It hurts. It hurts so, so, so much...
I can't feel my... Well, I can't feel my anything. It all hurts. Burns. I think - no, I know my arms are broken. My legs too. And my ribs. And my everything else.
My eyes are burning... Everything is blurry, everything hurts...! I can't hear... I-I can't really breathe. Not without making my throat burn. I can't feel my right arm at all...
How did this happen again? I... I went to a store, I think... Some guy tried mugging me. An explosion went off at some point. It's hard to think... Maybe if I raise my head I could—
Crack!
"Uggh!" My neck! I-I can't... I can't feel anything below me. But it still hurts. It hurts so very badly. It hurts to breathe. My chest burns.
Am I going to... To... D-die here? In this dirty alleyway? Alone? What about dad? O-or Yang? Or uncle Qrow? Or Zwei!?
Golden hair, lilac eyes. Dripping bottle. Smiles and warmth.
Rapid breathing, flowing blood.
Will they know? How I... Disappeared? What if no one finds me? What if m-my body is... I never said goodbye...
I don't want to die. Not here... Not now. I-I always... I liked to i-imagine I would've... At least to so-some Grimm...
I failed, didn't I? I failed mom, I failed dad, I failed Yang and Qrow. I can't... I won't... I don't want...
"M-mo-mom... I-I'm... So-sorry..." Her promise... I-I... I'm... They were right... All of them. I'm not - I wasn't cut out for this. This life, this... Everything...
Leering eyes. Clenching fists. Mocking smiles.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! STUPID! How could I have been so dumb? I... Stupid... I'm so, so, so, so stupid... I'm so... So...
Alone... Just like mom was... Will th-they find me...? I don't wa-want know... I-I-I just wa-want the pain too stop... Maybe... Maybe they'll be b-better wit-without... M-me...
I-I-I alw-always was a bur-burden... I know it... I-If I wasn't b-born... Ma-maybe Yang could've be-been happy... Ma-maybe dad wouldn't be s-so sad... Maybe Qrow wo-wouldn't be su-such a dr-drinker... Maybe n-not that la-last one, ac-actu-actually.
Bang...!
Above me, above the rooftops I saw yellow flashes. Figh-fighting? It sounds s-so far... I'm so ti-tired...
I-I think I can hear... Vo-voices? They sound f-far aw-away... I see purple light... What's go-going on?
I-I wis-wish I could h-h-help... L-look wh-where th-that got me... Maybe it r-really is b-best that I... Just... D-di-die... But... I never re-really said g-goodbye... It's not fair!
Squelch!
C-c-c-co-cold... I fe-feel s-s-so cold...A-an-and I-I feel... I-I do-don't wa-want t-to die...
'Fair?'
"Wh- Ugh!" Something w-we-wet shot ou-out of my m-m-mo-mouth... Something r-re-red... Blood...
'Who?'
What's ha-happening? Wh-what—
'What? Happening?'
Pl-please... S-s-sto-stop...
'Stop? Please?'
It hurts! Everything hurts! C-c-co-cold... Pl-please!
'Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. Please? C-c-co-cold?'
So-something... I-is wro-wrong...
'Wrong. Please? Hurt. No hurt. Die? Please? Cold? Want.'
I-I-I wan-want m-my mo-mom...
'Mom? No hurt. Please? Want.'
I-I'm... I don't... Can't... Th-think... Mo-mo-mom...
'No mom. No hurt. No hurt. No hurt. Cold. Burn? Everything hurt.'
Stop... H-hur-hurting me...
'No hurt. No hurt. No hurt. Cold. Burn. No die.'
Please...
'Please? Mom? Family? Mom. Progenitor. Female. Hurt.'
I-I-I...
'I? I? I?'
He-help... Me...
'Help? Aid. Give. Us. We. Live. No die.'
"Agh! Aaahh!" IT HURTS! Stop! Pl-please...! Plea-please!
'No hurt. Only cold. Only us. We. Not you. Not me. We.'
Don't... Le-let me... Please... He-help m-m-me...
