As the morning sunlight shown through an opening in the curtains in Her master bedroom Nerco opened her eyes as a persistent beam of sunlight shown on them, next to her lay the sleeping form of Flora who was calmly breathing in a slow and steady rhythm, though she too began to stir as she felt Nerco's movement across the bed as she got up and got dressed for the morning in one of her many outfits that she had chosen from their spacious walk in closet, deciding she wanted to mix Yharnam and Keeper fashion together Nerco pulled on her boneash mantle and let it drape over her shoulders, the waist length mantle hid her arms save for just the very tips of her fingers, which were adorned with small but deadly quicksilver claw pieces, that glinted in the sunlight, they had been forged for her by Gaile in the Hunter's Workshop as a gift when she had chosen to put away her Keepers Garb and live as a human with Gaile.

Before long, Flora too had awoke and greeted her mother "Good morning Mother!" She said with a smile as she ran to her room to dress for the morning, Minutes later she returned from her room dressed in a violet sundress that made Nerco smile warmly at her daughter "You remind me so much of when I was your age Flora" She said as her "Although I was never one for sundresses, but then again we didn't exactly have them in Loran." Nerco said as she reached a hand into the ashen void and produced the black and violet dress she wore as a child in Loran, "This was the closest thing I ever wore to a sundress when I was your age Flora." Nerco said as she passed the ancient garb to her daughter who looked at it with excitement "Are you giving this to me Mom?" She asked innocently making Nerco smile again "Well…" She paused for a moment before looking at her daughter, the smile never leaving her face, "If you want to wear it I see no problems with that." Nerco said as Flora walked back to her room to change but not before she looked at her mother with an expression of happiness at the gift she had received, when she was certain that she had heard Flora's door close and lock she sighed "I wish you could be here to see this Gaile…" She said under her breath as she heard a knock at the front door, "That must be Lanius." She thought to herself as she went to answer the door.

As she reached the front door of their manor overlooking the bustling streets and alleys of Old Yharnam, Nerco looked through the peephole in their door and to her relief it was indeed Lanius "Just a moment Lanius!" Nerco called out as she opened the door for the giant of a man "Please, come inside." She said welcoming the man into her home, "A letter arrived in the post this morning, addressed to you of all people." Nerco said as she handed him the envelope "Though I recognize Gaile's handwriting so I would assume its from him." She said as he retrieved a short but razor sharp blade from the belt he wore and with a surgeons precision sliced open the paper envelope and retrieved the letter held within,

"Lanius, If you've received this then sadly things have not gone as planned on my end and I wont be returning as soon as I had expected to… As a favor to me please see Nerco and Flora to the manor at Byrgenwerth and look after and protect them with your life until the day comes that I am able to return to them. Once you've read this dispose of it, And please, don't let Nerco see this if you can help it…

With the greatest Respect and Trust…

- Gaile"

With a sigh Lanius Folded the letter and placed It back in the envelope before he threw it into the nearby fireplace "Why did you do that?" Nerco asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow "It was my letter to do so with" Lanius said firmly, "And he's my husband whatever he's tasked you with I have a right to know about it" She said as she willed the fire to die down before it could consume the envelope and the letter within, plucking it from the fireplace she retrieved the letter and read only the first few lines before she dropped it from her grasp with a look of shock on her face "Don't fear the worst for Gaile, Nerco" Lanius said as he rested a hand on her shoulder "If I know Him as well as you do, He's probably fighting like a demon to get back to you." He said once more as Nerco turned to look at him with tears welling in her eyes "I'm no fool Lanius I know what this letter means" She said as the tears began to stream down her face "Something has happened to him and he's not coming back" She said as the tears continued to flow from her eyes, Lanius let out a sigh "Perhaps you should sit and rest?" He asked as she nodded "If you need me for anything I'll be just in the other room" He said as he started to make himself scarce before Nerco suddenly spoke up stopping him cold, "You're terrible at this aren't you Lanius" She said as he turned to face her "As much as I hate to admit it, yes, I'm not one for moral support" He said as he stood in the room still as a statue "How about I prepare us all a nice morning meal" Lanius said as he walked toward their spacious kitchen "That sounds lovely Lanius thank you" Nerco said with a smile as he walked away.

