Chapter Text
In the streets of Central Old Yharnam, resides a hunter. He’s not the first hunter to pass by Yharnam during the hunt… nor is he the last. Many have come before him, and those many have perished or turned into one of those wretched beasts they sought to kill. Our hunter got into a particularly nasty scuffle; one that left him in a deathly situation. His consciousness was fading fast and his blood vial supply ran dry. He could only heave a sigh and close his eyes as the beastly man in front of him came near. The sound of the fire crackling on the beast’s torch was oddly comforting to the hunter. It was a grim reminder of where he'll go when he dies, but at the same time, it was nice knowing that a blasphemous being such as himself won't go unpunished. The hunter takes one last breath, and then faints.
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“Ngh…”
The hunter opens his eyes and looks around. He blinks a few times to adjust to the calm light then looks around. He was in a rundown wooden shack. It looked like a workshop of some kind. Books and candles littered the place. Everything was unorganized and strewn around. It was messy, but looked well lived in. Finally, the ache in his muscles makes itself known. The hunter looks at where he's at and notices he is propped up against some books. It was not the most comfortable place to wake up, but that wasn't his biggest concern. His main concern was where exactly was he. Was he dead? He had to be. There was no way he wasn't. The hunter looks at his left arm and disappointment fills him. His beastly arm was still there.
“Good morning, Good Hunter.”
The feminine voice startles the hunter. He looks up and sees a beautiful woman in housewifely attire. Her face was covered by a butterfly-looking mask, her skin was as pale as bone, and she carried herself in a gentle manner.
“U-u-uhm hello.”
The woman gets closer to him. “What wouldst thou name be?”
“Allen. What's yours?” The hunter was confused. Was she a trapped soul there to guide him to the afterlife?
“Maria.”
“Is he awake?” a new voice questions. This one sounded masculine.
“Yes, he is.” the Maria replies.
After a few silent moments, a guy in a wheelchair enters the building. He had chaotic long red hair, a fancy hat, a mask that only covered half of his face and a priest-like hunter attire. Was he the devil? He heard through stories that the devil was red.
“Good evening, hunter. I'm Marian, the keeper of the dream.” the man greets.
That statement confused the young hunter. “Good evening… Where am I?” Allen asks
The man sighs. “You're in the hunter's dream. It's a secret area where hunters come to craft, heal, study, or train. One of our longest-lasting hunters, Kanda, brought you here. You almost died.”
Allen was shocked by this information. He had been a hunter for a few months now and yet he's never heard of this place before. Even when he was with his mentor, Mana, he had never mentioned this place or anything similar. He hasn't seen another hunter since Mana either. This could be an opportunity to meet other people and make new companions. Allen has been by himself for a good few years now. The only time he communicated with people was when they'd tell him to go away or ask him a favor when he came knocking on their doors.
“I'll have to thank him then. Are there any hunters here right now?”
“No, they're all out hunting right now. Some should return soon though. For now, let our messengers tour you around or whatever.”
“Thanks. I will. Where are they?” Allen asks.
“Right there,” Marian says while pointing to an empty spot on the ground. A few seconds later, odd butterfly-looking phantoms burst out of the ground like flowers. They had a man's face on them. They had glasses on them which he found rather odd. Maybe they too were a byproduct of the Healing Church?
Allen instinctively backed away. “Whoa!”
Marian laughs at the startled hunter. “They may look monstrous, but I assure you, they're here to guide hunters and send messages. You'll only find them near lanterns though.”
Allen nods and stands up. He dusts himself off and checks himself out. He is wrapped in bandages, his shirt is missing, his pants are missing, and the underwear he's currently wearing certainly wasn't his. Allen blushes a bit at the thought of someone seeing him undressed. In his opinion, he wasn't a very attractive fellow. His beastly left arm wasn't a pleasant sight and the scars that marked his body and his left eye ruined his appearance. They were both grim reminders of what the Healing Church had done to him.
They tried to use his body as a vessel for a Great One to possess, but it failed horribly. The Great One took pity on him and gifted him a fraction of his power. The Millennium Earl was that Great One's name. The Earl had both blessed him and cursed him. He was gifted with a fraction of the power of a Great One but was condemned to a lifetime of seeing the tortured souls of the beasts he encountered. Those beasts were once human, but blasphemy plagued them. Man should never mess with what he doesn't know. Another curse riddled his body: the power of the Great One came with a hefty cost. He turns a dark shade of gray, his eyes shimmer with gold, and he loses all control of his body whenever he uses it. It's like another soul is possessing him. He calls this other self The 14th. He didn't like The 14th at all. It was like being locked up in another torture chamber. He avoided using that power until absolutely necessary. He didn't want a repeat of what he had done to the man who took him under his wing and treated him like a human being for the first time in his life. Never ever will he allow that to happen again.
