Howdy friends. Coming at you with chapter five, hope you have all been well in the absence between chapters. In other news, I'm 21 now, and finally able to legally drink. Woohoo. Enough about me though- onto the chapter!
Whatever Kagura had been expecting to encounter after finally getting to this damn cathedral, it wasn't… this. She'd figured they'd come across some sort of clergy and scare them into answering whatever questions herself and Vasyl had. Mostly on what was going on in this city. Instead, she got to witness a grotesque transformation from woman to nightmarish beast.
A spine, ever expanded, cut through soft skin with a spray of red. Grieving cries gave way to anguished growls as the woman's nose turned to snout. Wild, branching horns formed from its skull, breaking off from one another, far too numerous, too sporadic and shaped without sense to be anything but unnerving.
This wasn't natural. It wasn't right. Human or not, even Kagura didn't enjoy watching someone lose themselves like… like that. How had it felt? Was this thing even thinking, or was it a mere mad beast? Was the woman conscious in there, yet slave to instincts? It was not a fun thought to imagine, Kagura found.
The beast, mere moments ago having been some poor woman muttering mad prayers and breaking down in tears, stood as fearsome as some of the most prestigious demons she'd ever seen. It towered over them, its size easily enough that just getting stomped on by one of its paws would spell certain doom. Kagura took a step back as the blind-folded, white-furred wolf roared in the faces of both her and Vasyl. She felt the hot breath hit her face and shriveled her nose in disgust as the nauseating smell.
"Scatter," Vasyl instructed, pulling her out from her mind. He rushed away from the beast and her, drawing his pistol and firing a quick shot at the beastly vicar, capturing its attention. It roared once more, rearing up on its hind legs before leaning forward to swipe at him with its thick, long claws.
He avoided the swing deftly, and it roared before moving after him, wild swipes chasing the shadow of his movements as he backed towards one of the far walls, narrowly ducking, dashing, and leaning to dodge the blows. Damn. How was a human so… so damn good? It didn't make sense to Kagura. He moved with the sort of agility that matched what that dumb wolf demon Koga had been able to manage, with one real and one false shikon jewel shard!
Sure, he didn't match the straight speed that foolish wolf demon had, but it was no less impressive. Kagura shook her head, tearing herself out of her wonder and remembering his words. He'd told her to scatter- it wouldn't do to be clumped up versus something this gigantic.
"Like the wind," she finally replied under her breath to his earlier comment, pulling the lever of her weapon and priming the blade before moving in after the beast. It was distracted, fully focused on him. She watched as an overhead swipe narrowly missed him; he leaned aside, slashing at the extended wrist of the beast without fear or hesitation. It pulled its arm back in pain for just a moment.
The pain was replaced with rage. It growled, quickly leaning forward and attacking in a fury.
A claw skid horizontally across the stone in front of Vasyl; a wild backhand was barely avoided as he slid onto his knees and leaned backwards so far it was as if his back was against the ground. He rolled backwards from his position on the ground as the beastly vicar swiped at him from overhead, her claws tearing into the stone where he'd been laying a moment earlier. It pulled its claw back, tearing up stone and sending it flying through the air, now shrouded by dust. Kagura grimaced, imagining if he'd been hit by that.
He'd have been left little more than a torn apart torso.
The beast roared once more, slamming both of its arms forward, claws clasping each other and clenched together like fists. Vasyl was sent stumbling from the sheer force of the impact, but had leapt aside to avoid it at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding being crushed. Kagura moved forward towards the beast's hind legs, but couldn't help but notice that one of the hands that had just slammed down at Vasyl was clutching something tightly.
She heard the distinct chlink of Vasyl's cleaver transforming to its expanded form, yet was too preoccupied with her own plan to see what he was doing. Finally at its hind feet, she cut rapidly in succession; a horizontal slash transitioned in a diagonal swipe, followed by a thrust and the releasing of her primed stake, the pressurized blade burying into flesh and cutting bone beneath. Her arm burned with the sheer force of the blow, muscles aching at the impact of the released pressurized blade, but she didn't stop. It all blurred together, and she may have landed a few more strikes in there. Frankly, she wasn't exactly keeping count. No, here, against this… thing, all she could do was follow her instincts.
Kagura cocked back her arm for another slash, only to find herself no longer there. She stared at the ceiling as she flew backwards, mouth gaped to take a desperate heave of breath. Just as she tried, her back slammed into the stone floor. She slammed her eyes shut, and she felt her bones shake from the impact as she skipped like a rock, sliding to a stop somewhere.
Her eyes slowly opened, and she found her cheek flush against the cold stone of the cathedral floor. She blinked, trying to focus her blurry vision. The first thing that came into focus was a snout, looking back at her from over its shoulder. Rows of pointed teeth were visible even from here, and oh god everything hurt and she couldn't even breathe.
