~O~

III

When Adella finally found sleep that night, she started to dream. It was a good dream and she hadn't had one quite like it in some time. There was no terrible moon, no storm and certainly no monsters. Instead, in this dream, she found herself at home with her family - they were still alive and well. It was a lovely change to the horrors of the night and the Hunt.

Outside of her dream, she was unaware that she had been sleep-walking the entire time, laughing softly without a care in the world. She swayed a little, narrowly missing knocking into things before she walked outside, passing Eileen who had awoken to relieve herself in a bush. She eventually looked back and saw Adella leaving, quickly made herself decent and called to her.

"Adella?" she said.

The nun smiled in her sleep and continued on while the Hunter followed behind her. She was growing concerned by the lack of Adella's responses.

"Adella, what are you doing?" she demanded.

She hurried to find Henryk and they followed the nun.

"Adella, stop!" Eileen ordered.

But the nun simply laughed, still asleep and oblivious to their beseeching.

Just then, high-pitched, eerie singing filled the air, freezing the Hunters where they stood. They noticed a grotesque creature standing in the trees a few steps away from the nun. It had a large, bulbous head with numerous, wide eyes. It's humanoid body was dressed in a torn red dress, with long skirt and sleeves.

It seemed to notice Adella and its body began to glow a soft orange color, illuminating the entire area around them. It continued to sing.

The Hunters quickly made their way over, shouting for Adella to flee. The nun eventually awoke, blinking slowly with a mixture of confusion as she took a moment to take in her surroundings. She looked back at them as they rushed toward her frantically. Taking a moment to regain her senses, she stared upwards at the night sky, lost as to how she'd gotten there.

"Eileen? Henryk?" she said. "What am I..."

She sensed the presence of the creature and turned. Adella's eyes slowly widened in horror, just as she was seized tightly by the creature's hands on her arms and lifted off of her feet.

"Adella, shut your eyes!" Eileen shouted, desperately.

But Adella was frozen in fear, unable to close her eyes as the creature stared down at her with its many wide, frightening eyes. Its face was so close, she could see the veins in its eyes and watched the pupils contract as they focused completely on her. The flesh around its neck pulled back and several tiny mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth opened up around its neck, snapping hungrily.

It was then that Adella screamed.

The sound was an awful, tortured wail of agony that pierced the night air. The two Hunters rushed the creature, adverting their eyes to avoid the same horrid forced sharing of information that Adella was no doubt experiencing. Fortunately, the creature could focus on one victim at a time during such a thing, leaving it completely defenseless to their attacks.

Henryk's ax cleaved into the creature's head, slicing it open so that thick, disgusting pools of blood gushed from the wound. It gave a horrid, dying screech and dropped the nun to the ground. Eileen moved to her side while Henryk finished off the terrible monstrosity.

"Oh no!" Adella whimpered, "Oh Gods, no!"

Eileen carried Adella back to the barn that they had hidden in. The nun was downright sobbing in agony, tugging at her robes, which had become soaked in her blood. Eileen pulled her hands away and she screamed again, voice carrying a protest.

"Please, I can't see - OH GODS. I can't make it stop!" Adella shrieked.

Eileen worked quickly into the nun's satchel, looking for anything that would help her. She grunted in surprise when she found what she'd been looking for - a bottle of sedative. She tried to open the bottle, but Adella had started to flee from her, resorting into Eileen with no choice but to lunge and knock her down. Adella shrieked again, terror and pain in her voice.

"No! Don't hurt me, please!" she wailed.

"Stop it!" Eileen insisted, "Adella, it's me! I'm not going to hurt you! Stop!"

She grabbed Adella's wrists in one hand and held them down over her head to stop her from slapping at her mask and head. The result of Adella fighting with her was no doubt the terrible images the creature had forced into her mind. Eileen was familiar with them in her studies, but they only lurked in the Nightmare. Why they were here now...

Adella only saw a shadowy, slavering Beast holding her down through a haze of crimson pain. It spoke in terrible snarls and it had four red eyes. Its jaws were filled with razor teeth and its head looked like a frightening, avian skull. Thick black feathers covered its entire body. She was being smothered, suffocated by the smell and feel of it. Oh Gods, she was going to die.

"Stop, please!" Adella sobbed brokenly, tears of sorrow and pain pouring down her cheeks.

Eileen ignored her pleas and used her free hand and popped the cork from the sedative before she brought it to Adella's lips. The nun jerked her head back and forth, refusing what she clearly thought was a poisoned offering.

No, stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

Henryk stepped into the barn, noticed the situation.

"Hold her down!" Eileen ordered, grunting with effort. "I need to get her mouth open but she keeps fighting me!"

Henryk moved to Adella's side, whispering an encouragement, but all the nun could see was the terrible bird-like Beast trying to kill her. Henryk held her jaw down with one hand and pried her mouth open so that Eileen could pour the contents of the sedative down her throat.

When Adella tried to spit it out, Henryk clasped a hand over her mouth, forcing her head back so that she had no other choice but to swallow the contents of it. Adella moaned and whimpered, fighting them a little more before her struggles eventually ceased.

It took a few moments before Eileen and Henryk released their hold on her. She looked around, her senses seemingly returning before uttering a broken sound of pain and clutching her blood-soaked chest.

"Alright," Eileen said, evenly. "Gods, you fight like a Beast from hell. Still, you should be coming back to us now." She looked up at Henryk now and gestured with one finger behind her. "Check the entire perimeter and see if there's more of them. We'll be fine now."

Henryk nodded his head. Then, he frowned. "It's hard to believe. Those creatures have never left the Nightmare."

"Hm." Eileen thought about that. "We can focus later on it. Right now, I must tend to Adella. Go on."

The other Hunter left them alone, stepping out into the night.

O

Eileen searched Adella's satchel for something for her pain. The nun managed to hiss out through whimpers of agony that she had a salve specifically for her physical agony. Eileen was glad of it. She hated hearing the nun's tormented groans of pain.

"Alright, where is the pain?" she asked.

Adella gestured to her back and chest without a word.

"Fine. Now, take off your robes so that I can help."

Adella somehow managed to flush at the request and the Hunter sighed, staring skyward before she shook her head. She didn't have patience to deal with a shy woman right now.

"You have nothing I do not," she admonished. "Now Henryk isn't here. It's just us. Do you want the pain to stop or not?"

Adella managed a weak smile, but whimpered again and began to disrobe the upper part of her robes. She barely managed to hear Eileen's stunned gasp through the terrible ringing in her ears.

There was no longer a slash on the nun's back and chest due to the healing nature of the sedative, but a terrible black and blue bruise that formed spider-web marks along her skin. Adella helplessly scratched at it, but Eileen swatted her hand aside.

"Stop that," she ordered. "You'll only make it worse."

"Please, it aches."

"I know, but that won't help."

Adella shuddered when she felt Eileen's hands work into her back. The Hunter's long, dexterous fingers massaged the salve into the marked flesh. Adella felt another shiver run down her back and a warmth fill her chest at the sensations. She couldn't help herself, really. The Hunter touching her and massaging her in a way she'd never been touched...

Premature, yes. But could she be blamed?

She uttered a small moan of relief, leaning a little against Eileen's touch. The Hunter didn't notice the flush on Adella's cheeks while she worked with all the professionalism of a medic.

"There's going to be a terrible scar," she said, "I trust you have no problems with that."

Adella bit her lip and managed to nod her head. Alright. A sensible response.

The nun had suddenly gone still as Eileen's hands continued their work around to her abdomen and near her breasts. There were no moans from her and Eileen looked up, noticing that the nun seemed unfocused. Flushed.

"Does that feel better?" Eileen questioned, a little taken by the odd look on her face.

"Mmm, yes..."

Eileen pulled her hands away once she was finished, taking no note to the strange air between them. She looked down, now noticing the stone that Adella had pocketed.

"What's this?" she asked. "Where did you get it?"

Adella snapped back to reality and started to dress herself, feeling how hot her cheeks still were.

"I found it." she said. "That creature had dropped the stone. I-I thought we could use it to understand what he was talking about."

Eileen sighed impatiently, taking the stone into her hand. "He wasn't speaking anything." she said, with a gruff snort. "Just nonsense!"

Adella stared down at the stone in Eileen's hand before she averted her eyes. The Hunter sounded deeply upset. Was it her?

"I don't blame you for your curiosity," Eileen said, evenly now, "I was simply concerned. That creature...the Winter Lantern - as they call them in Yharnam...it could have killed you."

Adella looked surprised by Eileen's words now. "I didn't think I was of any importance to you."

Eileen was silent for a moment. "Enough blood has been shed for one night..."

