RWBY: LUCID

Jaune stared at the system window still that was flickering in front of his eyes. Its red text seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. He had now received another ten runes after downing the creature. It was quite a narrow victory.

He should've felt triumphant. Happy, even.

But all Jaune felt, was exposed.

A shiver crawled up his spine as his eyes darted around the open, ruined streets. The broken asphalt, rusted cars, and deathly silence in the air.

Anything could be watching. Anything could be waiting.

'I'm a target out here,' he thought grimly.

With a low grunt, he pushed himself up, forcing his tired legs into motion and retrieved his bloodied bat from where it had slipped from his grasp. His fingers curled tightly around the handle, reassured by its weight.

There was no time to rest for the wicked. Not that he was wicked, of course.

He jogged quietly towards what used to be his house, only slowing when he really saw what was left of it.

The place was, in short, a wreck.

The front entrance had been demolished and what had once been a doorway was now a gaping hole. Plaster crumbled from the ceiling and the kitchen looked like a piggy hurricane had torn through it. Debris and broken cabinets littered the floor. Even the hallway seemed to sag a little, as if the house had almost given up holding itself together. 

Jaune stopped at the edge of the porch, bat resting against his shoulder.

"This place isn't gonna protect me from anything anymore," he muttered. "Might as well pitch a tent in the middle of the street."

He turned, eyes scanning the nearest intact house.

It stood just next to his, in the same state of abandonment his had been, but untouched by boar-shaped war beasts. Jaune stared for a long moment, then exhaled slowly.

"…Sorry," he whispered. "Gonna have to borrow your walls for protection."

He approached quickly and tried the front door.

Locked.

Of course.

He stepped back, lifted his bat, and swung.

CRACK!

The bat struck the window next to it. Dust and grime gave way to splintered glass, which rained down inside like shattered ice. The crash echoed sharply too.

Loud in a place where silence reigned.

Jaune winced. "Well, if anything didn't know I was here… it does now."

He swept the bat carefully around the window frame, knocking off stubborn shards of glass still clinging to the edge. Once satisfied, he slung himself through the window and dropped into the living room with a grunt.

His arms trembled and his body screamed from exertion, but he was in.

Still gripping the bat tightly, he crept through the house with quick and purposeful steps. His eyes darted to every shadow in the hallway. He had noticed that the floor was creaked beneath his steps and the closet door leaned open. There was nothing inside but dust and rusted , metal hangers.

He checked the bathroom and even the bedrooms. No weird creatures nor were there any people either.

Just empty silence and dead air. 

Typical.

When he was sure the house was vacant, Jaune sagged against the wall and let out a breath.

"Clear," he murmured. "Good enough."

He stepped back into the living room and his gaze fell on a nearby couch—only to find it shredded and broken, more springs than cushion. It looked like something had nested in it, then fought the furniture afterwards.

He sighed.

He dropped to the floor beside it, groaning as he stretched his legs out and placed the bat across his lap. The cool wood floor pressed against his back as he stared up at the dilapidated ceiling.

He called upon the system screen and stared at it. It seemed to wait for him patiently, red and unwavering.

As much as he would have liked to ignore it, was irresponsible of him to do so.

Jaune let his head rest against the wall, eyes open but unfocused as he stared across the ruined living room and recalled the odd disintegration of the boarbatusk.

Black ash and dust.

"Whatever those monsters were made of, it wasn't anything natural."

His fingers tightened around the handle.

"That fight almost went sideways. Again." Jaune breathed out, licking his dry lips.

He assessed his injuries, glancing at his arms and legs. Fortunately, it only looked as if he had scrapped and bruised himself. While they stung, they weren't particularly debilitating to him.

He thought back to the fight.

The boar's charge and its whirling saw-blade spin. The way it had barreled through his shitty trap like it was made of pillows instead of furniture.

The couch had slowed it down, sure. Blinded it, even. But that hadn't been enough.

"How did it know where I was hiding?" he questioned aloud. Jaune had been pretty certain that when he first saw the creature, he had been hiding behind that car perfectly. It shouldn't have been able to see him at all.

