The Day After The Hunt

Chapter 2, The Second Hunt

I do not own anything pertaining to RWBY or Bloodborne. I wouldn't be writing fanfiction if I did, now would I?

[TDA]

Ruby couldn't help but watch her rather tall friend Jaune from the corner of her eyes, a worried frown tugging her lips downward slightly.

The white cuirass he wore over his hoodie the day prior was not present to cover his chest, nor were any other forms of protective gear that might have protected him better from the Grimm anywhere on his body. From her guess, Jaune was more like a Knight of old with defense being his focus rather than a Huntsman who trained in speed. Wasn't it more knightly to wear armor than just a simple hoodie with the most adorable bunny she had ever seen stitched onto its front?

A hoodie and jeans were hardly appropriate Huntsman gear, but she thought of her father and Yang before deciding that she had seen worse after all.

Beyond his lack of armor was the way he carried himself. Ruby had sharp eyes thanks to many years of training in marksmanship, allowing her to spot the difference in his gait and the way he squared his shoulders instantly compared to his hunched frame the day before. He walked with the same amount of confidence and ease as her uncle, Qrow Branwen, and that fact alone bothered Ruby as much as seeing a very bloodied Jaune had.

The differences between the Jaune Arc that was throwing his guts up in the nearest trashcan after their flight from Vale and the Jaune Arc that was staring out at the Emerald Forest as if the trees had just insulted his families honor were two very different people, and she wasn't sure which version was real.

She couldn't get a good look at his face, but she was sure his eyes were as sharp as the beautifully crafted, if antiquated, blade he had at his side.

Ruby didn't know how to feel about the hooded blond standing a few students down from her as they awaited further instruction from Headmaster Ozpin. He seemed like such a nice guy the day prior, all smiles and goofy laughs, but she almost couldn't see him doing the same after waking up covered in so much blood.

The petite scythe wielder wasn't sure why she was so worried about a person she hardly knew, but Ruby promised herself then and there that she would get to the bottom of the mystery known as Jaune Arc and make sure nothing bad happened to him ever again.

No one deserved whatever it was he had gone through overnight as she slept, as anything involving that much blood couldn't have been pleasant.

Ruby was ripped from her worried thoughts and forced to face forward once more as Headmaster Ozpin finally deigned it appropriate to speak, his voice carrying easily despite how lightly he enunciated his words.

Ruby almost didn't understand him at first, but she quickly wrapped her mind around what had been revealed to the students gathered. As she took another cursory glance down the line of students standing at the cliff face, she saw she wasn't the only person confused by what she heard.

The first person they made eye contact with would be their partner? For the next four years? How on Remnant did the Headmaster think of such a plan and who approved it?!

Any thoughts the young Huntress-in-training might have had on the subject were cut off when the platform beneath her sprung, sending her soaring through the air at speeds that could almost match her Semblance. Thinking quickly, Ruby withdrew Crescent Rose from its mag-strip on her lower back and flicked it into Sniper Mode before mounting it like a Witch would mount her broom.

Once properly mounted, the young girl began to squeeze off round after round to keep her velocity consistant far longer than she would have otherwise. Considering the constant wind resistance eating away at her inertia and the decay of vertical force generated from the spring platform, Ruby was grateful that she had got as large of a head start into the forest as she currently had.

Her flight gave her a few seconds to think about the Headmasters words from before and her current objectives. Outside of securing a relic somewhere to the north of the Emerald Forest, she was supposed to be partnered up with the first person she made eye contact with inside said forest.

Ruby felt her hopes of being partnered with her sister Yang start to sink further and further until she heard a faintly familiar firearm going off at her seven o clock.

"Yang! Hey, Yang! Drop your altitude, we can touch down in the same area and be partners! Hey, are you listening to me?!"

Calling out to the blond as she flew by using Ember Celica similarly to how Ruby used Crescent Rose to increase her momentum, Ruby was disappointed when her sister showed no signs of hearing her voice.

