"It suffices to say that all those new little people here on–beacon academy will provide me with many new ways to experiment. Will they use blades? Guns? Dust? I already get excited when I simply think about it but…time is short and I can't use too much of it blabbering about new people. So…logging time! I did some research in my safehouse in Jericho-street and well…let's just say that a gun that shoots knifes AND lightning won't be realistic until I figure out how to prevent the VNN from broadcasting about the…potential… black-outs and power-outages that might have been caused…or not.


Beacon academy was in one word: breathtaking. The towers, the surroundings, the lake and the style! It was all just so…unreal. Ruby still couldn't believe that she had been invited to the prestigious Beacon. Had she not been asked by the Headmaster himself, she would expect somebody to jump out of a closet yelling 'surprise!' in her face and then kick her off the plane. But it was real and she was here, with her sister, already on the way to her very first year! The scale of things felt so out of proportions, much like the ship itself. It contained so much space…so much rooms…even with Yang by her side, she could not immediately find the aft section of the ship, where they were supposed to gather.

"Didn't we see this window already?" Ruby asked as the two of them walked down a flight of stairs and came across a very familiar sight. "Are we lost?"

"Don't worry sis, I am sure that we'll find it eventually!" Yang tried to cheer her up. It didn't work. Of course they would find it eventually, but they would be late. Everybody would already be there and they would all look at her and she would be ashamed of herself because she was late and everybody was looking at her.

"But we have been walking around the engines for five minutes now and we still have no idea how to get out of here!" She replied and desperately looked around again, hoping that a sign saying 'first-years gather here' would pop up, or that a divine message would light her way out of there.

"Will you stop worrying? I am sure that everybody on this ship is new here. We'll probably run into somebody that can show us the way."

"You can say whatever you want…I just don't want to be late," Ruby cried out and crossed her arms. Yang wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pressed her tightly against her side. .

"We won't be late," she rebutted and pulled Ruby towards yet another hallway. "Now come on, we still have a hall to find."

The two of them continued on like that until they finally reached a corridor with a window in one of the tunnels. A window! She could see light!

And also a sign saying 'Engines' pointing at the direction they were coming from. So they had at least managed to clear out of the engine compartment; now they just had to find their ways towards any other compartment on the ship.

"What now?" She asked and looked out of the window. The airplane had slowed down considerably and now they were almost suspended still some distances away from the prestigious Academy. She longed to be down there…she hated flying. At least, she hated flying that didn't involve her Crescent Rose.

"We continue walking!" Yang replied and grabbed her hand. "Come on! We still have a ways to go!"

They walked down the hallway until they reached another intersection. There were no indicators of any form of direction whatsoever and which direction they needed to go was left to their imagination. There was a green light running down one direction and a blue one running down the other. It was funny to see how multiple lights in the floor could create such a funny looking lightshow.

"Eh…what?" Yang said disbelievingly. She looked down both corridors and shook her head. "This is crazy! Communication would be great people!"

Ruby sighed heavily and her head dropped. Now they would get lost again and she would not find the main dining hall and she would remain hungry…forever!

Wait a minute…what was that? There was something lying on the ground. "What is that?" She asked and kneeled down next to the object lying on the ground. "I have never seen this before…" She carefully extended a finger and proceeded to poke the thing multiple times. "It feels soft…I wonder who left it here?" She looked around her, hoping that somebody would appear to tell them where to go. "

"It looks like a…a bowtie… what is that doing here?" Yang mused and crossed her arms. "Let's just decide which direction to go and we'll see where we will stumble upon, shall we?"

Ruby frowned and poked the 'bowtie' one more time. It was weird that it was just lying there in the blue corridor…like somebody just left it there while moving through the intersection. Maybe…just maybe… somebody left it there when they were moving to the aft section? "Let's go this way…" She muttered and kept staring at the soft thing on the ground.

"You sure?" Yang replied.

"No…just a hunch…" She said and involuntarily smiled. This 'bowtie' was either a good indication as to where they needed to go or simply forgotten some time ago. Either way, it looked very funny and she didn't have a better idea.

"Well then, let's not waste any more time!" Yang said and Ruby got to her feet again.

"Yeah…let's go."

The two girls left the bowtie alone and proceeded down the blue path. Eventually the blue lights stopped and they reached a larger hallway. This one had windows every few feet and a small fountain in a corner. Finally, they had reached a place where living things might be. They just needed to find them.

"But at least the sight is amazing!" Yang said in what had to be an attempt to keep Ruby from brooding. "I mean look at the size of that thing! How many people can live there do you think?"

Ruby didn't reply. This was supposed to be the most magical moment of her life and she was wasting time by wandering around and old, boring ship!

"Hey look!" Yang yelled with her back turned to her. "Finally a proper sign!"

Ruby was immediately back on her feet and suddenly she stood next to her big sister. "Where! Where!"

"There!" Yang replied and pointed at a large arrow –which in turn pointed towards a ladder that stood in the middle of the hallway.

Really? They had to climb a ladder? That was silly. "Looks like we need to go up th-"

Ruby raced up the ladder and didn't wait for her sister to finish talking. She was very eager to finally get to Beacon.

