right before we get into the chapter I just want to say thank you everyone for reading this and also dealing with my inconsistent schedule for this story. I have more coming soon but for now just enjoy this chapter. I do not own Bloodborne or RWBY and both properties belong to their respective studios.
Through Blood, Sweat, and Madness
Alaine had seen many horrors before, but since coming to this world she was shown its brightest colors via her small trip through the school and interactions with the huntsmen of this world. Now, though, she can't help but be reminded of Yharnam and its sanguine reds painting people, monsters, and stone.
Corpses. Corpses everywhere. Each one she passed, stepped over, or sidestepped fueled her deep seated hatred of beasts and the Grimm. She was livid on the inside, but she knew that she had to direct and control that anger or risk letting it control her instead.
She reached a dead end, with nothing but rubble in front of her. She should have known that she was being too hopeful to find more survivors. None, even among the bodies. All that was left were violated corpses, pointlessly marred beyond recognition, strewn about the floor, slumped against the wall, broken, shattered, and empty of life.
She continued on, finding herself in front of another entrance to… somewhere. It wasn't man made as far as she could tell, more like something inhuman had dug through. It was like the grimm tunnels that she had seen and encountered earlier.
She turned to look deeper into it, finding a beast.. unaware of her for now. She took the moment to pull out her blood vials and bullets. Six vials of blood, twelve quicksilver and blood bullets. It wasn't much. She would have to go to the dream later and restock on blood and bullets, as well as talk to the Doll about this world. She would love to hear its stories.
But that's enough dwelling. She patted her jacket pocket, making sure the Fist of Gratia was there. The blunderbuss is loaded and the stake driver is ready, although the driver wasn't primed. Tricking it now would just give away her position, so instead she stalked the creature.
It was facing the wall, growling and gnawing at the rubble. It was a big, hulking beast compared to the ones before, but it was the same type. What stayed nameless to her was an Alpha creep, a bulked up version of the grimm she had been fighting on the way here.
She took slow, soft steps, sauntering and swaying gently as she moved without a word or sound. Eventually, she made her way right next to it and it still had yet to even noticed her. This thing would be a danger to the people above if it ever decided to. She was wondering why it was gnawing at the stone wall, taking bits of rubble away. Somehow, it's teeth didn't break as it bit into it and crushed the stones into bits of rock, chipped away at boulders and kept biting at it. It was peculiar and unprecedented, these beasts did not act aimlessly.
That was when it hit her. The sole purpose of these beasts was to hunt and kill. Was it digging for people? Were their senses tuned that well? But then how was she able to sneak up on it like this? Was it able to sniff people out in all that rubble? No, the same problem applies. Was it something more? She couldn't help but ask herself a growing number of questions as she observed her prey.
It would take further observation with other beasts to confirm it. For now however, the beast was being useful to her, digging those people out so it could kill them. Alaine was going to kill it before then, but not before it could dig the people out first.
So Alaine sat there, eyeing it closely as it worked rather tirelessly. It did not take long, as the closer the beast seemed to get, the more bloodthirsty and determined the beast became, until…
"AAAAAAAAH!!!" A high pitched scream of a woman having seen their death face to face. It was then followed by a pain filled and hopeless cry of a man.
Alaine sprung into action while the beast was distracted by its prey, tricking the stake driver and pulling her arm back before letting the stake spear its prey in one swift and devastating motion.
The massive beast was flung up against the wall with black tar oozing out of the deep red gash in its side, turning into wisps of smoke before hitting the ground. Lightning crackled for a moment, but unlike the smaller Grimm it did not fry it to death.
It turned to her, anger and malice in its eyes as it stared at her. It let out a deep growl before roaring out at her like she had committed a grave mistake.
She was dealing with the recoil of the stake driver as she stared back, returning the energy directed at her. She whipped her arm out to shake off the tingly feeling in her arm before getting ready to rip this grimm apart.
That smile crept across her face as she ran forward with no fear in her heart, only bloodthirst for the bulky grimm. Big opponents could still be fast, she couldn't get any cocky ideas until she knew this grimm better than itself. She still wasn't sure if she would stay dead but it was a theory she didn't want to test.
The beast got to its feet using its neck and tail and bared its monstrous, jagged teeth before it instead did something new. It turned itself around rather rapidly, something she had never seen before. It swung its huge tail around, coming back around to smack the Hunter like one would with the beast cutter. She only just managed to drop prone and get up to slash at it with the extended stake driver.
She managed to graze its jaws as it backed up and raised its neck, but nothing more. Up until now, no grimm had shown her any sign of self preservation, but now this one had managed to only be brushed by one of her strikes instead of just trying to tear her apart with no thoughts in its skull.
Alaine had a grin on her face and she felt laughter coming on as she stared the beast down. The monster brought itself back before stepping forward and thrusting its neck out to get her in its bite. She managed to get wide enough with a quick step and took one of its six eyes when it pulled its head and neck back.
The Hunter followed and went for the throat. She was met with the thing's claw foot kicking her in the chest, sending her flying back and onto the stone. She had dropped her blunderbuss from such a massive hit, she grabbed it from the floor and then rolled backward off her back and to her feet.
She coughed blood into her neck gaiter, staining the soiled white with another pool of red. Blood dripped off of the brass and gold chain, meant to ward off the beast blood. Her outfit now looked even more derelict, tattered, bloodied, and dusty. She eyed her enemy closely. Her breath heaved, wet and laborious. She coughed more blood and steadied herself, slowly storing her gun and getting a vial.
