User blog:Darknessabove/Huntsman: Old Wounds

The air was thick with a putrid smell as large lakes of mud and tar bubbled, while thick reeds grew around and in these lakes, some of which practically covered the muddy lakes, creating dangerous natural traps, one miss step and any passer by would quickly fidn them selves waste deep in the putrid mud.

Inbetween these large lakes, were small path ways, some natural, while others had been artificailly created by the inhabitants of Sanctuary in an attempt to increase the ease of going to and from Sanctuary, while being carefully concealed in an attempt to deter the order and demonic armies from commiting a force to the area.

The lack of visible pathways, mixed with the large area of swamps created a powerful natural defence, the mere sight of such an inhospitable looking place would put off even soem fo the most determined order fanatic.

That said, as the Huntsman navigated through this swamp, he wished he could throw his current company into one of these mud lakes.

Markers and Slimes

It had been half a day since the Huntsman and Sasha had left Sanctuary, navigating through the twisting paths of the swamp, the huntsman using pathways that only he knew about.

After all, he had made sure to map out the area around Sanctuary when he had first arrived at the town several years back, creating hidden markers that only would be able to sense using his own spiritual energy.

These markers could be left on anything, dirt, rock, bark, it didn't matter, he only needed a bit of energy to create these markers and with them, he had mapped out pathways and areas in the swamp where he could tread.

Apart from letting the Huntsman quickly go to and from Sanctuary, it meant that he could lead pursers into the middle of this swamp and trap them in the thick mud, while getting away unscathed.

It also meant he could move away from routes well travelled, which allowed him to avoid many of the monsters that inhabited this swamp, many of which were made up of the slime species, most fo which were bubble slimes.

Most slimes weren't very intellegent, usually attacking the first person they could get a hold of, they also tended to be slow compared to humans, which made them one of the easier types of monsters to avoid.

However, this was only true if you spotted them first, since like all monsters, they had an almost fanatical persistance, this mixed with a high degree of immunity to damage, along with an exceptionally flexable body which could easily wrap around any one that got close and you have the perfect ambush class monster and in this swamp, where the slimes could hide in the reeds and the lakes, it negated their slow speed and lack of intellegence, after all, once they wrap around your legs it doens't matter how stupid they are, you aren't running.

The Huntsman however easily avoided them, using hsi ability to detect energy nearby him to avoid any potencial ambushes, though he didn't have to use this to avoid Sasha, who pretty much broadcasted her attacks.

"Come on darling, let's find some where to fight, warrior to warrior" she said as she took a swing at the Huntsman, who side stepped and tripped her up, cvausing her to stumble into one of the mud pools.

"Your my escort, your meant to be making it easier for me to get to my destination, not foce me to waste energy keeping you in line" the Huntsman crudly stated to Sasha, who was busy dragging her self out the mud.

"And don't call me darling"

The Huntsman shook his head as he continued on, with Sasha quickly brushing the mud off her.

"Why did i take her along with me" the Huntsman though to him self as the tempreture started to drop, daylight was starting to fade and would soon be replaced by the darkness of night.

Dangerous Concoction

The sound of crackling filled the air near by as the Huntsman and Sasha sat near a campfire, the orange flames illuminating the surroundings in a warm glow as the flames flicked and swayed in the light breeze.

While Sasha was eating an unfortuant lizard which hadn't managed to escape her grasp earlier, the Huntsman went about checking his gear, cleaning his knives, making sure they were properly embued with his unique enchantments, something which got Sasha's attention as she finished her meal, creeping closer to the Huntsman, who threw one of the knives in her direction, brushing past her face and hitting the tree behind him.

"Hmmm, that one seemed a little heavy towards the blade" he muttered as Sasha froze for a moment, before sitting down where she was, tail swaying as the Huntsman started to pack his knives into his cloak, before getting up and moving towards the tree he had thrown his knive at, his cloak blowing int he wind, Sasha noticing several vials, filled with a green liquid.

"Whats that green stuff?" she asked as the Huntsman pulled his knive out the tree, brushing away bits of bark before packing it away and moving back near the camp fire, sitting at the opposite end of the fire, causing Sasha to grumble unhappily.

The Huntsman stared at Sasha for a moment, before replying.

"It's a stimulant"

Sasha raised her eyebrow, a little confused.

"Stimu wha?" she said, staring at the Huntsman with her head tipped to the right.

"In a basic sense, it makes a person more alert" he said as Sasha picked at her teeth with her claw, causing the Huntsman to sigh.

"Can't even pay attention long enough to listen to my answer, typical monster" he though to him self.

In truth, his concotion did more then simply increase alertness.

