"Ruby?"

Knocking resounded into the empty dorm room, silence permeating the air. Within a few moments, the door handle moved, a click resounding outwards before the door itself opened, revealing none other than Jaune Arc.
He was wearing his regular clothing since he had just finished helping some of the other students help set up some of the booths for the Vytal festival, which in turn would explain some of the grass stains that covered his jeans. In one hand was a glass of fresh, cold milk, while in the other was a platter being balanced, the contents upon the platter having been taken fresh from the cafeteria.

"Ruby? Are you in here?" Jaune looked around the room, wondering where she could've gone. Okaaay, she isn't in her bed...or any other bed. Hmmmm, the window isn't open either. With a huff, Jaune set down the breakfast he had gotten for his friend, a hand scratching his head in thought. "Hmmm...eh, she's probably gone to the cafeteria to get something."

Jaune looked around curiously, ready to leave once he had written a small note next to the breakfast, yet, he stopped. The room was quiet once more, all except for a single noise coming from the bathroom; sniffling.

"...Ruby?"

"G...go away Jaune...please..."

Jaune moved towards the closed bathroom door, a lump growing in his throat, wondering what was wrong with Ruby.

"Ruby, what's wrong?"

"Please Jaune...please..." Ruby sniffled as she wiped a tear away from her eye, her ears pressed against her head from the distress and sadness that was permeating her mind. "Go away...I...I don't want to hurt you..."

"Hurt me?"

Jaune blinked at such a statement, unable to comprehend how Ruby could hurt him in any way or shape. Well, she did stomp Cardin in the- Shivering at the thought, the blonde knight reflexively winced in response. Okay, I can see how she could hurt someone, but I'm her friend. Shaking his head of the memory of that, ahem, uncommon event, Jaune placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Ruby, please let me in. I only want to help you."

Slowly, the knight began to turn the doorknob, yet as the mechanisms within the lock began to tumble, sliding away from the frame, Ruby's ears perked up, her eyes looking towards where the sound was coming from. All at once, Jaune heard a body moving very quickly against tile, along with a low, guttural growl. The growl was bone chilling, the wolfish tone within the growl conjuring up an image of a wolf trapped within a cage, ready to lash out at anything that came near it.

"R...Ruby?"

"I said to go away!"

Ruby by now was in the bathtub, crouched down and ready to attack anything, or anyone, that would be coming through that door. Her instincts were screaming at her to attack the huntsman. It would be rather easy too by how strong Ruby was. Continuing to grow, Ruby bared her teeth, snarling towards the door until she heard the door handle being released from Jaune's grip.
Calming down, Ruby slowly began to stop growling, her ears twitching in suspicion and nervousness, the red haired girl's eyes watching the door knob. Eventually, Ruby shivered, tears collecting in her eyes before she clutched her head.

"W...what's happening to me..." Ruby sniffled a bit, choking back a sob as she began to curl up in a ball. "I...I'm sorry Jaune...I...I'm just a monster. P-please...go away before I hurt you..."

"...Nope."

Ruby's eyes slowly opened when she heard this single, simple word. Nope? Why would the blonde knight refuse such a thing, this was his well being after all! Before Ruby could even utter a response, her ears perked upwards as they heard a body sliding against the door, soon sitting at its base.

"B...but why?"

"Why? You should know the answer." Jaune let out a sigh before chuckling a bit, smiling to nothing in particular. "Ruby, you were my first friend at Beacon. You've stuck by me through thick and thin, and no matter what, friends stick together."

"B...but Jaune...I...I could hurt you..."

"So? Tell me Ruby, if whatever is happening to you right now is that serious, I wouldn't care either way. We're friends, and nothing can change that."

Ruby didn't say a thing, she couldn't say a thing without telling Jaune what was happening to her. Half of her at the moment wanted to open the door and just embrace her friend, yet the other half was afraid to, not knowing what could happen if Jaune saw her in this state.

"Ruby...I'm coming in."

"W-what? No! S-stay out of here!"

Ruby scrambled out of the tub, reaching towards the door. With wide eyes, she watched as the door opened, bright sunlight flowing into the bathroom. Jaune was standing there in the doorway, the red headed girls instincts screaming to either run, or attack him. A low, dangerous growl emanated from Ruby, tears welling up in her eyes as she slowly walked backwards, trying to keep distance between herself and Jaune.

"S...stay back! I...I..." The emotions flooding Ruby's mind were too much for the girl to handle, causing her to fall to the floor. Tears ran down her face, her eyes closing from her vision going blurry. "...I'm a monster..."

Ruby shuddered, openly beginning to cry now while Jaune stood over her. His eyes were wide, surprise clear upon his face at how Ruby was. He could see the bone clinging to her spine along with the wolf ears pressed against the top of her head. A million questions invaded his thoughts, his mind trying to comprehend how a regular girl like Ruby could've gotten such additions.

