The Front Yard (Main Building)

Yumiko ushered the two teenagers to follow her into the orphanage itself, “So, let’s get you something to eat then a good hot bath to wash the grime from the day’s toils shall we?” she said with a light quality to her tone. She was worried about both of the children and until they had both eaten and warmed up the nun wasn’t going to stop fretting, little Timothy caught a cold last week with this awful weather. It would be awful for these two to catch one as well she thought to herself, her light footsteps echoed across the giant yard and as she neared the entrance she heard the voices of the children.

Inside the orphanage they were setting the table and getting sat down as she had asked, she asked one of the older ones to go and get two more chairs for the long table inside. It got cramped yet it was comfortable, no-one ever went without inside Anderson’s orphanage. Gesturing for the girls and Timoteo to go and sit down next to her seat Yumiko went to go and serve the food, she had more than a few big pans of beef stew prepared to ward against the chilly weather. With a flourish she began to hum a tune as she picked up one of the pans to go and serve, it took a few minutes yet she made sure that everyone had full bowls. That task used up two pans, and she had enough for everyone to have seconds with a smaller pan left over to give to Anderson and the others if they wanted feeding. “Eat up girls, you can’t leave until you’ve eaten everything on your plate and then we’ll go and get you washed while I sort out beds” she said with a small smile.

Ada followed the Japanese nun albeit a bit hesitantly right now she was nervous. Way more nervous than she'd ever been in her entire life. Somewhere deep inside she wanted this to work out she wanted everything to go without a hitch. She wanted to feel like she belonged her instead of being some uninvited guest. So far everyone had been trying their best to make her feel that way. But that didn't stop her from feeling slightly frightened for the first time in her life. Internally she was beating herself screaming why she could face down men 3 times her size yet when it came to facing a priest she lost her cool.

As she entered she could see nuns and priests ushering kids into a room with a long table in the middle. The nun they were following gestured for them to sit down at one of the seats. Sadly for Ada there were no seats beside each other meaning she'd need to separate from Lydia. Finding a seat in between a small boy and a girl. Both children seemed to focus their eyes upon her as she sat down. Finally the little girl spoke up pulling on Ada's sleeve. Ada looked down at the small girl who smiled at her with two missing front teeth "Why so ascared lady?" She said. Ada scowled crossing her arms "I'm not scared." Ada muttered. The girl giggled "It's okay I got scared too when I came here but everyone is rewy nice!" She said.

Ada was about to speak when the Nun returned with a pan full of stew. Ada's eyes widened she could almost feel her mouth watering. As a plate was placed infront of her she resisted the urge to devour the meal infront of her. It had been so long since she'd had a good meal and right now this was the best meal she'd ever seen in her life.

Lydia went into the orphanage and the first thing she noticed was the noise, the children were busy getting ready to eat and that was enough to get Lydia in the mood as well. She went to the nearest seat and realised it was taken, with a small sulk she looked around to see that her and Ada was going to get split up. Taking a few seconds to get her feel she allowed the warmth to wash over her as Lydia went to sit down, either side of her were two older children who looked at her strangely. “Hello, I’m Lydia, what’s your name?” the girl said, “I’m Emily and this is Amy” the older one said with a smile. All conversation stopped as the Stew was served, and just as Lydia was about to tuck in she got a playful clip around the ear by one of the girls. “Don’t eat yet, Sister Yumiko has got to say grace first”

Veronica smiled, waving at the group was they returned inside for food. Now the girls were going to get a hot meal, something she was sure they hadn't had in quite a while, but now came the troublesome task of convincing Anderson of something she wasn't sure he'd agree with. Most members of Iscariot, with exception of a few, were all raised at the orphanage from an extremely young age. Lydia and Ada were well that, so she wasn't sure how this would turn out. But, luckily she had a few points she could make that might turn it in her favor.

The nun's arms cross over her chest as she turned her gaze toward Anderson. "You wanted to speak with me, Father?"

Father Anderson waited a moment until the women and Timoteo had fully entered the orphanage before addressing Sister Corvis in private. The large Scottish priest adjusted his glasses and decided to get straight to the point. "Ah'm proud uv ye bringin those children ere fer comfert an care. They'll be welcum ere as long as they behave boot knowin yew Veronica, yew've got moor in mind fer em. Care tae explain why Ah should support ye in bringin those children inta Iscariot?"

OOC: Short post but it's primarily a conversation so meh.

OOC: Jaime said he'd make a new topic for the inside so I'm going to assume the posting order is just me and you now.
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"Am I truly that easy to see through? I must be slipping." The nun responded with a small chuckle, waving a few strands of her grey hair out of her face and tucking them behind her ear before sighing, placing her elbow in the palm of her other hand while extending a finger toward the sky, gesturing toward the Vatican.

