Princess and the Orphan

Backstory Part 2

Sun on a Rose

It had been several weeks since their parents had died. Ruby continued having her nightmares. Recollections of events that she hadn't even been present to witness. The young girls mind struggled to cope with the uncertainty of what had happened. It saddened Yang as she saw her sister being broken down, piece by piece, until it was certain she would be completely shattered. Ruby had been so distraught over her parents death, going so far as to falsely accuse Summer for both deaths.

The blonde was the only one who could pick up the pieces of Ruby's shattered heart, though her innocence was forever lost. Yang awakened early in the morning, the sun still not having fully risen over the horizon of the kingdoms walls. She made her way to the bathroom, looking herself over in the mirror. After only a few weeks, the stress was beginning to show itself over her person. Her wild, golden locks no longer held that same sheen, nor had they held the same pride as before. They were now disheveled, small clumps missing in certain areas, and they hadn't shown the same amount of care they once did. Yangs complexion hadn't been faring any better, as her eyes began forming large bags underneath. Even her beautiful, ivory eyes lacked that bit of liveliness only her eyes had held.

She was beginning to fall apart physically.

Despite her physical appearance, she couldn't afford to falter mentally. She needed to piece her sister back together.

Yang was all she had left.

The sound of running water echoed through the bathroom. The cold liquid poured out ever so slowly from the faucet of the sink. Yang let it run for a moment, her mind not working as efficiently as deemed normal. The exhaustion was taking its toll, striking worry into their temporary caretaker. Such a mass of stress was too dangerous for someone at the age of eight. But Yang didn't care. She cupped her hands under the water, relishing in the feeling of the cold water filling her hands. She splashed the water over her face, repeating the process over and over until she had fully woken up. While she took solace in the feeling, it only lasted a moment and was roughly yanked from her in the form of nightmarish screaming.

Yang jumped in surprise, but refused to move. Her mind was processing the occurring events at a slower pace, taking far too long to register that the screaming was coming from Ruby's bedroom. Once her mind had settled, she quickly shut off the water and ran to her sisters aid. Upon entering the room, she could see Ruby writhing violently under her bed sheets. She kicked and punched, screaming as loudly as a six-year-old could. Yang rushed over to her, throwing herself over the girl to try to soothe her. She could feel Ruby resisting heavily, not waking up. Yang couldn't keep a hold of the girl, Ruby slipping out of her hold to continue her thrashing about. When Yang tried to hold the girl again, yelling to her to wake up, she found a small fist repeatedly hitting her in the face, then again in the eye. She cried out in pain, falling off of the bed and clutching her eye.

For only a moment, Yang felt a spike of rage before remembering that Ruby was in pain. The red-haired girl couldn't control herself, and had no idea what was going on in the world outside of her subconscious. Yang sat there, crying until the pain slowly subsided. Ruby had jolted up, eliciting one last scream. She was awake, panting and crying heavily. The girl curled up into a ball and turned onto her side, facing away from Yang. She didn't even bother to acknowledge that her sister was present. Instead, she began bawling her eyes out, wishing that everything would stop. That everything she was feeling would just go away.

When her eye no longer felt pain, Yang got up and approached her sisters bed. Sitting down on the mattress, she put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. It surprised her when Ruby jumped at the contact and violently rolled over to see who was touching her. The blonde saw a fear in Ruby's eyes. It took a moment for Ruby's gaze to soften slightly before the tears started pouring out once again. Ruby jerked forward, pulling Yang into a tight hug. One that threatened to suck the all the oxygen and life from her petite form. Seeing Ruby in this state brought tears into her own eyes. It never got easier, and she was coming to the conclusion that it never would. Part of her believed that Ruby would be like this forever. Yang shook those thoughts away, focusing on soothing Ruby as she stroke her hair gently, letting her own tears fall.

"It's okay, Ruby...it's going to be okay. I'm right here." Yang whispered.

Ruby continued to cry into the blondes shoulder, grasping tightly at her blouse. The door to the bedroom swung open, a worried Goodwitch standing in the doorway. The female caretaker had taken refuge in a vacant house just down the street from them, with the orders of watching over the young girls. Whenever she heard Ruby screaming, she would rush over as fast as she could to ensure that they were both safe. The first time it had happened, she nearly broke the door down and drew her weapon, which only served to scare Ruby even more. Guilt had taken over a part of Goodwitch since than, feeling partly responsible for Ruby not getting any better.

Seeing that everything was marginally under control, Goodwitch left the room, deciding to prepare a small breakfast for the two. Despite having a large bounty of food, the portions she would prepare remained small. The stress Yang was enduring had withered her apatite, while Ruby would hardly eat to begin with. Anything larger than a small handful of bread and water would normally go to waste. Getting the food prepared, Goodwitch was pleased to hear the crying subside and the door to the bedroom open. Yang was the first to exit, her eyes now puffy and red to match the bags that rested underneath them. Her left eye was slightly swollen thanks to the punch she suffered from earlier. Ruby followed suit, though she looked absolutely horrendous. Her eyes, much like Yang's were puffy and red, hair all over the place and her walk seemed somewhat wobbly and weak from the lack of solid sleep.

