Prequel 1 : Red Dawn
This would be the day she'd waited for. This would be the day she'd open up the doors.
Ruby exhaled deeply and lit the last candle. She shook the match out, then tossed it into the wastebasket. She put her red hood up and looked deeply at the flickering flames not far from her silver eyes.
She was ready.
They saw her as small and helpless. They saw her as just a child. But this was a point where she tipped.
Today would be it.
Taiyang tightened the last bolt, then awkwardly shifted out from under the sink. He grunted as he stood up, then panted slightly and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Try it now," he said.
Summer nodded and turned on the faucet. Nothing came out. Then suddenly a quick splash of water sprayed out, but not from the faucet but rather the pipe Taiyang had just been fiddling with. Summer quickly shut off the water, then sighed and looked to her husband.
"What do you think the problem is?" she asked.
Taiyang sighed. "I know what the problem is," he replied. "That bolt doesn't fit right. I thought I could make do with it, but it looks like I'm going to have to go buy a new one." He shrugged. "Do have any spare Lien on you?"
Summer reached into her pocket and pulled out a small handful of money, placing it gently in Tiayang's hand. "Will this be enough?" she asked.
Taiyang nodded. "Yep, it should be more than enough." He winked at his wife. "I might bring home something special as well." Summer blushed.
"By the way, do you know where the girls are?" Taiyang asked.
"Oh, Yang's down in the basement with her punching bag. I think Ruby's still in her room doing gods know what." Her expression suddenly changed to one of concern, and she looked into her husband's eyes. "Taiyang, she's been acting weird lately."
Taiyang shook his head. "It's all that Grimm stuff she has. I don't know why she likes monsters and dark stuff so much."
Summer glanced around. "It's not just that. The way she's been speaking, the way she carries herself, the look in her eye; Taiyang, it scares me."
Taiyang put his hands on Summer's shoulders. "She's okay. It's just a phase. Pretty soon she'll grow out of all this monster stuff and move on." He kissed the top of her forehead. "Ruby's fine. She's not dangerous, she's just a little weird right now. Yang had kind of a mean streak too, remember?"
Summer raised an eyebrow. "Yes, but at least I know where she got that from."
Taiyang nodded. "I know. After Raven left, she started acting more like her. But she got over her, and now she thinks you're supermom."
Summer glanced around again. "Only because I don't beat her." She sighed. "I just wish I could know why Ruby is acting up. Was it something I did?"
Taiyang hugged Summer tightly. "No, no, no. You've done everything perfectly. But kids go through their dark phases, and Ruby's just going through hers. If she decides to go to the Academies with Yang, she'll be fighting Grimm. So she's just into some dark stuff right now, but it's just her taste in entertainment right now."
Summer pressed her head against his chest. "Okay. I trust you."
Taiyang stepped out onto the front porch and headed down the stairs. He looked at the cellar door nearby and heard Yang grunting underneath it, along with the frequent loud smacks of her pummeling the punching bag. She smiled a bit knowing his daughter was taking such good care of her body by exercising every day. He looked out to the car next to the dusty driveway, then quickly walked over and got in. With one last long exhale, he started the motor and pulled away from the house, and began his drive down the dirt road to civilization.
In the back of the house, Summer stepped out with a handful of wet laundry. She casually walked over to the clothesline and pulled out a bedsheet, and began quietly putting it up. The breeze felt good; it was cool enough to offset the warm sun, but not cold enough to cause a chill. With autumn coming soon, the days would be getting colder.
Summer became lost in thought as she pinned up a pillowcase, thinking about the changing seasons and the colder days. She was so focused on the thoughts buzzing around in her head that she did not even notice the sound of the back door gently opening and closing, and the sound of footsteps in the grass behind her.
Suddenly a voice startled her, snapping her out of her trance. "Hey, mom?" It was Ruby's voice. The choice of words was inquisitive, but the tone sounded like a firm statement. Summer turned around to see her daughter standing in front of her, her hands behind her back and her eyes down at the ground. She was dressed in her favorite black blouse with a waist cincher, black skirt, and her bold red hooded cloak.
Summer stepped forward towards her daughter. "Yes, Ruby? Did you need something?" she asked, concerned about Ruby's expression and stature.
