Opening Notes: This is dedicated to my co-writer and partner in crime, treyalexander63917.

The Hunter found comfort in the small fire. The torch in his left hand provided both warm from the chills of the wind, and vision in the darkness of the night. He considered his choice to leave his home during the summer to be the opportune time to travel. Had he started his trek during the winter, crossing the mountains would have been nothing more than a prolonged suicide.

He coughed into the back of his right hand, keeping his fingers wrapped around what most would think was just a strangely sharp metal cane. Pulling the limb away from his maw, he was relieved to see it was free of blood. He looked to the clear night sky, and wondered just how long the stars had been shining. He made a mental note to repair his pocket watch when he reached civilization. Remembering just how the glass had gotten smashed made him think about the reek of smoke in the air, courtesy of his dirty work.

Shaking that train of thought off, he continued on, following the narrow path through the mountain range. "Paleblood. Paleblood." He occasionally repeated that single word to guarantee he would not forget it, no matter how long it took him to reach his destination.

Continuing down, something caught it his. It was only a dark outline, and it reminded him of a gnarled tree. As he stepped closer, he raised the torch. Finally, the fire illuminated the sight.

It was a Beast, and a large one at that. It had to be as tall as a noble's house. Its grey fur was matted and filthy. The thin, malnourished body sported two arms. The left was clearly the dominant. It was twice as long as its twin, and thrice as thick.

The Hunter readied himself for a fight. But the Beast remained as it was. Keeping his cane at the ready, the Hunter closed in on it. When he reached it, he found that the abomination was as still as a statue and covered in frost. It was on its back with the arms stretched out. The Hunter wondered if it was sleeping, but then saw that its chest was not rising or falling. He prodded one of the taloned fingers with the tip of his cane. The minimal pressure was enough to make the digit snap off like a twig.

"You must have froze to death," the Hunter said. He saw no sense in keeping silent if his words would reach no ears but his own. He wondered just how long the creature had been there. He walked around it, and saw that large chunks of its torso and legs were missing. "Something's been feasting on you?"

Finding nothing else of interest, he continued on towards the Empire.

"No matter how many maps I've seen, I still can't believe how big this country is." Ieyasu said with a mouthful of freshly cooked meat.

Sayo adjusted the wood keeping their fire alight. "I know. We're still nowhere close to the Capital."

"But it'll all be worth it when we join the Imperial Army!" Tatsumi was never one to be negative. His cheeriness made his two friends smile.

Sayo inhaled deeply, and her eyes focused with curiosity. "What's that smell?"

Ieyasu continued helping himself to their dinner. "I'm guesing smoke?"

Sayo glared at him momentarily. "Not that! It smells like..."

A stranger finished her sentence. "Blood?"

The trio all turned their heads to the source of the word, Tatsumi grabbing his sword.

"Who's there?" He shouted.

Into the light of their fire came a figure. He was no Danger Beast, yet he was just as intimidating. The man had to be seven feet tall. His longcoat, pants, silver scarf, and boots were all coated in the plasma of, the three young travelers hoped, Danger Beasts.

They all kept their guard up. The blood was a cause for caution, as were his weapons. In his left hand was a large dragoon pistol, and in the right was an axe with a blade as wide as a torso, the sight of which made Ieyasu consider reaching for his own.

"My apologies," he said. He did not get any closer to them. He understood the mindset.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi questioned.

"Father Gascoigne, just doing a light travel, returning from seeing an old friend."

"Where are you going?" Ieyasu asked.

"Yharnam." His answer made of them look mentally lost. "The Capital."

"You are?" Tatsumi felt a small jolt of excitement. If they shared a destination, perhaps the group of three could become four. More people together meant less chance of bandits deciding to choose them as burglary victims.

Sayo remained unconvinced. "Why are you covered in blood?"

"Hunting. And it's left me very tired. Might I rest by your fire? The night can get bitingly cold."

Sayo still was not too keen about the man. "I'm n-"

Tatsumi cut her off, enthusiastically proclaiming, "sure!"

Gascoigne holstered his pistol as he walked up to the warmth. After he got closer and sat down, the three friends noticed that his left eye had a bandage wrapped over it. The Father gently placed his axe on the grass and held his gloved hands up to the flames. "Aahhh, much better."

