ERROR- FILE_DAMAGED – EXTENSIVE_DATA_CORRUPTION
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…/…
PARTIAL_FILE_RETRIEVED
Bloodborne belongs to FromSoftware, Horizon Zero Dawn belongs to Guerrilla Games
Chapter 1: And So, Continues the Hunt
LOG: The Good Hunter: Data Uncorrupted
Unknown Female: Good Hunter, does the Hunt still not end?
Unknown Male: Doll, you know it can't. So long as I live, the dream persists, and Hunt goes on.
Unknown Female: But Yharnam was destroyed long ago, and the plague of beasts eradicated. The healing church is no more, and the Great Ones won't return to this world. Why then do you still Hunt?
Unknown Male: Simple, the world advances. Technology expands. A new prey has appeared. Black beasts made of metal and light; they threaten the whole world. But a beast is still a beast, no matter its form.
Unknown Female: Good Hunter, I do not remember you being so…
Unknown Male: Altruistic? Me neither, Doll. But I'm a Hunter…
Unknown Female: And?
Unknown Male: A Hunter must hunt.
.../...
LOG: A Prayer for Him: Data Uncorrupted
Unknown Female: O Flora, of the moon, of the dream. O little ones, O fleeting will of the ancients. Let the Hunter be safe, let him find comfort. And let this dream his captor, foretell a pleasant awakening. Let his endless hunt be finished. Let this night end for us all. And let the Good Hunter find a peaceful rest.
.../...
LOG: Experimental Treatment: Data Corruption Extensive
Unknown Male: You're sure? A dreamless sleep.
[garbled noise]
Unknown Male: More than you would believe. Let me-
[garbled noise]
.../...
LOG: Rest for now: Data Uncorrupted:
Unknown Female: Good Hunter, does the hunt go well?
Unknown Male: It has gone on for so long and I am so tired.
Unknown Female: Are you finally able to rest?
Unknown Male: Yes, though it will be in the waking world. A way to remain at rest for a long time… a dreamless sleep that will possibly be long enough for the hunt to finally end.
Unknown Female: Good Hunter, so long as you host the dream, the Hunt will never end.
Unknown Male: I know, Doll. I know. Just let me hope. I don't even know when I'll see you again, or if I'll see you again.
Unknown Female: Is that why you've used this technology to record our conversations?
Unknown Male: Yeah. You've been so good to me. I don't want to ever forget about you.
Unknown Female: Don't worry, Good Hunter, I'll still be here when next you dream.
Unknown Male: I hope so. Goodbye, Doll.
Unknown Female: Goodbye, Good Hunter. May you wake from your endless nightmare. May you no longer be imprisoned beneath the amber moon.
.../...
ERROR: ANOMALY DETECTED. INITIATING AWAKENING PROCEDURE.
The first sign that something was wrong was the sudden warmth that struck as he slowly opened his eyes. The second sign was the lack of any discernible human life. A few rats scurried about, but that was about it. The third sign that something was wrong was the lack of a front panel. The experimental pod he had been frozen in was open. So much for an endless dreamless sleep.
Cyrus Bishop, The Good Hunter, stumbled a bit as he put weight on his bad left knee. He chuckled as the last memories he had played through his head. The scientists were scrambling to find anything to stop the process. Cryogenics was more pseudo than science, but it was something to try. They all thought it would end his death. If only they knew. Then again, eternal rest did sound quite lovely.
Glancing around, he immediately deduced that he had been asleep for an incredibly long time. Numerous stalactites and stalagmites stretched from floor to ceiling. Fortunately, there was still a rather clear path out.
If he remembered correctly, his equipment was stored in a chest a couple of rooms down. He limped his way out of the hall and towards the room his weapons and other stashed equipment should have been. The chest was right where he last remembered. An old hand scanner lock held it closed. Of course, it had no power. Not that he needed it.
Cyrus raised his left leg and slammed his peg leg into the latch. The chest was no match for his cosmically reinforced prosthetic. He grinned as he pulled out his weapons, equipment and clothes. The decorative hunter's trousers still fit quite snuggly, the brace may have been little more than decoration, but the slight reinforcement to his bad leg did help. His old hunter's garb was still as tattered yet pristine as before. The actual shirt and jacket were fine, the cloak that hung from his back was basically shredded at the bottom.
The familiar feel of the charred hunter gloves made him smile as he donned the reinforced and somehow still slightly damp leather. Finally, after brushing a little dust off it, Gascoigne's old cap went on his head. The black wide brimmed fedora just felt right on his head.
