Red As A Bloody Rose

Flare Up

It was dark.... Night, actually.

A small figure tucked themselves behind a bed, hiding. Stomping was heard, rage flooding through the home.

"TAMARA!" An angry voice shouted, causing the child to flinch.

"Please.... Don't find me...." She begged silently.

The footsteps stopped, causing her to hesitantly look up, only to be swiftly plucked from her hiding place.

"TAMARA YOU BRAT!"

"Tamara-" A voice called. "TAMARA! WAKE UP!"

Tamara's eyes shot open, tears spilling from them as she breathed heavily and quickly. She began to panic, her body setting itself on fire.

"Tamara!" Red Pearl shouted, hugging the panicking teen. "It's okay, just breathe with me.... In.... Out.... In.... Out...." She said, the girl following as instructed.

"He- he was-" She sobbed.

"Shhh.... It's alright now.... Just breathe...." Red Pearl said, two large arms wrapping them into a hug.

Netty squeezed them all together, rubbing circles on Tamara's back. The three stayed like that for a few minutes, before she finally calmed down.

"Thanks...." Tamara mumbled, hugging herself.

She stared at her room wall, wanting to do anything but sleep.... So she did one of the only other things that she could....

".... If I could, begin to be. Half of what you think of me,"

Sing.

"I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love...." She paused.

".... I always thought I might be bad, now I'm sure that it's true. 'Cause-" Red Pearl sang.

"I think you're so good, and I'm nothing like you." Netty continued.

Tamara smiled, singing "Look at you go I just adore you! I wish that I knew, what makes you think I'm so.... Special."

The two gems and one half gem stayed there for the next three hours.

.

"You want me.... To go on a mission with you?" Tamara said slowly, not sure if she heard Steven right.

"Yeah! If the gems see that you can help on missions, they might start to trust you!" He says, hope in his eyes.

She stared at his puppy eyes, knowing that she couldn't deny it even if she tried.

"Fine," She groaned. "I'll go with the gems...." She said, the boy perking up at that.

"YES!" He cheered, the warp pad going off.

Tamara closed her eyes, contemplating her dream. She hadn't dreamed of him in a while.... If anything, she didn't expect the dream to manifest that night. She-.... No, it was pointless to think about it now.

"Alright, Tamara was it?" Pearl said. "What do you know about corrupted gems?"

She thought, before saying "Well.... They aren't cracked, they've just been highly damaged mentally, to the point where it affects their light."

"Yes. We'll be going to face one in one of the restricted areas where we don't take Steven, so be prepared." Pearl said.

Amethyst patted her on the back, saying "You'll do great! Just try not to burn down the swamp!"

".... Pardon?" Tamara said, right as they warped.

*5 minutes later*

"A swamp, it had to be a fudging swamp." Tamara said, looking at their surroundings.

"Alright, the corrupted gem is a Howlite. Be careful around the trees, Tamara, seeing as how your flames could burn them down." Garnet said. "We'll split up. Amethyst and Pearl, you'll be together. Tamara, me an you will work alone." Garnet said.

Everyone nodded, splitting up.

"Let's see, what do I know about Howlites?" Tamara asked herself. "Well, let's see.... Howlite gems normally specialize in knowledge or spying on places, along with gathering Intel and stealth. So a swan isn't a bad suggestion for it to be in." She said, talking to herself.

Unknown to her, said corrupted gem was stalking her. It growled, releasing a light blue mist....

"Everyone!" Garnet shouted. "The corrupted gem is releasing something that makes you see things! So just remember, it isn't real!" She said.

Tamara's brow furrowed at that. What exactly did Garnet see?

She coughed a bit, saying "This stuff is horrible! I can't wait until we find this gem-"

"Tamara~"

She froze.

'No, no no no, he's not here, it's just the gem!' She thought to herself.

"Why did you run, Tamara?" The voice called.

She shivered, desperately trying to remember that it was just the corrupted gem.

"Tell me Tamara...."

A large, burly hand grabbed onto her shoulder.

"Did you really think you could be free?"

She began panicking, her breathing quickening, and feeling like she was falling. Red traveled up her arms, until her entire body glowed the color, her mind spiralling.

She didn't even noticing the corrupted Howlite sneaking up on her. She squeezed her eyes shut, only opening them to look at the  corrupted gem.... Her pupils had turned into half triangles.

The gem poofed suddenly, the Crystal Gems standing behind it. The stayed back, giving her space, as her pupils returned to normal, her body fading back to it's normal color. She took a deep breath, exhaling as she stood up, not even registering that she had fallen to her knees.

"Are you-" Amethyst started to say, the purple gem getting cut off.

"Nope. Just, nope. Don't wanna talk about it, don't wanna think about it. Please, for the love of god, don't tell Steven that this happened." She said.

The gems remained silent on the way back to the warp pad, until Pearl finally asked "What exactly.... Was that?"

Tamara sighed, saying "That.... Was a flare up. I used to have them a lot when I was younger, but I thought I grew out of them. Although obviously that wasn't the case!"

She groaned, Amethyst saying "Soooo.... This has happened before?! How did you deal with it before?!"

"I don't know!" She admitted. "Usually they just sort themselves out! If I knew how to deal with them, then this wouldn't be happening!" She said, raising her voice slightly.

She shook off her hands, noticing the red creeping up her fingers.

"Look, I know things, but at the same time, I don't know anything. The diamonds don't talk about Bloody Rose, RP and Netty won't say anything, and now my powers are freaking out constantly! Not to mention these stupid nightmares keep plaguing my brain every few nights!" She ranted.

"Just.... Promise me that you'll keep this on the down low.... Okay?"

.

Ah yes, giving trauma to OCs!