The Hunter pulled the sharp end of his threaded cane out of his latest victim. He was covered in soot and blood, and yet he felt a rush coursing through him. As he tried to get his breathing under control, he heard something. A high pitched, inhuman scream filled the air. The average ear would think its owner was in agony, but the Hunter knew better. He considered his options. He could flee and resupply, but he had no steed; on foot, the Beast would surely catch up to him. If he stayed, the reek of burnt homes and smeared blood would more than likely throw off its sense of smell, a small advantage, but one nonetheless.

"A Hunter must hunt."

He could not remember who had told him that mantra. Had he just made it up on his own? As his mind wandered, it filled with whispers said by voices that were not his own.

Esdeath tapped the tips of her fingers on the desk within her tent. The battles had subsided for the moment, and she capitalized on the brief rest by writing. A simple list lay before her. A short one, albeit strangely specific. She was of marrying age, and true love would be hers.

"Let me think... anything else?" She narrowed her eyes at the single piece of paper. As her mind gave nothing, her ears picked up a conversation outside. Two of her soldiers, undoubtedly looking at the odd, short lamp that had, for a reason none of them could think up, been planted in the ground right where they had made camp.

"Do you think there was a town here once?"

"I doubt it. There's no debris. No graves. Just... this."

"Maybe it helps lost hikers?"

"Then who put it here? I bet bandits that just want gullible prey."

That assumption, and the violence that came with it, made the General grin.

And then it hit her.

She put pen to paper. "Nice smile."

No sooner had she finished writing did a voice come from directly in front of her mobile dwelling. "General Esdeath! I have news!"

She recognized the voice as one of her scouts and stood up. "Enter."

He did just that and stood at attention. "General, I found that small settlement with the rebel spy. And... a stranger, a man, burned it down."

She processed the news. "And why did he do so?"

"I don't know. He just... sprang out of the room they gave him and lit a torch before throwing lamp oil on everything."

Esdeath found that odd. If it had been one her soldiers, then the situation would be perfect. But she had not sent any of her men out there aside from the scout in front of her. "He killed all of them?"

The scout shook for a moment. "I... when I left to return here and tell you, he was in the process of it, yes."

"Interesting." She thought about all that he had said. This stranger... was he insane? A zealot for the Capital? Or maybe he was just bored? The General saw an opportunity. Perhaps she could cure her own, seeing as no bloodshed was currently happening. She had not caused a living creature to suffer pain in nearly two days and she was getting antsy. She walked past the scout. "I'll go and see for myself."

As she made her way to her flying steed, every single person she passed stood at attention and saluted. They would all gladly die for the General. The blue-haired sadist mounted what seemed to be a dragon, and took off north. The moon was full and the stars were out, providing her with a decent vision of the night. She knew where her destination was, but the plume of smoke rising towards the sky made that knowledge unnecessary. Her steed flew towards it, and soon enough she made it over a clearing, seeing the moonlight reflect off the calm surface of the lake. The water was positively serene compared to its neighbor. Small housings were now but piles of kindling as the flames flickered and danced. Bodies were strewn here, there, and everywhere. She made the winged serpent land and dismounted before continuing on foot. Sitting on a safe spot amongst the carnage was the sure perpetrator. He had on dark clothing, including boots, a tricorn hat, a piece of thick fabric that covered his face from neck to nose, and a cape made of black feathers. It all clashed with his pale skin. She felt zero concern about the pistol in his left hand.

He seemed to finally notice her as he tinkered with a metal cane. "You should leave, madame."

She would have smirked, but his accent made it transparent that he was not from around there. "You did all this, correct?"

"Aye." His mouth covered combined with its coat of blood made him rather hard to understand.

"Why?" She demanded.

He coughed roughly before answering. "You wouldn't understand."

She narrowed her eyes. "Try me."

He looked at her. She saw no fear in his eyes, only consideration. He took his cane and used the far end to draw in the dirt in front of him, the fire providing sufficient lighting for her to see it. It took him only a few seconds for him to finish his piece. The symbol he had sketched reminded Esdeath of the black mark on her chest, but only for a moment. She recognized the rune as the mark of the Hunters. She had seen it enough times around the Capital to recognize it. "You're one of them."

He nodded. "If you mean-"

"Take that thing off. Your words sound nearly like gibberish."

Whether he responded to her natural authoritative air, or simply wanted to move the conversation along, he did as she said. His face was revealed to her, and she was surprised by how... young he was. He could not have been above twenty. He also took off his hat, letting his unkempt, copper-colored hair fall to his shoulders. "As I was-"

Again, he was cut off. This time by a now familiar screech. The piercing sound made his companion look around.

"I've never heard a Danger Beast make that sound before."

The Hunter stood up, his cane and pistol in his hands. "Not a Danger Beast."

