Dragon Academy
Crescent Rose was a red dragon. One day, her wings would be as vast as sails. Her teeth and claws would rend castles. Her fire would burn nations.
That day was not today.
"Ah!" Ruby jabbed one finger at her errant dragon. "Put those cookies down!"
The six-feet-long reptile hissed and continued to munch on the cookies she'd found.
"Gah!" Ruby took two steps forward and then hurled herself at Crescent Rose. "Those are mine! Let them go!"
The dragon snarled, and it wasn't long before the teenager and the dragon were rolling across the floor. However, there could only be one victor, and it wasn't long before Crescent Rose was using Ruby as a pillow while shovelling her cookies into her mouth.
"You are a terrible dragon," Ruby grumbled. "Now, get off me. You're heavy." Her eyes narrowed. "It must be from all the cookies you steal."
Crescent Rose huffed. Claws that could already tear through steel with ease tapped Ruby on the forehead as the dragon narrowed her eyes ominously.
Ruby responded by somehow contorting herself enough to grab the last cookie. With a cry of victory, she slithered out from under Crescent Rose and held the cookie aloft. "Hah! The last cookie is mine!"
Crescent Rose gave a low rumble and lunged.
"Gah!"
X X X
Ember Celica yawned and sprawled out across the large, flat rock she'd claimed in the gardens not far from her team's dorm room. It really was a pleasant rock, just perfect for a twelve-feet-long dragon. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and she couldn't think of any place she'd rather be. Her partner was even napping too, using her belly as a pillow as she leaned against the rock.
However, the idyllic peace couldn't last forever. Both she and Yang sat up as an angry squawk echoed through the air.
"Are Ruby and Crescent Rose arguing over food again?" Yang asked.
Ember Celica peered at their dorm room. Her gaze shifted as magic flowed through her body. Dragons had the ability to perceive magic with incredible detail, so she had no problems picking out the two magical signatures rolling around on the floor of the dorm room. She nodded.
"Ah. Well, let's go back to sleep." Yang settled back against her dragon. "That late night mission was a killer."
Ember Celica nodded. Their latest mission had been a night-time assault on a den of Grimm. It had been enjoyable enough – it was always fun setting stuff on fire – but it had taken them most of the previous night. Honestly, she didn't know where Ruby and Crescent Rose found the energy to argue on so little sleep. Idly, she noticed a rabbit hopping through the garden nearby. It was vaguely tempting to go after it. It had been a while since she'd eaten a nice, juicy rabbit, but Yang had asked her to stop after seeing how uncomfortable it made Velvet, one of the other students.
Of course, Ember Celica hadn't stopped eating rabbits. She'd simply stopped eating them where Velvet could see her. And, really, why was the Faunus even worried? It wasn't like the dragon was going to eat her.
X X X
Blake and Gambol Shroud both peered into the water. There was a flash of movement, and they struck almost simultaneously.
Gambol Shroud grinned. She had successfully caught her fifth fish of the day. Blake, however, was still on zero… largely because her dragon had the advantage of longer reach and razor-sharp claws.
"You know, you could share some of your fish with me. We are partners."
The black dragon looked from her fish to Blake and then hunched over her fish protectively.
"Seriously? You're not going to share any of them with me."
Gambol Shroud sighed… and then tossed the smallest fish she'd caught at Blake. The Faunus ducked under the fish and caught it out of the air.
"Did you have to throw it at me?" Blake rolled her eyes. "But I guess it's better than nothing." In fairness, even the smallest fish Gambol Shroud had caught was still more than big enough for Blake. "Mind giving me a hand cooking it?"
The dragon perked up, and black flame kindled in her jaws.
"No." Blake shook her head and scowled. "Do not use shadow fire on my fish. I actually want to be able to eat it. Use regular fire." She paused, remembering the charred nightmare that had resulted from her previous attempt to use dragon fire to cook her fish. "Actually… it might be better if you just used your fire to help me start a cooking fire."
Gambol Shroud shrugged and spat a short, sharp burst of fire at a nearby pile of sticks that Blake had gathered. The flame immediately reduced the pile to ash.
Blake's eye twitched. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Gambol Shroud grinned.
X X X
Weiss was supposed to be studying. However, she had a dragon-shaped problem to worried about.
Myrtenaster had not been the most… impressive hatchling. In fact, she'd been rather scrawny, and she remained slightly undersized even now at a mere nine feet when a dragon her age should be at least ten feet or more in length. However, the white dragon was unbelievably good with magic, something that more than made up for her deficiencies in size and mass.
Oh, all dragons were good with magic, and all of them instinctively incorporated it into their combat techniques. However, Myrtenaster was one of the select few dragons who had demonstrated the ability to learn and then deploy human and Faunus developed spells.
That, in and of itself, might not sound that impressive. After all, if human and Faunus magic was so great, what did they need dragons for? The issue came from raw power and multi-tasking. Simply put, even a weak dragon had magic reserves that dwarfed those of even the mightiest human spell caster. Despite being a young dragon, Myrtenaster's reserves were already enormous, more than ten times as large as Yang's, and Yang's reserves were arguably the highest out of all the students. And at the rate the dragon was growing, this gap would only grow.
So Myrtenaster could not only use more spells than any human before running out of magic, she could also throw more magic into each of those spells. Like all dragons, Myrtenaster also possessed powerful elemental affinities. Combined with her knack for using spells, the dragon was an absolute terror on the battlefield, even if she was somewhat smaller than her peers.
As for multi-tasking, it was well known that most spell casters could only use one spell at a time. Skilled proponents of the magical arts might be able to use two. The very greatest magic users could use as many as three, with only living legends like Glynda Goodwitch being able to use four spells at once. Myrtenaster was a dragon, and dragons were bullshit when it came to magic (Yang's words not Weiss's). Sure, she was young, but Myrtenaster could already use two spells at once. Weiss gave it a year, tops, before her dragon got to three spells at once, and by the time she was an adult, it was likely she'd be able to use four or five.
So yeah, her dragon was awesome.
But she was also extremely clingy.
Right now, Weiss was forced to endure Ruby and Crescent Rose's squabbling because Myrtenaster had decided that the most comfortable place to sleep was curled around Weiss. Now, Weiss was not weak. Sure, she didn't have Yang's brute strength, but she was adept at magical reinforcement. Unfortunately, even her magically enhanced strength was no match for a dragon.
Myrtenaster was gently but firmly using her as a teddy bear.
"Oh well," Weiss thought as she allowed herself to drift back to sleep. "At least I don't have to worry about Myrtenaster stealing my food."
X X X
Author's Notes
As always, I do not own RWBY. I'm not making any money off of this either.
Another AU with dragons in it because dragons are cool. Yeah, each of the dragons has their own personalities in this one, and they don't necessarily match their partners. Crescent Rose is a food-stealing troll (who is smaller because she's younger than the other dragons). Ember Celica is the easy-going dragon. Gambol Shroud is kind of a jerk. And Myrtenaster is clingy and kind of possessive. I don't really know where this one is going, but it was fun to write, so I might do more of it.
In case you're wondering, you can also find me on Amazon as L. G. Estrella. I have just released a new story. It's called Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City. It's the fourth part of The Unconventional Heroes Series. Please, check it out if you're interested or like my sense of humour.
As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.
