"I'm Yang. Yang Xiao-Long."
You're naked is what you are.
No! Bad Jaune!
Working on autopilot, Jaune quickly tore off his tabard and handed it to the very naked, very woman-like woman or dragon or thing in front of him.
"Y-You're naked." He stammered, making sure to avert his eyes.
"Oh. Thanks." The Yang replied, taking the tabard and wrestling with it in an attempt to put it on. Jaune just stood awkwardly and waited, not sure what to do, not sure what was going on either. The only thing he was sure of was that the ground sure looked interesting all of a sudden.
Eventually the Yang managed to get its, her arms through the right holes and her head reappeared. Her long mane was frazzled and her face defined by the wide, joy-infecting smile on her face.
"Thank you." The Yang said, and he nodded back. The tabard barely fell to her waist, and Atlas wasn't exactly walk around naked weather. He needed to get her some proper clothes.
'The shepherd. He'll have spare clothes. Hopefully.' Jaune thought, and he nodded with his mind made.
"I'm just doing the right thing my lady." Jaune replied politely and her grin only grew. Had he insulted her? At least he knew it was a her if responded to lady.
"My lady huh. Sounds like a statement." The Yang replied, and Jaune quickly shook his head in horror. He knew from experience with suitors for his sisters that one thing women hated were men who automatically treated them like something rather than someone, acting as if they were a possession rather than a person.
"Not at all! Just common courtesy." He replied, and the Yang cocked an unimpressed eyebrow. Why did it look remind him of the dragon when it was clearly human? Was it human or dragon?! What was going on!?
"I don't think it's normal to breath that quickly." The Yang said, suddenly looking worried. Jaune realised he was hyperventilating.
"I…feel light…headed…" Jaune murmured, feeling woozy and drowsy all of a sudden. Then he was falling to the ground where blissful unconsciousness awaited.
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Yang managed to catch Jaune before he fell onto the ground. She sat down with him in her arms and decided to wait for him to awake.
From what she remembered of her time long ago with Ruby and her father, it wasn't normal Human behaviour to give a gift then pass out. But then again it had been a very long time since she had an interaction with a Human in her Human form. What if something was wrong with her body and he had become passed out with disgust or fear?
She glanced down at her body, only to smile at the sight of the cloth he had given her. Her fiery core warmed her no matter her form, but it was nice to have greater cover from the cold air and damp ground. It was also the first time in a long time anyone had given her something.
A gift. That was what it was. Her mother had brought many to her father. Great gifts for the mate of a great dragon. Glittering gemstones, shining crowns, bright piles of glimmering gold. She couldn't remember the last time she had a gift. Now she had one.
She didn't believe Humans had a courting ritual for opening a relationship with dragons, it was more a case of the dragon took what the dragon liked. That meant this gesture was a wholesome one. No that wasn't the right word. It was a…friendly one. Something done out of the kindness of one's heart.
Yang waited patiently for Jaune Arc to wake up, gently poking and prodding his armoured body and brushing his soft hair whilst she did so. It was weird having someone so close after so long alone, but it felt nice, especially the feeling of his hair in her hands.
A hug. Her father had given her some. Ruby had given her many. She would like to be hugged again. Her mother had preferred her Armoured form, the form of scales and wing and power, and had never given her a hug. She wanted to be hugged again. She wouldn't mind if it was Jaune giving the hug.
Yang sensed it before it happened. It was a dark, acrid thing, suffocating and making every fibre of her body yell at her to run and hide. It was familiar. It was terrifying. It was Ruby.
Then Jaune began to whimper and twist. The smell, the aura grew more powerful, more terrifying.
Yang felt scared. Then she realised. Ruby was not near. But her foul magic had tainted Jaune, hurt him. Deep on the inside where it was hard to see and smell wounds. But how did he come into contact with Ruby? Was she one of the friends he'd mentioned?
Yang could get answers from him later. First she would have to save him.
She gently rubbed her hands against his temples, concentrating her energy, her fire, in the palms of them. Jaune's whimpering began to ease.
