Chapter 4: The Hunter
"Sick creatures, may you rest in peace. Umbasa." With those words Gascoigne turned away from the completely burned house in Western Yharnam. It was his first day out of the medical ward of the Healing Church and a whole week had passed since the fierce battle where he almost lost his life. As the man walked the city streets in full daylight, he could still make out the blood stains marking the pavement where people had been torn to shreds. He could sense the populace looking at him with fear in their eyes, were they afraid of him, or of the Hunt that he chased? Were the Hunters the saviours people clamoured for or a warning of bad tidings?
Gascoigne looked up to the sunny sky and sighed. Hunters wore dark so they would be unseen in the night, and being outside in the daylight dressed like this started to feel wrong to him. Stopping to help a few citizens put back together an overturned cart, the man again felt the fearful eyes of everyone surrounding him. Although he was probably stronger and taller than any villager he had come across that day, he felt week under their watchful gaze.
A man called his name from the crowd. As Gascoigne turned, he saw Henryk walking towards him, almost healed, but with a still noticeable limp. "It's nice to see you, Gascoigne, let's go, Viola should be expecting us soon!" said Henryk with a smile as the two made their way to Central Yharnam. Unlike him, Henryk was sociable and liked by everyone, maybe due to his bright Hunter garb, maybe because he was born and raised in Yharnam.
Gascoigne lived in a neat little plaza next to the foundation pillars of the Great Bridge that led to the Cathedral Ward. It wasn't a big house, but it greatly resembled the one where they were ambushed during the last Hunt. Maybe that's why he was so shaken up, he though. It could have been his family that was murdered. What if they were attacked and he wasn't there to defend them?
Looking ahead to the plaza, Gascoigne and Henryk spotted Ludwig and Lucca sitting on a bench, talking to each other. "Hey guys, good to see you!" said the woman with a smile, with Gascoigne smiling back and saying "Likewise, let's go my friends!" Ludwig also said hello, picking up his sword, which was leaning on a wall next to him. The four headed to Gascoigne's home and let themselves in, one by one, hanging their coats at the entrance.
Greeting them was Gascoigne's older daughter, who must have been about 7 years old, and smiled immediately at the sight of the two new faces: "are these your friends daddy?" she asked, looking at Ludwig and Lucca with an inquisitive sight.
Gascoigne confirmed so with a smile "they're our guests, so make sure you behave well today, okay?" she nodded with conviction as Viola who is both Henryk's daughter and Gascoigne's wife entered the room, "Welcome, I hear you're the ones who kept my husband alive last week, I'm so glad you accepted our invitation for lunch!"
Henryk was actually the one who had delivered the invitations on the day before, much to Ludwig and Lucca's surprise, but since they had no reason not to go, they both accepted, also wanting to check up on their companion's health. They were led to the dining room, where Gascoigne's younger daughter was, a sweet two-year old who ran towards Henryk and called him granddad in the most awkward way Ludwig had ever heard. "Wouldn't you know, little girl, your grandpa still hasn't kicked the bucket!" joked Henryk.
Viola looked at Henryk with a mix of resentment and sadness, letting out a retort "At this rate, my husband will be going ahead of you, dad!"
This made Gascoigne's eyes look to the floor in sadness, and then to Viola "Please dear, can we get through lunch without talking about this? And don't scare the girls, I'm not going anywhere!" he said.
Ludwig felt Lucca's eyes wander to him as if wondering what that was all about, but avoided meeting hers as to not give his own awkwardness away.
Lunch went by without any incidents but it was fairly obvious that Viola regretted Gascoigne's life as a Hunter. They all ate pheasant together, which apparently was the result of a different kind of hunting Gascoigne and Henryk also did. As lunch went by, they all stayed together drinking and hearing a bunch of tales from each other.
"There was once this Hunt", told Henryk, "where me and Gascoigne actually fought a damned Silverbeast... Let me tell you guys, if you thought the last one was close, I can't even begin to tell you what it's like to fight one of those!" Silverbeasts are, as explained by Henryk, a slender, humanoid looking wolf creature that can actually hold a few rudimentary tools and electrify its whole body, which makes it so you get electrocuted when going for a melee attack. "Worse of all", he added, "their face is horribly disfigured and they have these maggots inside them, that can actually come out of their mouths and attack you as you fight them."
"Horrendous beasts", added Gascoigne, "fortunately, they are very rare. We faced only one in our lifetime, two or three could certainly take us all out".
Ludwig and Lucca shuddered to think about such a monster, it certainly sounded like nothing they had ever seen before.
At this point of the conversation, Gascoigne's little girls were playing by themselves, which allowed them to speak openly, but his wife still was clearly disturbed by the conversation. "I wish these Hunts would stop, or that you would at least stop being part of them", she says.
"People need help Viola, we might have been too late to save that family last week, but who knows how many others those beasts could have killed after?" responds the Father.
"Anyway", Ludwig tries to break the ice, "Where are you from? Why do they call you Father Gascoigne?" The man looks at him with an understanding smile. "I was part of another Church before I came to Yharnam, but as you and many others know, the Blood takes its toll and I have forgotten what it was like and where it was. All I remember is that I held a position of guidance there and the word I would utter in communion: Umbasa."
