School is hell and so is work. Sorry this is so late.
Bonus Ch 4: The Dream
To say the feast was gluttonous would be an understatement. The entire palace was alight with lanterns and the sounds of joyous guests bounced off the gilded walls. You could hear the entire city celebrating the return of the Alpha's grandson. The amount of food presented to the team as they sat in the royal dinning hall in their ceremonial clothes (hakamas from what Zack told them) was ridiculous to say the least. Oscar could already feel his stomach ache at the amount of food before him; numerous plates of fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, pastas, and many more side dishes.
"That's a lot of food,"
"Considering how much (Y/N) eats, this really shouldn't be surprising," Weiss commented, also overwhelmed by the selection.
The group glanced down the table and saw the young boy sitting with his relatives, Acirus at the head of the table, his in-laws on his left, and his family on his right. Zack and (Y/N) were both in a heated race to see who could consume more meat as Genesis was repulsed by their behavior while Sephiroth and Angeal silently bet who would win.
"Gah!" Zack finally yelped as he dropped his fork in defeat. His nephew triumphantly swallowed what was in his mouth and raised his hand victoriously as Angeal handed over some money to the silver haired dragon beside him.
"I win!"
"How? I'm twice your size!"
"He's a growing boy, Zack, of course he's going to eat a lot," Genesis snidely remarked.
"He's as gluttonous as his father," Sephiroth also mentioned.
"At least he's having fun," Sun said as the group looked away.
Acirus stood up and began to tap a chalice, signaling everyone to quiet down. He then raised it towards (Y/N).
"Tonight, we celebrate the return of my only grandson. May he carry on his father's spirit as a proud member of the royal family,"
"HERE HERE!" The crowd cheered. Acirus went to sit down, but was interrupted by Zack standing.
"Let us also toast to our new friends who brought my nephew home. Treecaster owes you a debt we cannot repay, as do I. We welcome you into our family,"
Everyone cheered as the group enjoyed the attention. Qrow however shot a quizzical look at Zack and Acirus. The old bird didn't completely trust Zack's grateful uncle act and the alpha didn't even try to pretend to be a grateful grandfather, giving his son a disapproving glance as he sat. Something didn't feel right about any of this. Oscar was the only one who seemed to notice and in the next second, Ozpin took over.
"Something the matter?" Qrow was quick to realize it was Oz in control. He gruffed.
"It's probably nothing,"
"Usually your instincts prove to be true,"
"Oz, does it seem just a bit suspicious that in one fell attack, an attack mind you that we know needed a dragon to let in the bandits, Zack was the first in line for the throne and was promoted to his brother's old position?"
"Accidents do happen," Ozpin's tone didn't match what he was saying.
"Seems a bit too good for him to be an accident,"
"Indeed. But (Y/N) seems to trust him,"
Just to emphasis his point, both uncle and nephew began laughing loudly as Genesis began chugging water after Zack snuck a ton of salt into his food when he wasn't looking. Qrow sighed.
"I guess you're right. He may be a kid, but he could tell a good from a bad person better than any of us,"
"It does seem strange though,"
"What?"
"I've seen (Y/N) privately interact with each member of his family except one. He doesn't seem to be a fan of Alpha Acirus,"
Qrow glanced at the old dragon again. He was still stone faced as ever, bored looking even.
"The old lizard could just be a stick in the mud,"
Oz crossed Oscar's arms.
"Perhaps, but (Y/N) seems to be avoiding him, at least unconsciously. And to be frank, I don't exactly trust him either,"
"What do we do then,"
Oz leaned back.
"Nothing for now. Just keep an eye on (Y/N),"
(Later that night)
The group were all crammed into a large bedroom for the night. The boys were spread out on the floor, Blake, Yang, and Weiss shared the massive couch in the corner near the fire place, and Ruby and (Y/N) got the bed. Despite his pleasantly full belly, the boy found himself staring at the ceiling.
(Y/N) was feeling conflicted to say the least. He had had a great time at the feast, he loved spending time with most of his family and the rest of the Fated Four, but he couldn't help but pick up some of the whispers behind his back.
"I bet he'll be just like father!"
"From what Prince Zack told us, he'll probably breeze through training!"
"I bet he'll make the Fated Four even younger than Prince Zack!"
"It'll be nice having that strength for the kingdom!"
"He'll make a fine Alpha one day!"
Every comment, every compliment and welcome he had received during night, they each came with the same assumption: that he was staying. It didn't sit right with (Y/N). It wasn't like he didn't want to stay, right? This was supposed to be the home of the dragon faunus, but it didn't feel like this home, ever though this is where his fa-...kin were. The thought of him staying here, without the others, without his sisters, it made him long for Beacon or even Patch. Besides, even if he didn't have those feelings, there was still Salem. He had to help the others stop her! Right?
He groaned. Maybe he was just being stupid. It's not like he was super important to the mission, he was just a kid. Maybe everyone would prefer to leave him here, where he'd be safe. (Y/N) rolled on to his side and stared at Ruby for a second.
"Ruby?" He whispered.
The silver eyed girl yawned.
"Wha-did you have another nightmare?"
"No, I just...I don't know how to ex-,"
He was cut off as Ruby pulled him in for a hug, only barely conscious and still thinking he needed protecting from his dream. She immediately passed out again and began to snore lightly. The dragon sighed, but excepted the hug anyway. He might've been confused, but hugs from his sisters always made him feel better. He closed his eyes, trying to chase sleep, but couldn't see, to managed. He opened his eyes again to try and find a better position to sleep in, only to realize he wasn't in the room anymore. He sat up, hearing water rumbling quietly in the distance, and felt grass beneath him. He was in a flower field of some sort. There a vast amount of flowers and the narrow path he had been lying on split the field in two: oh his left side were tall dark purple flowers bundled together on one stem.

