Disclaimer: I hereby declare that Roosterteeth studios RWBY production crew may freely use any ideas, characters, or events written in this story free of charge and without any threat of lawsuit for any production, though it would be preferable to inform me of the use of the idea if used.
Temple of the Spirit Dragon ch 9
Lan looked left and right, alarmed. He began throwing a variety of strikes in all directions hoping to fight back what had enveloped him, but found himself only hitting empty air. In desperation, he punched the ground with his charged essence blow. Glowing cracks spread out from the place of impact, but were quickly reabsorbed into the darkness. Lan knelt there for a moment, his strength, aura, and spiritual energy completely tapped. His mind, however, was still on high alert, constantly searching for the presence of something in the darkness that surrounded him. He tried to rest a bit and regain his strength, but something about this placed seemed to pierce into him, slowing his recovery and downright stopping it unless he actively focused on his recovery.
He looked around as he rested, but was unable to see anything.
"Where are the souls?" he wondered. He had calmed down quickly after the initial pangs of panic so as not to waste energy. He had learned from a young age that it was best to calm down and investigate in an unknown location that he found himself in due to Byakko's habit of stuffing Lan into a sack while he was sleeping and dropping the boy off in a new training location without warning. There was no indication of what he could do at the moment, so he decided to recover his energy till he was well enough to unleash a barrage of essence blows, which were the only thing that seemed to affect this space around him.
He noticed that his lungs were growing colder, so he willed his spiritual form to warm itself. It did so but he found that splitting his concentration allowed the oppressive energy around him to begin pervading him again. Deciding that recovering his aura and spiritual energy were tantamount to his survival, Lan focused all his will on recovering the two. Because of this, however, he began to grow colder and colder until he eventually began to shiver uncontrollably.
"Good a time as any to try this" thought Lan with chattering teeth as he prepared to use another technique taught to him by Meng. A thin film if azure light slowly spread out form his forehead until it covered his entire body. He then directed his focus to warming his freezing body, and was glad to find that the fil of energy was preventing the oppressive energy from pervading him. This was a special technique that Meng had only rudimentarily showed him last week. Opposed to standard dragon temple combat technique where one would unify their spiritual energy with the world around them, this technique isolated hem from it, which was useful when in an environment that was harmful or toxic. Apparently when mastered, it would allow the user to walk through fire unharmed and protect them from external impurities. Lan's technique was only rudimentary, however, and would only protect him from weak spiritual attacks like amateur level essence blows. In this place, however, that was enough to stop the negative influence of this dark space so he could focus on recovery. He also had to be careful to control the output so he didn't end up burning through his Aura faster than he could recover it. A little while later, he had recovered enough that he could start moving around.
"Ok," said Lan, who rubbed his hands together "just a little more and I should be able to crack the floor open."
'Zip'
A glowing orb shot past his eyes and began speeding further into the darkness.
"Soul!" shouted Lan who pointed at it and then took off after it. Despite his speed which had been forged in the chasms of Byakko's Grimm runs, where the old man would force the boy to outrun Grimm. The boy found the soul growing smaller and smaller, until it finally disappeared from sight. Slowly coming to a halt, he stood there, breathing heavily as the oppressive darkness around him seemed to pierce into him even more.
"Whatever is in here, it's playing with me" he thought "It wants me to waste my strength."
Lan started to recover again, but was slowly growing more worried as he began to think about Jaune, Ruby, and the souls of all the children that were in more and more peril the longer he was stuck here. Returning to his original plan, he summoned up all the strength he could, he began to launch as many essence blows as he could at the ground. Every blow caused cracks that fused into each other to create a mass that grew larger and larger, but Lan soon ran empty on Aura and spiritual energy again with the cracks only spreading out in a 10-meter radius around him before slowly being swallowed up by the darkness again. Exhausted, he began to panic again.
"Damnit" he thought as he took a meditative position to begin recovering his aura more efficiently. "They're going to die out there and it'll be all my—no no no. Gotta calm down, won't be of any use if I lose it…Now, where'd I put that chocolate bar?" He ruffled around his gi, trying to find it, but stopped when he grabbed something covered in cloth he didn't recognize. Pulling it out, he unwrapped it and realized that it was the Magatama he had received for his 8th birthday, the Tiger's eye.
