It was a girl’s laughter that cut through his pain as he leaned against the lip of the well.  Holding a cloth soaked in water, he dabbed at the cuts on his arms and legs.  The bushes and brambles of the forest had a tendency to reach out and take pieces of him this time of year.  Though troublesome, it only served to help him hunt his prey as they were always forced to endure the same as him.  With a hiss, he pressed the cloth against the cut and hoped his elder had mercy enough to give him proper blood this evening.  While he had caught the human male that had escaped, it had been returned with a severely broken arm and leg.  There would be no telling if it's value would be able to be maintained.  If fever took it and it’s blood soured....  No...  Best not to think on that.  Not yet anyways...

Once more her laughter rang out in the center of this hamlet that was built around the well at the center of it.  With a sigh, he turned towards the laughter and caught sight of her streaming red hair and noticed the way it seemed to lay claim to the light of the torches and radiate in kind.  There had never been a person in town with hair like hers, which intrigued him.  With a shifting of her little body against the cart, he noticed Devon's golden locks practically alight in the night like some sort of beacon in the night.  Devon's hair alone had made him a poor catcher.  Even in the night, his hair seemed to soak up ambient light and glow as though it fed upon it.  No matter how Devon may have tried, it was always hard to sneak up on loose stock if they could see you coming.  His eyes met Devon's and he saw the other boy wave and call out to him.  Heaving a sigh once more, he tossed aside the cloth and made his way over to the two other children.  

"Can you get her to Vidar's place?"  Devon was first to speak and he couldn't stop himself from giving the other boy a flat look.  Was he simply unwilling or blind to see the current state he was in?  "I'll give you a share of my blood tonight."  He continued to watch him.  The two of them had been like brothers when they made it here two years ago but they had managed to slip into two very different trades with two very different elders to follow.  Just the sight of Devon's embroidered vest turned his stomach to angry knots but he couldn't bring himself to hate him; though he wished it.  It would make his feelings so easy and simple to deal with.  

"Fine.  But I want a handpots worth."  Devon seemed quick to smile, nod, and grab for an unassuming cloth bag at the back of the cart.  Moments later, he felt the strap of the bag being brought over his head and upon his opposing shoulder.  Responsibility secured, he turned his attention to the little beaming sun goddess leaning against the back of the cart.  It was easy to see the effects of Moonlight plain as day on the girl's face and he was suddenly awash in shock.  

"You'll probably have to carry her some of the way."  It was the last thing Devon said to him before he left them there and wandered back inside the tradepost.

Without saying a word, he moved forward, took her hand, and began leading her away from the marketplace.  She clearly was in the early stages of the after-effects and he didn't want to carry her if he could avoid it. 

"What's your name?"  Her voice was sweet and had a candor of childish excitement and wonder.  He was tempted not to tell her but knew well enough that given the Moonlight intoxication, that might not be an option he had anymore.  Experience had taught him that inexperienced people on Moonlight usually became little more than hopelessly annoying or incredibly angry.  Rather than wait to find out which she would become, he replied.  

"Arius,"  he said it quickly as he tugged her along down the dirt road toward the house he knew wasn't too far off.

"That's a weird name."  She was blunt with her words. He made no motion to reply.  "Why did your father name you that?"  

His father...  Clenching his jaw, he fought not to think about his father.  It was tied into too many sad memories and had to be locked away for his own sanity.  The less people knew about it, the less of a chance that they could hurt him with it.  "I don't know."  He hoped that would be the end of it but she would not leave well enough alone.  

"Was he a smith?  You look dirty like a smith's son."  This girl was either very stupid or very smart but either way he had to stop and look her over a moment.  He had to make sure she wasn't actively trying to get a rise out of him.  But no matter how he looked there was no hint of malice or twisted intentions.  All he could see was her honest innocence shining through thanks to the Moonlight she had consumed.  

"I'm an apprentice Barduk."  His words were flat as he was more focused on watching her reaction.  

Her brow furrowed as she attempted to formulate an appropriate response.  "That makes sense...  Then...  Your name makes sense even more..."  Her words were followed by a chuckle and he couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes and dragging her back into walking towards Vidar’s place.  "Do you like being a Barduk?"  

Do I like it?  What kind of question even was that?  How did one decide if they liked the necessity of their situation.  "I guess...  It's not always fun, but hunting stock down...  That's usually fun."  The squeal that emanated from her small frame surprised him more than anything as she clenched his hand a little tighter.  

"You actually DO the hunting!?"  The pure happiness and awe in her voice was so intoxicating he could only bring himself to nod in affirmation.  "My brother always wanted to hunt but my father wouldn't allow him to go alone.  Do you hunt alone!?"  Lost in thought, he gave her another nod of affirmation.  How broken was this girl?  Perhaps this was why children were not meant to drink Moonlight.  

"When I don't feel so strange,"  she started, and he highly doubted this girl would ever be anything but strange,  "you will teach me how to hunt."  Even in her small childish voice, there was command and presence.  There was no room for him to have a thought of his own on this matter.  When she was better, plain and simple, he would teach her.  

With a backward glance, he checked to make sure she was serious and met eyes with her.  These weren't the eyes of one of the girls in the village.  There was a darkness blue eyes that even he had no words for.  

"Maybe..."  His words were soft, almost shaking, as they left him.  If Thik saw him training a girl, of all things, while still an apprentice himself...  The scar across his back began to ache at the thought of the repercussions.  

But she was clearly having none of it.  "You will.  You will or I will kill you.  Then your elder will need a new apprentice and I will learn anyway."

He hadn't known this girl a quarter of a day and she was already threatening to kill him.  Who did this girl think she was?!  He wanted to laugh, but her face told him she was deadly serious.  Not to mention that Moonlight made people honest, not liars.  

