//------------------------------// // Blood // Story: The Pale Condition // by Lazy_ //------------------------------// *Clunk* Fluttershy gently pushed the door shut and breathed a slow sigh of relief, as she was finally out of the rain. She was glad she had decided to take the clothing Rarity had offered her for the travel, the black cowl lined with green and yellow embroidery had sheltered her from the falling water. Though some had dripped off the hood and onto her snout, she rubbed it with a hoof to remove the cold tickling sensation atop her nose. Pulling down the hood onto her back, she gently rocked her body to shake some of the remaining water free of her cape and pulled up the large piece of styled green cloth over her back. She turned her head to the hallway before her, noticing the interior before her was very dark for a so called 'medical establishment'. She at least expected some more light. Besides, what sort of doctor could operate in such dim light? "Um... hello?" She called in a moderately loud voice, wincing as the echo pierced the veil of still and empty air. From the room at the end of the hall shuffling could be heard, like someone was trying to clamber over loose objects. A figure limped into view and stared warmly back at her. It's large but worn folded wings, chipped beak and claws immediately told her this was a Griffon. "Hello, my dear. Come, sit down." The voice was old and gruff, definitely masculine. She descended a small set of stairs and walked her way over to the mouth of the hallway, where it opened up into another room. Peeking out from behind the walls she observed what looked to have been a doctor's surgery in the past, but was now in tatters. Books lay scattered across the floor as they seemed to have fallen from their shelves and were never picked up. And pieces of medical equipment sat among them, obviously dis-used due to the change in traditional treatment method's in Yharnam. The old griffon hobbled over to a wheelchair in the corner, where he placed himself. He sat down with a sigh and gestured to another chair beside an operating table. Fluttershy slowly headed into the decrepit room and sat herself down on the chair. She looked at some equipment rigged up to the operating table, what looked to be a needle and some piping connected to... She gulped. "-Blood.-" She realised, looking at the bag filled with the dark red liquid. Yharnam was famous for it's 'blood'. A substance known to be able to cure any ailment, minor or terminal in her case. The cancer affecting her body had slowly been growing un-announced for years until she had been diagnosed just a mere month ago. She bore a small lump just behind her shoulder where the tumor lay. Her friends and family were distraught when she was given only four years to live, and for so long she hid away unable to face the truth. But when the suggestion was made, that she could risk a perilous journey to the legendary city of blood. A place that could heal any wound, any virus, any disease with on single and simple treatment, she made the decision to travel there and be cured. "So... What brings you to my humble abode..." "Fluttershy." She added in her distinct gentle and hushed tone. The griffon smiled at her as she continued. "I came here f-for treatment." "Aye, most do nowadays. Tell me, dear Fluttershy. What is it that plagues you so bad you come to Yharnam, hmm?" He leaned forward on a cane to move closer to her. "I... I have cancer." The griffon's eye's lit up in acknowledgement. "Ah! Cancer. The incurable disease that grows lumps of bad flesh on the body, yes?" He said, pointing to the small area of raised hide behind her shoulder. Fluttershy nodded weakly. "Well, incurable it is no longer. Yharnam's Old Blood can destroy that lump from the inside out before it destroys you. I take it you are ready for your treatment today?" "Yes." The butter yellow pegasus answered, giving the old griffon a strangely mad grin. "Good. It'll give me something else other to do than re-read all these books for the hundredth time again." He said before breaking into a small fit of laughter. "Okay, dear. Lay yourself down on the table and we'll begin." Fluttershy complied. She climbed up onto the operating table and lay herself down on her belly. The griffon pushed the wheels of his chair and scooted over to the blood bag and equipment before starting to perform a few checks on the simple apparatus. When he was done he ran his blunt talons all the way down to the thin hollow needle used to inject a dose of the bag's contents into a patient. "Before we begin I must ask you to sign something... a contract." He started. Flutershy looked up at him, confused. "It is just a simple contract, is all. A legal document." He presented a scroll with a space at the bottom and a quill. "I need you to sign so I can begin." With a sigh, she took the quill in her mouth and signed her name in the space at the bottom before laying the quill down on the table. "Good!" The griffon said, just a little too happy for it to not be odd. He rolled up the scroll, tucking it under his wheelchair before doing the same with the quill. "Can you give me a leg?" He asked, and Fluttershy offered up her right foreleg to the griffon while trying her best not to squirm and pull away at the thought of being injected with an ancient liquid. Blood. The griffon took her leg in his talons and gently pushed the needle through Fluttershy's skin. She scrunched up her nose at the pain, as the needle did not feel like it was new. It had obviously been used many times before and had blunted a little over time. Once he was done, he pulled his talons away with a small chuckle. "The blood is not a gentle cure, dear. Patients can sometimes... see some things they would rather not. 