Weiss Schnee
"Well... Jaune certainly did better then I was expecting." They had all known how the fight was going to end the second the names were announced, but even still, Pyrrha gave Weiss a look at her comment.
Port returned to the arena and both of them changed back to there base form. He seemed to be giving them some notes he had from the fight... Weiss had spotted a few mistakes from Jaune, but in her mind Ruby had fought perfectly.
"Though, perhaps i have my biases..."
"Did Ruby even cast a single spell?" Weiss's eyebrow twitched at Pyrrha's comment, which seemed to be a retort to Weiss's own.
"She used her Disorientating Roar twice-"
"But that's an Ingrained spell isn't it? Not exaclty the same as casting an actual spell." They had both turned to each other now and were gently smiling, both exuding so much passive aggressive energy that Yang and Blake had both shuffled away.
"And even without using 'proper' spells as you call them, she still won."
"I wonder how things would have gone if they were fighting on an even playing field?" Pyrrha almost smirked at that... it was rare to see the Amazon show even a little bit of aggression... she might be upset about something else at the moment...
Weiss should ask her about it.
"Yes, if Ruby had recieved even a tenth of the training Jaune had I wonder how it would have gone?" Of course, that was after she defended her wifes honor.
"Perhaps they should have a rematch once Jaune has mastered Enhancement magic?"
"Yes, i'd love to see them fight once Ruby has a weapon-"
Ruby Schnee
"Great fight Jaune." She offered her hand with a bright smile and he returned the geniune expression.
"It was an honor being matched against you Ruby." He shook her hand and Port nodded approvingly as he watched them interact.
"Truly, you both have the mantle of Hunters! Now, I'd ask that you vacate the arena so we may begin our next bout!" He let out a hurrah and they both gave a nod before taking there leave.
Ruby let out a sigh once they were out of view from the crowd, glancing to her side at Jaune while they walked... her mouth opened multiple times to talk but no words escaped her.
"Thank you, Ruby." Luckily Jaune spoke first. His voice was geniune, if a bit quiet.
"For what?" She fully turned to him now as they walked. "I didn't do anything."
"I'd like to think I'm not that unobservant Ruby-"
"I think Pyrrha would disagree..."
"-You were holding back." He had a slight smile on his face as he spoke, like he was thinking back to happy memories.
"I wasn't-"
"Ruby. It's ok. Truly... I'm just..." He sighed. "I knew I was weaker then you going in. I'm not disappointed that you had to hold back... rather..." He turned to her with a brighter smile. "I'm glad to know that we're good enough friends that you'd do that for me."
Ruby's smile joined his own in its brightness and she shrugged. "You came on that rescue mission to save me, and if it weren't for your actions both Weiss and I would be dead." She gently shoved him with her shoulder as they walked. "As far as I'm concerned? I still owe you plenty."
It was a challenge to get Jaune to enter the private booth, he really was too nice for his own good sometimes... only after Ruby mentioned that Pyrrha was in there did he enter.. which Ruby found a little odd.
"Ruby-" Weiss stood the second Ruby stepped in, walking over and meeting Ruby half way with a smile. "You did wonderfully." Her eyes held the need to say so much more... but Weiss decided to spare her wife from such comments in front of there family and friends, instead she just pulled the red headed girl into a hug.
Ruby loved hugging Weiss, she felt so soft, her body seemed to just fit with hers perfectly... and her hair always smelled so nice-!
"Huh... that's weird..."
Ruby was a Dragon, and being a Dragon affected her in many ways even in her base form. The increased strength was the most obvious... but her improved senses were another. She had gotten quite used to her near telescopic vision when she concentrated, and her improved hearing which had made her talk really quietly for a while... but her sense of smell was a more... awkward... sense.
She could pretty easily recognise people based off there scent alone now. Her wife's scent specifically was burned into her memory so much that she could notice even the slightest changes by now. New clothes, different perfume, whether she had eaten recently, but this was different.
Weiss seemed... different.
Ruby had pulled back a little to get a better look at her, practically staring at her face to get a better idea of what was going on...
She barely noticed Weiss blushing at first.
"Oooh! Blake! They're gonna kiss!" Yang pointed excitedly at the couple from her seat and Ruby nearly winced at the comment.
"Crap... I was staring..."
"Even if we did why is that such a big deal-?" Her deflection was... as subtle as she could make it.
