Drumroll please!

I am happy to announce the triumphant return of Ten Little Hunters! It's been hard to pick this up writing TLH again after Monty's passing, but it would be foolhardy to completely leave this project entirely.

The winner shall be announced at the end of the chapter, but first, dust off your old detective caps, because you've got some more sleuthing to do!

Chapter 2: AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT

Jaune stumbled his way through the dark hallway. The lights were inaccessible in this section of the academy, and there were not nearly enough windows to provide practical moonlight to navigate the unfamiliar hall, wherever the hell he was. Jaune tried his best to carefully traverse the shady building, but, with his luck, ran into wall after wall after goddamn wall. His annoyance with himself was only outweighed by the fear that he had pertaining to the current state of affairs.

"At this point I'm not even gonna be surprised if I'm next to die," Jaune grunted, as he ran smack into a pillar. "Owwwww… I'm making this way too easy…"

It wasn't long before he tripped and fell right on his face.

The first thing he noticed was the soft, comfortable texture of the carpet below him. He grasped at it; it felt cool to the touch. Jaune sighed. Perhaps it was an inappropriate time, but he'd never given much thought to the carpet before. He didn't mind lying there, prone to whatever attacks may befall. In fact, if this was his way to go, then this would be a great way to do it – comfortable, unaware, blissfully ignorant of the cold-blooded killer coming to get him…

"No!" Jaune shot up with renewed vigor. "I can't just give up like that! My friends are in danger, and here I am thinking of just kicking back and waiting to be killed. I can't- no. I won't be a burden. Not while I'm still alive!" And with that, he climbed to his feet, Crocea Mors at the ready.

And at that very moment, a tiny light came into view from much farther down the hall.

Jaune's blood ran cold. Could that be it? Could that be the killer? They were still a long ways away from him. He most definitely had time to find a hiding spot. But… should he?

The blonde boy's grip tightened on his sword and shield. "No," he whispered to himself. "I'm gonna tackle this problem head-on." He slowly crept forward, cautious but intrigued. Who could it possibly be?

The light was coming closer. Jaune's heart thumped rapidly in his chest and he could almost hear it. He led with his shield and cocked his arm back, ready for anything. He could even make out the form of the person behind the light. Closer and closer they came-

And he tripped. Again.

Jaune hit the floor with an audible grunt and instantly froze at the sound. His breathing was absolutely still, and now he could hear the approaching footsteps. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. CLICK. CLACK.

And then they stopped.

He saw the boots first, planted firmly adjacent to his face. Slowly and shakily, he turned his body to face the now blindingly bright light, which joined at the end of a torch. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he was finally able to perceive the hand holding the torch, the flame-red xiphos that rested loosely in the figure's other hand, and the gentle, concerned emerald eyes behind them.

"Jaune?"

The dark hallways weren't particularly harrowing for at least one member of the remaining nine.

Blake wandered through a different section of the colossal academy in complete darkness, not that it was a problem at all to her. In fact, she quite preferred it that way. She'd be alerted if anyone was in the vicinity due to their necessity of light to see by. In fact, to her knowledge, the only other person who could traverse complete darkness was-

Blake shuddered. Sun was dead.

She leaned against the nearest wall and slid down into a sitting position. The whole situation seemed like a really bad joke, and Blake couldn't help but wonder if she was dreaming. Maybe Sun wasn't dead. Maybe if only she woke up, Sun would be right there with that big, stupid grin of his and everything would be alright.

Suddenly, the lights turned on.

Blake squinted as her eyes readjusted to the abrupt presence of light. Someone had snuck up on her and she hadn't noticed their presence, which made her hair stand on end. Was it the killer? Jumping to her feet she, she began to reach for-

Oh right. She didn't have Gambol Shroud on her.

The faunus girl spun on her feet, warily observing her surroundings. "Show yourself, be you friend or foe!" she shouted, trying to feel braver than she was. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and she was afraid that whoever had happened on her could hear it thumping.

"Take it easy, Blake," a cheery voice rang out, and Blake swiftly turned to see Yang emerging from the shadows. "It's just me."

"Oh. Thank God," said Blake in relief, still poised for attack.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Hold on. You don't think I'm the killer?"

