Along the Great Divide

Ludwig had retreated to their bedroom, stretching out across the mattress and giving his body a stretch. Reaching down, he shimmied out of his shirt and lay there with his chest exposed. He heard a few footsteps, the door swinging open with only a small creak. Mamoru walked over, crawled onto the bed and sat down on top of him, his hands on either side of his head.

“Wiggy, that was really mean…”Mamoru pouted.

“Oh?”Ludwig mused, looking up at him with a smug little smile.

“You got me all excited! Though…that was kind of gross…”the Mage said, looking back to look at his feet.
“Does that mean that I’m still going to get a kiss?”Ludwig said, giving him the kissy face.

“No. Not until you wash that dirty mouth of yours out.”Mamoru teased, sitting back and away from the lips. “Come on, dirty boy, bath time.”

“Awwww!”Ludwig whined, getting pulled up and dragged towards the bathroom. Turning the knob, he filled the bath with warm water, standing and fiddling with the point there Ludwig’s pants and his clammy skin met. Licking his lips, Mamoru leaned down, getting on his knees. His teeth grazed against Ludwig’s skin, biting down on the waist of his pants, pulling with his teeth.

The button had almost slipped loose when there was a heavy pound on the door.

“Ludwig, go hide!”Mamoru warned, sitting up and adjusting himself a little.

“But..”Ludwig tried to argue, getting a finger to the door. The Vampire sighed, shaking his head and disappearing without so much a flutter of Mamoru’s fair hair.

The mage headed out of the room, down the long hall and downstairs to the main door. Pulling the heavy oak door open, he peered out into the light. “Oh! The hunters from town…What can I do for you?”He inquired, smiling warmly.

A few of the men blushed.

“I see the rumors of true. I guess it didn’t take long for this mansion to find a new owner. Pray tell, how long have you been here?”A tall, blonde man asked.

“Several weeks now. I have been searching for someone…I was hoping that a big place like this would get his attention if ever came in this direction.”Mamoru said sweetly, tilting his head.

“I see…Well, we were curious as to just why all the blinds seem to be closed?”The hunter asked, indicating to the closest window.

“I’m afraid I have…tender skin when it comes to sunlight. I burn so easily…It’s just easier to keep the mansion cooler like this.”Mamoru answered, putting a hand to his lips in a small gasp. “You must think I’m a vampire of some sort! I heard you all were hunting those things! That must be frightening, putting your lives on the line…”

“Well…Well, yes…Would you mind if we looked around your mansion though, it seems those blood-suckers have a tendency to hide in basements or anything really dark in the day. We just want to check around, make sure that there aren’t any here and we’ll leave you be…Miss…?”The hunter inquired.

Eye twitch.

“Mamoru…”He answered, trying not to sound rude.

“You’re a man?”One blurted out, blushing more.

Stress mark.

“Indeed…I confuse people quite a bit, I apologize. But yes, please come in. Forgive the dust.”Mamoru said, opening the door and stepping aside. “I will be in my bed chambers, resting. I’m afraid all this ‘excitement’ has gotten me all flustered. Please close the door on the way out.”

The hunter nodded, leading his men in. Mamoru smiled at them, turning and heading upstairs at a reasonable pace then running to his room, closing the door quietly. “Ludwig, Luuudwiiggg…”He whispered. There was a cold rush and some hands on his shoulders.

“What’s going on? More men? Here?”Ludwig whispered. Mamoru turned around, grabbing him and pulling him into the bathroom again.

“The hunters have made their way here…They’re searching the mansion now. We need to leave.”Mamoru said lowly, a clear face of worry spread across his face.

Ludwig’s eyebrows furrowed, looking away. It was still daylight and despite that he could handle certain amounts of sunlight, there was still the possibility of his body turning to ash. Closing his eyes, he turned his head and looked back to Mamoru.

“Alright. When?”He said though he wasn’t too happy about it. There was a heavy feeling of fear weighing down his shoulders.

“After they leave…We need to leave immediately. I don’t think they believed me…”He said, jumping when he heard the door next to their room open, footsteps scurrying around. A man shouted ‘clear’ and the others followed suit. Mamoru looked up to his lover, eyebrows furrowed as they both were silent. His eyebrows raised, quickly pulling his robes off and then going to dunk his head in the partially filled bath. Throwing his under robe on, and stepping out with a towel just as one had opened the door.

