"Ack!" Something let out a yelp as it tumbled into the room waking Weiss as she moved up into a sitting position, letting out a surprised gasp at the sudden intrusion in her bedchamber.
"Ow… Still, no glass, glad the balcony was open." The intruder rubbed its head, slowly standing up and looking around, only to see a pair of big blue eyes, wide open in shock. "Oh… Oh! No! Please don't call for anyone! I'm not here to hurt you or anything. Actually, I'm not even sure who you are, me being here? It's totally an accident, please, let me explain."
Weiss looked at her surprise guest, who turned out to be a redhead girl around her age, raised her arms in a calming manner, seemingly as surprised and confused as she herself was right now. The girl that just moments ago was soundly sleeping in her bed took a deep breath, first, she had to understand the situation she got herself into. A noblewoman is to act calmly in any situation. Hot-headed attitude is reserved for man. "Are you here to kidnap me? Assassinate me?" She asked calmly if that was the other girl's goal… Well, before her guards arrive she would be already dead.
"No, no no no. I'm not here to do anything bad. Like I said I… Well… It's complicated." The girl sat down on the spot she just stood and let out a tired sigh. Trick or not, the odd behavior of the girl made Weiss… Believe her, if only for now. At least believe the part about this not being anything as trivial as killing her, kidnapping her or stealing from her. While she knew that she should keep her distance, her curiosity got better of her and she slowly got up from her bed and approached the girl.
"Introduce yourself." Not sure how much she could push her luck, she wanted to test that, as she regained control of her voice and added a bit of a demanding note to it.
"Right! I'm…" The girl paused. "I guess the closest name I could offer you that you could pronounce is Ruby Rose. So just Ruby is fine." She didn't curtsy, didn't bow. She didn't even stand up. All the girl, this Ruby, did was to grin and stick out her hand towards her. The sudden gesture made Weiss take a step back, as she wasn't familiar with such ways of greetings. "Eh?" Ruby's brow just raised at that.
"Are you even aware where you are? Who I am? Of course not, you did mention that you're here by accident. Assuming I believe you, you're clueless of who you stand before." Weiss frowned and crossed her arms.
"Well… Kind of?" The redhead rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile.
"I am Weiss Schnee, the princess of Atlas and the first in line to inherit the throne." The Schnee announced proudly, and while she expected for the other girl to adjust her behavior or at least do something, all she got was… Well…
"Neat!" A simple comment. "I never meet a real princess."
"Assuming you meet a lot of fake princesses?" She let out a grunt, losing her patience with this girl, as she allowed for some of the said annoyance to slip past her cool demeanor. "Explain yourself fully before I call the guards, and I warn you penalty for intruding into my bedchamber is death."
"H-Hey calm down! Look I was flying around, going all whoosh, quick, since I am the quickest there is, and we had a little race and I might have got a tiiiiiny bit ahead of myself. But it's not my fault! It just feels so amazing to go through the clouds and dive down into the forest, to test your luck as you have to avoid each tree, look out for any additional obstacles, you know the moving kind like animals or something like that! So I did all that, got a bit too focused on it actually, and I might have got a bit too close to your kingdom and… Well. Here I am, after my improvised landing." The girl took a deep breath as she ended her explanation. As for Weiss? She was just standing there slack-jawed. Not sure what was more impressing, the ridiculous story she just heard or the fact that this weird girl said it all without taking a break to take a breather.
"What?!" She managed to ask, still looking at her as if Ruby just grew another head.
"Uh, to which part exactly?" The redhead asked, not sure if her story was confusing or was something else up.
"You were flying? And, excuse me, how did you manage to do that?" Weiss was playing along, she wanted to hear the entire story. Although she already made up her mind about it being stupid. She just didn't expect for this Ruby girl to think that her, someone of royal blood, could be fooled by something like that.
"Well duh, every dragon can fly." Ruby expected some sort of reaction. I mean how do you not have one after meeting a dragon, right? It's only natural. But… Well.
Laughter. Weiss was laughing. It wasn't a chuckle nor was it a giggle. She was laughing. Ruby wanted to say something, but whenever she opened her mouth and faced the Schnee princess, hearing her laughter made her pause and feel another wave of heat enter her face. It took a while and it made Ruby wonder if none of the guards would come in, or was this normal for the princess of this country to burst out in uncontrollable fits of laughter.
