Omakes! People on SpaceBattles like to write too, and sometimes people like to write little stuff to compliment the story they're enjoying as a form of showing appreciation. Some are very special, and will be featured in something equally as special. These are some of the other ones, which are still good, but you'll see what the difference is soon.
Flametusk Bug on the Ice
"Can I help you?" Jorleif asked Weiss.
"It's about-" Weiss started, only for the steward to interrupt her.
"Can I help you?" He asked again, in the exact same tone of voice.
"There's-" Weiss tried again.
"Can I help you?" Came the interruption again.
"You know what? I'm just going to go investigate anyways," Weiss said as she left the palace.
When she reached the crime scene, it was exactly as it had been, only... with no evidence. Well, there was a great deal of very obvious evidence, but for some reason she couldn't comprehend any of it, her senses completely ignoring the great amounts of spilled blood on the ice. She knew there was evidence, and she knew that she should be able to easily followit, since she could very easily see it, but she just couldn't put the pieces together.
After fruitlessly spending the night trying to investigate the crime scene, a courier ran up to the sleep-deprived vampire.
"I've got a delivery for you. Your hands only," the courier said before handing Weiss a letter.
When Weiss opened the letter, she saw it was from someone named "UnclE Sheo's Packaging", with the contents just being the word "say" followed by a bunch of random letters and numbers.
Dubious, but for willing to give anything a try at this point, she said the random numbers and letters. Immediately after, all the evidence finally made sense, and Weiss knew what she needed to do next.
Ars Poetica No!
"DOVAHKIIN! I AM-"
"NO!"
"...I AM-!"
"NOOOO! NO! NO! BAD! NOOO!"
"...IF YOU WOULD LET ME FINISH-"
"SHUT UP! GO AWAY! NO! NONE OF THIS! NOT RIGHT NOW! GO. AWAY."
"..."
"..."
The dragon flew away, and Ruby calmly turned to stare at the rock embedded into a mountainside. "So you were saying something about a secret chest, Weiss?"
"...Uh..."
"Oh, wait, I think I found it! Aaaand that's a lot of stuff. Like... wow, that's a lot. Hey, uh, Yang, can you carry all of this?"
Yang did not answer because she was a bear.
"That's not a no!"
Flametusk Peacefully Chaotic
Somewhere, in one of the planes of Oblivion...
"Oh, how I wish I could have seen the look on your face when your champion stole your key," Boethiah said to Nocturnal.
"Frey is no longer any champion of mine." Came the response.
"My blade's current holder could reclaim it for you," Mephala spoke up.
"And have the guild be betrayed once that mortal has what she wants?"
"Ladies, ladies, stop fighting. You're ruining the mood! One of Skyrim's major criminal organizations is already out of a job. We don't need the other one out as well. How about a compromise instead? Take some of the lesser Daedra from here and send them to Mercer," Sanguine said.
"His idea holds merit. Let the one who betrayed you be ripped to shreds for his treachery," Said the Lord of Destruction.
"Oh! Did I miss the plans to slaughter mortals? I almost feel betrayed! But I was visiting some old friends and causing some chaos of my own, so I forgive you," Sheogorath said as he entered the room. "I also saved some kids from this other guy on the way here. The guy was almost crazier than I am, so I just took him to the Isles. He'll fit in well. Oh! And I may have sent some of the weak, pathetic, insanely destructivedaedra from this place to deal with your skeleton problem, Meridia."
Back in Skyrim...
Ruby reached the door to the final room of Meridia's temple, before the goddess spoke to her once more.
"Do not open that door if you value your life. The necromancer is dealt with. Unless you wish to face a horde of bloodthirsty daedra whose only purpose is destruction, I would suggest you keep this door closed, girl. Unless you think yourself strong enough to take them, in which case I made the wrong choice for my champion."
Ruby peeked through the keyhole, but didn't see any daedra. What she saw instead shocked her.
