We do not own RWBY or any other copyright content. All rights to it go to Monty Oum, VIZ Media, and their original owners. All OCs are owned by us.
Writing credits go to Uzumaki Ricky, Monsterhuntergod, Sharad the hedgehog, and Traines on here, as well as Kima Whitehawk Jordan on Facebook. And a very special shoutout and thank you to 501awezome and Mega Ghost on Fanfiction.Net for all your support.
Tiger King and Dragon Queen
Volume 1 Chapter 26: Impasses to Destiny
"Alright, Ruby. What is a kind of maneuver you use to reach the exposed parts of an opponent via the use of movement?" Weiss asked, reading from a note card as she walked alongside Ruby.
Ruby thought back to last night for a moment. "Evade by dodging around their attacks until you see a gap in their defenses." She answered back.
Weiss sighed in frustration. "It's called a Flanking Maneuver, Ruby." Weiss sighed.
"Right. Sorry, Weiss. I couldn't think of the words for it. Brain go poop on no food." Ruby apologized.
"Well, it should not be too much longer to the dining hall. Right, what is the name for an unarmed strike that mimics that of a tiger?" Weiss asked, flipping through to the next card.
"Ooh, I know this one! The Tiger Claw strike! It's the one where you curl your fingertips in towards your palm!" Ruby answered excitedly.
"Correct, but you only needed to say the move name to get the answer. Unless it is a short or long answer question, you do not need to give an explanation on a test." Weiss explained.
Ruby nodded. "Right. Thanks for helping me out by quizzing me, Weiss." She told her partner with a smile.
Weiss gave a small smile. "Well, I can't have my partner and team leader flunk out of Beacon because she doesn't test well, can I?" Weiss said in a more positive tone.
Ruby smiled sheepishly. "That's true. But I still really appreciate it." The red reaper replied.
"I know. I was trying to make a joke." Weiss said, rolling her eyes.
Ruby giggled at that. "That was actually a good one, Weiss. Now then… next question."
"SYLVER BULLET!!! COMING THROUGH!!!!" A loud, thunderous cry called out from behind them, followed by an almighty ruckus.
Looking back, Ruby went wide eyed. "Weiss, look out!" She called out to her partner.
"What the…!" Weiss yelled as Ruby yanked her out of the way.
Barreling past them, in a flash for Weiss, something rushed past them. For Ruby, however, far more attuned at seeing speeding objects, knew exactly what came through.
"What the hell was that!?" Weiss yelled, putting her hand on her rapidly beating heart.
"It's best not to get in his way when he's hungry." Ruby replied.
"That rambunctious rapscallion! He could have hurt someone by being so reckless and destructive!" Weiss said, her surprise turning to rage.
"You get used to it. Sylver's actually not a bad guy once you get to know him." Ruby reassured her partner with a smile.
"Considering where I come from… that's unlikely." Weiss sighed, "Let's go get some food and hopefully no one else tries to flatten us."
"Hey, Rubes! 'Sup, Ice Queen!" Yang called out, rushing up behind them and hugging Ruby.
"I have a name, you know." Weiss said particularly.
"Oh, lighten up, Weiss. I'm just teasing." Yang said with a playful smile.
"I was until Ruby's rampaging, rambunctious ex nearly flattened me." Weiss scowled.
"Yeah, Sylver's not exactly patient when he needs food." The blonde, brawling beauty explained.
"The fact that the Kaiser of Atlas can keep a whole clan of Sylver's under control is honestly a miracle." Blake said, taking up the rear as she walked past the two sisters.
"Finally, something we agree on Blake." Weiss sighed as she began flipping through flash cards for Ruby.
"Come on boss, at least let me get a cup of joe first before you quiz me!" Came the telltale groan of Zhan.
"No can do, Zhan. It is best to start early. Now… what is a name for a hand-to-hand strike resembling part of a dragon?" Azura asked, holding up a flash card.
"Dragon Fist?" Zhan growled out.
"Close. Dragon Claw." The blue prince replied.
