A lot of nightmares plagued the poor girl's sleep, making her turn and in return, sending the throbbing pain of her wounds into her dream, translating as a hit from a monstrous creature that resembled a ghoul or some sort of human shaped Grimm. The horrible looking creature leaned in closer, its foul breath mere inches from Weiss' neck. This was hell, it had to be; the cocktail of negative emotions prolonging her struggle, trying to break away from the torture chamber's table she was hooked on. No matter how much she squirmed or wailed, the creature would not budge nor get away from her, striking her side once more.

"Give up, this is your fate. You can't escape it!" the monster spoke.

She knew that voice. It was the voice of her father, distorted slightly by a demonic trait in it.

"You are my puppet. Puppets have no will. I will do as I please with you!"

She tried to scream, no sound coming from her throat since the creature would keep whipping at her thorax, knocking the wind out of her.
Her face soaked in tears and blood, she was really about to give up, to stop caring. Letting the pain overwhelm her and turn her into a dull, motionless object seemed far too easy at this point. Did she have any other options or even the will to fight back left in her?

It was right then that a shadow could be seen in one corner of the room. It quickly leapt across the chamber, charging full-force into the Grimm being her father had turned into. The Grimm's skull-like deformed mask fell off, revealing the mad visage of her parent, looking exactly the way it had been the moment preceding her beating. The cloaked figure was drowning him in rose petals, as absurd as it looked.

"…Who are you?" She managed to mutter out.

The cloaked figure became blurry, as she felt it opening her restrains, releasing her from the inhuman torture device, her vision turning darker as the heiress passed out on the spot.

Weiss woke up with a start, breathing heavily and frantically looking around the room, until it hit her. It was just a bizarre dream. One she could barely piece together now that she had awoken from her slumber.

A servant humbly strolled into the room, probably sent by her father to check up on her.
The middle aged lady asked her how she was feeling and told her she was there to tend to her wounds. Weiss turned around to show where the bruises began, slipping her nightgown down slightly, refusing to look at them or the woman that had come to help. She assumed that, regardless of her father's hate for her, she still needed to be able to wear a corset and bear children, for the ceremony was merely one week away, now that strings had been pulled to accelerate the process of having her married. It was his way of doing: if something persistently kept opposing his plans or intentions, he would find the hastiest and harshest solution to be done with it. This way, little could bother him when the deed was done. A revolting feeling overwhelmed Weiss.

"Was this the way he treated mother?"

From what she could gather, her mother used to be a head-strong woman, a perfect match for her father… except for the fact that two personalities that similar don't match very well for too long. They had told her that her mother died during childbirth, which wasn't uncommon given how this seemed to be an everyday occurrence, yet somehow she deeply doubted this was the case. Now that her father had shown her his worst side, she started to fear how her mother's death might have been purposefully intended and schemed after Weiss was born …Maybe for not giving him a male heir, or maybe just for stubbornly backing an idea that displeased or didn't sit well with her father.
She felt the nausea punch back into her stomach; very much in sync with the awful odor the ointments gave off when applied to her purple, bruised ribs and back.

Ruby felt like she might have dared a little too much the previous night, leaving behind those presents in an attempt to cheer up the sorrowful princess. She could tell from afar how confused the young woman looked when she saw the items and how carefully she approached them with a sword drawn. It really looked like she had never received any love letters, loving word or gift whatsoever from other princes or high noble men. It was no wonder, given how Lord Jacques Schnee kept her sealed up and sheltered possessively within the keep. She was ready to bet on her own life, that the princess had hardly ever spoken to anyone outside the house servants. She looked like a frail little bird, trapped in a cage of luxurious spoils, the unhappiness that came with it very evident by yesterday's shouts and unfolding of events. She could swear that she heard things – or even the princess herself – being thrown around the room, a thought that sparked deep anger in her. Of course, it was none of Ruby's business, what did or didn't happen inside the walls of their royal home, but if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was unnecessary violence, especially when coming from the people who were supposed to teach you love. Her sister Yang had taught her, in the wake of her mother's death and to fill in her upbringing, to never hit or harm the people you held dear and to use violence just as an extreme counter measure, when men were harassing, molesting or threatening her well-being.
Ruby had tried to convey feelings of reassurance and hope on the piece of paper she had left behind; although it was apparent how she hadn't got the slightest clue about what she was doing while mimicking the gestures noblemen did when writing with quill and ink. Ink was also not an item she could afford, so she opted to use a chicken feather and oil extracted from a Grimm's liver. She had written something that resembled an "o" and a "p", because she was sure there was one of each in "hope". There was no real way to tell without a grand master to help her out. She had also scribbled "fr", the only letters she knew that could be in "fear". It was a stretch, or better yet, a delusion, to say that Weiss would have understood the final message.

