Atlas… this place brought nothing but bad memories. From Salem's massive invasion (even if the enormous whale Grimm was kind of cool in hindsight), Ironwood snapping out of nowhere with absolutely no build up to it and Ren ALSO snapping randomly with absolutely no build up to it!

Least Ren was kind of right when he said that they weren't ready to be huntsmen yet. And no, Team RWBY beating the Ace Ops doesn't count, in his mind, they let them win. Case and point, Marrow didn't immediately use his Semblance to end the fight before it could start.

Moving on from that, the worst part about it had been their… impromptu trip in the Ever After. Cinder honestly needed to get laid or something, he had never met a more stubborn and delusional individual such as her. And of course, how could he forget…

His foot hit something metallic, laying on the ground. A body, made of hard steel.

Poor Penny… she was one of the very few people that deserved nothing of what happened to her. She just wanted to help…

He raised his head, with a resounding sigh, only to be met with…

A portal. The same one that Ambrosius created to transport the people of Atlas and Mantle to Vacuo. This thing should have been destroyed, right…?

"Ah… I see you made it Knight Boy! Just the guy I wanted to see!"

Roman Torchwick waved at him from his stall, a small distance from the portal in question.

Jaune approached the older man, already anticipating the poor attempts at humor and the request that was sure to follow. He was slowly, but surely turning into an errand boy. Just what he wanted out of his huntsman career. Not that the start had been brilliant either, with having to help children cross the damn road. It paid off at the end… surprisingly, but again, a less than stellar beginning.

At least the kids were cute. And their mothers were nice… too nice, even. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to their weird looks and suggestive words. He wondered what they meant…

Whatever, not important right now.

"Now now, I know what you're thinking: 'Jeez, I wonder what my beloved and bestest uncle Roman would want to tell me! And how could I be of use to him?!'. First, thank you for all of that, you are one the greatest slav… friends I ever had!"

He was about to say "slave" wasn't he? Mark his words, by the end of his journey, the gentleman thief will end becoming "the bitch slapped thief". Or literally anything else, he'll think of something better later.

"Well, I regret to inform you that my… request will have to wait. Go on then, do your thing, gather your pretty auras for your pretty journey and then meet me inside that portal".

He pointed at the shimmering door open in the middle of nowhere.

Should he start fearing for his anal virginity…? He needed an adult.

Roman grinned.

"I am an adult, don't you worry about that! Go on then, either you buy something or scram!"

Pfft. As if he was ever gonna buy anything from this asshole ever again!

"I have restocked you know? All brand new, lighting dust bombs, top quality, I assure you…"

… but then again, he always believed in giving people second chances.

At the end, he walked out having spent the last of his Stones in dust bombs and Boosters.

He should be set for a while.

Jaune left the vault on, you guessed it, another bloody elevator, with the very vague feeling of having been scammed. Just his imagination, he was sure.

Now, where to go…

Before he could raise the Aura Reader for directions, he heard a sound coming from behind him. Something that resembled… Weiss's glyphs?

He barely had the time to turn around and raise his shield, before a bullhead smashed into it. Or what he thought had been a bullhead.

It was not. He wished it had been a bullhead. Tall, military outfit, white hair in a regulation cut…

Meep…

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WINTER SCHNEE, THE WINTER MAIDEN

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A Maiden. An actual, bonafide FUCKING Maiden! Just what he was trying to avoid having to deal with! He wasn't going along with every whim and desire of Raven Branden because he liked the woman, after all!

His new opponent left him no time to breathe, attacking relentlessly and with no apparent intention to stop.

Her saber and dagger tried their hardest to cut through his defenses, with him barely able to keep up. He didn't have the time to attack back, let alone do something groundbreaking like dodging, switching weapon or consuming an Aura!

Was this how it ended…?

He looked at Winter in the eyes in a moment where they were particularly close with their faces.

She… was normal. No red scleras, no black veins or sneer of anger or anything else. Just regular, normal Winter Schnee.

In the heat of the moment, her eyes also widened, likely having realized that he wasn't Turned, she disengaged, jumping backwards.

Jaune collapsed, suddenly drained. He had no idea what was going to kill him faster: her or his own racing heart.

"You… are human, aren't you?"

He desperately nodded, afraid that she would attack again if he didn't answer straight away.

She relaxed, sheating her weapons. He was safe…

"Apologies for the assault then. I… have been deceived a couple of times, before meeting you. Regardless, I am pleased to see you alive, Arc. I got extremely worried when I didn't hear from you, my sister or anyone else of your group, after you went to deal with Salem…"

Ehehe… alive. Yeah, about that…

Winter crossed her hands behind her back.

"Please, tell me everything that has happened in the meantime. Leave no detail unsaid".

Not this again… he was genuinely starting to get tired of saying this damn story.

So, he kept it brief, focusing on the important bits… before hurrying up and going over the rest when the Maiden's eyes caught fire. Send help.