It caused a persons heart rate to double, adrenaline levels to triple, which in turn increase aggression and made the person exceptionally responsive to out side stimulie and forced the brain to work faster for around 2 hours and that was after one dose.

A second dose would allow a person to use their muscles beyond what the body would usually allow, seemingly increasing their strength to observers, though in truth, it let them use their muscles to their full potencial, something which the body usually would not allow, it would also prolong the effects of the first dose, though this would be significantly reduced compared to one dose.

A third dose would cause the pain receptors in the body to turn off, allowing a person to simply continue through what would be crippling pain.

At most, with 3 doses, the effects could last around 3 and a half hours.

That said, they had some significant drawbacks.

If one dose was taken, a person would feel some fatigue and their alertness would drop modoratly, while they would not be able to settle down for around 4 hours after the dose had worn off.

If 2 doses were taken, a person would feel significantly weakened after the effects wore off and if they have pushed their body hard, they would also feel signifcant amounts of pain, this coudl last for around a day, depending on how much the person had pushed their body.

If 3 doses were taken, the person would pretty much collapse after the effects wore off, their muscles would have difficulty moving and their brains ability to process information (especially in regards to visual and audio input) would be completely crippled.

If that wasn't bad enough, it would also mess with a persons ability to manipulate spiritual energy, pretty much crippling their ability to use most magic and in the Huntsmans case, it would leave him unable to see or sense energy.

It would leave him completely blind and reliant on his sense of hearing.

It was the Huntsman emergency measure if caught in a bad situation, boosting his physical abilties and thus creatinga chance to resolve the issue.

It's not something he wanted to use with Sasha around if he could avoid it, since the drawbacks could potencially put him right in her grasp, if she could use that oppotunity.

Restless Traveler

The Huntsman looked around, nestled in the leaves of a tree as he kept a lookout for any potencail attackers.

He was on lookout duty, something he volunteered for, since he didn't trust Sasha (or any one else, monster or other wise) to guard him while he slept, not that he slept much.

He would take any oppotunity when he felt 'safe' (a rarity) to quickly sleep and regain a little energy, though these would be a hour at most.

He only truly slept when he got back to his hide out, which could be amount to weeks, returning when ever he needed to aquire new contracts from Lilith, who was his main source of income, due to her information and contact network and from getting bounties at the Jackels retreat and at most he spent a few days in Sanctuary to prepare for his next expedition.

He was restless, never wanting to stay any where long, never wanting to be tied down, always moving forward.

It was the one thign that drove hime, he just wouldn't or rather, he couldn't stand still, he always had to be in motion.

Even if it meant he had no place to call home, even Sanctuary, which he used as a hub, always returning once he had furfilled any contracts he had taken, would not be his home forever, he would move on, he would find another place to call home, before moving on again.

He sat on one of the thicker branches as he scanned his surroundings, his eye glowing blue, as he searched and analysed the area.

He only stopped when Sasha disturbed.

A subject to be left alone

"Aren't you meant to be sleeping" the Huntsman said as he looked down at Sasha, keeping some awareness of his surroundings as he did.

"I've got a question for you" she said, smiling at the Huntsman.

"What is it" he replied with a harsh tone, though this didn't stop Sahsa from smiling.

"Whats your name?" she asked, tail swaying in anticipation.

The Huntsman stared at her for a few moments, before going back to scanning the surroundings.

"The Huntsman" he replied snappily to Sasha, who though he was being shy.

"Awww, don't worry, it can be a secret between me and you" she said, trying to pry even a tiny bit of information out of him.

After all, the reason she came along was to try and get closer to him and knowing his name would be a step towards that.

"That's my name, the Huntsman, any other useless questions?" he replied, this time, a hint of anger in his voice, which Sasha though was strange.

"But i want to know more about you" she shouted happily, tail swishing wildly.

The swishing stopped when the Huntsman jumped down form the tree, turning and glaring at Sasha.

He seemed... angry, something that confused her.

"It's better for you if you don't know anything and if you dare ask useless questions again, i'll break your leg and leave you where you are" he said in an anger filled tone, his hand clenched round a dagger, while Sasha froze in place.

It felt like blades were pressed against her neck, her body cold and chilled as he stared at her, only subsiding when he turned around, breaking eye contact with her.

She looked at her right hand, it was shaking uncontrollably.

She was confused.

She felt like she had been in the sights of a beast... a beast filled with rage and blood lust.

"I must... of imagined it" she muttered to her self as she placed one of her hands on her forhead.

It was covered in sweat.

