Silver seren/CotM - A Twilight Fanfiction

CotM - A Twilight Fanfiction by ~silver-seren

Childe of the Moon A Twilight Fanfiction By Silver Seren

Wind whispered through the trees, fluttering wistfully between the widespread boughs. Leaves clamored and clicked against one another. The howling chill in the air coalesced into a thin mist, hovering despondently above the earth. Flowing like a slime, twisting and turning in on itself, the fog continued on its frequented path. Peering from up high, two sapphires glittered. A cascade of rocks clattered down the incline as the figure repositioned himself. Blue jewels looked out over the valley, sharp and angry. He will be here soon. The idiot.

Unnecessary and unwanted. But weren’t they all? Adrian shifted to a more comfortable position and watched as a hawk rose above the tree-line, beauty and death in a single body. Much more poetic than the shell he was encased inside. He saw it dive toward some unknown prey and wished it a worthwhile hunt. Taking a deep breath of the alpine air, he was instantly reminded that his privacy wasn’t exactly private.

“Come on out, Tristan, you’re not fooling anyone,” he called out with a vague sense of impatience. There was a pause before footsteps approached him, nearly silent on the packed earth. Adrian didn’t turn.

“How?” the petulant voice of a teenager asked him. Tristan’s accent was deeper and more obvious than Adrian’s, betraying his German ancestry.

“Just because Ivanoff is ignoring us doesn’t mean I’m oblivious. My senses still work perfectly and you’ve been exceptionally loud for the past two weeks.” There was an outraged intake of breath and a rustle of movement as he moved closer and pulled his fist back, but Adrian took no notice. Tristan wasn’t stupid enough to take a swing at him. Immature enough, yes, but still smart. They had done that dance before and the outcome was always the same.

Tristan simmered, energy rolling off of him in waves. While not anything close to a threat, the power still gave Adrian a headache. He really didn’t want to babysit a worked-up puppy, especially one that annoyed him on normal terms. Sadly, he was probably going to have to anyway.

“What do you want?” Adrian asked, knowing the answer beforehand and hating it. The childish rage emanating from Tristan vanished and was replaced with an uneasy embarrassment.

“Protection,” he said uncertainly, a flush likely spreading on his face if Adrian had cared enough to look. What he had expected had come to pass and Adrian mentally cursed that fact with every offensive word in every language he knew. But there was nothing to be done and he thought that he might as well make the best of the situation.

“Demetri’s making another round?” he questioned, feigning boredom. He felt the wind of Tristan’s nod, but waited for the kid to realize his mistake and quickly blurt out a “Yes.” Then Adrian waited the perfect amount of time.

“You know,” he began, emphasizing a thinking position, “I seem to remember you saying something along the lines of ‘I can take Demetri no problem. He’s only a vampire.’” The burning red must have covered Tristan’s entire face now and it took all of Adrian’s willpower not to look. The silence was beautiful, though it seemed Tristan was more stubborn than Adrian gave him credit for because he responded, “We could, if both of you had decided to help. Even if he brought Felix as back-up, we could win as a team.”

He was zealously enthusiastic for the plan, just as he was when he had first proposed it and been subsequently shot down. No matter the logic behind the idea, attacking the Volturi was never a smart move. Adrian sighed and shook his head, blond hair flowing in the same direction, “If you think we can defeat the witch twins, you must be delusional. Feel free to indulge your fantasy if you want, but don’t drag the rest of us in with you.”

Turning as he spoke, he let his eyebrow rise on the last word. Tristan was boiling between the streams of his own fury and the necessity of requiring help. Adrian had had his fun, enjoyable as it was, so he patted the cool stone beside him. “Sit,” he ordered. The command was meant to be followed, but Tristan struggled momentarily before giving in with a gasp. Ignoring a Beta wasn’t possible, though that didn’t stop fools from trying.

There was another rumble of scattering rock from Tristan’s movements, but the outcropping held. Adrian had returned to the rhapsody of life playing out before him. Caught up in the squirrel racing along the pitted wood, in the fox lurking in the splash of green underneath, in the birds twittering furiously from the treetops, he was still.