Adella nodded in agreement. The two sat in silence; the air seemed uncomfortable between them and the nun was sure it was because of her. It usually was, after all. She didn't want to think about what the Hunter probably thought of her. It would be unbearable.

"Thank you." she said.

"...You're welcome."

O

"So what is it?"

"I don't know. It feels...like it is connected to the Nightmare."

The three were staring down at the stone that Adella had retrieved from Patches. It rested in the grass that early morning and neither one of them wanted to touch it. It had a strange aura to it that felt...cold. Dead.

It was giving Eileen a headache.

"Should we bury it?" Henryk asked. "It seemed to draw that creature to us."

"We should keep it from us as far as possible." Eileen agreed. "We can't afford to have Nightmarish things following us on our mission."

"Bury it then." Henryk agreed.

The Hunter dug a pit deep into the earth while Eileen and Adella watched near the horse. The nun still felt at odds about what had happened in the barn. Perhaps she knew better than to think about those sorts of things, but she couldn't help it. It was her fault, really. Surely Eileen must have known and thought her a fool.

But the Hunter didn't speak of it and Adella was actually relieved of this.

Eileen glanced down at Adella and noticed the nun wasn't looking at her. For some peculiar reason, her mind drifted to how things had been when she was just as young; she assumed Adella was probably barely in her twenties, after all. The Hunter remembered how she had been as a younger woman - when she'd boasted such strength and pride in her work.

Now she was old, tired and here to finish a task that had cursed her for so long.

Their journey led them into Hemwick Charnel Lane, one of the several districts in Yharnam. As its name suggested, it was essentially a mass grave that followed a direct, straight road. They would have to go through it to make their way into Byrgenwerth as they tracked their mark.

Once they were inside, Adella could clearly see that this small village was obsessed with the handling of the deceased. Many of the tiny houses with chimneys resembled crematoriums, and there were many guillotines to cut the bodies into pieces. Crows feasted as multiple crosses had been raised with corpses on them so they are disfleshed and likely easier to handle.

They passed a woman, whose eyes were sunken and pupils collapsed. The wide-eyed grin on her face was unsettling as she brought a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture. She made no move to harm them, but walked away with a giggle.

Henryk tried to speak to someone on the other side of a door to a small house.

"Too many corpses tonight..." a woman growled, from behind the door. "This grave is too, too shallow. So, go along home, and do me a favor... Come back as a corpse!"

Adella stood closer to Eileen. She was frightened by the distant laughter and the groans from the village inhabitants. A few women in tattered dresses were dancing in circles nearby, oblivious to the trio who had walked inside. Perhaps that was for the best.

Eileen glanced toward a window, where a woman reached out with one hand. She giggled, her face bandaged and her hideous yellowed teeth displayed in a wide grin.

"The minds of the infected are frail," she whispered, in a shaken voice. "You can't be blamed." Her eyes widened and she beckoned them away with a long-nailed hand. "Off with you, now."

Eileen sighed now and turned to face her. "We're looking for someone. We will pass your village shortly. We don't mean harm if you mean no harm to us."

The woman shuddered and she suddenly looked frightened, leaning away from the window as far as she could. "Please go away. You're not normal, not normal no matter how hard you try to pretend." she gasped. "You're not normal. You're not normal."

Henryk approached them and sighed. "None of them seem to know of the Crow," he told the two women. "Perhaps he passed through."

"It's all your fault!"

"You sicken me!"

The three could make out the sound of arguing down the brick road. They followed the voices and peered around the corner of an old house toward the nearby Witch's Abode. Two women were carrying bodies toward the building, no doubt for the Witch of Hemwick.

Adella reacted at the sounds of crying. She knew that voice! It belonged to her friend.

"That's her!" she exclaimed. "My friend is in there!"

"What?" Eileen sounded doubtful. She glanced at the nun. "Are you certain?"

"Yes! That's her voice!" Adella looked at her pleadingly. "I know that's her. Please, we have to save her!" When she noticed no reaction, she begged insistently. "Please!"

It took a few moments before Eileen sighed.

O

The three made their way silently toward the Abode, sticking close to the shadows and avoiding the bandaged, giggling women who danced and carried bodies. Henryk was the first one inside; he looked around, ax at the ready in case something jumped out at them. When it seemed safe enough, he glanced back at the two and nodded silently to confirm.

Adella hurried inside and looked around frantically. "Astrid!" she whispered, frightened. "Astrid, it's me! I'm here! Where are you?"

