Author's Note: Hi again! It's Egyptian Samurai here, and I'm back with the first official chapter of this story. As you can see, I finally got around to posting this chapter, and I'm really excited to share this one with you guys. And I'll admit it, the fan-made pairing 'Red Lotus' (Ruby Rose x Lie Ren) from RWBY has to be one of my all time favorite pairings in anime history, if not my all-time favorite one from RWBY [it's actually a first-place tie with another one of my favorites, Rose Arc (Jaune Arc x Ruby Rose)]. And as always, I DON'T OWN THE HIT ANIME SERIES "RWBY" BY MONTY OUM, "INUYASHA" BY RUMIKO TAKAHASHI, NOR THE CHILDREN'S BOOK "THE DRAGON'S EGG" BY ALISON BAIRD, NOR THE ANIME FILM "SPIRITED AWAY" BY HAYAO MIYAZAKI. THEY ALL BELONG TO THEIR ORGINAL OWNERS, AND THIS IS PURELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY! THE ONLY THINGS THAT I OWN FROM THIS ARE MY THREE OC'S, PHOENIX, AND HER TWIN DAUGHTERS, VIOLA AND VIOLET! Ok then, let's sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. :-)
Chapter One: When She Wished Upon a Star…
As the final days of autumn were coming to a close, the trees finally finished shedding off the last of what remained of their multi-coloured leaves, which ranged from many different shades of red, orange, yellow, brown, and purple. The once lush, deep green grass began to wilt before a heavy, icy layer of frost covered the grounds, and soon enough, the town was under a constant cover of dark storm clouds and freezing rainfall. The thick wisps of silvery clouds were now circling the sapphire-blue sky, masking the golden sunlight, while the wind became rather cool and crisp as it gently nipped at any exposed skin. Many woodland creatures took this as a cue to either migrate to the south or to gather up as much food as they could carry with them and began to scatter around the wild in search of some decent shelter before it was time for them to hibernate. And the days grew shorter as the nights lasted longer, while thick curtains of fog began to spread throughout the community of Sylvan Lake which seemed to last for twenty-four hours straight for weeks on end. But of course for Ruby Rose, this was no different…
Ruby Rose was a young girl around fourteen years of age who had jet-black hair with its tips heavily streaked a deep blood-red that barely passed her shoulders, milky skin tone, and a pair of diamond-shaped silver eyes with a hint of icy blue. She lived in a small ordinary house, where she shared it just with her father, her older stepsister, and their loyal and lovable pet dog, Zwei. She was also close to her Aunt Phoenix and Uncle Qrow Branwen, who lived in their own apartment building downtown of Edmonton with their two daughters, Viola and Violet. The Xiao Long family was of German and Hungarian descent, although Ruby's mother, Summer Rose, was the only one who was of Oriental ancestry and grew up somewhere off the warm, sunny and sandy coasts in East Asia. Ruby also heard a countless number great stories and tall tales from all over the world, specifically ones that originated from the ancient and modern times of Japan, from her father and stepsister, which have fascinated her for as long as she could remember and still capture her wild and vivid imagination today. And according to her family and those who know her, they described Ruby to be very innocent, free-spirited and child-like, and of course somewhat naïve for a girl her age.
One day, as the season of fall was slowly dying away with the warm, gentle breeze, Ruby was perched upon a swing with her hands tightly gripping the chains that held her up. She was bundled up in a light purple t-shirt, a crimson-red hoodie, navy blue jeans, and a pair of jet-black converse sneakers, and there was a set of black and red headphones that sat over her ears. She heavy sighed at herself as she gazed off into the distance with a blank look on her face while loud music blasted from the headphones, filling her ears. Her pet dog, Zwei, was a big husky covered with a thick coat of black fur and had a pair of dark brown eyes, sat patiently next to the swing set staring up at the silver-eyed girl, eager to find a way to catch her attention. Ruby slowly pumped her legs back and forth repeatedly, and felt herself soar through the air as the wind lightly tousled her short, black and red locks. After a while of doing so, she jumped off of the swing and she landed perfectly on her feet.
She glanced at the black and silver digital watch that was wrapped around her right wrist, which read '1:45pm', and then back at the swing set as she called out to her pet dog, "Come on Zwei! We should get home… Don't want to keep dad waiting for us, do we?!"
Zwei quickly trotted closely towards his mistress, and nearly knocked her off of her feet when he tried to pounce on her. She then smiled brightly at him lightly stroked the top of his furry head and grabbed a hold of the olive-green leash that was wrapped around his neck. The husky only followed quickly and quietly behind the girl without the need for her to drag him along with the leash as they began to make their way home. The music from her headphones continued to blare loudly into her ears as they casually strolled their way down the streets of their hometown. Traffic lights changed from red to green an as some of the pedestrians waited for their turn to cross the streets by watching for the 'don't walk' sign to change into 'walk', while many vehicles of many different brands and colours steered down the jet-black paved road.