"You say potato, I say tomato." Zhan groaned.
"Now what's the difference between a mawashi giri kick and a roundhouse kick?" Azura asked, holding up the next flash card.
"You not wasting all of our time with the coffee maker to make your stupid mocha's?" Zhan rhetorically asked only to get a smack upside the head.
"Focus, Zhan. Here." The azure samurai replied, handing his partner a thermos of coffee. "Just the way you like it, cream and two sugars.
"You get a pass." Zhan said, snatching it from his hand.
"Hey Azu! Hi, Zhan! You're not so good with tests too?" Ruby asked excitedly.
"Never have been, never will be." Zhan sighed after chugging down the thermos.
"Not if I have anything to say about it! As leader of Team AZRE, I will make sure our team's Grade Point Average is up!" Azura declared.
"You two have said enough already." Rena said as she walked past them with Ember in tow.
"We'll save you two spots." Ember offered sweetly.
Azura smiled. "Thank you, Miss Ember." He replied before turning back to his partner.
"Morning Azu. Love the leftover bit of bed head you got." Yang said, pointing to a tuft of hair still standing in his otherwise well-manicured locks.
Azura blushed a bit. "I-I thought I brushed all of that out…!" he nervously said, pulling out a comb and starting to comb his hair.
"I kind of like it." Yang said simply.
As soon as she did, Azura blushed more and threw his comb aside as a crash and the sound of a cat yowling was heard. "Y-You do…?" he nervously asked.
"Yeah. Gives you a little bit of wildness to your regal look. Now come on, big blue. Let's all get some food before Ruby and Zhan start eating the note cards." Yang said.
"Don't tempt me." Zhan and Ruby said in unison.
"Right! More quizzing later! ONWARD!" Azura called out, grabbing Zhan and dashing off to breakfast with his face as red as a cherry.
"I am surrounded by rich madmen." Weiss groaned.
"For fuck's sake, boss!" Zhan yelled as they rapidly disappeared from earshot.
Blake looked at her partner. "Why do you enjoy teasing Azura so much like that, Yang?" She asked the bodacious blonde brawler.
"When you find a man you can tease, you'll understand." Yang answered with a smirk.
"Somehow I doubt that." The monochromatic cat ninja replied playfully.
After the daily routine of going through the breakfast line, Team's RWBY, AZRE, and SHDW were all seated together at the dining hall tables as Team JNPR showed up. Sharing nods with the quartet, the other three teams got to digging into their food. Azura had a tray of food stacked high with a meal in front of him compared to the others' smaller, more manageable trays as Team JNPR made their way over.
"So, is there any reason why you've got enough food to feed a sumo wrestler in front of you, Azura?" Jaune asked as Azura was politely eating.
Swallowing a chewed bite, Azura looked at Jaune to address him. "Side effect of my Semblance." He simply told him.
"Lucky! If I had that, then I could eat even more pancakes!" Nora groaned.
"You eat enough as it is." Ren muttered.
"The more he uses his Semblance, the hungrier he gets later." Sylver elaborated.
"What do you mean, Sylver?" Pyrrha asked curiously.
Azura glared at his friend before sighing. "What he means is that my Semblance does not just multiply my strength and speed. It also accelerates my metabolism. The higher I go and the longer I go, the more energy I burn through. I need to eat as much as a sumo wrestler just to be able to properly use it in a fight." He reluctantly explained.
"Man, whoever you marry has got one hell of a job ahead of them." Yang teased, causing Azura's cherry red blush to return.
"Y-Y-Your silence would be greatly appreciated, Yang…" The blue shōgun nervously replied.
"Hey Blondie. You're stepping into my territory. You start getting smacked on the head by him and I'll sue." Zhan said, pointing his finger at Yang sternly.
"Aw, lighten up, Zhanny Boy. Just having a little fun with him." Yang replied with a grin.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure his morning wood is appreciating it now." Sylver snarkily quipped, which earned him a smack upside the head from Azura.
"OW! You wanna go, ya' posh fat cat!?" Sylver growled.
