Ruby Schnee
A sigh was quick to leave her lips, her first sound of the day that wasn't a breath. No one would fault Ruby for finding herself cold, after all, she had spent most of her life in Vale, and before that Patch. But the shiver that passed over her wasn't from temperature, no, the warmth she missed was the body of a certain Queen... and Weiss was actually pretty cold to the touch. Still, she was awake, and that meant the day had begun. With a groan this time, Ruby managed to rise, moving from laying down in what highly resembled the fetal position, to sitting up. Glancing around the room, she found herself oddly at home with the decor... Weiss had decorated their bedroom to be pretty similar, after all, and even the purely white bed wasn't too far off of what was normal for the Dragon.
"Come on, Ruby... the faster you do this, the faster you can get home."
Last night had proven difficult, but not impossible. Even closing on a decade of being Queen Consort of Vale, proper etiquette and navigating politicians was still a skill that eluded her. The particular problems that arose last night were fighting off 'assaults' from two different angles while targeting someone else. Of course, Winter reluctantly agreed to Weiss's proposition once she realised that Ruby had flown all the way here for that purpose, but the other Schnee's were constantly trying to change the topic back to themselves. Ruby had once questioned the resemblance between Whitley and Jacques, but after last night, she would never do that again. Both men were practically haggling with her to try and seize the Formula for themselves... or, at least, have her cast it for their respective targets. Jacques of course wanted it for himself, meanwhile Whitley was after a dose for his wife... even thinking about that made Ruby unsure of herself.
Of course, Ruby sympathised with the king of Atlas, how could she not? She herself wouldn't be able to imagine living forever without Weiss by her side... but, on the other hand... Well, Weiss had made sure to stress previously that just because Atlas was an ally, didn't mean they would be forever. The fewer Dragons they handed over, the better. Which meant Ruby had to be careful as to not just turn anyone without a good reason... and, she doubted her ability to discern if a reason was good enough or not. To summarise... she wanted Weiss's permission first.
"But how lame would that look!?"
Ruby wasn't just hesitant because it would make her look incredibly whipped if she called Weiss for permission, rather, it would more than likely erase any and all respect these people had for her. Ruby Schnee wasn't a small name anymore. The first Dragon in centuries, the Queen Consort of Vale, the only person alive with the whole Dragon Formula... These weren't small feats, and the respect she gained from having such accomplishments in her resume were arguably just as advantageous as any of the resources they gave her. At least, according to Weiss. That was the major problem. Any and all of the decisions or advice she could draw on from memory came from Weiss... Ruby wasn't prepared to do this without her. Navigating this kind of situation was much more her wife's area of expertise.
Slow to throw the blanket and sheets off of her body, slowly, she rose from the bed and set her feet on the cold wooden floors... Luckily, even though she could feel its temperature, it wasn't uncomfortable. Ruby had a few things to do before she could face that family again, all of which could be accomplished in this room... and the adjoining bathroom.
"First up... a shower."
After stepping out, Ruby had gained a new appreciation for hot showers thanks to the Atlas climate. As per usual, her hair was pretty unresponsive to her attempts at cleaning it up. The long and rather spiky looking locks draped down to her lower back when not done up, which was usually a ponytail or something similar. Ruby hadn't really liked this style when she was younger, but Weiss had opened her up to the idea of trying different styles. "Hm…" She fiddled with a stray strand, one that had been annoyingly draping over her face as she looked into the mirror. "I think I like it a bit shorter than this." Shelving plans to cut it once she was home, Ruby threw on some clothes she had prepared and stepped back into the room.
The guest bedroom was about the size of their bedroom back at home. Which made a painful amount of sense. Vale was by no means poor, but Atlas was the most wealthy kingdom in the world... and that was in no small part thanks to it being the only kingdom that had a major export to hand out to the others. Atlas had essentially created a global monopoly simply thanks to where they were. Being the only kingdom with access to the Dust Spike, they had all the rights when it came to Dust and all of its uses... of course, their positioning left them with an incredibly difficult time farming, so that was the main thing they traded for. Vale was lucky enough to have the easiest time when it came to that, mainly due to their land being mostly forests and plains.