“You been working on your emotional exercises?” Adrian asked abruptly. Just as such a question required, there was an uncertain pause. “Sort of…you know how much I hate doing them!” Tristan added defensively. This brought forth a short-lived laugh from Adrian, who gave Tristan a punch to the shoulder.

“Yes, I do know how much you complain, complainer,” a grin was holding steady on Adrian’s face. There were times when the two of them got along amicably, rare as they were, and they both cherished them. Smiling now, Tristan shrugged, not caring about either hit. But hidden behind the carefree look was something else, something Adrian didn’t want to see there.

“How you holding up?” he questioned, suddenly serious. The shift in tone stunned Tristan, who stared up with weakened eyes before rapidly turning away. A single shudder traveling through his spine provided an answer that Adrian couldn’t overlook. In a motion, Adrian wrapped an arm around Tristan’s torso and pulled him up against his chest. The few inches that Adrian had over his packmate made it easier.

Tristan didn’t resist in the slightest, instead rotating to face his soother, burying his face in the ratty t-shirt Adrian was wearing. Neither of them had had the opportunity to seek new clothing. The hands clenching the shirt were threatening to tear it in twain. Closing his own fingers over them in a loose covering, Adrian made them release enough that he was no longer in danger of being bare from the waist up. Tristan’s shivering had become a constant trend, but there were no sounds, of which Adrian was grateful. This was going to be bad enough anyhow.

“Talk to me,” Adrian whispered, patting the short brown hair. There was a gasping for air, and then Tristan was speaking in a broken voice, “It was bearable when Ivanoff was with us. Back then…we had fun, didn’t we?” he plowed on without waiting for a reply, “But after what happened, when he made us leave…nothing is the same anymore.” He had to take a hard-fought breath to keep talking, now a morose choking, “I want to be normal again. I don’t want to have to deal with any of this. I want a normal life.”

What they all wanted, but could never have. Blaming Ivanoff was an easy thing to do, but, truthfully, they owed their lived to him. Adrian knew that, without Ivanoff, he would have died in a war for his country that he didn’t support. Being the picture-perfect example of an Aryan had never made him feel superior and he despised the whole process behind the term. Tristan, on the other hand, would have starved in the aftermath twenty-five years later or been snuffed out by disease.

So, in many ways, they belonged to Ivanoff, or they used to. No matter how much they wished to the contrary, the truth remained rigid. Pressing Tristan tighter to him, Adrian found himself muttering, “I’m sorry.” What was he apologizing for? Perhaps for what the stupidity of his country, his government, had done and what he, a lowly soldier, had failed to stop. It wasn’t his responsibility, but he felt responsible. They were two refugees from a time apart that held a kinship unlike any other.

The arms squeezed for a brief second as Tristan replied, “Thank you.” He conveyed everything in those brief words.

A breeze blew, setting their hair aflutter. The lengthening silence was a comfort to them both. Separation was a mutual endeavor. Sitting straight, Adrian tugged idly on his shirt. Tristan was staring in the opposite direction. Both were intent on pretending the incident had never happened, though equally determined not to forget.

Time passed.

“He won’t be coming back,” Adrian said. “I know,” Tristan murmured.

Adrian sighed, running fingers through his hair, understanding all too well what the other was feeling. But wishing and wanting did nothing. “I hate them just as much as you do. But it would be willing suicide. No more than that. No matter how hard we tried,” Adrian continued with a bitter undertone. Power is nothing against the Volturi.

Reeling in his legs, Tristan surrounded his knees with both arms. His cheek lay on the left kneecap, watching Adrian as he spoke. “Against Alec alone, we would all be useless,” Tristan added. Adrian rubbed his eyes with one hand, chuckling dryly, “Truth.” No amount of power, no show of force was enough. Not that there was enough of them left to form even a cursory regiment. The children of the moon were a dying breed.

“On our own again,” Adrian stated, the beauty of the forest lost to him, stillness filling in with a chill. Together was one thing, but it was totally different without Ivanoff. “For the first time,” Tristan replied, catching the thread of the statement.

