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 12
Standing above Lan, were Meep and the army of dreams that Lan had helped put together earlier.
'Meep' it said in its deep voice.
"Good to see you!" said Veritas.
"Meep!"
"Ah I see, so the nightmares were suddenly pulled away so you all booked it over here as fast as you could so you could assist us!"
Lan tried to say something encouraging as well, but quickly found his consciousness beginning to slip away again.
""AAAAGGGHHHHHH!""
Two simultaneous shouts of pain split through the sky, wrenching Lan's consciousness back once more. Up above, he saw Jaune and Ruby disengage from a fierce clash with the Dream eater. Jaune had a three long smoking gashes across the front of his armor, and Ruby's cloak was practically torn to pieces with only the hood remaining.
"Hmmm, it seems I am needed there." Said Veritas "I'll have to leave Lan to the rest of you. One of you throw my up to Jaune!"
"Meep!" said Meep, who motioned for an anthropomorphic catapult to get Veritas.
"I'll trust you all to help Lan pull himself together while I go assist the two children" said Veritasas he was loaded into the catapult's pouch. "Your energies may be able to help him, but just be careful since it may be bad if too much of the same type gathers."
He was then launched into the air, where he was caught by Jaune and was used to defend against a blast of dark energy. But his words rang on in Lan's mind. He felt pathways of thought disconnect and reconnect in his mind, but in his current state, he was unable to properly connect them.
Forcing himself to focus on his immediate surroundings, he saw that Meep and most of the army were staring upwards at Ruby and Jaune up above, while a few here and there were staring at him and the Dream Eater.
"Meep" said Meep, as he reached his hand up towards the sky, many of the other dreams performed similar gestures. Somehow, Lan knew that each of them was reaching out towards the souls of their children who were currently fused with the three, and those who were still imprisoned within the stomach of the Dream Eater. Meep then clenched his fist in resolution and walked back towards Lan, who watched as it knelt down and placed its hands on his chest.
"Meep" it said looking him in the eyes, and even with his garbled mind he could sense the thanks that it was conveying. Small particles of light then began to disconnect from Meep's glowing form and phase into Lan's body. Little by little, Lan's mind began to grow clearer and Meep's form gradually began to dissipate.
"Thank you" said Lan. Meep closed its eyes in a happy smile, then disappeared.
The energies that Lan had pulled from the dreamscape and infused the dreams with to create their combat forms were similar enough to his own to be seamlessly absorbed back into his own body. Using it, he began to knit his form back together, and while doing so he was happy to find that lingering echoes of the brave little dream continuing to persist within him.
"All right guys" said Lan, addressing the army of dreams surrounding him. "Bring it in."
Like an open floodgate, the dreams barreled towards him, converting their forms into energy which they poured into him. Closing his eyes in meditation, Lan skillfully redirected the energy to help repair his mind, form, and soul, and as his consciousness grew clearer and clearer the thought processes that Veritas's phrase had triggered finally clicked.
"I see" thought Lan, as he opened his eyes, "that might work."
It was then that he noticed that he was fully healed, and all the extra energy being poured into him was causing him to gradually growing larger, his body enveloped in something of a glowing cocoon. At this rate, he would end up gaining a titanic form similar to what Jaune and Ruby currently had.
"But that's not really suited to fighting the dream eater now is it?" thought Lan, he then began to pull the expanding energy inwards, folding it and compressing around the shape of his base form. Eventually, there was only 1 dream left.
"Hey grandpa." Said Lan, who got to his feet, his whole body covered in a light that was slowly bending and shrinking.
"I going sleepy time now" said Byakko's half-asleep subconscious, as he placed his hand on Lan's shoulder "kick its ass and make me proud boy."
With that the Byakko's dream construct body broke down and was absorbed into Lan. A brilliant flash of light tore through the dreamscape, catching the attention of the combatants up above.
"He's ready, prepare for the counterattack!" shouted Veritas.
""Got it!"" shouted Jaune and Ruby with renewed vigor.
The Dream Eater let out a soul-crushing screech and then dove towards the epicenter of the light, but was stopped in its tracks by Jaune, who caught the impact with Veritas. The creature was then forced back by a flurry of crimson slashes from Ruby's scythe. It was at that moment that the light faded, and Lan was finally revealed.
