A/N: Ios Miho, or however you pronounce that. I gotta tel you guys, this chapter was a lot of fun to write. Aside from being in my mind for literally over a month even before I came back, I was so excited to write this chapter beyond all else X)
Now I will warn ahead of time, as I near the conclusion of the pre-volume arcs, my writing is getting a bit choppy here and there. Idky, but I think it's partly due to a migraine I've had all morning. It's minor but it keeps nagging on the far edge of my head. No worries, nothing serious, just more I pay attention to it the more it irks. Kinda weird...
Anyway, hope you all enjoy the first parter of this Grand Finale (Of Ruby's growing up chapters, we are farrrrrrr from done yet XP)!
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"So the heist went off without a hitch?" Cinder asked stirring the batter. Just like a year ago, Roman found himself seated on a stool, at the island's countertop.
"If you could even call it that." He gruffed. "There's been a lot of slack on their end of things. Trying to find good help these days became increasingly harder with each successful heist.
It had been a grueling year and a half for the group to get through. Ever since the Belladonnas had renounced their leadership of the White Fang, the members themselves stealing nearly everything Cinder had come into possession of over the last decade, business had been harder to deal with. With what little they could afford to get, they could only find the lowest of low thugs here, practically nothing more than street punks looking for a quick buck, And even that was becoming increasingly harder!
Half the idiots he hired couldn't pull off the most basic of heists, and another fourth of them were nothing short of complete dumbasses, at least to Roman's standards. The fourth of this category were actually stupid enough to brag to their friends about a "sweet gig", as they put it, ending up getting arrested after their parents or the parents of their friends found out. Numerous times, Roman alone would've been arrested by now if he never changed the base of operations each and every time they pulled off a heist, knowing how incompetent the fellow thugs would be.
As for the fourth that were competent, they were less of a dime in a dozen and more of a penny in a dozen. Only up to three or four people Roman ever picked out of a crowd for his dealings ended up being useful, at least in comparison to the rest of the cronies. They were persistent, smart, and had enough pride in themselves to not only remain silent if they got arrested, but actually cover their tracks too.
That put Roman at around thirty or so goons at his disposal he could rely on.
That still didn't compare to the literal hundreds he used to have when the White Fang were with them.
On Cinder's end of things, things were a little difficult for an entirely different reason. Financially, they were fine! They had enough Lien for daily purchases like food and clothing, she managed to scrape enough around to continue hiring Ruby's tutor, and maintain ownership of the Penthouse with at least two years to spare if things didn't pick up. Seeing how things were picking up, albeit only slightly, that wasn't the issue anymore.
What was the issue though was Ruby herself. The poor child had been nothing but a mess for the following month since Blake said her farewells to the girl. Cinder didn't blame her in the slightest. It wasn't her fault her parents quit or things went awry, unless of course she actually was the one stealing from Cinder and caused the violent protests that started this incident. She was just another victim of this who wouldn't be able to see her friend Ruby anymore because of her parents, the latter of whom she couldn't tell if she could blame.
All she did know was that Ruby was very mellow for the following several months. At the end of each month she would just wait in the living room and stare at the door for several minutes hoping Blake would come back to them. And each and every time, she would be met with the same disappointment. It didn't help her case either that Blake never texted or called her to keep in touch, nor did Cinder manage to get a hold of her parents since their abandonment.
Again, it's not like she blamed them for it since they probably didn't want any calls following their retirement, but the least they could've done is let Ruby talk to Blake at least once.
It only became worse for Ruby when the holidays came around. She would expect her best friend in the world to just pop out and surprise her around those days, only to meet with the same results. There were no surprise visits on her birthday, no sudden arrivals around Christmas time, there was nothing but a missing girl Ruby grew up with through most of her childhood.
Actually, the only surprise visit she did get at all was another interesting visit from her "Grandma Salem" at Christmas. The woman wasn't left in the dark about Ruby's current emotional state, having seen through the dogs eyes since Ruby lost her friend, and, to Cinder's shock, actually came by to visit her in any hope of cheering her up.
To be honest, Cinder didn't know what to expect. She didn't think anything she said would result in a complete turnaround, not that Salem spoke within her presence at the time anyway, but it couldn't have been that useful to cheer Ruby up, right? Well, to more of her surprise, it actually did! Sure, it wasn't enough to spruce her out of it completely, but whatever she said to Ruby seemed to help her move on. She waited each and every day all the same, hoping her missing friend would eventually turn up, but at least now she was starting to smile more often like she used to.
Like today of all things as she could be seen running through the living room in her pink jacket and orange shirt, digging through the couch cushions like there was no tomorrow.
"Mmmh where is it, where is it..." She groaned.
"There's the birthday girl." Cinder greeted cheerfully. "You ready for the big 1! 0!"
"Mmmh not here either..." Cinder and Roman looked at each other briefly as Ruby continued to ignore them. Having tossed nearly all the cushions off the first couch, she quickly jumped over to the next unchecked couch.
"Umm... So sweetie, what kind of cake do you want tonight?"
"That, the cake, sounds good, whatever." Ruby quickly replied, not caring for the details of whatever Cinder said.
"Uhhh a-and I was thinking of donating your presents to charity..." She casually lied, trying to get the girl's attention again.
"Yeah whatever, supper sounds great mom." She wasn't even aware of the fact it was only noon.
"Hey, I heard your friend Blake got hit by a bus!" Roman tried.
"Roman!"
"Yeah go ahead, you can spend the night. Uuuuuugh!" Ruby groaned rubbing her head on the now cushionless couch.
"Ruby, what are you looking for?" Cinder wondered.
"My headphones." She answered. "The new ones, the really big ones? I can't find them anywhere!"
"You mean the star-shaped ones I bought you last week?" Cinder asked. 'Ruby, I swear you go through those things like candy."
"I'm sorry mom, but I couldn't have just lost these! They're those big sound-proof ones, that cover your entire ear! I asked for them big so I wouldn't lose it."
"Well just retrace your steps." Roman suggested as he leaned back. "Think of the last place you had them before losing it."
