Blood and Tears - Grumbo Vampire AU

Chapter 29: Plans

With a bouquet of flowers nestled in their arms, Iskall was lightly snoring. They sat just outside the bakery, waiting to speak to Stress. She hadn't left their home since the fight, with her doors remaining locked and her curtains drawn shut.

The purple and pink flowers they had collected were slightly withered, beginning to die due to the lack of water. Iskall had tried to get Stress to open the door, to sit down and talk, but she never responded. She was flat out ignoring them. To her, the relationship was truly over. To Iskall, it wasn't. Maybe that was the denial talking.

For now though, Iskall was snoozing. Who could blame them? The candlelit streets had all gone dim, as the rest of the village was already fast asleep. It was late into the night, cold out too. Iskall only had a thin brown jacket to keep them warm. The cold days of winter were beginning to come to an end, though the nights still remained frigid enough for one to shiver under their thin clothes.

Usually, no one would be awake at this time. But now, things are no longer normal. That left Grian, Wels, and Xisuma rushing through the village, trying to hurry and find Stress in an attempt to formulate a plan with one another. The more people they had on their side, the better. Especially when the group were essentially going up against Scar and his entire army.

Grian practically tripped over Iskall when coming round the corner, causing the pair to fall and get knocked to the ground. That was enough to wake the monster hunter up, though they were left in a daze from the sudden impact.

"A-Ah—! Oh no.." Iskall muttered to themself as soon as they noticed they had fallen atop the bouquet of flowers, leaving them crushed and wilted beyond recognition. Their face fell a little when seeing the flowers die, before they picked themselves, and the pile of crumpled flowers, off the ground.

"Iskall, what are you doing here?" Xisuma raised his eyebrow in confusion, as Wels helped Grian to his feet after being knocked over.

"I've been trying to apologize to Stress," They let out a sigh, gaze dropping to the ground as they hugged the crushed flowers close to their chest. "She won't even let me come inside. She's so mad at me."

Grian ignored Iskall and shoved past them, beginning to pound on the door to try and get Stress to answer. After a long couple minutes of banging, a hand slowly pulled away the curtain, taking a quick peek outside before opening the door.

"Oh thank goodness!" Stress threw her arms around Grian as soon as she opened the door, squeezing him tight in a hug. Iskall looked slightly jealous at that. "I thought the king would keep you prisoner forever! I'm so happy you're out!"

"I'm okay." Grian muttered slightly while returning the hug, holding back tears as he stood there for a few moments.

Suddenly, Iskall shoved Grian aside, breaking the hug apart as they offered the dead and crushed flowers to their ex-partner. "Stress! Finally, I've been waiting to talk to you! I—"

The door slammed in their face before Iskall could say anything else. As they stood in a frozen silence, Wels walked past the bounty hunter, beginning to bang on the door once more.

"Stressmonster! We need your help!" He spoke in a demanding tone, the knight sounding more angry than desperate.

"Tell the king he can shove his demands right up his—"

"Stress!" Grian slapped a hand over his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. "We aren't here for the king's business! We're here to help the creatures he has locked in the dungeon!"

The door clicked as it slightly opened, Stress peering out to study the four men on her doorstep. "What happened?" She asked, a bit quiet as she spoke.

"Turns out the king is some kind of demon," X stepped forward to explain. "He's the leader of these creatures called vexes."