Rory Rose
"Rory?" A soft voice, too soft.
"Shut up..."
"Roooory?" She said it in an almost sing-song like voice.
"I don't want to see this again..."
"C'mon sleepy head, wake up."
"I don't want to open my eyes..."
He already knew what this memory was... but for some reason... he couldn't wake up. He had to experience this dream.
He already knew who he was... this wasn't like Ruby being stuck between both sets of memories...
He knew.
That wasn't how he had designed it to go... had he messed up...?
His eyes opened slowly, and he was back in his old room at the campus... the one he now shared with-
"Morning Eirwen... couldn't let me sleep in?" He was like a passenger in his body... he was aware this was all a memory... yet he was being forced to play it out.
She let out a giggle.
"Nope. I wanted to see you as soon as I could!"
"I mean, we sleep in the same bed. You could already see me." She shook her head in response and booped his nose.
"Nope. I meant like this." She leaned closer, till there noses were barely an inch apart.. "Now I can stare into your eyes... and see you."
He blushed gently, and turned his eyes away.
"I see... you're in a... loving mood this morning."
"I always love you."
"That's not what i-" Another giggle.
"I know silly." She looked like she was glowing... she was way happier then usual. The morning sun was shining brilliantly through her hair. "But... I do have something else to be happy about this morning."
He tilted his head and she gave him quite possibly the most loving look she had to date...
"I'm-" Her words were so full of life and love... he couldn't bare it anymore.
He had to wake up before she said it.
He couldnt go through it... not again!!
Silver eyes flung open as he sat up, hyperventilating as he looked around the room.
No windows... no life in the walls... no personality in the furniture...
No memories in this room.
Not his dorm room... and...
He looked down.
"Right... not my body either."
He sighed as he dropped back to laying down in the bed... that memory was still so fresh in his mind... sure, he knew what happened after anyway...
But experiencing it again was different.
"Good morning." A voice that was clearly trying too hard to be sultry...
"Why are you in my room Cinder." His words sounded so foreign through Rubys voice, but he still managed to convey his disdain for the woman as he spoke.
"Wanted to make sure you'd be the one that woke up." She moved off of the wall she was leaning on and moved over, leaning over the bed he was laying in and propping herself up with her arms on it.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sure your curious... what its like while in a woman's body." Yep... definitely trying to seduce him...
As if that would make him give her the Dragon Formula...
"I don't even want to get into how that would be assaulting this girl either..."
"No. I'm not." He sat up and pushed her out of the way as he stood, stepping past and moving to the closet... he was up now, he may as well get started.
"Well, perhaps I could make it more interesting for you? I know some illusion magic." He rolled his eyes as he opened the closet.
"What are you implying-"
"You sure you don't want to try it?" His eyes went wide... that voice... she didnt...
His wings burst from his back and one of the claws grabbed Cinder by the throat, holding her a good two feet off the ground by it as he started squeezing. Her shock was evident across her expression, and her spell stopped, white hair becoming black once more.
"Take the form of her again... and I'll do more then just kill you." His slitted eyes focused with rage. "Demon."
He dropped her and turned away again, reverting to his base form and taking a deep breath as he moved to get dressed.
"Let's just get started already."
"Things are kinda bad at the moment!!"
"I know that-"
"Then do something about it!!"
"You think I'm gonna risk my men to fight a Dragon?"
"What's going on?" Cinders voice interrupted the two men... Adam and Roman as Rory had come to learn were there names... though the other man preferred being called Torchwick apparently.
"He won't shut up-"
"What are we gonna do about the Dragon flying around the city??" Torchwick was way too loud for how early it was...
Rory still wasn't used to existing in this body. It felt so different from his own... obviously, but it was more then that...
He knew the body was rejecting him. This wasn't his body, his mind... it wasn't his soul either.
He didn't have a soul anymore. He wasnt the real Rory Rose. Rory had died a long time ago... he was just Rory's memories and personality pasted over Ruby's.
Rory stretched his shoulders... the girls body... Ruby's body... it felt... off. Like it was missing something.
"That cloak... is she so used to wearing it that her body feels wrong without it...?"
He questioned the thought for a moment... but froze. He watched as a figure made of pure red walked across his vision. They didn't look at him... they didn't acknowledge anyone or anything... they simply moved from right to left... then vanished.
"What the hell was-"
"Rory." His vision flicked to Cinder and she had a raised eyebrow. "Everything alright?"
His eyes darted around the room again... that figure was gone.
