True love is devoted, undoubted, and deliciously sweet. That is how Ruby would describe her relationship with her fiance, Garnet. The sincere yet intensely passionate affection they shared was envied by many. It came to no shock when they announced their engagement.
Naturally, no story worth telling is so effortlessly happy. The conflict soon became apparent when a war was waged against the neighboring country for complicated political reasons that they couldn't bring themselves to care about. The war didn't matter, as long as they had each other. And then came the morning when Garnet received a summons: He had been recruited as a soldier. To disobey such a direct order was punishable by execution; Garnet had no choice but to leave Ruby's side to fight for the chance to live with her. And so he made her a promise: On the day he returned, they would marry and start a family together. Saddened but hopeful, Ruby assured herself that Garnet would return to her.
The days stretched impossibly long, yet the weeks and months ticked by unfathomably quick. Faith in her true love was the only thing that kept her going about her daily routines as she normally would, despite the bitter loneliness freezing over her heart a little more with each passing day.
Ten months after Garnet was dispatched, Ruby had received a letter. According to the letter, Garnet had been captured by enemy forces three months prior, and because rescue missions had been unsuccessful over this long span of time, he was considered to be killed in action.
Overwhelming sorrow overcame her. Ruby was unable to eat, speak, or even get out of bed most days. These past months it had felt as though the sun had set, and she was anxiously awaiting for it to rise again, only to find out that it never would. Her light, her love, her hope, had drained all the vibrance from her life until all she could see were shades of gray. In her desperation, she was ashamed to admit that she had contemplated suicide, but she knew that Garnet would not want her to cut her own life short, as his had been. That left only one option, one reason to force herself out of bed, only one motivation to keep her going: Revenge.
Over the course of the following year, Ruby trained herself in the art of battle. Using her feminine wiles and the savage outlook that her inner turmoil had developed, Ruby had become a force to be reckoned with. She joined the war, desperate to put an end to the fighting and prevent the loss of any more lives-- from her side of the field, at least. When battling her foes, she was nothing less than ruthless. The kind, empathetic, loving woman that Garnet had promised to marry had become hidden under a layer of foreign blood.
During the subsequent year, Ruby had become famous for stunning beauty and malicious nature on the battlefront, though most notably, for being able to dispatch her enemies into the next world with nothing more than her rose whip. Somewhere along the way she had acquired the nickname of 'The Alluring Assassin'. Allure, for short. It was around this time that she cut short her hair to form a new identity, and when her once-gentle eyes adopted the glare of a murderer.
On one particular day, Allure had once again lost herself in battle mentality. She lashed out against her foes and slew them one by one. However, there was one soldier who managed to put up more of a fight than usual. He looked no different from the others; the same armor, the same helmet, the same mask. So, she lunged at him in an attempt to encircle his sword, like she normally would, in order to yank it away and leave him defenseless. This man, however, saw through her tactic and blocked it with his forearm. Despite the heavy bleeding, he took the opportunity to yank on her whip in order to draw her closer... to draw her within killing range.
In one swift movement, the man swung his leg out to kick the back of her knees. They both fell to the ground. Allure dropped her whip, and the man grabbed her by the wrists with a single hand, and used the rest of his body to hold her down while he held his sword to her milky-white nape. His murderous gaze lingered on her face for a long moment, as though drinking in her beauty before he carved her body into pieces.
She glared at him defiantly. If she was going to die, she was going to remember the face of the person who bested her so she could haunt him in the afterlife. Unfortunately, this was impossible because of their signature mask and helmet that all the nameless soldiers were assigned. Still, she would not forget the eyes of her killer... those hauntingly familiar eyes...
The soldier seemed to realize it at the same time. He tossed his sword to one side, and instead touched her cheek with the docility of a lover. It was as though something inside her woke up after a long sleep, and she was no longer Allure-- she was Ruby again. "You're alive..." she breathed, as tears overcame her vision.
Garnet removed his helmet, followed by his mask. His eyes were equally misty as he leaned over her and kissed her deeply. Her body responded with a passionate urgency that had accumulated over the past few years. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing him closer until she could feel his heart racing as though it were inside her own chest. His fingers swept through her ebony curls. After a long moment of sweet reunion, he pulled away regretfully. "This probably isn't the best time or place." he admitted, referring to the battlefield strewn with bodies. "Come with me. There's a place nearby where we can talk safely."
>To be finished later... x_x
Neko-Ryuku Community Member 
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