Wowieee... so i totally just revised this chapter... id forgotten how disgustingly cheesy and all-over-the-place it was. Like holyy crap. Its still overly emotional, but i figured the emotions were fairly accurate given the situation, so i left them alone.

Soooh yeah! lol chapters 2 and 3 are still kinda sketchy, but I plan on fixing that! lol I really love the idea of this story, my grade 9 self just did a fucky job of writing it, lol.

This one still isnt as good id like it, but its definitley better.

Enjoy!!

Fully blooded...at last. Arrow leaned back and enjoyed the feeling of Vampire blood rushing through his veins. He licked the bleeding tips of his fingers and grinned when the cuts were healed by his newly-enhanced Vampire spit. Arrow's mentor chuckled at his student's amazed expression.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Faren Dunraven noted.

"Feels unstoppable!" Arrow said giddily, carving his name into the tree he was leaning against.

"Lucky you. You have the better part of my blood now, so guess who's going hunting for dinner tonight?" Faren said gruffly, trying to keep the pride out of his voice.

"What do you want, deer, bear, or mounatin lion?" Arrow shot back.

"Don't take your chances with carnivores, you have hundreds of years ahead to put yourself in danger." Faren growled. "I'll be content with rabbits for now, in a few days we'll be feasting in Vampire Mountain."

Arrow rolled his eyes, but grinned back at Faren as he jogged out of their small camp. As he reached smoother ground, he picked up speed. he considered attempting to flit, just for fun, but decided that it would be better to try under Faren's supervision.

Arrow had become a half-Vampire 5 years ago at age 7, after a Vampaneze attack left his parents dead while sleeping in a forest while travelling in search of a new home. If he had not been slipped off in the dark and climbed high into a tree to escape detection, he would not be here today. Almost a day later, Faren had been drawn to the kill site by the lingering smell of Vampaneze...although he did not find the purple-skinned creatures he'd set out to kill, he gained a son that day. And time had almost erased Arrow's memories of watching his parent's slaughter...

Now, Arrow and Faren were on their way to Vampire Mountain to bring news of the Vampaneze to the Princes, Paris Skyle, Arian Welver, and Hayden Romor. According to Faren, they had less than a week left of travelling and surviving off rabbits and the occasional deer. Arrow was glad, but was consumed with worry about how the Princes would take the news that he was now a full Vampire. He currently appeared to be about 13 years old. The the possibility that he could live to be at least 500 astounded him.

Shaking off worry, he tuned his senses to the world around him. His senses had been sharp as a half-Vampire, but now he was a full Vampire, and his senses were most definitley superhuman, to say the least. Now, he locked on to the scent of a nearby deer. She was somewhere to his right, amidst a thick grove of pine trees. Rabbits? He could save them for the weak human hunters.

Spine tingling with adrenaline, he moved quickly and silently through the trees. And he saw his target. It was oblivious as he snuck up behind him, but he moved to the left ever so slightly, and the wind carried his scent to the deer. She tensed, preparing to bolt, but Arrow was too quick for her. He snapped her neck and she crumpled to the ground. A perfect, painless death. And she wasn't small and sickly, either, like the other three deer Arrow and Faren had killed earlier on the journey. She was big and full of meat and warm, juicy blood. Grinning triumphantly, Arrow picked her up -she seemed so light!- and made his way back to camp.

"Did you get some rabbits?" Faren yelled without looking at Arrow as he returned to their camp.

"Nope, pretty poor hunting out here." Arrow said sarcastically as he set the deer down.

"I knew I should have gone myself-" Faren turned and saw the doe. "I told you not to go for deer." he added grudgingly.

"Well if you really don't want it, I guess we can just leave it here." Arrow rolled his eyes.

Faren stared long and hard at his belligerent student. "Cook it before I un-blood you." he growled.

"Get a mentor, Faren. Un-blooding is impossible."

Faren punched Arrow gently.

"That's your best punch? I'm overwhelmed. I'm suprised you're so scared of carnivores when you could turn them inside out with just one hit."

"Do you really want to see my best punch?" Faren said seriously, standing up.

"Bring it on, old man!" said Arrow, also rising.

