This is where I knew I had started something beautiful. Again, this has been modified and re-uploaded from the original.


Ruby woke in the middle of the night. Something was rolling around. She wasn't one to wake up to sounds in the middle of the night because of Yang's snoring. Then again, Weiss did make Yang take something starting the second week of classes to stop that. Ruby lifted her head and groggily looked through half lidded eyes around her room, but couldn't see much past the bedsheet above her. Whatever was making the noise stopped. Ruby let her head fall back to the pillow.

Just as she felt she was returning to her dream about being 'attacked' by a horde of kittens and puppies, the sound started up again, this time a lot louder. Ruby groaned and buried her head beneath her pillow. They just had to have party teams on all sides. Didn't they know the value of rest on the battlefield? It might as well be the same thing in school at points. It stopped again a short while later. I swear, if they start whatever it is again…

Of course, it started up again immediately after. Ruby groaned and lifted the pillow off her head. She listened in closely to figure out who to report to the RAs. It would so great seeing CRDL being scolded by people a lot smaller than them, and possibly Goodwitch on top of that. Ruby might have to bring out the popcorn.

But as she was waking up, she noticed something. It was too clear to be coming through the walls or ceiling. A few thunks against what sounded like a wall confirmed it.

There was something in the room.

Ruby pushed herself off the bed to sit up. She searched the room again for anything that could be making a sound like that. In the faint moonlight, she couldn't see much. Even Yang was shifting in her sleep, and she was usually dead to the world until her obnoxious alarm rang. Ruby traced the sound back to near the foot of her bed where hers and Weiss' shared dresser stood. She grimaced. Something was in or on her clothes.

Ruby swung her legs off her bed and dropped to the floor. She tried to land as quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake up Weiss. That failed. Weiss sat up in her bed, and her faint glare tore into Ruby. "What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was as cold as her nickname.

"Shh." Ruby brought a finger to her lips, then pointed at the dresser. As she did, a high pitched squeak came from the general direction. Ruby grimaced. She only knew of one thing to make that kind of noise, and there weren't any mouse traps around to take care of it.

Slight movement caught Ruby's eye. The stone she found the day before shook back and forth with surprising ferocity. What was that rat doing? The stone hit the wall a few more times, making both Blake and Yang groan in her beds. After a particularly violent shake, the stone rolled off the dresser.

Yang and Blake jerked awake in their beds, and the former rolled over. "What's with the early morning wakeup call?"

"There's something besides us that's alive in here." Weiss rose from her bed and she stared right at the dresser.

"Mosquitos don't make that kind of noise," Yang whined. Another squeak filled the room, this one sounded physically lower for whatever reason. "Okay, that's not a bug." Yang sounded wide awake. "Hey Blake-"

"Don't say anything," Blake scolded. She sat up in her bed and looked to the area. "I'm not seeing it."

"Lights are going on," Ruby called. She crossed the room and flipped the light switch. The expected pained moans came from her three teammates while Ruby resisted. She turned to the dresser and looked it over. Weiss made sure the space was clean before the trip out to the Emerald Forest. Any mess the rat would have made should have stuck out like a sore thumb. There was nothing, not even any dust.

"What?" Ruby looked to the wall the dresser was pressed up against, then at the stone on the floor, then back again. Wouldn't anything hitting the other side of the wall make her bed swing? Another squeak, and Ruby looked directly at the source. The stone started shaking on its own, with nothing around it. "Uh, guys? I don't think we have a rat problem."

Yang dropped from her bed and she stared openly at the stone. "Please tell me we didn't pick up a time bomb or something."

Weiss took a step back. "Way to put that thought in my head."

The stone shook faster than ever before and a crack appeared in its side. Everyone took a step back that time. "Well Yang," Blake said, "looks like you were right about that thing being an egg."

Yang chuckled with little humor. "For once I'm not sure being right was the best thing." The cracks spread across the surface of the stone, er, egg, if that's what it was. A piece fell out, followed by the loudest squeak yet. A single white claw stuck out of the egg and scratched at the surface. More pieces were pushed out and a tiny red paw emerged from the egg. With new leverage, the paw pushed more pieces out of the way. An angled head pushed its way out of the hole and gave another loud squeak. Another paw joined the first and the head and helped widen the hole.

