The long night had not yet ended.

Not a single building in this small street was lit. Their Uncle Qrow's accidently acquired bar turned makeshift living space was no exception. It was a poorly kept and scarcely used place. The door was still unlocked as she had left in haste. Wind had swept it wide open. Rain had slipped inside.

Yang hated the rain.

The hinges creaked when she closed the door behind her and locked it. She lowered the blinds and made her way through the dark.

Ruby was refusing to talk to her. She let out a huff, couldn't be helped.

Upstairs was cold and dark. The heater hummed to life after the lights were turned on. She started the little fireplace for good measure. Dropping Ruby on the couch, she tossed the taken jacket over to a corner of the room.

"I'm listening."

"I want to be a huntress."

She groaned.

"That's a lot of responsibility, Ruby." Yang discarded whatever rags remained of her shirt and replaced them with a sweater. It was much warmer and reliable than the shirt. She looked herself over. The soft, crocheted wool hugged her body loosely well down past her hips. 'Ah. Need to put something on underneath. But I'm home anyways... And the only one here is-'

Ruby rushed around the room to confront her. "But Ozpin said I'm ready!"

"Don't run around inside with your shoes on, and take off your socks too," She lightly pushed Ruby's head back with a finger. "And why should I care what some old fossil says? I've been with you since the day you were born."

That was a scary day.

She started closing the blinds around the building and started tidying up the living room. "Regardless of what the world brings or what anyone says, my first priority is your safety above all else."

"I won't be in danger!" Ruby protested. "If anything, going to Beacon will make me more danger proof."

"Getting sent to monster filled forests and being told to fight strangers is hardly what I'd call danger proof. Besides, Uncle Qrow's lessons are better suited for you than anything that boring old place has to offer. And your sister is the strongest, so sparring with me like we've been doing will make you strong too... someday..." With one hand on her hip, she bent down until she their heads were nearly close enough to touch and rubbed Ruby's head. "Have a little bit of trust. Just a little"

Her sister clenched her teeth and her fists, shaking.

Despite herself, Yang thought even that was rather adorable.

"Why don't you trust me then?" Ruby questioned, staring up at her.

Yang sighed and pushed away her bangs with a flourish. "Since when did my baby sister become so clever with twisting words around? I trust that you'll grow into an even more wonderful person. I don't trust that the world will be so kind as to make it easy if you take the harder path when you don't have to. Life hurts people too much. I don't want you to experience such things."

"Uh.. ah..." Ruby struggled to put the proper words together. Her head began to feel hot. Her body felt heavier and heavier. "You'll be there."

"I'll be back home as well," Yang promised readily. "Don't worry about it."

"But I am worrying about it! I finally got to see a little more of the world! I used what I was taught, and now I've been given the chance I've been waiting for, but you won't-!"

"Ruby."

There was no harshness in her words. There was no anger nor ire. Her tone hadn't changed at all, but it only took a single word to quiet her down. Again, Yang couldn't help but muse at how dainty her sister still was. It felt like that would never change. Such an endearing little sibling was impossible not to dote on. That didn't change what her responsibilities were, however.

"Could you do your sister a favor and give her some time to think?"

Ruby gave her a half shrug, "Um..."

Without giving her a chance to finish, Yang held her palm up against her sister's forehead whilst feeling her own. Her temperature had risen. The lack of sleep and fight had taken its toll on her. The rain and griminess of the cold city couldn't have been good either.

"Go take a bath and brush your teeth. I don't want you getting sick. Make sure to wash your hair too." Yang turned her around and gave her a slight push towards the bathroom. "I'll make you something to drink in the meantime."

Ruby kept looking back at her with tentative pouts, but eventually she disappeared behind the corner of a small hallway. "Fine."

She stilled until she could hear the faint sound of artificial raindrops seeped through the walls.

'One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven... Eight... Nine... Ten...'

Yang blew out a deep breath as her shoulders slackened and her head bowed down. Her breathing became heavy as the soreness of her body finally took over. She fell over the couch and hugged a pillow. A muffled scream of frustration was let out. She started to beat the pillow with tired, flailing hands.

'Stupid fossil, stupid fossil's lackey, useless useless-'

She violently rolled off the couch and her back and bottom thumped against the floor. "Aaaaaaahhh!" she growled. "Crazy bastard! Who in the Hell grabs a lady's bones!? And I got saved by that imbecile!?"

She had taken a gamble to counter that 'strongest' attack. The strike's power was redirected and coalesced with her own before being driven into his heart. Who in the damn world would that not kill?

But nope! He came back grinning like a maniac hungry for more!

Peeking at the ceiling with a baleful eye, Yang took a long deep breath as her chest rose and let it all out.

"What the rotting Hell..."

