Ruby Schnee
It was just barely afternoon. The sky over Vale was blue without a hint of clouds, winter was nearly over and the snow had started to stop falling. It was actually a pretty nice temperature in the kingdom. The perfect weather and perfect day for everyone to enjoy.
Ruby wasnt.
"Come on...!" Her teeth were grit so tight that they would have shattered had she still been human. Her arms were pointed forward and trembling from the amount of effort she was exuding, not that the rest of her body was doing much better.
They always held there lessons in the training room, Ruby had argued that the gardens would be more pretty but... well, her teacher had disagreed.
Something about fire magic and flowers not mixing? Not that Ruby had managed to actually do fire magic yet.
She let out a growl as her wings shuddered in the air, nearly flapping from the stress that she was shaking with. Her tail wasn't doing much better, thumping on the ground as it shook violently.
"Why... won't... it...!" A small spark appeared in front of her scaled hands and her excitement got the better of her. It flickered out of existence faster then it had appeared and she let out an almost roar of anger, throwing both her arms and wings into the air in frustration.
"You're improving." Her eyes glanced to her instructor... That had sounded so sarcastic.
"Keep it together Ruby... control yourself."
She was probably just imagining it.
Ruby raised her arms again and closed her eyes. Breathing in deeply before opening them and starting again. This was quite possibly the most frustrated she'd ever felt... since there last lesson.
"I'm a Dragon!! I have more mana that I know what to do with! So, why. won't. it. work??"
Another small spark, this time only a flicker for barely a breath of time. Her arms dropped and the claws on her wings slammed into the ground as two large fists. The indents they left behind formed small cracks and Glynda raised an eyebrow.
"I believe that is enough for today. I'll have to think up some new training methods." She was writing some notes in a small handheld book.
"No! One more try." Ruby put her hands up again and Glynda shook her head.
"Progress will be slow, but forcing it won't help."
"I've barely used any mana yet!!"
"This isnt an issue of mana. More likely, i believe your soul simply has near to no aptitude for practical magic."
"Is she saying I have no talent??"
Ruby's eyes darted to her in a glare, and she let out a low growl.
"What did you just say."
Glynda raised an eyebrow once again and adjusted her glasses.
"That was a bit too aggressive I'm afraid." Glynda sighed as she took a step back, putting a tally mark on the board behind her. It hadn't been used yet today... another kick to Ruby while she was down that she had apparently 'messed up' so close to the end of the lesson.
"How is that fair!?" Ruby's wings fully outstretched and her hands rested on her hips. "You're purposefully trying to piss me off!!"
"Mrs Schnee. I believe it's time you returned to your base form." Glynda's voice was still perfectly calm as she turned back to the half Dragon.
"Is she telling me what to do?!"
"Make. me." Ruby's wings exploded into a burst of rose petals that started swirling around her body, the rest of her form followed suite quickly after. The storm of red grew in mass dramatically, and what was left when she reformed was a giant figure of red scales. Her full Dragon form towered over the still unimpressed woman. "And that's 'Your Highness' to you." Her mouth didn't move as she spoke, the words simply rung in Glynda's mind.
Glynda let out a gentle sigh and put her notepad down, she slowly drew her wand with one hand, and the other removed her glasses, revealing her glowing Platinum eyes.
"And you were doing so well today as well..."
Ruby lunged at her with her maw wide open, and teeth bared.
"Ow... owwwww...!!" Ruby was holding her head with both hands, her horns had vanished along with the rest of her scales, and her wings had once again returned to the soft fabric of her mother's cloak.
Glynda nodded at a job well done and put her glasses back on.
"And this is why class is held in the training room."
Ruby blushed brightly from where she sat on the floor. The giant indent around her from where her Dragon form had been slammed into the ground was making her feel even smaller.
"M-ms Goodwitch! I'm... I'm so sorry i-" Glynda held up her hand and shook her head with a smile.
"You don't need to explain Ruby. Your frustration can incredibly easily barrel out of control while transformed, also, once again... call me Glynda." She had put her glasses on again.