She opened her mouth to breathe, and it took a few seconds for it to actually work. She gasped, begging for air to enter her lungs. Black spots danced in her vision as she curled together on the floor, waiting for her lungs to cooperate. Eventually, they did, and she was able to feel air finally return to her through panting, desperate, greedy heaves. She needed air, for fuck's sake. All the air in the room probably wouldn't suffice, but she'd make it work.
Ears popping, Kagura suddenly realized that she'd been unable to hear up until then. The black spots in her vision started to subside, and she forced herself onto her hands and knees. She shook her head, clearing the last of the cobwebs that impeded her thoughts. What had happened?
A hand moved to her abdomen, and she could feel the ache in her stomach even through the hard leathers. That damn thing had kicked out with its hind leg, sending her across this whole damn cathedral with barely a flick. Was it really that monstrously strong?
Of course it was! The thing wasn't natural. It was a demon in all but name. Some twisted abomination of a human woman that seemed like the sort of fucked up creation Naraku would make for fun. If only she had full control of her wind! She'd cut that damn thing to pieces-
An authoritative voice shouted at her in demand, and her body was obeying before she even registered the words. "Kagura, move!" She scrambled, scrapping her way to her feet and rushing to the side. Her eyes slid up, glancing from her mad scramble to where she could hear growling.
It was in the air, snarling all the while. It was pouncing at her! Fuck, fuck! Kagura leapt forward, rolling as she hit the ground and slipping to get back onto her feet. She felt the whip of wind that had narrowly missed her, the one that followed the beast's claws as it had swiped at where she'd been a moment earlier. She looked back at it, seeing those dark, huge claws torn into stone.
She also saw Vasyl, swiping at its back left leg, the same one she'd been attacking earlier. He had closed the distance of the beast pretty quick, it seemed. It fell forward in a stumble after a particularly mean swipe cut into its calf, and Vasyl wasted no time in rushing alongside the beast.
Even in its disoriented state, the beast tried to swipe at him. He slid forward to avoid it, the claws tearing a bit of leather as it passed over him, as well as catching the brim of his hat, knocking it off his head and revealing blonde locks for all to see. As the claw finished its passover, he popped back to his feet, one heel pushing against stone and launching him forward like a spring.
His rush had never really stopped. As he neared the front of the beast, he leapt up and reached with his left hand, grabbing a hold of the white fur that hung from its hide. Perfectly timed, too, as the giant wolf decided that was the moment to create distance, leaping backwards to get away from his relentless assault. Of course, he was right there with it now.
As it landed, it stumbled thanks to its now weak-ankle. Vasyl leapt off from his place holding firm onto its fur, pushing off its side with both feet. He was sent flying forward, and as he flew by the former vicar's wolf-like head, he struck out with his extended saw cleaver.
Steel cut into the softness of its neck, spraying blood merrily and coating Vasyl's blonde hair red. A deep, diagonal cut that was announced with a cry of anguish from the beast. Blood splattered against the ground at the same time as Vasyl's feet met the floor; he rolled with his landing, twisting his body as he absorbed the impact to turn back and face the beast, never one to leave an opening. A good thing he did, too, as the beast's snout came forward to bite him, blood now staining the fur of its extended neck and dripping to the ground at a steady pace.
He leaned out of the way, slashing upwards with his blade and catching the beast below its jaw before it retreated, swinging a backhand at him in panic. This blow landed, the casual, monstrous strength of the beast sending him backwards just as it had her.
Only, he recovered far more easily; one skip along the ground was all he needed to orient his body, right his weight, and have both feet touching the floor as he skidded to a stop. Standing tall, he brushed a bit of dirt off his shoulder before narrowing his eyes at the enormous wolf, as if it was the prey here.
Kagura decided then she ought to be doing something to help. She sure as hell wasn't getting close to it again, though, and settled on being long range support. Pulling the lever of her stake driver, she took aim as best she could and fired.
Her shoulder jerked backed from the force of the released blade, and she clenched her teeth together to starve off the pain. A stake of wind shot forward as she'd commanded it to, cutting into the back of the beast. It growled in anger- or pain, it was pretty hard to tell- and turned to look back at her. She felt her eyes widen, and instinctively took a step backwards. How the hell was she supposed to hurt this damn thing?!
She wasn't Vasyl! She didn't have whatever crazy instincts he had, making him able to so easily fight this thing up close. It took a step towards her, turning its body to fully face her, and she took another step back before pulling the lever of her weapon again. She aimed once again, and released the blade.
It was hard not to cry out in a bit of pain; she was pretty sure the force of this jerk popped her shoulder out of place. Still, there was some satisfaction as she watched the wind stake slash across its chest, spraying blood. And then it roared, and it began moving towards her, a slight limp in every step.
