Brought forth from SpaceBattles, worked upon by me, Jesse K and my co-author xTRESTWHOx, I give you all my ongoing story, Of Elder Scrolls and Huntsmen: Dragon Rose

"Now that I think about it, getting on a ship without knowing whether or not it's going to our destination was not a good idea," Ruby plainly stated, as if coming so some grand revelation. Her team just stared at her as the rickety boat sailed along, the crew nowhere to be seen and nothing but water on the horizon.

"You only just now realized that?" Weiss impatiently retorted.

"I mean, I've known it for a while. I just didn't-"

"Stop. We'll focus on where we went wrong after we ensure that we don't die while out at sea."

"Unfortunately," Yang called out while looking through a spyglass, "I don't really sea anything."

"There's a serious chance we could die out here," Blake flatly told her partner.

"Come on, there's not much material with no one else around!"

"That wasn't my point."

"What happened to the crew anyways?" Ruby asked, attempting to get her team back on track. "There were like fifteen guys just on deck yesterday."

None of the girls offered any explanation, as none seemed forthcoming. They couldn't tell if there was a raft missing from the stores, and there didn't appear to be any signs of a Grimm attack. So far, everything looked as though the entire crew had simply vanished into thin air. As they pondered the mystery and what to do about their situation, the sounds of seagulls hit their ears and the Huntresses looked up to see three of the birds perched on the mast. Another came and joined them, preening its feathers as it sat.

"Seagulls! That means land is nearby!" Blake said excitedly.

"They're coming straight from where we're headed," Yang pointed out.

"Arr! Avast me hardy crew!" Ruby said, mimicking the stereotypical pirate. "Set sail for ye land thartaway!"

"Aye aye, cap'n Ruby," Yang played along as she ran off to ensure they stayed the course. The others, deciding not to lower themselves to their level, used what little they knew about maritime maintenance to assist Yang's efforts. Soon, land could be seen in the distance, and a quick look through the spyglass gave them all relief.

"I think I see a city! We can get back to Beacon from there by airship!"

"Assuming they have any," Weiss pessimistically countered.

"Even if they don't, they have to know where a town or village that does is!" Ruby said with a smile. "Home free!"

"Wait, what?"

"How in the world is the ship not sinking?"

"By the Gods, you fellas need to come look at some of this woodwork down here!"

The voices of the dock hands came from all around the vessel, inspecting every nook and cranny. All sported eyes filled with amazement as they gazed upon the vessel. Weiss, on the other hand, paid the workers no heed as she conversed with customs.

"So," Weiss said to the customs officer, "you'll keep it in dock until the crew show up to reclaim it?"

"Assuming they can back up the claim. If no one comes within a year and a day, the ship and anything aboard will be confiscated by the company and auctioned off. And a ship like this…" The woman seemed to have a glint in her eyes. "Very good price I think."

Weiss didn't get it. It was a decent vessel, but it wasn't exactly in top shape. Then again, all of the other ships appeared to be very old models. The most modern one was likely the large galleon taking up a huge amount of space on the other side of the docks.

"That's reasonable. All of our things are off the ship now, so we'll leave it to you then while we find a way home."

"Good luck with that, miss. Divines smile on you."

Weiss gave a short nod and then made her way over to the rest of her team. Blake was eyeing a large fish, while the sisters appeared to be people-watching. She quickly relayed the news, but her team only seemed to be half-way paying attention to her.

"Hey, Weiss?" Ruby began.

"What is it?"

"Do you know anything about grey, pointy-eared people?"

"What are you talking about grey-" She was cut off by the appearance of a dock worker with said grey-skin, pointy ears, and red eyes. Thinking it over, she shook her head and let logic take over.

"Well, it appears to be a local phenotype."

"A what?"

"Things like hair color, skin-type, and ear-shape are determined by your genes. Phenotypes are what we call differing genes that usually make up a different sort of stock of people. Like how people in colder climes tend to be paler, while those in the warmer areas have darker complexions."

Another sharp-eared person went by, this one much taller than any of them and with golden skin.

"Well, I wonder where you'd have to live for that sunny complexion." Yang quipped.

