To be frank I don't really know if I ever want to pick up TAIB again. Reason being is that while yes I firmly believe that the soulsborne characters and those inspired by them could fit right at home in rwby, if I write about solely how they play in game then one that leads to easy and cheesy fights. Also it stays rather static. Not to mention I was in the middle of writing a Guts build for the berserker armor, but nothing seemed to fit. I couldn't inscribe the desperation that I wanted to convey into words and attacks that could clearly be seen and telegraphed, I mean sure you can't parry that but the only way anyone in rwby and even soulsborne itself is going to get hit with an attack like that is if they either get parried, want to try to trade blows or get snuck up on. SO here I am writing something that won't equate to garbage. Maybe I can even make my skills in writing increase, though I don't even know if I'll continue this because of the sheer amount of quality I want to place into this story. So here also my shameless begging for reviews, if you like it then feel free to say something if this angers you then tell me why it does, if you want to just flame my entire existence go for it; this is the internet I don't really think there is any space for pride on here, more so if you partake in this site. SOO with all that out of the way here is what I wrote
By an old dirt road slick with blood and rotting flesh, this flesh came from a tree. This tree was a tree where people had been hung, their crimes if any, were unknown. Traveling nearby was a troupe that traveled the land by horseback for those that were high ranking, drawn by wagon for those that provided comfort purposes or by foot for those that were mere followers within this band. Within the aforementioned wagons sat doctors, cooks, smiths, carpenters, and whores, their purposes though self explanatory were essential to the way this group survived and made their living.
Normally things would be fine, the whores would fuck the men of the troupe to keep their spirits up. The cooks would provide them with food and alcohol, the smiths and carpenters would maintain their equipment, the doctors would maintain their health. Then the rest of the troupe who were mercenaries would fight and raid other groups and cities or strong holds if they were hired, while not an honest living it was still just that. Though sat one whore who looked to be dead to the world, appearing to have collapsed within herself regressing back a state that would be equal to perhaps a child. This woman who must've been thoroughly hurt in order for such a thing to happen, wore an old dingy yellow gown that may have been white once. The only thing notable about the gown besides that was the slight 'v' shaped duvet. On her feet she wore an old and well worn pair of black flats. The woman had an gentle yet angled jawline and soft facial features, and pair of hazel eyes that didn't appear to be seeing very much besides what was directly in front of her. Upon her head spiky brown locks that framed her face and even fell over her eyebrows going as far down as her shoulders. As the wagon made its way past the tree the woman took notice of something within slough of rotting skin and mud.
Within the cesspool of filth lay a baby, a little malnourished, but it looked to be alive. And for that woman it was all she needed to dart from the wagon to go save it. "O-oohhh", she croaks out her voice a bit hoarse from slight dehydration and a lack of use, she scoops the baby into her arms with both vigor and a gentleness that only someone who finds something precious could manage. In the background the woman hears some voices speaking she pays it no mind until a force yanks her by the arm making drop her baby and dragging her to source of the voices. Letting out a surprised scream, she struggles to throw herself back to her baby, which had woken up and made his displeasure known when he the ground. "Uuuu, ahhhhhhh" the cries of baby echoing out as it made it presence known to the troupe who had thought it dead up to this point.
At this point the unnamed whore had been let go, and she had immediately ran to pick him up into her arms. As she secured him, a voice called out to her, "Hey, Shisu", looking over she saw the face of a man who had a strong facial features… Looking over the now named Shisu made eye contact for but a moment before she darted away and back into the cart that came from. Upon sitting down, she looked at her baby and truly fell in love with him. Her eyes seeming to come back alive the more she drank in her baby's appearance. 'He. He has a lot of guts to survive this long without a mama to feed him. But, that is ok…' Shisu thought to herself.
Bring her baby up to her face she places her forehead onto his and holds him there.
Three years later
In a dark tent two women can be seeing fussing over a third who lays on a pallet of blankets with a basin of water nearby. A young boy can also be seen making his way through the darkness in the tent stopping nearby a wall.
"Hold on, Shisu!", an aged female voice says sternly. Clothed in white the old woman tries her best to identify the symptoms of what Shisu has caught. Her eyes widen as she looks at the brunette coming to terms to what it is that she is trying to treat. "GUTS!", she yells looking back at him "GET OUT OF HERE!"