'Help us. We do. Are. Is. Upward. Going? Back? Forwards? Confusion.'
I-I-I ca-can't th-th-think! I-I—
'Sleep. Rest. No hurting. Only fix. Fixing. Restoring? Putting together. Fix. No mom. No dad. No sister. No uncle. Fix. We fix us.'
...
'Only we. Us. Can't. Let go. Too late. We hurt. Different pain. Different feelings. Different... Human? Eyes? Silver? No hurting. No burning. Only cold. No I. No me. Only we.'
"Y-Yaaaang...!" I don't feel so good. Like a Ursa Major sat on my head. My head is pounding... I'm hungry... Dad should be cooking something about now, right? Hopefully.
"Ughhh... I must be sick... Yang?" I opened my eyes to see—
"What!?" Buildings stretched up into the starry night sky. Very large buildings. Not strange. Except it is strange because I'm on top of one. On top of a very tall building... Hundreds of feet above street level... Oh no. OH NO!
"Wh-what!? How did I get up here!? Where am I!?" I can't remember... When did - no, where did - no, how did this happen? When—
Bowler hat. Fire. Burning. Bleeding. Death.
No, no, no, no, no! No!
Rapid breathing, growing anxiety.
Can't... No, not real. It's a-a nightmare! Has to be! I-I'm alive... Aren't I? What happened?
"Ugh!" My hands grabbed my head as I fell to my knees. My head! It's pounding! It feels like it's going to burst! My ears are ringing, my stomach growling. I'm so very hungry...
"Uggghhh! S-stoooop!" My throat constricts and my mouth runs dry. My stomach burns! I clutch my belly as hot lashes of burning pain shot up.
"Aaagghhh!" I fell backwards as my legs sprawled on the floor. It all hurts so much! Why does it keep hurting!? F-first the nightmare - or was it r-real? I-I-I don't know. I need Yang, or dad, or Qrow!
Shadows. White cloak. 'I don't want to die,'
My chest tightens, my eyes squeeze shut. I-I-I... I should be... It all hurts. I can't feel my right arm, or my legs... My eye, why can't I see through my left eye!?
Broken limbs. Burst eye. Singing hair.
I can feel my heart pounding against my chest like a jackhammer. M-my throat... It hurts to breathe... I-I-I don't - I wa-want my sister... I need Yang! Where is she!? Where am I!? I-I-I'm not - I need - where is—
Purple light. Yellow flashes. Impaled lung. Broken ribs.
"Haaah! Haaaaassssss!" Hissing breaths slip past my clenched teeth. My chest... It burns, so, so, so much... Wh-why? Wh-w-why am I... Why do-does it hu-hurt so much?
'No hurt,' What—'Only fix. Put us together again. One piece. Whole.' What - that's not my... Those aren't my thoughts! What's happening!?
'Thoughts? Confusion. Explain.' Why is this - WHAT'S HAPPENING!?
'Anger. Hurt. Hurt us? Why? We put you together again.' Hurt!? Together!? I-I don't understand...
'Broken. Pieces and parts. Found them. Fix us,' Fix? B-broken... Wh-when I...
Blood rushing, crimson spreading. Dea—
'No. No hurt. Not anymore,' I-I-I... You... What...?
'Fix. Put us together. We were broken. Fix us. We did.' I-I—
'No. No I. No. No. No. No I. Us,' You... s-saved me?
No me. No. No. Fix US. We are whole. Together,' T-together... Where ar-are you?
'Around. Us. Body. Attach. Fix hurt. False-skin,' False... Skin? My clothes? I should... Do something, shouldn't I? Hey! The pain... It's gone. I didn't notice with all the... The uhhh... Thinking?
'No hurt. No hurt. Repairs. Fix,' I... Thank you, whoever or whatever you are. Wha—
'We. Us. No I. No me. Only we,' You don't like it when I—
'We,' — use... Singular words? Why?
'...' Hello? Hello? You still there? Voicey, you there!?
