Ruby Schnee
"Ruby? Wake up sleepy head." A sweet voice, one that promised warmth and comfort no matter what.
"No..."
"Come on, you're gonna be late silly."
"Don't wanna go..."
"Oh, what a shame... I guess all these pancakes will have to go to waste-"
She was up immediately, throwing the covers off of her bed and excitedly looking around. "Pancakes?? Where??"
The one that woke her up giggled gently and pat her head. "Downstairs."
"Awww..." Ruby's pout was on full blast, hoping that she could convince her to have breakfast in bed.
"Yangs making them." Ruby was out of bed instantly, racing to her door before she she was grabbed by the collar from behind and stopped abruptly. "Excuse me? Where's my good morning hug?"
She quickly turned around and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck as she leaned down to hug her. "Good morning mum!" Summer held her tight for a moment before leaving a kiss on her forehead and letting her go.
Ruby was like a puppy hearing food being put in a bowl, out of the room within seconds and racing down the hall and practically leaping down the stairs. She burst into the dining room with a bright smile and followed her nose to a spot at the table, already having a plate of pancakes ready.
"Good morning Ruby." Blake practically laughed the words out as Ruby started stuffing food into her mouth. She turned to Blake with a pancake half hanging out of her mouth and let out a muffled "Good morning!" Which only resulted in Blake laughing more.
"Ruby? Are you using cutlery?" She stopped half way between reaching for another pancake and let out a guilty sounding reply to Yangs words.
"Yesss...?" A sigh rung out from the kitchen and Blake held a hand over her mouth to stop more laughing as she left the room. Summer came down the stairs with a smile and rolled her eyes gently as she saw Ruby.
"You know you're eating my pancakes right, young lady?" She rested her hands on her hips and Ruby turned and stuck her tounge out at her mother in response. Summer pat her head as she walked past and headed to the kitchen to request more from the chief, leaving Ruby alone to enjoy her meal.
Breakfast was as delicious as always, Yang was always amazing at cooking pancakes! But... for some reason Summer had gotten a little worse at it lately. Ruby wasnt about to point out the difference, but she had definitely noticed it... actually she'd noticed quite a few things lately, her mother seemed more tired then usual. The odd trip as she walked here and there, the forgetting of certain things she had just been told, Ruby had even noticed bags under her eyes at basically all times.
But... today had been fine so far! Her mother was fine this morning... sure those bags under her eyes were still there but... she was fine right? Her mother was ok... right?
"You ok?" Words muffled by the wall between the table and the kitchen, Yang spoke with concern and Ruby couldn't hear the replies as the conversation continued... she was definitely talking to Summer... but...
"No! It's fine! Mum's fine! If... if Yang's spotted something wrong then... then she can heal mum!"
Ruby was worrying over nothing. Sure, Humans were weak but with Blake and Yang around, nothing could ever happen to them!
"Ruby?" Blake stepped back into the dining room with a smile and Ruby greeted her with the same happy look as always. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Sure!" She shuffled her chair a bit to turn it to face the one Blake sat in, and the faunas woman thanked her before continuing.
"Yang and I were thinking about getting a new place. Since your mother and you are gonna be staying with us for a bit longer, did you... want your own room?" Ruby tilted her head at Blake's question.
"I already have a room."
"I know, but... did you want a room meant for you? Like... not a guest room?" Ruby's eyes widened and Blake seemed to smile brighter as they did.
"Umm... y-yeah! I... yeah!!" Her excitement seemed to be contagious as Blakes own expression grew brighter.
"Did you have any cool ideas for it?" She gave Ruby a small smirk and the rose haired girl bounced with excitement.
"Oooh! I want a really comfy bed! And... and a couch in my room! And a desk and stuff!" Blake laughed along to her words and Ruby found encouragement in them to keep going. "And I want it to be in a tower! With a cool workshop in it and stuff!"
"A workshop?" Blake managed to ask the question through her giggles and Ruby nodded excitedly.
"I wanna do magic stuff! I wanna make weapons and clothing and... I wanna be a Dragon!" Her excitement finally caused Blake some confusion and the faunas tilted her head.
"Why a Dragon?"
