Eileen stepped into Oeden Tomb. She’d heard… sounds before. Cries of beasts, the ripping of flesh, all done with more noise than any hunter was taught to do. At least, not the ones she went after, for the noise could attract more, and the more there were, the less likely you were to survive. Only she had mastered the art of fighting multiple threats, but she blamed that more on her weapons.

A glance over the tombstones brought her eyes to an all too familiar yellow. Her head twisted around, checking for another, but none came to her practiced eyes. No, he was alone… “Oh, Henryk, please don’t tell me you did this?”

The yellow figure lifted its head. It was on the roof of a small cabin within the tomb where a caretaker used to live. It would be deserted now, but she could see the body that he’d been standing over. It was a woman’s body, and Eileen felt her stomach churn at the thought of who it could be.

The man fell from the roof, landing rough on his feet and stumbling. He clawed at his head as he regained his balance, and Eileen could feel tears prick the edges of her eyes. No, she had to be tough. If she wasn’t, he would become worse than a turned hunter, and she would not allow that to happen. “Hello, Henryk.”

The man scowled, raising up his Saw Cleaver to his side. “Violet… You… Eileen, too far!”

With a howl, Henryk charged forward, leaping with his cleaver into the air. By the time he landed though, Eileen was long gone from the spot, and it found only gravestones.

Eileen scowled, the stench from him surprisingly small. Maybe...

Eileen paused for a moment as she realized the truth and yelled, “I didn’t do this! Gascoigne was gone before I could even find him!”

Henryk didn’t listen, just like all of the rest. Instead, he just screamed his insanity. Soon, he wouldn’t even be able to do that much. “They didn’t deserve! He good man!”

What Twilight hadn’t seen was him whip around, slicing through the side of Eileen’s cloak and painting the tombstones with her blood, before she whipped around his side, her daggers raking him back, but to much less of an effect. Was she really this weak? “Just like you are, while you try to mindlessly rip me apart. You can barely speak you’re so close to transforming. Besides, do you really think it wasn’t his hand that killed her?”

This time she stepped out of the way of his swing, his witty retort only making her scowl. “Shut up, Birdy!”

He couldn’t even recognize her. Somehow that hurt more than any wound she’d taken.

She looked back up, that cleaver coming around again. Why was she so distracted? Why was she so slow? Why couldn’t she just do her job?

The sound of metal against stone brought her out of her thoughts, as well as words being screamed into the air.

“Henryk, stop! Gascoigne is alive!”

Eileen looked up, staring at a familiar figure. It was the beast hunter, the one with purple hair. She had a name… Twilight, that was it. No, she couldn’t be here. Not again! The poor girl didn’t deserve to have to get tied up in her mess. “Don’t try it. He’s too far gone, especially for lies.”

Twilight glanced up, feeling the slab of stone on her back take another hit, and this time she didn’t have the help of focus to keep her from stepping forward, slamming into the crow hunter as she stabbed the ground with the blade in her hand, barely stopping herself.

She glanced back, seeing Henryk standing there, silent for a moment. Yes, her words were working. At least, until the crow hunter whipped around her. “Leave the hunting of hunters to me, young one.”

Twilight scowled, picking her blade out of the soft ground and bringing it around in a long arc, catching Eileen’s blade with hers, and stopping both from heading towards Henryk. She was just happy she’d picked up the new weapon, as it was definitely going to help for this. “I’m not lying! He’s just a bit ahead, and I won’t let you kill his brother.”

Henryk looked up, staying his hand again as he lifted his cleaver. Brother? He had no brother. Gascoigne had been close to one, but he was dead now! He shot forward, wanting the pest gone, and ignoring the blade that cut across his side, his cleaver now slamming into the purple thing, its serrated teeth embedding themselves into the girl’s clothes before he launched her away by swinging up.

Eileen launched herself forward, cutting in an X with her twin daggers, slicing open his back, before dodging back just as he tried to cut her. He was slowing down.

And then, a small rock slammed into the back of Henryk’s skull. A pebble. A fucking pebble, the most useless of the tools in a hunter’s belt. Yes, the pest would-

He looked up, seeing three tombstones over him. The first landed flat on his chest, shoving him to the ground, before the next two did the same, knocking the wind out of him as the pest yelled, “Do you not care about your niece?”

Niece? Brother? He had no family. He’d never been as lucky as Gascoigne in that way. He’d been lucky that Voilet even let him near…

Carol.

Eileen stepped forward, raising her daggers, and getting ready to finish off Henryk. It was for his own good-

Bang!

Henryk looked up, his vision clearing. Eileen… Eileen was just shot, after she was going to kill him. But she only did that to… “Ei-Eileen, please, don’t. I’m…” It was so hard to breathe, with so much weight on his chest. If he could get it off.

“Henryk, is that actually you?”

The purple hunter’s voice. The one that said Gascoigne was alive. That he was… He looked up, spotting a limp arm hanging off the roof.

His friend needed him. In a tremendous show of force, he shoved the three tombstones off of him, before raising his cleaver, blocking Eileen’s jumping stab, before swiping her away, and then…

And then throwing his weapon away from himself. “Eileen, stop!”

Eileen looked up, staring at Henryk, and in his eyes… clarity.

Twilight watched as they both looked to her, her chest in pain from the slash from Henryk. She’d been right that any hit from him was going to be devastating, but she hadn’t expected to be hit herself. Not that it mattered now. They both had stopped fighting, which was all she wanted.

Twilight slowly stepped forward, and the crow hunter grabbed Henryk’s arm as his whole body had tensed up. “She’s not a beast, I promise. In fact,” she looked to Twilight, “it appears that you’ve saved me twice now.”

Twilight smiled as Henryk looked from the other hunter and then to her, and nodded. She… she had allies, or at least, she hoped that much. Now, she just needed to inform them on the situation. “Gascoigne is ahead in Oeden Chapel. A kind man has made an incense that pushes away the beasts, so he’s safe there and sleeping, though I don’t know how he’ll be when he wakes up.”

Henryk crossed his arms, scowling as he shook his head. “A temporary measure. Nothing stops the beasts forever except the end of the hunt. Trust me.”

The crow hunter nodded in agreement. “Still, if it gives him time to heal, it would be best to use something that’s proven for the moment, even if one of us has to stay to protect him.”

Twilight bit into her cheek. The crow was right, but that caused a problem in her own plans. “Well, why don’t one of you stay with him then, and the other comes with me? I’m on my way to get his daughter so she can be with her father instead of... “ Twilight glanced up, and both other hunters cringed.

Henryk looked to his friend, before stepping towards Twilight. “Eileen, you stay with him. Defending a single spot will be easier-”

“Says the man who almost lost his mind. Why should I trust you with a child, especially when travelling through the hunt is my specialty.”

“And actually killing things is mine!”

Twilight swallowed hard. It was somewhat obvious that neither would back off from their stance of being better, so she would need to break up their argument. Only question was who she trusted more with what job.

1) Bring Henryk. He’s the girl’s uncle, and his strength will help, even if he could go crazy.
2) Bring Eileen. Her speed and knowledge could get them back faster, but if they got into a prolonged fight, it could mean trouble.

Author's Note

I'm beginning to think that I should just stop asking if Twilight should help her fellow hunters, as I don't think I've had any vote against helping them.

Also, I'm changing two things I've stated in the past. First, she will use whatever weapon i think makes the most sense given a situation, while also trying to showcase all of them. Secondly, it is not Henryk's blood drunk eyes that shall lead her places I had once said she would never go, for those who were sad to see that.

Oh, and of course, 19 bullets for Twilight now after shooting Eileen.