Ruby, formerly known as Tourmaline, is an adult female SkyWing who was introduced in Escaping Peril. Ruby's personality, memories, and appearance were created and contained in an earring enchanted by Chameleon using Darkstalker's scroll. After Peril removed the earring during her royal challenge against Ex-Queen Scarlet, Tourmaline's original memories, appearance, and strength returned. After the challenge, she requested that Chameleon create a second enchantment to restore her physical appearance as Ruby but retain her original memories. She is the current queen of the SkyWings and resides in the SkyWing palace with her son Cliff.
Description[]
Ruby is majestic,[1] with very deep dark red scales and wings,[2] a diamond-shaped head,[3] and an unusually long neck and tail. She has small rubies glittering from between the scales around her eyes, wears silver rings with larger rubies on them around her claws,[4] and wears an animus-enchanted earring with a teardrop shaped pendant hung from it.[5] Ruby is shorter than Vermilion.[6]
Tourmaline had dark orange scales and wings,[6] as well as horns that curved inward.[7] Her snout was also described to be slightly longer than Ruby's.[7] Her talons were razor-[8]sharp[7] and she had startling speed,[9] full of brute strength,[8] ferocity, and danger.[10] She was larger and stronger than Ruby.[11]
Personality[]
Ruby retained the wish to become queen,[12] but because of the threat of Peril and the sheer strength of Scarlet she vowed to become boring,[13] submissive,[14] obedient, loyal, and agreeable – anything that Scarlet wanted her to be – so that she could stay alive.[6] She could barely speak in a room with more than two dragons in it,[15] although she seemed polite and quiet to outsiders; Peril did not think she seemed very queenly, and was surprised when she began acting imperious and decisive after obtaining the throne.[16] She stopped obeying Burn's orders and pulled back on all fronts since the destruction of the Summer Palace; Peril suspected she was consolidating her power and warriors to defend the palace and herself.[17] It also seemed that the interior design of the SkyWing palace was not a big priority for her,[18] and she used at least half of the gold previously decorating the throne room to build a hospital within the Sky Kingdom. She was also willing to bring in doctors from other tribes, hinting that she is open to tribal relations.[19]
Upon visiting the SkyWing wingery, several dragonets claimed that Ruby was kind and they quite liked her. They reported that she visits them all of the time, brings them snacks, and apologizes whenever she bumps into someone.[20] They believed she was a good queen,[21] a sentiment that is shared with other SkyWings.[19] She assured a guard she would not hurt her, and took blame for Chameleon's escape.[22]
Upon challenging Scarlet, Ruby insisted that she take the throne the right way by following SkyWing tradition and defeating her mother in direct combat.[15] According to Chameleon, she eventually became strong enough to overcome his spell upon her.[11] She had always wanted to become queen, and declined Chameleon's offer to give her additional enchantments.[12]Tourmaline was ambitious,[23] acted like a queen, and was not the type to run away. She did not want to wait for things to happen; she wanted to make them happen instead, and wanted them to happen her way. Tourmaline desired to be a decent ruler for the SkyWings and to remove her tribe from the War of SandWing Succession. She never wanted to let the SkyWings know when she was terrified; that way, they'd be cheering for her when she challenged Scarlet.[6]
Biography[]
The Dragonet Prophecy[]
| The Lost Heir |
|---|
| After Scarlet vanished in the confusion of Glory's venom attack in the arena during the dragonets' escape, Ruby stepped up and ascended into the SkyWing throne during that time. However, Scarlet never returned, so Ruby kept the throne. Many SkyWings split over her ascension, as a great deal of them believed Scarlet was still alive. Another group believed she was dead, as seen when two injured SeaWings said they heard shouts "For Ruby!" and "The queen is not dead! Long live the queen!" From this, the Sky Kingdom was split between the sudden uprising and loyalty to Scarlet. |
| The Hidden Kingdom |
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| The two MudWings soldiers discussed the SkyWing queen situation along with their opinion on Ruby. Later, Scarlet dreamvisited Glory and it was revealed that her daughter, Ruby, had become the new SkyWing queen. Scarlet complained a great deal about this particular subject, stating that Ruby could never beat her in a proper duel, because of the enchantment she put on her. |
| The Dark Secret |
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| In the epilogue, Burn voiced her anger at Ruby to her brother, Smolder, by saying that Ruby wanted to 'restore order in the Sky Kingdom' and 'establish the stability of her own throne' before engaging in any more battles. She also claimed that Ruby was more difficult than her mother and that she followed orders very poorly, if at all. |
| The Brightest Night |
