Atlas, northernmost of the four kingdoms. Five months of cold and snow have passed, and even though the temperatures reach slightly above freezing point it hasn't been enough to melt the snow. A thick layer covers the buildings and streets of the capital, reminding many tourists of the winter wonderlands seen in snow globes. Still, even Atlas' frozen hart is slowly thawing out. It is March, after all.

March, month of new beginnings. When new recruits come to the four academies to become huntsmen, upholders of peace and protectors of the kingdoms. Most of Atlas academy's recruits come from the kingdom of Atlas itself. Of the four major academies it is the one with the lowest percentage of foreign students. However, there are a few exceptions. They're rare, but there exist those who choose to attend the northernmost academy from outside of Atlas: The other three kingdoms, Menagerie or the villages in between. Those who underwent this journey arrived at their destination today, the first day of the new academy year. The foreigners are stepping out of their respective bullheads at Atlas' airport, immediately becoming accustomed to the climate of their new home:

"I really should've packed some more clothing."

A young huntress in training by the name of Ruby Rose steps out of the bullhead from Vale, taking in the glory of the city of Atlas. A chill breeze makes her shiver, wishing that she wore an extra layer of clothing. She already had to change her stockings with specially padded ones, but it isn't enough to combat the cold weather of Atlas.

Using a flash of her semblance she traverses to a nearby public heater, warming her hands on the dust-infused device. Warmth, how can mankind live without it? O what bliss, how nice to feel heat return to the fingers!

With a goofy grin Ruby feels the cold fleet away. If it was up to her she could stay here for hours, but sadly enough she has other things to do. Today is her first day of school. Headmaster Ironwood, who prefers the title of general, gives the introduction speech for all the new students. Attendance is mandatory, and it wouldn't do Ruby good to start the first day of school with truancy!

"You don't appear to be from Atlas, miss."

A young male voice shakes Ruby out of her thoughts, making her turn to whomever spoke to her. Looking up to the voice Ruby sees a short, somewhat thin young man wearing a red vest with green pants, gloves and boots. Ruby cares more about what is on his back:

"Ohh, you have a bo staff on your back, and do I spot lightning dust crystals on both ends of your weapon? That's so cool, what other forms does it hold? Tell me tell m-" It is at this point that Ruby notices that she went full-on weapon nerd on the boy. "I, eh, mean, ehm, nice weapon you got there?"

Great, the first chance to make a friend in this unknown place and Ruby already ruined it. Now he's going to be all wierded out and think that she's creepy. He's probably already making an excuse to leave this conversation!

"Heh." Instead of the nightmarish possibilities thought up by Ruby she instead finds him giving her looks of intrigue. "People usually don't start their conversation by asking about someone's weapon."

He doesn't seem to mind the abnormal start, though. In a fluid motion the guy draws his staff, showing it off to Ruby. "Most of the staff is simple alloy steel, but the tips on both sides contain a lightning dust crystal. Getting hit with them while they're activated can be… shocking, so to say."

Ugh, really? One of the few good parts of coming to Atlas was getting away from all the puns and dad jokes at home. No one deserves to be subjected to such terrible wordplay! If he makes another pun like that Ruby will simply walk away, consequences be damned!

It's clear to the bo wielder that his pun didn't sit well with Ruby, so he goes back to what the girl is interested in: His, weapon, and what it can do. "Now, you've seen it function as a staff. However, with the flick of the wrist it can change into its other form."

As he said, he did. With a flick of the wrist the staff split into two, turning into two shorter sticks meant to be dual-wielded. "And this is the other form, a pair o-"

"Are those eskrima sticks? Wow, you don't really see people still using those. Most people that dual-wield just go all 'Ohh, I wanna look cool and badass with my many weapons, so I go with double swords or triple axes or however many my comic book hero uses', something like that. It's nice that people like you have appreciation for the underused weapons. I mean, I'm like, basically the same as you there when it comes to underappreciated weapons."

Ruby takes out her own weapon and shows it off to the bo user. Crescent Rose unfolds in its complete scythy glory, leaving her new friend awestruck. "Behold my beloved weapon, Crescent Rose! My baby is a high-caliber sniper-scythe, personally crafted and perfected by yours truly! Now it may not be as much of a shocker as your weapon but trust me when I say it won't 'cut' you some slack."

