Bitter Enemies (Shendeth)

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten sat near the campfire. The other performers had long since gone to bed and the Vampire was taking some time to think things over. It had been two nights since Larten had brought Erika to the Cirque. She was settling in nicely and he had taken to her a lot better than he thought he would. Of course she still had some things to work out, but her new life was now full of happiness. When she would cry out Larten would be there to comfort her. The bond between the two had already gotten stronger and Larten now could not imagine life without the girl.

Suddenly he stiffened and stood up. He peered into the night and called out, "Who's there? I know your out there. I can hear you prowling around." The Vampire prepared himself in case it was an attack. His hands were curved in the standard Vampire defense and he stood with legs slightly apart. Larten did not want to be caught off guard and he wanted to be ready for anything. He did not know who was out there, but even someone pretending to be nice could be potentionally dangerous and Larten could not have that. He was now Erika's caretaker and it was his duty to make sure that she was safe.

[Shendeth Evans]

Unable and not wanting to sleep on this night, Shendeth slipped silently out of his tent. Everyone else had already gone to bed. The camp was dark and quiet, but with his enhanced sight he was able to make his way towards the campfire just fine. He didn't have a reason to be out he just wanted to get outside and breathe. The half-vampaneze expected to be alone with his thoughts however that was not the case.

Before he had rounded the last tent in the way a suspicious voice called out to him from that direction. He stopped and stood still when he heard it. He didn't think he'd been making much noise. But sounds carried in the night; it must just be another Cirque person. Instead of answering he looked tensely around the side of the tent and walked forward into view of the campfire. By the dim light of the dying embers he saw who it was, and that sight was not a very welcome one; Larten Crepsley, the performing vampire.

"It's just me." he said, although that was no reassurance or improvement. He eyed the elder vampire with suspicious hostility and gave him a smirk seeing the attack pose.

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten scowled, "You know, I really hate being surprised." The Vampire shook his head, "Sit down Shendeth. Just because I don't like Vampaneze doesn't mean there are some that deserve that fate." He gave a sad smile, "One of our Vampire Princes was formerly a Vampaneze and was later turned as a Vampire and I admire him very much despite his former life." He sat down at the table and beckoned to the seat opposite him, "Do you wish you had a different life? Human perhaps or the other creature of night, a Vampire?" Larten didn't much care for Vampaneze, but there were those who that Larten did admire and Vancha Marsh was a close friend of Larten's.

He waited for the Half-Vampaneze to say something. Larten narrowed his eyes at Shendeth's smirk, "You smirk when someone is cautious and it will be your undoing. What if I had been a Vampire Hunter and you hadn't known? You would be dead and I would be the one smirking. So you just mind your manners." The Vampire indicated the seat again and waited for Shendeth to sit.

[Shendeth Evans]

Shendeth sat down hesitantly when the vampire asked. He supposed he shouldn't have assumed the vampire would be hostile but that was how he always acted. Trust nobody, because nobody is a friend. That's what he'd learned. The vampaneze seemed to have only enemies. Young as he was he didn't have reasons to hate the vampires and wondered why couldn't they stop fighting but knew what they thought of his kind. "Oh." he said and nodded. "You can turn a vampaneze into a vampire?" Being so new to this life he didn't know the finer details when it came to vampires. He didn't know much about the vampire princes either. "I don't want to." he added quickly with conviction.

He hesitated and thought about the question. "I don't know. But I don't want to be a vampire.. and there's no point wishing for something I can't change." He'd had no desire to become the other creature of the night, though there had been many times he wished he could go back to being a human, especially at the beginning. But his human life hadn't been so great either and there were some advantages to being half-vampaneze. Joining the Cirque was an improvement. Yeah he did feel sorry about the people he killed sometime but being a vampaneze in it self wasn't so bad. He could live with it. He had to.

"Sorry." he said though he wasn't. Shendeth didn't like being reprimanded or told what to do.

