Hello, all you wonderful people! Glad to hear you are all enjoying the story and a special thanks to one of you (you know who you are you beautiful person!) for giving me an absolutely exquisite idea for this story, which will find it's way in somewhere along the line, not sure where, but just know it'll happen! Also, Crimson Dovah chapters will likely be longer in general than Watching Rose, simply as I find it far easier to write. Rest assured, they'll both come out regularly, just expect these chapters to have more substance.
I'll keep this part brief and let you all get on with reading the story! I have a P(a)treon now, not that I really expect anything from it. If any of you are able to sling a few pennies my way, I'd greatly appreciate it, and while I don't exactly have anything to offer you, I do have a discord server that I and my close friends use, which I'd be more than willing to use as some kind of donation reward if you wanted it.
And, without further ado...
Chapter 3
"Ahh, Dragonbo-"
Balgruuf began loudly, before taking in what was happening in front of him. The man who just entered was definitely Halva Stoneheart, Thane of his mighty Hold, Dragonborn, and however many other titles the prodigy of a man had surely gathered in the time since he'd last been seen in Dragonsreach. However, aside from that, the similarities ended there, for the man in front of him had a dragon perched on his shoulder.
Certainly, his eyes weren't deceiving him, nor was that little red dragon some kind of statue or intricate ornamentation, not that the man entering his hall would wear such a frivolous thing, especially on what appeared to be his normal armor. It appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, to be a living, breathing, potentially very dangerous dragon. And it also appeared to be the case that, despite knowing how dangerous dragons are, apparently the Dragonborn trusted this one enough to allow it to ride atop his shoulder.
Before he could get another word in, to ask for explanation or call for guards to stand ready, the dragon suddenly shifted, jumping off the man's shoulders, much to his protest, yelling something about rules, though his words seemed to be meaningless to the small dragon, which was slowly making its way towards one of the many pieces of armor and weaponry adorning the walls of the Great Hall, ignoring both the now resigned yelling of the Dragonborn, and the guards stationed around the room, many of whom now held their weaponry, ready to defend him with their lives.
Cutting off his yelling, Halva turned sharply towards the Jarl, making his way over to speak with him directly, rather than yell it across the Hall. Throwing a glance over his shoulder at the dragon, Halva then shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, turning back around the meet the Jarls gaze with a sheepish smile and a tired gaze.
"Jarl Balgruuf! It's been too long." The Dragonborn greets the Jarl warmly, almost seeming to attempt avoiding the quite literal dragon on the Hall.
"Halva." The Jarls response being curt, the message clear.
"Well, I guess no time for pleasantries. That-" Halva says, with a thumb pointed over his shoulder in the vague direction of the mesmerized dragon. "-is Ruby Rose. I found her in the dragon tomb over near the Sleeping Tree Camp. Now, before I regale you on tales of how I found her, let me make one thing clear. She has promised me that she wouldn't attack anybody without either doing it in self-defence or being expressly told. Now, I also told her to stay on my shoulder no matter what, and only get off if either I or you told her to, in no uncertain terms."
"Wait, hold on Halva, she understood you? I know you spoke with the Greybeards, but I doubt they had time to teach you casual speech in Dovah."
Shaking his head, Halva glances back towards the dragon, Ruby apparently, again before continuing. "She doesn't actually know Dovah-speech. Or if she does, she hasn't used it a single time since I met her. But she understands human-speech just fine. She can't talk, unfortunately, and has had to settle for simply digging words in the ground with her nose, but I'm hoping that since Paarthurnax spoke with me in our own tongue, she will eventually be able to learn how to actually speak, just like you or me. Now, I don't know why she can understand us, yet can't talk, nor why she can't even speak the language of dragons. I'm also curious to learn why she was in that tomb, but these are all questions that will simply be too inconvenient for her to answer now, and as such, I put off learning them until she can speak with us normally."
Scratching his beard, Balgruuf gazed long and hard, both at the Dragonborn, as well as this new addition to his adventures, trying to wrap his head around the idea of a dragon that could actually be civil, especially in this hold, a hold to whom should be to her as a torture chamber is to a prisoner. Certainly, the Dragonborn had told him a tale about how there was a dragon atop the Throat of the World, one who seemed to be remarkably civil with him during his time up there, but to meet a civil dragon, it was easily the strangest experience the old Jarl had ever had. Even in the mostly-wooden hold which was designed with the express intent of capturing and killing dragons, she appeared to be far more interested in a singular, and rather ancient, chestpiece attached to the wall.
