Chapter 2: Welcome to Beacon
I got over my shock by the time we landed, and the first thing I noticed was a guy with blond hair ready to blow chunks, and as soon as the doors opened, he there was a trash can right outside the doors, to the left. Then I noticed the barf bags in the trash can. Apparently he was not a fan of moving vehicles. I looked at Ruby, "Was he doing that the entire time?"
I guess it should've been obvious, from the look she gave me, "You didn't notice him at the trash can?"
"Cloud nine," I gave her another smile, then asked, "Could you not surprise me like that again, though? I enjoyed it, a lot actually, but I'd like to be able to tell you I'm happy instead of just grinning like an idiot."
"But you already do that on a daily basis without my help."
"Yeah, but I can still speak to you on a daily basis." We kept bantering good-naturedly until we reached the courtyard and saw Beacon Academy.
The first though that we could get out was, "Woooowww."
We knew this was going to be an exciting year.
Yang came to stand beside us and said, "This should be fun."
I responded, "No kidding."
People started walking around and Ruby began to get excited from seeing from seeing all the weapons before Yang and I held her back from charging around and babbling to some random stranger. She started fangirling a little bit when she saw someone walk by with a pair of shotgun gauntlets, making Yang a little disappointed from how she asked, "Why don't you ever do that when it's my gauntlets? They're the same thing."
"It's like meeting new people," Ruby explained, "Except way cooler!" Her eyes were sparkling.
"But mine is still the coolest… right?" I asked hopefully.
Ruby hugged me from the side, "Always and forever." She gave me a peck on the cheek and gave my ears a quick stroke before letting go. I really hoped we became a team.
"If you're going to make out, take it to a bathroom stall." Yang could really get annoying with her jokes and teasing. Both of our faces went red as we turned to her and yelled in unison, "We're not going to make out!"
"Sure you're not."
Just then, a group of guys gathered around Yang and she quickly said, "Here are my friends, gotta go, byeee!" before running past us and making us spin until we fell into someone's baggage, Ruby landing on top of me. We both heard a feminine voice clear her throat, so we looked up to see a girl with white hair, who asked in an annoyingly bratty tone, "What do you think you're doing?"
Ruby, being the one who couldn't be mean to strangers, held up a bag to her and said, "Sorry."
I helped Ruby up before standing up myself and saying, "Yeah, we were just a little dizzy from getting run past."
The girl scowled at us, "You could have caused an explosion."
I was confused, "Why exactly is that?"
"Because this is dust," she quickly latched the bag.
I heard someone approaching and turned to see a black haired gothic girl with a suspicious-looking bow on her head, right about where my canine ears were. She was carrying a small vial of some red substance with a snowflake on it, which was a little ironic. Her presence didn't go unnoticed by the ice queen; the girl walked over and snatched the vial from the girl with a "humph" and went back to her bags when Ruby asked, "What do you mean 'dust'?"
I was a little surprised that she didn't know, considering she was in a dust store reading a magazine when we earned our way into Beacon, but the white-haired girl was apparently angered and baffled, "Dust! You know: fire, ice, lightning, energy?"
I officially decided that I didn't like this girl's attitude, "Hey, princess, it's not like we're total brainiacs like you!"
The black haired girl spoke up in a quiet tone, "You're not too far off, although it's heiress; Weiss Schnee; heiress to the Schnee Dust Co.; one of the main producers in dust throughout Remnant."
Weiss appeared gratified at her recognition, "Finally, someone who-"
Quiet, dark, and gothic cut her off, "They're also the ones who have shady business partners and mistreated workers." Her demeanor gave me the impression that the Schnee's were racist toward Faunus, which I hoped was wrong about.
Weiss made some attempts to make a retort. When she failed at them though, she stormed off, leaving Ruby, me, and the unnamed girl alone in the courtyard. Ruby and I turned to talk to the pale girl, but she was gone, surprising me with how silently she'd left. I made a mental note to ask to spar with her at some point in the future.
Ruby started dramatizing the situation by flopping to the ground and groaning. I chuckled and started playing with her: I went to my knees, raised my arms, and began acting as though she were dead, "O great God! Why hath thou taken the life of the beautiful, young, and innocent maiden?" I mentally congratulated myself on my use of old english.
Ruby giggled and laid as though she were dead, exhaling slowly for more effect.
Just then, a tall, blonde guy walked over, and started joining in, "I have done this so that you might be strong enough…" he paused for effect, "... to eat my seven pepper burrito!" He held his hand out to me as though offering a burrito. We all started laughing until our sides hurt. If the huntsman thing didn't work out, I could always become a comedian. The guy then offered his hand, which I took, then we helped up Ruby.
"Name's Jaune Arc," he offered his hand to shake.
I took it and replied, "Christen Black."
Ruby likewise shook and replied with, "Ruby Rose."
We started walking along, talking about stuff like what we thought would happen and how we thought we'd do. We showed our weapons to each other and talked about how we got them. Jaune seemed awed that we had forged our weapons while he used his family's sword and shield.
We kept walking until Ruby asked where we were going. I realized that we were supposed to be in the assembly hall in ten minutes, so I closed my eyes started listening to my surroundings, searching for any clues as to which way the assembly hall might be.
