The rest of the morning was hectic, but Ruby managed to get to breakfast without any major incident. Pulling on her own clothing rather than Weiss's proffered jacket was somewhat of a relief. She would have to remember to return the coat later, when she had the time. Breakfast itself was a quiet affair, with Team RWBY eating together one one edge of the lunchroom.

Ruby looked up from her food to find Blake glancing at her. "Is there something on my face?"

"Er, no." Blake looked somewhat guilty at getting caught. "I just... I don't know much about you guys. I was curious?"

Ruby set aside her adage about curiosity killing the cat, and simply replied "About what?"

Blake seemed ready for the question. "Aren't you a bit young to be a Beacon?"

Oh. She supposed she was, huh. Yang and Weiss were both paying attention now. "I ended up chasing around a criminal a few weeks ago. Roman Torchwick?" Blake blinked before nodding her head at the name. "I was chasing him after he tried to rob a Dust shop. He got away, but I captured the thugs he hired to help him. I met Professor Goodwitch during the fight, then Professor Ozpin afterward. He offered me entry."

Blake nodded, seemingly satisfied. "That was very brave." Blake was observing her intently now. "It's good to see people fighting injustice in the world."

Well, if that wasn't hinting at something. Ruby nodded and resumed her meal, trying her best to give Blake a reassuring smile. Blake seemed nice, if not a bit strange. What wasn't very nice, however, was her meal, sitting cold and uneaten on her tray. She sighed and got up. Nothing else to do but to head to class, then.


Professor Port wasn't exactly a bad teacher, per se. Rather, it would be hard to call him a teacher at all. She was reminded of grandfathers in books who would brag about their exploits during the war, or that deer they got two winters ago with nothing but a sharpened stick. Ruby didn't mind his stories, however. She was focusing intently on every word, if only to distract her from that maddening smell coming from a box down by the podium.

There was a Grimm in there, she could smell it. It wasn't moving as of this moment, but the combination of the cage and the aroma left little to her imagination. Of course, doing her best to not think about it only made it harder on herself. Why did Professor Port even have a Grimm in a cage anyways?

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Ruby gave a glance around the room, finding the room was hesitant to raise a hand. She managed to catch Weiss's eye, and gave her a whispered "Go for it." She didn't trust herself to not try to bite the Grimm in the box in half if she were to fight it herself. Besides, Crescent Rose was still unrepaired, resting forlornly in her locker.

Weiss nodded and calmly raised a hand.

"Then come and face your opponent." Port gestured to the cage, which began to shake and shudder violently. Weiss took up Myrtenaster and stood ready and waiting at the center of the classroom, the rest of the students suddenly interested in Port's lecture. To no one's surprise, the box contained a Boarbatusk, which proceeded to spin madly like an untethered wheel as it charged the nearest person. Fortunately, that person happened to be holding a sword.

It wasn't like she wasn't interested in the fight, but Ruby had a hard time seeing Weiss die to the small Grimm. After all, there was a room full of Huntsmen right there, ready to kill the thing even her partner couldn't do it. Besides, Ruby was bust biting down hard on her pencil, doing her best not to jump down there and skewer the thing herself. "Not my fight." The little mantra she muttered helped keep her in her seat. Is this what Starrk meant? That empty space in her chest was aching. She needed to eat... would she even last the day?

Weiss finally managed to kill the damn thing, smoke spreading across the classroom. Ruby valiantly tried to resist the impulse to inhale as deeply as she could, and chose to simply sink into her textbook. She had managed to chew the pencil all the way through now, the eraser sitting wet on her desk. She didn't hesitate to flee the room when Port called the lesson over.


"Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby approached the podium at the start of combat class.

"Yes, Miss Rose?" Professor Goodwitch wasn't being mean, Ruby decided. She was just short with everyone. The teacher managed to remind her a little of Starrk.

"My weapon is broken. I don't think I can participate in sparring today." She brought out Crescent Rose, the crushed slide turned to face the teacher. Ruby noted with dismay a small line fracture on the other slide, gone unnoticed until now.

Goodwitch pushed her glasses slightly up her face. "You know where the forges are, correct?"

Ruby shook her head. "No. Er, no, ma'am."

The professor simply sighed, handing her a slip of paper, a manilla folder, and a room number written on a sticky note. "Basement floor, down the stairs at the end of the hallway. Center of the building. Take this note to the forgemaster. As your next class will be there, I will allow you to repair your weapon or create a new one during this time. If you do not have it repaired by then, please borrow something from the armory for tomorrow. I will expect your participation."

Ruby nodded and scampered away.


The forgemaster, Professor Peach, was tending to a group of second years when Ruby walked in to the forges. Her bright pink hair was long and combed entirely to one side, gathered in a rather large bun. She was wearing a brown apron over a tight-fitting sweater and thick working gloves, and was demonstrating to the students what appeared to be a power hammer.

