Hello, okay I just have to accept that I cannot keep up with a two-week schedule unless I have a boom of inspiration like I did when I initially wrote this. it's not out of lack of trying I promise. So, another heads up is that with this being my first story, depending on what I'm trying to mess with some chapters will have a very experimental feel to them. Some work out. Others look horrible to read and I plan on going back and fixing that mistake so it's easier to read. This is one of those times where I play with perspective changes. Now I won't be doing one for the surface since I like the feeling of isolation that it gives the reader, wondering about the people on the surface. I hope you enjoy the chapter and leave me a review to detail how I can improve as a writer that you are enjoying the story so far (despite its flaws) or just tell me something you like or dislike about the story. I do not own RWBY or Bloodborne and they belong to their own respective studios. With that out of the way please enjoy the chapter.
Humanity and love over Beasts and Hate.
Alaine wasn't going to hold back. Sadly, that meant that she would have to reveal things that she would rather not have witnesses to, but oh well. Better to have to explain it somehow later than to let a person die.
She called upon the little ones of the dream once more, slipping the pistol into its holster as a pair of little ones clambered out of the ground. They were holding out the blunderbuss handle first to let her grab it easily, though an unfortunate fact was that for them to do that, the gun barrel had to be pointed back at them.
Alaine grabbed it all the same, although to the person behind her it must've looked like magic. They didn't have the time to ogle and wonder about what they had seen for long, as the blunderbuss immediately let out a blast along with a wave of quicksilver droplets that lashed out at the oncoming grimm.
Two caught the brunt of it immediately, stopping their advance while two more ran past them. The left one's face was swept with the electrified stake of the driver, the head cut horizontally through, leaving blue electricity to form along its now emotionless, split mask. The right one was followed up with a transform attack, and then a quick stab that drove the stake into the other grimm, driving it all the way down to its non-existent stomach.
It was quick and instant. Alaine couldn't tell if it was just her weapons and strength that shredded through these grimm or if they really were just a hoard of fodder feasting on humanity like bugs. Vermin. Deplorable beasts. Why did it matter to her? Why should she care for how weak they are? They should die… Bleed… suffer… BURN. Alaine desired nothing more than to teach these ignorant beasts the fear of flame. The grimm had recovered from the blunderbuss blast and she hadn't had a chance to put another bullet into the muzzle loader.
She quickly put it on her back waist holster and then grabbed the gift from the messengers, a solid iron brick with finger holes known as the Fist of Gratia. She backed up just enough to pull back and shoot the stake driver at its maximum capacity, and then she let it tear. One was pierced and thrown back, instantly killed and its body discarded like the nothing it became. Alaine was grinning. Instead of standing still and taking the recoil, the hunter let her body whirl around and the iron fist struck the other Grimm so hard the sickening sound of bone being crushed could be heard.
In front of her the Grimm was slack jawed but still staring at her with those hateful eyes that she had begun to relish. She could feel its anger, could practically see the blood that would have poured from such a wound if it were flesh and blood instead of tar and bone. Time hadn't stopped but the adrenaline had slowed it down, or perhaps it had forced her mind to process so rapidly that it only seemed that way to her. She couldn't stop that mad smile under her mask as she stabbed the stake into that hate filled eye. Oh, how she wished it would pop and splatter her with the blood of her prey!
Disappointingly it didn't. The Grimm hadn't stopped but she quickly stuffed the hunk of iron in her coat pocket and then took the moment to take a quicksilver bullet and push it into the barrel. She then heard the scream for help, and she turned and leapt into a quick dash. "Down!" is all she said as she painted the three Grimm that she was now behind with quicksilver. They all lurched over like their stomachs had been replaced with brimstone. She swept her weapon across, slicing through the leftmost one cleanly while only grazing the middle one just hitting the lever and used its transformation to sneak in another quick swipe and finish the job on the middle grimm. The final of the trio didn't even turn to her, no it tried to finish its prey in front of it rather than face the hunter hunting it. The Hunter forced her arm forward and drove the stake into the side of its skull and decapitated the grimm by pushing the lever and shooting the stake through, ripping its head from its body violently.
She looked down at the young man and forced the smile off her face momentarily so it did not leak into her voice. "Don't hesitate to call for me again." Alaine spoke as calmingly as her racing blood allowed before she turned to more grimm coming from the walls. This reminded her of old Yharnam; alas she's alone and can't use the cleansing flame. Oh how she missed the workshop dearly. Another quicksilver bullet was muzzle loaded into the blunderbuss and she swiped the untricked stake driver in front of her before dashing to the right of the grimm trying to stomp on her, she was quick to stab it's side and carve it out.
