Disclaimer: I own nothing, just a random idea with established and licensed characters that aren't mine.
Quick A/N: This is a plot bunny. No plans to make this a story. Just had to get it out there. Enjoy.
A swing of his sword and the beast falls dead, already beginning to dissolve into black motes. He continues on, the villagers screaming in fear and anguish. He's too late to save the village, but its people are still running or fighting. More Grimm fall to his blade, more innocents are saved by his shield. He continues on. An inhuman shriek gains his attention and stops most of the survivors in their tracks. They freeze in terror at the sight of this new threat. He turns to face it. Part horse, part humanoid, all Grimm. A Nuckelavee.
It's drawn toward a building, or rather, to the crawlspace underneath it. He sees two children huddled there. Orange and Black hair. The Grimm reaches in for them. Then seems to lose all interest as it pulls back and turns toward the rest of the village. Odd, but something to look into later. He bangs his sword against in shield in an attempt to gain its attention and issue challenge. Nuckelavee's have close to human intelligence. It roars in acceptance of his action.
The fight is not long and fairly straightforward. He finds a way to pin it down with his bow and arrows, its arms stretched in opposite directions, horse legs hamstrung. It futilely struggles as he beheads first the rider head, then the horsehead. As it dissolves into dark motes, he wipes the sweat from his brow and looks around, taking stock of the situation. The attack is over, the Grimm are vanquished, the survivors are gathering the dead. They will be burned in a pyre later, it was never good to leave bodies around and burial took too long.
He kneels next to the building with the two children, an odd sense of calm washes over him. It's not of his own making, foreign, a semblance. He looks closely at the two, a boy and a girl. The girl has orange hair, raggedy clothes and is clutching a wooden hammer in her hand. She also looks eerily calm. The boy however, dark hair with a magenta-colored bang and looks on the verge of tears but still calm. Ah, the semblance is his then. Fascinating.
He reaches out, they both look at his hand but do nothing. Watching for the trick or the betrayal. He smiles gently in reassurance. They move to leave, taking his hand. As he brings the children out, a few survivors approach them. The children are soon off to see if the need medical care. He finds himself with a group of elders, looking to him for answers to their questions.
With the village in shambles and the survivors counted as too few to rebuild, the decision is made to head to the city. A few carts are still intact, only essentials are loaded on to them. Food, water, weapons, medical supplies, the injured, elderly, and young children. He helps them get ready to leave their home. He will be with them on this journey. He is only one man, but even a single Huntsman could give hope to the masses.
The journey is thankfully uneventful and quick. Only five days of travel saw the survivors to the walls of Mistral. This is not the first time Mistral taken in refugees. Many villages had fallen to the Grimm or bandits over the centuries. Many would continue to fall, and so few would rise against the harsh world of Remnant. The survivors of Kuroyuri were processed quickly and efficiently. However, the Huntsman was not among them. He stood a mile from the walls, observing the process, before turning southeast and heading to Argus. He had shown his license, given his written report, received his payment for services rendered and departed before anyone could ask him to stay and elaborate about his conduct. He left quickly to resume his original journey's purpose, getting Pietro to fix his equipment. His Shield and Bow were stuck in their forms. Something had gone wrong with the mechashifting. So, he was off to see the tech-wizard of Atlas.
When a Haven representative tracked down the refugees and asked about the Huntsman, the villagers all had stories that aligned with the submitted report. Having found no discrepancies, the representative informed Headmaster Lionheart. Leo pulled up the report and the Huntsman's information on his office computer. After a time, the headmaster had more questions than answers to his curiosity. The picture recorded was an exact match to the description of a man Leo was warned never to cross. Male, Blonde hair of medium length, blue-eyed, average height, athletic build. Most recognizable features being a long green floppy conical cap, a Longsword with blue hilt and winged cross-guard. Mechashift shield/scabbard, a field of blue, emblazoned with a red bird, three golden triangles and two golden crescent arcs and silver accents. Mechashift bow/handgun, a variety of normal and Dust infused arrows/ammunition.
