Yang Xiao Long
"I hope she's alright..."
"Yang..." Blake glanced over at her, she had been growing more and more worried since last night... but Blake had managed to keep her home till now. They were on there way to Ruby's workshop, they could already see the building.
"Oh who am i kidding... she's probably really upset..."
Blake sighed. "I'm worried about Ruby too... but can we please talk for a second?"
"There isn't anything to talk about." She tried to brush it off dismissively, but Blake wasn't having any of that.
"Yang-" Blake grabbed her hand and squeezed it, stopping her walking and forcing Yang to freeze as well. "You nearly died last night!" Yang looked away.
"Look i... i know its bad..."
"Bad...? Bad?? Yang. Last night, you could have never come home!"
"Can... can we please talk about this later...?"
Blake shook her head.
"If you want to help Ruby, you have to make sure you can first." Yang winced.
"I'm not doing that bad." Blake raised there conjoined hands and pointed to it with her other one... Yangs arm was trembling. "Ok point taken..."
Blake let out a sigh and moved closer, gently cupping Yangs cheek and pressing there foreheads together.
"Tell me what your thinking right now." It was a sentence they said all the time.
In any relationship, no matter the context, sometimes you needed to offer your help, sometimes you needed to offer advice... and sometimes? You just needed to listen.
"I'm thinking... that last night I wasn't strong enough... last night I couldn't protect or help anyone... I had to get saved... and... I need to help Ruby now... to make up for that..."
"And to make up for my mistake..."
If she had just figured out what was on the wall a second earlier...
"It's not your fault Yang. But I know saying that won't help... so let me say something else." She stared straight into Yangs eyes and smiled softly. "You just being you is enough. There are some things we just can't do in this world... not alone. If it's ok for you to want to help Ruby now... why isn't it ok for someone else to help you?"
"Because... I'm meant to be the strong one...I'm meant to be able to protect all of you..." Blake sighed gently.
"Thats not you talking Yang." The blonde looked away... she didn't want to think about that day but... her promise to Sun was still burning in her mind, even all these years later.
"I cant let any of you get hurt... and I... I messed that up."
"I don't think your promise to Sun extended to Ruby." Blake smirked softly and Yang chuckled weakly.
"Maybe... but it's the thought that counts." Yang turned to the building ahead of them.
"Please... let me in." Blake leaned her head on Yangs shoulder... and the blonde sighed.
"I... I'm still shaken. All i could think about when I was... dying...-" Blake squeezed her hand tighter. "Was our family... you... Sun... Celica... and Ruby..." She closed her eyes. "You're all more important to me then missions... then being a Hunter... and... i think i need a break from it." Blake nodded and turned her head, kissing Yangs cheek softly.
"Then that's what you'll get. Trust me. I can handle the missions for as long as you need. It's not like we're running low on money anyway." Yang couldn't help but let out a snort as they finally continued towards the building once again. "So how long do you think you'll need?"
"A while... like... maybe around a year or so...? To be honest... i kinda want to-" A loud crackling of mana rang out before a shock wave of force erupted from there destination... there exact destination.
Yang and Blake had both reacted defensively as soon as they heard the sound and saw the following explosion. Looking up at the now destroyed remnants of the workshop, there were small amounts of crystallised mana spread across the ruins of the walls, the newly formed Dust was made up of tiny, near colourless shards. The rest of the now destroyed walls was either launched into other nearby buildings, or rubble on the street.
"An explosion that formed Dust residue...??" Blake stared with shock and it took a moment for the more important detail to click in Yangs mind.
"Ruby was in there...!"
"Ruby-!" Yangs scream was interrupted by a much different noise. A sudden surge of pressure filled the air as there ears burst into violent ringing. They both screamed as they covered there ears, but neither there hands pressing against there heads nor there screams could do anything to lessen the power of the sound that was bursting through the street.
Only after a few seconds did the sound start to fade and drop in intensity, and only once it had could any details about it besides the pure volume be discerned... as they moved there hands away from there heads... it sounded like...
