It started during a thunderstorm, she knew that for sure. The dark violet clouds opened to release a hailstorm of rain. Cold droplets pounding the ground in a melody of dampness. The thunder bellowed like a restless giant awaking from sleep and the lightning whipped at the sky, as if punishing it for being there. That's what she knew, but it was all she remembered.
Glynda Goodwitch stretched and yawned, adjusting her glasses. The darkness of her office seeped around her, coughing at all light, the silence crept in until it was all she could hear. She glanced at the clock on her desk. it was past midnight, even Ozpin was gone and he usually stayed the latest. She shook her head, turning back to the papers she was grading. She tried her best to concentrate but the words swam before her eyes until all she could see was a jumbled mass. She rubbed her eyes under her glasses. Eventually she sighed, there was no way she was going to finish this all tonight. Cutting her loses she stuffed the remaining essays into her bag, deciding to grade the rest at home.
As she pulled on her coat, the electricity in the air stirred promising a quick rainfall. Glynda grabbed her umbrella by the door and pulled up her hood, heading out the door. It was spitting when she stepped out. She locked the door and stuffed the keys in her pocket. She opened her umbrella with a flourish and ducked her head under it as it started to pour.
She walked down the courtyard, the wind picked up filling the air around her with a lonely, moaning sound. She pulled the umbrella further over her head as it howled. She reached the airship dock and broke into a sprint to catch the last ship before it left. She reached it just in time, sighing in relief she flopped down in a chair, setting the umbrella beside her. The airship itself was empty as expected, but Glynda liked the silence it gave her time to think, which was something she rarely got in hallways of gossiping students. She grabbed her bag and pulled out the romance novel she'd been reading lately. She usually wasn't one for books but she found it a welcome distraction the few times she had a quiet moment to herself. She opened it, removing the bookmark she started a new chapter as the airship rose into the sky. The rain still pelted when the airship landed in Vale. Glynda pocketed the book and grabbed her things, determind to get home and out of this rain as quickly as possible.
She listened to the raindrops on the dampened ground as she walked through streets of Vale. Glynda always loved rainstorms ever since she was a child. She loved the rumbling of the thunder, how the lightning would light up the darkened landscape and the sound of the rain as it hit the earth. most of all though, she loved how it would end, usually with a bright rainbow promising sunny weather for the following day. Hopeful and beautiful, destructive yet uplifting. They were natures perfect constrast
A spark of light caught her eye and she turned to see a colorful poster hanging by a shop window. It was advertising a sale coming up and Glynda stopped to admire it. The rain was starting to let up a bit so she decided to take it a little slower returning home, and this was one of her favorite weapon stores. As she read a small noise entered her ears. It was soft, almost like a sneeze but was nerely drowned out by the rain. Glynda looked around as a roar of thunder ripped through the sky. She knew she heard something but where it was coming from? She slowed her breath, training her ears to any unusual sounds. A moment passed but nothing sounded, Glynda shook her head she probably imagined it. She was about to continue on when she heard it again. It was definetly a sneeze and it was close. Looking to her right she spotted a small juncture between the weapon store and another building. Backtracking she peered into the tiny alley and there, curled up against the edge of the next building, was a child.
She was curled up like a ball in the alley. Her knees pulled up under her chin. Her long, dark hair was messy and soaking wet. It clung to her face, shielding it from view. She wore an oversized pink raincoat and her bare feet were blue from the cold. She was also tiny, and so still Glynda half feared she was dead.
Glynda kneeled down in front of her barely squeezing in to the tiny allyway. The alley itself was mostly protected from the rain. Droplets that hung from the rafters splashed all around them. The alley was dirty and covered in garbage and broken glass but there the little girl sat, still as could be. Glynda's face fell 'She must be a homeless child' She thought. Homeless children weren't common in Vale but they did exist if you looked hard enough. This one must've squeezed in here when the storm started. Glynda guessed she was about six but she was so tiny she could pass for a four year old. 'Hello, little girl" Glynda said softly "Do you need any help?"
The girl barely stirred she looked so weak and frail. Glynda tried harder 'Do you need any help?" She asked louder. A heartbeat passed then another. The girl slowly raised her head, staring at the woman in front of her. She was as silent as a mouse. As she stirred, Glynda noticed a small, hairless tail weapped around her side that she didn't see before 'Ah, so she's a faunus' she thought. She smiled but the girl looked down, avoiding eye contact. "Are you okay?" She asked.