Ruby looked up at her with gleaming silver eyes. Her brows turned down, and her mouth slowly strained into a smile. But Summer did not recognize it as a smile of joy. At least, not a good kind of joy.
"Yeah, actually." Ruby said, still smiling. "I need you to stand right there."
Suddenly Ruby's hands flew from behind her back. In her left hand was one of the knives from the kitchen, the blade reflecting the sunlight with a silver hue almost the same shade as its wielder's eyes. Before Summer even had the chance to open her mouth to scream, Ruby rushed forward and rammed the blade directly into her mother's stomach. Summer's scream was cut off, and she could do nothing but gasp for air. Ruby looked down at the wound, which was beginning to bleed profusely. She began pulling the blade out, but only went halfway before thrusting it back in again.
Summer could do nothing but stare right past Ruby and feel the pain in her stomach. She coughed slightly, and felt a splatter of blood escape her moth and dribble onto her chin. Then the rest of her mouth began to fill up with sour blood.
Ruby suddenly and sharply pulled the knife, covered in red, out of her mother. She did not hesitate to thrust it back in again, this time higher and angled up. Summer squeaked a bit in another attempt to scream, hoping that Taiyang, Yang, anyone would hear it. But it was not enough. Summer began to feel dizzy. Her vision began to blur, and the environment around her began to warp as she lost her balance. The sunlight began to fade, and the world darkened before her. Before she succumbed to the dark, she mustered every last bit of her energy to angle her head down to her daughter. Ruby looked up at her, and began twisting the blade. Summer did not eve feel it now. Summer opened her mouth, allowing blood to run out. As her vision faded, she sputtered one last question.
"Ruby… why…?"
Summer's last emotion was fear. Fear not of her daughter's answer, but her lack of one. All Ruby did in reply was spread her lips in a toothy grin. That was the last thing Summer Rose saw before her vision went black and she exhaled one final breath.
Ruby twisted the knife some more, making sure the victim was dead. Summer remained still, and Ruby could not feel her racing heartbeat or sharp breaths anymore. She slowly pulled the knife out, allowing her mother's corpse to fall in a heap on the grass. Ruby panted as she looked down at her kill, still smiling. Then she walked a few steps forward, leaned down, and grabbed her mother's hair with her free hand. She stood up, pulling Summer's body up with her. Ruby looked forward to the woods near the house, and began walking, slowly dragging the still bloody corpse behind her and matting the grass as she walked. She huffed as she pulled the body behind her, unaware that a pair of lilac eyes were peering from the basement window, having watched the whole thing.
The sun was setting as Taiyang pulled into the driveway. He quickly shut off the car and hopped out, carefully minding the small bag of bolts he had bought as well as a bouquet of red roses. Seeing him arrive home, a figure burst from the door and ran towards him.
Taiyang jumped, slightly startled to see Yang rushing in his direction. Her head was down and her body was positioned in a sprinting fashion, causing her to reach him quickly. Upon making contact, Yang threw her arms around her father and buried her face in his chest. Taiyang stood still, still surprised, as Yang mumbled something.
"Goodness, Yang, what's going on?" Taiyang asked, placing his hand on her head and stepping back to look her in the eyes. That's when he knew something was wrong; Yang's eyes were filled with tears. Her face was red and puffy from crying. She could barely breathe through her sobs.
"Dad…" Yang sputtered. "I've been waiting for you… to get home… I couldn't…"
Yang hunched down to her level, his face an expression of fright and concern. "Yang, calm down. What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"
Yang tried her best to answer through her sharp breaths and powerful sobs. "Dad… It's Ruby… S-she… killed… Mom!"
Taiyang's heart skipped a beat and his body began to shake. "Yang, what did you say? What are you talking about?!"
Yang inhaled sharply as her nose began to run. She exhaled, composing herself just long enough to get her reply out. "I saw Ruby attack Mom with a knife…. There was so much blood… She went into the woods… She hasn't come back…"
Tayang promptly placed his hands on Yang's shoulders, shaking her slightly as he pulled her slightly closer. "Yang, you have to tell me the truth. I swear, if this is some sort of prank or game…"
"No!" Yang yelled, interrupting him. She sobbed more, tears streaming off of her face. "Mom's dead! And Ruby killed her!"