"A roar...?" Yang looked up at the ruins of the workshop once again... it had definitely come from in there... wait... she could see a figure inside! It was dark in there... but... the figure was giganic. It's pure size was filling the whole Workshop, and was probably spilling through the interior walls to fit inside... then it disappeared in a flash.
Something burst from the workshop and slammed into the building just across the street. The gigantic shape splattered against the wall and burst into an uncountable amount of rose petals, each one writhing in the air and following an invisible wind, thrashing around and moving as three individual storms of mass.
They each bounced around the street for a while, slamming into windows and leaving cracked glass behind as they moved from one spot to the next, bounding around as if randomly... before they settled, meeting in the centre of the street and forming into a large shape again. The petals melded back into the gigantic form of... something, they couldn't tell, the storms of petals from earlier had kicked up so much dust and smoke into the air that it was difficult to see.
Two large wings unfurled from the dust cloud, each one featuring a large five clawed hand at the apex of them. The scales lining the actual limb of the wings were a beautiful solid red, and the leather that made up the membrane of the wing was a mixture of flowing dark crimson and blood red.
They didn't see the figure move or even disappear at first, they simply felt the wind pressure produced from the wings flap as it took flight, shooting straight into the air. They both raised there arms in front of them and blocked there faces as the dust cloud was blown back from the force. They were left blinded temporarily from the pressure, unable to open there eyes for fear of damaging them. Once they felt there hair and clothes settle down as the wind pressure died, there eyes blinked open.
All that was left behind was the damage it had done to the street. The pressure from its claws in the road had caved it in at four places, and it's take-off had shattered all the windows in the surrounding buildings. There was damaged stone and wooden beams in those same structures, the weight behind the slamming earlier apparently enough to do some damage.
Far in the distant sky they could still see it. A blot of red against a clear blue sky. They could see the creature... no... they could see the-
"Dragon..." Blake mouthed out with disbelief.
"Was that...-" Yang didn't have to finish the sentence... it had come from Ruby's workshop... so... it must have been...
"It was." Blake smiled as she kept her eyes on the distant creature. The beautiful red Dragon was soaring through the blue sea above them... and she already knew where it was going.
"Hey Blake...?"
"Yeah?"
"I wanna have another kid." Blake nearly fell over.
Ruby Rose
What is freedom?
Is it the chance to do whatever you want?
The funding or power to achieve all of your goals?
The happiness you feel when you're with others you love and cherish?
Ruby had never thought about it... she had never questioned what freedom was... and she had never tried to. What was the point?
She never believed she wasn't free so... why question what it meant?
But... up here? Feeling the wind brush past her scales... feeling the air heave and cave to the beat of her wings... breathing in the clouds that few others could reach...
Perhaps it wasn't what freedom was... but it was the only way she could think to describe it.
She felt free.
She didn't feel stressed or worried about the events that would play out today... she just... knew it would be ok.
Her lack of confidence... her worries about life... they had all disappeared once she had finished the ritual. Once the power had coursed through her veins and forced her to transform... she stopped worrying.
Stopped worrying about Weiss being married today... stopped worrying about what she would do with the rest of her life... even stopped worrying about being a Hunter, which she hadn't even realised she'd been stressing about!
She could be a Hunter. She felt so powerful right now... she knew it would be fine.
Her life? Who cares. She had forever to work out what to do, she'd think of it later.
And Weiss? The wedding?
She was going to handle that right now.
Weiss was hers. She had never thought of the Princess like that before but... it was one of the only things she could think of right now.
She let out a sinister growl as her eyes focused on the cathedral ahead of her.
"And no ones going to get in my way."
Weiss Schnee
This smile was going to kill her.
She was holding a bright expression filled with as much fake life as she could muster. The sparkle in her eye felt more like the last flickers of her dying soul... but she was sure it would do the trick. It only had to fool Jaune after all.
"Just a little bit longer... once I make it through this... the reception is next... and I can drink until I forget about everything..."
She was sure that by the end of the day that she would understand her mother on a spiritual level.
Finally... the priest was nearing the end of this stupid speech...
"I now pronounce you, Man and-" He stopped when he heard a noise...
Pyrrha had drawn her sword...?
