He didn't want to get up. He really, really didn't. And who could blame him?

What was ahead, waiting for him exactly? More Grimm. More Turned. More Raven. More friends to kill. Did he mention that he didn't want to get up? Better to reiterate, just in case.

He did not want to get up. But he had to, huh?

His journey was still not over. It was something that needed to be done. All the survivors were counting on him… and even those that perished. And if he didn't…

Then, who would?

Just… think about Yang and Blake. They needed him to come back to life. Weiss and Ruby needed him to stop them from causing even more harm. Taiyang and Ilia were each carrying a Relic, meaning that they were bound to eventually get overwhelmed if he didn't get a move on. His sister, her wife and his nephew would also be thrust right back into danger. Everything depended on him…

All of Remnant's pain and burdens… were still his to shoulder. With a growl, he used Crocea Mors as a crutch, slowly but steadily getting back on his feet… and while he did, he caught a glimpse of his hands. Or more like, the skin that his fingerless gloves showed.

White… with black veins. He blinked and everything was back to normal.

With a yelp, he jumped backwards, staring at his appendages. Was… was he imagining things or did he almost turn?! He panted heavily, trying to come back from his panic attack. Hope… he was starting to lose hope, wasn't he?

And again… who could blame him? He was stuck smack in the middle of an apocalypse, after all… and the Twin Gods had dumped the fate of the entire world upon him. Not for the first time, he found himself asking… just why? Why him?

What did he had that other people didn't?! Was it something that he could not see? Or…

Maybe he was one of the few that hadn't been infected upon death. He finally came back to his senses, separating himself from the wall that he was leaning on. When did that happen…?

Trembling, he bent down and picked his blade up once more. Remnant did not need a sniveling kid, afraid of his own shadow, who faked his way into an academy under delusions of heroism. Nobody needed that. It needed a warrior. And that was what he would have to be, no matter what… old Jaune Arc was a burden. He could not afford to be one anymore.

Finally, he trudged back the way he came, out of the mines and back into the frozen tundra of Solitas. Where to now…?

He fumbled with himself for a moment, finally founding and raising the Reader once again. The light shined deep into the snow and ice, away from Mantle and Atlas. Smack in the middle of nowhere… what could be there? He did not know.

The only thing that he was aware of, was that he could not stop to ask questions. Whoever was there needed to… die. Likely someone he knew, if he understood the pattern. And after everything, he was fairly sure he had it figured out. Maybe it could be…

Ironwood? A slow smile came to his lips. Now that… that would be pleasant…

He smacked himself. Hard. What the hell was wrong with him?! Ever since fighting Adam he had been having… weird thoughts. He was more aggressive too… more vicious. Even animalistic, in a way… when had killing become second nature to him?

Like he was slowly, but surely losing his humanity. He stumbled towards the truck, entering it with a slam of the door. He closed his eyes while inside, enjoying the brief respite from the raging storm outside… but not the one in his own head.

He took a two hours break, barely managing to get some sleep. He was never hungry… never thirsty. His stamina was steadily improving, alongside his strength… or was it simply a lack of empathy that made him more merciless?

After his short rest, he knew that he could not prolong the inevitable for much longer.

Used: Scroll of Activation

The vehicle roared to life underneath him, the engine sputtering a bit, but functional nonetheless. He could only hope that it wouldn't break down on him. That would bloody suck, big time.

Let's see, how did it work again? Qrow had given everyone a crash course on how to drive these things, just in case. This was probably not what the older man had in mind, but he couldn't say that it hadn't been prophetic, in a way.

It took him five or so minutes to figure everything out (mainly the fucking brakes), but he was as ready as he could hope to be. He never liked driving… but it's a massive tundra, surely he was not going to crash somewhere. Surely.

He was definitely going to crash somewhere, wasn't he? Because frozen tundra meant… you guessed it, more damn ice physics. Fuck Atlas, fuck Ironwood and fuck everything they ever stood for! He despised it all!

He took a deep breath, calming himself down once more. He was not going to lose himself. He could not! Not while he had so much left to do still! But if it was true that he had been infected…

Was there even a way to stop it…? He doubted. Ren couldn't. Or Blake, even if she fought for a while against it. He could only delay, because having options was for nerds, he supposed.

Well, screw that. As his dad used to say a lifetime ago, death could have him when it earned him. Or more like, when it managed to contain him.

His hands reached for the steering wheel as his foot hit the accelerator. He just had to hurry up then. He still didn't want to continue… but choice was a luxury beyond him, at this point.

He had no idea who was standing in the middle of a frozen waste, or why. What he did know… was that the sooner they died, the sooner he could free Weiss and then leave and never return.

And that wasn't the infection talking…

Or was it?


.

.

.

NEW AREA: SOLITAS

.

.

.

The truck barrelled full speed towards its destination, for once unbothered by the harsh climate, almost as if sensing his urgency. His anxiety. His anger.