“Mmm.”

Keeping a line going between them was always hard and neither tried to pick this one up. They had said all that needed to be said. Observing his breath spiraling upward in columns, Adrian set his mind to what they should do next. While food was a non-issue, they could always steal from nearby towns, safety was another deal entirely. The two of them alone couldn’t be considered out of harms way. They were hundreds of miles too close to Italy for that. East would be the best bet.There were some individuals in the east and Adrian had even heard of a pack existing somewhere in Siberia. That would be good enough.

In the midst of Adrian’s contemplation, Tristan slumped to one side, leaning his head on Adrian’s shoulder. Looking down, Adrian saw that he was almost gone. The kid had been trailing him for a while and had to be completely worn out by now. Adrian extricated his arm and used it to support Tristan’s body. Ruffling the auburn curls, he pressed his cheek to them. A snatch of tune came to mind and he hummed it softly in his chest. Peace stole through him, happiness as well. Everything would go right and then they would be able to sleep at night. Adrian would make sure of it for Tristan.

The sun was falling overhead. Night was coming and the moon would rise soon. Full moon was just a few days off. He could feel its pull in his bones, almost feel them twisting and snapping, changing. His face pressing out and flesh-ripping teeth forming within his jaws.

Adrian came back to himself with a shudder, panting. They would have to be careful when the time arrived. Strength they would have, yes, but little intelligence to speak of. Only centuries of experience would give them their minds. Before then, they were vulnerable. It was how the Volturi had managed to kill so many, taking advantage of the moonlight. Newborn vampires had the luck of needing just a decade to manage control over themselves. Of course, they spent every moment being able to wrestle over it. Lycanthropes had one night a month and that was all.

The streams of fading sunlight painted the blue expanse a rich palette of reds, oranges, and yellows, with droplets of violet flicked onto the canvas. The leaves on the trees reflected the colors and mixed them with their vibrant green so the treetops flowed like waves. It was beautiful.

Adrian’s eyes began to droop as he watched, his own exhaustion catching up with him. That’s why he though the pounding footsteps were his imagination, the beginning of a dream about his military days. The flight of a flock of birds off in the distance dispelled the illusion. Adrian went taut, his ears straining doubtfully, but there was no mistaking the sound. A shove sent Tristan sprawling, instantly awake with a snarl in his throat. He looked at Adrian, half-asleep and confused, before getting to his feet. “What-“

“Run!”

The command was terse. Tristan moved a few steps, then stopped, still not understanding. His ears twitched and the blood drained from his face.

“Run!” Adrian yelled again, sending all of his power as Beta into the word. From that, Tristan was no longer there, the shaking of bushes all he left behind him. Peering desperately at the blocking green, the noise getting louder by the second, Adrian stood and danced lightly from foot to foot. His every instinct was telling him to flee, but he couldn’t do that. If it was Demetri, he had to be faced, for Tristan’s sake. Adrian would be forced to fight to the death, but at least the kid would survive. He wasn’t optimistic about his own chances. Perhaps one in ten, if he was lucky.

The steps stopped and everything became noiseless. Stilling, affected by the lack, Adrian waited with hushed breath. A monstrous crack echoed through the forest. Air whistled as what looked like half a tree soared from the brush straight at him. But this was only a ploy and useless. Sidestepping in a blink, the missile whooshed past him and smacked into other trees behind.

“Stop these games,” Adrian hissed between clenched teeth. There was laughter and a figure stepped out into the open far below, a curved smile shining bright against the blackness of his cloak.

Felix was here.

“Well, well, puppy, looks like I found you,” his voice was sinister and amused, as if this was the greatest game he had played in a long while. Adrian bristled, a growl rumbling from deep inside. He no longer touched anything as he leaped off the edge o the cliff, wind whistling past. He met the ground with a whumph. Keeping his knees bent, he moved into an immediate crouch, hands held forward and teeth bared.

