A brief quiet moment transpires between Ciaran and his older brother. The squatting Beowolf looks over the younger Grimm's frankly horrible condition. Exhausted and damaged, he is splayed on his blood, both dry and wet.
"What did you get into, Care?" Said him, slowly lowering the battered youth back to the floor. He doesn't remove his hand though, cradling his brother's head. His other hand, his left, roams just over Ciaran's fur as he examines injuries.
"A fight worth the dangers, Harkin." Said Ciaran. He groans soon after, head spinning from his earlier exertion. He truly snapped at his brother? Grimm's sake, he was a tired, bloody idiot.
A heavy sigh leaves his sibling, head shaking for two passes. "Did you slay them? Otherwise, you got yourself hurt with nothing to show for it."
"No," Ciaran said, curling in on himself. "She still lives." He grabs at his stomach as another clawing rumble tortures him. He needs something to take his mind off all this pain.
Harkin blows out air to the roof of the chamber before looking back down at him. "Well, the important fact is that you are still kicking, more or less." He reaches down to his waist, where a dark red belt is wrapped. A series of pouches rarely of the same shape or color is attached to its length, only the area around the silver belt buckle was barren of any. He unbuckles a long pouch and retrieves a roll of parchment. Out of the roll of parchment, he extracts a lengthy strip of jerky, then he holds it at Ciaran's muzzle. "Hold this, I need to play doctor for you."
The younger Beowolf's nose goes haywire at the smell of meat; the nostrils that peek out from the Grimm's mask flare as olfactories fire. There were no words, just a bite of the piece of dried meat. Oh yes! The smoky tint is a pillow for the mind. His brother bares his teeth and rips the delicacy away.
"Don't scarf it down, Care! Do you want to choke yourself to death," He waves his left hand over Ciaran's wrecked visage. "After you survived all this?
The Beowolf previously flirting with death looks away, his tail going from rapidly flitting tail to a slow glide on the floor. "No. That would be an unglamorous way to die."
"Glad we agree. Now savor the jerky, this will take some time."
The jerky is poked in Ciaran's mouth, provoking a brief snarl from him that quickly fades into a hum, ears perking as he chews on the meat while trying to balance it in his mouth. The jerky swings around with pushes of the tongue.
Puffing at the sight, the elder Beowolf slips the wrapped jerky away into the long pouch and pilfers through another. This one was red with white bones painted on them. Out of the pouch comes a sizable roll of white bandages. A gallon-sized jug is unclipped from the belt and hovered over the gash on Ciaran's left bicep. The dry scab is poured over with cool water, a relieving sensation that makes a muffled whine project from Ciaran.
Satisfied, Harkin sets aside the huge water bottle onto the wood floor. After letting the water spread and absorb into the nearby fur, he takes the gauze and bandage, applying the two around the bicep. Not too tight, not too loose, just right. There was a whimper from the injured Beowolf at the pressure on his messed up bicep. He awkwardly shuffles his right arm out from under him to hold his jerky. "It is already scabbed over, brother. Why wrap it?"
Harkin uses a claw to cut the roll of bandage from the site, before looking down at Ciaran with a tilt, tutting at him. "It is a precaution, you do not want the healing area to be disturbed in some way." He holds the rolls of gauze and bandage to the side with one hand, floating his free hand at his own body. "Look at me, Care. At the scars."
The junior Beowolf obliges, halting his chewing. Aside from the obvious marks on his head and neck, Harkin had many marks on other parts of his body. There was a line of old bullet wounds from his right pec up to his right collarbone, still a dull red from healed skin. A red line starting from his belly button curves around his left ribs. A spot of ragged flesh was on his left leg, along the calf bone. If he remembered right, that one was from a snapped bone poking out the hide. A few other remnants of old wounds were there, but he got the message.
Harkin then speaks. "Some of these injuries could have ended me, almost did without proper care." He puts forth his free right hand, there is a small red slit in his palm; he spins his hand around, showing another slit on the back. This was from me catching a longsword," He pressed the scarred palm against his chest. "Shoving my hand down the length of the blade and bracing against the crossguard. Like a hunk of meat at the blunt end of a skewer."
He bares his neck, presenting the mark above his jugular. "My life would be forfeit then and there if I didn't sacrifice my hand." The experienced Grimm lowered his head. Looking Ciaran right in the eyes. "Besides, you might not scar so badly if you protect the healing area well enough. Less time for it to fade, too."
Ciaran looks away from his brother, laying his head down to stare straight ahead at the walls of his literal family tree. He couldn't truly argue with that explanation. "Yes, that makes sense."
"I know it does." Said Harkin, moving onto the left thigh. He pours water on that too, earning a wince. "Lucky break that your left side is oriented toward the ceiling." As he wraps the body part, Harkin speaks. "How did you come upon these unfortunate injuries, if I may ask, little brother?"
Ciaran rips out a piece of jerky, chewing and swallowing to force past the pain in his leg before responding. "I was hunting a young warrior last night, a girl cloaked in red. It was… a difficult fight." He taps his claws on the tree's wooden base. "One I was probably on the losing side of."
A hum was Harkin's response; Ciaran understands the hint to continue. "She had a scythe on her, longer than she was tall. It had a long-range rifle function that blasted through trees like paper. The small wretch used sheer recoil to launch herself and enhance her cuts."
His doting brother slits another loop of bandage free with his claw, securing the end to the main mass of bandages with a bone needle. "I wager that you were able to avoid the rifle component quite well, seeing as I don't see an exit wound anywhere on you?"
The prone brother halts his chewing to stare at his brother, Harkin. The other Beowolf ignores him, moving onto his back and chest now. Ciaran's head is static as he narrows his eyes and makes a noise that can best be described as a hiss and puff mixture. He breaks away from the failed staredown to look at the ceiling. "That is probably the most useless question this week. You already know the answer."
Shoulders shrug on the older Beowolf's body. "Not everything has to make sense, especially when running circles around your brother's reckless, simple mind." Ciaran chokes on his jerky, snapping his head toward his sibling.
