Hellsing Witch Hunter 1616
Sapphirewyren
Ch 22: The Sky's the Limit
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing
King's Landing Airfield- London, England
Seras sighed as she stared longingly as the airships dot the London skies. How she wished that she was on one of them again. When she was training to be a Hunter, travel was a very important aspect and Seras loved it. Floating through the skies, going to distant and exotic lands was Seras' favorite part of the training. She was sure that it was Integra and Sam's favorite part as well. Who wouldn't like flying through the skies and going to new places? But now Seras felt as if she was stuck in London, probably never to see the outside of England again. How dull would that be? Integra was lucky, she owned a large business which was international, so she traveled to meet new clients, people who wanted to partner with her companies, recruiting and other business ventures. She also sometimes took Schrodinger with her on these business trips. Seras felt a twinge of envy; she wished she could travel the world at a whim. The huntress watched as passengers boarded and disembarked the many airships that landed at the airfield. Samuel, the ticket seller approached Seras and smiled good naturedly; "Daydreaming again?"
"Yes, I wish I could travel again."
The elderly man chuckled; "You know, I've been working here for over thirty years and I have never been in an airship. Must not be meant to be."
"What?! How can that be?"
"I guess we're not meant to do everything."
Seras could only gape at the old man in surprise as he shuffled back to his post. How could anyone spend their entire life in one place? And Samuel didn't even look like he wanted to see the outside of London. As Seras rode towards the orphanage she came up with a great idea; to take the children on an outing to another country. They already had outings to various places in the city, so why not outside the country? Realistically there were more children going in to the orphanages instead of coming out. And when they came of age, they will have to enter an apprenticeship or the convent or church. At least one trip outside the country, Seras thought would be a good idea, and who knows how its benefits may help the children in the future. But there was one thing that put a hold to Seras' plan and that was what Father Anderson would ask. Who would pay for the trip? Who would take care of all those children in another country? The money aspect would be the biggest obstacle and Seras decided that it was best to put that aside until she had a more solid idea of what she was doing.
Hellsing Estate- Eastern Pasture
The Manor hadn't been this quiet since before the Hunters were formed and Integra was glad for this respite however short it may be. Sam had an assignment from the King and Seras had wondered somewhere. Hans and Schrodinger were tending to the new horses that were getting acclimated to their new homes. Integra let out a sigh of contentment as she gazed at the horses that were grazing in the field. It was nice to have actually have some quiet time to herself, it had been a week since let's say 'enlightenment' and Sam and Seras thought that Integra had come down with something. For one, there hadn't been an argument between her and Sam all week, which worried Seras. And even when Sam said something that Integra would consider foolish, the heiress ignored it. Integra had a feeling that for the past two days that Sam said and did a bunch of stupid things on purpose to try and piss her off and when it did not succeed, she finally gave up. Sam was going to drive her crazy if she let her. Integra whistled and Baskerville trotted over to see what treats his master had for him and was rewarded with two pears. As she stroked the black stallion's velvety nose, Walter approached and said gravely; "Sir, there was a report that the town of Braddock had been attacked by bandits known as the Red Hook Gang."
"It looks like we have work to do, Baskerville."
"Shall I get Sam and Seras?"
"No, I will handle this; there is no need to bother them for something so simple."
Walter did not like the sinister smirk that made its way across Integra's face, he almost felt sorry for the idiots that dared to attack the town of Braddock.
The Dark Woods
The thundering of horses' hoof beats and the yelling of wild men that made its way into the small town of Braddock was not what sixteen-year-old Mara had in mind when she wished that something interesting to happen in her hometown. When those turned to shrieking of women as they were violated or the desperate yells of men and the old as they were slaughtered, interesting was not the word Mara would use. It had all happened so fast, the slaughtering and pillaging; the female survivors were tied to each other and marched towards the bandits' hideout. The robbers were in high spirits; singing raunchy songs off key and telling even dirtier jokes. They had a successful raid and tonight they would celebrate with women and drink.
God certainly didn't know what the word 'interesting' meant, Mara thought sullenly; if only she hadn't prayed for something so silly and selfish. Now because of her, Braddock was now gone and her family probably dead. Mara looked at the other women; some were crying, others were whispering prayers; for the dead or themselves, the girl couldn't tell and other women had the look of utter despair as if they had given up all hope. They knew what was going to happen to them and nothing could change that.
