Chapter Text
Louis was sure glad he’d chosen to get out into the wilderness in pants and not his usual skirt. Movement was far easier this way; he certainly didn’t know why all the women back home continued to put them on. He knew they didn’t feel the same… discomfort with lady-like attitude that he did, but it was still counter-productive.
He supposed, had he been wearing a dress, that he could’ve played in the damself-in-distress act, to assure food and shelter. But that was assuming he’d run into another living being, and he was a make-shift kind of guy and didn’t need no man to rely on. Especially since those men were the ones to run him out of town.
It was fine. It wasn’t like he didn’t see it coming.
He was aiming for another town not far from here; Oakhurst. He knew it fell into disrepair in the last century or so, but it still meant possible left-over crops and slightly sound infrastructure to fall under. Not to mention, less population.
If he played his cards right, he could mess around enough with his appearance through his pocket mirror not to look like a woman anymore; not to look like a Luanne anymore.
It would not only be a tactical play—men always seemed to get the way that they wanted—but also a comfortable one. He’d never quite felt at ease with his chest or his round hips. It wasn’t like he planned on getting any lover or children; and such, his cover wouldn’t be blown.
It was perfect. He just needed some time to himself and to find Oakhurst, which proved to be harder than he’d like.
He foraged through a bit more of the forest—when had he lost the path—and groaned. He made a point to rub his eyes—perhaps dust was handicapping his vision. He did say that while he wasn’t good at most things, he had awfully good eyes, didn’t he?
No matter. Where was this town?
There was certainly a fog, making it harder to see through. Perhaps if he just took one more step—agh, he sure was glad he wasn’t wearing any heels—oh!
There it was. Or—not quite. Louis had found a bit where the forest ended, the trees made themselves scarce, leaving space for a big plain. If there was any place for a town in the general area, it would be here. Now, if he could activate his ears and be on the look out for a water source and follow it, there was sure to be a town.
That’s what he’d thought, anyway. But as he put a foot in front of the other and picked up crops on the way, a big wooden palisade started to take shape on the horizon—Oakhurst!
With a new hope blossoming in his chest, Louis took a confident step forwards, making his way to the ruins of the town…
“Hey!” A voice called out as Louis was merely a few feet away from what seemed to be the remains of a gate. He refrained from groaning or seeming unfriendly; the voice was high and feminine, so he wasn’t in danger of men, but he’d learnt that women could be fierce, too. Notably the ones they’d call witches. “Missy over there! Whatcha doin’?”
Louis tried not to feel his heart drop at the gendered term as he turned around to see the woman that called to him: there, he could recognize a tall woman with long, wavy hair, a lovely black dress that surely didn’t help with her travel, a small blush on her cheeks and striking blue eyes. Next to her, though, were two men—one, slightly taller than her, had pale, freckles-filled face, with blue eyes and short, combed brown hair and a rather expensive looking outfit, while the other seemed to be the same height as Louis, with messy curly hair, tanned skin, big brown eyes, and a dusty old beige-brown outfit.
“I was about to head towards Oakhurst,” he answered the question honestly, seeing no need to lie.
“Are you sure that’s Oakhurst?” She pushed, her eyes glancing over to the ruins. Had she been expecting anything more? If so, Louis said; “Yeah. I was just ran out of a neighboring town. I just needed quick shelter before rebuilding my life somewhere else.”
His explanation seemed to leave the woman wide-eyed and almost looking guilty, same with the tall man. The shorter one, though, repeated the words; “Ran out of a town, were you?”
“They’d found proof of the occult in my room. I was accused of witchcraft.” He explained—not quite honestly, as vampirism wasn’t quite witchcraft, but they were the same level of accusation.
“Right! Right. Then they tell me I’m weird for traumadumping!” The woman cut in once more. Louis was beginning to like her; she seemed more confident then the ladies in his village, she didn’t seem to be pushed around by her companions. “I’m Pearl, my entire family died, so I came here to rebuild my life…and the town, I guess!”
…well, in Pearl’s defense, Louis had basically done the same, hadn’t he?
“The lanky one’s Pyro, and the shortie here’s Owen. What about ya, lovely lady?” Pearl asked and Louis tried not to feel too disappointed at the gendering; she seemed genuinely kind and friendly. He shouldn’t take it personally.
“I’m Luanne,” he lied, because he didn’t go by that name in his own head, but it was one that wouldn’t make them bat an eye. “It’s nice to meet you. Are these gentlemen also settling into this town?” How many people were gonna jeopardize my transition plans?
