Rawr, everybody! It's Dragon Tuesday. As you can tell from the chapter title, this is a simple, nice chapter where nothing bad happens… Yeah, no. When am I ever nice?

Enjoy!

It was close to midnight on Yule Eve when all the members of Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN were able to meet in the common area. Weiss was the last to arrive, apologizing profusely.

"Don't worry about it," Yang assured her. "Big sis time is important. Right, Ruby?" she added, ruffling Ruby's hair.

"Yep!" Ruby giggled, swatting Yang's hands away. "I can't wait to meet her tomorrow. Anyway, who's gonna be the gift person this year?"

"I think the youngest should do it," Jaune suggested, noticing the hopeful look on Ruby's face.

"Sounds good to me," Yang said, winking quickly at Jaune.

"Yay! That's me!" Ruby zipped over to the pile of presents. "Okay, this one's to Blake from Pyrrha."

Blake accepted the present eagerly and tore off the wrappings to reveal a signed copy of her favorite book: The Man with Two Souls. "Thank you, Pyrrha! I've been trying to get my hands on a signed copy for years!" She hugged the book to her chest. "Anyone who gets hot cocoa on this will die. Painfully."

Next came Jaune's gift to Weiss, which was a simple necklace with a silver pendant that looked like an ice dragon, frills and all. "This is gorgeous, Jaune!" she gasped. "Wherever did you find it?"

"There's a guy my dad knows who has a small shop in town," Jaune explained. "He has pendants that look like all the dragon species. I had to order the ice dragon in advance, since there isn't as much of a demand for them."

"Thank you!" Weiss said, immediately putting on the necklace. She was, admittedly, unused to wearing jewelry that wasn't all light metal and jewels, but there was something nice about the simple leather string and the heavier, solid feel of the pendant over her chest.

The other gifts from the secret exchange were given thusly. Some had been easy. Neptune, for example, got Sage, and knew exactly what brand of green tea he liked best. Others, like Weiss's gift to Sun, had required a little creativity. She had eventually settled on foods such as banana bread and roasted chestnuts, which Neptune had assured her Sun would love.

She had actually tried baking the banana bread herself initially. "The oven, unfortunately, was malfunctioning," she said with a sniff.

Ruby snorted. "Is that what you call what happened?"

"Yes, you dunce!"

"Wait, is that why there are scorch marks on the wall in the kitchen?" Ren asked. "I thought Nora had tried baking something."

"Hey, I resent that!" Nora snapped.

Sun laughed. "Well, store-bought is totally cool too. Thanks, Weiss! Not many people would destroy an oven for me."

"I didn't destroy the oven…" Weiss muttered, fuming. Her expression softened a little when Blake tried and failed to suppress a snicker next to her.

After the secret exchange gifts, the teams drifted apart to give all the other presents they had bought. Neptune, as promised, had gotten Sun some warmer pajamas (light blue with little clouds on them). Sun put on the long-sleeved fleece shirt and admitted that it was pretty comfortable. He then gave Neptune a new set of riding goggles that had little wave designs inscribed on the metal parts. Neptune, knowing that this had to have cost his friend a fortune, hugged him tightly.

Scarlet got Sage inscribed leather cuffs that could be worn over a flight jacket, and Sage gave Scarlet a new red cape with gold embroidery along the edges. Mentally blaming his tiredness, Scarlet found himself kissing Sage's cheek upon seeing his gift.

Sage responded with a shy smile and a deep blush. He hesitantly wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulders, his heart thudding when Scarlet happily snuggled against his side.

Ruby was hugging Weiss, who had special-ordered a miniature Atlesian robotic dragon that had been painted to look like Storm. The tiny toy was fluttering around the common area while Ruby watched with shining eyes. Weiss had also bought a boxed set of a series Blake had expressed an interest in (in hardcover, no less), and some fireproof leather riding gloves for Yang.

Blake's gift for Weiss, she felt, was a bit humble compared to the books she had received. It was a simple bracelet with a pattern of snowflakes going across it. She had seen Jaune's necklace, and thought it would match. When Weiss's eyes lit up at the sight of it, Blake decided that it hadn't been such a lame idea after all.

