I got the idea of doing a diary story from reading Barzu's RWBY fic, Mighter than the Sword. Barzu, thank you for the inspiration. :) I have been away from writing for too long!
Ruby was sitting at the table in her teams dorm. She stared at her engineering homework. It consisted of equations for determining ballistic impacts and trajectories. She laid face down into her arms. "Ugh, this stuff is so boring.", she said to an empty room as she reluctantly picked herself back up.
As she glanced at the problems, her mind whirled and solved them all in a flash. "If only I could write as quick as my brain works.", she thought as she idlely sat and procrastinated on her homework. An idea struck her brain at high speed.
"Wait...quick? I can be quick!", thought Ruby as she picked up her pencil. With a short burst of semblance, she began to blow through problem after problem. In under a minute of quick scribbles, she had finished the entirety of her engineering homework.
With her homework out of the way, she glanced around the empty dorm room and realized that a part of her initial problem still existed. She was still bored and, without her homework to occupy her, she had nothing else to do during the weekend.
As she contemplated what to do with her free time, her eyes came to rest on the bookcase next to Blake and Yang's makeshift bunk-bed. Curiousity getting the better of her, she moved to look at Blake's books. Sitting crosslegged, she began to go through book after book in the hope of finding one to alleviate her bordem.
"Treasure Island? Read it. Charlotte's Web? Read this. The Phantom Tollbooth? No. A Wrinkle in Time? Definitely no.", muttered the young girl as she pulled out book after book. She took great care to keep her friend's books in the same order that they had been in before she pulled them out.
It wasn't until she had gone through and pulled out several books before she noticed something. There was a book hidden behind the books that she had just pulled out. With curiousity peaking, again, she pulled out the hidden book. "Ninjas of Love?" she inquired as she read the title.
Not being familiar with the title, she opened the book and began reading. Almost immediately, she closed the book and returned it to it's hidden place.
The book had started out with a steamy love scene. As a blush spread across her face, she felt her body slightly react to the unexpected stimulation. "Wrong place, not the right time. Distraction. Need distraction!", frantically thought the girl as she forced her focus on the other books in the bookcase.
She pulled out several more books and passed them off to the growing stack next to her spot on the floor. After pulling a few more books, she spied another hidden book. Tentatively, she reached out and picked up the book.
The book was a small leatherbound book. The leather itself had been stitched into the book. She could tell the book had seen better days. The leather looked a bit worn in places and even had a small black mark near the bottom of the spine.
Careful to avoid her earlier reading mishap, she read only the first sentence. To her surprise, she greeted by the sight of messy handwriting. "A diary?", she asked as she stared at the page, not sure what to make of unintentionally invading Blake's privacy. The next line caught her attention. Then, the line after it pulled her in as well.
Date 5, 19
Dear diary,
Today is my birthday. Mom woke me up and handed you to me. Then she told me happy birthday and gave me a hug. She told me that diaries are used to hold thoughts and can be like a friend who you can tell anything. That makes me happy.
She started to feel guilty about reading Blake's diary, like she was invading something very deep and personal. So, she started to close the diary. That is, until something on the second page caught her attention.
Date 5, 22
Dear diary,
Dad said it's not safe. He said we have to leave. Mom would only let me take one thing. So I took you diary. When they took me to the backyard, I heard something like glass break. I tried to look and saw something orange but dad wouldn't let me look. He said we can't go back.
"Why did they have to leave?", she pondered as she continued reading the diary. By this point, she was hooked by curiousity and kept reading without a second thought.
Date 5, 26
Dear diary,
When I ask mom if we can go home, she says we can't go back. Dad said it's because of the humans. We don't have a home but I still have my friend. That's you diary.
Confused, she re-read the previous page and realized what happened. She stopped reading and felt her hand slowly lifting towards her mouth. She was in shock at the words of the child that had once been Blake.
"Breaking glass and seeing orange...Blake's home got burnt down? People hate the Faunus that much?", she asked as sadness filled her voice. The girl felt as if someone had her heart in their hand and was squeezing it. Still, she read on.
Date 5, 27
Dear diary,
Dad found a house with an open window. Later, it started raining. I'm glad we found the house. I don't want my friend to get wet. The carpet feels good after sleeping on the cold ground. I hope you feel the same way diary.
Date 5, 28
Dear diary,
We had looked around the house but it was totally empty. I want to look out the windows but dad says it's not safe. Mom had taken some food before we left home but it's almost gone. Mom wanted to get more food from the store. Dad said something but I couldn't hear what he said. They talked for a little while but they stop talking when I come in the room. Why do they do that?
When I got bored, I started looking around the house. In a closet, I found a box filled with books. The books are hard to read so I asked mom to help me. She sat down and read to me.
When she flipped the page, she was greeted by a much longer account than the previous pages had held. Her gut told her this page would either be very good or very bad for little Blake.
Date 5, 30
Dear diary,
When I woke up, I could smell food. When I saw the open cans of tuna, I felt my tummy rumble. Dad handed me a fork. I noticed that mom and dad weren't eating. When I asked why they weren't eating, they told me they already ate. That doesn't sound right. We're a family. We always eat together. Always.
When I finished eating, mom told me that we're going to the docks. I asked why and dad said we're going to take a ride on a boat. Mom said we're going to see our new home. I asked if we could stay in the house and dad said no. I liked that house. It felt like home. I wanted to stay.
I asked mom if I could take the box of books. She told me I could only take one. When I chose a book, mom told me it was called Treasure Island. An island of treasure sounds exciting! Don't you think so too diary?
After I chose my new book, dad said it was time to leave. Before we left, I said goodbye to our little house.
The teen paused at the end of the page and glanced at the stack of books next to her. She carefully extracted the book that she had just read about from the stack of books. As she inspected 'Treasure Island', she began to notice signs of abuse and age along the book's cover. After her inspection of the book, she carefully put the books back into the bookcase and turned the page to continue reading the diary.
Before she started to read the next page, she noticed a few odd things about the page. One, there were several tiny ripples in the page. Two, there were a few small brown stains near the bottom of the page. Three, the bottom half of the page was written in messier handwriting than the rest. "I guess she wrote in the diary through out the day?", she pondered before she went back to reading .
When we got to the dock, I couldn't believe how many boats there were! They were everywhere and so big! When we got on the boat, I could feel it moving. When I asked mom why, she said it was because the boat was in the water.
A man took us to a room. When I asked mom who they were, she said he was a sailor and that he helped other sailors with stuff on the boat. Then mom said she would read Treasure Island to me.
I got scared when mom read about how pirates stole the boat and asked mom if that would happen to us. She said it wouldn't happen and gave me a hug. Mom even rubbed my ears. I would have rubbed mom's ears if they were like my ears.
She paused again as she imagined a frightened child being held by a mother that gently stroked their child's kitty ears. The mental image warmed her heart. Then, anxiety set in as she realized that her friend had never breathed even a single word about their parents. She looked at the diary and felt that her question could only be answered by reading further or by asking Blake.
I have no clue where the fuck I am going with this. It's just an idea that has pestered me so bad that I can't even focus on college stuff.