Fandom The Night Unfurls [Bloodborne]

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada was about to pop a hunk of cheese into her mouth before Briar asked her question. She slowly set down the cheese back on the platter and cocked her head looking up at Briar. She tried to remember every visceral moment that she was a beast in the waking world. It sent an unnerving shiver down her spine.

"It wasn't like anything I've felt before," Ada muttered, her tone was dark and somber, the bloodshed still deep in her mind. "I felt so small, but like I was in a huge room. I was scared, but at the same time I felt like I could do anything. I felt... invincible. It's horribly vulgar, but it felt good."

"And...," Ada looked away now, her scarred cheek showing to Briar. "When I attacked you, I felt alive. I wanted to stop so badly, but I just couldn't.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar slowly nodded as she spoke, unable to truly relate it to anything she could’ve ever felt and hopefully never would feel. “I don’t believe it was you who attacked me. At least, not mentally.” Her mind recalled the exact moment where she had held the pistol to her large lupine head, her face twisting into a grimace.

Wanting to move onto a lighter subject, she would wait a moment before asking “How long have you hunted for the church? And what might you enjoy when not prowling the streets? The night of the hunt doesn’t last forever.”

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada merely shrugged at Briar's suggestion that she had not been herself. She certainly felt like herself, she just couldn't help but pounce Briar. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that Ada had no degree of certainty that she could stop herself if it ever happened again.

"Hasn't anyone told you its rude to try to figure out a woman's age?" Ada chortled, then leaned back a bit and relaxed, continuing to eat. "I'd say maybe four or five years now, I think. God, it feels like longer."

Ada pondered a moment, as if trying to figure out if she had any hobbies worth mentioning at all, "There's a small garden under my window sill... It's embarrassing to say, but I tend to those little flowers and fruits more than I like to admit. Sometimes, even when I'm still drenched in blood, I return home and water the garden before I step through the door. There's something so terribly therapeutic tending to the garden. Instead of reaping lives, I nourish them."

Ada chuckled at how silly she sounded.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar couldn’t help but smile as Ada explained, trying to imagine her blood and gore coated watering some plants. “That might explain the strange dream I had... it was a nightmare of blood and beasts, yet for some reason I couldn’t shake the idea of flowers alongside it.” The connection they now had was strange, but not unwelcome. It made Ada feel that much more human and less of a bloodthirsty hunter.

“What got you hunting then.” Briar finally asked. “And... have you ever considered retiring? Perhaps settling down and, oh I don’t know... starting a family?” She had a teasing grin on her lips, anticipating her outright denial of both questions.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada had begun sputtering since Briar made the comment about flowers in her dream. Had she somehow seen into Ada's dream? While she did just tell Briar that she had a secret hobby, it was different if she was seeing her dream. What other things was she capable of seeing out of Ada's mind. Her cheeks already began to flush at the thought.

"N-now wait just a damn moment. I hunt because I want to hunt, I'll retire when I want to retire, not when I decide to start a family," Ada shook her hands in front of her, giving a nervous chuckle. "Me? Married? Kids? Have you even looked at me over the course of tonight, Briar? Do I look like a family-friendly woman? I'm a cold-hearted killer, a monster, a beast."

"I'd say," Ada changed her tone of voice to be on the attack, "I'd say that you're the more likely candidate to want a family. Say, that bed of yours was snug enough for two. You seeing a nice boy at least?" A familiar devilish smirk reappeared on Ada's lips, though her cheeks were still reddened.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Aha, there it was. She had succeeded in flustering the woman. "A cold hearted beast? You did save my life more than once, didn't you?" Ada also had eaten her but... that was beside the point. "I say you could if you truly wanted."

Then she switched the focus of the conversation to her. Briar's smirk was replaced with an embarrassed one of her own as she asked, her own face reddening. "I... no. I tried some years ago but things never seemed to work out."

Wanting to shift the focus off of herself once more, she would ask curiously. "Why do you want to hunt then? Surely there has to be a reason."

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

"Let me entertain your question with another question, if I may," Ada laid back on the bed, supporting her neck with her interlaced fingers. She stared at the intricate designs painted on the ceiling as she talked. "Does a porter enjoy his job? Does an undertaker find passion in mucking up corpses? A job is a job, and it needs to get done."

