The Headless Huntsman
Hey guys! Uh long time no see? Please don't beat me up because I haven't been updating Guiding Moonlight. Here I am with a just RWBY story for once with an OC off of deviantart created by BlueFLAME-FanArt and got permission to write his OC. His name? Dusk Hallows. Now just by the name I bet you can tell he's based off of the headless horseman well you got it right so onto the bio and the story!
Ozpin's Student Records (Classified; Keep Out!)
Name: Dusk Hallows
Age: 18
Hair Color: Orange (Like a pumpkin)
Eye Color: Gold (Like a jack O' lantern's eyes when a candle is inside )
(Lol, he's a legitimate pumpkin head)
Weapon: Headtaker (A battleaxe with the ability to use dust on the blade; uses mainly red dust to cauterize wounds like in the stories)
Side Weapon/ Firearm : None (I'm hesitant about this one because I don't want him to OP as I did add a little supernatural element to him, let me know what you guys think in the reviews)
Semblance: Nightmare: the target of his choice starts to shut out to the world around them and hallucinate their worst nightmares coming to life as Dusk disappears and is free to wreck havoc on their mind and body. One drawback to his semblance is that it takes a lot of energy to use so he can only use it around twice per day, but he trains constantly to push this number up.
Other abilities: Dusk seems to have the ability to make body parts disappear from sight or from existence, though he does not appear to have control over which parts and when they disappear. This most often happens to his head, causing Dusk to wear a helmet most of the time.
Appearance: Dusk looks exactly like he does in the picture but I changed his helmet a little, It now just looks a bit less ridiculous, and a bit more spooky (Imagine a Jack O' Lantern except the visor is in the classic jack o' lantern head instead of stretching the mask up with the cartoon-y four fangs.)
Team Relations: Team DEMN (Demon) (Standing: EMN deceased), Team CFVY ( same year, Unknown standing), Team RWBY (One year younger, Unknown team) Team JNPR (One year younger, Unknown team)
Attitude: (Okay I like role-playing/writing, tragic/insane characters) Dusk has a melancholy outlook on life and being naturally apathetic to others around him. Dusk also has a major case of sociopath-ism and only gets that kick of emotion when facing Grimm.
Background: Dusk used to be a loud sociable person and had no qualms talking and making conversation with other people. That was until near the end of the first semester during his second year of Beacon his team was sent out on a mission and were overrun by Grimm, and Dusk was the only survivor, his teammates giving their lives for their leader to be able to get back to Beacon. After that, Dusk didn't show up for classes and stayed in his room, he had convinced himself that it wasn't okay to feel sad and just stopped feeling at all. Ozpin, noticing the drastic change in his personality took pity on the boy and offered him the ability to study under him instead of doing classes and work at the school helping the teachers while still being a huntsman-in-training. The reason he did this was so that the boy would have more work and could focus less on his friends and have to interact with others to gain back his emotions. Sadly, so far, Ozpin's efforts haven't done anything, and the boy has gained his semblance and strange abilities.
Chapter 1: Second Semester! Start!
Beacon, Dusk's POV
I sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror, the reflection showing a rather tall (In my opinion) man with orange hair and gold eyes. This was me, or rather, is me , but I know I don't deserve to see it but, they wanted me to live, so I live for them my team, team DEMN. I sigh again as I suddenly see the orange hair and gold eyes disappear from sight, it had happened again, my head disappeared. I was hoping to not have to wear the helmet today but I turn around and put it on my suddenly invisible head. I felt the cool metal and plastic slide over my face and I feel the comfort of being enveloped by the cool darkness of the helmet as the reflective visor slides over my eyes. I have to get going to help professor Ozpin and Goodwitch with the first years though so I stop looking at my reflection and walk out the door.
I reach the combat room rather quickly, Ozpin and Goodwitch were standing in the middle of the room the first years were in their seats. I walk towards them and stand on the other side of Ozpin. I heard the whispers of the first years reach my ears.
"Who is he?" one asked
"Is he a huntsman?" said another
"He's pretty short, doesn't look to tough" one haughtily proclaimed.
I see Ozpin raise his hand to get the first years to stop talking. As they quiet Goodwitch begins to speak.
"Students, today you will face an opponent stronger than you to see how far we can push you before you tire. Your opponent will be Dusk Hallows, a second year here at our school as well as Professor Ozpin's assistant." she proclaimed to the now inquisitive students. Ozpin looked towards me, possible seeing if I was uncomfortable, I wasn't she was getting me the respect I deserve for such a position and that was it.
I looked out through my visor at the students, some still looked inquisitive, others, eager, and a few looked scared... good they should be, this is the second semester pretest after all, where we evaluate the first years and see what they have learned from their first semester.