"Simple!? Reckless!? I'm alive, aren't I!?"
"I'll keep calling you reckless most anytime you get injured. Making your family worry, shame on you." Said Harkin, chuckling all the while. "Consider it motivation to not be flirting with death so often."
"We are in a war, Harkin. Injuries are expected."
The moment those words left Ciaran's muzzle, a hand shoves his muzzle, his brother's. "That doesn't mean those like me are any less distraught when you come back," Harkin licks his lips as he slides another set of needles into the torso bandage, securing it. He sits back and examines his work, gesturing with both hands at the wrapped Grimm. "Like this."
Ciaran swallows the last of the jerky and examines himself. He was wrapped in white on three different spots, breaking up the abyss that was his fur. Whatever blood left him was from his chest and back, tinging the cloth red.
"You lost a lot of blood, just from what I can see painting the slope on the way up here. Good thing you used Aura to boost your leg and arm, those were the major bleeders. You might have died without it."
The younger Beowolf raises a finger.
"How do I know that you used Aura?" Harkin twirls his clawed finger in a circle. "Again, our kind may be robust, but the severe injuries you gathered would end any average beowolf without immediate medical attention and/or Aura. Seeing as you weren't wrapped or decaying before I got here, you certainly used Aura."
Ciaran blinks a few times before sighing and lowering his finger. "You are not wrong, brother. I gathered Aura from the girl during our battle; the energy saved my life."
"Yes, it did." Said Harkin. He stands and turns his back on his little brother, crawling to the entrance while stashing away his medical supplies. "I am heading out to hunt you something to devour, some meat will help you to regain your health. Especially iron. Anemia is no funny issue, brother."
Ears flare up and the ailing Beowolf behind him pushes himself up. "Hold on! I can help-aah!" He doesn't make it far past his knees, falling forward. A blur stops before him, catching him across the chest in an underarm. Nausea and blurry vision keep him unresponsive, his muzzle crooked into a solid wall of fur as he is laid softly onto his back.
"Care, you need to stay here and recover. You'll either fall over from exhaustion or disturb that which needs to mend." Said Harkin, patting the smaller beowolf on the head; the petting action generates a lame grumble from Ciaran. "I need to save some of the jerky for myself, I'd prefer not to use it all on you. An offering of fresh, yummy meat is a good alternative, no?"
All that comes was was a growl. This elicits a tilted nod from the elder brother. "Right. Now stay here. Don't be stupid."
It is then that the pouched beowolf rises and takes his leave; a quest for food is on his mind, a resource he wishes for his brother. Family is a priceless commodity, one so easily lost in this endless war. Harkin knew well, he was part of a litter. Was…
Ciaran could do little but reach a weak hand out to the tail that so quickly slinks away out of the tree. He gives up, black hand thudding onto the wood as he turns muzzle to ceiling.
Silver eyes… he forgot to tell. A growl rises from him; the beowolf squeezes his uninjured right thigh with his hand, pressing into the meat with his claws. He is a bloody fool! That should have been the first thing he spoke of. Yet, here he was, whimpering on the floor like a pup that lost his nursing mother. Little Care. Always being taken care of.
Still, he was fucked. Better to wait until he had food in his belly before anything. He would be wasting everyone's time by rushing out as he is now.
Damn it all.
When Ruby woke, it was involuntary and accompanied by her loud yelp. A wet something attacked her face, making her splutter and twist under her black and red covers. She opens her eyes as she rolls away, wrapping herself up in her blankets like a burrito with one hand out. She sees blonde hair before her head drops. She hangs half off her bed like a bug in a spider web, her face dripping with something cold. Water?
Her grogginess fades enough for laughter to bleed into conception for her, one that is interrupted by snorts. She already has an idea who it was, before the source of her torment rounds the bed till she has a good look at them. "Rise and shine, Rubes!"
Garbed in a yellow towel, her dear older sister Yang looks down at her with a smile, one that makes Ruby wish she had a pillow to throw. Another black towel was around her head, barely containing it as golden bangs peek out like snakes. Her hair still drips somewhat. "Did you smack me with your wet hair!?"
"What," Said Yang, tucking a suspiciously long and free bang back into the cocoon on her head. "No!? How could I do such a thing to my cute sister? One that was still asleep when I woke. Uncommon by the way." Yang counts on her fingers. "Didn't dash in after unlocking the door to let her in after showing." A second finger curls at that statement. "Then is still knocked out after I did some typical prep at the sink, flushing and brushing my teeth. You know. The works." A third finger goes down, while the girl peers down at Ruby with her violet gems. A grin was still on her face, smugly.
Ruby groans. She truly messed up her sleeping schedule last night. "Can you please help me up, Yang? I'm too tired to do anything right now." She wiggles in place, causing herself to hang even more off the bed.
Yang hums, placing one palm on her hip and another on her generous bosom, an impractical thing, in Ruby's opinion. "What kind of sister would I be if I didn't save my sister from such a harrowing predicament?" All Ruby could do was sigh.
Crouching down and putting her arms under Ruby, Yang's beefy and defined arms barely flexed as she lifts her sister like a box of fruit. An almost empty crate of apples. Steady was the lift, rough is the release. The blonde sunshine tosses her dear sister back onto the bed, making her bounce like a caterpillar on a disturbed leaf. Whatever sounds of protest were muffled or ignored. "What is the deal anyhow, Ruby? You stay up playing on your scroll?"
Ruby's eyes widen against the mattress she is now face down on. Crud, what should she say? No, no need to lie. Just play into her exhaustion, that was already a very true fact.
Ruby groans into the mattress, grinding her face into it while wiggling her arms out. She reaches out and grabs a black pillow with red hearts dotting it, cuddling it while she sits up. As if on cue, her little corgi Zwei hops onto the bed yipping, propping against her as his little tongue laps at her exposed right cheek. With slightly dark lines around her eyes, Ruby presents the most miserable yet adorable picture; the girl was only faking the act roughly a third really, she was still in the throngs of the sandman.
