Written for a request over on my sneezehq tumblr. You can find the full prompt over there. Enjoy!
"Ruby?" Yang hears her dad calling her sister's name as he walks up the stairs. "Ruby, are you up here?"
There's no response from her sister. Yang tunes out her father's voice, slumping back against her bed and goes back to staring blankly at the opposite wall. She doesn't want to think about Ruby right now. In fact, Yang doesn't want to think about anything right now.
"Yang, have you seen your sister anywhere?" Well, so much for that plan.
"No," she mutters in response. She hasn't seen Ruby since this morning, when they'd had yet another argument that had ended when Yang had stormed out of the kitchen and retreated back to her room, where she'd unsuccessfully tried not to think about the stricken look on Ruby's face as she turned to leave and the cruel words that she'd said to her sister.
Great. Now Yang feels guilty all over again.
Deep down, she knows that her sister means well. Ruby is just trying to help, like she always does. But the idea of opening up and talking about things right now isn't something that Yang is ready to do. The wounds from what happened to her are still too fresh. It's much easier to turn her pain and grief into anger.
But unfortunately that means that Ruby ends up getting caught in the crossfire.
She really owes her sister an apology.
Sighing heavily, Yang pushes herself to her feet. It looks like it's time to stop wallowing and face the music.
Her father looks relieved when he hears her footsteps on the stairs, only for his face to fall when he realizes that she's not Ruby, returning from wherever she's been hiding. "Did your sister mention that she planned to go anywhere today?"
"No," Yang replies, shaking her head. "I haven't spoken to her since after breakfast."
"Well, she's not in the house," her father says, his face creased with worry.
"Maybe she's out training?" Yang suggests hopefully.
But her father shakes his head. "I already checked the grounds where the two of you used to train together. She's not there."
Darn. "Maybe she went into town?" Yang is grasping at straws now. It's not like Ruby to wander off without telling someone, or at least leaving a note.
"That's possible," her father admits. "But it's not like Ruby to do that without saying something to me first."
Ruby has been very good about making sure that her family knows where she is since they'd returned from Beacon. She's been very considerate of their father's obvious worry for his daughters. Ruby's always been pretty good about that kind of thing.
Unlike certain older sisters Yang could name, who have a tendency to be a bit of a jerk. Well, time for Yang to start making up for it. "I can head into Vale to look for her," she offers. "Why don't you stay here and wait and see if she turns up?"
"Are you sure?" Her father's surprise is obvious. Yang hasn't left the house, let alone gone anywhere by herself since she'd gotten out of the hospital.
But Yang is a big girl, and she's still haunted by how devastated her sister had looked as Yang had walked away from her. She owes it to her sister to try make things right. "Yeah, it's fine. I'll let you know if I see her anywhere."
"And I'll let you know if she comes back here," her father promises.
Although she's been in the woods surrounding their house countless times since before she can even remember, Yang finds herself on edge as she makes her way along the path. She's been jumpy and paranoid since the attack on Beacon, which is incredibly frustrating.
Stupid Adam. Stupid Blake.
But Yang is on a mission, and she makes it to Vale without any problems. The town's crowded streets are a bit overwhelming after spending so much time at home with only Tai and Ruby for company, but she does her best to look for any sign of her sister. Ruby's got to be around here somewhere.
Except her sister isn't anywhere to be found. No matter how hard Yang looks, there's not a trace of Ruby in Vale. At one point she spots the remaining members of team JNPR, but Ruby isn't with them. Yang knows that she should ask them if they've seen her sister anywhere, but they don't seem to have noticed her yet and Yang can't bring herself to talk to her friends right now when she's such a mess. If Ruby had met up with them at one point, she's not with them now.
There's been no word from her father. Yang continues to search until the sun is starting to set and she's exhausted, but she doesn't find Ruby. With a heavy heart, she finally decides to head home, hoping against hope that she'll stumble across her sister on the way, or that Ruby had come home while she was out and her dad had just forgotten to let her know.
Deep down, though, she knows that it's too late. Ruby is gone.
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