"Don't be afraid, there is always hope."

Ruby let out a heavy sigh and got up to ready herself for work, knowing the eldest gardener would load her with lots of tasks once more.
Waving off her father and half-sister, she made a dash for the warehouse of the Schnee keep, where she met up with the old man. All the while, she couldn't get the princess out of her head.
Work was something that really bored her, partially because she was never allowed to do as she pleased and otherwise for the workload given to her. One of her favorite activities was hunting with her sister. She sharpened her oversized scythe and looked at it, remembering the times she used it as a weapon to strike down a giant Boarbatusk, coming home with a trophy that made her dad proud of her. Hunting brought a necessary amount of extra money to them, as they could sell the tusks, teeth, body parts and other materials of the Grimm to afford food stock and pelts for the winter.

Snapping out of the memory, Ruby went over the tasks she had to do for today: trim some of the bushes near the garden's famous maze, plant some new seeds for red and pink roses around the edges of the high gardens and – of course – steal the cookies from the castle's kitchen. Actually, no. That was not something she was supposed to do, but she did it regardless, because who would notice if one or two went missing… they were baking loads of new ones each morning. No one ever complained, so she wasn't wasting an opportunity to have those cookies as breakfast.

After her primary tasks and the cookie eating had been completed, she eagerly rushed over under the princess' balcony, pretending to plow the ground below it to plant something, listening for any sign of her presence inside the room.

Weiss was not in her room at all. She had gone to the keep's library for her private study session with Grand Master Bartholomeow Oobleck. He was the hardest to follow, out of all her teachers. His knowledge about diplomacy, history, geography, politics and the Grimm in general seemed to be a never-ending cascade of words flowing out of his mouth, fueled by whatever devil he had in him for not taking any time to breathe between one sentence and another. Since court life was very boring, Weiss loved to get lost in studying. Knowledge appealed to her the same way those old, dusty books seemed to somehow belong to the organized shelves of the magnificent, humongous library.
The reason her father had her schooled, was not only to impress some powerful men at court, but also to have Weiss not embarrass herself whenever an important guest with a witty sense of humor would be around during supper. As a matter of fact, she usually beat them at their own game, having them sit back surrounded by an awkward silence, before they would resume less interesting conversations with her father.
Anyway, today, out of all days, the heiress seemed to be distracted by a myriad of thoughts. There was the red caped admirer, the upcoming wedding she wanted to flee from, her nightmare and her wounds: two of them painful reminders to how she could not trust her own blood anymore.

Master Oobleck noticed the young woman distractedly sketching a hooded prince giving a flower to a young princess that, not surprisingly, resembled Weiss in every aspect.
He cleared his throat to try and catch her attention, with little success. Silently approaching the girl, he tapped her shoulder and took advantage of her distraction (looking up at her teacher) to confiscate the scroll she used for notes, now adorned with the silly drawing.

"What's this, young lady? Thinking about a loving prince out of a novel rather than class, are we?"

Weiss blushed and immediately apologized, looking down at the desk, dwelling with her embarrassment.

"I'm sure you understand your father won't be very happy about this."

Her eyes shot up in alarm, panic rushing through her, terrified of what he might do if he found out about her not listening to the teacher or worse, her red caped pursuer.

"Please don't! I promise I'll pay attention. It's just… I didn't mean to…" She was at a loss of words. Master Oobleck softened up a little, seeing how her reaction had changed drastically since their last interruption during the prior week's lesson, where she just grumbled a few excuses with annoyance.

