Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest story Remnants of the Hunt. I recently discovered the joy that is rwby and this idea wouldn't simply leave me alone until I got it down. This was really fun to write and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Both RWBY and Bloodborne belong to their respective owners. I own my oc and nothing more.

xxxxx

High atop a nightmarish castle the sounds of battle raged under the sickly night sky. The sounds of steel scraping across stone echoed from the lunarium as what could only be described as a living nightmare rampaged across the roof. The monster looked like some form of demented angel, wrapped in a decrepit black shawl with two sickly black feathered wings sticking out underneath. The long stretch of robe that served as it's head let out another painful screech as its six skeletal arms once more lashed out with its swords intent on ripping it's attacker to pieces.

The nightmare's opponent was a man, dressed in a leather coat overtop a set of leather armor and a tattered tricorne hat welding a large sword with a flintlock straped to his hip. The man went to roll out of the way of the attack with surprising speed given the sheer size of his weapon however he wasn't fast enough as one of the monster's blades found its mark, leaving a deep gash across his chest and sending the man tumbling backwards. Quickly recovering the man threw a Molotov at the monster as it tried to close in to finish the job. The glass vial broke causing it to shriek in pain as flames engulfed it's 'head'. With his prey momentarily distracted the hunter put some distance between himself and his quarry.

"Fucking hell that hurts! " he muttered to himself as he gingerly touched the wound. Retrieving a glass vial filled with a bright red liquid from his belt he quickly stabbed himself in the thigh, sighing at the numbing relief brought on by the blood injected by the small spring loaded needle. A moment later the wound, which would have killed a lesser man, was healed without so much as a scar.

And not a moment too soon as the nightmarish wet nurse had succeeded in beating out the flames that threatened to consume her. It stared at the hunter for a moment before letting out yet another scream before the roof became shrouded in a purple fog So dense that the swordsman could barely see three feet in front of him.

'Dammit. Not this shit again.' The man thought, the beast had tried this before and he had barely gotten away the first time. Spinning on his heel the man swung his blade bisecting the beast as it emerged from the fog to attack his back. His attacker burst into a cloud of smoke, an illusion. Suddenly a pair of arms shot out of the haze swords in hand, the hunter barely managed to duck out of the way before the attack struck leaving two deep scars in the roof where he had been standing. Quick as they came the arms shot back into the fog. This was how it fought, blinding him with the fog while using copies and quick attacks to remain hidden.

'But now I know where you are demon!'

Without a moments hesitation he took off into the fog. Slashing another copy that tried to ambush him he quickly found his prey moving slowly through the fog as if it was under strain from keeping the mist from dispelling. It turned to face him and once again he was forced to dodge it's swift sword strikes. Evidently the monsters swordplay was unhindered by maintaining the fog. However throughout the fight the hunter had begun to see a pattern emerge, he just needed to wait for the right moment.

And so the hunter continued his dance, nimbly evading his prey's seemingly unending assault. Slashing yet another clone he finally saw his opening. He burst forward with a speed he had yet to show levelling the tip of his blade with his opponent as he ran. The creature saw this and went to stab the man however it was too slow. The hunter's blade buried itself up to the hilt in the beast's body piercing out the back, with a mighty heave he swung upward nearly ripping it in half from hip to shoulder. The monster shuddered and let out a final shriek before falling to the ground, dead. Then almost as quick as it came the fog lifted, disappearing along with the clone whose blade had been mere inches from piercing his neck.

'Damn that was close. But what other choice did I have?' the hunter merely thought to himself.

Staring down at the nightmare's body he saw how it glowed softly for a moment before exploding into a fine silver mist. All at once the hunter felt the all too familiar rush of power as he absorbed the wealth of blood echos the nightmare had accumulated. Sheathing his blade across his back he pulled down the scarf that covered his face and removed his hat to run a gloved hand through his shoulder length black hair that was drawn into a small ponytail. He was a handsome man, with pale skin and dark blue eyes. He was young as well, looking no older than nineteen. Replacing his hat the hunter turned to leave but then he noticed something, laying where the body of the demon wet nurse used to be was a large black tentacle.

'Another one?' He thought as he went to pick it up. He recognized it as another one of those strange cords that he had found. Holding it in his hand he focused his will upon the cord before crushing it in hand causing it to explode it a familiar silver mist. The rush of inhuman knowledge that followed left him light headed like always, after all having eldricth knowledge forced into your mind can be uncomfortable.

'Hmmm, that's three thirds, I guess that makes a whole.'

