I know, I know. I made a new story... but I can't help it. All these ideas just keep on coming and I have nowhere to put them but on paper. Er, on here. Anyway, enjoy the story.

"Perception is reality. If you are perceived to be something, you might as well to be it because that's the truth in people's minds." -Steven Young

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Ruby rubbed her eyes as she tried to wake herself up from her tired state. She stretched her arms as she yawned, hoping that it could wake her up. She threw off her covers as she stood up from her bed, walking over to her bathroom before she heard a loud thud from the room next to her. She turned on the sink and splashed water on her face, the cold pulling her from her drowsy state as she looked into the mirror. She quickly brushed her teeth and fixed her hair before she donned her school uniform and skirt to go with her black leggings. She looked into her closet at the red hoodie sitting on a hanger towards the corner and she hesitantly thought to herself as to why she had it in the first place. She knew that it was a gift from one of her relatives but she never wore it as it was slightly bigger than her.

Ruby shrugged off the question as she closed her closet door and made her way downstairs to where her father was waiting, breakfast already sitting on the table as he sat in one of the chairs while reading the latest newspaper. She took her seat and ate until Yang came down the stairs and sat in the seat next to her.

"You sure took your time," Ruby said in between bites of her eggs.

"Hey, this mane of golden beauty isn't going to take care of itself you know." Yang grabbed her plate and began digging in.

It didn't take long for them to finish up. Ruby and Yang grabbed their bags and stepped out of the front door as they said their farewells to their father. The morning was already bustling as many other students were making their way towards Beacon High. Despite Ruby's age she was in the same grade as her older sister and got to attend the same year as her which led to many confusions during her first year. As the red and yellow duo were making their way up the hill, their eyes caught a familiar shade of white as another student was approaching them.

"Good morning you two." Weiss said as she carried a textbook in one of her arms.

"Good morning!"

"Morning."

Each sister said their greeting as they continued their walk to the school. It didn't take them long to see the campus from the intersection a block away. Ruby ran the rest of the way towards Beacon while the two tried to catch up with the younger girl. The crimsonette ran past many other students as she entered the campus, her eyes taking in the familiar sight of the buildings as she ran through the crowd. She spotted a couple familiar faces and couldn't help but shout and wave to them.

"Emerald! Nebula!" She spotted the two talking together on a bench, and when the two heard the rambunctious girl they both turned and waved before returning to their conversation. She ran around trying to spot any more of her friends until she crashed into someone. She fell on her behind before looking up to the brown haired girl in front of her.

"Watch where you're going punk."

"Eh hehe sorry Vernal, I was jus-"

"Just what? Being an idiot like always?" Vernal said coldly.

"Hey! Not all the time!" Ruby said with a small pout.

"Whatever, just get out of my face already squirt." Vernal said as she walked off.

Ruby just stood there looking down at the ground before shaking her head. A smile returned to her face as she went around once more looking for her friends. She found Nora and Sage before the bell rang, signaling the students to start heading to their first class of the day. As she stepped into her first period her eyes were caught on something towards the back of the class. She noticed a new student with black hair and a small bow on her head reading a book. Her face was covered by the book so she couldn't see what she looked like, but she pushed those thoughts away as she took her seat before the bell rang.

The teacher arrived a couple minutes late, muttered his apologies and then went through attendance. As he called out names, the respective student raised their hand in response. Ruby kept on glancing towards the girl in the back to see what her name is, and she almost missed her own. As the teacher finished up the list and closed the attendance roster, Ruby sighed in defeat as she tried to recall if the girl in the back had raised her hand to any of the names.

Just as he placed the roster away, he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Once everyone's gazes were focused on him he gestured towards the back of the class and spoke, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a couple new students attending Beacon as of today! Everyone please welcome Penny Polendina, Sky Lark, and Blake Belladonna."

Each stood up when their name was called, and as Blake stood up her eyes fell on the younger girl as she stared back into her amber eyes. Ruby felt a lump form in her throat, and unsure of what to do she gave a small wave to the taller girl to which she did nothing but sit back down and return to her book. She felt slightly disappointed as she focused back on the class at hand.

...