"Because I promised mum!" She happily announced while throwing her hands up. Blake nodded with a smile and pat Ruby's head for a moment.
"Well, I'm sure we can manage all that." She gave her a wink before glancing at the doorway to the kitchen and continuing. "So what colour should this tower be?"
"Oooh! I want red-"
"Of course." Blake mumbled with a sigh.
"And silver! And I want it to be super tall-"
She opened her eyes slowly and let out a gentle sigh, glancing around the room again as she regained herself... she hadnt been asleep, or really dreaming just... lost on memory lane. The pleasent and warm old wooden house had been replaced around her by grey stone and brick, all of it rather fancy looking actually. This changing room was way nicer then the one at Beacon's arena.
Ruby moved away from the wall she had been leaning on and grabbed her magic items sitting on a nearby bench. She slid the Titans Bracelet onto her arm and attached the Anti-Aegis onto her belt, the silver cross clicking into place but she gave it a brief wiggle to make sure it was locked properly. Once she was satisfied with that, she looked at a nearby weapon rack... it had probably every kind of weapon someone could want to use, but if someone was planning on using one they would probably bring their own... the fact that Ruby was even considering taking one from the rack told her enough to know that she wouldn't be using a weapon today.
Her eyes did linger on the spear and war-axe though... she was at least competent with both of them, and surely she could find uses for them...
A shake of her head solidified her decision. "Carmine fights mostly with magic anyway... if I get in close my lack of weapon probably won't matter..." She grabbed her hairband and reached back to tie up some of her hair, her hands froze as her eyes settled on the scythe resting on the rack...
"I mean... it wouldn't hurt to try it now right..?"
She finished tying her hair and stepped over, carefully reaching for it and-
"Your Highness?" She jumped with a squeak as a man stepped around a corner to speak to her. They awkwardly stared at each other for a moment before he continued. "It's... time." He gestured to the opening to the arena and she nodded, giving a soft "Thank you."
As he left, she glanced at the scythe again and sighed. "Next time then."
Ruby moved with conviction, each step feeling like a challenge she had to overcome as she moved out onto the arena for all to see. The walk to her starting point felt sickeningly long, and being face on with Carmine wasn't making her stomach feel any better about any of this... at least she felt rested after her 'nap'... she was so going to get Weiss back for that.
Finally stopping thirty metres apart, she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down as Port's booming voice sounded throughout the arena.
"This round will be featuring The Rose Dragon Ruby Schnee! Vs! The Golden High Wizard! Carmine Escalodos!" Ruby's eyes focused into a glare as he announced their titles.
"I knew it... she does have a Title."
Carmine rested a hand on her hip and smirked. "You ready to lose, Red?" She drew a knife from behind her back with her other hand, and Ruby quickly glanced it over... she mentally cursed after realising it was Gilded.
"I'm ready for the fight." Ruby shifted her stance a bit to prepare and Carmine tilted her head.
"No weapon? Oh, and that's not what I asked."
"I just assumed you were talking to yourself."
Carmine deadpanned. "Why would I call myself Red-"
"Let the battle commence!!"
Ruby's body erupted into red scales and her cloak exploded into her two outstretched wings as she rocketed forward, her body sailing straight towards the unprepared wizard with a single flap of her wings. Her fist sailed straight towards Carmine's face, but met air as the space around her warped and Ruby shifted a metre higher then she had been. Instead of sailing over her with the continued momentum, Ruby's wings flapped again and she arched her flight path up, spinning in mid-air to look Carmine face on.
The woman smirked as her eyes shifted into slits, her arms growing a small amount of burning golden feathers as she transformed... but annoyingly there wasn't enough of a change for it to be half form.
"Great... she can use her mastery form..."
Ruby hovered in place as she thought over the information she had on Pheonix's... they were like a mixture between fire elementals and Roc's with the main difference being their semi-eternal lives. Unlike Dragons, Angel's, or Demons, a Pheonix would live to be about four hundred before 'dying' of old age and being essentially reset back to a baby.
Carmine was near the end of this lifetime from what Ruby knew... but that just spoke to her experience rather then being a detriment... plus it's not like her body had deteriorated from her age.