That was, of course, before the sun above was blotted out and the call of a massive Nevermore filled her ears.

"No no nonono! Birdie, no!"

That was when she collided with the Nevermore, her massive lead and chance to be her sisters partner reduced to almost nothing.

[TDA]

Jaune Arc was in a bit of a pickle.

He was currently flying through the air towards the Emerald Forest at a speed that he was sure could potentially kill him, with no way to really slow down his momentum outside of collision with something hard, be it a tree or the earth below.

He had paid close attention when the Headmaster began to speak, schooling his face into one of cool composure all the while. It was hard to keep said composure, however, the longer the gray haired man deigned to speak. Not only was his objective left far too obscure in description outside of securing a nondescript 'relic' of sorts from somewhere in the Emerald Forest, but the mention of teammates and partners left a slightly strange twinge of nervousness pooling in his gut.

Jaune had honestly completely forgotten about teams, or partners or any other such sincere forms of camaraderie or companionship. It wasn't exactly safe to travel with fellow Hunters for too long in Yharnam, lest they go beast on you halfway through the Hunt, or get devoured by said beasts and leave you to pick up their slack. Lazy bastards.

The only constant in his life for the last unknown amount of time had been the Doll, whom he may never see again. For that sense of isolation to change so suddenly, despite his desire for such during the entirity of the Dream, he was almost left reeling.

Shaking his head to dismiss such morose thoughts and refocus on the task at hand, the former Nightmare-spelunker was debating on cutting himself with Crocea Mors to see if he could just form a blood cocoon to protect himself like he suspected when he heard a gunshot from somewhere to his right.

He would have ignored the crack of the weapon if he didn't see a javelin of some sort come soaring towards him at a speed he couldn't dodge from the very same direction as the gunshot.

Blue eyes narrowed in confusion before he began twisting his body at once, tracing the trajectory of the weapon as best he could before determining it would possibly hit his throat. He couldn't be able to lower his altitude in time to dodge the weapon completely, so he did the next best thing and allowed it to pierce his hoodie instead.

Without preamble, all grace fell from Jaune's flight the moment the crimson and yellow spear completely pierced his hood, his body eventually spilling into a spiral as a result without any subtle adjustment to his flight path.

The pain wasn't nearly on a level that he was used to, but it was enough to make him cry out in frustration as he felt himself slam back-first into a tree with the spear-tip jutting from his hood digging heavily into his neck. The cracking of bone wasn't difficult to differentiate from the sound of splintering tree bark, unsurprisingly, as the rest of his body met the tree moments after his back.

In just the span of a few hours of waking up from his Dream, Jaune Arc found himself bleeding his own blood once more, this time at the hands of a fellow initiate Huntsman. It was quite a confusing development to say the least, but spontaneous combat between fellow Hunters seeking to slay the same beast was not so uncommon that it wasn't something Jaune thought possible.

He'd been stabbed in the back a few two many times, literally and figuratively, for him to be caught off guard completely.

Spitting and coughing harshly to rid his mouth of the blood pooling within it followed by a deep breath that he held, Jaune was forced to wiggle free from his hoodie when it became clear the blade pinning him to the tree was at too awkward an angle for him to wrench it free without injuring himself further.

Ignoring the stinging wound upon his neck and the broken ribs that were giving him trouble when breathing too deeply, Jaune looked up at his favorite hoodie and cursed whomever had speared him to the tree for forcing him to abandon it.

Instead of waiting for the culprit to come forth and retrieve their weapon and potentially damming Jaune to be forced to deal with someone so uncouth as to dislike his precious Pumpkin Pete hoodie as a partner, the silver-blond Hunter instead brushed his clothing free of detritus and set off north into the forest while taking in the beautiful scenery for what it was.

When the sound of someone hastily making their way through the brush reached his ears from somewhere far behind him, the blond did his best to ignore his stinging neck and broken bones for the moment before breaking into a light jog instead of a leisurely walk.

