AN: I stayed up till 3 in the morning writing this, man am I proud of myself.
Anyways, at the end there is going to be another OMAKE that continues on from the last one. Hope ya enjoy it.
Dream Cycle: Shadowgraph Pt.1
"No… no! No! No!" Jaune screamed, his voice echoing in the tunnel.
Tears streamed down his face as he hugged the bloody item close.
"I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you all! I swear it on the Arc's name!" He cursed at the unsightly beast.
It responded with an ear-piercing screech that echoed through the tunnel and then charged at him.
Jaune screamed back at the beast and tricked the saw cleaver back to its original form, responding to the beast's charge with one of his own.
Jaune's eyes flutters as his eyes opened. He raises his head slightly to scan his surroundings, finding himself rooted to the same spot that he was at before he went to sleep. He sighs and stands up from the spot.
'I guess I fell asleep…' he thought, scratching his head. 'I should apologize to Violet for doing that.'
He turns to greet her, but his body froze as soon as he saw the window. There was no light, from what he can see, the whole building was out. No lights can only mean one thing.
Jaune grabbed the saw cleaver laying against the metal fence and sped past the gates.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!' he cursed.
He stopped by the fountain, dead in his tracks when he realized that he had no idea where she could've gone.
'I told her that we needed to go the chapel but… I never told her how to get there.'
The only place aside from the sewers that allowed access to the cathedral was the gate from the great bridge. No, she would've known, she's been here longer than he has.
'But…' he gripped the saw cleaver tight, the fear of losing her, overcoming his thoughts. 'if she is there, I have to take that chance!'
Without a second thought, he took off to find her.
~~AMONGST US~~
Violet turns around as the metal doors of the elevator slid open.
There were signs of struggle painted over her, bruises on her body, scratches on her dress and soaking the sleeves on her right arm.
She stood, rooted to the spot, unsure if she should keep going and leave elevator or not. She looks at the bloody music box and brooch, the sight of them bringing some small comfort. She takes a breathe and lets go before exiting.
There was a bridge to her left and a ledge to her right. She looks towards the bridge to find a group of men blocking it, she gags and pinches her nose tightly.
'Beast people.' She thought. 'Jaune says they're dangerous. Got to be careful.'
The bridge was not an option with her small build, so the only other way to go is either back to the elevator where the giants are, or…the aqueduct.
She tentatively approached the ledge and looked down. She was high, really high, so high that just slipping would kill her.
She pushed down the fear and approached the ladder. She shakily reached towards the ladder, hesitating to even touch it. But she knew she couldn't stay here forever and so forced herself to grab hold of it. She then began climbing down the metal ladder, one leg at a time, and by the time she knew it, she was half-way down.
'Don't look down! Don't look down!' she thought, alarmingly.
Sadly, her body betrayed her, and she looked down.
"Eek!" she squeaked.
'J-just keep going… just k-keep going…' she repeated to herself.
When she reached the bottom, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Made it…"
A sudden squawking noise came from her left and she slowly turned to the left, finding two dog-sized crows staring at her. They let out a blood-curdling cry and lunged for her. She jumped to the side and ran into the tunnel, tears streaming past her eyes as she continued into the dark tunnel. She looked back to see that the crows didn't follow but didn't stop running, that is until she bumped into something, causing her to fall onto her bottom.
She looks up to find a giant pig staring at her, its jaw drooling with saliva. The pig let out an ear-piercing screech before opening its mouth. She didn't try to run – she couldn't for she was frozen in fear.
'Someone… please save me…'
~~AMONGST US~~
"W-what is this?" Jaune asks in horror as he looks at the scene in front of him.
The pig that he's seen numerous times appeared to be munching on what seems to be an arm. Next to the arm laid a dirtied, cracked red brooch, one that looked just like the one that he gave to Violet. A ribbon laid in front of him, the item itself stained by the colour of blood.
He drops to his knees and picks up the bloodied item holding it close.
"No… no! No! No!" he screamed.
Tears streamed down his face, his grip on the ribbon threatening to rip it. The pig hearing his screaming, turns away from its meal to look at the crying boy.
"I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you all! I swear it on the Arc's name!" He cursed at the pig.
The pig responded with an ear-piercing screech before charging at him.
Jaune roared back at the beast, tricking the saw cleaver into its original form and greeted it with a charge of his own.
When the pig made impact, it was suddenly halted movements. Jaune looked at the pig in its eyes with a mad, frenzied gaze before raising the saw cleaver and bringing it down. The pig began shaking its head as it struggles to escape his grasp.
Jaune's grip on the pig's head loosens, but he never lets go and raises the saw cleaver again before bringing it down, slashing the pig's eye.
"Hey Gehrman?"
"Yes, good hunter?"
