There it was... the tell-tale knock that was the signal for a young girl to rush down the stairs so early in the morning. The girl's body was exuding an aura of excitement that anyone within a mile radius would have heard a buzzing sound.
The young girl ran pass a a room with a door ajar, inside a girl a bit older than the one rushing down the stairs and with blond hair was seemingly laying spread-eagle as the knock failed to awake her from her slumber.
On any other day the young girl would consider it weird how much sleep her elder sister was getting as she was normally one to get up bright and early to fix her massive mane she called hair. On this particular day however, the young girl threw open the door and there stood a young man with bright blue eyes and blond hair giving a goofy grin before he held out a clipboard.
"I have a package for one Ruby Rose... are you the person?" The deliveryman asked and Ruby vigorously nodded her head.
"Alright, just sign your name here and you can receive your package."
Ruby scribbled something down. It was probably just a mass of scribbles but she didn't care. The man seemed to understand her excitement and just left it at that as he handed her the package.
Ruby gazed at the package in awe as she imagined the barrel of her sniper and what it would look like when she put it with the rest of her scythe.
"Excuse me, but there is one more package" the deliveryman said and Ruby looked up. More than one? She was only expecting one package today... Yay for express shipping
Ruby greedily held a hand out for her package but the deliveryman shook his head. "Sorry mam, this one is addressed to one Miss Yang Xiao-Long."
Ruby felt confusion grow in her head. Yang? Did she order something again? Ruby knew that it couldn't have been a weapon else she'd have seen Yang have better gauntlets. Sure Yang was making modifications here and there but recently there was quite an overhaul. Ember Celica were no longer simple shotgauntlets. It had a hidden knife within the top part that could be shot forward. The gauntlets could expand to become a mini-kite-shield and don't get her started on the ranged enhancements.
"Would you like me to go wake her up to receive it or should I take it for her?"
"You can give it to her if you want." The deliveryman said and he handed her the package and he left.
Ruby glared at the new package in her hands. What has Yang ordered now? The last time a package came for Yang she quickly shooed her away and retreated to her room.
It seemed pretty suspicious for Yang so Ruby had to get to the bottom of this.
Ruby headed up the stairs to see Yang's room slightly ajar and sprawled on her bed was Yang herself. Unconcious and oblivious to the entire world around her.
Ruby snuck into the room making sure to avoid the wire that Yang had tied to some cans
It was another particular change Yang had made when she woke up strange that morning. If redecorating her room to make a small corridor with her dresser and shelf on either side of the door then the wires here and there seemed to be overdoing it.
The only reason why Ruby remembered was because the first time she tripped them was when she barged into Yang's room and was met with metal rain as cans filled with stones clattered, waking up the entire house and one Yangry Yang. Ruby shuddered at the thought and she remembered the pain of the black eye she received that day. Of course when you look there was no obvious wire or string but shine a light and you can tell where they are based on the shadows they left on the floor.
Ruby tiptoed over to the bed where her sister laid. The snoring was attrocious and Ruby made to drop the package off at her bedside before leaving.
Walking away from the sleeping dragon Ruby froze in place and snuck a glance behind her. What if she hid somewhere and surprised her sister. They'd both get a laugh out of it and it would be nice to prank her sister.
Ruby looked around the room to see any potential spots she could hide in.
The shelves were to open for her to duck behind. The closet was jammed with clothing. Ruby wasn't really feeling the idea of hiding within the laundry and she was sure hiding under the desk would be hard to achieve.
There was the sound of someone stirring, someone waking up and Ruby turned to see her sister stretching. Ruby grew wideeye at the prospect of being in the Dragon's den when it woke up and she quickly vanished. The location? Under the bed!
Ruby felt she was a genius for making the split second decision but why was it so cramped down here? Ruby knew that she kept her weapon magazines and her hidden stash of cookies underneath the bed... but why is there so many delivery boxes? As the stirring grew louder and she heard the roar (yawn) of the dragon above Ruby inched herself deeper into the darkness of the bed. Each box weighed differently but she moved them aside and rearranged them to form a barrier that protected her from sight.
As Ruby awaited she felt weight move from the bed and two sets of feet touched onto the floor. Yang took a step before she froze. It then moved over to the bedside table and she heard something being picked up.
"The package!" Ruby thought and she inched herself deeper, moving boxes as silent as she could to avoid being seen.
""A package for me? This ones new... Dad probably dropped it off before heading to Signal." Yang's voice said and there was a tearing sound and Yang started to grown.
"Ugh... not another novel-length paper... sheesh can't you give me a three-page summary instead? How do you even have access to this much paper in the wilderness?"
Yang fell silent as she sifted through the papers... that was what Ruby thought she was doing, Ruby knew that Yang would not read through long papers. At most she'd skim them.
Ruby moved another box forward to make extra sure that she would not be spotted when a piece of paper slipped out.
Curiosity was born within her heart and she struggled to restrain herself.
Two mini-Rubies were battling it out on her shoulders.
"You're a good sister, you can ignore this paper and respect your sister's privacy right? Just think of the consequences of reading through what seems to be like a personal diary." Halo-Ruby exclaimed.
"Don't listen to her, think of all the teasing you can do when you corner Yang. It'll just be another joke for you both to laugh at. Imagine what fun we can have, imagine being able to tease Yang when she'd tease you all this time. " Horned-Ruby mischievously laughed
Ruby fell into her temptations and her desires and picked up the page. She picked up her scroll to illuminate the page and she started to read.
"A.8 Report,"
A.8? Was this like the A dot six that Yang had spoken earlier? So it was suppose to be A.6? Ruby shook her head and continued to read.
