Hello and welcome to the first story I have uploaded to Fanfiction. At the time of the first upload, this was the first and only RWBY/Inheritance Cycle crossover.

Please note, this chapter has been rewritten from original upload.

I do not own RWBY or Inheritance Cycle.

Dragon Rider Aaron Benson knelt at the edge of the large pool in the cave he and his dragon were hiding in. Three years on the run, and it came down to this. Aaron found a scroll the day before containing a spell that could transport him and his dragon out of Alagaësia and away from the traitor and the Forsworn. The only problem was that the location on the other side was different every time. The spell might just save the entire species of dragons.

Aaron turned to look at his forest green dragon, Nalia Quickwing. Five years ago, Nalia hatched for Aaron in the city of Teirm. The two of them were a couple of years into their training and were finally trusted with couriering dragon eggs to various cities to find new Riders.

On their first run though, the traitor, Galbatorix, attacked Vroengard. The home base for the Riders was destroyed and almost all members of the Order were killed. Instead of flying back to assist the elves and remaining Riders in Ilirea, Aaron and Nalia took their teacher's advice and fled north. They had the last remaining eggs, and had to keep them safe.

The forest of Du Weldenvarden and the elves provided a buffer zone that kept the traitor and his minions away for years. That all changed though when Kialandí and his dragon entered the area a week ago. Neither Aaron nor Nalia left their cave, not even to eat. If they were notices, Aaron was fully confident he and Nalia could hold off the invaders with their minds, but when it came to a physical fight, the junior pair would be routed.

"Any sign of them?" Aaron asked his soul mate.

They're on the horizon. They haven't spotted us yet, but I don't want to be here when they do. Nalia looked her Rider in the eyes. Cast the spell.

Aaron nodded and set to work. He laid out the scroll by the water and started chanting in the Ancient Language. The spell was long and complicated. If even one word was misplaced, it could spell disaster for the pair. In comparison to other spells, this particular one didn't take much energy at all considering the implications. However, that didn't mean that it was as easy as splitting a boulder in half. Several minutes into casting the spell, Nalia growled. We've been spotted! Hurry up! Aaron obliged, speeding up his chanting as much as he dared.

As he finished chanting, the water started to swirl. As it spun, the pool turned a purplish color. Aaron kicked a rock into the pool, but the expected splash never came. "It's ready," he announced. He grabbed the scroll containing the spell and climbed into Nalia's saddle. After he strapped in his legs, Aaron put the scroll in a relatively empty saddlebag, then checked two others for their precious cargo. Sure enough, three dragon eggs sat in the bags.

Aaron patted the neck of his dragon. "Let's go." Nalia didn't wait around. She jumped into the portal…

…and into open sky over an unknown forest. Nalia yelped in surprise and snapped open her wings to avoid plummeting into the greenery below. Aaron looked back up at the portal they just flew through. It looked like a blue and purple whirlpool suspended in the sky. If it was still there though, that probably meant Kialandí could follow through. Aaron cut the flow of energy keeping the portal open, and it disappeared without a trace.

The exhaustion from keeping the portal open hit Aaron and Nalia like a Kull. Still, the Rider smiled. He did it. His dragon and he were free.

I'm going to find a place to set down, Nalia panted, that took more out of my than I thought it would. She started flying toward a mountain that had surprisingly little snow. Aaron looked around the forest below him. Somewhere in those trees might be where Nalia and he call home for who knew how long. The forest didn't look too different from any forest back in Alagaësia, mainly deciduous trees with a few clearings and rocks scattered about.

Aaron looked up at the sky to judge the time of day and would have fallen out of the saddle if he wasn't strapped in. "Nalia, are you seeing this?" Nalia turned her head to look at what her Rider stared at, then stopped her flight. The moon was visible, and it was half shattered.

How is this possible? Nalia's eyes were wide with fear. The moon was whole last night. What could cause this?

The Rider didn't know what to say. Out of everything that changed, the moon was the one constant. Every month, it went from full, to nothing, and then back to full. The same face always showed. Now, that constant had shattered, quite literally. "Let's just find a place to spend the night, okay? We can worry about this later."

