Chapter 1: Monsters and Monstrosities
The most intriguing part of human nature is our unwillingness to settle for mediocrity. Even if you try to kill us we walk out of the grave. You think we aren't apart of your life but we become a thorn in your side. You put us down, disown us, and denounce any part of us that you could claim. Well listen to me, oh great wizard, I am sick of the way you're running things here. I am tired of being condemned by people like you, the ones who people ask me to pay a visit to. You know what the sad part of your institution is? The very thing you pride yourself on. At the end of the day what separates me from you? Is it schooling, judgement, ... perspective maybe? Here is the answer: a bad day, that's all that stands between me and you… Sincerely from one of the most wanted criminals on Remnant, The Welder.
Remnant is such an odd place to live. Don't get me wrong, I find it fascinating in many respects. To an amnesiac the idea of Aura, Dust, and the Grimm can seem like fiction. Yet to us it is reality, this world we fight with bow and arrows while we have flying airships. A world full of monsters and hunters to fight them. However, the term 'monster' can mean anything in my eyes, especially my eyes. To you they may seem as innocent people but I can see the filth and the lies, the atrocious deeds they have done, the people they have hurt. So I ask, is there no shame in becoming a judge, jury, and executioner? Apparently, you can become a hunter or a huntress and take the law into your own hands but the moment you do it without going to their precious academy you're seen as a monster. Wars may be fought with swords and guns but it is the perspective of the people that can win the world.
In this world there are many ways to protect society: you could become a police officer, firefighter, or the serve the military. Or if you wish to make a mockery of the idea of peace, you can become a huntsman, a more glorified version of a police officer. These people come in the name of peace but carry the weapons of war, quite the contradiction if I do say so myself. Then again the huntsman are provided by the one individual whom I hate the most. Yet here I stand not in the center of any of these ideas, I work in a more deadly profession, at least for my targets. I am what you call a bounty hunter, a mercenary, a freelancer if you will. But what is the difference between me and those who claim they are righteous: the funny thing is nothing, at least that is what I believe right now, I don't know if I will ever find an answer.
Most people do not know who I am and very few of the people who do know who I am know what I look like. Well as an introductory piece I am known as The Welder, will admit, wish there was a tag line at the end. As I mentioned before I'm a bounty hunter, I mainly kill people, only the sick thing is I don't care who I kill. For four years I've killed politicians, lawyers, White Fang leaders, and many a huntsmen in my days. As a disguise, in the extreme rare case that someone finds out who I am, I been known to wear a dark trench coat a la noire style with a classic style fedora, what else am I going to spend money on, with a long black and grey checkered scarf that covers my face along with round black goggles.
It was early in the autumn when I had just got done doing my latest job. A certain corrupt investigator who was able to escape conviction needed my assistance in the removal of his position, his physical location. It will surely make the headlines but I won't get to see the panels of reporters saying what the government should do about me and these people calling themselves 'bounty hunters', what a shame. The sun was beginning to set in a vast forest with the only company being the birds and the crunching of some leaves under my boots. The grass slowly waved in the breeze with the brown trees dropping more and more leaves dropped to the ground. It was a mostly clear sky with small splashes of orange invading the once blue sky. Walking farther into the forest a clearing came up ahead. From the clearing you could see a dropoff at the edge leading to a massive pasture. At the end of the pasture from afar looked like a village, their kingdom must've really pissed them off if they think that being outside the kingdom would be better. Oh what the hell, I'm already out here let's see what we're looking at, I thought as I slid down the decline. As you would get closer you noticed that it was black, charred by the looks of it or maybe they have bland taste in decor.
Well me assumption was right, not a single piece of wood was left untouched by flames. The stone walls protecting the outside had huge holes blown in them with claw marks as well. As much as I understand the Gimm, I don't believe they have access to explosives and if they do then I'm giving up they won, I muttered beneath my breath. Don't know when the village was attacked or, abandoned for that matter, but it looks like it was recent, maybe a week, four days at the least. The biggest building was in the middle, because of course it is, dilapidated with a broken roof and scorch marks covering every surface imaginable. Walking through the broken double doors all you could see was rubble, a collapsed roof, and more rubble. The wood groaned and cracked under my feet breaking the silence this town had come to known. Then from a doorway something snapped as out of the corner of my eye I saw two bare feet scuttle across the floor. As I walked closer to the doorway more and more noises were made as if something were trying to get away. Putting my two welding glove clad hands onto broken beams I pulled apart enough of the debris to make a sliver big enough for one of my eyes to see through.
"Is anybody there?" I calmly asked.
Nothing answered back, Might've just been some falling debris, I thought to myself and began to listen my arms. Just as I was about to let go as a small girl slowly walked into the crevice of light. After taking a deep breath I ripped the beams apart big enough for her to see me and vice versa which led her to take a step back. She was a faunus, my guess would be a dog by the brown floppy ears, maybe ten years old at the most.
"What's a little girl like you doing in a place this?" I commented looking down at her.
She looked down and away, can't blame her I am pretty scary, and then she asked, "Are you a monster?"
Now usually speaking I hear this from the sum of the earth and well middle aged people not a small girl who I could probably shot put, "No, I'm not. Why would you think that?"
"Well you sound like a monster," she answered turning to her side looking back down.
I had completely forgotten about that as I chuckled little, what I'm a sick person, as with my hand I shifted a metallic object in my scarf that was around my mouth. It was a voice changer which comes in handy in scaring the living daylights out of people. "Well then," I said in my regular voice, "is that better? I'm flesh and blood just like you."
The little girl seemed a bit relieved when my voice became natural and began to step forward before some debris fell down.
"Do you think you could get me out here? She asked looking down to avoid the debris.