"No," Blake still kept her distance. "If it were you, you'd just punch a guy to death. I don't think you have the patience for poison."

Grinning, Yang replied, "Well, I won't argue with that."

Blake started to let her guard down. "How do you know I'm not the killer?"

"Because you're my partner!" Yang beamed. "I trust you. A lot. So call it a hunch, but I don't think you're the killer."

Blake smiled. This was indeed the Yang she knew. "Alright. Fair enough."

Yang walked over and squeezed Blake into a giant bear hug. "I'm so glad you're still alive."

Blake hesitated, still a bit wary, then returned the hug. "Same goes for you. I'm still having trouble registering that Sun is… gone."

Yang smiled sadly. "He was a great guy, if just a bit of idiot. You know that the most out of all of us. The most we can do now is find his killer and prevent anyone else from getting killed."

"Right."

The two broke contact. Blake steeled herself despite her coursing emotions. "What I wouldn't do for a weapon right about now," she joked weakly.

Yang laughed. "Yeah, you've got a bit of a disadvantage right about now. You know what I could use?" Yang stretched. "A nice, warm bath. It'd be great to take my mind off things for moment and clear my head."

"Now's probably not the best time for that," chided Blake. "It would be a bit foolish to relax now when a killer's on the loose."

Yang sighed. "I suppose you're right. Well, where are you heading off to?"

Blake shrugged. "My first priority is finding a weapon. I'm a bit useless against an intuitive serial killer, except maybe for hiding."

"Sounds great," exclaimed Yang. "I'll go with you!"

"NO!" yelled Blake suddenly, surprising Yang. "I mean… no. We have to go our separate ways. If we go separately, the killer will have to work harder to find the both of us, but if we go together, we'll just be lined up like sheep to slaughter. I'm sorry Yang, but... I think this is the best way forward."

Yang seemed hurt for a moment, but then gave Blake a reassuring, albeit saddened, smile. "I understand. It makes sense. I just don't want to see any more of my friends killed, that's all. Especially not you." Yang's expression was uncharacteristically somber. "I think Professor Port had some Grimm traps lying around his classroom, so I'll go see if I can use those. In the meantime, I think there's a fire extinguisher near the commons. I know it's not much, but knowing you, I think you might be able to use it somehow."

Blake nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Stay safe, Yang."

"You too," intoned Yang as she began to walk off. "Oh, and if you manage to find the killer before I do… beat the ever-loving shit outta 'em for me, okay?" The spark of determination manifested Yang's eyes once more.

Blake smiled. "I will."

With that, they set off in opposite directions.

"Pyrrha?"

Jaune stared at the redhead towering over him. With her xiphos drawn, she was indeed a menacing sight to behold, but her eyes were wrought with concern.

Jaune laughed nervously. "You're not about to kill me, are you?"

"W-what? NO!" Pyrrha jumped back, flushed in the face. "Jaune. I'm not the killer. You believe me, right?"

"Y-yeah. It's just that people don't tend to think straight when someone holding a sword is standing over them and a killer is on the loose." Jaune paused for a moment, then reached his arm out with his pinky extended. "Pinky promise."

Pyrrha giggled and wrapped her own pinky around his. "Pinky promise. Here," she grunted, lifting Jaune back on his feet. "Have you seen anyone else?"

"No, just you," responded Jaune. "You?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "No. Just you."

Jaune nodded slowly. "I… guess that's good?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Pyrrha smiled. "I was wondering, since getting out isn't an option at this point, if you wanted to go off together and see if we can find the killer?"

"You sure you want me along?" Jaune muttered dejectedly. "I don't wanna be the reason you get killed…"

"Jaune," Pyrrha reached a hand for Jaune's shoulder and squeezed. "You're a very capable fighter. I couldn't think of anyone better to guard my back than you."

"You really mean it?"

"With all my heart."

The blonde boy took a deep breath. "Alright," he conceded. "If it's me you need, I'll be here for you."

Pyrrha beamed at him. "Thank you, Jaune." She turned and pointed her torch around. "Now, the question stands: which way should we go?"

