The True Rose
Chapter 1
The beginnings
Several minutes before the beginning of this story. Yang made her way back home from her... adventure. If you can call it that. She went back home and began practicing. She then found her mother watching her. A weird sad look on her face. She then asked what is wrong. Her mom explained the real reason why she stopped calling her special. The reason laid with her original mother. The one that abandoned her. She hated being called special, and since she is directly related to her. She thought she felt the same. But no, that wasn't true. Ruby made her aware of that. She apologized profusely towards Yang and hugged her. Yang, shocked with the revelation nearly dropped the truth right there and then. But she couldn't. She feared the repercussions of her actions. Ruby always cared for her, tried to desperately help her many time. This time included. Instead she repaid her by sending her to her doom. Some sister she was. The guilt itself was enough to kill her as she no longer cared to search for her missing mother. She prayed that Ruby survived the drop, so she could find a way to beg for forgiveness. She just didn't know if Ruby would forgive her. Or if she could ever forgive herself.
It was dark. The fact that Ruby realized this, meant she survived. She was in an agony of pain because of this she could not move or speak. The pain was too much. And yet her will to live outweigh the pain. So she began to crawl on the ground to search for a small wall to sit against so she could inspect herself and her surroundings. After some agonizing seconds of dragging herself over the ground she found a perfect spot and pushed herself against it. She then laid on her back instead of her belly. And looked around. She was in a dark place, with some light here and there poking through the abyss. As her eyes slowly adapted to her surroundings, she looked at her body. Her left leg was not correctly angled and she was bleeding all over her body. But she was alive for now. She then looked around the area, as her eyes has adapted to her surroundings. And it immediately confused her. She saw a bunch of huts with a straw roof on it. She also saw... something. A moving creature, but her eyes were blurry in pain and from the tears. She could not get a good look in it. She then felt some stabbing pain near her ribs. Suggesting a rib or two might be broken. She's also losing strength suggesting that she was losing blood and rapidly. Unbeknownst to her, the creature did see her as well. And was silently sneaking up on her. But even if she could notice it, her pain was too much to care about it. And just before the creature jumped out of the bushes to greet her, she fainted due to blood loss.
The creature was shaped like a child dragon. It was also black, which made it even harder to see. But it was a dragon taught in the medical field. So when it jumped out to greet the child and saw it in the terrible state she was in. Add on top of that the lack of reaction to her presence. She switched gears. She grabbed the child and moved it into the straw hut that Ruby noticed earlier. She then used a combination of magic and medication to heal Ruby. Ruby really did break her left leg and atleast 2 rib bones. Plus she has lacerations all over her body. And lastly she was bleeding to death. Stopping the bleeding was easily fixed using some bandages and some wind based healing. Healing the bones was significantly harder. Firstly she had to place a frame over her leg and used some earth based healing magic on the bones themselves. And lastly she used a powerful dragon healing magic on her ribs. Using creation magic, she recreated her blood and pumped it back into her body. She then made some pain relieving salves and placed them all over her body. The tension in the child's body went away almost instantly. As the pain that no child should ever feel was temporarily gone for now. She predicted a three days coma period.
With Ruby's healing out of the way. She looked at the belongings on the child. And found a red rose badge on her body. Suggesting that she is part of the Rose family. If that was true, then the dragon performed excellently according to their contract with the Rose family. That said, it has been fifty thousand years since their last encounter with the Rose family. They weren't even sure if the Rose family still even existed. But if this child really is a Rose. Then this child is proof of their existence. Making this dragon in particular very happy. She missed her human counterparts. While not all dragons would be happy, she was part of Pro-human. And the Pro-human/dragon organization will be pleased. And now it is only a matter of time until the child will awaken.
Exactly three days later Ruby, did in fact, wake up. Only to get very confused as to how she is fine now. And laying in a bed down in the abyss of all places.
"Are you alright child?" The black dragon asked. Forgetting at she is talking to a child that had yet to see her.
Ruby slowly turned around to see the black dragon. And instead of screaming in fear she sighed, "Who are you miss... black dragon?" she asked surprisingly mature.
"Wow. You aren't screaming at me. That is a surprise." The dragon cleared her voice. "I have many names. But long ago and girl called me. Annabelle. So call me that please." Annabelle said as introduction.
