The Differences(part 3)

Late Fall, 1001 A.D. Unknown Continent

It only took Isaac a second to reach the small tent. Looking inside, he could see the young girl sitting alone by a dim fire that burned at the center of the small space. She looked young, around fourteen or fifteen, and had a similar olive color to his. Her eyes were red and puffy, indicating that she had cried recently.

Entering the tent silently, Isaac walked towards the young girl and sat on the floor next to her. From the short distance, he could hear the blood pumping in her veins loudly. His gums started to burn slightly, just like yesterday with Kateri, only it was a lot weaker now, probably since he had already completed the transformation.

Seeing that he could manage quite easily, he spoke first, preparing to start the test.

"You seem sad... What happened?" He spoke softly, but the girl still jumped slightly, alerted by the sudden presence beside her.

"You... You are Isaac, Tatia's little brother..." She recognized him on first sight, and even though the villagers weren't really his biggest fans, it was undeniable that his appearance was unique amongst the tribe, making him quite unforgettable. "What are you doing here?"

Looking at her for only a moment, he decided the talk would just be exhaustive. Looking into her eyes, he spoke in a strong commanding tone.

"I'm here for your blood. You will stay in place and stay silent." He nodded at himself as he saw she stayed silent, looking at him with wide eyes. Only when he got close, she yelled at him.

"Are you crazy?! Stay away from me!" She tried to push him away, only she couldn't even make him budge.

'So it didn't work... She has no Vervain... I would have smelled it...' Looking at her, he tried again, only for her to keep yelling at him that he was insane.

"I guess it doesn't work... I'm sorry; this is going to suck... Literally." Leaning forward, the area around Isaac's eyes didn't change. Only as he bit directly into her carotid artery, his pupils turned blood red. The warm and sweet liquid filled his mouth, reminding him of nothing else he had ever tasted before.

He could feel the blood flowing down his throat, and his senses going into overdrive. The feeling could only be described as euphoric; it was like the taste alone was enough of a reason to live for and he just couldn't have enough of it.

The young woman was trying to scream desperately as she tried to use all her strength to escape his grasp, only Isaac's grip was just too strong his left hand covering her mouth, muffling her last attempts to make a sound. It only took a few seconds before she lost conciseness, weakly crumbling into Isaac's hands. 

It was only than that Isaac stopped drinking, helping her lay down on the floor. Wiping the blood dripping from the sides of his mouth with back of his hand, he stood up, looking at the young girl with a slight pity... He didn't really know what to do with her. 

He wasn't really afraid of letting his identity be known, but if he could he could avoid it, he much rather do so. As such, after thinking for only a few long moments, he just left the tent at an incredible speed, leaving the village far behind.

He had the basic knowledge regarding injuries treatment from the army, and as far as he knew, the amount of blood he took from her, which was equal to about 40 percent, would be fatal... At least without blood infusion and instant medical care.

He probably could have healed her with his blood, but the implications of her possibly dying with it in her system, were something, that at the moment he just wasn't willing to deal with. After all, he knew nothing about her, if she turned out to kill or turn someone she shouldn't have, it might affect the all future as he knew it... 

Running in full speed at a random direction, he just disappeared into the woods. Leaving behind this village he once called home, once and for all...

Unbeknownst to Isaac, minutes after his departure, the young girl's body pulsed. Blinking once, her pupils shifted, resembling those of a wolf, glowing yellow for a brief moment before she fainted again. Upon close inspection, one could see the wound on her neck shrinking as she struggled to breathe...

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Isaac knew it had to be done. If he avoided drinking human blood, the consequences would have been much worse. The show had clearly demonstrated how important self-control was when it came to blood drinking. He wasn't some monster, and he didn't want to be one.

Nodding to himself, he was doing his best to make peace with his own choices. He kept on running for a long time, though he really didn't know why. He had no clear target in mind, but it just felt like the right thing to do at the moment.

Even if he didn't finish her off, he still left the young girl to die. And even though it was far from his first kill, it was the first time he intentionally harmed an innocent. He probably wouldn't have felt all that much if he was just watching her die. In his life, he had more than once seen the suffering and death of those of lower status.

It was necessary; he knew that. He had to consume blood; there was no way around that. The only other option for him would have been to drink blood from the guilty. But that was far from practical. In the modern society of the 20th century, that would have probably been really easy. But in a small closed village in the middle of nowhere, finding an actual criminal would be far from it.

It wasn't some nervous breakdown or anything. Even after killing tens, if not hundreds of enemies, living on the street for months, seeing the hunger, suffering, and death of entire villages during his service, losing his best friend, and even lying in a hospital bed barely breathing for nearly half a year, he was still sane. This wasn't going to be his breaking point, not even close.

Nevertheless, he felt guilty and angry with himself, and he just kept running. Until at some point, after a few hours, he stood at the edge of a cliff, hundreds of kilometers away from his village. Heavy rain washed over his head as he stood there, looking at a long island with a sparse amount of trees parallel to the beach of the mainland.

