Hatchling
Crescent Rose opened her eyes and unleashed a mighty roar. The world trembled, and she rounded on the fool who had been foolish enough to disturb here.
Who dared to annoy a dragon?
Who dared to test her patience?
Who dared to provoke her wrath?
Whoever they were, they would pay dearly! She was a daughter of wind and flame, a dragon blessed with scales like shields and teeth like swords. Each beating of her wings was a storm, and each breath she took set the world ablaze. No mortal could withstand her might, and all that she looked upon was hers by right of conquest.
Eyes narrowed, she glared balefully at the silver-eyed girl who had awakened her. It was time to teach this puny mortal a lesson!
X X X
Ruby tilted her head to one side as the tiny hatchling drew herself up to her full, not very impressive height, and snarled. Crescent Rose was roughly the size of a large crow, which made her attempts to intimidate Ruby somewhat less than effective. Oh, her fire was still dangerous. Even a newly hatched dragon's flame could easily harm a human, but she wasn't here on her own.
With a long-suffering sigh, Ember Celica stretched one wing out to intercept the thin jet of flame. The smaller dragon hissed, and Ember Celica scowled before hissing back. Ruby wasn't fluent in dragon yet, but the contents of the conversation were easy enough to guess. The hatchling probably wanted to rip her face off her interrupting her nap time whereas Ember Celica was in no mood to allow that.
"I kind of thought she'd be bigger," Ruby said at last.
"Well, even dragons don't start off giant. Give her another fortnight and she'll be bigger than an eagle. Give her a month and she'll be twice that size. Give her a year…"
"I get the picture," Ruby said. Ember Celica was already seven feet long. Dragons could grow at incredibly inconsistent rates, but it was a simple fact that until a dragon died, it would only continue to grow larger and more powerful. "But how do I get her to like me?"
"That's different for every dragon," Yang explained. "Ember Celica and I got along pretty well right from the start. I mean, yeah, she did try to set me on fire the first time we met, but that's pretty much par for the course. Once I showed her a few of my moves, we got along a bit better."
"Hmm…" As a dragon rider, Yang's specialty was close quarters combat. She would, in time, be the sort of dragon rider who leapt off her own dragon to punch her airborne opponents in the face using magically enhanced gauntlets. Solar dragons, like Ember Celica, were absolutely devastating in close combat. Their superior size, strength, and durability made them nightmares to face up close. With Yang punching her opponent and her dragon clawing, biting, and burning them, it was unlikely that anything stupid enough to get close to them would live very long.
Fire dragons like Crescent Rose, however, tended to have more balanced abilities although Crescent Rose's parents were known for their exceptional speed. If the little dragon was anything like them, then she'd be best suited for mid-range aerial combat, which relied on a combination of speed and agility in the air to land blasts of flame on the enemy. Winning over a dragon like that would have been easier if Ruby could fly, but her grasp of flight magic was sketchy at best. It would not impress her would-be dragon if she fell out of the sky like a stone.
What could she do…?
Wait.
There was something in her pocket, something that would definitely have impressed her if she'd been a dragon.
X X X
Crescent Rose huffed. Typical human, hiding behind a dragon. Scowling at the larger dragon, she reluctantly agreed not to fry the silver-eyed human. Still, that solar dragon better watch out. She was bigger for now, but one day, Crescent Rose would be surpass her! When that day came, Ember Celica would rue the day she had crossed her! She was about to go back to her nap when the silver-eyed human came forward.
"I'm Ruby," she said.
Crescent Rose turned her snout up. What did she care about some human's name? Oh, sure, she was supposed to choose a rider. It was something all of the hatchlings had been taught, but only the best would do for her. However, as she was about to go back to her nap, she smelled something delicious.
She turned and peered at the object in Ruby's hand. What was that?
"This is a cookie." Ruby broke a piece of it off and held it out. "Try some."
Still eyeing the girl warily, Crescent Rose darted forward and snatched up the piece of… cookie. Quickly shoving it into her mouth, she trilled in appreciation. The cookie was delicious! Turning back to Ruby, she reached for the rest of the cookie.
"Heh. You like cookies too?" Ruby smiled. "Well… I suppose I could get you more cookies if you agreed to work with me."
Crescent Rose's eyes narrowed. She wasn't stupid. She was a dragon, and dragons were smart. This was obviously a bribe. Then again… the cookies did taste very good, and there was no reason she couldn't agree to work with Ruby for a while, eat plenty of cookies, and then get rid of her later. It wasn't unheard of for dragons to leave their riders if the pairing proved unsuitable. She still had plenty of growing to do, so she would have plenty of time to enjoy cookies before leaving. And if Ruby turned out to not be completely hopeless, then she could always stay… and enjoy even more cookies.
X. X X
"Yay!" Ruby cheered as the little dragon nodded and devoured the rest of the cookie. "We're friends now, Yang!"
"Uh… I'm not sure about that." The blonde hadn't missed the conniving look in the red dragon's eyes. "But it's a start, I guess."
X. X X
Author's Notes
As always, I do not own RWBY. I'm not making any money off of this either.
And that is how Ruby met her dragon, Crescent Rose. From the later snippets, you can tell they eventually do become great friends, but the road to friendship was a rocky one paved almost entirely with cookies. Also, if you've enjoyed my fan fiction, you should check out my original fiction. You can find me on Amazon and Audible as L. G. Estrella.
As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.