“I’ll make you regret that you found me,” Adrian spat. The anticipatory smile on his opponent never faltered. Felix just cracked his neck and then each of his knuckles, grinning like a shark. It would have been an outright lie to claim that Adrian wasn’t afraid. Terrified was far more accurate. Adrian’s finger weren’t staying stolid as he was willing them to, the tips quivering. It was easily noticeable.

If anything, Felix’s smile grew wider. “Little dog, bluffing isn’t going to help you. You’re mine!” He lunged with arms outstretched, aiming to tackle his enemy and possibly break a few things in the process. Darting backwards, Adrian stayed out of reach with no effort at all. This can’t be his full strength. He has to be playing.

Adrian was glad to still be alive and took advantage of it by asking the pertinent question, “Where’s Demetri?” Felix paused in mid-stride, before straightening and crossing his arms. His eyes were vindictive with pleasure when he replied, “Worrying about your little pet friend you had with you, are you?” Adrian’s heart constricted. His body filling with ice, he froze through the rest of Felix’s answer, “Demetri is a whole country away. No threat to you and yours. But me…I’m a threat.”

The blow caught Adrian off-guard, spinning him into the wall. Rocks showered onto his head and back. He was crushed beneath the pile, groaning. Pushing off the stone that was playing havoc with his breathing, Adrian was able to get to his knees. A hand came down and wrapped around his collar.

He was hoisted into the air and held above Felix, who stared at him disdainfully, “Is that all you’ve got, puppy? I thought you would give me a better fight than this. I’m disappointed. Maybe your little pal will give me more fun.” It was the cold laughter that did it. There was malice and evil in it that told Adrian Felix would have no problem torturing Tristan just to hear his screams. He would enjoy it too. Pure, unadulterated rage tore through Adrian.

Lashing out with a foot, he caught Felix in the side hard enough to loosen his grasp. Adrian’s shirt ripped into tatters as he pulled, landing unsteadily. His eyes were black, spittle flinging from his lips as a string of hisses and snarls came from him. Felix was impassive under the onslaught, only the glittering in his pupils exhibiting his excitement.

A “come hither” gesture incensed Adrian further. He sprang forward from the insult, knocking them both to the ground. Rolling end over end, smashing fists into each other, nothing stood in their path.

But Adrian was losing.

He had no claws or teeth to pierce the steel vampire skin. His hands slid of harmlessly while his opponent’s took breath from his lungs, blood from his veins. Their separation was a harsh one, Adrian flung haphazardly to skid in the dirt. Cuts littered the extremities of his figure. A gash over his right eye was leaking red into his vision. Rasping, all he could manage as he stood was a hunch.

Running hands down both arms, smearing them a shiny red, he showed that the sources of the fluid were already healed. A backhanded swipe across his forehead smoothed the blood away. Healing was a benefit, but he didn’t have limitless stamina. Felix brushed himself off, only his clothing slightly worse for wear.

“This form isn’t as much fun as the wolf. Your puny little hands can’t hurt me. I should have waited until the full moon,” he grumbled unhappily. This was all just a fun little play to wile the time away for him, not a life or death struggle.

Adrian felt the urge to flee flare up, his heart pattering at a supersonic rate. Tristan isn’t worth it. He can fend for himself. I’m going to die if I don’t run. His mind threw the rationalizations at him frantically. But panic would do him no good. He knew that running wasn’t an option, regardless of Tristan’s whereabouts. Hopefully he was far gone by now.

No, Felix was too fast for Adrian to even dream of escaping. The scenario had already become the worst possible by them being found. His last chance was to somehow incapacitate Felix for some length of time in order for him to run. The chances of that happening were almost nil in any case. The truth was evident.

Adrian was going to die.

Those thoughts fueled the fire in his chest. If he was going out, he would do some damage first, he swore this to himself. Maybe just enough so that Tristan could run far, far out of range. Returning to his stance, Adrian let out a growl of impatience as he said, “You’re wasting my time.”

Felix went still.

It was unnerving how frozen he became. Adrian felt his breathing slow in tune and his heart beat at a quieter rhythm. “Stupid puppy,” the whisper came from the air around Felix. And then he was gone. There was nothing to do but stare at the vacant spot. Adrian’s other senses were able to catch what his could not, but his body was fatigued and couldn’t move as swiftly as necessary.

