Disclaimer: Day 4 it is!
Alright than half of the week is over and now we have Beauty and the Beast as a prompt.
I have to say I had a lot of ideas for this one but I ended up going with a proven classic. Hope you all enjoy.
Beauty and the Beast
The Kingdom of Menagerie was a Kingdom unlike any other in the World of Remnant. Its popularity mostly consisted of Faunus, a species that had been hurt by humans too many times. Being enslaved and forced beneath there Heel, it didn't seem like their kind was going to Evolve into what it is today. But against all odds, they survived fought and prevailed to gain their Freedom. Under the guidance of the Belladonna family, the Faunus had tamed the Island of Menagerie and turned it into a Kingdom that should stood the Test of time for Centuries to come.
Arrangements had been made and Faunus and humans lived in Co-existence. The Kingdoms of Vacuo, Vale and even Mistral had all accepted them as partners and most cases even equals. Still, Menagerie was the save Haven for all of Faunuskind.
But where there is peace there is Conflict. The only Kingdom who still enslaved the Faunus was the Kingdom of Atlas. Jealous of its unpredicted Wealth, tensions had been building between them for as long as the Kingdom was created.
It was things like these that troubled the young Princess Blake Belladonna, daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna and robbed her of her Goodnights sleep.
As of now the tensions had been bigger than they ever were since the Kingdoms creation. Her parents did not attempt to hide this information, knowing that their daughter will have to one day take over their duty. For a 10 Year old, Blake already understood how the World worked. Justice and Equality are not things that are gifted to you so easily, you need to be willing to fight for them.
Still, this realization didn't help the young girl, as she walked through their Palaces garden. Roses, lilacs, flowers of all kind welcomed her. Above them was the shattered moon in all its glory, the stars accompanying him with their bright shine and illuminating the Night.
Blake looked up at the Stars. It was something she always loved to do. It was able to make a smile appear on the Faunus face. She often looked for Shooting Stars, wishing for a better World, the betterment of her Kingdom and sometimes, when she felt lonely, someone to be with.
So it happens that she wished upon all that while looking into the Night sky, hoping that the Brothers of creation would grant her Wish.
When she made her Wish, it seemed like the Shooting Star she had found on the Night sky shined even brighter. It burned in an almost Golden colour…
And… wait…
It was starting to grow…
Or starting to fall down.
The Princess eyes widened as she noticed that the Shooting Star was heading right to her!
She hid behind one of the big Bushes in the Garden, watching as the Star collided with the Earth right where she just stood. Blake almost didn't believe that something like this just happened. But there it was… a small red glowing crater where the Rock had just collided.
Hesitating, she stepped forward, her own curiosity overwhelming her. A part of her had hoped that "Curiosity killed the Cat" would prove to only be an old saying.
As she neared the edge, Blake looked into the small crater and had a shocking revelation.
She hadn't looked at a Shooting Star at all.
The golden scales, the small wings, the reptilian build… there was no doubt. What had landed before her feet was a living legend.
This was… a Dragon!
Dragons were told to be the protectors of Remnant Millennia ago. They fought alongside humans and Faunus and protected them against the Creatures of Grimm, the beings made out of Darkness and which existed before creation itself. But they were told to only be Legends. They died alongside the rest of the Grimm so many Years ago, didn't they?
Apparently not, because one Dragon was lying right before her.
Without even thinking, she grabbed the Dragon and brought it into the Castle, crying out for her Parents to witness what she had found.
"This is… more than unexpected." said a visibly shocked Ghira, King of Menagerie. Before them lying on a bench in their Palace was a Creature long thought to be extinct. A Blanket was wrapped around its tiny frame and his Queen Kali was checking it for any wounds. His Daughter meanwhile was sitting next to the small Lizard, with a worried look on her face.
"Will it be alright?" asked Blake in a soft tone, gently stroking the Dragons wings. Kali smiled at her daughter in response, "Don't worry Blake. Your little friend doesn't have any wounds. It seems that the little Dragon is just tired." she said, rubbing the Dragons head with her fingers.
"Still were did I come from?" asked Ghira out loudly. "It is not like finding a Dragon is something that happens every day. Their kind was told to be extinct years ago."
"I don't know," Kali was just as dumbfounded as her Husband. However, there was a hidden amazement in her Voice. She was always fascinated with Mythical beings and so having a little Dragon literally appear on their Doorstep was like a dream come true for her. "But we should let it stay. At least until we are sure it's safe for it to go."
