Well, as you might have seen from my other fic, writing has been slow lately. Back to school and all that stuff has really been bogging down my progress. Either way, I'm writing when I can, and I hope you enjoy. Beacon is coming up next chapter. Finally...
Here we go...
Life is like a box of chocolates.
Even to Ruby Rose - the unlucky one - the common saying applied. Though in quite a different way than to most.
When Ruby would open a box of chocolates, she wouldn't wonder what flavor she was going to get - because she already knew. She already knew what she was going to get before she even took a bite.
The contents of the chocolate varied, but in essence they were always the same as well. Something dark and gooey that she'd end up regretting but eating anyway. Whether it be caramel or rasberry or one of the other endless possibilities mixed with more limitless options they were all going to have one thing in common.
Life was almost entirely analogous - at least in a nutshell.
When Ruby would run into a crossroad for anything in her life, she wouldn't waste her time worrying about whether she should choose one or the other; because fate already planned everything out for her - all paths were the same - just like the chocolates.
No matter how hard she tried to tip the odds in her favor, life never left her even the smallest remnant of sugar. Only bitterness and darkness and sorrow.
Life wasn't fair - Ruby knew that.
Perhaps it was just a random drop of the ping-pong ball, but Lady Luck always seemed to have destined her to fail - no matter what. She'd pondered it before, tried to figure out why it would have such a bias against her, but nothing ever came from thoughts like those.
Fate will always win, for better or worse.
For her it was worse, definitely; she'd experienced it, over and over again. Fate would keep on kicking her until she had no strength to get back up. It was practically a proven fact at this point - that she was destined for nothing but pain and sadness.
Something could be done once, and be considered a fluke; twice, luck; three times even; and something could be passed off as a coincidence. But when something happens as many times as Ruby's aching heart...
Which is why those words were so suprising. Against all odds - Fate smiled upon her.
A shortcut.
It was so utterly shocking that Ruby was still trying to wrap her head around it. In a world that seemed to have destined her to suffer, the offer was way beyond the normal world's balance. What had changed?
A sigh escaped Ruby - one full of stress induced exhaustion - as she leaned her elbow against the countertops, pointlessly mulling over Ozpin's invitation as she listened to the music playing. She wasn't a fan, but with it blaring it was hard to think of anything else without at least one ear following the lyrics. Something about being "crazy in love" or whatever, but like she said not really her style.
"Bartender!" Ruby called to the thin twenty-something, who looked like this was just some sort of part time job, judging by his age and interest in doing an even halfway decent job. She'd been sitting here for five minutes and he hadn't so much as even started to approach her to ask for her order.
He stumbled over to her seat over the counter, not saying anything, so Ruby went ahead,
"I'll have a Strawberry Sunrise." she told him after glancing shortly at the menu, slipping him some lien; which earned a raised eyebrow, but he left to go make the drink anyway.
This is the worst tavern I've ever seen. Which perhaps wasn't saying much, because this was the only bar she'd been in ever, but really, couldn't the bartender at least look like he wasn't about to drop dead from standing behind a counter all day.
"I really don't see why Uncle Qrow goes to this place, wow." Maybe the drinks were better than the service, who knew? Then again, Ruby wasn't exactly a alcohol coonossieur, but with a name like Strawberry Sunrise it had to be pretty fruity, right? Less alcohol content altogether as well, she made sure, because the last thing she wanted was for Uncle Qrow to be the one carrying her home drunk.
She wasn't actually old enough to drink yet; she still had a year to go, but she'd figured with a hood she could pass as slightly older than she actually was. Perhaps it was mild intrigue to see what Uncle Qrow loved so much about the stuff, but she knew that he didn't drink it because it tasted good.
She swiveled back and forth in her seat a couple times, constantly glancing towards the door to see if her uncle was there, but he hadn't emerged yet.
The soon to be huntress in-training figured she'd wait ten more minutes or something; it wasn't unusual for Uncle Qrow to be late, in fact, it was practically his calling card.
The clock. It read 8:30. PM it was, and it sure looked the part as the booths and the bar were starting to fill up. Though to Ruby's left and right there were empty spaces, even though there were plenty of people past that. I guess people just don't want to sit next to me.
That was most certainly welcomed by her, because if she was being honest, she didn't really want to sit next to them either. Though when she wondered why regardless, she figured it was because no one wanted to sit next to a small hooded figure, both because of her mysteriousness and petiteness.
"Here you go." the disengaged man offered. You've found your voice. she wanted to mock, but decided not to.