Ada pondered for a moment longer, as if to think about her own answer, then she sat back up and locked eyes with Briar, "I'm a hunter because I happen to be good at killing without remorse. That, and perhaps my mother was a hunter. That's besides the point, even if she had not been a hunter I think I'd still be here. That's not exactly a skill that stays hidden for too long."

Despite having just flexed her ability to murder, Ada gave Briar an honest smile, head tilted and her hands folded in her lap, "Next question, princess."

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Unable to keep herself from rolling her eyes at Ada’s remark, she would think for a moment. Killing without remorse is quite a trait to have and one she was sure she lacked. If the indication of having assumed she had killed the hunter had been anything, of course, she knew that if she had died instead of transforming... she’d be in a much different situation right now.

“Well, you couldn’t have always been a glorified pest exterminater.” Briar teased while moving the tray off the bed and taking a seat on it once more. “You has to of had some sort of childhood, hm? Are you from Yharnam originally?”

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada shook her head, causing her locks to bounce to and fro, "All I can remember is Yharnam, but my parents told me I was born in some nowhere town some ways away from Yharnam. Not verbatim, of course, I just always thought of it as some run down shack in the middle of the swamp. It's funny what kind of images the mind creates when it has no point of reference."

"If I had to guess, I'd say you're not from Yharnam either, are ya?" Ada raised an eyebrow and sat next to Briar. "I can imagine Yharnam wasn't much before the blood, but it's not surprising what something like that'll do to a place. You'll end up with a town of outsiders in no time."

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar would nod as she explained, her humored smile unwavering. Something told her Ada didn’t enjoy speaking about herself all that much.

“I’m not.” She would eventually reply. “I came to Yharnam about ten or so years ago like I explained earlier in the small cache we sat around... although that feels as if it had been days ago now. I spoke of my brother there as well. Do you have any siblings?” Even though she most likely wasn’t going to get a straight answer, she might as well try to unravel more about this mystery woman.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Briar was right, the cache already did feel like weeks ago. The only indication that it hadn't was the fact that Ada still knew so little about Briar, but at the same time Ada felt like she knew her like the back of her hand. What a strange night indeed.

"I, uh," Ada shook her head, "Nah. None." It was easy to tell Ada wasn't telling the whole truth with her response as it was far too short and the lack of a witty retort at the end. She even looked away from Briar, casting her gaze to the patterns on the rug. Ada's posture even shifted to display her discomfort as she closed herself off a bit, almost shriveling up.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Immediately Briar would begin forcing our an apology as it seemed it was a delicate subject for her. “I-I’m sorry for mentioning it.” It was strange seeing such a normally nonchalant and stone-cold woman break down as she had seen.

There was a lengthy awkward silence between the two for a few minutes, before she forced herself to try and speak. Her as she did, the door would’ve opened with a few knights standing outside. “The Queen wishes to see you now.”

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

The wounded looked on Ada's expression fizzled away entirely as the knights barged in on their private awkward silence, "Don't worry, Briar, I'll be by your side the whole time. I wont let them take me away again." Ada's lips turned into a sincere smirk, a comforting smile directed towards Briar as they were herded out of their momentary sanctuary. If Ada were to die for good here, at least she had enjoyed one last comfort with Briar.

Once they had returned back to the grandeur of the throne room, they were again thrust to their knees by the knights and knelt audience to the queen. Ada's blood had been long scrubbed away from their last encounter, but it looked as if Annalist had not moved a centimeter from their last audience. Ada kept her head bowed and knew better than to speak out of turn now of all times,
knowing that her survival hinged on her sucking up to the queen, and Briar's testimony.

"This one, a treacherous hunter of the Church, still graces my throne room," Annalise raised a finger to Ada. "Twice, in fact, and yet still breathes. Madame Larkin, however, is seemingly infatuated with you, Miss Cowen -- a courtship most peculiar indeed. Briar, speak truly your relation this filth who kneels beside you, why is she so important to you?"

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar couldn’t hide the nervous expression she wore as they were forced into the throne room and listening to the Queen speak. Infatuation? She wasn’t sure if that was the correct word to describe it but then again, she wasn’t sure what word could be used.

“She is important to me-“ She began hesitantly. “Because earlier in the night, not only had she made me a promise to get me home. In doing so she saved my life while risking her own a rather foolish amount, and because that promise of hers was fulfilled... I want to repay her.”

The Queen would scoff. “Indebted to a hunter of the Church? Should We simply get rid of her here there would be no need for such foolish things.”

“Please!” Briar was certain she appeared to be begging now. “There has to be something that doesn’t end in her death.”