Yang crosses her arms and juts a hip, smirking. "Well Rubes, consider this," She waves a hand at Ruby and her state. "Incentive to not do what you just did last night."
"Yeah…" That was all Ruby could say. "Yeah." She limply rubs Zwei's head, the dog nuzzling into her neck panting. The cool side of the pillow against her head was so nice.
The buff blonde, almost literally in the buff, rolls her shoulders and sighs. "Anyway, you best get washed and ready, Pa is downstairs making breakfast; the last you need is Dad catching you still in bed. We have training later today." As she speaks, the young woman stretches her arms over her head, then across her body.
Rolling her eyes, Ruby smothers herself with her pillow. How awesome. Even with the Winter Break, Dad saw it fit to keep them sharp with their education via three hours of mostly physical activities, sometimes an hour more. Ruby was all for it, in normal situations. She not only avoided being chomped by a beast of a Grimm, but she was also utterly exhausted both from the fight and the late sleep to boot. Ruby Rose was only feeling fifty percent herself right now, maybe sixty. "I'll get ready." Said Ruby, muffled by a very welcoming pillow.
Huffing, Yang shakes her head with a smile. She walks to the open door, waving away at the wasted redhead. "Better hurry, Ruby. Those steamed buns are smelling stupidly good right now!" Then, she was away down through the hall outside, doubtlessly the bathroom.
Ruby's head perks when the breakfast's identity is truly processed. Silver eyes get a glint and she finally ditches the pillow, slowly sliding off the bed onto her feet with Zwei in her arms. The warmth of Zwei is much appreciated, the panting radiator helps her to brave the cool wooden floor mildly decorated with rugs. There was one rug that rested right on the sort of border between her and Yang's sides of the room, an oval orange thing. Red and yellow made orange after all. It was an idea she and Yang came up with back when they were preteens. Yang always chuckles at that rug nowadays, but Ruby thought it was still a nice idea. Certainly not because she brought it up in the first place. Okay, maybe a little.
She shuffles off the cold wood and onto the slip of wool, letting out an "Eeep!" mid-hop as she did so. A slight chill was in the air, her Dad opted to keep the heater at a level just high enough to keep them sane, but not complacent. Plus, it kept the bills down: His words, both of those sentences. If Ruby wasn't nursing a pair of weighted eyes and a foggy head, she wouldn't mind; now, Ruby wanted nothing more than to curl up under her layers of sheets. She fights off the urge and breathes in the crisp air. Zwei will protect her.
Off she jumps from the rug, holding her beautiful little buddy like a lifeline as she lands on the chilled floor again and immediately skips to the long tan rug running the length of the immediate hallway. Determined with a happily panting black and white corgi wagging away in her arms, she tiptoes her way to the nearby bathroom further down the hall. A warm light wafts over her back from the tall window pane at the end of the hall behind her, offering a very much welcome warmth to abate the cold. The image of a hot shower makes her shiver, or perhaps that was the stupid cold.
She enters the bathroom eventually, successfully braving her way down the hall. Inside, her sister was busy drying off; specifically, Yang was drying her long and wavy sun-kissed hair. Thick on top of it all, the hair takes an agonizingly long time to defeat any liquid that soaks into it. As Yang dabs her bright hair with another black towel, the previous towel long discarded on the tile floor, and blows away with a hair dryer with the other hand, Ruby takes solace in her own shorter hair. Only at the neck, Ruby has a far better time maintaining it in her opinion. Yang's solemn stare at her reflection just proves Ruby's bias.
"Dear Zwei," She starts, lifting the dog in question. "Thank you for being so dang warm! This journey would not have been bearable without your presence!"
The lovable squat barks in response, thrusting his muzzle at Ruby's face to unleash a torrent of licks from a tiny but strong pink tongue at what must be the speed of sound. The teen splutters and giggles, turning her cheek to protect her mouth from the canine. "Zwei! Blagh! I love you too, you little slobber house!"
Turning on the spot, Ruby squats and drops the dog on its short legs, rubbing his head with vigor; the animal loves his pets, especially when someone scratches the area just behind the ear, an act Ruby is now doing. His little tail is simply a blur now. "Head out now, see if Dad "accidentally" drops some food you can chow on."
No objection comes Zwei, letting out one yip before turning and galloping away out the door. Many loud taps fade away into the hallway, Ryby smiling after them.
Yang chuckles, looking at her sister from her spot at the bathroom counter. "Honestly Ruby? The bathroom is practically next door." She sticks out her tongue on the corner of her mouth, really forcing the towel in her left hand against her damp hair. "Did Zwei consent to be an impromptu heated pillow?"
"Meh!" Said Ruby, standing up and flapping a hand at the doorway. "Zwei loves the attention. He is a little knight in shining armor." She takes a fighting stance and mimes a weapon in both hands, swinging it at invisible enemies as she steps her way to the shower bath. Opposite the door, the hybrid bathing unit had a glass pane where the cast iron pale tub ends. One side of the glass is on a track and she makes due use of it, pushing the sheet of glass out of the way to get at the stick knob under the shower head. The handle is rotated counterclockwise and a flow of water comes from the rain head shower jutting from an arm in the wall. Briefly, she sticks her hand out to the water. Emphasis on briefly. The water was biting it was so cold, Ruby ripped her hand out of the grasp of frostbite it felt like. "Eep!"
A scoff from the sink makes Ruby spin and blow a raspberry in the general direction. As she lets her pajama bottoms down her toned legs, a raspberry that wasn't from her catches her right ear, garnering a groan from her. How about you try out the water, miss sunshine?
She yanks off her white t-shirt, tossing it to the tile floor with a huff. Her upper body may not be as built as her dear sister, but there was no need. No unnecessary fat and there was slight musculature defined to a t. No prodigious weight either at the chest, thank you very much. Yang had to wear a bra for everything, even sleeping sometimes.
