Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon

The ships landed, and the first thing Lie Ren did upon landing was find steady ground. He ran off the ship and leaned next to the closest wall he could find. "Ugh... damn you, motion sickness... my mortal enemy..."

Yang and Ruby walk off the ship, and have their breath stolen upon viewing the school. It's spanning arches and majestic banners made Beacon a place from a fairy tale. The sisters walked on... until Yang saw some weapons.

"Ohmygosh! Sis! That's a Dust-infused greatsword! Oh-Oh-Oh and that's a triple notched bow!" Yang says, grabbing her sister's arm.

"Ugh... Yang... could you not be a TOTAL weapon nerd for five minutes?" Ruby said, embarrassed at her sister's weapon-gasming.

"Oh, come on! You used to love talking about cool weapons all the time! Remember when you used to talk about your designs for that one scythe, Crescent Rose?"

"Abuh-buh-buh! Yang! We don't talk about that!" Ruby says quickly.

"What? Why not?" Yang asks, thoroughly confused.

"Becau-" Her explanation was cut off by a loud growl.

"... Ruby? Was that your-"

"Hehehe... SorryYangIgottafindthefoodcourtbyyyyyeee!" She says, quickly disappearing and leaving only a trail of rose petals behind.

"SIS! Oh, why she gotta leave now..." Yang groans, deciding to dramatically fall to the ground. Why? Because she felt like it.

That is, if there wasn't a person right behind her that she accidentally knocked over.

"I-ugh! Watch where your going!" She heard. After rubbing her head, she looks up to see a young woman in a jet black dress that reached her shins. She had equally dark hair and held herself with dignity. Cat ears were visible on her head.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't see you there!" Yang apologized quickly.

"Of course you didn't, you fell backwards! You didn't look behind you before you decided to collapse for no reason other than you could!" She yells, though not without good reason.

"I mean, truly? Who does something like that?!"

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Can we just... be friends? My name's Yang, what's yours?" Yang asks, truly sorry for her mistake.

"My-"

"Her name is Blake Belladonna, heir to the Belladonna Dust Company. One of the richest families in Remnant." Another girl spoke up. She wore a white shirt with light blue pants. She wore a trench coat on top of it all and had snow white hair. She didn't do anything to the hair, she simply let it down.

"Well, it's nice to meet someone who knows-"

"A company that's known to have unfair wage distributions that favor faunus over humans. And are also known for their shady business practices that are rumored to often times be illegal." The white-clad girl elaborates, causing the Belladonna to deflate.

"I- You- Oh for the love of- Gah!" She says quite elegantly, storming off before she completely loses it.

"Wow. She's mad. Thanks for the-" She turns to thank the new girl, only to see that she's already walking away, as well.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh... Can't I meet someone and hold a conversation for more than a minute before they give up?" She moans, before dramatically collapsing to the ground a second time, this time being successful. She lay in silence for a minute, but then she heard footsteps walk over to her. She opens her eyes to see the same boy that was motion sick back on the ship extend his hand to her.

"Greetings. Do you need any assistance? My name is Ren."

Yang accepts gratefully accepts his hand. "I guess you could say that. I'm Yang."

She takes a moment to look at him funnily. "Weren't you sick on the trip here?"

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"All that I am saying is that motion sickness is a far more common ailment than most people seem to realize." He interjects. The two of them were walking around campus, talking about various different topics. This one had to do with Yang giving Lie the nickname 'Vomit Boy'...

"I'm sorry, it's just the first thing I thought of. Not sure why, though... Looking back it doesn't seem to fit you..." She muses.

"Perhaps it's because I didn't actually vomit on the ship! Would you prefer if I called you 'Ragdoll'?" He asks, fairly annoyed at his new companion.

"Look, I'm really sorry." She says again.

"Well, my true name is Lie Ren. Short and to the point. A rather dashing name, wouldn't you agree?" He says, trying to be impressive.

"... No?" Yang answers truthfully.

Lie looks like he's about to argue, but stops himself. "Oh, you're probably right. It's not a very flashy name. My mother, An Ren, always say that a simple... Well, never mind." He says quickly, trying to change the subject.

Yang tried to revive the conversation. "Well, I've got this." She says while drawing her katana.

"Whoa! Is... that a katana?" He asks, jumping back slightly.

"Yep. I can also use it's sheath as a pressurized, high accuracy rifle." She explains.

"... Come again?"

"It's also a gun."

"Huh." He says, more impressed by her weapon than his own.

"So... what'chu got?" She asked, not knowing his embarrassment.

"Oh... Well... I have these." Lie says, retrieving his weapons, which were two pistols with knives built in, from his sleeves.

