The Yharnamite in Orario Chapter 1. The Stranger with a Bucket on his head.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Soulsborne series or Is it wrong to pick up girls in the Dungeon. They belong to their respective owners.
What would you do if you could live again? What would you risk? What would you lose? And most of all, would you still be yourself by the end of it? For the Hunter, this series of questions have haunted him since he first awoke in the Hunter's Dream.
He had another name once, Something starting with T? Or was it a C? Hunter couldn't remember. A very long time had passed since then. But like every time he wondered this he discarded the question as his Captain's words echoed through his mind.
"Now, there is one thing you must know. By the oath of the League, those who bear its rune will see vermin. Vermin writhe deep within all filth and are the root of man's impurity. All vermin are to be crushed. The League exists to expunge all vermin, ridding us of any trace of human corruption.
" And so, until we are rid of all vermin, you must continue to hunt and kill. This bloody fate is ours alone. Do not expect the world to grasp our work. But remember, the confederates will always have my blessing... And each other. Always"
''Captain, I wonder if you could see me now, Would you be proud?" The Hunter of Yharnam sighed as he stared through the single hole in the bucket on his head at his foe. It was a towering armored figure wreathed in burning flames.
This was not the first time he had fought this monster, nor the second or even the third. Several times he had slain this beast with each time it becoming stronger and stronger. They were both exhausted, The Knight's fire was dim and its giant, flaming, coiled greatsword sunk deep into the ashen earth.
The Hunter was dressed in a torn and dirty blue constable's outfit and the dented Master's Iron Bucket Helm obscuring his features. Not a single patch of skin showed, the wounds covered by drying blood. The only thing that could be seen was his left eye which was a common brown sharp as the hardest stone.
In his right hand, a peculiar cane sat, its handle brass and its orange coiled metallic length bladed. Though cracked and dented with a flick of his hand the weapon separated in countless bladed segments and held in a reverse grip to lash out at his foes. In his left was a small blue target shield seemingly made of glass emblazoned with a flower upon its face.
"Let us end this, once and for all." The monster responds by heaving its sword out of the ground in an upward motion forcing the Hunter to dodge to the right as the ground erupted into flames and debris. He rushed forwards and unleashed a dizzying array of slashes that tore into the flaming being making it roar in pain.
"DIE BEAST!" Hunter roared as he made his cane stiffen so that he could impale it on its spiraled tip. The Soul of Cinder tried to hit him with a last overhand swing but he blocked the attack which broke his shield but it did stop the attack from hitting.
The Cane shattered upon impact but punched through the Lord of Cinder's head and its flame went out and it was reduced to nothing more than ash and the soul entered The Hunter's possession.
The Hunter fell to his knees and stayed there for several minutes as he struggled to catch his breath. He looked towards the bonfire in the center of the ashy hell that was the Kiln of the First flame.
"I barely managed it, To think I would be pushed so far as to take on 'THAT' form and still almost lose. All my weapons were broken, my armors shattered, My magic exhausted, my consumables extinguished down to the last blood vial, and forced to rely on a weapon I had never planned to wield in combat. And even then."
He glanced at the ruined remains of his League's Threaded Cane. It was made from the Coiled Greatsword to give it both power and the ability to be a focus, Its purpose was to be a sign of his position as Master of the League, and yet even that was destroyed by their battle. He glanced to his left at the shield shards that had helped him finish the fight. The Sacred Bloom Shield was not meant for physical combat but spells and yet he had broken 6 of them to block the savage blows of the Lord of Cinder.
He sighed in exhaustion at all the repairs he would have to do. "It's gonna take forever to repair everything! I'm glad I stocked up on materials before the fight!" Hunter dismissed the fragments of his weapons which vanished into smoke as it entered the power that was unique to him and him alone.
He then slowly stood up and hobbled towards his goal. A Coiled sword in the ground. A tired smile filled his hidden face as he grasped the burning sword with his left hand.
"Finally, it will be over. Let this end." He drew upon the dark signs within him and absorbed the First Flame for the last time. It was at this moment that the whole world seemed to freeze and turn grey, from the sky to the fires around him they were all shades of grey.
The Hunter stiffened, as he had never experienced this before in any of his 32 resets. A Woman's voice came from nowhere that was hauntingly familiar yet he couldn't recall where. "Hey! You made it! After 1000 years I had kinda forgotten about you! Even the ROB who took you in stopped paying attention about 200 years in?
"Guess he didn't understand that real life isn't like in games. What a brat. Anyway! Let me check your record. Wow! You're way stronger than before! Are you ready to be brought back to life?"
The Hunter finally remembered who it was and asked. "Are you Truck-Chan?"
"Ah! You remember my name! Oh I know I liked you! Did you like my Gift?"
The Hunter put his hand over the right side of his helmet where his right eye would have been. "Yes, It has helped me a lot in the beginning and shaped me into who I am."
"Yay! That makes me happy! In fact, I'm so happy that I'm going to give you another gift! I'll let you pick your race!"
"My race? But I thought I was a-"
"Yeah! But the new world you are being reborn into has lots of races and each gives its own bonuses! You like that right?"
Hunter thought about this and asked. "What race is strongest with Magic?" Truck Chan's giggle was everywhere and she answered.
"Why, that would be the Renards. They are fox people that have powerful magic known as Sorcery but are a dying breed with the few remaining being hidden in the far east. No, Sorcery isn't the Sorcery you know. You will surely draw lots of attention if you pick one. Are you sure?"
The Hunter nodded. "Yes, If I am to be reborn then I will follow the path you set me on long ago."
"Awesome! Now with your rebirth, you need to know that you will be 'refined' to fit the new world. This will come with many changes to both your powers and self. Oh, and I suggest you not unleash your full powers or take on your true form as using your quote-unquote 'Arcanum' can be considered forbidden. Now hold still I'm coming in hot! Enjoy your new life!"
Hunter was wondering what the hell an Arcanum was when he heard a strange beeping noise and turned around just in time for a hot pink horseless Carriage with giant lantern lights to slam into him and everything went black.
The first thing Hunter was aware of was the chattering of countless voices and the sounds of livestock. The next was that he was lying face down on the ground. The third was the uncomfortable feeling of two things stuck to his head pushing against his helm and something long sticking out of his butt.
