HI ETH here, I want to first say that I thought of this fanfic last minute and got really excited about it, and I'm trying something out of my ship of Oscar and Ruby and instead trying Whitley and Ruby here so yeah trying something new, I don't ship them it's just something I'm testing out, and there's a song in here by Heather dale I believe, called "The maiden and the Selkie" just wanted to tell you. Anyway enough talk enjoy!
"This story is being dedicated to my dear friend, Felcatty"
RWBY: Winter Roses
By: ETH
Once, long ago there was a beautiful young maiden named Ruby Rose. she lived on a small farm with her father Tai Yang Xiao Long and half older sister Yang Xiao Long.
Ruby was one of the most beautiful maidens in the land of Remnant. She had big bright silver eyes that shined like the moon on a cloudless night, her skin was pale like it had never known sunlight, her hair was short with red ends and it was as soft as silk, she was also very thin for the lack of food her family was able to have in their home. Ruby and her family were much more poor than most farms, their house was only one room with a fire pit in the middle of the room with three beds made out of straw around the pit. Next to their house was a small paster for their two pigs, three chickens, their one cow, horse and rooster.
Thought the family had to seal eggs, milk, and piglets when they had them, to at least try to get by, they were happy so long as they had each other.
Ruby did what she could to help her father and sister with the daily chores and work, though it left her sweating and breathless Ruby still made time and energy to do her two favorite things to do in the entire world, riding the horse through the daisy filled meadow that was near the woods by her home and tending to her beautiful red roses that grew on the other side of her house.
Ruby loved roses for the reason that her mother had loved them too and had started the rose garden by the house for Ruby when she was pregnant with her. Yang's mom had dead when the blonde was just a toddler from a plage and her father fell in love with Ruby's mother; Summer Rose, whom he was going to marry after she bore his child, Ruby…. But sadly she passed away from giving birth to the girl. The fair maiden felt sad whenever she thought of this, knowing she would never know her mother, but she took comfort in knowing that her father and sister would always be at her side.
"So, Ruby have you given any thought into marriage yet?" asked Ruby's best friend Penny Polendina as they walked through the village shops one day. Penny was the daughter of the village blacksmith and was learning to become one herself, so she often smelled like burning medal.
"Huh? What do you mean, Penny?" asked Ruby as she carried a small basket of vegetables. Ruby wore a faded green homemade dress with a grey apron, while Penny wore a blue dress with a brown apron and she was carrying a basket of of bread.
"I mean you know that my father is trying to find me a husband, but what about you and Yang, are you two each planning to get married some time?" asked the red head curiously. Ruby stared at Penny for moment, a little confused by the question. She then looked up to see a few village boys staring at her dreamly from the side of a small house, but Ruby only gave them a nod and looked back a Penny who waited patiently for an answer.
"Well…. Dads never really talked to us about it, only when Yang asked him about it, when she wanted to marry that Scarlet david man a year back and he told her that she, as well as me would only marry when "he" finds the right suiters…. But that'll probably never happen" Ruby sighed, making Penny raise an eyebrow.
"But why not?" she asked innocently as the two stopped to look at a shop window full of colorful dresses.
Ruby pushed her bangs out of her face.
"Well dad has always been over protective of me and Yang, especially me since I'm the youngest and…. I guess he's just not ready to let us go" said the silver eyed girl, turning away from the shop window to look at Penny again.
"Well that's a little sad, what if you fall in love with someone and you want to marry them, and your father won't let you?" asked Penny.
Ruby's eyebrows knitted together in thought.
"Could I fall in love? And if I do would dad let me marry them, or would he force me never to see him again like he made Yang do with Scarlet?" she thought to herself when she realized she had to get home if she wanted to make it in time for lunch.
"Oh, look at the time I have to go home" said Ruby. Penny smiled at her.
"Alright, I have to leave to, it's my turn to make lunch and supper this week" she said as she and Ruby waved goodbye.
As Ruby walked home she sang to herself. The song was one she had heard the fishermen that went far away to the sea sing when they came to the village once. It was a song about a selkie and it's human bride.
"Once a fair and handsome seal lord lay his foot upon the sand for to woo
The fisher's daughter and to claim her marriage hand I have come in form the
Ocean I have come in from the sea and I'll not go to the waves love less you come
Along with me, lord long have I loved you as a selkie on the fome I would gladly go and wed thee and be lady of your home but I can not go into the ocean I can not go into the sea, I would drown beneath the waves love if I went along with thee..."