"Hmm let's see..." Ruby poked her chin as she stared off into thought. "I went to the warehouse for training, brought my homework with me, trained, had a snack during homework, took them off to rest for a bit, fell asleep cause you guys were running so late, briefly woke up while Mom and Sis carried me home- Awww maaaaan!" Ruby rubbed her forehead irritably. "They're still at the warehouse!" She realized as she began tying her shoes on.
"Ruby-" Cinder began, seeing how Ruby planned on heading straight there.
Over the last two years, she began letting Ruby out of the house more often. There was no more fear of someone recognizing her or any chance of discovering her whereabouts, provided she kept silent about the whole stealing thing her mother and Uncle were behind. Granted, she still had her big sis escort her half the time she wanted to go anywhere farther than a few blocks from their house, but anywhere closer and she started feeling more content with trusting Ruby's responsibility. She was a big girl now who knew right from wrong, in some manner more than others, as well as how to find her way home from now on.
"I know, I know, keep my phone on hand, don't talk to strangers, and come straight home, right?" Ruby mimicked her mother's tone playfully, remembering all the rules.
"And...?" Cinder added with a raised brow.
"And...?" Ruby thought to herself for a moment before she realized what she forgot. "Oh, right! My bat!" She remembered, hooking on her backpack as she stuffed it between her back and backpack like a holster. They didn't necessarily live in any dangerous part of town or anything, which was a given since they were the cause of 80% of that crime, but it was better safe than sorry.
"That's my girl." Cinder smiled with a nod. "Be sure to call if you need anything or something else comes up, ok?"
"Alright, taking off. Love you bunches!" She waved as she left.
"Love you bunches too." Before, Cinder would've been embarrassed about saying such things in front of Roman, but given how commonly he started coming to the penthouse these days, she was losing any and all nerve.
Watching the door closed, she waited a few more seconds before turning to Roman. Seeing the obvious look on her face, Roman sighed as he dug through his pockets looking for his scroll.
"Yeah yeah, I know, I'll make the call." He muttered.
Any time Ruby needed help at or to find something at one of their safe houses or warehouses, a simple phone call would leave Ruby "conveniently" running into his goons after finding the things she was looking for. It wasn't common for her to leave her things at the warehouses, even as she started going to them regularly, but any amount of help they could provide, as well as watching out for her, eased any tension Cinder had with letting her daughter go somewhere far away.
"Speaking of girls, how's Neo?" Roman wondered as he dialed.
"She's doing well. I'm having her work on a little something for Ruby's present." Cinder replied. "She's been more of a sister to Ruby ever since... well... you know..."
"Any idea who tipped off the Belladonnas by the way?" Roman asked. "I wasn't even aware of a shortage in our inventory, so someone's been going behind our backs here."
"Well Neo's off the list, she hasn't uttered a single word in all these years." Cinder smirked.
"And even if she's a thief-in-training, I highly doubt Ruby would be the mastermind that double-crossed us." Roman joked. "She wouldn't even be able to pull it off, would she?"
"She spent a week at the Belladonnas residence, but obviously I didn't give her any state-of-the-art weaponry or something. And even then that was several years ago."
Quite a mystery they had on their hands, one they were more than willing to forget. The more they kept discussing this back and forth, the more they found themselves doubting each other, something they couldn't do. They were in this till the bitter end at this point, seeing how they both had so much to lose if they didn't work together, and even more to gain as long as they did.
Besides, it was a bit of a mutual trust at this point if they weren't already friends. They couldn't afford to let the other out of their sights for very long if they were the leak in their operations, so whether they liked it or not, they needed to keep each other close. And honestly, they did sort of like it. They were still good friends and even better allies. Plus with their own kids being pretend-siblings to one another, they had something in common.
That would last for as long Ruby knew, what she thought was, the Truth.
...
At the same time, three figures just watched the entrance of the hotel with enthusiasm, just waiting and watching for a certain person to appear. It might have seemed like a waste of time to some, but for these three, their curiosity paid off when they saw the very person they were hoping to come running out of the building.
"Is that her?" The first figure asked from the shadows.
"Yeah dude!" One of the larger shadows said. "I tipped someone off about the registry. Apparently that little snot's family has been living in that penthouse for the last seven years, they must be loaded!
"Heh, easy money, am I right guys?" The third figure replied with a snide remark. "We just need to wait till she leaves her home later in the day, when the streets are less busy."
"Why not now though, Mark?" The thick-headed one asked. "It wouldn't make much different in the day, right?"
"Get a hold of yourself Bronx," the shorter one yelped, "we if pull anything right now the cops will be on us in minutes! Too many people are walking around in the day, we need to wait till evening."
"Exactly. Trust me guys, I know it might take awhile, but it'll be worth it when we're loaded in riches!"
...
"C'mon, where is it, where is it..." Ruby grumbled to herself as she searched around. Several rooms later, and several spots she naturally rested at, and she still couldn't find the blasted things. Taking a deep breath to herself, she exhaled calmly as she rubbed the sides of her forehead once more. "Ok, calm down, calm down, remember what your uncle said." Ruby told herself as she retraced her steps further.
The warehouses these days felt more like a second house, really. There were at least several occasions when Ruby had to sleep at a warehouse for the night, whether Cinder had unexplained work that would've taken longer to process, if she had to study overnight with her mom and sis' help, or some other reason like the penthouse was being Fumigated for fleas.
The one and only drawback that came thanks to Wolfie.
At least she still had a resting spot here and there, actually getting Cinder to bring in a bed for her to sleep on if they ever spent the night here. And by Cinder, that obviously meant getting the henchmen to drag it in here themselves. Just like this nice and colorful pink bed she had in one of the old bedrooms they used to have. It even had a nifty little lamp on the side of a small drawer on the right of it. Sometimes Cinder herself would cuddle up and fall asleep with her and Neo if she ever found the two too peaceful to disturb for the night.
