Chapter 4: When it All Fell Apart - Part 3
It's been five years since the incident. Ruby was now nine years old. She grew distant from her family. Yang forgave her, admitting that she may have gone too far, but they were never able to rebuild that sibling-like relationship they had before. Her Uncle Tai, who had previously treated her almost like as much of a daughter as Yang, tried to look past it, saying that both cousins were in the wrong, but with Ruby's distancing and Yang's delusional hope that the only mother figure she had had in her life would return, he started a light drinking habit. He started openly prioritizing Yang, and when Ruby would try to reconcile with him, he would push her away in favor of giving attention to his only daughter. Yang eventually mellowed out about Summer, but whenever Taiyang or Ruby would bring her up, she would perk up and say, "Aunt Summer will be home soon."
Whenever Yang would say that, it would set Ruby off, and they'd start a fight more vicious than last. Despite Ruby being younger and less physically adept, she would always come out on top and leave Yang with bruises all over her. For this, the Ruby would gain resentment from Yang, and even Taiyang started growing a little cold towards her.
Worst of all was something Ruby wasn't even aware of. Her father would come check up on the family he abandoned every once in a while. He would stay hidden in his avian form, sitting outside of the Xiao-Long-Rose household, perched upon a tree branch. But he would never once let his daughter see him, whether in as a crow or Qrow. In his mind he didn't deserve even on lingering gaze of her's; the silver eyed gaze that was so reminiscent of his late wife.
He would spend the rest of his very brief time on patch sitting in front of Summer's grave, or her memorial, since her body was never found. He would repeat the same phrase in his mind hundreds of times before he left for another mission. "Thus kindly I scatter" was the phrase engraved into the stone. He thought it described her perfectly. She was more beautiful than a rose on a summer day. She had the kindest soul of anyone he had ever met, but if you would dare hurt someone she cared about, her thorns would become sharper than the most wicked of blades. And finally, she was gone without a trace, like scattering petals on a windy day. And then Qrow, himself, would leave his unknowing daughter without a trace, once again.
Since Ruby did not know about her father's visits, she wasn't hurt by them, but she would have this lingering feeling that something was happening that she should be aware of. Besides that, she experienced being ostracized from her family, and when she entered school, she cut herself off from everybody that she would've originally wanted to be friends with. Despite the lack of distractions at school, she still had subpar grades. Whether it was from an early rebellious phase from her need to grow up fast, or her less than stellar home life, she would receive reprimanding from school every day. That didn't affect her though. What did her affect her, however, was the verbal lashings she would receive every day when she got home. Whenever her uncle would speak to her, it sounded as if he was pushing her father away day by day. Even worse, her cousin would continuously side with him, even when he would be cruel, and mention her father. But never her mother. Never her mother because, his "sweet", "amazing", little girl still had hope that her "Aunt Summer" would return. Even with all his cruel words, Ruby could handle them. She wouldn't cry or complain, because she had to be strong, so she wouldn't hurt. But one night, it went past the verbal abuse.
Ruby had just gotten home from school. She was now in third grade. Her day was actually going relatively well. She had just receive a B on a school assignment, which was much better than she usually got. Anyway, it was about three-thirty in the afternoon when she got home. Taiyang was still at Signal Academy, since he was part of the faculty, and Yang was there too, since she didn't want to walk all the way home. Only to a whole other school. As usual, Tai gave into his daughter, but he would always make Ruby walk home, saying she needed to learn how to get places by herself.
Since it would be at least an hour before the blonde father-daughter duo got home, Ruby decided to get a snack from the kitchen, strawberries of course, and go upstairs to her room to read. Even though her taste-buds hadn't changed much through the years, her view of the world had matured greatly, and even become kind of cynical. Although she still enjoyed tales of heroism, she would no longer listen to or read fairy tales, claiming they were too unrealistic. Instead, she would read stories with angst, tragedy, and even romance, as much as most people would deny her ability to grasp the concept. Anyway, she read for a while, and eventually heard the front door open and shut after a few seconds.
She didn't bother to go downstairs. She knew what most likely awaited her, and she didn't care for it. Apparently one of the newcomer didn't follow her train of thought, because only about half a minute later, there was a knock on the door and a loud "Ruby, come done. We're going to celebrate!" in Yang's voice. The crimsonette found it strange. She hadn't heard Yang use that tone with her for years. For some reason she felt her heart flutter with hope, and found herself with a small smile.
"Coming," She replied, almost cheerfully, before heading to her bedroom door, not bothering to think about the word celebrate.
Yang's return downstairs was made clear by the dissipating sound of feet scuffling away. When Ruby made her way downstairs, the first thing she noticed was her uncle and cousin gathered at the living room table. She went over to them, and saw an envelope on the table.
"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the envelope.
"We'll have to wait and see when Yang opens it." Her uncle said turning to her. She noticed his were warmer than they usually were around her, and she felt another flutter of hope.
She turned back to Yang, "Well then, open it." Apparently that was the wrong thing to do, because right after she said it, she felt a familiar chill in the air, and turned to her uncle, who had a look of contempt now on his face.
"You will not tell my daughter what to do." He said, rounding on her with barely hidden malice.
She flinched back, and when Tai noticed this, he turned back to his daughter, who didn't react to her father's cold behavior, and said in a much softer voice, "Now, Yang, can you please open the envelope."
"Okay," she replied cheerfully. As soon as Yang opened the envelope and pulled out the paper inside, she squealed.
"What is it?" Ruby asked, ignoring my uncle's grit teeth.
"I got in!" Yang replied giddily.
"Okay, it was obvious that you were going to get in, so why are you so excited?" Ruby asked. Apparently, Taiyang didn't like her tone, because out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash off yellow, and then felt a painful sensation on her temple that sent her reeling. It wasn't like the firm, parental slap Tai gave his daughter all those years ago. It was a strike born from annoyance and malice.
"You will show respect, Young Lady." Ruby's uncle harshly reprimanded her.
For the first time in years, Ruby felt the urge to cry. Not from the physical pain though, she could handle that, but from the growing hidden resentment shared between the last Rose and the Xiao-Longs. Ruby could understand people losing their patience around her. She wasn't the easiest person to be around, but she didn't try to be. What she didn't grasp was why the people who were supposed to care about her the most hated her. So, since the pain was all too much, she turned and bolted out the front door, vowing to never return to that place, the place that corroded the armor she had tried so hard to build.
Since the ex-Xiao-Long Rose home was in the middle of the forest, Ruby's escape was lit only by the shattered moon. Ruby ran and ran, but she felt so slow. She wanted to get away from everything; Her family, that house that only held bitterness, her pain, the last place she saw her father, and everything else. So her soul started to transform, warp, the power of her aura was growing. It seemed like she had been running for hours, and then her vision started to fill with red, white, and black petals. She came to a stop. She reached out her hand to grab one of the petals, and only for a second did she notice the world was dyed red, and seeming to move in slow motion. Once the world started to return to normal, she felt her head spinning. Her eyes unwillingly closed and she fell to her knees, then her torso followed. She was out.
Little did she know, a red-eyed raven watched her little forest run.
She has potential it thought
Caw!
AN: I'm so, so, sooo sorry for how late this chapter is. I just didn't feel like writing. Happy early Halloween. No more set dates for chapters. I learned my lesson. I feel like I just ran like Ruby for some reason, so i'm gonna get this done. I'll warn you that I didn't double check this chapter, so it might suck. Anyway, love you'll and thank you for the support and all that shit. Bye, Zacatac out.