Ruby stood with a careful nod.
"I just... I guess I...-" Ruby was really embarrassed to say the least. Whenever she exited her transformed states, it was always like a splash of ice cold water on her face... the way she thought while like that... the things she said...
"But today was worse then usual..."
"Did you have another one of those dreams?" Ruby eyes widened.. but she nodded slowly and Glynda sighed. "I know you don't like my suggesting it... but if we were to inform the Queen-"
Ruby immediately threw her hands forward defensively.
"Weiss can't know! She's... got too much on her plate right now..."
Glynda raised an eyebrow.
"From what I've been told, Her Highness has been getting much more comfortable with her workload... I believed she should be less busy now then she previously has been."
"It's a recent development... like... this morning recent..." Glynda was curious about that, but didn't pry.
Instead she stepped over to the board and looked over today's tally. "You only messed up once today, but I'm considering it a fail anyway." Ruby winced... that was fair.
"When was the last time it was that bad...?"
In there lessons, Ruby got a 'strike' every time she grew too hostile. Three strikes was usually a fail... and the punishment for that was incredibly simple... Glynda told Weiss.
"What you said about my magic... is that... true...?" Ruby was nervous about that.
In there first few lessons, Ruby hadn't managed anything close to resembling magic at all, so Glynda had to rethink her strategy. She came in the next day with a simple spell to force a transformation out of Ruby, apparently mana flowed easier through a transformed body so it was supposed to help... so far, a single spark was the closest Ruby had gotten to a basic fire spell.
Glynda sighed.
"Unfortunately... but for now I see that as a blessing." Ruby tilted her head. "No talent dosent mean it's impossible, it just means its incredibly difficult... and to be honest, if you could use Enhancement magic, I might not be able to restrain you when you fully transform. From now on, I believe we should focus on your control before I teach you more magic... you're still unable to transform at will correct?"
Ruby nodded. When already transformed, she could change between her half and full form at will but... it was the initial transformation from her base form that was proving to be the issue... at least she could transform back easy enough.
"I believe these things are connected. Your inability to easily use magic, as well as your inability to transform from your base form." They were both rather practical things... apparently the opposite of her Technical Affinity. "Though, it seems you've gotten the hang of the Dragons limited telepathy."
"That's easy though... it's just like talking without trying to open your mouth... and it can only be used to communicate anyway..."
She had an idea... now was as good a time as any to bring it up to her.
"If I could make a magic item to replicate that spell of yours-"
"That would be a crutch Ruby. Say you did make that item, what if you were separated from it?" Glynda was right...
So far she hadn't had much practice making magic items anyway. She had only enchanted a few outfits with a much worse version of the shifter enchantment on her cloak... apparently it was common for a lot of clothes to be sold with that enchantment prepared, but nothing fancy enough for a Queen to wear.
"Well that's what Weiss said anyway..."
She stretched a little and winced. Her body was still aching from the Gravity magic... or was it Telekinesis? She knew Glynda could use both.
"Still, your aggression today was much faster then usual... is your dream all that's on your mind?"
Ruby tried to hide the fact that Glynda had hit the nail on the coffin, but as usual, her face betrayed her... she should really get Weiss to teach her how to lie.
"I... really dont want to talk about it if that's alright..."
Glynda nodded... but Ruby was pretty sure she had already made the connection between that and what Weiss was dealing with.
"Very well, but you should at least discuss it with your sister this afternoon. I don't want it to become an issue that affects your next lesson."
Ruby sighed. That's right, today wasn't just magic practice... later she had-
She let out a panicked yell as she dodged a swing, the wind coming off the mace letting her feel its weight without it actually connecting.
"H-hey! Careful!!" She jumped back as she dodged, nearly sweating as she tried to anticipate the next attack.
"Not very good practice if you cant get hit!" He smirked as he swung his mace again. In Yangs words, Cardin was an asshole, but he was an asshole that listened to orders.
Apparently Ruby was the one exception to that.
"Come on Ruby! Keep it up!" Yang's encouragement from the sideline was... unhelpful, especially given that she was technically her instructor today. If she wasn't pregnant, Ruby would bet that she'd still be the one trying to hit her.