Ludwig nodded in understanding, saying how it was the same for him, but Lucca prodded them both "So you guys remember nothing from before Yharnam? That must be scary!" they both shrugged. "It's also liberating, though, there is no past to haunt you and you can fully commit to a new life here", says Gascoigne, holding Viola's hands who was sitting to his side at the table. She smiled profoundly and held up one of his hands, kissing it.
"Aren't they sweet?" asks Henryk "we were partnered up when Gascoigne joined the Hunters and that's how they both met. A slightly different turn of events and I wouldn't have these gorgeous granddaughters!"
The children smile at Henryk and the little one goes to grab something from a desk in the corner of the dining room. "Look!" she says getting on the table between Lucca and Ludwig's seats, "granddad made this fwor them! It's so sweet!" In her hands was a music box who played a sweet lullaby when the little girl played it.
"It's a common Yharnam lullaby", explained Henryk, "I also wanted the kids to love it!"
Everyone went quiet for a bit, listening to the mellow tune, and then Lucca broke the silence again: "What about you Ludwig? What's the story with that sword of light?"
Ludwig glanced at the sword who was leaning against a nearby wall and smiled. "Well, I found it in the Dungeons, we kind of found each other, you know?" Ludwig then proceeds to tell of their encounter with the horned lupine and Gehrman's display of strength that day, and then of the attunement itself, which Lucca asks to see again.
Ludwig gets up and grabs his sword, demonstrating the green hue to a marvelled audience. Everyone was in awe of the weapon Ludwig held, and he felt a strange pride in holding it. The children in particular were left stunned and then ran to him, trying to grab onto some of the particles of light around the blade of the sword. "Be careful! It's a weapon, not a toy", said Ludwig as he saw them wave their hands slowly trying to grab a light particle that went through their fingers and came out on the other side.
"Still, you have to wonder how the hell that was made", said Lucca, "what an incredible effect! I saw you shoot a beam from it too, right?"
"Yeah, it's pretty great", said Ludwig trying to sound casual about it.
"It was the talk of the Workshop the other day", said Henryk, "a lot of people gathered to see Ludwig train when he was learning how to use it."
"Yeah, Gehrman said I had to train with it if I was going to use it on Hunts. After all, it's bigger and heavier than most of our weapons", explained Ludwig.
"That's not my point lad, your weapon is magical and no one's ever seen anything like it. People gathered to see you because they all wish they found it instead of you!" retorted Henryk filling Ludwig with a pride he tried brushing off.
It eventually became Lucca's turn to share some stories. She chose to tell the others what made her want to become a Hunter. "This one night, I had a huge fight with my parents… You know, typical pre-teenage crap, right? And I went out the door, crying and wanting to run away from home. My parents followed me but I hid and went the opposite way. Eventually this huge Scourge Beast showed up and I was scared like I had never been before; couldn't run, couldn't cry for help; nothing! I could have died that day, but instead, Gehrman saved me! He showed up and killed the beast at the last second! I can't believe how lucky I was! I remember his voice so well, trying to ask where I lived. I couldn't even answer him… When I finally told him, he took me by the hand and delivered me right to my parents' arms. I was completely fine, but soaked in beast blood. They were terrified when they saw me, which is understandable, I guess. I was a little shit!" Everyone laughed in agreement.
"Ever since then, I wanted to train with Gehrman and become someone's saviour, like he was for me", adds Lucca, turning to Viola "I know it's probably tough to have your husband out there, but if we save just one person, wasn't it all worth it?"
Viola smiles "You are right, sometimes I am a bit silly and worry too much. I trust Gascoigne knows what he is doing and won't ever let us down!"
"The people of this city are our family too!" adds Lucca with a big smile.
"You are a good woman!" replies Viola.
The younger daughter hugs Lucca from out of nowhere "I want to be a Huntwer twoo when I gwow up! I'm gwoing to be like big sis!"
The room laughed and Viola replied with a sweet smile "Now, now dear, don't you start trying to worry me already as well!"
Lucca winked at the girl saying "Grow big and strong and then maybe I'll train you, you can be my disciple, second best markswoman in all of Yharnam!"
"By then, she might even surpass you!" laughs Gascoine.
The day went on and the subject eventually changed to Djura, the man who saved them during the last Hunt. Apparently he was invited for lunch too, but couldn't make it "He's the leader of the Powder Keg Hunters", explains Henryk. Apparently the Powder Kegs were a sub-sect of Hunters whose adoration of complex design and big booms culminated in weapon designs that contrast with those traditionally of the Workshop. While Gehrman would design weapons to cut and cleave, they aimed first of all to burn and explode their prey.
"He's a great man, loyal to a fault and damn fine Hunter, you should get to know him, you could learn much from him", says Gascoigne. Lucca, in particular, was very interested.
As the afternoon ended, the group finally left the house and said their goodbyes. Their bonds strengthened, they looked outward to the sun disappearing already over the Yharnam horizon, a warm orange filling the sky. Ludwig and Lucca left alongside Henryk, each heading back to their respective homes. Gascoigne held his family a little while longer. His house overlooked the distant towers of Oedon Cathedral and the sun behind them created a magical atmosphere. In that moment, time stood still and he felt truly blessed for everything he had in life. Trusty companions, a loving family and a city that welcomed him. He had survived another Hunt and although he was wounded, he still had his life and none of his companions were lost in the struggle. His memory recalled names of old, lost to countless other Beast incursions and he was happy he was able to make new friends this time. "Umbasa!"