Jaune was walking away from the pile of ashes, determined to not give it another thought when his foot hit something. Something made of glass. Jaune closed his eyes, praying that it wasn't what he thought it was. He bent down, picking up the glass sphere. Jaune groaned as he felt the center of weight in it slosh around.
A glass bottle, roughly the shape of a skull, was held in his hand. Jaune closed his eyes, tempted to throw it away. Toss it into a tree and let it shatter. The dreamer hefted the bottle in his hand, feeling its weight. While there was some malice towards life in general left in it, it had been distilled, worked away. Jaune tucked it into his inventory, taking it as he had all other rewards this cursed place had laid before his feet. Jaune wondered just what exactly determined what got to spawn a bottle of liquor. He guessed it was how important they were to the world, but the idea left a bad taste in his mouth. There was something about some things just being more important on the scale of the world itself.
Jaune marched into the woods, looking around at his surroundings, taking in the ash grey and pale bark. Then he looked ahead, mentally planning out his path.
"You've got to be shitting me." He whispered under his breath, seeing a small collection of colorful, although faded with age, strung on the branches. Under them, a familiar masked man, reciting poems and plays that hadn't been put on stage for as long as anything, living or dead, could remember.
"But hark! A shrieking wail across the endless sky! Do you hear the wail of the dying stars? Oh, Brothers against eachother against a common now-foe!
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, but such friendships are thin and fleeting once victory or loss is declared.
A mad god on the clouds, high on his ass mad with power. He was a young man, once, lost on his own way, in his own."
Jaune stepped forward to the Thespian, reciting his soliloquy from a stump. He stopped when his saw the dreamer approach him.
"hark, friend!" jaune called to him, raising his hand up. "I suppose you have more wares you might be willing to trade for?"
The Thespian laughed, hopping down from his branch and pulling forward a large wooden chest from under it.
"but of course, my wares are open to everyone still sane enough to exchange." He bowed, popping open the chest. "Although I doubt I have much that will catch your eye in my wares. You've come surprisingly far since I saw you last, breaker of the pious chain."
Jaune raised an eyebrow at the title. "Breaker of the Pious Chain? I will admit I do not quite know what you are referring to."
The Thespian hummed, sorting through his items. "It is the nature of man to hate what is godly. I believe it to be an issue with the whole deal with free will. Humanity has an odd habit of defying the divine."
The dreamer sat down, watching the man as he ruffled around. Eventually the Thespian rose again, pulling out a small doll made of cloth and porcelain.
"perhaps this could be what you seek? A faithful companion, one silently by your side." The Thespian offered the doll to Jaune. He took it, holding it carefully in his hands, inspecting it closely.
"perhaps, perhaps." He said, putting the doll down gently. There was something off about it, perhaps simply just not to Jaune's preferences. God, you know I'm far gone when I have preferences about a doll. Jaune sighed as the Thespian pulled out another object.
"Well, if such company is not quite to your liking." The Thespian offered, pulling out a large ornately decorated scroll. It was roughly the size of a thigh, embroidered with gold and green and red. Jaune's head tilted to the side, holding his hand out.
"What is it?" He asked as he felt its weight. Damn, this is heavy. He thought as it was inspected.
"You may think of it as a form of domination of most sentient things, a convent way to deal with pesky disagreements and to enact your will if you wish." The masked man said. It was quickly returned with a shaken head.
The Thespian nodded. "Ah, perhaps not quite your speed just yet." The scroll was returned to its place among the immutable jumble of objects. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you are a hard man to shop for, Mr. Arcana." He tutted, rooting through the chest once more.
"Aha!" The Thespian exclaimed, pulling out a large, wrapped bundle of something. "I have just the thing for you! This will suit you nicely indeed." The bundle, a heavy metal thing, was dropped at Jaune's feet. The dreamer unwrapped the thing, raising his eyebrow as he saw a suit of armor. It was an impressive work of blacksmithing, with a bronzed trim and etched runes, filled with gold. It hadn't been polished in quite some time, but it still held some luster.
Jaune looked up at the masked man from the armor. "What does it do?" He asked skeptically. The Thespian just shrugged, shaking his head.
"I wear many things, but plate mail is not often one of them, and my own wares even rarer." He said. Jaune sighed, picking It up the heft plate. He noticed it wasn't a complete set, missing the entire lower half, and most of the forward arm guards as well was not in the set. But the chestplate, pauldrons, and whatever the upper arm vambraces were called were all there.
"I do know that it was imbued with the old powers, worn by an exalted king from ages long past. If I had two others, I know a play about this man."
Now Jaune was intrigued. "oh? Who was he? This king?"
"King Theon." The Thespian nodded, moving to sit on his open chest. "A terribly sad story, a tragedy even. The question of what happens when the powers that stand die out, and no one is there to replace such men."
"sounds like a tale." Jaune said, leaning back. The armor was left between them for now. "Say, how about this. I have a brew, a brew of dragons blood, that I need to crack. You seem like a sane and cheery fellow. Say, why don't we crack it open? Give it it's vintage year?"
The Thespian's head tilted. "Would this be offered as payment?" he asked, as though a little confused as to what was happening at the moment. No one had offered him a drink in… a very long time. Long before the madness took to flesh, anyway.
The dreamer sat in front of him, The Yellow Man, the Breaker of the Pious Chain, It That was Unhere, The Stranger, It That Walked Alone, The Trader, The Inspiration, The Next Link, The Greatest Slayer, It That Returns, for all it's titles that it could not see, or that the whispers that it could not here, the Thespian could not help but find it to be shockingly kind.
Shockingly human. A strange concept for this place.
The Dreamer in front of him just shrugged. "If you want it to be, sure. Although I am more than willing to find other things that might catch your fancy."
The Thespian quickly accepted, backtracking to ensure it got such a fermentation before the Dreamer might change it's mind. "NO! No, no, no, the offering of a drink is more than enough as payment."
Jaune nodded, reaching into the depths of his inventory to pull out one of his several casks of fermented dragons blood. It was tapped with a rough fist simply breaking a port into the cask. He held it out to the Thespian, who took it gingerly, as though this was a test. A sword of domiciles head above him as the presence of the dreamer made itself very known. If this was a test of etiquette, loyalty, or just submission from the Undying Thing, there was no question in the Thespian's mind that it itself was a dead thing if it failed. This was a creature from beyond, something that not even death could stop, there was nothing that the Thespian's theatrics could do to stop it. The masked man took a gamble, taking Jaune at his word, and accepted the offered concoction. It lifted it up to the smiling side of it's mask, pouring the liquor into the open hole.
A horrible hacking sound came from the Thespian as he hunched over, overwhelmed by the iron heavy flavor of the rotted and fermented blood. Jaune held his arm out, bracing the man in front of him.
"it's not very good, is it?" He laughed, picking up the cask to take a sip. His face contorted into a grimace at the frankly grueling trial that a single sip was. Blinking tears away, he could feel his vision sharpening as the space under his skin crawled. Clearly it was doing something to him, the inherently powerful source of the fermented stuff had turned the disgusting liquid into something with additional side effects.
