Crickets chirping is all that is heard as a young girl sits on the branch of a tree, one leg dangling, and swinging lazily as a light breeze rustles the leaves above her. Ruby Rose was deep in thought as she looked up at the moon above, wondering how and why the giant orb had been shattered in the night sky.
'I wonder what could've even done something like that...the moon is so pretty, but it's so sad to look at thinking that it used to be whole.'
As her train of thought slowly petered out, the girl looked around at her surroundings. The grassy field infront of her with a single house sitting in the center of it, and a lush forest sitting just behind her on the other side of the large oak she sat on.
The house was dark and looked empty, a small dirt path leading to and just past the tree she now rested at. This house...her house…was empty and void of anything she considered worthy of calling a home. Thoughts of an older, scraggly blonde man and a boisterous long-haired girl filled her mind as she thought back on her past.
Not long after, she shook the thoughts away as her scroll beeped. Pulling it out and looking at a news report, Seeing the description of a robbery having occurred in Vale's market district, Ruby let out a small sigh and backed out of her newsfeed to see a message sent to her with the label "Go to school."
'What the heck is this..? Uncle Qrow sent me this, but he doesn't normally put a label on stuff like this. Go to school? Why would I need to do that if he already taught me everything I needed to know? Signal isn't going to do me any good, even he told me that much last year when I asked about going.'
As she held conversation with herself, Ruby scrolled through the short message and was left with nothing to say or really any way to respond to what he sent her.
Sitting in her inbox was a quick message with a file attached to it that looked like a screenshot with a single line of text reading "You got in kiddo!" sitting right above the file. She was slightly confused, but opened the file to view the screenshot. It was an acceptance letter for a school! Ruby's demeanor went from confusion, to excitement, then finally to pensive as she saw the school that it was for. She decided to hold off on saying anything until she got home and could talk to her uncle directly.
Hopping down from the tree branch, Ruby glanced back at the solemn house in the field, flashes of the lush forest having once been a beautiful gateway to the small cottage that once had a happy family living in it.
"Not every home stays the same I guess..."
She muttered to herself as she turned and walked down the path back to her new home.
"BEACON ACADEMY?! How in the world did you even manage this?! I know you can do alot of cool stuff Uncle Qrow, but this seems a little bit much!"
Ruby spoke frantically, unsure of exactly how to voice her disbelief any more than this. Her uncle simply sat at the kitchen table and slightly covered his ears at her intialy outburst. He then leaned back in his chair and laughed a bit, taking a celebratory drink of a glass of whisky.
"Easy kiddo, I have a few connections in the school, and gave them a high recommendation for you to be admitted starting this year. Nothing too fancy, just flexed a bit of my influence is all."
The older man chuckled a bit and toasted himself again, setting his glass down and holding out his arms slightly.
"Hey, I told you a while ago that I had a surprise for ya y'know."
"Well, yeah, I knew you said that- but I didn't think you meant THIS kind of surprise!"
Ruby immediately hopped into her uncle's arms and gave him a tight hug. Her small frame making her seem even younger as she smiled a bit sadly up at Qrow. This seemed to confuse the girl's uncle, and he lightly ruffled her hair as he offered a smile back.
"Hey, why the long face kiddo? You said you wanted to go to school didn't ya?"
"Yeah I did...but I meant Signal Academy, not Beacon. I only even wanted to go because you taught there."
The dark haired girl seemed to shrink sadly as she leaned into her uncle's arms and didn't let her grip loosen.
"I know, but you and I both know that you weren't gonna learn anything from the lessons at Signal kiddo, I already taught you basically everything they would've anyways-"
His sentence cut off as he noticed Ruby's shrinking posture. This lead him to softly petting her head as he let out a sigh.
"Look, Ruby, I know you wanted to come to Signal to be around me more often, but it's been nearly eight years. As much as I want you to stay around too, it's time to spread your wings a bit and try to grow a little more."
As he finished his sentence, Ruby seemed to return to normal slightly. Her hug loosening slightly as she rested her head on his shoulder and looked down at the floor.
"What if I don't do well? What if I mess up, or nobody there wants to even have anything to do with me..?"
Her voice sounded slightly scared, but mostly sad. This lead Qrow to put his arm around Ruby and rest his cheek on her head as he gave her a reassuring hug.
"Hey, you're a great kid. Smart, strong, a little airheaded sometimes, maybe a bit crazy, but you're my little firecracker."
Ruby seemed to relax quite a bit as Qrow comforted her. The expression she wore becoming a bit indignant as she piped up with a small "Hey!" when he began poking fun at her quirks. Then she broke into a smile again and hugged Qrow around his neck before standing up.
"Thanks Uncle Qrow, I really am a bit nervous still, but I think I can at least give it a try if you think i'll do fine."
"Any time kiddo, now go on and head to bed. We gotta get some stuff from the stores to get you ready for Beacon. The orientation day isnt too far off."
With that, Ruby nodded and wished her uncle a goodnight before heading upstairs and to her room. Sleep came to her quickly after she changed into her pajamas and curled up in bed. A soft, older woman's voice faintly calling her name in her mind as she drifted off to sleep. The whispers of the past sneaking their way into her dreams as she trailed off.