“Oh, no, I just met Pearl on the way.” The tall man—Pyro, was it—said, “I’m a scholar, student of the university in the Capitol. I came here to write my final paper on the history of Oakhurst.” So, a rich person; it would explain his outfit, at least.
The shorter one, Owen, spoke up once more. “I met Pyro and Pearl across the lake little ways away.” So there was a water source nearby, Louis knew he was right to keep a look out for one. “I used to live here when I was but a young boy. I left to seek greater things and… now that I’m back, it seems to have fallen into disarray.”
“Oh. I’m sorry,” he said with honesty, though he wondered how the town could’ve been inhabited less than a decade ago. Perhaps his village simply wasn’t in good terms with Oakhurst.
“Eh, it’s fine. I had nothing left here anyway, I.. I came back for the nostalgia of it all, I suppose, not the people.”
“Not for the wolves migrating eastwards?” Pearl said in a teasing tone, jabbing at Owen. She had a smirk on her face and an amused look in her eyes.
“Oh! I hadn’t even considered the wolves, goodness.” Louis let out, “I’m lucky I didn’t stumble upon any.”
“Wait, there actually are wolves in these woods?” Pyro asked, seemingly flabbergasted, his eyes widening at the possibility. Amused—Louis said, “Yeah, but I think they’ve given this place a wide berth, if none of us have stumbled upon them.”
“What, did you think I was kidding?” Owen asked, amused as well.
“I mean–well—I don’t know! You were staring at us creepily across the lake! I thought you were scaring us on purpose… or something!”
The group continued bickering slightly as they made their way inside the town. They all collectively winced at the state of the ruins—bar Louis, who’d been expecting such a sight. Conversation slowly died down after that.
“Hey, wait!” Pearl broke the silence, “There’s people over there!” She said, pointing off in the distance, and there they were. From here, Louis could make out three figures—two men and a woman.
The woman had long, curly auburn hair, brown eyes and pale skin. She wore a dark dress that fell to her knees, with high boots that covered the remainder of her legs. The other two men were rather tall—both had brown hair and scruffy beards, but one was considerably older and wore glasses.
“I didn’t know there were residents in Oakhurst,” Owen seemed to say under his breath, but Louis shook his head; those couldn’t possibly be residents.
They approached the little group, catching their attention with Pearl yelling, “Hey! People!”
But before introductions could be made—their conversation was interrupted by a man in a weird robe approaching the group—huh, who knew men could look so fashionable in feminine wear—as he announced, “I’m sorry to cut you off, but the man throwing garlic at everyone is doing something over there which feels… wrong.”
The group quickly dispelled, going towards the direction the man had pointed to. They didn’t even hear him finish his sentence; “...since he’s not from here, and most of us seem to want to settle down nearby, I thought it could be a communal concern…”
“Thank you for warning us.” Louis thanked as he, too, started walking towards the little ruined tower where a crowd seemed to gather.
“It’s no problem. I’m Doctor Legundo.” The man introduced himself, thought Louis could barely hear it as the loud chatter started to fill his ears. He’d try to introduce himself back, but it didn’t seem worth the trouble; he likely wouldn’t hear, and Louis wouldn’t pronounce his dead name more than he had to.
He couldn’t make out what was happening; a man with strikingly blue hair pushed past him muttering something about knowing when he wasn’t wanted and people saying they were… consecrating?
He was about to back out—it didn’t seem like he could stop whatever was going on in there, anway—when his vision became black.
A pulsating darkness, as though the sun itself was blinking.
“What are you guys doing?!” The good doctor yelled through the darkness, as the sun seemed to catch itself, getting rid of it. “What was that?!”
Louis himself didn’t say anything. If anything was vampiric or witchcraft worthy, this was it. And he couldn’t get associated with it if he didn’t want to get run out of town again. He felt bad for the brown-haired woman wearing a monocle and the ginger green eyed one in the mixt of men.
He didn’t know if he could have it in him to defend them come the accusations. If he did, he’d be thrown into the mixt as well, and have to run again. But then, since there were so many people here, it did already mess with his plans of transitioning, so did it really matter?
He was about to open his mouth to say something when Legundo called out once more; “Avid!”
“What?!” A high voice answered—though it decidedly didn’t come from a woman.
It was a man with fluffy hair of a color Louis couldn’t make out—dark grey, in a way, though he didn’t look old. Quite the opposite, in fact. He couldn’t be older than twenty years old.
