Leadslinger
Chapter 0: The Awakening
Darkness.
Endless darkness.
Since before time existed.
…
Memory.
A fragment, here one moment and gone the next, drifting through his mind like the red leaves of a forest in fall.
A flash of red hair, rippling through the memory as a calm stream. Emerald eyes, full of life and sparkling like the sun, yet with a tinge of sadness, almost as if-
"..."
A sound.
"..."
There it is again.
"…!"
He can't hear it.
Why can't he hear it?
As he ponders this question, emerald eyes look away, to be replaced with gray.
Strange.
He's never known the color of gray to be that radiant.
No, not gray.
Silver. Silver eyes. Serene as the midnight sun, but also marred by tragedy.
Why are they sad? It's not as if he's dying, right?
Oh.
As realization dawns on him, sound crashes back into being.
"…and bring him here! Nora, get those bandages!" The normally cheerful voice of the woman in front of him is stern and uncompromising as she picks him up by the shoulder. "You," she turns to look at him, "Don't die on us now."
As she sets him down against a wall, feelings begin to surface. Regret. Satisfaction. Fear. But most of all:
Pain.
Not just mental pain, but pure physical pain, threatening to blot out his very existence, centered around his abdomen.
Suffocating darkness closes in. When it clears once more, he realizes he's not up against the wall. Rather, he's on his back, with his head propped against something soft. He looks up, into widening emerald eyes once more, before they look to the side, to someone else.
"...by, he's awake again!"
As he looks down and examines his body, he notices the woman who carried him has taken off his armor and is administering a salve in the area around the pain, as well as the source of that pain. A white, bloodied claw as long as his forearm lies next to him, a jagged reminder of the battle he endured. As the woman finishes applying the salve, the pain begins to fade, but strangely enough his sight deteriorates as well, until all is darkness once more.
"...can't stop the blee..."
"...en, see what you ca..."
The pain stops as an ethereal calm washes over him.
"...is the best I can do... I'm sor..."
As the sound drifts away, he catches one last word, before all semblance of identity leaves him:
"Jaune."
…
Darkness.
Endless darkness, broken only by scattered shreds of memory, seconds of clarity in an otherwise blank existence.
…
Jaune wakes up.
Hello there. Yes, I know there's been a few World War AUs posted, but I thought I'd give it a shot. The main purpose of this fic is to see if I can write with any sense of clarity and/or skill, so just bear with me, and if you have any advice you could give a budding writer like myself, it would be most appreciated. I'll be attempting to minimize grammatical errors and spelling, and I'll also try to keep weapon names and advanced military terms away from this fic except in dialogue (I find it slightly rude to expect an audience to know exactly what an MG42 used in a fire support role means.). One last thing: I'll also try to keep most chapters around or above 4-5k words hopefully. You all saw how short this one is, so think of it as a teaser.
Music for inspiration:
This selection was really while I figured out the whole idea of this fic.
Pyrrhic Victory – Sarah Schachner
Leaving Earth – Clint Mansell
Path to Darkness – Epic Score