"Your silence would be most greatly appreciated, Dog of the Kaiser!" Azura replied, his face as red as Ruby's hood.
"The fuck you calling me!?" Sylver snapped.
"Sylver, enough!!" Ruby snapped out, shocking the two Zodiacs to silence.
With that, everyone got back to enjoying their food. Yang playfully picked at Azura's pile of food without repercussion outside of him blushing, much to the surprise of the others. They had seen enough of Azura to know that he did not let anyone else eat from his plate. Yang playfully winked at Azura as she took a spoonful of his food into her mouth, making him blush and smile.
After the chaotic lunch debacle, the teams went on with their regular days. However, the rest of Team RWBY noticed that their indomitable team leader was nervous around the wolfish prince. This only continued and worsened as the day dragged on, till finally Weiss could take no more.
"Ruby. What is going on with you and Sylver today?" Weiss asked as the team left their last class.
Ruby looked surprised. "What? Psssh! Nothing! Why would something be going on?" She replied, trying to play it off.
"You literally looked worse off than Azura being near Yang for more than five seconds." Weiss said.
"And that's saying something." Yang quipped.
"Quiet, you." Weiss snapped, before returning to her partner.
Ruby sighed, realizing that Weiss was not going to let it go. "You're going to think it's stupid…" she nervously replied.
"Considering it's Sylver, it's to be expected." Weiss answered her.
"As you know, Sylver and I used to date…" Ruby told her teammates.
"Oh, that's so sweet." Blake said, putting her hands together.
"Fiiiilth…!" Ruby replied, narrowing her eyes.
"I read wholesome books too, you know!" Blake yelled back defensively.
"Ruby, focus. If Weiss and Blake are going to be part of the team, then they should know." Yang said to her sister.
Ruby sighed and nodded. "But what you don't know is how our relationship ended and why." She continued.
"What happened?" Weiss asked, her voice softening in tone.
"Sylver got kicked out of Signal for picking fights outside of class. We had a talk about it before he had to move back to Atlas. But… I thought it wouldn't work out if we tried to do a long-distance thing, so I just convinced him we should break things off without actually talking it out with him. But, as it turns out, he wanted to try…" Ruby explained, looking down in shame at how dumbly she had behaved.
"That is the dumbest breakup I've ever heard." Weiss said.
"Right!?" Yang asked exasperatedly in response.
"Ruby, why did you think that was the right idea?" Blake genuinely asked.
"B… because, in every romance novel I've ever read, long distance relationships never work out…?" Ruby replied sheepishly.
"Considering the trash I know you read, that sounds about right." Blake sighed.
"Better trash than filth!" Ruby replied defensively.
"Ruby. I need you to answer me truthfully. Do you still have feelings for him?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms.
Ruby blushed but nodded. Unable to verbally answer her partner.
"Ruby, you stopped Sylver in his tracks at lunch. Regardless of how you think he feels, putting words in his mouth is not going to ever reveal the truth. Maybe you should ask how he feels and try to reconnect? I am not saying get back together with him, but you can at least try to bury the hatchet." Weiss explained.
"Aw, look at our Ice Queen! Being such a good friend!" Yang joyfully and playfully replied.
"Blake." Weiss simply said.
Smack. "Ow! Blake, what was that for!?" Yang replied, rubbing the back of her head where her partner slapped her.
"Yang, that's not positive reinforcement." Blake explained.
Yang simply grumbled and chose to remain quiet, rubbing the back of her head as Weiss continued.
"Ruby, do you really want to go through Beacon like this with him?" Weiss asked her partner.
"No…" The red rose sheepishly replied.
"Then go talk it out with him." Weiss pointed in the general direction she last saw Sylver go.
Ruby nodded, a determined look on her face. "I will! Thanks, Weiss!" She replied, taking off in a flurry of rose petals as she rushed off with her Semblance, kicking up a gust of wind pressure as she did so.
"Huh. At this rate, I could be a motivational speaker." Weiss said.
