Bloodied Fang

RWBY's Room, Beacon Academy

"Let me get this straight; all of you planned to investigate the activities of White Fang and you want me to help you?"

When he arrived at Team RWBY's room, Hunter saw that the team and who he deduced as two of their friends were waiting for him. He also noticed that the girls were wearing different clothes than usual.

He found out the reason when Ruby explained why she asked for his help.

"Well…yeah. Remember when you told us that one of your mentors is a…Hunter of Hunters?" Said Ruby nervously.

"Yes. And considering your scroll letter, you want my skills in tracking down people which I got from Eileen's skills of tracking down stray hunters." Replied Hunter as he folded his arms.

Ruby let out a nervous laugh as other people in the room looked at Hunter nervously. After thinking for a while, he let out a sigh.

"Oh, well. It's not like I have something important to do." Stated Hunter as he shrugged. "Anyway, I know White Fang is a group of extremists. But what're their crime records?"

"White Fang has been known for bombing places that discriminate against faunus, disturbing Dust delivery, assassinations of several SDC's board members, and others." Explained Weiss.

"Yep. They're basically a bunch of holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want." Added one of the huntresses-in-training's friends, a monkey faunus.

"Why do you want to know about that?" Asked Blake who squinted her eyes, looking suspiciously at Hunter.

"Just want to know exactly what I am dealing with." Replied Hunter simply.

"Alright, it's all set then!" Said Ruby happily before she deflated. "Wait, I forgot who you should go with."

Ruby walked away from others and started mumbling about something. Hunter however managed to hear what she was saying.

"He won't be that useful with me and Weiss since we'll only visiting CCT tower. Blake and Sun will infiltrate White Fang, so it's out of question. Which means…"

"I'll go with Blake and Sun." Said Hunter suddenly, interrupting Ruby's mumbling.

"W-What?" Said Ruby surprised before she realized what he just said. "Hunter, I am not sure that will work. White Fang is, as you know, faunus-only organization. Unlike Blake and Sun, you're not one. So, you can't help them in this area."

"I'll stay in the back, being extra muscle in case something goes wrong. Trust me, the chance of the infiltration gone wrong is quite high."

"What makes you said that?" Asked Blake as she folded her arms.

"I don't know, the fact that the infiltrators are a pair of students."

Blake wanted to retort that, saying that she was a former White Fang member and thus has experience in infiltrating. However, she stopped when she realized that it wasn't a good idea and the same thing can't be said to Sun Wukong. Sure, he stowed away on a ship and stole some bananas.

"Wait, how he managed to get away from the authority?" Thought Blake as she just realized that. "I mean, I am sure there would be complaints delivered to Beacon, who then will contact Haven, who then will give him punishment."

Setting that thought aside and realizing that Sun might actually quite experienced in this job, there was still some problems; Blake was quite known in the White Fang, being the daughter of the previous leader. She had been seen wearing the Grimm mask, so there was quite a chance for her to get recognized. As for Sun, well there was difference between stowing away and getting away from theft with infiltrating paramilitary organization.

"I guess that's not a problem. As long as he stays out of sight, he could come with us." Stated Blake, before staring at Hunter. "Of course, not in that clothes."

"Pardon?" Said Hunter in confusion.

"She's right. Your clothes are not something people wore today, even by huntsmen and huntresses' standards. And let me explain it to you, the standards are quite colorful." Explained Weiss. "In fact, it's your clothes that make you quite notorious. Well, one of them at least."

Hunter looked at his attire and realized that they were right. Even back in Yharnam, this attire indicated that he was a hunter. Hunter looked at the people in the room, nodded his head, and exited the room.


Two minutes later…

When he came back into the room, he had changed his attire. He was wearing a white shirt under a brown vest, black trousers, and black shoes. For accessories, he wore a cape and a black hood. There were also two belts hanging from his vest.

Weiss took a look at Hunter's current attire. Then, she looked at Neptune's attire. She nodded her head with a satisfied smile.

"Alright. These clothes could work." Declared Weiss.

"Hey, Hunter? Why don't you wear this attire more often? They're better and more…low-profile than your usual attire." Asked Yang.

"This is the attire that I wore when I went to Yharnam. It…has sentimental value and I don't like getting it damaged." Replied Hunter.

"Well, too bad then."


