The next few days passed by without incident. The day she met Aurelia she had given the scarf to Theo, leaving it neatly folded on top of his bed. Since he was about to have his awakening, he wasn’t exactly ‘available’ for her and didn’t have the opportunity to chat. Turns out that Xanis had been Theo’s mentor all along, instructing him what to do and how so he could get the Guard class this upcoming winter’s solstice.

Now that Ruby seemed approachable, as opposed to the former attitude her previous host had, some of the girls started talking to her every now and then. Nothing like a real conversation, but small greetings and comments here or there. Some were clearly resentful though and were not afraid to show it now that Ruby wasn’t a punch-first-ask-questions-later kind of girl. Luckily, she did have Aurelia to talk to every now and then, though not always since she had chores.

Technically, Ruby also had chores, but since she still had yarn and was then explicitly told by Mrs. Sianna in an off-hand comment that she was indeed making scarves for all of the children, she was making up for them and could skip them. At this point in time, she was already out of the fancy wool and was making use of just some basic colors. It didn’t mean she couldn’t do any pattern anymore, it’s just that they were not as pretty and it was best to just use only two colors so as to save yarn and make as many as she could.

“Tomorrow’s the day.”

“So I was told, yeah.”

“You think your brother’s nervous?”

“Theo? I think he’s a wreck to be honest.”

Aurelia stared.

“Why? Hasn’t he prepared like a ton?” She asked, legs wide open, foot on top of the chair and her chin resting on her knee. Her dog ears were out now, both of them perked up in a show of attention.

“That’s exactly why. Has it never happened to you? That you prepare and prepare for something super important, everyone knows you’ve put your utmost effort, and then you just succumb to the pressure?”

“Well… if you put it like that, I guess that nope, never happened.”

Ruby stared back.

“Some are born lucky I guess.” Ruby replied with a sigh, knowing fairly well what it means to succumb to pressure. To know everyone is expecting so much of you and just fall apart. She knew fucking fairly well.

There was a pause, Aurelia staring before she broke the silence.

“Hahahaha.” That was when Ruby was reminded that both of them were in an orphanage and that Aurelia had lost her parents like not even two months ago. At first she felt awful, but then Aurelia kept laughing and you know how laughter can be contagious.

“Hahahahaha –snort” Ruby, surprised, quickly covered her mouth.

They both paused again, staring at each other for a second.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Eventually, both of them calmed down and kept on talking. Ruby was planning on talking to Theo tonight, maybe it would help him get the jitters out of the system or something. Maybe he wasn’t even nervous, but she wanted to talk to him anyway. While Theo saw her as her normal sister, Ruby thought of him more like a stranger that she could trust… to a degree, but a much higher degree than most people for sure.

She still had a few questions about this whole Class business and, after talking enough with Aurelia, she couldn’t help but ponder if being a Seamstress was exactly what she wanted. She knew classes could deviate, but of course still wanted something related to the fashion industry. She just wasn’t sure if the Seamstress class would be enough to achieve her goals, after all, she was still extremely sour after not reaching her dream back in her previous world.

“I should start looking for a mentorship soon…” She knew she didn’t exactly need someone to teach her how to sow, but she did want to know what were the current trends and the way of doing things here. One of her goals had always been to own her own brand or store, and while it did look quite far from her current position, it was always good to have a long-term objective. Obtaining a mentorship being her primary goal at the moment though.

“Yep, I’ll be doing it too.”

“You want to become a guilder, right?”

“Yep, though that’s all I’m saying.”

“You have a plan or something?”

“As I said, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Didn’t picture you as the secretive kind.”

“That’s because I’m not, but if there’s one thing I know every single guilder appreciates, is someone who can keep his mouth shut.”

“Fair, I suppose. Though I keep on wondering how was it that Layla did it.” The reason why most orphans or people from the slums were hardly mentored to become a guilder was because they had no foundation at all. Unlike the children of the guilders themselves, they were taught about magic and weapons from quite an early age, giving them an advantage on their apprenticeship once they chose to get a guilder related class.

“It was probably her looks and mannerisms, ‘cuz I really doubt it was her talent.” Aurelia smirked, her hands inside the water rubbing away the food, she had distracted herself from her chores for far too long. Ruby, on the other hand, sat by the counter with a rag on her hands, drying them.

She was making use of her break as much as possible, as she knew she would have to go back to knitting soon enough. The Mistress apparently had been kidding at first about using all of the yarn, since she knew Ruby wasn’t even going to listen, but she quickly changed her mind the second she inspected the first scarf she had made.