"Don't push it." Blake shot at her.
Meanwhile, Ruby was rushing around trying to find the wolf prince, to little avail. This was mostly due to Sylver being preoccupied himself. As he romped around as usual, he was soon found by some upperclassmen.
"Can I help you?" Sylver asked annoyedly.
"What's got you so glum, mate?" A feminine voice asked him.
In front of him was a female rabbit Faunus with brown ears, brown hair, and creamy skin. Behind her was an impressively tall woman with shades and a beret. Further behind them was a darker-skinned fellow with scarlet hair, and a truly massive man that kind of reminded him a bit of his own father. At the present moment, Sylver did not know what to think, but they were not trying to jump him, so they had a better outcome than usual.
"That's for me to know, ma'am. I'm not in the habit of being loose-lipped. You want that, you can go find Azura or Red." Sylver sarcastically said.
"Come on, big guy. You don't have to be rude. From one man to another, let us upperclassmen help out our junior." The scarlet haired man, who was clearly blind, replied.
"I'm not sure you're up to 'seeing' my problem, pal." Sylver snarled.
"Hey, asshole. They were just trying to be polite." the shaded girl said tersely, lowering her shades and offering a glare.
"Listen, Starcup Momma. I ain't in the mood for sugar and spice today. If you all must know, this is the anniversary of my asshole cousin kidnapping my own fucking sister, her best friend, and her best friend's cousin." Sylver growled, clenching his hands into fists as he squared up for a fight.
"Hey, let's all just take a breather. We got off on the wrong foot, let's start over: My name is Yatsuhashi Daichi." The giant of man spoke with a calm but powerful voice, as he held up his hands placatingly.
Nodding, Sylver unclenched his fists. "Finally, someone who knows how to start a conversation. The name's Sylver Tenrō of Atlas's Tenrō clan." He replied sarcastically, holding his hand out to the taller gentleman for a handshake, who took it and shook his hand.
"I'm Velvet Scarlatina." The rabbit Faunus replied chipperly.
Sylver gave a smile to the other Faunus present and shook her hand. He then turned to the blind man and addressed him." Sorry about the whole 'seeing' comment. That was rude, even for me." He said apologetically, offering an olive branch.
The redhead was about to snarl something out, until he got a side glare from the fashionista. With a deep, heavy sigh, he offered his hand to him to shake. The two shook hands as the redhead offered a strong grip.
Sylver gave a smile at that. "That's a nice grip you got there. I'm impressed." The wolf prince replied.
"It helps keep people on eye level." The red head darkly scowled.
Sylver chuckled at that. "Okay, you? I like." he said with a smirk.
"It's Fox, by the way." The redhead said.
"Nice to meet ya, Fox. I think you and me are gonna get along just fine." Sylver replied as they ended the handshake.
"Don't push it." Fox said as he stepped back.
"Oho, we got a fighter! Finally, a challenge!" Sylver gleefully replied.
A clear of the throat brought Sylver's attention back to the beret wearing woman. "Saving the best for last, huh? Name's Coco Adel." Coco said smoothly, pushing her shades back onto her face with her index and middle fingers.
"But I already met the bunny." Sylver replied, a bit sassily.
"Anyway, I'm the leader of Team CFVY." she said with slight irritation.
"Did anyone tell you that's a drink and not a color?" Sylver asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Coffee Brown is a color, actually." Velvet stated simply.
Sylver stared for a moment before narrowing his eyes. "You win this round, bunny girl." He replied.
"Sylver!? You around!?" Called out a familiar voice, which immediately caused Sylver to freeze up.
"Hide me!" Sylver exclaimed, dashing behind Yatsuhashi.
"He's over here!" Fox called out.
"I'll get you for this later, redhead! I will end you! And I'll make it look like a bloody accident!" Sylver snarled at Fox.
"You just keep telling yourself that, big guy." Fox replied.
Soon Ruby rounded a corner, petals floating off into the breeze. "Sylver? Where did he go?" Ruby asked.
