Madness of Death: Dreamstate
Scene 2
Dead Red, White Snow
A/n: hey guys, this is kind of a 6 month anniversary present. It's not exact, but oh well, can't change that.
Hard to believe it's already been 6 months
Now, this scene is kind of connected to the last one. It's part of a sort of connected one shots. I say sort of because they don't entirely connect, but theyou kind have the same general premise.
You'll see what I mean after I post more of them.
Two samples a statistical study does not make
Anyway, another thing is that if yiu haven't read Madness of Death, then this might be kind of confusing for you.
Especially if you haven't read scene 23 in it
If yiu have, great, yiu might be able to figure out where this is going.
Anyway, without further ado,night should probably get onto the Dreamstate
Enjoy
? pov
I hope this goes well the young girl in red thought.
She was aboard a large airship, on her way to her new school Beacon. Despite any fronts she may have put up with regards toward Professor Ozpin or Glynda Goodwitch, the fact was, she was a bit nervous. Mainly because she still wasn't sure if this place would be any better than Signal was. Signal was frankly hell for her. She was too smart for her own good, honeslty, soaking up knowledge like sponge. Instead of being every teacher's dream, she started to question them more and more, eagerly wanting to know more, to find a challenge.
Instead of viewing this as Ruby being a good student with an appetite for knowledge, they saw her as being rebellious, disrespectful, and an attention seeking annoyance. Not to mention creepy, but everyone seemed to see her that way. The end result being that everyone at Signal found her varying degrees of annoying or unsettling. No matter where she went, people always made her feel like an outsider that didn't belong.
Everyone except her family. Her big sister Yang was the only source of refuge from the bullying and alienation she faced at school. Sometimes, whenever Qrow managed to be there, he would be one too, but usually he was too busy to help.
So while it was a blessing that she would be able to join her sister in attending Beacon, it also meant she might be facing even more alienation, what with the fact she was about 2 years under the standard entrance age. All she could hope was that they were more mature than the people at beacon, and that they wouldn't get physical with her. That, and that she would be able to see Yang a lot.
Little did she know that her sister felt much the same.
"I'm so happy my baby sis is coming to Beacon with me!" Yang exclaimed, hugging her younger sister to her chest tightly, an action Ruby weathered stoically. She loved her big sister, she did, but sometimes she felt like a bit much.
Ever since the incident years ago, Yang had treasured the miracle that was Ruby's life with every fiber of her being. She loved Ruby, more than Ruby fully understood, and probably more than her father and uncle. How could she not? After all, it was all her fault that it happened, and it was nothing short of a miracle that Ruby managed to come back.
And once she did, Yang vowed to truly appreciate Ruby for all she was worth. She had nearly lost her once, and she would never let anything like that happen to her adorable little sister again.
Seeing others alienate and bully her only made her draw closer to her baby sister. She knew that as stoic as Ruby might be, all the things they did to her still hurt deep down. So she did everything she could to show Ruby how much she was loved and cherished, to make sure that Ruby never let it all get to her, that she never felt unwanted.
"So." Yang began, looking down toward her dearest little sister in her arms, "How do you feel about going to Beacon with me?"
At this, Ruby sighed, "I can only hope it's better than Signal."
"Come on, it's gonna be great! Nobody knows you here! You don't have that creepy reputation to haunt you here!" Yang exclaimed, trying to cheer her sister up.
"Yeah…but I don't exactly have the best track record with people." Ruby commented
Now it was Yang's turn to sigh, "You have a point there sis.", she said as she looked over the crowd of people in the airship, all potential friends, or enemies.
Glancing back down towards Ruby, she asked, "So, do you want me to try to help? Try to make friends for you? Scare off any bullys?"
"No…not…yet." Ruby carefully answered.
Looking back up at her elder sister, she continued, "First I want to try on my own. Ok?"
"Ok sis. I'll let you try on your own." She responded with a small smile.
Then the smile fell away and her face hardened momentarily, "But, if anything happens, I'm there for you, ok?" She said.
It was things like that that made Yang the only refuge of safety for Ruby. She knew it was true, and just knowing that someone was there for her, that someone actually cared for her so deeply…well, it was enough to keep her going through the otherwise hellish existence she had to endure. If it wasn't for her family, for her sister, she would have given up on humanity long ago.
"Ok" Ruby acknowledged with all the warmth she could muster, lying back and allowing her body to rest against her sister's body.
She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to relax and lower her guard, trusting her sister to protect her.
Later, once they arrived at the school, Yang left ahead of Ruby to scout out the school, while Ruby stayed behind and took in the sights. Yang was supposed to come back when she was done, and then they would go to the auditorium together.
Unfortunately things rarely seem to work out as planned when Ruby became involved.
A collision from behind caused Ruby to stumble forward a few steps.
