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Ruby Rose is no stranger to tragedy. She wears it around her shoulders like her favourite cloak, lets it weigh her down, lets it settle into her bones. She greets tragedy like an old friend, with a kiss and a hug and a wide smile that shows all her teeth. She first met tragedy when Summer died, when she was small and frightened and unsure of this sadness that consumed her father and left her breathless at night. Met it again on the nights where her sister didn’t eat because she said she wasn’t hungry but really it was because there wasn’t enough food in the house. Tragedy was every time Qrow came home too drunk to walk, eyes feverish and darting, looking for a friend he lost long ago. Tragedy has visited her many times and looked like a great many things but never did Ruby let it break her because she knew that just as tragedy comes, it goes, and there is no value in letting it linger, that is what kills you.
But tragedy never looked like this before and Ruby doesn’t know if this tragedy will ever leave her.
Standing before her is her sister. Yang is twisted beyond recognition, her skin as dark as coal and just as brittle, with cracks splintering up and down her arms and chest revealing the golden ichor beneath. She has a bone white mask, red running clean through, marking her as a creature of Grimm. The mask is chipped, just below her upper lip, revealing rows of sharpened teeth and a smile so wicked Ruby could hardly believe it belonged to her sister. Her hair is as gold as it’s ever been but there is a life to it that was never there before, it seemed to flicker and snap like a flame in the wind. Her eyes are the only things left unchanged as they glow red and monstrous in the night.
Yang is hunched over the unconscious body of Cinder Fall, the greatest villain Vale has ever known. There are spikes protruding all the way down her spine, they seem almost silver in the moonlight. Her claws are extended and are digging deep into the soil as she falls to all fours, her tail lashing out from side to side as if in warning. Her red eyes darting around to the other Hunters behind you, her friends once upon a time, her team, her partner.
Ruby steps forward, unafraid, she wants to get closer, to greet Yang, to touch her, to tell her everything is all right and to get her to come back. It’s been almost two years since Ruby last saw her sister and there hasn’t been a single day since where she doesn’t regret leaving her in Patch, leaving her alone. But before she can move much further Yang lets out a bloody roar, long and drawn out and suddenly the ground is shaking and the cries of Grimm can be heard fast approaching.
Ruby extends Crescent Rose, slamming the blade into the ground and taking aim with her sniper. Right in her sights is Yang, leaning down further and picking Cinder up in her arm. She is standing now back to Ruby and the rest, unconcerned with the danger she has just put them in. Ruby aims the crosshairs to the back of Yang’s head, one press and she’s dead, just like all the other Grimm she’s killed but this is different, this is Yang, her sister and the only person who put Ruby first before all else.
And Ruby doesn’t fire, just repositions so she’s aiming at an oncoming Beowulf instead. Ruby closes one eye and shoots, the first of many as the fight overwhelms her, consumes her, makes her forget. Forget about a sister that she doesn’t recognise, forget about lilac eyes and a glittering smile, forget about days spent running through the golden fields of Patch playing Maiden and Monster. Makes Ruby forget about Yang and all she had with her because now is the fight and now is the rush of battle now she needs to be focused, to be sharp, to be ready so that come morning she can remember again.
Yang leaves with the tide of Grimm, Cinder cradled to her chest. The only thing left behind are five deep gouges in the earth.
-
Your life both begins and ends on the day Ruby is brought home from the hospital. Already bundled up in Summer’s white cloak, eyes weighed down by long black eyelashes. She is small and wrinkly, face twisted up in a displeased frown. You lean over to see her better, having never seen anything so fragile when a little fist pops out and hits you on the nose. You startle so badly you end up falling over but your father just laughs and picks you up in is two big arms and carries you to be eye level with your sister. Her hand is still in the air, fingers spread apart and they are so small that when you put your own hand into hers she can barely curl it around two of your fingers. In this moment something in you changes, something blossoms deep in your chest, tucked behind your heart in a place where no one can reach. From that day you promise to keep that blossoming love safe, to nurture it and care for it until it grows to become just as special as the little baby girl that is gripping your fingers. You promise that Ruby will always come first, will always have your love.
You only ever make three promises in your life; this is the first.