Rising back to her feet, Yang brushed herself off, finished with her refrained tantrum. Her heart was still beating intensely, but that couldn't be helped.

The faucet turned on and supplied cool water that she splashed against her face after running the water through her hands. The house in the city was silent except for the sound of water outside and inside.

Yang rummaged through the fridge for the groceries she had bought the previous day. She took out a bottle of whole milk, a bar of dark chocolate, and a little cannister of cocoa. There was salt, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon bark, and a bottle of whiskey. She tipped the whiskey into her mouth and emptied the bottled.

'Thanks, Uncle.'

Wiping her lips, she took out a saucepan and lit the stove, keeping the flame to medium heat. After pouring in the milk, she added the vanilla and cinnamon before giving it a whisk. Once it started to boil and foam, Yang reduced the heat to a simmer.

She roamed through the empty rooms and floors. Not a single dark corner was overlooked. She checked between the cushions and furniture. She looked through the lamps and lights. For once, the sparse and careless state of things made things simpler. Peeking through the blinds and windows, she saw an empty street. The roof was empty as well.

Returning to the kitchen, she swirled the pan. She became lost in her thoughts.

Ruby resembled her mother, with fair skin, silver eyes, delicate features, and dark hair that curled towards her face ever so slightly. Even as an infant, it was clear to the world who her mother was.

Yang remembered holding her for the first time. She wondered how a thing so small and fragile could cause her parent so much pain. She waited in the hallway while this was born. She could hear her mom crying.

She frowned at the little thing sleeping so peacefully swaddled up in a blanket.

Summer Rose hugged her from behind, a warm, loving, and overbearing hug. "You two look so cute~"

Yang looked over her shoulder and scowled, holding the baby closer to herself. "Why are you out of bed?"

"Let's go to the park. The skies are so clear today." Their mom glowed with joy like a ball of sunshine. "We can get sweets."

"Don't want any." She flinched when the thing in her hands started shifting around.

Summer hugged her even tighter, rocking her back and forth. "When did my little sunshine get so mature? You used to jump into my lap whenever you wanted a-"

"Mom?"

"Hm?" She smiled at her, kindly waiting for whatever may be asked of her.

Little Yang slightly lifted the sleeping infant in her arms. "What am I supposed to do with her? I'm her older sister, so I have some kind of responsibility for her."

"Oh... Oh my..." Summer somehow smiled even more brightly. "W-Well..."

Blue flames sparked and flickered.

Ten minutes had passed.

She turned off the heat and added a heaping spoon of cocoa to the mixture. The base was complete. Filtering the hot liquid through a sieve, the solids were filtered out, leaving behind nothing but smoothness.

A little sugar for sweetness and a tiny pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness.

It was a trick passed down from Mom.

When she added the bittersweet chocolate, she stirred until the hot drink was nice and silky, nice and sweet. It was sweeter than most adults preferred, but it was favored by children.

Yang poured the hot chocolate into a clean ceramic mug with black thorns and red flowers painted around. A small smile came to light. The mug was a gift Ruby made in arts and crafts for their Uncle's Christmas present years back.

It was nicely kept after all this time.

The phone rang.

Yang picked it up, holding it to her ear. "Hello?"

". . . . ."

"Did you sleep well? Eat any breakfast yet?"

". . ."

"I meant a real breakfast."

". . . ."

"Yeah..."

". . ."

"That's not the point. You know that she-"

". . .!"

"Are you fighting right now?"

". . ."

"That was a gunshot."

". . . . . . . ."

"I watch the documentaries with Ruby. No bird sounds like that. You can call back another-"

". . . . ."

Yang groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'd rather not. There's not even a good reason for it."

". . . . . . ."

"...Oh."

". . . . ."

"Dad dotes on her too much. So do you."

". . . . . ."

"Watch me."

". ."

She gritted her teeth before sighing, "...Fine."

". . . .! . . ."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Stay safe, be healthy, love you..."

". . ."

The signal beeped and she put the phone back on the stand. Yang brought a brush from her bag and settled on the couch with her legs crossed. She began combing her hair quietly while listening to the rain, doing her best to keep the miffed pout off her face. The sound of artificial rain stopped midway through the call.

A minute passed, then twenty-nine seconds. The hot chocolate had cooled to below scalding yet pleasantly hot. The fireplace continued to send waves of heat through the room, though the air was still numbing in slight.

Ruby marched into the room in her pajamas, hair wet, eyes half open but determined. "Alright! I know you're just trying to look out for me, but-"

"Take a seat, Ruby."

She climbed over the couch and sat down in front of her. "Hmn, okay, perhaps I came in too strongly. I see that now..."

"Ruby, mmnn..." Yang faltered before averting her eyes to the table and picking up the mug. "Here, drink this."

