Disclaimer: I make no claims of owning Bloodborne or Claymore, only the OC that appear in this fanfic. Don't sue me, I'm really poor.

I'm saying this again, things are not entirely canon for this fic. That being said, I may still end up being wrong about things such as who wields what or personal history. You can point those out to me.

This chapter is quite a bit shorter than normal. I haven't had much time lately so you'll have to take what you can get.


"Your daughters are as hardheaded as you are, Gascoigne," grumbled the man. "Impossible, the lot of you. How is an old man supposed to retire like this?"

"Grandad!" the two sisters shouted after their match with Cynthia and Audrey halted at the sudden development.

"Your grave will be your bed soon enough, Henryk," said Gascoigne with a smile.

"That seems to get farther and farther the more time I spend with you and your kids!"

Miria bit her cheeks. It was now an even match for both sides, but that was only assuming that the combat abilities were the same. She could tell that the two who were talking were far more capable than the others.

The man known as Henryk, turned to her. "Now what's all this about?" His pistol still aimed at her head.

"We only wish for them to answer our questions," said Miria slowly.

"They killed Isaiah, grandad!" Beth shouted. "Filthy Vilebloods, they are!"

"Shut it girl!" ordered Henryk. "The only ones to talk right now are me and this lassie here!" His gun still pointed at Miria.

The surroundings went silent. Even the man he had been complaining at, seemed satisfied to let him do as he pleased. Miria's comrades also understood that they could trigger the start of battle if they did not follow.

Henryk nodded after glaring at the surrounding people. "Now tell me, is it true your comrade killed one of our lads?"

"…Yes," Miria answered.

The grips of the Hunters all around them, went visibly tighter on the weapons they held. Only Henryk seemed unfazed by the answer.

"Why?" he asked. There was no venom or ill intent in his word, but she could sense the judgement that awaited.

Miria took a breath. "Because he claimed he was part of The Organization."

"Organization…?" Miria couldn't see his face through the covering of his face, but she could tell from his voice that he did not seem recognize them. "What in bloody Yharnam is that supposed to be? I've never heard of him joining any Covenant of the sort."

"So you're people aren't part of them?" asked Miria.

"I've lived long, and know enough about the Hunters with us, to tell you that I haven't got a clue to what this 'Organization' is that you speak of. And I've certainly known that lad quite a bit longer than the others, to know that he was never the kind to stick to a group." He chuckled a little. "Probably why he got killed by himself again in the first place."

Again?

Miria did not understand what he meant by that.

"How exactly did he meet with your lassies?" asked Henryk.

Miria explained to him in full detail of what Cynthia had told her of their conversation. It didn't take long before the old man sighed and holstered his pistol. With some reluctance, the surrounding Hunters did much the same, allowing the Claymores to sheathe their own weapons.

"T'would seem that there has been a wee bit of misunderstanding," Henryk said gruffly. "A fault that lies with our lad for trying to provoke yours."

"He lied…?" Cynthia asked in slight confusion. "But why? Why would he want us to try and kill him?!"

Henryk just shook his head. "I can't say I know the answer to that, young one. He was probably interested in your skills, but he may have gone too far in his curiosity. The lad has always had his strange quirks, but even this seems a bit over the top than his usual."

While Cynthia was still obviously thinking about why he would do such a thing, Miria tried to further her own queries towards the old hunter.

"If you are not part of The Organization, who are you then?" Her eyes stared at his intently. "Who are you to fight on the same level as we and the monsters we fight? Are you warriors, same as us? Or are you something else entirely?"

From the side, Father Gascoigne chuckled. "I've told you already, woman. We're Hunters. We hunt beasts. And this place?" He gestured all around them. "It's just another place for us to hunt."

Miria frowned.

That did not explain things at all clearly to her.

"Well," Henryk got up from the rubble he sat on. "This chat seems to have been entirely boring. Now if you don't mind, it's time for me and the lads to move on." He turned to the other hunters. "What's with all of you lollygagging about here? Go on! Get up! We've got places to go, beasts to dismember!"

Father Gascoigne along with his daughters joined in with the rest of them as they made to leave.

"Wait!" Miria interjected. "We still have much to discuss!"

