Pomp and Circumstance
If someone had told Ruby that one day she would be paying a visit to the Valean Royal Palace, on a personal escort from the Prince at that, she would've laughed in that person's face. And yet, here she was, in one of the Royal Drakes, flying towards said palace.
Jaune didn't go into detail, but for some reason, his father wanted to meet his friends. Ruby had no idea why, and frankly, found the notion just as uncomfortable as Jaune apparently did. She was a country girl from Patch, and now she was going to be meeting the King of Vale face to face? Ruby could only wonder what her own dad would say to that. To be honest, though, Ruby could barely think about it, as she took in the feel of being on one of the royal airships.
Ironically enough, while the rest of the group was enjoying the luxuries of the royal transport, the actual royal was hunched over in his seat, groaning from motion sickness. But, to be perfectly honest, Ruby wasn't really paying close attention to him, she was too taken by all the features of the ship. This particular ship was lined with big plush sofas, with a stocked fridge, which the group pretty quickly emptied by the teams. The only one who seemed mostly indifferent to this was Weiss, and Ruby could imagine why. It was a shame that the flight from Beacon the palace was so short, because she could've been going through these sorts of things for days.
The first thing they crossed over was an airfield of sorts, where various airships were docked; these were likely the private fleet of the royal family. It was long after that the palace came into view. Though there were a few, less ornate buildings off to the side, which Ruby suspected was where the servants and guards stayed, the palace itself was a sight to behold; made of green stone, it was divided into two spread wings, both of them massive. The area behind it seemed to be dominated by a massive garden, with villas, gazebos, pools, and fountains.
"It's huge!" Nora said, her jaw scratching the floor, as she and the others stared out of it.
"It's almost as big as the Schnee Manor," Weiss said, and after getting some looks from the others, she quickly added, "I mean that as a good thing; frankly, the manor at times could get rather overwhelming."
"I'd hate to see just how big it is then," Jaune said steadily, as he managed to boost himself, "Considering how big this place at least." Soon enough, the Drake touched down, as the doors opened, revealing a line of servants dressed in uniforms flanking the entry way.
"Welcome back, Your Highness," all the servants said, bowing as one. Ruby could see Jaune just roll his eyes, as he disembarked, still rubbing his stomach.
"His Majesty sends his apologies for not being here personally," one servant said, coming up to them, "He will be awaiting you in his study when you are ready."
"That's fine," Jaune answered, letting out an exhale, "Is anyone else here?"
"Her Majesty the Queen is away on business, but they're Highnesses, the Princesses are all here." Hearing that made Jaune groan, and Ruby had a good sense as to why; growing up with one big sister was crazy enough, she couldn't imagine growing up with seven.
"Hey Jaune!" Ilia said, stepping forward, causing the prince to look back at her.
"If it's alright with you, Em and I are going to head back to the barracks," Ilia said, jerking her thumb in a different direction, "Just a few things we'd like to do while we're here."
"Go ahead," Jaune said with a nod, and after his guardswomen left, turned to the group, "Well, follow me, I guess." With that, the group started hiking up the steps, away from the landing area, and towards the palace.
"This place is so big," Nora said, "Where do we even start?"
"Why not in the entrance?" Jaune said, as he gestured towards the palace itself.
As they made their way through the front gardens, the group passed by a towering statue of Jeanne D'Arc, the first queen of all Vale, and Ruby found herself stopping. Ruby remembered reading about her when she was young (or younger as Yang would insist), and Jeanne was honestly one of the few historical people Ruby really remembered. The fact that she did so much just to help people resonated with Ruby, and she'd go so far as to say that Queen Jeanne was among her personal heroes in that regard (that weapon of her's was really cool too).
"C'mon Ruby!" She heard Yang call, and Ruby hurried after the group, as they made their way up to the stairs and through the doors. Ruby couldn't help her jaw dropping at the sight of the massive entrance hall. The floors were made of marble and there were two massive, velvet staircases that wrapped around to the second floor. In between the stairs was a massive portrait of a man with flowing blonde hair and a blonde beard, dressed in ornate armor, carrying a sword that looked a lot like Crocea Mors. Ruby suspected that was meant to be King William.
"Well, look what the Sabyr dragged in." Everyone looked up, to see a woman who looked to be in her twenties sliding down the railing, before dropping down to the floor. She had the same blonde hair as Jaune, though her's was actually shorter, and spikier. She was wearing a green t-shirt with khaki shorts, and a tattoo of a King Taijitu around her right arm.
"Hey Jade," Jaune said with a sigh. The woman dropped down to the floor, and strode up to Jaune.
"Way to completely forget about us, little brother," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "We expected you to stay in touch while you were at Beacon."
"I'm sorry," Jaune said, "I've just been busy. School-" He couldn't finish as with a yelp, the prince was placed in a headlock by the woman.
"I am now obligated to fulfill my role as your big sister, and penalize you," she said, as she gave Jaune a noogie. This went on for a while, as the rest of the group couldn't help but stare.
"Should we do something?" Pyrrha asked.
"Nope!" Nora said with a grin. Hearing their voices caused the woman to actually pause and look up at them.
"Where are my manners?" She said as she finally let Jaune go, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, bro?"
"Everyone, this is my sister, Princess Jade D'Arc," Jaune introduced as he rubbed his neck.
"What's up?" Jade said, holding up her hand with a big smile. Ruby actually recognized that name; Jade was the 3rd Princess of Vale, and sometimes appeared on the news having participated in some kind of competition or sport. She was also known to have been a reserve member of Vale's Royal Army.
"Your Highness," Weiss said, curtseying slightly. Ruby saw the princess visibly roll her eyes at that.
"Well, I was going to start with showing them the gardens," Jaune said.
"What?" Jade asked, "That's no fun at all. You have the whole palace to play in, why not see something cool?" That's when a thought seemed to come to her, and a sly grin appeared on her face, one Ruby had seen on Yang time and again.
"Who wants to see my baby brother's room?" She announced.
"Jade-"
"Count me in!" Nora said, "And Ren will come too!"
"I will?" Ren asked, only to be ignored.
"Sounds more fun than wandering through a boring garden," Yang said. For her own, Ruby actually kinda wanted to see the gardens, but had a feeling her own sister would probably drag her there by the hood. Meanwhile, Jaune seemed to put up remarkably little protest with that, as he just sighed.
"Alright," he said, before looking to Jade, "Once they're done, can you just bring them to the throne room? Then I'll take them up to see Dad."
"Sure," the 3rd Princess said with a nod, and then looking at the group, "OK! So who wants to come help me embarrass my baby brother?"
(|) (|) (|)
"Well, who does want to see the gardens?" Jaune said, as he looked at the other members of Team JWPB, once Team RYNR was gone.
"Oh!" Pyrrha said, "That sounds wonderful!"
"That would be nice," Blake said.
"I think that would be lovely," Weiss said, with an affirming nod. And with that, the four of them started their way through the halls.
"I have to say, though," Pyrrha said, "Your sister seems like a handful."
"Like I said, you get used to it," Jaune said with a chuckle, "You kind of have to when you're in my position."
"You told me you had a sister too, right?" Pyrrha asked, glancing at Weiss, realizing she didn't know much about her partner's family, beyond its reputation. It was a subject Weiss was clearly uncomfortable talking about, and while Pyrrha always tried to respect those boundaries, that didn't mean she wasn't curious.
"Indeed," Weiss answered with a nod.
"Don't you have a brother too?" Jaune asked, looking back. Upon hearing that, Weiss suddenly stopped, as an unreadable expression worked its way onto her face.
"How did you know that?" the heiress asked steadily.
"Well, we've gotta keep up with the important families in Remnant here in the palace," Jaune said, "Just ask Blake."
"I didn't know you had a brother," Pyrrha said, looking at a partner, "You never told me."
"It... never came up," Weiss said, before she cleared her throat, kept walking (visibly picking up the pace) and asked quickly, "This way to the gardens?" Getting the message, Pyrrha made a mental note to maybe inquire about that in the future.
The group kept walking through the vast palace halls, some of them lined with extravagant portraits, statues, or tapestries, along with the occasional suit of armor. The sounds of their boots echoed through the halls, which created an ominous echo.
"I'd definitely get lost in a place like this," Blake said, making Pyrrha glad to have the heavy silence filled.
"No kidding," Jaune answered, "I was finding rooms I've never been to when I was still eleven." As he said that, they came upon two large sets of doors, framed by a pair of uniformed men. As Jaune approached, the both stood at attention, opened the doors, and bowed to the prince. With that, the team emerged out of the palace, into the gardens.
The sight made Pyrrha's jaws drop all the way down to the ground. It was a near endless sea of green, extending out as far as the warrior could see. From the highpoint they were at, Pyrrha could also see crystal blue ponds and lakes dotting the area. There were small pavilions and even some small bungalows.
"It's... amazing," Weiss said.
"My family says if you're going to blow money on something, at least have that something be beautiful," Jaune said, smiling as well as he came up behind them, and gestured, "Shall we?" With that, the group descended the stairs to tour the gardens more properly.
