The Missionary

Lambs Without a Shepherd [Claudia]

“I stopped believing?” He looked at her in shock, lips pulling back into a silent snarl. “Is that what you think? This isn’t a matter of belief, nor is it a matter of faith. If you could just open your eyes and see. Everything we were taught was a lie!” Vincent’s eyes narrowed, and he shook his head.

“Leonard taught me everything Claudia, and what he didn’t Alessa has.” The ghost had found him not long ago, and had agreed with him, confirmed he was right. “God is wicked, and even if you can’t see it that’s the truth. Alessa stands at my side against Her. She detests God, wants to see her fall.” His tail flicked, striking the stone floor with a sharp crack.

“Would you stand against her again, take up the side of the creature she was murdered in the name of?”

A wave of resentment started to burn inside her chest, slow and vicious. She was most definitely not meant to feel like that - it was too small of her, utterly mundane. And yet, there it was, eating her from the inside out.

"So you dare say that everything we were taught was a lie, but my father, from all people, offered you the truth?" Her voice came out slow and cold, chin held high in defiance as her mind ran through the memories of Vincent himself talking about Leonard Wolf's cruelty towards his own daughter. "I had no idea you trusted him that much."

Claudia shook her head as she took a step back, hastily; her skirt shuffled, making a sound that evoked the image of an agitated raven.

"Do you actually think you can come here and talk me out of my faith, using Alessa's name in such a despicable way?" It was more an accusation than a question, the childhood friendship put aside once again. "You are a liar, Vincent, you have always been. You lied to me and you lied to... Heather, and once again you try to use us both."

The priestess sighed, tired.

"Leave. I am better off alone."

It seemed that was the burden she would have to carry as long as she lived.

#fathervincent

yourfuckingmuse

For the pain that I’ve caused you… I deserve no mercy. Even if it was to save mankind, it was too deep a sin.

Lambs Without a Shepherd [Claudia]

Vincent scowled, glaring down at her. “I sought only to do what was best for our world, her Will is what will destroy us. Are you so blind to this fact?” His tone was angry, agitated. For all the friendship they’d held he couldn’t bring himself to hold his tongue for her, to speak kindly. She had become a monster in ways far greater than his own transformation. Then she had the nerve to speak of him about reason.

“Why can’t you?” He snapped, eyes wide with anger. “You have sought Her council, how else could you know my involvement in this, yet, did She tell you what has become of me?” He doubted she would have, why tell Claudia she had tortured her childhood friend, turned him into a beast. “She beat me bloody, tore my face open, all as a thanks for bringing her to this earth.” The priest hissed.

With a fluid motion he slid to the side, dropping down from the beam and landing behind her with the dull sound of bare feet hitting stone and claws clicking against it. “Look at me Claudia.” He rumbled, standing tall and brushing his hair away from his face with a clawed hand, tail flicking behind him. “This is how your God rewards servitude, this is all that lays in store for you if you stand by Her.”

Claudia did not turn until he told her to - no, until he demanded her to. But it had nothing to do with the Sight. Instead, there was this claustrophobic feeling, anxiety burning through her chest as her ribcage seemed to close around her lungs. She knew it was fear; illogical and unaccounted for as it was, but fear nevertheless.

It hurt, seeing him like that, half deprived of his humanity. And yet she did not let it show. If anything, the sigh that escaped her sounded condescending, not wounded.

"No, Vincent. You're wrong", she finally said, her gaze fixed steadily on his monstruous features. When she spoke, her voice was solemn. "You stopped believing - in fact ,sometimes I wonder if you ever believed at all..."

She wanted to reach for him, to believe that he was not beyond salvation. Still, the abyss between them seemed to be insurmountable.

"Look at me, Vincent" the woman called, holding her arms open. "God restored me. Not even for a moment did I doubt her, and this is how She rewards servitude. She understood my mission was not over. That not even hell would be enough to make me pay for all the suffering I had to cause. I would never turn my back on Her, and that is why God shall not forsake me. And there is still time for you."