"Ooh, does that faunus have a different phenotype too?" Ruby said quietly while gesturing towards a scaled being leaning against a pole further down the docks.

"That's…not a faunus," Blake whispered, surprised and apprehensive.

"Uh, then what…"

"Maybe we should just head into town," Weiss suggested. "I got a recommendation for an inn, so we can stay there overnight. It's called the Winking Skeever."

"Wait, what's a skeever?" Ruby asked.

"I asked that, and apparently it's a sort of rat-like creature." Something that could definitely be considered rat-like scurried next to them, hissed, scaring the girls, and then continued scurrying away.

"More like a mutant rat!" Yang shrieked.

"So that was…a skeever?" Weiss said, rubbing her arms with a hint of a chill running through her. "All right. Let's go."

The girls walked up a stairway and entered the side entrance to the town. Inside dozens of people were walking about, doing their daily activities. Merchants called out to potential customers, and haggled with actual customers over prices, friends talked and laughed amongst themselves, often with a cup of what appeared to be some sort of alcoholic beverage in hand. A handful of guards, wearing some sort of chainmail, patrolled the city, but never enough to feel oppressive. Indeed, the city of Solitude appeared to be quite similar to Vale, if only much more old fashioned. That, and the people were much more diverse than what they were used to. In Vale, you might see maybe one or two Faunus in a normal crowd, but apparently whatever country they were in was much more diverse. There were several of the pointed-eared people walking about, some with lighter or darker skin. Honestly, if they didn't know any better, the four huntresses in training could have sworn they were elves, straight out of an old fantasy novel. Most of the people were normal humans, with some giving the pointed-eared people hard looks.

As the quartet passed through the market, Weiss and Blake had to repeatedly pull Ruby and Yang, respectively, away from items of interest. Ruby in particular had to be pulled away from inspecting an increasingly uncomfortable guard's weapons, multiple times, while Blake had to stop Yang from picking fights with catcallers. Finally, the team eyed their destination, the Winking Skeever, and made a beeline towards it, until Blake suddenly stopped near a darkened alleyway, alerting the others to possible danger. As Ruby squinted her eyes, she could make out a dark silhouette of a man leaning against the castle wall, the light reflecting off his eyes as he stared them down. After what seemed to be an eternity, the man began to speak.

"Greetings, strangers," he said in a raspy voice.

"Uh, hello?" Ruby said, feeling awkward about the encounter.

"You're new here, aren't you?" The shady man questioned. When RWBY slowly nodded in confirmation, he continued. "I try to make it my business to recognize any travelers passing through. Between the way you look around you, the way you carry yourselves, and the sort of clothing you wear, you have the look of wandering souls about you. Perhaps I can make you an offer?"

"That depends," Blake answered, with some considerable strain to her voice, obviously trying to not sound hostile.

The man, in the first show of emotion since the start of the conversation, laughed. "I assume you have septims if you wish to buy anything here."

"Septims?" Weiss asked, confused and suspecting, both towards the man they were speaking to and what these 'septims' were.

"The local currency, of course." He confirmed, his tone condescending, almost like a father to a small child. "Then again, foreigners who just washed up on our shores wouldn't even know what the currency is, let alone have the forty coppers needed for four people to stay the night."

"Wait a minute, you're telling me this place doesn't take lien?!" Weiss shrieked, panicked at the thought of suddenly being reduced to a pauper.

"I assume this 'lien' is the currency from where you lot are from?" The man asked, seeking confirmation, which Weiss' frantic nodding quickly answered. "Then, no. Here in Skyrim, we only accept septims. Guess that means you four are broke."

For a moment no one said anything. Ruby looked back at Weis, who had now gone catatonic. Seeing how Weiss was no longer going to be of assistance for the moment, Ruby sighed.

"Okay, so we don't have any. I'll assume you aren't just being a charitable soul?" Yang spoke up, now a little desperate given their present state of funds.

"Nothing's free, of course. Rather, I have a problem that needs dealing with and from the way you all carry yourselves, you're all fine warriors." The figure walked into the light, revealing a lizard-like face with two horns on top of his head as well as a single horn on his nose. Weiss, just now getting over her shock, jumped a bit at his visage, which just made him laugh a little.

