April, nearly May; a good six months before the hunts would begin once again. Despite the temporal distance, Aeris refused to wait any longer before preparing, even if it felt outright foolish to anticipate those long torturous nights out in the streets. Those times when even members of the community became warped by the old blood and changed into something other. Not hard to deal with but with them would come worse creatures, creeping out from the deep shadow and growing in confidence as the hours wore on. The hunt would happen as it always had, as it seemed destined always to.
Aeris paused as she dug the saw-cleaver from the cupboard she tossed it into last December. Beside her Cloud made a face at the state of Ludwig's Buster Blade; both their signature weapons bore stains from the dried blood and ichor of their targets. Focus. The hunts provided their means to afford such a home as their current abode. The thrill of finally gaining a home like this, the desire to forget November meant even basic maintenance of their tools of the trade had been low on their priorities in the aftermath. Add the exhaustion, the special circumstances of the hunt and it was remarkable at times they would ever consider going back out there. But inevitably they would and if not prepared now they would suffer later. Just as well she insisted they start now.
Her hand drifted to her throat as they carried equipment out onto the back lawn. The visceral feel of Gehrman's blade against her neck was still so vivid. Hard to forget the moment she knelt before him, taking his offer to end the dream. The pause as he moved in near silence- Then the swish of the scythe through the air, the split second of doubt, the unwanted question: was Gehrman lying? The impact of the blade was missing from her memory, but it was not hard to imagine how it would feel as the blade cut into her- At the time her doubts evaporated as soon as she opened her eyes; dawn was breaking over Yharnam. Cloud lay beside her and for a moment perhaps she could even believe all of it had been nothing more than a dream; a strange fancy resulting from a difficult hunt.
If only Cloud had not echoed the last words the Doll spoke, if only the heat of the flames and the smell of smoke were not still so visceral. If only she did not remember those strange places- Maybe then she might believe it had truly been a dream. Denial was no such luxury here. "Feeling up to it?" Cloud's gentle voice broke into her thoughts and brought her back to the sunlight. She smiled at him.
"Of course. Even if I didn't; it needs to be done." All too easy to put off for another day, though such a decision would likely lead to an endless pause - and they would find themselves beginning the hunt and woefully unprepared. At best their weapons would be blunt and of little use; at worst any laziness now would risk their deaths come Autumn.
Cloud pulled the Buster Blade apart. Like her he had been reticent - more so than usual - to discuss his experiences during the last hunt. That final night began with such a familiar feel, nothing new or troublesome to their work; merely long, arduous and seemingly unending. At first they had moments to spare in which they called on each other; the beckoning bells made such contact trivial. But the night became something else as the hours passed and the moon reddened. As the hunt became more intense.
No hunt the pair participated in before had featured the tall figures clutching those black sacks, and no route, no pursuit had ever taken Aeris as far as Byrgenwreth. Setting foot there- No. It was not her fault. She could not believe it was because of her. Even if her arrival there was the moment the hunt seemed to change. Or rather, not her arrival at the school, so much as when she plummeted into the depths of the lake and faced the spider. Was he the Rom Micolash had ranted of? Like the spider, the man had fallen to her weapon, his babbling silenced and his death left her almost alone in that building. Almost. The place she continued to ascend and-
Aeris pulled the saw-cleaver into her lap and flicked the hinge open. Cloud sat cross-legged beside her, scrubbing at his engraved sword, reddened water dripping from the heavy blade. Being in sunlight; the birdsong; the scent of flowers; it all helped soften the memories. Light and warmth. Nothing like the cold, dead brightness of the lands beyond those strange hallways. Not Byrgenwreth. Somewhere else; where strange creatures could induce a frenzied loss of control on sight and where silent figures - by their armaments seemingly former hunters - would attack without provocation. The realm of the Amygdala and worse.
That strange land was on no map Aeris could find. Retracing her route on paper did not help; through Yahar'Gul, through Advent Plaza and after fighting the creature called down from the moon she had gone to- Where precisely? Some place other than the region immediately adjacent to the unseen village. The place, the castle her journey concluded seemed as ephemeral and elusive as Gehrman's domain, both locations forever on the cusp of twilight. But the hunter's workshop and the Doll had been calming, peaceful. The nightmare realm of Micolash and those she found past him was anything but. Those awful wails as if from a newborn- But newborn from what?
Did something connect that impossible building and Gehrman's domain? Aeris shook her head. She unwound the bandages from around the saw-cleaver's blade. Stained with blood; just like everything else. Definitely in need of replacement. The haft and hinge needed checking, and even if it was still in good repair, the blade could do with sharpening. Far too easy to clip brick during a skirmish and dull the cutting edge.
All being well, the next hunt would not involve Gehrman or the Doll. And hopefully no future hunt would ever again allow her a glimpse of a space beyond the stars in the night sky, of something vaster, cold, hostile and utterly malevolent. It would be as much as she could hope for to never see those different, unfamiliar stars and the beings that writhed between them. Focus. She needed to hang onto the memory of the Spring sky. With any luck it would sustain her in the Autumn nights ahead.