'I'm here again…' Ruby's thoughts echoed through the darkness as she stood naked in the expansive void. No sight or sensation penetrated the pitch blackness, save for the feeling of something we and warm beneath her feet. 'I'm dreaming…'
"Not a dream… a nightmare." A disturbingly gently and compassionate voice whispered from behind her, so close she could feel the breath of the speaker against her neck.
Ruby's body felt heavy, as if her bones were replaced with lead… even so, she forced herself to move. As she placed her foot down she heard a splashing, warm drops spattered her lower legs, filling the air with a chillingly familiar acrid odor.
"I-it's you…" Ruby whispered, fear finally setting in, gripping her heart and paralyzing her limbs as she stared at own face only inches away. It was Ruby… but it wasn't at the same time, the other her, the Ruby with the icy gaze chilled to a deathly cold by the things she had seen and done, even her voice was cold enough to send shivers down Ruby's spine.
"It's me." The cold Ruby's almost unnaturally monotone voice didn't help Ruby's fear, she wanted to run away from the doppelganger but now her body was completely frozen, leaving her forced to stare into those chilling silver eyes.
"You're scared." She said it so simply and softly, but scared didn't even come close to the level of pure terror that felt as thought it would suffocate Ruby, filling her chest with unbridled but impotent fear.
"I'm going to protect you." Her voice was caring and gentle now, a stark contrast to the cold in her eyes. Slowly she raised her arm up from her side, bringing her hand to rest on her counterpart's cheek. Cold Ruby's hands were warm and soft, at her tender touch Ruby felt her body grow lighter, but deep in her heart she could still only feel fear towards her double as she gently stroked her cheek.
"From what?" Her voice was little more than a stifled, constricted whisper. She could feel her double's warm fingers trail down the side of her face before falling to her shoulder, her soft hand running slowly down the length of her arm. Despite the tenderness in her touch, Ruby wanted to run away… but she felt an even greater terror as she looked into the darkness that surrounded them.
"Do you really want to see what's out there, just out of reach, hiding in the dark?" Cold Ruby's fingers gently ran down Ruby's soft palm before she carefully and slowly entwined her fingers with her counterpart's, clasping their hands together, Ruby's eyes were wide, her face extremely pale as her gaze was fixed with overwhelming fear into the darkness.
"Don't let go." At the sheer gravity in Cold Ruby's voice, Ruby could do nothing but hold on tight to her other self's hand stepping just a little bit closer, their shoulders touching as they stood side by side. Cold Ruby ceremoniously raised one hand up into the air above them and a small flame ignited in her palm, burning away the darkness, revealing what lurked in the shadows.
Ruby trembled as she stared at the countless grotesque, almost human like beings, unnaturally disfigured and woeful monstrosities with eyes like Grimm that all stared at the Rubys, literally just out of arm's reach. Below them stretched an unending pool of blood that barely came up to her toes which was fed by the dripping wounds of the horrors.
Ruby's mouth was dry and her throat was tight, she wanted to scream… but her voice was paralyzed. All she could do is stare at them as their red eyes burned into her, her small body quaked and trembled and her hand held ever tighter to the only source of warmth aside from the blood that covered her feet.
"I will protect you." Cold Ruby whispered. The flame in her hand snuffed out, plunging them again into darkness… but it was too late, Ruby knew what lurked just out of reach. Her body felt at once cold and hot, waves of nausea swept over her as her heart pounded in her chest. Ruby's terror skyrocketed as she felt her counterpart's hand release her own and again she found her body completely immobile.
"I will keep you clean, as always." Cold Ruby stepped forward, and smoldering ember appeared in hand, growing longer and long from each end until it formed a familiar scythe, her former weapon Inferno Crescent.
Suddenly, Ruby was alone, smoldering rose petals scattered around her as they slowly burned to ash. All around her in the darkness she could hear screams of agony and rage forming a deafening chorus as flashes of fire from the scythe's blade showed her counterpart killing the horrific creatures before the fire faded time and time again, plunging her back into darkness.
'Run!' A voice, a man's voice, one that held a bittersweet familiarity screamed at her from inside her mind. 'Red get out now!'
The voice ripped her from her immobility, her body felt light as fear and adrenaline coursed through her veins. She turned on her heels, nearly slipping in the blood before she used her Semblance, getting away as fast as possible, to where though, she had no idea. She just heeded the words that echoed in her mind, screaming at her to run. She could feel those… things, grabbing at her, howling and shrieking at her as she moved as fast as she could, but she didn't stop, after a point, she couldn't even hear them over the sound of her panicked heart hammering in her chest.
Suddenly… there was nothing beneath her feet, the shallow pool of blood had given way to a truly empty void and then… she fell. Ruby plummeted down above her she could still see the flashes of fire from her other self doing battle on her behalf. A cold chill turned her blood to ice as she felt hands grabbing at her, holding her arms and legs painfully tight, pulling her down fast and fast into the abyss!
"No!" Ruby bolted up, her whole body was drenched in sweat and a lightning pain shot through her scar and radiated through her head as she trembled in her tent, panting for breath. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.
Not a dream… a nightmare.
A voice that seemed at once her own and yet separate from her echoed through her conscious mind… and then all the terror of her nightmare returned, now feeling all too real. Shakily, she staggered up, one hand clutching her head as she unzipped her tent, falling out of it and collapsing onto the grassy ground, still quivering, her breaths heavy and labored as sweat dripped from her brow, a cool, soft breeze providing some semblance of relief to the fire that seemed to be consuming her from the inside out.
It was still dark, but she could hear birds chirping all around them. Sunrise wasn't far away and the moon was just bright enough to allow her to see the camp around her. Yang and Neo's tents were on either side of her own, as her heart slowed, she could hear Yang's soft snoring and Neo wasn't much of an early riser… she was the only one awake. The memories of her nightmare played in her head over and over sending chills down her spine… until she saw something.
A figure lay on the opposite end of their snuffed out camp fire. As her eyes adjusted, she realized that it was her boyfriend, sleeping outside in his sleeping bag, his tent's entrance unzipped. Closing her eyes she focused her ears and after tuning out the birds and her sister's snoring… she could hear Mercury's soft, rhythmic breaths. An idea, or rather a whim struck her and she couldn't think of any reason not to follow through with it, so she quickly rummaged around inside her tent and grabbed her blanket.
Her fear ebbed and a small smile formed from her lips as she got out of her tent. As quietly as she could she crawled over to him. His pale skin almost glowed in the silver light of the moon as she came to a stop beside him, her legs resting underneath her, propping her up so she could look down at him. Gingerly Ruby reached out, brushing back his bangs, he looked so peaceful as he slept, just watching him made her eyelids feel heavier.
Ruby carefully and slowly adjusted herself, putting half of the blanket under herself while the covered the both of them with the remaining half. She settled in, his soft and steady breathing telling her that she hadn't woken him, she got a little more bold, snuggling closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. After only a minute she could feel his warmth, the gentle rise and fall of his chest pulling her more and more into a comfortable ease and then… he shifted, his arm which had been up, keeping his hands under his head, lowered as he wrapped his strong arm around the smaller girl, pulling her in close.
Her surprise gradually ebbed… he didn't seem to have been woken. So Ruby just stared up at him from his shoulder, smiling contently as her eyes fell shut, feeling nothing but safe… she let herself slip into unconsciousness and didn't have another nightmare the rest of the night.
