The sun was just beginning to shine through the small window of the bedroom. Seeing she still had some time to sleep in, Yang pulled the sheets over her shoulder. As soon as she was about to fall back to sleep, the door slammed open, "Yang!" A silver-eyed child had entered the room full of energy. From the pile of sheets and gold hair, an arm rose and waved at Ruby to dismiss her. "Come on, Yang! Get up!" After a couple attempts of shaking Yang out of what seemed like a coma, she finally submitted.
Eyes still groggy, she sat up and blew a single lock of golden hair from her face. Without saying a word, Yang stood from her bed and played with Ruby's crimson hair with a jolly smile, causing the little girl to giggle.. Yang reached to the ground, grabbing two orange bands and tying her hair into two ponytails.
"Dad made pancakes," Ruby said as she grabbed hold of Yang's hand and escorted her to the kitchen.
Two plates of warm, syrup coated pancakes. The left plate had a glass of strawberry juice placed next to it. A glass of milk, bisecting a cookie through the middle, sat next to the plate meant for Ruby.
Taiyang had already finished and was cleaning his plate in the sink, "Good morning, Yang."
"Morning, dad," Yang said as she sits down, eyes piercing the breakfast before her.
"I'm sorry to leave just as you're waking up, but I've got to go to work. I'll be back in time for dinner," said their father as he made his way out the front door.
"It's fine," Yang began, "I'm used to it with how much I sleep in anyway. Oh, and say hi to Mr. Ironwood for us!"
Yang began to cut into her pancakes, meanwhile Ruby just lifted them into her mouth. Yang stared at her childish sister's syrup soaked hands, "Ruby," Yang began but was cut by Ruby's incoherent mumbling, "You might want a napkin." Yang pointed out her hands with a chuckle.
After breakfast, Yang took both plates to the sink to clean. She scrubbed at the syrup drenched plates covered in the remains of pancakes. Ruby fidgeted as she watched Yang clean the dishes in silence, anxiety filling the innocent girl's mind. Since the moment Ruby left her room, a question for her older sister refused to leave her mind. While watching Yang practice alchemy the night before, a thought had crossed her mind to attempt a new form of alchemy, unexplored by the sisters. Viewing the surroundings, the girl's silver eyes had been locked on her mother's grave with alchemy on the mind. Ruby decided she couldn't hold her thoughts in any longer, feeling as if she was about to burst onto the kitchen floor.
"Yang, do you think human transmutation is possible?"
Yang immediately froze. "What do you mean? Like creating a person?" Yang avoided what she knew Ruby was obviously implying.
"Do you think we could bring someone back using alchemy?" Ruby's eyes were glistening with curiosity of Yang's response.
Yang had discussed human transmutation with their father briefly in the past. Though Taiyang knew what Yang was thinking, he sternly told her that it is forbidden without clarifying on the reasons it is a forbidden practice.. "Maybe… but that doesn't mean we should try it. You could ask dad; he knows a lot more about it than I would," Yang said anxiously.
"You're right," Ruby quickly responded, "I checked his study earlier and he had some books on alchemy." Yang immediately regretted what she had said.
"Ruby, I know what you want to try to do. And I do too. She's not my real mom, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt to lose her. I talked with dad about the possibility of maybe bringing her back when it happened but… he told me it was a forbidden practice; to never try it. I don't know if it would work or not, but what I do know is that we should listen to dad. We both know if it could be done without any complications, dad would have done it without a second thought; you know how much he shut down when… it happened."
Ruby took some time to think before responding to anything Yang said. "How would dad know if it would work or not? They never found your mom." Yang winced at that. "And… there's always the possibility of her still being alive, I don't get that. I know my mom is gone and will never come back, but you at least have the possibility of her still being alive…"
Anger began to manifest itself onto Yang's usually lax expression. "Just because she wasn't my real mom doesn't mean I didn't love Summer! I've never even met my own mother so Summer is the closest I have!" Yang yelled at Ruby with a red tint beginning to fade into her normally lilac eyes. Ruby jumped back some in fear of Yang striking her, but then came closer to Yang and wrapped her arms around her.
