Hello and thank you for reading my story. I'm well aware that the whole university white rose setting isn't very original but I really just enjoy it so much that I had to write my own. Please let me know what you think in reviews or PMs, I can't improve or fix something if I don't know there is a problem. I hope you enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed writing it.
"Wait for me!" the little girl yelled as she struggled to catch up to her friend who was already near the top of the hill. Her voice seemed hoarse but the huge smile plastered on her face dispelled any idea that she wasn't enjoying herself.
The other girl turned at the plea and returned a smile of her own, revealing several missing teeth with growing replacements. Her dark hair had the slightest hint of red towards the tips that seemed to glow in the sunlight.
"Hurry up slowpoke." she called back, laughing as her white haired friend closed the distance between them.
It took nearly ten seconds but the girls were eventually reunited at the top of the hill and fell simultaneously to the ground. Both the winner and loser of the impromptu race breathed heavily as they looked at the sky and recovered.
It was several minutes before either of them spoke, but eventually the second place contender broke the silence.
"I swear you get faster everytime, I could've beaten you two months ago."
"Yeah." The darker haired girl responded simply. While it was true that she had gotten faster, she wouldn't say that she was ever quite that slow.
With this they were silent once more, enjoying the slight breeze and soft grass. The white haired girl broke the silence again.
"I have to leave tomorrow." she stated. Her voice was quiet and managed to mask the majority of her sadness.
The other girl was not quite as circumspect as her friend and quickly sat up, her silver eyes locking onto the other's who just as quickly looked away to hide her developing tears.
"You can't go!" she blurted out "You just got here." She had no friends other than her older sister and making one this summer had made it an incredibly fun time. A time that was apparently coming to an end, despite what she wanted.
"We were only here on vacation from Vale," the other girl answered "and we were supposed to leave a month ago with my father but I begged Mother to stay."
This knowledge did nothing to relieve the other girl who was now on the verge of tears herself. Both fought the urge and stood to look at the now setting sun in the distance, their original purpose in coming here.
" I have to be back before it gets dark."
"I know," the girl responded, her toothless smile a distant memory. She took hold of the other's hand. "We'll find each other again."
The way she said this brook no argument and the white haired girl didn't want to tell her otherwise.
"I know Ruby." she responded, not sharing her doubts.
Ruby must have sensed this though as she replied, "You'll see Weiss."
They stood there for another ten minutes watching the sun go down, hand in hand, before they began to walk back without saying a word.
It wasn't until they reached a turn in the road that Weiss needed to take to get back to her house that they let go each other. Weiss opened her mouth to say goodbye but was silenced by Ruby's shaking head. They stared for a moment, willing time to stop, before turning to go their separate ways. Neither would allow themselves to look back, but neither wanted to look forward.
-9 Years Later-
Ruby Rose took her first step on what she considered to be a brand new start. She had worked for the past three years to get a scholarship to a school away from where she had grown up and in the city. Now she would no longer be the awkward girl that was the sister of the famous Yang Xiao Long, here she could be whoever she wanted to. The whole awkward thing would just have to be worked around. Along with her sense of direction, where was she supposed to go?
Ruby had arrived on campus nearly fifteen minutes before and was struggling to comprehend the map that her only friend, Jaune, had drawn for her. He had arrived at the University a week before Ruby but was busy today with his newly acquired job. To help her out though, Jaune had crafted a map of the campus with what Ruby could only guess was his finger and scroll. The results were a mix of several geometric shapes and a snake that Ruby thought might have originally been a route for her to follow. Having no choice but to trust her friend's cartography skills, Ruby began to follow the squiggly.
Light peeked through the curtains of the dorm room and warmed Weiss' face as she slept peacefully. The cracked window allowed a slight breeze through that made her bed all the more comfortable. These and other factors combined to make it a perfect moment in the history of rest. A light smile developed on her face as the thought passed through her mind.
The smile disappeared and Weiss' eyes popped open.
"Oh no." She jumped up and was in the bathroom before her sheets even touched back down on the bed." . ." was her mantra as she rushed through her morning routine.
Weiss Schnee did not oversleep. Ever.
Staying up to prepare for the new semester had clearly not been the best of ideas. And now she was running late for her meeting with Professor Ozpin, hardly a good first impression for his new T.A.
If only her roommate hadn't graduated last semester, she thought while simultaneously drying off from her shower, putting her hair up and attempting to get clothes onto her body, she would have woken me up.
Only twelve minutes after the horrifying realization, Weiss was out the door of her room, a new record, and making her way out of the building. She threw her carrying bag over her shoulder and cursed her proclivity for heels as she attempted to hurry to the professor's office.
That fountain definitely looked familiar. I wonder if they just took a template and put them up everywhere on campus? Or I'm lost...yeah I'm lost.
Ruby's thoughts grew increasingly resigned as her trust in the squigly faded. She had circled around twice now and was no closer to either the dorms to drop off her small amount of luggage or the lecture hall that would host the new student orientation.
Looking at her scroll again, she closed the picture file of the "map" and checked the time. Just ten more minutes until the start of the orientation, she needed to hurry.
Noticing a large group of students walking in one direction, Ruby decided to take the chance and count on the herd. She began to dash in their direction, hoping that they were going to same place.
Maybe one of them will know where to go anyway, Ruby thought, pretending that appealing to a total stranger didn't scare her a little. She was a new person here. Not awkward. Not shy. Normal. Her resolve strengthened, Ruby doubled her speed and began to close the distance.
Suddenly an obstacle appeared directly in front like a white blur, it happened to fast for her to stop and before Ruby could do anything; she found herself on the ground. A distinct pain shot up as she impacted and all she could manage was an "owwwwww."
"Ow?" a girls voice spoke and Ruby opened her eyes to see the obstacle that had appeared - now on the ground in mirror to herself. "Is that all you have to say for self?"
The girl she had impacted had the prettiest light-blue eyes Ruby had ever seen, now narrowed into the most annoyed look she had ever seen.
"S-sorry?" Ruby asked, slightly off kilter from the aggressive reaction of the other girl.
"Sorry isn't going to wind back time." the girl stated as she stood and dusted off her white skirt and top, then adjusted her bag.
"I was just in a hurry is all princess." Ruby burst out in response to her rudeness. It also didn't help that she was still on the ground and feeling rather inferior with her blue jeans and black top with her old red hoodie on. "I said I was sorry."
The girl looked up from herself as Ruby finished and simply stared, making Ruby feel even more uncomfortable. A look of confusion and then sadness seemed to cross over the girl's face in an instant before she reasserted cold look and began to walk away.
"Well, make sure you're more careful in the future." was all she said as she continued on her way.
Ruby gawked for a moment longer, surprised at the rudeness of a girl she had just met before standing up. "This day just gets better and better." she said to herself "Oh!"
Ruby rushed to catch up to the herd of students she had been following.
Weiss continued on to her meeting, conscious of the time but with her mind in a jumble of conflicting thoughts and emotions.
Ruby didn't remember her, at least not as quickly as Weiss recognized her. It hurt, yes, but the logical part of Weiss was fighting that and telling her that it had been nine years and plenty of things had probably happened to Ruby since their summer together. She had probably made tons of friends since then too. There was no reason she should be so hung up on a friend she made as a child after all. Weiss sighed at her own life since that summer and shook her head to clear it. She was at the professor's office.
To Be Continued