.

I did not want to contemplate the thought of Vorador adopting the roll of 'annoying older brother' or any other 'relative' roll in my life. It did not help that I knew that Kain and Vorador might eventually have a major falling out, even counting the fact that Kain hadn't actually killed Umah in this timeline. She had died before Kain could reach her after she'd stolen the Nexus Stone from him. What had been 'near fatal' in the game had been truly fatal in this timeline. That had been a bizarre realization. Yet that knowledge didn't change the fact that the two vampires were very much 'alpha dogs' and a violent confrontation between them was very much a likely eventuality. Then again, Janos wasn't trapped in the Hylden realm anymore and... and...

I pulled my hair out of its' braid as I walked and tucked the spiked strips of leather into my pocket. I stopped walking as I neared Kain's room as I started to seriously think about all the changes my presence in this realm had caused to the timeline. It did not help that I could only remember a few key points in the history, nothing terribly specific as it had been too damned long. I let out a sigh and rubbed at the bridge of my nose. I twitched when claws suddenly scratched over the back of my neck. I let out a shivering gasp as fangs then scratched over the skin just under my right ear.

"Why so serious?" Kain asked as his lips brush the skin of my throat.

"Just... wondering how much things have changed just because I'm here," I said honestly as I tilted my head to exposed more of my throat to him.

"Hmph," Kain nipped at my ear and then turned me around to face him. "What experiences I have had with time travel thus far has shown me that time is both malleable and immutable. Even if you somehow exist outside of time, the ripples caused by your presence will have already been felt. It does no good to concern yourself with the changes that have already been made."

He lightly grabbed my chin and tilted my head up so he could press a firm kiss to my lips. I relaxed into the kiss with a small, purring growl. I flicked my tongue against his lips and he nipped my tongue and drew blood. He drew back and licked his fangs clean of the ruby droplets. Instead of his eyes being filled with desire, his blue-gold gaze was serious.

"I will be gone for a fortnight," he said as his thumb rubbed over my lips. "We have found signs of a potential artifact that might be used to protect you from those 'dreams'. You are not to undertake any missions whilst I am gone."

I frowned up at him, "I am glad you may have found something to help but I do not need to be coddled. I can take care of myself now, you've stated as such yourself."

"No missions, Katrina," Kain ordered firmly as he dropped his hand. "Keep busy how you please otherwise."

I let out a huff at that and looked at the ground. I closed my eyes and then let out a soft sigh. I shifted my head enough to make the slightest submissive gesture as I tucked my hair behind my ear and made my throat visible to him. Kain let out a pleased growl as his claws brushed the now exposed flesh of my neck.

"I will see you later my Little One," he said and without further preamble he stalked off, Reaver attached to his back.

I spent the next week reading, sparring or flying to pass the time. After one particularity horrible incident in which I stumbled across Vorador and one of his Brides, (in the kitchen! The Kitchen of all places!), I had let Janos know I was going flying and fled from Sanctuary, all the while feeling particularly mortified by the experience.

I made a beeline for the Pillars and managed a proper back-wing like Janos had taught me in order to land on the center of the platform. I felt proud of myself for the solid landing and took a slow, calming breath of the clean air. I moved forward, intent on examining each Pillar individually, and my foot kicked a piece of glass and sent it skittering across the stone platform a few feet. I glanced down and moved to pick it up. The markings on the glass looked familiar-ish and as I glanced around and saw more shards I realized the pieces made up the basin that the Sarafan Lordling had been using. I face-palmed and began to gather up the shards.

"Why didn't I think of this sooner?" I grumbled to myself.

I frowned after I picked up the visible shards and I realized that there was a large chunk of the basin missing from the pieces I had collected. As I looked around I noticed that a larger chunk of Pillar next to the Pillar of Balance had a gap between it and the main platform and moved to check if the missing piece had been kicked into said gap. It took a bit of heaving, but I was able to flip the stone chunk and, lo and behold, there was the missing portion of the glass basin.

I picked it up with a satisfied sound and started to move back to gather up the other pieces again when I realized that the chunk of Pillar that I had moved was now perfectly aligned at the base of the Balance Pillar. It looked decidedly, if very roughly, like a throne. I barked out a laugh at the realization that I'd just set up Kain's throne for him without even meaning to and moved to bend and pick up the other bits of glass in order to put them into a magically expanded pouch, a gift from Janos, at my waist.

That was when I felt Kain's Aura pulse around me with a heavy thrum of pure power. I wavered in place for a moment, suddenly dizzy. I tried to reach out with my Aura sense in order to pinpoint where he was. I found that I could neither place his location nor see him anywhere nearby. Yet the whole of the area suddenly felt as if it were inundated with his Power.

I set the larger chunk of glass down, not wanting to damage it more than it already was by dropping it and then slowly straightened again. I looked around the area slowly in confusion. My wings twitched and I had to fight the sudden urge to just bloody well bolt as my fight/flight instincts started to scream that 'flight' was starting to look like a really good idea.

"Kain?" I called out warily as I took a half step backwards. Something wasn't quite right. "You said you were going to be gone a fortnight...?"

"That I did, Little One," Kain's voice sounded from behind me and a hand, a TRI-TALONED hand, gently but firmly wrapped around the back of my neck. "And so I will be."

Fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck!

-*/*-*-*/*-

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Realms Converge