RWBY: MRRN
VOLUME 2, CHAPTER 1: A Huntsman and a Killer
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
Edit: This is a continuation of RWBY: MRRN Volume 1. If you haven't read Volume 1, I'd strongly advise you do so.
It was raining cats and dogs in the part of Sanus this village was in. Many of its occupants had either taken shelter in their homes or at the local inn, which was surprisingly quiet at this hour.
One of the inn occupants, one with a broad and well-muscled build, sat in the corner, smoking a pipe and huffing out some smoke. His attire consisted of a black shirt with a dark green overcoat with jeans and gray laced boots going up to his calf. His face was mostly covered by his hood, leaving only his light brown beard and some of his feathery, shoulder-length hair of the same color to be seen. His emblem could be seen on the gauntlet on his left arm; an eagle with an eight-pointed star behind it.
His weapon was a rather large sword, but not one so large or heavy it needed to be held with two hands. It had a green handle with an eagle head pommel and a silver cross guard with the depictions of eagle wings carved onto them. It was currently hanging from his belt on his left side, allowing him quick access to unsheathe it when needed.
"Can I get you anything, sir?" a cute Dog Faunus waitress asked him.
"Just a drink of water," he replied. "I don't have alcohol that much." The waitress was initially afraid of approaching him, but the closer she was, she didn't feel the instinct to defend herself. Instead, she was at ease around him.
"Right away," the waitress responded. The waitress walked away and approached the counter, where the owner handed her a modest glass of water. She walked back over to the hooded man and placed it on the table a few inches away from him.
"Let me know if there's anything else your need," the waitress offered. The warrior turned his head, his eyes invisible due to the shadow of his hood. A warm smile stretched across his face and he nodded.
"Thank you," he replied. The waitress nodded her head and walked off to serve the other customers, leaving the swordsman to his thoughts. Unfortunately, they were broken when a yelp was heard. The warrior turned his head to see that the Dog Faunus had been pushed to the ground by a group of humans.
"What are you doing here?" the leader growled. "Faunus don't belong here." The waitress tried to get up, but the leader sent her back to the ground by punching her square in the face.
"Oh, look at that," one of them taunted. "Faunus kneeling to humans, as it should be."
"Leave her alone!" the owner shouted. The leader pulled a gun and pointed it at him.
"You stay the hell out of this or I'll kill you!" he threatened. "We can do whatever we want!"
"Leave them alone!" The group of humans looked to see the hooded warrior up from his seat, placing his pipe on the table. Two of the humans pulled out their guns and pointed them at him.
"Who do you think you are?" one of them growled. "How dare you protect a Faunus!"
"What have the Faunus done to deserve being beaten unprovoked?" the warrior asked, his normally stoic voice building to anger.
"Those White Fang Faunus kill our people and you want to defend them?" the leader asked. "We have right to beat up and even kill this Faunus bitch." He then pointed his gun at the Dog Faunus, who was weeping in fear of her life. The warrior grabbed the leader's hand tightly until he was forced to let go of his gun.
"You will not kill her," the warrior warned. The leader laughed.
"How do you plan on stopping us?" he taunted. "There's more of us than there are of you."
"Let's take this outside and find out," the warrior insisted. The group was quiet for a little bit. Suddenly, the leader started laughing.
"I get it," he claimed. "You just want to take this outside so you can keep your dignity. Well, once we're done with you, we'll deal with the bitch."
The warrior grabbed the leader by the throat and lifted him into the air. He was still for a moment before throwing him out the door, tumbling into the mud. The hooded man then walked out the entrance and up to the leader until he was only a few feet away, the leader's men following after him.
"Kill him!" the leader shouted enraged. All of them ran towards the hooded man. Two of them unsheathed knives and slashed at him; the warrior deflected their attacks and took one out with a strong punch to the face, the other by sweeping him off his feet and kicking his face into the ground.
Another one took out her gun and fired several shots at him. He raised his left arm, activating the gauntlet on it. Instead of extending into a shield, the gauntlet merely extended its sides, representing an eagle's wings, blocking the bullets.
"All of you fight him!" the leader shouted as he pulled out a knife. "We'll teach him the rules around here!" All of them charged at him.
"Poor decision," the warrior whispered. He grabbed the arm of one of the attackers and punched him in the stomach and face with his gauntlet. Another one slashed a knife at his torso; he grabbed onto his shoulders, flipped over him and threw them into one of his comrades, making them fly into the side of the building.
"Are you a Huntsman?" one of them asked aggressively. There was no response from the hooded man.
"It doesn't matter if he's a Huntsman," the leader informed. "No one disrespects us and walks away! He picked a fight with the wrong people."
One of the remaining attackers slashed at the warrior with a knife several times, aiming at his head mostly. He dodged and deflected the attacks until he grabbed the arm holding his knife and used his gauntlet to break it, making him scream in pain.
