A/N: Hello. Here we are for my RWBY/Bloodborne story. However, the story you need to read first before this is "Hunter to Huntsman" by brassleader. Please, check out his story first, then read mine. I asked his permission to write this story using his material since it's over from his point of view. Well... I hope it's a guy, or I assumed the wrong gender for him/her. Oh, if another Bloodborne story has a Victor Helsing, it is purely coincidence since Victor sounds like a good first name for a Helsing. My choices were Victor, Dante, or Steven for me. Anyway, let's go to the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and created by the late Monyreak "Monty" Oum. Bloodborne is owned by From Software and Hidetaka Miyazaki as well as created by them. There will be blood and gore in this story as well as some eldritch truth and the "so-so is naked" nudity thing in this story. Like I said, this story will take place after brassleader's "Hunter to Huntsman". Now then, let the hunt begin.
Chapter 1: War is coming
Both the hunter and the eldritch monster are in the field that was used during Gehrman's battle. The monster was bloodied and ravaged by cuts in it's flesh. The hunter had stopped in his tracks to take a breather. The human had a hunter hat and the old hunter set for his attire. His weapons of choice was the Saw Cleaver and the Beast Cutter, the very weapon he holds in his hand currently. He was in his mid-thirties, five years away from his forth decade, had pale blue eyes, and a beard with some speckled hair. The guns he used were the hunter blunderbuss for beasts and the Evelyn for humans. He had 14 quicksilver bullets left, but only had 2 blood vials as well.
He stood there, motionless aside from his heavy breathing for what seemed like eons to both opponents. He looked to the ground thinking of something, the Great One couldn't figure out. The monstrosity knew he could die, but he had encountered worse than him. As the hunter looked up, the Moon Presence tensed up, waiting for him to strike.
"I'm sorry, but... I'd like to take a moment and talk to you. I know it's unconventional, but I just have this instinct to do so. Could be from me about to die again, even though I'm immortal, or it's just that I'm that insane to do this. So," The hunter sat down, making his enemy so confused and dumbfounded by this gesture. "Can you spare a moment and hear the story of a lowly hunter? Assuming you know what I'm saying, of course." The Moon Presence got out of it's trance and just laid down, knowing this human is actually serious about his proposal. It nodded, giving the hunter his queue to start.
"Alright, let's start with introductions. My name is Victor Helsing. Confederate, most powerful hunter of all time, and the only hunter to uncover the secrets of the Nightmare. You are the Great One that is known as the 'Moon Presence', correct?" Victor said as the Moon Presence nodded to answer his question. "Good. Well, before I became a hunter of the Dream, I was a soldier for the country Yharnam inhabited. I enjoyed it every bit of it. From saving people in hostage situations to rushing into a fort with nothing but a musket rifle and a small knife.
"About 13 years ago was the time I joined the army, finding and killing some bandits that ruined my life. Had a flower shop with my wife before the military life, but was taken away after it went up in flames during a bandit attack. We both escaped with our lives, but it really devastated us to the point of near suicide. Then we found out we can join the military, me as the soldier and her as the medic for my squad. After 8 years of fighting, no more wars, no infighting with each countryman, I was kicked out since they didn't need that many people in it. Sorry if this bores you, it's just something I had in my mind for awhile." The Great One shook it's head, letting him know it wasn't getting bored. "Good. Now where was I?
"Right, being kicked out of the army. After another 4 and a half years of peace and quiet some soldiers came to me and ordered me to go to Yharnam in the name of crown and country. Went there, got a blood transfusion, and woke up to not caring about my previous life. Except me being a military veteran. That gave me more than enough pride to go through and figure out how to stop this. I'm... someone who always wants to help people in anyway possible, unless they attack me. The first must've been Djura."
Victor climbs the ladder to meet Djura, either to battle or to reason with. Djura turned around, watching the hunter that he, at one point, shot at to stay away from the town he protected. During their conversation, Victor let Djura talk as he nodded to try and keep Djura on his good side.
"Promise me that you won't harm any of the beasts that live here. They mean no harm and wish not to venture out to the surface." Djura said, making Victor finally speak against him.
"Djura, I can't promise that. These beasts will attack me, whether you want to believe it or not. I have to defend myself against them or I'll die. Sure I'll just come back, but they'll still be aggressive towards me." Victor said, seeing Djura reach for his weapon.
"So, you wish to blame the people here in order to kill them."
"No. If I knew they were sentient enough to not attack me, I wouldn't do it. You know how they got this beast curse in the first place, right?"
"Yes. The ashen blood was what caused the outbreak. The church never found another cure, so they burned everything. You should know this." Djura had a sad tone in his voice, making Victor feel worse.
"Ashen blood had a part to play, but it wasn't what created the beast curse."
"What are you talking about?" Victor sighed, knowing his answer would devastate Djura.
"See, the church... might have put the ashen sickness in the water supply leading to Old Yharnam. After that, they brought in blood healing to cure the ashen blood they created to gain more power. The ashen blood only quickened the beast scourge, where as blood healing is how the scourge came to be. That is why the church was scared of revealing this, so... they burned Old Yharnam, leaving only the stragglers to fend for themselves in this dead city." Victor looked to Djura, who calmly walked back to the Gatling gun he had used earlier against the hunter. "Djura, are you...?"
"No worries. I won't end my life here. Head on back to the Dream and continue to wherever you must go now." As Victor was about to leave, Djura said, "If they are connected, end you're hunt to help these people. Save them."
"I'll try to. Farewell, Djura."
"Farewell, and do try to not die a lot."
"No promises there, as well. May we meet again." Victor walked back to the ladder and climbed down to continue to Byrgenwerth.
"To be fair, it might have been more or less formal than that, but I can't remember that well anymore. Anyway, I needed to find Alfred after going to Cainhurst. The Vileblood Queen, or the Queen of the Bloodkin of Cainhurst, was immortal and will regenerate after a certain amount of time. I had to tell him and pray that he wasn't as mad as all the other hunters."
