He stepped through the forests of Vale, with a quick and confident stride. He couldn't afford to slow down. Not here. Not now.
It had been a week since he left Ansel, or so he believed. Time was starting to lose sense to him, but that's what he could approximately say. The dense foliage didn't let much sunlight in, and the constant threat of Grimms keeping him on his toes didn't give him time to stop and get his bearings.
He had to reach… somewhere. A force in his very soul was guiding towards his apparent destination, and so, Jaune Arc could only go forward, not bothered by things like hunger, thirst or tiredness. He didn't have many Aura Boosters left though. He had to be even more careful.
Another ten minutes of walking… and the sunlight couldn't penetrate the forest anymore, casting him in a deep, unsettling darkness.
. . .
NEW AREA: DARK WOODS
. . .
First thing that he noticed were more Beowolfs, surrounding a series of human corpses. Almost as if guarding them.
Having shaken off most of his rust, Jaune wasted no time in diving in and killing the Grimms in a couple of hits each. Searching through the corpses, he found some more resources.
Obtained: Aura Boosters X5
Obtained: Metal Scraps X2
Obtained: Fire Dust Bombs X4
Dust Bombs. Now he was getting somewhere. These could have come in handy against that Ursa Major though. Shame.
Pocketing everything, Jaune continued to follow his instincts, stalking his way through the forest, killing the occasional Beowolf. Until a roar sounded from behind him, forcing him to throw himself to one side preemptively. Not a moment too soon, for a black blur passed where he was. Jaune centered himself and looked. An Ursa. Not a Major like the one in Ansel, but a normal, everyday Ursa.
Which didn't mean that he should underestimate the beast. And he shall not.
The Grimm roared again and attacked with its paws, making Jaune block due to the surprise. Some light damage, nothing big, but still annoying.
He retaliated with a three hit combo, before jumping backwards to recover. This beast was a hell of a lot tougher than he expected.
The thing barreled towards him again, and this time he managed to dodge the swipe, but was taken by surprise when it turned towards him mid attack and engulfed him in a powerful hug.
The beast bit down on his neck, and only through sheer desperation did Jaune manage to make the beast back off, by bashing the side of its head with the shield.
He took a couple of steps backwards, taking two Aura Boosters to heal the hefty amount of damage. That was close. He also didn't dare to use his new bombs, for fear of lighting the whole forest on fire.
The Grimm attacked again, but this time Jaune dodged the whole combo, finally managing to finish off the beast.
The young man relaxed for a second, knowing that he could take a small breather. At least for the moment. Spying a nice tree without splinters, he sat down, closing his eyes and focusing more on the pull of his soul. He had to understand where he was being taken.
Taking a deep breath, he searched inside him for a couple of seconds, managing quickly to pinpoint the direction. West, towards Vale proper.
He furrowed his brows. Vale was relatively close by now, this forest was the last true hurdle to go through before reaching the city, but he couldn't understand where exactly he was being pointed towards.
Beacon maybe? It was possible, more than possible in fact.
He released the breath that he was holding and got up. He'll cross that bridge once he reaches it. For now, he had to keep moving.
And fast too. Time was of the essence right about now.
Gathering his things, he moved on through the foliage, back on his path to whatever he was supposed to do. It was frustrating to think about, knowing that he had to accomplish something without knowing exactly what. Hopefully, Vale will give him the answers he was seeking.
But for now, back to his new loop. Find Grimm, kill Grimm and pillage corpses for resources. Hey, that kinda rhymed!
Jaune chuckled lightly to himself. Good to know he could still be a dork if he wanted to. But it really wasn't the time for it.
Getting back to seriousness, he moved on, finding more resources to collect.
Obtained: Aura Boosters X3
Obtained: Metal Scraps
This woods had more resources than Ansel, but he was starting to feel like he wasn't going to find much else.
He had been going for a couple of hours now, and the trees were starting to get less dense. Not enough to let sunlight in, but the worst should be behind him now.
Or so he believed.
He was stopped when noises of fighting reached him. He hurried up, seeing a person fighting two Ursas. A human man.
Said man was blonde, with a brown sleeveless shirt and dark brown shorts. On his exposed right arm, he had a red piece of cloth, tied to his biceps.
Jaune watched the guy for a couple of seconds, he was holding his own, but he looked tired.
Jaune made a quick decision. He had to help him. But not like this.
