Fantasy The Will of the Great Ones

[Aleph Null]

Deciding that he would be the best one for the job Adrion took out a pair of gloves from his medical before he approached the raven haired woman. He slid the gloves on wordlessly and took the needle from a her shaking hand, before getting to work. He trusted in the woman to not move around careless as he began stitching up her wound.

"That's a quite the risky idea miss clara, who knows how old those bed sheets are...they could rip and tear at any moment and the person at the end of them would be in for a world of pain if they don't know how to handle taking a fall." Adrion responded having already stitched up half of the entire wound, a beat of sweat running his face as he tried his best not to cause to much pain.

"So I think the safest bet would be to make the smallest of us go as they would be the least likely to make the sheets rip or me since I've done my fair share of climbing and falling and if need be we could even try fitting a few of the mattresses through the window and I could set them up in case any of you were to fall" He offered, finally sealing the wound shut and cutting the remain bit of stitching with his blade that he always kept disinfected until use.

"So what do you all think?" He asked as he examined his handiwork before nodding somewhat approvingly to himself, it wasn't done under the best conditions but it should be more than good enough to hold.

 

[Resting Witch Face]

Silently bearing her needle and thread treatment, she waited for him to finish his work. Such things took time and precision, and any movements would shake off his aim. Still, Ada found staying completely still was hard to do. Quick twinges of pain made her metaphorically jump, sending her mind into a rolling sort of motion. As she snapped out of it, she looked down to find that her wound no longer bled as heavily. Looking up at Adrion, she gave a single nod in recognition. No stranger would have patched her up in such a situation, but these people seemed to be cut from a different cloth. She could feel a distant kindness in them, shrouded by their misdeeds and tragedies of life. They felt like a group of people that wouldn't abandon her at the latest convenience, people that would actually listen to her rather than tolerate her presence. For the first time in her waking years, she felt a sense of belonging with the misfits surrounding her.

"Thank you," she said to him after he had moved on from her procedure, packing away her things into the small rucksack at her side. Listening to the marksman, Clara, gave her mixed feelings. The quickest way out was undeniably a makeshift rappel down to the ground below, but such an undertaking would require not only precision and skill, but sheer luck. Ada felt that the gods were not looking upon them fondly at the moment, if the pile of once-ravenous creatures was anything to go by.

"Adrion is correct, this is a risk to even speak of. If something goes wrong, one of us will be stuck on the ground, presumably with dysfunctional legs. A lot can go wrong as well, but I am a firm believer in self-preservation. We'll last a hell of a lot longer on the streets than cooped up in this little house of horrors, and I'd rather like to see what's scooping my brains out of my skull before it does so." She spoke slowly, still adjusting to the whole ordeal. "And not to mention the fact that I don't particularly like the scene outside."

She had moved over to the window, looking out to see a great city skyline. Tall, peaked buildings stood high in the air, scraping across the very dregs of the sky. Low, dark alleys moved and squirmed like maggots, filled to capacity with ravenous, furry bodies. The streets were all but dead, save for the occasional troupe of what looked to be holy men wielding the weapons of the mob. Torches blazed into the night sky, while shiny steel and iron gleamed under the moonlight. And the center piece, the trifecta of dread pooling in your stomach, was a great burning crucifix standing in the midst of the town square. The holy men screamed and chanted in the square, looking up towards the rising column of smoke. Atop the wooden beams was the mangled and burnt corpse of a beast, nailed to the charring wood in the gruesome image of martyrdom.​

 

[dae mec]

She was glad that Adrion patched up the woman... whose name she didn't know. "What's your name?" she said thoughtlessly to the woman, trying to distract herself from the fear rising in her again. Whoever she was, she seemed to be the most knowledgeable about this current situation. Though the connection she had with whatever eldritch horrors permeate this city is... is disturbing, to say the least.

"I'll do it." Her voice was small and high and it surprised even her. "I'll do it," she said again, louder but not stronger. "I'll climb down. I've... I've done things like this before. Th-There's knots we can use, or we can sew them together, or..." Clara hunched over. "I'm the smallest, anyway. It'd be best if I did it."

