The double-decker bus, the Golden Goose, drives along the road late in night. The bus mostly contained tools, toys, and photo albums that brought along by the passengers. Ghira Belladona looks ahead as he drives along the nighttime road.
On the second floor of the bus, Taiyang Xiao Lang reads a book to pass the time, Qrow Branwen sits comfortably with his legs resting on top of another chair, wearing his headphones as he plays with his handheld console.
A small child named Oscar Pine stares at a water droplet slowly moving down along the bus window, Peter Port looked at the boy, petting his head as a show of care.
Ghira looked up to see the full orange moon as he continues to drive deeper into the trail, getting closer towards their destination…
Huntsman the Parenting
'An adorable huntsman family trip'
Act One Part 1 of 3: jumping into a World of Darkness because Ghira told me to…
Vale, Sanus XXX2
The bus halted to a stop, Taiyang stood on his chair and stretches his back, "Have we arrived?" he asked before Ghira walks in screaming "ABOUT. FUCKING. TIME! Gather round everyone!" he said joyously.
Ghira wears an open purple fur collar with a black tank-top underneath, grey jean shorts with an orange belt with a big G as the buckle.
Qrow wears a black coat underneath a white sweater, with pants high up to his waist while Taiyang wears his blue masked-hoodie with cat ears on the hood and orange-tinted ski-goggles over his eyes.
Port is dressed in overalls with a white shirt underneath while Oscar wears an orange sweater with a scarf large enough to cover his mouth.
Oscar woke up yawning from a quick nap, rubbing his eyes, he shivers due to the chilly night, "Oh… spooking woods…"
"You bet your bottom lien, boy!" Ghira smiled in excitement, "Just breathe it in! The FRESH, ECTOPLASMIC air!" he inhaled deeply, "Ah… it's THICK with GHEISTS!" Ghira laughs while Oscar shook in fear.
"Please no ghost in lungies…" Oscar worries.
Port tries to calm him down, "Fret not, boy… Ghosts do not haunt lungies."
Ghira calls Taiyang, "My darling Taiyang! Why don't you tell the team where we are?"
"Right! Uhm… sure thing, sir-" Taiyang replied before Ghira interrupted him with a wheeze.
"Hello~? 'Sir'?" Ghira mocks as he waves his hands. "Come on, it's been years! Just call me Ghira… or Lord."
"Uh…" Taiyang is unsure what to say next before Qrow consoles him.
"You can keep calling him, G." Qrow said as he gently pats Taiyang, who reacts subtly, "Don't stress, luv…"
"Right, umm… Sir G?" Taiyang said before Ghira interrupts,
"BIG. G!" Ghira interjects.
"Ignore that." Qrow quickly said to Taiyang as he does so happily.
"Ok. We are on one of Vale's many ghost walks. It is allegedly very haunted… and we are very walking on it." Taiyang explains.
"Neat." Qrow says, "So, suggestion, Ghira. Maybe tell all of us where we are headed before we arrive next time."
"This would be practical." Port agrees.
Ghira starts to laugh before quickly saying, "Suggestion vetoed."
Port raised an eyebrow then asked, "Why?"
"Because otherwise we'd have to hear Qrow whining about 'he dun wanu goo'!" Ghira mocks.
Taiyang snickers, "That's fair. He does do that."
Qrow quickly tries to defend himself from embarrassment, "No it's NOT! I don't… whine…" he crosses his arms, muttering, "I don't complain…"
"And I don't know how to break this to you BUT-!" Taiyang turns around to face Qrow but is quickly interrupted.
"OKAY FINE!" Qrow surrenders "…but not like that… Not since I was like… fifteen."
"Well YEAH, I mean, wasn't your big fifteen like, last year?" Ghira asks. "With the magic wizard card game and the clowns!?"
"That was my thirtieth birthday." Qrow deadpans in frustration.
"A clown birthday." Port smirks, "This is what Video Gamers would call an 'Epic Failure,' Qrow…"
"You've never even heard of G-mod, Port!" Qrow replies in frustration.
"I'm eleven." Oscar says shyly.
Ghira screamed in surprise, "YOU'RE WHAT!?" he crosses his arms, "ALL right, whatever, I don't respect time, it's an odious concept… NOW LISTEN UP!" he shouts, raising a finger, "My darling Taiyang! You have graciously brought our attention to this… 'Ghost Walk'."
"It is quite a trail into a wooded area." Taiyang explains briefly.
"It shall be an exciting outing for the whole team, is that understood!?" Ghira demanded.
"I like excitement," Port said simply.
"So… this is the forest with all those active missing person cases, I assume?" Qrow asked.
"OF COURSE! WHO DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?" Ghira defended.
"…what?" Oscar said, unsure if he heard it right.
"What, indeed!" Ghira said as he knelt to get closer to Oscar, "But be brave, Boy! Purge yourself of cowardice! It's half the reason we're here."
"Ghira," Port protested, "a scary movie may have been a more appropriate first step."
"His first impression of terror shall be in real life, not a movie film!" Ghira rebutted. "We shall throw the boy intro the dread inferno and see his fearful hide burn away in conflagration!" he laughs maniacally.
Port took Ghira's words literally and was angered, "We are not throwing Oscar into a fire."
"Port, I will find a way to make an analogy physical and then smack you with it."
"My flesh consumed…" Oscar said in worry, fearing the imagined pain and torture.
Taiyang tries to get back in the topic, "ALRITE 'ELLO! Sorry… sorry… shall we go?"
"Please." Qrow begged.
"It's already three past midnight. We need to get home in time for breakfast." Taiyang said.
"FUCKING VALEAN!?" Ghira said in anger out of nowhere before clearing his throat, "VERY WELL, MY SONS! WE GO!"
The bus door opens as Ghira took the first step outside, and the others soon follow. They stand in front of the forest, the wind breezes through their hair as some remain cautious and on the lookout.
Ghira stood there smugly, excited, and thrilled. He looked at the trail leading deeper into the woods, the woods consisted only dead trees and ominous silence, no other animals or critters can be heard, and the light reflected from the moon gives nothing of comfort as it only gives more to its creepy and mysterious ambiance.
Though only Oscar felt scared by it, the others stood there before Ghira broke the silence, "Look alive, boys," he said, trying to give a small quip to lighten the mood, "Unlike the ghosts. The woodland corridor calls to us. Keep an eye out and a brisk place!" He looked behind, smiling ashe reminds the others, "NO COMPLAINING, QROW!"
"…but complaining 'about' Qrow is allowed." Qrow growled.
"CORRECT!"
"Bad. Leader."
"WHAT!?"
"And now we go!" Taiyang quickly interrupts, pointing forward.
The rest walked through the trail in silence, splitting into pairs while Ghira led the way on his own. Qrow broke the silence, asking Taiyang, "So… how much of this place do you remember?"
"Eh, a little bit. Me and the lads used to dare each other to come down here—alone~!" Taiyang replied, making a spooky gesture.
"Spooky!" Qrow played along.
"Spooky."
"These woods are BLOODY creepy, so I get it."
"Bloody Mary~" Taiyang rhymed.
"Quite contrary." Qrow rhymed along.
"How does your garden grow~?"
"With silver bells and cockleshells~" Qrow said as Taiyang snapped with a grin.
"COCK!"
"COCK!" so did Qrow.
"STOP. RUINING. THE MOOD!" Ghira shouted angrily.
"We're just talking about COCKTHORPE—relax." Qrow smugly replied, "It's just down the road from home."
"Hey, did you know Cockthorpe has a church?" Taiyang said out of nowhere.
There was a brief pause of silence as Qrow took in that information, "Okay…? That's like saying 'Cockthorpe has a pub!' that is literally the most MUNDANE thing you could have said?" he asked confused, as Taiyang gives out a few chuckles, "What the fuck?"
They laughed until a sudden scream from a distance cut them off. They stood there, unsure of what to do.
"w-wuh?" Oscar stammered before there was another scream.
Ghira came closer to Oscar, "Relax." he said, kneeling to Oscar, "It's not a dying woman—probably—it's… just a fox."
Another distant scream of 'probably not a dying woman' could be heard again. Oscar stood there, confused, "what?"
There was another brief of silence before they decided to continue walking, "Hey speaking of, does this place have any scary urban legends? You know, aside from those incredibly current missing person reports."
"Holy shit, of course!" Taiyang remembered, "Yeah, I- a guy- fell off his bike here!"
"Ohhh! FUCK! Scaryy!" Qrow mocked with a scared gesture before he continuing to ask with irritation, "Anything else?"
"Okay, okay, actually, you know Binham?" Taiyang asked as he opens a map, places are marked with arrows pointing, "About 4 miles from Warham?", he zoomed out to reveal the other village of Warham.
"I mean, yeah. Quite close to COCKTHORPE." Qrow replied as he pans it to the said village, with the word COCK written in bold.
"Okay, so. Quick story…" Taiyang began, "Few centuries ago, some monks founded a priory down in Birham, but, according to the legend, its priors were corrupt and 'evil men'." He waved his hands, "One of them even sold off the priory's valuables to fund some bizarre alchemical experiments."
"You know…" Qrow joked, "It's always the alchemist you don't see that gets you."
"Yeah, you really tried with that one."
"Not hard enough…" Qrow muttered.
"Anyway! Allegedly, a secret tunnel was built in the priory, going between Birham all the way to Little Walsingham."