For some reason, it seemed odd to Ruby that the Mistress had almost pushed her to give the scarf to Theo once she asked for permission, but the rest were to be given to her as she kept on finishing them. Putting them on a crude wooden box, each one folded neatly right next to the other or right on top, filling it slowly.

“Hey, you think you’ll finish your scarves soon? I’ve never seen someone knit so fast.”

“Maybe they’ll be ready by tomorrow. Why?”

Aurelia gave her a high-pitched whistle, clearly impressed.

“So we can go to the ceremony tomorrow night. If you haven’t finished, I doubt the Mistress will let you out.”

“Ah, I hadn’t thought about it that way, I thought I could just go.”

“Why do you make it sound like you’re not actually grounded?”

“I-I am, it’s just that I hadn’t thought about it thoroughly.”

“I guess you’re still a savage at heart.” Aurelia said more to herself than anything, a little bit impressed at how nonchalant Ruby was with being grounded.

The truth of the matter was that Ruby really hadn’t thought about it. She was fine and could barely consider a punishment being closed-doors, knitting without a break until it was time to eat. In fact, it was closer to her normal routine more than anything. Thus, now that she thought about getting out, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit nervous.

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After being in this new land for a few days, she could tell the world was big and there was so much she didn’t know. When she got here, she was afraid and didn’t recognize anything. Now… Well, now she still didn’t know or recognize anything, maybe the so-called ‘bridge’ at most, but that would be it. There were so many unknowns that she couldn’t help but feel nervous about getting out, though that doesn’t mean she wasn’t closed to the idea. She had been thinking about finding a mentorship after all.

“Anyway, I have to go. I’ll try to get them ready tonight so that I can join you tomorrow.” She said while jumping from the counter in a simple motion, putting the rag back on Aurelia’s shoulder.

“With your speed? You’ll finish in no time.” Aurelia replied, tail wagging inside her clothes.

“Make sure you make one of those for me!” The beastkin reminded her as she was leaving, though she only replied with a wave, pretty aware that she already had one ready for the short-haired girl.

The beastkin… The other species in this world kept making her a little nervous, mostly because they were a daily reminder that she wasn’t in her world anymore. Though it brought so many possibilities and ideas to the table that she also felt quite passionate about her work. Could she one day make special clothes for different races? She knew she would have to do some heavy research on what was in nowadays, but felt like she could pull it off.

With her mind going overdrive on how she could dress different races, she went back to bed and started knitting. There was a fireplace constantly running on the main hall on the first floor, where the little kids liked to play and prospective parents were supposed to watch how they behaved, though she wouldn’t go there mostly because she was grounded and the kids would probably distract her. Assimilating this whole new world kept on pushing on her stress button and she required at least time to think and to be by herself.

It took her no effort at all to fall into her rhythm again, moving the knitting needles in repetitive patterns, over and over, as the yarn kept getting smaller and smaller. As the afternoon turned to night, and the moon started to shine across the sky, she heard a knocking on the door.

“Busy?” It was Theo.

“Shouldn’t I be the one who asks that?”

“Fair. I’m sorry, I’ve just…”

“You don’t have to apologize. I understand.” She replied with a smile. Then, she gestured for him to come join her, her hands still moving.

Theo hesitated in his place for a second, hands touching the door frame before looking back. After a couple of seconds and realizing no one was coming, he got inside, walking all the way to her bed and sitting by the end of it. Ruby just smiled and made some room, pushing the yarn and scarves she already finished to the side.

“Glad you liked it.” He was wearing the red scarf she made, the one with the snowflakes and cute patterns.

“Yeah. I’m still surprised you can do that. When did you learn?” He smiled, tracing his fingers through the comfortable woolen piece.

“Some people appreciate others who can keep their mouth shut.” She said after some hesitation, remembering Aurelia’s words.

“Fine, keep your secrets too. Everyone has them around here anyway.”

“What about you?” She asked.

“What about me?”

“Do you have any secrets?”

“Of course I do.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be a secret anymore if I just go about town telling everybody. Besides, someone I know said something about others appreciating those who can keep their mouth shut.”

“Haha, very funny.” She said with a dead tone. Well, it wasn’t like she hadn’t stolen those words from someone else, but Theo didn’t know that!

There was a pause between them for a moment, the only sound coming from the wind and the subtle movement of the needles. She couldn’t help but stare at him a little bit, he was looking at the ceiling. Having a brother was… weird. She wasn’t exactly comfortable with just talking about the important stuff with him, as he was a stranger to her still. However, she knew that if she wanted to adapt and really live in this world, she would have to act the part and let things be. “Besides, Theo seems to be the right sort of guy.”