Detached from the Jarl and Halva's discussions about her, Ruby could only stare in shock at what she was looking at on the wall, and, despite not attempting it in the slightest, managed to accidentally, and much to the shock of everybody present, squeak out one quiet, but still audible, word.
"Jaune?"
'It can't be. How is that armor here? It can't be a coincidence, the chances of armor like that both having that crest and being shaped the exact same way is practically impossible! But if it isn't a coincidence, does that mean Jaune is here? Maybe I could find him? But what if he doesn't believe me? Or thinks I just used magic on him to trick him? What if he attacks me for being a dragon before I could even try to explain who I am? Or-or if the armor really is just a coincidence and I try to hunt him down, only to find some random blacksmith who just had a random idea?! And why would Jaune be here anyway? I mean, I have the same question for me, but it still makes no sense! What do I-'
Cutting off Ruby in her break-down, Halva leans down in front of her, and when he received no response, settled for waving a hand in her face, finally breaking Ruby from her thoughts, who looked up to see the confused expressions worn by everybody in the room, matching her own. Or at least, whatever a confused expression could be on the face of a tiny dragon.
"Ruby, did you just speak?" Halva asked, his eyebrow cocked in surprise.
Thinking frantically back on what happened, Ruby realized that, in her panic, she managed to, through no real effort on her own, instinctively use her vocal cords without thinking about it, and said Jaune's name. The thought alone made Ruby both panicked and excited at the same time. She felt panic about the idea that Halva might have thought she was lying to him about her voice, but she also felt excited, incredibly so, at the thought of being able to actually talk again. While she could get by with nods and vague head-gestures, she didn't want to have to dig her nose into the ground every single time somebody needed a bigger explanation. Plus, the last conversation she'd had with someone where she could talk back was with Weiss, and that was ages ago. Well, in retrospect it wasn't more than 24 hours ago, but still!
Mustering her courage, Ruby again attempts to speak, and after a few failed attempts, managed to squeak out a hesitant "Maybe." much to both her and Halva's surprise. Ruby wasn't thinking about what she sounded like when she was too focused on Jaune's chestpiece and didn't realize how her voice was identical to her normal voice. Halva of course was surprised at just how childlike the dragon in front of him sounded, though he almost immediately mentally slapped himself for not realizing that a baby dragon had every right to sound childlike, considering how she was a child in the eyes of a dragon.
"Huh, well that's a welcome surprise. Now, I know that considering it was a strong enough shock to get you to finally be able to speak, whatever that chestpiece is to you, it's damned important. Despite that, do you remember the one explicit rule I gave you for us coming in here?"
Ruby meekly nodded, looking up at him with tearful eyes. Halva, however, wasn't letting her off easy. "Ah-no-no-no. No. You can actually talk to me now, even if only just, but that means you don't get to just nod or shake your head anymore. Now, yes or no, do you remember the rule?"
With a shaky breath, Ruby gazes back down at the floor, croaking out a measly "Yes."
"Okay, glad to see you didn't lose your memory along with your position. Now, I'm fairly sure I made it clear that you were not to leave my shoulder, under literally any circumstance that wasn't already allowed by me or the Jarl. And, as I said, I understand that the chestpiece over there must be damned important, but that's no excuse. Now, I'm sure that we'd both appreciate not getting shot full of arrows or stabbed with a dozen swords, so here's what's going to happen. You are going to climb back onto my shoulder, and you aren't to let go until we are back in Breezehome or out of the city. And, now that you can talk, I expect answers from you, but those can wait until I properly introduce you, and, now that you can talk, you can even make the introductions yourself."
At that Halva kneels down, but not before quickly adding "Oh, and no using your wings to get to my shoulder, I said climb, and I damn well mean climb. The guards here are already spooked by you, no need to make them more so.", then lowering his shoulder and stretching his arm towards Ruby, allowing her to carefully climb up the length of his arm, before cautiously stepping onto his shoulder, wary to not let her claws land anywhere not protected by the leather or metal on his shoulder, finally coming to a stop and settling down at the apex of her short climb, claws carefully tucked away and tail wrapped around Halva's arm for stability, neck curled around herself to keep her head gently atop her body, appearing similar to a spiky red birds nest resting on the large pauldron.
Standing back up, Halva makes one last check of Ruby to ensure she's securely on his shoulder, and not about to abruptly leap off again to go gawk at some old suit of armor, with the unintended side-effect of making every single guard draw their swords or bows. As he'd already made clear, he knew that the chestpiece had some kind of very significant history with the dragon, disproving the idea that she'd only been born, trained to understand speech, then locked away, and that meant the list of ideas that Halva had for her being in that tomb dwindled down to absolutely none. Meaning Ruby would have some explaining to do after this about just how she came to be in that tomb, why she can understand what he says, why she couldn't (or more worryingly simply refused to) talk to him before now, and just what that old armor had to do with her.