"Walsingham?" Qrow questions, "Isn't that three miles?"
"Yes. Others say that the tunnel actually leads between Binham and a guild house in Blakeney which is even further, and some say it leads between both…"
"That's a lot of digging, doesn't it?"
Taiyang continued the legend, "In the time since, many accounts have been made of a figure stepping out from the tunnel beneath Birham Priory—a black-hooded monk, traversing the priory between dusk and dawn. The tale of this spectre eventually reached an intrepid fiddle-player, who decided to investigate."
"Before entering, the Fiddler, alongside his trusty canine companion, offered a crowd of locals the chance to accompany him on his subterranean trip, by following the sound of his fiddle overground."
"The strong reverberations of his music would be heard even through the earth, so he said, and indeed, it was… playing all the while, the Fiddler began his threk through the tunnel. The locals, listening intently, chased the sound of his music. All was seemingly well, then after about a mile of walking, the sound of his fiddle ceased…"
"Sometime later, the locals found the Fiddler's dog, wet and whimpering but the Fiddler himself… was never seen again."
Qrow looked intrigued from the story as Taiyang continued, "This trail we're walking on leads across where this tunnel supposedly would have gone between Binham and Walsingham, and it is said that, sometimes, you can still hear the distant sound of the Fiddler yet wandering the depths of the earth."
"…Eerie…" Qrow commented. Oscar listened throughout the story and sighed. "I have learnt to fear ground fiddle." Oscar said.
"That's all I remember, though." Taiyang concluded, "I haven't been around here since we were like 11, maybe?"
"'That's all I remember'" Qrow repeated, "fucking hell, like you didn't just belt out an entire encyclopedia on the subject!"
"Yeah… shit, sorry…"
"We've been over this; don't apologize. I'm always impressed." Qrow crosses his arms, "It's no wonder Ghira likes you more than me."
Taiyang laughed at the last comment, "What? Where did that come from?"
"It's FINE. I like you more than him, so it evens out."
"Hm, lovely. and. dysfunctional."
"I'm happy you are mostly the former."
"Ahh, nice~" Taiyang smiles, "Shit, speaking of, actually, have you ever been in these parts?"
"Not really. At least, nothing I remember."
"Oh. That's fine, honestly, I don't think you missed anything special."
They suddenly stopped hearing a quick noise, causing Oscar to jump in surprise, "GHOST MONKE!"
"Purge yourself of these noises, boy!" Ghira told Oscar, "Concentrate. You are the master of your reality. Whip it into submission with your giant, powerful arms!" He flexed his muscles to show an example.
"Krakus said the only things that make big sounds in the woods are BEARS and PEOPLE." Oscar said in fear, "Was that a bear or a people?"
"Oscar." Port seemed infuriated, "Do not speak to Krakus."
Oscar crossed his arms, pouting, "Well I don't! He's just always screaming from the ditch…"
"HALT!" Ghira commanded. The team stopped, wondering what was happening, Ghira stood looking straight into the dark woods, his arms crossed, "Hmm…" the team watched him in anticipation, waiting for him to say anything or at least reveal what he discovered, but Ghira shrugged and proceeded to walk away from the trail, "Let's get out of the woods."
The team was left dumbfounded, only for Qrow to say as he raises one of his eyebrows "…we're already in the woods-" he then realizes whereGhira is going, "Okay, that is what you… meant…"
The team continued and walked down a hill, they passed a sign that said 'PRIVATE PROPERTY' but no one noticed, Oscar muttered the word 'No' many times, getting more scared before Port notices and told him, "Boy, stay close to me.", but Oscar didn't listen and continues to mutter the same word.
Qrow, bored with all the walking, accidentally got poked in the left eye by a branch. He grabbed it, "Ghira!" he called out as he snaps the branch, "Where the fuck are you going?"
"This isn't really part of the conventional ghost walk experience…" Taiyang commented.
The team kept walking to see Ghira standing, the others manage to catch up to him then they all looked down to what Ghira is looking at while Oscar held close to Qrow's jeans.
"Uhh…" Qrow couldn't tell what was special until Taiyang realize what it is.
"Wait, WAIT, is… is that?" Taiyang seemed excited and amazed.
"Ghira." Port asked, "Do you wish to enter this hole?"
They stood in front of a large, gaping sinkhole, too large that it seemed unnatural. What lies at the center was unknown as it was too dark to see with the naked eye. Oscar slowly shifted towards Port, softly crying out of fear. Ghira took out a flashlight from his pocket, "Torches at the ready…" he said.
Everyone, including Oscar, who still held onto Port, readied their flashlights. "Going in…" Ghira said as he dives straight in, Taiyang went next, jumping like a cannonball, Qrow jumped in, Port laid back and slides down. Oscar hesitated to jump, instead, holding on to the side and sliding down slowly.
