#vampire !ace

Part 1- Lost

He was utterly and terribly lost. Stumbling through the trees, bumping into bark possibly centuries old and chipping off precious bits with his not-so-gentle brushes against them, Sabo was hopelessly lost.

He squinted against the evening sun, his breath ragged, and his normally pristine clothes dishevelled. His vision blurred and his head swam, as he struggled to at least track through the dense forest, fumbling further in hopes of finding an exit.

He had to get back to the base, back, back, before it found him. Before it returned.

Did he mention he was lost ?

Oh and disoriented. With a possible concussion. That too.

He struggled to get air into his lungs, his breath coming out in pants as he felt his rib cage groaning from the exertion. His body protested at the strain he was forcing it under, and Sabo briefly entertained the idea of stopping to heal himself.

No, no, that little thought was quickly ripped and discarded. He didn’t have time for such matters, he had to focus on getting out.

His legs were screaming at him and his arms throbbed painfully, the muscles burned whilst his back felt like it was on fire, well, not really as gid knows he had experience there, but it sure felt it it was. His chest wasn’t any better either. He knew that he was bleeding sluggishly from all the nicks and open wounds littering his body and he was obviously weak from bloodloss, on the verge of collapse and yet, he struggled on.

He absolutely cannot be caught now, not when he was what remained of their little party, of the group so viciously ripped from their organisation.

He was their only source of news of what had occurred within the silent enclave of this obscure forest; the only one who had even an inkling of what had transpired and what they were dealing with.

Sure, they had been well informed before then, but still, it had never crossed their minds how dangerous it truly was. How much strength the rogue, no, the creature had amassed. When their hunters had disappeared one after another within the area whilst on their solo missions, they hadn’t thought much about it. Simply that the hunters got caught up in their quests and had yet to return. Still, after receiving no news after weeks from their scheduled return, they had dispatched a search party. Sabo had spent a month trying to track down where their wayward hunters had gone, finally having a lead into the woods going up a small mountain.

He had thought nothing of it, barely thinking before he plunged himself and his team into the very woods that had swallowed his comrades. Only to come face to face with a vicious beast that had lurked in the shadows, cleverly staying off radar despite it’s limited capacity to conceive notions and waiting to pounce.

It even took Sabo by surprise while he was getting a drink and was the only reason he was in the state he was in right now. Also, the shock from seeing his team mercilessly slaughtered by a rogue that had stolen from them.

For a split second, Sabo was somewhat relieved it hadn’t been in contact with any high hunters other than him. If a high hunter had been killed… Their strength taken… Sabo could not even imagine the damage it could have wrought.

Now, all he had to do was be careful to not let the blood-savaged beast addicted to hunter blood even get a drop of his. He counted his lucky stars he was able to get away by locking the damn thing in place, but the prison won’t be sustained when he is gone so no doubt, the, cage would be disintegrating even as he stumbled through the undergrowth.

His knees threatened to buckle but he struggled on, determination setting in his heart to not let his team’s sacrifice be in vain. He had to get them the retribution they desired and deserved and rip that monster to nothing. At least, after he had regained his strength. Oh, when he returned in tip-top shape, that thing will regret crossing paths with him. Oh yes, he will come with vengeance upon his claws!

Sweat ran down his face in rivulets and dotted his forehead, he was losing precious light and it was imperative he at least made it to the nearest town.

‘I have to make it. I have to get out of here. ’

His addled brain, even in that state, argued in a voice he wasn’t sure was even his that it was at least two days away on foot.

‘Shut up brain, I do what I want. As if you can stop me. You are delusional right now. ’

His brain snorted. 'Like you are one to talk. You are practically inebriated! Do you even know where you are right now? ’

Huh… Since when did his brain get so snappy? He must be worst off than he thought.

'Obviously… Seriously, where are you? Can you focus on what’s in front of you, you dipshit?! ’

Wow, who knew the voices in his head could be so impatient, and not to mention logical… Law said he was never logical while drunk, so why would he be logical while concussed. Maybe they work differently… Maybe he should listen to his little voice that had never reigned till now -in spite of the several times he had gotten a wind of bad luck that wound up with him aching all over and prone upon the cold ground on some missions that he had mindlessly and impulsively plunged into- that could possibly save him now.

He looked up, and ow, that was a mistake as the ground under his feet wobbled and the surrounding greenery tipped and swirled into a mass of colours. But not before he thought he saw a huge maple oak in a distant clearing.

Vertigo washed over him and he was sprawled on his back before he even realised he had lost his footing.

’Hang in there… ’ the deep baritone voice whispered. ’We are coming.’

'That’s nice… ’ Sabo mused, his last conscious thought being that his inner voice was trying to reassure him. Surely that was the concussion talking- and oh look, pretty colours in a sky of black!! He was out before he even realised it.

———————————————————————————–

When Ace was brought out if his musings for inspiration for his new sketches, he had not given it much attention. Just a passing thought while lost in his world of imagination.

