A Casual Collection: Season 2

Ep5: Orientation

It was a wonderful morning in the castle. The birds were chirping. The maids were tending to the fruits in the backyard. The corrupted moon gave way to a normal sun, to which Lao could yawn and block his eyes from as it sneaked in through the curtains.

He had decided to take up a room with Melisa's father, since being literally anywhere else put him on guard. Before he had gone to bed, Melisa had made him promise that he would care for his father, specifying that if he has a hair out of place, she will "make him wish he was dead". With the burden of torture on his mind, he went to bed, keeping on eye open as Melisa's dad slept soundly in the other bed beside him. He snored, but he seemed so innocent, so fragile...you would have never known he was Melisa's father with his demeanor.

Eventually, sleep called Lao's soul and said that it wished to play, so he drifted off, to dream about chopping wood down with his father. It was his favorite pastime to do, just chopping away pieces in one smooth swing as his father nodded approvingly behind him with a proud expression. He smiled waving over to his dream father as he waved back. "Keep going son, what are you looking at me for?"

"Of course father, you need more wood to send to the Order fort right?"

"Order fort?" His father said, tilting his head. "Of course, you always send a carriage shipment off, right?"

"Son...haven't you heard? We aren't doing that anymore..."

"...what?" Lao was confused. He didn't know where his father was leading. "What do you mean we aren't doing that anymore?"

"You have something else you need to do Lao, something more important than chopping wood."

"Father, what are you saying?" Suddenly his father was in front of him, poking his head repeatedly. "Wake up, and you shall see...."

Lao opened his eyes, seeing Melisa poking him with the handle of her sword. The flat bottom kept tapping his head annoyingly until he grabbed onto it. "Stop that."

"Did father sleep well?" She immediately started, going into interrogation mode. "Did you see any vampires, father sweating, was he nervous about something..did he say he missed me!?"

"He fell asleep and....I watched him until my eye closed...." he said, thinking about what else happened that night hurt his head. He guessed watching someone while asleep isn't good for the noggin of his. "Good. Addianas wants us to report down to him by morning. That is why I woke you at dawn. Now hurry up and dress yourself."

Lao groggily sat upon his bed, muttering words of sarcasm as he passed Melisa and went into his bathing room. He felt her eyes shoot small circles of fire onto his neck until the door closed. The candles in the bathroom automatically lit up, showing a design fit for only a village mayor to have. Everything looked polished and clean, down to the flooring of the bathtub. It made it easy to quickly wash himself and go out, walking Melisa laying behind her father and hugging from his back. When she noticed he had returned to the main part of the room she instantly hopped out of the bed, putting back on her cape and armor quickly while clearing her throat.

Making the better decision not to bother, he put on his old clothing before Melisa sliced everything but his underwear off with her rapier.

"You boneheaded vampire, what was the meaning of that!?"

"This is the New Order, which means you must wear their uniform. Doesn't the Order have their own style of clothing?"

"Yes, but I don't even have a uniform ready..." he hugged his body to conserve heat as the vampire went past him, opening a door and taking some folded clothes out. "Here, the maids tailored it for you."