Several hours later…

Vale

Hunter was currently observing a warehouse. Compared to other warehouses in the sector, there was nothing special about this one. However, look can be deceiving. At this very warehouse, the White Fang was recruiting faunus for their causes.

As he observed the warehouse, Hunter was also looking for more information about the White Fang, trying to figured out how he should handle them.

Seeing that there was no sign of anything goes wrong, Hunter read the history of White Fang in his scroll. At first, it was initially a peaceful activist organization created to improve relations between Humans and Faunus and improve the civil rights of the latter.

"A noble cause. Sadly abandoned." Commented Hunter as he looked at the next part.

However, in the face of continued discrimination and a change in leadership, the White Fang began to adopt more and more radical methods, eventually becoming a violent terrorist organization that has earned much notoriety in the world.

Reading that, and then adding the list of crimes of the organization given by Weiss and Sun's comment about them, Hunter knew that it was fine to put the White Fang in his "OK-to-kill" list.

Hunter sighed and shook his head as he read the results of White Fang's radical activities. Sure, it caused many humans to view faunus as equals. But it was out of fear rather than respect. Because of that, faunus need to always appeared to be able to strike if they are wronged. All it takes is a single time of looking weak for all those equality to evaporate.

On the other side, the White Fang's activities also caused them to alienated the more moderate faunus. The former also caused the latter harder times since their efforts can be blocked under the pretense of "preventing an act of terrorism."

Hunter stopped for a while and pinched the bridge of his nose. The situations in Remnant were so…complex. It wasn't like back in Yharnam where all he needed to do was hunt the beasts, the kin, and the Great Ones that set up shops there. It was very easy to know which one that must be killed and which to be left alone.

In here, in Remnant, he had to do a research on potential targets with the exception of the Creatures of Grimm. Even if he has to, the research on Grimm is merely to figure out their weaknesses. For others, like White Fang for example, the research was to make sure that they did deserve to be exterminated, just like the many beings that he head hunted.

Hunter's thought was interrupted when he heard a commotion coming from the warehouse. He checked the shotgun that Ruby bought for him, which he dubbed as Hunter Shotgun. Then, he drew Burial Blade in its curved sword form.

Suddenly, Hunter saw Blake and Sun jumped through a window. Then, not even five minutes later, a giant metal doll-thing ran through the wall of the warehouse and chased after them. He was about to follow them when he realized that there were still White Fang members inside the warehouse. He decided that it would be better if he stay behind and prevent enemy reinforcement from coming.


While the new recruits – and unfortunately some of experienced members – were panicking over the loss of light, Lynn Caramel silently looked at the breaker box to see whether there's something that he could do to fix it.

As he checked the box, he wondered how they managed to let two…

"Spies! I'll just call them spies!" Thought Lynn.

Anyway, he was wondering how they managed to let two spies infiltrate the warehouse. Considering that they were also faunus, the answer wasn't that hard actually. Perhaps they were faunus that dislike White Fang's methods?

No, it's quite unlikely. Most faunus that dislike them were called moderates and there was a reason they were called that. Rival organization maybe? As far as he knew, White Fang was the only one who took the necessary…

BANG

Lynn's thought was interrupted when he heard that gunshot. When he looked at the source, he saw a hooded figure with shotgun on one hand and a scythe on the other. That figure was standing at the hole that that human Torchwick created when he chased the spies with the Paladin.

"Who are you?!" Stated Lynn as he drew his gun. Other White Fang members soon followed.

He couldn't confirm whether the figure was a human or a faunus, due to not seeing his back and the hood covering his head. Lynn would soon realize that neither option was correct; the figure was…something else.

"Death." Stated the figure.


As soon as he said that, Hunter holstered Hunter Shotgun and swung Burial Blade, killing five White Fang members. Then, he grabbed a Molotov and threw it at the large group of faunus, causing panic amongst them.

As they were distracted by the fire, Hunter ran towards them and sliced his way through. Some fall where they stand while others merely being thrown away. The latter must've their auras activated to protect them.

One of the White Fang fighters managed to wounded him at his right arm. The faunus was unable to celebrate since Hunter immediately decapitated him. Then, another slashed him at his back. Hunter swept around and managed to impale him.

When a White Fang fighter tried to stab him in the gut, Hunter rolled to dodge the attack. He then grabbed the Hunter Shotgun and fired at the faunus. His opponent staggered and at the same time, lost his aura protection. Hunter immediately impaled the White Fang fighter at his chest. Just as fast as the impalement, he drew back his hand, causing the fighter to be propelled away from him as blood gushed from the hole in his chest.