Weiss looked over and felt a singe of excitement at the idea that the Amazon was actually going to run her through... but no such luck, she had turned around and was staring out the window behind Jaune. Weiss heard Winter draw her sword from behind her, then felt a chill emanating from that same direction... had Winter transformed..?
"Ms Nikos-!" Winter yelled but was interrupted by Pyrrha transforming. She noticeably grew In bulk causing her dress to rip and tear in certain places, the parts of her body with exposed skin appeared to be covered in tribal tattoos... what's more... her body started leaking out with an overwhelming presence... was she using the power of Conquest...?
"I know... but... what is it...??" They were both staring out the window and Weiss's curiosity got the better of her. She leaned to the side to peak around Jaune, who had also turned to look.
She didn't see anything... what were they-
A crash of wood, stone, and the shattering of glass interrupted her thoughts. They all snapped to looking down to the opposite end of the aisle and-
Something had crashed through the window... well, the wall as well, it had been too big to fit through.
It was simply standing there, having landed from flight she assumed... it's wings were enough of a give away that it had flown here... It was still standing side on, staring at them. It's tail nearly sticking out of the hole in the wall before it curled around.
With a rough guess... this creature must be at least thirty metres in length from tail to head... It had beautiful red scales that Weiss could only describe as the purest version of the colour. The whole cathedral had already smelled of roses but... that smell had gotten a lot stronger now.
Six limbs counting the wings that clearly doubled as a set of powerful arms. The tail didnt look prehensile so Weiss didnt count it... but that didnt mean it didn't have good control of it.
Its teeth remained unbarred. It showed minimal aggresion for now... but that just made everyone in the room anxious. This creature gave the term 'apex predator' a new meaning simply by existing in there presence. It's sight hadn't budged from the altar... from where they were standing... no... it was staring straight at Weiss, unblinking.
It had slitted, deep and beautiful Silver eyes, that glowed with a gorgeous light.
Weiss had only heard her father speak of the Rose Dragon once. But she wasn't a fool... she could gleam an understanding of what the creature in front of her was.
And she knew what that meant. There was only one person in the world who could possibly have the whole Dragon Formula. She only knew of one living member of the Rose bloodline. She didn't know of many people with Silver eyes and...
Combining all three of those conditions left only one person.
Tears welled in her eyes as she stared at her... because she knew this creature was a her now.
Hope returned to her soul once again.
"Ms Nikos..." Winter's words were barley a whisper, it had been the first sound to come from anyone since the Dragon had burst in. Not even the seated guests had dared make a noise or scream.
"Focus on getting everyone out of here..." Pyrrha replied as she stepped forward, readying her blade.
"Can you even-"
"Currently I can. It's physically in a complelty different league from me... and if it had full mana, it would only have slightly less then me..."
" 'If' it had full mana...?"
"It's Primary mana pool is empty. It's running only off of its secondary right now, which means for now... i can definitely beat this thing."
"It's leaving its soul complelty exposed..." Winter's words did nothing to hide her shock.
"I don't believe it's an experienced fighter... it would be keeping its mana tank hidden if it had any training whatsoever..." Pyrrha took a deep breath and her heels dug into the ground as she readied a leap... she was planning on fighting in her dress.
"Wait-" Weiss went to stop her, but she felt a tug on her shoulder, turning to look at whoever had touched her, it was-
"Jaune...? He's trying to get me to safety..."
"Weiss we need to-" She didn't see what happened next.
The Dragon had moved... she realised that. But... so much had happened in a mere instant, then the cathedral had seemingly frozen again.
A smaller version of the Dragons wing claw was now inches away from Jaunes face... like it was trying to grab him. Only Pyrrhas blade between the claw and Jaunes face had stopped the attack, the blade had sunk into the scales by about an inch, and blood was slowly trickling onto the floor.
Weiss felt a cold breeze from behind her, and she dared to slowly turn to the Aisle.
Winter had moved to be next to her, and had swung at the figure that was now standing right in front of Weiss. Unlike Pyrrhas blade, the other wing had easily blocked Winter's strike without taking any damage.