"Watch where you're going you dunce!" A shrill voice exclaimed
Turning, Ruby found herself face to face with someone almost as pale as she was.
Almost.
But she was certainly trying her damndest to get there.
She wore a white dress, a white jacket with a red interior. He sapphire blues eyes were glaring at her with indignant irritation. She seemed about to say something else in that shrill voice of hers. But Ruby wasn't focused on that.
Instead, she was staring at the pale girl's white hair, in particular, the way it was fashioned.
It's…wrong. Ruby thought, her own sense of irritation filling her.
It's asymmetrical. Why is it asymmetrical? She thought, bewildered by it.
As much as she might deny it on occasion, Ruby did have a certain…obsession, with symmetry. It wasn't that bad most of the time, but sometimes looking at things that were just needlessly asymmetrical pissed her off. Especially if she couldn't fix them.
And so, as Ruby stared at the girl's head, her hands twitching as she constantly fought off the urge to FIX IT, she completely ignored the older girl's speech.
That is, until she got right up in her face.
"Do you even know what this is?" She questioned, getting right up in her face with a glass vile of the dark substance.
"It's Dust! You know, Earth, Wind, Fire?" She continued, shaking the vile for emphasis with each word.
Unfortunately the seal on the vile wasn't as secure as she thought, and with each shake, she sent particles of the Dust flying toward Ruby. As the particulates flew into her nose, Ruby quickly became distracted as the reaction to the intrusion rapidly began to build within her. The older girl in front of her, however, was to distracted by her own rant to notice the signs of the growing sneeze, or it's explosive results.
And so, with a huff, and a puff…
"Do you have any idea how dangerous th-" the girl tried to rant
BOOM!
Ruby finally sneezed, causing an explosive chain of events, which climaxed with the entire vile of dust exploding in both their faces.
The girl in white, her Aura buffering the blow, began coughing out the soot she had inhaled. Further enraged by the damage done to her person by the little girl in front of her, she opened her eyes and began to glare at her, preparing to go off on another rant.
However, when she saw what lay before her, there was only one course of action to her.
She screamed.
Yang had been walking around the school, not to far away herself when she heard it, felt it.
First, there was the explosion, the distant Boom and the tremor it produced. Then, there was the deafening shrill shriek of abject horror. But most off all, ti was the unshakable feeling in her gut that something had gone horribly wrong that got her moving.
Without wasting another moment, she spun around, and ran as fast as she could back to the entrance of the school. As she pushed her way through the crowd before her, she could only pray for her sister's safety.
Ruby, please be ok.
Unfortunately, it was not to be, as the older girl in white finery had discovered.
When the smoke had cleared in front of her, instead of seeing the girl in red standing before her, surprised and sheepish, instead she saw something else. Unlike her, Ruby's aura wasn't nearly as protective as most peoples were. It was still present, it's just it was barely able to stop a stapler, let alone a bullet. So, when explosion detonated in her face, there were consequences.
And consequently, the older girl was now staring at the body of Ruby Rose, sprawled out on the ground.
Her face blown off.
For the most part, her skull was covered in a bloody mess, shredded muscle covering it, but in some places bone actually peeked through, though still stained with blood so it wasn't porcelain white most people thought it was. Her mouth, in particular, was missing a good deal of flesh, especially the lips and parts of the cheeks, allowing one to see inside her mouth and her teeth, bloodied as they were. What remained of her eyes were dark bloody holes, and the front of her scalp had been blown off.
The rest of her body, however, was, for the most part, fine. There were, untouchably, some internal injuries caused by the shockwave. Some ruptured blood veins, damaged organs, so on and so forth. But the missing face was by far the most critical injury.
Another consequence of having her face blown off was that her face wasn't simply vaporized, not all of it, at least. Something the girl in white realized when she noticed the bloodied bits of flesh that covered her. A consequence of being at ground zero of the explosion.
She's dead The girl concluded. How could she not? After all, people don't usually walk away from having their face blown off.
B-but her aura should have protected her She thought, before it was startled by another one.
She didn't actually have any evidence that this girl was actually a huntress in training. After all, she looked far too young to be attending here. She looked she should have just started combat school, if anything. And again, that's assuming she was training to be a huntress.
In truth, she had no idea why this girl was here, or who she was.
Even worse, this was her first experience with something like this. A bloody and grisly death, up close and personal. Despite her training, she had never really seen true violence. Not the bloody, gory, reality of actual combat. She just had lots of training. Painful, arduous, and tiring, but otherwise safe, training.
And of course she had seen Grimm get killed, and she had seen tv and movies. But seeing it up close and personal, in the flesh, on another human being? Nothing could truly prepare her for that.
"Ruby!" A voice cried out, shaking her from her dazed stupor.
Turning to the source, she saw a girl with golden blonde hair, violet irises, and wearing a brown jacket.