Cardins swings were wild and held a lot of weight behind them. His weapon was dangerous, but it had a barrier wrapped around it today to make it less deadly on impact... which apparently to him just meant he had permission to hit her with it.
Ruby's own weapon also had a glowing green barrier wrapped around the blade. It didn't look like it blunted the impact much at all, but apparently it transferred the 'cutting' part of an attack into force. Basically the whole philosophy behind the training weapons was 'getting sent flying is better then getting cut!'... Ruby wasnt sure if she agreed.
She got a clean dodge backwards on a horizontal swing of his, and she turned her spear to try and strike him in retaliation. For some reason, she found herself preferring the weapons with more reach... but Ruby wasnt sure if this was the weapon for her...
Before the swing wiffed past her however, Cardin shifted into his half form, extending his reach enough for his mace to connect into Ruby's side, sending the girl flying.
She let out a ragged cough as the mace connected, her body moved with it like she weighed nothing and the force carried her straight into the wall. Pain radiating from a good amount of her body as she fell from the wall and onto the floor, letting out a groan as Yang rushed over.
"What the hell Cardin!?" Her anger was completely apparent as she kneeled down next to Ruby, putting her hands on the girl as a bright green light started pouring from them.
"What?" Cardin rested his mace over his shoulder.
"You transformed??"
"So what if I did? Why didn't she?" He held a smirk and Ruby watched Yang debate in her mind if beating the shit out of him was worth it.
"What's going on here?" She didn't get the chance to come to a decision.
Ruby's tired eyes shot open and her body followed suit as she suddenly stood up completely rigid. She turned to the doorway to the training room and Yang slowly stood as well.
Cardin immedaitly dropped into a bow and Yang gave a nod to the Queen as she entered.
Weiss was wearing a proper formal dress now which confused Ruby. She had seen Weiss earlier and she had been in much more comfortable clothing... she had her crown on too.
"Maybe she had to go to the council room..."
Her gaze scanned over the room and locked on Ruby, Yang hadn't finished healing her yet so a bruise was on her here and there. The Queen glanced at Cardin before moving to Ruby.
"Ruby? Are you alright?" Weiss reached out to try and cup her cheek but Ruby reared back to avoid it before awkwardly laughing and scratching the back of her head.
"Yep! Just peachy!" Her sudden outburst wasn't making that lie anymore convincing.
"I... see... well, Glynda informed me of your training earlier and I wanted to see if you were ok." Ruby quickly nodded... too quick. "Have you... thought anymore about what we discussed-?"
"O-oh right! You asked what happened! Umm, see we were just training and I got hit! No big deal!" Rubys awkward laugh returned and Weiss sighed gently as she turned to Yang.
The blonde looked at Ruby confused for a moment before she figured Weiss wanted her to clarify.
"Umm... well-"
"I simply used my power against her, Your Highness. I believed it was necessary." Cardin spoke with such a kiss-ass like voice that it made Ruby want to slap him... but it did change the topic.
"When I figure out how to transform I'm gonna spar with him first..."
Ruby missed the expression on Weiss's face as she turned to Cardin, but judging from Yangs reaction it wasn't looking good for the giant.
"You believed it was 'necessary' to use your power against the Queen Consort?" Her voice had returned to fully authorative, none of the care she expressed when talking to Ruby, and none of the calm she had when talking to nearly anyone else.
"I believed it was necessary to use my power on a Dragon, Your Highness." Ruby and Yang rolled there eyes at the same time.
"Ruby is unable to access her power at will." Weiss approached him now, her heels clicking against the floor in a very satisfying way.
"It isn't very good training if I hold back, Your Highness." Wow, even from here Ruby could feel Weiss's eyebrow twitch.
"It isn't very good training if you go all out on a weaker student either." Ruby wanted to say something but... well, it was a fair assessment. Cardin was a full Hunter, she had only just gotten her powers in comparison and had never been in an actual fight.
"I-" He was cut off near instantly.