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten waved away the apology, "Your young. It will take some time for you to come to your full powers. If you'd like I can help you at least control your hunger so people won't come after you for draining the blood of humans." Larten did his best to help those in need. It was too bad Shendeth did not want to become a Vampire. It would be a better improvement than being Half-Vampaneze, but Larten had to respect Shendeth's wishes. The Vampire did, however, admire Shendeth's gumption.

The night was young and Larten needed his nightly feeding. "I need to feed tonight. Would you like to come with me and learn?" If Shendeth learned how to control his hunger than Larten could breath easier. It wasn't that he didn't trust Shendeth, but the fact that he was Half-Vampaneze. Even a Half-Vampaneze was dangerous to the community. If his hunger could be controlled then things would be better for everyone.

[Shendeth Evans]

Shendeth hesitated just a moment before shaking his head. He narrowed his eyes just a little. "I don't need your help." No he did not want to make an enemy of the vampire. But he had never been someone to ever accept any kind of help let alone this situation. He didn't care. Learn, ha. He knew how to feed like a vampaneze and that was good enough. Maybe it was foolish but so what he didn't want to be trained anything let alone by a vampire he barely knew. Not to mention that it would be pointless anyway. Vampaneze couldn't control their hunger.

In any case he didn't do too bad on his own. Shendeth might be young and a little too proud but he wasn't stupid. He was cunning, resourceful, sneaky; everything that he needed. People didn't come after him or the Cirque when he drank blood from someone. He was careful. He only attacked people who were alone and looked like they wouldn't be missed. Then hide the body and go. He always did it at the last minute the Cirque was in a place. By the time someone found the body they were long gone and far away. The Cirque in itself was elusive as well.

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten shrugged, "Suit yourself, but don't come running when you start getting out of control." With that he pulled out a bottle of blood and took a drink. He then pulled out another one and said, "Want it? I know its not the same as from a person, but sometimes its best to have bottled blood for emergencies." Larten knew that Shendeth may not accept it, but Larten had been raised on manners thanks to Seba and what would his old mentor say if he wasn't polite.

The Vampire stared into the fire and said, "Shendeth I'm curious. How did you become a Half-Vampaneze? I mean I know what the ritual is, but how did you come to be a Vampeneze in the first place?" Larten then looked back at the boy and waited. Shendeth was somewhat of a mystery to him and he was curious in learning more.

[Shendeth Evans]

Shendeth shook his head again. "No thanks." At the moment he wasn't that desperate. An advantage of draining a person when feeding was that it made it so you didn't have to feed very often. He liked it that way, not having to worry about it as much as vampires or drinking all the time. Normal food was greatly preferred thank you very much.

Shendeth watched the vampire stare into the fire; it was still burning, but at the question everything seemed to get a little colder. That wasn't something he ever talked about, though hardly anyone knew he was half vampaneze. The vampires knew because of their smell but a human couldn't notice.

For a few seconds he was silent as the back of his mind filled with memories of that fateful night. Shaya's scream, the blood of the vampaneze from the rock Shendeth threw at his head, him letting her go and advancing on him instead, talking, trying to fight, to argue, to make a deal with a crazy person, the vampaneze's awful grin as he got the idea, agreeing even thought it wasn't a choice, anything was better than dying, being grabbed, the sharp nails nearly cutting off his fingertips..

He glanced down instinctively at the scars. The full story wasn't one he was going to tell in detail. But it couldn't hurt to reveal a silver or summary of the truth. "I stopped a vampaneze from killing my sister. He wanted to make me pay."

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten raised an eyebrow. "You can't just turn when a Vampaneze attacks your siblings. There is a blood ritual that you go through that both Vampires and Vampaneze use to bring in more for their respective sides." Larten leaned forward and said again, "I ask again. How did you change?" Larten was getting a little frustrated with the boy. Larten found that it was a good sign. He would never make a good creature of the night if he didn't frustrate Larten. The Vampire smiled and then leaned back, "You will make a good creature of the night. How do I know this? Because you are frustrating to be around just like other Vampires and Vampaneze can be frustrating to be around."