There was absolutely no chance he was going to stay and confront whomever threw the spear at himnow. His revenge could come later, securing his position at Beacon was more important to him at the moment.

[TDA]

Pyrrha Nikos was terribly pale and covered in a cold sweat by the time she reached the clearing she just knew her weapon Milo was in, her Semblance allowing her to feel out the highly familiar metal despite the distance between them.

She had watched in horror as the hoodie wearing blond she had been attempting to snag as her partner tried to dodge her weapon, only to end up having it pierce him through the hood at an awkward angle and send him tumbling into the forest below. The trembling of her knees and hands started almost instantly, as it didn't take a genius to realize that taking such a spear attack near the neck usually brought about some form of fatal wound or another, especially if they didn't already have their Aura up.

There was simply no way that she'd be slapped on the wrist for such an attack, either, as murder was murder, accident or not, and she was almost positive ripping open the neck of your only choice of a partner with a spear was one way to nab a murder charge. She saw the arterial spray of blood in the air as he spun, there was absolutely no denying that.

Sweeping through the trees and brush as quickly as she could, Pyrrha finally burst through the undergrowth to come to a rest just beneath her weapon, staring upwards at the spot she was sure moments ago would have held a rapidly cooling corpse pinned to a tree.

Only, there was no corpse hanging from Milo, the clearing being completely empty save for herself, her weapon and the Pumpkin Pete hoodie of Jaune Arc. Had her mind just played tricks on her then? Had she not pierced a man completely through his neck with her spear?

The panic dissipated slightly until she used her Semblance to remove Milo from the tree, taking note of the sticky, nearly translucent liquid that pooled in every small nook and crevice of the blade as well as the smell coating her weapon.

Snapping her gaze towards the ground beneath where Milo rested, where it appeared as if someone had landed heavily before stumbling away, Pyrrha was able to make out small wet droplets that were far less in number than a fatal wound would have suggested. It was also made apparent that her target, the blond wearing a Pumpkin Pete hoodie, had run off rather than wait and be retrieved.

This was bad.

Really, really, really bad.

Not only had she very obviously hurt the student bad enough to coat her entire weapon in his blood, but he now most likely thought she was attempting to kill him. It was the only logical choice to make for him without giving her a chance to explain herself, as she would assume anyone trying to spear her outside of a controlled skirmish was an enemy. No amount of fame or championship victories could turn back time to prevent her from throwing the fated spear that pierced his neck and now she would have to live with the consequences.

Glancing back down at the small amount of blood splatters coating the ground, Pyrrha did her best to get a grasp on the direction her target took off in before steeling her nerves and following along the same path.

She had to get to him quickly, as the chances of him making it through Initiation alone in a forest full of Grimm while heavily wounded were so very low. Pyrrha stumbled lightly as she launched herself back into the forest, her body almost refusing to follow her commands due to the weakness she felt in her hands and legs.

'Oh gods, what have I done?'

[TDA]

Blake Belladonna wrinkled her nose lightly as she caught faint hints of the smell of blood. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, as there seemed to be some strange flowery scent overpowering the metallic smell, but it was still far too strong for her liking.

It reminded her of her past, of worse times and memories she'd rather forget.

The smell grew stronger by the second, as did the sound of rustling leaves and a blade slicing through the air. The parting of flesh and steel on bone joined the noises and soon, Blake found herself leaping onto a branch above with the assistance of her weapon, Gambol Shroud.

She removed herself from the ground level just in time, as two bodies burst through the heavy foliage and landed almost exactly where she stood. Holding her breath and leaning closer to the trunk of the tree to hide her further in shadows, Blake watched as a figure dressed in a black tee and jeans twisted the blade currently driven through the chest of the Beowulf he had landed atop of before removing it and striking at the beasts throat in one smooth motion.

The head of the Beowulf was cleanly removed from its shoulders, and soon its body began to decay to nothingness. The silverish blond haired figure swung his blade to his right side in a wide but smooth strike as if to remove any ichor staining it before sheathing the blade just as smoothly.

