A Hunter visits Equestria

Roderick groaned loudly as he found himself awoken by a bright light. This was odd, and rather uncommon since Yharnam was always cloaked in a veil of darkness. Night was the only thing they received, so what was this? The lids covering his eyes slowly parted to reveal!...The sun. He instantly averted his gaze; hissing in pain at the sting the light caused his eyes. He shook his head a bit, but the damage was already done. Each time he closed his eyes, he'd catch sight of some specks flashing just out of his vision. He cursed under his breath, "Son of a bitch..." Muttering obscenities, he went to pinch the bridge of his nose, but met the mask instead. Groaning, he lifted it upwards, letting it perch upon his head. Hints of dirty-blonde hair stood out from under the mask. Roderick sighed, massaging one of his temples in thought. Although, this ended with his hand traveling down to his Goatee, stroking the plethora of blond hairs sticking out from his chin. He did appear quite young, perhaps looking well into his early twenties. What was he using to keep his skin so healthy?! The world may never know!...

Jokes aside, Roderick chuckled slightly at the thought; one so alien that he found could be in some sort of advertisement. He winced immediately after, a large headache thumping at the confinements of his skull. Trying to get his thoughts off the steadily growing migraine, he look around and finally noticed he had been in the clearing of a strange forest. No, this certainly couldn't be the Forbidden Forest. It was a lot darker, in light and color. This just seems like some child painted the trees with the brightest colors they could find. Honestly, it was true. The trees were the right color, but all in all, they were a shade to light for his tastes. Looking down, he caught sight of the multiple lacerations in his outfit, Elleen would have been so mad at him... The thought actually made him laugh out loud; what would she have done to him? Scold him like a mother? No, she'd probably do something far worse. Slowly sliding the mask back on, he continued to laugh.

His hearty laughter wasn't without repercussions, since it sent him into a coughing fit. Another look gave him insight on his wounds, which, for some reason had turned into scars... This wasn't right. He was perplexed as anyone would have been, he had just fought Gehrman in what seemed like moments ago, and died to Gehrman! So wh- Wait! He died! Why was he alive and why here?! He didn't sit long on those thoughts, though. He was energized now, using his strength to hop up onto his feet and look around. He patted his body down rapidly, searching himself for anything that would give him an answer. Nothing out of the ordinary, of course, but it was perplexing nonetheless. "This is confusing..." Grumbling, Roderick went to pick up his weapon. Shifting his gaze towards the forest floor, he found instead two. His 'Chikage' as the vileblood queen had called it, and the weapon he was killed with; the Burial Blade. The curved sword sat neatly next to the folded up pole. His brows furrowed in confusion. The Japanese-styled blade he once owned laid just inches away from the odd place, it's golden scabbard gleaming gently from the morning sun. The dark-red leather wrapped around the handle called to him.

Walking slowly towards his blade, he picked the lengthy weapon with his left hand. Securely attaching the katana to the left side of his hip. Looking down at the other blade, one old man came to his mind. There was fond memories of the man. Although Gehrman was odd, he wasn't all that bad. Perhaps...perhaps he should have listened to the man, before he truly tried to avoid the inevitable. Sighing gently, he bent over, gripping the handle of the closed pole, and then the scimitar-like blade next to it. He hung the folded staff on his back, attaching the other blade onto the right side of his hip. Catching himself, he almost forgot the blunderbuss on the ground, which he quickly snatched up; sliding it into the holster hanging limply from his left thigh. Looking around the clearing, he rose his gaze to the sun. He would agree that even he was lost in such a dense foliage, and his objective would be to find a way out.

"What is this place?" He thought aloud, furrowing his brow in thought. This place seemed, what was the word? Mystical? It seemed...unreal to him in a way, but then again he was always fighting mangled beasts. What was any different from a dark, gothic setting, than one of pastel colors? If anything, this world was much more forgiving, or so he thought. Roderick in question began exploring the natural paths of the forest. Each step he took was silent, the occasional 'chirps' and other noises being the only thing to pierce the veil of silence. He had been so enthralled in his own mind, that he jumped upon hearing a loud rumble. Quickly scouring the area in a panic, he found the sound to have emanated from his stomach. That of which was shown to him, when he heard it yet again, followed by the slight hunger-pangs biting into the lining of his stomach.