The room was filled with the disintegrating corpses of Beowolves, a familiar corgi in the center of it all.
Throwing open the door, Ruby put away Crescent Rose just in time for Zwei to leap into her arms.
Z. R. Stein In another, very different timeline...
Ruby's eyes snapped open.
The last thing that she remembered before she had ended up in this cart was...going to sleep at Beacon? How had she ended up here in the first place?
Ruby looked over to see her sister and her two teammates laid out beside her, all of them still asleep. Had they been captured? Oh, no, what if they were taking them away to do horrible things to them, like...like...wait-was it just her, or did the trees look...really...familiar...
"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."
"Damn you Stormcloaks... Skyrim was fine until you came along! Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell. You there, you and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants."
Ruby blinked rapidly. Border...thief...trees. She knew these lines. She knew them by heart.
"Oh...my...god...GUYS WAKE UP!"
The three other members of Team RWBY jolted awake. Meanwhile, Ralof continued talking, unperturbed.
"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief."
Gaining her bearings, Yang looked around wildly, taking in the cart, the trees, and the three men that weren't paying the slightest bit of attention to them anymore.
"Ruby...are we...in Skyrim?"
"Shut up back there."
"Ok, I don't know how we got here, or what the hell is going on, but are you sure about this plan of yours?"
Ruby looked at her sister, affronted.
"Sis, you're talking to the girl who set the Any% speedrun record for both the main questline and the Miraak questline. Trust me. We'll be back in Beacon within the hour."
Why are we stopping?"
"Why do you think? End of the line."
Yang gave her sister a look before she smiled widely.
"Alright...alright, I'm up for it. Just don't make the game crash, I don't want to consider what happens if you do."
Weiss groaned as she dismounted the cart.
"Why can't we just play the game the normal way? All this talk about crashing the game world is making me really, really nervous."
Yang waved her manacled hands at Weiss.
"Relax, Ice Queen. Ruby knows Skyrim back to front. I've played through the main questline myself. It'll be a breeze. You really want to be stuck in a video game for any longer than we need to be?"
"It's not like you know that completing the game will set us free? Why risk it?"
Ruby shushed Weiss and Yang as the character customization was about to begin.
"Who, are you?"
Ruby grinned.
"Ruby Rose, at your service! Let's get this party started!"
Less than an Hour Later...
Miraak flipped through the tome in his hand before he placed it back on the shelf that he had gotten it from. Apocrypha was an endless realm of knowledge, but that didn't mean all that much when one was searching for one specific thing. Ah well. He could find that torture spell later. For now, he had a guest to prepare for.
The Last Dragonborn. Yes, indeed, fate was coming to his doorstep soon. The Last Dragonborn would face the first; their duel would be legendary, and in their final clash, he would cast down his fellow Child of Akatosh into the tugent sea of-
"Hey Miraak!"
A succession of five searing fireballs hit the First Dragonborn in the face, instantly snuffing the life out of him.
Ruby Rose stood at the foot of the stairs, a face splitting grin on her face. Behind her, Weiss was wheezing.
"...what...the hell...how did you...even use...a bucket...like that?"
"Oh Weiss, that's a textbook wall-clipping move."
"I don't...play...video games."
Beside Weiss, Yang walked up, holding a large chest with both arms.
"I wonder if we get to take all this stuff home? I could use a pile of gold coins and gemstones."
Ruby looked back at Yang and shrugged, then turned her eyes to Blake.
"Uh, Blake. Any reason you have...that?"
Blake looked down at the Black Book in her arms and shrugged as well.
"It looks cool."
"...fair enough."
Ruby turned back to Miraak's corpse and approached it, picking up his mask.
"Well...if we're all grabbing something. Guess I'll take this. Hey Weiss, you want a tentacle sword?"
"Why would I want a tentacle sword?"
"Why wouldn't you want a tentacle sword?"
"...I think I'll just take the robes."
