Glynda was surprised with the outcome of this detour in her schedule, she had heard gunshots while going to the meeting her boss had arranged, and what an unexpected sight she was met with, Roman Torchwick in the middle of his escape from a shop set on fire and with a young girl to his heels with what seemed to be a homemade [Semblance equipment] buzzing alight, not even in her wildest dreams she had imagined this would happen.
She quickly immobilized the criminal, taking full advantage of the element of surprise in her takedown, the girl then reached then reached the roof and steadied herself, noticing her and immediately running away, a glare being the only thing the girl bothered to direct towards her before turning her semblance back on, with it making a painful sound, and performing an escapade through the rooftops of the city
She wanted to chase that girl, such interesting individual, but Roman's capture was a priority, so she hurried to call for support in taking him to the site to report his capture and secure him
This was great, and please note the sarcasm on the phrase, what was a huntress of all things doing there? Why couldn't she be like the rest and mind her own business? Had she been after Torchwick all along? No matter the answer she forced her semblance on yet again to take her out of the situation
This was just another huntress, another cog of the machine, the market was brutal and the rivalry was even worse, dirty moves and danger at every corner and backstabs for every meal, so she could understand the eagerness for the bounty over the man's head
But it didn't matter, she had taken Torchwick away and surely called backup, they couldn't do anything, as frustrating as it was, the shop would have to close indefinitely, or at least until they found a way to repair the damages and, and this without taking into account if the owner could even afford all of that, the repairs we're going to be expensive by themselves, but the Beacon Terminal formatting and taking back all of the things that were left there…
And then a thought hit her like a truck, would she be able to still work there? There were also other jobs, but this one was tame and paid off well, she didn't have to do sketchy things for her boss like Yang had to.
But the more pressing matter, she needed to find a job quickly, even if Yang said she could take extra hours she wasn't stupid, her sister was already overwhelmed by her job as it was, and on top of that the preparation for the entrance to the Beacon Security Academy, even if they had been saving for a while and the three of them worked… the rent was going up, it had been going up for a while now, and various corporations were buying properties around the area…
God she was exhausted, she hadn't taken out her Semblance Equipment yet, she had ran away as soon as she could before the police showed up, she didn't have a registry for the equipment, and even if she had, the police wasn't really liable around these areas, specially with illegal prototypes. She had reached the apartment's front door before she knew it, she went through the keys in her pocket with practiced ease and opened the door's multiple locks before going in and putting it all back together, she walked through the rather small apartment almost goaning, the pain on her legs was getting worse now that the adrenaline was wearing off, and without the constant stream of thoughts keepin her distracted the fatigue of all day finally fell onto her, she collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep in the act.
Yang woke up with a hangover, last night had been wild if the way her head hurt said something, her memory was blurry for most of it, and she barely remembered anything of the night, the only thing clear for her right then was that she hadn't gotten anything, again, as used to it as she was, it was still frustrating.
So she just sat there in her house's couch, her head throbbing and her throat dry as fuck, she needed some water pretty damn quick, but the way that her world spun around and shifted every now and then said otherwise, the nausea was only getting worse by the time a bin entered her field of vision, she gratefully snatched it out of that person's hand and started puking her guts out inside of the bin
— just in time apparently — the person said in a amused tone, oh god, she knew who it was, she could almost see her smug grin splitting up her face and lighting up her eyes while she looked down on her
— shut up Rubes — said playfully — I could've held onto it for hours if i wanted! — it wasn't true
— oh, come on Yang! I was — she played along — besides, that's gross, and a lie — she knew
—well, you don't know that! — Ruby, as annoying as it was, got it right, both of them knew it, but it was fun to joke around this way, they couldn't do this very often, so the best thing was to just play with it and not talk about Yang's failure at getting information, nor her obviously unhealthy way of coping with alcohol, they already knew that, they'd already talked about it, hopefully they'd laugh it off as every time before, it didn't have to ruin the moment, it was fine as it was.
— you know this isn't healthy — and her plan was already out of the window as Ruby decided to bite the bullet — i get you're frustrated, but look at how you come home every time, this is destroying you and it maybe isn't worth it
— what? — Yang retorted — what do you mean "it isn't worth it"? I've been searching for her for years! I'm not going to give up now
— i know you went to Junior's
Yang stiffened, looking at the worried eyes of her sister, they both knew what she meant, the deals were every time more dangerous, they took more and more every time, the people were more and more dangerous every time, it was going to backfire any day if she kept going, she knew that The silence stretched, the realization sunk in, they didn't want to push it more than that
— did he leave a letter again? — Ruby asked, deflecting the topic of the conversation, all too used to their father not being home, they both understood his reasons, they didn't blame him, they knew that he did it with their happiness in mind, it didn't make it any better
— yeah… — it's the same as it always is, the silence extended itself for a while, the world still spinning, her head still throbbing
— how was work last night? — even with a hangover it was hard not to see how Ruby was almost painfully standing there, shifting the weight of her body every couple seconds and trying to hide a mortified expression every time she did, Ruby flinched at her question.