"Oh yeah," said Lan, who dumped it onto his palm "I can't use it in training, so I forgot about it."
The boy had stored it away, since he felt that using it in training was cheating, but had kept it close since it could be game-changer if the situation required. The moment it touched his skin, it glowed with a white light and caused his aura to glow with its azure light. He also found that his aura, and as a result his spiritual energy, began to recharge exponentially faster than before. The darkness seemed to recoil from the glow as Lan put a string through the magatama and tied it around his neck.
"Alright then" said Lan, who cracked his knuckles and stared at the ground, "Why don't I try this again."
"That won't be necessary child." Came a disembodied voice from all around him. As if given birth from the darkness, a door suddenly appeared in front of him. Lan leapt back and assumed a fighting stance, but when nothing he happened, he cautiously approached it and began examining it.
"Hmmm." Said Lan, who tapped his chin "Should I step through the mysterious door that just poofed out of the darkness after a scary voice talked to me?…My heart is saying yes, but my brain and my guts are saying no."
He thought for a moment, then yelled into the darkness "Is there a time limit on the door?"
When nothing answered back, he let out a sigh, gave the door a narrow-eyed glare, then gave a 'why not' shrug and opened it.
Inside was a large dining room with a lavish feast laid out in front of it. Sitting at the far end, was what appeared to be a grizzled old man with neat white hair, a mustache, and red pupils. He was wearing an expensive looking suit and was snacking on a bunch of grapes.
"Hello child" he said as he sucked down a couple grapes. "Why don't you take a seat?"
Just as the words left his mouth, Lan threw his last throwing knife and several of the knives on the table in front of him at the man. They sailed through the air, but dissipated into smoke just as they were about to strike him.
"An understandable reaction" said the man, as Lan took a fighting stance. "But I must ask that you to please," the man's sclera turned pitch black "Sit!"
Before Lan realized it, he found he was suddenly sitting in a chair by the man's side, there was a knife and fork in his hands and a sumptuous slab of steak sitting in front of him. He quickly dropped the eating utensils and threw a punch at the old man's face, but the blow was stopped by some kind of invisible barrier.
"Tut, tut" said the man, waiving his finger "That's not very polite of you. I just want to talk after all."
Lan slowly lowered his fist to his side, and gave the man a piercing stare. "Who are you?"
"Oh my boy, I think we both know that already" he chuckled as he brought his bunch of grapes up to his open mouth.
Lan slapped the grapes he was holding out of his hand, and continued to give him a piercing stare.
"And I see you have already found out what the food is" he said, as he picked the bunch of souls off the floor and put them back on the table "Such a clever child. But I guess it was impolite of me to eat while in the middle of an important discussion, so I must apologize."
"You're the dream eater" said Lan, who pushed away the soul steak in front of him.
"In the dream-forged flesh" said the man, tilting his head slightly.
"Why are you talking to me?" asked Lan, "Neither of your 2 brothers ever did."
"Brothers?" said the man with a bemused smile, he then broke into a laugh that shook the room as wisps of smoky darkness came from his mouth. Lan's eyes narrowed and he swallowed as he reconfirmed the monster in front of him "Ahhh, we weren't brothers" he said as he calmed down and his face returned to normal. "Just a few individuals who came to a field ripe for the harvest after the original caretakers had…gone away."
Lan thought for a moment, not wanting to give away Veritas's presence, then asked "Then why were you all sealed in places that looked so similar?"
"Oh that" said the man "Well, although we were loath to do so, we were forced to work together for a time since a rather powerful bastard showed up and forced us to harvest for it, so when the mortals of the time period activated their little seal we all ended up sealed together…well all well's that ends well" said the man with a smile "Now I won't have to listen to that bastard anymore since he's still sealed and my competitors are either destroyed or is still sealed away …but still" the elated smile on the man's face disappeared and was replaced with a twisted grin "all these years sealed away have left me quite hungry." He eyed the bunch of grapes that were sitting on his plate. "But, I've eaten enough to recover some of my strength for now." He said as he smiled and sat up politely in his chair "I'll wait till our conversation is finished before I continue my feast. Now then, now that you've asked your questions. I believe it is time for me to ask mine if that's alright with you."