"Ahh, I feel my master's hand at work. Praise the good blood! And let us cleanse these tarnished streets." Alfred said, overjoyed that he has found a way to Cainhurst. Victor had to think of something to prevent him from going.
"Are you sure killing the Vileblood queen is what Logarius would want?" Victor said, thinking of using Logarius' name in order to influence Alfred's choice.
"Of course it is. Why do you think Master would go there in the first place?" Alfred said, his voice strained a bit with anger.
"In the first place, sure. But I'm talking about afterwards. He didn't kill her for a reason, one that might explain why he trapped her in the castle."
"What are you saying?"
"Logarius didn't kill her because she might be immortal. No matter what, you can't kill her."
"Of course she is. We Executioners have already known that she couldn't die, but that doesn't mean I won't turn her to pink, fleshy pulp."
"That part still confuses me. If he could just turn her into a paste, why not do it when he arrived?" Alfred thought for a moment until he suddenly had a surprised look on his face.
"She must be able to-"
"Regenerate. Trapping her in there was probably the only solution he could think of at the time. Unfortunately, I might've killed Logarius and freed her to the world. So, there's that." Alfred kicked a rock out of frustration.
"Damn! What will keep her at bay now!?" They both pondered on this new problem. Victor then thought of something that could benefit both hunters.
"I got it!" Alfred jumped from Victor's sudden exclamation. "Why don't you guard her from where Logarius was at. That way, you don't need to break Logarius' wishes, and you can make sure she doesn't find anyone that she can turn into a Vileblood." Victor did feel a bit guilty for not telling Alfred that he was a Vileblood, but thought it better if he didn't know. Alfred had thought about the idea for a minute before responding.
"Sounds like a fair deal. I'll head to Cainhurst and 'guard' the queen from the outside world. I'll go now before she even thinks of leaving. Go on toward your destination, and may the good blood guide your way." Alfred handed Victor his Executioner rune, trusting his cooperation partner with it.
"Yes, may the good blood guide our way. Farewell Alfred." Victor left and headed to Yahar'gul to try and kill the One Reborn... again.
"He did keep his promise to not pulverize the queen into a fine paste. I will need to check and make sure he still has after our fight ends. One way or another. There is one hunter that still astonishes me on how she is still able to keep fighting for such a long time. She may be 2 decades ahead, but she fights like she's still in her prime. Eileen the Crow is a hunter that kills other hunters. She knew that hunters were the most serious threat to everyone in the city. Though, there was one fight she couldn't win, nearly costing her own life to take down the Crow of Cainhurst. I had... other ideas in mind."
Victor entered the room where his new foe was in. All he knew was that he was a monster, one that brutalized Eileen to the point of near death. Seeing the hunter, he saw immediately that he had dawned the helmet of a Cainhurst knight. The cloak with black feathers made him seem like a thing that would stalk the nights of Yharnam. Victor did something that he never thought he would do.
"Who are you?" Victor asked. No response.
"Are from Cainhurst?" No answer.
"Are you the Crow of Cainhurst?" The Crow started making his way to Victor, walking at first until he was charging at him with his weapon.
"You wouldn't kill a fellow Vileblood, would you?" The Crow stopped feets away from Victor. The Crow looked at Victor like he was crazy, as if the queen herself was in this hunter's body. "It's true, brother. I too am a Bloodkin of Cainhurst, just like you." A minute of silence went by before the Crow finally responded.
"You know our true name. You must be Bloodkin." The Crow said, putting his weapon into it's sheath. "You serve our lost queen, as I did before that Executioner sealed her away in the castle. Has she been found?"
"Yes. I have killed Logarius and found the Queen of Cainhurst. For now, she is safe there, should anyone attack her or come after her."
"How so?"
"I tricked the last Executioner into guarding her, keeping her safe from anyone that would harm her. However, this also means she may never be able to leave until he passes away. It's only a matter of time before she can leave." Victor had told the Crow only a half truth. Sure, he wanted the Queen to stay safe, but he didn't trust her enough to go roaming free just yet. The Crow laughed greatly.
"Brilliant, brother! He will keep her safe from any unwanted guests until his very death. The Executioner has ironically helped us by doing this. What shall I do in the meantime?"
"Stay here, for now. As far as the Crow outside knows, I'm either hovering over your body or reforming back in the nearby chapel. Try to stay hidden until I return before making your next move. How's that sound?" The Crow of Cainhurst just grunted, not liking the fact that he has to wait around before doing anything. Reluctantly, he decided to go with it until he had gotten tired of waiting.
"Fine. But don't take too long."
"Of course. Farewell."
"Farewell." Victor turned around and left the Cathedral to find Eileen still on the ground. After convincing Eileen that the hunter in the Cathedral was dead, Eileen rambled on until she handed Victor her Oath.
"Ahh, my eyes grow heavy..." Victor knew immediately what that meant, she was dying from blood loss. "Let me rest a while..."
"No. You'll be dead in a few minutes if I don't do something." Victor reached into his satchel for a blood vial. "Here, take this."
"I'll be fine, just wait..."
"Like hell I will."
"Don't you-" Before she could complete her sentence, Victor jabbed the blood vial into her leg, healing her wounds significantly. After her injection, she stood up and leaned on the stone railing behind her. "That wasn't necessary of you. I would have been fine."
"I've been in war. You already lost too much blood and you were going to die if I didn't save you!" Victor had red hot fury in his voice, making Eileen recoil from the sudden outburst. "At least act like you give even a single shit about your life."
"It's hard to do that with nothing left to do. I have no other goals to perform, no more hunters to kill." Victor had calmed himself down and thought of his next words carefully.
"Then why not protect the people in the chapel?"
"Wait, what?"
"The people in the chapel. Why not protect them from anyone that might want to harm them?"
"Not necessarily my cup of tea. Besides, would you trust a hunter to protect those people?"
"I'm not asking a hunter to help them, I'm asking you to do it. You're better than them. Besides, someone like you are considered the best body guards and close friends to me." Eileen looked around, really thinking if she should do this. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I much prefer you over Djura or Alfred any day."