Before he could get further into the list of questions he'd need to ask little Red later, the Jarl clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of everybody in the hall in a simple and efficient manner, clearing his throat and addressing the people assembled.
"Well, our friend the Dragonborn vouches for this...Ruby Rose...yes?" Balgruuf said, a pointed look at the man in question, who simply nods, allowing the Jarl to continue. "Well, if the dragon is a friend of Halva Stoneheart then I'm sure she can be a friend to our hold! Now, we all must have many questions, but never let it be said that the hospitality of Whiterun is not extended to all who deserve it! Now, Ruby Rose, I trust you understand how significant it is to be granted the hospitality of an esteemed hold such as this, and I hope you do not attempt to betray this hospitality when our backs are turned, yes?"
At this, Ruby nods frantically, before gently hitting herself with a wing and letting out a slightly more confident response. "Y-Yes Jarl Balgruuf.", once again surprising most in the hall, both with the simple words of a dragon, but more notably the childlike voice, one coming from a beast many legends made out to be ferocious and warriors without equal.
"Well then, Ruby Rose, you shall be welcome in this hold, and let it be known throughout all 9 holds of Skyrim that Ruby Rose is an esteemed guest of our hold and should be treated thusly, both in my hold, and the other 8 great holds of this land!" Balgruuf yells with a loud cheer, rousing the hall into a simultaneous cheer, making the normally introverted Ruby curl in, both in minor fear, but a rather large helping of sheer embarrassment at the thought of her name being spoken about across 'Skyrim'.
While she wasn't sure exactly how big it was, considering she'd been told that the tomb she'd been found in was inside of Whiterun land, and she spent at least a few hours travelling with Halva before arriving in what she presumed to be roughly the centre of Whiterun, she guessed that Skyrim as a whole must have been at least the size of Sanus, maybe even more so.
"Now, Halva, I'm sure you must be exhausted, and assuredly your friend is similarly exhausted, if not physically then mentally at apparently seeing something from her past, yes?" The Jarl glances between Ruby and the chestpiece, garnering a quick nod from the little dragon, swiftly continuing. "Then you should head home and get some rest. I assure you that it was well looked after in your absence, and I am told Proventus made your requested changes, though at this moment it would appear that your decision to change your spare room to an Alchemy lab is one you'll regret now, considering you now have two companions to share your home with." The Jarl loudly proclaims, getting a burst of raucous laughter from his assembled guards and fellows, whilst Ruby simply looks around confused and Halva runs the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Now, go forth Dragonborn, and don't forget your promise to Dagny. She won't forget, so if you end up forgetting it she won't forgive you!" The Jarl yells at their backs, with Halva already making his way out, laughter ringing in his ears, taking care to avoid the assembled guards, who step aside, both in reverence of his position as both Thane of Whiterun and Dragonborn, and mild fearful awe at the dragon sat astride his shoulder.
Halva wasted no time getting a good distance from the doors, pointedly ignoring the guards stationed there, who seemed to be holding in their own laughter, evidently having heard enough of the conversation to garner some humour from it, especially the idea of the mighty Dragonborn being afraid of forgetting a promise made to a little girl. Of course, said little girl being one of the children of a Jarl probably had some small part to play in that, but not enough to stop the guards from stifling laughter at his expense.
With nary a word to anybody, Halva quickly made his way towards Breezehome, ignoring the pointed stares being directed his way, silently thankful that for once, it wasn't that everybody was staring at him, due to his position as Dragonborn and Thane, but instead was the fact that he had such a rare and dangerous creature sat on his shoulder. Of course, all the staring wasn't helping Ruby, who seemed to be doing her best impression of a turtle, hiding her head under her wings and trying to ignore all the looks people gave her, a mixed bag of fear, suspicion, awe, and indifference, the last one confusing Ruby momentarily, but not enough to remember when suddenly, without warning, Halva turned towards a house, subtly pulling a key from his pocket and unlocking the door. Entering the house, all Ruby had time to think before the door closed and she had to get settled into her new home were a few words.
'Well, this is cozy.'
And that's chapter 3 wrapped up. I know I said Ruby would learn some words, and I feel like I balanced it neatly enough that while her suddenly talking is still a bit abrupt, the hesitance and one-word answers she gives more than makes up for it. Think of it kind of like a muscle maybe. Or perhaps a machine. Once you can use it, doing so again is rather easy, but the trick is in trying to learn it the first time.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed!