Jaune supposed that if the world wanted to be stereotypical, it would be raining right now. Thankfully it wasn't, and it left Bolin's signature sandal print. It was dark and late, leaving very little in the form of people or animals to intrude on his tracking. The trail was relatively unblemished, but was several minutes dry. Less than an hour, for sure. It snaked through the town, scuffed with stomp marks. Jaune couldn't help but ponder the petulance of this dude. He really hoped that he didn't go far, but as the trail lengthed that hope dwindled. Jaune looked at the trail before him, forebodingly leading to the mountains they had returned from. Letting out a large huff through his nose. "You're shitting me." He growled under his breath. Plunging into the hills, he continued his path.
Oh, god, Dr. Cortez is going to have our heads on a pike after this, isn't he? A asked, rather concerned. Jaune sighed, knowing that the doctor would throw a hissy fit once he discovered that not one, but two students went out on their own with a freaking murderer on the loose. But he needed to move to find the lost monk before something less savory found him, and Jaune was not exactly at the top of savory characters one could bump into. He passed through the shrubbery, side cutting though the rocky hills. He was deep into the hills at this point, the moonlight marking the path he would take. There was a series of sharp popping sounds in the distance. Jaune bit his inner lip, cursing on his tongue. "FUCK!" He bit the air, looking in the direction of the sound. That was most certainly gunfire, and probably meant nothing good. The rapidfire profile of the sound indicated that it was not being used by a civilian.
If there isn't a second shot, we don't have to check it. B said flatly, his hands making a flat horizontal movement. If they're already dead, it's not our problem.
Jaune gave it a moment, closing his eyes and listening for another fateful blast. He was unfortunate, as another series of bursts went off.
"You… you son of a bitch." he cursed under his breath. "You just had to test me." Moving forward through the woods, the ranger beelined his way to the sounds of gunfire. He dashed past trees and straight through thickets, running at a pace that would have anyone else sending echoes through the woodlands. Not Jaune though. Never Jaune, anymore. He didn't have footsteps, that part of him stolen away some unknown time ago. When did I lose my footsteps? Jaune asked himself. He forgot when he was made aware of it, but it was Nadir that informed him when they met for a board game. Jaune had apparently gotten into the habit of sneaking up on the early arriving huntsman, startling him more often than he intended.
"It's like you don't even make foot noises," he swore. So they tested it by having Jaune walk, stroll, pace, run, and even jump in the tiled Haven hallways. The first several tests yielded no sounds, and only jumping seemed to create anything noticeable. Nadir inquired as to how Jaune did it.
"Uhhh, semblance?" Jaune shrugged, eyes looking to the side for some imaginary cue card. The pink haired man nodded, muttering something about gravity dust. Jaune to this day has no idea what Nadir was talking about.
Regardless, Jaune had made it to the place where the sound had come from. It was at the lip of a hill, packed with clay, sloping down into a gravelly bowl. At its bottom was a bleeding blur of blue being assaulted by some scorpion faunus.
"Of course it's Bolin. Why would it not be Bolin?" he grumbled, making his way down. "HELLO!"
The two dueling men stopped, turning to look up at Jaune. He gave them a wave, carefully picking his way down. "Just, just one moment. This hill's tricky."
'Wh-what the hell are you doing here?" Bolin grunted, wheezing in a quite terrible manner. Jaune gave him a level glare.
"Because you are a stupid motherfucker." Jaune rolled his eyes, stepping forward between the two bewildered men. "Now, If you will excuse me, I have to escort my fellow here back." The ranger forced his best smile, turned around. He noticed that there was a puncture wound, which was spewing blood rather profusely. Ohh, that's not good. Jaune thought to himself.
B nodded. I'll bet you good money it's been poisoned by that tail.
