I do not own Bloodborne or RWBY.
A very special thank you to Patrons; your support is the fuel that lets my creativity burn all the brighter. So, thank you to – E-Elf and Nut Guy
I hope this story continues to be worthy of your support.
Chapter 4 Faunus Features
A wet thunk followed by a soft squirt of fluid as he drove his weapon down into the mangled form of yet another rabid dog echoed in Jaune's ears. The serrated edge of his Saw Cleaver tugged at the bloodied beast as he yanked the brutal weapon from its still form, viscera slopping from the open wound grotesquely, fog vapour pooling off the offal as the cool night air collided with it. Despite his best efforts, Jaune found himself slumping against a nearby wall; his form was practically caked in blood, both his own and the blood of the many dead creatures around him.
His shirt, once white, was now red and heavy with gore, while the vest that had at one point aided in beating back the cold was now little more than tattered remains as it had been utterly devastated by flaming torches, bullets, and a menagerie of makeshift weapons. He had thrown his hood away, the blasted thing having been set alight at some point during the confrontation. His trousers were torn, as were his legs beneath them, the maws of the sickly hounds having nipped and gnawed at his legs as they hunted him down.
His eyes danced about in his head, taking in the carnage around him as he came to one singular conclusion.
He was getting better.
He had killed them all this time, these mad residents who seemed blood drunk as they put down anything that was not a part of their little pogrom. Their numbers were great, and already he had met a fatal end beneath the flurry of their many armed members. His horror at enduring his death multiple times was something he was doing his best to come to terms with, but it was difficult, to say the least. To even begin to wrap his brain around the concept of his apparent off-kilter immortality, he had sought out Gehrman in the dream, who had been of very little assistance and waved off his inquiries with the instruction to keep hunting.
Gehrman's nonchalance at his predicament was already a point of contention for Jaune and had left him with the strong desire to strike the old man, but the elder had explained that hunting would help and with little other direction, Jaune had set off to do just that. Growling in frustration, Jaune leaned to the side and spat a glob of spit and blood onto the filthy ground, the metallic taste positively saturating his tastebuds at this point. He grunted as he clambered to his feet, his form leaving a trail of blood on the wall as he heaved himself up. He panted, feeling lightheaded, his vision blurring, but he soldiered on, greatly regretting that he was out of Blood Vials.
He coughed wetly, more of his vital fluids splattering onto the bricks as he palmed his pistol and trudged onwards. The deluge of sounds around Yharnam pounding against his ears, the crackling of the many pyres being the loudest presently. He turned his head to look at the largest one, nausea welling up as the shift in vision nearly caused him to lose his balance. The horrific beastly thing strapped to the makeshift pyre filled him with ominous concerns and showed that Jaune had only just begun to experience the horrors of The Hunt.
A low rumbling growl had Jaune facing straight ahead in an instant much to his swimming visions chagrin as he almost passed out from the sudden shift. Seeing a hulking, monstrous figure standing not but a few feet away had what little blood he could still call his own, gaining an icy chill. The prominent grotesque figure was a behemoth of a man with colossal muscles and a frame that seemed to rip through his clothes. In one of its giant hands, it held aloft a brick as big as Jaune's torso, its fat fingers easily managing to wrap around the thing in its entirety. It looked straight at Jaune from beneath a cowl that did little to cover its hideous face; its features were a mixture of soiled bandages and bulging flesh. It bared its yellowed teeth and let out a bellowing howl as it rushed forward with far more speed than Jaune expected.
Pulling his firearm up, Jaune pulled the trigger, hoping to hinder the charging hulk of a man, but the dreaded sound of a hollow click sealed his fate. The hulking man thing swung its brick down, snapping Jaunes arm violently until it was practically bent at a 90-degree angle. Before Jaune could even inhale to let out a scream of agony, the thing struck once more, swinging its brick up in a violent uppercut that crashed into Jaune's chin and sent him flying.
When he hit the ground, he stared on in stunned horror as his body, bereft of his head, slowly tilted backwards before it flopped onto the cold hard street. As his consciousness faded, Jaune watched as the monstrous hulk continued to slam the brick into his downed body, reducing it to a pulp.
But as he had discovered already far too many times for his liking, death was not the end for him. Once more, he awoke on his back next to the soft light of a lantern, the strange little creatures who had bestowed onto him his weapons looking down on his prone form groaning amongst themselves. With a despondent sigh, Jaune reached into the mist and pulled from it his notebook, the little creatures observing it with curiosity. With not an ounce of fanfare, he opened to a specific page and, using a small pencil that always seemed readily available, etched but a single line.
One more death to the tally.
YVYVYVYVY
Jaune awoke with a snort of dry amusement at the memory of his early days in Yharnam. He still recalled how sparse his tally page had been in those days.
It did not stay that way for long.
Jaune rolled out of bed, his cast still an annoying weight that did its best to get in his way, but he had endured its presence for just over a week now and thus was far more used to it. He reached for the crutches his father had picked up from the good doctor; he greatly appreciated its presence and the ease of movement it allowed him. The good doctor had also made it clear he desired to see Jaune again; Jaune, not fond of the idea, had been doing his best to avoid the topic with his parents.
Standing, Jaune glanced down at his leg and immediately felt his morning brighten as he beheld his cast and his family's improvements to it. His mother and father had both signed it, explaining that it was a random thing people did when someone had a cast. Jaune found it odd but accepted their explanation as he was still unfamiliar with the societal norms and what constituted odd within them. Jade, however, had seen her parents doing this and became inspired; she scrambled to coat the cast in all manner of pictures and turned it into a canvas of creativity.
Now, rather than a dull, dead weight that did its best to inconvenience Jaune, it was an explosive and colourful display of his sister's artistic prowess, and as such, Jaune was now much fonder of the thing. Seeing Jade's artwork alone made him smile, but seeing 'mom', 'dad' and 'JADE" signed in amongst the pictures brought a comforting warmth to his bones. He had explicitly asked Jade to leave spaces on the cast, a subtle invitation towards his older siblings that they too were welcome to sign it. But it seemed that they would both still prefer to avoid interacting with him, a fact he would not begrudge them even if it did leave a shallow ache in his chest.