She started by gathering blankets, even discarded jackets, and efficiently tying them together. She tested each sheet by pulling, tossing the ones with structure-compromising tears to the side. Then, Clara tied them together with hitch-knots and other loops that would keep their tension rather than lose it when a weight is added. The repetitive action is comforting, and it steadies her nerves. She knows how to do this. This is familiar. She can almost pretend she's back in a proper city instead of whatever this horror is.

Before she finishes the rope, though, she checks the window again. Oh... oh, dear, the scene outside isn't very conforting, either. But Clara feels around the edge, takes out her lock picks to pop it open, and gets back to the rope. "Should we try to do something with the mattresses?" she asks.

 

[CystalChompound]

Murmurs and whispers heralded Kian's welcome into the group as he neared the pair. Listening in, he was slightly impressed by the duo's easy, albeit risky, escape plan. He'd thought that braving the hallways was the only option here but apparently, he stood corrected.

He nodded in silent approval of the plan before he scattered away towards the room they'd been in before to tend to his own duties. Upon arrival, he immediately scrunched up his nose against the sudden smell. How had he not noticed it before?

It took everything in him not to stop and gag as he took the sheets from the beds. He breathed in a large gulp of air, although the scent the air was permeated of was no better. His eyes surveyed the room for Clara but instead found the man from a while ago tending to Raven's wounds. Her face was an equal mixture of pain and resolve.

He felt an instinct to help her but then stopped himself from entertaining that thought any further. He shoved it down, far down that he may not see again. At least for a while.

Moving forward, Kian once again searched the hallways before finding Clara looking more troubled than he'd ever seen her. She started to tie this sheet before transfixing it to the other end of a sheet, creating it into a ghost of what he thought was a rope. As he watched her try and fail again to tie the knots together, her confusion started to infect him as well. He shook his head once before dropping the sheets beside her.

What was clear at least was what she was trying to do: a bend sheet knot, a tie good for this exact situation and known to be quite perplexing and confusing to amateurs. Once you get used to it though, its complexity starts to unravel.

Sighing, he gently pried the sheets from her and quietly untied the knots as he said, "Here, let me try."

 

[Aleph Null]

"I wonder if I'll find anything worth experimenting down on the streets below... though I should probably focus more on just getting out of this whole ordeal alive" Adrion muttered to himself as he walked across the room to sit near the side of a window. From what he could tell, they were in for a long and very dangerous night in which luck may have huge part to play in by his guess. Leaning his head back against the wall he closed his eyes and began to formulate a plan for what they would do after they all safely made it to the ground.

I suppose the best course of action would be to find some kind of stronghold or safe haven, preferably with barricades or some other type of defense immediately upon reaching the ground, as trying to make an immediate attempt at escaping could end in more bad ways than good ones. He concluded with a sigh. He had begun to realize just how quickly things could go downhill for him as he really counted himself as a very lucky person.

He reached into his medical bag and pulled out a small bottle filled with a dark green sludge, popped the lid and then dogged about a quart of the liquid before gagging and returning it to his bag. It was one of the many little concoctions he'd developed during his travels, this one in particular gave a small energy boost and even had few healing properties. He would have offered it to the raven-haired woman but the only thing that would have resulted in would be her throwing up whatever food she could have had left in her stomach along with the liquid itself. It' had taken him weeks to finally adapt somewhat to the liquid and keep it all down... it also didn't help that it tasted like absolute garbage.

 

[Resting Witch Face]

So they were effectively stuck. With her wounds semi-healed, Ada began looking around the room for any other options they had. If going through the window didn't work, or if one of them got stuck with no way back up, she would like to know how to reach them. Pacing around the edges of the room revealed nothing, and the darkness didn't help her. Looking around, she noticed ample material to help her combat the blackness surrounding her, and began stripping cloth and wood from around her and wrapping said cloth in thick layers around the wooden stick. Retrieving her bottle with her good hand, she drenched the cloth in alcohol. It wouldn't burn for very long, maybe five or six minutes, but it would surely light up the dark streets much better.

