An Assassin's Rose: Heroes

Chapter 42: Family

Ruby hums a small tune as she sits on the top of the stairs and draws an eastern dragon in a red sketchbook.

And the reason that she's doing this? It is because she needed something to pass the time since Damian was in the middle of fencing practice right now.

"And there." She stated once she had finished.

The Huntress holds up her newest creation proudly.

Suddenly someone sits next to her and when she turned her head, she saw that it was Adrien.

"Adrien." She greeted.

The blonde smiles as he sets his helmet down next to him. "Hey Ruby."

He peers at her sketchbook and was amazed, "Wow, you have some talent."

"Thanks."

"Are there more?"

Chuckling, Ruby holds out her sketchbook.

"You can look at them if you want too."

Grabbing the sketchbook, Adrien flipped through the pages and was amazed by the Huntress's artistry skills.

But he has to admit, his favorite drawing was one that had a monstrous werewolf creature with bone fragments sticking out.

It looks like something out of a fantasy.

He then turns the page and stops when he saw a drawing that he at first thought was a self-portrait but then he realized that Ruby looks a lot older in this picture.

"Uh, Ruby who is?"

Peering over his shoulder, Ruby's eyes slightly widen at the drawing of her mother but soon she looked down at it with a warm smile. "Oh, that's my mom."

"You look just like her." Adrien commented.

Ruby nods her head. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"What was she like?"

Sighing, Ruby leans back against the stairs and looked up at the blue sky. "As Yang liked to put it. She was the supermom. Baker of cookies and slayer of monsters. She was strong-willed, stubborn, brave, and had a kind heart."

"Wow, she sounds amazing."

Ruby nods her head, "She was..." She then frowns. "Although, I wish I got to know this by myself."

"Huh?" Adrien said in confusion.

Sighing in dejection, Ruby spares him a glance. "My mom died when I was 5. She went off on a mission and didn't come back. We..." She turns her gaze away from him and looks at the ground. "Never found the body."

Adrien looked at her in horror before it turned to a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Scratching the back of his head, he gives her an awkward look as he said, "But if it makes you feel better, I can sympathize with you."

Raising an eyebrow, Ruby looks back at him. "When I was 9, my mom would constantly get sick and suffer from dizzy spells. My father, always said that they weren't serious but then earlier into the year before I received my miraculous, she was just...gone."

Ruby frowns in sympathy and places her hand on his shoulder. "Adrien...I'm sorry."

The model shakes his head and smiles at her. "It's fine. It feels good to talk to someone who knows what it's like to lose someone closest to you."

"Adrien!" Mr. D'Argencourt exclaimed.

The two teens looked at the fencing teacher who was tapping his foot and looked at the model with impatience and was tapping his foot on the ground.