After the explosive confrontation the morning following his return, a fact no one but himself remained aware of, Scarlett had practically evaporated as she did her absolute best to avoid him. Saphron had followed in her steps, but to a lesser degree; she merely seemed to distance herself rather than actively avoid Jaune. This somewhat made sense to Jaune as her guilt was the lesser of the two, although why either of them continued to feel guilt over the matter baffled him completely. All Jaune wanted was for everyone to forget that damnable morning and everything that happened.
Maybe then he could once more have the happy family he longed for.
He still recalled it perfectly, how his mother had followed after Scarlett as she broke down and fled the room, his father scooping up Jade and exiting to calm her down as she became overwhelmed. This left just him and Saphron in the kitchen, and Jaune was more than ready for some answers, so he had practically pounced on the opportunity to question his older sister.
YVYVYVYVY
Saphron quickly pushed her chair back, eager to make a hasty retreat from the now heavy atmosphere of the silent kitchen. Her plan was brought to an abrupt halt as her brother pinned her with a potent look. The inquisitive nature did little to deter from its intensity.
"Saphron..." he spoke only a single word, but there was longing in his young voice that tugged at her heartstrings like hooks. She froze like a deer in the headlights, and her shoulders slumped in resignation as she realised any hope of escape was long gone.
"... Umm, you all good that was kinda heavy little bro?" Saphron asked, clearly uncomfortable.
Jaune did not answer immediately. Instead, he hopped to his left a little and scooped through the wrecked electronics on the table. "What is this?" Jaune asked quietly, hefting up a piece of plastic with his name on it and showing it to his sister. There was no accusation or sorrow in his voice, just confusion at the event that had just occurred and a desire to understand.
"... You really don't know?" Saphron whimpered, her eyes growing heavy with tears as her lip trembled. The sight of Jaune so broken was very upsetting, but knowing that there were depths she couldn't even see gave the situation an unsettling element.
In reply, Jaune shook his head and pointed at his name etched on the device in marker, "I can tell that whatever it was probably belonged to me, but other than that, I have no idea."
Saphron gulped audibly and beat back her emotions, not wanting to become overwhelmed and leave Jaune even more lost. "It's a game console, your game console, to be specific, or I suppose 'was' might be the more suitable word."
"... And what is a game console?" Jaune asked, bewildered.
Saphron was brought up short by this, stunned by being confronted by the extent of her younger brother's memory loss. At first, she wasn't sure how to explain a game console to him but figured that any explanation was better than none, as long as it helped fill in the blanks. "Well, a game console is a... device that people, umm, mostly kids, I suppose, use for entertainment purposes to play like... ahhh games, I guess."
Jaune looked at the wrecked device with a quirked brow, gaze darting between Saphron and the shattered console. "So, it is a... toy?"
"Ahh... yeah, pretty much," Saphron shrugged as that was as good an explanation as any.
Jaune frowned, his brows furrowed as he tossed the broken plastic back onto the table before speaking. "I do not understand how my failure to recognise a toy brought my oldest sister to her knees... what am I missing here, Saphron, please... I need help," Jaune pleaded.
Saphron didn't want to answer; she knew precisely why Scarlett was so distressed. It was the same reason she felt sick now, but whatever she felt was probably only a fraction as disturbing as what Jaune was going through. With a dry gulp, she licked her lips and answered timidly, "it's because... she stole it, Jaune, you were extra annoy- umm, rowdy, and so she took it and said that if you gave her one whole day of peace and quiet she would give it back... you got really upset."
Jaune didn't speak, and he didn't harry her. He merely stood there patiently waiting, eyeing her with an inquisitive look that seemed to put her under a microscope. Saphron hated that her throat was so dry, but with a cough, she carried on, "w-when she took it, she hid it and threatened that if you told mom, she would 'lose it'... so you ran off..." Saphron was crying now, her voice becoming cloggy as her nose gained that annoying runny quality that always followed crying.
"...You ran off Jaune... into the woods... and it was our fault, you got attacked, and it was our fault," Saphron hiccupped.
Whatever reaction she expected to see, Jaune letting out a relieved sigh was not it. Her injured brother hopped around the table slowly, one arm resting on the table as he went for balance. He stopped just out of arm's reach when he reached her side. His face was absent of any stress or sorrow and was now... placid. Saphron would be telling a lie if she said it didn't unsettle her.
"So, Scarlett incorrectly is blaming herself for the actions of some random beast, but that still leaves you, Saphron. You said, 'our fault' would you care to elaborate on that?" Jaune enquired, his tone neutral as he gave his sister a tepid smile.
"... I knew what Scarlett did, and yet I didn't say anything, didn't stop her, didn't speak up, didn't tell mom or dad... if it weren't for me, you would have never been alone in those woods," Saphron admitted her guilt, causing a fresh wave of tears to spill.
"... Using that logic, I could have just as easily avoided the entire incident by never being born," Jaune shrugged, his sudden statement earning him a shocked look from Saphron. "Shall we blame mother as well? Father to, I suppose, while we are at it might as well blame Jade and the world... stop me when you understand just how absurd you are being, sister."
"Jaune! I'm serious. If we hadn't caused you to run off then-"
"Then Jade would be dead," Jaune cut Saphron off his tone like ice.
Saphron stuttered to a halt, her words failing here as Jaune's expression was downright glacial, as he eyed her tauntingly, daring her to argue his point. Saphron looked Jaune up and down before her emotions got the better of her, and she replied in anger, "She was out looking for you, hence still our fault Jaune! We put her in danger as well, US!"
"... Why are you so desperate to shoulder the blame, sister? I don't blame either of you for what happened, yet both Scarlett and you seem hellbent on ensuring that all the guilt is laid at your feet," Jaune sighed in exasperation.
"BECAUSE YOU CAN'T!" Saphron raged, slamming a hand down on the table, rattling the cutlery.
"Pardon?"
"Jaune, you can't blame us because you don't remember! That's why Scarlett freaked out. We didn't just put you in danger, Jaune. We broke you... w-we b-b-broke our- our ba-b-baby brother," Saphron sobbed, clutching her chest as she cried heavily. However, Jaune refused to accept such nonsense, and he would have none of it. He would not... could not have his sister endure this pain based on such foolishness.
"You did not give me my amnesia Saphron!" Jaune argued back, his voice stern. Sadly, the impact was greatly diminished due to his high-pitched voice.