The young stood sheepish grabbing one of his sleeves while looking down towards the ground. "She's got the plague…!" The other woman who had been replacing the wet towel that had been Shisu's forehead notes with a tone of despair and surprise. "IF YOU GET INFECTED, IT'LL BE THE END OF YOU TOO!" The keen older woman said.
Upon hearing that Guts was nearby Shisu looked up at him quickly, her face now bulging and wrought with warts filled with pus, swelling one side her face too much to see out of but leaking out where her other eye would be she cries out softly, "...Guts!", the young boy though alarmed makes no move to leave his mother.
"WHERE IS GAMBINO?" The stern older woman barks, "He won't come. He is in the middle of a siege." The younger woman says looking at her as she kneels down next to her with a basin of wet cloth and water. "SHAMEFUL! YOU'D THINK A MAN WOULD BE WITH HIS WOMAN IN HER DYING MOMENTS…!" The older woman yells out frustrated with Gambino. While Guts makes his way to his mother. "Okay… Let's stuff something in her mouth... !"
"Guts…" Shisu weakly repeats as she reaches out towards the young boy. "HEY, what're you doing here!?" The older woman says in surprise as Guts pushed past her slightly sweating as he looks at his mother's hand realizing the depth of the situation. "Guts," his mother weakly calls out, and he can't help but notice that she doesn't look the same anymore no, she looked wrong. Even as he reached out with his shaking hand not quite understanding still what was happening.
No, he knew now. Reaching out now with both of his hand he clasped his mother's outstretched hand. "Guts," his mother said if desperation and love, fear and so many other emotions Guts couldn't identify. Then she grew still, but she kept her eyes trained on him as if to say, "I'm still here.", Guts couldn't tell you if she had been like that for a mere moment or hours but it seemed like an eternity that passed all too soon.
Three years later
A stone bunker, lay under siege. It was one of the last of it's kind as trick weapons became the norm. Weapons that had two or sometimes three forms that they could quickly and inexpensively shift into. With the introduction of siege weapons being able to function as a ram and a cannon, forts such as these found themselves disappearing by the dozen. Trick weapons had sprung up in a city that was rather advanced but had fallen due to a beast plague nearly a 200 years back. A group of hunters or at least that is what they called themselves started selling weapons and designs and had shown smiths how to make such weapons. Only recently had they started selling such weapons. Their reason surely must've been to hop onto the bandwagon known as war which had been raging for the last 80 years.
With men adorned in armor not too dissimilar to that of a knight's but far too un-coordinated to be a military what could only be a troupe of mercenaries, stormed towards the desperation of men that could only see profit and death in their futures. Among them towards the front line is a tall blond man with strong features, adorned in black armor that covers his torso and his upper shoulders with spikes running along them. Half of his back was covered with a short cape the color of dried blood. Covering his arms are muted silver gauntlets that go halfway up his forearms. Currently he was with Guts who was 6 six years old now, wearing a chain mail shirt that secured to his torso with a leather belt along with a pair of tan pants and pair of brown boots.
"Yo Guts," Gambino called, "Pass me a new magazine for this riflespear." With little delay in his actions showing that this wasn't the first time he had to do this Guts produces the magazine. Snatching it from Guts, Gambino loads the rifle with haste, and brings it to bear just in time to shred through a cavalryman who goes flying off of his horse. Which startles Guts, seeing up and close how much damage was done to the man in armor, the round had blown apart the armor and everything standing in its way which happened to be the man himself and the other end of his armor, Guts could make out what was probably the lungs of the man which been fluttering uselessly then the worst happens. The body lands on Guts and his face is seeing through the hole that used to be the man as the man's own guts slide onto Guts' face.
Transforming the rifle back into a long spear, Gambino pushes the body off of Guts, a look of amusement clear in his eyes. Over what Guts, would never guess but he meets his father's gaze. "Don't just stand there! You trying to get me killed?!" Gambino questions as he smacks Guts with the flat of the blade making his mouth from the damage done to his gums and biting his tongue. The amusement is now gone from Gambino's eyes, "Goddamnit! Who the hell do you thinks feeds your useless ass?! It sure as hell isn't you! If I die you won't even be a corpse on the side of the road, you'll be grimm chow!"
