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Temple of the spirit dragon ch 4

"Are you girls OK?" Said Lan, "That must have been hard on you two."

"I'm fine now thanks to you friend" said Ruby, with a shy smile.

Jaune, who had a slightly stunned look on her face, gawked at Lan for a moment before angrily replying.

"I-I am not a girl!"

"What?" said Lan, who was confused for a moment before quickly jumping to a conclusion "Ah I see, you're a tran—"

"Hold it right there buddy!" interrupted Jaune "I don't know what you were gonna say, but THAT IS NOT TRUE! My sisters made we wear this! I…I had no means of defense." He said in a glum voice, with his eyes tilted downwards and tears in his eyes.

Lan opened his mouth, about to tease Jaune, but stopped as he realized that a certain crazy old grandfather of his could do the very same thing to him if he was ever so inclined.

"So, how did you the two of you end up being captured by those things?" asked Lan.

The two of them thought for a moment, and then Jaune answered first.

"Uh, well, I was being taught how to use a sword by my grandfather while the two of us were riding on Bobo, he's a giant stuffed rabbit, when I was suddenly wrapped up in this dark fog and felt myself getting pulled by something. By the time I realized it, I was already in the Cage."

"Oooh same for me!" said Ruby, "Well, the fog part, not the rabbit part. Before that happened I was riding down a river of chocolate sauce on a strawberry shortcake boat with my sister, my dad, and my uncle Qrow!"

"Ok" thought Lan, as he turned to the side rubbing his chin "They were obviously dreaming before they got snatched…a lot of implications here, almost none of them good."

He then turned to the sky and yelled "Hey, Spirit, can you get over here? I need to discuss something with you!"

A few moments later, the spirit floated down from a nearby tree. Jaune squeaked and hid behind Lan, while Ruby stared at the spirit with starry eyes.

"Wow!" said Ruby "Are you a fairy?"

The spirit ignored the question and floated to eye level with Lan. "I hope rescuing these two…children was worth drawing any unwanted attention to us."

"Yup." Said Lan, who nonchalantly moved on to the next topic "Now do you have any information on what those things I just fought were."

"Those creatures were manifested nightmares." Said the Spirit "Back in the days of the Illustratem empire, my research team discovered that the Dream Eater would manifest the nightmares of individuals to help carry out its will. We were able to find ways to combat nightmares formed from more concrete fears, like specific creatures or monsters. But when the nightmare is born from a more abstract idea, they take on those wispy forms that were impervious to any attempts we had to destroy them. For a time, we attempted to find a way to defeat them, but no solutions were found before we had to shift all resources to create the seals…To think that the essence blow that you learned was capable of destroying something that had tormented us for so long…very intriguing."

"Well, in any case, I think that there are more of them somewhere around here." Said Lan.

"That would be an accurate assumption" said the spirit.

Lan then turned back to Jaune and Ruby, who were waiting impatiently on the side.

"You guys understand anything of the situation from our conversation?" asked Lan

""Nope"" said the two of them in unison.

"Well, for now, just know that it's very dangerous here." Said Lan "For now it would be best if you two stuck with me."

"OOhhhhhh" moaned Jaune "I don't want to be here. I wanna go home."

"Yeah" said Ruby, who rubbed her belly "I'm starting to get hungry."

Lan sighed, and was about to tell them they weren't able to go home, but stopped when he looked into their sad little eyes. They existed here as spiritual forms, and as a result didn't really require sustenance, but eating regular meals is something that is ingrained in people from birth. A person's spirit could recover significantly after they have had a good meal, and as a result the spiritual forms here would likely receive benefits from eating, getting food for the soul both literally and metaphorically speaking. Sadly, Lan didn't have any food on him at the moment. He usually kept a massive number of edibles in his enormous backpack, but he wasn't able to bring it into with him into the dreamscape.

He then paused for a moment, letting the word dreamscape play in his head a few times. Dreamscape, dreamscape, dream…He then had an epiphany.

