This story was originally a one-shot. I'd say it was a good idea to continue it as it is.
I think.
Touhou is life : Well it is an experimental writing style I'm trying out.
MadeInBestKorea: Similar? It practically is the cookie-cutter standard for Bloodborne/Rwby crossovers. Until the person who creates the fan-fic does something different. All I practically did was use the standard cliche' and see what I could do with it. Not sure what you mean by like-minded, but his reaction pretty much isn't as surprised as he should be, more or less, maybe. Then again, people have their own mileages so who knows. As for the 1st person view...Well that is a matter of preference. Granted, many stories write in 3rd person for a very good reason. So the most likely case would be removing the majority of the 1st person view, except for some parts, and just going the tried and true 3rd person perspective.
However that will happen next chapter because at the time of your review this chapter was already finished (And being edited)
Again, like stated before, this is just an experimental writing style.
There is also a plot hole in this chapter where a certain event happened a bit too early by a couple of days. I'm not sure how many people would give it a second thought, so I'm just putting that out there. A lapse of hindsight so I'm just going to leave it there. Or maybe, as comedic value, you can say that the hunter has been running up and down all over the surrounding area of Vale because he doesn't know his way around...and running around lasted for a couple days.
Hm...Okay...So that thug boss turned out to be more polite than I thought. I was very much surprised, and even more delighted that the person was not a murderous, sociopathic bastard. He is, at the least, affably evil. Fate is not taking a massive crap on me this time. Even if this is for his own personal gain, this is a win-win situation...For once.
The room I was given was decent enough. Even if the conditions were not as great as some people are used to, for me, what I lived in before, this was just fine. A bed that didn't smell like urine, or had the stains to indicate it was used as an glorified toilet; a roof that, probably, didn't leak; Seldom any massive draft; and most importantly, there weren't any roaches or spiders to ruin my sleeping time...Hopefully.
At the time, I still had my doubts about whether the gang boss truly had a good heart, or at least a morality in the grey zone. As such, I searched any and all nooks, crannies, and even checking for secret passageways...Though there were no secret trapdoors hidden about, there were crannies everywhere; large enough to hide weapons or supplies in case of emergency. Before I went to bed, I set a trap just in case someone tried to slit my throat while I'm in a good dream. If someone tried to, they will get a face full of Molotov cocktail, giant head-sized rocks to their head and gonads, and get a pistol shot in the kneecap. Needless to say, the night went off without a hitch and I slept well for the first time in a while. However, that didn't stop me from sleeping with one eye open and one hand on my church pick...
...
...
...
"So boss" One of the lackey's spoke to his boss while he was tending to his weapon; a pole hammer with a larger-than-average head and with mechanisms that actually made the weapon fire when it made contact with its target; The hammer part that is. It also had two safety's; One for the solid firing pin, which could move in and out of the head, and the second for the firing hammer, which can be safely put down to not preemptively set off the dust charges.
"Yes?" The boss was inspecting his weapon to see if there was any weakness in the construction, or dust residue still remaining in the head
"Why did you let him in that easily? Why couldn't you just...Let him be on his way?" The boss was cleaning out the inside with a damp cloth when he said
"He followed Leroy for a reason...He wasn't about to leave until he was compensated or given something to leave" He grabbed a thin, narrow stick and attached the cloth into it. He then started to thoroughly get the finer details of the weapon cleaned out
"Is...Back then, what did you see in him? Was he really that dangerous?" The boss paused momentarily before returning back to his duty
"Trust me; That man has seen much more than all of you combined, even if you had lived several lifetimes. He is a survivor, a strong one at that, and whatever he has seen would've caused most people to cry and die from stress" The underling was in awe of his boss' eye
"Wow, all that from seeing him?" The boss glanced at him with his one eye
"Not just seeing, but feeling and smelling too...Also I'm going to use him for something" The underling nodded his head
"Of course...You want me to bring him new clothing?" The boss finished cleaning his weapon and slammed the bottom of the shaft into the ground
"Of course, that man sticks out like a black crow among white doves" Thinking a bit about the options, the leader recommended "I think something with a lot of pockets would work just fine...Or at least a longcoat, I think he'll like that"
"Yes sir" The lower thug left his leader' sight as the man himself thought about the future,
"The Vytal festival...Wait I never got that guy's name"
...
...
...
Before, I wasn't exactly the most self-confident or positive person. Even now, I am not exactly the pinnacle of optimism. At the very least, I am not brooding...much. Still...Where did most of my negativity go? And where the hell did I get some of my eloquence from? I wasn't exactly illiterate, but I wasn't a gentleman or scholar by any means...
Ah right, when the morning comes around I should get the gang leader to show me around town. It would be bad if I get lost...Though I could always run around until I find my way or find great treasures, the other way seems more practical and less frustrating if this city is a maze.
