Chapter 2 – First night in new school
After a few minutes of wandering around, Roland, Tanya, Jaune and Ruby finally found the hall where the entrance ceremony was taking place. The hall was already filled with aspiring huntsmen and huntresses; all of them were gathered before a platform at the front. The ceremony had yet to begin; they looked around the hall trying to find a place near the platform to squeeze into.
"Hey Ruby! Over here, I saved you a spot!"
Roland spun around as he heard a bright cheery voice coming from the left. His gaze fell upon the familiar blonde wearing a leather jacket with a bright yellow shirt underneath, orange scarf around her neck, black shorts and leather boots. Her whole outfit was rather revealing, showing off quite a bit of her cleavage; there were girls who would kill to have breasts as big…
Roland suddenly felt his cheeks heating up; he averted his gaze, trying to look at anything but the blonde girl. He did not want to get slapped in public for staring at someone's… assets; that did not seem to be a problem for Tanya, who was openly ogling the well endowed blonde.
"I gotta go; I'll see you guys after the ceremony!" Ruby quickly excused herself and walked away, not noticing the stares Tanya was giving to her sister.
"Oh great; now where am I supposed to find a nice, quirky girl to talk to?" Jaune sighed, looking a bit down.
"Hey, you've got us. Sure, we ain't girls, mostly, but that's not a problem, right?" Roland replied jokingly and turned its attention to Tanya. "Isn't it rude to stare at people like that?" He said loudly and snapped his fingers to bring his friend out of her trance.
She turned and gave him a blank look. "Huh?" When she noticed Roland's smirk and Jaune raising his eyebrow, she grew red and sputtered. "It's not what it looked like… I mean; how can she even stand straight with such big… Stop smiling, damn it!"
Now I know what you were staring at, Roland thought amusedly. "Real smooth, Corsair girl." He chuckled, his grin growing even wider.
"Shut up." Tanya grumbled her response.
"What was that about?" Jaune questioned, obviously not understanding what happened.
Roland repressed the urge to smack his forehead at his question. Surely he can't be that dense. "Don't mind her, she's just jealous." He answered coolly; he did not plan on revealing Tanya's secret unless she said otherwise. Tanya blushed even more but did not say anything.
"YOU!"
"Oh God, it's happening again!"
They turned just in time to see Ruby jumping into her sister's arms as if she saw a spider on the floor. The cause of her fright turned out to be the white-haired girl who dressed her down earlier on the courtyard. The 'crabby princess', as Ruby called her, stood near her with the same angered expression.
"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" The princess yelled at Ruby, who recoiled as far away from her as possible.
"Oh my God, you really exploded." The blonde remarked dryly as she held her scared little sister.
"I didn't mean to; it was an accident!" Ruby explained hastily as she moved out of her sister's grasp. Before she could say anything else, the princess held out some kind of pamphlet.
Ruby stared in puzzlement at the small piece of paper. "Uh, what is that?"
The princess took a breath and delivered a long-winded speech about the Schnee Dust Company and its instructions for using Dust safely in any and all applications. At that point Roland had no doubts about who the 'crabby princess' was; it was Weiss Schnee, the daughter of the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company… who was also a former employer of Roland's father. As father told him once, Mr. Schnee was not the easiest person to work for and they did not part on the best terms; it involved a caved-in mining facility, the company supplying cheap and inadequate materials for supporting structures, several workers buried under tons of rubble and the company being exonerated by the court. Roland did not like to think about the whole matter, but what he knew gave him a good enough reason to dislike the company. Mr. Schnee was an excellent businessman, but also a ruthless money-hoarder who only cared about the profitableness of his empire.
Weiss Schnee finished her speech and looked expectantly at the younger girl, trying to find any signs of comprehension. Of course she was sorely disappointed; Ruby stared at her, looking hopelessly lost. Roland sighed to himself; he surely did not want to be in Ruby's place, or anywhere near Weiss for that matter.
"You really want to start making things up to me?" She asked calmly.
Ruby brightened up a bit, obviously missing the insincerity in Weiss' voice. "Absolutely!"
Of course, her joy was short-lived as Weiss snapped at her again, pressing the pamphlet into her hand. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again!"
"Wow, that's a bit harsh." Jaune remarked as he watched the scene. Roland and Tanya hummed affirmatively.
"Look, uh, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends?" Ruby's sister finally butted in. It was about time considering that, in a sense it was her fault that Ruby got herself into this mess.