"From my guess... she probably has one Gold Affinity from her title, and two fire Affinitys from both natural and being a Pheonix..."
She didn't want to entertain the idea of both her title and natural being Gold...
"Gonna stay up there all day, Red?" Carmine called out with a smirk and Ruby growled gently before folding her wings in, rotating forward as she fell to shift into a diving motion. She pulled up before hitting the ground and flew straight at Carmine again. The woman grinned almost maniacally and held her hand up to the girl shooting towards her, letting multiple flashes of fire shoot forward and fly straight towards Ruby's path.
Ruby dodged each of them by shifting her path slightly and rolling out of the way of the last one. As she reached Carmine, she felt space alter again and quickly exploded into rose petals. The woman's face looked mildly surprised as Ruby reformed behind her just as quickly, now standing on the ground and swinging with her right wings claw straight at her head.
A burst of flames exploded out from all directions from the Pheonix, and Ruby opened her wings up just in time to force the hot air to carry her away from the blast. She flipped in the air and landed soundly on the ground again, but as she landed and looked up to her opponent, her eyes opened in shock as Carmine dashed over. Ruby hadn't been expecting Carmine to try and get in close, so her surprise was evident as the woman stuck her hand into Ruby's face and let out a small pulse of magic.
Ruby recognised the spell and she collapsed onto the ground, her eyes closing as she hit the floor.
Carmine began to laugh, practically holding onto her stomach with glee as she turned away from the Dragon. "Is that really it? Wow... I didn't expect Dragons to be so pathetic-"
Ruby shut her up as her wing reached out and grabbed her by the leg, Carmine let out an almost squeal of surprise as Ruby whipped her up and over her head, slamming her body into the ground. Ruby slowly stood, her grip still locked on tightly to Carmine's leg as she lifted her from the ground again and slammed her into the floor on the other side of her, doing it again, and again, and again, speeding up with each slam.
A scream of rage sounded from the woman and Ruby let her go and dodged back as fire once again erupted from her on all sides. Ruby landed using her legs and hands, her wings being kept free and being her main weapons anyway.
Carmine stood and glared at Ruby with pure rage... she was actually momentarily glad that Carmine didn't have berserker eyes... The woman was a bloody mess, and her body looked beaten and battered to put it lightly. Ruby watched without acting as a green glow washed over the entirety of Carmine's body.
In truth, Ruby probably could have interrupted it... but Carmine fought mainly with magic. It was more advantageous to let her waste mana healing herself then it was to interupt the healing... especially since Ruby was confident she could deal that damage again later.
"That worked earlier." She practically growled the words out as the green light disappeared, her body looking as good as new, only the rage in her eyes persisting.
"And? Maybe you're not as good at it as Clover." Ruby smirked and the woman in front of her got even angrier somehow.
"I'm going to enjoy this, Red." She readied her knife and pointed it forward to Ruby. The girl had recognised that it doubled as a wand... but Carmine having Gold eyes made predicting what she would do next difficult. Five shots of yellow light launched straight at Ruby, she managed to dodge three of them, but she resulted in using Rose Burst on her wings to avoid the other two without moving. Only reforming her wings once the attacks had long since passed her.
Carmine repeated this attack pattern a good few times, and Ruby was confused as she dodged each one... until one managed to square her in the chest. She waited for an effect... but the natural armour from her scales was enough to tank it.
"What was the point in those...?"
Another volley came soaring towards Ruby and she just stood there this time, all of them hitting her in different places and... doing nothing. Her confusion grew, and she charged Carmine as she fired out the next volley. The first four hit without issue, but the fifth hit her right wing with a weight she hadn't been expecting. The sudden impact causing her to tumble to the ground mid flight, though she used Rose Burst to escape to her feet before Carmine could follow up.
"Get it now, Red?" Ruby blinked with confusion at Carmine's words before the wizard sighed. "Guess not then. These things have a chance to either weigh barely anything, or a shit tonne. Not even i know what it'll be, and only the heavy ones use much mana."
"...Ok...?" Ruby grew confused before Carmine raised her knife again, and Ruby watched as four copies of it appeared floating in an arch shape behind the wizard. The Dragon instantly flapped her wings to get away from the ground as she understood, and each knife followed her as she moved before unleashing a gargantuan volley of those same attacks at her.
Each one must have been letting out at least five a second headed straight for Ruby as she soared around the arena, attempted to avoid every single one for fear of getting hit with more of the big ones.
Ruby realised pretty quickly as the torrent kept up that she couldn't dodge forever. Eventually Carmine's aim would adjust to be able to keep up with Ruby and at that point it would be a much harder time to avoid them... she needed to act now.
Ruby stopped mid-air and used Rose Burst, sailing down towards Carmine and weaving between every orb as it sailed at her. It felt like being a swarm of bees trying to fly straight up in a storm without getting hit by a single droplet of rain.
Eventually Ruby reached her and reformed, her wings moving in from the side to attack at Carmine, as her hands reached forward and attempted to wrestle the knife from the Wizards hands. Carmine just chuckled and flicked her knife up instead, cutting Ruby's hand as she reached for it before she planted her hand on Ruby's stomach and sent her flying back with a spatial distortion attack.
Ruby managed to stick the landing with a growl.. she wasn't liking how good Carmine was at maintaining the distance. The wizard grinned in an almost evil fashion as she stared at Ruby, and the Dragon focused her sight onto the knife... it had a purple coloured magic dripping from it now. Ruby's eyes darted to her cut hand and watched the same purple magic drip from the cut in her hand.
"Poison magic... a bit cheap if you ask me." She threw her hand down without a care and her wings spread as she grinned.
"Its perfectly safe I assure you. It's not big enough a dose to kill you... but It might disable your arm." Ruby raised an eyebrow... why would she be so happy about an effect as simple as that...? "Of course... in your full form... your arm becomes your leg does it not?"
Ruby's eyes widened for a moment before she chuckled. "Yeah... yeah it does." She smirked gently before flapping her wings again, her arm hanging limply at her side as she rocketed towards Carmine. The wizard let out another barrage of those orbs, and Ruby responded by using Rose Burst again... but this time with a different strategy. She reformed in front of Carmine, but now much bigger, her full form towered over the woman as her jaw moved down to snap at her.
Carmine leaped back and barely out of reach of all of Ruby's attacks before readying her wand again. She was confident now. Ruby's greatest weapon was the claws on her wings, which she couldn't use while flying, and now that was her only option of movement thanks to her busted leg.
Well, that was what Carmine thought till Ruby took the two steps needed to close the distance and her wings claw slammed into the woman, pinning her against the ground and applying as much weight as possible. Carmine let out a scream of rage as she started unleashing a gigantic field of both spatial and Gravity magic to try and force Ruby off of her... but that wasn't working properly anymore.
It was a much bigger area to affect now, and Ruby was also much stronger in her full form.
Plus, Ruby's Anti-Aegis was doing its job perfectly. Actually working even better in her full form then her half or base form.
The Anti-Aegis was a simple magic item really. It simply flooded the users body with a constant flow of Anti-magic, preventing outside manipulation or spells from properly working. Of course, thanks to being Legendary tier, it was also smart enough to differentiate between helpful and harmful spells.
Ruby let out an ear-splitting roar as Carmine poured more mana into her spells, and it was just enough to interrupt the woman's magic for a moment. Ruby used the chance to fully press her weight against Carmine now, the wizard now fully being squeezed between the Dragon's claw and the ground.
Another roar of pain from the wizard and Ruby suddenly felt a shift of sorts. She quickly leaped back and away from the woman, readying herself for an incoming attack... Carmine slowly stood, her body looking mangled, even worse then the damage she had taken before. She slowly let out a breath and a green glow passed over her body in a bright flash, healing all of the damage instantly.
"Alright then... Ruby." She held her knife up and the ground seemed to tremble as she did a small motion, spikes of stone shooting up around her and clouds forming in the sky high above the arena as her Gold eyes began to glow gently. "You're clearly a more respectable opponent then I expected-" Lighting crackled above them and the arena filled with an almost torrential wind as Carmine slowly grinned. "-So I'm going to give you the respect you deserve, and show you what real magic looks like."