"In the hills south of here there's a cave. Some frostbite spiders have recently began nesting in there. Inside, there's an amulet that belonged to one of my ancestors, stolen by bandits, who'd taken residence inside. The spiders ate the bandits, mostly, and now it's far too dangerous for someone like myself to venture in there," He held out his hand, revealing five iron coins. "Consider this a sign of goodwill as well as the forward payment. These diems will get you all a night and day at The Winking Skeever, as well as an extra for drinks. Bring me my amulet, and you'll be seeing gold."

Weiss took the coins apprehensively, and then nodded. The lizard-man smiled.

"See you around, ladies," he said before walking off, no one else paying him any real mind.

"So, uh, that happened," Yang said.

"Did we just…get a bounty request?" Ruby asked.

"From a… What are those guys called again?"

"I don't know. Let's just see if this place has somewhere to sleep."

The inn had a cozy, rustic feel to it. The innkeeper gave them a room with three large beds before apologizing about not having one with four available, and even offered to bring in one of the others before Ruby told him it was fine. Night came around, and the four girls were eating a supper of beef and carrot stew while listening to the 'bard' playing tunes from a corner. Yang tried to get a taste of the mead, but Ruby wouldn't allow her, causing the innkeeper to laugh when he saw how dejected the blond looked at her younger sister bossing her around.

The innkeeper's son, who was maybe their age, then gave them some buttered and toasted bread to go with their meals.

"All right ladies. Supper's closing up soon, but don't be afraid to ask for a drink at any time."

"I'll keep that in mind," the brawler flirted, complete with a wink. The youth blushed a little and went back to the kitchen.

"Yang, no!" Ruby objected.

"Pbbt, I'm just teasing him a little. You'd think he never saw a hot chick before."

"Too bad he's not seeing one now," Weiss remarked.

"Ooh burn!"

"Ouch! Good one, Ice Queen. Sadly, you kinda included yourself in that."

"That's because I'm not hot." Weiss then haughtily shook her hair with a flourish. "I'm beautiful."

A group came in and Blake stared right at them. A few of the people avoided them as they entered.

"A room, please," an accented voice tiredly asked. "This one is weary from the cold roads."

"All right, I'll have my son show you up in a moment," the innkeeper replied. Yang turned and her eyebrows rose. "Huh, weird. Hey Blake, do Faunus sometimes have animal faces?"

"No," she muttered.

"Okay. Then what am I looking at over here?"

"This one is khajiit."

The girls jumped in their seats and looked around, but didn't see the speaker.

"S'Vashra is below." They looked down and saw what appeared to be an odd housecat wearing clothes. "Greetings," it said as a necklace on it glowed.

"Oh my god!" Ruby whispered as she began squeeing. Luckily, Weiss was able to cover her mouth before she truly made a racket.

"A…talking…cat?" Blake said slowly.

"A cat-person?" Yang asked. She seemed genuinely interested.

"This one prefers feline being. Many khajiit are like this. Others are like my family and walk like man or mer. S'Vashra has an uncle who is senche-raht, and is as big as this inn."

"Father," a female woman with a human-shaped, but fur-covered face said as she approached, "we have a room for the night. The inn is good. No tries to swindle us."

"That is good." The talking feline stood up and began walking after the others, all of which the group now saw had tails. The woman looked them over and sniffed.

"Have a good evening," she said.

"Huh," Yang said as they left. "That was…neat." She had a light smile on her face as she seemed to be thinking over their encounter.

"You'd think we would have heard about talking cats before," Weiss said. The heiress seemed uneasy about what she had seen.

"Or lizard people," Ruby added. "Wait, do you think they're offended if we call them that?"

Yang shrugged while Blake stood up from her chair.

"What's up?"

"I just…need to get some fresh air."

"I'll join ya." The blonde stood up, understanding her partner's intentions, and began stacking their bowls while placing their mugs near each other.

"Ooh, let's all get some air," Ruby called out as she and Weiss also stood. "We're out in the countryside, so the sky will probably be the clearest ever!"