"Great idea, sis!" Ruby exclaimed and held out her hand. "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!" Roland rolled his eyes; this is so not going to work.
Weiss gasped a bit too theatrically. "Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" She spoke and pointed at Jaune, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Jaune went scarlet red; one could not tell whether from embarrassment or anger. "Ha! Someone just got owned!" Tanya exclaimed and giggled out loud. The blonde in question only muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
"Oh really?!" Ruby exclaimed giddily.
Weiss gave her a cold look. "No." I knew it wouldn't work.
Roland noticed headmaster Ozpin entering the stage, accompanied by another huntress. The grey-haired professor wore a simple dark green suit, while his associate was clothed in a white blouse, a black business skirt and black heels. Roland shushed the bickering girls and listened intently as Ozpin turned on the microphone and began speaking.
"I'll keep this brief." The headmaster adjusted his glasses and continued. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge; to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove your knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
"Was that supposed to be a motivational speech?" Tanya whispered. "Because I don't feel encouraged in any way."
As the headmaster headed off the stage, his colleague stepped to the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." She announced and then walked after Ozpin. The students took it as their cue to leave the hall.
"I have to admit, I expected more." Roland remarked as he walked alongside Tanya and Jaune.
Soon Ruby, her sister and Weiss (much to Roland's displeasure) joined the three of them. "Well, he did seem a bit off." Ruby's sister commented.
"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby nodded in agreement; then she paused as if she remembered something. "Oh, if you didn't know, guys, this is my sister, Yang." She introduced her sister.
"Hey guys!" Yang exclaimed cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you, Yang!" Tanya beamed and introduced her friends. "I'm Tanya, this is Roland and-"
"My name is Jaune Arc; short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!" Jaune interrupted her and winked at Weiss, who smacked her forehead at his attempt to flirt with her. The other girls started snickering quietly. "And I'm a natural blonde, by the way…"
Roland nudged him and pulled him aside. "You're barking up the wrong tree, dude." He said quietly as Jaune gave him a puzzled look.
"What are you…"
"She's a daughter of the Schnee Dust Company's CEO." Roland explained while the girls, minus Weiss, were engrossed in their own talk. "She has no reason to pick you or any other guy in here, Jaune."
Jaune looked like he was going to argue but then he though the better of it. "I- I guess that was a bad idea." He conceded at last.
Roland shrugged. "I won't pretend I'm an expert at this kind of thing, but I'm sure that flaunting yourself won't help you here."
"I don't get it; my father always said that all women look for is confidence!" Jaune complained.
"Well, that depends on what one understands by 'confidence', you know?" Roland replied with an amused chuckle.
"I don't follow, Roland." Jaune said, being at a loss.
"Look, just… be yourself, okay?" Roland patted the blonde's shoulder. "Nobody's perfect, not even our resident Ice Queen." Both youngsters laughed quietly, unaware of a pair of emerald eyes observing them from afar.
The rest of the day proved to be rather uneventful. The professors provided the new students a tour around the academy so they would not get lost inside the enormous building. After getting to know the way around the school, the new students spent the rest of the day socializing or getting ready for the initiation which took place the next day. Roland headed to the locker room to check his luggage; he was unpleasantly surprised to find out he forgot to pack his grappling device. Ever since he was accepted into Beacon, he got obsessed with being ready for everything, so this discovery meant a considerable setback for him. At least he did not forget anything else.
Roland pulled a large suitcase out of his locker, which contained his weapons. His arsenal comprised of two knife-pistols with retractable blades and a custom-built rifle dubbed 'Thunderbolt'. His father Eugene built this gun himself after his bitter experience at the Schnee Dust Company; he was a talented engineer and a capable fighter, being the graduate from Sanctum Academy. He spent his next several years as a bounty hunter; killing monsters, pursuing escaped criminals and other sorts of work, as long as it was within the law. Father made himself quite a reputation and earned enough money to support his family. His career was cut short violently about two years ago after an accident on the job that left him confined to the wheelchair without both of his legs. His wife Vivianne had to take up a job in a grocery shop and had often to work overtime to keep her two children and increasingly depressed husband.
Roland sat in the room in silence, thinking about his family. His younger sister, Sapphire, had started attending the Signal Academy this year; he would wish her luck but she definitely would not need it because she had no problems socializing with other schoolmates. Roland, on the other hand… His parents were conflicted concerning his choice to study at Beacon. Father supported him and even offered to help him refine his shooting skills; for the first time since the accident he did not feel completely useless. Mother opposed Roland's decision, partly because she had never fully dealt with her husband's near fatal injury and did not want him to get hurt, but in the end she agreed, albeit reluctantly. For Roland it was enough of a motivation to pursue his dream.
