BlackUmbra

Humming, Jinx looked down at her wrists. Not her first time in cuffs, and it wouldn’t be her last. These cuffs were different, though. She was wrapped in black metal that was definitely not standard pig edition.

She tried an experimental twist of the wrist. It was a basic trick, one she’d used probably hundreds of times while the gloating cop on the other side of the table stared on stinking of stale coffee and a sudden bout of fear sweats. These handcuffs twisted and followed her wrists like they were alive, easily keeping their grip.

More worrying, she was pretty sure she could hear whispering by her wrists. It was a subtle, quiet thing, but in the silence of the room, she could swear she heard crackling like a distant fire and groaning voices. It was just on the edge of her hearing range, and focusing on it made the room feel a little fuzzy.

She looked around for anything to focus on that wasn’t that. And then her eyes fell back on that light above her head. It was recessed into the roof, but glowing down at her bright enough that she had to blink the spots out of her eyes.

Bright enough that it should have lit up the whole room nice and bright. And it did, mostly. Except for that corner across from her…

Humming, she leaned back in her seat and stared into the abyss. Something blinked back.

--

Princess Weiss Schnee… Weiss… stalked over the crunching snow-covered road like a woman on a mission.

Her sworn knight Ruby Rose trailed behind her, guarding her back and vigilant for any danger heading Weiss’s way as always.

Though Weiss supposed she didn’t have a knight anymore. Not officially. Abdicants weren’t entitled to claim a noble as theirs.

Not that she was sure that mattered. Not to Ruby. Weiss had left, and Ruby had followed. Title or no, Ruby had made it clear that her fealty was to Weiss, not King Schnee. As it had always been.

It should have comforted Weiss. Ruby chose her, not Atlas. And she’d known she would, when she’d told her the previous night about her plans to finally leave.

She might have presented a calm face when Ruby had followed her through the castle gates at the crack of dawn, but it had deeply shaken something in the former princess to have her assumptions and hopes so casually proven correct.

Ruby had the chance to make a name for herself that would spread across all of Remnant. Even with Weiss absent, her skills were commended enough that Jacques would likely simply shift her duties over to Whitley.

And yet. Ruby had chosen her. It didn’t feel as good for Weiss as she had assumed. The crimson knight was trailing behind her instead of at her side as had long been customary. And from the moment she’d told Ruby about her plans, Ruby’s ever-present smile was absent.

The world felt cold without her own personal sunspot in it. It was the kind of cold she hadn’t truly felt since she woke up at thirteen covered in budding white scales. She hated it.

--

As soon as Ruby woke up, she knew today was the day. Her girlfriends had finally decided to kill her.

Freshly twenty-one (in a few hours), a heart attack might be a weird way to go out. But what else did they expect, knowing that the first thing she would see when she woke up was the notification in their group chat?

And of course she would be excited and wanna’ see what it was! In the list of names covering her phone’s screen, theirs would always be the first to draw her eye.

Her face burned, heat racing up to her scalp when she found their “Happy Birthday” texts hidden under a photo of them.

Together. On Neo’s bed. The vibrant pink made them both stand out really well. They were pressed together wearing only rose petals placed very carefully, Weiss’s arm stretched up to take the photo.

At least Weiss had the decency to be a blushing mess too! Even if she was still right there with Neo!

Neo grinning like that one painting she did of the Cheshire Cat really shouldn’t have gotten to Ruby as much as it did. Weiss said they weren’t supposed to encourage her gremlin behaviour, but she always made it really hard.

Her girlfriends were for sure trying to kill her!

…It would at least be a good death.

And she wouldn’t even get to see Weiss until nighttime!

It was mean. Her smile hurt her cheeks.

--

Weiss Schnee felt cold.

She knew she shouldn’t. Even with February’s winds howling and spraying days-old fallen snow everywhere, it was all outside the thick white walls of her apartment.

Even standing in the middle of her living room, struggling to decide what to do with her night, she could hear the quiet hiss of the top-of-the-line heating system. Jacques had spared no expense in making sure her cage was as modern and impressive as possible.

Every high-end piece of furniture she never asked for faded into Jacques’ favored white-on-white-on-white, soulless palette. Each was more uncomfortable or impractical than the last.

In the frigid winter, with snow on the way, she should have been in an oasis of comfort and heat.

And yet Weiss Schnee felt cold.

--