She backstepped a snap at her and she wasted no time to bring the driver low and uppercut the grimm with the stake. Without pause she twisted the blade inside its head before ripping it out with a spark from the darkbeast electricity flowing through it; the blade was coated in it the blue electricity, crackling gently, and buzzing with energy.
More grimm appeared, more to be hunted, slaughtered, and left to disappear.
The young man watched in awe at what he was seeing. He'd only ever seen huntsmen kill grimm as the occasional one wandered too close to the town and they called for help. Some of the younger ones had taken inspiration to go and become huntsmen and huntresses to come back and protect onyx in a moment's notice.
This was a level of violence that he had never witnessed before, all he could see were her pale blue eyes occasionally glowing like an animal in the darkness along with the muzzle flash from a gun, and then finally her weapon spiderwebbed with sparks.
And that's beside the fact that he saw a glowing light and the faint figure of a gun coming from it like magic. Was this what Huntsmen were like when things were bad? It was equal parts inspiring and also terrifying to see what someone else was capable of. Right now it was comforting, but he couldn't let his guard down or else he shares his colleagues fate. The one saving grace of this dark environment is that grimm weren't smart enough to cover their eyes.
She fought viscously. Every opening was that grimms last mistake. The smell of blood, shit, urine and whatever else was so heavy that the man had to fight purging his empty stomach. The adrenaline was running so high that he shook where he sat. He was having a hard time seeing how they would get out of this, but he wasn't going to assume nor accept that they would die here. . He just had to have faith. He just had to watch and pray. He just had to put his life in the hands of this Huntress.
Stab, dodge, gunshot, eviscerate, dodge, slice, reload, repeat. Alaine was dancing with the grimm, and for one morbid moment she wished this could go on forever. She could see without seeing, feel them coming with her other senses, and she relished the power that it all gave her. It was a foolish and fleeting feeling, but it was one she indulged in while slaughtering grimm through a flurry of bullets, swipes, and stabs.
It had been about a day and a half since emerald forest. She had let her guard down, but now she was not thinking, she was simply letting her instincts as a hunter take over. These grimm were nothing but mindless beasts, feasting on the weak and the helpless alike. Now that a Hunter is here, their slaughter would be reversed. The first ones she had fought used a semblance of strategy, but these ones were like the beasts of Yharnam, using numbers and raw strength to overwhelm. That all falls apart when they meet anyone trained and can deal with their numbers and strength.
Once that was done, she checked her satchel, about.. seven bullets left, same amount of vials. Considering she was unscathed, she grabbed an empty vial and drew her own blood for blood bullets. A grunt braced her mind a little before she stabbed a full vial into her leg to replenish her vitality and blood before returning to the young man. "Don't just sit there, get up." Although the reaction she got wasn't from him but further away, she heard something shuffle behind her. She spun around with her weapons, ready and good for another slaughter in case there were more grimm. What she saw, however, was the dead rise. Maybe four people had gotten up bloodied and pale, a woman and two other men. "Can you get us out?" The woman spoke first, and the Hunter looked at them, just watching where they had gotten up. Each one had gotten out from other bodies.
The helpless find a way to survive even in the most grim circumstances. "Yes, I can lead you up to the entrance I made. But I need to go to the end, there might be more people alive." Alaine holstered the blunderbuss on the back of her waist, then pulled out a small lantern with a pin sticking out of it. She cranked the pin until a small snap could be heard, and a flame glowed to life. "Here take this. Use it to guide yourself up to the surface."
The young man looked up at her, fear obvious in his eyes. "Oh… and I suppose I should give you something to stop a beast if it should come after the group." The Hunter pulled out the flintlock hunters pistol, quickly opening the breach to check for a quicksilver bullet before handing it to the young man. "Once I get you to the entrance leading to the other levels, I need you to guide your colleagues up to the surface… Now you only have one shot, but don't save it. If you need to use it to make an opening for the rest of the group then use it. Wait for the Grimm to attack.. It's best used point blank, but don't waste it thinking it'll kill.. it stuns it but it won't kill. Lastly.. pull the hammer back before you go to fire"
The young man stared in shock, but as his colleagues began to be illuminated from the light, he knew what he had to do. He reached for the lantern, and it was then that he finally got to see Alaine's face or her eyes and her braided hair that snaked around her neck and fell to her chest. This was the first good look he got of his savior and even then if she took off that strange attire he wouldn't be able to recognize her. "Thank you," was all he could say.