The Thespian nodded, but reached out for it once more. The Thespian could not fail this test, no matter how terrible the liquid burned and clogged his jaw. Although perhaps it wasn't a test. Perhaps this was a gift. He could feel his soul swell, a splintering flame long since fading blooming with power and energy, perhaps even new life as the essence of a soul was dripped in between his lips. More of the fermented dragon's blood was forced between his jaws, and the Thespian laughed.
"Oh, but sooth! You have given me life once more! I have life in my lungs! In my heart! Oh, great beating of the word, Still! For my ears cannot hear you sing!" He proclaimed, a maddened glint in his eye as words tumbled from his lips.
Jaune laughed again, taking his own swig of the stuff. You know, this actually has some layers once you get used to it. Jaune thought, much to A's gagging.
It tastes like rotten blood, jaune. He said, shaking his head. B was in agreement, finding there to be little good about this rotten brew.
"Glad to hear you like it." The dreamer laughed, leaning back. "So, do you know what happened to this place? This world?"
The dreamer paused, looking at him. "I…" He swallowed, looking up at the sky, as though the nonexistent birds might be watching him. "Long ago, a god ascended from the ashes. This god bought much joy, and the brew flowed plenty. But it was not without cost, and the god went mad. All those that had partaken in his work went with him, and the land became lawless, without piety or rules." The Thespian nodded, swaying lightly in his seat. "Well, you can see things went to hell. As we are all destined for."
Jaune nodded, taking another sip before pushing the large jug over to him drinking compatriot. "And you? Why haven't you gone mad as well?"
The head of the Thespian fell limply to the side as he just looked at the dreamer. "Who's to say I haven't?" He asked, pouring some more down his mask. "Alas, I have the great unfortune to not be real." Jaune blinked at him, taken aback from this sudden new information. Fuck, I really have lost it.
Jaune, buddy, bucko, baby, baby boy. B coo'd softly, as though he was putting down a dog, or telling a small child that Santa wasn't real. We've lost it for a while now.
The dreamer carefully took the drink away, making sure that none of it was spilled as he motioned for the Thespian to continue.
"I haven't existed in a long time, at least as I was. I am but a Thespian, a storyteller, a faceless thing. I won't go, so long as there is a story to be told, to someone to listen, someone to give just a bit of history to. But I do not exist, I have not been real for quite some time. At least not in the form you are familiar with."
This left Jaune with a raised eyebrow, but he didn't ask for an elaboration. He figured it was above his head anyway. "I see." He lied, taking another swig. It was handed back. "So, all this awful shit is the work of a god?"
The Thespian nodded. "When is it not? Do you not blame gods for the world's terrible state?"
"No." Jaune admitted, shaking his head. He leaned back with a sigh. "Mostly I just blame myself."
Some more of the dragon's blood beer was drained. "Oh? Are you a god?"
That made Jaune laugh. "no." he said as the laughter died out in it's own irony. "But I'll be honest, I think I might be the closest thing I know to one."
The Thespian leaned forward. "Oh? Please, continue."
"I mean, we're all gods of our own life, aren't we?" Jaune asked. "Sorry, bad phrasing. I have never met a god that had more of an impact on my life than I did. No god but me has shaped my course. That and I have the power to do kind of what I want. I want to build a house? I can. Probably. I mean, it's going to be a shitty house, but it's still a house. How does that not make me the god of my own life?"
The Thespian just stared at him for a moment. "That…" He trailed off, before draining a not insignificant portion of the cask. "That is an interesting interpretation of god." He hiccupped. Jaune just shrugged, taking another mouthful of the burning liquid. The rest of the time was spent filled with Jaune's probing questions and unfortunately uselessly cryptic answers. The thespian seemed to be unable to contribute any new information about much of anything. The dragon and mountain city were a tale with more depth to it, but ultimately nothing actually new. The same for the Eternal City, which Jaune found endlessly frustrating. The frustration was swept away with the comfortable buzz, leading him into the next line of questioning.
"so, you said that I had broken the Pious Chain?" jaune asked, rolling his tongue in his mouth. Wow, I might be not sober. He thought to himself as the words tumbled out of his mouth.
The Thespian nodded. "mmm, yes. It was you that slayed the Sacred tree, the boughs that brought a drunkard into enlightened godhood."
"Huh." Jaune hummed, slumped into the roots. "More you know."
The topic was not bought up again. The large cask was mostly gone, as were it's drinkers, when Jaune asked the Thespian a question.
"Hey, Mask man." He slurred, now fully on the ground, leaning forward on the roots of a large pale tree. "Can I ask you something?"
The Thespian, slumped over his chest, looked up. "Sure, of course."
"Do you know what love is?"
The Thespian went silent for a moment. "What?" He managed, pulling his head up to look at the dreamer. Love? This thing was asking it about love? The Thespian, a recorder of history, found itself without a good answer.
"It is a motivation for characters, so that they do something for the story." Was the Thespians unfortunate answer.
"I don't believe that." Jaune slurred, forcing his head up. "Ohhh, that's a mad bad sad idea." He mumbled, putting his head back down. "But I don't believe that."
"Then what do you believe?"
That made Jaune pause for a moment. He swallowed, trying to figure out how to say words again. "Vous saves? I really don't know anymore. I used to think it was being there for someone. I loved my team, I really did. I loved my family, I really did. Do. Whatever. I do love my family. But if love is being there for them, why am I here? Sitting with you, drunk off our ass? Maybe my definition of love is wrong."
The Thespian shrugged, bobbing his head around. "I wouldn't know. I don't think I've ever been in love. I don't think I could ever be in love." He admitted, watching the lights filtering through the trees flicker in front of his eyes.
"Ces't Dommage. That's a shame." Jaune mumbled as he rolled onto his back. "I think being in love is probably a wonderful thing." And with that, Jaune closed his eyes and tuned out everything, just enjoying being so incredibly shit faced drunk that he couldn't even feel the burning in his throat or in the sinking feeling in the back of his mind. It was just enough effort for him to just bother to think. And that was nice for a while.
"Hey, Ami?" the dreamer asked after a while.
"mmmummmggg?" The Thespian grumbled, not fully there.
"I'm going to go ahead and sober up, I think. Yeah, I'm going to sober up now. Real sober, straight and sober. Right. Cool. Sober time." He muttered, trying to figure out how he was going to desober himself. "Huh, that might be an issue. Hey, Thesp? I ain't not sober yet… Welp, that isn't good at all. No sireee. Not good. Very much not good. Merde. All right, lets try this again. Une fois de plus. Man, speaking French is fun." Jaune muttered, rambling on. This went on for a while, actually. Turns out the more complex expressions of magical prowess were pretty hard when stringing simple sentences together took an egregious amount of effort.
The Thespian, lacking the existence of a liver, was doing far worse off than the dreamer was. So Jaune left him draped over his wooden chest of goodies.
He also took the opportunity to exchange his current darkened steel torso for the breastplate of King Theon. It was surprisingly light, all things considered. Although he wasn't a huge fan of how high the shoulder guards sat on him, it was in far better condition and was far more serviceable than his old set. He would not admit how long it took him to exchange the two armors, even if he could have remembered. Setting off into the whispering woods, he dove deeper into the depths of the thorny shadows.
"Turn back
You should not be here
This is not your home, this is not your place.
Outside beings are not welcome."