From the east came a rustling noise, gradually getting heavier as trees fell over. The flames, slowly dying, made it hard to make out what was approaching them. Esdeath could see its outline. It was large, taller than a house. As it closed in, she got a much better look. It was thin, so much so that it could possibly be starving; she and the Hunter could clearly see its ribs. It was nearly entirely grey, with long, matted hair on only a few spots of its body. It had a long, sharp muzzle like a predatory bird crossed with a hound. Atop its head was a massive set of antlers so twisted, it might as well have placed a rotten, dead tree on its cranium. Its left arm was easily twice as long and thrice as thick as the right one, and both had long talons that looked like that could easily flat the flesh off anything without armor.

"I've killed bigger Beasts than you." The Hunter, to Esdeath's minor surprise, began to walk towards it. "Well, you still have all of the meat on your legs and chest, so you aren't the friend I met in the mountains." He gave his arm a twist, making his trick weapon assume its whip form. He closed the gap between him and the monstrosity. It raised its left arm, intent on crushing him. It swung its limb down, but the Hunter quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive blow as the Beast's fist made a sizable hole in the ground. The Hunter took the opportunity presented to him, and slashed at the Beast's midsection. The attack sliced it open, making blood spill out. While on most living things, this would be a rather serious energy, the Beast reacted as if a house pet had bitten its finger.

It roared again and moved to pummel him, but was stopped when something buried itself in the Beast's back. The Hunter could see it was a large axe made of something he did not recognize at first. Initially, he thought it was silver, but a momentary closer look made him realize it was solid ice. Keeping his guard up, he wondered where it had come from. It was the warm season back in his homeland, and he had been traveling south. Ultimately, he decided not to question good fortune and capitalized as the Beast hunkered forward in pain. He made his cane switch back to its solid form, and plunged it into the monster's neck.

Esdeath felt a pang of disappointment that this fascinating, towering killer was already dead, but it went away when she saw that the Beast had indeed survived the Hunter's attack on a vital spot. It was certainly alive, and very angry. It finally made use of its smaller arm and smacked the Hunter away like an irritating bug. The impact made the Hunter lose his grip on his weapon, leaving it embedded in the Beast's neck. Not slowing down in the least, it lumbered over to its prey, but stopped dead as a spear made of ice went clean through it's right leg, nearly causing it to lose balance.

Esdeath's innate hunting instincts were flaring up, and a grin was on her face as a cold sword appeared in her hand. "Where were you when I was a girl?"

With the surprise of the pain gone, the Beast turned its attention towards her, growling. As the General readied her blade, a bang filled the air and the Beast's head jutted to the side as blood seeped out of its chin.

The Hunter reloaded his pistol. "These things never slow down until they're dead!"

"Fine by me! Makes it all the more fun!" Esdeath charges as their mutual enemy shows a brief confliction at which of them to devour. She delivers a deep blow to the Beast's leg, nearly severing the limb and making its owner fall to its knees. The Hunter quickly sprinted over and pulled his threaded cane out of the monster's neck. With the massive head right in front of him, he reared his arm back.

"May nothing but Nightmares await you!"

He jammed his trick weapon into the Beast's eye, finally dealing a fatal attack. The Beast squirmed and roared for a moment before going limp.

For an instant, Esdeath intended to skin it and make a blanket with its fur, but that was derailed quickly. The massive cadaver exploded, covering both her and the Hunter in blood.

She was undeterred by the plasma covering her. "I have... never seen anything in the wild do that."

The Hunter did not respond. He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out one of the rags he usually saved for polishing his threaded cane, feeling thankful that the blood had not seeped through the fabric of his outer clothing layer. As he wiped his eyes and mouth, he couldn't help but smile at the returning rush. Adrenaline certainly made him feel better at his overall situation. He smiled as a chuckle escaped his throat. He pulled another piece of cloth out of his pocket and offered it to her.

"Here." She did not reach for it. She only looked at him, her blue eyes shimmering amongst a pool of crimson surrounding them. The Hunter cleared him throat. "For the blood?"

She blinked and accepted his proffered cloth, clearing away the blood on her visage. "You never told me your name. I am General Esdeath."

He covered his mouth with his wrist as he let out another round of coughs and hacks. "Sorry, little sick. Yelsin of Londor."

"Well then, Yelsin. Where are you going? Surely you wouldn't just be wandering around out here."

He shook his head. "I'm going to the Capital. The Healing Church."

"Considering joining them?"

"No! By Kaathe, no. They just all said that the Church could help me."

Esdeath did not know who 'Kaathe' was, nor did she care. "Well, I've a camp set up not too far away. A warm bed is preferable to the cold, hard ground."

Yelsin the Hunter considered her offer. He had just torched his previously offered bed... "Fine by me."

Closing Notes: I went with the small theme from Dark Souls 3 of people from Londor having names that start with 'Y.'