Ruby kept her head up while beaming and nodded back at the other civilians who passed her who briefly greeted her with pleasant smiles on their faces. As they kept on strolling along down the streets, they noticed that the bright, golden orb of sunlight had already disappeared behind the wispy, silver clouds that roamed along the early afternoon sky, which now changed from a deep sapphire blue to a light shade of gray. The girl barely heard the rustling sounds of fallen, withered leaves lightly scratching against the surface of the pathway made of grayish pavement as well as the sound of them crunching from underneath her feet. She, however, felt a sudden blast of the cool, crisp wind gently brush against her face and entire body, which made her shiver slightly and began to speed walk as she pulled the hood of her red sweater up to keep herself warm.
After what seemed to last for a lifetime, Ruby and Zwei finally saw their home come into view, and then they decided to sprint the last few paces there until they reached the doorstep to their house. The silver-eyed girl unhooked the leash from the husky's blood-red collar that was wrapped around his neck and stroked him lightly on his head again before she pushed the front door open and stepped inside. She then shut the door behind her, locked it up tight before she kicked off her sneakers and quietly slipped into the living room. She glanced all around the room in confusion, which was full so much darkness that she could barely see a thing, as she frantically search for the light switch.
"Hey… Where is everybody? Isn't dad usually home from work by now?" she muttered to herself, still struggling to find her way in the dark living room. Then, all of a sudden… The overhead lights were suddenly switched on and many recognizable voices shouted in union, "SURPRIZE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUBY!"
Ruby felt her eyes widen and mouth fall open in shock as she gasped and shrieked at the top of her lungs. Then without warning, she felt her heart rate increase as she jumped back in surprize and fell onto her back, nearly injuring herself in the process. And as she rose to her feet and dusted herself, Ruby saw her father standing off to one side in deep discussion with Aunt Phoenix and Uncle Qrow and their two girls about something, as her vision met the eyes of the many familiar faces within the room, cheering loudly and proudly. She also saw that the entire room was decorated with colourful balloons, streamers, and gleaming lights. It took a moment for her to process what was going on around her, and then she instantly remembered that today was the 24th of November.
'That's right… Today's my birthday, and I'm turning 15!' Ruby thought aloud.
The small, black-and-red-haired girl suddenly felt the wind knocked out her when a strong pair of arms wrapped around her small frame, trapping her in a giant bear hug, and she realized that she was being tightly embraced by no one other than her older stepsister, Yang! Ruby then felt the smile on her face spread wider across her face as she returned the hug to her sister with just as much strength.
"Happy birthday, little sister! Having a good day so far?" Yang asked.
Yang Xiao Long was a girl around sixteen or seventeen years old who was nearly half a foot taller than Ruby, and she had long, thick curly golden hair that reached her hips, pale complexion, and a pair of deep, violet-coloured eyes. She was clothed in a jet-black and dark lavender tank-top along with a long, bright orange-coloured scarf that was wrapped around her slender neck and a short-sleeved dark brown jacket, a pair light tan-coloured skinny jeans, and a pair of jet-black, leather combat boots with fingerless gloves over her hands to match. In terms of her personality, people often saw her as a bright, energetic yet straightforward and caring young woman whose heart was always searching for adventure and also full of endless enthusiasm, confidence and compassion for those around her. She's not only taken an interest in meeting and helping people from all over the globe, but she's also begun to formulate some plans to attend a local university up north in Edmonton in hopes of becoming a doctor.
One thing that Yang loves more than anything is travelling around the world to study the history of many unique cultures and learning to speak different languages, which was something that she inherited from her father and stepmother. She often spoke fondly of Japan in particular, especially since she got to go there more than once to help out those in need on some mission trips and came back home to share those stories with Ruby and the rest of their family.
Since then, her room has literally been stacked with large books and colourful photographs of the cities and country side of all the places that she travelled to: Japan; Hungary; Mexico; and a few others that she could list off the top of her head. Ruby often spent hours of her free time on rainy days imagining herself being actually being in a different part of the world, while listening to music and scanning the great details of the photographs and written entries of her sister's experiences that were posted to the pages of the scrapbooks. Yang was more than satisfied to share them with Ruby, even though she doesn't have as much time to spend hanging out with their family as she used to. This is mainly because of her balancing her busy schedule with working part time and staying on top of her studies. And she's also promised to not only bring something back from her most recent trip to Japan as a souvenir for her little sister's birthday this year, but she's also promised to take her there when the time comes.
"Yeah, I'm doing fine. Thanks Yang…" Ruby managed to reply before the two stepsisters finally pulled away from each other's' loving embrace.
