Dragon Kin

(/)

Memories flooded through Jaune's mind. Images of a small girl in white sitting against the wall while two tall forms screamed at each other; of an older girl, also in white teaching her how to spar; of a small boy in white approaching the girls, only for both to walk right past him. Of a young woman in white standing before a huge crowd of people, singing a song she didn't like; of her arriving at Beacon for the first time; of meeting a girl with orange hair. Of practicing with a young man with blonde hair. Of feelings he couldn't pinpoint….

(/)

Memories flooded through Weiss' mind. Of a small boy with blonde hair holding a "help" sign up while he was surrounded by seven girls, also with blonde hair, as two adults took their picture; of a small boy being shown a sword and shield over the fire place mantle; of a young boy looking up at a statue of the King of Vale. Of a young man typing rampantly on the computer, to try and make up his own transcripts; of him encountering a towering dark figure. Of him meeting a girl in red, and of him practicing with a girl in white.

(/)

"Our bodies are one; our Auras are one. We are bound together, as a single force, to protect our friends."

For the people on the ground, it was as if a god had just appeared in the skies over them. Even Pyrrha and Cinder were made to briefly stop their fight to stare at what was happening before them. As for Tyrian and Talos, the latter was starting to calculate their odds are progressively lower as he looked upon the great beast before them.

This dragon was large, noticeably larger than the other dragon forms. It had white scales with golden streaks crisscrossing across it's body. It's great wings were white with red spots, going the length of its spine was a short, golden sail, which ended with a similarly colored sail on the end. But the greatest distinguishing feature were it's two heads; the right head was that of Jaune, while the left head was Weiss.

Talos immediately held up his four hands up, to release his energy beam. However, after he fired, the beam was deflected off the dragon's Aura, which was beautiful white and gold. Both heads then inhaled, before the white head breathed ice, and the gold head breathed fire.

"I'm taking this!" Tyrian announced, as he stabbed one of his weapons into Talos' leg, allowing him to rip it off.

"What the hell are you doing?" Talos demanded.

"Saving my ass!" Tyrian answered, as, he floated down, the gravity Dust powered thrusters on leg still functioning. Talos could only look up, as the fire and ice swirled together, and it consumed him, utterly obliterating the android's body. Tyrian managed to land, as he took a breath. He then looked up at the sight of the two headed dragon.

"Next time kids," he muttered, as he fled into the shadows. The dragon then held up both heads, as it roared into the sky in victory. The Mistrali people could only stare in awe at the great beast before them.

(in the Land of Darkness)

Deep in the bowels of Salem's lair, was a large chamber. And lined up in that chamber were multiple metallic figures, all exact replicas of Talos. One suddenly stood rigid, it's eyes glowing. Looking at his hand, Talos clenched and unclenched his fingers.

"I lost," he muttered. He would have to avenge his sister another day; first, he had to get some real answers about what really happened….

(in the skies over Mistral)

Pyrrha smiled at the sight of her friends victorious, though she wasn't entirely sure how they'd done that. Granted, Cinder was not so inclined to savor the moment, as she again sprung at Pyrrha, armed with a fire spear. Pyrrha moved out of the way, only for Cinder to throw the spear at Pyrrha, embedding it in her tail, with a chain attached. Pyrrha hissed in pain, as she then dove down, with Cinder still holding on behind her.

People on the streets had to dive out of the way, as the dragon swooped over them, skimming the roofs of the building. It was so low, Cinder caught herself dashing across one or two roofs. Pyrrha then swooped back up, in an attempt to throw her off, but Cinder was nothing if not persistent. She held on, and even started to slowly climb up the chain. Eventually, using the momentum of Pyrrha making another dive, Cinder let go, and let loose another chain, that managed to hook around Pyrrha's horn, pulling the Maiden towards her serpentine foe. Landing on Pyrrha's back, she then held up her Grimm arm, and thrust it into Pyrrha's body.

"Give me your power!" she cried. With that, red energy began to drain from Pyrrha through the arm.