She found herself on the outer edge of a rather large room. It was really, really big and there were at least ten ships scattered across its interior. Would-be-students were entering the ships everywhere she looked and there were quite a few of them. Most were taller than she was. She did not like that very much. The ships themselves also looked old and worn-out. Were they going to ride to the Academy in style? With those things? That might be a bit difficult. They looked like big bricks.

There were three students standing near the closest dropship, prompting Ruby to look around for a ship that was not so crowded. But a giant hatch on the opposite end of the room opened up and sunlight poured into the room, giving them an unbridled view of the ground deep down below. With a thunderous rumbling, at least five of the ships took off.

"Looks like we'll need to hurry," Yang said and grabbed a hold of Ruby's arm, pulling her to the closest ship.

Great. Stuck on a small plane with three unknown people, thankfully Yang was still there with her, otherwise her nerves might have well gotten the best of her.

There was a woman with aviator glasses on and her hair tied in a knot, who was directing them onboard of the ship. "Move it! You are cutting it way too close!"

Yang stopped to take a look at her and then said: "Cool glasses!" Before the woman could respond, the blonde jumped into the ship and the hatch closed behind her.

"Woo!" Yang yelled and pumped her fist in the air. "That was close!"

"Almost too close…" Ruby muttered and sighed explosively. This was just a fantastic beginning of her new career as a huntress. First she had gotten lost and then she had nearly missed her only ride to the academy. It wasn't exactly ideal…but maybe she had the worst that could happen already behind her? Maybe things would get better?

The shuttle she found herself in was of a rather interesting design. It had enough space for at least ten people to stand next to each other, but they couldn't sit down. They had to stand during the whole trip –even though it was only for a few minutes; it would be very uncomfortable.

Thank goodness that there were small leather straps above them which they could hold on to if the ride got a little bumpy. It was just like a ride on a bus, when it was too crowded for people to sit. A flying bus. With people she didn't know.

"I have a feeling that this shuttle isn't holding together very well…" Yang muttered.

"Why is that?" Ruby asked, already beginning to dread her current situation. Yang pointed to the wall that separated the cargo bay from the cockpit. There were multiple small tears and holes in the wall, but that alone wouldn't matter much. What did matter was the tear in the metal plating below them. Ruby could actually see the rusty plates that stuck to the replacing of their vessel.

"Ehm…" Ruby said. "I think that this ship needs replacement."

At the mention of 'replacement' the man standing next to her coughed like Yang had done to get her attention, but his cough was…with a lack of a better explanation…so suspicious that the amount of suspicious would be enough to get someone to believe that it wasn't suspicious at all. If that made sense.

"Yes?" She said. The man turned to face her and tried to hide a smile, but he did so very badly.

"These tubs?" He said, "I have NO idea why they are being used right now."

There was a tensed muscle near his mouth, suggesting that he was trying not to laugh. His eyes, though looking amused at first glance, did not truly look amused. His face was simultaneously saying that he was serious as that he was having fun. That was new.

She shook her head and concentrated on the ride. It was getting increasingly bumpy and she could have sworn that they should have arrived at Beacon by now.

"Hang on!" The pilot suddenly cried from the cockpit. "Things are about to get wild!"

Wild? What? What was going on?

"Now might be the time to grab these things!" Yang yelled and grabbed the leather strap above her head. Everyone in the ship successfully followed her example, except for the man whom Ruby had talked to. He grabbed the strap above his head and with a loud 'snap!' it broke off the ceiling.

He held the useless piece in his hands and looked around him. Ruby saw that the two people who had entered the ship before her –a boy with blond hair and a girl with long, reddish hair- looked at him with shocked expressions.

"Well…" He started, but he never got to finish his sentence. The shuttle suddenly began to shake heavily and its inhabitants nearly got thrown across the cabin. The leather straps served their purpose and prevented those that held onto them from flying into the floor…into walls…against the ceiling.

Unfortunately now that the man was unable to hold onto anything, he was subjected to the powerful forces that dominated the ship's interior. Ruby could only wince in sympathy as she saw the man fly horizontally against a wall, before the ship tilted again and he was launched onto the roof.

The blonde kid made little pain-noises everytime the man hit another metal plate and Yang was…trembling? What was going on?

"Yang?" Ruby asked. "Are you-"

But she finished her sentence, she realized why Yang was trembling. She was having the giggles and had a very hard time not to openly laugh at the poor unlucky guy whose only form of protection against the heavy turbulence had broken because it was too old.

"This thing flies like a brick!" Ruby shouted over the heavy winds that were now pelting their craft. She should have known it; if it looks like a brick, it flies like a brick. She thought that beacon academy was as close as a kilometer! How could they still be flying!

The man sailed past her and smacked into the wall behind them.

"Prepare for a rough landing." The pilot announced and Ruby could suddenly feel her stomach and other internal organs somewhere in her throat as the ship lurched downwards. What was the pilot doing! How much trouble was it to pilot a dropship to a place as large as beacon academy!

The only person that was without bracing tumbled to a halt in one of the corners besides Yang, who was screaming "Woohoo!" with glee as the ship's interior began to resemble a washing machine more and more.

Then the terrible experience stopped and the ship was quiet again. Nothing was moving safe for the chest of the blond kid, which was rising and falling like crazy. His eyes were wide-open and his skin was pale. He looked like he had just been traumatized.

"Everybody off the ship!" The pilot told them and the doors opened. Ruby found herself unable to release her leather strap. It had seen her through the hardest and most nauseating rides in her life –she didn't want to let it go like that.