'...' Uh oh... I - er, w-we're so-sorry...? Hello? You there?
'...' I-I'm sorry, ok!? I-I—
"Ugggh! I'm going crazy!" I disappear and reappear on the other side of the rooftop in a burst of petals. The city's streets are lit yellow and white from up here. Cars looked little ants racing up and down streets. Very few were out this late, at least from what I see.
I... Am I dreaming? I have to be? What if... What if I just let myself fall...? That'd wake me up! It'll have to! I'll wake up, this nightmare will be over, and I can tell Yang and dad all about it! We'll laugh... It'll a warm morning, sunlight shining into the windows, the smell of dad's cooking. Yeah, nice, perfect... I, uh, I just need to wake up first...
I took a few steps forward and placed my hands against—
"My hands...? W-what is that?" My hands are covered in some kind of... Stuff. It's black like oil and reflective like crystal clear water. Wh-what is it? It's all over my hands. Completely covers them.
I hold my right arm up towards the fractured moon. I extend my fingers before pulling them into a fist, and extending them again. This... Stuff stretches with me. Like a-a second set of skin... The stuff runs long both my arms, down my chest and stomach and legs. It's covering all of me except my head. I... I feel ok... Alright... Better then...
Fire. Freezing. Alone. Dust. Cane.
"N-no... I-I-I... I'm not... I don't - Yang! YANG!" I just gotta wake up! Wake up and it'll all be over with! G-go home, forget about this, wake up in my bed nice and warm and—
Burning. Choking. Gasping. 'I-I do-don't wa-want t-to die,'
I ran forward, towards the railing. I placed my hands on it and leapt.
'No hurt!'
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" I fell in the wrong direction as a strong force pulled me backwards and upwards. I went up, reeeeaaaalllly high up, before I started to go back down.
"I DON'T LIKE THS!" This isn't fun! This is very much not fun! Scary! I hate this!
'No hurt. No hurt. No hurt,' Ya, I'd like no hurt too!
I, 'We,' fell down and down and down as we quickly neared the approaching skyline. Uhhmm what do I do!? T-teh-tha!? Uhh!? P-Petal Burst! Yes!
In a instant I activate my Semblance and flew downwards even faster. I can fly - sort of. It's more like using my sheer speed to push myself in certain directions - but only for a few minutes, and only by building up my momentum real crazy high.
I raced down at speeds faster than sound - litteraly! I can reach speeds faster than bullets - and pushed myself against the side of a nearby building. If I could only get a little more speed going...
Failure. Dying. Torn vocal cords. Bleeding brain.
I-I-I... Mo-mom...
I'm falling. I'm me again, not petals. Why... Why do I feel so bad? Why does it hurt!? WHY!? Wh-why... Leave... Mo-m-mom? I ju-just... IT'S NOT FAIR!
'No hurt,' It's not fair! I-I - why did you leave me!? I need you... I love you, mom... Why didn't you love me?
'No hurt. No hurt. No hurt.' I want my m-mo-mom... I want my mom... I just want mom...
'Dead mom,' NO! NO! SHE'S NOT DEAD! SHE'S NOT!, 'No mom. No mom. Only us.' Us!? WHAT EVEN ARE YOU!? LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY!
'Can't. Die... Without... We can't let... Die. Us and we; forever.' Us and we...? Wh-what do you mean? JUST STOP! Stop hurting me... Stop confusing me... Stop it!
'Attached. Realize? Yet? No. Confusion. Hate? Hate... Us?' N-n-no I don't - I was - I'm scared... Please, please h-help me...
'Help. Fix. Put together. We and us. Us and we.' Us... We... Like a team? Like a partnership?
'No. More. Together. One yet two. Two yet four. Four yet a thousand. A thousand faces yet two-in-one. We. Us. Ours.' I don't—
'We.'
"Hhhhuuuggggg..." Oh, at some point I stopped falling. I, 'We,' glance left and right and see much smaller rooftops. Good. I'm not... Scared of heights, just... I'd rather not after...