I would not take you up on that bet. Jaune rolled his eyes, putting a hand on Bolin's shoulder, steadying him as best he could. He could hear the shift of the gravel under the scorpion's feet. The assailant broke into a mad sprint, a grin spreading over his face. He revealed that he got to destroy not only one foolish huntsman, but apparently was getting a two for one deal! How fortuitous of him! The cloaked one twitched, shifting his weight on his feet. Tyrian skidded to a stop, throwing his mass backwards as the ranger exploded in movement, widely swinging an oversized maul in a wide warding arc. It collided with the gravel, sending a shotgun blast of small stones into the claylined hillside. Tyrian gave him a quick once over, reevaluating this strange huntsman. He clearly was a little better than the serial killer gave him credit for, but he couldn't have been that powerful. The two sized each other up for a moment, like they were in some kind of western. Jaune could feel his muscles tense, itching to feel alive once more. The ranger just wished that he didn't have Bolin here. Having someone that he had to worry about added a dimension that he wasn't used to dealing with.
"How are you holding up?" Jaune asked Bolin's reliability. He just kind of swayed on his feet for a moment, wheezing out his answer.
"I'm fine. I didn't need you- cough- butting in." he managed to get out. Jaune pursed his lips slightly, watching Bolin, who proceeded to immediately fall to his knees and vomit a thick red substance that was probably blood.
"Yeah, you're not fooling anyone, bud." He said finally, clapping his knuckles together like he was trying to start a fire with stones. Small bits of purple spheres flickered into formation, like he was pulling apart a perfect hole in space. On the third clackening, the Ward of Dawn was thrown up with a wide motion. Jaune gave it a look, swiveling his head to get every angle. Satisfied with his work, he knelt down by Bolin. Pulling at the back of his mind, he focused on the threads made of dark bandage weave and pure ethanol. "Alright, let's get to work, shall we?" He asked himself, cracking his knuckles. With a quick shove Bolin was turned into a turtle, incapacitated on his back. Immediately, Jaune started removing the various layers of Bolin's hori and other monk vestments that were obstructing the operation site. Bolin batted away his hand as best he could.
"What do you think you're doing?" he snapped at Jaune. He just gave the man, bleeding on the ground, a rather unimpressed look.
"Alright. I'll just leave you to die then. One less thing to worry about, eh?" Jaune snipped at him. Bolin gave him another ineffective glare.
"You bitch."
Jaune tisked again, basically ripping off the layers of clothing to reveal a nasty, purple viened and darkened hole in the monk's side.
"Wrong again, Bolin." He said, rummaging through his bag. "That's my sister." If I had to guess, it is a poison judging from the unnatural discoloration, acidic and fetid smell, and immense swelling of the area.
Or, you know, because we're fighting a scorpion. B pointed out, jerking his head to the side where said madman was tapping on the void formed sphere. He flicked his finger back, apparently not agreeing with the composition of the Ward of Dawn.
Jaune gave B a deathly over the shoulder glare. Sush, I'm Sherlock Holmsing. He said, unraveling the black medicinal gauze in his mind, picking through bits of feelings and memories like it was a genome until he found something that felt right. Alcohol can denature proteins. Poison, on the other hand, is often a complex collection of mucopolysaccharides, hyaluronidase, protease inhibitors, and histamine. Among other things. Of those listed, Most of the Mucopolysaccharides, hyaluronidase, and some of the other things can be precipitated out or denatured through exposure to ethanol and isopropyl alcohols. He already had a bottle in hand, uncorking it almost effortlessly. I just hope it's enough to render the stuff useless. He took a quick swig from the bottle, taking a moment to enjoy the bittered burning taste of rye, before jamming the bottle into the puncture wound. Bolin choked on air at the sudden sensation of having his body be flooded with alcoholic drinks.
"What the fuck-!" Bolin cursed at Jaune, moving to get up. Jaune didn't even react, just holding hand out to push him back down. I'm more worried about the various toxins in his system. Those are often a little harder to remove… The rangers lips pursed, his eyes peering over the subdimensional etherealized plague mask he had manifested. With a shrug, he picked up a palm sized pebble, inspecting it over.