As the hunter pondered on just how he was going to leave he noticed an unlit lamp sitting off to the corner. Thinking this was a much better option than having to traverse through this hell hole of a castle again he made to leave before the sound of crying stopped him in his tracks. Turning he saw the baby carriage the nightmare had seemingly been guarding. It had been overturned during the fight revealing that it had been empty, but that didn't stop the wails of an infant from echoing across the lunarium. The hunter stood in thought for a moment, before slowly reaching into his belt and withdrawing a small music box. Spinning the small crank a small tune began to play. He heard the ghost stop crying and go silent, like it was listening, then after a moment it laughed before its presence faded from existence.

The hunter sighed heavily. The child's crying and the music box had brought back very painful memories, memories of a white ribbon stained in blood. Looking at the tiny music box the hunter merely closed his eyes as a small tear made it way down his face.

Putting away the box he made his way over to the lamp and lit it with a snap of a fingers. As he felt the small hands of the Messengers grab onto him he couldn't help but wonder what he should do next.

'Perhaps Gerhman will know.'

And with that thought he let the Messengers carry him off into the land of the Hunter's Dream.

xxx

As soon as he emerged from the ground in the Hunter's Dream it was clear something was wrong. The smell of smoke laid heavily across the normally serene graveyard, a moment later he saw why. The Workshop, which had become like home to him was engulfed in flames. His right hand flew to his blade and with a click the hilt came free to reveal a longsword hidden within the giant greatsword, in his left hand he held his pistol. Moving forward with caution he saw the Doll standing in her usual place, she looked unharmed thankfully.

"What happened here?" he quickly asked.

"Ah, good hunter. Gerhman awaits you at the base of the great tree." she simply replied.

Nodding the hunter quickly ran over to the flaming workshop to see if anything could be salvaged. Thankfully it seemed his storage chest was unharmed by the flames. Topping off his stash of blood vials and quicksilver bullets he ran to find his mentor in case he was in trouble.

He found his teacher in a large graveyard the hunter had yet to see, just below the giant tree in his wheelchair like the Doll had said.

"Master, are you ok?"

"I am fine young one." the old hunter said he gazed at his student. "You have done well. The night is nearly over. Now I will show you mercy. You will die, forget this horrid dream, and awaken anew under the morning sun."

"I'm sorry?!" The young swordsman replied, shocked at what he had heard.

"Your work is now finished, you have done in one night more than many hunters could hope to achieve in a lifetime. I am offering you a way out. "

"Is that what happened to the others?" the teen growled, gesturing to the surrounding graves "Did you kill them too?"

"Yes, I did. I offered them a release from their burdens and they took it gladly."

"Well I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

The old man merely sighed, a bitter sound that conveyed his true age. "So, what was it? The blood, the hunt, or perhaps the terrible dream? No matter I suppose, it has always been the task of the hunter's helper to clean up the mess."

Slowly the aged hunter stood up from his wheelchair, standing nearly twice as tall as his apprentice. Slowly, he drew the long curved blade that rested at his hip. With practised ease he slammed the blade into the wooden contraption on his back which straightened out into a long staff, transforming the sword into a wicked looking scythe.

"Tonight, Gherman joins the hunt. " Then with a speed the young hunter thought beyond him he attacked, rushing his apprentice and with a flick of his staff launched him into the air before sending him flying with a swipe of his blade.

The young hunter came to a tumbling halt several yards away and barely rolled out of the way in time to dodge the vicious overhead strike that followed. Getting to his feet he saw his mentor had already in the midst of another swing. It would have succeeded in removing his head from his shoulders had the teen not fired his gun, striking Gherman in the shoulder and throwing him off balance. Taking advantage of his teacher's moment of weakness he ran him through with his sword before pivoting, and with an upward swing of his sword threw him onto the ground several feet away in a shower of gore. As he watched the First Hunter clambered to his feet he calmly injected himself with a blood vial healing most of the damage his teacher had inflicted.

"Hmph. It appears you have some skill." Gherman muttered as he touched the wound then stared at his fingers coated in his blood, as if he had forgotten he could bleed.

"Of course, I was taught by you afterall." the apprentice replied.

The two stared at each other for a moment, gauging their opponent, looking for any weaknesses they might exploit. After a moment the silence was broken as student and master exploded into movement to do battle. The pair fought for what felt like hours trading blows back and forth as they danced with death under the pale moonlight.

"Please, come to your senses. Why would you want to doom yourself to live forever, trapped in this terrible dream?" Gherman asked, baffled at why his student was resisting when so many others before had been joyous at being offered a chance at release.

"Because my job isn't over."

Gherman went to strike again, another wide sweeping strike with his scythe but the younger hunter rolled forward getting behind him delivering two quick swipes at his exposed back before rolling away before he could retaliate.