"That does sound nice," her partner admitted.

Blake sighed as the trudged out and off to the side. As they exited the building, Ruby began to stretch and yawned.

"Today's been weird," she said.

"Are you all right, Blake?" Weiss asked.

"No, I-" She sighed.

"Is it the super faunus people?" Yang asked.

"Those weren't faunus!" she half-yelled, surprising her teammates. "They were… I don't know what they were. The reptiles we saw, they… Did anyone notice the way they looked at us?"

"Their eyes were kinda still," Ruby pointed out. "But I've met people like that."

"There was nothing…human. No real facial expressions. No visual ques. If he hadn't laughed, would either of you have even thought he was emoting?"

The girls looked at each other and then back at their teammate. Ruby had a look of confusion on her face. Weiss seemed perturbed. Yang looked concerned.

"Blake, are you…"

"I'm trying not to, but…it's just so…strange. And then, we just met a talking cat, whose daughter is a woman covered in fur…"

"Blake, you're tired," Yang started as she took the faunus by the shoulders. "And you're probably just weirded out because…you're used to faunus being the odd ones and that's not happening here. So, let's all take a minute to calm down, enjoy the night air, and then we'll go up to our- What's up with the moon?!"

The others all looked up and gasped. In the sky was not a single, broken moon, but rather two undamaged moons, a large one that was half full, and another one a third of its size in a three-quarters phase, slightly overlapping the other moon's dark side, letting them know it was also closer to the world. Weiss covered her own mouth in shock. Yang rubbed her eyes a few times before giving up and staring slack-jawed. Blake leaned against the inn's wall and began sliding down.

"What- Where- How?"

"Guys," Ruby enunciated, now fully panicked. "I don't think we're in Remnant anymore."

Blake barely got any sleep that night, and the others weren't much better. Weiss seemed to stare at the road more than anything. Ruby tried to stay cheerful, but it fell short of comforting the rest of them. Yang looked focused. She was ready to face the world, and her stern look told the others that she was refusing to bend in this.

They had to stop and make camp, and the two moons once again hung over them. Guards frequently patrolled, so there was no fear of brigands. The girls were able to get some sleep, but it was mostly due to their previous exhaustion.

On the third day they stopped at a roadside inn just to make sure they were headed the right way, trading in a deer they'd hunted and half-planned to eat for a few septims. They also managed to get a better feel for how 'septims' worked. Apparently, cents were copper coins, diems were iron coins, and septims, the base unit, were gold, each worth ten of the previous type. For larger amounts there were malks of moonstone, and denars made of gold with silver centers, also worth ten of the next coin down. Ebons were the most valuable and rare, worth five hundred septims and made of ebony. The system seemed convoluted to the girls, but it seemed to work.

Weiss talked with the innkeeper for a while as the other three ate some warm, seasoned salmon and fresh bread. She returned and set her own meal down next to Ruby before sitting with a sigh.

"Hey."

"So, I asked about…people stepping through worlds," she winced as she said it. "Unlike back at Solitude, she didn't really stare at me that long. I think it's because she's Dunmer."

"What-mer?" the youngest of them asked.

"Dunmer, or Dark Elves. They're the grey-skinned ones." Seeing the confused looks of her teammates' faces, Weiss sighed before explaining herself. "That first night… I couldn't get any sleep, so I decided to ask the innkeeper for some information. Apparently, we're in some place called 'Skyrim', part of the Empire of Tamriel, which is the continent we are currently on. According to him, Skyrim is the home of the Nords, one of ten different races. There are four races of Men, which are the Nords, the Bretons, the Imperials, and the Redguards. There are also four races of Mer, or elves, which, including the Dunmer, are the Altmer, also known as High Elves, Bosmer, or Wood Elves, and Orismer, or Orcs. Finally, we have two races of Beast Folk, which are the Argonians, the lizard people, and the Khajiit, the cat people." As Weiss finished her explanation, she received blank looks as her team contemplated this new set of information.

"Huh, neat," Yang finally responded, causing Weiss to facepalm.