The boy was covered in a shining dark blue exosuit, which crackled with mystic energy. It was like a cross between what characters would wear in a super sentai anime, and the most advanced combat exoskeletons currently being produced in Atlas, but at the same time it giving off the air of an ancient battle garb. Lan's vizor flashed on and the boy looked straight up at the Dream Eater. Two apparatuses extended out of the boy's back, both similar in design to the theoretical ARCUS propulsion system he had read about in the latest issues of Atlesian Science Today. Lines of power covering his body lit up with an azure-white light, and he rocketed into the air so fast that the Dream Eater barely had enough time put up its guard before the boy smashed into it shoulder first, sending the two hurtling upwards.
The two of them then began a fierce slugfest as they rose, both grabbing onto their opponent and laying into their enemy with their fists, elbows, claws, knees, and any other bodily appendage they could use. Just as they began to slow down around the stratosphere, Lan managed to break the deadlock by dodging a blow from one of the Dream Eater's wings and using the momentum to pull himself to the Dream Eater's back, where he put its wings, arms and head in a lock. It roared and thrashed so violently that anyone unaccustomed to fighting it would have had their arms broken immediately.
"Gotta try this now" said Lan, he was quickly burning through the energy that the myriad dreams had entrusted him with. If the fight continued for too long and he ran out of strength, they would be right back where they started. Activating his semblance, he let his energy come in contact with the Dream Eater's. But unlike usual where he would envision aligning his energy to completely match what it came in contact with, as he felt each individual quality of the Dream Eater's energy he would adjust his own to have the exact opposite quality. But there were components of the energy that Lan wasn't able to understand, which he had to leave as they were. He hoped that the changes he did make would be enough to have a major impact.
"Should about do it" thought Lan, as a white misty energy began coalescing around him.
"Try some of this!" he shouted, Lan adjusted his grip around the dream eater's head such that the tips of his fingers were digging into what appeared to be the sides of its scalp, and forced in as much of the new energy as he could. Lan felt a knot form in his throat, in fear of the Dream Eater being unaffected, but it quickly dissipated after half a second. Veins of energy began to pierce into its skull from Lan's fingertips, which began to dig into the Dream Eater's head. In response the Dream Eater let out an unearthly scream and began thrashing about even more violently. However Lan was emboldened, sensing that the energy he was injecting into the Dream Eater was counteracting its own energy and weakening it, albeit a bit less effectively than he had hoped.
Letting out a battle cry, Lan tightened his grip and put increased effort in adjusting his hold to better counteract the Dream Eater's movements. Harmonizing as much of his own energy as he muster with the opposing energy he had created, he forced it all into his fingers while tightening his grip. The veins quickly spread across the Dream Eater's head, and with a shattering sound, it was crushed between Lan's palms. The Dream Eater's body stopped moving as the two of them came to a stop at the mesosphere.
Lan let out a deep breath, loosening his grip.
"Alright" he said as he reached towards the Dream Eater's neck hole, "Time to get those souls out of—"
'BLAM'
His arms were knocked away by a sudden burst of dark energy and before he could get his bearings, its two wings came crashing down from above and sent him rocketing back down towards the ground. Gathering his senses, Lan quickly fired off bursts from the propulsion system to slow his descent, but he wasn't fast enough based on how quickly the ground was coming up towards him.
"Whelp, good thing I'm wearing armor" said Lan, as he braced for impact. Luckily however, 2 white and red blurs shot from the sides and caught him just in time.
"You ok Lan?" asked Jaune.
"Fine" said Lan who got up, only to be seized by Ruby's giant hand.
"Wow you look so cool now!" as she violently turned Lan upside, sideways, and in all direction so she could look at him from all angles, "You're just like an action figure 'Gasp' are these those the fancy engines they featured in the Weapon Magazine feature on warships!?"
"Ruby—please—stop—shaking me" grunted Lan, his arms flailing in alarm.
"Aww come on" said Ruby, who pulled Lan extremely close to her face so she could get a better look at the propulsion systems. "Just a little—Ow!"
She recoiled and dropped Lan as one of his flailing arms poked her in the eye.
"Agh!" said both of them as they jolted away from each other.
"What was that?" thought Lan, who felt a strange energy fading from his hand.
"Ugh, sorry about that" said Ruby, who rubbed her twitching eye, "Guess I went a little too far."
"Uh guys" said Jaune,
"Don't worry about it" said Lan who hadn't heard Jaune, "Are you okay though? I hope I didn't hurt you"
"Guys!" said Jaune a little louder.
"I'm fine, I'm fane" said Ruby, "But are you sure you're okay? You're hand looked like it was shaking a bit after you—"
"GUYS!" yelled Jaune, finally catching their attention. He pointed upwards and the looked upwards to see the Dream Eater descend from the clouds above.