"Ok," she continued mumbling to herself,"so if I dozed off, I would've slept on the bed," she said falling to the bed, reenacting the previous day's events, "and I would've taken my headphones off to the side." At this, she blinked to herself as she saw where her hand would've dropped it. "Which means, if sis didn't see it, then it would've ended up...ah ha!" Ruby cheered as she found the large headphones on the other side of the bed's floor, hidden a little ways under it.
"Hehehe, Ruby 1, headphones 0." She cheered, fastening them around her neck once more as she walked to the door. "You'll have to do better than-
"-ve to do this anyway, man?" Ruby's attention suddenly shifted to the opened door as she heard the voices. Sneaking her way over to the edge, she peaked around the corner to see two of Roman's goons casually talking in the hallway, both looking a little peeved.
"Hey, you heard the boss. Just gotta help the brat find her headphones before she gets here." The taller man grunted back.
"Thanks for having confidence in me, mom." Ruby commented rolling her eyes. By now she wasn't entirely surprised by her mom's tendency of being a little overprotective. She loved her mother very much, and her mother loved her in turn. So it only made sense she was a little cautious and wanted to help Ruby look for her things faster.
Ruby just wished she figured this out all those other times she coincidentally bumped into these guys in the past. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she prepared to step her way out and begin the long trek home.
"Why does that Cinder-slut even care so much about the dumb brat anyway?" She heard the first good suddenly ask.
What was that? What did they call her?! Oh, they were in so much trouble when Ruby told on them! Nobody calls Ruby a dumb brat! ...Oh and that Cinder-something he said, but she was mostly angry about the brat part! She was gonna whack them with her bat! She was gonna sock em!
"I mean the kid doesn't even belong to her anyway, right?"
She was going to-! Wait a minute... what did they just say?
"Nah man, I heard from that Roman guy himself. The dame found the kid when she was still a teen herself, took the baby off a dying mother in the woods."
"That... That can't be right... " Ruby's heart sank at these words. None of this was true, it couldn't be true!
Right?
But... the way they spoke, everything they said...
It wasn't enough that they summed up the reasoning behind it in a few short seconds, the other issue was how closely it resembled the tale of her own father. Countless times, Cinder would go on and on to Ruby about her father about how great he was, how proud of a man he was and how much he loved Ruby. It would always end with his heroic exploits too, her mother always detailing what a brave man he was fighting off the Grimm that attacked him, dying just to save his pride and joy.
Ruby.
But now, here she stood. Hearing these words of being repeated like a broken record like the deleted scenes to a movie's bonus features. These were the parts she hadn't known about, and after today, she wished she never did.
"Eesh, that's harsh man. But least she sounds like a decent chick, ya know?" The tall one commented again.
"Eh, I don't know man. The kids been a burden on her ever since Cinder found her." The short one shrugged. "I heard she's been stuck looking out for the kid ever since, never getting a moments rest and all."
"Yeah, but that's just what a parent does, right?" The other man blinked.
"A parent? Sure, I guess, whatever. Some chick who just takes a kid out of nowhere, dead mother or not? That's just gotta be hell to live with, from beginning to end. I mean does Cinder even love the runt?"
Of course she loved her... right?
"You kiddin' me? I don't know what her deal is, but nobody would care for some kid just like that. You know, not unless it proved useful."
"Well it worked out somewhat, didn't it? I mean I heard it helped win over the White Fang's trust."
Oh, great. More good news of her life. Not only was she finding out her mother WASN'T her mother, not only did she NOT love her, but she was also finding out she was being used from the very beginning.
Maybe if she stayed a little longer she'd get to hear about some brain tumor she had, oh joy...
"I guess man, but just face it. Either way you look at it, the kid's... aww crap... "The man became petrified with fear as he looked down the hall.
There before them, was Ruby. No, not just Ruby. There stood the teary, rage-filled gaze of a kid who just had their life flipped upside down from top to bottom. She had heard every word, she had heard every detail about how much of her life has been a lie. She learned the truth. Cinder wasn't her mother, she wasn't anything of the sort. All she was was some sort of evil conniving witch who took her from her real mother. Did she know her real mother? Dear god, did she actually kill her real mother?! There was no way to find out!
Actually, scratch that. There was a useful way to find out. All she had to do was interrogate the two test crash dummies before her, who were let in on all the details regarding Ruby and her life.
"Oh cripes, we uhhh..." The Tall Man gulped as he stepped back. "How uhhh...I-I mean hey kid, we were just looking for you! Need help finding your-"
"I heard it." Ruby stated firmly. "I heard it all."
"Oh, t-that? We uhh... We was just foolin' is all, right Macky?" He said in a joke-filled manner, chuckling to his buddy.
"We were?"
*whap*
"Ow!" He yelped as he was elbowed in the gut. "Oh! Uhhh yeah, I mean we were! You know how it is, like Jeff here's so stupid, his mom must've adopted him too, hahaha..." He forced a nervous laugh.
"Y-Yeah, kid, nothing more than jokes! Now how about-"
"Shut up!" Ruby yelled, eyes filled with rage and tears. "I want you to tell me everything. Right. Now!"
At this, the shorter of the two goons looked unamused. He was willing to take orders from the girl, even gripe from her. But if there was one thing he wasn't going to take from her, it was her crap. He refused to listen to some whiney little girl throwing a tantrum no matter who her mom was. Sure, she could do her worst, but Cinder would never kill him with how few men they did have! So he was in the clear.
"Heh? What was that you little snob?" He snorted.
"Uhhh Jeff?" The other man tapped his shoulder nervously looking behind him.
"Not now, Macky, this needs to be said." He scoffed. "Listen you little runt. You might get all high and mighty as much as you want, but mom or no mom, and let's be serious, she ain't your mom," he taunted, earning more tears from her to his delight, "that doesn't give you the right to boss us around."
"J-Je-Jeeeff..."
"Shut up man, seriously!" He grumbled back. "As I was saying, it doesn't matter who you are or where you're from. You don't have a weal mommy, waaaah." He taunted. "Get over yourself. At least your mom's the crime queen around here! So maybe you should stop dribbling your nose everywhere and-
"JEEEEEFF!"