He was still exhausted from his battle so instead of instantly jumping into a battle-ready stance he struggled to stand up on shaky legs and the identity of the rear addition was revealed to be a very fluffy brown tail.
He was surprised at the tail but after about a minute of manipulating the highly dextrous limb used the tail to help him balance and he realized that while he felt exhaustion that seemed to encompass both body and mind, his clothing had repaired itself far sooner than expected considering he was truly at his limit.
He was in a stone alleyway to the side of a busy marketplace Illuminated by the noon sun. "What is this place?" He muttered in wonder as so many beings talked and interacted with each other from tiny people to rabbit-eared humans.
His sensitive nose picked up the many scents but none held the stench of Undeath or the Blood plague. But most shocking was that they were all being civil with each other. He had never seen so many sapient beings in one place, talking to each other, laughing with each other, bartering.
It was nothing like the distopias he had traveled through. Not Yharnam, not Lordan, not Drangelic, nor Lothric. He then saw something that let the tears fully flow down his cheeks. Children. Young children with their parents, laughing and crying.
He fell to his knees and in that alleyway, The Hunter of Yharnam, the Chosen Undead, the Bearer of the Curse, and Ashen One broke down and cried as he saw a world of life instead of one of death and decay.
Several people noticed the strange person wearing the military outfit and a one-eyed bucket of all things and made a point to ignore him. Due to his tail's earthy tone and his weird hat, no one noticed his tail though that would not last long as Hunter eventually stopped weeping and reached a hand under his helm to wipe his tears while keeping his face hidden.
Once that was done Hunter stood up, his tail flaring behind him drawing the gaze of a few people "Wait, that weirdo wearing a bucket is a Renard?"
"No way! I thought they stayed in the far east due to their low numbers?"
Hunter didn't put too much weight on their words and turned to retreat further into the alleyways. "First things first, I must return to the Dream and recover, I am in terrible condition right now and am vulnerable. Now, Where can I get some sleep? Hunter began perusing the alleyways for a good spot.
Unfortunately, he did not get a chance to do so before several armed men appeared. "Huh, So the rumor is true, there IS a Renard child wearing a stupid bucket on his head! Hunter sighed at this. He was painfully aware that his 5ft stature made him look quite young. Patches wouldn't shut the hell up about it.
Didn't help that his voice was higher than most men in a Soprano "Can I help you gentlemen with something?" Hunter asked the largest of them, a black man wearing iron armor and a large battle-ax.
"Yeah, You can come with us. The Ishtar Familia has a standing bounty out for any Rennards and you're going to be our payday!"
Hunter looked around at the 13 men who circled him and he cursed the fact that he was not even given a chance to rest after his Challenge, reducing him to the point where such scavengers would be plenty to take him down, so, with a sigh, he nodded his head. "Fine, It seems I have no other choice."
The leader holstered his ax. "Good choice kid. Now, follow us." The 12 others snickered and chortled and Hunter made sure to memorize them all. After all, their souls held Vermin and must be purged. The men didn't even bother to cuff him or strip him as in their eyes, he was just a strange Renard child.
He was slowly led through the alleyways to another section of town. This one was full of red-tiled houses and tanned-skinned women in lascivious outfits making the Hunter blush out of uncomfortableness. He had never known a woman and most he met were batshit insane or monsters so he didn't pursue anyone. Well, that wasn't exactly true. There was one he wanted to pursue but she has been gone for a long time.
The tan-skinned women were staring at the group but their eyes remained on him and he could tell that several were fighters. "Oh, what have I gotten myself into this time?" Hunter complained quietly as the group of men took him deep within the district to a guarded mansion. The men were stopped by two tan-skinned women.
"Hold it! What business do you have with Lady Ishtar?" The leader had a nasty smile as he showed off Hunter.
"I found a Renard child! You have a bounty out for any Renards, right? So I want payment!"
The two women looked at Hunter who said nothing. "How do we know that he's a Renard?" The leader frowned.
'Don't you see the tail!?" The guards saw Hunter's brown tail but one was still unconvinced.
"That could be faked." The leader shouted to his men.
"Hey, Remove his helmet!" A skinny wolf man reached over to remove Hunter's helmet. This infuriated Hunter to the extreme. If he had been at his best the man would have been reduced to a smear on the wall in seconds but all he could do in this state was make sure it wasn't removed. With the last of his reserves, he cast a Cantrip resulting in a piercing Migraine.
The Wolfman tried to remove the helmet only to be shocked when it wouldn't come off!
"What the hell?! It's stuck!" This drew the leader's Ire and he stomped over.
"What do you mean it's stuck!?"
"I can't remove it!"
"Nonsense! I'll do it! You guys hold him down!"
Hunter couldn't resist as the other thugs pinned him to the ground as the leader grabbed the helmet in both hands and heaved with all his strength. This hurt Hunter's already highly abused neck but the helmet wouldn't budge! This made the two guards curious as to what was going on and the leader shouted angrily.
"OI! Why can't we remove that bucket!?"
Hunter bitterly replied. "Because I don't want you to remove it. My neck will snap off before you can remove it."
"AND how the hell can you do that!?" Hunter did not answer. The Bandits were getting angry and shouting and the commotion drew someone from the gate.
"Who is causing trouble?" Hunter looked up to see another dark-skinned woman with long black hair covering her right eye wearing a purple scarf around her breasts and a see-through purple dress showing off her purple underwear. Her piercing purple eye took in the situation and the guards greeted her.
"Aisha! These men claim to have a Renard male but we are skeptical."
This seemed to surprise Aisha and she looked right at Hunter, then to his tail that was weakly twitching. "A Renard?" She strutted over to Hunter and the men backed off due to the massive scimitar on her back. Hunter was able to shakily stand up now that he was not pinned to the ground and Aisha began walking around him, taking in his outfit and the brown tail that moved slightly to show his great frustration with the situation.
'If only I could go to the Dream to recover!'
"EEP!" Hunter made a strange yipping sound when Aisha grabbed his tail! He glared at her though it was hidden by his helm and said. "Hey! Don't touch the tail!" He tried to get her to let go of his tail but was no match for her strength. Aisha smiled at his reaction and nodded to the guards.
"He's a Renard alright, and a young one too! Tell me, little kit, What's your name?"
Hunter spoke in a gruff tone. "I am the Hunter of Yharnan. Now unhand me!" Aisha did not and instead asked.