Nalia resumed her flight but at a much slower rate. Her head moved from side to side, like she did when she thought something was following her. Aaron could feel her tense up through the saddle. He reached for his sword in preparation for battle. When Nalia thought she was being followed, she was usually right.

This time proved no different. A crow's caw loud enough to be confused with a dragon's roar assaulted Aaron's ears. The Rider looked toward the source of the sound and saw a large black bird flying right at Nalia and him.

Nalia growled and rolled out of the way of the creature's attack. Aaron looked down at the bird below him. It was the size of Nalia, and completely black except for a white and red bone 'mask' on its head. Its body shape overall looked like a mix between a condor and raven. Four red eyes stared back, filled with nothing but hunger and hatred.

The creature attacked once again, this time going for Nalia's exposed belly. She met the black bird halfway, delivering a shoulder to its neck. The dragon's superior mass drove the beast toward the ground. Nalia tried to get her teeth around its neck, but it managed to escape the dragon's shoulder attack.

Nalia breathed a torrent of fire at the bird. The inferno was hot enough to melt stone. However, the creature still flew after the fire stopped. It looked more annoyed than anything. It dove again at Nalia's back, but she managed to roll out of the way. Aaron thought he saw one of the saddlebags get nicked though. He swung his sword at the beast and managed to clip a wing. The creature screamed in pain and rage and turned around for another attack.

By that point, Aaron was getting exhausted, and he could feel Nalia's wing flaps become more labored. The creature had to die soon, or else Nalia would fall out of the sky. Aaron leaned in close to his dragon's ears. "Get me an angle at its neck." Nalia nodded and dove toward the creature. The two titans of the sky met in midair, with Nalia in a slightly more compromising position. The creature had an angle at her neck, but that was by design. As it brought its head back to deliver the killing blow, Nalia twisted her neck, giving Aaron the angle he needed to kill the beast. With a single swing, he loped off the creature's head.

Aaron watched the headless form crash into the forest below. It made a satisfying crash that could most likely be heard for miles around. Both dragon and Rider panted in the air, trying to catch their breath. Nalia turned back to her Rider. We shouldn't stick around in case there are more nearby.

"Good idea, and good fighting." Aaron patted Nalia on the neck, and he got a light hum in return. He then looked at the saddlebag that took a hit during the fight. His heart started to fall into his stomach. That was one of the bags that held an egg. Aaron opened the top, and saw right down to the forest below.

Panic quickly overtook Aaron. "We lost an egg!" he shouted. Nalia quickly turned herself around and dove toward the forest. She leveled of just above the canopy and swung her head from side to side, trying to get a glimpse of red among all the green. Her own panic rolled off her in waves. Both dragon and Rider stretched their minds out to the forest, but Aaron almost immediately pulled back. There were more creatures down there, filled with the same hate that he saw in the bird's eyes. Their presence made the entire forest feel evil.

Three distinct roars rolled over the forest. Aaron looked over to the sources and saw three more of the black birds flying right at him. He slumped forward in the saddle, defeated. "We can't take them all on," he whispered.

Nalia turned back to face her Rider, fear and rage burning in her eyes. We can't just leave that egg out there! We have to find it!

"We can't fight them right now. They'll knock us out of the sky in this state. We'll search when we're well rested. I don't like leaving it out there any more than you do, but we have the two other eggs to take care of. We can't put them in any more danger." Nalia hesitantly nodded, then flew back in her original direction. After a few minutes of chasing, the beasts broke off their pursuit and returned to whatever hellhole they came from, not that they had any chance of catching a Quickwing.

Nalia never slowed down. She flew straight and true toward the hopeful safety of the mountain. Aaron knew half of her was screaming to turn around and find that egg, the other half knew it was sensible to go back when they recovered from the first fight. The Rider put a comforting hand on his dragon's neck. "We will find that egg. Those creatures would be crazy to even lay eyes on it."

The rest of the flight continued in silence. No more birds flew up to meet them, and no other surprises tried to stop them. Nalia found a cave near the top of the mountain and landed just outside. The area around it looked and felt clear of the black creatures and some more familiar wildlife walked around.

