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Dead Chivalry - Ch 2

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Literature Text

Disclaimer: Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino and this work is not meant to make any profit of the franchise.

Author's note:

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first Vampire Knight fanfic. I hope to stay as true as possible to canon characters even with mine thrown in, but please let me know if I'm crossing the line too much. Hope everyone enjoys the reading and thank you very much in advance for any reviews/critiques.

May contain: Blood/Gore, MaleXMale pairings. The course of happenings may differ slightly from the anime/manga.


Chapter 2 – First Impressions

An uncomfortable stillness filled the air for a few moments.

Astaroth cleared the dust from his clothes and made sure the reluctant students released his servant unharmed by eying them closely.

Zero was the first breaking such silence, to the surprise of the remaining vampires.

- If you're the one that was supposed to be coming, why the hell didn't you say so?

Yuuki had seen the date on the letter the chairman kept. It was dated from a month and a half before. Then why?

- You should save your complains for your chairman. – Astaroth replied nonchalantly - If he had given me better directions I wouldn't have gone so hungry while travelling for so long. I spent weeks looking for this place. But desperate situations do require desperate measures.

The last sentence had earned the stranger some frowns, including the chairman's, but what had been done, couldn't now be undone. It simply would have to be addressed later, in time, away from the students' view. And with that thought in mind, Kaien took a step forward. He was taking a risk, he knew that, but it wouldn't be the first time.

- Astaroth, that simply isn't the way for us to act here. We'll talk later about this.

Kaien wouldn't want to disclose many details, but even if the victim was a renown drunkard and a rapist, the chairman would probably have to pull some strings in the vampire's favour if the Hunter Society knew of this.

- But, other than that, I hope the road hasn't been too harsh on you, Astaroth. Welcome back. – he saluted, placing a hand over the vampire's shoulder, to which he responded with a smile.

It was hard to believe that minutes before, both those beings were engaged in a struggle. One to live, the other to kill. Now many questions arose in the students' heads as they followed the strangers to the carriage they had left hidden near an old ruin in the small town's outskirts. Perhaps the most immediate of them was "would it be safe to take such vampire into the academy?"

- Well, it seems everyone's had enough excitement for one day, wouldn't you say, children? You may return to your class.

Aidou protested.

- What? But Chairman...!

- It will be alright. Trust me.

Zero was particularly disturbed by the thought. Any person in their right mind wouldn't let go of an escort of bodyguards with heightened senses in this situation. But judging by the way two adults chatted mildly on the way, making some cheerful small talk, one could assume they knew each other for quite some time, just didn't seem too updated on each other's doings.

Being the prefects, Yuuki and Zero were allowed to remain near Kaien, which gave the chance for Zero to examine the strangers further.

The horse they found hitched to Astaroth's carriage seemed to wait for its master patiently, lifting his enormous head up and flickering his ears towards them.

While the servant, who Astaroth was heard being called Luc a couple of times, took a minute to fit the tack conveniently to the horse and check for any safety fails, Zero took the chance to have a look at the huge animal.

This one had a very different conformation from Lily, being chunkier, with a massive bone structure and therefore probably slower, he was part of that group of breeds called the cold-bloods. His black coat shined as polished fine ebony and Zero noticed the horse had heterochromatic eyes.

But despite his monstrous looks, the horse seemed extraordinary calm and used to the bustle of activity over his body with all the clenching of the buckles and fitting of the harness. In the way he chewed on his bit comfortably, it had a positively tranquil look from under his long forelock that sometimes covered his eyes.

More intriguing than the vehicle's baroque decoration, tough, which would surely represent a generous portion of its weight, was the fact that the only horse pulling it was easily doing the work that looked fit for at least two animals his size, maybe four, even.

One might think the driver of such a carriage should be a monster of a man, but tending to the horse was a slender boy, that could almost be described as being baby-faced if it weren't for his cold expression and the missing eye covered by a dark eye-patch. The carriage was big enough to contain two long seats that would easily fit three people each, and one coffin, probably used by Astaroth to rest during the day. To the inattentive eye, however, would look like a simple coffee table. Well, at least its positioning wasn't all that naive.

That meant probably only the master was a vampire... but what about the servant then? Still human? Then why associating with the stuck up bloodsuckers?

Zero didn't like him at all, not one bit, perhaps even less than in his vampiric master.

After Kaien had given Luc some instructions about how to get to the academy, the boy hopped on taking the reins and Astaroth invited everyone inside.

Once near the gates, the boyservant pulled the reins gently and came down to open the carriage's door.

Astaroth was the last to come out, and took a moment examining the building from outside.

while sporting a complacent smile.

- So this is your school you always dreamed of. Not too shabby. Too bad there wasn't some kind of formal reception for someone like me though, I was expecting better on your part, Kaien.

The last comment alone would be enough to set Zero off, so little time and there was already so much he'd like to say to the stuck up fang face. Just who did he think he was? But Kaien was quicker and tried to calm him down, apparently too familiar himself with Astaroth's taste for extravagance.

- Now now, Zero-kun, let's be nice to each other. Astaroth is just being spirituous. – the chairman reassured, letting out a sigh at Zero's "Spirituous, my butt."-face.

- Come, - the chairman invited, showing the guest the way through the gates – we have a lot to talk about. Let's get you inside you must be freezing. My sweet Yuuki will accompany you to your quarters so you can freshen up and Zero will accommodate your horse. Who knows if White Lily could just grow a softer personality by making a new friend.

- Stop saying nonsense, I'm going.

The servantboy was eyeing him carefully with a frown as he passed by, and then took the horse's reins so he could lead it behind Zero, while Yuuki, Kaien and Astaroth proceeded to the main building.

The silvery-haired young man didn't utter a word in their way to the stables, and though Luc could probably tell of his distrust, he preferred to keep things that way.

The place where the horses rested was a bit austere, but clean, and not seemingly uncomfortable for a horse.

When they arrived, Luc took the heavy harness from the horse, finally detaching it from the vehicle with Zero's help, and started giving the animal a quick care session. When it was over and he looked again, he saw Zero coming out an empty stall he had just finished preparing with fresh straw for bedding, water and feed.

- Hey you. You can put him in this stall over here when you're done.

Zero was pointing at a vacant stall, strategically chosen to be as distant as possible from Lily's resting place.

- You didn't have to do that. – Luc said frigidly while taking the draft inside the stall to rest and made a sign so the stallion would lower his head enabling the boy to take off the halter from its head. Zero of course didn't take the response lightly.

- I'm sorry, I just thought I was being polite by lending you a hand. – he replied sarcastically – But if you'd like to spend the rest of the night here watching over him instead of going to sleep, that's up to you.

To Luc, it was now becoming obvious that the young prefect didn't seem to want him there for some reason, but that didn't stop him from replying while making the horse comfortable for the night by putting the favoured blanket over him.

- Well don't you worry about me then, master Zero, we will be leaving sooner than you think.

Zero grunted as he was leaving the stables, leaving a last warning, upon seeing the small yet sturdy fangs the stallion sported.

- And be sure to keep that old nag away from the grey mare.

But the request had sounded more like a threat.

- Easy, Arion. – Luc whispered trying to calm down the vampire horse's slight anxiety by caressing his forehead after the hunter left them – It's only for the night. From what I can tell, the master won't be willing to stay for too long.

...Continues...

And here's chapter two!

Chapter 1: Dead Chivalry - Ch 1
Chapter 2: You are here!
Chapter 3: Dead Chivalry - Ch 3
Chapter 4: WIP

Preview image by: WrenShimmamora
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