New chapter, new stuff. Gears of war 4 at comic con :D

Chapter 9: Awakening

I awoke to the feeling of my body being dragged against the hard rock floor. My eyes slowly adjusted to the low light of the cavern, the only source of light being torches lining the walls. I slowly looked up to one of the men dragging me to see a white fang mask staring down at me. I let out a small gasp and tried to pull free from their grasps, but it only helped to tire me out more. I still couldn't feel my left arm from blocking the fox's strike, it could be broken, but I could feel my aura already working on it.

As I was dragged through the tunnel, thoughts started to flying into my mind. How long was I out? How far of a fall was it? Why were there white fang down in the caves? They should be preoccupied with the attack on the base. I closed my eyes and tried to pull out of my captors grip again. The only thing that happened was a elbow colliding with my head, followed by a loud crack that echoed through the cave.

"Hey! Don't you remember what the dark one said!? It wants him unharmed, or less then he already is." I felt the fang who hit me chuckle then grip my arm tighter. "I know what it said, but we don't want him to escape right?" I bit my lip as the numbness from my arm started to fade, followed by nearly unbearable pain. The arm was definitely broken, I just hope the aura would hurry and fix it.

Who was this "Dark One" they were talking about? And what did it want with me? From the sounds of it, maybe it is their boss. A leader of some sorts obviously, but the way they spoke about it seemed as if it was on some other level. I knew Adam Taurus was the actual leader, but I had never heard of him being called that name. A thought suddenly appeared into my head causing me to open my eyes. What had happened to Pyrrha? I remember pushing her out of the way, then her voice just before I passed out.

Hopefully she was able to get away and stay safe. Hopefully she didn't come down after me, I somehow survived, but she might not be so lucky.

We turned a corner to show more white fang standing around lit fires, some sharpening weapons, while others where handling dust vials. I squinted my eyes slightly when one of the grunts turned and looked at me. The light from the fire was reflecting off his skin to show that he was very, very pale. His veins were black and were completely visible. Another grunt walked past the light to show he had the same looking skin. What ever happened to these guys was serious. It might have to with this Dark One they had mentioned earlier.

After a few more minutes of being dragged through the cave system, we finally came up to a large cave opening that seemed to lead into a giant cave. It was hard to tell since the light didn't go very far into said cave. The two fang dropped me onto the cold floor and slowly walked back to the opening. I slowly started to sit up until the sound of something slithering stopped me in my tracks. I looked up and tried to see through the dark, but I was only met with shadows. I reached down to my hip to grab Ember, but my hand was only met with an empty sheathe. It seemed I had lost my weapons during the fall.

Something grabbed onto my right arm and leg and started to slowly crawl up my body, covering every inch of my body it touched. I tried to move away, but I felt as if I had no control over my limbs. I groaned and struggled to move my body, but what ever had latched onto me had taken control. One of the white fang from earlier walked forward with a torch to reveal what had latched onto my body. I grit my teeth and cursed in my head when I saw my right leg and half of my right arm were covered in a tar like substance. I watched as it continued to crawl up my body until the right half of my body below my neck was completely black. I felt it started to move up the right side of my neck until I no longer could see out of my right eye, it was as if a blanket had been laid over the entire right side of my body.

I was slowly lifted up into the air by the black substance, the farther up I was lifted the more I could see. The thing connected to me was like one giant arm. I tried to move any part of my body that wasn't my eye, but nothing seemed to work. A dark laugh seemed to echo through head, completely blocking out the rest of the world. My eye darted around the room to try and figure out what had made the noise. "If you wanted to see me so bad, you could have just asked." A dark voice echoed through my head just like the laugh did. Even if I could move, I would have been frozen with fear by what ever this things presence was. It was like nothing I had felt before.

large slug like antenna slowly appeared out of the dark followed by the rest of its head. It looked as if it was covered in the black tar that was connected to me, but thicker. Its antenna twitched then slowly went up and down the uncovered side of my body. "Ah yes, I was correct about you. Now that I feel your aura." Its voice boomed through my skull, rebounding off of my heads walls constantly. "I am the one they call the Dark One, to answer your question." My eye went wide as I felt its presence sifting through my head like a needle, poking at certain parts of my brain.

