Chapter 2

Deep in a bamboo forest, far away from the prying eyes of those who sought to rid themselves of impurity, a great mansion existed. Inside, there lived a princess, who simply sought to live carefree days. The long, opulent halls fitted with bamboo screens that didn't age a single day stretched seemingly forever. In a garden she and her 'friend' often had deadly bouts, they finished fighting each other for one last time.

"I guess it's your win…" The princess dusted off dirt from her robes, while fixing her black hair to its original position.

"Hah! Guess I did get the final win over you. Sure you don't want to go again?" Her 'sparring partner' healed all of her wounds with a fiery blaze, any marks or cuts vanishing as if they never existed in the first place.

"No…I'd like to spend the rest of my time doing other things. Besides, we've long since lost the desire to truly kill each other, no?" Her words struck a chord with her white-haired partner, as she sighed deeply in response.

"Yeah, yeah… Still, never thought this day was ever gonna come. I really believed we were gonna go against each other until the end of time or somethin'."

She smiled wryly. "There is one eternal law after all. All that begins, must end. And I am afraid that law is currently enacting itself. Have you made peace with…"

"Yep. No regrets. Have you?"

That was a question she wasn't prepared to answer. Had she any regrets?

"I suppose…I'll never get to say what I really felt to those in the palace. But those are minor regrets."

Her partner-no, friend, frowned. "It's not good to have any regrets. Are you sure you won't go back up there? I'm sure they'll let you back down, it's a special occasion after all."

She snorted in response. "More like they will finish what they started. No thanks, I want to stay to the end here, in this forest…" Flashes of an old bamboo cutter and his wife surfaced, and a deep pang of nostalgia resonated in her chest. Those were memories of happier days, one that she wished to replicate, but to no avail.

"Whatever you say…where's Ě̷͔̲̠̜̂̏͊́ị̷̧̇͝r̵̟͌́ì̴̢̛̛̯͇̟͓͋̚͜͜n̸̙͙͙̭͖̋͗͒͊̓̿?"

"Hm? Oh, she went to the Hakurei Shrine to cash in her favour. I don't know what she's planning, but it's probably for my sake. I don't believe it will help, but who am I to say no to her?"

Despite nodding to her, she could see that her friend/death rival was any less concerned. Still, she had a content look on her face as they both gazed upon the bright, shining moon.

"So, did you live a good life?"

"What do you mean?" The princess asked, causing her friend to laugh in response.

"Heh, you know what I mean, don't you, Ķ̵͚̼̹̼̗͈̟̭̉͗̌̕ạ̴̻̙̻̄ͅg̷̢̜̞͎̊̐͛̈̿͂͝ü̷̡̱̯̠̤̣͂̾̕͝y̷̱͖̺̘̗̅à̸̧̨̬͈̥͚̞̙?"

"GAH!"

Ruby shot up from her bed in a cold sweat, patting her body down for phantom wounds, only to find none whatsoever. Turning on her headlamp, two pairs of silver eyes inspected her body to be extra sure that she was fine. Minutes later, she calmed down and massaged her eyes. A quick glance at her alarm clock told her that it was half an hour before she had to wake up and leave for work in Vale.

Getting up from her futon, yes, she slept on a futon instead of a bed, part of her just felt that it was better to sleep on. Or rather, it reminded her of bygone days spent with her mother. Opening the window, she took in the early morning summer breeze and reflected on what she just dreamed of.

A sense of deja vu was the strongest feeling she could describe, but it wasn't quite right. Nostalgia? She never saw it before in her life, but the mansion in her dream felt like 'home' in the same way that the Xiao Long residence was 'home'. Then there was the white-haired girl, a stranger, yet a familiar one all the same. Two contradictions that should not co-exist, and yet she felt as if they did. Shaking her head again, she noticed some noises coming from below, in their kitchen if she guessed correctly.

"Qrow picks the strangest times to come back…"

Guessing that it was probably her drunk uncle, she headed down the stairs, only to find that instead of the familiar over-gelled black hair her uncle sported, it was a head full of short, blond hair.

"Oh shi-I mean hey Ruby! You're…up earlier than usual…"

Her father, Taiyang, was the one who made all that noise.

"Dad…?" Ruby looked at where he was, his body trying to hide various breakfast ingredients laid out on their countertop. Her expression softened as she gave him a deadpan look.

"Early morning congee?"

"Aha…you got me. I just wanted to surprise you and Yang for once. It's been a long time since I made breakfast y'know?"

"Mn. I noticed." Among the items laid out on the countertop, Ruby noticed one thing that he probably should not have taken out. Walking over, she grabbed a clay soup jar and put it back into the fridge. "That was medicine I made for Qrow. It will be good for his liver."

"Oh? Summer taught you the recipe?"

Ruby shook her head. "I followed the instructions in the book she left for me. I believe Qrow is intimately familiar with it?"

"Heh, she used to strap him to a chair and force feed it to him after a day of heavy drinkin-" Taiyang cut himself off before he could finish, sparing a glance at Ruby to see if she seemingly picked up on any 'inappropriate' topics.

"I'm fifteen, not five."

"Right, always keep forgetting that. It's been a while huh?"

Been a while? What has been a while?

"If this is about what I want to do in the future-"

"No! Don't get it twisted again. Summer would have loved you following in her footsteps. It's just that I'm not sure you're ready for it, having to learn nearly everything on your own."

He was referring to miko training. Usually, in times gone past, prospective shrine maidens were to be taught by a senior in a shrine and all of the duties that went with it. However, Ruby did not have this luxury. There were no shrines on Patch, so she had to go to Vale for the nearest shrine in the Mistralian quarter of Vale. Even then, however, she was the only miko present there, the shrine itself was run by her boss, the head priest. Needless to say, priest training and miko training were completely different, and besides, the number of those who took up being shrine maidens Remnant weres few and far between.

"What else would I do then? Abandon the Kami?"

"啋! Don't say it like that, if my grandmother was still here, she'd whack your head for saying something like that."

She did see where her father came from. Even at Signal, she got weird looks for saying what she wanted her future path to be. While most of her classmates said things like lawyers, businessmen or even huntsmen and huntresses, she was the only one who wanted to become a miko. After a lengthy explanation of what it was, it was usually boiled down to: 'Ruby wants to become a nun?!'

"...I'll leave you alone. Try to make it edible this time."

"Hey! I'm not that bad at it!" Ruby went back upstairs, retrieving her bow for practice. A bog standard morning in Patch so far, though she had to deal with the head priest next. Whoever said that with age comes wisdom, she surely wasn't seeing it in the old coot.

AN:

I had to write something other than Azur Lane for once. On/off updates, no guarantee of consistency. I write for fun, this ain't my job.

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