Everyone on the airship crowded the exit as they flooded out into the paths leading to the massive academy. The blond boy the girls had seen earlier rushed out past everyone, leaning against the nearest wall, clutching his stomach and groaning.
Ruby and Yang were totally speechless as they got the full view of the massive Beacon Academy.
As they were forced forward by the continuing crowd, Yang said, "And I thought it looked big from the airship. "
"Yeah," Ruby agreed as they continued to marvel at the building.
As they continued onward, they saw some of the upperclassmen walking around, some carrying their weapons with them.
Ruby immediately exploded in excitement, grabbing Yang's arm and pointing to many of the different weapons.
"Look, Yang! That guy has arm blades! Oh! And that one has a massive sword! Look at that! Ohmygosh is that a dust infused jacket!? I wonder if that guy's short swords do anything else!" She squealed in delight before Yang pulled Ruby's hood down over her face.
"You never stop talking about any weapons you see, do you?" she asked.
Ruby pulled her hood back up. "Obviously! Our weapons are a part of us! Like an extension of our body! They're just so freaking cool!"
"With all the time you spent on yours, I'm surprised you're not satisfied with it."
"Of course I'm satisfied with mine; it's my own creation! But it's always cool seeing new weapons… much better than actually meeting people…"
Yang lightly bopped Ruby on the head with the side of her hand. "You're gonna need to meet people at some point while you're here."
"Why? I can just hang out with you, right?"
"Well, I actually told my friends I would meet up with them when I arrived, so I have to head off right now!"
Yang dashed off.
"Wait, where are we supposed to go? Is there a main hall? Dorms?" Ruby sighed. "She's gone."
Ruby sat on a bench she had found, absentmindedly swinging her legs and vacantly looking at the ground.
"I should really find out where to go…" she said to no one.
"You're lost too, huh?"
"Hm?" Ruby looked up at the voice, surprised. She hadn't noticed the blond boy from before walking around near her.
"I feel like we were supposed to go somewhere, but I think I missed the announcement," he said with an awkward chuckle.
Ruby looked back to the ground. "That makes two of us, then," she muttered.
The boy sat down on the bench Ruby was on.
"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Ruby asked with a small smile.
He gave another embarrassed laugh. "Wish I could be remembered in a way other than 'the vomit boy.' It was just motion sickness, though. It's a much more common problem than most people think!"
Ruby chuckled. "Well, 'Vomit Boy' was kind of the first impression you gave."
"My first impression of you was being alone on a bench."
"Fair point…"
They sat in silence for a while.
"Just… so you're not permanently calling me 'Vomit Boy,' my name is actually Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, lad―um… nevermind."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Were you going to say 'ladies love it'?"
"No!" Jaune protested. "Er… maybe… okay, yes."
Ruby chuckled awkwardly. "My name's Ruby Xiao Long."
Not knowing how to respond without sounding dumb, Jaune stayed quiet.
A little later, they heard voices nearby.
"You two know we need to be in the main hall in a few minutes, right?" A girl's voice.
"I've been trying to tell her that, but she's not coming without stopping to talk or look at something every 10 seconds." That was a boy's voice.
"Well, why don't the three of us head down together?" Same girl as before.
"That sounds like a great idea. Come on already, Nora. We really can't miss this on the first day here."
"But there's so much to look at!" said a very energetic sounding girl.
"We'll get plenty of time later," the other girl said.
Despite one not sounding happy, it sounded like the three were coming over to where Jaune and Ruby were sitting.
"Did they say main hall?" Jaune asked Ruby.
"I think so…"
"We should follow them; they seem to know where it is." He got up and started to follow the other group as Ruby got up and hurried to follow.
The three they were following eventually arrived at a door leading into a large area where a massive group of people had gathered. Many were sitting, but an equal amount were still standing or finding a seat
Jaune noticed Ruby scanning the area. "Looking for someone?"
"Yeah, my sister… Oh! There she is! Yang!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran off.
"Hey, wait!... and she's gone." Jaune sighed. "Guess I'll go find a spot…"
He wandered around a bit before settling in a spot. Everyone around him was chatting with the people they sat next to, which was pretty distracting to Jaune.
"What happened to the girl you were with before?" someone to his right asked.
He looked over and was surprised to see one of the girls they had been following there. "Um… you knew we were following you guys?"
The girl smiled. "There weren't any other people around; we were bound to notice the two of you at some point along the way."
Jaune chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah… that makes sense." He noticed the two she was with before were gone. "Where'd the two you were with go?"
