A child with the name of a monster grew in isolation. Beneath the waterfalls, she hid, and in her home, she challenged fate. Her accumulating years dared to press her attackers into taking her life. But she ran, not like a child, but a beast seeking shelter from a rain of meteors.
One day, the child fled to the cities, deeming that she needed rest from her inevitable fate. But a child she was no longer, for years had gone by during her long stay at the lone house she called home.
She had lost her arm, but weaponized herself because of it. She never lost love, for she never had it. By appearance, she took on the form of a warrior who had matured enough to not let emotions get in the way, but she lacked emotions in the first place.
She knew fear- fear of dying. And she knew neglect- the feeling of neglect for her life's value. In the cities, everyone smiled. In the cities, everyone felt important. They had purpose in society, small or big, and they were all important for that reason. They were gifted with self-value.
And she had no right to value herself, for she belonged to no society. She belonged to her home, resting in the mountains- waiting to serve as her coffin.
The child masked in an adult's body feared death. She feared it not because of the idea of losing life, but the thought of not knowing whether she would have value in the afterlife. For she believed that a second chance lay in death. She just did not know whether it was as promising as it sounded.
Slithering away from all forms of harm, the child ran. In the form of a monster by blade, in the form of an adult to the naked eye.
On two fateful days, she made four friends. The second friend was an exuberant and tough woman. A heart of gold warmed the child and elevated the pressure of life from her shoulders. Loud, taunting, but protecting people with her all without knowing it sometimes. She cared for people, and Sangue was no exception.
“Hm?” Lorena Negasi blinked with the rare expression of surprise on her face. “What I like?”
It was an uneventful day for all of Remnant. With winter break settling in, the many hunters-in-training attending Beacon flocked out of the academy excitedly. The curriculum for every student tended to be stacked with classes, so it was only natural for a majority of students to enjoy a break every now and then.
As for team BASL? The team was no exception.
“Er, gimme a sec here, Sangue,” Lorena forced out a laugh as she drove down a neon-lit highway in an arcade game. A few seconds later, she pumped a fist as her next few laughs became far more natural than before.
“Hell yeah! Geez, and I thought I beat that record,” she nodded to herself proudly. “Anyway, yeah, what was that, Sangue?”
”I'd like to know... what you... like.”
“Oh! Right, right, about that,” the dark-haired huntress nodded as she slipped away from the arcade machine she just played in. “Hmm... Should I be broad or specific about this?”
”...Anything... is fine. Anything...”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaanything, you say?” Lauren smirked as her tone became sneaky and playful. She could already sense Sangue tensing up behind her scroll.
“In that case, I like... YOU! Mwa ha ha ha! No, but really, uh...”
A few seconds passed. Lauren remembered that Sangue had almost no knowledge on jokes, so she decided to get straight to the point.
“I like to work out, play around, and... train for Hunter things. Yup!”
”Any... items...?”
“Hm? Well, about that...”
Truthfully, Lauren did not care too much for accessories and the like. Sure, she liked buying clothes, but that was because she did not mind wearing something different. Warm entities like fire just seemed to fit naturally with her, though...
“As anti-climatic as it could be, I like fire. Something like a candle makes me pretty bored, though, so I usually only find it while stuff blows up.”
Sangue went silent for a few seconds. For a brief moment, Lauren swore that she heard the sound of a pencil scribbling against a hard surface behind her scroll.
”...I'll keep... that in mind. Take care... Lauren.”
“Mm hm! Tell ya what, let's hang out some time soon! It's getting a bit odd to hear the word 'sanguine' without thinking about you.”
…
…
”...Okay,” the red-haired huntress answered, her tone idle as usual. At that point, however, Lauren knew that Sangue spoke that way not out of lack of interest, but because she just had an unusually hard time talking with others.
Before the brawler of BASL talked to her any further, Sangue hung up.
“...But that's strange,” Lauren mumbled to herself as she put up a curious look. “Why'd she suddenly ask me about what I liked out of all things?”
The third friend was a peculiar and honest Faunus. She had feathers in her hair that distinguished her from others well. To Sangue, the Faunus looked beautiful, but her honesty impressed her more than anything. Despite a harsh past, she pressed onward past obstacles with a heart not hardened to emotions and a burning will to brush past old habits. She treated Sangue as a friend.
Amaranth stared at her scroll.
Sangue decided to call her while she was watching an old melodramatic movie. It was time for lunch, which made the lunch-loving Sangue calling her stranger than it should have been.
“Sangue?” Amy answered the scroll as she watched a man brushing past waves of people to get to his love.
”Amy...”
…
…
…
…
…
”...Hi...”
“What did I say about not delaying your thoughts?”
”Sor...ry...”
“...”
Sighing, Amy stared at the movie playing in the television before her. She managed to get a nice trip to a beach within Vale, and paying for a hotel room was not out of her reach. If there was one thing harder than paying for a hotel room, however, it was definitely thinking of what to say to Sangue.
It wasn't that Sangue was particularly annoying; Amy just found her friend's lack of confidence to be somewhat unnerving at times.
“Anyway, how are you?” Amy asked Sangue as she watched the boring movie without thinking too much. “I'm still at the beach.”
”I'm al...right. That sounds...”
…
“...Fun?”
”...Yes.”
“Hey, Sangue?”
”Yes?”
Amy watched the male lead of the movie snatch the woman off the floor of a train station as he pulled her into the cheesiest kiss she had ever witnessed.
“How're you doing, anyway?”
”Ah... Me...? Fine...”
“Anything fun going on there? You should seriously stop mulling about and just have some fun for once.”
Amaranth Desire, manipulator of words and relationships, had no idea how to make Sangue find a personal definition for “fun.” It wasn't that she wanted to keep Sangue the same as she was; she just wasn't one to define Sangue's life herself, therefore believing that the red-haired swordswoman had to discover hobbies and the like on her own.
Then again, the particular thought floated around Amy's head for more than just a few months. Maybe it was about time to give Sangue the “If you don't have fun, you might die of boredom” card, even if it sounded risque from a first glance.
”...Oh, Amy,” Sangue said, seemingly changing the subject as she asked, ”You... like music... right?”
“Sure I do,” Amy answered, her expression finally contorting to a look that wasn't completely idle. “What, do you have anything in mind with me?”
”N...o,” the now nervous snake of BASL responded, despite trying to hide her startled tone with her usual idle one. ”I was just... asking. Bye Amy...”
