Chapter Text
◥◤◥◤◥|[Is the past a curse or a blessing?]|◤◥◤◥◤
Fear is an emotion that virtually all living things experience in one way or another over the course of their entire existence. From the smaller fears, which are based on more manageable concepts, to the most primal ones, which have embedded themselves into the code of life as deeply as possible, no one is spared from the process. However, one is tought to always try to resist the paralysing grasp of fear in the most dire and hopeless of circumstances, especially those who have been put into positions of political and directorial power.
Sadly, this notion is currently being put to the test against its will by Summer Rose.
It is, however, worth to note that Summer is not a coward. Far from it, in fact. As the regent of the Rose Kingdom, she had to show a certain level of bravery towards anything she did, from the decisions she made to even the way she presented herself in front of the public. Everything she did was under constant surveillance, requiring a brave face to persevere in that environment under all costs. Sadly, this brave face could only work for so long before it breaks under the constant pressure, especially when the pressure comes from the fact that she was now stuck in the one area where bravery is considered practically a suicidal wish for oblivion.
But how did she end up in this place, the Badlands? How did a Queen find herself in the most hostile area in all of Remnant? Well, as Summer would tell you, it is a rather short story, in fact.
It all started, judging from Summer's rather impeccable perception of time, around a whole week ago. She was in her throne room when she received a letter from one of her messengers. For what reasons her kingdom still used messengers is a mystery, though if you asked the queen herself, it would possibly be due to the influx of media misinformation that has been going around the internet lately. That or all the fake videos made with artificial intelligence. That stuff was so bad that Summer had to actually make a huge ban on generative AI because of it. It also did not help that the people making it wanted to basically take over her kingdom through aggressive economic methods like this. And for that to come out of Summer's mind must say something, considering her open-mindedness.
Anyway, she got a letter from the Kingdom of Atlas. The same Kingdom ruled by that metal lunkhead named James Ironwood. The same Kingdom who was also on the list of "Kingdoms with the most Human/Faunus Rights Violations", ranking right up ahead, second-to-first to the Kingdom of Vacuo (before it fell in the Great War). Though, to give King Ironwood the benefit of the doubt, most of it is done by a certain capitalist pighead by the name of Jacques Schnee. How a fair and beautiful maiden of war like Willow married such a disease in the gene pool is an enigma in of itself, but the kids they sired seem to be at least alright. The young Winter is the perfect image of a budding soldier, stalwart and stoic, but still kind and empathetic. The newest addition to the family, the baby Weiss, was just cute. Hopefully she does not turn out to be same like her father. Anyway, returning from that informational detour, the letter was an open invitation to the Kingdom, to briefly sum it up. It seems that Karma is due for the Schnee patriarch, as James describes it in the letter, and the stern king wanted to celebrate with a gala.
Honestly, kind of based, but also a red flag in hindsight. Summer lamented that she should have noticed said flag, had it not been for the elation of seeing Jacques get his head cut off, probably and hopefully. Oh, how the joy of justice can make one so blind...
So, with high hopes for bloody justice on her mind, she accepted the invitation. Her uncle approved of it as well, which was another red flag she should have seen coming, since he usually is her biggest and most malicious critic. Understandable, since her birth took away his place in line for the throne. They took the airship for this one, also per her uncle's suggestion. While possibly also a red flag in hindsight, he did give a plausible reason for it, namely since the path to Atlas goes through the Badlands, and going through there on the ground would be too dangerous.
It was then when the truly shady stuff really began to set itself in motion.
She noticed how most of the staff of the airship began to disappear one by one. Even her own guards seemed to flush away in the dust of the wind. When her suspicions grew too big to ignore, she began to investigate. It was then to her horror that she discovered that the everyone abandoned ship, and judging by the missing parachute backpacks, very recently. No one was manning the ship. So, as a natural consequence of that, the ship began to plummet down from the sky at an alarming rate. Even worse, it was also on a collision course with a mountain, too. So, in an act of desperation, Summer yanked the controls and tried to dodge the geographical landmass. Sadly, the engines got damaged in the maneuver, accelerating the plummeting even further. All she could do now is to brace for impact. The next thing she knew, everything, went dark.
She had no idea how long she was knocked out. Thankfully, upon waking up, she could see that she was lucky to have survived completely intact. She thanked the Gods for that little miracle of survival. However, she was quickly overtaken by horror when she discovered where she crashlanded.
The Badlands. Home of the Dragons. Bane to all who dared to tresspass on foot.
In other words, she was beyond fucked.