"It's Ada. Ada Fernwell, if that matters anymore. I must say, the rope might just be a good way out," she elaborated, walking over to the opened windowsill. "But we should know our options just in case anything goes wrong. I would have recommended splitting up, if the threat of beasts wasn't so high. We could cover more ground, maybe scout ahead a little, but they'll be lurking everywhere."

As she looked out over the gloomy, desolate streets, she sighed. This had been the exact outcome she wanted to prevent, but the gods had lulled her into sleep and enacted such a terrible curse upon them. She couldn't bring herself to question it, though it truly confounded her. Why had they ordered her so strangely? Whatever their motivations, it didn't change their current situation. Ada and her newfound allies were hard-pressed for time and beasts would surely take advantage of their inactive planning.
Now was the time for action.

"Gunslinger, your bravery in the face of such a horrible night speaks volumes to me. I don't know why, I can't possibly fathom how this all came to be, but I... I can't let you go first." She said with a solemn tone before forcefully taking the rope from Kian and looping it around her waist. She would not listen to protest, Ada would be the first one down. Leaning over, she tied the semi-sturdy hand-tied rope to a bed wedged between an multitude of furniture and corpses, surely it would not come undone. Now came the hard part.

Ada took a breath and leapt out of the window, using her momentum to swing her legs into the side of the building in a rappelling fashion. Despite being out of practice, and being half dead for a few years, she quickly made it down without much complaint from either her body or the rope. Kian and Clara had certainly made it sturdy enough, though it's glaring issue seemed to be the fact that it would only sustain a single person. Reaching the ground rather swiftly, she gave the rope a quick succession of tugging, to notify those above that she was clear of the rope and another could come down.​

 

[dae mec]

Clara's hands weren't working. No matter how she did the knot, how calming it was, it just wouldn't work. Before she could let the rising panic overwhelm her, Kian took it and did it properly. "Thank you," she said, shoulders hunched, as he fixed her knots. Useless, useless! Maybe the only thing she was good for was shooting things, picking locks, and hiding in corners.

Then again, said a cruel voice that sounded like his (but deeper, darker, with an edge of malice she couldn't pinpoint), shooting 'things' will be quite useful when we're surrounded by monsters. Do continue your sacrifices.

She shook her head, banishing the strange thoughts. Clara watched as Adrion first downed some odd concoction (she hoped it wasn't the other kind of drugs; it'd be a pain dragging an addict around in a ruined city) and Ada then climbed down. She shuddered. "I can go second," she said. Clara crept over to the rope, waited for the signal, and then swung a leg over the windowsill. "Unless anyone else wants to?"

She stared down at the decay below her. Somehow, she doubted it would be much better than here... but the unknown could, at times, be preferable. Clara started climbing down, though she lost her grip about halfway down and took a nasty tumble. Though her arm ached, she was mostly fine. She had definitely felt worse.

 

[CystalChompound]

As soon as the man finished tying up loose ends with Raven's stitches, she seemed ready to shed herself of her weakened form. Not a moment later did she take off and look around.

Meanwhile though, Clara seemed ready to burst as she watched him from the sidelines. Without meaning to, Kian hummed a soft but cheery tune he'd heard from his mother as his hands got to work. He kept humming quietly at first, but quickly it became as loud as can be, and with the wind howling outside, he could almost imagine that the ghost of the monstrosities they had felled were singing with him.

Before long, he'd finished his rope and laid down, breathing out a sigh. Looking up, however, he saw Raven, no wait Ada, approaching them, or rather Clara, and taking the rope. Her eyes were filled with determination as she volunteered herself in place of Clara, and without a second to spare, she leapt out the window, rope in hand.

He sat up quickly to watch, only to see her land perfectly. She looked up and tugging the rope, Clara seemed to get the message and clambered down, albeit reluctantly.

Kian looked down, sighed, and followed suit, clinging to the rope for dear life as the heights seemed to loom impossibly more farther before him than it looked before.