Rose petals drifted from down the aisle, from where the Dragon had previously been, and melded into its now human like body... it's half form, rather then it's full one.
"So that's why they stopped..."
Winter and Pyrrha could recognise who it was now. They could see her face.
Her body was slightly bigger then normal, but her adorable face remained nearly unchanged besides the now slitted Silver eyes. She had red horns protruding from her head, and scales wrapped around most of her body, covering everything below her neck, though it resembled armour more then the hide of a creature.
Weiss wasn't actually sure if she was wearing clothes... and where was her cloak...?
She decided that didn't matter for now.
Ruby's eyes were focused on Weiss's own with a soft and... loving stare.
"Is It too late to say I object?" Her voice was barely a whisper and full of a confidence Weiss had rarely heard from the girl.
She felt tears well in her eyes as she shook her head quickly. A smile couldn't help but creep onto her face as she stared into those Silver pearls again.
"No... it's not."
Ruby's wings slowly retrated to behind her and Weiss watched as the claws settled onto the girls shoulders before... melding into her. The claws became almost like decorative armour in appearance and the wings had changed into a cloak like shape. It resembled Rubys own cloak, only it was made from the same material as the leather parts of her wings.
"Ruby...?" Jaune whispered out in disbelief. Rubys eyes darted to glare at Jaune and Weiss heard a low rumbling come from the girl... was she... growling...?
"She tried to attack Jaune too... she's being really aggressive..."
Weiss slowly reached out her hand and cupped Rubys cheek gently. The Dragons gaze immediatly turned to Weiss and softened just as quickly. Weiss couldn't help but smile brighter as she felt Ruby's head lean into her hand.
"Ruby? Can you transform back for me?" Her voice was barely a whisper, she was trying to calm the girl down but... it didn't seem like she needed to.
"Will you be alright if I do?" Ruby's eyes flickered to Pyrrha and Winter. Weiss gave a small nod and Ruby let out a gentle sigh.
The cloak returned to normal first, almost an identical red to that of her scales, before the rest of her body followed suit, shrinking slightly and losing its scales.
Her eyes blinked to normal and her horns vanished in a flash of rose petals before Ruby stood in front of Weiss in the human form she recognised oh so well... only... now she was naked.
Well, naked besides the cloak.
Ruby began to blush brightly as she realised and Weiss quickly reached over and grabbed the red material draped around her pulling both sides of the cloak to shut around Ruby's front to keep the girl from being so exposed.
"T-t-thank you..." Ruby looked down in embarrassment and her hands grabbed both sides of the cloak from inside, holding it tightly shut.
Weiss let out a sigh of relief. This was more like Ruby.
"It's the power... Dragons are too strong and quite prideful about it... it's affecting her personality while she's transformed."
Ruby seemed to be unaffected by it when not transformed though... so that was a bonus.
"Weiss...?" The princess turned to look over to her family... well, her brother, mother, and father. They were sitting in the front row on her side, but her brother had stood and spoken. "Who is... this...?"
"This is Ruby..." Weiss turned and lost herself in Ruby's eyes once more. "The woman I love."
Ruby's blush deepend... but she smiled a little as well. The moment they shared was cut short as Jaune let out a groan which suprised both of them.
"I knew you didn't want to get married!! Why didn't you just say so Weiss??" He appeared to only be frustrated about that... Weiss had expected him to be a little upset at her being in love with Ruby and not him... he didn't seem to care about that at all though.
"Maybe Pyrrha is right about him... an idiot but... a nice idiot."
"The woman you-... one moment." Whitley turned to there father and didn't speak for a moment, though judging from the expression that crossed over there fathers face Weiss could guess that her brother was quite upset. "Father, a word?"
"Surely whatever you have to say to him, you can say in front of all of us." Winter had decided now would be a good time to cut in and she wore quite the satisfied smirk on her face. She had returned to her base form by now and put away her sword, one glance at Pyrrha showed she had done the same.
"You're correct sister." Whitley commented. "Father. Why is Weiss marrying someone when she's in love with someone else??" Not the words Weiss had expected but so far she was definitely happy with the results... seeing her father try to stammer out a retort was amazing.
