Author's Note: It's definitely been a little while since I last wrote something, so I felt like rewriting this one-shot I wrote way back to shake off some rust. I had always wanted to rewrite it anyway alongside my Golden Remnants story as I wasn't satisfied with either of them now that I look back. Also please read the Author's Note at the end as it does ask a question regarding some additional content I might post for this story that hinges on whatever your answers are. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this!
A Hound's Calling
No one had seen it coming.
All the speeches and lessons of wars long past spoke of what seemed like distant memories that had faded to time. War had seemed like an absolutely impossible notion in their time of peace, leaving them woefully unprepared for the one which erupted right at their doorstep.
Weiss made a mad sprint towards her fellow student as a Paladin loomed over Velvet, summoning an entire array of glyphs ahead of her in a luminous path of pure white as she glided across it. Her lungs burned to no end and her legs felt like they were on the verge of collapse. Despite that, she snarled and pressed forward, finding something within herself to keep on pushing forward regardless.
A black glyph hastily materialized behind Velvet and forcefully pulled her away before the Paladin's massive fist embedded itself into the stone where she once was. The metal behemoth reared its head at the interference, gleaming red scanners rapidly scanning its surroundings like an agitated beast.
She snapped her head in Coco's direction as the girl trailed from behind her. "Get her out of here!"
"And what about you! You're telling me you can take one on by yourself?!"
The usually fashionable and composed girl looked like she had been run over by a train and then some, which wasn't inaccurate. Everyone had taken a beating, herself included. Her usually pristine white combat dress was tattered and torn in various places. They were all just students. How could they have been prepared for something like this?
"Just take care of your teammate first!" Her eyes narrowed into icy slits as she turned her focus on the Paladin, leaving absolutely no room for argument. "I have experience with fighting these."
With that, she immediately took off. Glyphs lighted her path as she skated along them towards the military behemoth. More glyphs manifested behind her as spikes forged from ice protruded from their centers and pelted her target in a merciless blizzard of hail. The ice uselessly pinged off its reinforced armor as it reared its head towards the nuisance, and it wasn't long before it spotted her skating far out of its reach with her glyphs.
Missile salvos mounted atop its shoulders unhatched and spewed rockets which homed in on her elegantly moving form. She danced and weaved through the hellish bombardment like a figure skater going through the motions. A seemingly endless amount of missiles repeatedly struck where she once was or narrowly missed her. Debris kicked up everywhere and explosions blared into her ears as she pressed on towards the Paladin without stopping. The ground cracked and gave way to jagged edges and caved in holes as she nearly lost her footing. A stray missile nearly struck her before she summoned a glyph which forcefully blew it away with violent gusts of wind, sending it veering off course into a building in the distance.
She hastily stabbed the ground as a faint yellow glyph manifested around her at her feet. The hands of its clock and gears whirred violently as she felt it imbue her with energy. More missiles hellishly rained down upon her. Her afterimages were all they caught as she glided along her glyphs with speed that might have matched even Ruby's. Yellow energy coated her aura with a faint hue and surged through her body as the effects boosted her beyond her normal capabilities. Her limbs felt nimbler, her movements faster, and time itself seemed to slightly slow in her perception.
Seeing her approaching ever closer, its arms shifted from fists of steel to mounted cannons as it finally exhausted its supply of missiles. Again, it furiously rained fire at her as laser beams exploded the ground behind her and scorched the stone. She weaved in and out, keeping her movements erratic on top of her speed to effortlessly leave the metal behemoth's attempts at hitting her in the dust. One of its mounted cannons shifted into a fist as she came before its hulking figure and swung at her, effortlessly smashing down into the pavement with a violent tremor.
She smirked. Too slow.
She elegantly leapt over its brutish attempt and jammed her rapier into one of the joints supporting its arm. The part sparked and whirred erratically, and she came back up with another graceful leap with a violent swing to finish it off. While she lacked the strength to tear it clean off, it still left a large gash which left its arm dangling uselessly to its side.
She smirked at her work before she went in again, dancing and weaving through its desperate attempts to hit her. Its foot embedded itself in the spot where she once was with a stomp, and its remaining fist only caught air. She thrusted and slashed at the temporarily immobile leg, whittling down its reinforced armor little by little until she finally struck true with a thrust into its knee. The metal behemoth buckled before it collapsed onto one leg, its other being rendered useless and immobilized.
Smelling blood in the water, Weiss leapt high in the air to finish it off once and for all.