"... No, Jaune, we didn't take your memories... we just facilitated you losing them," Saphron sniffed. "I... I'm sorry, but I have to go," Saphron apologised, hurrying around the table and out of the kitchen.
Jaune was left alone in the kitchen, his frustration doing its best to overwhelm him as he came to terms with the fact that he had not even been back for a whole day, and he seemed to be doing little more than driving his family unto the brink.
"... Kos, preserve me."
YVYVYVYVY
Jaune sighed heavily at recalling that morning all over again, and he was sure he would spend yet another day enduring tense silences and awkward glances. Donning the light, easy to wear clothes of his homeland, he was still unable to get over just how comfortable they were compared to some of the attire worn by Yharnamites. Force of habit had him dressing in darker shades, a challenge given his closet was packed to the brim with bright, happy clothing decorated with pictures and words he could scarcely understand.
With a disgruntled huff, he slipped on a shirt that was white but free of any other colours or patterns; it would have to do. He stopped briefly by his door to look at himself and found a smile gracing his features as he thought of what his dearest companion would say of his attire. No doubt she would be intrigued by such outlandish clothes... he wondered if she would have liked any such change in attire.
A small, very ordinary hair ornament. Lost... once kept. Its colour would stand out most brilliantly against a head of greyish hair.
Jaune blinked. He blinked again.
He swallowed as memories stirred and tried to ignore the taste of blood as it clung to his tongue. His reflection now was covered head to toe in his death marks, the thin lines painting a picture of suffering across his reflected flesh. He could see mist creeping in behind his reflection, things stirring within the depth of the grey wall, hear beastly howls and inhuman screams as they hollered in the stirring depths.
*Knock. Knock. Knock.*
He blinked again and turned to the door with a shudder, ignoring the now receding noises and the fading metallic taste that pooled on his tongue. He walked over to the door and opened it calmly, his thoughts lightening as he beheld his father standing there happily. The large man's expression showed concern as he looked down at Jaune, who was doing his best to hide his emotions. Cloud had been noticing this a lot over the past week; Jaune seemed to lose himself sometimes, whether merely staring off into the empty air or almost shutting down.
"... Jaune, are you alright?" Cloud asked cautiously, taking a knee in front of his son, a hand reaching for his small shoulder. The limb was intercepted, though, Jaune clutching it with his grip and giving his father a timid smile.
"Yeah... I'm ok, just my mind playing tricks on me." Jaune explained, doing his best not to let his eyes dart to the nearby mirror.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"...No, not right now... just more stuff in my head being... messed up," Jaune shrugged, releasing his dad's hand.
"Oh, like that place you asked about, Yanam?" Cloud tried to recall noticing how his butchering of the name made Jaune tense.
"... Yharnam and yes, just things that don't add up... tricky memories and all that nonsense."
Cloud frowned at this, "it's not nonsense, Jaune. We all know you've been doing your best," Cloud reassured.
Jaune gave a beaming smile at this. It was nice to know that his family were trying to be understanding... well, most of them. "Thanks, Dad, I'll keep at it, I promise!" Jaune spoke confidently, bobbing his head with certainty.
Cloud chuckled, his beaming smile appearing, "I'm sure you will but just don't push it, ok."
"Alright, I'll try, although I'm not entirely sure what constitutes pushing it for one's amnesia," Jaune remarked.
"... Me neither but... but just don't ok," Cloud muttered with a defeated shrug, feeling out of his depth. Shaking it off, he hurriedly changed the subject. "Anyway, your mother sent me to get all you rascals up and dressed and seeing as you are both, you better get downstairs," Cloud instructed, ushering Jaune out of his room and away from the mirror.
"Why do we need to be up? As far as I am aware, Scarlett and Saphron both prefer to sleep for the vast duration of the morning?" Jaune queried, pointing at his older sibling's doors and the blatant 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign on his oldest sibling's red one.
"Ahh, well, today is gonna be pretty hectic. We have to get ready," Cloud mischievously informed Jaune.
"Hmm, ready for what?" Jaune posed the question doing his best to look mature but once more causing his father to cue over his son's serious face internally.
"Secret, now downstairs with you!"
YVYVYVYVY
Jaune had not spent the last week just cooped up in the house; he had tried venturing around the backyard, enjoying the sun and the glorious colours of his home. But he had not left the property and had seen no reason to. After all, everyone he cared about was there. But it seemed his parent's surprise was that the whole family was heading into town today, but Jaune used the term town loosely. The 'town' was, in fact, quite large and was crammed with a substantial number of districts; in all honesty, Jaune found himself thinking that the term might not do the locale justice.
"How about it, Jaune? Do you remember anything?" Hella asked gently, bringing a smile to Jaune's features. Her voice carried none of the poison hints of hope or the expectations that followed that cruel kindness. Instead, her tone was clinical and direct.
"No, I'm afraid not," Jaune answered, shaking his head to the negative.
"Hmm, no matter Sunshine, I will instead ask what you think of our lovely hometown?" She asked instead, glancing over her shoulder.
"It's... it's big... there are a lot of people," Jaune uttered, doing his best to take in all the new sights but finding himself struggling to keep up.
"Ha! That's a pretty good summary," Cloud pipped up from his spot at the driver's seat of his family's horseless carriage. "Truthfully, Jaune, calling this place a town is a bit misleading. Reach is one of the oldest surviving settlements in all of Vale... possibly the entirety of Sanus now that I think about it. The point is that it's been around a long time, and unlike other old places, it hasn't suffered the same kind of population growth, as for the most part people see it as a stopgap to the capital."
"That's not to say it hasn't changed over the years," Hella added, smirking at her nerdy husband.
"True! In fact, before the great war, it was just a darling little settlement, not even a dot on any maps. Still, with the rising need for resources and soldiers during the great war, Reach was transformed into a dedicated military town. It became part training facility, part trading hub and part stronghold. The area saw its largest growth during this time and gained a claim to fame by never once suffering a Grimm incursion or an enemy assault." Cloud lectured as he pulled their ride into a building filled with other such carriages, only pausing as he brought their vehicle to rest and halted its rumbling breath.
"Suppose I went off on a bit of a tangent there, but before we all hop out, are there any questions?" Cloud asked, giving his children a hopeful look.
Scarlett was eyeing him with her arms crossed, Saphron looked utterly lost in her own world, Jade was eating a banana, and Jaune looked very much out of his depth but was also the first to speak up. "How did you make the carriage stop?"