"Uh, it doesn't have a head" said Ruby.
"Turns out, crushing its head doesn't kill it" said Lan "shouldn't be surprising since it's not of this world"
"Scary" said Jaune,
"Alright guys, let me see your weapons" said Lan, the two of them complied and Lan infused his new special energy into them.
"Watch for openings" said Lan, who began charging up his propulsion systems again, "I'll try to knock it off balance, if you guys see an opportunities to attack without it striking back then take them."
Rocketing forwards, Lan slammed into the Dream Eater, and began trading blows again.
"I'm not just sitting back anymore!" shouted Ruby, who flew upwards while firing shots at the Dream Eater.
"Careful! You might hit Lan!" shouted Jaune, who flew up with her.
As opposed to all of their expectations, Jaune and Ruby were able to provide great assistance to Lan thanks to their brief experience fighting the Dream Eater alone. Their large frames prevented the Dream Eater from moving too suddenly so Lan could better keep track of it, they kept enough distance away from it to prevent it from suddenly attacking them without creating an opening for Lan to exploit, and their sudden attacks forced it to defend using its shadow wings which were its strongest weapons. Because of this, Lan was better able to manage his energy, and could focus more on propagating the energy he created to oppose the Dream Eater's and sneaking them into some of his strikes. With this, he was able to chip away at the Dream Eater's power, but when he compared it to his own decreasing energy, he still had no idea how this fight would turn out.
"I need to break this deadlock" thought Lan, as he deflected a downwards strike and countered. Ironically, this would be where he would make a mistake. Instinctively he had struck at where the Dream Eater's head would have been.
"Oh cra—"started Lan as the missed strike affected his posture, but was interrupted as the Dream Eater's fist crashed into his chin, forcing him back.
"Jaune!" shouted Ruby.
"I know!" he responded.
Almost completely in sync, the two of them darted forwards and struck the Dream Eater simultaneously, forcing it to defend with its wings, effectively holding it in place.
Reeling from the blow and in a rush, Lan quickly propagated some more energy and launched a blow at the Dream Eater, who effortlessly blocked it with its arm and prepared to strike back with an even fiercer blow, but something unexpected happened.
'Sizzle'
The Dream Eater let out an unearthly shriek, backing away so violently that Jaune and Ruby were knocked to the sides.
A small glowing crack had appeared on its arm, and was giving off a sizzling sound as a silver-white mist came off of it. Although glad for the chance to collect himself, Lan found himself very confused. None of his other strikes had been nearly as effective. He checked the energy he had collected and propagated and found that it was the same as the one that he had been using…except for:
"Ruby!" shouted Lan. "Quick let me stick my fingers in your eye!"
"Oh sur—HUUUHHHH?" shouted Ruby. "WHY?!"
"There's some kind of energy in there" shouted Lan, "When I combine it with the energy I made by creating an opposing polarity to the Dream Eater's, it creates something that's even more effective at breaking down its hardened spiritual form!"
"I have no idea what that means but it sounds important…Ok! Go for it!" shouted Ruby
"Great! Jaune, you hold the Dream Eater back while we do this!" shouted Lan, who flew over to Ruby.
"Wait what?" said Jaune, as he faced the Dream Eater who was releasing a wave of angry dark aura.
"Tighten up your guard my young squire!" said Veritas "We hopefully won't be too torn apart by the time they're done!"
"Don't worry we'll make it quick!" said Lan whose arm shot out at Ruby's eye.
"Eeeep!" squeaked Ruby, who quickly closed her eyes, causing Lan's arm to hit her eyelid.
"Ruby!" said Lan, exasperated.
"Sorry, but it's just kinda scary when something comes at your eye that fast." Said Ruby.
"…Yeah, sorry, got a bit impatient there." Said Lan, who let out a breath. "I'll take this nice and slow for now."
"Not too slow please!" shouted Jaune who had jammed Veritas into a giant fanged maw that the Dream Eater had formed out of its wings, and was struggling for his life.
Lan slowly reached his hand out towards Ruby's shining silver eye, and despite their desperate situation, felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach.
"Why am I so conscientious about this" he thought, as his hand began to tremble "Is this supposed to feel weird?"
Ruby fidgeted slightly, wincing as Lan's hand got closer.
"…Ah to heck with this!" shouted Lan, who couldn't deal with the awkwardness any longer and quickly rammed his fingers into her eye.
