Weiss and Ruby had sat on that bench for a while. Eventually, Ruby got ancy enough to move, and Weiss followed. They needed to go to the guild at some point, so Weiss suggested going there now, as she'd regained the ability to think clearly and speak after walking a few minuets.
"I need to register there, and I was thinking of registering you too. If you wanted to try going on a quest with me." Weiss said as they walked.
Ruby's eyes sparkled. "Yes! A thousand times yes!" She was practically bouncing in place. Weiss smiled softly.
They reached the guild, and the aura of dread that had lingered about outside the city returned. The guild in the last city had battle hardened warriors, but the people here just looked like they were about to go on a death march.
Weiss didn't have her hood up this time as she approached the front desk, so no one approached her thinking she'd kidnapped ruby or something. It was indeed less concerning to see two girls walking together, then to see one girl being dragged around by some hooded figure. Which is what Weiss assumed people had thought of her last time. She handed over her ID to register. "Yours too Ruby." Weiss held out a hand.
"Right!" Ruby fished around in the little brown dresses pocket, and pulled out her ID. A stick fell out of her pocket as well. It looked like the kind of stick you'd put a street food on. Ruby scooped it up quick as lightning, so fast Weiss wondered if it had even been there in the first place. But Ruby's shifty glance told her it had. Interesting..
Weiss and Ruby sat at one of the tables in the guild, as they waited for their cards to be verified. Weiss spoke up. "Ruby? What was that stick that fell out of your pocket earlier?"
Ruby looked away from Weiss. "...esure."
"Its what?" Weiss couldn't quite hear Ruby.
"It's my treasure!" Ruby yipped.
Treasure? A stick? "Why?" Weiss wondered.
Ruby pulled it our of her pocket and showed Weiss. "Look. Its from the apple. That you got me." Ruby pulled it back and held it close to her heart,her cheeks flushed a little. "Its the first thing you gave me~"
Oh. Weiss rubbed the back of her head and looked to the side. Normally, she'd scold Ruby and tell her to throw something like that away, but, she seemed attached to it.. So it probably wasn't to much trouble to let her hang onto it. That caramel apple really had been the first thing she'd given Ruby. Weiss recalled telling Ruby that she was only letting her use the brown dress since there was nothing else around. Quite the tsundere she'd been playing, she thought as she winced at her past actions. They really needed to get ruby a proper outfit.
Weiss thought a for a few moments. A little while ago, she'd finally confirmed that she felt romantic affection towards Ruby. But what now? It was clear as day that Ruby loved her, she'd even admitted to her sister that she wanted to claim Weiss as her girlfriend. So, was Weiss just supposed to tell Ruby she felt the same now? Weiss remembered back to when Ruby had accidentally pinned her against the side of the bed in an inn, and asked straight up if she could kiss her. Could Weiss recreate a similar situation? Maybe?
Weiss shook her head. No, she'd implode before she was even two feet away from Ruby if she tried that. She needed some reason, or excuse for her to say it. Weiss wasn't bold enough to just tell Ruby outright for no reason. Huhh... Why was this so difficult... Was there anyone she could ask for advice on this? Maybe Yang? Oh no, GOD no, if Weiss told Yang she would run over to Ruby and tell her immediately. And say something like 'you both like each other, so its not big deal~!'. Uhhgggggg
Perhaps Blake could help. She'd already thought Weiss and Ruby were together. Maybe she'd have a tip for confessing? Confessing to someone who you'd previously told you didn't love them? Hopefully... She needed to talk to Blake anyways, she hadn't brought it up since the cave, but Weiss was still curious as to who had wanted Blake to capture her. And as to who had posed as her mother.
As Weiss contemplated her gay woes, the lady at the front desk called her and Ruby up to collect their IDs. Weiss again chose the option with the 90% death rate as opposed to being tested for a ranking. It seemed like the death rate was higher here. They still had at least half the day left, before they needed to meet Yang and Blake. They'd arrived at the city in the morning,
"Weiss? Can we go to the forest?" Ruby whispered into her ear after they go their IDs back.
"Uh, I suppose. Why?"
"I wanna change back for a bit."
Change back? To wh– oh. Oh right! It must be stifling to always be in human form! "Alright, lets go. We have to be quick though, we don't want to get locked out. They close the gates at nightfall."
Ruby smiled and skipped ahead of Weiss, like an exited puppy. They stayed close to each other in the crowd near the main gate, and left the city walls. Behind the city was a large forest. Unlike the other forests in the area, this one had massive trees. Massive enough, to tower over the walls of the city. They were easily twice as high. It was a good thing they were a little way always from the city, otherwise bandits would constantly be using them to jump the walls.
Weiss and Ruby entered, and Ruby changed. Weiss was looking the other way when she did, so it was quite a surprise to see the dragon suddenly appear next to her. "Ah!" she yelped. Ruby snorted and made a low rumbling sound, a dragons version of laughing, Weiss gathered. "Warn me next time!" Weiss huffed. Ruby poked her with her front leg playfully. Her tail wagged slightly.
Weiss felt her lips curling into a smile. "God, you're just a giant sharp puppy aren't you?" She reached out her hand and scratched under Ruby's chin.
[[That feels nice~]] Ruby said, telepathically, into Weiss head.
Weiss leaned over and hugged Ruby's neck. She just barely couldn't fit her arms all the way around it. Ruby really was an impressive dragon. Or maybe not, Weiss wouldn't know, Ruby was the only dragon shed ever seen up close. Any glimpses she'd gotten of dragons when she was younger had been of them flying away after they'd destroyed a village. She ran her hands across Ruby's scales. They were so smooth, each one shone in the sunlight peeping though the foliage and almost glowed.