The deer forgotten, they punched, ducked, jabbed, and defended until they were too hungry to move.

"I'll beat you next time!" Arrow groaned as he made a fire to roast the deer.

"I'm sure you will..."

They had no way of knowing there wouldn't be a next time.

***

They woke early the next evening. As they were rolling up their sleeping bags, Faren suddenly froze.

"What?" asked Arrow, alarmed.

Faren held up his hand in a "shut up, Arrow!" signal. For several tense minuites, Arrow stared at his mentor as Faren's wide eyes darted around, the edges of his nostrils widened and dialated, and he licked his lips as though trying to taste the air. Arrow's stomach clenched in fear. He'd never seen Faren look so scared until now, as he was pushing his senses to the limit, trying to detect something ominous. Finally, the older Vampire seemed to relax, and he murmered under his breath:

"70 miles away at the most..."

"What are you talking about?" Arrow inquired, shocked at how scared he sounded.

"Nothing!" Faren barked. Then he added more gently, "Nothing. You can just never be too careful, that's all." he smiled tersely, and patted Arrow's head. Arrow tried to smile, but suspected it looked more like a grimace. Faren saw it. He put his hands on Arrow's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"Everything is fine. I swear."

"I believe you..." Arrow lied. But he would never forget the fear in his mentor's eyes.

They moved silently through the deep forest, not talking and joking like they usually did. This made the trip seem twice as long, but Arrow barely noticed, he was so lost in thought. Finally, the deafening scilence got the better of him. He broke it.

"Can I try flitting?"

No answer. Faren was staring straight ahead, eyes glazed as he walked briskly.

"Faren?" Arrow touched his mentor's arm. Faren jerked convulsivley and turned to face Arrow, looking alarmed.

"Charna's gut's! What is it, Arrow?"

"What is it? I could ask you the same damn thing!" Arrow's indignation overpowered is quickly growing fear.

"Nothing!"

"After seven years you can't lie to me!"

"Keep your voice down!"

"WHY? What's happening?

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"What are we running from?"

Faren froze. Like he had several hours before. Looking. Listening. Smelling. It was so quiet. Arrow could almost hear himself sweating.

"We have to flit now." Faren's voice was full of restrained panic.

"What are we running from?" Arrow half-sobbed.

"Flit. When -if- we stop, I'll tell you."

What do you mean, IF we stop? Arrow managed not to scream. But he followed Faren as they picked up speed and began to flit. In a less terrifying circumstance, Arrow would have savoured the weightless feeling of zooming over the ground at who-knows-how-many kilometres per hour, but he was too petrified to think. Nothing scared Faren, at least that Arrow had seen. He tried to push it out of his mind. How long had they been flitting now? Minuites? Hours? An entire frigging day? No way of knowing. Then, without warning, Faren grabbed Arrow's arm and dragged him to a stop. Only after Arrow crumpled to the ground did he realise how exhausted he was.

"Where are we?" Arrow moaned. Faren didn't answer, but he he did grab him by the head and pour ice-cold water from a canteen down his throat.

"So you don't die of dehydration. You weren't prepared for that flit, I shouldn't have pushed you. You could have died within an hour without water." Faren grunted as he made a fire.

Arrow didn't comment on that bit of information.

"Where are we?"

"Deep in the woods, and about 200 kilometres closer to Vampire Mountain than we were this evening. We would have gone farther, but I decided not to let you drop dead of exhaustion." Faren's sad attempt at humour.

Arrow glanced around. They were at the foot of what appeared to be a black rocky cliff. The sheer rock face next to them was full of cracks, ledges, and caves. In normal circumstances, Arrow would have been all for climbing to the top, but he had more pressing matters to deal with...

"I want to know what's going on." Arrow said, looking his mentor in the eye.

"We're being persued by Vampaneze." Faren said abruptly.

That was it? For some reason, Arrow had imagined something more terrifying.

"That's all? Are you kidding me? We've fought Vampaneze before!" Arrow reminded him furiously.

"Never twenty at a time." said Faren, a note of quiet desperation in his voice.

Arrow's blood turned to ice.

"Why are the chasing us?" he managed to croak.

