I wanted to get this out before I leave for vacation

Symbiote Knight

Chapter 2: Strange Dream

Jaune felt strange when they got back to Beacon. He felt more tired then usual, like he was weighed down or something. Maybe he was just coming down from the adrenaline from the fight or something. At any rate his team found the meteorite first so it wasn't long before others started showing up as the teachers told the students to gather up together.

Team RWBY both congratulated them and also gave some good natured ribbing on how next time their team would be the ones to shine. Mainly between Nora and Yang and Ruby. Still it was a good testament to how close their teams were.

Jaune did notice that whatever that black ooze he had landed on was nowhere to be found. He was sure he landed on something but looking around he didn't see anything on him.

"You okay Jaune?" Pyrrha asked him seeing him twist around and trying to look at something.

"During the fight I thought I landed in…something. Not sure what, but I'm pretty sure it was some kind of black ooze or tar or something."

"A black ooze?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe it was rotten tree sap?" Nora offered. "Wait does tree sap turn rotten?"

Pyrrha looked him over and shook her head. "I don't see anything other than some grass stains."

"Huh, weird." Jaune muttered with a shrug. "Well at least I don't have to worry about it."

"It has been a long day," Pyrrha nodded looking at her sword, maybe she should give it a once over later. Her trainers back home always said that proper upkeep and care of your gear was very important.

"Plus I worked up an appetite," Nora groaned putting her hands on her stomach. "I feel like I could eat a mountain of burgers."

"Well then, let's change up and meet at the cafeteria." Jaune stated.

It had been a long day for everyone as they were eager to get some rest and food. First they put their weapons away in the weapons room. Jaune was thankful he no longer forgot which weapons locker was his like on the first day, than again he also had been a bundle of nerves that day which hadn't helped. To be fair the lockers were alike and the numbers on them were small.

After making sure everything was secure, they went to their separate locker rooms to shower and change. This was where their student uniforms have been left when they change into their combat gear. Said combat uniforms were put into marked bags and sent to the laundry services by placing them into a large bin. Jaune was surprised by how at the end of the school day the bags would be in their rooms waiting with the combat clothing freshly cleaned and pressed.

He wondered what kind of facility Beacon had for this but mentally shrugged it off. Maybe it was like how a hotel worked or something? There were a lot of things he never thought about that went into the logistics of being here. This was just one of those little things that made him pause to think on it now and then.

Jaune was more thankful when the hot water hit him in the shower stall. He felt his body relax under it as he went to cleaning off all the sweat, dirt and anything else from that fight in the forest. Placing his hands on the wall he let the hot water run over him as he thought back to that fight.

It was odd how in that one key moment his body just seemed to move on its own. Was this that muscle memory that Pyrrha told him about? At any rate he was glad for it, he took down that Grimm like it was nothing, well okay maybe not like it as nothing, but it certainly seemed easier. He was also wondering about that flash of insight he had. He was pretty sure she hadn't taught him that combination but maybe he would ask her later about it.

The showers were starting to fill with other boys from their teams returning to Beacon so it was time to get out. He was starting to really get hungry, more so than usual. Maybe Nora talking about food got him going? At any rate that shower hit the spot and changing into the school uniform he met with his team.

For some reason Jaune had certain food cravings. He got a bunch of green peas with some chocolate as dessert with his usual meal.

"Changing your diet?" Pyrrha asked him.

"I don't know I just feel like eating certain things at the moment, not sure why." He went for the green peas first which was odd for him as normally he didn't eat them that much but for whatever reasons he felt the need for it.

"Well if you are looking for a change in your diet I do know of a few food recipes that are healthier and better for you." Ren offered not nothing Nora making a silent 'no' gesture with her hand slicing back and forth in front of her neck.

She knew Ren the best having lived most of their lives together in the orphanage but the one thing she dreaded was when Ren started to get into this health craze. He could cook great food but when he tried to make for 'healthier options' it was the worst tasting things ever.

Pyrrha and Jaune caught the motion.

"Uh, thanks maybe I'll look into it later?" Jaune offered as Pyrrha just nodded her head. She hated conflict and went out of her way to avoid it, especially now that she had actual friends and not people wanting to be around her just to be around someone famous. So, she was glad that Jaune gave them a way out. Ren simply nodded taking it at face value as he quietly began to continue eating.

"You guys beat us to dinner it seems," Ruby smiled placing her tray next to Jaune. Weiss sat next to her as Yang and Blake sat across from them.

"Well someone takes a long time for their hair," Weiss cast a look at Yang.

"Hey! Other than Ruby we all have long hair," Yang defended herself. "Plus you're not exactly quick in the shower either Miss Glass House."