“...Yeah. Remember, I'm not gonna bite you if you tell me what you're hiding,” the Faunus commented with a small smirk.
She heard Sangue shift uncomfortably behind the scroll before the swordswoman hung up. A small chuckle left Amy.
The fourth and last friend was a young man who had far less worries than the child. Although something about him lacked flash, what made him influential to her was his balanced optimism on things around himself. He naturally cared for others, but never to the point of babysitting them. To her, he was both a mentor and invaluable friend as she accustomed herself to the idea of relying on others.
“Ugh... Sangue?”
”Yes...?”
“It's four in the morning, Sangue. What's up?”
”...I'm... sorry.”
“No, no need to be sorry! I was just... kinda tired. Yeah, tired. That's all. Heh.”
Truth be told, if Sangue did not feel sorry for waking him up so early in the morning, Benjamin Lloyd would have busted a nerf gun cap on his lamp. He admittedly did not do anything productive the other night, but getting a call so early in the morning was a challenge for a slacker like him.
The team leader just happening to be the laziest of them all... Life seemed to both hate and love him so much.
“So... What's up? I'll just hit the bunk again as soon as you're done, so fire away.”
”Um...”
After holding back for a few moments, Sangue asked,
”Do you... like anyone?”
“...Uh. Hm, that's an odd question, Sangue.”
”...Oh. Sorry, I... asked the wrong question. That's... for later...”
Ben blinked as he thought to himself, Whaddya mean later, you ball of clumsiness?
”Do you... like games?”
“Games?”
”Yes...”
He knew that Sangue tended to ask the oddest of questions in random times, so he decided to take her seriously regardless of how pointless the particular one she just asked seemed.
“Well, games are fun, I guess,” he answered with a thoughtful tone. “Though, if anything, I think I'd be more focused on trying to wake up rather than play games. Heh.”
”...Okay.”
“Wait, Sangue,” Ben suddenly said as he paled a bit. “You're not going to... buy something like that one thing you got last time, right?”
”...”
“Sangue?”
Much to his surprise, the woman answered,
”It's... a secret. Bye, Ben.”
As soon as she hung up, he groveled in despair. The last time she bought something for him, after all, winded him up with a cartoon character body pillow rather than just a perfectly normal pillow. Lauren made fun of him so much since then...
They gave her much, and she received. But she received, and only received, guided by their charms and talents without a word.
For once, she wanted to give them something... For once, she wanted to be selfish and make them happy herself.
So she set off to buy gifts. One for the second, one for the third, and one for the fourth. For the first, she could not give anything superficial; only a gift limited to words was available.
“A gift for your friends... Hmm.”
While Sangue had been searching for books that could aid her small-sized quest in gathering gifts, she met Sand Vespa. Although their shared traits of silence made their conversations awkward, they still respected each other.
Though, they were admittedly a part of the really notable oddballs of Beacon.
“How about cracking up a joke with them?”
“A joke?”
The sandy-haired huntress motioned for Sangue to follow her. As they went past several shelves, Sand stopped by one particular shelf and took out a book. The book read “How To Manipulate Relationships Like A Professional.”
“Jokes can help lighten the mood between friends and have them feel more comfortable around each other,” Sand explained in an emotionless tone as she read a segment from the book, Sangue staring at the book's words next to her out of curiosity. “Although troublesome when overused, they can be useful in showing friends that you are approachable and charming to them. Joking too much can result in you being labeled as a 'joker,' however, and can result in-...”
The red snake of BASL sat through a sudden lecture given out by Sand for thirty minutes.
“The perfect gift for any man is a sexy outfit worn by a beauty.”
Luke Schwarze nodded to himself. He and Cian were just having a nice little “hangout” at a cafe, as they frantically explained to Sangue, before they met the gift-seeking snake of BASL. It was a bright day in Remnant, and never did they expect to meet the member of a team they had coordinated with in several missions.
And the most awkward member, to boot.
“Se...xy?” Sangue muttered, staring at her own outfit.
“You know; something really, really... exotic. With an awesome S-Line and revealing curves and-”
“...You're just talking about your own tastes,” Cian mumbled sadly for reasons not unknown to Luke. The man quickly raised a hand as he corrected himself,
“Basically, what I mean by 'sexy' is by something that 'arouses' people. Men or women, you could kinda... kickstart a long-going attention to yourself if you arouse them, y'know?”
Sangue nodded thoughtfully. Something to catch her team members' attentions more could encourage them to stick with her more. But she did not see how that was exactly a gift to them if it did not benefit her friends specifically...
Luke was a nice person, though, so she decided to keep his advice in mind. As she thought about how to implement his tip to her small gifting plan, Luke's eyes brightened.
“Wait, I got an idea!” He exclaimed as he bolted up from his chair. Cian glanced between Sangue and Luke worriedly, her eyes wide in concern for reasons unknown to the redhead.
“How about trying on some different clothes?” Luke asked, startling Sangue at his preposition. “I'm sure they won't mind a bit of a fashion change, right?”
“...Fashion change?”
“...Uh. Hm. Anyway, follow me for a sec!”
A few minutes later, Sangue found herself being dragged to a clothing store by Luke, with Cian trailing after them as quickly as possible. After mumbling to himself about clothes that were just his type, he ended up picking out an outfit that looked quite similar to Cian's.
The cat of JCL mustered up the courage to lightly bonk Luke's head in embarrassment, but the man pressed on to have Sangue wear the clothes. The redhead wore them with a bit of hesitation, clearly experiencing a bit of distress over wearing clothes different from her usual ones.
“T-That looks good on you!” Cian exclaimed in surprise, nodding to herself as she fell quiet again. Luke stared at Sangue, then at Cian, and then at Sangue again.
“Two Cians. My dream is comple-”
Cian had a lot of courage that day. She never bonked his head so many times in the span of a single day.
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Luke sighed as he rubbed his head. He then gave Sangue a small smile as he told her, “But yeah, what you wear doesn't always have to be 'sexy' or anything rubbish. Maybe you can try showing them that you have tastes aside from the ones you've clearly shown them. That small detail could probably make them appreciate you more.”
She did not understand what just happened at all, but Sangue nodded, acknowledging that the unique entity known as Luke was trying to help her. Cian's encouraging smile helped her compose herself better.