"The Hunter of Yharnan? That doesn't sound like a name. That's a title, what's your REAL name?" Hunter did not answer as he no longer cared to speak to her. Seeing that he would not answer she said to the guards. "Give the men their payment and I'll present the Renard to Lady Ishtar."
The men were happy with this and Hunter was dragged by his tail into the mansion making him even angrier and he continued to protest his treatment. They passed by many. women of all races dressed in the same scanty outfits and Hunter was glad that his helmet hid the blush on his face but considering how angry he was the blush was mostly negated. He was led into a large lobby with a red carpet on red marble.
They stopped at a large set of stairs and Aisha called upwards. "Lady Ishtar! A male Renard has been brought to us!" Hunter glared at her and her grip on his apparently very sensitive tail but a woman's voice answered from above.
"Oh? Another Renard? And a male? I have never tried a male Renard before." Hunter snapped his gaze upwards and instantly he was on guard. For though his left eye saw just another barely clothed woman with purple hair his right saw the truth. A blazing pillar of Magenta energy that he only saw in one kind of existence.
"A Goddess?" Hunter was instantly on guard and barely restrained himself from trying to attack as that would be suicide. If he was in better condition he wouldn't be worried but as he was now he could very well die for real but he did not want to take the risk.
Ishtar and Aika saw his reaction and Aika pulled on his tail with a scolding tone. "Don't try anything Kit! To attack my goddess is to court death!" Hunter refused to back down and Ishtar stared into his brown eye and smiled.
"You have a good look in your eye. Such focus! It makes me want to see your face." She slowly walked down the stairs and soon she was towering over him. "Take off his helmet," Ishtar commanded Aisha and she let go of his tail and faster than his weakened body could react tried to remove his helmet. But alas, the helmet wouldn't be removed.
Aisha tried for a solid minute as Ishtar looked annoyed. "What is the holdup, Aisha?" Aisha panted as she let go
"It seems that no one can remove his helmet." This made Ishtar gazed down in great interest.
"Really? How strange." She looked at Aisah then asked. "What is his name?"
"He didn't give a name but called himself the Hunter of Yharnam."
"The Hunter of Yharnam? What a mysterious name." Hunter grew annoyed at this.
"You do realize that I am right in front of you right?" Ishtar looked back at him and she got a sensual smile on her face.
"So you are, so I'll just ask you directly." Her magenta eyes flared with power as she looked into his single eye. "Remove your Helmet." Hunter barely felt the intrusion and he shook his head.
"No."
This made Ishtar take a step back in shock. "My Allure didn't work!?" Aisha looked shocked as well and Hunter scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Sorry Goddess Ishtar, but I have seen beyond the vale and beheld the horrors beyond it. My mind is beyond you." Ishtar's surprise wore off as curiosity returned.
"Oh really? Then I guess I gotta try harder then. Aisha, Escort him to my chambers. I've decided that I want to taste this one." Hunter felt a pit in his stomach at those words.
"Taste? You seek to eat my flesh!?" Ishtar turned around at his naive question and hunger flashed in her eyes.
"How innocent. Don't worry, After my meeting, I will educate you soon enough. And then we'll see if my Charm can't affect you." Ishtar returned up the stairs and went to the right while Hunter was grabbed by Aisha who held both his arms behind his back and forced him up the stairs. He struggled against Aisha but he was still unable to break free and the pair went left.
After several flights of stairs, he was brought to a large red double door and when they opened he found himself in a large bedroom. The main feature of the room was a massive bed with lavender sheets and many pillows. There was a glass door leading to a balcony on the far right of the room and a pair of purple couches around a marble table and a fireplace with a mantle was on the wall. It was all illuminated by the sun coming through the balcony.
He was let go and Aisha said in an amused tone. "Stay here, Our Goddess will be here in an hour." Hunter glanced back at her then to the balcony. Seemingly reading his intentions she chuckled.
"Silly kit, Don't try running, The whole area is under guard including the balcony. So just relax and prepare to become a man." This confused Hunter.
"What does being eaten alive have to do with becoming a man?" "Aisha loudly laughed as she shut the doors.
"You'll find out!" Now trapped, Hunter decided that he needed to escape to the Dream and quickly. He went over to the fancy bed and after laying down closed his eyes.
After a few moments, his eyes opened again but instead of being in the Bedroom of Ishtar, he was now sitting in an old wheelchair within a strange building that was a mix between a church and a workshop. The walls were covered in shelves filled with books and several doors leading outwards let the green moonlight shine through. He slowly stood out of his chair and left the Workshop and glanced up at the badly fractured moon above him. It was in hundreds of pieces yet it still shined down upon him.
Seeing the state of the moon Hunter shuddered. "To think I have taken so much damage." He trailed off as he proceeded to go down the stairs which led to a church cemetery that was covered with blue flowers and tombstones. He paused at a stone wall next to the stairs for a few seconds before he shook his head and went through a gate to a large meadow with a massive tree on one side.
The tree was so large it dwarfed many buildings and underneath that tree, a bonfire burned merrily. He sat down in an exact copy of the wheelchair near the fire and let the fire begin to wash away his pain and exhaustion.
He took out two bottles of glass and held both into the fire. The first filled itself with orange liquid and the second blue liquid. Seeing these he lifted off his helmet above his mouth and took several swigs of the Estus Flask,
Each mouthful soothed his broken body and restored his strength though he felt a deep ache throughout his body that would not go away no matter how many Estus he drank.
"This is worrying. I should have been restored to peak physical strength but I feel far weaker than I should be. Around about 20 Percent? Maybe drinking my Ashen Estus would help."
He took a sip of Ashen Estus Flask only for him to cough it up as his body felt like he had swallowed hot broken glass. "Damn it, What was that!?" Hunter tried again but once again spat out the Ashen Estus with a grimace. "This is bad, really bad.
"My body is in bad shape but my Spiritual body is even worse! In my current condition, I will be unable to cast anything but the simplest of magics and even that will require me to use Quicksilver Bullets as my reserves are at less than 1%." He had originally planned on rampaging his way through, slaughtering all who followed Ishtar and killing her too but with how bad of a situation he was in his only option was to escape.
He looked down at the Ashen Estus and he stubbornly drank 2 drags from it, The second hurting more than the last and most of the energy going to waste but he persevered. He was rewarded with his body's ache dimming, his broken Reserves being restored, and recovering a little.
