Twilight’s hand twitched as her body screamed. She could feel a cut across her chest. No, not across. Through. She slowly opened the inside of her tattered clothes, but saw no such mark. Instead, she was okay. Okay, not okay, not with how much pain she was in, but she was alive, and whole.

She slowly pushed herself up, crushing a couple of the flowers along the steps to the hunter’s workshop. She blinked, swaying on her feet as she tried to get her head to stop spinning. Things were off still. She was heavy, unbalanced, and with no way to fix it.

“Oh, you’re awake, dear huntress.”

Twilight’s eyes swiveled to the small, earthen stoop in front of the steps. The doll was still sitting there, peaceful as ever. Though, she did not have the same soft smile as always, but instead a small frown, and was beckoning her over with one hand.

The unicorn limped over, moving as quickly as she could, even though she thought at any moment she might throw up. It was a brand new agony, and one she had not been prepared for. “I think I am.”

The doll slowly nodded, her soft smile coming to her lips as she held out one hand. “Please, you’ve been through much. Hold my hand, and let me help you rest, dear huntress.”

Twilight blinked a few times more, making sure she could spot the hand. She’d been so rude to the kind thing before, and it still gave her no reason to distrust it. No, she was happy to rest her hands in the doll’s.

The doll’s small, fragile fingers gripped into Twilight’s, and then everything became bright. Twilight found herself in a space between worlds for a moment, staring at the sky. She could see her youth with Celestia, getting taught about the basics of magic, how to harness it correctly.

And then, she was back, stepping back from the doll. The doll’s smile was much wider now, and she tried to cover it with her one hand. “I hope that shall help you fight the beasts of the night, and find morning, so that you may truly rest.”

Twilight blinked, staring at the gun in her hand. It hadn’t changed, but she could feel a new power in the hand that held it. It glowed purple for a moment, and she smiled, feeling an old friend whisper hello. “Oh, I can already think of one Until next time, doll.”

The doll returned to her normal expression while Twilight passed her. She could hear her huntress leaving already, and waved her goodbye. Fortunately, she knew hunters could not turn away from the graves, and so the splintered end of her arm was something her huntress did not have to worry about.

======+++++======

Twilight took her cleaver from the giant’s neck, blood pouring down on her as the thing fell before her. She glanced at her hand, the purple glow fading slowly from it. She could feel an ache in it though, despite the small amount she’d used of it so far, and scolded herself for wasting it. Still, she wasn’t about to deny how ecstatic having her power back.

If not, she might not have been able to face the giant arch that stood before her. White, billowing smoke filled it, and she could sense the beast that awaited her within. It was a beast though, and she had managed to beat a hunter. Why should she be afraid now?

Then again, she thought as she crossed the barrier and saw the monster wailing at her, she remembered that she only ‘beat’ him.

The Cleric Beast had the first move, charging down the bridge. It’s fur flew along its body, and she could only imagine what its full weight and momentum would feel like. Her gun hand raised, pointing at its face. If she could get a clear shot at one of its eyes, she could probably deaden the charge.

Or, she thought as she looked at a carriage on the side of the bridge, she could put something in its way…

“Graaaw!”

Twilight’s eyes snapped back to the beast, and she paled as she realized that it was maybe a hundred feet away from her. In a second, those large claws would crash into her. She moved without thinking, her legs bundling beneath her before she sprang forward. Her body barely fit between the beast’s arm and leg, and she could taste the dust it threw up with its crash.

She put her strategic thoughts out of her head for now, raising her head as a small, purple aura came over her cleaver. It was a beast, and to kill a beast, one had to match it. One had to be faster, stronger, and focused, and her weapon fed those thoughts as she crouched.

The Cleric Beast raised itself high, almost as tall as the gate that the bridge led to. It would crush her, she could tell. It wouldn’t get to of course, as stepping back just once left her safe. It wasn’t though, and her cleaver flashed forward, biting deeply into the small arm. For a moment, Twilight thought she might tear it off right then, but her cleaver soon dragged its way through the beast, and she saw how far from the bone she’d even gotten.