Yang, terrified of what she might find, ran to the place that seemed to be calling to her, a place covered in a disturbing amount of blood, with a girl in white, stained with blood and bits of gore, standing close to a body on the ground.
"Ruby!" She cried out again, hopping to promote a response from her dear sister.
But nothing came.
And she soon found out why. Upon seeing her bloodied sister in her current state, tears welled in her eyes as crushing despair filled her, carving out a hole in her heart.
"No!" She wailed, clutching her sister's body in her arms, hoping beyond hope that somehow, she still lived.
No! She can't be gone! She can't be! She despaired, the hole growing as the loss began to settle in.
As she hugged her sister's still warm body, hoping for some sign of life, tears streamed down her face.
In the background, the girl in white could only feel her guilt grow.
I did this She thought.
Normally, she might have pushed off blame to someone else, trying to avoid the guilt and consequences of her actions. But, seeing this, knowing how serious it all was, she couldn't find it in her to try to find a way out.
She had always had some problems with her temper, and usually regretted what happened after it simmered off. But this was the first time someone had actually gotten hurt by it.
And the guilt she already had was only magnified by the fact she now saw the impact of her actions on others. Seeing this blonde's sorrow reminded her that she hadn't just ruined the little girl's life, but the lives of those she knew.
She hadn't just hurt the little girl, she had hurt the blonde, the girl's family, and anyone she knew. Something very plain to see know.
So, in an act that ran counter what her instincts were saying, she decided to try and take responsibility for her actions.
"I-I'm sorry." She apologized, her voice barely a whisper.
But the Yang still heard it.
"…What" She said after a moment, processing what the other girl had said.
Within Yang, a change was occurring. All the loss, the sorrow, the grief, it began to change, and get funneled into something else other than simply crying.
"I-I…I said I'm sorry. I-it's my fault this happened." The girl in white managed to stutter out, guilt and fear overwhelming her.
And for good reason.
"You did this to her?" Yang ground out, fury building inside her.
Already her aura was beginning to respond to rage, her hair beginning to glow and burn with golden flames, her eyes flicking into crimson orbs. She gently lay her dear sister back onto the ground and began to turn to the one who spoke.
"You're the one that did this to her?" She questioned again, glaring fiercely at the girl in white.
"I-I…" She stammered out as the blonde stalked up to her. Instead of answering verbally, she simply gulped and nodded, unable to say the words.
"Why?" She ground out.
"I-it was just a-an accident." The white haired girl stammered, trying to explain.
"An accident?" She seethed, gesturing to the still bleeding body of her sister, "That wasn't an accident"
"That was my sister!" She roared at the girl.
And for that, the girl in white had no response. What could she possibly say?
"I'm going to fucking kill you." The blond growled, eyes narrowing, teeth bared in rage.
She meant every word of it, the girl in white could see it in her eyes, the way she moved, the way her aura raged around her. And so did someone else.
In a flash, Yang lunged at the girl in white, blinding rage driving her to get revenge. She grabbed hold of the pale girl's neck, gripping it tightly in her large hands, and hoisted her off the ground, leaving her feet dangling.
As the white girl in hung there, choking on the furious hand of a grieving sister, help arrived in an unexpected form.
"Put her down." A voice filled with steel said.
It was at this moment that Yang notice the dark blade pressed up against her throat. Instead of floundering, however, simply grit her teeth, the flames in her hair flaring in rage at being interrupted.
"This isn't any of your business, this is between me, and her." Yang growled, not even bothering to look at the intruder.
But the girl in white did.
It was another young girl, about their age, who came to the rescue, dressed in black and white, and wearing a black bow tie on top. Her amber eyes were narrowed at the person she was holding the black blade to, resolve firmly placed in them.
"I'm not going to let you kill her." She responded.
Even if she is s Schnee. The girl in black added silently.
"Oh, but you were perfectly fine letting her kill my sister." Yang retorted with venom.
The girl in black paused, momentarily hit by the guilt of not being able to do anything, of not even thinking of doing anything. When she saw what was about to happen, she started chuckling silently, thinking the girl in red would be perfectly fine, that her aura would protect her. When the grisly truth was revealed, however, she was disgusted with herself for laughing at her death.
"…There was nothing I could do." She meekly countered the steel in her voice quivering as her resolve fell ever so slightly.
"But even still, this isn't the answer. She doesn't deserve this, and you don't deserve to get blood on your hands!" The girl in black continued.
"Oh, but she has plenty on hers. I mean, Ruby didn't deserve to die, but that didn't stop this bitch from killing her." She seethed.
Yang was beyond rage, beyond fury, at this point. While she had never actually killed someone, intentionally, at least, that didn't mean she was going to hesitate now. In fact, she was so incredibly furious, she didn't really care if she added one or two people to the body count she was going to rack up.
