Aura. In the constant battle against the forces of the Grimm, the power of one's soul has been hailed for its efficiency as both deadly weapon and stalwart defender against the dark creatures. All people were born with it, and to have one's Aura unlocked strengthened the body to superhuman levels of strength and durability. Those who further trained themselves could push past even those limits, achieving skills and power spoken about only in legend.

Countless studies have been made into understanding and harnessing the power of the soul. For the most part, the focus of academia has centered around the more quantifiable aspects of Aura-theory, and, in a world constantly under threat of destruction, its uses in combat.

This battle-hardened mentality was necessary in much of Remnant if one cared about their continued survival, but it was tragically narrow-minded; if something could not immediately show potential to protect and serve you or your loved ones, it was quickly thrown to the wayside - dismissed as little more than a momentary curiosity…

Humans and Faunus were not the only creatures on Remnant with an Aura. Everything, from the smallest insect to the largest animal possessed it. Trillions of souls, shining like stars, exploding into being with every birth, and fading with every death. Not just them, Remnant itself shone through the void like the sun. Every blade of grass and colossal tree, every mountain and stone, every lake, ocean, and drop of rain, every gentle breeze and howling gale. All of them glowed and swirled around the constellations of lives in a nebulous cradle.

Touch was the first anchor within this dancing galaxy of power. Sensation and vibration churned through the roiling tides of energy, the first impressions of a world beyond the metaphysical. The softest footstep of the smallest creature created ripples of information, resonating with all they passed through. A shift in the air, calm and soothing to most brought word of a storm in the near future. The heat of a fire, warming skin. It was a cacophony of information, and, when as the other senses joined in one by one, it became overwhelming. The anchor threatened to drown him.

But it was within this cascade of information, however, that he scraped and clawed and pieced himself together once again. Everything he felt, all the sounds he heard, the air he smelled and tasted shaped and warped the living aether flowing around and through him. Taking his time, he carefully catalogued each sensation, slowly creating a sphere of awareness that faded in specificity and detail the further it stretched. At the very centre of that sphere was a specific light amongst the others, and he quickly concluded that to be him.

But who was he?

"You're awake," a voice called out, familiar, like a dream half-forgot.

Sitting by a small campfire were three women. The first two were Faunus (and he briefly wondered how he knew what a Faunus was), an older and a younger. The older watched him with a mixture of disdain and heavily concealed curiosity, while the younger watched him with the careful concern not often held for strangers within her glowing yellow eyes. Did he know her?

"Jaune," the voice called out once more, and he turned towards the last of the women. She was tall - taller than the other two at least - with pale blonde hair tied up in a neat bun. Bright green eyes shone behind a pair of ovular glasses, watching him as a mother would a sick child.

"Jaune?" He repeated. Was that him? Was he Jaune? Memories flashed behind his eyes at the sound of the name. Red hair, soft lips… and pain. Fresher and more intense than any of the ghosts or shadows that had buzzed in his mind, like bees in a hive. Amidst hundreds of lives, and trillions of memories, this one brought with it a crushing tightness in his chest, forcing the air from his lungs in a painful gasp.

"That's right, Jaune," the blonde woman cooed soothingly. "Remember her. Remember yourself."

"It hurts," he whimpered, leaning into the arms that had wrapped around his shoulders.

"I know," she murmured, stroking his hair.

Gritting his teeth, he grasped onto that pain. Tears leaked from his eyes, and the nebulous energy surrounded him, comforting him just as much as the soft embrace within which he found himself. He held it close as the shadows and ghosts washed over him, until, finally, he surfaced in the placid waters of himself. His time at Beacon. The friends he made. His team. Ren. Nora. Her. The memories helped buoy him, a vessel in the sea of voices begging for his attention.

"Jaune," the younger of the two faunus - Blake - called out with uncertainty. "Are you alright?"

Jaune was on his feet before he could even contemplate replying, sword in hand as he turned towards the void stalking behind them. In a flash of silver light, he buried the blade to the hilt in the throat of the approaching Ursa, a wet gurgle bubbling from its snout in place of any sort of roar as the baleful glow of its eyes dimmed and it dissolved into ash on the wind.

"Sorry," he muttered, allowing the momentary frustration he felt with himself to pass as a hand touched his shoulder.

"It's quite alright, Jaune," the blonde woman replied, a soft, sad smile on her face.

"Professor Goodwitch?" Jaune asked, his mind recalling his first time seeing the woman, holographically, on the ride to Beacon, followed by her tough but fair instruction as he struggled to catch up with classmates who had trained their entire lives. "What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering the same thing, actually," Blake added quietly from her seat near the older Faunus woman. "It seems unlikely that you just happened to be in the area in time to fish the three of us out of that lake."

"That would be because I was waiting for you, Miss Belladonna," Goodwitch replied evenly, her expression stoney and closed off compared to the open concern he had seen when she looked at him.

