The second chapter of White Swan! Yay!
Yes, this IS an YxA story, even though it doesn't show at first. But hang with me!
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o CH 2 0o0o0o0o0o0o0
It had taken a bus drive and two subway stops to get there. The outskirts of Tokyo. We had arrived at an old abandoned factory in the middle of a dumpster. I already regretted following the girl, but I couldn't just go back to Yoh. Not after what I had heard him say.
"We're here." Ruby told me before knocking three times at the door.
"Password?" A voice asked from the inside.
"Guitar girl." Ruby answered. The door opened, and a girl a bit younger than me let us in. She smiled delightedly at Ruby.
"Ruby! We were so worried about you! Rex's goons stopped by, they said that we have to get out of his turf! I didn't know what to say, so I let Melody do the talking, and she made them REALLY mad! They said they're reporting us to Rex! But we were like, 'Ruby's gonna kick your butt black and blue' and they scattered. It was so wickedly cool and—Hey! You have a friend?" The girl caught sight of me. Ruby smiled.
"Yeah. Anna, this is Kitty. She's the youngest one of us." Ruby presented. I nodded. Kitty beamed. She DID look young. Maybe fourteen or so. She had long, dark brown hair and beautiful emerald-green eyes. She was wearing a pair of black jeans that were ripped at the knees and a green shirt with the picture of a cute little black cat face.
"That's awesome! Let me present you to everybody else!" Kitty grabbed my hand and dragged me across several halls, stairs, and halls before we came upon a huge room. It was deep inside the factory, but on the higher levels, so that sunlight streamed in through skylights in the ceiling. Across the floor, mattresses were thrown about, as well as pillows, blankets, and broken sofas. It was the ultimate hangout. A large refrigerator was plugged in the corner of the room, and a small TV chattered on before the largest mattress (king size), where four girls laid down.
"Oh my god! I can't believe Chad cheated on Mandy!" One of them groaned, and then caught sight of Kitty, Ruby, and me. "Hey! Ruby's back!"
"Yo, Ruby!"
"Where have you been, girl?"
"Who's the new girl?" They sat up in interest. I felt awkward for the first time in my life. Ruby smiled and greeted her friends.
"This is Anna."
"Yo, Anna!" They waved friendlily. I managed a wave before Ruby started presenting them to me.
"These are my homegirls. That's Skye, she's sixteen. She might be young, but don't be fooled. If anything's going on, Skye's the first to know. She's got connections, she has." She pointed to a girl with curly, ebony-black hair and blue eyes. She wore a flowing blue shirt and blue jeans with stars printed on them. She wore blue star earrings and her arms were covered in silver bracelets. Skye waved shyly.
"That's Pixel, seventeen. She's our little fashion pro, but don't get things mixed up. While her favorite color's pink, she's no prep. Believe me." She gestured at a girl with long, platinum hair with bright pink tips. She wore a pink skirt and a white spaghetti-strap shirt with a pink flower in its center. She smiled brightly at me.
"That's Nina over there, thief extraordinaire. More cunning than a fox, that one. She's seventeen tomorrow." She pointed to a girl with wavy, copper-brown hair and hazel eyes. She wore an orange halter-top with a long, flowing black skirt. Her ears were pierced in three places each.
"The one on the left's Melody. She's eighteen, and the only one of us with a god-forsaken license. And a horrible example for Kitty and Skye." She pointed at a girl with short, black hair tied in a high ponytail, with sunglasses riding atop of her head. Her eyes were a deep black, and she had the tattoo of a black dragon on her right arm. She wore jeans and a black bikini-top. Her bellybutton was pierced and had a little diamond ring. She gave me thumbs-up.
"For god's sake, put on a shirt. Do you want Rex's goons to rape you?" Ruby rolled her eyed. Melody did the same.
"You exaggerate. They'd be dead the second they trespass my five-foot Rex barrier." She laughed and winked at me. I couldn't help but smile. "See, Ruby and I go way back."
"We grew up together in our little town." Ruby threw herself onto a couch. Kitty took a seat on a small mattress and waved me over. I sat next to her.
