The Fallen Vampire

Taira liked Shakti.

She was very polite, dutiful, and most importantly, she was quiet.

Once he observed all of the asanbosam, she was the obvious choice to become his vassal. And Aveena felt the same.

As such, he had much more patience with her than he did for other people.

So when she actually did speak or ask him something, he was much more inclined to say yes than normal.

This time was no different.

"Go ahead, Shakti. You may speak freely." Taira smiled.

Shakti lowered her head in unison with Vaal.

"I merely wanted to express my sincerest apologies for failing to discipline our new initiates properly. I've done a poor job as your first bane."

Taira wasn't expecting this to be the focus of this conversation to be about the humans, but it did slightly peak his interest.

"I'm curious… Why do you feel the need to apologize on their behalf?" He leaned forward.

"…You've entrusted us with maintaining and implementing the discipline and general standards for all younger members of the sect.

But I will admit that I and disciple Vaal were a bit too lackadaisical in our instruction of the new humans… it seems to have resulted in unfortunate behaviors occurring."

Taira just continued to listen to her speak without rushing her.

Though he believed that he might've already had the gist of what she was saying.

Shakti and Vaal were trying to make the humans feel welcome in the cult by not coming down on them as hard as they would the others.

They were trying to blend different cultures here and make everyone more comfortable with the humans.

Their efforts would have likely begun to go down the drain if they began antagonizing them during their resting periods.

The last thing they needed any of the humans to think is that the asanbosam still had it out for them and saw them as a possible meal.

But now, it seemed as though they could no longer afford to spare feelings.

"I assure you, this will absolutely not happen again under our watch." Shakti said seriously.

Taira noticed her voice became a bit more frightful than normal.

For the moment, he almost felt a little bad for the newcomers.

"You two always amuse me…" Taira smiled slightly. "I look forward to seeing how you straighten them out without breaking them."

Taira glanced at the sky overhead and saw that they had been out here longer than anticipated.

By his calculation they had about two more hours until sundown… they started training before the sun had even come up.

"Stop."

The dolls that were busy beating down on the humans came to a dead halt.

Despite being on deaths door, the group of six hadn't quite passed through it yet. They had survived their first day.

"Take them and let them wash themselves in the moat… And then they are yours for the night."

Shakti jerked her head and Vaal nodded.

He leapt down onto the forest floor amid the sea of broken bodies.

"Up you go, little brothers!"

Jordan: "Uwaghuaaahuh…"

"And sisters." He corrected.

Saanvi tried to get to her feet but her legs swiftly gave out from under her.

"I-I don't think I can stand up… Can you give me a couple of minutes?"

Vaal looked at Saanvi's broken arm that she miraculously wasn't complaining about.

However, he could see that she was in a great deal of pain.

Taking pity on her, Vaal leaned over and lifted the young woman into his arms.

Judging by the intense spread of red along her cheeks, she clearly didn't hate the turn of events.

Or maybe she'd just taken too many hits to the face…

"C-Can I get some of that too..?" Jordan held up her hand weakly.

Vaal rolled his eyes and tossed her over his shoulder like dirty laundry.

"Thank you…" Within one second of being carried, Jordan passed out like a newborn.

Vaal also lifted Himari and Corey using telekinesis but left two of the humans on the ground.

Raymond looked down at his heaving stomach.

"…Is it because I'm heavy?"

Vaal laughed maliciously. "Not this time, fluff ball. Since you slept in for so long ,you should have a surplus of extra energy, right?"

"N-No."

"Aww, well that's too bad. I sincerely hope you find the energy you need, since you'll be running back to the cult on your own two feet."

"R-Running?!"

"Yes, like the snot from your nose. Get up." Vaal insisted.

Corey looked immensely deflated, but Vaal still had some good news for him.

"Don't worry, hefty brother. You'll have company on your run."

He glanced at Sawyer with unveiled disdain that promised this would not be the sum total of their punishment.

"I won't ask you twice. If you don't make it back to the cult by dark, I swear to you that we will be out here all night."

-

While Vaal got the recruits back to base in his own special way, Taira was still lingering behind with Shakti at the top of his tree.

"You aren't returning back with them?" He asked.

Shakti shook her head as she crossed her legs and sat in a meditative position.

"I woukd like to stay and guard you until you return to base… provided that you will allow it." She clarified.

Taira raised his brow as he tilted up his hat.

"…One could easily assume you're inferring that I need to be babysat. I hope that isn't the case."

"F-Far from it, Dai-Shi."

"…" Taira stared at her for a moment longer before he went back to resting against the tree.

Again, Taira liked Shakti because she was quiet. Like him.

She understood that when he didn't explicitly tell her to leave, he was giving her permission to stay.

The two of them sat in complete, dead silence for the duration of their stay.

Taira was a shut-in vampire who spent fifty years of his life asleep, but even he occasionally enjoyed the warm feeling of the sun on his face. Especially since it no longer negatively affected him.

As such, he only woke up from his afternoon nap when the warmth turned into the familiar cold.

He opened his eyes to find that the sun was already in the process of setting.

But something more interesting was staring back at him with two, beady little brown eyes.

"She's been staring at you for the past few minutes. I contemplated chasing her away, but I didn't want to accidentally disturb your rest."

"I see…"

Taira made a slightly interested face as he leaned forward to inspect the newcomer more closely.

-

Back at home, Vermeil felt like she was crawling out of her skin.

After fifty years of marriage spent underground, maybe she was a little co-dependent.

The last time she went a full day without seeing her husband was four years ago when he entered a closed-door seclusion for eight months.

No kisses, no hugs, no SEX, for eight whole MONTHS.

She felt like she was dying everyday.

Nogitsune intimacy was her bread and butter and she preferred her flavor tall, dark, and with fangs!

Now that she hadn't seen her husband for over nine hours, she was beginning to go a little stir crazy from her body's marital needs.

"Ugh…!"

Vermeil rolled around on the sofa like a fish out of water.

Eventually she could no longer stand it and simply hiked up her nightgown yet again.

A small spider lowered itself down from the ceiling by a line of silk that was almost too thin to see.

"Are you going to touch yourself again?" Inadu asked innocently.

"I can't help it! It's only their first day working with the sect and I feel like I'm going crazy! It's either this or making pills and my panties are already off!"

"No they're no-"

Vermeil removed her underwear and tossed them into the fireplace.

Inadu wondered if she should come down and 'help' her new sister or try to find her some sort of program for her obvious sex addiction.

Just as Vermeil started making noises, that she knew all too well, the two women felt a familiar presence appear in their home.

Vermeil pulled down her short dress and literally took off like a shooting star.

Ina reverted to her normal body and ran down the hall behind her.

Just because she wasn't going completely crazy didn't mean that she didn't miss Taira just as badly after all.

Along the way, the girls met up with Keran, Enyo, and Lucia, who were coincidentally also trying to cope with their husband's continued absence.

They found him at the front door, but their sprinting came to a full stop when they noticed he had something now that he certainly didn't leave home with.

"Honey… What is that?" Enyo asked for the group.

Taira held out a furry, four-legged little critter with an adorable face and fluffy ringed tail.

"A red panda." He answered.

"R-Right, but why do you have it with you?" Lucia tilted her head.

"It's our pet."

Enyo: "…"

Keran: "…"

Vermeil: "…"

Lucia / Inadu: "….IT'S SO CUTEEEE!!!"