A low groaning turned all three of them toward a pile of corpses. Adella hesitantly started forward and Eileen put a hand on her shoulder.

"Be cautious," the Hunter warned, gently.

Adella nodded and noticed movement beneath a bloodied tarp. She reached out and pulled the tarp aside.

Immediately, her eyes widened in horror and anguish, hands going to her mouth. She choked back a sorrowful cry and her eyes filled.

An eyeless woman was lying there, wearing farm clothes. Her sticky brown hair had been covered in dirt and blood and her cheeks were smeared with tears. She gurgled a few times and turned her head in the direction of the three.

"Adella...?" she moaned, voice tight with pain. She reached out with two hands. "Are you really there? She-She took my..." Her hands shook as they reached up to her face and she gave a manic, agonized laugh. "She took my eyes... She took my eyes!"

"Shh," Adella's voice trembled and she tried to clean her cheeks with her robes, despite how useless it was. "Astrid, I'm so sorry. I tried to find you sooner. I really did."

"You left me alone." Astrid was sobbing. "Why? Why did you leave me alone?"

"I-I didn't do it to hurt you, Astrid, I swear by the Gods I - "

"LIAR!" Astrid wailed, between sobs. "She cut my eyes out and laughed!" Her voice softened into pained whimpers. "She laughed at me. I begged her to stop and she just laughed at me. She laughed, and she laughed and I... I was alone, Adella. I was alone because you left me at the farm when you promised you'd be there."

Eileen had been silently watching the exchange. Henryk sighed, shut his eyes and lowered his head. He looked at Adella, who had been crying softly in her hands.

"We can do it, Adella." he assured her, quietly. "She won't feel a thing. She's already gone."

Adella looked helplessly up at him, then to Eileen. The other woman nodded only once to confirm it. Astrid was whimpering between fits of giggles and Henryk pulled out a knife from his boot. He reached behind Astrid and Eileen placed a hand on Adella's shoulders.

"You don't have to watch..." she said, gently.

It was another show of kindness from the Hunter and one Adella had been surprised by yet again. Still, she allowed herself to be led away by her while Henryk plunged the knife into the base of Astrid's neck, silencing her giggles. She choked out only once before she was silent.

Eileen and Adella sat outside on the edge of a walkway that overlooked the waters below. Adella had been crying in Eileen's shoulder and the Hunter didn't know what else to do but offer a gentle patting to her head and slow, soothing rocking.

"That's enough now..." she told her, softly. "No one will blame you."

Henryk walked up to them and Eileen looked at the man once. She indicated with a brief flick of her head toward the nearby stairs. He returned the nod and drew out his ax, making his way down toward where the Witch of Hemwick was waiting.

It didn't take long.

Eileen could scarcely make out the sounds of screeches, the Witch crying out in pain before a few wet smacks followed, then dead silence. Henryk could hold his own quite well, that much was certain; she was nothing but a wretched eye collector and the world would be made better for her death.

She glanced down at Adella, who had stopped crying and had just chosen to lay against her for comfort. That was fine. Eileen could understand.

O

Astrid was gone.

Adella had been silent while they continued their journey through the woods. She saw brief flashes in her head; Astrid being pinned to the floor with the Witch carving into her head, screams from her dearest friend and pleas for the agony to stop.

My fault...

Eileen and Henryk walked ahead and were talking about their next stop when they noticed that Adella wasn't following them. They paused, turned and found her leaning against the tree, rubbing her eyes. Henryk sighed and approached her first.

"You have no reason to continue following us," he told her. "Your friend is gone."

Adella reacted with a soft gasp and looked up at them. Eileen strangely said nothing on the matter, but her silence seemed to indicate that she agreed with Henryk.

The nun wasn't sure. She didn't want to be alone, even if there was no other reason to continue traveling with them. But Adella didn't want to be alone, especially now. The Hunters could still have a use for her and her blood, so she would devote her life to aiding them as she could.

"I'm coming, forgive me." she said, quietly.

The trio continued on through the woods until they reached the entrance of a graveyard. The stones were cracked; some of them had been completely broken in two. There was a puddle of water in the center of the graveyard that wriggled with worms.

"Something's wrong here," Henryk said, looking around cautiously. "This Grave carries a secret. Something we're not meant to know."

"Let's go. I don't like it here." Eileen said. "The smell..."

The trio found themselves at the College of Byrgenwerth; a seemingly abandoned building set near the Moonside Lake. The moon was high and full, casting an almost beautiful glow down below.