"Ca-...Carriage?" Cloud uttered, bewildered.
"It's called a car, Sunshine, and it's a form of vehicle that moves using an engine and other technology," Hella answered swiftly before turning to face Cloud. "You, help your very pregnant wife get out of this car," she then turned to her children, "and you lot, out, we have things to do."
Everyone moved swiftly, eager to be out of the vehicle or simply in haste to follow Hella's commands. The result, in the end, was the same. Once everyone was out of the car and gathered in front of it expectantly, Jaune took the chance to examine his family again. It was amusing how they all leaned into their colour schemes; Jaune supposed he was the odd duck out in this manner as there was no yellow on him. Well, except for his hair, but if that counted, then, by all means, he could wear whatever he pleased.
"Right, now we need to decide how we are going to-"
"Ahem."
Hella cleared her throat while glaring at Cloud bringing the man up short as he gave his wife a nervous chuckle. Seeing her pointed look, he took a step back and gestured for her to speak in his stead, his action finally freeing him of her piercing glare. Hella looked over everyone before speaking in her commanding tone, leaving no room for argument, "Jaune is with me as we are the slowest... the rest of you with your father, do not misbehave." Scarlett noticeably cringed at that last part, but Jaune didn't have time to digest that as his mother waved him over, already eager to be on her way.
Jaune could tell there was more to his mother's decision for him to accompany her, but speed was definitely a factor. He could keep pace with her stride easily, even on crutches, and best of all, he could take in his hometown of Reach thoroughly at their relatively relaxed pace. There were no two ways about it, his hometown was gorgeous, and nature was everywhere.
Every building was bright and well-kept, whether they be businesses or shared living structures his mother had called apartment complexes. Even though there were people everywhere, the town maintained a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Sure, there was the sound of people chatting and the occasional rumble of a passing vehicle, but overall, it was calm, and those few sounds were a simple reassurance of life.
Jaune could not help but ponder if Yharnam had ever been like this... bright, populated, and alive. He only meditated on it for a moment before he shook his head clear of any such idea.
It was impossible.
His memories of the city were too far apart from the mere possibility. Yharnam was nothing more than a blood-soaked gothic nightmare, a corpse of civilisation haemorrhaging atop a tomb that convulsed violently beneath a Paleblood sky to the salivating howls of rabid beasts.
"Jaune."
Jaune's thoughts were abruptly derailed like a slap in the face, and he found himself disorientated and confused. Turning towards the direction he had been called, he saw his worried mother looking him over closely. "M-mom..."
"Are you back, sweetheart?" Hella asked, her voice quiet.
Jaune didn't trust himself to speak, so he settled for a stuttering nod, his gaze darting to the floor. He felt ashamed that he had let himself drift off again. His mother, though, had different ideas, slowly bringing his head up until his eyes met her amethyst orbs, and the depth of her concern was made apparent.
"It's alright, Jaune. I know how... frustrating it can be to keep drifting back to the bad. My advice is to try and ground yourself, pick something, anything... a sight, a smell, a sound and let it pull you back." Jaune looked at his mother, confused but attempted to follow her instructions, staring into her amethyst eyes and letting them become his sole point of focus as he steadied his breathing.
To his surprise, it worked. The nightmares of Yharnam were once more stuffed in the recesses of his mind, present but dormant. Hella gave him a small smile as she stroked his hair lovingly. She didn't ask questions, and she didn't pry; instead, his mother only held his head to her body and acted as an anchor for him.
By the time Jaune's breathing had settled, he did not know for how long he had stood there, but his mother had simply comforted him all the while. He blinked his eyes in a flurry, taking a moment to adjust his vision as he looked away from her captivating gaze. "Take your time," Hella cautioned, letting Jaune readjust.
"I am better now... thank you. I did not expect to... to..." Jaune trailed off, feeling wholly inadequate even to begin to describe what just happened.
"You do not need to explain yourself to me, Jaune. I am very aware of just how cruel one's own mind can be," Hella informed him, finally taking a step back from Jaune, who gazed at her curiously.
"Does it ever-"
"Stop? No, not that I am aware of... it lingers, nastily, horribly... like a splinter that you just can't get out. I have had to speak to many specialists about my supposed trauma, and my attempts have guided me to a singular conclusion," Hella tsked.
"What?"
"Getting over it is a pipe dream... but learning to deal with it is very much a possibility," Hella explained, resting her hand on Jaune's head.
"... I see. Thank you, mother, I will keep this in mind, but I believe I have stalled you long enough. Do we not have somewhere to be?" Jaune asked nervously but received only a knowing smirk from Hella.
"We arrived about five minutes ago," she explained, pointing over her shoulder at the building they were quite literally a couple of feet from.
Jaune blinked, "oh... ok."
Jaune lent his mother his arm, which she took with a humorous light chuckle before they made their way up the stairs and into the building. The ground floor of the building was a lobby with an open-spaced room with furniture situated about it in comfortable-looking seating areas. The carpet floor was a deep shade of blue, while the walls were painted a mineral shade of ivory. A few pot plants were situated about the room, adding some green to the colour scheme, and the wall sconces had flower-shaped lights that emitted a warm glow.
At the front end of the lobby was a desk, behind which sat a young woman with chestnut brown hair. She was behind some security bars and seemed to currently be on a large Scroll that was casting a faint white glow on her features. Her skin was rather tan, and she had a small button nose. The green of her eyes was emphasised thanks to the light from the screen, and her lips were pursed in an expression of concentration.
Hella did not even break her slow stride, walking straight up to the counter, her hand resting upon her son's arm. Jaune moved in step with her, his eyes dancing about, taking in everything and giving a particular degree of attention to the bolted bars around the counter. Hella stopped her enlarged stomach a mere inch from the counter as she looked at the worker with a smirk on her face and mischief in her eyes.
Now closer to the distracted lady, Jaune could make out her outfit or at least the top half of her apparel. She wore a white blouse with a green crest over her heart and a small black tie just long enough to reach the bottom of her chest. The crest was of two crossed axes in a green circle intertwined with some form of laurel. What she was doing seemed captivating as Hella was standing right in front of her, yet she seemed none the wiser.
