So I finally did this. It's based on tumblr user rubinator's art of teams RWBY and JNPR in a Skyrim setting (I did ask before doing this). A warning for the pairings right off the bat- Ruby/Weiss and Blake/Yang. Also, for the RWBY characters to exist in Skyrim, they are much more comfortable killing people and looting the corpses than their canon selves. However, they still have a similar sense of morality, they won't attack unprovoked. Hopefully they're still somewhat in character. Anyway I'm still not the best writer, so any feedback or advice would be great.
Ruby did not remember falling asleep on a cart. She didn't remember falling asleep at all, and yet here she was being jolted about by the uneven stone path she was travelling on. She assumed it was stone anyway, it was certainly unyielding enough. At least she had a nice warm pillow to lean on. As Ruby fully regained consciousness she realised she was not alone on this cart- three men sat across from her with their hands bound and wearing grim expressions. One was even gagged; he must have done something far worse than the others. A glance downward confirmed her hands were similarly tied up. And next to her-
"Hey! Good to see you awake."
"Yang?" Ruby sat up properly to get a look at her sister. "What's going on?"
"Not entirely sure, I haven't been awake long either." Yang gestured her also bound hands at the cart's other occupants. "From what these guys have told me, there's a war going on around here, and they're soldiers caught by the enemy. Oh, and a horse thief. Beats me why we were snatched up though."
Another thought occurred to Ruby. "Wait, where's Crescent Rose?"
"Don't worry, we haven't done anything wrong, so they'll have to give it back when they let us go." Yang bumped Ruby's shoulder reassuringly. "I mean, what are they going to do with a huge scythe anyway, they probably couldn't even swing it." Yang was met with a glare from the cart driver, to whom she gave a cheerful grin. Any potential angry retort from the man was cut off by a wall coming into view.
What little conversation there was died down as the cart passed through the gate and into the town, named Helgen according to one of the prisoners. Soldiers were all over the place and civilians were quick to return to their homes, not helping the serious atmosphere. Yang's demeanour still looked as confident and relaxed as ever, but Ruby noticed the little glances she kept tossing at her. They were both as nervous as each other.
Eventually the cart came to a stop and its passengers were let off. Ruby tried to make her face as innocent looking as possible while the other prisoners had their names listed off by two stern-faced soldiers. Not that this was difficult, Ruby was aware of her baby face, despite being 18 years old. Painfully aware usually, but in this case it could help her.
"And…" The soldier reading the list looked up with a furrowed brow. "Who are you two?"
Yang stepped up to him, putting herself between him and Ruby, and smiled confidently. "I'm Yang and this is Ruby. Since we're not on your list and we haven't done anything wrong, it's clear that this is all a huge misunderstanding. So if you'd just untie us and give my sister back her scythe, we'll be on our merry way and you guys can get back to work." Yang had a certain charisma that enabled her to persuade people of things they wouldn't normally agree to, a talent Ruby lacked. Which was fine with her, Ruby didn't care much for speaking with strangers anyway.
The male soldier turned to his female counterpart- evidently his superior. "What do we do? She's right, they're not listed as criminals, and they're not in Stormcloak armour."
"Forget the list. Send them to the block."
"WHAT?" The cry came from both sisters, but Yang's carried far more aggression. "You can't just execute us for no reason!"
The soldier didn't even flinch. "You were captured with Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader behind the rebellion. I am taking no chances."
"By murdering everyone on the same trail as him? Because I think I saw a fox back there- better slice its head off before it turns into a rebel from sheer proximity to Uldric over there!"
"Ulfric."
"Whatever!" Yang's clenched fists started to open at her sides, a tell that usually preceded a destruction spell. Ruby discreetly stepped backwards to avoid the inevitable explosion. "If you don't let me and my sister go I swear I will-". An earth-shaking roar drowned out Yang's threat and sent them all staggering. Ruby was the first to regain her footing and look up to see a beast she had only heard about in stories of centuries past land on the tower in front of her.
Dragon.
The creature, as if aware of her staring, turned its head to gaze directly at her with eyes even blacker than its jagged scales. It stared at her for what felt like an unusually long time, and Ruby couldn't seem to break eye contact. Her temporary paralysis broke only when the beast turned away and shook its head. It gave another tremendous roar- or was it a roar? It seemed like more than simple noise, almost like a word. But before Ruby could debate on that more, the rest of the town snapped out of their stupor.
"Ruby! We need to move!" Yang looked around frantically for an escape route that wouldn't get them killed. The dragon would surely roast them if they stayed out in open space for much longer.
"Prisoners!" The man with the list had run to a large stone building and was waving them over. "Follow me if you want to live!" Ruby and Yang glanced at each other and nodded, deciding to obey and sprinting over to the building's shelter. Fire rained down on them, but with Ruby's speed and Yang's natural fire resistance they made it through ok. "Good, you made it. Here, let me cut you loose." Ruby sighed with relief when her hands were freed, which turned into a gasp as she saw her beloved scythe leaning against a wall.