"yay, the voices are back." Jaune muttered, hazily moving over a fallen tree. He had sobered up some, able to walk now in a straight enough line. No one in their right mind would let him drive, but good news for him, there were no car in the dream for him to drive in.
Aww, but I thought you loved us! A whined playfully. B whacked him in the back of his head.
He didn't mean us, dipshit. B rolled his eyes.
Jaune really didn't want to deal with their bickering, as the pleasantly buzzed feeling was sloggifying into a sicken sloshing through his veins.
"Huh, so this is what a hangover feels like." Jaune muttered as he forcefully pulled his leg free from a root. It wasn't magical or anything, he had just gotten it stuck on his foot.
"Hail, strange fellow!" Came a loud voice from ahead of Jaune. Looking up, he saw a figure in armor that was once probably white, but an untold age of tarnish had word the white to a rotten crème color and the bronze trim into a dimmed brown.
"Who might you be, strange fellow? You are no knight of my tabard." The man in white armor said, looking Jaune up and down through his helmet. Jaune looked down at his apparel.
"I'm not wearing a tabard." Jaune dumbly mentioned after a moment. So sue him, he still wasn't completely sober yet.
Please be sane, please be sane. B prayed as the two armored individuals stared each other down.
"So, tabardless soul, what brings you so far into these cursed woods, allied-with-none?" The knight asked, his hand tightening on his sword's handle. Jaune shrugged, doing his best not to react to the knight's tenseness. But much like a cat, Jaune also tensed slightly as he readied to pounce just in case he needed to.
"Ah you know, lost in the woods, looking for gods to kill, waiting to die."
Apparently that was the wrong dialog option to pick, because the knight seemed to squint at him. "killing… gods you say?"
Jaune knew that he should have back tracked, said something else. But he was not in the particular mood to mince words with something that was going to kill him anyway. Jaune had developed a unique skill, and that was smelling a boss fight from a mile a way.
And brother, this is a boss fight. A chimed in.
"Yeah." Jaune said, nodding his head. "Killing gods, I say." He egged the knight on. "why, just in fact there was this big ugly tree that I ripped out of the ground some yonder that way."
The Knight's head tilted to the side, as though it couldn't quite believe what it had just heard.
"A tree you say? A tree bearing the mark of a man in it, one that was the first tether to heaven?" He said, his voice entering a dangerous tone. Jaune gave him a slightly wobbly nod.
"You know it bucko." Jaune said, a grin starting to grow on his face.
"you… you…" He growled, taking in deep panting breaths. The knight took a big breath in, before letting out a roar.
"YOU BLASPHEMER!" the knight bellowed, pulling his blade out. The sheath did something interesting, expanding into a white shield with a tarnished golden trim. A white golden trim that took on a particular shape.
Twin crescent moons wreathed in gold, dull and unpolished, was what met Jaune's longsword. His eyes narrowed at that familiar shield. "Now that is interesting. Pray tell, where did you get Caroca Mors?"
Jaune had to duck under the one handed short sword, using his lower position to leap forward, tackling into the rusted knight. The pair fell over as Jaune did his best to stab at any chinks in the knight's armor. He failed to get his blade in any meaningful gaps, instead being thrown roughly from the knight. Jaune hit the ground with a tumble, rolling over onto his feet. The shiv like dagger Jaune had attempted to shank the fanatic crusader with became a defensive weapon, blocking the overhead as the dreamers own longsword thrust forward. It bounced off that painfully familiar shield.
"I do not answer the questions of heathen sinners." The knight growled as they circled around each other in a clash of steel, the sharp tanging sound between them echoing in the silent woods. Jaune dipped and dodged around the strange knight, poking and prodding against the heavyset armor as he desperately avoided the ruthless aggression that came from the tip of a straight short blade.
Dip Duck dip duck dip duck dip duck was the mantra that went through his head as he backstepped, taking every opportunity to throw a stab or hack at the knight. They were always deflected by that shield, bouncing the blow aside.
"You still have to answer my question." Jaune said as he felt his blade bounce off that white shield again. And again. And again.
The question was answered with a very aggressive overhead chop. Jaune raised his own blade to block, the sheer force of the blow sending him staggering, his arm knocked limply to the side.
The white, gold crested shield slammed into Jaunes head, splitting his skull open as his soulless body crumpled into the ground. The last thought that went through the dreamers dreaming mind before he woke up was
"Damn, that's bright."
Jaune woke up just as he fell out of his bed.
Thump.
Ow. Jaune rubbed his head, glaring up at the ceiling. "well, that was just rude." He muttered, crawling back into bed. "Get ready for round two, you rustic stuck."
The woods still met him with the voices of the dammed, apparently. Whispers telling him to turn back, to walk way.
"Yeah, yeah, I really don't care. Curiosity is killing this cat, and lord knows I've got the lives to spend" the dreamer rolled his eyes, giving the Thespian a customary greeting.
The rusted knight was there, waiting in the shallow width clearing where they first met.
"Impossible." The tarnished crusader muttered, unsheathing his blade once more. "By what dark powers is this?"
"I'll be honest?" Jaune rolled his shoulders, hefting a large maul in his hands. "It's been real hard to keep me down recently." He smiled. There wasn't much said after that, because the dreamer was already swinging. The heft hammer met the shield with a bone shattering slam. In fact, it was not unlikely that several small bones in the dreamer's hand just from the reverberations. The tarnished thing seemed surprised at the rampant aggression that came from its foe. The confusion didn't last, as they engaged in the delicate dance against each other. The knight would dash and rush forward, attacking with a plethora of swipes and stabs and chops. Jaune would step back, roll to the side, dancing just out of reach as he aimed powerful swings at the knight, intent on breaking him whole. The sound of metal slamming against metal rung like the roar of a lion.
Jaune swung, his hammer tearing a chunk out of one of the pasty white trees as the knight ducked down. Crouching, the knight lept at Jaune, tackling him with his heavy armor. Jaune was tackled into the ground by the rusted knight. Rearing up, the knight drove his sword through his foe.
If his foe was a bunch of sticks roughly tangled into the shape of a man, that is. The Knight went ramrod straight, looking around for the blasphemous dreamer. His question was answered as Jaune slammed the hammer into the knight's back. The knight was driven into the ground. He rolled over, hefting his shield up to protect himself from the overhead hammering.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The maul fell relentlessly, each time being forced away by a shield bathed in tarnished white. The knight scrambled backwards, forcing distance between itself and dreamer. Once it got onto its feet again, it swung. The dreamer's eyes flicked down to the ground, a faint glow behind his pupil pulled it up
A pillar of rocky stone shot like a geyser up to meet it's blade.