"It's mine! It's mine!" Cinder cried, as she felt the Grimm arm draining the energy from the dragon. But then…

It was suddenly like her every cell in her body was on fire. This power was unfathomable, but it wasn't like the power of the Maiden; this magic was raw, and primal, unlike anything Cinder had seen before. It was so overwhelming, Cinder found herself having to let to go. It was then, that Pyrrha did something Cinder did not see coming: she suddenly reverted back to her human form, causing the two to plummet to the ground.

As they wrestled in mid air, Cinder manifested a dagger, which got caught in Pyrrha's hand, cutting it, but not doing any real damage. The warrior then head butted her opponent, stunning her, and allowing Pyrrha to wrestle over to on top of her.

"You lose," Pyrrha said, before she kicked down, sending the Maiden plummeting down as she turned back into a dragon. Cinder was so shocked, she couldn't cry out, as she plummeted into the darkness beneath them. Pyrrha watched as she remained in the air, exhaling some steam, glad to finally have this be over.

(beneath Haven)

Raven wasn't having an easy time, but she expected as much, and certainly wasn't going to give up because of that.

She leapt out of the way of Yang's fire, before she turned into a bird, and flew up. Yang snapped her jaws at her, but missed completely. Raven then turned back to normal, as she dove down at Yang, who flew up at her. She snapped her jaws at Raven again, who activated her Maiden powers, and twisted out of the way. As Yang turned, Raven actually ran down her coils, all the way down to her tail. Yang swept around, jaws once again opened, only for Raven to hold up her hand, and in a flash of red light, froze Yang's face.

Confused and disoriented, Yang flailed through the air, throwing Raven off, who turned back into a bird. She managed to nimbly avoid the writhing coils and baring claws of the serpentine dragon. While the ice didn't last long against Yang's fire breath, it gave her enough pause for Raven to return to human form, and thrust Omen forward, right under Yang's remaining arm. Yang roared in pain, as she dove down, deep into the waters that lay beneath the shrine. Raven held her breath as best she could, as she held onto the sword, still in Yang's shoulder. Yang swam through the water, trying to shake Raven off, but when that didn't work, she burst out of the water, and at that, Raven yanked her sword out.

As she fell to the ground, she used her powers to boost herself up, and she created several large icicles, and launched them all at Yang, whose fire melted them all. But Raven then came up through the steam in bird form, her sword pointed at Yang's face. The dragon leaned out of the way. Raven's sword grazed right under Yang's eye, leaving a gash. But Raven's victory was short lived, as Yang's tail came up, and wrapped around her. Before Raven could even register what was happening, Yang threw her right into the ground.

Raven tried to get back up, only to find herself pinned under Yang's metallic claw. Noticing Omen lying some distance away, Raven looked up at the glowing lilac eyes of her draconic daughter. Yang opened her mouth, steam leaking from her jaws.

"Do it!" Raven hissed, "You know you want to!" But Yang was silent, as she continued to stare down at the woman who birthed her.

"Was it worth it?" she asked softly.

"What?" Raven answered, not at all expecting that kind question.

"You and it all," Yang continued, "Friends, a family, everything. But you ran away from it all, all because you were scared."

"I did the smart thing," Raven answered after a moment, "We can't beat Salem. The most we can do is stay out of her way. If Qrow and Tai had realized that too." She then trailed off, as she averted her eyes.

"If Summer…" Yang tensed at the mention of her real mother, as she growled slightly. But this time, Raven wasn't intimidated.

"I don't enjoy doing stuff like this," Raven said, "But…"

"Why is that people seem to think what they're doing is acceptable so long as they don't like it?" Yang interrupted, "You could've done more, but you chose not to. Because you were afraid." Raven.

"You did well, Yang," was all she said, and with that she froze one of Yang's toes. Instinctively, Yang reared back, allowing Raven to slip out, and fly away as a bird. This time, Yang didn't bother to chase her, as she watched the bird fly away into the darkness. She then turned her attention to the open shrine, as she shifted back into her human form. After a moment's hesitation, she stepped into the shrine.

