Hello and welcome back students of Beacon Academy
Both official and transfers
Welcome back to the tale of Monty Oum, the First Huntsman
Today, we have the beginning of his journey from a simple boy to a great man
Thank you all, for your support, not to me, but to Monty and his family
I know, that his wife and father and siblings face hard times with his passing
Many of us cannot share the same pain, but there will be a few
There will be a few who do feel the same, cold pain in our hearts
Even now, I let tears drop as I write this, slowly, and thoughtfully
May Monty Oum rest in peace, may he finally receive the rest he deserves after all his dedicated and hard work
Now
Let us continue the tale of the First Huntsman
The waters of the vast ocean rocked the ship as he slept, his head bowed as his back laid against the vessel's walls. His sisters and brothers were around him along with his father whom slept on the ground as to give them all the comfort that could be mustered from this wooden ship. Above, the sound of feet striking the deck continually announced the worry of the crew members.
Their worry was justified as they had little means of facing the Grimm who dwelled in the oceans, rising from the deepest and darkest of depths to prey on their kind. He snapped one eye open, then the next, his sleep over. Now was the time of work, now was the time to begin shaping his life further. Getting up and stretching, he stretched his limbs and was soon walking up to the deck.
"Excuse me!"
The captain of the ship paid no heed to him, instead, keeping his eyes and mouth directed at the crew mates.
"Draw the mast! A new wind approaches!" he shouted and several men came around, unfurling ropes and letting them go as to let loose the mighty wall of canvas to catch the wind.
"Excuse me, sir?"
"What is it, boy!" boomed the captain, turning with a hardened expression on his face. "Can you not see we are working!"
"I, I can, sir," the young man answered and bowed slightly out of respect, "I simply wish to ask if there is any work for me?"
"Do you wish for rewards?"
"No, only to help us get to the Kingdom of Vale," he spoke and the captain eyed him, two fingers coming up to rub the thin moustache that grew from atop his lips.
"Very well, boy. We'll need help watching for any beasts in the waters and skies," he explained and waved his arm out to the open expanse of pale blue and deep blue beyond. "The Lady of the Field of Battle's lands lay far off, but we shall arrive in two days time if the sky maidens are with us."
The young man nodded, his locks of black hair shifting as he did so.
"Alright, up onto the crow's nest- wait, you are not afraid of heights, are you?"
"No, sir," he confessed and the captain nodded before handing him a compact tube from a pocket.
"Alright, here, this'll give you a good sight of the beyond. Any fins in the water or feathers in the air, you shout down, alright?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good boy, now get up there!"
The clouds of grey and white lazily passed by, the rain from the day before having moved on to pour upon the ocean elsewhere. The stench of moisture and seawater filled the young man's nostrils as he leaned against the side of the crow's nest. There were two others up here with him, both of them young men like him, but the difference was that one was a Valean and the other like him, a Mistralian.
"So, what are the villages of Vale like again?"
"I've already told you," the Valean groaned and slouched against the rim of the crow's nest. "The hills and mountains are green, the caps or pure white with snow, and civilization is gold and crimson. Large homes fit for us, markets filled with bread and wine and meat. All of it, wonderful!"
"Certainly sounds promising," the newest member of the trio muttered and the Valean perked up.
"Hey! He speaks!"
He brushed off the lighter skinned man's comment and pulled up the compact tube to his eye, extending the spyglass to watch the dark waters and pale sky. The seawater lapped against the boat, licking its already wet sides as it cut through the deep blue.
This was what happened every day for two days, climbing up to the crow's nest and surveying the open seas. The young man's father had taken to helping the other crew members move around crates and supplies as his siblings helped in cooking and cleaning the ship along with various other things.
"Ahoy!" a Valean sailor shouted up at him and he looked down, his ears barely picking up the voice. "Are we near land yet?"
He did not know what the man had said, but he did know what kind of question it was. His head moved left and right, shaking in a "no". The Valean sighed and walked off to find another swig of whiskey as the rest did the same. The sound of a sea breeze brushing past his ears and fluttering his hair made the makeshift sailor look back out towards the beyond. By the captain's calculations, they should be near the Kingdom of Vale, yet no land was in sight, no color of green or tan or gold or crimson, only blue.
The young man rolled his eyes at the sound of crashing below, most likely another drunk falling onto a barrel. He could hear scuffling and kicking feet, then a shout, and then the slumping of the drunk as they subdued him. Onboard this vessel, with many other refugees, he had seemed to make a family from all of them. The Mistralians were kin, even if they came from different ethnicities of the same kingdom.
Suddenly, a new sound reached his ears and he jumped up. A frightening terror had driven an ice spike into his heart as he looked out into the grey clouds. There was no sight of anything, anything close at least. Extending the spyglass, he looked out to see a dark cloud... no, it was a silhouette of something... something big.
"Grimm!" he shouted down moments before the sound reoccurred, this one revealing itself as a powerful, reptilian roar that burst the clouds open as a pitch black figure flew overhead.
It was a massive beast, its chest the size of the ship while a long, thick tail wavered behind it. Two muscular legs hung off its lower body as two arms extended out with vast leathery wings attached to them. Its black scales gleamed hauntingly in the pale sunlight as its natural, bone white armor plating shifted as it flew, blood red markings on it adding to the malevolence of the monster.