Soon the girl was out of breath and had to sit down on the floor to which Ruby just rolled her eyes. "Are you done?"
"I… I apologize." Weiss wiped off some tears that managed to collect in the corner of her eyes, trying desperately to regain her ability to breathe. "It's not really that funny, your implication of being a dragon." She shook her head. "It was just a tiring day and with you suddenly… Appearing in here and the way you acted and everything." She finally looked up giving one final sigh. "For some reason, I felt like I just had to laugh at it all."
The alleged dragon girl just rubbed her neck at that. Was this better than being laughed at for saying who she was or worse? Well at least she made the other girl smile, that's never a bad thing, right? Making others smile. "H-Hey!" And a second after that thought, she understood fully what Weiss just said. "The implication is true, alright? I'm a dragon and you should have a little bit more respect… Or something."
"And what if I ask for proof?" Weiss's raised her brow, still wearing a playful smile.
"Pfsh, I'll just show… You..." Ruby's voice was full of vigor until she noticed that while spacious, this room would still be… Well, not too small just… It would be difficult to change it. "I know! My eyes." Ruby quickly cut the distance between herself and the other girl, kneeling in front of her and grabbing her shoulder.
This, of course, made Weiss feel uncomfortable, as she wasn't used to being touched in such a casual way by complete strangers. Although that thought was quickly replaced by… Something else. The reason being the other girls face that got even closer to her own, and the silver eyes that looked deeply into her own. She felt her own cheeks grow warm, feeling as if this Ruby girl was staring into her soul. Soon she saw it, for a moment the silver eyes morphed into eyes that she could only describe as cat eyes. Not exactly, but very familiar. Slitted eyes. At such revelation, she moved away from the redhead. "T-That means nothing on its own, a trick of the eye!" She frowned, she hated being tricked.
"Oh yeah?" Ruby huffed as she stood up and began to move towards the balcony. "Then come here and tell me if anyone could climb this impossible tower."
"I can't." Weiss answered simply.
"Ha! So you admit that you believe me?" A grin started to blossom on Ruby's face.
"No, I simply would wish to avoid for anyone to see me in my nightgown. Even if it's very high, the possibility might still be there." The white-haired girl hugged herself at that.
"Huh? Oh, right, you're wearing… A nightgown..." The redhead frowned at that, as the clockwork inside her brain started to slowly turn. Her eyes grew at that and her cheeks grew red, as she immediately turned around. "I'm sorry! I just… Because of everything. I didn't mean to stare! I didn't stare, anything I saw was by accident I swear."
Weiss hid her face in her own hands, a big smile creeping on her face. She wanted to laugh, but this time she could easily control this desire. While it was a quite rare feeling for her to have, she didn't want to upset the other girl, since she was the source of this… Amusement. "You're acting like such a dolt."
"H-Hey! I'm trying to be respectful here and this is the treatment I get?" Ruby wanted to turn around as she felt offended, but one glance at the girl and her attire made her just blush and turn to her previous position.
"I thought dragons have a thick skin… Hide, whatever it is you have." Weiss moved her knees up as she hugged them, observing the back of Ruby with curiosity.
"Scales… I mean we have skin under the scales too, but I think when you think of us, you first think scales." Ruby answered as if the other girl truly sought the answer.
"So what now?" The Schnee princess tilted her head.
"Erh… Well, I wouldn't mind leaving this place without anyone noticing. Anyone but you that is." The redhead rubbed the back of her head, visibly stopping herself from turning around as she wasn't used to having her back to the people she talked to.
"Very well, I'll help you." Weiss slowly stood up and stretched, ignoring the cold she felt from being as she was out in the open for such an extended period of time, she moved towards a small bookshelf inside the room.
"Y-You will?" Once more, Ruby had to stop herself from fully turning around, doing as much as even covering her eyes as soon as she caught herself mid-spin. "C-Can I turn around?"
With a sigh, Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, permission granted. You already saw me so what's with this weird act?" The Schnee briefly turned to glance at the self-proclaimed dragon girl.
Said girl finally turned around, although not without her cheeks turning red as soon as her silver eyes laid on the princess. "It's because you're… I mean… It's about your…" She bit her lower lips, only for her eyes to shine for a split second as an idea popped into her head. "I-It's because you're a princess and I want to respect that. Your body… Erh, you know what I mean." Once more, Ruby wasn't sure what to say as she rubbed her neck, feeling embarrassed at her own antics.