"Peachy." She didn't believe his lie, but for now it didn't matter.
"The Frost Dragon isn't an issue. It won't find where we are, and it's just wasting stamina flying around like that." Apparently Weiss hadn't stopped looking all night.
"That's not the real issue." Adam finally deciding to do something instead of tell Roman to shut up. "We intercepted a communication last night... Vale has informed Atlas of the situation."
"Things are going to progress quickly then." Cinder turned to Rory. "How quickly can you work?"
"Just show me a workshop." She nodded and they began to walk.
Rory and Cinder had come to an understanding, and entered a binding contract.
Cinder would provide him with the tools necessary to make a weapon, and once he was done, he would give her the Dragon Formula.
But, it was a complicated situation, built on the understanding that one was definitely going to betray the other.
Rory hated Dragons, so Cinder expected him to try and kill them all the second he had handed over the Formula.
And Cinder didn't care about Rory's plans of killing all Dragons, so she would try and kill him the second she had what she wanted.
Still, for now, they were allies until Rory had his weapon.
They were both flipping the coin of fate... they would most certainly fight after Rory was done... so it was a matter of if he would make a weapon strong enough to fight them all off or not.
Personally? He had called Tails.
Weiss Schnee
She was so tired.
"Where are you..."
Her wings wanted to fall off, but they refused to stop beating.
"Where did you go..."
She had to keep moving... just one more check... one more sweep of the city... there had to be a clue she could spot somewhere.
"Where did you take her..."
Her flight faltered for a moment and she let out a sigh...
She needed to land and rest for a moment.
She chose a nearby tower, perching on the rooftop and breathing heavily as she scanned the cityline.
Rory was here somewhere... in Ruby's body... she knew it... she just... knew he hadn't left Vale yet...
Weiss hadn't kept track of where Qrow and Pyrrha had gone... maybe they were looking... maybe not...
It didn't matter.
She wouldn't stop.
She'd find-
A pulse of mana seared through the sky and she quickly flicked her head to the city walls.
Just above them, outside the border of the city... there was a gigantic Magenta line that had formed in the sky. It slowly pryed open, an opening in space... a gateway... a portal.
"Spatial Magic...? Who would need a doorway that large-"
Then she saw them.
It wasn't a matter of who... rather what.
The Airships slowly moved out one after another... each one brimming with mana and each one being at least five times the length of her own personal airship... they also seemed to be a more powerful version.
Probably capable of moving faster... having stronger defences... and of course...
Being armed to the teeth.
She watched as at least twenty of these ships slowly flooded out of the gateway before it closed...
"Why is the Atlas military here...?"
It wasn't the whole fleet... but still a sizeable force... large enough to lock down and surround all of Vale.
And that's exaclty what they started to do.
The ships all moved in unison, assuming positions around the walls of the city, all stretched an equal distance from each other.
"What's going on-"
"Weiss!?"
"That voice..."
The Dragon slowly turned it's head, her grip nearly slipping from the tower roof as she adjusted her footing again the shingles.
Floating just in front of her was a woman made of ice, dropping snow flakes on anyone that may pass by... her gaze followed one of the snowflakes, and she realised there was a crowd gathered at the base of the tower.
"Winter...?" Even though telepathy, her voice still came out so tired.
"Weiss... you need to rest."
"Winter I'm... I'm fine." The elemental folded her arms and shook her head.
"You're the opposite of fine. We have to return to the castle."
She couldn't... Ruby was still somewhere out there... she needed to save her...!
She lowered her head.
"Can i even save her...? Can I beat Rory in a fight...?"
She already knew the answer.
Not like this. She was too weak, and too tired. He would most likely have a weapon the next time they fought as well.
Being able to direct the Dragons confidence and pride into knowing her logic was right was the only reason she could agree with her sister.
"You're right... Let's go." Hopefully her wings could still carry her there.
Her body felt weak to put it lightly.
Exhaustion was consuming her whole being, flying all night and a good portion into the day had used up all of her stamina, and she wasn't good enough at support magic to exchange her mana efficiently for stamina.
The tea was helping.
Even if she wasnt good enough at magic to exchange mana for stamina, she knew someone who was good enough at it to apply the spell to food.
She smiled as Penny brought her another cup, she had downed five of them already, it was better then any meal she could eat right now... and it was helping her look more regal then just devouring food in a meeting.
Today's roster in the council room?
Pretty much everyone...
The original council members, her sister, Qrow, General Ironwood, a bunch of people she didn't recognise, and of course Penny.
