Episode II: The First Hunter
Act I: Combat
Disclaimer: I don't own Bloodborne, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Hunter's Dream" - Bloodborne OST. Episode Briefing.
"Château" - The Matrix Reloaded OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
In the far-off land of Yharnam there once existed a special kind of ministration led and spearheaded by one of its greatest minds to ever live.
'Blood Ministration'.
It is within this legendary land and the wondrous people that inhabit it that we turn our attention to the great people living within. These people, connected by both achievement of the academics and of the very battlefield itself, form and weave an incredible overarching story that becomes something greater; something wiser.
A Great One.
Today, we go back to the days of yore; when hunters were a new kind of expression for the largely docile people of Yharnam. Back when academics were regarded as the highest achievement one could reach for.
This episode of 'Tales of the Old Blood' feature a prominent figure from both Yharnam's early years and even into its much later, post-apocalyptic days; a man who knows captivity that will fight to keep the freedom of those without it. They called him 'the First Hunter'.
They called him... Gehrman.
Scene 1
Gehrman met his opponent's quarterstaff with his own in an athletic spin, narrowing his sky-blue eyes back. The two's weapons knocked against one another loudly before the second boy pressed forward with a quick series of upwardly angled kicks, meant for the chin. The first boy easily deflected them with his free left hand before grabbing his last kick via his leg; the second youth's eyes widened and, in a gasp, he watched his speedy adversary spin around his open defences.
The first student shot his free left hand, clenched into a fist, directly into the second student's open chest. He gasped and was sent briefly through the air before landing in a pained cough; he very quickly twirled his legs around in a recovery before leaping back up in a swift back-flip. His eyes narrowed at the similarly hard-eyed student before pressing forward; he jumped forward in a sweeping, leaping roundhouse; the first boy ducked it safely, eyes narrowed before soon replying with a quick diagonally angled kick.
The second student caught it with his similarly swift hands before grasping the wide-eyed Gehrman's arms and tossing him across the air. He skid roughly but, otherwise, unharmed across the soft floor of the fighting arena before snapping his young head back and upward to find his attacker pressing his luck with a pursuing leap.
SLAM
Though Gehrman's quarterstaff was clattered from his grip he opted not to panic and swiftly rolled out of his opponent's own weapon. It smashed apart the ground roughly as it stabbed through easily. Utilising his speed, the first student shot upward in a recovering back-flip, turning it into a defensive strike. His bare feet struck the gasping second student up and the strength of which even broke his staff, sending him staggering a few steps backward. Gehrman pressed his offence by weaving in and out as he advanced, eyes set on his adversary.
With very little technique, the young Gehrman swung his right arm across at the wide-eyed youth before him; he ducked but barely in time, visibly shocked at the strength he possessed. Gehrman pressed his momentum by using his free left arm to similarly sweep across the air; this time however, his rival caught the obvious strike with a narrow-eyed rise of his own right palm, watching Gehrman with a hard-eyed glare. The second student turned the tables by pushing the gasping Gehrman back a few steps before finally slamming his two conjoined opened palms into his similarly clear chest.
"Guh...!"
Gehrman's grunt travelled with him as he was sent spinning through the air, thudding against the ground as he landed. Light applause from the watching stands made the grunting Gehrman very briefly turn his eye to the spectating audience, eyes narrowed before pulling himself back up, his eye on his competitor. Opting to adapt to the second student's change in tactics, Gehrman narrowed his eyes as he ran his free right thumb across his nose. The youth hopped about in place, cricking and cracking his neck as he did before separating his right and left arms, diagonally crossed in a defensive position.
His watching opponent very carefully paced around the fighting arena, eyes surveying his adversary's form as if for weaknesses before repeatedly crossing his legs skillfully and landing on a form of his own. As if in response to Gehrman's, the second student shot his own arms across his defence in a similar fashion; crossed and all. Gehrman's eyes narrowed as he, very slowly, approached his opponent, the second youth following suit.
It was an open challenge from one rival to another.
As the pair finally made their last steps toward one another, they repeatedly shot their fists across the air in lightning-quick feints. Neither reacted however, opting to watch very carefully and quietly; the audience, by this point, had also lowered their normal murmuring to pure silence, absorbed completely in the duel.
Finally however, the second student reacted; with incredible reactions he managed to grab one of the wide-eyed Gehrman's many feints with his two arms and made ready to grapple him. The narrow-eyed youth didn't let him however; with untold agility he managed to forward-flip in place, alerting his shocked opponent before turning the tables with a grapple of his own. Gehrman used his strength the right way and yelled with effort as he tossed his enemy sideways through the air; the wide-eyed second student grunted but once before skidding painfully across the soft ground. Before long however he used it to vault up off in a deft side-flip; Gehrman pursued with lightning speed and grunted a second time as he went for a quick but telegraphed sweep.
With rivalling agility, the second student forward-flipped through the air acrobatically to avoid the attack and go leaping over the rising eyebrow face of Gehrman; the black haired youth traced his movement with his own eyes before very slowly walking on after his hurried sprint. The second student used the wall ahead of him and ran on up it; this time the audience let out a shocked gasp as they watched the speedy youth back-flip off the high wall and passed over Gehrman's form a second time.
Time slowed down for the watching Gehrman and, as he watched his opponent arch over him, he gathered his remaining physical strength and clenched his fists at his sides. Finally, the youth landed but before he could even do anything Gehrman's super-fast offence was presented; he advanced forward with a powerfully-infused back-kick, his left fist clenched at his side and his right held ahead as if to help propel him forward.
SMASH
The second student could only gasp in horrified widened eyes as he was sent colliding into the wall behind him. With the incredible force he was sent through, his body left an impression in the wooden wall before he finally dropped forward, coughing in defeat. Silence descended upon the watching audience; their eyes traced over to the original source of the force to find the narrow-eyed Gehrman very slowly pulling his extended leg back swinging through the air slowly. Finally, he rested it at his side with his clenched left fist, narrowing his eyes through the sweat that built up on his forehead.
"Well done Gehrman! You are today's winner!"
The named youth stepped forward, eyes now limpid and light; he reached down to offer a hand toward his fallen former opponent, still frowning as always. Though fallen on his face and bruised from his encounter, the second student frowned on back at him with a respectful nod. As if in response, the watching audience erupted into a bout of cheers and applause; perhaps the best engagement they had seen yet.
"It is such a shame that these are extra-curricular classes with no credit to be gained," the official spoke over, seemingly the leader and overseer of the class as he strode on over to them. "You both would be top of these classes otherwise." The man chuckled good-naturedly. He wore a simple suit just as the rest of the Byrgenwerth staff adorned.
The young Gehrman and his yet-to-be-named associate merely exchanged a similarly frowning expression, as if unsure on what else to say in response.
"Well? Go on!" The lecturer chuckled as he patted the two boys across their rough and sweaty backs. "Djura, Gehrman! Shake each other's hands."
The two boys, in response, turned to face one another in a frown before reaching for each other's hand. Their hardened, unemotional frown told no stories on their feelings except for one small gesture between them.
They nodded toward one another in silent respect.
A sign between rivals and hopeful friends.
"How about it ladies and gentlemen? A hand for the lads?" The lecturer smiled in the direction of the audience stands. In reply, the watching men, women and children let loose with another barrage of applause and cheers. "If combat is ever to be a credit gaining class within Byrgenwerth...," the teacher smiled again as he bent down to the boys' level, still smiling as he laid a hand on each of their shoulders. "Then you boys have a bright future ahead of you."