Gaining Strength [Part 16]
Aug. 2nd, 2020 12:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonv2Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: Frankenstein needs to gain strength to protect humanity; the werewolves might hold the key to that.
Notes: Frankenstein decides werewolves are the bigger threat AU.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,910
Total word count: 33,630
Status: Work in progress
Returning the werewolf back home didn't take long, but Frankenstein tried to linger as little as possible. He'd been directed towards the families of the disappeared werewolves and hadn't found much.
The only things the missing werewolves had in common was they were werewolves who recently gained their claws, who hadn't shown the inclination to become warriors.
Ones who hadn't chosen the path to get stronger.
Muzaka needed to know what his people were doing. But Frankenstein needed to check on his lab first. There wasn't anything left, but...he needed to make sure.
It didn't take him long to reach his lab, the sun rising in the sky, but he stopped at the sight of it. His lab had been underground, the door hidden at a glance.
Had been.
Now the door had been torn off, leaving his lab open to everything.
Frankenstein crept closer, straining his ears, but he couldn't hear any movement inside. Keeping a hand on his dagger's hilt, Frankenstein scooped up a rock as he passed and tossed it into his lab.
He heard it bounce around, but nothing reacted to it. Empty.
Then...
Frankenstein peered into his lab, and even with the limited light he could see the remains of his overturned desk, the shards of his vials glinting from the floor.
Someone had destroyed his lab.
Someone had come to his lab while he hadn't been there and destroyed it. How long ago had it happened? Recently? No, there were leaves and dust on the floor that must have blown in after the door was taken off.
His lab had been fine the last time he'd been here.
How long after he'd left was it attacked?
If he'd waited to leave, would he have been trapped and broken along with his belongings?
He gritted his teeth, clamping down on his anger. His research hadn't been taken. That was the most important fact. Or his most recent findings in the very least. His lab being destroyed meant more people than Muzaka had known where it was.
But he couldn't stay here, it wasn't safe. Frankenstein backed out but paused, a familiar aura approaching.
...Damn, in his distraction he'd forgotten to hide his presence. It was too late now but he calmed himself down as she approached, in case he alerted anyone else to his arrival.
Garda reached him but skidded to a stop when she saw him. Like she hadn't expected him to be there. But then why had she come straight to his lab?
"Garda?" Frankenstein said. "What's wrong?"
She looked him up and down. "Ah, I hadn't heard you'd returned."
That was the point. Which lead Frankenstein back to his question of what she was doing at his lab. "As you can see, I have. Did you need me for something?"
There was the familiar rustle of the leaves and Dorant jumped down from the branches.
Frankenstein sighed. He still couldn't sense Dorant's approach. "Does everyone know where I live?" he muttered. Was he not as hidden as he thought he was?
"Yes?" Garda said, peering past him, her eyes caught by the broken door. "You weren't able to hide your aura well when you first arrived."
...Oh. He really hadn't been that hidden away for werewolves. He'd hidden himself like a human at the start, not knowing how werewolves perceived the world.
But then, why had it only been Muzaka who had come to his door? Everyone else seemed to find him while he was away from his lab.
"You're alive..." Dorant murmured and Frankenstein's attention snapped to him.
Right. There were far more important things to think about it - he could be distracted with those questions later. "How did you know there had been an attempt on my life?" Frankenstein asked him, studying him. Only Muzaka had known and Frankenstein was sure he would have kept silent this time. So how had Dorant heard?
Garda started at his words, but not much as Frankenstein had expected. Had she heard as well?
Dorant exhaled, looking away. "There is a group of werewolves dissatisfied with Lord Muzaka's current leadership," he said, his foot swinging slowly back and forth, which Frankenstein had found he only did when he was thinking hard over something, "and wish to use their power to rule over humans."
"I'm aware of that," Frankenstein said. If he didn't know that, he wouldn't have come to the werewolf territory in the first place.
Dorant glanced back at him. "They're currently celebrating your death and..." He trailed off, frowning.
"They've recently received new research to use," Frankenstein finished, nodding.
Dorant blinked. "You're really good at searching out knowledge."
"Research?" Garda said, looking between them.
"If I truly was, I would have found this plot out months ago," Frankenstein said with a sigh. He turned to Garda. "You didn't know?" How far had this spread under Muzaka's nose?
Garda huffed. "I'm too loyal to Muzaka. I had heard the rumblings, but I was never approached to join them." She shook her head. "But how did they know someone had tried to kill you?"
Frankenstein snorted. "Because they were the ones who set it up with the humans."
"What?"
"But they hate humans," Dorant said, frowning.
"Rather hypocritical isn't it?" Frankenstein said, curling his lip. "Humans had something they wanted: a way to get stronger, and they were willing to trade werewolves for it."