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| Peril mentioned that Ruby had banished her from the kingdom because she saw her as a threat to her subjects. |
The Jade Mountain Prophecy[]
| Moon Rising |
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| One of the SkyWing students, Carnelian, frequently thought about Ruby, who "forced" her to go to Jade Mountain Academy. Carnelian was angry with her but also showed fierce loyalty towards her, stating that she would kill Ex-Queen Scarlet herself to defend Ruby and her throne. At one point, much to Carnelians' despair, Ruby sent her a letter denying her requests to leave the school. Carnelian made it clear she would rather be training in Ruby's army, attempting to become a general, than sitting in school. |
| Winter Turning |
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|
In the prologue, Ruby was seen with fourteen other SkyWing soldiers while capturing Hailstorm. Later, Pyrite explained that she joined the Talons of Peace due to Queen Ruby forcing SkyWings to swear allegiance to her. Since her enchantment forced her to be loyal to Scarlet, she could not bow, causing her to leave the Sky Kingdom. Ruby was also briefly mentioned when Hailstorm, Winter, and Qibli are talking to Eagle. |
| Escaping Peril |
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|
In the prologue, Ruby was seen with her sister, talking about overthrowing Scarlet and taking the throne. Ruby thinks about how dangerous and ambitious her sister is, unsure as to whether it would be a good idea to discuss this or not. Soon later, Tourmaline disappeared, and Ruby was called to the throne room by Scarlet. She greeted her brothers, who have varied expressions, and notes that one seems awfully friendly, possibly because she would probably get killed by Scarlet. Scarlet's ally, Princess Burn, was present, and Scarlet suggested to make a show, talking of how Burn dropped the SkyWing dragonet of destiny off a cliff. While she was there, Peril burned seven of the eight eggs that were supposed to hatch on the brightest night. Scarlet made Peril her champion, although Ruby did not agree. Peril seemed to have no idea that what she was doing was killing dragonets once Scarlet assured her that it was fine. Ruby began to suspect Peril of killing her sister, developing a strong dislike toward Peril. Peril was waiting for Queen Ruby to retrieve the body of Carnelian. Queen Ruby showed her strong hate for Peril and Scarlet while talking to Clay, Sunny, and Tsunami. Worried about how Ruby would react to Peril, Clay had Peril stay hidden in a cave. Scarlet arrived throwing a severed head of what appears to have belonged to Glory, but was later revealed to be an animus-touched MudWing with a scrap of enchanted scroll in their ear. Ruby's guards defended the mountain as Ruby, Tsunami, and more guards quickly pursued Scarlet, but to no avail. Ruby and the others remained, discussing what to do with the MudWing head and if Scarlet had an animus helper. It was decided that Ruby will go to Queen Moorhen to give the MudWing head back and to try to find clues about where Scarlet is hiding. Queen Ruby was warned ahead of time that her mother came back to the Sky Palace and she left the Mud Kingdom right away. At sunrise, she arrived at the palace. Seeing that her son, Cliff, was being held hostage by Scarlet, she agreed to let the guards lock her up. She knew this might happen, as she already had a special cell that was designed so she could escape. Scarlet and Ruby battled each other to determine who would be the queen once and for all. While they were fighting, Peril realized that Ruby had an animus-touched earring that made her weak and quickly destroyed it. Ruby turned into Tourmaline and was able to defeat Scarlet. Tourmaline wanted to turn back into Ruby, because Cliff wanted his mother back. She told Chameleon to turn her back into Ruby, with all her memories and the knowledge intact. After turning into Ruby again, she hosted a party to celebrate. Peril was also pardoned by Ruby, allowing her to enter the Sky Kingdom at any time she pleased. Ruby offered Peril a home at the palace, showing her gratitude and forgiving Peril for her past actions. |
| Talons of Power |
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| After Peril, Qibli, and Winter expressed that they believed Darkstalker was trustworthy, Ruby was mentioned when Peril recalled the events of Escaping Peril. She stated that she could not wait to tell Clay about what they did to Scarlet. Later, Turtle watched Clay gather the SkyWing students so that they could hear Peril's recollection of the duel between Scarlet and Ruby. The SkyWing students were relieved that Scarlet was dead and that Ruby was their queen. After that, when a stolen dreamvisitor was found in Flame's pouch, Sunny worried that they would have to tell Queen Ruby about what he had done and that they did not have anywhere to keep Flame while they waited for Ruby to send someone for him. |
| Darkness of Dragons |
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Ruby was mentioned in Qibli's thoughts as he recounts that she was devoting a lot of energy to helping SkyWings that were injured in the war. Later, Chameleon, as Shapeshifter, complained about Peril turning him in to Ruby. Ruby was mentioned again in the epilogue by Peril as she mentioned the SkyWing that Queen Ruby had sent to replace Flame, whom she had returned to the Sky Kingdom to work with the healers. |