Ars Poetica's Werefantasy
"Alright, let's see... You were bitten by a werebear, so that's gotta factor in."
"It was more like clawed - and I got inoculated. So I should be good!"
"Yeah, no."
"Seriously?"
"And you were bitten by a werelion?"
Yang sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, that happened."
"And you drank the blood of the Companions?"
"I needed a solution."
"...And what's this about bathing in the blood of a weredragon?"
"That's a thing?"
"Alright, you know what? Screw it. You get everything."
"...Everything?"
"Everything."
-x-
"You know, things have gotten a lot easier since Yang's, uh... moment." Ruby said aloud, overlooking a castle of zombies on fire.
Weiss observed the destruction with a constipated look. "It's just... why. How? What do you even call her?"
"A flying, scaled, weremammal. On fire."
"...Huh. That actually works pretty well."
"FEAR ME MORTALS! I AM YOUR DOOM!" Yang took a moment to bathe half the already burning castle full of Draugr in another wave of fire. "HEY! YOU GUYS WANT IN ON THIS?!"
"We're good!" Blake shouted back. "...Did she hear me?"
Weiss sighed and cradled her face in her hands, "What even is this anymore? I just... I can't."
"Just let it happen," Ruby breathed as she took out her Scroll and started taking a video, "Just let it happen."
Z. R. Stein Old Friends
"Bahlaan fahdonne, I thank you for coming. It has been many years since I have had the pleasure of tinvaak with you. Come, sit, stay, and talk. It has been too long."
Ozpin saluted the elderly dragon with his coffee mug, a small smile on his face.
"It has been too long, indeed. I should visit Nirn more often. The view from the Throat of the World is always lovely this time of year."
Paarthurnax shifted his position, dislodging a small dusting of snow that had begun collecting on the crown of his head. Overhead, the lights of Aetherius twinkled, green, blue, and pink waves of energy swirling endlessly in the night sky.
"You are always welcome to my strunmah, fahdonne. Why though, have you come here today? Are you not busy with your work in the leinkren?"
"Yes, well...I can spare a moment or two to chat with an old friend. Glynda will run things while I'm gone for the day. I'm sure she'll do a splendid job, she always does. I think that you would find her quite an endearing mortal. I know I do."
Paarthunax turned one eye towards Ozpin, a rumble of laughter echoing from his throat
"Pruzah...could it be? Los rok kron naalaan vahdiin? She must be a great beauty to grab the attention of your ancient eyes, fahdonne."
Ozpin looked at Paarthurnax over the lip of his coffee mug, unimpressed.
"You know very well that I did not mean that. Romantic entanglements are not something that I engage in. I have much more important matters to devote my time to."
"Geh. As always, your mind is on your enemy. Rinik kul. It is wise to keep your guard up, especially around her."
Ozpin gently placed his mug on a rock beside him and leaned on his cane.
"The Fall Maiden was attacked...and for the first time in five thousand years, part of her power was stolen. I shudder to think of what Salem could do with the power of even one of the Maidens." Ozpin adjusted the glasses on his nose. "I still have hope though. My students this years have been...particularly promising. That is actually why I came here today, though the view and the company did sway my choice somewhat."
"Ah? F'un zuruz, fahdonne. Why have your students brought you to Vus, to Nirn?"
"It seems that four of my students may have ended up in this era. Whether by accident or by design, Team RWBY has made it to Nirn. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. I was curious if you had heard anything about them, old friend."
Paarthurnax looked up at the sky.
"I have indeed heard of this team. Hir goraan vahdiin. The one in red was on this very mountain not long ago. She spent time with Arngeir below."
Ozpin paused.
"Ah. She was called to the Greybeards."
"Geh."
"I see."
Ozpin and Paarthurnax stood in silence for a time. Ozpin sat down on an available rock to think.
"I had hoped that she would join the fight on Remnant...but if Akatosh needs her here, there is little that I can do."
