Guardians and Royalty (Part II):

Characters: Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Adam Taurus, Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan, Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black, OC(Athena Blut), OC, Winter Schnee

Pairings: Whiterose, Bumblebee, Emeraldwings

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings, these belong to Rooserteeth and Monty Oum, may he rest in peace.

Summary:

Princess Weiss Schnee must reclaim her right to the throne, but doing so will be challenging, especially given her only help lies in a hyperactive blacksmith, a former gang enforcer, and of course a traitorous assassin. What could go wrong?

-Two Weeks Later-

White Castle

Weiss groans, leaning heavily on her sword as she breathes. How can she still be capable of going? Turning her head towards her opponent Weiss glares at Ruby, the younger girl flitting about and twirling her extremely complex scythe. Angrily Weiss gathers her remaining strength and decides to end the battle, by using the Mark. Holding her right hand out the symbol of a snowflake inside a cog glows a brilliant blue, the Schnee snowflake symbol quickly appears between Ruby and Weiss. The brunette reacts in an instant twirling away, somehow still nimble despite the heavy scythe, as another one of the symbols appears where she'd been and displaces the air upwards.

Ruby grunts as another snowflake appears before her and sends a blast of wind to knock her back. Her combat boots catch a grip on the flagstones and Ruby smirks. So I guess we're gonna play it that way, alright Weiss, bring it! The symbol on Ruby's right hand glows as she suddenly disappears in a shower of rose petals the world narrowing to the white haired woman before her who was rushing closer.

Where'd she go? Is she marked? Weiss' question is suddenly answered as her body reacts to shifts in the air and she launches forwards into a roll. Tucking her sword close Weiss twists so she comes up to face Ruby, however the girl isn't there. What! Making a split decision Weiss stabs the rapier into the ground and calls upon the power within herself, the Mark glows and the glyphs encircle the woman. Pulsing her Aura Weiss smiles when she hears a startled gasp behind her. Spinning in an arc Weiss' prized rapier slices through… nothing? Her head shoots looking up to see Ruby with her mechanical scythe spinning towards her. Dust… I've lost, Weiss bows her head the scythe stopping a hair breadth from her neck.

"Good match, you almost had me with that little magic trick at the end, too bad for you my spells are based around speed," Ruby chuckles. The brunette holds her hand out to the white haired woman kneeling on the ground. Weiss growls as she takes Ruby's hand and is pulled back into a standing position.

"Amazing technique Miss Rose, though I would have expected a better fight from my own blood," Winter states as she steps out from under an archway. Ruby immediately bows, while Weiss scoffs at the other's terrible bow.

"You're supposed to courtesy Dolt! That's why you wear a formal skirt like I gave you! Now stand up right before you embarrass either of us any more," Weis groans shaking her head, a small smile on her face. How adorable can she be? My Dust she's like a puppy… Weiss curtsies to Winter, head bowed in respect.

"The two of you, make quite a pair. How have you been Weiss? I know it has no doubt been long given my absence."

"Oh Splendid! My studies are going perfectly and the sparring matches I've been having with the guards and Ruby ha…"

Winter slaps Weiss, silencing the girl in an instant. Shaking her head Winter looks at her sister glaring.

"I asked how you were! Not how things were going. Do you eat well? Have you made more friends since I left? Are you sleeping well? Please Weiss, this is one of the few times I've gotten to see you and I do not relish wasting this time conversing over trivial matters."

"Ruby, Miss Rose, has become quite a close friend," Weiss states motioning to the brunette beside her. "She's a weapon's engineer, even designed that giant oversized gardening tool she calls Crescent Rose. She's worked quite well on making sure Myrtenaster stays in tip top shape and performs to perfection."

Winter looks the girl over. Ruby was in her trademark red cape, the fabric flowing to her ankles and swirling about as if in its own wind. Critically examining the blood red dyed tips of Ruby's hair, her shining silver eyes, and the unusually constant smile Winter finds she can't see much wrong with the girl. That is of course despite the obvious, she lacks refinement, lacks knowledge of courtesy and other high class requirements, and as well she is naive.

"Weiss, I meant to ask, are you going to attend Miss Valkyrie's Masquerade tomorrow evening?" Winter questions. Weiss starts to toe her designer boot to the floor as she looks away from Winter. It had always been your job to represent the Schnee family at the Masquerade, and Weiss was allowed to have her studies, but now that you are travelling as an emissary… "What if you went with someone, I believe that might help to alleviate some of the stress you no doubt feel? Is there someone specific you could think of?"