[[Do you want one?]] Ruby asked
"Huh?"
[[A scale, do you want one?]] Ruby tilted her head.
"Oh, no its fine, I'm alright. Wouldn't it hurt to pull them off?" Weiss put her hands up in a 'no thanks' position.
Ruby wapped her tail against a tree. Weiss could hear startled birds flying off in the distance. In the dent the tree now had, were 3 dragon scales. Ruby went over and poked at them with her claws until they came loose. She nudged them towards Weiss. Weiss leaned over and picked them up, two of the scales were about palm sized, but one was so small it was almost no bigger then Weiss's pinky finger.
"The little one might make a nice necklace charm.." Weiss murmured out loud.
Ruby opened her mouth and snapped her jaws shut happily. [[Oh! Wait give them back! I wanna make it a necklace! If you, want me to!]] Ruby looked down at herself. Dragon. [[...give them back, when I go back to human.]]
Weiss raised an eyebrow and smiled, pocketing the small scale. "What about the other two? Would it be safe to just leave them here?" Weiss asked.
[[Oh no, I'll eat them.]] Ruby said
Uh come again? "What? Eat them?" Weiss asked, confused.
Ruby bobbed her head. [[Yeah! They're like, chalk full of magical energy or something, so it's bad to just leave them lying around. Humans can make some pretty dangerous things from our scales!]] She paused a moment. [[Also track us. That's why we've gotta get Yang's scale back from that one guy!]]
"huh.." Weiss tossed one of the bigger two scales into the air, and Ruby nabbed it, happily crunching. Weiss tossed the other a little higher, and Ruby didn't quite catch it. It bounced off her head, and a sharp jolt from Ruby caused it to fling into the bushes.
Ruby and Weiss stared in the direction the scale had gone. [[...be right back.]] Ruby said, and she waddled off. She moved so silently, how was it that something so big barely made any noise at all? Weiss leaned against a near bye tree, and sighed. Now that she was alone, she was plagued by thoughts of how to confess to Ruby again. She didn't get that far this time though, as after less then a minuet she heard a branch snap. Ah, Ruby was back.
Weiss turned, but was not greeted with Ruby. No, standing there instead was the guy from the town square. The guy who had Yang's dragon scale. Weiss drew her sword immediately and pointed it at him. "BACK." She commanded.
"Woa! Calm down, I was just approaching to ask if you were lost." He raised his hands up in a defensive position. "Are you lost?"
"No." Weiss said, lowering her sword a little, but still gripping it tight. You could never be to carful.
"I see. Can you point back to the city walls, then?" He asked.
Weiss pursed her lips. To be honest, she had no idea where she was. She had been planning on asking Ruby to get a birds eye view so they could make their way back. ... ! Ruby! Where was she? She'd gone off into the bushes to grab the last scale, but, what if she came back when this dude was still here!
The guy could see something was bothering Weiss. "You are lost, aren't you! Worry not, it isn't too far back to the city. Would you allow me to escort you?" He asked in a gentlemanly tone. "And if I may ask, what is a beautiful young lady like yourself doing out here in these woods along?"
To any other girl, such words would be interpreted as kind, or generous. But not to Weiss. He reminded her to much of the snobbish princes who had tried to win her favor with slick words and lavish gifts. Weiss mentally berated herself, angry that she was judging him based on her prejudices. But every part of her was sending off warning bells. It was unreasonable, He didn't know her! God! This was just some sweet guy trying to offer a lost girl in the forest a way back to town, not a prince trying to get with her because of her status! Stop being so judgy!
"Miss?" He asked again.
Weiss tensed up and raised her sword a bit more after being jostled from her thoughts. "No, thank you. I'm capable of taking care of myself." That wasn't going to work.. Weiss knew exactly how she looked, like some lost stubborn princess who wouldn't accept help because of her pride.
Weiss then saw Ruby out of the corner of her eye. She'd come out of the brush, looking satisfied. She must've found the scale. She was standing directly behind the guy. If he tuned around, he'd see her. "Well, if you really say so, I guess I'll leave you be.." The guy shrugged in an exaggerated manner.
"Wait!" Weiss reached out a hand to stop him, but didn't touch him. He kept his eyes on her, and faced her again.
"What was that?" He said, smiling kindly.
"I, uh.." stall, stall for time. Ruby would be smart enough to leave right? Right? "Ok, maybe I'm a little lost." Weiss wanted to punch something. She hated playing the damsel in distress. "Just a little."
The guy closed his eyes a moment and sighed in a big brotherly manner. "Its ok to admit weakness sometimes, not everyone can be perfect. Its a human fact, that–"
While he was going on about showing weakness with his eyes closed, Weiss mouthed to Ruby 'Run. Go away.' She waved her hands in a shooing motion. Ruby narrowed her eyes, and stared at the guy. She opened her wings, and got into a pouncing position. What. Whyyyyy? Just leave! The guy opened his eyes again, and saw Weiss's distressed expression at something behind him. He turned just in time to see Ruby jumping at him.
He would have screamed, if Ruby hadn't covered his mouth with one of her claws as she pinned him to the ground. He was absolutely terrified.
"Don't just pin him down! Knock him out or something!"Weiss screeched, hands tugging at her hair.
[[The scale! We've gotta grab Yang's scale!]] Ruby insisted. The guy struggled. Weiss decided not to argue, and patted him down until she found the pouch with the golden scale in it. She took it out, and Ruby snatched it from her hands, eating it. The poor guy looked ready to faint at seeing Ruby's teeth. Weiss and Ruby looked at each other, then back to the guy pinned on the floor.
...now what?