Oscar's only eaten meat, butter and eggmilk for the past month. He is extremely powerful because of this.
The local bullies calls him 'Mate' pronounced as 'Meat'. This entirely flew over Port's head as he cannot (nor cares to) decipher.
Everyone in the team were childhood friends before they all moved in Taiyang's home. Marckus and Taiyang met again as adults at a gaming LAN party in Beacon.
Their relationship had never been had Taiyang not 'telefragged' Qrow into a vicious need to prove his gaming superiority.
The hunt lasted 42 hours, before the two, grim and sleep-deprived, decided to get physical.
It's now been 8 years and Qrow has yet to succeed at exploding Taiyang into pieces. But they are, at least, content.
In the darkness, the team opened their flashlights, they find themselves in a colossal cave, "Holy shit, these… these must be the tunnels." Taiyang said, "I- I wasn't even sure that they were real. I- Ha- Fucking hell, I'm- alright!"
"Keep an ear out for fiddles, Oscar." Qrow joked, trying to scare Oscar, who shook in fear.
"WAIT! Come look at this!" Taiyang shouted as he went ahead, the team followed him to another part of the cave, "Isn't this suspicious looking…?" he commented as he reached out to investigate something.
The room consisted of shovels leaning against the cave's walls, a ripped poster hanging on the wall, pieces of paper, sleeping bags, boxes and other items scattered across the floor. In the middle was a broken table with photographs.
"Looks no worse than Qrow's room." Port said.
Qrow chuckles, "Looks no worse than your FACE."
"Yes, it does." Port deadpanned.
"…how do I argue with that?" Qrow muttered.
"Alright! Let's split up!" Ghira suggested.
Taiyang turned to Ghira with confusion, "A- any particular reason?"
"It shall be SPOOOKIER that way!"
"I really don't want to." Oscar refused.
"Come, boy, it's alright" Port reassured, "Nothing here can hurt you… except cave-ins."
"And fiddleghosts~!" Qrow joked.
"Always got to watch for the fiddleghosts, Oscar." Taiyang played along.
"A curse upon your names…" Oscar muttered.
The team split up, Oscar went with Port, Taiyang went with Qrow, and Ghira explored the cave alone. Oscar and Port continued to explore with Oscar repeatedly telling himself, "Just keep swimming…" to help overcome his fear.
He pointed his flashlight around the cave walls. Looking down, he jumped in surprise to see… a table. "There there, boy" Port calms him down, "No need to panic." He knelt, looking at the table, "Look, it's a picnic table."
"Wha- why is there-"
"It's a surprise, for sure, but a welcome one. One of the greatest tabledesigns known to man. The unity of table and bench. Pure in function, yet, handsome in its form."
"I- ab- am- I'm eleven." Oscar looks at Port as he seemed focused too much on the table.
"Hmm… a moment, boy." Port stood up, "I must measure the board width."
"…why?"
Port quickly grabbed a measuring tape, "It. Must. Be. Done, Boy!" he went closer to the table, placing the measuring tape on top of the bench,measuring the width in silence.
Oscar points the flashlight at him, unsure what to do. He looked back, wary of the darkness, and pointed the flashlight around the cave walls once more. He noticed something in the tunnel's darkness, he squinted his eyes, trying to discern what it was. Silence enveloped the cave before a tall, vampiric figure pops up in front of him, Oscar jumped back, dropping his flashlight as the figure held on to his shoulder, getting closer.
Port heard Oscar's gasp, stopping his measuring, and looked back to see the vampiric figure holding Oscar, "LET GO OF HIM!" he demanded, but another vampire approached from behind, biting hard into Port's nape and holding him still. Port grunted in pain, slowly losing consciousness as Oscar called for help.
"Two for two…" the tall vampire said as Oscar screamed in fear, "Don't worry, kid, it'll all be over soon…"
The other vampire sucked Port's blood out of his neck. Just then, a blowtorch was pointed towards the vampire, and it stopped sucking to look at it before the blowtorch fired, burning the vampire's face and injuring its left eye. The vampire growled in pain.
The tall vampire let go of Oscar and scurried back. Oscar quickly ran towards Port, "Port!" he cried as the two united. The others were on their guard, with Ghira and Taiyang holding flashlights and Qrow with his blowtorch.
"Port, you good?" Qrow asked.
"Yes." Port said despite his neck injury. He grabbed a baby carrier with a cute bear print and wore it with Oscar inside. Port quickly grabbed a large single-shot rifle with a wooden stake taped under it. He pulled the trigger, and a loud bang was heard. The bullet hit the tall vampire in the chest, knocking him to the ground as blood spilled from the impact.