Hella's smirk was now a grin as she reached over the counter and snuck a glass bowl out from behind it, sliding the container under the bars expertly. The clear glass bowl was filled with small colourful button-shaped objects that evidence pointed to being some type of confection. Jaune looked at his mother curiously, not having seen such a mischievous side of her over the last week. He found it all the more endearing when she noticed his look and gave him a conspiring wink, and placed a finger on her grinning lips.
Nodding silently, Jaune copied her placing his finger to his now smiling lips earning him an even wider smile from his mother. Quietly and with deft fingers, Hella reached into the bowl and picked out a yellow candy for herself before offering the bowl to Jaune. Jaune taking the hint, grabbed a green one and plopped the treat in his mouth. Biting down rewarded him with a delectable crunch and flooded his mouth with a rush of flavour. The tiny sweets were chocolates in candy shells with a cream filling, they were delicious, and Jaune eagerly took more, looking to his mother for permission, who nodded, grabbing some for herself as well.
The two stood there enjoying the pilfered sweets until Hella took a purposefully audible bite of one of the treats, finally causing the worker to look up from her screen. Her face went through myriad emotions but settled on embarrassment as her cheeks began to practically glow. "H-Hella! W-what? I thou- Oh, it's so good to see you! Wait, are those my chocolates!" The woman rambled at such a pace that Jaune found himself stunned as she bounced between emotions while scrambling to rise from her seat.
"Hello, little nut, I missed you," Hella greeted the young woman warmly, all the while eating more of her chocolates and watching her scramble around the desk. When the so-called 'little nut' finally got away from her desk, she disappeared from view as she hurried over to a nearby door. A series of clicks was all the warning the Arcs had before the door burst open, and a brown blur rushed over to them, squealing excitedly.
The woman hurried to embrace Hella while being cautious about her swollen belly. Hella happily reciprocated, quickly passing a now nearly empty bowl of sweets to Jaune, who took it without thinking. Because of this, Hella failed to notice Jaune's expression, had she spared him a glance, she would have seen how his face had paled and his eyes locked on the young woman she was now embracing. Or, more specifically, a very particular part of her anatomy.
Her tail.
She had a tail.
A big. Fluffy. Tail.
Jaune stared aghast as red began to bleed around his vision, his hands twitched trying to palm weapons that weren't there, and he felt the familiar taste of something metallic festering on his tongue.
"Oh! Blimey... Don't scare me like that, on a night like this."
Her tail was bouncing about erratically, and she was saying something to his mother, but his ears were filled with a demure ringing like a high-pitched whine combined with his head being submerged.
"Well, if you're a hunter... Would you know of any safe havens?"
She was rubbing his mother's stomach now, her tail curling up as she stared at it wide-eyed and filled with wonder. Hella laughed at something the woman said, her hands coming to rub the sides of her belly as the two talked. Jaune could feel his heart pound in his chest as the woman smiled, baring her teeth in the direction of his mother.
"Well, I'll be... Thank you."
Jaune's mind was becoming consumed as he stared at the beastly woman interacting with his mother. His Mother!
"Rancid beasts, every last one of us..."
*Crack*
The sudden noise may as well have been a gunshot for how sudden it was, the noise startling both women, who had very different responses. The tailed woman uttered a loud eep and bounced backwards while Hella turned about, ready to act. Their gazes came to rest on Jaune, and what they saw quickly filled them with concern.
Jaune stood there with a cracked bowl in his shaking hands as a rivulet of blood crept down a noticeable crack. His crutches slipped from his underarms and fell to the floor in a clatter as he stood there rigidly. However, his eyes were the most unsettling feature; they were locked onto the bushy brown tail with laser focus, and his mouth was moving unnervingly quick as he uttered something.
"Jaune?" Hella voiced gently as she approached Jaune and began to hear him mumbling the same foreign language he had the night after the Grimm attack.
"A hunter must hunt, beasts all over the shop, a hunter must hunt, fear the old blood, a hunter must hunt, beasts all over the shop, a hunter must hunt, fear the old blood, a hunter must hunt, beasts all over the shop, a hunter must hunt, fear the old blood, a hunter must hunt, beasts all over the shop, a hunter must hunt, fear the old blood..."
"... Sunshine?" Hella tried to gain his attention again, but this time her voice had an edge of worry as she took a strategic step in front of the beast-like trait that had him so worked up. The change was like night and day; his whole posture relaxed instantly, and his lips stopped moving a mile a minute, no longer churning out whatever babble they had been spewing.
He seemed to look around, confused as if he had forgotten where he was, and Hella took immediate advantage of this by reaching behind her and pulling the tailed woman close to her back. She ordered the young woman in a low but commanding voice, "Tami... I want you to tuck your tail under your shirt for a moment..."
"Wh-"
"Tami... please trust me on this," Hella cut her off, sending a pointed look at her son, who was now looking at his hand, enamoured by the blood flowing from the open cut. Tami did not question further; instead, the clothes rustling was enough to indicate she was concealing her Faunus feature. Now Hella's focus was solely back on her son, who, disturbingly enough, had wrapped his mouth around his hand's open wound. But he had seemingly done so in a way that smeared blood across his face so that it coated his chin.
"Jaune?" Hella tried once more to far better results. Jaune finally looked at her; his eyes were still distant, and his confusion apparent.
"Who are-" he cut himself off from using that foreign tongue as he finally recognised his mother, and he yanked his hand from his mouth, a line of red drool connecting it to his lip like a red thread that swiftly snapped.
"... Oh," Jaune mumbled, looking between his hand, the cracked bowl and his mother, shame emanating from him. "I... I lost it again, didn't I?"
"No, sweetie, you just squeezed the bowl a bit too hard, I think... do you know what caused you to... react?" Hella asked, her voice calm as she cupped Jaunes bloody hand and saw the minor but laceration.
"... The woman behind you is a Faunus... father told me about them, her tail... it caught me off guard, I thought..."
"What did you think, Jaune?" Hella pushed, keeping his eyes from focusing on Tami, who was still positioned behind her.
"... B-beast..."
"You thought she was like the Grimm?" Hella tried asking for clarification.
Jaune nodded, his eyes drifting to the left, but Hella noticed and tilted her head to block him. "... H-have I met a Faunus before?"
