Chapter 13
Ruby stared at the ceiling. It still hadn't sunk in that she was here.
She was in a dorm at Beacon. With a team.
For the umpteenth time, she pulled out her Scroll and opened her messages. Both her dad and her friends had sent her support, overflowing with praise. The schedules Professor Goodwitch had created were still waiting for her approval. Her uniforms were hanging in the closet, alongside all the clothes she normally wore.
And yet it still seemed like a dream.
Quietly, Ruby pinched herself, then exhaled when nothing changed. On the one hand, she was excited beyond words. Becoming a Huntress was all she ever wanted in life, and she was getting there ahead of schedule. But on the other hand, it was terrifying, because if it was real, then so were her mistakes. Any slip up, any accident; it all would be real, and everyone would see it.
Taking a deep breath, she looked back at the messages her friends had sent her, when the indicator popped up with a new message. She was briefly confused about who would be sending her a message at this time until she saw who sent it. Uncle Qrow.
Hey, kid, heard the good news. From your dad no less. You know it's big when he reaches out to me. He was talking up a storm about how proud he is of you. I'm sure you've heard it from him already, but it never hurts to hear it from someone else. And for what it's worth, I'm proud of you, too. Sorry I couldn't be there to see you guys off; work's got me busy. But next chance I get, I promise I'll come visit you both. Take you out to eat or something.
Anyway, I know you're probably stressing out. You always were the worrier of you two. Well, don't. I heard you got the attention of Goodwitch AND Ozpin. That means more than you know. Some folks'll tell you that you don't belong, but they don't know what they're talking about. They don't know you.
Here's some insider advice: get nice with your professors. Most of 'em are more than willing to offer advice and help if you need it. They want you to succeed. So if anything comes up, talk to them.
In any case, that's all I got to say about all that. Let me know if Goodwitch gives you any grief.
See you around, kid.
Ruby smiled to herself as she read the message. Qrow's presence was unpredictable at best, but he always seemed to know what to say. The feelings of anxiety washed away as she imagined getting to impress her uncle. He'd been the one to teach her to use a scythe, so, in a way, he was partially responsible for her getting into Beacon. She made a mental note to thank him when he visited.
But now she had a different problem: she had far too much energy to try and sleep.
Quietly, she slipped out of bed, taking care to land as softly as she could. She wasn't surprised to see Weiss was awake and reading a book. Weiss gave her a quiet nod in greeting before returning to her book. Pyrrha and Alabaster were fast asleep, though. Between being from different time zones and the initiation, she wasn't surprised they were tired.
Heading into the closet, Ruby retrieved one of her uniforms, inspecting the design. A white shirt under a brown jacket and tan vest, with a plaid skirt below. It wasn't actually too different from her own clothes, outside of its colouration and maybe a bit more professional looking. At least she could wear her long leggings with it.
Taking it with her into the bathroom, Ruby took a quick shower before changing out of her PJ's. The team had already taken much more intensive showers the previous night, so she was mainly concerned with looking presentable for the day. A quick dry later, and she put on her uniform. It wasn't the first time she'd worn it, since she'd tried it on back at home to make sure it fit, but putting it on for the first time at school was a different matter.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she paused as Weiss looked at her, and she gave a small twirl. To Ruby's surprise, Weiss set down her book and walked over to her, inspecting her outfit up and down, and cocking an eyebrow in a silent question. Ruby nodded, and Weiss made a couple of small adjustments to her uniform: a straightening of the lapels, a slight twist of the skirt, a tightening of the bow. With a smile, Weiss stepped back, clearly satisfied.
Much better, she mouthed before returning to her bed. She was about to pick up her book when she realized Ruby hadn't moved, and she quietly motioned for Ruby to carry on. Snapping out of it, she hurried quickly out of the room, silently closing the door behind her.
Once in the hall, Ruby meandered down towards the stairwell, smiling to herself as she saw the traces of mud and dirt that had escaped the janitors. Still, she was surprised to see that it had been cleaned as thoroughly as it was, especially since the students got into the dorms so late.