"Ruby's stories are the best." She told me. "And they're all true." Ruby looked around at her posse proudly and began to talk.
"Life hasn't been easy for any of us, Anna. We all used to hate our lived for one reason or another, and wanted to start anew."
"Ruby gave us this opportunity." Skye said. "It was she who started our gang. We're the Swans. Amber named it so."
"Skye!" Nina, Pixel, and Melody yelled. She blushed and looked down.
"Sorry, Ruby, I... I didn't mean to—"
"It's ok, Skye." Ruby said firmly. "You shouldn't feel bad for saying a name. It's not logic. And you three don't help. She's free to say whatever she feels. And she's younger than you."
"Who's Amber?" I asked before I could stop myself. Ruby sighed sadly. Everyone else looked down to the ground silently.
"Amber was my twin sister." Ruby told me. "She was killed two years ago."
"I'm sorry." I said softly.
"No need. Amber and I grew up with Melody in a small town. We all had our reasons for leaving. My father was a drug dealer, and when he got arrested, we were going to be put into a foster home. And Melody lived with her great-aunt, since her parents died in a car crash when she was a baby.
"I was fifteen, but Melody was six months older than us, and she had gotten her driving license, but we didn't have a car. So we became stowaways on a cargo train and left our old lives back with the dust.
"We traveled wide and far, traveling from one city to the next and playing music for money. We had never planned making a gang, but after three months of traveling, we came up on another runaway. It was Nina here. She had left her old life behind too, and was traveling alone, so we invited her in."
"I was headed for the city. Las Vegas. Gambling and such." Nina told me. "But after I met Ruby and Amber... and Melody, of course, they showed me better things. We became fast friends."
"We traveled on for two more months, and Pixel appeared into the picture." Ruby went on.
"It was pure coincidence we found each other." Pixel pointed out. "I was a stowaway in a train, and got into some sticky trouble with these gangsters. Melody saved me just in time. From then on, I traveled with them. We're a team." The blond girl smiled.
"And after Pixel," Melody said, "We came upon Skye and Kitty."
"Me and Skye had already met in the open road." Smiled Kitty. "We came from different cities, and decided to go on together. When we met the rest of the girls, we joined their group. We're all runaways here. It's awesome. Complete freedom."
"So we went on together. From city to city, and country to country. But then... there was an accident." Nina said quietly. "Amber was caught by a gang. They kidnapped her and threatened us. We rushed in to help, but couldn't get there in time. We found her body in an alley. She had been shot in the head. It was a horrible time for all of us. But we got our revenge."
"What happened to the gang?" I asked.
"They're dead. All of them." Melody answered. "We have our methods too."
"I'm so sorry." I told Ruby. She smiled appreciatively.
"This world isn't kind, girlie. Amber had desired freedom above all, and now she has it. She doesn't have to hide from cops anymore, or sleep in the cold. Money doesn't come by easy either." She said bitterly. Nina, Melody, Kitty, and Skye exchanged uneasy glances, but Pixel smiled.
"Don't look so horrified, my friend." She told me. I felt a squeeze in my heart. No one had ever called cold, bitter Anna a 'friend' before. "We have been through rough times, but it's worth it. We travel around the world, and have freedom. Now... well, we're each other's remaining family. We're a sisterhood. The Sisterhood of Swans. That's what Amber had called our group. The swan was her favorite animal." She smiled. Ruby laughed.
"Yup. The swan. That was she. I was always the phoenix." She turned to me. "So what's your story? Are you a runaway?" She asked. Everyone's attention turned to me.
"I... I don't know..." I sighed. "I had this fight with a boy... see, I have a fiancé. My family and his made an agreement and arranged us to marry. It's somewhat complicated."
"Engaged at your age?" Nina scowled. "That's horrible! Being forced to be with someone with no choice..."
"But I did want to marry Yoh. That's his name. Yoh Asakura. But today I overheard him talking on the phone with his friends. He said all these horrible things about me. I never knew he hated me so much. I don't know what to do." I sighed. The Swans exchanged glances and grinned.
"You know Anna... I think we can help you." Nina said slyly.
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Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUUUNSuspense lol
Thanx for reading!
PS. Rex will come in in later chappies