"Who would like to go first?" Goodwitch asked, snapping me from my thoughts.
At first no students raised their hands, then one raised. A tall girl with long flowing hair, and a large bust stood up and made her way down. I saw her teammates look at her in shock while others looked at her in admiration.
She looked towards me and smiled and stuck her hand out for a handshake, I saw Ozpin smirk as the aura bars showed up on screen signaling the match starting.
"Hi! I'm Yang, Yang Xiao-Long!" The blonde now named Yang told me further sticking her hand out for a shake.
I heard the timer start as I reach to shake her hand. I grasp hands with her and begin the shake, then, suddenly, grip it tightly and throw her over my shoulder, smashing her into the ground. I watch her aura meter, it wasn't even half yet... good, I need more fun, I NEED TO FEEL!, I quickly shut the thoughts away as she swings with a wide left hook towards my ribs. I nimbly dodge the fist, then grab it as I kick her in the stomach. I'm trying not to use my weapon, as I don't think I'll need it to finish these matches. I see another incoming punch and I back-step to try to avoid it. In a twist I hear a click as two combustible shotgun rounds smash into my visor and knock my helmet off my head. I see Xiao-Long falter at the appearance of bright orange hair and dead golden eyes. Thankfully, my head was back on my shoulders at the time but I saw Ozpin's eyes signal me to get my helmet back on ASAP in case my head decides to disappear. I sprint to the helmet, Xiao-Long close behind me, she blocks my path. I need to end this quickly, I don't need an incident of my head disappearing where everyone could see. It would only cause my employer and mentor problems.
I decide to end this quickly and take Headtaker (Ironically named before my condition) and set my un-visored gaze on Xiao-Long, the buxom blonde smiled back at me. I charged, she puts up a block with her gauntlets. I don't care. I swing the axe in a circle and into a strong horizontal strike, looking Xiao-Long moves her gauntlets to the left to block, I activate the dust in my weapon, fire roaring to life. I see her eyes widen at what blocking with her gauntlets could do, but it's too late. Headtaker slams into her gauntlets already sending her flying and dealing damage to her aura but then the fire activated the rest of her combustible shotgun shells, creating a rather large explosion. I look at her aura, it was in the red, the match was over.
I walk over to my helmet and slip it back on my head, once again feeling the cold confines of darkness. I go through several more matches, only few standing out like Xiao-Long's match. Ruby Rose, a scythe speedster that used quick attacks to pile up damage and end confrontations quickly. Defeated by prolonging the battle and tiring her out. Weiss Schnee, a rapier user that enables her family semblance with dust. Defeated by slashing her glyphs before they could take affect. Blake Belladonna, had a unique weapon that was a cleaver, katana, and a kama pistol. She used stealth and surprise tactics to her advantage. Defeated by being aggressive and unrelentless with attacks until she ran out of options and did a frontal attack and lost. Phyrra Nikos... was a moderately challenging fight. She used her semblance to a perfect T and possessed a uniuqe fighting style. Defeated by imbuing my weapon with dust making it unpolarized and unable to be affected by her semblance.
After we had gotten through the rest of the students the bell rang signifying that it was time for lunch. The students filed out of the room at a quick pace and rushed past me, Ozpin, and Goodwitch. After they had fled the room I turned towards Ozpin, he nodded at me and we went off back to his office to train my semblance and hope to gain power of my body parts disappearing.
Beacon Lunch Room: 3rd Person View
Ruby Rose was having a great day so far. She had taken her pretest and got to face a second year and his weapon! It was so cool, a wicked looking battle axe with the ability to use dust, she could faint but then she couldn't think about the weapon and how to improve it, or how it works.
"RUBY!" the weapon nut's sister Yang yelled out to the imaginative girl breaking her from her thoughts.
"Huh? What? I totally wasn't thinking about that second year's ax!" Ruby spouted out at a pace incomprehensible to humans.
Yang laughed at her sister's antics but then pulled a serious face on. "We were talking about the second year, we've never seen him around school like the others did we?"
Ruby thought for a second, "No I don't think we have but Professor Goodwitch also said that he was Ozpin's assistant, so he might have always been busy to attend classes."
"Hmm mm... Maybe, but when I knocked his helmet off did you see his eyes?"
Blake perked up from a book she was reading. "His eyes... they looked empty, devoid of emotion."
"Were they? I was only focused on the fact that he looked like a pumpkin even without the helmet."
Yang snorted at her sister's attention to the weird things.
"But no, seriously he looked like he wasn't even feeling pain, no flinch, nothing at all."