He took the sleek rifle in his hands and examined it thoroughly. Unlike the most weapons of its kind, the Thunderbolt bore more rounded shapes; it had built-in retractable optics and a fifty-round drum magazine. It had three firing modes; semi-auto, burst and an overcharge regime, which used Dust to increase velocity, penetration and stopping power of the weapon. At the full charge, Thunderbolt was able to blow a hole in the wall; the price for the enormous firepower was drastically increased recoil that could even break a grown man's arm if the gun was not being handled properly. Thunderbolt was also meant for a melee combat for it was capable of shifting into a single-edged axe, where the blade was built into the butt of the weapon. The whole weapon also had a collapsible barrel to save some space. Thunderbolt was certainly not a perfect weapon and it had some flaws but that was compensated by maximized offensive capabilities and almost indestructible construction.
Roland put the rifle back in its case and checked the rest of his equipment; everything was in perfect condition, including the bulletproof vest, fingerless gauntlets which also served as elbow guards, and a belt for ammunition. He pulled out a nightwear, sleeping bag and a few other items from a large trunk; then he put the rest of his stuff into the locker and headed to the ballroom.
Up until the evening, Roland had nothing to do. Tanya was off, probably making friends with fellow newcomers; no idea about where Ruby, Yang or Jaune were. So he spent the rest of the day roaming around the school, bored out of his skull. During hours of wandering around he saw a lot of people… not that he would get to know them or talk to them at all. He had to admit he was terrible when it came to socializing; years of being bullied tended to have such an impact on a person. It took him months to get over his timidity after Emilio introduced him to his friends. Roland chuckled at the irony; over those six years he made some great progress, he learned how to fight, regained some of his confidence and could handle a gun like a professional yet he had trouble doing something so easy like talking to people. He probably would not make many friends here that way; but the first day at the academy did not start out bad though. Yang, Jaune and Ruby seemed like decent people… and then there was Weiss. Roland hoped honestly that he would never have to deal with the snobbish heiress personally. He took a dislike to her since the moment he first saw her and it was not just because her father happened to be his father's former employer. He had not said a word to her so far but he witnessed her quarrel with Ruby so he had an idea what kind of person Weiss was. That was exactly why he wanted to avoid her whenever possible.
Absorbed in his thoughts, Roland walked along the corridor, paying no attention to where he was going. As soon as he rounded the nearest corner he was brought back to reality when he bumped into someone. The other person let out a high pitched yelp as both of them fell to the floor.
"Agh!"
"Ow!"
Roland cursed silently as he rubbed his forehead; something like this happened every time he got distracted by his thoughts. He raised his head to see whom he had just knocked over. He was surprised to see the raven-haired girl that was there when Weiss was scolding Ruby after the Dust incident; only now he had the opportunity to see her up close. She wore a black vest over white sleeveless shirt, white shorts, black (or dark purple or whatever color it was) stockings and low-heeled shoes. She also had black bands wrapped around her arms and a bow in her hair; it kind of looked like cat ears, Roland noticed.
"Watch where you're going!" The girl hissed in irritation, holding her head. In her left hand she held a small book.
"Hey, you didn't pay attention either." Roland objected and pointed at the book in her hand. He picked himself up and extended his hand to the girl. She let out an exasperated sigh, probably because he interrupted her reading, but she took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet. Their gazes met for a brief moment; Roland could not help but feel astonished. The girl had bright yellow, almost cat-like eyes; he found out quite curious. It kinda makes her even prettier… Stop it Roland, get a hold of yourself! "Um… Are you okay?" He asked a bit awkwardly.
"I'll be fine." The black-haired girl replied curtly. "I hope our next meeting will be less painful." She joked, keeping a straight face.
"No argument there." Roland could not help but smile. "I'm Roland, by the way."
"Blake."
"Okay, Blake. I guess I'll see you around, then."
Blake nodded slightly and walked away, continuing to read her book. Roland sighed as he watched the girl go. He was not even able to keep a conversation with her; how pathetic. He shook his head and continued wandering aimlessly around the school.
