Waking Moonlight

“𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.” 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭… 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬… 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞. “ 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. ”

“𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬..” 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

“Forgive my suspicion, but it’s happened before.” Alucard didn’t keep these objects out of greed, or even because he found them interesting; though they were intriguing. These objects were kept in his care because if they fell into the wrong hands, the results would be most likely, devastating. 

“As I said just a moment ago, these objects are not up for sale or trade.” Of course, there was one very specific exception to this rule. The Belmont family, whom he trusted, were allowed to take objects from this collection. The Belmont's were well known monster hunters and Alucard was well acquainted with their ancestors.

“       ..       sorry       ”             it       falls       as       little       more       than       a       breath       ,       gaze       falling       unto       hands       that       rested       against       stomach              ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯              shaken       fingers       toying       with       one       another.       foolish              ..              it       rang       true       ,       what       was       she       to       do       if       he       got       hurt       ?              she       wasn’t       skilled       with       weapons       ,       not       having       one       on       her       person       ;       too       fearful       to       use       own       magic              ..              she’d       have       been       useless              &              he’d       have       been       another       person       she       killed.

slowly       do       eyes       lift       ,       rather       surprised       by       swords       own       movements              ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯              resulting       in       a       wide       eyed       gawk.       he       was       curious              &               perhaps       had       she       the       mind       to       focus       she       would       know       why       ,              “       ah       ..       thank       you       ”              curious       indeed.       basket       taken       ,       contents       disturbed              &              not       quite       as       much       as       she       had       hoped       to       gather       but       it       was       enough       to       do       for       now.

“       i       think       i       learned       that       the       hard       way       ,       ”              a       fleeting       ,       ghost       of       a       smile.              “       would       ..       would       you       mind       walking       me       back       to       my       village       ?       i’m       sorry       ,       i       know       you       already       aided       me       ..       but       those       things       ..       scare       me       ”

Her nervous posture and barely audible words didn’t go unnoticed; but Alucard chose not to comment on it. That would only make things more awkward for the both of them.

“Of course, my lady. I...was actually going to suggest that.” Alucard’s responds with no hesitation. The moment he decided to get involved was the moment that this woman’s safety became his responsibility.

 “Ah, just, wait one moment--” He turned back to the creature and ripped out one of it’s canines before dragging the corpse off the road. He would keep the tooth as evidence for any villager that sought to accost him for his presence. Not one in need of payment; he simply wanted to show that he bore no ill will towards humans. 

“Now, shall we?” He gestured to the open road in front of him. “The path looks clear.”