"I should have known Ozpin would be the one behind this," the woman sitting next to Blake hissed angrily. She glanced between him and Blake and scoffed. "He's recruiting younger than I would have expected. Of course, I guess the opportunity provided by having a traitor as one of his pawns would be too good to pass up."

Jaune hissed himself as a flurry of emotions surged through him from the ghosts beneath the waters, some of them expressed unwavering faith and indignation, but most seemed to be trying to overwhelm him with resentment. His own annoyance at the way the woman addressed Blake - a girl even the ghosts acknowledged as Friend - and the way her ears drooped as she avoided their gazes, centered him and brought his more recent memories to the forefront.

"I called her," he ground out.

The ghosts were making waves that threatened to capsize his little vessel of self, and, not unwilling to reinforce it with that same pain he had recalled earlier and risk attracting more Grimm, he stared hard at Blake, forcing himself to recall the last couple of months he had spent with her and her family. The way she tensed before relaxing more than he had ever seen whenever her father entered the room. The way she unconsciously reached for her mother's warmth whenever they were near. The smile on her face as she helped the people of Kuo Kuana. These memories reinforced his identity, protecting him from the sea of others trying to swallow him. Within the confines of that protection, he recalled yet one more memory: pinning her to the ground in Ma'Ula to stop her from rushing back into the arms of someone who had tormented her, staring into glowing, tear-filled eyes and promising himself that he would protect her. He would not fail this time.

The waters calmed as the weight of his identity was no longer supported solely by the pain he felt. Resolve eased that burden and the tightness in his chest loosened.

"You called her?" Blake asked, her delicate brows furrowed in confusion.

Jaune nodded, his memories clearer and more readily available now. "I didn't like our chances on our own, so I had your dad send her a message detailing what was going on."

"As soon as you both came within range of Anima's CCT, I was able to track Jaune's scroll." Her eyes narrowed and she turned back to glare at him, every bit as intimidating as on his first day of class. "Imagine my surprise when I arrive at Lake Matsu, and, rather than receiving any sort of signal, I get to watch one of the islands fall out of the sky, with you three not far behind."

Jaune flushed in embarrassment and chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he tried to think of an excuse. "Heh, sorry, Professor -" her eyes narrowed further, though there was an undercurrent of sadness before Jaune's memory corrected him once more. "Er… Glynda. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Glynda?" Blake repeated, her expression of shock and confusion funny enough to make Jaune wish he could take a picture for posterity. The other Faunus woman sitting next to her - Sienna Khan - chuckled darkly.

"I figured you used that riding crop for more than just fighting, Goodwitch, but taking a student as your toy? That's rich!"

Said riding crop snapped out and slapped across Sienna's cheek, leaving a red mark at the point of impact.

"Typical human," Sienna spat. "Using force to keep us down when -"

She was cut off by the whistle of Jaune's sword through the air as he swung it harshly towards the ground, flinging whatever lingering gore from the Ursa remained off its blade before he crouched and grabbed his shield and armor from the bag on the ground. He frowned at the dent in his spaulder when he used the bag to block Adam's sword. Pressing the button hidden in his sword's hilt, the blade collapsed with a whine from the mechanisms inside, unhappy from the lake water soaking through them, and he sighed.

"So, my memory's still a little foggy, but I'm pretty sure Blake and I kept you from getting viciously murdered by that katana-carrying sociopath, and Glynda fished us out of the water after that same nutbar turned your entire organization against you. You'd think that would at least warrant better manners."

"If you're supposed to be my gallant rescuers, why am I still tied up, Human?"

Jaune shrugged, strapping his armor on. "You have a bondage fetish?" He hissed as Glynda swatted him over the head, and forced himself to meet her gaze. His head was still pounding, and, even though he knew he probably owed Blake some sort of explanation, he couldn't find the right words - especially not with Khan snarling at them. Glynda, seemingly reading his mind, waved her riding crop, summoning a small fishing rod to her that she handed to him. "If you could grab us some dinner, please."

Jaune nodded. "Stay safe." He smiled once more to Glynda and proceeded to march out of the ring of light provided by the campfire in the direction he knew the lake to be, determined to run through the gambit of fully piecing himself back together once more.

A/N: No real excuse for taking so long with this other than a lack of motivation/depression, I guess. Either way, this is actually only half of what I wanted to post, but I was having trouble, and figured that just posting this might help motivate me to finishing the other half. That being said, I did slave over this for entirely too long, so hopefully you guys like it. I dunno when the next one will come up, but hopefully it won't be as long a break as this one was.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and telling me what you guys think. I love reading your thoughts and theories - that one that hypothesized that Jaune was Ozpin's next reincarnation was actually what got me off my butt and made me post this (he's not, by the way), so thanks!

TTFN