Blood red eyes analyzed the area. These weren't the woods he was familiar with. He roamed the forest with caution, running as if he were a shadow, his face mask and hat still in place. This wasn't supposed to happen, though it wasn't unwelcome. He was a great one, having...done things he didn't fully agree with to attain such a status. The nightmare should have been over, yet here he was, roaming a forest filled with black beasts. The Hunter had finished a small pack of seven of those beasts, seeing with his own eyes as they slowly dissipated. He dusted off his Hunter garbs and continued moving.
The Hunter heard twigs snapping from a few ways forward. If this was still the nightmare then he was to assume everyone was hostile. He had taken to many gambles as even Eileen had given in to madness and attacked. He made his way up a tree with haste, readying his sword as he did so. The steps were louder by the second, the hunter preparing himself each second. What surprised him was the steps were coming from a group of four, strangely dressed teenagers.
The teen in lead was about six feet tall with pale skin and brown hair under a type of hat. She wore a long brown shirt with a dark brown waist cincher. She had dark brown trousers, dark brown boots and many belts at her waist.
The second in line was a dark skinned male with wild red hair and about the same height as the first. He had an small, but toned build, wearing a red cut sleeve, black pants and boots. The Hunter looked at the many scars on the teens arms with sympathy, having many of his own, and saw the boys weapons, red blades strapped to his arms.
The third was a very tall boy, though the Hunter was not impressed, having fought enemies the size two story buildings. This one seemed to be about 7 feet with short black hair. He wore a green short sleeve robe over one shoulder which covered a black shirt. He had brown pants with black and green boots, a large orange sword on his back.
The last was another girl about five foot six inches. She had brown eyes and long brown hair. The Hunter didn't pay attention to anything else as he saw a set of rabbit ears, twitching and moving. He jumped from his branch, intent on bringing his sword down.
The red haired one suddenly looked up, revealing white eyes. The boy was blind, the Hunter should have taken his other senses into account. He jumped to meet the hunter, the hunter switching his attack from a stab to a slash. His attack was powerful and sent the boy down at high speeds, making him bounce on impact and roll a bit, his actions alerting the rest.
As the Hunter landed, he dodged a hard punch coming from the tall man. He quickly countered, sending a quick slash at him, but getting surprised as the boy winced, but there was no visible damage. He was almost taken out from behind as the supposed leader swung a bag at him, he dodged, not wanting to take a gamble on whether it would hurt or not. He ducked under another swing, hearing a sword unsheathe and remembering the big fellow. He quickly jumped away, putting his own sword into his large sheathe, hearing a click.
The teens looked at the Hunter strangely, him having sheathed his sword. Then he pulled the sheathe up, revealing it to just have become a larger blade. The Hunter rushed at the tall one, back stepping before a swing hit and jumping forward to slash him, a large cut visible on his torso. He wouldn't die, but he would stop.
'What the f-he knocked Yatsuhashi's aura down with two slashes?!' The leading girl thought, "Why are you attacking us?!" She yelled.
"You travel with a beast." The Hunter said looking directly at the girl with rabbit ears, her wincing as he did so. "You've all likely caught the disease by now." The leader grit her teeth as her bag began expanding and morphing until it was a Gatling gun.
"Velvet is NOT a beast!" She yelled, "YATSUHASHI!"
At that sound, the big teen leaped away, collapsing again as the other girl treated his wounds. The leaders gun began to rotate, the Hunter being in enough situations to see what would happen. As it began to fire, he began running behind trees for cover, the trees being taken out as well. There was a brief stop.
"Did I get him?"
The Hunter peeked from a still standing tree. The red haired one had hobbled back to the group and got into a defensive stance as the leader backed to the big man being treated.
"Great, so we're dealing with a radical racist who can beat our ass and I'm low on ammo. How can this get any worse?" The leader said. Just then, snarling could be heard as more black beasts were slowly creeping towards the group. The red haired teen gave the leader a look.
"Oh you keep your words to yourself, Fox!"
"Beasts fighting each other? But they don't-Did I make a mistake?!" The Hunter thought to himself. He then thought back to past hunters like Gascoigne and Eileen. Had this been what they felt? Did he have to much insight, or had bloodlust truly taken him for a moment? He put his sword back on his back as he reached to his side and kept his hand there, his trusty saw cleaver appearing as his sword disappeared. Seeing a creature preparing to pounce, he sprang into action, startling the teens as he leaped onto the creature, digging his saw cleaver into its skull, then brutally ripping it out.
