Ruby had been so excited to be attending Beacon Academy. For one, she got to attend Beacon right alongside her older sister, so Yang couldn't keep lording the fact that she got accepted over Ruby's head anymore. For another, Ruby had been enrolled two years early! And the second Ruby stepped onto campus, she saw all of those weapons the students were carrying! There was that rocket launcher with the katana, that lance attached with a flamethrower, that briefcase that just had to be a minigun kept in incognito mode…

But then Yang had left to hang out with her friends – which basically meant she had left her little sister in the dust to go make out with her boyfriend. Then that dust became actual Dust which Ruby had accidentally sneezed into an explosion, Weiss Schnee chewed her out for it, and Ruby found herself all alone in the middle of the main road to Beacon.

Well, there was Jaune, but he seemed to be just as socially awkward as Ruby was. They were making small talk until there was an inevitable lull in their conversation. After Ruby had made a little joke about Jaune's "smooth" introduction of himself, neither of them knew what to say next.

"So," Ruby drawled out in indecision until a bout of inspiration struck her, "I got this thing." She whipped out Crescent Rose in all of her crimson, metallic beauty. Jaune jumped back, startled.

"W-Whoa!" he stuttered as he regained his bearings. He eyed Crescent Rose in slight bemusement "I-Is that a scythe."

Ruby nodded resolutely. "It's also a –"

"Ho-ly shit!"

Both Ruby and Jaune jumped at the swear. Other students that were ambling pass them looked at something behind the pair. Ruby and Jaune followed their gazes to see someone walking toward them. He wore some slim-fitting jeans and dark, obsidian boots. There was a red scarf draped around his neck, and it was tucked under the collar of his black leathery jacket.

Ruby's eyes drifted to the stranger's gloved hands. He was holding a… bat? Was his weapon a bat? The grip had a wooden texture, but Grimm can tear apart wood with only a flick of a finger. It may have just been a khaki paint. What else was on that weapon? Ruby couldn't see since the bat was resting on the stranger's shoulder, and the other half of the bat was hidden behind his head. Maybe the bat had a – Wait a second. Ruby's eyes drifted to the stranger's face. His black hair was slicked back, and his eyes were staring intently on Crescent Rose, just like how Ruby was staring at his weapon.

"Hot-diggity-dog!" Once the boy was in arm's reach of Ruby and Jaune, he took one final step and leaned his upper body over Ruby's weapon, admiring it. "Is that a fucking scythe?" His eyes followed down the snath and to the blade. "That's also a fucking gun?"

The awe the stranger was showing made Ruby smile. She was thankful she wasn't the only one on campus crazy about weapons. She raised Crescent Rose with a flourish, showing it off. "Yup. It's also a customized, high-impact sniper rifle."

Jaune looked confused. "A what?"

Ruby pulled the bolt back for emphasis. "Like he said, it's also a gun," she clarified plainly.

"No shit," the jacket guy said. "I knew huntsmen and huntresses were supposed to be badasses, but this thing is just fucking awesome!" He extended a hand, curling up his fingers, and waggled his index finger, inches away from Crescent Rose. "Can I touch it?"

Now it was Ruby who looked confused. "What?"

"Can I touch it?" he repeated, still staring at the scythe. "Just a little bit. Come on, it's a scythe that shoots sniper rifle rounds. I gotta touch it. Promise I won't hurt it."

"Uh," Ruby glanced between her weapon and the stranger. He still had that enthusiastic smile. His bright, white teeth were exposed and reflecting off some of the sunlight. "Sure, I guess." He proceeded to trace his finger along the blade's underside to the very tip. He brought it back up to the barrel part of the rifle, swirling invisible circles against the metal along the way.

"You take good care of this girl, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Ruby affirmed. She pulled her scythe away from the jacketed boy to caress the weapon for herself, pushing away imaginary grime off of it. "I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I went a little overboard in designing Crescent Rose, but I make sure she stays up and running."

Jaune spoke up. "Wait, you made that?"

"Of course. All students at Signal forge their own weapons."

The jacketed boy let out an impressed whistled. "Hot damn. Made it all by your lonesome, straight from scratch?"

Ruby thought about Uncle Qrow. "Well, my uncle helped me a little bit, and he taught me how to use a scythe to begin with, but putting all the nuts and bolts together – that was all me."

The jacketed boy chuckled. "Boy, aren't you the little badass, whipping out that giant sniper rifling scythe like it's nothing."

Ruby winced at the swear and pouted. "I'm not that little."

"Heh. Could've fooled me. Looks like you need more milk in your diet, missy."

The young Rose perked up at that last comment, placing her hands on her hips as she took a haughty disposition. "As a matter of fact, I do drink milk. I'll be as big and tall as you, sooner than you might think." And, now that he was done leaning over and eyeballing Crescent Rose, Ruby realized that the stranger was at least a head and a half taller than Ruby. "Oh, and I'm Ruby. This is Jaune. Who are you?"

