By the time she reached the center 'plaza' of Patch, the subtle flurries Ruby left her Dad's house in had flourished into a heavy blizzard that blanketed every surface in mounds of snow. The constant downfall became so bad that the wolves couldn't wade through it anymore, so she currently carried them in her arms under her dark red cloak. Fierce winds swept through town, each gust kicked up motionless snow on a fresh ride, and in the process made the poor girl's cloak flap about, never able to come to rest and provide Ruby the warmth she oh-so-desperately craved.

The howling of wind nearly drowned out chimes, the tell-tale sign to employees that someone has entered the building, if the clunk of Ruby's boots didn't give it away immediately afterwards.

A cry of "be right there" sounded forth from one of the rooms behind the counter. Ruby put her pups down, before she took a moment to shake the snow from her cloak. She glanced up to find herself in a nicely furnished lobby. Immediately to the left of the door is a pair of leather couches and a loveseat that surrounded a glass table and a very inviting fireplace. On the other side of the room was a small dining room, furnished with a mahogany table and chairs, a kitchen visible behind it. Throughout the lobby, the walls were adorned with generic framed pictures, simple things like flowers in vases.

"Hello!" A friendly male voice spoke up from a counter toward the back. "Can I help you?"

"Uhm, yes," Ruby's voice cracked, and she cleared her throat to stop it, making her aware of a very pressing need, "Do you have any hot chocolate?" The man smiled.

"Yeah. That'll be one lien," he half-shouted as he went behind the counter into the employee break room, presumably to grab Ruby her beverage.

Ruby walked over and dropped herself into one of the couches around the fireplace, her hands held out to warm up. Sköll, the yellow-gray wolf, jumped up into her lap to help warm her, using his natural heat to chase away leftover cold, and somehow he managed to be the cutest thing Ruby has ever seen in her thirteen summers of life. The other two wolves come around and lay next to her feet. As the attendant returned with a mug of cocoa, he seemed to give Ruby a once over as if to confirm something.

"Little miss, you wouldn't happen to be Mr. Branwen's niece, would you?" At a quick nod, not fully aware of much other than the chocolate and Sköll's warmth, a card flashed in her view. "I was told to hand, and I quote, 'a cloaked girl with three adorable pups' his room key."

"Oh, uhh, thanks!" The aforementioned cloaked girl grabbed the keycard from the counter-guy's hand, and stuffed it in the flaps of the cloak around her neck. At the man's questioning gaze, Ruby replied, counting her reasons off on her fingers, "no pockets, no one ever looks in the cloak when pickpocketing, and I am not an easy person to mug." He shrugged and returned behind the counter at the back of the room. Ruby pulled her scroll from her cloak, and opened the message center to private message Qrow, 'I take it you're cleaning the apartment? Come get me when you're done, I'm in the lobby,' before leaning back in the chair, cherishing the warmth of Sköll.

Soft shaking brought Ruby back to the world of the living, and with a few blinks of her eyes noticed her uncle standing over her.

"Was this morning that rough for you? It's not like you to fall asleep before dinner at the least." Qrow smiled, watching it slowly dawn on his niece what time it is. Ruby shot up in her seat, looking around the apartment building's lobby for a window to see where the sun is. 'Wait, blizzard. No sun.' She thought to herself, relaxing once more.

"No, just comfy." Emphasizing her point, the girl stood up to stretch, and nearly forgot Sköll cuddled into her. The pup was sent sprawling to the ground, only to be caught in a flurry of petals. "Oh no! I'm sorry Sköll."

"...comfy. Yup. Come on. Let's go to the room." The uncle-niece duo walked up three flights of stairs and a hall before they stood before the room. A plain white plaque bore the number of his room, 314. When the door opened with a swipe of Qrow's keycard, it pulled itself into the wall, and revealed the two room apartment she remembered. The first room was a rather open living room: television, couches, and a small but functional kitchen in the corner. Straight across from the hallway door was another door she knew led to Qrow's bedroom, and from there into the only bathroom in the apartment.

"Since I only have the one bed, I took the liberty of cleaning it out and putting your stuff back there. I'll just sleep on the couch whenever I'm not out on some mission or another."

Ruby nodded and walked to the kitchen to dispense the cup from her hot cocoa, only to realize the trash can was filled to the brim with trash, kept closed with at least a dozen empty pizza boxes that sat on top.

"Uncle Qrow. I like pizza as much as the next person, but how can you keep fit on that kinda diet?" Ruby quipped, turning around to watch as her uncle waved her off.

"Hunting, as it turns out, is really good exercise," he pointed toward the fridge, "there are sodas and sparkling waters in there, I'll go get dinner later." Qrow then smiled, a look somewhere between scheming and self-satisfaction, "you have a year and a half between now and when your sister goes to Beacon. That's plenty of time to get you ready for that level of combat. Beginning tomorrow."

