Sat atop this lit lake they wait. Watching the moon with renewed faith. For when it does falls. The Hunters will answer its call.
Managed to get Ch.2 out on time Sunday morning and I am super pleased I kept to my schedule. Fun fact, two more courses at my college just started so my work load has doubled between this chapter and the last one. I still plan on keeping to my schedule though. It's just that now most of my writing has to be done on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Going to try keeping these between 2500 and 4000 words for future reference.
Disclaimer I do not own RWBY or Bloodborne both pieces are owned by there respective publishers.
"What does it mean to be a Huntsman is it the power of the individual, the skill behind each move, or the ability to protect those around you? What does it mean to be a Hunter is it the monstrous strength, the ability to react to any new situation thrown at them or is it the very blood that flows through their veins? What will happen when the hunter's dream turns to nightmares and the new moon rises accompanied by a howl echoing through the night? Who among you will answer the call of the hunt?" Ruby could hear the clearly feminine and it seemed to echo from within her own head.
She could feel water moving across her feet and seemed to be standing on a stone surface that was just inches below the water level. A heavy mist surrounded her making the only thing she could see the soft glow of the moon just above the horizon. Walking towards the light she could hear the sound of other people's feet splashing with each step they took. Continuing forward the fog seemed to lessen with each step until it had completely vanished.
Looking out she saw what could only be described as a serene lake perfectly reflecting the moon off its surface. Standing atop the water were many other individuals fading in and out of existence as they stood next to one another. Ruby tried to examine the person next to her only to find the image becoming more blurred the longer she looked. The sound of a bell echoed all around beckoning the group's attention to the moon edges started to turn red. As the crimson tide washed over the moon's surface towards the center it slowed its approach meeting resistance until it came to a stop when the moon looked like a blood red eye with a white glow for the pupil. This lasted for only a moment as the white glow pushed back against the red until it was completely removed from the moon's surface.
Ruby could see the lake pulsate along with the white glow that the moon gave off, looking out over the surface she saw a ripple form at the center lake that rushed outwards towards the phantoms and herself. As the ripple touched each phantom they evaporate into a pale mist leaving nothing behind. When it washed over Ruby all she could feel was a coldness that came from her very core, as if the life was draining from her before completely vanishing from the lakes surface.
The sun was coming over the horizon and with it the alarm clock in team RWBY's room started to ring causing the slumbering members to stir. Flailing about in her sheets Ruby fell from the top bunk landing with a thud and unceremoniously waking the other members instantly. Looking towards the floor they saw their leader trying to throw off her tangled covers. Yang was the first to react to the situation her sister was in.
"For my first trick of the day I shall make Ruby appear."
Getting out of bed Yang grabbed the sheet with one hand lifting it off the floor along with Ruby who was still caught up in it. Tugging at it with her left hand caused the sheet loosen up just enough to release her sister from its clutches letting her fall back onto the floor.
"Thanks Yang." Ruby said as Yang threw the sheet back onto the bed.
"No problem Rubes and for my next trick I shall make all of Beacon's hot water disappear." Walking into the bathroom Yang closed the door behind her.
The others could hear the sound of the shower and stared at each other wondering if it was even possible for the blonde to deplete Beacon's water supply. Expecting the Brawler to take an outrageous amount of time Weiss grabbed two towels and prepared to set out to Beacons public showers.
"Come on Ruby, I am not missing breakfast simply because your sister refuses to take a timely shower." Throwing a towel to her leader Weiss left for the showers expecting her teammate to soon follow suit.
"Blake, want to tag along? I know Yang and she might actually try to use up all of Beacon's water in that shower." Ruby smiled as she held the door open for her teammate.
"No thanks I'll have to pass." To emphasize the point Blake moved the cat ears hidden under her bow causing it to sway.
"Sorry and feel free to yell at Yang to hurry up I wasn't kidding when I said she'll take use all the hot water."
"Don't be sorry Ruby you're treating me like you would anyone else and I do appreciate it, even if I don't always show it." Blake gave Ruby a small smile as she left. Finding something to pass the time she went back to her bed and started to read. After twenty minutes of the door remaining sealed she decided to knock.
"Who is it?" Yang sang to whoever was knocking at the door.
