Disclaimer : I don't own Vampire Knight.

Yagari surveyed the tiny ramshackle huts and tents that served as the dissident Hunter's town, feeling the flame of anger that still smouldered in his chest even after all these years ignite. It was a disgrace, that the once proud race were forced to live in such a run down shanty town, built in the shadow of the forest. Of course, there were hunters living in the mostly human settlement placed almost twenty miles away, but they were traitors, turncoats, and Yagari didn't even consider them hunters anymore. In order to live in the settlement, you had to agree to live by a treaty that had, of course, been written by the vampires who ruled over the region.

Yagari and his little group of barely one hundred hunters had split from the rest of their race after the treaty had allowed the pureblood vampire Shizuka to kill two of their members and transform their young son with no repercussions. That had been the last straw for the already worked up Yagari. He and all the supporters he could muster had kidnapped Zero before the vampires could recruit him as one of their own and fled the settlement.

With such small numbers, there was not much the guerrilla hunters could achieve. For ten years the group had grown, with hunters trickling in from the settlement after feeling that enough was enough, and they now numbered well over two hundred. It was not much and all they had been doing these past years was leading small raids into the vampire capital, stealing food and supplies, and if they got lucky, killing a bloodsucker or two in the process.

But what they didn't know was that Yagari had a weapon that could potentially destroy the vampire monarchy.

"Zero! For God's sake, you're not still sleeping are you?" Master Yagari's voice came punching through the thick canvas that served as Zero's roof and walls.

"I'm up, hang on," Zero called back groggily, running a hand through his mussed silver hair before pulling on his shirt.

He pushed the back the tent flap, squinting his lilac eyes against the harsh sunlight as he stood before the master hunter. There was an air of nervous excitement emanating from the older hunter, and now that he was a little more awake, Zero felt his own emotions echo that of his master.

Today was the day he would leave to try and infiltrate the vampire court under the guise of a vampire knight.

"Come on," Yagari said, stalking off and letting the younger hunter follow in his wake. The two walked through the mini town of roughly built wooden shacks and torn tents, toward the edge of the forest. The trees were a vibrant green, and the sunlight streaming through the covering branches painted Zero's pale hair a dappled green. Tied to one of the tree trunks was a strong white mare, already burdened with a few provisions.

"You should leave now Zero," Yagari said, "but you can't ride Lily right up to the capital, or the vampires will smell a rat. Horses aren't usually friendly towards bloodsuckers, so leave her at the settlement with a woman named Yuuki. She'll take care of her until you need her again."

Zero felt awkward at the 'bloodsuckers' comment, but was thankful that at least Yagari didn't consider him as one of them yet. If it was not for his Master's protection, Zero knew that he would have been cast out long ago. Just recently though, even Yagari's warning words and stern glare were not enough to stifle the dissenting comments of the other hunters, and Zero didn't really blame them. The charm on his neck had not been as effective recently, and Zero's bloodlust was becoming harder and harder to suppress. Yagari had told him that once he was among the vampires that he would need to find a blood source, a fact that disturbed Yagari less than Zero would have thought as it was a given that he would only be feeding from one of the filthy bloodsuckers, and not harming any real people. Zero had balked, saying that he had suppressed his hunger so far and would never drink from anyone. Yagari had stared hard at him, but said nothing.

Zero walked forward, reaching out to pet the horse and feeling the strong muscles in her neck, realising that those old sentiments would not hold true. The urge to feed was growing steadily stronger, turning from a horrible tight sensation in his chest to a hideous, burning pain that seemed to sink its claws into his entire body. Even his insanely strong control could not deal with that.

He desperately did not want to drink from someone. Unsurprisingly, he found the act repulsive and it deeply depressed him to know it was something he had to do. He shook the miserable and frustrating thoughts from his mind. He had a job to do, and only he could do it because of his mixed blood. Out of their entire splinter group of hunters only Zero would be able to pass as a vampire, only Zero had a chance to destroy the royal vampire Kaname Kuran.

The thoughts of being able to help the hunters and avenge his parents filled him with a new steely determination.

"Thank you for everything, master Touga," Zero said, "I'll do my best not to let you down."

Zero made to pull himself up onto the horse's saddle, but Yagari's hand on his shoulder stilled him.

"I'm sorry about this Zero," Yagari said gruffly, and punched Zero on the chin with all his strength.

"Ahh!"

"Shut up, Hanabusa! I can't believe you got me in trouble again," the red-haired vampire said, after cuffing his irritating cousin on the back of his head. He was usually relatively stoic about the many punishments he had to endure with his cousin, but just recently Aido had been taking the cake.

Because the blonde noble excelled at biology, Kaname had strategically placed him in charge of inspecting the ex-humans that entered the vampire capital of Nine-Orchids, in order to join either the pureblood's court or the army. However, Aido had been starting fights every few days, horrified that his pureblood master was allowing so many low bloods into his court. It had gotten both Aido, and his cousin, whose only crime was to try and break up the arguments, in a lot of trouble.