The girls broke out into a chorus of giggling as they crossed the living room floor to join the rest of their guests at the front door. The silver-eyed girl couldn't contain her excitement, and she kept on beaming at everyone around her, and those smiled right back at her. Other than their dad as well as Uncle Qrow and the rest of his family, the rest of the individuals who were invited to the party were a bunch of teenagers that appeared around the same age as Yang or older. Luckily for Ruby, these teenagers were good friends with both her and Yang, and surprisingly mature for their age while she saw them as a bunch of older siblings who were also really supportive, understanding, and best of all, kind and respectful to her.
"Alright! Who's up for some bowling?!" Yang shouted as she watched Ruby slip her black converse sneakers back on her feet.
"YEAH! LET'S DO IT!" Everyone else shouted in union as they cheered loudly and threw a whole bunch of clenched up fists into the air.
They then burst out the front door while they divided and piled themselves inside among a group of vehicles that were parked in a straight line along the curb, before they buckled up and drove their way down to the local bowling alley. After about an hour and a half later or so, Ruby and the rest of her family and friends headed back to the house to finish off on the rest of the planned out festivities for the party. There was loud music playing throughout the entire day, and it continued to blare over the speakers of a large, black CD player that Yang brought with her to the bowling alley and on the way back to the house. While that was going on, Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby and Yang's father, snatched a digital camera and took several snapshots of everything that was going on at the party. One of the next things that everyone did for the next few hours was migrate into the basement to play some rounds of video games such as Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Lego Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolution, and even a bit of Wii Sports Resort.
By the time the clock read '6:15pm', the birthday girl and everyone else at the party hurried upstairs and into the kitchen for supper. On the dining room table were some paper plates and cups, plastic cutlery and a pile of neatly folded up napkins as well as a few other listed items. There were four tall, wide glass pitchers of Orange Crush, Coca Cola, Sprite, and Root Beer to drink, as well as three, steaming hot large pizzas from Panago (one cheese, one pepperoni, and one Hawaiian) along with some fresh, warm bread sticks that were lightly dusted with grated parmesan cheese and garlic powder. There was also a bowl of homemade Caesar salad with dressing on the side, and a dish mixed of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, as well as some buttery popcorn and crunchy, crisp potato chips.
Ruby snatched a paper napkin and cup full of Root Beer, and with one free hand, she piled up a paper plate with two slices of cheese pizza, three bread sticks, and a handful of potato chips and strawberries. As soon as everyone else grabbed their share of the meal, they all hustled back down into the basement in time to set up and start the live-action 2010 Disney movie, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" on the big screen, which left everybody in awe and howling with laughter throughout most of it. Then as soon as the movie was over, it was time to finally have some dessert and open presents, which absolute best part of her birthday in Ruby's opinion. For dessert, there was a large, silver platter of cookies, two dozen frosted cupcakes with flavours that varied from vanilla and chocolate and carrot to blueberry and lemon and black forest, plus a huge rectangular-shaped red velvet cake with fifteen multi-coloured candles on top and some Neapolitan-flavoured ice cream on the side.
Everyone's eyes widened and their jaws fell open in shock at the sight of all the treats that were placed upon the table, and then they all cheered loudly as Yang turned out the lights in the kitchen and dining room and lit the candles on the cake. Ruby felt herself grin from ear to ear and her face turn to a light shade of pink as she took a seat at the dining room table while everyone else gathered around the table to sing, "Happy Birthday" to her. Yang then carefully took the cake into her hands and carried it over to the table before she set it down right in front of her sister while Uncle Qrow and Aunt Phoenix used their cellphones as cameras to take pictures of the entire scene around them.
"Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You…
Happy Birthday Dear Ruby!
Happy Birthday to You…"
"Make a wish, little sister!" Yang smiled down upon the birthday girl.
Ruby only sighed and held her hands over her heart as she squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears that were about to pour down the sides of her face. And at this particular moment in time, now was her time to take a chance and attempt to changing anything that her heart desires into a reality. But what could she ask for? So many possibilities, and so little time. So many thoughts swam through her mind at once. Finally, after a seconds worth of silence, she drew in a mouthful of oxygen, held it in for three seconds, and she blew out all the flames on the candles in one breath. The rest of the party guests in the dining room cheered and burst out into a major applause while Yang trapped Ruby in yet another gigantic bear hug.
