Dead By Roselight

Chapter 26: Huntress' Rage

Chills ran down Yang's spine upon hearing The Huntress' scream. She didn't know how, but somehow the killer knew that she and Lucy were inside her house and that had obviously enraged her. The blonde didn't even want to imagine what would happen to them, if The Huntress got her hands on them.

Knowing that she needed to act fast, Yang quickly turned off her flashlight and took hold of Lucy. Without giving any warning, she threw herself and her partner on the floor. Lucy let out a small yelp of surprise, but the brawler quickly covered her mouth with her hand and shushed her. For a moment, the two survivors simply laid still on the basement floor, while they could hear the heavy footsteps of The Huntress upstairs, getting closer with each step.

It didn't take long for The Huntress to come down to the basement where the two survivors were hiding. Some light managed to make it down to lowest steps of the basement's staircase, which allowed Yang and Lucy to see the killer before she disappeared into the darkness as well.

However, while they couldn't see The Huntress, both Yang and Lucy could still hear her. It seemed like the masked woman knew that they were still in there, even if she couldn't see them. They could hear her footsteps, as she walked around, trying to spot her prey in the darkness.

As The Huntress was looking for them, Yang was preparing herself for their escape. She kept listening as carefully as she could to the movements of the killer, thus giving her a good idea of her position. As she was doing this, the blonde was also slowly readying her flashlight. She would only get one chance to do what she was planning, so she needed to make it count.

Suddenly, Yang got up from the floor, pointed her flashlight towards where The Huntress was and turned it on. The sound of her getting up had caught the masked woman's attention, causing her to turn towards the brawler. Because of this, the flashlight's light hit The Huntress right in the eyes, blinding her momentarily.

"LUCY, RUN!" Yang screamed at the top of her lungs while heading to the basement's stairs herself. The pink-haired girl didn't waste any time in getting up and running to the exit. Just as the two survivors got into the staircase, a hatchet flew past them and got stuck into the wall, having been thrown by the blinded killer.

Yang and Lucy quickly made their way up the stairs and headed to the nearest door. They could hear The Huntress coming after them, so they needed to move fast. They opened the first door to the outside they saw and ran out, closing it behind them. As soon as the door closed, the blade of a hatchet came through it, telling the survivors that they had just barely avoided another thrown weapon.

Yang and Lucy headed to the woods in the hopes of losing The Huntress there. The sound of a door breaking down told them that the masked woman had made her way out of her house as well, causing them to pick up the speed.

"YANG, DUCK!" Lucy suddenly warned her partner, who then immediately crouched down. Another hatchet flew over her head and into the woods. "We need to split up! If we stay together, we'll be an easier target for her!"

Upon hearing the cat faunus' idea, the brawler immediately thought about Eloy and how he had lost his life upon them splitting up. Yang didn't want to go through that again, so she decided to do something that was most likely not smart, but she was willing to risk it in order to prevent another one of her comrades from dying.

"We're not splitting up! We stick together, okay!?" the blonde yelled at Lucy and grabbed her arm, pulling her behind her. "Come on! We have to move fast!"

Although surprised and confused by the reaction she got from her partner, Lucy simply followed behind Yang. She had been certain that the brawler would be okay with the idea of them going in different directions, as it would ensure that at least one of them would survive. There was also the fact of the pink-haired girl's split personality. Not only could it help her survive if the killer came after her, most people would be okay with the idea of her not surviving, as the second personality was something that scared them.

However, Yang certainly knew all of this and still decided to stay together with her. To say the least, Lucy had not expected this at all.

The two survivors kept running as fast as they could, until they spotted some large boulders ahead of them. The rocks were placed in such a way that one could slip between them easily. This made them a rather good spot for cover, which is why Yang immediately headed towards them upon seeing them.

Slipping between the boulders, Yang and Lucy tried their best to steady their breaths and stay as silent as they could. The Huntress was surely still looking for them and would be there soon. The two knew that they were out of stamina, so if they had to run away from the killer any longer, they would certainly get caught.

The sound of heavy footsteps was suddenly heard by both and their bodies immediately froze. As the footsteps got closer, they could also hear the sound of The Huntress panting like an angry wild animal. It seemed like what they did back in that basement had really angered the masked woman, as they could hear her even growl as well.

Yang and Lucy listened quietly, as The Huntress walked around their hiding spot, looking for the ones she had been hunting. After about a couple of minutes of this, the two began to hear the sound of the killer walking away from them, seemingly having given up on finding them.

Even though they were sure that The Huntress had left, the two survivors decided to wait a bit longer, just in case the killer was still nearby. After a few minutes of waiting, Yang and Lucy decided to come out of their hiding spot, and even then they were still being very cautious. The Huntress could still be nearby, ready to throw a hatchet at them.

"Alright, I think she's gone now," Yang whispered to her partner. "Let's go and find the others, but be as quiet as possible. God only knows where she is."

Lucy nodded and the two began to sneak their way through the forest. They kept looking around them constantly, while also listening as carefully as they could, trying their best to pick up any signs of The Huntress. But since they couldn't find anything, both girls began to relax a bit, thinking that they had escaped from the masked woman.

They suddenly heard the sound of a large branch snapping, but it didn't come from either of them. Yang turned to look where the sound had come from and saw a familiar rabbit-masked woman readying herself to thrown a hatchet. Time seemed to slow down for the blonde, as The Huntress threw her weapon straight towards her. She then felt something hit her body and saw blood flying through the air.

