Dead By Roselight
Chapter 4: Silent Carnival
Yang and Weiss had finally made their way to where the music was coming from. As they had guessed, there was indeed a carnival in the middle of the field. The two girls could see all sorts of stands and other attractions as they walked through the entrance.
However, as soon as they entered the carnival, they noticed that something strange was going on. First, there were no people anywhere. No customers or even people behind the stands. It was like the place had been suddenly abandoned with the music and lights still on. The second thing they noticed was that everything seemed to be in a really bad shape. Dirt and rust covered practically everything you could see, and some of the lights were malfunctioning. Even the food had been left to rot and had flies swarming over it.
''Well, this is certainly a disappointment,'' Yang said while looking at a hot dog stand. All the sausages and buns were covered in mold with flies eating them. ''I wouldn't have minded to have a hot dog right now.''
''Would you mind and focus for a second?'' Weiss asked angrily. ''We came here to find people that could help us! We don't have the time to be fooling with these games!''
''Princess, I've got this covered,'' the blonde said as she walked up to one of the stands. It was a shooting gallery with toy rifles at the counter. Yang picked up one of the guns and began to aim at one of the targets. ''You just need to make some noise and make them believe you're a possible customer. As soon as they hear me firing, they'll come running here, hoping to make some money.''
''I'm not sure if that's going to happen,'' the heiress said while looking at the stuffed toys that were being offered as prizes. Even they seemed like they were falling apart, like the carnival itself. ''Just look at those toys up there. Who would ever want to get one of those? I'm sure you'll get all sorts of diseases just from holding one of them.''
The brawler didn't pay any mind to her teammate's warnings and instead took her shot. However, the gun was so covered in rust that she couldn't pull the trigger. No matter how hard she tried, Yang couldn't make it budge.
While the blonde was busy with her struggle, Weiss couldn't help but notice something strange about this. Out of all the people she knew, Yang had to be the physically strongest individual out there. For her to not be able to pull the trigger on a rusty toy gun was not possible. After all, the blonde was able to tear cars into pieces with her bare arms. Something had to be wrong.
''Man, this piece of crap won't budge!'' Yang yelled angrily as she threw the gun to the ground. ''No wonder they don't have any customers here! Nobody can use any of this junk!''
''While that is a problem, I have to ask you something. Are you alright, Yang?'' Weiss asked with a concerned voice. ''I mean, something like this shouldn't be a challenge for you.''
''Now that you mention it-''
Before the brawler could answer, a loud, horrified scream echoed through the carnival. Both Yang and Weiss immediately started to run towards where the sound came from, ready to help whoever was in trouble. But as soon as they reached the place the scream came from, they found two very familiar people there, who didn't seem to be in trouble.
''Ren! Nora! Oh, am I happy to see you guys!'' Yang called out happily to the two fellow students. Nora was currently on her hands and knees, and seemed to be throwing up, while Ren was crouched next to her, patting her back. ''We heard a terrible scream from here. Is everything alright?''
''Hello, Yang. Weiss,'' the stoic boy greeted the two girls while continuing to pat his partner's back. ''There's nothing really wrong over here. Nora just decided to try some of the cotton candy that one of the stands had, despite my warnings. Turns out it wasn't a good idea.''
''I guess the flies and the strange color should have been warning signs,'' the ginger managed to say while coughing up the last pieces of the spoiled, sugary treat. ''Seriously, who lets cotton candy of all things go bad!?''
''Whoever owns this place is my guess,'' Weiss answered for Nora. ''This whole place looks like it's been left without any upkeep for months, if not years. Who would do something like that and not simply tear it down or close it off?''
''What I'm more concerned about is the lack of people,'' Yang said. ''There are no customers or workers or even random bums wandering around. It's like we are the only people in the whole world.''
''So you guys haven't seen anyone either?'' Ren asked to which the two members of RWBY nodded. ''We haven't seen anyone either. You two are the first people we have seen all day.''
''That's not the only thing that's weird,'' Nora added while getting up. Her face was still a bit green from what she had just tried to eat. ''After we woke up, we were suddenly in a completely different forest than before. Not only that, but our whole team had been separated. Ren and I somehow managed to find each other, but we haven't seen Jaune or Pyrrha. It's not like them to just abandon us.''
''We're facing the same problem with Blake. Neither one of us has seen her since we went to sleep last night,'' Yang said. ''And to make everything even worse, we aren't able to contact anyone and our compass is acting up. What about you?''
''Same thing here. Our Scrolls can't contact anyone,'' Ren answered. ''What should we do now?''
''I say that we search this place,'' the blonde answered. ''Since we found each other here, I think there's a high possibility that we will be able to find our missing teammates here as well.''
Everyone agreed with Yang's idea and they began to explore the carnival. For some time, they couldn't anything that they hadn't seen yet. All they could find were abandoned stands and attractions, along with rotting food and other trash. But as they made their way through the place, they suddenly heard something. Someone was running and getting closer to them.
''Hey. Do you guys hear that?'' Yang asked while listening carefully to the frantic footsteps.
''Yeah,'' Nora said. ''I think it's coming-''
Before the hammer-wielding girl could finish her sentence, a young man suddenly appeared from behind one of the stands. By the looks of his clothes, he was most likely an average civilian. However, not only was he covered in dirt and bruises, but he also had a panicked expression on his face.
''Are you alright?'' Yang asked, concerned over the man's condition. ''Did something-''
''Hey! Have you guys found the generator yet!?'' the man suddenly asked in a panicked voice.
''Wait... The what?'' Weiss wondered, not knowing what the stranger was talking about.
''You know! The one thing that allows us to get out of this goddamn hellhole!'' the man almost screamed in frustration.