He raised his sword, point down, turned the shield back to its sheath form, and reunited the two pieces. Then he pressed a switch.
The sheath became longer and pointier, increasing in length and power.
He now had a greatsword. Perfect for slow and powerful enemies like Ursas.
With Crocea Mors new form, Jaune came out of his hiding place, running and slashing one of the Grimm on its back, diverting its attention from the older blonde.
Time to play.
A powerful swipe came his way, but he quickly jumped sideways and retaliated with a singular slash that actually managed to stagger the enemy, if only briefly.
Jaune cracked a smile. This could work. It will work.
This time around, he had to throw only a couple more slashes to end the fight, even if there were more close calls than before. His power output was larger, but he was also a lot slower and his dodges were shorter. He had to pay constant attention.
Speaking of attention, the stranger had finished dealing with his Ursa, and was now looking at him with a friendly smile. Where did he find the strength to smile like that now, Jaune never understood.
"Hello traveller! How fortunate for you to pass this way, without you I would have been in trouble! Who might you be?"
Jaune said his name, not finding anything wrong with the man in front of him.
"Jaune Arc you say? Hmmm… are you by any chance familiar with the names Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long? They are my daughters".
His surprise was probably etched on his face, for the man chuckled.
"My name is Taiyang Xiao Long. Pleasure to finally meet you, Ruby told me a lot about you in her letters. Thank you for being her friend, I appreciate it".
Jaune scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed for the heartfelt thanks. He wasn't used to them.
"Say young man, are you by any chance going towards Vale? Yes? Then, we will probably meet each other again. If you need help with anything, do not hesitate to call me. I owe you a big favour".
Jaune nodded, happy to have some help, but he had a couple of questions of his own.
"What am I doing? I'm looking for Ruby and Yang. They disappeared when this… whole situation started. I am afraid that the worst could have happened, but I need to be sure. So I am searching through Vale to find them, and I will, even if I have to turn every little stone in the Kingdom. Suffice to say, if you discover anything, you will come right to me. Sounds good?"
Jaune gave his affirmatives and prepared to leave, but he was stopped by Taiyang.
"One more thing, please, take this. A token of my gratitude, and a symbol of our collaboration. Don't be shy, take it".
Obtained: Aura Pill
"That little thing will completely replenish your aura, in case you are in a pinch. Please, run along now, we both have objectives to accomplish, after all".
One last nod, and Jaune was heading out towards Vale.
The encounter had been… pleasant in a way. Living, breathing human beings were a rarity those days.
But still… his words resonated in his head. Ruby and Yang had disappeared. And if they did, there was a hefty chance that Weiss and Blake were both gone as well. Team RWBY was a unit after all.
He took that information and stored it in his mind. Something to mull over later.
At that moment, he had to concentrate on getting out of the forest and into Vale proper. Reach his objective and hopefully learn his new mission.
No rest for the wicked it seems.
. . .
It had taken another two days before sunlight finally touched his skin once again, two days of that nightmarish forest until he was finally out.
Jaune had never been more glad for the sun before in his life. It had been a long, dark road, but he was finally out.
And in front of him… his target. He had no doubts anymore, his soul was pulling him right in the city, towards something. He still didn't know what, but he was going to find out soon.
Stepping through the entrance he was greeted with a sight similar to the one in Ansel, with more Grimm and more destruction. Jaune gritted his teeth. That… that was unforgivable.
He trudged on, having decided to follow the pull in his soul once more. It couldn't be that far off. He had to keep on moving.
The pull brought him to the shadier side of Vale, hacking and slashing his way through small hordes of Grimm, finding more Boosters and other useful items. He couldn't stay still, lest he gets overwhelmed. Always on the move, running through every place that wasn't where he had to be. The pull was getting stronger.
It continued until he was face to face with a big establishment. A… club, by the looks of it.
More corpses right outside the place, they had nothing useful on them. But whatever it was that killed them, was inside. A Grimm maybe?
No. The wounds weren't scratches or bites. More like… slashes and stabs.
Curious. Humans then? Possible?
Furrowing his brows, he decided to trust his instincts… and to get inside.
. . .
NEW AREA: JUNIOR'S CLUB
. . .
This club was… familiar to him. He hadn't seen it, but it reminded him of something…
Ah, right. How could he forget? The place that Yang had smashed right before going to Beacon. It was… nostalgic, to think about. Simpler times. Better times.
