Thanks for the positive feedback!
I'm not sure if I'm happy with the way I wrote the characters and the story (who am I kidding, I'm not) but welp, here we go. There is gonna be some graphic stuff (injuries), so don't read this if it makes you uncomfortable. (English is not my first language so I apologize if sometimes sentences seem a bit jumbled, etc.)
[This story is trash and so am I]
When Ruby came to her senses, she was greeted by the sight of an unfamiliar room. She couldn't remember how she got there. In fact, she was unable to recall anything that happened after her breakdown on the airship. Frustration grew, as her memories continued being shrouded in darkness. Roman must have drugged her at some point. Or perhaps she might have lost consciousness after the shock of everything that had transpired?
Still, she felt anger at her carelessness – she should have stayed alert, instead of letting herself be overwhelmed by what happened.
Weiss would be lecturing her right now, were she present. Ruby could nearly trick herself into hearing the girls voice. Her heart ached at the thought of her teammate. She missed them all so much already. But this wasn't the time for mourning. The sooner she managed to break out of here, the sooner she would be able to reunite with her friends.
The soft mattress budged slightly as she shifted. Her hands were still bound behind her back, but the thin rope had been replaced with heavy handcuffs. The cold metal stung. Her eyes roamed across the decently sized room, taking in every single detail. The walls were of an unpleasant gray tone, some of the color fading already. The floor consisted of simple concrete, a lighter gray in shade. To her surprise, an opening in the wall led to a tiny bathroom. All in all, the room was quite sparse, the only furniture being the bed she had awoken on.
The frame of said bed was made out of light wood. Ruby wondered if Roman had chosen a wooden structure instead of a metal one so she wouldn't be able to use any of it as a weapon. Well, she doubted she would come very far with her hands bound anyway. It might have been worth a shot though. Pity. Lastly, she noticed the iron door to the left of her. She wobbled up from the bed - movements anything but graceful due to her current state – and decided to inspect it.
She noted the strange square handle first, consisting of the same metal as the door. Upon further investigation, Ruby noticed a small slit in the heavy iron. She supposed that someone needed to insert their scroll in order to open it. Ruby decided to file this information away for now. It might come in handy later.
To her disappointment, she soon discovered that throwing her body against the heavy frame only resulted in a new set of bruises and an aching shoulder, but the door didn't budge in the slightest. Ruby stumbled back to the bed, sitting down on the white mattress. There was no escape. For now.
"Okay, I'm sure that someone will show up. Right? They can't just leave me here like this, not after everything that scumbag said. No need to be nervous, I have everything in control. Totally." She muttered, trying to calm herself down, but it was of no use. Her anxiety reached an all time high, leaving her fidgety and scared. She took a deep breath, counting to five. Just wait, and the minute someone shows up dash past them. Yeah, that sounded like a plan. She only needed to sit here, and once Roman decided to pay her a visit, she would be gone faster than he could say 'Red'.
Agonizing seconds trickled by as nothing happened. She changed positions multiple times, tried fiddling with her chains and bounced up and down the mattress, just to switch to pacing across the room. Her body was loaded with energy. And then she heard it – footsteps. She started up, sneaking across the room to position herself next to the door, breath held in anticipation. Her heart beat so loud, she was afraid the person behind the door would hear it.
The footsteps stopped in front of her prison, eliminating her fear that the visitor didn't come here for her. She grew tense, as the door slowly opened with a loud creak.
The second it fell open enough for Ruby's body to fit through, she dashed past the entrance. A grin broke out on her face when she passed the treshold, joyousness taking over her. She barely noticed the indistinct shape of a person that had been pushed out of the way at her escape. And why would she? She had no time for distractions right now! Not with freedom being so close. She cursorily noticed the long corridor ahead of her, but she paid no attention to the details, only focused on reaching any sort of exit. She needed to be gone before reinforcements arrived. Her semblance ended, leaving behind a storm of red rose petals in her wake.