If possible, the bat-boy's smile grew even wider. Leaning on one foot, he looked between Jaune and Ruby, as if considering who he should be speaking directly to, before settling on Ruby. "Well, hello there," he greeted, bowing slightly. "I'm Negan." Then he pulled the bat off his shoulder to show it off to the newly enrolled Hunters-in-training.

Up close, Ruby could confirm that the bat was definitely made of wood. The texture looked just right, and Ruby's spent enough time sorting through materials in Forgery class to recognize the difference between wood and metal… partly because she once accidentally set fire to the Forgery classroom because she mishandled a piece of wood, but Ruby digressed. There was also barbed wire wrapped around the upper half of the bat. Ruby could tell that Negan's weapon was specially cared for, too, what with how shiny and nice-smelling it was.

"And this," Negan continued, eyeing his bat with the same look of adoration as he had worn when examining Crescent Rose, "is Lucille, and she… is… awesome."

"Uh, nice," Jaune commented a bit hesitantly. "Looks like it's homemade. Right?"

"You can bet your blonde balls that she's homemade, Jauny boy," Negan responded. Jaune's lips quivered as he raised an eyebrow, processing Negan's words. Ruby might have done the same thing, but she was too busy looking at and examining the bat.

"It looks like it's in really good condition," Ruby observed, "but doesn't the barbed wire get in the way when killing Grimm? You know, like, if it gets stuck on the fur and flesh and –" Ruby raised her head to meet Negan's eyes. Instead, she found herself looking down the barrel of a handgun.

"Boom!" Negan hollered. Ruby and Jaune hopped back on reflex. Ruby wrapped her arms protectively around Crescent Rose, and Jaune threw up his arms in a desperate move of self-defense. Negan started chortling heartily, waving the bat and the gun around. "Oh, you should see the looks on your faces! Gotta be pissing your pants, am I right?"

"Jeez, man." Jaune had a hand pressed against his chest, lightly gasping for air. "Warn a guy next time. Gun safety's important."

"Aw, come on, Jauny boy. Don't be such a pussy. I'm just busting your balls, is all." Negan, smirking at Jaune, twirled the gun with his finger through the trigger guard. "And I call this one Little Jeffery."

Negan looked to Ruby, who was at an impasse as to whether start panting like Jaune to steady her breath or to meet Negan's grin with one of her own. Awkward laughter tended to be the better option compared to awkward silence, in Ruby's experience.

"Grimm can't do shit when Lucille's getting it on with one," Negan explained, patting the bat with the pistol. "And if they get too wily, Little Jeffery comes in to ruin the fun." He pretended to fire the gun again, pulling it up to simulate the recoil, before putting it back in its holster. "Lucille gets jealous whenever Little Jeffery jumps in, though, so he only comes out during special occasions, or when things are too fucked for Lucille to have time to be jealous."

Ruby opted for the grin. "Well, it sounds like you take good care of both Lucille and Little Jeffery. What about you, Jaune? What's your weapon?"

Jaune presented his broadsword and a collapsible shield. It was a simple combination, hardly with any innovations added or made to it, but you can never go wrong with the classics. Ruby told him as much.

Negan wasn't as impressed, probably because Jaune fumbled with the collapsible shield and nearly fell over. "Do you even know how to use those things?"

"I do! I've had… plenty of practice."

Ruby was starting to doubt Jaune. His response was a little too defensive, but maybe it was just first-day-at-school jitters. "Well," Ruby said, "we're about to get a lot of practice with all of our weapons for the next few years!" Ruby internally berated herself for saying something so generic. She was just asking for another awkward silence. She had to think of something quick, something that the boys could really respond to, or –

"Practice?" Negan shook his head, holding Lucille with both of his hands behind his back. "We're supposed to be badass Huntsmen, killing Grimm and saving the world and all that. Right? Academy or not, you don't 'practice' at saving the world. You just do it." Negan swung Lucille around, rotating his whole body 360 degrees along with the bat. "You just swing and hope for the best. Know what I'm saying?"

Unconsciously, Ruby found herself nodding with Negan. "Yeah, I think so. It shouldn't be so hard to just do the right thing, right?"

"Exactly!" Negan extended his index finger again, poking Ruby on her nose. "Oh, you are just adorable."

Ruby slapped the Negan's hand away before scratching her nose. "What?"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't take you seriously." Negan pulled at his chin with his free hand, twirling Lucille around in his other hand with his wrist. "You're totting a scythe that's a gun that's gotta be twice your size, attending the best damn Huntsman Academy on Remnant, and you're wearing a fucking dress. I mean, are Grimm supposed to be wowed by your little fashion statement, or is there a secret weapon you're keeping under the dress that's even more badass than the scythe?"

"It's a combat skirt," Ruby defended her choice of attire.