Ever so slowly, Ruby's small grin widened.

The Next Day, Eighteen Months till Beacon...

"Why exactly did you bring me to the Patch range?" Ruby's confusion was not misplaced, gun ranges are normally reserved for civilians, as hunters and those who aspire to become one could find better targets for training in the wilderness.

Qrow said nothing as he led her to the back of the room. He pressed a few buttons on the side panel, which pulled up a holographic beowulf. Regions throughout the beast's body signalled where to aim.

"You only use Crescent Rose's gun mechanism as a way to gain momentum in your swings, correct?"

"That, and I can always stab her blade into the ground for stability when firing."

"Well, let's put it this way; you won't always have time to do that, or it won't give you enough coverage. I also know that your scythe has a lot of recoil, so I can't start you off with that." Qrow reaches into his jacket pocket and pulled out a shiny silver handgun, "this is a fifty caliber hand cannon. Since I helped you make Crescent Rose, I know that this has approximately one-fifth the recoil she does. I want you to come down here whenever I'm out—or every weekend during school—and fire at the beowulf. Minimize bullet spread, but also work on holding down its recoil, and get it to the point where you can hold it completely still while firing. I want its recoil to not affect you at all." Qrow clapped his niece's shoulder, watching her face twist in acceptance of the challenge. "I'll come and check on you at lunch and dinner every day you come down here."

"So does this mean I can-"

"You don't get to customize the pistol until you've mastered its recoil!" Qrow exclaimed as he walked away and out the building. Ruby pouted, then stuck out her tongue in concentration, aiming down the sights at the holographic beowulf.

Twelve Months till Beacon…

If there's one sound Ruby could listen to for days on end, it would be the scraping of whetstone on Crescent Rose's blade. The sound was so satisfying, so fulfilling, that she was sure she could hear it every day for years, and not have to fill any lonesome void.

Suffice to say she was not happy when the apartment manager came to her Uncle's room to tell the cloaked girl she wasn't allowed to sharpen the blade indoors. She protested, and in the end the agreement reached allowed her to do it either outside, or in the lobby on particularly cold days. This also lowered the crime rate in the immediate area. Apparently a thirteen-almost-fourteen-year old girl running a whetstone over her blade like an executioner frightened people. Ruby wasn't sure why.

It wasn't like she was sharpening for no reason right now either. The other day, she had impaled a beowulf against a tree, and the tree actually stopped her cut. That was her first indication that it wasn't sharp enough. Afterwards, under closer inspection, she realized that the tree she nicked dented her blade!

"Gah!" Ruby's half-heartedly angry thoughts finally shook her back into reality, causing her to look about in confusion for a moment. She sat in the lobby while her uncle grabbed coffee, with a much larger pack of wolves laying around her. Each wolf had grown stupendously. According to the website she has been using, they're already past half their full grown size, which is to be expected. Also according to that website, she was lucky she found them when she did. They start to eat solids around three to four weeks old. A bit sooner and she would've been screwed.

Then something odd happened. Outwardly, the average observer would have seen Ruby freak out, and fall backward off the bench she was sitting on, maybe even hear the albino wolf grumble. Inwardly, however, Ruby heard, 'don't think that way, momma,' from Hati's direction. Naturally, she wasn't prepared for it, and squeaked in surprise. She fell off her bench and hit her head on the ground. Crescent Rose's safety forced the scythe closed as it hits the floor, clattering away in a safe, collapsed red box.

"Squirt?" Her uncle asked, his brow lifting, as Ruby crashed to the ground in an undignified heap. He spotted the folded weapon on the ground and looks back to her, sipping his coffee. "I have to admit munchkin, I did not expect you to fall apart in the time it took me to get coffee. We have more work ahead of us than I thought," he joked, smirk hidden behind his mug.

"It's not like that! Hati... just spoke to me." Ruby mentioned, looking at the white wolf in fascination for a moment, before she turned back to Qrow. An odd look grew on his face.

"She spoke to you? I'm assuming you mean with words and not some kind of barking," he asked, seeking some clarification as he drank his coffee. He looked into the brown, creamy substance and wondered if he should have gone for a stronger blend. If he's going to deal with Ruby having a mental breakdown, he might need it. "Are you sure you didn't just imagine it or something?"

'Tall human is back, does he bring food?' came a deeper tone as Fenrir stood and stretched, the wolf's jaw worked a moment before he padded over and around Qrow. He sniffed at the air, then let out a soft huffing sound and moved back to Ruby. 'Hungry, we eat now?' The 'voice' came again from the black wolf as he looked expectantly at the girl. Ruby stared back until she broke eye contact, looking to Qrow with wide eyes. She hardly believed the words herself.

