RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth

Warcraft belongs to Blizzard Entertainment


Chapter 2: The Wounded Queen

She hovered above the dark one. Her mighty wings flapped with renewed vigor. Her powers had been restored and for the first time in ten thousand years she felt brand new. Like she had finally been made whole again.

"What? What has happened?" Asked her black scaled foe.

"The bare beginnings of what I have these past years dreamed of doing, foul one!"

She turned to her kin. They had undergone the same transformation as she had. All of them were bigger. More imposing and swelling with power long denied to them.

"What was lost has been returned to us. The demon soul… the demon soul is no more."

She could hear her sapphire scaled brother cackling madly with a glee she had not heard from him since the dark one's betrayal. Despite his damaged mind, it was good to hear him in such good spirits after so long. The joy he exuded in those long-forgotten days was sorely missed.

"Impossible!" The metallic behemoth roared. "Lies! Lies!"

"No." She corrected. "The only lie left to disprove now is that you are invincible."

"That I will do gladly. Get ready, brother!" Her deranged sibling chortled as he began channeling a spell.

"It's about time." Hissed her brother in bronze as he blasted their foe with a sandstorm that tore at scale and flesh alike.

Her sister in emerald said nothing as she rose higher and unleashed a corrosive fog that ate away at the metal plates bolted to his hide.

She approached their fallen sibling. Even after all this time, she still felt sorry for him. That terrible day during the war with the demons still rang in her mind. The day she failed to turn him away from this madness. She still missed him, the old him. The one who would stand by and defend their home with every fiber of his being. But that noble soul was gone now, and she had a duty to destroy the parody that stood in its place.

"Life is my aspect, dark one, and I, like all mothers, know both the pain and wonder that entails. For the past several years, I have watched my children be raised as instruments of war, slaughtered if they proved insufficient or too willful! I have lived knowing that so many died that I could do nothing for!"

"Your words mean nothing to me!" Her fallen brother roared as he flutily struggled to shrug off the others horrific assaults. "NOTHING!"

"No, they likely do not… which is why I shall let you experience firsthand all that I have suffered…"

She did not attack him physically. No. She attacked him with pain. Her pain. The pain she had been forced to endure for years. Her eggs smashed, her children raised to be slaughterers and know nothing but death. The heartbreak she endured as her consorts died out. Tyranastrasz, Caelestrasz and Vaelastrasz. Countless children she will never get to know or meet. All gone now. All dead. Because of him.

She knew he had lost his capacity for kindness millennia ago. Pain born from the loss of loved ones is not something one who knows no love can defend against.

"You will go through all I have gone through, dark one. Let us see if you fare any better than I did."

His reaction to such pain was far more violent than she had anticipated. The most terrible of dragons screamed as none had ever heard a dragon scream before.

That had shocked her. He was known for his fearsome roar, but this was something else. A scream of a breaking mind. It startled her, as it did the others. Their attacks faltered and their fallen kin turned to flee.

Their brother of the blue did not allow this to happen. Shocked as he was, he maintained the control over the spell he was casting. Had any of them looked his way, they would have seen the flaw his lapse in focused had created in the spell work and told him to hold his attack. Misaligned spells were far more dangerous than any that were cast correctly.

A beam of white shot towards the black dragon, at the last moment he hastily wove a counter spell. She had no indication that he was in any state to cast magic, but he did cast something in his defense.

The result was not a peasant experience.

Within seconds a burst of light erupted from the clash of magic, covering the sky in white.

All she felt when the light reached her, was pain.


She plummeted towards the earth, her impact tore into the soil. Uprooting trees and pushing aside the soil.

When she stopped, she found herself lacking the strength to move. Whatever spell Malygos had cast appeared to have robbed her of her strength. Still, she tried to move, or change her shape into something less conspicuous. Planting her shaky limbs into the earth she tried to rise, only to fall bac down as they gave out.

