Elementary-School Hero

Even though Patch could be considered a large island, it was small in comparison to the rest of Vale and Patch elementary was an equally small school though it would later be considered the starting place for a great hero. The future hero in question was just a small girl, playing without a care in the world. Ruby Rose was only in first grade when a landmark event would occur in her life and it all began as she was swinging by herself on the monkey bars during recces. The raven-haired girl was going back and forth like on a regular day, except this was no ordinary day, it was Halloween. It was the time that Ruby felt at her best, not because of the candy but the costumes. Ruby never went as a grotesque ghoul or blood-covered werewolf, instead she used All Hallows Eve to act out her dream of being a huntress; she dressed in a black dress covered with red-trim on the edges, black combat boots and a red cloak to top off the outfit. Not many people could guess Ruby's costume from a glance but she was happy with it, she was even thinking about making some modifications and wearing it more often. It was very abruptly that Ruby heard a sound that shook her out of her carefree state, a cry for help.

Ruby craned her neck in the direction of the sound as best she could to see what was happening. From her position, Ruby could just make out the scene of a girl from her class in a princess costume being attacked by a boy, also from her class, dressed in a black jacket and pants designed to look like a Beowolf. Others might see this same scenario and see it as a school yard scuffle, best handled by an adult but not Ruby. She saw it as one of the action comics she loved so much come to life, the princess being attacked by a vicious monster, how could she resist the chance to be the guardian of the playground? The would-be huntress jumped down from the bars and started to rush over toward the scene, momentarily stopped by the realization that she lacked one of the key elements of her costume, a weapon. The papier-mache scythe she and her father had put together had been put in the closet for recess by her teacher because "it would make the other students jealous," Mrs. Bryans had said rather quickly. The hooded huntress looked around her for something to use to fight off the grim, her prayers were answered in the form of a large stick that looked sturdy enough to fight off vicious evil creatures.

Now armed for battle, Ruby rushed toward the scene yet again, right as cries of "YOU BIG MEANIE," entered the airways. The boy was trying to drip his spit onto the girl but she was struggling to keep him at bay. The whole exchange was broken up in the moment that Ruby took her weapon, pulled back as far as she could and swung at the boy's head. With a sickening SMACK, the costumed-clad boy was sent to the ground, clutching his head where Ruby had landed her first shot. The boy's face was soon covered in tears as he rolled on the floor. Ruby ignored the boys wailing and instead offered her hand to the dirt-covered princess. "Are you ok," the playground huntress asked as she helped the girl to her feet. The girl nodded and thanked Ruby and gave her a kiss on the cheek as a reward, something that made the raven-haired girl blush and feel verified as a hero. Unfortunately for Ruby, her moment of glory was short lived as she felt a pair of hands push her and she fell into the dirt. The playground warrior quickly stood up and faced her attacker, which turned out to be two more boys dressed as grim, an Ursa and a Boarbatusk.

Little Ruby wasn't afraid of her new opponents, she only steadied her weapon in front of her, ready for the first strike. "Why'd you hit Greg you butt face," the Ursa boy shouted. Ruby made an annoyed expression at the boys. "That dumb butt was attacking the princess," she defended, pointing at the girl's now tattered costume. "She probably deserved it," the Boarbatusk boy countered in his chirpy voice. "She's a ugly princess anyway," the other boy added, waving his plastic claws at the dark-haired girl. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING UGLY, YOU LOOK LIKE THOSE GRIM POOPED YOU OUT, YOU JERKS," the princess shouted over Ruby's shoulder. The pair of playground grim both turned red in the face and stomped their way toward Ruby with the intention of going through her. Ruby heard a high-pitched shrink behind her and the sounds of fast footfalls but she had no time to examine the situation any further as a claw came at her face. Luckily, the girl was able to block the claw with her weapon, she then quickly stepped back, held the stick as if it was a sword and launched a vicious attack at the Ursa boy's side and stomach. Injured, the Ursa tried to counter Ruby but was slowed down by his injuries, the costumed-fighter simply tripped the boy up with her foot, sending him to the ground. Only the Boarbatusk was left, his hands were in cased in mitts that where designed to look more like hooves, as such, the boy instead decided to use his feet, which were covered by normal sneaker, to kick Ruby in the chest. The ravened haired huntress fell over but was not out as she used her vantage point on the ground to take the stick in one hand and hit the Boarbatusk in the knees. As her attacker gripped one of his knees in pain, Ruby cocked her arm back and gave him a clean shot to the nose. The bully spun around in a daze from the shot and Ruby found his back turned to her. This allowed the little-huntress to show off some of her gymnastic skills as she flipped over the boy and pulled his costume's hood over his head as far as it could go and then returning the kick to the chest, the ruffian then fell to the ground with a thud.