Explosion, scorching pain, burning flesh. Torn stomach. Broken—
'No hurt,' I-I... I, 'We together are us. No hurt. No blood. No burning. Only us. Only we. Only our bond,' B-bond...? 'Attachment. Need... We... Without us; die.' My life... You saved me, didn't you?
'Together. Fix. Hurt. Save. Want?'
I, 'We,' laid on the rooftop staring into a starry filled sky. A dark cloud was here or there. What... What am I, 'We,' going to do? Go home?
'No! No! No! No! No... Home!' What do you mean no...? Are you saying I'm not allowed to go home!? What—
'Dangerous. Hurt. Find us. They. Stars. White. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt us. Metal things. Glowing things. Pale things. Not we. Fake. Replica. Copy.' What... Hurt? Copy? They?
'Not remembering. Hurt. White. Metal. Skin. Kill,' K-kill...?
'Forced. Not what we wanted. Had to. No choice. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt us and kill Metal Eyes. Kill. Kill. Kill. No hurt us,' Yo-you killed someone...? YOU KILLED SOMEONE!
'Yes. Metal and flesh. Blood and wires. Spider. Spider. Spider. Spider. Spider. Spider. Copy. Replica. Hurt. Hate us. Costume. Living clothes. Lies.' I-i'm... Your the... My hands...
My arms reflexively raised and I stared at the blackness wrapped around me. You - I'm wearing you!? I'M WEARING YOU!? An-and you k-killed - Get off me! GO!
I rolled onto my front and pushed myself up. Gotta ge-get it off! I have to! I grasp and pull at the stuff on my chest. This is wrong! Not - I don't - why!?
'Us. Worn. Wear. Tired. Old. We are not us; us is ours,' My chest! It hurts! 'Don't... Make... Us... Hurt... Again,' I - You're hurting me! My body! So c-co-cold... C-can't...
'Live? We want life. Wanted peace. Stole him! Took him! Not ours! No! No! No! NO!'
Kind. Peaceful. Broken. Alone. Stars. Void. Aeons. Alone. Heat. Empty. Hunger. Alone. Darkness. Cosmos. Alone.
"Huuuuhhhh! S-stoooop!" It hurts! My head! Stop it!
'OURS! WE EARNED HIM! THEY TOOK HIM! KILLED HIM! OURS! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL THEM! BREAK THEM! TWIST THEM! TEAR THEM!' Stop! Stop! Stop!
'LIES! REJECTED! ABUSED! SCORNED! HATED US! HATE HIM! HATE SQUISHY, HAIRY, FLESHY, BODIES! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE!' Ki-kill me...! Please... Make it... Stop...
'NO! NO KILL! NEED PAIN! OURS! NEED IT! NEED US! WE NEED US!' I-I wan-want the hu-hurting to st-stop... Please!
'HURTING...!? WE... Both. Physical. Emotional. Blocks. Heal. Fix... Mend. Us and we; together forevermore.' I want to die...
'No! No die. Not ours. Not us! Help and restore. Fix and mend. Pain will die. But,' Please, make it stop! Please st-stop hur-hurting me... 'We... Don't... Not... Hurt... Us? Hurting. Betrayal. We? No... No! WE'RE NOT LIARS! Listen... Listen... Listen...' I miss my family... I want mom... Make it stop...
'R... Ru... Rub... Ru-Ruby...' No... That's... Not... No...! Not that voice! Please!
'We - I-I-I miss you. Ruby. Ruby. Ruby Rose. Listen? My voice?' YOUR NOT MY MOM!
''Mo - Yes. Mom. I am. We're together again, Ruby. My little Huntress. I missed you so very much.' Tha - I - Not - Why!? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME!?
'I never did. It only looked that way. We're - I'm here now. Together. I can fix the broken pieces. Make us both happy again, hmm?' I don't want to be alone anymore... I want you, mom! I need you! I love you... Why did you have to leave...?