Taiyang's heart sank and his body began to shake. Tears began to fill his eyes. It could not be true. There was no way. His breathing grew rapid as he looked at his daughter.
"Yang, where did you say they went?" he huffed, trying to stay calm.
"The woods!" Yang cried. "Ruby dragged Mom's body into the woods! And she hasn't come back…"
Taiyang stood up straight, dropped the bolts and roses, and ran to the side of the house. Yang followed closely, barely able to see through her stinging tears. As Taiyang skidded to a halt, he looked to the woods behind their home. Just as Yang got behind him, Taiyang whirled around and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Yang, I want you to do exactly what I say. You're going to go to the upstairs bathroom, you're going to lock the door, and you're going to lay down in the bathtub. Don't grab anything sharp or your gauntlets. You're going to stay there and you're not going to make a peep, understand?"
Yang shook her head. "Please don't leave me. Please don't go after her. Pease!"
Taiyang pulled Yang closer. "I have to! If there's even the slightest chance that your mother is still alive, I need to go after her! Maybe I can figure out what's going on! Now you have to go, and promise me you won't open that door for anymore, including me! Understand? Yang, do you understand?!"
Yang hesitated, but inhaled sharply and nodded.
"Good. Now go! Now!" Taiyang shouted before standing upright again. Yang turned and sprinted to the front door, disappearing inside the house.
Taiyang reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. He flipped it open, then sprinted with all of his might into the woods, unaware of the blood-soaked grass beneath his feet. As he entered the mossy woods, the bright light of the setting sun was partially blocked by the trees, giving the illusion of a wooden cage wrapped around the area. The air was cold and damp, and the ground was overrun with leaves, moss, and sticks.
Taoyang ran through the woods at his top speed, careful only to mind his footing around the occasional rocks or roots. He kept his eyes locked firmly forward in the direction he was headed. He knew that the woods ended in a cliffside, and just hoped he could get there before the sun finished its dip down into the horizon. He paid little attention to his ever-growing exhaustion, with the only thoughts in his mind being hopes that this was not what Yang said it was. He hoped this was a mistake. He hoped this was a misunderstanding.
He hoped his wife was not dead.
As Taiyang sprinted past the dark trees, he began to notice them breaking up in volume, meaning he was nearing the end of the woods and would soon be at the cliffside. He panted as he began to run out of breath, but persevered nonetheless. As the trees began to disappear around him, he suddenly felt a wave of warm air as he breached the woods and into the open, the full might of the sunset lighting up his view.
Taiyang squinted to see past the glaring sunlight that had spread all across the western horizon, making the entire cliffside glow. He scanned the environment, frantically searching for something, anything, that could point him in the right direction.
Taiyang placed a hand over the staring sun, blocking out some of its intrusive light. As his vision darkened, he could not see anything out of the ordinary except for a relatively large stone sitting upright on a jutting out edge. Upon closer observation, Taiyang noticed it was shaped almost perfectly rectangular.
Almost like a tombstone.
As Taiyang stepped closer, the sun finally gave up and disappeared below the horizon, leaving a glowing twilight sky in its wake. As his vision became clearer, Taiyang noticed something about the strange stone: there was something crudely carved along the side facing the woods. Taiyang stepped closer to inspect it, then gasped when he identified it.
It was the Rose family emblem, carved into the stone and outlined in dry, red blood.
Taiyang had to muster all of his courage to step forward. As he got closer, he was even more terrified by what he saw next: a large hole dug at the foot of the stone. Taiyang's heart raced and his breath was stuck in his throat as he peered into the hole, about six feet deep.
His heart stopped when he saw his wife, Summer Rose, dead in the hole with a knife in her chest and blood covering her face and clothes. He shrieked aloud and leapt back, falling backwards onto the grass. He crawled backwards on his hands and rear, desperately trying to escape what he had just seen. He felt nauseous, and his head began to hurt. His breathing became rapid as he began to panic. When he heard the voice, he nearly jumped a mile.
"Hello father," a familiar voice said softly.
Taiyang jumped to his feet and turned to face the voice, From behind a nearby tree, Ruby Rose walked out. However, she was carrying something: a large scythe. It was the one that she had built for herself, but now it was painted black and red, with the only part still metallic silver the long, sharp blade. Ruby held the weapon behind her back, with the blade curved over her head like a lethal halo. A disturbing grin rested on her face.