Sighing to herself, she glanced around. A forest, close to the mountain no doubt. That would mean someone would find her soon. Hopefully, it would be one of flights. She was entirely aware that the mortals of the world did not look favorably upon her kind anymore. Even their ancient allies, the Elves no longer remembered the days where they stood together.

Mortals have such short memories. Even the long-lived ones.

With one final exhale, she accepted her fate. Whatever happened would happen. She was too weak to move much less defend herself against any attackers. Closing her eyes, she chose to gamble it all on the off chance that she would remain undiscovered until she regained enough strength to move to a safer location.

In this state of fatigue, slumber claimed her quickly and she dreamed.

A scream pierced the fog in her mind. It was a high-pitched cry. The cry of a child. A child in danger. Her eyes shot open as she abandoned her previous plan. She did not know how long she had slept, and she no longer cared.

Digging her claws into the earth, she used with little strength she had to rise to her full height. Stretching above the trees, she spread her tired wings and searched for the source of the scream.

In the distance, she saw a human girl in a red dress. She was clinging to the highest branches, while a black wolfish creature climbed up to her. The child stared at her, fear evident in her eyes.

The Dragon Queen did not mind, what she cared for was the safety of this youth.

Inhaling what air, she could, she prepared her breath. The fire built up and she released it.

Her crimson flame spread throughout the trees before her. Cleansing them of these dark creatures and aiding whatever mortals were embattled within it.

Once her breath gave out, she felt herself grow faint. That one breath had taxed her of all the strength she had. She did not regret it. If only to save a single life, she would give her own gladly.

But still, she to do something. If there was a child, then there would be other humans coming. If they found her in her true form, she would likely be killed in her sleep. It was straining by she forced her body to shift. She felt herself grow smaller and her scales turn to that of flesh. Her limbs separated into that of a bipedal lifeform. Two arms and two legs.

Her tail and wings vanished, and her head remolded into that of an Elvish woman with crimson hair flowing down the back of her skull. Her body was adorned in armor similar to that of her scaled form. This body was the form she used for interacting with the mortal races of Azeroth. She had not used it in centuries. The last time she ever used it was during a visit to the Elvish City of Quel'thalas.

Hopefully, the humans would not be hostile. She was not aware of the relations of humans and Elves since her imprisonment, but last she heard they were on amiable terms.

As the darkness claimed her, she thought of the child. At least she would be safe. That alone was good enough for her.


When consciousness returned to her, she felt strange. It was comfortable. Her head lay on something soft. Flexing her humanoid fingers, she felt the soft fabric she rested on.

Her eyes fluttered open, revealing a small room. It was neat and well kept. Turning her head, she looked around. It was a fairly large bed by human standers, just big enough to comfortably accommodate two. The architecture was new to her. It was neat and simple, but more refined than what she had come to expect from humans. Anything they built of such caliber was normally reserved for the higher echelons of their societies and was always made with far more embellishment to a much grander scale. This must be a noble's home and said noble must be quite the minimalist. She would be sure to thank them for the kind treatment.

She tried to stretch but stopped as her horns scratched against the bed's wooden frame. The sudden pain made her blink in realization. Her horns. In her rush to change she forgot to leave her horns out of the transformation.

Sitting up she brought a hand up to her draconic attributes. It was still there and had the jewelry too. So much for blending in as an Elf. Whoever owns this home knows she is not an average Elf, so there would be no point in changing it now. That might be a detriment because it would be seen as a deception.

Moving her legs to the side of the bed, she noted her body was still sluggish. Holding out a hand, she conjured a daffodil in her palm. That small act alone had noticeably drained her current supply of mana. Whatever Malygos had done, it was apparent that it would be some time before she was fully recovered.

Looking down at the floor, she noticed that it was made of a fluffy material. Like lamb's wool. She had seen mortals decorate their dwellings with such things before, but this was something different. Before it was mats or rugs. This covered the entire floor. The hierarchies of mortals were trivial, but she understood their methods of denoting their value to others. How they decorate their homes for example. Whomever did this would have to be very wealthy.