"So drinking Ashen Estus will help me heal. I will drink it regularly to help my recovery. I don't know how long it will take for me to fully recover so till then, I need to prepare." He then summoned a large wooden chest from the flames and began rummaging through them while a screen only Hunter could see filled his vision. "Let's just refill my supplies. Since I can't use magic well I should focus on supplementing it. Unfortunately, I burned through my most powerful Consumables in my several attempts against The Lord of Cinder and I don't have any time to waste."
He quickly refilled his Inventory with the remaining Consumables within the chest and every time he took something out it would turn to smoke in his hands as that is what happened to things he put in his Inventory As he did this he paused upon seeing a bag of glittering gold sand and bitterly remarked.
"To this day I don't understand why I can have Infinite weapons, Armours, and Rings but only 99 of anything else and my Chest can only store 999. If I could have carried all within my Bottomless box into battle then maybe I wouldn't be without any weapons." Hunter felt like he used to know why but as time passed those memories faded away until all he knew was how to use the screens that only he could see. It only appeared after he began gaining Insight so it must be related to it.
He shook his head and began sorting the Consumables into the slots in his Menu so he could quickly use them. If in place he could summon them with a thought but if not then he had to open the system up and manually place each one and there was a 60-second delay to put them into place and only one slot at a time. This could be fatal in battle so his choices had to count. The only upside was that he could still move and act during that 60 seconds though the Slot in question was unusable. This didn't mean he couldn't carry other things but they would have to be carried like normal instead of being stored in his soul.
He had 15 Consumable slots, 10 ring slots, 2 Arrow Slots, 2 cross-bolt Slots, and a slot for a helmet, armor, leggings, and gloves. The outfit he was wearing was fully restored but at the cost of losing all its upgrades which confused him greatly but he was fine with it. He spoke to himself as he put everything in place.
"So I'll take 99 Wooden Arrows, 99 Standard Arrows, 99 Wooden bolts, 99 Standard Bolts, 30 Quicksilver Bullets, 30 Blood Vials. That way I can use a bow and Crossbow as my Blood may have been affected by the damage though I'll have to test this. As for my Consumables, I'll place my Estus, Ashen Estus, 99 Life Gems,99 Throwing Knives, 99 Kukri, 99 Poison Knives, 99 FireBombs, 99 Rope FireBombs, 99 Black Firebombs, 99 Black Rope Firebombs, 99 Molotov Cocktails, 99 Rope Molotov Cocktails, 99 Delayed Molotov Cocktails, 99 Delayed Rope Molotov Cocktails, and 99 Young White Branches." He had lots of Fire-based explosives as the Lord of Cinder was Immune to fire so they were not used up. A true shame as Fire was his favorite element.
It took him 19 minutes to set everything into place and once he was done he said. "Yes, here we go! I'll store all my broken armor, rings, and weapons for repairs later. Problem is that I need a weapon to fight with. Guess I'll have to buy a standard weapon for now. I Can't afford to take the time to search through my box anymore as I don't know when She'll come back to eat me."
Hunter closed the box ready to go. He then left the bonfire behind and returned to the Courtyard, went to the left of the first stairway, and sitting in the alcove created by the second set of stairs was a stone birdbath. Inside this birdbath were several pale horrifying creatures looking similar to emancipated infants who reached out towards the Hunter who smiled.
"I know, I missed you too. Now, I require some weapons. Give me a Threaded Cane, A Saw Spear, A Hunter's Axe, a Sorcerer's Catalyst, A Hunter's Pistol, A light Crossbow, a Long Bow, and a Cloth Talisman." The messengers held out their many hands and Hunter let a flow of energy go from him into them and soon afterward the items were laid before him. "Luckily for me, my Pyromancy Flames are more metaphysical than anything else so they weren't broken beyond repair and will recover with my Spiritual body."
He then touched each item and they turned into ash that entered his body. He then spent 6 minutes equipping 6 of the weapons and summoned them one by one to make sure they were all in order before he made them vanish. "Even after so many centuries and so many restrictions broken I can still only have 3 weapons assigned to a hand. I wish I could stay for longer but I very well may be in danger."
The Messengers made worried noises and he patted one on the head. "Don't worry, I am now no longer so drained and I will be back soon." He then walked to the first tombstone which had other messengers around it. He looked upon the top of the stone which said. "Waking World" With a thought he triggered it and between blinks he had returned to the Bed Chamber. He summoned the Catalyst to his left hand and with an overly cheery voice and wagging tail spoke.
"Time for me to make my exit." "Hidden Body, Spook," He verbally said the spell names as that would reduce their cost somewhat. The first spell made his body translucent and the second covered his feet in faint blue light that both silenced his footsteps but also negated fall damage up to a certain extent. He used Quicksilver bullets instead of mana which cost him 4 total leaving him 20 bullets.
He then put the staff away to draw His Hunter's Pistol and in his right was a large axe with a spike on the top which he then used to shatter the glass of the Windows and wasted no time running out to the Balcony and then off its edge.
He fell for a solid 15 seconds before he landed in a crouch with a crunch that showed that he had taken severe damage from the fall. He looked up at the several stories he had just fallen and then he stealthily fled the mansion.
He had plenty of training in the art of not being seen thanks to several of his allies like Greirat and Orbeck so when the women of the Pleasure District began searching for him in waves he was able to stay hidden by utilizing his Young white Branches to become mundane objects. It is amazing how easy it is to pretend to be a box as no one expects one to move! During the times he was a box he drank from his Estus to heal his body.
After about 30 minutes of stealthy movements, he finally escaped the Pleasure Districts and when he saw that no patrols left the district he dismissed his spells that he had to recast 3 times and with his bucket head held high he walked down the streets of Orario.
He switched to his Threaded cane and his Hunter's Pistol was holstered to his hip. He was not moving without purpose however, he had a certain grudge he had to avenge, and until he did he would be displeased.
He sniffed the air and if he wasn't wearing his helmet one could have seen his right eye glimmer. After a few moments, He turned his head towards the North West. "Hunter Joins the Hunt for Vermin." His words were filled with malice and hate and those around him shivered and made way for the scary short Stranger with a Bucket on his Head.
Several minutes later in the Hostess of Fertility Inn.