"Indeed. Bormahu is not unkind though; if she survives the trials ahead, I have no doubt that he will allow her to return home."
Ozpin laughed softly.
"True. I suppose we can only hope for the best...at the very least, she should have a better chance of surviving than many others that Akatosh could have selected."
"Ah? Tell me of the Dovahkiin, fahdonne. I would know the one that I am to teach better."
Ozpin twisted his cane into the snow.
"Well then...Ruby Rose...born of Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, trained by her uncle, Qrow Branwen in the art of scythe combat from a young age. I met her one night after she attempted to stop a dust robbery by herself, at the age of 15..."
And this final one for this filler chapter of non-canonicity, a collaboration between me and Pokeman1280, who also has a fic with RWBY and dragons, but very differently.
A Dragon Rose's Scales
"At least after this the others now know to take a picture," Ruby thought aloud as they passed through the forested area. "Well, probably good for me to visit Falkreath, just in case. I should probably get familiar with all of the Holds at some point."
"It would be a good idea," Lydia agreed. "You may even need to extend your reach beyond Skyrim. We can't assume that dragons would only remain in a single Hold, and knowing the land while having amicable relationships with the locals can only help."
"Yeah, that's true. Hm, wonder what kind of epitaph would be etched inside of a place assassins would hide inside of."
Before Lydia could offer her opinion, the two heard a roar and looked up to see a dragon in the distance, seemingly coming towards them. Ruby groaned, but prepared herself for combat either way. Lydia immediately took the horses somewhere out of the way, while the young Dragonborn got herself in position. A little part of her was excited, but that part was likely the dragon souls sharing headspace with her. Another part was hoping that this dragon might actually be a friendly one for a change, or at least not murderous, like that one she heard about in the Rift that was just running his own kind of toll scam.
She probably did need to check in on that at some point though.
Having secured the horses, Lydia came to her side, and they stood at the ready as the dragon, now seen to be red, honed in on their location.
Ruby craned her neck to look past her dragon's head. Two figures stood on the ground directly where Cerise was flying. The HUD on her helmet marked them, and the weapon one of them had drawn. We got trouble? she thought to her dragon.
'I... don't know,' Cerise said. 'This shouldn't be possible.'
'I don't think word's spread that we're here. They probably think we're Morzan and his beast.'
'Maybe...' Cerise hummed in confusion.
'Cerise, we've flown over how many other people? What's so special about these two?' Ruby stretched her mind toward the two people on the ground. One of the women was expecting a fight, and was almost focused enough on that to shield her mind from attack. The other girl felt... familiar, though Ruby knew she never touched the girl's mind before. A relative of someone she had met? Did feeling minds even work like that? She'd have to ask Oromis about that when she returned to Ellesméra. There was something else strange about her mind too, but Ruby didn't want to dig any further than the surface. 'Cerise, come on. Let's find a lake or something and get back to the desert. We need to get to the mountain'
'I know but I can't shake this feeling. One of them looks like...' Cerise' ears shot up and her wings jarred for a second. She snapped her head toward Ruby, then at those on the ground. 'What magic is this?'
'Cerise, what's going on?' Ruby reached for Máni Bláto, expecting a fight.
'Gem, use my eyes.' Cerise sounded surprised, not angry like she would be during combat.
'O... kay.' Ruby settled back in the saddle and let herself be pulled into her dragon's head. Some colors faded while others popped. Their gaze was directed solely on the shorter girl. She had a curious look on her round face... silver eyes stared back at them.
Ruby jerked herself back into her own head. "What?!" she yelled in her helmet. She leaned her head off her dragon and stared at the one who got Cerise' attention. Her bionic eye zoomed in on the girl. She couldn't see it through her dragon's eyes, but the girl's hair grew red toward the tips. What looked like a folded up Crescent Rose and various ammo mags rested in open pockets. Ruby's jaw dropped. "What?"