A soft creak caught her attention. Looking up, she saw the carved wooden door was slightly ajar. In the gap she saw two small heads peeking through. Children. That immediately brought a smile to her face.

The two disappeared behind the door, leaving her alone.

Moments later the door opened again. Revealing a well blonde, well-built man with tattoos on his arms. Following behind him were two little girls. One was also blond with her hair done in pigtails. She wore a white dress. The other was the girl from the forest. Her hair was black but transitioned to red at the tips. She wore a red button up dress.

"You're awake." His accent was not one she had heard before. It ended in a higher pitch than what she'd heard from most humans she overheard in the past.

The man walked up to her and stopped at the foot of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

He spoke with both concern and authority. Was he the lord of this place?

"I am alright." She answered with a smile. "I assume it was you who brought me here?"

"Well, we couldn't just leave you face down in the dirt." He said with a slight grin.

"You have my thanks." She turned to the children. Both stared at her. The wonder in their eyes was truly precious. "Are they yours?"

He turned to them. "Yup. My little girls. Come and say hello." He beckoned to them.

Both little girls approached the Dragon Queen, and the blonde one spoke first. "He-hello. I'm Yang."

She looked shy, the younger one did not have the same issue. "And I'm Ruby." She ran to the Dragon Queen's side and excitedly asked. "Are you a princess?"

"Excuse me?"

"Ruby!" Yang yelped in embarrassment. While the father pinched the bridge of his nose with a smile.

"No. I am not." The answer made the girl deflate somewhat. It hurt to see such a young girl get discouraged like that.

"But the dragon. In the stories, dragons kidnap princesses."

That made her laugh. "What a silly story. Dragons don't kidnap royalty."

Ruby responded with a pout. "It's not silly. My mommy told me that story and she never lies."

Yang gave a stubborn nod of agreement, while the father just shook his head.

"Well, I was never kidnapped by a dragon." Not that no one had ever tried in her moments of weakness.

The father spoke up. "I can believe that. I bet you know that red dragon we found in the forest really well." He said pointing to the top of his head.

She did not need to spare a second to understand his meaning, but the children were understanding.

With a sigh she asked. "So, you already deduced that have you?"

"Well, it wasn't hard. The dragon was red. You're wearing mostly red, and your hair is the same color. The dragon had horns with the exact same bracelets you have on your horns and right before we found you, Ruby told me she saw the dragon shrinking. After that we happen to find you in the exact same place we found a giant sleeping scaled lizard."

"I suppose the evidence is too compelling to ignore." She admitted with a smile. It was not a shock. She knew this was a possibility when she realized she transformed into the mortal form she defaulted to rather than one meant to blend in. The fact she was in a bedchamber rather than a cell in chains was a good sign.

Ruby had misread the conversation and came to a different conclusion. "Do you know the dragon?"

"I suppose I do." The father grinned at that. "Why do you ask, little one?"

Ruby pouted again. "Hey, I'm still growing. I drink lots of milk." The little girl shook her head. "I want to say thank you. The dragon saved us from the Grimm."

The Dragon Queen thought about how to respond to that. She decided to be direct. "I am happy I was there to help you."

Both little girls looked confused, but with an outstretched hand she opened their eyes.

The human skin on her hand changed in coloration. The skin turned red and began to swell in size. Her five fingers melded together and formed three clawed digits. The skin itself hardened into that of ruby scales.

She halted the transformation there, holding out her draconic extremity to them. Yang had her hands over her mouth, while Ruby just stared with enlarged bug eyes. The father simply watched with interest.

"You're the dragon!" Ruby yelled pointing her finger at the Dragon Queen.

"Yes, I am."

The breath was knocked out of her lungs as the little girl crashed into her stomach and held her tightly. "Thank you. Ms. Dragon."

With a smile, she wrapped her humanoid arm around the child. "You are most welcome, child."

Yang also joined in and clung to her armored leg.

The father just stared for a moment. Like the sight of his children hugging a woman struck a chord. "Now that we have that out of the way. I think we should introduce ourselves. I'm Taiyang Xaio-Long."