#fathervincent

Lambs Without a Shepherd [Claudia]

He had left Heather to the Monastery, to the safety of it’s walls amidst the others there and he had gone to wander. To seek. He knew not her involvement in this mess, but he knew it best to find her quickly and be done with his thirsting for knowledge on the matter. The ground felt cold and wet under his clawed feet, even through the unusual pads that had formed there with the completion of his transformation. His tail flicked idly as he followed the overgrown path, wondering if he was right to seek her here.

This place had been sacred once, it still was he supposed, but to a god who was twisted and cruel. He was wary to tread where her power was strong, but if Claudia was to be found, here was where he would find her. The sanctuary was abandoned, or so the public believed. Long after it’s abandonment it had been the place of many a ritual, a sacrifice, far from the prying eyes of a world that need not be privy to such things. The stink of blood was heavy on the place as he approached, old blood, dead blood.

With the agile grace of a cat he leapt up to a place he knew too well the paths of, a hole in the roof that was much easier to climb to with his new shape. He slithered through it, slipping on all fours across one of the thick crossbeams, keeping his weight balanced as not to split it and send himself rolling to the floor betraying his location in the darkness above her. As expected, there she was, and he smiled.

“You are not hard to find, I’m afraid, never were.” The words came out as a soft purr. “I fear, however, we do not meet on gentle terms old friend.” He lounged on the beam like some sort of great cat, watching her idly. “I have come to play the devil and here we sit atop our mountain, and I shall tempt you.” He laughed. “Tell me first, before I come down and we speak face to face, what do you think of this new world our glorious God has delivered to us? This broken nightmare She has called up for her faithful?”

No matter how silently he approached, she knew he was there long before he spoke; in fact, she knew he would find her, his arrival foreshadowed by an icy chill running down her spine, an unmistakable certainty. The Sight, as others would call it, had little to do with vision in the end. And though she would always be thankful for the gifts God granted her, sometimes she almost wished for ignorance.

Claudia did not turn to face her old friend - as he himself put it - when he finally broke the silence. Instead, she took in his words, lingering on the faint nostalgy that the scene evoked. It was a shame, really, that it had come to that.

"And what was She supposed to do, while you struggle against Her will?", she asked quietly, the tip of her fingers never leaving the altar. "Not only you refuse to believe, you defy Her. Now tell me. What sort of mother would not chastise her children after such offense?"

She noticed that her own voice sounded hoarse, deeper than usual, even if it came out as a whisper. Truth was that she was growing tired, relying more and more on faith alone to not lose sight of her mission, of what she was meant to do.

"Why can't you see reason, Vincent? You amongst everyone else..."

#fathervincent

YOU GIRLS BETTER BEHAVE YOURSELVES

I’M NOT JOKING.

I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO CLEAN BLOOD OFF OF MY CHURCH. YOU HEAR ME?

EXCUSE ME. I didn’t know you harboured DEAD PEOPLE.

I’M NOT HARBORING HER.

SHE REFUSES TO LEAVE MY GODDAMN CHURCH.

DON’T HAVE LIKE, SOME AUTHORITY? MAKE HER. OR I WILL.

PLEASE BY ALL MEANS. REMOVE HER.

OH PLEASE, DO AS HE SAYS. REMOVE ME. AND THEN WATCH MY TRIUMPHAL RETURN — AGAIN.

NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU TRY TO GET RID OF ME, I WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TO TORMENT YOUR PUNY LIVES.

…

Oh so you’re like a preachy cockroach.

Good to know.

#maybe i can't bring myself to kill you #but you WILL die someday.#and then you WILL go to hell.#ooc post

Well, that is still better than being a sly coward rat.

BUt please, go on with your mockery. I. DO. NOT. CARE.

YOU GIRLS BETTER BEHAVE YOURSELVES

I’M NOT JOKING.

I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO CLEAN BLOOD OFF OF MY CHURCH. YOU HEAR ME?

EXCUSE ME. I didn’t know you harboured DEAD PEOPLE.

I’M NOT HARBORING HER.