"I... well... y-you see... I... I s-simply had no idea..! Weiss! Why didn't you inform me of this...??" He turned to her and Weiss just sighed, one glance exchanged between her and her brother and Whitley knew there father was lying.
"Jaune Arc." Whitley had turned to the blonde in question. "Would there be offence taken by the Arc household if we called off this union?" Jaune shook his head.
"Of course not." By now he had managed to remove his suits jacket, handing it to Ruby to try and make the girl feel not as exposed. Weiss's opinion of him had definitely never been more positive as she watched the interaction and the shared thumbs up between them. Though admittedly weaker on Ruby's end as she worked to try and wrap the jacket around herself without letting go of the cloak.
Weiss didn't watch her fumble for long and helped her with it.
Whitley nodded and turned to there father.
"Will that be an issue. Your. Majesty." There was not a single inkling of a question involved in that sentence... For all of there fathers faults, Weiss had to give him credit... he had raised an heir better then himself.
Whitley turned to Winter and without a single word between them, the elder Schnee moved to the Aisle and began to funnel the guests out of the cathedral. Ruby had moved to sit down on the stairs leading up to the altar and Jaune had joined her, they were talking about something but... Weiss realised it was a conversation they needed to share between themselves for now.
Weiss moved over to Whitley who had distanced himself from there father and mother... there mother only because she was near the King.
"When did you get so good at the whole... ruling thing?" She raised an eyebrow as she stared at her brother and he smirked.
"When did you get so bad at disobeying father? The old Weiss would have married that girl in secret." The princess chuckled.
"Maybe... but it's been too long I guess... i was worried he would call you for help."
Whitley had raised an eyebrow at that.
"I can see we have some catching up to do then sister. I'd like to think I'm not so weak anymore that I would just blindly send the military at Fathers orders."
Weiss had to wonder at what point exactly did the power dynamic between the crown Prince of Atlas and the King of Atlas switch...
"I believe your Bride to be is waiting for you." Whitley nodded over to Ruby and as Weiss turned Rubys head snapped away from looking at them. A glance over and it seemed that Jaune was currently arguing with his mother and father, Pyrrha standing behind him offering support.
Weiss didn't waste any more time and headed over to Ruby. Joining her in sitting on the stairs.
"That dress dosent look easy to sit in."
"Trust me... it's not." Weiss let out a sigh. "It's a shame but... i think ill have to get a new one before our wedding." Ruby blushed brightly and turned to her, Weiss raised an eyebrow. "You did realise what interrupting this meant right?"
"I... I did...! Just..." She turned away with a blush. "I was thinking all weird when I was transformed..."
"I hope that means you'll still be marrying my sister." Whitley stepped over and Ruby quickly rushed to stand, only for him to raise a hand and shake his head. "Please don't. Everytime you move there's a chance your cloak will slip, and I dont need Weiss slapping me for seeing what's underneath that red cloth." Ruby blushed and nodded as she remained seated.
"I..."
"Weiss is the crown Princess of Vale. You cant just be with her. You have to skip to the end so to speak."
Ruby nodded.
"Yes I... I know. And... if it's ok with you then..." She turned to Weiss. "I'd love nothing more then to be with her." Weiss smiled gently and Whitley clapped his hands together.
"Spelndid! So, we should probably talk more about the exact conditions of this wedding-."
Weiss tried her best to help Ruby through that conversation but... eventually she just took over.
Ruby Rose
"Unfortunately you'll have to leave the room, Your Highness."
"But-"
"Now please."
Weiss sighed and squeezed Ruby's hand gently before nodding.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." She gave Ruby's cheek a small kiss and left the rose with a blush before leaving the office.
Glynda chuckled at that interaction and Ruby's blush brightened.
"Your both quite adorable." Ruby let out a groan and Glynda stepped over.
"I've never encountered a Dragon before... but Ozpin asked me to do my best." She took off her glasses and set them down on her desk before turning to Ruby... who had her suspicions confirmed.
Glynda's eyes... the glasses were enchanted! They changed the colour of her eyes while she had them on!
