Captain!

James was up immediately and didn't need to be told what was going on. Since he had fallen asleep in his clothing, he had to quickly toss off his shirt before running out into the monsoon. Rain was heavy in the air yesterday, but he didn't think that it would end up being such a heavy storm.

"All hands on deck! I want everything that isn't already tied down secure with rope. All humans are to get below deck, now!"

Desden appeared before him but their formalities were pushed aside for the time being, it was far more important to get everything taken care of. Ria was scrambling to get below deck when he knew he should have been going to his room, but he'd deal with that later. At least the boy listened to his shouted order.

"Captain, the monsoon was beginning to push us into the pier so we put up the sails to get free."

James looked over his shoulder and noticed that they had, indeed, sailed a few miles from shore. He could work with that. With a determined growl he ran over to the main mast and began climbing, his claws easily taking him up once he had kicked off his boots. The lookout pointed off into the distance at a much-darker group of storm clouds as James landed atop the edge of the platforms rim. Even with the strong winds buffeting him, his balance was nearly perfect... with a little magical help, of course.

"Get down below and help secure things, once done go below deck with everyone else."

The man nodded and promptly jumped out of the crow's nest. Now that he could observe his crew from above, he noticed no one was taking care of the farther mast. Mine then. With a deep breath he leapt off the structure but a strong gust of wind slammed him backwards into one of the sails. 

Shit. 

The rampaging thunder drowned out a few choice words as he fell along the canvas. Thankfully, his hands managed to grab one of the hanging ropes and after slicing through a few yards of it with his claws, he managed to halt his descent, then quickly climb the rope until he could use it to swing around to the correct canvas. He landed right next to the rope he needed to close the sails. It would leave them with just one for direction, but going off course a few miles was much safer than getting holes in the sails.

Captain?

Alexandre...

What is it you need? I am busy right now.

Where is Ria? He isn't out in the storm, is he? 

No, he ran below deck with the rest of my crew.

But isn't it dangerous for him to be down there?

Yes, but I will retrieve him shortly.

I'll go get him.

No, you won't. Stay put.

But he could get bitten down there.

So what?

He didn't get a verbal response, but frustration coursed through his mind as he heard the door to his cabin open far below, then slam shut.

Get back in the room!

Alexandre ignored him again, drawing a snarl of annoyance from his lips. With quick hands he got the sail pulled up and tied-off to keep it from damage, then quickly jumped down to check the others. As soon as the deck was secure for the storm he was going to be tracking down a certain stubborn human! 

"Ria?"

Where is he?

Alexandre couldn't see a darn thing down below, but he could hear voices all around him. 

"Go back to your master's room, human. This is no place for you."

A voice beside him brought Alexandre to a halt. He quickly turned to try and see who it was, but again, the darkness blocked his sight completely.

"Where is Ria? He ran down here and I came to get him back."

"That little stick of a boy? He was supposed to die, so I'm sure someone is granting that wish. Besides, what would the captain want with him? He's basically a dead kid walking anyways."

"He belongs to me."

"What? Like hell he does, lad. You are a human, if you haven't forgotten. Just because the captain chose you to be his personal bitch, doesn't mean you can just claim humans."

The vampire laughed, chilling his blood more than the cold water soaking through his clothing.

"He is mine. Captain gave him to me. Now where is he?"

"Yeah right, go back to the captain's cabin and be a good little blood bag."

He was just about to try his luck with the vampire he was talking to, even though he couldn't see much of anything in the darkness, when he heard a voice from behind. 

"That is enough. Alexandre, come."

Captain...

He whirled around and instantly locked onto the captain's glowing red and gold eyes.

"Captain, someone is feeding on Ria. Please, he's still too weak to be fed from."

James wasn't in the mood to bother with his pleas. In fact, without any effort he tossed him over his shoulder and began to walk away.

Captain, Please. I can't leave Ria down here.

You directly disobeyed my orders. 

That vampire said they were going to kill him.

He wanted to die...

He began taking him upstairs when he said something that had him hesitating right before the line of rain.

Captain, he was a gift from you, please. His safety is solely my responsibility and I understand that I disobeyed you. I'll take any punishment you wish to give without argument, but please let me save him. He is a nice boy and deserves to live... at least for as long as you wish to provide for him.

What if I no longer wish to provide for him?  James returned, curious about his pet's response.

He felt Alexandre's body sag slightly on his shoulder and soon the sound of sniffling  met his ears. 

Crying shows only weakness.

Alexandre sniffled quietly before replying with a frustrated thought.

Crying shows that you care about something.

He had many more things to argue, but he could feel Ria's life draining away as they spoke. So, James carefully set Alexandre down on the stairs. 

"Wait."

He vanished a second after he'd relieved himself of his human baggage, only to return a minute later with Ria's unconscious form in his arms. He had been bitten by two other vampires, but was not in danger of dying since he'd already stopped the bleeding. Alexandre was up right away and taking the boy from his arms with the gentleness of a mother taking her babe. 

Such emotions seemed wasted on such a weak human... He had no idea why his even wanted the boy around.

"Come," he said once his pet had his boy settled in his arms.