"Right, now come here and help me with this shelf." Weiss decided to not dwell into the other girl's weird behavior after all her unexpected guest thought she was a dragon so being crazy was not out of question. Instead, she focused on the task at hand, trying to help this weird girl escape the castle before she's caught and executed… Or worse."
"Huh?" Ruby wasn't sure what Weiss meant, till she understood that the princess attempted to push the shelf and to her surprise, she succeeded, moving it a few inches, before stopping. The redhead noticing that she would move her lips, saying something to herself and after some seconds passed she would push it once more. "Is it heavy?" Once she got next to both the shelf and Weiss, she asked, glancing between the two.
"Yes and no, I push it a little, count to ten and try again, it's to avoid anyone noticing, or at least minimizing those that potentially might hear it." The Schnee explained and pushed once more, this time with the dragon girl's help.
Ruby wanted to ask why were they even doing this, but after the shove that she assisted in, she noticed the hole that had to be behind the furniture. "Oh! Clever."
"Mmm… I used it for… Things." Weiss explained between the shoves, which could have made the ten-second rule a bit stretched. "On the other side of this, you'll find a set of spiral stairs. Going down you'll see three similar holes. The first leads to the kitchen, the second to the armory and the last one should make you fall into the sewers which will lead you out into the castle moat."
"Ew… I guess I have no other choice." Ruby let out a soft sigh.
"Unless you just turn into a dragon you claim to be and fly away, no." Weiss shook her head.
"I'd rather not, the entire point is to remain unnoticed, especially in my true form." The redhead explained and soon the shelf was pushed enough so that Ruby could get onto the other side through it.
"Neat, thanks! I'm in your debt for saving me, and a dragon always pays off its debt." The dragon girl grinned as she began to crawl into the small passage.
"Yes, yes, just go and be careful of anyone catching you. If something happens, knock two times, count to five and knock another two times." She received no answer but assumed that it was due to the other girl not wanting to be heard by anyone. She waited a moment and after the other girl didn't come back, she decided to just push the shelf back at where it was the same method she explained earlier to the now gone girl. Once everything was in place, Weiss decided to go back to sleep. Even if her head was full of various thoughts and emotions, the unexpected physical exercise would be enough to make her fall asleep as soon as she laid down onto her giant bed.
oooOOOooo
Weiss was glancing at the book on her lap, not really sure what to think about all the things she managed to read today. She decided to comply with a lot, which while confused a lot of her servants, gave her plenty of time to read up on a certain topic. That topic? Dragons.
As if summoned, she heard the surprised yelp of the girl from yesterday, combined with the sound of her tumbling across the floor. With a sigh, she looked over her shoulder to see the same girl in a very similar position from yesterday, although her expression was more… How to describe it… Goofy looking? She was wearing the same thing as yesterday, a dark sleeveless tunic and what seemed to be a white shirt underneath. Her hands and part of her forearms were covered with black gloves. Below she wore dark pants, in the same color as her tunic and very… Thick, black leather boots.
"Huh, you're not in your nightgown." Was the first thing the girl, Ruby, commented as she slowly gathered herself off the floor.
"Is it disappointment I hear in your voice?" Weiss teased her.
"Eh?! N-No! An observation!" It was amusing to watch as the girl's cheeks turned bright red, her silver eyes grew two times and she raised her hands in a defensive manner. She couldn't help but giggle at her antics. "H-Hey, that's unfair." The redhead pouted, only to receive another giggle from the princess. Perhaps it was her goal all along, as Ruby then smiled, slowly approaching her.
"I told my maid to prepare a warm robe for me." Weiss explained, putting the book to the side. Earlier she considered waiting for the girl while facing the window but… But for some reason, she didn't want to spoil the mystery. She was afraid that if she saw the girl come into her room in some other way than she explained the other night, it would make this entire thing disappointing.
"Neat, you won't freeze your butt off." Ruby grinned, only to blink. "Wait, you knew I'd come?"
The Schnee simply shrugged. "For some reason, I had a suspicious feeling you'd visit this place again." It was more of a hope, not really a suspicious feeling, but she wouldn't admit to that, for several reasons. One of them being that she wasn't sure why exactly did she even feel that way.
"Darn, and here I thought I'd surprise you." The redhead rubbed her neck with a grin.