"Sorcerer." The tarnished man growled, his grip tightening. "Whatever pact you have with your dark god will not save you!" He yelled, ramming his shield forward into Jaune's side. It was blocked with the shaft of the hammer and a grunt. The knight's sword began to glow a bright white as it was driven downwards into the enchanted armor. It met Jaune in his shoulder, grinding and suppering with a searing heat as it was pressed deep into the armor. Jaune was pinned there, struggling against the knight's hard press. Shifting the grip on his hammer so that his hand was just underneath the head. He thrust forward, shoving the block of metal into the knight's gut. The blow bent the knight over into a coughing fit. Jaune would not let him have time to rest, as he pushed the heavy armored man off him and drove the back end of the maul's long handle into his chin. Stumbling back, the knight could feel the throbbing in his head as he reeled, discombobulated. Jaune drove the butt end of his maul into the knight's helmet again, leaving a sizeable divot in the crest. Jaune took in a deep breath, channeling the burning pit of fire that slept in his veins. A great blossoming heat began to swell and grow in his chest and he unleashed a roar of flame. It swept forward, bathing all in its path in dragon breath. He kept up the heat, a continuous gout of blaze was spewn forth.
Not that it mattered, as a figure leapt forth from the flames, slamming into Jaune and knocking him into the ground once more. The knight had used his shield and some unnatural gimmick to protect himself from the fire. He drove his blade down, desperately trying to end the blasphemer in front of him. It was all Jaune could do to throw up his own guard, using his maul to catch the short sword by it's cross guard.
"ahhhh, ahhhh." The knight breathed in and out heavily, almost growling with each pant as he pressed his weight down. The dreamer on the other hand did not buckle, holding strong against the tarnished blade.
Jaune started to prepare another magically charged breath, feeling the lighting fill his teeth and clench his jaws. The knight started to chant, a quick prayer that made his sword glow.
That's not good. Jaune thought as he let loose the blast of lightning, searing and scorching the helmet that loomed above him.
It was for naught, as the chant finished and the light from the blade shot forward, turning the short sword into and extended blade of holy light and fire. One that pierced straight through whatever protections the Chestplate of the last king offered and into his ribcage and lungs, running even deeper to split his spine in twain and the dirt below it.
The lightning died in Jaune's mouth, substituted with a pitiful cough of blood.
"oww."
And Jaune woke up in his bed one again.
"Stupid shitty hacks." Jaune grumbled as he pulled the covers over himself once more.
You know what? This forest is kind of beautiful. in a creepy, morbid, macabre kind of way. Jaune thought as he looked around.
Yeah, minus the voices telling us to get bent, you could open a nice little coffee shop here! A snickered.
Jaune gave another look around
"Unwanted Thing
Stranger
Outsider
Realmwalker
Unwanted King
Crownless
Throneless
Unwelcome." The voices whispered from the tree tops.
"I remain unconvinced about the clientele." The dreamer decided as he made his way back to the grove. The knight was there, sitting on a stump that one of them had turned from a tree.
"Yo." Jaune greeted, giving the rusted man a two finger salute.
The knight looked up, concerned now. "You are back." He said simply. Jaune gave him a nod, pulling out a set of twin blades.
"yeah, I'm back. I tend to do that." The dreamer said, watching carefully as the knight got back up off his stump, swinging his sword loosely in his hand.
"You know, once is a happenstance. Twice is a coincidence, but thrice is a pattern." He said as the two started to pace around each other. "This is a pattern I do not like. In the name of name of all that is holy above, I must purge you."
Jaune let out a rather exasperated sigh. "You know, you've said that to me before." He said. Normally he would have followed this up with something at least kind of quippy, but the knight had no intention of letting him speak. Making a cross with his twin blades the dreamer pushed aside an overhead chop that would have split the skulls of most men.
Jaune pushed it to the side, slapping forward with his twin blades. His attack was knocked away to the side with that shield but that left the knight open, his shield and sword nowhere near his body. So, he was kicked in the stomach with an armored boot clad in adorned leather straps.
The knight grunted, scuttling backwards as he did his best to regain balance. Not that Jaune would let him recover of course. He lunged forward, hacking away at the knight's tarnished armor. He was a hurricane of blades, spinning and slashing his way forward as he gained ground on the knight. It was unfortunate that the knight's armor did it's job, preventing much more than small scratches and divots against the once white amor. It took a flick of his wrist pushed the shorts words counter aside. The same flick did not work against the shield. Alas, the thin twin blade scimitars did not have the same mass as a slab of metal on a man's arm. It took all of Jaune's strength to keep a hold on to the blade and he could forget keeping it in place. With his guard knocked open the dreamer quickly jumped away, disengaging. The whistling of the knight's short sword as it cut through the air indicated that it was a good decision. He could feel the glare that was being shot at him from under the helmet. Jaune returned it, flicking his blade out in front of him like it was a gun or perhaps a proposition. Solar power started to lace up its side, the flickering flames dancing along the spine as burst into a blaze. Lunging forward, Jaune reengaged the knight, the shadows from the leaves painting a beautiful camo across the both of them. The knight raised his own sword to block the cross guard catching the blazing blade between gold and steel.
There was a crackle of high voltage lightning as thrust his second blade forward in a low blow, arcs of static shock breaching to the ground and roots below them. The knight was blown back as a shocking amount of voltage was pushed through him. Jaune continued to take advantage of the space, pressing the momentum he had. He continued to hack and slash at the knight, ferociously trying to break the hardened shell that was the knight's defense. The two dueled, clashing over and over again as sparks flew from the impact of metal on metal. Occasionally, Jaune would throw some magic at him. Great spikes of ice were thrown into that ever present shield. Baptisms of fire and blasts of salt. Hurricanes born and died in the space between blows. The really annoying part was not the defense, Jaune could overcome it with enough effort. It was that each time a blow was landed, a cut made, a burn marked, there was this annoying golden white glow that bathed the area, repairing any damaged metal and flesh back to it's original unblemished state.
The tarnished knight's sword and shield had also taken on a similar ethereal glow. Jaune could guess what that meant, and what that glow did. All he knew was that it wasn't good for him.
"Glad to see you're taking this seriously." Jaune grunted as he shoulder checked the knight, following it with a downward swing of both blades. The knight gave his own grunt in return, pushing against the twin blades with his shield.
"I do not know what dark power fuels you, demon, but I will purge you from this land." He growled, the twin cresent moons on Coroca Mors- No, it could not have been that blade nor that shield. Those were in an entirely different dimension, safely held in his sisters arms. Regardless, the twin arcs on the shield light up in a golden hew.
Then the world went white as a sudden, painful ringing erupted in Jaune's ears. Stumbling back, blinded, it was all Jaune could do to shake his head.
A portion of his body that was removed with a warm blade made of holy light. And once more, Jaune woke up in his own bed.
"Fucking flashbang bullshit!" he yelped as he hit his bed with his fist, before suddenly being quiet, remembering that he actually had suite mates now. Ones that actually slept.
Fucking bullshit. Cheap kill. Jaune grumbled as he pulled the blanket back over his head. Maybe this time he would kill him.
I think the twinblades did really well. Clearly, he is less adept at dealing with a faster pace. B suggested as Jaune descended back into the dream.
"I'll give them another try. If that fails, I'm going with the Nora plan."
A raised an eyebrow, this being the first time he's heard of a "Nora plan". We're breaking his knees? He asked excitedly. Jaune shook his head
"I was thinking just bombing the absolute shit out of the general area." He responded with closed eyes, dropping back to sleep.
Arslan woke up to the sound of someone yelling. Judging by the husky rasp, it was Jaune. "Flashbang Bullshit!" cut through the walls, and a soft thump accompanying it. She raised an eyebrow, looking at the wall they shared. She would see if any more noises came from her unique roommate.
