章 1772: 3
Black Rose Blooms SilverCyberQueen_JolyneChapter 3
Chapter Text
"Psst! Hey!"
The girl named Cinder shot up as a voice whispered to her in the dark, terrible storeroom that she'd been forced to sleep in, shuddering and looking around almost frantically at the shadows that seemed to cling ever tighter to the boxes and crates that held the supplies for the hotel. There was-
"Who's there?" she asked, voice trembling slightly as she slowly turned around and tried to keep an eye on the rest of the room, backing up to the tiny little bundle of things she could dare call her own and retrieving her swords. She didn't see anything, but kept her voice down- that voice hadn't sounded anything like the Madame or her daughters- it sounded… joyful. Playful. Small and sweet and yet echoing with a rumble of something she dared not think about. Something primal. Something dark.
Something grim.
A Grimm? This far in Atlas? Even Cinder didn't want to think about that happening, no matter what it meant.
"I-I said w-who's there!?" Cinder called out, slightly louder as she raised her swords to try and defend herself- she may not have known much, she might not have been able to do much… but Rhodes had taught her to fight. Said that she was really good at fighting for someone her age. Maybe she'd have a chance, if whatever it was that was hiding in the shadows attacked her. "Show yourself! I-I'm armed!"
"I'm armed too!" the next whisper came, and the shadows writhed as they seemingly retreated all on their own- the lightswitch clicking on at the far side of the room as the black, squirming tendrils began to burn with coal-like eyes and red painted bone plates.
Oh gods. Oh gods no- no no no no no no-
"See?"
No no no no- wait what?
Cinder blinked, eyes blown wide in fear as she took a step back- only to stop in confusion as the grimm shadows weaving along the ceiling and floor retracted all at once and the light in the room's ceiling revealed… a girl?
One younger than her. A… small little girl, tiny and pale and chubby-cheeked and with gleaming silver eyes and a white mask sitting atop her head, right between the twitching puppy-like ears that were there too. To top it all off, she even had a wagging puppy tail, and was dressed in adorable black pajamas speckled with bright red roses and birds, with a big red cape draped over her shoulders to the point that it reached the ground and pooled around her feet like a waterfall of blood.
She also had tiny fangs, silver eyes speckled with the barest hint of red and orange, and held a crossbow sword that was just… way too big for her current size.
If she was older than eight, Cinder would eat her damned brush.
".... Who… what?" She couldn't help it- she couldn't help but stare at the… the little demon child thing standing before her, holding up the crossbow in her hands as though presenting it to Cinder. "What are you- who are you? A-and… w-why are you in here?"
"Well… I'm half grimm, I think…. My name is Ruby…. And I'm here because you smelled really sad and like you were in a lot of pain and that mean lady who owns the place seems like she's treating you really bad!" Ruby answered, smiling brightly and watching as Cinder lowered her swords, which prompted her to… reabsorb the crossbow into her flesh. Because she was half grimm. Which was a thing that could exist. "Do you not want to be here? I've seen a lot of kids who didn't wanna be where they lived, but most of the ones I talked to were just mad cuz their parents grounded them or something. I beat up a couple bad parents though! Uncle Qrow says I shouldn't do it too much cuz then the police will show up and be really mean, but leaving sad kids with bad parents is a really bad idea and then there were a bunch of orphan places and foster kids that also had bad parents and I told Uncle Qrow all of that and he told me to just tell him instead of being really mean or beating up the bad people which is really weird because Uncle Qrow lets me beat up bandits and mean grimm all the time so why should this be any different? And then Uncle Qrow was like 'well the bandits are bad people and criminals and no one can take care of them but huntsmen and huntresses' but that's dumb because parents who hit their kids and make them miserable and scared are even worse than bandits cuz at least bandits just take your stuff most of the time but bad parents are mean and terrible and if no one ever learns they're mean and terrible they make you sad for the rest of your life and-"
"Stop! Just- stop talking! You're so… so loud! Why- I just… why are you here? Why now, when I'm already training to get out, why now when I'm almost old enough to join Atlas Academy!? Why now!?" Cinder belted out, her voice cracking as she fell to her knees before Ruby, unable to understand really just what was going on- the pain of her day, the aches and stress of her chores, the barbs and jeers of her "step siblings", the harsh cruelties of her mistress, and the confusion of what this girl was saying to her- why did it almost sound like Ruby was trying to get her out of the Glass Unicorn?