“I'll be off now. Have fun. Your clothes are to your left.” Marian wheels away and Maria follows.
Allen gathers his clothing and hurriedly gets dressed. The messengers beckon for Allen once he’s done and he follows them. The messengers don't walk, rather they grow and sink into the ground. They were odd creatures, but they were fascinating. They were mysterious in the way Allen liked. They didn't speak, but they held up scrolls with writing explaining the different segments of the Dream. It was a small island with nothingness surrounding it, but it was a very productive island. The number of tombstones unsettled Allen greatly. All of those young and old lives are gone. Turned into another measly digit in the machine that the Healing Church created. The Dream was somber, yet beautiful. The sky was a dreary gray and the flowers that bloomed hid an insidious nature within them. But the flowers were as beautiful as moonlight and they decorated the place in a beautifully chaotic way. It was a fitting place for a hunter’s home. It embraced the nature of who they were and the mark they left on the world.
“Oh, hey!” a girl's voice calls out.
Allen looks back and sees a girl with long teal pigtails. She had a cute chubby face and a hopeful shine in her eyes. That was a rare sight to Allen.
“Hey!” Allen waves to her.
The girl jogs over to him and the stench of beast blood fills his nose. So she is a hunter. If she is, then why did she have such a hopeful aura to her? Why was she smiling at him without a look of dishonesty or disgust? Who was this girl?
“Oh, you're the new guy Kanda brought! Uhm, how are you feeling? Are you still in pain?” the girl asks.
Allen shakes his head. “No, I'm alright.”
“That's good. You almost died! It took my brother a good few hours to operate on you! Blood vials weren't working at all until surgery was done, but even then you still weren’t healing fully.”
Allen's eyes widened in surprise. That was new. Normally that wouldn't be possible. His curse made him heal quickly and made it impossible for the blood not to heal him. So why would this be? Maybe the Earl has finally given up on him. He should have a long time ago.
“That's… concerning.”
“Yeah. By the way, what were you doing out there? Citizens should stay inside.” the girl asks.
“I’m a hunter. I was there to put the beasts out of their misery.” Allen explains.
The girl gives him a scrutinizing look, and then the candle visibly gets lit in her mind. “Oh! That would explain the scarring. But that arm of yours. I've never seen anything like it!”
Allen stands there nervously. He shifts around and fidgets with his fingers. “I uhm I uh don't like talking about it…”
The girl blushes a bit. “Oh, sorry! Uhm anyway, my name is Lenalee. What's yours?”
“Allen.”
“Well, Allen, welcome to the Dream! If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask!” Lenalee says with a smile so bright it could melt the skin off of Allen's bones.
“I do have one question. Where might a hunter by the name of Kanda be? I would like to thank him for saving my life.” Allen asks shyly.
“He’s in Cainhurst right now. He and a few other hunters are on a scavaging mission to see if they can find remnants of materials. We used to trade with them, but since their deaths, we can't. Now we're running low on materials.” Lenalee explains.
Allen knows exactly what happened during the night of the Cainhurst executions because he was once a Cainhurst noble. He was no older than 6 years old when it happened. His mother hid him away in a closet, but the founder of the Church, Apocryphos found him. At first, the plan was to execute him with the rest, but Apocryphos had a new idea. There was nothing wrong with the blood that ran through the people of Cainhurst, but they were labeled as “vilebloods” for simply going against the Church. Apocryphos wanted to see if he could repurify a “defiled” body so he took Allen to experiment on. He's the only one left alive of Cainhurst descent. However, his body has been defiled with Old Blood.
“It's a pointless find. The place was looted dry by the Healing Church. I know because I bore witness to it.”
Lenalee's expression is now grim. “I see… Should've known they looted it after the executions…” Lenalee sighs and presses her knuckles against her mouth. “I'll send a message out right away.”
Lenalee takes out ink, a quill, and paper from her satchel. She sits down on the ground and begins writing a letter that Allen assumes is addressing the emptying of Cainhurst. Once she was done, she looked at the messengers that were near Allen's feet and gave them the paper.
“Send this to Cainhurst Castle,” she orders. The messengers nod and disappear with the paper.
“What exactly are the messengers?” Allen asks.
“They're something my brother created long ago. He used to work for the Healing Church until he saw what they were actually doing. He works for us now.”