"I do take it that there is a lot on your mind, especially escaping reality when being forced into marriage at your age. I don't expect any other sixteen, or seventeen year old like yourself, to act any different, given that there isn't really much room left for romance or dreaming of a better future. I'll let this slide." He concluded, "But on one condition: please do try to indulge in your creative hobby outside of class. I'm sure you do have a lot of spare time on your hands for this."

That said, he gave the scroll back to the girl and she promised once more to behave, thanking him.

Ruby was pretty disappointed that the princess didn't seem to be in at all. After waiting for an hour, she gave up and just slowly walked back, heading for the other side of the gardens, her cloak covering her form as she walked away.

Weiss had just returned from her class, when she spotted something from the corner of her eye, through her peripheral vision. As she turned around, she saw a person wearing a red mantle or what looked like it, nearly fading, in the distant part of the garden.

"It's him!" she stated, assuming her secret admirer was a man.

That was enough to send her running down the halls of the castle, skipping stairs on the way down to the gardens, servants moving away confused as she dashed and jumped on her glyphs with her semblance. She almost fell at one point when her bruises began to ache again.

"Damn!" She screamed at herself "Not now!" The heiress was dying to know who this mysterious person was and why out of all people, they had left a flower on her balcony and not someone else's.

As she caught up with the wandering figure, Weiss lost control over her balance while bouncing off a glyph, distracted by her injuries randomly stabbing her when she least expected it.

Ruby had almost reached the main plaza where all the servants and artisans of the keep gathered, when she heard something approaching, or better, the air whipping behind her as if someone was about to-

BAM.

Someone actually did just run, or crash, into her. The impact was so strong and sudden that it sent both girls flying in the air, landing and rolling on the dirty ground, in the mud near the barn where farmers kept most animals. Both girls groaned in pain and tried to get back up. Ruby had hit her head slightly and was confused about who could be in such a rush at that time of the day. Only when she looked up did she realize who the girl in white, now covered in mud, was.

Weiss profusely apologized for running into her supposed "prince" only to notice that under the red, very stained cloak laid a girl perhaps two years younger than her in age.

"Oh."

The heiress tried to recompose herself. "I mistook you for someone else. Don't mind me interrupting your day, servant. Keep moving." Her flushed face giving away how much shame was truly boiling within her.

"Wait!" Shouted Ruby, pulling back the pale girl by grabbing her arm.

"Such insolence! Get your hands off me! I already apologized, what else could you possibly want, commoner?!"

Ruby was a bit taken aback by her aggressive reaction, but never the less, she asked cautiously: "Sorry, I didn't mean to break any etiquette or anything like that. You are Weiss, right? The Schnee princess of the great castle I work for… I'm Ruby, the gardener's assistant. Nice to meet you!"

The heiress stared at her incredulously. Did she expect a handshake or something? The two were on completely different levels. They weren't even supposed to be casually talking to each other, let alone exchanging handshakes or introductions. This was far beyond ridiculous. If her father caught her holding hands with a farmer girl and rolling around with her in the mud that was it for Weiss, she'd be done for!

"Hmpf!"

Weiss turned around filled with disappointment, annoyance and shame.
She would have to come up with a really good excuse for having her clothes reduced to this pitiful state.

The dark haired girl with red highlights caught up with her again, trying to initiate the conversation once more.

"Can we be friends? I'd love to braid your hair, it's incredibly pretty!"

The heiress' hair was a mess at the moment, some strands sticking out of her side ponytail and her tiara lost God knows where. Was this kid making fun of her? Or was she just this thick about not understanding the circumstances?

"Look, gardener girl– Ruby, whatever! I don't have time to play games with you. We live on two different planets, do you get it? If my father saw you talking to me and I'd tell him you did this" Weiss gestured at her dirty clothes and hair "He would probably flay you alive. Not even kidding. And even if, let's say, you were at my level in any way, I don't think I'd want to be your friend. We just crashed into each other! Is that how you make proper friends? That sounds quite awful to me." She retorted, killing the younger girl's smile slowly, but surely.

The princess was about to turn and leave for good, when Ruby tried to play her last wild card.

"Did you get the rose and the note I left you?"

That made Weiss freeze on the spot; an interesting pun could be made, given that her family emblem was an ice crystal.

She turned around to double check she heard this right.