Pyrrha couldn't stop staring at the wooden dragon figurine Jaune had bought her. It had been custom-made, and painted to look like Titan. She very nearly took a leaf from Scarlet's book at that moment. She smiled when Jaune opened her gift: a limited edition Pumpkin Pete plushie. She suppressed a giggle at how cute he looked hugging the large stuffed rabbit against his chest.

Ren had bought Nora a huge box of maple sugar candies. "One at a time, Nora," he warned, as she started scarfing them. "And pace yourself!"

Nora didn't listen, of course. She had bought Ren a new pink apron, as well as a haiku book. She pouted when he took the candy box away. "Hey, no stealing my present."

"You'll make yourself sick," Ren scolded. "Remember, we're spending Yule with Jaune's family in the morning."

With that reminder, everyone reluctantly gathered their presents, threw out the wrapping paper, and trudged off to their rooms.

Scarlet and Sage found themselves walking a little slower than the others. Sage's arm was still wrapped loosely around Scarlet's shoulders. As they drew close to the door to their room, which had just closed after Neptune, Sage stopped walking. When Scarlet turned to look at him, he bent down, pausing a few inches away from his friend's face, suddenly uncertain.

It took only a moment for Scarlet to realize what Sage was hoping for. His confused expression melted into a smile as he jumped up, looping his arms around Sage's shoulders and eagerly kissing him.

Sage let out a muffled yelp at the sudden contact before closing his eyes and gently parting his lips. He wrapped his arms around Scarlet's waist, easily lifting him off the ground. The kiss was warm, and a little clumsy, ending after just a few seconds. Sage looked at Scarlet's bright smile and flushed cheeks, and couldn't keep from grinning fully back.

Scarlet giggled, nuzzling Sage's neck. "You know, there isn't any mistletoe here," he noted.

Sage pecked Scarlet's cheek once before setting him down. "I know."

…..

Yule morning dawned with silvery light shining through all the windows due to the combined efforts of the snow below and the cold sun overhead. Teams RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN woke up with the dawn. Ruby, Nora, and Sun made certain of it

Breakfast was everything Nora had hoped for and more. There was cinnamon French toast smothered with frosting. There were pancakes with maple, blueberry, raspberry, butter pecan, hickory, and at least a dozen other syrups. There were chocolate chip waffles with peppermint whipped cream and pine-shaped sprinkles. There were brown sugar-glazed hams, fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon that still sizzled and popped in the serving dishes, sugared plums, and hot candied chestnuts (which Neptune confiscated from Sun until they could cool sufficiently). Hot and cold drinks were served throughout, ranging from eggnog to coffee to tea to five different flavors of hot chocolate.

The cafeteria had also been done up for the holiday season with several decorated pine trees, golden baubles in the windows, and even a giant ice sculpture of a dragon that very much resembled Ragnar.

Gifts were exchanged between family members. Ruby and Yang got custom-made leather coats from Qrow, along with saddles that had their dragons' names inscribed on the sides. Taiyang had bought them each a custom Atlesian dragon robot. Ruby's looked like Tempest while Yang's resembled Quake. Ruby watched as the two dragons flew alongside the one Weiss had given her. They also got an assortment of homemade treats that would last several weeks after Yule.

Blake and Weiss hadn't been forgotten, of course. Taiyang had brought an assortment of old books about earth dragons that he had read when Quake first hatched. Blake accepted these gladly. Weiss got special riding gloves that were lined with fleece on the inside. "Just in case Specter takes you somewhere a little too cold," Taiyang explained with a wink.

Winter's gifts for Weiss were largely practical, consisting of items like leather polish and brushes for cleaning grime off a dragon's scales. She was sitting at the opposite end of the table from Qrow, and had pointedly not said anything to him throughout the morning, though she was very polite to Taiyang.

At one point, Ruby chanced a glance under the table, wondering where Zwei was, and giggled when she saw him sitting at Winter's feet. Winter's face remained impassive as she scratched behind his ear and, after a casual question concerning the sensitivity of the dog's diet, snuck him a bit of ham.