The fist plunged into his side, flinging spittle from him as he lost his breath. More blows caught him mid-air as he fell before hands harshly gripped his shoulders and shoved his hard into the ground. The impact made Adrian’s body bounce, blood flung upward from his lips to partially hit Felix’s cheek. He wiped it off with two fingers and licked those fingers clean, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth.

Nodding to himself, Felix said, “Not bad. It’s not as good as human and it has a strange aftertaste, but it’s still not bad. Maybe I’m just thirsty.” He grinned, his teeth sickly white. Adrian’s eyes were wide in their terror. All of his conviction from only a moment before had vanished, replaced with fear.

One single bite.

A touch by those venomous teeth would be fatal, painfully so. For what he had thought he was ready for, Adrian desperately didn’t want to die. Taking in the abundant scent of fear, Felix’s irises glittered a muted red. “Don’t worry,” he purred, “I won’t make it fast like that. I’ll make it slow.” Adrian’s heartbeat was erratic and unstable, his chest stationary from his shallow breathing.

With a jerk, Felix lifted Adrian’s arm above him. Adrian let out a groan of pain from the motion. His entire body hurt, the healing slower than he expected, which meant he was more fatigued and damaged than he had originally thought. He was entirely in the vampire’s control. Smiling sadistically, Felix flicked his hand in an unseen movement. Adrian gasped at the agony as his wrist split open. Blood rushed from it in a torrent, spilling over his clothing with a sticky, cloying feeling. Repositioning the arm, Felix drank down the stream, making sure to keep his teeth separate.

Spots began to form in Adrian’s vision as he fell to the brink of consciousness. His mind was fuzzy as he weakly pushed at the body above him to no avail. He was saved by the skin healing over, the wound vanishing. Wiping his chin, Felix chuckled, “Not bad at all.” He let the arm drop in a flop. Then, he closed his palms over Adrian’s throat and leaned closer.

His eyes were a light-searing brightness that cut through everything, tainting what they touched a red pallor. “How should I kill you?” he mused openly, hands flexing. Mouth hanging wide, Felix offered a good view of his teeth. There was death inscribed in every part of him. “Perhaps the ultimate pain,” he hissed.

Venom was leaking drop by drop onto Adrian, where it began to sting and smoke. No… The mental scream faded to a child-like babble. A ghostly glow seemed to be emanating from the perfectly chiseled whiteness. The world narrowed to a single point, the distance between Adrian and red darkness. Time froze as milliseconds passed, Adrian’s brain on overdrive, trying to find the solution to an impossible problem.

It was through this microscopic attention that he noticed the darting movement from the corner of his eye. The weight lifted from his body and Adrian blinked to find the sky peering down at him. Fueled by his unspent adrenaline, he got to his feet in an instant after being freed. His eyes examined every intimate detail of the scene laid out before him and then he lunged in a blank fury.

All he had seen was Felix tussling with Tristan, the vampire’s upper hand assured, and that was the only thing necessary to block out cognitive thought in a paroxysm of rage. The wolf exploded within the confines of his inadequate frame. Clawing, snarling, snapping at the skin that was preventing it from erupting, but there was no place for it to go without the ingredient of pure moonlight. So it took the next best route.

Adrian’s hands bent into claw-like shapes, his fingernails a queer reflection of them. They latched onto the holes in Felix’s shirt, knowing his body was beyond their ability. Though, gone from any common sense, his teeth did not hold the same preoccupation. They snapped onto the steel skin of Felix’s arm, grinding with a chalkboard shriek. It was useless and Adrian knew that, but the wolf would allow no retreat. Its hackles had been raised and it, with a single-mindedness he could never compare to, did not brook defeat.

For some consideration, it held a trick in reserve that he, nor Felix in any case, could have never guessed. White fire burst in a rush of heat from the core of Adrian’s body, spiraling upward in waves. His skin prickled wherever it touched, flowing higher and brighter, and he felt a flush in his face. The burning centered on his lips, in his teeth, growing so strong that he felt they should melt and implode.