"Enough with this foolishness."

Leaping back Gherman transformed his scythe back into its sword form and drew the blunderbuss slung across his back. A sickly green glow enveloped the aged hunter causing his already impressive speed to triple. He was so fast that the young hunter couldn't even track him when he dashed, he would simply vanish from sight and then reappear behind him a moment later.

The fight immediately began to shift in Gherman's favour, his insane speed allowing him to flow around his apprentice's strikes like water around a rock and strike with only barest fear of retaliation, Gherman's blunderbuss only served to make things worse as it served to further push the raven haired youth off balance. Within minutes the young hunter was riddled with wounds while simply trying to survive the deadly onslaught. A lucky strike managed to catch the First Hunter in the shoulder, cutting him quite deeply. With a gasp of pain he leapt away.

The teen went to inject another blood vial, only to find he was out. Gherman's new speed had forced him to use up the last of his supply within a matter of minutes.

'Just great. I'm heavily wounded, completely outclassed in terms of speed and to top it all off I only have a single bullet left for my pistol. Fucking wonderful.' The youth thought.

His mentor wasn't in any better shape. He too was badly wounded and favouring his right leg. Evidently he hadn't expected his student to put up such a fight as he didn't appear to be carrying blood vials on his person. Thank the Lord for small mercies. He saw how the First Hunter transformed his weapon back into its scythe form and a flicker if hope bloomed in the younger hunter's mind. While Gherman's scythe gave him far better reach than his blade it rendered him unable to use his blunderbuss making it possible to counter.

Time seemed to slow as the hunter watched his teacher charge forward. Taking a calming breath he steadied his nerves. A moment later Gherman reappeared in front of him in the poised to strike. The teen levelled his gun and fired.

*Click* *BANG*

For a horrible second he thought he had missed, but the bullet struck true striking him in the right leg causing the aged hunter to stumble and fall to his knees mid swing. Without so much as a sound the teen struck, stabbing his master in the heart. He heard Gherman gasp in shock before sharply twisting the blade and pulling it free. Slowly he began to fall backwards but the teen caught him and gently laid him down on the field of flowers, their once white petals now stained red.

"Thank you.." The silence that had fallen was broken so suddenly that the young hunter nearly jumped. Looking down he saw that his teacher was smiling.

"The night and the dream were long, but now I am free." he coughed, staining his mouth with blood. A moment later he stilled, yet his smile still remained.

Sighing heavily the teen gently passed his hand over his deceased mentor's face and closed his eyes giving the illusion he might have been sleeping were it not for all the blood. With shaking hands he took the worn hunter's badge that Gherman wore. It had hurt to kill him, the old man had been like a second father.

'I need to give him a proper burial. Perhaps the Doll can help.' He thought.

Standing up he noticed Gherman's scythe laying abandoned on the ground. Picking it up he collapsed the weapon and secured it upon his back. He turned to leave when suddenly he felt like he was being watched. Turning around he saw how the moon had become impossibly close, staring down at him like a giant red eye and floating in front of it was a monster more terrifying then anything he had yet to face. It was a giant skeletal monster easily as big as Eribitas with several long bladed tails and claws the size of longswords. It's head had several large tentacles that dripped with a seemingly endless supply of pale blood and it's face was twisted into a grotesque visage of pure agony.

The monster slowly floated to the ground and and hard as he tried the hunter couldn't being himself to move. The monster merely stared at the hunter then beckoned with it's massive claws. A strange calming presence had washed over the teen and he found himself unwittingly taking a step towards the beast. Soon he was standing directly in front of it and still he made no move to draw his weapon, every time he tried a soft soothing voice would whisper in his mind and all thoughts of fighting back would vanish. The grotesque nightmare gently lifted the teen up in its massive talons and brought him towards it's deformed face.

'It is time to sleep... Sleeeeep.' The voice whispered in his mind.

'Yes, sleep. I feel so... tired. perhaps..' The hunter thought as the monster brought it's face closer and closer. It started to inhale and the teen felt his life begin to drain from him.

'NO!'

The haze suddenly shattered and from his lips came a profane incantation ripped from the darkest depths of his mind. His hand erupted in a golden glow that caused the monster to recoil as if burned. It tried to drop the hunter but he grabbed onto it's face and refused to let go. The glow began to grow and envelop the nightmare until with a final shriek it was consumed entirely. In a flash of brilliant gold light it disappeared causing the hunter to fall back to earth. The teen struggled to stand but pain racked his entire body, like he had been stabbed with millions of red hot knives all at once. As he slowly fell into unconsciousness, he saw the moon's red glow give way to white. Then the Doll was beside him, moving his head so that it rested in her lap she spoke.