Allen knew they had to be involved with the Healing Church. He's happy to know that someone left the Healing Church out of goodwill. That was more rare than a smile and the amount of courage it took to do that. You can't just leave. They'd torture you and experiment on you. That's worse than death.
“It shouldn't take them long to come back,” Lenalee informs.
“How far is this place from Cainhurst?” Allen asks.
“We actually don't know the location of this place. We use special lanterns to get here. They teleport us from any place of our choosing. Though, we can only teleport to other lanterns.”
Allen nods. He'd never heard of anything like it in his life. He thought Mana knew everything, but he guessed not. Or maybe Mana was hiding this place from him? That idea quickly left his mind. Why would Mana do that? He had no reason to and he was an honest man. He was kind too.
“That's cool! It'll be very useful once I heal up and can fight again!”
“Mhmm! So, on the night of the Cainhurst executions, where were you? I thought the only ones left who witnessed it died.” Lenalee asks.
Allen's expression grows woefully. “I would rather not talk about that.”
Lenalee gives him a warry, but fascinating look. “You're surrounded by a lot of mystery! I like you.”
Allen blushes and fiddles with a lock of his hair. “O-Oh! Uhm, thanks!” That was the first compliment he's gotten in a long while.
“Why don't we wait for our fellow hunters at the stairs.” Lenalee offers.
“Alright.”
The pair walk to the stairs that lead up to the workshop and sit down. They chat about various topics such as fighting techniques, different types of beasts they've encountered, and what beasts truly are. Allen told Lenalee about how beasts were once human, but they were turned into monstrous versions of themselves through the Old Blood. He knew this as fact, but Lenalee thought he was joking. When he insisted, she wouldn't believe him. Who would though? The world is so blinding to those who refuse to see. Allen dropped the subject and laughed it off, but it wasn't a laughing matter. Those people out there were truly suffering. Eventually, people started teleporting in through a specific headstone the messengers told him about earlier.
“Ah, Kanda should be back! You get to meet your new friends too!” Lenalee says happily. “Kanda! Over here! We need to talk to you!”
A man with long bluish-black hair looks over at the pair with a look of annoyance. He goes over there despite his annoyance and stands in front of the two. Allen would be lying if he said the man wasn't attractive. Allen felt his heart flutter a bit but recomposed himself quickly.
“What?” Kanda says rather rudely.
Lenalee nudges Allen with her shoulder. “C’mon, now's your chance.”
Allen looks Kanda in the eye and smiles slightly. “You're the one who saved me yesterday, right? Well, I would like to thank you. Is there any way I could repay you?”
Kanda looks at Allen with an unreadable look for a few moments. “Tch whatever, just don't bother me, Bean Sprout,” he says and walks away.
Any attraction Allen felt for the man vanished without a trace. In its stead, a frustrating rage filled him. “Ugh! What is wrong with that guy?!” Allen vents.
Lenalee chuckles. “Don't worry about him. He's just grumpy.”
“A little too grumpy I would say,” Allen grumbles.
Lenalee pats Allen's back softly. “There is one way of getting around Kanda's grumpiness,” she informs.
Allen perks up. “How?”
“Be a woman.” Lenalee starts laughing and Allen slumps in defeat.
“There is no possible way I could ever be one!” Allen whines.
“I mean, you're pretty enough to be one. You just need a dress and you're set!”
Allen blushes furiously. He has never in his entire life gotten a compliment like that before! He doesn't know what to say so he just fiddles with his fingers.
“Y'know, at least you get to brag about Kanda saving you. He never rescues anyone ever . I tried asking him about it, but he got all defensive. If you play your cards right, you might find out why.”
“Yeah… maybe.” All Allen wanted was to avoid the guy like the beastly scourge, but there was a tiny little spot in his soul that held curiosity for Kanda.
“I have to go help out with scavenging for materials. I’ll talk with you soon!” Lenalee says.
“Alright. Have a safe trip!”
Lenalee stands up and wipes herself clean of any dirt. Then she waves to Allen and walks away. Allen was still a bit tired, so he went to the giant flower garden and chose a spot by a tree to sleep. It was uncomfortable, but at least it was more comfortable than the workshop and the places he had slept in before arriving at the Dream.