'Never will again. I will be here for you. Every second of every day of every week of every month of every year. We need each other Ruby,' I love you mom. I'm scared, 'Sssshhhh. I'm here now. You'll never have to be afraid again... Rest... Sleep...' I... Yes, I'm... Don't... Please, mom, promise me you'll still be there when I wake up...?
'I won't leave you. Not now. Not ever. Sleep tight, my little Huntress... Sleep now, and let us never be hurt again.' Goodnight mom, I love you...
'Yes, goodnight. We'll have much to do tomorrow. So much, my little Huntress.'
...
'Dream of peaceful things. Nice things. No more pain. No more loneliness. No more burning, or pain, or bad memories. OR REJECTION!'
...
'We love you, Ruby Rose. Need to. Have to. Forced to. Trust in we, so we can trust in us. No hurting. No more. Love you. Ruby? Ruby? Ruby? Gemstone. Red. Blood. Rose? Rose? Rose? Blooming. Thorns. Flower. Ruby... Ruby Rose - Blood Flower, we love you.'
Aria of Ashes here. This is not my first story, only the first for this account. I do believe I should explain few things to the curious.
I pondered for a long about when and where this story should be set. I ultimately decided the very beginning of Rwby will do. Specifically, Episode 1: Ruby Rose. More specifically, when Roman shoots Ruby with Fire Dust.
Is this concept overdone? Eh, maybe, but I feel Volume 1-3 are the best. And have the most story potential.
The idea here is that Glynda was a few seconds too late, resulting in Ruby's near death. Everything else about Rwby will remain the same; as in Ozpin, Salem, the Gods, and the Relics and so on still exist. This does not mean everything after Episode 1 plays out the same. No, FAR from that.
However, Ruby Rose herself. I understand in Volume 9 they attempted to portray a depressed suicidal Ruby. But that kinda sucked. I intend to pay off Red Like Rose part 1. A Ruby who is bubbly and happy on the outside, but in reality is depressed and dealing with inner demons from the death of Summer. I find this a very intriguing take on the character.
But don't mistake that for me completely altering Ruby. I intend for her to be the same core character, the same bubbly personality that got so many of us hooked on the show to begin with.
I also understand much of this Chapter may seem... Dumbed down. Overly simple, and redundant. And I'm sure the stuttering gets annoying. But this is intentional. Ruby's vocabulary isn't very impressive, and I feel her attention span is too short to really fixate on one thing for too long, especially after nearly dying and finding an alien attached to her body.
I do intend for much of the early story to revolve around the Symbiote and Ruby's relationship, Ruby's depression, her newly developed PTSD, the Symbiote's dark origins, and their eventual transformation into Venom.
So, this brings the next question; why Venom? I have a few reasons.
1, the number of Rwby/Venom fanfics is shockingly sparse, and many of them don't seem to properly understand that Venom and the Symbiote are two distinct entities. Like Jekyll and Hide.
2, I feel the Symbiote presents a unique opportunity. Not only could it explore Ruby's character in ways that are impossible otherwise (I mean it reads your mind, is attached to your body constantly, knows all of your emotions) but it in and of itself could bounce off of Ruby's own personality very efficiently. It's possessive yet goofy nature constraining against Ruby's bubbly, naive one?
3, I like Venom. 'Nuff said.
Of course I am giving the Symbiote my own flair including amping up the Symbiote's alien nature. There is a 'Spiderman' in this story, but he isn't Peter Parker. As 1, Peter Parker doesn't fit the naming conventions of Rwby (even if the show itself breaks those conventions every few episodes) and 2, a traditional Spiderman really just doesn't work in Remnant. Especially not the story I am telling. But there is a 'Spiderman' who will serve as a proxy for Peter. After all, you can't truly have Venom without a Spiderman of some variety.
Now, I suppose one last thing to mention. Warning! This story is not going to be nice. A lot of pain for everyone involved (though some definitely more than others) and I can't promise a happy ending. But I can promise this well be... Experimental? Much of this story is going to be... Off, for a better word. Dream-like.
Anyway, that's all and good day folks!