"Are you sure about this." questioned the King. He was a little bit anxious about having an animal so strange in his Castle, especially near Blake. As the two argued about what they should do with the Lizard, Blake simply continued to stare at it. There was something special about it, something besides the whole Dragon thing. She was hypnotized by the bright shine of golden scales. The smooth feeling of them against her fingers. Suddenly the scales started to shine brighter and brighter until, to her great shock, the Dragon itself was becoming nothing but a body of Light. "Mom? Dad?" she called out, confused at what was happening.
Ghira immediately pulled Blake away from the Dragon as the Light was starting to blind all three of the Royal Faunus. When the Light had subsided, they could not believe what they were seeing.
In the Place where the Dragon just was lay a small girl around Blake's age. Still cuddled in the blanket but now wearing a Yellow gown.
The girl eyes slowly opened as it yawned and looked around, to stare into the faces of three very shocked Belladonnas. The Dragon girl on the other hand was looking at all of them with nothing but innocence and surprise.
"Ähm… Hello?" she asked.
Ghira and Kali just looked at one another. This… was not expected by either of them. No one really knew what to do.
That is until their daughter decided to speak up. "Hello."
She walked forward towards the… girl? Ghira wanted to hold her back, but Kali mentioned for him to let her go. He reluctantly agreed but was still ready to launch forward if the Dragon child were to do anything drastic.
Blake now stood before the girl. She gently smiled before reaching out her hand. "MY name is Blake who are you?"
The Dragoness looked at the Hand for a while before smiling back and shaking it. "My name is Yang."
And that was how Blake first came into contact with Yang. Seeing as she was still a child, Ghira and Kali agreed to keep her in the Palace for now, at least until they could find any clue on her family.
However, Yang made the job pretty easy. She actually knew her family.
Yang was the member of a Tribe. A tribe that had the power to transform into animals. They called themselves Hybrids.
This word now struck a nerve with the Belladonnas. Hybrids were told to be the ancestors of Faunus and Humankind. They were the first stage of evolution with the God given ability to change into an animal and back. Overtime these had manifested into normal wildlife, Humans and Faunus as they were today. To think some of them were still existing… and a Dragon Hybrid nonetheless!
For Yang however… this was nothing new or exciting.
It was not long, only until the previous day that they even found her mother. Raven Branwen was a… mysterious person to say the least. She and her Tribe ended up camping some miles away from the Kingdom. She literally fell into their life much like her Daughter. Through a strange vortex like Portal.
That was how they found out how Yang even landed here. She had tried to test out her abilities without supervision of her mother. That's why she ended up so far away and exhausting herself to the point of crashing down.
What followed was a rather… strange conversation. Raven had apologized for her Daughters behaviour and asked if she was any trouble, only for Ghira and Kali to state that she was no trouble at all. During that short time, Blake and Yang became fast friends. They ended up talking about all kinds of topics, playing together in the garden and Yang even tried to teach Blake how to turn into an animal. That was of course with neither of them knowing how it actually works so Blake's attempts to turn into a Cat were rather fruitless.
Still, the two had a great time together. It was so great that Yang was actually first hesitant to go back with her Mother. It took Raven making a bond with Ghira and Kali and Blake promising that they met again to get the Dragon hybrid to leave the Belladonnas.
It was a promise Blake would keep. The two ended up meeting a lot over the Years. A unique bonded was forged between them and with the two even the Belladonnas and the Tribe Raven lead started to cooperate. The rulers of Menagerie even were willing to give them a place to return to if they would get lost in their travels. Blake even got to meet the rest of Yang's family aside from Raven (who was fittingly a Raven hybrid. Her father Taiyang (who while not being a Hybrid ended up being married into the Tribe), her Uncle Qrow (a Crow, oddly enough), her Aunt Summer (a normal human as well and married to Qrow) and her little sister Ruby (who was able to turn into a Wolf like creature). The accident from Years ago and brought with itself the opportunity for a unique connection.
But one day… the Visits just… stopped.
It was when Blake turned 16 that Yang revealed it to her. On the day she entered adulthood she was supposed to go on a Journey… alone. It was something that every future leader had to do and with Ruby not ready for this kind of Trip, the duty fell to Yang who gladly accepted. Blake was saddened by this and wondered how long it could be until they meet again. The Dragon didn't know the answer to that question. The journey that was required to do would end up with her going to the farthest parts of Remnant and mastering her abilities. That was supposed to turn her into a strong Ruler and given how her animal side was the flying Terror of the skies, Raven was convinced that once mastered Yang could become one of the strongest their Tribe ever had.
It has been four Years since that faithful day, where Yang left her life for an unknown amount of time. While they stayed in contact with her Tribe, Blake was always rather absentminded around them. Thankfully she was not alone. Yang's family shared their worry but Raven always reassured them that Yang was capable of handling herself (even though she couldn't open a portal to help her daughter as that would go against the laws of their heritage).