"It will be okay Jaune." Yang murmured, remembering how her father had said comforting things to her when she had fallen ill. "It will be okay. I will protect you."
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Jaune was swimming. Floating. Gliding through the abyss.
Where was he? How had he got there?
"You are a monster! Father was right about you!"
What was that? Why did it sound familiar? Where was he?
"Mama?"
"Foolish girl! I told you to kill the human child and you let her leave! Now she's brought her mother here to kill us!"
Jaune trembled at the second voice. It was filled with raw, commanding power. The first sounded like a confused, sad little girl.
"You're a failure Yang. A failure of a daughter, of a dragon. You should've killed that girl the second she ran. But you didn't and now look what's happened."
Jaune could see. The dark abyss engulfing him parted, showing him a dying dragon on a mountaintop. It was a behemoth of a creature, many times larger than the one that had attacked Nördliche Burg or the one he's just met. Its scales were as black as midnight and its blood red eyes were slowly mixed with amber, a curious combination that made its gaze seem hypnotic. Its scales were badly burnt, its breathing was ragged and its drooping eyes told him it was on death's door.
Curled up next to it was a smaller dragon, barely his size. Its scales were the same yellow shade as the sun on a warm day. It looked similar to…Yang. It was Yang. The dragon Yang.
"Mama! I'm sorry mama!"
The mighty, dying dragon said nothing. It didn't have the strength to. It merely glared at its spawn with all the hatred and disgust it could summon until it exhaled one last time, wide eyes a blend of amber and red, deathly still. The young Yang sobbed.
"There!"
"Quickly Ruby! Before they escape!"
There was a blinding flash of silver. The images faded. Jaune blinked.
What was that? Where was he? What was he seeing?
"It will be okay Jaune."
Who was that? Where were they?
"It will be okay. I'll protect you."
Something flickered through the abyss. It was light. Fire. It burned its way towards him.
The abyss tightened, suffocating him. Before it felt like he had been floating in water. Now he was drowning in it.
He struggled and thrashed. The fire grew closer. The abyss tightened its hold over him. Jaune screamed in pain.
A temple of stone, surrounded by a wall of ice, an ancient power and an ancient evil hidden from the world, waiting to be unleashed.
Golden eyes, flickering in the dark, malice hidden behind deceptive beauty, malice caused by fear over the safety of their loved ones.
A silver sword, calling to him, summoning him. A silver sword with history and power. A silver sword that exacts a heavy price for the glory it may bring.
The fire burned bright, closer. The images did not fade. They became brighter, clearer as the abyss that created them was burned away.
A temple of stone. An ancient power and an ancient evil. A desperate child seeking the thing they lost, the one thing they loved the most, willing to sacrifice everything to gain what they lost.
Golden eyes. Amber eyes. The eyes of the betrayer. Eyes filled with guilt. Eyes filled with determination.
A friend lost. A friend gained. A heavy price. A deal to be made.
The fire touched him. It did not hurt. It was a comfort. Like a warm blanket on a cold day. The Abyss lashed out against him, raking across his skin like the talons of a bird. He screamed with pain, begging for it to stop to anyone who would listen.
The deal was done. His fate was sealed.
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Yang felt the suffocating aura of Ruby's magic fade. Its taint was burnt away by her fire, and Jaune's pain had eased. He was sweating profusely and he was no longer twitching or screaming.
The process had left her drained. Tired. She had overestimated how much energy she had left and would expend.
Jaune's armour was cold but she was warm. She eased them both onto the ground and curled up next to him. It felt nice not to be alone anymore. It was even nicer when he rolled over and wrapped his arm over her stomach.
Snuggling closer against him, Yang closed her eyes and fell asleep.
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Ruby was concerned.
It had been a day since Jaune had set off down Mira's End from Snowmire. He still hadn't come back. Blake had. She had not found anything at the old dragon's long abandoned lair.
Jaune hadn't come back. He hadn't come back from a scouting mission in an area potentially the current dwelling of an unpredictable, potentially hungry dragon.
Ruby was concerned. She had good reason to be.