— it was okay — said awkwardly, like trying to avoid the topic, but something was off, there was something besides shame in her look, and a realization struck, it was guilt filling her eyes.
Something must've happened to her, her strong and smart little sister, the same one that faced every challenge with a daring smile and whose happiness made life seem easy, whose laugh made the stress a little lighter, whose hugs cured any and all hangovers.
— what happened last night? — Yang asked in a worried tone, the world spun around, her head felt like it was going to blow up, Yang didn't give a shit about that — you know you can tell me, you know you can trust me — Yang tried to stand up for herself, it wasn't a good idea, despite that she pushed all of her strength to keeping herself in her feet, even when the nausea took over and she had to grab the armrest of the couch to keep herself from kissing the floor The silence painfully stretched for what seemed like ages, the hangover now irrelevant as Yang stared at her sister with a worried yet determined look in her eyes while Ruby decidedly avoided her look
— the place where i work was robbed the other night and i don't know if I'm going to be able to work there anymore — started, giving in her sister's glare, she wouldn't give up no matter how many times did Ruby say it was okay, that's how her sister was, so might as well give her some of the truth, enough to at least let her know the situation — the damage was too much, and I believe they're going to close soon — continued, the guilt burned her throat, she was telling the truth, wasn't she? It may not be the complete truth, but she wasn't lying either, so why did she feel like she was betraying her sister's trust? Why did she feel like she was lying to that face so genuinely worried for her? The same face that all those years ago told her stories of a better, kinder world? — I'm going to have to find another job, and you know how difficult it is to find one that pays that well, and being my age even finding a job it's going to be difficult, and i didn't want you to worry because i know you're so tired and having already a bad time with your job and your application and—
— it's okay — Yang cut off her sister's rambling trying to soothe her voice — it's okay rubes, you know i wouldn't be mad with you for that, it wasn't your fault — it was okay, she could always take extra hours, and even thought her boss was an asshole she was capable of taking care of herself — besides, i think i know a place, it's not as good as it could be, but the payment is good — it was safe enough and she knew some of the people there, it was okay, her sister didn't have to worry.
They stayed silent, a worried silence, an odd silence, a silence that trusted and let everything wash off, Yang let herself fall to the couch again, in the corner of her eyes she could see Ruby walking away into the kitchen, her pajamas already old and patched around, with her pants' sleeves just a little too short, revealing bruises all around her ankles and calves. Yang's mind was racing, the blood pressure increased and the floor suddenly started shifting, her head painfully throbbing again and this time it didn't have anything to do with alcohol, what had happened to her? Who did that? Why didn't she tell her? These and a million more thoughts plagued Yang's mind in less than a second, she felt like she could throw up again anytime soon A sudden knock on the door startled both sisters, they weren't expecting anyone to come by that day, they both immediately tensed, it could be a robber, or something worse.
Ruby went to the door, careful not to make any sound in her way to avoid alerting whoever was outside, and peeked through the bullseye. Standing outside the door there was two people, a tall man with gray hair, dressed in a formal suit and using a cane, besides him there was a woman, dressed in what seemed to be a black, white and purple office outfit, a sparkle of recognition lit up Ruby's eyes, it was yesterday's huntress, and the man besides her must be too, the cane was probably also some sort of semblance equipment, but she couldn't figure out it's workings just by the little she was able to see through the bullseye, she glanced back to her sister, who was standing with her weight being supported by the couch, she was barely standing, not only because of the hangover she surely had, she was probably sore too due to the shenanigans she sure went into while drunk and spiteful, and herself wasn't any better, her legs still hurting with a numb pain because of the overcharge that she forced her semblance onto last night
— huntsmen — she mouthed towards Yang, her eyes widened and her legs lost strength, falling dry to the floor with an audible thud.
— open the door, we know you are there — said the man outside the door as the tension rose inside the apartment, ruby slowly approached the door and opened it, revealing the man himself — i believe there's some things that we have to talk about — said with an amused tone and a smile in his face that didn't reach his cold and calculating eyes, taking on every detail in the room, both strangers then invited themselves in
notes:
Oof, this has surely been an experience!
Okay so first off, this is a collaboration, I'm not the only one behind CYBE/R/WBY, B is the one that directs the project and also gives me a lot of external references for the chapters! He also essentially holds the story together with an amazing plot that I am very eager to fully write!
By this side i just write the chapters and mess sometimes with more secondary aspects like details of the worldbuilding
So, this is our first project ever! And this is already very exciting
Now, this chapter was a little harder than the previous one, and I'm still not completely sure about the outcome, but it's good enough I believe, so I might as well get done with it!