With one last effort, the creature pushed forward and the egg broke open. It stumbled free of the shell. Some sort of goop covered its scales and trailed across the floor. Its tail looked slightly too long for its stocky body. Skeletal, translucent red wings rose on either side of its back.

Ruby gasped and looked up. Her whole team exchanged looks. "Did…this just happen?" Weiss asked.

"You mean, what…" Blake looked down at the animal, "I have to assume is a dragon, just hatched on our floor? Yeah. That happened."

Ruby returned her eyes to the dragon…hatchling she thought they were called. It slowly spun in a circle, looking up at all the girls around it, wagging its tail all the way. When it reached Ruby, it raised its wings and arched it's back. A strange purr escaped its throat.

"It's. So. Cute!" Ruby brought her fists up to her cheeks as she beamed down at the cutie.

"Looks like I owe you some cookies Ruby," Yang said while scratching her head. "Who'd have thought I'd have to dig up mom's old recipe."

Ruby knelt down in front of the hatchling. "Hey there little guy," she said as the reached out with her left hand to pet it.

Lightning shot up her arm. She gasped and her eyes bulged. It felt like she was being burnt and frozen at the same time. She fell into the corner of the room. Her limbs twitched around without her command. Somewhere in the pain, someone called her name. She was too busy trying not to scream to care who. She was being torn apart from the inside out.

Just when she thought she'd pass out from the pain, it stopped. Ruby's shoulders slumped and her head tilted forward. "Ow," she moaned. She opened her eyes she didn't realize she closed. Water blocked her view, so she blinked a few times to clear them.

From nowhere, Ruby felt panic rising in her. She looked around the room and saw Yang arming Ember Celica by her bed. "Yang? W…what are you doing?"

Yang turned to Ruby, her eyes red. "Ruby, back away from the wall."

"What?" Ruby looked between Weiss and Blake. "What's going on?"

"That thing attacked you!" Weiss pointed at Ruby's left arm.

Ruby snapped her head to the area. The hatchling was curled up behind her arm. She shook terribly and stared at Yang with wide eyes. She was terrified…Why did Ruby know she was terrified? Ruby reached over with her right hand and touched the hatchling's snout. Her three teammates made to jump forward, but held back. The film of egg fluid on the hatchling's head was warm and sticky. With a whimper, the poor baby dragon pushed her head into Ruby's hand.

"I think that was a one-time thing." Ruby ran her hand along the side of the hatchling's head. Some of the panic from earlier disappeared…why was she scared? Yang was protecting her, not fighting her.

"So what if it was a one-time thing!" Yang pointed at the hatchling. "That thing attacked you! What's stopping it from doing it again?"

The panic grew again. Ruby looked to the hatchling. She started shaking even more. The hatchling looked up at Ruby. Something touched the girl's mind…how was that even possible? Was…was the panic coming from the dragon?

Ruby stuck a hand out toward her sister. "Yang, you need to calm down. You're scaring her."

"I'm scaring her? She attacked you!" Yang blinked and narrowed her eyes. "Her?"

"Better than calling her it."

"Are you defending it?"

"Yang! Use your head!" Ruby pled. "You saw her before. She was wagging her tail like a puppy. She was happy! Now look at her." Ruby looked back at the hatchling. Her little red eyes stared up at Ruby. A cute little whimper came from her throat, kind of like Zwei as a puppy. Ruby caressed the hatchling's head. "I don't think she meant to do it."

Ruby looked back up at her sister. Yang's eyes switched back to their normal lilac. She sighed. "Ruby, I'm glad you're alright, but that thing hurt you! You looked like you were having a seizure!"

Another whimper came from Ruby's side. She looked down at the hatchling. She felt sorry for her…or did the hatchling feel sorry for Ruby? Though it hurt her head to think about it, Ruby thought it was the latter. "I know she didn't mean it."

Yang's arms shook. She was fighting herself. "Ruby…"

"Yang, please put your gauntlets down." Ruby stuck a hand out toward her sister while the other covered the hatchling.