"Well…" Jaune observed the lit surroundings. "I came from this way… and you came from there… how about we go down here?" He pointed at an intersecting hallway between the previous two directions.

"I suppose it's something to work with!" With a beckoning of her arm, Pyrrha set off in the unfamiliar hallway, with Jaune in tow.

They walked in silence for a while, looking out for any sudden movements or traps that happened to be lying around. Pyrrha would glance anxiously back every once in a while to make sure Jaune was still okay, and he would return her worried look with an equally uneasy smile. There were so many things that she wanted to say to him, to ask him, but every time she tried to open her mouth, no words would come out, which frustrated her to no end. It only made sense that they were both on edge, but Pyrrha thought that if the killer didn't come and murder her right then and there, then the uncomfortable silence between her and Jaune would end up killing her first.

Eventually, Jaune piped up. "You know, this situation actually feels really familiar."

"How do you mean?"

"You mean you don't see it?" Jaune chuckled. "You and me, and a torch, heading into certain doom? Although of course, it's you holding the torch this time and not me."

Pyrrha paused for a moment and looked at the torch in her hand. "You're right," she murmured softly. "Just like when it was you and me against the Emerald Forest."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess it wasn't one of my finer moments," grumbled Jaune. "Getting tossed by a Death Stalker does not rank high on my list of 'pleasant experiences.' It was more like you minus me against the Emerald Forest…"

Pyrrha laughed, partially at Jaune's silliness, but also in relief. She would probably never admit it - but she was afraid. Listening to Jaune being his usual talkative self as he regaled of days past gave her the chance to be at ease – even if only for a little while.

Ren wandered through the unnervingly empty commons, with StormFlower in both hands. Usually the large room would be filled with students eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, talking about how difficult the last class's homework was or gossiping about the successes of the latest missions.

But now only silence befell the commons, one that even made the usually quiet Ren perturbed. He scanned the room and its white-washed walls, its clean floors, its immaculate tables, searching for maybe anything that could help him find-

Ren squinted.

Sitting on one of the tables was a single milkshake.

Slowly, Ren made his way towards it, suspicious of anything that may take advantage of his drawn attention. He reached the milkshake with no trouble, looked around – and sat down on the seat in front of it.

He examined the milkshake. It was spectacularly unremarkable.

Ren lifted the cup to see if there was anything underneath. No cigar.

He set down the milkshake, puzzled. If this was a ruse, it had indeed gotten Ren's attention. Who would be either bold enough or stupid enough to set a trap with a milkshake?

Suddenly, Ren heard a voice.

"You have a milkshake."

Ren peered. Several tables down, he could make out a head of orange hair and turquoise eyes.

He sighed. Of course.

The head grinned.

"And I have a straw."

Nora shifted a moment then pulled out what was indeed a straw.

"There it is, that's a straw, you see? Watch it."

The straw began to inch forward from her position towards Ren. He shook his head at her shenanigans.

"Nora…" he began.

"Now, my straw reaches acroooooooss the room…"

The straw had grown to a ridiculous length (to Ren's surprise) and now hung precariously over the milkshake, in the same way that bricks don't.

"Nora."

"… and starts to drink your milkshake!" The impossibly enormous straw breached the creamy surface of the milkshake.

"Nora…"

"I… drink…"

"Nora…"

"… your… MILKSHAKE! Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurp!"

"NORA!"

A pause. "I don't drink your milkshake?"

Ren sighed. "Nora… what are you doing?" he inquired patiently. "And dare I ask, where did you get a straw that big?"

Nora grinned as she popped out from her hiding spot and danced her way to the dark-haired boy. "You'll never believe what kind of things I found in the kitchen! First of all, we have a milkshake dispenser! ALL THIS TIME AND WE NEVER KNEW! Aaaaaaand there's a ketchup gun, and a mustard gun, and a mayonnaise gun – that one's actually kinda gross – but just imagine what kind of epic food fights we could have! It could be sooooooo awesome!" she sang.

Ren's patience was absolute. "Nora, you do know that there's a killer around, right? It might not be the best idea to just go rummaging through the school kitchen like this."