"Nosferatu's recent "tantrum", I assume you've heard about it by now. A few hours ago, not only did he cause major collateral damage, but it cost the lives of several Iscariot agents assisting to keep it out of the Vatican; fifteen were lost if my count is correct. It' would be a quick way to regain even a bit of our strength. From the looks of it, they're around 17 or 18, so it'll be double the work teaching them compared to a child raised here." She paused a moment, glancing back toward the door to the orphanage. "But that's why I'll be taking the responsibility of training them.."

Alexander's jaw tightened at the mention of Hellsing's pet vampire. He had hoped that the creature's visit to the orphanage had truly been the beast's only stop in Rome but it came as no surprise to hear that the mongrel had caused more chaos elsewhere. "Ah had mah own brief encounter wit tha' bastard earlier taday. All tha' aside, ye joost met these girls Veronica. Ere's no way tae be sure they're capable uv being properly trained at this age or if they even want tae be," Father Anderson briefly gestured to Veronica before placing his hand on his own chest. "It's no easy task walkin tha path uv Judas Iscariot. Yew know tha' as well as anyone else. Ah've nevar denied those children tha' truly hear tha call boot we dinnae simply draft strangers off tha street."

"Constant kindness can accomplish much, Father." She moved her arm back down, re-crossing them over her chest. "As the sun makes ice melt before its warmth, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and even hostility to evaporate as if it were never there. It will take some time, agreed, but so does everything else that requires love and devotion. If they don't want to learn then I can understand and respect their choice, but I wont give up without trying. As to being unsure about them being able to be trained properly at their current age..."

She paused, taking note of her previous chase across Rome, "They can endure, they've proven that much... They already have unique traits that can be refined in place of the training that's no longer applicable to them, but due to their situation on not being properly trained from a younger age I plan on something a bit more suitable than the standard Iscariot approach.." Her hand reached into the satchel on the back of her waist and removed one of her bibles for him to see, hoping he'd catch the indication.

Father Anderson nodded at the nun, immediately catching the hint she'd given regarding her use of Holy Scripture as a weapon yet still not convinced in regards to the children. "Ah trust in yer abilities as an instructor well enuff, Veronica and fer tha sake uv argument we'll assume tha' tha girls can handle tha training. Boot ye haven't told me why Ah should trust they haff tha faith an devotion werthy uv Iscariot. Ye joost met tha girls taday, Veronica." Father Anderson responded. It was one thing to say that the children were feasibly trainable but it would be much more difficult trying to explain whether or not it would be worth the effort.

The Nun expected this much. She figured it wouldn't be easy convincing the Paladin, but that never stopped her before so why would it now? If she had to convince him then by all means, she would.

Veronica's arms crossed once again, bible still in hand. "It's true, I've just met these girls, but am I truly doing it any differently than when you choose someone to join our ranks? You have no idea if any of the children left in your care here have those qualities until you see them. I feel they have what it takes to become more than what they are, and I will take full responsibility for them and everything they do."

She paused a moment, taking a second to work over her next words in her head. Granted, both Ada and Lydia were well over the ages of most children who were left here, but did that really make so much of a difference? Could they not have the same level of devotion as herself or any of the other member? She closed her eyes for a brief second before opening them once again, her gaze meeting Anderson's head on.

"Faith and devotion are both gained through discipline and care, both things these children were deprived of early on in life. Everyone currently within our faction had to prove they possessed those attributes, even you, Father, were once put through a test of faith before being allowed into Iscariot ranks. All I ask is for you to give me some time with them, and then, if you still doubt their dedication, give them the same chance everyone else got to prove themselves."

Father Anderson set his jaw and took a moment to think over Veronica's latest argument. Had he truly chosen this life for himself? Had any of them really chosen? The aged Paladin looked towards the orphanage and took a deep breath before looking back to Veronica and setting a hand on her shoulder. "Evar since ye were a little girl ye've made me proud, Veronica. Ah'll put mah trust in ye and back the girl's applications intae Iscariot. Boot tread carefully, lass. Those two haff seen eir share uv hardships tha' could easily lead them astray wit tha trainin uv Iscariot," The Sword Dance offered a smile of encouragement and removed his hand from her shoulder, moving towards the orphanage to do a bit of paperwork before grabbing a late dinner of leftovers. "Remember yer courage, Veronica. Teenagers can put tha most fearsome uv munstars tae shame! Haha!" he said, waving back to her without turning around.

A sigh of relief escaped the nuns lips after hearing she'd gained his support on the matter. It was easier than expected, she'd thought there would of been more of an objection, but she wasn't going to question it. This actually gave her more time to move on to her own improvement, something that was needed after her performance during Alucards recent fit. She took his warning to heart, however, but she had her doubts about the two of them falling off their proper paths. If anything she'd smack them back on track with one of her bibles and that would be the end of it. She wasn't going to tolerate ungratefulness.

She bowed her head lightly in thanks as the Paladin retreated toward the Orphanage before turning back toward the Vatican, going to make use of the underground training room for a bit.

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Exit > Underground Training Room in the Vatican.