"Excuse me?" Ruby called out over the roar of the fires. Professor Peach had turned off the power hammer already, the rod of shaped steel seemingly ready to be hammered by hand. Instead, she simply doused it in a trough of oil and removed her face mask.

"Yes, miss?" her voice was light and had an intriguing accent that Ruby couldn't place right away.

"I have a note from Professor Goodwitch." She handed the woman her note. "She said I can try to repair Crescent Rose."

Peach nodded. "Right. Let's see. First year Ruby Rose, I have you next period. It's noted here you made your weapon yourself?"

"Yeah." Ruby smiled at Peach. "I'm pretty proud of it."

"Let me see." Peach gestured to the gun at Ruby's back.

Crescent Rose was being held over a workbench that was open on all four sides, the second years now crowding around it at Peach's gesture. "I hope you don't mind, Miss Rose, that I turn this into a teaching moment for my class. After all, this is their learning time."

Ruby shook her head. "Go ahead."

Peach took the time to rest Crescent Rose on a thick wool fire blanket after removing the ammunition and clearing the chamber. With a pair of needle nose pliers, Peach began pointing at and commenting on each individual part of the scythe's construction, critiquing and complimenting on each individual mechashift or joint design. Ruby herself began taking notes. Professor Peach was really, really good at making weapons, wasn't she? She was only slightly startled when Peach asked her something she didn't catch. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Could you remove this plate here, please?" Peach gestured to the crushed slide. Ruby nodded, removing two security screws and a slide from the top of the weapon, sliding off a cap, and removing the plate from the rest of the assembly. While some of the electronics underneath were exposed for the class to see, the rest was still hidden under the barrel's casing. She handed the plate to Peach, who nodded before turning over the plate to note the stress lines on the back of it.

"Look here, class. What could cause this sort of damage to this particular thickness of steel?"

One boy with deep blue hair raised a hand. "It doesn't look like impact damage." he began hesitantly. At Peach's nod, he continued. "It looks like crushing force. I don't know, did a Grimm step on it?" This time, Peach shook her head in the negative, glancing at Ruby for permission to continue. At her nod, she gestured at another student, this one a girl wearing shades.

"The stress lines converge too close together for that. It looks more like a Semblance to me. Someone grabbed the gun about here." She jabbed a finger at the metal. "Someone too strong to use it, crushed the thing in his hands."

Ruby blinked in surprise. Did she? When Peach looked at her for confirmation, she gestured to the sheet with a shrug. "Yeah."

Professor Peach made a questioning noise, but said nothing. Instead, her attention was directed at Crescent Rose. "Miss Rose, you know there is more damage other than the plate here, right?"

Ruby nodded. "Uh huh. I saw the fracture on the other side plate. That needs replacing."

Peach lifted the gun gently from Ruby's hands, leaving her holding the plate. "No, I meant here." She pointed flipped the gun upside down as she pointed her pliers at the electronics box, where Ruby could see nothing particularly wrong.

"What's wrong with it?"

"There's stress all along the barrel's casing here, and on the barrel near the hammer." The pliers moved backwards to point above the magazine. "I don't think that this is repairable in this state without a new barrel, Miss Rose. Did you continue using Crescent Rose after it was first damaged?"

Ruby paled. "Y-yes." She admitted. "It happened during initiation. I just wanted to get it over with."

Peach sighed. "Well, it will take a few weeks to recreate the weapon, after modifications to reinforce the slides and barrel." Ruby nodded at the professor's stern tone. "I'm teaching your next class. I'll help you make blueprints then. For now, go to the armory and find something. Let me see your scroll, dear." She pointed to a green door on the other end of the room as she fiddled with something on Ruby's scroll. "You're clear to enter, there's a cleaning station just outside the room."

After cranking open the latch and scanning her Scroll on the verification lock, Ruby walked into a long hallway that was significantly colder than the forge. On both walls were several cases bathed in bright white light, each with a weapon contained within.

Pistols, swords, axes, rifles, shotguns, and other more esoteric weapons were all on display, the ones towards the back showing more obvious signs of wear than those in the front. It was towards the back that Ruby found something curious.

She pressed her scroll to the case scanner, and the lid popped open with a hiss of pressurized air. Inside lay a simple black sheath, with a curved handle emerging from the right side and a thick black strap across the length of it. She flipped it over in her hands and drew the weapon. "Whoa." After what had been probably years in storage, the blade didn't rattle in the sheath and was even a bit sticky as it was drawn. Still, it was an unusual blade, more curved than she presumed a katana would be. The label had called it a tachi, left here about twenty years ago. It was a dull, deep red, with a smooth, unwrapped handle. The balance was different than the katana she had used last night, and it was very slightly longer. "Just a sword, huh? 'Nevermore'." She checked the plate on the case for care instructions before bringing the blade and sheath out of the armory slung across her back.

The blade polished and sharpened beautifully, after all the years of storage. After mechanics class with Peach was advisory period, then lunch. After clearing with the professor, Ruby went to stow Nevermore in her locker before the next class.

"I need to eat."