Young Writers Society

Bo slowly nodded as he started to pet his horse again.

"Well. Then uh, I guess if you want to stay here you have a few options! Only a few that would be beneficial to you, though, if I'm being honest, and I do try my best to be. First off, if you're gonna stick around, it'd probably be best for you to get a crash course on uh, what this world is like. Like, I dunno what kinda stuff you've got on your world, but technology here is kinda sparse and we don't have anything like your gun here. But uh, I honestly don't mind taking you under my wing! I've done it dozens of other times with estranged mages - since uh, important to note, though I think I already mentioned it - magic is outlawed, at least, among humans. I'm just one of the weirdos who lives and practices it in secret. So if that sounds more your speed and you don't wanna make more enemies in a strange new world uh, you might wanna stick with me. Not that you have to but! I just wanna look out for ya. It sounds like you've had a real rough time where you're from. So yeah."

I just wanna look out for ya. He hadn't heard those words, or anything similar, since Aurick had died. For a moment the man froze up - he was shocked and at an utter loss for words for longer than he liked. "Um...uh...I-I mean, I don't want to be a hindrance," he replied, stumbling over his words.

Bo smiled a little bit. "Kratzer, really, it's okay," he gave Krazter another gentle, friendly pat on the shoulder. "You're hindering nothing out here. I've got time. And you need somebody in this new, strange world you stepped into. I don't mind being that person."

In the course of twenty minutes he'd gone from ready to meet his maker in the worst way possible to being offered genuine assistance - and shown caring - by a man he'd only just met. For the first time since he was young. He'd had his walls for so long that he'd nearly forgotten they were there, but somehow he could already feel them crumbling.

Was kindness really all it took? Over sixty years of being alone and losing his heart, and it was this easy to remember it?

And yet he wasn't quite sure whether he was glad for it or not. There was a reason he'd shut it away and the scars he bore on his own skin reminded him of that all too well.

"Danke," he finally murmured. "I don't know how to thank you, Herr Bo."

Bo smiled. "Yeah, man," he said with a pat on Kratzer's shoulder. "If you're not feelin' too shabby, I could walk you over to the guild. Did I mention I was a part of a guild?" He looked up in thought. "I don't think so. But yes, I'm a part of a secret guild of mages and other people who don't really fit into the average human's restrictive society. So I think you'll fit in just fine there. We've got some werewolves, mages, and well, harpies haven't been too keen on sticking with us, but they love to visit sometimes! And ogres, well, they're so few in number, we leave 'em be. They're doing just fine."

Werewolf, harpy, ogre. Words he'd never heard before or had any reason to learn. All the books he read were in German - he hated English - and so most of what Bo just said was meaningless to him, but he went with it. Non-humans. He'd find out the rest soon enough.

"I can walk all day," he smiled, then paused, glancing towards the sun. "I should probably feed tonight, though."

Bo's eyebrows shot up and he nodded. "Oh! Yeah! Feeding. Yeah. Hmm. Do you gotta feed on, like... people? I don't know quite how vampirism actually works."

"Well, I don't have to kill anyone," he says, making sure to establish that before he continued. "Basically, if I don't feed all those things that vampires are known for start to happen - sunlight burns, going on consecrated or holy ground gets tricky, eventually I can't enter residences without invitation, so on and so forth. My regeneration also starts to...not...happen. Animal blood will last me a while, as will bottled human blood, but I've got to feed off a live human every several weeks or things go downhill."

"Ohhh!" Bo's eyes lit up and he nodded with interest. He took the lead of his horse's reins and began to lead the horse forward as he started to walk. "I don't know if you'll have to worry about uh... holy ground here. I don't think we have that. Maybe in Lettera? That's up north. They like, worship dragons." He laughed a little in embarrassment. "It's kind a weird, but I get it. But anyways! So like, if you fed off me for example, that wouldn't kill me, it'd just... leave me a bit woozy for a bit? Kinda just like when you lose blood in general from a wound?"

"Ja," he affirms. "It depends on how long I've gone without feeding but typically if I keep it to about once a week the victim can recover within twenty four to thirty six hours."

"And if... there's a healer with healing magic involved? You think that time could get cut in half? Maybe?" He asked, more to himself, but still out loud as he rubbed his beard in thought.

"Probably, but I don't know much about healing magic."

Bo nodded. "Hmm. Well I'm down to try it tonight if you need to! We can figure out the kinks and stuff. I wonder if my magic will play into my recovery. Or - well, does it matter if you feed on people with... magic running in their blood? I mean, technically, everyone on Nye does, just some to much lesser degrees. I dunno if a slight change in the type of blood will make a big difference. I don't want it to hurt you or anything - not that I think it would?"

"I don't think so. I mean, I'm from a different world, but I've even fed on a half-angel so I think it should be fine," Kratzer says. "If not, I'll bounce back fairly quickly. I'm pretty d*** hard to kill."

"Ayyyy," Bo pointed a finger at him. "That's pretty cool though. I mean, at least how it works here... one you're dead you're dead. There's really no coming back from it."