Ruby couldn't stop the childish giggle from leaving her lips, freedom so close she could grasp it- and then she tumbled onto the gray (it must be a theme, some detached part of her noticed) floor, body rolling across the tiles as suddenly unbearable pain pierced through her right leg. Her ears were ringing – was that a shot? Have I been shot? She panicked, trying to activate her semblance once more, but it only lead to more pain and agony. She stopped her futile struggle, lying on the floor in a heap of agony. Her eyes ran along her body, stopping at the bloody foot. There was decent sized hole in her lower leg, visible even through her tattered boot, blood seeping out of it and tainting the tiles red.
She looked away again, and suddenly breathing became so very hard, and she couldn't focus- her vision becoming blurry and unsteady and now she was breathing too fast- oh god she was going to die
she couldn't breathe and the black was taking over and the red and her leg hurt so much and-
A sharp sting resonated through her cheek, snapping her out of her panic-induced state.
"Getting a bit squeamish over blood there, Red?" She froze, her heart suddenly beating at a hundred miles an hour as she recognised the mocking voice. Her vision returned back to normal, and she jumped a little at the sight of the person crouching in front of her. "I thought they trained you guys to handle situations like this. How do you want to be a huntress if you get panic attacks over such a small wound?"
When he received no answer from the girl, he frowned, leaning closer. "Hello-ho?" He waved one hand in front of her eyes, startling her out of her absence. "I- you…" She stopped, gathering herself.
"You aren't one to talk, I'm the one that has a hole in her leg!" "Touché" he retorted. "I was afraid I had broken you too early for a second there!" He received a cold glare in response, but it only furthered his amusement. Ruby quieted down as she processed everything that had happened, her aching leg a harsh reminder of the failed escape attempt.
"I nearly made it." She whispered. "Excuse me?" When she repeated herself, Roman was surprised to see a glimmer of tears in the girls eyes. "I was so close! Why…" she stopped, and for a second it seemed like she would either start crying or scream at him. She tensed up, her body going taut in stress for a second, before giving up. "Nevermind." It came out barely above a whisper, so silent even he had troubles understanding the young girl.
"So, did you plan to shoot me the moment I started an escape attempt, or was it a decision you took in the heat of the moment?" Ruby surprised herself by how calm and collected she sounded. Inwardly, her thoughts were a mess and her leg burnt like crazy- but on the outside she could pose as if she wasn't affected by it all that much. She could tell it surprised Roman. He didn't expect her to cope so well.
"Come on Red, do you really take me for such a bad person, to have planned something like this? Give me more credit than that!"
"Yes." Her voice remained deadpan as she answered, withholding any further comments. He whistled, adjusting his hat. "You know, you were pretty quiet up on the airship. I'm glad you still got some fight left in you."
"I was quiet because I just saw my friend die, the arena had been attacked by a Griffon, more Grimm overran Vale, people were dying and you captured me. What did you expect? That I would start singing?" She hissed. He halted for a second, contemplating her words. "Oh. Well, my condolences for the friend. As for the rest; you were the one that decided that it would be a smart idea to fight alone on an enemy's airship. Don't blame me for your mishaps."
"Don't you think I know that already? I was an idiot, thank you very much. No need to rub it in." Ruby muttered.
"Because it is the truth. If you hadn't decided to be a pain in the ass to me, you would be safe with your friends right now, baking cookies, making friendship-bracelets and whatever else you guys are doing when you aren't busy getting on my nerves or killing Grimm." "We are not doing that!" She shouted, cheeks reddening. "Well… just sometimes. And those are fun activities!" Roman scoffed. "I'm sure they are." "Yes! At least it's better than anything you and your criminal friends are doing!" She protested weakly.
"Don't get flustered so easily, Red. I might be tempted to take advantage of it," he winked. "Eugh, no." Ruby shuddered. "As for the rest of your poorly worded sentence," "it wasn't!" He rolled his eyes at her interruption, continuing as if she had said nothing, ignoring her pouting.
"The things my 'criminal friends' and I are doing are lucrative. I am looking out for my own good, a concept that you are probably not very familiar with. After all, you like to throw yourself headfirst into danger the moment you spot it. Not a good recepe for survival."