Meanwhile, Sapphire Rode had just witnessed the three weirdos move around and play “Dress Up.” If she recalled correctly, the redhead had met Shiro and entered an extremely one-sided laughing contest with the Faunus.
Well, I don't think I'll be seeing her any sooner, she thought as she walked away.
“Buy them food,” said Abel Fulgurate with a dead-serious look. He actually sat close to the cafe Sangue met Luke in, taking his sweet time in a less tech-savvy cafe with a cup of water in hand.
Sangue blinked, her expression remaining idle despite her clearing being confused at his words. Buy her friends food? That did seem like a gift, but it sounded... professional. Knowing her team, they probably cared less about professional things and favored more personal things. How personal, she did not know, so she kept herself getting gifts within an acceptable radius of common sense. She believed she had some common sense.
Just a bit.
“Food?” Sangue parroted softly, causing Abel to set his book aside on his table as he turned to her with a more serious expression.
“Yes, food,” he confirmed for her. “Buy them... food. Preferably something expensive or rare, though if you are running out of expenses, at least a stack of cheap foods may do. Food can lift spirits.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It was written in a book.”
The redhead and the azure member of Team Swansong stared at each other blankly. Frankly, they never had a real reason to meet each other until Sangue wanted advice from Abel, so it was natural that they would enter an awkward state of silence at some point.
“...Would you like some food?” Abel offered.
“...I-”
The grumbling of her stomach silenced Sangue from lying. Shortly after, Sapphire Rode walked by the cafe and spotted Abel, only to find a familiar redhead devouring food at the speed of light.
This can't be coincidence, she thought grimly.
“Give them good luck charms,” Robert Fallson told Sangue Naga with the darkest expression he had put up so far.
Robert Fallson, bad luck extraordinaire, comic book and ancient history geek, the everyman, yet also the reckless man. Also a bad luck extraordinaire, if he did not mention that already.
If anything, bad luck was something that could neither be avoided nor prevented; charms just made people feel better, though.
“Even if they don't work,” he explained as he sighed, “it's the thought that counts. Really, the very thought of wishing for one's good luck is just so precious.”
“What... do good luck... charms look like?” Sangue asked softly.
“Well, you can buy some of them, but you can also make some up on your own,” Robert said. “For example, you can hug someone and tell them it's a good luck charm- nobody could really say anything about that even if it doesn't work. Because it's the thought that- oh, who am I to keep spouting that out over and over again?”
The redhead stared at the glasses-wearing team leader of RTS for a few good seconds. He did not look like he was having a blast.
So she gave him a hug. Robert blinked as his brain registered that BASL's snake just gave him a hug. Although she did not feel accustomed to bringing someone close to her with one arm, she still tried to make him feel better.
“This is a... good luck charm,” she said softly, pulling away from Robert with her unchanging idle expression. “Did... I do it correctly?”
Fallson opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly stopped himself from asking why she gave him an awkward hug. He had a gut feeling he knew why she did that.
“Well, if you don't spread your arms out like a UFO, then it'll definitely feel natural,” Robert said with a grin.
Sangue did not laugh. It was hard for her to laugh, so she tried to smile like Shiro taught her. A snort came out instead. That seemed to let Robert chuckle freely.
Suddenly, Trad Oak, who stood next to the two for several minutes, asked Robert with a teasing grin of his own,
“Excuse me, dear leader, but oh, why, oh, why art thou permitting a fiery-haired woman to embrace thou pathetically in a comic book store?”
There were several words and phrases that triggered Robert Fallson. He just managed to discover some of them as he glared at Trad in the meanest way he could muster. That only made Trad laugh out loud and leave Sangue more confused than a lost squirrel.
“Don't listen to him.”
“Oh, please do. I'm really trying to help out here!”
“Remember, when I say 'Don't listen to him,' I REALLY mean that you should not listen to him. Just don't listen to the little shit. Or whatever he's supposed to be.”
“Gratia, our friend here is asking for assistance here.”
“Friend? We literally met her just now, you freak!”
Sangue wondered if the hunters before her had some sort of relationship blossoming behind the scenes. On one hand, Napoli Fiordilatte seemed like a charming man with a handful of jokes that made Sangue snort. On the other hand, only Sangue seemed like she was the only one finding the jokes funny, considering how much Gratia Mindaro threw out swears at him.
Or perhaps they were a couple with extremely odd ways of expressing affection. Maybe Gratia attempting to smash the back of Napoli's head with a fist was a sign of genuine friendship, and Sangue just mistook it for hostility...
Surely, they would not fight in front of a police station, right? She did meet them before at Beacon, though she never ever met them outside of it.
“A-Anyway, let's see,” Napoli cleared his throat, Gratia crossing her arms behind him as he suggested, “How about something like... jokes? That can help make people feel better.”
“Ah... Someone mentioned that...”
“See, I'm not wrong, right?”
“If you're done, then let's go,” Gratia spat at her team member.
“But Gratia-”
”Now.”
Sangue watched the “couple” depart the police station, with Napoli waving signs of good luck to the red snake. Sangue nodded, again not knowing what to think of the situation she was in.
At least they seemed to fond of each other...
“A gift for your friends... Wouldn't a simple one be fine?”
Kuhaku Shiro was a go-to option for Sangue Naga to receive advice from, mostly because of how unironically simple most of his answers ended up being. He was kind and did not think in a complicated fashion, thus making him very easy to understand for the redhead.
She just happened to meet him downtown in Vale. Standing with nothing but a wallet in her hands, the snake looked up to the white tiger with an expectant look.
“A... simple gift,” Sangue repeated.
“Yep! For example, if you know they like something, you can grab a gift that's somewhere around their tastes. It gets easier the more you know your friends.”
Nodding, Sangue thought over what gifts she could bring to her friends.
“Don't worry, I'm sure you'll come up with something great!” Shiro laughed. “Just don't overthink it and you'll be fine.”
The snake nodded again.
A simple gift...
It seemed fitting coming from her.
The child prepared gifts for her friends.
One for the second, one for the third, and one for the fourth. And on a fateful day, she brought them her small gifts to them. She was afraid- worried that they would not appreciate her thoughts. Alas, she quickly came to regret her doubts, for they accepted her gifts like the friends she always envisioned them to be.
She was not alone.
