The hunt began a night before the peak of the full moon, where the clouds rolled over the skies and let down a gentle sprinkle of rain. Ruby rode on a grey horse just behind Weiss's dirtied white stallion, a gloved hand grasping at her pained chest.
Weiss looked behind her and in the corner of her eye saw Ruby's clenched hand. "What's wrong?" she asked, knowing full well the silver concoction she fed Ruby was causing at least a light burn.
Lifting her head, her tricorn no longer concealed her pale face. Long, violent scabs were becoming less severe with time, but her expression was at the moment more pained than it had been days before. "I assume the power of the moon compels me. Is this my soul fighting the curse?"
The princess lifted her lantern at the split in the forest path, the fickle light of her tool casting a weak sphere of visibility in an otherwise black place. If she held it just in front of her and looked back, Ruby's dark clothing combined with the strict shadows rendered her and her stead invisible to Weiss. "Yes, I would assume your will fighting the bane in yer' blood would cause a conflict of biles, pain inevitably ensuing," she lied, "You do well to keep it up of course."
Time passed as it had in the last three hours and as it had since forever. Ruby didn't question if they had to do what they had been doing, but she did eventually ask for her master to restate what exactly they were doing. "This time, etch this lesson in deep, I hate repeating myself."
"Yes sir," replied Ruby respectfully.
"I set traps in remote spots laced with an incense to lure the beasts. I check each and everyone of them within a few days of the peak of the full moon. If they are caught, I deal with them then, but if my hunt is fruitless, I carry the incense myself on the peak, at which time a werewolf is going to want to hunt most, so much so that a trap might not contain them. This is the last night before we carry the incense. If we are to be deemed blessed with fortune, a snare will be filled."
Winds blew through the woods like banshee's whispers, shivers crawling up Ruby's back. Weiss checked her pocket watch. Almost Midnight.
An animalistic whimper snapped both hunters to rapt attention. Halting their horses, the noble looked back to her apprentice and gestured 'on me', then dismounted. Weiss grabbed the silvered longsword from her horse and slung it over her shoulder, giving her the options of a rapier on her right side for her dominant left hand, a revolver on her left side for her right hand, daggers on her coat for either hand, and of course the longsword on her back for a left handed draw. Drawing the pistol, Weiss crouched down to the ground and tip toed closer to the sound, Ruby following a few seconds behind.
They crept over the top of a small rise, the light of the lantern spilling over the top and into the clearing where a lanky half-man, half-monster of mangy grey fur laid with its ankle caught in a bear trap. Ruby gasped. Weiss straightened her back and looked to her partner, then back to the werewolf. "That'll do just fine then."
Approaching the creature, Weiss aimed her gun at the beast that just now came out of its pitiful stupor to growl and bite at its soon-to-be executioner. It lashed in her direction, but gained no ground closer to her. Weiss just stared at it, and squeezed the trigger.
A soft gasp, a catch of one's throat.
Weiss let off the trigger and looked back at Ruby, whom stood still and beyond uncomfortable behind her 20 feet away. "Hmm," she hummed to herself, eyeing the petrified look of the ex-farmer's face. Then she pondered the longsword and folded spear she carried. "Alright, this needs to be done, and you need to dirty yer' hands. Go to your horse, grab the rifle, you'll be putting it out of its misery. Got that?"
She recoiled. "Y-yes sir," she replied reluctantly, stumbling as she started backtracking.
The princess looked back to the werewolf, of which still growled and snarled at her like a cornered dog. It was a pitiful monster, thin leathery skin with missing patches of fur, and what fur was there was scraggly and faded. Its limbs were too long and somewhat misshapen, and its teeth were yellowed if there at all.
"So you were the one who turned our miss Ruby, huh?" she asked it rhetorically. She never caught the werewolf from the last month; Ruby had turned and injured her, so that meant the one who turned her was still at large. "A pitiful one like you would explain her weak taint, perhaps?" she mused.
In her thoughts, she looked to the ground. Her eyes glazed over the scattered autumn leaves, dirt, and fallen bramble that bore evidence of the beasts feet and hands, but she remained focused on Ruby's cursed origins. Her gaze settled on a partial claw print in a soft patch of ground, and she waited.
Over the sound of the wind and increasing rain, Weiss heard Ruby returning. With a sigh, she lifted her head and looked at the monster again, and at his foot caught in the trap. As Ruby loaded her rifle, it occured to Weiss that the beast's feet had a disturbing transformation, where instead of gaining more wolf-like paws where the digits spread out and gained fur, this one's feet had remained like a human but were stretched out lengthwise, the tendons jutting out of the top. She looked back to the ground at the print she was just staring at.