"Atlas went to war with Mistral before taking over Vale... but they've had their eyes on us for centuries..."
Vale by all means should be subservient to Atlas of course, that had been the intention when Jacques had tried to start a war... But, that dynamic had been shaken up rather quickly. As much as Atlas wanted to boss Vale around, they really couldn't anymore. Obviously, even with the Harbingers, the Atlas fleet was still the strongest force in the world... an Army that was simply too powerful to fight.
Of course... if Ruby started turning more people into Dragons, however... Well. It wasn't a question of could they beat the Atlas fleet, rather, it was a question of how many Dragons it would take.
Weiss herself had guessed that it would take twenty more added onto what they had now to match the fleet, and that included the Harbingers.
"Though, I guess... if Pyrrha got enough Affinities, and was turned into a Dragon..."
Ruby wasn't great at maths, of course... Well, unless it came to magic. But her guess? A random hunch feeling about how strong Conquest could be?
"She could probably beat the fleet on her own..."
The door closed without a noise, in fact, it was so silent that she pushed on it a bit more just to make sure it had actually closed. After she was certain that she had claimed victory over the ornately carved white wood door, she turned and smiled at the man acting as her guide during her stay... or, perhaps her bodyguard.
"Good morning, Clover." So many things were different, so many things had changed over these years... it was nice to see an unchanged face.
"Good morning, your Highness." They had once been a lot more friendly and casual with one another, but Atlas wasn't the same as Vale, and that kind of behaviour wasn't something all royalty wanted. "Heading to breakfast?" Though, he seemed to be slipping in the occasional bit of familiarity.
"Yeah-" Ruby couldn't help but respond in kind. "Let's go."
"Gotta deal with them at some point."
Somehow, this castle was even more confusing than Vales own. In terms of layout, the confusing nature definitely put this place on top, then Beacon, and then home. The halls all looked the same, white upon white, everything not made of a sleek and pristine wood was painted either white or light blue... another bit of familiarity that held a different air in this place. While Ruby held the Schnee name, she still talked about them like she wasn't one of them. Her family was her own. To her, herself and Argus weren't a part of this... and Weiss to a smaller extent. She wouldn't deny that part of her wife, mainly due to it being a gigantic stain on her life that Weiss herself didn't exactly enjoy remembering. As Clover opened the door to one of the many dining rooms, Ruby lingered on a thought... Herself and Yang, they grew into who they were thanks to their parents. Weiss however? Her, Whitley, and of course Winter... they all grew into who they were regardless of their parents.
While one was clearly better than the other... there was something respectable about those that grew and matured despite being in those conditions.
Ruby wasn't even surprised anymore as she stepped into the dining room, the place was decorated identically to everywhere else in this castle. The only difference she could point out was a large skylight, the glass taking up a gigantic portion of the whole hall's roof. It gave a nice lighting to the room, though, many would call all that sunlight reflected off of all this white a bit blinding in nature. In attendance to breakfast this morning... was unfortunately everyone. Whitley sat with a smile, doing all but speaking to welcome Ruby into the room and clearly inviting her to sit opposite himself... conveniently away from his father, which was probably all he hoped she would notice about it. Of course, next to him was his Queen, Serena Schnee. Ruby's eyes lingered on her a bit before moving on... the woman was... intense. While they hadn't interacted much, Ruby knew how they had met, courtesy of her wife of course.