Vasyl moved quickly to try and impede its path, swinging with his cleaver to and fro, but it's focus seemed to be solely on her. Great. Before she could be thankful that it was at least limping, it picked up its pace in spite of that, running at her fully now, its one hind leg practically dragging along the stone floor as it rushed. Shit, shit, shit!
Kagura scrambled aside, not turning her back to the beast, but running away from it nonetheless. How the hell was she supposed to deal with this thing!? She didn't have access to her wind in its full power, and a simple swipe was all it needed to send her across the whole damn cathedral! And, if those claws did hit her, she'd be shredded. So, yes, her plan amounted to running.
The beast was getting closer, though. Kagura's eyes widened as it raised one of its claws high in the air and swiped, bringing its whole body forward with the motion. How the hell was she going to dodge that without full access to her wind!? She waited and waited for it to close down on her. Her feet wouldn't even move.
Something slammed into her shoulder, jerking her whole body with it, and she blinked. The claw was rapidly descending on her. She fell backwards, landing on her rear- but it was enough to narrowly avoid the claws. Well, the first swipe of its claws. She barely scrambled to her knees and leapt aside as the second swipe pulled up the stone where she'd been sitting a moment ago, and Kagura managed to fully get back on her feet in time to avoid the third attack, a closed fist from the beast slamming where her head should have been.
"Abomination!" Vasyl screamed, and Kagura heard the shattering of a bottle, followed by an absolutely putrid smell. A look over at her would-be partner showed him absolutely drenched in blood. Judging by the broken bottle at his feet, he'd… poured something all over himself? She could smell it from here.
The wolf sniffed the air, slowly turning to look over its shoulder, blindfolded eyes staring at him before it growled softly. It didn't move, though, and it started to look back towards her, seeming to overcome its natural instincts… until the clattering of steel on the stone drew its attention to Vasyl once more.
He'd discarded his saw cleaver, casting it aside. He was leaving himself completely defenseless. "Come at me beast! I am unarmed!" This time, a furious snarl escaped the throat of the white-furred wolf, and it's attention was firmly on him. It took a step away from her and towards its new prey. She felt herself breathe, not even realizing she'd been holding her breath. As she did so, she met Vasyl's eyes.
His gaze was soft. Those grey eyes of his so… so understanding it made her sick. It was the same sort of gaze he'd given that damn woman monk or whatever she was. The same gaze he'd given her precisely once, before she'd flicked her fan and cut his cheek. That damn look… it said more than words ever could.
Here, in this cathedral, he was on his own once again. She was not his equal.
A howl pierced the relative silence of the night, and it rushed at Vasyl in full. It was not stupid, either, as it approached. It took a wide swipe with its claws, sending his cleaver scattering even further down the cathedral. Finally getting nearer to him, it lunged, dragging its claw behind it and forward in a wide swipe. He nimbly avoided the strike with a dash backwards.
Vasyl reached into his coat, and it seemed he wasn't entirely unarmed. He had a single knife- more suited for throwing than piercing the hide of a beast like this. Still, as he stood mere feet from the head of the beast, he thrust upwards at its chin. The wolf moved its head back, avoiding the strike, before jerking its maw forward like a coiled snake, attempting to catch Vasyl's extended hand with its rows of sharpened teeth.
Retracting his hand with a swiftness, he avoided the clamping of jaws and cut at its snout before it could create more room. At the same time, however, the wolf swung its claws, this blow catching Vasyl fully across his midsection. Massive claws dug across his side, only the leathers on his body serving any sort of resistance. He stumbled from the blow but stayed on his feet, scrambling backwards to avoid an overhead slam.
The momentum of the blow left the beast's head low to the ground, and even with his wounds, Vasyl pushed through, showing no fear nor hesitation, leaping and thrusting his dagger directly into its skull. It reared backwards in anguish, swiping its claws around in a sporadic, random pattern. Vasyl ended up getting backhanded, his body skidding along the stone.
He didn't recover as easily this time, instead bouncing once or twice before ending face down, cheek to the floor, just as she had. She watched as he forced himself onto one knee and then both feet quickly. He didn't just remain down like some pitiful damsel.
Kagura looked to her right, seeing his saw cleaver on the ground close to one of the corners of the room. She clenched her free hand into a fist, shaking her head and beginning to make her way over to it. As she was moving to it, she moved her left hand to her right shoulder. It had definitely been popped out of place. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her shoulder and jerked it, mouth open in a silent hiss of pain as it was forced back into place.
Once she got close to his weapon, she leaned over, grasping it by its worn handle. The beast roared in the background, each beastly scream accompanied with the shaking only a swing of its claws could cause.
She could both hear and feel those wild swipes, striking away and tearing stone out in chunks.
His cleaver was still in its expanded form, which was fine. Kagura turned to look at the beast, where it was still attacking Vasyl in a frenzy, yet he nimbly avoided strike after strike, while minimizing the damage of the blows he did take by bracing his body or leaning aside. She really was out of her depths, here. Anyone would have been.