She could still feel the bloodlust from her fight with the scorpion Faunus who had attacked them a few days ago. It was wrong. She could feel it. It wasn't natural. But it had felt so good. So right. And the fact she'd been able to use her silver eyes at all...
They were supposed to be used against dragons only. That was the rule, unspoken by the general masses and spoken amongst silver-eyed warriors themselves in hushed tones. Their magic was to protect, not to harm, which was why it only worked against dragons.
But if that was the case then why had it been able to harm that Tyrian Callows person. If it was the case then why had Jaune been injured during her use of her power at Nördliche Burg and why had her mother accidentally hurt her father by doing the same so long ago to save him. It just didn't make sense.
Ruby sighed. She wouldn't get answers moping around.
"Finally made a decision?" Blake asked, bags underneath her amber eyes. It had been a rough climb and a rough few days. She was sipping from a cup of tea on her bed in their shared room at Tukson's.
"Better safe than sorry." Ruby shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Besides I feel a lot better now. Getting bored of being cooped up really."
"Hmm." Blake hummed in reply, look on her face telling her she didn't believe her. "Fine. I'm worried Tyrian might have tried something."
"Are you sure he'll still be around?" Ruby asked, standing up and shrugging on her light armour. "We messed him up pretty badly."
"Yes. Tyrian won't give up easily, especially not if he's close to what he wants." Blake replied, finishing her drink and standing up to get ready as well.
"And what does he want? Guy seemed like a complete psycho."
"That's because he is." Blake snorted. "As for what he wants, well that's simple. First would be to find what we're looking for. Secondly would be revenge against me."
"Firstly, what are we even looking for? I know we're hunting down dragons but what is the thingamajig you're looking for? Secondly, why does Tyrian want revenge against you?" Ruby asked, tying her cloak to her armour by using her Rose brooch.
"I'll tell you about Tyrian when we find Jaune." Blake replied. "I don't want to repeat myself constantly. As for what we're looking for, well, it's more like a place. A temple to be precise. There's an artefact there that I need."
"Need for what?" Ruby asked. Her instinct, the same instinct that had made her so suspicious of Blake when they first met, was urging her on for something other than evasive answers.
"I lost something. Something I care about. The artefact can bring it back." Blake smiled reassuringly at her whilst tying her katana to her waist. "Don't worry. It's not something that'll destroy the world. It's just something frowned upon by the Inquisition. I'm still getting used to the whole being open with people thing, so bare with me."
"It's alright Blake." Ruby smiled in reply. "I trust you."
She didn't. Ruby had been willing to follow Jaune's lead on trusting Blake after letting them into the Resting Lodge, which was the basic law and common courtesy. But her instinct, fuelled by the new feeling of something that had awoken during her fight with Tyrian, warned her against Blake. Something wasn't right about her, and Ruby hoped she found out before she or Jaune or anyone else was hurt. Afterall, it had only been the promise of their supplies that had gotten Blake to open the door to them when they had been freezing in the snow.
The two increasingly uneasy friends walked side by side out of Snowmire and headed south, down the mountain and towards the hilly landscape at its base that spread for many miles around.
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When Jaune woke up it was dark and his neck hurt. Had it been a dream? He felt that it had been, must've been. Surely dragons don't turn into beautiful women? They certainly don't act almost normal either. He must've dreamt it all.
Then he realised he was holding something. Something that was breathing softly. Something with a thick mane of blonde hair that was inches from his face and made his nose tickle with the urge to sneeze.
'Don't sneeze on the girl! Don't sneeze on the girl!' Jaune begged internally with all his might. Every muscle in his body had tensed suddenly underneath his armour.
He remembered the Highlow, the talk with the shepherd. Then he'd dreamt about a civil dragon that turned into a naked woman. Then he woke up to a half naked woman wearing his tabard. Or had he?
Jaune resisted the urge to groan or cry or both. What was his life nowadays?!
The woman grumbled in her sleep, shifting and rolling over so she faced him. It was dark, but her eyes were closed and the few glimpses of moonlight peeking from behind the dark clouds above gave him enough vision to see her properly.