Ieyasu voiced a question he had had since first seeing the blood covering their new acquaintance. "Are you hurt?"

"Not at all. None of this on me is mine."

"What about your eye?"

Gascoigne paused for a moment. "Okay, I'm a little hurt. But it's fine."

Sayo carefully asked, "who's blood is it?"

He answered with a casual air. "Beasts'."

"You killed enough Danger Beasts to do that?" Tatsumi was impressed.

Gascoigne looked at him with dire seriousness. "Not Danger Beasts. Beasts. Creatures so vile, even the most idiotic person you'll ever meet wouldn't need a warning label to get the idea to stay away."

The three looked at him with wide eyes. It was as if the misunderstanding had insulted his entire family. He turned his attention to his axe. He picked it up and pulled a rag from his pocket to clean it.

Tatsumi wanted to ask about the 'Beasts' but Sayo beat him to the punch. "You mentioned you were seeing an old friend?"

Gascoigne did not avert his eyes from his weapon, but nodded. "Aye. Henryk, my old friend and Hunting partner. He is... a little unhinged. And tragically old."

His three companions wondered why he considered being elderly to be a bad thing. But they kept that to themselves.

Ieyasu changed the subject. "So you're going to the Capital? So are we."

"Why are you all so interested in that forsaken city?" Gascoigne polished the blade.

All of them were slightly shocked that he viewed the Capital in such a negative way, but Ieyasu answered him. "Well, we're from a poor village. So we were planning on joining the Imperial Army and making some money, you know?"

Gascoigne looked at all them. "Want my advice? Turn around, go home, and live your lives in peace."

Tatsumi shook his head. "Can't do that, Father. The money isn't for us. It's for our home."

Sayo pressed for an answer. "Why are you telling us to go back? Did something bad happen in the Capital?"

To their shock, the holy man began to laugh. It was like a madman had finally gotten a joke. But his cackling quickly turned to a coughing fit. After a few moments, he regained control of his breathing. "Sorry about that. These bones just need a rest. Ah, well if you're so adamant about going... If the Army doesn't work out, I hear the Healing Church is always looking for bodies."

Tatsumi's head tilted slightly. "Healing Church?"

Gascoigne nodded. "They specialize in blood treatments, but they handle a host of other things. Plenty of tasks that pay well."

The three considered that. It was worth looking into if their plan got derailed.

Father Gascoigne continued. "Their leader, Vicar Ameila, rarely socializes. But most have good things to say about her."

Tatsumi repeated the name to remember it. "Vicar Ameila..."

Ieyasu spoke up before thinking. "So... is she cute or OW!" He rubbed his now sore shoulder as Sayo relaxed her fist.

Their new companion could not help but smirk before answering. "I've never seen her. She mostly stays in the Church's Grand Cathedral."

"Do you work for her?" Sayo questioned. "Are you a preacher for this... Healing Church?"

"Not exactly. I am a man of bringing faith, but I'm not of their Executioners."

All of them asked the same simple question. "Who?"

"The Hunters of the Church. The ones who go after Beasts."

Tatsumi suddenly remembered he wanted to ask about those things. "What are those? What makes them so different from, well, Danger Beasts?"

"They can think," Gascoigne answered. "Danger Beasts will only charge or ambush you, if they got the numbers. But these crimes against nature?" Before he could continue, an inhuman screech filled the air, making the birds in the trees fly away to safety. The Father stood up and fervently looked around. "Well, you're about to get a front row seat."

The three childhood friends followed his lead and readied themselves.

Sayo notched an arrow into her bow as her eyes scanned the treeline. They all heard the snapping of branches, and turned their eyes to the perpetrator.

The sight of it nearly made Tatsumi gag. "Is that one of those Beasts?"

The thing was thin as reeds, and had to be at least four meters tall. It walked on all fours, befitting its predatory approach. It, like Gascoigne, was covered in blood. For the briefest of moments, the young trio thought it was wearing a sort of cape that was draped over its gaunt, fanged face, but upon a closer look, they found the truth to be infinitely worse; it was the flayed skin of the creature's back

"What is that thing?" Ieyasu tightened his grip on the handle of his weapon.