"I am currently linked to you through my tentacle that is latched to your side. Right now I am sifting through your memories while absorbing your aura. I suppose I can answer your unending questions as you slowly die. First off, the white fang you see here are no longer Faunas, no they are my minions. Tweaked to do my bidding, each one of them went through the same process as you. Most of them didn't have aura's so, it was quite easy to manipulate and change them." As the question popped into my head I could feel the slug grab onto it like a spider with a trapped fly. "How I change them? Oh that is very simple. First I sift through their memories to gain any unknown knowledge that I have yet to recover from anyone I have turned."

"After going through their head, I start to inject a type of virus into the blood system that attacks the brain. First it makes them start to go crazy, too many thoughts filter into their mind. Most of which are mine, that is the start of the infection. After a few days of that, they come completely under my control as the virus takes complete control of the soul. At that point, they are then controlled by my will. Now the reason I suck away your aura is because it is like my drug, feeling all the emotions you puny mortals feel is quite a rush. That, and with aura it is much harder for my virus to take effect."

As the slug talked I could feel my aura and strength start to slowly grow weaker. Even with my huge aura pool, it felt to be draining at a rate that I never thought was possible. The Grimm hummed in my head again, now I was starting to feel its emotions which was disgusting to say the least. "Oh your aura is so warm, even though you have a cold past. Thrown from your family at a young age, how pitiful. All you wanted was for your father to acknowledge you. Hahaha, so weak." I girt my teeth and tried to think up a plan to escape from this fate, but everything that came to mind was thwarted by the beast attached to me.

"You are an Arc, yes I have heard of your family for a very long time. Such great warriors in battle, all strong and vigilant. Unlike you, it seems you are quite the opposite when it comes to your fighting. Each of your ancestors were hero's, full of confidence and vigor, while all you can do is willow in self pity. How childish." The more this thing talked the more it made me want to kill it. "Ah anger, such a beautiful emotion. It is usually the last thing I feel before my new puppet gives into my influence. Fun fact, your family had encountered my kind before. They were very good at destroying our connection like this. Then again, they had followers that trusted and loved them, unlike you. Lonely and full of anger, you type of people have the best memories."

"Unfortunately your family discovered my previous versions power, and quickly deposed of me. I was soon given the name Gravemind, that is indeed my real name. Dark One is something these puny white fang came up with. Each time I am killed, one single piece of me survives because I have multiple nests waiting to become a full version of myself. It then learns of how I died, and comes up with ways to stop that from happening again. That is why you found me in such a dark cave. I took a risk capturing you, but it was worth the gamble. For you have the semblance from one of the original hero's of Vale. I never believed I would be able to taste the special aura from a wielder of Instinct."

I felt the pull on my aura grow stronger as the Gravemind mentioned my semblance, almost as if it was trying to such out all my aura as fast as possible. "But enough about me, how about we finish going through your short life hm?" With each memory this thing pulled up it felt as if a hot poker was being stabbed into my brain. The pain was slowly starting to become unbearable. I tried to my hardest to move my aura into any part of my body in hopes of getting a reaction, but nothing seemed to work. The pull from this thing was too strong.

"Adopted by a legend from the White fang, ah yes I have heard of this man. He at one point was stronger than the current leader of the fang, but he grew weak when his emotions took control of his life. He started to be more caring, leaving traitors alive but making it seem like he killed them. You seemed to be the last straw, after taking you in he started to loose his edge. What a pitiful excuse for a man. He was powerful when he didn't care about his kills, but then he grew a heart and lost it all. Even with all that experience he couldn't pass anything on to you. I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He was only teaching you failure. And see where that got you? Alone and being slowly killed by a Grimm. HA!"

Again I tried to fight back, but it came up fruitless. To think that a Grimm was doing this to me. After all these years I believed I was getting stronger, now I only felt weak. I slowly closed my eye and let a tear slip down my cheek. This thing was right, I was a failure. There was no way I could avenge Isaac like this. The slug let out a small laugh and slowed its pull on my aura."You are a very interesting individual, maybe I can get some use out of you. I can see the darkness in your heart, hidden away from the world. I can make an offer with you, if you give up your body to me, I will let you keep your conscious, and you will can let out that true power you keep hidden. let your hate and anger run free, it is only holding you back."

"Think of how strong you could be. With my armies of possessed and Grimm you would be unstoppable. No kingdom would stand in your way, everything could be yours, everyone at your mercy!" At first I thought of taking its offer, sure Samuel had said it would only drive me to death, but with this things help I could be immortal. But before I could accept, I thought back to Pyrrha and how I put my trust in her, and she put her trust in me. She had been the first person in years to break through my hard shell, show me the light that was life. If I were to turn now, then it would just be me stabbing her in the back.

