Yang placed a calming hand on her sister's head, "Chill out, Sis, she's messing with you. We all heard her, so she can't weasel out of it. Relax."

The pout was unmoved.

The older sister sighed; she'd tried being gentle. Stepping back to Weiss and Blake, she bellowed, "So, fearless leader! How about some introductions?!"

"Wha– Oh-oh-oh!" Ruby zipped back to her team. Yang threw an arm over her shoulders which Ruby couldn't immediately escape; the elbow she aimed at Yang's ribs was cheerfully deflected.

Speaking as though she weren't engaged in a sibling quarrel, Ruby said, "Welcome to Vale! I'm Ruby Rose, first year student of Beacon Academy and leader of team RWBY! You know my partner, Weiss. This is Blake Belladonna, tragically partnered to my horrible big sister, Yang Xiao Long!"

"Love you, too, Rubes," Yang cooed with a bone-squeaking squeeze.

"Ugh...!"

Mato's group hesitated, as if they wanted to ask a question, but the bison faunus rallied her manners and said, "Thank you. Arriving from Vacuo's Threshold Hunting Academy, Team SYMY accepts your greeting." She smirked. "Belated as it is." Ruby blushed and shrank under Yang's arm.

She pronounced the name as "Sumi", an old word for "ink". Black, of course they were black. What else would their teachers have named them? Or was it the other way around, and the shared color scheme had arisen from their name?

The young woman continued, "I am Irino Saya, team leader. This is my partner, Koutari Yuu." Saya gestured to the tiny girl in the back, who silently lifted one hand shoulder-height in greeting. "You already know Kuroi Mato. And this is her partner, Takanashi Yomi," she gestured to the gazelle faunus.

"Hello," Yomi greeted, curtsying with both hands, her massive scythe fluidly transferred to the crook of one elbow.

Formalities out of the way, Mato finally asked the question on their minds. "Sorry, Ruby, but you're the team leader? Not Weiss Schnee or your sister? You seem a little... young."

Weiss appeared torn between vindication that someone had assumed she would naturally be the leader, and embarrassment that it was not so. Yang merely glowed with pride.

"Headmaster Ozpin himself accepted little Rubles two years early and made her our glorious leader! Isn't she the bee's knees?"

"Enough about knees!" Ruby finally freed herself with a sloppy double palm-thrust fueled by mortification and social terror. It didn't budge Yang an inch, but it let Ruby gain a few precious feet of distance. "I don't want to hear another word about knees!"

Sensing she'd gone too far, Yang dialed her affection back down to "gentle" and loaded in some "concern" for good measure. "Ruby, it's okay. Come on, we've been here a year at Beacon, and no one's given you trouble for skipping two years, right? It's okay to be special."

"But–!"

"Hey, hey," Mato said soothingly, coming up slowly to give Ruby a gentle side-hug, "It's fine. I know exactly how you feel."

"Really?"

"Sure! Well, I might have had it rougher. Remember, I made the Black Rock Cannon when I was younger than you are, and then no one would leave me alone, anymore! It wasn't just companies like the ADC and SDC trying to buy me out, a lot of the students at Gateway Combat School wanted something from me, or they wanted to tear me down. Or both. My engineering teachers started expecting more of me, and my combat instructors began questioning my choice to become a huntress instead of an engineer. If anything, I envy you for getting to skip two years to join Beacon sooner. Things got much better when I entered Shade!"

"Why is that?"

Irino Saya spoke up, "Because being 'special' is actually a minimum requirement to enroll at a hunting academy. To any hunting student worth their Dust, you're merely remarkable. Just like Kuroi, most students should be looking at you like a peer on whom they can depend in the field, or who can help them improve themselves, through cooperation or rivalry. Anyone else shouldn't have had the dedication to qualify."

She wrinkled her nose like she smelled something awful. "But combat schools come before that filtering process, so they're full of posers and wannabes who dedicate themselves only to fooling themselves or others. Part of maintaining that illusion involves tearing down true potential hunters like yourself. No doubt, that's actually one of the reasons why your Ozpin invited you so early. They were already preying on you, weren't they?"

"What?" Yang yelped, and then she insisted, "No. I put a stop to that. No one would dare."

But Ruby wouldn't look Yang in the eyes.

"Ruby?" the older sister said, part plea and part demand.

Saya answered for her, "If you put a stop to their obvious behavior, then they probably just got sneakier about it. Plus, you would have joined Beacon this year without her, right? They just needed to bide their time."

Team SYMY suddenly found themselves wondering if Yang's eyes had always been red. Was the air actually getting warmer?

"Names, Ruby. I want names."

"No, Yang, it's not important!"

"Don't say that! Of course it's important! You're important! Light and Dust, why didn't you tell Dad or Uncle they were still giving you trouble? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Ruby rounded on her. "Because not everyone had a bigger sister or a dad and uncle as teachers to look after them! I was already special enough, I needed to look after myself! I didn't want your help!"