However, it wasn't Yang's blood that had been spilled. As soon as she managed to break out of her shock, the brawler saw Graham laying on the ground in front of her with a hatchet in his back.

"GRAHAM!" Yang screamed and went to check the fallen man. The weapon was buried deep into his back and blood was falling from the wound.

"You... fool... Get... out of here..." the blonde man struggled to say, hoping that his comrade would listen and save herself.

As Yang was panicking over what had happened to Graham, Lucy noticed that The Huntress was coming towards them. It seemed like she had run out of her hatchets, as she was holding her large axe in her hands, ready to cut down her prey. The pink-haired girl's body froze in terror, as the situation seemed to be the worst possible for them.

But then in an instant, something switched inside Lucy's brain that caused her to jump into action. Before anyone could do anything, she took Yang's flashlight and dashed towards The Huntress. Seeing her prey suddenly come towards her caused the masked woman to turn her gaze to the cat faunus, which in turn allowed Lucy to blind her again with the flashlight.

"Get Graham and get out of here!" the pink-haired girl yelled at Yang. "I'll hold her off and then come find you!"

"But... I..." was all Yang could say, as the situation had pretty much rendered her unable to think clearly.

"NOW, YOU IDIOT! I WON'T BE ABLE TO HOLD HER OFF FOREVER!"

Finally snapping out of her stupor, Yang lifted Graham's body over her shoulder and started to run. Even without her Aura, she was still quite strong and the blonde man wasn't all that heavy, so she was able to do it. The brawler ran as fast as she could and didn't stop until she couldn't run any longer.

Having run out of breath, Yang fell to her knees while still holding onto Graham. She was gasping for air, as she tried her best to regain her strength. The blonde knew that she hadn't gotten far enough from The Huntress, so she would need to continue running soon.

"Yang... stop..." Graham said weakly. "Put me down... please..."

"O-Okay. But not for long, got it?" Yang replied as she laid the young man on his side, trying her best to mind the hatchet still lodged into his back. "We need to get moving soon, before-"

"No... you need to... get moving..." the blonde man corrected. "I'll be staying here... I can't go on..."

"No no no! Graham, you can't just give up like this!" the brawler argued desperately. "W-We can still fix this! I'm sure we can find a way to-"

"I appreciate the thought, but... it's too late for me... I won't be alive for long... But Yang, I want you... to do one thing for me..."

"S-Sure. What is it?"

"You see... I had an older sister... back in our world... I don't know where she is... but she's the greatest Huntress I've ever seen... C-Can you find her... and tell her what h-happened to me? T-Tell her that I didn't give up... and fought to the very end... just like she would've..."

"I will. What's her name?"

Graham took a picture out of his pocket and handed it to Yang while doing his best to say his sister's name. Unfortunately, he was by now too weak and couldn't say it loud enough for the brawler to hear before dying.

However, Yang didn't need to be told the sister's name, as one look at the picture answered her question. Her eyes went wide and tears fell from them as she began to cry at the cruel fate her comrade had to go through.

The picture had two people. One of them was Graham and the other one was a younger Glynda Goodwitch, one of Yang's teachers from Beacon.

Yang didn't know how long she had stayed there, crying over Graham's fate. She was broken out of her heartbroken haze by a gentle hand on her shoulder, which caused her to look behind her and see Lucy standing there with a sad look on her face.

"Graham didn't make it, huh?" the pink-haired girl asked, earning a headshake from the blonde girl. "I was hoping that he could have still been saved. I guess I was wrong."

"Same here," Yang said as she wiped away her tears and stood up. "But it was just hopeful thinking in the end. The Huntress' attack had already done way too much damage."

"The others are not going to take this well," Lucy said. "Besides Ruby, he had always been a very reliable guy. All of us could trust him without a single doubt. He was honestly one of the best allies you could have on your side."

"That's putting it lightly. None of us have even an idea of how strong he truly was," the blonde added, thinking about what she had just found out. 'Just how long were you stuck in this world, hoping to get back and see your sister? If I ever get out, I swear that I will tell her about you. I'm certain that Professor Goodwitch will be proud of you, if she isn't already.'

"We should get going. No use staying here for any longer," the cat faunus stated, before the two girls left, hoping to find the other members of their group.

It didn't take long for Yang and Lucy to find their companions. Like they had suspected, the news about Graham's death weren't easy to take for them. Sadness and despair seemed to wash over almost each and every one of them, as they thought of losing their leader sunk in. Many wondered if there was really any hope for them to get out of this world, as the one they considered their strongest member had now lost his life.

However, as the group got out of The Huntress' realm, they didn't notice one thing. While most had been broken over Graham's fate, there had been one person that had not been affected by the news even a bit. That person was Weiss, who had an emotionless expression on her face, as the news were delivered to her.

It would be too late, when the heiress' true nature was discovered.

Author's notes: Most of the stuff I had planned for The Huntress got shoved into the previous chapter so there wasn't much left here. That kind of led to this chapter becoming much shorter than the previous one. Hope that doesn't bother anyone.

I decided to make Graham into Glynda's brother, as I wanted there to be a survivor with a big surprise twist behind them. While it probably didn't seem all that big to some of you, I kind of liked the idea enough to actually write it in this story.

Next chapter will have The Nightmare/Freddy Krueger appearing. Hope you guys will check it out.

Until next time.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Dead by Daylight belongs to Behaviour Interactive.