"Yes, in fact, you know Tami... knew... she babysits for us," Hella explained softly, reaching into her purse for something to cover the cut on his palm. Her search was interrupted when Jaune pulled his hand from hers and gave her a solemn look.
"I must ask for you to step aside, mother, as I need to apologise to Ms Tami for my behaviour," Jaune proclaimed steadfastly.
"Jaune, your hand," Hella sighed, pointing to the still-open wound.
"It does not hurt," Jaune shrugged, keeping his wounded hand out of reach.
"... You are bleeding on the carpet," Hella mused, shaking her head at her son's priorities.
"... I will apologise for that too," Jaune conceded.
Hella knowing of the stubbornness that ran in both sides of the family, decided it might be easier to concede for the moment. "Fine, make it quick so I can patch you up, and if you have another 'reaction', then we are going straight to the doctor... give me your bad hand, and remember I'll be right here."
Hella finally stepped aside, granting Jaune sight of Tami again; however, her tail remained hidden. With his scope of focus no longer centred on her tail, he could detect certain traits he had not noticed the first time, such as the little tufts rising from her hair that he now suspected to be ears or the subtle signs of what might be prominent incisors. Tami stood there nervously as Jaune continued to examine her, her nerves only worsening as a prolonged silence dragged on.
"Jaune," Hella spoke up, her voice carrying a cautious bite that broke Jaune from his examinations.
"Ahem, pardon me, I got distracted... Ms Tami, please forgive me for my inappropriate state before. My mind was merely playing a cruel trick on me; also, I apologise for any damage I have caused to the carpeting... and for damaging your bowl... I would also apologise for absconding with some of the confections, but my mother ate most of those."
"Snitch," Hella remarked, wrapping a hanker chief around her son's hand.
Tami seemed uncertain for a moment before doing her best to roll with the situation, "oh, umm, well, thank you, apology accepted... I ahh... I am sorry if I somehow caused you any discomfort?" She apologised uncertainly, the question in her tone evident and directed towards Hella, who shrugged distractedly.
"I appreciate your concern, but the fault lies with my mind and its obsession with thinking incorrectly..." Jaune sighed tiredly.
"... Hella help, I'm lost," Tami exclaimed, looking towards the placid mother.
The pregnant woman sighed exasperatedly before conceding, "you on break?"
"No, but if I'm being honest, you and I both know that most of my job is just being available," Tami huffed with a smirk.
"Good point... Well, it started about a week ago..."
YVYVYVYVY
"That's... really upsetting," Tami breathed, giving a side look to Jaune, enjoying his cup of tea. "So, you can't remember anything... not even me?"
"Forgive me, Ms Tami, but sadly I have no recollection of you at all... if it helps, I think you seem like a perfectly lovely individual," Jaune asserted, doing his best not to let his eyes drift towards her tail.
"Aww, thanks, Jaune... you know you just have to ask if-"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Jaune adamantly denied turning his head about as he abjectly refused to succumb to his curiosity.
"Hehe... I can't believe Scarlett did that," Tami exclaimed in disappointment.
Hella took a sip of her own beverage before speaking up, "me and Cloud have already made sure our... displeasure about her behaviour is apparent. It won't change anything now, but... I am truly worried about her. She has been..."
"Hurting..." Jaune piped up, looking at his mother with a lost gaze.
"Yeah... learning that Jaune lost his memories after the Grimm encounter did not help, I haven't seen her so distressed before, and I don't know what to tell her. Cloud was always the more empathetic one, and I envy him that sometimes." Hella disclosed, looking to Tami for guidance, fingers fidgeting against her cup.
The young Faunus shared a sympathetic smile with the lost mother, "I don't envy your position, that's for sure. How about you, Jaune, what do you think about your sister... after all, you were the one impacted the most by her actions," the young Faunus pointed out while doing her best to tempt Jaune to acknowledge her tail. Jaune was not so easily broken and took a long sip of his tea while staring her dead in the eye.
"... I just want us all to get along... I want to spend time with her, Saphron as well... it hurts knowing they want to avoid me but just knowing them, knowing their names and being able to picture their faces... It is something I am so grateful for that words simply fail me." Jaune explained, turning his head upwards and meditating on the hollow feeling he had suffered with for so long. Yharnam had bled him of so much, and he didn't even realise it until he got it back.
Tami found his sincerity precious and quickly rolled over to him in her office chair, "I can tell you this, Jaune, you are still a total sweetheart; that has not changed one bit."
"Mmm, I agree. You were always a very sincere boy," Hella added, earning a genuine smile from Jaune, who was happy to be seen in such a positive light. The conversation eventually drifted into far lighter topics, and Jaune happily sunk into the background, perfectly satisfied to immerse himself in the pleasant atmosphere.
"Oh, by the way, Hella, I never actually got to ask, but why are you in town today anyway?" Tami asked, curious about what could have brought the pregnant woman out of the comfort of her home.
"Hmm... oh well, school shopping, of course," Hella stated as if it were obvious.
Hearing the word 'school', Jaune immediately felt his sense of peace ripped from him as his eyes opened and darted towards his mother with startling intensity. However, his reaction did not go unnoticed as his mother caught his change in mood and gave him a quirked brow. "Is something wrong, Jaune?"
Jaune, being caught out, was quick to clear his throat and respond cautiously, "I was just... unaware that we had come down to the town for a specific reason?"
"Well, of course. Why did you think we came down?" Hella enquired.
"To see Ms Tami, of course," Jaune quickly replied, gesturing to the young Faunus, who could not help but chuckle at his response.
"My, that would be flattering, but I'm afraid not even I am worth the effort of a Hella dragging her pregnant self into town for, at least not alone," Tami conceded, slumping back dramatically and receiving a playfully hurt look from Hella.
"I am not that bad," Hella argued.
"... Christmas party," Tami rebutted.
"... Point taken," Hella huffed focusing on her now nearly empty cup of tea.
Seeing the lull in the conversation, Jaune decided to take a proactive approach to avoid being caught off guard by his lack of knowledge. "So, what's 'school' like?"
Tami gave a dramatic sigh and flopped dramatically in her seat, "boring as fu-"
"Important and crucial for developing minds!" Hella erupted, her voice just shy of shouting as she shot Tami a warning look. The young Faunus chuckled, nudging Hella's leg with her foot as she grinned at her devilishly.
"Maybe in Mistral," Tami sassed.