And if that was the case… it wasn't the only one. A horde of Gryphons had been on the vehicle's tail for several minutes now. They had finally managed to catch up to the enormous source of negativity they all had been drawn by.

One of them approached the side of the machine, opening its mouth to screech and intimidate whoever was inside. Slowly, much to its surprise, the window of the driving seat rolled back… and the Grimm found itself face to face with the nuzzle of a weapon. It stood no chance.

One press of the trigger and its head was blasted clean off, not the slightest hesitation or second thought.

Obtained: Grenade Launcher

Jaune gave a little smirk. Atlas sucked complete and utter ass… but their toys were always fun to use. Shame that grenades were basically nonexistent at that point, he would have loved to bring this puppy alongside him, pay some proper respect to Nora and all.

Keeping one eye on the road, he leaned out of the window, aimed and fired. One more screech, a couple more flying menaces down for the count. Several more to go. And he had nowhere near enough ammo to deal with them all. Once again, he needed to think outside the box…

With the sole problem that there was absolutely nothing around these parts that could help him. Ice desert and all that, how quaint. Nothing…

Except for the vehicle he was driving. Which was, coincidentally, loaded with enough dust to make a great, big boom.

He wasn't worried about the return trip, he had the Proof of Passage after all. But it would be an operation that required surgical precision with timing. It sucked, especially after what he had to go through just to get hold of the scroll needed to activate the damn thing, but he was, you guessed it, out of options once more.

He mentally cursed everything while he floored the accelerator, occasionally peeking to shoot a grenade and keep the flock off his back, which seemingly had no intention of letting up. Things were going somewhat smoothly, he even remembered to keep one grenade in the launcher, for the big finale…

When his own prediction became a reality.

He did not know if it had been done on purpose or not… but a Centinel spelled the end of his little trip. It bursted right underneath the truck, probably drawn by all the noise, sending the vehicle spinning out of control…

With him still inside. And the truck had miraculously lost its seatbelts, meaning that he was not strapped down to anything. His face became intimately acquainted with the rest of the machine. The roof, the glass both in front and to the side, the floor and everything else.

His aura broke somewhere in all that chaos, leading to his face becoming a nice mask of blood. With one last flip, the vehicle finally stopped, launching him out of the doors, like a broken doll.

It hurt! It hurt more than anything else he ever felt! His bones were probably broken, likely even puncturing something inside. Blood ran out of his mouth and nose, on top of the myriads of cuts all over his face.

Injured… but alive. Not for long though. The Gryphons were still after him… but he still had his trump card. Now, if only he could raise his grenade launcher…

No matter, he just had to angle it so that it wouldn't shoot the floor underneath him. As he had said before, it was all a matter of timing. His breath came in and out raggedly, while he tried to calm himself enough to allow for a somewhat steady aim. His ribs were killing him though…

Literally, if he had to guess.

But discipline and training eventually triumphed over the pain for just a couple of seconds. He almost missed the trigger, his finger twitching incessantly.

The grenade exited the weapon with a pop. Silence ensued for a moment.

Then a massive explosion, accompanied by the screams of the Grimm caught in the blast. The flock had been dealt with… but he had likely reached the end of his journey, by now. He couldn't move, his aura was broken and he was stranded deep in the tundra, at the mercy of all the hazards that the place ensued.

His hand went slack, releasing its hold on the now empty launcher. This is where he died. After everything that he went through… a lack of seatbelts was what did him in. He almost chuckled from the irony of it all. Seems like his motion sickness may have been trying to tell him something, all those years ago.

What a stupid way to go… but better than ending up like so many others before him. Turned into a monster while still breathing… yeah, he'll pass. As he closed his eyes, he apologized to everyone for his failure.

He had tried to bite off more than he could chew… ah well, someone else can take the burden from here. Whoever they'll be… they will likely do a much better job than he did.

Everybody…

Forgive me…


When he opened his eyes again, he wasn't in Solitas anymore. Or even Atlas. It looked like… a forest. Vale or Mistral, he had no idea. He blinked, taking everything in.

He was alone, seated cross-legged in front of a bonfire. He started patting and checking himself. No broken bones, no cuts, no scars…

What the fuck happened?!

"Sheesh Vomit Boy, can you relax for a moment? You're making ME anxious as well! And I'm dead!"

Out of the shadows, a woman walked in. Those long blonde hair, those purple eyes, that easy and friendly smile…

Yang?!

She smirked and sat down, pointing at herself.

"The one and only! Who did you think I was, Goodwitch? Puh-lease, I'm a lot more… hot, if you catch my drift".

Her hair lit up for a second, and he instinctively stifled a chuckle. Yup, it was Yang alright…

"Not even five seconds in and already a pun… some things just never change, do they?"

From the opposite side emerged Blake, who also took a seat.

"Come on Kitty, you know by now! Yang will always be Yang! Right Renny?!"

"Unfortunately for everyone else, yes".

"Hey! I resent that!"

Nora and Ren as well. Together, the four people that he thought deceased formed a sort of circle around the fire, laughing and joking like nothing bad was happening.