On the right side were flowers much closer to the ground. They were also purple like the other ones, but they also had a few white petals and a bright orange center.

(Y/N) smiled as he sniffed the air. The breeze carried the scent of spring on it and it calmed the boy to the point where he forgot to question why and how he got there. Another thing, despite the beauty of the flowers, (Y/N) could help but feel a little somber, though he didn't know why. He walked down the path, following the sounds of water and he eventually came upon the bank of a lake with a humble stream connected to it. There was a light fog floating just on top of the water and the shine of the shattered moon above made it glow with an eerie presence. Edging closer, the boy saw the carving of a dragon at the end of the flower path. The statue stood tall, with its wings stretched out as if to prepare for flight, but the dragon's head was bowed, an unmistakable look of sorrow permanently carved into its face, as if it were about to cry. In fact, (Y/N) thought he could faintly make out subtle drips of water coming from its eyes. In the shadow of both wings were two more plots of flowers. One was a circle of soft looking, pink petal ones that (Y/N) thought were roses at first, but quickly realized they were not.

The other circle was yet another group of purple flowers. (Y/N) couldn't even begin to describe the shape of these ones as each one was very unique and there was no clear pattern to him.

Despite not being a person quite with a green thumb (he had a tendency to burn down undergrowth when he was practicing fire breathing), he still appreciated the beauty of the plants. Someone had obviously done a great deal to take care of these flowers and their efforts clearly bore fruit. He smiled and closed his eyes, taking another deep breath and enjoying the scent. Opening his eyes again, he saw something new had appeared lodged between the paws of the dragon statue, something very familiar.
His father lance.
The weapon bore into the earth, and where the spear met the dirt, a single white flower bloom. It was circular with many tiny petals.

(Y/N) tilted his head in confusion. What was the lance doing here? It should be with uncle Zack. He took a step forward, intending to retrieve it when the wind picked up, making him freeze as he smelt something all too familiar: iron. Suddenly, there was a loud drip as the boy looked up to see the face of the statue. To his horror, the narrow streams of water had thickened and turned red. Globs of the horrible liquid fell on to the lance, staining it before falling on to the flower. With each drop, the flower's color changed and its roots began to wind up the weapon, leaving trails of rust in its wake. When the transformation was finished, the plant was now an unrecognizable color of scarlet.

All at once, the air turned bitter cold as the wind grew fierce, whipping up the petals in a frenzy. The moon and sky also became dyed in the crimson color. The fog shrouding the lake lifted, and to (Y/N), the once serene looking pool now looked and smelled like a lake of blood. Then, a figure rose up, perched on the head of dragon statue. They were cover in shadows, only their bright green eyes pierced the darkness. They raised their shredded wings up, seemingly ready to attack. (Y/N) stumbled back, only to turn and race back down the path he came, trying to escape both the figure and the horrible smell. It was for not, however, as the flowers on both sides were now drenched by random sprays of blood. (Y/N) opened his wings preparing to take flight, but his foot caught on something and he tumbled. Groaning in pain, he forced himself to his hands and knees and turned back to see what he had tripped on. It was a crown, or the pieces of one, black and rusted with age and encasing the fragments were small, trumpet shaped, white flowers.

He scooped up the biggest piece and studied it. Before he could think of anything though, he heard something roar in the distance and readied himself to fight.
"WAKE UP (Y/N)!"
His eyes shot open as he heard Ruby yell, but he made no move to show he was afraid. Ruby was bouncing happily at the edge of the bed.
"Come on! Zack says he's gonna show us around the city today! The others are already getting ready in different parts of the castle!"
"Come on little man, hurry up and get ready!" He heard Sun yell from outside the room. He yawned.
"Okay, I'm up,"
Ruby's excitement died a little as she saw how sluggish he was to get up.
"Are you okay,"
"Just a little tired,"
"Another nightmare?"
"...yeah,"
The red hooded girl sighed.
"We really need to get you a dream catcher or something. You can't keep having these nightmares for the of your life,"
(Y/N) tilted his head a bit.
"Well...it wasn't a usual nightmare. It was a new one. And it actually started out nice,"
His sister looked at him in surprise.
"Really?"
"Yeah, I'm in this flowers fields and it's really pretty, and-," he was cut off by his stomach growling lightly. Ruby's jaw dropped.
"How can you already be hungry!? I still feel full after last night!" He blushed and scratched his head.
"I just have a big appetite,"
"Well, if you get dress quickly, we might be able to grab some breakfast before we go meet up with your uncle,"
With the promise of food, (Y/N) bolted off to get ready for the day, but at the back of his mind he wondered:
What had that dream been about?