'Tis a side affect, that's all. Whatever happens you may think it all merely a bad dream." He said as he began the injecting process. Fluttershy felt the thick liquid mix with her own blood and run cold through her veins. She felt all feeling in her body evade her as the world began to fade away into blackness. Around her, the sound of maniacal laughter rattled off the walls and through her bones, chilling her body to the core. Then suddenly... all was dark. Fluttershy was cold, like she had spent the night out in the rain. She opened her eyes to look around. The griffon was no longer in the room, in fact only his wheel chair remained in the corner of the room. Everything was much darker now, like all the lights had been turned off after she had blacked out. She heard an odd noise rising from her left and she turned her head over to see what was making the strange sound. A pool of blood was forming on the floor before her very eyes, like a never ending leak of the liquid was pouring out from somewhere underneath. She reeled back in shock, and for a moment it was like she was paralysed. But the worst was yet to come. From the pool a twisted group of claws emerged, rising from the depths of blood like some grotesque pheonix. Another set of claws rose up and gripped the floor, tensing like it was lifting a weight below. Fluttershy's shock had more than set in, and she tried her best to move, wriggling and writhing in an attempt to remove herself from the table and run. But no matter what she did, she could not move. Through fear or through paralysis she was like a statue. A head emerged from the red pool, like a wolf's head but... turned into some sort of monster! It was fleshy like it had no skin, and it's eyes burned red with mindless rage. The legs pulled more of it's body out of the pool until Fluttershy saw something she recognised. a lump sat behind the beast's shoulders and a pair of ruined featherless wings sprouted from the creature's back. Was this supposed to be her!? The beast pulled out it's hind legs and stretched it's body, making a collection of disgusting cracks and pops before it turned it's head and eyes to her. Fluttershy would have hid behind her wings and her hooves, but unable to move, she found herself only able to watch as the horrific thing slowly lumbered her way. It got closer and closer until she could feel it's reeking breath bounce along her face. It smelled of rot and death, like it had been left to fall apart in a coffin for centuries. It reached out to her, it's lethal claws stretching out and brushing the fur on her chin for a brief moment. She was petrified, and certain the thing was going to kill her. The suddenly the beast burst into flames. Embers and sparks erupting from it's body like fireworks as it shrieked in pain. It thrashed in the air, trying desperately to rid itself of the searing flames before it reached up into the air, attempting to grab some non-existent object. Then it collapsed in a heap on the ground. What had she just wtnessed? Words rang out in her head. "-...you may think it all merely a bad dream...-" Maybe this was just in her head? Before she could ponder on the horror she had seen any longer, she felt a touch at her thigh. A tiny pale white hand had crawled up onto her body, pulling up a thin skeletal body with it, including a deformed head with toothless jaws and small eyes. She gulped and watched as the creature pulled itself onto her back. More touches along her body told her she was being mobbed by the small creatures. All over her the creatures made their way toward her face until they crowded around her and curiously inspected her. "-It's just a bad dream...-" She told herself in her thoughts as her consciousness escaped from her. All things turned black once more. Fluttershy jolted awake, inspecting her body for the odd pale creatures, but found nothing. She whirled around, her breathing becoming erratic as she expected to find the corpse of a giant cancerous werepony laid in a giant pool of blood. But once again, there was nothing. She was still laid on the operating table in the dark room with no sign of the old griffon anywhere. His wheelchair sat silently in the corner but that was it. Silence. She let her head fall back to the table in relief, letting out a huge sigh as she did so. There she allowed her breaths to become more normal before she slid from the table. She landed with a light 'thud' on the ground, her cape following her and coming to rest. Taking a short wander, she walked around the room to see where the old griffon had gone. A new passage had opened up, a door hanging open to a set of reversing stairs leading to the ground floor of the building. She turned right and saw the hallway she entered through was still unchanged. Then she remembered! The lump! Reaching over to the spot behind her shoulders, she fumbled around on her own body, searching for signs of the cancer that infected her. And... it wasn't there... her cancer is gone! She gasped and stood still for a moment before a smile crept across her face and she performed a small leap, her wings holding her in the air as she hugged herself in glee. "-I can live! I can live!