Apparently, she was the daughter of a butler to the Schnee's, a man by the name of Klein. Weiss had expressed her love for the man before, practically considering him the father she never had. The man was kind, patient, and probably her only friend growing up. His daughter, Serena, she had kept his brown hair, but besides that they didn't resemble each other at all. While Klein was a rather jovial looking fellow, Serena carried a rather serious tone, and her figure reflected none of the gene's one would expect to come from such a man... Ruby attributed that to his wife, however. Well, she hoped, anyway. Serena's eyes followed Ruby as she sat, choosing the seat Whitley offered and smiling pleasantly to try and keep things moving easy. Further down the table, Jacques and Willow sat almost segregated from the family... no one had chosen to seat near them, even Winter who was usually rather polite chose to leave at least a one seat gap between herself and her mother.
Breakfast was overall pretty tame. There was some light talk here and there, but no one wanted to try and speak up to make anything happen. Ruby, in this room full of royalty, held the most power. Simply because she had something they all wanted. Thankfully, right now, all of them were smart enough to realise all she wanted to do was eat her breakfast. Still, it was pretty funny when Whitley watched her remove the bacon from her plate... The king of Atlas went pale, as if some food on her plate she wouldn't eat would swing her opinion about what to do about his suggestion. Finally though, after everyone was done eating and Whitley could stand it no longer, did he speak again.
"Ruby, I was hoping that you thought more about my request." His voice was calm and rather soft, as if he was trying to imply that it held no pressure whatsoever... His wife, on the other hand, was doing a rather poor job of matching that. Her serious expression all but begging for an answer.
"Which request was this?" A poor attempt at delaying the inevitable... But Ruby had still yet to come up with a plan.
"Serena. I was hoping that you would consider turning her into a Dragon." His own eyes seemed to be pleading now, and Ruby frowned a little. Her eyes glanced over to the woman in question, and she had to think for a moment. Serena didn't strike her as a malicious soul, rather, Ruby got the impression that she was similar to herself... in situation at least. She simply had no clue what to do when it came to navigating this circumstance... it was why she hadn't spoken yet.
Yet, Serena didn't need to say anything to make Ruby nervous about the potential consequences of changing her... See, Serena had simultaneously gotten the genetic lottery, and genetic curse, both from her mother's side of the family. While Klein was a Dwarf, not a particularly strong creature... he only had Brown eyes, an Earth Affinity. Ruby didn't know what Serena's mother's eyes were... but, she knew one detail of the other woman. She was Human, and so was Serena.
But that wasn't what made Ruby so nervous about her... rather, it was her eyes. One was Grey, and one was White.
Ruby... didn't want to hand Atlas a Dragon with a hybrid Affinity for Physical Enhancement Magic, and Anti-Magic.
"After all... I've seen what Argus can do..."
Of course, Argus's power most likely would be difficult to imply in direct combat... so, conventionally... it was likely that Serena would be more powerful than the Dust Dragon.
Ruby had been silent too long, everyone else in the room now staring at her as a result, whether they were sitting at the table or not. Pressure enveloped her from every direction, even Winter waited for her words, and for once, Ruby found herself without any support. She couldn't figure out why this was so difficult, why was it so impossible to simply say no to them? Was saying no even the right decision? She needed help, support, someone to tell her if this was right or not...
"Even after all these years... am I still the same girl...?"
"Unfortunately, that decision isn't up to me." The mood changed quickly with her words, her voice now dripping with confidence. "You'll have to bring that up with Weiss, currently, I am under a Binding Contract. I can't use the Formula without Weiss's knowledge." Ruby's posture was straight, clean, a complete departure from her earlier nervous jittering. Right now, everyone in the room was almost stunned as they looked at her... the difference in behaviour, in confidence, it was like they had just witnessed a transformation. Of course, her words were a lie. Even before she had gotten rid of that Binding Contract, it didn't prevent her from using the Formula as she saw fit... and usually, such a lie would be immediately called out by the Schnee family. They were simply too good at spotting that kind of thing.
But for Ruby, for that moment... it hadn't been a lie. It had been a fact she had known to be true.
She had used Pride.
"So... that's what happened." Her mouth felt dry, like every word was a strong wind along a desert that scrapped away at what confidence she had left.
