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Chapter 1: The Damsel in Distress

Ice shimmered in the trees as the sun's light peeked over from beyond the mountains, the morning's dawn wakening the birds in it's coming. A tall nord tugged his cloak tighter around his shoulders as he tromped through the frozen brush. He knelt down to study a set of tracks leading through the pass, they were cold as the beings who left them. He removed his hood and scowled. His face was dirty and unshaven from days of travel, while his disheveled hair hung over his eyes as he cursed in Nordic under his breath.

"Go exterminate the vampire den, Farkas." He said mockingly under his breath as he rose to his feet to continue his trek. "It shouldn't be hard for someone like you to tackle this." He looked at the dark pass and down towards the mountain he had just traversed. "Of course Aela, you bitch. I will gladly leave and do your job while you sit back at Jorrvaskr and flaunt yourself around Skjorn."

He sighed heavily before he walked through the looming entrance, a sense of dread clung to him as he moved deeper into the shadows. The vampire pack had been destroying farm livestock for ages but now the locals had started to go missing around the pass. People started talking and word had traveled to Whiterun that the Companions were needed to intervene.

The snow fell softly on him as he walked through the pass as he slowly hunted his prey. He stalked to the cave entrance and slowly descended into the dark crevice. Deranged chanting floated through the barren walls of the tomb-like hole causing him to pause and collect his wits. The beasts weren't asleep like he was told they would be. Daybreak was supposed to be a time for the monsters to fall into their death-like slumber but it seems they were set on being stubborn to comply to the norm. Farkas eased down to the floor of the ancient cavern and silently reached for his blade while contemplating taking on the beast form to tackle this quest. A soft crumble behind him alerted him, and he spun on his heels to look through the opening at the faint glimmer of sunlight. He shrugged off the feeling in his gut that he was being followed and continued deeper into the darkness to the main cavern.

The vampires danced half-clad around a fire and jeered at naked villagers strung across the rocks, the victim's cries only fueled their demented pleasures. Farkas choked back disgust as he peered down on the ungodly scene. Talos be damned for allowing such a thing to happen to his faithful children. He slunk back into the shadows and took on his beast form. He gritted his teeth as his bones were stretched, tendons snapping to their new length as the muscles that were once of man became more beastlike. Fur ripped through his skin as he fought back agonizing howls and his muzzle sprang forth from his skull. He crept back to his hiding spot and peered over the boulder once more. A pebble rolled behind Farkas, causing his ear to twitch and spin around for an immediate threat. Nothing. He grunted and turned back to the cavern only to find it empty. The villagers were shaking in the chains that bound them as they stared at a crack in the rock wall. He sauntered down into the firelight, screams resounding from the victims as they caught sight of him. The wolf shrugged off their fear as he peered into the next room, the vampires were fighting with their magic against a small female. She took down a few of the diseased monsters as she spun and twirled with grace. The master vampire crept up behind her with a small dagger, his face contorted with rage.

Farkas squeezed through the rocks and darted on all fours to the aid of the damsel in distress. He caught the master vampire by the throat, lifting him from the ground with both hands. He growled low as he pushed his monstrous palms together until the head of the male popped sickeningly from his body, flinging the limp body to the cave floor. He puffed his chest out as he caught the sword of another vampire attacking the girl, jerking it from the creature's hands and kicking the assailant back against the wall.

A grin crept across his muzzle as the girl shouted and impaled the vampire as it rushed to attack. He tore through several others before turning amidst the bloodshed to the warrior that he shared the battle with.

"Lass, you have some skill with a blade I haven't seen before and you're pretty damn brave. Have you ever considered joining the Companions?" He said as he lumbered over to where she stood, his beast form slowly receding as his body slipped almost effortlessly back into it's true form.

She snickered and raised her head to look at the nord, his gasp making her flash a bit of fang his way. Her eyes glittered like onyx in the night with fiery rings in their depths. "Why would I ever want to join a bunch of dogs trampling across the countryside?"

Farkas jerked back from her and bared his teeth at her, his eyes bright with rage.

"A VAMPIRE! But you just....what..."

The vampire walked over and placed a cold finger to his mouth to silence him as she lifted her blade from the chest of a fallen feral.

"I see that this has baffled your already delicate mind. I...like you...was sent to handle the feral menace in this pass. I just got here before you did because...well...I have a certain grace that an overgrown puppy wouldn't have."

Farkas grumbled and pulled his armor over his muscles, never taking his eyes off the girl. "So, you guys just kill your own kind with no remorse?" He sneered at her as the words slipped off his tongue.

The vampire stalked to the corner and started gathering loot into her bag off the fallen, her eyes rolled as the wolf kept berating her with his own morality. Her long brown hair hung over her shoulders as she stuffed many large intricate bottles into her satchel, framing her figure elegantly.