"What are you waiting for?" the leader shouted in disbelief. "We're stronger than him."
"Says the man who ganged up on an innocent woman," the hooded man brought up.
"She's not a woman, she's an animal!" the leader shouted angrily. "Once we're done with you, we'll put-" He didn't finish his sentence before the hooded man rushed to him in a burst of speed and used his gauntlet to punch him into the air; he then leapt up, grabbed him by his leg and threw him into the ground.
The leader groaned in pain from the impact, barely managing to get up. He looked back to see the warrior just looking at him, but his eyes were still invisible under the shadow of his hood.
"Who are you?" he demanded to know. "You have no idea who you just messed with."
"I just messed with a bunch of thugs who think they can do whatever they want because no one had the strength to stand up to them," the warrior spoke. "I beat you all with just my gauntlet…and martial arts is not even my specialty."
"You ARE a Huntsman!" the leader gasped, his former arrogance twisting into cowardice. Without a second thought, he ran off, abandoning his comrades to lie in the mud and rain.
The warrior walked back into the inn, where the Faunus had her hand on where she was punched. He slowly approached her and gently put his hand on her shoulder.
"Let me see it," he insisted. The Dog Faunus looked at him with traces of fear in her eyes. She wasn't sure of how to react, even though he had just gotten through beating up the thugs who had hurt her.
"Why did you defend me?" she asked. "Are you a Faunus?"
"No," the warrior replied. "I simply hate the idea of prejudice against people because they're different. Please, let me see it." The Dog Faunus slowly moved her hand away where a large bruise had been left.
The warrior moved his own hand onto the bruise. Suddenly, a quiet shimmering noise was heard; the warrior's green Aura flowed from him to his hand to the bruise. In the matter of a few moments, the Aura stopped shimmering and the hooded man removed his hand from the Faunus. To her amazement, the bruise was gone.
"Are you a Huntsman?" she asked. The man simply smiled warmly; normally, this would unease her, but she felt comfortable around him.
"I am," he replied.
"What brings you here?" the owner asked, gesturing for the warrior to sit at the counter.
"I had been trailing someone for two weeks, someone I need to find," the warrior answered. "Unfortunately, I lost their trail a while back. I've been trying to find it for a while now, but no luck. They're covering their tracks far too well."
"Are they a friend of yours?" the owner asked. "By the way, if you want anything, it's on the house."
"I appreciate it, but that won't be necessary," the warrior replied. "No, this person is not a friend, but I need to find them. Her life is in terrible danger."
"Danger?" the owner asked. "From who?"
"That I cannot say," the warrior replied. "It's better for you not to know."
"What about you?" the Faunus asked. "Can we at least know your name?"
"No," he replied stoically. "I'm simply a Huntsman who comes and goes and protects those who cannot protect themselves."
"That's good enough for me," the owner replied with content. "Well, are you hungry? I can have something made for you."
"If you have any chicken, then I'll have that," he requested. He prepared to take out his Lien, but the owner held up his hand, stopping him.
"Please," he insisted. "Consider this a way of saying 'thank you' for defending her." The hooded man hesitantly consented to the owner's wish and put his Lien away.
The doors burst open and the leader had returned with more of his henchmen. Unlike before, they were properly armed with swords, clubs and a few firearms.
"Get on your feet!" he demanded. "No one humiliates me and gets away with it!"
"Why can't you just leave us alone?" the owner pleaded. "We've done nothing wrong!"
"You let this animal live with you and work here!" the leader shouted angrily. "Faunus don't belong here, they belong in cages and in the Dust Mines!"
"That's enough!" the warrior shouted. He got up from his seat and faced the leader and his henchmen, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"You can either leave or I'll give you a worse beating than last time," he threatened. The leader smirked and aimed his gun at the owner.
"Don't!" the Faunus woman begged. "Leave us alone!"
"Shut up, you filth!" the leader snarled as he fired a round at her. The hooded warrior quickly unsheathed his sword and deflected the bullet with its green and silver blade.
"Kill him, then burn this place to the ground!" the leader roared. The warrior rushed to them, his blade in one hand and his activated gauntlet in the other. He disarmed two of the henchmen with one swipe of his sword, and then grabbed the blade, using the hilt to knock both to the floor with a brutal strike.
An incoming henchman was taken out by the warrior using the cross guard to trip him and then punched him with his gauntlet. Two more of them armed with swords rushed to him and swung at him; he easily disarmed them, grabbed them by their throats and slammed them into the ground.
The hooded man saw the leader approaching the owner and Faunus, prepared to shoot. Before he could even pull the trigger, the warrior rushed to him and placed his blade in front of his throat.
"Pull that trigger and you die with them," he threatened. The leader's cowardice returned as he looked at the hooded warrior with a frightened expression and dropped the pistol.