What?

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON?!

"You don't have to look so panicked, fearless leader! You are not dead, neither you're going insane, if that's what you're worried about!"

He wasn't dead? Where was he then?!

Blake leaned in.

"Thought you would have figured it out already. This, Jaune… is your soul. The place where you stored us after you… freed us from our torment. Your body is still in Solitas… recovering. You'll find yourself with a couple of Boosters short, but you're out of immediate danger".

And now he had even more questions. Things like, how did he survive? How were they talking to him? Why were they talking to him?

Ren took the reins of the conversation.

"We had been meaning to talk with you for a while… but you almost never rested. Never for long enough or deep enough to allow us to call you here. I don't think we need to tell you what's happening to you, right?"

Of course not. He was infected. Because he lost hope and now he was… changing. Slowly, for whatever reason… but he was transforming.

Turning.

"Your path is set, brother. Sooner or later… you will not be in control of your own actions anymore. What we can do, in the meantime… is slow down the infection. Give you the time to finish what you started".

Finish… could he even? He was in way over his head…

"Probably, yes".

Yang quipped in, mercilessly.

"But I also know that if there is a person stubborn and resilient enough to see this to its end… it would be you. I know… we, know that you have been… beating yourself over each friend that you had to end. I've seen the conversation that you had with my father… and he is right. You freed us, Jaune… you saved us from being slaves to Salem and causing even more harm and death than she already had. Don't beat yourself up over this…"

She placed a hand over his shoulder, smiling gently.

"We do not blame you… and you shouldn't be blaming yourself".

He looked at his friends, seeing them nod along Yang's words.

Nora finally looked over at him.

"So, fearless leader… go save the world. Then… then you can leave it all to RWBY and join us. There is someone that I'm sure is waiting for you. We believe in you… all of us do. And, for as long as you bring our auras with you… we will be here, cheering you on. You are not alone, Jauney… you've never been".

His mouth opened and closed, not knowing how exactly he was supposed to respond to… all of this. He had really been blessed with some amazing friends, hadn't he.

But, just as he was about to thank them all, for everything… a bright light descended on them, wiping them all from existence.

He was waking up.

But now… he was ready. More than ever before. Weiss… just wait for a little while longer. He was almost there.

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

Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of Auraborne, the show where mystical bullshit comes when you least expect it!

I know, I know, I completely skipped last week, I'm aware. It had been a particularly busy one, with university courses kicking my ass, to having to practice religiously for the play that we did from friday till Sunday to even writing some teasers for my next story. I have no idea which will be up first, I only know that they will take the spot of Auraborne, since this is likely the story that will end first among the ones I'm writing. They won't be RWBY, since I really do need a break from this show, it only makes me angry the more I see it, but rather one Mass Effect and the other Fire Emblem. Trying to branch out a bit, see what sticks.

Yup, in the end, it is confirmed. All of those bounds of aggressiveness, anger and straight up unnecessary cruelty, like when he outright brutalized those White Fang soldiers in Argus, finally make sense. Jauney boy is infected. And only his friends in his soul are keeping him from completely flipping off. And well, after everything that he went through, I don't think anyone is surprised that he ended up having doubts. Now he his quite literally on borrowed time. Will he succeed? In a soulsborne setting… everything can happen, always remember.

Review responses!

KaliYugaFan: It's not as easy as just, doing it, you know? Raven IS a Maiden, notoriously hard to kill. If anyone can get away with what they want, they would. That's how overpowered they are. But we shall see.

merendinoemiliano: Thanks dude. Tried to up the spooky factor a bit, hope that it doesn't flop!

Essiter1987: I have not watched Star Wars. Like at all. The franchise simply doesn't interest me in the slightest, but I think I know what part you're referring to.

Well, I mean, comparing their height, posture and all of that… he totally ran into her chest, didn't he? Whoops!

As I said, it feels like DS1 to me. That moment where you reach Lost Izalith and you see that you became so strong that the Taurus and Capra demons are now just simple mobs feels incredibly badass to me. Sure, the trek to Lost Izalith itself completely wiped out that feeling and replaced it with disgust and contempt, but it's the thought that counts or something.

I don't mind Bumblebee. Don't love it, but I don't hate it either. What I do dislike is the way CRWBY handled it. The screwed up the pacing imo, like they saw the word "slowburn", took the slow part but completely forgot about the burn, if you know what I mean. Eh whatever, I'm also leaning towards Lancaster and White Knight more lately. First because its the one that makes the most sense, since Ruby and Jaune have quite a lot of chemistry, being the "adorkable duo", second because Weiss is the best girl of the main 4. Which is not a high bar to clear, but better than being absolute dumpster fire tier like Blake.

behaarzas: Both the Ever After and the Rusted Knight are in program. Not gonna spoil anything, obviously, but I'm not keeping them out, I promise. I'm not gonna say more than this, for the rest this is actually quite the badass idea. Wish that I had thought of something similar back when I started this story…

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