"Fine," I said clenching my left fist.
As my fist clenched my glove clinked with the metal apparatus inside it activating my weapon. A pipe frame clamped onto my arm sparked to life, well more like the welding torch on top in the middle of the clamp. Connected to cylinder it slowly started to spin till the the flame became an orange and red blur. Placing the flame on the debris with each spin the rubble crumbled away, wooden beams split into charred remains and the concrete separating in two. When there was enough rubble gone I reeled my fist back and launched my fist into the crumbled rubble smashing the doorway clear. The girl at this point was even more frightened than before I found her, and that looked pretty difficult enough already.
"What you act like you haven't seen a spinning welding torch before?" I sarcastically remarked.
I outstretched my hand while the other hand's welding torch slowly spun itself out with the flame retreating into the darkness from whence it came. She didn't move still, her eyes wider than a full moon, I sighed and turned my back.
"You can either come with me and tell me where to put you or you can be left out here to let the real monsters come for you."
As I began to walk out before she quickly sprinted and grabbed my trenchcoat burying her face in it. So I'm going to be honest here, I don't know how to deal with children, it was never a skill you generally pick up on when being a bounty hunter. So what does one do in that particular situation: you look up at the possibility of a deity, put your arms in exasperation, and scream in your head 'What the hell did I do to you'. Taking a deep sigh I picked her up and put her at my side and we began to walk out into the forest.
The forest was quiet, peaceful, deceptive even as nightfall was approaching. If I was by myself then I would make the trek across in the thick of night, but I have a kid and I think that wouldn't be the best idea to have a tired kid in case of the 'monsters'. We found a root in a small clearing to sit on and watch the stars from an opening in the trees. I'm no stargazer but looking above and seeing the stars let's your mind come at ease, it may also make you feel smaller than an ant but hey what do you want?
Before nightfall had enveloped the whole forest I made a fire from igniting kindling with my torch, it's one of the many features of said weapon. With the fire sparking to life the quietness was interrupted by snaps and crackles filling the air with small sparks flying into the dark abyss.
"So then," I said breaking the silence between me and the girl who was sitting in an upright fetal position, "why don't you tell me about that village?"
She didn't move, she didn't even acknowledge my question for five minutes. If she could see my face then she would've seen my eyes roll and see me inhale a sigh for a good five seconds. "It was sunny day, I was playing with my friends, my mama was at the local market when the monsters came."
"Would these 'monsters' be black, furry, and an enormous amount of skeletal structure extruding outside of their bodies?"
"No they had cars and guns and they-the-," she started before she began to sob.
"*Sigh* Listen kid, get some rest, we'll get to that place you spoke of earlier in the morning."
She sniffled as she nodded and wiped her nose before laying next to the fire. When she fell asleep I stood up and put my hands in my pockets then looked into the black of the trees.
"Just what we need," I said to myself aloud, "human extremists, the opposite of the White Fang. As if we wanted another one, do you think there called the 'Black Fang'. Heh, who would've thought: The Welder, one of the most wanted criminals in all of Remnant and known killer would be helping out a little girl."
Then as if coordinated all the bushes began to move and shake with red eyes piercing through at every angle. I chuckled as I clenched both fist as my two torches roared to life, maybe not a roar but a squeal because let's be honest it's a torch not a car that would be completely insane. Judging by the growl, I had a small pack of beowulfs surrounding the two of us.
The charged at me from the side taking the bush it was behind with it. The beast leaped propelling itself faster at me. I grabbed its arm with one hand and brought down my other at the beast's shoulder blade slicing it off with the fiery blade. It whimpered, as most animals do, as I slapped the Grimm with its own arm till I stomped on its head making it dissolved into the air. Three more Beowulfs came at me all reaching with their claws. The first was used as a shield while I cut into its chest with my right torch with the left cutting into its head. With each stroke of the torches it jerked in reaction till it went limp, and like the one before it, it dissolved into ash. The other two swiped at me but simple sidesteps prevented them from hitting. I grabbed one of them and slowly seared through their arms and stuck their claws into their back, then ripped them down virtually gutting it. I kicked the husk of the body into the other one which made it fall over its own feet. I walked over and grabbed the Grimm by the dome and smacked it back into the dirt multiple times, when I grew bored of it I stomped on the beast's pathetic head. Soon all of the pack was around our little campsite, and surely the pack shrunk till it was nothing. Grimm lodge into tree trunks, an uppercut leading to a decapitation, and a Grimm burning alive. Frankly, not my best performance but by no means my worst, I've done worse with a two by four and a tupperware container. The most surprising thing was that the girl was still asleep during all of this, I mean sound asleep.
The next morning the girl woke up to me resting on the root where she last saw me as if nothing had happened, I know how to clean up a mess. She seemed a bit more chipper than yesterday, then again she didn't really have any guarantee that she would make it to this morning so I'll chalk it up to that.
I woke to her shaking me more than a nine point-o magnitude."What?!" I asked angrily, I like my sleep especially when taking out a Grimm pack I mean I do kill for a living but I'm only human. "What do you want representative of the Lollipop Guild?"
"I want to get to the village," she replied in the most annoying tone imaginable.
"Ugh," I groaned as we got walking after I cracked nearly all the bones in my body in a morning routine like sequence. We began to walk as the trees cleared out before I asked the girl a question that had been bugging me for a while. "What is your name young one?"
"My name is Faith," she happily chirped.
I stopped in my tracks right there, I don't know why but that name brought up something that didn't sit right with me. The village was far, she said it would take all day for them to go back for supplies when her dad would go with the caravan. It doesn't mean much to me how far it is, I just want to get back to doing some jobs and then figure out what to spend the money one. I don't know what the journey might entail but it would just have to wait like all good things….