You could see the exact moment that Yang Xiao Long's heart broke.

Ruby shrank back in on herself to turn away from the sight, and tried to shy away from Mato, but the Vacuan girl insistently renewed her hug.

Saya spoke quietly, "One of the most classic bullying tactics is to shame a victim into forsaking protection. Isolation makes for easier prey."

Mato, petting Ruby's head, took up the thread. "But there's no shame in it, Ruby. Everyone needs friends, whether you're facing Grimm in the wastelands or bullies at school. Back when Gateway got really tough for me, Yuu was my strength. I was so lucky to have her."

Ruby dared to look back up into Yang's lilac eyes, and saw only open arms and a begging invitation. Within a scattering of rose petals, the sisters hugged.

Without pulling away, Yang said, "Ruby, we saw it happening to Jaune. We just went through this with Blake. When you have a problem, come to me. Us. We're family, and a team."

"I promised to the best teammate you had," Weiss reminded her partner indignantly. "I can't do that if you won't let me."

Blake just put a hand on Ruby's back as the younger girl cried and apologized to her sister.

As Ruby pulled herself together, she started laughing wettly. "S-so, if everyone needs to be special, how did Cardin get in?"

Yang laughed along gratefully, while Weiss snorted delicately and Blake grunted less-delicately. The heiress said, "He's like a boarbatusk; absolutely no refinement or grace, but nearly impossible to put down."

"Feh," Yang scoffed. "You shoulda seen Junior."

Blake elected to stay on topic with the opinion, "If he could find the smallest amount of courage to stand up to an actual threat, he could be a useful shield for his team. It's disgraceful that he couldn't kill that Ursa. You said Jaune killed it in one hit, and Cardin toys with Jaune in dueling class."

"Now Jaune," Weiss said, "That's someone whose enrollment is an utter mystery."

"Come on, Weiss," Ruby pleaded. "Jaune's not that bad―"

Saya broke in with an authoritative clap of her hands. "As much as that sounds like many interesting stories to tell, I'm afraid that they'll have to wait. My team and I need check in at Beacon, and before that we ought to get something to eat."

Ruby perked up. "Oh! I know a place! White Castle Diner is just outside the airport. It shouldn't be too full at this hour."

Weiss nodded. "Their fare is good, for the price. Especially the coffee."

Saya smirked, her previous air of amused superiority returning. "Well, with such glowing endorsements, I suppose we must check it out. Sound good, girls?"

"I could do with a little more coffee, right now," Yomi conceded.

"A burger and fries sounds great," Mato added.

Yuu said nothing, but all of her teammates glanced at her in time to see her nod.

Consensus acquired, Saya said, "Then lead on, little Rose."

Ruby fairly skipped away, happy to do just that. Smiling, Team SYMY followed her as she began regaling them with the local history of Vale, and the rest of Team RWBY brought up the rear. But this new arrangement allowed Blake to finally notice something about Yuu which her previous position had concealed: A white-furred monkey tail.

She glanced again at the horns adorning Saya and Yomi's heads, before she looked to her older teammates to see if they'd noticed as well.

Apparently, they had. Yang had an open, slack expression on her face, like she was surprised but felt that it really shouldn't be so surprising. Weiss's expression of surprise was a little more incredulous, like she was having a hard time believing what she was seeing, but she also seemed a little embarrassed to feel that way. Predictably, Yang was the one opening her mouth first, and Blake tapped her in the side with an elbow.

Yang's eyes asked her what that was for, but she graciously conceded that Blake would be more diplomatic about asking the question.

Blake raised her voice to interrupt Ruby's spirited commentary on the sites. "Mato. I notice that you're the only human on your team."

Team SYMY slowed to a stop, turning to look at her.

Ruby said, "Wait, what?" But Yuu's back was turned to her now, and she saw the tail. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed with mild surprise and delight.

Mato frowned at Blake challengingly. "Is that a problem? ...What, why is everyone laughing?"

Really, it was more of a round of restrained giggling or chuckling. Blake lowered her hand from her mouth, looked around their surroundings to see who might be looking, and wiggled the ears hidden within her bow.

Mato blinked. "Oh."

Saya spoke up. "Apparently, Vacuo has a higher ratio of faunus-to-pureblood humans than the other three kingdoms. But yes, back home, a team composition like ours is still unusual."

Mato sighed. "I have to put up with so much, being the only one on the team who doesn't smell or hear things as sharply. At least I'm lucky that darkness isn't a problem, except that everyone's more sensitive to light, too."

Yang was looking down at Yuu with considering eyes. "I hope this isn't racist, but do you have any relation to Sun Wukong?"

Yuu looked at her with a neutral expression and finally broke her silence with a simple "No."

Yang looked pleased. "Hey, you talked! We're becoming friends already."

Yuu gave her a crooked, unconvinced smirk.

The tour resumed. But Ruby only made it as far as one of Vale's major parks before she couldn't wait any more.

