The cookies were, for a lack of a better term, the single greatest thing the young girl could ever recall eating. Warm, soft, chewy, and completely unlike any dumpster scavenged halves Red found on occasion.
These ones tasted like the home she had never known. The home she never would know.
Now do not misunderstand, the human was no stranger to the feeling of despair and self doubt. However this time was different.
She wasn't drowning in a sense of her own hopeless from being alone, or the cold bitter nights her cape could not shield her from. Instead, Red was saddened over the feeling of genuine happiness. For once in her short life the young girl was truthfully happy.
Over something as small as homemade cookies.
The child hadn't even felt the tears bridging at the edge of her silver eyes until Yang was suddenly by her side.
The dragon enwrapped her in a tight hug. Allowing Red to hold onto the large mane of gold and cry. Cry and cry and cry like no innocent youth ever should.
Yang remained silent, not uttering a single word about the grip Red had on her precious hair. Instead she opted to allow the overwhelmed human to seek out the warmth of her embrace.
Both literally and figuratively.
There was no awkwardness to the comforting gesture. Only the foreign sense of safety. Before either one knew it, Red found that her body could no longer remain awake. Silver eyes closed with the last coherent thought in the young girl's mind being of how full her stomach and heart were for the first time in years.
Dreams of fire and laughing flowers. Dust burning against the strain of her twisted ankle. Voices from the Surface. Angry sounds, scrounging for food, mocking tones of the town's children.
A sickeningly sweet voice coming from a woman she couldn't place. Repeating over and over and over again...
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT-
Red awoke with a start. The screams still echoing deep within her small chilled body.
After allowing her heart rate to calm itself, the human noticed that when she looked up, there was no poorly fashioned rooftop made of cardboard. Nor was she amongst her usual pile of newspapers behind the Patch Inn.
No Red was in an actual bed. A soft and, honest to Remnant, comfortable bed with a thick cotton quilt pulled over top of her.
Romey, the Grimm, Yang, the Cavern, the traps, the cookies. It all came back to her in a single rush.
Realizing that Yang must have moved her to the small bedroom after she had passed out, the human flopped back against the vast array of pillows. Groaning out in distaste at her behavior.
The scent of chocolate distracted the young girl away from her mental chastisement. There was a small dish filled with cookies laying upon the dark mahogany nightstand next to her. Directly beneath the display laid a pale purple piece of parchment with scribbled half legible writing upon it.
"Healed up your ankle best I could. Ill look into it more later! Next time I'll make ya an actual dinner too -Yang"
The young girl couldn't help but smile softly at the gesture. She immediately stood up and pocketed a few of the treats along with the note. The visible show of kindness filled Red with a new sense of determination.
Before acting upon her bewfound energy though, the child took a moment to check out the room she was in.
It was undoubtably a bedroom, and a spacious one at that. There walls were covered in mixed patterns of white and red diamonds. The rich hardwood covered every inch of the floor. There were drawers filled to the brim with multiple colored/sized skirts, slacks, tshirts, jeans, sneakers, and undergarments. A few of the outfits could have even fit Red. But then again, the human was already was more than content with her worn and torn ensemble.
A few toys were also strewn about, along with an entire dresser housing a large collection of hand knit sweaters. Each had phrases such as "Ultimate Chef", "Tutu good for you", "A real Knockout", and "Talk Nerdy to Me" on them. Every single one varied in theme, color, and size.
It was clear that everything in the room already belonged to someone if not multiple children.
But, Yang had mentioned earlier that she lived alone...
Red didn't try and focus too long on the quizzical circumstances. Falling into a magic filled world of monsters had already shown that everything was plausible down here.
The human made sure to grab her red cape on the way out of the bedroom.
From then on, Red took her time and began to explore the rest of Yang's house.
The size was as impressive as her room had been. The colors of burgundy and tan matched that of the entrance's trap filled hall, and there were still large planters containing lilacs everywhere.
Aside from the color theme though, Red noted that there was a pristine bathroom, working bath and shower, fully stocked kitchen filled with lots of salmon and hot peppers? Red scrunched up her nose and agreed to stick with her pocket treats.