Ruby felt proud of herself as she looked at the three grim that she had defeated single-handedly. In her pride, Ruby failed to notice the large 5th grade boy dressed as a Goliath until he picked her up by the arms, putting her in a full nelson. "You idiots," the boy barked, "stop being wimps and get up. The remaining costume-clad thugs sluggishly picked themselves back up and made their way toward their pray. The dark-haired girl wasn't sure how many punches they got in but she could feel her stomach start to hurt and her face wasn't in any better condition. The only thing that saved the little fighter was the flashback of her sister teaching her a special move to use against boys. Ruby stretched her legs downward as far as they could go and swung them back and then forward, directly into the groins of two of four of her attackers. The Goliath boy released his grip when Ruby's legs swung back and directly into his knees. Now free, the would-be-huntress gripped her weapon as if it was a staff and struck the remaining boy in front of her in the stomach. Without turning around, Ruby thrusted her staff behind her for what she hoped was going to be another groin attack, instead, she hit the large boys thigh, doing little damage. Clearly still angered by her attempt to hit him, the goliath lifted Ruby by the arm and headed for the merry-go-round. Ruby was casually tossed onto the playground equipment and before she could get her wits about her, it started to spin.

She was starting to feel nauseous as her vision started to blur and the merry-go-round kept increasing speed. Amidst all that was happening, Ruby decided it was time to mimic television. She steadied, found the blur that was her attacker herself, took a runners stance and then leapt off the spinning wheel. Ruby made sure to put both of her feet in front of her for a high speed missile drop kick that sent the boy down to the ground. After her nimble takedown "GET HER," was all Ruby had as a warning as three boys rushed toward her, a move she was able to sidestep, sending the boys careening into the merry-go-round. Now that three of her foes were piled up on a piece of recreational equipment, Ruby smirked as she hatched a plan to end this brawl. Ruby walked over to where the Goliath laid on the ground, stood over his face and let a shotgun blast of spit fly. The boy quickly jumped back up onto his feet, looking around hastily for what had hit him. "What the—, "was all the boy could say as her went to move and fell over onto the merry-go-round, just noticing that Ruby had tied his shoes together. Ruby's grin grew as she approached the wheel and started to push on one of the bars, her confidence faded as the carousel refused to budge under the combined weight of the riders, a fact that was growing more concerning since the four troublemakers were starting to regain composure and get back up. "come on, move," Ruby thought, she was starting to panic. Suddenly the merry-go round started to move and Ruby began to gain speed quicker then she thought possible. Soon the scene around her became blurry again, but now there was the addition of a flurry of rose petals. Ruby was reaching impossible speeds and she couldn't resist the urge to keep going!

With Ruby's increased speed came the formation of a large sand tornado that shot out heavy gust that whipped onlookers in the face. It seemed like there was no end in sight until the winds began to slow and four boys shot out of the funnel and into a pile on the playground. Once the wind completely died, Ruby stood by herself, swaying drunkenly back and forth,

"I think I went too fast."

Ruby swayed around for a little longer but she was soon able to see straight again and her vision landed on the pile of defeated grim. Ruby smiled brightly at her first victory as a huntress and to celebrate, she walked over to the group and climbed to the top and struck a victorious pose by using the top boy to place one of her boots and the next one down as a pedestal for her other foot. It was the greatest Ruby had felt for all of her first grade year, nothing was—

"RUBY ROSE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW YOUNG LADY-?"

"—and that's how Ruby singlehandedly put a stop to dressing up for Halloween at Patch Elementary," present day Yang spoke with glee as her younger sister sat on her bed, her hood pulled all the way over her face.

"Wow that was—detailed," Blake said.

"It doesn't surprise me to hear that Ruby was always a trouble maker," Weiss quipped

"I was just trying to save the princess!" Ruby tried to defend herself. "You do realize that you could have told the very-same teacher who yelled at you instead of trouncing on those hooligans." Weiss countered

"She has a point Ruby, you did get suspended for a week for that, not that getting out of school is a bad thing," her sister added with a sly grin. Ruby didn't really buy any of it, she felt she did the right thing and simply jumped up from her bed, shouted, "As a huntress of Beacon, I'll protect all the princesses on all the playground of Vale, and anywhere else." and then leave the room with a slam of the door, leaving the rest of the girls in shock. The dark-haired girl took a more casual pace as she walked through Beacon and headed toward her locker. Opening it, she saw Crescent Rose at the front, which she casually pushed to the side to get a look at what was behind it, an aged but resilient stick with a few impact marks scattered around the edges.