"Can beasts feel anything?"
"Beasts are beasts, they only think of one thing and that is to kill. I'd be surprise if you could find a beast with even a hint of its humanity left."
"Its humanity?"
"I've said too much." Gehrman sighs "You should go now, stay to your contract and keep hunting beasts. It's for your own good."
The pig's body was mangled, its head was hanging from its neck – half cut-out. The waters of the tunnel was spewed with blood, most of which belonged to the pig.
He brought the saw cleaver down onto its body again, the squelching noise of its flesh being cut echoing through the tunnel. He raised the saw cleaver and brought it back down, again and again and again, continuing to hack away at the corpse, minutes after its death.
"Beasts all over the shop, you'll be one of them, sooner or later."
He brought the saw cleaver down one last time and before stopping.
"This… is just a dream… right?" he whispers. "This… yeah… this is just a dream."
He chuckles slowly before laughing manically.
"T-this is a dream! It has to be!" he cackles, "It's a dream! A dream! I'll just ask doll! She'll know! She always does!"
He brought a hand up to cover one of his eyes. The hunter's symbol beginning to form in his mind.
~~AMONGST US~~
Location: Hunter's Dream
"Welcome back, good hunter." Doll greeted Jaune. "What is it you desire?"
"This… is just a dream, right?" he asks.
"I… do not understand the question." Doll replies.
"This is just a dream, right?" he asks again, staring at the servant with crazed eyes.
"…"
"…"
"No…" Doll answers, shutting its eyes and shaking its head. "This is not a dream."
"L-liar." He stuttered. "No… no I've heard about this before. This is one of those lucid dreams, right? It has to be."
He drops down onto his bottom, gripping his head.
"I always wake up whenever I go to sleep here so that must mean… if I were to go to sleep permanently… will I stop having this same nightmare?" he asks himself.
"Good hunter, I do not understand what has happened but pl-"
"Yes… that could work." He breathes out shakily.
He puts the blade of the saw cleaver against his neck.
"Good hunter?"
"After all, this is just a dream… right?"
Jaune drags the saw cleaver across, slitting his throat open.
Location: Arc Household, Dom
Jaune groggily opens his eyes as he wakes up from his sleep. He scans his surroundings to find himself laying against the bed in the room he has always been in since the time he was 10.
He looks over to the table next to his bed which had all sorts of items on it, one of which was a scroll clock. It seems he had woken up a lot earlier than usual since it was 5 in the morning.
'So, it was a dream.' He thought to himself. "I guess I was right then."
He smiles in relief and stares at the ceiling. Bored, he continues to stare at the ceiling for minutes, pondering on what he could do now that he has stopped the nightmare.
'Maybe I'll-'
His stomach begins to rumble.
"Welp, guess I know what to do now." He chuckles, before leaving his bed.
He puts on his slippers and stands, only to drop to his knee, gripping his chest.
"W-what the?" he grunts. "Not this again…"
He felt as though his ribs were crushed by some sort of invisible force and that his arms were slowly being stretched from him.
"I-I must've slept in a wrong position, d-damn it."
He pushes through the pain and exits the room slowly, careful not to worsen the pain but also to not wake up the others next door. He continues to struggle as he makes his way downstairs, one step at a time, the pain – even if he doesn't want it to – worsened.
"Argh!" he grunts, laying against the handle.
"Jaune? What are you doing up so early?"
"Huh?"
Jeanne Arc stares at him from across the kitchen, hearing the grunting and creaking noise from the stairs.
"G-good morning mom." He strains.
"Are you feeling hurt again?" She asks rushing towards her son and supporting him.
"I just slept in the wrong position that's why." He answers.
"Doesn't seem like that to me. And you've been having these pains for two nights – three now if you count this one. Are you sure you're okay?" she asks.
"I-I'm fine mom. Really I am." He reassures her.
"Okay… if you say so." She says, not fully trusting him. "But what are you doing up so early for?"
"Ah, just a nightmare." He answers as his mother sits him down. His stomach then rumbles again. "And that too."
"Well… I just happened to be preparing breakfast! Can you guess what it is?" She teases.
He blinks owlishly before sniffing at the direction to the kitchen.
"Hmm, judging from the scent, it seems like something is being cooked… something sweet?" he guesses, continuing to sniff the air. "I also smell some flour coming from the kitchen, a lot of it. Is it pancakes?"
"…"
"…"
"Woah. Never knew that you had such a good nose, what else are you hiding from me, little knight?" She teases him again. "But yeah, you guessed right! It's your mom's special homemade pancakes!"
"It smells amazing…" he sniffs again.
"You bet!"
"What's with all the shouting?" a lazy voice asked from the stairs.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Maya! I didn't mean to wake you!"