The drink was a little bitter, but also very sweet. It creamy and thick, but also smooth and velvety. The taste was that of chocolate, but somehow much more without becoming something inherently different. Ruby felt her insides become comfortably warm. She felt more relaxed but less sleepy. "Thanks, Yang."

Yang crossed her legs and leaned onto her palm for support, only giving her sister a quick glance.

"Being a huntress isn't something ideal or fair like it may seem. It isn't just going on an adventure to kill a monster then returning home for celebrations. Some don't even get to come home.

To keep going, you need to make sacrifices. You'll eventually be in harm's way regardless of how careful you are, because that's the job. It's a responsibility that can easily become a burden.

If you succeed, you just continue, but if you fail... People will put that pain on you even if they have no right. You'll have to keep fighting for others rather than yourself as you naturally should.

No matter how talented you are or how strong your will is, being a true huntress won't be easy."

Ruby leaned her head on her sister's shoulder. "...I know. I don't know know. I don't have experiences like that, but Uncle Qrow talks to me about the things like that whenever he's training me."

"Hm." Yang put her arm around her sister. "He's good at that."

"Sooo..."

"So?"

"So..." Ruby tapped her knees together. "Anything else?"

"I don't know. Is there?" She carefully repressed a smile. "How could I meet your expectations if I don't know them?"

She headbutted her shoulder. "Yang."

"You can't leave my sight, any fights have to be ended quickly or not at all..."

"And?" A wide smile blossomed from Ruby.

"I'll be training you more severely, and you have to retreat when I tell you to. I better not hear something silly about responsibility or honor from you before you even learn how to drive."

Ruby eagerly nodded her head.

"If you promise to follow all that, then you can... see how Beacon goes for a while." Yang was immediately tackled by a hug that nearly sent her toppling off the couch. Her sister hugged her with all she had.

"Loveyouloveyouloveyouloveyou!You'rethebestsisterever!"

Yang patted her head softly, rolling her eyes with a big smile. "Don't you forget it."

'Damn, I'm a damn pushover.'

The flames in the fireplace flared and snuffed itself out. The passing of time became muted to her. Two girls listened to the rain and thunder.

Hate was still all she had for the rain.

Yang watched the embers die out. An orange glow became a dim red before the light disappeared completely.

The smoke floated up the chimney. The room was left with the faint smell of cinnamon.

She heard the soft breaths of sleep. Yang looked down to see her sister all tuckered out. Wandering through the dark, being chased by a devil, and fighting a monster. That'd be a nice little bedtime story if tweaked a bit.

Her legs felt a little numb. They did break a few times earlier that night, fractured at least. It was good that her body was 'healthy' and healed well. Yang rolled her head side to side and got up with her sister still clinging to her. "Let's try to get some sleep for real this time, kay?"

She switched off the lights and headed back to their room. A thicker blanket was taken out of the closet.

Without fail, Yang tucked the blanket around her sister. The child looked as peaceful as an angel. Yang nudged her bangs out of the way and checked her temperature again. Her skin felt cool to the touch.

Ruby rolled over to lie on her stomach, taking most of the blanket with her.

'Mom... what... mn, guess it doesn't matter...'

Summer held her finger to her lips as she considered her little sunshine's question. "Mnnn... that's a tougher question than I thought. Just do what you feel is right."

"Oh? That doesn't satisfy you? Well then...

Just do your best to be kind and gentle with her. Don't let her be lonely if you can help it...

Ah!

And give her lots of hugs."

So the older sister continued to do so, because she was her older sister.

Yang secured her arm around her and held her close, finally letting sleep take her as well.

"Goodnight, Ruby."

δράκος και κυνηγός

A young man walked through a nonstop downpour from the thunderous clouds.

His hunger was bottomless.

His awareness was every growing.

His strength knew no bounds.

Eerie melodious humming broke through the ceaseless rain. The fight was the greatest he had fought in a long time.

No weapon of steel can pierce his skin. No creature can sneak up on him. Nothing couldn't be burned by his flames. Nothing couldn't be broken by his strength. That was because he is a dragon's son.

He wanted to meet the woman again.

The boy felt his chest. His beating heart was beating strong. The boy felt his throat. A faint scar beneath his scarf still tingled. It was a wound recieved long before memory. The boy saw his eyes in the water's reflection. Intense red light dwelled deep beneath pitch black. When had that last happened? The boy clenched his fist. His body felt stronger. Natsu Dragneel took another step forward. It felt like he could crush the world beneath his feet.

The boy wasn't walking anywhere. He continued for the sake of continuing. There was no destination.

He waited for the moon to disappear and the sun to rise.

"I'm gonna make everything is this world... all mine... because I'm a dragon's son."

Natsu Dragneel bared his best smile. "Thank you. I'm feeling fired up."