Kagura pulled the lever on her stake driver, priming it with some effort. Her right arm felt so damn weak, even if she had popped her shoulder back into place. Muscles ached, and her whole right arm just felt like it was burning. Still, she'd make do. Taking a deep breath, she began to move.
Scanning, she could see Vasyl getting pinned further and further into a corner, despite his best efforts. Even with his skills, in a corner, he'd be useless. He needed to have somewhere to dodge to, after all. He needed her help or else he was going to die, regardless of his perpetual rebirth to that strange dream.
Kagura slashed with his saw cleaver, the weight of the weapon odd and unfamiliar. It was horribly unbalanced, and she couldn't imagine anyone ever wielding it with skill. Yet he did, and so she knew it was possible. As she slashed at the air, a blade of wind shot forward in roughly the same shape as the blade, moving through the air and towards the back of the wolf.
She swiped again, sending another blade of wind from the cleaver, before bringing her staked river up to bear and releasing the lever. Her body jerked from the force of it, and she bit her lip to keep quiet. It, too, shot forward a stake of wind, her sheer will forcing the wind to fulfill her whims. Watching with glee, she grinned as three blades of wind slammed into the back of the rampaging beast in succession. She relished in the sight of blood splattering upwards and across the air.
"You audacious bastard," she said, tightening her grip around the handle of Vasyl's weapon and not halting in her approach to the wolf. It turned to face whatever had attacked it, and upon seeing- hearing? It was hard to say how the beast sensed them, given its makeshift blindfold- her, the creature focus shifted away from Vasyl.
An overhead claw came down at her near instantaneously, and she turned her body aside to avoid the blow. The floor shook from the impact, sending her stumbling, but she stayed on her feet. She blindly slashed with her stake driver behind her, hearing the steel cut into its extended arm even if she wasn't looking as she continued to move forward.
It struck out with one of its hind legs, dragging it across the floor intent on sweeping her away, but she leapt. Gesturing upwards with the saw cleaver in her left hand, the veir air formed beneath her and pushed her up. It was weak, though, compared to what she could do with a fan. Still, it allowed her to just clear the swipe of the beast.
As she was in the air, she tossed the saw cleaver in her hand at Vasyl in the corner. She primed the lever of her stake once more, and as her descent began, she slammed her blade into the shoulder of the beast, releasing the lever and grinning at the howl of anguish that escaped the wolf, even as her muscles spasmed. Her whole arm was shaking, actually. It swiped at her, backhanding her off from its shoulder- God she was dizzy- but she managed to give a lazy wave of her left hand to slow her descent with some wind.
Landing softly on the ground, she reached up to her mouth, feeling a bit of blood dripping over her lips. She took a brief glance at Vasyl. Those grey orbs of his were just… frozen as he looked at her. She just smiled, which seemed to snap him out of his stupar. And then he laughed, a deep, enriching sound tinged just barely with madness that she couldn't help but find it endearing.
It didn't stop with just one series, either. He let loose another deep laugh as he transformed his saw cleaver to its compact form, "Come! Let us slay this beast and relish in the hunt! On this night, we welcome another true hunter, the great Lady Kagura!" He screamed, his voice echoing throughout the cathedral, and perhaps, all of Yharnam.
Rolling her eyes at his theatrics, she couldn't help but keep the smile on her face regardless. Both herself and Vasyl fully focused on the beast. It had created distance between them, now, and its head was facing up towards the heavens while one hand was clutched to its chest. A golden light almost seemed to descend upon the wolf, and Kagura felt her eyes narrow when she saw some of the smaller cuts had begun to mend themselves.
"It's healing," she said, and Vasyl nodded. Both of them moved at once, charging forward to meet the wolf on opposite sides. Each of them slashed at its hind legs, the creature too distracted in prayer to notice. Its hind legs were the only things truly exposed at the moment, given it was almost sitting straight up.
As their blows landed, it snapped out of whatever it was doing, falling backwards onto its back in a loss of balance. Much like normal animals, it flailed about, claws kicking and skidding everywhere as it righted itself; it ended up rolling towards her. She narrowly avoided getting crushed beneath its body. Ye there it was, its side fully exposed to her.
Fighting against her instincts to create distance, she dashed forward towards it, thrusting her blade into its torso and pulling it out just as quickly to dash backwards and avoid the claw that had been meant to behead her. Rushing behind it, she gave another cut to its already hurt hind leg.
As had happened earlier, it attempted to kick out and slam her across the cathedral with a flick. This time, however, she was ready. She twitched to the side, and as the extended leg was in front of her, she slashed twice in quick succession, cutting through already bleeding flesh.
Vasyl, meanwhile, was at its front, mere feet from its chest. It attempted to stomp on him with its front paws, but he narrowly avoided the slam. His saw cleaver, in its more compact, axe like form, slammed downward into two of the clawed fingers of the beast. The beast screamed.