"He said he's hungry…"

Qrow's confusion turned to genuine worry as he crouched to bring himself level with his niece, "Ruby, Fenrir didn't say anything. Well, not with words. There was a growl. So I need to be very clear on this. Are you actually hearing voices, or just interpreting their sounds and body language?" Ruby looked at the wolves as they gathered around her. She continued feeling uncertain, and the concern on her uncle's face failed to provide much comfort. The girl laid her hands on Hati and Sköll, which seem to settle them. The warm fur under one hand was a nice counterbalance to the cold fur under the other hand; both provided steady comfort for the young girl herself as she answered the question.

"Voices. I hear them as if they were talking to me." As she glanced at Fenrir, she wondered how he can be hungry again already. She had fed them just over an hour ago.

A chuffing sound came from Sköll that sounded suspiciously like a snicker. 'Fen always hungry momma, Fen get fat.' She heard, before the chuffing continued, joined softly by Hati. The black wolf gave a growl of irritation, before bowling his sibling over. A play fight started as Fenrir tried to ensure his dominance over his brother and sister. Qrow watched in amusement as Hati immediately capitulated, while Sköll seems to drag the play out. The professional huntsman's mind turned over what he's learned about Ruby and the wolves, before a curious thought surfaced. His gaze turned into a calculating stare. He picked up Crescent Rose and handed it to his niece.

"Ruby come with me a moment, leave the wolves. We will be just around the corner." She hesitated, but obeyed. Her eyes watched as Fenrir managed to pin Sköll down and lay his body over his brother to assert himself. The antics received a smile from the young girl. Around the corner Qrow bent back to look at the wolves, before returning his attention to Ruby. He wondered if he wasn't going just as crazy as he was concerned his adorable niece is. He shook the thought off and turned back to Ruby, who remained watching him with curiosity.

"I want you to call them over here Squirt. But do it without saying anything. Just focus on thinking that you want them to come to you." Now it was Ruby's turn to give him a skeptical look, before she shrugged and closed her eyes. Qrow moved to watch the wolves again. There was a moment where nothing seemed to happen, before ears perked up and heads swiveled toward them. Ruby's little pack of adolescent wolves stood and darted over to them in a hurry to circle the young girl.

They were hearing each other's thoughts. It should be impossible, and yet the evidence was right in front of him in the form of his giggling niece. She bent down to scratch behind the ears of an insistent Sköll. The old hunter rubbed at his chin as a grin slowly spread. His hand moved to ruffle Ruby's head playfully, before he spoke again.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to come up with a way to train all three of them along side you."

Nine Months till Beacon…

'Mama!' At the cry of distress, Ruby's head turned in the direction of the forest, rose petals flew from the tips of her hair. Hati called in such a fearful tone, and Ruby's heart sped up dramatically. With pistol in hand, she darted out of the gun range without so much as thinking to turn off the holographic grimm.

'Sköll, Fenrir, do you know where she is?'

'No,' came their "voices" one after the other, and from the tone Ruby could tell they were worried too, despite how hard Fenrir tried to hide it. At their negatives, she kicked her semblance into high gear. At such high speeds, Ruby barely registered as the wind snapped tree branches and whipped about anything not nailed down. She scanned her surroundings, which was little more than a blurry mess, looking for a spot of white amongst the green backdrop of the forest she just charged into.

To her left, Ruby heard Sköll's beastial howling over the wind of her semblance, and she stopped as quickly as she could. Like a desperate, worried parent, she dashed off in the same direction as Sköll, before the wave could even catch up to her. A wall of vines, thicket, and bushes stop her in her tracks, with just enough space between each plant to see the other side. In the thick of the forest lay Hati with a nasty wound on her side. Sköll towered protectively between the white wolf and an Ursa Major, of all things. The best way Ruby could describe the grimm in this moment was big, ugly, spiky, and threatening. So many spikes, not enough time. The fearful mother of wolves pulls on the thicket in vain, nature's might too much for young Ruby. Quickly, she checked her unnamed pistol. Ruby realized that unfortunately, she didn't reload before she ran out the door like a fool. All she can do is sit down, and watch.

The ursa crept nearer, strangely cautious of the wolf in front of it. Creature of anonymity or no, it displayed a sense of self typical of much older Grimm. It pawed a bit too close; the ursa stepped one back when Sköll yipped at it viciously in protection of his sister. He turned his snout skyward, let out a howl, and…

The strangest feeling washed over Ruby, like she's tapped into her semblance, but very obviously not her semblance manifested. A decent sized boulder formed in the air right above the ursa, bits of pebble and sand flew toward a center mass. It dropped after it formed, and caught alight midway down. Never has an ursa sounded more confused than when the boulder smashed its cranial cavity and spread its fire along the slowly fading corpse.