At the end of it, the only indication of emotion in the woman's face was… a slight creasing of her brows and her lips being marginally clenched. He envied her composure…

"So, Xiao Long and Belladonna are already… free, we'll say. And my sister and her leader are still unaccounted for. Or… at least, Rose is. Weiss is here. I'm not sure where… but she's here".

Alright, that's one more. Which meant that Ruby was all the way in Vacuo. Great, the smallest and fastest one of the Team in the biggest, most dispersive Kingdom in Remnant. Sure, why the fuck not…

"And you need auras of strong fighters to open up the way to both her and Vacuo later on. Did I understood that correctly?"

She sure did.

"I see… that is… a lot to digest and take in. But worry not, I shall keep in touch. You continue on your journey then, I will catch up with you soon".

Winter started floating. Where the hell was she going?!

"I have to keep the Grimm at bay. They are still pushing the borders, after all. I'll count on you to deal with any straggler that might slip through. Until our next meeting, Arc".

Aaaaaand she was gone. He was alone again. Exhausted and dead inside, to boot. He leaned down on the ground, intent on resting and recuperating. That woman just knows no chill…

It took him a couple of hours of both resting and self pep talks before he felt ready to move on with his journey.

So he went and raised his Aura Reader once more. The light shined down, past the former floating island of Atlas and into Mantle proper… or what was left of it, after the crash.

More bad memories… he had a lot of those, didn't he? Ozpin's crusade really sucked ass, now that he thought about it!

He sighed, deciding to just forget it and move on. If he had to stop and think about everything that, in hindsight, made no sense he would spend the rest of his life here.

For now, he had to find a way down. Jumping obviously wasn't an option and there weren't any conveniently placed Bullheads to drag his heavy ass around, like in Vale. He had to make up something…

Mhh… how did Ruby say that they managed to infiltrate Atlas Academy from Mantle, again?

He was never gonna do that again. Ever. Not even if someone actually came and paid in cold, hard cash.

This part of his journey just started and it was already shaping up to be worse than Mistral. That had to be a record somewhere…

He exited the SDC warehouse where the company used to send Dust to Atlas, following the light of his Reader towards his main destination.

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NEW AREA: MANTLE

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Or at least he would have, if only these stupid Grimm would leave him alone already!

He trusted his shield forward, letting the Gryphon chew on it for a moment before twisting and leading its head right onto his blade. Not even a second later, Mors Renata was already in his hand, allowing him to shoot down another, while he jumped out of the way of a Centinel trying to grab him from underground.

Flying Grimm and beyond ground Grimm, at the same time. Just… just lovely. One slash from Crocea Mors was enough to deal with the worm like Grimm, all the while a small group of Beowolves charged him. With a flick of his wrist, the blade and the shield joined together to form his greatsword. One slash cleaved one in half, one dodge made another of the monsters gore apart one of its kind and another slash killed two at the same time.

And to finish it off, in a flash, Mors Celeri was drawn and thrown, nailing hùthr last one on the forehead.

He panted, while he retrieved his dagger. That… was a lot of Grimm. This was the fifth time he had been rudely interrupted by a pack of monsters, all of similar size as well. Atlas really did take the brunt of the fall…

He would have felt bad, but Ironwood brought everything on his own head. And no, his Semblance was NOT an excuse for his stupidity.

A groan and a stir followed, before he checked again. His target was deep into the former Faunus quarters of Mantle, still pretty far away. The continuous delays definitely did not help matters…

The only way this could go worse was if Raven suddenly decided to…

A portal spawned, right in his face. Red and swirling.

He… he just had to speak, didn't he? Or well, not speak, but think. For a brief second, he entertained the idea of just… ignoring it and keep on going his way, but he knew better at that point.

So, with a destructive sigh, he crossed the portal, coming face to face with the woman that invaded his nightmares. She waltzed up to him, looping an arm around his neck.

"Here's my favorite Clan member! You know, you took your sweet time coming here…"

Her grip tightened suddenly, cutting off his oxygen flow.

"Why, for a moment, I thought you were to ignore me. But that can't be possible, right? Some Grimm straggler was keeping occupied, right?!"

Yeah! Sure! Of course! Whatever you say!

Raven smiled and patted his head, allowing him to breathe again.

"Good boy. Now as for why you are here, I found another wayward member that needs to be taken care of. He should be inside a cave, close to that one site the Atlas military confiscated from the SDC. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Ahhhh… that one cave where he and his friends joined the Ace Ops to deal with that ancient Geist? Yeah, that sound likely.

His "mistress" nodded, seeing that he understood.

"Excellent! Now, normally I would want you to go there straight away… but I know you are in a bit of a pickle right about now, and this guy is not gonna get out of there anytime soon, so… you have my permission to deal with him at your own pace. Just… make sure to do it, okay? You know what happens if you dooooonnnn'ttttt…"

She tightened her grip once more and he frantically shook his head up and down.

