Chapter 1 – A New Locale

Since his time at Beacon, especially after Forever Fall, Jaune Arc had struck himself into a comfortable and familiar routine. He would wake up at 6:30 AM, a time wherein the sun had only begun to rise, take a shower, get dressed, and wake up the rest of his team, all by the time the sun had fully risen. It had been his routine for several months now, and in those months, he had seen little reason to change it. After all, why fix what wasn't broken?

And while others were rightfully correct that he wasn't exactly one the more serious students around, namely Weiss, he knew more than enough to know that it wasn't normal to wake up in some poorly lit room after going to sleep. Far from normal really. Still, the question remained.

"Where am I?"

It was a sensible question. After all, he went to sleep within the comfortable confines of his dorm room and now? Now, he was in what seemed to be a very strange military building. At least, that's what Jaune thought it was. While most things in the room seemed to be made of metal, it didn't look like any military quarters he had ever seen.

From what he could remember, Atlas buildings were all white and grey, smooth and shiny. They didn't look at all like this wide-open room he was in. Wherever he was, it seemed far too… too… gothic.

In fact, now that he thought about it, this place looked more like a church had a child with a military base. Even with the flickering lights, he could see enormous panels of stained-glass depicting warriors and gods, ones that he'd never even seen or heard of before.

Was this all just a dream? He'd never had dreams like this before but then again, there's a first time for everything. Or had he been kidnapped? But if he had been kidnapped, why did they bother taking him out of his onesie and dressing him up in his normal clothes? And why did they let him have Crocea Mors? Or his Scroll?

Still, just standing around in one spot wouldn't get him any answers. The room was filled with nothing more than damaged pieces of machinery and scrap metal around. While Ruby probably would've had a field day here—and she definitely would've been sad about the state of broken weapons everywhere—he wasn't exactly good enough in the art of maintenance to try and fix them.

And so, there was nothing more for Jaune Arc to do than trod forward in search of answers. If this wasn't a dream, he could panic later. Hopefully it wouldn't end up with him running away from a giant Deathstalker like he did during Initiation. At least this time, he didn't have to make a torch. The large and flickering lights did more than enough to light the way.

"This place is huge. I think it's even bigger than Beacon."

Jaune was definitely lost. If his Scroll was still working properly, he had been wandering this place for around thirty minutes and he hadn't found any signs of people anywhere. In fact, he hadn't even seen any Grimm. All he found were more broken pieces of machinery and plenty of rats scurrying around. To make matters worse, it seemed that wherever he was, he had no cell reception and so, he wouldn't be able to call upon anybody to help him out, if they'd even be able to find him at all.

The décor seemed rather grim as well. He was pretty sure none of the Four Kingdoms of Remnant preferred to decorate their buildings and homes with skulls and bones. He was hard-pressed to even think of any place in Remnant with these kinds of decorations.

By now, he was pretty sure he wasn't in a dream. He'd never had dreams like this before, none so realistic or insane like where he was. If he didn't find anyone soon, he'd be pani—

Jaune heard a screeching sound that grated on his ears, the sound of metal grinding on metal as they were torn apart. But that wasn't the worst part. No, not even close.

Only seconds later, Jaune heard, no, felt. Jaune felt the roar as it shook the room, and he swore he could feel it in his bones. His reaction was instant. In a flash of steel, Crocea Mors was unsheathed, and both sword and shield were gripped securely within his hands.

What could it be?

Is it a Grimm?

One of the White Fang?

Whatever it was, it was getting closer and with every step it took, the room shook more and more, almost as it if were caught in the middle of an earthquake.

Still, Jaune only steadied his stance and moved slowly, step by step, away from the walls closest to the source of the sound.

Three…

Two…

One!

In a fraction of a second, something broke through the wall on Jaune's left, and as the smoke and dust, Jaune couldn't help but be reminded of an old commercial he saw on TV once. He couldn't exactly remember what the commercial was for, but he could think about that later. Right now, he had a foe to face, and it would be a bad idea to be distracted in a fight. Pyrrha was rather clear on the matter there.

As the dust and smoke cleared, Jaune knew for a fact that he wasn't facing down a Grimm. Or a member of the White Fang.

