Fandom The Hunter's Dream

[spacient]

Flip Jester Boy

The sun rose over the plagued city of Yharnam, giving light to the hunter, and casting shadows for the beasts that roamed the streets in search of the innocents. Today barely marked a week that Cosmin was made a hunter. What an ordeal all this had been. A week ago she was defending herself against one of them and then approached by a blind man with the promise of strength, a seemingly eternal life, and a way of protection. Next thing she knew, she was thrown into the fray with nothing but a cleaver and a blunderbuss. She had been fending for herself, but when things got tough, she was always able to bounce back with a spring in her step and murder in her eyes.

Today she hunted through the alleys of the broken city. It was strange and dangerous to go through here alone in such tight quarters. What was around the corner, what made that sound in the distance, and why wouldn't they stop coming? Something was always coming, and something was definitely coming now. She froze, listening to the tearing of flesh and smacking jaws. She inched forward, making a right. What she saw might have made her barf, but that was before she became a hunter and this kind of shit had been tormenting her all week. A small pack of dogs chewed on the remains of a human corpse. Any means of identification was lost - the face was ripped, the chest was open, and blood poured onto the cobblestone.

She could handle this on her own. She took in a deep breath, then went in. The cleaver went in the spine of the first, and it dropped instantly, and the other dogs pounced. One dog started chewing on her leg and the other basically crashed into her chest, trying to make a move for her throat when she was on the ground. She kicked the first dog in the head, making it release her, and she shot the other one with the blunderbuss and finished with the cleaver when it was stunned from the pain. Killing the last one was a simply swipe of the blade. It wasn't a pleasant feeling being tackled and bitten by the dogs, but she made it out alive and that's what counted. Still on the floor, she took a blood vial from her bag and injected it into her leg, amazed at how much it was like an instant cure-all. She hadn't been to the Hunter's Dream in a while, so she was running low and had maybe 5 left. Better make them count.

She picked herself up but didn't bother dusting herself off. She was already covered in grime and blood, so a little dust didn't matter in the long-run. She sighed, stretching her leg that had just been bitten, waiting for the effects of the vial to kick in. When she had the feeling in her leg again, she began walking again, heading for a rickety-looking building

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

An executioner roamed the streets, searching for its next victim. It soon heard the sounds of dogs barking and gunshots, prompting it to head to the source. Upon arrival, it saw nothing but dog corpses and a trail of blood. Following the trail, it reached a derelict building, entering it to find its prey. The executioner was unaware, however, of a mysterious figure following it. "Must be another lost Hunter," Silas said to himself as he stalked the foe. Judging by the blood trail, the Hunter hadn't completely recovered from the attack, yet.

The executioner spotted its prey resting in a corner, charging at her with its axe ready until it was set off course by a truck weapon. The being turned to face it's attacker as its arm was slightly gashed from the returning weapon. Silas stood in the rafters, catching the weapon onto his wrist before gripping and halting its spin. He compacted the two blades of the weapon into one as he drew a similar weapon into his off-hand. He leaped from the rafters down onto the executioner, which dodged out of the way. It roared at Silas, who stood his ground as the monster went in for a great swing. Silas back stepped in response, dodging and retaliating with a cross slash, putting a gash into the executioner's knuckles. It still gripped tightly onto its axe as it readied for another attack. Another horizontal swing was made, but this time Silas jumped over his opponent, slicing open its neck. He landed behind the monster as it fell forward, blood spewing out of the neck wound.

"Yet another succumbs to bloodlust," Silas said as he stowed his weapons at his sides, his blood red scarf draped along the back of his coat. The cloth he used as an eye-patch was covered in dirt and blood, unable to find a clean water source to wash it. He turned to face the Hunter. "Are you alright?"

 

[spacient]

Cosmin thought the building would be a good place to relax and catch her breath for a minute, but she thought wrong. She hadn't been in there any more than a minute when she heard something crash through the room in search of something. It dawned on her, it was searching for her. She gripped her cleaver and stood, preparing to defend herself from the would-be attacker... but something incredible happened. Another entered the fray, a man with one eye. Cosmin was a bit of a brawler before the city had gone to shit, so she could hold her own in a basic fight, but this guy was next level. She just stood there, frozen as she watched this fight go on, and she knew that if this guy turned on her that she would be paying the doll a little visit

When it was over, she gave him a once-over. He looked young, but the light in his eyes... well ... eye was completely gone. How long has he been playing the game? She was staring at her future, granted that she lived that long. She blocked out the thought and finally answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for stepping in, but you didn't have to do that, I couldda taken care of it myself." she could have, but she would probably be using another vial, if the ax hadn't found itself at her throat first

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

"Hmm, quite," Silas said with a cold tone in his voice. "Come, I'll take you to a safe place." He began to walk out of the old building. "But know this. I've seen many Hunters go mad, needing to be slain. All of us can no longer dream. Our death is permanent, and soon there will be no more to protect those from the hunt. You are no different. The first moment you do something suspicious, your life is mine without hesitation."