Will this work? A asked. I mean, this is untested territory for us. Sure, these things work in the dream… but here? In the waking world? It was a serious question.
Welp, no time like the present. Jaune said, pressing the rock into the bloody pools. "It was Cabel who found stone. On Exodus, cast away from the good men of Orzogh, he came upon a great swelling of earth. The First mountain, placed by the god Bakar to guide him. It was stone that washed away Cabel's curse, the mountain's wash rubbing away his gangrenous sickness." He chanted, the rock vibrating slightly in his hand, the gray stone turning black as it drew in the chemical toxins that were in Bolin's body. Jaune leaned away, looking over his work. The blue themed man's breathing had steadied out. The ranger stood up, looking at the pacing scorpion faunus.
"I do apologize for keeping you waiting, sir. But as you can see, I was a little busy." Jaune said, wiping his hands clean of any blood. The scorpion faunus tilted his head at the ranger, somewhere between exalted and stunned.
"How… interesting." the deranged man said, drawing the words out as he tilted his head. Jaune stepped out of the ward of dawn, Glassvain at his side and Reed's Regret open and unfurled. The two squared off, facing each other. They didn't for long, as Tyrian apparently had little patience for such a thing. He darted forward, his tail leading the charge. The ranger flicked his whip sword up, snapping up under the scorpion's low forward stance. Glassvain snapped at the scorpion faunus, but was reposted with said faunus's tail. It dipped forward at Jaune, but was batted away by his shield. Glassvain retracted into its solid blade with a series of swift, sharp clicking sounds, and thrust forward. Tyrian's vambrace mounted weaponry pushed it to the side, sending off a shower of sparks. His tail darted down again, striking Jaune in the back. It bounced off of the steel plating, unable to pierce the hardened metal. Not going to miss such an egregious overextension, Jaune reposted. Leveling his sword, Jaune thrust forward with reckless power, fully intending to run his aggressor through with the blade. Purple aura flashed as a stab that would have run through ribs, the lefthand lung, and an artery was forced aside by the inherent magical power of the soul. Tyrian made a surprised grunt, not expected to be rebuffed like this. He stepped back, giving the ranger a slap to the side as he dipped out of range. Jaune could feel a kind of nauseating wave wash over him.
Must be his semblance. Jaune thought, critically analyzing the feeling. B ran a quick check of Jaune's senses, and found them satisfactory.
It will not affect combat capacity. He informed the dreamer. Let's rip him apart! Jaune was inclined to agree, a small smile spreading on his face. He lunged forward, a quick jump and slash to not let off the pressure on his combatant. It was blocked by another one of those arm blades, but the force behind the impact almost broke the madman's stance. Advancing with immense aggression, the ranger thrust his shield forward in a punch that could decapitate the average man. Tyrian ducked underneath it, cakeling as he leveled his wrist mounted guns at point blank range. He unloaded his clips into the ranger, punching through armor and battering against the thick padding Jaune wore underneath. He coughed, his ribs getting punched by the impact. Without a moment to spare, Tyrian snapped his leg, kicking Jaune in the jaw. Stumbling back, Jaune forced his shield in between him and Tyrian's followup stab at his kidneys. The tail struck again, this time aiming to take out Jaune's eye. The ranger's response was to roll in between their legs, wrapping Glassvain around his ankle as he passed through. Getting onto his knees, Jaune gave a full bodied pull. Tyrian squealed as he was pulled to the ground, tripping over the bladed wire. Pouring his magic into the earth, Jaune forced a boil of earth to swell underneath his foes face, fully intending to shotgun the flesh off.
Tyrian pulled himself off the ground shaking his head clear of the sand and gravel. Looking at the sudden wetness underneath his nose, he quickly realized that something was wrong. He rolled to the side, letting the geyser explode without much effect beyond getting the faunus rather wet. The sopping man smacked at his tied up ankles, unbinding them from Glassvain's serrated threading. The other hand leveled itself in Jaune's direction, automatically loading a clip. A rapid series of covering fire was shot off at Jaune's general discretion. The ranger hunkered down behind his shield, letting the bullets bounce off the dream wrought metal. With a click of both mouth and button, glassvain was transformed back into its sword form. Tyrian jumped up into his feet, a broad smile on his face.
