A House to A|ucard (Anthology •Hellsing)

good day to die (50)

•London. Hyde Park. Midnight.

•A vacation dare among friends. You told them you never had a fear of the dark. So they bet you...you took the bet.

•An eerie sound echoes in the clear night sky. The stars wink at you far above. The sounds of London you hear yet you feel completely alone to face the world alone.

•The cries fill the night air as a shiver runs down your spine. Your friends say ghosts but you know it's the screech of Owls.

•Your great grandma told you, the Owls would come and announce your approaching death. She spoke of facing death and to greet it without fear.

•Now the Owls fly off. The message is delivered. None more is needed to be said.

• Yet you thank them for bringing you the message. One gives thanks to all animals, that deliver sacred messages, even ones of death.

•Your mind settles into peace. You have no regrets. No tasks left undone. Even for your age.

"nake nula waun," you speak softly.

•You don't hear 'him' but feel his presence. A thick, stifling aura of darkness and shadow. The scent of evil rolls of the man and the tug of madness taps on your mind.

•With a deep breath of cool air filling your lungs, for probably the last, you turn with courage.

•The stranger is the worst of all evils...there is no word for vampire in Algonquin. So he is a Wendigo to you.

~"Brave but foolish you are, distant lands child," the thick baritone voice says from the shadows.

•Wendigo doesn't appear as this stranger appears. He is not fifteen feet tall, covered in blood. What is the European equivalent? A vampire,a gluttonous monster that is always hungry that preys on the living. Blood is a form of cannibalism.

•Eyes of molten pools of lava and ebony locks of hair, wildly unkempt, frame the pale face. The color of skin no living creature has.

~"What do they call you shadow stranger?" your voice calm like a lake on a windless day.

~"I have many names that I go by and you?" the stranger taunts you, with a voice that could possibly seduce the "Little People".

~"You should know it, as you're the bringer of my death," as you take two advancing steps.

~"Am I?" the stranger softly chuckles. His head turns slightly as if it's required to study you better. A lick of the lips doesn't undermine your resolve.

~The Owls have said so..."you 'tsk' the dangerous night creature.

~"You don't know what kind of monstrous being stands before you do you? Know this, I could simply reach out and crush you?" his voice soft but also seeking to elicit fear.

• There is none.

~"Evil always boasts such things..."

~"Are those your last words, little human?" the male says in a low register.

~"I am ready for whatever comes," is your response.

•You get startled. The man with hellfire eyes, laughs loudly.

~"Death will wait on you, draga mea..."

Footnotes:

Today is a good day to die," which is the English bastardization of a common Sioux battle-cry, "Nake nula wuŋ welo!" ("nake nula waun"). This phrase means, "I am ready for whatever comes". It was meant to show the warriors were not afraid of the battle or dying in it.

the 14 August 1881 edition of the Leavenworth Times, attributes it to the Oglala Lakota chief Low Dog (c. 1846 - 1894).[2]

Proverb
today is a good day to die

An expression of willingness, even eagerness, to give one's life for a cause. quotations

An expression indicating that one should not live with any regrets, or tasks left undone. quotations ▼

Owls:
most Native American tribes, owls are a symbol of death. Hearing owls hooting is considered an unlucky omen, and they are the subject of numerous 'bogeyman' stories told to warn children to stay inside at night or not cry too much, otherwise the owl may carry them away.

www.native-languages.org › legend...

Native American Indian Owl Legends, Meaning and ...

Artist: Norval Morrisseau

Windigo is a supernatural being belonging to the spiritual traditions of Algonquian-speaking First Nations in North America. Windigos are described as powerful monsters that have a desire to kill and eat their victims. In most legends, humans transform into wendigos because of their greed or weakness.Mar 8, 2018

Windigo At odds with its portrayals in twentieth-century and twenty-first-century settler culture, in indigenous representations the wendigo is described as a giant humanoid with a heart of ice; a foul stench or sudden, unseasonable chill might precede its approach.[2] Possibly due to longtime identification by Europeans with their own superstitions about werewolves, for example as mentioned in The Jesuit Relations below, Hollywood film representations often label human/beast hybrids featuring antlers or horns with the "wendigo" name, but such animal features do not appear in the original indigenous stories.[2]