Further on there was a large den with a fire place that intimidated Red with it's size, a long stairway leading to a locked door that matched the purple one by the entrance, her guest room, and finally a state of the art training room across from the master bedroom.
The area was complete with practice dummies, weights, and sparring mats. Ironically enough there was also the person the child had been hoping to find!
Yang was dressed in a tight white tanktop, with holes in the back to give her wings room to move about, and black workout shorts. Her blonde hair was held back in a tight ponytail, while her hands continued to relentlessly assault, or incinerating, the practice dummy before her.
A jab left. Step step.
Hard kick right. Step step.
Over and over and over again until constant scorch marks began to trail along the dummy's surface with every blow.
The dragon was close to finishing it all off with a roundhouse, when she finally noticed Red's presence. How large and enamored silver eyes were with watching as fire danced along her hair and wings.
Not exactly the greatest example to set when enforcing the idea of being pacifistic.
"Oh! Hey kid, glad to see y'er up."
The human tried to apologize for interrupting, but the much larger woman shrugged it off easily. Quickly guiding Red out of the workout room, and back towards the den.
"Don't worry about it short stack. Wouldn't want you just YANGin around out here by yourself!"
If she wasn't so sure that Yang could punch her clear through a wall, Red would have strangled the monster for yet another awful pun.
Never mind the smile breaking on her grimacing face, it was completely involuntary.
"Oh come on, sis! That one was genius!"
Red froze mid step and peered up at the now blushing Yang. The dragon seemed to have heard her verbal blunder a second too late and tried desperately to back pedal.
"Red I meant Red! Not sis, I mean that would just be crazy, I WOULD be crazy to- to uhh call you that so soon, I mean not that I WAS planning on one day calling you sis I mean we just met and I don't want you to have to feel like you have to c-call me it back I just-"
Golden wings fluttered in nervous energy.
The human giggled despite herself, and watched on with amusement as Yang continued to ramble. It felt nice to know it wasn't just her that would be making the fool of herself between the duo.
Eventually the dragon noticed the face her human companion was making. Instantly she narrowed her lilac eyes as a single eyebrow rose up.
"Oh sure make fun of the giant deadly monster. That's real smart Red."
Silver eyes rolled with no trace of fear at the empty threat. Instead the human decided to act upon her new found determination.
With no hesitation, the child wrapped Yang in a tight hug. Hoping, feebly, that she could convey the same amount of understanding the dragon monster had given her earlier.
Red mumbled out softly that she'd love to call Yang her sister.
For a moment the older woman seemed lost in thought, before large scaled arms excitedly returned the embrace. An uncharacteristic squeal breaking from the towering blonde.
"Don't worry I'm gonna be the best big sister you've ever had!"
Impossible to be wrong, best and only "sister" really, but the sentiment was still there.
Neither were able to count how long they stood there. Each had become too lost on the simple enjoyment and comfort they projected onto one another. Yang, after being sure that the himan seemed okay to detach, released herself from Red's hug and began leading the human towards the den once again.
The child had clearly seen more than enough magic to believe about anything at this point. But for whatever reason the sight of the monster woman blowing a gust of fire into the fireplace made the human gape in wonder.
Dragon or not that was impressive.
The blonde smiled at her new sister's amazed look and quickly pushed over a small plush chair to sit besides the building flames. Directly across from the monster sized leather recliner.
"Im gonna get changed real quick, you wait here. I'll try not to DRAGON for too long."
Definitely forced. Forced and undoubtably the worst pun yet. Red felt that she had every right to throw her pillow at Yang's laughing form that rushed out of the room.
Once the steps faded away, the child sat there for a moment, lost in the gaze of the trickling licks of heat.
The warm glow and soothing lull of the crackling wood. It all just brought Red back to her musings of the laughter from her dream. She was positive she had never known anyone who spoke or snickered in such a way, and yet with the scent of the burning oak dulling all of her senses, the only thing the human could hear was the smoothness of the stranger's words.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT-
Suddenly Yang plopped herself down on the recliner across from Red. Startling away the final moments of her reminiscent delusion.
"There's more cookies in the kitchen if you wanna grab some lil sis."
