Chapter 4:
To get started, I thought it would be important to explain my take on the Good Hunter. The route of someone who is all but mad has been taken too many times to count so for now he will still have a small amount of sanity in tact. However don't expect him to be any less gruesome or savage because of it, and don't expect for him to always be so in control. With that said, on with the read.
Jeremiah POV
'Well this happened quickly.' That sentiment echoed through my brain, one second I'm arriving in this world and the next I've joined a team and am on my way to go slay beasts. Although these events are not unlike those I experienced in Yharnam. As the different men split off in directions I noticed some entering what looked to be some kind of horseless carriage.
'Well that's new, I've seen driverless carriages, but never one without a horse. How does it move?' I asked myself but my question was quickly answered, however only more came. The carriage began to emenate a whirring noise, and then slowly drifted upwards, where it eventually took off towards presumably a distant hunt. I marked a note in my mind to ask about that later, however it isn't like I haven't witnessed much stranger, knowing the true secrets to the universe tends to make other discoveries certainly less exciting.
Slowly but surely the carriages took off one by one, as I stared at the metal beasts. Shaking my head, I continued following the directions Alfred gave. As I came upon the dock I was instructed to visit I saw what I must assume was my partner. They were clad in a well worn suit of thick plate armor, covered with all manner of scratches, burns, and otherwise. The helmet was a blackened steel, blanketing the face of it's owner with a slit bisecting the top and bottom, presumably despite being so thin, they must've discovered a way to see. The top was crested, and it bore a mark of some sort of bird on the forehead. Lastly, there was odd protrusions from either side. One was a smaller horn pointed upwards toward the sky, and the other a similar sized tooth, one obviously ripped from the mouth of a formidable beast, pointed towards the ground.
"Introductions can wait, let us get this over with." the voice was female and spoke with haste. However that was not an arrangement I disagreed with, so I simply nodded and boarded the metal bird.
As I took my seat the voice of the pilot echoed back to me,
"Get some rest Hunter, you'll need it." strange, a nap before a hunt in Yharnam would usually spell certain death. One would always have to be on their feet and ready to react at a moments notice. Then again, the metal bird did keep me out of harm's reach, and if any avian beasts appear (and I have a sneaking suspicion they will) I have others to protect me…
On second thought, I'll stay awake. Odd, I was desperately trying to escape the woods before, and now I'm flying right back. I must admit, the view of the forest from above was beautiful but I must focus on the task at hand. The journey continued in silence, letting my thoughts about the day's occurrences dance as I admired the view. -
After a rather drawn out trip, the carriage began to slow down and docked itself into a clearing of a
'So these beasts truly never were human… Then I will show no mercy.' The thought spread through my mind as I could not resist a sickening smile from creeping on to my face. I leaped from the contraption before it had even landed, already drawing the attention of the wolf like abominations we were sent to eliminate. They immediately scrambled into an attack stance, blood dripping from some of their mouths. Looking to their previous position I saw a not unlikely sight in Yharnam, but a gruesome one nonetheless. Three bodies no longer recognizable sat in a pile of filth, Black sludge and blood blanketed the ground in black and red as I held my pistol and cleaver with a tight grip.
'Unnecessary death is always unfortunate.' I thought to myself as one of the wolves foolishly charged, chest wide open. I took the opportunity to put a bullet straight into it's heart, puncturing the unprotected torso. It wailed out in immense pain, falling to it's knees and beginning to thrash. I took the opportunity to dash forward, avoiding the sluggish swipes at my being, and plunged my fist directly into the freshly made wound. I opened my fist, and grabbed as many internals as I could before ripping them from the beasts chest. It fell to the ground, dissipating into dust just as the beasts had before. A black liquid congealed onto the ground beneath where the beast had dissolved.
'Must be some odd form of blood, I will have to look more into that.' I reminded myself as I backed away from the remaining wolves. I heard the clank of metal on ground as I heard the quiet voice of my partner emenate from her helmet.
"Do not think you will get to have this fun by yourself Hunter."
It was odd hearing that again. It may have only been a day or so since I was in that accursed place, but it already felt like a lifetime had passed. The lass calmly walked towards the pack of wolves in front of us as I turned to my left, hearing a loud snort. The sight was something tha flooded my brain with foul memories. There stood a humongous boar covered in the same bone armor as our other foes. My mind flashed with blackened visions of a girl, a sewer, and a blood stained red bow. Despite my predicament I held my guard as the pig scraped it's feet across the cold dirt and forest floor. A rare smile crept onto my face as the pig began it's charge, however in a way that was quite honestly unexpected. It spun into some sort of wheel and began to rapidly close difference.
'Your form matters not.' I thought to myself as I evaded it's spinning form, sending it flailing right into a tree. This is a moment in which my time in Yharnam helps directly. I dashed towards the staggered boar and readied my saw, preparing for a motion I had well beaten into my head. I buried the serrated blade into the monster's back, creating a deep gash before tugging hard. The strange black sludge shot from the wound, soaking my clothes in the blood. I quickly threw my saw cleaver onto my bag before making a fist winding back. I slammed my hand into the deep wound, hearing the boar wail in pain before once again grabbing hold of whatever vitals I could. With a strong yank I was able to tear apart the pig letting it drop to the ground lifeless. Like the other creatures this beast began to flake apart before elegantly dissipating into the sky.