Ruby makes to kick aside the discarded clothing, but her downward glance leads to her spotting dark red out of the corner of her eye. Her toe tips limply push aside the laundry, the world coming to a standstill. The question of why there was red on her light skin fades as she realizes; the blood from last night was still on her left shoulder blade, probably on the back too! Dried red spots on her skin mark each entry of teeth through the flesh. The Beowolf was still a pain long after their fight. Yang can't see this! No excuse could make about something so obviously a bite!
Foregoing the waiting period, Ruby hops into the shower, subjecting herself to a frosty waterfall. Crud! Her breath escapes her in a gasp. Fighting against her body's involuntary seizing, Ruby tugs the plastic curtain across the glass, blurring her visage behind it. She has to scrub, quickly!
"Ruby! What's up with you!?"
Yeah, Yang heard that.
Ruby rubs away at the dried lifeblood, sighing when the heat finally kicks in. "Nothing, sis, just popped in too soon!
Within the sequestered shower unit, Ruby hears a scoff, then a laugh. "Guess you are awake now, yeah!?"
The nerve on Yang.
"Hah hah!" Responds Ruby. If she was sweating right now, she couldn't tell anymore, with the water and all. Yang wasn't inaccurate though. "You'd be right, miss bright and early!"
When the blood finally ebbs off her torso, Ruby feels her heart drop in tempo. She can finally relax. As she reaches for the red bath scrunchie, her eyes follow the streams of red that flow down her left side. The streams coalesce into a larger body like tributaries would a river at her left hip, riding down her leg until finally reaching the bath surface. Away it goes swirling around the outlet that is the drain like it was never here; the blood atop the white material of the bath was like the fluids spilled in her combat with the Grimm. How ironic that her blood ran free on the same side as that particular beowolf that got away, or was it her really that got away? It even traveled on the same leg.
From an orange bottle, of the "Slopchop" brand, she squeezes out body wash on the red scrunchie. She sighs as the rose and cedarwood scent tickles her nose, soon coming off her body as she works it in with the scrunchie. Around her body it goes, suds already rising. Her exhaustion fades; if her lack of energy was given a kick by the sudden cold of the water, it was gently floated away from the easing pleasure of warm water.
Old sweat from the night before, along with her worries about discovery, is scrubbed away. When she moves to her back, more red comes down her legs; the grimm had a huge mouth, and he wrapped around her back with his maw. She can still recall the beast's breath, humid and hot all at once like it was trying to boil her or something. The monster's tongue pressed against her blouse and, eventually, her exposed skin. Ruby felt the organ move when the crimson finally leaked from her shoulder like a pierced can of soda, tasting her no doubt.
Ruby finishes with the body wash, placing the scrunchie back in the plastic shelf hanging from the neck of the showerhead. Her now free right hand is subject to her examination as the left grabs for shampoo, of the same Rose and Cedarwood scent by "Slopchop". Absentmindedly, she flips open the orange container and sprits it in her hair. She never really thought she would stick anything other than a weapon into a grimm's flesh. It was very… personal if that was the right word? She should probably be more traumatized, she reckons. However, through the fear and shock, there is a thrill underneath.
It wasn't efficient to lather the hair with only one hand, she admits, but she manages. She finally lets her hand escape from her staring, making it join its sibling in pressing out the soap with the assistance of the shower spray. She shivers. She remembers catching eyes out of the corner of her own, yellow on red versus gray on white. The sheer hatred and desperation in them, especially when she attacked its bicep injury. The embers of fire became fireballs then, exploding in size alongside the final burst of strength in the muzzle just beneath them. Were her own eyes the same way? Dilation is what it's called, right?
The shampoo frees itself from her hair with the assistance of her probing digits and endless water, coming off her like waves of seafoam roaming down a smooth rock on the beach. It is then she takes a bottle of conditioner of the same brand and scent, to cement the smell. Her hair was simpler to wash too, Yang has to lather, rinse, and repeat to maintain that sprawling hair of hers.
Ruby has to admit, she quite enjoyed that whole experience in hindsight, much like when she blitzes with her semblance or utilizes recoil to propel her movements beyond what her muscles could do alone. The challenge, the split-second actions, the blood moving like rapids in her body. That beowolf, he felt like her near equal opponent. Other grimm she fought herself were all at most adolescents, rookies in body and mind. This one though was smart and tough. This one, this was a mark she could take great pride in hunting.
Once the conditioner has been well used and washed out, Ruby just stands under the rainfall, looking at her hands as they tremble. The thought of encountering that beowolf again, of clashing again, gives her goosebumps.
"Ruby!" Yang's voice breaks her pondering, having her hitch. "It has almost been ten minutes, that is about the time Dad wants us to use the shower, if you remember!"
Ruby mumbles in a high-pitched tone. "Only got ten minutes. Oh! But it's fifteen minutes for me and my special hair…" Pouting down, Ruby begrudgingly turns the lever clockwise back to its "high noon" position. The water immediately stops, plopping final droplets onto Ruby in all her soaked glory. She crosses her arms over herself to brace as the chill from the marginally heated house bleeds in to replace the steaming warmth. If she can survive a grimm's bite, she can take the cold for ten seconds, right? She waits as the excess water clinging to her person runs off her to the drain; the youngster strains her hair with her digits, forcing the lukewarm water to join the rest of their liquid mass. Hold on, she didn't bring any clothes, did she?
A palm makes its home atop Ruby's eyes with a very audible slap. Dagnabbit, she forgot to grab a fresh set on her way here.
She sighs and brushes aside the tan curtain, unlatching the shower door and pushing it along its track to have a clear view of the towel rack. A set of four wooden cylindrical bars are suspended on the wall, from the first and highest the bars are staggered lower. The first and second highest is barren, leaving a red towel and a black towel on the latter two bars. She frees the red towel first and dries her body with the lengthy product of convenience. Patting a spot here, running over a place there, only the most stubborn water stays with persistence. Meanwhile, she ruffles her hair to wick more water.