"I… I know, Ren," Nora flopped down in the seat next to Ren, the mirthfulness gone from her face. "It's just that… well… I'm scared, Ren. Someone is out to get us all, and all I can think of is how much I wished this was all over."

She shuddered. "The fact of the matter is, one of us is already gone, and I don't want to come out of here and see all my friends… dead. I couldn't take it. Picturing Sun's body makes me want to…" she trailed off. "I can't. I think… I think I'm just gonna stay here and lay low. For now."

Ren cupped Nora's cheek. "I understand. I think that's a great idea, too. With all these tables and those things you found in the kitchen, I think you could set up a pretty solid stronghold here."

Nora perked up. "You… you think so?"

Ren smiled. "Of course I do. I haven't ever seen any obstacle stop you before."

"Yeah!" Nora smiled back. "Oh, I'll make the best fort you've ever seen, Ren! In fact, it'll be an impenetrable castle, and no one will be able to get past my defense!"

"And you can be the queen," assured Ren, patting Nora on the head.

"The queen of the castle?"

"Yes. You're the queen of the castle."

Nora beamed. "I'd make a great queen." She grew somber again. "What about you? Are you gonna stay and help."

Ren hung his head. "No. I'm afraid not. After all, my queen doesn't want to find her friends dead, so I think I should go out and bring them back to the castle."

Grinning, Nora exclaimed, "I think that's a wonderful idea! I'll start building the castle, and you can bring back our friends safe and sound!"

Ren nodded, and started to walk out of the commons.

"Oh!" Nora called, causing Ren to pause briefly. "Ren… please promise me that you'll come back safely."

Ren glanced at his uncharacteristically serious best friend.

"I promise."

Although he had visited the academy many times, Neptune couldn't really say that he was familiar with the layout of the school.

In fact, was lost.

If "loster" was a word, it would describe Neptune very accurately in comparison to the other eight hunters roaming around Beacon.

If "lostest" was a word, it would probably be more befitting of a title for the one fly that accidentally flies into a plane with an overseas flight, remains stuck in the plane for the entire duration of the flight, and emerges from the plane some thirty-odd hours later utterly dazed and confused while on the exact opposite side of the planet, only to be eaten by a voracious and absolutely apathetic lizard before the fly can even make sense of its whereabouts. But Neptune came in at a fairly close second.

Regardless, Neptune walked. There was nothing else he could really do.

His number one priority at this point was finding Weiss. In her inebriated state, it was likely for her to be likely prey for the killer, not to mention that she didn't have a weapon either.

"Dammit," muttered Neptune, walking cautiously through the school. "I need to find a weapon, too."

Luckily enough, he soon got his lucky break.

The lights were functional all the way down the hall he was in, and illuminated a room that Neptune was, contrary to popular belief, very familiar with.

"The combat arenas!" Neptune exclaimed. "Finally, something to work with. There should be weapons nearby."

He headed into the storage room next to it to look for potential weapons to use. He rummaged past some practice weapons, a few training robots, a few combat monitors, but nothing to Neptune's liking.

"I can't work with this stuff," he grumbled. "It's got no form of elegance! I might as well be waving a dead twig around, and I'm not going out like a pleb!"

He wrestled past the clutter, reaching the back of the room – and his blood ran cold.

Only a lone training dummy stood in the open back area of the room. Tied firmly to the dummy, to Neptune's horror, was a barely conscious Weiss.

"Weiss!" Without a second thought, Neptune rushed over towards the immobile girl and struggled to untie the ropes binding her to the dummy. "Hold on, Weiss," he whispered softly. "I'm gonna get you out of here."

Weiss slowly opened her eyes. "Neptune…?" she mumbled, her voice dry and cracking from disuse. "Wha… what are you… how did I get here? Why am I tied up?"

"Shhhh," Neptune placed a finger to her lips. "Just relax, and we'll figure this out together."

"Neptune…" she groaned. Little alcohol remained in her system at this point, and soon she was just short of alertness. "You… you came for me."

Neptune smiled. "Yeah. Of course I'd come back for you, snow angel."

Weiss giggled. "Shush, you." Her expression grew serious. "What happened since… since I was out, I suppose?"