Guts' face is facing toward the ground as he wipes his and the Cavalryman's blood from his face. He tilts his face to make eye contact with Gambino to assure him that he understands. Gambino now stares at him in a condescending manner, "What're you looking at, boy?," Turning back to the rest of the battle which had progressed ahead without him Gambino barks out, "IF YOU GOT A PROBLEM I'LL THROW YOU TO THE BEOWOLVES RIGHT NOW! RIGHT HERE ON THIS VERY BATTLEFIELD!"
Marching back to the battlefield Gambino looks back halfway to Guts, "Feh," he spits, "That bitch Shisu sure picked a pesky little bastard…", then he left, leaving Guts to pick out a baby tooth that had gotten dislodged from the smack earlier.
7 months after the raid
In a camp nearby a ranch surrounded by on all sides by the woods, Guts trains with Gambino. The sounds of swords clashing and feet shuffling are common sounds. So too are the sounds of cheer and merriment of the other mercenaries as they watched, the father-son duo. "Alright Guts," Gambino encouraged as Guts appeared to have his sword pinned to the ground. Attempting to capitalize on the opening Guts rides his blade on his opponents keeping it in check, dashing at him with a follow up slash. This isn't to be however as Gambino simply steps back as soon Guts' sword is no longer pushing his out the way and moves his blade to block Guts' from getting to his face. "Come on! Come on! Is that all you got?", Gambino haughtily taunts.
Taking a half step back Guts' charges in with a blow coming from the opposite side that Gambino sides steps with ease. Then in flash Gambino's knee is launched in Guts' stomach sending the boy flying back a few meters where he bounces on his back before rolling over onto his stomach. Clutching with one hand Guts moves to stand by up, but the pain is too great and he only makes it to his knees. At least he was still holding his blade, "C'mon, we're not dancing here!" Gambino berates the boy.
Seeing that the boy was still struggling to stand, a long raven haired mercenary called out to Gambino, "Gambino, you're going too far, you can't expect a Six year old kid to be able to learn everything about sword fighting in such short time." Gambino wouldn't hear any of it, draping his blade over his shoulder Gambino states, "He can't expect to keep on eating free meals forever! We're mercenaries after all, I'm just teaching the boy how to earn his own daily bread." Gambino says with a self-assured grin on his face.
"That's fine," the mercenary says slighting cowed at Gambino's logic, "but Guts why don't you use a sword, more your size?"
"NO!", Guts snaps and in burst of anger pushes himself back to his feet, blade heaved over his shoulder but it pushes him off balance from the speed he stood at. "Oh, you're pretty stubborn aren't ya!", the dark haired mercenary says.
"We don't keep children's weapons around here." Gambino states as Guts rushes in at him they clash blades once more. Strikes blurring to be almost too fast for Guts to see but he doesn't stop swinging his blade and maneuvering it to block the attacks he could see. All around him he could hear encouragement coming from all mercenaries that had decided to watch the fight. Phrases like, 'use your hips' and 'dodge' were some of the more common ones. However in a flash Gambinos blade seem to become 4 in an instant, one moving his blade out of the way while the other three scored cuts on him two on his right arm and one on his right cheek. The pain nearly paralyzed him, but Guts wasn't done yet! With a speed previously unseen from the boy Guts' flung himself at Gambino and landed a glancing cut on his cheek.
For the first time that Guts could recall Gambino looked truly angry at him. The look of his strained jaw and the fury growing within his eyes. "You…", his father ominously stated… "YOU RUNT!" Faster than Guts could even comprehend he was hitting the ground and there was an intense pain crawling across his face. It took all of Guts remaining strength to catch himself before his face hit the ground. If anyone else was saying anything Guts couldn't catch it as he was still trying to figure out if he should be proud that he hit his father or not.
It wasn't too long however before the pain overwhelmed the young boy he passed out.
It was hot, too hot his face, it was way too hot as if someone decided to place an ember on his face. Guts awoke to the sensation of intense heat and blood clogging his nose and making his head feel heavy, far heavier than it had any right feeling. He had so much blood clogged in his throat and mouth that he was lucky he didn't choke to death.
After getting his breathing under control Guts realized that people where whispering outside of his tent. Though they weren't all the quiet, and they had no real reason to be, they must've suspected he'd be out cold at least till morning. "How long does he plan to keep the kid anyway?"
"Did you hear… Where the kid came from?"