"Hurry up and pack up, we're moving"

The Huntsman voice caused her to snap out of it as she scrambled around, packing up supplies and putting them in a sack as the Huntsman walked off

"I must of been imagining it"

As she packed, she failed to notice the Huntsman leaning against a nearby tree, hand placed over his right eye, noticing that his hand felt wet.

He took a deep breath, wiping the blood on a nearby leaf while using a piece of cloth to wipe the blood from his eye, before exhaling and shouting to Sasha.

"Hurry up"

Sasha doubled her pace as the Huntsman started to walk away from the temporary camp site.

"Calm" he though to him self as Sasha quickly picked up the sack full of supplies and ran after him.

Opposites

The sun cast its rays upon the ground, heat rising from the surface where the sun hit it, the air hot and dry, as dust blew across the surface, mile upon mile of flat desolate desert gaving no respite from the suns scorching rays.

No water, barely any vegetation and practically no where to take cover from the sun, it would be an act of insanity to even dare to cross it.

Yet, 2 figures slowly made their way across the desert, one of them surprisingly energetic, the other, threatening to tie her up and leave her in the middle of the desert.

The Huntsman and Sasha had continued travelling through out the night after she seemingly angered him, Sasha keeping up with the Huntsman now relentless pace as they crossed the desert, the air hot and dry, in comparison to the humid and cool air of the swamps they had been traveling through, during whih Sasha made several attempts to try and get close to the Huntsman after her blunder, trying to 'make' it up to him for angering him, which ironically only seemed to irritate him even more.

Still, even if it was irritating, Sashas mere presence had helped to deter several of the swamps inhabitants from attacking him.

That and she glared at any one who tried sneack a glance at him. He had counted on this being the case, though it meant he did have to put up with her attempts to get closer to him.

It was a strange comparison really.

He seemed, numb, unmoving, focused, not to mention very direct in his speech.

He also seemed... out of it... like part of him wasn't connected to this world.

It could be observed with the way he looked at people, true he was blind, but even then it seemed like he was... looking through them, as if their presence wasn't significant to him

Sasha how ever was completely different, she was bubbily and energetic, could happily talk for hours with patrons that visited her inn and seemed to focus directly on people, enjoying their company.

She also thrived on busy environments, she liked it when places seemed to be full of life, people going back and forth.

If there was one thing they had in common, it was determination.

Her's came from her desire to be with someone strong, to be united with them (in this case, the Huntsman).

His... it came from inside him... something dark.

It was like she was the light and he was the dark, funny really, considering she's a monster and he's a human.

Though, that's really a matter of perspective sometimes.

He rubbed his forhead, breathing deeply as he continued to walk, Sasha's constant nattering seemed to hit a sore spot.

Though, that wasn't the only reason.

Stalker

Ever since they had left the swamps surrounding Sanctuary and entered the desert, the lack of ambient demonic energy in the desert had allowed the huntsman to increase his detection range, after all, being blind and walking across sand, something which isn't known for being completely solid and stable, would put him at a disadvantage if something managed to sneak up on him, hence, a greater focus on detecting anything near by.

He always made sure to keep a track of Sasha incase she tried anything, but the other entity he could sense had persistantly followed them for the last 2 days, something he verified by not taking a straight route through the desert, tracking how the entity reacted.

Every time they stopped, it stopped, every time they moved, it followed, keeping a set distance from them.

It was being cautious, trying to avoid being detected by them.

The huntsman didn't know who they were, but he could confirm one thing.

It was a manomo following them.

He hadn't told Sasha, since he didn't want to cause her to double her efforts in an round about attempt to 'ward' off their pursuer, instead opting to travel through out the day and night, only taking short breaks, explaining to Sasha that the faster they got through the desert, the better for them.

Still, he couldn't keep ignoring this potencial threat, especially since they would be entering undead territory soon enough and he rather not have to keep an eye out for thsi stalker, not when he would need to focus on avoiding the undead.

"Sasha, we're going to camp tonight, we will need a good nights sleep before we enter the undead lands." the Huntsman said to Sasha, who attempted to grab him. with him side stepping and tripping her up.

He had to bait this stalker into getting close so he could deal with them, even if this put him at a disadvantage with this stalker... or put him at risk from Sasha's predations.

He simply could not afford to take the risk once they were in the undead lands.

Unexpected Help

The night air was cold as the Huntsman and Sasha set up camp, the Huntsman making sure to threaten Sasha so she wouldn't attempt to attack him during the night.

She of course grumbled, but after dodging a few of the Huntsman knives and the bloodlust he emitted, she agreed not to try any thing.

Not that he trusted her.

That said, he didn't want to incapaciate her f possible, after all, if this stalker some how got the better of him, he hoped that Sasha would chase them off and give him time to recover... and hopefully resist the urge to take advantage of him in a weakened state.