"Can I see your scythe?" she pleaded. "I'll show you mine!"

Yomi blinked down at the smaller, younger girl. "You use a scythe as well? ...Oh my," she said, as Ruby proudly whipped out the compact rifle on her back and unfolded Crescent Rose to its full size.

Mato whistled. "Oh, nice. I wanna see it next." Ruby blushed in happiness.

Off to the side, Yang sighed, and turned to Yomi and Yuu. "Come on, the diner's just outside the park. They'll catch up." Weiss and Blake nodded, following the elder sister's lead.

Yomi chuckled. "I'm no engineer, but how often do I get to compare scythes? Very well, Miss Rose."

"Please, call me Ruby! And this is Crescent Rose!"

"This is the Dead Scythe."

In sync, they offered their weapons with one hand and received with the other.

The Dead Scythe immediately dropped halfway to the ground, as Ruby's eyes bugged out and she "Oofed!" from the unexpected weight. She managed to keep her hold, but she stayed bent over for a moment.

Meanwhile, Yomi handled Crescent Rose gingerly, her expression distressed. "Oh my. It feels like, any moment now, the poor thing is going to float away from me or crumble to pieces in my hands."

"I- I made her with lightweight materials!" Ruby managed, as she eased the Dead Scythe's haft to a standing position on the ground. "She may be half the weight of this thing and have lots of moving parts, but she's plenty durable!"

Yomi took a few practice swings with one hand, then used both as she stepped through a short practice form. She figured out how to flip the blade into an upright position and tried again, but her face remained crinkled with discomfort and self-conscious pity. "Even so, there isn't enough weight to the head. The length of the shaft alone wouldn't let you generate enough force, especially if you lack the strength to use something heavier."

Ruby curled a fist in determination as she held the Dead Scythe like a national flag. "Crescent Rose is a High Impact Sniper Scythe! Firing a .50cal round in mid-swing compensates for the low mass by providing massive acceleration! The recoil can generate sufficient force even from a stationary position, turning a hooking hold into a guillotine cut!"

Yomi looked from one Rose to another with dawning (and mildly horrified) realization. Her grip shifted further away from the trigger as she suddenly gained a better appreciation of the fact that the scythe in her hands doubled as an anti-material rifle.

She turned at last to Mato. "She really is a younger you. That's insane."

Mato just held out her hands. "Gimme."Yomi gladly handed Ruby's weapon over. But whereas the faunus had handled it like a scythe, Mato treated it like a rifle. She checked for a safety mechanism, looked inside the chamber for a bullet, then popped off the ammo magazine and handed it back to Yomi. Gun safety procedures out of the way, she finally hefted the weapon under her armpit and sighted down the barrel, aiming towards trees and walls and away from pedestrians.

After a moment of struggling with the mass of the scythe's head weighing down the muzzle, Mato brought it back down and fiddled with it until she successfully converted it back into one of its rifle modes. And then into its other rifle mode. And then its fully-compacted storage mode. And back again.

"Very nice! Super compact storage mode, easily stored in that holster at the small of your back for minimal imbalance and air drag. Basic rifle mode for quick-draw shots from the hip, with an extending shoulder stock for firing with the sight. Excellent multi-purposing of the mechanisms already in place.

"But Yomi's right. Even though you did a fantastic job of redistributing the balance of weight between each mode, it just doesn't seem heavy enough to counter the recoil. You could pump less Aura into your powder for weaker shots, but you'd be losing a lot of the firepower in return for control. How do you handle it when you really need to blow holes in something, especially with consecutive shots?"

"I plant the scythe blade into the ground and fire from the hip."

Mato goggled at her, returning Crescent Rose to scythe form and setting the tip gently on the dock floor. "And you can aim accurately enough like this?"

"Uh-huh!"

"I'm starting to see how you got into hunting school so early."

Yomi felt that was a good time to hand Mato back the magazine, which her partner promptly loaded back into Crescent Rose.

Ruby immediately handed the Dead Scythe back to Yomi, but the older girl was confused. "Was that enough?"

"Yeah! It's about as heavy as my Uncle Qrow's weapon, so I'd probably just make a mess if I tried to play around with the kusari-gama form. And I don't want to waste any of your Dust."

Yomi blinked, then smiled. "Why am I even surprised? Are you just showing off, now, Little Miss Engineer?"

Ruby blushed and dug her foot into the ground, but she was smiling. Mato and Yomi shared a grin, and began walking after their departed teammates. The diner really was just outside the park.

As Ruby followed, Yomi asked, "Was it your uncle who taught you how to use a scythe?"

"Yup! Crescent Rose is also inspired by his design, though she turned out really different in the end."

"I see. I learned from a private tutor. Have you heard of Dusk Sieg?"

"You were tutored by 'Death Scythe' Sieg?!" Ruby shrieked, and Mato held the diner doors open for the new scythe-sisters.