Night Terrors

"HAH," Ambur screamed shortly, shooting up-right in bed, finding herself breathing incredibly heavy alone in the dark room. As she looked around, trying her best to slow her breathing, she struggled to see around her. Only the dim glow of a computer monitor sitting beside her bed lit the room with a dull blue tinge. Her attention finally fell on it, realizing that the machine was reading her vitals, beeping in time with her heart. As she felt around her she found her bed had handrails on it, and as she moved her hands to her own body, feeling it up and down she began to panic.

"..No," she pleaded softly as tears began to well in her eyes. "No no no come on not again," she wept softly as her hands ran up and down her thighs, unable to feel her fingers running up and down them. She leaned back into the bed, beginning to feel all the places that the machine was attached to her begin to itch and aggravate her. "Come on wake up Ambur," she cried to herself.

She closed her eyes in desperation and raised her head once more, slamming it back down into the hard hospital pillow beneath it, clenching her teeth in rage. "WAKE UP," she yelled more sternly as tears streaked down the sides of her head. She had been here before, far too often, every time unable to escape her own mind.

She yelled toward the door of her room now, her mind knowing that it was no use but she needed to try. "Is anyone there! Please I need help!" She cried in desperation, knowing how this dream always went. She began to hyperventilate again, trying to flail her arms, finding that once again they were strapped to the bed and only gave about a foot of motion to each arm. The needle in her lower back began to itch again as she flailed, reminding her that the more she struggled the worse this dream always got.

She tried to calm herself again as she lay back, taking as deep of breaths as she could manage, her breath hitching in her throat several times. "Please," She whined as she began to cry silently.

As she lay there crying her least favorite sensation came back to her as it always did. Not pain, nor anger. Helplessness.

She hated needing help. She hated being in a situation that she couldn't handle herself. Then after helplessness, the pain began to rise. She began to wince as her broken legs began to wake up, looking to her side and seeing that her medicine bag had indeed run dry, as it always did. Her lower back began to sting as her numbing agent wore off, followed by her thighs beginning to ache more and more, the pain building quickly as more tears began to stream down her face, trying as hard as she ever had to pull the needle out of her back. She was always unable to reach it.

It had been so long before breaking her legs that Ambur had even felt pain, she had her semblance to thank for that. But this incredible blessing came with one downside. Due to rarely feeling pain, she had never developed a tolerance for it. Her body was racked with it now and she could do nothing about it. Nothing but lie down and cry, unable to even curl up, forced to lay down straight and stare at the ceiling through tear-filled eyes.

Her teeth clamped down on her lips as she wept, trying to hold in her whining and to take her mind off of the growing waves of pain coming from her thighs. Every wave forced her lower legs to flinch slightly, in turn moving her upper legs ever so slightly. But slightly was enough to send yet another wave of immense pain through her body. Again and again, she fought to hold still, but each time she tightened her muscles to stiffen herself, her quads too tightened, locking her in a constant battle with her body, every involuntary action driving her more and more mad with pain.

She yelled out again in frustration, no words this time, only a pent up scream followed by much louder, more distraught crying as she pounded her fists into the mattress. This dream would go so much differently if she was able to use her semblance she always thought to herself. The issue was that, of course, in this torturous nightmare she never could use her semblance. It was as if it never existed in the first place.

Not to mention that no amount of aura, even if she could tap into it in this hellish nightmare, would set and join her near shattered femurs back together.

Seconds dragged by. Minutes felt like days. As they dragged by her body grew more and more hot with rage and pain, sweating profusely as she simply lay there racked with pain. Her pillow became wet and unbearable the longer she lay on it, soaked with tears and sweat.

She tried to clear her mind and think to a better time, but as usual, she simply could not block out the immense pain. Her body convulsed over and over again in a never-ending pattern, unable to escape it.

'Please,' she thought to herself as she tried to picture his face. 'Mydnight I need you...please wake me up,' she implored, her eyes closed tight as she tried, again and again, to clear her thoughts, getting nowhere fast. Every other second was filled with agony as she gripped her hands around the railing on her bed, trying to push the pillow out from under her with her head. 'I can't do this without you Myd, please wake up.'