"Anyways," Weiss continued, "she said that if we were to go to this 'College of Winterhold' that we'd be able to learn more there. She said it's a 'magic' school."

"Wait, do they mean actual magic or like Dust magic?" Yang asked.

"She didn't say. I assume it's something akin to a Huntsmen academy or maybe it's their place of scientific study that the masses simply confuse for magic. But, it's all the way across the country, and much colder than here. We'll have to prepare for that trip, so once we're done with this we should start."

"And then we get to join a magic school!" Ruby cheered.

"Alleged magic school," Weiss corrected.

"We're in a whole different world," Blake pointed out, "with two moons, reptilian humanoids, and cat-people."

"Obviously we're on some alien world through some convoluted means."

"What about the other humans?" Ruby asked.

"We obviously weren't the first."

"Eh, I'll believe it when I see it, I say," Yang drank a gulp of her water and sighed. "Probably just a boring school."

"Well, I think it's neat. Even if it's science, that can be fun too," Ruby countered before drinking some milk. Some hefty men started walking by, and paused at their table.

"Well, well, what's a buncha young lasses like yourselves doing out here?" one man asked, beginning to eye them, but mostly Yang and Weiss.

"Traveling," Ruby said innocently before wiping off her milk mustache.

"Aye, let 'em be, Ulf. That one's but a day above a tike."

"Hey, a day is a day I say."

"Okay," Yang said loudly while standing up from her seat, pushing the stool back. "You're going to leave us alone, or else," she threatened.

The other men laughed while the one in front of them smiled.

"That a challenge, lassie?" he retorted while crossing his arms.

Yang began raising her fists but stopped at the sound of something pounding on a table. They all turned and saw the innkeeper having slammed a knife-hilt on her bar.

"Not in my inn, you dunderheaded Nords!" she shouted. "Take it outside!"

The man laughed at that and began heading out. Yang grunted and went after him and his group, Ruby and Blake trailing. Weiss remained inside with her head held in her hands.

Most of the patrons had come out and formed a circle as Yang and the man squared up. People around them were betting, usually in favor of the man.

"Ten coppers on the girl," Blake said to some guy.

"I'll take that and double it!" he said, clearly enjoying the sheer act of gambling way too much.

"Should you be doing-"

"Watch."

The man came in with a swing that Yang ducked under. He turned quickly and swung with his other arm, but Yang caught it in the hook and jabbed at his guts. He was forced back a step and then Yang brought around her own hook, knocking him down with a spin, eliciting cheers and jeers from the crowd.

"I hope you last longer the next time you're with a woman," some redhead said from the side, gaining laughter from everywhere. The man stood as he rubbed his jaw and actually smiled at Yang before having to nurse it again. The guy Blake bet with handed her two diems.

"It's not a gamble if it's a sure thing."

"Huh, he didn't have Aura. Weird."

They went back in to enjoy the rest of their meal, not realizing Yang had just gained some fans.

"Okay, so this is the cave," Blake said, looking at the map.

"What was your clue? The massive amounts of spider web or the sign that says 'Beware'?" Weiss sarcastically replied with a hint of frustration.

"Come on, it'll be fine," Ruby said as she started heading inside, pulling out Crescent Rose. "Besides, how bad can some spiders be?"

As it turned out, it was very bad. The next few minutes saw the girls screaming, slashing, and shooting as spiders ranging from the size of dogs to the size of bears attempted to kill them. When the last were dead at their feet, Yang was shivering a bit, Ruby was wide-eyed and whimpering, and Weiss was inwardly disturbed. Blake seemed least affected, but even she was creeped out by the unnaturally large natural creatures.

When they finally calmed down, the girls began searching. The cave had plenty of built in rooms, with dusty furnishings that likely once housed the previous occupants. They split up at a four way section, checking every cabinet and closet for the amulet. Separating herself from the others, Weiss stopped in a room with three coffins and hummed while she rubbed her chin.

"If I was a bandit hiding treasure…" she said to herself. "Worth a look."