Ruby as Ruby sang the song she thought about what Penny had said to her.
"I guess I have to marry at some point, but I don't think I'll ever fall in love" Ruby thought to herself as she entered her home to see her father and Yang inside. Yang was sitting on her hay bed by the fire while combing her blonde hair while she and Ruby's father was getting the fire ready to make lunch while he sat on his hay bed.
Tai Yang was wearing a beige shirt with a brown vest and ripped pants, while Yang was wearing a brown homemade dress with a white apron.
"Ruby you're back, welcome home sweetheart" Tai greeted with a smile as he looked up to smile at his second daughter who smiled back.
"Hi Dad, Hi Yang" said Ruby as she sat on her hay bed on the other side of the fire.
"Hi little sister, how was town?" asked Yang as she set her wooden comb aside.
"It was good I ran into Penny and…. Oh! I got the vegetables too" said Ruby giving her basket to her father, who smiled again.
"Thanks sweetie, these will make a good stew for lunch and dinner" said Tai, making Ruby smile again.
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After lunch Ruby tended to her roses by giving them water from the small well that was behind her house.
Suddenly a small cold breeze went by her and ruffled her hair and her rose bush.
Winters coming soon, what a shame" Ruby said to herself. Summer was almost over and Ruby knew autumn would be here soon…. And then winter. Ruby hated winter, not only because it was the hardest time of year for her farm and her family, but also because the cold wind and snow killed her roses. Ruby hated seeing her precious flowers wilt and freeze and the fact that it lasted for three mouths made it even worse "Why can't winter just disappear?" the maiden asked herself.
"What are you complaining about now Rubes?" asked a female voice. Ruby looked up to see Yang leaning against the side of the house with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. Ruby smiled at her.
"Hey sis, not much I was just thinking about how much I'm going to miss the roses this winter, like every other one" she replied.
"Yeah?" asked Yang. "Well I'm sorry that it can't be helped, but winter is something that can't be stopped…. Or rather "Someone" who can't be stopped" said the blonde looking up into the sky. Ruby turned to her sister with a confused expiration on her face.
"Someone?" asked Ruby, making Yang's eyes widen a bit.
"You mean you haven't heard?" she asked looking at Ruby again, who shook her head.
"No, heard what?" the silver eyed girl questioned.
Yang giggled a bit.
"Well at least a week or so, ago I heard some travelers from way up north talking about winter and who controls and creates it…. Legend has it there's an ice king that can't be affected by the cold, and he lives in a palace of quartz, his servants are people who are part animal, and believe it or not he can be near fire and yet he has no warmth in his heart which is cold and cruel" siad Yang turning her hands into claws and wiggling them.
Ruby was speechless for a moment.
"There's really someone like that out there?" she asked as Yang just shrugged.
"I don't know, those travelers said their ancestors had to move from the ice king's territory, which was always covered in ice, the ice king is said to live on a snow covered mountain in the middle of nowhere, far away from any human towns" Yang proclaimed. "... but it's only a legend and who knows, maybe those travelers were lying" she said. Ruby blinked but them gave a smile.
"Well either way its still an interesting story" she stated.
"Sure is" Yang agreed. "So what did you and Penny talk about earlier?" asked the blonde.
Ruby looked back up at her sister from her roses once again.
"Why do you ask?" questioned the silver eyed girl as yang rolled her eyes playfully.
"Come on you've been quiet since you got back from town today and I can tell somethings on your mind, so what is it?" asked Yang. Ruby looked at her sister and sighed realizing she had no way out of this.
"Fine you got me, me and Penny asked if you and I were planning on marrying someone soon, and I told her that dads too overprotective of us to marry at the moment" said Ruby. Yang stared at her sister for a moment and then laughed a bit.
"Well you're not wrong, dad is really overprotective of us especially you since a lot of boys seem to like you, maybe he's just worried about us getting married to the wrong person" Yang suggested. Ruby nodded.
"Yeah…. Yang do you think I could ever fall in love?" she asked, making her older sister raise an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" the blonde asked.
"Well when Penny asked me about this whole marriage stuff it got me thinking, I mean you and Scarlet feel in love, but dad forbids you to marry him, what if the same thing happens to me?" asked Ruby. Yang smiled softly.
"Ruby trust me, you won't fall in love for a while I mean you are pretty stubborn and picky when it comes to boys" Yang stated. Ruby turned to her with a frown on her face.
