Realisation

Ruby had made many mistakes in her life, but pissing off a dragon that was roughly seven hundred feet long might well have been the worst one yet.

Unfortunately for Ruby, she had only realised how awful an idea that would be after she'd already done it. In her defence, though, who could have known that the dragon in question would like cookies as much as she did.

Are you stupid? Crescent Rose screeched as the pair of them fled with all the speed they could muster. Who tries to steal cookies from a dragon's hoard?

Ruby turned to her own dragon who measured an entirely unimpressive ten feet and opened her mouth to reply, only to snap her mouth shut as a sound like a hurricane washed over her. Her eyes widened in horror as she found herself staring into the gaping maw of the other dragon.

"Ah!"

WHOOOSH.

The tidal wave of fire that followed would have reduced her to less than ash if Crescent Rose hadn't dived, wrapped herself around her, and then layered on every defensive spell she could muster. Even so, Ruby could barely think as the fiery onslaught stripped her lungs of air and reduced the floor of the vast cavern to molten rock.

Somehow, Crescent Rose managed to manoeuvre them out of it, and Ruby staggered to her feet as her dragon stumbled. Many of Crescent Rose's scales had cracked, and quite a few of them had actually burned. Ruby swallowed thickly. Dragon scales – even those of a young dragon – were supposed to be impervious to fire. She'd seen Crescent Rose laugh off fire magic that could melt buildings.

"I'm sorry!" Ruby wailed as she grabbed Crescent Rose and steadied her. "I'm sorry!"

Run now. Cry later. Crescent Rose jerked her head back at the vast lake of molten rock behind them. I can't take another one of those. We have to leave right now.

Ruby nodded, and she did her best to keep up as Crescent Rose scrambled along the ground. The fact that the dragon wasn't flying was telling. It was probably because she'd taken too much damage to fly. Her wings were certainly looking a bit frayed.

The titanic dragon took a moment to realise that its fire hadn't reduced them to nothing. However, they knew the moment it noticed them. It gave a bellow of rage that shook the cavern and then stomped toward them. They had survived its fire. Ruby doubted they'd be able to survive its teeth or its claws.

The dragon lunged, and Crescent Rose turned to meet it. There was no way her brave, little dragon could win, but she was going to try anyway –

BOOM.

A bolt of lightning streaked through the air and struck the dragon in the side of the head. The thunder that followed shook the area, and Ruby had to grab Crescent Rose and dodge as chunks of the ceiling cracked and broke loose. Where had that attack come from?

"Keep running, kiddo. We've got this."

She looked up. It was her Uncle Qrow. He was riding on his storm crow, Harbinger. The crow folded his wings and dove, wreathed in wind, lightning, and rain. The impact knocked the huge dragon off balance, and the giant bird spread his wings and wheeled away as the dragon lashed out with one claw.

"I don't see you running, Ruby," Qrow shouted. "Go!"

Ruby shook herself and nodded jerkily. Harbinger's wingspan was roughly three hundred feet, but even that was dwarfed as the dragon flared its own wings in a terrifying threat display. Fire flared to life around it, a second sun rising in the deep, and Ruby finally got a good look at the cavern around them.

She'd thought it was a colossal cave because what else could it be when it was so big? Now, she saw the truth. Great pillars spanned the edges of the cavern, and soaring galleries and stairways dotted the edges. Great statues of long-dead kings and heroes of renown stood silent sentry. This... this was a dwarf hall, the grandest she'd ever seen, or at least, it had been once.

Come on. Crescent Rose tugged on Ruby's sleeve. We need to go. We can't help him, and he can't fight that thing and protect us at the same time.

As Ruby ran alongside Crescent Rose, the acrid sent of ozone filled the air. Harbinger soared once more, the wrath of a dozen storms wrapped around his wings. Below him, the dragon kindled its flame within its jaws, and the howl of the storm was matched by the roar of an inferno.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I do not own RWBY. I'm not making any money off of this either.

Ruby needs to be more careful, and she needs to learn that there are places she should avoid. Also, don't steal cookies from dragons. That's just dumb. Also, people have asked what Qrow does in the dragon rider AU, so now you know.

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. I've just recently released The Sheep Dragon, which is a collection of short stories set in The Unconventional Heroes Series. If you enjoy humour, fun, and adventure, check it out.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.