Yang hesitated, then sighed and deactivated Ember Celica, taking the two gauntlets off. Ruby let her shoulders fall, and she felt some of the tension leave the room. Blake and Weiss exchanged nervous glances, but stayed silent.

The hatchling stopped shaking and slowly climbed onto Ruby's lap. She stayed close to Ruby's stomach and whimpered up at Yang. Yang shot a glare at her. The hatchling squeaked and climbed up to Ruby's shoulder. The poor girl started to shake and whimper again. Ruby reached up with her opposite hand and began to pet the trembling dragon, ignoring the egg fluid. "You don't need to be scared," she whispered. "No one's going to hurt you, you're with friends."

Ruby felt some of the fear fade away. These…extra emotions had to be coming from the hatchling. The hatchling pulled her head back and locked her tiny red eye's with Ruby's. She whimpered again and rubbed her face against Ruby's check. The other three people in the room recoiled, and Yang completely turned away.

The baby dragon pulled her head away and licked Ruby's cheek. She then freed herself from Ruby's arms and walked off her lap. The hatchling sniffed the air and squeaked a few times. Ruby got another feeling that definitely couldn't be her at that time of night. "I think she's hungry."

All humans turned to the sole Faunus in the room. "Why are you all looking at me?" Blake asked.

"We all know you have a tuna stash, Blake." Yang threw a glance at the hatchling, then faced her bed again.

Blake's bow tilted backward, then she turned to hers and Yang's dresser and pulled out the top drawer. She pulled out several stacks of clothes before grabbing a large can of tuna. "You guys owe me."

The hatchling stared up at Blake with her head cocked. Blake pulled the tab on the can. Almost instantly, the hatchling raised her wings and squeaked happily. After staring down for a second, Blake slowly set the can down on the floor. The hungry hatchling waited until Blake's hand pulled away before pouncing on the food. She buried her face in the fish and didn't pull her snout out until the can was clean. A cute burp later, she walked forward and rubbed her side against Blake's legs. She looked up at Blake and whimpered again.

The corners of Blake's lips raised. "That's not fair." She took another can from the drawer and opened it as well. Once again, the baby dragon waited until Blake's hand left before diving in.

Ruby felt a smile building on her own face. Something about watching the hatchling eat made her feel warm inside, and not just because it felt like her stomach was filling up without eating anything. It felt…right.

Weiss pointed at the hatchling, then at Ruby, and back again. "But, how? Is this the same dragon what was hiding behind you?"

"Yep." Ruby smiled up at her partner. "I guess it's a baby thing. Or a…dragon thing."

Another squeak caught Ruby's attention. It looked like the cutie was begging for more food from Blake. "Hungry little thing, aren't you?" Blake asked. She received another squeak in response.

Ruby allowed herself a small laugh, then she looked up at her sister. Yang was looking at the hatchling through the side of her eye. A grimace formed on her lips, but it didn't look like it was aimed at the hatchling. "Yang? Something wrong?" Ruby finally pushed herself off the floor and walked to her sister's side.

Yang turned her head halfway to meet Ruby, but still couldn't meet Ruby's eyes. "I'm sorry, it—she hurt you. I haven't seen you in that much pain since you broke your arm before Signal." She paused and looked at the hatchling on the floor. The cutie had rolled onto her back and Weiss rubbed her belly, dragging out the same purr from before. Yang winced. "Where was this right when she hatched? Why'd she hurt you?" She shook her head and finally met Ruby's gaze. "She hurt you. I can't get that out of my head. The rest of you may be convinced, but I'm not."

Ruby dipped her head. "Give her a chance? Like Weiss and Blake? Does that look like the face of evil?" She gestured at the hatchling, who was now eating out of yet another can of tuna while Weiss scratched her back.

"No." Yang shook her head. "But…"

"Please?" Ruby put on the best puppy dog face she could manage.