Then her world went blank for a moment, before searing pain took hold. She felt something slam into her body with unimaginable strength before she hit the ground hard. She barely had time to look up to see another Paladin looming over her with two more approaching from behind it.
With whatever aura she had left, she summoned a glyph in front of her. She knew it would be a futile defense in the wake of a Paladin's blow, but she'd be damned if she didn't try. She felt her emotions and rage flow through her. Everything and everyone she fought for flooded through her mind as if flashing before her eyes, and like hell would she let herself die here. For Beacon, for her team, for everyone who was suffering; she couldn't let herself die here.
She poured everything she had into her lone glyph, reaching into the deepest recesses of her mind to summon something, anything. She recalled every word Winter had taught her on summoning and poured even more into her glyph.
In her moment of pure concentration, time seemed to slow as she squeezed her eyes shut, ignoring the whirring of mechanical parts as the Paladin reared its massive fist of steel. She listened to the serene thrumming of her glyph like a heartbeat, steadily giving it more life as it shined brighter and brighter.
Several tons of reinforced steel collided with her glyph, shattering it effortlessly like glass and causing the glyph to explode into pure white light which illuminated the night sky.
She shielded her eyes and awaited the inevitable. For what it was worth, she took solace in that she had gone down fighting to protect what she held dear. Even if it was hardly the end she wanted. Even if she didn't want to die yet. She managed to let a whisper of a smile come across her face as she let the light engulf her and awaited her end.
A light peeked through the darkness. He heard it. A voice calling out, pleading for help. It was desperate and pure, near broken yet still determined.
Beacon. Blake. Yang. Ruby.
He didn't know what those names even meant. He didn't even know what or who they even were. Yet he was still drawn towards the voice nonetheless, towards a light which seemed to pierce the darkness around him.
His vision was an incoherent haze, but he felt his soul being tugged and pulled towards the light. Even though he wasn't fully coherent, he knew what was happening. He was being summoned, and he was answering the calls of his soon to be Master.
The light came closer and closer. Though before he finally reached it, darkness stained his vision. It wrapped around his skin like spindly limbs and held him back in its sickening embrace.
"It's sad isn't it, Great Hero of Ulster?"
A voice echoed all around him, whispering into his ear yet somehow also sounding distant. The condescending tone laced with pity pissed him off.
"Two times you've met such tragic ends. What makes you think this time will be any different?"
The memories came. His fight with Assassin, and then darkness.
"A dog is all you are, all you ever will be. Forever doing the bidding of others."
He felt himself scowling intensely at that. Even if he didn't like it, it was his duty.
"Duty?" The voice then laughed. "When has duty ever done you any good? You only end up suffering the consequences of the wishes and whims of others."
He felt himself being tugged down before being submerged in a tar-like substance. It ran down his face like a heavy sludge, searing into his skin. All the while it gently embraced him as if in a twisted attempt to cradle his current helpless form, as if nursing a child about to be spawned from it.
He resisted it with all his might even as he felt searing pain. Like hell was he just going to let it have its way with him.
The voice whispered into his ear. "I know what you desire, so why resist? Why not let yourself be free? Free of duty. Free of honor. Free of morality."
The air went cold, and if the voice had a face then he swore a wicked smile was all he would see.
"Free to pursue the battlefield as you see fit."
The words struck him cold and resonated with something deep inside of him. Something he had always yearned for.
"Glory? Fame? Women? Love? None of those have ever truly appeased you." The voice circled around to his other ear. "The battlefield is where you belong. Worthy battle is what brings you true joy. So why not dedicate yourself solely to it and rid yourself of unnecessary notions?"
As the words resonated with him, he bathed in the colors of the mud as the sweet whispers enticed him even more.
"You're a dog fit only for battle, but why stay leashed to the biddings of others?"
It was only then he saw the person behind the voice. His own image stared straight back at him but it was twisted, contorted. A sickening version of him. It then placed its hand on his shoulder.
"Let me free you, Cú Chulainn. Allow me to show you the true joys you've always held yourself back from."
He felt it seep into him, corrupt him. He felt himself being molded in it, unburdened from his morality and nobility. Wild, free, savage. He felt the glorious battlefield calling to him.
"Heh, sounds fun." He said back for the first time. His twisted image smiled back at him gleefully as it continued to seep into him. "But what type of man would I be if I took all of this lying down like a bitch?"
He felt a spark of light from within him push back the corrosion of his very being. Sheer shock briefly stunned his twisted image, before a snarl stretched across its face in the wake of an unholy rage.
"Child of Light!" It spat his famed moniker with absolute disgust, all traces of its composure long gone. "You think your divine heritage is enough to resist? To deny what your soul desires!"
