Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk.

-William Arthur Ward

A sudden jarring sense of motion forced me into consciousness, senses disoriented and lungs gasping eagerly for air. Arms were wrapped tight around me and my own hands grasped instinctively for something to hold, finding a sudden surge of comfort when my face nuzzled into the crook of my carrier's neck. The soothing scent of wild flowers filtered through cold air as the strangers hands tightened and a soft voice muttered words that were lost to the wind that I only now realized was whistling around us. The world was moving in a blur. Another strident thud brought me further into awareness.

Unfortunately, the first string of coherent thoughts I managed were less than intelligent and didn't help my situation at all. They were along the lines of, 'Am I being carried by a giant?' and 'Why is the giant carrying me?'

Another thud shook the world and this time I recognized the motion as movement; the giant was running with me curled protectively in it's arms. I halfheartedly took in our surroundings, blinking blearily over the giants shoulder. Trees, tall and imposing, towered around us like sentinels and watched like bored spectators as two trespassers weaved through their domain. Thick foliage blocked the sky from view, but the world was dark so it must still have been night and thus not that long since I had fallen asleep. But it shouldn't have been this cold at this time of year. Why was it so cold? Why would anyone be outside when it was this cold?

My eyes drifted shut once more, as I decided on enjoying the erratic ride for all that it was worth. This must be one of those surreal dreams I've heard about. That small space between waking and sleeping. It's kinda nice. Almost peaceful in a weird sort of-

A shattering roar tore through the forest around us and forced me into full alertness. The blood in my veins froze solid and shivers that had nothing to do with the temperature shook through me like a tremors. The hands around me tightened and my knuckles turned white from grasping onto the giant. Eyes now wide in terror, I searched the forest feverishly for answers. Where was I?! What was going on?!

There was a break in trees and pale moonlight pooled around us. I looked up and the air caught in my lungs, forgetting how to breathe. A fractured moon hung like a silver disk in the starry sky. Pieces of it's broken form were visible for only a few seconds before tree tops rushed back to cover the luminescent body. The forest turned sinister and the trees were no longer passively observing the scene. They now leered downwards, trapping and confining.

That's when I saw the beast. It tore through undergrowth like it was nothing and charged over the uneven ground like the apex predator it must've been and had the general shape of a bear. But this thing was definitely not a bear. It was a nightmare given physical form and it's very presence seemed to fill the cold night air with a sense of wrongness. It was like the world itself was trying to comprehend what kinda of twisted evolution must've occurred to give this thing an existence.

Fierce red eyes were set in a bone white mask etched with blood red markings. Fur and skin so devoid of light and color that, if it weren't for the pale bone plates jutting from its body, it could have blended completely into the shadows of the forest. The creature's gaping maw trailed saliva and was filled with sharp, knifelike teeth. Claws, much longer than a forearm and made to rip and lacerate, adorned it's paws.

And it was making a beeline for us.

The things pounding pace shook the ground as it closed the distance. My carrier stumbled and I wanted to scream but couldn't recall the muscles necessary to make even a squeak. The nightmare towered over us as it reared up on its hind legs, one of the things claws swiped towards us. The blood red eyes glowed yet they held no emotion. There was no animalistic instinct of victory or thrill from the chase. Not even hate seemed to move the creature. The eyes were cold and held nothing. This thing was going to kill us and it would feel absolutely nothing.

A light caught my wide eyes. It didn't seem like it came from any direction in particular. One moment the beast was about to overtake us and the next, a brilliant golden light had rushed through the dark of the forest like an avenging angel and intercepted the nightmare with a dull clang of steel meeting bone. My carrier kept running but eventually slowed to a stop, chest heaving from exhaustion and adrenaline fueled panic.

I would have joined her in calming my racing heart but my attention was on the nightmare behind us. A gleaming armored figure stood between us and the nightmare with a giant kite shield blocking the clawed appendage and a ridiculously large sword hanging from his other hand. His entire body, from head to toe, was covered in thick plated armor that should have made him heavier than a truck, but didn't appear to be hindering the knight's movements at all. Tendrils of ethereal light seemed to stretch and flow from his back, swaying on an unseen breeze. Almost like wings. A white hood covered the bearer's head and face. The knight moved, faster than I could track and there was another burst of gold energy, my eyes watered from the brightness. The next second, the large sword was at the hero's opposite hip, and the beast stood limp like a puppet with its strings cut before collapsing backwards. The nightmare had been slain. It's massive form laid on the ground in pieces.