He climbed down a little more before he looked down and as he let go, he gave a little yelp.

 

[Aleph Null]

From where he sat, Adrion needed not to see Clara's descent to be aware of the fact she had ended up falling, the small albeit audible thud she made upon contact with the ground was evident enough. Adrion chuckled a bit upon remembering Ada saying about Clara being fancied by the Gods and waited patiently as Kian went down the rope.

He had no doubt in his mind that she had survived such fall, but still he had to admit that was somewhat ironic. Adrion rose to his feet and cracked his knuckles as he prepared to make the descent, grabbed onto the rope leaped out of the window, his boots digging into the side of the building as he slowly made his way down.

Once he deemed himself low enough, Adrion released his grip on the rope, braced himself for the impact, and jumped down. He was also curious to find what kind of condition Clara was now in from sustaining such a fall.

 

[Resting Witch Face]

Ada found herself checking corners and her surroundings long before anyone made it down the rope. It wasn't very long before she could hear her company coming down behind her, making short work of the three-story fall with the makeshift rappel. They seemed to have made it down to street level, and the atmosphere seemed to thicken the farther they descended. Looking around, the alley they found themselves in was no more inviting than the rest of the scene visible from the window. Fog, or maybe smoke, clouded the air around them, masking sight. It hung like smog, hiding not only the party but whatever lurked beyond.

The sounds of beastly creatures permeated through the dense cloud, and though they sounded close, they seemed to be unaware of the group's presence. Squelching and snapping could be heard from all directions, the music of a vile feast. As the impromptu buffet continued on around them, a single toll could be caught drifting through the wind. The clock tower, on the far end of the town, seemed to be functional still. As a matter of fact, the whole area surrounding the tower seemed to be brimming with activity. Torches were seen in the distance, moving along to the bobs and sways of a human walk.

As Adrion's feet connected with the ground, the world around them seemed to slow down. The ravenous howling and frenzied bloodshed seemed to let up as the hunters were now in the thick of it. The silence was even more disturbing now that they had made their way to the streets.

"Yharnam, you wretched hive of madmen and fools. Just what unholy curse have you brought upon us all this time?" Ada grumbled under her breath, striking up the alcohol-soaked torch in her hand. Suddenly, the smog cleared somewhat, and the dark alley became a smidgen more comfortable. That is to say, barely tolerable. As the light of the flaming stick reached higher and higher, their gruesome nightmare unfurled before their very eyes. A single beast, unkempt and slathered in drying blood, slowly crept towards them. It's eyes were mindless and bloodshot, it's pupils collapsed. Nothing existed in the simple creature's mind beyond itself, or more specifically, it's stomach. As such, it did not wait around to formulate a course of action. It simply rose its ragged maw and cried out into the blackened sky.

And all around them, from just about every direction, its kin called back.​

 

[dae mec]

Slowly, she stood up, brushing the dirt off her skirts. Clara rubbed her arm. It ached, and though it would probably heal on its own, she knew that Adrion was a healer of some sort. It would be prudent to take advantage of his abilities. Kian let out a little yelp, and Clara tensed, worried that he'd gotten hurt, but he seemed fine. Adrion was next, and she waited for him to finish his climb.

Clara glanced around, taking in the sights of this ruined city. What immediately caught her attention was the clocktower and its torches. Her heart jumped. People? Other people? Could there be survivors of this nightmare? The beasts and foul monsters she'd seen didn't seem intelligent enough to wield flame.

Speaking of the gods and devil—just after the thought crossed her mind, a beast appeared and howled. Her stomach lurched, disgust and horror warring for supremacy. Had the fallen into the fire after escaping that building? But the emotions didn't cause Clara hesitate; they spurred her into action this time as well. She brought her pistol up and fired.

She didn't wait to see how effective her shot had been. "We should run!" Clara said, eyes darting between the three others. "M-Maybe it called its kin. The clock tower! Are there people there?" Her words grew faster and faster as she continued speaking.