"Cool." Yang says. She had to admit that the whole 'from the sleeve' thing was pretty cool. So she waited to see it's additional functions. Lie picks up on this.

"It, uh, can shoot Dust bullets and if I need to fight up close... I got the sharp ends." He explains crudely.

"Oh, and if I need to put them away I can simply..." He retracts them back into his sleeves. "Put them away." They stay silent for a moment.

"I know they are not very impressive, but they were the easiest weapons available. You see, my parents both served in the military, and these were the standard issued sidearm. I took two and... those were my weapons." He explains.

"Well... Sorry if I was a little judge-y, I'm a bit of a weapon snob. I think using your parent's weapons is a pretty noble thing to do." She explains.

"Yes, noble..." He mutters.

"So... Why'd you help me? You didn't have to, you know..." She says shyly.

"Why wouldn't I? Strangers are just friends we haven't met yet. If I don't help those in need, how can I ever be their friend?" He says, his caring nature making itself apparent.

Yang chuckles. "Let me guess, another thing your mom always says?"

"Guilty as charged." He says with a smile. Yang smiles back.

"So... How close are we to the auditorium?" Yang asks.

"How do you mean?" He asks back.

"Wait, so we're not headed towards the auditorium?" She was starting to get concerned.

"I was under the impression that you were the one leading."

They both stopped in their tracks.

"Perhaps there is a directory nearby?" He suggests.

"A food court, if we're lucky?" Yang chuckles at this. If there was, Ruby was at it right now.

"Some other form of recognizable landmark?" Yang couldn't help but laugh at his demeanor.

"... Is that a no?"

"Don't worry, Hotshot, we'll find the place."

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Yang and Ren walk into the main building, having finally found their destination.

"Hey, Yang! Sis! Get over here! I saved you a spot!" Ruby calls from the crowd.

Yang turns to Ren. "Hey, I gotta go. Maybe we could talk more later?" She says hopefully.

"Of course. It's been a pleasure." He says with immaculate politeness. Once Yang leaves, though, his smile turns upside down.

"Oh, bother. Who will keep me company now?" He says, not knowing an orange-haired prodigy had taken notice of him.

Yang catches up to Ruby. "So how's things been going, big sis?" Ruby asks.

"Oh, not bad... That is until I knocked into a girl by accident and she got REALLY mad at me." She says while getting mad at Ruby.

"Oh, one person getting mad at you couldn't have been that bad." Ruby says dismissively.

"It was when she stormed off about to explode, and then the one person who took my side left immediately after, and then I found someone nice only to get lost immediately afterwords! And right now I just wanna relax because this whole day has been one giant SNOWBALL!" She vents to the younger sister, not knowing someone else was right behind her.

"You." Blake said quietly, yet insidiously.

"OH NO YOU'RE BACK!" Yang screams, clutching Ruby for safety.

"I still haven't forgiven you for slamming yourself into me." She declares.

"Yang, what did you do to her?" Ruby asks, slightly horrified at the possibilities.

"Look, I'm sorry, I just-"

Tap

Tap

Tap

The sound echoed through the auditorium as Headmistress Salem tapped the microphone.

"I will not take up anymore time than needed. I know each of you have arrived here looking to become a Huntsman. As Huntsmen, each of you will be tasked with protecting humanity from whatever attempts to threaten it. However, some of the students in this Academy are only here for the fame and fortune this occupation may provide you." She gives a dark chuckle. "Your time here will separate the worthy from the unworthy. The strong, and the weak. The kind..." She pauses.

"And the cruel. All of you who hold the belief that the strong must protect the weak will graduate this school, and be fully-fledged Huntsman and Huntresses. Those who don't... Will fail." She says ominously.

As Salem walks off the stage, Emerald takes her place. "All of you will sleep in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow you will embark on your initiation tests. After that, you will be assigned dorm rooms, and normal classes will start. Goodnight." She says, before following Salem.

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Everyone was setting down their sleeping bags and changing into their night clothes. Yang was laying face down on her sleeping bag, trying to think of what to write in her letter to both of her mothers. Ruby interrupted her train of thought by landing right next to the older sibling.

"It's like a massive sleep-over!" Ruby says with a grin.

"Not sure Mom would like how many boys are here, though." Yang says responsibly.

"Well I know someone does!" Ruby says enthusiastically, looking over the crowd.

"Rubes, you're fifteen." Yang sternly reminds her.

"So what?! I'm fifteen, I can make choices for myself! And I want to be in a relationship!" She says while crossing her arms. She continues to look over the crowd until she sees Ren in a 'Strawberry Sloth' onesie.

"Ewww..." She decided to stop looking around for a few minutes. She looks over to Yang, instead. "What'cha writing there?"

