"we can't have that happening, can we?"
*Shiiiiing*
"....bastard....."
*Shatter*
"NO!"
Immediately I sprung my body up in my bed. My heart racing a mile a second with each moment I stared across the dark room. It didn't take long for me to realize it was only a dream...or a nightmare? Turning my head, I saw Ruby fast asleep in the corner of her bed, on the one above her, was both Silver and Nox, both not realizing they had actually fallen asleep together, if my mind wasn't running with worry I'd have found it cute.
"No sign of Sky...strange." Not wanting to go back to the dream realm so abruptly, I slowly slid out of the covers and with my passive ability as a Therstral, I silently stepped out of sight, using my Umbra magic to shift through the wall of our private room. With a soft sigh, I made my way for the stairs. "I need some air."
When I felt the door creek open towards the fusion of two worlds that was Hollow Shades, I felt the surprising warmth of the night meet my body, and to the wondrous sight around me. Hundreds of emerald lights floated in the air around the town, and in turn, around me with a soft glow in the dark night and amber lighting of lanterns. Combined with the forever falling leaves it was a sight I'd only imagine in books, yet here I was.
Softly, I felt my mood rise a little at the dancing fireflies when I made my way through the silent town, the sound of only my hooves made any noise other than distant howls or abstract noises. But...then my mind brought back those voices...Bombard...he, I never even knew much about him...he didn't seem so bad and yet I...
Closing my eyes, I felt my teeth bite my bottom lip for a moment, trying my best to suppress the memory.
"Amazing, isn't it?" I jumped, feeling my teeth chip my health when I bit down by accident, but I relaxed when I saw Sky standing with a firefly resting on his hoof. "I can imagine you felt like I did, 'It's like a fairy tale', or something close?"
"I...yeah, it is," I responded softly, my eyes to my path ahead. "But it's only in this world, you'd never experience it in reality, where this wouldn't exist."
"True, but if you look hard enough you might just find it." Sky pointed out with a spring in his step. "Despite this form, I like it here, feels like Remnant, but more...mystical if were talkin' places."
For about five minutes he followed me through town, not saying a word to me. It was strange, he didn't ask why I was up or why I was wandering towards the edge of the Green Zone, instead he followed me while looking around at the sights, with myself keeping a single train of thought on what I remembered, which was quicking becoming shadowed by more...real thoughts. Pain, torment, ridicule...ugh, stop it!
I need to calm down, I need someplace to - there! Moving up a small path towards a tree, I saw a bench perched right under it, alone and facing the big, bright moon above us. Moving to sit down, I felt my body melt into the smooth wood, my head resting to peer up at the stars above with a whimsical expression on my face.
"You know, Iota told me I'm an idiot, hence why I haven't slept tonight." My thoughts came rushing back as I turned to look through my purple mane towards the irritated player beside me, his muzzle scrunched up as his hooves moved like if it were his fingers. "'You are so obvious you haven't realized your own mistake, yet you can fight someone moving at the speed of light.'"
"Wait, what do you mean?" I wasn't really feeling up to games right now, but I was curious as to why he looked baffled
"Yeah, so Iota up and told me that I added an 'O' to SSORRN, when I should have put an 'I' after the first 'R', then remove the 'O' - basically I'm an idiot." Sky summed up with a defeated shrug, crossing his forelimbs to his chest with a frown, and to my surprise, his eyes turned from purple to a pure shade of white
"He's an idiot without logic, ironic given how he gave me, his 'Logic' the freedom to leave his own form." His voice sudden when cold and distant too, and I felt as though the aura around him had morphed with it. "Iota, at your service, and before you ask, I'm a split personality of his, but with more...freedom, shall we say?"
"Umm...okay?" Then in a flash, his eyes returned to normal, and his small smile returned, yet I raised a humored brow. "You seriously didn't realize your mistake until now?"
"Thank you for your input, Iota; But yes, 'Logic' is him, 'Dry Sarcasm' is me. Yes, by the way." His two-sided answer made me feel less upset, even if just a bit, but it didn't do much seeing as he looked from the star-filled sky to me again. "And there's goes my attempt at breaking the awkward tension in the air...okay then. What's eating at you Rain?"
...
...
"...Would you really understand? Or...would you just pity me like everyone else?" I felt it, my resolve slip under his gaze, all I could do was try to hold back my emotions, even if just a bit. Looking down at my hooves, I just...felt so angry, afraid, lost. "Would you just say 'everything will be okay' or 'I'll keep you safe'? Would you really mean what you say?"
"..." Sky didn't reply, and I never stopped, feeling my teeth grind into each other
"Could you understand, what it feels to be helpless, to feel as though no matter how much you believe you're right, only to fall deeper into that...emptiness?" I...I
"Please j-just leave me a-alone..."
"Aww, she's crying, what a brat."
"Come on, leave her alone already!"
"Why? What can she do? She's a little bitch who needs to learn her place, how's that my fault?"
"P-please..."
"I just want to disappear. From...everything."
I said it. There wasn't a breeze, no sound of life around us, just my words turning to nothing in the air around me, I wanted that too, to turn to nothing, to make life...easier. I couldn't see my face, but I probably looked empty, both in expression and sight.
"Everytime...she would hurt me, scold me, humiliate me. Nothing changed for years, whatever I did was only met with more of the same, and every time I heard the same thing, 'you'll be okay', 'It's not going to last', 'We'll keep you safe'." I felt my hooves dig into each other, my grip growing worse. "Over and over I kept listening, and I felt so useless...she would do the same to so many and I didn't do a thing to stop her, to stop the pain, I felt like...like I was better off-"
"But here you are." Sky interrupted me, and I felt my gaze shift to view him through my mane, and...he looked like all the others, that soft, hurt expression, but it was only matched by the fire I saw in his eyes, an unyielding torrent I've only ever seen in White when he was angry. "Despite everything, you're still here, in both these worlds."