"Heh. If that's the case, then why not? With luck, I could go back to normal after tonight. This could be a chance for me to learn how to be normal, again. If you need anything from me, I will be in the chapel."
"Good. By the way, there's gonna be a man in a red robe that looks like a monster, but really friendly, a guy who's very skeptical, a church woman who's gone bat-shit insane, an old woman who is also insane, and a Lady of the Night that's in pain. Other than them, no one else should be there."
"Good to know. I'll stay here for awhile to rest before heading out. I'll make sure to take another vial when I go, so don't worry about me bleeding out before reaching the chapel."
"Alright, then. I need to take care of something in the Nightmare Mensis soon. I hope we meet again on much better terms than before. Farewell." Eileen nodded to him as he went back into the Cathedral to use the lamp. He was a few feet in the Cathedral until he heard Eileen behind him.
"Oh, and make sure that the Crow inside of there doesn't go to the chapel as well." Victor stopped in his tracks, a bit panicked that Eileen somehow knew the Crow of Cainhurst was still alive. "I heard him overjoyed in there as well as no fighting inside. I just played along with what you were selling.
"Yes, of course you would." Victor sounded defeated, knowing that he couldn't keep the Crow's status a secret from someone he trusted. "I promise you this: when I'm done ending this Nightmare, I will tell you why I spared him."
"I know you will. Farewell." Victor headed back to the lamp and went back to the Dream to continue through the castle in the Nightmare Mensis.
"She knew that I had a lot of respect to her. She also had a lot of faith in my abilities to take down the Crow." Victor put his hands together and under his chin like he was praying to some unseen god. "I have been through hell, and back more times than I can recall. I started a chain of horrible events because Rom was in my way. Almost every hunter I came across had already gone mad. The people that I was suppose to protect was either dead, transformed, or too scared to open their doors. Me, an outsider has turned Yharnam into a living hellhole, where beasts thrive, and hunters hunt innocent pray. I couldn't save a little girl from being eaten by a giant, mutated pig, all because I gave her her mother's brooch. The Hunter's Nightmare is no different to Yharnam now, filled with blood and monsters. That is the legacy that I have left in the city of beasts. Now, enough about me," Victor stood, getting out his Saw Cleaver and his Evelyn for battle. "Let's end this." The Great One stood up before taking a casual pose.
'A shame we must do this.' A whisper had said. Victor heard it from everywhere, but came from no where. Looking around, he fixated his gaze on the Great One.
"Is that your true voice?"
'No. It is the only voice that I can create without you going losing your sanity.' The Moon Presence said.
"A shame, really. My sanity died a long time ago."
'Well, then... "Bring it on" as you humans say it.'
"A good choice of words from an overgrown, squid-faced corpse." Victor said, charging at the being in front of him. He was about to strike at the abhorrent creature until he heard an explosion behind him. "What the hell is that?" Two hunters rushed in toward Victor, enough time to see who they were. Their outfits and eyes told him that they came from the Nightmare. "Oh, for fuck's sake." Victor ducked under a horizontal swing from his opponents Beast Cutter. Quickly taking out his Hunter Saif, he moved around the hunter and stabbed him right through his back and out his chest. Taking his Saif out of the fallen foe, he turned to see the other hunter swatted away by the Moon Presence to his direction. Quickly switching out his Saif for his trusty Beast Cutter, he decapitated the mad hunter that was thrown toward him.
Looking to the entrance, he saw some Vicars of the Cosmos wielding some cannons enter the garden. A lone hunter than entered the garden, the Vicars stepping aside for this man. He had an attire that looked like a mix between the Hunter set and the Old Hunter set. The hat mostly resembling the Hunter hat with the rest of the attire looking like a dark gray version of the Old Hunter garb, trousers, and boots. His eyes had a dark blue tint, but the white's of his eyes were a dark red.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the hunter that tried to kill my master." His voice was very calm and relatively smooth for him being from the Nightmare. "Before you ask, no, you have never seen me before. It's the first time we've met. But, my master knows about you, dear hunter."
"Your master, is it the Orphan of Kos? I could've sworn that it turned into a black ghost of himself before I attacked it."
"You are correct, good sir. Only... he never died. Never has and never will." The hunter's voice was now more playful.
"Well, he must be pissed off at me. It goes to show that you should never rely too heavily on-" Victor was cut off by a shot to his gut, recoiling in pain from it.
"It's still a shame that I must kill you now. After this death, you'll never be able to come back. It's sad really, you would've been a great play mate for me. But after this, we'll have to go to another world and kill the hunter there so that we can kill everyone. Or start another hunt to keep them on edge." He said, looking to the Vicars for instructions. He said something in a weird language, unknown to Victor. The Vicars looked at the hunter and the Great One, ready to fire their cannons.
"Oh, bugger all." Victor said before running to the Vicars. The two nightmare creatures fired their weapons at the hunter, trying to keep him away. The hunter just dodged their cannonballs before they landed. Going to the one on his left, he turned his Beast Cutter into it's whip form. He slashed the creature vertically, striking it's head and back. The Vicar just rose it's cannon over it's head and swung it downward at the hunter. Victor dodged to his right to face the other monster, only to see a cannon barrel in front of him. He dodged again, having the Vicar fire at the other monster. Accidentally killing it's partner, the nightmare creature looked around for the hunter it was attacking.
"Try looking behind you, mate." The nightmare hunter said, making the Vicar turn around to find a cannon pointed at it. Victor fired his cannon right in the face of the creature, making it roar in pain and also making it drop it's cannon. He swung his Beast Cutter horizontally, hitting the monster's stomach a few times before it keeled over and died. "Impressive. I thought it would be more difficult for you, as evident when you first fought them."
"I became stronger since then. They're small fry now." Victor said as he turned to face the nightmare hunter behind. "I hope you're a far better challenge then them."