"AHHHH! OW OW OW OW!" shouted Ruby who began flailing around and clawing at her face, which actually result in Lan's hand being pushed deeper into her eye as he was smashed against her cheekbone. Ignoring his own pain, Lan focused on the faint energy he felt in her eyes and harmonized some of his own aura and spiritual energy with it.
"Got it!" shouted Lan, pulling his hand away which was now shining with a silver-grey light.
"Agghhhh couldn't you have been more gentle?" said Ruby, tears streaming down her face as she rubbed her tender eye. "…Oh, and Yang says she's gonna beat you for that...and for something else…What!? No Yang! We aren't like that!"
"Sorry, but we couldn't waste any more time!" Shouted Lan as he began combining the energy from Ruby's eyes with the one he had already made.
The energy was stable at first, but he quickly discovered that it wasn't something he'd be able to control for long. Whatever the energy was, it was beyond his current understanding. He felt it burning through his body, consuming all his aura and spiritual energy at a rapid pace. As cracks began to form in his armor, he instinctively he knew he'd only be able to get one use out of it. He gathered this new strength in his palm, and then rocketed into the sky.
"Move!" Shouted Lan as he tore through space towards the dream eater.
With a roar, Jaune tore Veritas free and kicked the Dream Eater in Lan's direction. Lan's fist slammed into the dream eater's chest, the energy he released shattering its torso armor and spreading cracks all over its body.
With a scream of rage it unfurled it's crackling black wings in order to impale the boy again.
"Not this time!" Shouted Ruby who appeared behind it, and with a swing of her scythe, cleaved the wings from its shattered body.
With roar of pain, it reached out its convulsing claws to tear at Lan's face, but stopped in its tracks as it felt something welling up from within. With its armor sundered, Lan was finally able to connect with the souls of the children it had already eaten.
"Freedom!" shouted Lan as he tore them from the Dream Eater's body with the last of his strength. He then fell backwards, his armor breaking into pieces and fading into nothingness as he clutched the newly freed souls to his chest.
The Dream Eater, naught but a burning split open torso with shattered arms and legs, raised its convulsing hand, a sphere of dark energy targeted at Lan.
A shield slammed into it, staggering it and sending it flying back.
"Finish it!" Shouted Veritas as he plunged towards the earth.
Two red and white titans flew towards the staggered dream eater, the white one grabbing Veritas and slipping him onto his sword, transforming it into an enormous great sword.
By the time the dream eater had regained its balance, it was already too late. Ruby and Jaune were already upon it, swinging down their weapons and sundered it in 4 with a red and white cross just as Lan hit the ground. All was quiet for a moment, almost as if time was standing still.
That was when the world lit up with a bright light that swallowed everything. An explosion emanating forth from the Dream Eater's destroyed form filled Lan's senses as he lay exhausted on the ground.
For a moment he felt a sense of dread, sensing a consciousness focusing on him from within that blast of energy. A second later he found himself sitting on a fine leather chair, surrounded by a familiar darkness. At his sides were Ruby and Jaune, both of whom had returned to their original forms and were looking around confused. Veritas was floating above Lan's head, back in his original wispy form. Sitting across from them was a familiar old man, this time however his suit and hair were battered and unkempt and he seemed to have aged several decades.
"Congratulations" said the Dream Eater with an exhausted voice.
"So we won?" said Lan, who raised an eyebrow "no trapping us in an alternate reality or dream just to make us think we won?"
"Oh no no" said the Dream Eater with a chuckle "I'd of needed to consume far more souls before I'd have been able to do that to you, and I'm sure you would have found a way out of it anyways."
"Uh that's the bad guy right?" whispered Jaune.
"I think so" whispered Ruby, "but why are we talking to it and not shooting it?"
"Calm down you two, he's already beaten" said Lan, who quickly returned his attention to the Dream Eater "but what was that thing at the end there? If that wasn't you, then what was that consciousness I felt in there?"
The Dream Eater chuckled then let out a sigh.
"That was the being who was once my master" he said "you and your friends forced me into such a corner that I instinctively tapped into the power it granted me long ago...and what a mistake that was."
He placed his hands over his eyes and rubbed his brow.
"That action reconnected me with it...I had no idea it was already awake...and now I feel it consuming through that breach me."
"...I want to say you have my sympathy but—"started Lan.
"It's alright boy, I understand." said the Dream Eater, "I threatened your world and you defended yourself, as was your right... I just wanted to use my last moments to congratulate you."
"...thank you" said Lan, "you were the toughest enemy I ever fought, even stronger than the other 2 demons me and my grandpa beat."