“No need to grovel.” Annalise would sigh. “I have already decided that you two could be rather useful indeed. This is a dream, however Cainhurst and myself do still exist within the waking world. Something there has been stolen from me and I wish to have it back. Appear in my physical throne room with this object and we shall discuss the life of Madam Larkin there.”

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada was a moment away from reaching over and grabbing Briar's shoulder, stopping her from making a scene. She was just about to grasp that she was finally at the end of her rope and at the mercy of some blood-crazed fiends with shiny guns and creepy masks, but the queen seemingly decided it would not be so. Ada bit her lower lip and hoped that she truly meant it. The first thought that popped into her head was that Annalise couldn't harm Ada at all in the dream they were in, and she was simply baiting them to Cainhurst Castle to finish them off in person. But, then again, why waste the effort?

Ada looked over to Briar and gave her a nod of approval, her expression neutral as ever as she mouthed a thank you. She then turned to the queen and raised her hand slightly in front of her face as she spoke, "I have a few questions, if I may."

"Speak," Annalise nodded towards Ada.

"Pardon my ignorance, but I am under the impression that the bridge to Castle Cainhurst has been long destroyed. How are we to arrive if the only means to the island is gone?" Ada asked.

"Have faith in the illusion," Annalise spoke her vague answer, causing Ada to simply furrow her brow in confusion. "Now, hunter of the church, what else will you ask of me?"

Ada shook her head, deciding to cross that bridge when they got to it, "Er, how do we 'wake up' from this dream and go back to the waking world?"

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar was a bit confused on this as well. They had fallen asleep not too long ago but had remained here. So how does one wake from such a strange dream?

“Take this.” Annalise would produce an old, bloodstained envelope sealed with wax that was stamped with the Cainhurst crest. “Whenever you wish to exit or return, focus on the letter. If you retain this bond with Madam Larkin then, should her mind be willing, she will join you.” Nodding Briar would accept the envelope and, unable to help herself, open it and tug out the contents. The parchment was old and ink faded, most of it being a rather stale invitation. But what caused her eyes to widen somewhat was the appearance of her name as if it had always been addressed to her.

Chuckling somewhat, the Queen would also produce a rather ornate handgun. At first, Briar was beginning to worry but instead of aiming it towards Ada, she flipped it around and held out the handle towards the smaller woman. “And seeing as you don’t have a weapon to call your own, Evelyns are pistols commonly used by Our knights. I’m sure the results with bullets borne of your corrupted blood will be rather pleasing.”

After handing the gun off to Briar she would dismiss them with wave of her hand, she doing as told and focusing on the now resealed invitation. Soon enough she felt an odd tug on her mind before slowly the world fell dark.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada was about to open her mouth to say something to Briar and the queen, but she found she could no longer open her mouth as her vision began to dim. It was as if she was forcibly being dragged to sleep, and she noticed Briar had begun to fade away as well, literally. Briar's form was becoming a wispy trail of fog as she slumped over, with the paper and pistol in her hand. Panic began to rise in Ada's chest, but she could not find it to lift her hands, as her entire body felt like molasses. And just before Ada herself faded away, she swore she heard a beast growl in the back of her mind. She was waking up.

Her eyes flickered, open and close, open and close again. Her body felt familiar and alien at the same time, and Ada remembered that she was indeed no longer human. The hope was fleeting, but she should have figured that waking up from that "dream" wouldn't magically fix the fact that she had turned into a terrible beast. Ada's vision came to, and she was looking at hands that were not her real hands. They were covered in fur, massive paws with knives for claws, but they opened and closed on her command. It was still all too strange to her. Then, Ada began to look around, a familiar panic filling her body. Briar was nowhere to be found. A brief glance to the vanity mirror on a nearby dresser gave Ada her grim reminder. Her maw was entirely coated in blood -- Briar's blood.

Ada began to really panic, pacing around and also realizing she was trapped in Briar's destroyed bedroom. She wouldn't be able to get out unless she smashed through some walls, because she was now far too large to fit through the doorway. Ada knelt down as far as she could, peeking through the door frame and was relieved by what she saw. There Briar was, seated in the parlor, sleeping on a parlor chair with the pistol and invitation she had been given by the queen in her lap. It was all still so confusing, but Ada had learned to stop asking questions long ago and just accepted the fact that Briar had somehow lived, or was reborn after being eaten.