"That's why I just use the locker room showers in the morning," Blake stated simply. Well, it was also a way to hide her Faunus traits, no one else used them that early in the morning so she was free to use them. Plus by the time she finished and dressed and came back to the room everyone else was still getting ready. Trying to constantly keep a bow to cover her ears wasn't easy work. She had gotten a few odd looks from other students using the showers in the locker rooms because she would walk into the shower stalls with a bow on.

She was just glad that the shower stalls had shower curtains that gave students full privacy, so no one saw her take it off and on.

"Do you guy shave fights for the shower?" Ruby asked team JNPR.

"Actually Pyrrha is the only one with long hair," Jaune shrugged as Ruby looked to Jaune, then Nora, then Ren and finally Pyrrha.

"Ah, that must be nice," Ruby sighed.

"I don't take long in the shower, do I?" Pyrrha suddenly was feeling self-conscious about it now, she never thought about it, but she did have long hair and it did take time to wash and dry it.

"Some of my sisters took longer so I'd say about average?" Jaune offered her.

"Oh well that's good to know then," She hated to think she was being a bother for her teammates by taking a long time. Looking around she was starting to wonder if she should get a shorter hair cut to match her team? While she did like her hair it was a risk in battle to have long hair that someone or something could grab it. A few of the less savory competitors had tried to do that against her in previous matches.

The two teams talked a bit more about every day things, classes coming up, studying and the usual school life before they finished up and went to their respective dorm rooms for the afternoon.

When they got to their room they went into their usual changing habits. Since it was a mixed room on the first day they had came up with an easy way to keep each other's privacy. Either the girls or boys would go into the bathroom the change (since it was just big enough for multiple people) while the others would change in the main room. Once done the ones in the main room would let those in the bathroom know they were good to go.

It was a simple system, but it worked for them. They also got a little tab to put on the bathroom door, one side blue and the other red with an M and F written onto it in pen, to let others know someone was inside just in case the occupant forgot to lock the door.

Jaune hit the bed soon after, his body just felt drained, and he really needed some sleep. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

That night Jaune slept it wasn't a normal sleep. He dreamt of being in a black void just floating there, he called out but the voice didn't seem to echo. He did feel like something was in here with him, something was watching him, he could feel it.

Jaune suddenly found his footing as if the world suddenly had gravity and a surface.

He tiled his head as the world started to change, he saw the stars, he saw worlds around him like from some kind of sci-fi movie only they were much more real. He had the strangest sense of familiarity with them. Like he could almost speak their names but it was just on the tip of his tongue.

"What is all this?" He walked around at it all in wonder. He turned and suddenly he was in a city but it wasn't any city he knew.

The architecture was totally alien, large twisting spires with windows all around them with a green sky overhead. He could see various people going about their day but they looked like living plants with long manipulators.

Jaune stumbled back as he panicked and saw a doorway. He ran through it and suddenly he was on what looked like the bridge of some alien ship. There were many blue skinned human looking aliens as the one in what he guessed was a captain's chair barked orders in a language he didn't understand as the ship was rocked by something.

Jaune looked out the windows to see large bug shaped ships attacking them.

The ship rocked harder this time as he fell to the ground as he felt the surface was different the sounds of battle were gone but now he heard singing? He looked up to see he was on some kind of stage he could see various aliens in the audience, too much for him to really see. He looked to his right and saw the singer.

She was tall in a fancy gown and was a bit reminded of Weiss when he learned she song before coming to Beacon. Again, she was blue skinned but a different shade and she had what looked to Jaune to be a red large fin that ran from her bald head and down the back of it.

"Uh excuse me? Hey, uh…I'm a little lost," he asked but she ignored him like he wasn't even here. He got up and waved his hand in front of her face but she didn't stop her performance.

"What is going on here?" Jaune muttered.

He turned around but the audience and the concert hall were gone, he was on a world that looked somewhat barren as a group of alien beings looked to be bowing down and chanting. He looked in the direction and there in the distance was a massive figure. It was the size of a mountain covered in some kind of technological armor.

"Oh man that's big…I mean that's really really big, please be friendly." Jaune muttered at the being.

Jaune felt something pull in the back of his mind as he turned around. Standing there behind him was a humanoid figure but it was all black. Jaune tilted his head as the creature did the same. He raised a hand up as it followed his movements.

"This is just getting stranger, hello?" He figured maybe since it was interacting with him it could see him.

There was a faint found almost like a whisper.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear that, can you speak up?" He asked as it slowly reached out to him.

He wasn't sure but it looked like it was reaching out for help?

So Jaune did the first thing that came to him, he reached back out to it. Just as his hand was about to reach the black hand of the creature twisted and shot out engulfing his hand too quickly for his reaction. Jaune was startled as he looked up to suddenly see the face of the thing in front of him now with two large white eyes staring back at him.

"Ahhhh!" Jaune shot up in bed feeling the sweet and feeling his heart pounding.

"Jaune?" Came the sleepy voice of Pyrrha in the next bed over, looking up.

