After arriving at the auditorium, Ruby was met with the loud bustle of students talking. Groups and pairs all over, conversing about anything and everything while waiting for the ceremony to start. Looking around, Ruby found Jaune standing around looking as awkward as she expected. She rolled her eyes and walked over to him, lightly patting him on the back and speaking up.
"Thanks for leaving me back there, glad you didn't get lost."
She muttered unimpressed and monotone. The boy jumped slightly at her sudden arrival and laughed nervously. He bowed his head slightly in apology as he turned to Ruby. His face seeming to have regained a good bit of its color from the airship ride prior.
"Heh, yeah sorry about that Ruby, I kinda panicked when you mentioned we'd be late. I could've sworn you weren't far behind me until I got here and you were nowhere to be found. Where'd you go?"
He seemed confused, shrugging to emphasize his question.
"Well, after you ran off, I was about to run after you, until this girl in all white suddenly passed by me. I tripped over that crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me. I almost sneezed, we almost exploded, and then she yelled at me some more. I just wanted her to stop yelling at me and-"
As Ruby was talking Jaune's expression went from understanding to concerned as he looked behind Ruby. This made her wonder what he was looking at while she was talking until a very familiar voice yelled out at her from behind-
"YOU!"
At that, the little dark-haired girl leapt up in surprise into Jaune's arms, squeaking and hugging him. This surprised the boy greatly as he struggled to stay balanced with the new weight in his arms, but he holds Ruby up.
"Oh god it's happening again-!"
"YOU'RE lucky we didn't blow up back there!"
"Oh my god you really did almost blow up-"
Ruby, after having recovered from her shock, and realizing what she had just done, quickly got out of Jaune's arms and stood back up on her own two feet. Turning to Weiss and holding up her hands defensively.
"I-it was an accident! It was an accident!"
"Accident or not, you really need to look more carefully before you try to burst into a sprint! Watch where you're going next time!"
"S-so, do you forgive me or…?"
With that, Ruby was immediately met with a sigh from Weiss. This caused Ruby to try another approach. She knew she was hopeless with social interaction, but it worked out well enough with Jaune! Maybe she could try it again with Weiss…?
Clearing her throat, Ruby quickly spoke up.
"Maybe we just started off on the wrong foot. Let's try this again. Hi Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna be friends? We could go shopping for school supplies, or-"
"Yeah, and maybe we can go clothes shopping, and do our nails, and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there-"
Weiss interjected sarcastically, hooking a thumb towards Jaune, causing the boy to perk up a bit as he was fidgeting with a hole in his jeans leg.
"Wow, really?"
Ruby asked, hope filling her voice as she bundled her hands up into little fists of excitement while looking at Weiss directly. To this, Weiss simply had an irritated glare as she spoke up.
"No."
Following that curt response, Weiss quickly held up what looked like a brochure to Ruby's face, and Ruby took it. Looking at it, she was a bit confused.
"What's this..?"
"You really want to make it up to me?"
"More than anything!"
"Read this, and don't ever speak to me again."
With that, Weiss turned and walked off. Leaving Jaune and Ruby there to look at each other in silence. Seemingly understanding how each other felt at that particular moment. Ruby then let out a dejected sigh.
"So much for making friends huh..?"
"Well, you have me. That's one friend right there."
"Yeah, but then there's Weiss. What does she count as? One enemy?"
"Hmm, in that case maybe you just broke even? That's not too bad is it?"
Ruby sighed and shrugged at Jaune, giving him a small giggle as she did so. His silly thought process having cheered her up a bit at least. She hadn't had the best start, but at least she had a kindred spirit here. Not long after, the ceremony began. Everyone had quieted down as they saw a woman with tied back blonde hair walk onto stage.
As she got onto stage, she looked around and curtly spoke up.
"Welcome to Beacon Academy, my name is Glynda Goodwitch. As students here, you are expected to be respectful and maintain an air of civility during assemblies and classes. Bear that in mind as we continue with introductions. Our Headmaster would like to say a few words and then the opening ceremony will be concluded."
With that, the woman stood down, and a man with white hair, a pair of circular glasses, sporting a turtleneck and a cup of presumably coffee stood up on the stage. She immediately recognized him as Professor Ozpin, the most renowned headmaster of any school for huntsmen or huntresses in remnant. He stood with an air of majesty almost. Seeming like the air around him nearly wanted to swirl around to surround him. After taking a moment to look over all of the students, he began his speech.
"Hello, I am Professor Ozpin, your headmaster, and the one who many of you may recall from your screening processes to be accepted into the school. As you may know, this is an academy that is meant to house the best and brightest of Remanant's aspiring hunters and huntresses. Saying that, I look out into this crowd and I see one thing."
He paused for a moment, taking a small sip from his cup of coffee, proceeding with his speech right after. A serious look on his face.
"Wasted potential. Now, that does not mean that I do not consider you all more than promising students. I simply mean that for all this time you have lacked true discipline. True guidance. What I believe is that here, we may lead you all down a path that you may utilize that latent potential and help yourselves grow even more. To become the apex of humanity's defenders."
As he finishes his statement, he takes yet another sip from his coffee mug and hands it off to Glynda behind him. He then stands there, a cane in one hand that Ruby had neglected to pay any mind to, and his other now behind him. He looked back out to the crowd of students that stood infront of him and spoke up again.
"You will be guided. You will be taught. You will be trained. Most importantly though, you will be tested. This is not for the faint of heart. You will all be held to a standard far above what any of your previous schools have. I do hope to see you all flourish into wonderful Huntsmen and Huntresses though. That is all."