The beast roared as she raised the Injector. She managed to stab it into an artery deep in her leg just as it had begun its charge to finish her off. She pulled the Injector out of her thigh and stashed it away with practiced speed and precision. Even having enough time to pull the blunderbuss out of its holster and fire it into the open mouth of the beast.
Its face, jaw, and mouth took the entire spread of quicksilver fired from the smoking barrel of the blunderbuss. The beast was pushed back by the force of the gun but she had mistimed her attack, failing to stun it for any more than a fraction of a second. She clicked her tongue in disappointment as she's snapped at again, then again, and again. It was making sure not to give her any time for her to retaliate.
All she can do is time her evasion properly, avoiding the savage and desperate bites of the beast. It went to kick her as she avoided being caught and crushed by its teeth. She managed to just avoid the kick by slipping under its neck. She looked up and slashed it twice across the chest which made the grimm growl in pain before it suddenly let itself fall to the floor in an attempt to crush her with its weight.
However, she was quite used to being under massive looming beasts and their brutal attempts to crush her underneath. She was out from under it before it slammed to the ground. The Hunter knew this was an opportunity and ran around its leg quickly, placing herself to the side of its head instantly.
Stashing the gun away for later, the Hunter reached into her frock coat and wrapped her fingers around an iron bar. She didn't hesitate to use it for its intended purpose! Slamming the Fist of Gratia into the beast's eyes and crushing the bone armor and the squishy orbs of tar underneath. A liquid of sanguine and black color dripped down what was left of the Grimm's mask.
It roared in pain and slammed her with the side of its head, throwing her to the side so it could get up. Alaine slammed the Stake Driver into the ground and then the Fist of Gratia as she lurched back forward with a malicious giggle. The slam she received wasn't enough to deter her from trying to smash this thing to pieces! Only a little bloodied, not broken yet! She could feel her own blood enticing her nose and her body rushed with adrenaline!
The Hunter brought back the Stake Driver and tricked it, priming the deadly weapon with a clang. The beast managed to get up and tried to lash out at her again only for the Stake Driver to bite into its lower jaw and then punch through it violently with the flick of a lever and a harsh scream of metal sliding against metal. The beast roared again as its head was knocked violently to the side with its body following the inertia. It growled in pain, but it wasn't nearly as intimidating when its lower jaw hung barely attached to its face. The red glow in the thing's throat was clear to see now that its jaw hung down to the floor.
The smile Alaine had was dangerous, her eyes filled with joyful hatred and her form hunched over. Her shoulder was in pain from using the Stake Driver without bracing her whole body in advance. Her back was hunched but the Hunter's arm was outstretched still from the punch, her other arm hanging low, draped down but still tensed around the brutish iron bar.
The Hunter looked at her prey while licking the blood soaked neck gaiter and then her lips before her face cracked back into a mad smile. Her blood was thick and viscous, clumping together and dripping off the coat and vest she bled through. She always felt the most alive in the fight. Even if she was close to death, she never felt more alive then while fighting for her own and another's life! She brushed her bloody nose and sucked in to clear her airways.
The beast was on its side again, trying to get up again but moving around with that opening blow of the stake driver had slowed it down since it was having trouble using the leg that took the attack. Alaine took her chance, recovering enough to push forward while it was toppled. She stumbled and ran, dedicated to what she was about to do and smiling the entire time as she let that bloodthirst take over. She ran with reckless abandon across the shaken rock and stone, slipping and stumbling forward until she reached the leg of the beast.
She slammed the Fist of Gratia into the thing's stomach before it could right itself. It let out another bellow, calling out in an ear piercing screech that damaged her sensitive ears. She wouldn't even let that pain stop her from gutting the grimm. Stabbing and slashing open its gutless insides, finding glowing red and blacker than black tar, breaking bone and slicing open more and more. Grimm ooze splashed her face, some even got in her eye as she didn't stop carving out the grimm until there was more of it on her body than it's.
The Hunter pulled her weapon from the viscera. The body of the grimm began to dissolve into smoke, and so did the tar and glowing red ooze on the Hunter. She wiped her nose before putting the Fist of Gratia away and loading another quicksilver bullet into the barrel of the blunderbuss, willing the blood in the bullet into the back of the barrel and keeping it there until it was ready to fire.
She was never good at manipulating blood. Her blood purity is only enough to work with basic bullets and brutish designs like the quicksilver cannon ball. At least she could use firearms… poor Gratia.
She stored the blunderbuss in the holster and injected another vial of blood into her leg to put her back into tip top shape, and lowered her neck gaiter to blow out her nose and cough up the blood in her lungs. After clearing both of those out she felt right as rain, better even. It was once she felt herself alright, and much less ready for blood when she lit up another lantern and held it up in her gun hand.
She steadily walked over to the rubble and then took a moment to jump onto one of the rocks still there surrounding the buried pair. She outstretched the lantern and gave them a cheery but bloodied smile. "Hello, let's get you two out of here." She was covered in blood, red smeared across her face, caking her shoulder and her chest with a mix of fresh and dried blood, but her voice was calm and inviting.
Hello everyone. It's been a while but the reason is because my life got very busy. i've decided to just give up on the schedule because my inspiration to write comes around randomly and hits me like a ton of bricks. Believe it or not but this chapter was made in two nights, bounced off a friend and edited by different pair of eyes in four nights total. I don't stop thinking about this fic ever. I'm always wondering how I could improve it and brainstorming ideas with a friend on story elements and the direction I should take the story. I love writing, but I cannot take this as a job, so i'll just keep writing like this. Constantly improving over time and picking things up to make this story better for you guys. I hope you enjoy todays chapter, until next time.