Fenrir rushed around the corner, grabbed a limb in his mouth, and without even blinking, ripped it from it's socket. He shook it in his jaw before he threw it at the wall of thicket between Ruby and her wolves.

The self proclaimed mother of wolves hiccuped, wide eyed, and slowly let her tears run free. Sobs echoed into the forest. Ruby realized just how close she was to losing Hati and Sköll.

Sköll turned towards his mother and tilted his head, 'what's wrong mamma?'

She smiled, but didn't stop sobbing. Behind her, something rustled in the underbrush, and Ruby panicked at the noise. She turned around, petals flying every which way, trigger half pulled on her pistol. Not that it will help much, what with its empty magazine, but still.

Her uncle stood there, hands held up, one clearly clasped around a bottle, "well this looks like a story."

Four Months till Beacon…

"So... why did you want me to come to the shooting range with you?" Jaune looked up at his much taller father.

"You yourself said you want to be a hero. And while hunter is, well a bit out of the question already, I wanted to give you a chance." His dad replied. The brown hair signature of Jaune's dad's mop of hair contrasted starkly with his own blond. "So, for today at least, you're gonna join me somewhere you'll get very accustomed to in police work. You're not gonna be shooting anything today, so just get used to the atmosphere… or something. Talk to people. And don't get yourself into too much trouble."

"Got it, trouble levels will be kept at a reasonable average." Jaune smirks.

His father glared at him halfheartedly before grumbling, "smartass."

Jaune walked to sit down at a bench and wait, content to watch his father empty magazine after magazine of blanks into the holographic grimm. For a while, that's all he did, but a bit into his stay, his patience wore thin. As he gazed around the range he was forced against his will to sit in, taking note of everyone there. Rather typical people for the most part, civilian game hunters and the occasional jock who decided gun lessons would be fun. But at the last range stood a girl with a powerful looking handgun in… well, in hand. Her range set to the furthest setting, and she looked to be firing live ammo.

Having found that strange, Jaune then eyed at rest of her, curious about her identity. She had an admittedly beautiful face, and couldn't be much younger than himself. That's good. But perhaps the most identifying possession of her's had to be the long red cloak draped across her shoulders.

Now, who else did Jaune know where's a red cloak? He would swear if asked, he's seen another very similar to it. He stood, and walked toward her with the intent of asking about the cloak, and maybe score a few points in the relationship department, when about halfway he stopped in his stride.

'The huntsman! What's his name? Crow? The guy with the scythe! That's where I've seen a cloak like that before!' Jaune's eyes widen, as he looked at the young woman with less curiosity and more fear. 'Could they be related?'

Gulping, Jaune continued forward, fully intent on completing his original mission and talk to the little girl before him, despite every cell in his body screaming at him to turn around. A few feet from the girl, the first thing he noticed was her perfume, the gentle aroma of roses almost had him intoxicated right then and there. It took the rest of his willpower that wasn't currently keeping him from running not to sigh in appreciation. Steadying his heart and conviction, he stepped forward.

'Will he just stop it? This is really weirding me out!' Ruby screamed into the recesses of her brain. If she had just decided to wear her ear protection, this entire situation could have been avoided! But no, when this Jaune fellow started talking, she made the mistake of turning toward the voice, so now she can't even feign not realizing he was talking to her! Now, Ruby was to be subject to the most awkward moment in her life. Backed against a counter, while some awkward boy hit on her.

Finally, Ruby decides she's had enough, "look, Jaune, is it?" That seems to have shut him up, good. "How do I put this politely, you're not… not my type."

Jaune instead foolishly latched onto that as some fading spot of hope. "Oh! Let me guess, your type is more the strong, hunter type, isn't it? Well, I'll let you know that," he paused to look himself over, before looking back up sheepishly, "despite the… admittedly farmboy appearance, I will be applying to Beacon Academy this summer!" The—as he put it—farmboy puffed out his chest at those words, looking to Ruby like a full-of-itself cat that just caught a mouse.

She giggles a bit, before sighing, "that's not what I meant Jaune."

"Then what is it? Do you like guitar? I can play a pretty mean-"

"Jaune, I'm gay." Ruby interrupted poor Jaune before he could dig himself further into the pit he than already had. Jaune's confidence deflated instantly at her words, and he looked down, ashamed.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, you didn't know." Ruby sighed, and ran her free hand through her short locks of hair. "I… don't do this often, but… would you like to hang out anyways…? I don't have many friends."

Jaune perked up, and instantly replied, "Sure!"