The hairs on her neck and arm rose. "It's a different track. Ruby, it's a different track!" Weiss pulled the hammer on her revolver and took aim at the darkness, spinning around to check every angle.
Ruby started panicking, although it didn't look as such. "What should I do? Should I do it now?" she asked hurriedly.
"Yes, send the beast to hell, delay no further!" Weiss pulled Ruby to where she stood, just out of reach of the wolf-man, then pushed down on the girl's head to bring Ruby to a kneel. Weiss stood over her, frantically looking in every direction.
It took no time to take proper firing posture, but Ruby found that pulling the trigger was far more difficult than she imagined it to be. Suddenly the 7 pound pull weight felt like a hundred, and the creature on the other end of her iron sights seemed less like a monster and more of a victim. Something in her cried out against the action in her muddled mind, a conflict of moral and divine laws scrambled to the pounding of burning blood in her heart.
The decision however, was made for her as a roar erupted from the darkness. In an instant, Ruby's aim drifted as a tense finger flinched and set off the gun, Weiss made a hasty shot at the blur, the blur charged through them, the trap was ripped open, and both creatures ran off in opposite directions.
Weiss wasted no time clamoring to her feet, and caught a glimpse of the werewolves as they got away. The other hunter, ears ringing thanks to a gun firing just above her head, staggered upwards. "I got mine, I saw it flinch. Did you get yours?" Weiss said, panting.
Ruby stuttered and babbled as she fumbled to get the implements to reload.
"Ruby!" Weiss shouted hoarsely, impatiently. It did nothing to reveal her gender. "Did you hit it?!"
The girl nodded 'yes'. "I heard the bullet hit."
"Alright, both are wounded then, we will get our horses, and we'll pursue whichever one of the two went due north-east. There's a farm and barn in that direction, and I suspect the beast will try in desperation to feed." Weiss embarked for her horse, and let out a groan of pain. The rogue werewolf had knocked them aside in an instant, and the wounds she had acquired from Ruby became intensely agitated. There probably was going to be a new bruise too. It took a moment to steel herself and order her partner, "Stop whimpering, let's go!"
The rain grew as relentless as the white clad hunter, her garments stained brown with mud in no time thanks to the horse's gallop. Racing along the roads by lantern light was incredibly dangerous, but she would rather fly off her horse and fight the ground than have to deal with two werewolves in the future. She caught a glimpse of a sign pointing down a branch in the road to a horse ranch, and followed the instruction.
As they rode out of the woods and into a clearing, they could roughly make out a house and a barn in the lap of two tall hills, all black against the dark grey skies, but the house and barn's wet features sparkled orange to the lantern's glow. Dismounting, they approach the horse stable's on the right, both of them noticing the ajar barn door. Weiss took the lead and slipped inside, gun ready to fire.
About five horses shuffled and neighed in panic within their confining stalls, the barn containing twelve stalls in all, a middle aisle with six stalls on either side. In fact, Weiss noticed that the whole barn was slightly rocking to the scared dance the horses played. Once Ruby was in, they closed the barn door the last little bit and Weiss hung the lantern on a hook coming off the loft, a hook she imagined was specifically meant for exactly what she was doing. Drawing her rapier, she ignored the frenzied animals and examined the ground, spotting irregular patterns in the hay scattered on the floor. She couldn't guarantee it was what they were looking for, but she had to venture a guess.
"I smell blood," Ruby whispered through gritted teeth. Before Weiss registered what she had said, she reached a hand to Ruby's heaving chest. The brunette was not only of shattered mind, but seemed to be just shy of agony. The silver concoction was not kind to her.
"Hold on," Weiss finally responded. "You can smell blood?"
She shook her head. Not in agreement or denial, but to return vision to her eyes. "Yes, its faint, but I can smell it, there's some there even." She pointed at one of the hay prints Weiss had suspected.
"Then he is hiding in here." Weiss went silent and crouched.
Encroaching towards the back of the barn, Weiss got a sick feeling in her gut. As she passed the second stall out of six on that side, that meant that there were four chances for a sudden fight to break out. The lantern casted light behind them, meaning that one side of each stall was partially lit, but the shadows were pitch black, and hid all. As she passed the third stall, she pondered the horrifying thought that maybe there was a werewolf crouching in the shadow, and when she saw the shadow, she wouldn't be able to see the werewolf in it, effectively ending her life there.