As Taiyang stared, he could not even recognize his own daughter. She was different. The glimmer in her silver eyes was haunting and twisted. The look on her face was not one any human should ever have: one of pure, unrestrained… evil. He opened his moth, but found it hard to say anything. Eventually, he managed to cough out a single question.
""Ruby… what have you done?"
Ruby chuckled. "I just did what I was always meant to do. And today was the day I fulfilled my destiny."
Taiyang could not contain himself any longer. His rage began to surface.
"Ruby, cut the crap, right now! Who told you to do this? Who?!" he yelled.
Ruby threw her head back and laughed aloud, her face almost directly pointed at the blade above her head. While the laugh was the same tone as her voice, it was easily the most sinister sounding noise Taiyang had ever heard.
"Oh, father. As if I would do what anyone told me to do ever again. No, I chose this a long time ago, and today was my day to let the real me out! I've become more than human now. I am a force of darkness. I am a force of destruction. I am a force of death. I am… Grimm."
As angry, confused, and scared as Taiyang was, his eyes began to tear up. Then he let his rage take over. "You're right. You are no daughter of mine. If you're really the monster you think you are, then I'm going to kill you like one!"
Taiyang brandished his knife, then ran at Ruby. Ruby quickly swung her massive scythe blade around towards him, but he held up his knife at just the right height to completely block it. As Ruby whirled around, Taiyang stabbed at her. Ruby ducked down, dodging the blade, then slid down to the ground and weaved around her father's legs. Before Taiyang could even turn around to face Ruby again, she jumped back up, only to fall agin in a heavy dropkick to her father's back. Taiyang grunted as he was thrown forward, stumbling across the ground… right up to the cliff face. He skidded to a halt just before his feet reached the edge, barely stopping himself from going over. He whirled around to face Ruby, then felt a sharp pain run across his chest.
Ruby had swung her scythe and slashed through Taiyang's chest. She chuckled as she posed with her bloody blade. Taiyang looked down at his chest and saw a brutal gash, which was profusely bleeding. He took one last chance to look up to Ruby, hoping that he would wake up from this nightmare. But Ruby just smiled and waved at him. Taiyang felt his vision go blurry, then stumbled backwards off of the cliff. As he fell, his last thought was that hopefully he would wake before he hit the ground. He closed his eyes and ignored the pain. It would be over soon.
Ruby skipped over to the cliff edge and looked over it. Hundreds of feet below, the lifeless body of Taiyang Xiao Long lay motionless on the jagged, rocky ground. The earth was stained red, and she could just make out the faint glimmer of reflection from the knife blade a few feet away.
The sky darkened as the last remnants of daylight vanished in the west. Ruby chortled to herself, then chuckled. Then she began to laugh. Then she began to guffaw. Soon, she was shrieking in mad laughter so loud and hard she had to stop for breaths. When she finally stopped, she took a deep breath and raised her arms, scythe still in hand, to the sky.
"I have surpassed humanity!" she yelled. "Soon, I will surpass Grimm! Then, I will surpass… gods."
Ruby lowered her arms and head, staring out to the horizon, which was now surrounded by stars.
It had been a good day.
As Ruby walked out of the forest, her house came into view, silhouetted with nothing but a few windows illuminated. However, in the faint light emitting from one of the downstairs windows, Ruby could make out a tall figure standing between her and the house. As Ruby stepped closer, she saw the light reflecting off of the figure's golden hair and metallic weapons. A pair of lilac eyes stared her down with rage and intensity.
Ruby grinned. This was too easy.
Yang stepped forward, holding up her fists, which were locked in her Dust gauntlets. "If you take one more step, I'll punch your goddamned head off."
Ruby stopped, then locked her silver eyes with Yang's. Her smile widened as she opened up her scythe, revealing it in its entirety.
"Aww, what's the matter, Yang?" Ruby mocked. "No love for your little sis?"
Yang's brow furrowed. "You are not my sister."
Yang expected another quip from Ruby, but instead, Ruby's smile faded and she stabbed the bladed end of the scythe into the ground. She pulled her hood off and put her hands on her hips.