"I'm saving people! I am doing it for the good of everyone!" Anger overtook her as she saw Roman's condescending grin.
"How can you do all of this? So many people are suffering because of your actions, and those of Cinder and the White Fang. How can you be on their side and not feel guilty? How… how can you just go on with your day, without caring about the fates of all those that had gotten hurt by you?" The words were tumbling out before Ruby had the chance to think about what she was saying. She took a glance at the gingers face, shrinking a little when she noticed the expressionless mask it had become. Gone was the apparent cheerfulness he had put to show just seconds before. He stood up, towering over the young girl.
"You want to know how I can do this?" She nodded, silver eyes wide and curious. "Because I don't care." He continued at Ruby's confused expression. "I don't care about you. I don't care about the people that died at our attack. All I care about is being on the winner team and getting my profit out of it. You-" she yelped as he pushed the cane against her chest - "are nothing more than a bonus. Now let's get you back to your room, your blood is ruining the floor."
"You are awful." She wanted to say it out loud- shout it into his face- but it trailed off in a choked whisper when she looked at him. And she knew that he spoke the truth. He already told her back at their fight on the airship, didn't he? He cared about her existence the way he cared about everyone else. Not at all. He would get rid of her the second she stopped being a lucrative bonus and started being more of an annoyance. He still heard her, she noticed his face twitching, but he gave no answer.
Before she even knew what was happening, he knelt down next to her, taking her lithe form up princess style. "What are you doing?!" She yelled out, struggling as his grip tightened. "Carrying you back to your room, now stop wriggling." She ignored him, instead opting to continue. "I can walk by myself, I don't need your help" she protested. He chuckled at her flustered state. "Are you sure?" "Yes! Now let me go!" "You really want me to let go of you?" Momentarily forgetting about her predicament, Ruby nodded energetically- and was promptly dropped.
She hit the ground hard, a fresh wave of searing pain emitting from her abused leg. She let out a high-pitched scream, unable to hold her voice back. Tears stung in her eyes, blurrying her vision. When she finally managed to blink them away, she nearly gagged at the sight of her leg. If she thought that it had looked bad before, than she sure hadn't seen anything yet. More blood coated her legs, and started painting the floor bright red. Her leg pointed into a direction she was pretty sure it was not supposed to be pointing at, and the hole looked simply gruesome. She decided to look away before she lost it.
Roman tapped the cane on the ground, eyes watching her suffering in silent amusement. "Go on Red. Show me how well you can walk by yourself. Impress me."
Ruby clenched her teeth. For one second she considered trying to get up, just to spite him, but the rational part of her knew that this moronic. She needed to take it easy, not make it even worse for herself. And as much as she wanted to show this arrogant jerk that she did not need his help – definitely, one hundred percent not! - this really was not the right time. Unless she fancied being in a world of agony for the next few minutes, or hours, that is. Which she really didn't.
So she swallowed her pride, head hanging low. "I can't walk." Roman put one hand behind his ear, feigning surprise. "What was that? I didn't quite catch it!" Ruby took a deep breath, nails digging into the skin of her palms. Just stay calm, you can punch him later.
"I said, I can't walk." Now she sounded like Weiss.
"Really? Well, that is quite a shame. Is there anything I can do to help you with your current…" he pointed at her leg - "situation?" Ruby groaned loudly. "Just carry me and get this over with."
"I thought you were able to walk by yourself? After all, I offered you my help before, but you decided to turn me down in favor of this." He gestured at her position on the ground, mouth curving up into a smirk. "Just carry me! I'm not going to play your little game, so stop it!"
He gasped in mock offense. "Why, Red, I only wanted to help you! I recall you telling me to let you go, as you are perfectly capable of walking by yourself. So being the gentleman I am, I followed your orders to the word!"
Ruby let herself fall back onto the ground, silver eyes watching the ceiling above. "Fine, I will stay here then. Have fun mopping up the blood." She heard the faint rustling of clothes, as the annoying crime-boss knelt down next to her, picking up her limp body. "Don't be like this. I was only teasing you, Red." She snorted, avoiding his gaze. "Sure." "This wouldn't have happened if you had just been a good girl and behaved yourself." "Did you really expect me to just sit still and wait for you to twist me into your plaything, or whatever you have planned?"
