The arrival of the sun announced a new morning to the city of Vale, bringing with it a light morning shower; it was more a mist than anything, though. Most of the inhabitants of the city would admire the way the light shone and refracted through the tiny droplets, shining like so many gemstones, but-
"DARNIT YANG! YOU TOLD ME IT WOULDN'T RAIN!"
-not Ruby Rose.
A blob of red and black that was propped up under a fire escape wriggled around -looking very much like a landed fish- until a hand finally managed to escape. It yanked the hood of an old, very careworn red hoodie down off of its owner's face, releasing a shock of red-tinged black hair that proofed outwards and fought valiantly to maintain its unruliness until a set of fingers managed to comb it down. A yawn stretched the 16-year-old 's mouth and bright silver eyes were blinked to clear them of the wateriness which inevitably followed. Struggling to her feet, Ruby stretched, reveling in the feeling of her stiff muscles being loosened, her muscles gradually (too gradually) working out of the knots she had earned from hours of sleeping on hard pavement. Her morning routine thus completed, she glanced around; looking for the source of the inordinate amount of water that had landed on her head a scant 10 minutes ago and waking her so rudely.
It wasn't a long search.
On the first landing of the fire escape, sheltered somewhat by the next platform above, there lay a blob very similar to what Ruby had looked like a couple minuted before. However, this blob was coloured differently and was somewhat...lumpier.
Said blob blinked. She had been having quite a nice dream, that is, until her alarm clock had started berating her about the weather…wait… hang on a second...
Ruby, meanwhile, had given up on yelling. Well, not quite given up. She supplemented her yelling by just picking up random objects found on the ground: a rock and some cans, among other bits and pieces, and heaving them at the yellow/black blob on the fire escape. Who, unfortunately, happened to be her sister.
Yang for her part, was completely innocent. The rainwater had simply pooled on a stair of the fire escape and overflowed onto the unfortunate Ruby.
Several bickers and swapped insults later, they both stood in the mouth of the alleyway they had stayed the night in. Hands stuffed deep into the pocket of her threadbare, wartorn pullover hoodie, Ruby stared out into the street; entranced, as always, by the sights and sound of the city waking up.
Windows slid open and cars chugged to life in the frosty autumn air, storefronts rattled back their metal cages and everyone suddenly had somewhere to go, something to do, someone to meet. Leaves rustled underfoot, stragglers from the park down the street as people bustled along. Vale was a newer city, and there were places to go and a hurry to get there, things to do, money to spend and people to spend it on, things to see even within the bounds of the city of Vale.
As she always did before starting a new day, she flicked her hair back over her shoulder and trailed her fingers down the scar that curved over the left side of her neck and under the back of her shirt, raising goosebumps and reminders of one important fact that never seemed to stick in her head: This city, while beautiful and full of wonders, is also a dark and dangerous place.
Ruby and Yang strolled down a side street in Vale, hoods up and faces down, pretending to study a map even though they knew exactly where they were heading. Their destination was a certain modest-sized, unassuming mall a bit outside the center of the town. There were many others closer and larger than this one, but this one had notably lax security: one old, fat security guard who was usually asleep.
The sisters weren't particularly fond of stealing, but ever since they had escaped they had had to eat somehow. So, the two made a living by (among other things) boosting small electronics from stores and selling them to someone who took them apart to sell the technology inside. Sometimes though, they kept one for Ruby to tinker with. Not only a talented artist, which got her in trouble sometimes as she lived on the streets with just her sister and had relatively easy access to spray paint; she was also quite the technological genius. Her fingers were always moving, fidgeting, more often than not with some stray wires and batteries she had found discarded alongside the street.
As they reached the entrance to the mall, the automatic sliding doors whirring open, Yang took her sister by the shoulder to explain what they were doing. AGAIN. After doing this for close to half a year now, Ruby was considerably irritated at her sister's overprotective urges, which struck at times like this. Ruby shrugged her sister's hand off with a sigh, pretending she didn't notice the pained look that came over her face as her arm drooped back to her side.
"Yang, I know what we're doing! Let's just get it done."
That out of the way, the sisters waltzed into the store, observing everything without being too obvious about it, their heads directed one way, their eyes facing another. They took stock of the waist-high display cases, the tired-looking clerk behind the counter who kept glancing at his watch, and the two other customers in the store: another pair of girls standing in a back corner around a laptop, talking. They struck Ruby as an odd pair, a mismatch, even: one in all black and the other in snow white, even up to her hair.
The one thing they had in common, though, was that they were both absolutely stunning. Especially the one in white... That colour of hair couldn't be natural, could it? Quite distracted, Ruby shook her head to clear it and mentally prepared herself for the first job of the day as Yang, the distraction, placed herself conveniently in the shopkeep's line of sight.
She wandered through the store, seemingly browsing, but in reality was tucking small bits of tech in her conveniently baggy sleeves, her deft fingers gliding over sleek aluminum, palming Palm Pilots and snagging mp3 players. An eon had come and gone before she reached what would be the last mark of the day.