As soon as the words left her mouth she felt very dirty. Darn it all, she was supposed to be the one family member with a good sense of humor! O, how the funny have fallen! Sigh, at least this eskrima wielder lets out a chuckle at the joke. Ruby can't tell if he's merely being polite or not, but at least he's laughing.

"Well, it's been nice to talk about weapons for once. Nice to meet you, miss. The name's Robin Bates."

"I'm Ruby Rose! Uhm, nice to meet you too."

Seconds pass, with neither speaking. Ruby doesn't really know how to continue the conversation, seeing as her favorite topic has already been spoken off. What else is there to talk about? What would Robin be interested in talking about?

Nope, it's no good. Ruby's frozen up again. If only Yang was here to help her break the ice!

"Hey Ruby," Robin pulls Ruby out of her thoughts, making her glad that he's willing to continue the conversation. "was I right when I said that you weren't from around here?"

Oh yeah, he did ask that. Well, before Ruby changed the course of the conversation with her rambling about weapons. That changed the course of the conversation a lot.

"Ehm, yeah, I'm not from here. How did you know?"

"Well, you're practically hugging the heater. Considering how cold Atlas has been for the last five months, I would say that you either don't go out a lot or just arrived here from a very different location."

Ruby looks at herself and does notice that her hands are only a few inches away from touching the heater. Quickly she puts her hands behind her back, ignoring that her hands are now feeling quite a bit colder. "You're also gathered near this heater… are you also from far away?"

"I wouldn't say I come from that far away, since I'm a Mantle boy through and through. How about you, where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from Patch. Born and raised there for my entire life!"

"Patch, that tiny island in front of Vale?" Ruby nods, making Robin look even more surprised. "I don't see many reasons why someone from there would choose Atlas over Beacon. What's your story?"

Well, he does want to know. Ruby sees no problem with regaling her tale to her new friend:

Okay, so, the first thing you should know about me is that I wasn't really planning to go to one of the four academies already. I mean, I'm only fifteen, I was supposed to go to my third year of preparatory combat school.

Robin raises an eyebrow at the last part. It isn't the first time he's heard of people taking up roles meant for people way older than them. It's still impressive to attend Atlas at such a young age, but he has seen similar things happen in his own neighborhood.

So, my life completely changed about two weeks ago. I was walking through the streets of Vale, just doing a bit of shopping, having fun, that kind of stuff. There was this limousine, surrounded on both sides by Atlas trucks, driving at the side of the road. I would've normally ignored it and keep on shopping, were it not for a sudden explosion! The front truck was blown up by a mine, whatever Atlesian knights were in there blown to shreds by the explosion! Out of the shadows these masked people from the White Fang appeared, having drawn their guns and firing them to scare the crowd away. So, I did what any huntress-in-training would do:

I fought them!

"That sounds incredibly dangerous and stupid."

"Yeah, I know, but if I didn't fight them then who would?" The reply is made with both confidence and slight anger, hoping that it will shut him up. This is her awesome story, and he shouldn't be interrupting it with any rude remarks! "Now, where was I…"

There were a bunch of goons, but I went all wham-blam-kaplow on them! I totally kicked their butt, and they were either knocked out or forced to run away with their tail between the legs!

The androids from the undamaged truck stepped out, shooting and slashing at the baddies who I didn't beat down. They were mainly busy with protecting the limousine, while I was picking off any stragglers they missed.

Eventually one of their more skilled fighters came down to fight me, probably the leader considering how she wore a different outfit. So, I was then fighting this girl with really cute kitty ears, who came down to slash her katana at me! It was like, slash-slash-slash-slash-slash, she was super fast! She was slippery as well, each time I tried to hit her she disappeared and then suddenly reappeared a few feet away! She also transformed her weapon into a pistol to take a few potshots at me, and she could even turn it into a whip or a kusarigama. That weapon was so cool! If only we met under peace, I would've loved to see how that weapon was created! Maybe if we meet again I can ask her about how she can fire her weapon when she's using it as a whip!

"You do realize you're now gushing about a member of the White Fang, right?"