"Surprise or scare me again?" Weiss squinted her eyes at her visitor, and for the second time today, Ruby had to get on defense.
"H-Hey I didn't mean to scare you the other night, alright?" While defending herself she continued to walk towards her host, sitting beside her on the edge of the bed. "So what are you reading over there?" She asked after catching a glimpse of the book that Weiss had by her side.
The Schnee princess blinked as her head moved towards the item in question, her book. "Oh!" Remembering, she glanced at it only to look back at the girl. "I decided to educate myself on the topic of dragons." She nodded at that. "Since I am to play along with your claim of being a dragon, it seemed only fair that I had some knowledge about your kind, however, made up it might be, it should provide a good starting point."
Ruby nodded slowly, her mind digested the answer at her own, leisure pace. "Oh… Ugh, you're still not believing me?" She grimaced at that, pouting and crossing her arms.
"I did say that I will play along, have I not? That means I decided to believe you, although I still did not see enough evidence to make me not question the absurdity of the situation… Both of us found ourselves in. Unless breaking into royal chambers is something dragons do on a daily basis."
While her tone of voice seemed stern, it had a hint of playfulness that Ruby had to catch, since she grinned and rubbed the back of her head. "Not really."
"Very well, I do have many things I'd like to ask." As Weiss reached out and placed the book on her lap, ready to search for specific pages she marked, she could feel a hand land on top of her own. The sudden feeling of skinship still felt alien to her, but like with anything, she masked how she felt, as it was not fitting of a royal woman to do so. Instead, she focused her blue eyes on the girl beside her, the redhead now wearing a soft smile as she looked back into her eyes with her own silver orbs. This caught the Schnee off guard, although she wasn't sure why.
Ruby, on the other hand, decided that Weiss was silent to let her speak, which she did. "Listen, I was thinking since you have so many questions and all that, I could visit from time to time. Maybe not every day, so don't fret if I won't come for a few days… But you know, you don't have to ask all of those in one night." As her words went on, the less confident her words were, her cheeks starting to grab some heat and her silver eyes seemed to sway from side to side, no longer able to focus on the girl before her.
Normally Weiss would scoff at herself for letting her feelings be so obvious and so on display as they were at that moment, this was a rare exception to the rule. Her eyes briefly left the girl and once she gathered her own courage, she offered her answer with a small smile. "I think I would enjoy your visits."
And with that settled, Ruby would drop by regularly each night, with a few rare nights being the exceptions from the rule.
With that plan agreed upon by both parties, Ruby knew she would drop by regularly, if not each night, at least often enough to entertain Weiss with the answer she sought and perhaps one day convincing her she was indeed a dragon.
oooOOOooo
"Do you have a bondmate?" Weiss asked and watched as the other girl jumped in surprise, her eyes wide in shock as she glanced back at her.
"W-What? A bondmate?" The redhead repeated the question as if in disbelief.
"Yes, the book mentioned that dragons form pairs and such pairs are called bonds, making each respectful side of such bond a mate. In conclusion, it's only rational to call such a bondmate. So do you have one?" Weiss frowned, did that mean the book was wrong? Or perhaps she had an argument to oppose the girl's claim to be a dragon.
"Mmh… You're like my dad. I'm telling both of you, I'm too young to have a bondmate! I have like, the whole life before me, why should I settle for… For someone, anyone." The silver eyed girl crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. Although that faded quickly once she noticed the confusion that was painted on Weiss's face. With a sigh she collapsed back onto the bed and into a half laying position, her eyes staring at the high, detailed ceiling above her. "It's called that because once we decide to bond, it's forever. And it's not just like, a word or marriage for humans. We share each other's… Powers. Let's call it that. Strength is a better word. But not the physical one I mean the… The dragon one. Ugh, human language! It's so hard to form a simple sentence."
Weiss frowned, so the girl either knew what was in the book or she… No, that wasn't possible. There had to be another explanation for all of this. Still, she delivered a very similar answer to the one available in the book, even adding a bit more to it. Perhaps her wording was way more simplified and straightforward, but she learned that this was the case with this girl. It often felt refreshing if a bit confusing from time to time.
"It's so we can protect our nests better. Well, that makes me sound like a bird. Our lair, home, whatever. So we can have plenty of little dragon babies and my dad could finally stop making small comments about that. Ugh!" The redhead covered her face as if that could help her annoyance to fade away.
