The rising sun reveals much to us. This is not true, however, for the people of Umbra, a continent on the planet Twil. The world revolves around holing up at night, when creatures of shadow lurk. Creatures that lack a soul. When the sun rises, the creatures wither and die. This would all be fine, if the sun rises and sets as it does normally. However, in this world, it does not. An unidentified, foreign object collided with the planet several years ago. No one has been able to figure out what this object is; some say a simple meteor, others claim it is a spaceship, holding extraterrestrial life. The impact, combined with some mystic, foreign power from the object, changed Twil's rotation, leaving it in such a way where half of the planet basks in near-eternal sunlight, while the other half is drenched in unending darkness. The lucky and rich escaped to the sun-filled half of the planet, erecting a wall and dubbing it "Solaris". Those who stayed, willingly or not, built towns and cities, lighting them excessively well, and barricading them from the horrors of the dark. This is the continent of Umbra. It's not all bad, however. While the threat of monster attacks is certainly present, people have gotten mostly comfortable with their situation and lifestyle. Of the various civilizations, the largest and most populated is known as Beacon. The population is varied in age, race, and lifestyle, though even the richest folk are still only rich in comparison to everyone else. Criminal masterminds lurk in the shadows of shadows, inciting fear in those who aren't secure, but with how rarely they take action, life is generally comfortable. However, some seek to end this era of peace. The people of Solaria don't especially care for the people in Umbra, believing them to be fools who cling to "moldy tradition". Tensions rise, as the Umbrali believe Solarians to be uncaring, haughty and holier-than-thou. Naturally, someone has taken the opportunity to rally the people together, to stand against the people she wants the civilians to believe are the oppressors. In the middle of one of her routine rallies, two teenage girls sit back and contemplate their situation.
"There must be some kind of way out of here.", spoke a short, black-haired girl. Under the light of a lamp, the ends of her hair could be seen transferring to a dark red color. Her attire was primarily black-a t-shirt with red buttons, a red tank top peeking out of the collar, but her shirt and pants were black. She only stood up to 5'2. At her side, she held a plastic bag with a carton of milk in it.
"Of course there is, Rubes." Spoke a golden-blonde woman, with hair barely reaching to her shoulders. She, on the other hand, was rather tall. The most notable thing about her was her right arm...or perhaps, a lack of one, from just above the elbow down. In its place was a metallic replacement, with red lights traveling up and down it, showing the blood pumping through it. It had the logo for Schnee Corporation on it. She wore what could only be described as a dark brown, waist-length trenchcoat, with a yellow crop top covering it. She wore jeans down to her ankles. "It isn't safe out there, though. This should be obvious."
"No, I don't mean the dome." she said. "I mean...the situation, y'know? The fact that we're stuck in a city of people ready to throw everything away and fight people who aren't gonna hurt us." The short girl sighed.
These girls are Ruby and Yang Xiao Long; half-sisters, and daughters to Taiyang Xiao Long. They had gone out to get some milk for their dad, who was slowly sinking deeper and deeper into depression. They just happened to stop at a certain rally to contemplate things.
"I get that it sucks, but you can't let it get under your skin." Yang said, clutching her right shoulder. "There are far worse things to be worrying about."
"Is that your response to everything?" asked Ruby.
"...Maybe." Yang responded. "Whatever, we should probably get home. The milk'll get warm."
"Beats the hell outta sitting here, honestly." Ruby said, bitterness in her voice.
Back at their house, Tai was at the door, speaking to a man with orange hair and a black bowler hat. He wore a white dress shirt with a gold trim, and black dress pants. He carried a cane with him. Tai on the other hand just had a T-shirt with a short-and-red-haired boy's cartoon face on it and some wool pajama bottoms.
"Are you sure you don't wanna join us, Mr. Xiao Long? You'd get free healthcare for your whole family, life insurance, and even an additional shelter for your kids if you can't pay this place off!" asked the man, in a suave, somewhat high-pitched voice.
"I'm quite sure, thank you." responded Tai. "I've retired from fighting, and no unnecessary wars like this one will drag me back in." He then closed the door.
The man walked away, bending his cane in frustration. "For hell's sake, Cinder, force would make this a LOT easier..." he muttered. He passed by Ruby and Yang, catching a glimpse at them. "On the other hand...so might that."
Yang knocked on the door with her left hand. Tai opened the door for them.
"There you kids are! You got the milk, yeah?" he asked.
"Right here, dad." said Yang, holding up the plastic bag. Tai grabbed it from her, putting it in the fridge.
"So, how was your day?" asked Tai, getting some things out of a cupboard by the fridge. He got some vegetables, a couple of knives, and salt and pepper shakers.
"It was...fine, I suppose." responded Ruby. "One of the kids got suspended for blackmailing, can you believe that?" she asked, emptying her pockets. She pulled out a pen, some scrap paper, standard school stuff.
"Was it that Winchester kid?" Tai asked. "I bet it was him." He took some raw beef from the fridge and began cutting it with one of the knives he pulled out.
"Yeah, and absolutely no one was surprised. Kid couldn't do his homework if it was written for him." said Yang. She began emptying her pockets, but there was a certain plastic wrapper she didn't want Taiyang seeing, as well as a bottle cap in each pocket.
Tai began chopping vegetables up with the other knife. "Alright, dinner's cooking, why don't you two get changed and washed up?"
"Alright." Yang replied, walking back to their room. Ruby didn't respond, but followed Yang. She seemed to have something on her mind.