Robin correctly points out the problem in Ruby's thought pattern, making the 15-year-old girl blush a bit. "Well, uhm, I was mainly talking about the weapon! I mean, yeah, she has a nice figure and is also a pretty good fighter, but she's a terrorist working with the White Fang. Those aren't exactly good people. Honestly, the only way for us to become friends is if she quit the Fang, but she didn't seem very willing to do so. But I do think that I made a step in the right direction:"

So I was busy fighting with that White Fang member, when suddenly she looked really distraught. I looked in the same direction as her, seeing that the battle was basically over: The androids were either destroyed or made unable to fight, while the White Fang had either fled or been knocked out. I think that by that time the two of us were the only fighters left.

She probably realized that whatever they were trying to pull failed, so she offered a truce. We would stop the fighting, and she would be allowed to flee with those still conscious. I agreed, so she ordered her friends to retreat. Those who could flee did, except for this one tall guy with red hair. He was all angry, shouting that "We shouldn't retreat for our cause!". It looked kind of dumb, really, considering that he had a few cuts and bruises. He probably lost all his aura in the fight, so I could take him even if I only had one arm!

Well, as he said that, the remains of the spider droid he was leaning against crumbled, threatening to crush him. Under normal circumstances he would be dead, were it not for huntress extraordinaire Ruby Rose being on the scene! With her semblance of super speed, she rushed over to the man and pulled him away from the rubble in time!

The big guy acted all grumbly, and was like: "Tsk, in that case I'll retreat for now". But I think that the girl gave me a genuine smile for saving her buddy. So yeah, I made a friend there… maybe. Or an enemy. Frenemy? Well, I made something like that… I think.

Robin smiled upon hearing that last part. Saving others, even if they're the enemy… making sure that no one dies… "I think you did a great job, Ruby."

"You mean that?" Ruby's eyes beamed with happiness, not expecting to be praised like that. With a proud smile she raises her head, happy that someone recognizes her value. "In fact, you're not the first one to say so."

When I went over to the limousine to see if everyone was okay, there was this guy in a white suit with white hair. He was praising me as well, though he said it real formally. He went all "Yes, I see, I must say that you have performed exceptionally well considering your age.", something like that. I introduced myself to him, and he wanted to repay me for saving his life.

Of course, I went all "Nah, I want to be a huntress who aids others, and helping is its own reward". He chuckled at that and said he would keep that promise.

"And then what? How did you get here?"

"Jeez, I was just getting to that!"

So, the next day, I got a call from an unknown number. When I answered I was facetiming with General Ironwood himself! He said that the white-haired guy filmed some of my fighting and showed it off to the general. Ironwood also heard about my wish to become a huntress, so he made me an offer: I would be allowed to join Atlas academy two years early, with all tuition costs paid for by that white-haired guy. I had to talk it over with my dad and my sister, who had their own opinion about it, but they eventually accepted, and that's why I'm here!

"Quite impressive. I just took the standard route: join one of the preparatory tests back at my old school in Mantle and obtain a strong enough recommendation to be allowed access."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, that way is a bit more normal. Doing it like I did just separates you from all the friends and family you previously knew." Yep, Ruby is all alone in a new world, a special case that's probably going to create a lot of attention at the academy.

Maybe she should've been a bit more selfish and asked that white-haired businessman for the newest game console instead…

Robin shrugs off the thoughts of specialty or normalcy. "It's Atlas academy. Sure, you're considered a prodigy, but we're all equal huntsmen-in-training there. You already get along with one of your future classmates, keep this up and you'll make the entire continent your friend!"

Heh. Ruby gives a small laugh at that idea. Making friends with everyone on the continent? Were it not for that being an obvious joke from Robin, Ruby would've blanked out. Getting along with literally millions of people is impossible!

"I guess I can always try." It is what Yang would say, after all. Just step up and talk to them. It might go wrong sometimes, but most of the time you walk away with a friend. "Thanks, Robin."

"No problem." Robin takes a quick glance at his scroll, eyes filled with shock when he notices how late it is. "I need to go now, I need to meet up with a few other friends of mine. I'll see you later!" Robin takes his leave, and Ruby is alone once more. Still, all in all this little talk wasn't too bad.

"Well… I think I made a friend." That means that the score for today is at +1. Keep this up every day, and maybe Ruby might someday have a full group of friends!