-" She screamed inwardly over and over until the sentence began t lose all meaning. She had been cured, now she could finally return home to her friends and enjoy the rest of her life. She began walking back to the door when she remembered her manners. "Um... thank you!" She tried to call out, her voice never really reaching a shout. She walked over to the door, thinking of all the things she would do and say when she got back home. It was like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had so much left to do, so much left to say that she could now think about without the shadow of impending doom hanging over her every action. She reached out to the handle and turned... Nothing. It didn't budge. She tried again, and still the handle would not turn. Confused, she turned around and looked down the hallway, past the room and through to the stairs. Had the old griffon locked her in? Did he want her to come downstairs? She walked over to the stairs, ignoring the operation room and going straight to the ground floor. She was in too much of a good mood to concern herself with the details of the building after her revelation. She headed down the stairs, and began to notice an odd noise... she knew it. The sound of eating. More like devouring. She remembered how Angel used to eat his food far to quickly and he would make this awful munching sound. That was it. After pausing for a moment, she headed through the next room, thinking about Angel. "-Ooh, I hope he's okay. Him and my animal friends must have been so worried for me. I'll make sure to...-" She stopped when she saw the source of the noise. A large creature with black fur like a giant wolf crouched in a pool of blood, eating... eating a corpse. She let her mouth hang wide open. The wolf happily chomped away at it's meal, tearing flesh and bone with it's claws and teeth while the pegasus paled at the sight. A sickly feeling began to burn in her stomach just looking at the sight. Even her breathing stopped for that split second. After a moment her legs began to feel weak too, and with a lot of wobbling she dropped into a sit. The wolf's ears perked up at the noise and it's head rose up, before turning to face her. Fluttershy realised her mistake all too late as the wolf began to turn about and make it's way towards her, snarling and dripping toxic saliva all the way. This snapped her out of her stupor, and in a blind panic, she flew up to her hooves in an attempt to escape. She tried to run, but her hooves lost traction on the floor and she fell down onto her haunches. She snapped a quick glance of what she had slipped on. Blood. Lots and lots of blood. How had she not noticed it before? A snarl turned her full attention back to the beast, that was now almost on top of her. She crawl back, trembling in pure primal fear of the predator. She tried her hardest to regain proper grip on something, anything as she made her way away from the beast. She crawled and crawled until... *Thwunk* She collided with some piece of furniture, smacking the back of her head on something hard and round. There was no way out, she was cornered. The beast loomed over her as she whimpered in a pathetic and fruitless attempt to plead for mercy. She even shut her eyes as tears began to stream from them like rivers from a mountain. That was until she was hit by a sudden amount of pressure on her neck. She opened her eyes to see the beast had clamped it's left set of claws around her neck and was beginning to press down hard, making it increasingly difficult to breathe. Then she was lifted up into the air, her hind legs scrambling and waving frantically. She kicked to try and release the vice grip from her throat as her fore-hooves came up to slap the monsters powerful forelegs away. She was then pressed against the wall with a considerable amount of force, the blow shocking her and rattling her oxygen starved brain inside her skull. "Gah- guh p-ple!" Fluttershy spluttered as she tried to make out words against the beast's cold heartless grip. Crying streams, she tried to wail in pure terror but all that came out were tiny exhalations of air. Her eyes suddenly went wide inside her darkening face as she noticed the monster's other set of claws rising up to take a blow. They then clenched shut and she held the minuscule amount of breath she had left as her body tensed up in preparation. *Thwuf- CRACK* ... ... "My, my, look what the cat dragged in."