The vampire quickly stood, surviving the shot but growling in anger, "You FUCKS! You're- ARMED!?"
"Ah, there are more of you out here, aren't there?" Taiyang said, grabbing a hand-crafted spear with a flintlock pistol attached to the top with duct tape and a wooden stake taped under the gun. "Light it up, Qrow!"
Qrow smiles, "Why, of course!" He grabbed a load of glowsticks from both pockets, fused them together and gave it a quick shake, and threw the glowing ball ahead. It illuminated the area, revealing two more vampires, four in total.
The first vampire has a ginger mutton chop sideburn and a fedora, with sharp claws on his arms. The second vampire was tall with long messy hair, pointed ears, sharp teeth extending from ear to ear, and with wide-open eyes. The third vampire had a large gray beard, a biker appearance with a red bandana and black sunglasses. The last vampire wore a blue cloak with a blue wizard hat, had a short messy beard and hair, and wore round-glasses. His hands seemed burnt and covered in ashes.
"Are these ghosts?" Oscar asked.
"No, Oscar." Taiyang answered, "They're vampires. Kindred. But these ones are probably just 'licks."
"What'd you just fucking call us, bloodbag!?" The biker vampire growled in anger, "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THOSE WORDS MEAN!?"
"I'm freshly read up." Taiyang shrugged.
"WELL, I GOT A NAME FOR YOU! DEAD. MEAT."
"Shut the fuck up, shitbeard!" The tall vampire pointed at the biker before pointing towards Taiyang, "You. Ski goggles. Keep talking."
"I'm going to make some guesses. You can tell me if I'm wrong." Taiyang said.
"YOU'RE WRONG!" the Biker said.
"Okay. So." Taiyang pointed the tall vampire, "You are… sludge lad."
The tall vampire tilts his head in confusion, "What?"
"Sludge Lad. You know, easy to assume going by your ugly mug."
"Eh… sludge?"
"YOU, meanwhile," Taiyang interrupted as he points the Fedora Hat vampire, "Humanimal-type Vampire… Your vicious sideburns and the massive claws- "
"I WILL BITE YOUR COCK OFF!" the vampire interrupted before there was a brief silence.
"…cool. I'll just go with Ape. So, I would guess YOU are a Bikerbro blank" Taiyang said as he referred to the Biker vampire.
"IT'S PRONOUNCED CLAN BR- ", the Biker continues to mimic the sound of the motorcycle for a while before he finishing, "BRUJAH!"
"…what? I'll write that down."
"AH, SHITBEARD!" Sludge Lad cursed.
"How many 'R's is that?" Taiyang asked as he held a notepad and pencil.
"STOP PLATFORMING THE ANTEDLIVUEAN CONCEPT OF 'CLANS' IN FRONT OF THE POTENTIAL SHOVELHEADS!"
"With an H or a J?" Taiyang kept asking, ignoring Sludge Lad.
"I'M SORRY, I'M IN A REALLY HEIGHTENED SENSES RIGHT NOW!" The Biker said.
"Good, Br- aw fuck Brrrrrr-" Taiyang tried to estimate how many 'R's as he wrote it down, "u-haaa… And lastly…" Taiyang looked at the wizard Vampire, "YOU. Are… a vampire wizard."
"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THIS!?" the wizard replied in panic.
"We have GIANT brains. You're not that hard for us to figure out." Ghira said smugly.
"Okay. But everything what your friend just said was wrong." Sludge Lad smirked.
"DETAILS. Now enough with the distractions, Taiyang! We have them surrounded…"
"Fuck…" the Biker vampire cursed, "BOSS, it's not looking good!"
"CURSE YOU, FOUL APE!" the Wizard said in anger.
"FUCK YOU!" the Ape cursed back.
"YOU DREW HUNTERS TO THE LAUNCH-SITE OF THE CRUSADE WITH YOUR FUCKING OVERFEEDING!"
"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS- OVERFEEDING!" the Ape retorted before he got shot again by Port in the chest, knocking him down to the ground.
"I disagree." Port said.
"Well, boys… you have your 15 minutes." Sludge Lad said as the other vampire got back to his feet. "KILL THE HUNTERS!"
"VAE VICTUS!" the Ape leaped towards Port, landing on his back as his claws pierced deep into his body.
"PORT!" Oscar cried as Port tried to withstand the pain.
Sludge Lad jump-kicked towards Qrow, hitting him in his left eye, "OW FUCK MY EYE!" Qrow said.
"THAT'S THE STUFF." The tall vampire said, "SCREAM FOR ME!"
The Ape tried to bite Port but missed, he gripped tighter, making Port kneel before throwing him towards the cave ceiling, causing Port to cough up blood and Oscar to cover his ears and closing his eyes from the impact. Port fell to his knees, "Oscar… are you… alright?" Port asked.
