Hey guys! I'm sorry I have been gone so long! Work has been tough and I picked up a second job so I don't get much time to write anymore. But I've been working on this as much as I can, and most importantly, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy!
New World 2
I heard aa voice call me from the darkness behind my eyelids, the gentle patting on my shoulder forced me from my short rest as my eyes snapped open with two words.
"Help me!" I heard the voice call and my blurry eyes flew around my surroundings. There I saw a girl who couldn't be any older than sixteen. Her eyes hit mine and I grunted as I threw myself up and rose to my feet. Two wolf looking creatures circled us, T.C was on the ground, his wounds patched, but there was a single blood trail that lead deep into the forest.
I looked down and saw a thick stick, big enough to bludgeon something with, hopefully.
The old petrified wood was heavy and I found myself exerting myself to lift it. The makeshift weapon rested on my shoulder as I spoke.
"Get over here! Stay close to me!" I yelled and the girl raced away from her position and stood behind me.
Blood had soaked into my clothes and the remaining adrenaline in my body had left me, I was feeling the full weight of my damage. I struggled to stand but forced my knees to lock, then a wolf lunged, attempting a sharp snap at me. The club came down and slammed into the side of its skull, the bones shattered and I heard it yelp as the other charged from behind.
A groan rang from below us as T.C awoke, eyes flittering open in time to see the charging beast, then he drew his knife and suddenly slashed its belly, blood sprayed on him as it fell to its side and I slammed the club down on its skull.
"Fuck!" I heard T.C yell and I saw him holding his guts, the wounds had reopened, his aura was healing him slightly but it wouldn't be enough.
"You! Help him up!" I yelled at the girl, she raced to him and helped staunch the bleeding and tore a portion of the yellow dress she wore, the cloth wrapped around a portion of the wound, restricting movement so that the wound couldn't get worse as we moved.
"T.C, gimme your knife!" I yelled as he grit his teeth and stood with the help of the girl.
His blade fell into my hand, numerous scars had etched themselves into the blade, its use was a testament to its ability.
"You follow me, if I attack, you keep moving, do not stop, understood?!" We raced across the forest floor as fast as we could, our heading was the village past the trees.
Another wolf lunged from behind a tree, I lifted the knife and stabbed into it in midair, the shoddy maneuver gave me three new scars down my shoulder as the wolf clawed at me. More blood dripped from me and I slashed through the wolf. The edge of the knife glinted in the light, I let go of the wounded beast and raced off with T.C and the girl.
"Keep moving! We stand a better chance past the treeline!" I yelled and the wolves were surrounding us, their fangs were barred and their eyes violent.
I could feel my energy fading fast, I had to end the fight quickly.
I forced out as much aura as possible, I could feel the shield around me appear, and my joints no longer ached, I could feel it about to end though.
Then the girl and T.C broke the treeline and I followed, I spun as a wolf jumped at me and I grabbed its head and slammed into the ground, the dirt and soil under it broke apart as it hit the ground, I felt some of its bones break. My hand gripped the knife hard enough to make my knuckles turn white. The blade slammed into the hide of a wolf and I felt the blood coat my hands.
"Don't stop! Keep him away!" I yelled and slammed into another wolf and stabbed the blade into its throat, blood coated me and I screamed, a jaw had locked onto my calf and was pulling me away.
"Fuck!" I yelled and the blade stabbed into the wolf and I pulled it back and kicked the beast away, the creature lunged and its maw threatened to rip my throat out, then a familiar gun rang out, blood spattered the grass and my face and I looked to my left and I saw T.C, gun in hand, and he chuckled.
"Shit that was my last one." He spoke and dropped to his knees.
"Fuck, I ain't gonna make it." He said and I crawled slowly to him. I sat next to him and checked his wounds, then he looked at me and laughed.