SHE REFUSES TO LEAVE MY GODDAMN CHURCH.

DON’T HAVE LIKE, SOME AUTHORITY? MAKE HER. OR I WILL.

PLEASE BY ALL MEANS. REMOVE HER.

OH PLEASE, DO AS HE SAYS. REMOVE ME. AND THEN WATCH MY TRIUMPHAL RETURN — AGAIN.

NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU TRY TO GET RID OF ME, I WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TO TORMENT YOUR PUNY LIVES.

HAH! What took you so long then, old hag?! FIGHT ME, DAMN BITCH!

Did you just call me “old hag”? YOU USED TO BE MY OLDER SISTER, FOR GOD’S SAKE! I’m not that old… Am I? AM I? I don’t need to fight you. I can just CROSS MY ARMS AND USE PSYCHOKINESIS TO BREAK YOUR LEGS.

USED TO BE. USED. TO. I’M 26, AND YOU’RE LIKE, WHAT? 40? YEAH, DOUGLAS TOLD ME BOUT THAT LITTLE TRICK. YOU FORGET, I KILLED GOD. WITH A PIPE.

#... wisdom comes with age.#ooc post

I'M ONLY 38, ALL RIGHT? And those years I spent dead shouldn't even count.

Oh but unfortunately that wasn't reeeally God because YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN EVERYTHING, DIDN'T YOU?

YOU GIRLS BETTER BEHAVE YOURSELVES

I’M NOT JOKING.

I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO CLEAN BLOOD OFF OF MY CHURCH. YOU HEAR ME?

EXCUSE ME. I didn’t know you harboured DEAD PEOPLE.

I’M NOT HARBORING HER.

SHE REFUSES TO LEAVE MY GODDAMN CHURCH.

DON’T HAVE LIKE, SOME AUTHORITY? MAKE HER. OR I WILL.

PLEASE BY ALL MEANS. REMOVE HER.

OH PLEASE, DO AS HE SAYS. REMOVE ME. AND THEN WATCH MY TRIUMPHAL RETURN — AGAIN.

NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU TRY TO GET RID OF ME, I WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TO TORMENT YOUR PUNY LIVES.

HAH! What took you so long then, old hag?! FIGHT ME, DAMN BITCH!

#and for your information #i got MUCH better at card games.#[i can't. i just can't. XD]#ooc post

Did you just call me "old hag"? YOU USED TO BE MY OLDER SISTER, FOR GOD'S SAKE! I'm not that old... Am I? AM I? I don't need to fight you. I can just CROSS MY ARMS AND USE PSYCHOKINESIS TO BREAK YOUR LEGS.

YOU GIRLS BETTER BEHAVE YOURSELVES

I’M NOT JOKING.

I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO CLEAN BLOOD OFF OF MY CHURCH. YOU HEAR ME?

EXCUSE ME. I didn’t know you harboured DEAD PEOPLE.

I’M NOT HARBORING HER.

SHE REFUSES TO LEAVE MY GODDAMN CHURCH.

DON’T HAVE LIKE, SOME AUTHORITY? MAKE HER. OR I WILL.

PLEASE BY ALL MEANS. REMOVE HER.

#an 'annoying hobo'; you say?#all right.#i won't forget it.#and you know what; vincent?#YOU'LL GO TO HELL.#ooc post #... even if it's not that much ooc.

OH PLEASE, DO AS HE SAYS. REMOVE ME. AND THEN WATCH MY TRIUMPHAL RETURN -- AGAIN.

NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU TRY TO GET RID OF ME, I WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TO TORMENT YOUR PUNY LIVES.

You can't be dead!

I was going to kill you!

Heather found her feet getting heavy as they caught wind of her destination. Her teeth gritting in rememberance, this was not a place that held fond memories for her. But it was where her ‘landlord’ was. And to be fair she ended up spending more time than she would like just following him. More often than not she ran in to others while doing so, but that was the extent of it.