Ruby sticks to the public heater for a few more minutes, trying to enjoy a few more slivers of warmth. As unbearable as the cold is, Ruby still needs to traverse through it towards the academy. There will be the speech of her new headmaster, and most importantly there's food and shelter from the cold! It's time for the red reaper to set out into the city of Atlas!

One and a half hours later and Ruby is still walking. Finding the academy is not that hard. It is literally in the center of the city in the clouds. Even though it was quite a distance she did manage to arrive on academy grounds. The only distraction were the five minutes spend to check out this small restaurant that piqued her interest. The banner desert of that store is a heap of chocolate chip cookie dough with milk espuma! Ruby knows where she is going to bring her future team for city outings!

No, the problem lies with the academy itself. First problem: It's huge! Even compared to the boxy skyscrapers of Atlas this building is gigantic. Going through this entire place would take her hours! Secondly, the lay-out is annoying. Altas Academy consists out of five towers, which unlike Beacon don't have any connection with one another. Which tower is correct? Lastly, Ruby doesn't exactly know where she should be. She does have a pamphlet in her hands titled "Atlas wants you!", but it only tells the number of the room the opening is held. It doesn't tell Ruby anything, and honestly she's a bit too afraid to ask a random stranger where she's supposed to go.

Ruby starts to walk faster and faster through the academy. She takes twists and turns, goes up and down the stairs and elevators, all to try and scout a large enough area of the academy that she will eventually reach her destination. With a lack of time to think out her possibilities it's the best plan she has available.

Walking becomes running, running becomes using her semblance to sprint. Every step faster than the previous, ever movement faster, until-

*BAM*

…it all comes to an abrupt stop. Ruby has bumped into something while turning a corner, and her back has now collided with the floor of the academy.

Ow… that was a painful encounter. It's like she ran into some metal wall, because that really hurt a lot!

Ruby looks at what she ran into, and she doesn't find a metal wall.

"Salutations!"

Instead she ran into another girl. A few inches taller than Ruby, with orange hair and green eyes. The most remarkable aspect is her choice of attire, as a thin blouse and overall does not seem like the best choice of clothing for freezing temperatures.

Another point of interest is that even though the two walked into another, only Ruby saw the need to get up. The orange-haired girl is still lying down on the floor. "Ehm… hello? Is everything all right?"

"I am fully operational. Thank you for asking."

Yeah… this girl is weird. Like, really weird. Ruby has been called that before, but this girl tops everything said about Ruby!

"Are you… going to stand back up?"

It stays silent for a moment, as the girl considers her options. Does she not want to get up? Is she sick, suffering from some mental illn-

"Yes!" With a kip-up she gets right back on her feet, causing Ruby to take a small step back. "My name is Penny. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Ruby. Ehm, nice to meet you, Penny." Slowly she shuffles away from Penny, half wishing to get away from this weird girl and half realizing that she has something else to do: "I'm sorry Penny, but I need to get to assembly hall 'N901'. General Ironwood is supposed to give a speech to all the new students, and I don't want to be late to the introduction."

"I believe you are in the wrong section of the academy." Penny states calmly. "You are currently located in the southern tower, where the research laboratoria are located. If you need to go to hall N-9-0-1, you need to be on the top floor of the northern tower."

"O, thank you!" At least now she knows where she needs to be! Hang on, top of the northern tower? And she's currently in the southern tower. Ironwood's speech is supposed to start in five minutes! "Am I going to make that in time?"

"Using hallways and stairways at an average running pace will take you on average 7 minutes and 30 seconds." Penny answers for Ruby. Ruby didn't ask her worries as a question for Penny specifically, but the ginger-haired girl is more than willing to explain. "General Ironwood's speech will start in" Penny takes a moment of silence, as she is stuck in thought. "4 minutes and 33 seconds. You will not be in time for the speech."

What? How did Penny know all that so precisely? No wait, never mind that, did she just say that she's going to be late for the introduction? Okay, this is bad, really really bad, now what does she do? Uhm, uhm, uhm, argh! All this is causing a stress out!

"Do not worry, Ruby! There are still possibilities where you can be in time. I am willing to be of assistance in this problem."

"…Thank you?"

"That answer is accepted as an affirmation!" Penny tightly grips Ruby's wrist, causing the red huntress-in-training to be surprised at this girl's strength. When Penny walks towards her perceived solution Ruby can do nothing but get dragged along.