 

[CystalChompound]

"What'd I do to deserve this?" Kian grunted as he picked himself up from his not-so-graceful fall. He dusted his coat of any dirt before hearing a crunch behind him. Looking back, he spotted the man from before dropping down from their makeshift rope to join their motley group, once again facing danger as an angry mob paraded up and down the streets around what he could assume was a crucifix, beasts howling in the distance.

Attached to the it was one of the monsters they'd fought before, although this time it was bound restricted to the cross it was on as men of considerable girth shouted and jeered at the beast with hateful words. He held no sympathy for it, in fact, he would've joined them himself had the circumstances been normal.

He was just about to approach one of the men in the crowd, when Ada reached for her torch, and struck the flame. Perhaps that's when hell broke loose.

In the darkness now lit, a creature approached them ever so slowly, until the light appeared, to which it cringed against. He could the barest of descriptions of it before it struck. Its features were similar to the beast before, but somehow...different.

He readied his sword on instinct but the creature didn't lunge. It simply opened it's maw and let out a guttural cry he'd never heard before, perhaps calling it's kin. Gritting his teeth, he was just about to launch the spell from earlier when suddenly, the air cracked.

The creature's head arced backwards as blood splurted into the ground. It twitched once, twice, before stopping all at once. He looked to where the source had come from and saw Clara holding the gun from earlier, smoke pouring out of the rifle.

Shakily, he retracted his hand from his pack. Gods, he didn't think he could ever get used to this, he thought to himself as he approached the creature's corpse and began sifting through its remains.

 

[Aleph Null]

Blast it! Adrion thought as unsheathed his blade and got into his fighting stance it hasn't even been a minute since my feet have touched the ground. He prepared himself to leap at the beast when suddenly it released a piercing cry that was reciprocated by who knows how many other beasts. He feared for the worst and assumed that it was signalling the other beasts of their presence and moved to end the creature when a gunshot rang out and the beast fell to the ground.

"How did you manage to make that clear of a shot after sustaining such a fall?" he asked turning to face Clara. He could have sworn that the fall she'd taken wasn't one that could have been simply walked off by someone of her stature and build but upon seeing her it seemed that she was barely even hurt from it. "Nevermind that, just where exactly should we go? are any of you familiar with the area?" he said prioritizing safety over his own curiosity as he got ready to move.

He briefly glanced over to Kian to see him tampering with the remains of the creatures and figured that it was probably for one of his spells like he did before. In all the years he had been alive Adrion still couldn't wrap his mind around the concept of arcane spells and found it all the more intriguing because of it, but now wasn't the time for that, they needed to find somewhere safe immediately.

 

[Resting Witch Face]

Ada didn't wait around for any answers to the many questions she had floating around in her head, for now all she could muster was a light run through the alleyway, away from the now-deceased beast and it's coming reinforcements. She kept her pace down from a dead sprint as she didn't want to lose the others in her haste, and instead opted for a more strategic play. She quickly ripped off the musty coat hung over her shoulders and threw it atop the spiked fence to their immediate right, creating a less puncturing surface for climbing. Hoping to lead by example, Ada scurried up the metal bars and perched her palms against the flats of the fence, dragging her body up and over the wrought iron points. Before she landed on the other side, she took a couple of steps to the left, precariously teetering on the sharp metal bars.

"This way, don't bother fighting against them! There's too many to manage!" Ada cried out to the others, doing her best to get their attention.

As if on cue, the rumbling of a horde became clear. Not thirty feet down the alley was a ravenous pack of half-wolf beasts, slobbering and panting in pursuit of their next meal. They seemed to be more focused than the curious beasts of the clinic, more inclined to hunger than madness. They shredded their claws against the stone alley just to get closer, like a tidal wave of bloodlust, fur and teeth. Unrelenting as they were, the remaining party would surely be ripped apart if they remained in arms reach.