Now that I think about it...Did he even tell me his name?
...
...
...
The morning came and the rising sun washed over the city of...Vale was it? No one interrupted my sleep, for once, and I managed to get into a good standing with a local gang leader. I spoke to him for a short amount of time and mentioned how I was new to the city and that I needed a run-down of its locations. Despite his...lack of faith in his men, it seemed that the man was confident enough the entire building won't fall from its foundations. Why do I say that? The fact that he himself was leading me around town...Why he didn't just let one of his men give me a tour around town I have no clue. I'm not complaining though and the man was generous enough to give me new clothes. It seems the man doesn't want me to attract unwanted attention, which I understand. The clothing included a full dark-colored apparel of a field jacket, cargo pants, field boots, wide brimmed hat, and a nice-looking long coat. After I switched out my inventory, I headed out with my new partner in crime.
Before doing so, I had my church pick strapped to the inside of my long coat, a bit awkwardly I may add, and had the pistol holstered and hidden away from plain view. This time, I had extra weapons set-up to be quickly selected on a moment's notice; a chunk of iron fitted with finger holes and something that resembles the carcass of an over-sized alien parasite from the great beyond. Why I thought using the parasite as an unarmed weapon is beyond me. If worse comes to worse, I could always end my opponents rightly by lobbing the chunk of iron at their head.
Then again, the giant head-sized rocks would have the same effect.
Or, if my weird urge is some indication, take my shirt off, put a bucket on my head, and start swinging. Not sure why I want to do that, but I think doing that alone will repel most people.
Now that I get a good look at him, without any dark or obscure lighting messing with my perception, my companion looked pretty good. He is man appearing in his mid-to-late 20s. His hair is short and is pepper-black, has a slightly-pale complexion, but nothing serious, and he has a dark-hazel colored right eye and his left eye is covered with a black-metal-reinforced eye-patch. His physique isn't great, but not bad. He is...Fairly above-average for what he is. Though that doesn't mean he has no muscle, because he does have something.
After finally entering the city and being shown the sights, the people, the districts, and the...'peace', I can officially say this; The city is fairly large, the buildings are fairly tall and the place is insanely clean. Also, my sympathy goes to the faunus...Which are...half-human, half-animal? I'm not sure what kind of genetics experiment happened around here, but other than appearance, there really isn't much reason to outright discriminate against them. Unless I read the wrong books. It's odd though, I couldn't find information on the animal-people's creation, nor did I ever remember encountering one in my past. Still though, I won't do much to help them. Why? Because the problem runs deep and I am only treating the symptoms, not the cause. At least I can say one thing; I can somewhat trust my current companion. I saw the way he looked at the racists. If looks could kill, then that could solve all of their problems.
I wonder why this man is a gang leader...
There also seems to be some sort of big event going on. Whether or not I enjoy it depends on what the heck it is. I still haven't talked to the crime boss about his name yet for some reason so I think I should mention it now,
"Mind telling me what your name is?" The unnamed boss looked at me with an expression that spoke 'Oh right, I forgot'
"Name's Toivo...You don't want to know what my last name is"
"Why?"
"Because you will never remember it and it's a bit..."
"Say it anyway" Toivo didn't resist much,
"My last name is Harmaajärvi. The full name is Toivo Harmaajärvi" I reeled back slightly at his last name. Not because of the pronunciation, but how unexpectedly foreign the name was.
"I see...Now that we are saying our names, my name is..." Now that I think about it, what was my name again? Did I honestly just forget my actual- Oh wait, I was never given one; Only nicknames and insults. Except that one time, but I forgot. What is the first thing that comes to mind...Ah,
"German, my name's German..." Last name? I should put in a last name too...Uh..."Jaeger" This name sounds slightly...Stupid. German Jaeger, what the heck was I even thinking?
"German Jaeger? Hmph...Well it's interesting alright" Yet again, this man is very suspicious of me. I could see it in his eyes. I'm not sure why I chose German Jaeger as my name...Probably a psychological thing...Or sheer improvising. Still, it sounds more like a title than anything...Or a description of something.