In response Weiss looks over at Ruby, who has already started watching the sky, believing that the discussion did not involve her. Predictable as ever Weiss… Predictable.

"Well there is this one person I think who could make the night much more enjoyable."

Abandoned Dust Warehouse, Tenth District Slums, Atlas

This wasn't going well by many's standards. While the other woman had been fair and true about what she was saying, what she'd failed to explain was why. Yang stares at the Faunus walking through the tunnels beneath the warehouse's broken flooring. How'd you end up in this mess Xiao Long? I mean making a deal and helping out a stranger isn't bad, but getting caught up in the ever growing race war between Fang Castle and the Throne of the Vytal Empire was a different matter.

"Why do you need my help?" Yang says, how mouth dry as she watches the white and red marked mercenaries guide the Faunus through the tunnels. The red jacketed woman turns, hands far away from the sword so as to not startle Yang.

"Recently there's been movement, the White Fang is gaining in strength, and while there are a great many Faunus willing to follow me to safety I can't guarantee anything with White Fang agents milling about. My name is Athena Blut, I work directly for the Throne, I'm the leader of the Vytal Knights. Our missions are rarely simple and require quite a bit of hard work. This one is by far the hardest though, Vytal Specialists are working against, I think they've fallen to Cinder's command instead of our Emperor's. Torchwick hasn't been helping matters either. The Flame Gang has been encroaching on new territory and somehow is capable of waging direct warfare with the Atlas Guard… If things keep going the way they are than we, the Vytal Knights, will be discovered and with our secrecy will go the Throne. We serve the rulers of the Vytal Empire, our primary task is to follow the ruler's commands and protect the citizens. Right now we have been ordered to keep Faunus safe from the wrath of racist citizens as well as from the White Fang and Flame Gang. I need your help to know where Torchwick is and will be, to know which tunnels and sewers it is that I need to move these Faunus to safety."

She's running some kind of Underground Protection ring, and for… free? Ruby would say yes in a heartbeat, anything to help someone else, of course Ruby couldn't do the work that I do, I guess that's why she went to White Castle. Maybe it's time I start to regain that look Ruby used to shower me with, that look that said I was inspiring to her… This wouldn't be a bad place to start.

"What do you need me to do?"

White Castle

"So… What do you think?" Weiss asks, worry evident in her voice as she and Ruby stand before the hanging rack.

"Is there a reason I can't just wear my normal clothes?"

"Ruby…" Weiss trails off exasperatedly turning away from her friend and the dress on the hanger. "This is a major social event, you need to dress up as something or someone, and you can't go to such an event with the heir to the Throne if you're going to wear commoner clothes… I'm sorry, but it's either this or a suit."

"Weiss!" Ruby whines back. "Please don't get annoyed with me, honestly I don't know why you asked me to go with you; you know very clearly how I feel about getting all gussied up and what not. It's just not who I am. I'm sorry I'm making this difficult, it's just hard for me, I grew up making weapons and fighting Grimm outside the wall of Atlas, so all this is not something I'm used to."

Weiss shrugs as she moves to the next item on the rotating hanger with a press of a switch. This is worse than picking clothes out with Winter, and she generally wears a long coat and armoured pants all the time. Hopefully tenth time's the charm.

"It's perfect!" Ruby shouts gleefully and Weiss smiles before being confused as she feels the air shifting around her before going back to normal. A quick glance at Ruby shows the other girl still extremely happy, as if she didn't feel anything at all. That was odd… Weiss dismisses it though.

Authour's Note:

I do hope you've enjoyed this next installment, I haven't decided whether Ruby is a Faunus or not, but if she is a Faunus know that she won't be much different from normal, also note that something will be different about Ruby regardless and it will have to do with her past, maybe… Still figuring this one out as I go. Thanks everyone for your reviews and comments, I assure you all that I'm reading them and taking them into advisement. For those of you wondering about Weiss' prejudice towards Faunus it is there, but you haven't seen her interact with any actual Faunus yet so just wait. My OCs will be partially important, but I'm going to try and keep them from being more than side characters. Suggestions, Comments, and Reviews are always welcome. Also check out some of my other stories if you haven't already, and if you like my longer ones just message me, I've got quite a few that I have some chapters for that I've been saving. Until next time, Thanks for reading!