After he walked away, Ruby picked up the glass, raising it high,
"Cheers, Ruby." She sighed. "We got into Beacon."
The underage drinker took a gulp. And then promptly began a coughing spree.
"This is Oolong Tea!" she called out, but that only earned wary looks and not a new drink.
Whatever, she thought, I guess he figured I wasn't old enough. The hood might give people the wrong idea too... Ruby supposed the tea wasn't bad, a bit bitter indeed, but oddly soothing as well.
With nothing better to do she sat there sipping her new beverage, and yet no matter how many times she glanced towards the door he wasn't there. It wasn't until Ruby saw the bartender and someone else from the back of the pub chatting, the newcomer handing him an envelope and pointing to the hooded figure with her head held low that she realized what was transpiring.
"This is for you."
A white envelope slid into her view, which she then picked up, holding it with both hands and staring at it for a long few seconds. It was sealed closed. What could it be? she thought, but in the back of her mind she was suspecting what it was.
With a twirl of her hand she flipped it around. There was some writing scrawled on the front. It read,
Miss Rose
Miss Rose closed her eyes and turned the item on its back, feeling the crease with her finger and slipping it open. A sigh. The folded piece of paper easily slid out, and Ruby opened it and began to read,
Ruby,
Sorry for standing you up tonight. It's okay if you're furious at me. That's your choice.
Congrats on getting into Beacon by the way. I heard from Oz about it. Also about what you did to that poor guy. Heh, you're just like your mother. Can't keep out of trouble...
Sure brings back memories... Remember that time when you and your sister went to the arcade in Vale? You guys begged to go there for the longest time until I finally had to take you. Heh, and then once you got there you blew all your allowance before you even played one game. I sure as hell didn't give you any. Didn't talk to me for weeks, brats...
Eh, it was a long time ago... You probably don't even remember.
I was there the other day, though, you know. That same arcade. Was in Vale for an errand and a drink when I saw it and so I decided to take a look inside. It's changed for sure. I mean, it's been almost ten years so it's not a surpise.
It reminded me of something very important, though. If you will, please read on.
Open up. I know now that you'll never truly put your past behind you, but don't let it drag you down, don't let it stop you from experiencing what I know your heart wants. Grief is a garden of compassion. Keep your heart open-
"This is a waste of time." Ruby screamed to herself, and it took an extreme level of self control to resist tearing the letter to shreds. It was unexplainable why she didn't, and why she kept her silver orbs locked onto each letter, each meaning, each... damnable way that he told her how to live her life.
She continued unimpeded,
-through everything, and the pain can become your guide in your quest for peace.
I don't know, maybe I've drank too much while writing this, but if you've made it this far then keep going. Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you're living?
Anyway, that's enough freshman year psych bull, just stay safe and stay safe.
Your...
Uncle Qrow
P.S.
If you haven't already check inside the envelope. It's the only one that not a pile of ash...
Ruby's hands trembled anxiously, and the tension was so high it could be cut with a knife. Just a ounce of pressure on the trigger and this damned letter would be rended in half. But instead she just slammed it on the counter, which probably earned even more glances but she didn't care.
Though the teenage girl had already decided to not pay heed to anything her uncle exhorted, she quickly found her hand digging into the envelope once again, stroking the remaining contents. After a short pause she extracted it, and though she tried to prevent it she couldn't.
Ruby cried. No, this was not real. This couldn't be real. This- this photo, of her... and Summer, and Taiyang, and Yang. They were dead, Ruby was alive. This was wrong. So wrong.
And expeditiously she blacked out their faces.
Crying in a bar, that must have been a common sight. So even when Ruby poured her heart out over a dusty old photo given to her by a dusty old crow, no one batted and eye.
Like I care...
The mountainous pass she traversed was sheer and bleak, cut across a jagged cliff-face and surrounded by cloying mist. Her feet hit the uneven terrain unsteadily, though Yang compensated gracefully, keeping on her toes as she ran the course with practiced ease. She sped forward at an alarmingly but efficient pace, deftly evading the parts where the ice would give way to a feather and clutching the flimsy folder close under her arm.
A chute of snow and debris trundled down the open edge as the young woman leapt over a gaping crevice; the sequence would - and should - have concluded in a elegant landing, if not for the untimely fall of more of the dreaded substance on her cloak. Her feet were swept clean off the ice, not even the traction of her extremely practical boots could prevent her impending fall on her ass. Why did Cinder have to choose a mountain on the snowiest side of Remnant of all places!?
