Fear the Old Blood

At Nightmare's End: Part 1

An Old Friend

Eyes fluttering with the weight of, what seemed, a thousand stones, she was met with cold darkness. The only light streamed in from a distant doorway or at least what she thought was a doorway. Reaching down she found her hand lantern, flicking it to create a dim glow. Rusted iron bars surrounded her and she realized where she was. Hypogean Gaol, a prison beneath the Unseen Village. Not many people lay eyes on this place and lived to speak of it.

Snatchers, hooded men lacking humanity, had claimed the jail and they, its guard. Ever since the scourge those found outside during a hunt would be collected and taken here, no matter if they were man, hunter, or beast.

Auna had been captured but barely remembered the journey in the black bag. Looking around she noticed a few huddled masses at either end of the long cell. Her cellmates, perhaps.

"Hello," she croaked, her throat feeling like sandpaper scratching against her vocal cords. The only replied was a small groan and a shifting movement. Sliding across the dirty cobbled floor she approached the stirring person. "Are you all right?"

Pulling on their shoulder, a limp head fell to the floor and Auna's eyes began to swell with tears. Shocked and horrified, she saw the face of her friend, Ector. The boy she left behind on her first hunt, one of whom she thought was dead. Ludwig had told her he surely died and she believed him, making no attempt to search for him. The guilt was what brought the tears to her eye, and painful stabs to her gut.

"Ector?! You're here? Your alive?" She choked back the tears, rubbing dirt and blood from his brow as she collected him into her lap.

"You?" he said once hearing her voice. "You came for me. I knew you would." He wasn't opening his eyes and Auna began to fear what lay behind his eyelids.

"I'm here for you. I'm sorry I didn't come earlier." With all her might she tried to seem comforting and not sad or scared.

"I'm so tired," he breathed and quivered in pain.

"Can you walk? I can get you out of here," she asked. Getting out of this place was bound to be difficult but with a limp human to carry, it would be nearly impossible. But she had to try. She had to do this for him.

"I... I can't feel my legs," he forced out. She swallowed audibly.

"Look at me," she gently commanded.

With strained efforts, he blinked his eyes twice before closing them once again. His irises were collapsed. Just as she feared, he had turned. There was no going back now and it would only be a matter of time before his strength returned and his humanity faded.

"Here, take this. It will help." It was one of her last three blood vials. It would do nothing to stop the turn but it would ease his pain if only but a moment.

"Is it bad?" He asked after wincing from the sting of the needle in his arm.

"You will be okay. Just rest," she lied. "Once you are better, I will get you out of here."

She now realized how good she had become at lying. Was this a skill that all hunters and the church had to learn to survive? Auna cradled her friend's head and rocked gently hoping that the movement would lull him into a deep sleep. He had to fall asleep.

"What happened? Out there?" He asked quietly, beginning to drift.

Auna smiled warmly, mostly out of appreciation for his spirit. She proceeded to tell him her tale. She told him everything: about Ludwig, Henriet, Alfred, Cainhurst, the church, Byrgenwerth. Everything, even those things she was ashamed of. This was his last chance to hear about the outside world and the life that he had hoped to live back in Yharnam. The poor boy made groans, laughs, and even gasps in amazement. She hoped that he could visual her story, see it like a picture in a book.

"You became a hunter just like you dreamed," he said, his energy quickly draining. Auna couldn't hold back the tears in her eyes as she watched her friend suffer. A harsh growl escaped his lips, more beast than man, as he convulsed on her legs. "It hurts," he strained.

"Go to sleep, I'll watch over you," Auna whispered and Ector's body relaxed.

"You never told me your name," his voice trailed away at the last of his breath.

She hugged him close as his limbs began to twitch. "My name is Auna," she whispered in his ear. With a small cut of her dagger to his throat, the twitching ceased and she was left covered in the blood of her friend.

It took everything in her to not scream. Her stifled sobs caught in her throat as she gasped for air, abdomen stiff and tight in a painful quiet.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there holding him. It could have been an hour or even a day. Finally, she seemed to awaken and looked to the cell door. The lock was large and she made quick work of breaking it open.

Blood drench and vengeful she shut off her lantern and entered the darkness. The prison was at the bottom of a spiraling staircase and with each level, she climbed and surveyed the area. On the 3rd level, she heard a noise from one of the offshoots. Something seemed to pull her into the room which held more cells and even more bodies.

In the darkness, she saw movement and realized that a towering figure was approaching her. His arm held on to something which was swung over his shoulder. A snatcher. Perhaps the one that carried her in or perhaps it was another. She didn't know how many there were but a sickening madness washed over her.

The room was sprayed with blood and black cloth flew into the air and floated down to the stone floor. Her saw blade swirled around the room, sweeping over and over again. She didn't stop, she couldn't, even if he was lifeless she needed to completely destroy the creature that killed her friend. This scuffle brought the attention of more prison guards as well as prisoners who had succumbed to the scourge who now clawed on the opposite side of their cells.

Auna lost count after the first three bodies dropped to the floor. She didn't remember moving her way up the prisons, destroying all wicked things. She couldn't remember using her last vials or how the taste of blood had filled her mouth. Rage. All she could taste, smell, hear and feel was rage. It wasn't until she reached the top floor with no one else to kill that her body relaxed and she fell to the floor in exhaustion. Her legs were aching, on the verge of going numb. Little needles pricked at her toes but she didn't care. Hypogean Gaol was silent as a tomb by her own hand.

With the small ounce of strength she had left, she pushed open a large, stiff door and was greeted by a pale light. The fresh air hit her nose and she could finally breathe ease. Staggering onto a bridge she glanced at her surroundings. Where she was, remained a mystery but her determination fueled her to find her way to she had quite forgotten where she was meaning to go at this point. It all seemed trivial now. Everywhere she turned there was death, suffering, and plague.

Auna had found her way up many steps until she found a tree in the center of a courtyard. The tree's bark was brittle and the small sweeping winds would tear off its flesh, sending it swirling in the distance.

At first, she saw movement which she mistaken for the branches but she squinted, discerning a dark...thing behind it. Along the side of the stone castle of Hypogean Gaol was a multi-legged creature that nearly consumed the structure in its great size. Its skin was a deep shade of purple with bristled barbs shooting out like thorns on a rose. Its head, however, was the strangest part. A massive sphere filled with large holes all over, guarding glowing, yellow eyes which blinked curiously at her.

A clawed hand slowly reached across the divide and she felt herself stumbling backward. However, it called to her, pulling her forward like a rope had been tied around her waist. Six fingers clasped around her torso, squeezing her harder and harder until she thought she would burst.

A thought approached her, one that she had before, a long time ago. Is this what dying felt like? Is this how it all ends?