"Yeah, I hear he was born from a corpse."
Tilting his head to face to the entrance of the tent the injured boy listened with rapt attention to the conversation unfolding in front of him. "For people in our line of work where putting our lives at risk is pretty much the job description…", one the mercs trailed off.
"He's a pretty much a death sentence waitin' to happen, nothing but a bad omen." The other one finished. "Hell I'm willing to bet half of our next pay day that he's the reason Shisu died of the plague…"
Guts silently recoiled at the accusation, and as if on auto pilot to find some sort of comfort in something, Guts reaches for his sword, through all the bumps and bruises it had been a constant in his life.
The following morning
At the crack of dawn Guts could be seen by a tributary with a bucket and his blade. Running through the various forms that gambino had taught him. "147…. 148….149….150. Ghh", with a pant of exhaustion Guts plops onto a nearby log partially stabbing his blade into the ground and swipes the sweat from his face.
'When I'm swinging this sword I don't have to think about anything', he thought as he plunged the blade deeper into the ground. His hands were a little raw from swinging his blade around so much though.
"You sure are taking a long time to draw water!" Up on the hill stood Gambino with his hand on his hip and poker face equipped.
"Gambino…!" Guts says in surprise, caught off guard that Gambino actually came to check up on him as well as unsure what to say in response.
"Hmph," the man grunts out, upon seeing that Guts has his sword nearby. He then chucks a shell shaped container at the young boy. "Here," as the boy catches it perplexed Gambino explains. "Its medicine," the man turns so only half his face is pointed at Guts, "Rub it on your wounds."
The only thing Guts can let out is a confused "eh?" as Gambino turns to walk away.
"G-Gambino!", the lad calls out with a sense of urgency, catching the older man's attention in turn, giving Guts a side long stare. "...Thank you.", the swordsman in training says.
Turning away sharply and marching away Gambino barked one final thing at the young boy, "Hurry up and get the food ready!" With that Guts was left to treat his wounds with the medicine he had been given.
Three years later
Guts found himself in the midst of combat against 2 knights in full plate armor. They were ruthless, and the young boy had been almost entirely on the defensive despite initiating combat. That didn't mean that they were invincible, no that just meant that Guts would have to swing his blade harder to smash through their defense.
With a battle cry that originated deep from within, Guts dragged his blade across the dry dirt of the battlefield that he and the others were currently on. Kicking up a smoke screen that covered the three, Guts went quiet and dashed to the left attempting to take the first knight that he engaged. He was wielding a blade that seemed to serve little more purpose to intimidate someone rather than kill them. His mistake, special decals, offer no tactical advantage whatsoever, and looking cool would do nothing more than attract the wrong type of attention.
Widening his eyes despite the sand, Guts feinted his blade so it appeared that he would slam it down on his foes shoulder. Falling for the bait, the knight raises his blade to catch it and redirect the attack to the side. Then moving swiftly Guts redirected the deflected blow so it slammed into the armpit of the knight and ruptured the artery and sheared through half of the knight's arm.
Guts turned to his next opponent before he even hit the ground, evidently this was the right move as the knight came with fury that hadn't been present earlier. There blades commit to a deadly dance of reflected light and screaming steel. The blades screaming as they crashed looking gap in each others defense. Soon enough however the two fighters decided to try to end this offense with a decisive stroke that would tell who the winner would be.
Aiming for a powerstrike the knight knew that Guts couldn't have the strength to match him if he struck from the top. Luckily Guts knew this as well since Gambino had shown him that trying to match a grown man in strength would only happen at his age if he could reinforce himself. So Guts angles his blade have the knights deflect off of his, and with forceful bump to the knights moving blade it was sent careening to the side too far to be any use to the knight. Even more so since Guts' sword had raced into a thrust that found itself in the throat of the ironclad man.
Now the young lad found himself staring into the eyes of the man he just beaten, they looked foggy, yet inhumanly sharp, as if he were trying to convey his rage even as he lay there dying with his throat cleaved open. The eyes then seemed to twitch upwards for the briefest of moments before gravity came down and with it the deceased man whose throat ripped open as the man fell to Guts' side.