She wasn't sure how it was possible, but entering the room was like entering a new world; she was suddenly in an almost ethereal looking desert. She slowly approached a small pedestal, atop which floated what looked like a golden lamp, that glowed blue. After a moment, Yang picked it up; it was strangely warm in it's nature, and Yang felt… something about it, something she couldn't explain.

As she stared at the item, her legs suddenly began to feel weak, as Yang then fell to her knees, taking a deep breath. She had defeated Raven, and claimed the Relic. So why didn't it feel like a victory?

(in Haven)

Even though Hazel was now outnumbered, four to one (what with Lionheart fleeing), he was showing no signs of giving up. According to Oz, his Semblance nullified any pain he might have had, allowing him to enhance his attacks Dust. They would've turned into dragons, but Hazel wasn't giving the time to clear their heads and transform.

Oz jabbed out with Long Memory, and managed to put several strikes in his body, but it didn't do enough to make Hazel slow down, as he punched him into the wall. Ruby brought down her scythe on Hazel, only for the large man to grab it, before grabbing her by the collar, and throwing her into the wall on the other side of the room. Ren was quick to follow up with StormFlower, slashed at Hazel, but he absorbed the blows, before grabbing Ren's neck, and hurling him into Ruby. Right then, Nora leapt at him, bringing Maghild down on him. Hazel, however, easily evaded, as he grabbed Nora by the head, and slammed her into the ground. He then began drilling electricity into her head, as the young woman cried out.

"How many more Ozpin?!" Hazel bellowed, "How many more children have to die for your cause?!" Oz just weakly smiled at him, knowing what was coming next. That confused Hazel, but then he felt a small hand on his arm. And just like Weiss, Nora's scream gradually changed into a roar, as a massive flash of pink light send Hazel tumbling away.

Hazel quickly leapt to his feet, as he looked up to see yet another dragon emerging from the light, it's piercing eyes straight on him. Baffled at the sight, he didn't have time to react as Nora swung her tail at him, catching Hazel in his gut, and sending him careening out of the Academy doors.

As things would have it, Adam and his cronies had converged in front of the Academy after setting the bombs. They looked up to see Hazel pulling himself off the ground.

"Hazel?" Adam asked, "What's…" He didn't answer, as the doors burst open, as Nora emerged, still a dragon.

"By the Spirits!" one of the White Fang with him said. Nora growled as she advanced on Hazel, fire leaking from her jaws, and electricity crackling down her spine.

"What the hell's going on?" Adam demanded.

"Nothing of your concern," Hazel answered as he got back up, sticking himself with two gravity Dust crystals, and leapt at Nora. He then slammed a gravity enhanced fist into her jaw, and with the sheer force she was knocked to the ground, as a few of her teeth were dislodged. She was left sprawled to the ground, as Hazel leapt onto her head, and looked to continue punching, only for, seemingly out of nowhere, a long green dragon to slam into Hazel, sending him tumbling him away. As Hazel pulled himself back to his feet, Ren positioned himself protectively over Nora, bearing his teeth. Ruby then burst through the roof, as she dove at Hazel, who managed to leap out of the way just in time. Hazel, refusing to give up like this, charged them again, as the White Fang watched.

"Adam," one said, "what do we…"

"It doesn't matter!" Adam snapped, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than the others, "We can still win."

"But… those are dragons!" Adam looked over to see Hazel trying in vain to fight three dragons with his bare fists.

"It doesn't matter!" he said, "We can still bring down Haven!" He drew Wilt, as he grinned in anticipation.

"Let's kill us some…"

"Adam!" The bull froze, as he glanced up. Standing on the roof was a very familiar, feline face...

"Blake," he growled, "So after all the time I spent chasing, you're the one who…."

"You can't win," Blake interrupted as she dropped to his level, slowly advancing on him, "Just give it up?"

"Give it up?" Adam echoed, "Last I checked…"

"Last I checked," Blake interrupted again, "you're not the one with dragons. You and your followers, you're alone."