"He's hiding behind Yatsuhashi." Fox replied, pointing at the big guy.
"BITCH!!" Sylver exclaimed from behind the giant Mistralian.
"Oy! Language!" Velvet told the taller Faunus.
"Apologies, bunny girl." Sylver said in a softer tone, before finally facing the music and stepping out behind the giant man. "Hey, Ruby…"
"Are you okay? You look like you're on edge." The red reaper said to her ex-boyfriend.
"What, me? Never. The only edge I'm on is the edge of my seat through life!" Sylver said, trying to lead Ruby away from what he actually thought.
Ruby looked at Sylver crossly. "Don't lie to me, Sylver. I know you better than that." She told him.
At that, Sylver sighs deeply. "Yeah… If we are gonna do this, can we at least talk in private?" Sylver asked her, finally able to look her in the eyes.
Ruby nodded. "Of course. Coco, everyone. Please excuse us." She told Team CFVY.
"Break a leg, slugger." Fox dryly said to Sylver.
"There's a classroom nearby that should be empty. Use that." Velvet suggested, pointing in the direction of it.
"Thank you." Ruby said before grabbing Sylver by the shirt and pulling him away.
"Ah, young love." Coco sighed.
Meanwhile: With Ruby and Sylver
Slamming the door open, Ruby marched into the room and shoved Sylver inside. He did not have long to right himself as Ruby spun on her heels and slammed the door behind her. Despite that, the wolf prince could still hear Fox's snickering through the door. Then Ruby turned to face him and walked up to him.
"Sylver… I'm sorry about this… but we need to talk." Ruby stated nervously as Sylver raised his eyebrow at that assertion.
"Oh, hey Tiny. How ya' been?" Sylver said, completely casual with her attempt to be intimidating.
Ruby flushed red in the face at that. "I'm average height and you know it, Sylver!" She embarrassedly screamed at him.
"Sure, you are. Sure, you are." Sylver replied as he ruffled her hair.
"Sylver… are you mad at me?" Ruby asked him, trying to tamp down her own nervousness at all of this.
"Do you dye your hair?" The wolf prince questioned.
"Can you stop being a jerk for one second and be serious for once!? Gods above, nothing's changed since back then!" Ruby yelled, turning around in a huff.
"Well. duh. My unstable cousin is in prison after he tried to off me, kidnapped my sister and her friends, then tried to off me again. That was an eventful tenth birthday week." Sylver casually recalled.
"Wait what?!" Ruby screamed in shock, turning on her heels to face him. "You never told me about that!!"
"You never asked." The mental wolf prince told her. "I just get a bit more colorful with my vernacular around this time."
"How do you know what verna… you know what, never mind. It's not important. So, you're not mad at me over our breakup?" Ruby asked.
"My mother would drill me on vocabulary while my dad did physical training. And no. In fact, bonk." Sylver explains as he bopped her on the head.
"Ow." Ruby said, rubbing her head. "What was that for?"
"For being a blonde dum-dum like Yang. No gum-gum for you." The Tenrō Terror told her.
"But you don't have any gum." Ruby tried to say, before another bonk befell her noggin.
"Are you done with the Dum-Dum Disease?" Sylver jokingly asked, hand raised for another bonk.
Ruby smiled and then pulled the giant wolfman into a hug. At that, Sylver froze as fast as an Atlesian glacier, not entirely sure what to do. However, he did not get much of a chance when Ruby broke the hug.
"Sylver, I'm sorry for worrying you. And… if you ever need anyone to talk to about what happened, I'm always here to help." Ruby said nervously.
"Don't worry, I have an outlet." Sylver informed her.
"I dated you long enough to not ask. Well, have a good day, Sylver. See you tomorrow in class." Ruby said before heading back to the room.
"Later, Strawberry Shortcake." Sylver waved her off as she left.
"STOP GIVING ME ADORABLE PET NAMES, YOU DOLT!!" Ruby called out from a distance. "Oh gods, I already sound like Weiss!!!"