"Someone happened to let slip that you two are trying for a baby." Blake's smirk was one of pure evil. In Ruby's opinion anyway.
"Weiss..." Ruby sighed and the Queen turned away with a guilty expression.
"Woah! Thats awesome guys!" Jaune looked happier about the news then Weiss had when Ruby had told her she was ready. Ruby wasnt sure if that said more about how serious Weiss was, or how good a friend Jaune was.
They all took there seats not long after, Jaune seated next to Pyrrha as was expected, and Ruby joining Weiss in what was clearly there designated seats. Ruby would have complained about the almost thrones... but frankly hers was really comfortable.
The next contenders were already fighting by the time they were seated, but Ruby was less concerned about that, and more curious about her wife at the moment... she had an odd feeling right now.
Every sound made from the fighting in the arena made Ruby twitch... her body reacting on impulse whenever magic was cast in the fight... She shook her head a few times to try and clear the feeling from it... but...
She glanced at Weiss again. Even more curiously about this... Is that everyone else was noticing Ruby's behaviour, except Weiss. Pyrrha and Jaune were glancing at Ruby every time she twitched, Blake's ears reacted with every sudden movement she made... even Yang had turned to look at her a few times in concern.
But nothing from Weiss... she was certainly noticing. Ruby knew she would have definitely noticed, it wasn't exaclty subtle.
She sighed and returned her gaze forward... perhaps she was just still a bit trigger happy from her fight with Jaune...?
"Yeah... that must be it-"
A blast of magic was sent flying directly at them from the fight, it was just a stray shot from the struggling combatants and it was no where near strong enough to even come close to being able to penetrative the Dust powered barrier. That was obvious to everyone watching that had magic, everyone else in the booth didn't even flinch at it.
Well, Ruby didn't exaclty flinch either.
Her senses sharpened incredibly the moment she saw the blast coming, her body surging with a strength she was used to suddenly feeling now, and her clothes erupted into red scales along with her skin.
Ruby blinked in surprise at her sudden transformation... it hadn't been on purpose just... instinct?
The others had all reacted with surprise, immediately turning to look at Ruby in shock... the sudden pulse of mana from her transformation probably being a bit of a scare when they weren't expecting it.
Well... everyone was surprised except Weiss.
"Ruby? Sorry but could you move your wing? I can't see." Her words were delicate and held no shock or surprise. When Ruby turned to look at her, she was surprised to find a red wing extended out in front of the Queen, ready to block an attack that hadn't come.
"I... s-sorry." She pulled her wing back and changed back to her base form immediately, nervously looking at the others while they only showed concern.
Weiss however didn't. Rather, Ruby felt a soft tap on her leg as Weiss smiled at her... the pale Queen looked like she was glowing as Ruby stared at her. Before it all vanished as Weiss returned to watching the arena.
Ruby slowly sunk into her chair and let out a groan that was hopefully too soft for anyone to hear.
"Please dont let something be wrong with me again..."
The good news from today?
Well, Ruby, Jaune, and Velvet were most likely gonna be Hunters! They had all done really well, and even that Emerald girl that Velvet was matched again seemed to do great!
Ruby had actually invited all of them to join her next magic lesson, Glynda was going through more of the specifics of magic types and spells and they all surprisingly jumped at the opportunity... something about Glynda being really famously good at magic or something?
So, she had friends coming over tommorow! She wouldn't be stuck taking a magic lesson by herself! Classmates would definitly make the experience better.
"Tommorows lesson will just be me, Jaune, Velvet, and Emerald all hanging out!"
And maybe they'd actually get some learning done.
She wasnt great friends with Emerald... but she seemed really nice! Plus, she was apparently engaged to Weiss's brother so... Ruby should probably get to know her at some point...
Needless to say that Ruby was excited.
Well... mostly.
"Ruby? Could you pass my drink?" Weiss and herself had taken to reading together sometimes. Simply sharing some alone time together, not really interacting but... just being comfortable in each other's presence.
Relaxing in the gardens, or the library, even in bed sometimes... it was some of the calmest moments of Ruby's life.
Today was different...
"S-sure..." She carefully reached her wing over and gently picked up the glass. Using her incredibly powerful extra limbs for something so delicate and precise was a new sensation, and her stressed mood wasnt helping.
She managed to get Weiss's water over to the girls hands, and the Queen reacted with a pleasent noise.