Jack was laughing happily with his men as he took a long drink of his ale. He and his boys had lucked out and found a young Renard! Now after selling him to the Ishtar Familia he and his boys were rich and they were celebrating in the best inn in Orario!
"This is the best day of my life!" He crowed happily as he took in the sight of his men happily drinking and eating their fill as beautiful maidens served them. The Inn was homely with a mix of cobblestone and rich oak walls. All the furniture was made from good wood and the employees were all beautiful women of all races wearing green maid outfits.
The Bar had large fishes hanging behind it and several high-quality ingredients were there to taunt customers with the smell from the kitchen. During the day it served normal people but at night it served adventures which is why Jack was in now as his group were just warriors and not Adventurers. But maybe, with the money they got they can get good gear! And maybe impress a Familia and join them! "Yep! Things are looking up boys!"
He laughed as he went to drink another mouthful of ale when the doors to the Inn swung open with a ringing of the bell. "Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility! What can I get you?" A blond rabbit maid greeted the new guest who walked in with a strange thudding sound. "Sir?" The waitress asked, confused and Jack felt every hair on his body rise on end and he turned to look behind him.
That is when he saw a short Renard wearing a bucket on his head, the thud coming from a cane he was holding in his right hand. "The Renard!?" Jack shouted as he stood up drawing the gaze of all his men who gaped at the short figure they had just sold in slavery an hour ago.
"No way! How is he here?!"
"Did he escape from the Ishtar Familia?!"
"Why is he here!?"
The Renard scanned the room for a moment before he drew a strange object from his belt. Then spoke in a soft voice turned hard. "Vermin, You seem surprised to see me. I, however, am not, It does not matter that you sold me into slavery for I would always escape, And for what? Money? Is me being a Renard enough grounds to condemn me?
" If that is how you view my life, then be prepared to be treated equally in turn. For your inhuman acts, I declare you Beasts and shall deal with you like how all Hunters do. He raised the strange object at Jack's head and said with cold finality. "With death."
There was a sound of thunder that made everyone flinch as they had never heard that sound before and for Jack, he never would, for his lifeless corpse fell to the ground with a hole the size of a thumb between his eyes. The entire room was silent in shock at the events that had just taken place but that silence would be broken as the Renard calmly aimed the thing at the bandit who had tried to remove his helmet and with the same sound of thunder, He too fell dead with a hole going through his head. That's when the screaming started.
"EEEK!"
"RUNAWAY!"
"THEY'RE DEAD! HOW ARE THEY DEAD!?"
All the waitresses except for an Elf with green hair ran into the kitchen as patrons ran for the exit. The Renard lets them all leave except the Bandits who were gripping their weapons in fear. The Renard began to approach them but had to block with his cane a downward swing of a wooden sword by the elven waitress who had a cold visage and a frown on her face.
"How dare you kill someone in the Inn!?" The Renard regarded her as he asked.
"Would you prefer I kill them outside? I have no qualms with you. the Inn, nor the other patrons, Only the Vermin who sold my life for coin have to die today."
His cold response made the Bandits shiver and they tried to rush the door while the scary Renard was occupied making the Renard say to the Elf. "Excuse me, My prey is trying to flee."
He disengaged from her with a strong swing to knock her back and he aimed his terrible thunder weapon at the backs of the fleeing bandits when the Elf appeared between him and them yet he did not stop the firing of the weapon and was surprised when the Elf managed to deflect the attack with her sword.
"Tch, Why do you continue to halt me? If the Vermin are not eliminated then they will bring suffering to those who are unable to protect themselves."
"That is not for you to decide." The Renard seemed genuinely confused as he tilted his bucket-covered head.
"How is it not? I am the victim of their evil, the one who they had written off for cash after selling me to the Goddess Ishtar solely for being a Renard. Therefore, I have every right to settle the score." The Elf's eyebrows furrowed at his words but still stood in the way.
"If they truly sold you into Slavery then they will be punished by the laws of Orario. Not you. So stand down."
The Renard looked down as he seemed to think over her words and muttered. "So this land even has law? Truly a wonderful place." The Elf didn't know how to respond to that and the Renard holstered his terrible weapon and rested his cane on the ground.
"Fine then, I shall give a chance for your land's laws to bring them judgement. I can always hunt them down later if your law fails. The main culprits are already dead so I care not what happens to the others as long as they are punished.
"Who must I speak to assure this? I am a stranger to this land and know nothing other than that some would sell my race into slavery."
His standing down made the Elf stunned for a moment before she firmly said to the Renard. "Stay here, I'll go after the Slavers. Mama Mia will want to speak with you."
"And where is this Mama Mia?" The Renard's question was answered when a voice full of anger came from behind him.
"So YOU'RE The one who attacked my Inn!" The Renard turned to look up at the large burly woman with brown hair in a bun and wearing a black version of the Waitress outfit. She glared at the Renard who looked her up and down before saying.
"I assume you are the owner of this establishment?"
"Yeah, and I don't tolerate violence in my Inn! Especially killing!" The Renard was quiet for a second before adding.
"What a wonderful rule. A shame that I did not know it beforehand or I would've waited outside for them to leave before I blew their brains out. For that, I apologize."
He did a showy bow with his right hand outstretched and the left crossing his stomach. Mia continued to glare at the Renard in anger and though she dearly wanted to hit him she didn't, for she heard what was said between the Renard and her employee who had left to chase down the Slavers who dared show up in her inn while her other employees went to get the guards.
"What's your name?" Her firm question got a casual response as he stood back straight.
"I am the Hunter of Yharnam." Mia raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't ask for a title, I asked for your name." Hunter shrugged at this.
"I'm afraid to say I have long since forgotten my original name. If it helps you may call me Hunter Yharnam if you wish."
Mia was full of skepticism. "You forgot your name?" Hunter nodded.
"Yes, I wish I knew what it was, and yet, at the same time I don't' as I am not the man I once was." Mia began to lose her suspicion as she asked.
"You claim you were sold into Slavery by the men you killed yet you killed them so easily, How did that happen?" Hunter gripped his cane tightly and his young voice twisted in anger.
"Today I had just fought a fierce battle against a powerful Beast and I passed out. Once I woke up I found myself in the marketplace severely injured and exhausted. They ambushed me solely for being a Renard and in my weakened state I had no choice but to go along as they sold me to the Ishtar Familia."