She pleaded over and over again, this time out loud, whimpering in pain as she forced the words out of her mouth, choking the words out as she begged. Somewhere deep down she knew it was useless. She had had these dreams several times at home before coming back to school but never when she was next to Mydnight in bed. Now she was and she wished he would wake up so he could snap her out of this mess. But as the minutes crept by, Ambur's hopes seemed ever farther away.

Each time she found herself here, this dream lasted for hours, the entire night sometimes, and each time she lay here wanting more and more to be set free. But as the dreams went on her wishes always changed.

First, it was for a nurse to help her. Then as she realized it was a dream she would wish for Mydnight to wake her up and free her. But as the pain racked her body and she became so debilitated and defeated she found herself wishing for nothing more than death.

As the realization hit her each night she felt a wave of shame wash over her, always granting her a brief moment of clarity to reflect on what her previous thought had been. The realization always gave her a moment of strength, trying once again to free herself from her restraints or to call for help, only to be let down once more before settling in for the rest of the night. Accepting that all she was going to feel would be pain and eventually she would wake up and have to go to class and act like she was fine.

She had never mentioned the dreams to her therapists or even to Olivier. Only ever to Mydnight. Every time she woke up from one she felt like her old self. A teenager that wanted the world to look the other way and just let her fade into the background. The only reason she had changed in the first place was because of Mydnight being assigned her partner. Back in Signal, she had always been too shy or nervous to ever talk to him and for four years straight she had watched him from afar.

It wasn't until the shuttle ride up to Beacon on her first day that she had ever gotten up the courage to go sit next to him. Over the course of the next year, he would bear witness to an incredible transformation as Ambur went from a shy shut-in girl to a strong and confident young woman, changing her appearance in more ways than one. But as she lay there, the clock ticking by, it seemed like every minute she yearned more and more to slip back into the shadows.

Inevitably her mind would always linger on her dear partner as it always did, trying to focus on her love and devotion for him to take her mind off of the pain. It worked some, taking her mind off of it for a few stretches of time until the pain would spike and bring her out of her daydreams. Her throat would become dry and she would feel as if she was being strangled, choking on every breath she took as she wept.

The biggest problem that plagued her was that time stretched so endlessly in these nightmares. It seemed like she would lie there for hours but no time would pass. Once she had felt like she had spent hours in the dream only to find that a few minutes had passed, being awoken by her mother who came to check on her, having found her daughter drenched in sweat and tears breathing hard and shaking in her sleep.

Eventually, in the dream, she would start clawing at her thighs with her nails as she slipped into a daze. No longer able to control her body, clawing at her skin until it was chapped and red, sometimes even bleeding. She had tried to do this as little as possible lately because she had found that this action sometimes translated into reality, waking up to find bloodstains and cuts down her upper legs.

None of that, however, would be the worst problem to deal with. As she sunk lower and lower into the depths of shame and anger and pain her mind would punish her most cruelly as the dream came to a close.

Her mind would wander to how she had ended up in this situation in the first place, the event that changed her and Mydnight's lives forever. The guilt would build and grow every time until it mixed with her pain-induced stupor. She would stare at the ceiling repeat the same words to it over and over again as if someone could actually hear her.

"I'm sorry," she wept. Her voice grew more and more coarse each time the words left her lips, pleading someone to forgive her for what she blamed herself for. "I'm sorry," she whined as her fists clenched around the sheets of the bed, pulling at them as she shook, apologizing over and over to no one.

In her mind though, in some perverse notion, she wished for her lost team mate's voice to come to her and forgive her for what she deemed to be her fault. His death.

No matter how many times the scene replayed in her head however, she could never arrive at the decision that would free her from the guilt. She could not accept the fact that it was anyone's fault but her own. As their bodies collided in her mind, she repeatedly felt the impact that had rendered her in this hospital bed and left her friend's body mangled and broken at her feet.

