Kenshin Hio's Story

In the dark of the alley way stood an ominous figure, clad in a black trench coat and with black short boots on his feet though the figure moved silently in them. The figure detached itself from the shadows and stepped forwards so that its lower half was in the dim light and its upper half was in shadow, the figure placed its hands in its pockets of the coat and was silent, two blood red points could be seen, the only indication of where the figures face exactly was.

Kenshin Hio simply smiled as he stepped forwards, his silver hair seemed to glow of its own light as he stepped into the light. The Pureblood stopped just inside the light and looked the other vampire up and down. "Indeed, your information was correct and I must say easily placed, a thing you should look into really." The Pureblood then took another step forwards, it would be noticed at this point that other than his trench coat Kenshin wore no shirt and stood compleatlly at ease. "Tell me, why should I desire to join your... Company?" At this his eyes seemed to glow a deeper red.

Kenshin Hio tilted his head at the other vampires explanation of the Detente before chuckling. "Perhaps you do not understand me." The Pureblood took another step so that he stood all but face to face to the other vampire. "It is not a case of what possibly interesting individuals in your group, but what it could have that I would desire, or even be wholly interested in that could entice me to consider joining." These words were almost hissed and were spoken slowly and with emphasis, as though explaining a basic idea to a young child.

Kenshin Hio Chuckled again, though this time not nearly as pleasantly, the Pureblood then began to step forwards and then around the other vampire, turning sideways to look at him, the smile had vanished from his face. "Tell me, do you cower and simper before all who you approach? Or is it just to those who are your greaters?" The Pureblood then twisted on his heel, a slight smile played on the corners of his lips. "For all your airs and graces I could so easily remove you if I so desired so tell me, why should I not?"

The Pureblood simply turned to look at the men with the rifles then back at their leader, unable to contain himself any longer he burst into laughter which subsided slowly after a number of attempts to control himself, he then stood to his full height and approached the other vampire slowly, his hands were now out of his pockets. "Very well, I shall... Consider your request than I should be offered a place in your group." He said these words slowly and almost thoughtfully as though he were making up his mind if these words would be too much for the listener to understand, then he slowly leaned forwards his eyes shining and he spoke in a much less amused voice. "Though should you threaten me again I assure you the pain you will feel will be... Unbearable to say the least." With that he leaned back once more, looked at the men and chuckled once more. He blinked before his body exploded into a cloud of black bats which spread rabidly into the night and were gone from sight.

A figure sat with his legs crossed and one end of the dojo, his hands were placed palm up on his knees and his eyes were closed, he wore the traditional robes of a samurai though he had the top of the robes slightly open to elements. Those that looked closely would have noticed that he was still and did not breath or even move in the slightest, in fact in the dark he could have easily been mistaken for a well crafted statue, that was of course until somebody noticed the light breeze moved the edges of his silver hair very slightly.

The sitting figure continued to remain in a state of apparent meditation until he spoke.
"Tell me, are you going to stand there all day? Or only most of it?" His voice easily cleared the space of the dojo and carried and air of demanding at least some kind of respect, he then opened his eyes to look at the other man, they were blood red and glowing yet also looked uncaring as to who he was now talking to.

The sitting figure pay'd little attention to who this other person was, apparently the Detente had yet to realise that young and aggressive fools were hardly the correct way to send a message of peace. He did take notice when a letter was thrown at him, which he caught in mid air between his index and middle finger and quickly read through it, a crooked half smile crossed his lips.
"Am I supposed to take this as an invitation? Or as a threat?"

The figure then stood up and placed the letter within his robes.
"You do know this is the second time one of you people have come to me saying you offer me peace and prosperity and yet you have on both times also threatened me." His voice seemed happy as he talked and took a step towards Reisel. "I do not like being threatened to death." The humour drained from his voice as he talked again.

Kenshin Hio chuckled heartily, a smile crept once more across his lips and he closed his eyes in an almost child like amusement, he was clearly enjoying himself.
"So you are saying that the Detente is not the ones seeking me today but rather the house of Dracul and that they do not simply want another merry man in their band of thieves but rather need me to act as a bridge between two faction who would rather one be the servant and the other the master and vie versa. Or am I misreading this particular gift horse?"

Kenshin Hio Grinned, laughed and clapped his hands a single time before rubbing them together, he calmed himself though he still kept a smile on his face.
"I must say this is certainly a much better invitation than the one I received from that little French vampire, Yves I believe his name was. Yes I do think I will take a look for myself as to how your little organisation is run and from there I will make a final decision, provided of course there is a lack of weaponry being pointed at me this time." He then gestured to the door. "Lead on then if you wish to get this over and done with now."

Kenshin Hio walked behind Reisel, his face was now set in stone and he seemed calm, his robes were also much more closed then before though it was not to shield against the cold. He stood beside Reisel and was rather impressed that he had simply given these vampires to him without offering some kind of catch, he looked up and down the soldiers before stepping forwards and half turned to Reisel.
"Your generosity is much welcome." He then turned back to look at the soldiers and called out to them. "I suggest you assume some form of formation for an inspection, and if you are not in a decent line when I next look at you I will command you to commit Seppuku." He turned back once more. "Tell me, have they any skill of note?"