[Shendeth Evans]

Shendeth nodded. Frustrating. "So are you. I thought the rest was obvious." he said in a somewhat annoyed tone, just as frustrated as Larten was. Wait, the vampire might take that as a compliment. That wasn't his intention but oh well. Hadn't the vampire just said he knew the ritual? So what more was there to say? This really wasn't something he wanted to talk about. Unless he was misinterpreting the question. But he wasn't sure what else the vampire meant but the details of the night he was changed.

Shendeth looked away. "I distracted him and she got away so the vampaneze turned on me instead. ..He was going to kill us both.. but then we.. talked.. and he grabbed me and stabbed my fingers and pricked his own and pressed our hands together to exchange blood. Then I was changed." That's all there was to it really.

His scars were much more pronounced then those he had seen on others because the vampaneze had come just short of cutting his fingers off and hadn't healed it after. Not to mention that they certainly weren't the only scars his blooder had left on him over the year and a half he was forced to stay with him. Shendeth did not want to try and explain what had been said that night, Murlough's crazy way of talking and the dishonorable things Shendeth had said to try and get himself out of it which gave the vampaneze the idea to change him.

Anticipating the vampire's continued frustration and asking of more questions he struggled to give to word something else that would satisfy him. He'd been elusive when talking about the vampaneze in question because he just wanted to forget him. But, completely unaware of his new connection to Larten he didn't realize the impact forcing himself to say the name would have. The half-vampaneze continued in a low growl.

"His name was Murlough. He.. he was crazy." And that was really all he was going to say. Shendeth fell silent with a shudder. He would not say what happened next or all the awful things Murlough did to him and made him do. He didn't have a fear of it but he didn't like saying the name because of what a monster he had been and the way he'd always talked in third person. The vampaneze had taught Shendeth next to nothing except how not to act. Maybe he could really do with being a better person but he was nothing like that. And he didn't want to be. Not ever.

Really, had he really said that much? Maybe he needed to talk about it to someone or crack. But he didn't feel any better, being asked about this only made him feel worse. He didn't think the name would mean anything to Mr. Crepsley but even so. Throughout all this he kept his gaze rooted firmly on the ashes at their feet.

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten's eyes flashed, "Murlough?" The Vampire hissed. His enemy seemed to have ten lives. Larten stood up and turned away, "Murlough is my enemy. He is worse than the other Vampaneze." The Vampire couldn't understand why Murlough never seemed to die and continued his murderous rampage. The Vampire turned back to Shendeth, "Why did it have to be Murlough?" Larten's eyes flashed again. Then he stared at the fire and watched as it slowly burned low.

(BLEH! *Cries* This post sucked!)

[Shendeth Evans]

Taken aback by the vampire's reaction, he almost wished he hadn't said the name. Even though Shendeth was not the one the vampire was angry at, but Murlough, and for good reason, he instinctively glared back. Love it or hate it he had been Murlough's apprentice; maybe that meant the two of them were enemies as well.

He wondered if Larten was in league with the vampires that he assumed to have killed Murlough the night they attacked and the half-vampaneze ran away. It was partly because of that that he didn't like vampires, even though he was none too fond of his mentor either and might have done it on his own. It was at least good to hear that all vampaneze weren't as bad. Though that might not be saying much. Murlough was.. horrible.

"I've been asking myself that same question." he said quietly in reply, even though it had sounded like a rhetorical question. If it had to happen, why couldn't it have been a sane person who truly made things better? Just his luck that it was the worst of the kind. Murlough had tortured him. Shendeth was as much a victim of the vampaneze as any of the people he'd slaughtered. He'd destroyed everything.. but even though he was acting as if that was all there was to it in front of the vampire it was perhaps a half lie.

The vampaneze was still his mentor. He had it inside him to turn out just like Murlough if he didn't stop himself. Shendeth had still followed him and gone with it for insane, bloodthirsty pleasure. No, he couldn't think that. It was good riddance when they were separated. But deny the reflection inside himself as he might, and to even be successful at fighting it, was not the same as erasing it. That could never be done.