The Lost Continent Prophecy[]
| The Dangerous Gift |
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| Ruby was mentioned by Queen Snowfall as one of the queens who wanted to build more relationships between their subjects. She appeared at the queen summit expressing concern about bringing her tribe to war, but then agreed to allow Sky to go as the SkyWing representative to Pantala. |
Legends[]
| Dragonslayer |
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| Ruby was with Cliff when Leaf saw the latter and offered to help by going to get Ruby, who sighed, giving the key to Cliff. Cliff then gave the key to Leaf to free the other humans. |
Field Guides[]
| A Guide to the Dragon World |
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| Ruby's letter to Starflight was featured in the SkyWing chapter. She was later mentioned in Cliff's SkyWing Anthem as being the greatest queen yet. Tailwind mentioned her several times in This is Why We Don't Marry Psychopaths. |
Relationships[]
Cliff[]
When Ruby saw her son for the first time, there were suddenly sparks in her otherwise boring personality - so much so that Scarlet was perplexed as to why Ruby was so excited about an ordinary dragonet.[13] She would do anything to keep Cliff safe, and allowed herself to be locked up to do so. Cliff often imitates his mother's stance and reassures her through physical affection.[24] She thinks of her son as clever[25] is gentle towards him,[26] and loves him.[27]
Hawk[]
Hawk is one of Ruby's brothers. He is always friendly towards her, but during Scarlet's reign, Ruby got the feeling that he was cheerfully being nice to her because he suspected she would be dead soon.[6]
Jasper[]
Tailwind speculated that Jasper is the father of Ruby's son, Cliff, and that Ruby was planning to marry him soon.[28]
Peril[]
Ruby had always been afraid of Peril. She was quick to call Peril a monster once she saw the young dragonet burn one of the eggs due to hatch on the brightest night.[6] Ruby realized that Peril could have been the one who killed Tourmaline.[6] She backed off from challenging Scarlet for the throne, knowing that Peril was always around.[6]
Ruby's very first act as queen had been to banish Peril from the Sky Kingdom, stating that she never wanted to see Peril again and that she considered her to be a murderer. Until that moment, Ruby had never been exactly friendly, but she was not hostile. She was mostly quiet, nodding politely in the halls or leaving the room when Peril entered it.[16] After looking at Ruby more closely during her banishment, Peril realized that it was personal - Ruby genuinely hated her, although Peril was confused as to why.[29] Ruby furthermore called Peril a violent bloodthirsty criminal and a creature,[14] shattering Peril's previous premonition of her being Scarlet's submissive daughter.[30] Ruby hissed in fury upon seeing Peril at Jade Mountain Academy,[31] as her feelings towards Peril were bitter and deep.[2] She was doubtful that Peril had even a fragment of good in her,[1] and she advised that Clay and Starflight either banish her or keep her constantly guarded.[32] Peril did not understand how she was supposed to feel loyal to a queen who clearly just wanted her dead,[33] but Ruby did not want her loyalty, and stated that Peril had always been what was wrong with the Sky Kingdom.[34] She was enraged when Peril said she did not remember killing Tourmaline, and was shocked when Scarlet confessed that Peril had no involvement in her disappearance.[35]
After Cliff was reunited with his mother, Peril realized the extent of Scarlet's manipulation and stood between Scarlet and Ruby. She thought of Ruby as her new queen, and was willing to listen to her.[26] A look passed between Peril and Ruby as Peril vowed to protect Cliff, and something entirely new passed between them.[36] Ruby later forgave Peril and apologized for her previous behavior, admitting that she had always viewed Peril as less of a real dragon, and more of just a weapon that could have hurt her.[37] She also officially welcomed Peril back into the Sky Kingdom and anywhere that she and Cliff went.[38]
Scarlet[]
Scarlet was Ruby's mother. As a younger dragon, Ruby agreed that killing Scarlet would be good for the kingdom. Scarlet also did not hesitate to publicly insult Ruby in front of her court. She was impatient with her daughter, and deliberately used Peril to threaten Ruby: if she were ever to try and challenge Scarlet, her mother would surely have Peril kill her.[6] She always followed Scarlet's orders,[29] and Scarlet believed that Ruby was hapless,[39] weak,[19] and a mouse.[40] After briefly regaining the SkyWing throne, she planned to have a grand, public, ceremonial execution for Ruby.[41] In the meantime, she placed her daughter in the lowliest prison available.[42]
Vermilion[]
Vermilion is one of Ruby's brothers. When Ruby sat next to Vermilion in Scarlet's throne room, he snorted and edged a step away from her.[6] He became very loyal to her when she became queen.