As the bandits and their prisoners moved deeper into the forest, the jokes and songs were less and less. The trees loomed over them, their branches looked like claws ready to reach out and grab them. The sounds of life such as birds and woodland creatures had vanished and were replaced with deafening silence and the breathing of the group. The air which had been warm suddenly turned chilly and those who wore less shivered from the cold, while others shivered from something else.
"This place is creepin' me out" complained one bandit. "I feel like we're being watched."
"Stop being a little girl, Jake" scoffed another bandit half heartedly, he didn't feel any braver.
"Let's keep moving, there ain't nothin' in these woods" said the leader, Red Hook. He wasn't going to tarnish his reputation because of some harmless trees. He waved his hook menacingly and sneered; "Remember we're the only monsters in these woods". Some of the bandits chuckled and grinned wickedly. Mara could have sworn she saw fangs. And she was right, the Red Hook gang were actually a gang of murderous cougar shifters and their leader was the worst of them all, even after he had his hand cut off and replaced with a hook. Red Hook used his hook to slice up enemies and victims alike.
Just as the bandits were getting their bravado back, three crossbow bolts pierced through the heads of the group. The prisoners threw themselves on the ground, while the bandits looked around to see where the bolts had come from. Several more bandits were downed by crossbow bolts.
"Where are those coming from?" yelled one bandit. Another pointed and said; "Over there!" two more bolts came from the opposite of the direction being pointed in. By now the bandits had taken out their own crossbows and started shooting in random direction, nearly hitting each other.
"Get a hold of yourselves, you idiots!" roared Red Hook. The bandit leader began to shift from human to anthropomorphic cougar. The rest of his gang followed his lead, in this form many of them regained their confidence, even with the bodies of their comrades littered on the ground around them. The lead robber sniffed the air, he only caught the scent of one person, not a whole party of people as the crossbow bolts would have made it seem.
"It is only one human" chuckled Red Hook. "Come on out, puny human. It's no use hiding."
Out of the bushes stepped a large black stallion, his rider looked down at the group of bandits in disdain. Some of the thieves gave whistles, they were obviously thinking that they were handed another woman to have fun with. How quickly they forgot about their dead comrades and how they died in the first place. Integra swiftly reminded them of what she is capable of and fired a bolt into the head of another bandit. Not wanting to see anymore of men killed and seeing that the Hunter was a formidable person and Red Hook decided to strike a bargain; "How about you just keep riding, pretend you didn't see anything and I won't kill you."
Never said it would be a fair bargain.
"Unfortunately for you, I can't let that happen as I am personally invested in Braddock"; sneered Integra.
"What can you against us monsters now that we know you're the only one here? You can do nothing, lousy human!"
As Integra took off the leather eye patch, she grinned; "You say 'human' as if it's a bad thing."
As Mara and the other women hid, the teenage girl couldn't help but feel a bit excited. She had seen the Hunter several times in her hometown, but never had the chance to talk to her. Now here she was taking on a bunch of deranged cougar shifters. One of the bandits, a spear wielder, charged towards the Hunter as she dismounted from her horse. He missed his target as Integra wrapped her arm around his weapon and then threw a dagger into his forehead. Another bandit made the mistake of thinking that Integra was too busy dealing with the spearman, but as soon as the spearman was dropped, the Hunter shoved the spear through the chin of the second attacker. Seeing this, the other bandits decided that rushing in blindly was not a good idea or at least with weapons anyway. After all they were animals and they charged in with razor sharp claws extended. Integra soon found herself on the defense, dodging and blocking claws with her sword, Casull. So busy were the cougars that they forgot about Baskerville, who smashed in several skulls with his large hooves and grabbed some of them by the tails, then slamming them into trees. A rather strong thief using a large battle ax took a swing at Integra's head and was surprised that her sword sliced through it like butter. The blade then continued to cut through his head, tearing off the top part of his skull. The brigand fell dead in a pool of his brains and blood. Two more shifters tried their luck by attacking at the same time with curved swords, but Integra quickly ducked under the blades, cutting off the leg of one shifter and rapidly stabbing the other through the back. She finished him off with a bullet in the head. By now the bandits, even in their animal form were deciding that fighting a King's Hunter was not a good idea and some of them were making a beeline for the forest.
"Where do you think you idiots are going!?" bellowed Red Hook. "KILL THE BITCH!"