Yes, he had finally found the man his mistress had warned him about and had tasked him to search for. She's only provided a detail description of him physically and had mentioned offhandedly that he used sword and shield. But she could not provide a name. Now he had that information, his name and so much more. As far as Leo knew, the hunter had gained the interest and ire of Salem and would soon be removed from the world. To Leo, the hunter was no threat. However, he had ignored a vital piece of information. Information that would have had him cowering in terror. The registration number was extremely low. In fact, while the number held all ten digits for the modern Huntsman license, there were only three different number. Eight zero's, a five and a 2. And when one considers that the Huntsman licensing had only been around for 167 years and every license was issued sequentially, then the hunter was the 25th registered hunter.
As always, Atlas was cold. He had cold weather gear, but the cold sucked. Pietro was working on his equipment and wouldn't be finished for at least a day. He wished the man luck in his endeavor to make an artificial Aura generator, but honestly thought that, he should spend some time finding a woman to have a family with. Pietro was extremely introverted. But then he was no better.
A shout caught his attention. It wasn't a scream, though it held plenty of fear. In a park, he saw a woman looking around frantically. She called out once more, names if he guessed right. He slowly approached and gained her attention. Her clothing simply screamed high class and classy. Her white hair belied her youthful and shapely appearance. The only flaw he could see was that her eyes held no hope, a quiet resignation to her current life, whatever that may be.
He smiled softly as their eyes locked, "May I help you, Miss?" His voice was a soft tenor as he tried to convey his wish to help her.
"My daughters, Winter and Weiss, they've seemed to have run off. I only closed my eyes a moment and they were gone. Have you seen them?"
"Where were they when you last saw them?" The smell of alcohol was only just evident under her perfume. It would seem something in her life had driven this woman to drink.
"Just over there, by swings on the playground. Please, good sir, will you help me?" Regardless of her level of inebriation, this was a mother concerned for her children, asking for help. As he always had and always would, he would help this woman. Another quest for the Hero.
"Come. We'll look together. Try not to disturb too much of the scene." She followed eagerly behind him as he made his way to the playground.
"Oh, thank you, thank you good sir." The light dusting of snow around the playground did not give him many clues that he could easily track, but thankfully the area had seen only a little foot traffic since last night's snowfall. He found the smaller footprints immediately, the smallest leading to the swing, the larger of the two leading behind. The elder daughter was pushing her younger sister on the swings. A small trail leading to and from the swing a good eight feet long, the younger would jump a distance and run back to do it again. The tiny handprints at the furthest point of the trail showed she pushed herself up a few times.
It was when the footprints lead away to a larger pair that he began to grow concerned. The larger footprints were too large for the mother, but he followed the trio of prints away from the playground and leading out of the park. On the sidewalk, he found two candy wrappers. The tire marks suggested a vehicle. "What awoke you miss?"
She looked exceedingly worried now, sober enough to put the pieces together as he had. "Tires squealing and a car horn. My daughters have been kidnapped… should I call the police? Will you go after them? What should I do?"
Her tears flowed freely, but she remained standing, ready to act as he directed. "Call the police, wait here, and give a statement when they arrive. I'm going to do something. I'm a Huntsman miss, I will find your daughters. Stay calm and don't give up hope. How old are your daughters?"
She pulled out her scroll and called the emergency number. "Winter is Ten and Weiss is Four."
Link pulled his scroll and activated an app. An app that Pietro had developed for him. Even as a Huntsman, he needed an edge when conducting urban operations. The app allowed him access to the local CCTV network and Atlas had a lot of cameras. Within moments, he found the park, then the sidewalk they were currently standing on. Running the recording back, a white service van came back into view, the side door opened and out popped two young white-haired girls and a man with a dark hoodie… and a white grim mask. White Fang.
He scowled. The peaceful protests were all well and good, but it seemed Ghira Belladonna had missed the signs of his movement becoming militant. He highlighted the service van, and the app followed it through the streets. It stopped after only a few minutes, pulling into an alley. And though the picture wasn't crisp, he noticed that four figures exited the vehicle, two carrying bundles of cloth. He hoped that the candy was drugged and that they hadn't resorted to physical means to induce unconsciousness.
The building was only three blocks from them. "Miss, I've found them. Stay here. The Police will need your statement. Here is my scroll info. Text your name and I'll send a copy of my license. I'm going after the ones who took your daughters, but you need to stay here. Understood?"
