Awakening in the morning, Trevor found himself to be alone in the small basement, his eyes scanning around quickly to see if Aria had somehow got herself crammed somewhere small to sleep, but alas she wasn't there. He just assumed that she'd already left or had went back to fight during the night and had died. With a grunt, he forced himself to his feet, dusting himself off as he pushed upwards on the hatch to the shop above, light from the outside world gushing into the room making him blink his eyes hard for a moment before he threw the hatch all the way open. He heard a gentle voice talking nearby, and as he pushed himself up onto the shop's floor and then to his feet looking to the doorway, he saw Aria, standing with her back to him with her distinctive green scarf around her neck, holding a small basket on her arm as she spoke softly to someone outside. He leaned on the counter of the shop with a smirk as he listened to Aria thanking the person as they walked off, her turning around with a gasp, clearly not expecting him to be there, but she proceeded back into the shop.
"What you doing out this early? And, what's with the basket?" Trevor asked her in a curious manner as she sat the basket on the counter, flashing him a smile.
"At dawn, I left to find me, well," She paused. "Us, some supplies. You'd be shocked at how giving people can be in their time of crisis if you show them some kindness. As for those who wouldn't so easily give me things for free, I traded them some of my daggers for, well, more so false hope than protection if I do be blunt. Yet, regardless, take what you like as thanks for helping me the night before." She opened the top of the basket to show all kinds of cuts of meats, fruit and small knifes etc – in a time like this, this much food was worth buckets of gold.
"I usually intimidate people to get food, but hey, whatever works I guess," He reached his hand in the basket and took the largest cut of meat. It was raw, but it still tasted better than anything he'd ate in weeks. "But I don't understand giving away your daggers. I see you found some small knifes, but from experience I know they don't quite work the same. Why give away your weapons like that?" He asked her as she shrugged.
"I'm not sure really, it's something your father once said to me, and I recall it oddly vividly," She pondered, bringing her hand to her face in thought. "He always taught me that your weapons are useless if you don't have the energy to use them, so, I prefer to have more to eat and more energy than more weapons. I could have 500 daggers, but if I can't even get up to run then I'm just as useless as having no daggers, does…does that make sense?" She asked as Trevor scoffed.
"Huh, I'll remember that the next time I don't eat in three days." He said sarcastically as he continued to eat, Aria reaching into the basket and taking fruit from it.
The two happily ate in silence for at least an hour, savoring the tastes and the time of calmness they had as light from the grey skies came in through the smashed blood stained windows of the shop – it was gruesome, but oddly relaxing.
As they finished what they could, Aria storing the rest in the basket once more and putting it over her arm as she moved to the door of the shop quietly, Trevor taking the first steps outside into the devastation of the town. He could tell Aria was visibly disgusted, but to him, every town was the same, all blood and gore and people screaming – that's all his whole life had been come to think of it.
Although, as they walked, two young boys came running down the alleyway towards the two, running right past Trevor but grasping the basket of food from Aria as they ran by, Aria yelping at this as Trevor quickly turned, drawing his whip and snapping it in the direction of the boy who'd taken the basket, the whip wrapping around his leg and bringing him to the ground as Trevor pulled a sword, but Aria quickly got in his way, holding her hands up to him.
"No! No, they are but children Trevor," She said softly as he slowly brought his sword down in a disgruntled way as Aria made her way towards the boy who still had this whip around his leg who looked terrified, the other child far gone by now. Aria slowly leaned over the him and picked up the basket. "If you are hungry, you just need to ask. There are people out there who won't show you mercy like I will," She reached into the basket and took out an apple, handing it to the boy before unwrapping his leg. "Now, go. Feed your friend too." It didn't take another moment before the boy scrambled to his feet and began sprinting down the alleyway, Aria standing backup straight as Trevor slowly pulled his whip in, recoiling it again.
"Little brats, why'd you have to go and ruin my fun?" He said as he re-secured the whip to his belt.
"As I said before, kindness goes a long way during a crisis. Hopefully from this, they'll learn to not steal again. Brᾰlia is becoming more and more dangerous as the days go by, even the children are beginning to fight back. Where shall we head to next? Perhaps out of the city?" She asked as she turned to Trevor as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Who said you're coming with me?" He asked in an annoyed tone as Aria sighed.
"Well then, I guess you won't want any more of the food I've gathered then, and oh isn't a shame the markets don't even open on a Sunday. Well, I guess you'll just have to-…"
"No, uh, don't act to quickly. Yeah, you can stay with me I guess. God, you act so kind but you're not a fool, are you?" He said with an awkward shrug, rubbing the back of his neck as Aria passed him by, pulling the back of her green scarf up over her head.
"Come on, the exit of the city is just a few streets over." She said as she continued to walk, Trevor smirking a little at her slight boost in confidence in talking from the day before and he quickly brought up his space to walk by her.