"Of course, of course. Although you are suicidal, I accept your challe-" The mysterious hunter just tensed up suddenly. Looking to his left, he saw that the Moon Presence had it's front paw up with a weird energy around it. "You... damn.. cheater!" The elder creature squeezed it's paw, making the hunter explode into a red paste. The paste evaporated after a few seconds. Helsing looked at the Great One again, seeing it collapse after using it's power to kill his opponent. He walked over to it and knelt down so he could talk with it.
"Why did you help me?" Victor asked.
'Because, you would have died if you fought him.' The Moon Presence said.
"I would've just come back if he did."
'No, he would have killed you permanently if he won, and he definitely would have won were it not for me.'
"If so, then how would he."
'While in the Dream, his presence would disconnect you from here while retaining your body here. I used the last of my strength to send him back to the Nightmare, but he will return easily if I die.'
"Hold on." Victor looted the hunters and the Vicars for some more blood vials. He had collect another 9 blood vials, making his blood vial count 11 in total. Taking out 3 vials, he headed to the weak Great One and knelt again to talk. "Let's see if this'll work."
'Are you sure your blood healing can heal me.'
"It does come from your species, after all. Even if it can't heal you, you'll be gaining more blood to give you more strength." The Moon Presence looked away, thinking about before responding.
'Fair enough. Let us see if it can help.'
"Good. Besides, I have about 400 blood vials in my stash, so no shortage anytime soon. Here we go." Victor jabbed the vial into the Great One's arm, making it squeal some unnatural sound. Some of it's wounds healed, confirming that blood healing can work on the Moon Presence. Jabbing the last 2 vials into the creature before him, it's wounds were healed as well as giving it enough strength to have it walk on all fours. "Better?"
'Indeed so. Your blood healing can work on me, after all. For this, I wish to give you something.'
"I'm not becoming your slave, if that's what it is." Victor had a ting of anger, thinking it's what the Great One wanted.
'No. You will not be my slave, but my vanguard.'
"Pardon?" Victor said, genuinely confused.
'That is what I said. You will help guard me and this Dream from the beings of the Nightmare.'
"What will I gain if I accept?"
'You will gain power that is equivalent to that of juvenile "Great Ones", as you call us.' Victor had thought for a moment before responding.
"Alright, I'll do it. But no strings attached to me. Meaning I don't get any disadvantages that will hinder me physically and also take away my free will."
'The only thing you may not favor is that I can talk to you anywhere.'
"Oh, bugger all. I'm going to hear you no matter what. What a shame."
'I am familiar with human sarcasm. What do you really think of this deal?'
"It's not as bad as I thought. What will I need to do to gain your 'gift'?"
'You must only kneel before me and brace yourself.'
"Alright, let's do this." Victor said, a little nervous about the 'brace yourself' part. He knelt down in front of the beast, ready for whatever it might do to him. The Moon Presence reached a paw out to Victor, keeping it's paw a few centimeters from his face. Victor didn't feel anything at first, but felt a huge amount of pain in his head. He felt like he saw some visions and strange, alien symbols. As soon as the visions stopped, Victor nearly fell on the ground, bracing his arms to hold him up. "What the hell was that!?" Victor said, still trying to recover from the sudden visions.
'It was the knowledge of various vanguards in the past. The knowledge is sudden, but your mind is already making sense of the visions.' It said, as the hunter just stood up like he was alright.
"Sure, but you could've given me a more explicit warning than just 'brace yourself'."
'I apologize, but your mind might have rejected some of the images, making it harder on you to use this power.'
"Fair enough." Victor looked at his hands, noticing symbols inscribed on both sides of each hand. His left hand had a red, destructive looking symbol while his right hand had a more passive looking, blue symbol on it. "Okay, what are these?"
'The symbol on your left hand gives you a power to destroy spirits and spiritual contracts as well as keeping spirits in there while being tortured. The symbol on your right hand has more properties to it since that is your dominant side. It can passively hold spirits as well cleanse them of any abnormalities to them. It can also manipulate certain bonds to a human's soul. In a more basic way of saying it: your left hand hurts and destroys things while your right hand heals or purifies. That was the power the invader had, except they are reversed. Use these powers wisely, or you may do more harm than good.' Victor looked at his hands, thinking that he may be a sort of god with these powers. One important question was the only thing he could think of.
"Can I bring other hunters back to the Dream?"
'Before today, they could not do that. But your story and the small invasion made me decide that it would be best to give you the power to recruit more people.' This gave Victor relief that he can provide the others a second chance.
"Thank you. If you excuse me, I'm off to the chapel." He said as he walked away from the Great One.
'What will you do when you get there?' Victor turned to it with determination in his eyes.
"Bring back some old friends." Victor continued walking to the tombstone, feeling like he can do more good in this world, being the vanguard and all.
Moments later, he appeared in the chapel to get the two Crows. Turning around, he saw the chapel dweller point in the direction of the side exit of the building. Going in that direction, he saw that the old lady was still calm, all things considered, the Skeptical Man being skeptical, the Arianna missing, and Adella still insane in a praying posture. Going outside, Victor saw Eileen and the Crow of Cainhurst conversing. Curious, Victor walked to the two as they talked, not noticing the hunter. Eileen looked to her left and saw Victor, making the Cainhurst Crow also turn to the hunter.
"Well, well. Looks like you gotten through your journey." Eileen said.
"It would appear you are unharmed, Confederate." The Crow said, making Victor stop in his tracks.
"Wai- Wh- What makes you think I'm a Confederate?" Victor said, making the Crow produce a multi-legged vermin from his satchel. "Oh, fair enough." Victor took the vermin and squashed it under his boot.
"So, are you a Confederate or a 'Vileblood'?" The Crow asked.
"Alright, here's how it goes." Victor says, raising his hand to construct an imaginary pillar. "First of these useful runes is of course the-" Victor sees both Crows surprised while looking at his hand. Looking at it himself, he notices that the Impurity rune is visible in a sort of fog. "Oh... strange. Anyway, my preferred covenants are, in order, Confederate, Vileblood, Hunter of hunters, and Executioners. The other two, Blood Beast and Lumenwood Kin, are covenants that I'll use for the sake of transforming into other things."