Before it could fully envelop him in its darkness, he rammed his fist straight through its heart. That didn't stop his twisted image as it cackled and grabbed the arm impaled through its chest. He winced as he felt more of its corruption seep into him.
"Don't you know? I. Am. You. Something like this won't put me down so easily."
"I know." He replied. With the arm he impaled through its chest, he weaved a Rune which soon flared to life. "Ansuz."
Fire ignited across his entire arm and engulfed his twisted image from within in an inferno of flames. Unholy screeches and wails rang out as he watched it burn before his very eyes. He watched as its flesh peeled off and its bones melted to reveal the black mud-like substance within its body. As it burned, it grabbed his shoulder to stare him dead in the eyes.
Identical crimson eyes stared straight into one another.
"You can't deny yourself." It spat even while burning, even as its body steadily reduced to ashes.
"You're right, I can't." A solemn expression came over him. As much as he had resisted it, he still felt the effects. He felt the hollowness within him. He felt the singular desire for battle screaming within him. "But y'know, I can at least not turn into an all out psychopath."
With that, his twisted image finally burned away into ashes.
He took a deep breath. Whatever was left of him wasn't much, but at least fragments of himself were still there. He felt like he could crack a joke or flash a smile at least, and that was enough of a reassurance for him.
He looked to the light which still shined above him. He felt its warmth and remembered the pure yet determined voice which had called out. Again, he once more found himself being drawn to the light which shined so brilliantly. A light which may yet clear the darkness within him.
And when he finally reached the light, the tainted Child of Light arose.
The screeching, horrendous sound of metal being torn apart shrieked into her ears, like a limb being torn straight from its socket. For a moment, she hesitated to open her eyes. Then a laugh rang out, one that didn't sound familiar to her at all.
When she cracked open her eyes, a figure stood before her with his back turned to her. Wild blue hair tipped in red and a white fur cape drenched in blood blew in the wind. In one hand he held a crimson spear casually at his side, in the other was the Paladin's entire arm. Despite its massive size and bulk, he casually threw the entire steel limb to the side as if he were throwing away trash.
He turned his head to shoot her a side glance alongside a vicious smile which made her shudder. "So is this what kids fight nowadays?"
Before she could even come up with any sort of response, the Paladin swung its remaining arm at him in an effort to smash him to paste against the pavement. Instead of trying to avoid the strike, she stared wide eyed as he stood completely still without a care in the world. She hadn't so much as blinked before she heard reinforced steel being viciously parted once more in a blur of red. By the time her mind came around, the Paladin's arm had been sliced clean off by the man's spear.
In a last ditch effort, it attempted to stomp on him with the entirety of its weight. Yet one moment he was there, and in the next he had seemingly vanished with the wind. It was only a laugh which allowed her to see where the man had gone.
High above the Paladin, his blood-red crimson eyes glinted with a vicious shine under the moonlight as a crazed smile split his face in two. With a howl of utter joy, he came down upon the Paladin with force far beyond what was possible for even Huntsmen. The ground beneath them splintered and cracked like glass before giving away altogether. The air roared and wind violently whipped into her face as the shaft of his crimson spear slammed into its armored body.
Her eyes widened as she saw how the military tested machine, the pinnacle of Atlas technology, caved in like a tin can.
The impeccable reinforced steel pathetically crumpled inwards and groaned from the sheer force before the Paladin's body exploded in an inferno of flames and sparks. Metal scraps and heated circuitry sprayed everywhere in a shower of sparks and burning fragments. She conjured a glyph to shield herself as intense heat and shockwaves slammed into her barrier and fanned out around her.
Standing in a massive crater he had carved open, the man laughed borderline maniacally as he stood amidst the broken and burning remains of the Paladin, howling into the night like a beast salivating over spilled blood. He spread his arms wide and bathed in the shower of circuitry and scraps which continued to rain from above as if savoring his kill.
Then his head snapped her way with an unnatural jerk. Her heart went cold and she immediately drew Myrtenaster, leveling the blade at the man before her. Icy blue eyes met the sharp slits for pupils of his crimson ones. Despite it being just moments, it felt like hours had passed as their eyes met. She heard her heart pounding in her chest as his feral crimson eyes bored into her. For the briefest moment, she swore she saw his expression soften slightly with concern. The crazed look in his eyes returned not a moment later.
"Whoops. Sorry, little lady. Didn't mean to get you caught in the crossfire." He nonchalantly said.