"Hey, are you teasing me or do you really mean that?!" asked the silver eyed girl. Yang just snickered.
"Just trust me little sister you won't have to worry about marriage for a while" said Yang as she went back into the house.
Ruby sighed and playfully rolled her eyes.
"Maybe a ride will clear my mind" she thought to herself as she walked into the pastor to get the horse.
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After a long ride in the forest and daisy meadow by her home, Ruby let her horse eat some grass while she picked daisies and thought about what Yang had said to her.
"Yangs right, I probably won't fall in love for a while, or even at all so why worry?" Ruby asked herself finding it amusing that she was worried about it in the first place, so much so that she began to laugh. "Yeah I won't fall in love, and I never will" she said to herself, still laughing.
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Little did young Ruby know that she was being watched through a caldron filled with a magical liquid allowing a mysterious figure to see her. The figure was in a dark room filled with other magical liquids, spell books, and wands, and as he watched Ruby laugh he smiled.
"Her laugh is like the tinkling of bells, her eyes are like two full moons shining in the night, her skin white as fresh snow…. Ruby Rose…. You will be mine" said the figure in a smooth calm voice as he turned away from the caldron and walked out of the dark room closing the door behind him and stepped out into the torch lit corridor that looked like it was made out of crystal.
In the light it was plain to see that the figure wore dark and light blue armor with a blue sword on his side, with a long navy cape, he was somewhat tall and was thin, and he wore a knight helmet with only his icy blue eyes showing.
"Captain!" the figure in the helmet called and in less than an instant a young man in black armor appeared from around the crystal corridor's corner.
This man had bright red hair, blue eyes, and he had black bull horns on the top of his head.
"Yes, your majesty?" as the red haired man as he kneed before the helmeted figure.
"Gather the army and get me my owl, I'm going to get what I've been yearning for, for the past three months" stated the figure, smiling under his helmet.
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The next day in the meadow, Ruby was sitting in the soft grass making daisy chains for her father and sister.
"I hope Yang and dad like these" said Ruby to herself with a smile on her face. Usually she took the horse with her to the meadow but today she just felt like being alone to enjoy the last days of summer.
It wasn't until Ruby felt a large shadow go over the meadow, that she felt nervous. At first the youth thought that a storm was coming, since there was also a strong wind blowing on her, but when she turned to look at the sky she didn't see clouds, but a giant owl the size of a large horse, with a man in blue armor and wearing a knight helmet, flying above her. Ruby was about to scream when she also heard growling. She hesitated and looked in front of her to see at least two dozen grey and white saber tooth tigers. Ruby screamed, dropping her daisy chains, and started running away to her house.
"Half of you lot, go to the village and make sure no one interferes. As for the rest of you, go to the cottage and keep the silver eyed maiden's family busy. But none of you will harm a single soul" said the rider to the tiger army. Who half of them went off to the nearby village, and while the other half followed Ruby to her house, with the owl and it's rider close behind.
"DAD! YANG!" Ruby screamed as she saw her home come into view. But the saber tooth tigers beat her to her house. A few broke down the door, finding Yang and Tai inside.
"What the hell?!" yelled Yang as she grabbed a burning branch from the fire and started to swing it at the tigers.
"Yang, go find Ruby and get out of here!" yelled Tai, as he hit one of the tigers with a pan.
"But dad-" Yang started but her father cut her off.
"NOW!" Tai yelled as two tigers tackled him. Yang gasped, but she obeyed her father and whacked the tigers away with her branch.
Meanwhile, Ruby was running away to her house, feeling more than terrified. She was in panic. Three of the tigers were closing in on her, the rest had either gone towards her house or towards the village, and on top of that, the owl as well as it's rider, were closing in on her as well.
"This has to be a nightmare! Please God just let this be a bad dream!" Ruby thought to herself.
Suddenly, one of the tigers jumped on her, making her fall. Ruby looked up at the saber tooth tiger that was standing over her and growling. The tiger then swatted at Ruby with it's claws. Ruby screamed in pain as the claws made contact with her left arm, which bled through her sleeve in great pain. Ruby screamed and when it looked like the tiger was going to strike again, but a blue sword suddenly went through tiger's back and through his chest. Ruby looked up to see that the large, snowy owl had landed, and the rider, who was still on the bird's back, had run his sword through the tiger before it could hurt her.