The rest of the class went by in a flash. Ruby was packing up her bag as everyone else was already leaving the classroom. She didn't register someone waiting right next to her until she reached for her bag. She saw a pair of boots right next to her, and when she looked to see who the owner was she was slightly shocked to see Blake standing next to her.

"Uh um, Ruby Rose right?"

She felt the words forming in her throat but couldn't say anything in response, only nodding in reply to the ebony haired girl in front of her.

"I'm Blake Belladonna, I was wondering if you can show me where this classroom is?" Blake handed her a small piece of paper with a room number on it, and Ruby closely examined the paper while trying to remember where the room was.

"Ah Mr. Port's class, his room is- wait that's the class I have next! We can go together if you like?" She asked quietly.

Blake looked at her in hesitation before sighing, "Sure, we can go together."

Ruby let out a silent cheer as she led the new student down the halls. They both walked in silence during the walk to the classroom, and wanting to break the awkward silence Ruby tried to bring up small talk.

"Sooo... where are you from?" Ruby looked over at Blake only to be met with the same neutral face from before.

"I came from a place called Vacuo towards the far west." Was all she said.

"Cool! I came from Patch!"

"Patch? The small island near Sanus?"

"Yep! The one and only- I thought it was a miracle how both my older sister and I got into Beacon even through we came from Patch."

"Huh, are you a freshman by any chance?"

"Psh no, I am a junior like my sister." She earned an odd look from the older girl, "What?"

"It's nothing, your parents would be proud that you managed to jump two grades ahead." Blake said as she continued walking to the classroom.

"Yeah, my dad was very proud when I told him the news." She said with a smile as she walked alongside Blake.

"And your mother?"

"Huh?"

"What about you mother? What did she say?"

"My... mom? She-" She stopped in her tracks, just for a second an image flashed in her head. It was fuzzy yet she could still make out the main picture out of all the distortion, it was her... it was her when she was younger with tears streaming down her face as she hugged something white.

"Ruby? Are you..." Blake lightly tapped the younger girl on the shoulder, Ruby snapped out of her trance as she shook her head.

"I-I'm fine! Never better!" She said as she flashed a grin.

"Then why are you crying?"

"What? No I'm-" She felt it before it registered in her mind, a small streak went down her face. Her hand shakily made its way to her face as she felt the tears coming from her eyes. She wiped away the forming tears with her sleeve. "We- we should get going, Mr. Port's class is just up ahead."

Blake nodded in reply. The rest of the walk was very short as soon they were standing in front of the English class. As they both stepped inside Ruby noticed how small the class was and that there weren't many students inside.

"I guess some students haven't made it ye-"

"Ruby!" The younger girl turned towards the source of the voice and was picked off her feet as the air was squeezed out of her lungs.

"Yang… can't breathe…"

"Oh right, my bad." She set the crimsonette down and turned her attention towards Blake. "Who is this, Ruby?"

"This is Blake, she's new here at Beacon." Ruby gestured towards the taller girl.

"Hello," She extended her hand to the blonde.

"I'm Yang, I'm her older sist-" As she took the offered hand and shook it, she turned to face Ruby only to notice the faint tear streak on her cheek. Her gaze shifted from friendly to lethal in a second as she turned back to Blake, "What did you do?"

Blake took a step back from the angry blonde as she strode up to her. "I didn't-"

"Yeah right you expect me to believe that? I know for a fact that not even Vernal would do something like this-"

Yang felt a tug on her arm, and she was about to yell out to the person holding her but stopped as she saw it was Ruby.

"It wasn't her fault Yang, really I'm fine." She said with pleading eyes.

Yang visibly relaxed as she stepped away from Blake, and she walked back to her chair just as she did a gesture with her hands pointing to her eyes back to the ebony haired girl saying I'm watching you.

Ruby laughed nervously as she tried to reassure Blake, "Sorry Blake, my sister tends to be overprotective of me."

"I can see that." Blake strode towards the back of the class and took a seat in the back corner.

Ruby found an empty chair in the middle of the room just as the teacher entered the room. She glanced back towards Blake one last time before focusing her attention to the class.

Blake however had her eyes shift to her scroll, silently typing away a message.

B: Hey it's Blake, I think I found another one

M: Oh really? Are you sure that they are?