"We have an agreement then! Go on then, you're free to go! Do try to not get yourself killed, all right? You are actually the least detestable member of the Clan right about now, I would hate having to bury you… byeeeee!"

He was shoved back inside the portal. Errand boy? Nah, he got that wrong… he was a chewing toy, at the mercy of literally everyone. Ozpin, Raven, the Gods and so on.

He laid face down on the snow of Mantle, not really having any intention of moving.

Looking around though, the district was… familiar. Pietro's workshop was close by, wasn't it?

Might as well go inside. It should be warmer there… marginally. Better than nothing…

The inside was completely barren, of course. Pietro himself had taken Amity Colosseum to try and reestablish connections between Kingdoms… but he was gone now, together with Maria. He wondered what happened to me… or if they were even alive, at that point.

The small workshop didn't offer much in terms of protection, but he ended finding some useful items.

Obtained: Scrap Metal X5

Obtained: Precious Stones X3

Obtained: Upgrade Blueprints

Mhh? These… these are the blueprints for that upgraded version of his shield that he had during the Atlas misadventure!

Now that he thought about it… his version of Crocea Mors was obsolete, wasn't it? Does that mean that… it's not the original? That it had been remade or… plopped from a random moment in time between Mistral and Atlas?

Great, more questions… but for now, he'll take these. Maybe Gunmetal could be able to do something about them. Granted, he'll probably have to go fetch the parts… including the gravity Dust.

Mhhh… maybe that trip in the SDC cave could be more worthwhile than he thought…

One problem at the time Jaune, he thought. No need to overwhelm yourself. First the aura, the the rest can come after. The way to the Faunus district was still quite long…

But with the prospect of a new upgrade in the Horizon, he felt revitalized. Somehow, he had a feeling that it was going to be fundamental for the future.

He stepped outside the workshop, weapons in hand one more time. Ready to take on everything that this wretched place could throw at him!

A massive sneeze bursted out of his nose, startling and drawing another pack of Grimm towards his position.

Or his cold could try to kill him first. Why the fuck not?

Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.

Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of Auraborne, the show where we hate Atlas and everything that happened on it. Except Penny. And maybe Arthur, on a good day. Mostly because he sounds like Vegeta.

Yup, with a small delay, because it wouldn't be me otherwise, we are officially back in business, boys! I rewatched Volumes 7 and 8 (and now I know why my brain decided to wipe them from my memory. I could stay here and rant, but I don't feel like wasting my time and your time to discuss… whatever the hell those things were) and now we're ready to continue!

Before I forget, I do have a communication for you. While it is true that the story is not over yet, we are more or less on the latter half of it, which made me rethink about something that has been asked of me… a sequel.

I will say right here and now, there won't be an Auraborne 2. Mostly because I know that the story would probably be close to overstaying its welcome by the time its done. What I did want to consider, was something else.

A DLC. Likely not canon to the story, but it would allow me to squeeze in another… five chapters or so. I'm not going out of my way to say or do anything about it at least until we're done with Vacuo. Just wanted to throw it out there, be transparent and all that.

Review Responses!

merendinoemiliano: Thank you! I'm planning on adding a couple more of this "gimmick" fights, so do look forward to that!

Cipher 56: Yup. Oscar is just the unluckiest. I mean, he has Ozpin in his head, what else could he expect? Lancer fight was a gamble on my part, so I'm glad to see that it paid off!

Essiter1987: Jauney will have to deal with quite the beast in the next Guardian fight. No spoilers obviously, but look at me! Planning ahead, for once! Ironwood will have his spotlight, promise. I didn't have much problem with Godfrey, mostly because my friend who "guided" me made basically explore the entirety of the Lands Between before the fight and I had a decent build. Elden Beast broke me though, that boss fucking sucks.

Eramis8: Woah, that's a lot of reviews… here, let me go through them one by one. I always respect people that do these kinds of things.

When I said "Bloodborne in RWBY" I meant it with all the cryptic lore and maniacal attention to details that Miyazaki is famous for. It's not at that level, obviously, but I think it went pretty well.

I do always try to make things as unique as I can. It's not always possible, but it's something that I always strive to accomplish.

Even the most tragic of heroes eventually need something to push them on. There wouldn't be much of a point to fighting otherwise.

Adam deserved to go down like a champ, at least here. In the show… I'd rather not think about how dirty they did him.

Yup, had Jaune and Ilia not dealt with all those people, they likely would have interfered in the fight with Blake. That would have been a problem, wouldn't it?

The auras will have their purpose, as the Twin Gods alluded. So, wasting them all to power himself up wouldn't be a great idea for our protagonist. How? You'll see :).

Thank you for taking the time to read everything from start to finish. It means the world to me, and I hope that you will stay with us for the rest of the journey!

Andro-Sama: Yang was a massive difficulty spike, and things are only bound to get worse from here, I promise!

That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!