The human smiled and hopped from her chair. Beginning the short journey towards the promised treats. Yang raised her voice loud enough to ensure Red could still hear her.
"How about salmon for dinner? If not I could make hot pepper soup, spicy salmon rolls, roasted peppers with grilled salmon, spicy salmon breaded with...You know what? I think I have a problem..."
The human chuckled at Yang's dawning realization of her dietary habits.
Red called back and said anything was fine, so as not to let the dragon ponder over her minimalistic grocery list too much.
"Hey how about next week we start redecorating your room? New games and some more clothes, maybe even a few-oh! I almost forgot I started working on it while ya were asleep, but I made you a new-"
The rest of whatever the blonde was said faded away in Red's mind.
The young girl's body stilled completely as her mid racked around trying to see where it had misheard. The human had never said anything about staying.
They had agreed upon nicknames and the child had more then appreciated the other's hospitality sure, but remaining underground was a completely different story.
There were no humans here, no sunshine, and only the Grimm to keep her company? Besides Yang's obvious devotion, what kind of life was there to live in the seclusion of the Ruins? Wake up, eat, wash, repeat?
Would Red be okay with just...existing? Of course not. She wouldn't even try to lie to herself about such thoughts.
Especially since almost dying on Mt. Beacon had drastically redirected how the young girl considered her life. If she had disappeared, she would have simply become another tally on humanity's list of the too weak to survive. A forgotten piece of the game, and a useless one at that.
No, Red had made up her mind the second she had begun her fall into the darkness of the underground. She wanted to live. She needed to live! It was the very basis of every human's will. To survive! Not scrounge through garbage, or live life hidden below the earth being a coward.
She wanted to go on. She wanted to become something more. She wanted to keep on moving forward.
And heavens above knew she would succeed at none of that if she were tucked away down below the hollows of the Surface.
The determination that had soared during her near demise was a wake up call. One Red had known she had to act on since the moment she stood up upon the orange flower bed.
But as quickly as she realized how badly she longed to see the sunset against the horizon of the Surface one last time, Red's heart began to constrict with dread.
There was no way she could go back to where Romey had been. Which meant the locked exit was the only other option. But now that Yang was so hellbent on her moving in, the human wondered...if maybe...
No. Yang wouldn't ever try and trap her down here. Yang wanted what was best for her! And at that moment what was best was leaving the Underground.
As if to prove it to herself, the human turned back to her only ally and asked straight up when she could leave the Ruins.
Yang, who had still been explaining what it was she had been working on for Red, seemed completely taken aback.
"Leave?"
Red nodded eagerly and asked again, politely, how to get back to the Surface.
"The Surface?"
The small human nodded and slowed her words this time.
Not at all liking how the usually talkative woman was only capable of mimicking her words at the moment.
She asked Yang once more, how to exit the Ruins. Silver eyes became more wide and pleading the longer the tense silence continued on for.
Red took note of how the monster woman was nearly snapping the chair handles with the grip she has on them.
Yang's face though betrayed not a single ounce of the clear anger she was restraining.
And that made it all the scarier.
"Kid. I have to go check on something real quick. How about we talk bout this later. Okay?"
Without another word, the dragon woman stormed out of the room. Startling Red with the intensity burning in her now red eyes.
The human briefly wondered when the air within the den had become so dry and humid.
However her puzzled mindset didn't last too long, for within moments she realized just how upset Yang now was. Yet at the same time the wrenching feeling that her soul had taken on told Red that she needed to follow the dragon.
Unsurprisingly the locked off exit at the bottom of the stairway, appeared to be where the blonde had rushed off too. The tiniest pinch of odd colored light shined past the edges of the ajar purple doorway.
バラのような赤は私の夢を満たし、あなたがたを休ま場所に私をもたらし
Red hurried past the golden script, and rushed down new hall.
It was almost an exact replica of the entry way. The only differences being the lack of Grimm, traps, and ominous lighting.
Gone was the soft warmth of the golden fluorescence. Instead now there was nothing, but a nearly demonic red hue poisoning every inch of the passage.
The only thing the child could see was the corner directly ahead. No flowers or design or notable features. Just silence.