Farkas fidgeted in agitation. "Are you going to just ignore me as if I weren't here?"

"Wolf, if you were given an order by your leaders...you would be expected to follow it would you not?"She sighed refusing to turn to meet his gaze.

"Well, yes." Farkas snapped back, his displeasure of conversation still leaking out heavily in his tone.

The girl turned smirking. "Even if that order was to kill an unruly werewolf who was killing younglings in the area?"

Farkas opened his mouth and stopped. His mind swimming through thoughts. Would he kill another werewolf that had been taken by the beast? They were more beast than man at that point, like the werebears of Solstheim. He glared back at the girl who was now standing before him, her pale skin shining in the fire's glow.

"If I was commanded to kill a Savage wolf, It would be my duty to do so." He answered after a moment causing the girl to grin.

"Then there you go. That's how I could 'kill my own kind with no remorse'. These feral beasts were killing our very food supply. How do you expect to live in the shadows unseen and be left alone if you have feral packs pillaging the countryside?" She cocked her head to the side, placing a hand sternly on her hip as she looked at him.

Farkas shook his head at the creature before him and stuttered. "I guess that makes sense. Though I don't think I agree with the thought of being food for you."

"Well, I don't really like the thought of sharing my air with a giant mutt that smells permanently of wet dog either but we don't always get what we want."

He gritted his teeth and muttered 'Bitch' under his breath as he turned back to the cave entrance. He could just kill her now and go home, save himself the job of having to do her in later. He shook his head at his thoughts. She didn't attack anyone, she actually exterminated her own kind that was killing the innocent but she admitted that she drinks the life blood of the ones she swore she saved.

He turned to contemplate the options to see her laying against the cold stone floor, her body clad in only thin red fabric stretching around her feminine curves. She was drawing circles in the dirt on the floor.

"What are you....."

"It's noon. The sun is too high for me to move right now. I can go out in sunlight but I would rather not drain my health when trekking through territory of those who'd see me dead." She said cutting him off mid-sentence as she continued her doodling.

He bit his lip and looked at her. She would be so easy to kill if he persuaded her to leave the cavern.

"What's your name wolf." She asked from the floor, a low hum of a melody escaped her throat after she asked.

"Farkas. And Yours?"

"Pumpa." She uncorked a bottle from her bag, pushing up to her knees and took a long swig from it's contents.

Farkas looked at the liquid and grimaced. "Is that...what I think it is?"

She rolled the bottle back to look at it and glance back at the wolf. "Depends on what you think it is. I would say it's a very good aged potion of Blood. You'd probably say it's a big bottle of the essence of the innocent."

Farkas rolled his eyes and sat down across from her, pulling a bottle of mead from his own satchel. "Well, at least you won't be trying to suck my neck while I am here."

"Oh dear, please don't take offense but I am a very picky eater." She chuckled as she took another swig. Her eyes twinkling in the light with her giggle that escaped her throat.

"So, how often do you feed?" He asked her, his curiosity had probed him to inquire of the knowledge. "Unless that is too personal of a question for you to answer."

She looked up at him then crossed her legs, grasping her ankles and rocking back and forth like a young child. She poked her lip out and looked at the ceiling, tapping her long slender finger to her chin. She looked back down to him and sighed.

"I feed only when I am at the castle."

Farkas looked at her puzzled. Her words indicated that they take people back to the castle lair they reside in but she didn't come out and say that. He cocked his head to the side.

"So you take people to the Castle to feed on?"

She looked up at him, a look of disgust marring her face as she sneered at him. He put up a hand in defense and shrugged his shoulders before looking down at the crackling fire. The smell of burning wood left the air inviting and had a calming effect on the mood.

Moments passed in silence as the girl grumbled and sighed to herself, Farkas watched her as she fumbled with her cloak around her. He didn't know why he felt bad but something about her made him feel bad for what he said. She was a vampire, but she didn't seem like the kind that would haul off villagers for feasts of blood. She was very reserved, when she wasn't being what he considered a bitch.

"I have one thrall that I feed from. She's my best friend and I wouldn't feed from anyone else." Pumpa said as she fidgeted in her cloak. She looked to the door and her expression drooped.

Farkas looked at her and blinked in shock. She wasn't like the others. It was as if she had some higher moral code than they were lead to believe about her kind.

"If you want to rest, I will keep watch till night fall." He said, running a hand through his messy hair. His stomach was in conflicted knots as he mulled his offer through his own mind again in disbelief.

Pumpa looked at him and slightly grinned as she curled up on the cave floor, wrapping her cloak tightly around her. "Thank you Farkas." She rolled over and soon slipped into a snoring state.

Farkas looked to the door and sat for what seemed like hours, thoughts of all he has ever known being lies racing while he leaned back and watched the snow fall. Night couldn't come fast enough but part of him wanted it to take its time.