Jaune asked, "What's he doing?"
Ruby explained, "He can find his way around by sensing his surroundings. It's part of his semblance."
"Ah."
I guided us to the assembly building and we went inside. We started looking around for anyone familiar, then spotted Yang. We turned to Jaune and told him we'd see him later.
When we reached a spot to stand, Yang asked about what happened after she left us in the courtyard. Ruby told her about the Weiss girl and how she wouldn't stop being mean. The universe must have felt like making a cruel joke at our expense, because the arctic princess popped up right then and started scolding Ruby about how young she was. That really jangled my nerves.
While I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to keep myself from a reenactment of my morning, Weiss held a pamphlet up to Ruby and went into another annoying (and slightly longer) explanation that I didn't bother to listen to. Ruby took the pamphlet and examined it while Weiss made a snide comment about Jaune's blonde hair.
Ozpin made a short speech about the school, and then Glenda announced we'd be sleeping in the barn for the night and that tomorrow was initiation. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to spend the night in a room with people I, possibly, didn't know.
We milled around for a little while, getting lunch and dinner at around noon and evening, then headed to the barn. Thankfully, There was a curtain that separated the boys and girls while we changed.
Once I was dressed, I found Jaune, standing in a Pumpkin Pete's onesie. I took a moment to chuckle at the hilarity of the situation, then I dragged him by the collar to my bag and thrust a pair of pajama pants into his arms, "Put these on. I don't want my friend to lose all chance with a girl."
He looked at me and protested, "But I never go to bed without my onesie on."
"Well, guess what? You're not going to get a date with a cute girl wearing a onesie like a wuss."
He groaned, but slipped off the onesie, revealing rock-hard abs that most guys would kill to have, and broad, muscled shoulders, and put on the pants. I cocked my head to one side and asked, "Why do you wear a onesie if you're built like a model?"
He looked to the side and said, "Because I got swarmed by every gay guy at my old academy. I even had stalkers come to my window at night and try to get pictures of me in bed."
I cringed at the thought of a guy trying to get pictures of me at night, "I se. Don't worry, I don't think you'll have to deal with that here," I held up my fist to him, "Now let's see if no girl will think about going out with you now."
He bumped his fist to mine and said, "Yeah."
Then I got serious, "Just don't get any ideas about Ruby, she's my girl."
"Got it; look but don't touch."
I smiled, grateful he understood, "Thanks, man. Now let's the girls who look."
The curtain moved about twenty minutes later, and just about every girl, including Weiss, began gawking at the now bare-chested hunk next to me, I thanked whatever deity was above that Ruby just gave him a once over and came to sit by me. I wrapped my arm around her and we watched as our friend started scroll number after scroll number. He looked at me and I gave him a thumbs up, smirking at how he was going to have to fight off so many girls once he got a girlfriend.
Ruby tapped my shoulder and pointed out the gothic girl from earlier, "Maybe we should go talk to her?"
"Yeah," I agreed.
We walked over to her and saw she was reading a book.
"Hey," we greeted.
I asked, "Whatcha doin'?"
The girl looked at us, her expression showing annoyance, "Reading this book…" We waited for her to continue, "...That I will go back to when you leave."
"What's the name of it?" Ruby inquired.
The girl looked slightly stunned, as though she had expected us to tell her that reading was stupid. "What?" she asked.
I elaborated, "The book you're reading, what's the name?"
"Why do you care?" I knew we'd snagged a new friend.
Ruby told her about how Yang used to read to us when we were younger, and how we wanted to be like the heroes in the stories. I told her about how I had learned to put emotion into my reading so that I could read to Ruby for a little while before we went to Signal. She then invited me to read a little out of the book and patted the seat next to her. Ruby sat down on my right while the girl, who introduced herself as Blake, sat on my left. Blake handed me the book and I took it, holding it in my right hand and leaving my left free to gesture. I then reached behind her bow and gave a light scratch to it, effectively eliciting a purr from Blake. I was certain she was Faunus now.
I pulled my hand back and said, seeing the apprehension in her eyes, "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone." I popped my ears out of my hair to emphasize my point, then started reading, putting as much emotion as I could summon into my voice.
Pretty soon I had a full audience around me on the edge of their seats in anticipation. When I had finished reading, I got an applause and bowed as well as I could from my seated position, since Ruby had fallen asleep while leaning on me and I didn't want to wake her.
Blake got up, taking her book and complimenting me on my fluent reading skills, and thanked us for promising to keep her secret. I told her it was no problem, we just hoped she'd be our friend,
and I was happy when she said she would.
She then went to where I guess her sleeping bag was and went to bed. I was feeling tired myself, so I situated Ruby on the floor to where she appeared comfortable lying down. Then I went to our stuff and got out a blanket, brought it back over, and settled it over us. I was not about to take the chance of leaving her alone with alone when there was a school load of testosterone filled teenage guys only six feet away. I cuddled up to her, wrapping my arms around her midsection and trying to ignore the throbbing sensation in my pants. I guess she must have sensed it was me because she rolled over to face me and started rubbing my ears, putting at a great ease and helping to drift off to sleep.