Later that day after the sun set, the new students were gathered in the ballroom. Most of them went to sleep early, wanting to be well-rested for the next day's initiation. Roland placed his sleeping bag near one of the windows and headed to the bathroom. He needed to take a shower really badly; he was reeking of sweat, probably from hauling his luggage to the airship in the morning. To his relief, the bathroom was empty; Roland took of his clothes and stepped into one of the shower stalls. Usually he would be done fairly quickly, this time he decided to make an exception, however. After about a quarter an hour of pure bliss, he was finally done. He dried himself up and put on his sleepwear, consisting of brown sweatpants and white undershirt. He stepped to the sink and looked in the mirror. He was greeted by the sight of a young man with disheveled brown hair and olive-brown eyes staring back at him. His sharp-featured face bore a few scars, the most noticeable ran along his right cheek; a reminder of a bike accident when he crashed into a streetlamp and got thrown through the window of a nearby shop. There was only a little that would remind him of his six years younger self; over the years of training with Emilio and his bunch he got significantly stronger. The tight undershirt seemed to accentuate his athletic build, not that he even cared to show off his body.
Ignoring his reflection in the mirror, Roland grabbed his toothbrush to clean his teeth. That was when Jaune barged into the bathroom. Roland looked at him and froze, his eyes popping out of his skull; the infamous Vomit boy was wearing sky blue one-piece pajamas and bunny slippers.
Jaune was completely oblivious to Roland gaping at him; he only noticed him when he started making strange, choking noises.
"Are you okay, man?" Jaune asked a bit worriedly.
The answer was almost immediate; Roland spat out the toothpaste and erupted in full-blown laughter. Jaune only stared at him in bafflement as he held his stomach and laughed hysterically. The blonde decided to wait until Roland calmed down a bit.
It took a while until the laughter finally died down. "Holy shit," Roland wheezed and wiped his eyes. "You're killing me, dude!" He looked at the blonde and started giggling again.
Jaune kept staring at him like if he was insane. "What's so funny?"
Roland burst out laughing again at Jaune's cluelessness. Are you fucking kidding me?! "It's your freaking pajamas!" He managed to breathe out, making Jaune frown a bit. "Seriously dude, how old are you?!"
"What's wrong with my pajamas? It's comfy!" Jaune argued.
"That's what little kids are wearing!" Roland yelled out, his face tomato-red from laughter; it took every ounce of his willpower to calm down. "Look Jaune, I'm not trying to offend you or anything… but this is just hilarious!"
Jaune folded his arms on his chest. "Are you done?" He asked with mild irritation, earning another giggle from Roland.
"Hey, I'm the one who should be complaining; I don't know if I'm gonna sleep tonight at all." Roland joked and resumed brushing his teeth. "Oh God… I think I might have peed a little."
"Laugh it up, Roland." Jaune waved his hand and pulled out his own toothbrush. "I'm sure we're gonna see even weirder things around here."
"Whatever you say, Bunny Boy." Roland chuckled as Jaune groaned audibly at the new nickname he gave him.
When they finally came back to the ballroom, they found out that the most of the newcomers was already asleep. A few half-naked boys were messing around at the other end of the room; it was a small miracle that they managed to keep the noise down. Among those who remained awake were also Ruby and her sister, who had just jumped onto the sleeping bag beside her.
"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed in excitement; she wore an orange top and black shorts while her sister had a black beowolf-themed top and pinkish pants with roses.
"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby muttered in response. She was writing down something, probably making an entry into her journal.
"I know I do…" Yang remarked and made a strange purring sound as she started ogling the bunch of wrestling boys. That was when Roland and Jaune came into her view. "Ugh!" Roland noticed her grimace and chuckled, ignoring Jaune's glare.
"Hey there, Yang, Ruby." Roland greeted the sisters politely. "What're you writing?" He asked Ruby.
"Eh, just a letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised I'd tell them about Beacon and how things are going." The younger sister replied with a small smile.
"Aww, that's so cute!" Yang gushed theatrically, earning a pillow into her face.
"Shut up!" Ruby retorted. "I didn't get to take my friends to with me to school; it's weird not knowing anyone here."
"Anyone?" Jaune protested. "What about us?"
"Hey, what's with all the racket here, guys?" Roland barely stopped himself from jumping as Tanya spoke up right next to him; she wore baggy blue pants and a white tank top. She had this habit of sneaking up on people; whenever she let her presence be known she usually scared the life out of them in the process. Not that it was intentional… mostly. "Where have you been all the time, Roland?" She questioned him.
