AN: Disclaimer: This story revolves around my Horseman Courier Six AU, where he is housing the souls of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in his body. He usually has Death's appearance the most, wearing pitch-black Elite Riot Gear, and riding a pale horse named Phantom. He can shift between the four, changing his appearance and weapon of choice with it.
The Hunter of Darkness
Chapter 1.
The Hunt Begins
"I saw him once, Courier 6. He rode out of the desert on a horse, its coat the color of pale sand. He was wearing his signature black armor, or as most people called it, Death's Cowl. His face is always covered by a mask, dark red eyes that stare into your soul. They say no one has ever seen his face since he walked out of Goodsprings, not even his closest companions have seen the man behind that mask, and the people over in Goodsprings don't say anything about him. I've heard stories about how he slaughtered the Legion at Hoover Dam. They say he decapitated Lanius with his own sword, kept it and the helmet as a trophy. I've rumors that say he's not even human, but some type of Pre-war experiment that escaped when the bombs dropped, takes the form of a man, but is really a monster. I don't know, but I can't say I denied those stories." - Lance Cpl. Garvis, of the 34th Battalion.
The sun's rays seeped out of the canopy of trees, the light bouncing off the lenses of the Elite Riot Gear Helmet. Six looked up to observe the trees, the morning light illuminating the forest, the chirping of birds and clicking of bugs filling the air. Six looked back to the road in front of him, seeing the loose dirt and dust kick up as Phantom trotted down the path. Six patted her side, keeping her calm in their new environment, as he knew that she was adapted to the harshness of the Mojave. He heard leaves rustle to his left, and acted quick, pulling his .44 from its holster and aiming it at the tree the noise came from.
Six quirked a brow when he spotted what made the noise, a small, brown squirrel staring at him with an acorn in its small paws, nibbling away at the nut. Six chuckled slightly before holstering his gun, the squirrel surveying him as he rode down the road. He pulled Phantom's reins slightly as they came to a path that split into a crossroads. Six looked around before spotting a wooden sign, the wood worn down and battered, but the names on it were clear as day. To the east, the town of Harvendeil, to the south, Shurima, and to the west, the village of Jirostel.
Six glanced at each of the roads, having trouble deciding what to do, as his compass was flashing quickly as he stood there. He looked at his Pip-Boy, changing over to the 'Quest' tab to see if it had any new information for him.
Strange New World
-Explore your new environment
-Optional: Find information on your surroundings
-Travel to town or village and ask around
Six grunted before he looked back at his compass to see that now three indicators were located on each path, meaning he could take any one of them. Six looked down each separate road, trying to decide which one to take, before his Pip-Boy's radio frequency crackled. He looked down at it, and flicked to the 'Radio' tab, seeing a new frequency, before he clicked on it.
"Someone, anyone! Help us! We are under attack from a large group of bandits." The voice of a woman blared out from the speakers of his Pip-Boy. "This is Freya Lockwood, repeat, Freya Lockwood. I'm currently in the small town of Shurima, which is under siege from a large group of bandits!"
Six could make out the sounds of gunfire and yelling in the background as he continued listening. "If anyone is listening, please send backup to the town of Shurima, located West of-" Six heard a loud "BOOM" before the frequency cut out completely, the static of the radio crackling before Six turned it off. He turned to look at the road that led to Shurima, the path leading through the dense woods. While no one could see the emotions expressed on his face, but underneath the helmet, Courier Six had a cold glare that could cut through steel set on the road.
He snapped Phantom's reins, causing her to rear up and neigh, before her hooves slammed against the ground and she shot forward, racing down the dirt road to Shurima. The world flashed by as Phantom sped along the winding road, the sound of her hooves hitting the ground was the only thing Six could hear. He had no idea what he was facing in this new world, but he knew that people needed help, so he was going to help.
As Six rode on, the trees eventually cleared out, before he could make out the silhouettes of a town, black smoke rising from it. Six pulled on Phantom's reins as they neared the town, the sounds of crying and gunshots filling his ears. He kept Phantom at a steady pace, slowly trodding into the town as Six got a view of what was happening. Houses had been lit on fire, dead bodies lay scattered around the town, people were running and crying as the aforementioned bandits ransacked the town, piling everything into carts as Six watched.
One bandit turned toward Six, eyeing the armor he wore, before shouting out "Hey! Get outta here, fuckstick, unless you want that fancy armor to become scrap metal." More bandits turned to look at him, while Six stared at them, before he spoke, his voice rough and metallic, but held an edge so sharp it could cut through steel. "You have no idea who I am, do you? You are nothing but scum, stealing from the poor and defenceless, and for what? Just because you think you are better than them? You have no right to do this!"
"Hahahahahaha!" The bandit began laughing, which then caused the others around him to start laughing as well, causing Six to ponder on what to do. The first bandit stopped laughing, his chuckles dying down before he spoke. "Alright, well, that was funny, but get lost before-" the man didn't even get to finish his sentence before his head exploded, blood and brain matter spraying over some of the other bandits standing close to him. They looked at Six, who was holding his .44 magnum, the barrel smoking as he then shot off the 5 other rounds, all of them nailing the bandits in the head, causing their heads to pop like blood-filled balloons.
"Holy shit!" One of the few bandits left yelled out, trying to turn and run, but before he could even take a step, a loud gunshot rang out and his head exploded. Six broke open the sawn-off, before placing two new shells in, and fired at another bandit, who had turned to fire his rifle at Six, but died as the slugs blew a hole through his body. The other bandits began firing at him, the Dust rounds bouncing off his armor as he slid off of Phantom's saddle, before he snapped his fingers and whistled, and then made a hand signal, which caused her to rear up and launch her front hooves at a bandits head.