"Hold on a sec you two" said Lan.

He then turned his back on the two of them, and placed both of his hands together. He began to use the training he had received to synchronize his spiritual energy and aura with the spiritual energy in the dreamscape around him. He focused the resulting synergized forces towards his palms and began to focus on an image, similar to how one would control the environment in a lucid dream. He felt the dreamscape twist around his palms, and then with a brief flash of light and a pulse of his own spiritual energy, two large cups of his special custom hot chocolate appeared in his hands.

"Here you are" said Lan, who held out the beverages to Ruby and Jaune who were staring at him with wide eyes. "Two cups of Muteki family ultimate hot chocolate: whipped cream, chocolate chips, nuts, melted chocolate sauce, toasted mini marshmallows, graham cracker bits, and white chocolate shavings, all over a 100% hot chocolate made from scratch!"

The words had barely come out when the two mugs were snatched from his hands by Ruby and Jaune, who proceeded to guzzle it down with unrestrained fervor.

Lan waited a minute while the two of them finished their drinks, let out a sigh a contentment, then look back at him smiles and whipped cream mustaches.

"How did you do that!?" said Ruby, her eyes bright like a puppy.

"Yeah, that was awesome!" said Jaune, who let out a satisfied belch.

"Ah well you see, at present time we are in a pseudo-spiritual, pseudo-physical reality that is likely formed from what I believe to a be a collective consciousness of countless dreaming individuals. I have had training manipulating spiritual energy, and so I was able to synchronize my—"

Lan stopped as he finally noticed the blank stares that Ruby and Jaune were giving him. He then gave them a dumbed down answer.

"Ok, basically we're in kind of a dream right now, and so I can kind of control things like a dream"

"Oh okay" said Ruby, who nodded.

"Oh, thank goodness" said Jaune, who let out a relieved sigh "I'm just dreaming, I thought I was in danger there."

"Oh, we probably still are" said Lan "With things as they are, if we die here it's very likely we'll die for real."

Lan and Ruby stared at him for moment, then simultaneously broke out into tears.

"Nice" said the spirit.

Lan held up his hands, unsure of what to do here. He then let out an exasperated sigh, and pulled them both into a hug.

"There there" he said, patting them both on the back. "I'm here, I won't let anything bad happen to you two."

Lan, Ruby, and Jaune stayed like that for a minute or two until Ruby and Jaune finally calmed down. They both then returned the hugs they had been given.

"…Thanks" mumbled Jaune.

"Your hugs are warm" said Ruby, who hugged Lan extra tight.

A cold wind then blew through the clearing and ruffled Lan and Ruby's skirts.

"I'm cold" said Jaune.

"OK!" said Lan, frowning, "This is getting weird!"

He then let Jaune Ruby out of his hug while Ruby giggled as she saw the awkwardness that was now plastered all over Jaune's face.

Lan sighed, then walked over to Jaune.

"Ok, I'm going to try something. Can you close your eyes and picture your normal clothes?"

Jaune nodded and did so.

Lan placed his hand on Jaune's head and took a deep breath. He then began to send his spiritual energy and Aura into Jaune to resonate with the boy's own soul, he was careful not to accidently trigger Jaune's aura since there was no telling what effects there would be if it was activated while in the dreamscape.

"Alright, imagine wearing those clothes" said Lan who clenched his mental muscles as he altered the energy he was flowing into Jaune in order to make it follow Jaune's thought pattern. Jaune begin to glow as the energy Lan was sending into him began to interact with the dreamscape around them. Then, with a bright flash of light, Jaune's clothes changed from the dress he was wearing to a t-shirt with a bunny on the front and a pair of shorts.

"Phew" said Lan, who removed his hand from Jaune's head before bending down and resting his hands on his knees. "That 'pant' really is harder to do for someone else."

"COOL!" shouted Ruby who's eyes sparkled as she hopped up and down with excitement. "I want something, I want something!"