As Ruby and Yang both sat down, Goodwitch served them their breakfast. Yang slowly began munching down on her food, picking up a piece of bread and taking small bites. Both of them looked at Ruby, who just stared at the plate, shoulders slumped and head hung low. It was a sad sight.

"Ruby, dear. You need to eat something." Goodwitch said, softly.

Ruby did nothing.

Yang put her own bread down, slowly picking up Ruby's. She wasn't being cautious of anything in particular, but her body hadn't the energy to move any faster. Her hand shook slightly as she brought the bread off the plate and held it to Ruby's mouth.

"Ruby." Yang said sternly, but with a softness to it. "You need to eat. Take a bite."

"I'm not hungry..." Ruby quietly uttered.

The young girl slowly pushed the plate of food away, her hands still shaking slightly from her earlier night terror. Glynda shook her head, immediately walking over to slowly push the plate back in front of Ruby.

"Ruby, your suffering from clinical depression. I understand that this may affect your appetite, but this isn't healthy for a girl your age."

Ruby whimpered, slowly grabbing a piece of bread and taking an incredibly small bite. Yang let out the breath she had been holding, happy to see the younger girl finally deciding to eat. Ruby only took a few more bites, setting more than half of the bread back down on the plate and pushing it away. She reached out for the glass of water, her hands more steady than before. She gulped down the entire glass, some of the water missing her mouth and trailing down her chin. She set the glass back down on the counter, giving Goodwitch a rather annoyed look.

"There...am I done now?"

Glynda chuckled at the annoyed reply from Ruby, nodding her head and grabbing the plate of food. Ruby hopped off her chair and scurried back to her home. While she didn't outright slam the door, Ruby had shut it quite harshly, the resounding boom making recoil.

Days had passed, with things only slightly getting better. Ruby no longer needed to be scolded into eating, though she would still hesitate, claiming she wasn't hungry. The younger girl would only sleep for a few hours a day, her nightmares normally causing her too much stress and fear.

While Ruby remained quietly in the house with Glynda, Yang had to find something else to do to help her cope with her own problems. She was beginning to resent having to help Ruby twenty-four-seven. Yang was hurting inside, just as much as Ruby. She missed her parents and, because of Ruby, she had to bottle her feelings up until she could sneak away and let the tears flow. Truth be told, she was starting to hate Ruby, despite none of this being her fault. Her only escape from it all was the blacksmith work she used to do with her father.

When Ruby was finally calm and could be left in Glynda's capable hands, despite Yang feeling guilty about forcing Ruby onto the twenty-eight year old, she would go out back and practice on her dads old anvil. The steel block had sat behind their home, seemingly lonely with the loss of it's master. It had sat there, unused and yearned to be put to work. Yang decided it was time that she would try and take her fathers place, becoming its new master. The anvil just sat on the grass, surrounded by various sheets of metals and tables. There about four tables, circling around the anvil as the center piece. The tables were worn and chipped in areas. One of them even had black scorch marks from the times her father mistakenly set down hot materials on its surface.

When working on the anvil, she would usually start by making smaller things. Mostly on small knives, but that was slowly beginning to get boring and she was slowly running out of raw materials to use for her craft. She could continue making these small and useless trinkets until her inventory of crafting materials dwindled, but she grew tired of the amateurish trinkets. She really wanted to expand her skill and go for something bigger. Looking over the raw materials, she estimated that she had just enough to make a low tier sword. Something of a simple design, yet still a more intermediate tool.

Grabbing everything she needed, the blonde went to work. While she wasn't an expert in the craft by any means, she learned enough from training with her dad to know what it was she was getting into. She knew that a sword-smiths ultimate goal was to create a nice and sturdy fighting blade. One that was hard enough to hold a fine edge, yet one that could flex under strain. She knew that she mainly needed steel and, to her luck, her father had just enough ready ahead of time. Creating steel was something Yang hadn't the knowledge, nor the skill, to complete. She needed a large amount of iron ore, and would be required to melt and reprocess it, reducing the carbon amount. That was only the first step, which Yang knew she wouldn't be able to accomplish. Grabbing the metal and several other materials, Yang set to work. She began shaping and mixing different metals, the hard work making sweat form on her brow and hands. She occasionally had to wipe the sweat from her face, as it was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.

When satisfied with the initial shape, Yang knew she was far from finished. A finely crafted sword had to have just the right mix of good steel as well as just the right temper. Heat treatment was the last crucial step that gave the blade its strength and toughness. From this point forward, Yang was flying blind. She hadn't worked on a sword before, and it wasn't something her father had expressed interest in teaching her quite yet. She had a vague idea on what to do, but hadn't the mastery to know if she could complete it successfully.