The first year dorms were on the fourth floor, like they were in most academies. In the past, the idea was that if anyone attacked the dorm, they'd immediately run into the older, and more experienced students, buying time for the less experienced students on the upper floors to get to safety. Nowadays, though, it was more tradition than anything else. Being on the bottom floor meant you didn't have to climb the stairs after long hours of training, a definite benefit of seniority.
Heading down to the bottom floor, she turned out one of the doorways in the landing, stepping into a small courtyard. The dorms were shaped like a square with a hollow center, with the courtyard taking up that hollow space. The courtyard was slightly tiered, with a pair of paths bisecting it, meeting to form a ring around a fountain. The central ring was edged with marble steps that doubled as a seating area, the tops meeting the raised green space that took up the four quarters.
According to her dad, it was a common student hangout location, and it wasn't hard to see why. Despite the towering walls of the dorms around it, it was still bright, even with the sun barely up. Taking a seat on the steps, she looked up at the dorms, idly wondering who else was part of their year.
She chuckled to herself, recalling what her dad had told her about room assignments. Getting assigned to the inside of the dorms was generally considered bad luck, since all you got as a view of the courtyard, and your neighbours across the way. In contrast, getting the outside rooms was good luck, especially if you got the south or east sides, which faced the town and the Forever Fall, respectively. The north side faced the combat hall (which sadly couldn't be watched from the outside), and the west faced the rest of the campus, which was where her room was.
Glancing over her shoulder, she looked up at the fourth floor, trying to figure out which room was team JERN's. Right now, all the windows looked the same, but as the year went on, they took on a life of their own, with decorations and plants and all other manner of personal touches sprucing them up.
Maybe we should get something for our window, Ruby thought. Not to mention, get some last-minute supplies. She'd forgotten her favorite shampoo... It would be a good first team trip, and would be an excuse to get into town. Leaning back, Ruby stared up at the clouds above. Just as she was getting comfortable, the barest hint of a pleasant smell drifted past her. It took her a second to realize it wasn't the flowers, but something warm. It smelled a bit like...ham?
As the realization hit her, so did the hunger, and the growl of her stomach. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember the map of the campus she'd memorized. If her memory was right, the school's dining hall was just west of the dorms. She wasn't entirely sure if it would be open yet, but it was better than just waiting around.
Passing back through the doors, she paused in front of the hallway to the fourth year students' dorms. The hall looked completely untouched, which made sense considering that the upper years wouldn't be at the school for a few days, at least officially. Still, it felt a little eerie to have so much extra space being unused.
Once she exited out the west doors, the scent was much stronger. Ahead of her, she could see the vaulted windows of the cafeteria, and a small plume of steam rising from one of the open skylights. Strolling up to the doors, she found them unlocked.
As soon as she stepped in, the air was immediately warmer, and she realized just how comparatively cold it was outside. Even with it being early fall, the mornings could get chilly. The days didn't shorten too much even by mid-winter, but it regularly got cold enough to snow. She doubted Weiss would be bothered much, but Alabaster was in for a shock.
Ruby was surprised to see she wasn't the first one in the hall, as a few other students were sitting down, eating breakfast. Most of them sat alone, likely the only members of their team awake at the moment. It was a little relaxing to not be the first one in line.
The selection of food was quite impressive though, with just about anything she could want, all carefully stored so that it would stay warm and fresh for as long as possible. Even just looking at it made her already great hunger grow, and she helped herself to a bit of whatever caught her eye.
Ruby was just about to sit down when the doors opened and Nora and Ren walked in, talking to themselves. The second Nora saw Ruby, a grin split her face and she bounded over.
"Morning, Ruby! How are you?" she asked excitedly, startling Ruby with how much energy she displayed.
"I'm good," Ruby replied stiltedly. "I didn't expect you to be up."
"Ren and I are used to travelling. A little time zone difference never kept us down," she laughed, lightly elbowing Ren, who simply nodded his agreement. Nora's attention quickly settled on the food offerings, and in a way Ruby didn't think was possible, her smile grew. "Oooh, looks good. Mind getting us a table, Ruby? We'll join you in a second."
Ruby didn't even have time to respond before Nora was off. Questioningly, she turned to look at Ren, who shrugged apologetically. "I'll make it up to you later."
"Oh, there's no need," Ruby quickly insisted. "As soon as I saw you guys, I thought we could eat together."