Without them on?
"Platinum eyes..." That was the only colour Ruby could equate it to.
"Yes. A gift from my title, but... that's not important for now." She began to study Ruby... though, Ruby could barely tell.
After becoming a Dragon... she had gained magic, as well as a mana pool.
Apparently Dragons automatically got a title, so she had both a Primary mana pool, being the one actually in her soul. And a Secondary mana pool that was a gift from her title.
"The Rose Dragon... your Secondary mana pool is quite large... but it's your Primary that is the main storage component. It's larger then my own, and most likely larger then any other Primary mana pool in Vale at the moment."
"What about Pyrrha?"
"While her Secondary is indeed much bigger then your Primary or Secondary, but she is only an Amazon. Her Primary is quite a bit smaller then both your Primary and Secondary... your tanks are actually nearly even in terms of size."
"Mana tank is just your Primary and Secondary combined right..?"
"Who's stronger then??" Ruby asked excitedly, to which Glynda just chuckled.
"Your Physical abilities outmatch Ms Nikos by a landslide, while she just barely has more mana then you."
"Soooo...??" Ruby's excitement was shooting higher!!
"She'd easily defeat you I'm afriad." Ruby slouched.
"Whaaaat...??" Glynda let out another little laugh at Ruby's whine.
"Ms Nikos is a warrior good enough to have recieved a Harbinger title as only an Amazon, while you lack any combat experience whatsoever. You also lack any Elemental Affinity, so unfortunately, your Dragon form will most likely be devoid of a breath weapon."
"What?? I was robbed!!"
"I wanted fire breath or something cool like that..."
"Trust me, the powers you recieved more then make up for it... with a double Affinity in Technical Magic you could easily construct a weapon to more then make up for the difference."
"Oh yeah... my Affinity is good for more then just Rituals..."
"I've umm... noticed a problem with my power as well." Glynda raised an eyebrow. "I can't transform." She shook her head.
"You don't know how to transform. Practice with your sister perhaps to figure that out, it takes most children years to figure out how to transform, and that's the position you're in for now."
"Does that mean I've just gone from an adult human to a baby Dragon...?"
"Did you feel like a baby while transformed?"
Ruby thought back to how big she had felt while standing in that cathedral... and shook her head.
Glynda nodded.
"Your soul reached adulthood while you were human, so you have an adult Dragon soul. That's why you recieved a full sized mana pool upon finishing the ritual."
Ruby nodded and glanced around the office... she had never been into the Hunters Headquarters before... Beacon was quite the building. It was like a mixture between a mansion and a fort.
"The personality changes you undergo when you do transform-" Glynda continued. "So long as you are aware of them, you should be able to act as normal with some practice." Ruby nodded.
"It was at its worst when i was fully transformed... when I went into my half form... I was actually able to question my confidence again, though... only just. If I hadn't... I probably would have kept trying to attack Jaune..."
"I suggest that if you do manage to figure out how to transform in the near future, you rely only on your half form until you can do the same in your full form."
Ruby nodded.
"Thank you Ms Goodwitch."
"Glynda." Ruby still wasn't going to call her that. "And your welcome Ruby. Oh and... Congratulations on the wedding tommorow" Ruby blushed once again and nodded. Glynda put her glasses back on and as soon as she opened the door to the office Weiss immediately asked her fifty different questions.
"It's only been a few weeks since i became a Dragon... only a few weeks to prepare a wedding."
Ruby had tried to help Weiss with the plans but... well, the Princess had actually been quite excited for this. When Ruby asked Weiss about it, Weiss had responded with a blush and said that apparently she had been thinking about there wedding for a while.
The thought still made Ruby smile.
How much had her life changed in what was barely a year...
From two Phrases of the Dragon Formula to actually being a Dragon.
From not knowing what she wanted to do with her life... to ready to spend the rest of it with someone.
Tommorow would be the start of the rest of her life... eternity.
And she couldn't wait.
Next Chapter will be the epilogue and then I'll begin work on the Sequel.
Though 'Sequel' might be the wrong word, this was more like the prelude to that Story.