She pulled off the lid of one coffin and frowned at finding nothing. The next one had a sword inside, but the weapon was old and rusted, so she didn't bother with it. The last one, strangely, was leaning against the wall. As she reached for it, something suddenly leapt from the coffin and tackled the surprised heiress, who was unable to activate her aura in time. She could only make out that it appeared to be a man before he bit down hard on her neck.

"AAAAGH!" Weiss screamed and thrashed in agony, attempting to push the man off of herself. Quickly realizing the futility of that course of action, and with her strength fading, Weiss grasped Mrytenaster and thrust it upward into the man's chest, aiming for his heart. Luckily, her aim was true, and with his heart pierced, the man's hold on Weiss loosened until he slumped over, dead. Breathing heavily, Weiss clamped down on her wound, attempting to stem the bleeding, until the rest of her team came rushing in, weapons drawn.

"Weiss?!" Ruby yelled as she rushed to her partner's side. "Are you okay!?"

"He bit me!" she hissed through her teeth. "Just…popped out of the coffin and bit my neck! Completely blindsided me!"

"You're bleeding!"

"It doesn't look like anything important was punctured," Blake said as she inspected the wound. She took her pack from her back and pulled out the med kit, getting an alcohol wipe from it to clean away the wounds. "The bleeding's starting to slow."

"What's with this guy?" Yang said as she looked over the body. "He looks…wrong. He's all gaunt in the face, and his eyes…"

"Probably sick or something," Blake said as she finished cleaning the two holes in Weiss's neck. "I'm more worried about how he got past the spiders."

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked her partner.

"I'm fine. It just stings. And…" She lifted Myrtenaster, staring at the red liquid that covered half of it. "I'll be fine."

They left the cave with five different amulets and began heading back to Solitude. After four days and no sign of the inn they rested at or the town, the girls began to get worried. Weiss was steadily growing more and more ill, feeling constantly thirsty and more and more annoyed by the sun, until she was keeping a blanket over her head all day. Her body was becoming more and more gaunt and pale. It appeared that Weiss contracted whatever disease the man had. Adding to their list of troubles, on top of being in an unfamiliar world and having a friend who was likely sick, it also appeared they'd lost their way.

"This can't be right! We should be seeing Solitude by now!" Ruby said as she looked up from the map.

"Let me see," Yang replied as she took the parchment. She looked over it for a moment and then flipped it upside down. The other girls then looked at Ruby in annoyance, who at least had the decency to look sheepishly abashed.

"Oops?"

"Let's just find a road sign," Blake sighed. She looked forward and started down the road, where a sign stood in the fork. Names like Riverwood, Whiterun, Helgen, and Falkreath were on the signs nailed to the post. Yang looked at the signs, at the map, back at the signs, and then back to the map again with a long sigh.

"We're…on the wrong side."

"What do you mean?"

"We're closest to Helgen just south of us, and Solitude is way up here."

"We went in the complete opposite direction," Weiss groaned. "If you hadn't folded it..."

"Um, so how far is Helgen?"

"About ten or so miles, I'm guessing. Probably some bends to go around though. We should see it in about an hour."

The girls began heading that way, stowing the map into Yang's pack as they moved. Weiss groaned and took out her canteen to take a deep draught, and then groaned again.

"Weiss?"

"Whatever I have, it's making me feel extremely thirsty, but I'm not dehydrated at all. If anything, I'm getting waterlogged from drinking so much."

"Helgen's a town, right? They might have some medicine."

"Assuming they have a cure at all," Weiss darkly muttered. She quickly sighed. "Sorry, but this sickness is really getting to me."

"Yeah, you've been crankier than usual, and that's saying something," Yang pointed out. Weiss just glared at Yang, who shrugged and kept walking forward. Weiss, however, continued to stare at Yang, specifically at her neck, before shaking herself off of whatever stupor she was in, disturbed. Before she could say anything, a far off sound rolled through the valley, halting RWBY in their tracks.

"…what the hell was that?" Yang asked, perturbed by the sound and looking for its source.

"I…I don't know. Whatever it is, it's nowhere near us, so let's just keep going," Weiss answered, moving to the front of the group. The rest of the team followed after her, now fully alert and walking at a much brisker pace. As they continued to walk, and got ever closer to Helgen, the sound once again rolled through the air. To their alarm, they could now make it out to be a roar.