He blinked slowly, his expression falling to one of indifference at the feeling. He had gone a few days with little food, something like this probably wouldn't stop him from continuing in his exploration. Then again, it was better to get his bearings, rather than being completely ignorant. He continued, step after steps towards the heart of the Everfree. With the terrain changing, he had to be careful. The flat land slowly went downhill. Grumbling to himself, he slowly traversed downward, the density of the trees and bushes thinning as he progressed. Within a few seconds, his eyes met the beautiful sight of a running stream. He stopped abruptly, though, when he saw something. Just feet from him, drinking from the stream was something he had only ever heard of in myth. A manticore.

The towering beast was like some god mashed a plethora of beasts together, to get this type of aberration! Two bat-like wings were closed behind it's broad back, and a large, black scorpion tail sat curled up behind it. It was huge! It would probably be about his height, and he was well over six feet in height. Knowing just how dangerous it could be, he simply watched. The creature in turn stopped drinking, it's feline-like ears twitching and swiveling, trying to catch the faintest sound of anything near it. When the beasts caution was dimmed substantially do to nothing making a hint of noise, it resumed it's drinking. Roderick's breath was held, and with hunger and thirst eating away at his body, he knew what he'd have to do.

The thundering footsteps could be heard within an instant, and just as he neared the manticore, did it turn around. The hunched over beast staring at him with slitted pupils. The beasts eyes widened in surprise first, but quickly narrowed as it's lips peeled back in a snarl. Roderick had already placed his hand on the hilt of his katana, the handle pulsing an ominous red as he felt a few pricks in his palm. The manticore quickly threw it's paw out, claws erect in clear intent to kill Roderick. Ducking under such an attack at the last minute, he receive a shallow gash upon the side of his head, but he yelled at the thing in challenge. His blade was drawn swiftly, the silver blade erupting from it's sheath, however, the last few inches of the blade appeared to have what seemed like crystallized blood plastered on it's length. The sharp, serrated edge near the end bit into the beasts thick hide, but it sunk deep into the creatures flesh. When he quickly back-stepped, what was left behind on the Manticore was a deep gash in it's chest.

The manticore in turn roared in pain, it's slitted pupils burning with rage. Roderick quickly swung his blade to his side, the crystallized blood liquefying in an instant and splattering against the ground, leaving a clean silver blade in it's wake. He removed his left hand from his scabbard, gripping the lower portion of his katana. The Manticore charged him instantly, and he prepared himself slowly, raising his blade slowly. A split second passed; they clashed.

Roderick breathed heavily as he pressed himself against a large boulder near the river. The manticore had put up one hell of a fight, it's bloodied corpse laying limp near the river, where it's blood seeped into the clear water. He winced as he moved, feeling a jolt of pain in his torso, where the beast had got him. Three deep gashes bleed from his chest, and reminding himself of something that could help, he fumbled with a hand into his pocket, pulling out a vial that held a red substance inside. Flicking the cork off with his thumb, he tilted it back, pouring the sanguine liquid on his wounds and grunting in pain. It did it's job, however, since the wounds themselves began to slowly mend themselves. Gritting his teeth through the painful ordeal, he sat back and simply rested; he deserved it.

Well, thankfully Roderick wasn't heavily injured, or else he would have much, much more trouble hauling the manticore through the forest. Having sated his thirst on the way, he filled up a canteen he had strapped to his waist, above his backside. Grunting heavily, he stumbled forward, "Fucking manticore! Why're you so heavy?!" He exclaimed, glaring at the corpse as he walked, eventually reaching a point in which he would set the thing down. It had been around midday by now, and the sun was quickly setting. Perhaps setting up camp was the good idea. With that in mind, he began getting to just that.

By now, the various noises of the Everfree permeated the dark forest. With a shelter set up next to one of the thick trunks, Roderick had been set inside. A large campfire crackling brightly just feet way. A few sticks were stuck in the ground facing the fire, chunks of meat hanging from them. Yawning lightly, he ripped one from the ground, the once pink meat having taken on a brown pigment. Sniffing it experimentally, he bit into it, ripping away the surprisingly tender flesh and swallowing the juicy steak with relish. He hummed in delight at it's taste. With the fire crackling, he found himself relaxing much more than even he thought he could in such a place. After finishing his dinner, he had passed out under the leaf-and-stick tent he had made. A plethora of green, flaming hues stared at the strange being from beyond the light. They stared curiously at the thing, before slowly slinking back into the darkness...