"I, uh, went to the locker room to check on my guns and stuff; after that I kinda wandered around the school because I couldn't find any of you guys." Roland replied a bit sheepishly. He felt a bit guilty like if he ditched her the same way Yang did to Ruby.
"Oh… Well, since I couldn't see you anywhere I though you got lost around here or something." Tanya shrugged; then she looked at Jaune. "Hey there, Jaune… Nice PJ's… ?" She remarked, biting back laughter.
Jaune rolled his eyes. "At least you have some manners, unlike him." He mumbled and pointed at Roland who only grinned in response.
Yang laughed. "You see, sis? You made three friends in one day, 300 percent increase! Isn't that enough for you?"
"I'm sure Weiss counts as a negative friend." Ruby grumbled and lay on her back.
"There's no such thing as a negative friend; you just made three friends and one enemy!" Yang replied and promptly got smacked in the face by another pillow. The others only laughed silently.
"You sure know how to lift one's spirits, Yang." Tanya commented with a giggle.
"That's what I get for looking out for my baby sister." Yang remarked sarcastically. "But really, Ruby; you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."
"You see? I told you the same thing!" Jaune exclaimed.
Roland was not paying attention to the conversation, however; he was staring at the other end of the room. He was shaking a bit, like if he was cold. "Are you alright, Roland?" Jaune asked him worriedly. Roland did not reply; instead he pointed his right hand ahead and covered his mouth with the other. He was not cold or anything like that; he was trying to keep himself from laughing.
Jaune looked where he was pointing and he was greeted by a completely unexpected sight. There was the tallest and biggest boy he had seen so far, sitting at the window and holding… "Is that… a teddy bear?!" He whispered incredulously. Roland nodded; he did not dare to open his mouth because otherwise he would break into laughter. On the other hand, he should have expected something like that from someone like Desmond, the overly friendly blonde brute he ran into this morning.
The girls noticed fairly quickly what Roland and Jaune were staring at. Of course, their reactions differed. "He's got a teddy bear?! That's so cute!" Ruby exclaimed.
"I told you we'd see something even weirder than my PJ's!" Jaune said to Roland, flashing a victorious smile.
"Your pajamas are cute too!" Ruby joked and made everyone laugh at Jaune's expense.
"Look at him; he could easily break any of us in half." Tanya shook her head in astonishment. "I never thought I'd see someone like him hugging a teddy bear."
"Don't be so surprised; he's a bear of a man, after all!" Yang said with a soft giggle. The others only rolled their eyes at her joke. "But he is really ripped…"
"Yang…!" Ruby groaned in disapproval. "Haven't you been ogling enough boys today already?"
There was a low scratching sound as someone struck a match. Everyone turned their heads towards the sound and caught sight of a raven-haired girl with a bow in her head, wearing a black long-sleeved nightgown. She sat near a wardrobe and read a book by candlelight. Roland smiled to himself; Blake must have liked books a lot.
"That girl…" Ruby whispered.
Yang raised her eyebrow. "You know her?"
"Not really." Ruby shrugged. "She saw what happened this morning but left before I could say anything to her."
Yang grinned suddenly and Ruby shifted away from her for some reason. "Well, now's your chance!" Before Ruby could do or say anything her big sister gripped her hand and lifted her up.
"Wait! What are you doing?!" Ruby yelped as Yang started dragging her towards Blake; she tried to wriggle out of her sister's grasp but to no avail.
Tanya flashed a wide smile. "I wanna see how this is going." She said and walked after the two sisters. Jaune and Roland looked at each other, then shrugged and followed her.
"Hello!" Yang exclaimed in a sing-song voice, making Blake avert her eyes from her book. She was unaware of nasty glares Ruby was giving her. "I believe you two may know each other?" She pointed at her pouting sister.
Blake took a long look at the newcomers. "Aren't you the girl that exploded?" She asked as she set her eyes on Ruby. Roland, Jaune and Tanya started laughing quietly; Blake silenced them with a glare. "You do know it's inappropriate to laugh at someone's misfortune; right, Roland?" She spoke in a reproaching manner, surprising everyone present except Roland.
"Small world, eh?" Yang remarked with a knowing smile.
"We ran into each other this afternoon." Roland said with a shrug and looked at Blake. "Again, sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it."
Ruby let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, hello there; I'm Ruby." She said and held out her hand, which Blake ignored. "But you can call me Crat-err…" She shot a glare at Jaune who burst in giggles at her slip-up. "Actually you can just call me Ruby."
"Okay…" Blake replied slowly, only barely suppressing a smile.