"Geezes Macky, What's the pro-"
"Grrrrrrrrr!" The low toned grumble followed by the feeling of fresh air breathing behind his neck suddenly caught his attention. Every nerve in his being was telling him not to turn around, but he disobeyed. Slowly, he turned, being greeted with a sight even more horrific than ten Cinders in the same room could've pulled off.
There, he met a Grimm. Not just any Grimm, Ruby's Grimm. Wolfie. It's aggressive stance, it's deadly jaws oozing with saliva, that horrifying face that was even above his own. By this point of Wolfie's and Ruby's life, the wolf had reached, what was assumed to be, it's full size. The wolf now towered over many adults themselves, the wolf nearly touching the top of the hall's ceiling. It must've stretched at least twenty feet in length, and a little over the size of a car, nearing ten feet in height.
It was a mother. Ruby was her cub. And they had made the both of them angry.
"O-Oh god..." Jeff trembled with fear, falling to his back as he backed away with Macky. He came to a sudden halt as he bumped into something, feeling a few droplets of water dripping to his head. Looking up, he saw her.
Ruby Fall. Or, as it was now known, simply Ruby. The one girl that he continued to anger and insult despite the tears flowing from her face. And as of this moment, she was the only force present keeping this dog from eating the both of them alive. All it would take was one little twist of her will, and she could easily sick this dog on them.
She wouldn't do it, not intentionally anyway. Even if Wolfie acted on her own some of the time, Ruby would always be the deciding factor of whether or not she did what she did, provided she was capable of doing so at the time and focused. As long as she was focused, as long as her emotions were in check, she could keep the wolf like this, simply growling at them for as long as she wanted. There was no negotiation with the wolf herself. She only obeyed Ruby, her own little cub, her one master.
But right now, her emotions were too flared up to concentrate. Her heart's been torn to pieces, ripped to shreds. Everything around her and about her saddened her to no end, and angered her almost twice as much. So right now, she was one pissed off little ten-year-old.
"You are going to tell me everything. NOW."
...
...
"So then she said, "Now that's a Katana!"..." Roman finished. All he was met with were empties stares from the cooking Cinder and a perplexed look from a teenage Neo who was looking back from the couch.
Cinder just blinked. "... I don't get it."
-WHAT WAS THE KATANA?-
"I don't get it either, I was hoping you two would." Roman shrugged. "Why bother telling a joke only half an audience was going to get?"
"Maybe it's a "you had to be there" situation," Cinder shrugged, "I mean the buildup sounded good at least."
"Yeah, but even then it doesn't really make much sense-"
*WHAM*
"CINDERRRRRRRR!"
Everyone's heart skipped a beat at that. No one, in the history of forever, had once heard the ten-year-old, ever in their lifetime, refer to Cinder as anything than mother. They could practically feel a huge gust of anxiety sweep across the entire room, returning confused and surprised glances to one another, none of them returning it to the young voice that suddenly called her out. The only thing the lone mother could do was briefly clear her throat, trying to respond as casually as possible to the strange greeting she received.
"I-I'm right here sweetie-"
"Don't sweetie me!" Ruby yelled back, finally lifting her head. It was at this point Cinder could see the angered expression on her face and the tears pouring down it.
"Ruby!" She gasped worriedly, walking over to her. "Hun, what happened-?" She tried reaching over to her chin to dry off some of the tears, only to be swat away by Ruby's small hands.
"W-Who are you?" Ruby asked. Neo and Roman shot each other a more confused look with a hint of worry. Not only did Ruby call Cinder by her name, but she swat at her hands too when she was trying to calm her down.
Something was terribly wrong.
"...Who am I?" She really couldn't tell if Ruby was being serious or asking in a rhetorical sense. "Why I'm your mother swee-"
"No you're not!" Ruby shouted. "I know everything! You're not my real mother!"
Nothing but fear filled Cinder's eyes as they went hallow, the look of horror crossing both Neo's and Roman's face simultaneously. This was it. This was the worst case scenario, one Cinder had prayed would never come to light. They did everything in their power to keep it from being a secret, to keep Ruby from finding out, always dreading the day this may possibly come to fruition.
Out of all the plans they had ever concocted in their life, they never had a contingency for this. Not one of them had a back-up plan, a way to counter this or any other argument in regards to Ruby's true heritage. Why would they even? There wasn't really a way to counter someone finding out the truth about their lies. They could try to cover it up with more lies, but even that would only get them so far.
Ruby was old enough now to know how the real world worked, or at least a majority of it. She knew the idea between truths and lies, honesty and betrayals, everything that made the world work back and forth. And it was these facts that would make any sort of lying to her even harder. The only thing Cinder could do at this point was play along, hoping to find the crux of this matter.
"W-What are you talking about, Ruby?" She asked nonchalantly, standing up again.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Ruby snapped back. "I know it! I know about everything!"
"W-What's everything?"
"Stop that! Stop trying to act casually about any of this!" Ruby shouted, her anger drying away any of the tears in her eyes. "I know about all of it! Those idiots working for Roman said as much!"
"Oh my freaking god, I'm gonna kill those guys..." Roman muttered facepalming.
"So it is true!"
Roman could only blink in mixed disbelief and worry. Ruby, of all the people in the world, just tricked him into confessing. "Ehhhh... Y-You know I think I'll just clear the room for a bit-" He said, slowly stepping off of the stool.
"PLANT IT!"
"Yes sir." He yelped, quickly sitting back in the chair. Roman couldn't believe it. Ruby had actually scared him enough that for a split second, he actually thought it was Cinder who just gave him those orders.
"Ruby, don't be rude like that-" Cinder tried to speak again, meeting the same results as before.
"Stop talking like that! Stop talking like you're my mother, I know you're not!" This was unbearable. The one fear Cinder always had coming true like this, out of nowhere, she didn't know what to think. There was too much stress going on as her heart beat over a mile a second, unable to comprehend how these events could've possibly transpired before her, all like this.
*ding*
"O-Oh um...L-Look!" Cinder nervous smiled." The cakes done, better get to it!" It was painfully obvious how forced her words were, trying to find anything to drop the conversation as she walked over to the oven.