A strange name. She had seen many cultures throughout her life and heard many names as a result. This was foreign to her, which was refreshing in a way. "I am Alexstrasza."

"Ale… Ali…" Ruby kept trying to pronounce the name. "Alistrasa?"

"No, child. Alex. Stra-sza." She corrected with an amused smile. Watching children fumble and learn was a joy.

Taiyang whistled before speaking. "That's a unique name."

"I think it's weird." The blonde child admitted.

"Yang, don't be rude." Taiyang admonished.

The girl seemed to shrink in on herself at his words. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. It's her name."

"Sorry." The child repeated to Alexstrasza.

"It is alright. I will admit your names are strange to me as well."

"I figured. It's obvious you aren't from around here." Taiyang admitted.

"If you do not mind me asking. Where is here?"

"You're on the island of Patch. On the northern end of it to be specific."

This was a surprise to the Dragon Queen. An island? Had she been thrown so far as to crash into an island? How much power had her mad brother put into that spell?

"And just where on Azeroth is this island? Somewhere over the eastern coast?"

"Azeroth?" Taiyang questioned. "Patch is of the western coast of the kingdom of Vale. Around the continent of Sanus. I don't know about Azeroth, wherever that it."

Alexstrasza paused in her affection of Ruby. He had no notion of Azeroth. "This may be a strange question to ask, but what is the name of the world we are on?"

"As in the planet?" Alexstrasza nodded. "Remnant."

The Queen of the Red Dragonflight processed what she had been told. She needed to be sensible about this. It could be that she simply found an isolated off shoot of humanity or a continent that was separated from the rest during the Sundering. It was entirely possible. A dragon could survive such a flight but not without severe injuries. However, the odds of that happening were not favorable. She has flown Azeroth's skies for thousands of years, she would have noticed another continent by now. There was another possibility. One which presented a far worse predicament. That Malygos had accidentally opened a dimensional rift and sent her to another world altogether.

That notion made her feel tired again. Like she was once again in chains from her Orc captors.

With a groan she places both her humanoid and draconic hand over her face as the reality of her situation set in. Trapped on another world with no idea how to return home.

Taiyang stepped toward the door. "I'll just step out for a moment. You look like you could use a drink. Be polite girls."

"Are you ok, Miss Alistrasa." Ruby asked as her father stepped out.

Alexstrasza fixed her with a sad smile. "I am alright, little one. I just realized how far away from home I am."

"Is it far?" Yang climbed onto the bed opposite her sister.

"Far enough that it might take me years to return." She was not exaggerating. In fact, she might have been underplaying it. Opening a dimensional rift took a supreme understanding of magic just to comprehend by oneself. Not that she could not do it given enough time, but with no support that could take decades or even centuries. That did not include the actual opening of the portal, which normally would require an exorbitant amount of magic and multiple individuals to do the casting. That Malygos managed to pull one off by accident was both surprising and expected. If any being could pull of such a feat, it would be him.

"Can't you just take an airbus? They can take you all the way from Vacuo to Mistral in just a few days." Yang suggested.

"How do you know that?" Asked Ruby.

"I learned it at school. They showed us a big map of Remnant and Miss Ramsey told us where airbuses go and how long it takes. We had to memorize the continents on the map." Yang said proudly. Alexstrasza had to admit, it was admirable. Teaching the youth about the world they lived in.

"No fair! I want to learn about maps too."

"Ruby. You're two years behind me."

"That doesn't matter. I'm just as smart as you." Ruby declared defiantly. Standing up on the bed.

"No you're not." Yang stood up as well. Walking around the Dragon Queen, she stood face to face with her sibling.

Seeing this brought back a memory of the red dragon's youth. When she was something more primitive. How she and her Ysera would snap and hiss at each other over the silliest of reasons. She just wanted to protect her younger sibling. The Dreamer was caught in the explosion too. The Dragon Queen hoped her sister was safe.

"If she's here I'll find her." She thought.

In her reminiscence she failed to stop the younger sibling from slipping off the bed. Ruby hit her arm on the bedpost and hit the floor with a thumb.