"Isn't that your responsibility?" Weiss asked, which broke Ruby's train of thoughts, which while she was grateful, the question itself seemed a bit confusing to her.
"Eh? My responsibility? You mean finding a bondmate?" The dragon girl tilted her head.
"Well in a way, but I more meant to deliver an offspring. Uhm, baby dragons as you referred to them." The Schnee averted her gaze as she scratched her cheek, feeling a bit silly to use such simple language.
"Hell no, if my dad wants grandchildren so much he can ask Yang, she's older. I mean I do have responsibilities but nobody will force me to take some random person I never knew and bond with them just so I could lay a few eggs." The girl sat up as she crossed her arms in a stubborn manner.
As for the princess? She just smiled, for a second allowing herself to indulge in the fantasy of not being forced by all her royal blood responsibilities. To imagine how nice it would be to choose your partner and to not be simply used to prolong whatever bloodline she would cross with. Fake or not, for those few seconds she wished she could be a dragon if only to roam the world free and without such expectations.
oooOOOooo
"So what do you like to do? I mean there is something right? Like reading books or playing an instrument. Something fancy that people like you do, right?" As Ruby sat on the ground with her back against the bed, she eyed the mostly empty room. It always confused her as to why some humans choose to have so much space available inside their houses… Or rooms in this instance, yet not do anything with it.
"Fencing." Came a simple response and it took Ruby a moment to understand that it was, in fact, an answer to her question.
"Eh? Fencing?" After receiving a nod of confirmation from Weiss, Ruby continued, not really satisfied by a simple confirmation. "Isn't that like some sword thing? Like, you know, fighting?" Her silver orbs once more found its way to stare at the other girl. It sometimes made her wonder why. Maybe because the room was so empty there was nothing else to lay her eyes on.
"It is, yes. Although I assume sword practice in general, it was mostly fencing." Weiss once more provided an answer, her lips forming a small smile as fond memories filled her mind.
Ruby just frowned for a moment, her brain gathering all the information she just received and once that done realization hit her, as she clapped her hand, startling the other girl in the process. "You're like a warrior princess, right?"
After collecting herself from the initial surprise of the clap, Weiss allowed herself to giggle. "No, nothing like that. Not many people knew about it. It was something I did in secret. An old knight taught me. We meet once by accident when… Well, when I was snooping around." The princess blushed as she looked away, although not without smiling.
The redhead grinned at that "And he caught you?" This bit of information made her… Happy? Yes, that was the right word. It meant that Weiss had some adventurous spirit inside her which was good.
The Schnee heiress simply rubbed the back of her head. "Something like that, yes." She admitted, with a bit less confidence than when she usually spoke. Which even Ruby could notice.
Although there was still one thing she didn't quite get. "So what's with the past tense? Do you no longer train with him? Did he go on war or something?" Her head crooked to the side as she eyed the princess.
Weiss's eyes went down a bit, her smile while not completely gone, melted a significant bit. "Well, he… He surely did go somewhere, yes. Luckily not to war but to rest."
Ruby snapped her fingers at that. "Oh, like he retired?"
The princess cleared her throat at that, looking to the side, now a bit amused. "That's one way to put it."
Yet Ruby, being the curious dragon she was, had more questions about this ordeal. "So where is he now? Too far to visit and give you a lesson or two?"
Weiss let out a soft sigh, shaking her head. She hoped that dragons were smarter than this, as she didn't really want to word it all out. While she was no longer sad, it still… Stung to speak of it openly. "He passed away last fall." She explained, too afraid to directly look at Ruby in fear that the other girl might read her like an open book once she could as much as simply have a glance of her eyes.
There was a second, perhaps two, in which the redhead wasn't quite sure what was just said. But once she understood her eyes grew. "O-Oh… Oh! I'm sorry I just… I forgot how… No, nevermind. I'm sorry I'm just slow and dumb." It was her time to feel embarrassed at the ordeal, as she rubbed her neck.
Weiss moved away from Ruby and towards the open balcony. Not to get away from her visitor, but to gaze at the stars. The sky was beautiful tonight, so why not enjoy a bit of that. "It's fine I should have had the courage to just say it as it is. The worst is I wasn't allowed to be at the ceremony or even visit his grave." While it did upset her, she understood that the situation was complicated. Besides, she was a princess, she had a certain set of rules to live by.
