A Renegade’s Jeremiad

Chapter 7: The First Step

April 27th. 10:23 PM

Moon: First Quarter

Henry panted as he ran through the woods, desperate to return to safe territory. Eventually, he fell to his knees, out of breath. "Why?" Henry rasped, "Why is this happening? How did it come to this?" Henry covered his eyes, tears streaking down his face. In his mind's eye, he saw the death of his mother once more. Though now, he recalled the villagers that were charmed by Vanessa. He recalled the caring, yet utterly obsessive gaze Clarissa held for him and him alone. He recalled Marcus' rant about his prophecy and Duncan's dismissal of his concerns. Henry curled into a ball, his gut twisting, and his face contorting into a downtrodden, guilt-ridden expression. "This is all my fault…" Henry muttered to himself, "Every time strife came. Every time the world challenged me, I just ran. I didn't confront anything!" Henry shuddered as he reflected on his actions. He'd been desperately trying to grieve, trying to move on. Yet, the visage of his mother's corpse lying in front of him never left his mind's eye. As if the memory itself was burned into his mind. With a heavy heart, Henry rose to his feet, his lips quivering, his pupils contracting, his eyes continuing to water as his mind tried to process the immense mountain of thoughts ravaging his mind.

"Those people were put in danger by Vanessa because…" Henry sobbed, "Because I didn't take responsibility. I didn't act like a hunter should." Henry walked along the forest path he came to know as he continued muttering to himself, "I just wanted to protect people from myself before I blew up and hurt someone. I never wanted anyone to get hurt…" Henry stumbled into the trunk of a tree; his melancholic diatribe having distracted him from the tree roots. Reflecting on his stumble, Henry began to recognize a pattern. 'My emotions. They're consuming me, making me act idiotic,' Henry mused, 'I'm not going to survive like this. Father wouldn't want this of me. Mother would fear for my safety. I need to change, for the innocent people getting hurt and so that I can make a good name of my father's legacy.' Henry's mouth grimaced as a steely gaze overtook his once fretful, watery eyes. Henry continued, 'I won't submit. I won't run anymore. Only when logic dictates, I must evade or retreat shall I do so. I won't listen to Marcus. I won't surrender my humanity nor will I submit to the wolves.' Henry's right hand formed a fist over the moon. 'I am Henry Sunsword, son of William Sunsword. I will live up to my father's legacy!' Henry thought. Henry then retreated to his house for an early rest.

On April 29th at 7:30 AM, Vanessa prowled the streets of the town in broad daylight, using a heavy cloak to create a shadow that would block the sun from burning her skin and alerting other hunters. 'I need more followers,' Vanessa mused, 'Once I get another army back, I can use them to lure Henry out of whatever hiding place Henry's holed up in, then I'll snatch him up, use my followers to keep him from doing anything rash, and then I'll have him ascend to my level.' Vanessa grinned to herself. 'He'll finally be mine to hold and adore,' Vanessa thought, l*****g her lips at the thought before noticing a few hunters, one in particular being Nick. 'Ah. Henry's other old friend,' Vanessa thought, 'Still being the dog he was raised to be. Pitiful.'

It was then Vanessa caught the whiff of a sweet scent. This scent caused Vanessa's heart to pound in her chest and warmth bloomed over her cheeks as her breathing grew heavy and slow. The color of the world grew in its vibrancy, and Vanessa's senses heightened to a fever pitch. 'Henry… Mmm~' Vanessa thought, her eyes darting to and fro, 'Where are you, my darling? I'll make sure you don't escape me this time!' It was then Vanessa immediately heard a rush of footsteps as it closed in on her, carrying Henry scent, however, when she turned to see what it was, she saw Henry for a brief second before her face met his fist, covered with a gauntlet made of orange hunter energy, sending her flying before she eventually crashed into the ground.

Immediately, an entire squad of hunters surrounded the area, drawn to Henry's hunter energy while Vanessa rose to her feet, rubbing the small, aggravated burn on her cheek as she witnessed Henry, his sclera orange and his pupils forming diagonal cross slashes as he gave her a steely gaze. Vanessa focused her crimson fuel, healing off the aggravated wound before flashing a wicked smile at Henry, flutters buzzing in her stomach as she felt his gaze on her. "Hm. I see you've gotten bold. How intriguing~" Vanessa eloquently expressed, "Though, it seems we're surrounded now, hm?" Henry huffed, never moving his eyes off Vanessa. "Speak what you will, but I won't allow you to touch the minds of any villager here ever again!" Henry declared.

Vanessa marveled as she heard the sheer conviction behind Henry's words, her eyes losing focus as something inside her overwhelmed her senses. However, all this experience did was make her heart beat at a supernaturally fast rate, her smile broadening as her eyes dilated for the first time in millennia. "Oh… You have no idea what you do to me darling~" Vanesa mused, her voice muffled with mumbled words. But that's when turned her full gaze on Henry, eyes gleaming eagerly. "Is that so? Have I struck a nerve?" Vanessa asked playfully, giggling as the other hunters tensed from the tension in the atmosphere. Henry clanged his gauntlets together, the orange hunter energy bringing out all of his reactionary motions. Henry clenched his jaw, frothing a bit at the mouth as the hunter energy boiled behind his retinas. He was barely holding his composure together. "That is fighting words, Vampire!" Henry bellowed.