"Thank you for that" said the Dream Eater with a smile. "...let me just give you one last warning as a victory prize. I don't know how strong you and the ones defending your world are, but you would be no match for my former master, especially if it is allowed to regain its strength. It would be best if you made sure it remained sealed."
"How?" Asked Lan.
"That's—"started the Dream Eater.
Before he could finish 4 shadowy tendrils erupted from his chest. Causing him to lurch and cough out a cloud of dark energy.
Jaune and Ruby yelped and pulled back in surprise, but Lan stayed in firmly rooted in his chair and shouted: "how do we keep it sealed?!"
The Dream Eater looked up at the boy as his body began to be pulled into the tear in space that the tendrils had emerged from.
"Do...kill...la" he choked.
And he was gone. The darkness around them began to slowly melt away, and the three of them found themselves back in their combat forms in the shattered ruins of the nightmare castle.
"What...was...that" said Jaune, his eyes wide with anxiousness.
"A warning for the future" said Lan who fell onto his backside "for now though, we've won."
"Really?" Asked Ruby, who brought her knuckles up to her cheeks.
"Yes" said Lan, as a few more pieces of his shattered armor fell off.
"YEAH!" Shouted Jaune who pumped his fist into the air.
"YAY!" Shouted Ruby who jumped up and down.
"Alright, alright" said Lan, "plenty of time to celebrate, but for now we'd better let everyone else out"
""Huh?"" Said Ruby and Jaune simultaneously.
"You know" said Lan who walked over and placed his hands on their giant shins. "These guys!"
With a burst of light countless souls erupted from Ruby and Jaune's forms, causing them to shrink in size and return to their original dream body constructs. Then, with a snap of Lan's fingers, each soul landed on the ground and took on the form of their original bodies. Lan did the same to himself, then folded his arms and smiled at the multitude of confused children who stood before them.
"Ruby!" came an older girl's voice, and a girl around 8 years old burst out of the crowd and darted forwards to pull her little sister into a bear hug.
"Yang!" Shouted Ruby who hugged back just as hard "I'm so glad you you're ok!"
"Jealous my young squire?" said Veritas who stared at Jaune and was most likely wearing a trolling grin.
"Oh shut up man" said Jaune who turned away with a huff "that's her sister I'm not jealous at all. I mean sure it'd be nice if a cute girl gave me a token of affection—! No no, stop staring at me like that! I am a knight I need no such reward for my—"
"Excuse me" said a girl who tapped Jaune on the shoulder.
Jaune whipped around and stared at the girl. She had long crimson hair, sharp green eyes, was wearing a warm smile.
"My hero" she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, causing the boy to go bright red.
Similar events of merrymaking began to occur all around the area as the children celebrated their victory. But suddenly a loud clap rang out, filling the ears of every child in the area and turning their attention towards Lan, even those who were so far away that it would have been impossible to see or hear him in the real world.
"The nightmare is over!" He shouted in a voice that rang out in the minds of every child present. "You are now free to wake up safe and happy in your homes once again!"
A cheer rang out from the children, but it was quickly silenced by another of Lan's claps.
"But the night is still young everyone" Shouted Lan, a grin on his face "What say we turn this dark and horrible nightmare into a dream to remember!"
With that Lan floated into the air, his body crackling with crystalline energy. Holding up his hands he unleashed a wave of energy that changed the very world around them. In mere moments, gone was the shattered castle, dark cloudy sky, and nightmarish forest, in their place was a palace of shining crystal straight out of a fairy tale, a beautiful starry sky, and a forest whose branches shone with magical lights that lit up the world around them. And under these trees were food stalls, arcades, amusement park rides, and every other form of entertainment that a child could dream of.
"You can do that?" Shouted Jaune, his mouth wide open in awe.
"It's much easier to control the dreamscape when I don't have to fight against the Dream Eater's influence" said Lan, who turned back to address the crowd "Enjoy yourselves!" he shouted as he landed on the balcony of the crystal palace, where Jaune, who was now wearing a suit of white steel armor, and Ruby, who was now wearing a combat skirt huntress outfit, were standing.
"Ah, but what am I saying! How could we possibly have fun without our friends here?" He snapped his fingers, and with a burst of confetti and fireworks, every Dream that had given their energy to him appeared back in their original forms and fell from the sky, reuniting with their beloved children.
"Meep!" Came Meep's excited squeak over the roar of the crowd. Lan turned his gaze towards him, and found his little friend being held by a little girl with black bob cut hair. Lan gave his little friend a thumbs up, which the little one reciprocated.