Both fourth stalls had horses in them, but she approached the fifth set of stalls even slower than the others. Ruby's shallow breathing was starting to eat at her nerves. She feared that she wouldn't be able to hear the monster's breathing over Ruby's and the horses combined noise. The wind and rain didn't help either.
The fifth stall was empty.
The wind and rain was actually getting louder, Weiss noticed. Along with a putrid smell. Heart pounding in her ears, she peered into the last set of stalls, light barely reaching them at all.
The window on the right side was open.
A long sigh of relief, followed by a new fear. The fear of not knowing.
Weiss gestured Ruby to follow her closely, and she stepped into the stall, noting that the putrid smell was of horse dung that had been shoveled into the far corner. She approached the window, the rain and wind whipping into and around the flapping window panels. The latch had been busted, she saw.
Ruby gasped.
Ruby noticed before Weiss the sound of the barn doors opening. Her reaction alerted Weiss. The latter of the two pulled them into the shadow of the stall.
She immediately regretted her decision. The princess's nerves got the better of her, thanks to Ruby's infectious mental state, and put herself at the disadvantage of not knowing what was coming through that barn door. On any normal hunt, Weiss would've already had all six shots ready to crucify any beast that dared to show itself at range, but tonight, Weiss was off her game.
The cries of the horses grew louder, more frantic, and the hunters dreaded the probable cause. What killed them was the lack of understanding what was happening however. If a wounded werewolf had come to this barn, left through the window, and if it had just re-entered, why didn't it start tearing into a horse, or how was it smart enough to circle around the hunters?
They held their breaths to listen to careful steps masked by ambient sounds, careful steps unclear in their weight and length. The horses remained loud, but nothing happened to them, and the steps got undoubtedly closer to them.
Weiss could tell Ruby was losing it. She pulled the girl in close and clasped her glove over her mouth and nose, dropping her rapier.
The footsteps got closer, and a vague shadow grew larger on the aisle. Were the lantern brighter, the shadow could've revealed all, but alas, it was dying.
The horses closer to them cried louder than ever, and the horses by the entrance kicked the walls inside their stalls.
The lantern was hit with a gust from the outside, and blew out.
The footsteps were just in front of the fifth stall adjacent to them. Ruby started squirming under Weiss's grip. Weiss pulled her hand harder, muffling the poor girl's murmurs to nothing as she suffocated, the back of her head digging painfully into Weiss's ribs.
In pitch blackness, Weiss could see nothing but black and the negative afterimages of the barn. Slowly breathing in, she held her own breath one last time.
The footsteps were within arms reach of them, at the entrance of the stall. She couldn't see it, but she knew something was standing right there.
It was looking at them.
It had to be.
Over the scent of the horse manure, she could spell blood and the smell of wet dog. Over the sound of horses crying and the wind and rain, she could hear ragged breathing. Over the sensation of Ruby biting through her glove and fractured ribs, she could feel breath on her left cheek.
It was there.
But neither could see the other. They both were hiding.
With a speed slower than Weiss could've ever thought possible, she spent what felt like minutes lifting the end of her revolver to aim at the creature. For what felt like minutes, she sat there, Ruby going limp under her arm, and listened to the sounds of a heaving chest. For what felt like minutes, her lungs screamed at her as she held her breath.
The barn door opened and light illuminated the building as Weiss's lantern had. Sure enough, the werewolf was sitting right in front of them, looking right at the shadow they hid in. From where it sat however, it couldn't see them. What it did see was an old man entering the barn with a lamp.
"What're you doing on my ranch, vagabond!?" the old man shouted, double barrel shotgun tucked under his arm, "Yer' scaring my horses!"
The game was up.
With uncertainty removed, Weiss's fear disappeared.
The werewolf turned in place and started a dead sprint at the now terrified man, Weiss let go of Ruby, whom rolled over as she coughed life back into herself, and the heiress took aim and shot the beast in the back.
It was too little too late though, as the beast shrieked it left a gash across the man's chest and continued its four legged sprint to the house. The old farmer cried out too before he collapsed to the ground in shock. "Ruby! We're going, NOW!"
Without checking to see if she was following, the muddy white clad hunter ran to the busted front door of the house. At the entrance room, there was a door going to the main part of the house and a right door going to a lounge room, and a set of stairs on the left where she could see candle light coming down from. An elderly woman in a nightgown peeked around the corner, her half lit face not too different from the man's after he recognized the werewolf for what it was.