''Buddy, I think you need to calm down a bit,'' Yang said, getting a bit angered by how rude the stranger was being to her friend. ''Besides, if you want to leave, I think I know where the exit-''
''Oh, great! Just great! The first people I meet here and they're a bunch of greenhorn new guys!'' the man complained before running away from the group. ''If you can, do me a favor and stay out of my way! The last thing I need is a bunch of idiots, who don't understand what's going on!''
''What did you just say!?'' Yang yelled angrily and almost ran after the stranger, fully intent on hurting him, but Ren stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, holding her back.
''Yang, wait! Listen,'' the raven-haired boy said and the group went silent and listened.
As they listened, the group heard gunshots. Familiar gunshots. These sounds didn't come from any normal firearm, but from Blake's weapon. The cat faunus was apparently in the carnival.
''It's Blake and it sounds like she's in trouble,'' Yang said with wide eyes. ''Let's go!''
The group started to run towards the sound of gunfire, hoping to help their friend. But as they ran where their missing comrade was, the sounds of fighting suddenly stopped. The group stopped in the middle of the carnival and started to call out for the cat faunus.
''Blake! Where are you!?'' Yang called out, hoping that her partner would answer. ''It's me, Yang! I came here with Weiss, Ren and Nora! We're here to help you!''
''Yang...?'' a weak and familiar voice called out to the blonde from the shadows.
The group turned to look where the voice came from and they were immediately horrified by what they saw. They saw Blake, breathing heavily while leaning on her sword for support, as she struggled to stand. The raven-haired girl had multiple cuts on her body and one of them was very deep, causing her to bleed badly. Blake's left hand was holding this deep wound on her side in a desperate attempt at stopping the blood loss.
''BLAKE!'' Yang screamed in terror upon seeing her partner's condition. She quickly ran up to the raven-haired girl, just in time to catch her before she fell to the ground. ''Blake, what happened to you!? You're a mess!''
''Yang... Listen... You guys have to... get out of here...'' Blake struggled to say. The pain she was in made it difficult for her to speak. ''There's... something wrong... with this... place...''
''Don't speak! We'll get you fixed and then you need to rest!'' the brawler told her partner, before looking behind her at the rest of the group. ''Ren, I need some help here!''
''No! You don't understand!'' the cat faunus said, her face twisting in anguish from every word she managed to say. ''You need to hide before he finds you! You can't beat him!''
''Listen, I don't care who is coming at us! We'll beat the crap out of them for what they did to you!'' Yang said as she held her partner. ''But right now, what matters most is that we get you fixed, okay!?''
While the blonde was talking to her partner, Ren was desperately doing his best to provide first aid to the wounded Blake. However, this was proving to be very difficult, if not practically impossible, as the raven-haired boy was somehow unable to bring out his Aura to heal the injured Huntress. No matter how much he struggled, not even a bit of Aura came from his hands to close up the wound. This worried Ren greatly, since without any proper care, the wound on Blake's side could prove to be fatal.
The group was suddenly brought out of their worries over the injured cat faunus by the sound of someone coughing loudly. The group turned their heads to see that someone had just walked near them without anyone noticing. It was a huge man in a clown costume. The man had giant hands and a big, fat stomach. He also seemed to have some sort of bottles strapped to a belt around his waist. However, what was very disturbing about this clown was just how scary he looked. His outfit was dirty and torn, and he was breathing very heavily. His eyes were also very dark, looking like black holes in his face, and he didn't have the same happy attitude that clowns were supposed to have. This clown looked like he would make any child run away from him, if not even adults.
Almost everyone in the group was staring at the clown like he was some sort of a dangerous animal. Their natural instincts were warning them about this man, who had just appeared out of nowhere and looked like a monster. The only ones who didn't stare at the clown in this type of slight fear were Blake and Nora. Blake was looking at the man in absolute horror, like he had come from her worst nightmares. However, unlike everyone else, Nora wasn't alarmed by this man in the least.
''Well, it's about time we found someone who works here!'' the ginger yelled angrily and stomped over to him. ''We have looked everywhere and couldn't find a single employee around here! Our friend is terribly injured and needs medical help, so if you don't want this place to get shut down, I suggest that you get her somewhere where she can be treated!''
''Nora, I think you should get away from him,'' Ren said as sweat was falling down his face. Something about the clown was just telling him to run. ''I don't think he's here to help.''
''Of course he's here to help, Ren! Why else would he-'' Nora began arguing, but stopped upon noticing something. There was a metal ring on the clown's belt, one you would normally see having a bunch of keys attached to it. However, this ring had something that made the hammer-wielder stare at it in sheer disbelief. The ring had what seemed to be human fingers attached to it.
While Nora was staring at the dismembered fingers, the clown took out a knife from his pocket. A sadistic grin spread over his face as he raised his weapon above his head, ready to strike at his victim.
Author's notes: And the first Dead By Daylight killer makes his appearance! And it's The Clown! The reason I chose him as the first killer to appear in the story was because I felt that out of all the killers, he was the one the characters possibly wouldn't immediately recognize as a threat. Don't get me wrong, The Clown is terrifying. And I'm pretty sure that if I met him in real life, I would most likely shit my pants. However, I wanted to start with a killer that Yang and the others wouldn't immediately recognize as a threat and would get caught off-guard.
I also changed the area a bit for him. I know that he is supposed to appear in an area around a chapel that is essentially part of The Nurse's realm. I just felt that he would be better suited for a carnival as his own realm.
Sorry for cutting this chapter just as stuff was starting to happen. The reason for this was that I felt the chapter was getting very long otherwise, so I decided to cut it down a bit. Next chapter will have action, as the group has to survive the terror that is The Clown.
Until next time.
RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Dead by Daylight belongs to Behaviour Interactive.