"Now get out there and have so much fun, that you blow all the bad memories out of the water!" Shouted Lan to the crowd.
"All hail Lan the crystal king!" Shouted Ruby.
"What?" Said Lan who turned to Ruby with a confused look on his face. Ruby smiled and tapped him on the head. Lan looked up and found that the broken remains of his combat helmet that remained on his head had formed a crystalline crown-like structure around his head.
"All hail Lan the crystal king!" Shouted Jaune.
""All hail Lan the crystal king"" roared the crowd of children and dreams spread out before him.
Lan waved in acknowledgement to the crowd, a bemused smile on his face, and watched as the crowd broke up with all the children splitting up to see the various attractions.
"Uh, Lan" said Ruby, who tugged on his sleeve and was excitedly eyeing the arcade.
"You don't have to tell me twice" said Lan, "Let's go!"
The rest of the night passed in daze with the three of them walked through the festive forest, eating great food, enjoying the attractions, and greeting all the children who had fought alongside them against the Dream Eater. They eventually found their group joined by Ruby's sister Yang, a black haired Faunus girl named Blake who Lan found to be strangely familiar, a white haired girl named Weiss, the crimson haired girl who had kissed Jaune who they found out was named Pyrrha, a boy with black hair with a magenta streak named Ren, and a shy orange haired girl named Nora.
With dreams being able to last far longer than real world time, Lan was able to stretch the merrymaking on for what felt like days. Since the children were already asleep, they never grew tired, and since they weren't in their real bodies they could eat as much as they wanted without growing sick of it, and with Lan constantly creating new attractions limited only by the imaginations of the children around him the fun never seemed to end. During this time, he would also regale his friends with tales of his exciting life so far, sometimes even creating a cinema like structure so he could show them his experiences on the big screen.
As he walked with his new friends, he felt a familiar warmth permeate his soul similar to back when he was living with the Beast Pirates. But at the same time he felt something different, a kind of happy nervousness that filled him whenever he looked at Ruby, especially when she looked back at him and lit up the night around them with her smile. It didn't take long for Lan to get an idea about what it was. Little by little, he tried to sort out his feelings as they continued to enjoy the dream. While watching Blake gorge herself on a sushi boat the size of an actual boat, he decided to keep it to himself for now, after all, he didn't want to ruin the party with any awkward feelings. But as he continued to regale Ruby with his tales of adventure, and she gushed bubbly enthusiasm when asking about them, he felt the butterflies tearing at the lining of his stomach as he felt a bond begin to form between them. One that he acknowledged with a sad smile.
Many hours later
The Group had come to take a break at a desert stand.
As he stared at his new friends gorging themselves on various pastries and sweets, he felt a strange feeling a whimsy descend on him. That combined with his still unsure feelings, made him stand up and make his way away from the group, silent as a ghost.
"Hey, where'd Lan go?" asked Ruby, a minute later as she ate through her umpteenth slice of strawberry shortcake, which originated from one of Lan's own recipes.
"I believe he went somewhere around that direction" said Veritas "He seemed quite tired."
"Oh well, let's go check-up on him" said Ruby, who popped the last piece of cake in her mouth and dashed off in the indicated direction. "Come on Jaune! Our king needs us!"
Veritas was left with the other children in the group, who all watched as Ruby and Jaune ran away.
"You are all going to follow them and watch aren't you?" asked Veritas.
"Yep" "Uh huh" "No doubt" came several voices.
Far far away from the party Lan sat in a moonlight glade staring up at the sky, he could feel dawn beginning its approach, but he felt no closer to sorting out his feelings than he had at the start of the party. He kept thinking about it and thinking about it, but he ultimately just ended burning himself out more and more. Letting out a sigh he lay on his back and rubbed his face with his hands.
"There you are!" came Ruby's voice.
Lan opened his eyes and sat back up, he turned his head and saw that Ruby had found him, and was literally dragging Jaune's exhausted body behind her.
"We've been looking everywhere for you!" she said "Come on, if you're tired then we can just go do something you want to do instead! But you really shouldn't just up and leave like that, we were all worried about you! Why'd you leave without telling us?"
Seeing her standing there, Lan suddenly felt all his feelings suddenly click into place.
"Well, if I had to say why, I'd say it's because I'm feeling sad, but at the same time relieved" he said while scratching his head.
"Why?" asked Ruby, confused.
"Well, to start with I think I've probably fallen in love with you" said Lan, with a shy grin.
Ruby stared at him for a moment before going bright red, while Jaune went wide-eyed as his jaw dropped.
"Wha—HUH!? Bu—"she started.
