Ascendancy

by Titanmaster 117

War never changes, merely the adversaries. Jaune Arc's dream was to be a hero, not a soldier. But now, as the Grimm rise up under a new master, he finds that he has little choice in the matter. Darkness will flood over Remnant as the Second Great War begins, and not everyone will live to see the light at the end of the tunnel... (Dark RWBY fic. Minor and major character deaths)

39. Short Story: Nightmares

Main theme: Metro Exodus rap by Jt Music, featuring Andrea Storm Kaden
Theme: Solace from the Halo 4 soundtrack

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They awoke in fits and starts.

They did not awaken anyone else in the room. They were alone.

In every sense of the word.

They could feel their skin crawl from bloodied sensations as their past dreams refused to lay their mind to rest, scratching and clawing at their mental walls and fortresses, breaking them down piece by piece and refusing them any chance of peace as-

THOUSANDS OF SHARPENED HANDS SNAPPING SCRAPPING CLAWING AWAY AT MY FLESH SHUCKING THE MEAT FROM MY BONES DRAINING ME OF MY BLOOD SUBJECTING ME TO EVERY CRUEL KIND OF TORTURE IMAGINABLE PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN MPRE PAIN MORE PAIN MORE UNIMAGINABLE PAIN

PAIN

PAIN PAIN

PAIN PAIN PAIN

PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN

PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN

THE PAIN OF THOSE AROUND ME DYING BEFORE I DO

STABBING

SHOOTING

CLAWING

IMPALING

TEARING

RIPPING

BLACKENED HANDS AND WHITE BONE AND EVIL RED EYES PULLING ME APART TEARING MY LIMBS FROM MY BODY PULLING OUT MY NAILS AND EYES AND TEETH DRAINING ME OF BLOOD SKINNING ME ALIVE RA

Breathe.

Breathe.

Just breathe.

They sucked in a long gasp of air, and tried to calm themselves.

They were alive.

They were alive.

They were alive...

…

But was that a good thing?

They didn't know.

They needed to find out.

They made their way to the bathroom, and looked themselves in the mirror. Their eyes were dulled and heavy with bags, their skin scarred and paling.

They were wrong.

They were wrong.

They were going to make things right.

A sharp object was nearby. They picked it up and aimed it at their neck.

In death, they would give life in their place. In death, they would repay their sins. In death, they would-

A hand took their own.

They turned to face the other.

Blue met aqua. Aqua met blue.

"Don't."

A tug on the arm.

"Please... Don't."

There was a long silence, before, eventually-

"Okay."

-They put the sharp object back down.

The two left the bedroom, and went out into the lounge of the dorm, where they would sit next to each other in unadulterated, unmitigated silence.

Until, finally, aqua looked into blue, and blue looked into aqua.

"Why?"

One smiled. The other didn't.

"Because saving each other is what teammates are supposed to do."

And with that, on that night, one more life was saved.

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If people have read my previous Re:Zero fics, then you should know that this short story is very familiar to one of those oneshots. Well, that is because that one shot was originally meant to be this chapter, but I was so excited to write it that I got impatient and wrote it out as a oneshot in a different context.

Personally, I think I did a better job there than I did here, but I'm still proud of what I've made.

Anyways, on a personal note, who do you guys think I wrote about? If you've been checking the eye colours of the main cast, then you'll know, and when you do: Which of the two characters was in which role?

That's the beauty of being the author: I don't have to explain myself.

I'll leave it up to your imagination.