'You took the words right out of my head.' Cerise adjusted her angle and dove for the grass a few dozen feet in front of those on the ground. Her ears stayed raised and she cocked her head. She sniffed the air, then faced her Rider. 'She even smells right.'
'Okay. This is way too weird.' Ruby freed her legs and hopped off Cerise' back, into the strangers' line of sight. Both women faced her. Both of their jaws dropped, surprised at seeing someone riding a dragon, but the older woman recovered quickly and returned her gaze to the dragon. The woman's eyes rested on Cerise' front legs, while the girl remained unmoving.
"My Thane," the woman flicked her eyes to the girl, "what do we do?"
The girl just stared at Ruby and slowly raised an index finger. "That helmet can't be made here... Who are you?"
Ruby and Cerise exchanged a glance. 'Even her voice is right,' Cerise said. There was no more doubt in their minds as to who this girl was.
'Should I show her?' Ruby asked. 'I'm pretty sure that's a big no-no in Professor Who... then again, I don't remember anything like this.'
'It's up to you, Ruby.' Cerise turned back to the strangers and cocked her head the other way.
Ruby faced the girl and brought her hands to her helmet. She pulled it off, careful not to catch her pointed ears. Both strangers jaws hit the ground as Ruby locked eyes with the girl. "I... I think I'm you."
One thing Ruby wasn't expecting was a four-legged dragon. Another was a dragon wearing something on its back. And she was most certainly not expecting anything a dragon wore on it to be a saddle with someone seated in it.
"It looks... pretty," Ruby awed at the sleek red dragon.
"It has front legs and wings. That means it can claw us and bite us at the same time," Lydia pointedly observed, her body tensed. Soon enough, the red, streamlined dragon banked down and landed a ways in front of them, saying nothing, but looking at her curiously. Then its rider hopped off and seemed to look at them.
"My Thane," Lydia asked in calmly held back fear as she seemed focused on the very dangerous forelegs of the dragon, "what do we do?"
Ruby looked over the rider, a woman going by the figure, and noticed a lot of odd things about her. Something about this person just screamed at her that she certainly wasn't from around here, but the helmet looked way out of place for this world stuck centuries behind Remnant.
She pointed up to the person's head. "That helmet can't be made here…" she realized. "Who are you?"
The woman seemed to silently contemplate this for a moment before she reached up and took off her helmet. "I… I think I'm you."
Ruby stared at the taller, pointy-eared version of herself in utter confusion, Lydia apparently frozen as a statue at the sight. The housecarl looked back at the four-legged dragon and then to the other her before going limp.
"Lydia, why is there a grown-up elf me riding dragons?" Ruby quietly asked in a great deal of confusion.
"Wait, I'm not an elf," the other Ruby objected.
"But you're all lithe and pointy-eared, like elves usually are, but you're not yellow or grey or brown either. Hey, Lydia, are some elves human colored?" Ruby looked to her housecarl and then waved her hand in front of her still frozen eyes. "Lydia?"
"Look, you- me- you." The other her winced. "I'm just elf-like. It's part of being a Rider."
"Wait, riding dragons turns you into an elf?"
"No…" the older Ruby sighed. "Cerise, help."
'All right, I'll try to explain as best as I can… You go by Ruby, yes?'
"Ohmygods! That dragon does telepathy!" Ruby gasped in quickly. "And it's a she! Lydia! We've run into the first girl dragon we've ever met! And she knows telepathy!"
'…I had forgotten how excitable you were at that age.'
"Let me get this straight," the younger Ruby started, "dragons choose their Rider, you're bonded for life, and since your bond is stronger with the elves human Riders will slowly change to look like them."
'The bare basics, yes.' Cerise nodded. 'There are a few more nuances, but that knowledge is saved for our Riders.'
The girl gestured at the Rider. "I am a Rider. I'm standing right there!"
Ruby smiled and shook her head. "It's not that simple, Ruby." 'Now I know how Weiss felt.'