Taking some steps inside he found a dance floor… it was a massacre. People were fighting among each other. All dressed the same, with black tuxedos and red neckties. Some were normal… others were not.
Pasty white skin, black veins, red eyes with black orbs… what the hell was going on?!
One of the… Turned, as he would end calling them, spotted him, raised his gun and fired, no hesitation.
Jaune had fortunately his shield deployed, so he blocked the shot, followed by a couple more.
The white ones were hostile then, gotcha.
Quickly he ran at the guy and slashed, killing him in one hit. No aura.
He didn't even have the time to realize that he had technically killed someone that he was jumped by more people, this time with red sabers. He dispatched them swiftly, they had no aura nor training fortunately. Looking around, he realized that the normal people had all been killed.
More death. Fuck!
Angry, Jaune blocked shots, parried blades and killed the Turned, as quickly as he could, so that he may avoid feeling guilty about it.
When he was done, the last fell before him, with a shining object in his jacket pocket.
Obtained: VIP Room's Keys
A key. The label said "VIP Room". And if he understood how these places worked, it was probably upstairs. That's where he was going then.
Reaching the second floor, he used the key on the room with the VIP label and pushed in, finding another corpse, slumped on a desk, face down.
Getting close he discovered the same wounds that the guards outside had. The man had short black hair, with a connected black beard, the same length as the hair. He also had a similar tuxedo as the people on the dance floor downstairs, but mostly white instead of black.
What caught his attention was a letter in his grasp. His soul was basically screaming at him to take it. And take it, he did. It was a very familiar letter, so much that his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets for the surprise. Furthermore… it had his name on it.
Obtained: Beacon's Acceptance Letter
It had been such a long time since he had seen it. It was basically identical to the one that he received so many years ago, except for the date. It was for that exact day as when he was reading it.
Frowning, he looked better, finding that he had to present himself at the bullhead station.
Having read that, the pull changed once more, directing him where he now knew he had to go.
Beacon Academy.
Pocketing the letter, he made his way downstairs, back to the dance floor… when he felt something.
Swiftly, he turned with his shield up, catching a kick from a black haired woman, with a white dress. She used the shield as a bouncing platform to jump backwards… just in time for a red blur with claws to attack him, forcing him to also block those painfully quick attacks.
The person ceased their attack quickly, also jumping backwards to stand next to the first girl. The second person was also a girl, identical to the first, but with a red dress.
They both had pasty white skin and black veins, with those same red eyes.
They were Turned… and they looked ready to fight to the death.
And Jaune Arc could do nothing but grant their wish.
. . .
MELANIE AND MILTIA MALACHITE
. . .
The two sisters, or so he assumed, charged at him at the same time, forcing him to a desperate defense, trying to not let them hit him.
At the end, he jumped sideways, managing to dodge their last attack and scoring a sword slash on Melanie's side. They gave him no time to breathe, as Melanie jumped away, while Miltia engaged, looking to end the fight quickly.
But Jaune blocked and dodged his way through, slashing twice with his sword, staggering her. Then the sisters switched, and he was back on the defensive, avoiding the white dressed girl's kicks as much as he could, before one last powerful kick sent him away, giving him the time to pop a Booster. That was one hell of a fight, and it was only getting started.
Melanie went back to the offensive, jumping and trying to hit him with a series of flying kicks that he miraculously managed to avoid, before being forced to block as Miltia tagged in to exploit his flanks. Once again she was blocked, and once again she got hit twice before disengaging. This was quickly turning into a war of attrition. And he wasn't sure he could win that.
This time they attacked together, like at the start, but this time, Jaune was ready. He blocked Miltia's claw, making it bounce on his shield and, with a sharp movement of his arm, he parried Melanie's kick. They were both stunned, and Jaune didn't let the occasion pass, shifting his weapon into its greatsword form and hitting them both at the same time with a couple of wide slashes.
They both jumped away before the third hit could connect, and went back to the offensive. But this time, he didn't have his shield.
By the end of the combo he was flat on his back, having been violently swept off his feet on the cold hard floor.
Following his instincts, he rolled back on his feet and deployed his shield at the same time, taking some more distance and popping two Aura Boosters. He was starting to run out though… he had to try and finish this before it would be too late.