"What's the point of being associated with other covenants? You're literally all of their worst enemies." Eileen said, making the Crow grunt in agreement.
"Because, the Impurity rune makes me more durable when I'm summoned in other worlds, the Corruption rune always leaves me a sneeze away from death, the Hunter rune increases my stamina, and the Radiance rune makes my blood vials' healing potential increase."
"And the other covenant runes, the ones that make you 'transform'?" The Crow asked.
"Oh, they give the Beast claws and the Kos Parasite an increase in attack potential." Victor waited for anymore responses before asking them the big question.
"I'm guessing you didn't come here to chat the night away." Eileen said.
"You are completely right. But before I ask, have you been in the Hunter's Dream before?" Victor asked, pointing the question in the Crow of Cainhurst's direction.
"I have not, no." The Crow responded.
"Okay. Eileen, I wish for you come back to the Dream. Crow, I wish for you to join me in the Dream." The two Crows snapped their heads to the hunter in front of them, looking at each other every now and then before looking at the hunter once more. Eileen just started laughing. Not like "her-rolling-on-the-floor" laughing, just a mild laughter like the person in front of her was insane.
"Ignoring the fact that it's impossible to do that, what makes you think that I would want to go back?"Eileen said.
"And what makes you think the queen will allow this?" The Crow said.
"Because, the hunters in the Hunter's Nightmare are now able to get out whenever they want." Victor said in a very serious tone.
"Never heard of it." Eileen said.
"Think of it as a hellish heaven for hunters after they die, whether or not they had succumbed to a blood drunk state. In the Nightmare, they all hunt each other, or recreated beast patient, or cosmic entities unique to the Nightmare. A Great One that was born after the death of Kos might have been able to make a workshop there, bringing blood drunk hunters and Vicars of the Cosmos alike in his ranks."
"It's building an army to wreak havoc on the church." The Crow said.
"No, I don't think it's that. The scholars in Byrgenwerth were the ones that discovered and desecrated Kos' corpse. It may want the destruction of every hunter. Vilebloods, Hunter of hunters, Executioners, and Confederates alike. Whether it wants the destruction of humanity is up for debate, but we need to have it focus on us before it goes to humanity. So, want to join me?" Victor said, waiting for them to respond. A moment of silence went by before Eileen broke it.
"If it means protecting the townsfolk from more harm, then count me in." Eileen said with determination in her voice.
"I will also accept, as well. But only if the queen allows it, as tradition goes." The Crow said, nervously and weakly in his last statement.
"Fair enough. Let me get some more reinforcements before we move on with an attack plan. In the meantime," Victor held his hand up to touch Eileen's forehead, making his hand glow blue for a second, and doing the same to the Crow. "Hang out in the Dream for awhile. I'll make sure to give you more work." Victor said before heading to the lamp in the chapel.
"Was that power a gift from a Great One, or was it cursed upon you?" Eileen said in a snarky tone.
"A gift from the Moon Presence, the Great One that created the Hunter's Dream. Farewell, for now." He said, continuing his way to the lamp. 'Come to think of it, it's gonna be a while before I can get everyone that I can. Well, this will be a long night.' He thought, entering the Dream. After entering the Dream, he immediately went to Old Yharnam to find Djura. He ran to Djura's tower to recruit him, trying his best to avoid the Beast Patients. "I can't kill these things, lest I anger him."
"It's alright, hunter. You can kill them. Put them out of their misery." Djura said, his voice booming through the town. Without hesitation, Victor took out the Rakuyo and sliced through the beasts as fast as possible. After slicing through his enemies, Victor climbed up the ladder as quickly as possible, since he was a bit impatient.
"Hello, Djura. I'd like to ask a favor of you." Victor said.
"You didn't cure the people down." Djura said in a smartass tone.
"Well, I was in a Nightmare, killed a Great One, and found out the Paleblood had nothing to do with beasts. Besides, I made friends with the Paleblood being in the Dream." Djura just gave him a blank stare, like he wasn't listening. "You still with me?"
"Yeah, yeah. More or less. What do you want of me?"
"I'd like to recruit you back into the Dream, along with your friend below us." Victor walked a few feet to Djura before seeing him raise his weapon slightly. He backed off to let Djura speak.
"What excuse do you have that will convince me and my partner to go back to that Dream?" Djura didn't want to, but he thought that the new hunter had a good reason for it.
"Oh, um... Basically, there's a Nightmare realm that takes hunters there after they die, blood drunk or not, and now the Great One in the Nightmare wants revenge on hunters in our world or humanity in general. I can bring you back to the Dream since I'm the vanguard of the Moon Presence and the Dream. No strings attached."
"Hm. I'll have to learn more on the Nightmare realm you speak of, but I guess you won't stop bothering me until I agree. So, go ahead and do your thing." Djura said before Victor reached out his hand and reconnected the dream to him. He went down, told Djura's friend what was happening and that Djura agreed to it, and got him reconnected as well. Victor said his farewells and went back to the Dream.
Victor went to the place he fought Logarius, seeing Alfred sitting on the throne where Logarius last sat in.
"Ah, hello there, fellow hunter. What brings you here?" Alfred said, happy to see the one that brought him here, again.
"Hello, Alfred. I've come here to warn you about the Nightmare hunters. Long story short, some hunters in a Nightmare realm has banded together with a Great One to hunt down either all hunters or all humans. That may include the queen, as well." Victor said, making Alfred surprised by this news.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. I was attacked by them in the Dream not too long ago."
"What about the queen?"
"You and her will have a big role in this soon enough, just wait until tomorrow. Hell go into the queen's chamber if it makes you safer, just make sure you and her are unharmed when I get back." Victor's words had Alfred all over the place. Nonetheless, he went with it.
"Okay. I'll do as you say. But when you get back, tell me everything about these Nightmare hunters." Alfred said, a bit skeptical but still trusts Victor enough to go through with it. Both hunters bowed to each other and went to there places, Alfred on the throne, and Victor to the Dream.
