Happy Halloween, Happy Samhain, Happy Holidays, or whatever else there is to say. Now before you say, yes I know I know I have a ton more stories to finish and I will but in the spirit of halloween I decided to write story for that time of year. Granted this wasn't an orginal idea I got the idea after reading a fic called Love Waits by Raziel12 I don't know why I never thought of taking RWBY in this direction. I love vampires and werewolves, I don't see how I never thought of it. But that fic gave me the idea to do this, and it might not be the best of starts but I can assure all of you that I will make it better as it goes on. Now...some bad news, because of an altercation with my family I may not be able to post stories for a long while, long story short a few words were thrown around and my internet might be cut off, so no stories , but if it doesn't go that far then I will thank whatever gods above and focus on my stories. Anyway enjoy this story and RxR, thank you.
Chapter 1: Things in the Night
It was quiet, much quieter than it probably should have been, where were the night birds and the insects that played their songs? The eerie quiet of the forest made his hair stand on end, something was out there...somewhere and it wasn't going to simply walk up to him and say hello. Despite the chill that ran through his body he pulled the knife from his coat and quickly carved a sigil into the trunk of the tree, as his knife carved in the final marks he gave a low sigh and brought his hand up and drew his knife across his skin. He hissed softly in pain as the blood dripped onto the ground, he placed his hand against the sigil and winced at the contact, his legs nearly buckled as the blood flowed from his hand and into the tree. He could feel the blood being pulled from his body before he ripped his hand away from the tree breathing heavily, he was light headed but it was only for a moment and the feeling soon passed. "One down...one to go."
He repeated the process once again to a tree a few mere feet away from the previous one, and once again the lightheaded feeling ripped through him as the sigil pulled the blood from his body. As he ripped his hand away from it lest it drain him of all he had he took note of the faint yet soft glow to the sigil. It shouldn't be that noticeable I would hope... He looked down at his hand to see the wound was healed without a trace of a scar marring his skin, he gave a sigh as he sheathed his knife and walked between the two trees. The village that asked for his help would at least be safe for a month at the least, that was until the full moon rose, and if he wasn't in the area still then they would be on their own. Speaking of the village he supposed he should head back now, it didn't seem that late but it was late enough that wandering the forest alone at night was far from safe. His head jerked up as a soft snapping of branches caught his attention, Speaking of not being safe, he slowly moved his head around scanning the area from side to side until he caught the sight of those burning red eyes. He forced himself to keep from leaping in fright but that didn't stop his heart from beating out of control.
A low growl ripped through the silent air, it seems it could smell his fear as silly as that sounded, but with a single step forward he knew it wasn't as silly as it sounded. He kept his eyes locked with the creature as he took a small step backwards as it took another step forward, he thought about giving it the slip and running back towards the village, but they were paying him to keep it safe not to bring destruction towards it. Giving a heavy sigh he took another step backwards, only to feel his back meet with something, he turned to see that it was merely a tree and turned back to face the creature only to find he made a crucial mistake. He threw himself to the ground as the beasts claws tore through the trunk of the tree, the snarl that followed was the only motivation he needed to push himself off the ground and tear off into the forest, as there was no way he was bringing this back to the village. A deep resounding howl echoed through the silent forest and sent chills down his spine, from the sound of it there was at least three or four more out there and quickly closing in on him. Looking ahead he slid as he suddenly stopped only to turn right and continue running, the following sound of the beast crashing into the large boulder brought a smile to his face.
He took deep breaths as his chest heaved from running as he pushed himself up and lifted his cloak and drew his sword, it wasn't anything special though he had asked the local blacksmith to give it a curved design, it cut easier as he explained to the confused man. He raised his weapon and pointed it in the direction the beast was sure to come from, the blade shined somewhat as the little bit of moonlight shined from above the trees. As the howls ripped through the air he tightened his grip on the weapon and widened his stance as he saw the beast burst through the bushes ahead, "I'm here you unholy creature!" It's red eyes locked with his as it snarled and roared at him before rushing forward, he could feel his heart racing as the monster drew closer, the moonlight that broke through the canopy shone light upon the beast. It was an unholy creature covered in fur as black as the night around them, the head resembled that of the wolves that wandered the forest making a mockery of the Goddesses creations. It ran on all fours and resembled a beast but it also resembled that of a man, the way it's body was built, and the fact that it had no paws but fingers.