A gift for the second; firecrackers that reflected the second friend's fondness for warm fires. Though the child herself was afraid of anything explosive, she believed that the firecrackers would suit her friend's tastes. She gave her a pat on the head and a small shower of praise.
A gift for the third; a cheap guitar for the third friend's tastes for music. Her friend admitted that it was not the best of quality, though she was not reluctant in thanking the child. Contrary to how cheap the guitar felt, however, her friend fiddled with the instrument and played a song for the child. Her singing mixed with the strings of the instrument soothed the child's spirits.
A gift for the fourth; an alarm clock for the fourth friend's troubles in waking up. He seemed relieved with receiving a normal gift, though he did express concern and amusement over how loud the clock was. Nevertheless, like the second, he pet her head, and the child, whose hidden hopes of receiving compliments lurked within her, felt happy.
She gave a gift to the three, and walked down a trail of spirits. From the world of the living to the world of those who had passed on- her first friend spent time as someone who had moved on from the cruel sides of life. The first was one who experienced little love; and unlike Sangue, she had moved on while she was a Faunus child.
Taken in a conflict of identity and equality, the snake knew of the child fondly for a short but precious time. The child taught the young snake how to be human, and how to appreciate not only humanity, but sentience. For what came with sentience came invaluable worth of memories, whether they were light or heavy to the shoulders of those who lived. With sentience came lessons to be learned.
A small, vocal aria for the child, a conversation with one who had passed away. A smile for her first friend, a friend who had not stayed long enough to see her become one who could protect others. Kohana, a small flower who brought sentience to the young snake now named Sangue Naga.
Beauty did not come in a sanguine carpet of fame. For the snake, who only saw red in different hues, beauty came in warmth.
With warmth came love. And love brought bonds both forgettable and memorable.
A memorable love was never disgusting; only misunderstood by those who can relearn its value at any time, as long as they chose to do so. It never revealed itself as something fancy; only something that was honest lay within it.
To Sangue, that was warmth. To the snake who became human, that was love.
She wanted love, and nothing more. Even the smallest amount of love would do, and nothing more.
Nothing more than her humble wish.
“...So... I brought... them... gifts. And... I... felt happy...”
Dusk had come by a few days after Sangue had visited an old friend. A shabby bar she visited once in a while sat dimly in the night streets of Vale. Every time she visited the bar in a bad mood, she would have a half cup of water. Every time she visited the bar in a good mood, she would take a few sips of cherry-flavored sake. The dry taste always made her feel light-headed and less inclined to overthinking any problems she could encounter in the future. Alcohol never came across her mind unless she was not in the academy for obvious reasons.
She believed that she had managed to push her relationships with her friends more effectively than before. That alone made her feel happy.
A man she knew well, Mark Noxus, sat next to her at the counter. His attire and personality never seemed to change, making it quite easy for Sangue to recognize him even if her vision went blurry whenever she became tired.
He was one of the few who watched Sangue grow up from her lonely times. While he tended to go overboard with jokes at times, he was still quite the charmer when it boiled down to him caring for those close to him. He had many friends, though none of them were quite like the oddball named Sangue Naga. She usually met him at the bar in more recent times due to her gradually progressing success in adapting to a foreign society.
“Happy?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow visibly behind his glasses, which had a faint blue glow to them that did not manage to hide the snake's crimson hue from him.
“Y...es. Happy... I felt... happy.”
“Well, you always were a simpleton for compliments to begin with,” Noxus nodded to himself before turning to the woman. “When I first met you, you just gave me the weirdest 'Thank you' ever when I talked about your curves just for kicks. Almost made me want to headbang to classical music with a long-haired blonde or something.”
Somewhere in one of the homes of Vale, Estelle Nuit, a long-haired and blonde Faunus, sneezed in her sleep.
The redhead blinked, her eyes set on the sake in her only hand as she took a sip from it.
“So what happened after you met your friends?” Mark asked, readjusting his hat as he snapped his fingers at the bartender. The bartender took it as a sign to bring the bounty hunter's favorite beer.
“...”
With her cup flat against the counter, Sangue stared at her reflection in the small circle of sake in her hand. Hesitation briefly flashed by her face, her mouth twitching once as if to think of how to respond.
“I met her today. Just like I always have when I have the time to do so.”
“Ah, her?” Mark chuckled as he took out his dagger, letting it morph into a beer stein as he set it on the counter for the bartender to pour his favorite beer in it. “She was a good kid. Sometimes I'd let her do my hair for giggles; I usually ended up not giggling, though. Ugh...”
Feeling less vulnerable than before, Sangue let out another rare smile as she asked the man, “Didn't... it feel nice, though...? To have... someone... see... you as... a nice friend.”
“...Eh. Wouldn't count on it,” the man mumbled as he shook his head. “The last memory I have of her is standing by her cold body with her other friends crying next to me. Didn't leave a good aftertaste.”
She nodded, and he fell silent. They were people of different social classes; Sangue barely classified as a citizen of Vale and Mark Noxus known as a rich, yet rogue Hunter. Despite one being far less sympathetic for human causes than the other, and despite one hosting less worries for welfare and the likes in general, they were friends with a young girl who refused to be a burden for others.
They both received the same love, and suffered the same suffering for loving her back.
“I...”
Mark turned to Sangue, who looked up from her glass as she stared blankly at the dozens of contained alcohol in front of her.
And without any odd pauses between her words, Sangue Naga spoke with a rare smile on her face.
“I loved her love. It felt kind. It was kind... And I want to be confident. To give others that love.”
Was what Sangue looking for worth it? Mark Noxus was a man with very simple opinions and goals for life. He wanted to make money and live with a good amount of recognition to his name. Meanwhile, all Sangue wanted was to fight for such a simple thing. She just liked being with people, and that concept alone seemed to be misunderstood by so many in their era.
Maybe it wasn't as bad as some made it out to be. To just pursue a linear, harmless desire and act upon it.
A tap on her shoulder woke her up from her gaze, and Sangue turned to him with her smile slightly faded, but not completely dissipated.
Raising his beer, he gave it a small shake as he grinned, “Happy extremely early Christmas?”
The swordswoman stifled a laugh as she reached out for her sake. She blushed, for her face went red only when she drank a good amount of alcohol. Under the winter night of Remnant, two glasses that belonged to friends clanked as snow began to fall.
Some memories were ambitious to make themselves important to the history of many lives. But Sangue... Sangue did not care much for such memories. She was selfish and desired nothing but a way to protect what kept her human and warm.