"Tell your 'friends' to leave and not come back," he demanded. The few left standing were prepared to fight, but the leader shouted "Let's get out of here!" He ran out of the inn with his tail between his legs, followed by those still conscious.
"Defended us twice in one day," the owner spoke, relief in his tone. "And you beat them like they were nothing."
"Because they were arrogant enough to believe they were the toughest warriors in this part of Sanus when really they're just a bunch of cowards," the hooded warrior replied.
"Thank you," the Faunus waitress replied.
The rest of the evening went by rather quietly, with the hooded man receiving his chicken and then heading to bed for the night. Following the next morning, he placed his Lien on the counter and walked out.
"Wait!" the Faunus called out, following him. To her shock, he was gone. She looked left and right, yet he was nowhere to be seen. She wondered where he could've gone.
As she went back into the inn, a Vacuo Golden Eagle flew off into the distance.
-0-
Nachtfel was kneeling on a cushion, attending to his blade and inspecting its sharpness. The blade was nearly four feet long with a slight curve like any katana blade, a cross guard resembling a King Taijitu, and a long hilt with a diamond shaped pommel. Near the cross guard was his emblem; a carving of his iron helmet.
"Commander!" a man wearing a helmet with red lenses, gray modern armor, an automatic on his back along with a sword and a pistol in a holster addressed as he opened the door to Nachtfel's chambers.
"What is it?" he demanded to know.
"Our guys found two Huntsmen skulking about," he informed. "They brought them back for questioning. We wanted to let you know." Nachtfel rose from his knees, nerving the fighter.
"Bring them out," Nachtfel commanded. "I want all the Iron Knights to see them."
"Yes, sir," the fighter complied as he closed the door and left. Nachtfel breathed heavily as he sheathed his sword and walked out of his chambers, looking around as soon as he got out.
He was in a hideout in Vale with many fighters organizing supplies and weapons, all wearing the same armor and helmets as the fighter who informed him of the Huntsman. All of them had the symbol of his iron helmet on the front of their armors, showing their loyalty and dedication to his cause.
Booing was heard from the right, prompting Nachtfel to look. Several of his men were bringing out the two Huntsmen that had been caught and questioned. Their Auras were obviously down as they had been brutalized and beaten for information…and entertainment. The other fighters shouted many things as they looked at the two warriors.
"To hell with the Huntsmen!" "Kill them!" "Rip them to pieces!" "You're nothing without your Auras!" "Make them suffer!"
The two Huntsmen were brought before Nachtfel, glaring at them with his red eyes through his helmet. He held up his hand and the loudness stopped, prompting everyone to silence.
"So you're the Iron Knights?" one of them questioned. "What are you doing here in Vale?"
"You're not here to ask questions," Nachtfel replied. "You're here to face justice at the hands of those you wronged."
"That we wronged?" the other Huntsman asked. "We never did anything wrong." Nachtfel looked at the first Huntsman who had spoken.
"Is that what you thought when you were beating your wife to a pulp?" he questioned. "You blame all of your problems and your child's miscarriage on your wife, so you decide to take it all out on her just so you can release your anger."
"That's not true!" the Huntsman pleaded. "I never laid a finger on my wife."
"Yes, you did!" a young female voice called out. One of the Iron Knights removed her helmet, revealing the Huntsman's wife.
"You blamed me for everything bad that happened and you beat me for it!" she cried out. "I thought you loved me!" The Huntsman was about to speak, but she raised her pistol and pointed it at him.
"You Huntsmen are all the same," Nachtfel claimed. "You all think that just because you're elite warriors, you can do whatever you want and be above the law. The world will know peace when all of you are gone."
"Are you out of your mind!?" the other Huntsman questioned. "Remnant needs the Huntsmen! Without us, the Four Kingdoms will fall to the Grimm."
"The Huntsmen weren't there in the beginning when we humans and Faunus first went to war against the Grimm," he brought up. "We didn't need you back then…" Nachtfel reached forward and grabbed the first Huntsman by his throat, lifting him off the ground.
The Huntsman gagged as he tried to break free, but Nachtfel's grip was too strong for him. His face began to turn pale and his eyes started to bleed; Nachtfel wasn't simply choking him, he was crushing his neck as painfully as possible.
"And we don't need you now," he completed his sentence as he sadistically watched the last bit of life leave the Huntsman's body. He tossed his corpse to the side, right in front of some of the Iron Knights.
"Take his body to my chambers," Nachtfel commanded. Two of the Iron Knights grabbed the dead Huntsman's arms and dragged him to Nachtfel's chamber.
"He had a family," the other Huntsman spoke in complete disbelief. "He had a family and you murdered him!"