The crimson haired girl's tears trickled down her face onto Yang's shoulder as she held her snugly in her arms., "Then how can you not want her back? If you really loved her, you'd know we have to do this!" Yang's red eyes calmed from her rage, beginning to express her shared mournfulness with Ruby. Both girls hugged each other tightly and cried for their long gone mother, Summer Rose.
After both girls calmed down, Yang put her hands on her little sister's shoulders. "Of course I want to try it… Why do you think I asked dad about human transmutation? But he said it's forbidden and to not ask him again. He has much more experience in this… so I listened to him. But… Ruby, you're right. How could he know what would happen? He never tried it, and what's even the worst that could happen? Maybe we just fail to bring her back, so I'd say it's worth a shot. I think about this a lot… but now that I know you're on board, I think we should go through with this." Yang promised shakily, still breathing loudly from her eye's previous waterfall. "Ruby Rose, with the touch of my hand, I will turn your life to gold."
Ruby sniffled and wiped her tears away, "Let's do this!"
Crimson locks bounced as the ambitious girl ran out the front door. She wasn't exactly sure what she going to do once she made her way outside, but she just knew she had to go to Summer's grave stone. Yang sighed under her warm breath and went to her room to get dressed. She changed from a pair of comfortable, orange pajama pants and a yellow t-shirt into a more casual outfit consisting of a brown top and black jeans.
Yang locked the door behind her, then headed up the hill to follow Ruby. The blonde stopped in her steps, hesitant to disturb her sister once she noticed what she was doing. Yang had no idea how it could have happened, but the bouncy girl she had seen just five minutes ago was now quietly isolated on the top of the hill. Her silver eyes refused to break a gaze with the tombstone of their late mother. Without saying a word to the mourning girl, Yang made her way up the hill and decided to relax by the single tree.
Yang leaned onto the thick bark belonging to the hill's lone tree. The top of the hill provided a beautiful view of their home. Yang turned her head to observe the distant surroundings. Yang's eyes met the forest, booming with life at this time of year. Behind the gorgeous forest sat a elegant, white castle. Even from miles away, Yang could make out the Schnee family crest embroidered into the stain glass window. Looking back to their home, Yang was reminded of the small shed behind their humble abode.
"Dad won't be back for a while."
Yang picked an apple from the lone tree. Ruby sat silently, wrapping her arms around her knees and staring at Summer's grave. Yang chomped into the scarlet fruit and observed her younger sister. Ruby was usually a happy-go-lucky ray of sunshine everywhere she went, emanating a constant ambience of positivity and innocence. But whenever they came to Summer's grave, she became quiet into her own thoughts. Yang wasn't sure what to say, especially since Ruby was usually the one to start conversations between the two.
Yang broke the somber silence, "We definitely can't do this in one day… We should plan ahead, gather what we need, then try to get everything in one night once everything is set in stone."
Ruby stayed silent, refusing to break her thousand-mile gaze at her late and great mother's tomb stone. Yang could feel the awkward silence flow through the air around her, until Ruby finally gave a response, "What do we need?"
"Well…" Yang began, "what's a human body made of? It should be simple as another transmutation, just with the materials of a human to create the body."
Yang wasn't used to this kind of atmosphere, especially around her sister. She was usually loud, obnoxious, and charged into situations without a second thought. But she knew her father's warnings had to hold some ground, so she knew not to go into this blind. "The thing I'm dreading the most of all is the research," Yang chuckled trying to break the ice, "all of father's books we're gonna have to read, ugh." Yang tossed the red fruit behind her, licked the juice from her lips, and tossed herself onto the lush grass.
The mourning girl had been plucking petals from a rose, releasing them to fly through the wind, "Where are we gonna do it?" Ruby asked Yang, knowing they couldn't just do it outside, "we can't let dad know so we'll need somewhere he can't see doing it."
Ruby stood up, leaving the grass flat from how long she had sat in her own thoughts. "If it's gonna take some prep time, then let's hurry and get to work, Yang," Ruby walked over to her golden-locked sister and helped her to stand up.
Yang shifted her gaze from the clouds to her sister's extended arm, "Glad you rose," Yang winked and emphasized 'Rose',"up to the challenge." Yang jumped up and made eye contact with the crimson haired prodigy. They both laughed at the light hearted pun and ran down the hill, excited to reunite with their loving guardian.