"Briar?" Ada called out, still prone to the ground like a sitting dog. Her voice had been louder than she intended and still as mangled as before, and caused her to raise a paw to cover her mouth, as if she had misspoke.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

It was strange, feeling as if you were fading away. But she didn’t wake until a guttural voice shouted her name. Startled she jumped in the chair she sat in, the pistol and invitation sliding from her lap and landing on the floor. Blinking a few times, Briar would taking in a few breaths, trying to focus somewhat. Her mind felt a bit fogged while her limbs were stiff as if they hadn’t been used. Why wasn’t she in her ro-....

Her eyes glanced towards the doorway to her bedroom, the blood coating Ada’s lupine features reminding her.

A new body? Was this what the queen had meant about being undying? Her mind spun trying to comprehend both that she had been eaten and was still living, knowing that it most likely wasn’t going to make much sense any time soon.

Eventually Briar would push herself out of her chair, bending down to pick up the invitation and pistol before fully standing and carefully moving towards the beast that was stuck within her home. “How... are you going to get out?” She would ask, seeing as something fifteen feet tall couldn’t squeeze through a much smaller doorway.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada's ears drooped and her head fell low when Briar was startled awake. She truly didn't mean to call her name out so loudly. Once she was finally awake however, Ada had managed to wiggle her head up to her new broad shoulders into the parlor where Briar sat. She was far too large to fit much more in without getting stuck. It was rather comical, even to Ada, the situation that she was in.

"I wasn't trying to scare you awake, I promise," Ada hushed, her beastly mutterings much quieter now. Honestly, she was surprised how well she could articulate herself in this form.

Ada lifted her head up and looked around, even though she knew the only answer to Briar's question anyway. The walls were thin enough to where Ada was confident that she could barrel through. At least,
that was her hope.

"I'm going to have to break a wall," Ada finally said, breathing out the closest thing she could make to a sigh. "You were sitting in that chair when I woke up, so perhaps that's where you... 'wake up' now?
I could break a wall out here in your bedroom and move your dresser to block the parlor off from the outside before we both leave. With... your permission of course. Your humble abode would not be so humble anymore."

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

It was strange how her voice appeared to be disembodied, her lips unmoving as she spoke. Yet another thing she would have to get used to.

Briar’s face would twist into a grimace as Ada suggested breaking down a wall. Her house was being destroyed and she was certain affording a new place wasn’t going to be easy. However despite how much time she assumed had passed, from glancing out of a nearby window the moon hadn’t seemed of if budged. Will this night ever end?

“If you can it’s worth a shot.” She would agree. “And then... perhaps we should go to my place of work. Use some of my employer’s equipment to fill some vials with my blood as it as appeared to be rather useful. And he might have some healing blood left as well.” But this was assuming Ada could get free, which she was beginning to worry about.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada let Briar get safe before looking back at her one more time as if for permission, then shoulder-ramming the far wall of her bedroom. It was astoundingly much easier to blow through the several layers of brick and wood than Ada anticipated. She didn't feel a thing as she stumbled with excess momentum onto the back alley of Briar's apartment without feeling a thing. Ada righted herself and shook her fur, shuddering off a great cloud of dust and debris that had clung to her. She even had to paw off a few planks that had stuck in between her jagged antlers.

"I promise you I haven't done anything like that before," Ada muttered as she reentered the house through the hole she had made. Once Briar had cleared the parlor and into the bedroom, Ada lifted the mahogany dresser and placed it in the doorway that separated the two rooms.

Ada was the first onto the street again, looking left and right, up and down, just in case there was anybody at all waiting in ambush. She even sniffed the air, trying to acclimate to her new heightened senses. Satisfied that there was no one near or anyone on the way, Ada gestured with a great paw for Briar to follow before the gears turning in her head caused her to stop in place. Her mouth did the talking before she could think her thought out, "Can I carry you?"

She let out a startled grunt, like a cough right away and Ada was entirely thankful that a flush could not be seen on her cheeks in this form, "I mean, so we can cover ground faster. And safer. Only if you want me to."

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

This display of Ada's newfound strength was rather... eyeopening. She hadn't given it much thought how strong beasts truly were, but being able to plow through a solid wall as she had was something spectacular indeed.

Following the hunter-turned beast into the alleyway and then onto the street, her eventual question forced her to stop as well. "I...." Examining Ada now that she could stand fully erect, it was clear she was almost three times her height. Travel would be slow if she had to match her pace. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt." She'd eventually reply. "this isn't the strangest thing that has happened tonight, after all."