"Nothing much." Neptune grunted with an effort, as the ropes were proving much more difficult to work with than he had anticipated. "The killer's still loose, and most everyone's probably alive – for the time being."

"Oh." Weiss straightened up. "Then we must get out of here as soon as we can. We must go find any open exits we can."

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "What about the plan to track down the killer?"

Weiss looked him straight in the eye. "That plan has been rendered obsolete, now that we are all spread out. If we encounter anyone along the way, we can help out as much as we possibly can, but I truly believe we'll be the most help if we can contact authorities. We are not as effective as we can be, currently. Neither of us have weapons, so I refuse to be killed when I know that I had the chance to do something smart." She lifted her chin regally. "It would be foolhardy of us to charge the killer unarmed."

"That makes sense," Neptune mused. "Aha!" He pulled the ropes away triumphantly at last.

Weiss groaned and rubbed her arms, trying to send the blood and feeling back into them. "Thank you, Neptune. I owe you my life."

Neptune chuckled. "Let's get out of here first so that it doesn't go to waste." Weiss shot him a glare. "Sorry. That was in bad taste, wasn't it?"

"Very."

"Alright," Neptune sighed. "You go on ahead; we can't stay still for long with a killer after us. I'll try to find a weapon here and catch up with you."

Weiss shook her head indignantly. "No! I'm not leaving you behind."

Neptune grabbed her shoulders firmly. "You have to. One of us has to make it out alive. This betters our chance. Listen, if I don't catch up to you in the next ten minutes, just know that I… just get yourself out alive, okay?"

"No…" Tears began to fall down Weiss's face, her eyes widening at Neptune's words. "Why would you say that…"

"You said it yourself. No sense in being stupid. I… I love you, Weiss. Please. Make it out alive. For me. Now go."

"But-"

"Go."

Weiss took the hint of tenseness in Neptune's voice. She nodded faintly.

"I love you, too."

And she ran out of the room.

Neptune watched her go. He sat in the same spot for a few minutes. Then he began to speak aloud.

"Weiss is still a little buzzed. She didn't see you come in." Neptune turned. "But I did."

He sighed. "Although I suppose wonder why you let her go?"

Silence.

"I guess you have some mercy in you after all. At least Weiss will be safe now."

Neptune smiled. "That's all I need to know. Thank you."

He heard a click, and slowly the barrel of Gambol Shroud's pistol form came into view as it came to a stop right between Neptune's eyes.

BANG!

The assailant wiped the weapon's smoking barrel, before stepping over the slumped body as it rapidly submerged in the growing pool of blood, and exited the room.

One died for their lover and then there were eight.

So, did you think it was gonna be who it was gonna be being killed by what you thought was gonna kill them?

If you didn't (or if you think your survivor and killer weren't who you thought they were) don't fret! You've still got plenty of chances to win meager ol' fanfic prompts from me... okay, that doesn't sound quite as good spoken aloud. But every now and again, I'll try my best to throw in a more substantial prize, so be on the lookout for that!

The following person wins a fanfic written by me to whatever parameters he or she would like (remember, no smut):

captinmet! Congratulations for being the only person to guess the correct victim AND weapon! I'll PM you for your prompt and such, so check your reddit mail!

Almost half of you guessed the correct victim, so good job on that! In contrast, only 10 percent of everyone guessed the right murder weapon, which is understandable - you didn't have a lot to go on for that.

Just a little word of advice, a lot of people seem to think that it's entirely possible for the killer, survivor, and next victim to be all the same person. I'm not sure how you came up with that, but be aware that every single role is played out by a different person. There are 10 roles, and there are (or were) 10 participants. It should line up quite nicely that way.

Also, in case you missed it in the notice, I mentioned that a weapon can only be a viable answer if it has been mentioned prior to chapter's killing. That should help narrow down your list of weapons to chose from.

Lastly, I've opened up the surveys to accept Tumblr usernames as well, in case that's more convenient for you.

The next case should be a little bit easier, at least in my opinion.

To refresh on the rules, check the Notice 2 in the chapters.

To refresh on the riddle, participants, and weapons, check the Riddle in the chapters.

To take up the next survey, click the link on my profile!

Get crackin'!