Ruby ripped her locker open with a huge grin.
Yes! Yes, finally! It's been too long, my lovelies! Ruby though as she adjusted her body sock slightly. Ruby was still a bit damp after her morning shower and the stupid material of her sock was always getting stuck where she doesn't want it to or slipping around in ways she really, really doesn't like. Especially up top, around her alleged breast. But she was in too good of a mood to let her body sock annoy her today.
She was in such a great mood, she even decided to wear the lighter shade of red sock, with the sheer outline on the sides, that had a small white triangle that stretched from her shoulders down to her bellybutton.
"Hi-ho-hi-ho, off to the woods we go," she sang softly as she smoothed out her sock.
She had to sing softly, just about the only thing everyone ever agreed on was how Ruby was a girl of many talents but carrying a tune was not one of them. Normally, she wouldn't even try singing in public, not even the shower was safe enough for her to attempt a song but today was just too magical not to sing!
Today was 'Get to kill Grimm all day' day, as she was going to call it, where her and the other students gets to run around Emerald Forest, to pass some kind of initiation into the school or something. Probably have to learn some kind of secret handshake too or else something equally as lame, she though while she hummed happily to herself.
Why mattered not, Ruby really didn't care what they were supposed to do out there, the point is, if rumor was to be believe, while in the forest, they are allowed to kill any Grimm that they just 'happen' to come across.
All morning dedicated to slaughtering Grimm, who wouldn't be bouncing around with joy?
"I know I left my stuff in locker 636 last night," a blond boy said nervously as he passed Ruby, for the fourth time in the last five minutes. "Why does this always happen to me?"
Ruby stop for a second to watch him helplessly walk around the co-ed locker room before shrugging and resuming her task of getting ready.
"You sure are chipper this morning," Yang said to Ruby as she stepped out of the ladies changing room. "And wow, you do own something pink."
"Oy prefer to think of it as a shade of light red, and they though it would look cute," Ruby lied, while she sat down on the floor to pull on her gauntlets. It wasn't as if she was willing to admit to anyone that she actually bought anything close to this shade on her own. "It is a gift from the gang back at Heart, sort of a going away gift."
"Aw! That is so sweet, did they give you a going away party as well?"
"They said they did, but they didn't tell me about until I was leaving, because they figure they would have more fun if I wasn't there for it."
"You know," Yang said after a pause, "sometimes it is hard to tell when you are joking …"
"So," Ruby said cutting her off. "According to rumors, we will be choosing our partners today. So I was thinking, you know, since we actually, kind of, mostly, get along and all. I mean, it is not like I have tried to kill you yet or whatever … well, no more than once or twice, but who is counting, so maybe we could be partners."
"Yeah, about that" Ruby's head shot up to see Yang, playing with her hair as she went on. "I was thinking that maybe you'll want to try …"
"Don't you dare say it."
"Ruby, you really should try to make new friends."
Ruby scrambled to her feet, shooting hate rays at Yang. "You really are an ass hat, you know that!"
"Calm down for a minute Ruby …"
"I don't need to make 'friends', you dick. What I need is for my almost tolerated acquaintance to be by my side, so I can try to get through the next four years without committing 1st degree murder."
"Like you would get caught …"
"Of course I wouldn't get caught but that is beside the point!" She informed Yang as she snapped her belt on and reached for two of her chakrams. "The point is; us working together, as a team, could make dealing with this place easier to deal with, for both of us. You know one of those lame win/win thingy."
"Look Ruby, you don't have any friends …"
"Ha! I have lots of friends, Miss Twin Peaks! Better friends than you, I will have you know! Everyone at Heart would kill to be my teammate, like totally kill, like … like," Ruby quickly scan the locker room till she spotted a tall, muscle bound boy that she knew from Heart. All the girls though he was 'tall drink of water', and they would all fight over the chance to sit next to him in the cafeteria. Well, until they found out that Jose and him like to play 'alien abduction' after lights out. "Like Chuck over there. Hey Chuck! How's it going, my bro?" The boy in question, when he saw who was waving a closed fist at him, went from an easy going grin to full fledge panic. "Hey Chuck, come here and be my friend so my almost …"
"Don't hurt me Rose!"