Ruby wraps the towel around her body, grabbing the black towel from the rack to wrap around her hair. It was when she passed Yang on the way to the door that the bombshell chips in. "Forgoooot your clothes, hmmm!?" She sings.
Ruby just waves her away as she turns and walks down the hall to their room. Now refreshed and woken by the nice warm shower, the girl only vibrates her lips with a squeak at the chill. Ruby wasn't favoring the long tan and yellow rug over the wooden planks, definitely not. She only hops from one rug to the orange rug of their room for fun, certainly for no other reason whatsoever. Nope.
She crouches down at one side of her bed, back to Yang's bed. There, built into the bed frame, were three wooden drawers underneath the mattress. There were three drawers on the other side as well. Here, she grabs a change of clothes. Underwear and bras, long sleeve shirt, and opaque tights are now stacked on the bed and Ruby tosses her red towel onto the bed. With a few hops and shimmies, she has all that on in no time. Then, there was a traipse over to a sliding door closet on her side of the room next to the door. The back door with solid shutters is opened to reveal more fickle clothing and long-term storage. It is here she grabs a knee-length black skirt with red lining and a red wool scarf with thick black stripes and tassel ends. She pirouettes, throwing the scarf around her neck and wrapping the skirt around her waist. To the right side of the bed, she walked, pilfering a drawer for a thick woolen sweater. Striped red and black, it goes great with the red shirt she had on… if it wasn't already hidden by the said sweater. Meh, two layers will keep her warmer regardless.
Hold on, she forgot that a scarf goes on her neck after the sweater. Fiddlesticks.
Properly dressed now, Ruby works on drying her hair as she leaves her room, whisking the towel off her bed on the way out. She'll remember to make her bed surely.
Into the bathroom, she steps, finding Yang with her drying equipment set down. She fluffs and brushes her hair with her lips pursed. The hairbrush had its work cut out for it. Ruby comes to stand at the sink to Yang's right, opening the miniature cabinet just under the mirror to siphon out a flossing pick from a little green bag. Yeah, perhaps dental floss is more efficient, but picks are just more convenient so sue her. She flosses away and unleashes her hair from the black towel, setting it on the sink counter for now along with her other towel. Her brush is grabbed in her left hand.
Yang herself begins flossing just as Ruby finishes, still brushing away at her lion's mane. Her violet eyes flick over at Ruby. "So, are you ready for today's practice?"
Ruby falls victim to a face-stretching yawn, squeezing toothpaste onto her red toothbrush. Those powered toothbrushes were so stupid, they always stutter and break after a few months. She was able to manually brush her teeth just fine, thank you. "Why wouldn't I be?" She runs water over the brush and gets scrubbing.
Yang spits her floss into the tiny trashcan just beside the sink. She raises her yellow toothbrush and juts it into Ruby's vision, getting an eep from her. Yang taps the brush on the mirror where her sister's eyes reflect. The eyes had noticeable bags underneath. "You can see why pretty clearly. You're tuckered out."
Ruby grumbles and spits out some toothpaste. "This isn't the first time I underslept, sis. I managed just fine before."
Yang chuffs and Ruby continues brushing. "Managing is the keyword there. You will not be at your best with training today, which means less you will learn. Ain't fair for me to kick your ass when you are half-asleep." Yang smiles at the end. She spits out some paste.
Ruby rolls her eyes and mumbles.
"Talking with a mouth full is rather rude, Ruby."
An eyebrow twitches. A smirk forms around a stick. Ruby makes a final swirl and lets the paste out of her mouth. He turns on her sink to drink a palmful of water and spits again with a reared head, getting rid of more. She drops her brush into a decorative cup to the right of her sink and about faces to point with her right hand at Yang. Meanwhile, she still has her brush stuck in her hair. "You dare underestimate me, dear sister?"
Yang drinks some water and launches out a glob of paste and saliva clearing her throat. She sets down her brush and turns to her sister, hand on her quirked hip and thumb jabbing at her eyes. "I have eyes. They are beautifully healthy I am sure."
The two of them stare down, the redhead frowning and the blondie smiling. Anything could happen at this juncture.
"Girls! Breakfast is ready!" A voice interrupts the tension, a male one that comes from the hall, making the duo flinch. It's Dad. "You will need this scrumptious food for the training I have for you today! Hop to it!"
Both youths' eyes flicked to the door the whole announcement and return to their staredown with far less energy. Ruby walks backward to the doorway, pointing two slim fingers of one hand to her eyes and then at Yang. "Watch yourself, Yang, humiliation is at your heels."
Jutting her chin at Ruby, Yang's smile turns toothed. "It's just hitching a ride, waiting for me to drench you in it."
Ruby humphs and turns her back on her sister, strutting down the hall. Yang starts to remove her yellow towel, chuckling. "You have a little passenger on your cute little head, Ruby!"
She does a quick check of her hair, and in just a few seconds she hears a grumble fill the hall. Yang raises a hand and soon after catches a flung crimson hairbrush.
Sighing, Ruby stomps down the stairs until it makes a sharp change of direction, then she relaxes and steps normally. She wants to somewhat act fifteen and not ten. However, nothing stops her from mumbling her frustrations, she has seen plenty of adults do it. "Smartass" and "airhead" were some of the words that left her mouth in a garble.
Her mood almost changes on a dime when she snatches a scent from the air. One of something warm and nutritious. Oh yeah, steamed buns were for breakfast today! She smacks her lips and speedwalks to the kitchen.
There, wrapped in a brown apron, was her father Taiyang Xiao Long. A messy mop of subtle blonde hair is kept in control by a little white skull cap. A Tan long sleeve dress shirt covers his torso and a pair of Tawny cargo pants line his legs. Tan slippers cap off his feet, a cultural tradition of his, plus the warmth likely. The man looked like he was under the sun for 24 hours straight. In his hands were three separate bamboo steaming baskets stacked on top of each other; he walks without a hitch in his step despite the awkward load he has and grins at Ruby from around the baskets. His smile was as bright as his blue eyes, looking like a lagoon within an arctic landscape. "Ruby, you are here just in time. These buns shouldn't burn your mouth by now. Where is the Yangster?"
"Currently dressing I imagine," Said Ruby, pointing up to the ceiling. "Probably at a nice easy pace so she doesn't mess up her mane."
Taiyang sucks in the air with a hiss. "Ooooh, I sense some tension." The baskets make it to their destination, the dining table, with a shrug off Taiyang's arms. He turns to Ruby and crosses his arms, his grin turns into a minute smile. "What happened?"
Ruby huffs, twizzling a red-tipped bang. "It's just something stupid. Not important." Taiyang chuckles and walks closer, spinning around Ruby to hug her from the side with one arm, crushing her against him. Ruby groans and looks down, hiding her eyes.
"Come on, speeder. Give me the sitch."
"It's nothing, Dad! Just Yang and I being weird!" Ruby looks up in frustration before she realizes. Her Silver eyes widen, whilst her dad quirks his eyebrow. He hums and nods.
"I feel like I have a third of an idea now what's up now."
Ruby shakes her head rapidly. "Dad, please don't." Her dad just grins and looks away toward the ceiling. The hand that wasn't around Ruby comes to stroke his mustacheless goatee, mellow blonde like his hair.
"For some reason, you didn't get enough sleep. Your lack of energy has made you irritable, which eventually leads to Yang and you arguing. Since I haven't heard any shouting, this is an issue mostly harmless. However, at least one person's pride has been slighted, so now there is a salty sardine in my kitchen." He squats in place slightly to level his face with Ruby's. He tilts his head at her and she looks out the corner of her eyes at him. His teeth are hidden as his smile turns soft and subtle. "Am I about right, Ruby?"
Ruby crosses her arms and pouts, swinging a leg back and bouncing her toes on the wood. "I would be lying if I said you were completely wrong. Lying sucks." Inside, Ruby tsks. What junk is she saying? She was keeping secret her whereabouts last night. Her Dad didn't know though, so he just pulls her in for another squeeze. Her Dad loves to love, his hugs like a King Taijutsu with the sheer pressure exerted on her.
"Papa Dragon strikes again. Don't worry Rubester, some food and exercise will enhance the mood."
Ruby sighs but smiles. "Okay… Can I eat the buns now!" She bounces in place minutely, excitement at bay. Taiyang presents a finger that then wags, making Ruby frown and sag her shoulders. Darn.
"Not yet, Speeder. Got to wait for the Sunny Little Dragon to grace us with her presence."
Of course. Silver eyes roll.
Thankfully for Ruby's stomach and sanity, only a couple minutes after she and Dad sat at the table, Yang comes down the stairs with her getup and pride. A long-sleeved black shirt covers her torso, a word is on the chest. Words looked "Written on" with very wet yellow paint, some of the letters having trails going down like they were dripping off; "Scorchin" was the word stitched in. Wonder why they were on her bosom, who can ever guess? Ruby thinks.
A pair of blinding yellow jeans cover her legs, a silver chain hanging off a belt loop. A wallet chain, tacky yet functional. She had her hair in a ponytail that is run through the back of a ball cap on her head. The brim was yellow while the rest was black.
Yang hops off the second to last step to land and throws her hands out as if offering an embrace to the whole room. "Goooooood morning, world! Yang Xiao Long is ready to crush everything in her path!"
Oooh, Ruby is going to be so glad to crush her in their spar later. All awake and alive while she is looking at the couch in the living room as if longing for a defenseless cookie. Prepare for humiliation? Hah!
Taiyang chuckles before waving Yang over. "Take a chair, Yang. You will need my cooking for the trials ahead." Dad nods his head at Ruby. "Especially the Sandman's unappreciative customer over here." Ruby snapped her head at her dad, eyes widened, and mouthing "What" with a little flapping of her hands at him. That was a weird sentence. Pa just shrugs at her. She is more confused than offended.
As Yang crosses the living room, a series of bars sound from the opposite of the dining/kitchen room's arched open entrance. Taiyang and Ruby both turn to the door at the back of the dining room. Oh boy. Soon after, a cannonball of black and white fluff blasts the doggy door flap aside and zeroes in on the underside of the table. A panting Zwei flops on the flat rug underneath, nose going crazy as it tracks the yummy meal above him.
"Looks like I ain't the only want with the bombastic entrance." Said Yang, pulling back a chair next to Ruby and sitting down at the dining table. Ruby and her face in the direction of the living room and Taiyang rests at the smaller end of the table with back to the kitchen. Their father reaches forward and unstacks the bamboo baskets one by one, sliding the two top ones out of the three to stop at his daughters' sections of the tabletop. Before their wiggling fingers touch the handle of the lids, Taiyang raises a hand. The daughters stop.
"Now now, we have to give our prayers at least sometimes, girls."
Yang hums with an eye-roll while Ruby quickly retracts her grubby hands with widened eyes and pursed lips. Even Zwei gives a yip. Taiyang nods and closes his eyes, extending a hand out to Ruby at his right. "Alright, grasp each other's hands and we shall begin prayer. Try your best Zwei." The dog responds with a bark and a hop to lean with paws against Taiyang's leg.
Ruby smiles through her exhaustion and extends a hand out to Yang. The sister obliges after a moment of pondering eventually all four of the family members closed their orbitals. Yang had more of a smirk.
"Dear God of Light, creator of life and all that has been and ever will be, bless our meal so that we may tread forth with holy vitality. The Creatures of Grimm are as persistent as they are numerous, so please help us have the will to push them back into the darkness. Thank you for your mercy and protection."
Taiyang taps the back of Ruby's hands with a finger from his hand already grasping hers. "Oh! Sorry." She closes her eyes again and bows her head. "Thank you, God of Light, for your attention and care. Please give us the awesome power to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from the monsters of the world." Ruby smiles after her truly well-thought speech, then she mimes as a goldfish. "Oh, also something else. Let those we don't love also be safe too, even the bad guys. Let them just be arrested and put in prison. Thank you for listening."