"You might regret that soon," Ren said with a cryptic smile, wandering off to join Nora. Thoroughly confused, Ruby grabbed on the empty tables, trying to drown her confusion in maple syrup.
Nora and Ren joined her shortly, the former carrying two loaded plates, while the latter had a much more reasonable plate, and a couple of cups that emanated a faintly herbal scent.
"Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub," Nora said heartily before starting to lay into her food. Ruby was beginning to understand what Ren had been warning her about, seeing the sheer rate of consumption Nora possessed. She spared a glance at Ren, who was eating slower, but still faster than her.
"How was your guys' night?" Ruby asked awkwardly, wondering if she should be talking while they ate.
"Best night of sleep I ever had," Nora smiled. "Head hit the pillow and I was out like a light."
"Certainly some of the nicest beds we've slept on," Ren added, taking a sip of his drink. He caught Ruby's questioning gaze, and tilted the cup so she could see the slightly amber drink. "Just some tea."
"You a big tea drinker?" Ruby asked. Her dad was big into tea for some reason, but she never got the appeal. It wasn't sweet enough without adding a lot of sugar, and then it felt weird to drink. She was more of a cocoa drinker.
"We both are," Nora answered, catching Ruby off-guard as she raised the other cup Ren had brought, taking a surprising dainty sip. "Great alternative to plain water when you're on the road. Boiling kills anything in the water, and it can mask the taste of the local water. Not to mention the health benefits."
"Huh," Ruby said simply, not expecting such a comprehensive answer. For a minute, they ate in relative silence, and Ruby cast her gaze around the dining hall once more, taking the other residents in more detail.
From the looks of things, most of the people who were awake seemed like they were from around Vale, if their appearance was anything to go by. Some hadn't bothered to change into their uniforms. If she had to guess, at least some of them were probably like her and used to waking up early for chores and the like.
Though judging by the exhausted looks on some faces and the faint smell of coffee, not everyone was in that camp. Ruby had to hold back a chuckle at one particularly miserable looking student who was face down on the table and only lifted their head to take deep swigs of coffee.
"Wonder when the others will wake up," Ruby wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure," Ren commented. "It will likely take time for everyone's sleep schedules to adjust."
"It's gotta suck for some people," Nora agreed, looking genuinely sympathetic. She turned back to Ruby. "I'm surprised you were awake, to be honest."
"I lived out in the countryside. Lots of chores to do in the morning, like cutting wood and the like."
"Ah, one of those types," Nora said knowingly, turning to Ren. "They used to smile at us as we passed by in the morning. Often paid well for help."
"That they did," Ren agreed with a smile, before lifting his cup in a small toast. "As a stand-in for them, we thank you for your help."
"But I didn't-"
"Shhh, let him have the moment," Nora hushed aggressively, though she was still smiling.
Ruby shrugged, deciding to give up on fighting it. Instead, she decided to change the topic. "So what are you guys planning for the day?"
"Class selection and advisement starts today, so we will probably start considering that," Ren mused. "Other than that, I don't believe anything was set in stone."
"I wanna fight!" Nora proclaimed. "I saw the combat arena on the way into the dorms, and I think it would be great to bash some heads."
"She's not serious about the bashing heads bit," Ren said quickly.
"Are they having fights already?" Ruby asked. If there was going to be sparring matches, it could be a great chance to see some weapons and armour in use, and that was a very tempting option.
"Don't know," Nora admitted with a stretch. "But I'll find out as soon as the day starts."
"How about yourself?" Ren inquired.
"Well...I was hoping to go into town with my team to get some room decorations. Really personalize it, you know?"
"Ooh, that's a good idea," Nora agreed. "Besides, we need to get some stuff to wash your cloak out. Might not be a bad idea to get some decorations of our own too. What do you think Ren?"
"Definitely not a bad idea," he agreed. "Though we wouldn't want to trespass on time with your team."
"Oh, I'm sure it would be fine," Ruby said quickly with a smile. "The more the merrier!"
"Well, then in that case, if you do plan a time, let us know, and we'll see if we can coax our group to come along."
"Sounds like a plan," Ruby agreed, checking her Scroll. "We should probably go get our teams though. Don't want them to miss breakfast."
"Agreed."