And she hoped it would last forever for her.
One day, the child fled to the cities, deeming that she needed rest from her inevitable fate. But a child she was no longer, for years had gone by during her long stay at the lone house she called home.
She had lost her arm, but weaponized herself because of it. She never lost love, for she never had it. By appearance, she took on the form of a warrior who had matured enough to not let emotions get in the way, but she lacked emotions in the first place.
She knew fear- fear of dying. And she knew neglect- the feeling of neglect for her life's value. In the cities, everyone smiled. In the cities, everyone felt important. They had purpose in society, small or big, and they were all important for that reason. They were gifted with self-value.
And she had no right to value herself, for she belonged to no society. She belonged to her home, resting in the mountains- waiting to serve as her coffin.
The child masked in an adult's body feared death. She feared it not because of the idea of losing life, but the thought of not knowing whether she would have value in the afterlife. For she believed that a second chance lay in death. She just did not know whether it was as promising as it sounded.
Slithering away from all forms of harm, the child ran. In the form of a monster by blade, in the form of an adult to the naked eye.
On two fateful days, she made four friends. The second friend was an exuberant and tough woman. A heart of gold warmed the child and elevated the pressure of life from her shoulders. Loud, taunting, but protecting people with her all without knowing it sometimes. She cared for people, and Sangue was no exception.
“Hm?” Lorena Negasi blinked with the rare expression of surprise on her face. “What I like?”
It was an uneventful day for all of Remnant. With winter break settling in, the many hunters-in-training attending Beacon flocked out of the academy excitedly. The curriculum for every student tended to be stacked with classes, so it was only natural for a majority of students to enjoy a break every now and then.
As for team BASL? The team was no exception.
“Er, gimme a sec here, Sangue,” Lorena forced out a laugh as she drove down a neon-lit highway in an arcade game. A few seconds later, she pumped a fist as her next few laughs became far more natural than before.
“Hell yeah! Geez, and I thought I beat that record,” she nodded to herself proudly. “Anyway, yeah, what was that, Sangue?”
”I'd like to know... what you... like.”
“Oh! Right, right, about that,” the dark-haired huntress nodded as she slipped away from the arcade machine she just played in. “Hmm... Should I be broad or specific about this?”
”...Anything... is fine. Anything...”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaanything, you say?” Lauren smirked as her tone became sneaky and playful. She could already sense Sangue tensing up behind her scroll.
“In that case, I like... YOU! Mwa ha ha ha! No, but really, uh...”
A few seconds passed. Lauren remembered that Sangue had almost no knowledge on jokes, so she decided to get straight to the point.
“I like to work out, play around, and... train for Hunter things. Yup!”
”Any... items...?”
“Hm? Well, about that...”
Truthfully, Lauren did not care too much for accessories and the like. Sure, she liked buying clothes, but that was because she did not mind wearing something different. Warm entities like fire just seemed to fit naturally with her, though...
“As anti-climatic as it could be, I like fire. Something like a candle makes me pretty bored, though, so I usually only find it while stuff blows up.”
Sangue went silent for a few seconds. For a brief moment, Lauren swore that she heard the sound of a pencil scribbling against a hard surface behind her scroll.
”...I'll keep... that in mind. Take care... Lauren.”
“Mm hm! Tell ya what, let's hang out some time soon! It's getting a bit odd to hear the word 'sanguine' without thinking about you.”
…
…
”...Okay,” the red-haired huntress answered, her tone idle as usual. At that point, however, Lauren knew that Sangue spoke that way not out of lack of interest, but because she just had an unusually hard time talking with others.
Before the brawler of BASL talked to her any further, Sangue hung up.
“...But that's strange,” Lauren mumbled to herself as she put up a curious look. “Why'd she suddenly ask me about what I liked out of all things?”
The third friend was a peculiar and honest Faunus. She had feathers in her hair that distinguished her from others well. To Sangue, the Faunus looked beautiful, but her honesty impressed her more than anything. Despite a harsh past, she pressed onward past obstacles with a heart not hardened to emotions and a burning will to brush past old habits. She treated Sangue as a friend.
Amaranth stared at her scroll.
Sangue decided to call her while she was watching an old melodramatic movie. It was time for lunch, which made the lunch-loving Sangue calling her stranger than it should have been.
“Sangue?” Amy answered the scroll as she watched a man brushing past waves of people to get to his love.
”Amy...”
…
…
…
…
…
”...Hi...”
“What did I say about not delaying your thoughts?”
”Sor...ry...”
“...”
Sighing, Amy stared at the movie playing in the television before her. She managed to get a nice trip to a beach within Vale, and paying for a hotel room was not out of her reach. If there was one thing harder than paying for a hotel room, however, it was definitely thinking of what to say to Sangue.
It wasn't that Sangue was particularly annoying; Amy just found her friend's lack of confidence to be somewhat unnerving at times.
“Anyway, how are you?” Amy asked Sangue as she watched the boring movie without thinking too much. “I'm still at the beach.”
”I'm al...right. That sounds...”
…
“...Fun?”
”...Yes.”
“Hey, Sangue?”
”Yes?”
Amy watched the male lead of the movie snatch the woman off the floor of a train station as he pulled her into the cheesiest kiss she had ever witnessed.
“How're you doing, anyway?”
”Ah... Me...? Fine...”
“Anything fun going on there? You should seriously stop mulling about and just have some fun for once.”
Amaranth Desire, manipulator of words and relationships, had no idea how to make Sangue find a personal definition for “fun.” It wasn't that she wanted to keep Sangue the same as she was; she just wasn't one to define Sangue's life herself, therefore believing that the red-haired swordswoman had to discover hobbies and the like on her own.
Then again, the particular thought floated around Amy's head for more than just a few months. Maybe it was about time to give Sangue the “If you don't have fun, you might die of boredom” card, even if it sounded risque from a first glance.
”...Oh, Amy,” Sangue said, seemingly changing the subject as she asked, ”You... like music... right?”
“Sure I do,” Amy answered, her expression finally contorting to a look that wasn't completely idle. “What, do you have anything in mind with me?”
”N...o,” the now nervous snake of BASL responded, despite trying to hide her startled tone with her usual idle one. ”I was just... asking. Bye Amy...”
“...Yeah. Remember, I'm not gonna bite you if you tell me what you're hiding,” the Faunus commented with a small smirk.