Yang gave her sister a quizzical look. "What are you doing?"
"I don't know! Help me!" Ruby shot back.
"Soo… what's your name?" Yang asked again, grinning from ear to ear.
Blake let out a mildly exasperated sigh. "It's Blake."
"Word of advice, guys: Never disturb anyone while they're reading. Ever." Tanya whispered. She and the boys kept watching Yang trying to make a conversation with Blake… and failing. The raven-haired girl was more interested in her book than in banter with the buxom blonde.
"I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister. I like your bow!"
"Thanks."
"It goes great with your, uh, pajamas!"
"Right…"
"Nice night, don't you think?"
"Yes, it's lovely… almost as lovely as this book." Blake was visibly annoyed at this point. "Which I will continue to read… as soon as you all leave." She finished with a slight frown and averted her gaze from the two sisters.
"Yeah, this girl is a lost cause." Yang scoffed and waved her hand dismissively.
"What's it about?" Ruby piped up.
Blake raised her head, caught by surprise by her question. "Huh?"
"Your book." The younger sister inquired. "Does it have a name?"
"Well, it's about a man with two souls; each fighting for control over his body." Blake explained.
"Yeah, that's really lovely." Yang remarked with a sarcastic undertone.
"Be nice, Yang." Tanya scolded her. "It's not our place to criticize someone's tastes." Roland and Jaune murmured their approval.
Ruby took a step towards Blake. "I love books." She said with a smile. "Yang used to read me every night before bed; stories of heroes and monsters. They're one of the reasons I wanted to be a huntress."
"And why is that?" Blake asked in amused voice. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"
"I'm hoping we all will. As a girl I wanted to be just like those heroes; someone who fought for what was right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."
"Show me a kid who wouldn't want to be a hero." Roland remarked dryly.
"That's pretty ambitious for a child." Blake said with a soft smile. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairytale."
"That's why we're here, right?" Ruby replied confidently. "To make it better."
"So touching…" Tanya sniffled and covered her eyes. Roland could not tell whether she feigned the emotion or not; but he had to agree with her.
"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang exclaimed and pulled her sister into a bear hug, lifting her up.
"Yang!" Ruby started thrashing wildly as she tried to break free from her sister's crushing embrace. "Cut it out!" She yelled and quite unexpectedly punched Yang straight in the face. Both siblings became a series of blurs as they began hitting each other.
The others, Blake included, watched in amazement as the sisterly bonding session turned into a violent scuffle. "Wow… For such a little girl, Ruby sure can throw quite a mean punch." Jaune remarked.
"Shouldn't we, like, try to get them to stop?" Roland mused aloud.
"Why? They'll get tired eventually." Tanya replied with an amused smile. "Me and my bro were like that all the time, when we were younger."
Blake opened her mouth and was about to say something but someone else beat her to it. "What in the world is going on over here?!" Roland winced in pain as that certain someone shrilled right next to him and nearly busted his eardrum. Goddammit, why me?! Ruby and Yang stopped fighting almost turned around and almost instantly wished he did not when he saw a familiar heiress in a white nightgown. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?!" Weiss shouted in irritation.
"Oh, not you again!" Both Yang and Weiss shouted as soon as they noticed each other.
"Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" Ruby exclaimed, trying to stop them from arguing.
"I'm gonna hit the bed." Roland excused himself and went to his sleeping back. "I've been nearly deafened too many times today." Tanya grinned sheepishly at his remark.
"Oh, now you're on my side?!" Weiss snapped at Ruby.
"I was always on your side!" Ruby objected. Tanya and Jaune decided to follow Roland's example and went to sleep, leaving the girls to argue with each other.
"What's your problem with my sister?! She's only trying to be nice!"
"She's a hazard to my health!"
Blake rolled her eyes and blew the candles. It did not take long before the argument died down; now everyone could sleep in peace.
Author's note: Another chapter's out, ending the first day of our protagonists at Beacon. Hope you enjoyed! The updates won't be much frequent because I have a lot of stuff to do this month, including the exams, but I'll try to post new chapters whenever I can.
Reply to Vieltrien's review (Jan 5): I haven't planned the pairings so far ahead, so I'm not sure about that yet. But I'll probably disappoint you because I'm a shameless Arkos shipper (I can't imagine our favorite blonde goofball with anyone else, not even Ruby). I hope I didn't discourage you from reading this story, though. And thanks for reviewing (Fun fact: it was the first review of my stories written in english :-)