Weiss threw her hand upwards and away, biting at the woman, "Go back up!" She then drew her longsword, but kept her revolver in front of her. As it was, she was blind without a light, but, she had relied on using her sense of hearing to hit a target several times before. With her back to the wall, she slid along the left side, listening to the rummaging sounds of the wolf-man. Dashing around the doorway and sticking herself back to the wall, she could tell he too couldn't see, the sounds of shuffling chairs and items falling from shelves betraying his location.
Taking confident aim, she took a shot in the dark. A yip signaled a hit, likely at least, and more running. She could tell his body had hit a wall, and what sounded like a shelf fell over, glassware and pottery shattering. Furniture closer to her clattered once more and a gust of wind blew passed her, the front entrance made its own sound as a body brushed passed it.
"Little bitch," Weiss growled, heading back the way she came.
She too hit the entrance doorway with her shoulder on her way out, and finally could make out the faintest of a silhouette in the yard. Puddles were gathering on the ground, and every step it took confirmed to her where it was. Weiss took another shot in the dark, but only heard an angry growl this time.
"Shite…" She holstered the gun, and took her longsword into two hands.
Suddenly, she could see the outline of the creature and the green reflection of light in its eyes. The woman from before was on her porch, candle light casting the weakest illumination for either combatant to work off of. And with that light, the creature ran for Weiss on all fours, ready to tackle.
Weiss didn't stand for it, slashing in time to the left, she caught its snout and forced him into a evasive roll to the side. In a word, she was bullfighting with a sword and limited vision. It made another run for her, and this time she swung to the right, intersecting its jaw and throwing him to the side once more. It rolled like a dog and limped back into a fighting stance.
She watched, she listened.
The woman on the porch was holding her hand to her mouth and whimpering. Not important. The rain dribbled off of the tip of her hat, and was washing some of the mud off of her leather clothes, and the wet autumn wind was chilling her to the bone. Not important, infact, it took some of her attention away from her aching sides. Boot steps were coming from the barn, meaning Ruby, possibly helpful. The beast was growling, but blood was in its throat, she could hear the bubbles forming, and it had whines mixed in as well. It was nearing its limit. Good.
As long as she held her high stance, it kept a distance from her. Also good. In fact, in this open arena, it couldn't get close to her as long as she kept her timing perfect.
"Ruby! If you're there, take the shot!"
She wouldn't have to risk it though if Ruby finished it now. This would be a good chance for Ruby to grow, Weiss thought. The problem with the thought was however, Weiss never thought while on the hunt, and this whole contemplation distracted her from the werewolf, whom made a mad dash to the sound of Ruby cocking her rifle.
It could cover much more distance far faster than the hunter, and tackled Ruby within two seconds, tackling the girl. Her rifle flew from her hands and she was on her back, beast snapping at her face, only her outstretched arms keeping his fangs away from her neck. His claws hit at her upper body, while his kicking legs cut into her pants and shins. She screamed and pushed, fear bleeding into anger, anger bleeding into bloodlust.
Ruby tucked her knees to her chest and kicked into the werewolf's body, creating distance, then she grabbed its wrists, preventing it from further cutting her up. Clamoring to her feet, she pushed with her whole body against the creature, feet slipping in the mud as it did the same to her. It tried ripping its wrists from her grasp, but she adjusted herself and grabbed his hands instead.
Its inhumanly long fingers reached over her own and dug long nails into the back of her hand, growls intensifying. She growled back, and in a burst of fury, wrenched down with her hands. The beast cried as its hands broke backwards, and it fell to its knees. A moment later, Weiss's longsword pierced it in the back, through its heart, and out the chest.
It slumped down, all tension releasing.
Weiss drew her blade and sheathed it. "Christ, that was excellent Ruby!" she exclaimed, a rare smile plastering her face. "I knew you had it in you!"
Ruby, panting, kept pushing into the creature and fell on top of it so they both laid in the grassy puddle.
The standing hunter wiped her nose, chuckled, and gave a hearty thumbs up to the lady standing on the porch. "Alright, up and up, we have a few things we need to do fi–"
The tainted hunter lunged at Weiss, dagger drawn. The latter dodge, just barely, the tip of the knife catching in her coat. As Ruby regained her posture for another go, Weiss heard that oh-so familiar growl.
A gunshot.
Weiss holstered her revolver as Ruby stumbled backwards, clenching at her side. The smoke lingered in the air a moment before the rain washed it away. A more human groan of pain came from Ruby this time. "Maybe next time, child."
By a sad gait, Weiss walked up to the porch where the woman stood quaking in place. The hunter padded the lady's shoulder in a feeble attempt to ease her, then walked inside. "I would like a drink, if you don't mind."