"They know we've got information about them. They don't want it to reach the Princes."

"What information?"

"That they're planning a massive attack on Vampire Mountain. The Princes have to be warned." A cloud of dread crossed Faren's face. "We have to split up. You flit to Vampire Mountain. Tell the Princes and Generals what I have just told you. And-"

"What about you?" Arrow cut him off fiercely.

"It is worth it." said Faren determinedly.

"WHAT'S WORTH IT? TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" Arrow screamed half scared, half furious.

"I would have thought you were smart enough to figure it out. The Vampaneze don't know about you. They won't know you've gone ahead to bring the news."

"I still don't understand..."

"Charna's guts, Arrow! Do the math."

It clicked. Faren was going to give himself up to trick the Vampaneze. He was going to die to make them belive that news of their attack would die with him.

"No." said Arrow obstinately. "If you think for one minuite-"

"We haven't got time for this, Arrow. Flit ahead. It's less than a hundred kilometres from the other side of this mountain."

"I can't let you die!" Arrow sobbed helplessly.

"Go." said Faren viciously.

He's not even letting me say goodbye. The pain was unendurable.

He decided to try one more time.

"We can fight them!"

"Arrow, they're coming now. You have to get out of here. Prove that you aren't a complete failure."

Trying -and failing- to stop crying, Arrow hugged his mentor -his father- one more time.

"Be strong." Faren whispered, tears cascading down his own cheeks. "My son."

Arrow tried to speak, but could only manage a strangled sob. Faren stroked his back comfortingly. Then he stiffened and whisperd

"Go...please..."

Arrow ran. Kept looking back over his shoulder. Faren was still standing, but he had his sword at the ready. Ready to face death. Arrow couldn't resist. He stopped behind a huge boulder and watched. Then he heard it: Yelling voices. Branches breaking as a small army prepared to attack. He had to run. But he couldn't! And as he watched, a line of twenty or more Vampaneze soldiers stepped out of the trees to face Faren Dunraven. Their apparent leader was almost six feet tall, with dark purple skin, long greasy hair, and the reddest eyes of any Vampaneze Arrow had seen.

"Rasa." Faren greeted stiffly.

"Faren Dunraven. It has been too long." the Vampaneze called Rasa sneered.

"Not long enough. I'd almost forgotten your ugly face, but it appears you have deemed it nescessary to jog my memory." Faren noted coldly. Even in the darkest of times, Arrow had to admire his guts.

"Kill him." Rasa concluded unceremoniously. His voice sounded immensely bored, as though he ordered bloodthirsty killers on innocent victims every day. And the attack began.

The first soldier to hit Faren was killed with a single blow to the neck. He didn't even have time to scream as Faren thrust his pale silver blade into the purple neck.

"Who's next?" Faren said sarcastically to the yells of fury from the others. This time, three Vampaneze charged him at once, and he barely managed to defend himself. But it wasn't enough. A spear traced accross his chest. Blood cascaded onto the ground.

"Is that the best you can do?" he snarled, but his teeth were gritted with pain. Arrow's heart sank like a stone.

Faren advanced on the Vampaneze ranks, fearlessly brandishing his sword. Looking death in the eyes. Walked right up to Rasa. The Vampaneze leader opened his mouth to make some rude comment. And Faren plunged his sword into Rasa's heart. Staring with hatred at Faren, the Vampaneze leader slowly collapsed, coughing blood. He was dead before he hit the ground. And the 18 remaining Vampaneze converged on Faren. Arrow prayed they couldn't hear him sobbing as he watched hopelessly. If he only he didn't have the damn message for the Princes, he wouldn't have hesitated to join the fight. Even if it was to the death.

He couldn't see Faren in the midst of thrashing purple bodies, but now four Vampaneze lay dead on the ground. Maybe Faren was doing all right. Maybe he'd kill them all. Maybe this nightmare had never happened. Maybe-

"GET BACK, HE'S MINE!"

Arrow didn't recognize the voice, but when the rest of the Vampaneze retreated to the shadows, one of the two remaining warriors could only be Rasa's son. His hair and face were identical, and his voice had the same cold, oily quality. The other one standing was Faren. Covered in heavily bleeding wounds, he raised his sword in a desperate attempt to ward off the inevitable death blow. Rasa's son advanced. Arrow closed his eyes. And heard Faren's peircing death scream.