"That's why I'm both sad and relieved that we'll never see each other again after tonight" interrupted Lan.
Ruby, looked at him with confused and surprised look on her face.
"I don't really feel like I'd be a good boyfriend or lover" said Lan, who looked down while scratching his head "An adorable girl like you, so full of hopes and dreams deserves someone a lot better. I mean I'm really not that great of a person: I get jealous easily, I would get so focused in the things I'm doing I'd forget to spend time with you, I have low confidence, I don't have any filter between my brain and my mouth with no desire to fix that flaw, and I honestly don't really have any goals in my life which will most likely result in me spiraling down into an abyss of depression just to name a few of problems!"
Ruby, who was too young and inexperienced to really understand most of what Lan was talking about, fidgeted nervously.
"But, in that case we can still just be friends right?" she said.
"Afraid that isn't possible either." Said Lan, with a sad smile.
"…What" said Ruby, who slowly looked up and stared at him with her large eyes that clearly showed her surprise and growing devastation.
"Remember, this world we're in right now is one born from dreams" he said, turning his back on her and staring up at the moon far above "When dawn comes and everyone awakens, they will only have small lingering memories of what took place here, and even those will eventually fade away."
"T-that's so sad" said Ruby, tears forming in her eyes "I don't want to forget about everyone! I don't want to forget about you!"
"Don't worry" said Lan, "Once your memories of this place fade, so will the pain, at least that's what I hear from talking to old people."
"I don't want to be old!" shouted Ruby.
"Don't worry, it's just a figure of speech" said Lan "…But I'll still remember this even after you've all forgotten it, the expanded awareness and perception that came with my training makes it so I'll remember every minute, especially since I technically didn't fall asleep to get here like the rest of you…So I've got one last request."
With a snap of his fingers, dozens ghostly instruments appeared around the glade all of them in the hands of many mythological creatures from all over the world. He slowly walked up to Ruby who was growing more and more nervous with each step he took.
"Would you leave me with one last happy memory of this night?" said Lan, who slowly held out his hand "And join me for dance, as queen of this dream?"
An excited squeal rang through the clearing, and the three turned their heads towards a shaking bush. Lan waved his hand, and it disappeared to reveal their friends who had followed them.
"Uh, please, don't mind us" said Yang with an awkward smile. "Even though I'm going to crush you later" she muttered under her breath."
"Especially me, since these guys dragged me here against my will" said Weiss with a huff.
"Just do what you were doing." said Blake who was staring the Lan and Ruby with an intense gaze "Please, I need to see where this goes...You two will finish or I will make you finish."
"Uh, why is your nose bleeding?" asked Jaune.
The hard knot that had been building up in Ruby's throat disappeared as it dissolved into a fit of giggles.
"I've never danced before though" said Ruby, who placed her hand in his "Especially with those high heeled shoes you need to dance."
"You don't need those shoes or know the moves" said Lan "Just listen to the music, and move your body the way that feels right."
He then turned to Jaune.
"Could you make sure the two of us aren't interrupted?"
"You got it" said Jaune who pulled out his sword and shield while striking a knightly pose "Your knight stands in vigil!...what the heck does that phrase mean though. Veritas, what does that phrase mean?"
"Silence boy, you are ruining the moment!" said Veritas
The music then began to play and the two began to dance, the two were quite clumsy at first, with Ruby stepping on Lan's feet after every 5th step, but as the dance progressed they began to feel each other's movements more and more, growing more and more in sync. Where they stepped flowers bloomed, and each time a red rose popped up one of the petals would fall off and begin floating around Ruby's head, eventually giving her a floral crown of her very own.
Slowly, the two of them began to rise into the air, as though dancing up a flight of invisible stairs. Other children who had taken notice of this began trickling into the glade, joining in on the merriment.
"Alright, everyone away from the center" said Jaune who was keeping away kids who were trying to grab Lan and Ruby's floating feet.
"Excuse me" said a girl, tapping him on the shoulder.
"I said to keep away from the cen—"he started whipping around, but he stopped as he found himself face to face with Pyrrha.
"May I have this dance?" she asked, holding out her hand.
"Uh, well I uh…Yes?" fumbled Jaune, who took her hand in his.
Their other friends also joined in the dance in their own ways. Blake found herself switching between 3 dance partners: Yang; a yellow-haired monkey Faunus boy; and a brown haired chameleon Faunus girl, Weiss joined the orchestra in song, and Lie and Nora sat quietly at the sidelines watching things unfold.