Over at the Arc table, Jenny was in a heated competition with Nora, trying to figure out who could eat more pancakes. Ren and Joan made a futile attempt to stop them, but ultimately left them to their own devices. Johann eventually stepped in when Nora suggested drinking the syrup straight from the pitchers.

"I have to live with this seven-year-old, Nora," he said gently. "Please don't make it any harder than it needs to be."

Pyrrha was chatting with Mary and Sapphire, who were very impressed with her past as a dragon wrangler but, like Jaune, didn't show any sign of idolizing her for it.

All of Team JNPR got ornaments painted with the various colors of their dragons' elements, and boxes of homemade holiday fudge. Best of all was Jaune's present from his father: his grandfather's sword and shield, the latter of which bore the Arc family crest.

"Combat training will start soon," Johann said. "Beacon has good weapons, but it's better if you start with one of your own."

There were tears in Jaune's eyes as he tightly hugged his father, thanking him over and over again.

After breakfast, all the families took their dragons to the field and let them run loose. Joan and Silvia retired to the sidelines, where Silvia hid behind her mother, watching the dragons with wide eyes.

"She's still scared," Twiggy warbled sadly.

"The others aren't," Titan said, nudging her shoulder. "Don't be too sad." He had Jenny sitting on his back, and was strongly considering taking her back to his stall and hiding her under his bedding so that he could keep her. Jaune probably wouldn't like that… he thought with a sigh.

"I don't see Nora's mother and father," Freya noted, tilting her head. "Or Ren's, or Pyrrha's. Where are they?" She let out a wide yawn. "And how long are we going to be out here?"

Ao Guang rolled his eyes. "Come on, Freya! Don't be such a stick in the mud! Let's play!"

"No thanks. I remember what happened the last time we played."

"Hey!" Guang huffed, noticing the way Storm's wings drooped in response to Freya's comment. "Don't bring that up!"

Qrow, with Weiss's permission, was getting acquainted with Specter. He was carefully examining the ice dragon's frills and admiring the unique shape of his back spines. "Nice. Very nice."

Specter whistled proudly, fully aware that he was passing whatever inspection was occurring. "That's right. I'm amazing. Go ahead and admire me, human."

Fang groaned. "Like his head needed to get any bigger…"

Pit was staying close to Blake, one wing open and wrapped loosely around her. He noticed that her parents weren't around. They're probably in whatever mysterious place my egg came from. I wonder why Blake left that place. What was that place? He wished he could remember his hatching day better, because he knew somehow that he had been somewhere else when he had hatched, but his first clear memories were in the RWBY dorm room, before Fang, Storm, and Specter became a part of his life.

The SSSN dragons were remaining close to their partners, tolerating the occasional curious younger sibling from another family that would sometimes wander over. "No biting, Huo," Nymph cautioned.

"I'm not an idiot!" Huo snapped, digging his claws into the ground as a toddler patted his leg before being called away by her mother.

"Th-They shouldn't l-l-let the little ones r-roam like this," Zircon muttered, curling his tail around his feet. "I'm s-scared I'll s-s-step on them."

"They trust us not to," Nymph said calmly. "And we need to live up to that trust."

"Do you think our Riders will have little ones when they're older?" Nimbus asked, warbling gently at another child. "I hope so." He glanced at his Rider, who was very close to Sage, and felt a surge of satisfaction. "I bet Scarlet and Sage would have a very pretty one. Don't you, Zircon."

Zircon smiled genuinely at this and nodded, giving his Rider a fond look. There was definitely something different about the energy between Sage and Scarlet today, something good. Relaxing a bit, Zircon allowed his gaze to wander across the field. There are a lot of little humans and Faunus, he thought. And they aren't afraid. Well, except for the littlest Jaune-child, he amended, glancing toward the woman and tiny child who sat apart from everyone else. He didn't remember their names. Maybe that Jaune-child is like me. Would she like me if I went over to her?

Another child darted past his feet, and he decided to stay put. He noticed one of the other little Jaune-children wandering around. She looked at an earth dragon Zircon wasn't acquainted with, then started walking toward the edge of the field. Zircon looked toward the nearest team to that spot, and felt his blood run cold. Team CRDL.