"You-you-you." He listed off, each word coming with a ticking tilt of his head. "You're something special, aren't you?"
Jaune shrugged, as though he was being asked about his preferred mode of transportation. "I don't think so. Plenty of skilled people in the world, far better than I am. No reason for me to be special." he admitted, plying his foe with light banter. He bought time as best he could, letting himself channel the fiery powers he had learned over his time in the dream. The power, flowing like lava, bled into his blade. Tyrian was completely unaware as to what Jaune was channeling, but charged.
'"I wouldn't sell yourself short!" the madman cackled, apparently finding something rather amusing. "Because without your legs, you'll be short enough!" Jaune did his best to not roll his eyes at the less than par quib, but he was in a fight. With a low vertical uppercut, Jaune swug the power spread through the sword. It coalesced at the tip, being condensed and focused into a concentrated blast of heat filled magma. The sweeping lash of solar energy lept from the blade, licking along the ground. The scorpion faunus was shocked for a moment, but decided quickly that he would have to roll with the punches as best he could. Doding to the side, he let the flame bypass him completely. The ranger unleashed another lash, doing his best to catch the mad faunus. This one was dodged as well, letting the faunus advance to be dangerously close. Desperate, Jaune let out a third lash. Tyrian dipped to the side, also managing to dodge this one. With a final lung, the scorpion fully closed in. His two pincer-like blades broke into the caster's armor, biting deep into his organs that would normally be protected by his ribs. The lengthened curved blades were designed for such a purpose after all. Jaune was stunned, looking up at his killer's face with eyed eyes. Tyrian smiled, chuckling to himself as the eyes turned glassy.
Clink. Ckink. The soft sound of falling pebbles gained the man's attention. He looked down on his hands, where the steel plating was dissolving into pebbles indistinguishable from the ones he stood on. Tyrian looked frantically at the statue he had just stabbed, trying to figure out what had happened. He looked at the face, which was rapidly loosing color and turning stone grey, crumbling. A warm underglow broke through the rocky surface. Tyrian's eyes widened as a flaming hammer burst through the head of the sculpture, smashing into the surprised faunus. The hammer knocked him to the ground. Jaune was there behind the statue, smoke coming off his hands.
"WHAT?!" Tyrian yelled, stunned and annoyed. "I stabbed you! I stabbed you, I stabbed you I stabbed you!" He sounded like a petulant child. His tone suddenly became much more serious. "I'll make you BLEED in the name of the goddess!"
Jaune shook his head. "No thanks. Was already religious once." Tyrian seemed to take particular offense at that, rushing forward. Jaune threw a knife at him, giving him time to pull out some long knives. The two clashed sparks flying as they ducked, dashed, hacked, dodged and slashed at each other. It was clear that anyone that dared to get close would become instant salami meat. Sparks flew as Jaune matched Tyrian's impressive speed with three limbs, whipping his head like a boxer around those quick stabs with the tail. Getting frustrated with the lack of pain he was inflicting, he went for a hard kick to the legs. It toppled Jaune, sending him to his back.
Jaune had to give it to his foe. He was physically stronger, and maybe even faster than he himself. The only real reason he hadn't been nicked yet, despite his unusual lack of aura, was because of Tyrian's rather simple, but dizzying, attack pattern. He liked leading with the right to be followed by the left or a strike with the tail. Lots of spinning around in circles, getting a full force swing with each rotation. The issue was in the fact that the scorpion faunus was still subject to the laws of momentum, giving Jaune the ability to predict rather easily where the next attack was coming.
Leaping forward, Tyrian spun in the air, descending like a hawk. Jaune thought about the predicament he was in. Fighting against an opponent who was stronger, faster, and more experienced than him with a powerful poison. He was on the back foot, on his back, and on the ground.
