"The Tale Of Jaune Arc" : An ArKos fanfic! (AU)

The Terror Of The Pet Of Salem

Jaune followed the troop of Atlisian soldiers, Varia being carried on a stretcher next to him. He glanced at Varia, who was still unconscious, and grimaced as he saw several field medics checking his weak pulse, the state of his body, and ensuring that he was still in fact breathing. Of course, he would be fine. After all, he was immortal. There was literally no way he could die.

"It's impressive that you survived this long." The Atlisian commander who had found him in the forest earlier said to Jaune, drawing his attention. The commander's name was Alex Morehead, a blonde male with green eyes. Jaune scoffed at this.

"Yeah... We barely made it." Jaune said as an image of Pyrrha being impaled by the arrow slammed into his mind.

"It's remarkable, really, how you're still alive. This place is teeming with Grimm." Alex continued.

"We haven't met any of them yet." Jaune replied.

"The camp is right past these trees."

---

Jaune and Varia were assigned their own tent later that night. Upon their arrival, the two were subject to medical tests and were eventually deemed healthy enough to be welcomed into the camp. This was a measure to ensure that diseases were not spread throughout the camp. If a person was deemed unhealthy, they would be moved to another campsite several meters away from the main group but still under watch.

Miraculously, Varia was disease free despite having been bleeding profusely for several thousand years. This was probably caused by his immortality. However, immortality was not synonymous with healthy. Varia was basically skin and bones and required a large amount of nourishment. This however did not mean that Varia would be assigned a different tent than Jaune. In part, this was due to Varia's request of sharing a tent with Jaune. The soldiers had merely thought of this as the product of Jaune being comrades with Varia, but the soldiers agreed. Keeping both of them in one place would allow for not only supervision, but also allow Jaune to call for help if Varia's condition worsened.

The sun had already begun it's descent when Varia reached out to tap on Jaune's shoulder. Jaune had been thinking about Pyrrha, about how he could have done anything to save her. Varia's touch startled him, causing him to jump slightly, He had been sitting up, his right arm lying on his right knee.

"Jaune."  Varia's voice said in his mind.

"Yes?" Jaune replied out loud.

"Get some sleep. You need it."

"But what if you-"

"I am immortal, remember? Although I cannot move on my own, I can still communicate with any mind I choose within a 30 kilometer radius."  Jaune pondered this thought before turning onto his sleeping back and sighing.

"Wake me if anything happens." Jaune said as he closed his eyes, eventually falling asleep. Unbeknownst to Jaune, as soon as he had lost consciousness, Varia's eyes had turned a bright red, one detail only reminiscent in the creatures of Grimm.

"Let's see how my pet performs."  Salem's voice echoed through Varia's mind as he stood up and removed his medical equipment.

---

Jaune's eyes suddenly opened, revealing the roof of their tent. For some reason, despite being in his own body, he somehow knew that his eyes were red, the same detail as the creatures of Grimm. He heard sharp screams of pain, followed by several gut wrenching sounds he couldn't quite identify. Curious, he peaked out from the  tent and spotted a man-like creature with it's arm holding on to a familiar weapon.

"That's.... my sword!?" Jaune said as he recognized the golden-accented handle of Crocea Mors. The Grimm suddenly looked at Jaune, another surprise awaiting him.

"That's... me!?"  Jaune thought to himself before turning back to his tent and reaching for the other half of Crocea Mors, the sheath that also doubled as a shield.

The Grimm-like Jaune picked up an Atlisian soldier, having turned away from Jaune's tent. He tightened his hold on the soldiers neck,  attempting to strangle the soldier to death before Jaune performed a shield bash on the creature. The attack however had no visible effect as the creature merely turned to face him, his grip on the soldier's neck only slightly loosening.

"What in the heck are you?" Jaune asked the beast, his shield placed in between himself and the lookalike.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm you!" The creature replied. The soldier that the creature held struggled against his more powerful grip. It was then that Jaune realized that the soldier was Alex Morehead, the Atlisian Commander who had found Varia and himself earlier that day.

"Who.... who are you talking to?"  Alex asked the lookalike before the creature suddenly snapped his grip, breaking the neck of Alex and killing him instantly.

"No!" Jaune shouted as he jumped forward, his shield held by both hands. He was going to attempt to shove the sharp edge of the shield into the head of the creature, thereby killing it and avenging the fallen commander but as the shield was going to make contact, Jaune's dream suddenly ended.

---

Jaune's eyes burst open, the bright sunlight momentarily hurting his eyes. Once he had adjusted, he quickly realized two things: the blinding sunlight was coming from the open tent doorway and Varia was missing.

Jaune quickly glanced to his right where he had left Crocea Mors and sighed when he spotted both his sword and the sheath still next to him.

"It was just a bad dream." Jaune thought to himself as he climbed out of the tent. When he stepped out, his eyes instantly spotted the blood and bodies surrounding the tent.

"What!?" Jaune exclaimed. His eyes darted around his surroundings, bodies lying every where. Most shockingly though was Alex Morehead's body, just meters away from the tent.

With a broken neck.

Varia suddenly entered his field of vision, still completely skin and bones but now with glowing red eyes.

"What do you think? My pet performs well, no?" Salem's voice said through Varia's body. Jaune's sword suddenly cut the head off of Varia, the body falling to the ground but not before the head rolled towards Jaune.

"Your pet's dead." Jaune replied.

"I never said Varia was my pet. Having an immortal slave is quite useful as I can watch my creation from afar."

"And just exactly what is your pet? And why am I the only one left alive!?" Jaune shouted at the head, pointing the tip of his sword at it.

"My dear Jaune, have you not realized it yet?" Salem asked.

"Realize what!?" Jaune exclaimed.

"You are my pet."