A metallic screeching crushed his eardrums as a triumphant wolf howl reverberated from his chest. There was a grinding snap like a thick wire breaking. Adrian was falling again, crashing into the ground with a louder thump than usual, caused by the object hitting next to him.

Blinking, washes of energy making him tremble as thought made him stand instantaneously. The keening outside was background noise to him, along with the stream of curses. But he paid no attention to Felix. Adrian blinked once more and was standing next to Tristan, who looked up at him confusedly.

Lying in an awkward position on the ground, Tristan was still dazed from the rapid combat, but without appearing to have any injuries. Not waiting for acquiescence, Adrian tossed his protégé onto one shoulder and then was gone. A scream of pain and unfiltered fury echoed after them.

H64 07:24, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Tossing the body, Adrian turned to the side. Tristan scrambled to his feet as soon as he touched the dirt. He had forborne the latter half of the trip with silence, even while uncomfortable. Looking at Adrian with big eyes, he began to speak, “You sav-“

A fist smacked into his cheek, spinning Tristan in place. Collapsing on his rear end, he placed a hand on his red face and shrank from the tirade bursting above him. “Idiot!” Adrian roared, “He could have snapped your neck like a toothpick! I told you to stay away! Of all the idiotic things you could do, you had to choose the most irresponsible, most stupid, most…most…”

They were both trembling by the end, one from fear, the other from anger. Small twin lines began running down Tristan’s face without warning. Adrian just stared, fists held firmly at his side.

“I wanted…” Tristan’s voice was a whisper, equal parts pain, grief, and abasement, “I couldn’t leave you behind. He was going to kill you. I…I couldn’t just run away and let you die! I’d do it again too, no matter what you might think of me!” Ending strongly, tears slowed their creep from suddenly blazing eyes that peered through his unkempt hair. The momentary regret had vanished as he spoke, boiled over by a righteous conviction.

Adrian could find nothing to say to such a response. They locked gazes and both were silent. In the mutual silence, Tristan regained his footing and approached Adrian. He came as close as he was comfortable and said, “If you think i’m wrong, then hit me again. I would clearly deserve it.” Clasping his mouth shut, he waited.

Adrian paused, shocked, and then loosened his hands. His face was cloudy and confused, with a touch of anguish. “I said I’d protect you. How can I do that if you put yourself in danger?” Adrian asked in a murmur, sounding lost.

There was laughter from Tristan, who smiled softly. He reached out to touch Adrian’s shoulder, saying, “I don’t want you to protect me at your own expense. If you die…then there was no point in any of it. How would I…” He broke off, uncertain now how to continue. But Adrian had understood the meaning and forsook all vestiges of his anger. If the situation had been reversed, he would have done exactly the same thing Tristan had.

So he had no defense.

Sighing, Adrian nodded, “We both came out of it okay and I suppose that’s all that matters.” Grinning, Tristan hugged him tightly and then jumped back with a gasp. “You’re freezing!” he said with concerned eyes. Adrian rubbed his upper arms to make some friction, “Wrestling with a vampire, losing four pints of blood, or not having a short, take your pick.”

His wry tone was mocking, but more with the weight of relief that was finally falling on him. Tristan disregarded his flippancy, focused on necessities for once, unlike his usual demeanor. “We needed new clothes anyways,” he considered, thinking, “We’re not too far from Ulanów, so we can pick up some things there.”

Amused, Adrian watched him try to work through their options, ones he had already thought of. “Since when did you start growing up?” Adrian asked, a quirk pulling his lips into a smile. Tristan shrugged, feigning nonchalance while clearly pleased at the compliment.

“Someone has to be the adult while you’re getting yourself killed,” he replied, rolling his eyes toward Adrian. The latter chuckled, throwing a hand around Tristan’s back and encircling his arms as he said, “Well, let us adults be off. We’ve got a ways to go.” Reaching to place his hand over Adrian’s, Tristan laughed,

“Right.”

To Be Continued?