Dear Diary,

With the sun's steady rise, our recovery lay just beyond the horizon. It's always so tedious, the buzz of the Hunt giving way for the mourning process and return to normality. The few remaining beasts cowered into shadow, covering their eyes as my saw cleaver fell upon them. The once green leaves on the surrounding trees were now entirely crimson, bleeding into the earth beneath my feet.

I was yet to see Djura, though I didn't fear his loss. Knowing him, he's likely digging graves for the beasts he'd slain, remembering the people they once were. Most Hunters separate themselves from the grief a Hunt portents, but not him. There's something in his spirit that the world needs, but will never truly have.

"Paarl!" Before I knew it, his voice came from behind me, his shadow creeping up against my own. "Are you alright? I didn't see you when it all ended, I was worried - "

"I wouldn't make it?" Raising an eyebrow as I turned, I sniggered after seeing how winded he was. His pointed nose and cheeks were visibly red, even from beneath his tricorn hat. "How far did you run to find me?"

"I was searching all over," he replied, his lips cracking into a smile. "And I'd do it again if it meant knowing you were safe."

"I can handle myself, Djura." Returning his smile, I crossed my arms and lifted my chin in indignation.

"A lightweight like you?" He pushed the tip of his hat back. "Paarl, the Hunter who struggles to stomach a few sips of a blood cocktail?"

"Injection is sufficient for its healing properties," I replied, kicking against the last few creatures I'd slain. "Besides, I wouldn't want to end up in this mounting pile of beast corpses."

"It's all about balance." He flung an arm around my shoulder, gesturing ahead with his other hand. "Consume the blood, but don't let it consume you."

As he led me down paths barely distinguishable from the surrounding woodlands, I continued to hear my own heartbeat as I glanced around. More than once did I raise my saw cleaver against gnarled trees and shrubbery, their eerie silhouettes twitching with dawn's breeze.

"It's over, Paarl," Djura whispered into my ear with a squeeze of my shoulder. "Even if there is a beast or two still lurking, it's nothing we can't handle."

"There's always a beast left lurking," I replied. "Don't you feel it?"

"Where?" Djura frowned, but I merely shook my head. Was it only I who mourned after each Hunt, not for the loss of life, but rather the Night's end? The Hunt moved me, stirring a visceral instinct that humans had buried under the guise of civilisation. I understood the primal language of every howl, my vocal cords tensing to reply before human wisdom advised me otherwise.

"Consume the blood." The words echoed within my thoughts. "But don't let it consume you."

"Are you alright?" Djura asked. "I know the Hunt can be harrowing, to say the least."

Before I could reply, the leaves of a nearby bush rustled, dripping a heavy maroon onto the soil. A haggard figure limped out, foliage protruding between the greys of its receding hairline. Before I could raise my weapon, Djura held up a hand.

"What brings you here, sir?" he asked.

"This is all on yer!" the figure replied in a croaking voice. He could barely stand, relying on a chipped walking stick as his knees shook. "Yer Hunters and Byrgenwerth are good for nothing, yer are! Yer think us people of Yharnam are stupid, yer do, but we've sussed yer out! We know yer doing queer things, yer the reason these strange beasts lurk - "

He fell to his knees, gasping for breath. I gestured to Djura with my eyes but he shook his head.

"You know what Laurence's orders are," I whispered, turning away. "If anyone finds out, we're to put them down."

"He's old," Djura replied. "He can barely stand, and probably sustained a few deep wounds passing through here in any case."

"Then let's end his suffering - "

He paid little attention to my words, instead choosing to crouch beside the old man.

"You have every right to be afraid," he said. "Making it through last night, who knows what horrors you must've seen? But know this - us Hunters are here to keep you safe, to make sure nothing reaches Yharnam."

"Including meself?" the man wheezed. "Yer don't want me spreading no rumours. The young lady over yonder has already raised that weapon against me - look at her eyes. Filled with the same bloodlust as them beasts - "

"Enough!" I stormed closer, looming over him before Djura formed a shield between us.

"Are yer sure she ain't one of them?" The man's hand gripped the dirt as he shuffled backwards. "She frightens me, she does."

With a sigh, I knelt down to his level and offered a hand.

"I apologise. This Hunt has been long and I'm merely exhausted from it. What's your name? How hurt are you?"

"I ain't stupid enough to give yer any names." Despite his words, he took my hand and propped himself up against Djura. "But me leg's paining… and me back… it's…" Before he could finish, his eyes rolled into his skull.

"Sir?" Djura shook the man as he fell into his arms. "Paarl, grab the bandages from my left pocket!"

"To what end? He won't make the journey to Yharnam, and if we take him to Byrgenwerth, they'd finish him off."

"We have to do something - a blood vial - hand one over!"

Shaking my head, I reached for my belt pouch and drew forth a syringe filled with a dose of Healing blood. As Djura lay him down, I plunged it into the man's right femoral artery, pressing until every last drop was cleared.

"He's burning up," Djura said as the man inhaled sharply. "Let's hope he's strong enough to survive it."

"What if he fails? Becomes a beast here and now?"