With only partial attention, I realized that my carrier had stopped their ragged breathing and was now speaking. Her words sounded reassuring and low but I didn't understand a single sentence. Maybe I was too concerned with the beast and how it was slowly dissolving into what looked like black smoke in the pale moonlight. Her words kept repeating like a track on loop, and I was dimly aware that they may have been directed to me, but they just didn't register. It's only when the knight made his way over to the two of us and began speaking that the world snapped back into focus.

"Jaune, are you alright?" His tone was quiet and urgent, even if distorted by the odd hood that shadowed his face. As if sensing my thoughts, the hood began to fade along with the rest of his glowing armor to reveal a mane of blond hair and a remarkably regular looking human man in a pair of worn jeans, work boots, and plaid shirt. The giant sword and shield were gone as well and in their place, a deceptively smaller long sword hung sheathed at the man's waist. Dark blue eyes that felt strangely cold and analytical seemed to observe every part of me, searching for signs of injury.

It was as if someone had just hit the reboot button on my brain. Disjointed facts and answers were instantly brought to the forefront of my conscious: The beast that was currently split in two, the broken moon, the strange white light/energy, the name I had just been called, and the two adults currently crowded around me. It all became clear.

I was Jaune Arc.

A wave of darkness overcame me and I faded happily into nothingness.

Waking up was not a fun experience.

Waking up in general has never been one of my strong suits, actually. If it were up to me, the day wouldn't start until noon and the morning would only exist for the self-loathing and dedicated. Yet as the sunlight streamed into the room, I felt myself rousing like a bear from hibernation. A muffled groan escaped me and my face pressed further into soft pillows. The memories of the dream slowly played back like an old movie rewinding.

What a weird nightmare. Maybe that was a sign that I should stop watching anime before going to bed. It obviously wasn't good for my health or sleep schedule. Still, that had been one hell of a nightmare. Who dreams that they're an anime character anyway? Not even the main character of an anime either; Jaune was a side character and not a very competent one either. Why not Ruby or Blake? And why had he been a toddler? That whole dream was just one big question mark. Maybe it had been that burger I had for dinner? Note to self: Stop eating gross fast food that will shorten my lifespan.

I let my mind wander idly until the sunlight finally became an irritant too great to ignore. Wait, sunlight?

My eyes shot open, momentarily blinded by the bright light before adjusting and taking in the crystal clear details of the room. There were white pristine sheets, a soft mattress, dark wood floors and a spotless window that should have been blocked by a pair of blackout curtains but was instead unadorned, open to let in crisp morning air and sunlight.

This was not my room.

The covers were gone in an instant and I dropped down to the wooden floorboards with a soft thump of feet that were much too small. My gaze roamed until fixating on a square mirror hanging over a dresser just across the room. I walked as calmly as I could while my heart beat a mile a minute, fear and trepidation slowly mounting. It was a dream. It was all in my head. There was no other explanation for this absurdity. I was me; no one else.

But as I came face to face with the stranger in the mirror, it became clear that the world stopped making sense last night and wouldn't be making sense any time soon.

Staring back at me from within the reflective glass was a young boy, around four or five, that had to stand on his tip toes just to see over the dresser and peer at his own reflection. The kid had shocking cerulean eyes, a mop of blond hair, and pale white skin. An oddly comfortable looking blue onesie clung to his thin frame. With a heavy sense of disconnect, I tilted my head to the side and watched as the boy followed suit. I raised a single hand, curling and uncurling the childlike fingers, and watched as the boy copied the movements, perfectly in sync.

Turning away from the mirror, I walked back over to the- my bed and curled under the blankets, retreating into myself and shutting down.

Upon closer examination of my thoughts, I realized that I now had two sets of memories; one set from a young Jaune Arc and his loving family and another set of memories from a normal guy with a safe and normal life. However, the changes did not end there. It was... difficult to determine where Jaune Arc ended and I began, almost indistinguishable. Like someone had tossed both our minds, souls, personalities, and experiences into a blender, threw in some ice for good measure, and made a really messed up smoothie. The result was me. I was the messed up smoothie.

But who was I?

It took about an hour before I finally arrived at an answer and accepted the impossible. It took considerably longer to convince myself that I wasn't going insane.

I am Jaune Arc and I am royally screwed.

Author's Note: Writing this because I was inspired by A Rose By Any Other Name and A Cage of Blood and Circumstance and thought it would be fun to toy with the idea of someone from our universe getting stuck in the body of Beacon's resident underdog.

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing.