Chapter 13: A Priceless Memento

Winter, Yang, and Ruby were hurrying down the corridor that led to Yang's former quarters. By some miracle they'd made it all the way there without being spotted. However, Winter feared they were spending time they didn't have. She couldn't imagine what Yang could possibly be so desperate to retrieve.

The door to Yang's room had been reduced to a half-burned plank of chard wood that was just barely hanging on to one of its hinges. Yang, clearly not caring about subtlety anymore, gave it a good, sharp kick. It popped off its hinge and fell with a thud.

Yang marched into the room. Winter and Ruby followed behind her. The walls and floors were coated in a thick layer of soot, and there was almost nothing left inside save for a few blackened timbers that had once been part of the furniture. The hole Yang had smashed into the wall was still there as well, and the serene, blue sky could be seen outside. It looked strangely out of place contrasted against the aftermath of the inferno that had raged inside the room.

"What are we looking for?" Winter asked. She was eager to be done with this diversion.

Yang didn't say anything. Instead, she swiftly walked over to about where the bed had been. She swept her foot back and forth across the floor, brushing aside piles of ash. Then she bent down and jammed her fingers into the small gap surrounding one of the floor's flagstones.

Yang lifted the stone. An indention had been carved into its underside, and a small pouch was nestled inside. Yang retrieved the pouch, handling it gently.

"What is that?" Winter asked.

"Something priceless," Yang said. She opened the pouch and pulled out a chess piece, a white knight carved from ivory.

Winter quickly recognized the piece as the one she'd given to Yang what felt like a lifetime ago. She was touched at first, but she quickly grew aggravated. She said, "Yang! Is that what we risked coming here for?"

"It was worth it," Yang said.

"How could it have been worth it?" Winter asked. "It is valuable, yes. But it can be replaced!"

"Replaced?" Yang said, sounding horrified. "This was a gift! A gift! From you! I'm a dragon! Do you know what that means to me?!"

Winter didn't actually know what the significance of being given a gift was to Yang, but she was clued in somewhat when she heard Ruby whisper in absolute awe, "She gave you a gift?"

Winter was slowly coming to the realization that her spontaneous gesture that night Yang had challenged her to a game of chess had meant far more than she'd intended it to. Had she known at the time she never would have done it. Although had she also known what Yang would come to mean to her, she unquestionably would have done it. It was reassuring to her, now that she thought about it, that there were things a human could do to impress a dragon.

Winter walked up to Yang and cradled Yang's hand in her own. She gently curled Yang's fingers around the knight and said, "If it was truly that important, I'm pleased we were able to retrieve it."

Suddenly, the blaring of a horn sounded out in the courtyard. There were two short notes followed by a longer one. Then the pattern repeated.

Ruby asked, "What's that?"

"The alarm. We've run out of time," Winter said. She briefly wondered if someone had discovered the guards she'd left locked in the dungeon. Or perhaps Captain Elm had learned that Ruby was not actually a member of the castle's staff. Whatever the case, it didn't matter now.

Yang slipped the knight back into its pouch. She said, "Let's get out of here then."

"We should—" Winter said as she turned to leave, but she froze mid-sentence. Someone was standing just outside the room, peering in through the empty door frame. And that someone was Weiss.

Weiss had an unreadable expression on her face which filled Winter with apprehension.

"Sister…" Winter said.

Shouts suddenly came from somewhere nearby, and they rapidly got louder. Footsteps echoed from what sounded like below. Winter realized that some of the castle's guards must be rushing up the stairs which were very close by. They would be there in seconds.

Weiss slowly turned toward the direction of the stairs and the approaching guards.

"Weiss? What are you doing?" Winter asked.

Weiss didn't appear to be listening.

"Weiss!" Winter said.

"Up there!" Weiss suddenly shouted. She pointed, but not into the room. "I saw them go up there! Hurry!"

The sound of boots thudding against stone got louder. Winter heard a guard shout, "Keep going up! We'll chase them all the way to the roof if we have to!"

The racket the guards were making started to get quieter until it faded into the background.

Weiss turned back to Winter.

"Thank you, Sister," Winter said. It seemed she'd been saying that a lot lately.

"You're leaving," Weiss said.

"I must," Winter said.

Weiss started walking toward Winter. She asked, "Are you ever coming back?"

"I don't know," Winter admitted.

"You promised you'd be there when I ascended to the throne," Weiss said.

"And I intend to keep that promise," Winter said.

Weiss finally reached Winter and said, "You'd better."

Winter looked at her sister. She was ashamed to admit that she'd been so caught up in trying to free Yang that she hadn't considered it might be a very long time before she saw Weiss again.

Winter threw her arms around Weiss. Weiss looked surprised, and Winter didn't blame her. Physical displays of affection were uncharacteristic of her. She said, "I'm sorry. It seems I'm once again making decisions for myself that will drastically affect you."

Weiss hugged Winter back. She said, "It's okay. It's worth it to have you as a sister."

Winter was doubting herself all over again. It felt like she was being asked to choose between Yang and Weiss. She supposed cruel circumstances had forced this on her, but that didn't make her feel any better.

It was Weiss who eventually broke the hug. She said, "You need to get going. The guards will be back this way soon."

Weiss turned to Yang. She pointed a finger at her. "And you! You'd better make sure nothing happens to Winter. Or nothing in the world will save you from me."

Yang snickered. She said, "You're definitely Winter's sister."

"I mean it!" Weiss said.

"I believe you," Yang said. And surprisingly, she sounded sincere.

Weiss turned back toward the doorway, saying, "You'll have to—"

Weiss abruptly stopped as she all but bumped into Ruby who was openly staring at her with starry-eyed admiration.

"Um…hello?" Weiss said.

"You're really pretty," Ruby said, sounding utterly entranced.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Weiss asked.

"I'm…Ruby," Ruby said like it had taken her a second to remember. "Can we hold hands?"

Weiss looked at Winter, silently pleading for help.

Winter loudly cleared her throat. She said, "We need to come up with a plan for how to get out of here. It will be difficult with the guards alerted."

"It'll only be difficult if you think like a human," Yang said. She walked over to the hole in the wall and nodded in its direction.

It took Winter a moment to figure out what Yang was suggesting, but then it came to her. The easiest way out of the castle was to fly. Winter walked over to the hole and peered out of it.

Yang asked, "Do you trust me?"

"With my life," Winter said.

Yang gave Winter a sweet smile. She took off the red cloak she was wearing. Then she said, "Ruby. The bag."

Ruby didn't respond. She was still staring at Weiss like she was a goddess come down to Remnant.

"Ruby!" Yang said.

"Huh? Oh! What?" Ruby asked, finally snapping out of it.

"Give me the bag," Yang repeated. "We're flying out of here."

"Right!" Ruby said. She handed the bag over to Yang who stuffed her cloak and pouch into it.

Winter glanced at Weiss, giving her one last look.

Weiss nodded. Clearly neither of them wanted to say goodbye.

Winter turned back to the hole and gazed down at the courtyard below. Truth be told, it wasn't very far down to the ground, but Winter still felt strangely apprehensive.

Suddenly, a bag appeared in Winter's line of sight. She turned and saw Yang holding it out to her.

Yang said, "Take this. And keep it safe for me."

"I will," Winter said, taking the bag.

"Are you ready?" Yang asked.

"No," Winter said. "But let us proceed."

Yang put her hand on Winter's shoulder. Then she tipped forward, pulling Winter out of the room with her and into the open air.

Winter's eyes slammed shut. The wind rushed past her, but then she felt Yang's hand grow to enormous size until it was all around her. The world seemed to spin and tilt, and her stomach did a somersault. The wind was still rushing past her, but she somehow failed to hit the ground.

Winter opened her eyes and was greeted by the breathtaking sight of the castle far below her. She was safely clutched in Yang's forefoot as they soared higher and higher on golden wings. It was simultaneously the most thrilling and most terrifying sensation Winter had ever felt. But she couldn't allow herself to surrender to it until she knew all was well. She looked behind her and was alarmed to see that there was no red dragon following Yang.

"Yang!" Winter shouted as loud as she could to be heard over the wind.