The Huntresses eyes squinted in silence for a moment, formulating her thoughts, scanning him before speaking. "Don't thank me yet.. you aren't out yet. Thank me when you and these people are out of this mine, and safe in town." She then led the way, although just as strangely as before when she fought the Grimm, she did so without any light.
His curiosity was at an all time high, but thankfully it seemed like he wasn't the only one who had witnessed her fury on the grimm. One of the other men asked instead. "How could you see them in the dark?" The Huntress looked back, again taking a moment to formulate her thoughts before answering. "I have had very good vision ever since I was a kid." Her answer was disappointing and odd. Maybe she was a faunus?
The dusty and bloody Huntress stepped to the side and there was a pile of boulders with enough loose gravel carved out to form a way through. The Huntress looked them over and spoke once more. "Ascend to the surface, I've cleared all the Grimm on my way down.. and at the top there is a huntsman named Qrow. He'll keep you safe. Tell him I'm almost done looking for survivors. I wish you a safe journey." And just like that she turned and began walking back into the darkness. Right before she did though, she turned around. "And hey, hold onto what I gave you. I'll be needing them back later" You could hear the smile she had on her face as she said that.
And with that she was gone. The young man looked to his fellow workers and then raised the lantern. "Well, follow me close." He turned and walked through the small passageway, guiding the others with the light.
She should be fine without the pistol for now. Her only thought was whether or not it will be enough for that young man and that group of four. If not, then their blood is on her hands, just like Gascoigne's children. Her grip tightened on the handles of her weapons at the thought of those miners' bodies. It's one thing to see the remains of someone you've never even talked to. It's different when you see them full of life before they become a corpse.
The Hunter followed the path down, walking back into this unmarked tomb. Course she couldn't give them the truth, that her contract with the blood allows her to take on several traits that beasts possess. She only hoped that they bought her lie, or pretended to. She did save their lives after all, even if only by proxy for four.
These tunnels were wide yet somehow claustrophobic like the chalice dungeons. There was very little difference between these and the hintertomb dungeons, which the Watchers expanded through mining as well.
She kept walking, ignoring the mangled bodies and the blood. Occasionally she would call out, asking if there was anyone else alive. There were a few that answered her, and to them she handed another lantern and told them to get along quickly to catch up to the others. She hadn't expected any people to be alive in the first place, so she was glad that she could get more out of the mine.
Once she had cleared the mine was when she could go back up without the guilt of knowingly leaving someone for dead, cause any grimm she'd meet were marked for death. Can't have them following her back up to the other folks. She hoped Qrow was handling things. The people, for how dangerous their world was, didn't seem to be keen on arming themselves. Then again, for how weak the Grimm were to her, to them the Grimm would probably seem like indomitable beasts to flee from in terror.
It was that way for Yharnam too, until Ludwig decided to arm the denizens into militias. As a youngun training under her father, she witnessed his gallant walks through Yharnam from their house window. The church executioners and the militia of Yharnamites stalked the streets, knocking on doors to check on people, cutting down any beast that strayed onto the street. Back then it was heroic and reassuring. Now, all she can think of is how it made it worse thanks to the ones that lost themselves in their blood lust later on.
Her father would call her 'house-headed' for how much she seemed to stay inside it. It was a bad habit, but it also had helped her stay grounded. She only went insane in her last moment.
Enough.
She brought herself back to the reality of this blood soaked tomb. The further she went down, the bloodier it became, and now there weren't any stragglers among the dead, just their mangled corpses. Thankfully the neck gaiter kept out the stench of blood and whatever else so she could focus on the mission she gave herself: get people out, kill the grimm along the way, clear out the mine; then finally take the people back to town. She hadn't figured out what to do after; she's not sure if she can protect all those people on a pilgrimage, but she can worry about that when she gets there.
All that's left is to find the end of this damn mine and tidy this up so they can leave this place.
Thank you for reading, I have ideas and plans for the future so keep an eye on this. I'm getting better with characterization So I hope to give you an accurate portrayal of RWBY's characters while also adding in some flavor that you might not have seen before. (Small hint, sticking to the original concepts of the characters rather than exactly how they are in the show like how Blake is an ex-revolutionist who draws the line at killing innocence but doesn't ignore that the issue that they are taking on isn't any less of an issue but in the show it's almost like she is a background character at times. I think monthly will put a lot less stress on me when it comes to writing, it'll give me a chance to do some more reading and research while also formulating the story I want to create going forward. Love writing and I hope to keep doing this in the future. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you want to give me a review, I read every single one and I take them to heart.