"I clearly instructed you not to hurt anyone, and that especially includes this girl. Be lost, scum." said the figure, as he swatted the dead tiger off of Ruby with his sword, and looked back at the silver eyed girl. There was silence between the two, as a pair of silver eyes met a pair of icy blue ones. But it was cut short when fear came rushing back to Ruby, and immediately picked herself up and started to run away again. But the owl and rider were right on her trail again, and stopped right in front of her. Ruby screamed as the armored figure grabbed her unhurt arm, pulling her closer to him. And once Ruby was close enough, the figure released her arm and wrapped his around her waist while hoisting the young maiden in front of him on the owl.
"LET GO OF ME, YANG, DAD, HELP ME, HELP!" Ruby screamed, trying to push the armored figure away, but failed. Yang turned when she heard her sister scream when she was in front of the house, and her eyes widened when she saw her sister was being abducted.
"RUBY!" Yang screamed in terror.
The figure tried to get Ruby to calm down, but it wasn't working. The figure then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, white cloth. He then pressed it against Ruby's face, and in almost an instant, the girl stopped squirming and her eyes closed. The figure sighed and held Ruby close to his chest. He then turned to the saber tooth tigers,
"We have what we came for, gather the others. But, if I see a single drop of blood on any of you, I will kill you all." the mysterious male threatened.
The tigers then did as instructed and went to the village to get their comrades. But just before the owl could take off, Yang and Tai, who just came running out of the house, came running towards it.
"Let my sister go right now!" Yang yelled with her burning branch in hand.
"I'm sorry, I can't do that. She belongs to me now. Farewell" said the figure as the owl then took off.
"Get back here with my daughter you filthy bastard!" Tai screeched. But the owl had flown away with the mysterious man, and Ruby.
Once the tigers were gathered from the village, from which they killed no one in, the figure smiled under his helmet.
"Let's be off. The poison I used on this girl will only last until tomorrow morning." said the figure as the owl then started to fly north, with the saber tooth tigers following by foot.
Tai and Yang tried to follow the bird too, but they were stopped by the tigers, who growled and snapped at them before following their master again.
"RUBY!" Tai screamed as he and Yang watched the large owl fly out of sight while the saber tooth tigers followed.
"NO!" Yang yelled as she fell to her knees and started to cry and tremble.
"My little girl…. She's gone…." Tai stated looking down with wide eyes and tears falling down his face.
"Dad, what did they want from Ruby and what are we gonna do?" Yang wept while looking up at her father with red eyes. Tai looked at Yang with a distraught face.
"I…. I don't know, honey"
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After a few hours of flying high in the sky on his owl with Ruby in his arms, the mysterious figure finally saw his quartz castle come into view, it was on a snowy mountain and a cold wind blew by as if to welcome him.
The figure then looked down at Ruby, who was still asleep in his arms against his chest.
"My dear girl, we have arrived" he said even though he new the maiden couldn't hear him. Once the figure and his owl were closer to the castle, along with the tigers, the mystery male looked down upon his army. "Go find captain Adam and tell him the mission was successful" he said to the head saber tooth tigers, who gave him a nod and ran off with the rest of his comrades to find the captain. The figure waited until his owl landed to get off in front of the quartz castle, where three guards in blue armor were standing in front of the large double quartz doors.
One guard had a racoon tail, one had goat horns on their head, and the final one had bear ears. When these three guards saw the helmeted figure they ran from the large double quartz doors to greet him.
"Your highness- they all started but the helmeted figure cut them off.
"SHH!" he whisper yelled as he then got off of his white owl, took an unconscious Ruby in his arms, took off his cape, and wrapped her in it.
"Is that the fair maiden Ruby?" asked the guard with the bear ears, makin the helmeted figure nod.
"Yes, order a feast to be prepared for tommorow night for it will be very special…." he stated.
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Ruby's eyes fluttered open and her vision was blurry at first, and she was even more confused when it cleared and she saw where she was. The fair maiden looked around to see that she was in a room that seemed to be made out of quartz.
Ruby looked to see that she was in a large bed with purple satin curtains, blue silk pillows, and she was covered in bright red silk covers. And on both sides of the bed were dark blue night stands with an unlit candle on them.
The silver eyed girl then looked up to see on the left side of the room was a red and black vanity with a black stool in front of it. And on the right side of the room was a big blue dresser with a purple parting blind beside it.
Ruby moaned as she turned to look at her hurt arm but was surprised to see her bloody ripped sleeve was rolled up and was wrapped in white bandages.