However little did she know just how important the Tribe would become later in her life.
It was thanks to them that Menageries forces were prepared.
Atlas has decided to launch an attack on the Kingdom. They had thought to that their plans would be unknown. Thanks to a certain Qrow however, the Belladonnas found out about the situation and were ready to form their armies. Just in time.
Blake Belladonna herself was now 22 Years old. She had seen her fair share of combat already. She had decided to not be reliant on others and took already in young age combat classes and now was standing in the front of their army.
But they were hopelessly outmatched.
Atlas army was at least three times as big as theirs. Even with the help of the Tribe there was little chance of them actually winning.
She fell to the ground, an attack during the mids of the chaos had caught her of guard. She hastily went after her Weapon, but Gambol Shroud was kicked out of her sight before she could even attempt to move her hand towards it.
A blade was pointed straight at her throat, belonging to a General. He smugly smiled at the girls predicament. "I was expecting more from the so called 'liberator' family."
She growled at his words.
"Look around you, your people are dying. You could have just surrendered the Island to us but no you just had to fight back, believing in your race of animals."
A red sword was pointing out of his chest as soon as he said that. He fell dead to the ground, his face caught in shock and pain. The sword was removed from his corpse and the woman it belonged to throw a familiar Blade at Blake, which she promptly catches.
"Thanks Raven."
Raven smiled down at the Princess, "Thank me later we have a war to win."
She was not exaggerating. New soldiers surrounded the two as soon as Blake stood up. The Man of Atlas were starting to lunge forward them…
"RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The Chaos stopped immediately as this unholy roar came over the Battlefield.
Allies and Enemies a like stopped their attacks and stopped all movement as if they were commanded to by this Roar.
Blake looked up into the skies. What could have possibly let out such a cry?
Flapping could be heard and a large shadow emerged from the Clouds.
No one could see what even was hiding up there, but what they all saw was the gigantic ball of fire that descended towards the armies.
Blake just stood there in shock as the miniature Sun came closer and closer to the Battlefield.
And flew past her.
Instead it had collided with the Forces of Atlas. This one attack was enough to cripple half of their man.
To say this event was a surprise would be the understatement of the Century.
They all could see the culprit behind it as the shadow I the sky's started to crash down like a Meteor, bringing up large clouds of Dust while doing so.
When it faded…
The Atlas Military couldn't believe their eyes.
An enormous Dragon stood right in their path.
There was no sound on the whole Battlefield as the Armies analysed the Creature in aww and fear. One roar was all it needed to make the Forces of Atlas, so confident mere Minutes ago run away in Terror, hoping to escape with their lives.
The forces of Menagerie meanwhile were amazed by the creature. Most didn't even know something like this could exist.
Only a few selected few could see the proud smile on Raven Branwens face.
No one dared to move towards the deity like creature. Not even when it turned towards them.
Some brave soldiers loaded their weapons, ready to combat the mighty lizard.
"WAIT!" but they stopped once more hearing the shout of their Princess.
Blake moved towards the Dragon, surprise and a bit of disbelieve was in her path. Soon she stood right in front of the Dragon, looking it straight in the eye.
Almost as if to confirm what her mind had already found out she asked. "Yang?"
And with that, the Dragon smiled. A bright light, brighter than an exploding star, covered the field. When it stopped in the Dragons place stood a woman in Blake's age. Once a young girl she now looked much more mature, wearing a self-made armour she build on her journey.
The whole army was questioning everything they ever knew at seeing that this… ONE WOMAN just used the form of a Dragon to send the Invaders away. But none of them really mattered to Blake Belladonna.
What did matter to here was the reply the Dragon girl gave, with a cocky smile…
"Good to see you again Princess."
It was told that this Dragon, who crashed into the Garden of Menageries Kingdom so many years ago, would end up leading the well-known Hybrid Tribe for ages to come. It was as well told how the two childhood friends would grow up to become closer, close enough for the Tribe and the Kingdom of Menagerie to merge in one big ceremony between the two. One a Princess, one a Beast. Who knew that their fate could have been so deeply intertwined?
But is this story even true? Well I shall let you be the judge of it.
But it explains why on the Banner of Menageries Kingdom, a Black Cat and a Yellow Dragon can be seen, looking towards the stars.
Because why not? The world can always use more Dragon Yang in my opinion. And is there a better fitting beauty than a Princess?
I know the idea has probably been done a thousand times over but I just love the concept :)
Stay tuned for the next theme: an AU of my choice!