Now missing two fingers, the anguish of the beast gave way to steaming hatred. It brought both arms down in an overhead slam, the cathedral shaking with the force, before sweeping out both hands in each direction. Vasyl grimaced, knowing he was doomed to get hit. He bunkered down, putting his saw cleaver in front of him to at least get some damage back.
As the arm of the beast slammed into him, pushing him back, the serrated steel dug into the flesh of the wolf. Still, the blow sent him bouncing backwards; his back hit the stone wall of the cathedral and stopped his momentum suddenly. He wheezed as he fell forward, black spots in his vision.
Kagura, seeing the beast focused on Vasyl, rushed its other hind leg. She primed her stake with her left hand, unable to muster the strength to do so with her right. As it took a thundering step towards him, she thrust her blade directly into the bone of its ankle. She heard the sickening crack of bone as her arm screamed, and the wolf stumbled sideways and away from Vasyl. Her blade was wretched loose thanks to its stumble, but her arm danagled uselessly towards the ground.
It dragged itself around to face her, and she barely avoided a claw swipe to her face. Idly, she noticed that said claw was missing two fingers. Swipe missed, it wasted no time in using its other fist to smash down where she was standing. Kagura rolled aside, righting her body in time to see the claw that had initially missed swinging back at her.
Shit.
Kagura dropped her weight, going back to the floor as the claw swept over her body, overshooting her easily. She rolled to her side before scrambling back to her feet. She took a glance at the wolf, seeing it rearing backwards and facing her. Using her left hand, she once more primed her stake driver, taking aim using her left arm to support the weight.
She fired, though this time, she didn't feel much in the way of pain. Probably because her right arm was already numb all over. It was satisfying when the wind stake met the beast squarely on the snout, splitting the tip of its nose in half.
Vasyl came from the side with a roar, bringing his saw cleaver down on one of the arms it was using to help prop up its weight now that both hind legs were ruined. It fully fell forward, what balance it did have completely lost, and Kagura was already moving before its head hit the ground. Vasyl was, too.
She didn't have time to prime her stake. It would be almost downright impossible with how weak her right side was feeling. Still, she had a plan; they needed to end this fight now. As she approached its downed head, she noticed Vasyl coming from the side, his cleaver extended.
Leaping forward, she grabbed her right arm with her left and tried to aim the limp arm as best she could. At the same time, Vasyl dashed forward, bringing his saw cleaver forward and overhead with both their attacks met at once; Kagura's extended blade came forward in a weak thrust where she'd already broken the beast's snout with an earlier wind stake. It penetrated the already weak flesh, digging fairly deep considering the lack of force in the blow. Still, that wasn't all; she willed what wind she could to shoot forward with her thrust.
She saw Vasyl's saw cleaver meet the extended neck of the wolf. If she had to guess, it died almost instantaneously. At the same time as her stake's extended blade thrust into its open, wounded snout and she willed wind forward with the thrust, Vasyl's saw cleaver tore through its neck, cutting at least three fourths of the way through.
There was no final anguished cry of pain. There wasn't a final strike of defiance from the former woman. No, the beast simply died, its upper maw cut in half and split, hanging in two separate halves, while its neck hung from a thread attached to the rest of its body.
She heard Vasyl's deep breaths, as well as her own. She removed her stake driver, retracting it with some effort. Vasyl retched his saw cleaver free as well. Kagura gave the beast one final look, idly noticing that she could still see where Vasyl had dug that knife into its skull. It was practically buried to the hilt.
It was definitely dead. Kagura took one more final look before falling backwards and firmly onto her ass, sprawling out on her back. She reached over across her body, removing har arm from the slot that held the stake driver stable onto her numb arm. "Damn, using this thing hurts," she muttered.
Vasyl chuckled, and she noticed him transform his blade one last time before plopping down on his bottom as well. "I can imagine. The shock of repeated use of the pressurized stake must be tremendous on the bones."
He was coated in blood, both from that stupid maneuver he did, pouring that pungent blood all over himself, as well as his own wounds and the wolf. She could see the tears of the leather on his torso, blood staining the dark grey material.
Kagura wasn't judging, of course. She was also soaked in blood; her hair probably looked red at this point. Kagura reached up to feel it, blinking upon realizing she'd lost her hat in the chaos. Not too surprising, but she did frown at it nonetheless. The hat had kinda grown on her.
Reaching a hand over, she tried to massage her damn arm. Damn it. She didn't regret going all out with that damn stake driver, but… well, she didn't have her natural regeneration factor here, for some reason. It made using something like that actually hurt. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, sprawled across the ground uselessly as she tried to recover from her numb limb and injuries.
Something was dropped onto her chest, and she looked down, seeing her hat sitting there. There was also something dangling in front of her. Kagura looked up, seeing Vasyl standing. He had his hat on, as well, the grey material looking as menacing on him as it always did. His mask had been lowered, and he was holding some golden pendant by its chain, the entire gold coated in blood. "Here. To remember your first hunt."