Henryk didn't seem to show much interest in staying though. "Save your questions for those who truly know the answers to them," he said as the others already started to leave one by one. "We're just simple Hunters out on a hunt. I doubt we could give you any answer that would satisfy you."

Miria gritted her teeth in frustration.

There was truth in what the man said. Any questions she had, they would be merely glossed over by those who knew not how to explain the answers well. She couldn't just make them stop since they had nothing to do with The Organization at all. Also, trying to force them would just likely result in starting what would be a bloody battle for both sides. One that would still leave her questions remain unanswered.

"Then who do I have to speak with to have my answers!" she shouted.

Henryk halted in his steps.

Slowly, he turned his head to look back at Miria. "…If its answers your truly looking for, then I suppose Gehrman is the one you'll need to speak with." His voice seemed more cautious than his previous loudness. "He always seem to have an answer for everything… even if it is for questions that should never be answered."

"Where is he?" further pried Miria. "I'll go to him myself if I need to."

"I'm not sure you can."

Miria pressed on. "I'm not going to stop chasing after all of you until I am satisfied."

Henryk was silent this time. His eyes bore into hers, searching for a hint of weakness in them.

He found none.

"You're a difficult lass to deal with," sighed Henryk with a shake of his head. "Same type as Eileen…"

Miria didn't know who that was, but if she was anything like her, then no doubt Henryk knew she would never let this go.

"I'll ask him to meet with you," Henryk answered. "I doubt you could get to where he is anyways. You can meet with him at the city where most of us Hunters are staying at." Briefly, he scratched his chin as he tried to remember the name. "…What was the name again? Deka-something? Deena? No, no, I think it may have been Doseki maybe?"

"Are you perhaps speaking of the city of Diaemus?" Finally said Anastasia impatiently.

"Hahah!" Henryk snapped his fingers. "That's the one! I had it on the tip of my tongue!"

"No doubt…" Anastasia rolled her eyes.

"Very well," said Miria. "Tell him I would like to meet with him in 3 days' time."

With that said, Henryk turned to leave once more. "No rush, even if you're late," he said. "Even compared to someone like me, Gehrman very well knows what it means to wait. He'll be there waiting, whether you arrive on time or… arrive years later. It makes no difference. It could be all just a dream to him…" Miria did not seem pleased to speak to someone mentally incapable. "But I suppose everyone will see when he does wake for the first time in a long while."

Just as Henryk was about to leave, he seems to have remembered something else. He turned towards Cynthia. "While I'm there, I'll be sure to tell Isaiah to be there to give his own apologies. Blood knows the lad deserves to do that much at least for all the trouble he's caused."

He left quickly after. Leaving Cynthia and the rest of the Claymores all the more confused than before.

"But we killed him…" mumbled Cynthia in shock. "He knew that… right?"

"That guy is probably older and crazier than the other one," declared Minerva.


The city of Diaemus. A place left much untouched by the Yoma and Awakened Beings due to Luciela's influence.

The Abyssal One had rather stayed in a bustling city with plenty of entertainment to go around than seclude herself in a cave like an animal. Thanks to that, there was an unspoken rule among the Yoma and Awakened Beings to leave the place and its people well enough alone.

No one wanted to earn the Abyssal One's ire just because they couldn't help themselves and ate her favorite troubadour.

Unfortunately, with the news of her death, that unspoken rule was all but forgotten.

A year ago, there had been a steady rise in Yoma related deaths. At first, only a few were taken. Most likely the monsters only intended to sate their hunger. But gradually, the death toll rose as the months continued to pass with no one able to stop it.

The Claymores were summoned time and time again, but as soon as they thought they had purged the monsters and left, more arrived to take their place. It got to the point where the Yoma no longer hid themselves and blatantly strode in the daylight to grab anyone at all to eat on the spot.

That was all before the Hunters had arrived, attracted by the scent of prey…

"So this is the city of Diaemus," said Anastasia as she looked at the city's condition. "Not bad."

Audrey moved beside her and observed as well. "It looks like they've managed to repair most of the damage from last I was here."

"And you said the city was cleansed?" asked Miria.

"Yes, but we received a report as soon as I returned to headquarters that they were once more plagued by Yoma."

It was a similar situation to what happens in other places they send their warriors to. There was never enough of them to go around, so they could never station someone to protect the city.

