The Fox That Became A Dragon - Chapter 3

‘Pleeeeeease?’

Ruby looked at her 6 year old little brother, who was giving her the cutest little pout ever. ‘It’s not fair that he’s got those fox ears!’ She thought to herself a little jealously. ‘It adds like, MEGA-Levels of cuteness to him!’

She looked at the cookie in her hand, and then looked at her younger twin brother (2 minutes older still counts!!). She felt really torn between the two. On one hand, IT WAS A COOKIE!!! (She told herself that she’d never let Yang know that she’d made that pun, because her sister would NEVER let her live it down). Little bites of delicious wrapped around gooey bits of chocolate!

AND IT WAS THE LAST ONE!!

On the other hand, her little bro was just SO CUTE!

As she looked into his pleading silver eyes, she could already start to feel herself losing. ‘Must… Resist… Cuteness.’ Alarms were already ringing in her head, sirens were blaring as Kit’s pouty eyes stared into hers. Finally, she just couldn’t take it anymore!

She turned her head in the other direction with her free hand covering her eyes.. And the hand with the cookie held out to her twin. In less than a split-second, she felt the cookie disappear from her hand. Something told her that it’d be eaten before she could even look back at Kit.

She sighed, just a little bit sad. It was the last cookie, too! There was the sound of someone loudly laughing in the background, and Ruby didn’t even need to turn around to know that her big sister Yang was the one laughing her head off.

“HAHAHAHA! Oh my Oum, HAHAHA!!.” Yang was laughing so hard that she was clutching her stomach as she saw Ruby of all people get taken down by a pout! Somehow, she managed to stop laughing as she straightened up. A stray tear fell from her eye, only to be wiped away by her hand.

Ruby turned to look at her 8 year old sister. “Yang! It’s not funny!” She pouted. That just seemed to set off her blonde-haired sister again, and this time Yang laughed so hard that she couldn’t even stand up anymore. She fell backwards and landed flat on her butt practically roaring with laughter.

This just made Ruby feel even worse. Yang, seeing that Ruby looked like she was about to cry, quit laughing immediately. The 8 year old blonde felt bad for almost making her little sister cry, but it was just SO FUNNY.

Still, she was the big sister after all. Yang knew she had to be the “ma-choor” one, like her dad always said. So she got up, stepped forward and gave her little sister the best hug she could give. “Sorry, Ruby. I know I shouldn’t have laughed.” She said.

“It’s ok.” Ruby mumbled into her sister’s ear. It’s not like she was actually mad or anything.

As they both pulled away from each other, Yang suddenly grinned. “So how does it feel to be on the other side of the pout, hmm?”

Ruby could feel her ears turn red as she blushed in embarrassment. “I, I-” She managed to stammer out before turning away from her sister. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Before Ruby could say anything else in her defense, she suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her from the front.

Kit looked up at his twin sister and tried to pass on what he wanted to say with his eyes. Ruby was one of the best sisters ever!! (But he still didn’t think that she was the older one, because 2 minutes didn’t count!)

Kit was 2 inches shorter than his fraternal twin, which was actually one of the biggest reasons why everyone in the family saw him as the youngest. It’s also the reason why he had to tilt his head up to look Ruby in the eyes to pass on what he wanted to say.

Ruby suddenly felt glad that she gave him the cookie. It was just a cookie, but he was her little brother after all. (Even if he wouldn’t admit it 2 minutes did count, plus she was taller!). He couldn’t say it out loud, but she could tell what he was trying to say just by looking at his eyes.

She returned his hug with her own. The black-haired girl didn’t know why she always knew what he was thinking, but she thought it might be because of that thing that people kept saying twins had. That twin tele-, tele-….tele-thingy. She couldn’t help but smile as she looked down at her orange-haired brother.

Really! He was such a hugger. (But she kinda didn’t mind since he was so cute with his fox ears. And that little tail!)

“Kit,” She said to him. “It was just a cookie. It’s not that big of a deal!”

Kit just smiled at her knowingly. He of all people knew that cookies were a BIG DEAL. Anyone else that asked probably would’ve had to fight tooth and nail to get it away from his sister.

But it was the same for him too. Everyone in the family knew. You don’t snatch cookies away from the twins!

“Hey! We’re family, you guys don’t get to cut me out of this!” That was the only warning they got before a certain blonde-haired 8 year old girl jumped in, arms wrapping around both Ruby and Kit.

‘Hah! It’s cute that they think they got the last cookies. I’ve still got two more in my pocke-‘ Suddenly, she realized that her pocket felt a little too light. Almost as if

She turned to look at her two younger siblings and just managed to see the last bits of her cookies disappearing into their mouths.