Currently, they were laying together on one of the many couches hidden away in a corner of the library. It was right next to a window and the sun was flowing in beautifully. Ruby was laying on the lounge in her half form, one wing awkwardly resting against the couch head while the other hung off the side... and Weiss was laying on her in her arms.
While the Queen was happily reading and relaxing... Ruby was freaking out. Every noise, every step from a servant in some distant part in the library, every bird that flew past outside... it was all so stressful. She couldn't help but twitch at every single one. The only solace to all of this was Weiss in her arms... something about holding the woman was making her feel better right now.
At least a little bit anyway.
Weiss let out a blissful sigh and Ruby gently took her water again, carefully placing it on a nearby coffee table before returning her wing to its resting spot on the floor. Weiss was probably reading something interesting... maybe something historical... maybe something fiction for once... Ruby found herself constantly wondering questions about whatever Weiss did.
She would shuffle a bit on top of her and Ruby would mentally ask herself a million questions about if Weiss was comfortable or not. Weiss would yawn and Ruby would have to stop herself from immediately spiriting the Queen away to there room. At one point she actually held her hand up to cover the sun from her eyes and Ruby's wing immediately shot up to drape over the part of the window it could reach, drastically reducing the light coming through.
Weiss muttered a content "Thank you." Then continued on reading like nothing happened...
Why wasn't she freaked out by this??
Even Ruby could tell that her own behaviour wasn't normal... surely Weiss should be able to?? Maybe they were both feeling weird...
Ruby wanted to say something... maybe ask if Weiss had noticed her weird behaviour... but...
"I don't want to stress her..."
Ever since the incident with Rory... Ruby tried to be incredibly open and honest with Weiss about... well... everything. So when she found herself suddenly falling back into not wanting to worry Weiss... it was freaking her out.
She would go ask someone else... but...
Well, that would involve leaving Weiss by herself, and for some reason that was the last thing she would do right now.
This continued for a surprising amount of time. Weiss was happy to just keep reading... and Ruby was... ok she wasnt happy to be feeling this way, but even imagining the alternative of leaving to go work on something or study and leave Weiss alone was... well it made her feel sick in her stomach.
But, eventually the Queen had to go to a meeting. A later one in the day then usual... Ruby had to wonder if Weiss had postponed it so she could attend Ruby's exam.
The walk to the council room was awkward... for Ruby anyway. She hadn't changed back to her base form yet, and her hand refused to release Weiss's own. Every servant they passed got a glance of suspicion, every corner they approached had Ruby stressing about someone hiding around the corner of it.
Meanwhile Weiss had a smile that made her look ready to start humming.
They reached the council chamber and Ruby let out a gentle sigh of relief... finally no more walking. Now she just had to... let Weiss go in.
She felt a pit form in her stomach and her mind raced... this was a problem. Weiss didn't expect her to attend these meetings so... if she joined them... would she ask Ruby why? Ruby couldn't lie to Weiss so... she'd find out...
She couldn't stress Weiss out... but... leaving her alone right now...?
"No... it'll... it'll be fine... Glynda is in there... I trust Glynda... she can keep Weiss safe..."
She slowly released the Queens hand and they said some gentle goodbyes as Ruby slowly started moving down the hallway... she felt sick with every step she took. Her body was screaming at her to turn around... she tried activating Pride to make it stop, but for once it wasn't helping! It was like her very instincts were telling her not to leave Weiss-
"R-Ruby?" She immediately stopped and turned... she had only made it five steps before Weiss had spoken. The Queen looked nervous. Her happy expression and content posture were gone, replaced with uncertainty and... almost panic. Her hand was outstretched only barely as if she wanted to reach for the girl, and Ruby didn't even wait for Weiss to say anything more. She simply took her steps back and returned to her wifes arms, holding her tightly into her body, even going so far as to wrap her wings around the woman gently.
"It's ok... I'm here... I'm here." Ruby slowly relaxed as Weiss calmed as well. But... she couldn't relax fully.
Ruby was sure of it now... there wasn't something wrong with just her... something was wrong with Weiss as well...
"Amity arena is due to arrive in the coming weeks." Ozpins voice was slow to describe it mildly... he was trying his best to ignore it.
"Good. Glynda, can you make preparations for its arrival?"
"I already have... your... Highness." Glynda was doing... a worse job at ignoring it.
"Are... are we just gonna ignore it...?" Saphron asked the question they were all wondering and... well...
Honestly Ruby couldn't even blame them.