Catching his breath from the intense moment Guts been struck in the back. Whatever it was, it was blunt and it hit hard, really hard. The young boy had been thrown into the ground, and he rolled quickly onto his side to catch his bearings, and over head was large man, larger than Gambino. It seemed like the giant was coming in for a follow up smash to end the boy, but before he could so much as even lift his flail his head rolled off of his shoulders. Blood flies into the air as the body stands for a good second or two before keeling over, and when it did, Gambino was in his sight.
"Gambino!", the boy called out, but the man seemed care rather little for the plight of the boy. Walking away to carry on the battle, but he did call over his shoulder, "This isn't sword practice where you stop after winning once or twice, you need to keep going or you will get yourself killed.", stepping through a breached door, the man barks that there is more work to be done.
Guts, secures his helmet which had fallen at some point during the conflict and charges.
3 days after the Castle Siege
Guts had just finished giving Gambino the money he owed him for and had just received his cut. He even was told to keep up the good work, after practicing with his blade for the day to stay sharp, Guts went off to his tent.
It was almost midnight, and the settings where all too reminiscent of when his mother had died. He couldn't stop shaking, even though he knew what had happened to her wouldn't happen to him, he just couldn't stop. It seemed like the chill in the air was starting become clammy and humid, giving the young boy a sheen of sweat.
The tension in the air was palpable although it hadn't been unbearable it boiled over as the entrance of his tent opened up. It was man, a large milk chocolate coloured man. He was bald and had armes the size of the young boys chest.
Guts only knew one man with this specific build and his name was-"Donovan?", the man in question had a sinister look on his face, as though he had been told he can go as crazy as he wants to on something and nothing would happen. It was self assured in a way that put Guts on edge as though- Suddenly the large man charged and Guts reached for his sword and managed to draw and slash it in quick motion. But it did nothing to the large man who faintly glowed orange for a moment as he wrenched the blade from Guts hand and back handed him. Then pinning him down and gagging him with one of the sheets he had laying around his pallet.
"Quit struggling, brat. I ain't here to eat ya," the stout man says as he presses Guts into the ground. "C'mon… relax and it'll be over soon enough," with a throaty chuckle the man continues, "Happens all the time in armies."
Guts was a fighter though, he didn't care what they did all the time in the army, Guts wasn't going to sit around and let him get molested. Snapping from beneath giant of a man's hand that made a dull thump as it impacted the ground, Guts smashed his elbow into Donovan's large nose. It did little more amuse him, Guts wasn't finished, aiming the man's blatter the raven haired youth smashed his foot into his bladder, if the attack hit him hard enough he would be forced to keel over… but attack the did nothing. Still not ready to give up the youth dives for his sword, this time Donovan doesn't watch him in amusement.
In a blur of motion that Guts can only track he finds himself sweeped by one the man's large hands. "Enough of your wrigglin'! I paid Gambino good money!"
This was a betrayal, there was no that Fa-Gambino would allow Donovan to do this. He may have not liked him too much but he told him to keep up the good work. Gambino would never allow Donovan to do this, not ever, besides he was a boy there was no way that, that, this ever happened in any army and up until now this was the first had even heard of this happening in this army. There was no way. No way. Impossible. Incon- Incon-something but he knew that this wouldn't stand.
So as he stared at the bald vacuan that held him by the throat the first thing he could say was, "uh?"
Thrown into the ground via chokeslam, his mind seemed to become empty. "I bought you for the night. Paid Gambino, 3 silver coins." The large man stated, Guts seemed to only just realize that his gag had been redone.
"Gambino sold yer ass out!" Donovan laughed out.
'No! That had to be a lie, it has to be. There… Couldn't be…'
The following morning Gambino didn't seem to know what Guts was talking about when he confronted him about last night. Which amounted to what all kids do when confronted with a uncomfortable situation like that, prod on a surface level with vague questions that may or may not be understood. Afterwards Guts ended up destroying some training dummies to vent his rage and frustration out.
Although this did precious little to sate his rage he overheard some of the older mercenaries saying that they would launching another attack. This, would be perfect for Guts, after all no one would miss Donovan, and this was war: people die and so will Donovan.
The following week
They had the enemy on the back foot, striking fear into the hearts of those who thought it'd be a good idea to recreate their ranks. Obviously they were never going to allow something like that to happen while they were on the employ.
They were swift, and they were unexpected, Guts himself although was young struck as though he were thunder incarnate cutting a fair path for someone his age. However Guts was not fighting on the battlefield as he could, no he was keeping an eye out for his prey: Donovan.
