→ your obedient servant

[roman]

ＷＯＲＤ ＣＯＵＮＴ // one thousand and twenty-two
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indentkichirou halted in his tracks, neither turning around or acknowledging that he'd even heard the soldier's shouts. he simply stood, face turned toward the sky, embracing how vast and free it was. though muddled with clouds, it seemed to look down upon him, telling him that he was not to give up yet. but the vampire's worries clutched at the hope the heavens offered. why continue? he wasn't a vampire any longer, not one worth anything anyway. he held to title, of which he'd lost with his teeth. everything that he'd labored so hard to achieve had disappeared within 24 hours. gone, like the ever changing zephyrs.

"hey," the soldier repeated, coming up behind the blonde. "hanako told us that you were not to be up yet."

kichirou assumed hanako was the medic he'd made a meal out of. no regret sprung up within his chest, no remorse tugged at his consciousness. humans were livestock. just cattle to be slaughtered for the bettering of the vampire race. as one human so eloquently put it, "natural selection". the strong survive, and the weak do not. little had he known that his words decided the fate of mankind. yet, here some stood, far away from the grasp of the progenitors and rulers. starving, mangy beasts, but nonetheless alive and relatively well.

"hanako," kichirou repeated thoughtfully. "I can't decide. is it better to know someone's name before or after you kill them? or is it better to not know their name at all?"

the vampire turned, facing the man who'd just approached. he looked as though he deeply regretted his actions, as the same look of surprise and disgust ran across his face. he reached for his sword, but kichirou utilized his inhuman agility and speed to deliver a painful blow to the ribs. the guard crumpled to the ground, still alive, but barely breathing. the other was farther away, and as such had more room and time to draw his sword. he was charging head on, and kichirou guessed he was better with a bow than a close combat weapon.

a melodious metallic clang echoed throughout the utterly small encampment. the vampire had drawn his sword, holding the sharpened edge only a hand's width away from his face. the revenge-driven soldier had struck the metal with his own blade, and was pushing as hard as he could, aching for give in the blonde's grip. but try as he might, kichirou's muscles were well trained for such an instance, and he was making no progress. anger and grief clouded the sentinel's thinking, and he commenced a series of attacks that were truly easy to deflect. the vampire merely stood in one spot, hardly moving, except his left arm which held the weight of his rapier.

"why did you kill her? you have enough livestock in your city, don't you?" the soldier wheezed.

once again, the two opponents were locked face to face, both unable to move lest a blade meet flesh. kichirou's face remained thoroughly emotionless, neither frown nor smile adorned his features. his cold eyes held the indignant stare of the human warrior. a new breath of cold air engulfed them. the tiny droplets of rain felt like ice. yet the two men stood, unflinching, seemingly unbothered by the bitter weather.

kichirou didn't make an attempt to speak. he knew it wasn't worth his time. this human didn't need to know about his predicament, nor would he care. vampires: heartless, ravenous, evil beasts. why would a human care if one lost his sole way to survive? they would probably rejoice. the resentment in the man's voice was clear; he wanted blood. ironic, thought kichirou without enthusiasm.

kichirou stood in stunned silence as the man stepped backward, allowing himself to be cut across the shoulder. the vampire had not been attacking, merely defending, but he could tell by the four or five growing crimson marks on the human's uniform that he was in pain. he dropped his sword, and his arms hung limply by his sides. the blonde realized he must be having trouble standing. taking this as a symbol of weakness and surrender, kichirou raised the point of his rapier to the man's chest.

a wide, gentle smile spread across the human's face. his eyes softened, and he didn't back away from the blade. in fact, he barely seemed to take note of the sword at all. he was looking at the vampire with the most tender expression.