"Thank you for saving me, Anna." Ruby shortened the name. "My name is Ruby, Ruby Rose."
"So you really are a Rose. How many other share your surname?" Annabella asked, Not at all bothered by being called Anna instead of her name.
"My mom. That is it."
"Only two people? Wow. That is... kinda bad. What happened to the rest of your family?" Annabella asked.
"I don't know. For as long as I have lived, my mom is the only other person with the Rose surname." Ruby replied.
"How old are you Ruby?"
"Three."
"Three?!" Annabelle said shocked. Causing Ruby to merely hum as her reply.
"How did you fall, Ruby?" she asked again.
"My sister in her jealousy induced rage dropped me over the edge causing me to fall to nearly my death. Which mind you, is entirely my mom's fault. Had she talked with my sister. This would never have happened." Ruby said annoyed.
"Aren't you angry?"
"I am just sad that she bottled it up for so long. I have helped her plenty of times before. I wished she talked to me about it. Instead she let it bottle it up." Ruby said slightly depressed. "But alas, this happened. Perhaps she will have a heart to heart with me about it in the future. Whenever I get to go home that is."
"That is very mature of you, Ruby." The dragon said with an honest smile.
"Mommy always did tell me that. That I was far too mature for a child of my age." Ruby sighed, "Perhaps this is due to my... hobby."
"What is your hobby?"
"History. Specifically... er..."
"Archaeology." The Dragon helpfully supplied.
"Yes. That. I got some real gold coins and some rare unknown metals to prove it. Which..."
"Is at home. Above the abyssal sky, right?"
"Mhm." Ruby hummed.
The black dragon then turned around and placed some fresh apples on Ruby's medical bed. "I am sure you are a bit hungry, right? Please eat some of these apples." She offered.
Ruby looked down at the plate and saw that the apple pieces had been turned into Apple bunnies to make it more pleasant to look at and eat. Ruby then carefully and calmly grabbed one and ate it. As she was eating the apple, Ruby inspected her savior. It was a anthropomorphic dragon. It had horns, an human like face with dragon splitted eyes and a large tail. Ruby could also spot a tiny set of wings on the dragon's back. And as Ruby is very talented in archaeology, she had quite a bit of knowledge on dragon's existence in history itself. A dragon with horns are atleast a thousand years old, add a large tail and a human form and the dragon must be atleast a million years old. But one that can also shrink their wings...? Well they are probably older than humankind's existence on Remnant. Ruby guesses that the dragon is atleast a billion years old. Which according to history itself, that makes this dragon rather young. But still older than Ruby if her age was translated to human ages. Based on all the evidence, this dragon would be thirty five years old in human aging. Which is very young, A dragon's oldest age ever recorded is five million years old in human ages. Which means they are older than the universe itself. All thing's considered, she was rescued by a kind, friendly and young dragon. And based on her way of speech, a She.
With that out of the way, she was more curious as to why there were dragons here and where she is. "Um... Anna? Where am I?"
The dragon turned around with a sad smile. "You are, on what is left of, the Rose Family Dragon training grounds." She said. Instead of a gasp like she expected from Ruby, Ruby owlishly blinked at her.
"So... Those stone tablets I found where real?!" Ruby said shocked instead. The dragon's eyes suggested Ruby to keep going. "A few days ago, to the direct north east of here, I found partially buried stone tablets containing more acknowledgements of dragons throughout history. This time it contained proof that dragons and the Rose family had some kind of relationship. It does not go into detail what and how, but the tablet suggested that the silver eyed warriors of the Rose family were granted special abilities from dragon. Like being fireproof or unbreakable bones. Whereas everyone else of the Rose family were granted rights to ride dragons instead."
"That is correct. Good deduction." The dragon complimented Ruby. Causing Ruby to blush ever so slightly. "And you are silver eyed, which grants you permission to learn our secret arts." She added.
"Please be honest to me. According to the tablets, silver eyed warriors that had gained access to the secret arts would turn partially dragon themselves."
"Correct. Complete with magic, flight, skin, tail, wings, horns, height and weight."
"How extensive?"
"As long as you see yourself as a human no matter during which process. You stay human. But if you lose that focus... well... That would be less than ideal."