He lowered his blade and stood straight as the beast drew closer to him, he raised his hand as it leaped towards him clearing the two trees which had sigils burning brightly against the night. He closed his fist and pulled it to his chest as he shouted, "Ensnare!" Tendrils of light burst forth from the sigils shooting forward and wrapping around the limps of the beast as it pulled it from the air, and held it between the trees, it snarled against the bindings as more continued to snake their way around its body wrapping firmly against it's neck. "You foul creature..." He moved towards the trapped monster and raised his sword placing it against the creatures neck as it snapped at him and continued to pull against its bindings, "Fear not...your suffering will come to an end." He raised his blade ready to end the miserable creature's existence, when a low growl sounded from next to him, his eyes widened as he turned to be face to face with another of the beasts, But...how?
His vision was obscured by darkness as he felt the hard ground collide with his back, his weapon was lost as he fought to keep the beast from tearing his throat out. The mass of muscle that was contained with the beast proved to be a challenge as the sharp teeth of it inched ever closer to his neck, he needed leverage over this creature but- he smirked as he pushed back against the monster and cried out over its snarls, "Incinerate!" The resulting howls of pain were enough to get the beasts attention, as its head turned to see what the noise was, he reached into his coat and pulled out his knife and with as much force as he could muster he drove it deep into the beasts neck as it howled in pain. He took control and kicked the monster off of him and scrambled for his sword, as he reached for it he felt himself jerk backwards, looking over his shoulder he saw the beast he stabbed in the neck holding onto his leg. Gritting his teeth he reached once again for the sword only to feel himself slide backwards, Dammit, he dug his fingers into the dirt as he pulled himself towards it. His eyes widened when he felt the hot breath of the beast against his leg as he kicked out with his free leg earning a cry of pain from it, he threw himself forward his fingers just touching the weapon as he quickly wrapped his hand around it as he was yanked backwards. He allowed himself to be pulled as he turned and drove the sword deep into the chest of the beast, the force at which he was pulled allowing the blade to sink in deep.
The beast gave it's final death throes before finally succumbing and laying still, he breathed heavily as he ripped his blade now stained with the black tainted blood of the beast and made his way over to the one still locked away. The beast was barely alive, most of it's body was covered in large burn marks from when he called out his spell, he hand to cover his nose to keep from gagging from the foul odor. He raised his sword and brought it down to end the beasts suffering, it gave no resistance as it simply slumped forward, the tendrils of light releasing the corpse as it fell to the ground it's head rolling free from it's body. He flicked his blade towards the ground, the blood staining the forest floor, he turned his head as he sheathed his weapon hearing the howls from deep in the forest. They could sense the fall of their kind, though it didn't seem they were going to look for vengeance this night, thankfully. He picked up the severed head of the beast he had slain and made his way back towards the village, the only thing on his mind now was a meal and a warm bed.
"Three hundred...you're not serious are you?" Holding the pouch of gold coins in his hands he stared daggers into the man before him, though he never looked up and continued to write whatever it was in his books.
"Yes, three hundred for a simple job." He said it so matter-of-factly as if he didn't just put his life on the line to keep this village safe, at any point that night he could have gotten torn apart by those monsters. Just because he said he would take care of it didn't mean he was some expert at this, prove by the point of almost having his throat ripped from his body.
"A sim- A simple job! You're telling me that this job was so simple that nary a single man from this village could do what I did?" The man said nothing as he clenched the coins tightly in his fist, he ripped his knife from his jacket and drove it deep into the book the man was writing in causing him to leap back in surprise, "I would have loved to see one of those pathetic humans you call men do what I just did." The man was shaking slightly but still tried to keep his dignified appearance it was just unlucky that his voice didn't react the same.
"W-Well what would you have me-"
"I want the six hundred gold I was promised for bringing back this damned head!" He jabbed his finger towards the severed head that sat on the mans desk, the man's eyes strayed towards the head before looking back at him, he shakily adjusted his glasses before reaching under the table and pulling out another small pouch full of gold.