"Poor little Yang," Ruby said with an odd seriousness. "So blind to the world. You think you're just a little sun dragon, don't you? You think that you're a tough, hardened fighter just because you punch a bag of sand and you had a mommy that never loved you."
Yang tightened her fists and took another step forward. "Shut up!" she yelled.
Ruby shrugged. "Ironic that the younger of us would be the tougher one." She sighed. "I doubt you're even worth my time. I mean, old Raven did most of the work for me already."
Yang's eyes were red with anger. Her teeth clenched, and she felt beads of hot sweat dripping down her face. All she wanted to do was kill Ruby.
"I said SHUT UP!" Yang yelled, firing two of her Dust blasts into the ground around Ruby. Ruby leapt out of the way, backflipping to safety before rightening herself. She smirked.
"You're tenderized meat, Yang Xiao Long. Tenderized with punches and kicks and bottles of booze. I don't even know if I want to kill you. You're damaged goods. And I like my meat fresh and tough."
She skipped over to her scythe and picked it up out of the dirt. "So go ahead, Yang. Show little Ruby what you're made of. Kill me, and show me just how tough you really are. Hopefully you're at least a little tougher than old Mommy and Daddy."
Before Ruby could even realize what happened, Yang ran forward and punched her straight in the gut. Yang threw her arm back and slammed her gauntlet into Ruby's face, knocking her back. Ruby staggered a bit, fumbling her scythe, then reached up and put a hand on her stinging face, feeling blood leaking from her cheek. She glanced to Yang and grinned.
"Now that's what I'm talking about," she said.
Then Ruby gripped her scythe and swung it rapidly at Yang, slashing at the girl's face. Yang raised her arms and blocked with her gauntlets, feeling the vibrations from the metals colliding. Ruby then jumped and held her scythe above her head, yelling as she brought the blade down above Yang's head. Yang rolled out of the way and let the scythe blade plant itself in the dirt. As Yang stood up, she quickly sprinted to Ruby's side and began firing at Ruby at close range, consecutive with her punches. Ruby swayed her head back and forth, dodging the blasts and fists, but wincing from the volume of the shots going off right next to her ears. Ruby then raised a leg and promptly kicked Yang in the gut, pushing her back while she freed the scythe from the ground.
Ruby swung the scythe downward, skimming along the ground and curving back up towards Yang. Yang threw her arms up just in time, blocking the blade, though it knocked her arms apart and pushed her back. Ruby whirled around and tried to stab Yang with the scythe's bladed other end in a series of small thrusts, but Yang dodged them all and jumped around the scythe, landing a firm knee right into Ruby's chin. As Ruby's head was forced upwards, Yang spun in midair and kicked Ruby in the neck, slamming her to the ground.
As Yang fell back to her feet, she was instantly swept off of them again as Ruby used the scythe's handle to trip her up. Yang landed on her back and exclaimed with a grunt of agony. She turned her head to see Ruby sitting up next to her, raising the scythe's knifed end to stab her through the heart. She threw the blade down, but Yang's hand grabbed the weapon by the handle right above the blade just before it struck her. The two girls groaned and grunted as they tried to overpower the other, but Yang eventually pushed the blade back and kicked Ruby away.
Both fighters jumped to their feet, with Ruby the first to resume the attack. She began crisscrossing her scythe's strikes, whirling the blade around in fast angled patterns that made it difficult for Yang to dodge or block. As Yang blocked one attack, another soon followed and cut her across the side of her torso. She yelped at the stinging cut, which was just deep enough to draw blood. She kicked up dirt into Ruby's eyes, causing her to yelp as well and stagger back, her eyes shut tight and and her free hand rubbing at them. Yang rushed forward, but Ruby fought through the pain in her eyes and defended, blocking Yang's punch with the handle of her weapon and pushing her back. Ruby reached up and picked the dirt from her eyes, blinking rapidly to clear the pain and her vision.
Ruby turned to see Yang poised for another barrage, which she soon executed. She began punching and firing, with small flaming blasts echoing from her gauntlets. Ruby did her best to block or dodge each of the swings, but felt one land firmly on her ribcage. As the explosive charge fired, Ruby gasped in pain as she felt one of her ribs crack inside of her. Ruby staggered back, clutching her side. She looked down to see the fabric burnt and the skin underneath singed and red. She winced in pain, then looked back to Yang. Yang raised her fists, then ran in for another attack.