Which brings us back to the present, as her aimless wandering approaches the eighth day of its tenure. Summer actually has a pretty good sense of direction, something her moms had said she inherited from her grandfather. However, being stuck in a lifeless place for so long, with no supplies whatsoever, can leave even the best gut feeling doozy and delirious. Since the airship was only packed for a short trip, any supplies she could have were sparse and quickly dried up over the course of time. The lack of water was starting to get to her, and the less to be said by the lack of food, the better. Her feet, having long ditched the heels befitting her status knowing they would only hinder her, have swollen from pain and heat, looking red like the roses she often surrounded herself with. The rest of Summer's body did not fare any better, however. Dry lips, dirty hands and scratches from the few times she had to barely avoid the dangerous obstacles of the lands have left the exiled queen in a sorry state. Her dress, once pristine and complete, has become torn and ragged from the abuse it suffered ever since the crash into the ground. Some of its parts were also used to act as medical equipment for Summer's injuries, too.
Despite all of this, Summer seemed to always find a way to internally lament to herself, at least. Probably to stave off the loneliness of her situation. It is ambiguous how well it even works, sadly. And the lament of the day?
How could this get any worse than right now?!
A poor choice of words. The moment she managed to finish that thought in her spiralling head, she heard something in the distance. Something loud. Something big. Something primal. The piercing roar of a beast whose noise rattled Summer's bones to their core. The fear intensified when she barely managed to make out a giant, winged shadow approach her at an alarming pace. Logic dictates that one should run, which is what Summer wants to do right now. But even with all that fear in her heart, her body betrayed her at the most inopportune time. The second betrayal she had suffered in that relative short period of time. Though she hoped that it will at least the last time, considering her predicament right now.
All she could make out before drifting back into the darkness were a pair of large, wide black and red wings...
◥◤◥◤◥|[Is Trust a Privilege or a Tool?]|◤◥◤◥◤
Light began to slowly return into the vision of Summer's eyes, the heavy pain of absolutely everything still keeping things blurry and unclean.
Despite her physical condition, she could still feel the world around her just fine. Which includes the stony surface she seemed to have been laid down across. A wiff from her nose also assaults her with a damp and moisty scent carried by the surprisingly cold air, further reawakening her brain through the waltz on the neurons in there. Her throat felt dry and sore, screaming for the saving moisturing sustenance. When she finally managed to get herself back together well enough to get a clearer picture of her surroundings, she was immediately shocked by what she found.
She was in a cave, one lit both by the natural lights of the moss decorating the walls and the artificial existence of the lanterns hanging above and around her. However, what really stood out was the fact that the cave chamber seems to be furnitured to a degree, with what Summer could identify as a carpet decorating the ground away from her. All signs point to the fact that someone lives here, which quickly answers Summer's reason for survival. However, despite the memories still being vague in her head, she does remember that she saw a dragon come her way. All of this only made Summer further spiral into a whirpool of questions, not helped by the creeping fear that this might be the Purgatory and she is currently on her way to the Ever After.
"Ah, you are awake.".
Snapping her head faster than a speeding Bullet, Summer's weak silver eyes lay their sight on whom the voice belongs to. In that faint second, Summer assumed that the person would be an older woman or the link, judging from the gruff and apathetic tone of said voice. So imagine her surprise and internal elation when she sees the most gorgeous woman ever at the entrance of the chamber.
Judging from the height difference to the ceiling of the entrance, the woman was around seven and a half feet tall. decorating her entire being were a combination of black and red, with a bikini for the top and a robe-like skirt for the bottom. The lack of other clothing leave nothing to the imagination, as the scarred and bulging musculature of the woman were accentuated by the lack of coverage. Same for the generous cleavage of the mammaries adorning her body. However, what truly was the most defining feature of the strange woman, aside from her draconic scales, tail, lower legs and arms, and wings, was her long, wild, unabashedly thick black hair.
It was of no surprise that most of Summer's blood went downwards because of the absolute package that was now approaching her. It took all her willpower to not let her face become beet red. Simply to prevent obvious signs of lust and attraction, as well as embarrassment.
The stranger locked her eyes with Summer. The sharp, judging gaze of those red eyes bore into Summer's soul like a drill into the ground, analysing her to the finest of details. It did not help Summer's struggle to keep herself from becoming a whimpering, pathetic mess of a hopeless romantic. A scaly hand touched her forehead, carressing the bandages there. Her touch was careful and just as analytical as her stare. When she noticed that there was a lack of something unusual on her, she lifted the hand away from it. Her gaze also broke its connection to Summer's afterwards.
"You are healed. Good.", is all she said as she began to take her leave, not even bothering to introduce herself.
The sudden lack of care snapped Summer out of her little trance, making her realise that she did not have any information on practically everything whatsoever. The thought managed to infuriate her to a degree, as she considers dialogue and introductions to be the cornerstone of a good social relationship, class division be damned. Also, she really wanted to know who that drop-dead sexy draconic woman is. "Hey!", she shouted, earning her a quizzical eyebrow from the draconic woman herself. "It is rude to just leave without introducing yourself! I at least get the curtesy to know my savior a little bit, right?".
the draconic woman huffed in annoyance, having turned her head back around in deliberate ignorance.
