Disclaimer: This is a story based on the game Bloodborne, which is a creation of developer FromSoftware and publisher Sony Entertainment. I don't claim any ownership of the characters or the game. This story is for the entertainment of fellow fans of the game, as well as any non-fan who reads it.
Hunter vs hunter
The hunter was slowly climbing the stairs towards the cemetery, his senses on alert, expecting danger from every corner of this godforsaken city. Ever since he woke up from his blood ministration, it had been one battle after another, with everyone trying to kill him. The only exceptions had been Eileen and the people taking refuge during the hunt. Even then, most of them were unhelpful with only Gilbert providing some measure of knowledge and pointing him towards the Church as a possible place for answers. He had explored most of Central Yarhnam, having been lucky to find a set of armor, in the sewers. He had also met the little girl, who was waiting for her mother and which he had agreed to help. In return, she gave him a tiny music box, which she said could help her father. The most surprising encounter was in the Hunter's dream, a place where he would wake up every time he died. There he met with Gerhman, the doll and the little ones. He was grateful to them for the weapons they provided, even though they failed to explain much regarding the hunt but they did explain that he could visit the place every time he was near a lantern and that he could use the souls of the fallen as payment for supplies and weapons.
The Hunter Axe and Pistol came very handy as he had met many opponents but the toughest one yet had been the Cleric beast. At least, that's what he decided to name it. And what a beast it was. It took all his bullet reserves and reflexes to best it. The fight was long and hard but he managed to fell it and he also learned one important thing. Fire worked very well on these beasts. Once it was down, he made another trip to the Hunters dream, as he needed the rest, and to get more supplies. The souls that the beast provided were more than enough to repair and upgrade his weapons.
And so, as he reached the cemetery entrance, he saw a man amidst what looked like corpses, hacking away with what looked like another Hunter Axe.
"Please tell me that this one won't try to kill me" the Hunter thought. With another slash, the man cut off the head of one of the corpses. "Doesn't look like it but appearances can be deceiving" he muttered to himself.
He moved a bit forward and shouted: "Hello there. What happened here?"
The man slowly turned towards him and said: "Beasts all over the shop... You'll be one of them soon enough". With that he started to move towards the Hunter, who aimed his Pistol at him and said:
"I recommend that you stay where you are. You're Gascoigne right? Eileen told me about you."
At that, Gascoigne paused, as if he was reminded of something: "Eileen?"
Grateful that he stopped, the Hunter made his way towards the man so that they were now face to face and studied him. He was wearing a priest attire and in addition to the Axe, he was also carrying a Blunderbuss. Carefully, he said: "Yes, she is worried about you. Listen, I'm tired and have been fighting ever since I got here. So what do you say that we lower our weapons and go find Eileen?"
Gascoigne thought about this but with a scoff, suddenly raised his gun and fired at the Hunter, who rapidly dodged to the side, the bullets barely missing him and fired back at Gascoigne . However, he had taken cover behind a gravestone and that was what the bullet hit.
"That was a rude way to say No!" thought the Hunter. "Alright, trying to kill each other it is". He followed after Gascoigne , ready to put a bullet in him the moment he showed his hat but to his surprise, he wasn't behind the gravestone anymore. Out of the corner of his right eye, he saw a blur and ducked down just in time to dodge a blow that would have chopped his head clean off. With all his might, he brought his axe up, slashing Gascoigne's chest from belly to neck. It barely fazed him. With a couple of quick slashes, he brought the Hunter to his knees. Just as he raised his Blunderbuss for a headshot, the Hunter retaliated with a shot to the kneecap which made Gascoigne lose balance. The Hunter landed a few slashes on him and then quickly retreated behind some gravestones, just in time to dodge the next weapon shot. He quickly produced a blood vial and injected it in his thigh.
"That was close" he thought. "This guy has experience. I'll have to be careful with... Shit!" he quickly got back to his feet since Gascoigne made his way from the side of the gravestone. He started attacking fiercely but his ferociousness had a goal and that was to drive the Hunter into a pair of headstones so that he could wail on him until he was dead. His plan was good but the Hunter guessed what he was trying to do and did a simple thing to get out of the situation. He jumped over the gravestone and hid behind a nearby tree. With a roar, Gascoigne followed and he rounded the tree just in time to catch a fully charged Hunter Axe to the head, which brought him down to the ground.