"Look at this place..." Eileen said, marveling at the sight of the building ahead. "To think of how many of those seeking enlightenment walked these halls."

Adella looked around warily. "Do you think we'll find anyone here?"

"Do we ever find people where we go anymore?" Henryk asked, sadly.

That was true.

The three continued toward the building until a strange hissing sound stopped them where they stood. Eileen drew her sword and Henryk clutched his axe.

"Stay close," Eileen advised.

Adella pointed up and gave a quiet gasp. The Hunters followed her glance and spotted a creature crouched in the trees. It had twenty-seven eyes in a large, bulbous head. Its body was clothed in tattered robes of the Choir and it had tiny, broken fly-like wings.

"What is that?" Henryk whispered.

The creature swayed back and forth, studying the Hunters and nun with intrigued chirps and hisses.

"What do you want?" Adella asked it.

The creature stopped and became absolutely still before its hands went to its head, clutching the thick, sticky flesh. It gave a collection of rattling hisses and chirps that seemed to build louder and louder into a deafening hum.

The Hunters and nun immediately covered their ears, attempting to block out the horrible sound. Looking up, several more of the same creature joined the first and charged, screeching out. Their cries sounded like metal being rubbed together.

The Hunters cut down the creatures without difficulty; blades swinging, blood spraying. While the sound seemed easy to block out over the noise of flesh tearing and the creatures screeching in agony, it was still no less unpleasant to the nun.

One of the creatures jumped onto Eileen and she gave a shout, trying to throw it from her. Adella quickly pulled out the knife she had been given and buried it deep into the back of the creature, sending it falling from Eileen with a horrible scream.

The Hunter looked down at the sight, and then nodded her approval to her. "Good work, Adella." she said. "We'll make a Hunter out of you yet."

Adella smiled, but winced with disgust and shook the gooey strings that had drenched her hand from the creature's head.

"Oh! Oh, that's horrid!" she said, with dismay.

Eileen couldn't resist her laugh. "Come on, then. Let me clean you up."

Adella allowed Eileen to wipe down her hand. Once she was finished, Eileen glanced out toward the lake, where the moon was high and the waters shimmered. The three stepped down from their horses, tied them up and both the nun and the older woman watched the water.

"It's lovely," Adella continued, with a smile, "Such a blessed sight under the circumstances."

"Hm, it is." Eileen agreed, quietly.

Henryk walked up to the enormous wooden door of the college. The other two eventually joined and they worked together to push it open.

A rush of stale air greeted them and Adella - being the only one without a face cover - looked away, wracked with violent coughs. Eileen was the first inside and Henryk followed her. After a moment, Adella joined them.

"Well, if this Hunter enjoys a collective of dust, we will find him here..." Adella quipped.

A few chuckles from the two Hunters in front of her. She was attempting to lighten the mood a bit, they could understand such a thing.

The building was filled with rows upon rows of books that reached the ceiling, jars filled with gray fluid and eyes, and empty cages. Some of them were occupied with dried, dead husks that looked like worms.

Adella bent down in front of one and noticed that it was in fact a Celestial Larvae. She had seen notes taken about them during her teachings, but never had she seen one herself.

"Fascinating!" she said.

Eileen looked around before noticing a flight of stairs leading to the second floor. She made her way up and suddenly stopped.

"Henryk." she said, evenly. Her voice carried only the smallest hint of concern.

The Hunter followed her and stopped as well. "Gods..."

Lying on the couch was Yurie, the Last Scholar; she had been one of their marks, but she was now lying with her whip wrapped tightly around her throat and her head had been forced back over the arm of the couch.

"He's been here," Eileen said, looking around at the destruction. "This is his handiwork."

Adella soon joined the Hunters and when she saw Yurie, her hands shot to her mouth and her eyes widened in horror.

"Dear Gods!" she exclaimed.

Eileen walked up to the deceased Hunter and removed her blindfold cap, groaning at the lack of eyes in her face. They were freshly cut from her head.

Adella reacted to the sight and a small flash of Astrid's face filled her head. She looked away with a small whimper and Eileen glanced at her briefly.

"Disgusting." she said, covering the woman's face once more.

Adella looked up at them. "Why does he do this?"

"For sport. For fun. We don't ask, we simply seek to silence his bloody games." Eileen said, coldly. "He has made the title 'The Bloody Crow of Cainhurst' his own. Cutting out the eyes of a Choir Scholar. He did it to mock them. To spit in the face of their attempts at enlightenment."