"Shit, guess we're in the same boat now, Jaune." He spoke softly and I could see what he meant, I was bleeding out too, but between massive aura and adrenaline, I couldn't feel that much. Blood seeped into my clothes, three more wolves raced at us and I fell into a coughing fit as they grew closer. My eyes lifted from the ground as I stared up at the oncoming horde, the girl looked toward T.C and I and we grinned two bloody smiles. Shaking limbs lifted me to my feet, broken fingers gripped the knife in my hand and what was left of my will forced my aura out more.
"T.C, you gotta go with her, I'll cover you, get the hell out of here." I said, my word faint and low, but audible to the pilots sensitive ears.
"Please,"- I looked to my left, my eyes meeting the girl's, blood dripping from the side of my face,-"It would mean a lot to me, please take him and go." Barely a whisper were my words, but the message was clear.
"Sometimes, good men have to die, strength is never the matter, the point is standing for the sake of standing. Because someone has to." I spat out the philosophy that my family had engrained in me, the words like a mantra.
"K-kid, you aren't serious, you'll die, they will eat you, tear you to pieces." T.C said softly, bloodshot eyes looking up at me as the girl lifted him to his feet and helped him.
"Better me than you two." I said simply, ending the conversation with a wave of my hand as the girl started pulling the wounded T.C away. Tears ran down my face, fear overtook my body.
"I don't want to die." I said as I looked at the oncoming wave, terror was never all that new to me. I was always scared, but never like this. Blood in my veins felt like coolant, freezing me in place.
Memories, visions of the amazing times I had with my team and RWBY, all of them flashed in my head.
I grit my teeth as the wave hit me, blood splashed on the grass as I slammed into them, my hands gripped one of them and slammed it into the ground as another hit me from behind, claws scratched through my skin. The knife I held slashed through one after the other. I felt a jaw bite into my throat and rip, flesh tore and blood spattered across the ground. I coughed and couldn't breathe anymore. I looked and saw my throat get dropped on the ground and get gnawed on by a wolf. Blood coated my face as I collapsed and the wolves bit into me.
But then I felt something, like a push, like something giving way at the last moment, a flash of courage in the sea of terror.
"Are you done? So easily?" A voice like a distant echo rang in my head, I could've sworn the thoughts were not my own.
"Are you done, warrior?" The voice spoke again.
This time I answered.
"I am not yet done!" I roared within my thoughts as the voiced sounded again.
"Good, then stand, warrior. Take your place among the dead who yet walk, among those who do not rot, among those that death forgot." The voice said finally. Then I felt my eyes burn, like holes were being drilled into them.
Power radiated through me, power I had never felt before. I could feel weight too, like a choice was made, like I was holding great responsibility.
"Stand once more, Draugr." The voice called finally, then my hands slammed on the grass, forcing me up, blood had covered me and cracked from the heat coming from my body. Steam boiled out of me and I could feel waves of raw energy. The grass under me lit ablaze and the wolves that bit me burned at my touch.
I felt like a terrifying force, like the power in me was much more than my body could handle.
I gripped the knife in my hand and the handle shifted, the burning heat scorched the weapon, in seconds it was forged into a new weapon, a blade of darkened, burnt iron, with a razor sharp edge, then a sheath wrapped around the blade and the handle of the weapon burned against my skin and branded me with an unfamiliar crest.
A symbol of two skulls being bound by rope together, where they were both cracked and threatening to shatter formed on my palm, then it shifted, the skulls merging into one with a white and blue eye respectively from each skull.
The new blade in my hand felt perfect, the weapon as light as my own limb, the iron of it was perfect. As I drew the weapon out of the ground, the flames beneath me formed shapes, sharp geometry that somehow confused me. Script in a language that I had never seen was written in flames around me as the circle grew.
Wolves barked and attempted to vault the flames only to be scorched. The flames gathered and spread over my body, numerous tattoos and rings of iron formed on my hands, they spread up my forearms and stopped, the skin charred and blackened, then healed rapidly giving way to dark symbols.
Pain wracked my body and burned me, I could hear my bones popping and readjusting, my skin tightened and my ears rang as they felt to change. All of the pain that hit me forced me to my senses as the flames burned brighter.
