Lord of the Lost: (A Tera/RWBY Crossover)

[Stimpak Medic]

"Feel, feel, I say - feel for all you're worth, and even if it half kills you, for that is the only way to live"

― Henry James

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Prologue

The morning rays of summer sun strongly warmed Jaune's face as he rolled over on his cotton bed, his red blanket lay rolled around his waist, giving way to his muscular torso and corded arms. He yawned, stretching his arms. It felt good, and he continued to do so for several more seconds. Only then did he open his eyes.

Almost instantly he took a sharp breath and looked around nervously. This wasn't the bed he fell asleep on. He had just spent his first day with his new team at Beacon and fell asleep after the traumatic experiences he had faced, and now it seemed that he had faced another even more traumatic experience.

He had been kidnapped!

Except he wasn't chained or restrained in any manner, and he could see Crocea Mors right resting against the base of a dresser a few feet to his left. The blade looked in good condition, and his shield was in no less of quality.

Looking down at his bare chest, he was quite firmly muscled, and he seemed to be a good four inches taller just from first inspection.

Something was very wrong.

Pulling off the blanket, he found nothing but a pair of boxers on, being blue plaid. Next to a wardrobe made of redwood, he saw resting on a desk made of the same wood, a silver stand-mirror in which he rose and walked over to, looking at his face with trepidation. Thankfully, it was very much him, but perhaps five or six years older, as if he had aged significantly in his sleep.

Rightfully, this was all quite frightening.

Only then did he hear the sea far off in the distance, and the vigorous calls of seagulls in the air.

He searched the room for his scroll, or any other identification, but other than his weapon and boxers, there was nothing connecting him to Beacon. However, in his search he did find some clothes, and a chainmail shirt of dark gray metal that he could not identify. Deciding to put on the clothes, which consisted of a dark blue shirt with blue strings to tie around the neck, along with gray cloth pants. He had brown leather steel toed boots that he put on over a cotton pair of socks.

There was no bathroom or shower he could find unfortunately, so he had to go without a morning shower. Picking up Crocea Mors and his shield, he made his way out of his small house to what opened up in front of him as a small town. However, his eyes were drawn to what loomed above. It was fantastic, something out of a dream or novel.

It was a massive white tree that stretched two miles up into the sky, with it's massive branches as large as small villages themselves, glowing with purple and blue energy veins that extended and pulsed as if they caried blood within them. The huge roots stretched higher than skyscrapers and longer than any root he had ever dreamed of before, going far past his village into hills and forests below that stretched down to rocky beaches miles down.

"Woah" He could only exclaim his amazement at the massive tree he had never seen before.

Only then did memories begin to fill his head. Memories from the Jaune of this world. He held the same name, Jaune Arc, and he had a family consisting of a mother, father, and a younger sister that lived in Velika. He was twenty years old, and worked as a research assistant to Glennock, a Velkyon Federation researcher that was sent to study the massive tree on this island that had only just been discovered twelve years ago.

However, only five years ago did things start to get strange with it. A dozen children born on the island began to exhibit the ability to see the future through dreams, but only when on the Island, so the Federation sent researchers, Mages, and Mystics to find the secrets of both the visions and the island. Glennock had made headway in the research, but had been stumped for several months, and had given Jaune free reign to do what he wanted on the island, as long as he filled his work quota.

Glennock was a portly man who wore an intricate blue robe with gold flourishes and crystal spectacles. He had bright pale skin, and a short head of black hair. He almost always would be seen with his large book in which he could be seen referencing and cross referencing things with other books in his large leather bag which was held on a large leather strap that crossed his right shoulder.

Speaking of Glennock, the man could be seen walking towards him from a house not so far across the dirt road from him.

"Ahh, you're awake Jaune. I was worried that I would have to wake you up myself. Anyways, Come, we have work to do" The middle aged man spoke, quickly waving with his free hand and starting off towards the southwest gate of the small town they stayed in.

Jaune, still regaining his memories from this Jaune followed in a bit of a daze. After a minute or so of passing a few houses and a stable, Glennock walked up to the open gates and waited patiently for Jaune.

After all the memories were absorbed by him, Jaune found himself curious on how he came to replace the Jaune of this world, but he had no clue on where to begin. He held back on telling Glennock his situation, lest this possession be treated as a demonic possession attempting to lie and sabotage the Federation research. He had read about Demons possessing even plain and normal people, pretending to be people they weren't, before going on a rampage, or poisoning water supplies and other magical mayhem.

Oh yeah, this world had demons, Gods, and all sort of magical fantasy races. Fairies, Gnomes, centaurs, unicorns, and all other species that he had never heard of before.

When Jaune arrived and walked over to Glennock, he asked a question.

