Ruby Rose was not having a good first day at Beacon. Her sister abandoned her, she exploded, got yelled at by some random person, and now she was just too confused and disoriented to do anything but lay on the ground, wallowing in her own self-pity. She would have continued doing so had a shadow not suddenly encompassed her, blocking out the sun. Cracking her eye open a bit, she saw a gloved hand being offered to her.
"Hey… I'm Jaune," The owner of the hand said.
"Ruby," Ruby replied, taking his hand. Jaune lifted her to her feet when she suddenly giggled. "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"
"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune ranted.
"Look, I'm sorry!" Ruby laughed. "Vomit Boy was just the first thing that came to mind,"
"Oh, yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?" Jaune retorted.
"Hey, that explosion was a complete-"Ruby began, but a voice suddenly interrupted her, apparently finishing her sentence for her.
"-Accident!"
Jaune and Ruby looked around for the source of the voice to find a small group of people further down the path. It was a group of four people surrounding a fifth smaller person. The fifth person was a bunny-eared Faunus girl, while the people surrounding her were all human boys.
"Yeah, that's right, you're just an accident," The biggest of the boys sneered. "Did your parents try to dump you off at the pound when you were born?"
"N-no, they're Faunus too-"The girl began, but the boy interrupted.
"Oh, so being a freak runs in the family?" He laughed.
Ruby, through experience, instantly recognized a bullying situation. She unconsciously reached for her weapon, but somebody had already beat her to the point. She heard footsteps, and a green blur shot past her and headed straight towards the bullies. It stopped just short of the Faunus girl's tormenters who, somehow, hadn't noticed it. Ruby snapped herself out of the initial surprise and examined the blur, who she could now clearly see was another boy.
He was fairly tall, a good 6 inches taller than the biggest bully. He had a jacket with a dark camo pattern draped over his shoulders. His hair was bright green and messy, and stopped just short of his ears. His pants were a simple pair of dark jeans. He had his back turned to Ruby, so she couldn't see what his face looked like or anything. It was then that he raised his arm and tapped the big bully on the shoulder.
Said bully turned around with a smirk on his face, only for that smirk to disappear from his face as soon as he saw the stranger's face, which he had to crane his neck slightly to see.
"Y-yeah?" The bully stuttered while puffing his chest out, trying to maintain his intimidation and failing miserably.
"Hi, I couldn't help but notice you were bullying this girl and I just wanted to ask you a question," The stranger said. His voice was a little deep and scratchy.
"What?" The bully replied.
"Are you right handed or left handed?" The stranger asked. The way he said it was slightly… unsettling.
"R-right, why?" The bully growled.
The stranger suddenly moved with impressive speed and grabbed the bully's right wrist and held it above his head.
"I was just wondering which arm I should break," The stranger said, malice dripping from his words. This effectively caused the bully to let out a yelp, wrench his wrist from the stranger's grip, and take off down the path. The rest of the bullies just stood, shaking, in front of the stranger. The green haired man simply leaned forward and said, almost whispered:
"Hi,"
The bullies all screamed in unison and took off after their apparent leader. The stranger straightened himself up and turned around, finally giving Ruby a good look of his front.
Under his jacket was a dark black shirt that hung a bit loosely off his body. His eyes were a dull shade of amber. Across his left cheek and under his right eye were two barely noticeable scars. They looked like they'd been there a long time. Despite the fact he had just scared those bullies off, his face was completely straight, void of any emotion. He was a fairly interesting looking individual overall. He eyed Ruby and Jaune momentarily before returning his gaze to the shaking Faunus girl in front of him. He began to make his way over to her, but every step he took towards her made her shiver even more. He stopped in front of her, leaned down, and offered his hand.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked, his voice void of any malice. Instead, he spoke reassuringly and softly. "Don't worry, those guys are gone,"
The girl looked at his hand, then up at his face. Slowly and hesitantly, she put her hand in his. The green man pulled her up gently and brushed away a tear threatening to roll down her cheek. Ruby guessed he was smiling, as the Faunus girl's mouth formed into a small smile as well.
"My name's Eran, what's yours?" Eran asked.
"V-Velvet," Velvet answered. "Th-thank you, for helping me,"
"Of course, I wasn't just gonna stand by and let them torment you," Eran replied. Ruby and Jaune cringed slightly as he said that. "Are you going to the main hall too? I honestly don't know where I'm going and I could use a little help as well,"
"Of course," Velvet smiled. Eran set off with the Faunus girl, but before he was completely out of sight, he glanced over his shoulder at Ruby and Jaune once more. His gaze was curious and studious, almost like he was analyzing the pair. He turned his head forward once more and walked out of sight.
"Well, that happened," Jaune said.
"Yeah…" Ruby mumbled in reply, her eyes still staring in the direction where Eran and Velvet disappeared to.
"Soooo, do you know where the main hall is?" Jaune asked.
"…No,"
"…Should we follow them?"