"That still doesn't explain how you easily killed them if you were sold today."
"I have means to recover my physical body quickly but it was only when I was locked in the Goddess Ishtar's bedroom that I had enough time alone to recover enough that I could escape my captors before she returned and began my hunt for my sellers."
Hunter then held his left hand up to his face in a cupping motion, leaned towards her, and whispered in a warning tone full of concern. "Do stay away from the goddess. She devours people!"
This threw Mia off a bit. "What makes you think she eats people?" Hunter threw his hands up and Mia noted that the cane was gone somehow.
"She said that she wanted to 'Taste' me! I don't know your culture so could you explain to me how being devoured would make me a 'man?'" Mia completely lost the glare in her eyes as she quickly understood what almost happened even if the naive Renard in front of her didn't. How many of her workers suffered similar experiences?
Her next question was related to his strength. "What Familia are you from?" This question resulted in Hunter asking his own.
"I keep hearing that term, What IS a Familia?"
"You don't know what a Familia is? Then how are you so strong?" Hunter shrugged.
"I fought, I bled, I lived. How else does one become strong?" Mia was struggling with how a person could be strong enough to hold off her level 4 employee without a Familia and if he didn't know what a Familia was then he had no Falna.
"A Familia is a group of mortals who follow a God or goddess and in turn, they are granted a Falna that will let them grow stronger." This made Hunter gasp in surprise.
"Really? The Gods in this land give such blessings freely? Most Gods I knew were no better than beasts as they used their divine powers to destroy and devour mortals."
His Terminology worried her and she asked. "What happened to them?" He blithely said.
"They Died." His tone was starting to become guarded so she needed to focus on important questions.
"You stopped attacking once Ryuu mentioned that they would be punished. Why did you?" Hunter summoned his cane between her blinking her eyes and leaned against it to his right.
"Well, If there is law in this land then I am curious to see how it would work. Yharnam had long since devolved into anarchy and corruption so the only way one could get justice for wrongs is if they did it themselves."
"Yharnam? I have never heard of such a land." At Mia's curiosity, Hunter stood on both feet but lowered his head and in a tired tone said.
"You wouldn't, it fell to the beasts long ago. I am the only survivor." Mia knew he was done answering so made a decision after hearing this and said in a scolding tone.
"You do realize that you did damage to my Inn and its Reputation right? You will have to compensate me for this." Hunter looked over at the two bodies, the blood that stained the wood, the destroyed furniture and he sighed deeply.
"Regretfully, I do not even know what your currency is, much less have any. Perhaps you can take the money the slavers had on them to pay for it?" Hunter said this part with slight hope but Mia crushed it as that was not what she wanted.
"No, I'll be taking that from them to pay for the damages they did but that doesn't apply to you as you were the one who damaged my reputation!"
Hearing this Hunter seemed to be at a loss. "Then I do not know how I can compensate you. Maybe, Maybe I can offer my services?"
Mia's stoic face asked. "What kind of services?" Seeing that she was open to the idea he perked up.
"I am a master of several skills from fighting to blacksmithing. Though with how strong you and your employee are I do not think you would care for the fighting so how about this. You and any employee you have can either give me a weapon to repair and reinforce using my land's methods or I can provide a simple weapon made using the same methods instead. How does that sound?"
Mia put on a thoughtful look as if she was considering it while in actuality she had already decided what she wanted to happen. "But to do that you would need a workshop to do that and I doubt you have one available."
Hunter surprised her by refuting her statement. "No, I actually do have one but its nature is a national secret of Yharnam so I won't explain further. So how about it?" Mia thought about it and found a way to get what she wanted.
"Very well, I will accept your payment on the grounds that you stay in the Inn until you pay me back fully. You will have to pay rent but I'll give you a grace period of one month to find a source of income to pay for it."
This was Mia's true goal! Though she mainly helped only girls she knew that the Ishtar Familia would not give up on him and once they got ahold of him? Ishtar would have her way with him and she would not let the same crime be done. To make things worse he was painfully naive when it came to women and was the last survivor of a fallen land.
So, to keep him safe from the Ishtar Familia and to keep an eye on the warrior that was equal to a level 4 Adventurer WITHOUT a Falna, she would guide him until she was certain that he would both be able to function outside of the Inn and not murder people in the streets. His ruthlessness and Naivety were so jarring that she was getting whiplash.
He was silent for a moment before he nodded. "That is quite the condition Miss Mia leaning heavily in your favor, but I am in need of a place to rest as I learn to navigate this strange land where both law and children exist. So yes, I will take your offer." Mia was not one to show tact but chose not to ask for clarification why the idea that both law and children were things he was not used to.
'Just what kind of hellish life has he lived?' Externally she nodded with a smirk. "Alright! But you made the mess so I expect you to help clean it!" She walked away from him and left for the back for a moment before returning with a broom and a mop.
She then handed them to him. "There! Get cleaning!" He seemed stunned for a moment before he asked.
"Will I be paid for this? Our deal did not specify that I work here." Mia scowled.
"Of course you'll be paid! It will just be taken out of your rent!" Hunter shrugged again and he began cleaning the place up.
He was soon joined by the staff who warily started to help and he did not speak once as he cleaned. He was told to put the bodies in the alleyway behind the Inn so that the guards could take them away so he did, Easily lifting the bodies in each hand and He stripped them of all valuables, weapons, and armor. He then gave them to Mia who accepted them. After about 30 minutes The Elf returned with a neutral look on her face as she saw Hunter cleaning alongside the other Waitresses.
Seeing her Mia approached to greet her. "Ryuu! Did you catch the Slavers?" Ryuu nodded her head and said.
"They weren't adventurers so catching them was easy. The Guards have taken them. Why is he still here?" Mia followed her gaze to Hunter who was currently scrubbing the blood out of the wood on his knees with a sponge.
"He is paying us back for damaging our reputation. He will be staying with us until he fully pays us back." Ryuu's eyes widened slightly at this.
"But he is a male." Mia met her eyes with her own.
"And? He was able to fight you without a Falna." This made Ryuu snap her gaze to Hunter who just kept cleaning.
"He doesn't have a Falna? Impossible."
"It's true, I had to explain to him what a Familia and Falna were as he truly had no idea what they were. The Ishtar Familia is also after him and I won't let him suffer the same fate as some of my girls."
