Young Writers Society

She rubbed her toungue against the back of her fangs, thinking.

"Um, I don't know if I remember the whole process anymore. I don't suppose you know much about ancient Egypt? Never mind, don't worry about it. Anyway, as for your other question...well, I guess I COULD turn you, if I wanted to. But I'm kinda hungry right now, so if I bit you I don't think I could keep myself from draining too much of your blood for you to survive it. And you do kinda need your blood to turn properly. Either you're drained or you're turned, you can't be both."

"Hm," Nubes said. "You don't suppose your hunger will cause any problems down the road? If I knew I could live despite losing a bit of my blood, I would have no concerns, but that doesn't appear to be the case."

She fidgeted with the ends of her hair nervously, "Um, I mean, I'm pretty good at controlling the hunger by now, but I really do have to feed sooner than later. Usually, at least in Nerdifae, there are options for vamps on just about every menu. People actually donate blood in exchange for free stuff, like tickets to vampire-run clubs and stuff for the adults, fairs and stuff for the kids. You know, the like. But here..." she looked around, the Earthly setting seeming to taunt her from all around. She shook her head.

"We'll deal with it when it comes up, which I hope is not for some time?" Nubes said.

She thought for a second. The truth was, she probably couldn't last long. She'd been just about to go for supper when she fell asleep and landed here, meaning she wasn't exactly full to begin with. She estimated maybe a few hours before the hunger become bothersome, a day before it was unbearable.

She gave a tentative smile, "I'll be fine," she said, unsure if she was lying.

Kyou pulled the claw out, stepping to the side with Takano. "It's not our fault if you end up falling," he said with a shrug.

Lunis swore as the machine lurched forward. Some quick thinking later, he leaned to one side, letting the machine aim for a wall. Some not-so-quick thinking later, he realized that he didn't have anything to grab onto, other than helmets that would pop off their hooks if he grabbed them; the machine bumped into the wall, immediately falling over and pulling him down with it.

Lying on the ground, Lunis flipped the strangers off.



The leopard nodded. It didn't look like she was sure about her answer, but he didn't believe she was lying. Besides, the sound of swearing and something crashing to the floor caught his attention.

"You might've already guessed, but I didn't come alone," said Nubes, rolling his eyes. "Shall we go see what my idiot of a companion did?"

She nodded an leaped down from her perch, rolling to her feet with practiced ease.

"You can call me Tate, by the way," she said, finishing off the last of her crackers and looking for something else to snack on.

"I'll keep that in mind, Tate," Nubes said, beginning to walk down the hallway. "I should mention that my name isn't actually Nubes - it was my codename as an assassin - but I cannot quite say I know my birth name."

She frowned, "That's sad."

She thought for a moment, "Well, I get a new name every decade or so, 'else I would still go by Meketaten, which is a little too conspicuous when you're a blood-drinking creature of the night who needs to blend in, so I guess I kinda relate. I never gave up my name though. Do you know anyone who might know what yours is?"

Nubes tapped his chin. "Possibly the man who brought me into the army in the first place," he said at last. "I am also reasonably sure a few members of my family are still alive. And yet, the last time I visited the city where they all lived, it was on fire, so I'm not terribly confident in making that assumption."

She cringed, "That's rough. Well, if you want a new name, I've gotten really good at coming up with names for my vamp friends who age out of theirs. So, uh, just ask I guess. Anyway, is this your friend?" She gestured to Lunis.

"I appreciate the offer, but I am quite happy with my codename," Nubes said. He looked down at the panther, who had apparently been riding some kind of metal and rubber contraption. That he could easily pull himself free from, but was content to lie on the floor. The leopard sighed. "And this is indeed the panther who is more of a hazard to himself than I ever was."

"Screw you too," Lunis said, throwing his helmet up at Nubes; the leopard easily knocked it out of the way.

Emily tilted her head, "Do you not have bikes where you're from? I mean, I was pretty old when I learned how to ride one, but I was also pretty old when they were invented, so I at least have that excuse."

She offered him a hand up, "Otherwise, were you just never taught to ride? Because if so, that's kinda sad."

The panther waved off Emily's hand. "No, there aren't any bikes," he said. "I'm not an idiot, I just haven't seen one of these before."

Lunis flopped his head on his arms and let out a rumble. Crouching down, Nubes ran a paw through the fur on Lunis's head. The panther pouted, but didn't gesture for Nubes to stop.