Yang sighed. "Blake's right. This isn't fair." She walked toward where the cutie was eating and knelt down. The hatchling looked at Yang and squeaked. She jumped, then hid behind Weiss' legs. Yang stuck an arm out. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

The hatchling stuck her head out from behind Weiss' legs. She sniffed the air and flicked her tongue out. She looked up at Ruby as if asking if it was safe. "It's okay," Ruby soothed. "She's nice when you get to know her."

The cutie left the shield provided by Weiss' legs. She slowly walked toward Yang's outstretched hand and sniffed it. A hum exploded out her throat and she pressed her head into Yang's hand.

That got a smile out of Yang. "Ya know, for an animal with scales, you sure are soft." The hatchling continued to purr as she pushed her body against the hand. "I guess she forgives easily."

"I think she gets that from me." Ruby gazed down at the baby dragon.

"Are you saying you've rubbed off on her?" Weiss asked. "Your happiness is infectious, but it can't win over someone in less than twenty minutes."

"It's not that, it's…" Ruby bit her lip. Should she tell them? She wasn't even sure if she was right about what was going on. "I think I can feel her emotions, and if that's true, I'm guessing she can feel mine.

The rest of her team looked at Ruby like she suddenly had two heads. "Did you hit your head when you fell?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know how to describe it," Ruby shook her head, "but when she was hiding behind me, I was scared of Yang." Said person looked up at Ruby like she'd been stabbed in the chest. "But that disappeared as soon as she hugged me." The hatchling looked up at Ruby and cocked her head.

A knock on the door made everyone in the room jump. "Uh guys, everything okay in there?" Jaune asked. "We heard yelling and-"

"We're fine, Jaune," Ruby paused as she thought it over. Should she say something now, or save it. "I just…fell out of bed." That's not going to work.

"Oh, well, if that's it, uh, good night." Footsteps on the other side of the door signaled Jaune's departure.

Weiss brought a hand to her face. "How did he believe that?"

"I thought you would have told him," Blake said.

Ruby shrugged. "Maybe when we know what's going on. And," she looked down at the cutie, "I don't want to overwhelm her. And it's kind of a hard thing to explain late at night, and through a door."

The hatchling squeaked for attention again. Everyone looked down at her. She was looking up at Blake with those same wide eyes from before. Blake held her arms up in surrender. "I'm sorry, that's all I had." The hatchling hung her head and whimpered. She walked over to Ruby's side and looked up. When she met Ruby's eyes, her own brightened and her wings raised. She hummed and ran her side against Ruby's legs.

Ruby knelt down and pet her dragon, ignoring the egg fluid still that still coated the scales. "Ah well, looks like we're going to have to make another stop in Vale." She froze in place. "Oh. How are we going to explain that to dad?"

"I could sneak some things out of the cafeteria," Blake offered. "I have…experience."

"Wha…oh." Ruby flicked her eyes to Weiss. The heiress shot Blake a look, but shook it off. "If we can do this without breaking any rules, I'll take it."

"What about breaking dad's rules?" Yang asked with a slight smirk.

"I'm more scared of professor Goodwitch than dad." Yang gave a sideways nod, but Ruby froze again. "Aaand we've been making enough noise to wake up JNPR." She looked at the walls that separated them from other teams. The tables had turned from when she originally woke up. "That's not good."

The rest of the team exchanged glances. Yang shrugged. "Ah well. Not like we can make it any worse."

"So what are you going to name her?" Weiss asked suddenly.

Ruby blinked at her partner. "I…hadn't thought about it. Why'd you ask?"

"I, uh, well, it appears you're going to keep her around for a while. I figured to would be a good idea to give her a name."

"You like her." Ruby smirked.

"Well what's not to like?" Weiss knelt down next to the hatchling and stoked her back. "She's cute, she's a cuddler, she's…ahh!" She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against the baby dragon's snout. The hatchling stuck her tongue out and liked Weiss' nose.

Ruby took a step back and watched her partner play with the hatchling. The cutie looked up at Ruby, then leaned into Weiss' scratches. Weiss was saying various shades of red at the dragon. Ruby tried to come up with ones herself. The hatchling was a slightly dark shade of red, so that threw out all other colors out the window. There was also the possibility that her dragon was male, with no visible physical indicators one way or the other. The name had to fit both just in case.