"Ha-ha, such a kidder Chuck is, isn't he? Look, just tell Yang here how good of friends …"
"The restraining order say you have to stay 25 feet away …"
"That's not enforceable anymore … look just come over here and tell Yang how …"
"I won't be one of your 'test subjects' again you … you … monster!"
"Will you shut up, you fucking dick, and get your ass over here and tell Yang how good of friends we are before I go over there and kick your fucking teeth in!"
"You stay away from me, Rose! You hear me, stay away!" Chuck screamed as he fled the locker room.
"Get back here, you fucking cry baby." Ruby snarled as he took off. "See if I push you around in a wheel chair for six weeks again, Chuck!"
"Yep, good friends." Yang said dryly as she watched Chuck run away.
"Oh shut it." Ruby snapped as she sat back down on the ground and pulled her backpack out of her locker. "Sure, fine, leave me in my greatest hour of need after you promised yesterday, promise me and your dad, your dad Yang, to be at my side when I need you the most. See if I care if you break your word … to your own father … who does that to their own father Yang, especially when he could croak any day now, Yang!"
"He is old but not that old."
"His heart is going to give out because his pride and joy lied to him! Lied to him! You promise him to watch out for me and you lied! Think on that, Yang, you think about that real hard as we rush to the hospital to see him one more time before he takes that final dirt nap."
"And I will be there for you," Yang said easily while Ruby try to decided which bombs to take with her. "And I am, I am helping you by making sure you get the chance to learn how to work with others. Especially people that you don't know well. It will help you grow as a person."
"Ugh! Now you sound like my headmistress." Ruby zipped up the bag, after standing back up and throwing it over her shoulders, she grabbed her gloves and slammed her locker close.
"This isn't Heart, you know; in here, there are nothing but the top students, all striving to be the best Hunter that they can be, just like you. Trust me Ruby, in this group of kids; there has to be one person who is just as strong, smart and dedicated as you are that you will enjoy being friends with."
"Oh shut up, will you? You're making me ill."
"Come on, Ruby, you just haven't realized what a boon this will be. In fact, I bet the next person to walk by would be the best match possible for you, someone you will be proud to call your best friend!" Ruby gave Yang a pointed look while Yang stood there with a bright smile and her hands on her hips … as that blond guy walked by mumbling about his locker again. After he pass by, Ruby gave Yang a different look as well as an offensive hand signal. "Wow, talk about bad timing." Yang muttered before giving Ruby another smile. "Forget him, the next person you meet will be the winner!"
"Excuse me." Ruby and Yang both turn to see a white hair girl, the only other girl who was as petite and svelte as Ruby, wearing a white skirt, white jacket and white wedge boots standing next to them with a look of distaste on her face. "Didn't your mommy ever tell you not to wear your pajamas out in public, little girl?"
"Or maybe I should just quit while I'm ahead," Yang muttered quietly.
"Yep!" Ruby said brightly. "She also told me not to look like a stripper as well. Guess someone's mommy forgot to tell you that part, Snowflake. Oh well, you know what they say 'like mother, like daughter'."
"Humph," the girl said while walking away. "As lame of a comeback as I expected … from a child."
Ruby glare at the other's back as she walked away, hoping that the heat of her glare would set her on fire … or something. Speaking softly, all she could muster was, "Bitch."
"Ruby," Yang said in a weary voice.
"I mean it; she is a total bitch."
"Just let it go …"
"' Let it go'? Are you crazy? Did you see what she did?"
"Ruby." Yang grabbed Ruby's arm and began pulling her towards the exist. "Come on, you will be fine."
"I mean, yeah that was a totally lame comeback but to point it out like that! I knew it was lame, she knew it was lame. Couldn't she just let it slide? Oh, hell no to the square! Total Bitch."