“Do you even know what you’ve done?!”
“Well—do you know, if you’re so smart?! Oh, come on, try to say something about how this isn’t magic!”
Louis slowly took a step back, before quickly regretting it—he bumped into someone. That… wasn’t good. Though he was immediately relieved when he turned around to see that there were only the two women that were around the beacon and they didn’t seem upset.
“Hey, are you okay?” The one weanocle asked. “Seriously, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Did he? He’d have to work on his expressions more, it seemed. He cleared his throat before speaking, hating the way his voice sounded so feminine, “My bad. I’m just glad they didn’t accuse either of you of witchcraft.”
He saw the way the ginger woman’s eyes widened slightly, as though she was just remembering that it could’ve been a possibility, while the other seemed to brush it off. “Nah, witch hunts haven’t been a thing in the Capital for almost two decades now, we’ll be fine.”
“Oh,” Louis let out. “They haven’t been in villages either… But I think they’re less, uh, willing to part with old ways as the modernity of the Capital. Considering I had to run from town due to an accusation.”
“Oh no,” The red-head let out, “My poor child. Are you okay?”
It must’ve been a slip of the tongue, considering the woman looked to be in her twenties, and Louis knew he was well within his thirties by now. It still felt warm.
“Y—yeah.” Louis said. “I’m okay. I never really liked it in my village anyway.”
“I’ll make sure no one treats you like that again.” She assured, and with the way she was built—she certainly didn't lack muscles, and if Louis had been into women, he would’ve fallen far by now—he didn’t doubt it. “If you need help, just call for me. I’m Cleo, by the way.”
“And I’m Drift!”
“Luanne.” He lied again, “It’s nice to meet you.” He said with honesty. “What brought you to Oakhurst?”
“My family is from here, ancestrally.” Cleo explained. “I just wanted to find out more about my family’s history and all that.” Louis nodded—that was pretty reasonable. Then, he looked in Drift’s direction.
“My reason’s not as honorable.” She said, almost ashamed. “I’m just… running away from a case. I got threatened, back home, I guess.”
That definitely hid some baggage Louis wasn’t entirely ready to unpack, so he just nodded again. A sign of acknowledgement, and one that implied that he wouldn’t pry.
“Drift!” A voice called out for the young woman in front of Louis, a rather familiar one. Wasn’t that the boy called Avid? “Drift! Drift! Drift! I finally got out of that crazy man’s wrath!” He said, gesturing towards the good doctor. Louis wouldn’t call him crazy, but he hadn’t spent enough time with him to know.
“What’s up, my guy?” She said, turning her attention towards the boy.
“Hey. Hi, Cleo and—I don’t think i caught your name.” As Louis prepared his lie, he found he didn’t have time to tell it. “But I don’t really care! Did you guys feel that?”
“Feel what?” Cleo said, with an annoying groan. “Also, that was rude. Her name’s Luanne.”
Louis tried not to feel betrayed by that. Cleo couldn’t possibly know.
“Right! Right. Sorry, Luanne. Nice to meet you and all, I’m Avid, vampires are real, you know the shtick.” Louis really didn’t, actually, but he was willing not to question the young man.
Cleo rolled her eyes and Drift smiled a sheepish smile as they let the man continue on.
“During the consecration, I don’t know if you felt it, but the second that Scott walked in, it stopped!” He said frantically, his body language loud and exaggerated with some sort of panic.
Cleo sighed, and though Louis half expected her to wave off the young boy’s concern, she didn’t; “I did feel a very dark presence, too.”
“I mean, I don’t know if I’d call it a dark presence, you know?” Drift cut in the conversation. “I’d just say that the vibes were off. Like, he’s a noble, of course he’s a mood-killer, you know?”
“Right. Sure. Yeah. but something was still felt!” Avid concluded, looking relieved by this information. “What about you, then, Luanne?”
“I wasn’t present for the… thing,” he admitted, “I don’t know what it’s all about.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot.” Avid sighed, “Well. The beacon thing is all warm and fuzzy now, so I’d bet my head that it’s a good thing. Can you feel it?”
“I can.” Louis admitted as the two other girls hummed in agreement behind him.
The young man seemed ready to say something else, before, looking past them, he seemed to notice something that made his eyes widen ever so slightly and shut his mouth tight, his lips forming a thin line.
“Oh, great! The guy in the crazy outfit is back!” He groaned.