"O-O-Of course h-how could I have f-forgotten." The held out the pouch as he snatched it from his shaking hands, the man once again jerked back out of fear as he ripped the knife from his book, "A-A p-pleasure working with you."
He glared at the man as he faked a smile, "I'm sure it was, enjoy your prize." He turned and quickly exited the building, he made sure to slam the door shut as he left, "Damn him trying to cheat me out of my coin." He tossed a glare over his shoulder before making his way towards the inn at the center of the village. As he walked through the empty village he couldn't help but notice the lengths they went to protect themselves, going as far as to set protection symbols made of silver into their doors and windows. Sadly, that didn't protect them from the beasts, it might make them wary of getting closer but if they were hungry enough, not even the protection of the Goddess could save them. He shook his head, he wouldn't tell ruin the thought they had for themselves, if it let them rest easy at night he wouldn't shatter their illusion. He climbed the stairs to the inn and knocked on the door before entering, the woman that stood behind the bar looked at him curiously.
"Hm, only a fool or a drunk is out this late, which one are you lad?" He scoffed as he pulled out a few gold coins and tossed them onto the table.
"The first one seems more likely and the second I am hoping to be soon. I'll take a room a hot meal and as many drinks as that can get me, it's been a long night." The woman picked up the gold coins and hummed as she looked them over, she nodded and pulled a key from behind the counter and slid it towards him, he took it and moved up the stairs, he was able to find his room fairly easily seeing as his key didn't even fit in the other doors. Once inside he removed his cloak and proceeded to remove his weapons from his person, he removed the throwing knives from the strap across his chest and removed the knife from inside his jacket. He looked over his shoulder so see the woman carrying a plate of food and several glasses worth of alcohol all expertly stacked and carried with ease. He noticed as she looked over towards his weapons as a sly smile crossed her face.
"Ah your a hunter it seems, I guess that would make you a fool now wouldn't it, only those stupid enough go chasing them demons out there. Yet you young man are much to young to be throwing your life away for a simple pittance, so what drives you lad?"
He returned to what he was doing and removed the rest of his weapons before moving over to the plate of food she had set down for him, "My reasons are my own, and I would thank you to not pry in things that are of no concern to you."
"Oh, ay, please forgive me for intruding in your affairs, enjoy your night good sir." Her voice was full of sarcasm as she left the room to leave him to his privacy, he frowned as he watched the door close, he sighed and looked down at the food before him. He didn't find the meal appetizing in the least but it was probably going to be the best he could get at least until he got to the next town, though before he could...enjoy his mean, there was still something he needed to take care of. Reaching into his jacket he pulled a small glass vial out and shrugged his jacket off hissing as it brushed against his wound, he looked down at his arm and saw the deep claw marks marring his skin, he hadn't noticed it at the time but the beast that had him pinned down clawed his arm up, it looked as bad as it felt. He pulled the cork from the vial and clenched his fist as he poured the water across his wound, he grit his teeth in pain as the water burned at the wound making the skin hiss as small tendrils of smoke rose from his arm.
"Gah, dammit all!" He stomped his foot onto the floor as the pain tore through his body, he took in sharp breaths between clenched teeth before pouring more of the water across the wound causing another wave of pain to wash over him as well as another muffled cry to rip through his throat. Once he finished off the water he tossed the vial to the side and gripped his arm as the pain slowly ebbed away, he took the sheets on the bed and ripped a long strip and quickly tied it around his arm, once it was nice and tight he slid his jacket back on, "Ah, pray I was quick enough and the curse hasn't set in yet..." The curse as it was called, was caused by those beasts that roamed the forest a single bite or even a small scratch can spread the curse, though if it was treated quickly enough or even washed in the water blessed by the Goddess it could halt or stop the curse from spreading completely. Sadly this town had no church, it was no wonder that those that were attacked by the beasts were either killed outright or were sentenced to death by the town, there was no other way for those afflicted. It was a sad sight, they sadly didn't know that only those with weak wills were the ones that devolved into the demons that hunted them under the cover of night, he knew of those that were afflicted with the curse that lived...normal enough lived only having to lock themselves away once a month to ride out the change. Those that were lucky enough to live through the poison that ran through their veins and have a strong enough will to keep from losing their minds were, from that moment forward called Faunus. Men and woman and sadly sometimes children afflicted with the curse that plagued the land, giving them animal like features making them easily recognizable as curse bearers. Making them the object of cruel words and even worse actions, humans let fear drive them and didn't see the difference between them, it was no wonder the Faunus despised the humans.
