Ruby Schnee

Something is wrong.

It was obvious, so obvious that she didn't need to say it, yet the urge to scream it out was overpowering. Every cell in her body, every drop of mana in her soul, every fiber of her being and every single scrap of what made up her personality all knew that this was wrong... so very, very wrong. She'd been here before, afterall.

A void. Though, describing it as that was a bit pointless. It was less a place and more... not. It lacked anything that could be described save for her own form here, the colour of the infinite expanse could best be described as black... but that didn't feel strong enough. Like it was simply the closest her mind could equate it to, yet she could still recognise it as wrong all the same. At least there was a floor this time... or, more accurately, she could walk. There wasn't a floor that she could see, but Ruby was certainly taking steps on something, her boots stepping over a surface she couldn't detect besides the proof that was each step. It was somewhere between completely solid, and like stepping on a cloud... but once again, the answer eluded her.

She had last been here years ago... well, a bit over two years ago. Rory was gone right? There shouldn't be anyone trying to drag her in here... perhaps she had accidentally fallen into this place. Though, how does one 'accidentally' trip and fall into their own subconscious? She had her answer already of course... just not one she wanted to face at the moment.

"In this whole infinite expanse... why did the one thing that actually shows up, have to be you?" She wasn't impressed to say the least, and her voice reflected that. Silver eyes practically glared at the glowing orb, a searing light that burned white streaks across the void. It was offending her even by being here, and while talking or insulting it couldn't actually get it to leave - at least, she thought it wouldn't help - it would certainly be cathartic.

"So, let's see. The whole 'Dragon Ruby' is gone... or never existed, whatever. Rory is gone... or... his copy is gone. So why are you still here?? I'm not going to look at you! I'm not going to watch that memory!!" Who knows what it would do to her?

Well, as a matter of fact... she did. Ruby had been extremely adamant about finding out exaclty what it would do to her if she took a peek... and the answer wasn't one she was happy with. In viewing the last memory, her mind would completely register Rory as dead, and flush all traces of him from it... well, it would try to. What would probably happen, is as her brain tried to erase the foreign memories and personality traces from her... it would try and eject them out into her soul. Now, if they actually reached her soul? They couldn't cause any damage there. The issue came in her mind more then likely failing at its task. Rory's knowledge, personality, memories... all of it would just be smeared over her brain. Like trying to wipe away a sticky mess with just your hand... you just spread it and make everything worse.

It wasn't something she could help her brain to do either. Best case scenario, she would have to slowly, bit by bit, pull each and every foreign contaminate from her mind... and that would take more then just hours or days or weeks... she'd be stuck doing that for years...

Not that she'd want to of course. If Rory's personality had smeared over the top of hers, she was more likely to try and-

"No... I don't want to think about that..."

Rory hated Dragons... more then what one would think possible, thanks to an unhealthy dose of Pride.

Ruby's family just happened to be mostly made up of Dragons now...

"You can just leave me alone. I'm never going to give you what you want." As much as Ruby wanted to believe that... she herself had thought of some reasons she might need to go back on her word... not unprepared obviously.

Suffice to say, her worst nightmare started to take shape in reality around her as the glowing orb started moving closer. "Wait..." Could it do that...? Could they always do that...? Had it learnt how? Had it brought her here?? "Stop...!" Her feet stepped back before she registered her own movements, and before long she broke out into a full on sprint to escape the advancing orb. Ruby couldn't risk touching it, what if that's all that it needed??

"Stop!" She glanced back and her eyes widened in terror as it sped up, the orb chasing her and gaining without a noise or action besides its constant movement. Her form surged with strength and her wings sprouted from her back, the heavy limbs picked her off the floor in a single flap of motion. The red wings carried her into the air and produced as much power as they could, carrying her much faster away then her legs ever could... but as she glanced back again, her horror doubled over as she saw it no further away then before... in fact, it was closer now.

Words failed her as she fully shifted, her large body able to produce much swifter flight thanks to its strength. The Dragon used as much of its power as she could, burning a red line through the infinite darkness... but she didn't have to turn back anymore to know it was still there. She could see the light it produced getting ever so brighter and brighter in front of her, like an announcement that it was right behind her.

She couldn't escape. Rose Burst couldn't actually move as fast as her top flying speed, she was already moving as fast as she could... it was over. This... thing... was going to catch her! What was it going to do with her after...? What was it going to do with her family after this...?