In No Man's Land, Gaile was pacing back and forth in their most recently captured trench, he could sense Nerco's distress through their bond and it was killing him inside due to the fact that he could do nothing to ease it "Onnen is there any way I could get a rift opened to my home?" He asked the seven-hundred and fifty year old Keeper who exhaustedly shook her head in a clear no "Not this time Gaile I'm exhausted and need to rest." She said as Gaile nodded in understanding "Lanius probably got my letter and by extension so did she" Gaile muttered as he felt her distress begin to ease ever so slightly "What letter?" Onnen asked tiredly, cocking an eyebrow at Gaile "The one I wrote should anything happen to me" Gaile said as Onnen sighed in his direction "I should really slap you upside the head for writing something like that" She said, glaring at Gaile fiercely "If Nerco has gotten ahold of that letter she's probably worrying herself to the point of exhaustion!" She yelled at the senior hunter who felt very small in her presence "It was addressed to Lanius, not her." Gaile said flatly as he glared right back at Onnen "What difference does that make!? If its your handwriting chances are she wont give a fuck who its addressed to and read it anyway" Onnen yelled at him again "What do you want me to say Onnen!?" Gaile retorted angrily "I'm sorry that I tried to plan ahead and protect my family if something does happen to me!" Gaile yelled out at the Keeper who had fallen silent "Is that what you want to hear Onnen?" He said "I know she's worried I can feel it through our bond and its killing me inside Onnen." He said calmly as she nodded "More than anything I want to go home and comfort her!" Gaile said with a pause "Though I dont want to cause you harm by forcing you to exert yourself just so I can see her." He spoke as she nodded again "I didn't realize you two had bound your hearts like that" She said as she let out an exasperated sigh "I'm sorry Gaile, you weren't wrong in writing that letter for Lanius he's the only one you can rely on to see them protected but remember Nerco can hold her own in a fight fairly well" She said with a smirk "Or have you forgotten she still soundly beats you in a sparring match" She finished as Gaile glowered at her "Don't remind me" Gaile said with a huff.

Elsewhere Merrick and Thaeon were currently sparring "You're pretty fast kid!" Thaeon said as Merrick appeared behind him blade drawn for an upward strike "But I'm faster still!" He said as he disappeared in a burst of static appearing several feet away from Merrick mid swing, he had deftly dodged the strike intended to knock away his sword, "You'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me kid" Thaeon said with a smirk as Merrick glared at me "Kid?" Merrick echoed "Well if that's how you see me now, then I bet you'll blush a pretty pink when I finally kick your ass!" Merrick said as he sheathed his Chikage in the Cainhurst scabbard drawing out a crimson blade with a poisonous edge "Man, you're a real hot head you know that?" Thaeon said coolly as he disappeared in a burst of static and reappeared a second later knocking Merrick to the ground using the flat of his Muramasa "Don't get so heated all the time just because I'm a trickster in combat" Thaeon said as he offered Merrick his hand, reluctantly Merrick grasped hold of it and was pulled to his feet, "Relax, once Onnen has rested up you can go back to sparring with her which I know you enjoy" Thaeon said with a smile, "Just don't get any ideas about your teacher, she's spoken for." Thaeon said with a devilish smirk as he walked away leaving a blushing Merrick standing alone with several other Keepers "Hey Merrick!" Mira spoke as she walked toward him with a smile on her face "Want to spar with me?" She offered as she took a high stance with a Chikage of her own which caused Merrick to smile as he flicked the foetid blood from his own blade "Sure, why not?" Merrick said as she made the first move dashing forward with a high diagonal strike that he could read from her body movements long before she did anything with a single hand on his sheathed Chikage he flicked the sword halfway out of its containing scabbard deftly parrying her attack without drawing his blade just as swiftly returning the blade to its scabbard as she recovered from the parry "Thaeon wouldn't approve of you using his moves like that you know" Mira said knowingly as she took the high stance once again "You should try other stances, high stance is good for powerful blows but its also predictable" Merrick said as he parried or blocked every strike she attempted to make against him having yet to draw his sword all the way, "I will get you to draw your sword before this match is over!" She said as she took and unexpected switch to the low stance and swung her blade in an upward diagonal arc that would have taken Merrick's left arm off had he not drawn his sword to block the attack "Its about time I got you to fight for real" Mira said as she looked at the serious expression on Merrick's face as he held his Chikage in the middle stance, moderately strong attacks but low consumption of user stamina.