“RUUUUBY! KIIIIIT!” She said slowly. Her black-haired and orange-haired kid sister and brother gave her playful, innocent looks. The way they looked at her cutely said, ‘Yes, Big Sis?’ with wide eyes.

‘Oh, Yang it.’ She thought to herself, not missing the chance for a pun, even in her own thoughts. She knew she couldn’t hold it against them when they looked at her like that. ‘Should’ve known I can’t hide that stuff from them.’ After all, when it came to cookies, she could never stop the terror of the twin cookie monsters.

Good thing she didn’t have any of the other stuff. People thought her little bro and sis went crazy for cookies, but they still didn’t know the nightmare that happened whenever they got a hint that some of the other stuff was nearby. Still, she couldn’t just let them off with taking her cookies. The blonde-haired little dragon had to keep up her rep as big sis, after all.

A lightbulb went off in her head.

“Oh you’re gonna get it now!” Yang said, an evil grin slowly spreading on her face. Ruby and Kit turned to each other as fear slowly spread on their faces. Their big sis was scary when she was mad. They quickly looked back at Yang and started to pout apologetically with wide eyes and quivering lips. “Oh, so you wanna say sorry now, huh?!” The two nodded their heads yes. “Well it’s too late! You’re BOTH getting it now!” As their big sis, Yang had already seen enough of their pouts to build up a small immunity to it. Without another word, she started her attack.

TICKLES!!

‘NOOOOO!!!’ That was the last thought Ruby and Kit had before their heads went white. Their sister had used their super-ultra-mega weakness against them!

Giggling and laughing, they suddenly couldn’t keep standing straight and they all tumbled down to the ground with a *plop*. Ruby and Yang were giggling, while Kit laughed in his own little way. His lips moved and his face showed that he was laughing, but nothing came out of his mouth.

Kit didn’t know why, but as far as he remembered, he was never able to say anything. Maybe it had something to do with the scars on his neck? Still, the fact that he couldn’t say anything never got to him. He could still “talk” to people with Valean Sign Language (VSL), and Ruby almost never needed him to even use it to know what he wanted to say anyway.

The happy siblings were still on the ground laughing when suddenly someone standing behind them cleared their throat.

“Ahem!”

“Eeep!” Yang and Ruby yelped in surprise when they realized that someone was standing above them with a strict look on her face. Kit was surprised too, but obviously he couldn’t make a sound.

Their teacher stood above them with her arms crossed, one of her fingers tapping impatiently against her arm. Her long red hair was tied up in a ponytail, and it only served to make her face THAT much scarier as she looked down on the 3 siblings who were still sprawled on the ground.

A glare from her quickly got the 3 of them quickly scrambling to stand up straight as she asked in a low voice, “Are we done here?” Kit’s tail curled up defensively around him at her tone as he looked down at the floor. Ruby took a small step forward protectively in-between her little bro and the strict lady with the ponytail. “Sorry, Teacher. We won’t do it again.” Ruby gave her best “sorry-face pout”.

The teacher sighed and massaged her forehead with her hand in frustration. Looking down at the 3 kids only served to make her even more irritated. She knew she could never get too strict or stern with these kids when Ruby pulled out her pouty face. She was a teacher for crying out loud! She couldn’t show any favoritism! But somehow, when it came to Ruby, there was never a doubt in the ponytailed teacher’s head that she wouldn’t be able to do much against her. Even if the other two kids were a faunus and a troublemaker.

And that made her all the more frustrated.

Her frown slowly wilting against the mysterious powers of a kid’s pout, she sighed once again. “Just Go back to your seats. Lunchtime is over. And DON’T play around with food next time.”

Ruby nodded her head and walked with Kit back to their seats as Kit sent her a thankful look. She and Yang were always standing up for him. ‘She really is one of the best sisters ever!’ He thought happily. ‘But she’s still NOT older than me.’ Kit would never admit it, no matter what. They were twins, so that meant they were always going to be the same age, right?

Ruby giggled as she looked at his eyes and caught those last two thoughts. Her little brother was really silly. Of course she’d always stand up for him. She was the older one after all, she thought smugly to herself.

“Ooh~! You guys got in trouble~!” One of the other kids sang out. There were 3 big, round tables with 5 chairs at each one. The table that Ruby and her brother were walking to had a boy and a girl sitting there, with 3 empty chairs at the table next to them.

*Smack*

“Ow! Aqua, what was that for?” A grey-haired 6 year old boy asked, rubbing his throbbing arm. His blue eyes looked at her green ones, confused.