"Farewell good hunter, may you find your worth in the waking world. "

And with that darkness closed in and he knew no more.

xxx

The soft touch of the wind greeted the hunter as he awoke. Groaning he opened his eyes to find that he was propped up underneath the great tree in the graveyard, which looked to have been restored. Indeed the blood stains had vanished and the tombstones etched with the names of hunters past had returned.

'The Doll must have put me here to rest.' the youth thought.

Standing up he felt his his joints creaked and popped in their stiffness as if they hadn't been used in years. Looking behind him he saw a large blank tombstone, removing his sword he knelt and began to carve into the surface.

Here lies Gherman, the First Hunter

Smiling somberly to himself he placed the blade back in its sheath and turned to go find where the Doll was so he could properly bury his mentor. Then he noticed something.

'Wait a moment. Why am I in a forest?'

The graveyard was surrounded by a lush green forest full of actual living trees. Not the strange dead ones that stretched up beyond the clouds that filled the Hunter's Dream. Then he noticed something even more bizarre, the moon was shattered into pieces like an egg.

'So this isn't the Hunter's Dream then. What in the world is happening here?'

Passing through the gate he found the Workshop was were it always had stood. But unlike the charred mess he had been expecting to find it was in perfect condition. The only things missing were the two birdbaths that the Messengers liked to inhabit.

"Doll?" he called out. His voice was cracked and dry like he hadn't spoken in years. Clearing his throat he tried again, this time louder. "Doll?"

He heard no answer, he looked around and when he did not find her in her usual places he decided to check the interior of the Workshop. The great oak doors refused to budge at first but eventually they opened groaning as they did. Like everything else the interior was just as he had left it before the fire. All the tools were in their proper places, various weapon parts hung from chains on the ceiling and books were piled into haphazard heaps out of the way. But he still hadn't found the Doll. Noticing the chest he had used for storage he walked over and opened it. Inside was all the various weapons and pieces of armor he had collected during his time in Yharnam along with all his other supplies.

The hunter shut the box and rubbed his eyes as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

"Okay, let's recap. I killed the nightmare known as Mergo's Wet Nurse. I returned to the Dream to find the Workshop on fire. My teacher tried to kill me but instead I killed him. That other nightmare appeared and I used a spell that just randomly popped into my head to kill it or at least I think I killed it. Then I passed out... Wait." The hunter muttered as a new thought struck him.

"What if I didn't pass out, what if I died. Gherman mentioned giving me rest. Could this be it?"

As the teen stood in thought he decided to look around before coming to any conclusions. Stopping for a moment he removed his weapons and hung them from a rack on the wall.

'Won't need these anymore I guess.. ' He thought before leaving to explore the woods.

xxx

Five hours later

xxx

The hunter sat in front of the fireplace, enjoying the warmth it gave off as a kettle boiled water for the tea that he had found tucked away in one of the cupboards along with a few other foodstuffs preserved in jars. He had spent the past few hours exploring the forest around his new residence. The forest seemed to stretch on for miles on end, but as large as it was he had yet to encounter any form of wildlife. In the end it began to get dark so he had returned to the workshop. Since then he had simply sat in thought in front of the fire in an old rocking chair he had found.

'if I did die, then why didn't I awaken in Yharnam like Djura and Eileen did when they lost their connection with the Dream? Does this mean that I can truly die now?' He thought as he stared into the fire, idly he noticed that the sun had finally set and night had fallen.

'There are worse fates I suppose. I just wish it wasn't so boring..' He sighed.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of movement outside. Standing up he made his way over to the door and looked out into the gloom. Staring back at him were several pairs of glowing red eyes.

The teen couldn't help but smirk. Idly he recalled something the Doll once said.

"Night falls once more, and the hunt begins again. "

Reaching over to the side he grabbed a weapon off the rack, a Hunter's Axe. You can't beat the classics after all. Taking a blunderbuss in his other hand his smirk grew into a full on smile.

" And tonight, Alexander Cortell joins the hunt!"

xxx

A/N

Ok first off you have no idea how hard it was to not make Alex's first name Fabrizio ( cookies to whomever gets that reference). Secondly what the hell happened with the Moon Presence? Well you'll just have to wait and see!

In case I wasn't clear enough his outfit consists of the hunter's cap with the rest belonging to the Yharnam Hunter set.

Anyway, before I go here's Alex's stats.

Total Level: 150

Vitality: 40

Endurance: 35

Strength:50

Skill: 50

Blood Tinge: 20

Arcane: 15