The dragon and Rider split up, Nalia going to hunt and Aaron scouting out the top of the mountain. The extra height should give him a decent view of the surrounding area. It was a half hour hike to the top of the mountain. The trees stayed thick all the way up, a stark contrast to the Spine and the Beors. As Aaron neared the top of the mountain, the wildlife thinned out, where mainly birds flew. A small stream meandered its way toward a lake at the bottom of the mountain.

Aaron climbed a tree at the top of the mountain to get an even better look at the area. The forest stretched out in every direction, meeting an ocean on the west side. An island sat a few miles off the coastline. The city, however, took Aaron's breath away. Nalia, he called with his mind, I think you need to see this. Fly low though, you could be seen. Nalia acknowledged and flew up to meet her Rider with a deer hanging limp in her mouth. When she saw the city, her dinner rolled right out, but Nalia's mouth stayed open.

The city was enormous. It was nearly three times the size of Ilirea, not counting the sprawl on the island. Large high rise buildings rose on either side of a branching river in the center. Most of the buildings were either tan or white, and all had many glass windows. Despite the obvious differences to structures Alagaësia, the architecture was definitely human in origin. The structure closest to the dragon and Rider stood out from the rest. It resembled a large castle with a large lighthouse structure in the center. There were no defensive walls anywhere around the castle, so it had to look the part just for the aesthetic.

"So what do you think?" Aaron asked his dragon.

Whoever they are, they have to be insane to have no walls. Nalia huffed. How can they keep out raiders, or any of those beasts on the ground?

"Whether we like it or not, we are going to be living near them for a while." Aaron looked over the city with a more critical eye. The central part of the sprawl stood the tallest and was arguably the cleanest part of the city. As buildings got farther away from the center, they grew shorter and looked less adorned. One section of the city stood apart from the rest, it's buildings taking a different color. Whether that was by design or grime, Aaron couldn't tell. He decided against entering the city from that side. That section might very well house most of the crime in the city. If he wanted to infiltrate the city though, Aaron knew he had to blend in. There was the very real possibility of running into the language barrier. He'd have to learn that if he wanted to get information out of anyone in the city.

Aaron looked up at the sun. It would set in a few hours, not enough time to make it into the city and back before dark, He turned to look at Nalia. "How about we split up tomorrow. I'll go into the city and you look for the egg."

Nalia shifted uncomfortably. Are you sure that's the best idea? We could barely take one of those things down.

"We were already tired from making the portal. Besides, you've taken on three dragons larger than you several times before and won. Those things should be no problem."

What about you? You'll be in an unknown city with who knows how many hostiles or magic users? I doubt your clothes will blend in either.

"I highly doubt anyone in the city would be as bad as the Forsworn. As for the clothes, I'll stay invisible until I can find some more."

Nalia snorted. Just don't get into trouble down there. I don't want to have to find you in that mess.

"Who am I? Brom?" The pair chuckled a little at that. Brom was one of their few friends left alive after the Fall. "Let's settle down for the night. I'm hungry."

I'm so glad you never turned vegetarian.

"Eh, give a while, It might catch me eventually, and what a dark day that will be." Aaron climbed onto Nalia's back and strapped in. The dragon grabbed her dinner in her mouth and flew off to their cave.

"Woah," was all Ruby Rose could say as she stared at the evaporating body of a decapitated Nevermore. The ground was littered with branches and leaves of nearby trees. The rest of team RWBY stood a little behind their leader.

"I didn't know any other teams were out this far," Weiss said. "Come to think of it, I can't think of any who could kill one like this."

"No bullet casings, no signs of struggle on the ground." Blake observed. She looked up at the broken canopy. "It's like it was killed in the sky."

Yang gently punched Ruby's shoulder. "Bringing back any memories sis?"

"Yeah, good times," Ruby replied. "We should really get going, shouldn't keep Professor Port waiting for too long."

"I still don't get why he sent us all the way out here to track a pack of Beowolves," the heiress complained.

"Better than taking on those other Nevermores we heard." Blake stated. The rest of the team shuddered at the memory. One was bad enough, they didn't think they could take more than one at once.

The four teammates started to make their way back to Beacon. The forest was unusually quiet, with only the sound of wind to be heard. Still, Ruby was on edge. The quiet either meant there was nothing in the area, or they were being hunted. It was always a good idea to think the latter.