Willow nodded, the shock that her children were taken, and he'd already found them was too much for her. She saw him turn and sprint off, then turned to find a seat to wait for the police to arrive. She sent him a text with her name. She received his Hunter's license promptly afterward.
It took a few minutes for the police to arrive. No sirens or lights, only a single car. When the officers saw her, one approached her while the other immediately used his radio to call in the need for back up. The officer asked his questions and she provided all the answers she could. When they asked about the Huntsman, she showed him the License she'd been forwarded.
As more Police began to arrive, Willow was provided with a blanket and a warm beverage. Some of the Police entered the park and began to investigate the area. A few stuck around and watched over her. She simply waited. Staring in the direction the Huntsman had run. For her diligence, she was rewarded with his appearance once more only half an hour after he'd left. With him, Winter held his hand and Weiss was held in his arm, her head resting on his shoulder, arms around his neck. She burst into movement and tear, rushing toward the huntsman whom had rescued her daughters.
Winter never let his hand go, even as her mother enveloped her in a hug. Weiss soon joined the reunion hug, tears were shed and apologies were given by all the Schnee women. Willow Apologized for falling asleep. Weiss apologized for trusting a stranger and Winter apologized for not looking after her sister better.
The Police soon surrounded them and eventually moved them off to a vehicle. Before getting in, Willow turned to thank the Huntsman, but he was gone. When she asked the officers where he'd gone, they answered that he was showing a squad where he had gone.
As Willow held her daughters close, her thoughts remained on the Huntsman. She'd never introduced herself, and neither had he, but she had given her name over text, and she had his License. She brought the copy of his license up and looked at the name. She smiled, it was a good name. If only he'd stuck around. She'd probably have found a way to repay him for all his help, and the kindness he'd shown her. Her mind drifted to more lascivious ways in which she could reward him, her cheeks pinked as she shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. It had been two years since she'd been touched in any sort of sexual manner. And Jacques had never been a loving partner.
On the road again. He never stayed in any place for long. Usually enough time to help with any major Grimm problems or some minor local troubles. But he'd put down roots once. He'd stayed in one place long enough for the village to start asking questions and become scared. Scared, because while his grandchildren were running around, he had never aged.
He'd been born well over 10,000 years ago. He'd been born to simple farm folk in a kingdom with a history of magic and chivalry. A king, whom according to rumors at the time, locked his daughter in a tower and refused anyone who asked for her hand in marriage. Upon his 12th nameday, the news went out that the king was dead and the princess rescued. During his 15th summer, the princess was said to be gathering an army of all the kingdoms to fight the Brother Gods. Shortly after turning 17, he found that all the people in his village had vanished. He'd awoken and found them all gone, the moon shattered and his dreams for the next few years were filled with adventures. Only after his dreams finished did he realize, they were not dreams, but memories. Memories of past lives. Every past life.
He was a Hero. He'd been cursed by a demi-god, along with a princess, to reincarnate until the demi-god's spirit, wrath and malice triumphed over the Hero and Princess. This time however, there was no sign of an evil spirit or destined princess. The only Princess he knew of was probably already dead, as he did not find another living soul for millennia. Yes, he was immortal. How? He did not know, but he stopped aging in his mid-twenties. He also found that if he didn't eat, he would slowly grow weaker until he was nothing more than a husk. That was an informative but boring century. Wasted to nothing, only to slowly build back up the strength to move and live.
He could not die. Immortality was a new concept to him. He'd died several times in his past lives. And there were no fairies to revive him that he could find. From his past lives he'd found three things. His Sword, Shield and an Ocarina. The Master Sword was ever sharp and never broke, but it's enchantments against evil seemed to have waned. The Shield remained somewhat indestructible, but he'd been able to reforge it to it's current Mechashifting form. And the Ocarina? Indestructible, but not magical. It was just an instrument.
As signs of life began to emerge over the millennia, he helped out wherever he could. When the Faunus first began to appear, he would help them as well, if they let him. He traveled the lands, offer help wherever he could, always searching for any sign of a destined princess or wrathful demi-god. He'd found many of each, princess' with great beauty and power, but never the one for whom he searched. Many a warlord rumored to have unearthly strength in arms. He'd cut down so many he'd stop bothering to keep count. On and on he searched and offered aid. He still had yet to find any trace of either.