"Then we can say we tried." Djura placed the back of his hand against the man's forehead. "We tried our best."

"You care far more than most Hunters do," I said after a silence ensued. "Any other would've killed him without second thought."

"How would that make us any different from the beasts?" He stood up and turned to face me. "I saw your reaction to what he said - you weren't angry, you were afraid. Why?"

"What if he's right?" I crossed my arms. "What if you're right - what if I am no different from the beasts?"

"I wasn't speaking about you - "

"But the point still stands. A terrified, old man stood before me and my first thought was to kill him - what does that say about me?"

"Paarl." Djura took my hands into his own. "An instinct to kill mindlessly is not what sets us apart from the beasts. What separates us is the ability to ponder our actions, if only briefly, so that compassion or guilt might guide our next choice. You could have killed him, or more easily, withheld your blood vial, but you didn't."

"I suppose that's true… I don't think I'll ever quite fathom your endless optimism, but I appreciate it nonetheless." Shaking my head, I opened my arms for an embrace. "If only I could reason with such hopeful logic from time to time."

"We each have our own strengths." He rubbed a hand along my back, his breath warm against my ear. "Yours is the passion to pursue what you want in life. But if you ever need a more rose-tinted perspective, you can always talk to me."

"I'll keep that in mind," I replied with a soft chuckle. He placed a hand on my cheek, leaning closer until our lips were but a hair's breadth apart. My face warmed as I dropped and knitted my hands to create some distance between us. "You know, before joining Byrgenwerth, I found it difficult to make connections. I had plenty of friends around Yharnam but none with whom I made it past idle gossip. You're a wonderful friend, Djura. The closest I've ever had."

My tone must have been clear, for he withdrew with a knowing nod. Despite the small smile he offered, his gaze trailed downwards.*

"As are you to me," he replied.

We waited in an awkward silence afterwards, broken only by the scarce breaths of the old man. Once the morning breeze had picked up, his fingers began to flex and extend before reaching towards us.

"It's going to be alright, sir," Djura said as he knelt back beside him.

"I refuse..." the man breathed. "To fall victim... to your blasphemous experiments." His hand fell to his side, his eyes glassing over as Djura felt for a pulse.

"He's passed."

"And you tried your best."

Djura looked me in the eyes before shaking his head. He rummaged through the man's pockets, to no avail.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"A letter with his name perhaps, or an address. We might be able to find his family, let them know - "

"Djura." I lowered myself to his level, placing an arm around his shoulder. "There comes a time where you need to let things go, for your own sake. You'll drive yourself mad continuing like this."

"I became a Hunter because I thought I'd be saving lives, making a difference. Paarl, we know what Byrgenwerth has become and we're complicit in all of it."

"We're still saving lives. We can leave this behind us but nothing will change. Byrgenwerth, the Healing Church - they'll all continue down the same path. At least as Hunters we can mitigate the damage they cause, prevent it from ever reaching Yharnam."

"Look who's the optimistic one now," he said with a small smile. "But either way, this man should be allowed to rest." He felt around the soil, pressing deeper until he found the softest patch. "A stake driver is likely not the best tool for digging, but it's all I have."

He took the weapon from across his back, rising to his feet as he pulled against the handle of the contraption along its shaft. The metal blade of the stake driver sprayed blood as it sprung forward, providing further leverage for the task ahead. He plunged it through the soil, persisting in spite of the weapon's shape making the effort cumbersome.

"I can help," I offered many times but he merely held up a hand when I came close. His tightly pursed lips and furrowed eyes betrayed how troubled he was, and I pitied him for feeling so deeply. Once he was satisfied with the grave's depth, he placed the man inside wordlessly, returning the dirt without stopping once for rest. Upon finishing, he closed his eyes, muttering inaudibly before turning back to me.

"Let's continue onwards," he said, taking off before I could reply. The rest of the journey was spent in silence, occasionally broken by the odd comment as we passed the slaughtered cadavers of more unusual beasts. The most bizarre ones were serpentine; the blood must have infected the local grass snakes. The creatures that were once no more than a minor nuisance had amalgamated together, swelling into forms bigger than our own. Their forked tongues had sprayed venomous saliva from impressive distances, and my supply of antidotes almost ran dry facing them.

After many twists and turns, the woods opened up to reveal a sunlit lake on the horizon. Before it stood Byrgenwerth College, its domed roof casting a shadow on the surrounding grounds. The place was small for an institute of higher education, holding greater semblance to a mansion from the outside. Of course this made sense, the field of study it offered was niche and the enrolment exclusive.

A barred gate stood before us and Djura hesitated before passing through. He tilted his head towards me, though avoided eye contact.

"About the beast you felt lingering," he said softly. "I feel it too, deep inside, fear it far more than any monster we can see."

He opened his mouth as if to elaborate, but merely shook his head, pushing the gate open and joining the Hunters and scholars within.

*That's not how I recalled this… Oh, who am I fooling? I must admit, I wasn't the brightest lad; what gentleman courts a lady when you're both drenched in blood and standing over a dying man?