"…fine" said Lan, who was trying to sense some weakness he could possibly take advantage of.
"Excellent!" said the man, whose smile spread across his face. "Now then, may I ask whose agent you are?"
Lan looked at him blankly, then hesitantly answered "…Agent? I really don't understand what you mean."
"Oh don't play coy with me boy" said the man with a chuckle. "One doesn't receive abilities like yours without becoming the disciple of some greater being. I'd really like to know why they're meddling in my matters…and hopefully whether or not we'll be able to reach some kind of agreement."
Lan stayed silent for a minute, processing what the Dream Eater had just said. The abilities he had gained had come from his training with his grandfather and grand uncle Meng. This confirmed the suspicion that he had always had, that Byakko and the 3 he called his siblings were far more than the mortals they appeared as. But he had no idea how negotiations between such beings went, after thinking things through for a moment, he slapped together a rough plan and opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped before the first word came out of his mouth.
"I see" said the man, who looked at Lan with a face that was now full of disappointment. "An unwitting disciple…I bet you don't even have a sign of your connection or any way to contact it. Ugh, what a waste of my time" a black smoke began to seethe from the man's body as it began to deform and wrap around Lan. "I guess I'll get back to my meal now. Enjoy your time in the dark for now."
Lan's mind raced. If he were sent back to that dark void, there was no telling whether or not he would be able to escape or not. He had to somehow keep the Dream Eater interested, but apparently, he needed some kind of sign. He reached into his clothes hoping to find something, and as his fingers brushed something familiar his eyes lit up.
"Wait!" shouted Lan as he ripped it off of his neck and showed it to the Dream Eater "I have this!"
The dream eater turned his gaze down towards the item, it was the Tiger's eye, the magatama that Byakko had given Lan during his birthday. The Dream Eater's eyes turned red for moment as he gazed at it, then afterwards the happy smile returned to his face.
"Oh my boy, why didn't you show this to me earlier?" he said.
"Sorry" said Lan, with a forced twitchy smile "My grandfather gave this to me a while ago, but I didn't know it would be so important. And as for who taught me my skills, that would be my grandfather and my grand uncle."
"Oh! So there are two!...wonderful" said the Dream Eater with badly concealed sarcasm.
"I would be more than happy to arrange a meeting with them" said Lan "I can probably get uncle Meng here tomorrow night and after that we can probably get grandpa in pretty soon."
"Great!" said the Dream Eater, who made a little clap "Well, now that that's settled, I'll just return you to the waking world while I continue my meal." He grabbed the grape-shaped bunch of souls again.
"Wait!" said Lan, who pushed that grapes away from the Dream Eater's face. "Can you, I dunno, not eat any more souls at least until after negotiations are over?"
"And not be at full strength when I meet those 2 entities? I think not" said the Dream Eater, who fixed Lan with a stern gaze. "Listen child, your masters may be able to make a deal with me, but a mortal like you isn't qualified to ask anything of me. Don't mistake my good manners for deference."
"…noted" said Lan, who was frantically thinking of how he could save at least one more soul. "But, it's strange why these souls are just letting you eat them."
"Oh, well, that's because I put them all to sleep." Said the dream eater, as he popped a grape into his mouth, which caused Lan to wince. "I can control everything in this realm to a certain extent, and they are so much easier to deal with when I make it so they don't fight back."
At these words, an Idea popped into Lan's head, he had no idea if it would work or not, but with the current situation it was the only thing he could think of that might work. He took a deep breath, then forced a smile.
"Very well then, I'll take my leave for now." He extended his hand. "It was very nice to meet you."
"Mmmm, likewise" said the Dream Eater who had lost interest in Lan, and was now focusing almost all his attention on his meal as it held out its hand.
The moment their two hands met, Lan activated his Semblance while synchronizing as much aura and spiritual energy he could with the Tiger's eye. The small stone responded by glowing with an azure-white light and flooding Lan with absolutely massive amounts of aura and spiritual energy. Lan forced as much of the energy as he could towards empowering his semblance as he put the Dream Eater's hand in a vice like grip.