"YES! ARE YOU?" Oscar replied.
"NO!"
"Name's Pyotr..." The tall vampire said, standing in front of Qrow, "Figured you ought to' know the name of the guy about to eat your goddamn SOUL."
"OFF OF HIM!" Taiyang charged, stabbing Pyotr's hand with the wooden stake attached to his spear.
"YAARGH!" Pyotr screamed in pain, "YOU FUCKING PUNK!"
"I SAID OFF! OFF!" Taiyang screamed before being punched in the face by the Biker.
Port looked up to see the Ape raising his leg, kicking Port towards the picnic table. Oscar hyperventilated.
"You should have never should have come here, BLOODBAGS!" the vampire taunted, "The- uh- Sword of Caine- shall cleave you in twain!" he laughed.
Distracted, Port quickly moved and grabs the picnic table, standing it up acting as a wall as tall as Port.
Fumbled, the Ape spoke, "YOU THINK YOU'RE BEING FUNNY!?"
"I am NOT FUNNY!"
"YOU'RE NOT! I mean- YOU'RE RIGHT! I mean- ARGHHHH!"
The Biker proceeded to throw a flurry of punches at Taiyang, "GET BENT GET BENT GET BENT GET BENT GET BENT GET BENT."
Pyotr took off the stake stuck in his arm, "Yeargh… Any other tricks you had up your sleeve?" before he could say another word, he was immediately met by a blowtorch pointed at his face, "Oh.", the blowtorch fired and burned Pyotr's face, causing him to shuffle back, arms covering his face as he grunted in pain, "URGH- MY FACE!"
Taiyang lay on the floor, looking at the Biker standing over him, "FUCK YOU." The Biker said as he raises his fist. Taiyang tried to cover the blow with his arms but the Biker was interrupted by Qrow.
"HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!" Qrow intervened, pointing the blowtorch behind the Biker's head, "Do yourself a favor. Stop brutalizing my Fiancé PLEASE!"
"You get to have a Fiancé?" the Biker shoved Qrow's arm off, "FUCK YOU!" he punched Qrow at his left eye as the punch throwing him back.
"STOP HITTING THAT PART-!" Qrow screamed as he was thrown back.
The Ape leaped towards the picnic table, its sharp claws tore parts of the table and creating large holes, he giggled as he steps back, "Your funny little fort has been SIEGED, bloodbag!", before he could react, a rifle emerged from the hole in the center of the table, firing and hitting his body again, knocking him down.
"NOW!" Port shouted, pushing the table as it fell towards the Ape, pinning him down. The vampire grunted in pain as Port held the rifle and looks at the vampire with killer intent, stabbing the pointed stake attached through the hole of the table, penetrating the vampire's body and striking his heart.
The vampire screamed in pain before losing consciousness. "ONE DOWN!" Port shouted to the team.
"PORT GOT ONE!" Taiyang shouted as he caught his breath.
"HUH!?" Pyotr looked toward the source of the sound. The damage from the blowtorch burned his eyes away, making him blind.
"Oh bog…" Taiyang said in worry, preparing his spear.
"I DON'T NEED EYES TO KILL, BLOODBAG. I CAN HEAR YOU." Pyotr said, facing Taiyang's direction.
"WELL, HEY! Since you can, you're the nastiest vamp I've ever seen, honest." Taiyang taunted.
"Oooh~? Admiring the monster?"
"No- not really."
Pyotr laughed maniacally, "You're a goddamn TEASE, Lover-boy!" he leaped towards Taiyang, but Taiyang pointed his spear, causing Pyotr to land on it, piercing his heart.
"You seemed smarter than the others. But an angry vampire, is a predictable vampire." Taiyang said, looking at Pyotr.
"Yeah, kid." Pyotr coughed, "You sure got me there…"
Taiyang watched the vampire pass out and gently placed him on the ground, "QROW, I GOT ONE!" he called out triumphantly.
"HELL YEAH, TAI!" Qrow cheered, just before the Biker punched him.
"YOU DON'T GET TO COME IN HERE TO OUR SPACE!" the Biker shouted angrily as he unleashed a flurry of punches on Qrow's face, "YOU DON'T GET TO FIGHT BACK IN OUR WAR!", he then continued to pummel Qrow from behind, "YOU DON'T GET ANYTHING BUT DEATH!", the final punch landed right at Qrow's groin.
Qrow moaned in pain, bruised from head to toe, "Please… at least turn me…?" he begged weakly with open arms, but it only made the Biker angrier.
"YOU LITTLE SHITHEEL. YOU WANNA BE EMBRACED!? SPOILED LITTLE ASS! NOT ON YOUR LIFE! YOU'RE… MEAT!" the Biker yelled, preparing to finish Qrow off. However, before he could do anything more, the Biker fainted and collapsed to the ground.