"Damn it, Cinder." she cursed, shaking her head and rubbing the victimized of Cinder's inconspicuous but inconvienent choice of a hideout. Nothing hurt, her aura could ensure that much at least.
Yang pushed herself back to her feet irrespective, impatiently tugging at the cumbersome fabric around her neck. It came loose eventually, and she held one corner in each hand in front of her frame.
It was a coral colored cloak - a good portion of it, at least - dirtied and bloodied from repeated use and combat. The ends looked like they could have been chewed off by an animal or something (didn't one of those Schnee officials have a guard dog?), frayed and charred from times when Yang got too careless...
Nonetheless, the mission was a success. She patted the familiar material of the folders with pride; it was intel, of relative importance, she gathered, as the length it took to get was a good minute or two longer than usual. Yang wasn't certain of what it was for; Cinder only gave her bits and pieces, enough for her to find what she needed but not enough to grasp the purpose or intent. That was just how it worked.
Yang let the cloak drift off in the wind - she was long overdue for a new one anyway - pressing on towards her destination. She couldn't afford to be late; Cinder was cold enough when she was on time.
Around a corner Yang espied a small building built out of metal plating attached to the rock face of the mountain, internally grinning at her own handiwork with a hammer and few nails. Silver flashed through a thin slit in the structure; it dissapeared, then a slim man slipped through the door on the side, darting in the opposite direction of Yang and into the wilderness. Curious, but not enough to chase after Mercury, she didn't alter her course, ducking under the rusted window and swinging herself inside.
Instantly, an arc of flame shot toward her, its warmth licking her throat as Yang tuck and rolled to the side, avoiding the brunt of the blast. There was a reason this place was made out of metal, not wood. She touched the burn on her throat with a smile, excitement brimming under the surface. Her face was kept as impassive as possible as she turned around, documents warm but untouched under her arm. Luckily her reports were both sealed and fire-proof - she learned from experience. "Nice to see you, too, boss."
The lady inside ignored her in favor of flipping through a stack of documents. Long, ashen black hair flowed elegantly down her back, a dark brand etched into her alabaster skin. As youthful looking and delicate as always, though Yang knew she was neither inexperienced nor fragile.
"Status?" It was cold; Yang's heart sunk. It had been a month since they'd last seen each other, and...
"Success, obviously," she said, trying to stay cheerful and optimistic; Cinder was usually frank and indifferent, though the frost had recently been more palpable - it shouldn't have stung, but it did. "They didn't stand a chance - just a few embers had 'em on their knees."
Normally, this is where Cinder would snap at her, descending brutally upon Yang's overconfidence - the opening was deliberate - but no recriminations or flames of lesson came. Cinder hardly seemed to acknowledge anything past her first word.
"And your report?"
Yang wanted to sass her, brag more about her success (an interrogation; Cinder used to be so proud of that), but she had taken the fun out of everything. A sigh escaped her instead. "I got names, a few faces. The layout - some security stuff. They didn't know much more than that."
Cinder held her hand out; Yang drew forth the package, slowly passing it the woman who thought acknowledgement was outdated. She idly cut open the seal, sliding out the plethora of papers, many crumpled or creased because Yang was in a rush. Yang stood there patiently as she skimmed through them, waiting for Cinder to demean her for messily scrawled writing and notes - to scold her for any fleeting descriptions, for cuts too shallow or for not pressing her hostage harder, harsher, but she spoke nary a word, reading silently.
Part of it dissapointed her, because if not a shower of praise or a flurry of scoldings then what?
Yang fidgeted in place as Cinder continued to read, and then she moved to store the files away, in a exquisitely organized cabinet on the other side of the spectrum of tidiness. Even when Yang started whistling while Cinder sorted through her library - something intentional and impolite - no words were spoken. This was their interaction for an entire year: brisk, impersonal. Yang broke.
"Are you still mad at me for that?"
The already pale lighting filtering through the cracks in the metal seemed to dim further after her words were uttered. Cinder froze, hands still deep in the filing cabinet, and the brand etched between her shoulders was where Yang's eyes fell. The partial cause, or rather, the partial result of Cinder's lingering and subtle hostility.
"You make me sound like some petty child," Cinder resumed shuffling around papers as her sibyllant voice emanated, but the added edge in it made the hairs on Yang's neck stand up. "Is that how you see it, my pet? See this? As some little game for you to pass your time with?"