As much as he felt sympathy for the Faunus, there was no saving them once they lost themselves to the curse, as much as he hated it he did have to kill a few Faunus that lost their way and succumbed to the nature that was of the beast . Monsters, Faunus, killers...werewolves, or rather were-animals from the books he read there were a multitude of different species that the monsters took their forms as though there was always something similar amongst them. The deep black fur and the burning red eyes were the same across all species of were-animal, though their was still remnants of their humanity lingering in their bodies during the change if they lack a strong will a white mask will form over their face signifying their loss of control. When one runs across these beasts with a white mask, they are no longer humans, they no longer remember their former lives and they no longer know anything aside from hunger, these creature's are then called Grimm. Luckily for him he's never ran into these masked monsters, he's read from first hand encounters just how savage these beasts were, pursuing someone for miles until they either caught their prey or their prey was able to make it onto consecrated ground.
It seemed while the were-animals were able to cross onto hollowed ground to pursue someone the Grimm on the other hand seemed to know better as they never crossed the threshold of a blessed village or in worse cases were unable to cross onto church grounds. He glanced down at his arm as he sighed and clenched his fist, he began to eat the food that was given to him and drinking down the alcohol, he would feel much better once he got to the next village. From what he was told there was a rather large church there, the village of Vale was one of the larger villages in the land something akin to a mid sized town complete with a church of course a town hall run by one man named Ozpin or something to that affect. To his surprise there was also a combat school of sorts, teaching the young people of the village how to fight off the darkness, funny enough he thought of that analogy seeing as the school was called Beacon. "The light piercing the darkness, how fitting." He chuckled softly as he brought another glass to his lips and drank deeply of its contents, they also seemed to be having problem with another beast that seemed to be wandering it's borders. He didn't know how well he was going to be able to help against something like that, he had only seem them a few times, and even then tried to keep clear of them fighting against were-animals was one thing but he never really tried to face off against-
"Vampires!" The woman shouted over the screams of the townspeople, she tried to get people to run towards the church but it was almost impossible when people were running about in sheer panic. Damn it... "Get to the church, now!" It seemed only a few people were able to hear her over the pandemonium going on around her, she noticed movement up ahead and gripped her weapon tightly, "Get moving you'll be safe off the streets!" She forced her way through the crowd and quickly made her way to where she saw the movement, almost instantly the noise faded into nothingness as she stopped on the empty streets. She looked around keeping her eyes open as she removed the weapon across her back, a large scythe made especially for her, a blade made of pure silver dipped and blessed in the water of the Goddess at the church. Able to cut through any unholy abomination in a single swing, she raised the weapon and gripped it in both hands as she tried to slow her heart beat, it was close by she knew it. Tightening her grip she slowly moved her foot and almost in a blur spun and swung her weapon down stopping the blade mere inches from girl that was behind her, "By the Goddess, I could have killed you! What were you thinking?"!
The girl before her seemed frozen from shock the blade mere inches from her as she looked up at the woman as she took a step to the side, "I-I'm sorry mom I-I just wanted to help you..."
The woman sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair, "Ruby you can't help me with something like this, not yet at least it's too dangerous for you."
"But I-"
"I know you're going to Beacon to learn but you're still learning, you aren't ready to face these monsters yet, just get to the church please..." The girl looked crestfallen but nodded anyway, she turned and quickly ran to the church her long red cloak billowing behind her, she sighed softly shaking her head as she turned back towards the streets, "That girl I swear she-" She gasped in surprise when she came to face with the vampire, they were a sickly grey looking creature who looked almost like a human though they were touched by the devil's power giving them an insatiable appetite for blood. The creature's pitch black eyes stared into hers, it opened it's maw revealing it to be filled with razor sharp pointed teeth as it hissed at her starling her out of her stupor. She quickly swung her scythe only for the creature to disappear before her blade could find it's mark, she quickly looked around trying to get a trace of the monster, "Come out you filthy abomination..." She felt something behind her and quickly turned only to find an empty street, the creature's laughter echoing around her, "Show yourself!"
