Hunting
Aww, man! I bring in Annabeth from Xenomorphic, give her some interesting lore with her Sentinel form and how it's slightly different from that of the traditional Queen, and no one had anything to say about that?
Anyway, MCwoopin gave me a great idea for this chapter, so a special thanks to him!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or RWBY
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One of the lesser-known facts about the world of Remnant was how the Huntsmen academies prepared their students for the gruesome sight of Grimm attacks. Destroyed buildings and uncensored carnage were common things to see in textbooks and lecture videos, that way the aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses knew exactly what they were getting into, and they knew exactly what could happen to them if they didn't take their studies seriously.
Still, despite how Ruby and Blake had both seen children and infants torn apart, eaten, and otherwise mutilated, that didn't prepare them for graphic videos of children and infants being tortured to death for the amusement of others. The screams, the spraying blood, the whirring of drills and the sound of blades sawing through flesh…
Kids.
Babies.
All of them Faunus.
It was only Ruby, Blake, and Ren that watched the videos. Yang, Weiss, Nora, and Jaune freely admitted that they didn't want to expose themselves to that, and their honesty with themselves and the others was appreciated. Of course, after the videos were watched and the three heroes were scarred for life, they were almost envious of their fellows that they got to live in ignorance of the horror they just witnessed.
Still, what was done was done.
They had only themselves to blame because they had made the willing and conscious decision to expose themselves to that material.
When Shin'en knocked on the door at precisely 2200 hours, Annabeth by his side, Ruby, Blake, and Ren were ready. Or at least, they thought they were.
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"Interesting, isn't it?"
The three Huntsmen looked at Shin'en as they made their way through the quiet streets of Mantle.
"All of you were raised being taught that the Grimm are the scourge of the earth. The bane of mankind, Faunus, and all that is good. And yet, when was the last time any of the Grimm sold out their fellows for personal gain? Profit, status, their own wellbeing, etc. When was the last time a Grimm killed a Grimm? When was the last time one pack of Grimm kidnapped the young of another pack of Grimm, and proceeded to turn them into sex slaves? To that point, when was the last time anyone saw Grimm having sex in the first place?"
No one actually answered in verbiage.
They all knew what Shin'en was saying.
Grimm were supposed to these horrible, evil monsters, but they just killed and destroyed. Indiscriminately. See, humans and Faunus made barriers. The rich and the poor, the young and the old, the good and the bad, the straight and the homosexual, and simply the human and the Faunus. The races did horrible things to each other, and even to members of their own species, last night being a prime example of the horror, and this night being a continued nightmare.
"Ironically, the Grimm are arguably far purer than any human or Faunus," Shin'en continued in a tone like a professor delivering a lecture. "They are motivated by one thing: the destruction of everything. They make no distinction between the races or the classes, as they will kill everyone regardless, and destroy all that has been built without partiality. To that point, it truly is hard to determine which species is evil. To that point, can the Grimm truly be considered evil when they are soulless creatures that act on the one instinct they were given? In other words, are the Grimm really bad when they are doing the one specific thing they were created to do?"
After a few more steps of silence, Ruby answered.
"Yes. They're evil because what they do is evil. Just like what those people did to those kids is evil. Huntsmen aren't supposed to fight Grimm, specifically, but fight to defend mankind and the Faunus from evil. It's just that Grimm usually are the biggest threat to everyone. Then there's these people."
"Well said, Ms. Rose," Shin'en said appraisingly.
That's when something weird happened.
'Bah. All of them should just be wiped out.'
Blake, Ren, and Ruby all had to steady themselves after a voice suddenly went off in their heads. It was a sharp voice, critical, disdainful, borderline snobbish and arrogant, and unmistakenly female. The age, however was difficult to determine. Not a child, but not an adult either.
"What was that?" Blake demanded.
'Me.' Annabeth crossed her arms.
The trio of Huntsmen stared at her.
'Have you never encountered telepathy before?'
"Erm…no…" Ren said. "No, we haven't."
'Really? This world of so many different Semblances, and not once have you had a mind-to-mind conversation?'
'Uh, can't say we have,' Ruby said in her thoughts.
Everyone looked at her.
"Hey, so it worked?" Ruby asked giddily. 'You can hear me thinking?'
"Yes," Blake said, eyes spinning. "Please, stop doing that. It feels weird."