"No, no-" Yang backed up, even though Cinder's back was still turned, and Yang's eyes still locked onto the source of untold power, among other things. The intense silence had been grating, but this... Yang had thought she'd known her angry, but didn't realize... "I just... It's been a year, and I've worked my best-"
"You could work your best a thousand years but it will never make up for your failure." Cinder immediately cut her off, prompting Yang to wince. "Do you think I went through the effort of training you for my amusement? For some - game? Out of the kindness of my heart?"
It hurt, worse than any bruise or cut could. Was this what their relationship had be reduced to? Certainly... but how long would it sustain? Cinder couldn't - wouldn't - keep it up forever. Would she? Yang had no answer to that question...
Nor did she for any of the rhetorical ones.
"No, you know better than that..." Cinder reverted to an upright position with a new black folder held in one hand, one heel on the edge of the sliding drawer, slowly pushing it in causing that ear piercing sound like a nail on chalk. And then she looked towards her. "Don't forget your purpose here."
A glare that could stop a heart if it wanted to stared dead straight into Yang's red orbs, but she didn't back down. A lesser mortal would have - even she would have, under normal circumstances - but anger boiled inside Yang, just brimming at the surface, threatening to blow at the slightest provocation, and that gave her courage. The faux kind.
"My purpose? What about our deal?" She employed Ember Celica; it might have been useless, suicidal... She wasn't going to try anything, nor did she ever intend to, but it was instinctual.
"Our deal?" CInder seemed amused, as if she were dealing with a petulant child. Yang bristled.
"You said you'd tell me everything. You swore that if I - if I-"
"Put those claws away; it's embarrassing," she chided, but with a dangerous edge. Yang shrunk back, retracting her weapons. "I said no such thing. Even if I had, you saw her yourself - she's fine."
Yang's heart stopped in her chest. That was-How did she know that?
cinderalwaysknewcinderalwaysknewcinderalways
"Besides, what would knowing have done for you?" Cinder asked. "Would that have made your father's weakness any less devestating? No. It would have only distracted you - and it did so spectacularly."
"But-" Yang looked away.
"But nothing." This is where threats would normally enter, but Yang was past the point of needing them. There were threats in every heartbeat, every breath - threats of varying degrees that she didn't even want to contemplate. "Don't forget your purpose. I could have burned you alive for your desertion, but instead I kept you here, in hopes you might be useful for something."
Yang found solace in that fact, at least, as she looked back into the eyes of a snake. "And I've found a way you can be, so get it together." The black package was flung towards her, lightning fast, and it would have broken Yang's ribs had she not caught them instinctively with one hand. "I have a mission for you."
Yang opened it. An official-looking paper with a name and a face - her face - with a card, a seal... Pictures of forests, and teenagers in colorful clothing, and tall spires... familiar, tall spires. The hell!? She shut her eyes, praying that this wasn't what it looked like. She opened them after a few moments, drifting further down. "By the end of the week, you will be Yasmine Zhang, graduate of Haven Academy. An aspiring Huntress attending Beacon this year."
What? She never had to pretend to be anyone before - not so officially, anyway. Not beyond 'Hey, Mercury, I'll pretend to be that security guard' or Emerald yelling, 'Yang, you're a fellow torture victim. Let me pretty up your face so it's believable' sort of nonesense. She read further just to be sure, and then once she read it all, she blinked a few times for confirmation.
Confirmation that Hell officially froze over.
"You're sending me away?"
"I thought you wanted to leave," Cinder toyed, dangerously, but still close to how they used to interact: teasing interwoven with threat and malice. It affected Yang but not in the way Cinder was probably expecting it to. "Now get ready. All you need to know is in those folders. Initiation is in three weeks."
"Wait. These are official papers - and that ID - they must have cost-" Their contact in Haven academy... He was reliable, but Yang had done the intel work there initially, and that man was difficult to bribe. Slimey and smart enough not to cross them outright, but pricey. Another piece of the puzzle slotted into place. "How important is this mission?"
"Important enough to get you eviserated if you fail."
Yang took a big gulp. She already had one strike. If she failed this... two. Somehow Cinder didn't seem willing to count to three. "But - espionage? Cinder, you know I'm crap at that... seduction and quiet stuff. Maybe Emerald-"
"Stop whining. Under different circumstances, I would do it myself - such a task requires finesse, I am aware. But our options are limited. They know my face."
"But not... mine." Okay. That was understandable. Yang was her right-hand gal, most reliable and steadfast... pet. "But for how - how long? What would I do?"