"Thirsty." Father Gascoigne grabbed the butt of his axe handle and pulled. Instantly, the weapon's shaft was as long as he was tall. His coat of plasma evidently attracted the monster, as it focused on him. It crept towards him, its razor sharp talons digging into the earth with each animalistic step. Its prey snarled. "You want my blood? Not on your worthless life!"

He charged, and the Beast raised its left claw. It swiped down, but Gascoigne timed a dodge perfectly, making the unholy thing's claw send clumps of grass and dirt into the air. The preacher capitalized on the opening presented to him, and he swung his axe, slicing his foe's stomach. While on most things, this would certainly be a horrid wound to inflict, but as the Beast's ribs were visible, it was considerably less lethal. But that did not stop the Father from continuing his assault. Again and again he slashed the monster's body, not letting up and shouting. The Beast tensed its muscles and leapt back, putting several meters of distance between itself and its assailant.

Gascoigne prepared to sprint towards it, but Tatsumi and Ieyasu passed him at full speed. The sight of two youths charging towards a Beast was enough to shock the grisly veteran. "Are you crazy?!"

Ieyasu smirked as he and his friend closed in. "You think these were just for show?" Both he and Tatsumi followed their new comrade's example, and swung. Their choice of arms created several deep wounds on the Beast, but they may as well have slapped it with their bare hands. The monster swiped its claws at them, managing to cut open Tatsumi's shoulder. He gritted his teeth in pain but held onto his sword. The starving Beast smelled the blood leaking from his wound and focused on him, as if planning to finish what it started. Before it could attack, an arrow suddenly flew and buried itself into the side of its head. It let out another deafening scream and began to bleed. Or so they thought. Whatever was leaking out of it, it was certainly not crimson.

"Poison!" Gascoigne shouted as he loaded his dragoon. Tatsumi and Ieyasu instinctively backed away from the Beast, and it turned to Sayo as she readied another arrow. While her attack had not done nearly as much damage as her friends', it was leagues more irritating to the monster. It charged toward her, but was stopped in its tracks. Father Gascoigne swung his axe downward as it leapt, embedding the blade into its back and sending it to the ground. It prepared to cut him open with its talons, but a shot from his firearm stunned it long enough for him to pry his axe out of its back. He raised it, and quickly swung down, splitting the Beast's skull in half. It seemed to slow down, so he removed the blade and repeated the process. Finally, the atrocity stopped moving.

Sayo lowered her bow as her two friends rushed to her side.

"Are you alright?!" Tatsumi asked with desperation.

"I'm... fine. But what about Father Gascoigne?"

They all turned back to him and their dead opponent... and the holy man was still putting his axe down again and again, fury in his voice.

"You filthy!"

Chop.

"Sickening!"

Chop.

"Waste of breath!"

Chop.

"Flesh!"

Chop.

"Life!"

Chop.

"AND BLOOD!"

Crunch.

Finally, with the Beast's head no more than a pulp, he stopped.

Tatsumi dared to speak. "Uh, are... are you done now?"

Father Gascoigne panted a few times before turning to his compatriots. "Had... to... make sure."

"I understand that. And I respect it. Now that its dealt with, could you please tell us what the Hell that thing was?!"

The Father leaned on a tree to rest. "Hunters call them Blood-starved Beasts. Abominations so parched, they'll eat you alive just to drink your plasma." He looked at the decrepit cadaver. "Never seen one so far from a populated place before..."

"One?" Ieyasu repeated. "Are there more of them?!"

Gascoigne nodded. "Too many. Hunters have their work cut out for them."

Sayo vaguely remembered him mentioning them earlier. "These Hunters... you're one of them?"

"Aye."

"Why do you go after them?" Ieyasu asked.

Gascoigne looked at him with rage. "Why? WHY? You want these things running around?! Eating children?! Razing your homes?!"

Ieyasu put his hands up in front of him, suddenly scared of the towering preacher. "NO! T-That's not what I mean. I just..."

Sayo finished for him. "He means, why do you specifically feel that it's necessary to put your life on the line?"

"It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it." He walked over and grabbed one of the Beast's wrists. "I'll go and put this somewhere else. It already reeks, and its scent of death is sure to draw in scavengers."

The three friends watched him drag the corpse past the treeline before whispering to one another.

"Okay, I think he might be a little... off," Sayo started.