She heard Sangue shift uncomfortably behind the scroll before the swordswoman hung up. A small chuckle left Amy.
The fourth and last friend was a young man who had far less worries than the child. Although something about him lacked flash, what made him influential to her was his balanced optimism on things around himself. He naturally cared for others, but never to the point of babysitting them. To her, he was both a mentor and invaluable friend as she accustomed herself to the idea of relying on others.
“Ugh... Sangue?”
”Yes...?”
“It's four in the morning, Sangue. What's up?”
”...I'm... sorry.”
“No, no need to be sorry! I was just... kinda tired. Yeah, tired. That's all. Heh.”
Truth be told, if Sangue did not feel sorry for waking him up so early in the morning, Benjamin Lloyd would have busted a nerf gun cap on his lamp. He admittedly did not do anything productive the other night, but getting a call so early in the morning was a challenge for a slacker like him.
The team leader just happening to be the laziest of them all... Life seemed to both hate and love him so much.
“So... What's up? I'll just hit the bunk again as soon as you're done, so fire away.”
”Um...”
After holding back for a few moments, Sangue asked,
”Do you... like anyone?”
“...Uh. Hm, that's an odd question, Sangue.”
”...Oh. Sorry, I... asked the wrong question. That's... for later...”
Ben blinked as he thought to himself, Whaddya mean later, you ball of clumsiness?
”Do you... like games?”
“Games?”
”Yes...”
He knew that Sangue tended to ask the oddest of questions in random times, so he decided to take her seriously regardless of how pointless the particular one she just asked seemed.
“Well, games are fun, I guess,” he answered with a thoughtful tone. “Though, if anything, I think I'd be more focused on trying to wake up rather than play games. Heh.”
”...Okay.”
“Wait, Sangue,” Ben suddenly said as he paled a bit. “You're not going to... buy something like that one thing you got last time, right?”
”...”
“Sangue?”
Much to his surprise, the woman answered,
”It's... a secret. Bye, Ben.”
As soon as she hung up, he groveled in despair. The last time she bought something for him, after all, winded him up with a cartoon character body pillow rather than just a perfectly normal pillow. Lauren made fun of him so much since then...
They gave her much, and she received. But she received, and only received, guided by their charms and talents without a word.
For once, she wanted to give them something... For once, she wanted to be selfish and make them happy herself.
So she set off to buy gifts. One for the second, one for the third, and one for the fourth. For the first, she could not give anything superficial; only a gift limited to words was available.
“A gift for your friends... Hmm.”
While Sangue had been searching for books that could aid her small-sized quest in gathering gifts, she met Sand Vespa. Although their shared traits of silence made their conversations awkward, they still respected each other.
Though, they were admittedly a part of the really notable oddballs of Beacon.
“How about cracking up a joke with them?”
“A joke?”
The sandy-haired huntress motioned for Sangue to follow her. As they went past several shelves, Sand stopped by one particular shelf and took out a book. The book read “How To Manipulate Relationships Like A Professional.”
“Jokes can help lighten the mood between friends and have them feel more comfortable around each other,” Sand explained in an emotionless tone as she read a segment from the book, Sangue staring at the book's words next to her out of curiosity. “Although troublesome when overused, they can be useful in showing friends that you are approachable and charming to them. Joking too much can result in you being labeled as a 'joker,' however, and can result in-...”
The red snake of BASL sat through a sudden lecture given out by Sand for thirty minutes.
“The perfect gift for any man is a sexy outfit worn by a beauty.”
Luke Schwarze nodded to himself. He and Cian were just having a nice little “hangout” at a cafe, as they frantically explained to Sangue, before they met the gift-seeking snake of BASL. It was a bright day in Remnant, and never did they expect to meet the member of a team they had coordinated with in several missions.
And the most awkward member, to boot.
“Se...xy?” Sangue muttered, staring at her own outfit.
“You know; something really, really... exotic. With an awesome S-Line and revealing curves and-”
“...You're just talking about your own tastes,” Cian mumbled sadly for reasons not unknown to Luke. The man quickly raised a hand as he corrected himself,
“Basically, what I mean by 'sexy' is by something that 'arouses' people. Men or women, you could kinda... kickstart a long-going attention to yourself if you arouse them, y'know?”
Sangue nodded thoughtfully. Something to catch her team members' attentions more could encourage them to stick with her more. But she did not see how that was exactly a gift to them if it did not benefit her friends specifically...
Luke was a nice person, though, so she decided to keep his advice in mind. As she thought about how to implement his tip to her small gifting plan, Luke's eyes brightened.
“Wait, I got an idea!” He exclaimed as he bolted up from his chair. Cian glanced between Sangue and Luke worriedly, her eyes wide in concern for reasons unknown to the redhead.
“How about trying on some different clothes?” Luke asked, startling Sangue at his preposition. “I'm sure they won't mind a bit of a fashion change, right?”
“...Fashion change?”
“...Uh. Hm. Anyway, follow me for a sec!”
A few minutes later, Sangue found herself being dragged to a clothing store by Luke, with Cian trailing after them as quickly as possible. After mumbling to himself about clothes that were just his type, he ended up picking out an outfit that looked quite similar to Cian's.
The cat of JCL mustered up the courage to lightly bonk Luke's head in embarrassment, but the man pressed on to have Sangue wear the clothes. The redhead wore them with a bit of hesitation, clearly experiencing a bit of distress over wearing clothes different from her usual ones.
“T-That looks good on you!” Cian exclaimed in surprise, nodding to herself as she fell quiet again. Luke stared at Sangue, then at Cian, and then at Sangue again.
“Two Cians. My dream is comple-”
Cian had a lot of courage that day. She never bonked his head so many times in the span of a single day.
“Okay, okay, I get it!” Luke sighed as he rubbed his head. He then gave Sangue a small smile as he told her, “But yeah, what you wear doesn't always have to be 'sexy' or anything rubbish. Maybe you can try showing them that you have tastes aside from the ones you've clearly shown them. That small detail could probably make them appreciate you more.”
She did not understand what just happened at all, but Sangue nodded, acknowledging that the unique entity known as Luke was trying to help her. Cian's encouraging smile helped her compose herself better.
Meanwhile, Sapphire Rode had just witnessed the three weirdos move around and play “Dress Up.” If she recalled correctly, the redhead had met Shiro and entered an extremely one-sided laughing contest with the Faunus.