She found herself and the large, possibly former ornate doors. Arms folded she exhaled deeply. “You can do this… She wont be in there.” Arms extending she pushed open a door, the creaking was almost too much. Glancing around she couldn’t see the dirty bastard anywhere. Great, where else could he possibly be?

Walking down the aisle she ran her fingers along the pews. She cringed a bit, memories ripping through her head. Sitting down she brought her hands to her head, nails digging in. She was getting quite agitated over it, sweat slipping down her forehead. Taking her hands down she gripped the pew in front of her, forcing herself to stand. “It’s over…” Claudia wasn’t here, God certainly wasn’t here, and Heather wouldn’t be for long once she was sure Vincent wasn’t here and not just hiding like creepy jerk he was.

#[sdasfda let me love you~♥]#[andpleaseheatherdon'tkillclaudia |:]#[btw; she's being a major creeper again; isn't she?]#[sorry about that. |:]#masonrysecrets

At first, Claudia cannot believe her eyes. Once moving silently, bare feet come to a halt right as she caught a glimpse of blonde, messy hair close to the altar, not but a few steps away from her.

Not that she was surprised at the confirmation that was being alive; she simply knew it ever since she woke up and, even otherwise she would never expect any different. What seemed impossible to understand was why would she come back to Silent Hill after everything that happened there; after fighting so hard to deny who she was and that the town was her home -- and would always be.

Claudia lingered for a moment, watching the other from behind a pillar. Maybe, she could not help thinking even if she actually tried, maybe Alessa-- no. She was not Alessa. She could have been the Mother of God, but Alessa was lost to Claudia. There was no point in making that mistake again.

Still, maybe she was the answer. Maybe she was the reason why Claudia had been brought back to life, after all.

"... Heather." Claudia's voice was a little more than a whisper, as if she could not dare speak the name out loud.

Maybe the time to repent and pay for her sins had finally come.

notthesacrifice-blog

priestesswolf started following you

Claudia was suddenly alert at the sound of footsteps echoing through the church. It was most certainly not Vincent; they were faster and lighter, but also somewhat hesitant. Leaving the sacristy, she headed towards the nave of the church, only to be surprised by the presence of a boy she certainly had never seen before.

“… Are you lost, little one?” She asked gently, even though she could not help feeling there was something not quite right about him being there.

notthesacrifice-blog

Blinking Josh shuffled a bit. She. Had. No. Eyebrows. He stared for a moment, before her surprisingly kind voice broke him out of his eyebrowless trance. “Oh, uhm. Not really ma’am! I think my brother is here… somewhere.” So are your eyebrows. “But I don’t know my way around…” He rubbed his arm a bit, trying not to stare at her too much. He knew it was rude. But having grown up in a fairly normal lifestyle, this was really weird.

#[oh hey YOU! ♥#thanks again for this last post;#i can't stop laughing!#now i can't describe claudia's expressions without picturing josh overanalyzing them.#and i can't wait for claudia and heather to meet. :)]#notthesacrifice

"Your brother?" Claudia frowned thoughtfully, head slightly tilted to the side. As far as she remembered, that child was not part of the flock; yet, things have changed while she had been away.

Getting a step closer, she did her best to sound reassuring; the boy seemed somewhat nervous, after all. "I am Claudia." She nodded at him. "Maybe I can be of help, if you tell me your brother's name."

She. Had. No. Eyebrows.

Joshua Shepherd, about Claudia Wolf

#[sorry; but i need to keep this as a special quote.]#[the eyebrowless trance made it even better;#thank you! ♥]#notthesacrifice

notthesacrifice-blog

priestesswolf started following you

Exploring the church more seemed like a good idea. At least Josh would be out of the fog. He made sure not to make to much noise as he entered, looking around. It was really creepy like this. He couldn’t see a single person, and it seemed so much bigger this way.

#[hello there! :3 #... i feel a bit creepy; using cute smileys on claudia's account.#too late; though.#now i'm trying to picture her being all :3.]#[also; i'm totally assuming there's a sacristy. |:]#notthesacrifice

"... Are you lost, little one?" She asked gently, even though she could not help feeling there was something not quite right about him being there.

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