The woods were becoming more familiar than Jaune would have liked. However the Thespian was gone now, no longer at that grove where Jaune had awoken before. He found himself missing the strange merchant, although he would always miss anything that wasn't actively trying to kill him, or someone he could have an actual conversation with.
So Jaune was met only by the rusted knight in their usual grove. The knight let out an exasperated breath in, as though he had just been praying that the dreamer would not come back. Disappointed, the knight just stood up, unsheathing it's very familiar blade once more. Jaune couldn't help but notice that the knight's armor seemed to be cleaner, or at least in better condition. Jaune opened the battle by throwing a pillar of salt at him. It crashed through the canopy, slamming into the knight and plowing through him, burying itself into the soft, well rooted ground. Sent reeling by the blow, the knight tumbled into the ground. Jaune leapt on top of him, dagger in hand as he tried to slip the blade into the chinks of his armor.
Throat, armpit, hips. Throat, armpit, hips, throat, armpit, hips Jaune repeated as he aimed for the weakest, most open chinks in the armor.
The knight grunted, grappling with the dreamer doing his best to push him off. He punched and slapped against Jaune's armor, hitting him with a gauntleted fist as he tried to push him off. His fist met metal repeatedly as Jaune worked his blade, drawing blood from somewhere in the knight's side. The knight twisted as it managed to shake Jaune off him, a familiar glow encasing the blood spatter. Jaune growled as he lunged again aiming for the spot, switching his dagger for the twin scimitars he had used earlier with a simple flick of his wrist. Dancing forward, Jaune threw his blades forward into the knight's recovering side to punish and damage that injured side. The knight backed away, bunkering behind his shield as the glow only just stared to fade.
Huh, interesting. Jaune noted as he dipped under a quick lash of the short blade, managing to slip his own blade to ping against the knight's chestplate. A flow of ice followed his blade, a spear from the ground slamming into the armored man. The pained grunt was one that Jaune reveled in as he was sent spiraling into the edge of the grove. Jaune chased after him, spinning into a whirlwind of twirling strikes that rattled against the gold crested shield. A strong kick ended the chain as the knight tried to lash out again, his blade already expanded by the holy light. Jaune responded by breathing a huge gout of fire at him in response, making space for his temporary retreat.
I wonder if we can cook him inside his own armor, like a clam. A questioned as Jaune dove to the side to avoid the flying sword that came with the leaping strike from the knight. He landed, the ground compacting underneath him into a crater like divot in the ground. Jaune stepped back into the fight as he hacked into the knight's back plate. He arced to the side with a hastily formed wall of gravel and stone to prevent getting hooked in the face by the sharp end of the white kite shield. The gravel wall exploded from the impact, scattering into the pieces it was built out of.
To reveal Jaune holding a very large, very much on fire, hammer. A very large, very much on fire hammer that was swinging at a rapidly increasing velocity. The knight still recovering from the heavy momentum motion could not get up a defense to block it. The hammer made contact with the tarnished chestplate, caving it as the knight was sent flying backwards. He landed roughly on the ground, dragging against the moss as he skidded. Encased in a golden light, the armored man stood up shakily. The dreamer would not let him, reeling back as he hopped up next to him. He was knocked back down with a powerful baseball swing into the knight's shield side. The overhead nearly turned the knight's head into a pancake, but a quick roll away prevented that unfortunate fate. The knight quickly retreated, his ruined lungs and ribcage healing from the terrible damage that taking the burning brunt of a fusion star often did.
The golden glow died as the knight lunged forward, a pained gasp rattling through is body as the blade cut at the dreamer.
A clean cut, it was one that rang true, striking Jaune in the shoulder. He was fortunate that his chestplate turned it to the side, only scratching the armor. The response was to stab forward again with a lunging double thrust. That was answered by the knight just stepping into the thrust, shield bashing the dreamer right in the jaw. Reeling, Jaune staggered to the side as he drunkenly dipped to the side against the short sword.
"Damn you have a mean hook." The dreamer grunted, letting his hammer dissipate as he traded it out for Glassvein and Reeds Regret.
Ye old Faithful. B commented as the dreamer reengaged the knight, the whip tracing a path of darkened purple energy in the air. Hefting Reed's regret, the brightly glowing blade of the tarnished knight was intercepted as Glassvein ripped into the shield arm of his opponent. The knight pushed forward, his blade scraping against the round shield as he tried to find an angle to maim Jaune with it. Jaune on the other hand was trying to rip the knight's arm off. Standing there, shuffling around in place as they grappled and struggled to murder each other. Jaune rammed his knee up into the hard plate of steel that the Knight wore, letting a pillar of earth follow the motion directly into his gut at the force of a slow train. Doubling over from the gut punch, the knight lurched forward into Jaunes hefty shield side side hook. The knight forced himself up straight on wobbly legs, brandishing his hand in front of him, palm outstretched. Jaune raised an eyebrow until he saw it start to glow with holy light. A lot of holy light.
Quickly throwing up a dome of void energy, and a wall of stone behind it just to be safe, the dreamer hunkered down behind his shield.
The blast of light was blinding, but Jaune felt it before he saw it. A pressurized gust of pure power broke through the ward, shattered the stonework, and slammed straight into the foe of the golden light. Jaune could feel his armor grinding against the bumpy, overgrown ground as he skidded across it like a stone on a lake.
"ohhh, what in the dickens?" he groaned, pulling himself up onto his elbows. He saw a figure wreathed in gold light, bent over and breathing heavily.
That's not good, is it? A asked with pursed lips. Jaune shook his head.
Stage two, yay. He groaned with exhaustion. There was a flash of light as the knight jumped forward, basically teleporting with his speed, sword pointed to impale Jaune in the face. It was decades, centuries, seconds of time worth in the dream that had instilled him with the fast reflexes to dip out of the strikes path. He flew a series of blades made out of fire at the knight, the implosions scorching the ground into a black char. Jaune took a breath in, knowing for a fact that it probably didn't even scratch his foe.
He was right when an arch of golden light cut through the smoke. It broke against Jaune's shield but it was only the start of the onslaught. Reeds Regret was punched forward as a forward block against the knight's blade. Glassvein was whipped around to make space, lashing the air around the dreamer. It just skidded across the knight's armor, sparks flashing as he thrusted into Jaune once more. A follow up thrust bounced off the round shield, but the shield arm punch with the moon crested kite shield Jaune had to take in the shoulder. Twisting from the blow as the moment was moved from the shield to the dreamer, Jaune was ill positioned to block the forward stab that went through his gut. A deep crimson hue gushed from him, leaking like a faucet down his greyed mismatched steel.
"Fuck." He spat, falling to the mossy earth as his vision dimmed. Only to wake once more in bed.
"Well, back at it again." He growled, stubbornly wrapping himself back up.
He lost his head the next time, not even pushing the knight to use such a magnificent golden form.
The time after, he tried bombarding the area with magic. It turned out to be ineffective as the tarnished knight quickly found him, hunting him down and slaying him.
Stabbed to death.
Disemboweled.
Head cleaved open from the short sword
Head cleaved open from the shield.
Burned in holy fire
Crucified by holy light.
Stabbed to death. Again.