"I'm the one who's alone?" Adam answered, gesturing to his allies, but none of them looked as enthusiastic as earlier. Blake was silent for a time, before she looked into the mist. Adam followed her gaze, as he saw the last thing he would've expected. Dozens, if not hundreds of normal Faunus, armed with makeshift weapons were emerging from the shadows. Normally he'd be glad to see such a thing, but anyone could tell these weren't on his side. At the lead was Sienna.

"Sienna," Adam growled.

"You should've pressed your attack," Sienna said, as she held Cerberus Whip at the ready, glaring at her usurper. His allies stared in shock at the sight of their family and friends standing in front of them, ready to fight. Their grips on their weapons began to loosen slightly then.

"You could've brought ten thousand 'fighters'," Adam said as he pulled out what looked like a detonator, "But you're too late." He then pressed the button and…. nothing happened.

"Huh?" Adam said, looking a the senator in shock.

"It won't work." Adam turned to see Ilia dropping her camouflage as she emerged from the shadows.

"Ilia?" Adam asked in surprise, "You?"

"Yes, me," Ilia declared, pointing Lightning Lash, at him, "I won't let you turn the Faunus into monsters." Adam open his mouth, though know words came out. He then turned to see Hazel being grabbed by Nora, and brought up to her snout. Hazel just roared angrily at her, only for Nora to open her mouth, and release her own roar, so loud it caused Hazel to pass out. With that, Nora thew Hazel back into Haven. The doors then exploded out, as a yellow dragon soared through the air, before floating in the air over the assembly. From the sky descended the two headed dragon, before it split back into Weiss and Jaune. The two landed on the roof, as Ruby fluttered up to be by Jaune's side. She nuzzled him slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Weiss, who frowned slightly. Pyrrha also landed, coiling up on the ground, rearing up like a cobra.

As seven dragons loomed over all those present, and their own friends and family staring them down, ready to fight, the White Fang saw the writing on the wall, and they all lay down their weapons. Adam tried to talk more, but again, found himself unable to form the words.

"You've lost Adam," Blake said.

"No…," Adam muttered, as he threw the detonator away, as he held Wilt at the ready, "I can still do this! I…" He couldn't finish as Sun dropped up form above him, spinning his weapon in staff form. Caught completely off guard, Adam. Adam had only had a brief moment to look up as Yang dove at him, her jaws open. He managed to leap out of the way, only for Yang's tail to come up, and crash into him. Adam was knocked into the shadows, and off the cliff. Yang growled as she looked to keep chasing him. However, as she went into chase him, she dove to the ground, but didn't find him anywhere.

"He's gone!" she said, flying back up to their level.

"Don't bother chasing him," Blake said, "If there's one thing he's good it, ti's getting away from people." Yang growled, as she flexed her metallic claw, but didn't say anything else.

"Did we… win?" Nora asked.

"Yeah," Jaune answered, "I think we did." The people would've been cheering, but the sight of the dragons in front of them, seven in total, including the ones who had appeared in Beacon. The sight of these magnificent creatures took their breath away.

"Jaune." Jaune looked towards his white scaled friend.

"Did we…. really just do that?" Weiss asked.

"I'm not sure how, but yeah, we did," the golden dragon said. Then, to his surprise, Weiss rubbed her neck against his. Upon seeing that, Ruby pouted slightly, not entirely thrilled to see her friend do that to her crush. The rose dragon's memory suddenly surged, and her attention was then suddenly drawn towards the palace.

"Lin…," she murmured, before she took wing.

(in the building)

Emerald groaned as she slowly leaned up, still only semi conscious Looking around, she saw Hazel and Mercury also in the room with her, and also seriously beat up. She tried to stand up, but quickly collapsed back to her feet. To weak to move, she didn't know what to do…

That was when, in her delirious state, she saw what looked like a strange red mist leaking into the room. The mist surrounded her, lifting her up slightly.

"You still have much left to do…." And with that, it all went black…

(in the Imperial Palace)

Rowan collapsed in exhaustion, as his Aura faded. His comrades weren't in any better condition, with both Cherry and Roy collapsed. Carmine and Cornell, however, were both still standing, but weren't in any better condition. Lin then got up, and ran over to her last remaining warrior.