Closing his eyes, Merrick awoke in his own mental landscape with a beastly doppelgänger of his own standing before him "Lets show Mira what we can do when we work together you and I." Merrick said as his beastly counterpart smirked "I'm game, what's the plan" He said as Merrick stood in thought "low and mid stances only, I dont want to run the risk of hurting her as I'll be stronger with you at the helm." Merrick said as his doppelgänger nodded "Fair enough though I have to ask..." He started to say before Merrick looked at him with an arched eyebrow "You know that Keeper likes you right?" his doppelgänger spoke as Merrick stared at him in disbelief "I honestly never thought about any of the Keepers that way, I mean dont get me wrong Mira is beautiful but I dont think we could ever be in a relationship with her… For starters I dont even know how old she really is!" Merrick said as his doppelgänger nodded "Is that the only problem you have with her?" He said as Merrick shook his head "No I dont have any problems with her at all I just-" He started to say but was cut off "You just what?" He said coldly as was the natural tone for the beastly doppelgängers that lived within the souls of Hunters and Huntresses "I don't know alright!?" he yelled as his doppelgänger smirked from reading his thoughts "You want her you just wont admit it to yourself" his doppelgänger said with a chilling bout of laughter "But I digress let's go kick this Keeper's ass so I can go back to sleep, I'm very tired" his beasthood spoke out with a yawn "Her name is Mira you lazy bastard" Merrick muttered as they both rose to consciousness.

Mira was standing in front of him waving her hand in front of his face when suddenly his eyes shot open and a pair of crimson bestial slits stared into her ember orange eyes "Hello." was the only word Merrick spoke as he swing his sword in a mid stance horizontal arc that sent Mira flying when the blow connected with her midsection "Ugh… what was-" She said as she slowly climbed to her feet when Merrick appeared in a tuft of blood red smoke "what was that Merrick!?" She said as she tried to block and parry his strikes but she noted he was much stronger now she could feel the feral strength behind every swing as their blades connected again and again, each blow creating a shower of sparks as the dashed past one another in a dance of blades "You're treating this like an actual fight…" She said before a hard look formed on her face, "Alright, come on then little Hunter!" She yelled as she took a mid stance that had her crouched low to the ground blade sheathed before she rapidly drew her blade in a shower of crimson as she cut a deep gash into Merrick's chest "Grk!" He grunted out as he felt the bite of her sword across his chest "I wasn't expecting that." He said as Mira walked toward his downed form "You surrendered your humanity and stopped holding back, so I stopped holding back as well." She said as she reached into his coat and produced a blood vial, with an audible hiss she slammed the injector into his thigh as the wound on his chest began to glow and knit itself together as tendrils of flesh and skin twisted and fused together before the wound sealed completely leaving behind no trace of any harm done to him, offering him her hand she helped him to his feet "Next time stay human its more fun that way." She said as she swiftly kissed him on the cheek before she dashed away in a burst of static leaving him standing in place with a deep blush on his face before long Merrick heard his beasthood speak within his mind "See, I told you, she likes you." He said as Merrick nodded "Wonder how long she's been working up the courage to do just that" Merrick said as he passed another Keeper who had a great scythe slug across her back stopping cold in his tracks he was unable to look away as she passed him by, "Who was that?" he wondered to himself as he watched the nearly six foot woman continue to walk onward before she vanished into a crowd of Keepers, little did Merrick know she had caught onto him observing her and let a smile grace her face, "Perhaps he might be the one" She thought to herself as she walked into the crowd and disappeared.

Back at the Arkenmire residence Lanius had presented a plate of bacon and eggs to both Flora and Nerco whilst he prepared a third plate for himself "Thank you Lanius it looks…" She started to say but couldn't find the words to continue "I understand its not what you're used to seeing from Gaile but please do try it, you'll find it to be a nice bit of competition to your husbands own skills in the kitchen." Lanius said with a smile that went unseen due to his helmet, sitting down in what was usually Gaile's place Lanius undid a set of clasps at the base of his helmet and pulled off the bucket shaped helm, seeing his face for the first time Nerco lost her grip on her fork as it clattered to the ground noisily "Y-you look just like-" She started to say before Lanius looked in her direction "Gaile..." She finished as Lanius let out a sigh "Come now I cant resemble him THAT much can I?" He said as she nodded a clear yes "The resemblance is uncanny though Gaile doesn't have quite as many scars as you" Nerco said as she continued to study Lanius's face.