Another creature raised to its hind legs to swipe at him, the Hunter grabbing his pistol from his side and shooting it, stunning it. The Hunter swung his saw cleaver into its side before ripping it out. He proceeded to lay waste to the whole pack with nothing but a barbaric blade and flintlock pistol. He then felt a heavy object dig into his back.
"Any movements and you're dead. Who the hell are you?"
The Hunter looked forward for a few seconds, before looking back. The teens seeing his blood red eyes for the first time.
"You're bluffing. You've never took a life before and you're unsure if you can." The hunters insight didn't just help with seeing beasts, it saw the truth. At his words, the girl grit her teeth, her arms shaking a bit. He was right. She was only a second year, Grimm, she could handle, but she still couldn't take the life of another sentient being.
"But I shall not harm you." He said, surprising the teens again. The Hunter turned to face them.
"You just tried to kill us all!" The leader yelled.
"And I made a mistake. I assumed her to be a beast, but beasts do not attack each other."
"There you go again with that word! Velvet isn't a beast!"
"Which is what I just stated." The Hunter said, taking a knee as he casually took out a whetstone and began sharpening his saw cleaver as if there wasn't a minigun pointed at him. "If I'm to assume you are genuine about her not being a beast, then I must assume this isn't the nightmare. What year is it?" The Hunter asked.
The leader looked to her teammates. Yatsuhashi was healing well, but this guy didn't seem tired in the slightest after beating them. Only way to live was to give him what he wanted.
"It's 80 AVD." She answered. The Hunter froze at those words, slowly looking up to her.
"...Pardon?"
The leader looked back to her team again, them looking as confused as she did. She looked back at the Hunter, "It's 80 AVD. After Victory Day. It's been 80 years since the Great War." The Hunter continued looking at her before he rose and looked around again.
'... How long was I in the nightmare?! Could... Could this be Yharnam?' The Hunter pondered on many things, wondering if this was the result of becoming a great one. But another conclusion appeared in his head. His fight with the moon presence had been a long fight indeed. Could it be that he had been fighting for so long, becoming the sole survivor of Yharnam. It was a frightening thought.
"...What's going to happen here?" The lead girl asked. The Hunter looked back at her, then to her team.
"Now...I help you to atone for my mistake." The Hunter stated, hanging his weapons on his belt and taking a step, the 4 reeling back a bit as he did so.
"We still don't know anything about you, how do we know you won't try anything on us?! You know, like you were trying to do 10 minutes ago?!"
The Hunter stopped dead in his tracks, "Ah, my apologies." He said as he took off his hat and pulled his face mask down, revealing tanned skin, short black hair and a face making him look to be about their age.
"My name is..." The Hunter said before he paused.
"What? Change of heart?"
"I...It's been so long since I've given my name. I seem to have lost myself...Al-...Alexander. My name is Alexander Ivory." The Hunter finally spoke up, giving a small bow. The leader gave a look to her teammates, Velvet looking from her to Yatsuhashis wounds. Yatsuhashi gave her a nod, making her nod to the leader as well. Fox, the blind one, put his arms down, but still prepared his legs for a leap at any moment. The leader sighed before she fully analyzed Alexander's face.
"Wait! How old are you?!" The leader asked.
"I am eighteen years of age."
At that, the leader reversed her Gatling into a bag and went over and sat next to Yatsuhashi, who was already starting to get better with aura and first aid.
"You hear that big guy? We got our asses handed to us by someone our age."
"To be fair, he seems incredibly experienced." Yatsuhashi responded.
"Yeah...yeah. I'm pretty sure you got them, I'm Coco Adel. Call me whatever." The leader said, her head slightly hung. "Well team, we got a long way to go to get to that level."
"To be fair, I've fought monstrosities far beyond these beasts. Please, I beg that you may take me with you to a town. Perhaps there I can find information." Alexander asked.
"Well screw it, I'd rather you be on our side. As soon as Yatsuhashi can sta-"
As if just to interrupt her, Yatsuhashi gently moved Velvet and rose from his position.
"...Nevermind then. Whatever, let's just get to the LZ so I can lie down." Coco said, clearly distraught at what happened earlier. Alexander pulled his face mask back up and put his hat back on, walking behind the team as they lead the way.