"I suggest you get used to it," Shin'en said. "It will be our only form of communication while on-mission. This eliminates radio chatter, signal jamming, broken/lost/damaged/captured radios, and signal hijacking. Granted, the possibility of the enemy having a telepath of their own is low but never zero, but Annabeth is more than capable of handling any such entity. As am I, so the two of us on the same mental link is overkill."
"But…we've never used, er, telepathy before," Blake argued.
"Perfect time to learn."
The firm and unyielding look in Shin'en's eyes made it abundantly clear that there was going to be no negotiating on this. This was not a "classroom" moment where things were open to discussion; this was a "I'm in charge and these are my clear, direct, and explicit instructions" moment.
Blake shifted her gears. She looked at Annabeth. "What did you say? 'All of them should be wiped out'?"
"Irrelevant," Shin'en cut in. "We're here."
The building in question was just as drab and dingy as anywhere else in the slums of Mantle.
"What are we doing, exactly?" Ren asked.
It just occurred to him and the girls that they actually had no idea what they were doing. They kinda just assumed they'd be rescuing Faunus children from sexual slavery.
Shin'en waved his hand, causing a shimmer to appear in the air. Coming into focus within the shimmer was the visage of a rough-looking man, bald, tan skin, a dragon tattoo, prosthetic left eye with a series of scars running down that side of his face—claw marks by the look of it. "This is Armin Granger. He's a local mob boss with an operation extending across Atlas. He kidnaps Faunus children off the streets, or kills their parents and takes them from their corpses, and then sells them on the black market. He had a hand in transporting the children from the orphanage last night up to Atlas. You are going to kill him and everyone inside that building, obtain the data on his contacts, bases of operation, smuggling routes, and list of products, and rescue the Faunus he's holding captive within. Questions?"
"We…really have to kill them?" Ren asked.
"Every last one of them. The only people walking out of that building alive will be us and the children."
Strangely enough, it was Ruby that looked to have the most resolve in the face of the prospect of killing.
"How many are in there?" asked the Fall Maiden.
"Children or henchmen?"
"Both."
"There are thirteen children ranging from seven to fourteen, and 27 henchmen. Armin makes 28."
"Do they have any animals? Like captured Grimm?"
"Three Beowolves and a Megoliath."
"Security?"
"Rudimentary. Closed network for cameras and doors. No robots or other mechs."
"Okay…" Ruby trailed off, thinking of other questions.
"Do we have an entry point?" Blake asked.
"Your discretion."
The five of them stood there, Annabeth's tail waving idly behind her as if it had a mind of its own.
"Any other questions?" Shin'en asked. When no one said anything, he said, "We will split into two teams. Blake and Ren, you're with Annabeth. She will lead you to the Faunus. Kill everyone in your path. Ruby, you're with me. We will find Granger, and you will kill him."
'Understood.' Annabeth fixed her creepy eyes on Blake and Ren. 'Let's go.'
She turned on her heel and started for the building.
Suddenly finding themselves thrust into the heat of the moment, hearts beating hard and adrenaline surging, Blake and Ren followed Shin'en's niece. Annabeth suddenly hit all-fours and bolted, smashing straight through a wall. Blake and Ren disappeared inside, and seconds later, gunfire split the night.
"Let's go," Shin'en said.
Ruby took Crescent Rose from the small of her back, the weapon expanding into its scythe form. She took a deep breath. 'This is part of being a hero. This is part of not just saving the world, but actually making it a better place.'
"Yeah. Let's go."
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Wasn't too much to say, really.
Blake and Ren got their first taste of blood, their Huntsman training easily putting them far beyond the thugs inside the building. Though they didn't know the term, they got to bear witness to the sheer savagery of the Xenomorph as Annabeth tore people to shreds left and right with fang, claw, and tail, displaying strength beyond any child—and even most accomplished Huntsmen.
Well, she was Shin'en's niece, so…
Annabeth led the two into the basement level where the cages were, and it made Blake want to resurrect all the people she killed so she could kill them again.
Above, Ruby also got to experience killing people. Swinging all that top heavy metal around with her Aura-enhanced strength was the key to quite the bloodbath, more so in tandem with her .50-cal bullets blasting off limbs and heads. Shin'en admittedly didn't do much. He let Ruby get her feet wet.
Literally.
The two of them eventually found Granger barricaded in his office. He had taken the youngest Faunus, a little girl whose animal features manifested as budding horns at her hairline, reminding Shin'en of a satyr. Ruby shot the trafficker's head off before he could even think to start negotiating.