For Victor, he was done in the Waking World, now he was off to the Nightmare once more to bring back some help. He went to room that he fought Lady Maria in, only to find her corpse in front of the lamp. Examining the body, he could see that it wasn't breathing or moving in any way, but he knew better.
"I know your not entirely gone. The Nightmare traps your soul here, forever keeping you here beyond the point of insanity." Victor said, making the corpse get up right after he was done speaking. He jumped back in terror, not knowing she would just get up at all. Lady Maria stood up straight and turned her head to the hunter before her.
"Hello, hunter. It's nice to meet you again under better conditions." Maria said in a slightly monotone voice.
"Hello, Lady Maria. I suspect you know why I'm here?"
"The hunters here want to destroy the Dream and hunt down every living thing in Yharnam, and beyond. If they can't get in here, they will go to another world and hunt there." Victor was dumbfounded Maria knowing a lot about the Nightmare hunters' plan.
"How do you know this?" Lady Maria looked away, almost embarrassed to answer.
"I might've been in there ranks for a short time... Before they kicked me out."
"That's it. They just... let you go!?" Victor said in a very confused tone.
"No. They brought me to their workshop where they briefed me on everything they wish to do. Then, when I disagreed with them, they decided to kill me again and leave me here. So, here I am." Maria said with some disappointment in her voice.
"Go figure. They already invaded the Dream once, since the Moon Presence was weakened, but I showed them not to fuck with me."
"Is that so?" Maria said in a mocking tone.
"Yes. What are you implying?" Victor said in a defensive tone.
"What exactly did you kill when they invaded?"
"Two blood drunk hunters, two Vicars of the Cosmos, and I would have killed the Orphan of Kos' vanguard had the Moon Presence not turn him into paste."
"I couldn't beat him on my own, even when I caught him off guard. He somehow knew exactly when to dodge and counter, as though he could read my mind."
"Well, you're probably very predictable."
"Is that why it took you several tries to finally kill me?"
"Alright, alright. We can talk more about how he can predict your moves after we get you into the Dream."
"Will I be needed on the Waking World?"
"Most likely, yes. In fact, we may need to go to-"
"I won't be able to appear in the Waking World." Victor became confused by her statement, as well as her somber mood.
"Why not? I've been destroyed a thousand times over and I came back from every encounter." Victor said with a hint of pride and hope for Maria.
"Your body was still fresh and alive when you became a hunter. Mine has been dead and decayed for years. Even if I could escape the Nightmare, I can't appear in the Waking World since it's been destroyed... permanently." Maria said with a tone of defeat. Before Victor could speak, he felt a sudden surge of pain in his head. After the pain had passed, he knew exactly how to restore Maria's body.
"That could work." Victor said.
"What could work?"
"No time to explain. I'd like to get everyone I want before sunrise, so you'll just have to trust me?" Victor put his hand in the air as it glowed a pale blue, making Maria recoil a bit in surprise. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes." Maria agreed, reluctantly. Victor put his hand on Maria's forehead before cleansing her of the Nightmare curse and absorbing her into it. Maria had freaked out a bit after the transfer into the hunter's hand, but was calmed by the container's aura.
"Don't worry, you'll be in your body soon enough." Victor said as he headed to the lamp in the clock tower room. Teleporting into the Dream, he immediately went to the Doll to ask a favor from her. Standing in front of the Doll, he bowed to her, since it's the most polite thing to do, as well as making her bow to Victor. "Hello, Doll, Caretaker of the Dream."
"Hello, Victor. What is it you desire?" The Doll said in a very polite tone. Victor looked a bit nervous at first, but knew that she would do this.
"Strangely enough, I wish for some of your blood." Victor said. The Doll looked confuse at first, but agreed, nonetheless.
"As you wish. How much do you require?"
"Luckily, you'll only need to fill a quarter of this container." Victor said before conjuring a giant, glass container that could hold the amount of blood in a human.
"Very well." The Doll said, hovering her hand over the glass container as her white blood came out of it from no visible cut. As soon as she saw her blood nearly fill it to ¼, she stopped her blood from flowing, letting it settle in the container at the ¼ mark. "Is that all that is required of me?" she asked, not noticing Victor's stunned expression. Snapping out of it, Victor looked at the Doll to speak to her.
"Why, y-yes! Um... that's all. I'll be heading into the workshop now." Victor said as he went into the renewed workshop, still a bit thrown off by what the Doll just did. Going to his stash, he pulled out a few dozen blood vials to fill the container to the rest of the way. After 240 or so vials, he took the container and went to the Unseen tombstone for his next stop, the Abandoned workshop. Before going, he saw Eileen, The Crow, Djura and his partner appear in the Dream. Looking around, they all had feeling of wonder and fear. Before they could notice him, Victor teleported to the Abandoned workshop to revive Maria's body.
Looking to her supposed burial place, the same place where he can go to the Nightmare in the Dream, he placed the container of blood on the ground carefully and conjured a shovel to dig it up.
"The things I do for allies." Victor said as he started digging. While digging, he couldn't help but think about what the invader had said. 'Another world. I wonder what kind of world it will be like. Will it be another Yharnam or something different all together. I can't wai-' Victor had his thought cut off by more visions. These ones showed him skilled warriors with insane trick weapons and dark creatures similar to scourge beasts. Used to the pain by now, he shook his head and continued digging, trying to wrap his head around what he saw. "It seems that the majority of their weapons seem to be melee/gun hybrids. Interesting."
After four minutes of digging, he brought the coffin up and headed to the open area in front of the building. Setting it down, he pried open the coffin to reveal a skeleton with small bits of rotted clothing around it. Victor went back to the small hill to get his container and start the ritual.
"This had better work." Victor said, pouring the mix of red and white blood into the coffin. After pouring it out completely, he searched his pockets for some sort of strange metal badge. Finding it, he lifted it up to see a misshapen "M" in the center, as well as a circle making up the edges of the badge. "Do I just pray to this? Well, let's see." He said before kneeling in front of the coffin. Pointing the badge to the moon, he prays.