"If you still don't believe me, then ill show you."
"Oh here we go."
Weiss had changed clothes surprisingly quickly. Ruby had only seen her combat outfit a few times, and it... well, suffice to say Ruby liked it.
Maybe a bit too much.
Her and Yang stood by the wall, both of them watching as Cardin and Weiss readied themselves. Weiss had a look of pure focus, while Cardin looked unsure.
"Your Highness... I don't want to hurt-" His mace was practically dropped to the ground, and Weiss had ordered him to turn off the barrier as well... though Ruby only knew that was because Weiss didn't want one on her own weapon.
"You will use your full power. Is that understood?" Still using that authorative voice... her rapier standing ready and raring to go wasn't exactly making her sound less intimidating either.
"At least she's not using that magic sword of hers in our room."
"Y-yes Ma'am..." Cardin sounded like a wounded puppy.
Yang sighed.
"Jeez... Weiss looks kinda... wound up?" Ruby winced a little at that, which caught Yangs attention, her eyes immedaitly focused on her sister. "What did you do?"
"Nothing...! I..." She looked away.
Yang crossed her arms and Ruby cracked.
"Just... maybe could have handled something a little better..."
"That was an understatement..."
Yang raised an eyebrow and Ruby sighed as she realised she'd have to spill the beans.
"Well... I didn't have the best sleep last night and umm... well... Weiss called me into her office this morning..."
"Ok..? Gonna have to give me more then that Rube's."
Ruby dropped her head and nodded.
"I know..."
So... after nearly two months living here? Living in Vales magnificent castle that she had fully explored multiple times? Ruby could confidently say... that she still had no clue where everything was in this place.
She had finally relented in letting people guide her around, which was why she was stuck following behind the servant Weiss had sent to call her with.
"She could have just used the Scrying Orbs..." Ruby was basically pouting as they walked.
"Her Highness didn't wish for you to get lost." Some of the servants had finally gotten the memo that Ruby wanted them to be a bit more casual around her. Though they only ever were when it was just her there. Any guests, or even Weiss herself being present stopped that immediately.
Not that Ruby was blaming them for that.
"The few times Weiss has gone full 'boss' mode on me were enough."
Finally they reached the familiar dark wooden door of the office.
It was in the same place as her father's old office... but it had been completely torn apart and replaced with a new one. Ruby was confident that not a single brick or plank was the same. She had even personally gone through and removed all the magic in the room!
Of course, then Glynda did an extra sweep just to be safe... Weiss refused to tell Ruby how much Glynda had found.
"Thank you" The servant nodded and proceeded on her way, as Ruby smiled and knocked on the door.
"Enter." Oh, it was a busy day. Weiss only ever sounded like that when she was buried in paperwork.
Ruby closed the door behind her as she entered giving Weiss a smile as she stepped through the room. The white and blue colour theme had stuck, but there were now hints of silver every now and then around the room. And of course all the furniture was a lovely dark wood.
"What was the point in complelty destroying the room and remaking it just to have it be nearly the same?" She tilted her head with the small tease and Weiss raised her head from the papers she was stuck in.
"My father managed to leave a stench in this place." Weiss remarked with a small smile.
"Ew." Ruby giggled and walked over, sitting in front of the desk. "How's your morning been?"
"I wish I could say it's been good. I recieved a call from my father earlier..."
"You want a drink?" Ruby was already standing to go grab a nearby bottle of liquor, she didnt know many types, but Qrow has introduced her to a few she actually liked.
"No thank you... if I want to be better then my mother I at least have to wait till lunch." Ruby wasn't sure if Weiss expected a laugh from that, so she just gave a comforting smile instead and sat down.
"Anything I can do to help?"
"You already are." She reached over and grabbed Ruby's hand, to which the rose haired girl smiled.
"Ozpin said the paperwork would slow down right?"
"It already is. Usually he would be handling most of this, its mainly just practice for now." Ruby nodded. "Honestly it's boring but necessary work."