Maya rubs her eye as she looks at the duo with baggy eyes.
"Why are you up so early Jaune?" She asks her brother.
"Hungry. You?" he replies.
"Haha, very funny."
Yeah, this is it. His family and him chattering about and going on with their lives as normal. Nothing weird at all.
"You plague ridden rat!"
Jaune shakes his head as the image of a bloodied man came into his mind.
'No that was just a dream, a nightmare. It's fine now.' Jaune reassures himself.
"What are you smiling for? Something on my face?" Maya asks.
"Nothing." He replies, his smile slowly getting bigger.
"Hey, hey, hey! You don't just smile for no reason, what is it?" she asks again.
"Shut up already! We're trying to sleep!" a voice came from upstairs.
"You watch your tongue, Mentha Arc!" Jeanne yelled.
'Yeah… that was just a dream.' Jaune thought as his smile continues to grow.
AN: Okay so Violet's death may feel forced to some people and that's understandable as I never explained why she left. I do have a reason for her leaving her only safe haven but like... why would I explain it here? That's no fun. What better than to make you guys wait? HAH!
OMAKE: Ray of Sunshine PT.2
"We… made it." Chad pants.
"Blood… vial… please." Acies strains as he crawls through the soil.
Chad stumbles towards the crawling Acies and stabs him in the back, full force, jolting him back to life.
"Oh, thank god!" Acies sighs in relief. "I thought we were gonna die!"
"We were gonna die. But through sheer dumb luck we somehow made it." Chad says, stabbing a vial into his thigh. "Oh… that's the stuff."
"So… what do we do now?" Acies asks.
"…"
"…"
"We wait until nightfall, that's the time we move to the Grand Cathedral and warn the Healing church about her." Chad answers.
"But what if-"
"If night doesn't come then let's hope that Flora or Rom or the damn Amygdalas do something about it." Chad interrupts. "After all, Yharnam is their territory."
"…"
"…"
"So, how's your weapon?" Asks Chad.
"Kane Ya is weak as hell right now and I'm low on those dagger arrows. The only thing I have left is this other weapon." Acies points to the spear on his back. "What about you?"
"For once, this thing is starting to lose its durability." He gestures to 'Gigantes' Pillar'. "The only thing I have left is the heavy as motherfucker." Chad points to the giant drill-like gauntlet.
"So, if they come here and our back up weapons start losing their durability then… we're fucked, aren't we?"
"Yep." Chad answers.
"You know, I'd thought the pillar would be heavier than the drill."
"Well, considering what's inside the drill, I wouldn't be surprised if the Hunter's Guild back home didn't do some wacky woohoo shit with it."
"Yeah true…" Acies sighs. "Speaking of the Hunter's Guild, where's your arm band?"
Chad reaches into his pockets and pulls out a red arm band with the emblem of the Hunter's Guild on it.
"You?" He asks Acies.
"Same here." Acies pulls out his own red arm band with the same emblem belonging to the Hunter's Guild on it.
"Put it on just in case. We don't wanna turn into one of those freaks." Chad says as he attaches it to his left arm.
"Why didn't we use this before?" Acies asks, complying.
"Because plot." Chad answers.
"Eh, makes sense." Acies nods. "So, I guess that's plot too?"
"Hm?"
Thousands of the freaks that they had fought on the way to the tomb of Oedon were just standing by the stairs… menacingly. With their big round eyes and freakishly smooth bodies.
"Acies?" Chad sighs.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"No."
"Fuck it! If I die, I might as well die like a damn man!" Chad yells, throwing away the pillar he held and attached the drill to his arm.
The weapon was an experimental trick weapon designed by the Hunter's Guild back home. It doesn't have an official name yet, but the boys back home called it the "Cosmic Driver". The weapon is essentially a Stake Driver, but the stake is replaced with a drill instead and when tricked, the handle of a small shotgun protrudes from the bottom and can be taken out as a firearm. The drill isn't the experimental weapon, but rather the gun itself, as it fires cosmic energy instead of the standard-issue quicksilver bullets.
"Welp… can't just leave a bro hanging. Let's go then!" Acies kicks himself up from the ground and sheathes 'Kane Ya' and pulls the spear from his back.
The spear was designed by Acies himself when he finally became a professional hunter and was based off a story he read before.
The weapon is a long spear that has two blades protruding from the sides at the bottom of the pommel. When the weapon is tricked, the pommel splits and the main blade of the spear becomes a sword while the other part of the pommel becomes a short spear, with the two blades flipping and attaching together to form a bigger blade for the spear. Its name was "Knight's Imitation".
"YAAARGH!"
"HAAAAAAH!"
The hunter's screamed as they charged at the horde, leaving yet, another bloodied battlefield.