"Where am I? And what is this place?" Ruby asked out loud as she got out of the bed and her feet touched the fur rug on the floor the next to it.
"And how did I get here….?" Ruby trailed off remembering what had happened on her farm. "I was kidnapped!" she realized as she then turned to the large quartz doors and opened them and was about to start running to look for a way out only to run into a young woman standing behind them.
"Oh, your awake my lady, thank goodness" said the woman. She had long black hair, she was wearing a long black maid dress and a white apron, she also had yellow eyes. But what startled Ruby the most was that that this girl had a pair of black cat ears on top of her head.
"W-who are you?" asked Ruby taking a single step back. The woman smiled at her.
"I am Blake, I'm one of the maids that works here in the castle" she stated.
Ruby pause for a moment.
"Whose castle is this? I mean who does it belong to?" asked the silver eyed maiden.
"It belongs to the ice king who controls all of winter, he lives here" Blake replied simply.
Ruby's eyes widened.
"The ice king form that legend kidnapped me?! But why?" the fair maiden asked herself.
"Would you like to see him my lady? He's been waiting for you" Blake interrupted her thoughts. Ruby paused.
"I better cooperate, I don't know what these people will do to me if I don't do what they want, it might be the only way to get some answers and find a way home" Ruby thought.
"Yes, I would be honored to meet him" Ruby proclaimed forcing herself to give Blake a small smile, who smiled back at her.
"Alright, follow me my lady" she said as she started to walk down the hall with Ruby following her. As they walked Ruby could see that the hall's walls, ceilings, and floors were all made out of quartz and had large tapestries and carpets decorating them. And not only that but all of the servants in the palace she saw were all part animal, Ruby even saw one that was part lizard that changes colors as she and Blake walled by, and finally the strangest thing to Ruby was that they were all bowing before her as she walked by.
"Why are they bowing to me? I'm not royalty, I'm just a poor farm girl" Ruby said to Blake, feeling more confused than ever before.
Blake's ear twitched at the question.
"Well…. It really isn't my place to tell you, but the ice king will explain everything" said the cat girl as they reached the end of the hallway where there were two large blue crystal doors, that which Blake opened to a large light blue crystal throne room, and Ruby could see that in the middle of the room there was a lapis lazuli platform with a tall agate throne. And there sat a young man with white hair, snow white skin, and he had familiar icey blue eyes and blue armor and a navy cape…. The ice king.
"Leave us" the man told Blake, who gave him a nod.
"Yes my king" she said as she closed the double doors, leaving Ruby with the powerful man. The silver eyed maiden gulped.
"Are you… the ice king?" she asked in a small voice.
"Yes I am" said the man simply. Ruby walked slowly towards him and then fell to her knees, bowing in fear.
"Please your highness, forgive me if I did something wrong to make you take me!" Ruby wept as tears started to stream down her face before she could stop them. With that, the ice king got up from his throne and walked over to Ruby, kneeling in front of her as he lifted her chin up while wiping the tears away from her cheeks.
"Please do not weep. I assure you that you are in no danger here" said the king with a gentle voice and smile that surprisingly comforted Ruby, who was a bit surprised by this.
"My king, than why am I here? Why was I knocked out? Is my family okay? I- Ruby started but was cut off when the king placing two of his fingers over her lips.
"Shh…. I promise you, your family is safe, as is your village. And when I came for you, you where being a little too rough, so I used a special formula to put you to sleep, but as you can see it doesn't last long, my love and please, call my Whitley" said the ice king as he gently caressed Ruby's tear stained face.
The silver eyed girl was confused.
"But since you're a king shouldn't I call you 'your highness'?" Ruby asked feeling a bit better knowing here family was safe, but she was still a little scared since she had no idea what she was here for.
King Whitley smiled at Ruby again.
"Oh, those formalities don't apply to you my darling, you shall soon be called by them too" he said to her as he pressed his forehead against Ruby's lovingly, making the silver eyed girl blush.
"Forgive me for asking but what do you want from me, and what do you mean I'll be called by those titles too?" asked Ruby. Whitley disconnected their forehead to look at her in the eye.
"Why I thought that'd be rather obvious…. My bride" said Whitley as he tilted Ruby's chin up and lend forward and kiss her lips.
Hi Eth here hope this wasn't too dumb just an idea I'm testing but am still really exited about, anyway see you next time!