Red tried to move as quickly as possible, mentally attempting to outrun the growing shadow that trailed behind her every step.
At the turn, Red spotted Yang. She was turned around so her back faced the human. Her scaled arms were raised high above her head, while soft foreign words slipped past her lips.
Whatever it was Yang was doing caused the strange letters, that had been on every door, to float and move around upon the structure. Most likely cutting off the small human's last means of escape.
Red called out for Yang to stop. Her meek voice echoing over the frizzled pops of the deteriorating exit.
The dragon paused and slowly turned to confront the apprehensive young girl.
The look on her scaled face was enough for the young girl to take several steps back.
Never, not even on the Surface, had Red ever seen someone look so utterly broken.
"Ya need to turn around right now lil sis. Go back upstairs, and go to bed."
Yang's voice did not waver. She sounded deadly serious. Almost threatening.
Red took the smallest of steps forward.
She was done playing the coward.
"Trust me...you arent the first kid who's fallen down here."
Another step forward.
Nearly using up all of the courage within her soul, Red kept staring directly into Yang's red irises.
"Not every Grimm is as nice as the ones you've met…The monsters out there are going to try and hurt you!"
Step.
"I can't protect you if you go out there. Don't you understand that?"
Step.
"We could be happy here sis...I know it's not much, but...please let me just-"
Step.
It takes all of her willpower, but the small child manages to stand tall before Yang. Only a foot of tense air stood between the human and her "sister".
Red insisted one final time on leaving.
"I...Fine."
The entire length of Yang's hair suddenly ignited into a blinding golden light. Red stumbled back a few steps to properly view the spectacle and avoid being burned. The dragon's hands twitched slightly.
"...I should have known you would be like everyone else."
Yang's once pleading face had hardened completely. Gone were any traces of negotiation.
Fire engulfed fists suddenly raised up into a proper battle stance.
Right on cue the options screen appeared before Red.
FIGHT/ACT/ITEM/MERCY
"You wanna leave so badly? Fine. But Im not letting you go out there until you prove to me youre strong enough!"
A blast of fire suddenly came too close for comfort to Red's left side. The human instinctively dropped to the ground. The movement quickly reminded the small girl of her sprained ankle.
Yang's purple fabric made splint glistened against the reflecting flames tickling against the walls.
Without warning, the human's body rolled over to the side as another shot barely managed to graze her cape.
The stench of singed fabric flooded her senses.
Yang was not holding back.
The smallness of the hallway made it especially difficult for Red to dodge. However it seemed that the battle system of the Underground allowed a give and take for both sides. Allowing Red to take a turn every other time, and thus adding the tiniest fraction of a chance to respond.
The human used her first turn on ACT and tried to call out for Yang to stop. But the dragon was already far beyond any means of reasoning.
In fact she just looked straight through Red, like she wasn't even there.
Another blast of power caused the human to tuck and cover her head. The jolt caused her red hood to fall over her head. Perfectly on time to protect the roots of her hair from catching on fire from the overhead shot.
A voice in the back of Red's head screamed at the human to FIGHT. The tone was calm, yet deliberately loud enough to edge the child's hand closer towards the leftmost button.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT-
But Red was stronger. She knew deep down there was a better way.
Red pressed MERCY for the next turn. Her arms extended out in a peaceful gesture.
Yang ignored the sparing motion and sent a high kick straight for the human's stomach.
Red barely managed to hop over the blast in time. Ashes and dust from the rapid strikes began to fill up the human's small lungs.
It hurt, by gods above did it hurt, but The young girl refused to stop.
Again though, Red moved her hand over top of the MERCY option. Again the human opened her arms in a harmless show of defiance. Again Yang looked past her. Again. Again. Again. Again.
This continued on for what felt like hours. Red was sure her cape was completely scorched and the smoke inhalation was in no way helping her health status.
Her HP bar was teetering on the very edges of the end.
Still, no matter how badly her shaking legs wished to give out beneath her, the human showed her twenty-third MERCY.
She opened up her arms, only to hear Yang finally speak up since the very start of the match.
"ATTACK OR RUN AWAY!"