Near to the instant they had entered the council room, Ruby couldn't stand it. Being around so many powerful people at once... well... she... 'reacted'.
She'd never felt this way before in the council meetings... hell, she'd been to plenty! This was so strange... it wasn't even because Ruby was around them... it was because Weiss was in here too.
She knew that, and she was sure Weiss did too. Mainly because she hadn't reacted either when Ruby had... well... transformed.
"As a side note... I'm really glad this room can fit my full form..."
Sure she was stuffed in there practically on her belly in the surprisingly large area between Weiss's chair and the windows behind her... and one of her wings may or may not be fully dissolved into rose petals at the moment to not break through said windows... and she may or may not have definitely broken some furniture but...
"Ok yeah... something is definitely wrong."
"Your Highness... are you... alright...?" Glynda gave Ruby a gentle look... as if to emphasise that everything was ok.
"I'm fine." Weiss responded instead of Ruby... mainly because the Rose Dragon was currently eyeing all of the council members like a predator eyed prey... also because she was behind Weiss and that might have been a bit confusing.
"Ruby-" The Dragons head immediately shot to look at Glynda again as she spoke, and the woman paused momentarily before continuing. "Is there... a reason for your... current state...?"
Ruby... could trust Glynda... right...?
She had to think about that for a moment... if anyone had asked her that question yesterday she would have definitely said yes without a second thought but... right now...?
Well, the only reason she responded at all was thanks to the full efforts of Pride.
"I'm... I'm worried about Weiss... she... I don't think she's safe for some reason..." Her words were slow and barely steady through the telepathy, and they were kept only for Glynda's mind to hear.
"I see... would you feel comfortable If I shared that with the rest of the council?" Glynda couldn't exaclty respond with telepathy as that was a Dragon ability, so she had to talk aloud.
Not that anyone was paying attention to anything but them at the moment anyway.
Ruby nodded, but she shifted her head a bit closer to Weiss's chair... just in case.
"Ruby is worried about Her Majesty's safety." Short and simple... perhaps she just wanted to say it as quickly as possible.
Ruby's eyes shifted between each council member much more frequently now... she didn't trust these people... she used to... but... right now she felt different for some reason... especially Ozpin! The way he kept eyeing Weiss was starting to stress Ruby out even more!
"I believe I know what's going on." Ozpins smirk was punchable... So much so that Ruby was tempted to change back into her half form in order to do just that!
"I happen to be feeling some adverse effects as well... what is your theory Ozpin?" Weiss's words were worrisome... Ruby wanted to pull her in and comfort her, but she couldn't lie to the Queen. Something was going on, and if the answer had to come from Ozpin... well so be it.
"Your Majesty... can you transform for me?" Ruby blinked at his words... that was actually a great idea! If Weiss was in her half form, or even her full form, she'd be a lot safer! Ruby wouldn't have to worry as much!
Weiss nodded and... didn't... do anything...? She just sat there. It was suspenseful for a moment, then it simply became awkward... and then stress-inducing. Though maybe that last one was just for Ruby.
"I... I can't...?" Ruby immediatly whipped her head around the chair to get a closer look at Weiss, trying to study the woman to find anything that could be wrong. Why couldn't she transform? That didn't make any sense!
"The only time someone shouldn't be able to transform is when they're under heavy anti-magic restrictions, or when they're-"
Ruby froze. Her whole body stopped moving before it collapsed into a cloud of rose petals that reformed into her half form standing right next to Weiss's chair.
She looked over Weiss one more time before their eyes met. Ruby could swear that they both understood at the same time and she wasn't sure who's eyes started to tear up first. She just knew that they both started crying and then they were in each other's arms. The council was still watching but... Ruby didn't care. Not anymore.
Having an explanation for her sudden defensiveness of Weiss made it feel so much better... she understood why her instincts were screaming at her now, and even moreso she understood that Weiss's were probably the same.
Ruby couldn't leave Weiss unprotected... and Weiss knew that Ruby was supposed to be protecting her now.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty's." Ozpin stood after his words and ushered the rest of the council out, not that he needed to. They all quietly shifted out to let Ruby and Weiss share this moment in peace.
"Ruby..." She whispered out her name and Ruby held her even tighter to herself with a smile.
"I know... i know." They both spoke with such a sweet and loving voice... Ruby hadn't expected to react like this honestly... but... perhaps after changing her mind about it... and after feeling Rory's excitement at the same prospect...
Words couldn't describe how much she already loved their child.