Lan's energy spread out from the point of contact and completely covered the surprised dream eater. It quickly changed color from Lan's light Azure, to a kind of darkness that wasn't of this world. This dark energy was then pulled back into Lan.
With an angry grunt, the Dream Eater threw Lan across the room, causing the boy to crash into the farthest wall and crumple into a heap.
"That was completely uncalled for" said the Dream Eater, who got up and straightened his suit "It seems I'll have to teach you a lesson before—"
He stopped as noticed Lan begin writhing in pain on the floor, veins of dark energy pulsing under his skin.
"Huh, well seems that your little endeavor resulted in its own punishment." He sat back down and observed Lan with an upturned gaze. "May this be a lesson to not meddle in things beyond your ability."
Lan didn't hear a single word the being said. He was currently overwhelmed with an overpowering hunger, a hunger for something that he had never eaten before, a hunger for souls. However, being a human with strong empathy, not only was he repulsed by the idea, but was also completely unable to eat souls, and as a result his soul began to reject the powers that he had just harmonized with.
"No!" he mentally shouted to himself. "One time…I just need one time!"
Practically falling over himself, he crawled over to the table with his body convulsing and lurching every inch of the way. If he had been in his physical body, he would have already blown out his capillaries and puked his organs onto the floor, but here in the Dreamscape, one's will power had a much greater affect over maintaining one's wellbeing, and that was something he had in spades.
With a grunt of effort, he grabbed the edge of the table and pulled himself up as blood began to pour from his eyes and mouth.
"Oh, are you hungry?" asked the Dream Eater with a bemused smile "Well why didn't you just say so! I'd be more than happy to share."
Part of Lan wanted to bark out some witty retort, but it was taking practically all his effort just to focus on the task at hand. Getting as close as he could to the food, he evoked the power he had harmonized, and forced it all into one command which he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"WAKE UP!"
With a jolt, all the food on the table burst into orbs of multicolored light many of them whizzing around the room in confusion. Startled, the Dream Eater leapt out of his chair and began staring at the countless free souls. Lan collapsed to the ground, gasping in exhaustion as the otherworldly energy began leaving his body, but forcing himself to stay conscious he pushed himself up and shouted.
"If you don't want to be eaten, then move now!"
Using the last of the otherworldly energy he had harmonized with, Lan tore open the space they were in by gathering the energy into his fingertips and forcing it through the boundaries that defined the space before pulling it apart. The hole he made lead back to the top of the nightmare castle where the fight had begun. The countless souls, as if reacting to Lan's warning, shot through the opening and dispersed in all directions, quickly disappearing from sight.
"No!" whispered the Dream Eater, who waived his hands to remove the space the 2 were currently in. He looked all around but there was no longer a single soul in sight.
"Boy!" he said in a voice that was no longer of this world, but was still filled with rage. The friendly old man form it had taken on had begun melting into a shadowy form. Its face elongated into a raven-like shape, its fingers extended into claws, and its body began to grow larger "Do you have any idea what you've just done!?"
"Saved a lot of kids" said Lan, who got up to his feet, the Tiger's eye in his hand helping him quickly recover his energy. The space around the two began to warp as the Dream Eater grew a pair of shadowy wings, shattering the tower around them. The pieces of stone however, didn't fall to the ground and instead just floated in the air. The stairwell leading down disappeared, and Lan soon found himself standing on a broken piece of stone, floating in the air as the Dream eater's warping shadowy form came to bear down upon him. "Hopefully I can survive this and celebrate" muttered Lan as he took his stance and prepared to fight.
Back to Jaune
"Where is it?!" shouted Jaune who held his shield at the ready.
"I don't know, you've got the night visions, can't you see it?" said Veritas who had several projectile orbs floating around him.
"I'm trying!" shouted Jaune "But I can't tell which shadow it is!"
The two of them were currently standing back to back in the dark entry hall. The area seemed quiet, but the two of them knew better.
With an ear-piercing roar Cyan's writhing form erupted from the shadow cast by the chandelier above them.