Alexandre squared his shoulders and nodded. The ship was drifting steadily on the waves, but there were two lookouts to be sure they didn't hit land or get too close to a reef.

When they got back inside James quickly tossed his wet clothing to the floor while watching Alexandre scramble to get Ria warmed up in the boy's blanket.

"Alexandre, remove your wet clothing when you have finished tending to him, then come here for your punishment."

When Alexandre finished with Ria he slowly stood up and turned to face him. There was an admirable amount of determination in his eyes. 

"Come here, Alexandre."

He obeyed immediately and tugged off his wet clothing without a word. When he walked closer James allowed his fangs to extend, telling him one thing, but knowing that intended to add a little extra besides just a simple bite. 

The second his teeth dug into his soft skin James opened his senses and flooded Alexandre's. His body shuddered abruptly and began to fight, but he easily held him tight. Humans thought it was all fun and games being a vampire, but the truth was that the senses they acquired when they change are often much too strong for a former human to handle. Most don't make it through, but several ones who manage are mentally unable to handle the extreme senses and often kill themselves. 

He held back quite a lot, but he could still feel Alexandre's body go on full alert, nerves quivering, heart hammering, eyes dilating. His mind was a blur of with a mixture of extremely loud sounds, strong scents, and overall sensitivity. 

When a loud boom of thunder rumbled through the cabin Alexandre screamed and hunched against his chest, clearly overstimulated by the abruptly heightening of his senses.  

James relented at that time, not wanting to push it too far. He'd just been curious about how well the man would handle being an actual vampire. Not very well, it would seem. At that point he allowed his fangs to retract and was about to put him to bed when he realized that there was a little bit of blood coming from his left ear and a tiny bit was visible at the edge of his lips, too. The ear he'd been prepared for, as a vampire's hearing was much stronger than a human's and his eardrums were not adapted to dealing with such an amplified sound, but why was his mouth...

Captain, that last lightning strike got our side! We're taking on water!

Shit.

"Ria, help him!"

James quickly set Alexandre down on his bed and pulled on a pair of slacks before racing out of the cabin. Being the captain and the strongest swimmer of his crew, he knew that he was the one going down to fix the damage. Once he got to the railing where Desden was standing he helped him get a rope tied tightly around his waist. 

"Keep the doors closed to be sure we don't flood. Everyone stays where they are." 

He nodded as James hopped up onto the railing, then jumped overboard. He had planned on using gravity to fall, but the wind was so strong that he had to dig his claws into the worn wood to climb over to the damaged section.

"Alright, let's get this fixed."

Pulling his magic from within, he pressed his hand against the splintered wood and slowly closed his eyes to focus.

"Heal, now. Mend and be whole once more."

Feeling the power flow through his fingertips was draining, but thankfully the shattered wood began to reform. When it finished he let his hand drop and sighed.

"That should hold for now."

Desden, is the ship straightening out?

Yes! We're good, Capt'n. The lightning is also slowing so we shouldn't have more damage.

Good.

He quickly climbed back up with his claws and untied himself from the rope, then walked back into his cabin. As he began to dry off his eyes looked over at Ria, his quiet cowering taking his attention right away.

"What's wrong?"

He flinched and hid beneath his blanket.

"I-I couldn't...."

Couldn't what?

James' eyes slowly moved over to Alexandre's form on his bed.

...dead?

Immediately, he ran over to him and checked his pulse, though he could already sense that his heart wasn't beating. For once in his life he was at a loss. He wanted to kill Ria for not saving Alexandre. He wanted to yell at him to wake up, but he knew that it was his fault. He had forgotten about his heart condition in response to stress, even though his punishment had been much lighter than some of his others... He had killed him.

As he stared down at the lifeless body unfamiliar depression grew into anger and then further, to rage.

"I hate you..." 

His body didn't move as James reached down and grabbed his neck. His fingers constricted, but again, no response. 

"I don't regret it." 

No response...

"You deserved to die."

He felt something wet run down his cheek and silently cursed the rain that must be its cause. With a quiet sigh he began to lean over to lift him up when he felt eyes on him... and they definitely weren't Ria's little frightened ones.

A deep, rumbling growl began, sounding like a purr from a large feline stalking its prey. He needed to kill him... again. The growling got louder and after a moment he felt a cold hand slowly slide along his cheek, then grip his wet hair.

"Alexandre... I am sorry that this has happened."

He didn't normally apologize, ever, but this was a rare occasion where he believed it was necessary.

The chalky white hand began pulling him down and soon he felt a cold nose nuzzle against his neck, then pause as a deep inhale was heard.

"Captain, is he...?"

A dry tongue struggled to lap at his skin.

"....yes. He is a damur. A damned soul, undead but broken. He will feed like a vampire but will never truly be sated. Each time he'll need more and if he doesn't get it, his mind will deteriorate. I did this."

James could feel his partially human teeth tear at his flesh and closed his eyes as his blood began to flow. He could have easily removed him, but he felt like he deserved to have his skin torn up.

"You are safe, though. They may be always hungry... but damur only feed from the vampire responsible for their change."