He fumbled with something in his hand and tossed four ruby colored gems around her, each one engraved with some sort of symbol she didn't recognize. A transparent blue barrier manifested around her from the stones as they flared to life.
Her eyes snapped open in panic, and she instinctively banged against the barrier as if she were trapped in a cage. Whoever this man was, she didn't trust him. She had encountered her fair share of unsavory characters, but everything about him seemed wrong. He reeked of blood, not only physically, but somehow his very presence itself screamed of it as well. The way he carried himself through the war zone spoke of untold battle prowess, but he wasn't like any Huntsmen she'd ever seen. He fought to kill, not to protect. He fought without any regard to others, and his intentions for carnage were vividly clear in his mad crimson eyes. And she had become trapped by him. She hastily stumbled to her feet and raised her rapier at her imprisonment.
"Don't do that, little lady."
The voice rooted her in place and a cold shiver ran down her spine.
"I respect the fight in you, but that isn't to keep you in. It's to keep those things out." He jerked a thumb behind him.
Two more Paladins lumbered towards him with heavy steps that shook the ground. In comparison she could hardly even see him as he blurred in and out existence with speed she couldn't even comprehend, kicking up stone and leaving only sonic booms in his wake. He swept his wicked blade viciously as it cleaved through the air and ripped pavement off the ground from the sheer force alone. The air pressure from the swing sheared off the legs of one Paladin clean off, sending it tumbling to the ground helplessly. He was upon the downed mech not a moment later, leaping into the air with a cackle and bringing his spear down to stab it deep into its body.
He held his spear there for a moment, like a predator sinking in its fangs, before the Paladin violently convulsed. Crimson spikes brutally erupted from inside its body and continued to sprout outwards, utterly obliterating any and all circuitry within it along with its entire body. Impaled on his spear, he hefted it up with a single arm before hurling it at the next Paladin.
In a surprisingly agile maneuver, the Paladin dodged its colleague's thorn riddled body with a sidestep. That caused the man to smile maniacally before he took off again in a speeding blur. Deploying whatever it had, entire salvos of missiles and laser beams howled for his blood. The entire block was being leveled in the wake of the utter destruction as explosions after explosions tore the ground apart. Any other Huntsmen or Huntress would have struggled to come out of such a bombardment unscathed. Yet nothing touched him. She watched as he laughed merrily all the while casually evading a literal hellfire.
Crimson flames bursted from within his spear and coated its entire length in a wicked glow. He slammed his feet into the ground to slow himself, skidding and spinning on his heels as his metal boots tore gashes across the pavement. The coat of flames soon concentrated itself into the spear's tip in a focal point of energy as its dreaded blade came alight with an ominous glow. Another laugh escaped him before he reared his crimson spear around full circle and thrusted it forward.
The air shrieked with a thunderous, ear-splitting sound. She instinctively shielded her eyes and dove to the ground as a violent beam of pure crimson erupted from the spear's blade with a deafening boom. The accursed light bathed the night in its blood soaked-glow. Pavement gave away helplessly as it tore across the ground, and the shockwaves alone mercilessly stripped away glass and walls from any buildings in the vicinity. The Paladin stood no chance as the roar of crimson light punched straight through it and washed over its entire body, engulfing it whole as even its stalwart form broke down helplessly in its wake.
Then as soon as it had started, it had ended just as quickly. In contrast to the sounds of battle and massacre moments before, the silence of the bloodied night took hold. All that could be heard were the distant howls of Grimm.
"Oi, little lady. You can open your eyes now."
The voice was smooth yet it put her on edge to no end. And when she opened her eyes, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Blood-red crimson eyes, gleaming like those of Grimm, stared back at her with such intensity that her body jolted in surprise. A silver necklace with a wolf's head biting down on a crescent moon dangled freely from his neck. His clothing lay tattered with numerous tears and what armor he wore had long lost its former brilliance, horrendously scarred with countless chips and gashes which spoke of countless battles. Blood stained the entirety of his apparel like a permanent coloring and his lower apparel was utterly drenched in red, as if he had waded through rivers of blood countless times before. In his hand was a bloodied crimson spear, lined with countless spikes sprouting from its shaft and blade like thorns, which glistened ominously under the moonlight.
Everything about him put her on edge. To a typical person he would have been considered exceptionally handsome, but she saw the way his crimson eyes glinted with utter excitement despite the horrors happening around them. How they screamed of savagery no better than the Grimm. He was like a wolf in sheep's clothing, ready to bare his fangs on her.
"Helloooo? You summoned me? Earth to master." He annoyingly waved his hand in front of her face. "Awaiting orders here. If not then I'm just going to go do my own thing."
