No Strings Attached

A Stay of Execution

This chapter went through quite a few rewrites until I was happy with exactly where it took the story, but here we are finally. In other news, I have been following the latest episodes of volume 8, whilst also planning out the Ruby story elements of it. I also have been thinking about other possible stories that I could start down the road, but that will be for another time. Recently a new spinoff of RWBY got announced that it was in development which will be looking into more of the in-universe fairy tales of RWBY. I myself recently got the fairy tale book that RT made for the show and enjoyed it heavily, so I'm excited to see what this new show is like. Anyways, with that all said, hope you enjoy!

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You continued spinning the strings around your fingers, creating intricate patterns with them as they emitted the only faint light in the cell. You looked down the corridor-like cell, the place where you knew the girl was, looking once again vacant.

You: "I know you're still there you know"

She was using her semblance in another attempt to catch you off guard. Despite how long you had spent in the cell, it was still unnerving, with you collapsing the strings to focus your attention back on her, snuffing out the only faint light in the cell. You had been in here for days, with seemingly no sign Ivory was going to let you out any time soon. Roman would pull through...you were just hoping he would before you starved to death in here. Suddenly, the hatch at the bottom of the door opened up, bright light shining through as a tray of mediocre food was passed through the hole.

Gang Member: "Enjoy! And don't feed any to that freak!"

With that, the opening was quickly closed off again. You examined the meal you had gotten in displeasure, before looking back down to the cell. You were hungry, but not THAT hungry.

You: "Mistral hospitality at its finest. Did they actively go out of their way to make this stuff look like garbage?"

Curiously, the glass illusion at the back of the room finally shattered, the girl revealing herself to you. Her animalistic eyes still burned with killing intent, but it seemed dormant...at least for now. She looked at you intently.

You: "What? You heard him. Whatever you did to get that blood all over you clearly didn't put them in the mood to give you the five-star treatment"

She seemed irritated by your response but was doing her best to hide it. In all honesty, you weren't planning on eating the slop they had served you, but you had even less reason to give it to your cellmate out of goodwill.

You: "I guess even psycho's still value living. Well, you should have thought about that before eyeing my throat up as your next victim"

You took a bite into the only edible piece you could see; a small bread roll. You had hoped the girl would have taken the hint, but she seemed desperate, still looking at you like an animal begging. You groaned out, returning your attention to her.

You: "Fine! I'll give you this slop, but in return you have to at least cut the magic act. Fair?"

She seemed reluctant at first, but eventually gave you a very small nod. With that, you tossed her the bread roll, with her scampering over to it before devouring it quickly. Bit by bit, you passed her food from your side of the room, before kicking the tray down to her, the slop-like stew left on it spilling out. She didn't seem to mind much, eating every bit of it she could. You averted your gaze from the wretched sight, not wanting to see any more of it.