"You would turn into a full dragon, with the curse of living longer than normal included right?"
"That is correct." A new speaker said as they joined in. It was a pale dragon with silver eyes. Proving Ruby's fear. You could turn full dragon if you aren't careful. "What is your name child?"
"Ruby Rose. Summer Rose is my mother." She introduced herself.
"Summer?!" The pale and black dragons said at the same time. "Are you sure her name is Summer?"
This time it is Ruby's turn to look confused. "Yes?"
"I see..." The pale dragon said, "The hero warrior is still alive. I guess she really did gain longer life for her dragon training all those decades ago while maintaining her human form. How incredible."
"Mhm. Which means this child... is the prophecy child. The child that could break the cycle and win." The black dragon added.
"Child. You are both incredibly lucky that you survived and lucky that you found us. We will grant you not just the secret arts." The pale dragon stated. As both dragon looked at each other. They smiled.
They both took a deep breath then they bellowed the following words. "The Prophecy child has been found! Allow this child to learn the way of the dragon in both literal and magical ways. She is our final hope. She must win! Her name is Ruby Rose, daughter of the hero warrior, Summer Rose!" The words then echo across the training ground in the abyss. Causing dragons to step out of hiding to investigate the truth.
"Ow..." Ruby said as her ears were nearly bleeding due to the sound. The black dragon looks apologetic at Ruby before focusing on the incoming dragons.
Ruby then looks at the doorway and saw a bunch of curious looking dragons pop their heads through the doorway. They then spotted Ruby and calmly walked over to look at the child. In Ruby's eyes most looked like curious children, however she knew better. Most were definitely older than Ruby in nearly every way. Still, when one dragon got a little too close for Ruby's liking. She playfully pushed the red dragon away from her. The dragon looked curious and surprised at Ruby's lack of fear. Before she casually pushed her head into Ruby's hand. Ruby could tell that they were even more playful when they realized that Ruby didn't fear them. Instead they got a little closer. But since none of the dragons spoke any kind of language to her. She figured that these dragons were really, really young. Maybe about the same age as Ruby.
The black dragon looked at the playful dragons slightly playing with Ruby. She smiled. Before she picked them up, one by one like cat grabbed their younglings. All but one dragon, since the red dragon that was playing with Ruby refused to be picked up. It seemed to like Ruby in particular and a lot at that. When the black dragon tried with a bit more vigor, the red dragon spoke their first word, stunning the black dragon in place. "Cute~" it said. To Ruby's ears, it sounded very animalistic with a hint of human speech in it. But that is when Ruby took a closer look at the dragon and realized that it was royalty. It is the reason the black dragon hesitated when trying to pick the red dragon up.
Before Ruby or Anna could get another word in, the red dragon spoke again. This time sounding a bit more humanlike than before. "I like you. You smell like mom." it said. This shocked Ruby into silence. Anna looked confused at the red dragon before ordering the pale dragon to summon a royal guard to their residence. While the red dragon purred like a cat at the shocked Ruby. The royal guard appeared but they weren't alone. Another red dragon, a female one, was with them. The red dragon was the older sister of the one in front of Ruby.
"Vjunet. Duni jisi." The dragon ordered the smaller red dragon.
"Speak human in front of this child." The smaller one ordered instead. "Besides, I am not going."
"Why won't you go, my child?" Anna asked instead.
The smaller red dragon looked at Anna. "I like this child. She smells like mom. Who is she?"
"My name is Ruby Rose." Ruby replied in Anna's stead.
"She is the prophecy child. Daughter of Summer Rose." Anna added.
"Summer?!" The older red dragon said in human language. "Are you sure?"
"According to the child, she and her mother are the last ones remaining of the Rose family." Anna replied.
"I see. In that case she is invited to sleep in the castle with us. Surely dad will be pleased to meet this great child of his." The older red dragon said.
"Are you suggesting that Mom's dad is a dragon?" Ruby wisely asked. Causing the older red dragon to smile.
"For a young child such as yourself. You sure are wise. That is correct. In fact, her father isn't a transformed dragon. But a full-blood one. Born and raised as one." The older red dragon stated. "It is why, Thomas here, can smell his mother on you. We are directly related."