Yang's giant eye turned toward Winter.

"Where is Ruby?!" Winter shouted.

Yang winged over in the air and rapidly turned around. The maneuver made Winter squirm nervously, but she put her faith in Yang. Yang dove back toward the castle at a much steeper angle than Winter would have liked. But then, to Winter's relief, she saw Ruby rising up to meet them. A few arrows were flying in Ruby's direction, but she was climbing too fast to be in any danger.

Yang swooped around again, and she and Ruby started to really pick up speed. Soon the castle and Atlas were far behind them.

In what felt like no time at all, Winter saw marshlands below her, and Yang began to descend out of the sky. It was amazing how much shorter the journey had been back to Yang's lair by air rather than by foot or horse. Winter was grateful. Although flying had been exciting, and seeing her homeland from such a new perspective had been fascinating, she didn't like having to travel clutched in Yang's claws. It felt too undignified.

Yang circled around, spiraling downward. Then she gently touched down on the ground. She opened her claws, and Winter stepped out onto the marsh. She recognized where she was immediately when she saw the overlapping cliffs that hid the entrance to Yang's cave.

Ruby touched down a moment later.

"Ah. Home sweet home," Yang said in her deep, draconic voice.

"I suppose it will be my home as well for the foreseeable future," Winter said. She wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Hey. It's my turn to be hostess," Yang said. "I'm not sure I can do as awesome a job as you did, but I can try."

"I would be happy to give you some pointers," Winter said, surprising herself. She hadn't thought she was in the mood to be pithy.

Yang started walking toward the cave, and Winter followed. But a soft, strange noise caused her to stop. She asked, "Do you hear that?"

Yang stopped as well. She said, "Yeah. What is that?"

The noise almost sounded like muffled screaming. Winter looked around, and Yang did too. Both of their gazes came to rest on Ruby who was hunched over on her hindlegs with her back to both of them. She appeared to be staring at something she had clutched in her forefeet.

"Ruby?" Yang asked. "What are you holding?"

"Nothing," Ruby said, her deep voice contrasting with her childish tone.

"Ruby…" Yang scolded. "Drop it."

"It's nothing!" Ruby insisted.

"Drop it!" Yang said.

"Oh, fine," Ruby said dejectedly.

Ruby turned around. There was a pair of human legs sticking out from her closed forefoot that were kicking frantically. Winter could now very clearly hear the muffled screaming of whoever Ruby was holding.

Ruby opened her claws, and Weiss popped out. She scrambled backward, shouting, "Keep your hands off of me you monstrous brute!"

"Weiss!" Winter exclaimed in alarm. "What happened?!"

"I was watching you leave when this foul creature…!" Weiss fiercely pointed at Ruby. "…snatched me off my feet with her claws!"

"You kidnapped my sister?!" Winter shouted at Ruby.

Almost simultaneously, Yang shouted, "You kidnapped a princess?!"

"Sorry…" Ruby said like a child who had been caught trying to eat her dessert before supper. "She just looked so pretty, I had to take her with me."

Winter's mouth was agape in complete disbelief. She had no idea what to do or what to think. She was only shaken out of her stupor when she heard a low rumbling behind her.

Winter turned around and saw Yang desperately trying not to laugh.

"I'm not sure what you find so amusing about this," Winter said.

Yang lifted her wings once, the equivalent of shrugging her shoulders. She said, "Well I guess it is true after all. Dragons really are always trying to kidnap princesses."

Author's Note: This was a shorter chapter, but I hope it was still a good one. As I said last time, tacking it onto the end of Chapter 12, as it was originally written, would've just made Chapter 12 too long.

I think a dragon, a creature that's archetypically defined by its greed, would value a gift above anything else. Specifically, a gift given willingly, not out of fear or adoration or to curry favor. Basically what I'm saying is that Winter giving Yang that chess piece was probably the most amazing thing to ever happen to her, from Yang's perspective anyway.

As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Please feel free to leave a review. And if you like what you've read, taking the time to favorite and/or follow really helps me out. You can also find me on tumblr (electronicyarn) if you want to send me a message or be notified of updates.