After the cake was divided into neat, square-shaped slices and the ice cream was dished out to everyone, the silver-eyed girl proceeded with opening presents. The gifts that she received this year were incredibly nice, and they were the following in no particular order:
She got a book series called "Maximum Ride" from Adam Taurus and his girlfriend, Blake Belladonna, two new video games known as "Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch" and "Xenoblade Chronicles" from Neptune Vasilis, and a brand new makeup kit as well as a new snow-coloured, sparkly hoodie from Weiss Shnee and her younger sister, Winter. She also got another new trilogy book series called "Divergent" from Pyrrha Nikos, a few J-Pop music CD's from Jaune Arc, and a Totoro plushy from Nora Valkyrie. As for the rest of the gifts, Ruby received a fresh bushel of bananas from Sun Wukong (don't ask why…), the complete "Faerie Tale Theater" series from Velvet Scarletina, and many other amazing gifts from the rest of the birthday girl's great friends and family.
Yet there was one particular set of presents that stood out to her: a long-sleeved, oriental embroidered robe with matching handmade silk slippers that Yang had indeed brought back all the way from Japan! She brought back something else too: a small and smooth, metallic silvery-blue stone that had a slight scaly feel to the touch as it gleamed brightly in the dim light.
"A small piece of Japan for you to keep. When I went up there for my most recent mission trip, I found this in the watery banks of the Sumida River, and the minute I touched it, I knew there was something very mysterious about it." Yang whispered in a low voice only loud enough for her sister to hear.
"Really?" Ruby glanced down at the stone that sat in the palm of her hand. As she held it up close to her face to study its fine detail, she met Yang's gaze again as she asked, "Wouldn't it be cool if this was a dragon's egg or something?"
The tall, golden-haired girl only shrugged as she beamed in reply. "I don't know, but I bet ya that if it was, the dragon itself would love you to bits…"
Ruby only beamed and blushed inwardly at the idea of having a dragon as a pet, or even better, a friend. IF only that were possible...
Later on that very night, after everyone wished her 'Happy Birthday' and bid their goodnights for one last time before they went home, Ruby helped clean up the kitchen and put the leftover food away. She then gathered up all of her presents into her arms and took them upstairs to her room before she disposed the scraps of wrapping paper and ribbon that couldn't be salvaged with the rest. By the time she was finished with what was needed to be done, she took a quick shower, and changed from her clothes into a clean pair of pajamas before she cleaned her teeth and combed her damp, shoulder-length hair. She then bid goodnight to her father and stepsister as she crawled underneath the covers of her bed while Zwei curled up right next to her, quickly falling into a deep slumber. The girl smiled down upon the sleeping canine, stroking the back of his ears and the top of his furry head as she took a moment to stare out into the dark, autumn world outside her window. She felt her breath caught in her throat as her vision came across the inky shadows the neighbouring houses casted upon the ground, the howling wind rushing through the tops of the bare trees, shaking their branches like crazy, and the navy blue storm clouds circling the black night sky. The shimmering stars appeared and began to sparkle like newly polished gemstones, as the silvery crescent moon slowly rose above the endless horizon. The sight of the outside world made Ruby sigh with content as she then suddenly spotted something up in the sky in a very long time…
"The evening star!" A bright smile spread across her face as the star itself seemed to glow like a fiery white crystal off in the distance. Ruby swiftly and silently glanced at all of her surroundings as if to make sure that no one was watching or listening to her right before she faced the window again. Once again, she squeezed her eyes shut and folded her hands over her heart as she drew in a deep breath and whispered, "Star light, star bright. First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight..."
"Evening star, if you can hear me… I know this might sound like I'm selfish but… Lately, nobody seems to have time for me anymore. Ever since my mom died, I feel as though that I almost never get to hang out with Yang or my friends as much as I would like, mainly because they're all two years older than me and graduating from school this year. Plus my dad is away a lot of the time because of his job and same with the rest of my family, and I've felt alone for the past few years trapped in middle school, even though I know for a fact that I'm not."
She paused for a moment and glanced at her surroundings again before she continued as she felt the smile on her face disappear, "What I wish for more than anything is just a friend. Someone who understands me and one that I can trust and talk to anytime, to joke and hang around with, and most importantly… Someone who I can love with all my heart and soul. I know that it doesn't sound much to you, but that's all that I want to ask for. Thank you…" She then sighed once more before she leaned back and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders before she turned out the light and drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note: Wow! Well that's all for today. I know that this one was really long, but oh well, right? Doing this was like traveling back into the good old days of my childhood. Can you believe how fast time flies? It seems almost yesterday that I read "The Dragon's Egg", and now here I am writing a fanfic inspired by it. I can't promise you on how soon that I'll have the next chapter done, since Semester Two at my school will be starting up pretty quick in the next couple of weeks. And so yeah. I apologize if some people were OOC, but I'll be sure to keep my eye out for whenever I get around to improving these chapters. And one more thing, remember to R'R, and NO rude comments please. And aside from that, I'll see you all next time and have a great night! B'Bye for now BROS! :-) *brofists and group-hug*