Well, I don't think I'll be seeing her any sooner, she thought as she walked away.
“Buy them food,” said Abel Fulgurate with a dead-serious look. He actually sat close to the cafe Sangue met Luke in, taking his sweet time in a less tech-savvy cafe with a cup of water in hand.
Sangue blinked, her expression remaining idle despite her clearing being confused at his words. Buy her friends food? That did seem like a gift, but it sounded... professional. Knowing her team, they probably cared less about professional things and favored more personal things. How personal, she did not know, so she kept herself getting gifts within an acceptable radius of common sense. She believed she had some common sense.
Just a bit.
“Food?” Sangue parroted softly, causing Abel to set his book aside on his table as he turned to her with a more serious expression.
“Yes, food,” he confirmed for her. “Buy them... food. Preferably something expensive or rare, though if you are running out of expenses, at least a stack of cheap foods may do. Food can lift spirits.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It was written in a book.”
The redhead and the azure member of Team Swansong stared at each other blankly. Frankly, they never had a real reason to meet each other until Sangue wanted advice from Abel, so it was natural that they would enter an awkward state of silence at some point.
“...Would you like some food?” Abel offered.
“...I-”
The grumbling of her stomach silenced Sangue from lying. Shortly after, Sapphire Rode walked by the cafe and spotted Abel, only to find a familiar redhead devouring food at the speed of light.
This can't be coincidence, she thought grimly.
“Give them good luck charms,” Robert Fallson told Sangue Naga with the darkest expression he had put up so far.
Robert Fallson, bad luck extraordinaire, comic book and ancient history geek, the everyman, yet also the reckless man. Also a bad luck extraordinaire, if he did not mention that already.
If anything, bad luck was something that could neither be avoided nor prevented; charms just made people feel better, though.
“Even if they don't work,” he explained as he sighed, “it's the thought that counts. Really, the very thought of wishing for one's good luck is just so precious.”
“What... do good luck... charms look like?” Sangue asked softly.
“Well, you can buy some of them, but you can also make some up on your own,” Robert said. “For example, you can hug someone and tell them it's a good luck charm- nobody could really say anything about that even if it doesn't work. Because it's the thought that- oh, who am I to keep spouting that out over and over again?”
The redhead stared at the glasses-wearing team leader of RTS for a few good seconds. He did not look like he was having a blast.
So she gave him a hug. Robert blinked as his brain registered that BASL's snake just gave him a hug. Although she did not feel accustomed to bringing someone close to her with one arm, she still tried to make him feel better.
“This is a... good luck charm,” she said softly, pulling away from Robert with her unchanging idle expression. “Did... I do it correctly?”
Fallson opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly stopped himself from asking why she gave him an awkward hug. He had a gut feeling he knew why she did that.
“Well, if you don't spread your arms out like a UFO, then it'll definitely feel natural,” Robert said with a grin.
Sangue did not laugh. It was hard for her to laugh, so she tried to smile like Shiro taught her. A snort came out instead. That seemed to let Robert chuckle freely.
Suddenly, Trad Oak, who stood next to the two for several minutes, asked Robert with a teasing grin of his own,
“Excuse me, dear leader, but oh, why, oh, why art thou permitting a fiery-haired woman to embrace thou pathetically in a comic book store?”
There were several words and phrases that triggered Robert Fallson. He just managed to discover some of them as he glared at Trad in the meanest way he could muster. That only made Trad laugh out loud and leave Sangue more confused than a lost squirrel.
“Don't listen to him.”
“Oh, please do. I'm really trying to help out here!”
“Remember, when I say 'Don't listen to him,' I REALLY mean that you should not listen to him. Just don't listen to the little shit. Or whatever he's supposed to be.”
“Gratia, our friend here is asking for assistance here.”
“Friend? We literally met her just now, you freak!”
Sangue wondered if the hunters before her had some sort of relationship blossoming behind the scenes. On one hand, Napoli Fiordilatte seemed like a charming man with a handful of jokes that made Sangue snort. On the other hand, only Sangue seemed like she was the only one finding the jokes funny, considering how much Gratia Mindaro threw out swears at him.
Or perhaps they were a couple with extremely odd ways of expressing affection. Maybe Gratia attempting to smash the back of Napoli's head with a fist was a sign of genuine friendship, and Sangue just mistook it for hostility...
Surely, they would not fight in front of a police station, right? She did meet them before at Beacon, though she never ever met them outside of it.
“A-Anyway, let's see,” Napoli cleared his throat, Gratia crossing her arms behind him as he suggested, “How about something like... jokes? That can help make people feel better.”
“Ah... Someone mentioned that...”
“See, I'm not wrong, right?”
“If you're done, then let's go,” Gratia spat at her team member.
“But Gratia-”
”Now.”
Sangue watched the “couple” depart the police station, with Napoli waving signs of good luck to the red snake. Sangue nodded, again not knowing what to think of the situation she was in.
At least they seemed to fond of each other...
“A gift for your friends... Wouldn't a simple one be fine?”
Kuhaku Shiro was a go-to option for Sangue Naga to receive advice from, mostly because of how unironically simple most of his answers ended up being. He was kind and did not think in a complicated fashion, thus making him very easy to understand for the redhead.
She just happened to meet him downtown in Vale. Standing with nothing but a wallet in her hands, the snake looked up to the white tiger with an expectant look.
“A... simple gift,” Sangue repeated.
“Yep! For example, if you know they like something, you can grab a gift that's somewhere around their tastes. It gets easier the more you know your friends.”
Nodding, Sangue thought over what gifts she could bring to her friends.
“Don't worry, I'm sure you'll come up with something great!” Shiro laughed. “Just don't overthink it and you'll be fine.”
The snake nodded again.
A simple gift...
It seemed fitting coming from her.
The child prepared gifts for her friends.
One for the second, one for the third, and one for the fourth. And on a fateful day, she brought them her small gifts to them. She was afraid- worried that they would not appreciate her thoughts. Alas, she quickly came to regret her doubts, for they accepted her gifts like the friends she always envisioned them to be.
She was not alone.
A gift for the second; firecrackers that reflected the second friend's fondness for warm fires. Though the child herself was afraid of anything explosive, she believed that the firecrackers would suit her friend's tastes. She gave her a pat on the head and a small shower of praise.