The Vampaneze cheered cruelly. Except Rasa's son. He stared hatefully at Faren's limp form. He turned to his colleagues.

"We should leave before any more Vampires show up. There could be any number of them around here. We can't let them find out about us." he said in the same icy, monotonous tone Rasa had used when he first dispatched the attack. Muttering in dissapointment, what was left of the army flitted off into the trees.

And just like that, it was all over.

Arrow couldn't remember running to Faren's body, but he must have, because he found himself kneeling beside his only friend. Shaking him. Begging him to open his eyes. He grabbed Faren's cold, still hand in his.

"Faren..." he moaned desperately. "Wake up..." he realised how childish it sounded, but what else could he say? His only family, only friend, his entire life lay dead before him. And then, Faren's hand moved. Then his lips moved in an attempt to speak, but only blood tricked from his lips.

Arrow didn't dare belive it. But it was real. Faren was alive.

"You're alive..." he gaped incredulously as he wiped Faren's mouth on his sleeve.

"Arrow..." croaked Faren. "Arrow..."

"I'm here, Faren." Arrow couldn't help but grin through his tears.

"I told you to run...what are you still doing here?"

"If you thought I'd leave you, you're damn crazy! That fight was amazing, those stupid Vampaneze had no idea-"

Faren attempted a laugh, but it sounded like a deah rattle. "Ignorant boy...Listen, I'm dying. I might have...a little more than a 5 minuites to live..."

Arrow's pain came crushing back. "No...You just survived a battle with twenty Vampaneze! And now you're telling me that this is it? It all ends here? Why?"

"Don't ask me...to explain...the ways of the world..." His voice was getting weaker. "Just promise me...two things..."

"Anything." Arrow whimpered.

"Go to Vampire Mountain...give them the message, that's the first thing...The second thing: I want you...to stay in Vampire Mountain...get trained there...make a fine Vampire. Maybe even a General...someday."

"I don't wanna live in there!" Arrow gasped miserably. "I can't live in a rock...I can't do it...We need to be together, out here...we belong out here."

"Arrow, you're being...incoherent. I taught you better...than that." his bleeding mentor chided him gently.

For the longest time, neither spoke. Just lay there.

"I'm scared." Arrow blurted out.

"Don't be. Vampire mountain is...only a hundred miles away. You're almost safe."

"I don't care about me." Arrow snapped. "I have to save you, I can't just leave you here, you can't just...There has to be something I can do!"

"Arrow...there's only one thing...you can do for me. If you want to help me...do what I ask. I don't have much time...I need to know you'll be safe."

"You never give me a choice, it's always your way or no way! What about me?" Arrow snuffled, half-sarcastic but half-serious.

"What about you? Well...it's your time...to go make me proud. You have always...been a son to me...and I love you...as I would have loved...any biological child."

"I love you too." Arrow managed to get out before he burst into a fresh tidal wave of tears. And he collapsed from the inside out, sobbing into his mentor's chest. Not long after, he lost consciousness. For how long, he didn't know, but when he regained his senses, the body of Faren Dunraven was cold and still.

And Arrow screamed. A piercing, drawn-out cry of grief and fury.

A hundred miles away, deep within the stronghold of Vampire Mountain, Mika Ver Leth awoke with a start.

Okaay so thats that! Hopefully it wasnt too crappy.

And this IS the story of my bbeh boy Arrow's life since DSS gave him like, NOTHING, and it will eventually contain the story of himself and his wife. This is my first long serious story, and I want it to be amazing, cuz it's for Arrow. So if you have ANY advice that could help, plllleeeeaaase give me a hand :) Thanks

BTW, This fic will also contain tons of Mika (his BFFL:), as well as Paris, Kurda, Larten, Arra, Vancha, etc. OC's will be fairly few, since I dont really like them.

OH, and theres also that other story Im working on with Elena, Onyx, about Mika's trials etc. So far i dont know how/if that story will tie into this one.

I thiink thats all there is to say... ttyl!

*Roxxy,