Darkness. That was all he could see, hear and feel. His back hurt, it burned and it throbbed, he could feel needles poking and prodding his scales. His wings hurt too, but his back... What had happened? Suddenly, a sound. A door opening, panicked footsteps.
"Where is he?! WHERE IS MY SON?!"
That voice... it was his father? He tried to call out for him, but he found himself stuck in the void, his voice being swallowed up by the darkness.
"Calm yourselves, he is stable."
Another voice. One that he didn't recognize.
"Don't tell either of us to stay calm! He could be crippled for the rest of his life!"
And now... Mom? Mom was here too? What about him... being crippled? How had that even...
"I can assure you that he will not be. The Tyrant Karalis's bite did more damage to his back than his wings."
"Is that supposed to make us feel BETTER?!"
"It would take far more than a single short-lived bite from a Tyrant Karalis to cripple a dragon via their spine. You know that."
There was the sound of a door slamming open.
"Where is my student?! Is he-"
"STUDENT?! So you ADMIT that you were the one teaching him how to... how to THROW HIS LIFE AWAY!"
"I did no such thing, I was teaching him how to-"
"SHUT UP! GET OUT OF OUR SIGHT! THIS WAS YOUR FAULT, REUS!"
"How DARE you accuse me of-"
There were sounds of a brief scuffle, before a brief silence. Then the voices started again.
"YOU FILLED HIS HEAD WITH DREAMS OF BEING A WARRIOR! AND LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
"I did NOT instruct him to do what he did! He did it of his own choice!"
"BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BE A HERO! LIKE YOU!"
"I am no hero."
"...That much is apparent. Get out of our sight. You are FORBIDDEN from seeing him again."
There was silence before he heard the sounds of more footsteps, and then the sound of a door closing. There were sighs of relief all around. He felt a warm presence at his side, but he couldn't react to it.
"Everything is going to be alright, Jaune. Your mother and I are here."
He desperately wanted to reach out and embrace this warmth, but he felt the darkness creeping around him now. Slowly draining him of what he assumed was his consciousness.
"We won't let anything hurt you again. We won't let you be taken from us..."
Again, the pain in his back started again. This time it began getting more severe, causing him to squirm and writhe in agony. His vision began to grow darker and darker as the pain increased, before he heard another voice whisper in his ear.
"I'm sorry, Jaune. I should have asked first..."
"...Yang?"
Why was he hearing her all of a sudden? He struggled to call out for her again, and as he did the pain in his back increased. His struggling eventually slowed to a stop when he could know longer take the pain, and then... the darkness consumed him.
Jaune awoke with a shout, sweat practically drenching his entire body. What in the name of however many hells existed was that?!
"Jaune! Are you alright?"
Looking to his side, he saw the rest of his team practically falling out of their respective beds in shock. He sat up further and began rubbing his face with his hands in an attempt to both calm himself down and wake up more.
"Jaune, please calm down. You're alright!"
Glancing over to his side, he saw that Pyrrha had seated herself on the edge of his bed, a hand reaching out for his shoulder. He instinctively pulled away for a brief moment before allowing her to try and comfort him.
"W-what happened?"
"You were shouting about your mother and father in your sleep... and it looked as if you were convulsing in your bed."
Jaune rubbed his eyes a bit before he looked over to Ren and Nora, the two of them both also being woken up by his apparent episode. He expected Nora to be ready to strangle him for waking her up, but instead she looked... much more concerned then he ever would have imagined, at least at this hour anyway.
"Did something happen to your parents, Jaune?"
Turning back to Pyrrha, he scratched his head and thought for a moment. No, nothing had happened to his parents. They were fine when he had left for Beacon... But the dream wasn't about his parents it was about...
"No, I think something happened to me..."
Everyone shared a confused glance. "What do you mean that you THINK something happened to you?"
"That's just it... I don't remember. I was just floating in a void. And I heard my parents talking about something that happened to me with... I think a doctor?"
Pyrrha held a finger up to her chin and pondered briefly on the information. "Did anything else happen?"
"My back was in so much pain. Like, it was ready to snap in two. And the doctor mentioned something about a... Tyrant Karalis?"
He noticed that when he named... whatever it was that he named, his friends grew incredibly tense as they all exchanged another glance. Pyrrha in particular looked very uneasy.
"...Jaune..." She turned back to him, her eyes fogging up a bit. What did they know that he didn't? "I'm not an expert on it but... I think... I think something happened to you. Something that your mind is blocking out."
"...Huh? What do you mean?"
"Tyrant Karalis are a very rare and dangerous type of Grimm that only attack settlements in the wilderness. And it's very strange that it would be mentioned in your dream the way it was."
His gaze fell to his sheets as he took in this information. Something that his mind was blocking out? He didn't remember anything big that had happened in his life... but then again he guessed that he wouldn't if his mind was making the effort to keep the memories from him.
"I'm uh, sorry I woke you guys up. I think I'm okay now."