"It's not my fault!" the blonde said petulantly. "Lord Kaname is too good to be surrounded by such creatures! I can't just hold my tongue on this, it's horrible…"

"I know you can't hold your tongue, Hanabusa, on this matter or any, and that's the bloody problem. Kaname wants ex-humans in the court, and he wants it to seem natural. The Kurans have always strived for peace, and now that one of them is on the throne some things are going to change," Kain replied, exasperated with the blonde.

"But Lord Kaname isn't on the throne yet, and he might never get to be if he keeps doing weird things like this," Aido said miserably. "Lord Kaname is amazing, you know I think so. I just think he is moving way too fast with this whole ex-human thing."

"You didn't think so three days ago, when that pretty blonde signed up for the army. As I recall, you had no problem with her, did you?" Kain asked wryly.

Aido's cheeks coloured slightly, and he started to splutter an indignant answer before Kain held up a quieting hand. "Someone's coming, and it might not be a good idea to let them hear us bickering."

Zero arrived at Nine-Orchids in the late evening, feeling like total crap. Yagari had really gone to town on him, and he felt like his entire body was one big bruise. Still, it had to be done. However, riding the twenty-something miles from the Hunter shanty had not been pleasant, and as silly as it seemed, he had felt a pang of sadness when he was forced to leave Lily behind.

The thought of walking the next eight miles to the capital city Nine-Orchids was daunting, and when the sweet girl Yuuki had offered him the use of her guestroom that night, he had almost caved. But Yagari had told him that the more ragged he looked when he turned up for inspection the better.

It was Zero's first time in the city, and he found it a little overwhelming. He was exhausted, but still had enough energy left to be shocked at the amount of people all in the one place. Because they did not want the vampires knowing that Zero had hunter blood, he had always been left behind when Yagari led raids into the capital. Yagari had of course described it to Zero, but seeing it in the flesh was a totally different thing. There were so many torches lit, even in the streets, that the city glowed like a beacon. Having been raised by a group of people who tried to keep their location a secret, Zero was used to almost total darkness during the night, which was no problem for either his or the hunters strong nocturnal vision. Zero knew that the vampires living in Nine-Orchids did not require the bright light of the torches, but he also knew that although it was a vampire capital, Nine-Orchids also held a huge number of humans. Perhaps it was for their human servants, or perhaps it was just because the vampires liked the gaudy effect, but either way Zero found the whole thing a little unsettling.

After a lot of searching Zero finally came across the Army Recruitment Centre, feeling thoroughly dead on his feet by now. He could probably found the place sooner if he had asked for directions, but it was bad enough to have vampires all around him, and he couldn't bring himself to approach one of them. At least Yagari had taught him a charm to suppress his hunter sensitivity to vampire auras, which was probably the only reason he was not half insane with all the bloodsuckers around him.

He knocked on the thick oak door of the Recruitment Centre, and was almost immediately met with the appearance of a redheaded vampire. The other man stood back, wearing a look of shock as his eyes trailed Zero's bruised face, but he did not mention it, instead welcoming Zero in and leading him down a wide hall to another door.

"You will now be examined to determine that you are suitable to live in Nine-Orchids. We are trying to create a city of equality, and as I'm sure you are aware, ex-humans are more likely to become unstable or violent than most."

Zero had always been known for his extremely quick temper, and for wearing his emotions on his sleeves, which had been Yagari's biggest concern when training the teen for this mission. Because of this, Zero had spent a lot of time training himself to hide those emotions, and was now surprisingly good at it. This red haired vampire was now helping him put these new found skills to the test. Zero could feel his blood boil under his skin at this vampire bastard's casual use of the word 'equality'.

If you have such an equal society, then why are there no hunters in Nine-Orchids? There are more humans in your great city than vampires, yet there is not a single human politician in your court.

"Of course, I understand," Zero replied with a small smile, successfully stifling those heated thoughts. He walked into the next room to find another vampire, this one a young blonde with a slight flush high on his cheeks.

"Oh God, another 'D," the vampire sighed. "Well, come here."

Zero walked into the centre of the room, noting the shocked look on the blonde's face as his face came fully into light. The term 'D should not have been a surprise to him, but it still stung him slightly.

"What happened to you?" the vampire asked softly, indicating his injuries, the look of contempt he had a moment ago temporarily evaporated.

"I-," Zero began, before being cut short by the arrival of an aura strong enough to break through the suppressant charm. It was, without a doubt, the arrival of a pureblood.

What the hell is a pureblood doing down here? Zero's stomach clenched in fear. The admittedly irrational thought that he had been found out was darting through his mind, even though he had only been in the city for a few hours. He once again focused on keeping a calm expression.

The door Zero had just entered from swayed open again, admitting another vampire.

So this is a pureblood… Zero thought, looking the man up and down. Monster… A monster in human form.