“Oh!”Mamoru said, turning his body away so his front couldn’t be seen.

“Ah! Sorry, next room!”The man blushed, closing the door quickly. When the footsteps went away, Mamoru and Ludwig released a long breath. Putting a hand to his heart, he headed back to the bathroom.

“That was too close…”He said, gathering his robes again and redressing.

“I didn’t know distractions could be so sexy…”Ludwig teased with a low whisper, kissing the pale, flustered cheek.

“Hush now…Sit quiet for a while. I’ll be lying down on the bed...Try not to get antsy…”Mamoru said, giving him a small kiss. He slinked out of the bathroom, closing the door but leaving a crack open so he could peek out. Crouching down, he found a comfortable position to sit and observe the room from the crack, watching Mamoru undress again and slide into the bed.

‘Even when he’s pretending to distract someone…he makes my blood run warm and a still heart beat…’Ludwig mused, smirking. His ear twitched when he heard more footsteps, hunkering down to listen and wait.

It would be some time before the hunters actually left the area.

Closing his eyes, he tried to drift off, hoping that it wouldn’t be too long.

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It was probably the most painful trek Ludwig had ever been on. As he was carried by Ramund, he could slowly see the light from the outside world slowly fade over his shoulder. He had been close to the age of three then in appearance by was by far only ten years younger than Ramund himself. Closing his eyes, he had drifted off into some resemblance of peace in the older man’s arms.

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“Ludwig…Ludwig….Ludwig, wake up. They’re gone.”Mamoru whispered softly, shaking the Vampire from his nap. Ludwig blinked, the darkness fading away from his vision to see a halo of white in front of him. Rubbing his eyes, he rose to his feet with some assistance.

“Are you sure they’re completely gone?”Ludwig asked, looking to Mamoru with a serious gaze. The mage nodded.
“They left some time ago. You looked so exhausted so I gave you some time to rest before we left. Everything is packed, we just have to go. Is there anything else that you want to bring from here?”Mamoru asked, guiding Ludwig out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where he could sit down at the table for a moment to think.

“Just a pan and pot from the kitchen…and maybe a few extra pieces of clothing but that’s it. I can get those in a moment and I can just meet you downstairs at the door.”Ludwig said, sitting down and rubbing the back of his neck.

“Are you sure you’re alright? We can try to hold off another day if you…”Mamoru asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“No, we need to leave. There’s no telling when they can come back. We just need to get a few more towns over and out of sight, right? Worse to worse, I can carry you and we can travel through the night.”Ludwig said, now rising to his feet. “Quickly, go grab your things.” He added, the pale head nodding and dashing off with a flurry of robes and a white cloak.

Ludwig watched a moment, looking over his shoulder to look at the light that poured from under the curtain. It was still so bright out…Shaking the thought off for only a moment, he fled the room without disturbing a thing, running around the mansion to gather what he needed. Mamoru waited for him by the door, surprised when he saw the dark cloak pop in front of him so quickly.

“Ready? Is that cloak going to protect you from as much light as possible?”Mamoru asked, pulling his hood up.
“It should. The clothing helps too.”Ludwig said. Mamoru stared at him as if trying to read him but nodded, turning around and pulling the mansion door open.

The light was so blinding at first. Ludwig brought a hand up to shield his eyes until they could adjust before hesitantly stepping out. Well, he wasn’t a pile of ash yet. Sticking a hand out from under the robe, he stuck his hand out to see just how long he could stand the light, finding that it took some time for it to really start to hurt. Mamoru grabbed his hand, pulling him along.

They had no time to lose.

As they traveled, they found a small brook where they stopped to rest a moment, Mamoru setting his pack down and rubbing his shoulders. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have packed so much…”He said, frowning and shaking his head.
“Just what did you pack?”Ludwig asked, sticking to the shade of the trees.

“Clothes, food and some healing herbs…I swear that’s all I packed. Did you accidentally stick something in my pack, Wiggy?”Mamoru asked, looking up at him curiously.