Fur rippled over Dorant's cheeks before they smoothened out again. "Gain strength, no matter what, huh," he muttered.
Hm. Was that what the other werewolves had said to him to convince him to join them?
"Indeed," Frankenstein said. "I suppose I should have seen this as a natural progression from your current mindset." But the warriors had seemed fine to continue training to get stronger. He hadn't met with every werewolf though, had he?
"Now, the problem is finding out where they're-"
"Hnn, what's this?" Three werewolf warriors jumped down from tree branches.
Dammit. He'd been too distracted to check if there had been any other werewolves approaching. There was too much to think about right now.
"Dorant," the short redhaired one drawled, her eyes pinned on Frankenstein, "you left the celebration so early, we got worried."
"And you're just talking with that human -who's meant to be dead- like it's nothing?" the second one said.
"You're really siding with the human?"
Dorant moved so he was standing between the werewolves and Frankenstein.
Wait, what was he...
"He may be filled with contradictions, but he did it to protect his people," Dorant said, tugging his cloak off, "not hurt them. He would rather stand alone than stand with those who worked to hurt his people."
Frankenstein's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Dorant was doing, but-
"We're getting stronger to protect our people!" the first werewolf snarled. None of the other werewolves reached for their cloaks. Yet.
Dorant tossed his cloak to the side. "You didn't mention that to get stronger, we would be stepping on the bodies we were meant to protect."
"Tch." The first werewolf curled his lip. "Keep talking like that and you'll be used for the next round of tests. Actually, I heard they've got a couple spaces right now."
Frankenstein sucked in a breath. No, how much had the werewolves done already? How many had been hurt?
"Hm." Dorant continued staring down the werewolves. "Garda, the lab is at the three claws."
Where?
"Hey! You can't-" The first werewolf strode forward a step but hesitated when Dorant didn't back up.
"I'll deal with these three," Dorant said over his shoulder. "Go."
"You can't keep all of us here!" the redhead said. She dashed to the side.
Frankenstein lurched back a step, a heavy weight pressing on him as Dorant transformed.
The redhead yelped and stumbled back.
"Yes, I can," Dorant said calmly.
Strong. The only aura that came close to that that Frankenstein had felt before was Muzaka's.
Frankenstein snapped his attention to Garda as she grabbed his arm and yanked him away. "Come on!"
* * *
No-one followed them as Frankenstein and Garda ran. Frankenstein could still feel the whispers of Dorant's aura at his back, which meant he was still alive. Still fighting. For them.
Guilt welled up in Frankenstein's chest, an almost solid presence. This was happening because of him.
This was all happening because of him. All his research was the cause for this. His attempts to try to help humans led to humans dying, to werewolves being stolen from their homes to be bled dry, to werewolves fighting amongst themselves.
Was it worth it?
What good had his research brought?
It seemed the only one who had benefited from his work was him, and yet, even then, there had been a cost to that as well. He had been cut off from his own people, on the run for months on end, hunted for his work.
Maybe he should just leave his work to be ashes in the wind. Every time he picked up his pen, it eventually caused the people around him to be hurt.
They stopped at the base of a mountain and Frankenstein caught his breath as Garda looked around.
"I don't see anything," Garda said, frowning.
"If they were smart," Frankenstein said, still gulping in air, "they would have built the lab-" Saying the word still made Frankenstein's stomach lurch. Had they really started tests because of him? On their own people? "-higher up." It would be harder for people to stumble across.
Though, that was his own human way of thinking. For werewolves, the mountain would be easy to climb.
Staring skywards, the mountain did look like three claws, with three jutting peaks close to each other.
They jumped to the first available outcropping and there was no sign of anything amiss. They climbed higher and higher until they found the clear entrance gouged into the rock. The werewolf claws were easy to see at the edges. It hadn't been hard to find, but they'd known where it was, and it was far enough from the werewolf territory for a werewolf to stumble across it.
Frankenstein squared his shoulders, staring into the entrance. He could see sunlight lighting the corridor around the corner.
"Garda," he said. "You should go back. Get Muzaka. This is happening because of my work; this is my responsibility to take care of." He had to find out what the werewolves were doing with his work.
"This involves my people, Frankenstein!" Garda snarled. "This isn't yours to deal with alone." She paused, and then she huffed. "Also, you can't manage even one semi-transformed warrior - how are you going to deal with however many is in there?"
...Ah. Right, of course. He closed his eyes and exhaled. "Yes, you're right." Even after everything he'd done, he still wasn't close to being strong enough to defend himself in a true fight.
"Let's go," Garda said, heading for the entrance.
A small headcanon of mine is werewolves don't challenge each other to a spar outside their homes, because that's how you end up with a wrecked house, haha.