At the bottom of the chest were his preferred weapons and other assorted equipment. Ludwig's Holy Moonlight Sword was strapped to his back with the shaft of Gehrman's Burial Blade laying on top of it. Lastly was his trusted Hunter's Pistol. The only weapon from the beginning of the hunt that he still had. He continued with strapping the hunter tools to the belts and loops on his gear. The last two things to come out of the chest were his immediate supply of quicksilver bullets, one of which he immediately loaded and the small necklace of badges he had collected from the Hunt.
He smiled as he slipped the cord around his neck. He may not have been a hunter from any of the workshops represented by the badges around his neck, but he would wear them for the memories of the hunters who did belong.
With his equipment and effects back on his person, Cyrus rang a small bell. It was a gift from the doll before his sleep. He called it the Nightmare Bell. A high-pitched haunting tone resonated through the metal tunnels and overgrown caverns of a world that had long since died. The ground in front of him bubbled up and four little white messengers, each wearing a small black top hat, rose from the ground. They seemed to cheer when they saw him.
"Hello, little ones," Cyrus said as he knelt down. "Could you take these to the Dream for me? And tell Doll that I'm awake and will be back soon."
The messengers took the bits and bobs that Cyrus decided he wouldn't need with them as they disappeared back into the Hunter's Dream.
That done, Cyrus began to make his way out of the underground facility he had been sealed away in. A ladder leading up at the end of a hall was his way out. If only he could properly remember the path they took him down. After about an hour of wandering, he finally found a ladder, though it went down not up. Cyrus grumbled to himself as he turned around and tried to find his way out of the maze.
Eventually, he did find a ladder up. When he reached the top, he had to unseal the hatch before he could climb out. And when he did, he saw more metal and halls.
"REALLY?!" He shouted to no one in particular.
This time though, nature had reclaimed much of the bunker. Some of the old holographic monitors were on, bathing the rooms and halls in their pale light. Down one hall, though, he could see a natural pale light. With no better ideas, he made his way towards the opening.
The rock above appeared to have collapsed into the tunnel. Using the Burial Blade, Cyrus began climbing his way out of the old facility. He pulled himself out and into a dark forest. He looked up at the pale light of the full moon.
Cyrus quickly stowed his weapons. Then, raising one arm straight up, and the other straight out to his side, Cyrus faced the moon. He muttered a simple prayer under his breath that the night would end. After a minute, he lowered his arms, redrew his weapons and walked off into the moonlit forest.
It took a while of walking before he found the fourth sign that something had gone horribly wrong. It was a settlement on the side of a mountain. The village was built underneath a Horus unit. The problem wasn't so much where the village was located, but the village itself. It was the fact that the village, and the people in it, looked to be tribal in nature. From a time before even Yharnam was young.
Although, he supposed that the scientists would be happy to know that one of their projects had succeeded in recreating life on the planet. Seeing as it was so late, the Good Hunter figured it would be best to wait until morning before approaching the people. If things turned for the worse, he'd at least be able to learn the language they spoke. One of the gifts from the Great Ones he so appreciated.
Cyrus retreated to a rock outcropping. He seated himself on it and rested, thus returning to the Hunter's Dream once more.
He smiled to himself as the familiar sight of the dream greeted him. The soft tones of the Doll, praying behind him drew his attention. He approached. His steps startled her.
"Good Hunter," Doll said, standing up. "You have returned. It is good to see you again, but… was your sleep not supposed to be endless?"
"It was, Doll. That just isn't what happened." Cyrus replied, sitting next to her. "It's good to see you again."
"Likewise." Doll responded. "How long did you sleep?"
"Not long enough. Other than that, I don't know. It was peaceful, for once." Cyrus answered with a small chuckle. "How's the Dream?"
"Nothing has changed." Doll replied. "Does the Hunt begin anew?"
"The Hunt never ended, Doll." Cyrus said. "But, yes. I am ready to Hunt again."
"Beasts of metal once more?" Doll asked.
"Possibly. Possibly not." Cyrus said. "The world is green again."
"Then what brings you back to the Dream?" Doll asked.
"The moon." Cyrus answered. "The world is illuminated by the pale light of a full moon."
"I understand." Doll said.
The two lapsed into a companionable silence. They sat next to each other for hours. Eventually, Doll drifted off.
"I'll be back soon." Cyrus whispered as he entered the workshop.
Standing in front of the table at the back, he began inscribing his standard set of runes. Hunter, Blood Rapture, Oedon Writhe, and Clawmark. All clear enough to be understood at a glance.