Now, Summer got angry. She usually does not appreciate it when she was not getting an answer. In fact, she loathed it to the core. So it was of no surprise that her tone got a little rough when said what she said next. "Answer me, damnit!", she shouted with whatever strength she had left in her lungs.
Before she could repeat her outburst, however, the draconic woman snapped her head around to give the exiled Queen a striking, glowing glare. Whatever words Summer had prepared in her throat died on the spot. It was then that she fully realised just how much of a size difference actually there is between them, and how it plays into the fact that, to Summer's horror, she was outclassed and outmatched in all aspects. If the dragoness wanted to do, she could easily snap her like a twig!
Thankfully, it does not go as far as that for Summer. The dragoness, noticing that the intimidation worked as intended, simply turned back around and continued her leave. This time, however, Summer remained silent.
However, just as she was out of sight, she stopped once more.
"Raven.".
Summer tried to process that.
"My name is Raven.".
And with that, the dragoness was gone.
Summer, now back to being all alone, just continued to sit there, staring at the entrance, almost as if she hoped that the mysterious Raven would come back. She only broke her stare when her hand touched something next to her. Upon inspection, she found a tray with food and water next to her. She must have overlooked it when she... well... When she was entranced by the dragoness in front of her. Gods, just admitting to it made Summer blush like a tomato! Still, the thought was quickly overtaken by a driven, screaming need for sustenance. She wolfed down the brew and the fluids like a maddened cow, making sure to not waste a single drop of anything like her life depends on it. The food tasted terrible, but for someone who was near death's door from hunger and thirst, this was a gourmet course all the same. Finally, after finishing her meal, she felt like she could actually think truly properly for a good amount of time. And thinking was Summer really needed to do right now after everything.
She knew for certain that her uncle was behind this. However, she was unsure why he was striking now, why he used a letter that copied Ironwood's writing to a T, and why her subjects were in on the act. Those were the more driving questions. The contents of the letter were also rather suspicious, almost as if it played on her innermost desires, including seeing that vile excuse of a human being Jacques get his comeuppance. In hindsight, it should have been too good to be true. But the more interesting fact is that she usually keeps these thoughts secret and to herself. The only place they could have found out was from her-
Summer slowly cringed when she realised how they did not just found that secret out, but also all the other rather embarrassing ones. She began to cringe even harder when she realised that her secret diary did also not just contain her true thoughts, but also some state secrets. She internally facepalmed herself for that blunder of a century. At least it gave her a theoretical 'how' to one of her 'why''s, partially.
After returning to her thoughts, she deduces that he must have seen an opportunity in using the diary against her in secret, with the information in there giving his supporters an advantage at how to get rid of her the most covert way. The diary did include a recent entry where she admitted to being an abysmally terrible driver and pilot, after all. Hence the Airship assassination. The diary also included entries describing her uncertainty and fears of the Badlands. Hence the location of the deed. And the diary also included an entry of her being admitting to being unable to come up with a sensible will in case of the unlikely scenario that she was dead or incapacitated. Meaning her uncle saw a chance to forge something that could give him all he ever wants, including power over the kingdom.
But what about the assassins?
That is where is completely stumped, thus unable to think or deduce any further.
Out of nowhere, Raven reappeared just as Summer stopped thinking.
"Follow me. Not a word, not a sound.", is all she demanded. Her stern tone forced itself into Summer's ears, compelling her to obey the dragoness without a sign of reluctance. There was no brainwashing involved, only the fact that Summer has nothing better to do right now.
Wherever Raven was taking her, it went through a lot of tunnels. It made Summer realise that she was probably deep underground, as the network of said tunnels seems to expand into many different directions. The spaciousness of the tunnels also seem to speak for whom they were made for, as they were too big for a normal human or faunus. At certain points, Raven even had to pick up Summer because certain pathways were not conceptualized for normal humans at all. It gave the exiled Queen a perverted chance to admire the physique of her supposed savior a bit more. Finally, after an arduous and dragging trek through basically a labyrinth, Raven signed her to stop.
"We are here.", she bluntly exclaims in her usual apathetic tone, while pointing at the outside of the entrance they were standing in front of.
When the light stopped blinding her after passing through, Summer's eyes went wider than a child on Christmas Eve.
Dragons. Dragons everywhere over the horizon. Living in what Summer could simply describe as a city overtaken by flora of all kind. Dragons, living their lives and enjoying their time alive. Dragons, commercing and talking and joking and whatnot. It was like out of a novel she once read as a child. Absolutely astounding, and contradicting of everything she knew about dragons so far. A living, breathing society. Summer was at a total loss of words.
"Wow...".
"Come on, we have place to be.", Raven simply retorted.
"L-Like where?", Summer cautiously asked.
Raven simply gave her a neutral look.
"Like your trial in court.".
Summer's eyes widened in shock and horror.
"What?".
TO BE CONTINUED...