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada grunted a response and gingerly scooped Briar up, cradling her in her left arm and forming a protective barrier of fur, flesh and bone around Briar. With Briar's direction, they started at slower pace, so Ada could get used to the full limitations of her new body. Soon she grew confident enough to hunch over and half-gallop using her right arm and propelling herself forward with her powerful hind legs. Short garden fences and simple wooden barricades were no issue for Ada's stride. To the untrained eye, Ada could easily be just another beast prowling the streets of Yharnam. Even to other beasts, they did not even seem to look in Ada's direction as they bolted past. Ada didn't care much to find out what they thought of her.

"This hole in the wall blood minister's office you work at..." Ada spoke as they darted through the street. "Will it be occupied? I hope not to explain myself to much more than you and perhaps our beloved Queen about my form. I fear they will not be as understanding, perhaps rightfully so."

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

The position she was put in was odd to say the least, being held in such a manner wasn't something she could've ever predicted, especially on the night of the hunt.

"The owner lives right above it in a small apartment." Brair would reply, having to move some of Ada's fur away from her mouth as she spoke so her voice wasn't muffled. "We would have to be quiet, but I'm certain he wouldn't be awake at such an hour."

Arriving took much less time than Briar had expected, which was most likely due to how fast they were moving. Being set down outside of the closed up building, they would creep around the back to find a much more plain entrance, most likely used for deliveries. Slipping inside after locating the spare key, she wouldn't be able to move into the back room all that much before her eyes were burned with the unexpected brilliance of an oil lamp, an aging man standing in a doorway to the rest of the small clinic. "Briar?" He would ask. "What the bloody hell are you doing here at such an hour, on the night of the hunt of all nights?"

"Mr. Terning!" Briar would've immediately shut the door behind her as fast as possible to limit his view of Ada. "Iosefka couldn't offer me any help so I had managed to return home, but when I arrived it seemed to have been destroyed and picked over by looters."

"Damnable wretches." Mr. Terning would sigh. "Always taking advantage of this accursed night. Well, I would ask you to come in but you haven't introduced us yet."

"Introduced?" Had he seen Ada?

"Yes, yes. I heard it lumbering around the clinic. Felt like the earth was shaking." Gesturing towards the door he would crack a small smile. "Go on then, I'm not one of them church hunters with the fancy whips and guns."

Extremely confused by this turn of events, Briar would slowly tug the door back open, gesturing out towards the beast that stood on the other side. "Ada... this is Mr. Terning. A friend of my father's and my employer."

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

As soon as she heard voices and saw the dim glow of a lantern through the windows, Ada was ready to rip the door open along with the surrounding wall just in case anything went sour inside the clinic. Ada thought she was nearly ready for anything, until that door opened again and Briar introduced Ada to her employer. Ada reflexively crept backwards a bit, a nervous chuckle passing through her dagger-like teeth. Of course, anyone could have heard her lumbering around if she was that size.

"Evenin', erm, well met Mr. Terning. Ada Larkin, ch-," Ada stopped herself mid-sentence and clicked her jaw together. "Ada Larkin. Just Ada Larkin. I'd accept an invitation into your place of work, but I fear that would not bode well for myself or its infrastructure. I apologize for our intrusion."

Ada sat back on her hind legs and folded her front paws in front of her in the most placated stance she could offer while being a horned, fifteen foot tall beast of the night. Though this place was a private blood ministration clinic, Ada could sense the danger in Terning's stance and the way he carried himself. She hoped that whatever he thought, he wouldn't suddenly go for a gun or weapon. The last thing Ada wanted right now was to pick out chunks of quicksilver from her fur and hide.

"Briar, didn't I tell you not to bring pets to the shop?" Mr. Terning began to chuckle himself, setting the oil lamp down and peeking outside to check for any other strangers. Ada responded in kind by shifting further back against the wall to give him space and following his gaze. She was noticeably less shifty when the old minister decided to crack a joke of his own instead of lashing out like she expected most Yharnamites to. "I see you've up and leapt over the gate then. No beasties should interrupt us -- been quiet around this side of Yharnam tonight."

"I have some sense of civility, as you can see," Ada added.

"How quaint," Mr. Terning mused, stepping back inside of the clinic, but still talking to both Ada in the sealed off alley and Briar inside his clinic. "Where did you find this one, Briar?"