Her heart in her throat, she gripped the sides of the smartphone, careful not to smudge the screen with fingerprints as she worked the tiny blade she had concealed in a pocket in her sleeve between the phone and the charger alarm. She eased the two separate, sweat beading along her brow as she struggled to maintain just enough contact as to keep the circuit complete and prevent the alarm from tripping as she returned her knife and slid out a bundle of wires she had whipped up with the spoils of their last run. She nudged one wire into the tiny slit she had made in the cable and froze as a droplet of sweat slipped from her nose, landing over the wire and fizzing, sparking, arcs of tiny purple plasma flaring for a split second before the cable shorted as she waited for the cacophony.
It felt like forever in coming.
It was, technically, since it never came.
A shuddering sight of relief escaping her, Ruby continued, slotting the other wire into the cut and tangling it with the copper filaments inside. Wiping her forehead with a sleeve, She delved back in, now working on the phone. The device she had attached basically created a spy-movie like loop in the alarm system, the chip in the device mimicking that of the phone and telling the alarm system that the phone was still attached. A pair of locksmith-standard torsion wrenches slipped into the docking system of the phone worked the interior pins of the charger lock off, and the phone was free.
Ruby slipped the phone up her sleeve and flicked and sauntered toward the front counter, trying to be as nonchalant as possible, considering she was still shaking with the tension. She flicked her sister on the shoulder, her signal to stop chatting up the clerk, which she did, even though his eyes remained glued to her... assets.
Ruby made a noise of disgust at his unveiled leer leveled at her sister and slipped her hand into Yang's, feigning a beaten-puppy look at both Yang and the shopkeep.
"C'mon, sis, you know we can't afford this stuff! Why d'you drag me into these places all the time if we can't ever use them?"
A sigh and a sad smile at the red-hooded girl and a hand made rough by years of working on its owner's bike came down to ruffle her hair.
"Maybe one day, Rubes. Wh'knows, ya' might get int' MIT 'r somethin' with your genius engineering skills!"
Even though they were lying through their teeth, faking a scene to avoid suspicion, silver eyes panned upwards to meet lilac, tears welling in them, threatening to spill over at the slightest touch.
"D-d'you really think so?"
"I really do. Yer' gonna make mom so proud."
And that was it. Ruby's face crumpled, first into a smile then into agony as the heavens seemed to split, great heaving, wracking sobs tearing at her throat. It was still too soon. Much, much too soon. Yang crouched down next to her, smoothing her hair and wiping the tears from her eyes and planting a kiss to her forehead, as loving and gentle as possible. Gradually, gradually, the sobs faded to sniffles, the tears to reddened eyes and tracks down Ruby's cheeks as the keep looked on, as awkward as it is physically possible for a man to look.
Finally, with a smile and a wave to the shopkeep, Ruby still brushing tears out of her eyes, they started out the door. Ruby glanced back over her shoulder, sniffling, to see if anyone in the store was showing any sign of suspicion... and met the most stunning pair of ice-blue eyes she had ever seen. Her silver eyes flashed wide as the electric blue ones narrowed, looking straight into her, into her mind, into her very being. In that moment, she forgot everything. Where she was, what she was doing there...and the 300 lien smartphone up her sleeve.
As Ruby let her arms drop to her sides, mesmerized by those eyes, the sleeves of her hoodie loosened around her arms and allowed the sleek phone (among other things) to drop to the floor with a distinct clatter that only a phone like that could make.
The clerk's eyes, which had just refocused, snapped up at the sound, searching for the cause. When he saw the phone lying just inside the door, his eyes widened, all fantasies forgotten. He rushed out from behind his counter, his mouth forming the customary cry of "Stop! Thief!" but failed to notice a multitude of things.
First, the fact that he was a middle-aged, slightly portly man (I mean, his name tag said "Port." You can't get much older than that.) that was trying to outrun a pair of fit teenagers. Second, and probably more important, the slender, black-clad leg that appeared in front of his ankles. Before he could get his words out of his mouth, said leg hooked itself around him and tugged slightly, sending him sprawling. The sound of him hitting the floor was quite spectacular.
The owner of the foot, meanwhile, already had their companion by the wrist and had a DustBook laptop cradled under the other arm, waltzing towards the entrance like they were on the catwalk. And boy, did Yang notice them now. As the duo passed Ruby and Yang in the doorway, the black-clad person paused only to toss an amber-eyed wink at Yang, hand her the phone, and whisper "I'd run."
So they did.
A/N: Lmao so a massive shoutout to anyone who can spot the literary reference in there... Many will enter, few will win! Leave a review if you think you've spotted it. So, thanks for reading this beginning (revised) chapter of this AU I'm starting! Chapters are coming out a week early on AO3, so go check them out too! Also, Yang has a southern accent 'cause I can. As always, PLEASE review, let me know what you liked, didn't like, want to fling into the sun, anything. Anyway, here's a sneak peek at the next chapter!
She had finally betrayed herself, let herself fall to the ground and slow to a stop. For all this time since she had run away, she hadn't stopped moving. If she kept moving, the sadness couldn't keep up, the shadows would remain just tricks of the light and her fears would stay imaginary.
But all lights grow dark eventually.