He watched her closely as her eyes looked up to the ruined buildings that were in sight, bodies hanging from windows as dismembered body parts lay array everywhere in the streets, blood lining every wall – She remained expressionless. Of course, knowing she was a fighter he knew she was no stranger to being out in the action and seeing people being torn to shreds, so he knew that didn't bother her, but there was something else he noticed. Perhaps when she fought, she went into some sort of zone, almost like another persona, but the after-math, seeing what has been left, haunts her. He wasn't sure, but he knew her expressionless face wasn't fooling him by any means.
Within a few minutes, they made it to the back end of the city where there was a large open archway, and to Trevor's shock, there was no barricading at all. He concluded that Brᾰlia hadn't had time to prepare before the attacks began, and from Aria's sad look, he assumed that to be correct. There were no guards either – the town was just so ghostly quiet, it seems Brᾰlia had basically been already 'cleaned out' by Dracula's minions.
The two began on the long road out of the city, rolling hills in the distance and a forest, Trevor's favorite place to be. Perhaps that would be somewhere good to stay for the night as the monsters only seemed to be interested in the cities and no-where else, so he made that his plan although the forestry looked miles away.
"Aria," He began, catching her attention as she glanced his way with a hum. "You should tell me more about yourself, all I know is your name and that you knew my father, what else should I know?" He asked as she took a deep breath.
"I'm not sure where to begin. I won't give you my life story but I'll give you some facts, perhaps some points that may become useful later. Well first, I cannot swim. It's a childish thing, but I never had the time to learn at any point. Two, well, I believe I am allergic to dogs as any time they draw near I can't seem to breathe, and it's not that I fear them, it's as if someone has their hands around my throat. Three," She paused. "Your father was my hero." She said with a smile as she glanced back to Trevor, making him smirk.
"Yeah, he was mine too, but when the world doesn't want someone they'll make sure to get rid of them, it shocks me that I'm still alive at this point. If my father didn't have time to teach me anything then I don't quite know where I'd be," Trevor said with a shrug as he looked to Aria. "And I can see why you made him proud, you're quite the fighter when it comes down to it. You'll have to teach me how to get slammed against a wall that hard and get up again, plus walk the next day." He said, making Aria laugh gently as she continued walking along, smiling to herself as above them the Heavens opened, rain falling from the sky straight down onto the two. Trevor took this as a sign, and suddenly began to run uphill towards the forestry, making Aria laugh out loud and run after him, shouting at him to slow down as he raced her, and within minutes, they were at the forestry.
"Did you have to run?" Aria asked him as she panted, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath under the shield of the canopy of trees.
"Look, I don't care about many things but fur and rain don't mix very well," He said pointing to his cape, making Aria roll her eyes dramatically as he shrugged. "So now, I'm going to sleep for a while, we can continue to move at night time, I'm tired for now." He said as he sat himself down at the trunk of a tree, putting his head back gently. Belmont's always did enjoy sleeping under trees. He was just about to happily rest when he heard Aria breathing quickly, and opening his eyes he was her jittering with her arms wrapped around her – she was cold, he hadn't noticed this before.
"Hey, Aria! Come have a rest, I'll put my cape around you or something," He said as he leaned forwards, swinging his cape out from underneath himself as a shaking Aria walked his way, placing herself on the ground just between his legs, leaning back until her head was on his chest. Trevor stared for a second, this wasn't exactly what he meant, but regardless, he swung his large cape around them both, and slowly, under that tree, they fell asleep.
†
"Trevor!" He heard in a scream as he opened his eyes to see the whole forest around him on fire and Aria no longer with him, and he quickly stood to a very blurry and echo-y world. He ran in what felt like slow motion through the trees of the forest, pushing fiery branches out of his way as he followed the screams in the voice of Aria. He ran desperately until he saw a clearing in the forestry, seeing a large figure over a smaller one, and adjusting his vision as much as he could in the blurry world he saw him, Dracula, standing tall and cloaked over Aria who was on the ground just before him, scrambling back from him. In those moments he watched, Dracula noticed him, and slowly his eyes moved to Trevor's, the red hue turning into pure flames as even he, with the forest, caught on fire, and soon enough as did Aria, screaming louder and louder, and with a scream himself, he woke up.
"Trevor?" He heard in the weak and tired tone of Aria, who he looked down to see still pressed up against his chest. "What's the matter?" She asked him as he left out a huge sigh, slumping back further.
"Nothing, I just…had a bad dream, is all," He muttered as she sat up concerned, their 'blanket' falling from them. "But, it's getting late," He looked past her to see the light from outside the forest was dim, it was twilight. "Something tells me we should keep going forth, and please, do keep close – I have a feeling someone knows I'm here and that you're with me." He said as Aria nodded, getting up and handing Trevor his cloak back as he stood and slung it around his shoulders.
"Let's move, I fear we don't have much time left."