'I'm sure she still feels that way at times.' Cerise winked at her Rider.
"You know Cerise, you're really pretty." The younger Ruby reached a hand for Cerise' snout. The Rider took in a sharp breath and reached a hand out to stop herself, only for Cerise to move her head closer to the girls outstretched hand. The girl touched Cerise' snout and faced the older her. "Something wrong, me?"
Ruby stared at the hand on her dragon's snout, then sighed. "I didn't know what would happen if another me touched Cerise. I don't think anyone's had this problem before."
"Has no one else pet Cerise before?" The younger Ruby ran her hand across Cerise' snout.
"The whole team has, but mainly when she was still a hatching." Ruby relaxed. "You're still RWBAY, er, RWBY, right?"
"Yeah... Was that an 'A' in the first one?"
"Yeah. Shortly after Cerise hatched, we met a guy named Aaron. He's a Rider too. I think he said something about Ozpin pulling some strings to get him into Beacon. Anyway, he ended up joining our team and now he's my second in command of the Riders. It's an old and new guard sort of thing. Then again, that's not saying much. There aren't exactly a lot of us around now."
The younger Ruby cocked her head. "How many of you are there?"
"Combat capable, four, total, six. That's... another long story." Ruby shook her head, clearing it of her depressing thoughts. "What about you? What have you been up to?"
The younger Ruby's smile disappeared and she took a few steps away from Cerise. She rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, uh, in present company, that's a little... complicated."
Ruby stared at her younger counterpart in disbelief and trepidation, the smaller Ruby twiddling her thumbs as she awaited her elder's response.
"You killed… three dragons? And… absorbed their souls?"
"I didn't mean to!" the younger defended. "It just sorta happens! I don't even know why, besides the whole 'soul of a dragon' thing. It's not like I'm the only one who can kill them or anything."
'It… certainly explains the strange defense about her mind,' Cerise told her Rider. 'If there are three dragon souls tied to her being…'
'Can you tell how they are? What are they saying now?' Ruby asked Cerise, who took a moment to concentrate.
'...They appear to be interconnected through her soul. Each one is still its own being, but they've been drawn along the same line of thought, the little one being the dominant mind.' Cerise then huffed through her nose. She has been meditating and practicing to keep her draconic side from taking over. These dragons, they're...different than the ones we know.'
'What do you mean? Different, how?'
'Just... different. More... violent and focused on strength. One of these dragons was a cruel bully, one of them akin to a brutal slaver of Dras-Leona, and the better one simply saw humans like a hunter would see particularly interesting forest creatures.' Ruby hummed to herself, grasping her chin in her hand.
"Well, you said it was only in defense right?" At the younger girl's nod, Ruby could only sigh. "Then I... guess it's understandable. Unfortunately, while I would love nothing more than to stay and help, we have our own duties to take care of. And you don't know where this Alduin dragon might be?"
"Not a clue. I think the Greybeards were planning to help me figure out how to track him down after some more training, but I need to go back to Riverwood to get the horn of Herkin-"
"Jurgen," small Ruby's 'housecarl' corrected as though by reflex.
"-and bring that back to them."
"Well, okay, let me see if I can call up the rest of the team –my team–, and we'll try to figure out what to do about this. Alagaësia is my main focus, but if this Alduin's really controlling dragons and forcing them to attack, then he's just as big, if not, worse of a problem." She then looked over to her dragon with a little smirk replacing her serious look. "Hey Cerise, think you can carry a smaller me and an extra woman for a little while."
The little Ruby gasped so quickly and deeply the older one thought she felt the air pressure in their vicinity drop. "We're going to ride a dragon!" she squeed.
"This is so awesome!" Ruby threw her arms to the side and her head back. She tried to stand in the saddle but Lydia kept her firmly in place. "How fast can you fly?"
'We've never really measured our speed while we just use our wings.' Cerise turned her head back. 'But I can say I can keep pace with a Bullhead for a short distance.'