"Oh powerful and grand Presence of the Moon. Lend me your strength and wisdom for this ritual." Victor said. Suddenly, the badge started to vibrate as well as glow a light blue, making Victor throw it to his left side out of instinct. Then, the Moon Presence appeared in a sort of fog, bowing to the hunter.
"Is the Dream still secure?" Victor asked urgently.
'Yes. I may seem to rest in the Dream, but I can still keep them out of my Dream. What is it that you wish of me?' The kindred creature said.
"Great and powerful Moon Presence, please, restore this woman's body so that she may help us in our fight against the Nightmare workshop."
'As you command.' It said, using it's power to slowly restore the pile of bones to flesh and blood. 'It is done. I must return so I may recover. Good luck on your quest, good hunter.'
"Of course." The hunter bowed before the Great one turned to mist. "Good luck on your recovery." The hunter turned to the restoring body, seeing it's muscles and organs regenerate to their former appearance. "If the visions are correct, then you shouldn't feel pain when I transfer you into the body right now. Here goes nothing." He said, touching the body's forehead as he transferred Maria's soul into it. He didn't see the body react in a harmful manner, meaning Maria didn't feel it or that she wasn't in pain.
Watching the body finally restore to it's old self, it gasped for air after a moment of silence. Opening her eyes, Maria started to get up from her former coffin in a sluggish way. Maria had her hair down as well as only a few strands of rotted clothing dangling from her shoulders, still revealing her whole body as she rose. But both Maria and Victor didn't care about that as their sexual tendencies were replaced by urges of blood and murder. Maria dusted her self off before stepping out of her coffin.
"Shall we head to the dream?" Victor asked as he pointed her to the workshop in a polite gesture. Nodding her head, Maria walked to the workshop with Victor.
"Shouldn't you be distracted by my body?" Maria asked sarcastically.
"One, I no longer have that desire since becoming a hunter. Two, it would just be plain rude to stare at you." Victor's last statement made Maria giggle a bit from his modestly. "And third, we have much more important matters to attend to." As they walked in front of the lamp, Victor needed to make sure that Lady Maria was connected at all. "How about you go first. I'd like to see if I'll need to connect you to the Dream."
"Alright." Maria said as she knelt down to the lamp. Holding her hand out, she waited to disappear into mist and reappear in the Dream. After a few moments, she stood up from her spot since nothing happened. "It seems I'm not connected."
"As I thought. The Dream was made after you expired, meaning you don't have a natural connection. I'll try to connect you, but if it fails, you'll just have to stay here with no clothes." Victor reached out his hand to touch Maria's forehead. Relieved to know he can connect her, he did so and gestured to the lamp for her. Kneeling to the lamp, Maria disappeared into mist before Victor did the same thing. Reappearing in the Dream, Victor saw the other hunters stare at Lady Maria, not because she was naked, but because a legendary hunter was with them in the Dream. "Maria, there should be an outfit similar to yours in my stash. Get in that as I get more allies." Maria nodded in acknowledgment before walking to the stash coffin for some clothes. Rummaging through his pockets, Victor found some more weird metal badges like the one he used to summon the Moon Presence.
'I believe you should find some more hunters and some extra Great Ones whether they are dead or not. Chose your allies carefully.' The Moon Presence said.
"Oh, fuck all kinds of duck. This will be a long night indeed." Victor said as he went to the Moonlight Lake lamp.
"Come on, were half way there." Qrow yelled to the group of Signal survivors. After team RWBY and Dunstan went into the ruined school, the group with Taiyang and Qrow went to the cliffs on the north side of Patch to await transport to Beacon Academy. "We can make it before any Grimm show up. We just gotta hurry, double-time."
"Calm down Qrow, we'll make it before running into trouble. Beside, we'll need to take a break soon." Taiyang said, concerned for the kids.
"Alright, fine. But if we're attacked, it's on you." Qrow said, reluctant to take a break. "Everyone, we'll take a break soon. Those that can fight, be on the lookout for Grimm." Some of the kids groaned from either relief or annoyance. After settling in a small clearing, Qrow was able to set himself and Tai aside a few feet away from the children to talk. "Listen, we need to talk about a worse case scenario."
"For the third time, we can't talk about that. If they over hear us, then they'll panic." Taiyang said. Before Qrow could talk, the two huntsman heard a twig snap near them. Deciding to deal with it, they went to the noise to make sure it's not a Grimm... or worse.
"I know you don't want to, but if some of them don't make it."
"Please stop, we're so close. We won't lose any of them."
"Well, aren't you hopeful." A voice said in the woods. Taiyang and Qrow tensed up from the sudden voice, worried it was one of the cultists. After someone rolled into their view they readied themselves for battle, only to see someone similar to Dunstan. His attire was some old version of the hunter attire, topped with a very old top hat. "Hello!"
"Uh... hello?" Taiyang said, absolutely confused by the hunter's attitude as well as Qrow being equally confused. The weirdest part of the hunter was the whites of his eyes being dark red.
"So good to meet two fellow humans at this time and place! Now, I don't want to bother you too much, so I'll have to go straight to the point. Do any of you know of this world's hunter? And no, it's not the obvious looking hunter, I mean the newest edition to their ranks." The hunter said in a very cheerful mood, his voice a crazed high for a man. The two huntsman looked at each other, knowing that they can't trust him, yet.
"Why would you want to know who the new hunter is?" Qrow asked.
"I would like to have a nice chat with whoever it is."
"I would be careful if I were you. You'll be talking to my niece."
"Of course, of course. First we'll have a chat, followed by some torture, gutting, more torture, making her insane, and endless nightmare hells." After him explaining what he would do, the two huntsman stood there, shocked at first before they become furious of it. "You know, the usual." Qrow tried to do a downward slash on the new threat before being stopped by a scythe blade attached to a long hilt.
"I won't let you hurt my niece!" Qrow exclaimed.
"Of course I will!" The hunter said pushing against Qrow. Surprisingly, the hunter was practically pushing Qrow with relative ease, looking like something from a cartoon. "If you think that me meeting your niece is something to avoid, then you don't know what you're dealing with!" The hunter then felt some crushing pain on his right arm, making it give out for Qrow to escape.