He narrowed his eyes, brow furrowing as he dug through the memories. The way it turned its head. The sharp twist of its masked face in his direction. It hadn't just seen him—it had sensed him.

Just like that Beowolf.

The wolf had smashed through his bedroom window back then. It hadn't prowled the stairs nor did it sniff him out from room to room like a bloodhound. Well, it did, but the moment he had left his house, it had leapt straight through the second-floor wall like it knew exactly where he was.

"But that window was coated in dust grime, practically opaque." Jaune murmured. "There's no way it saw me. Not unless it was psychic or something."

Same with the boar.

The second he'd tried to catch his breath, it was like a switch flipped. The thing had looked up and had turned toward him. It had pawed the ground and launched itself forward like a demonized GPS.

"They've got some kind of supernatural detection," he said slowly. "Not sight or sound but something else."

It reminded him of the abilities from those fantasy novels he had read when he was younger—life perception. Monsters or mages who could feel living things through the ether or aura of the world, extending their senses beyond normal limits.

"Is that what they're doing?" he wondered aloud. "Sensing my life force, or soul force or something?"

He frowned and drummed his fingers against the bat absently.

That would explain a lot. But it didn't explain everything.

Like why the beowolf hadn't gone straight to his room, the last time it came prowling up the stairs in his house. It had first searched the upstairs bathroom and he had even successfully distracted it by throwing a piece of wood at his dads door which was what had even allowed him to escape in the first place.

That must mean there was some type of range limitation of sorts. Perhaps it was general direction sensing rather than accurate pin-point sensing.

Either way. It was bad news for him. Because Jaune realized that he wouldn't be able to hide if they were to come after him.

He wondered what those creatures really were.

Why they were here in the first place and why was the neighborhood and possibly even the entire city, in ruins?

He exhaled slowly and pulled the system screen back up with a thought. The crimson glow lit his tired face, casting deep shadows across his features.

.

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[Rank 0 beast, Boarbatusk, slain]

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Rank 0.

Just like the Beowolf.

That wasn't comforting.

If these things were entry-level nightmares… then what the hell did a Rank 1 creature look like? Or Rank 2, or 3? Hell, how many ranks were there?

More importantly, how many types were out there?

A wolf and a boar. Both twisted and corrupted, exaggerated into monstrous things from old folk legends. They didn't seem like they were random—no, there was a theme here. Animals. Or… at least, a reflection of animals.

"So… what next?" Jaune asked softly. "Nightmare deer? Shadow bears? A horse made of smoke and teeth?"

The possibilities made his skin crawl.

His eyes drifted toward the window he'd entered from. The wind outside had gone still again. Nothing moved. There were no hoofbeats, distant howls or any other harrowing sounds. Just the red haze leaking from the shattered moon above, staining the sky like blood in water.

He should've felt safe here.

But instead…

"Where did the Beowolf go?" he asked the empty room.

It hadn't shown up again.

It hadn't reset like the house or the bat or anything else. If this really was a time loop—like he'd theorized earlier—then shouldn't he be dealing with it again? Shouldn't it have crashed through some other wall and come hunting for him too?

Unless… this wasn't a loop at all.

Or it was, but with certain conditions. Variables. Shifting threats?

In any case, it meant that Jaune couldn't rely on set a pattern. He couldn't assume that surviving once meant safety the next time. The nightmare didn't play fair. It adapted and seemingly reacted to him.

'Or it was designed that way on purpose?'

Jaune didn't know and the thought chilled him more than the still air could.

Jaune leaned his head back against the wall once again and stared at the cracked ceiling, trying to make sense of it all. His body still ached and his arms were felt like they were starting to seize with fatigue. His ribs throbbed slightly too, every time he took a deep breath. The good news however, was that he felt his stamina start to come back.

And with its return, he pushed away all those excess thoughts in his head because now he had an important decision to make. And that decision was where to allocate his runes.

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[Jaune Arc]

[Rank: 0]

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Aura: 0

Will: 0

Body: 0

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Runes: 19

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