"It's alright Ruby…just let it go and grab my arm!" Yang said. With a trembling hand she reached up and peeled her other hand off the piece of leather. "There you go! Now come on, we have to visit our new home."

Oh that was right! This place would be their home now! The thought washed all her doubts and exhaustion from the ride away and she sprang out of the (crash)landed ship to follow her sister.


Back in the dropship, the blond boy was still breathing heavily. He had a kilometer-long stare in his eyes and the girl eyed him with concern.

The man who had taken the violent tumbling with grace suddenly sprang back to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. "Whoo! That was one of the better rides I've had in a while…"

The man wore a long brown coat and had an oversized bowtie pinned to his chest. "Now…let's see…"
He spun around two times as be looked over the various dents and holes in the ship. His behaviour unsettled the girl, who slowly moved one of her arms to the weapon on her back. The man seemed to have lost his balance; he was waving back and forth like he was trying to stay balanced on a rope.

"Legs…unbroken, shoes…not stolen, bowtie- " He gripped the piece of clothing with both hands and let loose a relieved sigh. "Yes. Excellent."

Then the man stopped his erratic spasms and turned to face the boy –who was getting close to hyperventilating- and he smiled.

"Now then…Jaune I presume?"

The blonde didn't respond, which slightly worried him. He glanced at the girl with her long hair and serious expression and turned back to the male. "Why don't you breathe in through your nose and out through the mouth, yeah? Feel it in your belly –belly-breathing is awesome. Keep breathing and feel yourself relaxing."

Then he waved at the girl before jumping out of the dropship and disappearing, leaving the two visibly flabbergasted.


The school was absolutely amazing! Ruby was slowly turning around while walking; trying to see everything she could before she moved on.

"Come on sis!" Yang called. "Hurry up you slow-poke!"

"Wait up! I need to see this!"

The two of them had reached what looked like the main courtyard. There were multiple boys and girls already moving around, carrying luggage and the providing her with a first-class ticket to watch the most awesome weapons she had ever seen. But Yang did not seem to care for the weapons of other people and even as Ruby was staring at the things around her, her sister was disappearing towards the castle.

"Hold up Yang!" Ruby yelled but her sister had already blended in with the crowd of other persons. Why was she always the people person? Everytime they went somewhere, Yang always had interaction with people. She had the attention of all the boys and sometimes even the girls. She didn't hold that much interest in a romantic relationship and wasn't actively looking for one, but she did know how to manipulate the males she did encounter. She either lured them into telling her information, or threatened them so intensely that they were scared into surrendering it. And she could do it so subtly too…

So it didn't hit Ruby as a surprise when she saw her sister socialize with the people on the courtyard the instant she met them, but it did sadden her. Who was going to look after her now? Where would she-

Her train of thoughts soon turned into a train-wreck as she bumped into someone. She heard the clattering of cases hitting the ground, the subtle "thud" of a person hitting the ground…and the inevitable impact of the ground rising up to meet her behind.

Ruby rubber her head and looked at the person she had accidentally bumped into. It was an attractive girl with long, white hair that she kept in a pony-tail down her shoulder. Her pale, white eyes had something…yearning. Something…vulnerable.

She was halfway into apologizing when the girl she had knocked into interrupted her, rather violently

"What are you doing? Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?"

"I am sorry!" She quickly said, her theory of the yearning and vulnerable going down the drain. But the girl she had wronged wasn't having any of it.

"Give me that!" She yelled and snatched the vial of dust from the ground that had rolled between her legs. She was carrying two coffins and one of them had sprung open, revealing several Dust crystals and other refined versions. "This is dust! Mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

"I-" Small puffs of the Dust had escaped the vial and splashed into Ruby's face, causing her nose to itch and her throat to slightly ache. "Ahh…"

Ruby moaned, feeling a major sneeze coming up. Her timing couldn't have been worse; if she sneezed right in this girl's face, she would only get angrier with her.

"Are you brain-dead? Dust, fire, water and lightning and energy!"

"I…I…nnnn…" Damnit Ruby, use your words! Make coherent sentences and more importantly, sense! And whatever you do, do not-

Ruby sneezed violently and obscured the girl in front of her in an explosion of fire, lightning and little snowflakes. The little flask of Dust that the girl had been holding went sailing through the air and disappeared like Yang had.

Finally the cloud dissipated and revealed a very scorched and very angry girl. "Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about!"

A small crater had appeared on the ground as she detonated the stuff and Ruby quickly saw that she had blown the first person she had met up with her own Dust. Great.

"I- I didn't mean to…I am sorry!" She stuttered, but the girl didn't listen to her. Ruby didn't want to maintain eye-contact with something that vicious, but she couldn't break away. She saw the girl's frown, the very subtle pull at a scar over one of her eyes and the disapproving position of her mouth. Yet, the anger and the fury did not seem to meet her eyes. There was some…insecurity there.

"Why don't you watch out where you walk! Are you blind or something!" The white-dressed girl might have looked rather innocent with her pale eyes and long white hair, but her demeanor said something completely different. Her extremely assertive ranting made Ruby feel rather small.

It also made her feel angry. Who was she to call her out?

The girl continued relentlessly. "What are you even doing here; this is the real deal! Aren't you a little too young to be attending Beacon!"

