A/N: I'm kinda just airing out an AU idea I've had for a while... let me know If you think I should run with it or if it's just complete shite.

Shoutout to FKim on the RT site for making the cover picture. He has no idea I exist. But Y'know. Wonders of google.

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-

"GODDAMMIT!"

-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 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, 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...bigger.

Said blob blinked. She had been having quite a nice dream, that is, until her alarm clock had started...Yelling...At her...Wait 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, happened to be 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 customary red pullover hoodie, Ruby stared out into the street; entranced, as always, by the sights and sound of the city waking up. As she always did before starting a new day, she flicked her hair back over her shoulder and touched the scar that curved down the left side of her neck and under the back of her shirt, reminding herself 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 the main street in Vale, heading towards a particular mall. There were many others closer and larger than this one, but this one had notably lax security. 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 in the streets with just her sister and had relatively easy access to spray paint; she was also quite the technological genius.

As they reached the entrance to the mall, 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. "Yang, I know what we're doing! Let's just get it done."

That done with, the sisters waltzed into the store, observing everything without being too obvious about it. 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, one in black and the other in white. Now that she looked more closely, the one in white was quite a looker. That colour of hair couldn't be natural, could it? Now quite distracted, Ruby shook her head to clear it and mentally prepared herself for the first job of the day. She wandered through the store, seemingly browsing, but in reality was tucking small bits of tech in her conveniently baggy sleeves. After what seemed like an age, she reached the final article of the run: a smartphone. She only ever took one smartphone from each store they stole from, sort of a easy of controlling herself. Slipping the phone up her sleeve as Yang finally stopped chatting up the clerk, even though his eyes remained glued to her... assets.

With a smile and a friendly wave to the shopkeep, they started out the door. Ruby glanced back over her shoulder 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. 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 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 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 his ankles and tugged slightly, sending him sprawling. The owner of the foot, meanwhile, already had her companion by the wrist and had that DustBook laptop cradled under the other arm, waltzing towards the entrance. As the duo passed Ruby and Yang in the doorway, the black-clad girl paused only to toss an amber-eyed wink at Yang and whisper "I'd run."

So they did.

A/N: Well, first chapter...I'm going to try to upload a new chapter at least once a week, maybe more, but I might miss by a couple days 'cause I've got school and stuff, so please don't kill me if I'm a little late. Thanks for all the reviews and your support, I'm looking forward to writing for all you beautiful people in the future.

-Ai