She expected Blake or Yang here... they were probably still searching the city.
"My men have created a blockade around the city... nothing will get in or out without us knowing about it."
"If they slip through-"
"We've already activated the city's barrier, and Glynda checked its stability only a few days ago. They can't teleport out, and they can't just climb over the walls anymore. Their only options now are to go through the gates."
"And if they do-"
"We have mana sensors already placed at every entrance and exit to Vale. I assure you, we will detect her if she tries to leave."
"If 'he' tries to leave... Ruby would never leave me..."
This conversation was exhausting... every question had an answer, and every answer was the same. The situation is being handled.
She couldn't do anything apparently...
"I'm surprised my father spared so much of the fleet to help with this..." She sighed out her words and Ozpin perked up.
"I made the call and informed him of the situation. At first he wasn't willing to help, but I reminded him that Ruby is the only one that knows the Dragon Formula."
"I don't know what Ozpin is being paid... but he's getting a raise..."
"That is another concern... if this 'Rory' chooses to use that to his advantage, we can only hold back so many criminals once they become Dragons." Ironwoods concerns were fair... but...
"He wouldn't make more Dragons... he wants all the living ones dead."
"We'll proceed with the idea that he won't use the Dragon Formula." For now her word was final in this council... she just had to keep a tight grip on her power. If her father thought for even a second that she was endangering his chances at getting the Formula... he'd probably send the rest of the military and have Ironwood declare martial law in Vale.
"Very well your highness." Ironwood nodded his head and Weiss turned to Qrow.
"Do you have any ideas on where-"
"A few. I'll look into them as soon as I can." This was the longest she had seen him go without reaching for his flask... he was taking this deadly serious.
"You're dismissed then, go look now. But, return to the castle tommorow. I have a task for you and Glynda then." He nodded to her words and left without a word of retort or complaint.
Penny set down another cup as Weiss finished hers and moved to get started on another for the Queen.
"For now we can assume that Rory is planning on creating a weapon. His goal is the death of all Dragons, once he's killed me, his next goal will be Ruby..." She shook her head and reorganised her thoughts. "We can assume there are only a few places in the city that sport a workshop strong enough to make something like he intends."
"If he's been picked up by some criminals then they might have one already there." Weiss raised an eyebrow at Saphron's words.
"That's assuming a lot of things... but in that case, it shouldn't matter. With the barrier up magic signals will be much easier to detect in the city. The second he makes the weapon... we'll know."
Ruby had a double Silver Affinity, which meant that for now so did Rory. Assuming his skill at making magic weapons was high... he did make the 'Dragon Slayer' after all... then he could currently craft Legendary tier weapons.
The strongest weapons Weiss had seen were Qrow's own blade, the sword in her room... which Rory deemed not good enough... and the weapon of a certain Knight in Atlas... all of which were only Rare tier.
"Common, Rare, Gilded, Legendary, and..."
She furrowed her brow.
"Ozpin-" She spoke using her telepathy, a skill she struggled with in her base form. "What of Vale's Relic?"
He turned to her and shook his head.
"It is unaccessible at the moment." He spoke outloud instead of responding with her telepathy... why?
It didn't matter for now.
"If there is nothing else, then this meeting is adjourned."
Her eyes were glazed over... this wasnt how things were supposed to go.
She couldn't even bring herself to keep moving the brush... Winter had had the gall to tell her to 'get some rest'... how was she supposed to sleep like this...?
Sure, she had gotten into her pajamas... she had gotten ready for bed... she just had to finish brushing her hair and then... she could climb into the covers.
Alone.
After the first night Ruby and her had shared a bed... she never wanted to sleep alone again... how was she supposed to bring herself to now...?
She dropped the brush and stood, moving over to Ruby's side of the bed.
Right next to it was the girls bedside table... and a hook in the wall, meant for only one article of clothing... which still hung from it.
Weiss slowly reached out and grabbed the red cloak, pulling it into her chest and practically folding in on herself trying to pretend it was Ruby she was holding so close...
But she didn't think anyone in the world was good enough at magic to replicate the feeling she got from holding her wife.
She shook her head. Now wasn't the time for this... Weiss could do other things...
She could prepare.
With slow movements, she wrapped the cloak around herself, then headed for the door.
"The castle dosent have a dedicated summon room for creating contracts... but..."
The workshop would do. Any magic circle could work so long as she could find a creature to enter a contract with her... and once she did...
She could start training.
It was time for the Frost Dragon to learn what she could do.