"I-"

"And don't you realize that isn't your ordinary combat school, with some fire drills and weapon courses!"

She had heard enough of that. She knew that she had messed up and she had said that she was sorry! What else was there to do? "Why don't you walk where you are going, if you are so amazing? I said I was sorry, princess. What did you do?"

"Heiress, actually." Huh? Who was that?

A girl Ruby had never seen before entered the fray. She had long, black hair and she was dressed in black clothes. Her eyes had a very serious expression and her voice sounded neutral, kept under careful control. She was holding the red bottle that had flown to its freedom.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Of all the people to explode in the face…she had picked one of the most richest and powerful families in all of Vale.

The girl known as Weiss smiled smugly and crossed her arms. That insecurity was gone now. "Finally, some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forced and questionable business partners."

That was quite the accusation. That was bound to rile the pale girl up even more- Ruby wasn't too sure that she wanted to be near her when that happened. She didn't like conflicts that much.

Weiss blushed heavily when she heard that and she was unable to form coherent sentences. In the end, she settled for something across the lines of "How dare you!" and simply snatched the bottle out of the other girl's hands. Then she stormed off, a few other people gathering her luggage and following her with it.

"It was nice meeting you!" Ruby yelled after her and then wiped some sweat of her brow. "That could have gotten ugly…thanks for your-"

But the other girl was already walking away at a leisurely pace, like she didn't even need to hurry away.

Ruby allowed her body to fall back on the ground and she groaned with embarrassment and frustration as she lay there. Why did these sorts of things always have to happen to her? Yang would have never exploded when she met a new girl. At least not so literally. The fact that she wasn't so intensely good with meeting new people shouldn't have to mean that she'd spontaneously combust when she met one! It wasn't fair…and what was with that Weiss girl, anyway? There was NO need for her to act so aggressively. It almost made her look like she was compensating for something, somehow…

Then a hand appeared in her view and she instinctively grabbed it, eager to reach for anything that might offer her help and care. The unknown person pulled her on her feet and brushed some of the dirt on her cape off of her. That was very nice.

"Are you alright?" He asked –for it was undoubtedly a male- and she looked at her helper. He looked a bit older than she was and had medium-length blond hair…and he looked strangely familiar…huh…

"Yes…I'm…fine, I guess…" She absentmindedly told him, thinking back on the two girls she had met.

"Are you sure?" He replied. No of course she wasn't! She had just detonated the first person she had met!

"I…I had a small incident…" She carefully said while looking down at her feet. It was rather embarrassing to openly admit what had transpired.

"Was it that explosion with the Schnee girl?" He had seen what had happened

She groaned and slowly nodded, confirming his thoughts. "Oh well…he responded and gave her a pat on her shoulder. "At least you didn't grab the only loose bracing strap back on the plane!"

It took Ruby a few moments to process what said and then she realized why the guy looked so familiar to her. "You were back on the dropship with us!" She yelled and pointed a finger at him. Then the remainder of his sentence made it to her brain and that too was processed. The man back on the plane who had literary seen every corner of its interior…he had made an even bigger fool out of himself than she had done.

She couldn't help herself and giggled at the memory. "See!" The guy said and laughed too. "It could be worse!"

Then he pointed his thumb at his chest and said: "My name is Jaune. Who are you?"

She smiled at him and told him her name. "I am Ruby. Can I see your weapons?" She added. The boy seemed taken aback by her interest in him, but complied anyway.

"This is my sword…" He said and pulled a shining metal sword out of the sheath on his back. "And this is my shield…they belonged to my grandfather." He activated something on the piece of metal and it expanded into a bronze shield shaped like a leaf.

"That is cool!" Ruby said, then she noticed that the sword didn't do anything special. "But what use is that?"

"My shield can compress itself so that it becomes easier to carry! It lightens the burden of my weapons."

That didn't make a whole lot of sense. "Wouldn't it just weigh the same?" She asked him. Physics hadn't been her best subject…

The boy sighed and his head dropped. "Yes…so what is your weapon then?"

Ruby unfolded her Crescent Rose and leaned against the handle. "This is Crescent Rose."

"Wow!" The boy said honestly and his eyes became big. "That is a beautiful scythe!"

She activated the secondary function and unfolded the sniper rifle. "It is also a high-powered sniper rifle!"

"Damn…" The boy muttered. It was funny that he would show up on the school with such simple weaponry. He had better be VERY good with them.

Wait a minute…they had been told to assemble in the dorms. Where were those supposed to be?

"Any idea where we need to go?" Ruby said while they were walking. She had no intention of getting lost AGAIN.

"I was actually hoping that you knew the way…hence me…following you."

Right. So she was lost.

"Do you think that…you know…there are signs or something to lead the way?"

Oh Jaune, Ruby thought, you have no idea of the gravity of the situation.

It took the two some time to locate the nearest collection of people, but when they did it became obvious to Ruby that she had hit the right place. There were many people gathered in what looked like an auditorium, with a stage and a microphone. She could see a girl with large amounts of blond hair and guessed that it would have to be Yang. She knew that she was right when the girl turned around and started waving and yelling at her.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Yes. That was Yang alright. She turned to Jaune and said: "Gotta go. S-see you after the ceremony I guess!"

