(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

My Fine Furred Friend - Chapter 6

No warnings this time, unles you consider grumpy guards worthy of a warning.

***

"Identify yourselves!" A male voice boomed and echoed down the tunnel, making Palette shiver at the aggressive tone.

Goth, on the other hand, merely planted his feet and called back, "Goth Afterdeath, with a guest." The pair ran down the tunnel toward them, meeting them with looks of relief for the small vampire and caution toward Palette.

"Young master, thank goodness! We feared the worst when we smelled your blood! Where are you injured? Do you need assistance?" taller of the guards fussed, turning Goth around to inspect his back and left shoulder.

Goth huffed as he batted away the guard's hands, "I'm fine, Russel. It's old blood, the situation was handled."

Young master? Is Goth someone special?

The smaller guard eyed Palette, murmuring, "Is this mortal the reason you were injured, young master?" Palette saw Goth tense as the other guard, Russel, fell into a defensive position, attempting to push the small vampire behind him.

Goth ducked under the outstretched arm, rushing to place himself in front of the skeleton and physically bar any attempts at retaliation. He growled, "Do not harm him, Crom. Palette saved me from a group of mortals, I would probably be dead if not for his intervention. He tended to my injuries and was driven from his village for hiding me, so he will be staying with me as my guest until further notice."

The guards glanced at each other with matching looks of skepticism. The smaller, Crom, said, "You know Lord Death will be unhappy to hear you've brought an unknown mortal within our walls once he finds out."

Goth sighed as he replied, "Palette lost everything protecting me. I refuse to let his kindness go uncompensated, so I'll deal with father regarding his living arrangements. Once he's been notified of my return, we'll be waiting at home for him."

Trading looks once more, the two guards reluctantly stepped aside as Russel responded, "As you wish. If this mortal helped you, then he will be welcome here. But know that we will not stand by if he becomes a danger to you or our people."

"Thank you, Russel, Crom. I appreciate the show of faith. I promise he won't be any trouble," Goth assured as he stepped through the entryway, Palette giving his own nod of thanks as he trailed after his escort.

They made their way down a stone pathway past a variety of buildings that made up what looked to be a small underground village. The path seemed to branch off into organized street blocks, with each section of the village serving a different purpose. Above them, crystals made up a rainbow of colors along the ceiling, bathing the buildings and paths in faint illumination.

As they passed, many of the residents paused in their activities to watch the pair while whispering amongst themselves. Some looked curious, some looked nervous, some looked excited. 

Nearly everyone had red eyes similar to Goth.

Their trek ended as the path gave way to a small staircase leading to a two-story house at the opposite end of the cavern. "Welcome to my home," Goth said as he turned to his guest, gesturing to the house behind him with a flourish.

"Goth, are you royalty or something? Those guards were calling you young master... you also mentioned something about blood servants before...," Palette asked, gawking at the sheer size of the building before them.

"Royalty?" the small vampire questioned as they went up the steps leading to the front door, "I wouldn't say I'm royalty, and no one here's rich by any stretch of the imagination. We all work together to provide for the group as a whole. They only call me young master because my father's currently the leader of our coven.

"Though I do suppose I'm pretty high up on the hierarchy considering I'm one of the leading candidates to inherit the title of Coven Leader when my father steps down... but I figured that position's lost on me since I'm not that strong physically, plus I've never really had an interest in being the leader. There's too much politics and posturing for my liking, I would rather explore the outside world."

Reaching for the handle and opening the door, he gestured for Palette to come inside as the skeleton asked, "So, what happens when your dad steps down?"

"I'll probably decline the position, and Father will likely choose someone else," Goth shrugged as he closed the front door, leading Palette through the living room and up another set of stairs.

"Oh... then what's the blood servant thing about?" he asked, staring at the interior in awe as they made their way up the stairs. 

The first floor itself is bigger than my entire house!

"Blood servant is merely a term we use for mortals or vampires that serve under a specific vampire, trading service and providing for their master's needs in return for living accommodations and protection. Nearly every vampire has at least one servant under them," Goth explained as they walked down the hallway.

Passing the first door, Goth grabbed the handle of the next one to open it, gesturing for the monster to enter.

The skeleton stepped into what he guessed was Goth's room. It was roughly the same size as the interior of Palette's old house and modestly furnished with golden brown wooden furniture, with the only extravagant part being the size of the red linen bed at the far end of the room.

Goth flopped onto his stomach on the bed and shrugged off his bloodstained cloak, revealing a black t-shirt and white shorts ripped along the hem. The skeleton threw out another question, "So if nearly everyone has a blood servant, where's yours?"

Goth started at the question, burying his face in the covers and turning his head as he mumbled, "Idunavun..."

"Huh?"

Palette went around to the other side of the bed, crouching down to ask again, only for Goth to blush deeply and proclaim, "I don't have one."

At the monster's confused look, he sighed in resignation and said, "Constantly cutting yourself can be dangerous and the medical facility is the only building that has the proper equipment to draw blood safely. The doctor's pretty strict in maintaining the tools herself, so blood servants usually require biting... and you already know my feelings on the matter. Because of that, I don't have a blood servant.

"I usually do without by asking the doctor for blood vials from volunteers... which reminds me, I'll need to stop by there at some point to see about getting some new ones," Goth said, only to cringe," She'll probably be mad at me for the wasted blood."

"Oh...," Palette deflated a bit, remembering the story Goth had told him a week ago, "why not just have a regular servant without the biting?"

"I tried," Goth whined, "but they always feel like something's wrong with them because I don't want to bite them or they feel like it's their job to 'fix' my aversion toward biting. Most other vampires won't take me seriously because I don't bite and can't keep a servant, but nothing ever seems to work out and no one understands... so I gave up."

The last sentence was filled with an air of finality that made Palette's soul clench. His sockets scrunched up defiantly, "Well... what about me?"

"Wha-"

Before Goth could even finish his response, the door to his room burst open, revealing a tall figure in a dark cloak and piercing red eye lights.

***

I tried something a little different with multi-paragraph quotes, which are apparently used when characters have a long string of dialogue to break up the text so it's not just one long paragraph, but still show it's the same character speaking. Let me know if it's too confusing.   

Word count: 1,257