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It has been a week since Allen arrived at the Hunter’s Dream and he has made some nice friends. Lavi was a historian who recorded everything the hunters did, Krory was a fellow hunter who was quite shy, Miranda was another shy hunter, Timothy was a hunter in training, Tiedoll was an artist who painted the hunter’s stories to life, and Marie was a blind hunter. They were all interesting characters. He enjoyed hanging out and training with them. He found out Maria was a doll modeled after a hunter long past. With how Marian treats her, he assumes Maria was originally his past lover. That theory made him sad whenever he saw them together.
Allen’s wounds have fully healed. He was now trying to fix his weapon at the workshop. The beast he fought was a vicious one; it broke his weapon and then injured him to the point of death. If it wasn’t for Mana’s mentoring on weapon crafting, Allen would be in hysterics right now.
“Hey, Allen! We have a gift for you!” Lavi shouts from outside the workshop.
“I’ll be out in just a minute!” Allen announces.
He quickly finishes putting the final touches on his weapon and then heads out. He sees Lavi, Marian, Lenalee, Miranda, and Krory gathered around where Maria usually sits. He notices that Krory is holding something made of leather and cloth. That made him rush over to them a little faster. Could it be a new bag?
“Heya, Al!” Lavi greets.
“Hey!” Allen greets.
“Now that you’ve officially joined us we thought it would be appropriate to give you a welcoming gift,” Miranda says.
“Oh?” Allen tilts his head slightly.
“Yes! We got you your own hunter’s uniform!” Lenalee announces.
Allen smiles widely. “Thank you all!”
“Tsk, don’t go ruining it now. Those are not cheap.” Marian warns.
“I won’t,” Allen promises.
“Congratulations, Good Hunter,” Maria says while softly clapping.
“Thank you,” Allen says. He can finally go hunt now. The less suffering, the better. He’s a step closer to his goal of fixing the bane the Healing Church forced upon the good people of the world.
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Allen was annoyed. He was forced on a mission with the king of assholery, Yu Kanda. Allen loathed Kanda with every fiber of his being despite him being the reason he was living right now. Kanda always degrades him and tries to one-up him. It was irritating Allen to no end. The fact that he always found himself in situations where Kanda had to help him didn’t help his case either. Allen was extremely bad with directions. So bad that Lenalee offered to add a leash to his uniform! It was a humiliating experience, to say the least.
“You stupid fucking Bean Sprout!”
Currently, the two differing hunters found themselves in a tricky situation. Allen slipped on fresh blood and fell down a winding staircase. That wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t grabbed onto Kanda. A heavy piece of wood came off the stairs and fell on both of them, trapping them under it. Kanda was on top of Allen facing him. Their noses were a mere inch apart and they could feel each other’s breath. Allen blushes lightly. He may hate the hunter on top of him, but man he was irritatingly gorgeous.
“Hey! It’s a reflex!” Allen says in his defense.
“Maybe get better ones!” Kanda snaps.
“Well, I can’t!”
“This is why you won’t even last a year!” Kanda hisses.
“I’ve survived an entire lifetime! A measly year is nothing to me!” Allen shouts angrily. Allen was livid right now.
“Well, clearly that wasn’t enough to put some insight through your thick fucking skull!”
“I have more insight than you could possibly ever dream of!!”
“I bet you can’t even see the fucking thing that was atop this very building, moron!” Kanda shouts.
Allen pauses for a moment. He searches Kanda’s eyes for any hint of a lie and then takes a deep breath to calm his nerves. “You can see those too?”
Allen has never met someone who could also see the eldritch beings that hide themselves from plain sight. They are beings so grotesque that it could make one unaccustomed to such vile looks die by only looking at them. Their heads are reminiscent of a lotus seed pod, their bodies bony, skin as dark as the abyss, and they have multiple bony arms with long, fiendish claws. It was a curse to see them but at the same time a blessing. He’s seen countless beasts fall victim to their invisible guises. They’d snatch the beasts up and crush them to death with their giant hands. You wouldn’t even be able to see them, but they can see you.
Kanda calms down a tad. “What do you mean by that?”
“You know exactly what I mean. I too can see those creatures so vile they have to stay hidden from plain sight.” Allen explains.
Kanda stays silent for a while. The tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a saw cleaver. “You… How could you have that ability?”
“I can ask you the same question,” Allen says, not wanting to reveal his past.
“Mmm,” Kanda replies. Allen assumes he doesn’t want to reveal how he can see them either.
A content silence wraps itself around the two hunters. This would be the first time they haven’t fought or argued. It was peaceful but somewhat uncomfortable. He was used to being enveloped by the hatred Kanda radiated. Now, a sort of calm understanding blanketed itself around them.
“So uhm, how exactly do we get out of here?” Allen asks.
