The BATTLE of the CENTURY! [S!7] - Round 1: The New Frontier

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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A little earlier:

Vlad had just dined upon the frankly delicious Aubrine and fed her some of his own blood in return; as such she was sleeping the tumultuous sleep of the newly turned. As far as he was concerned he was done here. He had gotten what he wanted and now it was time to go and show those pathetic humans (and assorted others which while not human were most likely equally pathetic) just what they were truly up against in this battle to the death. He was in the cramped hallway looking for a way up to the deck, when suddenly a thought occurred to him. He realised that he had been making assumptions; he had very little information about this world and no idea whatsoever if they had pre-existing vampire mythology. If there was no such base of knowledge, or even if it had been muddied as it had been in his own world, it could lead to Aubrine, having little idea of her powers or her weaknesses. He could easily imagine the delectable Aubrine getting herself killed in some unfortunate way and then where would he be? Probably by that point he would be back at home and this world would forever be denied its rightful vampiric rule. He couldn’t have that.

So he waited for her to awaken. Soon the corridors were starting to fill with people coming to their bunks to collect their meagre possessions and disembark the ship, and Vlad was forced to realise that in these circumstances his attention grabbing garb might not be such a good idea. There were plenty of clothes lying around the sleeping quarters that he could easily slip into and thus make himself less conspicuous, yet there was a distinct disinclination to do so. Sneaking amongst the human vermin was beneath him now, a step backwards after he had worked so hard to get to where he was. He decided that while he might turn a few heads and draw some attention towards himself, he wouldn’t be around long enough for it to really matter, but he drew the curtain anyway as he really didn’t appreciate being gawped at.

It was dusk when Aubrine finally awoke. She felt odd; she had never felt as energized as she did right then; power seemed to fizz through her veins like electricity and she had this unscratchable itch to try it out. Every movement she made, the way her tunic brushed against her skin, the sound of hearts beating not too far away; it all called out to this part of her she had never known she had. Yet at the same time her body felt awful, like it had just been put through a wringer or as though she’d been working out heavily the night before. Her limbs were stiff, her head ached and throat was dry and Vlad was trying his utmost to explain to her just what she was and her strengths and weaknesses. She tried to listen attentively, but she just couldn’t seem to focus on anything he was saying. She’d get him to explain it again later she figured.

Eventually he seemed to have finished his explanations for the moment and she took advantage of the opportunity: “Vlad, I kind of feel…”

“Of course.” Vlad interrupted, a look of embarrassed realization upon his face. It had been a longer time since he had personally sired another vampire, or rather, it had been a long time since he had personally sired another vampire and had stuck around to deal with them when they awoke. “You vill be feelink thirsty. I vill go and get you someone upon whom you can break your fast.” He stood up, pulled back the curtain, revealing the corridors to once again be near deserted, and made to leave. “Vhen I get back ve can talk about your long term strategy.”

Aubrine was still fuzzy but that caught her attention. “My long term strategy?”

“Yes my dear Audrey. As a higher being it is your right, your duty to rule over those pitiful humans, but despite your obvious superiority it vill not be as easy as marching up to your… king…? or whomever and demanding that you be recognized as such. You vill have to play it subtle. Take your time. Pick your targets.” Vlad grinned happily as he thought of his own conquest. “It is a glorious task that avaits you, but for the moment I will fetch you someone to eat. I shan’t be a moment my precious one.” Aubrine didn’t look exactly happy about this as he left the room, but Vlad didn’t even really notice.

It didn’t take Vlad all that long to find a meal for Aubrine; there was a crewman who was doing the rounds making sure everyone had gotten off the ship. He put up a better fight than Aubrine had, but at the end of the day he was still just human. With one hand clamped over his mouth Vlad marched him back to Aubrine (it took longer than if he’d just killed him and slung him over his shoulder, but he didn’t want to ruin Aubrine’s first time by giving her dead meat), but by the time he got back Aubrine was gone.

Vlad was a little shocked. He stopped short and tried make sense of the discrepancies between the world as he saw it and the world as it undeniably factually was. The crewman struggled in his grip and he half-heartedly broke the man’s neck rather than have to deal with him any longer. The people of this world were so damn disobedient, he reflected. After all that he had done for Aubrine and then she had up and abandoned him without so much as a thank you. Well screw her. He wasn’t sure what he was thinking when he turned her. Sure she might be a good companion, fun and attractive and relatively obedient but she was not cut from the right material to rule. He vowed he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

It seemed a shame to let the crewman’s corpse go to waste. He tasted sour.

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Not long after that Vlad found a way up onto the deck of the HMS Sanctuary and took in his surroundings. There were a number of ships moored in a line along the edge of quite a large campsite. It was pretty basic, and still under construction; a number of tents and bonfires and the sounds of revelry coming from their direction. He was a little rusty with his shapeshifting so his first couple of attempts did nothing save for make him feel a little silly, but after a moment he had the knack of it again and he transformed into a colony of bats. Immediately he was reminded of how fucking difficult to be a colony of bats. It would be difficult enough, he reasoned, to be just one bat and deal with their whole echolocation deal, but to try and control an entire colony of the things was enough to give him a headache.

Quickly he gathered himself up and flew down into the campsite, reforming in a secluded corner behind a row of tents, and then made his way to one of the campfires. Here the newly arrived refugees and some of the sailors had broken into the alcohol supplies and were enthusiastically toasting the end of their journey. Vlad was looking at each of the celebrants, judging them, trying to discern who would be worthy of his gift, though to be honest he did not know exactly what he was looking for. In his own world it had been simple; turn people in positions of power, but he knew he did not have enough time here to do that. He had to find someone who could, and would, do that for him, but simply put, he didn’t know what signs to look for to indicate a worthy candidate.

Someone thrust a mug of alcohol that looked positively toxic towards Vlad, and in an attempt to not draw attention to himself he took it and took an enthusiastic swig. It was bitter, but for a human drink it wasn’t all that bad. As he continued to search he found himself being offered another and strictly to maintain the façade he downed it. And then another one. And then a fourth. It was okay, he assured himself, his superior vampire constitution would protect him from the intoxicating effects of whatever the hell this stuff was. He was sure of it.