He'd heard of an immortal like him. A witch whom resided in the Grimmlands. He'd done his best to investigate these claims and had found her. He also found that she could do magic and was indeed immortal. She'd attacked him with magic and he'd sliced off her pretty pale head. She had not died and neither had he, so he left. He'd not gone back in 3,000 years.
Civilization had advanced beyond anything he was familiar with only 500 years ago. Technology advanced and advanced and soon left all he'd ever experienced in the dust. Only 150 years ago, the automobile was invented. Dust was the new magic, and science had made leaps and bounds in its usage. Now, Airships, self-driving cars and weapons were everywhere you looked.
A cry of exertion and pain interrupted his self-reflection. The forest he was in should have only a meager Grimm presence and was only allowed to be traversed by Senior Hunters. As he made his way closer to the origin of the cry, he heard the clashing of weapons. Upon entering a clearing, he saw a Faunus and a woman fighting.
The woman was injured, blood seeping through her white riding hood. The Scorpion Faunus was grinning like a loon and continued trying to kill the woman. Her movements were fast, but they were becoming lethargic. The Faunus' smile grew even more manic. So he stepped in to help, just as he always did.
Interposing himself between the man and woman, he caught the man's blades on his sword and with a powerful swipe, sent the faunus flying back. He tuned to the woman, she clutched her shoulder in pain. The wound was bleeding red, but also had some purple liquid it. Venom, of the Neuro-toxin variety no doubt. He tossed her a bottle from his pouch. "Drink. It'll counteract the poison." She shakily brought the antidote to her lips and drank.
"Well now that's just rude. I was trying to kill that silver-eyed witch and you stopped me from carrying out my Mistress' orders. Oh, she'll punish me for this. But maybe she'll punish me less if I kill you!"
The Faunus was clearly crazy, but the speed he closed with him showed that it did not deter his combat prowess. The Faunus was fast, but he was faster. His sword once more countered the Faunus' offensive. Even the attempt to sting him with the tail failed.
"Oh, you're good. And as much as I'd like to kill you for interfering I know when I'm outmatched. Two on one just isn't my style in this situation. Tata!" And the faunus leapt away into the forest.
He kept his sword ready for a few moments more, until he heard a body collapse behind him. The woman was breathing, shallow and weak from blood-loss. Her eyes were barely open, her silver eyes. "Don't speak. Save your strength. Rest. I will watch over you. You are safe." She gave an almost imperceptible nod before unconsciousness claimed her.
The nearest village was two days away, but she needed help. After performing first-aid, he lifted her onto his back and used her riding hood to secure her to him. He began a brisk pace, soon returning to the path. He was out of the forest before sundown and continued to move through the night. As he arrived in the village in the early evening of the next day, she finally awoke for a few moments. "Thank you." She fell back asleep immediately.
When Summer Rose awoke once more, she found herself in an infirmary. A very familiar infirmary, Beacon Academy's. How had she gotten here? She looked to her left and saw Taiyang, her husband. They'd begun to drift apart ever since Ruby had been born, but she still felt fondly for him. Maybe she'd cut back on the missions from Ozpin. She'd almost died this time. It was time to either build a new team, get the old one back together (if they could find Raven) or dedicate time to her family.
Ozpin soon entered the infirmary. "Ah, Summer. It is good to see you're awake. When Qrow was contacted we feared the worst."
"Who contacted you? And how did I get here?" She was confused. She remembered the faunus whom attacked her and being rescued, but she was sure they were days away from the nearest village.
"Another Huntsman brought you to the village we found you in. The townspeople said he left shortly after ensuring the local doctor was treating you. He apparently used your scroll to contact us. You've been out for three days." Taiyang had woken when Ozpin arrived. Only now did he speak up. "The girls and I have been worried. What happened Summer?"
Summer gave them a rundown of her encounter and rescue. "Your description of the faunus will be helpful in the future. And the Huntsman sounds familiar. I will have this investigated soon. For now, rest Mrs. Rose. You are to take a leave of absence for two months. If after that time, you find that these missions are no longer to your liking, I will offer you alternatives for the future of you and your family."