Legs removed, then beheaded.
Beheaded normally.
The list went on. Sometimes Jaune would push the knight to that second phase, sometimes he wouldn't. But he always died, he always lost. Now, jaune would like to think he wasn't a sore loser, but with all the time in the world and infinite revives, he was allowed to be one stubborn shit.
Technically wouldn't it be a third phase? A asked, picking his teeth. Jaune' raised an eyebrow as he marched through the forest, knowing the path through the whispering woods well at this point.
What do you mean?
A yawned, reaching back into his mouth to scrape at his molars in an uncomfortable manner. Well, Phase one is just him and his sword an shield. He doesn't really do anything with his holy magic. Phase two is when we see him using his golden light to repair and make his sword better. Phase three is the Super Saiyan bullshit.
Jaune just hummed, thinking maybe A was onto something. If only I could see health bars.
If only we could see health bars. B and A lamented, nodding sagely.
"Sup Fuck." Jaune greeted, Glassvein in hand already. The knight looked up at him, his head tilting to the side for a moment before it fell into his hands. A long, warbling groan, distorted from the metal, came from it as he stood.
"Please. For the love of all that is holy. Die." He said, pulling out his sword.
"We've been there, done that already." Jaune sighed, before tossing an underhanded cylinder of tightly wrapped fusion energy. The knight dashed forward, letting it detonate against his armor. Running up behind the smoke it left from burning the ground underneath it, Jaune lunged with Glassvein to repost, flicking the short blade down and following up with one of his shorter blades. Jaune wasn't sure where he picked it up, but it was a straight, thick blade with a simple iron bar as cross guard. That blade found its way into the neck joint of his knightly foe. Staggering back, the knight lashed out with his blade in a wide arc to force Jaune away. Instead, he let it cut through him, dispersing into dried roots and soft moss. Popping up behind him, Jaune rammed the knight through with Glassvein, pushing the serrated longsword through his armored thigh. He was aiming for his lower spine, but a quick twist prevented that timeline from ever happening. Jaune met the counter shield charge with his own shoulder slam. Pushing him off, Jaune had to turn Glassvein into a whip as it swung around. Backstepping, Jaune poked and prodded at the knight, whittling him down as he backed away and tactically retreated. This had become the go to strategy for what A called phase one. Turn Glassvein into a whip and start slapping the knight at range while he was stuck on just a completely normal, unmagical sword and shield branded with the Arc Sigil. Occasionally he could spend the mana for some more offensive spells, but those were more often used in the second and third phases as defensive options. Jump was a life saver.
Ahh, there we are. Jaune noted as the knight held his hand to his side, bathing it in glowing light. He was healing the most recent gash that the dreamer had ripped out of him. Flailing the whip again, infusing it with some essence of lightning, the dreamer whipped it forward into the knight. Unfurling Reeds Regret, Jaune switched Glassvein into its sword form as he prepared for the knight's incoming aggression. The tarnished knight, now almost a pristine white at this point, rushed forward at a surprising pace. Dipping low, the dreamer cut at his legs as the downward chop smacked against the round shield. They bounced off each other, only to engage again in a terrible clash. Glassvein dived down from the overhead only to be met with a strong cross block from a golden light infused blade. Jaune responded by spitting a tennis ball sized rock at him. It made a very satisfying plinking sound against the knight's white helmet. Jaune followed it up by slashing the knight across the chest. The knight backed away for a moment, golden light clearing the damage from the deep scratch. While some saw it as a recovery, Jaune saw it as an opportunity to deal critical damage. He held his hand out, energy gathering into his palm. A small orb of radiant green light began to grow, rapidly inflating to something about the size of a bowling ball, held by the tips of his fingers. He let it go, letting it drift towards the knight at a rapid pace. The knight dashed forward towards Jaune, only to be met by the orb. Which exploded into a vibrant burst of bright green light, letting out a blast of heated air and supercharged ozone. The trees burned as the energy spread out, scorching the very air around it for as far as one could feel. The once green mossen ground was now a soft black, turned into fine ash. Squinting into the residual vapors, Jaune looked for any sign of the knight as the smoke cleared.
"Shucks, he lived." Jaune muttered as he saw something crawl up from the ground. "Time to go again!" He laughed as another orb was being channeled in his palm. The knight started to run forward, stumbling a little bit as he made his way out of the crater. Jaune threw it again, letting it slam into the knight, knocking him into the ground once more.
I now understand why Nora is such a big fan of explosions. B said as Jaune hefted glassvein forward, letting it lash out at the distance. The knight got up again, his entire body shimmering in the golden light that seemed to heal him. Bunkering down behind his shield, the knight made a slow advance towards the dreamer. Jaune began to blast him with his whip and some amount of arcane power occasionally.
"Get, Get!" Jaune yipped as the knight approached, and he backed away. He had died too many times to not be a little cautious. Glassvein lashed forward, plinking away. Alas, the knight ended up faster than Jaune's back tracking, letting the two engage in melee combat again. Glassvein contracted into its sword form as he stabbed into the knight's armor. It tinged off to the side as Jaune stepped over the knight's low cutting slash. He kicked forward, his boot meeting the golden crests with a hefty impact. Reeds Regret forced a wedge between them, the round edge pummeling its way into the side of the knight's helmet. The knight rolled to the side with the blow, dampening the force. Returning the aggression in kind with a forward thrust, Jaune let it bounce off the side of his armor as he danced around the knight. Each step-in tempo came with a slash of glassvein, or a forward push with Reeds Regret. The knight would push back, slamming his own shield into Jaunes, stabbing and cutting away at Jaune's armor, nicking him across the limbs occasionally, like the cold bite of a winter breeze, or a sudden snagging on a thorn.
One two one two one two Jaune counted in his head as they hacked and slashed at each other. Jaune reposted a cut at his head, turning the temple splitting blow into a shoulder piercing thrust. The knight grunted, leaning back as glassvein found it's way through the weaker segmentation of flexible armor and into the softer flesh of the knight. Jaune twisted the blade, lodging it deeper into the bleeding joint.
The white knight howled as he grabbed Glassvein by the blade. He ripped it out of him with a painful squelching sound. Huffing as he reeled from the damage, Jaune decided to use that moment to deck him in the face with his shield. The right hook sent the knight tumbling down onto one knee. Watch was all the knight could do as Jaune manifested a hammer born from stars. Swinging with his full might, the hammer arching low and burning the air as it swung. Like a drive in golf, the hammer gracefully flowed up, sending the knight skyward with it. He flew backwards, landing into the ashen ground with a thud.
Jaune watched him, leaning on his hammer. There's no way that's it, right?
Well if it was, now it isn't. A sighed, shaking his head. You forgot rule one! Never question if the guy is down!
He wasn't disappointed as a geyser of golden light burst from the ground.