Both Taiyang and Ruby glanced at Yang, who was simply tapping her free hand on the wood table. She looks at them out of the corner of her eyes, flinching when she realized the attention she now had.
Yang shrugs and bows her head with shut eyes. " Hello, God. Nice fresh morning you gave us today, so thanks for that mercy. I agree with Pa and Rube's statements to you, so what can I say?" Yang is silent and her head quirks as she thinks of something. "Alright, I have something. I honor you for the light you offer us every day, including the light reflected by the moon. It is a spotlight that enlightens the Grimm so we can both aim our weapons better and see the looks on their faces when we kick their asses. A protector and a guide, your light is rad amazing. Keep being cool. This was Yang Xiao Long."
Yang smiles in the silence following her speech. All three family members scoot back just a little and look at Zwei under the table. The dog was scratching his ear when he realized his audience. The corgi sits up straight and throws his head back; a howl of majestic delivery was unleashed from Zwei's maw to the sky through the table and roof, running long as well. For twenty seconds, a little dog takes over the room with his music. When he finally stopped howling, his family each had different reactions. Taiyang gave a thumbs-up, Yang does a fist pump, and Ruby clapped rapidly.
"Well sung, Zwei."
"Let everyone know your voice, little bro!"
"You did it Zwei, best dog ever!"
Zwei barks in response, standing tall and proud.
Laughs, giggles, and chuckles fill the air. Taiyang rears his arms out and yanks them back inward, connecting the perfectly in a single, shrill clap. "Now that we have given our respects, let us feast on this perfect dish. No bias of course." He smirks out the side of his face. Ruby giggles and Yang rolls her eyes. All three strike forth and unveil the hidden food at roughly the same time. Each member of the household basks in what is before them.
Inside the baskets, on top of a layer of parchment paper, were four leavened buns. Each bun was roughly four inches across, filling the hand quite nicely. The smell was mouth-watering and Ruby already knew what they were: These were Bazoi or steamed buns in Valean, since Ruby can smell something meaty too. It wasn't Mantou if it had a filling inside. Appropriately, there were also chopsticks tucked into the lid she just took off. She grabs and orients them in her hand until she had a good grip. As the rest of her family did the same for their chopsticks, she licks her lips and opens her mouth while she taps her utensils together. "Oooh, Baozi. What kind have you made, Dad?"
Taiyang just shrugs and wafts the warm scent of the steamed buns at his nose with a hand. "I ain't gonna ruin the surprise, Speedy. Up to you two to figure it out." He shivers. "But it isn't something boring, I can tell you that."
Before Ruby could finish the dramatic tap tap of her chopsticks before digging in, the teen next to her juts forth with a "Me first!" and clamps one of her baozi before raising it to her mouth. Ruby growls and clamps her own while glaring at Yang. Her hand was faster, but Yang had the headstart. They both bite into the bun at the same time, then their challenging eyes both closed from the jolt of the body-paralyzing taste that is their father's cooking. Ruby stomps her feet on the rug and Yang bangs her other fist on the table.
They both call out, "Char siu bao!"
In his seat, Taiyang Xiao Long watches with a grin and a sigh from the nose as his girls react to the barbecue pork-filled steamed buns from his culture on Anima. Looks like his daughters' tension is eased, at least for now.
Ruby is not at her full energy currently, the warm food should help for training later. What did she do last night to be so tired? She should know better since training is happening today.
Did she visit the site again?
Ciaran snaps his eyes open as he comes back into the waking world again, snout expanding and contracting in response to a smell playing electric on his senses and moistening mouth. A pair of burning embers drift on ponds of blood in the direction of the entrance into his family's tree. Meat, a fresh and bleeding kind too. Is Harkin back?
The scarred beowolf struggling to worm through the hole tells him yes. He comes in back first, holding the bleeding body of some kind of deer. He doesn't have too good of a view at the moment. Hold on, he was having trouble swallowing whatever he had. Ciaran knows himself well enough to know that his mouth should be a river right now. He needs some damn water, right now. The fact he is now mentally acknowledging it is making it even more apparent now. Shit! His mouth is nearly sandpaper!
"I got you something to chew on, Care. Should help your body recover faster…" Harkin's statement trails off as he sees his younger sibling holding a shaking hand out at him, index finger out. He was still on his back, only turning his head. Harkin follows the claw point to where his waterskin hangs tied to his belt. "Ah, you are dehydrated. It figures." He easily keeps the dead stag on his left shoulder while he fiddles with the amalgamation of animal bladders on his waist. The receptacle's string was undone and the big hand of a caring brother swings it into the twitching fingers of a panicking youth.
Another of Ciaran's paw-like hands comes around to untie the red string cinching the skin closed, though it is a little slow, enough for Harkin to leisurely lower the felled prey animal between the two of them and squat down with his digitigrade legs. By then, Ciaran opens the object; the beowolf lets out his tongue and spreads his jaws wide, awkwardly pouring water like a hose into his mouth. The sudden deluge of water without restraint makes him gag and cough in the middle of sucking it into his throat. He remembers to angle the gap upward before hacking water onto the ringed floor in a choking fit.
Facepalming, Harkin walks on all fours around the deer corpse and snatches the waterskin from the smaller beowolf. "Don't chug it down Care, you need to take sips out of these tools. As much as we can without lips, anyhow." With his piece said, Harkin grabs the scruff on the back of Ciaran's head and braces him at a more vertical angle. His patient obliges with an opening of the mouth and he proceeds to briefly tip the waterskin for a second to give a small amount of water to the miserable Grimm underneath him. He resets and repeats the motion several times until Ciaran stops him with a padded hand a minute in. His breathing is now less haggard and he speaks for the first time since Harkin returned. God of Darkness, that water was splendid on his throat and now cooling internals. He nods his head as much as was able, grasping firmly on the thick forearm of his elder sibling before he can retract it; the Grimm sibling responds to his brother's grab by worming the said hand around to grasp him back. The younger's hold was labored and soft, he surely was put through a trial.