They and their families had moved away from the larger gathering, probably due to Tornado, who seemed to be having a fit that Sky and his family was trying to hide. Growls of "Scuttling. Prey. Where's the prey? Hungry! Legs hurt. Run. Run for prey," could be heard. Mudslide was sulking under a tree. Tank was nudging the shoulder of a woman who could have been Dove's mother or older sister. Russel was patting Barracuda and talking quietly to her. It didn't look like his family had come.

Zircon watched as the child drew closer to Team CRDL. His heart stopped when Tornado, as if in slow motion, turned to eye the little girl. He watched the wind dragon's muscles grow tense. "N-N-N-Nymph!" he squeaked, starting to shake.

Nymph turned toward him, her dark blue eyes flashing with concern when she saw her brother looking more petrified than usual. "Zircon, are you okay? Do you need to-?"

"T-T-Tornado!" Zircon shouted, his eyes wide.

At the same time, Jaune saw where Jenny was going, saw Tornado's sudden change in mood, and let out a shout, running toward his sister. "Jenny, come back here!"

Tornado sprang forward with a roar. "Prey! Hunt prey!"

Everyone nearby immediately sprang into action, trying to reach the child before Tornado did. Dragons bellowed in confusion. Then, Ragnar swooped from overhead, landing squarely on Tornado, trapping the dragonet between his four paws and setting himself down so that there was enough weight on the wind dragon's back to keep him from moving.

Jenny froze, her eyes widening with terror, her mouth opening but not letting out a single noise. While Ragnar bore down on Tornado, the small human was suddenly covered by a large form that pulled her close with giant paws and folded its wings around her. A gentle warble sounded in her ear, and she started sobbing.

Jaune ran until he reached Jenny, who was now being held protectively by Twiggy. A rush of pride went through Jaune as his dragon glared menacingly at Tornado, hissing a warning. Within seconds, all the dragons of RWBY, JNPR, and SSSN ran over and planted themselves between Jenny and Tornado, even a shaking Zircon.

Tornado was thrashing underneath Ragnar. "Enemy! Crushed! Give me my prey!"

"Hush," Ragnar growled, his eyes wide and his ears flicking nervously. "Don't make this worse for yourself."

Tank was pacing back and forth, whimpering. "What did you do, Tornado? Why did you do that?"

Barracuda tossed her head, not quite sure what to think. "That one's…too small to be an enemy. She wasn't a threat. What was that idiot thinking?"

Mudslide just let out a humorless bark of laughter. "You're in trouble now."

Sky hurried to his dragon's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Settle, Tornado," he hissed, his voice shaking. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and it felt as if there was no blood in his face. "Please settle!" He was intimately aware of his parents muttering behind him. "They'll shoot you, Tornado! Do you hear me? Settle!"

Tornado thrashed once more before his Rider's voice registered. "Sky…crying?" He turned, still snarling a little. "Who made Sky sad? I'll kill what made Sky sad!" He roared loudly, then yelped as Ragnar pushed down even more.

"Settle, Tornado! Please settle!" Sky hugged his dragon around the neck, trembling as Tornado finally relaxed.

"Scared Sky? Cold Sky?"Tornado muttered, sitting down and wrapping his wings around his Rider. "Protect Sky."

Ragnar waited a minute before standing up fully again, though he didn't move away from Tornado. Ozpin had rushed over and was standing by his foreleg. The two exchanged a glance.

This is bad, Ragnar thought as he looked at the gathered people, many of whom were talking frantically on their Scrolls or herding their children away from the area. He looked down at Tornado as the poor, damaged wind dragon held onto his distressed Rider. This is very bad…

….

It took nearly an hour, and a large cup of hot chocolate, before Jenny was sufficiently calm. Ozpin stayed with the Arcs the entire time. He placed a plate of cookies in front of Jenny, commending her for being so brave, then took Johann aside.

"I'm terribly sorry about this," he said, bowing his head shamefully. "This should never have happened."

"What is wrong with that dragon?" Johann growled. "And why was it allowed outside with the others?!"

