The two severed halves of the Asura Stalker continued to lay where they had fallen, split with surgical precision by Qrow's impossible strike. For a heartbeat they remained solid, then both halves began to dissolve back into Umbra.
Jaune stared and inside him, his little stalker buddy stirred with a familiar pressure that was insistent.
Hunger.
It's hunger pangs had faded away after it could no longer receive any more sustenance from its fellow 1st variants. Now however, it seemed to have returned. His Stalker companion was urging him forward with almost childish eagerness, like an animal straining at the leash at the scent of food.
Jaune stepped toward the dissolving remains.
Raven noticed immediately. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You're going to absorb it?"
Jaune glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah. My Stalker buddy seems to be craving it."
Raven didn't object. Instead, she gave a small, measured nod.
"Good call," she said. "If this works, you might be able to reach Rank 2 combat capacity."
Despite the approval in her voice, she did not dismiss the shadow Asura limbs still wrapped around her form. The dark appendages remained flexed and ready, their bladed shapes glinting beneath the fractured light filtering through the colossal canopy.
"Still," she added coolly, "just in case it tries to take you over and kill us, it's best to be prepared."
Jaune gave a short breath of laughter, though there was little humor in it.
"Fair."
He absolutely agreed.
Just because he and the creature inside him had reached something resembling an understanding, did not mean trust had magically appeared.
The first time they had met, the thing had literally tried to spear his brain through his eye. That... wasn't exactly the kind of first impression one forgot.
He crouched beside the dissolving remains.
The Umbra was thicker here than anything he had absorbed before. Dense, rich, and almost oily in how it curled around his hand when he reached toward it.
The moment his fingers touched the shadow remains, it surged into him.
His partial Stalker body reacted instantly, black shadow spreading in liquid ripples across his arm as the essence poured inward. He felt the presence within him lunge at it with a kind of ravenous delight.
Greedy.
That was the only word for it
The thing practically devoured it.
Satisfaction flooded back through their strange connection, sharp and vivid enough that Jaune nearly flinched.
It was ecstatic.
The remains vanished faster than he expected, drawn into him in dark currents that spiraled beneath his skin. He could feel the power building.
His body's muscles tightened and grew heavier, denser and vastly stronger—layered with a vast compact force.
The sort that sat beneath the skin like coiled steel.
It kept rising. Every thread of the Asura's essence fed that growth, and by the time the final fragments of Umbra had vanished, Jaune felt almost frighteningly different.
His fingers flexed. The motion alone felt sharper.
Like his body now understood force on a different level.
Then, something changed. The mind within him, which had been radiating pure satisfaction moments ago, began to slow.
Its emotions dulled and it seemed to be exhibiting a strange form of sleepiness. A strange, almost adorable lethargy drifted across their connection.
Jaune blinked.
The creature inside him was becoming drowsy? He didn't even realize that these things needed sleep. In any case, its consciousness receded, sinking deeper and deeper into the space within him.
Until, at last, it seemed to curl up somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind and go completely still.
Hibernation.
Jaune stood there for a moment, stunned. He didn't even need to use Weakness anymore. The constant pressure of suppression, the effort he had grown used to maintaining, was simply... gone.
The thing had eaten itself into unconsciousness.
He almost laughed.
Honestly, it was kind of endearing.
The terrifying Stalker that had once tried to kill him had just devoured enough power to put itself into what was essentially a food coma.
A glutton.
The word echoed in his thoughts, and with it came a name.
Jaune's lips twitched.
'Since you're such a glutton, I might as well give you a name worthy of your attitude.'
'Gula.'
The name settled in his mind with surprising ease.
'Yeah. That sounds about right.'
The black shadow covering part of his body suddenly bubbled.
His arm and shoulder rippled as if made of boiling water, dark waves rolling beneath the surface before slowly settling back into smooth Umbra.
Then stillness returned.
Jaune looked up at Raven.
"I think we're good," he said. "It's entered some sort of hibernation stage. I don't really need to suppress it anymore. My current strength should be at Rank 2, but without the Stalker giving me access to its Umbra, I'll only be able to use my... uh, proverbial body stat."
Raven studied him for a moment.
Then the shadow Asura limbs around her dissolved into smoke and faded back into her body.
"Good.... we can test it later. However, you should keep yourself vigilant. It is an alien lifeform. We don't know what it might be planning."
Her voice was calm, but Jaune caught the faint easing in her posture as she dismissed her her shadows. Behind them, Qrow finally hauled himself out of the crater and climbed back onto the platform.
Both Auberyn and Jaune regarded the man with curiosity.
He was back to normal now, fully human in appearance, though there was dirt and shadow soil smeared across one side of his face.
Jaune stared at him for a second before asking the question that had been burning in his mind.
"Since when can you transform into a demi-bird thing?"
Qrow grunted and instinctively, his hand drifted toward his hip, fingers moving with practiced familiarity as though reaching for a flask.
His hand stopped halfway.
He frowned.