A gift for the third; a cheap guitar for the third friend's tastes for music. Her friend admitted that it was not the best of quality, though she was not reluctant in thanking the child. Contrary to how cheap the guitar felt, however, her friend fiddled with the instrument and played a song for the child. Her singing mixed with the strings of the instrument soothed the child's spirits.
A gift for the fourth; an alarm clock for the fourth friend's troubles in waking up. He seemed relieved with receiving a normal gift, though he did express concern and amusement over how loud the clock was. Nevertheless, like the second, he pet her head, and the child, whose hidden hopes of receiving compliments lurked within her, felt happy.
She gave a gift to the three, and walked down a trail of spirits. From the world of the living to the world of those who had passed on- her first friend spent time as someone who had moved on from the cruel sides of life. The first was one who experienced little love; and unlike Sangue, she had moved on while she was a Faunus child.
Taken in a conflict of identity and equality, the snake knew of the child fondly for a short but precious time. The child taught the young snake how to be human, and how to appreciate not only humanity, but sentience. For what came with sentience came invaluable worth of memories, whether they were light or heavy to the shoulders of those who lived. With sentience came lessons to be learned.
A small, vocal aria for the child, a conversation with one who had passed away. A smile for her first friend, a friend who had not stayed long enough to see her become one who could protect others. Kohana, a small flower who brought sentience to the young snake now named Sangue Naga.
Beauty did not come in a sanguine carpet of fame. For the snake, who only saw red in different hues, beauty came in warmth.
With warmth came love. And love brought bonds both forgettable and memorable.
A memorable love was never disgusting; only misunderstood by those who can relearn its value at any time, as long as they chose to do so. It never revealed itself as something fancy; only something that was honest lay within it.
To Sangue, that was warmth. To the snake who became human, that was love.
She wanted love, and nothing more. Even the smallest amount of love would do, and nothing more.
Nothing more than her humble wish.
“...So... I brought... them... gifts. And... I... felt happy...”
Dusk had come by a few days after Sangue had visited an old friend. A shabby bar she visited once in a while sat dimly in the night streets of Vale. Every time she visited the bar in a bad mood, she would have a half cup of water. Every time she visited the bar in a good mood, she would take a few sips of cherry-flavored sake. The dry taste always made her feel light-headed and less inclined to overthinking any problems she could encounter in the future. Alcohol never came across her mind unless she was not in the academy for obvious reasons.
She believed that she had managed to push her relationships with her friends more effectively than before. That alone made her feel happy.
A man she knew well, Mark Noxus, sat next to her at the counter. His attire and personality never seemed to change, making it quite easy for Sangue to recognize him even if her vision went blurry whenever she became tired.
He was one of the few who watched Sangue grow up from her lonely times. While he tended to go overboard with jokes at times, he was still quite the charmer when it boiled down to him caring for those close to him. He had many friends, though none of them were quite like the oddball named Sangue Naga. She usually met him at the bar in more recent times due to her gradually progressing success in adapting to a foreign society.
“Happy?” He questioned, raising an eyebrow visibly behind his glasses, which had a faint blue glow to them that did not manage to hide the snake's crimson hue from him.
“Y...es. Happy... I felt... happy.”
“Well, you always were a simpleton for compliments to begin with,” Noxus nodded to himself before turning to the woman. “When I first met you, you just gave me the weirdest 'Thank you' ever when I talked about your curves just for kicks. Almost made me want to headbang to classical music with a long-haired blonde or something.”
Somewhere in one of the homes of Vale, Estelle Nuit, a long-haired and blonde Faunus, sneezed in her sleep.
The redhead blinked, her eyes set on the sake in her only hand as she took a sip from it.
“So what happened after you met your friends?” Mark asked, readjusting his hat as he snapped his fingers at the bartender. The bartender took it as a sign to bring the bounty hunter's favorite beer.
“...”
With her cup flat against the counter, Sangue stared at her reflection in the small circle of sake in her hand. Hesitation briefly flashed by her face, her mouth twitching once as if to think of how to respond.
“I met her today. Just like I always have when I have the time to do so.”
“Ah, her?” Mark chuckled as he took out his dagger, letting it morph into a beer stein as he set it on the counter for the bartender to pour his favorite beer in it. “She was a good kid. Sometimes I'd let her do my hair for giggles; I usually ended up not giggling, though. Ugh...”
Feeling less vulnerable than before, Sangue let out another rare smile as she asked the man, “Didn't... it feel nice, though...? To have... someone... see... you as... a nice friend.”
“...Eh. Wouldn't count on it,” the man mumbled as he shook his head. “The last memory I have of her is standing by her cold body with her other friends crying next to me. Didn't leave a good aftertaste.”
She nodded, and he fell silent. They were people of different social classes; Sangue barely classified as a citizen of Vale and Mark Noxus known as a rich, yet rogue Hunter. Despite one being far less sympathetic for human causes than the other, and despite one hosting less worries for welfare and the likes in general, they were friends with a young girl who refused to be a burden for others.
They both received the same love, and suffered the same suffering for loving her back.
“I...”
Mark turned to Sangue, who looked up from her glass as she stared blankly at the dozens of contained alcohol in front of her.
And without any odd pauses between her words, Sangue Naga spoke with a rare smile on her face.
“I loved her love. It felt kind. It was kind... And I want to be confident. To give others that love.”
Was what Sangue looking for worth it? Mark Noxus was a man with very simple opinions and goals for life. He wanted to make money and live with a good amount of recognition to his name. Meanwhile, all Sangue wanted was to fight for such a simple thing. She just liked being with people, and that concept alone seemed to be misunderstood by so many in their era.
Maybe it wasn't as bad as some made it out to be. To just pursue a linear, harmless desire and act upon it.
A tap on her shoulder woke her up from her gaze, and Sangue turned to him with her smile slightly faded, but not completely dissipated.
Raising his beer, he gave it a small shake as he grinned, “Happy extremely early Christmas?”
The swordswoman stifled a laugh as she reached out for her sake. She blushed, for her face went red only when she drank a good amount of alcohol. Under the winter night of Remnant, two glasses that belonged to friends clanked as snow began to fall.
Some memories were ambitious to make themselves important to the history of many lives. But Sangue... Sangue did not care much for such memories. She was selfish and desired nothing but a way to protect what kept her human and warm.
And she hoped it would last forever for her.
The End
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