"Of course, Heir Schnee!" she whimpered, scooting inside just behind weiss. As small as the elderly woman was, she was just as tall as Weiss, and just as thin. Where Weiss had platinum hair bordering on whitish-silver, the lady had salt and pepper, though predominantly grey hair. The similarities had no meaning, but it amused Weiss to think she had so much in common with the elderly at her young age. The amusement however faded as quickly as it came. Weiss didn't look forward to what she had to do.
The lady laid a candle on the table in the lounge room, and lit it with her own, then disappeared into a closet to fetch Weiss's drink. The other, Weiss, took a seat and kicked up her boots onto the table, and removed her gloves. Moments later, a red porcelain cup of wine was set beside her hand, and the woman sat adjacent to her at the dark plain wooden table. "My husband, he went outside to check on the horses because their cries awoke us. He is safe, yes?" she pleaded for an answer.
Weiss stared at the ceiling, and watched the shadows casted by the wall ornaments dance to the candle's flickers. "Of course," she lied, "We told him to hide in the barn." A long drink of wine found its way to Weiss.
A sigh of relief from the woman. "Thank the heavens. Ah! But Heir Schnee, I absolutely have to ask…" A minute passed in silence, aside from the elements outside.
"Speak," she whispered.
"Your partner… he's… he's one of them, isn't he? Or… was one of them, I'm sorry."
Weiss sighed. "Knowing… him, he's probably still alive, that one shot wouldn't kill a werewolf."
The lady gasped. "A werewolf hunter, I mean, a hunter of werewolves that is one themself! That's… unbelievable."
"It is." This woman saw what had happened, and Weiss knew she wouldn't be able to wave her hand and remove the evidence. Knowledge of what she was, for lack of better terms, experimenting with was dangerous to have out in the world. There were people just as dangerous as the werewolves roaming about afterall.
"Heir Schnee, what's wrong, why do you look so pale?"
If Weiss herself didn't want to be hunted down for heresy against the established order, Ruby could only be discovered to have the taint only after proving she could control it and possibly utilize it. Tonight had been a failure, and Weiss's prospects for the future had no promise from what she had seen.
"Do you need something to eat, my lord?"
But it wasn't a complete loss, she thought, Ruby had the strength, the instinct, and while she was nowhere near helpful, there was potential. At this point, if any of this got out, Weiss would be in trouble regardless of if she got rid of Ruby now, meaning her only option was to persevere. Leaving Weiss with only one safe option tonight.
"Do you need time to yourself, my lord, I'm sorry for pushing."
"Oh uhm… what is your name?" Weiss receded from her thoughts.
"Mine, my lord? Emma, if it interests you." The woman seemed flattered by the question.
"Do you have children, Emma?"
A sad chuckle. "No my lord, Walter and I were never blessed with children, but we've made do with each other. The farm hands your father sends are most helpful too when the season for horse breeding and handling comes 'round too."
No children. That made it easier. In addition, at their age, no relatives would come looking. "I'm sorry."
Weiss's gun shot one more time.
The pale hunter stumbled out of the door, pale not only in clothes but in skin, save the red on her face and hands. Barely making it down the porch and to the overflowing trough, Weiss dropped to her knees and plunged her hands and face into the trough, hat falling off and floating atop the water's surface.
Pulling out, the girl scratched and scrubbed her hands and face, trying desperately to get the blood of an innocent off her own skin. For once, she understood how Ruby felt, and rubbed at her hands until they were raw. She whimpered, felt sick, vomited, and kept trying to scrub her sin away, but it would not leave, not ever.
After she had the chance to calm just a little, she walked to the barn and found the old man where they had left him. He was asleep, wounded but asleep, and eventually he would turn, and she would have to hunt him. Weiss dragged him into the house, and did all she could to avoid the room with Emma in it.
Back outside, she whistled loudly, and both horses came running to her. She lifted an unconscious Ruby onto the proper horse, tied her to the saddle, and hooked the horse's reins to the back of her stallion. Going inside the barn, she opened the stall gates and slapped each of the horses so they would flee, then she retrieved her lantern. Heading back into the house, she found two lamps with oil in them, and lit both. She broke one lamp in the barn, and the other in the house. Between the hay and the dry wood and furnishings, the residence was set ablaze within minutes.
Evidence removed, Weiss decapitated the werewolf, took the head and placed it in a burlap sack that hung off the side of her stead. Job done, she returned them all back to Vale.
-End Chapter 8-