Penny doesn't take Ruby down the elevator, where the hub is located that connects all five of Atlas Academy's towers. Instead Penny drags Ruby up a flight of stairs. This confuses Ruby, who doesn't understand how this gets them to the northern tower. When she tries to ask Penny all Ruby gets is a "Trust me".

Ugh, today is turning into a mess. "If only Yang were here…"

"Ruby?" Penny walks a bit slower, next to Ruby as she asks her question: "What is this Yang you are talking about?"

Oh, did she say that out loud? Well, no choice but to explain then: "Yang is my sister." Ruby continues to talk about her family, about dad and mom, about how they went to the same preparatory combat school, and how they're now split up between Atlas and Beacon. It's a small story with many details left out, but it seems to have strung something within Penny.

"Your family sounds grand, Ruby! The only family I have is my father. Any siblings I would have are not born yet." That… is an interesting way of calling yourself an only child. "I've spend most of my life with no other contacts than him."

Poor Penny. To live your entire live with barely any other human contact… it does kind of explain her eccentric behavior, though. Well, if Ruby has anything to say about it that limited contact will decrease right here and now: "Well, if you want to, I could become another contact."

"You want to spend more time together?" Penny looks surprised at this, as if she never expected someone to want such a thing. Really, someone with such a negative opinion of herself really needs to be cheered up.

"Yes, Penny, I wouldn't mind that." If this makes Penny happy, then Ruby will not reject it. Seeing the small smile growing on Penny's face makes it all worth it. Penny seems to come to the same conclusion but needs one more step of confirmation.

"Does this mean that we are friends now?"

Ruby's instincts warn her of accepting it so easily. Yang would say no. Dad would say no too, just like uncle Qrow, or any of her friends from Signal. With that in mind she does the only thing that makes sense to her:

"Uhm… sure?"

Penny face lights up like a child in a candy store, unable to believe what she's hearing. "Sensational! Friend Ruby, let us hang out, shop for clothes and paint our nails together!"

Penny is… a bright person. Not bright as in smart: she's doesn't seem very world-wise, and she's also kinda weird. She is bright in her optimism, her constant happiness on her face and easy willingness to hang out with others. Ruby can respect and appreciate that. Weird as it is, Ruby's not against having Penny as a friend. Including Robin that's 2 new friends on the first day, that's a lot better than her first day back at Signal!

Heh. If Penny is this happy and optimistic, then who is Ruby to say no? "Well, we do have some time after initiation. Maybe our teams could go out into the city together?"

"Teams…" Penny mulls over the word, a small tinge of sadness unable to stay hidden from her friend. It's just a fraction of a second, long enough for Ruby to notice but not long enough to act upon. "Yes, we will meet again with our *hic* teams!"

The two girls reach the top floor, which is half-filled with scientists performing research. As far as Ruby can tell most of the research on this floor is done towards robotics. Penny pulls Ruby towards one of the corners of the floor, with walls that are completely lined with glass panels. The view from this place is amazing, though the main tower of the academy is a bit in the way. Penny is almost at the corner, but suddenly she stops as someone calls out her name.

"Oh." She looks away, to some scientist sitting in a quadruped robot chair. A bespectacled man in his late fifties of average build, with greying blonde hair and beard. A pristine white lab coat covers most of his body, the rest covered by a standard Atlesian uniform. Penny glances back at her new friend, a wide smile on her face as she makes a small request: "Friend Ruby, may I introduce you to my father?"

Ruby doesn't mind, but it looks like Penny's father took the initiative as he uses his mechanical chair to walk towards the two girls.

"Penny, there you are! We've been looking for you all over the tower." Then he notices the other girl, who is dragged along. "Oh, and who are you, miss…"

"Ruby. Ruby Rose. I'm a new friend of your daughter, Penny. Ehm, nice to meet you?" Ruby would give the man a hand, but Penny is still gripping hers tightly.

Penny's father quirks an eyebrow at Ruby's declaration, before letting out a chuckle. "I see that you've made a new friend Penny!" Penny nods, and Pietro turns his attention back to Ruby. "My name is Pietro Polendina. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"Eheheh." Ruby blushes a bit, before pointing out that it's the opposite. "Actually, I think that Penny is taking care of me."