"Wait!" He replied, but she had already left. She did notice a tall girl with long, red hair standing behind her, looking at Jaune with a hint of amusement in her eyes. Ruby was glad that the interest wasn't aimed at her instead of Jaune and moved to complete the reunion with her sister.

"How's your first day going little sister?" Yang asked her happily.

"You mean after you ditched me and I exploded!" Ruby retorted with a sharp edge in her voice.

"Yikes; meltdown already?" Her sister replied in a shocked tone.

"No, literally! I exploded and caused a hole in front of the school! There was fire…and ice…a terrible monster and also some pretty snowflakes."

Yang smiled broadly at her and she realized that she wasn't taking her seriously. "Are you being sarcastic with me?" She said.

Damnit Yang! It wasn't sarcasm-time yet; it had yet to become evening. "I wish. I tripped over a really insecure girl and I was very sorry and then she yelled at me and she kept yelling and I had to sneeze and then I exploded and-"

She took a deep breath before she continued. "And she yelled at me some more and more and I felt really, really bad and she wouldn't stop yelling and she was being very scary and mean!"

"YOU!" Someone yelled behind her. She recognized that voice…that terrible, hateful and cold voice. It was a sound that came straight from her nightmares and it would probably reoccur in those too."

"Eek!" She shrieked and jumped in the air out of fear. Thankfully her big sister was there to catch her frightened little body and she was safe. At least for a while. "Oh god it's happening again!"

"You're lucky you weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss sneered at her. The girl had appeared out of nowhere, how did she do that? Was she a demon? She had to be!

"Oh dear god you really exploded." Yang said, mildly shocked by the condition's that her little sister could get herself into.

"I told you so!" She replied and carefully moved out of her sister's arms. Then she turned to face Weiss. "It was an accident, it was-"

Weiss interrupted her by holding a yellow pamphlet out in front of her.

"What is this?" Ruby asked her and the pale girl looked happy to inform her. She began to list a large number of sentences and rules that sounded like they should appear on the bottom side of a large list of Terms of Usage and Services.

"What?" She replied, not knowing what was going on.

"Do you want to make things up to me?" Weiss then said.

"Absolutely!"

She extended the pamphlet again and said: "Then read this and leave me alone."

"Come on you two!" Yang said and tried to intervene with the two. "It is obvious that you two got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you simply start over?"

"Yes!" Ruby said. She was so thankful to her big sister! She couldn't have possibly done this alone! She extended her hand to the girl and tried to sound as friendly as she could. "Hello Weiss, I am Ruby. Wanna hang out together? Maybe shop for school supplies?"

For a split-second, Weiss' eyes flashed with hesitation. Then she went full sarcasm "Yes! And we can paint our nails, make warm chocolate and talk about boys! Like tall, blonde and scraggly over there!" She pointed at Jaune and her expression turned rather dark. It was obvious that she was being sarcastic, but why? It was a nice proposal.

"You seriously considered it, didn't you?" Ruby asked her in a soft tone.

Weiss glared at her for a few seconds before replying. "No."

Yeah. That was a blatant lie. There was a definite moment of hesitation and it almost felt like Weiss was somehow forcing herself to antagonize other people. Why was that?

Thankfully Headmaster Ozpin stepped onto the stage and immediately drew all attention towards him. Then he proceeded to give a speech that could put Glynda Goodwitch to sham. It spoke of how privileged they were and that they should behave that way…how big the trouble was if they didn't give it their all and how some of them were clearly a "waste of energy". All in all, Ruby felt a very unpleasant pressure on her chest when he was done.

Eventually, Miss Goodwitch replaced him on the stage and she scraped her throat. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation will begin. Dismissed!"

That meant that they needed to get out of his amphitheater-room-thingie very quickly.


Day 2 – Headmaster's office- 17:00 hours

Headmaster Ozpin had finally achieved a little bit of rest and peace for the day. After the terrible logistical organization that had been responsible for moving the students had done their job well and written down who had received the sabotaged standing places in the dropships, he had appeared to deliver a striking speech to the waiting students. It was frustrating and hard to see all those new potential Hunters and Huntresses faffing about, doing nothing worthwhile on their first day.

The second ship had arrived too and the newcomers had received their speech even as the first group had. So everyone was dismissed and sent to the ballroom where they would spend the night and now that it was evening, it was time for more serious business.

A soft knock sounded on his door and he answered it. "Open."

The door opened at his word and a figure entered the room, clad in black and carrying a helmet underneath his arm. Ozpin raised his eyebrow at the sight of that piece of equipment; a large tear had rented the faceplate from the upper left corner down to the lower middle. It was curious to see that such a vital piece of armour could be so damaged. There was no way anyone could have survived such a powerful hit to the face and live; not without permanent scarring. The person standing in his office didn't have any major scarring in his face, so that left only one option for the helmet to have gotten have damaged like that. Collateral damage after a mission. Explosive or firefight? He couldn't tell.

The person in his office snapped to attention and saluted him. "Two-Oxford reporting for duty sir."

His voice was sharp and to the point, his attitude suggested a no-nonsense mentality. Good, he could appreciate that. There was something about the boy that was off, though…apart from the obvious. He couldn't be much older than the first-year students that were attending the Academy. Pale, grey-blond hair and eyes that betrayed nothing…a rather ghastly appearance.

"Do you know why you were called here?" Ozpin asked him.