Summary: Frankenstein needs to gain strength to protect humanity; the werewolves might hold the key to that.
Notes: Frankenstein decides werewolves are the bigger threat AU.
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word count: 1,910
Total word count: 33,630
Status: Work in progress
Returning the werewolf back home didn't take long, but Frankenstein tried to linger as little as possible. He'd been directed towards the families of the disappeared werewolves and hadn't found much.
The only things the missing werewolves had in common was they were werewolves who recently gained their claws, who hadn't shown the inclination to become warriors.
Ones who hadn't chosen the path to get stronger.
Muzaka needed to know what his people were doing. But Frankenstein needed to check on his lab first. There wasn't anything left, but...he needed to make sure.
It didn't take him long to reach his lab, the sun rising in the sky, but he stopped at the sight of it. His lab had been underground, the door hidden at a glance.
Had been.
Now the door had been torn off, leaving his lab open to everything.
Frankenstein crept closer, straining his ears, but he couldn't hear any movement inside. Keeping a hand on his dagger's hilt, Frankenstein scooped up a rock as he passed and tossed it into his lab.
He heard it bounce around, but nothing reacted to it. Empty.
Then...
Frankenstein peered into his lab, and even with the limited light he could see the remains of his overturned desk, the shards of his vials glinting from the floor.
Someone had destroyed his lab.
Someone had come to his lab while he hadn't been there and destroyed it. How long ago had it happened? Recently? No, there were leaves and dust on the floor that must have blown in after the door was taken off.
His lab had been fine the last time he'd been here.
How long after he'd left was it attacked?
If he'd waited to leave, would he have been trapped and broken along with his belongings?
He gritted his teeth, clamping down on his anger. His research hadn't been taken. That was the most important fact. Or his most recent findings in the very least. His lab being destroyed meant more people than Muzaka had known where it was.
But he couldn't stay here, it wasn't safe. Frankenstein backed out but paused, a familiar aura approaching.
...Damn, in his distraction he'd forgotten to hide his presence. It was too late now but he calmed himself down as she approached, in case he alerted anyone else to his arrival.
Garda reached him but skidded to a stop when she saw him. Like she hadn't expected him to be there. But then why had she come straight to his lab?
"Garda?" Frankenstein said. "What's wrong?"
She looked him up and down. "Ah, I hadn't heard you'd returned."
That was the point. Which lead Frankenstein back to his question of what she was doing at his lab. "As you can see, I have. Did you need me for something?"
There was the familiar rustle of the leaves and Dorant jumped down from the branches.
Frankenstein sighed. He still couldn't sense Dorant's approach. "Does everyone know where I live?" he muttered. Was he not as hidden as he thought he was?
"Yes?" Garda said, peering past him, her eyes caught by the broken door. "You weren't able to hide your aura well when you first arrived."
...Oh. He really hadn't been that hidden away for werewolves. He'd hidden himself like a human at the start, not knowing how werewolves perceived the world.
But then, why had it only been Muzaka who had come to his door? Everyone else seemed to find him while he was away from his lab.
"You're alive..." Dorant murmured and Frankenstein's attention snapped to him.
Right. There were far more important things to think about it - he could be distracted with those questions later. "How did you know there had been an attempt on my life?" Frankenstein asked him, studying him. Only Muzaka had known and Frankenstein was sure he would have kept silent this time. So how had Dorant heard?
Garda started at his words, but not much as Frankenstein had expected. Had she heard as well?
Dorant exhaled, looking away. "There is a group of werewolves dissatisfied with Lord Muzaka's current leadership," he said, his foot swinging slowly back and forth, which Frankenstein had found he only did when he was thinking hard over something, "and wish to use their power to rule over humans."
"I'm aware of that," Frankenstein said. If he didn't know that, he wouldn't have come to the werewolf territory in the first place.
Dorant glanced back at him. "They're currently celebrating your death and..." He trailed off, frowning.
"They've recently received new research to use," Frankenstein finished, nodding.
Dorant blinked. "You're really good at searching out knowledge."
"Research?" Garda said, looking between them.
"If I truly was, I would have found this plot out months ago," Frankenstein said with a sigh. He turned to Garda. "You didn't know?" How far had this spread under Muzaka's nose?
Garda huffed. "I'm too loyal to Muzaka. I had heard the rumblings, but I was never approached to join them." She shook her head. "But how did they know someone had tried to kill you?"
Frankenstein snorted. "Because they were the ones who set it up with the humans."
"What?"
"But they hate humans," Dorant said, frowning.
"Rather hypocritical isn't it?" Frankenstein said, curling his lip. "Humans had something they wanted: a way to get stronger, and they were willing to trade werewolves for it."