The three of his friends looked unsure, but Ren and Nora nodded and returned to their respective beds. Pyrrha however, was in less of a hurry to leave his side. There was more to this than he was letting on, and it worried her deeply.
"I can... I can stay with you if you want, Jaune."
"Heh... no, it's okay, Pyrrha. I'll be fine. But thank you, that means a lot to me."
She seemed to have trouble accepting the answer, but she gave him a tender smile and a nod before she got up and returned to her own bed. But she couldn't help but feel worried about Jaune, and she was even more worried about what she had heard him mumble to himself just before he woke up shouting.
He had been mumbling something about Yang. And for some reason, the mention of her name made Pyrrha tense. But she did her best to shrug the feeling off and go back to sleep.
Later in the day, Jaune found himself entering the library during his free period. Yang was disappointed that they were skipping out on training, but she seemed to understand the urgency without needing to know the full details. He didn't want to trouble her with the mention of his nightmare, after all. Glancing around the library, it was a bit more packed then usual, most likely because of Professor Ooblecks next test on the history of Vacuo. Luckily for him, that was something he wasn't concerned about right now. No, right now he needed to find a book on Grimm. As he casually strolled through the aisles, looking through the selection of books that they had, he failed to notice where he was going and ended up bumping into someone.
"Oh, sorry about that-"
Looking over at the person, he noticed that she was oddly familiar. She had long black hair, with a bow being nestled on top. Oh, right. This was Blake. He really couldn't blame himself for not recognizing her for a moment, he's only conversed with her maybe two times since he even got to Beacon. And they all eat lunch together almost every day, but her face is always shoved behind the pages of a book, so he couldn't identify her facial features very well.
"Hi, Jaune. It's alright, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going anyways."
Glancing down, he noticed that she had been in the process of reading a book, most likely as she was walking. That was one thing that she was almost always doing, he at least knew that much about her.
"Looking for some books on Vacuo?"
He blinked in confusion. "What?"
"I saw you wandering around the library. I assumed you were looking for something specific, since Oobleck has his test coming up."
If she was so aware of her surroundings, then how exactly did they bump into each other...?
"Uh, no actually. I'm looking for a book that might help me identify a certain Grimm."
Blake placed a bookmark in her book before closing it, giving him her full attention. "Why do you need a book like that? Did you get an assignment on Grimm?"
"N-no... It's just, there's one that I've had on my mind lately that I need some more info on."
Shrugging a bit, she beckoned him to follow her as they walked through the library. Things felt a little strange as they strolled along, since they were doing so in complete silence. So Jaune opted to try and engage Blake in conversation.
"You uh, you sure know this place like the back of your hand."
"I spend a lot of time here."
And with that, the conversation had ended. Blake was a lot harder to actually talk to than even Ren.
"You've been spending quite a lot of time with Yang lately."
He jumped a bit at that statement. He hadn't expected her to even care, let alone talk to him about it. "Uh, yeah. I guess I have."
And once more, the conversation ended with just that. What was even the point of her saying that? Once the two of them got to a certain aisle, Blake pulled a book from one of the bottom shelves and handed it to him.
"Here, this should be what you're looking for."
"Wow, you found that with no trouble. Thanks!"
She offered him a small smile and a nod before she went over to the nearby table, sitting down so she could get back to reading her own book.
Jaune sat down in the seat next to her and began flipping through the book. Pictures of various Grimm and their anatomy flipped by as he turned the pages, determined to get some answers on his nightmare. He continued on until he got to the page he desired. There weren't many grimm names that started with a K, so this would be easy enough. As he glanced down the brief list of names, he found two that he wanted. Karalis and Tyrant Karalis. A few page turns was all it took before his eyes were met with the Grimm's terrible visage.
Karalis were very small Grimm for what they were. Raptors, reptilian creatures that seemed to share resemblances with birds. And these were no different, with their similar structure. However, different from the raptors from the history books, the Karalis seemed to have barbed feathers on their arms and head that could be flicked at enemies, much like a Nevermore. The skull of the Karalis looked as if it's Grimm mask were more of some sort of strange voodoo mask as an array of blood red feathers decorated its wood-like texture. Karalis were fast, efficient and deadly. They worked in packs, much like Beowulves. But unlike the wolf grimm, Karalis could efficiently communicate with each other via near silent hissing and clicking noises. Using this knowledge, their attacks are often coordinated and swift. Karalis that live for long periods of time eventually grow in size and turn into Tyrant Karalis.