"Because you need help. And that's what Huntresses do," Ruby stated simply, walking over and giving Cinder a warm, gentle hug that smelled of roses and strawberries and the dinner she'd been ordered to send up to the room of that one Huntsman- she couldn't remember his name, but she knew the dinners she made for every room, and that Huntsman hadn't walked in with anyone else. Just… a dog… on a leash…
A dog that had been wearing a bright red cape, with pitch black fur and a strange, skeletal looking pattern on its body. Just like the subtle rib cage pattern outlined on Ruby's pajamas. Just like the mask on her head.
"We help people and make the world a better place," Ruby finished, entirely aware of Cinder's emotional flux as she held onto the older girl for a little longer, her tail wagging slowly as she pressed her face into Cinder's shoulder- only really possible because Cinder was still kneeling on the ground and her malnutrition made it so she was only a little taller than Ruby while doing so. "So… Do you want help?"
Cinder gulped, watching Ruby pull back and look at her with those shimmering silver eyes, orange and yellow and red speckles literally dancing in her irises like sparks in a flame, an expression of hope dancing along the younger girl's face as she gave Cinder a big, guileless grin.
She weighed her options, then. Go with a girl she didn't know she could trust- make a deal with the devil she didn't know and hope that it led to something good for her, hope it led to her immediate freedom from this hell the Madame had forced on her. Or… wait until Rhodes came back to train her some more. Endure day after day of repeated abuse that would only be made slightly better by the idea that she'd one day be able to run off and never return. Become a Huntress like she always wanted- roam free, be strong, be powerful enough that no one ever hurt her ever again.
Could Ruby provide that?
"If… if I go with you… can you make me a Huntress?" Cinder asked slowly, throat constricting slightly as tears came unbidden to her eyes as she dared to dream of a life outside of the walls of the Glass Unicorn, hands shaking and palms steaming as her aura flickered to life- she didn't miss the way that Ruby's pupils immediately turned into slits at that, but continued speaking anyway. "C-can you make me strong, so that… so that I never have to deal with any of this ever again? Strong enough so no one can ever hurt me ever again?"
Ruby blinked slowly, tilting her head. "Well… maybe? You'd have to practice a lot I think… but I think it'd be fun! More Huntresses is better, and Uncle Qrow and dad can teach you some cool stuff too! Um… I don't think either dad or Uncle Qrow are super good with two swords, but if you join Signal Academy you'll probably learn there! Oh! And you look a lot like my… um… my mom… too… o-or Yang's mom… s-so… you can be my big sister just like Yang!"
That smile. That gods damned smile.
Ugh. Too bright- she couldn't resist when the literal puppy girl was all but begging her to take the offer.
Cinder paused, then bit her lip and made her choice.
She nodded once, ever so slowly, then reached up and touched her fingers to the ornate necklace that served as her shock collar. "Then… t-then I'll go with you. And… I'll never have to wear this stupid collar ever again!"
"Collar?" Ruby blinked, cutting through Cinder's emotional moment with a single word. "Like a dog collar?"
"A shock collar… The Madame… she-" Cinder bit off her words suddenly, the fear and panic and phantom pain in her body intensifying a thousandfold as Ruby growled . Unconsciously, she took a step back as Ruby rose up before her, appearance becoming wild and untamed and unkempt and feral - bony plates growing along her body as her clothes seemed to grow tattered and shredded on their own. "I-I…"
"She will never hurt you again," Ruby hissed out, voice deepening with a bassy rumble as something far larger, far scarier, and far more lethal began to take the place of the sweet little girl that she'd presented a moment ago. Before Cinder could react, Ruby pulled out her scroll and sent a message to Qrow, jamming a tendril of inky blackness into the ground and cracking the tile as she pumped the literal stuff of nightmares into the foundations of the hotel. "I promise. Never. Again."
<Ruby Rose -> Qrow Branwen>
<Swarm. Hotel 15. Docks 60. Passenger 1.><R>
<Q><Hotel 15. Docks 60.>
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