The little girl went running to Shin'en, probably because she saw his own horns and figured he was a Faunus like her. He scooped her off the ground and held her to him as she bawled into the crook of her neck.
Shin'en gently patted her on the back, his eyes softer than Ruby had yet to see them. He looked at her. "There are four more people still alive. Hunt them down."
Ruby hefted her scythe with a hard expression. She nodded and went flying down the hallway and through the rooms in a blur of petals. It wasn't long until her sniper sounded off. Once, twice, three times, and then there was a pause.
Shin'en monitored the whole situation.
Then there was a fourth gunshot.
Then eerie silence.
The Faunus girl cried herself to sleep, and Shin'en went to join Ruby. She was standing over the fresh corpse of a young man only a few years older than her, his head and grotesque mess of blood, brain matter, and an eyeball dangling out of its socket. Amazing what such a powerful bullet up close could do.
"He begged me for his life," Ruby said quietly, staring at the body. "He said he was just doing it for his family. He had a sister with a kid. He was just trying to provide for them."
"You didn't believe him."
"…I didn't…but….Can't you bring him back to life? Like, hold him prisoner until you see if what he said is true?"
"I could, yes."
"But you won't. Why?"
"Because I know he's full of shit."
Ruby looked at him. "What?"
"Ruby. What, exactly, do you think I was doing in the time between the mine and when I knocked on your door?"
Ruby blinked, and then she thought about it. Shin'en knew to come straight to this building. He knew about how many Faunus were captured within and how many guards there were. He knew about Armin Granger and his Faunus trafficking operation, and the security systems utilized within. And all of that was just based on what questions were asked of him.
"You were scouting this place," Ruby realized. "Using your powers to see everyone and everything."
"Correct. Today was a fortunate day. All of the people herein were true, irredeemable scum that deserved death. In the future, it will not be so simple. You will eventually find yourself caught having to make very hard decisions about morals and ethics, and you will have to live with those decisions for the rest of your life. Sometimes you'll think you made the right choice, and sometimes you'll lie awake all night long."
"How many nights do you have that are like that?"
"These days? None. A long time ago? Sleep was rare for me."
Ruby swallowed. "I'm sorry."
"There's no need," Shin'en said dismissively. "Punishment for my sins, you could say."
"Your sins?"
"Black-ops death squad, Ruby. Something we used to do is take a job to kidnap children from an isolated village and deliver them into slavery, and then turn right back around and accept the village's combined wages to go rescue the children we just kidnapped. Great way to make money for the war effort."
Ruby swallowed heavily. "O-Oh…"
"Let's retrieve the data and regroup with the others."
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"You are absolutely filthy," Shin'en said, staring down at the gore-covered visage of his niece. Her hands and claws were smattered with blood and small chunks, her mouth looked as if she'd ravenously torn into a lasagna, and the less said about her tail the better. All the other Faunus kids were standing a fair distance from her, finding no camaraderie with her given her alien appearance even by Faunus standards. "Whatever would your mother say if she saw you in such a state?"
'She'd tell me I did an exceptional job in dispatching my prey,' Annabeth thought matter-of-factly.
Shin'en nodded. "Correct. She would." Shin'en looked at Blake, Ren, and Ruby. They were not anywhere near as calm and collected as Annabeth. To be fair, Annabeth had readily adopted her mother's genocidal tendencies, and that Xenomorph part of her prohibited any kind of remorse or regret for those she killed. She was well-acquainted with killing. The three young Huntsmen, however, were not. "We will speak later," he said to them. "For now, we need to get these children somewhere safe."
"Is there anywhere safe anymore?" Blake asked jadedly.
"As a matter of fact, yes." A truck came around the corner just then. "Ah, right on time."
The truck stopped, and from the driver's side come none other than Robyn Hill. The Happy Huntresses spilled out from the back of the truck.
Robyn zeroed in on Shin'en and went full business mode. "I got your message."
"Very good. Obviously, here are the children, and here is the data on Granger's operations." Shin'en handed Robyn another flashdrive.
She accepted it almost as if it were a sacred text being delivered by a god. "Mantle police have been after Granger for years, but his lawyers up in Atlas made him untouchable. And then you…" Robyn trailed off. "Thank you," she finally said.
"You are welcome. I will look into these lawyers and render judgement. For now, though, I need to be on my way. These three need to talk about what just happened—first time killing something that wasn't Grimm or wild animals—and my niece here is in desperate need of a bath."
Robyn looked down at Annabeth, and she flinched slightly. "Er…niece?"