"You okay?" Taiyang asked Qrow.
"Yeah, I'm fine. He isn't." Qrow said, making a smirk when he saw some bones protruding from the attacker's arm.
"Oh, your good." The hunter said, pulling out a blood vial and injecting it into his thigh, healing his arm instantly. "But are you good enough?" He lunged toward the two huntsman, extending his Saif and slashing horizontally. The two brother-in-laws backstepped away from the attack. The hunter leaped forward at Taiyang, grabbed him by the collar, and through the huntsman behind him with little effort. The crazed man was about to leap towards Qrow until heard some children screaming behind him.
"Don't you dare think-" The hunter lost interest in the sword wielding huntsman and ran toward the sound of the screams. Taiyang got up only to see a fist right before it hit him. Qrow quickly tried to do another downward slash only to see the hunter's Saif block it with one hand. Taiyang tried to punch him again, but the hunter held up his left hand and held it with little ease as well. "What the hell are you!?"
"Nothing that special. I thought you two were gonna be a challenge, but you were both disappointments." The hunter parried their attacks and grabbed their heads. He then smacked their heads together and threw them in front of him. "It's time for me to drink your blood." The hunter said, completely serious in a psychotic way. He walked toward them, only thinking of how he'll do it, ignoring the children completely.
"You leave them alone!" A little girl no older than 13 said, getting the hunter's attention. When he looked toward the child, he was pelted by a barrage of small caliber bullets. The girl kept firing at him with her pistol, the weapon she liked the most for her future huntress career. After tanking all fifteen bullets, the crazed hunter looked at her with pure rage while acting as though he was completely fine. The hunter heard some commotion behind him before hearing a gunshot. Looking behind him, it looked like Qrow used his weapon to throw himself forward.
Realizing what will happen to him, the hunter tried to run to the girl that shot him, but couldn't react fast enough before being cut in half. His body went limp, both halves falling falling to the ground. Everyone, except for Qrow and Taiyang, were in complete shock of what just happened. After the shock had worn off, the students waited for Qrow to give them orders on what to do next.
"All right, everyone. Let's go ahead and get out of here." Qrow said, making everyone get up and head north to the cliffs. The girl that shot him instead went to the body of the attacker, wanting to apologize to him. She tried to say sorry, but instead held her mouth agape to try and say something, if anything. Suddenly, the hunter drew a slim flintlock pistol into the girl's open, making her freeze in horror.
"Call it an 'eye for an eye', bitch." The hunter said, making the girl regret her decision. The hunter fired his weapon, causing the back of the girl's head to explode, sending her brains everywhere. Qrow heard the shot and looked behind him, only to find the young huntress-in-training limp on the ground, smoke coming out of the half dead hunter's pistol. The hunter just laughed at Qrow before finally falling limp again and dissipating into an ethereal mist.
"No." Qrow said, looking to the dead girl. Walking to her, he closed her eyes and straightened her body out before the Rigor Mortis set in. Taiyang just stood where he was, shocked by something he was hoping wouldn't happen. "Listen, we need to keep going. If her body is still here and in one piece, we can take her back." Taiyang knew that the girl's body would be dead weight, but he still wanted to bring her with them.
"No. We're taking her back with us." Taiyang said, angry that they might have to leave behind a child's body
"What about them? Do you really want to risk their lives with... her body?" Qrow really didn't want to say her body was dead weight, but he had to.
"What if she was my daughter?"
"Ruby would've understood!" Qrow was becoming aggravated of his brother-in-law's tenacity to take her back. "And maybe Chrystal would too." Qrow had a saddened tone in his voice, but it was enough to convince Taiyang to do what he said.
"So, Ruby is the name of the new hunter." The hunter said, making Taiyang and Qrow look to where his voice was in shock. As soon as they saw the hunter, they readied themselves for another battle and to kill him for good. "But she is the blonde one's daughter as well as the black haired one's niece. So, either you too are brothers by blood or by 'law'. Law is just stupid by nature."
"Why aren't you dead!?" Taiyang yelled, ready to brutally kill the hunter.
"Well, the Great One that I work for has connected me to a sort of nightmare realm. Basically, I die and come back after a few seconds, give or take." The hunter said, really cheery about his new information and prideful of his Nightmare workshop. "Well, I must be off. I must learn more about this world!" The hunter turned 180 degrees back to the woods, making Taiyang run to him. As Taiyang went past some bushes, he saw the hunter kneel to a lamp before dissipating into a mist. The lamp went from a red to a light purple after the hunter disappeared, presumably to his workshop.
"Looks like the bastard booked to where ever he came from." Qrow said. Taiyang looked toward Qrow and then back to the lamp, thinking whether he should just wreck it so that the hunter can't come back. "Come on, help me carry Chrystal. If she died for nothing, then we should at least take her with us." Qrow's word seemed to faze Taiyang at first, but his brother turned around to ask him a question.
"Think you can take out that lamp? If he does come back, I don't want him here and terrorize anyone still on Patch." Taiyang said. Qrow nodded and switch his great sword into it's gun mode and aimed it at the lamp before shooting it. As the lamp fell apart, Taiyang picked up Chrystal's body and headed north, the kids saddened that their fellow classmate died for nothing. "Let's go." With that, everyone went to the cliffs to get off this cursed island.
Hello, fellow readers. This is the rare fruit of doing a fanfiction of another fanfic writer's story. Like I said, I got brassleader's permission to do this as my own continuation of his/her story: Hunter to Huntsman. It's actually a really good story, in my opinion, and I actually highly, extremely, ludicrously want you guys to read it and give them the support they deserve (I also don't know what their gender is, so I'll stay neutral until I find out). Please tell me if this story is too wacky for a serious fanfic so I can improve on it. Also, next chapter will be like this, Bloodborne world at first, but then RWBY world last. So, with that I bud farewell to you guys. I'll see all of you in Chapter 2.