Without any hesitation, Henry rushed in with his gauntlets, ready to punch Vanessa again. However, Vanessa leapt over Henry's punch, planning to land behind him. Henry, understanding Vanessa's intention, quickly changed his gauntlets into a whip and lassoed her to the ground from her aerial position before unleashing lash after lash on her. Vanessa, maintaining her composure, endured the onslaught, managing to escape the range of the whip and evade Henry's gaze as her wounds quickly healed thanks to her vampiric regeneration. With Henry unaware of her location, Vanessa attempted to tackle him from behind until a bolt of blue hunter energy sent her off course with a single shot. As Henry took note of Vanessa, Nick, blue hunter energy radiating off him, quickly ran to Henry's side, his sights locked on Vanessa as he prepared another attack. Vanessa quickly vaulted away and kept dashing around to confuse the two hunters before they could hit her. As she did this, she overheard Henry and Nick's conversation, remaining hidden to avoid being harmed so she could hear the status of their current relationship.

"So, you've come here, eh? Why?" Nick asked Henry. "Because this situation has gotten out of hand. My reluctance to fight the common enemy has led others to harm when I was trying to protect others. Especially you, Nick," Henry admitted somberly. Henry's eyes were heavy with unshed tears, as the feeling of a burning fire ignited deep within his gut, causing him to feel like a burden as his chest tightened and his face flushed. There was a small pause between the two before Nick replied, "Hey, don't blame yourself for that implosion of your energy back then. You were stressed, and I should've seen the signs. I let you down too." Henry's chest relaxed and his face returned to normal before nodding silently. Understanding the action, Nick grinned and mirrored the nod before placing his back to Henry's to cover their blind spots. In that moment, the two old friends silently forged an alliance to take Vanessa down, both of them keeping their eyes peeled for her.

Vanessa smirked before her irises glowed crimson. 'Oh? Not retreating, are we? Big mistake. I'll have Henry here and now!' Vanessa mused, readying her barrier technique. When she unleashed it, the vampiric barrier technique surrounded Nick and Henry, shutting out the surrounding hunters and minimizing the sunlight to the point where it had as much strength as moonlight. When Vanessa stepped through the barrier, Nick and Henry turned to face her. Henry glared while Nick raised an eyebrow, recognizing Vanessa from the moment he saw her prowling the woods. "Ah," Nick began, "Didn't heed my warning, it seems." Vanessa laughs, her crimson-colored eyes shimmering with amusement. "No shadows to escape through this time Henry~" Vanessa cooed, before turning to Nick with a diamond hard gaze, "And as for you, brute, you can't stop me from obtaining my desires. None of you hunters can!"

Nick tensed at this before activating his green hunter energy, his sclera turning green and his pupils transforming into the shape of hourglasses. "Who said anything about desire denial, Lady? We're only here to put you out of your misery," Nick stated nonchalantly. "What are you picking, partner?" Nick asked Henry. Henry took a breath and activated his purple hunter energy, his sclera turning purple and his pupils breaking apart until it blended into the sclera as a haze. Nick smirked at Henry's selection. "First one you awakened huh? Brings back old memories," Nick stated. Henry nodded silently, face neutral, if not a little off putting. Nick tilted his head, c*****g a playful eyebrow. "D'aww, come on, buddy. What'd I say?" Nick stated jokingly. Henry grinned at this detail before c*****g his head to Vanessa. Nick nodded in reply. "The old combination sound good to you?" Nick asked. Henry smiled. "Alright! It's showtime!" Nick exclaimed before turning to Vanessa who was standing there the entire time. "Thanks for standing around like a bump on a log! Bet that won't have any problems, will it?" Nick shouted with an intent to antagonize, earning Vanessa's laughter. Vanessa chortled, "No need to attack so recklessly. After all, I can fold you in half easily, then Henry will be mine soon after. You will die here, boy."

Nick rolled his eyes before extending his arms out, green sparks flying out of his hands. "Get a load of this," Nick uttered in a laid-back tone as the green sparks began to jump like electricity moving all over the enclosed space. Yet, Vanessa dodged these sparks like they were mere pillows. "Ha!" Vanessa crooned, "You call these attacks you simplet-"

Before Vanessa could finish her statement, Henry emerged from the air and punched her in the face, throwing her off just at the right time for all of the sparks to hit her, paralyzing her physical form before Nick and Henry began to whale on her, throwing a barrage of punches so expertly timed, Vanessa had no room to react as the air was knocked out of her body and gashes began to tear open due to repeated attacks softening her defenses to utter nonexistence. 'Gah! There's no room for attack… I can't get my circulation to work!' Vanessa thought, trying to find a moment of weakness to escape. Unfortunately, Vanessa's circulation was stopped for so long that it disabled her vampiric power, eviscerating the barrier she constructed, causing the sunlight to burn her skin and make her reek of smoldering nightshade. Thankfully, the collapse resulted in an energy surge that pushed Henry back. Nick was unaffected as his green hunter energy allowed him to poise through the dynamic energy. However, it was enough of an opening for Vanessa to get a small breath back, allowing her to rush to the back alleyways. Henry, noticing Vanessa had been stopped, immediately took a deep breath, using a double switch to change to green hunter energy, his sclera going from purple to green and his pupils forming into hourglasses, before racing off to escape the army of hunters determined to capture him now that Vanessa has escaped. Noticing this, Nick raised an eyebrow before launching forwards. "Hey, buddy… We were having a good time, let's keep it going, yeah?" Nick began. "Nah," Henry replied, "I do things my way. Sure, it was fun. But your responsibilities aren't my problem." Henry dodged Nick and the army several times before using a double jump to evade the forces below with a shortcut that Nick couldn't follow before he dashed into the woods, disappearing from view.

Vanessa, however, shuttered in the back alleys as she used all of her remaining power to regenerate from her wounds, realizing at last that taking Henry directly was impossible.