Blake took that moment to eyeball the heavy wound upon his neck and the small trickle of blood that leaked from it, far less than she thought should currently be pouring from a gaping gash that size. Narrowing her eyes slightly, the black haired Faunus couldn't help but frown upon seeing what was obviously a life threatening wound so early into Initiation.

She knew that her life was on the line the moment the students gathered to the cliff face, as were the others when the Headmaster reiterated that fact. The casually dressed Initiate below knew the risks as well, yet that didn't mean Blake wouldn't mourn his loss when he inevitably succumbed to bloodloss.

Despite his grievous injury however, the would-be student rose with far too much grace than such an injury would normally allow for. If Blake had been wounded in such a way, it was more than likely she wouldn't have been able to get off the ground, let alone keep fighting afterwards. The black haired teenager couldn't comprehend just what kind of willpower such a task would have taken, nor did she want to try.

Rolling his shoulders, the swordsman turned and made his way back in the same direction he had come from rather quickly, only giving Blake a scant second to get a good view of the wound upon his chest that matched the one on his back. She felt her pupils contract to pinpricks upon realizing just what she was seeing, and amber eyes slowly fluttered upwards shakily to get a good look at his face before he disappeared completely.

Calm.

He was completely and utterly calm, despite having his neck slashed open and the massive bullet wound that appeared to go straight through him. He moved with fluidity and purpose, not even once showing the slightest signs of discomfort at having been completely run through by a projectile of some sort.

Blake knew a bullet wound when she saw one, and no Grimm could ever come close to leaving such a clean hole in the flesh. The Grimm were more likely to tear and leave jagged lacerations with their claws than puncture wounds that went from torso to back, let alone just a singular wound to boot.

Beowulves and Ursa used their claws and fangs to rend and tear, leaving jagged wounds and bites upon their victims. King Taijitu bite and crush their victims, and Blake only saw a singular puncture point. A Nevermore feather, perhaps, could have speared him through, but even then there would have been some signs of tearing at the edges of his wound.

Her only remaining guess on the origin of his wounds was not a good one, and the thought of being attacked by a fellow student during the exam was one she had only briefly considered before discarding.

Apparently, she should have considered it more than briefly, as it had come to pass.

She stood there leaning heavily against the tree trunk in the shadows for quite a few moments afterwords, her breath shallow as she waited for the figure to leave her general vicinity before she continued towards her objective. Blake was far more nervous about attending Beacon than she had been only a few minutes prior, as any preconception of the Grimm being the only threat to her went right out the window.

Despite being sympathetic to the figures plight, there was no way Blake was going to willingly involve herself with someone with one foot out the door, let alone one as wholly unconcerned with his coming fate as he appeared to have been. There was no sense in partnering herself with someone who obviously wouldn't be sticking around for the next four years, to say the least.

She only hoped that she could stare down death with such composure when her time came as well.

[TDA]

With yet another flourish of Crocea Mors, the last Beowulf in the pack tracking Jaune was relieved of its head. The blond scowled at the lack of blood, but he supposed a spurt of viscous black was just as well for visual effects.

It had only been twenty minutes since the exam started and Jaune was already starting to dislike the Emerald Forest. Nothing he had encountered so far had so much as posed a challenge, despite being heavily wounded and outnumbered. The Beowulves, if he recalled their names correctly, were pack creatures that tried to swarm their victims at once, though such a tactic was useless against a foe like Jaune.

It was easy to dance between their flaying limbs, bisecting and decapitating the foul beasts in a dervish of silver that brought him back to his time in Yharnam instantly. Take down the largest of the Beowulves, and the pack loses cohesion almost instantly.

It wasn't hard to force the beasts to break rank and pick off one by one from that point, but soon he found himself taking to the treetops to traverse the forest rather than ground level if only to avoid the wandering hordes easier. He honestly didn't think about it until coming across the black haired female that preferred to hide rather than team up, the Hunter being completely aware of her presence since the moment she shifted closer to the tree.