"Rowan!" she said, putting her hands on his shoulders. Rowan just looked up at his charge and smiled weakly.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he said, "I wish I was stronger."

"No," Lin said, as her eyes started getting misty, "You're the strongest man I've ever known."

"I… I failed you," Rowan then forced out. At that, Lin burst into tears.

"No!" she cried, throwing her arms around Rowan's neck, "You didn't fail!" Carmine just scowled, as she weakly limped in their direction.

"Let's end this," she said, as she held up her clawed boot. She wasn't bothering with last words this time. However, she still wasn't fast enough, as the wall exploded, knocking her away. Looking up, she saw what had just appeared in the room, and what she saw terrified her.

It was a massive red dragon with wings covered in flower petals, with thorny vines coming out of its back. The Guard didn't have time to react, as the dragon's tail lashed out. All of the remaining guard were caught in her lashing tail, and swept right out of the room. The four could only scream, as they plummeted down the mountain into the city. Lin and Rowan could only stare and try to process what had just happened, as the dragon looked at them.

"Thank you," Lin said after she finally found her words. The dragon just smiled at Lin, before it opened its wings, and flew back out the way it came. After the initial shock finally faded, Lin looked to Rowan, and hugged him again, which her guardian eagerly returned.

(in the headmaster's office)

Leonardo Lionheart was dead, killed by Salem, if the markings around his throat were any indication, and the fading remains of a Seer. Oz stared down at the body of the Faunus he once counted as one of his closest friends.

"I'm sorry," Oscar said.

"There's nothing for you to apologize for," Oz answered, "I can only wonder what Salem had on him, and how long he was under her thumb."

"Well, we won," Oscar said, "That's good, right?" Oz sighed, before he smiled slightly, and let Oscar take back over.

"Yes," he said, "I suppose it is."

(in Haven)

"Well, you took your sweet time."

"I can't help it if it's more than a week journey form Menagerie to Mistral."

"I'm just glad Blakey's back!"

Teams RYPJ and BRWN were finally all together, and despite the barbs they were trading, they'd never been happier to be together again. Shade was standing off the side, watching his students be together again. He had been watching the whole battle in silence. This was possibly the greatest test they'd yet had; and they had passed with more than just flying colors. And now, they had mastered the powers he bestowed upon them. What Jaune and Weiss did though…. That he had not anticipated. That would need some investigation…

"You should've seen Jaune," Weiss said, "Fighting on my back while I was flying around like that. I'd like to see any other man do that."

"Ren could do it!" Nora insisted.

"It really wasn't that much," Jaune responded, "Weiss did the hard work." Ruby looked away slightly, as she considered how much Jaune and Weiss had been able to do together. She wanted to be the first dragon Jaune would ride. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," Jaune said, "I'm glad you're okay." Ruby returned the smile, before she suddenly embraced him.

"You too," she said.

"Group hug!" Nora said. No one, not even the more hesitant ones like Blake and Ren, hesitated to get in on what was now an eight person embrace. Shade just smiled as the sight as he folded his arms behind his back.

"Get over here, Doc!" Yang said, gesturing.

"I believe that this may be better suited between…" The doctor couldn't finish, as a vine emerged form under Ruby's cape, and pulled him forward, and into the hug. Though he towered over all them, making it look somewhat strange, Shade couldn't help but smile, as he put a hand on Jaune's back.

"You have all done magnificently," he said, "I could not have chosen better champions." That just made the hug tighten.

(beneath the Imperial Palace)

In the shadow of the Imperial Palace, at the bottom of the mountain lay the mangled bodies of the Imperial Guard. A single hand, however, remained clinging to a rock far above, as a figure with feathers, slowly pulled themselves back up…

(in the Land of Darkness)

Salem stood on a massive crystal, overlooking the many Grimm as they pulled themselves from the pools. She remembered when she first came to this place to ask the God of Darkness' favor. Of all the things that had changed in the ages past, this was one of the things that never did.