Looking to my partner, I watched as she buried her weapon into the neck of one of the wolves. The last of the beasts was made quick work of as I also charged into the fray. Once our enemy had been neutralized I finally took the opportunity to approach the combatant. I bowed and introduced myself, making sure to follow the name that I had came up with.
"Mirrah." She said bluntly, finally sliding her sword into the scabbard at her hip. I accepted the response, I cared not for a surname. But as I turned my back, the song of iron filled my ears and I was forced to spin around and luckily catch the blow of a beast larger than any others I had seen in this world. My arms ached as the monsters' incredible strength was only barely dampered by the cleavers' metal body.
'Damn, this thing is quick.' I thought to myself as I took the opportunity to quickly step away from the "Grimm". I gave it a quick look up and down to see an unfamiliar sight. The thing was at least twice as tall as me and a pack of pulsing black muscles.
On one side, it's head held the looming visage of a dragon, but on the other side it was falling apart. A huge crack ran down one side of the thing's head, and black tentacles hung out, flailing as it moved. The bone armor was not near as prevalent on this creature. I imagine it relies on pure strength alone. I smiled at this, content on my new plan of attack.
I overheard Mirrah's voice speaking into some sort of glass tile,
"We have an unknown threat in the area, it seems we have another evolved. Permission to take it down?" It seems this sort of beast isn't common, I'll have to look into that later.
"Engage at your discretion Hunters." Was all the slab replied as Mirrah placed it into a small slit in her armor. I let nothing stop me as I began charging at the beast, instead reaching for the blade of my former teacher. I was able to take a slash at the back of the monster's ankle as it fell to one knee. Mirrah slashed at it's face, throwing black sludge onto the forest floor, soaking the foliage in a coal black coat. The beast stood letting out a demonic roar, one that sounded more like a wail of suffering. It raised one massive arm, and with a quick swipe it sent Mirrah careening into a tree.
I clenched my fist, finally choosing to grab the wooden frame that sat on my back and slamming it into the joint of the blade. I was left with a humongous scythe, feeling it's familiar weight in my gloved hands. I swung for the demon's hand, the scythe's eternal sharp blade was more than enough to cleeve through the wrist, as a mix of red and black exploded from the wound. I had to be quick to dodge the barrage of swings levied at me after, the loss of a hand only seemed to make the Grimm more aggressive and ruthless in it's pursuit. I was able to quickly strafe behind the creature when it tried to slam it's entire weight into the ground on top of me.
I leaped into the air, clutching on to the back of my opponent as it swung arround in an attempt to separate me from it's exposed flesh. I buried my blade into it's back time and time again, with stab after stab sliding cleanly into the beast. After I had done more than enough damage to take the life of my enemy I jumped from it's back and landed safely on the ground. I swiped the black sludge from the blade of my scythe and was about to collapse the handle before I heard a sound that made my heart drop. The roar of the beast was more gutteral this time, with the sorrow replaced by nothing but anger. Blood flowed freely from the numerous deep wounds on it's back, but it clearly cared little if at all.
Mirrah had finally taken the time to recuperate and was confidently strolling back to the battlefield. She flipped a switch on the hilt of her sword, as metallic grinding rung out. I watched the metal of her armor break down into segments, before beginning to regroup on her sword. The blade shifted from it's traditional size to a sword that would make even the strongest of hunters struggle to wield it, and Mirrah was left with something more akin to the hunter's of Yharnam. She was clad in a waist length leather coat and thigh length boots over a pair of robust looking trousers. The only armor she kept was the unique helmet she wore.
As she engaged the Grimm once again, her form of fighting was much quicker. Despite the massive sword she was able to manuver it with ease landing massive blows on our attacker. She dashed around our foe, effortlessly avoiding it's attacks.
'It's time we end this.' I thought to myself as I readied my scythe. Mirrah finally took a massive swing at one of the leg's of the beast, cleanly severing it. The beast finally began to tumble to the ground and I dashed forward, hooking it's neck with the blade of my scythe. I closed my eyes and fulfilled the blade's duty, putting the monster to rest once and for all.
The sword of my companion broke down once again, retaking it's shape on her form and encasing her once again. We wordlessly walked back towards the landing zone, where a pilot would be meeting us soon. Mirrah had seemingly already contacted our lead with that fancy device.
The transport arrived not long after, marked by the whirr of the beast's mechanical wings, we soon climbed aboard and I was left to my own thoughts.
'What was she talking about when she said evolved? How do these strange glass tiles work? Where actually am I even?'
'Well I can't really do anything about it now, I might as well try asking Alfred when I next see him.'
Now all I must do is hope this is one man I can truly trust. An ally is few and far between in Yharnam so that would certainly be nice. My brain finally began to settle down and I began to collect my thoughts.
'Now that I have found a place to stay my first priority is learning about this world I'm in, and if their city is as fancy as everything else I've seen I will have to see what it's like. My mind drifted toward the hunt, remembering walking down the streets of Yharnam soaked in the blood of those I had torn apart. I chuckled to myself,
'Gotta keep my mind sharp somehow'.
So one thing to note, this chapter was written in many different bursts due to writer's block (also the reason for the long wait) so story ideas might go back and forth, but I tried to keep it as consistent as possible. I also thing some of it is cringy but I still am happy with how it turned out, with that said, have a good day.