"wha-? Uh, well doing this takes a lot out of me—" started Lan, but it was soon drowned out as Ruby spewed out a tirade of "Iwantsomething Iwantsomething Iwantsomething Iwantsomething!"

Not able to handle Ruby's adorable puppy dog smile and exuberance any longer, Lan acquiesced and waved her over.

"Now, I can't make you anything too big now, I need to conserve my strength after all." said Lan

"—Okay…hmmm" said Ruby, who then rubbed her chin while she thought of what she wanted "Got it!"

A bright flash of light later, Ruby had on a belt with a rose emblem on it and a new hair clip with a rose made out of a ruby on it.

"Awwwww! I didn't get everything!" said Ruby.

"Well, I guess that just means you were just about perfect the way you were." Said Lan, rubbing her head.

She giggled while covering her mouth as the spirit came down to Lan.

"You are wasting your strength with these childish pursuits" said the spirit "You need to save your strength for any perils we have yet to face."

"Sorry, sorry" said Lan, who plopped onto the ground "I just couldn't take Jaune seriously like that. I'll be fine after a rest a bit."

Unluckily for Lan, however, the clearing they were in was soon filled with the sound of growling and moments later, a few dozen Beowolves, Creeps, and Ursa emerged from the trees.

"Grimm?" said Lan, who leapt to his feet "How—Oh right, I guess a lot of people have nightmares about Grimm"

A Beowolf charge forwards at Lan, who had taken his stance. He flowed his aura into the ground the air around it to synchronize with it, took a long cleansing breath. He felt his strength increase many times more than it would in reality, achieving synchronization was much easier in the dreamscape. He felt unmovable like a mountain and felt like a storm was brewing within him. Right as the Grimm reached him and raised its claws, Lan sidestepped it, gathered his Aura around his fingers to toughen them, drove them into the Beowolf's throat, and tore the creatures head off in one swift motion. A Beowolf behind him leapt at him in that moment, but was knocked out of the air as the spirit flew forwards and headbutted it.

"If you are insistent on protecting these children, I suggest we get serious about defeating our foes" said the spirit as Ruby and Jaune stared at the two of them mouths open and slack jawed.

"Right!" shouted Lan, who thrust his pointer finger into the air "It's morphin time!"

"I do not accept that name!" shouted the spirit who dove into Lan and merged with him.

Lan's eyes flashed white-blue for a moment. He then grabbed Jaune and Ruby, materialized a crystal chain, and tied the two of them to his back.

"Oof" mumbled Ruby through Lan's clothes as she struggled against the chains that was forcing her face to smush into Lan's back.

"Thish is kinda unfortble" said Jaune in an equally smushed voice, only the side of his head was smushing against Lan's back.

"Sorry, but you got to keep close to stay safe" said Lan, who materialized a pair of crystal gauntlets. The Grimm had surrounded them in a circle at this point, they silently stared at Lan, the only sound in the clearing the sound of Ruby and Jaune struggling against Lan's chains. Then, one of the Beowolves howled, and they all charged at him. Lan stood his ground, and once the first Grimm came close enough, he through a punch that shattered its head. He then leapt up as one Grimm dove at him, grabbed its arm, and used it to spin around in midair and strike another Grimm in the face. He then continued to jump, bop, weave, and grapple through the horde of Grimm, throwing out any lethal blows when he found an opening. The while Jaune was shrieking in a high-pitched voice as Ruby kept mumbling "I Kmpt Smee (I can't see)" against Lan's back. Luckily for Lan, Jaune and Ruby together were both smaller and lighter than his backpack and since he frequently fought with that on his back, he had little trouble.

After a minute Lan landed on his feet in a clear area surrounded by significantly fewer Grimm.

"Okay, big finish!" said Lan, who reached behind and grabbed Jaune and Ruby. "Don't worry I'll catch you two!"