"What is that?"

With pale blue skin, bloodstained claws, the monster snarling in front of him was certainly no Grimm but it definitely looked just as dangerous, if not more so. Standing upright like an Alpha Beowolf, the monster's head turned to look at him and Jaune discovered another startling fact. Whatever this beast was, it had five eye sockets, all aligned in a row, and each one was empty. And Jaune was willing to bet that whatever eyes it had before certainly weren't taken out gently.

The creature lunged at him in a burst of speed, crossing fifty feet in a single leap, and forcing Jaune to step to the left, and, in one swift flash of steel, he struck back, slashing at it with Crocea Mors, leaving behind a gash right where its ribs should be.

Jaune did not stop there. Now that he had the opportunity, he continued his assault, hacking right where his foe's neck should be. But he made a mistake, or perhaps the monster was simply faster and smarter than he thought it was.

The creature dodged his sword by the barest of inches, leaving behind only a barely perceptible cut on its neck and it struck back with one of its vicious claws. Still, Jaune had been training and sparring with faster foes than this beast. With practiced ease, Jaune raised his shield and blocked the heavy blow, even if it pushed him back by a few feet.

"But that doesn't mean I'll be taking this easy. I can't take too many blows like that."

From that single clash, Jaune could already tell that the monster in front of him was very strong and while it may not be as fast as most of his schoolmates, it was smart enough to know it.

"The thing's just as strong as Yang and her punches hurt. Don't want to find out how sharp those claws are."

With his moment of reprieve done, Jaune took the initiative, aiming the tip of Crocea Mors towards the chest of his opponent. Not to be outdone, the beast spun around to both dodge the blade and attempt another attack with its massive claws. Unfortunately for the monster, Jaune saw through its attempt and parried the blow with the edge of his shield, leaving it open for a kick to its side.

While Jaune was far from being the strongest first-year in Beacon, he liked to think that he was up there, when it came to physical strength at least. Dust knows that he was certainly far from skilled. Still, in this case, as his kick sent the pale-blue beast skidding across the iron floor over a dozen feet, it looked like his training was definitely paying off.

The beast snarled at him, clutching at its injured side with its free hand, all while its other one dripped purple blood all over the metal floor. Jaune wanted to charge at and strike down the beast but something in his guts told him not to. That to do so would be stupid.

The monster snarled once more and charged at him, its claws scraping and grinding against the floor, trailing sparks as it galloped towards him. And Jaune stayed where he was, his sword ready to strike and his shield raised to block any attack.

It was the right move. It looked like Jaune hit it harder than he thought, or maybe it was already hurt when it attacked him. Either way, the beast was slower now and that made it simpler and easier to block and parry the creature's claws, no matter what direction they came from.

As he blocked the sixth blow, Jaune saw his chance and he took it. In a single movement, he deflected the seventh strike and struck at the beast's wrist, slicing it off. And before the monster could cry out in pain, Jaune pierced through its sword with Crocea Mors and decapitated it.

"All right. That's the end of that."

With the beast dead, Jaune now knew that he wasn't alone in… wherever he was. But it didn't seem like good news, especially if beasts like this were roaming this place.

On the bright side, at least Jaune had a new trail to follow, namely the path of broken walls the monster broke through on its way to him. On the other hand, this was giving him bad vibes. It was almost like stepping into the Deathstalker cave again.

"Better than just wandering around with no idea where to go, I guess. Still, this place is starting to give me the creeps."

And as much as he didn't want to admit, Jaune was getting scared. Not for his life, at least, not just his life. No, Jaune was scared that he was lost. He was scared that he'd never be able to find his way back to Beacon. Scared that he'd left his friends and family behind.

"No. Don't think like that. I'll find a way back. Just keep moving forward. One step at a time."

And so, Jaune went through the path laid out before him. But, as he took his first steps into the darkness, with only the light of his Scroll to illuminate the road ahead, he stepped on something that felt like a giant bubble. It felt… weird but that wasn't the problem.

Whatever he stepped on collapsed, and Jaune began to fall. Jaune Arc began to die.

The last thing he remembered was a flash of green light and he knew no more.