In the trenches, Thaeon was walking back toward the middle of the massive trench where Gaile and Onnen were last seen when he was stopped in his tracks by a familiar sight "You…" He blurted out as Kara turned to face him "I remember you from six years ago…" He said as she glowered at him "And I haven't forgotten you either Lieutenant" She said as he walked toward her hand resting on the handle of his Muramasa "Tell me, where might I find your Captain and Gaile Arkenmire for I very much desire to speak with them." She said as Thaeon nodded "No idea, I was looking for them myself when I ran into you." He swiftly lied, not trusting her, He knew exactly where they were but it would be a cold day in hell before he led her to them, "I know when I'm being lied to Lieutenant." Kara said as a hard glare formed on her face "On my honor as a Keeper of the Old Lords…" Kara paused, "I mean them no harm and simply wish to talk with them Lieutenant." She said as Thaeon nodded, noticing Gaile and Onnen both standing still as statues with wide eyed expressions on their faces "Found them." Thaeon said nonchalantly as Kara turned to follow him when she saw they were right in front of her "Long time no see eh Arkenmire?" Kara said with a smile as Gaile slowly nodded "Six years to be exact forgive me but I had figured the wound I inflicted back then would have-" He started to say as Kara spoke "Killed me?" She said as the smile left her face "It wasn't as bad as it looked, the Archon State took most of the brunt of your attack." She said coolly as Gaile nodded "So, I heard you two have quite the beautiful daughter now." Kara spoke as Gaile nodded "Yes, six years old and growing like a weed" He said with pride as Kara's smile returned "One of your students noticed me earlier but I don't think he knew me" She said as she saw Merrick walking toward them in the distance "And here he comes now." She said as Gaile turned to find Merrick walking toward them "You know her Gaile?" Merrick said as both of them nodded "Yes, we fought each other six years prior, Gaile and Nerco won though." Kara said as she bowed slightly to Gaile who returned the gesture of respect "Though where are my manners, My name is Kara, acting Captain of Loran's First Division of Darkwatch" She said as Onnen spoke for the first time since seeing Kara again "Normally I would be surprised, but Nerco already told me about that so forgive me if you were hoping for a reaction of some kind." Onnen said with a respectful bow that Kara returned "I wasn't expecting a reaction out of you… Most of Loran's forces either dont know or dont believe we exist" She said knowingly as Onnen nodded, "And I would assume you wish it to stay that way?" She said as Kara nodded "We are called Darkwatch for a reason." She said with a smile before a female Keeper materialized next to Kara with a Greatbow in hand "Right on time Arca." Kara said with a smile as her lieutenant bowed curtly to her "The Germans were rigging the next trench ahead of us with strange canisters containing a sickly yellow fluid" She reported as Gaile clenched his fists angrily "And I have to lead a charge into that trench tomorrow" Gaile said as his fist found the wall of their trench as he was unable to contain his anger "If we make it through that trench alive I'll kill that old codger." Gaile said as he made note of Captain Graves and his military forces resting a trench behind them "Perhaps its time we made them carry some of their own weight around here" Gaile said as Merrick and the others nodded firm agreement "Yes, I haven't seen a single one of them fighting alongside either of our combined forces" Onnen said as she too clenched her fists in anger "I refuse to fight alongside cowards who would sit behind us and reap the glory of our efforts" She said as Kara and Arca nodded "Then perhaps we should pay this Captain Graves a visit" Arca said in a tone suggesting violence was her intention "Yes, but no casualties please you two this venture to their trench is purely diplomatic in nature" Onnen said as she began to walk through a path that lead to Graves' trench when suddenly She tripped on something, looking to her left she was face to face with a canister of mustard gas that was second away from exploding "Too late!" She thought as she took in a deep breath of clean air and shut her eyes as the canister exploded filling the air with noxious yellow fumes, "ONNEN!" Thaeon yelled as he dashed forward only to be held back by Gaile "Guh! Get the fuck off of me Arkenmire!" Thaeon yelled as he struggled in Gaile's hold "Allow me." Kara said as She approached the cloud of gas and with a few twirls of her Great Scythe she had dispersed the cloud and found that Onnen was safe, holding her breath and holding her eyes shut. "You can breath now Captain Onnen" Kara said as she opened her eyes and found she was indeed safe as she let out the breath of oxygen she was holding in her lungs she let out a light coughing fit as trace elements of the gas still hung in the air not enough to cause any significant damage but enough to cause fits of coughing like the one she experienced, "Kara…" Onnen paused as the scythe wielder turned to face her "Thank you." She said as Kara nodded "Think nothing of it" She said, "I always look out for my own kind." She said as she rejoined Arca in the other trench "Now, I wonder who's job it was to explore and clear this shortcut!" Onnen said angrily as she looked toward the British occupied trench "They left that there knowing one of us could set it off!" She said as her anger boiled over "To hell with diplomacy" Onnen said as she looked to Gaile who wore a look of disbelief at their sheer laziness before anger to etched itself onto his face "Unbelievable" Gaile said as he looked at the exploded remains of the canister "And I have to lead my Hunters into a trench filled with this shit tomorrow" Gaile said for a second time "I've already said it but if we make it through that trench alive The British are going to start carrying their weight" Gaile said angrily as he stormed through the shortcut with Onnen, Thaeon, Merrick, Kara and Arca in tow.