Satisfied, Cyrus returned to the waking world. Dawn had broken as he stood on the rock he had found the night before. A small cloud of dust was rising down the path. Cyrus narrowed his eyes at the approaching cloud. Glowing red machines ran past him towards the village he had seen the night before. Following them were two quadrupedal scorpion-like machines. Cyrus scowled as the two Faro robots ran past.
The Good Hunter jumped down from the rock and ran after the machines. He saw several of them slam through the gate to the settlement. The shouts from the guards on the walls at least confirmed to him that the language they spoke was English.
The tribesmen were putting up quite the fight, but the two Scarabs were a bit more than they could handle. The quadrupedal horse-like machines were falling easier. Perhaps not so surprisingly, most of the damage to the machines was being done by a red-haired woman wielding a bow of all things. He supposed, Simon's Bowblade would be effective. The arrows were a pure arcane construct, after all, but where was the fun in that?
Where was the joy in the Hunt if it wasn't getting up close and personal to your opponent? Where was the glee that filled you if you couldn't plunge a fist into their body and pull out their heart in a single swift stroke? Where was the madness if you weren't showering in the blood of your enemies?
Besides, the red-haired woman was using what, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a regular bow. A rather ineffective weapon, if you asked Cyrus.
One of the Scarabs slammed into the woman and threw her into a wall. Its tail stabbed the ground, lifted a chunk of rock and heaved it at her. The woman rolled to the side, barely avoiding the rock. Unfortunately, she rolled right towards the other Scarab. The second Scarab was a little more damaged than the first, but not enough to stop it.
It raised its tail to stab the woman, but Cyrus and the woman wouldn't let that happen. The woman rolled again as the machine stabbed down. Just as it had begun its attack, Cyrus fired his pistol.
"Scarabs." He growled. "Today, Cyrus continues the hunt."
…/…
To say Aloy was frustrated would be an understatement. First the Proving had ended in disaster. Rost had been killed. She had woken up in All-Mother's Mountain. Matriarch Teersa had named her a Seeker for the Nora. And now corrupted machines and the Corrupters that corrupted them were storming Mother's Watch.
She had narrowly avoided being skewered and smashed by the two corrupters. That being said, she could definitely feel some bruising from the one that slammed into her. One of the Corrupters stabbed at her. Aloy rolled to its left and readied her bow. A loud bang was quickly followed by something impacting the machine. To the surprise of everyone, the machine actually collapsed forward. It was only a temporary stun, but none of their weapons could really make machines do that. They could knock them over or stagger them, but that required incredibly heavy impacts and a significant level of damage to the machine. Aloy glanced over at the newcomer.
"Scarabs." the man growled. "Today, Cyrus continues the hunt."
The man was one of the strangest she had ever seen. His weapons looked positively ancient, and yet, she could feel a strange, almost divine, aura emanating from him. A sinister smile graced his face. As he aimed the barrel of the small gun at one of the corrupters, they screeched.
"You remember, don't you?" The man chuckled.
The remaining machines, a strider and both corrupters turned and focused all of their attention on the strange man. Even when the rest of the Nora and Aloy had gathered their senses and began to fire on them again. The corrupted strider fell easily enough.
One of the Corrupters leapt at the man. As it was about to stab its tail into him, he sidestepped and fired the small gun again. The machine stumbled again as it landed. The man's grin turned viscous. He swung his blade right into the machine's midsection, just above where the legs connected. The blade pierced through the metal far easier than it really should have.
With a mighty heave, the man pulled his blade through the machine, cleaving the body from the leg and scattering wires and fluids across the ground. The other Corruptor pulled a large chunk of rock from the ground and launched it at the man.
In a fluid motion, he swung his blade behind his back. It connected to the wooden shaft, thus extending the blade into a rather wicked looking scythe. A scythe that cleaved through the rock, sparing the man from any further injury. He jumped towards the Corruptor and brought the scythe down on it. The blade stabbed through the metal once more and both the Corruptor and the man fell to the ground. The machines were all dead. The man stood and separated the blade from its shaft.
He walked over to the other fallen Corruptor. He scowled and stabbed his blade through the eye of the dead machine.
The Nora were unsure of how to react. On one hand, this was an uninvited outsider in their sacred land. On the other hand, he had made killing the two Corruptors look easy. No one stopped the strange man as he began walking down the road that led to Mother's Watch.
Aloy stood up and surveyed the area around her. Stand-in war chief Resh was already barking orders at the braves to get the gates repaired. Aloy turned towards one of the fallen Corruptors. Her curiosity on how it overrode machines was quickly satisfied. She attached the Corruptor's override to the base of her spear and left Mother's Watch.
A herd of Striders just outside the village allowed her to test her newly acquired override skills. Satisfied that it worked, Aloy settled on her next course of action. Mounting the Strider, she rode off after the strange man. She didn't know how, but she figured that he would be an incredible help in her quest.