But no, that wasn't right. This young man did not look remotely human. He was absolutely perfect, at least to look at, so perfect that it could not pass for human. He had beautiful ebony hair that glittered in the torchlight, with creamy, flawless skin and stunning garnet eyes. For some reason, his appearance provoked even more anger from the hunter.

How dare such a vile creature look so deceptively perfect! I wonder how many innocents he has killed, just like that bitch that killed my mother and father! And yet nature has blessed this evil conniving beast with the angelic looks of his kind. It's wrong…

"Hello Aido," the pureblood addressed the blonde, "Takuma says that it would be a good idea to draw up a census and… Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise you were dealing with a recruit…" The pureblood glanced worriedly at the puffy black eye Zero was sporting, as well as the thick purple bruise that was painted across his jaw.

"What happened to you?" he said, echoing Aido, concern edging his voice.

Zero felt as if the world was dropping out beneath his feet. When he and Yagari had discussed this plan they had only suspected that they needed to fool one ordinary vampire with their story. Zero just had to hope that it would still stand under the scrutiny of a pureblood. The high blood vampires were excellent at the game of deception, as this bloodsucking freak's very convincing tone of concern proved. Zero knew better than to think that a pureblood would give a toss about the injuries of a low-blood like himself.

"I escaped from the exiled Hunter group, my Lord," the last word felt like acid as it slipped from his lips, but his entire life rested on him giving a convincing performance. "They captured me some few years ago, but I only escaped two days ago. I've been travelling ever since."

"Really?" the pureblood asked, his tone one of sympathy. "Did they do this to you?"

"Yes," Zero replied, pained. "They kidnapped me from the settlement after I was bitten four years ago, and put this charm on me to suppress my vampire instincts." Zero indicated the tattoo on his throat. "For a while it worked, and they treated me well, but then it became less effective. They started beating me, and that's when knew I had to escape or I would die." Zero took a deep breath before continuing, "They would chain me when my bloodlust was most apparent, but two days ago the chains they put on me had a loose link. I managed to break them, and after getting away I decided to come here because it's the only place I could think of that would accept a… someone like me."

Zero waited anxiously, praying that his lies would pass as truth. He had tried to make it sound as though he had been turned later than he really had, so the vampires would not associate jis turning with the death of his famous Hunter parents. No matter what, he had to hide his hunter blood.

"How strange…" the pureblood said, still fixing him with those scarlet eyes. Zero's heart was pumping so fast that he was sure it would pound it's way right out of his chest. "I've never heard of the dissident Hunters kidnapping a vampire. They have killed their fair share," the vampire said, a look of anger flitting across his face for no longer than a second. Zero, even through his icy fear, felt a flare of satisfaction at that, feeling it was time the vampires got a taste of their own medicine. "However, this is certainly something to look into."

It seemed that his story had been believed, and Zero's muscles relaxed slightly.

"You have probably suffered a fracture to your jaw, and any other number of bones. We need to get you healed up. I assume that you still haven't found a blood source from your story. I certainly can not imagine a hunter offering you their blood," the pureblood allowed a small, unhappy smile to grace his features. "Don't worry though, we have a system in use for such a crisis. Come, I will show you," this time the smile seemed a lot more genuine.

Zero was suddenly suspicious again; why would the pureblood take such interest in a level 'D? Zero could not see how this man could gain from such apparently caring actions. Surely he wouldn't think that just because he was an ex-human that he would buy garbage like that?

"But Lord Kaname!" Aido protested, "I haven't even given him his examination yet! And anyway, it's no job for a pureblood to be escorting someone like that around! Let someone else deal with the 'D…"

The look that Kaname shot the noble was extremely frosty. "Do not use that term anywhere on these premises again Aido. And as for what a pureblood should or shouldn't do, do you dare tell me where my place is in my own stronghold?"

"N-no! Of course not, Lord Kaname!" the blonde exclaimed, mortified. "Please forgive me!"

"I might, but make sure to see me tomorrow, Aido, and bring your cousin too. He is supposed to be supervising you, after all," the pureblood said icily as Aido sketched a deep bow. "Now, I shall see that his young man is given blood and somewhere to stay. He came to us seeking help, and I am not at all pleased with how you would have him treated."

Kaname placed his hand on Zero's shoulder, an action that both confused and angered the ex-human. He followed Kaname as he left the Recruitment Centre, reflecting that the pureblood was nothing like he had imagined.

"What's going on?" Kain asked, entering the room. "Kaname just went by with that ex-human."

"Oh, that," Aido said uncomfortably, "well, he's just getting the 'D - I mean the ex-human a blood source."

"Aido?" Kain said, a hint of suspicion creeping into his mind at his cousin's hasty self correction, "did you get in trouble again? Or should I ask, did you get me in trouble again?"

Aido's guilty face was enough to tell him that he had guessed correctly.

"Aido!"

Thanks for reading! I'm sorry if there wasn't much going on, but I'll try and make the next chapter more exciting.

This is my first story, so I would really appreciate any constructive criticism! Please review. =)