The bandit was sent flying, before she hit the ground, a hoof mark left on her face as she writhed on the ground, the force of the hit breaking the front of her skull. Six shot another round at a bandit, but instead of blasting through him, a dark yellow energy flashed around his body. Six stared at the bandit, as the bandit chuckled and began speaking. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to break my Aura." He pointed his weapon at Six, which looked like a cross between a spear and a sledgehammer, the spears head pointing out of the top of the hammer's head.
He charged at Six, who waited for the opening, watching as the bandit drew neer, before he pounced. The bandit brought the hammer/spear down, hitting the spot where Six had been a second ago, before something hit him from behind, sending him a few feet away. The bandit turned to see Six holding a gauntlet, two barrels poking out of a metallic box near the back of the gauntlet, a pressure plate integrated into the glove. The bandit glanced at it, before he spoke. "You some type of rouge Huntsmen? I ain't never seen something like that on a bounty hunter."
"I am the Rider of the Pale Horse. The first of my brethren." Six answered, the bandit picking up his weapon as he stared at the Courier, before he spoke. "So that means I get to be the one who kills the oldest of your family. Sounds fun." The bandit chuckled as he ran at Six, reaching him in mere seconds, and swung the hammer down, attempting to crush the Courier, but felt the hammer stop as he looked at Six, his eyes bulging at what he saw.
Six had caught the hammer with one arm, the other cocked back, the gauntlet ready to strike. The lenses of his mask seemed to stare into the man's soul, before Six spoke a single sentence, the man's blood going cold. "Your time is up." Six swung his fist forward, the pressure pad hitting his aura, before it shattered and made contact with his face, the barrels firing buckshot into his skull, tearing half his face off. The corpse tumbled to the ground, blood pouring from the remaining half of the, now dead, bandit's head.
Six dropped the dead bandits weapon as he began loading rounds into his pistol, before turning to look at a group of bandits around a large cart, food, ammo, and other supplies piled in it. Most of them had poorly maintained pistols and rifles, metal plates and leather straps for armor, while some had well-maintained weapons and gear. Six began approaching them, before a figure began making their way towards him, the fires illuminating the person's figure. She was a woman, if her build and curves said anything.
She wore black and red clothing, bead necklaces hanging from her neck, a bone-white mask with red markings, and four eye sockets, two of which gleamed red, covered her face. Long, black hair hung down past her shoulders, red feathers braided into them. Six stopped making his way towards her as she pulled a crimson blade from the sheath on her side, the fire reflecting off the blade. She stopped as she held her sword at one side, before placing her other hand on her hip.
"You. You lead this group of scum, do you not?" Six asked her, placing his revolver into its holster as stared her down, his dark aura seeping off of him. "I am only weeding out the weak to make way for the strong." She answered, pointing her blade at him, before motioning around her. "If they could not defend themselves, then they are useless in this world." Six glared at her, the red lenses of his mask reflecting the fires. Six didn't speak a word, instead looking down to his Pip-Boy, before scrolling through his weapons list before he found what he was looking for.
"Your actions are not justified. You kill innocent people because you are the weak one. You believe strength is what gives a person power, but you are wrong." He spoke out, before something behind him shimmered, and the handle of a blade appeared out of thin air. Raven watched as the man pulled, possibly, the largest sword she had ever seen from off his back. Her eyes narrowed under her mask as she stared at the man, before a fire erupted on the blade, working it's way down the blade, going down the shaft before it reached his fingers, igniting his hands as it continued consuming him.
Raven watched in confusion and fear as the man's armor began to change as well, transforming into a more ancient-style armor as the fire spread across him. The ballistic armor changed into thick, steel plates, the shoulder plates reforming to become larger and sturdier, large spikes jutting out of the center. The dark duster lit into a blood red cape, chained to the back of the armor, and the leather pants formed into armored greaves and thick, steel boots. Finally, the helmet burst into flame as the metal seemed to liquidize and reform, turning into the appearance of a bearded man, a large red frill sprouting from the back and large, pointed horns stuck out from the sides of the helmet.
Raven weighed her options, he had already killed half her raid group, she didn't need to lose anymore men, and he seemed to possess some type of magic. She looked back at the wagon before she swung her blade in a circular motion, a large, dark red portal opening behind the wagon as the remaining bandits began walking through it with the wagon. Raven smirked under her mask as she looked back to the man, only for her eyes to go wide as she was hit by the sword he wielded. She was sent flying, crashing through a house before smashing through several trees.
Six had taken the time to analyze the situation before he decided to attack, take out the leader first and kill the rest of them. Six turned and charged forward, the heavy armor seeming to weigh nothing as he barreled forward, slicing three bandits in half with a single slash. A bandit fired a Burn Dust round at him, but it bounced off him harmlessly as Six cleaved another bandit in half down the middle. He then swung his blade in an arc, slicing through the last bandits that hadn't made it through the portal. Six looked back to see the portal close, before looking back at the area he had knocked their leader, seeing her walk out of the woods as she formed another portal and walked through it.
"Flee you worm, but I will find you." Six spoke to himself as he slung the sword on his back, before a fire engulfed him, replacing the armor with the dark armor. He whistled, Phantom trotting over to him as he looked around the ruins of the village, the villagers, who were watching the entire fight, began to come out to congratulate Six, but before they could get close to him, he jumped a top his horse and snapped the reins, the pale steed racing out into the woods and disappearing from view. No one knew who he was, but this would be the first of many acts that brought the Legend of the Pale Rider, the Hunter of Darkness.
And that's a wrap. Holy Shit is this chapter long, and it's only the first chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed, this is definitely going to be an interesting ride, full of adventure, death and stupid bullshit the whole way.