❃
|Camelot|
❃

After Ruby reunited with Mulan, the warrior took her friend to Queen Elsa, who had come to Camelot with her army after Guinevere had requested help.

When Elsa caught sight of Ruby, she rushed over to the werewolf. "Ruby! Mulan told me about what happened after you left. ...I'm sorry."

Ruby managed a half smile. "Yeah, well, at least we're back now. But I was wondering if I could maybe go back to Arendelle to continue my search. I might be able to convince the Children of the Moon to help us in the war against Hades."

Elsa nodded. "Anna and Kristoff are still in Arendelle, covering for me while I'm gone. Anna should be able to help you find the pack. I would recommend taking someone with you, in case something happens on the trip there."

Ruby turned to Mulan, only to be met with a somber face. "I'm sorry, Ruby. I need to stay and help train the armies. I would love to help you, but..."

"It's okay," Ruby tried not to sound too disappointed. "But, uh, Belle and Regina are busy with their research, Emma needs to stay here, and Snow already met my family, and sort of accidentally led the Black Knights to their hideout, so I'm not sure how they'll react to seeing her again."

Mulan smiled. "I think I know who can go with you. Dorothy has been helping Neal and I, but I think we can manage on our own."

"Dorothy?" Ruby repeated, uncertainly. "I'm not sure. I don't think she trusts me, let alone a whole pack of werewolves."

"I think you're misreading her facial expressions," Mulan muttered. "Trust me, you might be able to smell and hear things better than I can, but I know Dorothy, and you two would make great friends."

Ruby hesitated to respond. "I...um...I'm not sure I'm the only one who can't read facial expressions..."

"What?" Mulan raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing!" Ruby quickly covered. "I'll go find Dorothy and we'll be on our way." Ruby glanced up at the full moon in the sky and pulled the hood of her red cloak up over her head before pulling Mulan into a hug. "Thank you."

❃

Dorothy was staring at the blade of her sword when Ruby found her. She glanced up at the wolf and quickly sheathed the weapon. "Hi."

"Hey," Ruby said uneasily. "I was, uh, sort of wondering if you wanted to help me with something? Normally, I would ask Mulan, but she's too busy with training, so she suggested I ask you. I'm going to look for my pack to ask them for help. I understand if you don't want to help--"

"I'll help you," Dorothy agreed.

"Do you trust me?"

Dorothy gave Ruby an uncertain look. "Why?"

"We need to get to Arendelle fast. As fast as wolves."

"So, what, you want me to ride on your back?"

Ruby's eyes flitted down.

"Alright," Dorothy sighed. "Let's do this."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't want to be destroyed by Hades anymore than you do, and Mulan and Belle both seem to trust you, so I do too."

Ruby smiled and lowered the hood of her cloak. "Then I guess we're headed to Arendelle."

❃
|Arendelle|
❃

Anna wasn't sure why the guards were summoning her. Something about 'suspicious characters lurking outside of the palace gates'. Whatever the issue was, Elsa had trusted her to resolve things, so Anna did her best to act like the Queen did.

When she saw who the guards had, she realized that she was going to have to do some major lying.

"What should we do with them, Princess?" the guard asked. "This one," he shoved Ruby forwards, "is supposed to be in prison."

Anna managed a nervous smile. "Well, um, Queen Elsa decided she only needed two weeks in prison because she didn't actually do anything wrong. But, uh, I think we should hear them out first!" she motioned to Ruby to start talking.

"I spoke to Queen Elsa in Camelot, and she told me to deliver a message to the Princess," Ruby lied. "I figured the best way to get to here was to be arrested."

"Then deliver the message and get out," the guard commanded.

"It's a secret message," Dorothy protested. "Only Princess Anna can hear it."

Anna shrugged. "I guess that means you should wait outside. I trust my sister's motives. If I need help, I'll just shout."

The guard reluctantly stalked out of the room and shut the door behind him. Anna turned back to Ruby and Dorothy. "Did you find the other wolves?"

Ruby shook her head. "No. We, uh, sort of died. But our friends were in the Underworld and helped us get out, so both Mulan and I are okay, but Mulan is helping out back in Camelot," Ruby explained quickly. "This is Dorothy, my friend. And we need your help to find that pack of wolves you mentioned. I'm hoping that they really are my family and I can convince them to help.

Anna nodded. "I need to tell Kristoff to cover for me while we're gone, and then I'll help you find them.

❃

Ruby had put her cloak back on so she could talk to Dorothy and Anna as they walked. She hadn't caught the scent of wolf yet, but Anna insisted they were getting close to where she and Kristoff had encountered the wolves.

Suddenly, Ruby stopped walking. "My senses always get weird in this kingdom, but I think I smell wolf," she announced. She slowly swept her gaze across the trees. "They must be here somewhere--"

"Uh, Ruby..." Dorothy's voice trailed off as she took a step backwards, her vision fixed on a spot in the trees. "I think I found your wolves."

Slowly, more wolves began to appear in the trees around them.

"We're surrounded," Anna whispered.

One wolf stepped out from the trees and bared it's teeth at Anna, who jumped backwards. Dorothy's hand went straight to the hilt of her sword.

"Wait!" Ruby shouted. She took her cloak off and as soon as the moonlight hit her, she transformed into a wolf. Anna took a nervous step away from Ruby and towards Dorothy.

The wolf that had stepped out from the trees let out a loud, sharp, bark. Ruby picked up her cloak in her teeth and threw it over the other wolf, who transformed into a woman with blonde hair. She put the cloak on and stood up, keeping her eyes locked on Ruby. "Another Child of the Moon? If I didn't think she'd be so stupid, I'd say the infamous Red Riding Hood has found us again."

Anna and Dorothy looked at each other, unsure if the woman was talking about Ruby or not.

"My name is Rose," the woman spoke to Dorothy and Anna. "You two must be humans, yes?"

"Uh..." Anna wasn't sure it was a good time to be a human.

"Yes," Dorothy answered. "We came to ask for your help. Ruby is our friend and she's been looking for you guys for a while now. But now, more than ever, it important that you help us. Hades has threatened Camelot. He's planning on waging war."

"Did you bring your friend as a peace offering?" Rose sneered. "Too bad no one wants Ruby, as you call her, here anymore. She and her friend are the reason our leaders died. The Children of the Moon were thrown into chaos after Red and Snow White caused Quinn and Anita to die."

Ruby barked at Rose, and even Anna and Dorothy could tell that she was angry. Dorothy marched over and tugged Rose closer to Ruby, so they could both wear the cloak. As soon as Ruby was in her human form again, she glared at Rose. "It is not my fault that my mother and Quinn died, and it is not Snow's either!"

"Well the others seem to think it is."

"Do you think it is?" Ruby challenged.

Rose didn't answer.

"Please, you have to trust me," Ruby begged. "If you think Hades will stop at Camelot, them you're wrong. If he doesn't get his hands on the Firebird, he'll destroy DunBroch, the Enchanted Forest, and, yes, Arendelle too. No where is safe, Rose. Hades will destroy this entire realm and the next one to get what he wants. We need all the help we can get."

Rose nodded. "We will help." She took the cloak off and turned back into a wolf. She howled, and the wolves all began to close in, but stopped once they were a few feet out of the trees.

Ruby turned to Dorothy and Anna. "Anna, you should head back to the palace. Dorothy, once I take this cloak off, grab it and climb onto my back. We need to get back to Camelot as fast as possible."