2"Life's relentless waves of change crash upon us all; some flee, others fight the flood, but only a rare few find solace in its unyielding embrace."
"Red Alert!" "Man your stations!"
Sirens blared, people screamed and hid as panic arose from what was moments ago, a silent evening. The crew had manned their battle stations to stop the threat, and put up their defenses whilst more Grimm climbed on board and killed a handful of civilians.
Nonetheless, some of the crew fought the beasts with an assortment of weapons while firing at the instigator of the attack, a Sea Fēilóng. "Starboard Defenses are down sir!" Yelled one of the crew.
The Captain gripped the wheel of the ship tighter as a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek, eyes darting around, 'Argh, we can't hit it, the thing's too fast.'
Then something clicked just as one passenger that seemed unphased in the presence of the Grimm Sea Dragon, climbed to the upper deck. He stood at five foot and nine inches; the Faunus looked like your everyday Huntsman, clad in blue slacks, open vest, paired with black dress shoes and a white polo with its right sleeve rolled up. Finishing his look is a pirate hat the same color as his attire atop well kept, cherry red hair.
Held in his right hand was a fisherman's hook almost the size of his arm, secured to his person with a bracelet and chains wrapping around the arm. The blade of the hook had a gray sheen, the edge sharing the same color with a darker tone. On the other hand is a machete, the straight bone white blade housing dust rounds in a cylinder at the base of the blade, the trigger located in the curved wooden handle wrapped in grip tape.
"Captain! How are the engines?" His voice echoing inside of the water filled apparatus on his neck and mouth. The Captain turned to his First Mate, "Fully Functional!" He looked back towards the young faunus, a knowing grin on his features.
"You just read my mind young lad. Alright, lead it towards the bow! We will be sent to Locker some day, today is not that day!"
"Aye Cap!" They shared the same grin turning towards the Grimm, his sharp eyes that mirrored the sky, teeth tightly clenched. The Huntsman jumped back down as he spun the hook faster and faster, him and the beast locked in a standoff as to who would make the first move. Scanning the sea dragon from the head to the tail, he took a few steps back before sparing a glance at his shaking left hand.
It let out a roar so loud the ship swayed from the violent waves that followed, the next second it was already charging for the ship's hull – which the Grimm had been doing since it showed itself – when a sharp sting flared on its side, prompting the sea dragon to flail and thrash around with an ear piercing screech.
The Huntsman got a running start and jumped, right hand clung tightly onto the chain traveling from the Sea Fēilóng's underbelly to its back where he stabbed the machete in his left hand. He found footing with minimal success before retracting the hook back to his hand.
'I need to calm this one down, somehow,' then it clicked. He began climbing up to the head while the crew back on the ship kept firing to keep it at bay. Little by little, the Huntsman reached the neck, and threw the hook again once he saw the mouth. When he caught the weapon looping around, he guided the Grimm – albeit having some difficulty – to a part of the ocean littered with rocks.
In the span of time he stood on the back of the Grimm his world turned, twisted, flipped upside down and back in every direction, all while his ears rang that he almost couldn't hear anything, and every bone in his body felt like cracking as he was already low on aura. 'I can barely talk but I am NOT about to go deaf!'
His veins looked like they were going to pop as he pulled on the makeshift reins, his left arm burned and the other started to feel like it was about to rip in two. Yet he persisted, leaning his body as they wrapped around a particularly long and sharp rock. Making sure he had a good grip on the dragon, he removed the machete from its hide and folded the blade to form a barrel.
The moment they were face to face the huntsman shot two Ice Dust rounds at point blank range, rendering the beast blind. However, the beast was still alive and in a desperate attempt tried to throw him off and slash him across the stomach. It was partially successful however it slashed across his back, not the stomach. He screamed, blood staining the back of his ripped suit simultaneously freezing the Sea Dragon in place from the shock of his Reverb.
The crew took the opportunity, "He's got it where we want 'em sir!" "Good! Engines, full power!" The ship's engines roared and sped into the Grimm, sheer coincidence stabbed it right through the heart. They waited with bated breath for the Grimm to disappear, followed by an eruption of cheers two seconds later when they remembered the Huntsman was still on the dissipating beast.
"Somebody catch him!" Said one woman in the crowd prompting the people near the bow to use a nearby inflatable life raft, catching him in the nick of time. Then the men lifted him out, "Gently, people," before laying him on the deck floor.
"Everybody out of the way! Give the boy some air!" the Captain called out, dispersing the people to see the Huntsman's condition along with some medics in his crew, "By the Gods he's bleeding! Quick, get him to the ship's med bay!"
If I had known this was going to happen, I'd still have boarded. This ship would have sunk to the depths if it weren't for me and mostly the crew's efforts. Everything looked fuzzy, my lungs shrinking with every short breath I took, my back felt numb, and my breather was nowhere to be seen. I moved an arm to my face and flexed my hand and fingers, same for the other. I squinted my eyes and groaned when the light above my head registered.
"Thank the Gods you're awake young lad." The voice came from somewhere to my right, it was gruff, firm, yet concerned.
I sat up, "Captain?" then coughed and gagged; my throat felt more dry than salted crackers as I tried not to scratch at it, "Where's my–"
He immediately went to my side and put his hands on my shoulders, "Whoa whoa easy there son, it's just over in the corner. Hold on, let me get it," a second later he came back with the breather. And with some difficulty, the old man helped me put it on.
While adjusting the breather and drinking some water, he dragged a chair that was off to the side to the right foot of the bed, "How're the other passengers?" I asked. He sighed and loosened in his seat, "Eight people died, a few hurt and still recovering. Look, It ain't your fault they died, best you did was kill the monster that caused it."
I looked away, running a hand down my back to feel the scar. "That doesn't make it any better, they still died." I should've done better, like the trained huntsmen before me.
The boy was troubled, that much was obvious to the Captain, from the way he spoke, his reactions and movements. So he took off the glove from his left hand and revealed to the young lad his prosthetic hand. Once his eyes widened, the Captain told the boy his tale, "I was once a strapping young lad like you, off on a perilous journey ending in me losing a brother in all but blood, and this here hand."
The boy's brows furrowed and his lips pursed. The Captain sighed sharply, putting the glove back on. "Look, what I'm trying to say is; don't mourn and skulk for too long, 'cause it's not what anybody would want. They'd want you to sort of change, move on."
The boy looked away, "You're not my dad," as the Captain chuckled, "No I'm not, just sharing a cautionary tale of sorts; being a huntsman can be tough, mentally and physically—" He paused, "you know, I never did get your name lad." The huntsman peered out the window still in bed as the port to Vale slowly came to view in the horizon.
He turned back to the old man, "Lachlan. Aster Lachlan, soon to be Huntsman-in-training at Beacon." He reached out a hand for a shake. Which the Captain accepted.
Heyo! It's been a while isn't it? Went dark for a few reasons but I am of course still working on Walking Plague, this one took my attention away for a while. Not much to say here so I will see ya in the next chapter, which I promise will be one week away after this one.
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