B: I'll need a little bit more time to know, in the meantime keep me updated

M: Will do, stay out of trouble Blake.

Blake closed her scroll and took one last look at the crimsonette.

'I hope that she's one of us- we can't afford to lose anymore'

-/^-**-

"Hey Blake! Do you want to sit with us for lunch?" Just as class ended Ruby went up to the ebony haired girl as everyone else packed their belongings.

"I... don't know Ruby, I think I'll be busy for lunch."

"Aw really? I wanted to introduce you to all my friends..."

"Maybe next time." Blake got up from her seat and grabbed her bag as she exited the classroom.

Ruby watched the ravenette as she stepped out, and she sighed as she grabbed her things. She wanted to get to know the new student but it seemed that she wouldn't get that chance today. She opened the door and immediately stepped back as someone almost flew at her, hitting the door frame with a loud thud.

Commotion rang out from the hallway as she stepped out. Several students were fighting in the hall's intersection. As Ruby got closer, she spotted a familiar shade of black in the center of the fight.

'Blake?'

The ebony haired girl stood at the center dodging a couple students while delivering a couple punches herself. Ruby noticed another student among the crowd watching the fight. She had bright red hair and green eyes and wore golden earrings.

'Pyrrha! Did she come here to stop the fight?'

The redhead was one of the popular students at Beacon and she was well known for being nice, intelligent, and for standing up to bullies in the past. But right now she was just watching the fight in amusement with a small smile on her face.

Turning her attention back to the fight as several more students joined in, Ruby watched in shock as no one around her tried to do anything to stop the fight. She hesitantly thought to herself before she stepped forward that somebody had to stop this fight from continuing and she didn't care if she was hurt in the process. Just as she was about to enter, a hand grabbed her by the arm pulling her back. She turned and was greeted with red eyes that stared back at her.

"What are you doing, Ruby?" She said in a hush voice.

"I'm going to stop the fight, Emerald." Ruby tried to turn back but Emerald kept her from moving forward.

"Stop Ruby, what would happen if you get hurt?" Emerald tried her best to hold back the crimsonette, but one of her arms was freed and Ruby reached out towards the crowd.

"And if I don't more people will… will…" Her vision went fuzzy once more- this time the crowd shifted to a white room. Her hand reaching out to a woman laying in a bed while she was clutching something red in her other hand.

"Mom… mom!" Was all she heard, it sounded familiar yet unknown to her at the same time.

Her vision went static until she felt her body being moved back and forth. She blinked and the vision went away, replaced with a blur.

"Ruby? Hey Ruby, you okay? I didn't pull on your arm too hard did I?" Emerald asked as she gently shook the younger girl.

"Huh?" As Ruby blinked away the tears that formed, she looked around to see that the fight was already over. A couple students laid unconscious in the hallway as Blake was nowhere to be seen.

"I-I'm fine Emerald, really I am."

"But you never cry, come on I'll treat you to cookies."

"O-okay, but let me wash my face first. I don't want Yang to eviscerate you if she sees me like this."

Emerald was about to protest until the thought of the angry blonde crossed her mind. She nodded before they went to the public restroom. Ruby stood at the sink, washing away the dried tear marks on her face.

"Get it together Ruby," She said in between splashes, "Come on, you're a high schooler now... you shouldn't be crying at all like that."

She splashed her face with water for the final time and dried it off with a towel. She stepped outside and joined the green haired girl as they strode towards the cafeteria.

"You know…" Emerald spoke up after a short while, "...I think I saw Pyrrha checking you out in the hallway earlier."

"Wh-wha-what?!" Ruby's face heated up as she faced the tanned girl, "Emerald that isn't funny! You already know that I'm a lesbian!"

Emerald let out a small chuckle as she watched the shorter girl's reaction, "Relax Ruby-"

"And for the record I heard that Pyrrha already has Jaune so hah!"

"Yeah, yeah but that still doesn't change the fact that Pyrrha was staring at you in the hallway."

"Th-that was… oh look! We're here." Ruby quickly changed the topic.

The two entered the cafeteria that's already being filled up with many students. Ruby and Emerald got their food, with Ruby's extra cookies, and spotted their friends at a table towards the center of the room. Nora was waving towards the duo as they approached, and Ruby sat down next to Weiss while Emerald sat down across from them next to Yang.