Another shot of fire came towards Red's face. She barely had a second to catch her breath before kneeling to dodge.
She pressed the MERCY button again.
"What are you proving this way? FIGHT ME OR LEAVE!"
Yang sounded nearly as desperate as Red felt. Silver eyes met Red for only a split second. Something flashed across Yang's eyes. A look of remembrance.
This time an unusually off course ball of fire sailed high above the human's head.
Another MERCY.
The young girl could feel her bad ankle starting to weaken. The constant movement was becoming too much.
"S...Stop looking at me that way!"
Another MERCY.
The human barely noticed how the monster's eyes were flipping from red to lilac. Her brain was too busy berating her on her stupid actions.
The next attack came nowhere near Red's trembling form.
"Stop...stop sis please stop!"
Another MERCY.
"...Red...please..."
Yang finally allowed her body to slump forward. The fires that had once ignited her fists, burned out with a single hiss.
Red collapsed onto her knees, and weakly reached towards her screen.
Another MERCY.
"I know you want to go home. I get it...But please...please just go upstairs."
Yang completely skipped any sort of action. The human girl smiled despite her pain.
MERCY.
"I promise I will take care of you here!"
MERCY.
"I know I don't have much but-"
MERCY.
"We could have a good life."
MERCY.
Red could feel her soul beginning to tingle with exhaustion. Every bone in her human body screamed for her to do anything but contiue to try and move.
And yet once again. Her arms opened to show her empty palms.
MERCY.
"...Why are you making this so difficult..."
MERCY.
MERCY.
MERCY.
The silence reigned over the two for an eternity. Neither one moved an inch, as Yang's now lilac eyes began to drip with tears. Every one sizzled and turned to smoke against her burning cheeks.
"How pathetic...I can't even save one kid."
Red, despite her devastated lungs, rasped out what was meant to be a condolence. But Yang spoke over her small voice.
"You don't have to explain. I was stupid to think being trapped down here would make you anything other than unhappy...My expectations. My loneliness. My fear..."
Yang actually laughed as dryly and humorlessly as Romey had back in the cavern.
"For you little sister. Ill put them aside."
The screen before both girls dinged once before disappearing for good.
Red won! No EXP or LV gained.
Yang finished wiping away the very last of her tears. Than moved carefully to kneel before Red.
The human could feel the dragon's hesitation to lay her hand upon her head. But the moment she did the tiniest sensation of relief began to flood through out Red's injured body. The burns and scratches she had gained seemed to numb out slowly.
"I can't heal you all the way. I used up a lot of my power to try and fix your busted ankle earlier...Once you leave the Ruins a little bed rest and some proper food will make you feel better."
For a second Red recalled the cookies she had pocketed from earlier and gently moved a single treat out from her pocket. The chocolate had melted from the heat of the fight, but still the human couldn't help when offer the snack to her beloved caretaker.
Red pleaded that she eat something to regain her magic back if only slightly.
Yang laughed and nearly sobbed at once.
"You definitely need those more than I do little Red. Save them for a rainy day..."
Suddenly recalling what she had been trying to give to Red earlier, Yang pulled, from seemingly nowhere, a small black sweater.
The same style and fashion as the ones that had been back in the bedroom closet.
In clear red embroidery were the words Cookie Monster.
"...it's not much. But it'll give you an added defense status and...you know keep ya warm. Cookies seem to be your thing and...yeah..."
Feeling her body begin to regain feeling within itself, the small girl allowed her tears to fall freely. She grasped onto the sweater like a life line.
A few hours, a couple years, even a single moment with Yang proved to the human there was still good left in the world.
Wether below or above, there was a reason to continue on.
To live.
The older woman seemed to hesitate between wanting to embrace and comfort the young girl, or rather let her be. But maternal instinct always won out when it came to Yang.
"Once you leave here...Please don't come back. I can't...I can't...I hope you understand. Be careful out there little sis. Stay determined."
Before the small girl could say her own farewell to her beloved guardian, Yang rushed off. Abandoning the scene before her and leaving Red to lay before the now unlocked exit door.
影から、 我々は、世界に下るだろう