 

[spacient]

Already Cosmin was starting to not like this guy, and she frowned, her brow furrowing slightly. Just the tone in his voice made him sound so condescending, and not a lot could make up for that. Thinking of this as a better learning opportunity than blindly running into the fray she followed him. You don't have to like someone to learn something from them. She listened to him talk, and didn't show any sign she was fazed by his threat. She knew he could turn on her at any second, and this whole thing could be a trap, but why go through all the trouble when he could easily just kill her now? She didn't need to be reminded that everything, even the other hunters, were dangerous

There was one thing that bothered her about what he said, "The hell are you talking about? We can dream." she could just as easily be sneak-attacked by another violent monster, die, and she would be back within a half hour to grab her fallen souls

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

"We can dream in a sense of sleeping, but we no longer see that old man's cottage," Silas said, annoyed by her tone of voice. The two eventually came upon a bridge which linked two sections of the city. "We're almost there. The safe area is just past this bridge." Suddenly, howls engulfed the air as three scourge beasts approached from behind. "Shit, they must have followed us." Silas drew his whirlwind blades, preparing for battle.

 

[spacient]

Cosmin didn't have the time or the patience to correct him. She knew the location of the lanterns, she could go there and head back to the dream. She knew that, why would he deny that? Maybe only the new hunters could go to the dream and older hunters slowly lost that ability when they've been around the beasts longer? Whatever plague affected these people, these creatures, she knew it must be able to do something like that. She didn't have time to let this get to her because the beasts were here.

She hasn't seen these before, but they looked like lycanthropes. Wolves, but, oddly human in a sense. Whatever they were, they were massive and lethal. She was a little happier that this stranger was here, because if she was going to die, she would rather have someone there to take care of the remaining enemy. She moved forward, swirling the cleaver once in her hand for a better hold. When the first monster was upon her, it lunged, but she quickly dashed to the side and sliced it in the rips, making it howl in pain. She struck it again quickly then rolled out of the way of an oncoming lunge from one of the other beasts. She miscounted them, losing track of the third, and there she landed right in front of it. It struck her across the chest with its claws, making her gasp in pain. She slashed at it, making a surface cut in its shoulder, but her being preoccupied left an opening for the second beast to jump on her back with its claws digging into her while its teeth sunk into her neck

It was all over. Everything went numb, then cold. Her body faded from the world, but she woke up in the warm light of the Dream. As she opened her eyes she could see the doll, and she gave the porcelain lady a wave with a waggle of her fingers. This would give her an opportunity to collect some things from storage, like some more ammunition and blood vials. She walked into the workshop and stored up, and when she was finished, she used the transport system to awaken in the physical world again

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

Silas saw the new Hunter run head first at the Scourge Beasts. "What is she doing?" he mumbled to himself, dumbfounded by her stupidity. He saw her land a few blows on one and dodge the other, but the third pounced on her, putting a gash into her shoulder as the second took a bite out of her neck. Silas watched the three feast on the dead body, sighing in disappointment. He charged at the three, using fire paper to ignite his blades as he used a flurry of swings to dance between them, slicing the Scourge Beasts to ribbons. The lone Hunter looked down at the mangled corpse. "You still had much to learn." Silas continued his way to the safe haven across the bridge.

 

[spacient]

Cosmin appeared back at the lantern on top of the builiding. She looked around, made sure she was safe, and hopped the fence that she still has yet to find a key for. She was nimble enough she could get over, so whatever, it wasn't that big of a problem. Good thing she knew this city back to front, so she cut through an open building in the dark, avoiding hands grabbing at her. She killed the offender, tempted to take the cutlass from the corpse. She followed her old trail back to the bridge, stopping momentarily to kill a man who had followed her and grab the souls from her mangled corpse. Then she continued along the bridge, if it really was safe then she might as well find it and the hunter from before

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

A sentinel watching the bridge spotted a young woman approach the gate. "Stop! Who goes there?" The man called. "What business do you have here?" He and another man aimed their rifles at her.

 

[spacient]

Great, just what the newly resurrected Cosmin needed - guns aimed at her. She took in a deep breath then released it, "A hunter found me earlier and told me there was a safe haven beyond the bridge. I don't remember a name, but he had only one eye." she looked between the two guards and looked as non-threatening as you could get while being threatened with death by shooting. She didn't want to die twice, all in one day

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

"Could she be talking about the captain?" One said to the other when she mentioned a Hunter with one eye. "Don't move. We shall retrieve this one-eyed man for confirmation." The other guard left the gate in search of Silas, who was busy handing out food to those in residence. "Captain Kroe, there's someone at the gate saying you told her about this haven."

"Her?" Silas said in disbelief. "No, it can't be... Take me to her." Silas and the guard returned to the gate, seeing the Hunter that died before him. "I don't believe it. You still have 'Dreams'?" He opened the gate for the young woman.

 

[spacient]

"I told you earlier, but you didn't listen. Yes, I can Dream," Cosmin said as she stepped through the gate, not taking her eyes of Silas, "You act like that's a miracle." as far as she knew, every hunter had the ability to Dream. It was promised to her when she was awakened by the mysterious blind man. She could easily come and go from the dream, so why shouldn't anyone else?