"No sir." The soldier was still standing at rapt attention, leading the Headmaster to remember just why he didn't like dealing with his kind too much. Soldiers in Vale. It seemed so…useless. He was training dozens of Hunters and Huntresses that could protect the country –so why was there any need for a soldier?

"You may stand at ease…" He said and once again grabbed the dossier that was sent to him a while back. It was rather…confusing to read. There were many missing sentences and words and there was a lot of black ink that seemed to hide important details.

"I will ask you again. Do you know why you are here?"

"Duty, sir."

He was to the point alright. The kid really couldn't be older than eighteen…Ozpin hadn't seen people like him in a long time. He slowly reached for his cup of coffee and was lightly disturbed to see that it was already empty. Had he already drank the coffee? That was disappointing. He would have to get more after this –the kid's presence was already starting to unnerve him. As approving as he felt about his mentality, he still disliked soldiers. Well, he didn't dislike soldiers, he hated them. Vale was better off without soldiers running around shooting people.

"I have read your file. There are a number of instances where your…experience…can prove invaluable. This, however, means that you will have to…integrate with our Academy for some time."

The kid's facial expression remained unchanged, but body language could betray so many things to the trained eye. And while Ozpin wasn't the most capable man out there when it came to body language, he was still able to detect a great many things from this person's nonverbal communication.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and his shoulders sagged a little bit. His entire demeanor looked like he was…nervous?

A trained soldier like him being nervous when faced with the task to blend in with other human beings and having to socialize at a daily basis? How very weird.

"Integrate sir?" He asked. It looked like the prospect of his job was not very enticing to him.

"Yes. We will have an initiation tomorrow. You will start your operation this very evening and join the academy's ranks for as long as it takes.

The male didn't respond for about ten seconds and Ozpin could have sworn that he was being thoughtful. That was a first. He was probably processing the issued order in his mind, which would take him a while.

"Yes sir."

Good. In the end he decided to follow the order that his superior gave him. Point for him.

"You will be located to…" Ozpin grabbed the Dossier once again and thought about the possibilities. "…the western hangar bay, number five."

"Sir."

"Well then… you are dismissed." The soldier saluted and then turned around and exited his office. Dealing with such people was always…troublesome. And his lack of coffee was even more troublesome; he needed some more and he needed it very soon.

He sighed and stood up from his desk. It was time to venture into the late-day coffee room and face potential colleague's in their own search for coffee. It was a very wanted product, after all.


Yang had been touring the Academy for half an hour now and she had seen some fabulous things. Some fabulous people as well, quite exotic and unique in their personalities and little traits. It was funny to see how people could act so differently in the same situation. Like her little sister, for example.

Ruby had been very nervous for the upcoming initiation and she could see it. The fact that she had skipped two years and immediately started at Beacon was nagging at the girl for some strange reason. Couple that with the incident with the Schnee girl and you had a very…big combination of stress.

Yang tried her best to get her little sister to relax, but it didn't always work well. Tonight would be another opportunity for her to blow some steam off; Ruby and her would both be sleeping in the same room together with two other people. She would get the little redhead to socialize with other people and with some brand-new friends, her stress levels would drop significantly.

Well, she would see about that soon. She had collected the stuff she would need to spend the night and as she rounded the corner, she noticed that there was an intersection at the end of the current hallway. If she went to the left, she would eventually get to her room where her little sister was already placing all her stuff. To the right was…well, probably another adventure but not her destination for now.

As she approached the corner, another person walked out of the other entrance. Both of them were coming in very fast and they were too close.

Yang didn't want to bump into somebody again in one day; the last time she did the person had nearly flown out of the window and only a timely intervention from her part prevented the poor guy from falling down the three-story building.

What was his name again? John? Jaun? Something like that.

So as she and the person coming out of the hallway neared each other, she spun to her side and placed her back against the wall to let him pass. These halls were just too narrow!

But he did the same thing –repositioning his balance to let her pass without incident. Curious; she hadn't thought any of the males on this academy to simply let a girl pass without some flirting whistle or an enticing look. But this guy? He didn't even do as much as glance in her general direction. He just let her pass and continued on his way without looking back at her.

It wasn't that she enjoyed the negative attention, but she had gotten a bit used to it. Needless to say, when someone didn't even look at her when walking past her in the hall that guy would either be blind…or gay… or both.

"Hey!" She yelled and crossed her arms while she leant against the wall. The person turned around and faced her –but only for a second. Then his eyes wandered off again.

Not to her chest, like most people did when looking at her, but to a point about a meter to her left. She didn't think anything about it though; never judge someone by his weird little habits but only by their weird big habits.

He didn't answer her with words; he just stood there looking at that oh-so very interesting point at the wall. Perhaps he was nervous! How silly, she didn't bite…often. "You have a name?" She asked him.

He didn't say anything and turned to leave again, leaving a somewhat confused Yang behind. She shook her head and proceeded down the intersection to her dormitory. What a jerk. She could understand people being a bit weird in the head around here, but that was just uncalled for. She had felt the desire to go after him and call him out on that bullshit, but Ruby had the biggest priority.

Until she met him again, of course.

Yang reached the ballroom and was surprised to see that it was divided into many different, smaller rooms. She could spot Ruby on the far side of one such room and smiled to herself as she saw that her little sister was busy writing a letter.

