He is Bloth Hoondr, but you can call him Bloodhound. The story behind this masked hunter is one filled with loss, regret, and at the end: acceptance. However, it was not as clear cut as it appeared.
"Ca Caw!"
A pitch-black raven was satisfyingly perched on a snow-covered pine tree. Its nice afternoon would not last long though, as a muffled scream echoed from a nearby cave. The bird decided to pay it no mind and closed its eyes once again. After yet another yell from the same tunnel, it became annoyed and agitated. As it began to flap its wings to go to another spot, a blue light flew in front of it.
"Follow me…" it spoke quietly.
The language barriers at this moment did not exist, and the raven took to the sky behind this cyan beam. The more it followed, the louder the earlier noises of shrieking and now growling sounded out. Upon reaching the tunnel the bird had instinctively avoided all its life, it didn't falter one bit while it entered. With what natural light filtered into the area, a teenage boy could be seen on his back in front of a ravenous Rikr Jötunn. The monster in question was without one of its horns, which probably only made it more angry. The boy was scrambling to his feet with his axe in hand. The stream of light breezed through the air before landing on a nicely placed coolant tube. The raven was not far behind and perched right on top of it. The light then seemingly spoke again.
"You have done well…thank you…"
The light then slowly looked like it was dissolving into the air itself. After a few seconds, it completely vanished, and the confused bird looked at the boy.
"Caw! Caw!" it squawked before taking flight out of the cave.
The boy had already seen what he needed to, and without further hesitation, lobbed his axe at the pipes. The below zero vapor spewed out beginning to freeze the viscous predator in mere moments. The child, coughing from the now bad air he was breathing, reached for a mask lying on the ground. Upon putting it on his face, he had ended one journey, only to begin one at the same time.
During the quiet cast off of Artur's body, the raven from earlier came flying back to the boy, now confident in his abilities. He decided to name the bird after is now deceased uncle and readied himself for his uncertain future.
…
The Apex games was a place known for its battles and irregularities. This location was the home of many legends, one now being Bloodhound himself. A chance to prove oneself as stronger than all the others was given. And while you never really die, the pain and feeling of loss couldn't be more real. After all, pride and fame was all the legends were going for, except two. Bloodhound had no need to be seen as great or unbeatable. The thrill of the chase that was advertised was his incentive.
A group of people of different sizes and attire could be seen in a dank room. It jad flags with paint on them hanging from the ceiling. There were counters attached to the wall with miscellaneous things on them. The floor was covered and red and blue wires that went different directions. Some static could be heard signaling a speaker turning on.
"Choose your Legends" the loudspeaker said.
Nine of the ten people looked around perplexed, until a girl with blonde hair moved a curtain of those paint covered flags to reveal a device. It was a large cube about 16ft in diameter. Everyone read the name of said machine, each with their own reaction to it.
"Uh…a cloning machine?" a flamboyant brunette man said.
"Oui, you will all be cloned as many times as necessary to complete each team. Every team can only have one of each legend" the blond explained.
Bloodhound squinted his eyes at this. He knew this abomination was not something the gods would agree with. However, this device gave him a chance he knew he'd never get again; the ability to hunt himself. To him, your biggest hinderance, your biggest enemy, was yourself. If he could overcome his own instincts and beat the person that knows him best, he'd comfortably know his hunting skills were unmatched.
"My name is Wattson, it is nice to meet you all." The blond introduced herself while gesturing to a control console. "Step up to this console sil vous plait and select your teammate for your first battle. First up will be Mirage."
The spunky dark-haired man in question confidently strutted up to the controls.
"I know who I'm picking" he said while winking at Wattson.
He scrolled through the list of legends, until he got to her. Upon pressing the screen, the machine began shine with different lights. After it stopped sputtering, a carbon copy of Wattson came out the side of it.
"Woah, that's pretty cool, but not as great as this!" Mirage spawned a hologram of himself and proceeded to play pattycake with him.
The real Wattson rolled her eyes then looked at her list.
"Next up is…Caustic. And just so you know, the clones think just like the originals, but see the originals as total strangers. This way, they are not led to kill or maim the true legend outside the games."
One by one, each legend picked a teammate they felt could help them win. The pairings so far were as follows: Caustic-Bangalore, Lifeline-Wraith, Bangalore-Gibralter, Octane-Lifeline, Pathfinder-Mirage, Mirage-Wattson, Gibralter-Bloodhound, and Wattson-Bloodhound. The next one was Bloodhound. He walked up to the console but didn't start scrolling through the choices. Gibralter being the friendly one decided to speak up.
"You alright there, brother? You've been standing still for a good minute."
Bloodhound shook his head a bit to clear his mind. "I am fine, however I do not think I can use this machine." Everyone looked just as confusedat that statement, but Mirage voiced his opinion.
"What do you mean? All you do is just scroll until you find-ow! Damn that hurt…" Lifeline sighed after smacking his head.
"Clearly he knows how ta do it, especially if you are able ta ya numbskull."
Mirage rubbed the nonexistent bump on his head saying, "You didn't have to hit me…", while they all tried to figure out his issue.
"Hmm, might this be a religious issue Mon Cherie?" Wattson asked softly.
Bloodhound thought for a second then slowly shook his head.
"I just don't think I can call a clone of someone a felagi fighter. The hunt means nothing if the person you are with is not… real. Even that robot came into existence and staked its unique personality on the world."
The atmosphere suddenly got very heavy. All the legends looked at their clones, all of which looked and acted just like the originals. Some of them like Caustic, Octane, Pathfinder, and Mirage didn't seem to mind the concept. The rest on the other hand were a bit off put by their 'partner,' though not to the point of it being a problem.
"Well, it seems we have an issue here. You think you'd be okay on your o-" Wattson was abruptly cut off.
"I could do it." A feminine voice said.
"Oh, you are…", Wattson looked down at her list before continuing, "madame Wraith I think it is."
Wraith winced a bit at the formality but still responded. "You could drop the 'madame' part, however I could just be his partner. I'm not very fond of this machine either." That statement got a lot of head tilts. "I mean I don't have the same reasoning as him, but after the stuff I've seen, I only like the things that existed in this universe." Wattson smiled widely at her.
"Well then, Bloodhound are you okay with this?" He simply nodded. "Good! Well everyone can wait in one of the many rooms here to get acquainted with your partner. I will be doing the same."
With that, everyone followed Wattson into a hallway filled with ,many doors. Each duo chose a door with Bloodhound and Wraith choosing one of the last ones. They both sat on opposite ends of what seemed like an interrogation table.
"Since we didn't get to look at each other's bio, we should share our abilities. Although, you should know that I'm not really as normal as I look" Wraith warned carefully.
"From where I come from, none of you people look normal" Bloodhound said.
Wraith held back a snort. "Wait, really? You are saying that in your getup?
"A Bloth Hoondr is supposed to look a certain way. I am only following a tradition the gods have made" He stated
"Well," she said slumping back in her chair, "now I feel a bit bad. Although I still don't know why you even believe in these 'gods' you talk about. If any god were real, I wouldn't be this screwed up" she said with a bit of venom at the end.
"I know they have a destiny for each of us, and being here is part of both of ours." Wraith sighed in response.
"I'll tell you what Blood," noticing him flinch at the name she smirked, "as long as your higher beings keep us alive, I won't have a problem."
Bloodhound opened his mouth to say something about the nickname he was given but decided against it. They were the only team without a clone, it wouldn't hurt him to get close to a real person. Little did he know the reason she was here wasn't for pride or fame either.