Ruby's eyes and smile widened. "Can you show us?"
'Not with two people on my back.' Cerise flicked her eyes to look behind Ruby. 'I don't think your housecarl would appreciate it either.'
"Humans are not meant to fly on dragons!" Lydia yelled over the wind.
Cerise laughed and faced forward again. 'Another of our Riders was scared of heights at first too. My mate cured her of that quickly.'
"I am not scared of heights! I'm just used to have something solid beneath me!" Lydia's attempt at deflection amused Ruby greatly as she began to giggle.
"Keep telling yourself that, Lyd." Ruby paused. "Wait, your mate? Do you have any eggs?"
Cerise hummed happily. 'Three. I cannot wait to meet the hatchlings inside.'
Ruby bare;y contained another squee. "I bet they'll be adorable."
'Of course they will be. They're my offspring.' Cerise curved her neck back toward Ruby. 'You really are my Rider, but younger.' The dragon jerked her head to the right and toward the ground. 'It appears our flight is at an end. My Ruby is calling me.' She angled her body in the direction her head faced and dove for the ground, towards where it looked like there was a small clearing in the trees ahead.
The dragon touched down and settled on her belly, while Older Ruby knelt at the water's edge with her left hand over the water. Younger Ruby jumped off Cerise back and skipped over to the other her, happy and excited, while Lydia shakily got to the ground. "That was awesome! You get to do that all the time?" She stopped by the older woman's side. The Rider's eyes were focused solely on the water and she chanted in some unfamiliar language. Seconds later, the water swirled and turned black and purple at the same time. Ruby stepped away from the water. "Whoa. You can use magic too?"
"To answer your questions," the Rider stood up and faced her counterpart. "Yes, I get to fly Cerise all the time, and yes, I can use magic."
Ruby squealed. "Can you show me anything?"
The other her sighed and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she looked... tired, but not in a sleepy kind of way. "Ruby, I would love to stay and talk. I would love to geek out about all kinds of weapons here. I'd help you fight Alduin if I could. But we need to go back. I'm supposed to help plan an attack for what for me is tomorrow. I cast a transport spell that I thought would work and I ended up here. In Alagaësia, the Riders are expected to take point, and since I'm the head by default, I need to be the first in. We can't stay here."
Ruby slumped her shoulders. "So you're going back to Althegeesea?"
"Alagaësia, and yes, we need to go." Older Ruby stepped forward and hugged the Dragonborn. "Fair skies, Ruby. Do what you need to do."
Ruby returned the hug right away. "Good luck. Take care of Yang for me."
"I will." The Rider ruffled Ruby's hair as she backed away. Ruby swatted the hand away and older her giggled. "Sorry. Had to know how Yang feels."
Cerise hummed and stepped toward Ruby. 'May the wind be at your back, Ruby. Don't lose track of your goal.' She nuzzled her snout against Ruby's left cheek.
"I won't." Ruby hugged the dragon's snout. "I hope I can meet another dragon like you someday."
'As do I.' Cerise pulled her head away as her Rider mounted up. 'Until we meet again, Gem.' Ruby's mouth formed and 'O' as the dragon jumped into the swirling water. A second after Cerise' tail disappeared, the water returned to normal.
Lydia walked up to Ruby's side. "That was an... interesting encounter."
"Yeah it was." Ruby's excitement from earlier boiled up to the surface. "Ohmygosh! I got to ride a dragon!" She jumped in the air and pumped a fist. "The others will never believe me." Her smile disappeared as she realized something. She clamped her hands on the sides of her head. "I didn't take any pictures!"
And to close this off, I suggest any and all of you go take a look at Pokeman's fic A Rose's Scales, which is a RWBY and Inheritance (the Eragon books) crossover. Trust me, it's good. You may notice that it has two sequels, one of which is still currently in the works. Anyways, a new chapter should be out in a week or so. Until then…