"I..."  He started.  "I will try..."  He stumbled over the words as he tried to wrap his head around the being he was with.  "When...  When you're better..."  He had had men threaten him before, but nothing held a candle to the darkness that this girl was carrying. .

But then her darkness was gone.  The bubbly, yet blunt, girl returned with a grin, and he found his feet moving a little faster.  The sooner they got where they were going, the sooner he could be rid of her strangeness.  "What....  What is your name?"  This time he tried to own the conversation.  Maybe he would receive less death threats that way.  

"Sasha, daughter of Hal, son of Veth, son of Kash."  There was a practiced tone to it.  As though someone had coached her on intonation and cadence so as to evoke power.  Regardless, in her current state it made her seem as though she were almost talking about someone other than herself.  

Sasha...  The Sasha?  He looked back once more and caught sight of her fumbling with the buttons on her blouse with one hand like a toddler much younger than herself.  The leader's own daughter was just... casually...  wandering the countryside without a proper guardian.

It was then that he remembered the rumors that had begun to emanate on the wind from Giana, Hal's seat of power. They spoke of a daughter so unruly and savage that she had been targeting her own brother.  That it had escalated into public view, even going so far as to push him from a window.  But he had never imagined that the girl would ever end up here in Jejoa.  Surely Hal would have disciplined her, had her bent over a bed and whipped as he was when he made a mistake.  But...  then why was she here?

She had managed to pop the first button open and began working on the next one as her mind was clearly too busy to bother with his feelings at the moment.  "Stop."  He said gently, he shouldn't raise his voice to a lady of standing after all. 

 "But I'm hot...  And tired..."  The whine in her voice filled the space around them and left him praying to El for strength.  

Stopping a moment, he knelt and offered her his back.  "Get on."  

She made no move towards him and it quickly became clear that no one had ever carried her in such a fashion.  "Get on what?"  There was a tired frustration leaking into her voice.  

"My back.  Put your arms over my shoulders and I'll do the rest."  There was a long moment of her just staring at his exposed back a moment before she awkwardly stepped closer and put her arms over his shoulders.  His arms came down around her legs as he picked her up.  On instinct, she tightened up around him and held herself to him as best she could.  Once she was secured properly, he began carrying her towards the house in the distance.  

"This feels weird."  Her words were just above a whisper as she was clearly fighting sleep.  

"I could always drag you there instead."  He smirked a bit at the thought of dragging her passed out body through the dirt and grass.  

"This...  is fine."  It was the last words he heard from her as they continued their trek.  

The silence of the night accompanied him like an old friend as he was pulled into his own memories.  It was a night like this that he and Devon had evacuated their home.  Humans had attacked just before dusk and Devon, Arana, and himself had managed to survive.  Despite their young age, Devon and him had taken turns carrying little Arana on their backs.  They had trekked all day and by the time they had made it to this town, not even the smoldering ruins of their home could be seen in the sky.  Devon and Arana had both managed to find quick work with Malik, but he had been left out to try and fend for himself for a time.  Two weeks he scrounged and fed on what he could find and what they could pilfer for him, until a human male managed to escape.  Through the thick woods he had managed to find the escapee easily as hunger had guided his instincts.  The local barduk found him just before he had managed to actually drain the man.  Though it was a bittersweet memory now, he knew well enough that the man had seen opportunity more than talent.  His elder was a lazy man with a quick temper.  Both qualities left much to be desired when exposed to him in person.

The house was perhaps a few hundred feet away now, and he found himself wondering if Vidar would be welcoming.  It was plain to him at least that this girl had never been here before.  Would Vidar even know who it was that he was carrying?  Would the elder vampire even believe him when he told him who she was?  A heavy anxiousness began to grow in the pit of his stomach.  Vidar was no simple towny vampire.  He was a man of power and stature.  To have him displeased would not look favorably on him or his Barduk.  No wonder Devon and Malik didn't want this task.  

Swallowing hard, he moved onward.  The dirt road gave way to impacted gravel and sand as they came up the last bit of the way.  The area around the home had been cleared of trees to make surprise attacks difficult even this far out from town.  Not that humans ever ventured this close to a town as large as his but there was always some chance they would attack.

Once at the door, he slid her off his back gently and laid her against the wall beside the door.  Standing as tall as he could manage, he knocked on the door of the manor and hoped that Vidar was in a good mood.  

He didn't have to wait long as Vidar opened the door himself and looked down at him with calculating eyes.  "I...  I was told to bring her..."  He motioned to Sasha sleeping beside the door.  "A-And this."  He pulled off the satchel he carried and handed it over hastily.  Vidar quickly rifled through the bag and took out a letter written in a woman's hand.  

Upon seeing the writing, Vidar's whole demeanor seemed to shift.  He watched as the older man stepped out of his house to get a proper look at Sasha.  Vidar's face softened upon the sight of her sleeping form.  Gently, Vidar knelt and took Sasha into his arms, cradling her close.  "She is warm.  Is she ill?"  Concern, with a twinge of anger, had made its way into Vidar's voice.  

"N-No sir.  She was brought here on Malik's cart.  She managed to drink a hand-pot of Moonlight so..."  He let the sentence die as he was too unsure of what to say next.  

But his nervousness ebbed when he saw a twinge of pride enter into the elder's face.  "A whole hand-pot you say?"  The twinge turned to a full blown smirk as he left Arius there upon the stoop and returned back inside.  

"Go home Arius.  No doubt your elder is looking for you."  It was the last thing Vidar said before the door closed.  

Turning, he walked away in a state of awe and wonder.  Vidar had known his name.  Two years in this town and there had been no hint of recognition that the man knew him.  But tonight, he felt as though he were like any other named man of standing.  He was Arius, the Barduk of Jejoa.