Winding her arm backwards, Ada aimed to gain the three a couple crucial seconds or so. She could only hope they got over the fence in time. As the wall of beasts closed in, she threw the flaming stick with all she could muster, aiming to cull their ranks and maybe slow them down. Unfortunately, the torch had other ideas and puttered out in the rushing wind, denting a beast's forehead but not doing any serious damage to the pack.​

 

[dae mec]

Clara stuttered for a second as she tried to answer Adrion's sudden question. "I-I—it wasn't so bad," she said weakly. "It didn't hurt." Clara looked away as Kian started rummaging through the corpse. She looked away... to see the beast's reinforcements and Ada's sprint away from them. "R-Run!" she screamed, echoing Ada. Clara immediately followed her, panic choking her breath as she ran.

She didn't want to pray, but she pleaded to... something, anything, whatever was there, don't let her die like this. She didn't live through hell to be torn apart by beasts in this demon-infested place. (Clara didn't think anyone would listen. Nothing ever did.)

For a moment, panic overcame her senses as she stared at the spiked fence, but Ada's clever mind came up with a solution before it could overcome her completely. Clara scrambled over the fence, using the cloth to avoid being punctured, and tried not to die.

 

[CystalChompound]

He wiped his bloodied hands on his pants and let out a sigh of relief after rummaging through the beast's remains. Too soon, he thought to himself a little while later as a screech penetrated the midnight air, followed by a lot of clawing and more cries.

He looked around and saw a horde approach them from the dark. They didn't seem to hesitate in the face of light, not when such delicious prey was right in front of them. He sought the others and found them now leaping over a nearby fence, still waiting for him as Ada with her torch stood her ground against the beasts.

Without a moment's hesitation, he gripped the cloth that waw set around the gate's spiky fences carefully before jumping over and being plunged into darkness once more.

 

[Aleph Null]

Adrion wasted no time in making a dash for the metal gate- he couldn't possibly allow for his life to end in such a demeaning way, being ravaged by beasts in the streets of such a God-forsaken city. He picked up speed as he ran and leaped onto the gate, following Ada's lead and vaulting over the fence.

"Okay, so what now?" He asked as soon as his feet hit the ground, knowing full and well that staying out on the streets for too long would inevitably lead to their deaths and that they needed to find somewhere that could provide them with shelter from all the creatures roaming about.

They needed to find somewhere with good structural integrity, that could be boarded or locked up to prevent any beast from breaking through, and that was big enough in the case that if it was broken through they wouldn't be blocked off from escaping.

 

[Resting Witch Face]

As the last of the group made it safely over the fence, a cacophony of disgruntled howling erupted from the pack of ravenous beasts behind them. It sounded less like the baying of wild dogs and more like a human's pained wails. The sharp claws scraped and slashed at the fence, but it seemed to hold them at bay for the moment. Ada took a deep breath and leaned on a far wall, away from the iron bars separating them from the feeding frenzy not ten feet away. What were they to do? Every corner and alleyway was a death sentence waiting to happen, all they had to do was slip up even slightly and they were the next course for these monsters. There should be some sort of haven around here, she thought to herself, we can't possibly be the only ones left in this nightmare.

Without a word of warning, Ada set off once more. To stop moving was to invite the danger to your doorstep, and she wasn't exactly keen on having guests. Cautiously, she poked her head around the corner to the right of the group, looking for a passage. Suddenly she snapped her head back behind the wall, and gave the others a worried look.

"Beasts ahead, not sure how they didn't hear the calls but they're in our way. The way I see it, we have two options for going about this." Ada whispered, hoping her words would not reach the beasts ahead. Oddly, these creatures opted to stand atop two legs rather than four, despite their beastly appearance and ragged remains of clothing. If one cared to peer hard enough into their ranks, they'd discover that the monsters still carried burnt-out torches and rusty metal tools, as if still hunting the beasts they had turned into. If one dared to listen closely, they could still hear their desperate prayers.

"A curse... damned curse... this town's finished..."
"Beasts, oh foul beasts, you plague-ridden rats! No, I'm not one of you..."
"It's all your fault... you're better off dead!"