"No hard feelings" the Hunter said. "I know this isn't enough to kill you so what do you say that we stop this?"
Full of rage, Gascoigne rapidly rose from the ground and fired his weapon towards the Hunter but missed again, simply because the Hunter wasn't there anymore. He started to look for him but somehow, he felt an attack charging behind him so he stepped to the side, the Hunter's axe crashing down to the ground, with the Hunter in a slouched position, perfect to be attacked. Gascoigne brought his axe back to the side a bit, in order to have more power and just as he swung it at the Hunter's face, he parried it with his pistol. While the blow was blocked, it's force was enough to send the Hunter to the ground. Dazed, the Hunter could only endure the next few swings before he found an opening and rolled to the side, rising to his feet. Seeing that his opponent just kept coming, he did the only sensible thing. He ran towards the stairs that were leading to higher ground. During his run, he pulled out a Molotov cocktail and after climbing the first stairs, he lit it and threw it at the base of the stairs, making a wall of flames that stopped Gascoigne in his tracks. It didn't stop him however from firing after the Hunter, this time hitting him in the back but it did only a little bit of damage.
The Hunter just needed a bit of time in order to use some blood vials and come up with a different strategy to the fight. So far, Gascoigne was really holding his own. As he reached the top of the stairs, he looked down at the cemetery, the only thing that he could come up with was another ambush and he saw the perfect place to do it. However, he had to find another way to get down so he started going further towards this next level, seeing another way further into the city which was unfortunately shut by a great gate. Further ahead he went and he saw a tear in the fence and a small building beneath it. He jumped down on the building's roof and to his sorrow, he saw that a woman was there, dead, starring at the sky. He looked at her for a few moments and a red brooch caught his eye. He took it quickly and remembered what the little girl told him about her mother.
"Damn" he thought. "This will be bad news to deliver. Wait, if she is that girl's mother, then does that mean that Gascoigne is her fa...?" He didn't have more time to think since the man himself was making his way up the stairs, roaring for all to hear, the flames having calmed down in the meantime. Mercifully, he hadn't seen the Hunter, who quietly jumped down and made his way to a few taller headstones, which were enough to keep him out of Gascoigne's sight.
"Alright, there is only one way to test that theory". He checked his pockets for the tiny music box and prepared it, with his weapons at the ready.
In the meantime, Gascoigne was making his way down the stairs, figuring that his prey was there somewhere. As he started checking behind gravestones, he was making his way closer to the Hunter, who was waiting patiently for the distance between them to be as small as possible.
Finally, he started playing the music box, which started to produce it's song. He left it on a grave and slowly made his way towards Gascoigne , who was coming to investigate the noise. Suddenly, Gascoigne stopped and started clutching his head in agony. A bit surprised by this turn of events, the Hunter took full advantage and with all his might, he brought his axe down not on his opponent but rather on his Blunderbuss, which was chopped in two. He punched Gascoigne in the stomach, bringing him to his knees and quickly backed away, saying: "Your weapon is done for. Please, let's stop this."
In response, the priest simply grabbed his Hunter Axe, extended it and charged once more. His first blow was sloppy and the Hunter closed in and took a couple of swipes but that was what he wanted, since now, the Hunter was in his range and he wouldn't let him go that easily. He started landing blows on him, with the coup de grace being to toss the Hunter to the ground, slashing him a few more times. Again though, the Hunter managed to roll away before he could land the finishing blow and healed once more.
This time, the Hunter didn't run away. Instead, he too extended his Hunter Axe as a sign of respect and decided to face Gascoigne head on. Both roaring, they sprinted towards each other and brought their axes down but all they managed was to block the blows. They were starring at each other, so close that they could see their breath come out of their mouths. The Hunter made the first move which was to headbutt Gascoigne , who recoiled in pain, blood starting to pour from his nose, and took the Hunter's next hits. But in anger, he brought the axe back and jabbed it at the Hunter like a spear. The Hunter was staggered and saw Gascoigne bring his Axe back. He tried to dodge but it was too late as Gascoigne swung it in two big circles, the Hunter getting the brunt of the attack, being flown back in a few gravestones.
"Hck.. that was a good move" he thought while coughing blood. "I'll have to remember it. If I make it out of here." He rose to his feet and used a blood vial all the while keeping Gascoigne in sight. "I have to think of a different strategy." He retracted the axe and pulled his Hunter Pistol from the cloak. "I'm not used to fighting with the axe in this form." Then he noticed something. He hadn't been attacked yet. "Huh, I guess he too is starting to feel the effects of our fight."