Family tree[]
| Carmine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunset | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Several Generations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More | Firestorm | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canyon | Scarlet | 3 Dragons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vermilion | Hawk | 11 Dragons | 2 Dragons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ruby | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cliff | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quotes[]
- "It's always going to be like this. Until one of us challenges her and wins. You and I are the only ones left now — the only hope the SkyWings have of a decent queen. Ruby, if I defeat her and become queen, we can get out of this war."
- ― as Tourmaline to Ruby (Escaping Peril, prologue)
- "One last word of warning, although I know you won't listen to me. You cannot trust my mother's creature. She's unpredictable and knows nothing but killing. If you won't banish her, at least don't leave her unguarded for an instant. She may have a fragment of good in her somewhere, but she'll never be good enough for you. And if he's right, and she ever thinks you don't love her back, she will set all your friends on fire. That's just the truth."
- ― to Clay and Starflight (Escaping Peril, page 49-50)
- "I remember when you hatched. It was like someone had woken up Ruby for the first time in years. I'm afraid your mother has always been very, very boring. No spark in her at all, which of course is why I allowed her to live. But when she saw you for the first time, suddenly there were sparks. You'd think your scales were plated with gold and you'd crawled out with sapphires wrapped around your tail. I can understand a dragon getting excited about treasure, but that excited over an ordinary dragonet?"
- ― Scarlet to Cliff (Escaping Peril, page 181)
- "She turned your arena into a hospital. She pardoned all the prisoners and brought in doctors and healers from other tribes to teach ours everything they know and she made space for all the wounded soldiers from the war and she's been finding them all places to live and jobs to do and using the gold for all of that."
- ― Vermilion to Scarlet (Escaping Peril, page 184)
- "I don't want your loyalty! But this — threatening innocent dragonets? Helping her, after everything? That's not exactly the peaceful new dragon you were claiming to be, is it? I knew you were lying. You have always been the reason for everything that's wrong with the Sky Kingdom."
- ― to Peril (Escaping Peril, page 193)
- "Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings, I hereby challenge you to a duel for throne and kingdom."
- ― to Queen Scarlet (Escaping Peril, page 223-224)
- "I want to take my throne the right way, the way I should have done before if I hadn't been such a coward. I'm going to follow SkyWing tradition, and when I win, no one will be able to question my position anymore."
- ― to Peril (Escaping Peril, page 224)
- "Stop. Listen. You were only a dragonet … not much older than Cliff … and Scarlet was the only parent you ever had. Or friend, or anything. None of the rest of us even tried to see you as a real dragon. I saw a weapon, and that was it. But now … I think about what could happen to Cliff if he'd been born with firescales, or if my mother had gotten her claws into him. I think a lot about how he'll turn out with me as his mother. So I don't blame you anymore. I know it was bad. But you can make up for what you've done. At least you can try. If we let you try."
- ― to Peril (Escaping Peril, page 249-250)
- "I have a lot of dragons who haven't recovered from the War of SandWing Succession. Or, to be honest, my mother's reign as the Super-Murdery Queen of the Mountains. I don't know if I can throw them into another conflict."
- ― Ruby to the Pyrrhian queens during a peace assembly about Scarlet (The Dangerous Gift, page 206)
Trivia[]
- Ruby likes reading.[6]
Gallery[]
.png "Ruby (gn7 excerpt, wings of fire).png (606 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Escaping Peril, page 50
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Escaping Peril, page 34
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 39
- ↑ Winter Turning, page 5
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 234
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 Escaping Peril, prologue
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Escaping Peril, page 235
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Escaping Peril, page 240
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 237
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 238
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Escaping Peril, page 239
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Escaping Peril, page 246
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Escaping Peril, page 181
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Escaping Peril, page 16
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Escaping Peril, page 224
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Escaping Peril, page 3
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 20
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 174
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Escaping Peril, page 184
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 176
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 177
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 251
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 231
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 201
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 219
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Escaping Peril, page 223
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 220
- ↑ A Guide to the Dragon World, page 173
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Escaping Peril, page 4
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 17
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 29
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 49
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 119
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 193
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 194
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 225
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 249
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 250
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 185
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 21
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 200
- ↑ Escaping Peril, page 218