Ryuu looked confused and Mia decided to demonstrate. "Hunter!" Hearing his name Hunter looked at Mia.
"Yes, Miss Mia?"
"Tell Ryuu what Ishtar wanted to do with you!"
"She wanted to eat my flesh!" This confused everyone in the room besides Mia.
"Wait? Ishtar did?" Ryuu was deeply baffled and the other girls were the same.
"Eat his flesh?"
"I didn't know that Ishtar was a cannibal!"
Mia shook her head. "No, tell her exactly what she said!" Hunter didn't see a reason why not to warn others of the dangerous goddess.
"She wanted to taste me so she wanted to eat me! Also, Do all males have to have their flesh eaten to become men?" A few of the girls flinched as they understood what was being talked about and their gazes at Hunter were now with sympathy while most gaped at his sheer naivety.
"He can't be serious." Mia shook her head.
"No, he is. You can go back to work now Hunter."
"Yes Miss Mia." he then went back to scrubbing.
"He is the last survivor of a land called Yharnam where Gods would use their Arcanum to kill and devour the mortals and anarchy reigned. So yes, I will help him and though he is not a girl he is in desperate need of a safe place where he can learn about our culture and stay protected from Ishtar."
Ryuu went slightly pale at the idea of a land where gods abused their powers and ate mortals. "I see, but what if he hurts the girls?" Mia had a sharp look.
"Then I'll deal with him." With that settled Ryuu joined in cleaning up and once it was all done the guards showed up, two human males in armor and Mia talked to them first then they asked Hunter for his side of the story and he gave an abridged version due to the insistence of Mia.
"I had barely arrived in this land and they sold me for cash. I didn't like that so I escaped, hunted them down, and would have killed them all for such an act but when I learned that there were Laws that would punish the guilty I stopped and will trust that justice will be dealt with those Vermin."
"Oh, I see." One of the guards awkwardly answered and the other asked.
"And what do you plan to do now?" Hunter pointed at Mia.
"Miss Mia wants me to pay her back for the harm I have done to her business so I will be staying at the Inn until I do so." The Guards looked to Mia who nodded her head so the guards finished up and left with the 13 remaining bandits.
Once they were gone Hunter returned to Mia and asked pointedly. "May I be shown to my lodgings? I wish to know where I will be sleeping. Oh, and while I'm at it. Do you have a weapon you wish for me to work on? Or do you wish for a new weapon?" Mia thought about it for a bit before she said.
"I want you to make me a weapon."
"Aright, what weapon do you want? Spear? Sword? Axe? Do note that they will be quite basic besides the reinforcement. I am currently not recovered enough for more personalized work and I have lots of repairs to do for my own gear."
"Basic? You act as if you can mass-produce weapons." Hunter ignored the question and asked.
"What weapon type do you want?" Ryuu looked confused as to what was going on and Mia filled her in.
"Hunter is a blacksmith and has offered to either reinforce a weapon or make a new one for every employee of the inn to pay us back." Ryuu frowned.
"But he doesn't have a Workshop." Hunter shook his head.
"I do, but it is one of the national treasures of Yharnam and as the last living Yharnamite I have the right to its use. Do you want me to reinforce your sword?" Ryuu thought about it then nodded.
"Yes, Do you want it now?" Hunter nodded.
"Yes, but I'm limiting myself to you and Mistress Mia so I can do much-needed repairs to my arsenal."
"You have an arsenal?" Mia asked and Hunter puffed up his chest and with his tail wagging rapidly proudly said.
"I have the best Arsonal in the world! From common broadswords to weapons of legend I have them all and can use them with the skills of a master! Observe." He drew his cane and began to go through sword forms with it.
"The humble Threaded Cane! One of the most popular of the Trick weapons used by the Hunters of Yharnam! It was the first weapon I ever learned how to use and though I mainly used another It has always remained as my backup."
He then started to do a movement with the cane but abruptly paused his demonstration and he coughed before he made the cane vanish into smoke. "Sorry, I got sidetracked. What weapon do you want, Mistress Mia?"
Mia stared at him, a complicated look on her face but answered. "A great ax." Hunter nodded.
"A good choice, Do you care what kind of great ax you want? Perhaps a large cleaver as you are an Innkeeper? I happen to know a lovely weapon that heals the wielder with every swing."
Mia looked surprised at his words "Heal with every swing? You can make something like that?" Hunter scoffed.
"Please, I have several means to grant weapons either healing or mana regen though if you wanted me to imbue a weapon without that innately inside it then I would have to charge you as I am pretty sure that is how I will be paying rent in the future."
He then turned to look at Ryuu and said. "In fact, if you wish I can instead infuse a weapon with special effects instead of reinforcing them. Think of it like...advertisement. Yes! That's the word. So how about it? Do you want Fire? Lighting? Ice? Magic? Poison? Healing? Magic regen? Sharpness? Density?"
Ryuu had a heavy frown on her face, making Hunter confused as to what he had said that angered her. "No, just repair and reinforcement. I'll leave my weapon in your room." She then left making Hunter's tail droop a bit and he asked Mia.
"Did I say something wrong? I thought people liked magic weapons." Mia shook her head and put a hand on Hunter's shoulder.
"No, you didn't. It's just that elves have a hatred for enchanted weapons due to their villages being wiped out by those who wielded them."
"Oh." His tail definitely fell this time. "I did not know, I never met an Elf before or any other of the races here besides humans actually." This surprised Mia.
"You've never met anyone except humans? What about Renards? Your parents?" Hunter shook his head and his tail remained low to match his depressed tone.
"I don't remember my parents, my hometown, or even my name. I just remember waking up in a ruined infirmary in the depths of Yharnam. His hands were clenched tightly and his tail thrashed a little as he gazed towards the different people walking in the streets. To be more exact, he was staring at a Beastmenman child with her parents.
"You're lucky you know. I have never, in any of my memories, seen so many sane people in my life or children for that matter." Mia's heart sank at his words which filled her with both pity and dread. She had restrained herself before but hearing him talk about it made her curiosity overcome her.
"Hunter, you speak as if that isn't the norm. Just what did you go through?" Hunter glanced at her and she swore that for a single moment, that a red Eye was staring at her through the bucket as his sad voice answered. "A Nightmare."