"Don't walk away from me!" Ruby grumbled as she followed. "What else have you been lying about?" All Ruby needed was a quick glance around the room to find the answer. "You're not really my uncle, are you?!"
"Ehhh... w-well uhhh..." He never thought he'd reach the moment in his life where Ruby of all people would make him nervous like this, but here it was.
The pain only intensified as she turned her gaze upon Neo. Neo, her sister. Or what she believed to be her sister. Just looking at the guilty look in her eye only pained her more as she returned the same look of innocence. "And you... You're not really my sister, are you...?" Neo's frown was all she needed.
It pained her. Everything from this moment pained her. Here she was, discovering everything about her life had been nothing more than a complete lie. How was anyone supposed to take this? The people she cared for, the people even closer to her, have been lying to her since the day she entered their lives. No, not entered. Stolen into their lives. All because of one woman who supposedly took her in from the forest from a dying mother.
Why was her mother dying? Was any part of it true? Was her mother really killed by Grimm? Or did Cinder, the person she spent all her life calling mommy, just make that stuff up in order to justify her own actions? She couldn't trust anyone anymore!
"A-And..." Ruby shook, not with sadness, but anger. "Grandma... isn't really my grandma, is she?"
"Look, Ruby-" Cinder tried to calm herself down as she breathed deeply.
"No, you look here!" Ruby shouted walking up to her again. "I don't want it anymore! I don't want any of your lies! Just tell me the truth already!"
"Fine!" Cinder snapped back. Roman glanced over to the worried face of Neo as she showed him her cue card.
-THIS ISN'T GOING TO END WELL :*( -
"You want the truth? Here's the truth! I took you in from a dying mother in the middle of a Grimm-infested forest! There! Happy?" She grumbled trying to focused on the cooking again.
"No I'm not happy!" Ruby retorted. "I'm angry! My whole life you've been lying to me about everything, haven't you? You never once cared for me, you never once loved me!"
"Ok look, Ruby, I lied, ok? I lied about a lot of things. But not once did I ever say I loved you and lie about it, ok? I truly cared-"
"No you didn't! You don't love me, you never loved me! You're only pretending to love me because you can't get over the fact that my real mom's dead because of you-!"
*WHAP!*
There was nothing but shock. Absolutely, mortifying shock. Roman, in all his life time, never once thought he would ever see this day. If they were training? Sure, why not? It made sense. They would just be training, it wouldn't mean anything else. There would be no anger behind it, no reasoning for it. Not to mention Neo, the girl who practically grew up alongside Ruby for most of her life. Cinder loved her very, very, much. More than she loved Neo, which she neither blamed her for or minded. She accepted that. She still loved Neo like a daughter even with that said, so it never even phased her.
But out of no part of her life, never intentionally, never out of reflex, did Cinder ever hurt Ruby, until this very moment.
She slapped her. She slapped her hard enough for the vibrations to still linger in the room. She slapped her hard enough to leave a fine pink print on her cheek from where she hit her. She did this, Cinder, her so-called mother, hit the only person in this room she had never hit before. Ruby. Her Ruby. The love of her life. Across her face with right hand, which was still frozen out of shock of these events.
And there stood Ruby. The girl who's eyes filled with tears as her gaped expression hung open. She had never been hit like that, not in her life time. Sure, she's been hit before numerous times in training. Countless, harder times from her used-to-be-sister. But none of those times ever had any emotions behind them, not like this.
She could feel it. Cinder's rage, behind the mark she left behind. She could only wince slightly as she hesitantly touched it, unable to believe what she had done even as she looked back to her mother's devastated expression.
"R-Ruby..." She couldn't think of anything to say. "S-Sweetie... I..." Her pleas fell short as Ruby's face contorted to a mix of rage and sadness, her resentful glare covering up the tears dripping from her eyes.
"I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU!" She shouted, bolting for her room before slamming the door hard enough to shake some of the nearby fixtures and vases.
They didn't know who to look at. Should they look to Cinder, the one who slapped her darling angel? Or to Ruby's door, where the one who discovered the truth behind this matter disappeared to? Neither of them were innocent or guilty of these events, They were things that just happened. They had reasoning, they had explanation, but they didn't have a predictable outcome.
They just happened. That's all that could be said.
"Nnnnghhh..." Cinder closed her eyes in frustration as squeezed her arms. "I need a drink." She stated before walking out the door without another word.
They wouldn't even question anything at this point. If she was leaving, that left the two of them in charge of Ruby until she got back. They wouldn't argue with it after everything they just witnessed, or even think about leaving one or the other behind to do it themselves. All Neo could do was write out her next line of thoughts to the only people present in this room.
-SHOULD WE CHECK ON THEM?-
"Huff, just give them some space." Roman groaned rubbing his brow. "This is seriously something they need to patch up themselves, not us." He sighed looking over his can of beer. "Not like anything we say will matter right now."
As much as it hurt to admit it, Roman was right. Nothing Neo could do at this point would cheer Cinder up, especially not Cinder. Come to think of it, would anything ever cheer her up again if it came from Neo? She spent all her life looking out for her, spent all her life pretending to be her older sister through the orders of both Roman Torchwick and Cinder Fall, because they were the closest thing she had as a family at first. Within a year of that, Ruby came into their lives, and she was quick to look up to Neo as her older sister. And not once did Neo ever tell Ruby the truth, not out of fear or regret, but because she loved her. She loved her like the rest of her family, just like Ruby used to before this day came about.
The only difference here, was that Neo at least knew the truth.
...
A truth Ruby had to find out the hard way as she cried onto her bed. Nothing would matter to her anymore. She couldn't accept something, anything, at this point. If she did, it would be pointless. It would just be another lie after all, right? A lie that was built around Ruby's entire life from the day she was taken in by her fake mother, the woman who only did so out of regret for her actions. The woman who only did it because she couldn't get over her own sadness, so she stole a young child to make up for it, thinking it would ease her pain.