She winced as his fingers dug painfully hard into her shoulder. This is gonna leave bruises. As if she didn't have enough already. "I had hoped you would not be dumb enough to attempt the obvious. But if I'm being honest, I'm kinda glad you are. I had fun." "Good to know at least one of us is enjoying themselves" she answered, before realizing something. "Wait, did you just call me stupid?"
Once they arrived back at 'her' room, Roman dumped the girl unceremoniously onto the bed, leaving after telling her that he would be back soon. He kept true to his word, bringing a first aid kit with him. Something in Ruby's gut clenched uncomfortably at the sight of him.
Before he was able to start, Roman noticed that the blood had somehow glued her boot to the leg, making it a necessity to cut the boot off. She grieved the cruel loss of her footwear.
The entire process of setting her foot back into the right direction, disinfecting the wound and wrapping it up neatly in pristine white bandages also ended up taking longer than Ruby would have liked. She wasn't a novice to injuries by far, but it didn't take her long to notice that Roman handled her body more than carelessly.
In fact, he spared no opportunity to deliver even more pain to her already hurting body. Be it by accidentally poking the wound (she bit her lip bloody to prevent herself from screaming) or by twisting the leg a little too hard, and a bit too much. He also decided that her shackles were in fact not quite tight enough, (could have fooled her, after all she had already been rubbing her wrists raw on the harsh metal) instead tightening them to a point where she feared they might cut off the bloodstream to her hands.
But in the end, it was not the horrible treatment or the pain that made the ordeal so unbearable.
Neither was it the loss of her footwear, or the fact that Roman had tightened the handcuffs to an unbearable level simply for his own amusement.
No, it was his sickeningly cheerful mood that really drove her over the edge. He even went as far as to start whistling a happy tune, only here and there interrupting it by complaining about how her blood was ruining his suit. (Ruby really missed her weapon during these moments).
All in all, it was terrible, she hated it, she hated him and she wanted away.
She sighed in relief when he was finally done with everything. Ruby had a distinct feeling that he made it worse instead of better, but there wasn't exactly a whole lot she could do about it. So she kept quiet and waited for him to leave.
Only to realize that she still needed something from him when he turned to go. "Wait!" She called out, just barely loud enough to get his attention. He turned around, one eyebrow raised. "Missing me already? Looks like we really need to tackle these attachment issues, Red" he mocked. She ignored the jab, instead asking what she had been wanting to ask since her capture.
"What happened to my friends? My group? You met them, we were fighting you together! You know the blonde girl and the black haired girl with yellow eyes and Weiss -" He raised one hand, stopping her bubbling. "I know who you are talking about." She waited, but received no further answer. "Do you know if they are alright?" She asked cautiously.
He leaned against the wall, fishing out a cigar from his pocket. She crinkled her nose as he blew out the smoke. "Red, what on earth makes you think that I would be giving you this information?" "What?" He rolled his eyes. "You are my prisoner, I am your enemy. Why would I be giving my prisoner valuable information for nothing?" "Then what do you want?" Her cheeks tinged a soft red as he started laughing at her question. "What I want? Red, there is nothing you can give me that I can't just simply take. You have no room for bargaining."
She remained silent while he took another puff from his cigar. "I have got some work to do. Try to refrain from escaping while I'm gone." He winked at her, opening the door.
"She has long blonde hair. Lilac eyes. She is using yellow gauntlets to fight- you fought her in the past." He stopped, taking a long breath. "Red, do I need to repea-" "She is my sister." Ruby interrupted him. Her silver eyes had a desperate sheen to them. "Please."
Disappointment welled up inside her as Roman stepped out of the room. Just before closing the door, he paused for a second. "I haven't seen her." Tears gathered in Ruby's eyes. "T-thank you." She looked away shyly. "You know, you aren't such a bad person if you just -" She flinched as the door fell forcefully shut - "try."
"Or not."