Weiss then chimed in, I can figure out more about him through the CCTV if you would like me to Yang, I am rather curious how someone like him is Ozpin's assistant.
"Really?"
"Really"
Ozpin's Office: Dusk's POV
I'm in Ozpin's office trying to use my semblance on him. It's hard, I can't penetrate his mental barriers, he is vastly stronger than me I can feel it. But, but if I can latch onto one fear then I can tear open the barriers. I might know what one was as well...
Failure
Ozpin doesn't want to fail his students or Vale, he runs his academy at top notch condition all the times and has measures set in place to prevent catastrophic events. I dug in on that fear of failure latched on to his mental walls and threw in self-doubt and fear of failure I could start to see the mental walls shake and quiver as they start to give way but soon I feel pain as if I'm being attack by his mind. I wasn't surprised we have done this song and dance before and I know this is the signal telling me to stop or Ozpin will knock me out.
I return to staring at Ozpin through my visor as we sit in his office the gears above us clicking.
Click.
Click.
Click.
"You did exceptionally well today Dusk, I grant you the rest of the day to do as you wish please try to make some semblance of friends we need to get you on the road to rehabilitation." My mentor told me. He knew I wouldn't but he could at least try to put a broken shell back together again, sorry Ozpin, it's gonna take more than all the king's horses and all the king's men to put me back together again.
"I'll think about it." I said as I walked out of the room and into the elevator.
I exited the elevator and walked through the halls students looking at me as I passed, for the older students it was in recognition, and for the younger it was for me beating them in their matches today. I walked past them and their stares into the training room. Where several teams were practicing exercises including team CFVY, a second year team that my former team was friends with. Team RWBY, a team of first years that I beat earlier, they were some of the best in their class. They stared at me as I walked to the simulator and stared at the levels. 1-20 going from least to greatest difficulty. I looked at the current scoreboard and it had team CFVY as the current leaders at level 12 round 5, I cranked it up to 12 and put in my team name. I saw team CFVY look away while RWBY looked on in interest as to what team I came from.
It was easy at first...
D
Why is my stomach hurting?
E
Stop this
M
STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP I'M SORRY I'M SO SORRY!
N
I pushed away the feeling, after all who needs it, I don't, as round one starts and the simulation begins. Rounds one through 5 were relatively easy. It was onto round six where team CFVY failed before, the simulation puts in front of me multiple Grimm. It looks like 2 deathstalkers and 3 boarbatusks. I stare at the holographic Grimm waiting for the moment to strike. I see them encircle me, a boarbatusk's right leg stiffens...
NOW!
I jump to the right dodging a spinning boarbatusk, Headtaker in my hands as I jump and spin right to hit a deathstalker's stinger, slicing through the venom sack and dripping the Grimm's deadly venom into its own eyes, effectively blinding it and making it only use it's other senses. The other two boarbatusks charge at me hoping to impale me upon their deadly spikes of bone. I dodge the first one and as the second comes careening on I block with Headtaker in the area between where the ax head meets the handle. I pull back on handle letting red dust spill into the blade and light it on fire, cutting and cauterizing the neck of the boarbatusk and decapitating it leaving only a stump, unable to heal because of the fire it died. I use the upward momentum from pulling upwards to flip backwards on top of the blinded deathstalker. Sensing an object on top of it the deathstalker stabbed down with it's venom-less stinger, I jumped, making stab itself in its own eye. I turned to the other deathstalker now in front of me raise its stinger high into the air and stab down. I dodged but got hit by the first boarbatusk in the process. The simulation gave me a shock that brings down my aura by a bit. I turn to the boarbatusk and kicked it in its chin sending it careening backwards and I hack into its stomach, killing it as well. three left The final boarbatusk charged rolling into a ball and jumped into the air. As it got closer I swung my ax at it and the Grimm slammed into the wall cracking it's heavy plates. The pig tried once again but I brought my ax down on its forehead where the plates had cracked, slicing through tissue and coming out the other side as I debrained the foul Grimm. I felt giddy killing the things that had killed my best friends, I heard laughing inside my head, I smile on my face, my right eye twitched. Then again. Then again. I was finally having fun again. I turned towards the death-stalkers as they were all that was left and I charged for once. There was no battle-cry... just laughter, I felt happy! and as the Grimm dissipated into dust all I could think as I turned to the final death-stalker was... DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE MOTHERFUCKERS! was how the Grimm was going to lose and I would take the leader-board I felt myself coming off my high as the simulation ended. I turned around and saw the two teams still there, they had watched the entire performance. Team CFVY looked scared, or with pity, I can't tell as I don't need either of it. Team RWBY on the other hand had a variety of emotions that I could see. The Schnee heiress and Belladonna looked wary while the two sister looked at me in... admiration? No matter I'm done for the evening, I head back to my room.