For a time, Jaune simply stared, the blonde knights mind trying to process what he was looking at. Yet he was soon brought back to reality when he heard whimpering, his eyes looking towards the source; Ruby.

"Ruby...what happened?" Jaune knelt, his voice coming out low, almost as if it were a whisper. His hand went to his friend's shoulder, causing the girl to reflexively flinch from the touch before shivering.

"I...I don't know...E-everything's been happening so fast..." Ruby shivered, her crying transforming into audible sobbing. "I-I don't know w-what to do..."

Ruby's sobbing filled the room, yet, it abruptly stopped when the young girl felt warmth wash over her, a pair of arms encircling her before bringing her into a comforting hug. When her eyes opened, she would come face to face with none other than Jaune.

"Then we'll figure something out Ruby, together." Jaune picked her up, Ruby lightly yelping at the sudden lift, and strength, that her friend was showing. "But first, you need to eat something." He looked at Ruby, smiling as he walked out of the bathroom with her in his arms. "You haven't eaten yet today, have you?"

"N...no..." At the mention of food, Ruby's stomach growled, causing her ears to fold backwards before a sheepish grin spread across her face. "Eheh...I...haven't eaten since last night actually..."

"Welp, then I guess it's a good thing I brought you some breakfast then!...even though it's almost lunch time."

Giggling, Ruby smiles up to Jaune, her posture becoming more relaxed while she was carried to Weiss's bed.

"Hmph, my hero."

"What can I say?" Jaune smiled, placing Ruby down before bringing the tray of food over to her. "I guess I'm your knight in shining armor."

"Oh yes, and you're everything I want in a knight. Tall, blonde, and scraggly."

"Hey! I'm not at scraggly as I was when we first met."

"Wanna bet?"

The two of them stared one another down, before finally, they both broke out into chuckling, the two friends sitting down next to one another so Ruby could enjoy her meal, and her friend's company.

"Vladimir, put the cases down onto the bed, Ra-ja, place your cases onto the desk so I may set up my equipment."

Following Victor's orders, the goggled huntsman did as he was told, placing down the two cases he had brought from the airship with him, while his accompanying partner placed his onto the desk. Sighing, Vlad leaned up against the wall, his fingers soon tapping against his forehead in annoyance.

"I still do not understand why you brought us here Doc. Hell, we've got better things to do besides babysitting some teenager."

"Patience, my young friend." Chuckling, Victor went to the cases on the desk, opening them up to reveal their contents. "For I think that you will actually enjoy your time here, I know I will."

Looking to Ra-ja, Victor motioned for the silent huntsman to begin his task, the man nodding before slowly, meticulously, running his fingers underneath the lip of the table. Vlad sighed, rolling his eyes at this while he adjusted his own goggles.

"Look Victor, I know that you're paranoid and everything, but why do you have Ra-ja check every single room you stay in for bugs? As far as Ironwood knows, you're still his little subordinate, ready to complete any of his requests at his beck and call."

"We all have to be another's subordinate Vladimir, it just depends on who our superior is." Pulling out a microscope, Victor placed it down onto the table before proceeding to pull out a bunsen burner, beakers, test tubes, along with a set of dust vials for later use. "I am Ironwood's subordinate now, but in the future, things will change."

"Speaking of change." Vlad rubbed his hand around his neck, this in turn causing his fingers to meet a smooth, metallic surface that wrapped around his throat, connecting at the back of his neck, right in the middle of his spine. "When can I get this damn collar off? It's fucking annoying to have on all the time."

"My dear friend, don't think of it as a collar, think of it as an insurance policy." Chuckling, the doctor looked to Ra-ja, the huntsman in turn giving him a menacing, hate filled look. "Your other teammates need it more than you do after all, to...keep them in line."

Sighing, Vlad shook his head, looking around the room itself now. They were in one of the extra dorm rooms that was found within the teacher's wing of the school, each room having a bed, table, small kitchen, along with a bathroom and work area. Like the rest of Beacon's furnishings, the floor was made out of a polished, dark oaken wood while a red and gold rug was under the table. The curtains were drawn, which made the light within the room very sparse. Smiling at this, Vlad loosened his goggles before taking them off, his eyes closed before slowly opening, revealing a pair of reflective, amber eyes.

"Much better, and sir...my question still stands. Why did you bring us here?"

Chuckling, Victor turned to Vlad, his hand holding a single vial filled with blood. Sniffing the air, Vlad raised his brow in confusion. It smelled...different somehow.

"The answer to that question is locked away inside of this. For you see, my friend." With curiosity in his eyes, the doctor proceeded to place a single drop from the vial onto a slide, before placing it underneath the microscope. "Big things have small beginnings."