His eyes closed, he focused completely on his sense of sound and his ability to sense energy.

At first, the entity kept her distance, then suddenly, it started to approach him quickly, the sound fo footsteps getting louder, which caused Sasha to rise from her slumber, a bit groggy, as the entity sprinted past her.

The huntsman clutched his dagger, a few more seconds and this stalker would get a nasty surprise.

Thats when he noticed soemthing strange, the entity wasn't running directly towards him, it seemed to be running towards the right.

Doubt filled his mind, doubt which forced him to roll to the side, quickly getting up on his feet.

As he did, the entity screamed, the energy it emitted was familar, it's voice one that envolked irritation in the Huntsman.

It was Reina.

She screamed as she jumped, the Huntsman focusing as he saw her jump on something.

He couldn't see or sense what she was attacking, only that there was something there.

Offense

The Huntsman focused intensily, filtering out everything except for his ability to sense energy.

Reina energy flucuated as she attacked a large siloette, its body easily twice the size of a normal humans, with what seemed to be a large sort of tail jutting out the back.

This prevously invisible assailant quickly threw Reina off as it made a bee line right for the huntsman, tail above its head.

The Huntsman footing was unstable due to the sand and he knew from experaince that he would become exhausted quickly from fighting on such unstable ground.

So he decided to go all in on the offense.

During this, Sasha had woken up, very angry that some one had attempted to assault the Huntsman in hsi sleep.

That was her privilege she though to her self.

She quickly picked up her sword tail on fire, as she charged towards the attacker, with Reina also sprinting towards the attacker.

What Sasha and Reina saw in the next few seconds stunned them.

As this new assailant went to strike the Huntsman, he jumped backwards, glowing and mumbling as he did.

The moment his feet hit the ground, his voice echoed across the area as multiple knives flew out of his cloak, all flying towards the assailant.

It wasn't 3 or 4 knives, it was over 20, his entire stock, each dripping with venom.

In mere moments, multiple knives struck his attacker, bringing them to a halt as they collapsed, their legs unable to hold them up as the venom on the Huntsmans knives quickly took effect.

Reminder

The Huntsman slowly approached his attacker, his eye now adjusting, allowing him to see the attackers energy in a better way.

He recognised the siloette now.

It was a Girtablilu, the famous assasins of the desert, able to sneak up on their prey without giving away even a hint of their presence.

He had encountered one in the past.

He rubbed his side, a reminder of how skillful they were.

They were good enough to bypass even his keen senses and the fact that this one had managed to get so close without him even sensing it was concerning to him.

Worse, he had ironically been saved by the stalker who had been following him and Sasha through the desert, not to mention the energy he had used up just now to make sure she couldn't strike him.

It may be a very simple way to use his energy, embueing it on his knives and then using that to guide his knives, but each one did use up a portion of his energy and in this case, he used up a sizeable portion to increase their speed and accuracy to make sure they hit, along with using a large number at the same time.

He made sure that she was not getting up, before taking the knives out of her.

She wasn't dead, but with the amount of venom she just had put into her, she wasn't going to get up any time soon.

Half the knives ahd shattered when they hit her claws and parts of her that had carapace on them, which wans't good for him, thats a lot of wasted recources that he would have to pay to replace.

Still, that was better then being dragged away by her... or mounted by Reina or Sasha.

As he took the last knife out of the Girtablilu, he looked up, noticing that Sasha and Reina were now squaring up, Reina growling, Sasha hissing.

It was clear they didn't want to share the Huntsman between them.

Deal

Sasha and Reina continued to glare at each other, tetth showing, claws at the ready.

"Get lost you over grown mutt, a strong man like only deserves a strong women like me around" Sasha shouted, whioch caused Reina to growl.

"Fuck off puny lizard, the only place he belongs is underneath me as i mount him" Reina snapped back.

They would of charged at each other if it wasn't for a familar feeling hitting them both.

As they both hit the ground, knives sticking in their arms, they realised they should of disabled the hutnsman first, who walked over to Reina, causing Sasha's face to drop, though that was quickly replaced by concern as the huntsman drew a dagger from his cloak.

She may of not wanted a rival for the huntsmans affection, but she didn't want her to die.

Reina looked up, hissing and growling at the huntsman, who knelt down, pinning her down by the neck with his hand as he drew the dagger close to her face.

"I warned you to leave me alone and yet here you are once more, eager to get in my way once more" he said as he ran the blade across her face, creating a small cut, though this didn't put her off.

"Your mine, you belong underneath me and i wasn't going to let some overgrown bug take you away" she shouted angrily.

