Ride Along
Although a dragon's speed through the air was not necessarily proportional to its size... endurance usually was.
A larger dragon could generally stay in the air for longer and maintain its speed for longer as well. That was what made adult dragons so deadly in warfare. Not only were they faster than just about anything, but they were essentially tireless. It was not unheard of for an adult dragon to spend days in the air whilst a younger one would have to spend at least a few hours on the ground each night.
For many teams of dragon riders, this wasn't an issue. However, for Team RWBY, it was an important consideration.
Simply put, solar dragons grew extremely quickly and reached physical maturity faster than almost any other kind of dragon. In contrast, frost dragons were slower to gain size, and shadow dragons were all over the place in terms of growth. Some grew like weeds while others could take two or three times as long to reach the same size. And fire dragons? They were the baseline against which all other types of dragons were measured.
It was just a pity that Crescent Rose was tiny and not growing particularly quickly either. The dragon insisted that it was simply a quirk of her physiology, that any day now, she'd start growing more quickly before reaching a suitably massive size in adulthood.
In the meantime, though, she was forced to make an embarrassing compromise.
Oh, shut up! Crescent Rose huffed as she clung onto Ember Celica's back.
The golden-scaled dragon snickered and did a lazy barrel roll. You're just annoyed because you have to hitch a ride back.
It's not my fault I can't fly the whole way without stopping! Crescent Rose nudged Ruby with her snout. Ruby, Ember Celica is picking on me! Do something!
Ruby bit back a giggle. Despite her youth, Crescent Rose was one of the quickest and most agile dragons that Ruby had ever seen. While she was in the air, almost no one could match her... but she couldn't carry Ruby and stay aloft for anywhere near as long as Ember Celica, Gambol Shroud, or Myrtenaster. Until she got bigger, Crescent Rose and Ruby were stuck hitching a ride on Ember Celica on long flights.
"Hey, don't be like that." She rubbed Crescent Rose's back. "I know you'll get big and strong. It just might take a while."
You just wait and see! I'll be bigger than everyone! I'll even be bigger than Ember Celica!
Yang laughed. "Not likely. Solar dragons are one of the largest types of dragons, and Ember Celica is already big for age. She'll be huge by the time she's done growing." She snickered. "Which is why we don't mind giving you two a lift. It's better than having you walk around."
Crescent Rose's eye twitched. Hmph! Size isn't everything. I can fly circles around everyone!
Which is great right up until I manage to land a hit and you explode. Ember Celica bared her teeth. Just relax. You're a fire dragon. You'll get bigger eventually. I'd be more worried about Myrtenaster.
The frost dragon banked to glare at her. What was that?
What? Ember Celica shifted, and Myrtenaster hastily backed away, mindful of the sheer difference in size. Crescent Rose is younger than all of us, so it's no wonder she's so small. You and Gambol Shroud are the same age, and you're two thirds her size, maybe less.
"Myrtenaster is the perfect size," Weiss replied archly. "And she doesn't need to rely on brute force when she has such excellent magical ability." She scowled. "Besides, she's not small. You and Gambol Shroud are simply obnoxiously large."
The aforementioned shadow dragon was somehow managing to fly in the laziest way possible, using vast sails of shadow to increase the size of her wings, which let her glide in a way that would normally have been impossible. The subtle shifts in the shape and angle of the shadows spoke volumes about her control.
Don't bring me into this. Gambol Shroud opened one eye. The fact that she could fly with her eyes closed was another testament to how well she'd weaponised her laziness. It was the middle of the night, so there were more than enough shadows for her to sense everything around them. I don't really care how big I am. I'll be as big as I end up being.
"That's actually a reasonable attitude to take," Blake said. "I mean... all jokes aside, it's like people. Some people are just taller than others. Some dragons will just be bigger than others."
Well, I'll be bigger than all of you. Crescent Rose nodded sagely. I just need more cookies to grow.
Myrtenaster rolled her eyes. I'm not even going to comment on that. I'll just point out that Ruby also eats too many cookies, and look how tall she is.
"Hey!" Ruby growled. "That's not fair! And Weiss is like the same height I am, and she's two years older!"
"I'm not short," Weiss replied. "I'm elegant and petite."
You're short. Ember Celica chuffed.
"Take that back!" Weiss hissed.
Yang laughed. "Weiss, she's right. You're short. Get over it."
They were about to continue arguing when Gambol Shroud opened both eyes.
We've got trouble ahead. Aerial Grimm. It's a small swarm, but they're headed straight for us. The shadow dragon seemed almost to vanish as shadows flowed over her and Blake. Those same shadows began to move, cutting through the air in what Yang liked to call the 'flying blender technique'.
I don't see them. Ember Celica squinted. Myrtenaster?
The frost dragon scowled. I don't sense anything either, but it's night time. Gambol Shroud can sense further than any of us at night.
Crescent Rose shifted, and Ruby climbed onto her back.
"You're not tired, are you?" Ruby asked.
The red dragon flexed her wings and took to the air. I can't make it the whole way back home in one go, but this will be an aerial battle. I'll be fine. We can kill these Grimm, and I can go back to hitching a ride.
"Okay." Ruby squinted, and her eyes flared silver for a moment. "They're there, all right. Good work Gambol Shroud." She eased Crescent Rose back. "Standard formation. Ember Celica and Yang up front to blunt their charge with Gambol Shroud and Blake running interference for Myrtenaster and Weiss. Crescent Rose and I will pick off any that try to sneak up on us, and we'll go after targets of opportunity too."
"Sounds good." Yang's magic flared, and Ember Celica responded, scales glowing a brilliant white-gold as the Grimm came into view. The dragon bellowed a challenge, and the Grimm answered with cries of their own. "Let's do this!"
X X X
Author's Notes
Ember Celica is a solar dragon. As such, she possesses outstanding size, magical power, and physical ability. She's basically a flying fortress. She also sports excellent speed in the air, but her agility and manoeuvrability aren't quite as good. In a straight up fight, she'll murder just about anything, and even a single glancing hit can often just end her opponents.
Myrtenaster is a frost dragon who basically specced into flying magical artillery at the expense of durability. Her breath attack is strictly worse than Ember Celica's, but her magical ability allows her to potentially hit even harder than the solar dragon. She can throw out huge DPS across a vast area or even higher DPS on single targets. In the air, Myrtenaster is an incredibly swift and graceful flier, one of the few who can challenge Crescent Rose's aerial skill, but she is comparatively fragile for a dragon, at least from a physical perspective.
Gambol Shroud is arguably the laziest dragon in the world. This has led to her developing an absurd level of skill and power with her shadows, to the point that she can do stuff that nobody realised was possible. That said, Gambol Shroud actually has really impressive stats, boasting great size, physical ability, and magical power. Her main issue is motivation. She just can't be bothered most of the time. Gambol Shroud is an excellent jack-of-all trades fighter who can always find something she's better at than her opponents, and she'll shamelessly abuse that to achieve victory with the least effort possible.
Crescent Rose will eventually end up as perhaps the greatest flier there has ever been. By the time she's an adult, no one will be able to match her combination of speed and agility in the air, and she'll back that with a powerful breath attack and great physical attributes. In a one vs one dogfight, there's no one you'd rather have on your team than her.
Incidentally, Ember Celica ends up being the biggest by a significant margin with Crescent Rose and Gambol Shroud ending up similar in size. Myrtenaster is noticeably smaller than Crescent Rose and Gambol Shroud.