“Well…We did have our little friend to worry about. The pot and pan took up some space in my bag with the clothes…so I stuck some more food and the little guy himself in there.”Ludwig admitted, rubbing the back of his head. Mamoru blinked, opening the pack to see a little ball of fur curled up on top of some bundled clothes. It moved, blinking and yawning.

The kitten had been orphaned when a snake had eaten the mother and the rest of the litter he had come from. He was a small ball of fluff, just barely getting his spots on his fur. They adopted him, cleaned him up but had yet to decide to give him a name.

“Oh! I almost forgot about him.”Mamoru said, his eyebrows furrowing as he took a small kitten out from the bag, cradling him gently. “You could have just carried him, you know! It’s dangerous for a kitty to be in a bag like that.”

“I’m sorry Mamo…I’ve never actually HAD a pet before. I don’t know what to do with him! Look, if it helps, I can carry him some of the way then you can. Look, we’ve got enough cloth here that we can make a little sling for him, so we do not constantly have to hold him in our hands too.”Ludwig said, stooping down to put his pack down, opening it up and pulling out a cloth.

“It’s alright but please, try to be careful now. He’s our baby!”Mamoru scolded, receiving the cloth. He tied it in knot at two ends to create a hammock which he set the kitten in. It mewed, stretching and curling back up. “Did you bring milk too?”

“Milk will spoil. We can give him some water until the next town and then we can pick up some fresh milk.”Ludwig said, his ears drooping some. He hated being scolded for something…especially by Mamoru. It always seemed to hurt a little more than when his previous master had done the same….though far less physical.

“Okay...Hear that kitty? We’re going to get you some fresh milk so you can grow big like your Mama.”Mamoru cooed though it was pretty apparent that the kitten was too immersed in the warmth of the body close-by.
“Sorry Mamo…”Ludwig muttered as he sat down, resting his back against the tree.

“It’s okay Wiggy…I’ll make it up to you with a snack, okay?”Mamoru said, smiling softly.

“Sounds yummy but let’s wait until we’re behind closed doors alright?” Ludwig said, closing his eyes but cracking one to peer at the mage.

“Agreed,” Nodded the mage.

When they had rested, Mamoru and Ludwig continued on towards the next town. However, it being small, it was a little harder to find decent milk. They bought a small bottle, heading to the next town while the kitten suckled on the end of the cloth, mewling in delight. It was starting to grow steadily cooler as the day moved on and as they traveled, Mamoru pulling the scarf that Ludwig had lent him from the pack and wrapping it about him, tucking a little bit into the bundle he carried.

Ludwig, after traveling so much in the light, was starting to feel weaker as they moved along. Wrapping the cloak around him tighter seemed to help some along with the shade but it just wasn’t dark enough for him. They ended up having to stop a few times along the way so he could catch his breath…whatever breath he had.

“Can you go on?”Mamoru asked, rubbing the Vampire’s back comfortingly as he could. Ludwig was doubled over, his skin feeling much colder than it normally was.

“Not for much longer…”Ludwig said with a shake of his head.

“Do you want some to…”Mamoru said, starting to shuffle his clothes around some to the fresh bite mark on his chest. Ludwig grabbed the front of his robes, closing them again.

“No…Not until we’re somewhere out of sight…I don’t trust these woods and paths.”The Vampire said, shaking his head and putting a hand to his temple. The motion had made him dizzy.

“We’ll rest here a little longer…okay?”Mamoru said, clearly worried. He didn’t want to keep pushing him to keep going but they needed to find safety. Every small village and town they passed seemed to have been subjected to the same Vampire hunt. They’re goal was to get to the Vampire Nation but it would take some time to get there.

“Mamoru…Where is Grayharte from here?”Ludwig asked, lying down on the grass, tucked as far back into the shade as he could get.

Mamoru’s eyebrow rose. “We’re getting closer to the sea…Why?”He asked, now curious.

“I want to go…I know they aren’t alive…but I want to go back. Just to see what’s left of it at least…Is that alright?” Ludwig asked, peering up at the mage. Mamoru’s eyes were shining, though it was clear that he hadn’t been back to Grayharte in some time. In addition, because they were technically royalty there, they could seek some refuge at the temple if it was still standing. Mamoru nodded, moving so his legs were beneath the Vampire’s head, allowing him to use it as a pillow while he rested.