"I don't want to kill you," he said. "the damage is done. hanako's dead. I can't change that by killing you. you seem like you're in a lot of pain━" he paused and raised his uninjured arm to unbutton the top of his collar. "drink if you want, but if you're going to kill me, all I ask is that you make it quick."

kichirou faltered, and for just a second, a wave of sympathy washed over him. never in his life had a human been willing to die, simply because he didn't want to kill a vampire. most worked tirelessly to just get a chance to execute one. he'd been in battles with their army many times, and every one was eager to murder and kill. some even played the game of "who can kill the most blood-suckers". he'd lost many people he was close to in such battles.

the soldier must have noticed his hesitation, because he said, "you're not like any vampire I've met."

"shut up," kichirou growled, suddenly bristling with anger.

this human was not going to make a fool out of him. that was all he was, livestock. he held no meaning, no purpose other than serving as food. the man was just playing with him, trying to get into his head. desperate to survive. that was all it was. a facade, a faked plea for salvation. immediately though, he knew he'd made a mistake. the soldier gasped, quite audibly and without shame.

"you," he began, slowly and with a voice full of shock and wonder. "don't have teeth like them━" he looked absolutely taken aback. "what are you?"

[calliopë]

ima go sob in a corner now that last paragraph was beautiful cri

[roman]

ＷＯＲＤ ＣＯＵＮＴ // xx
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indent"what are you?" the question bit into kichirou like a rabid dog. even he didn't know what he was any more. to his knowledge, and unfortunately experience, he still had the needs of a vampire. he maintained red irises, even if they happened to be a paler scarlet than before. drinking blood was still essential, and his strength and speed remained diligently at his disposal. alistair, the fifth progenitor and ruler of a small territory in western england, had spoken ominously about his condition. he'd said, very regretfully, that kichirou's illness only came about by the darkest of curses and there was no known cure. in human culture, he'd be treated as a vampire and cast out if not killed. in vampire culture, he'd be treated as a human and killed or used as livestock.

despite his desperate attempts to stifle the sobs that came to his throat, hot tears mixed with the rain on kichirou's face. he held his sword even closer to the soldier's chest, shaking but nevertheless. anger and sorrow plastered themselves on his tired face. the exhaustion, the pain, the problems. they all scrabbled for a part of the vampire's energy and what little resolve was left. his sides trembled trying to contain the desolation she had left him with.

through shock and confusion, the man-at-arms moved around the blade, which kichirou was too distracted to move. he limped more than walked, but he made his way to the blonde's left arm. the man pushed kichirou's arm down, slowly but steadily, until he had no more commitment and let the weapon drop to the ground. the contact startled the vampire, but he could not rouse himself to do anything about it. there was no point. the soldier spread his arms, a grimace adorning his lips as he did so, and kichirou fell into his embrace.

"it's going to be okay," the man soothed. "I'm mikhail."

loathing himself for being so weak, kichirou tried to force himself away from mikhail, but the soldier's grasp remained firm. why was this human being so kind? their race had taken everything from him. his family, his friends, now his pride. he'd been taught that they were insignificant cattle. he'd been cruel to hundreds of them. yet he was alive because one showed kindness. he was sobbing into one's uniform, a uniform that he'd seen in his nightmares.

━━━━

this chapter is a work in progress and will be a
dded on to later, so be sure to keep an eye out

[roman]

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ＷＯＲＤ ＣＯＵＮＴ / one thousand, one hundred and nineteen
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indentindentvarious ramblings to whomever they may concern,

indentI never figured that it would be this way. in the many long years that I have walked on this earth, I could never have foreseen the heartache and joy I would experience. I ran away from the pain once, and it was no solution. my friends have opened my eyes, and for that, I am forever grateful. my power may have disappeared with the dresden slates, but life goes on. I will never forget my sister's smile, or the lieutenant's sensible reasoning. he protected my research along with the rest of the world for over half a century. the two that have sworn their lives to me are not my servants, but my friends.

indentpower had never been my goal, but peace. a world in which everyone could be happy. but the meaning in my work was lost with those who misused the abilities they were given. but these people were not "good" or "bad". each of us has some of both, and how we choose to use them determines who we are. some allow the darkness more space than the light. some try to hide the fact that they carry evil with them. some sacrifice themselves to the cause of ill-will. but within each of them, the possibility for both admiral behavior and malicious actions was present evermore.