"Okay, whatever is making that noise, it's gotten closer!" Yang yelled out, unfolding Ember Celica, with the others following suit, and began looking for the source. As they searched, Blake climbed up a nearby tree, only to see a black cloud of smoke covering where Helgen was supposed to be.

"Smoke, and a lot of it! And I think I saw something black flying in the distance!" Blake yelled out as she spotted the village of Helgen drowned in flames. With her ears, she could make out faint cries and screams of the people inside its walls.

The girls looked to each other before Ruby took off. The others chased after her and they soon could see the town's walls and the smoke rising from behind them. Black wings were seen before disappearing behind the walls, giving the girls an idea of what was happening. As they neared the gate, Ruby fired Crescent Rose and used the recoil to help her jump clear of the obstruction. Yang followed her example, with Weiss hopping onto her glyphs, and Blake jumping from low point to high. The girls looked forward as the smoke cleared from directly in front of them with a gust of wind.

A massive creature, covered in sharp-edged scales and thorns, so black that it seemed to radiate with a darkness Grimm could only dream of being, giant horns on it reptilian head and baleful red eyes with an intelligence in them, turned towards the four slowly, the burnt body of a human lying at its feet near the fortress doors. Its body began to turn with it as it slowly let loose a hissing growl, using its wings like a bat, the talons of its legs digging deep furrows into the earth below it.

"Meyus joor," it said in a deep voice as it stepped towards them. "Hi bo wah hin dinok."

The girls were frozen for a long moment as the dragon began to rear its head back. Ruby seemed to snap out her daze first and began pushing the others.

"Move!"

Fire erupted from the dragon's maw, and the team narrowly escaped it behind a large pile of stones. Weiss screamed and began heading for a nearby burnt out house. The dragon began turning towards her, but paused as something like thunder rang out and bounced off its scales. It turned its head back to look at an astonished Ruby.

"It's bullet-proof!"

The creature's wings spread out and it flapped them as it jumped, taking to the air immediately. It banked left and breathed out a stream of fire as it passed overhead, forcing the three girls to run out of the way again.

"Weiss, can you hit it with something?"

"I can try!" she said as she began summoning a glyph, waving her rapier as if to guide an orchestra. Ice spikes emerged as Dust flowed from the blade, and then fired off at the dragon that had turned back and was coming at them. The spikes simply shattered as they hit its scales, though it did move its head when it was hit. Yang fired at it with Ember Celica, the shots doing seemingly nothing. Fire rained out from the dragon's throat again and all the girls but Yang got out of the way. The brawler gasped and brushed off her shoulders, singed but standing.

"That the best you got?!" she yelled at their opponent.

The dragon's eyes actually narrowed as it looked back at them. It turned with a dropping maneuver and then headed back. It stopped and began hovering in mid-air, flapping its wings as it took in a breath and released it, this time in the form of an icy blast.

Yang shouted as she was hit directly and tried to escape. When the blast let up, the dragon swooped forward, its jaws open and ready to catch the slowed girl.

"No!" Ruby screamed as she dashed forward in a flurry of rose petals, crashing into Yang and pulling her away just as the black maw snapped close. Blake fired at it from below, but then the tail swung around and blindsided her, throwing her into a smoldering building.

"Guys, we aren't even scratching this thing!" Ruby yelled out. "We need to get away from it!"

"Where?" her sister asked as she dug Blake out from the rubble that had fallen on her.

Ruby looked around at the town. Almost every wooden structure was burned to charcoal, and most of the stone ones were broken apart. At the far side, however, she saw a larger building with red banners on it, several deep scratches on the surface, but no breaks. She gulped and looked back at the dragon that was taking its time with this turn.

"Over there!" she pointed out. Her team saw it and began heading that way. Weiss began summoning glyphs beneath them, giving each of them a boost in speed. The dragon was still closing in on them, roaring as fire poured from its mouth. Yang and Weiss slammed the metal doors close and threw on the beam to lock it in place. The door began to turn red from the heat, but then stopped and started cooling. The teens huffed as they caught their breath.