"She is my younger sister?" Thomas asked, he apparently understood what was being said. The older red dragon nodded in response.
"Technically yes. But at the same time no. She lacks our blood, but she directly related to us."
"No dragon blood. But still my cute sister..." Thomas said while thinking. "I don't care. I like this one. She..." Thomas smells Ruby a few times. "Cannot transform into a dragon no matter what she does. However she is a warrior. She can grab and take, learn and sate. She is both a scholar and a warrior. She can learn it."
"Learn what?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Royal dragon arts. Without a threat of turning dragon looming over your head. You can learn it all, grow with it all. You are a scholar right now, you have the makings of a warrior, and the potential to be a mage. Add all the arts of every dragon on top of that, and you can become the ultimate dragon warrior. Aptly named, Magical dragon warrior. The ultimate warrior type in existence itself." Thomas explained.
"Are you absolutely sure I cannot turn into a dragon?" Ruby hesitantly asked.
"Trust Thomas, Ruby. He can see and smell things that I cannot. If he says there is no threat of turning into a dragon. Then that is a fact." Anna replied.
"Okay. And while I would love to get started immediately. I still need to rest. I am tired. I want to move to that castle tomorrow. Too much information." Ruby replied.
"That is acceptable. I will collect you tomorrow in the morning. Rest well, Ruby." The older red dragon said, as she drags Thomas out of the house. Thomas meanwhile waves at Ruby as he is being dragged away. Ruby returns his waving, until everything went dark. She had fallen asleep right there and then. Making Anna giggle at the situation. She then exits the house and walks over to the pale dragon.
"She is asleep already." The black dragon communicated.
"Can't blame her. She is only three. And yet she is bombarded with information that no child her age should be getting."
"And yet, we have no choice. She is our last hope."
"I know." The pale dragon said as she sighs. "I will go and turn on the shield. Making sure none else can fall down here."
"You go do that. It is only a matter of time until Summer realizes her daughter is missing." The black dragon stated. "She mustn't find her child this soon. We must first train her."
"But for how long? As mother I understand the pain. We mustn't drive her insane. She is still our beloved sister." The pale dragon asked.
"She is three years old right now. Learning her to be a magic dragon warrior will still take atleast five years. Plus she has to learn how to fly among other dragon only related tasks. Which will take three years. Finally she has to learn the truth of this world. Which will take two years at the minimum. So... ten years? Minimum?" The black dragon responded.
"That is a long time for human years." The pale dragon replied.
"I know. And if I had a choice, I would fly her back home immediately. But I cannot. Besides she has to meet her grandfather tomorrow. The king will decide how long the training is allowed to last."
"Yeah. Welp, I should get going. Keep a close eye on the child yes?" The pale dragon requested, before it flew away.
The black dragon watched the pale dragon turn on the shield. She then walked back inside to keep a close eye on the child. She smiled, 'Thank you Summer. We will take good care of your daughter for the next ten years. I promise.' she thought.
Meanwhile back on the surface, Yang still hasn't revealed the truth. However her mother has noticed the lack of Ruby's presence. When she was asked about it. Yang lied, she said that Ruby went out to collect some more historical resources to the north. And she hasn't returned. When Summer went north just as Yang had said, she found Ruby's cape somehow laying there. She also saw signs of blood with Ruby nowhere to be found. Truthily, that wasn't Ruby's blood but it was her cape. As Ruby fell down, due to the sheer force of the wind, her cape got undone and went flying. Eventually finding itself north. Exactly where Summer found it. She believed that Ruby had died. Died doing what she loved to do most. And that is history. When Summer returned depressed and holding Ruby's cape. Yang got spooked. She asked what had happened. She found out that Ruby has most likely died to Grimm. Yang badly wanted to dispute it, but couldn't. Because it was likely that she was in fact dead. Just not to the north, but in a hole holding the abyss. She resigned to her fate, but still failed to reveal the truth to Summer. Something that wasn't entirely unnoticed by Summer. But she was too sad to say anything. Instead she mourned the loss of her only daughter. She then messaged the truth to Tiyang and Qrow. Who were shocked at the revelation. However when Summer looked at Yang, she saw eyes filled with guilt. But an unwillingness to speak up. While she was certain her daughter had died. A part of her, rejected that notion. Something was not quite right here.