Her heart sank, hearing the poor villagers desperately clutching to the last of their diluted humanity gave her flashbacks to Old Yharnam. As Ada looked back to confirm her grave suspicions with the group, another voice chimed in to the maddening chants, much closer than before. Ada felt a shiver make it's way up her spine.

"You're not from around 'ere, are you stranger?"​

 

[dae mec]

Breathing hard, Clara let panic carry herself forward. Somehow, she managed to clamber over the fence and stay close behind Ada as she weaved between paths--and away from the beasts that hunted them again. Clara clenched her gun tighter when Ada mentioned that beasts were ahead as well as behind them. She stared at the approaching monsters, estimating the angle she'd need to fire her gun to take out the closest one. Her fingers were almost white with pressure when she noticed the weapons they carried. Were the creatures intelligent? Did they have some semblance of humanity left in them, the ability to strategize and hunt them down?

The interrupting voice made Clara jump, but she didn't fire her gun unnecessarily. Should she have? She turned to see who was there, lifting her gun and lowering it just as fast.

"N-No," she answered, staring at the person with a glimmer of hope. Allies? At this point, Clara would settle for human. "We're not from here. Are you? A-Are you..." She didn't say the word, but her eyes were wide. "Can you help?" she said instead, going out on a limb. Which she might not have, if those monsters came any closer.

 

[CystalChompound]

The ground lamented against his crash with a soft thud, all going unheard of under the ginormous cacophany of rattling and groans. Kian didn't need to look back to see the horde of beasts pound away at the gates that were locking them away from their prey.

He shuddered inwardly before breathing in and calming down, but he couldn't. Walking to a nearby bush, he took a breather before taking out the vial from before. He didn't think twice this time as he downed the rest of the potion.

Instantly, sweet relief poured into him in rushing waves. His fear was once pushed aside by determination. He was unsure before of what would happen to him and whether he would make it out alive. This time, he was sure they would, no will, get out of here. He just knew it.

Suddenly, though, a voice pierced through his strengthened bravado, startling him. His hand went to his sword before he knew it but he managed to stay his hand. The voice didn't carry the same amount of desperation he'd seen on the townees earlier. Rather, it held a guarded curiosity.

He looked up and only saw the darkness and darkness alone. He waited for it to speak.

 

[Aleph Null]

"And just who may you be?" Adrion questioned with a slight edge in his voice. He wasn't willing to take chances with letting his guard down against anyone be they beast or a human, especially one who sounded so casual despite being in such a monster-infested city. He placed a hand on the hilt of his blade as he stared straight into the pitch-black abyss that the voice came from, ready for whatever that may leap out at him.

He nearly rolled his eyes at how quickly Clara called out to someone for help, they couldn't even see this person after all and going off by what he's seen so far there are some creatures that are straight-up feral and out more as much blood as they can get such as the ones they met within the abandoned clinic and, then there are others who seem to be slightly more intelligent and even have the ability of speech like the ones they just encountered before this stranger made their presence known.

While whoever this supposedly may be is shown to be far more capable of speaking than those rambling lunatics who's to say that they are just aren't a more intelligent monster and even if they were a human that doesn't guarantee that their intentions are good ones.

 

[Resting Witch Face]

The dull impacts of worn leather boots reverberated off against the hard stone walls and thin greenery as the one talking came closer and closer towards the group. He was certainly being cautious, (who could blame him?), but the tone of his voice sounded off. Hidden away in a calm demeanor and careful approach were the slightest hints of melancholy and despair, just enough to quell suspicion against this unknown factor. For now, at least. As Clara's words made their way to him, a hoarse cackle forced it's way through his chest.

"Help? Oh you poor lot. You're in Yharnam, home of beasts and madmen, there is no help anymore." He said with a deadpan voice, as if he were staring down one of the aforementioned beasts or madmen, a far cry from his insidious chuckling. As he made his way closer towards them, more features could be seen clearly upon him. His arms were bandaged and dripping a dark red fluid, his eyes were hidden beneath the brim of his wide hat. Almost as if he could see their reactions, he stepped back a couple feet and tipped his hat.
"I know I'm not much of a sight, but if you're thinking I'm one of those horrible monsters, you're sorely mistaken! The name's Gilligan, Thomas Gilligan."