Then seemed to remember that they were in the Shadow Realm and he had not brought it.
The realization visibly annoyed him.
His mouth twitched in irritation before he finally answered.
"New form."
He rolled one shoulder with a slight grimace.
"It's a new development of my Crow rune I've been trying to master."
He glanced toward the place where the Asura had been cut apart.
"My full Crow form gives me ridiculous mass and physical force. When I hit something, I can hit it hard. Comparatively speaking, my giant crow form is about equal to a grimm of the same rank, at least it term of physical might."
Jaune snorted softly. "Yeah, noticed."
Qrow shot him a dry look.
"However, it sacrifices some speed for that power. Don't get me wrong, it's still fast. Faster than most creatures can properly react to."
His expression sharpened.
"But I figured I needed something smaller. Something more... adaptable."
He flexed one hand.
"Especially if we're going to be fighting more humanoid enemies in the future."
That made sense.
The demi-bird form let him retain weapon handling, reach, and human combat instincts while still amplifying his rune's monstrous prowess.
Honestly, it was terrifying.
Jaune had barely even seen the strike happen.
Beside them, the wooden platform creaked.
Everyone turned.
The surface was changing.
The brown wood Zeki had summoned was slowly darkening, the natural grain bleeding away as the Shadow Realm's strange laws overtook it.
The color drained into deep gray-black. Even the texture was shifting.
It was becoming shadow wood.
Zeki watched it happen with a thoughtful expression.
"The realm's assimilating it," he muttered.
Zeki let out a slow breath.
"Well, that fight was... certainly was an experience, wasn't it?"
His gaze drifted toward where the Asura had died.
"That Stalker. If all second variants are as strong as that one, this expedition is going to become very problematic."
Silence settled over the group.
Because no one disagreed.
That thing had taken Raven, Qrow and Zeki working together to bring down. And even then, it had nearly killed Jaune in the opening exchange.
Worse still, it had been intelligent. It spoke and it could even adapt.
.
.
As if reading Jaune's own thoughts, Auberyn couldn't help but to make a not of the situation.
"It spoke," she said quietly, though the words carried clearly in the stillness. "Does that mean these Stalker creatures are actually sapient?"
Qrow let out a low breath, brushing a smear of shadow dirt from his coat sleeve. He tilted his head slightly, considering it.
"It certainly seems that way. Though probably not entirely sapient. More-so sentient. As least for the lower variants."
He lifted one hand and began counting off points on his fingers.
"So far, from what we've seen, zero variants and first variants haven't demonstrated speech. At least, not from any of our recorded tests or encounters."
He raised a second finger.
"First variants, though, definitely show emotion. That much we already knew."
Then he glanced toward Jaune.
Jaune nodded, understanding what he was being prompted to add.
"Zero variants do have emotion, but it's... limited."
He folded his arms, thinking back to every encounter he had sensed through Weakness.
"They only ever show hunger. Pure hunger and nothing else."
His gaze lifted toward the others.
"First variants are different. I've felt fear, anger, frustration, excitement... even a kind of instinctive pride from some of them."
Auberyn's expression sharpened as she listened. "So they become more... aware?"
"That's what it looks like," Jaune replied. "The higher they evolve, the more intelligence and sapience they seem to gain."
He paused, then added more carefully, "At least, that's the current theory."
His eyes drifted toward the place where the Asura had stood.
"But we've only seen one second variant so far. That's not exactly enough data to confirm a pattern."
Qrow gave a small grunt of agreement. "One example isn't proof. But it's definitely enough to start taking the possibility seriously."
Jaune exhaled and flexed the fingers of his shadowed hand. "Once Gula wakes up from hibernation, I'll try communicating with it."
That seemed to confuse Qrow. "Who the hell is Gula?"
Jaune looked mildly sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh. Sorry. It's my Stalker buddy."
Auberyn stared at him.
"You named it?"
Jaune gave a small shrug. "Figured it was about time. It's kind of a part of me now, so calling it 'my inner Stalker' or 'My Stalker buddy' every time felt weird."
A faint grin tugged at his mouth. "Besides, after watching it eat itself into a coma, Gula just felt right."
Qrow snorted.
"Fair enough. Old Valean language. Not a bad name choice."
Auberyn raised a hand slightly, as if in class.
"Okay... so... I have a question."
Her gaze shifted toward Jaune, curiosity plain in her eyes. "You were able to understand what that Asura said earlier. That... weird word. What... exactly did you mean by the Sleeper's boon?"
The question made Jaune glance instinctively toward Qrow and Raven. Qrow rubbed his forehead, already looking like he regretted having to explain it.
"Well," he said slowly, "those who have come into contact with the Sleeper's presence gain a sort of... minor boon when it comes to rune understanding."
Auberyn's confusion only deepened.
"You mean the Sleeper?"
Her voice lowered.
"The sleeping god that Sleepless wants to awaken? The one that's supposedly meant to wipe out all life?"
She looked between them.