And by the Gods above was he grateful for that. Although her face seemed tired, worn, there was a youthful beauty to it. Her cheekbones were high and her nose seemed button-like but well fitting. Her forehead was creased for a few moments and her hands fumbled against his chest before settling down. The transition from worried to ease was one of the most remarkable things he'd seen, making him blink suddenly.
She seemed almost angelic. Too perfect. But was there such a thing? Too beautiful? Too breath-taking?
He didn't know, but he felt like if such a thing was possible then it would be the perfect way to describe the woman clinging onto his chest like he was a big armoured teddy bear.
'Was this Yang?' he wondered. He did pass out in his dream. Or was it a dream? This time he did groan, though he quickly fell silent when he saw Yang stir. He'd stick with it being Yang for now. It made sense. More sense than a random woman finding him passed out, taking off all her clothes to put on his tabard and sleeping next to him.
Yang stirred again. Then her eyes flickered open and she yawned. She rolled onto her back and stretched her arms upwards. It did curious things to her body as her back arched, and he quickly diverted his attention elsewhere. He'd just woken up, and it was sheer exhaustion stopping his downstairs standing at attention the way it did for all young men.
"Good morning." Yang mumbled sleepily, eyes falling shut again, though she was obviously waking up.
"It's nighttime." Jaune replied quietly, unsure of what to say or do.
"Good nighttime." Yang amended, before rolling onto her side, one arm resting against her hip and the other propping up her head. "Are you okay?"
He blinked. The question caught him off guard. Then he nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks for asking. Sorry for passing out by the way." He replied, and Yang smiled at him, pearly white teeth almost luminescent in the odd dark but not entirely dark darkness.
"It wasn't your fault. I healed you though." She said proudly, and he could easily imagine her preening like the dragon had. Like she had. Gods he needed to wrap his head around that fact. Wait a minute.
"You healed me? From what?" Jaune asked, curious and worried. Was something wrong with him? Had he caught an illness during his travels or something?
Yang said nothing. She stared off in the darkness, as if she was contemplating something. The look on her face was dark.
"Ruby." She answered quietly, not meeting his eyes. "I cured you of her magic."
"Wait what? What magic? And how do you know Ruby?" Jaune blurted, sitting up suddenly. Yang followed, though she was more tentative and nervous.
"Her silver magic. You must've been caught in it. Silver magic isn't good for humans. Or dragons." She replied, her voice trailing off and her eyes staring into the darkness. The waterfall had sounded soothing, almost melodic earlier. In the darkness of the night it sounded almost ominous, too loud in the silent night, like the banging of war drums.
"What-How much do you know about silver magic?" Jaune asked. He remembered what he saw in the Abyss. Or was it his mind? Or was it the magic? Was it true? He had so many questions. Wait, did that mean the voice he heard was Yang's?
"Only what my mother told me." Yang responded, her voice hauntingly quiet, sad, as she reminisced. "And what Ruby told me. Ruby doesn't-didn't know much. She just knew the basics, that it hurt dragons and she believed it was meant to be used to protect humans."
"What? What do you mean by believed to be meant protecting us-I mean humans?" Jaune asked, frowning. Yang glanced at him, before shifting uncomfortably.
"My mother said silver eyes aren't good for dragons or for humans. They hurt. They dominate. Silver eyes seek to supplant dragons and humans. Take over." Yang said, slowly gaining in confidence as Jaune didn't object and listened in confusion but forced an open mind due to his curiosity at speaking with an actual dragon/human/thing. "Dragons and humans are balanced. One and the same…symbiotic. Dragons need humans to reproduce. Humans need dragons to protect them. Silver eyes upset the balance."
"But…but why?" Jaune asked, and Yang merely shrugged.
"Mother never told me. Just warned me away from Ruby. From silver eyes." Yang replied, and Jaune didn't say anything because he had nothing to say.
Was it true? Could it be true? Very little was known about either dragons or silver eyed warriors. But if Yang was saying the truth, and that was the dragon's perspective, then what did that mean about the silver-eyed warriors and the humans perspectives?
