Taeyang paced around the castle on his nightly walk. Normally, he'd invite Yeoja Avalai along on his walks- it's always up to her whether to accept or not- but tonight he was moving at a much faster pace, doubling back to make the walk longer as his thoughts raced. They had new blood! New Kin, siblings, family! They could really use more vampires in their coven after...

Taeyang stopped and wrapped his arms around himself, whining at the loss of DeWinter manim- the one he was closest to due to his formal upbringing- and the other five kin that they lost last summer during the Hunters' attack. Even within the castle and on the cloudy lands of Scotland, the blistering sun had them weakened, causing them to need more blood in order to sustain themselves. Yeoja Avalai had been off seeing the Big Guy and he himself had been out hunting for their coven so they could survive and stay strong in case of an attack; the Hunters had been getting more rowdy both in Scotland and England, more decapitations and stakes to the heart than the vampires had seen in years.

That was when the pain had crippled him in the middle of the forest as he was stalking some runaways who were camping there. His still heart felt as though it was being ripped apart while he still lived- or...existed at least. He ran back to the castle as fast as he could, making it back in half a day. He hid in the treeline as he watched the Hunters bask in their victory, never knowing some of the coven had survived. They didn't make it far after that.

Taeyang had been curled up in the dungeons, locking himself in and denying himself blood as punishment. If Yeoja Avalai hadn't yanked him out a week later upon her return and shoved the blood down his throat, he doubted he'd be here now. It had taken her a while to get back, caught up in the political politeness of having to stay when asked by a vampire even older than herself. She told him that she had felt their coven's death to a much lesser extent, and had hunted down their other few members that had dispersed during the attack. There were 5 of them left out of the 14 that had originally walked these halls. 5 Vampires barely even makes a coven.

It's been a long two seasons and finally, at the thawing of snow and beginning of spring, new blood had been brought to the castle. He knocked politely at the double-doors of the 'living' room and entered.

"Yeoja Avalai, they should be waking soon." He said, his calm demeanor belying his excitement for new family.

"Is that so?"

The regality of her voice remained as cool as ever, as though he had just mentioned that peaches were on sale. Not that that mattered anyways. Who needed peaches when the sweetest nectar came from the beating hearts of dying men? As he came through the ornate doors and stepped into the luxurious chambers he would find her standing nearby her favorite windows, the ones overlooking the courtyard and the woods below. Dressed to kill--as always--in her victorian era gown and covered head to toe in blood red attire, she slowly turned to the young vampire. She looked him in the eye in the most peculiar way.

It was not excitement in her eyes, nor was it her usual predatory grin. Rather, for once, the Countess's expression was quite dead.

Thoughts that could not be projected were clearly playing in her head but what over? Concern for the coven, or something darker? In any case, as she stood by the windows, it became crystal that she was not going to move for now. She turned back to the view.

"Taeyang," She began, softly. She seemed to be ready to confide something in him.

"Yes, Yeoja Avalai?" Taeyang inquired, keeping himself bowed as per usual until she accepted his presence. He always found it odd how his upbringing when human and his now engrained vampiric instincts made him so...docile to those he acknowledged as above him. Not that Avalai didn't deserve it; the length of her existence alone showed her strength, and her seat waiting for her next to Dracula's in his castle said much about her overall importance in this world.

"If I may lend an ear, of course." He finished, raising his eyebrow and keeping his eyes on the ground in respect.

At the last moment, the countess changed her mind.

"Rise," She sighed, closing her eyes. "Tell me what you know of the newblood. We must focus on their upbringing first and foremost." She walked toward him, her skirts swishing with each step, and giving a peek at her long, stilleto lace up boots from under her skirt.

"There is one male and one female, both in the latter half of their teen years." Taeyang began. "They were dropped at our doorstep three days ago with an untraceable note, simply saying 'For You'. We don't know who turned them or why they left the fledglings to us, but perhaps it was one of the other covens who wanted no more in their own." He knew that was a long-shot, but his only other thought was that someone else in his own coven may have made them and dropped them off; of the three Avalai had found, none of them chose to return to the castle, and all but renounced their coven. One would never sire a fledgling, so it was down to two. But that was only one line of thinking...

"The girl has no background I could find, yet her clothes are fairly nice, so I'm to assume she was a wanderer, a nomad. The boy I traced back to his family, but after observation they seem to not have even given his absence any thought." Taeyang tried not to let it show how troubling that idea was to him.

"Tch," Avalai clucked her tongue. "Parasites. Those who have no sense of family are as such." She sighed. Surely they would have to explain to the fledglings about their new world, and she wasn't looking forward to it. Centuries of explaining what exactly vampire life is has only benefited its tedium. "Shall we?"

She offered a slender pale hand to him, awaiting his companionship to where the fledglings awaited them.

"We shall." Taeyang agreed, bowing before leading her hand into the crook of his elbow, his other hand covering her slender one. They reached the dungeon in no time, just as the fledglings were stirring. He led Avalai to the cell with the boy as he waited in the one with the girl, leaning against the bars and keeping an ear out to make sure the boy didn't attack Avalai.



"Ugh..." She woke with a groan and pushed her body up from the floor. Looking around to let her eyes adjust, she noticed the slim figure leaning up against the bars. 'Wait, bars? Am I in jail? What did I do?' she ranted in her mind, not moving an inch. 'I should cal...I should...I should call...who?' her mind stuttered to a halt. "Who- where-"

"You, castle." The one in the room replied, a smirk obvious in his tone. "We don't know your name so you'll have to figure that out yourself." He knelt down next to her. Her body felt paralysed by the knot in her stomach, and she stared as his face came into focus. He was older than her, but he still looked young. Her body tensed in warning when he touched her shoulder and pulled her into the sitting position. "Calm down, kiddo, I won't hurt you. Drink this, you've been without for a few days at least." Her lips remained firmly sealed up until she caught the smell of the drink he had picked up from a table in the cell. Without a second thought her lips were parted and the liquid was going down her throat, making her feel stronger by the second. When her limbs finally unlocked, she snatched the cup out of the surprised man's hand, tilting her head back as far as it would go and savoring every last drop. "More" she demanded with a growl when there was nothing left. She reached out to the man, glaring at his empty hands.

"Whoa, woah, it's ok. C'mere, Yeoja Avalai is with the other one, and we'll all get more after grouping up." He held his hand out to her and helped her up. With a slight bow, he led her out of the room and down the hall, where a woman in a red dress was with a boy just a bit younger Anrah herse-

"...Anrah?" She whispered as the two of them entered the cell. The Korean man looked at her over his shoulder and gave her a smile. "I'm guessing that's your name. Yeoja Avalai, this is Anrah." He introduced after bowing to the woman I'm red.