She knew better than to ask why. After so long, she knew better - part of Yang didn't actually want to know, why someone of Cinder's caliber would be interested in a school for young kids. No, Yang didn't want to know. That was how most of these things went. Attack this, torture this - "Don't think of why. Just do it. If you don't, we'll kidnap your sister and-"
"Even I am not privy to that information. Six months to a year at least, I suppose."
Six months?!
"You're only job is to sit and wait for instructions - don't attract attention. Even you can do that much. Am I wrong?"
"N-no, but I've never-" -been on a mission that long. Been away from you that long. Been around other people. Had to communicate to anyone. Had to go without explosive outlets for...
"Then do not fail me." A look of despair flittered across Yang's face, and knowing Cinder's skill at detecting such subtleties, it was unlikely that she didn't notice. It was clear that she did, as she added, "If this goes smoothly, then perhaps I'll take you out of this - menial work. You've been lounging around here long enough."
Yang immediately brightened. "If I do this, you'll forgive me?"
"I'll pardon your insubordination." Cinder corrected. Amber eyes turned that shade and she turned her head away; her tone turned slightly huskier, emotion-rich. "That is all that matters. The forgiveness you seek is inconsequential, Yang."
It was weak, even to Yang; Cinder used her real name. She knew it, but it wasn't something that could be helped. Cinder's disappointment was like scalding water...
Yang had run away because she felt betrayed, and abandoned, and while both of those were true, Cinder had taken the fall for her mistake - and though she said nothing, she knew that Salem did not take failure lightly. The guilt tore at her gut. "Maybe. But will you?"
Cinder laughed at that. Was it mocking, pitying? She wasn't sure. But she honestly didn't give a damn...
"If you impress me... Perhaps."
Yes! And that was all that mattered.
"Then just leave it to me, boss." Yang reassured in her usual peppy self, leaving any time that Cinder might use to reconsider in the dust as she swept up the assignment sheet and leapt onto the windowsill.
"One more thing before you leave... When I was reading your report, there wasn't mention of where you disposed of the bodies."
Yang froze. Cinder was like heat; warmth and soothing at first, then searing and burning until it felt ice cold and numb. "Err... No, there wasn't. I - I forgot."
"Forgot to what, hmm? Dispose of the bodies, or detail where your disposed of them?" Cinder paused, and Yang sweat-dropped. "Or... perhaps... to create bodies to be disposed of at all?"
"You know what? I think I should go get started on this Beacon thingy-" Yang moved to jump out the window, but she choked as Cinder grabbed her effortlessly by the collar, flinging her back into the dark, condemning room.
Oh, shit. Of all the explanations she'd tried, only the ones where Yang was cool and logical seemed to make any headway and were the least painful. "I hid my face, and my voice isn't all that distinctive, and there was little time... It was morning, you know, people and all; it was quickest just to leave, and-"
"Excuses, excuses." Cinder gestured something, and her voice was as accusing as ever. Yang knew that Cinder would have been upset, and even though her excuses were true, they weren't the real reason. The real reason was something unknown to her beloved master. "Tell me, what do you think the Schnee corporation is going to do, when they hear that someone interrogated their former security?"
"I - I knocked them out, and used the drugs, and - and threatened their families-" she hedged.
"Is that a guarantee you're giving me, my pet?" Once again Cinder countered in a question. It always seemed to be more effective on Yang, and she knew that. And more often than not Yang didn't have an answer to those questions...
"Well, n-no..." Not any that didn't contain some form of stuttering, anyway.
"Now they'll be on edge, which makes our job all the more difficult."
"I'm sorry." Yang would have been a fool to not expect any repercussions; she braced herself for a blow that was probably more commonplace than it should have been.
"It's all right," she assured, suddenly mild as milk. It was a stark contrast to not a moment ago, and Yang instantly knew something was up. "It's not your fault, after all. The mistakes of the student are the failings of the teacher, are they not?"
Dread.
"I have been neglecting you, haven't I?" A fire lit in her hands; Yang cringed at Cinder's tone and her entire body tensed instinctively at the motion. It was coming, and it was worse than usual. "Has my pet missed my warmth these long, cold nights?"
"You can be so gross sometimes." Yang laughed nervously, attempting to stall until Cinder... forgot? Maybe not, but maybe just long enough... She edged back towards the window. Almost there...
"Now, it's been a while since we've had proper fun, hmm?"
Fuck my life...
Whew, this last scene was fun to write. Anyway, Beacon starts next chapter. Expect Weiss and Blake to mix it up. Enough said.
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