After a while, she though she came up with one that Weiss hadn't said. Ruby knelt down by the hatchling. The cutie squeaked and jumped out of Weiss' grip and onto Ruby's knee. She looked up and tried to lick Ruby's face. "Hey, how would you like being called Cerise?"

The dragon hummed happily and pressed her snout against Ruby's nose. Ruby pet Cerise a few times, then saw something on her hand. Not only was it covered with the same egg fluid as Cerise' scales and wings, but a silvery-white mark had appeared in the center of her hand, roughly where Cerise first touched it. Even on her pale skin, it stuck out like a sore thumb. "Oh. That's different."

"Something wrong, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"I may need to borrow some light gloves tomorrow." Ruby turned her palm to her teammates.

All three of them looked closely at it. "Did she do that to you?" Yang asked. She narrowed her eyes at Cerise.

"I'm guessing so." Ruby put herself slightly in between Yang and Cerise. "If she did, she didn't mean it." For whatever reason, Cerise whimpered and laid her head across Ruby's leg. "I don't even feel it."

Yang's eyes flicked to Ruby and they softened. "If you say so." She didn't sound convinced.

Ruby returned her attention to Cerise. "How does having your first bath sound?" The hatchling lifted her head and hummed happily. "I'll take that as a yes." Ruby scooped Cerise up and walked into the team's bathroom. She set the hatchling down on the counter top before flicking on the lights. Cerise stared up at the light and her wings raised. Ruby smiled at the sight before pulling the pin behind one of the facets and turned it on. She also took Yang's towel from where it hung on the wall and tossed it back into the room for the others to wipe the egg goop off themselves.

Cerise stared at the running water with her head cocked. "Just let me know if it's a good temperature." Ruby kept her hand on the temperature control as Cerise dipped a foot in. The hatchling hummed and jumped into the sink. She ran her back under the falling water like it was a shower. Maybe that would have worked on its own too.

Ruby turned off the water, much to Cerise' disappointment, and grabbed her washcloth. "Sorry. Don't want it to overflow." She started wiping down her dragon's back. "Where'd you come from anyway? There aren't any dragons around here. I didn't even know you existed." Cerise looked up to Ruby and cocked her head. "You're supposed to be legends, unless you count the Grimm variations, but you're obviously not a Grimm."

Ruby heard beds creaking behind her. She turned her head back to the room and saw it go dark. Cerise whimpered again. Ruby looked back to her dragon. "Afraid of the dark?" Cerise didn't make another sound, she just looked roughly toward where Yang's bed was. "Afraid of Yang?" Cerise bobbed her head.

"Oh." Ruby set the washcloth down and cupped Cerise head in her hands. "I told you before, Yang's nice. Her first impressions are kind of all over the place. She's my sister, and I love her to death. I trust her, and she trusts me. Just act all cute like this, and she'll fall for you by bedtime tomorrow."

Cerise hummed, then her eyes half lidded. She yawned without getting any of her bathwater in her mouth. "Tired?" Ruby pulled Cerise out of the sink and pulled the pin up again. She turned on the facet again and ran her hands through to get them nice and wet. Then she slightly scrubbed all of the places where the egg fluid stuck around. With that done, she grabbed her towel and wiped Cerise and herself down.

With both of them dry enough, Ruby turned off the bathroom light, waited a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and walked back into the main room. Ruby moved to place Cerise down, but her dragon clutched on. She whimpered and looked up at Ruby, eyes pleading. "You want to stay with me?" The hatchling nodded frantically. Ruby smiled. "Of course."

Ruby reached up and placed her on the top bunk. Ruby followed soon after and lay down in her normal spot. She looked around the dark room at her teammates. As soon as her eyes fell on Yang, her sister rolled over. Her shoulders slumped. Yang would come around. She laid back on her pillow and pulled the covers over herself. Right before Ruby closed her eyes Cerise lay down, snuggling her right arm. "Good night Cerise," She whispered, then fell asleep, with her dragon sleeping soundly beside her.


True fact: the original inspiration for this fic was 'How can I make Ruby cuter…Baby dragon!' Hope I have your attention now. Enjoy the ride!