A/N: Hope y'all enjoy :)
"What is that?" Jaune said, not realizing in his amazement that he had said the words out loud. The rest of the unit had stopped, looking back and wondering why the blond knight had stopped walking. Ruby was the first one to arrive next to him, a concerned look on her face.
"Are you alright Jaune?" She asked, tugging on his sleeve. The boy turned to look at her, the area around her glowing a soft blue. He nodded distractedly, smiling a little before turning back to the scene in front of him, knowing that whatever he was seeing was not a good thing.
By this point, everyone else had crowded around Jaune, watching him watch whatever it was that he was watching.
"What do you see, Jaune?" Blake asked quietly, ears flicking. Jaune had a feeling that she was hearing something that tugged on her nerves too, something that she couldn't fully place. He pointed into the trees, directing everyone's attention.
"I'm seeing a lot of... somethings," Jaune explained, shrugging helplessly as some of them looked at him doubtfully. "I don't know what they are, but they're all... dead. But not dead."
"That... doesn't even make any sense." Cardin said hesitantly, scratching his head. Jaune grit his teeth in frustration, knowing that Cardin was right.
"I know it sounds strange," Jaune said, combing his hair backwards. "But I'm seeing dead signatures moving with my- with my shout, and that's not even the craziest thing." Jaune held out his hands, gesturing vaguely while he was talking. "They're all appearing out of nowhere." He said, looking at them helplessly.
Most of the group had blank stares while he explained it to them, not sure what to think.
"That... does sound a little crazy," Professor Goodwitch was the first to speak, stepping up in front of him. "But it also sounds like something that we need to investigate. I don't think anyone had any objections about taking a slight detour?" The blonde woman turned to look at the unit, who all shook their heads, readying themselves. She turned back to the blond knight, and nodded at him. "Lead the way."
Without further ado, Jaune went out towards the mass of spawning undead, worry gnawing at his stomach the whole time. Getting there was a quiet affair, no one wanting to set off anything before they knew what they were up against.
Jaune's mind started to wander a little bit as they meandered towards the mass of aura, which is why Yang had to tackle him when a man appeared out of the trees, letting an arrow loose towards Jaune's throat.
The rest of the unit fell into positions and blasted the man back, making him screech as he lost balance and fell off the branch, planting his face into the ground.
There wasn't any time to rest though, as another, and another, and another popped out from the vegetation, wielding otherworldly swords and bows, ready to attack the group.
Then it fell into a blur, Jaune ducking and weaving right after he got off of the ground, fighting what looked like some very rugged humans for his life. There wasn't any time to think, Jaune falling back into a routine of fighting, something that he had developed after practically being in a constant zone of fighting since he received his semblance.
It was only when his blade met an opponent's neck, sending the head tumbling that Jaune's mind realized that he was actually fighting other human beings, and that he had just murdered someone.
The pause of horror was brief, but enough for the others to take advantage of the opening, one of the clubs striking him across the back of the head, making him wince and tumble. If it wasn't for his aura, Jaune probably would've been knocked out, and at the mercy of whoever these guys were.
Who are these guys? Jaune thought furiously to himself, bashing one of them with his shield, before turning and cutting his sword low, the hesitation in his strike costing him when the man jumped back and threw his axe at Jaune, hitting him across the chest.
They are from my world, Maldovah. Vedrahgol said quietly, looking at them. Do not hesitate to kill them, for on Nirn, they have been conditioned to kill or be killed.
I can't kill someone! Jaune protested, looking inwardly at the dragon. Sure, he had fought a ton, but none of them had been living, thinking human beings, which made Jaune sick to the stomch thinking that he had to take their lives.
Yes you can, now do so before they take your life!
The dragon's demand echoed in Jaune's mind, making him wince, the single thought wiping away his hesitation long enough to clear the doubt and allow him to pierce through another one's defense, sending his sword through the man's stomach.