"What difference does that make when I'm too scared to fight here, let alone in the real world! If I can't even face a bunch of coded monsters, how can I fight something so real!?" I demanded, cutting him off as I continued. "Even in this world, I'm just so...useless! I couldn't save people even if magic by my side! No matter which world I'm in, I'm useless. Both to my best friends and to White Hat!"
"Yeah? Well, reality is bullshit!" I stopped speaking, and he looked at me with a stern, flaming stare. "Listen not to the people who lack understanding, and more to the guy who has been there too." What?
He looked away for a second, then back to me with a less serious expression, while I wore a dumbfounded face of my own, I just spilled my guts to someone I only met a few hours ago, why? Why would I do that? But what he just said, he spoke as if the same situation had - he...really does know.
"Now, while I won't go into detail of my own experiences with 'less than hospitable' people in my past, I can truthfully say that I was like you before, or, the more direct answer, I still am like you." He pointed a hoof at me gently. "I never trusted anyone but my sister, and even so, I was hurt...hurt in a way that can't just go away with words, it caused me to develop split personalities, like Iota." He understood far more than I could have guessed, everyone I know who's suffered because of unjust actions only had minor experiences, but Sky...he knew it all too well what it meant to be considered a waste of space
"Then I met Ruby, and after years of self-loathing and despair, she became the first person that I opened up to, then Yang, Blake and Weiss too, they all made me who I am, and there isn't a single day that goes by where I begin to regret what choices I made, that simple, yet so painful step into faith, it could have cost me everything, and I was willing, for even just a fraction of time, to take that step." Each word held purpose, a time where he could have been like me and ran behind a veil, but he didn't, he's here because...
"Ruby saved you from yourself, even when you felt like you weren't worth saving." Was I wrong the whole time? Did...could I really...I could try. Suddenly, I felt my breath catch in my throat when Sky reached over to hold me close to him, I nearly fell off the bench, but he continued to embrace me fondly, and...I felt my tears break, but I wasn't upset, I felt more than that. "..."
"You can be strong. 'Strength' isn't just in power or force of will, its every action or notion you make, what you chose to do holds an impact, and that first step into trusting someone you know with everything will be the hardest choice you make." He pulled back, and I felt my spirit rise a little with a sense of familiarity between us. "That part of me when I met Ruby, he still lives in my soul, I can't rid myself of my fears and doubts, but so long as I'm with those I trust, that will be enough for me to know I made the right move that day."
"I...I think I understand, my past...all of it, that doesn't define me, just gives me the starting point of who I want to be." My answer made me smile with Sky, the sudden nightmares I had rilled in my head felt steady now, I could envision them, but they weren't haunting me anymore, that...thing isn't here anymore
He patted me on the head, causing my ears to flick at the sensation. "Good, consider this the first step, 'The Truth', but what happens next won't be easy, you'll be constantly doubting choices you make, mostly important ones regarding those around you, but never give in, and hey, if you need someone to talk to, just call me or Ruby from now on, eh?" His smug expression brought me to a new revelation, one that made my wings flutter slightly
"Wait...are you-" He didn't let me finish, as he raised a hoof into the air
"By the power of Team RWBYS, I and my awesome girlfriend will aid you all in defeating Harbinger!" His sudden cheer finally broke me into a fit of laughter, with Sky following suit quickly
"You are the most surreal guy I know."
"Tell that to your boyfriend." Sky coyly replied, and my immediate response was - well I mean it was just that - noooo, no, no, no
"M-Me and White a-aren't t-t-together!" Not another Yin~! These claims are starting to bother me, probably White too - ugh, no now I'm thinking about him~! All I could do was bury my face in my hooves, whining as he chuckled to himself like a jackal
"Ok, sorry, but you were far too easy to mess with, kid." I was once more at the mercy of his petting, which was actually kind of nice, guess this body has different sensory points, and now that the pain inhibitor is lower, this only made my nerves melt at the touch. "Wonder if this works on Ruby..."
"Just...don't go for the wings, they can be sensitive," I recommended, the past conversation feeling less like a lecture, and more of a weight gone from my body, I can't begin to understand how difficult Sky's trials with his past must have been, but I'm willing to try if it means I can grow stronger both in this world and IRL, then so be it. I'll grow strong for everyone, White, Klaw, Nox, Silver, Pinkie, Sky, Ruby, Yin and myself, along with my friends who are probably worried about me IRL too. "Sky?"
"Hmm?" His lazy reply was met with his gaze to the night sky, and I joined him in watching the stars with an abundance of new thoughts and doubts in my mind
"Thank you so much." For now though, I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling happy I had someone I could confide in, when this was all over, I'll talk with White. He's been there for me since this game started, and I really do trust him, maybe...I can find he's another real friend I can trust my life with
"Heh, no problem, kid. For now though, let's just watch the stars."
To Be Continued...
Update
Party:
Purplrain - lvl 37 [Stealth class]
SilverCrow - lvl 39 [Defensive class]
Noximillion - lvl 38 [Support class]
Sky Zaffre - lvl ??? [Offensive class]
Ruby Rose - lvl ??? [Offensive class]
Current Level: 37
Magic: Shadow/Umbra Seal
Items: N/A