Epilogue 1.
Tim woke up in a medical bed confused. "What happened? Was that just a dream? Yeah, like I would die and be offered a challenge to come back to life!" Timothy, or Tiny Tim to his friends, was a short, thin, white guy with short brown hair and brown eyes. His face was childish, making him look far younger than he actually was and when added to him standing 5 ft even he deserved the moniker Tiny Tim. Only his deeper voice spared him the injustice of being called a child. He was dressed in a blue sweatshirt and blue jeans and as he got off the medical bed he was quickly realizing that something was wrong.
"Wait, This isn't my house, and I doubt any hospital would have such a dark room without any nurses." The room was in a large state of disrepair, the walls lined with bookshelves with discarded books, and the wooden floor was splintered. Tim saw a doorway with lamps so he went over and opened the doors to reveal a flight of familiar stairs that was sending alarm bells ringing in his head but he wasn't sure why.
He followed down the stairs and found himself in a small room with a doorway leading further in. He walked into the next room which was full of several rows of more medical beds with IV drips made of glass on each. "What the hell?" Tim muttered as he walked further in and froze, his heart in his chest and a stream of denials and curses wishing to spill from his thin lips.
There was a large black werewolf thing chewing on the remains of the body at the end of the long room. The alarm bells finally got results as he slowly backed away from the monster, his steps shaky but silent. He retreated all the way up to the room he had woken up in and he closed the door he had opened before. Only when he did that did he fully begin to panic.
"CRAP! It wasn't a dream! I did die! I'm in Bloodborne!" Tim was crying, He already knew he was awake, He had woken up after all and thought he was in a hospital. Just in case he pinched himself hard but the pain only reinforced his fears. "What am I going to do!?" Tim was going over the memories that told how he got here.
He had been trying to cross a street when a pink Van ran a red light and he died quickly from the impact. He had seen his mangled corpse from above and he freaked out that he was a ghost. That's when a ghostly version of the car that hit him appeared. It then spoke in a woman's voice.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! I was running late to send off a girl a few miles away and I was talking on the cosmos phone to another client so I was distracted!"
"Wait! What's going on?! Why are you a van?"
"Oh, I'm Truck-Chan! The younger sister to Truck-kun! We send other people to other worlds on the behalf of ROBs! We choose cars as that is an easy death! Back in the old days, we would use horse-drawn carriages but people could dodge those, and let me tell you, having legs AND wheels is confusing!" Tim was struggling to digest this when Truck-chan spoke again. "So, yeah, I'm running late so I'm just going to send you to the afterlife now!"
"WAIT!" Tim shouted at the Van which tilted to one side.
"What is it? I gotta go!"
"That's not fair! You killed me by accident! You're supposed to be sending people to other worlds right? And they tend to not be dead in them! So bring me back to life! You owe me!"
Truck-Chan's headlights squinted like eyes and her bumper frowned. "I guess I did mess up, But I can't bring you back to life."
"WHY NOT!?"
"Because The ROB's are the ones who do that! But I do need to make it up to you…..Hm? Oh! I forgot that the client was still on the line! Hold on a sec." The truck spun around leaving Tim to stare at her license plate that said [H0tS1u44]
After a tense five minutes, she turned back around. "Okay! You're in luck! The ROB seems interested in you. He's all about suffering and misery and your situation caught his attention. So he's decided to offer you a challenge!
"If you beat the challenge then you get to come to life in another world! You have unlimited tries to complete it and you get to keep everything you gain during the challenge into the new world but, until you finish the challenge you will be unable to move on to the afterlife. Are you interested?"
Tim nodded his head rapidly. "Yes! I'll take the challenge!" The bumper smiled at this.
"Great! Now hold still, I gotta hit you to send you off! Since I DID hit you I'll even give you a Gift to help you succeed! If you manage to win We'll see each other again." Before Tim could speak Truck-Chan slammed into him and he woke up on the bed.
"I'm trapped in Bloodborne and that probably means that I need to beat the game! Good thing I'm a Soulsborne fan so I know all about the games. But how do I do that!? I'm not a fighter and this doesn't feel like the game! I'm going to die!" Tim stayed inside that room freaking out, crying and panicking for several hours until his many tears finally dried.
"Enough Tim. you signed up for this by agreeing and sitting in here won't help me. So, get up and fight!" He forced himself up to his feet, noticing for the first time that he was not hungry nor thirsty. He shrugged it off and with great trepidation, he left his room. He had a plan ready.
He would run past the werewolf and open the door. He would continue running until he made it to the first lamp where he would light it and flee into the Hunters Dream to get the starter weapons. "I wish I had the game UI but I don't. Okay, it's showtime!"
He opened the door and slowly stalked down to the lower room and he hugged the walls as he tried to not get the monsters' attention. If it was the game then this might have worked but this wasn't the game. The werewolf stopped eating and raised its lupine head and after a few sniffs, it growled as it turned to gaze right into Tim's frightened eyes.
"Oh no," Tim whispered before the monster roared and rushed right at him! "Oh shit!" He ran, he ran as fast as he could to dodge the monster's lunge and he rushed to the door. Unlike in the game, the door opened quickly and he ran outside, the monster right on his heels. He was running faster than he had ever before but running in a game and running in real life wasn't the same. He was panicking as the monster loped behind him and he got distracted when he saw a familiar white orb of light in the corner of the cemetery. 'An Item?' He wondered but that distraction would cost him dearly as the beast lunged and knocked him painfully to the ground.
"NO! NO! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Tim screamed as the monster ignored his cries and began tearing into him. Strangely he didn't instantly become disemboweled as his body was instead just deeply wounded from the assault though his clothing was cut to ribbons. That didn't help as it just meant he would die slower. "AUGH!" Tim screeched in agony as he was slowly torn apart and devoured by the monster. It was almost a relief when he finally passed away from his injuries.
Author's Note: Hello! It's Rebel Shard Caster! This is the second story I'm posting as part of my coming out party on ! I plan on posting another story on Sunday and will try to post content on the weekends. Friday will be Die of Destiny but Saturday and Sunday's updates will be whatever story I feel like posting that week. Please note that I am doing all the editing and proofreading by myself so forgive me for any slip-ups that slide under my radar.
Edit. 8-28-21 Yeah, I never did a post on Sunday but I did get around to editing this to be much easier to read.