Understandably, she was trying and failing to wrap her head around Annabeth's appearance. The cherry-stained grin Annabeth was directing at her didn't help.
"Indeed. Niece. My sister is quite the unique specimen. Now, there is much work to do. Good luck, Ms. Hill."
Without a second more for conversation, Shin'en took his party away in a swirl of water.
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There was no further talk for the rest of the night. Shin'en's command was short and without room for debate: shower, run laundry, and sleep. No one actually debated him on that. Ruby, Blake, and Ren returned to their quarters, and the looks on their faces made it abundantly clear to Yang, Weiss, Jaune, and Nora that there would be exactly zero conversation.
Just to punctuate that, while Blake was in the shower, Ruby was sitting atop the toilet lid, a towel wrapped around her. Blake dried off in the tub, wrapped her own towel around herself, and just swapped places with Ruby. She put on the pajamas she brought with her, and Ruby put on her own pajamas once she was done and dried off. Then they went straight to their beds and crashed after that, not a word shared with the other girls.
A similar story for Ren, but he didn't have to wait for anyone in the shower.
Come morning, there still wasn't any talking until Shin'en knocked and collected them, taking them elsewhere in the academy. One on one, he talked with them in private in what was probably the most comfortable room in all of Remnant.
The first person he talked with was Blake.
"When I was younger…in my darker moments…I fantasized about what it would be like to kill all of the humans," she admitted in a quiet voice. "What it would be like to lead a global revolution and only have Faunus remaining. Our world, all to ourselves. No one to hate us for being different…"
She fell silent for a time.
"Continue," Shin'en said.
"…I got older, and I appreciated that wanting to kill all the humans made me just as bad as some of them, sometimes even worse. I mean, literal genocide!" Blake chuckled mirthlessly. "Then I thought about only killing some humans….You know, the really bad ones, the ones that deserved to die. Then I thought about what someone has to do to really deserve death, and I came up with plenty of reasons…but I've never…I never thought…" Blake sighed.
"I don't know what I feel right now," she said. "Those…monsters…were worse than Grimm! They definitely deserved to die—and I killed them! I sliced off their heads, cut them up, shot them-! And…I don't know. I don't feel happy, but I don't feel regret or remorse. I just feel…neutral. Is that bad?"
"Is it bad that you didn't take any pleasure in killing the wicked?" Shin'en asked rhetorically. "Not at all, no. It is a good thing that you feel no happiness in what you did, because that means you are truly mindful of what you did. Pleasure in killing, even in the name of a noble and righteous cause, is the pathway to a very dark place. You have done a good thing, Blake Belladonna."
"Will it ever end? Having to kill to protect the Faunus? Having to assault secret bases like that to rescue children?"
"One day, yes. It will be a day that you have to fight long and hard for."
"Will you help us?"
"I already am."
Blake took a deep breath. "Thank you."
"You are welcome."
Blake then hesitated, like there was something she wanted to do or say, but thought better of it. She stood up to leave, and Shin'en stood up too.
"Come here," he said patiently.
Blake walked right up to him and threw her arms around his neck, and he gently placed his arms around her waist. Blake just held onto him for a while, thankful for physical contact, thankful that he was perhaps the closest thing to hope for a better future for everyone that she ever had in her life.
Eventually, Shin'en gave her a light squeeze, indicating that it was time to move on.
"Thanks. Er, again," Blake blushed.
Shin'en nodded. "Send for Ren, please."
Blake left the cozy room and Ren was soon seated across from Shin'en. Unlike Blake who had a haunted, unsure air around her, Ren was alert, his eyes sharp and focused, his posture straight. He wasn't tense or on the defensive, ready to spring into action. He was a changed man. One with a purpose.
"A good night of rest then, in spite of what you saw?"
"Yes, sir," Ren answered. "This might sound silly, but…I've found my purpose."
"Oh?"
Ren nodded. "I got into being a Huntsman because of Nora, and I've stuck around both for her and because my friends have needed me to fight Salem, but what you said back in Haven…about there being more to saving the world than just defeating some big bad guy…what I did last night…saving those children…killing those monsters…it felt right. Like I was finally doing the thing I was meant to be doing. Is…is that bad?"
"Not inherently," Shin'en said. "Just be mindful of your friends and those who care about you. Do not push them away nor forsake them. Also, be especially mindful of how much life you take. Lean on your friends, and do not lose yourself in the blood you spill. Understand?"