Seventeen-year-old Weiss Schnee watch in growing horror as the red headed girl leaned out further and further as the bullhead zipped along the forest at tree top level. The girl, who was reportedly two years younger than her, seemed oblivious to the danger she was placing herself in as she screamed out in joy, trying to swat the tree tops as they flew by.
Why the yellow wearing, blond bimbo, whom Weiss had seen her talking to earlier, wasn't saying anything to her friend, Weiss didn't know. At first, Weiss figure that the other girl was probably just as bad herself but as the trip went on, she figures it was more likely that Blondie cared no more for the pink, tight wearing girl than she herself did.
"Get back in here, you big dolt!" Weiss finial snapped at the girl since no one else was willing to say anything.
"Aw, chill out Snowflake," the red head said turning her head enough to shoot Weiss with a grin. "I got this."
"I will not 'chill out', you dolt. If you fell out, we would be unable to complete our assignment today. No doubt, we would be force to cancel our initiation and be diverted then forced into searching for your bloody and broken corpus."
Propping herself up on her elbow, Red gave her a bigger grin, "Aw! You care about me already, you are so sweet, Snowflake."
"My name is Weiss Schnee," Weiss said tartly. She found it impossible that even this child was unaware of her identity. Her family was known in all four kingdoms as the largest, most powerful, and rumored to be the most ruthless, corporation in the world. And given how her father treats her, as cold and abusive as he can be to his own flesh and blood, Weiss was sure the rumors only told part of the story. "I would kindly ask you to use my name instead of one of your silly and immature nicknames."
"Well," the girl said, getting up off the floor and sitting on her knees as one would expect from a proper lady. Even if she wasn't dressed as one. She was wearing a pink and white spandex body sock that covered her from the neck down, except for that strip of very sheer material running up the side of her outfit. Not that Weiss was staring at it, but she was pretty sure it was almost, completely transparent, that is how sheer it was. If that wasn't bad enough, the girl wasn't wearing any shoes! How can she expect to run around in the forest, in a Grimm infested forest, without any shoes? More importantly, why did Professor Ozpin not stop her from boarding after he saw her without shoes? "Technically, I am calling you by your name. The ancient nomadic tribes who first settled in your region of Atlas, which later became the Ughda Kingdom, which was in turn sacked by the Gudera empire, which is the bases for your land's langue before the introduction of the common tongue, had many words for snow. 'Weiss' was one of them and it means 'snow', 'soft, pretty and gentle falling'; a 'light shower of snow', if you would. It is actually one of the few word that hasn't changed much over the centuries."
"This is … actually correct," Weiss admitted in a tone almost close to approval. Very few people, even in Atlas, knows what Weiss's name actually means.
"That's amazing Ruby," her friend said who was standing next to Weiss, holding on to the safety strap like a sensible adult.
"So Weiss Schnee means 'snowflake'?" The black hair girl, who was wearing a rather large black bow, asked from behind Weiss.
"Oh no, weiss means snow." The girl, Ruby, said before flipping back over on to her stomach to look out the bullhead. "I added the 'flake' part because I knew it would piss her off."
"Now there is the Ruby we all know and hate," Yang muttered softly. Yang then gave Weiss a small smile, "Don't mind her, once you get to know her, she is pretty cool."
"Lies, Snowflake, she is full of lies today!" Ruby said loudly.
Weiss was kind of impressed since she had a bit of trouble hearing Yang speaking to her, and she was standing right beside her. The noise from the open hatchway was quite loud.
"I keep telling you Ruby, you will thank me one day."
"Hey! You know what? I will thank you today!" Ruby was standing between Yang and her before Weiss even notice her moving. "How about we have a little wager, uh? Make things interesting?"
"We are going into a Grimm infested forest? How much more exciting do you wish to have?" Weiss asked hotly as Yang seems to be thinking over the younger girl's words.
"It's not that infested, Snowflake, I use to go camping out here all the time … well, maybe not this far out but it ain't like that bad."
"You mean, when you ran away from school to hide out in the woods and play around with the Grimm until one of the half dozen or so Hunters from Vale found you and dragged you back to school, while you were kicking and screaming abuses at them the whole time?"
