Dragon and Sword Master

Dragon and Sword Master: I don’t know if I’m going to be doing Day 7 and Day 8 though since this is already so far behind. ==============================================================

Blake was still in shock at the admission that her blonde friend had made and pulled out the small thread that was connected to a bottlecap from so long ago. She never thought that she was going to see her friend again…and here she was trapped in a game with not only her, but also her sister as well.

 “Nightshade,” you won’t believe what I found…” Petal said as she came in before looking at the ravenette and the blonde that was her sister with a questionable look on her face as she saw the serious look in the feline faunus’s amber eyes. “Nightshade?” she asked, concerned.

 “Petal…can I ask you a question? About before we were trapped in here?” Nightshade asked softly. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to…” she quickly added as she noticed the sun slowly going down, casting its long rays across the house that they owned. Seeing Petal look off into the distance, Nightshade silently took in anything that could prove her hypothesis correct…that the blonde currently asleep was Yang and the person that was thinking about it was Ruby.

 “It’s been…two years since we’ve been a party, and through that time…you’ve proven to be a good friend to us Nightshade. Ask…and I’ll answer if I can,” she said before squinting lightly as the sun’s rays hit directly into her eyes before it finally faded from view.

 “Your true name…could it perhaps be Ruby Rose?” she asked before stroking the blonde’s hair softly. “And that this is Yang Xiao Long?” she asked in a voice that was just barely above a whisper. Hearing a gasp from Petal, she looked up at the brunette.

 “How…how did you know?” she asked, surprised. Her admission alone cluing Nightshade in that she was right on the money. Smiling lightly, she stared straight into Petal’s silver eyes and smiled lightly at the question of her own.

 “Well…you might not remember me since you were so young at the time, but my true name is Blake Belladonna. I moved away from Patch several years ago,” Nightshade replied. “But with that being done…how should we call each other now? And I know you’re awake Dragon, you stopped snoring when Petal, or Ruby, came in. How right was I?”

 Dragon let out a light moan as she sat up, pouting lightly as she turned towards Nightshade. “Are you…really Blake?” she asked softly while getting her senses back. Seeing the feline nod lightly at that, she was instantly grabbed into a hug and would always deny the squeak that came out of her when it happened. Once letting her go, Blake looked at the two.

 “My question still stands you two…what do you want to do with our names? And Petal/Ruby said she had something to tell us as well as she came inside,” Nightshade/Blake commented as the other two looked at her with looks of thought on their faces. Neither one of them noticing that night had come and that the moon was now shining through the window of their house coating everything in a mythical like appearance.

 “I think…if we’re by ourselves or in the field by ourselves, then our real names can be fine…but if we’re with others, use our avatar names. Is that okay with you, Rubes…Blake?” Yang finally asked as Ruby nodded to that; Blake doing so as well.

 “Now with that out of the way, what did you find Ruby?” Blake asked as both she and Yang turned towards the brunette wind user, giving them their full attention.

 “Well…it’s a little of the shifty side, but there’s a two-part quest that will grant us familiars, as rare as those are. We can’t do it today but during the day there is a rare monster out in the fields called a Solar Sabre Tiger. We need to get its drop, Solar Fang. Once we do that; we can go for the second part of the task, The Dragon of the Shade.”

 “And we need to get a drop from it as well?” Yang asked as Ruby nodded.

 “Yeah…we need its Shadow Scale. And the kicker here is that this needs to be done in one day. If we can’t get the Shadow Scale, we’d have to get the Solar Fang again” Ruby replied as both other party members muttered lightly at hearing that.

A few months had passed since the time that they had found Maria and talked to her about previous lives, soulmates and all other types of stuff. They weren’t sure what to think about it…but they had both received powerful magic to supplement their element classes: Yang just now had to think about setting something on fire and it would ignite and burn, while Blake could use her own shadow as armor or as a sword.

 Right now they were on the fifty-fifth floor and the trio of mages had just finished a quest that would allow them to own a house in town and become a guild if they so wanted. They didn’t want to compete with the ever-expanding Mage Warriors who were run by the mysterious male character Heathcliff, or the Knights of the Round, who were more of a police force for the lower levels than a clearer party like themselves.

 Right now, Nightshade and Dragon were relaxing in the house while the third member of their group was out doing some training; she had recently received a new scythe weapon and was working on mastering it like she had with her old one; she had wanted to make sure that the balance was spot on and to catch any imperfections now, rather than in a battle where a mistake like that could cost her her life.

 “So…think your sister finds a strange quest and completes it on her own before nightfall?” Nightshade commented from her side of the sofa, her feet underneath the legs of the blonde as she enjoyed the warmth she freely gave as she read. Turning the page, she noticed that her friend had turned quiet, thinking. This actually worried the raven-haired youth especially since she had said many times in the past how she knew her sister like the back of her hand. “Dragon?” she asked, concerned.

 “Hm? Sorry NS…I was starting to fall asleep,” Dragon admitted while yawning lightly.

 “Tired?”

 “A bit…I was doing some late night grinding last night, and Argo gave me some info on a rumor about a quest line that the two of us could hit up sometime later, if you want” she replied before yawning again. Blake nodded to the question before pulling her feet out from underneath Dragon’s warmth.

 “You know…I um…wouldn’t mind if you laid down,” she said softly…something that she wouldn’t have dared say at the beginning of this death trap. However, things had definitely changed in the…almost three years now, and the young feline faunus had grown just a tad comfortable around both sisters. ‘though why am I drawn more to the blonde…’ she silently thought before musings were drawn short as she felt a comfortable weight settle onto her lap. Looking down, she saw the smiling face of one of her two partners.

 “Thanks again…kitty,” Dragon said before closing her eyes and quickly falling asleep. Nightshade smiled softly for a few minutes before manipulating her menu before sending a message to Petal, explaining that her sister was currently sleeping and that if she came home, to be as quiet as possible.

Seeing that she got a message back indicating that Petal had seen and read it, as well as a quick response back from the wind aligned girl, and Nightshade closed her menu before picking her book back up and silently reading once more. ‘It’s times like these that I really almost forget this has become a Death Game, and that even though I’ve fought together with these two for years now…I barely know them’ she morbidly thought, frowning lightly as she closed her book and put it back into her inventory for now. Looking down at the blonde below looking so peaceful, she couldn’t help but have one hand lower until it was caressing her locks. Though she didn’t expect what happened next…

 “Ugh…Blake, I told you not to mess with my hair…” Dragon said in her sleep, causing Nightshade to completely freeze at that. Could this person…be her friend from long ago?

I’m reading this wonderful AO3 “Blood and Ink” which is a story for the Bumblebee Week 2020, Dragon/Tiger and I do not want to create an account just for one story. Unfortunately, I cannot find the post and want to give the author my admiration for such a wonderful story... So...if you are the author of this inspiring story...please speak up. And Thank you. Thank you for writing a wonderful story.