"…Yeah,"
Velvet was in a bit of a spin. She had just arrived back at Beacon for her second year, and was almost immediately pounced on by a group of bullies. Being a very sheltered and shy person, Velvet could do nothing to stop their onslaught. Then, out of nowhere, this man called Eran swooped in and shooed off her tormenters. Now, she was leading the fellow student of hers to the main hall for Ozpin's customary speech. Eran was, to her, a very intriguing person. There was something about him that Velvet couldn't quite put her finger on. Wait… what was that sound? Velvet finally noticed the noise coming from Eran. It was very faint, and she doubted she would be able to hear it if she wasn't this close. It sounded like metal clinking against metal.
What's he got under that jacket? Velvet thought to herself.
"Hello?" Eran asked. Velvet was so deep in thought, she didn't notice that Eran was speaking to her until he was waving his hand in front of her face.
"O-oh, sorry, what?" She stuttered. Eran just raised an eyebrow.
"You seemed to be really deep in thought, you okay?" He asked. Velvet smiled awkwardly.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about… things," Velvet replied. Eran gave her a curious glance before returning his attention back to the front of him. Velvet sighed and did the same.
"Oh, there it is!" Velvet suddenly exclaimed, pointing up the path and at a large building with students pouring in.
"Great. Well, thank you for the help Miss Velvet," Eran said, bending slightly in a small bow.
"Oh please, I should be thanking you! You're the one who saved me from those ruffians!" Velvet replied, grabbing his arm.
Ern looked at his arm, then at Velvet. Velvet realized what she was doing and almost jumped backwards in her haste to let go of Eran. She could feel her face lighting up like a Christmas tree.
Bad Velvet, why did you just grab him like that? Velvet mentally scolded herself. Said boy just raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and started to walk away, waving back at her.
"Well, have a wonderful day Miss Velvet," Eran said, bidding the Faunus girl farewell. Velvet gave a small wave in return.
"Goodbye…"
Ruby was relieved to finally arrive at her destination, the main hall. She met up with her sister and immediately pounced on her for leaving her in the courtyard. After a few quickly exchanged words and apologies, Ruby began to explain to Yang what had happened in her absence, until a certain white haired heiress interrupted her.
"-And then there was this girl and she was yelling at me-"Ruby ranted, then said girl interrupted her.
"You!" The white haired girl exclaimed. Ruby yelped and leaped into her sister's arms.
"Oh God it's happening again!" Ruby whimpered.
"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" The white haired girl cried.
"Oh my God you really exploded," Yang mumbled, incredulous.
"Maybe if you didn't leave all of your luggage just lying around, people wouldn't bump into it," A mysterious voice interjected.
The trio of girls looked towards the source of the voice to find a green haired boy standing a few feet away.
"And just who are you?" The white haired girl asked/demanded.
"His name is Eran I think," Ruby replied, but a glare shot at her by the white haired girl made her shrivel into her sister's grasp once more.
"Yes, my name is Eran, Eran Vitae," Eran gave a mock bow while still maintaining his entirely straight face. "And you must be Weiss Schnee,"
Weiss donned a smug smirk.
"Finally, somebody recognizes-"She began, only to be interrupted by Eran.
"The whiniest, most pompous spoiled heiress I've ever had the displeasure of meeting," He concluded. Yang, letting go of Ruby, had to cover her mouth with both hands to prevent the laughter threatening to burst out. Ruby on the other hand was downright astonished with the young man's abrasiveness. Weiss's face was so red with anger Ruby thought she was going to explode.
"How dare you-"
"Tell the truth?"
Weiss spluttered and stuttered, trying to think up a reply, but she could do nothing but growl and stomp off. Eran, seemingly satisfied, came to stand before Ruby and her sister.
"Sorry about that, but someone had to tell her to get her attitude in check," He said. Ruby gave him a curious look, meanwhile Yang gave him a curious look of her own, albeit in different areas.
"So you're name's Eran?" The blonde brawler asked, to which the green haired man nodded. "Well I'm Yang, and this is my little sister Ruby, nice to meet you!"
Yang held out her hand, which Eran grasped hesitantly. It was at this point Yang noticed his scars.
"Cool scars, how'd ya get 'em?" Yang nonchalantly asked. Eran suddenly wrenched his hand from Yang's grip and back to his side.
"An accident," He said quickly. The two sisters leered at him questioningly only for the sound of feedback to interrupt their thoughts.
"If I could have your attention please," A voice boomed forwards from hidden speakers. Every student in the building turned to the stage to find a man dressed in green and holding a mug standing at a microphone.
"I'll… make this brief," He began.
After his speech, Professor Ozpin left the stage and the microphone was in turn taken by a stern looking woman with a Scroll in her hand.
"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed," She informed them. Students slowly began pouring out of the main hall and towards the ballroom. Yang, Ruby, and Eran lingered a little bit after.
"He seemed kind of… off," Yang said.
"It's almost as if he wasn't even there," Ruby agreed. Eran simply stared at the place Ozpin had just been standing before following the lead of the rest of the students. By the time Ruby and Yang noticed he was gone, it was too late to follow him.
"So, how did you know that guy Eran's name?" Yang asked her sister.
"Oh, some guys were bullying this Faunus girl and he swooped in and saved her like a superhero or something. I managed to pick up on his name when he told her," Ruby explained. Yang nodded.
"So, quick witted and handsome, just my type," Yang smirked.
"Ew, Yang you just met him!" Ruby exclaimed, shoving her older sister. The blonde just laughed and shoved her back playfully.