"Just a letter back home. Mother wants me to send back a few letters. She wants to know how Beacon's like... if I've made any friends... you know, the normal parent stuff." She explains.

"Too bad I don't have much to write about in the friend department..." She laments.

"Don't say that! You have Lie, and he's... okay." She says, trying to be as nice as humanly possible in this situation. Or as nice as she can possibly be, anyway.

"Yeah, but now I have Blake mad at me. Now I have one friend and one enemy." She says, bummed out about the whole situation.

Ruby didn't want to press her too hard on the subject, she knew Yang wasn't a people-person. "Well... what about Aunt Raven? Are you going to write to her, too?" She asks.

"Yeah, but I'm going to send those to Mother, too. I never know where Mom goes so I just have Mother hold onto them until she gets back. Though, the stuff I write isn't relevant anymore. You know how Mom gets... She does one job, goes after another, and before you know it it's been a month." She says, slightly bitter.

"Yang... You know that Aunt Raven is out there fighting Grimm and protecting people, right? That when we graduate, we'll be doing the exact same thing?" Ruby asks her sister.

Yang sighs. "I know. I still miss her, though." She says forlornly.

"I miss her, too, Yang." Ruby says, holding Yang's hand.

After a moment of comforting silence, Yang notices someone in the distance. "Hey... It's that girl from before." She says simply, seeing the white-haired mistress that assisted her earlier.

"Wait, you know her? Then let's go talk to her! You'll totally be best friends!" She says somewhat loudly, considering a few people in the ballroom were trying to sleep.

"What- No! Ruby, quit it!" Yang says as she is being dragged away by Ruby. Despite Yang being the older sibling Ruby's strength as a pugilist overcame that.

Weiss Schnee was currently enjoying a book when she heard the sounds of a scuffle nearby. And getting closer. And distracting her from her book. She looks up.

Ruby was pulling her sister by the arm over to the Schnee. "Hi! I think you and my sister have meet before?" She says, slightly tired from pulling Yang.

Weiss looks over at Yang. "... Weren't you the girl that collapsed in the courtyard?"

Yang looks embarrassed. "Well... Yeah... You see, I was really stressed out and angry, and I was really in a dramatic mood, and... You know" She tries to explain to the best of her ability.

"... No, no I don't." Weiss deadpanned. She looks back at her book.

"... Come on, Ruby. She doesn't want to talk to us." Yang said, nudging her sister.

"What kinda book is it?" Ruby asks.

"Huh? Oh, well... It's a book about a woman with two souls, slowly becoming one over a period of years." Weiss explains.

"Cool... I love books. My mom used to read to us all the time. She'd tell stories about Huntsmen and Huntresses... Protecting the people... Before I knew it, I wanted to be one as well. I wanted to protect those who can't protect themselves." She explains.

"That's... very admirable of you. But I have to warn you, the real world isn't like the fairy tales your mother told you. It's cruel, and unforgiving." Weiss explains with a sympathetic look.

"Well... That's what we're here for, right? To make the world as forgiving as possible." She said, filled with optimism.

"Yes... Yes, I suppose it is." Weiss says, a small smile showing on her face.

"Could you please quiet down? There are people here trying to get some rest!" The cat girl Blake said, walking over to them. She realizes who they are.

"OH, COME ON!" Ruby and Blake yell at the same time.

As Ruby and Blake started arguing, Weiss just rolled her eyes, and blew out her candle.

Author's Notes: HOLY CRAP. After just one 2,700 word chapter this story just blew Team ERTH out of the water! 3 reviews, 6 favorites, and 7 followers! You guys are awesome! Now that I have some reviews I'll be responding to them in the author's notes and through replies.

Bomberguy789:

Well, this is definitely an interesting one. Literally no one is as they were! Does this mean that Nora is going to be some super famous fighter, or is that going to be something crazy like Weiss? Who the hell knows!
Because this is going to get so interesting... (I'm betting that Tai is now the cool uncle by the way, and that some other dude ran away instead of staying with their kid)

Trust me, I've got a LOT of crazy swaps planned out. Though there are characters that aren't straight swapped, and simply take one character's role while the character that got replaced will take up a completely different character.

Lord of Memory:

Very good. It is a great start to what I hope will be an amazing story. Also props for making a swap story not many of those around

Thanks! I was just walking around one day at school and the idea came to me.

SilverArbiter:

I was honestly expecting Cinder to replace Glynda, not Emerald.

But nonetheless, this story does have promise, I can't wait for more chapters to come out.

Actually, that was the original plan, but I found a way cooler(and weirder) way to incorporate her. And chapters shouldn't take too long to come out, hopefully, since this is running parallel to the show.

Thank you all so much for reading my story! It means a lot to me! See you next episode!