"I see... I'm sorry you had to be put in that position, Ruby." Weiss's words were careful, delicate. Both of them knew this was a difficult situation to navigate, and each of them worried that the other would be angry about it.
"It wasn't your fault..." But Ruby didn't blame Weiss.
"It wasn't yours, either." And Weiss didn't blame Ruby. For as much as using Pride felt like a taboo... small bursts, reasonable amounts, Weiss had never had a problem with that. The issue was it being taken too far. "It was the only way you could see out of that situation, and almost definitely the best choice you could have made."
"You sure...?" Ruby almost felt like a child, both hands clutching the Scrying Orb that held her only connection to Weiss... and hiding under the covers in her room. "I... I feel like I'm failing..."
"Ruby, using Pride isn't the end of the world-"
"Not about that... I mean... shouldn't I be stronger than this? Argus needs us... Vale needs us... shouldn't I be better than this?" What would her son have thought if he had seen her like that? Would he respect her anymore? Would he come to her for help anymore?
"Ruby, you can't expect yourself to become perfect at this stuff overnight."
"It's been more than a night, Weiss... it's been years."
"And relatively speaking, how long is a few years in the face of eternity?"
"Dragons have such messed up time frames..."
"Speaking of time frames..." Ruby smiled gently, already knowing exactly where Weiss was going with this. "Any chance you've already convinced my sister?"
"I... haven't gotten the chance. We haven't spoken privately since I arrived and... I think Whitley might be doing that on purpose..." Obviously, Ruby knew that saying that was quite the accusation. She couldn't throw claims like that around without proper evidence or especially without being sure... But, she hoped that Weiss would keep a level head and understand that Ruby was only speaking with a hunch-
"Oh, no, he definitely is." Weiss's lack of trust in her brother left Ruby's mouth agape for a moment... though, perhaps that wasn't right. More likely, she did trust her brother, but she also trusted that she knew him well. "I'll have to think about how to- oh... what?"
"Everything ok, Weiss?" Ruby's head tilted as her wife addressed someone else. From what Ruby could see, she was sitting in her office.
"Sorry, Ruby... could you hold on for a second?" Weiss asked the question, but didn't wait for an answer. Not that Ruby cared exactly, she was smart enough to understand that hoarding all of her wife's time wasn't on the table. Still, the conversation she had with whoever had interrupted didn't sound great from what Ruby could hear. It was a bit muffled, but Weiss sounded pretty upset... almost angry. So, when she returned... Ruby was already expecting the worst. What was said wasn't too far off from that. "Ruby... I need you to head to the Council Room in Atlas."
"What? Why? What's going on?"
"Vacuo has made their first move." For just a moment, Ruby's skin paled to match the rest of the Schnee's.
"Are we sure? They could be doing any number of things-"
"Name one other thing they could be hoping to accomplish." Even if frustration was dripping from her voice, Ruby was still glad to hear Weiss again... even so soon after their call.
"They might be-!"
"Oh, sister. Welcome." Whitley gave Ruby a smile as she entered the room, seemingly uncaring that he had cut off General Ironwood. The large council chamber reflected a similar design to Vales own... baring its size and colour scheme, of course. The table was covered in large Scrying Orbs, similar in layout to the war-room back at home, and through the main one Ruby could see the love of her life... who was currently scowling a bit, clearly disturbed by what the King of Atlas had called Ruby.
"What's going on?" She skipped the introductions, sitting down in the offered chair and carrying a worried expression.
"Well, our scouts picked up activity in-"
"He means spies, Ruby." Ironwood once again looked annoyed at the interruption, but continued after Weiss was done.
"Vacuo's deserts. Magic is being used to move large amounts of sand and alter the terrain." So far, Ruby didn't really see the problem. "We believe that they are attempting to sift the desert." The question of what exactly they were looking for wasn't much of a mystery... but...
"Can Dust even form in sand?"
"Yes. Anything more solid than air creates the proper conditions for Dust formation." Ruby actually knew that, but Ironwood had answered Whitley's questions first. Of course, that meant that Dust could form in water as well... but-
"No one would risk scavenging the ocean for Dust..."