Soon enough, Hunter was covered from head to toe in blood. Just like what often happened in Yharnam. Despite that, he couldn't help but feel rather bored by this fight. He slaughtered them left and right, like sheep. Shouldn't they be like…what's the term again? Buffed up version of huntsmen?

"Wait, how could I miss that? The protectors of Remnant share same name with those demented crazies at Yharnam; huntsman. Well, at least for male." Thought Hunter.

Hunter soon realized that he had basically killed or wounded most of the White Fang members, leaving only less than a dozen of them and the recruits. While he did kill some recruits during the fight, especially with that Molotov cocktail, most of them were still alive. Alive but in fear.

As he slowly approached the White Fang fighters and new recruits, Hunter wondered what he should do with them. Letting them go was absolutely out of question; these people willingly come to a recruitment place of organization well-known for their radical activities. That means they were willing to hurt others, even fellow faunus, to attain their goals.

As such, there was only one option; kill all of them.

This was a field that was his forte; eradicating pests.


Supermarket, Vale

Inside the market, Team RWBY bought four bottles of soda to hydrated their throats. While they managed to defeat Roman, it was still not without a challenge. Furthermore, he managed to escape with his new underling, a woman with parasol.

"Whew." Yang drank half of the content of her bottle in one gulp. "At least we end the mission with a Yang."

"Boo." Commented Ruby, not amused at the slightest.

"So, anyone find something helpful?" Asked Blake before drinking her soda. "For me, it appears that White Fang managed to acquire some Atlas military hardware."

"Well, that would be…problematic." Said Yang. "I visited my source and he has no idea what's in White Fang and Roman's minds."

"I managed to acquire the necessary files." Said Weiss as she showed her teammates her scroll.

"Well, I guess you can say that it's mission accomplished!" Said Ruby with excitement before she realized something. "Wait, where's Hunter?"

It was then the girls realized that just like Neptune and Sun, Hunter had also gone missing. And they knew that he wasn't with the other two guys since when Blake contacted Sun, he only said that he was with Neptune.

Ruby took out her scroll and tried to contact Hunter, worrying about his safety. After waiting for several minutes, she finally managed to make a contact with him. However, for some reason, there was no voice coming from her scroll. It was by then Ruby realized that Hunter might had no idea what to do next after accepting a call.

"Hello, Hunter?" Said Ruby.

"Good night, Ruby." Replied Hunter from the scroll. "Did…I do it correctly?"

"Huh? Oh, do you put your scroll at your ear and then speak?"

"Yes. I have saw other people did this with their scrolls."

"Good. Keep doing that until the call end." Ruby then asked the question. "Where are you now, Hunter?"

"On my way back to Beacon. No need to pick me up. I want to…enjoy the night scenery."

"Oh, OK. Say what did you do when Blake and Sun were chased by the Paladin?"

"Paladin? Let me guess, some kind of giant metal doll-thing."

"Yeah…sort of." Ruby made a note to herself; try to make Hunter more familiar with modern stuffs.

"I intended to follow them. But then I realized that someone had to stay behind and prevent White Fang from sending reinforcement."

"Wait, you fought with them? Aren't there a lot of people there?" Ruby started to become worried.

"Not my first time being outnumbered. None of them as skilled as some of the opponents in my past."

"Oh. Whew." Ruby then remembered something. "Can we meet up tomorrow during the lunch time?"

"I will see what I can do."

"Great. Oh, and good night, Hunter."

"Good night, Ruby."

Ruby cut the contact and put her scroll back. After delivering the news that Hunter was fine, Team RWBY soon went back to Beacon, wanting nothing more than to have a nice, sweet sleep.


The next day…

Mess Hall, Beacon Academy

During lunch time, Team RWBY, JNPR, and Hunter were sitting at the same table. Unlike the previous days, Hunter was wearing a Beacon male uniform to blend in with the other students. The difference was that he added a black hood, not unlike Ruby with her red hooded cloak.

"Soup and bread. Soup and bread. Are those the only things that you eat?" Asked Ruby with an incredulous tone.

"There are times when I ate stew instead of soup. There's also that time when I tried steak. I also add vegetables and fruits for my meals." Replied Hunter who didn't divert his attention from his meals.