"Yang don't take too long. I still have to shower and I'd like to have breakfast before we head out today." Blake answered expecting the blonde to understand.
"You didn't answer my question." She sung in reply.
"Yang you know who I am, now hurry up with your shower." The tone was clearly threatening at this point in the conversation.
"Sorry I don't listen to complete strangers do you have a name perhaps?" The laughter was easily audible to anyone in the room.
"Yang Xiao Long this is Blake Belladonna now finish your shower!" The anger had boiled as Blake stood at the door waiting for an answer. Instead of an answer the door swung open letting the steam flow into the room and showing Yang drying her hair.
"Why didn't you say it was you Blake, the shower is all yours." Stomping past Yang she made her way to the shower.
"You can be insufferable sometimes, you know that right?" Blake asked.
"It's all part of the Xiao Long charm."
"I highly doubt that counts as charm."
"It sure worked for our dad."
"Yang. Out. Now." With each word Blake pushed her partner further out into the room before closing the door behind her. As the bathroom door closed the door to the hall opened letting in Ruby and Weiss.
"Great now I need to go and purchase more shampoo before I can shower again." Weiss complained to an apologetic Ruby.
"I said I was sorry, I didn't mean to kick your bottle breaking it, who uses glass shampoo battles now a days anyway."
"Ruby that brand was expensive and I wouldn't expect you to understand the appeal of storing products in glass vials.""
"Is this one of those stupid things wealthy people tend to do? Besides, if you want you can use my shampoo in the meantime."
"It's not a stupid thing Ruby and I refuse to smell like strawberries for the entire day. I'll just put in a rush order hopefully it will get here before tomorrow." Weiss busy typing away at her scroll finding a solution to her current dilemma.
"Yang I didn't expect you to finish so quickly, what happened?" Ruby finally looked over to her sister who was sat on Blake's bed drying off her golden hair.
"The Kitten got a little feisty and wanted to have her turn so I let her in."
"I can hear you Yang!" Blake yelled through the door.
"Yang you shouldn't tease Blake." Ruby chided her sister.
"She knows I do it out of love, right Blake?" Instead of an answer they heard a yell of frustration through the door.
"Okay then team lets go get some breakfast. We'll feel better once we get some food." Getting dressed team RWY left to grab breakfast Leaving Blake behind to finish her shower in peace.
"So you hear anything from Vomit Boy recently?" Yang asked as she looked to her sister who was feverously downing a glass of milk.
"Apparently Jaune and everyone are coming back tonight. So they should be here by the time we're done in the Emerald forest."
"You have a little something on your face there." As soon as Yang pointed out her milk mustache Ruby began franticly rubbing it off with her sleeve.
"Use a napkin Ruby." Weiss quickly handed her leader a napkin in the hopes of her using it only for her to place it next to her plate.
"Don't worry Weiss I already got it off, see?" Ruby grinned as she proudly showed off her milkstache free face.
"Why do I even bother sometimes?" Weiss mumbled to herself.
"Hey guys is it just me or does the cafeteria seem more empty then usual?" Yang looked around at the barley half full cafeteria.
"Apparently Beacon is strained for huntsman right now. After the Breach people started to lose faith in Huntsman and Huntresses so Ozpin has been sending more of us out to rebuild that trust." Weiss finished with a sip from her coffee.
"You seem really interested in this Weiss, any reason?" Blake asked as she arrived at the table with her hair still damp from the shower.
"I've always held an interest on public opinion and how it can be swayed using the tools at ones disposal. Ozpin is using a classic tactic by reassuring the public of the usefulness of us Huntresses while also having Beacon bring in an increasing amount of Lien from all the jobs we're currently taking on." At the mention of Lien Yang started to choke on her meal.
"You mean we actually get paid for going on missions? How come I've never been paid then?" She managed to sputter out while coughing.
"Yang the money is transferred into our accounts after the school takes its cut." Ruby stated pulling out her scroll to show her sister their current balance.
"How big of a cut are we talking about here?"
"Only 40% of all Lien earned from missions is taken by the school from first year students." Ruby innocently replied leaving Yang with her jaw hanging at the understanding that the school takes about half of all their earned money before dividing it amongst the team.
"Why the heck would they need to take so much from us, it's not like we're rich. Well most of us aren't anyways." Yang said looking over to Weiss.