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

"It is a miracle," Silas said as he led the woman to the dining hall. "You see, many Hunters, including myself, used to got to that Dream, but something happened. We stopped Dreaming, losing our immortality. I've lost many friends among the same Hunters, most of them becoming Bestial, slain by my hand. Others grew mad, slaying whatever was in their way, drunk with bloodlust."

 

[spacient]

Cosmin followed along, looking at her surroundings so she would be better aware, but she still paid close attention to Silas and his story. So, she was the lucky one, if you could call it that. Well, lucky in the sense she no longer feared death, just really thought of it as an inconvenience. How was she spared their fate? Trapped in this awakened state without ever really being able to return to normal life, their only only hope is the dream ends.

She sucked in a hissing breath through her teeth, "Well, I dunno what to tell you. I can't explain why I can Dream, maybe you've simply seen too much. It's never that easy though," she sent him a humorless sideways smile

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

"Hmm, well, judging by the way you fight, you still have a lot to learn," Silas said with a straight face. "Looks like I'm gonna have to teach you how to fight like a true Hunter." A young lady gave Silas and the stranger both a platter of food. "Thank you. By the way, you never told me your name."

 

[spacient]

"Hey, it's not like the blind man gave me a book of how to do anything," Cosmin's brow furrowed as she talked, "He just found me off the street standing above a couple of the dead guys who tried to kill me, and said to me 'You are stronger than you know, young one. Join the ranks of the Hunters, and you shall not live in fear of the beasts any longer, for you will have life eternal.'" surprisingly her impression of him was almost perfect

She watched the lady bring her a plate of food and said a word of thanks before returning her attention to Silas, "I don't need you to show me anything, I'm just new at this, still getting the hang of things. I learn at my own pace. Besides, don't you have more important things to take care of than chaperoning me?"

How funny, barely an hour before she was following him hoping to learn something, but now she was almost refusing it. That was her pride getting in the way. She could learn off-handedly, but him offering - no, telling her - to teach her what he knew felt belittling. This was going to be a difficult partnership, because it was obvious he wasn't going to take 'no' as an answer.

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

"Ah, yes, I remember my first meeting with the Blood Minister. He does have quite a habit of disappearing after performing the transfusion process," Silas commented as he began to eat. "And if you wish to learn at your own pace, then I won't stop you, but be warned: some wounds will never heal." He made a slight gesture to his left eye. "Since you never introduced yourself, I'll take initiative. My name is Silas Kroe, Hunter and guardian of this safe zone we call Haven."

 

[spacient]

Maybe he would take NO as an answer. She took a bite of food, eating as she listened to him talk, "Cosmin Ardell," she said finally, "New Hunter, and apparently the last Dreamer. Still can't tell you the significance of the last part. Oh, did you want anything in the dream? If you left anything in there I could get it for you. Or if you wanted to say anything to the doll I could relay a message for you.." she offered before taking another bite. Without the dream they probably had to fend for themselves. The dream had resources that were difficult to get out here, so if he wanted anything, she would have to get it for him.

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

"No, no. The Dream is different for all Hunters," Silas explained, taking a drink of water from his mug. "Though we all meet the same doll, each if us is isolated from the other." He finished his meal before standing back up, going for a walk. He gestured to Cosmin to follow him.

 

[spacient]

"Fair enough," Cosmin nodded before taking a final bite. She sent him another look, where was he going now? She didn't argue this time, simply stood up and began to follow with a confised look on her face

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

Silas led Cosmin to a small garden with various trick weapons set on the ground. Each trick weapon was accompanied by a stone plackard wih a name etched into it. "These are all the Hunters that have died by our hands," he explained as he knelt at one of the graves. "If we can't recover the body, we keep their weapons as our memory of them. One day my blades will join them, so my only wish is to end the Hunt. Permanently."

 

[spacient]

Cosmin followed him to the garden, or maybe she should say cemetary. All these hunters were promised eternity, but they were killed by the monsters. She prayed to whatever god would listen to spare her the same fate one day. She spoke with a sigh, "The only way to live a normal life is to end the Hunt. All of us are working for the same goal, I just want to protect the innocents, that's ultimately why I decided to join the Hunt." She didn't know jack from shit, but every bloodthirsty beast she killed made the streets safer for those who couldn't protect themselves. She was so afraid before now, carrying around a dagger and checking every corner if she needed to leave her home. Now she could actually do something rather than just cower in fear

 

[Flip Jester Boy]

There were some yells from the front gate. A mob of deranged huntsmen was gathered outside, jeering at the two guardsmen to let them enter and slay the cursed, referring to the innocent lives in Haven. "More huntsmen. They always come back with more and more with seemingly no end to them. I've searched for bell maidens that have been resurrecting them, but my searches bore nothing."

 

[spacient]

Cosmin looked back toward the way they came, biting her lip, "Those gates won't hold forever. Have you thought about burning the corpses? Nothing to resurrect, if there are bell maidens, then they won't come back." it was a fine enough idea, but would it work? Then she looked upwards towards the buildings, wondering what would be inside them if she were to check