The huntsman stared at Reina, unfazed by her declaration, before raising his hand up, dagger gripped, which caused Reina to close her eyes and squeal as she saw his hand rush down towards her.

A few moments of silence followed, before Reina opened her eyes, seeing the dagger mere millimeters away from her neck to the side of her.

"I can kill you any time i wish, but that would be a waste of potencailly useful resources" the hutnsman said as he got up, dagger in hand, as he pulled the knife out of Reina's arm.

"So here's the deal, you help by escorting me to the undead lands and in exchange, i'll find you a suitable... husband for you, i have many contacts, so you will have your pick of the most virile suitors, deal?" the huntsman said as he looked at her.

Reina blinked for a moment, to her, the proposal was absurd, she had already decided that the huntsman was hers and no man, not even him, was stronger then her, so why should she agree to this she though.

"It's that or I kill you here and get rid of an anoying little pest, your choice" the huntsman said with manevolence in his voice, which caused Reina and Sasha to shiver.

Reina swallowed hard as she looked at him, before mumbling.

"I... agree."

The huntsman grunted in response, before turning around and heaidng to Sasha, kneeling down before taking the knife out her arm.

"Keep an eye on her" the huntsman whispered to Sasha, whose face lit up, something Reina saw.

Reina gritted her teeth, mumbling under her breath.

"You will be mine."

Entrance to a monsters paradise

The following morning, the huntsman, Sasha and Reina set off, continuing to head towards the undead lands, with Sasha and Reina constantly arguing the entire way.

"He told me to keep an eye on you, which means he doesn't trust you like he trusts me" Sasha shouted as she thumped her chest with her hand, grinning as she did.

Reina growled at Sasha, though she resisted the urge to start a fight with Sasha.

Afterall, the huntsman could run off during their fight and that would mean she would have to track him down again.

The huntsman continued to walk, ignoring their arguing, since it was part of his plan to get their attention away from him, for the moment at least.

By setting them agaisnt each other, they would hopefully attack each other while he could rest, though he knew this wouldn't be the case for long.

Afterall, monsters have been known to cooperate with each other if it means they can get a man, he just had to rely on their hotblooded nature to keep them from working together to take him down, that and so long as they stayed with in range of him, it may put off other monsters and if that didn't happen, they could just fight them for him.

He would use up as little energy as possible and they would become more exhausted, giving him a greater chance of escape if things went badly.

Reina and Sasha continued to argue, only stopping when they noticed the huntsman was behind them.

They saw him looking forwards, which prompted them to do the same.

In front of them, the desert started to thin out, replaced by twisted trees, the bark withered and decayed, while varouis fungus grew upon the trees, parasites to a dead host.

Even the sky reflected the change in land, it was black as night, despite it being the early part of the day, thick clouds blocking out any sunlight.

To the huntsman though, it was a much different sight.

He saw demonic energy twisting and turning inside the trees, the soil and even the very air it self.

The place was saturated with it, to the point that a ordinary human would sucumb to its influence very quickly.

For a monster however, the energy would fill their body, cuaisng them to become more energetic and active, not to mention more eager to get close to a man.

A monsters paradise and the huntsman bane.

The huntsman rubbed his right eye, it hadn't seen the light of day for many years now and yet it was throbbing, it was hurting.

He rubbed his fingers, the feeling of something moist and wet covered them, which prompted him to lick them quickly.

It tasted of iron.

The huntsman wiped his fingers with a piece of cloth from his cloak, before taking a deep breath.

He held it for a few moments, thinking about what he was doing, how he should proceed, what possible dangers would await him and the possibility that Julie Carver hadn't kept her side of the bargain.

After all, regardless of how long they had known each other, she was a monster, a very powerful one at that and their was a lot to gain from stabbing him in the back.

He exhaled as he started to walk towards the tree line.

He had to move forward, despite how uneasy he felt.

After all, it was the only thing he could do now.

Sasha and Reina quickly followed as the huntsman entered the tree line, they would stick close to him in this place and hopefully get the oppotunity to get closer to him (or in Reina's case, get on top of him).

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

Index

Authors notes: 

Thats this chapter finish, started the next one, also plan on doing a sort of index page, so that people don't need to search page after page of the blog to find stuff.

Laters.

03-09-2015:

Still doing the reimagination (sounds better then remake), hopefully i'll have somethign of higher quality soon.

07-09-2015:

Added more, which hopefully reveals a tiny bit more about the Huntsman character.

05-10-2015:

finished my adjustments, i basiclaly made the chapter longer, i'll eb making tweaks here and there, but for now, i'm a bit happier.