"The lives we take are meager compared to the ones you do," Nachtfel responded, turning away. "When we take lives, we're deemed criminals, murderers…but when a Huntsman takes a life, everyone turns a blind eye to it."
"That's not true!" the Huntsman claimed. A shot was heard, landing in the Huntsman's torso. The shot had come from the pistol being held by his wife.
"It is true!" she shouted. "I went to the police to report you, but they took your side because you're a Huntsman! You deserve to die for all the pain you've caused me."
"And he will," Nachtfel assured. "Bring me four Fire Dust crystals." One of the Iron Knights went through their supplies and brought back a container holding four Fires Dust crystals as commanded. To everyone's surprise, Nachtfel handed the container over to the wife.
"Do with him as you please," he allowed. The wife took the container and stood still for a moment. When she knew what she wanted to do, she rushed over to her husband, took out of the crystals and stabbed it into his shoulder. She then put the second in his stomach, the third in his chest and the fourth in his leg. He was left crying in agony as the Fire Dust crystals burned him alive, leaving a sense of satisfaction in the wife's eyes until he died.
Nachtfel walked up to a podium, grabbing everyone's attention as he prepared to speak.
"Many of you wonder why we're here," he started. "It's simple; we are part of a plan that will ensure the deaths of all Huntsmen here in Vale and the destruction of Beacon Academy!" Everyone cheered from the news, but were silenced when Nachtfel raised his hand.
"For years, Huntsmen claimed to be our protectors, yet they cause as much damage as the Grimm and get away with it," Nachtfel continued. "By the end of Fall, every Huntsman in Vale will be dead. They will know of our wrath and we will have our revenge!" The Iron Knights cheered in response to Nachtfel's speech.
"Prepare our weapons! As soon as we're ready, we carry out our next mission." With that, the armored warrior walked off the podium and back to his quarters, where a familiar face waited for him.
"Well, they seem excited to get involved," Cinder remarked. "I saw how you handled those Huntsmen…you must really hate them."
"I do," he replied.
"So, what is your next move?" Cinder asked curiously.
"We're going to get information on every Huntsman and Huntress in Vale," Nachtfel informed. "There's only two places where they can be accessed: Beacon Academy or the Council Hall."
"I could just get the information for you," Cinder offered. "My disciples and I will be posing as Haven students for the time being, so it'll be perfect to access them."
"No, your master spoke to me earlier," Nachtfel informed. "She wishes me to handle this. She feels that if you do this, it could risk blowing your cover. You already have one objective to do while posing as Haven students."
"If that's what she wishes, then fine," Cinder complied. "How do you plan on doing it anyway?" Nachtfel proceeded to explain his plan to extract information on all Huntsmen in Vale. It wasn't the most subtle plan, but it was sure to work.
"Well, well, I was right," Cinder smirked. "Asking for your help was a good idea."
"If any Huntsmen get in the way, we'll take care of them," Nachtfel assured. "The Iron Knights are trained well, especially against Huntsmen. We know how to fight them."
"That's good to know," Cinder replied. "While you keep the Huntsmen's attention, our plans will be able to flow much smoother."
"Very well," Nachtfel responded. "If that's all you need, then I must return to my work." Cinder walked over to the door, but stopped for a moment.
"You will have what you were promised," she assured. "When this is done, every Huntsman in Remnant will be yours to hunt down at your leisure." She then walked out, leaving the armored warrior to himself. He was alone for a few minutes until the door opened and one of his Iron Knights walked in.
"Our men are ready to be briefed on the mission," he informed. "Would you like to start it now?"
"I'll be there," Nachtfel spoke, looking at the dead Huntsmen in front of him. "Bring the other body."
"Yes, sir," the Iron Knight complied. Nachtfel then knelt down to the pale corpse in front of him. Using his sword, he cut off the Huntsman's arm, allowing blood to leave the body. The armored warrior placed his hand in the blood and then smeared it on his right pauldron and gauntlet.
Just then, the other body was brought in, the Dust crystals still impaled in his body. The two Iron Knights placed it next to the body of the other Huntsman and walked out of his quarters.
Nachtfel impaled his blade into the stomach of the other corpse and allowed more blood to flow from it. Like before, he dipping his hand in it and smeared it on the front and sides of his helmet. When he was done, Nachtfel cleaned his weapon and sheathed it in its scabbard.
He walked out of his chambers and saw all his Iron Knights looking up at him as if he was a God.
"Hail the Iron Knights!" he called out.
"Hail the Iron Knights!" they shouted back.
"Death to the Huntsmen and those who support them!" Nachtfel roared.
"Death to the Huntsmen and those who support them!" the Iron Knights cheered. While they cheered, Nachtfel sadistically smiled under his helmet.
"Soon, all Huntsmen in Remnant and those they love will be dead," he whispered. "Their world will burn…and it will begin at Beacon Academy."