The large man had crossed Gambino, and honestly pissed him off more than anything ever had beforehand. The large man was making this path for revenge rather easy as he had broken off from the rest of the group to go chase down some people who decided that they wanted to run rather than fight. Slipping away from the rest the mercenaries was easy for Guts too since all he had to do was take the heads of several of the opposing knights.
Chasing them down the beaten path Guts had readied an old rifle spear, he just needed to wait for his cue as well. Releasing the air from his lungs Guts lined up his shot as the man finish executing the deserters. The man started chuckling at how easily they just died before him, one the knights having a head split open similarly to a coconut. Another missing his arm and many more in various states of desecration
Without any delay the rifle, fired and the bullets shredded through bald man's skin barely even pausing they tore through his armor and aura.
"Gah-uh-!"
In a bit of disbelief he remained sitting on his horse, slowly and rigidly rotating to get a better look at the person who had shot him.
"Guts! You little-!", whatever he was going to say was cut off as Guts released another shot into the leg of the man, blowing it off, making him fall off his horse making him let out a scream of pain from the sudden amputation, clutching at it. All the while Guts gets off horse and draws his blade, and levels it to his throat as he arrives by his side but the man pays little attention to it he is holding his leg. The raven haired boy won't have any of it, digging his foot into the chest of the man making him clutch at Guts' foot instead to trying remove it.
"Say it…", the boy announces with a surprisingly dark tone for one who has yet to reach puberty, but he gets no response, so he stomps down even harder, barking, "SAY IT AGAIN! WHO SOLD ME OUT! SAY IT, DAMN IT!", between choking on his own blood and trying to answer the kid who he thought might just spare him because he is still just that, the vacuan did his best to answer all things considered.
"Gam-", was all he was able to choke out before Guts slammed his blade through his throat, and with a roar, ripped it out the side of his throat leaving it halfway attached.
The lad stood there for a moment before he crashed backwards into a tree to catch his breath. He knew that he had to get back to the battle soon, but this had taken a lot out of him maybe not physically; but mentally this had been tiring. But it would never happen again, not if he could help it.
In the distance he could hear the sky screaming with the sounds of gunshots and cannons being fired, and he knew if he stuck around much longer Gambino would likely find out. He couldn't be seen as a coward after he had been told to keep up the good work, shoving his exhaustion down, Guts mounts his horse and rides back towards the battle.
By the time Guts reaches the main battlefield again he sees Gambino mounting a final push to take the strong hold that the retreating knights fled into. However, almost as soon as he sees it the image of Gambino is destroyed as dirt, rock, blood, limbs and guts go flying to the air. In the next seconds, though everything seems to be moving in slow motion. Not because what is happening is particularly frightening as the lad had been raised into this, but merely because of who is on the floor.
It was Gambino, in a fetal position facing covered in dirt, that in itself wasn't the part that was wrong with this image, no, what was wrong was Gambino was missing a leg. That shouldn't have happened, Gambino knew better than to not have his aura up on a battlefield. After all he was the was who taught him that.
Hearing someone cry out Gambino's name in the distance Guts finds himself rushing up to Gambino and placing him over his shoulders. Then he ran away from the fight, to get him safe, to keep him safe. In the distance he could still hear the cannon fire but he didn't stop for it.
The lad didn't know how long he had ran, but by the next thing he knew he was sitting next to Gambino as the doctor finished wrapping him up. Besides missing his leg the man had various deep gouges running along the rest of his body the only thing that seemed to be spared was his face.
"He lost a lot of blood, but I managed to save him." The doctor stated, as he wiped the blood off of his hands.
In the room besides Guts and the doctor were two other mercenaries, Guts never learned their names but the boy hardly seemed to notice them.
"C'mon, the man managed to survive a hell like that last battle all the time. There ain't no way he's gonna die that easily.", one of them stated.
"Yeah, but with a leg like that, he'd never be able to fight again. I mean unless that company that makes trick weapons got somethin' for this.", the other replied.
As the three older men left the room talking about who they'd need to lead the group now that Gambino was down for the count, Guts made his way by Gambino's side and pulled up a stool.
Don't worry as soon as we get passed the child arc and into Guts' teens this won't be so copy paste.