“Can I ask you something?” She broke the silence.

“Hm?” His eyes fixed on the ceiling, surely trying to find shapes in the grooves and circles of the old wood.

“Have I been too much of a burden?”

She needed to know. She knew the former Ruby was shit, but she still needed to know. Taking someone else’s body came with the unpleasantness of being forced to fix every fuck up her former host had done. With the girl being fourteen, fifteen by tomorrow, she knew there had to be several in waiting, besides the ones she already knew of course.

He kept quiet for a while, looking for words. She didn’t pressure him though, and just kept knitting.

“Yes.”

Green eyes clashing with her own.

“Thanks for the honesty.” She said reassuringly, as she noticed Theo looking worried, still lost for words.

“I just…” He gave a heavy sigh before continuing. “When mom and dad died, I knew I was going to need to push myself a lot. That I would need to take charge and that I was the one who needed to look after you. But then… I realized that I kept thinking about me and me and me. By the time I was really looking at you, you were already sneaking behind my back and pushing Todd to steal food for you because that would get him a better class.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the beginnings of the Future Breaker.” She said with a slight smirk, bemused at the tale.

“You left me speechless. Time after time. I didn’t even notice when things went that bad, they just did. I remember this one time when I talked to Mrs. Sianna about you and said we all process grief differently. I didn’t get how you were processing grief by jumping out the window from the third floor and doing everything in your power to go across the bridge though.”

The more she heard about Ruby, the more she thought of her as a feral child. “Girl, she was a savage. The third floor? From this window? No wonder I had those weird bruises.”

“Sorry about that…”

“Honestly it’s kinda creepy how different you are behaving now. Was the beating that hard? You were in pretty bad shape when I got there.”

“What do you think, Sherlock?”

“Who’s Sherlock?”

“Are you interrogating me now?”

“Is it working?”

She stared.

“Let’s go back to the important part. Turns out, not only am I a pain, but also a creep? Seriously?” The ‘being annoying’ part she knew she was innocent, but creepy now?

He just smiled, looking at her with green eyes.

“Come on.” He pushed.

After a sigh, she relented, looking at the window.

“I’m pretty sure I got hit in the head quite badly, but I guess I decided to think things through a little bit more from now on? Does that make sense?” She went back to the topic, it was a lie of course, but it was either that or deem herself insane by telling the truth.

“Not really. Not coming from you, at least, but I’ll buy it for now. Is this your way of being considerate?”

“Considerate?”

“Yeah, not making trouble 'cuz I’m getting my class tomorrow night.”

“Maybe…” She avoided his gaze. That sounded like a better excuse.

He stared before releasing a sudden breath of relief.

“You know, I’ve been practicing what you said.”

“The good cop thing? I can tell.” She hadn’t expected him to take it so seriously.

“Yeah. I didn’t really get it very well at first, but I noticed Xanis seems to be using the skill all the time. He’s really good at being the bad one. I’m pretty sure he’s been training me in the down low to get the skill as I do the good one, he seemed surprised I followed suit. Petty thefts and such crimes have been a breeze lately. I didn’t know the garrison used skills like that, but it makes sense I suppose.”

“Glad I could help.”

He nodded before going back to look at the ceiling. He stared some more before getting up and moving to sit right next to her, gesturing to make some room.

“Move, you big ass.”

“Okay, okay.” She replied, moving to the left edge of the bed.

“I’m gonna miss you Ruby.” He said, quickly giving her a hug.

She felt a bit weird at the sudden gesture of affection, but reciprocated anyway, resting her head on his chest for a few seconds, before he broke it off.

Her relationship with him was weird. She didn’t feel really attached to him in an affectionate way, but she also knew that he was the best anchor she had in this world to not fall into desperation. She had Aurelia now at least, but it wasn’t the same. Besides, it’s not like they were best friends or anything. Things in this world were… difficult.

“Ruby?”

“Hm?”

“You didn’t say you’re going to miss me.”

“Sorry, I’ll miss you, truly. I was just… thinking I guess.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one with the head in the clouds?”

“Pretty sure your head is already up there.”

“Ahk!” He pushed her off the bed, making her fall with a heavy thud.

“Dude!” She looked at him bewildered.

“RUBY! WHAT’S GOING ON? I’M COMING UP!” They heard the Mistress’ voice coming from downstairs.

Theo just smiled, muffling his laugh as he quickly got up and went for the door, not wanting to be punished. However, he stopped right by the threshold.

“Will you be there tomorrow?”

Her smile faded slowly and with a more serious face, she replied:

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”