Death was not a clean thing, Jaune noted, as he watched the man gurgle on his own blood, dropping unceremoniously after the blond withdrew his blade.
I—I can't do this. Jaune thought, jumping back and holding up his shield, letting the men congregate into a crowd, ready to destroy the knight standing in front of them.
"Fus Ro Dah!" Jaune screamed, the power of the shout carrying the men off their feet, Jaune wincing every time one of them hit a tree or rock, hearing their bones breaking, their flesh slapping. It wasn't a quick and clean way of killing them, but it worked, everyone who was caught in the blast either dead or incapacitated due to their injuries.
The boy placed his hands on his knees, heaving a little, disgusted by what he had just done. They had no aura. Jaune thought to himself in disgust. They were like civilians.
Except they were out to take your life, Maldovah. The dragon was quick to comfort the boy, his voice soothing Jaune's tense shoulders. There wasn't anything more you could have done.
Jaune's internal anguish was interrupted as his hearing slowly filtered back in, remembering that he hadn't been the only one fighting these guys.
Some people in the group seemed to be having an easier time fighting the warriors off, as well as taking their lives. Blake hardly blinked as she peppered one of them with Gambol Shroud, before flipping around and driving the blade through another, her form in constant motion.
Others were just as reluctant as Jaune was, finding ways to nonlethally take them down. Ruby was the biggest one, using the end of Crimson Rose to fight off the men, and failing spectacularly in doing so, not used to having to fight that way.
Jaune took a deep breath, before jogging towards Ruby, knowing that if she kept that up, it wouldn't take too long for a stray arrow to puncture through her aura and severely hurt her or worse. Vedrahgol was right. There wasn't any time for hesitation when it came to his or his friends' lives.
The girl's movement was eye-blurringly fast, Ruby having been forced to use her semblance to keep herself unharmed, her reluctance to fight obvious whenever she fled backwards, instead of attacked forwards. She only stopped moving when she heard a metal clang behind her, turning to find Jaune ramming into one of the horned warriors with his shield, sending the man flying back. She brushed a stray lock of hair out of her mouth and smiled.
"Thanks Jaune." She whispered, getting a nod from Jaune before he started to move again, inhaling sharply as he cut through someone's buckler, cleaving the man in two quickly. Jaune made sure to move as fast as he could, moving from one person to another, constantly in a mode of fighting, so as to distract himself from the fact that he was killing people. Ruby watched him, biting her lip as she sighed, knowing that if she held back any longer, one of her friends could be seriously hurt.
With the weight of death temporarily lifted from their minds, the aura filled Huntsmen and Huntresses made quick work of the rag-tag bunch, all of them falling quickly beneath their weapons.
Jaune grinned shakily, hoping that it would cover up what he had just done, and looked at everyone else, trying to keep their spirits up.
"W-well. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Jaune asked, wincing a little at how loudly he had said the words. Some of them jerked up at the sound, blinking in surprise, Jaune having wrenched them from their thoughts.
"Psh." Yang was the first to speak, waving her hand carelessly, an easy grin on her face. "Easy."
Jaune thanked her mentally for helping him out.
"Well." Professor Goodwitch decided to step in, pushing her glasses up. She didn't look bothered at all, probably having seen and done something like this more times than Jaune could've imagined, a thought that didn't really sit well with him. "If that's all, I think we should continue moving-"
"That wasn't all." Jaune interrupted, bringing her to a stop. She turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question. "That wasn't what I saw." Jaune repeated, eyebrows drawn in. "What I saw was different. They weren't... alive. Not really. The guys we just... fought. They definitely were still alive." The blonde witch crossed her arms, a frown visible on her face.
"That doesn't exactly make much sense, Mr. Arc."
"I know," Jaune replied, scratching the back of his head. "It's not something I can really explain." The professor sighed, about to say something else when someone interrupted her, his deep gravelly voice making all the hairs on Jaune's body stand.
"Then perhaps I can show you what the boy means." Imaar said, stepping out from the darkness of the trees.