"Yes, sir." Ren then hesitated.
"Something else?"
"Um…how do I tell Nora that I love her."
"Go somewhere private with her, look her in the eye, make sure your nerves are together, talk about your past, the things you admire about her, and then confess your feelings."
"Just like that?"
"It's easier said than done. Be a man. A confident one."
"A confident man…"
"You've fought horrific monsters of Grimm, survived training with me, and know what it's like to kill Faunus trafficking scum. You can talk to the girl who's been the biggest constant factor in your life. Go get 'em, tiger, and send in Ruby on your way out."
Ren nodded with a smile, a small glow around him as his confidence was bolstered. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
Finally, it was Ruby's turn.
"Still feeling like a hero that's going to save the world and make it a better place?" Shin'en asked her.
"I do," Ruby answered truthfully. "It's just…I don't know."
"Part of you is longing for the quieter, simpler days of Beacon," Shin'en surmised. "Back when there wasn't any Salem, no Maidens, or gods playing games. Back when all you had to worry about were exams and homework."
Ruby breathed. "Y-Yeah…but I'm not a little kid anymore. Playtime's over."
"Indeed. Only, do not get so wrapped up in your crusade that you push everyone out of your life, and end up destroying more than you save. Remember your friends, and remember your family."
Ruby nodded. "I will." She shifted in her comfy chair. "So…when are we going back out there?"
"Incredible. I never took you as the type to be so eager to kill people."
Ruby blushed. "It's not that! It's not at all that! There are people that need help out there, and we can help them, and we don't have anything else to do right now, so we need to go help those people."
"What of Yang and Weiss?" Shin'en asked. "Perhaps they would like to join us?"
Ruby's eyes became downcast. "No. They didn't want to get involved in…what we did last night."
"Not every mission involves abused children, sex traffickers, and a river of blood. Sometimes there's drugs, or illegally acquired and stockpiled Dust, or corrupt government officials."
"Oh. That sounds like a nice change of pace."
Shin'en's lips quirked up, and his eyes gained a brief unfocused look to them as if he were back in the past. At least, that's what Ruby concluded anyway.
"Yes," he said. "A break from the norm is sometimes welcome. There will be no extracurricular activities until this evening. Take this time to rest, play games, have a girls' day out, browse the shelves for new ammunition. Whatever you do to relax."
"But-"
"Is something you sit on," Shin'en interjected with a tone of finality. This evening. 2100 hours."
Ruby nodded, knowing she wasn't going to win. Besides, it had been a while since it was just her and Yang out doing something. "Okay."
Shin'en nodded back. He opened his mouth to say something, and then his eyes snapped towards the sky.
Ruby stood up. "What's wrong?"
Shin'en's brow twitched before he released a long sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose. "My nephew from my brother's side has somehow managed to wind up here as well."
Ruby actually paled. If Annabeth was anything to go by, then—wait, brother?
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Well, how about a cliffhanger? And how about introducing some of the Leviathan's side of the family? Leviathan coming from my story of the same name, in which it is stated in a completely different story that he and Annabeth had triplets.
Fun stuff awaits next chapter, whenever that will be.
I got the Xbox X for Christmas of '23, and I underwent the arduous task of having to download all of One games onto the X and then synch the data through my account that way I still had everything, and then the more arduous task of getting everything off my 360 onto the X. I had to order a hard drive, copy all the data onto it, buy an ethernet cable to connect the 360 to the Internet so I'd have access to Cloud storage, upload everything, download my different 360 account to my X, and wait for all the 360 discs to update for X compatibility.
Then I went and bought all the DLC for my 360 games that I never got to have because back when I first got the 360, we were all technophobes that didn't want it hooked up to the Wi-fi, meaning no Xbox Live. But now things are different.
So, I've been doing a whole bunch of gaming recently. On top of school and work.
That's why this chapter ends in a cliffhanger with Shin'en's nephew. Because it has been two weeks since the last update.
Anyway, please Fav, Follow, and Review!
And pretty please check out my novel? It's called Controversiae Tamen Liber, and is based on the final arc of Backup Plan. Shin'en is Alpha, a super soldier, Asteria is Amelia, a transgender telepath, and Annabeth is Alice, Amelia's girlfriend. Alpha's next mission is to infiltrate the mansion of Amelia's evil stepmother, who is the reason Amelia is both transgender and telepathic, and kill the women and obtain the documents on her most recent project with the government. Lots of twists and turns within!