Taken by surprise, Jaune barely managed to put up his shield while Veritas got a few shots off before the creature slammed into them and sent them flying in opposite directions. Veritas managed to stop himself in midair and proceeded to fire energy blasts at Cyan, who retreated back into the shadows. Jaune, on the other hand, crashed into a wall where something in his dream form broke.
"Aggghhhhhhh!" cried Jaune as he crashed to the floor. Had this been an actual dream, he would have woken up, but in this place where one's soul was bound to the form of their dream, he experienced the pain as if he was in his actual physical form.
"Jaune!" cried Veritas, who flew to the boy's side, but just as he arrived Cyan leapt out of a nearby shadow, his writhing shadowy jaws ready to swallow them hole. Taken by surprise, Veritas barely managed to put up a barrier in time. Cyan's fangs crashed against it, after which the beast began to ceaselessly throw itself against it with its fangs and claws.
"Jaune, urgh, get up!" said Veritas in a strained voice. But Jaune wasn't listening, the boy continued to whimper while writhing in pain.
"It hurts, it hurts!" he screamed as teared poured down his face "How did I think we could win this?! I'm no hero! Agghhhhhhh! We're all going to die!"
"Get a hold of yourself child!" shouted Veritas, who was now down on his knees and his barrier beginning to crack.
"Someone help." Thought Jaune, as his consciousness began to fade "Someone please help me!"
"Are you all right?" came a girl's gentle voice. A warm red glow shone in through his eyelids, and his pain subsided enough for him to open his eyes a crack. Countless souls were pouring into the room, taking all 3 of the combatants by surprise.
"Come on everyone!" said the red spirit. "He needs our help!"
"But the boy who saved us said we need to get out of here!" said a pink soul. Another pink soul next to him bobbed up and down as if nodding. "My friend Nora thinks so too."
"We can't just run away from this!" shouted the red soul "We don't even know where we are or where we need to go. If we just run away like this, those monsters will just track us down again, we need to fight back if we want to stand a chance."
"How?!" yelled a brown soul. "We don't even have limbs!"
"Well, I—" started the red soul who was beginning to sound unsure of herself.
"Merge yourselves with the boy!" shouted Veritas, who had pushed himself back onto his feet. "Fly into his chest and give him your strength. Help him focus his mind so he may take on a form that will give us victory!"
"You heard the fairy!" said the red soul
"I am not a fairy!" shouted Veritas.
"come on!" shouted the red soul, ignoring him.
None of the other children moved towards Jaune though as the sound of their nervous voices filled the room, barely audible under the sound of Cyan smashing against Veritas's shield.
"…OK, I guess it's just me then."
The soul flew itself directly into Lan's chest, and a moment later a warmth spread throughout his body as his wound began to heal.
"Thanks" said Jaune as he got back to his feet. "But who are you?"
"My name is Pyrrah" said the soul that had joined itself with him. "Are you feeling a bit better now?"
"Yeah" said Jaune, who straightened up, "But I'm honestly still pretty sore."
"I guess we'll join in too" said the first pink soul as it floated down with its friend Nora. "Fighting back against the creatures that wish to do us harm…I think…I think I would like that very much…I won't let things happen like back in Kuroyuri, never again!"
He and his friend flew into Jaune's chest, and the boy suddenly found himself flooded with new strength as he began to shine with a golden light.
"I am Lie Ren, and my friend Nora and I stand with you!"
One by one the souls gathered around began to come down and merge themselves with Jaune, who began to glow brighter and brighter.
"Create an image!" shouted Veritas, who had been forced onto his knees again by a swipe of Cyan's powerful claws "Create an image that will let you channel the power that has been entrusted to you! And hurry, my strength begins to fail me!"
"An image" muttered Jaune "I already have one."
He lifted his sword and shield and yelled at the top of his lungs: "I am a shield, a guardian of justice, and bastion for my comrades!" he began to rise into the air as the energy around him began to solidify. "With the strength and hope that has been entrusted to my, I swear to fight back this evil and return my friends back to their homes. I swear on my name, Sir Jaune Arc, I swear on my honor AS A KNIGHT!"