The girl didn't answer. Suddenly a flash of lightning blazed through the sky, lighting up the alley and highlighting the child, most importantly her eyes. They were a deep brown but that's not what caught Glynda's attention. Her eyes were glassy and lifeless, they stared straight almost like the eyes of a mannequin. Glynda didn't have time to ponder any further before the girl suddenly fell forward. The blonde woman held out her arms, catching the girl as she collapsed in her arms. What was she to do, the girl was obviously sick and needed desperate help but what if someone was looking for her? Glynda looked around, the streets were abandoned and silent she peered past hoping to see someone, anyone, headed towards them but no one came. She turned back to the girl, she couldn't in good conscious leave her to die in the rain. She steeled her resolve. The least she could do was take her in for the night then in the morning find someone to care for her.
She scooped up the child, holding her limp body close to her. She felt way to light and Glynda wondered the last time she had gotten a decent meal. She closed her umbrella as she pulled the girl closer. Glynda wouldn't her die so easily if she could help it. Luckily she didn't live to far, she fumbled for the keys in her pocket and slipped them into her apartment lock which was easily said then done with one hand. Finally she got it open and after flicking on the light, kicked the door closed behind her. She hung her keys on the hook and set down her bag and umbrella. Her hair was soaked but she could care less as she carried the girl to her bathroom. The poor thing was frigid to the touch and needed to warm up before she froze. She flicked the light to the bathroom and after placing the girl against the wall, turned the tap on the bathtub. Warm water rushed from the tap, filling the room with steam. She stuck in the plug, letting the tub fill up for a bath. With that set she turned to the girl and started undo the straps of her coat.
She undid it with ease but gasped when she slid it off. The girl was wearing a small dirty dress underneath but that's not what caught the womans attention. The girls body was covered in scars. Cuts and scrapes covered her arms and chest they even ran down her legs which in the dark, the witch hadn't even seen. Her skin was pale and sickly and there were burn marks on her shoulders. Her entire body was covered in dirt and grime. Glynda pursed her lips, this girl must've gone through something terrible but she couldn't think of that now. She raised the girls arms and pulled the dress over her tiny frame. She wore nothing underneath, her body was so thin her ribs poked through. She was literally skin and bones.
Glynda turned off the tap, picked the girl up and placed her in the tub. The water rose above her hips, Glynda leaned her against her edge of the tub and grabbed a cloth, soaking it before running over the childs body. Every inch of her seemed to have a scar or bruise. Glynda shook her head looking at them, maybe she was a runaway from an abusive home but the amount of damage on her seemed double the amount of an abuse victim.
She leaned the girl forward a bit, moving her black hair out of the way to clean her back. Glynda gasped again, her back had long jagged scars across them. Are those whip marks? Glynda shook her head and continued to wipe her down. When was done she grabbed a bucket from beside the tub and filled it with water. Sheltering her eyes, she poured the water down the childs hair, soaking it grabbed a bar of soap from the side and rubbed it into the cloth. She quickly sudsed her down, even running it along her tail. She grabbed a bottle of shampoo and squeezed it into her hand, lathering it into the girls hair.
With that done, she rinsed her off with the shower head and after quickly drying her, carried the naked child into her bed room. She spread her out on her bed and rifled through her closet. She found an old white t-shirt she didn't really wear anymore. Siting the girl up she slipped the shirt over her pale frame. She was so small the shirt nerely reached to her ankles. After she was covered Glynda pulled back the sheets, tucking the girl in. She stepped back, looking at her. She didn't look much better but at least she was clean and warm.
Glynda yawned exiting the room, it was nerely one am at this point and she was exhausted. She'd surrendered her bed to the girl for the night and decided to sleep on the couch instead. She slipped off her glasses placing them onn the coffee table and undid her hair letting it fall around her shoulders. She unclipped her cape and slipped off her boots, not even bothering to get fully undressed. She sighed as she sprawled out on the sofa. It wasn't the comfiest but it was something.
The girl crossed her mind one last time before she nodded off. Glynda never considered herself much of a caregiver. She knew she couldn't do much but she'd do her best to keep her alive.
That was a promise.