"Well excuse me for coming from a wealthy background, besides who do you think pays for all of our food?"
"I thought we got free stuff for being protectors of the world, especially since we don't have the best retirement plan available."
"Unbelievable do you even realize that we get dorm rooms with working utilities and access to one of Remnants most advance training facilities, books are free for checkout or download in the library, and then you have all the damage caused to the school whenever some students decide to fight outside of the arena." Weiss continued to list off benefits that all Beacon students received and possible expenses the school covered to an increasingly bored Yang.
Seeing her sister about to fall asleep Ruby pulled her out of her seat. "Come on lets go see what cool stuff we get for the mission."
"We're actually getting equipment from the school?" Yang asked still waking up from her lecture induced coma.
"Another benefit the school gives students for certain mission types, like explosives for when a team is commissioned for a demolition job in a Grimm infested area. Usually all we get is a bullhead and pilot to take us to the destination though I wonder what we're being given."
"Each of you is getting an earpiece with a built in camera allowing for hands free communication. Tapping the earpiece will allow you to talk to everyone else in your group and tapping it again will turn off the voice broadcast. Also as long as the earpiece has power any of you should be able to access the others video feed from your scroll, any questions?" The man asked sliding the case containing the earpieces over.
"Do they come in yellow? I'm not a fan of the color eerie black." Yang said examining the device.
"Get out of my workshop and don't break those, they weren't the cheapest things to build." Team RWBY walked out of the room and each put an ear piece on. Opening their scrolls team RWBY found three different video feeds each showing a team member looking at their scroll.
"OK Team lets go and find that person living in the forest." Ruby enthusiastically cheered as she headed towards the school's cliff side docks where their bullhead awaited.
"Come on, I get to do a team briefing once we're up in the air." Jumping into the bullhead the sides closed before takeoff allowing the team to talk on the flight over.
Passing around the folder team RWBY got to view the four photos of the graveyard their target took residence in. The first thing noticed was his lack of appearance around there in daytime. He was either resting in the church or possibly walking in the surrounding forest during the daytime. The next thing noticed was that he seemed to always fight in the dead of night against the Grimm with a club or staff of some kind. The dark clothing the target wore didn't make viewing the individual any easier against the sea of black the Grimm provided.
"So my theory is that we are looking at a vampire of some kind. After all it only comes out at night and lives in a deserted graveyard all signs point to the creatures of the night" Ruby suggested.
"Don't be ridiculous Ruby." Yang interrupted, "If this person was a vampire how come we can see it in these pictures and why would a vampire be living in a church of all places?"
"Simple, we aren't seeing the vampire in these pictures instead we're seeing the cloths it wears. Can any of you see the creature's actual face or skin from these photos?" Ruby questioned before continuing her rant. "And the church has obviously fallen into disarray over the years so it may no longer be able to keep such evil at bay making it the perfect hideout for a vampire." As she argued her reasoning Yang listened intently nodding in agreement with each point made.
"I think Ruby might be right, we may have a vampire on our hands here." Yang agreed causing Weiss to shake her head from the sheer stupidity the two sisters could bring out of each other before finally speak up through the insanity coming out of her team mates mouths.
"I can't believe you two would even consider something as impossible as vampires. A being of pure fantasy fabricated to scare children and sell fiction. Can we please take this mission seriously, I for one want to get this over with as quickly as possible."
"I'm with Weiss on this one the person in the photos is either a rogue hunter taking shelter, a scattered member of the White Fang or some unfortunate soul stuck in the forest who has managed to fend of the nightly Grimm. No matter who this person is we have an assignment to complete." Blake said trying to refocus the conversation.
"Come on we were on having a little fun, right Ruby?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, just having some fun." Ruby unenthusiastically replied after having her idea brushed aside as a joke. Before anyone could continue the intercom came turned on followed by the pilots addressing the team.
"We'll be at the drop zone in 5 minutes. I'll be back to pick you up at twenty one hundred in the field I drop you off at. So don't be late, this flight is leaving with or without you on board once night falls." The sides of the bullhead opened up showing the forest below them.
"Remember to avoid the treeline surrounding the clearing that the church and graveyard are in. We don't want the vampire knowing we're observing it or the surroundings." Ruby tried shouting over the sound of wind whipping about around them as the bullhead approached the drop zone.