The blonde crashed next to her on the ground after she had donned her pajamas and noticed that Ruby was already done with the letter. "It's like a big slumber party!" Yang cheerfully said.

"Pretty sure dad wouldn't approve of all the boys…" Ruby absentmindedly said. Yang remembered the multiple half-naked boys she had seen –and Jaune in his pajamas- and giggled a bit. "I sure don't!" She said and couldn't help but look down at her sister's letter again.

"What's that?" She said.

"A letter to my friends at Signal. I wanted to let them know how Beacon Academy is."

That was just so adorable!

"How cuuuuute!" She jested and caught a pillow to the face for her troubles.

"Shut up!" Ruby responded and readied another pillow should she have another smart remark. "I don't make friends that easily and you already have lots of them! I simply miss my friends at signal…"

"But…" Yang tried to think of someone that her sister could count as a friend and remembered the blond guy again. "Jaune seemed pretty nice; you can count him as your friend right? There you go! One hundred percent increase in friendship right there!"

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend…" Ruby muttered and put the letter away. Yang couldn´t argue with that unfortunately, so she simply chose to make the next smart remark she could think of. ``Technically…there is no such thing as a negative friend. You simply made an enemy on your first day little sis-"

Her words got cut off as the next pillow hit her in her face. She laughed and brushed the thing away, only to see Ruby brandish another one. Where did she even get those?

"Look!" She said and held up her hands to prove her innocence. "All I'm saying is that this is just your first day…you will make lots of new enemies – I mean friends!" She quickly corrected herself. "You just haven't met them yet."

Then a new shadow was cast on the wall behind them and both sisters looked up to spot the new source of light. A girl with a black buttoned vest with coattails and a white undershirt was sitting in the corner, reading a book. She was wearing long black socks and stockings that started black but slowly faded to purple on her legs.

"That girl…" Ruby muttered and Yang felt her attention being drawn to the mysterious girl sitting there. So ruby knew this girl? A cunning plan already arose in her mind and she asked her sister where she knew her from.

"She was one of my explosion-witnesses…" Ruby simply stated. That meant that this girl had met her before! So it was time to set her cunning plan in motion.

"Well there you go!" She said and grabbed her little sister's arm.

"What are you doing…let me go!" Ruby whispered but Yang pretended that she didn't hear her. When they were close enough to the black-garbed girl, she looked up from her book and made eye-contact.

"Helllooooo!" She chirped and ignored the redhead's swearing and grumbling as she pulled her closer. I believe you two have met before?"

The girl looked at Ruby and she frowned a bit. "Aren't you the girl who exploded?" She then asked, causing a pit to form in Yang's stomach. As far as prejudges went, one that was based on a spontaneous combustion was pushing it a little far. Maybe it was just cognitive association that linked her memory of Ruby to the event of her detonating?

"Well…yes, you know…" The redhead responded, but then she probably remembered how to introduce herself to people and said, "But you can just call me Ruby!"

Her conversational partner looked at her for a couple more seconds before she refocused on her book. "Okay."

Hmmm…Ruby was really terrible at this. "What are you doing?" She hissed at her little sister. Said sister then turned to face her with an expression bordering on panic. "I have no idea, help me I am very scared!"

Sigh. Yang to the rescue…again.

"So…what's your name?" She said and poked Ruby in her ribs when she noticed her trying to leave.

"Blake…" the girl replied and tried to get back to reading. Like hell she was getting away without conversing with her little sis!

"Hi Blake, I am Yang! Ruby's big sister. I… like your bow!"

"Thanks. It's as lovely as this book…which I will continue to read…as soon as you leave."

Well…so much for trying to socialize. Maybe she could find someone else that Ruby could talk to…

But her little sister was still staring at Blake with a doubtful expression on her face. In the end, she sighed and knelt down next to the girl.


Ruby had a weird feeling…call it a hunch. Sometimes it simply happened when she looked at people and when she looked at this girl, she had that weird feeling again. She realized that she was annoyed at them trying to poach her into interacting with them, just like she was. But Yang was right about the fact that it was good for their development. If she could just converse with this girl about something that mattered…something which was significant…then she would come out of her shell of isolation and talk with her like a normal person.

Or at least that was what she thought.

"What's it about?" She asked, ignoring her big sister's remark.

"What?" The girl replied, obviously taken aback by Ruby's question judging by the look of mild surprise on her face.

"Your book…does it have a name?" She continued.

"Well…" Blake said and sounded doubtful for a second. Then her urge to talk with someone about the things that kept her busy probably won over her desire to stay alone and she replied, suddenly sounding more sure of herself now that she could talk about something she liked. "It is about a man with two souls. They are constantly fighting for control over his body and the man slowly descends into madness…why do you ask?"

Gotcha. "I love books!" Ruby replied gently. Now that she had lured the girl into talking openly, she could perhaps get her to trust her a bit. "Yang used to read books to me all the time when I was a kid. Stories about monsters and heroes…they are one of the reasons that I wanted to become a Huntress."

Blake smiled faintly and her eyes warmed up a bit. "Why is that? Do you want to live happily ever after?"

Now it was Ruby's turn to smile. "Everyone does eventually…but I want to become like the heroes described in those stories. To protect the people I care about and those that can't protect themselves."

Blake's smile widened a centimeter. "That's…very ambitious for a child." Then her smile turned into a frown. "But…unfortunately the world isn't like a fairy tale."