"Tornado is a bit…erratic, but he has never been dangerous," Ozpin said, though he knew he wasn't being honest. The many fights between Team CRDL and Team JNPR had exposed a very ferocious, unstable side to Tornado. But Ozpin couldn't say that. The wind dragonet's life was already in danger.

Johann was unconvinced. "I'm starting to wonder if I should have sent Jaune here at all!" he snapped. "Beacon is supposed to be the greatest dragonry on Remnant, but it seems that you're just producing runts and crazies!"

"Hey!" Jaune stood up, his eyes blazing. "Leave Twiggy out of this!"

Katie covered her ears, letting out a sob. "Stop yelling!"

Mary placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder, urging him to sit down. Johann took a deep breath before speaking in a level voice.

"I'm reporting that dragon to the Council," he said.

Ozpin bowed his head. "No need. I already did." With how many witnesses there were, it was all he could do. Otherwise, the Council could easily accuse him of negligence, and send someone to monitor Beacon at all times. And they'd surely find other dragons that didn't meet their standards…

The meeting ended with Ozpin's departure, and the Arcs sat in subdued silence for a few minutes. Eventually, Sapphire spoke up. "You know, it was pretty cool how all twelve dragons came to protect you," she said, grinning at Jenny. "At least you know you're safe whenever you come here."

Jenny looked up at Sapphire, smiling a little. "Twiggy held me till the scary dragon went away. She's my favorite."

Jaune smiled, ruffling her hair. "Mine too."

The Arcs went back to their room. Jaune met up with his friends outside, where Pyrrha pulled him into a hug. "How was it?" she asked.

"Well, Jenny's okay," Jaune said. "Dad's having major doubts about Beacon…and Twiggy. He accused Ozpin of producing 'runts and crazies.'"

"Don't pay too much attention to things said in the heat of the moment," Pyrrha urged gently. "He just saw his daughter nearly get attacked. People say things they don't mean when they're angry and scared."

"We saw your mom and Silvia walking by," Nora said, grimacing. "Silvia was looking kinda pale."

"She'll never go near a dragon for as long as she lives after this," Jaune sighed.

"As long as she lives is a pretty long time," Ren noted. "A lot can happen."

"What about Tornado?" Ruby asked. "Is he…gonna be reported?"

"Already has been," Jaune said.

"I mean, there's no way he wasn't going to be." Weiss shrugged. "Not after that."

"I know," Ruby sighed. "Do you… Do you think they'll…?"

"I hope not," Jaune said honestly. "I don't like Tornado or Team CRDL, but I don't want to see any dragon culled."

Ren thought back to his day with the aggressive wind dragon. He had been mostly terrified of being bitten throughout the day, but there had been an odd charm to Tornado and the way he was so easily distracted by shiny objects. It was like the mind of a small child had mixed with that of a savage beast, and then chose to reside within a gigantic, powerful dragon. In short, a combination doomed to fail.

Yule dinner that night was a mellow affair, even with the delicious assortment of turkey, pot roast, duck, and every vegetable cooked in every way imaginable. The Arcs in particular were nearly silent. When everyone parted for the night, Jaune shared a hug with his mom before he rejoined his team. Taiyang gave Ruby and Yang encouraging smiles as he left. Winter just nodded once to Weiss before going back to her room.

The teams went to bed early that night, exhausted from the day's events. They were unaware that one of the beds in the freshman dorms was vacant, that Sky Lark had slipped from the building and was curled up at that moment on a bed of hay with a snoring Tornado.

The wind dragon slept peacefully, unaware that anything was wrong. He had quite forgotten about the events in the field, and had been perfectly content to play with his baubles until he got tired. He had been pleased when Sky chose to sleep next to him rather than leaving like he usually did. As far as Tornado was concerned, all was right with the world.

Sky didn't sleep that night. He just stared at the ceiling of the stall, listening to his dragon's snores, wondering if this would end up being one of the last times he'd be allowed such a luxury.

So, yeah. You had to know bad stuff was going to start coming to Beacon. Canon has cursed the place, after all. But you'll notice I put Scarlet and Sage together in this chapter, so you'll at least have some shippiness to counter the angst!

If you like what you see and want to join an awesome fan community while earning sweet rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.

Peace out!