"Oh, my baby!" Ruby threw herself at the weapon and stroked the side of its blade. "They didn't hurt you did they?" Ruby pretended not to see the strange look List-man was giving her, instead checking Crescent Rose for scratches. She had put a lot of effort into it after all; few people could even make a daedric weapon, let alone a huge war scythe. As for wielding it, only herself and her uncle Qrow had enough experience to even try.
"Err… ok… Anyway, this is the Keep, so there are plenty of weapons and armour lying around. Feel free to take what you need. Let me know when you're ready to leave." List-man then walked over to the door on the other side of the room.
Ruby finally looked up from her scythe. "We don't need any weapons, do we? I have Crescent Rose and you have… you."
"That's one way to look at it." Yang slung an arm around Ruby's shoulders and leaned in close. "Another way is that weapons are worth money, and we're dead broke." With a wink, Yang turned away and began grabbing what she could. Eventually she came across a set of iron armour and put it on, while Ruby did the same with a leather set. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it would do, and she could always alter it later. Ruby debated for a few seconds about continuing to wear her signature red cloak, but realised it would probably be ruined in seconds and put it away with her clothes. Tuning around, she saw that Yang's iron armour fit much better than her own, but Ruby was a good enough smith to see its imperfections. It would last… for now.
"We're good to go," Ruby said as she and Yang approached the door. "How are we getting out of here, uh…?"
"My name is Hadvar." Hadvar turned to unlock the door. "The Keep has a back entrance outside of Helgen. It's fairly well hidden by forest, so we won't have to deal with that dragon." He opened the door, only to almost get impaled by a sword. Fortunately he raised his shield in time. "We may have to deal with other problems though." He stepped back to reveal two Stormcloak soldiers charging at them.
Yang punched the attacker with a flaming fist. "Seriously? There's a dragon out there and you're worried about us?" Naturally her question was rhetorical, as the dead man couldn't exactly answer. Ruby dealt with the other one just as swiftly by cleaving his head off with a swing of her scythe. Clearly the soldiers were not expecting the former prisoners to fight back.
"Ah." Neither did Hadvar, it seemed. He lowered his sword and pointed awkwardly at another door. "Nice work. That's the way out, although we'll probably encounter more Stormcloaks. Not that they seem to be a problem for you." To his credit, he recovered quickly. And he didn't seem bothered when Ruby and Yang knelt down to relieve the dead soldiers of their gold and weapons.
This pattern continued through several more rooms until they reached what was clearly an interrogation room. Two Stormcloaks were fighting against two other men within. Hadvar raised his sword in readiness but stopped short when Ruby and Yang did not move.
"Why did you stop? The Stormcloaks will kill them if we don't do something!"
Ruby frowned at him. "It's obvious what this room is for. So we know what they've done." Ruby and her sister weren't exactly paragons of virtue, but torture didn't sit well with them. So they were not inclined to help two men whose job it was to torture people simply for being enemy soldiers. The dead mage in one of the cages reaffirmed their standpoint.
Hadvar tried again. "They could help us."
"We're doing just fine on our own." Yang finally raised her fists. "Too late anyway." Indeed, the torturers were lying dead on the ground, and the Stormcloaks soon followed at the sister's hands.
Hadvar sighed in resignation. "Well, we might as well take what we need. Here." He held out some lock picks, which Ruby accepted. "There may be something useful in that cage." Several broken lock picks later, he turned out to be right. A tome describing the Sparks spell was their reward. Another book lay on the table in the room- the Book of the Dragonborn. Ruby made a note to read them later.
Once the trio left the interrogation room, they found themselves in a large cavern. Ruby and Yang smiled at the light pouring in from the mouth of the cavern; finally they'd made it out. Their only obstacle was a sleeping bear, and that was easy to sneak around. Even Yang in her heavy iron armour could manage. Once outside the cave they saw the black dragon fly overhead, unable to see them due to the trees around them.
"We should go to Riverwood, my home village. It's not far from here, and they should be told what happened." Hadvar pointed down a dirt path, fortunately not in the same direction the dragon flew off in.
"Well, it's not like we have anywhere to be. Sure, we'll come with." Yang started off down the path before remembering she had no idea where they were going. Ruby chuckled at Yang having to stop and wait for Hadvar to pass her, which earned her a headlock and a thorough hair-ruffling. A brawl ensued between the siblings, but was stopped once they realised Hadvar wasn't waiting for them. Still laughing, they ran to catch up.
Hopefully they wouldn't run into any more dragons.
If I'm honest, I'm still somewhat unsatisfied with how this chapter turned out, but I can't sit here editing it forever. I'll just have to hope I improve in later chapters. So, let me know what you think, I love feedback.