Chapter Text
His cheeks sting and his fingers are going numb, the cold wind biting into his skin. The snow crunched underneath his boots leaving behind shallow footprints that would quickly be covered by the fast-falling snow. Normal people wouldn’t be stupid enough to venture out during the cold, let alone through a fierce blizzard, but Lohen has been known to be reckless and he didn’t care for the cold much anyways. He’s always found the bone-chilling cold quite comforting, a tell-tale sign that he was alive and a reminder he needed often in his profession.
Lohen had gotten news of a possible vampire in these woods, one that was elusive and cunning. He was told people who ventured into the woods never returned and when a search party was deployed, they found nothing but traces of human blood in the snow. The townsfolk had paid a generous amount for Lohen to investigate, even after being skeptical about his maniacal eagerness and foreign accent.
“Sir Lohen, we would like to thank you for helping us with this. We have a room prepared for you if you’d like to rest first-”
“It’s no issue really, if anything I’ve been itching to dig my blade into a vampire after how lousy my last job went. Barely a fight went down.”
“Er, of course. Is there anything else we can assist with?”
“Hm? No, I’m good. I’ll be setting off now.”
“Now? But the sun is starting to set and there is going to be a storm, you should-”
“Vampires usually wake at this time, so if I want to catch one, it better be now. Don’t get eaten!”
With a wave of his hand, Lohen set off into woods, leaving behind the worried townspeople and equipped only with his weapons and a day’s worth of rations. Even as the storm arrived and the snow began to fall heavily, Lohen continued to trudge on, heading deeper and deeper. There was barely any sign of life, only a lone nightingale singing a soft song. He pauses to listen, the bird seemingly singing to no one.
“I almost didn’t believe Aedon when he told me a human was stupid enough to have entered the woods during a blizzard.”
Lohen whips around, swinging his spear towards the voice and catching a glimpse of platinum blonde hair tipped with red.
“Oh? A vampire bold enough to approach me? How exciting!”
The vampire doesn’t grace him with a response. If anything, the creature seems surprised at his bloodthirstiness and manic grin. They weave between the trees, clearly trying to get Lohen off their trail.
“Aw, running so soon? I’ve always enjoyed a good chase during a thrilling fight.”
Lohen grins as he chases the vampire, swinging his spear in quick succession only for the damn bloodsucker to move just out of reach each time. The vampire ducks behind a tree just before Lohen’s silver knives could find their mark. Their game of cat and mouse carries them deeper into woods, deeper into the vampire’s territory. He can feel the air in his lungs freezing as he continues to lunge at the vampire, the cold making his moves stiff.
Maybe, just maybe, Lohen thinks, he’s overestimated his limits. Still, he pushes on, willing his limbs to attack with lethal strikes. He manages to catch the vampire off guard after aiming his spear beneath the vampire’s knee and twisting it so as to knock them off balance. But as Lohen follows to deliver the killing blow, a jagged silver dagger aimed at the jugular, a flash of gold flies towards his eyes, startling him.
“What the fuck-”
A sharp blow to the back of his neck knocks him out cold and the last thing he sees is the vampire standing and a golden bird perching on their shoulder before falling into the snow.
He’s going to die, isn’t he? Well, at least he’s got a good fight out of it. Lohen’s never felt more alive than that moment with the vampire beneath him and his dagger cutting down to its throat, body freezing but heart burning with the delight of battle. Varka will have to complete the expedition without him then. The grandmaster will probably curse him out for venturing out on his own, but Lohen has no regrets (who is he kidding, he’ll die in a sea of regrets).
Mondstadt, I guess I won’t be coming back after all.
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
Illuga has never met a human as reckless and vicious as this hunter. He’s had encounters with a fair share of vampire hunters seeking to end his life, but none would come this under prepared and still manage to nearly kill him. Looking at the hunter now, it's laughable at how he has survived any storm with this attire: a foreign uniform consisting of thin fabric, with his only form of protection being a coat with a cape attached covering only one arm and clunky heeled thigh-high boots. Illuga trails his eyes up to the hunter's face, once split with a manic grin and wild red eyes, now those same eyes are closed in a peaceful, almost serene expression framed by his pale mint hair. It reminded him of one of those fairytales Flins would read just to annoy him.
He immediately shakes that thought off, remembering the wild grin as the hunter viscously chased him through the woods. He was incredibly skilled and it was clear to Illuga that this was no amateur hunter. Judging from the uniform, the hunter was foreign, so how did he know vampires resided here?
Illuga considers leaving the insane hunter to freeze to death in the snow when Aedon flies down to perch on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck.
“Thank you for intervening before that could go badly. I can’t believe he almost got me in that state.”
The golden nightingale chirps and hops down to the hunter’s body, gently pecking at his pale skin.
“You honestly can’t be serious! I am not bringing this crazy man back to Piramida! He’s a hunter, Aedon.”
The bird chirps indignantly, hopping over the hunter’s chest and using a wing to gesture into the darkness. Illuga notices how the man’s lips are turning blue and sighs.
“I suppose you are right. It wouldn’t be in my morals to leave an unconscious human out in a storm for the Wild Hunt to find, no matter how insane. Let’s go, Aedon.”
Illuga hefts the freezing hunter into his arms, baffled at the light weight, and gathers the man’s weapons and measly bag of rations.
Improperly clothed and barely any food? This human really wished death upon himself didn’t he? Illuga sighs as he follows Aedon’s lead back to Piramida. He hopes Nikita doesn’t panic too much when he brings back an unconscious and nearly frostbitten human.
Upon returning, Nikita panics once he notices the hunter laying in his arms.
“You brought back a human, Illuga? I thought you were scouting for potential threats from the Wild Hunt?”
Illuga sets the hunter down by the fireplace to warm up and lays his coat over him.
“Well I was, but I had the misfortune to run into this insane hunter.”
“A Hunter! Illuga are you hurt anywhere? Were you able to handle yourself?”
He waves his adoptive father off, but allows the other vampire to check him for injuries.
“He almost landed a lethal blow, but Aedon was able to distract him enough for me to knock him unconscious. And I couldn’t leave him unconscious and freezing the storm, especially with the Wild Hunt around.”
Nikita sighs once he’s satisfied with Illuga’s condition. He pats Illuga’s shoulder assuringly.
“That is noble of you, Illuga, but understand that humans still view vampires as maneaters and bloodsuckers. They do not know that we’ve stopped consuming human blood for centuries now. I have a hunch a nearby town called for this hunter because people were going missing in the woods due to the Wild Hunt.”
Nikita turns to leave, not before warning Illuga.
“Be careful out there and make sure to return the human far from Piramida.”
“Of course, I’ll be sure of that.”
When he leaves, Illuga is about to turn to the human, when he feels the cold metal of a knife press into his throat.
“Where the fuck did you take me, vampire.”