Fur rippled over Dorant's cheeks before they smoothened out again. "Gain strength, no matter what, huh," he muttered.
Hm. Was that what the other werewolves had said to him to convince him to join them?
"Indeed," Frankenstein said. "I suppose I should have seen this as a natural progression from your current mindset." But the warriors had seemed fine to continue training to get stronger. He hadn't met with every werewolf though, had he?
"Now, the problem is finding out where they're-"
"Hnn, what's this?" Three werewolf warriors jumped down from tree branches.
Dammit. He'd been too distracted to check if there had been any other werewolves approaching. There was too much to think about right now.
"Dorant," the short redhaired one drawled, her eyes pinned on Frankenstein, "you left the celebration so early, we got worried."
"And you're just talking with that human -who's meant to be dead- like it's nothing?" the second one said.
"You're really siding with the human?"
Dorant moved so he was standing between the werewolves and Frankenstein.
Wait, what was he...
"He may be filled with contradictions, but he did it to protect his people," Dorant said, tugging his cloak off, "not hurt them. He would rather stand alone than stand with those who worked to hurt his people."
Frankenstein's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Dorant was doing, but-
"We're getting stronger to protect our people!" the first werewolf snarled. None of the other werewolves reached for their cloaks. Yet.
Dorant tossed his cloak to the side. "You didn't mention that to get stronger, we would be stepping on the bodies we were meant to protect."
"Tch." The first werewolf curled his lip. "Keep talking like that and you'll be used for the next round of tests. Actually, I heard they've got a couple spaces right now."
Frankenstein sucked in a breath. No, how much had the werewolves done already? How many had been hurt?
"Hm." Dorant continued staring down the werewolves. "Garda, the lab is at the three claws."
Where?
"Hey! You can't-" The first werewolf strode forward a step but hesitated when Dorant didn't back up.
"I'll deal with these three," Dorant said over his shoulder. "Go."
"You can't keep all of us here!" the redhead said. She dashed to the side.
Frankenstein lurched back a step, a heavy weight pressing on him as Dorant transformed.
The redhead yelped and stumbled back.
"Yes, I can," Dorant said calmly.
Strong. The only aura that came close to that that Frankenstein had felt before was Muzaka's.
Frankenstein snapped his attention to Garda as she grabbed his arm and yanked him away. "Come on!"
No-one followed them as Frankenstein and Garda ran. Frankenstein could still feel the whispers of Dorant's aura at his back, which meant he was still alive. Still fighting. For them.
Guilt welled up in Frankenstein's chest, an almost solid presence. This was happening because of him.
This was all happening because of him. All his research was the cause for this. His attempts to try to help humans led to humans dying, to werewolves being stolen from their homes to be bled dry, to werewolves fighting amongst themselves.
Was it worth it?
What good had his research brought?
It seemed the only one who had benefited from his work was him, and yet, even then, there had been a cost to that as well. He had been cut off from his own people, on the run for months on end, hunted for his work.
Maybe he should just leave his work to be ashes in the wind. Every time he picked up his pen, it eventually caused the people around him to be hurt.
They stopped at the base of a mountain and Frankenstein caught his breath as Garda looked around.
"I don't see anything," Garda said, frowning.
"If they were smart," Frankenstein said, still gulping in air, "they would have built the lab-" Saying the word still made Frankenstein's stomach lurch. Had they really started tests because of him? On their own people? "-higher up." It would be harder for people to stumble across.
Though, that was his own human way of thinking. For werewolves, the mountain would be easy to climb.
Staring skywards, the mountain did look like three claws, with three jutting peaks close to each other.
They jumped to the first available outcropping and there was no sign of anything amiss. They climbed higher and higher until they found the clear entrance gouged into the rock. The werewolf claws were easy to see at the edges. It hadn't been hard to find, but they'd known where it was, and it was far enough from the werewolf territory for a werewolf to stumble across it.
Frankenstein squared his shoulders, staring into the entrance. He could see sunlight lighting the corridor around the corner.
"Garda," he said. "You should go back. Get Muzaka. This is happening because of my work; this is my responsibility to take care of." He had to find out what the werewolves were doing with his work.
"This involves my people, Frankenstein!" Garda snarled. "This isn't yours to deal with alone." She paused, and then she huffed. "Also, you can't manage even one semi-transformed warrior - how are you going to deal with however many is in there?"
...Ah. Right, of course. He closed his eyes and exhaled. "Yes, you're right." Even after everything he'd done, he still wasn't close to being strong enough to defend himself in a true fight.
"Let's go," Garda said, heading for the entrance.
A small headcanon of mine is werewolves don't challenge each other to a spar outside their homes, because that's how you end up with a wrecked house, haha.