As Yang swung, Ruby dodged, but only enough for the fist to scrape her cheek. Seeing her opening, Ruby stepped forward through Yang's defenses and headbutted her. As Yang threw her head back, Ruby slashed at her with the knifed end of her scythe and cut her across her stomach and breasts. She then stepped back, readied her scythe, and leapt into the air with the elongated blade trailing upwards behind her. As soon as Yang reoriented herself, Ruby attacked with a powerful slash through the air, slicing Yang's right arm clean off.
Yang shrieked in pain and terror as she stumbled back, her arm now a burning stub that was bleeding profusely. She scanned the ground to see her arm, coated in red, laying still in the grass below her. She grabbed at all that was left, about half of her bicep, crying out in agony. Her eyes filled with tears so quickly that soon she could barely see. Through her blurred vision, she could see Ruby grinning wildly, her white teeth stabbing at her through her stinging vision. As she squeezed her arm, she realized that Ruby would not be expecting an attack now. She still had one gauntlet, and if she could strike Ruby right in the face one more time, she might be able to kill her. Yang screamed in pain once more, then allowed the scream to turn into one of fury. She released her arm and swung at Ruby's face, intent on knocking every single last one of those white teeth out of Ruby's fucking skull.
As Ruby saw the fist travel towards her, she reacted quickly. She spun around at allowed the attack to pass her, then swung down with her scythe blade… directly onto Yang's other arm.
Yang could not believe what was happening as all feeling suddenly drained from her outstretched arm, soon replaced by stinging pain identical to the one in her other arm. She screamed as her other arm fell to the ground with a thud and blood spewed from her new stump, cut almost in the same place as her right.
Yang felt the strength leave her body and fell to her knees shrieking and crying. She gritted her teeth and howled through them, though nothing dulled the pain.
Ruby walked around behind Yang, watching the display. She thought it was truly marvelous. Yan's cries of pain were music to her ears. She chuckled at the sight, then made her way back around in front of her sister.
As Yang cried, she faced the bloody ground and watched her tears land on the grass. Suddenly, she felt a pinch on her cheeks and her head was forced up to look at her attacker.
Ruby chortled as she gazed into Yang's bloodshot lilac eyes. "So it seems you're not as tough as you thought. I figured as much." She threw Yang's head back, allowing her to drop it again. "But you were tougher than I expected, I'll give you that. I think you broke one of my ribs." She reached down and placed a hand on her injury, wincing from the pain as she did so. "Consider yourself lucky. You will be the last one to ever hurt me." Ruby paused, looking down at her defeated opponent. Yang certainly was strong. As much as Ruby did not want to admit it, Yang had been a worthy opponent. Maybe too worthy…
"But make no mistake," Ruby continued, "you are weak. You are weak and pathetic. But not weak enough to just get rid of all willy-nilly."
Yang use every ounce of her strength to raise her head and crane her neck, looking up at Ruby. "What… what are you saying?"
Ruby glared down at her. "I'm saying that I'm not going to kill you. You may be of use to me. At the very least, you'll be a trophy: a last reminder of the pathetic human I used to be before I ascended."
Yang choked, but managed to work up enough saliva in her sore mouth to spit on Ruby's boot.
"Never…" Yang sputtered.
Ruby looked down at the ball of spit on her boot, then looked back up. She rolled her eyes as she spun her scythe around in her hands.
"Poor little Yang. Still so FUCKING BLIND!"
Ruby slashed with the knifed end of the blade, cutting right across Yang's face above her nose, letting the blade run deep. Yang shrieked, and the last thing she saw was the blade of Ruby's attack and the grass beside her. As Ruby finished her slash, two round objects bounced to the ground; white orbs with lilac irises.
Yang's screams of pain rose louder than ever before as her sockets and the cut open bridge of her nose burned. There was only darkness before her, and only pain across her body. The pain from her stumps was eclipsed by the pain at her face, so much so that she could only focus on the latter. There was no description for the feeling running in an almost perfect line across her face, but it made the pain from the loss of her arms seem like paper cuts in comparison. Yang shrieked and shouted, but could not even weep. She could feel no tears, only blood.