"I thank you, clever Harkin, my brother and better." Ciaran pauses to breathe a shuddering breath. "I was not capable enough at my duty as a Creature of Grimm. I had nearly met my end before I could truly aid in our kind's endeavors."
Harkin waves away the words with his other hand/paw. "Bah! This is part of our life as the enemies of the unworthy. They have the luxury of Aura to protect and empower themselves, whilst we scrape for even footing from the day we are born. Through survival and experience, we learn how best to use our bodies to bridge the gap. How generous of them to flaunt their creations and energy, so that we may turn the mentioned on those that use them. Harkin rests an open palm on his brother's wrapped chest. "You will learn from this and come out stronger. Perhaps not physically, but mentally?" He taps Ciaran on the mask, forehead just behind. "Certainly."
Harkin lowers Ciaran softly to the floor and returns to the other side of the buck carcass. "Now, I have half a mind to cook this thing to further decrease the chance of disease and such, but I don't think much harm will be done from having you eat a small chunk out of it." He cuts into the deer's body, slowly sectioning off a piece. "By the way, have you been using those cooking tools and ingredients I gave you?"
Ciaran sighs and rolls his eyes. "Sometimes, trying not to be too dependent on them. They are in the walls of the tree somewhere."
Shaking his head and scoffing, he inspects the piece of meat in his paw now free of the dead body, checking for anything suspicious. He sniffs as well. "If improving the safety and diversifying the taste of your food is considered a dependency, then you seriously are lacking sense. Parasites would have a field day with you."
"I will not always have the chance to cook my food, brother. I need to be fluid." Said Ciaran, waving about his hand before clenching it. "A strong beowolf isn't hampered by an obsession with the safer route."
Harkin growls, embers flaring. "Do you honestly believe that tripe? Have your littermates been telling you that? They aren't any wiser than you are." The paw not holding aloft the meat comes up, clawed fingers splaying one by one. "You are their junior by literal seconds. Same womb, same hour."
A padded palm is flapped at Harkin. "But they have already seen more combat than I have. I am merely a scout right now. Last night was one of the few fights I had without a group these last few months."
Harkin shoves the handful of meat into Ciaran's open mouth, earning a mixture of growling and hums at the disrespect and taste. "That is intentional on my end. You only recently reached late adolescence, ergo your mask coming in. Until you are deemed ready, a decision I have great authority on, you need to keep growing in both body and mind. The Unworthy is not a force to be underestimated. You are not at the top of the chain, Care. You can't just challenge everything."
Ciaran just lays on the floor, eyes on his brother but mouth busy chewing juicy red meat with nothing but a hand/paw to keep the meat somewhat stable and not flopping around from the eating motions. It might've even choked him via gravity without it.
Harkin huffs, shrugging. "Your littermates, they have a passion that I can not deny. However, they are in such a hurry to fight the sun, they are liable to be blinded and reduced to ashes. Already, two of them are missing a limb that is still yet to be regenerated. Another two are incapacitated until further notice as they recover from less egregious wounds in their dens from recent battles. Only two are "healthy" or unhandicapped out there right now. They aren't exactly pristine either."
"Sounds to me that my litter is enchanted with something. Death is banging on our walls for compensation." Ciaran puts a smirk on, the mood was very dower. Harkin has sliced himself off a piece of meat too. He was checking it when he heard his little brother's statement, then his wagging tail halts. Ciaran ears flick as he takes another bite of his morsel.
"That wick of luck is going to run out soon enough if you all don't smarten up. Power alone will not grant you victory. Especially against those who possess more, despite your clamber for it."
A passing memory of silver eyes crosses young Ciaran's mind, a devastating power. Shit! Did he forget again!? He needed this meat; the fog on his mind is making him lethargic in every way.
Ciaran props himself up onto his intact right arm, his meat forgotten. He manages to awkwardly look over his left shoulder at his sibling, who immediately swallows his mid-chew bite with a cough, tail stiffening and rising high. He shoots over the partially scavenged dead buck to make himself a pillar for the feeble beowolf youth to lean on.
"Hey, you should be moving as little as possible. Stay down Care." He tries to softly push the wrecked Grimm back down to the warm center of the tree, but Ciaran protests with what is left. He wills against the paw and shakes his head.
"No brother, there is something that needs to be addressed sooner than later." The exertion on his body makes Ciaran cough. "I know I am not the most reliable Grimm, a mile from it." He scoffs. "I am still a pup compared to you, Harkin. One that has a lot to prove and cannot yet fulfill the heritage before me. However, I am someone you can trust to have a healthy sense of mind, right?"
Harkin's muzzle crinkles before settling alongside the closing of his eyes. He sucks air in deep and huffs it out his snout. He gives a tight-lipped rise of the cheeks. "Yes. I am certain you have your senses in order. Even if you don't react appropriately to them."
Good old Harkin, finding a way to both compliment and criticize at the same time. That was one of his brother's prime attributes though, so that is as close to honest as it could be for Harkin. Ciaran nods and goes ahead to give the bad news. "Remember the female warrior I almost died to?"
A quirk in the head followed his question soon after, "The girl garbed in the color Red? Affirmative, what is the issue with her?"
"That girl, she has a physical feature that I shuddered to imagine still existing. A symbol of the God of Light's unjust favoritism toward Humanity. Another obstacle for Grimm to overcome." Ciaran grabs hold of Harkin's shoulder. For assurance? For emphasis? He isn't sure anymore.
"Silver Eyes."
Silver Eyes. A pair of words so simple yet strikes his elder brother silent. His brother always has something to say soon after someone else does. This silence he leaves Ciaran in unsettles him more than the utterance of those two words did. He wasn't even breathing and his sun-yellow eyes dilate. When he breathes, Ciaran realizes he stopped breathing as well. His breath begins again just as the still air is filled.
"That… is a problem."