"What, you mean like for gladiators?" Negan squinted his eyes, scrutinizing Ruby's face. "Hell, how old even are you? Thirteen, fourteen? You some sort of child prodigy to get into Beacon so young?"

And this was exactly the type of thing Ruby wanted to avoid, of people calling her out for being accepted into Beacon two years early. "Fifteen, actually," Ruby meekly corrected Negan, "but I'm not much of a prodigy. It was more of a… lucky break that got me here. Right place, right time – that kind of thing." Ruby took a step back from Negan. It didn't look like he cared much for personal space.

Negan removed his hand from his chin, revealing his toothy smile. "Well, we all have to start somewhere." Negan backed away, hopefully catching on to how uncomfortable he was making Ruby feel. "Speaking of, any of you two know where first-years are supposed to be heading towards for orientation? Been wandering aimlessly for fifteen, twenty minutes tops without a clue as to where the hell I'm supposed to go."

"That's a good question," Ruby said. "Any ideas, Jaune?"

"Wait, you're asking me?" The blonde scratched the back of his head. "I was following you. I thought you knew where we were supposed to be going."

"Nope! I'm just about as lost as you are."

"Oh… Uh, maybe there's a directory somewhere? A recognizable landmark? Any signs the staff might have put up to guide new students to orientation?"

Ruby shrugged. "I didn't see anything like that when we left the ship."

Negan let out an obnoxious sigh. "You know what? I have an idea. How about you and Jauny boy go ask someone where we're supposed to go, and I'll go take a piss." Negan clapped his hands. "Ready team? And, break!" With that final exclamation, Negan strutted away.

"So," Jaune said as he and Ruby watched Negan disappear around a corner, "he was… loud."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, "and he has a dirty mouth on him." Some of Yang's friends and even Yang herself said bad things sometimes, but they were never as bad or casual as Negan with their language. "Still, I like him!"

"You're just saying that because he liked your scythe," Jaune teased.

"No I –" Ruby realized she was still hugging Crescent Rose close to her chest. "M-Maybe. I really like weapons, okay! Not everyone appreciates the work that goes into making and developing them." Ruby stroked her baby as she would have stroked Zwei, tenderly and with unbashful affection. "At least Negan understands."

"He was being kinda weird about it, though, you know?" Jaune mimicked Negan, bringing a finger up to poke at the air. "'Can I touch it?' Seriously, who asks something like that?"

"Our weapons are extensions of ourselves," Ruby said, repeating the same thing she had said to Yang earlier. "They're a part of us as Huntsmen and Huntresses. Even with Aura and Semblances, without quality weapons to work in tandem with our Semblances, then we're practically useless." Once Ruby felt Crescent Rose was reasonably cuddled with, she stored it behind her back. "Maybe if you had a little more practice with your own weapons, you'd understand better."

"I do practice with them! I know how they work! I, uh, understand plenty!"

"I guess we'll see if you really 'understand plenty when combat classes start, won't we?" Ruby was no longer defensive and was only teasing Jaune with her own small smile now.

Indiscriminate yelling suddenly caught Ruby and Jaune's attention. It was a girl's voice, Ruby recognized. They watched as Negan reappeared around the corner he had previously left from. There was a jump in his step as he practically skipped toward Jaune and Ruby.

"Word of note," Negan said quietly once he was in hearing distance, "the restrooms around here aren't color-coded. You have to look at the stick figures on the doors to figure out which one's which."

"You went inside the girls' restroom?" Jaune asked in disbelief. "Was that what that screaming was about?"

"Well, I want to say that was me literally fucking a sweetheart's brains out and then subsequently fucking them back in, and she was just trying to get all of her faculties straight afterward, but I don't want to come off as crass, now do I?"

Ruby had to take a second to process Negan's words, and she pulled her hood over to hide her pinkish face once she was done. Yeah, Yang's friends had nothing on Negan's vocabulary. Not even Merle, and Yang had told her about how Merle knew a lot of inappropriate jokes about Faunus.

"Of course you don't," Ruby heard Jaune mutter quietly. "Why would anyone want to think you were crass of all things?"

"But that's not my point," Negan continued. "My point is that I found out where the hell we're supposed to be going: the amphitheater, and I know the directions to get us there, too." Negan stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Ruby and Jaune. With the two of them at Negan's sides, he ushered them down the stone path. "Let's go, classmates! Don't want to be late on our first day of school!"

Despite the growing heat in Ruby's cheeks, she managed to keep her head up and watch her step as Negan pushed her and Jaune onward. Her eyes caught Lucille, her barbed end dangerously close to Ruby. Negan's hand was resting on Ruby's shoulder, so the bat was sagging in the air right in front of her.

Negan shook Ruby, startling her. "Hey, no need to be afraid of Lucille, Ruby. She's a dirty girl, but she knows her manners."

Ruby just smiled and nodded politely. Negan may have not been the first person she expected to strike a rapport with, but he was definitely an interesting one.