The hours slowly passed, Yang paying no attention to the time she spent on the blade. Everything was slowly coming together, the heating step finally completed. Yang wiped her brow once more and set the blade aside. All she could do now was wait for the blade to cool. She was sure that she spent longer on the heat treatment than most other blacksmiths, but she was so new to this. She had to make sure she got it right, as she only had one shot. If she had messed up, she'd need to discard the materials and would have no steel to try again.

Looking to the sky, she wondered when the sun had gone down, leaving nothing but the clouds and stars above. Feeling exhausted, Yang collapsed on the ground, shifting herself so she could rest her back against the side of the house. She wasn't used to this feeling of calmness after everything she'd had to do for Ruby. For once, she was able to relax, letting her eyelids grow heavy until sleep overtook her.

Several years had gone by, and Ruby's depression had begun to subside. The nightmares had slowed, but had yet to cease. Ruby's spirit had crawled back to life, the girl finally returning to her cheerful, hyperactive self. Yang and Ruby had grown closer over the years, bonding over the tragedy that befell them and helping each other heal. It was because of this that Ruby had begun to grow overly attached to her sister, becoming clingy and removing all boundaries between her and her sister. It was beginning to suffocate Yang, but there wasn't much that she could do. Her younger sister wasn't the most social person, and had no friends of her own. Ruby had nobody but Yang. Because of this, Yang was afraid to tell Ruby that she had to leave for a while.

After she completed her first sword, Yang had acquired a hilt from a local cutler, earning praise for such amazing craftsmanship that far exceeded that of a beginner. While the blade had quite the number of imperfections, the cutler was impressed to learn it was her very first sword. The cutler hired Yang as a full-time blacksmith, teaching her how to craft a hilt, create steel, and other techniques she had yet to learn. Over the years of her training, she had become the greatest blacksmith that Vale had ever seen, surpassing both her father, and the cutler who had continued her training. The king had taken notice, and offered her substantial amounts of money to craft special weapons for their allies in Vacuo. Yang was elated until he mentioned that she would need to deliver the weapons personally, traveling along with her own convoy of guards and knights. The blonde had no problems traveling to a neighboring kingdom, but she did have one problem.

Ruby.

The girl being as clingy as she was would be devastated to learn that Yang would be away from her for so long. Thoughts of the younger girls reaction scared Yang, but she had to do it. She had to live her own life, and force Ruby to live one of her own. Ruby wouldn't be able to grow up if Yang continued to coddle her. The blonde was currently waiting at their home, Ruby having gone out for a short jog. It made her happy, seeing her sister had found something to keep herself busy. Something that she enjoyed.

Yang could hear feet stomping in the dirt outside their house. She figured that it was Ruby, finally finishing off her daily jog. The girl in question burst through the door, the wooden surface harshly colliding with the wall, cracking it slightly. The resonating sound mixed with the sudden vibrations startled Yang, who instinctivly rushed over to the door. She nearly tripped over her own feet, suddenly feeling herself being pulled into a hug from Ruby.

"Your back! How did it go with the king?" Ruby asked, her excitement getting the better of her as she tightened the hug.

Yang smiled with the embrace. While Ruby's hugs didn't have the same bone crushing feeling her own did, Ruby still seemingly tried her best to squeeze the life from her body. Yang chuckled and ruffled the hair on Ruby's head, earning a groan from the girl. Ruby pulled away, rubbing the top of her head in annoyance.

"Everything went fine, Ruby. He offered me a job as the kingdoms personal blacksmith pipeline between Vale and Vacuo." She said, proudly.

Ruby's eyes beamed with excitement. "Really!? That's amazing, Yang!"

Yang internally braced herself. Just rip it off like a bandage.

"But I have to leave for Vacuo to deliver whatever I make every month. Starting by the end of the week."

The smile on Ruby's face faltered, eventually disappearing completely. Yang saw a slight hint of fear in Ruby's eyes, suddenly feeling awful about telling Ruby so abruptly. After their mother left, promising to come back, Ruby was always afraid something like this was going to happen. Deep down, she knew it would happen, and had always braced herself for the outcome ahead of time. That's why Yang was surprised to see Ruby's smile return.

"That's...great Yang...I'm happy for you..."

Ruby's voice betrayed her, cracking with every word. Yang could see the glossiness in Ruby's eyes as she started fighting back tears. On instinct, Yang lunged forward, pulling Ruby into a tight hug.

"Ruby. I promise, I'll be fine. You don't have to worry about me. I'll have a convoy of guards with me at all times, and the odds of being attacked by any enemies are very low. I'll only be gone for a week or two at a time. Okay?"

Ruby returned the hug, her tears now falling freely and trailing down her cheeks. While she silently sobbed, she also smiled, realizing that there wasn't anything she could do to stop Yang. She just had to trust that Yang would return. After all, she had protection and she wasn't walking in to a fight. She was simply delivering weapons and coming right back. Above all, she was getting the recognition she deserved as a blacksmith.

Her sister had grown up.