Immediately, Ada's suspicions got the better of her and she drew her weapon, trying her hardest to look intimidating. Thomas seemed to recoil backwards some more steps, avoiding coming into arms reach with her. A few more steps and suddenly he drew a pistol from his belt and aimed it directly at her.
"You come any closer and there'll be trouble, miss."
"Oh I believe there's already enough trouble going on here, you... thing."
"Are your ears alright, love? It sounds like you're thinking I'm one of those hairy abominations out there."
"You aren't fooling anyone, now scamper off to whatever damp hole you crawled out of."
"How DARE you! I've been cutting up beasts all night and you think I'M one of them!? Shame on you!"
"Shut your mouth, beast! Either turn around and walk away, or I will make you!"
"You don't scare me, wench! And I told you, I am NOT. A. BEAST! beast... beast..."
The final, loudly exclaimed word rang loudly throughout the confined space of the alley, sending it bouncing around Yharnam's walls. As the stranger froze up at the realization of what he had just done, he suddenly began leaving in a rush. No words came from him as he darted around a corner, and his quick retreat began making sense as a lone call answered his echoing voice. This was no beckoning call of some hungry beast.

It sounded bigger, much bigger. And hungrier.​

 

[dae mec]

Clara shuddered and stepped back when she saw the blood dripping from the creatures arms. A person? Injured, maybe? She hunched over and cringed when it immediately became clear that no, whatever it... he was, he wasn't human. Or at least, he wasn't human anymore. Clara was paralyzed by her disgust and horror. Would they turn into that if they spent too long is this forsaken city?

She didn't say anything, caught in her anxious mind, but she flinched out of her thoughts when the words turned to violence. Clara stepped away, hand back to her gun. Then he shouted beast, and the word echoed in her skull.

And it was answered by a bone-breaking shriek. The sound chilled her like nothing in this city-sized hell had before.

"No," she moaned. "No more!" She had been chased all her life, but not like this. Her nerves were tearing, but she couldn't afford it. Not now. Clara took in a deep breath. "We have to run. Should w-we follow him? He might go to a safe place?" She hesitated and added, "Or a trap." She turned her anxious gaze to them, prepared to start running in whatever direction they did.

 

[CystalChompound]

The darkness remained impenetrable as it was, even with Ada's torch. Kian took out a small lantern containing a small wisp, slumbering in one corner as it's light continued to dim. Giving it a little shake, the spirit started, then looked around fearfully for any threats, it's flame continuing to burn. It then spotted eyes almost as intimidating as water itself and burned the brightest it could be. Satisfied, he looked up at the being speaking to them.

The being looked to be a man in his forties, at least to him. He had a strange way about him, although Kian couldn't pinpoint what. After Ada provoked him, something seemed to trigger inside him as he shouted at her. He seemed to regret that instantly as his bellow called forth the cries of many beasts. Nervous, he scurried away as the calls echoed nearer and nearer.

He unsheathed his blade once again for another fight as the people around him panicked with trepiditation. This was going to be a long, long night.

 

[Aleph Null]

"Blast it all!" Adrion cursed beneath his breath as he prepared himself for the possibility of engaging in yet another battle against the beasts of yharnam. It wasn't that he was tired- far from it actually but at this point, he was starting to get annoyed by the share amount of encounters the group has had with these monsters in such a short period of time. Clara spoke up, suggesting that they could possibly follow behind the man but also brought to light the chance of them falling into a trap.

"Ada, Kian, so what will it be? Do we stay and fight the horde or follow after that Thomas fellow?" He asked the two while poised and ready for whatever action they would take. While he was irritated and would much rather avoid confrontation altogether, his choice wouldn't be the only one that mattered and the last thing he wanted was to be part of a dysfunctional group, the better and faster they are at making wise decisions the greater the chance of survival for them all.

He placed his sword back in its sheath and took out his whip, preferring to keep his distance this time around if there were really going to stay here and fight.