"That was you?" No. She didn't want to believe any of it. This was all some terrible farmer girl's prank and she was being made the laughing stock, the next ongoing joke of low class drunks in the nearby taverns.

"Yes, it was me. I couldn't happen but notice how your father treated you and I felt like I needed to- "

Ruby didn't get to finish her sentence, the now fuming heiress cutting her off with her own rage.

"My father will have your head for this! How dare you mock me and make fun of my feelings! Feelings that you won't probably ever grasp or understand in any way! Get away from me, freak!" and with that, Weiss physically pushed Ruby as hard as she could. She fell on her bum and tried to stutter a coherent response, failing to do so sporadically.

The heiress stormed off, too ticked off for her own good. She needed to get away from this crazy girl.

Ruby just chased after her, calling her name out loud, hoping she would listen.

"Weiss! Wait! I wasn't making fun of you at all! You completely misunderstood me! The note… I can't write, but I wanted to tell you not to lose hope! Not to be afraid! Your father is a terrible man for doing what he did to you. I was there… I didn't see it with my eyes, but I could make out some of it and it sounded horrible! I thought that giving you that rose would have made your day better… I wasn't trying to hurt you even more!"

They were at the entrance to the stair well now. Weiss had listened and as much as the girl's intentions sounded sincere, she had a hard time believing them.

"I don't know what you think you were doing, but this is not how I wanted for someone to care about me. I prayed, day and night, to have a person with a noble heart get me out of this place and take me far, far away from here, from this stupid arranged marriage I'll be forced to endure, and what have the Gods sent me? You! They're making a fool out of me! The joke's on the princess!"

Ruby's confidence quickly deflated, thinking that, maybe, if she had been a guy, this would have played differently.

"You have no clue Ruby, no idea what that monster of a man is plotting in my regard and even if you did, there is nothing you could possibly do to help me. Please return to your gardening or whatever activity you do in this castle and for the love of the Gods, do learn to address people properly. We are not close enough for you to be calling me by my first name. It's your highness, not Weiss." She exhaustively explained.

The girl seemed to have none of it though, and kept insisting to be friends.

"Wei- I mean, your highness, I apologize for my behavior. I know it was reckless and perhaps a bit stupid…"

"You mean naïve." She corrected.

"…Uh, naa-if?" Ruby repeated, insecurity shaking her voice at the sound of the unknown word.

"Are you trying my patience, gardener girl? Seriously, I don't expect you to be schooled, but to be this ignorant… It stands for a person doing an action out of good will or bravery, without really thinking that there may be darker, deeper or shadier consequences to their actions. A good example could be if I were to be a thief and lure you into an alley, promising you money or food and you would just follow along, clueless and trusting. That would make you naïve."

"…Ohh, okay. Thank you for explaining it to me. Yeah, I'm not very bright. I'm sorry… I always wanted to learn to read though. I heard books contain amazing stories about legendary warriors and adventurers! I'd love to-"

The girls' chit chatting got interrupted all too soon by a servant gasping and seeing how ripped and filthy the heiress' clothes had gotten. Seeing the other girl in a similar condition, she had a good hint as to who could have been the culprit behind the princess' poor condition. The woman rushed back inside and up the stairs. She was going to tell Lord Schnee about this.

Weiss' eyes went wide, understanding the depth of the situation. With a sudden switch of moods, she hissed back at the young gardener.

"You DOLT! You should have left when I asked you to! Look at what you've gotten me into! This is your last chance: leave now, or I will make sure that either my father or the guards will make you leave for good." And with those last words, the princess disappeared behind the walls of the keep, hurrying after the startled servant.

The dark haired girl quickly paced away from the castle, foreseeing how much trouble this was going to stir for her and the heiress. This wasn't going to end well.

Just before exiting the outer walls of the castle, Ruby felt something pinch her back inside the red cloak. Feeling around for the source of the stinging, she found that the heiress' tiara had gotten stuck in the red fabric. She carefully extracted it and moved it between her fingers, the glistening, tiny diamonds on the circled ornament reflecting the rays of the setting sun. When the right time came around, she would definitely give it back to her princess.

She tucked the precious object in one of her pockets, proceeding along her path.