But there was something that Jaune had over the scorpion faunus. He, unlike the madman raving about some violent sounding goddess, could breathe fire among other things. Jaune clapped his knives together, slamming two pillars of stone colliding in front of him. It made a solid tent-like structure that Tyrian crashed upon. He snarled, more enraged than confused as to Jaune's blatant denial of natural law. He spat out a curse, telling Jaune that it was going to be an honor dying in the name of the Goddess, so why not accept his fate? Jaune took in a deep breath, letting the burning mana build in his core, fueling it so that it burned like plasma in his stomach. It belched up, filling Jaune's mouth and making it puff up like a frog's might. Tyrian was confused, and then ate an entire bout of dragon fire to the face. Blinking, his face covered in black soot, his eyes being the only visible thing. Jaune lunged at Tyrian, who just jumped back. The ranger did the same, taking a moment to get back on his feet. Jaune was breathing heavily, his posture a little sloped from the most recent scramble the two had. "You…" He whispered at the scorpion faunus, his voice carrying past the usual distance a whisper did. Jaune could feel his heart beat in his chest, his blood pumping with power and adrenaline. He was breathing, He was alive. "You are by far, the best foe I have faced on this good earth!" His voice raised into a cankerous laugh. "Now come! I am starting to feel something I have not in a long, long time!"
Tyrian blinked, before a wide smile on his face broke out. The two dashed toward each other, colliding in a shower of sparks. Jaune's knives licked out, his swift, precise style a dichotomy to the scorpion faunus wild swinging. He felt a stray swipe crack at his vambrace, and the tail smacked into his chest. The trade was Jaune managed to cut down the purple aura, whittling it with pokes and stabs. Tyrian swiped at his face, which Jaune blocked with his vambrace. He countered by punching at his foe's face. Backstepping, he smacked at Jaune with a two handed overhead slash. Jaune raised his vambrace to block. There was a sharp screech-like shearing sound as the vambrace was cut through, biting into Jaune's flesh. He could feel the burning flesh drip wet. Jaune kept on moving, the pain of the cut spurring him on, reminding him that he was here, awake, alive. It was an exhillerating thrill for someone who found no difference in dream or waken sleep. He wrenched his arm out, stepping back and drawing one half of Krabkracker.
Awe, shit. B thought. That's going to leave a mark.
A's brow furrowed, looking down out of the corner of Jaune's eye at his bleeding arm. Is our blood supposed to be disco flavored?
Jaune stopped in his tracks, suddenly not paying attention to a rather confused looking scorpion. He looked down, holding up his bleeding limb to get a better look at it. His blood wasn't red, but instead a myriad of shifting, glowing, luminescent colors that dripped with a consistency similar to magma, or perhaps a thickened wine sauce, down his arm. The further it went from Jaune, the color and darker it became, becoming a mostly solid coagulation of blackened mass by the time it dripped off his elbow.
"What the fuck?" Jaune asked himself, now very confused.
"What in the name of the Goddess?" Tyrian gasped, less so concerned and more so utterly bewildered. The arkenstone bright liquid continued to fall, bathing the world in dreamborn starlight.
Well, it is done. Another chapter out, with the first half of Jaune's fight against Tyrian. It's been too long since I've had an excuse to write a fully battle operational Jaune at peak performance. Next chapter will be the second half of this fight, and hopefully will go as off the walls as I want it. But any chapter I write that has me googling whether or not alcohol can denature scorpion venom: the answer is kind of? No one's really tried, but in theory Ethanol can denature certain chemicals in scorpion vemon.
I'm thinking chapter after next we will go back into the dream and hopefully unveil another clue behind it. I would love to see someone's Tinfoil hat theories about this story, just to see how other people interperate all the bullshit this story is. Speaking of which, Jaune bleeds differently now! Why? If you've been paying attention you might know!
Not a lot of commentary this chapter, because it's mostly just a big fight.