Her sudden change of demeanor indicated that she either had personal experience with an unhappy world, or that she had very strong beliefs concerning the topic. Either way, this was getting sensitive.

"Well…" Ruby slowly started. "I think that is why we are here-" She gestured around the room and smiled to Blake, who was watching her with some curiosity. "To make the world a better place."

Before Blake could reply, Yang decided that now would be an excellent time to hug and crush her little sister.

"Oh I am so proud of my little sis!" She cried and Ruby tried desperately to fight the violent embrace. Their little bonding scene turned into a sudden turmoil when she escaped her sister's grip and attacked her in return. The two of them wrestled for a second while Blake simply watched them with a new –and broader- smile on her lips.

"Well, Ruby…Yang, it has been a pleasure to have-"

Before the dark-clothed girl could finish her remark the improvised doors slammed open and Ruby felt a cold chill run down her neck. This unearthly presence…this evil scent…it couldn't be –it was impossible!

She turned around just in time to see Weiss Schnee standing in the door-opening. Ruby wasn't sure who was the biggest moment-ruiner; her or Yang, but it didn't matter. What did matter was that Blake had almost opened up a little to the outside and now she had interrupted her! That was very asocial.

"What on earth are you guys doing!" She snapped at them. "Don't you savages realize that people are trying to sleep here!"

"Oh no…not you again…" Yang groaned and brought a hand up to her face in an attempt to block the current events from being remembered. Blake subtly rose her book just enough for her head to be obscured and Weiss scowled at the blonde's remark.

Ruby realized that Weiss wasn't making any friends with this behaviour and tried to defuse the situation before it escalated into something worse. "Sshhh! She is right guys; we have to be quiet now!"

Weiss turned to face her and her expression meant trouble. "Oh so now you are on my side?"

"I was always on your side!" She returned.

"What's your problem with my sister; she is only trying to be nice!" Yang yelled.

"Please be quiet…" Blake muttered but nobody heard her.

"Guys…" Ruby tried to calm them down. She too was ignored.

"She is a hazard to my health!" Weiss rebutted and the two girls stared at each other with an angry expression. Blake sighed again and reached for her candle. Then she softly blew it out at the same time Ruby hit the light-switch and the room was covered in darkness.

"I think we should go to sleep…" Yang whispered.

"Great idea…" Blake replied.


Day 2: 20:00

Hmm…this Academy was quite well-designed. He totally didn't get lost his first time trying to find the office he wanted to reach.

He knocked on the door and waited for it to open. It wasn't exactly the best moment of the day to communicate with the owner of that room, but SHE had called HIM over.

The door opened and a blond woman opened the door. Her eyes were strict…very strict. He had no doubts about it; if he messed up she would have his ass in a sling. That was why he had been preparing himself for some time now. When the situation turned south, he would talk like he had never talked before…that day. He would distract the evil woman and then quickly flee through the window.

"Miss Goodwitch! How very nice to see you again!"

"Save it. I didn't call you here to hear you blabbering about useless things; I have a very tight schedule."

"What is wrong with blabbering about? We could talk about the weather…about Ozpin…about coffee…about new students…about Ozpin…"

"Am I wasting my time?"

"No miss. The initiation is ready; I have scouted the Emerald Forest and it would seem that it is very capable of presenting a challenge to our new students."

"MY new students. Not yours."

"Yes, well that is debatable. According to your schedule, the students have two hours to prepare themselves tomorrow. After that, it will be time for them to show us what they are worth."

"Yes I know that…wait a minute, you looked through my schedule?

Damn. He had said too much. Now Goodwitch would proceed to tear his eyes out and- wait a minute! He had one Glynda-escape kit with him; he could escape this situation!

"Well, before you do anything you should know that Ozpin is out of coffee. Again. He gets grumpy when his coffee is gone and you wouldn't want to see him getting grumpy, right? So…I noticed this…"

He handed the woman a picture with two packs of coffee beans. "I found these two…interesting items a few hour ago. It would be a shame if someone were to…rig them up with explosives and detonate them in two minutes?"

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand and sighed explosively. "You rigged the last supplies of coffee with explosives?"

He smiled at her and clasped his hands behind his back. "Pretty much."
The blond woman stared at him with deadly intent in her eyes for a few seconds. Then she sighed again and closed the door behind her. "Very well…I shall retrieve the packs of coffee and you will stay right here, not moving an inch and not touching ANYTHING in my office. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" He said and saluted her. Then he watched her leave her office as she began her race against the clock to get coffee for Ozpin.

Good…now to break open the door. She had something in there that belonged to him.


"It seems that the start of this new year at Beacon Academy is paired with some major trouble in Vale. The amount of gossip over possible Grimm sightings is rising every day and there are more and more gangs slowly getting out of control. The Vale Police Department his having a hard time controlling everything and my dear friend Ozpin has already decided that the third-year students are competent enough to be send on missions against the crime in the city. In groups of course."

"Who is in there?"

"Just ignore it…I wonder if the new group of students is so good that Ozpin wants to send them too… it would make for one heck of a practical training right?"

"Is there someone in my office? Come out at once you scandal!"

"Damnit…eehm…signing off?"

- UNKNOWN logbook entry illegally taped in Glynda Goodwitch's office, 20:07 hours.