Eventually, the glade had filled up like a full-on ballroom, with Lan and Ruby continuing their frolicking far far up above in the sky, which was gradually growing lighter. Then, one by one, the children began changing back into souls and rising up into the sky and vanishing as they returned to the waking world. The forest and the palace gradually faded away, replaced by the shining light of dawn.
Seeing this and knowing their time was growing short, tears began to flow Ruby's eyes and she opened her mouth to say something. Lan simply placed his finger on her lips and pulled her closer to continue their dance. Acknowledging this she swallowed her tears, and buried her face in his chest as the world around them continued to fade.
Eventually only Lan, Ruby, Jaune, and Veritas were left, floating in a world that was slowing fading into streams of sparkling spiritual energy.
"I guess this is it then" said Jaune, as he began to rise into the sky "Thanks for everything guys…I'll never forgot what I learned here! I'll take these lessons you both gave me on being a knight, and I'll use them to become the best huntsman ever!"
"I know you will my young squire!" shouted Veritas "Make me proud!"
Jaune nodded, smiling a tear stained smile, then vanished into the ether. Shortly after Ruby began to rise into the air as well, but she held tight to Lan's hands.
"I swear I'll never forget you or any of this!" shouted Ruby "I swear I'll come find you in the real world one day and and…" her face turned bright red "I-I like you more than any other boy I've ever made, except for uncle Qrow and daddy, but I don't think they really count. Anyway, I-if I'm going to get married someday anyway then—"
"Thank you" said Lan, interrupting her "It's not likely at all, but it's always nice to dream"
He then released his grip, causing her to lose hers.
"I'll show you!" she shouted angrily as she floated away "You better prepare yourself, cause I'll definitely find you someday-!"
Her voice faded away like an echo as she disappeared in a stream of light. Lan floated there for a while, a bittersweet feeling spreading in his chest. He knew that it was almost impossible that they'd ever meet again, so it was better to let her go, but that reasoning didn't help staunch the sense of loss that was welling up in his gut.
"Come now boy, it is time for us to leave" said Veritas.
"…Yeah" said Lan, who reached out and took hold of a stream of light, and closed his eyes as it sped them on their way.
"SLUURRRPP"
He felt a slimy wet feeling cover his face and he opened his eyes to find Ignis, George, and Edel perched above him.
"Hey guys." He said as he got up and wiped his face, looking around he found himself back in the temple in the real world. Cyan, Taodse, and Vert were groaning on the floor in front of him, clasping their heads in pain as they returned to consciousness.
Lan, thought back to that previous night and a single tear trickled down the side of his face, but he quickly wiped it away as he noticed morning light peeking through a crack in the nearby window.
"Come on little guys" he said, getting up. "Let's go report to Uncle Meng."
Epilogue:
That morning all across Remnant, children awoke and regaled their parents about a dream that they had all had. Of how they were snatched away by a monster that was determined to devour their souls and saved by a magical boy and his friends. For a while, the uncanny similarities between the children's stories garnered great media attention, but with the incident not repeating itself it was soon forgotten and buried under other issues. But as they grew up many children would always carry in their hearts the memory of the end of that night in the enchanted forest ruled by the mighty crystal king and his rose queen.
For Jaune, this helped serve as an additional motivator for him in his journey to become a huntsman in his own right. Although, it may have resulted in him being a bit too overconfident in some matters later on.
As for Ruby, she would stubbornly try to keep her promise to Lan, drawing pictures and writing diaries about the magical boy she had met in her dreams, often fantasizing about the day she would find him and they would be wed. But just as Lan had predicted, soon after she began her huntress training those dreams were quickly forgotten and replaced by ones where she would become the heroine of her own epic tale.
Post-Epilogue:
"I believe the boy has more than proved himself" said Meng. "Looks like it's finally time"
"Came much earlier than I thought it would" came a woman's voice from a black shape projected by a small crystal at his feet.
"Bahahaha, that's my grandson for ya! Always smashing expectations to dust!" came Byakko's voice from a white shape.
"But please try to ease him into it" came a man's voice from a red shape "this would be difficult for anybody."
"Don't worry, he'll be fine" said Meng "he has shown that he is more than ready to handle The Journey."
Well, that's the end of the dream part, we'll still be continuing on in the temple for a little longer though. Anyways, I'm glad I finished this before RTX, which I'll finally be able to go this year. Honestly I'm hoping to be able to talk with the RWBY team about whether my story is trash or not and if I ever had a shot working with them. I know it's likely that I'll never be able to have a good talk with them like that, but here's to hoping.