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten sighed and said, "Despite Murlough being your mentor, Shendeth, I have no quarrel with you. You were a victim just like a lot of the Vampaneze out there." The Vampire gave a pained smile, "I wish your mentor was someone else. I truely do. I sense that you have a lot of potential and would make a great creature of the night. Just try to stick to the rules of your kind. That way I won't be forced to come after you." The Vampire liked Shendeth. Despite the boy being Half-Vampaneze he was still a good person. Larten remembered how Vancha March had once been Vampaneze before being turned to a Vampire.

Hopefully one day Shendeth would follow in Vancha's footsteps and turn into another creature of the night, a Vampire. Larten wouldn't force the boy to do anything he didn't want to, but he wanted to make sure that Shendeth didn't feel like Larten was angry at him. Larten knew that Shendeth had been forced into being a creature of the night. There were honorable Vampaneze out there who would make sure that their potential apprentices were willing. Larten just wished that if Shendeth had to be Vampaneze that it was by one of them instead of Murlough.

[Shendeth Evans]

Shendeth nodded. He was somewhat surprised by the vampire's calm words and understanding. Nevertheless they were welcome. Not that he would have cared much the other way, but the vampire's respect in spite of things could only be a good thing. But there it was again. 'Follow the rules or I'm come after you.' Shendeth was on the side of his kind but didn't want to hunt vampires. Why couldn't the two factions mind their own business just let the other live in peace? But that was a childish idea, he knew very well what a cold place the world was.

As for doing what Mr. Crepsley asked and following the rules of his kind.. that was likely. Not. Though he wasn't like Murlough when it came to killing people and he supposed that was what the vampire meant. He had no desire to stray away from the norm with that. Killing to feed was enough, it had to be kept secret. But he wasn't about to follow any stupid traditions of always telling the truth and not using certain weapons, or honor and nobility and all that crap. He was a loner who was just trying to stay alive.

When the vampire said he wished Shendeth's mentor had been someone else, he couldn't help but ask, "Why do you care?" though his tone was only curious and not rude or sour. Nobody cared, he was already getting to be that cynical. He wasn't close to the vampire or anything and Murlough had probably done worse. The vampire had been his enemy for a reason and there was nothing the half-vampaneze would put past his old mentor. He wondered about the connection but thought it best to make sure the vampire wasn't still angry before he asked.

[Larten Crepsley]

Larten looked at the young Vampaneze and said, "Because not all Vampaneze are as crazy as Murlough. Yes you would still be killing the victims from which you feed from, but you wouldn't draw attention to yourself like Murlough does." Larten paused for a moment and said, "I've known Murlough since before I became a Vampire." Larten was silent. How to give the story of how he first met Murlough.

"I was still a few years from being turned and so I was still able to go into the sunlight. While the Cirque prepared for their next show I visited the town that was close by. I found a group of people and got closer. In the center was a boy who's entire family had been killed." Larten looked at Shendeth, "By Murlough, but at that time I didn't know that. So while the townsfolk refused to help the boy seek revenge I did. Together we went to where Murlough was sleeping at."

He broke off for a moment to consider his next words carefully, "We were both mortals and thought that we would have been able to kill him on our own, but it seemed that Murlough had been waiting for us. The bed he was sleeping in was empty and then he jumped out of the shadows. Murlough offered to let me live if I severed my ties with the boy whose family had been murdered. I refused and he would have gotten us, but in the end decided to let us both live. Murlough was also tempted to make me his apprentice, but at the time he had been one of those who followed the rules."

Larten stared at the fire and went on, "The boy's name was Wester. I let him join the Cirque with me and together we worked hard together until my mentor returned. I told Wester everything and several years later both of us were blooded by Seba. Seba had agreed to make Wester his apprentice too for the sake of a companion my age. And so because of Murlough I gained a friend that day."