If she thought she had successfully hid from him, she was sorely mistaken. If it weren't for the fact that he had no intentions of taking someone who wielded a weapon as bizarre as hers as a partner during his time at Beacon, he might have called her out on her shenanigans.

Whoever thought a katana-sickle-pistol-whip-cleaver was a good idea to maintain constantly had to be a total psychopath or just too unstable to be safe to associate with. Keep it simple, stupid.

It was only another few minutes or so of leaping from tree to tree did the former Knight of Cainhurst finally reach the clearing he supposed was his destination, the large ruins standing within the middle of the clearing far different from the endless forest around it. A quick cursory glance revealed that there were no Grimm or students within the clearing, giving him a window of opportunity to get a closer observation before he would have to take to the trees once more.

It took him no time to do so, and soon he was gripping his hair in frustration. After going over the Headmaster's words once more in his head, Jaune was left just as confused as before in regards to his mission objective. He was to enter the forest, obtain a relic, then make his way back to the cliffs.

One problem being, of course, that Jaune had absolutely no clue on which of the items on the many pedestals was a relic, if any of them were. After another moment of indecision, the sound of combat reached his ears, if only faintly.

Gritting his teeth and taking a look around the clearing, the frustrated and hoodie-less blond couldn't help but feel he was left with little choice and snatched up a piece he didn't bother studying, almost hidden completely in an alcove between stones.

Another twenty or so minutes of dodging Grimm and students passed in the blink of an eye and before he knew it, Jaune had finished scaling the large cliff face that he'd been launched from only an hour prior. The light sheen of sweat on his face was not from exertion, but rather the pain he felt from constantly jostling his wounds instead of taking the time to force them to heal over completely.

The longer he spent in the forest healing himself, the higher the chances of him stumbling across another student rose and he wasn't willing to risk that. One cut his throat and stole his hoodie, another hid from him but taught him a cool trick and finally, Ruby hit him with friendly fire while soaring through the air on her scythe and ignoring the world below her.

His fellow initiates were far more a threat to him than the Grimm could ever hope to be, apparently.

Standing tall despite his pain, Jaune quickly corrected his clothing as best he could and made his way towards the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress, who'd been watching him incredulously since he popped up over the edge of the cliff they'd been waiting by. Reaching into his left pocket, Jaune withdrew what he only hoped was the relic he was sent after and dropped it by his feet instead of into the Headmasters waiting hand.

"Vague mission objectives, students who are willing to kill and abandon one another and lackluster beasts to hunt. I went through a lot of effort to get here. This place is absolutely ridiculous." Jaune couldn't hide his indignation from his voice or body language. "I don't want to like it, but I do. why?"

The Headmaster kept his face blank as he glanced down at the Queen piece resting in the dirt at his feet instead of his palm, then slowly back up to Jaune's face, pausing only long enough to register the very obvious wounds upon his chest and throat.

"Do you... need medical assistance, Mister Arc?" The Headmaster questioned after a moment with a much smaller voice than earlier, his eyes a bit wider as well.

"No, Headmaster, I do not require assistance as of this moment, though I'm glad at least someone has the common courtesy to ask. May I be excused?" Jaune eventually seems to slump slightly in what could either be relief or defeat.

"Mister Arc, I must insist that you seek medical attention." The Headmaster did not seem to want to budge on the matter, glancing downwards at Jaune's chest and back up again. "That... I... You do realize that you can see literally right through you, yes?"

"Tis but a flesh wound." Jaune insists, "I'm more worried about you punishing the idiot who stole my hoodie!"

Jaune was forced to turn his attention to the Deputy Headmistress when she promptly dropped the Scroll held in her hands and hit the ground in a heap, the sudden noise quickly drawing his attention.

"Perhaps you should offer your medical assistance to her instead, Headmaster."