"Ugh. That's not what I mean! Can you please be varied with your food?!"

"I already do that. And I am not taking an advice from someone who neglected valuable information of experienced hunter."

"Valuable information? From Professor Port?" Said Nora with disbelief, as if Hunter had just said that the sky is green.

"Indeed. Some of his feats could be useful against the Grimm. Maybe even more so in desperate situation."

"Oh, please. Prof. Port's stories are exaggeration. None of them makes any sense." Stated Weiss.

"If only you know half the thing that I saw." Thought Hunter.

Their lunch was interrupted when Pyrrha let out surprised yelp. She then realized that other people at the table were staring at her due to that.

"S-Sorry." Said Pyrrha rather embarrassed.

"Is there something wrong, Pyrrha?" Asked Jaune.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. Just being surprised by today's news." Pyrrha showed them the news that she saw.

Massacre at Abandoned Warehouse

All Victims Identified to be Faunus. Possible White Fang Relations

Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang's eyes became as wide as saucer. Though not because of being shocked. At least, not the main reason. The reason was because they recognized that warehouse as the recruitment place of White Fang. And considering what happened last night…

Team RWBY slowly but surely started to stare at the possible murderer besides them, who at this point still focusing on his lunch. Hunter then realized that he was being stared and looked back at the team.

"Is there something wrong?" Asked Hunter.


10 minutes later…

RWBY's Room, Beacon Academy

Hunter had no idea how they managed to do that. Still, he was impressed that the huntresses-in-training managed to get him into their room. At least he managed to take his apple with him.

As he chewed on his apple, Ruby seemed to be trying to find something in her scroll. After a while, she showed the news that Pyrrha saw to him. Seeing no reaction from Hunter, Ruby decided to start it herself.

"Do you have something to explain, Hunter?" Asked Ruby.

"No." Said Hunter who didn't stop chewing the apple.

"Did you kill these people?" Asked Blake with a dangerous hint on her voice.

"Yes."

Team RWBY was taken aback by how easily Hunter admitted his action. There was also the tone in how he said it; as if he was describing the weather.

"Y…Y…You WHAT?!" Exclaimed Blake.

"Did I do something wrong?" Hunter's question pushed the team to an edge as he had the guts to be confused.

"You. Killed. Them." Said Yang with emphasis. "Ring any bell?"

Hunter once again looked confused. He then said, "No."

Ruby was about to say something when she stopped and remembered something. One of Hunter's mentors was Eileen the Crow, the Hunter of Hunters. According to him, her task was to slay corrupt hunters who have strayed from their paths. That could mean…

"Hunter." Ruby said it with a hint of fear. "Have you…killed people before?"

This time, Hunter stopped eating his apple and actually paused. Ruby could see that he tightened his grip on the apple. He finally relaxed and let out a sigh.

"Yes, I have killed people before." Said Hunter. There was a hint of regret in it.

The huntresses-in-training stopped for a moment upon hearing that. However, they still wanted to know why Hunter decided to massacre the White Fang members in the warehouse.

"Why do you decide to kill those White Fang? I don't like White Fang in the slightest, but I do not wish for them to be…massacred like sheep." Asked Weiss rather uncomfortable.

Hunter remained silent for a while. He approached a table inside the room and put his apple on it. It was only then that he began to speak.

"When I was in Yharnam, the beasts were not my only enemies. There were also…rogue hunters…and the Yharnamites themselves. The Yharnamites are some of the most xenophobic people that I've ever met. They believed that the outsiders were the ones who brought the plague into their city and thus hunted them with the ferocity. I, as you know, was and still an outsider." Explained Hunter.

"How' that related to this massacre?" Asked Blake.

"For I only kill people – humans and faunus alike – for two reasons; either self-defense or if they're threats to…society." Hunter walked for a moment and looked outside of the window. "White Fang is the latter case."

"That doesn't mean you can just kill them!" Blake furiously closed her distance with Hunter. "Those who joined White Fang are misguided! They do not deserve to be killed, being left in their pool of blood! They've been persecuted for their entire lives and all they want is to have the same standing as humans are!"

"Being persecuted does not excuse hurting those who do not persecute you." Hunter let out a sigh. "I am a…what do you call it…? A realist, Miss Belladonna. I can understand hitting back those who hit you. But White Fang has gone beyond that. It's an eye for an eye, not an eye and ear for an eye."