Training Room: 3rd POV
Ruby looked at team CFVY they were still looking down at their shoes as if they had seen a ghost.
"Coco? What's wrong" The little rose asked the her fellow leader.
"Nothing Ruby just us and Dusk's team used to be best friends" The fashion queen of Beacon responded
"Used to? What happened did your teams have a falling out?" The inqusitive Ruby asked.
"No, it's, gather here the four of you and I can explain it".
Team RWBY huddles near Team CFVY in a corner of the room.
"Dusk didn't always use to be cold and calculating, in fact I could say he was more social than Yang at one point."
"Really?
Blake looked at Coco "But something happened to change that didn't it"
A nod from Coco as she continues to talk "Yeah, it happened at the begining of the school year, his team was sent out on a search and retrieve mission for a couple of kids lost in the forever falls."
"Were the kids okay?" Yang asked.
"Yes they had completed the mission correctly but... Dusk was the only one to make it back alive with the kids."
Silence filled the hall at the proclomation, the first year team's faces contorted one from happiness to horror.
Coco continued, "At first he just cried but then eventually he came back out of his room, Ozpin by his side, his face a mask. I asked Ozpin what happened and he told me that Dusk could no longer feel emotions, so he took him on as his apprentice and assistant."
Ruby tenatively raised a hand to ask her fellow older leader a question, "Then why was he laughing as he killed the simulated grimm."
"I heard from Ozpin that he only has emotion when killing grimm, it brings him a sense of justice, if you really wanted to know his mental state, technically he would be a Sociopath. He gets his emotion through killing the things that killed his most precious people on earth, but according to him their last words is what are keeping him alive right now... they had told him to live, so he lived on for them. He stopped going to classes in favor of always training with Ozpin for around six hours a day just straight physical training then according to Ozpin himself they work 5 more hours on his semblance." A distraught Coco replied.
"What's his semblance?"
"He calls it nightmare, he digs into a person's mind and pulls out their biggest fears and his target experiences them. Most would die from a heart attack as their worst fears are replayed over and over through their minds, the others go insane"
"Wow, that sounds... horrible... why does Dusk wear a helmet"\
Coco tried to think of an answer to the inqusitive girl, "I, I actually don't know the answer to this one Ruby, he used to only wear it when he rode his motorcycle but now he wears it all the time. The only thing I could think of is to hide his dead looking eyes... poor guy"
"Coco, what exactly happened to his team?"
"Alright, gather in a bit closer I'll tell you, beware though its not a pretty story."
(AN: Coco's Speech will overlap with Dusk's here Dusk will be in bold while Coco's will be normal text)
It happened a few months back.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
Team DEMN had been assigned a search and retrieve mission.
It was a simple job, find a couple kids in the Forever Falls forest.
They found the kids, but...
The grimm were lively that afternoon, they surrounded us.
One of his teammates told the others to run, he would hold them off as long as possible.
Ebony told us to run, she would try to meet up with us later, I wanted to take her place, but...
He knew he had to lead his team back to Beacon, so he turned around with the rest but...
It was only a matter of time before we heard her screams as the beasts feasted upon her flesh and blood
They were almost there they were almost back to the Bullhead!
I heard the caws of nevermores, the Clik, Claks of deathstalker legs on stones.
His final two members told him to take the kids back alone.
Navy and Maroon threw the kids at me, screamed at me to finish the mission... they told me to LIVE
They arrived at the bullhead, but...
The grimm were closing in fast, I threw the kids in the bullhead and turned to our assailants as I heard the screams of the rest of my Beacon family.
He saw the grimm close in
I watched the scoundrels surround me...
So he fought
SO I KILLED!
Ozpin apparently was able to get footage of the fight but he almost puked, Dusk tore apart grimm with his bare hands, laughing and grinning, his mind had shattered from the death of his friends, no, family.
I remember taking wounds, I had no aura, but even more so, I continued to kill...
DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND I HAVE TO KILL THEM ALL I HAVE TO AVENGE THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! KILL THEM! I WILL KILL ALL THESE OUM DAMNED GRIMM UNTIL THEY'RE JUST PASTE I WILL MURDER THEM EVEN IF I HAVE TO KILL MYSELF IN THE PROCESS I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! I, I just don't want to be alone anymore, I HAVE TO KILLLLLLLL! MURDER IS ALL I KNOW MAKE ME LAUGH YOU STUPID ANIMALS!
END CHAPTER 1
So, uh what y'all think? Uh rate and review and please tell me if Dusk should get a firearm or if he is too OP already.