(|) (|) (|)
It didn't take too long for Yang to conclude that she didn't like the palace. Everything seemed to be big just for the sake of being big, as if the royals were secretly giants in hiding. The halls were also mostly empty, with not much more than portraits, statues, or standing suits of armor every so often. Occasionally, the group would pass a servant or a guard, who would step out of the way, and bow to Jade, who would nod to them, after which they'd continue their work.
"Damn," Yang muttered to herself; maybe she should've gone to tour the gardens with JWPB.
"I'm surprised he was alright with us going to his room on our own," Ren commented, and Yang had to admit, it was strange. Growing up, she didn't like Ruby going into her own room without permission (honestly, she still didn't), and she had wondered why Jaune wasn't putting up more a fuss about this. As the group kept walking, they came upon a maid, who was dusting off a vase. Upon noticing Jade she stepped aside, and curtseyed low.
"Your Highness," she said. Jade just nodded to her, and the maid quickly resumed her work.
"You've got a lot of servants here," Nora said.
"Yeah, we do," Jade said, "Makes things easy, but Dad always says we should try doing things for ourselves when we can. Teaches us independence."
"And yet you feel the need to have them greet you whenever you come in," Yang found herself muttering, apparently louder than intended, as she felt Ruby elbowing her. Yang looked up to see Jade looking at her frowning.
"Uh…," Yang said, trying to think of something to say, only for the green-clad princess to just laugh.
"Oh that?" She said, "That was just a prank I decided to pull on Jaune."
"Really?" Ruby asked.
"Of course, you think we're one of those families that need constant reminders of our status," Jade said, "My family has a saying that real power and authority doesn't need to throw its weight around."
"Your family seems to have a lot of those," Ren said.
"They come in pretty handy," Jade said, "Now come on, let's keep moving." The group kept going, before eventually coming upon one door in particular.
"Alright, let me make something clear right now," the princess said as they came to a stop in front of said door, "My name is Jade. It's not 'Princess' or 'Your Highness', it's just Jade plain and simple."
"I understand," Ruby said politely.
"Whatever you say," Yang responded.
"Loud and clear," Nora said, with Ren nodding in agreement. With that, Jade pulled open the doors, and they entered into their friend's room.
"Here it is," the princess said, holding up her arms, "Where the magic happens." Honestly, while Yang hadn't known what to expect, she was still a little taken by how simple it was. The primary feature was the king-sized bed in the center, which Nora quickly plopped down on, along with a few small tables and armchairs. The window looked over the gardens, and was framed by a huge set of curtains. The walls had some posters on them, and a couple pictures, but that was about it.
Yang also took note of a little stuffed dragon, which made a mental note to tease Jaune about when she got the chance. Though she supposed she shouldn't be too judgmental; Ruby had kept her own teddy for the longest time. Speaking of which, Ruby ran over to a massive TV in the corner, which was surrounded by DVD and game cases.
"Oh my gods!" Ruby said, "He has the GX-6! That's not supposed to come out for months!"
"How'd you get a hold of that?" Yang asked as she joined her sister.
"Every time a new game or gaming system is produced, the company always sends copies to us first," Jade explained as she walked over as well.
"Wait, you get this stuff automatically?" Yang asked. Her tone must've been harsher then she meant it to be, as the princess eyed her, before nodding.
"We don't ask for it, they just send it to us automatically," Jade said, "It's their 'tribute to the monarchy'. We mostly donate them to charity."
"Mostly?" Ren asked.
"We do… sometimes keep one or two," Jade said, with an embarrassed smile, as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Can't blame her for indulging in a little royal privilege," Nora said. While Yang wanted to disagree, she had to admit that if she was being fully honest, she probably would've done the same thing they were doing. Maybe she had more in common with a princess than she first thought.
"I wonder if Jaune will bring us here again," Ruby said, "I've gotta play some of these games."
"Hey, if you want one that bad, I can get one for you," Jade said. An excited look lit up Ruby's silver eyes, but they dimmed slightly as she caught Yang's disapproving look.
"Maybe next time," the red-clad girl said.
Note: Finally got this done. I've been busy with real life stuff, to include finally publishing my novel. You can find the link to my Amazon page on my profile.
I considered putting in a more detailed scene of them going through the gardens, but I thought it didn't serve much broader purpose in this particular chapter. Though, at any rate, I based the Valean palace gardens on a combination of the Versailles, and Kensington Gardens.
Be sure to leave a comment, and thank you all so much for the over 900 followers. With RWBY's future in doubt right now, these fanfics can be a good source of solace.