Before Blake could say anything, Yang put her hand on her partner's shoulder. When the cat faunus turned her head to look at the brawler, the latter shook her head. Yang then took a step forwards towards Hunter.

"While I can guess what you mean by the 'an eye for an eye' stuff, what you did is still not right. You should capture them, hand them over to the authority. Not becoming their judge, jury, and executioner." Stated Yang.

"I never claimed to have the moral superiority, Miss Long."

"It's…Xiao Long. But I don't exactly like formality, so just call me Yang."

"Very well, Yang." Hunter seemed to have a solemn mood after saying that. "Hunters' tasks have little space for morals. Hunters' tasks are not to make the world a better place. It's always to salvage the situation. It's always to cut the branches to save the whole tree."

Silence fell onto the room after hearing what Hunter had just said. Ruby nervously approached Hunter and trying to change his mind.

"T…That's not true. I…I am sure you make the world a better place. After all, that's what huntsmen and huntresses do." Said Ruby, trying to encourage Hunter.

He didn't give his response. Hunter looked at Ruby's face and it brought a terrible memory.

"Who…are you? I don't know your voice, but I know that smell… Are you a hunter? Then please, will you look for my mum? Daddy never came back from the hunt and she went to find him, but now she's gone too I'm afraid. I'm all alone, and scared."

"Really? Oh, thank you! My m-mum wears a red jeweled brooch. It's so big and…and beautiful. You won't miss it. Oh, I mustn't forget... If you find my mum, give her this music box. It plays one of daddy's favorite songs. And when daddy forgets us, we play it for him so he remembers. Mum's so silly, running off without it!"

"Mister hunter? Was it really her? Mummy…mummy… Don't leave me alone… Mum… Come home… I'm alone… I'm scared… It's not fair."

"Mum, come home... I'm alone... I'm scared... It's not fair..."

As he remained silent, Ruby walked closer towards Hunter. To her surprise, she saw a single drop of tear slowly dripping on his cheek. Then, he finally spoke.

"I am not a hero like the huntsmen and huntresses that you admire, Ruby. I never would be."

Hunter then walked towards the door. Weiss intended to stop him, but Ruby gave a sign to not to. Hunter opened the door, walked outside, and then closed it.


Hunter's Dream

At one of the tombstones, the Doll was currently praying to one of the past hunters. After finishing her pray, she stood up and walked towards her usual spot. When she arrived, she saw that Hunter was lying near the spot, looking at the Moon.

"Good Hunter, do you require my assistance?" Asked the Doll.

"I do not require your assistance at the moment, Doll." Replied Hunter before he let out a breath. "Just…a time of solitude for myself."

"I understand, Good Hunter."

The Doll went towards her spot and stayed there, letting Hunter observed the Moon without interruption.

"Hunters…we aren't heroes, aren't we? The things that we have done…the things that we have sacrificed…to protect them from the beast…to protect them from the Great Ones…nothing that we've ever done, makes us heroes, right?" Said Hunter to no one.

"No, we are not."

Surprised by the response, Hunter sat up and saw that Gehrman was not far away from him. It was quite unusual, for the First Hunter to went outside of his workshop.

"Hunters are not knights in shining armor, go from village to village, saving the villagers from vile threats, celebrated as heroes." Stated Gehrman. "We kill the beasts. We clean up the messes, not help people. For when we do that…well, you have your own experience."

"You seem to care more about me these days, Old Man." Said Hunter.

"Good Hunter, you're going to spend your life in Hunter's Dream until your task is complete. It will be longer than during the Hunt in Yharnam. Perhaps…even eternity."

Hunter looked at the Moon for another minute before standing up. He went towards a tombstone and was about to touch it when he heard his mentor speaking again.

"A little bit of…encouragement, Good Hunter. Hunters do not help people…but it's not wrong to say that the side effects of our tasks do."

Hunter had stopped his hand, thought he remained silence. After a while, he touched the tombstone, sending him to his destination.


Answers to some reviews:

ecoolasice: Not really on the last part. Hunter accepted the offer but he is…quite independent, to say the least. He's not an official student and only joined classes that he thinks would be helpful (and the ones that teach topics that he likes).

Guest: And you, sir, are a fool to think that's what I do.


And the chapter is done.

If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me!

Review please!