Ahh, there we are. Phase three. Jaune smiled. He had actually done rather well so far. He might even go so far as to say he was feeling himself. The knight, empowered with whatever holy power he claimed to have, jumped out at Jaune, brandishing his blade high in the air. Jaune hunched behind his shield, taking the full earth-shattering impact directly. He could feel the ground underneath him collapsing, compressing under the magnified gravity it had to support. Jaune kicked out from under his shield, making enough space to swing his longer sword at it's longest point to maximize the inertia. It chipped against the not Caroca Mors, the clarion clang echoing as Jaune spun to strike again. This time it was met with the blade as the once tarnished knight held his hand out, a glow starting to gather. Rolling down onto his knees, jaune ducked as a shot gun like blast of holy light was put forth. Jaune reached down to touch the ground, bringing new life to the scorched land. Violent life, as grasping roots sprouted, punching through the layer of ash to grip and strangle the white armored knight. Taken aback by the sudden weight on his legs, the knight began to forcefully rip them out of the roots grasp.
It only took a moment, but a moment was all Jaune needed as he leapt upwards from his crouching position. Twin daggered in hand, he thrust them under the helmet of white knight, ramming them through his chin. A waterfall of blood flowed freely down his arms as he did his best to push them deeper. The knight flailed blindly for a bit, reaching out to grab at Jaune's arms. Swinging with a wide right hook that moved at an inhuman speed, he got the dreamer square in the side of the face. The blow sent jaune into the ground, where he got a great view of the knight ripping himself out of the roots. Rolling over to avoid getting his skull caved in he smoothly got onto his feet, flicking a bladed frisbee made out of jagged rime and frost at the knight. It exploded when it hit the knight's shield, covering it and some of his arm in a thick layer of frost. The knight didn't care, rushing forward to bisect the dreamer in half. Jaune quickly pulled out a weapon, a hefty headed spear in this case, as he blocked the blow. The knight's short sword, lengthened and honed by the golden light, pushed against the shaft of the spear. Jaune slammed it down, smashing the butt of the spear into the knight's armored foot. He couldn't tell if the knight could feel the impact, but Jaune was about to give him something he would feel. He punched forward, smacking the knight in the helmet with the upper shaft before pushing off to make space. Leveling the spear at the knight, they stood there for a moment, reconsidering their position.
Having enough peace between them, the knight made a wide arcing slash, the holy light extending out to lick at Jaune from an unnatural range. The chosen counter was to lean back, taking in a deep breath. He rebounded with a powerful step, using the forward momentum to spit out a flurry of snow and ice, pelting the night with the biting cold. The knight was forced into a defensive posture, hiding his eyes behind his shield as the frost built up on his armor. Switching grips into an over headed, spartan form jaune began to stab at the snow-blind knight in a flurry of blows, slamming the tip of the spear to nearly a dull point against the metal plating of dream Caroca Mors and the knight's armor. When the knight managed to shake off the numbing cold and make some form of attack, Jaune caught it by the cross guard. With a rotating, flicking motion using the spear as a guiding pole the blade was pushed down and to the side.
The shield aimed at Jaune's exposed back shoulder was not. Slamming Jaune forward and over to be basically parralel with the ashen dirt, he drove the spear into the ground to act as a leg. It gave him a great view to see the blade's upswing aimed at his neck. He could see the glow of the holy light get brighter as it approached, a gravity defying guillotine that was not, no could not be blocked. It swung through, gracing up into the air as it passed through Jaune's body like butter on a hot day.
But it was not blood that followed the blades arc, but ash. And like sand in an hourglass the body of the dreamer fell apart, becoming a non-descript pile of dark powder, the only indicator that it was once a formidable opponent was the spear sticking out of the ground. The knight straightened up, looking around for his foe. He had done this before and could not be far.
Suddenly a burning, piercing sensation exploded in his chest. The daemon he had been fighting had ended up behind him, and some distance away as a smoldering gun made of pure energy burned in his hand. Another shot ripped a hole in the knight's back, somewhere on the left side of his ribcage. He was already turning to face him, moving at an inhumanly fast pace in what seemed to be slow motion as Jaune shot once more. This one ripped through his knee, causing him to stagger down. He was already being healed, the torn ligaments and cauterized flesh regrowing and restitching themselves together almost to perfection by the time he had taken another step.
Jaune reeled his gun hand back, reforming the solar power into something a little more direct. The handle lengthened as mass was moved to the end of the barrel, the right angle of the firearm straightening out. A hammer was launched at the approaching knight, burning bright with the force of the universal energy that was solar energy.
It struck the knight in the helmet, snapping his head back with an uncomfortable amount of force. Jaune took a wide stance as he reeled his arms back, preparing for a powerful clap. The knight, not to be outdone started to channel his light into Caroca Mors, lashing out as a sweeping arc of gold energy erupted forth, cutting through the air with a piercing whistle. Jaune sprung forward, every muscle in his chest and shoulders forcing his body to snap closed, his hands meeting out in front of him with a sundering clap. The shockwave from such a blow was so strong that he could see the ripples in the air. He could see them race outwards, spreading a streaking starburst pattern in the ashen ground. He could see them clash with the ranged attack of golden light, dispersing as they canceled each other out.
Not done yet, jaune began to mutter under his breath. "And the dark god looked down from his throne, stolen high on heaven, in distain at the man that had dared intrude his territory." He said, gathering mana in between his closed hands. Spreading his middle fingers, the pressure erupted forth as a straight bolt of lightning, shooting faster than any eye could track into the knight. Unable to get his shield up to block the blow fully, it blasted a chunk out of the top, piercing straight through into the knight's breast. Staggering back, the light seemingly running overtime to repair the devastating damage, he felt a strong impact run against his shield. He looked up as a shadow fell over him. Jaune was above him, a wicked looking knife in a reverse grip as he reversed momentum stabbing down at the knight. Hefting his shoulder to put his arm under Jaune's, the attack was blocked. it only made for a blind spot as the knife's twin, an admittedly longer, but less jagged and ridged blade, was stabbed into the white knight's kidney. He howled as he thrashed his sword arm, sending a cut across Jaune's leg that bit deep past the armor. Jaune stabbed at him again, only for the knight to fall back. Pressing his advance, jaune did not let up as he danced around the knight. Stabbing and skidding from left to right he made his craft known, maneuvering into gaps in the knight's' defenses and unattackable positions when there were no gaps to pry open. Jaune's cloak was used to provide a great block, hiding his feet leaving the knight guessing as to where he was going. Thrusting his shield forward, the knight with a burst of golden light sent Jaune backwards. The knight slashed down, cleaving a line clear through Jaune's brow and down to his chest, the holy light shredding his skin and muscle as a clean line from his crown to his hip was drawn in blood. Jaune could only see red out of his left eye, but since he could see he was assuming that it wasn't damaged, although the sting that ran across the entirety of his body was painful. The knight wasn't done, of the movement that Jaune could see approaching him was anything to go by. A cross with the twin knives was quickly thrown up, one that collided with a piercing thrust, one that would have ripped through his lung and collapsed it if it had made contact. Jaune kicked against the knight's shin, popping him into an unbalanced state as he made a full rotation, shifting his weight onto the first leg as he delivered a back kick into the knight's chest, forcing him away. As he did this, he moved his knives into the right hand, slipping an amber colored bottle into the left.