Ruby stood up at that. "What? Why?!" It seemed like something important, while she didn't understand all the noble relationships or even human ones, she still would consider it to be some sort of a friend.
The Schnee simply shook her head, as if she was about to explain something very basic. "Considering the place of his rest my father decided it would be too dangerous for me to go and too much of a hassle to make any trips there. Besides officially I had no connection to him. For my father, if I was persistent, it would seem as if I was interested in some random soldier." Maids would have plenty of gossips if even an ounce of this would be known.
While Ruby's rebellious nature was set ablaze, one weird if not silly thing caught her attention the most and distracted her from getting truly angry at this situation… At least for now. "I thought he was a knight."
Weiss hugged herself. "He… Was, yes. But for my father, it's all the same. He's a politician, not a warlord, whoever has a sword is a soldier, be it pointing his weapon towards his enemies or pointing his weapon at him as an enemy." Old were times where a king should be an example for knights in the realm. Times where one would look up to the king, his bravery, mannerism and fighting prowess. Weiss was aware that such thinking was of the old age or simply childish. Modern society was far more complex than that.
Weiss's growing annoyance with the topic and her own thought were abruptly stopped as she heard the other girl's question. "So where's his grave?"
At that, the princess turned around to face her guest. "It's somewhere in the forest, there's a crypt where his family is laid to rest. I'm not sure of the details as I decided to not tempt myself with learning the location. Sometimes what you can't see, can't harm you."
Ruby wore a thoughtful face for a moment as she memorized the very basic and plain description of the place. "A crypt with some knights in it. Gotch'ya." As soon as everything was scribbled down inside her brain, she looked up at Weiss with a grin.
This confused the human girl. "What caused your sudden interest in this subject?"
The redhead simply waved her hand dismissively. "Oh nothing specific, just curiosity. Speaking of which I remembered I had some business to attend to so I'll have to leave a bit earlier than usual." She said as she approached secret passage behind the bookshelf.
"Oh, I see…" Weiss nodded slowly, a bit perplexed at the sudden departure of the other girl. "I apologize if I offended you in some way, Ruby."
The girl in question moved from the dark corridor for a moment at that. "What? No no! If anything I'm sorry for bringing up something sad and then harping on it like that." With one last wave, she moved to disappear inside the hole.
oooOOOooo
Days, at some point Weiss got lost in such simple math of how many days passed since Ruby last visited. The embarrassing part was that she didn't really make a mistake over some big number. No, she just wasn't sure if it was two or three days since the self-proclaimed dragon visited her last time.
Was it because of what she told her last time? About the fencing and the knight that helped her. It was said that knights were those that killed dragons back in the days, it was the final test for a knight, to kill a dragon, only then could he be fully knighted. She wasn't sure if she believed this, at least prior to this situation… Now she hoped that this wasn't the case.
With a sigh, she glanced down at the dragon book she kept. It wasn't really important if Ruby was or wasn't a dragon. She didn't really care about it, it was fun discussing those things with her as if assuming that the girl indeed was a dragon, but outside of that? It was just nice having a…
...A what? Friend? She had people she claimed were her friends, back before she was aware of her status and everything surrounding her. It was quite the shock to once accidentally overheard some adults telling them that they have to remain her friends and how to treat her, what to do. Like it was a stage play and nothing more.
It was when she understood that she was all alone in a crowded castle.
At that moment she got startled as a very familiar sounding groan that followed the sound of someone tumbling across the ground echoed through her chamber. While she was sort of used to it, with her current thoughts and all her worries, it made her jump up in shock, as she stared wide-eyed at the currently laying on the ground girl.
"Hey." This girl, Ruby, offered her simple, unrefined greeting with a sheepish smile, maintaining the position for a bit as if understanding how ridiculous she had to look at the moment. Her demeanor changed as soon as she noticed something different about the princess. "Everything alright?"
"I-I uh… I mean, of course, everything is alright." It took Weiss a moment to regain her composure, as she crossed her arms and turned to look away from the redhead. "I was simply surprised by you since you were away for a few days."
Ruby blinked at that, but soon a grin blossomed on her lips. She understood what was going on. "Does that mean you missed me?" She asked in a sing-songy way, getting up from the floor and moving closer to the noble girl.