"Do you think he's still here?" Adella asked, frightened by the idea.

"No. If he was, we would be fighting him now," Henryk told her. "But the blood is still warm. He's been here recently."

Eileen looked toward the Lunarium doors and made her way toward them; they were partially cracked open and the glow of the moon passed between them. She split her blade into two and slowly approached.

"Stay close to me, Adella." she advised.

The nun nodded her head.

Once they stepped outside, Eileen immediately recoiled with a groan. Adella's eyes widened and Henryk grunted with disgust.

Master Willem was lying dead in his chair with his cane sticking deep in his chest. A puddle of blood had formed around him.

"Is he sending us a message?" Adella asked.

"I don't know." Eileen replied. "But this...this isn't hunting. This is slaughter. Mindless slaughter for the sake of his petty delights."

Henryk looked over his shoulder briefly. "But why here? Why the college?"

"It was in his line of sight." Eileen said, with a cold hiss in her words. "You know him and his lust for blood. He has no need for motive."

Adella looked at her for a moment before speaking. "Hunter... this man - "

"He is no man." Eileen interrupted.

Adella made a face. "I...understand that you don't see him as such," she continued, hesitantly, "But did he do more to warrant your wrath? I only ask because I have seen Hunters driven by vengeance and it could do no good."

Eileen stared at her and Henryk watched the other Hunter warily.

He knew this was particularly sensitive for the older woman to speak of.

O

Adella stared at the lake from the lookout. She kicked her legs out absently beneath her before she heard footsteps behind her. Eileen had walked out and tilted her head at the sight of the nun.

"Ah, this is where you are," she said.

"Yes, I thought the view was nice up here." Adella replied, with a smile. "It gives me a place to think."

Eileen approached and took a seat beside her to look out at the lake. "I couldn't sleep, so perhaps I'll take your example."

"I see. I welcome your presence, Good Hunter."

It was interesting to have her sit here beside her, but Adella was happy with it regardless. They started to talk a little and Eileen eventually began to discuss times long past with the nun. Adella didn't feel that it was appropriate to interrupt her in any way.

"I was younger then when he arrived at my village," Eileen told the nun. "You understand the stories of the nobles of Cainhurst? How they boast immortality?"

Adella nodded her head. "I have."

"They could still die by other means, but they are rendered ageless by their consumption of blood." Eileen explained. "The Bloody Crow did not earn his title simply by growing fat like them. He sought places to slaughter women and children to bring blood to his accursed mistress. And my village was on his list."

I was hunting alone the night he came. When I returned, I found my home in flames. Along with the corpses of dear friends and family. Raped. Some of them he had his armies impale in mockery to our Sky Burial rituals. And while I sought survivors, I found my sister beneath his boots, slaughtered like a simple Beast while he drank her blood. And the creature had the audacity to don our robes. Few survived and those who did were pushed further to the north toward our sister village."

Adella looked horrified. "Gods...what sort of man is he?"

Eileen was still so calm when she spoke, but there was a sadness there now. "I do not see him as a man, as I've told you. Consuming blood will do terrible things to a person. But him? I will find the creature who ravaged my home and end him."

Adella didn't know how she could comfort the Hunter. No words would ever be enough to rid Eileen of the terrible burden she carried. Even at the loss of her dearest friend; it was nothing compared to the loss of her village and the family who had suffered.

The Hunter looked down when Adella hesitantly placed a hand over hers. The gesture was shy; she was still as timid as always.

"I'm sorry," Adella told her, quietly. "I understand that isn't enough, but..."

Eileen glanced down at her before placing her other hand over the nun's. Adella looked surprised by the responsive gesture.

"Thank you, Adella." she said.

The nun smiled at her and shyly lowered her eyes.

Eileen tilted her head at the gesture. "You certainly are a timid thing." she said. "How did you ever become a member of the Church?"

Adella laughed softly. "My mother, actually. She was a member of the Choir and allowed for me to become who I am today. I was educated in the ways of the Church since I was very little." she said. "My father was a farmer and earned a living selling livestock and produce."

Ah. That was a common thing among most of the Yharnam people, specifically those in the church. But Adella didn't seem like she fit in with the Church at all. She was far too timid and shy.

But perhaps Eileen judged too quickly. The nun had survived through their journey. Maybe there was more to her, though the Hunt did not call for virtuosity or purity.

It mattered little now. All she wanted to do was rest.