’…must… Out… Before…gets… Me… It cannot kill me. ’

OK, that was different. And certainly not his thoughts. Sure, he may have been suicidal, but that was like, a hundred years ago. He had long since abandoned that train of thought, it hadn’t crossed his mind once in the past century, not since he became a part of the Whiteboard Coven.

So… That begs the question… Just where did that thought come from??

’…killed all my hunters… I will kill it… ’

Ace sat up straighter. Better yet… From whom was that thought coming from?

Ace was briefly disturbed when he thought about someone having intruded his mind to send those thoughts, but that quickly washed away when everything clicked into place and he suddenly realised- That was the voice of his soulmate!

He had only ever heard from his family, about how you can hear your soulmate’s voice in your head, and their thoughts when you were in the same area, within a certain distance; and how that finite distance delved into something infinite when you bonded. Every living sentient being has a soul mate, but only vampires have unlocked and achieved that aspect of being able to recognise their soul mates and skim their thoughts or emotion. Werewolves to a lesser degree.

So, this meant, his soul mate was in the area! And apparently in trouble, it would seem. Just what was going on??

Ace didn’t even have time to dwell on what could have occurred, concern for a person -man- he had never even met or known until now overriding all other emotion. He quickly sent reassurance back to the mind in his own, trying to get him to divulge his location or even glean a location from the brief flashes of images he saw in his minds eye. It worried him, for the memory was vivid with red.

He threw down his sketchbook and and scrambled to his feet, abandoning the cooling shade of the tree in the back garden of the castle to hurry indoors, rushing past his many brothers and sisters to make haste towards the throne room, where no doubt, Pops would be. And where Pops was, his commanders or High Princes would be too.

Everyone in the castle were royalty, being Pops’ children, as Pops was the king of Paradise, the land ,forest and mountains where all supernatural creatures in the county resided. Of course, there were the generals, leaders of the various packs and groups that populated the area, but here, Pops or Edward Newgate was the undisputed King and leader. The strongest Vampire to have ever lived.

Luffy though, his little brother, was contesting that title. Although everyone knew that if -heaven forbid- Pops was to croak, Marco would take over as he was Pops’ first son and crown prince.

Luffy, being Luffy had pouted and unrelented, insisting that if he couldn’t be Vampire king, then he would be Pirate King instead.

While everyone had laughed and pointed out that vampires existed 300 years ago, and were almost non-existent now, Luffy had remained steadfast in his passion and dream, even gathering a group of odd mixed misfits to call his crew. Everyone thought it was cute, and so they let him be. Luffy had been off gallivanting around the mountains ever since. Luffy, bless him, had truly done wonders for his soul. However, Ace has always felt… Empty, or rather, incomplete, like something was missing. He had finally gathered the courage to enquire about it 50 years ago and Marco had told him with high certainty that it was from the missing bond with his soul mate, using his and Thatch’s relationship as an example. Although Thatch had teased him about it for not knowing about something so “simple” for days on end after that little talk.

He threw open the huge oak doors without hesitation, not even giving one of his brothers from Izo’s division the chance to announce him before he barged in unceremoniously.

All chatter in the throne room ceased as all eyes turned to him. Ace didn’t care as he stalked forwards, silver eyes glued to Pops’ golden ones, face set in determination. As expected, the commanders, the sixteen high princes, of which Ace was a part of, were all standing around Pop’s throne.

Ace took a deep breath, steeling himself for the bomb about to drop.

“I’ve found my soul mate Pops; and he is in trouble. ”

At once, voices rose as some expressed their shock, and others their concern.

Pops reverently raised his hand, and all noise died to give way to a heavy silence.

“Your soulmate is in the area?” He pinned Ace with his unwavering stare, and Ace met his stare head on, nodding sharply.

“What makes you think he’s in trouble? ”

“What he showed me, however briefly, made me have reason to believe that it so. ”

“Do you know where he is? ”

Ace was about to shake his head when an image crossed his mind, of a cluster if trees, opening into the right of a familiar glade he recognised, with a towering ancient Maple Oak tree smack dab in the centre of it.

He nodded, “Yeah, just to the right of the Oak Glade. ” There was only one place in the first with that Oak, everyone knew what he was talking about.

“He maybe seriously injured, Pops… It’s hearing me in the inside… ” Ace gasped.

Whitebeard nodded grimly. “Izo, Marco, Thatch, Haruta. You will go with Ace to fetch his soulmate. Namur, inform the infirmary to prep themselves.” Pops ordered and swiftly, wasting no time, the High princes obeyed and darted for the doors, the little group sent to find Ace’s soulmate all making for the entrance to enter the forest.

….

They reached the glade in no time at all, conign from the left, and that was when they were all hit by the overpowering scent of blood, and not just any blood, oh no.

They made their way towards the right, following Ace’s lead and the scent and all struggling to reign in their bloodlust. They were not High Pinces for nothing though, and iron clad wills clamped down on their thirst as they focused on the task at hand.

They circled around some trees to come face to face with a collapsed form upon the ground.