"What's our work for today?" he asked calmly, though on the inside his head was spinning. He had to figure out just what was going on, but he couldn't make it obvious that he wasn't this world's Jaune, lest he be executed or imprisoned and worse. It just wasn't worth it.

"We're going to be investigating a strange group of Ghilliedhu that have shown up at Tangle Point. They've been getting quite aggressive towards researchers and have been interfering with transport of Tiaran roots that we have been collecting lately" The middle aged man said, looking Jaune in the eyes with a serious demeanor.

"Worst case scenario, I put your weapons, and you to good use" He finished, nodding his head as if he had come to a satisfying conclusion.

"Wait, what?" Jaune asked, taken aback.

"I didn't hire you for your research credentials. I hired you for your muscle and blade. Put them to good work when I say so, and then you'll be taking home the silver you rightfully deserve" Glennock laughed, before he walked out and followed the dirt path down a slightly steep hill that was lined by two rocky cliffs from above.

"But..." Jaune trailed off, his rebuttal dying in his throat. He took off jogging after the middle aged man, and caught up quickly. The Jaune of this world was quite fit, and it put the body of his old world to shame.

Glennock seemed oblivious to Jaune's mental turmoil, whistling a tune as he walked with a firm gait that was quite speedy for a man his age. The trees and cliffs passed by them, and at the bottom of the hill, the road took a sharp right to which they followed for a few minutes, about five to be exact, before the path turned left and opened to a wide plain full of deep grasses and cliffs down to the beach at the far end.

He could just make out a group of children playing in the grass with a leather ball they were kicking around between themselves, under supervision of a rather bulky man with long parted blonde hair and a sharp blonde beard. He wore gray plated mail, with two broadswords in sheathes on his back. He looked about five years younger than Glennock.

His name was Emun, he was a warrior sent by the Federation to make sure the special children blessed by the sight were unharmed and out of danger. It was a very serious job, and he was well renowned back in Velika.

Glennock waved and shouted a greeting to the man who waved back before they both went back to their business. Glennock led Jaune towards a small forest below a steep rocky cliff in which he could see things moving beneath the foliage.

A scream could be heard from within, followed by another.

Shortly after a young man and woman came running out of the forest, each wearing soft blue robes and pulled up blue hoods.

They ran past Glennock and Jaune down the path, barely sparing the two a look. They were quite frightened.

Only then could the sound of crunching twigs and rustling leaves be heard, as hot on their tail were three small trees that were waddling at a quick pace after them. On second look, they weren't just small trees, they were Ghilliedhus.

Each about ten feet tall with faces on the trunks at about five feet tall, these sapling-like monsters had glowing yellow eyes socketed into two holes in the bark.

"It looks like there won't be any negotiating with them. Look at their arms" Glennock said, still quite confident.

Jaune looked at the arms, being the thickest branches on the side that spread into four fingerlike whiplike appendages made from branches. On them were torn fabric and blood from researchers who were not lucky enough to escape.

At that moment Jaune felt a bit naked in just his cloth, and lamented internally that he did not put on the armor he had earlier.

"Finish them off" Glennock said with a confident smile to Jaune.

Seeing Jaune hesitate, Glennock frowned.

"Are you scared or something? You've defeated stronger creatures for me before" Glennock asked him with some degree of confusion. What he said was true. Jaune had defeated scarier things before, but not this Jaune.

Gulping, Jaune readied Crocea Mors, and raised his shield.

"You can do this" He hyped himself up.

"Yeah, I can do this" He continued, taking a step forward. These were just treelike Grimmm. If he thought of it that way, they weren't as scary. Still quite frightening, but when put in a context he could understand and conceptualize, he became less scared.

"Yeaaaaarghh!" He let out a battle cry and an towards the first Ghilliedhu, ducking under a slow clawing slash from the tree and stabbing his sword into the side of it's face with a crunch. As his sword broke the bark, it hit soft flesh, and the Ghilliedhu shrieked.

Crunch.

He stabbed it again.

Hearing the shrieks of their comrade, the other Ghilliedhu began to run faster towards him. They were several meters away and closing fast.

Crunch.

With three more stabs, the Ghilliedhu went limp and fell to the ground, and Jaune felt some of it's power seep into him. It wasn't much, but he felt just a tiny bit stronger.

By the time he stepped forward, the closer Ghilliedhu was enraged, and tried to body tackle him, to which he dodged, causing the tree monster to fall to the ground face first.

A foolish mistake. One it wouldn't live to regret.

Feeling energized and ready to kill the monster, Jaune's fear was all but washed away.

Crunch.

Crocea Mors stabbed through the back of the tree monster's head.

Once, twice, three times.

Each time he stabbed, he began to feel the correct place to stab for the most damage.

The Ghilliedhu stopped moving underneath him.

Crack.

He was struck across the cheek by a powerful blow from the remaining Ghilliedhu. He had gotten caught up in the moment and now was paying the price.