"You now are a link, between the living, and the almighty dead." The voice called one last time. My hand on the blade rose, the weapon lifting and sliding onto my back where a strap formed and fit itself around me.
The flames around me died out and the wolves hesitantly approached as I stood once again. I could feel the burning power in me, begging for release. I drew out a little of my aura, and there I noticed the color, both white and blue, intertwined but never mixing.
I bit my lip from the pain and the rings on my right hand began to glow as inscriptions appeared and shined brightly.
"Time to end this." I spoke in a low tone. My words echoed, my voice was louder and more booming.
Reaching back to the weapon behind me, I felt the perfect handle in my palm, the brand fitting against it perfectly. The weapon sang with a beautiful ring of metal, then the edges of the blade superheated and as I swung I could feel it bringing even the air to a sizzle.
A wolf lunged at me and I slashed against it and the iron seemed to rip and burn clean through the beast, then the weapon descended as I moved forward. The edge kept moving, and in an instant, I felt perfectly in tandem with the flow of the battle field.
I roared as the weapon came down and killed the last of the wolves and blood sprayed against me.
I coughed and fell to the ground as all of the new found power left my body, like I had been drained in an instant.
"Shit, guess my boost is gone. What the hell is going on?" I asked and dropped the weapon in my hand and collapsed. I could feel the weightlessness leave me.
"Get up, Jaune. C'mon, just get up." I spoke softly and forced myself to my feet, the sword acting like a cane as I kept it in the scabbard and started moving in the direction I thought I saw T.C and the girl leave in.
Pain still filled my body, the feeling of weakness spreading faster and farther the more I moved. But as I moved I noticed things about the wolves, things you only saw if you focused and looked closely.
First thing I noticed is that they are actually blind, a sense of smell, touch, and hearing guide them, most likely because the dense forest was filled with dark areas that sunlight never reached.
As I traveled through the forest for an hour, I came across a large smoke plume in the distance, I sped up my pace, the sword sliding back onto my back and I started to run, despite the weakness I felt.
My movements were rough and sluggish, more wolves were able to hear me and they started rushing me as we both raced to the smoke.
The sword on my back was ripped from the scabbard and slashed through a wolf that stood in front of me. As it opened its mouth, I saw that their throats were lined with sharp jagged teeth.
I slashed through one after the other, each beast dying faster than the last. My hands shook and my legs threatened to crumble.
"Jaune, just keep going, you can be weak later." I whispered as I kept my pace and eventually broke the final treeline, then slid down a harsh slope and found myself at the outskirts of a town.
Behind me the wolves hit the border and slowed, then they stopped and turned, seeming to have given up on their choice of pray.
"Shit." I said as I collapsed onto my knees and sat down, trying to get a grip on myself and my strength. I spat out a thick glob of blood onto the grass and leaned back and I could feel all of my limbs grow as heavy as lead, I coughed a raspy cough and looked up, the sunlit sky was now turning purple, night would soon fall, I was within the border of the village but I needed to get further in.
"C'mon, you can do this, Jaune." I said softly and climbed to my feet, my boots hitting the dirt awkwardly from my exhausted gait.
I could feel exhaustion even down to my bones, my feet carried me through the night, but soon I found myself kneeling at the base of a tree, struggling to stand. I was shaking from the exertion of continuing. I used my sword as a cane as I rose once more and finally, I saw the smoke stacks of chimneys, of houses.
As I stepped within the grounds of the town I could see the bustling people. The town was lit by hanging lanterns, just like old world towns before the industrial revolution of Remnant. I could feel a strange allure all around me, like the grass, the fires of the lanterns, even the light itself called to me. Like all of it was connected. As my feet clicked against the cobblestone path of the town, the world grew quiet, and dark, then the world fell away with a single word.
"Aesiengr." A voice spoke so softly I had almost missed it, but the word was familiar, almost like I had a sort of kinship with it. Then blackness took me.