Kenshin Hio smiled at Reisel and turned back to look at the soldiers, pleased they had lined up in good time.
"You may go, I can assure you I will be putting these to good use, very good use." His eyes seemed to glow even brighter as he stepped forwards to inspect the lines of soldiers.

There would have been the distant sound of heavy marching feet, lots of them drifting from around the woods that enveloped the castle, slowly the sounds became louder and closer, the marching was in near perfect unison and the number of whatever host was approaching could not be counted by sound alone.

It would not take long for the marchers to be seen by those in the castle, first by the large flags which were held at the front of the group, two of them could be seen, one held the symbol of the Hio family whilst the other had the symbol of a shattered ornate lotus flower. After a while the actual marchers could be seen, a large body of them, all vampires and each had the two symbols on their chest, one on one side and one on the other. These vampires wore almost military black leather jackets and dark trousers and black leather steel toe capped boots, the only different being the first row who wore more oriental garb which looked very similar to Japans Boshin war many centuries ago, though these clothes were as red as the eyes of their silver haired leader, who wore a long coat of black fur buttoned to the neck and coming down to bellow his waist, bellow that were dark trousers and leather boots like the rest of the marchers.

This host marched in full body to the gate of the castle and did not halt expect for the gate keepers to allow them in, those who were more attentive would have been able to count the number of the army at 670, all were also armed with some kind of sword, though the origin of these swords came from the world over, as well as some more modern weapons here and there. Whilst the main body of the army halted in formation in the courtyard the silver haired leader and two of the red dressed vampires went on inside.

The three would head straight through the castle intent on joining the meeting, though at the door a small group of vampire guards stood in the way, hands on ceremonial sword handles, the silver haired leader simply looked at them and with a smile said to them "Move." The guards felt themselves unable to resist the order from the other vampire, no matter how hard they tried. In a few steps the three had passed them and burst through the door, opening them with a resounding boom to catch the attention of the occupants of the room, as they passed the threshold the guards found they were able to move once more. It was the leader who spoke as he moved for an empty chair. "So sorry I am late, my invitation seems to have been waylaid and I had to find out by word of mouth, in case you didn't realise my people refer to others by their 'last' name first so your messengers were probably looking for Kenshin Hio when they should have looked for Hio Kenshin, easy mistake to make I'm sure, it is rather hard to get a name around the right way is it not?" He almost chuckled as he sat down, the other two flanked his chair at a respectable distance.

As the new militant Vampire entered, a smile swept across Casren's face.

"Indeed, there appears to have been a mistake," Casren said to Kenshin Hio. He gestured to the rest of the room, after offering the newcomer a polite bow of the head. This was, after all, the first large meeting this century. Many of these vampires may have never met, and still many may be old acquiaintances. Kenshin, as of now, was a new face.

"Another from the East," Manik Chakur came to grin, "With the answer to my question." He looked to Casren, wondering if this was orchestrated.

"Ah, yes. The armies and the unsatisfied. Kenshin, have you come across much opposition in your travels? "

"I have," chimed Manik, finding his voice easier with another Easterner present. Reisel's nostril's flared, and Daemala came whirling back into the room. Opposition? Who would dare turn them down. Daemala thought back to the dawn of the Blood Edict, how they had decapitad and scalped Edward Cullen. It was a warning to all Vampires, but also a hand extended. The Humanity Clause had also sparked alliances, and was most to blame for the current health of the Detente.

Louis stepped into the room only to look around at everyone present and shake his head just to then leave.

"These Vampires must be quelled in their path to disgrace." Daemala quoted her Sire, before turning on her heel and leaving after Louis. As she left, the vampiress muttered something about a Magnum Opus, a storm in her step. Casren watched her go, then turned to face everyone.

"They must be quelled, but not before offered alligience. " Casren looked slowly to everyone as he spoke, everyone except for Alexander. "Why snuff the fire that can be tamed?"

"And if we get burned?" There was malice in his voice, but it was an honest concern. Casren turned to Manik, but Reisel responded first.

"We would burn for the sake of the Night," The stone gaze of Reisel never left Manik's face. "What is but a bruise in war?"

"And if we fail?" Manik spit back, aging noticeably, veins bulging.

"I fail to see how!" Reisel began to grow too, grow hair and muscle. His nails defined and sharpened inside closed fists.

Casren slammed his fist into the table, sending a wave of suppressive energy towards both Manik and Reisel. Casren did not care whether the vampires took offense to his actions over them, he would not watch them destroy eachother over peace. With a controlled breath, the elder vampire turned his gaze to Kenshin, and released the energy.
The question of opposition still stood.