The girl with green eyes gave him a ‘look’. “That’s for being mean, Ash!” She said before she turned to look at Ruby and Kit, her blue hair rippling as she turned. “Are you guys ok? Was Teacher mad?” Aqua asked her friends worriedly.

“Yeah, she was really, really mad. But Ruby said sorry for us, and she just told us to go back to our chairs.” Kit signed.

Aqua blinked. Her VSL wasn’t all that good, so it took her a little longer to figure out what he was saying. Before she could, though, Ash piped up.

“What?! Man, that’s lame.” The grey-haired boy complained, while Aqua sent him a jealous look when he was able to understand Kit faster than she could. “When I did something bad at lunchtime, Teacher made sit in the corner for a time-out. How come she won’t let me get away with stuff like you guys?”

“Uh, cuz you’re not a girl, duh.” Aqua said with all the confidence of a 7 year old. She was sure that what she just said made complete sense, and Ruby nodded along with her.

“But then why does Kit get-away with it?” Ash whined. “He’s a boy too!”

Aqua rolled her eyes at him. “That’s cuz he’s smart,” The fox ears on Kit’s head perked up happily as she said it, but the look on his face changed to an annoyed expression when she continued. “He gets his big sister Ruby to say sorry for all of them.”

“Hey!” Kit signed, clearly annoyed as his hands jerked a little more forcefully than normally while he signed. “Ruby’s NOT older than me!!”

“Yes I am!” Ruby piped in. “2 WHOLE minutes older than you. Daddy and Uncle Qrow said so!”

Kit turned to look at his fraternal twin. “2 minutes doesn’t count!”

“Yes it does!”

“No it doesn’t!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

The other 2 kids at the table just looked at each other and nodded. They both decided to tune out the normal brother-sister fight that kept on happening every week or two, and started talking about the newest toy that had just come out.

All the other kids at the nearby tables didn’t even turn their heads to look at Ruby and Kit, since they were already so used to it. Everyone just kept talking and having fun since the teacher was still in the back half of the room with Yang.

When Ruby and Kit had gone back to their seats, the ponytailed teacher had stopped their blonde-haired sister from joining them.

“A word, miss Xiao-Long.”

Yang looked up at her teacher in confusion as the stern adult pulled her aside. “What’s up, Teach?” The red-haired teacher pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose as she looked down at her student. “You are the oldest among your siblings, am I correct?” The 8 year old nodded her head slowly, not understanding where her teacher was going with this.

“Simply put, you’re going to need to rein in your younger siblings. NOT join them in causing trouble in the future. I’m letting the three of you off with a warning this time, and this time only. If it happens again, your younger siblings will be taking the brunt of the punishment.” The teacher warned.

Yang looked up at her, more confused than ever. “But if we all get in trouble, won’t we all get the same punishment?” The red-haired teacher shook her head. “No. They will get the heaviest punishment of all. Your punishment will be to watch them be sad because of it.”

“But that’s not fair!” Yang said, stomping her feet.

“Life’s not fair. I hope you’ll never find out how true that is.” The teacher said to her. “In my classroom, you’ll have to watch your brother and sister get put in the corner. Out there,” The ponytailed woman said as she pointed in the direction of the classroom door, “you might have to watch as your younger siblings end up crying. Or worse, hurt.”

Yang’s face fell as she thought about her little bro and sis getting hurt out there because she got them in trouble, or didn’t stop them from getting into it. Worse, she could actually picture it happening since it already almost happened once. Even now, she could still remember when that Beowolf had almost walked out of the cabin, and how she couldn’t do anything but stand there knowing that anything she did at that point wouldn’t have helped.

The blonde-haired 8 year old looked over at her little brother and sister who were sitting in their seats and happily playing around with each other. A small smile grew on her face as she looked at them, and she decided right then and there that she’d make sure that she’d take her teacher’s words to heart. Looking back up at her strict teacher with the red ponytail, Yang nodded her head to show that she understood.

“I won’t let them get into trouble again, Miss Winchester.”

Yang felt like she could almost see a ghost of a smile on Ms. Winchester’s stern face, before it quickly disappeared.

“Good. Now run along back to your seat. It’s about time we started our math session.” Miss Winchester raised her voice at that last part. The whole class groaned as they heard her plans.

“Yang, why couldn’t you keep talking with Ms. Winchester longer?!” One of Yang’s friends loudly asked her. The whole class suddenly turned and looked in her direction, all of them waiting for an answer to the question they’d all been thinking.

She just shrugged as she walked back to her seat. “Sorry guys.” She said with a wink.