This intrigues Pietro a bit, and Penny explains how she promised to help Ruby arrive on time for the opening ceremony for the new students. Pietro looks a bit surprised, not sure how Penny can still help Ruby. "But the ceremony is starting in a minute. What are you trying to d-" It dawns on Pietro, just what her daughter is planning. "Penny, no!"

Penny registers her father's admonishment, but doesn't listen as she opens one of the windows. The cold air streams in, causing Ruby to let out a small shiver. "I'm sorry, father." Penny apologizes, "I'm afraid that I have a prior assignment to fulfill."

Penny's backpack opens, which Ruby is pretty sure didn't exist five seconds ago, and a multitude of swords come flying out. Ruby ogles at this marvelous sight. Penny wields fourteen flying swords that are controlled by some unknown mechanism, making Ruby remember some of her earlier words from today:

"Ohh, I wanna look cool and badass with my many weapons, so I go with double swords or triple axes or however many my comic book hero uses."

Okay, yeah, forget that Ruby ever said that. Those swords look badass, if Ruby may say so herself. How does Penny control them, is this some sort of telekinesis semblance? O, this knowledge does need to be shared with the world!

Just as Ruby thinks that she cannot be amazed any further by Penny the swords merge together, turning into a jetpack equipped to Penny's back.

"Wow, Penny, that's amazing! How did your weapons just, well, do that?"

"We must move now if you want to be on time for the ceremony, Ruby." Penny lays her hand around Ruby's shoulder, looking like a gesture of affection. Ruby would almost hug back were it not for Penny suddenly using her other hand to sweep Ruby's legs off the ground, carrying the little reaper like a newlywedded bride. "Let us talk about our weapons while we are flying!"

"Eh-wha-" Oh no, Ruby has started to blush. To be suddenly lifted like this, it's really embarrassing. How can Penny just do things like, well, t-that! This is a bit too close for Ruby's liking!

"Ready for takeoff! Father, I'll be back soon!" The jetpack on Penny's back ignites, at g-forces too fast for an auraless person to handle. In just a few seconds the duo is flying high above the academy, giving Ruby a beautiful view of Atlas itself. From up here she can see everything! The academy, the mountains, the skyscrapers, even that beautiful mansion on one of the city's hills! This place truly is awe-inspiring!

It's enough to make someone want to float freely in the air. To relax, take it all in, and enjoy a blissful moment. Were it not for the speech coming up in less then a minute Ruby would have let all her worries disappear.

"My weapons were designed by my father. He specially created these for me. I can use them as swords or combine them into guns or a jetpack." Oh yeah, Penny did promise to explain all about her weapon. "I control which form they take using thin carbon fibers attached to the weapons."

"So." Ruby mills over Penny's words, trying to form some coherent formulas of thought. Carbon fiber is a useful material, with the best affinity for lightning, water and gravity dust. While gravity would be the obvious choice to gravitate the swords, having 14 different items with their own gravitational fields would mean that controlling the blades is neigh-impossible. That leaves only one way to use the swords: "Then you use lightning dust to change the polarity of the fiber cables and make specific gestures to change the polarity and thus the movement of the blades, right?

Penny appears to have a hard time processing what Ruby said. Did she just make such an elaborate guess based only on her using carbon fibers? She goes over everything Ruby said, comparing it to the data she has of her weapons. "What you have said… is correct. How did you know all that, Ruby?"

"Well, heh, you see, I'm kind of a weapon nut. I made my own weapon, so I know a thing or two about materials and how to use them with dust."

"That is very impressive!" As far as Ruby can tell, the admiration Penny holds is genuine. The orange-haired girl carefully examines Ruby, trying to find the one piece of evidence missing to Ruby's story. If she made her own weapon, then where is it located? Penny shifts her grip on Ruby's body a bit, eventually feeling an iron barrel on Ruby's back. "I see you carry your own weapon. Can you show me what it is?"

Ruby's emotions turn so positive that it looks like she's been abandoned in a cookie store. Can it be? Might Penny be interested in Crescent Rose? Has Ruby somehow found two people on this floating city interested in her weapon? Someone pinch her, because Ruby must be dreaming!