She took it, giving it a look over. She noticed that it could be opened and did so idly. Hm. All she could see on the inside were some carved in words, but she certainly couldn't read it. It was in the same language as everything else here. Vasyl looked at it from over her shoulder. "Fear the old blood," he muttered, gaze narrowing.
"Well, interesting as that is, what the hell are we going to do now? She was supposed to be answering our questions." Vasyl hummed, plopping down beside her once more.
"Place your hand on the altar's sacred covering, and inscribe Master Laurence's adage upon your flesh," he muttered aloud, remembering the note he'd read earlier. Both of them looked behind, towards the altar. They could see something over there, but there was a cloth covering it.
Vasyl rose to his feet, taking a moment to stretch. He offered her a hand, which she took. He retrieved his cleaver a moment later, and she grabbed her stupid stake driver. She didn't put it on, though. Her arm was far too dead for that. "You owe me a damn massage for making me use that thing," she muttered.
He chuckled. "If I must, I suppose," somehow, she got the feeling he wasn't so beat up over the concept.
As they approached the altar, Vasyl grabbed the cloth covering whatever it was that was placed on the altar and removed it. They both blinked at what they saw. It was a skull. A damn skull, and a beastly looking one at that. They shared a look. "This…" Vasyl seemed out of words, absolutely confounded. "This is what they use to… to bless blood? A beast skull?"
Kagura didn't really understand either. The closest comparison she could make was those weird human cults who would drink the blood of powerful demons, hoping it would do something for them. Of course, those humans were just insane. As for these ones… it seemed to do something. Just nothing good.
Vasyl cupped his chin. Kagura remained staring at the skull.
"...Should we touch it?" Vasyl blinked, raising a brow in her direction as her words registered.. She crossed her arms. "What?! It's what the damn note said." He bobbed his head back and forth as if in thought, eventually reaching up to scratch the back of his head.
"I… is it safe to do so?"
She shrugged. How the hell was she supposed to know? It was a fucking skull. It certainly seemed dried out. It wasn't like the thing would bite them. "It should be. It's just a dried out skull."
"Suppose there's no real harm in… touching it."
He was right. Nothing was going to happen. That said… "You should touch it first." She said, mind decided. He was the human here, used to their oddities.
"W-What? Why me first?"
"Well, you're the experienced one here! You should just go first."
He sputtered, trying to come up with a good response before shutting his mouth shut, thinking for a few seconds before finally speaking with clarity. "Why don't we go together?" She hummed, tapping a finger on her blood-stained chin at his suggestion.
"I guess." Reaching over, she grabbed his gloved hand with her own. She noticed him pause for a moment. "C'mon. Let's get this over with," she muttered.
Reaching out, she guided their hands over to the skull, his laying overtop hers. With only a moment of hesitation, she finally laid her hand down-
"Master Willem. I've come to bid you farewell," they said, approaching a man in a rocking chair, his back turned to them. Where were they? Inside a building, at least, but they knew no more than that. A building of markedly different architecture than that which was common of Yharnam proper.
"Oh, I know, I know," an older, male voice said, the soft thump of his staff sounding against his palm, "you think now, to betray me."
They sighed. How many times would they have this discussion with Master? Wait, who was 'master'? "No, but you never listen." They paused, considering saying more but settling on something far less profound. "I tell you, I will not forget our adage."
Their Master leaned back in his rocking chair, tapping his staff against the wooden floor boards before speaking. "...We are born of the blood, made men by the blood, undone by the blood." Their brows furrowed in focus as Master continued speaking, "Our eyes are yet to open."
"Fear the old blood," both they and Master said in the same breath. The cabin was silent for a few moments, and they stared at the ground. "I must take my leave," they informed, their master nodding but saying no more.
They turned, leaving the cabin of Byrgenwerth, where Laurence had long ago unveiled the truth. As he opened the door to finally depart, they heard Master's final parting words. "By the gods, fear it, Laurence."
They would.
Vasyl sucked in his breath, stumbling backwards as… as the vision of whatever he had just witnessed ended. His hand had retracted from the dried skull, and he took a deep breath to calm the unusual feeling inside him that left his insides tingling and his mind a whirlwind of confusion.
W-What was that? It hadn't felt real. It was as if they were witnessing something, opposed to actually being there. A dull throb in his head spiked as he began to contextualize what exactly he'd just… witnessed in that vision of sorts. There had been feelings, thoughts in that vision, but it had all been so muffled. All he could really focus on were the spoken words.
It was not as helpful as he might have hoped, but it was not entirely worthless. Rather, it seemed their search for answers had gotten more clear, yet it was still so convoluted.