It didn't take her long to catch up with him. He was walking too fast, and the peg leg made his tracks rather unique in the dirt. She rode up to get his attention. Before she could say anything, the man spun and slashed at her mount. His curved blade bit into the Strider, and the machine crumbled. Aloy jumped off the machine and winced as she landed. Glancing down, she saw that his blade had also sliced open a gash in her lower leg.
The man walked towards her. Aloy backed up and aimed her bow at him. He glanced at the weapon before crouching down. She watched as he removed one of his gloves and dipped two of the fingers in the small pool of her blood. He brought them to his face, sniffed it and licked it.
"You are not infected." He muttered. "I didn't think you were, but I had to be sure."
Aloy just looked at him warily. Her aim never faltered as he stood back up.
"Who are you and what do you want?" The man asked, leveling his own weapon at her.
"I could ask you the same thing." Aloy responded.
"You could, but you were the one who ran after me." He said. "A Hunter can never be too careful."
"Sure, but you haven't answered my question." Aloy said.
"Nor you mine." The man replied. "But this standoff will get us nowhere. Do you want answers or death?"
"Preferably answers." Aloy replied.
"Smart choice." The man said. "If you want to talk, then let's talk like civilized people. No need to be aiming weapons at each other… yet."
"Alright." Aloy responded, as she shouldered her bow.
The man lowered his pistol and stabbed his sword into the ground. He crossed his arms and leaned against the buried blade.
"Now, who are you?" Aloy asked.
"My name is Cyrus Bishop, The Good Hunter. Perhaps you've heard of me?" Cyrus introduced himself.
"Can't say I have, though that is a rather arrogant title to have." Aloy replied. "What are you doing in the Embrace?"
Cyrus raised an eyebrow in question. "The title was given to me by another. What do you mean, the Embrace?"
"It's the sacred land of the Nora." Aloy answered. "I thought most people knew that."
"Then you are mistaken. Because I didn't. As for what I'm doing here? I'm hunting." Cyrus replied. "I am Hunter, and Hunter must hunt. Now, how about you. Who are you, and what do you want with me?"
"Aloy." She introduced herself. "And I actually wanted your help."
"Really? Why do you want my help? And for what?" Cyrus asked.
"You destroyed those corruptors with ease. I want you to help me in my own quest." Aloy answered.
"Informative yet vague." Cyrus said. "What is your quest?"
"I want to kill the man who killed my caregiver." Aloy responded.
"You hunt vengeance." Cyrus summarized. "Then I am sorry, Aloy, but vengeance is not a beast I hunt. I can see in your eyes, you're lying. Or at least, not telling the whole truth."
Aloy looked at him in shock. Cyrus gave a rather creepy knowing smile.
"You're trying to appeal to the nature you assumed I have. I can see it clearly; vengeance is just a byproduct to your real goal. You want answers. Answers you think I can help you attain. Is that right?" Cyrus asked.
"Yes." Aloy answered, warily.
"Are you sure you want answers? Do you really want the insight to pierce through the veil that hides this world's secrets?" Cyrus asked. "Or, have you already seen beyond that veil and want to know more?"
This man was scarily good at guessing what she wanted. Aloy looked him straight in the eye. Beyond the black pupils and crimson iris of the man, she could see age, wisdom, madness, and exhaustion. Aloy blinked and the feelings that she had just experienced were gone, as fleeting as the glimpse into his eyes.
"That is accurate, mostly." Aloy said. "One thing I really want to know is who my mother is."
"Very well." Cyrus said. "I shall accompany you on your journey, Aloy of the Nora. Though I must warn you, insight comes with a price."
"I'll pay any price." Aloy said. "Next time though, could you not destroy my mount."
"Rule number one of the Hunt, don't sneak up on your prey without intent to kill. Rule number two, assume everything is your prey until proven otherwise." Cyrus replied.
ERROR-DATA_CORRUPTION-BEGIN_FILE_RECOVERY…/…
Data Log TEH-001
And thus, I'm back from my hiatus with a new fic. I recently platinumed Bloodborne and am working on doing the same for Horizon Zero Dawn. Forbidden West just arrived for me and this little plot idea formed in my head. Besides that, I haven't found any HZD and Bloodborne crossovers, so I think I'm breaking new ground here.
If you've been following me through The Daughter of Death. Don't worry, it won't be abandoned. I plan to return to it eventually. The month break from writing was good for me. I'm invigorated and excited to write once more.
Thank you to all who read this, your feedback and views are much appreciated.
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.