They had hit at such intense speeds that the very last of Ambur's aura had been used up, and for the first time in her entire combat schooling career, she had felt physical pain other than the little things like biting her tongue or stubbing a toe. Or of course, Mydnight slashing her eye. His image tortured her as she lay there, haunting her memories over and over again as she could do nothing but cry and beg the ghost of him to forgive her. Each apology grew fainter and fainter as she felt her energy leaving her body.

And just like that, each night, the nightmare ended as she passed out from the pain in her hospital bed. As her body lay there in a bed soaked with her sorrow her mind would settle, unable to feel anything at all. Too often she had woken up unable to move, completely drained of drive or energy, and laid in bed all day too scared to fall back asleep. But she was no longer able to afford that luxury. She had classes to go to yes, but more than anything she felt she needed to put on a smile and show Mydnight that she could handle it.

However, as she felt her will fading she began to feel something else. Something on her shoulder, shaking it as if someone was trying to grab her attention. She began to hear a voice, though sounding familiar it also sounded very far away, too far away to make words out.

She knew all too well though that her prayers had finally been answered for the first time in a long time as a smile crept across her lips.

"Mydnight," she wept in joy as the dream faded, her hospital room falling away from her as she began to wake up. "Thank you."

/

Mydnight's eyes flashed open as he sucked in a deep breath. He shot up in his bed so quickly that he became dizzy. Lifting his hand to his forehead he found that it was coated with a thin layer of sweat. What on Earth had him so worked up?

He exhaled deeply before he ran his hand through his damp, long black hair and sighed. "Huhhhh...just a nightmare," he began before he froze. He grabbed onto a few stray locks of his hair, "that's weeeirrddd," he thought aloud in a worried tone as he ran his fingers through it again. "Pretty sure I cut that."

His hand moved to his face and found that it was smooth and hair-free, with no sign of his beard or mustache at all. "Okayyyy maybe this nightmare isn't quite over yet…" he sighed and looked around the room. His teammates were all right where he had left them, sleeping in their beds peacefully.

"Okay that's good," he thought. He felt fuzzy and he wasn't sure if he was seeing everything right. Sure it was dark but he had better sight than a human did. Everything looked normal enough. Ambur and Bronzine were in their beds, fast asleep, just as they should have been.

Before he could think about it any longer though he felt a hand at his back. Dainty fingers with a soft and soothing touch stroked his tail and he began to calm down. "You alright? You're awfully sweaty. Have a bad dream?" She asked him.

"Must have," he exhaled in relief before he shook the thoughts from his head. He let her grab his arm and pull him back down to the bed. He felt her lips against his neck before she lay her head down on his chest, pink hair splayed across his body.

"It's okay, nothing wrong. Go back to sleep baby," she sighed softly, tracing her pointer finger along his ribs.

His eyes began to flutter closed slowly as his vision became more and more blurry. "okay," he whispered. "Just a dream."

His arm went around her thin frame and he was just about to let sleep take him. Just before he was about to pass out though his eyes shot open again and he froze in place. 'Wait,' he thought to himself as a wave of dread crashed through him. 'That was Ambur,' he thought to himself, looking back over to where his partner slept on the other side of the room. She was alone in her bed, facing away from him toward the wall.

'If Ambur is over there then...who,' he paused before finally registering the long pink hair spread across his body. 'What the hell is happening here,' the thought raced through his mind as he began to sweat nervously again. He tried to push Rosa off of him but somehow she wouldn't budge. No matter how hard he tried to move out from under her she simply could not be moved.

Soon his arms felt like jelly from all the wasted effort and he was forced to stop panicking and consider what was happening. 'It's a dream...it has to be a nightmare,' he silently reasoned. He'd tried to say it out loud but he found that he could no longer speak either.

He turned his head and tried to call across the room to his partner but no words passed through his lips. 'Gotta wake up,' he yelled in his head. He tried to think of a way to get her attention but soon found himself sulking again. 'If she was gonna wake up then all that thrashing around would have done it,' he realized. 'Just stay calm, she'll wake you up eventually. As much as this sucks it could be worse,' he tried to convince himself.

