Volume I
Erin Forrester was scrolling through messages from his parents, when the voice of one of his friends caught his attention.
"Everyone at Beacon is gonna think you're the bee's knees!"
He looked to his left to see a tall girl with a large mane of golden hair that looked like it had never come in close proximity with a pair of scissors. It was his best friend, the one and only Yang Xiao Long. She was currently talking with her younger sister, Ruby Rose, who was dressed in a black and red combat skirt and a long red cape. Yang's lilac eyes sparkled with excitement as she spoke. In contrast, Ruby's eyes showed only embarrassment.
"I don't wanna be the bee's knees! I don't wanna be any kind of knees! I just wanna be a normal girl with normal knees." she complained.
"If you ask me, I think it's pretty cool that you managed to get in two years earlier." Erin told her.
The blonde turned towards him and smiled.
"See? Woody gets it."
Erin groaned as he covered his face with his hand.
"Why? Why do you keep using that horrible nickname?"
"You know you like it." Yang told him.
"I really don't." he replied.
Yang laughed it off and gave him a pat on his shoulder.
"Thanks, Erin. I just don't want people to think I'm getting special treatment or something. And also, I don't have any friends at Beacon." Ruby said.
Erin smiled and placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
"Ruby, you are special in the best way possible. You are special because your skills, gained you early entrance into Beacon. As for friends, well, you already got me and Yang. I think you'll be fine." Erin told her as reassurance.
Ruby gave him a grateful smile.
Their conversation was interrupted as the news report on the criminal Roman Torchwick was replaced by hologram of Glynda Goodwitch welcoming the students to Beacon.
The group of three moved towards the window to look at the academy.
"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here." Ruby said, marveling at the view.
"Yeah, it sure is something." Erin agreed.
They were all suddenly pushed to the side as a blond boy hurried past them to get to the trash can.
"I guess the view's not for everyone." Yang commented.
"Poor guy. I bet he's gonna be known as 'Vomit Boy' for the rest of his school life." Erin said.
Ruby then noticed something on Yang's shoe.
"Ew! Yang, there's puke on your shoe!"
The blonde looked down to see that her sister was correct.
"Ew! Gross, gross, gross!"
"What're you doing standing there? Go wash it!" Erin exclaimed as he and Ruby took a step back.
In another corner of the airship sat a girl with pale blond hair tied into a low bun. She wore a white trench coat with black accents and a navy blue shirt underneath. The coat's sleeves were rolled up and her hands were covered by a pair of fingerless light blue gloves. Her large bastard sword rested on the seat next to her as she talked on her scroll.
"Don't worry, Celeste. I packed everything. Yes, I do have enough dust cartridges."
"Alright. You know I'm just worried about you, Bianca. Especially after your father... you know."
Bianca sighed.
"I know. And I'm glad you care about me. But I'm fine, really."
"Have you made any friends yet?"
Bianca chuckled.
"Slow down, I just got on the bullhead."
"Alright. Just tell me once you do."
Bianca smiled as she shook her head and put her scroll away.
When the ship landed, Bianca waited a bit before stepping out, letting the initial crowd get off first. When she did step out, her attention was immediately captured by a loud explosion. She looked in its direction to see a small girl wearing a red cape being mercilessly scolded by another girl wearing white.
"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"
The smaller girl seemed mortally embarrassed, frantically trying to string words together to form an apology.
"Well... I-I."
Bianca decided to cut in before the girl in red dug herself into an even deeper hole.
"Woah! Everybody calm down before something else explodes."
The girl in white turned to Bianca in confusion and annoyance.
"Who do you think you... You!" the girl in white said as she recognized Bianca.
"Oh no! Not you, anyone but you!" Bianca exclaimed as she too recognized the girl.
It was Weiss Schnee. It was no secret that Bianca wasn't the Schnee family's greatest fan, a fact that hadn't gone over well with their youngest daughter.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I'm going to school. What are you doing here? Run out of people to boss around in your mansion?" Bianca replied.
Weiss's face scrunched up in anger.
"Like you're one to talk! You live in a mansion as well! You inherited millions from your father!"
"Yeah, but I don't act like that makes me better than everyone else! Now, what are you doing to this poor girl?"
"This child bumped into me and nearly blew us all up!" Weiss complained before turning back to the girl in red.
"This isn't your ordinary combat school! It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight monsters. So, watch where you're going!"
"Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!" the girl in red yelled, finally fed up with the other girl's unfair scolding.
"It's heiress, actually."
The three of them turned to look at the newcomer, a black haired girl dressed in black and white, a little black bow atop her head. In one of her hands she held a dust vial.
"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." the girl informed.
"Finally, some recognition!" Weiss said.
"As if she needed someone to inflate her ego even more." Bianca muttered under her breath.
"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." the girl then added.
'I stand corrected.' Bianca thought as she looked at the scene with wide eyes.
Weiss's mood changed immediately.
"Wha-...How dare...The nerve of...Ugh!" she sputtered before snatching the vial and walking away angrily.
"I promise I'll make this up to you!" the girl in red called after her before letting out a sigh.
"I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day." she said before collapsing on the ground.
"Welcome to Beacon."
Bianca turned to thank the other girl but noticed she was already gone. She turned back when she heard someone behind her.
"Hi. I'm Jaune." said the blond boy, holding a hand out to her.
Bianca smiled.
"I'm Bianca, nice to meet you." she replied while shaking his hand.
The two then turned to the younger girl.
"Should we...help her up?" Jaune asked.
"Probably." Bianca answered.
"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on." Jaune argued.
"Look, I'm sorry. Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby said apologetically.
"She's not wrong." Bianca stated.
"Oh yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?" he fired back as retaliation.
"Hey! That explosion was an accident!"
"Crater Face is still a better name than Vomit Boy." Bianca said.