Oh right, before I forget, "So what's this festival?" My now-named companion looked at my weirdly
"You honestly don't know?" It seems the festival is a big deal,
"I came from a group of nomads who isolated themselves far from everything else. I only just got here by sheer coincidence and luck" Toivo nodded his head several times,
"Ah" He mumbled out loud "That explains a couple things...Pretty impressive" Unlike the officer I saw earlier, Toivo seemed a little bit more skeptical. He turned his attention back to me "Well, if you truly didn't know, Vale is hosting the Vytal festival; This festival is an international festival held every two years where the various cultures of the world are celebrated with dances, parades and a combat tournament. The host kingdom of the festival rotates every two years, and the host opens its borders to visitors from the other kingdoms. Got that?" I nodded my head
"Very informative, thank you" As the two walked around, Toivo had an idea
"Want me to show you the harbor? You could probably see the different cultured people coming in right about now; I think the boat from Vacuo is coming" This person is nice...Too nice in fact. If he is trying to get on my good side, he is doing it very well. And it just so happens I'm intrigued,
"Lead the way"
After wandering around half of Vale, the both of us made it to the docks where the ships were just arriving. So this is what the sea smells like...Could be worse. I happen to like fish. They make good improvised weapons; Better if frozen. Well, while we're waiting for the well-made boats to park and dock, I shot up a conversation while both of us paid attention to the ships in front of us
"Are you afraid of me?" I caught Toivo off guard with that sudden question, but he responded quickly...Too quickly in fact.
"Yes" What an honest man, or did he prepare for this?
"Why?" I questioned. Yet again, the gang leader answered quickly,
"You know that adversity and life are one of the same. You know that more than me in fact. I respect you for that because that pain had made you strong. Stronger than you might think actually" How he could tell baffles me. I seriously want to know who the hell he is. Wish that he could stop trying to be deep though.
"That doesn't answer my question" The boat's horn started tooting
"Despite lacking what official hunters and huntresses have, you have the capability and potential to trump them...Some of them anyway. Plus, something is different with your scent...Your blood even" I seriously doubt I could easily take out those superhuman hunters.
"How can you tell? And for that matter, I don't think I've bled yet, so how are you sure?"
"Instincts...and your clothes are a dead give-away. I'll use this quote for perspective: The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" In the corner of my eye, I noticed someone far in the back near a broken in dust-shop. Four people to be exact. I recognized them as the four of the eight-man group who took care of the over-sized bird and scorpion. So I was correct about their battle capabilities, that's good. Oh, and speaking of the unknown, I wonder who those girls are.
"Hm...I understand...So your reasoning for being so honest with me?"
"It's better to make friends, than to create enemies...and I prefer not to fight off someone who smells like a beast"
"What do you mean by beast-"
"Hey! Stop that faunus!" A sailor shouted as two men were in pursuit of a monkey-faunus. They were running across the deck when the faunus hopped on top of the boat rim, looked towards them, and said
"Thanks for the ride, guys! Hehe" He jumped off, landed on the dock, and ran off with the sailors shouting off,
"You no-good stowaway!" Then, not even that far off from the boat, the monkey-man was hanging off a lamp post, legs crossed, and had a banana in his hands...So what's stopping the sailors from shooting him? They're at sea right? There is bound to be aquatic Grimm running amok and ruining everyone' day. What about pirates? Or a mutiny?
"Hey! a 'no-good' stowaway would have been caught. I'm a great stowaway." Well, it seems that faunus has a good sense of humor...and optimism. He began eating his banana when two detectives approached him, one threw a large rock, and the one with the beard commanded,
"Hey. Get down here this instant" Then the monkey-boy threw the leftover banana peel at that man's face; Causing him to growl in frustration. The monkey-man then spun himself to the top of the light pole and made a mischievous laugh, jumped high into the air, landed perfectly, and then started running again. The two detectives took pursuit.
After the run up the stairs, the blonde monkey-man ran passed the four girls I saw earlier, winked at the one in black, and continued running without looking back. Due to our distance, I couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but the blonde one with a large bosom mentioned something about a competition and the white in the white dress said something about observing. Then all of them, except the one in black, ran after the faunus man. The one in black seemed hesitant and paused for a few seconds before running after her team.
I looked at my companion and said, "What an interesting culture of stowawaying on boats from Vacuo" Toivo glared at me blankly
"If you tried to be funny, then you failed miserably"
"...Are you going to tell me what you meant by smelling like a beast?"
"...So you don't know?"
Toivo left me wondering about what he meant by beast. He was very ambiguous about it and wouldn't hand over any extra information. It's actually quite unnecessary and that may or may not make certain situations much more difficult than they should be.
Later that day, my first friend assisted me with trading cultural values from the people of Vacuo. All I have to say is that they are desert people who adapted to the harsh environment. In other words; Rough, tough, probably friendly, and somewhere I am not traveling to soon unless it was necessary. Or I get sedated and sent over there in a sealed crate.
After getting the general idea of the city layout, we returned back to home base, which thankfully didn't burn down to the ground.
"So then, how long will you let me stay here?" I asked and Toivo had to think about it for a bit.
"...In all honesty, we have plenty of room and we don't do much these days...In short, until we kick you out, the place gets raided, or this entire building falls. Whatever comes first" So then, I now have a home; If a little temporary, but a home nonetheless. Now that I have a place to sleep, I will now proceed to wander the city alone, at night, and personally enjoy some of the nighttime commodities. Toivo didn't care what I did; just as long as I don't die, get involved into some deep world conspiracy, or accidentally bring the police on them. Other than that, he was cool about it.