Ruby raised her scythe upright and admired her handiwork. She then glanced over to the side of the house and saw something that intrigued her. She slowly began walking over to it, favoring her rib. She knew Yang was not going anywhere.
As Yang continued to scream, Ruby looked to what had intrigued her. It was a small pile of items they had used for their dog Zwei, who had died about a year earlier. There were some old toys, a few balls, an old cloth collar and leash, and… an old metal chain and spiked collar. Ruby remembered that her late father had bought it for the mutt, but it was too big and he never returned it. Ruby bent down and picked up the collar and chain, then glanced over to the wailing Yang. As she stared at her wounded sister, a malicious, toothy grin spread across her face.
Yang did not even hear Ruby come back; her sobs drowned out all other noises. She then heard the clinking of metal in front of her. She lifted her head, but forgot that she could not look. As she stared into the void, she suddenly felt a cold metal item seize itself around her sore neck. It was tight and sore, just loose enough to breathe and swallow. She felt a click as the item was secured, and a tug from something attached to the item. Then she felt hot breath against her stinging face.
"You are mine, Yang Xiao Long." Ruby's voice was serious and gruff. "I own you, like the dog you are. Now I'm going to give you a choice, and I want you to think about it carefully because it's going to be the last choice you'll ever make of your own will. Here's your choice: you can either have these little cuts patched up and follow me as my slave, or I can hang you by your neck from one of those trees and let you bleed out, slowly, painfully. Either one I'm okay with." She paused, and in that brief pause the entire world was silent. There was no wind, no insects, no sounds of breathing. Then Ruby broke it. "Make the choice now."
Yang inhaled as the information flooded her tormented mind. As much as she wanted to show her strength, as much as she wanted to ensure Ruby would not win, her thoughts only traveled back to the pain in her face and limbs. They were all she could think about. The only thing on her mind was lessening the pain. She just wanted to end the pain. She sobbed, with only a quick flash of thought of what she was giving up, but her desire for survival took hold.
"I-I-I am your s-s-slave… R-R-R-Ruby…" Yang sputtered.
Ruby grinned. "Very good. I knew you'd come around. But first thing's first. You'll address me as 'Mistress' from now on, do you understand?"
Yang groaned, not fully taking in what was being said.
Ruby's eyebrows fell and she yanked Yang's collar, pulling her face so close she was almost in contact with her bleeding eye sockets.
"I said, DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND ME?!" Ruby screamed right in Yang's bleeding face.
Yang gasped in fear and pain, then blurted out, "Yes! Yes Mistress! I understand!"
Ruby released some slack on the chain allowing Yang to collapse back onto the ground, sobbing. She smirked. "Good. Now, let's get going. We need to make sure you don't bleed out too soon. Get up."
With shaking legs, Yang began slowly standing up. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she felt Ruby pull the chain and make her stumble forward. She kept her balance, and began walking behind Ruby.
"Oh," Ruby said, pausing suddenly. "There's one more thing I wanted to do." She walked back a few steps the way she came, reached down, and picked up one of Yang's severed arms off of the ground. She grabbed the gauntlet and pried it off, then opened the ammunition hatch in the back. She then took a few steps towards the house, dragging Yang behind her. She poured the Dust ammunition right outside the back door of the house, then tossed the empty weapon away. She the reached down to her belt and fumbled around until she found a small container clipped to her belt. She opened it up and pulled out a single red match. She ran it across her belt, lighting it. The small warm glow illuminated the night, and Ruby promptly dropped it onto the Dust before jumping back. The Dust instantly ignited, popping and exploding, expanding the flames every which way. As Ruby stepped back, the house began to ignite.
Even without her eyes, Yang felt the ever-growing heat in front of her and heard the crackling and popping of fire, and knew exactly what Ruby had just done. She wished she could shed just two tears: one for her mother and one for her father. But she could not.
"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad." Yang whispered to herself, careful that Ruby would not hear. "I failed you."
Ruby did not hear Yang over the roaring fire, and stared in glee as her childhood home burned. Then she giggled and began walking again, pulling Yang behind her.
"Come on, slave." Ruby said sadistically. "We've got places to go and people to kill." She then laughed a short, wicked laugh and pulled Yang along. As she walked, she began to hum her favorite song, "Red Like Roses".
It had been a really fucking good day.