Ozpin turned and left. Taiyang soon stood, kissed her cheek and left to relieve Qrow of babysitting. Summer soon turned to her scroll to stave off the boredom. As she browsed her scroll, she noticed a new contact had been added, and a picture. The picture was of a Huntsman license, the contact info matched the license. He'd been kind enough to provide all the information Ozpin would need to investigate him. She forwarded the License to Oz and opened a game to help the time pass. Time for some birds to destroy some pigs.
"So, it would seem we have a Hero on our hands." Ozpin sipped from his mug as he video-chatted with his fellow Headmaster's. "This Hunter seems to get around."
"He was instrumental in recovering the Schnee children." James Ironwood was surprisingly upbeat today. "He even subdued the perpetrators with out killing them. We have them in custody and their trials will be held soon. Jacques is of course pushing for execution and is drumming up support for it as well. But Willow seems to have taken a stand against her husband for once. She wants the Faunus tried fairly and wants to attend the trials personally. It would seem that Willow has found her spine once more."
Ozpin raised a brow at this and sipped from his mug once more. "Any proof that they are from the White Fang? This goes against every message Belladonna has put forth so far."
Ironwood shook his head, "We are still investigating. I've been in contact with Belladonna. He wants to attend as well. He also wants to speak to them, under supervision even. I highly doubt that this was ordered by Belladonna."
"Hmm, yes. Well back to our Hero Huntsman." Leonardo chimed in before Ozpin could and redirected their attention back to the original matter. "He also recently ensured the survival of several refugees from the now destroyed village of Kuroyuri. According to all the villagers, the Grimm were lead by a Nuckelavee and he defeated it single-handedly."
"A Nuckelavee? Are we certain the villagers weren't exaggerating?" Theodore had been silent for most of the conference so far. "Surely it must have been something else. A Nuckelavee hasn't been seen for almost a century."
"We were even provided video evidence. A young woman had started a vlog, for her social media account, minutes before the attack started. She did not turn off her scroll and recorded several minutes of the huntsman's fighting. It is only thanks to him that she is alive, and the video was quite crisp and clear. It was most certainly a Nuckelavee."
"And the Huntsman's report?" Ironwood, ever the militant bureaucrat. All the 'I's' dotted and 'T's' crossed. "Is it as impeccable as the one I have on my end?"
"Perhaps the most detailed yet concise report I've had the pleasure of reading. He did not brag or exaggerate any details, nor did he seem to omit anything either. And yet, it was less than three pages in total. I've read worse reports that are both longer and shorter. He seems to be the perfect Huntsman. So the question is, why haven't we heard of him until now, Ozpin?" Leo was giving him a hard look, as if he had held back some vital information.
"What makes you believe I would have known about him before this meeting?" Even Ironwood scoffed at his words. Ozpin sighed, "He was never a student of Beacon. I've tripled checked the records. I triple checked after Glynda triple checked. He was never a student of Beacon Academy."
"But his License was issued in Vale!" It would seem Leo did not believe him. "How else would he have obtained a License if not through Beacon?"
"Is it possible the License is a forgery?" Theo chimed in with some obvious logic. "While never truly enforced, unless abused in some way, forged licenses are often times overlooked by local authorities and governments. After all, if someone is willing to fight Grimm, not many people care if the paperwork is fake. Atlas withstanding of course."
Ironwood seemed to have building a head of steam on the issue, but dropped it when his superior bureaucracy was mentioned. "The License is not a forgery. The registration fees and mandatory renewals have been paid and honored. The real question is, how does he have that registration number? The Licensing is one of the few things that the Kingdoms all agreed would be sequential across all territories. And yet, his License states that he is Huntsman '25'. Or more specifically, '0000000025'. Is it possible that we are dealing with someone like… 'Her'?"
Silence fell. Ozpin looked at all the information again. The young man was pale-skinned but bone white. Eyes were blue, hair a honey blonde. No veins of darkness, nothing sign of grimmification. He was nothing like Salem. And yet, something about his looks spurred recognition in Oz's mind. Where or how he recognized this seemingly young man was illusive, but it was there all the same.
"Could be that the License is Familial. Passed down from father to son? And they just update the picture each time?" Theo's theory had merit, but the Hunter's family name quashed it nonetheless.