"My weapon is my beautiful Crescent Rose!" Ruby pulls out her weapon from her back but doesn't fold it out in its full glory, leaving it in its folded state. "It's a high-caliber sniper-scythe. Considering its full size, I don't think it's smart to unfold it up here."

What would happen if the tip of her scythe hooks the jetpack and destroys one of the wings? Crashing into the ground is not her preferable method of getting injured. If possible, she would like to stay unharmed and safely arrive on her destination in time.

Even though Penny couldn't see the full majesty of the sniper-scythe she still seems very impressed with the weapon. "It is a phenomenal idea to keep the weapon stored, Ruby. I must say that your weapon looks spectacular. Its colors go very well with those of your clothes."

"Thanks! You have some very nice clothes as well, Penny, but aren't you cold in that? If I wore that I would be down with a cold tomorrow."

"Cold?" Penny says with confusion, almost not understanding the possibility. "Do not worry, Ruby. The cold never bothered me anyway."

"Well, if you say so…"

The conversation falls silent, nobody saying anything. It's a good thing, as they've arrived at their goal. All of the five towers of Atlas academy have a top floor with glass windows on all sides. Penny and Ruby entered the air from the top floor of the southern tower, and they need to go to the top floor of the northern tower. They're looking through the windows, where Ironwood is about to start his speech. It looks like Penny was right, they're just in time! The only problem is that there's no way to get inside. Ruby asks how her new friend wants to solve this.

"Do not worry friend Ruby, I have a solution for this problem!"

Penny firmly takes Ruby's arm and starts to throw the entirety of her weight backwards, holding Ruby behind her. She arches her entire body, as if she's trying to hold a javelin. The only difference is that instead of a javelin Penny is wielding a person, who is getting a pretty good idea of what her friend's plan is:

"Are-are you going to throw me?"

"Yes!"

Uh oh. This is not going to be fun.

Unleashing her stored energy Penny throws Ruby at the window, causing the 15-year-old huntress to fly at blinding speeds. She braces herself for impact, crossing her arms in front of her face and activating her aura to take the blow for her.

The window breaks from the impact, shattering shards of glass down inside. Ruby can see General Ironwood standing in the middle of an elevated platform, looking absolutely astonished at the interruption of his speech. He's not the only one, as many students are equally astonished. All the hundred or so new students of the academy-hey, is that Robin there in the corner?

Ruby was focused too much on this little sight to notice that she was falling into the stands, right where other people were sitting. Some are quick and wise enough to retreat. Others are not so lucky, as they're right there at the impact of the female meteor. With a loud crash she breaks into hall, her only luck being that something soft broke her fall.

"Ow! What do you think you are doing, you dolt? Do you have any idea what kind of dangerous stunt you just pulled? What is someone like you even doing here?"

Ruby looks up, still dazed from the landing, to find herself on top of another girl. One with long white hair and pale blue eyes that give a very angry glare. She's not the only one staring at the red huntress in training, as basically everyone in the room wants to see just what exactly crashed the introduction. Ruby can feel herself tensing up, all the attention being way too much for her. If this is how her academy life starts…

…then her time as a student at Atlas is going to be four long years…


Yang can't decide if she should be happy or sad. Sure, she's been accepted into Beacon, considered to be the most prestigious of the four combat schools. Now that she's in the airship she feels ready to start her new life and become a huntress. Still, it's rather weird to consider that she's not the only family member to make the big step up. Her little sister made the same step… but to a different school on a different continent.

Okay, it's not an eternal goodbye. Their paths will likely cross several times, the soonest being the upcoming Vytal festival that starts in half a year. But! If Ruby went the normal path they would only be separated for two years, with Yang being a third-year as Ruby made her entrance into Beacon. But now, two years younger than everyone else on a continent where she's never been before? Yang can't help but feel worried for her little sister.

Yang sets herself down on one of the benches to the side of the airship. Absentmindedly she stares at her scroll. Ruby should be arriving in Atlas soon. Will everything be all right? Ruby has trouble making new friends, and she freezes up in larger groups of people. Hopefully her little sis can send a text soon, telling Yang all about how her first day at Atlas went. Maybe, in a best case scenario, she already made a new friend.

A news report makes Yang turn her focus away from Ruby, and towards more local problems. "Another local shop, "From Dust 'til Dawn", has been robbed by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick. This criminal's plot went unopposed and he continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."