"Ah...excuse me? An LZ?" Alexander asked.
The team looked at Alexander, Yatsuhashi speaking up, "Landing Zone. Are you perhaps from a village outside of the cities?" He asked, pretty courteously to the man who had just given him a wound. The group continued walking while talking.
"If my thoughts are correct, yes and no. I believe I am not in my time or possibly even my world." Alexander answered honestly. He saw no reason to withhold information, worst case scenario they'd believe him to be insane...or he'd have to kill them.
"What, so you're like a time traveling alien?" Coco asked jokingly.
"I don't believe so, by world I meant to say possible dimension. It could be that my awakening was a byproduct of my transcendence." Alexander answered.
If Cocos eyebrows raising above her sunglasses weren't an indication of her surprise, her looking at Velvet and mouthing, "Coocoo" were.
"Yes, I believe my large amount of insight effects my mind. I may truly go insane, I believe it may also be the reason for my attacking earlier." Alexander explained. Good, it was the former. He'd hate to have to kill them out of fear of experimentation. Alexander caught up with Velvet, "If I may ask, how did you acquire those ears?"
Velvet was surprised by the sudden closeness, "I-uhh- I was born with them." She answered, caught off guard by the question.
"You've never seen a Faunus?" Coco asked.
"Pardon?"
"A Faunus. You've never seen one?" She repeated.
"What, may I ask, is a Faunus?" Alexander asked.
"Wow, ok." Coco said, turning back around and continued walking.
"We-uhh...I've never needed to explain this before. We're people who were born with animal features, showing our heritage. My ears show a hare bloodline." Velvet explained.
"Having a normal, educational conversation with someone who tried to kill us. Well since we're buddy buddy, how did you get your skills? You'd have to train from like, the age of 6 to have your body at how it was, taking Yatsuhashi's aura in two swings. Semblance?" Coco asked.
"I'm afraid I don't know what a semblance is. My skills were honed the second it was discovered I was immune to the disease, like the rest of the hunters." Alexander explained.
"...You know, I think I'm so tired of being confused and surprised, my body is refusing to raise my eyebrows."
"Disease?" Velvet asked. They had reached the LZ, though and Alexander froze when he saw the large pad with the many large, metal containers. On the pad looked to be a contraption made of metal.
"W-what is that?" He asked. He wasn't afraid, it looked like a large wagon with extra parts, but they had called it a LZ, a landing zone. That implies...
"It's a bullhead. You really aren't from here, are you?" Velvet asked, Coco already boarding with Fox, Yatsuhashi waiting for the Velvet and Alexander.
"Team CFVY plus 1. Take us home." Coco yelled to the cockpit, lying down and taking two seats.
"Please." Velvet added, boarding the bullhead as well. She looked back to Alexander freezing at the door.
"What...exactly does this contraption do?" He asked, looking around.
"Please just get on." Coco asked. Alexander complied, taking a seat next to Velvet and Yatsuhashi. Then the engine started, Alexander grabbing his sensitive ears. He had trained himself for hunting and not being hunted, so his senses, especially his hearing, were well beyond the average man.
Then they lifted off the ground. Alexander looked out at the still open doors and grabbed onto both Yatsuhashi and Velvet rather hard.
"WHAT RELIC IS THIS?!" He yelled with fear in his eyes.
"What?!" Coco asked.
"We're flying!"
"MAN WASN'T MEANT FOR FLIGHT!" He yelled, letting go of the two and grabbing at his belt and the straps behind him.
"Oh my- YOU TOOK A WHOLE PACK OF BEOWOLVES IN LESS THAN 4 MINUTES, YOU'RE AFRAID OF FLYING?!" Coco yelled. Everyone, even Fox's eyes grew wide as a large thwack was heard.
"Did...did he just knock himself out?" Coco asked, actually taking off her sunglasses. Indeed he did, his unconscious body lay limp in his seat, but not without strapping himself down in any and every way he could.
I know, I need to stop. I really need to stop. This is what? My sixth RWBY cross? And what's worse is my mind is being plagued with ideas for a Halo/RWBY cross v_v. Stop it Dovahkiin! Put all that effort into your current fics! I am working on my other fics though, so yeah. Anyways, like it? Tell me what ya liked, didn't like it? Tell me what I can improve on! Till next time, PEACE!