"Well, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. The ladies love it."
"They do?" both Ruby and Bianca asked skeptically.
"T-They will." Jaune assured them.
"Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that...never mind."
Ruby giggled before pulling out her weapon, a large red scythe.
"So... I got this thing."
"Woah! Is that a scythe?" Jaune asked.
"It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle."
"Wha...?"
"It's also a gun." she clarified.
"Neat." commented Bianca.
"What about you guys?" Ruby asked.
Bianca proceeded to unsheathe her large bastard sword. There was a compartment for dust cartridges near the cross guard and the word 'Paragon' was engraved on the blade.
"I got this. Very good for close quarters. Occasionally I like to add a bit of dust to spice things up."
Ruby immediately started gushing over the weapon.
"Oh my gosh, it's so cool! It even has a name!"
Bianca chuckled at the younger girl's reaction before putting her weapon away and turning to Jaune.
"What about you, Jaune? What's your weapon?"
He nervously reached to his side and unsheathed a simple sword.
"Oh, I... uh. I got this sword."
"Oooh." the other two commented.
"Yeah, I got a shield too." he said, taking the scabbard and expanding it into a shield.
"So, what do they do?" Ruby asked while touching the shield.
In doing so she accidentally triggered the mechanism, causing Jaune to fumble with it for a few seconds while Bianca attempted to stifle a giggle.
"The-the shield gets smaller. So, if I get tired of carrying it I can just... put it away." Jaune explained while demonstrating.
"Wouldn't it still weigh the same though?" Bianca asked.
"Yeah it does." Jaune confirmed dejectedly.
"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in designing it." Ruby said with a nervous giggle.
"Wait, you made that?" Jaune asked in surprise.
"Yeah, all students at Signal forge their own weapons."
"Same at Atlas." Bianca added.
"You're from Atlas?" Jaune inquired.
"Yup."
"Cool." Ruby said before turning back to Jaune.
"Didn't you make yours?" she asked him.
"It's a hand-me-down. My great great grandfather used it to fight in the war." he explained.
"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me." Bianca commented.
"Well, I like it. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." Ruby said.
Jaune gave her a nervous smile.
"Yeah, the classics."
The three then continued walking.
"So, why did you two help me out back there?" Ruby asked.
"Heh, why not? My mom always says 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet'." Jaune answered.
Ruby smiled.
"What about you, Bianca?"
"I know that girl, Weiss Schnee. She was always the stuck up rich daddy's girl back in combat school. I'm not her biggest fan, and you looked like you needed help." she explained.
The three all shared a laugh.
"So... where are we going?" Ruby asked.
"Oh. I don't know. I was following you." Jaune replied.
Ruby turned towards Bianca.
"Don't look at me! I'm just as lost as you two." the girl said.
"You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some sort of recognizable landmark?" Jaune suggested.
The two others laughed.
"Is that a no?"
"That's a no." Bianca confirmed.
Eventually the three of them made their way to the auditorium. Once there, Ruby easily spotted her sister and her friend.
"Hey, Ruby! Over here, we saved you a spot!" Yang called out.
"Oh! Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you two after the ceremony." she said before hurrying off.
She quickly joined up with her sister and Erin.
"So, how's your first day going, little sister?" Yang asked.
Ruby turned to her with an angry look on her face.
"You mean after you two ditched me and I exploded?" she inquired.
"Yikes! Meltdown already?" Erin asked in concern.
"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire and I think some ice..."
"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked playfully.
"I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage and then she yelled at me and then I sneezed and then I exploded and then she yelled again! And then I felt really, really bad and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"
Ruby's rant was cut off by Weiss, who came up behind the small girl.
"You!"
"Oh god it's happening again!" Ruby screamed while jumping into Yang's arms in panic.
"You are lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"
"Oh my god, you really exploded." Erin realized.
Weiss proceeded to shove a pamphlet in Ruby's face.
"You wanna start making things up to me?" she asked.
"Absolutely." Ruby replied nervously.
"Take this and don't ever speak to me again." she said while handing Ruby the pamphlet. Erin decided to step in to defuse the tension.
"Okay, I'm sure it was all just an unfortunate accident. Why not just start over?"
"Yeah. Great idea, Erin." Ruby agreed before clearing her throat and holding her hand out to Weiss.
"Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies."
"Yeah! And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blond and... scraggly over there!" Weiss replied mockingly.
Unfortunately, Ruby didn't notice the sarcasm.
"Wow, really?!"
"No." Weiss stated firmly.
The conversation was interrupted by Professor Ozpin clearing his throat to begin his speech.
"I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in the search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this. But your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
Ozpin then left the stage, handing it over to Professor Goodwitch.
"We will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." she instructed.
The students all followed her example and went to the ballroom, where everyone started laying their sleeping bags down. Erin was about to pick a spot, when he bumped into someone. He looked up to see a boy dressed in green and white, his long black hair tied into a small ponytail with a pink streak standing out.
"Oh, sorry. You can take it. I'll go find another spot." he apologized.
"No, that's okay. We can make room." the boy said, moving the sleeping bag to make room.
"Thanks." Erin said as he placed his sleeping bag down.
"I'm Erin, by the way."
"My name is Lie Ren, but most people just call me Ren. Oh, and the girl is Nora."
Erin frowned in confusion.
"What girl?"
Suddenly, a girl with ginger hair dressed in pink dashed into a sleeping bag next to Ren.
"It's sleeping time!" she exclaimed.
"That girl." Ren said.
"I see." Erin said, nodding his head slowly.
Suddenly, the lights went out. Nora immediately started snoring.
"We should probably follow her example." Ren commented.
"Probably." Erin agreed, still a bit in shock due to the girl.
He sat there in the dark for a while, before eventually closing his eyes and falling asleep.