indentorder is not something that will ever be truly allowable. there will always be those who wish to harm others, whether they believe they are doing it for the greater good or they are doing it simply for the hell of it. I, of all people, after battling the green king should know this. nagare was blinded by an illusion of paradise. humanity is far from perfect, but humanity is not evil or wrong. we are simply trying to do the best we can with what we've been given.

indentas I look over the scores of years I've been given, I regret many things. it is impossible to live a life without making mistakes. I've made more than I care to count, some with grave consequences. but I do not let this drag down my future. neko has taught me this lesson. she refuses to allow past grievances affect who she is now. the past is the past, we cannot change it. what we can do, however, is learn from it. history is not a subject to look back on and feel sorrowful for bygone generations. history is meant as a teacher. as someone who lived through one of the world wars, this rings truer than I ever thought it could.

indentI may no longer be a king, according to power and the like, but that does not mean I do not have duties to mankind. each of us has things we were put on this earth to accomplish. many of those things still await me, even after a century or so (losing count has become so easy) of life. no matter who you are, no matter king or servant, you are important to the future. even if one's life is short, or seems meaningless, I assure you that it is not. even a child who died at, say one or two, affected the people around it. the mother will be forever changed, as will many others who came to know it.

indentwar is so easily avoided, yet I've fought many battles, some recently, some so far away I've forgotten them. somehow, pride, the root of all wars, manages to evade any attempt to crush it. pride is not necessarily a dastardly thing, as it gives an individual a sense of self-worth, and without it, life would become drudgery and hardly worth living. however, it is when one allows his pride to grow to excessive heights that the problem appears. none of us are "better" than the next person. we are all human, and all struggling to make a life for ourselves. many make quick work of this, and others spend their span of years struggling to even buy food. adolf hitler, a man who's pride seemed to have no end, believed in his heart of hearts that people with blonde hair and blue eyes, who were german, were far superior to any other kind of person. this, of course, is not true. the outward appearance has no affect on our inward being.

indentkuro has taught me how important loyalty is. without loyalty, there is no true friendship. yes, those who are not truly loyal can work very efficiently, but they lack the necessary skills to truly belong. kuro risked his life for me on many occasions, as has neko, and I would do the same for them. you might even call us a family. life may be a trial without pride, but without others, life would certainly be worthless. I spent so many years in the sky, no one to call upon, my head in the clouds. I never knew how important loyalty was until I tried it myself. "going it alone", as they say, is surviving, not living. if one opens his heart to love, he opens it to be hurt, but the reward far outweighs the risk. my advice on this matter is to simply love with everything you have.

indentwhomever you are, reading this, you are not a worthless person. you have meaning. you have the possibility of love and joy therein. you have the ability to affect everyone you come across. do not allow pride to consume you, as an ancient proverb says, "pride goeth before a fall". do not fear making mistakes, for we all make them. "even monkeys fall from trees." life would be a bore if we lived perfect lives. so go on, make mistakes, learn from them, and continue to move forward. accept the darkness within you, but do not let it control you. I believe, steadfastly I might add, that men are meant to benefit one another, not take and harm. ill-will may win from time to time, but take heart! life is a mess of troubles and happiness. each of us falls prey to feeding the wrong wolf; none are above it.

indentnow, I've exhausted my words and my welcome, I'm sure. what you do with my remarks is your choice. you can choose to disregard them, of which I'll take no offense, or you can learn from the ramblings of an old soul. I am by no means done learning, and I may come to find fault in this letter later. but for now, these words are lessons from which even I, the author, can take a thing or two from.

indentindent your obedient servant,
indent

[Ranger of the North]

I actually liked that a lot *claps*

[roman]

hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that this thread is
no longer in use. you can find my new writing thread here
thank you for the memories I've made here it's been fun c:

[roman]

hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that this thread is
no longer in use. you can find my new writing thread here

[roman]

hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that this thread is
no longer in use. you can find my new writing thread here