"I see, even in all your darkness you still hold onto the light. A girl, Mistrals champion fighter. A goddess among men. A kind person that would never stab you in the back. It all seems too good to be true. But what happens when she does go behind you, when she pushes you over the edge. You see her as your only light in the dark, but what if she turns her back on you and leaves you to disappear alone. What then Jaune...Arc?" I watched in my mind as Pyrrha's smile slowly turned into a scowl, her eyes held a look of hate and anger in them. Her spear slowly pierced my chest with one swift strike. Her green eyes stared into mine. "You are a failure Jaune, born into the Arc family and yet you still can't become strong enough to help yourself, much less anyone else. Good bye Jaune, you won't be remembered."

More tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched her walk away from my bleeding form. It felt so real, almost as if it would actually happen. That's what this thing wanted me to believe. That I was alone, and that my only hope was in the darkness. The more I thought about her leaving, the more my aura began to boil like water. I felt Instinct activate on its own. Soon after I felt my aura start to flow into my eye. It was comforting, the dark presence of the Gravemind was slowly disappearing from my mind. The only thing left was the images of Pyrrha standing in front of me with sword and shield in hand. Her head slowly turned to reveal her smiling face. I clenched my fist and grit my teeth as my aura grew warm in my body, now giving me full control.

My left eye shot open as I focused on the only thing I could see, the darkness that lay in front of me. I watched as the slug before me burst into white flames, lighting the entire cave up in a brilliant white blaze. I could feel the fear from the Grimm through the link, it was screaming in agony as my white flames burned the beast. Its tentacle stop taking my aura and started to pump it back into me. My eye flicked down to the tentacle causing it to burst into the same white flames its body was. I landed on the stone floor and pulled the rest of the tar from my body.

The slug thrashed into the walls of the cave letting out a ear shattering screech. Behind me I could hear all of the possessed white fang screaming in pain. I turned to see that the ones that had brought me into the cave were now patting at their arms and legs trying to put out fire that wasn't there. Down the hall I could hear the roar of the fox. Its sounded as if it was in the same pain the slug was. I spun back to the Grimm and focused more flames onto the already decaying beast, nearly doubling the out put.

I wiped the tears from my face and ran through the tunnels of the cave. As I ran I passed dozens of possessed screaming in pain trying to put out the fire. In a way I felt bad for them, if they still had their conscious then they were feeling this pain, but I couldn't help them. They were already connected to that thing, but I didn't want to stick around to try and help them.

I slid to a stop after noticing my sword and shield laying on a table Ember was in normal shape, but my shield had a huge dent in the middle where the fox tail had impacted. I quickly slid it onto my back and grabbed Ember. Another roar from the Fox echoed through the tunnels. Deciding that might be where I fell, I ran towards its pain filled screams.

I approached the Fox's chamber dust started to fall from the ceiling as what I assumed was the Fox slamming into the walls. I round the corner to see the beast in question holding its head and wailing like a wounded puppy. My eyes flicked over to a nearby elevator. Unfortunately, the Fox spotted me and let out a roar. I sprinted towards elevator while watching the Grimm from the corner of my eye. I slid to a stop and rolled backwards as its hand slammed into the rock in front of me. I tried to focus my flames onto the beast, but when I tried to my head started to pound with pain causing me to bring up my hand and cover my left eye. It seemed that my new power had a limit on its uses. The beast let out a roar before slamming one of its tails into the ground beside me, launching me into the air.

The Fox let out a roar and jumped at me. As It flew in mid air time seemed to slow down as I focused on its body. Taking advantage of this time, I placed my hand on its nose and propelled myself towards the beasts neck. I spun Ember into a reverse grim and stabbed the blade into its back. Blood gushed out of the wound as I slid down its back, covering my armor and jacket in its red fluids. As I reached the bottom I pulled Ember out and jumped to the stone below. The ran towards the elevator as the fox reached at its back while screeching in pain.

I slammed the bottom in the elevator hoping that it would cause it to move faster. As the car moved up towards the move of the cave, the Fox thrashed and slammed against the cave walls causing stalactites to rain down onto the already wound Grimm. It one green eye shown in the dark as it watched me slowly ascend up the wall. In a last ditch attempt to attack me, it threw a chunk of rock towards me. Luckily the beast missed as the rock impacted with the cave wall, shattering into a million pieces.