"Ruby!" Yang cried in dismay.

Alexstrasza got off the bed and kneeled to the now crying girl.

At that moment, the door opened. Taiyang risked spilling the beverage he brought up in a percaline tea set. "Are you alright?" He said in alarm.

"Daddy." Ruby whimpered as she showed her bleeding arm to him. The sharp wooden had cut her right arm.

"I'll get the first aid kit." He said as he hurriedly approached the lamp stand by the bed to set down the tray he was carrying.

"There is no need." Alexstrasza told him.

Shifting her draconic hand back into a humanoid one and in its palm she conjured a crimson fire. With grace she lowered the flame to the little girl's wounded arm.

Ruby flinched in fright, but Alexstrasza held her damaged arm with a mother's gentle care. "Do not be afraid, Ruby. My fire will not harm you. I need you to be brave and trust me. Are you brave?"

The silver eyed little girl sniffed, streaks rolled down her face as she stared at the red queen. After a moment she stopped her sniveling and gave a slow nod.

"Good."

She brought the fire to the youngling's damaged flesh, upon contact with the red flame, the cut began mending itself.

Taiyang noticed that his daughter did not so much as flinch during the entire process. Within seconds the cut had vanished, but it did not stop there. The blood on Ruby's arm dried up instantly and began to flake away, leaving her arm clean by the end.

"There. All better." Alexstrasza said with a smile. "How do you feel?"

Ruby stared at her arm. There was nothing. It was all better. "It doesn't hurt anymore. The fire was so warm."

"That the same trick you used in the forest?" Taiyang asked as he took his turn to inspect his daughter.

"It is my gift. My fire can bring life as much as take it."

After seeing his girl climb onto the bed to show her sister the lack of cuts on her arm, Tai retrieved the tray and offered his guest some tea. She took hold of it from underneath, he tried to object as the pot would be hot, but she showed no discomfort.

She held it like a wine glass rather than a teacup. After thanking him, she took a sip.

"This is a quality beverage. It has a soft flavor to it."

"Its just some tea." Taiyang admitted bashfully, before moving on to what he was going to ask.

"What are you going to do now?"

Alexstrasza looked around ponderously. "My first course of action would be to see if my siblings arrived as I did. If I can find them, them making my way home shall be expedited greatly."

"There are more of you?" Tai almost flinched at his daughters squealing at the implication.

"I am unsure. If they are here, then their condition could be similar to mine."

"And what if they're not here?"

Her shoulders slumped slightly at the suggestion. "Then I must find my own means of returning to Azeroth."

"When you asked me earlier what planet we were on. You were implying that you were from a different planet?"

"That is correct."

Ruby squealed again. "She's an alien! Aliens are real!"

"Ruby. That's rude." Taiyang admonished his youngest.

Alexstrasza wanted to chuckle, but then she remembered her time in chains. At the mercy of 'aliens.' Looking down at the teacup, she silently counted her blessing that she was not imprisoned again. These people were kind.

"It is alright. The term is not unknown to me. My world had a visit with such beings rather recently."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that it did not end well."

"It did not. Especially for my flight." She said somberly. "We were chained and forced to mate. They used my children as weapons in their war with the humans of my world."

Taiyang balked at what he just heard. Silently glad his daughters were still too young to understand what the word 'mate' truly implied. So shocked was he that he completely ignored the mention of humans on another planet.

"I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It is over now." Was all she said when she felt something crash into her legs. Both girls were hugging her thighs.

"What's wrong little ones?"

"Those mean aliens hurt you." Ruby mumbled gruffly.

"I hope you kicked their buts." Yang followed up.

Alexstrasza remembered her one legged captor. How he brandished that horrid disk against her. How he crushed her eggs right in front of her. Then she remembered his scream as she broke free of her bonds. She promised Nekros death, and she does her best to keep promises.

"I most certainly did."

"What the plan then?" Asked Taiyang. "You got a place to stay?"