Kanda squirms around and does everything in his power to get out but to no avail. No amount of kicking, squirming, elbowing, or pushing could get the wooden prison off of them. “Tch.”
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Allen felt trapped. He isolated himself away from the world because he could feel The 14th rousing within him. Allen was terrified. He hadn’t used his beast powers in a long while so why was The 14th stirring awake? He had a new goal that was now his top priority: fight against the horror that lived inside him. That thing will destroy everything he holds dear and he cannot allow that to happen. Not again.
The plan was a simple one: He would hide away info of the caves in the Fishing Hamlet then tie himself up with the strongest chain around. That would keep him far far away from his loved ones. He didn’t care if he died in the process. If it meant that his friends and the innocents who could cross The 14th path were spared, then he would gladly sacrifice himself. One life or multiple lives? The answer is obvious to him. Allen was currently in the workshop getting undressed. His hunter uniform would be helpful to another new hunter or the current hunters who need materials for repairing their gear. Allen places his uniform on a workbench and grabs a piece of paper. He searches the area for a bottle of ink and a quill and spots some. He gets them and begins writing what could possibly be his final letter:
“Dear friends at the Hunter’s Dream,
This could be my final letter to you all. You may not be aware, but there will soon be a great evil that must be destroyed at all costs roaming free. I beseech you all, do not follow me. Following me could cause great devastation. If you happen to see me, or rather, someone who looks exactly like me, please do not interact with it. If you see me in the Dream, however, be very wary of me. I’m sorry for leaving such a cryptic message, but this must be done. I love you all and please be safe.
- Allen Walker, Dec 19th”
Sighing, Allen puts the quill down. Hopefully, they can read that. Allen has the worst handwriting in the entire universe, but at least some people have been able to decipher it. Allen rushes out of the workshop and over to the special tombstone where some of the messengers gather. He teleports to the Fishing Hamlet. He stealthily goes into his selected cave and spots his pre-prepared items on the ground. He wraps himself with the chain and locks himself to multiple chain hooks. He tosses the key to the locks far from reach and takes a deep breath. He’s ready to let go,
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Kanda was pissed. He found Allen’s stupid note, but he found it a week too late. He was the one who had to decipher his horrid handwriting and he was the one the other hunters looked to the most for rescuing Allen from wherever he was stuck before it was too late. The plan they came up with was this: Maria would search the Dream, Timothy, Miranda, and Marie would search for him in Central and Old Yharnam, Lenalee would search for him at the Cathedral Ward, Tiedoll would search Cainhurst Castle, Lavi would search Yahar’gul, Krory would search in the Forbidden Woods, and finally Kanda would search the Fishing Hamlet. If they couldn’t find him in any of those places, they’d have to search in places that weren’t assigned.
Once Kanda gets his hands on Allen, he swears to whatever Great One is listening that he will strangle him to death. He had a special bond with the self-sacrificing hunter that nobody else could ever have with him. Kanda suspected Allen was also a victim of the Healing Church. Even though he hated the guy, Kanda felt a little less suffocated around him. He was also a great stress reliever. They’d always spar with each other whenever either of them was stressed or needed practice. Allen was better than the other hunters, but he still couldn’t beat Kanda. He came close one time, but that was it. Kanda wasn’t about to lose Allen, especially not to whatever “evil” was lurking.
“Alright, everyone! Let’s move.” Tiedoll says.
Everyone (except Maria) gathered at the teleportation tombstone and went to their places. Kanda hated the Fishing Hamlet. It reeked of rotting corpses everywhere. That scent reminded him of the Healing Church and he despises the Healing Church.
“Bean Sprout! Show yourself now or I swear to the Dream I will make your life a living hell!” Kanda shouts.
No reply. As expected. Even more annoyed now, Kanda explores the area. He searches every nook and cranny. No stone was left unturned. The place was making him more depressed than he already was. The gloomy atmosphere, the scent of decay, the miserable beasts roaming around, and the urgency to find Allen wasn’t helping his mood at all. He wanted to leave, but there were two places he hadn’t checked yet: the beach and the cave leading to it.
Kanda heads over to the cave and hears faint moaning. This made him put his guard up. Taking small, silent steps, he crept closer and closer to the source of the disturbing sound. He spots a person wrapped him a blanket of chains moaning in agony on the floor. He creeps closer and scrutinizes the details of the person. They were obviously starved, messy white hair crowned their hair, and bloodied clothes clung tight to their gray skin. Kanda grips his weapon and moves closer. He crouches down and his eyes widen in shock.
Allen Walker had been found.