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It was an unexpected encounter. Like the usual, you travel from places to places whenever there is a sighting of dark creatures attacking or threatening a village. It is your calling after all, to annihilate all those demons, and creatures of the dark. All by yourself. That is until you met her.
Amidst the smell of blood, dead bodies, and a destroyed village, you found her almost lifeless, covered in blood, with scythe in hand. At first you were shocked, wondering if she was the one who did all of it. But then, you see lifeless bodies of werewolves among the dead humans. A girl who could be just a bit younger than you, but still is too young to be witnessing such cruelty and had to take it upon her own hands to end everything. When you thought emotions have become foreign to you, this red hooded girl stirred something inside of you, wrenching your heart without even knowing her yet. You found a similarity to yourself in her.
The girl in the red hood was saved. She showed no gratitude, nor even spared you a look, or anyone at all. But that is fine. You did not save her for that. You saved her because that is the right thing to do. And you think it must be fate. If you had not found her there, she would have been dead. If you had not came with the Elf King, Estes, with you, there was no way you could have saved her yourself. The Elf King fortunately, could still heal her wounds, but not her right eye which she probably lost during the fight. And as Estes already has another matter to attend to, he had to leave you alone to care of her. He at least left some instructions on what she will need during her recovery.
Ruby. The name of the girl you saved. You only learned about it a few months after you saved her. While it seemed like she didn’t want to be saved, and her will to live is gone, she tagged along with you carrying the scythe she never let herself be far away from. It’s not like there is any place where you can leave her, let alone find it in yourself to leave her by herself at all. When you told her that you go from places to places to kill demons and dark creatures, you saw eagerness from her usually dead eye. The same eagerness you have in yourself for fulfilling your life mission. So, you let her come with you despite thinking that she might hold you back. However, she has proven you wrong.
At the sight or smell of blood, or if there’s any sense of danger around, something changes in her. Her dead eye would be filled with rage, followed by a maniacal laugh and what seemed like a howl. Mercilessly, she would attack anyone who charges at her. She won’t stop until she passes out or unless all the creatures are dead, to which she would also collapse right after. It is a painful sight for you. You know very well the pain she is going through. The rage occupying inside of her, and the tears you see in her eyes once she collapses, or sometimes when she was having a bad dream. Her sanity is hanging by a thin thread with the tragedy she had faced that night. And you wish you could take her pain away just like how yours is slowly being replaced with care for this girl.
Over time, you got used to her psychopathic behavior, but not to the pain you can feel she is screaming out loud through her maniacal laugh. But slowly, you learned to be able to stop her. When you call out to her, little by little she started listening. Your voice became a familiar thing for her. Something she can hold on to come back to her senses. Then she would cry in your arms. The first time you succeeded on doing so, you finally got a glimpse of the tragedy that happened to her.
Werewolf attacks weren’t unusual for their village. They have people assigned to protect their village. But the scale of attack that night was far larger than the usual, than what their village could ever prepare for. It was as if the werewolves were under someone’s orders to destroy their village, to which she guesses was the wolf king. It didn’t take them an hour to invade them and destroy everything. Her grandmother and grandfather, who were the only family she had left protected her. Her grandfather successfully wounded one of them, but it wasn’t enough. It was futile and they were overpowered. She stood there frozen until her knees gave out, as she watches the werewolves kill and tear her grandparents apart. They ate them in front of her not leaving even a trace of blood. That is when she lost it. Her sanity replaced with outrage and bloodlust taking the werewolves by surprise. Before they know it, they were already dead. When you ask how she was able to fight the wolves with her scythe, all she said was that there was someone who trained her. Someone who was a father to her.
From then on, it seemed like her burden was lifted off a little bit. Something changed in her. Something changed in you as well. One time when the Elf King came to visit you, he noted on how much you seemed to have soften up. He even noted the smile you have on your face when you talk about her. Strange. You thought to yourself. Once again, you were reminded of a long-forgotten emotion. Happiness.
The wolf king is coming! The neighboring village is currently under attack! It will be no time before it gets here. Run for your lives!
It was almost evening then and you two were about to have dinner when you heard a commotion from outside. A wounded man who seemed like he had been running around screamed those words. The panic in his tone is real. He was trembling in fear. He ran off quickly after saying that without waiting for everyone’s reaction. But it was enough. Everyone knew the man and that no one would joke about that. They all started moving as quickly as they can. Gathering their things, their horses, and everything they needed before running off. Some others just right away started running. It’s not like you were too occupied with the surroundings, but you didn’t even notice when Ruby ran off with her scythe. By the time you noticed, she was already out of your sight. But you know exactly where she is edheaded.
You went after her as fast as you can. You knew she would be even more reckless this time. And even she had long proved her strength, you can never leave her alone.
She can’t die. She shouldn’t die. Ruby, please be safe.
The village is on fire when you arrived. There are still people trying to fight back. Trying their best to delay the inevitable and let more people to escape while they buy some time. Ruby is nowhere to be found. But the people who were left fighting saw her.
A red hooded girl passed by earlier. She chased after the wolf king.
You tightened your grip on your sword and started running again. You know you must look for her. You felt your cursed right hand ached in response to your worry and frustration. That was almost twenty minutes ago, said the man who gave you the information. Taking a deep breath, you focused on your hearing sense, thinking somehow you will be able to pickup her maniacal laugh, or her howling. But rather than those, the sound you picked up was of her grunting painfully. And then you finally spotted them. A furry black wolf barehandedly gripping on the blade of her scythe. He is on top of her, almost overpowering her.
Without thinking, you jumped into them and pulled the werewolf away with the strength of your cursed right hand. He forcefully grabbed the scythe from Ruby and blocked the strike of your sword. Much to his surprise, you plunged your right hand into his chest causing the wolf to grunt in pain. But this only fueled his strength with the pain and anger you caused in him. The wolf sank his nails into your right arm, pulling it out of his chest. That was when you heard a voice calling your name.
Alucard!
It was the first time you heard her call your name, and for a second, you didn’t feel any pain as your senses focused only on her even after the werewolf has thrown you away. You saw her pick up your sword and managed to cut off an arm from the werewolf. As she was about to cut his head off, the werewolf howled so loudly that stunned Ruby. He took this chance to ran away with all the other werewolves.
It will usually take about half an hour to recover from a wolf’s howl, but you saw Ruby forced herself to stand up. You thought she will continue to go after him. Much to your surprise, she went over your side with tears on her remaining eye. For the first time, you saw something else than rage on it. You don’t know how to describe it. There seems to be longing and compassion. And before you realized it, her lips are already touching yours, while locking you into a tight embrace. The pain on your cursed hand seemed to stop spreading as your heartbeats went faster.
When the moment was over, your eyes met hers that is filled with tears. She rested her forehead on your shoulders and tightened her hug on you.
Please, you can’t die. You’re the only one I have left.
Even with the almost unbearable pain you’re feeling right now, you found yourself smiling at her confession. Your heart felt so warmed up for the first time in decades since your father died.
I won’t die. And you can’t die as well. We should work hard together.*