[h3]The Hunter's Dream[/h3]
While Farren and Torquil took cover to cautiously scout the area, trying to figure out exactly where the Winter Lantern was and how to best approach it, someone else had much less patience for disturbances such as this one. Barely had several seconds gone by with the eerie song drifting through the air before the Shopkeeper burst out of their workshop, a blunderbuss ready in their left hand as they sprinted down the stairs and in the direction of the sound. A moment later they heard the change in pitch of the Winter Lantern having spotted prey, immediately followed by a gunshot.
With that the song stilled and light returned to the Dream, and a few seconds later the Shopkeeper came strolling back toward the workshop, their entire right arm drenched in blood.
Farren, had an experience that--particularly during the famously grave Night of the Hunt--was truly novel: he felt profoundly silly. Lips parting briefly, Farren just sighed and pushed to his feet. Shaking his head, and actually managing a small chuckle, Farren rounded the gravestones to thank the Moonborn, then move to the Messenger Fountain where he would make some purchases after some moments of brief considerations.
Once he'd concluded that he sought out Amaris, [color=#007FFF][b]“I've echoes to spend, if you please, Amaris.”[/b][/color]

With the revelation that the Shopkeeper appeared to be highly adept at handling Winter Lanterns – as one might expect from the amalgamation of innumerable god-slaying Paleblood Hunters – the rest of the Hunters' business in the Dream was handled without incident. Farren, Ophelia and Gerlinde each took turns with the doll and the birdbath Messengers to carefully weigh their choices and spend all of their blood echoes... but while Torquil looked different now, he was still the same on the inside. As soon as he was left to his own devices he felt somewhat directionless, though even without the hint that his companions were doing so he did feel as though he should probably use his blood echoes for something.
He took a brief glance into the birdbath to see if anything stood out to him, but was quickly overwhelmed by the burden of choice and abandoned it without conjuring anything out of it. Instead he just went to the doll and told her to make him stronger. The doll asked how much, given that he had an abundance of echoes, and he simply told her “as much as possible.”

Ophelia also took the opportunity to commune some more with the Cosmic Sword of Truth.
[I]“What can you tell me about the Moonborn Hunter? I noticed that when we summoned their aid against Arrayah none of their attacks seemed effective, even changing weapons, until we gave them something physical. They must possess great arcane power too, no?”[/i]
“[I]The Moonborn Hunter?[/I]” The voice paused to ponder the question. “[I]You have not seen the Moonborn Hunter yet. What fought alongside you against Arrayah, and what is here in the Dream with you now, is not that. This is the Moonborn Shopkeeper. And though powerful, they are but a projection of one aspect of the Moonborn. The Moonborn Hunter is tremendously more powerful... and even that may still only be a piece of the whole. They are a Great One, with the power to match the title.[/I]”
[I]“Ah, of course - though... I wonder, why could they not hear the whispers of the Holy Moonlight Sword? They must have obtained it prior to becoming a Great One... though as they tell it, time broke on the Night of the Blood Moon. Perhaps some versions of them did?”[/i]
“[I]When they obtained the Holy Moonlight Sword they were already an irregularity. Time was already shattered from actions in twisted pasts and futures. None of them were ever going to be its Champion because they were already distortions of the whole.[/I]”
[I]“Mmm... what can you tell me of Flora, now that you are whole?”[/i]
“[I]Flora is a Great One of the Nightmare and the one who dreams the Paleblood. She is within you as she is within Gerlinde; you carry her with you always, Champion.[/I]”

And with that out of the way, they all hastened to the Unseen Headstone, touched the marker “Vileblood Queen's Chamber”, and went off to visit Castle Cainhurst and return to the Waking World for the first time in more than two hours.

[h3]Vileblood Queen's Chamber, Castle Cainhurst, west of Yharnam[/h3]
A moment later the four Hunters awakened and found themselves in the familiar scenery of the Cainhurst throne room. Things looked quite the same, with Queen Annalise herself presiding over the area on her throne as always... except that the queen herself gave off a rather different sense than last they had seen her. On their last visit the Vileblood Queen had slouched weakly in her seat, barely moving from the spot and struggling so much as to raise her head when addressed. In stark contrast to that, the queen they saw now sat straight and proud on her throne, as though the withering frailty that had afflicted her had been utterly vanquished. Though still trapped in her mask she held herself with strength and dignity; a far more intimidating presence than she had ever been.

“Ah, they return,” she said but a couple of seconds after their arrival, and even her voice sounded as though it had regained lost power. “Have thee news to declare, moon-scented Hunters? Perchance, dost thou bring the key to this accursed mask, or Divine Queen Yharnam's Bloodblade?”