He didn't know why he asked that, and mentally kicked himself for realizing the obvious answer was a no. His late wife had still left a profound effect on him.

"I do not. But I shall find someplace secluded to recover my strength." She nudged the children off her. "I appreciate you bringing me to your home. You are a kind man."

She walked to the door, he could see she was tired. Whatever happened to bring her here really did a number on her.

"You can stay with us." Ruby called out, rushing to Alexstrasza and grabbing her hand. "We'll help you. Right, Dad?"

Taiyang was unsure about the offer. He barely knew this woman. Dragon. He corrected himself. She was friendly, polite and grateful.

"Ruby, I could not. I am a stranger in your home." The Dragon Queen protested.

"Come on, Daddy. Please." Ruby begged. "We can't just let her leave with nowhere to go."

Tai thought about it for a moment. This would bring attention to him. Attention he didn't want. Especially from Ozpin. Wherever he goes problems follow. Not to mention this creature had just gone through one of the worst hells imaginable for females. He wouldn't forgive himself if he put her through another war.

"I don't know." He said erring on the side of caution.

"Whatever you decide, I shall not object. This is your home." Alexstrasza stated.

"See, she's okay with it." Ruby said with a smile.

Yang ran up too, not wanting to feel left out. Taking the Alexstrasza's other hand she said. "Mom said we should help people when we can."

Tai felt a small sting in his chest. Yang just had to pull that card. He could never argue with the moral standing of his wife because of the lengths she would go to help others. Seeing the three of them holding hands like that almost reminded of the times the four of them would spend together.

With a groan he conceded. "I suppose it's alright."

Both girls cheered and began to drag the woman out of the room. Tai followed them into the hallway as they hastily showed her around the house. Alexstrasza took in the architecture with interest. They nearly fell when she was pulled down the stairs. Tai noticed that she put up no resistance whatsoever. She seemed to be enjoying the girl's giggles and attitude. She liked children.

As they showed her around the TV room, she asked them about the family portrait on the wall.

"That's Uncle Qrow!" Ruby said, pointing to the scraggly man.

"And that's…" Yang paused as she pointed to a woman that looked to be an older version of her sibling. "Mom." She finished with a bit of sadness in her voice.

Alexstrasza noticed the pause and did not need to put much thought as too why. There were two children in this home. A father but no mother. She held her silence, not wanting to upset the girl while they were giving her a tour of the house.

"What do you think?" Ask Taiyang.

"You have a lovely home."

"That's good to hear, because you'll be staying here until we can find you some more normal clothes."

Alexstrasza looked his was, and then gestured to herself. "Is there something wrong with my garb?"

"Not specifically. But I'd be more comfortable with you staying with us if you could blend in more. It would also help you find your family if you went around unnoticed."

"What about my appearance do I need to change?"

Tai gave her a long look. She was beautiful for sure, but that was not the issue. Her armor would not be out of place in a guild filled with huntsmen, but when it came to daily wear it was far too pronounced. Not to mention the jewelry on her horns, that would definitely draw attention as most Faunus were not very flashy.

"Most people don't wear armor every day. Not to mention your horns and ears stand out."

Alexstrasza pondered her options for a moment. She had not needed to change her mortal form in a long time. The simplest option would be to remove her horns and Elven ears and swap out her armor for something more casual. Glancing at the family portrait she had found a possible route.

The family of three watched in awe as her body began to change. Her horns vanished and her ears reshaped to that of a human's. Her armor vanished, replaced by a white skirt, brown vest a white corset. A white cloak formed around her, and her face reshaped slightly.

Standing in their living room was a woman that was eerily reminiscent of Summer rose. Only she was taller, her face still held some of the striking features that the original woman possessed. The clothes were whiter than what was worn by the woman in the portrait. The corset was of a different make than Summer's. It had white frills, giving it a more sophisticated appearance. Her hair was the same length and the same shade of red as before. Her eyes were a burning amber.

"Is this satisfactory?"

Taiyang did not give an answer, instead Ruby yelled out. "So cool!"