What was it going to make her do to her family after this...?

Quiet. After all of the stress... all of the panic... just... quiet.

She looked around slowly, her eyes probably glazed over as she scanned the room... Ruby was sitting up in bed, the blanket on her lap having fallen from her body as she sat up... funnily enough, she couldn't even remember that. Ruby knew she had woken up in a sweat and shot up immediately in a panic... but her brain had been in such overdrive that she couldn't really remember it.

Still... thinks seemed ok..? It was the dead of night, Argus was sleeping in his room tonight, Weiss was still completely out of it next to her... the Queen was actually hugging around Ruby's waist still. She carefully checked her memories... trying to recall anything and everything about Rory's life that she could... but, all that was found was what information had already been hers. The few memories Ruby had seen were stored more like dotpoints of information in her head, facts she knew rather then actual memories... which was how they should be. They weren't hers afterall.

"Was that... just a nightmare...?" If so, she was equally terrified and relieved. Now that she was awake, it felt... less real. Like how a dream slips away from someone only seconds after waking... which, hopefully was exactly what this was.

"...Ruby...?" She couldnt help but gently smile, obviously she was annoyed at herself for waking up the sleeping beauty... but, she did really need her right now.

She turned and watched as Weiss slowly unwrapped her arms from her waist, sitting up and rubbing her eyes gently. "Hey... sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yep." A straight and concise answer, one that was standard from Weiss Schnee. "What was your nightmare about?"

"You heard that...?"

"We just went over that, Ruby."

"O-oh... right... sorry, I meant-"

"Shh." Weiss rested her head on Ruby's shoulder, wrapping her wife in a hug while she let out a small yawn. "Don't try and think too much, you'll hurt yourself."

"Ouch..."

"See?"

"N-no I meant-"

"Ruby... thinking." On the one hand... Weiss could be pretty frustrating when she was this tired. On the other? Her wife was being adorable.

"Ok, fine, fine... my nightmare was just... I was being chased by something... something I couldn't escape or fight." Not the whole truth, but not a lie either.

"Oh... well, don't worry about it."

"Comfort of the year." She rolled her eyes and moved to lay the half asleep woman back down, but she never got the chance.

Weiss was faster then her, surprising Ruby greatly when she pushed her down onto the bed and draped her body over Rubys own. The girl on the bottom blushed a bit as her wife practically straddled her, but this clearly wasn't meant to be sexual... at least, she thought.

"Ruby... you don't have to worry, because you're not alone. Even if you can't escape something or fight it off... I'm always here to help you." Her voice had changed, taking on a much more serious air now... yet it kept such a sweet and warm undertone to it.

"Weiss... i-"

"It's not just me either. You're obsessed with this idea that you have to protect us but... Ruby? You can be selfish if you want."

"What... do you mean...?"

"I mean... say what you want. Ask for things. Tell me you need help. It's both of our jobs to protect Argus, but it's my job to protect you just as much as you think it's your job to protect me." The hypocrisy of that statement was not lost on Ruby, but she chose to ignore it for now. "Ruby... my life is going to be long. Probably even too long... if I want to be able to manage it at all... ill need you by my side. I'll do anything and everything I can do to keep you there... so never hesitate to tell me anything."

"I can't promise that, Weiss..." She had to be realistic about this...

"I know. Just as much as I know that I couldn't promise you the same... I just... wanted you to know." Her body slumped a bit, practically collapsing onto Ruby properly as the girl on the bottom pulled the blanket up to cover them both. "It feels like only yesterday that Argus was born... it feels like hours ago that Whitley visited..."

"That was a few months ago, Weiss."

"I know... I'm just saying... With you by my side, it dosent feel time consuming or boring... time moves so fast nowadays, and everytime I close my eyes I'm certain I'll lose months."

Ruby had felt similar... it wasn't that they experienced time faster, rather, as time progressed and their minds, body's, and souls, all remained the same... it was being engraved onto their very being that this was going to be the standard forever. Time didn't move faster, it just felt like less had happened because they were closer and closer to accepting completely that they would live forever.

"Well... I'm about ready to lose some time..." They shared a small chuckle, and Ruby closed her eyes slowly, feeling much safer now that Weiss was holding her in an almost protective way... shielding her from the world. "And... Weiss...? I'm not scared about how time feels... whether it's months or even years that pass when I close my eyes... so long as you're there when I open them, I'll be fine no matter what."