Ah, and considering my...foreign nature, the man actually lent me some Lien. I don't know the exchange rate, but any money is good money and I, probably, won't waste it like an idiot. Also, he really knows how to make a friend out of me. Even if he tells me to do something, which probably might be illegal with the law, I will do it anyway. Why? The police, or my place's equivalent, have already been on my trail before because of my incursions. So...What's a little bit more notoriety on my record?
As night fell, I decided to take a visit to a place called a 'cafe' and try some of their food and drinks. Unlike last time, no one tried to rob me of my possessions. Other than the occasional less-than-common crime, this city seems peaceful enough. I should probably develop a skill...But I'm not sure what type or kind for that matter. Maybe I should do something related to blood if the large amounts of blood in my inventory is something to go by. Or should I be a salesman of the occult? And by the off-chance I actually remember how I procured some of my items, I may try to mass-produce them; Seems useful, no? Who wouldn't want to become invisible? Or scare their friends from their skin? My weapon seems practical, so why not let hunters have a go at it?
Once I had made it to the café, I entered the establishment and took notice of every single conversation around the place. The smiling faces, the couple kissing over in the corner, a couple of guys and girls talking about...some famous person named Pyrrha- or something, and the lone person here and there just eating something. This air of normalcy is so surreal to me that I might die from the culture shock. How does one develop their civilization to be like this? Also, I now see what a true smile looks like and a laughter that doesn't have evil-intention bleeding out in the spades...Well except some of the employees. It appears a couple of them want to kill themselves.
When I got to the workers, they shined a forced smile which seemed very painful for them. The one I was with started to greet me,
"Hello sir, may I take your order?" My pity goes to faunus-kind and civil servants.
"Hm...What do you recommend? Something cheap to be exact"
"Do you want something like the super foamy sugar-free frozen chai or a salted caramel white chocolate mocha?" His mouth and left eye twitched from saying that. It seemed like a recent customer really got to his nerves. Also...
"What the hell kind of voodoo witchcraft magic incantation did you just say?" The man seemed relieved that I wanted something simple and the atmosphere around him changed a bit, if only temporary. What I got was an iced tea and buttered biscuits. When I sat down and had my meal, I was fairly surprised on how good it tasted. Or at the least, it had taste and wasn't vomit-inducing. After finishing, I returned the plate and silverware, bid the employees a good night, and left.
When I looked up to the sky, I admired the endless dark space and countless stars in the distance. The moon...Wait, what the heck?! The moon is closer than I remembered and it's in pieces. How in the world does that even happen? What force of the universe thought it was a good idea to partially destroy the moon? Or did humanity think that destroying each other and the earth wasn't enough so they decided to blow up the moon?...Ramblings aside, at least I can confirm one thing; I'm officially on another world. It definitely explains all of the inconsistencies I've been seeing everywhere. It also tells me that I was not a blind-bat for the entirely of my lifespan. But...How did that even happen? How is that possible? I am not a scholar in quantum physics, the study of space-time, nor a follower of witchcraft to even comprehend how such a thing can occur.
One thing I can say about my situation now...Should I be glad I was sent here? I should be more surprised at this, but for some reason I don't. There may be Grimm on the prowl, but if the teenagers skills are something of a good reference point, and if the information in the book was relatively up-to-date, then there shouldn't be too many problems.
If per chance I am wrong and there happens to be rogue hunters and huntresses everywhere...Well...I'll stop running and, from what I saw in one book, 'United we stand'.
It was at that point, something strained inside of my head. Jagged memories and fragments of them. I held my head due to the sharp headache, but it wasn't enough to bring me to my knees. However, that changed when I suddenly felt like I was torn asunder from within. I felt detached and segregated as I dropped down unceremoniously.
I witnessed memories, and all of those memories were related to the moon; An endless white abyss covered in water and the red-shining moon glowing right on me; An amalgamation of flesh and blood coming from the moon; And finally, a tall, thin, pale lanky man with a giant placenta over his right hand looking straight to the yellow, eerie moon and the sea; That things cry sounded strangely similar to a certain hunter.
I was suddenly brought back to my plane of existence. I coughed violently and felt like my head was about to split apart. Not wanting to suddenly collapse on the street again, I picked myself up and sauntered back home while looking down on the ground. I never took a gander at the moon, even if it was a reflection.
A few words echoed in my mind, that of a soft, yet monotonous woman's voice, "Farewell, good hunter. May you find your worth in the waking world"
"You will die, forget the dream, and awake under the morning sun"
One does not simply forget what happens in Yharnam...Though getting your head cut off might do the trick.
Also, "German" as a first name is an actual and legitimate real first name. It is also a legitimate surname.