"True," Ieyasu admitted. "But damn can he kill. I think having him around is gonna pay off. Any bandits or Danger Beasts we come across are as good as dead with us and him working together."

Tatsumi quickly nodded. "Four heads are better than three. And maybe he can tell us more about the Hunters."

After roughly half an hour later, they had relit the fire and Gascoigne again came from the thicket, this time sitting down with them without asking for their permission.

It was a further two days before the Hunter made it out of the mountains and crossed the border into the Empire. His joy at finding level, grassy ground was immeasurable. Whenever he passed a pond or stream, he would drink until his stomach was flooded. Food was not much of a problem, as his pistol and good aim made hunting less of a chore than he expected. He had yet to see any Beasts since entering the new country, making him hope that he had outrun the Scourge.

After a few more days of trekking south, he spotted a lake at dusk, and near its shore a small village. A dozen wooden huts of varying size. He judged that they are heavily from the lake as there were several boats and scores of harpoons along the water. Several tall, thick sticks had been forced into the ground near the huts, and hanging off of each of them was an oil lamp.

He got surprisingly close to the settlement before he was noticed.

A friendly looking man with salt-and-pepper hair saw him and gave a welcoming smile. "Hello there, stranger!"

The Hunter had been used to being nothing but attacked by other living things, so he was ecstatic for the change of pace. "Salutations!"

"Never seen you around here before. Where did you come from?"

The Hunter pointed north. "Lothric Kingdom."

The man let out a whistle. "You sure are far from home. What brings you out this way?"

The Hunter withheld the entire truth, suspecting that his new acquaintance would not understand. "Fresh start. Trying to reach the Capital."

"Well buddy, you're still quite a ways away." He looked at the Hunter up and down. "And you look dead on your feet. I'm sure if you'd like we could find a spare bed for you."

The Hunter found that appealing, so he nodded and followed the man into the settlement. The positive attention he got from what few of the locals was quite unexpected.

"Sorry about the small reception," the man said. "Some of us seem to have caught something these last few days."

"No need for apologies," the Hunter assured. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a man roughly his age with the steeled look of a soldier. A local girl asked him about his garbs, but he decided not to tell her that he had pillaged most of them from a corpse back home. They fed him a warm meal and showed him to a bed. It was comfortable enough and had the soft pelt of a Danger Beast on it. He set his now unlit torch, pistol, and cane down and sat on his temporary sleeping spot. He thought that people here were very welcoming. Perhaps a little too welcoming. Back home, outsiders were rarely given such hospitality. Most of them were given a cot in the Sable Church and a small loaf of bread.

He shrugged and reasoned to himself that he was just being paranoid. He began to take off his hat and jacket, when something caught his ear. Growling.

A knocking came from the door. The voice of a woman seeped through. "Eyes... blood." She knocked again, progressively stronger with each impact until the door flew open. She had wild hair befitting an animal and blood dripping from her psychotic smile. As she gazed at the Hunter, he heard screams coming from outside. She lunged at him but he kicked her away. He grabbed his cane, and with a twist of the arm, it changed. The solid body became sectioned. He drew his arm back, and threw it forward. The razor-like parts of his cane separated, making it reminiscent of a sharp whip. It sliced into her neck and upper arm. She gurgled through the blood flooding into her mouth before collapsing onto the floor.

"It's here..." he mused to himself as he holstered his firearm and grabbed his torch. Stepping over the world's newest corpse, he made his way outside. Thanks to the suspended lamps, he could see the chaos. It seemed the sick ones who had missed his arrival had all awoken and had gained a taste for blood and murder. Screaming filled the air and blood coated the ground. The beastial people were chasing down and ripping each other apart. The Hunter's mind raced back to the last time this happened and he began to panic. He looked at the oil-filled source of light... and knocked the stick over. When it struck the ground, the glass cracked but he did not care. He forced the top off and held the pine resin-covered end of his torch to the small flame, making it ignite. He snuffed out the wick with a spit and he forced more of the glass of. He threw some of the oil onto the shack he had been attacked in and stuck his torch on the spot, making the dwelling go up in flames.

As he twisted his body around towards another hut, he failed to notice an outline of a man on a horse. And by the time he looked towards the same spot, it was gone and smoke was filling the air.