"I'm here!" She turned facing the creature as it threw an arm out striking her in the chest and throwing her across the street and slamming her back into one of the houses as she slid down groaning in pain. She tried to stand as she watched the creature walk over to her, "My my how the mighty Summer Rose has wilted, what's the matter can't even handle someone like me?" She blinked and he was upon her his hand around her throat as it lifted her off the ground, "This wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped it would have been." He simply shrugged, "No matter I'll still enjoy draining you dry..." He opened his mouth bringing his fangs closer to her neck before he felt something slam into his side causing him to drop Summer and get thrown away.
Summer fell to her knees coughing as she sucked down air to her aching lungs as she rubbed her sore neck, "You should have known better than to come out here alone Summer." She looked up to see a man with blonde hair standing in front of her with a sword made of a silver blade and a wide shield, she gave a heavy sigh as she pushed herself to her feet, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Joshua...I was just caught off guard." He rolled his eyes as they turned to face the creature before them, it had already gotten to it's feet as it turned to them before vanishing completely. The both of them stood ready for another surprise attack but it never came, they slowly lowered their weapons before looking at each other slightly confused.
"Well...that was easy." Summer rolled her eyes at Joshua but had to admit that it was a little too easy, the creature's went to all the trouble of causing a ruckus and then not actually do anything. Summer hummed in confusion before sliding the scythe back across her back, she pulled on her leather gloves and shook her head.
"It just doesn't make sense I mean, it's great that it left but...shouldn't it have done something?" Joshua shrugged as he slid the sword into it's sheathe as they turned to leave, "I just can't help but feel that somethings...off about this, you know?" Joshua hummed in affirmation as he walked beside Summer, in every vampire attack that they've had there was always a fight to be had but for it to simply give up was...very strange. There was a rush of wind as chills ran over Summer's skin, she turned to see a faint mist rushing towards them as her eyes widened in fear, "Look-"
She was thrown further down the street away from Joshua as the vampire from earlier pinned her to the ground holding her by the throat, it opened his mouth and brought it down intending to taste flesh and blood. But it only got a mouthful of leather, Summer grit her teeth as she used her arm to block the fangs from piercing her skin, though the fangs broke through the hard leather she didn't feel them pierce the flesh. The vampire hissed and bit down harder on her leather armor as she winced in pain feeling her arm being crushed by the creature, she used her other hand and punched as hard as she could at the creature's face but the only thing it got her was a sore hand and seemed to egg the vampire on to bite into her arm harder. No matter she continued to punch the creature's face until it bit down harder and she heard of soft crack in her arm that caused her to cry out in pain, "You son of a bitch!" She worked her legs underneath the vampire and kicked it off of her only to see it fly back and be pierced by Joshua's sword.
She slowly stood cradling her arm as she fought back the curses that teetered on her lips, "What the hell took you so long, ah, dammit!"
"I was kind of tied up with my own problems." He gestured off to the side with his shield as he kicked off the vampire that was impaled on his sword, Summer looked to where he motioned only to see a few skeletons fading into dust, she frowned slightly knowing that he was fending off the vampires while she was having trouble with only one. She turned as Joshua severed the head of the creature, "You okay? He didn't bite you did he?" Summer shook her head as she hissed slightly.
"No, but I think he might have broke the bone though, I'll be fine once it's set." Joshua nodded and walked ahead heading towards the church since it seemed that the attacks were over. Summer turned and looked towards the empty streets before glancing down at her arm as her heart began to race, It didn't go through, it didn't go through, it didn't... She clenched the leather glove tightly in her hand as she stared down at the several small holes in her flesh, she felt tears burning at her eyes, "No..."
"Hey Summer you coming?" She quickly slid her glove back on and wiped her eyes, she turned towards Joshua who was waving her to follow, she bit her lip and hurried to his side, she was going to have to find a way to take care of this, before the taint took over her body. She couldn't do that to Ruby and Yang, maybe the church could do something, with that determination in mind she quickly made her way back towards the church.