Gascoigne was looking at him, panting. He hadn't fought like this in a long time. He didn't need to. Usually it was over in a matter of minutes but the prey in front of him was stubborn. All he needed was some time to catch his breath and then he would end the bastard in front of him. He would rip him to shreds, make him feel the same pain that he did now.
But the Hunter had no intention of giving him the reprieve he desired. He started to run towards Gascoigne but stopped just a few feet in front of him, avoiding the axe swing that was supposed to hit him. He ran forward and slashed the priest a few times then jumped back, avoiding his counterattack. He did this a few more times, with Gascoigne getting more and more tired, wounded and angry.
In desperation, Gascoigne brought his axe back, to hit the Hunter with as much force as possible but the Hunter simply aimed his Pistol and shot him. Gascoigne staggered and dropped to his knees. The Hunter took full advantage of the opportunity, got in close and performed a visceral attack on him, inflicting massive damage and sending him on his back.
"Enough is enough" shouted the Hunter. "You're bleeding heavily and your weapons are gone. Stop this now or I WILL put you down." He looked on as Gascoigne started to rise to his feet, his Hunter Pistol aimed at him, determined to end him if he made one more aggressive move but, to his surprise, Gascoigne put his hands to his head and started to tremble. After a few seconds, a shockwave erupted from him, which blew the Hunter backwards and over a set of gravestones. From the ground, he heard an inhuman shriek and after rising to his feet, he saw a great beast where Gascoigne used to be.
It was a hideous beast, covered in fur from head to toe, very tall and muscular. The Hunter was grateful that the gravestones were between them. His gratefulness was short lived as the beast leaped towards him and with one vicious move, destroyed the headstones, making its way towards the Hunter. He barely dodged the next swipe, with the beast barreling past him. Not to waste his chance, he charged his next axe attack and hit the beast with all his might, bringing it to the ground. It quickly recovered and being so close to each other, the Hunter had no way of dodging. The beast raised the Hunter, slashed him a few times and then slammed him in the ground, hard. The Hunter could feel that some of his ribs did not like that attack and were screaming at him to get the hell away from this monster.
The Hunter, being a pragmatic fellow, followed the advice of his wise ribs but not before shooting the beast in the throat. The beast collapsed to one knee and that was all the Hunter needed to start running towards the stairs. Mid run, a plan started to form in the Hunters mind but he would need a lot of luck for it to go his way. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he looked back and saw that the monster was following him. "Good" he thought, while producing an oil urn from his pocket. When the beast was at the middle of the stairs, the Hunter threw the oil urn at it, blinding it temporarily. The Hunter ran towards the gap in the wall that he used earlier and landed on the roof of the building again. This time, he extended his axe and adopted the same position that he saw Gascoigne use earlier, waiting for his prey.
The monster did not disappoint. With a mighty crash, it landed in front of him but luckily with it's back turned towards him. The Hunter immediately used the move, the charged attack hitting the beast in full and slashing it off the roof and into a few gravestones, which it easily destroyed with it's great bulk. The Hunter produced a Molotov cocktail and went to the edge of the roof, staring at the beast. It was dazed and hadn't moved yet. That was all the Hunter needed. He carefully aimed at the beast and with a great arch, the Molotov landed right next to it, igniting the beast, with the previous oil making it burn faster. The Hunter didn't let up and produced all the Molotovs that he had on him, using them until the beast stopped trashing and even then he didn't stop throwing them. He couldn't, no, he wouldn't take any chances.
After the fire went out, the beast's body slowly disappeared and the Hunter heard a voice in the distance, being carried by the wind: "Prey slaughtered".
He carefully made his way down and where the beast's body used to be, he saw a key and he instinctively knew that it was the key for the iron gate that was blocking his way forward.
The Hunter was tired, this fight taking more out of him than the Cleric beast did. He needed to rest and to stock up on supplies. To his luck, another lamp appeared in the middle of the cemetery and grateful, he decided that a trip to the Hunter's dream was what he needed right now. As he lit the lamp, he realized that he needed to get stronger. He could feel that his next opponents would be even more challenging and that he needed to match them in kind. As he felt the lamp taking him to the dream, one thought crossed his mind: "This was going to be a long night!"