It was sometime around midnight, not that it had actually mattered. The forest was dark as always, and it would have been dark even during the brightest daylight. Joachim laughed as he walked around the trees, enjoying the darkness around him. There were monsters in the forest, but they avoided him, afraid of him. The vampire grinned, imagining that the monsters must have known that he was superior to them.

There was no moon on the sky tonight, and the young vampire watched the sky from between the treetops, his pale eyes catching the sight of countless stars. He laughed again for no particular reason then wandered forward, simply delighted by the silence around him.

He froze suddenly as he heard something behind him and spun around, only to find the master of the forest standing there, arms folded and leaning against one of the trees he had just passed by. Walter was smiling, and Joachim smiled back at him.

"What gives you such pleasure?" the older vampire asked, the gaze of his golden eyes studying Joachim closely. "You seem to be enjoying yourself."

The silver-haired vampire grinned. "Nothing specific. I just like it here. It's so quiet and calm. And I could walk around here for all night and the morning will never come." He laughed and turned to look to the sky again. "I feel so... Free."

Walter stepped closer, his smile turning into an amused smirk. He chuckled softly and then walked around the younger vampire, his gaze still locked on him. "But that is quite true, Joachim. You are free. Free from the worries of the mortals and their insignificant short lives. The night is my realm, and I am quite delighted to have you to share it with me."

The younger vampire turned his head to the side, his eyes following Walter as the redhead circled around him. "Share?"

"Eternity is quite boring," Walter continued. "You can find joy in living forever easily, but as time passes, decades and centuries, you'll also find out that eternity is quite a long time. You'll seek to find something to do. I chose to build my little kingdom of the night here, and with the eternal night around us, I can rule it for all eternity. And," he added, "when I choose to, can bring in some entertainment. So you see, Joachim..."

Joachim blinked, then turned around to look for the redhead as Walter suddenly vanished from his sight. He then felt strong arms around him all of a sudden and smiled. He nuzzled Walter's shoulder a little and closed his eyes, feeling contented.

"That is why it's quite convenient to want to have someone else around. To share the pleasures..." Walter trailed off, then chuckled softly and leaned closer to nibble on Joachim's neck. "So this forest is all yours to enjoy, my dear."

"Share, huh. I'll keep that in mind, when I kill you and take all of this for myself," Joachim replied in a mischievous tone.

The older vampire laughed. "My, some grand plans you have there, my beautiful little Joachim," he said, raising his right hand to the silver-haired vampire's throat. He took a gentle hold of his lover, well aware that such games excited the younger vampire. "May I ask," he continued, moving to gnaw gently on Joachim's earlobe. "How exactly are you planning on doing that?"

"I'll kill you in your sleep," Joachim answered with a wide grin on his face. "All I have to do is wait until you're tired, and then..."

"Ah. But do you possess the power for such an act?" Walter whispered. "Furthermore, I don't think it's usually me who's... tired." He slipped his free hand lower on the younger vampire's body and laughed softly when Joachim tensed under his touch. "I think you need to come up with a better plan, my dearest Joachim. The current one has serious problems."

Joachim pressed his head against his red-haired master's shoulder, smiling. "All right, fine," he answered lazily, enjoying his current position far more than he was willing to admit. "I need to get on top in bed, then. That way you'd be tired?"

Walter laughed again; he then grabbed the younger vampire suddenly and pressed him against a nearby tree, holding him by the shoulders. "An admirable plan, my dear, but are you sure I'll be tired afterwards? What if you wear yourself out trying to keep me occupied?"

"I'll figure out something," the silver-haired vampire answered. He wrapped his arms around the older vampire's shoulders and pulled him closer. "In the meantime I guess will have to settle for what I have here, and I'll have to admit, I'm quite gratified with what I have here..."

"Are you, now?" Walter murmured, then leaned closer and kissed the younger vampire. Joachim answered to the kiss eagerly, burying his fingers into Walter's red hair while they kissed.

"I want you," Joachim whispered between their kisses. "Here, now." He let go of the older vampire and worked with his clothes, getting an amused smirk from the master of the castle. Walter watched for a moment, then shook his head and took a hold of Joachim's hands.

He kissed the silver-haired vampire gently, then smiled at him. "Calm down, dearest. This place isn't exactly most comfortable for that, so may I suggest you leave most of your clothes on." He pushed Joachim's hands away then started undressing him, leaving his shirt on. He rid the younger vampire of his white pants quickly though and grinned at him while he stood and removed his gauntlets.

"Impatient, aren't you?" Walter said, laughing as he placed his hand over the younger vampire's crotch. He wrapped his fingers around Joachim's erection, enjoying the gasp that escaped from his lover's lips. "I could of course remind you that returning to the castle and doing this in bed would be a lot more pleasant."

Joachim raised his hands to the older vampire's shoulder and grinned back at him. "I don't care. I like this place... And didn't you want to share it with me? Besides, I don't want to wait until we return to the castle. I want this now, Walter."

"Heh. Very impatient indeed... but fine," the older vampire said, smirking as he fondled his lover. He worked on his own clothes for a moment then wrapped his arms around Joachim's waist and lifted him up. "Don't say I didn't warn you, though, dearest. This will be quite uncomfortable."

"And I said I don't care," the silver-haired vampire murmured as he clung to Walter. Their position was rather inconvenient, but the older vampire's hold was strong and firm. Joachim bit his lip when Walter pressed into him, but he wrapped his legs around the redhead, managing to grin again.

Walter grabbed the silver-haired vampire by the neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. Joachim answered just as eagerly as before, thankful to be able to silence himself. He didn't wish to cry out; the act itself was somewhat cruel, with the two of them pressed against the tree in the dark forest. He was still too determined to get what he wanted, whatever the price might have been.

"And you still think you can win this game?" Walter asked with a low voice between their kisses. "You belong to me, like this land, and all that is in it." He thrust into the younger vampire brutally but every move steady and controlled, just to prove his point.

"Yes..." Joachim mumbled, an answer to both of the questions. The pain turned into bliss, and he cried out, clinging to his lover weakly.

It was over far quicker than Joachim would have wanted; he just couldn't control himself any more under the older vampire's touch. The master of the castle had such control, and Joachim longed for it. He felt rather weak afterwards and had to settle for letting Walter carry him back to the castle.

He smiled as leaned against the older vampire's shoulder and let himself be carried. His gaze studied every detail of the ever-dark forest, and he laughed softly.

It would be his realm one day.

Author's notes:

More challenge stuff. Theme was to write about your favorite game, for which I can't actually decide between CV3 and LoI, but oh well. Originally, I was supposed to write this idea for a theme I named earlier - "Forest" - but I never got around to writing.

And yes, more Walter/Joachim, I'm sure you know I like them by now. Except this one's obviously pre-rebellion for Joachim, since he and Walter are getting along so well. If you can call it that, that is.

- Lady Harken (October, 2005)