And sure, she had a blade to her throat, but at this point she didn't care. Ruby was gone, and it was all her fault. She didn't care about herself right now. All she cared about was avenging her sister.
And with that thought, she brought the girl in her right hand closer, as she was about to deliver the strongest, most fury and aura filled haymaker in her life, something strong enough that it would probably dent her skull, snap her neck, or kill her though sheer blunt force trauma to the head, aura or no.
But as she felt the girl in black's blade tighten across her neck, triggering her aura to try and protect her, something stopped her.
"Yang" She heard. Not with her ears, but with her mind.
Ruby? She thought, recognizing it.
Her sister had done it with her fairly often, usually whenever they couldn't speak or they needed a private chat of some kind. They still weren't entirely sure why she could speak in people's heads, but the chalked it up as either having something to do with her semblance, or why she was still alive.
Which brought her back to the issue at hand.
"Ruby." She said, breathless.
In an instant, she dropped the girl in her hands, the action surprising the girl in black enough to give Yang the breathing space she need to push herself out of her grip, and run to her sister.
"Ruby!" She cried again, falling to her knees in front of her sister's body.
At her presence, new life seemed to be breathed into the girl in red, as her body began to be wracked by coughs as it struggled to breathe again. Seeing her sister alive again pushed any thoughts of rage of revenge from her mind, and all that remained was joy and relief.
Ruby was alive.
I guess I really shouldn't be surprised by that. She thought. After all, it's hardly the worse wound she's ever received.
But it's still a close third. She added silently
Still, sisterly concern rose again, as while she knew Ruby would be alright, now that her mind was clear of rage, she also knew she was far from comfortable, and she still needed help.
So, careful as she could, she picked her sister up in her arms, whispering gently in her ear, "It's going to be alright Rubes. I've got you."
The mere presence of her sister was enough to help calm Ruby down, who was currently in some of the worst pain of her life, which was saying a lot. Still, it hardly compared to the time she was practically torn to shreds by Grimm, or was drowned for several minutes before her sister saved her, and her body restarted. All in all, despite her pain, she felt safe in her sister's hands, so she allowed herself to fall asleep in her arms.
The bystanders could only look on, bewildered as they watched the blonde girl carry her bloodied sister away in her arms. But then, she stopped abruptly, and turned, facing the girl in white.
"What's your name?" She questioned with narrowed crimson eyes.
"Uh…W-Wiess. Weiss Schnee." The Schnee stuttered, still gasping for breath from her near death experience.
She was too startled by the whole thing to even think of trying to flaunt her status as the SDC heiress.
"You better watch your back, Schnee. She might not be dead, but I'll never forget what you did to her." Yang responded.
And with that, she turned around and continued to walk back to the school, in search of a medic.
Once she was out of her sight, Weiss was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Glad she hadn't actually killed someone, and that she herself hadn't died.
Turning to the one who saved her life, or at least tried to, she held out a hand and said, "Thank you, miss…?"
She girl looked at the hand questioningly, wondering when hell had frozen over to allow this to happen.
In the end, she took the hand given, and replied. "Blake Belladonna."
"Weiss Schnee, though I'm sure you already heard that." She said with a tiny smile, the attempt at humor used to try and lighten the mood, and get her away from thinking about how close she was to death.
Blake responded with the tiniest of wry smiles in return, finding some form of her own humor in how ironic this all was.
"Thank you for saving my life, Blake." Weiss said courteously, meaning every word.
I didn't think I'd ever hear those words Blake thought. And she never thought she'd save a Schnee either, but she couldn't just let her die.
As much as the accident was her fault, it was an accident. And Blake had seen in her eyes just how regretful she was for her actions. She never meant for Ruby to get hurt, she was just caught up in her anger. Just as the blonde had been.
Except the blonde had been positively murderous.
Still, in a weird way, it's funny this all happened. She thought.
God must have a sick, twisted, sense of humor. Because I think I'm going to become friends with a Schnee because of a girl she nearly killed. She added wryly, her smile growing into a smirk.
And I must say, she has no idea how right she was.
A/ n:and like that this story has an M rating
That T did not last long.
Oh well
In any case, I've had this scene in my head for a while now, and it feels good to finally post it. Frankly, there are a number of ways this scene could have gone, and this was the more serious one.
That said, I still think blowing Ruby's face off and having Yang try to kill Weiss is pretty funny. If you don't like that kind of thing, welll...
You're probably in the wrong place.
Also, I'm planning on posting the other two variations on this after this one. So you can expect to that coming in at some point.
You can also expect Kokkinos to make an appearance in another one coming relatively soon
I also might, might be posting the collaboration soon on some host team collaboration account thing. In which case you I'll tell you how to find it
Anyway, that'd about it
Bye