"Fear the old blood," he muttered, narrowing his brows in concentration. "It can't be a coincidence. This 'old blood' must be what the healing church is founded on, and given what I've seen, it would be wise to fear it. It must be responsible for the transformations of the townspeople!"
It was the only explanation that made sense. What had that place been? He racked his mind, remembering the words Byrgenwerth. The same place that, some time ago, Alfred had told him was where all things in Yharnam could be traced back to. Where they had discovered the holy medium, he said.
The medium which was the foundation of the healing church
He recalled some of the prayer that vicar, now a dead beast, had been muttering when they happened across her. "Seek the old blood, but beware the frailty of man…" he muttered, thinking more on it. "Their wills are weak, minds young."
It must have something to do with the willpower of whoever was consuming the blood. Perhaps some- of strong mind and body- could deal with the repercussions of blood healing, but from all he'd seen of Yharnam, it was few and far between. Who was that man in the vision, the one in the rocking chair? He spoke as if this... Laurence's departure was a betrayal.
'Heir to the ritual of blood, purveyor of ministration. Place your hand on the altar's sacred covering, and inscribe Master Laurence's adage upon your flesh,' he recalled the message he'd read. Laurence must have been a significant part of the Healing Church, but the man himself had come to Bygernwerth, against the wishes of that other man.
Some questions had been answered. Vasyl decided to consume less blood to heal his wounds until they learned more, and it seemed as if blood was causing this madness. And if he were to stop this nightmare, he needed to determine what the old blood was. What that damnable medium was.
"We should venture to Bygernwerth; based off that vision, then it's almost certainly where we'll get more answers." Vasyl decided, turning to look at his partner. Only she wasn't there.
"...Kagura?" He asked, giving a glance around the now empty cathedral. "Kagura!? Where are you?" His eyes scanned once more, and he could even see the blood that had been dripping down onto the stone where she had once stood. It didn't lead anywhere else; rather, Kagura was simply gone.
He slumped, sighing and running a hand over his face, smearing blood all over it. He… he trusted her. She would be safe, until they could reconvene. But where had she gone?! Nothing made any damn sense.
That damn vision barely made any sense. All he knew was they needed to get to Byrgenwerth, and that meant he had little in the way of time to waste. Even without Kagura, he would push forward… though not without doing a wide sweep to find her. He did take some solace in that he had given her the Beckoning Bell- should she be in real danger, she could always call upon him.
Strolling forward, posture slouched slightly, he stopped as he stared at the corpse of the great white beast they'd fell, the monstrous transformation of what had once been a lithe nun. 'Those things you hunt? They're not beasts. They're people.'
Unable to break his gaze from the corpse, he hummed. Djura had been wise, indeed, but a wise fool was still a fool. The most he, or anyone, could give these people was a quick death. It was simply the way it had to be.
Still. "Rest in peace, knowing you harmed none on this night." If only because they had been here on time. A beast like this… it would have slaughtered many. Yet her hands, cold, clawed, and covered in fur, were at least free of blood as she departed this nightmare of a city. Perhaps she could find peace, in whatever cursed gods existed in this world.
Finally turning away, Vasyl left the cathedral. He'd take a right turn as he reached the bottom of the stairs that had led him to this place, beckoned by the worst trait of man: curiosity.
When the vision ended, Kagura shot up, blinking. She was staring up at a white moon, her back resting on something soft. Her hand twitched, rubbing against it. It was a familiar feeling; the feeling of her feather. She sat up, slowly, taking a glance around. She was in front of a large castle.
Naraku's castle. Shaking her head, Kagura glanced her body up and down. She was still adorned in the wear of Yharnam, furnished in the dark, comfortable leathers that provided such protection. She could see her stake driver, as well, still grasped in her hand. Her arm still felt a bit numb, and she grimaced as she idly realized that, while she could feel her regenerative abilities once more now that she wasn't in Yharnam, it was remarkably weak. Her regenetive abilities, that is; it pulsated, but not as strong as it once did.
Kagura flopped back down, blinking at the sky and remembering more of that strange vision. 'Fear the old blood, huh.' She thought, unsure what to make of it. All she really knew was that she wished Vasyl was here to make sense of the nonsense. She didn't know the rest of Yharnam well enough to piece everything together as Vasyl seemed to be able. She could piece together that some old blood was used to form the healing church, and that the old bastard in the chair seemed to think it needed to be feared.
Given what she'd seen happen to that human vicar, Kagura was inclined to agree. Idly, she recalled the panicked words Vasyl had given her. 'It- my blood has to be safer than the blood the others Yharnamites use. It's different. I know it to be so!' She chuckled in spite of herself. She certainly hoped he was right, and somehow, she trusted him to be right. He had a good head on his shoulders.
Kagura reached up, running a hand through her hair. She could feel clumps of it stuck together by dried blood. Her eyes rolled. How annoying. She'd need to find a spring to wash up in, but somehow she doubted Naraku would be very patient waiting for her to clean up.