"Truly a shame. Such high hopes…" Salem didn't bother to divert her gaze, as a red sliver of light slithered around her, followed by a silver one, and an orange one.

"Don't come if you don't have anything useful to say," she said coldly. There were three sinister sounding laughs, two male, one female, coming from the lights.

"That makes a second relic that's slipped through your fingers," a female voice said from the orange light.

"We'll now be taking a more… hands on approach from here on out," the silver light said with a masculine voice. At that, Salem actually glared at the light, which floated beside her face.

"We had an agreement," she hissed.

"Patience, child," the red light said, "You will have what you want. But your efforts may prove inadequate." Salem's eyes narrowed at that.

"Once the Relic of Destruction is in my hands, I will render Atlas and Mistral to rubble," she said.

"We have relied on your schedule for some time now," the red light said, "If we keep relying on that, and that alone..."

"We thought you'd be glad for us to be proactive," the silver light hissed again. Salem's scowl just deepened, but she didn't say anything else.

"You worry too much," the orange one said, "Just leave it all to us."

"That, I can't do," Salem responded bluntly. She got no response, this time, as the lights floated away from her. She then reached into her dress, and pulled out a small, stuffed dog. It was aged and worn, but still in functional condition. Salem caressed it, before holding it close.

"Soon," she muttered to herself, "Soon…"

Note: So Cinder, I guess draining magic granted to someone by an aged and weakened wizard, isn't the same as draining magic that came straight from the source. You'd remember that Ruby has the ability sprout vines from her body as a dragon as well. Speaking of Ruby, she certainly didn't get much to her own name in this fight, but she didn't really have much to do in this fight; I didn't like reducing her role like this, but at least she got to save her friend. I'll try and give her more next volume.

Menagerie was the first thing I planned out. I wanted to give my own origin for the Faunus, and after I settled on the Spirits as antagonists, I decided to link the two, and make the Spirits the creators of the Faunus. After that, I explored the broader history of the Faunus, and came to think it'd be interesting if in their history, the Faunus were at one point the oppressors instead of the oppressed. It would've given the Faunus characters, including Blake, a lot to think about. Originally Talos was supposed to be the OC villain there while Bai was the one trying to assassinate Lin. But it became apparent that a Faunus like Bai would fit that much better than someone like Talos. Slate came from an idea to have a tertiary antagonist in the arc, but his tale is not yet complete actually, in what way I won't say.

Going into Mistral, the decision to make it a monarchy instead of a council is based on a desire to expand on the world building and setting of the story. Originally Lin was going to be the princess instead of the Empress, with her grandfather as Emperor, but as I developed her friendship with Ruby, I thought there was more to be said if she were Empress herself. The Imperial Guard were originally just conceived as the Mistrali equivalent of the Ace Ops (and a desire to do some dinosaur themed characters) but then I thought, what if they were villains? This went further when I swapped Talos and Bai's places in the story, and they became the ones who would try to kill Lin. This in turn brought more focus to Rowan, as I wanted him to be the only one to remain loyal to Lin, and I had to develop his backstory a little further. This didn't really end up coming up in the story as much as I may have wanted, but I actually envisioned Rowan as being gay, and loving Lin's father; it gives him an extra layer of loyalty to her, as she's the daughter of the man he loved, a piece of him lives on through her.

In terms of shipping, I'm sure you've noticed that between the time Jaune as spent with both Ruby and Weiss, it can go either way. Again, I have made a decision on what direction to go, but I'll let you wait and see. There's going to be broader consequences to Weiss and Jaune merging into one dragon, but again, you'll have to wait and see. I also imagined people noticed Yang and Pyrrha developing a certain dynamic between the two of them. I'll go into this later in the story, but be assured I don't go in directions like these if I don't think there's a story to tell. I'm pretty sure RT was planning on doing Bumblebee at one point, but the shippers got impatient, and pushed them to do it faster.

Be sure to review. We're going into Vol. 6, which means a lot is likely going to happen.