She cared about her own happiness more than Ruby, and nothing would convince Ruby anything passed that. And you know what? That was fine! She didn't care anymore! After all, why should it? If her entire lie has been a lie, then that means the love she once had for her mother was a lie too! Yeah, that made perfect sense! If Cinder never loved her, then Ruby never loved her fake mother either. She wasn't her mom, she wasn't someone she knew. She was just a complete stranger who brought Ruby into their life for her own greed! Yeah, she was just being an evil greedy lady who whined about not getting what she wanted until she stole it from someone else! That made her evil, real actual evil and not fake evil! She was a monster and Ruby was going to accept that without any issues whatsoever!
...So why did it hurt so much? Why did her mother's returned anger frustrate her more, make her more sad? It was fake after all, so it really shouldn't hurt! It wasn't fair, none of it was. She spent her whole life tricking Ruby into loving her as the sweet and caring daughter that she was while never giving any of it back to Ruby.
She truly was Evil! Evil with a capital E! In fact, it wasn't just her. They all were, they were all evil! At any given point of their life, they could've told Ruby the truth, they could've let her know all the secrets her mother had been keeping from her, and yet they didn't. They were just as evil as she was! And who knows? Maybe Blake and her family knew the truth too? Dear god, if that was the truth, was her love for her other sister fake too? Was she only pretending to be a friend to her since childhood simply because of a basic, easy, lie? Did that mean they didn't care for her either?
Well fine! Ruby didn't care either! She wouldn't care even if they did care! Was it unfair? Sure, but why should that bother her! If her life's been a lie, she wouldn't care about them, she wouldn't care about any of them! They would be nothing more than jerks and bullies to her, even the people closest to her! That was the only thing she could think to make the pain go away.
The pain she continued to cry out into her pillows for the last ten minutes, where nobody cared about her or would even check up on her. It was completely fine, nothing but fine! Even as her wolf grew from it's shadow, looking at her sadly as it stretched nearly to the ceiling, she didn't care! The wolf didn't care! Nothing ever cared about her!
"Hrrrnh." The wolf whined. Ruby couldn't help but look back to it, still teary-eyed.
Ok, fine. Maybe the wolf cared. That was like, what? One person? Or animal? Big whoop. It didn't matter that much. But it was still one more person that cared for her compared to the rest who knew she was in here crying! winced slightly as the wolf nuzzled it's wet nose into her own.
"Oh, who am I kidding?" Ruby cried, hugging the wolf's snout. She could admit it. The wolf truly was the only one who cared for her. After all, it made sense when you thought about it. She got it from her former-grandma when it was a pup so there was no way it would have any knowledge of everything that went on beforehand. She was just another victim of this whole lying game brought before them, yet at the same time it only cared about Ruby's pain more than it did it's own.
"I'm sorry girl, I just..." Ruby sniffled as she cried into it's fur. "I can't do this anymore. I can't be here, I can't be anywhere around here." She said as she began packing her backpack with some of her belongings. Clothes, some snacks she had in a cupboard, anything that would fit. She was unsure of whether or not the wolf could understand what she was doing, but it grew worried as it nuzzled Ruby's head again. "Sorry Wolfie, but... You can't come with me. They lied to me, sure, but you can still have a good life here."
*click*
That was the all too familiar sound of a collar. It wasn't wrapped around her neck of course, seeing how they would need more of a belt just for it to fit, so she wrapped it around the only thing that would fit: her foot.
They only discovered this about a year or two back, but they discovered a way they could keep Wolfie from jumping into Ruby's shadow if they ever needed to keep them separated, like if she went out to public somewhere for something or having some special event taking place and they needed room. As long as anything solid was on Wolfie, she couldn't merge with Ruby's shadow. It could be something as simple as a piece of string, wrapped around her of course, to anything like a bandana, and she wouldn't be able to merge with her shadow. Not a single part of her body would even sink in as long as something was on her.
It was actually by accident they discovered this too, like Ruby's semblance. After coming home one day, Ruby thought she could spice up Wolfie's image by giving her a nice bright red bandana to wrap around her neck. To her credit, it did look pretty fashionable. It definitely brought out the color from her eyes and mask, seeing how those were the only things giving her any color in the first place. However, after awhile when she needed hide Ruby into her shadow, she was met with a rather funny scene of the wolf simply head-butting itself into the ground several times until it got dizzy. It wasn't until after she took the bandana off that they discovered a way to keep Wolfie from merging with Ruby's shadow.
The wolf could only look back to it's master as she opened the patio door, having gathered anything she could including her bat. Looking over the railing, a bead of sweat dripped down Ruby's face. The only way she was going to get out of this loveless home was by reaching for the fire escape. On the bright side, it stretched up all the way to the penthouse so anyone could take it, penthouse owners included. Only problem was, it was a good yard away from her patio since it only connected from the living room of the penthouse.
She hated to do this, but she had to. There was no other way to reach the fire escape from here. "You be good now Wolfie, you hear?" Ruby said back with a sad smile. "No whining or barking while I'm gone." That's all she needed to say to know the wolf would remain silent. She didn't know how long it would take but she needed as much time as possible to escape without worrying of anyone coming after her, fake family included.
Making the horrible mistake of looking down, Ruby held her breath as she looked ahead of the railing. It was just a simple jump that she would need, nothing too difficult right? She couldn't focus on the amount of space between the two of them, all she could focus on was escaping from here with the one thing with the word escape in it's name.
"1... 2..." Ruby hesitated. "Two and a ha- THREE!" Ruby yelled as she jumped over. She couldn't even feel a pulse as she jumped from point A to point B. The only thing she could feel after was the intense rattle of the fire escape as her feet touched the ground. "I did it..." She looked around herself with mild pride. "I did it!"
This was it then. A clear walk down the fire escape and she would be looking to freedom in no time.
Goodbye old life, hello... some other life.
...
...
"Ugghhh..." Cinder groaned. She sat at the bar of the hotel for the last twenty minutes, leaning on her arm.
What was she to do? What could she have done to prevented this? Aside from hitting Ruby of course, mostly since that was just a spur of the moment and not intentional so it didn't count.
Could she have told Ruby the truth earlier in her life? She kept Ruby hidden from the outside world for half of her life, not wanting to take the chance of someone recognizing her. She could've told her around that time, growing up with the knowledge would've been easier to explain to a simpleminded child. But then there was the chance she would blab it to anyone new she came across. She still managed to get out into the city at the age of three and a half, thanks to Roman, so who knows who she would've or could've told. In fact, the minute she met Weiss, she could've easily told her how Cinder wasn't her mommy and had her taken away from her! That would've been worse to her than finding out about Cinder's illegal crime operations.
Maybe she could've told her during the last five years of her life? She matured more day by day, and she could've trusted her to keep it a secret, right? But what if she got too curious? What if one day she decided to put herself through her own personal little quest? She could've gone around asking people if they knew her parents, told the police she was looking for her family and get taken in before she could explain she had a foster family! That would've been equally as bad, if not worse given the increasing love Cinder continued to grow for the girl as the years went by.
There was no possible answer. There just wasn't. The only thing Cinder did through her life was keep as silent about it as possible, and pray that Ruby never found out. Perhaps she could've told Roman not to tell his fellow goons, that seemed the most plausible right? But then there was the chance they too got too curious. They could ask too many stupid questions like her eye colors, why Ruby doesn't have any pictures of her dad, and so forth. Eventually it would only lead to Ruby questioning everything and finding out the truth in some way again, resulting in the exact same ending!
And look where that ending brought her now. Solemn, depressed, filled with regret. There was no happiness to be found here. The only thing the bar could do was drown out her sorrows with something to drink.
"Well, hey g-*hic!*-ood looking." A voice called over.
"Oh great, another drunk." She muttered to herself, hair covering half her face. She paid the apparent drunk no mind as he took a seat to her right.
"Hey now sh-weet ch-*hic!*-eeks, let's not get carried away." The man coughed to himself as he cleared his head. "Look, that was unprofessional of me, I admit it. Why don't I buy ya a drink for your troubles?" He offered, clicking his fingers. "Hey barkeep! Bring me the usual, one for me and my friend over here." Cinder didn't even care to look at the nodding barkeep, already telling what he was doing as he walked on by.
"We're not friends..."
"Awww c'mon, don't be like that." He said, nudging her right shoulder. "No one comes here without a problem they're trying to forget."
"I don't have a," she only paused briefly as the barkeeper placed two half-filled clear glasses of green alcohol before them, "problem. Not that you would know anyway."
"Oh really?" The sleazy man grinned. He loved a challenge! "Ok, tell ya what. If I can guess your problem, you spend a few minutes to drink with me. If I get it wrong, I'll leave ya alone, drinks on the house either way. How does that sound?"
It sounded like nothing but irritation to her. But perhaps it would be the closest thing to an amusing distraction she needed. "Whatever, take your best shot."
"Alright... Boyfriend, right? Jerk dumped ya, found him cheating, or some other thing, right?"
"No, now goodbye." Cinder scoffed as she stood up.
"Hey wait," the man called out, grabbing her wrist, "come on, one more chance? Double or nothing. I win, we have two drinks, lose and I leave the hotel entirely and never come back." Cinder's nostrils flared at this. She didn't want any part of this, but found herself unable to resist the call of a good distraction.
"Fine. One more, no more chances though-"
"You had a fight with your kid and it went too far, right?" No way. She could only stare back at him with and his sleazy, grey-haired, grin with disbelief. There was only one conclusion she managed to draw out of this.
"Y-You tricked me!" It made perfect sense. While she couldn't figure out how he got the exact details out of it, she realized he was just playing her so he could spend more time with her.
"Guilty, but fair." He grinned, grabbing his drink. With a sigh, Cinder returned to her seat. A bet was a bet, and there was no way he was going to let her go after capturing his prey. With less of a frown than before, she casually grabbed her drink before shaking it to his.
*clink*
"Bottoms up." He declared, downing his drinking half his glass in one gulp.
"Hack-ough! Haaackk-ouuughhh..." Cinder couldn't help as her face suddenly flushed, coughing her lungs out at the burn in her throat, patting her chest with her fist .
"Hahaha, guess that's a little strong, huh?" This time around, he didn't expect it as much as his last prediction, but it wasn't too surprising either. "Sorry about that. Hey, drink-guy! Get the lady a cold gin, stat."
"Mmh..." Well on the bright side of things, she now had something else to focus her irritation on other than her personal life. It was only when she looked back to him more closely that she noticed something off. "Hey... your... what happened to your arm?" Staring back at his right arm himself, he simply shrugged it off with a grin.
"Eh, family issues, ya know? Had a bit of trouble with my niece a few years back, but it's alright. Still not as awesome as my real one." He grinned, flexing his left arm before her. "Wanna feel it?"
"...Tch heh..." Maybe it was the alcohol getting to her, the strong drink running through her system, but she didn't care at this point. His antics were somewhat fun to watch, seeing how desperate he was to be with her, whether it ended in drinks or a trip to one of their apartments.
He would never get the latter.
"Wow, gee, such a strong muscle..." She joked, giving his arm a squeeze.
"I know, right? Wanna feel the chest next? My body only gets more exciting the farther you explored."
"Heh, you're awful." She chuckled leaning back on her arm. "So, how did you know what was troubling me?"
"Girl, I've been to a lot of bars, met a lot of guys, and almost twice as many cute girls here and there." The man grinned taking another drink. Cinder just watched as the barkeep brought her gin to her, shrugging slightly as she took a sip of a much better tasting beverage. "And if there's one thing I've learned in my time, it's noticing the different faces of sadness that stroll in here." After another sip, he grinned back at her cheekily. "Plus, honestly, there's pretty much only two different reasons a lady comes in here by herself."
Well that explained it. He basically tricked her into giving him two guesses from a two-choice question. It wasn't fair, but it was pretty devious to his credit. She hated to admit it, but she kinda liked it.
"Gee, such a conniving devil, aren't you?" She teased with another drink.
"Guilty." He admitted. "So, tell me what's going on with your life, your kid troubles and all." Once again, Cinder just sighed. There was no point keeping things bottled up from this point forward, and she didn't have to give him any specific information anyway... or maybe she was just thinking that due to the drinks. It was becoming increasingly harder to say at this point.
"Well, I... I guess I've been lying to someone for all their life." She began.
"And let me guess, somehow they found out?"
"Bingo."
"Makes sense," he muttered, swirling the ice cubes in his glass, "not many people can handle finding out someone's been lying to them for all their lives."
"Well it beat the alternatives, that's for sure."
"Is it?" Cinder looked back with uncertainty. "If you lie to someone for just a small amount of time, then it's nothing more than a passing argument when they find out. But if you keep it bottled up for however long, you're just waiting for a time bomb to go off that gets more dangerous the longer it ticks."
"Well it doesn't matter now." She groaned. "The cats out of the bag, we got into a fight... and now I don't know what to do."
Even in his drunken, vision-impared, state, he could still see a small tear rolling down the side of her left cheek. He might not know all the answers, but he could tell she was suffering from whatever event was plaguing her. Any one in their right mind could tell after this conversation.
"So what? Do you hate each other now?" He asked curiously.
"I don't know-"
"I think you do know." He interrupted finishing off his drink. "If you really hated each other, you wouldn't be here crying your pretty eyes right now. You just don't want to admit it because you think it'll hurt worse than it does now."
"Well then Mr. Expert, what's your advice?" She scoffed. "Just make up and move on?"
"Yes." It almost scared her how blunt he was. "You keep putting it off, you'll just make it worse in the end. Eventually it'll reach the point of no return, and you'll just spend the rest of her life wondering if there's something you could've done to fix it." It was bizarre, but she couldn't ignore it. Something about the way he spoke, the look in his eyes. She could tell he wasn't just speaking out of opinion or just trying to help. He was speaking from personal experience. Maybe that's why she was slightly drawn to him right now.
"Sure seem to know a lot about this sort of thing." She commented, trying to see if her theory was correct.
"Yeah well... It's easier talking about stuff you've been through it yourself." He confirmed. "So right now, take my advice gorgeous. Go back to wherever, make up with whoever, and move on. It might take days, weeks, months, years, but eventually you'll forgive each other. Just let 'em know how you really feel, and you can move on easier. And you'll be much more happier for it too."
"Huh, you don't say..." She grinned.
She didn't realize it until now, but over the course of their conversation, their heads had slowly been leaning towards one another. It wasn't until she could feel his breath on her face that she realized this, the mysterious man drawing her in until they were gazing into each others' eyes.
"..."
"..."
*smooch*
Just a peck.
It was nothing more than a simple, brief peck on the lips. In fact, just to prove it, she kissed him again, this time locking her lips in for more than a few seconds. She couldn't believe it, but she finally found a man who knew what she's been through. She actually found it, a man she could relate to, someone completely by random chance who happened to care for her before they even met. It was someone she felt a bond with, some one who cared for her! Someone she wouldn't mind sharing her life with-
That line of thought snapped her out of it. She practically jumped out of her seat as her eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she just did, nor what she was beginning to think.
"O-Oh... Oh my god..." She mumbled, wiping her lips.
"Oh...Oh god, I'm sorry." He apologized standing before her. "A-Are you married or something or-?" Well that was a stupid question. She had to be married if she had a kid, right?
"What? Oh no, not that, it's just..." She glanced over to the drinks on the table. She wanted to punch herself in the face, but only now did she realize she went through several small glasses of gin that barkeeper was giving her. It wasn't just a simple drink she was enjoying, it was several drinks she kept downing with each sip. "Oh god... what am I doing?"
It didn't matter if she actually felt these feelings or not. She couldn't put herself through this, she couldn't afford to drag anyone else into her personal life, or her secret personal life of problems. She could't tell if this man had just been playing her, or speaking from the heart, but none of it mattered anymore. She just needed to get out of here.
"L-Look, thanks for the drinks and everything, but I should be l-leaving..." She explained, rubbing her eyes out of the slight haze.
"Well, should I help you back to your room?" He offered. "Seriously, no funny business, I promise." She couldn't even tell if that meant he had planned funny business before this conversation ended or if he was being legitimate, but she couldn't care less at this point.
"N-No, it's alright, really." She glanced over to the glasses as she reached for her purse. "H-How much do I owe-"
"Nah, don't worry about it, it's on me." He replied. "You just get yourself home and make up with whoever you angered, alright?"
"Yeah, alright... Thanks again Mr...?"
"Ah don't worry about formalities," he grinned scratching his head, "just call me Qrow."
"Qrow?" She blinked with uncertainty. "Why does that name...! Oh... Oh god..." She muttered to herself as she hastily exited the room. To the man who just scored first-possible base with the woman who kissed him, he wasn't entirely sure how to respond to her strange behavior. He wished he was sober enough to get a better look at her face, some of it blurred from the toxins running through his mind. Maybe it was the way she acted, or maybe it was all in his head, swimming around in confusion in a pool filled with whiskey.
At least there was one thing he could grin about all of this.
"She totally digs me." He chuckled, looking back to the barkeeper again. "So, how much for the drinks?"
"With the tab you already have for this week?" The barkeeper reminded, looking at his receipt. "Right now, you currently owe me 4,812 Lien, Qrow."
"...Uhhhhh huh..."
Maybe he should've had her pay after all.
...
...
...
A/N: Annnnnd hooftah, what a chapter! If it wasn't obvious guys, I had a LOT of fun with this. I mean a real lot of fun X). I'm looking forward to the many reviews, I'm looking forward to everyone's reactions to parts here and there, and most of all, I'm just looking forward to finishing this by the next chapter X).
As a reminder, don't forget the birthday pic contest. Refer to the last Author's note chapter for details if needed. Till then guys, leave your thoughts a lile, and a fave :P! Also I'm thinking about starting a site on Deviantart of this, what do you guys think?
Ah well, either way, hope you enjoyed! We're only chapter away from the Pre-Volume Finale! And spoiler warning: It's already done X) and nobody will see it till tomorrow cause I'm evil ^^ Yaaaaay!