"I'm afraid today, I am not taking any prisoners" drawled Integra coolly. The ground shifted and rumbled under their feet and a bright green ornate circle marked the earth where a large serpent made of water rose up from the ground, swallowing up the rest of the bandits. Through its transparent body, Red Hook could see his men drowning in the watery bowels of the beast. The serpent soon dissipated and the dead bandits dropped to the ground with loud sickening thuds. Integra turned to Red Hook and said; "That leaves only you." Red Hook snarled at the woman; "You bitch; you didn't have to kill them."
"I was hoping you might have more profound last words instead of the hypocritical whining of an idiot."
"You will pay for this, you bitch!"
Through his frenzied slashing of claws and hook, Integra was able to give Red Hook a 'silver cut'. Red Hook was so pissed at the loss of his men and distracted by the hopes of making the Hunter pay that he didn't realize the liquefied silver creeping throughout his body. It didn't help that Integra was no longer fighting him, but waiting for Casull's ability to finish him off. When Red Hook realized what was happening; it was too late, his legs were stuck fast to the ground.
"What did you do to me!?"
"You will be a warning for those who are stupid enough to pillage towns that I am personally invested in" came the icy reply. Soon there was a silver 'statue' of an anthropomorphic cougar; the only other color was the red hook, the face, forever in a snarl mixed with rage and fear.
Mara and the now freed prisoners looked around in awe and fright at the gory scene of blood, bodies and appendages that covered the ground, and the fact that one woman had done it made it more frightening. There was a mixture of frightened whispers and tearful gratitude as the Hunter freed the women and children of Braddock. Mara watched the group trudging back to the town, pulling the wagons of belongings the bandits had looted from the town and then she turned to see Integra retrieving her weapons and then mount her horse. Mara knew now that with her family was dead she would be on her own, unless someone wanted to take her in, but it certainly would come with a price. By now the London police and the Imperial Guards would be at Braddock looking for survivors, asking questions and they would prepare the dead to be buried, Mara knew what she had to do.
As the villagers headed back to their town, Integra mounted Baskerville and was about to ride off when a voice called out; "Sir Hellsing! Take me with you!" The Hunter turned her horse to face the person, looking down she saw a thin girl with light brown hair. The girl wore white blouse, gray pants and scuffed boots, her clothes were dirty, mostly due to the raid. "What do you want?" Integra had to give the girl credit for her boldness, her brown eyes looking straight into the icy blue one of the Hunter's said; "I want to be a Hunter."
"It doesn't work like that."
"I heard you were looking for capable people to form a hunting party."
"Was I now?"
The girl took a crumpled paper out of her pocket and held it up; "I want to join. I don't know much, but I can learn. I'm a quick learner."
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"You're still a child, come back in two years."
"You were trained when you were far younger weren't you? So why can't I? My family is dead and I want to become a witch hunter. I got nowhere else to go, so now's a good a chance as any."
Integra stared at the girl for a few moments with a smirk on her lips. Before common sense or the onlookers could say anything, the Hunter pulled the girl up on the saddle behind her and rode off.
Hellsing Estate
Sam and Seras heard about the raid in Braddock they were not happy that Integra handled it on her own.
"You should have told us" said Seras. "What if something had happened to you?"
"That's what a will is for."
"Sir that is not funny."
"And what's with all the construction around here?" asked Sam in an annoyed voice.
"You don't have to worry about that" said Integra simply.
"And who is the girl you bought back?" asked Sam.
"You don't have to worry about her either."
"Will you stop saying that?" Seras asked impatiently.
"You two are worrying about things that don't concern you."
"It does concern us if you're going to replace us!"
"Who said anything about replacing you?"
"That's what you're doing Sir."
"And it sucks that you don't have the balls to tell us."
"I should hope that I don't have balls, on a woman that is anatomically incorrect. As for me replacing you two, I'm not doing that….exactly."
"What does 'exactly' mean?
"I am simply getting more competent minds to help with the hunts."
"So you're saying we are incompetent?"
"No, I'm not."
"It sounds that way."
"This is why I told you not to worry about it, Sam."
Just then Philip walked into the office and said; "The police needs the Hunter's assistance in finding a group of men who have been robbing passengers on airships."
"What does that have to do with us?" asked Integra.
"Several passengers have claimed that the pirates have been using magical weapons."
Chapter End
Author's Notes: I know everyone hates a cliff hanger but we all knew eventually that it was going to happen. But at least you can look forward to the next chapter soon. Will the Hunters be able to catch the pirates? Is Integra really trying to replace her fellow Hunters? Read on to find out. Hope you enjoyed. See ya in the next chapter.