Frostborne

Dawn of Dusk

Walking back down the stairs, Alina was careful to make little noise. The doors above barred the beasts from entry, to protect those who were sick. It was likely that the beast from before was still down here. Hungry, slavering jaws, a thirst for blood and appetite for flesh. Still, it was just a beast. A large, hungry one, but something her father had trained her for. While her lack of a weapon made her panic before, now she had the means to defend herself. Her hands trembled slightly, but the blonde calmed herself through her breathing. In and out, in and out. Quiet. Approaching the beast, she tried to approach unannounced. However, that did not occur this time, as there was a crack under her shoe. A sound of breaking glass... which made the beast pause its consumption... before slowly turning to face her yet again. It was the same beast, clearly with a hint of recognition in its gaze, and, something more. A blue glow within its eyes, probably a reflection of the light. Snarling, and dripping blood and saliva from its jaws, it slowly moved towards her once again. The tang of iron could be smelled from all the way across the room, making Alina hesitate for a moment... before steeling herself. Dashing forward, she swung the saw, its serrated teeth just as hungry as the beast's... before it tore through its fur and into flesh. It hissed in pain, before lunging forward. Noting that it tensed before its attack, the blonde dodged underneath the swipe from its right limb, before cutting deep with it again, before dodging back, out of a downward swipe. Although, the beast's attack knocked the Saw-Cleaver out of her hands. With little recourse, the young woman held up the pistol upright, she shot at it, nicking it in the shoulder and making it fall to the floor. Not letting this time go to waste, Alina dashed forward again, and instinctively tore into the flesh, burying her hand amongst the muscle and sinew, and ripped out a large chunk. The beast roared, its form flailing as it fell to the ground. It was not yet dead, so she walked to her weapon, picking it up, before flicking it, holding onto the handle, and watching it open, to its full form. She had an inkling before that it would do this, but now... she definitely knew, immediately slamming it down into its chest, the blade cleaving through easily enough. The crack of bone and the sliding sounds of incision met her ears, but she felt no disgust. This was just a beast to be put down. Nothing more. Still... there was much to do. Looking around, she found Richard's wheelchair battered and broken, blood covering it entirely. The corpse of the patient she had passed before was right there, and so she checked their person. As far as Yharnam was concerned, she was on her own, and as distasteful as it was to lower herself to a vagabond... survival was priority number one. He had a few coins, which might be useful, but nothing else. Sighing, she gave a few words for the departed, before standing up and departing herself. Walking out of the main hospital room, she found a bag sitting against the wall. Walking to it, and carefully opening it the leather bound bag, she found... ammunition. Ten bullets in total, and the rest of the contents... unusable. Oh sure, there were three blood vials, as was typical with Yharnam at this point, but also a myriad of personal belongings that wouldn't help, and might actually hinder her purpose. She was already disrespecting her family by taking essentials. Stealing photos and keepsakes was beyond the pale. However, as she placed the new ammunition into her small bag, only now did Alina think to herself, Wait... was the gun already loaded, or did I do something... at that particular moment, did she notice that she felt a small twinge of pain. Nothing spectacular, but ever since her treatment, she hadn't had any. Looking at the back of her palm, she found that a unique symbol had etched itself into it. A singular long line traced the lumbrical muscle that worked her middle finger, only to split into three at the midpoint. The two flanking ones, jutting out at 45 degrees, then bent back towards the line at a perfect 90, before stopping just before they would meet. A dot coincided on her wrist, where the lines would meet up. It was clearly a rune of some kind, but also a warning. Do not fire again when unloaded. Quickly, she shook the weapon down with a single jutting motion, unlocking its mechanism and allowing the gun to open downwards, and she placed the final bullet into the chamber. Shaking it up, the gun closed and clicked shut, ready for use. Standing tall, she walked to the stairs leading up to the exit. Once she got there, the platinum blonde glanced outside the doors, through the window panes. Placing her hands on the two doors, she pushed them open, careful to not crash through them completely.