However, as soon as he finished the thought Rosa began to stir. He watched as she propped herself up on her elbow, digging it into his ribs. "I thought I said go back to sleep wolf boy," she growled.

He watched silently as she pushed herself up more and swung her leg over him and began to straddle his stomach. Her long pink hair fell around her thin frame and he finally realized they were both naked and he fought to speak up but found that he still couldn't.

'No no no,' he shook his head quickly. 'Not that,' he thought in panic, throwing his arms up in protest.

Rosa caught his hands however and easily forced them to her hips holding them there as a wicked grin spread across her lips. "Well since you're so awake I guess I'll just have to tire you out huh?" She cooed in a sultry tone and she reached behind her back and down between his thighs.

He jumped a little in shock when her fingers closed around him, finding that his body had betrayed him completely. It was more than ready for this nightmare to happen whether he wanted it to or not. 'Not a dream!' he thought in panic. 'Total nightmare!' he shut his eyes as tight as they would go.

"Ohhh so lovely. You could've just asked if you were so wound up," she teased him coyly. She slid back and lifted her hips feeling him twitch as their bodies met.

Mydnight shook his head again as hard as he could. 'Wake up you fucking idiot!' his brain screamed at him. He couldn't look at her as she lowered herself into him. Her pale skin shone brightly in the moonlight coming in through their window. Instead, as the room became filled with her panting and moaning, Mydnight's vision settled on only one thing. The two bright red orbs staring back at him from the other end of the room.

As realization spread through him he thought he might just vomit. The shame and desperation hurt him more than he ever could have imagined as Ambur's bright red eyes watched them silently. 'Stop watching,' he pleaded. Her eyes were unblinking. 'Look away!' he begged.

She wouldn't though. Ambur's eyes were wide open and glued to the pair of them. Mydnight slowly began to worry that this may not actually be a dream at all. His lips parted in horror at the possibility. What if everything else had been the dream...what if this was real? He'd been in the fog back then hadn't he? Would he even remember if this had really happened? How many times had Ambur lied awake at night and watched this very thing happen from across the room?

Once? Twice? A dozen times? Had he never even spared her a glance during them? Had he never looked to see if they were being watched by the girl that he actually wanted to be with?

"Hey," he heard Rosa growl sternly as she slammed her pelvis down against his. His attention shifted back up to her glowing blue eyes. She leaned forward and dredged her nails up his chest to his throat and wrapped them tightly around it, cutting his air flow off. "You're supposed to be looking at me! Not her! You...are...mine. she can watch all she wants," Rosa smirked as her nails dug deeply into his throat.

Dark clouds began to crowd in around the edges of his vision as Mydnight gasped for air. Black spots started dancing around the few areas he could still see. Before he passed out his eyes darted back to Ambur for only a moment, just long enough to watch her roll over and return her attention to the wall. 'No,' he gasped one more time before he slipped back into unconsciousness.

/

"No!" He choked as she jolted upright in bed, his arm flying up and reaching out in front of him. He was absolutely drenched in sweat and breathing raggedly.

His hand moved to his throat as he coughed and choked down gulps of air. He could actually feel the imprint of nails on his skin. He quickly looked down to find Ambur still asleep in my h the same condition he felt. She had one hand on her thigh and the other was on their pillow where his throat had been only moments ago, clenching and unclenching over and over again.

'She must have grabbed me in her sleep...got my throat instead of my arm…' he thought slowly. 'Lucky she woke me up without killing me,' he shook himself awake at the thought. However, he soon realized that tears were running down Ambur's cheeks and staining her face and the pillow and that she was just as drenched as he was. He lifted their blanket and found her scratching at her very red and raw thighs. She'd told him about her nightmares of being in the hospital but he'd never been laying next to her during one before.

He moved his hand to her shoulder and began to gently shake her, swallowing his own issues to help her.

"Ambur...Ambur come on wake up...it's okay...you're okay," he said softly and moved his hand to her forehead. He brushed some of her matted down hair out of her face and began to run his fingers through her hair.

"We're okay."