"Oops!" Qrow smirked, straightening his coat with both arms, "Looks like I-", he opened his coat to reveal many spikes attached to his body, "EMBRACED. YOU!" he paused to savor his cunning victory but then sighed deeply, "…I GOT ONE TOO…"
"That was incredibly irrational." Port commented.
"Fuck you, Port, I GOTTEM'…" Qrow replied.
"I think we all got one, actually." Taiyang corrected as he attached another pointed wooden stake under his gun, "Anyone have an ice pack?"
"Uhh… I got an ice pack…" Oscar said, holding up the ice pack.
"You sure do champ." Taiyang said, taking the ice pack and applying it to his head.
"WE. ALMOST… DIED!"
"Qrow, your contraption has many problems. You could have tripped on the way and hurt yourself." Port critiqued.
"But I didn't!" Qrow rebutted.
"The vampires could have noticed and not jumped at you."
"But they did!"
"Yes. This time. But, next time, maybe, you should just bring a gun."
"F…fuck you, stake jacket is the BEST IDEA!" Qrow pushed Taiyang playfully, "Tell him, luv! Tell him you think it's such a cool idea."
"The jacket's very clever, Qrow, but-" Taiyang stopped, noticing someone was missing, "Hold on a second… was that really all of them?"
"Not quite." Ghira replied, "I was waiting for you to notice."
Ghira stood there as the Wizard held him as hostage as a knife points towards his throat, "NOT A STEP CLOSER!" the Wizard demanded as his eyes glow red, "NO HARM SHALL BEFALL ME!"
"Gentleman, this man is a wizard!" Ghira jokes.
But the team couldn't do anything, they were frozen still, "I. CANNOT. MOVE..." Port pointed out.
"Is this the accursed power of the Wizard-type strain!?" Taiyang questioned.
"He is dominating our wills!" Qrow said, "I CAN'T… STEP… FORWARD!"
"YOUR MORTAL FOOLS DARE TO INVADE THE LAIR OF MIGHTY KEVIN!?" the Wizard, Kevin, said, "These TUNNELS are not YOURS to TRAVERSE. They are now the domain of Cainite, then, now, and forever more! And you shall not leave knowing their existence!"
"The legend!" Taiyang remembered, "So YOUR kind was behind the death of the Fiddler!?"
There was tonal shift as Kevin was confused, "The Fiddler? What the FUCK? An ancient wives' tale! Far beneath ME, KEVIN. BUT I WOULD NOT BET AGAINST IT. These mystic halls hide many secrets, but none for you to know, kine!"
"All your knowledge is ours now, tick!" Qrow smirked, "You and your whole little ratpack are going to sing like sopranos when we get our hands on- "
"SHUT UP, TOOL." Kevin replied in anger, "FEAR THE WILL OF KEVIN!" he proceeded to move the knife closer to Ghira's neck causing a small bleed.
"Ghira!"
"YOU FOUL SWINE. YOU HAVE…" Kevin seemed trying to hold back his tears but couldn't, "YOU HAVE MADE ME SO, SO HUNGEY…" he said as blood tears from his eyes.
"Ghira!" Both Qrow and Port said in unison.
"…it's fine, my children." Ghira said, "You have done me proud."
"ENOUGH" shouted Kevin, "THE BEAST SHALL BE DENIED NO LONGER!" he opened his mouth and bite onto Ghira's neck deep and proceeded to hastily suck out his blood. The team went to intense perturbation, unable to do anything, "OH THIS SWEET NECTAR… A delight for the senses. ADDICTING! MAGICAL! LEMON SCENTED! THE GREAT AND MIGHTY KEVIN DEMANDS MORE!" Kevin proceeds to suck out more of the blood.
"Do something!" Port demanded, "DO SOMETHING!"
"IF ONLY I COULD!" Qrow replied.
The team watched in horror as Kevin, the wizard vampire, continued to suck Ghira's blood, immobilized by his magic. Ghira's life seemed to hang in the balance, until suddenly, he let out a low chuckle, "…it's a good thing I came here…," Ghira muttered, opening one eye, "…absolutely FUCKED on DMT!"
Ghira starts laughing like a madman, Kevin realized but it was too late, he became high on the drug, making him lose concentration on his spell.
"As EXPECTED of Sir-G!" Taiyang commented, "He knew that putting narcotics in his system, would befuddle the vampire!"
"That is DEFINETLY why I did that!"
"Its spell is broken! And with that!" Taiyang raised his spear and throw it hard and aimed straight at one of the wizard's eyes, he shouted in pain, buying enough time for the others to get to Ghira and pick him up by Qrow and Port.
"Big work, everyone! Done bigly!"