"Whuh—" started Jaune, before he could finish, Lan dematerialized the chains around them and threw them high into the air. Jaune screamed his high-pitch shriek again, while Ruby took a deep breath and yelled "Finally I can breathe!".

Lan then materialized two large chains off the wrists of his gauntlets, and attached to the ends of each chain was a large blade. He then grabbed the chains, twisted his body, and began swinging them around in a large circle, cleaving any Grimm caught in their path in twain. After two, quick rotations just about all the Grimm had been slain. The last one, seemingly deciding that continuing to attack would be fruitless, took off running towards the woods. But before it reached cover, a blade pierced through its head and it fell dead to the ground.

Lan then dematerialized his weapons and looked up into the air. He held out his arms as he shifted his position bit by bit until.

'Whump' "Grgh!" Jaune belly flopped into Lan's arms, and half a second later Ruby landed butt first on Jaune's back, which made a small crack and caused Jaune to let out a small squeak of pain.

"My hero!" said Ruby, who raised her arms into the air, and then gave Lan a hug.

"My back" whimpered Jaune.

After setting the two of them down and giving Jaune's back some quick care, Lan turned to the spirit.

"We can't keep exposing these two to this" said Lan. "Is there any way to get them to safety?"

"Sadly no" said the spirit "During their research, my researchers found that the Dream Eater would trap an individuals consciousnesses completely within its domain. They theorized that the only way to free the would be to defeat the Dream Eater's core and break its hold."

"Any idea on how to find it?" asked Lan

"I'm afraid not" said the spirit. "We may need to search around to find it. I suggest you rest for now though. Counting how long you were awake before coming here, you've been up for almost 24 hours straight"

"Alright" said Lan, who began to feel his weariness setting in. He didn't know if their spiritual bodies would die from hunger or thirst, but looking at the tired looks Lan and Ruby were giving him, he decided not to risk him. Using spiritual synchronization and lucid dreaming, Lan materialized a copy of his backpack behind him.

"Huh, it's easier to materialize things I'm more familiar with." Thought Lan, as he rummaged through the pockets. He pressed a button, and a large automated turret popped out from the top of the bag. It was something that he had made jointly with Sammy, who wrote the software and programming while Lan put the thing together. He had never needed to use it before, since Byakko could detect approaching threats long before it could.

"That should keep us safe for now" said Lan, who pulled a cooler out of another pocket.

Before long he had gotten a fire going and prepared a meal of tin roasted garlic fries and flame roasted burgers. He also pulled out a for Jaune, a bottle of milk for Ruby, and a bottle of milk tea for himself. The three of them quickly devoured their meal while Ruby and Jaune bombarded Lan with questions. The two of them were very tired though, so most of them were unintelligible, and as for the ones that were, Lan was able to avoid the more sensitive questions.

Before long, Lan felt it was time for bed and pulled out three sleeping bags. While he rolled his out, however, Ruby came up to him.

"I'm scared" she said, looking around at the dead gnarled trees around them "Can I sleep with you?"

"Sure" said Lan, he then turned to Jaune "You want to sleep with me too?"

"N-no, I'm fi—" started Jaune, but his words were cut short as the turret released a quick blast and killed a Grimm that had been approaching the edge of the camp. "O-Ok" he said meekly.

Lan pulled a couple of sleeping bags together, and before long they were all snuggled deeply into it, the only sounds being the crackle of the fire and the movements of the turret scanning the surroundings.

"Hey" said Ruby.

"Hmmm?" said Lan

"Can you tell me a story?" she said "They help me sleep."

Lan let out a breath and said "Sure". He then thought for moment, at first, he wanted to tell her some classic fairy tales, but was afraid that if he got the finer details wrong, he might upset her. So in the end, he settled on an original tale of his own.

"Once upon a time" he started "there was a crazy old man named Byakko."

Hope this chapter was good. As always please give me any reviews you might have on improving my writing, and I hope the writers of RWBY will one day read this.