"Nora ended up wandering somewhere on the other side of the room, and she dragged Ren with her." She chuckled. "Something similar with you?"
"Huh? Oh, right. Ruby ran off to find her sister, I think."
"Well, I suppose it was lucky we bumped into each other, then."
"Yeah, I guess." Jaune looked at the girl for a moment. "I feel like I know you from somewhere…"
The girl looked somewhat saddened by him saying this. "I… I wouldn't particularly be surprised. I'm… somewhat… famous… but I really don't like thinking about myself that wa―"
"You're the one on the boxes of Pumpkin Pete's!" Jaune exclaimed.
The girl stared at him for a moment, somewhat dumbfounded. She blinked a couple of times before smiling, leading into a chuckle, which then led into a laugh.
"Um…" Jaune stared at her.
As she calmed down, she wiped at her eye and said, "I'm-I'm sorry, it-it's just people don't usually know me from that. Most know me from some of the bigger things I've done. Winning tournaments or other things."
"So it is you?!" Jaune asked.
"Yes, I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
"I-uh… um…"
"Please just think of me like anyone else here," she told him. "After all, that is all I am. Just another student."
"Um, well… uh-it-it's nice to meet yo-you, Pyrrha. I'm Jaune. J-Jaune Arc."
"That's a nice name," Pyrrha replied. "Nice to meet you."
Holy crap, they do like it! Jaune thought.
Their conversation was interrupted by Professor Ozpin walking up to a microphone on a stage in front of them.
He pushed his glasses up a bit before speaking. "I'll... keep this brief. You have come to this school in search of knowledge, the knowledge to hone your craft and acquire new skills. When you have finished your time here, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."
Ozpin paused a moment and scanned the room. "Currently, I look amongst you, and all I can see is wasted energy. Energy that is in need of purpose... direction." The students whispered amongst themselves a bit after this.
"You assume knowledge will give you this, but your time at this school will show you that knowledge can only carry you so far. It will always be up to you... to take the first step."
Ozpin stepped back as he finished, and Glynda came up in his place. "As you leave this area to the doors to on the sides of the room," she said. "After marking yourself as being here on any of terminals at any of the doors, you can explore the school, relax, or meet with your friends for the remainder of the day. Tonight you will all be sleeping in the ballroom. You'll be expected there by 10 P.M. at the latest. You are dismissed."
Back where Ruby had met up with Yang again, Yang asked Ruby, "Did he seem out of it, or was that just me?"
"Yeah, he seemed weird, kind of like he wasn't fully here…" Ruby replied.
"Whatever! Let's go log in or something!" Yang started walking to one of the doors, Ruby following after.
Ruby looked over as Yang fell down onto the mattress next to the one Ruby was laying on. The massive ballroom had mattresses lined up all throughout, along with blankets and pillows on each one. Sort of makeshift dorms for the first night.
"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed as she plopped down.
Ruby looked around briefly before pulling out her scroll, saying, "I don't think dad would be happy with all the boys here, though."
"I know I am~" Yang said.
Ruby just sighed in response.
Yang looked over at her sister. "Whatcha doin'?"
"I'm messaging with some of the friends I had back at Signal. I promised them I'd tell them about what Beacon is like."
"Awwww, that's―oof!" Yang was silenced by Ruby tossing a pillow at her face.
"Shut up!" Ruby pouted. "I didn't get to come with any of my friends like everyone else…"
"You just need to make new ones, like that Jaune guy you told me about."
"I also told you I ended up ditching him." Ruby sighed. "Doubt he'd want to be my friend after that. And you know how hard it was just to make the two friends I had at Signal… not to mention I'm so much younger than everyone else here." She closed her scroll and set it aside, grabbing one of her comic books from her bag.
"You brought those with you?" Yang asked, amused.
"Of course I did! I need something to do at times like this…"
"If you're worried that people are gonna judge you for being younger, I don't think reading comics is gonna help much," Yang told her with an amused look.
"Shut up," Ruby pouted.
The two continued their small talk for a while before deciding to go to sleep, awaiting the day ahead.
I'm putting this story on Fanfiction, Wattpad, and the RWBY Amino, and each may have things the other ones won't (I'll might do polls for some stuff in Amino, and do additional author's notes on Wattpad and Fanfiction), so if you really like what I'm doing, you can check out all of them.
My Wattpad name is TheStuffDoer, and my Amino (and Fanfiction) name is Mr. Stuff Doer.