Master? She didn't know what he meant by that. Too many things were happening. Vale was in ruins, Beacon was on the brink of destruction, and countless were undoubtedly dead among the chaos. And her team, her family, was somewhere amongst it all. Her mind felt like it was boiling over the edge and anymore would cause it to erupt. She just wanted it to all end, as if it had all been just some horrid nightmare forged from the darkest depths of her imagination.
"That rage you're feeling, I can take care of it if you point me in the right direction, Master."
His words immediately snapped her out of her thoughts.
"I can tell some people are really in need of killing right now." He took in the ravaged surroundings and screams as a bloodthirsty smile of the utter joy to come stretched across his face, revealing teeth far more befitting those of a beast than a person. "And that's the one thing I'm damn good at."
"I don't even know who you are." She snarled, finally gracing the man with words. "How can I even trust a clear savage like you? How do I know you're not one of the wretched people behind all of this?"
"You were the one who summoned me, y'know?"
The words hit her like a Paladin. "What?"
"I heard it all." He tapped the side of his head at her confused look. "Beacon, Blake, Yang, Ruby. I don't know who or what the hell they are, but I was drawn to your pleas for help. No catalyst even, just your desire to protect what you hold dear. I respect that, little lady."
His face smoothed out, and he rose to his full height. Perhaps it was her eyes playing tricks on her, but for that brief moment under the moonlit night, the foreboding aura which drenched his entire being seemed to fade away. In its place, a trace of nobility seemingly long lost surfaced from beneath the bloodlust and savagery.
"I am your Servant, and you are my Master. I am a spear to slay your enemies with. Nothing more, nothing less. So say the word, Master. I'm yours to command."
It was a pledge of absolute fealty, like from the books and fairytales she used to read as a child which entailed valiant knights and oaths of honor. Yet he was hardly a knight in shining armor, nor was he one who fought to protect the innocent. His armor lay riddled with unsightly tears and his clothing stained in blood. The way he leisurely prowled through a war zone, as if at home amidst the chaos and bloodshed, with nothing but a smile spoke clearly of savagery and bloodlust incarnate. All of which outright went against the very notion of the shining figure of a righteous knight.
Yet in that moment, the look in his eyes left no room for lies in his words. Her eyes met his, but the feeling of dread and foreboding she had felt towards him before was no longer present, at least for the time being. She didn't know what to feel towards the man anymore, but she knew deep down that his words spoke only a truth straight from his heart.
He reached down gently to offer her a hand, and she only found herself staring at it for long moments. He chuckled at that.
"Hey now, I don't bite. Unless you want me too." He wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.
And just like that, all fear and apprehension she had felt towards the man turned into utter exasperation. Her trademark sense of pride kicked in as she slapped away his hand and rose to her feet.
"No thank you, you barbaric brute."
He threw his head back in raucous laughter which grated at her ears. "That's the spirit, little lady! Don't worry, you're way too young for me anyway. Plus I'm not a horny little shit like that anymore."
She rolled her eyes, letting the banter ease her for now. "How reassuring."
She brushed herself off, taking note of the poor state of her dress. She scowled at that and made a mental note that someone's head would be sure to roll for it. She was sure the savage in front of her would be all too happy to oblige such a request.
"So what now, Master?" He looked at her with a gleeful smile, his fanged teeth on full display and obediently awaiting her command.
She matched his maniac smile with a confident smile of her own. For some reason, with this savage at her side, she felt a rush of confidence surge through her. When she felt all hope had been lost, it rekindled and burned intensely within her again. She steeled her resolve and looked to the city of Vale in the distance, countless buildings within it set ablaze like torches in the night as the Grimm flooded it in darkness and howled endlessly into the night.
She wouldn't let those she cared for get hurt. She wouldn't let this suffering continue, and she would make damn sure to bring those responsible to justice.
"I think it's time we retake this city."
Author's Note: Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this! As of right now I'm leaving it as a one-shot, but I might have plans to maybe make it a short story with only a few chapters somewhere down the line. Though I can't guarantee anything. College has been keeping me busy and the whole COVID situation hasn't really gotten me in my writing groove.
If you guys want, I can post a stat sheet of my take on this Alter version of Cú Chulainn as a separate chapter which will also include a description of him as well as my own description of his appearance and apparel. Also a bit of a spoiler, but Cú here is taken from the events of Fate Heaven's Feel. Anyway, thanks for taking your time to read this and feel free to leave a review and whatever thoughts you have on it!