As the curtains were drawn apart, tendrils of sunlight seeped through into the rustic office of Professor Ozpin. The room was filled with a gentle orange hue, which served to only increase the charming ambience of the quaint, oak office. The scent of old books and incense hung thick in the air. In an instant, such smells were overpowered by the sudden presence of strong coffee.
Professor Ozpin took the freshly prepared mug of black coffee in his hand, and took his first gulp of caffeine. He savoured the overwhelming kick of the beverage, opening his eyes as he stared through the large windows which covered the back of his office, behind his solid oak desk. Morning was breaking over Beacon Academy. Another day in the life of a headmaster. Only one student appeared to be present at such an early hour. A girl in white practiced in the training grounds, flowing through perfectly executed moves against a training dummy. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the most powerful company in Remnant.
Ozpin turned from the windows and sat at his desk, placing the coffee mug deliberately not on a coaster. Another ring formed on the desk, a desk which was covered with coffee rings, like craters. His longtime friend and colleague Glynda Goodwitch had long since given up on trying to get Ozpin to keep a clean workspace. Ozpin gave a weak smile as he pondered over the matter; he liked to think of his desk as organised chaos.
The Professor shuffled some papers and - eventually - found the file he was looking for. Keeping such notes electronically would be much easier, but Ozpin simply didn't have time to trasnfer the information from paper to his Scroll anyway. Ozpin flicked through the file of first year teams, stopping at the papers stamped 'TEAM RWBY'. He continued to cautiously pry through the papers until he reached the file of Weiss Schnee. A highly proficient rapier wielder with excellent control over her semblance, Glyphs, and her extensive knowledge and application of Dust on the battlefield only added to her combat prowess. Truly, she was an incredible force to be reckoned with. But then, so were several of the other first years who had arrived merely two weeks ago. Teams RWBY, JNPR and AZRE all showed considerable promise...and yet, one girl in particular was full of potential. She had been a one in a million find.
Ruby Rose was just 15 years old, but ranked just as highly as individuals such as the heiress in terms of her abilities. She was naive, excitable and hyperactive...she was also confident, loyal and lethal. This remarkable girl was backed up on her team by the Schnee daughter herself, the mysterious Miss Belladonna, and her boisterous brawler sister, Yan Xiao Long. Few teams were this well rounded, Ozpin mused to himself.
A slight smirk spread over Professor Ozpin's face. Surely, he had better pawns than his opponent.
The game was on.
Ruby Rose awoke to a silent dorm. She glanced to the right; her sister Yang slept in a sloppy heap on top of her duvet. At least she wasn't snoring, Ruby thought thankfully. Blake Belladonna, the beautiful and mysterious faunus girl, laid propped up against her pillow, reading fiction yet again. Finally, Ruby quietly hopped down from her death-hazard top bunk to check on her partner, Weiss. Only, her partner was not in her bed. Even the duvet had not been flawlessly folded back, as Weiss always did immediately after waking up. Ruby scrunched her face up, curious as to her whereabouts. Weiss does act odd sometimes...but even this is unlike her, Ruby wondered. Weiss always makes sure to get nine hours of sleep every night, the only time she doesn't is to study for big tests. There weren't any big tests coming up...so where was the heiress?
Ruby crossed over to the opposite bunk, climbing up to Yang's bed. Blake watched the younger sister with a smirk, shaking her head as she did.
''Is this a wise idea, Ruby?'' Blake said softly, still smirking. Ruby turned to face her mid-climb,a slight pout on her face.
''I need some help finding Weiss! And Yang might have an idea where she is, soooo...'', Ruby stopped to weigh up whether her soon-to-be actions were worth it, ''...yes. It's worth it!''. Ruby finished with a cheeky grin, turned back around and slowly prowled up her big sister's bed, taking care not to prematurely alert the blonde. Blake rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh, and returned to reading Ninjas of Love: The Passion Chronicles. Not before equipping a pair of ear-muffs onto her sensitive feline ears, however.
Ruby inched closer and closer along the bed, her sister still completely unconcious. Ruby's cheeky grin had grown to a mischeviously large, toothy smile as she lowered her head to a few inches from Yang's ear. Ruby drew in breath quietly.
Blake made sure the ear-muffs were tight on her ears.
A robin outside the window continued to chirp musically.
''YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!'' screeched Ruby into the bruiser's right ear. The power of Ruby's call reverberated through several dormitories. Team JNPR, asleep one dorm down from Team RWBY, all awoke flustered, Jaune falling off his bed in the process. The robin outside Team RWBY's window scarpered, flying as fast as possible in the opposite direction. Blake winced as Ruby's calling seemed to penetrate even these especially thick muffs...
Weiss Schnee lowered Myrtenaster to her side, glancing up at the tower where her team's dorm was. The echo of her partner's powerful (if unmusical) vocals spread across Beacon campus, even reaching Weiss herself in the training courtyard. Weiss scrunched her face up.
Ruby.
With that singular thought in mind, she readied her rapier and attacked the dummy again, linking each move into another to form a flawless, lethal dance.
Yang panicked out of her dream to a monstrous screeching from her energetic little sister. Yang squealed as she awoke in frenzy, smashing her face into the ceiling above her, and immediately recoiling from the pain in her nose. Ruby Rose sat in front of her giggling in her pyjamas, waving like a dork at her. Yang sat up straight, ready to punch her sister across the room.
''RUBY ROSE, I am going to KILL you! This is the THIRD TI-'' Yang was cut off from her fiery rant as Ruby put a finger to her lips. Ruby's face also turned to a serious and determined expression, albeit adorable at the same time.
''Yang you need to help me, there's no time for sleeping in! We are in grave jeopardy!'' Ruby whispered dramatically. Yang rolled her eyes, still clutching her nose. It was difficult to stay mad at the little red chick for long.
''And what jeopardy might that be, annoying lil' sis?'' Yang replied, a little sternly.
''Weiss is missing, Weiss is MISSING!'' exclaimed Ruby, bouncing up and down on the bed as if she couldn't stay still a moment longer. ''She could be anywhere! What is she's been kidnapped? What if she quit the team? What if she was snatched by the Grimm and I wasn't there to save her?! Did YOU kidnap Weiss, Yang? Where did you put her?!''. Ruby continued her barrage of worried questions as Yang slid off her bed and down onto the floor. She casually approached the window as Ruby followed her - still questioning at 100 miles per hour - and the two of them were bathed in the orangey-yellow rays of dawn sunlight. Blake looked on at the two with an unsurprised grin; Blake humoured to herself the idea that if she could hook Ruby up to Vale's power grid. Vale could use her to replace Dust as an energy source.
''Right there.'' Yang said in her drowsy, unimpressed morning tone. Ruby stopped rambling for a second to gaze out of the window, her face pressed up against the glass like a child. ''Where? Where? WHERE?!'' shouted Ruby, before noticing her white haired partner in the training courtyard, practicing her moves in the cold morning air.
''...oh.'' said Ruby, her frenzied energy coming to a stop. Yang, still with an unimpressed and exhausted expression, turned lousily to return to bed. Ruby looked on at Weiss as she attacked multiple practice dummies, again and again, seemingly flowing like water from one to another. Her grace in battle always left Ruby in awe. Ruby finally looked away, much more calm now, and proceeded to gather some clothes from her drawers. Blake let out a single laugh as Ruby left the window.
''You...didn't think to check the window?'' Blake said incredulously.
''...I may have panicked. Just a little though! Not like loads!'' Ruby said, pouting as Blake continued to laugh quietly. ''Why is she up so early to practice though?'' whined Ruby, sitting on her bed with her head rested on her hands. She cared a great deal for her partner; sure, Weiss could be cold and harsh, but she knew that Weiss cared about her too, and that she just had trouble trusting people. After all, Weiss had saved her from a Deathstalker during initiation, and she'd warmed up to Ruby over the course of these first two weeks. Weiss had even been able to get past her troubles with Blake, which spoke volumes about how far Weiss would go if she was encouraged to let people be a part of her life.
''You know Weiss. She doesn't go easy on anyone...most especially, herself.'' replied Blake in her soothing voice. Ruby always found Blake the most re-assuring, for her calming tone in particular. ''Give her the space she needs, Ruby. Her abilities are part of her pride, and her pride is...well, pride is what Weiss was raised to value most, I guess.''
Ruby sulked a little. Weiss had had such a lonely life up until Beacon, this much she knew; it brought Ruby close to tears every time she thought of what Weiss's upbringing must have been like. Seventeen years spent alone, focused only on work and upholding a family name...she was given all the material wealth she could ever want, but she could never have company. Ruby sought to change all that, and make up for the years of loneliness any way she could. She peered out the window at the snowy haired beauty, still fencing with stationary targets in the distance. On her own.
I'll train with you tomorrow, Weiss. No matter how early I have to wake up.