"You are so lucky my feet are already sore, or I would kick your squirrely little butt," Hella hissed.
Tami gasped dramatically and hugged her tail to her chest, "that's racist."
"No, it's factual," Hella argued back, "you forget I have seen you drunk. I assure you, calling your rump squirrely is entirely accurate."
"Is this any way to behave in front of Jaune," Tami teased, "think of the children?"
"Are you really using my amnesiac son as a shield?" Hella deadpanned at her friend.
"...Oh right... is that taking it too far?"
"It may be crossing a line."
"If it helps, you two lost me a while ago," Jaune added his two cents.
"Sorry, Sunshine, guess I let being out of the house get to me," Hella chuckled, placing down her empty cup of tea, "school is where children are taught important foundational knowledge such as language and math as well as other knowledge that is considered core to a developing mind."
"I see, so it's a form of preparatory school... I pictured schools as something solely for those of an academic inclination, so who is attending? Saphron?" Jaune asked, sipping his tea more, the adult-size cup nearly half empty.
"Jaune, Saphron has been attending school for a few years now... you are the one starting," Hella explained, causing Jaune to splutter as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Me! But I am five. What hope could a five-year-old have at retaining such knowledge? Arithmancy is incredibly complex, and I don't even want to know the complexities of whatever language it is they teach. I cannot even read our language! I don't even know what our language is called!" Jaune rambled, suddenly panicked as he pictured himself entering a lecture hall and shaming his family for his lack of ability. The institutions in Yharnam were glorious, but his home possessed incredible technology that shamed even Yharnam. Their colleges must be genuinely incomparable.
Hella seeing her son getting worked up, tugged his office chair to her side and forced him to meet her gaze, "Jaune, calm down. You are working yourself up over nothing."
Jaune did not think embarrassing his family was nothing. "Mother, you must rethink this decision! I cannot attend a prestigious college at the moment; I will only shame you and the Arc name!"
"Jaune-"
"Pfft..."
Whatever Hella was about to say to try and calm Jaune down was forgotten as Tami finally broke, and laughter began to leak from her in a sputtering stream. Seeing the looks she was getting did not cause her to stop but instead egged her on as she started to cackle furiously. "I'm hah... I-I am so sorry bu- but... Haha, just look at him. He is so freaked out, haha!"
"Tami, you are of no help whatsoever," Hella admonished the giggling mess of a woman.
"... I am so confused," Jaune admitted feeling vulnerable. Hella hearing his tone of voice, immediately pulled him to her side and rested her chin atop his head. Jaune let her, let himself be in the moment with his mother, feel her warmth as it surrounded him, feel her love as she gently shushed him. Some part of him disliked the trapped feeling her embrace bestowed on him, but he resolutely ignored it.
"Jaune, my Sunshine, I don't know where you managed to acquire these misconceptions, but school, at least the school you are attending, is by no means as big a deal as you are making it out to be."
"It's not?"
"No, it will be you and some other children learning things like how to read and write common, as in what you and I are speaking right this moment, and the math will be for beginners, and if you struggle with it, we can get you a tutor... does that sound better?" Hella asked, seeing Jaunes worry transform into inquisitiveness.
"So, it is an academy dedicated to educating young children... so everyone can read and write to an acceptable level?" Jaune murmured. If Yharnam had ever had such a place, he was unaware of it, although the church may have had such an institution. All the educational bodies he had come across were dedicated to advancing research into several unscrupulous branches of knowledge. But that could just be a case of him seeking them out as his prey was often tied to the many branches of the church and, of course, the root of all evil, Byrgenwerth itself.
"Yeah, you'll be attending primary school. It's... enjoyable!" Tami added with faux excitement.
Hella was about to say something else when her Scroll vibrated. She pulled it out and examined it for a few seconds before cursing under her breath, her expression becoming unreadable as she typed something on the screen. "Jaune, your father has finished shopping. It's time for us to head out," Hella informed her son, gathering her things.
"Ahh, right, do you mind if I use the bathroom first, mother?" Jaune asked, handing Tami his cup with his thanks.
"Of course, Sunshine."
"It's just over there; remember to wash your hands," Tami teased before saying her goodbyes to Hella.
Jaune quickly hurried to the room and immediately locked the door behind him, but rather than head to the toilet, he scampered towards the sink. He turned the faucet on full blast with an urgent tug and wretched out a sickening amount of viscous blood. He was glad neither his mother nor Tami had realised what he had been doing, but the urge to become fixated on Tami's tail was almost too much to bear. It got to the point he had bit into his cheek and tongue, using the pain to distract himself.
The intoxicating metallic taste of blood had been a blessing and a curse, it gave him something else to focus on, but at the same time, it dragged up old memories and stirred other instincts. The mirror didn't show a young boy with chubby cheeks and bright blond hair; instead, he saw the hunter that had cleaved his way through all opposition and lost himself to his bloodlust and failure.
Those haunted bloodshot eyes stared into Jaune's own and mimicked his movement, the both of them wiping the blood away from their lips, Jaune to more success as the hunter just smeared more of the red substance over his features.
Looking at the handkerchief, he hopes the squirming sensation was just in his head. The hunter's hand showed an umbilical cord coated in his eyes. A wretched combination of fury, despair, hate, and hunger stirred Jaune's stomach like writhing serpents as he beheld the gruesome object. As his ill feelings worsened, he searched desperately for something to cling to, as his mother had said.
Seeing a bar of soap nearby, Jaune grasped it and, with maddened intuition, began to scribble on the mirror in a panic. The hunter copied him at first, but as the scribble took shape, the mirror cleared, and the hunter faded from view, leaving just the marked mirror and a panting Jaune.
Jaune gave the image a quaint smile.
"... Little ones... I hope you are keeping her company, do try not to be too mischievous." Jaune uttered in the gothic foreign tongue, thinking back to the little guides that had once accompanied him.
A loud series of raps on the door cut off any further reminiscence as his mother alerted him to their need to be on their way. After cutting off the faucet, Jaune hurried out and quickly vacated the building with his mother. As they were heading down the steps, a stray thought had him asking a question of his mother, "what is Tami's job?"
"Hmm, oh, she is the clerk of the Hunter Guild here in Reach. She handles bounty and mission management along with the rest of the staff... think of her as the hunter's helper." Hella said with a smile.
"... Ahh, how nice."