Its next swipe wasn’t anymore successful, and she began to realize just how pitiful the beast was. It was slow, clumsy, and so long as she stayed calm, it would never hurt her. Unfortunately, as she saw on its legs when she tried to cut its achilles heels, she couldn’t do much better to it.

It turned towards her, almost stepping on her. That would just be embarrassing though, just like being hit by its ill fated grab attempt. “It’s usually not good to throw your arms back like that if you want to be subtle at all!”

The Cleric Beasts body shook at the insult, screaming in her face. Drool splattered onto her face, along with breath that forced her eyes shut. She didn’t know if she’d smelt worse than it, as it smelled like a mass grave.

And then, its large arm, covered in hair that felt like steel strands, slammed into her side. She could hear one of her arms snap at the weight of it, before she slammed into the other side of the bridge. If it weren’t for the stones her back cracked against, she would have been tossed right off.

Twilight began to stand up. She hadn’t let one of these large things fight her for long. Usually they just killed her if they got a hit in. She didn’t entirely know how she was going to beat it now though, not with her legs like jelly. Hell, she never knew what to do when she really got hurt.

Unfortunately, she found herself not sure whether or not that may matter. Instead, she was being clutched by the beast’s large hand. It’s long, thin claws crushed against her ribs, squeezing her lungs and ripping the air out of her.

When she did open her eyes, she could see into the beast’s eyes, staring at her with a red fury. Apparently, it had taken exception to her taunts. It was not something she planned to do when she fought it again.

Fortunately, she thought as she looked at her free arm, she might not need to fight this thing again. She raised her gun as the beast growled in her face, her bones cracking under the stress. She ignored it though, gritting her teeth as she squeezed on the trigger.

There was a loud crack, before an unholy scream. Twilight slammed against the ground, feeling her ribs come back together because of the things blood. It was probably a good thing too, because otherwise, she was on the brink of blacking out, and she needed to focus on other things then consciousness.

Her gun fell from her hand as she reached out to the cart she’d thought about before. It was definitely the largest thing she’d tried doing this to so far, but it was the only thing that was gonna finish him off.

Her purple aura slowly came around the carriage as the beast continued to reel in pain. It had been cut, bludgeoned, beaten, and lit on fire. It had never had its eye shot out though.

A creak brought its attention down, and, while standing at its full height, it simply stared at the floating carriage. It was kind of pretty, especially with the purple sparks that came off of it. And hey, it was even getting clo-

Crash!

Twilight collapsed onto the ground, listening to the beast’s howl as it got farther and farther away. Down and down, all the way into the abyss it deserved to be in. She could feel her bones begin to knit as she suspected it died, and something told her it wasn’t coming back, unlike all the others.

No, she had won, and her first real beast was gone. It had barely gone down, and, if she hadn’t been smart, she would have lost, easily. She would need to get a lot better before she regularly faced things like that.

She was alive though, and able to move, and so she slowly got back to her feet. Something turned her head to the closed gate at the end of the bridge, and she couldn’t help but smile at the lamp that sat there. It invited her to rest, and to heal, things she was very ready to do.

She flicked it on, feeling her wounds slowly close as the light from the lantern restored her. “Not that I need to go back the way I came from. Father Gasc-”

She stopped, staring across the bridge, before she whispered, “His daughter…”

A)Escort the girl to her father
B)Grab her father, and hope he doesn’t try to murder her again. Twilight or the daughter.

Acquired: Combat levitation, and the Sword Hunter's Badge. Only need 3 votes, instead of the normal 5, to switch to the Kirkhammer.
Owns: 10 bullets (acquired some on the way to the Cleric Beast)

Author's Note

If you want to help me out, please consider donating to me in general, or supporting me on Patreon. Anyways, hoped you liked the chapter, see you in the next one, and we're ALMOST out of Yharnam!