Ruby wasnt sure if Weiss had heard her or not, there was a good chance the Queen had drifted off already... but, maybe that didn't matter so much as Ruby accepting it herself.

"I wonder... the next time I open my eyes... how much time will have passed...?"

That wasnt how it worked, but she was too tired to think about that properly. So, she drifted off to sleep... and in the morning, she opened her eyes.

Ruby Schnee

A loud yawn was definitely not the most graceful thing to do in the world immediately after waking up, yet that was how Ruby had chosen to start every morning for as long as she could remember. Weiss had called it cute, then annoying, then frustrating, then back to cute... Ruby wasnt too sure where they were at with that at the moment, but it was good to know that it was on a cycle.

"I'll just chose to remember the 'cute' ones."

With another stretch she threw her legs off the bed and stood quickly, only noticing her state of dress - or rather, lack thereof - after glancing down at her body. She looked up slowly in mild stunned shock as she heard a door open, but luckily it was only the bathroom opening, so only Weiss got a view of her naked body... which she had definitely seen many, many more times before.

"Please tell me you're going to put some clothes on before going to wake our son." Weiss rolled her eyes as she stepped over to her desk, but Ruby caught the smile she wore as she did.

"Awww, and here I thought this was your favourite suit of mine."

"Ruby, I have bought you way too many outfits for your birthday suit to be my favourite."

"You ok?" Ruby's voice switched from playful to cautious as she stepped over, wrapping her arms around Weiss from behind... still naked, of course.

"Why do you ask?"

"Aren't I allowed to be concerned about my wife?" After a small pause, she added. "Also, you're being no fun this morning."

"I was plenty of fun last night." Weiss turned and smirked at the woman, but Ruby managed to suppress her blush. She fully stood, letting go of Weiss and flicking her hair from behind her head as she had seen Weiss do so many times.

"How dare you, your Majesty. I am a fair and respectable Lady!" Her mock posh voice was enough to finally get Weiss chuckling gently, and Ruby counted that as more of a win then she could have hoped for. "Alright, I'll go wake the Prince then." She stepped over to the walk in closet, glancing down at her side of the rather large space curiously for a moment as she thought about what to wear... obviously, her cloak would be worn no matter what outfit she picked.

"Oh, I wanted to ask by the way... mainly to settle a bet with your sister. Do you know what's happening next week?" Weiss's voice was nonchalant, but Ruby had known her for too long to mistake that as anything but her wife entering interrogation mode.

She panicked momentarily, but kept her cool on the outside. Was there some special event happening in Vale? A meeting she was supposed to be at?? There was only one thing Ruby could remember that was happening next week... and that was-

"Y-yeah. It's our six year anniversary, right?" She peeked around the corner of the closet door, awkwardly awaiting Weiss's response as she pulled some pants up.

"Oh, good. Yang owes me fifty Lien." Weiss added a small happy noise after her words, but Ruby wasnt ready to move past that just yet.

"Woah, woah, woah. Lien aside-" Mainly because both parties were rich... one side much more then the other. "Yang bet against me??" She stepped over as she pulled a shirt over her head, stopping with both hands on her hips.

"Ruby... does that really surprise you?" Weiss finished putting her earrings in, and Ruby helped her put on her necklace.

"I guess not... anyway, I'll go wake the sleeping Dragon for his lessons today." Ruby chuckled as she stepped over to the bed again, grabbing her cloak from the hook beside it. "Honestly, I wouldn't be able to handle as many lessons as he does..."

"You mean now, or when you were that age?" The teasing voice was something Ruby actually took seriously... and she had to really think about her five year old self for a moment... though, Argus had the development of a ten year old, so she supposed that really wasnt fair.

So, evening it out and saying eight year old Ruby, vs her son at five? "Probably no on both of them."

They shared a small laugh, and a small kiss as well as Ruby stepped out of the room and headed down the hall for only a little bit to reach the nearby room belonging to her son. She took a deep breath, as she did every morning when it came to this... she remembered the people that had raised her... her mother, her father... Yang... Blake... she focoused on the image of what she saw in a mother... the person who most probably filled that roll in her life for the longest out of them all...

Ruby kicked down the door and marched a step in while happily yelling into the bedroom. "Goodmorning, Sunshine!!" Turns out, Yang won that contest... very much to Argus's chagrin.