"For the last time you dolt this person is not"- Ruby leaped from the bullhead and began falling towards the forest a fair distance from the field they were supposed to land in-"a vampire." Looking around Weiss noticed her partner vanishing and looked outside seeing a red cape descending below the tree line.
"Go grab her and met us at the drop zone." Yang told the Heiress who continued to look into the forest dumbfounded at what her partner had just done, snapping out of it only to answer Yang.
"You're her sister, why don't you do it?"
"Two reasons actually one you're her partner and two you're already falling." As soon as Yang finished her sentence she pushed Weiss out of the bullhead, watching as she summoned glyph after glyph to slow her fall until she landed on a branch. Upon closer inspection the heiress appeared to be angrily shaking her arms in the air as the bullhead sped away.
"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" Blake asked as Yang laughed at Weiss' reaction to being thrown from the bullhead.
"Come on Blake, that was funny and you know it." Before Yang could turn around Blake hugged her from behind causing the blonde to lock up. "Blake what are you doing?" She managed to ask as a blush crept across her face.
"I'm just having some fun Yang, you want to have fun right?" Feeling Blake rest her head into her back caused Yang to relax and feel the warmth spread through her. She felt safe with her partner holding onto her, a sense of serenity in the storm. Then the arms wrapped around her gut vanished and the feeling was replaced with those same hands pushing against her back along with the wind rushing past her face. Looking up she saw the bullhead heading to the drop zone and the forest quickly approaching. Slowing her descent Yang fired off two shots from her gauntlets into the forest and smashing through four branches before landing on the forest floor.
"That's for earlier." Blake said as she tapped her earpiece sending the broadcast to the entire team.
"Blake! I'm coming for you!" Yang yelled back through the canopy as she took off after the bullhead.
"Looks like your team left without you, still want me to drop you off?" Blake gave a small grin as she looked out seeing the clearing in the distance. Walking into pilot's cabin she tapped on his helmet getting him to pull off his headphones.
"Get low and do a fly over, I'll drop in. Just remember to come get us latter."
Giving a thumb up the pilot lowered the bullhead and began to skim the tree tops. Coming up on the drop zone Blake jumped out and landed in the grassy field. Being the first to arrive she climbed up the nearest tree and waited for rest of the team to arrive.
The Hunter sat with is back against the wall sleeping as the smell of burning incense filled the workshop when the sound of two blunderbusses going off in the distance stirred him from his dreams. Gun shots meant one thing to Dunstan, people and those people could be Hunters. With his cane at his side he readied one more weapon in case his assumptions were true. Reaching into the storage coffin he pulled out a black short sword with two blades extending from the handle towards a single point. The blade rested safely on his back as he took count of his blood vials and silver bullets knowing that fighting any Hunter unprepared could easily spell doom especially if they coordinated together. Remembering the time he took a cannonball to the chest and was forced retreat from one of his last bouts against a Team of trained Hunters.
Walking out behind the Church Dunstan walked to the small fire pit he positioned far from the structure. The burning sanctuary was still fresh in his mind and he wished to never have it repeat again. Throwing a few logs into the pit he lit the fire with a torch he kept at his side to scare off creatures and illuminate the darkness. Seeing the flames continue to grow he pulled a chicken he had already plucked down off the wire and placed it on a pike, letting it roast over the fire. With everything in order he set out into the wilderness to find whoever was firing off their gun.
Not too much action for this chapter unfortunately, I decided to just have this be the set up for the next two or three chapters you'll be getting. For those of you who think this is a filler of some kind, I scoff at thee. We have learned a great deal through this chapter such as Ruby has strawberry shampoo, people have lost some faith in huntsman, Dunstan is a hypothetical vampire, and that school is never free especially at an academy level. Am I being sarcastic possibly, after all it is 12 a.m. and I'm currently doing some last minute editing before I go to bed. So hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'll be back next week to post the next one, Goodnight Folks.
Edit notes: Grammar and Punctuation. Coming back to this after a few months has really let me actually read theses chapters without glazing over them like a zombie letting me get some actual work on them done. Don't expect a rewrite for this one folks it still feels pretty solid when compared to other chapters.