Humanity and silver-eyed warriors had always been separated as too different, distinct beings. Afterall, Jaune couldn't use his eyes to take down dragons. It was the same way Faunus were different for their animal traits. They were different but still human, different branches of the same tree.
If dragons were actually just people who could transform into dragons and had developed their own worldviews and culture due to their power, then were they really that different? The hatred towards them was justified from a human point of view. But it was justified from their point of view? What if they, rather than being a completely separate tree as many believed, were actually just another branch from the tree shared by Humans and Faunus and Silver-Eyed warriors.
Jaune, and to a greater extent humanity as a whole, had to understand the dragons if they ever hoped to have a peace with them. A world where they could co-exist.
"You said dragons protect humans." Jaune asked. "Protect us from what?"
Yang said nothing and tapped her chin thoughtfully. The silence dragged on, only accentuated by the sound of the waterfall.
"I…I think…" Yang began, only to stop and chew on her bottom lip nervously.
"It's okay." Jaune murmured quietly, reassuringly. "I'm just curious."
"I think…I think that my mother mentioned something. Something that tried usurping the gods. They defeated it, hid it away never to be found again. But they created dragon-kind to protect humanity if it ever returned." Yang answered finally. "But it always seemed more like a fairy tale than a fact."
Jaune nodded. It was cool to know that even dragons had fairy tales. They sat in silence. Jaune's mind went into overdrive as he thought.
Ruby had mentioned silver-eyed males were rare. If dragons were all female and required men to reproduce, then a sure fire way for someone to cut down on their population was to take that away from them.
Jaune sighed and shook his head. Now he was going down a conspiracy theory alley.
"You still haven't told me how you know Ruby." Jaune said quietly as the silence dragged on.
"I forgot. Sorry." Yang replied quickly, hugging her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Jaune felt like that was a lie, that she had been hoping he forgot to ask, but he let that go in favour of finding out more about her and his travelling new best friend.
"Ruby is my sister. My half-sister." Yang began. "My mother took my father and sired me. My father…he escaped and married the woman he had been…betrothed? to. They had Ruby. When she got older our father told her about me and we met. Became sisters."
Jaune held his breath, if only to stop his jaw from falling through the ground and all the way down into the earth. Ruby had a sister? A dragon sister?
'Oh no… ' Jaune thought, remembering how Ruby had gotten when he asked about any siblings she might've had. 'This doesn't end well does it?'
"We grew close. She was my best friend. I loved her." Yang trailed off. There were tears in her eyes. Jaune didn't know what to do. "I…I had a crush on a boy from a village not far from my lair. I didn't want to just take him like my mother had taken my father. I wanted…love. Genuine love like in the stories my father and Ruby used to tell me. It sounded nice. So I chose to be honest with him. I revealed myself to him and he ran. I was devastated. My mother found out and…she destroyed him. Destroyed his village. Ruby thought I did it. She and her mother attacked my mother's lair. Drove us out. My mother died. Then they drove me away from her body too. Then I was alone."
She broke down. Sobs that were devastatingly genuine, genuinely heart-breaking to hear spilled out uncontrollably. Jaune's big brother instincts overtook him and he hugged her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her against him as gently as possible, not wanting to hurt her with his armour.
It didn't seem to help. If anything she cried even more, so he quickly tried pulling away, only for her to leap suddenly, wrapping her own arms around him and sobbing into his chest. He quickly returned the gesture, though his back and chest began to ache as she held him a little too tightly. He wouldn't complain though. He had a feeling she needed this.
The clouds and moon passed overhead. The waterfall rushed next to them. Jaune held onto Yang until her crying stopped and he realised she'd cried herself to sleep. He tried to extricate himself from her arms gently so she could rest easily, but she refused to let go of him, clinging onto him like he was her favourite teddy bear. Eventually she started whimpering when he moved too much, so he resigned himself to his fate, letting Yang sleep soundly on his chest, eventually snoring in a loud yet adorable way.
Jaune found that he didn't really mind. In fact, it was quite nice, in a weird, inexplicable way.
Soon he closed his eyes too. This time he wasn't haunted by nightmares of what he'd done or by weird visions. He slept soundly for the first time in a long time.