"How is it, Cynthia?" Miria asked her comrade.

Cynthia's eyes were closed in concentration. "I can't detect the presence of any Yoma or Awakened Beings in the city." She opened her eyes to look at Miria. "Or in any of the places we passed by close to here. Unless they are using Yoki suppressants like last time, I believe there's not a single one left here."

Miria nodded her satisfaction at this.

Strangers they may be, these Hunters, but she could honestly admit that they are thorough in their work when it comes to killing Yoma.

"Everyone, we're going," ordered Miria resolutely.

When the Claymore's entered the city, they found it bustling with much life and activity. Quite the far cry of when last Audrey had last remembered of them. In her report, she had told of a city broken by despair and anguish.

It would seem that their lives had some semblance normalcy given back to them by the Hunters arrival. No doubt also thanks to the rapid disappearance of the monsters as well.

As the Miria's group made their way towards the inn, they encounter a few Hunters here and there. In a way, like the Claymores, they too were hard to miss in their clearly foreign garb. There was some uniformity among their clothes, wearing similar outfits with only a few minor differences among them. But then again, there were also quite a few who are clearly dressed differently.

"A lot of them seem to like hiding their faces with those hoods and masks that they wear," whispered Cynthia to Miria.

It wasn't just her that noticed though.

The others could clearly feel the gaze of the Hunters on them as they strode pass. Not one of hostility… but also not one of discounting the possibility of them becoming hostile.

"Is it just me? Or does anyone else feel like they're back at the dissection table?" Nike shared her unease.

"Hehehe!"

Nike was startled and stumbled to the ground by the giggle of someone's presence behind her. She looked up to see that it was one of the Hunters. This one, clearly a woman by the voice. It was a little hard to tell with the mask she had on.

"A remarkable comparison, yet probably an adequate one, I'm sure," said the woman. She reached her hand down in front of Nike, offering to help her it would seem.

Nike accepted and got up, but the rest of her compatriots were on alert against the Hunter. They were very concerned that none of them were able to sense the woman get so close to them while they were already wary.

"No need to make such a fuss against an old woman," said the Hunter with her hands showing she was unarmed. "I mean you no harm."

"Then why did you sneak up on me like that?" pouted Nike. She did not like making herself look like a fool… even though it happens more than she would care to admit.

"Sneak up on ya?" The old woman made another small giggle. "Why I was merely trying to walk pass you when I heard something that made this old prune give an honest laugh. You lot shouldn't take up the whole street if you don't care much to move out of an old woman's way."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Nike genuinely apologized to the woman. "Usually people give us a wide berth whenever we walk someplace." Unlike her companions, she was a little more trusting and naïve at times.

The Hunter was silent as she stared for a minute at Nike, causing the warrior to feel a little bit nervous.

"An honest one, I see," she commented. "A rare trait among those of us that hunt beasts. I do so hope you keep it that way for as long as you are able. Now if you'll excuse me, I have someplace else to be."

Nike and her compatriots watched as the woman left them to their right.

"Well she seems pretty nice, if only a little bit weird, I guess." Nike said so with slight cheer at having been praised.

"Nike…" Miria's eyes were serious, alongside that of the others. "That woman… she was very dangerous."

"What, really?!"

It was only her that couldn't sense the lingering scent of blood coming from the old woman. While she talked with the Hunter, Miria and the rest couldn't help but keep their hands on the handle of their blades all that time.

"But she seemed like such a nice old lady…" mumbled Nike.

"We should really train your senses more," said Audrey.

The group continued on their way.

"I wonder why she dresses like that," asked Nike out loud.

"Who knows, all these people dress so strangely that I can't even tell what's normal for them anymore," said Minerva.

"I think her outfit is kind of cool though. The mask and those feathers make her look like a crow."

In just a few more minutes, they would soon arrive at their destination without any further delays or surprises.

Although… a surprise still awaits them at the end.


A/N:

FYI I write this in the spare time I have left from trying to write out my main fic and balancing my IRL stuff. Don't expect to see regular updates.

I can't reply to people who do not have accounts here (This is mostly information just in case for that italian guy). I also can't answer every single review sometimes. I've left too many unanswered for too long and answering them now will just be a bit too late. If you really needed me to answer something, just shoot me a PM.