As his eyes settled upon the silhouette of the Tyrant Karalis, he felt himself heave a bit. The Tyrant Karalis was much different in appearance to its smaller relative, as it bore the form of an ancient reptile known as the Tyrannosaurus Rex. It is said that the Grimm were the ones that hunted the mighty reptiles into extinction, or perhaps they had tainted them and morphed them into the Karalis of today. Either way, the Tyrant Karalis was even bigger than a Goliath. Standing on two powerful legs, it was infamous for crushing things with its might jaw. Notably, the Tyrant Karalis has a large underbite compared to what its smaller brethren have. And instead of feathers, its body was adorned with thorny small spikes, with three particularly jagged ones lining the top of its mask, almost like a crown. Its long arms replaced by short and stubby ones that made it look just a tad goofy until you saw the rest of the creature they were attached to. Its tail was powerful and large, a spiked ball adorning the end of it to crush anything that dared attack it from behind.
And as he took in this monsters form, Jaune momentarily lost himself. A roar echoed in the distance, startling him immensely as he felt fear welling up inside him.
"Jaune? Are you alright?"
He was snapped back to reality by Blake, who was looking at him in concern. "W-w-what?"
"You... you look like you're having a panic attack. Are you okay?"
Looking closer at him, she could see that he was beginning to sweat. Not only that, his eyes had trouble focusing as they shook in his skull. His breathing became fast and labored, and his entire body looked as if it would give out on him at any moment. Glancing over to the open book, she saw the picture of the grimm that he was looking at. And judging by the way he suddenly started acting, she could only wager a guess that there was some history behind it. Reaching her hand over, she shut the book for him.
"Maybe you should stop reading this."
"Y-yeah... I-I think you m-might be right..."
Jaune took a few deep breathes before he pushed the book away from him. Whatever memories he just unearthed, he really didn't feel like dealing with them right now. It was possibly a mistake to even try and get some answers in the first place, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him for once. In an attempt to calm himself down, he tried to engage Blake in another conversation.
"So uh... you got any plans for the next few days?"
Blake stared at him, her eyes narrowing a bit. He wasn't sure why she gave him such a weird look until he realized what the question sounded like it was implying. "Uuh, just out of curiosity. I'm not, y'know... hitting on you or anything."
"Weiss wants to go down to the docks tomorrow, she probably wants to spy on the competition for this years Vytal Festival."
"Vytal Festival?"
Blake gave him yet another funny look. "You do know what that is, right?"
"Uuh. Nope."
"But... how do you NOT know what it is?"
Jaune scratched the back of his head nervously. He was getting some deja-vu. "Well, it's because I lived on a pretty isolated island."
"Unless it was out in the middle of nowhere with no towers, I don't see how-"
"That's uh, exactly what it was. I'm from Vytal itself, but I've never heard of a festival for it."
Blake began rubbing her temples with her hands as she let out an annoyed grunt. "You're from the place that the festival is based off of but you don't know what the festival- Oh just forget it."
"The Vytal Festival is an event that takes place every other year where people from all four kingdoms come together to celebrate their cultural diversity. The top huntsman and huntresses from the four main academies also come together to participate in a tournament to prove that their academy is the best."
Jaune rubbed his chin as he took the in all the information. Why exactly had the elders never mentioned such an event before? He thought they would have at least wanted to see how the warriors of the outside world were progressing.
"Huh. Sounds cool."
Blake shut her book and got out of her chair, looking down at him after she did. "Well, we'll be participating in it this year, so I hope you'll at least be ready for it."
Jaune gave her a small but confident smile. "Ah don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You guys will probably be awesome though."
Blake returned the smile. "Probably?"
He let out a small laugh. "Sorry, I meant certainly."
He glanced at the book of Grimm before turning back to Blake. "Well uh, I guess I'll get going too. Thanks for helping me find this book, Blake. I uh, I don't think I'll be checking it out though..."
Her expression softened a bit at the mention of the book that drove him to his small panic attack. "No problem, just... just make sure you take care of yourself, alright?"
Any book that triggered what she assumed were repressed memories probably left someone questioning a lot about themselves. She didn't really want him to end up hurting himself in search of answers.
"I will, just make sure you do the same for yourself!" And with that, the two of them waved to each other briefly and parted ways.
He didn't find the answers that he wanted, if anything he just brought up more questions. But he did at least learn something new about the Vytal Festival, and how he would probably need to do some research into that at a later date just to make sure he fully understood it.
And on top of that, he got to hang out with Blake a bit and talk to her. She was a lot like Ren, but she seemed a lot more reluctant to talk than him. She actually reminded Jaune a bit about himself, but she still at least carried herself with more confidence than he did.
Maybe that should be the next thing he should work on...
He was a Dragon after all, and what kind of Dragon wasn't confident in their abilities?
Author's Notes
This chapter came a lot earlier then usual, mostly because I just felt like throwing everyone a bone.
Some trivia about the Karalis and Tyrant Karalis!
Karalis is Latvian for King, so the name translates out to Tyrant King in English. And the Tyrannasaurus Rex is generally regarded as the King of the dinosaurs, so I figured it would be fitting. I also decided on a more tribal looking appearance for these grimm, since they are older and only appear deep within the wilderness. Perhaps we'll see them again, perhaps not. Only time will tell.
Until we meet again, thank you all for your continued interest in the story!