Honestly, she barely remembered her fight with that Inuyasha demon, only really recalling how he'd use that sword of his to break through her wind. It seemed like so long ago, compared to what had happened in Yharnam. Yet here she was, feeling the tug of Naraku in her flesh. Here she was, far away from the wonders of stone buildings that towered to the skies and beasts of the night.
How boring.
Sitting back up with a stretch, it only took a moment for her to notice the familiar, white-skeletal figure simply known as Little One. She raised a brow when she saw it raising something above its fat little head. A change of clothes. A change of her clothes, not the leathers Vasyl insisted on her wearing.
She grabbed them, and idly noticed as he grabbed her stake driver and did something with it, as it essentially disappeared. Still, she was sure it wasn't gone. She extended a hand. "Bring it out again," she demanded of the little bastard.
He did so, and she was left staring at her bloodied weapon in his hands. She waved him off, and he put it back… wherever. "You're more useful than you seem, Little One." Its hands clapped together in joy, yet still no sound was made. Well, she ought to get changed before she met up with Naraku.
It only took a few minutes to rid herself of the weighted leather and bloodied blouses, leaving her body bare in the midnight wind. She found Vasyl's bell in her hands, considering ringing it, before just setting it aside as she remained bare in the wind.
Only briefly, however, as she quickly adorned herself in the familiar kimono and assorted wear. Little One gathered up the assorted leather, dissipating them to whatever strange little dream he was capable of conjuring. It was the only thing that made sense; she could remember seeing the little bastards in the dream, now that she thought about it.
Blood still staining her body and hair, she nevertheless felt put together enough to enter the castle. Grabbing the bell off the ground, she pocketed it as she entered. She could feel the pull of Naraku's flesh guiding her, pulling her forward towards wherever he was. As it happened, he sat, legs tucked beneath him, at a small table, a cup of tea in front of him.
"Kagura," he spoke, and she stiffened in spite of herself. Still, it was only for a moment, Somehow, he didn't seem that daunting as before.
"Naraku," she replied, wondering just where exactly he was going with this.
"Is Inuyasha dead?" She rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure you know that bastard's alive." He nodded, barely, and she took that as her cue to continue. "I was caught off guard. Was this some damn test of yours?" She recalled a few more details about the fight, specifically that girl who's arrow had been critical in whatever weird move Inuyasha had done. She thought about mentioning it, but held her tongue.
"Did you know anything about that Wind Scar of his?" She questioned, crossing her arms.
"Some, but not that exactly."
He wasn't exactly as talkative as normal. "It hardly matters. A shame that both Koga and Inuyasha still live, but we have a better understanding of their capabilities now. They won't live much longer."
Kagura shrugged. She didn't really care much. "You surprised me." Naraku said, and she froze in the aftermath of those words. "Not in your mission. I have no room for failures, even if I expected yours. But your demeanor is more… fitting."
Oh, had he expected her to be pissed? Well, she imagined if she'd got back here a bit more quickly, she would be pissed. That said, after her and Vasyl's small venture… what happened before hardly mattered. If anything, at least it had seemed to knock her back into that place.
"...It's an improvement. You are an asset, in spite of your previous attitude Kagura. Provided it stays that way, I'll overlook your failures."
She clenched her fist. "I thought your next task would be to meet up with your sister, given that you've already experienced Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga. But you've surprised me enough that I'll trust you with something more urgent."
"Retrieve the boy Kohaku, and stow him away in some human village. Where's irrelevant; I can direct them there later."
Kagura hummed, vaguely remembering Naraku telling her about some plans she had involving an old, dead demon hunter boy. "Go." Naraku dismissed her, and idly Kagura noticed him holding her heart in his hand. She grit her teeth, staring at it with longing. It was all she ever wanted; all she needed to be truly free.
He squeezed on it slightly, and she froze, unbearable pain spasming across her body. "I said go, Kagura." She did as told, a snarl on her face. She never quite noticed the way Little One, phasing up from the floor, took to staring at the heart in Naraku's hand, his head tilted curiously.
And chapter five, complete. It is rather difficult writing 'large beast' battles, so I hope I did a good enough job for it to be interesting. Hope you all enjoyed, thanks for the nice reviews, makes my cold heart feel all fuzzy inside. I'd answer questions, but this story at its core is supposed to be something akin to a mystery/adventure, and thus suspense on what's going to occur is rather important. I don't really want to unveil anything outright, though feel free to read between the lines. Hints are certainly there. Forgive any spelling errors you might see; while I always proofread twice prior to upload, some things will fall through unfortunately. I do actively go back and re-read all previous chapters pretty much anytime I start writing the next chapter to get a proper sense of everything, so when I notice mistakes I try to fix them. Hell, I've probably edited each chapter six-seven times each to fix mistakes I catch.
Whether you read, review, or both, I hope you enjoyed. Stay safe!