The Grimm in the water were simply too dangerous.
"So, we need to act first." Ironwood spoke like this was a settled topic, despite his earlier hesitation to even admit this was what was even happening. Ruby glanced into one of the larger Scrying Orbs, the one that showed him. Currently, the leader of the Atlas army was on the bridge of the Fleet's flagship... It was strange, once upon a time, she would have said that he looked older than Ozpin.
"That changed pretty quickly..."
"Sending the fleet would be a waste. We simply need a small squad of Knights to disrupt the process." Ruby much preferred Weiss's idea, though she certainly had her biases. Though, that raised the question of who exactly they should send.
"Preferably, we want a small squad that can move fast and hit hard. The Mages they have sifting the sand are doing incredibly large amounts at a time-"
"So we need to send a strong force." Ruby recognised the look on Weiss's face. The Queen already had an answer, already. "I suggest we send a squad of roughly five Knights. Two of which will be Dragons."
It wasn't an idea that could go ignored, or be suggested lightly. "Using Dragon's in our first response?" Whitley seemed unsure of it himself.
"This situation needs to be squashed immediately. I already have a few people we can send in mind, but as for the Dragons... I suggest Yang Xiao Long, and Winter Schnee." Ruby smiled, in fact, it was almost a smirk. She knew exactly what Weiss was doing now.
"Winter? But she's an Elemental." The General seemed rather confused with the command, while the King of Atlas wore a small frown.
"Oh? I sent Ruby to Atlas for the sole purpose of changing Winter... Has that not yet been accomplished?" Her attention turned to Whitley, and judging from their tones, Weiss could guess that they both understood the subtext of the situation.
"Not quite yet. But, Ruby can do that immediately, surely?" He turned to Ruby, swapping out his almost scowl for a smile as their eyes met. She nodded, and excused herself from the meeting quickly... Luckily, Ironwood mentioned that Winter could meet her in one of the ritual rooms.
"Here... here... and... here. Ok, everything's set." For the ritual, anyway. Ruby still had a bit more work to do... Work that related to the surrounding room, not the actual ritual. The ritual chamber was rather large in size, big enough to comfortably fit a Dragon... Which Ruby had assumed was its purpose anyway. It resembled a large cylinder in shape with a curved roof, ornately carved columns inbuilt into the walls rose from the ground set distances around the circle, and of course, the whole thing was constructed from that same white brick.
Ruby's current task, and the reason as to why she was currently poking around and scanning every single part of the room... was to check for any means one might be using to spy or watch the ritual occur. Sure, she was going to use a barrier to keep Winter - and anyone that might be watching - from hearing it, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
So, that was how Winter found her... hunched over and eyeing a seemingly random brick along the bottom of the wall. "Hello... Your... Highness." She tried to sound respectful, truly she did... it was just a difficult situation to do that in.
"Hey, Winter!" Ruby glanced back and shot her a smile, before she turned to the wall once more. Both of her hands rested against one of the bricks, and with a small pulse of Mana, the enchantment inbuilt to it collapsed. "Just tidying up." Winter was rather understanding once she put two and two together, but, understandably, she got a little frustrated after Ruby spent twenty minutes scouring the room. Once she confirmed its privacy, they were ready to begin.
"I understand I'm being given this power for an assignment." She asked the question without ever actually asking it... Honestly, Ruby was kinda impressed.
"It's not like ill change you back once it's over... Weiss wanted you to have this power anyway." With a nod, she confirmed the ritual's proper construction, and gestured Winter into its centre. Once the barrier was erected around herself, Ruby threw her hood over her head as a last method of safety to try and stop anyone from reading her lips... then... started the ritual.
"Potentia."
"Elementum."
"Spiritus."
"Superbia."
"Schnee." A bright line radiated from the room as Ruby smiled.
"That makes seven."
14th Day, Fourth Strike, 2115 PE