The news gives Yang a wry smile, her thoughts turning a little bit more positive. "Well, at least she doesn't have to worry about any master criminals at Atlas."

"Worrying about your sister again?" A voice calls Yang over, making Yang look at her old friends from Signal.

Yang's friends are rather… generic. Honestly, the best way to describe most of them is as silhouettes that accentuate the sunny little dragon. Rather weak too, considering that Yang can beat all of them at the same time. Considering that they all received average scores for combat classes in Signal is enough of to tell how much of a power difference there is between an average student and someone at the top. When it's time to find a partner the minimum strength needed to stand at the brawler's side is at least the level of one of Junior's twins. O, if only her actual friends could fight like that… or if those two could be a bit more fun, either's fine.

"Eh, you know how it is." With a small heave she stands up, greeting her friends on equal terms. "Rubes just moved up two years and is attending Atlas. She's going to be the bee's knees there!" Yang can't exactly show weakness in front of her friends, what would they think of her if she did? "Of course, I'm not planning to make my Beacon debut any less interesting!"

A few groans come from her friends, who already have an inkling what Yang is planning. "Please tell me that you're not going to literally set the training room on fire."

"Why not? Wouldn't that be lit?" A-Wink wink. Yang is selling her pun to the audience and finds nothing more than exasperated sighs. If her friends were carrying tomatoes Yang's face would now be covered in red mush.

Before anyone can comment on the joke the room goes silent, as one hologram in the middle of the airship shows the image of the deputy headmistress of Beacon.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are amongst the select few who have been selected to attend this prestigious academy."

Select few, huh? Yang looks over her friends once more, as well as the other people in the ship. It's enough to make her chuckle a bit. The sloppy posture, the poorly cared for weapons, if this is the "select few" Yang wonders how bad ordinary people must be!

"We live in a time of unparalleled peace, and as huntsmen and huntresses, it's your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it's our turn to provide you with knowledge and the training to protect our world."

Eh, so long as it's fun, Yang has no problems with being a keeper of peace. Just give her some adventure, some good fights, an unpredictable future full of action! If that can be arranged, Yang's not against doing her job as a huntress.

Yeah, that's going to be her future now, just like how it's going to be Ruby's future. They will both, in their own way, become huntresses. Ruby with her team at Atlas, and Yang back here at Beacon. When they meet again Ruby is going to show off just how much better she became. Quite literally too, considering it will be at the Vytal festival where if luck has it they will face off against each other in the tournament. Yeah, Yang's going to need to step up her game if she wants to keep her respect as "big sister".

"Well then little sis, I guess I'll become a huntress that makes even you green with envy!"

*Blargh*

A few feet to Yang's right is a tall, scraggly, blond-haired boy, bent over and barfing on the floor. Geez, guess someone's a little airsick. His entire face turned green from the sickness, and he doesn't seem done yet.

"On second thought, maybe I shouldn't go with the color green." Yeah, just because Yang is going to be one kickass huntress-in-training does not mean that Ruby should end up as vomit boy. Perhaps the little sister should see pink of embarrassment? Red of rage? Maybe shocked white?

"Yang," the brawler snaps out of her thoughts to see her friends staring at her. Now that she looks at her surroundings, there are more people staring than just her friends, all to the same spot: "your shoes…" Her friends point downward before stepping a few feet away from their blond friend. A single gaze is enough to see that Yang is currently standing in green, gooey puke.

Not her boots! Gross gross gross gross gross! So, so gross! Ew! Damn it!

This school life is the worst!


A/N: I would like to make a small caveat about this story. Personally, I'm not that big of a fan of making OC's. However, considering that when this first chapter was written (Mid-Volume 6) we only know 5 canon members of Atlas academy (Ironwood, Penny, Ciel, Flynt and Neon), a few extras need to be created to fill in the blanks. The focus of the Atlas part of the story still lies with Ruby, Weiss, Penny and Ciel.

There was little Yang in this chapter because, well, little interesting happened before Ozpin's speech. Both chapters have the same order: pre-speech, post-speech, pre-initiation, initiation, post-initiation etc. If little happens on one side, then little happens. Yang's team at Beacon will have more importance in future chapters.

Reviews are always appreciated.