The hot stinging sensation was felt as red blood began to roll down his cheek from a light wound.

Anger filled his mind, and he rolled to the side, dodging another swing narrowly.

"You asked for it" He grit out, jumping forward and bashing the Ghilliedhu that was recovering it's balance from the harsh swings.

Crunch. His shield slammed into the face of the Ghilliedhu, causing it the stagger. He followed through from the stunning blow with a impaling blow right in the middle of it's face, killing it instantly.

Pulling his sword out of it's face, he felt the power of the Ghilliedhu flow into him. It gave him some of his energy back, and he felt as if his senses were on maximum efficiency. Each sound loud and clear, the smell of bark, blood, grass and dirt assaulting his nose. His salty sweat very pronounced in the natural smells from all around.

"Good job. However, that's not the end of them. These Ghilliedhus were the spawn of a greater Ghilliedhu, and unless we get rid of the greater one, these lesser Ghilliedhus will just keep being spawned by the greater one. We're gonna have to get rid of the greater one and bring it's core back to the Federation outpost so we can figure out just why it became so violent" Glennock said, his face a frown at the strange behavior the tree creatures exhibited.

"Normally, Ghilliedhus are mildly territorial, but they never attacked the researchers. Something must be setting these creatures off" He continued, walking further into the woods. Jaune caught his breath and followed him as they went deeper into the small forest.

After two minutes of walking, they came to a clearing where a very large Ghilliedhu paced in a circle around a black stone that was covered in a bluish black fungus like material. The Ghilliedhu looked to be over twenty feet tall, and it's arms were as thick as tree trunks.

"You want me to kill that?" Jaune asked, pointing his sword towards the large Ghilliedhu.

Yes, but don't worry. I've prepared for this" Glennock said, shuffling through his bag and taking out two large vials of fluids.

One of the was a clear vial the size of a cup, in which was a flame that glowed a bright blue, and it didn't show any sign of going out.

The other was a smaller vial full of a sickly greenish-black liquid that looked very much like poison. Handing the poison vial to Jaune, he spoke.

"Apply this to your sword. If you can get through his thick armor, the Greater Ghilliedhu will die within three minutes. To speed it up, use this vial of alchemist's flame. If you can hit it with the flame, the Ghilliedhu will start burning to death. With the Poison and flame weakening it, you should be able to finish it off" Glennock said, giving Jaune a proud nod. It seemed he was quite happy with his ingenuity.

Jaune took the poison phial, and uncapped it, pouring the poisonous substance over the blade. Next, he took the fire vial in his shield hand, and took a deep breath.

"Wish me luck" He said, shutting his eyes and letting out his deep breath.

Then he ran towards the large Ghilliedhu.

It turned, seeing him running towards it and it began lumbering towards him slowly.

"It's big and slow?" Jaune let out as he dashed forward towards the Ghilliedhu. As he got near it, it tried to body slam him, and he barely managed to roll out of the way as the heavy tree creature slammed into the ground with a loud thud. Jumping up from his roll, he threw the fire vial at it, and it exploded on contact, and the flames began spreading across the huge tree monster.

It let out a loud screeching roar of pain as it rolled over towards him through the grassy dirt, trying to put out the fire, but it was no use.

As it rolled around, it was hard for Jane to get a stab in, so he just stayed close, but didn't attack.

Then, when the Ghilliedhu stopped rolling and lay there letting out whimpers, he jumped onto it and stabbed into it's eye sockets, causing it to screech, and he jumped off before he could catch fire.

It began rolling around, now blinded, but it was gradually slowing down, and when it was slow enough for him to dodge, he began stabbing it in the eyes again, over and over and over, jumping off and back on when needed before finally, it came to a stop, dead. The attacks, the poison, and the fire having done their job.

Jaune watched as the fire went out, leaving a charred Ghilliedhu corpse lying on the dirt and grass.

"That worked amazingly. You did a great job. I'll make sure the Federation pays you well for this" Glennock said as he walked over to the Ghilliedhu corpse and pulled out a loggers hatchet.

"Now let me do what I do best" Glennock said, bringing the hatchet over to the face of the dead Ghilliedhu, and he began chopping into it.

After chopping it and cutting with a knife into the exposed flesh under the armored bark, he pulled out a orange amber sphere that was covered in veiny bluish black lines. Looking over to the stone in the middle of the clearing, Glennock said one word.

"Argons" He let out with a disgusted and angry curse.

"Dirty, filthy Argon parasites" He growled, wrapping the core onto a cloth he took from his bag.

Turning to Jaune, he spoke with a grave demeanor.

"It looks like there's more to this than I'd like. Come, lets go back and report this" He spoke, turning back towards the road.

Jaune just nodded and followed him as he left.

If Argons were involved, this was much bigger than just them, and the gifted children could be in grave danger. No, the whole world could.