He began to try and climb down from the crow's nest when he saw the Grimm circle around, headed straight for the mast. With only moments left before he experienced a painful death, he decided to take a chance. Jumping off the ladder, he free fell as the beast crashed into the mast, ripping it out of the ship.
Pulling the spyglass over him, he used it as the handles of a makeshift zip line all the way down on a rope that was quickly being forced down by the broken mast. Reaching out, his hands found the ropes of the rigging, gripping it. A yell of pain escaped his lips as his arm jerked on it, but he held onto it for dear life nonetheless, watching the main mast fall into the water. The loud splash resounded throughout the area as he climbed down, his siblings and father waiting with worried looks.
"Son!"
He was squeezed by his father, but he gave no resistance or protest, hugging back with relief.
"Take it down!"
His eyes moved up to the skies where the voice had come from, the femininity in it almost making him think an angel had called out. Out of the pale clouds came a figure dressed in white robes and silver armor, a Vacuon who leaped across many different floating symbols.
"A Glyph Maker," a voice behind them breathed and he looked back to see the crew coming up behind them, awe on their faces. "And Air Walkers."
More people joined the fight in the skies, all of them donned in fine armor and cloth. From below deck, refugees poured out to see the commotion. Everyone marveled at the sight of the world's greatest warriors, the Knights of Remnant facing the black beast.
"What are they doing all the way out here?" a sailor questioned and realization seemed to sprung into the captain's eyes.
"They're not. Brace for impact!" he shouted and grabbed the nearest rope.
Everyone was thrown down as the bow of the ship splintered on stone and wood, striking the docks of Vale with great force. Slowly, it began sinking as people got up and went to the sides.
"Down here!" one man shouted and leaped down onto the docks, helping down a woman and child. "Keep coming!"
"Go Thea, Theary," his father ordered and sent them to the side as he did his brothers and him as well. "Go!"
"What about you father?"
"I will help others escape," he stated and began to do so, putting a little girl and her dog down onto the docks before letting them run to their family.
"Come on!" his brother shouted and they started running up the dock towards the massive threshold that was the entrance to the city. Each one of the siblings ran as fast as they could, slowing down at times to keep the same pace as the slowest.
Eventually, they did reach the enormous stone pillars that held an arch up, but behind them, they watched their father and the rest of the crew members finish offloading refugees. Beginning to run, it seemed that they would make it, but then the Grimm reappeared. It gave a terrifying roar and crashed into a tower, toppling and sending it crashing into the side of another tower. The sisters screamed and the brothers gasped as rubble fell upon the sailors and the few refugees who were with them, their father included.
Their feet carried them to the pile of stone and their hands reached for pieces of rubble, removing them to find bodies and wounded men.
"Father!"
They all crowded around their brother, watching him swipe dust off his unconscious form.
"He's alive," another sibling stated as he felt for a pulse.
A roar echoed above and they shrunk as the beast flew across the skies once more, still followed by the Air Walkers and Glyph Makers.
Turning his head, the young man who had survived the fall from the mast looked into the tower beside them. The hole caused by the crashing of the first tower. Within, guards rushed their comrades to safety, helping them limp or limping together out of the destruction and death. One dropped a crossbow, the weapon made of wood and string and metal clattering to the floor.
Upon seeing the Grimm fly overhead once more, a decision was made in the raven haired, young man's mind.
"Where are you going?" his siblings yelled and screamed at him as he grabbed the long range weapon, climbing the steps to the top of the tower.
This was the only hope for his siblings and possibly the town. As the creature of darkness swooped pass, he tried to aim, but his arms were to shaky, to cold and stiff. Fear was still evident in his heart, but courage was slowly growing as he looked over the Kingdom of Vale before him. The city of Vale was in near ruin, a good portion of it set ablaze as men and women hurried about, dousing the licking flames with water.
Here he stood, standing bravely against the titan of the sky as it swerved through clouds being pursued by the defenders of this great kingdom. Aiming and pulling the crossbow up to eye level, he fired a single bolt of metal. It flew, whistling through the air like a blur of silver, and then it flicked off the seemingly iron scales of the beast. His eyes grew wide, seeing not even a scratch in the gleam of the pale sun on its pitch black scales as the steel bolt fell into the ocean.
The beast flew past, an after wind rocking the tower and causing dust to settle on his shoulders and hair. The sound of speeding feet caught his ears and he looked at the stairs to find his brothers there, one with a quiver of bolts slung over their shoulder.
"What're you doing?" one questioned, his face full of shock and disbelief. "We need to get dad out of here!"
"Then do it!" he shouted back with a solemn tone, "I'll keep that monster up here and not down there!"
They stared at him for a moment before the one with the quiver handed it to him, a regretful frown on his face.
"Then you'll need these," he claimed and hugged his brother as did the other sibling. "Come back, please."
"I will," was all Monty Oum could say and turned to the monster in the skies, loading another bolt before aiming again.
There it is
Monty Oum's first battle with the Grimm
Let it be known that the First Huntsman faced the dragon Grimm as his first battle
Armed with a crossbow and a dozen steel bolts, he fired and fired away
How he bested the beast, you will need to see in the next chapter
May there be honor to him, Monty Oum
Goodbye