"No. The Arcs are well known and have a well-documented past. Only their origins are a mystery. Nicholas Arc attended Beacon alongside Team STRQ. He's been adamant in not allowing his children to become Hunter's. He currently has Five daughter's and one son. The son is only four years old. Nicholas' father, Arthur, was a Beacon student as well. Arthur had, like his forefathers, had a single child. Nicholas is an only child and is the first in the Arc line to have more than one child. This Hunter may bear the name of Arc, but he seems to have no direct connection to the family." Ozpin sipped from his mug once more and grimaced as he realized his drink had cooled too far.
"Then we are dealing with a skilled Huntsman with a dubious record. How should we proceed? Should we have him detained for questioning?" Thankfully James wasn't suggesting to hunt him down. Detainment upon arrival to whatever his next destination would be sounded good, but Oz wanted to let things play out for now.
"If he makes his way to any of the major cities of any Kingdom, we will issue a detainment order. But I believe it would be best to let him roam for now. It will allow us to gather more intel on his mannerisms and character. For now we let him be, but keep an eye on him. Agreed?"
The others seemed to mull the idea over, before each nodded their acceptance. "Then I believe we are done for today gentlemen. Until we meet again, I wish you all a pleasant evening." As the screens went blank, Ozpin sat back with a long weary sigh. He idly shifted a screen in front of him, the Hunter's license on full display.
"What a conundrum you've caused. Just who are you, Lincoln Arc?"
Ending A/N: So, if you skipped to here, shame on you for spoiling the story. If you read the whole thing, thank you. Please tell me what you think.
So this plot bunny is basically a "What if Link, Zelda and Ganon were reincarnated into RWBY?"… or at least it started that way. Then I started to think about the whole reincarnation cycle for the Hero, Princess and Demise and thought, "If Link is born, then who is Zelda and Demise?" So, I made Salem Zelda and Ozma is Demise. Yes, I know that Zelda would never fall in love with Demise/Ganon and vice versa. But this was a world in which, Zelda was named Salem, Demise/Ganon was raised to be a noble Mage/Knight and Link was just a farm boy. None of them remember their pasts, the kingdom was not called Hyrule and the Brother Gods were around. Several things had changed since the last cycle.
So yes, Ozma (Demise/Ganon) rescued Salem (Zelda) and Lincoln (Link) was just a farm boy. When the Brothers wiped away Humanity, both Salem and Lincoln were left behind. Why? Because reasons. I'm not invested enough to come up with a reason that works. Magic, tis a wonderous and mysterious thing.
So yes, Zelda is evil, Demise/Ganon is trying to be good and Link remembers everything.
Also, Lincoln settled down once. Found a wife, had a child, and a grandchild. But due to his immortality, was forced to leave. The origin of the Arc family is Link. Juane Arc is his many times great grandson.
No, Link would not get with Salem. She still loves Ozma. She also Hates Ozma so, take that how you will.
I left ways for Link to get with two women, either one or both is fine by me. Willow is taking a stand against Jacques, thus willing to leave him for Lincoln or at the very least divorce him and take over the SDC. Summer and Taiyang have grown apart because Tai is still in love with Raven. He may try to patch things up, but Summer will always wonder and even the girls will realize that Tai is being distant to Summer.
So yeah. No real plans beyond Season 3 of the show, but major change, Pyrrha lives. Lincoln helps Jaune realize his feelings and her feelings. Lincoln finds a way to permanently kill Salem and Ozma. Brother Gods not needed. Grimm significantly reduced/completely annihilated. Timeline is before BOTW, after all other games, timelines have reconverged. Faunus are precursors to Zora, Rito and Gorons. Some LoZ locations exist, LoZ Monsters are around as well as Grimm (Bokoblin, Keese, Moblins, Lynels) but extremely rare. Lincoln's immortality is linked to Salem and Ozma. Once Salem is killed permanently, Ozma no longer reincarnates and his spirit leaves current body (Ozpin or Oscar), Lincoln gets to age and live happily ever after until his natural death.
That's the basic premise for the story. I had the idea, But I'm not great at executing them. Anyway, let me know what you think, and if you want to take a crack at making this a full story, hit me up and we'll talk.
This was made 18 Nov. 2022. Any story like this published after this date came from this idea.