Later: At Team RWBY's Dorm Room
As Weiss, Blake, and Yang, in a level of serene peace, went about their after-class lives, it all ended as the thunderous crash of the door opening at mach speed sounded off. Ruby then rushed in like a hurricane, eradicating all calm before her as she made presence known.
"He doesn't hate me!!" Ruby squealed loudly and happily, throwing her arms into the air as she did.
"Okay, loud. Loud, Rubes." Yang replied, digging a pinky into her ear.
"So how did it go with the dolt?" Weiss inquired from her young leader.
"WHAT!?" Blake asked as she rubbed her ears in irritation.
Yang cupped her hands over her mouth near Blake's ears. "He doesn't hate her!" She yelled.
"HEY, YANG! THAT'S RIGHT IN MY EAR!" Blake shouted.
"ALL OF YOU, STOP YELLING! THE LEADER NEEDS TO SPEAK!" Weiss yelled in an un-Schnee way.
"SORRY IF I'M YELLING!" Blake yelled again.
"Sylver doesn't hate me over the breakup! He just has some other issues going on!" Ruby said.
"So, he is just mental. Good to know." Weiss commented, clearly having little respect for Faunus. "So, he isn't any different than others of his kind."
"He's not mental, Weiss! He's just different!" Ruby snapped back to defend the wolf lord.
"Oh, he's mental, alright. But that was pretty racist of you, Ice Queen." Yang replied.
"He keeps calling me a princess, even though I'm an heiress." Weiss complained.
"What's the difference?" Ruby asked confusedly.
"You heathen of a dolt. There's so much difference between an heiress and a princess" Weiss once more complained.
"What is an heiress but the princess of a company?" Yang asked, trying to sound philosophical.
"Shut your cake hole, Yang." Weiss ordered her blonde teammate.
"Mmmm… cake…" Yang said, sounding hungry now.
A couple of claps stopped the conversation. "Stay on topic, people." Blake said irritably.
"Look, the point is that Sylver and I are cool… even if we are still broken up…" Ruby said, starting to get sad near the end of her sentence as her voice trailed off.
"Well, that doesn't mean you can't start over. And who knows? Maybe you two can try again in the future." Yang offered, trying to raise her baby sister's spirits.
"Yes, because I should take dating advice from you." Ruby sarcastically said.
"I'll have you know I'm an expert at dating! I just have bad taste in men sometimes…" Yang shot back.
"Eh, she is better off." Weiss commented.
"I've seen you two. I can tell the embers of your lost love still burn bright." Blake said dramatically, closing her eyes as she finished.
"If she was desperate for money, she should go for his sister then." Weiss called out, clearly not reading the room.
"My baby sister is not for the streets!" Yang snapped out.
Blake let out a sigh of exasperation and quietly excused herself to her bed.
"Do you guys… really think I can after what happened?" Ruby nervously asked.
"For your sanity and mine, I wouldn't." Weiss responded, clearly still not being able to read the room. "But do what makes you happy."
"Aw, I knew there was a heart inside that frozen tundra you call a chest, Weiss." Yang playfully said.
"Thanks, girls…" Ruby said with a small smile. "Need me, I'm hitting the shower."
Meanwhile: With Sylver
Sylver walked back to his team's room at an unusual pace. He was kind of disappointed Ruby left as quickly as she did. It provided a pleasant distraction to what was really going on in his mind. There was a foolish part of him that wished this day would not come every year, where he is painfully reminded of what happened. Shaking off those feelings and giving himself a neck rub, the wolf prince then opened the door to his team's room. As he walked in, Hunter spoke up.
"What kept you?" Hunter asked from his bed.
"Somethin' wrong, hoss? You don't look too good. You feelin' sick er somethin'?" Dahlia noted, a bit concerned by how pale her team leader looked.
"I'm fine. I just need to hit a tanning booth." Sylver answered, scratching his neck a bit as he got onto his bunk bed.
As he did so, due to the sudden movement he made, no one noticed the small black thorn-like markings sprouting on his neck. Or what they could possibly mean.
To Be Continued…