"How exactly did any of you come into contact with it when it's asleep? And what do you mean by understanding? An in comprehension? I suddenly have way too many questions."
Jaune let out a quiet sigh, because frankly, same. Qrow scratched at the side of his face before answering.
"It's complicated. But no... it uh probably doesn't give any sort of boon to comprehension. Though, now that you've mentioned that... maybe."
He glanced upward through the canopy as though searching for the least insane way to phrase it.
"Anyway, to answer your question. There's a very specific method that can be used to call down a tiny fragment of the Sleeper's consciousness."
He held two fingers close together. "And I truly mean tiny. Like Infinitesimally small."
His expression darkened.
"Sleepless, however, can apparently do it at will."
Auberyn's eyes widened.
"And LUCID?"
Qrow's mouth flattened.
"We tried."
Jaune's head snapped toward him.
"You what?"
The sheer disbelief in his voice made Qrow grimace. "Yeah, yeah, I know how that sounds."
"That sounds insane. What if something goes wrong?" Jaune asked.
Then another realization hit him.
"Wait... you said tried. Did that mean that every experiment failed?"
Qrow nodded. "So far, yes."
"But..."
Jaune frowned deeply. "No one was able to summon her at all?"
Qrow gave him a long look. "No one. Well, except you, I guess, during Belmont."
The words settled heavily in the air.
"Oh and that Mocha kid, during that ritual or whatever she was conducting back then." Qrow added with a small shrug. "Though she technically wasn't part of LUCID at the time, so that complicates the classification."
He sighed. "In any case, we're still trying to determine exactly why you two are the exceptions."
Then he grimaced faintly. "Well no. I guess that's only half true."
Jaune narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Qrow gave a humorless chuckle. "We already have a working hypothesis and now we're just trying to confirm it."
He gestured vaguely.
"Raven and I got dragged in to test some of it too, but honestly, I don't know much beyond the broad strokes."
That seemed to leave Auberyn somehow more confused than before. Her brows knit together as she tried to sort through everything she had just heard.
Raven, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
"It is interesting, however."
Her sharp gaze settled on Jaune. "You appear to possess a stronger boon than either Qrow or myself."
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I am curious whether that is because you are an artificial awakened."
The phrase made Jaune go quiet. He considered it for a moment.
"It's possible."
His voice was thoughtful rather than certain. "In any case, if what that Asura said really was runic speech..."
He looked toward the others. "Then this changes everything."
Qrow nodded immediately. "A spoken language for runes. I suppose that means that the research back in the real world is going to explode."
Auberyn let out a quiet breath.
"So runes aren't just written symbols which are translated..."
"No," Jaune said slowly, "apparently not."
The thought itself was staggering. For years, runes had been studied as written phenomena, symbols, structures, formulas and manifestations.
Now there was the possibility of phonetics.
Spoken cadence, intonation and language.
A whole new field of study.
But why was it here? In the Shadow Realm of all places. Runes, while they could be used here, didn't appear to be the progression system that was tied to this realm. Here, it was all about Umbra.
Jaune had a feeling that there was a deeper secret here than what he was expecting. And for some stinking reason. The stench of knowledge about all of this seemed to point to his father knowing about it.
Zeki finally stepped forward, glancing around the forest.
"I think we've idled here long enough. Our scouting objective has already been more than fulfilled."
He looked toward the direction of camp.
"We should head back."
No one argued.
After everything that had happened, retreating with the information they had gathered was the logical choice.
As the group began to move, Jaune's gaze drifted toward Auberyn.
Then he paused and realized that something was missing.
"Wait."
He looked beside her. "Where's your Stalker puppet?"
Auberyn visibly stiffened and for a moment, her expression turned faintly awkward. Then she sighed.
"I had to release it."
Jaune blinked.
"What?"
Her hand lifted slightly, fingers flexing as though recalling the sensation. "I needed all of my Aura and focus to redirect that arm."
Jaune's eyes widened in realization. The Asura's extra limb. The one that had suddenly turned on its own neck which was threaded with starlight.
He looked at her more seriously.
"Thank you."
For once, Auberyn looked almost embarrassed.
"It's fine."
Then Jaune glanced around.
"So... did it run off?"
Auberyn shook her head.
"No."
A faint, awkward pause.
"It died."
Jaune raised a brow.
"What?"
She looked away slightly. "Zeki's roots got it during the fight when he speared it up from the forest floor."
There was something almost strangely uncomfortable in the way she said it. As if admitting it felt oddly personal. Given how long she had been controlling it, Jaune supposed it made sense. Even if it had been hostile by nature, it had still fought beside her for hours.
A strange and unwilling companion.
Jaune gave a small nod.
"I'm... uh sorry."
Auberyn was quiet for a moment, then gave a slight shrug. "It was dangerous."
Her voice was calm, but there was a faint note of something else beneath it. "Still... it feels weird."
Jaune understood that far too well.
Above them, the black sun's fractured light continued to spill through the colossal leaves as the group began their journey back through the forest, carrying with them far more questions than answers.