"Hey, did you guys hear about what happened earlier?!" Nora said as she took her seat.

"You mean the fight?" Emerald said as she began to eat.

"No, wait… there was a fight?!" Nora yelled. It took her a moment to control herself before she spoke up once more, "Actually you can tell me later, what I was going to say was did any of you hear the rumors of Pyrrha liking Ruby?"

Ruby did a spit take as lilac and azure blue eyes fell on her.

"Not until now..." Weiss' curiosity peaked along with Yang's.

"Who knew that one of the most famous students here at Beacon liked my baby sister~" Yang said with a smirk.

"Ugh, why did you have to bring that up Nora? Besides Jaune and Pyrrha are dating already."

The orange haired girl wore a wide grin as she replied, "Because we're friends! Also your reaction was worth it."

"Thanks Nora." Ruby said sarcastically as she tried to finish the rest of her lunch.

"Speaking of the redhead, I heard that she'll be the speaker for the pep rally tomorrow." Emerald said as she bit into her sandwich.

"Pep rally? Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Ruby asked as she looked at the green haired girl.

"It was announced during Homeroom. Were you not paying attention?"

"Uh um, no? Wait, when did they announce it?"

"Just after the bell rang. Jeez Ruby, you can be such a handful sometimes."

"Eh hehe." Ruby scratched the back of her head. "Sorry."

The sound of screaming filled the room, hijacking the conversation as the group turned to face the commotion. A small crowd of girls surrounded a blue haired man in the center who was doing various gestures that made a couple girls swoon.

"Bleh, not this guy again." Weiss said as she made a gagging face.

"What's wrong? Snow Angel?" Yang said with a smirk, which earned her a smack to the side.

"Not another word from you!"

The group laughed at the act until Ruby stood up from her seat and tried her best to impersonate him as she deepened her voice and walked right next to Weiss, putting her arm on the table while looking straight at the white haired girl.

"And I don't believe that I've caught your name, Snow Ang- gah!"

Ruby fell back on her rear as Weiss flicked her forehead.

"Hey! That hurts!" She said with a pout while rubbing her behind.

"Hmph." Weiss turned away from the crimsonette.

Yang tried to stifle her laughter and Nora looked like she was about to burst. Emerald got up from her seat and helped Ruby up. The rest of lunch was done with small talks and idle gossip. Once the bell rang, everyone got up and waved their farewells. Ruby grabbed her bag and made her way towards her next class, she opened up the cafeteria doors and caught a glimpse of Blake in the hallway.

"Oh! Hey Blake!" She waved as she approached the taller girl.

Blake walked past a corner without paying any heed to the crimsonette's shouting. Ruby peeked around the corner only to see an empty hallway, she looked back towards the way she came to see another empty hall.

"H-hello?" Her voice was quiet as she stepped out into the hallway. No one responded as the sound of her footsteps echoed throughout the hall. Her vision flickered as the hallway shifted from a bright white corridor with several rooms lining up along the sides. Some rooms were lit as others were pitched black, she hesitantly stepped forward but stopped as she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. Two voices caught her attention as two men walked past her, one dressed in a white coat and a stethoscope wrapped around his collar while the other was dressed in darker clothes as his blonde hair stood out from his appearance.

"What do you mean that's the safest choice?!" The blonde yelled.

"I'm sorry sir, but with her condition there's not much that we can do." The other replied, "Look, I wish we could do something for Miss Rose but-"

"Don't finish that thought." The blonde let out a loud sigh before continuing, "I wonder how Ruby's going to take the news…"

The two walked down the corridor until they were out of view, Ruby stood in the center as the background melted back to the familiar school hallway where she was previously. She reached out towards the nearest wall for support as she rested both arms on the stone wall.

'What the hell is happening to me?'

She tried to collect her thoughts as she propped herself off the wall, she reached up to her face but felt nothing as she trailed her eyes for any signs of tears. She took a deep breath as she tried to walk to her class, she put up a fake smile as she went down the halls trying to hide her uncertainty of what's happening to her.

Just for the record, it's going to get dark in the later chapters.
~SRFW

Bonus: I got a new beta reader! Expect fewer grammar mistakes in the future.