Louis briefly turned around to glance behind him, and there, the good doctor was approaching.
“Is this guy spouting about vampires again?” He asked, sounding exhausted.
“No. He was telling us about the beacon.” Louis admitted, with an apologetic smile, hoping it eased the doctor’s nerves. He must not believe in the supernatural, being a man of science; Louis could respect that.
“Then you’re one of the lucky ones.” He said with a genuine smile on his lips, “I don’t think I caught your name, though.”
“I’m Luanne.” He lied.
“Well then, Avid, if you would please leave these wonderful people alone, because I don’t doubt Luanne here didn’t get the time to even meet the ones you’re accusing of vampirism.” Louis felt a bit sheepish, thinking that he was right; he had no idea who this Scott was.
“That’s not true! Scott’s so extravagant and recognizeable, surely you’ve met him, right, Luanne?” Avid asked, something pleading in his eyes; he almost wished he could lie to appease him, but Louis wasn’t a liar, unless it came to his identity. “...I haven’t met Scott yet. Sorry Avid.”
Though he could see the disappointment in the young man’s eyes, he quickly pushed past it; “Nononono, that’s okay! But, just make sure to have this—” he shoved garlic into his hands, which Louis wasn’t even aware he had on him, “—with you at an all times, okay?!”
Well, this, Louis was familiar with. He ignored the good doctor’s groan behind him as he brought the garlic to his mouth and took a rather big chunk of it in his mouth, watching the way Avid’s face lit up at the action.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!” He quickly said before Legundo finally, finally spoke up. “I think you’ve harassed this lady enough, Avid. Leave her alone.”
“Okay! I feel better knowing she’ll be safe!” he said as he scurried away, going to find Drift, who’d disappeared during their conversation, alongside Cleo.
“My apologies,” Legundo said, “He’s… I’m no psychiatric, but I will try to book him an appointment eventually. He’s clearly suffering from some kind of paranoia.”
“I think that’s a bit harsh.” He spoke his mind, which he was trying to reason against the part of his mind screaming that it was a bad idea. If this man didn’t believe in vampires, then surely he wouldn’t believe in witchcraft. “He was so happy when I ate the garlic. I think he’s got a good heart and just wants to help.”
Legundo seemed to sigh, considering her words. “I can see that, but indulging in his fantasies might install some fear into the town. We can’t be led by the uninformed.”
“That’s understandable,” he said, though he didn’t know whether he agreed or not; he felt as though he had quite a bit of bias in both perspectives. “Sorry. My old town believed in vampirism a lot, so I feel as though I’m a bit biased.”
“That’s okay,” Legundo reassured, though it seemed to be the default response—which was confirmed, because he then followed with; “Do you believe in vampires?”
The question was… tough to answer. He resorted to a metaphor.
“To me, that’s not different to asking whether the sky is blue.” He started off, and the good doctor seemed rather intrigued, “While yes, the sky seems blue, I cannot confirm it. What if I was affected by a colorblindness, unbeknownst to me? The human eye is only limited to few colors; does a cat see the sky as blue, or another color, that we cannot see?”
“I see.” The good doctor said, “That’s pretty reasonable.”
“Thank you,” Louis responded. “Many people would’ve called me crazy for that explanation, but I should not have expected any less from you. You’re a man of books and knowledge.”
“You’re awfully kind.” He noted, while Louis noted the way he was subtly trying to dismiss the compliment as his cheeks turned pink. He wasn’t good at taking compliments, then. Louis wouldn’t press.
“I won’t lie to you, good doctor.” Louis lied, since he’s already told lies to his face; his name wasn’t Luanne. “I may also be biased, considering my town believed in vampirism. But they did also cast me out because they believed me to be infected, so.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He apologized, though it wasn’t his fault; he seemed to prove he wasn’t one to cast fire to a pyre. “I thought witch hunts would’ve been over, since the law passed.”
“Sometimes law doesn’t reach the small villages.” Louis admitted with a sigh. “And that’s far from the only thing.”
“I’m aware,” Legundo recalled, “That’s why I came to Oakhurst. I’m a travelling medic, after the war, trying to bring my knowledge to those away from the Capital.”
“An honorable profession.”
“So I’ve been told.” he said, though there was something to be read behind his eyes. He quickly shook it off and changed the subject, though. “But we’ve been standing here a while, and even I’ve not finished meeting the entirety of the town, Luanne. So maybe we should get going.”
So louis nodded and smiled, and off they were, heading to an odd group of people.