The elevator door shuttered open with a low creak. As I stepped out of the box the brakes let out a loud whine before giving way. I watched as the elevator car went plummeting down back into the cave below. I let out a sigh of relief. After surviving all that, I didn't want to die to faulty machinery. I sprinted up the path of the old mine hoping to reach the surface as fast as possible. As I ran I noticed that most of the mining equipment was new looking, most likely the possessed using it. I had a thought lingering in the back of my head, the two fang that were carrying me seemed to still have control over their bodies. I couldn't imagine being controlled like that against your own will, while still knowing you were the one doing it. Then again, that almost happened to me.

I slammed open the door of the mine with a loud bang causing dirt and dust to fall from the surrounding area. I fell to my knees and gripped grass in both of my palms. A sucked in as much as I could into my lungs then let it out with a exaggerated sigh. After a few moments of catching my breathe I pulled my scroll and open up the screen. I held it up to my face to see a new pair of eyes staring at me. They still were gold with a black slit, but now there was a slit red tint around my pupil, turning most of the eye a light orange.

I decided to leave it for another time and deactivated Instinct then pulled up Pyrrha's contact. After a few seconds of light buzzing the line connected. Her face came into view, showing a mix of surprise and worry. "Jaune!? You're okay! What happened to you?" I stood up to my full height and slid Ember into its sheathe. "Its a long story for another time, right now I need to know where you are. Are you hurt?" She shook her head and let out a sigh. "Luckily no, after you saved me we were forced to leave the ravine and extract completely. Grimm started to swarm from the hole caused by the Fox Grimm. I'll tell the pilot-" I quickly cut her off and started heading towards the ravine.

"No, you keep heading back to Beacon. I'm going to scout out the white fang base, tell Ozpin that I will contact him when I am ready. Did you leave my bag by the Ravine?" I watched her frown then nod and close her eyes. "Yes we did, but Jaune you shouldn't go alone. Its too dangerous alone." I picked up my pace towards the ravine and gave Pyrrha a small grin. "Hey, I made it out of that hell hole okay right? Have a little faith in me." Before she could respond I shut off my scroll and sprinted the rest of the way to my bag.

I slid to a stop as I neared the edge of the Ravine. As I peered over I could see just how many Grimm now occupied the cavern. It was like a sea of black that now covered the ground level, more was pouring out of the gaping hole that I fell through. I chewed on my lip in thought while opening my pack and rummaging through it. I didn't see that many Grimm down in the caves, maybe the Gravemind called them to him as he was being burned. It seemed like the most reasonable explanation. My hand met the object I was looking for as a loud roar erupted from the Ravine. I quickly pulled out Isaac's mask and sprinted in the direction of the White fang base. Hopefully, the Grimm won't come until I've already left.

As I ran I looked down at the mask in my hand, it was risky going back for it, but something told me that I needed to bring it with me. Maybe it was just my subconscious, but I have it now and that's all that mattered. Soon I would have my revenge, no more self doubt or weakness. I was going to make this dream come true, even if it killed me. Then again, Pyrrha would probably bring me back just to pummel me dead again. My attention was drawn towards the now visible base off in the distance. I slid to a stop and and stared at the base. The sun was now starting to set, causing the bright green to leaves to turn a dark orange.

I pulled my shield off my back and held it in front of me. The dent in the middle of the shield was too great, sadly it would no longer serve me purpose. I dropped it to the ground with a thud and activated Instinct. Now that I had time to pay attention to the differences, I was actually able to the aura of the few white fang that had their aura's unlocked, though it was hard to maintain that focus at such a long distance.

I took Isaac's mask in both hands and slowly placed in on my face. Surprisingly, it fit perfectly and stayed in position. That was good since I don't have to keep adjusting it and being a nuisance.

I squeezed my fists, feeling my aura course through my veins like wild fire. It was warm, but a comforting warm. Like a campfire on your body during a chilly night. It felt good to have that kind of power dwelling within me, knowing the feeling of protection and warmth. After a few seconds of standing under the darkening sky, I pulled Ember from its sheathe with a slow but gratifying motion and extended the blade to its full length. The sound of the metal shifting was like music to my ears. I squinted my eyes slightly in preparation and sprinted towards my new foe. The master assassin and murderer, Hayden Price.

Chapter end

Boom! chapter done, and not an entire month wait this time! This chapter was sooooo much easier to right since I actually knew what I was writing, the whole cave part was planned since the beginning of the story and oh boy am I glad that we got past it.

Next chapter, Jaune takes on the enemy single handed, but will it be enough to stop Hayden and get his revenge?

(I felt like putting that there, in a DBZ mood)

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Yukas, out