"Did you call me just to Vent? Because I'm not gonna lie, I'd be more then happy with that." Ruby had been dreading there talk ever since she'd recieved the summons... Weiss didn't call her like that unless it was something big.
"No... that call from my father... he was... calling to ask how the pregnancy was going."
Ruby tilted her head.
"Why does he care about Yang and Blake's baby?"
"Ruby..."
"What...?"
She felt stupid once she realised.
"Are... are you...??"
"What? Ruby, no. We haven't even..." She blushed brightly and shook her head. "And that's the issue..."
Ruby blushed brightly and nodded slowly.
"O-oh."
Weiss cleared her throat as she moved on from that.
"I'm more then willing to carry the child. I know with you wanting to be a Hunter it would be difficult for-" Ruby stood and headed over to the shelf, grabbing herself a drink. "Ruby?"
"Sorry, I'm listening... just..." She took a swig. "Wow umm... maybe the last thing I expected to hear today..."
"We are the Royalty of Vale... its expected we acquire an heir as soon as possible." Weiss had stood at this point... Ruby knew she wasnt doing a good job of not worrying Weiss.
"But like... aren't you gonna be ruling for centuries? Is... right now really necessary...?" She refused to turn to the Queen.
"And what If I die?"
Ruby's eyes widened as she wiped around to look at Weiss.
"Never say that again please."
"Ruby i just..." Weiss folded her arms and looked away. She wasn't angry or upset just... a little sullen? "Do you... not want to have children...?"
"N-no! It's not that! I just-"
"Then what is it?" Weiss looked into her eyes again. "Ruby? Talk to me."
How could she say it...? It was difficult to even think about... Ruby wasnt ready to tell Weiss about her dreams... and she certainly hadn't been ready for this... but more importantly...
"Dosent it make more sense for me to carry our baby...? Weiss is the ruler... and... I can't protect her... I can't even cast magic or transform at will yet... I can't even control myself when I transform..."
"Weiss... you're stronger then me..." She mumbled the words, she hadn't even meant to say it out loud but... Weiss had already heard it.
Light Blue eyes widened and Weiss took a step closer, reaching her hand out to Ruby.
"Ruby I-"
"I... umm... o-oh, I should be getting to my class.." It was an awful, awful excuse... but...
Weiss retracted her hand and nodded slightly.
"Ok... just... please think about this. I'm always here if you want to talk... Good luck with your lesson. " She gave a gentle smile and Ruby dashed out of the office in a cloud of rose petals.
"Woah..."
"I know..."
"That was..."
"I know Yang..."
"You're a butt."
"I know Yang...!" Ruby groaned as she leaned back with a sigh.
"Wanna talk about it? You don't want to have kids yet right? That's the vibe I'm getting."
"Kind of...?" How did she talk about it...? How could she even start the discussion...?
"Most nights... I wake up not even being able to discern who I am... If I... guess wrong one night... if I lose myself forever... then..."
If they had a kid now... while Ruby could still lose herself... it wouldn't just be Weiss losing her wife...
It would be there child losing there mother.
"And how am I supposed to talk to Yang about that...? How do I tell her...? She'd be losing me too..."
"I am surprised you guys haven't done it yet." Ruby blushed brightly at the sudden change in conversation. "I mean, on your wedding night I could've sworn-"
"W-what...? Yang I had been drinking... heavily. Weiss said no." Ruby crossed her arms and glared at her sister.
"Well, yeah but... I mean you were transformed?"
"So you think I tried to anyway??"
"Ok, fair point." Yang sighed and looked at the two combatants in front of them. Cardin was actually listening to Weiss, he had already entered his half form, the fight was about to begin. "You might have hurt Weiss if you'd done it in your half form anyway."
That had confused Ruby.
"What? How?"
And that had confused Yang.
"What?" Ruby looked at her like she was stupid. "Don't look at me like that! You're a Dragon!"
Ruby facepalmed.
"Yang-" The sound of shattering Ice filled the room. Weiss's skin and clothing were now covered in glistening pure white scales that matched the colour of her hair, and from her back had emerged two large wings with light blue membranes. "-So is Weiss."