Pop the cork went in between his teeth. He threw the two knives at the knight, tipping his head back as the glass replaced the cork in his jaw. The knives spun over themselves, bouncing upwards as they hit the pristine but scratched kite shield. Jaune rushed forward leaning low, lapping at whatever alcohol sloshed through the opening in the bottle as he caught the knives before they hit the ground. Another swift arcing strike upwards was blocked by a horizonal short blade. Jaune continued to hack and slash, ignoring the burning churning as he lost blood, or that strange fuzzy sensation that came with the health booze doing it's job. Jaune lodged a knife into the gap where the piercing ray blasted a weakness into the shield with a downward hack, leaving his right empty and by his side as he drove the left forward. Jaune opened his mouth, dropping the glass bottle in his jaw down to his awaiting right hand. Swinging upwards, he slammed the glass bottle full of ethanol into the knight's helmet, dousing him in the tainting liquor.
The knight sputtered, shaking the wet off him as Jaune brought a welling fire up from his stomach. Breathing like a dragon, a great blaze escaped his mouth as it washed over the knight, scorching his white armor. The knight immediately backed away, crouching down behind his shield as was ignited, the alcoholic fuel burning on his head and shoulders. Jaune pulled out glassvein to fill his empty hand, flicking it's segmented length at the knight's legs. Pulling, the knight toppled to the ground with a soft puff, sending ash into the air. The dreamer lunged as the knife in his left was replaced with a one-handed ax. He slammed it down, hacking away into the knight's raised shield, a futile effort to remove him. Glassvein was dropped in order to get more leverage, two hands pressing down into the splintering crack of Caroca Mors. The knight grunted, thrashing and turning as the head of the ax pressed closer, the strength of either the shield or the knight's arm failing.
With one final great heave, the knight grappled Jaune off, wrapping up and over onto him so that he was the one ontop, bearing down on the dreamer. Jaune made a two fingered motion in the right hand, his arm swinging across the short space between them from right to left. A pillar of stone followed suit, shooting from the earth at a thirty degree angle into the knight's side, cannonading him off the dreamer and into the ground. A quick sharp whistle was let out as Jaune laid there for a moment. The knight struggled up onto his hands and knees, the evidence of his scorching pain and visible. He was knocked back into the ground as a pillar of salt, one the size of an office trashcan, was dropped from orbit onto him. Jaune pulled himself up in a sit up motion, and the knight got back onto his hands and knees. He saw Jaune stand up, and launched himself forward like a rabid dog, colliding right into Jaune's leg joints and sending him back into the ground. Clambering over him, the knight was unarmed, so he would turn his arms into his weapons. Gauntleted fists rammed and battered against Jaune as the two grappled in the ash. Jaune threw a fistful of the black powder into the knight's face, using the opportunity to sock him in the jaw as his legs kicked and buckled against the knight. The knight was seemingly unimpeded. He managed to climb up Jaune, wrapping his hefty hands around Jaune's throat. He began to constrict his hands, choking Jaune as he pushed down onto the dreamer's trachea. He could feel his throat collapsing. Jaune punched at the knight, feeling the oxygen in his body start to fail. Choking in an unbecoming manner, Jaune struggled as his brain started to shut down.
Damn it, I'm going to die. Again. He grumbled mentally as he felt around for something, anything. Alas, his hand kept on gripping nothing but ash.
Aww, fuck, as we were doing so well too. A muttered as the golden light that filled their vision from the knight's regaining started to fade and the pressure mounted. Not because the knight was done healing, but rather because Jaune' eyes were shutting down.
B pinched his nose. Just punch him really hard in the face!
Jaune frowned, not sure if that would work. Eh, I've got no better plan. He mused as he shot his hand forward, clubbing the knight in the back of the head. Surprised more than anything else, the knight let up for a moment as he raised a hand to bat the dreamer's fist away.
A crucial mistake.
"uahhhh!" Jaune gasped, taking in a breath of fresh oxygen. His other hand shot forward in another cross hook, this one stronger and better aimed than the last. Only lightly concussed, the knight tried to wrap its hands around Jaune's neck again, intent on snapping it. Jaune didn't have any of that. He grabbed the knight by the head, slamming his face into a root. It was brittle and burnt and dead, but it was hard. And that was enough. Jaune scrambled forward, grabbing his ax and quickly turning, slamming it into the knight. It hit him in the leg, cutting deep and clearly past whatever bones were in there.
I'm pretty sure it's the femur you cut split, Jaune. B said as Jaune hefted the ax again, slamming this one higher up. The knight's wounds still glowed gold but being rendered immobile meant that any damage jaune could do would outpace the healing the knight could do. He hacked his way up, working through the knight's lower abdomen and into his back. With a particularly deep cut, the pull back flipped him over onto his back, so that he could face the unstoppable, undying demon that was Jaune Arcana, the dreamer. He was panting, bloody, and exhausted. A bloodstained ax held in both hands. He dripped ruby and turquoise and azure and gold and silver and mercury and all other precious stones as they ran rivers down his leg. His piercing blue grey eyes stared, wide and spiked with adrenaline as heat poured off of him. The knight knew he was a demon, and he knew he was death.
The knight held his hands up in front of him, a feeble attempt at either asking for mercy or protecting himself. It didn't matter.
The next blow took his head off, it rolling to the side as the root acted as a ramp for it to slide off. Jaune let out a sigh of relief as the glow stopped, and the knight seemed to deflate a little, collapsing once the empowering light left him.
He reached for the knight's head, the helmet still attached. Pulling it off, he looked at the face of the man that had caused him so much strife and trouble.
"oh, that's fucked." He said, not believing his eyes.
Piercing blue eyes, any light now lost, looking into the void beyond. A mop of shaggy blonde hair on a noticeably strong Orleanian face. High cheekbones, a straight, pyramidal nose with a pointed chin. Rounded, oval eyes almost the shape of almonds. It was like a mirror. A mirror into another world, another life, perhaps another chance.
"Unwanted
Murderer
Blasphemer
Stranger
Cursed
Stranger
King Uncrowned"The voices called, their whispered louder in the silence without battle.
"That's fucked up." Jaune said, dropping the decapitated head onto the ground. "What the fuck?" he shook his head, still looking at the head he had dropped. "God I hate this place."
Another chapter done! Whooo! I felt it was too long since we had a good fight in the dream, and I've been stewing on this fight for a while. One more chapter in the dream, or at least one more stint before we officially start at the beginning of the beacon tournament arc. or at least the Haven students start. I know I fucked up the timeline last time, but we're doing a redo on it so that it still happens at least event wise in the show. I'm asking that it's ignored that the train attack into Vale already happened in this story some 40? 30? many chapters ago. I mean it's fanfiction, and we're not following cannon so I guess it really doesn't matter.
For anyone confused from last chapter, the tree was the place where a god ascended from humanity to godhood and walked up to heaven. Hence it being a chain from heaven to the Dream's earth/ map area. This chapter, namely this fight, is also rather important for moving the dream plot forward. I've admittedly had to cut out some bosses (Jaune was going to fight the dude who made the womb in the tower in the Mountain, and there was a whole desert, mummy focused section in the east that we're ignoring entirely. In other news, jaune was supposed to see a fully grown angel in the sea. angels from the dream are soo freaking cool. I'm a little sad it'll never happen. something for Jaune arc's multiverse I guess.) to streamline the dream plot. But I'm still happy with it.
As always, thank you for sticking with me and reading this through. Thank you for being here, and I cannot encourage you more to go out and write something.