"She is, isn't she," Hella spoke, her features adorned with a smile that made Jaune give one of his own. All the while, his fingers dug painfully into his bloodied hand, furiously clutching his wound to the point that blood began to soak the handkerchief.
YVYVYVYVY
Cloud sat in the peace of his study, his mind a hectic storm of fretting as he wished he had not forsworn alcohol those years ago. The sound of the door opening had his swarming thoughts calming, the shadow of his pregnant wife granting him a sense of peace for the moment. Her hand on his cheek sent a wave of warmth about his face. He adored that she could still elicit such reactions from him.
"They're all in bed now... even Scarlett, but that's to be expected considering," Hella informed him before taking a seat on the couch and leaning into him.
"You regret grounding her?" Cloud asked, grabbing some of her hair and playing with it as he rested his cheek on her head.
"No... I just wish I had more experience with properly punishing a child in this regard... my own family's discipline seems inappropriate," Hell hissed.
"...What would your mom do?" Cloud asked as he kissed her hair.
"Mama probably would agree with my punishment but would add some kind of labour atop of it, not to mention push for reconciliation, ever the judge."
"... and your father?"
"... Corporal punishment."
"Ahh, well, as tempting as it may be for you to spank her, I feel the embarrassment she would get from it would harm her more than the smacks themselves," Cloud quipped.
Hella snorted at the mental image of her eldest, wilting in embarrassment as she rubbed her abused hind. The humour drained, though, as she remembered her experience with physical punishment "...you know that's not what I meant, right," Hella mumbled.
"Yeah, I know... but your mother took care of your father and dwelling on it isn't going to do anything now. Plus, you are a great mother, Hella, the kids love you, I promise," Cloud stated, leaning down to look his worried wife in the eye before he glanced down to her large stomach. "This one is going to love you too, and you are going fawn over her just as much as the others, and she is going to be so spoiled I can just tell."
Hella snickered at her husband, making baby speak to her stomach and rolled her eyes at him for implying that she was the one who spoilt the children. "Ahh, yes, tis I that bends over backwards to give them anything they want, not their father who just so happens to tempt fate with sugary treats whenever possible."
"You eat my treats too," Cloud defended.
"Yes, but I have also never made chock chip pancakes covered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream and sprinkles, in such quantities that it was taller than the child they were for," Hella admonished, poking her husband in his stubbly cheek. "Admit it; you are as sturdy as paper when it comes to the kids."
"I admit nothing," Cloud whispered as he kissed Hella, his thumb tracing circles about her stomach. The two lost themselves, leaning into one another as they showed their love through a physical medium. Hella broke it off first, her teeth dragging along Cloud's lower lip as she pulled back, her amethyst eyes teasing as she did so. As much as she might have desired to continue their little bout of passion, there was still much to discuss.
Seeing her face shift to one denoting a more severe nature, he sighed as he sat up straight, the thoughts plaguing him before her arrival once more stirring in his head. "You are not going to like what I have to say," he huffed, slumping back in his seat.
"Say it anyway," Hella instructed, also sitting up.
"There is little we can do. The doc said that unless Jaune wants to talk, wants help, there is essentially nothing we can do... and if we push him, he might clam up even more..." Cloud sighed, unhappy with the doctor's report. "Of course, he brought up a bunch of alternatives, but..."
"Let me guess they all tie back to the same issue, Jaune..."
"Yep, there is no right fix for this... it comes down to him seeking help. Otherwise, all we have is a bunch of maybes," Cloud affirmed.
Hella digested this for a moment before expressing her thoughts concisely.
"Fuck."
"Agreed."
"He had a few moments while we were out today; I guess you were right. Town might have been too much too soon," Hella admitted.
"No, you were right. Addressing the situation is the only way for us to do anything about it... I guess the cut on his hand was from one of them?" Cloud asked, running his hands over his face.
"Yeah... I took him to see Tami," Hella explained but was stopped when her husband gave her a wide-eyed look. "Yes, I know, but you should have been there, Cloud! He came back so quickly it was less than a minute!"
"... That is pretty good," Cloud conceded, smiling at Hella, who practically beamed, or at least the Hella equivalent, which was a smile without teeth. However, the celebratory mood was cut short by the sound of a buzz as Hella's scroll rung out. When she checked the message she had just received, all optimism practically flew out the window.
It was not a long message, simply three words, but it sapped the life from her.
Cloud's reaction was much the same as he glanced over and peaked at the message that had caused his wife's mood to take such a drastic turn.
"Fuck."
The message read as such.
"Is Jaune ok?"
And beneath the message was a picture of a bathroom mirror defaced with an image made of bloodied soap. It was of a human-like figure, but instead of legs, it had a spiral for its lower half, and its arms were raised in the air. The basin displayed obvious bloody handprints where Jaune would have pushed himself up to reach the mirror. Altogether it was a rather dreadful scene.
Hella found herself biting into the knuckle of her index finger as she voiced both of their thoughts.
"Just what the hell happened to Jaune?"
A.N.
Hey, everyone here it is the new chapter and let me just say that this was my first time confronting real writer's block. Not just procrastination but like actually writing and rewriting the same chapter what felt like hundreds of times. My off-cut word file is like... crap, thousands of words bigger now.
On the plus side have a lot of new ideas for future chapters so that's a plus.
But exciting news I wanted to let you all know that I will be trying to post another chapter very, very soon at least by the end of the month. The next chapter will feature a decent time skip of at least a few years just so we can introduce some more of Jaune's sisters for him to be overprotective of.
Also, we will start seeing some more of his... abilities in the next chapter so look forward to that.
Now before I sign off there is something I thought I should bring to everyone's attention, presently this fic is rated T now I am fine with hemming my writing to fit within this rating, but I figure I should at least bring up the option of increasing it for the sake of introducing further adult themes, especially considering the fact that this is Bloodborne we are talking about.
Now also on a completely unrelated note, I am thinking of introducing another tier to my Pat re on but this one would be entirely dedicated to... umm, 'adult writings' as I have seen other authors find much success with the genre but well, I am still rather new to all this so I figure I would bring the topic up all the same.
Remember if you find yourself really, really, really liking my writing and want to show some financial support, I'm AceReaper on Pat re on, same icon as my FF account.
Let your animal companions know you love them,
And as always.
Until next time.