As he finished his statement, Ozpin turned and stepped off stage, taking the mug of coffee back from Glynda and seeming to head towards the back exit of the auditorium. Ruby's attention was torn off of him as Glynda walked back onto stage. Giving the basic information of where they are all going to be going for the night as they have no rooms yet until they complete the entrance exams.
With all of that out of the way, Ruby found herself in the rather large room that was given to the students to sleep in until the next day. Having already been assigned her locker number and going to make sure that all of her things were there. She had changed clothes into her Beowolf-themed tanktop and heart-dotted pajama pants. After a short conversation with Jaune about how they were enjoying the school so far, Ruby had noticed the strange girl with the purple bow.
She was across the room and reading next to a candle.
"A rather comfortable looking nightgown, and a nice place to curl up and read. Lucky her."
Ruby thought to herself. As she was about to turn around to go back to her sleeping area, someone grabbed her from behind and before she knew it, Ruby was already being dragged towards the opposite end of the room.
"W-wait! What's going on?! Who the-? What the-?! Why the-?!"
As she was freaking out, Ruby was immediately spun around and faced the girl with the bow on her head, who also looked a bit confused.
"Oh, hi there."
Ruby said sheepishly, being interrupted almost instantly by a loud and energetic voice. Ruby turned to see who it was and almost immediately, her vision blurred as she saw an older girl with a long, practically glowing mane of golden blonde hair. Hearing her speak seeming to cause this reaction.
"Helloooo~! You two both seemed like you didn't have anyone to talk to, so I figured I'd gather you both up and kill two birds with one stone! My name's-"
With that, Ruby almost collapsed, a voice much similar to the one she just heard from this girl playing in her mind. The voice was muffled and frantic. Screaming out her name and seeming to fade away. As this memory passed, Ruby returned to the present. Seeming to be held up by the older girl. A worried expression on the girl's face.
"Whoa, you okay there red? I didn't spin you too fast did I?"
"N-no. No, I think i'm fine. Just had a long day I guess."
Ruby shook off her stupor and stood on her own now, offering an awkward chuckle to both the blonde and the girl with the bow.
"So, what was it you needed?"
"Oh, right! i'm Yvette! Yvette Marigold! I figured you two looked a bit lonesome, so I figured I'd help out a bit and make two new friends in the process!"
The blonde proclaimed, hands on her hips like she was some kind of heroine from a story.
"Well, you could've not dragged this poor girl-"
"Ruby, hehe, sorry, my uh- my name's Ruby."
"You could have tried to not drag Ruby all the way across the room to do it-"
"Well yeah I could have, but this was way faster! Besides, look at her, how could you not wanna be friends with this face?"
Yvette said, motioning to Ruby, who was extremely embarrassed by this, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as she fidgeted awkwardly and looked from Yvette, to the girl with the bow, then to the floor.
"Fair point…Blake. My name is Blake."
The girl stated, a monotone in her voice never seemed to waver as she looked over Yvette and Ruby with a slight sharpness in her yellow, almost feline eyes. This caused Yvette to smile widely,
"See? Not so hard to make new friends when you try a little. I know the three of us will get along just fine while we're here. You two seem like really decent people."
Yvette said happily. Then, Weiss approached from seemingly nowhere, scaring the ever loving bejesus out of Ruby and making her squeak then shy away.
"Can you three keep it down, people are trying to sleep here!"
"Oh god not again..!"
"Hey princess, I was just trying to make a couple new friends! No need to get so snippy this late at night."
Yvette jokingly said to Weiss, who then proceeded to give a quick "Hmph!" as she turned away and headed back to her bed. This confused Ruby as they seemed to know each other. Seeing Blake and Ruby's confusion, Yang hooked a thumb in Wiess's direction and grinned.
"Friends since I was like 12. Trust me, she's not that bad when you get to know her."
As she said this, Blake raised an eyebrow at hearing about their friendship, then shook her head while smiling slightly at the girl's energetic and friendly nature. Blowing out the candle beside her and closing her book, she stood up.
"Well, Ruby, Yvette, it was nice meeting you two. I think it's time I head to bed for now. Have a good night."
She said, heading off on her own again. Ruby was left alone with Yvette, every time she looked at the girl, it felt like there was something faintly tugging at the back of her mind. She wasn't sure what though.
"Well, with that, I guess it's time to hit the hay. See you around Rubes! See you tomorrow!"
Yvette said as she walked off happily back to her bed as well.
"Good night, it was nice meeting you, Yvette."
Was all that Ruby said before heading back to bed. Her newfound friend Jaune waving goodnight to her in his animal pajamas, making Ruby snicker a bit as she waved back. She curled up in her blankets and covered her eyes with her beowolf-themed sleeping mask before starting to doze off. The last thing on her mind was the voice she heard when looking at Yvette.
"Who was that…? Why did they sound so….scared?"
The darkness of her dreams slowly taking her as she drifted off to sleep.
Author's Note:
Well, theres another chapter out. My internet is being wonky, and I can't do much besides write, so I finally have time to enjoy practicing my writing skills. Sorry if its all a big old mess, or not structured right, but i'm doing my best. I always love to get feedback, so let me know how you like the story so far, and any improvements you think I could make!
Aside from all that, our little reaper seems to be having a hard time getting used to social interaction huh? well, I guess that's to be expected for one that grows up in a smaller village and doesn't like anything besides hunting Grimm, Video Games, and Guns- Still! Lets never forget this is an alternate world from the canon one! Who knows what could happen? Even I don't until i write it! BWAHAHAHAHA- ahem, I mean- I absolutely planned this all out and have plenty of idea as to where I am going for this story...yeah...let's go with that..