A few clearings after they left the Nevermore, Ruby caught the glint of something under the branches of a tree. She changed direction and walked over to it. "Uh, Rubes, last time I checked Beacon wasn't under a tree," Yang joked.

"I found something over here," Ruby called back. The rest of her team quickly joined her under the tree. "I don't know what it is though." A red ovoid object lay half buried in the ground. Ruby grabbed whatever is was and pulled it out. It was surprisingly warm, which meant it most likely wasn't a normal rock. "Weiss, is this some kind of Dust?"

Weiss grabbed it from Ruby and looked it over for a few seconds. "I don't know what it is, but it isn't Dust."

"It kind of looks like an egg," Yang chipped in.

"What kind of animal would lay an egg of that size? Or color?" Blake asked.

Ruby thought it over for a moment as she took the object back from Weiss. "A dragon?" she eventually joked.

Yang laughed. "If a dragon hatches from that thing, I'll bake you an oven full of cookies."

"Well now I guess I have to keep this thing." Ruby said cheerfully. Blake looked up surprised and Weiss looked taken aback. "Could you go buy some in the city though?"

Yang put her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Hold up!" Weiss interrupted. "You're just going to take some random rock out of the forest because you think it's a dragon egg?"

"What am I? Twelve?" Ruby retorted. "It's a one of a kind thing, and it matches my cloak." She flipped the rock over in her hands and looked more of it over. "Who knows? This might be worth something."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Fine, just keep your rock with your stuff." She turned around and saw Blake staring intently off into the distance. "You see something?"

Blake didn't answer for a few seconds. "I thought I saw… Never mind. It's not important. Let's get going."

"Alright, team RWBY!" Ruby called out cheerfully. "We're Beacon bound! For real this time!" She turned east and started walking with the red rock cradled in her arms. Even though her hands were full with holding the egg, Ruby was still ready to grab Crescent Rose and fight off any Grimm that came close. Surprisingly, none came to block her team's path. There weren't even any recent tracks. Something scared the Grimm off.

The team arrived at Beacon just before sunset. Professor Port stood waiting at the easternmost gate. "Ah, team RWBY, right on time," he said cheerfully. "I trust you obtained all the information you needed?"

"Yes sir!" Ruby replied just as cheerfully. She shifted the rock completely to her right arm and took her scroll out with her left. "It's all on here." She started transferring the files.

"Excellent work. Did you run into anything else interesting out there besides that beautiful stone you're carrying?"

"Well," Ruby began but was cut off by Blake.

"We found a decapitated Nevermore," she said deadpan.

"Yeah, that," Ruby mumbled.

Professor Port smoothed his mustache in thought. "Interesting. You didn't put it in that condition did you?"

"No," Ruby said. "It was already decaying when we found it."

"Hmm, you four were the only ones supposed to be out there today. I'll have to talk to Professor Ozpin about this. Anyway, you are dismissed." Port turned around and started walking toward the tower at the center of Beacon. Team RWBY, meanwhile, headed back to their dorm room. They had been out tracking most of the day, and all were about to collapse from exhaustion.

"So," Yang said as they entered their dorm, "any guesses on what killed that Nevermore if it wasn't someone from Beacon?"

"A professional Huntsman most likely," Weiss said.

"I've read that territorial disputes between Nevermore can get pretty serious," Blake pitched in.

"That would explain it being killed in the air," Weiss agreed.

"Could have been the mother of that egg," Yang jabbed at Ruby.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "It's a rock Yang, nothing could lay an egg like this."

"Not even a dragon?" Yang received a pillow to the face for that last one. "Come on, admit it! That would be so cool!"

"Yes it would, but dragons aren't real." Ruby looked at Yang. The look on her face said it all. "I'm not going to hear the end of this for a while, am I?"

Yang cocked her head to the side, a large smile forming on her face, "Nope."

Ruby sighed. "I should have kept my mouth shut," she mumbled. She looked over at Weiss and her shared dresser. Her side should be big enough to hold the rock. She set it down on top, then took out her pajamas from the dresser. As she was turning around, Ruby thought she rock move. She looked closely at it for a few seconds then shrugged. She must have bumped the dresser.

'Protagonist enters another world through a portal' cliché (ding!). Review if you liked it, or didn't. I need some criticism every once and a while.