The Stained Festival

A Nightmare

Smoke. Fire. Ash. They blocked the sky and blanketed the landscape. Beacon was burning.

Ruby stood at the edge, watching the magnificent spire, the adjoining fortress, burn. Bodies littered the main parade, all leading to her.

"Don't fret precious I'm here."

Cardin Winchester, his chest caved in and his face peeled away. The hands of Ren and Nora ripped from their bodies and placed together. The staff and teachers of Beacon impaled on the banners adorning the road, Port with his ax buried in his neck, Oobleck's head twisted 180 degrees. Goodwitch with the metal pole extending through her body out her mouth.

"Step away from the window."

Jaune was held upright by his and Pyrrha's sword embedded through his back into the ground, his entire body on fire with Pyrrha's crown placed upon his head. Ozpin had his crown sideways through his head, shards of his coffee mug embedded into his eyes and positioned so that he, even in death, watched his school and his students burn.

"And go back to sleep."

At Ruby's feet lay her team, her friends, her sister. Blake had been stripped naked, racist words and Faunus slurs carved into her skin between whipped and clawed marks, her Faunus ears ripped from her head and sewn onto her breast.

"Safe from pain."

Yang's arms ended at the elbows in bloodied stumps, her face and torso caved in and beaten to a charred pulp as she lay in a pool of her own blood.

"And truth."

Weiss lay directly in front of Ruby, crucified by the shards of her own weapon, shards of Dust protruding from her body, patches of her once pale skin and white clothes having been burnt, frozen, crushed, or covered or impaled with wood, rock, and crystal

"And other po-ke up-evils"

There was a flash of silver to her left. Ruby shot a glance and saw a silvered silhouette. Then it was gone. Ruby looked back to her teammates and lifted Crescent Rose, it's blade bloodied with specks of burnt flesh, and rested it on her shoulder.

"See, there don't give a fuck about you, like I do."

Arms wrapped around Ruby's body, white and mint green powder falling off of then sinking into her clothes. Someone leaned in and kissed the side of Ruby's head, murmuring in content.

"Count the-"

"Wake up!"

Another flash of silver, this time directly in front of Ruby, and there stood the silhouette holding her shoulders. It had no details, no defining features, but Ruby knew it was a woman, that it was friendly. The arms around her tightened, the flames grew higher and hotter.

"Count the-"

"tmare! Ruby! You're having a nightmare!"

A nightmare? Ruby looked around her. This was what she wanted, this was what she longed for. The destruction of those that wronged her, those that hurt her.

"I'll be the one to protect you from."

"Even as a memory, you're annoying!" The silver woman exclaimed, taking a step back. "Ruby! This is all a nightmare! You don't want to hurt your friends!"

But, she did. Ruby looked down at her teammates, her breath starting to hitch. Didn't she? She, they. Hurt her, they left her to die! They-!

Blake and Yang didn't do that

"I'll be the one to protect you from, your enemies and all your demons."

Ruby looked to Beacon, to all the dead bodies, to her friends, her teachers. She didn't want this. She looked down to her hands, her bloodstained hands. Only they weren't bloodstained. And one was mechanical.

"That's it! Wake up!"

Ruby's eyes shot open, and she screamed bloody murder.