Alexander meanwhile stood in the back, watching and observing. He knew his arrival would have been noticed, even if he said nothing here. At the same time, he found himself being careful about what he said. He looked at his father, then back at the others, unable to help thinking about the man again. The one who killed him. Not Casren, not his father, but the one who stabbed him. He had seen him only days again before coming here, hundreads of years later after he died. Why was Alexander killed? If he stayed alive all this time, it could not have been by coincidence. Alexander then connected the dots. Between what Casren was talking about, and what happened to him long ago, then for him to appear in the Domain of the Vankoryth Detente.... This was connected. Whatever The Detente wanted, it had something to do with what attacked him. But what was it?


Asked Casren of all aside the obvious, "Men, Monsters, or Dogs?"

Back inside the Detente castle a bored vampire was sitting in the Room of Reason, hardly paying attention to the meetings and adding nothing really to it either, he was paying more attention to the whispering of his two bodyguards than the general shouting and arguing among the other vampires, that was until the mention of some attack or other at some place by the name of The Scarlet Devil Mansion, after a moment or two he rose from his chair and started to move off out of the castle, on his way he swiftly gave orders to the army to go out amongst the population and spread the message of the 'Blood pact' whilst his Boshin bodyguard kept to his side as they marched out into the forest.

It took them a rather long time to leisurely stroll to the mansion, once they arrived the bodyguard dispersed into the trees whilst the silver haired leader carried on into the mansion whilst carrying himself like he was walking through a field in his own lands, he stopped at the door and knocked on the frame before stepping inside and talking rather loudly "Hellooooooo? Is anyone hoooooome?" In a sing song voice. "If I missed the fun and festivities you may wish to rewind, I am here now late as usual but as they say 'the unexpected guest is oft the best company' but as I was slightly busy I was unable to attend any other meetings until that one was finished." He then slipped through part of the hall way and ducked into one of the rooms before jumping over a sofa and landing sitting down before adopting a sort of posh Victorian voice. "I happened across a most unsightly rumour that some kind of all-powerful being taking temporary residence in this place but it appears that those ghastly rumours are most untrue." He also had difficulty not bursting into laughter as he finished talking and sat with his feet up and his hands behind his head.

Back inside the Detente castle a bored vampire was sitting in the Room of Reason, hardly paying attention to the meetings and adding nothing really to it either, he was paying more attention to the whispering of his two bodyguards than the general shouting and arguing among the other vampires, that was until the mention of some attack or other at some place by the name of The Scarlet Devil Mansion, after a moment or two he rose from his chair and started to move off out of the castle, on his way he swiftly gave orders to the army to go out amongst the population and spread the message of the 'Blood pact' whilst his Boshin bodyguard kept to his side as they marched out into the forest.

It took them a rather long time to leisurely stroll to the mansion, once they arrived the bodyguard dispersed into the trees whilst the silver haired leader carried on into the mansion whilst carrying himself like he was walking through a field in his own lands, he stopped at the door and knocked on the frame before stepping inside and talking rather loudly "Hellooooooo? Is anyone hoooooome?" In a sing song voice. "If I missed the fun and festivities you may wish to rewind, I am here now late as usual but as they say 'the unexpected guest is oft the best company' but as I was slightly busy I was unable to attend any other meetings until that one was finished." He then slipped through part of the hall way and ducked into one of the rooms before jumping over a sofa and landing sitting down before adopting a sort of posh Victorian voice. "I happened across a most unsightly rumour that some kind of all-powerful being taking temporary residence in this place but it appears that those ghastly rumours are most untrue." He also had difficulty not bursting into laughter as he finished talking and sat with his feet up and his hands behind his head.

Kenshin Hio would smile as the supposedly frightening voice came to him, truly if that was the utmost it was able to do he had little reason to even be there. It was not until his own body started moving against his own will and began to dance. "Oh so this is the fabled dance of those who would control the universe? I must go warn my people that they shall fear it, Oh people far and wide flee the wrath of the great ballerina for it commands you to dance!" He was almost spluttering with a held back laughter at his own words and he hardly seemed to notice the spinning in his mirth.

Something felt different for Kenshin, like he was in some kind walking dream but that couldn't be possible for he would have felt a change. If he could have spoken he would have asked but that was just silly, he had never been known to speak a word, though he felt the tug of them at the back of his mind, and who would he have asked? His lord Kaname would have no doubt looked down on his pet Pureblood who he had so easily convinced to bow before him, though something felt off about that one, did he serve Kaname freely or was he defeated in some great battle? The memories simply wouldnt form a solid form, though the marks he saw clearly on his body should have caused him to remember something he simply could not recall how they were made.

He remembered now, he was defeated in battle and yet he was spared... Strange he had heard few tales of mercy from Kaname, even on a good day. How had he failed in battle though? He could not remember the battle itself, simply the after effects. He remembered being cared for by Yuki Kuran, he remembered little after that expect that somehow Yuki had died, it couldn't be from age or sickness so maybe some form of attacker had gotten to her but how had that happened? There were pacts against such an act, how could he have forgotten such an important moment? Though he did remember Kanames grief at her loss, and how he had been the focus of that rage, had he somehow allowed the death to happen or had he taken part in it? No that couldn't be right for he would have been slain on the spot but that at least cleared up the issues with the scars, yet something still felt off about the whole thing, like he had forgotten to forget it.