The energy around him burst forwards, coalescing into plates of shining golden armor. Before long, gone was Jaune Arc, and in his place was a giant 7-meter-tall golden knight who held a shining golden sword in one hand.
"Woah" said Jaune as he began looking over his new form. He hardly had any time to admire himself though. With a load crack, Veritas's shield broke, sending the spirit flying into Jaune's shin.
"My king!" shouted Jaune, who grabbed his sword in both hands and swung it down at Cyan, who was diving in for the kill. With a flash of light, Cyan recoiled, a glowing scar on his forehead. He growled then melted back into the shadows.
"King Veritas, are you alright" boomed Jaune, who stood at the ready with Veritas between his feet.
"I am fine, I just need a moment to rest" said Veritas, who knelt on the ground, "for now, focus on using your newfound powers to vanquish your foe."
"Okay," said Jaune, "I feel like I can do this now. I feel great!"
"Glad to hear it" came a voice from inside his head.
"Oh, Pyrrah! You're still here!"
"We all are" said Ren.
Many voices sounded out in confirmation in Jaune's mind.
"Thank you" said Jaune, who choked up with emotion. "I feel like I can do anything now!" His armor began to glow with an increasingly strong light "This monster doesn't stand a chance against us!"
Light burst forth from Jaune's golden form, dispelling all shadows in the room. All except for one dark spot that was racing across the ground towards him.
Seeing this, Jaune plunged his blade into the shadow. With a shriek, Cyan emerged, another shining wound on its back. Sounding out a battle cry of a hundred voice, Jaune charged forwards while swinging his sword downwards. Cyan darted to the side to avoid the blow, then lunged forwards and sunk its teeth into one of Jaune's arms. Dozens of voices cried out in pain as the armor cracked and dimmed.
"Let go!" shouted Jaune, who bashed the beast over the head with the hilt of his sword.
The creature, grunted in pain, then let go before Jaune could strike him again. Jaune swung downwards at it, but missed as it dashed to the side and slashed his leg with its claws. Jaune grunted in pain and attempted a downwards slash at it, but it had already opened up some distance and had begun circling him.
"He's too fast" said Jaune, as he turned this way and that to keep up with it. "I can't find an opening."
"Then wait for it to strike, and counter!" said Veritas who straightened up.
"I'm trying!" said Jaune who dodged out of the way of one of Cyan's tackles, but was unable to follow-up before the beast opened up the distance. "But I can't get the timing right, if I go in too deep and miss, he'll be all over us."
"I have a solution for that! Hold your hand!" commanded Veritas.
Jaune did so, and Veritas flew into the boy's palm. With a flash of light, a white-gold kite shield appeared in Jaune's hand, decorated with Veritas's face.
"Block then counter!" said Veritas. "He's coming from behind, use a spinning backhand!"
Jaune followed Veritas's instructions, and spun around, ramming the shield into Cyan's mouth.
"Disgusting, but Good!" said Veritas as drool dribbled down his face. "Now go for the stomach, it's open!"
Jaune yelled, and plunged his sword into Cyan's stomach. The beast yelped, and lurched backwards, falling onto its back and writhing.
"Now finish it!" yelled Veritas "Place me over your sword!"
Jaune did so, and the shield fused with the sword, forming a wider and longer blade that shone like starlight. Jaune charged forwards, yelling at the top of his lungs, and with a single bright slash, cleaved the beast in 2.
Cyan screamed in pain as light spread forth from the cut, and covered both halves of his bisected form. Jaune then sheathed his sword, and at that same moment, Cyan's body exploded. When the dust cleared, a young boy was standing there. He stared at Jaune for a moment before his eyes rolled up into his head, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"We did it!" said Jaune, who punched the air in joy.
"No time for celebration" interrupted Veritas "Lan and Ruby need out help!"
"Right, Let's go!"
Okay, I know I promised both Jaune and Ruby would be awesome in this chapter, but 5 consecutive days of 8 hour road trips takes a lot out of me. Ruby will be showing her stuff in the next chapter, and after that the team will be off to help Lan.
I hope my story is doing ok, and as always hoping for CRWBY readers, and writing suggestions and constructive criticism.
