Red - Abandonment
a·ban·don·ment
/əˈbandənmənt/
noun
1. the action or fact of abandoning or being abandoned.
"Yang just left me there… She abandoned me. Just like Raven abandoned her."
Being abandoned is a horrible feeling.
Once was abandonment, but twice was betrayal.
It wouldn't happen a third time.
Ruby woke up to find herself in an unfamiliar place. It looked like a tree but from the inside. And it was dark. Really dark. She felt around and crawled out of the tree trunk, getting to her feet and looking around for her sister.
"Yang?" she called out, looking more frantically when she didn't get an answer. She gripped the hem of her cape, her little legs starting to move forward on their own.
The forest was big and dark. She was half asleep when Yang had put her in the wagon. Where was she? Where was Yang? Why had she been left in a tree? Ruby sat on the ground and pulled her cape closed around her, her lip trembling and tears gathering. Had Yang left her there and gone back home? No, she wouldn't do that… would she?
She was too distracted and scared to hear the footsteps approaching her. Amber eyes peered at her from the shadows, looking a slight cross between curious and confused. A small child in the middle of a remote forest wasn't a common sight after all. Ruby whipped around just as the footsteps came up right behind her.
"Hello, little one. It's not safe to be out here alone. Where are your parents?" A tall, almost familiar woman stared down at her, her gaze making any shred of confidence the girl had burn away like a scrap of paper.
Ruby's voice caught in her throat, unwilling to come out. The woman received nothing more than a scared squeak in response.
Narrowed eyes softened as the small girl began to heave and cry, pulling the red cape around her tighter. The poor thing reminded her… of…
"Shh, shh, it's alright," she cooed, kneeling down and gently patting Ruby's head. "My name is Cinder. What's yours?"
The girl cried for a moment more before choking out an answer, tears flooding down her face, "Ru… Ruby…"
Cinder hummed, looking around the surrounding area. From what she could see, Ruby was by herself and clearly upset about it. Who would leave a defenseless child in the Grimm-infested woods? Tyrian, maybe, but that was beside the point.
Her expression became pensive as she mulled over her options. On one hand, she could leave the girl here and hope her family found her before the Grimm did. On the other, she could take her back to Evernight Castle. Either she left Ruby's fate up to chance, or she dealt with Salem likely being less-than-pleased about her bringing a silver-eyed child into the Land of Darkness. Then again, she could use the point that the child likely didn't even know what her eyes did, much less how to use them. And if she was raised at Evernight, that would be one less silver-eyed warrior to worry about…
"Ruby," she started softly, "would you like to come to Evernight Castle with me?"
The girl's crying calmed and she sniffed as she looked at Cinder curiously, "Cas…tle…?" She blinked her remaining tears away and nodded, temporarily forgetting why she was upset.
Cinder smiled, "Yes, a castle. My… friends... and I live there." She'd sooner bite her tongue off before calling any of those men her friends ever again. But for the sake of keeping Ruby calm, she'd push her pride aside for now. She picked Ruby up and sat her on her hip, pulling her hood up, "The Grimm won't hurt you while I'm around."
And so, Cinder took Ruby back to Evernight Castle with her. The child's cape had snagged on a low-hanging branch as they left the forest, resulting in a small tear. While Cinder wasn't exactly the best at sewing, it couldn't be too hard to fix it, right?
Unsurprisingly, Salem was furious at Cinder for bringing a silver-eyed child into her domain. Ruby had been temporarily handed over to Hazel while the woman got an earful from Salem, the latter's angered yelling being heard from down the hall.
"And just what were you thinking?! Bringing a silver-eyed child to the Land of Darkness?! Into my abode?! I should kill you and that child!"
Cinder stood her ground, not letting fear get the best of her, "Master… the girl is only five. She likely doesn't know how special her eyes are, nor what she can do with them. If she were to be raised as one of your subordinates, she would never learn to use that power." She watched Salem's reaction before continuing, "I believe that she could make a strong addition to our forces. With proper training, of course."