"Shut up, Ghira, you're delirious." Qrow said.
"Qrow, have you always had spider eyes?"
The wizard grunts in pain, "NO… I AM-!" he held on to the spear, "THE GREAT AND MIGHTY KEVIN! YOU ARE! SHIT! SPIT ROTTING IN A DITCH AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD! COMPARED TO-" he pulled out the spear, "ME!"
Kevin raised his arms, his eyes glow red once more, "OBEY! YOU SHALL OBEY! OBEY!" every word he said made his eye glow even brighter.
"We got more mind control, lads!" Taiyang called out as the rest cover their eyes.
"Like I trained you, boys!" Ghira said.
"Break eye-contact…" Port rehearses.
"And shatter concentration!" Qrow finishes.
The team went to a pose, reaching their black sunglasses and wearing them, they raised both of their arms then covered their ears, and thus, they gave themselves a deep breath before…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the Team screamed continuously as they walk towards the wizard, the wizard's magic starts to weaken as he keeps begging them to obey, begging to stop screaming as his spell fades away, he looks at the team, stakes ready at their arms as they keep shouting at the top of their lungs. The wizard begs one last time to stop before all of them jumped and stabbed his heart.
Back at the Golden Goose, Port dumps the last vampire at the back of the bus, compared to the other vampires who had one or three stakes stabbed at them, Kevin had many as if he dived into a pool of them.
"And THAT is HOW IT'S DONE!" Qrow celebrated, "WOOOH!" he then proceeds to lay down to the floor, startling Taiyang and Oscar.
"Fabulous job, Boys! A few more piles like these, and I'd say you're ready for the big leagues!" Ghira said.
"FOUR VAMPS! That's more than we EVER caught before! …Holy shit, I cannot WAIT to get back to study them!"
"Haha yeah…" Taiyang laughs, "Back to my house…"
"Because I will actually get to do that this time, right!?"
"Qrow!" Ghira called, "I am SO PROUD of your scholastic habits! Just leave the wizard to me, and I'll give you the lot."
"Putting murderous vampires in my house to experiment on that's… great" Taiyang sighed.
"Boy, you did good tonight." Port complimented.
"I… I HATE vampires so… so HECKING MUCH-" Oscar said.
"BOY. Language."
"No, Oscar! You're doing well!" Ghira butted in, "Learning to sublimate HATE in place of FEAR is part of becoming a well-adjusted adult! LIKE ME!"
"Uhm… Ghira. I don't think that's-" Port tries to reason before he quickly interrupted by Ghira.
"SHUT IT. Also, I LOVE my precious grandchild!" Ghira said as he picks up Oscar then places him down, patting him, "You did so well, iwuwuwuwu-"
"All I did was scream and give ice pack…" Oscar said.
"Oscar. The journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step." Port said.
"And this was the first step on your road to confidence!" Ghira said.
"I kind of don't want confidence… I want to… go home… and play some video games." Oscar mutters.
"Too bad we didn't get a single look at any fiddlers or black-clad monks." Qrow said.
"You know what, I feel like we got our fill of supernatural creatures anyhow. Just hope the Arcanum doesn't find out this time…" Taiyang said the last part with tone.
"It's fine." Port reassured.
"It really is." Ghira agreed.
"For this kind of catch, the ends VERY MUCH justify the means…" Qrow said as he moves to lean on Taiyang.
"WELL SAID, SONS!" Ghira said, "And besides, it's like I always say!"
"No witnesses, no crime!" They all said in unison before laughing.
"Yeah, I don't pay taxes kids." Ghira said between the laughter.
"Despite the severe head-trauma, fuck, adrenaline is so potent, this was a pretty cool trip." Qrow said.
"THAT'S the spirit, Qrow! But the night isn't over yet!" Ghira reminded, "We got vampires to interrogate! AND I've got some psychoactive drugs to brew in the cabinet! Team, let's go home!" Ghira lit up a cigar and took one deep inhale that it almost burnt all the cigar before puffing it out.
As Ghira went to the driver's seat, Taiyang tries to treat wounds of Qrow before he realizes something, "Wait, Ghira, why are you driving high!? OAHHHHH-!" Taiyang screamed as the bus went on full speed.
As the bus drives along, on a hill not so far, a mysterious black robed figure watches the bus drive along the road with its golden eyes, "Oh…" it spoke, "Hunters…" it started playing the violin as it watches the bus continuously hitting, braking, reversing, and turning until it manages to back up enough to drive straight away and back home…
END OF CHAPTER 1.
EDITOR NOTES:
• MAJOR REWRITE. Deciding to finalize everything and anything in this chapter, and any corrections would be just some on minor misspellings and punctuation errors, but if some major inconsistency is found, let me know and I'll handle it as soon as possible. (15/06/2024)