This time it was Miltia that engaged. She attacked with swipes and slashes, but by this point, Jaune had understood how she fought and was able to read her patterns, managing to whittle her down hit after hit. Same thing with her sister who would occasionally tag in.
But he was getting tired, while they seemed to not even be out of breath. It frustrated him to no end, perks of being Turned he supposed.
They attacked together once more, a claw and a kick barreled towards him at the same time, and Jaune did the only thing that he could to finally put an end to this fight.
He parried both attacks at the same time, shifted his weapon again and slashed, with all his strength.
The sound of the slash lingered for a second, while Melanie and Miltia Malachite fell on their knees and eventually on the ground properly, disappearing in a shower of blood.
. . .
CORRUPTION ERADICATED
. . .
Obtained: Twin Bouncers Aura
Jaune was beyond surprised. Their aura? His reward was their aura?! How did that even make sense?!
Said aura was in his hands, two flames dancing around each other, one a bluish white, the other a rich wine red.
He gawked at them for a while, until the aura disappeared. He still had it, he could feel it, but it was now out of sight. That… that was insanity. How did it happen?! And why?!
At his inner thoughts, his soul gave another pull, towards Beacon. Right. There he would find answers. He had to, lest he went insane.
He exited the club with a new purpose. Go to Beacon once again and find out what is going on.
By the time he reached the bullhead station It was almost night time. It was quiet and barren… until sounds of a jet reached his ears. A bullhead descended in front of him, opening up the door to the passengers seats. Finding nothing else to do, he stepped inside and sat down, prepared for the flight ahead.
As the bullhead started going towards the Academy, Jaune closed his eyes and thought about what happened. He could barely remember anything, only that he had supposedly died during an assault on Salem. But he couldn't remember either where or when that had happened. How had he woken up? Why was he in Ansel instead of wherever he had died? And his family? His father? His mother? His seven sisters?
So many questions… and only one way to reach the truth. Only one way to know.
The bullhead reached its destination, and Jaune stepped out of the machine, thankful that his motion sickness hadn't kicked in. Looking up at the familiar sight, he couldn't help the smile that lit up his face.
Just one more step in the life of a huntsman, uh? Or so he used to believe, back in the day.
With purpose in his gaze, he took the first steps where he would, hopefully, know exactly what was going on.
. . .
NEW AREA: BEACON ACADEMY
. . .
Hello? Is this thing on?! It is? Noice.
So here it is, the second chapter of Auraborne is finally here. I have to be honest, before I started I was already lost on where to go with all this. Things thankfully started coming to me as I was writing, but I was genuinely panicking for a second there. Now we are back on track, stronger than ever…
Having to say this in only the second chapter of a story is beyond sad, I will admit.
So, Jaune met Taiyang, reached Vale, fought his second boss of the story and reached Beacon. Next chapter will be very dialogue heavy unfortunately, but some exposition has to be done. Please bear with me, I'll try to not make it too terrible.
And now… review answers. I was not expecting this story to get this popular already (almost fifty followers and seven hundred views in less than a week! Bro, you guys are insane!) so I shall do my best to interact with you peeps as much as I can, starting right now.
Fatswordsman: Thank you, I am glad that I managed to create something interesting here. Hope that this chapter has been good too!
AlexanderStormbringer: I know right! Soulsborne games have such a cool structure, not using it for something more is a criminal waste in my opinion. Thank you and I appreciate you appreciating (yeah, pretend that made sense) my writing style for this story. That was exactly the vibe I was going for. I had kinda thought about making Jaune an actual Soulsborne protagonist (trademark), but I felt like it would clash with the idea that I have for this story. He'll still be mostly silent though, no worries.
Shimuza: I can see where you are coming from. Crocea Mors is a weapon that would not look out of place in a Dark Souls game, so as consequence, Jaune is seen as kind of a tank, something not really possible in Bloodborne. But I hope that this chapter made you consider the weapon to be more… Bloodborneish.
Ultimate Kuuga: Another acculturate individual I see. Come my friend, our jolly cooperation shall persist until the end of this story. Maybe it won't be as long as one would think, I am still very much a novice when it comes to writing, but I'll try to make it a satisfying length, pinky promise. What will he be indeed, good question. Only the Twin Gods may know. I sure as hell don't.
Thank you for the follows, favourites and reviews, and a big thank you to those that silently read and nothing else. You guys are awesome too.
That's all folks!
Ta-ta for now!