The woman had a point; without training specifically for her eyes, it was unlikely that Ruby would be able to use them. Even still… it was dangerous for her to be around. No training with her eyes meant that her control over their abilities would be unstable. While the pros and cons of keeping her around were on even ground, Salem still took a while to mull over the options. Cinder waited patiently for the few minutes of silence that proceeded, her only hope being that her master would at least tolerate the child's presence.
"Very well," she started, "I will leave the girl under your care. Train her how you see fit and make sure she doesn't become a problem for us in the future."
"Thank you, Master. I promise that she'll be a powerful asset to your plans."
Salem waved the woman off, turning to look out at the barren wasteland of Grimm. She knew Cinder wouldn't fail her; she never had before and there was no reason for her to start now. If all went according to her plans, Ruby would turn out to be quite the powerful ally.
As Cinder walked out into the hall, Ruby wriggled to jump out of Hazel's arms but to no avail. The man was simply too strong. He did put her down though, which made her quite happy. As she ran up to Cinder, her cape caught under foot and made her stumble, almost tripping her.
"What did she say? Tell me! Tell me!" she said, jumping up and down while holding her arms up.
Cinder picked her up, "She said you can stay. You'll be under my care while you're here."
Watts stepped forward, pocketing his scroll and looking at the small child, "Are you sure you want to stay here? I'm sure we wouldn't have much issue returning you to your parents. They must be worried about you."
Ruby fidgeted with the hem of her cape as Cinder glared at the man, "Well… Mommy left us a while ago… and… and Yang left me…" Tears began to well again as the thought of Yang leaving her because their mother left crossed her mind, "Did… did Yang leave me… because Mommy left…?"
She gripped her mother's emblem as Cinder stroked her hair, "I don't know. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. All that matters is that you're with us now. And we won't abandon you." She took a brief pause before glancing over at Tyrian, the scorpion's tail swinging around, "Well, he might. But you don't have to worry about him."
He pointed his tail at her as Ruby giggled, wiping her eyes with her cape.
Soon enough, Ruby had a room of her own close to Cinder's. She grew accustomed to the constant presence of Grimm and was eventually taught how to give them commands. Cinder trained her in combat, occasionally asking Hazel for assistance, while Watts taught her about weaponry and other technology. Tyrian never made an attempt to help the child, instead opting to mess with her by pestering her when she did homework Watts gave her. He eventually learned his lesson when Ruby had had enough of his shit and hit him with her chair. All the while, Salem watched her progress from the sidelines, never interfering nor assisting with her training. Of course, she couldn't avoid the girl forever.
While Cinder was out on a mission, Ruby made it her personal mission to find Salem. Whether or not the woman would be willing to talk to her had yet to be determined.
The silver-eyed child, now ten years old, sat in her mother's seat at the meeting table, scribbling on some paper with crayons. It was much bigger than her own little chair- she had to stack some pillows to be able to comfortably color at the table. Salem sat silently at the head of the table, observing her lower pawns through her seers. Ruby had repeatedly looked up at Salem before looking back at her paper, scribbling more then looking at her again. After doing this for about fifteen minutes, she slid the piece of paper over to the woman, looking at her expectantly.
Salem glanced at the child, noticing the movement from her peripheral. She quirked a brow, glancing down at the paper before picking it up to examine it. It was, what appeared to be, an attempt at a portrait drawing of herself. Ruby was still looking at her, eyes wide in anticipation of her reaction. She lowly hummed, gracing the girl with a soft smile, "It's a very nice drawing."
Ruby's eyes sparkled with excitement and she clapped happily, getting to work on another drawing. Salem kept the crayon portrait next to her, unsure of what exactly to do with it but unwilling to discard it. Perhaps she could put it on the wall in her chamber. Regardless, the child was reminding her of her own daughters. Always so happy to show her and their father things they had accomplished… There was no use dwelling on the past. What was done was done.
And Ruby was part of her present and future. She would soon fully join the inner circle as an official member and be sent on missions with the other members. Cinder had been right to keep her around.
"Ruby, let me tell you a story. It's about a young girl, about your age, locked away in a tower…"
A/N
What would y'all say if I said I had to change the title of this fic because I found out the title I was gonna go with is the ship name for a minor x adult ship that I didn't know had a ship name even though I've been in the fandom for fuck knows how long now? Kill me.