He looked around the darkened room and saw from the clock next to his bed it was still an hour before they had to get up for class.

"Sorry," He said softly noting that Nora was still out cold and while Ren turned around was most likely trying to get back to sleep seeing that everything was okay. "Just had a nasty dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" She was worried that yesterday's battle might have been affecting him. Unlike the others she knew that he had no real training, so he didn't have the experiences that they all had before coming here.

"It's fine, go back to sleep," He put on a smile to let her know he was okay. She wasn't sure if he was okay but she didn't want to smother him with worry. He looked like he might be okay so she would give him space as she tried to get back to sleep.

He needed to splash some water on his face as got up and quietly went to the bathroom. He gently closed the door and turned on the light as he turned on the tap. Feeling the cool water hit his face a few times he turned it off and grabbed a face towel to rub it off. That dream had been insane, the strange thing is he could still remember lots of it. Normally when you had a dream you didn't remember a whole lot, but it had just been a jumble of strange stuff.

It was all about space, aliens and that strange black creature, it kind of reminded him of a Grimm but it was more human like and didn't seem as threatening. The lack of those bone white masks they had was another big difference. He finished drying his face and looked up into the mirror and staring back he swore he saw the creature's face over top of his.

He sucked in his breach as he jerked back but blinking again it was just his reflection.

Jaune slowly moved closer to the mirror as he ran a hand along it and then felt his face, everything felt like it was there.

He stared back at it for a long silent minute before sighing to himself. "I'm so not getting any more sleep today."

While Jaune was having the most confusing morning ever, the symbiote inside of him was having its own day. It was still just too weak; it had tried to communicate with the host but its injuries were still healing and the strength was still lacking. It had found that it could nudge the host, this allowed Jaune to eat the foods containing the organic compound his kind needed. Sure, it could just take it from the host but that would require to drain the host dry and that was what the Corrupted would do.

It would be a slow process to heal and it would make the bonding take longer as well but maybe this was for the best. It would allow time for the symbiote to learn more about the host and this world. Having access to the memories of the host it found the name of this world was called Remnant and a strange world this was.

This aura for instance, it could feel this power inside the host. It was curious, it was the opposite of those creatures in the woods which it found were called Grimm. Apparently, they had no soul of their own, something the symbiotes hadn't encountered and its knowledge was vast given it had been around for a very long time and had the memories of all the generations that came before it.

It had been shifting through those genetic memories but nothing really stood out that matched things like Grimm and Aura exactly. There were many creatures in the universe so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Plus this substance called 'dust' was curious as well. The host didn't know much about this subject unfortunately. Somehow the people of this world had access to an ability that was linked to the soul, while the symbiotes weren't knowledgeable about the realms of magic, they did know of its existence to some extent.

It was too bad that the symbiote had never bonded with anyone with magic abilities, it might have been helpful at the moment.

There were Beings and Powers as old as the universe, older in the case of The Devourer. The symbiote mentally shuttered thinking about that Being. After eating a planet that contained a large number of symbiotes they all had an ingrained fear of that entity.

The symbiote was looking into the host and this aura was a very pleasant feeling. In fact, as it touched the aura there was a warmth do it. It was a curiosity that would require more study. This wouldn't be the first host that had abilities that the symbiote had bonded to but every power was different. There was something else, buried under this aura almost like a nucleus for it, something linked to it but different.

Looking through the host memories the symbiote wasn't sure what it was, the closest it could come to was something called a 'semblance', the host again had limited knowledge. It was a little vexing but from the memories it wasn't the host's fault. He had not gained the usual education like the others, but he still wanted to help despite the dangers.

Perhaps this was a little fool hearty, but it appealed to the symbiote's nature. Sure the host was a little rough around the edges but it could see the diamond in the rough from the memories it had looked through and the symbiote had come to the conclusion that the host was the kind of person that its kind searched for. Someone with a sense of duty and honor, someone wanting to help others and to do the right thing. So what if the host lacked in certain areas, that was what the symbiote was for.

The host's partner also seemed to be helping the host as well, from the memories of their personal late-night training and helping with studying. It thought of the others in this little group. The other female was fully of energy maybe a bit too much but still a good friend to the host. The quiet male was more of a rock, someone steady but willing to listen. There was that other team, the one with the four females, the host seemed close to them but to more varying degrees.

The red one was the friendliest and seemed to share a special bond of friendship with the host. The blonde was friendly but teasing, the dark one, well the host had nothing negative about her he didn't really know her that well either. The white one he could feel the host's feelings of attraction, but it would seem his attempt to mate with the female were not successful.

Still the symbiote would wait and heal and take this time to study this world, the host and friends he had. There were still so many memories to go through and so many things to learn. The symbiote was quickly assimilating all this information and as soon as it was strong enough it would communicate properly with the host.

TBC..