Looking from the top of the small cliff that towered over the waters of the ocean, Isaac's thoughts finally drifted away from the young girl, passing to himself and his own future. The compulsion didn't work; he still had to try again, but he was pretty sure that it would stay the same.

In conclusion, his current abilities in human form, seemed to be the normal enhanced body of a vampire with the vitality of an original one and in combination with the ability to turn freely into a wolf. Only when he turned last night, he regained the memories of his past transformations, and he figured that now, in his wolf form, he was twice as big and a lot stronger and faster than he used to be.

If in his human form right now, he was a little slower and only around as strong as his wolf form before he turned into a hybrid, then after he turned, the wolf could move at least four times faster, reaching a speed of a race car easily. And its strength was probably even more exaggerated.

The only problem was his inability to control it. Even though he felt like he could turn whenever he wanted, when he initiated the transformation, he always felt like he was losing control, something he would absolutely have to deal with. And the sooner he did, the better.

Meanwhile in terms of vampire weaknesses, he felt like he had actually got the longer end of the stick. Even without compulsion, with his strength, getting what he wants would be a piece of cake. and with the daylight ring, and him being to enter houses uninvited, only the vervain remained, and he already had that covered. As for the werewolf side, the only weakness he seemed to have was the wolfsbane, which, just like the vervain, was easily solved.

Looking at the cloudy sky that was starting to darken, Isaac sat down on the edge of the cliff. Just like every day for the last two years, he closed his eyes and took a long breath in. The world around him seemingly stopped in place as he felt every little change in miles.

He entered a state of deep meditation instantly, contrary to the past month, in which he felt blocked. With his newly attained enhanced vampire senses, he could hear every creature for tens of kilometers away, as if they were right next to him.

He could clearly see the nearest human settlements, which were much larger than his own, with thousands of people near him, and the trees surrounding him were countless. He didn't know how much time passed, but when he stood up, he was already prepared for action.

With a newly reassured, knowing smile, he took a moment to look at the sky before he started running west at full speed...

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Early Spring, 1070 A.D, Japan

The sun shined brightly over a small village just outside of Kyoto. At the peak of a nearby hill stood a small temple with traditional architecture. Gray and black were the main colors for the walls and the rooftops, with slight blood-red for the decorations and entrance gate, designed in Ryobi-torii style. A blooming sakura (Japanese cherry) stood at both sides, giving the small temple a vivid look under the beautiful sunrise.

In the garden, stood a bare-chested man, his olive-colored skin like bronze, slightly reflecting the morning sunlight. He stood in place with his eyes closed, wearing only a pair of wide black pants and a sword strapped to his waist. His smooth, long, jet-black hair was wrapped behind his head into a ponytail.

Opening his eyes, the young man slashed forward in a swift movement so fast it could not be seen with the human eye. To his left, a single cicada fell to the ground, still alive, only its wings perfectly whole, falling slowly like feathers blowing around with the wind.

Nodding to himself, the young man sheathed his sword and walked back inside the small temple. An old man, clad in a blue and white kimono with a long white beard and hair, sat on a cushion in front of a short wooden table, holding a brush laced with black ink.

After leaving his village almost seventy years ago, Isaac traveled all the way to the west, settling on a small beach. With his knowledge from his past life in the navy and what he was taught by the Vikings, he spent the next half a year building his own oak ship.

He initially set sail aiming to reach China, as in his past life, he read all sorts of things regarding the training of the spirit. It was a long shot, but it was his best bet when it came to controlling his wolf at that moment, which was at the top of his priorities, especially after the first time he went to sleep and woke up in a pile of bodies.

The wolf was very thirsty for blood, and Isaac had a very hard time controlling it. His plans only changed when the trip was prolonged further than he imagined. He thought the trip would only take thirty days, and as he just finished building the ship around the end of summer, he chose to leave on his journey, not wanting to wait a few more months.

When he was just around twenty days or so into the journey, a huge storm arrived. Left with no options as the ship drowned, Isaac somehow ended up swimming onto the coast of a small fishing village, which, by the stars' location, he figured to be in southern Japan...

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VOTE and and give me some POWER STONES if you like the story so far...A REVIEW will also be much appreciated if you want to.

As I wrote in the synopsis, and the last chap, this is just the result of a writing blockage regarding other stories, But as of right now, I'm thinking that might change... I see a lot of positive reviews and I at least for now, enjoy writing it... So I'm gonna continue, though I can't really promise an update schedule. I'm quite busy and have only limited time to write when I don't have any other plans... 

The next episode will mostly describe Isaac time in Japan. Hope you like the direction this is heading and if you don't... Well...Your problem, I guess... 

I will not answer any questions regarding where the story is going behind what I chose to reveal myself, so I guess don't bother asking... It not only bothers me, but I also don't want to tell you something that isn't decided yet. I might change my mind regarding anything unless I said otherwise.

The story vibe will be that of time skips for now... Might still have a change of heart, but this is the current decision, I feel like flashbacks wouldn't really allow proper romance development, and I also have a few important things I want to implement into the story that will change the course of the original plot by a lot...