"Like I said, camping." Ruby said deadpan, then flashed a smile any sales man would kill for at Yang and herself. "So how about it you two, five liens each, winner takes all?"
"What's the rules?" Yang sounded way too interested for Weiss taste.
She had hoped the older girl would blow Ruby off and that would make her drop this nonsense, but clearly, Yang and Ruby are both dolts.
"The one who kills the most Grimm, wins."
"Oho! Simple, I like that," Nora said from behind Pyrrha. "Can I get in on this action?"
"I am always willing to help others get rid of their cash umm …"
"I'm Nora and this is Ren, we are together … well, not 'together' together. Although we have been friends for like, forever and ever, we've never been together-together."
"Okay," Weiss was amused that Ruby had blink a couple times before moving along. It seems that Nora was quite capable of befuddling anyone she comes in contact with. That made Weiss feel a little bit better,anyways. "So how about you … umm … Ron, is it?"
"It's Jaune, Jaune Arc, like the name … rolls off the tongue, don't you think?"
"Yeah … sure … whatever you say Don, so you in?"
"It's Jaune and yes, I will be glad to partake in your little competition, however, I feel as I should warn you ahead of time about my abilities so you can gracefully bow out of the competition now, instead of facing humiliation as you pay me. Still, if you insist on competing, I still will feel it is unfair of me to take your money but I will do so with a heavy heart and wallet. So please, no tears while you pay me."
"Sure, sure; you just keep telling yourself that, Juan. So how about you all tall, dark and mysterious? You in?"
"Name is Blake Belladonna, and sure, why not?"
"That's the spirit. Come on Pyrrha, you know you have some money you're just itching to donate."
"I'm not sure it would be right …"
"Oh, it will be fine, Pyrrha. Think of it as one of those stupid … err … Yang? What do they call those stupid things when they get a bunch of people who don't like each other to work together for some stupid thingy?"
"Team building."
"Yeah, think of this as one of those team thingies; with you in the competition, it'll just encourages the rest of us to, you know, work harder or something."
"Well, in that case …"
"Great!" Ruby slide back in front of Weiss, wearing her stupid sly grin again. "So Snowflake? Are you in or are you out?"
"A child's game advocated by a child," Weiss told Ruby, secretly enjoying some of the smugness leave her grin as her eyes narrowed slightly. "Here I thought you would want a real challenge, alas, I was mistaken."
"Oh, do tell."
"Well, anyone, and by that I mean you, could find a bunch of junior Grimm and slaughtering the whole bunch, raking up numbers while the rest of us go after the full size Grimm, like real Huntress." Weiss leaned in closer to Ruby's face, she could tell by Ruby's expression she was hitting Ruby's pride really hard. "So I propose an amendment to the rules. 1st, no junior Grimm; to count for this bet, they all must be at least adult size. 2nd, different value should be attached to the diverse Grimm. Beowolves worth five points, Boarbatusk 7 points, Ursa Major 10 points, King Taijitu and Death Stalkers both 15 points and Nevermore is worth 20 points. At the end, who has the most points, win. So is that acceptable to you, child, or would you rather go back to the playground, where you belong?"
For several seconds, both Weiss and Ruby glared at each, neither one looked willing to back down. Weiss knew she wasn't going to, she was a Schnee after all, she refused to be goaded or intimidated by some half pint juvenile delinquent. So they stood there, staring into each other's eyes, as the rest of the students held their collected breaths before Ruby finally let a grin slip out as well as a giggle.
"I fucking hate you, Yang." She said before the giggles turn into full belly laugh.
"Does this mean you're admitting I was right?"
"Aw, eat shit and die, bitch." Ruby told Yang while still laughing
"Your welcome," Yang said back to Ruby with a grin. "So anyone have any objections to the changes?" When no one objected, Yang slapped both Weiss and Ruby on the back while they both went back to glaring at the other. Normally, Weiss dislike any unnecessary physical contact from anyone for any reason, but she let Yang slide this one time. After all, she was far too busy intimidating Ruby to say anything to Yang. "All righty then, may the best Hunter or Huntress win!"