Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ History repeats itself... does it? ❯ The Ambush ( Chapter 1 )

The Ambush

"So, will you tell me any time soon what you're up to?"

Silence.

"The silent treatment, eh? Okay... that's nothing new... I can handle that... been there, done that... no problem..."

Silence.

More silence.

Left Hand muttered something.

Still silence.

"Okay! I can't! I admit it! I'm dying to know! Now tell me! Where are we going? What did I miss in that last creepy town? Ever since we left that place you're on a mission, I feel it! I know it! So, tell me! NOW!"

"Quiet."

"Er..?" Left Hand sputtered. "That's all I get? 'Quiet'? And you'll prolly stuff a sock in my mouth too! Just what I need! To sniff on your...mmpf!"

D had curled his hand into a tight fist, pressing the leather of the rein into his palm. It effectively shut up the parasite, and he continued to carefully steer his cyborg horse through the woods. Every single one of his hunter senses was alert. Where? Where was it? It had to be here somewhere...

"Mmmpff! HRRMMMPFF!!!" Left Hand protested furtively. D loosened his grip and the parasite gulped for air dramatically. "Good grief, man! You don't need to suffocate me to shut me up! You coulda just told me....mmpf!!"

"Then be quiet," D hissed, uncurling his fist again slowly.

"Fine..." Left Hand hissed back and huffed. Suddenly it perked up though. "D..."

"I know."

"So that's why..." it whispered. For once it hadn't been D's simple refusal to make conversation that made him keep silent and shut up the parasite. No, something was up - something that D wouldn't talk about, even if he had all the time to talk... Left Hand couldn't help but grunt irritably. Tight ass...

D ignored the noises coming from his hand. His eyes tried to see through what wasn't even visible. Focus... Slowly the cyborg horse moved onward, reacting to the slightest signs of its rider, a gentle pull on the reins, a soft pressure in the flanks, a subtle shift of weight. It turned left onto what seemed to be a long forgotten pathway, grass, bushes and vines had advanced onto the trail, causing for it to be hard to make out, but D saw it had been used recently. Carefully he moved along the path. Close... they were close...

Left Hand held its breath, or so it seemed, for it was unusually quiet, waiting. It peered around D's long pale fingers, small black piercing eyes narrowing suspiciously. What the hell was going on!?

Suddenly D jerked on the reins and the cyborg horse doubled back, just in time to evade the bolt of a crossbow. The metal shaft ripped through the billowing cloak that seemed to blur D's form and hit the trunk of a tree with a low thud. D didn't get the time to take a closer look at the bolt, for there was more coming, bolt after bolt arrowing towards him in short succession, seeking to burrow in their target. The hunter, all of a sudden the hunted, leapt from the horse's back and let it run while he dove into the bushes.

"Ah, damn! Why'd you do *that*?" Left Hand exclaimed. "You know you're gonna miss that horse later!"

D didn't even bother to reply, briefly leaning on his left hand to silence the parasite. He tried to pierce the dense woods with his gaze, attempting to make out the attacker, but the other was well hidden from his sight. Slowly and soundlessly D moved through the bushes, always ready to draw the sword from the scabbard on his back. The blue stone of the amulett that dangled from a golden chain around his neck gleamed faintly and D grabbed it, hiding it in his hand. It was helpful in stunning the creatures of the night, but it could draw unwanted attention as well with unfortunate light reflections. In an agonizingly slow pace the hunter worked his way through the woods to where he suspected the attacker to hide.

Before D could reach the spot, there was rustling, quick footsteps moving away, then the sound of a horse breaking through the bushes. Crushed grass, broken twigs and scattered leaves was all D found and a trail of hooveprints leading away. He straightened up. This attack had merely been a distraction, a bait to lure him away from his real target - and it had worked! he berated himself. Whatever it had been that he had sensed before he'd been attacked, that had been his true target, it had escaped. His eyes narrowed slightly, a brief flash of anger at his own stupidity crossing his smooth features, then it was gone and his expression was back to the usual unmoving, emotionless mask.

After carefully examining the marks left by the attacker D walked back onto the faintly visible trail. He plucked out the first bolt that had embedded its shaft into the tree beside him and stored it away. A soft whistle lead the cyborg horse back to him and he mounted smoothly, the heavy cloak settling behind him on the horse's croup. With a gentle tug on the reins and a subtle pressure to the flanks the mechanic animal set into motion.

"Am I glad that thing is trained so well..." Left Hand muttered and sighed. "I'd have hated to end up a raisin just because you had to walk all the way back to town in the midday heat..."

No comment.

"Right... you don't care... How could I have forgotten..."

Silence.

"So, this didn't go so well... so what?! No reason to beat yourself up!"

Silence. Left Hand grunted irritably.

"So, whatcha gonna do now?"

No reply.

"Aww, come on! I'm dying here!"

Still nothing.

"Great... and there I thought being talked to death is cruel..."

D let the parasite yap, he had learned to ignore it long ago. So he tuned out the nattering and gathered the facts in his mind while the horse trotted along on their way back to town.

"He's back!" The man's voice echoed through the room as he burst into the saloon. "Alone..." Instantly a low murmur went through the crowd, exclamations of surprise along with muttered curses. Almost everyone had expected the hunter to fail on his first day out, expecting to receive word of his death from some traveller, even though some had given him the benefit of doubt, allowing themselves to believe he could make it for at least three or four days, however without any positive results of course. They didn't know what to make of the fact that the guy returned to town on the evening of the very day he'd set out - alone.

"I told you he's no good." "He's alive at least, that's better than any of the others before." "He hasn't achieved anything." "He prolly ran from some beast... coward!" "Who are you calling a coward! Go out there yourself, man, then we'll talk again!"

In the back of the saloon, a lone figure lounged in the shadows, golden eyes glittering as the jabbering went on at the bar. A faint smile appeared on devastatingly handsome features as a pale hand reached up and long, slender fingers brushed back a strand of auburn hair. Seemed that hunter was better than expected - not that any of the towns people would know that...

"I tell you, he's a waste of our hard earned money!" "Is the life of your daughter not worth it?!" "That guy gives a shit about our kids! He's only after the money anyway!" "I wouldn't be surprised if he was a damn vampire himself, cold as the bastard is!"

"Who better to hunt down a pack of wolves than a wolf in sheepskin...?"

Every conversation stopped at the sound of the soft, smooth voice. The young man emerged from the shadows and casually sauntered up to the bar.

"Wolf in sheepskin?" one of the men questioned with a frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The young man shrugged. "A vampire in the guise of a human... a half-breed... a Dunpeal. That's what he is..." He looked up, golden eyes focusing on the entrance. "Isn't that right....?"

As one, every man, woman and child in the room seemed to whip around, staring at the man who had entered the saloon soundlessly. How long had the guy been there already? How much had he heard?

The people shrank back at the expression on the alabaster features, or rather the lack thereof... His grey eyes were so cold, hard and empty, lifeless... like stone, like steel... There was absolutely no emotion to be detected, no warmth whatsoever. And his voice, smooth as it was, was a low, even, flat monotone when he said, "I have no business with you here - or do I?"