"I have successfully left the others behind and made my way to the usual meeting spot with A.3, in that regard I have terrible news. The time of the meeting and the place we agreed on hasn't changed. Nor has there been any outside interference in play. Simply, A.3 never showed up and upon further investigation he is alive and well within the White Fang. I fear that he has been reset. With the loss of A.3 some of our plans cannot advance as per normal.
Since A.3 has been reset I will keep my eyes and ears open to observe any particular mishaps or behaviors that deviate from their original behavior and thus bring them through initiation as soon as possible. Its been many weeks since that day but I fear that I may be alone. I have asked previously whether the old A.2 can assist us but you've said time and time again that there has never been anyone who had reverse a reset.
I still hold hope despite this bordering my 20th mission that she will come back. With that being said. The loss of A.3 and the fact that no one has step forward to take his place I'll have to request the current A.2 as well as A.6 to accompany me to have these new plans come to fruition.
I have included a copy of the plans as well as detailed reports on what to expect and how to act. Send a message via the two of them. I hope to see
The page ended there and Ruby groaned intruiged by what she had stumbled upon.
A.2? A.3? A.8? Was Yang part of a cult or secret agent society? They spoke about resets. As if they erased something from people's minds. What was Yang getting herself involved with? Who is A.8?
Ruby put the page back into the box and she looked up to see a pair of red eyes stare deep into her soul.
Claws reached out for her and Ruby eeped as the beast roared.
A scuffle and many bandages later Ruby sat on the sofa as Yang glared down at her.
"Really sis, under the bed? What were you planning on doing down there?" a fake-nice grin was plastered all over Yang's face. Ruby could tell it was fake due to how the eyes keep flickering form lilac and red.
"I wanted to prank you..." Ruby admitted and Yang held her hands together, as if to fuss over the young girl and she leaned in and clenched a cheek.
"Aw. Little Rubaby wanted to one-up her bigger sister with an early morning prank... so tell me what did you see? I saw you reading something of mine." Yang pinched Ruby's cheek back and forth as she cooed at the young girl.
"What are you doing Yang, who are these people. Why are they named A. numberjumbers? Why is Qrow A.6?" Ruby glared as she batted away the hand that held her cheek.
Yang turned overly serious, her face scrunched up as if pondering what course of action to take. She started to pace the room and her hair flickered as she battled her anger.
Yang marched over to the girl after a few minutes of pacing and she jabbed a finger into her sister's chest with each word spoken.
"You. Do. Not. Invade. My. Privacy." She declared and she sighed and the red shifted back to Lilac and she gave a weak smile. "Its nothing much, my friends and I like to do code words, when we go out to the bars its what we use to request if we need help from troublesome drunks or other types." Yang explained.
Ruby could only gasp in horror. "Yang... You're only 14 years old... you're going into bars already! Yang thats a bad crowd I won't let you go." Ruby protested and Yang realized her blunder.
"Bars? No no no I meant the monkey bars and the jungle gym, we get those occasional kid that want to take our spot at the top of the those and those who whine or cry when we... we can't face them alone."
"You never hang out at the Jungle gym though, or the monkey bars for that matter. You're always off with your friends talking and hanging out." Ruby cut through that lie like hot knife to butter.
Yang faltered as she tried to come up with something but she seemingly gave up.
"I forget that you can be oddly perceptive despite your age. Its just a game Ruby, we're not doing anything illegal." Yang attempted to reassure her younger sister but Ruby still had doubt planted in her mind.
Yang just wants me off her tail, she doesn't want me to know about what she's doing. I can respect Yang's wishes but this thing is obviously bothering her. I have to do something.
Ruby knew that she can't outright say she'd help. Yang would try harder to distance her from these plans. Ruby could count on Yang to be overprotective of her to the point that if there was danger she'd drag her to the other side of the world to avoid it. One of them was in Signal the other was about to enter Signal.
"Okay Yang. Its a game.. that means I can play to, whats it about."
Yang raised an eyebrow and thought about it for a moment. Yang was stone-faced for a while before she sighed and looked at her waiting sister.
"I'm not sure you're ready to play yet. As for the game. You can say there are multiple sides. The goal is to work together and find the leader of the other side and tag them. We don't know whose the leader on either side and if we tag them wrong we can't participate anymore."
"Is that why you said you've lost Uncle Qrow? Is that why A.3 and A.2 can't participate anymore?" Ruby asked innocently.
Yang's eyes harden as Ruby said this.
Her eyes were starting to become scary again. "So, oh sister of mine, How much did you read?"
Another Tuesday, another chapter. I almost couldn't write this at all. I normally spend the week planning them and then writing the chapter the day of and posting it when I'm satisfied with it. However the week leading up to this has been hectic.
Long story short: Wednesday was Duality. Thursday planning for both fics were successful. Friday and Saturday was RL job. Sunday I had to go do household needs as well as a mandatory work meeting. Monday had my day packed with preparing for my trip to visit relatives for the 4th of July. And I write and release this the Monday night and day of Tuesday morning before I have to leave... that wasn't a short story at all.
I will be gone to visit relatives and I can write out the next chapter. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post it though. As such Duality will be delayed. I also think I'll release a fic that isn't set on a time constraint like MSIATT or Duality.
It'll be an interesting survival fic, with familiar characters on different sides of the conflict... I'm sure you'll see if I ever do release it.
I also love reviews, the make my want to fly higher and motivate me to get these done faster. Tear me apart... but don't bash... please? Well anyway, until next time peeps. Falcon out!
Next (Expected) release: 7/10