"What a preposterous claim, I simply made an observation." Weiss remained stubborn, she would not show weakness. She was strong and she had to remain this way for when she would sit on the throne, whichever throne that would be.
"You missed me!" Ruby repeated and to the princess's shock, hugged her from behind. "Just admit it!"
"I don't remember giving you permission to touch me, let alone hug me." The Schnee heiress glanced over her shoulder, her cold blue eyes trying to find the other girl's silver orbs.
"I don't need permission, I'm a dragon! Rawr!" Ruby said with a grin as her embrace grew tighter.
"If you won't let go I'm calling the guards." There was something dangerous in Weiss's voice.
Still, Ruby decided it was a bluff. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me." It was at that point, and perhaps for the first time in her life, that Ruby felt a strange cold feeling creep up her spine, and for a human to be the cause of it. In the end, she decided that bluff or not, it was just the girl showing her disdain towards such acts.
She started to slowly move away, but before she could unwrap her arms, she felt a pair of hands rest on top of them, holding Ruby in place. "Perhaps for a little bit. Since you already broke a few laws for which my father would have you beheaded." Weiss explained and was glad that the other girl couldn't see her face, as it heated up.
With more formal permission, Ruby moved even closer to the other girl, now more properly wrapping her arms around her waist as she clung to Weiss. She rested the side of her head against her shoulder, being sure to not apply too much pressure. Some sword waving or not, this was still a princess she had in her arms. "You smell nice." She commented quietly.
Weiss inhaled sharply at Ruby's comment. "I-If you continue saying weird, embarrassing things, I'll withdraw your permission." Weiss couldn't help but to feel her own heart race fast, it was the first time that she felt someone so close. Yes, she hugged before, mostly family members but that, while physically close, was still far from being but an act. This type of closeness? This was as close as she ever had anyone be. Not just physically but… Emotionally?
Without even knowing, she leaned back a bit, resting her body weight against Ruby, the latter girl accepting it without a complaint as she held the girl tightly in her arms. "What were you doing for these past few days?"
"I was looking for your knight and I found him… His grave. So if you want to visit him? Just give me a nudge and we'll go there." Ruby explained, her voice full of pride as she grinned to herself. She expected for Weiss to be happy about both her finding the grave and the idea of visiting her past mentor, for however long he did teach her.
"I see." Sadly no happiness could be audible in Weiss's voice. It was quite the opposite, her voice sounding so flat and… Distant, cold. If anything it made Ruby feel regret.
"You don't want to see him?" The dragon girl asked, she was confused, who wouldn't. Maybe humans, since they understood each other better, right? Or did they? She closed her eyes at that, this wasn't time to wonder about humans.
"I do, but I can't. Soon I won't have time to do much of anything, let alone leave the castle." Weiss explained and Ruby could feel her arms being gently squeezed by her hands.
"Why?" The redhead asked, with every answer understanding even less than before.
"Promise me that you will not ask me this anymore in the future and I'll promise to tell you once the time is right. Please, till that time comes I simply wish to… To just enjoy our time together." Weiss's voice sounded very bittersweet, trapped between the sad inevitable, whatever it might be and the happy part, the late night meetings she had with Ruby.
Both her voice and her words made Ruby worried, but she didn't want to upset the girl. "I promise." She said as she hugged the princess to herself a bit more, nuzzling her cheek against her back. Trying to distract herself from those type of thoughts, she focused on something else. Something basic. And as one of those simple thoughts emerged above all else, she smiled to herself.
Weiss really did smell nice.
Author's note:
Originally this was supposed to be one "story" in which each "chapter" would be a dragon story with a different ship as the focus, but as I started writing and getting more ideas I decided to hatchet this story into 3 parts, as it seemed like a reasonable beginning, middle and end.
This is the dragon story I promised some time ago under one of my "How to raise your Faunus" chapters. It started simple but as I had more and more time to think about it I added more and more into this to the point that well… It sort of grew.
I actually started with a different dragon story, a D!Weiss and H!Ruby, but then I started thinking that I never really saw too much of a dragon Ruby and as I started thinking about a story with Ruby being a dragon, this little idea got into my head.
I guess each "volume" is its own story and its own universe, so in case I somehow manage to write another dragon story it won't really be related to this one. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, I haven't even finished this story.
Oh, and all the lore and everything was made up on the spot. So all I can promise is to at least be consistent with what I said in my own story.