Following Ozpin's bizarre speech at the amphitheater, me, Azura and our new friends decided to go to the dining hall and grab a bite to eat before going to the ballroom. We learned a lot about our new friends. Ruby and Yang were half sisters and grew up on the island of Patch, Yang loved to make bad puns, and Jaune grew up on a farm and was related to several heroic Huntsmen and Huntresses. He was also bad at picking up women, which became clear after his failed attempts to win over Weiss and Ruby. We were already getting along really well with each other.

A few things were on my mind, however, and that was Ruby's relation to Summer and my now silver eyes. I was certain that she was Summer's daughter, and when I tried to ask Summer about Ruby I got no response. I was use to Summer not answering me when I needed her, but those times I wasn't asking Summer about her possible daughter. I stopped trying to contact Summer after a few tries, but after meeting Ruby I began to question my new eye color. Why had my eyes suddenly go from brown to silver? Was it because I had the soul of Summer Rose residing in me? Or was there something I wasn't being told? I doubted that it was the latter, so I had to assume that it was a side effect of carrying Summer's soul.

After we were done eating and talking we looked around the school before heading to the ballroom and getting ready for bed. Some people were talking to each other, others were already trying to sleep. I was one of those people trying to sleep. Azura was still awake and was telling me about how excited she was for the initiation. I was lying on the ground, with my hands resting behind my head, waiting for her to finally go to sleep. Azura, however, was sitting up on her sleeping bag, talking away.

"So maybe we can get on a team together, maybe even be partners!" Azura said very excitedly.

"Uh-huh..." I replied drowsily.

"Or if I can't find you, maybe Ruby, Yang or Jaune!"

"Mhmm..."

"But what if I don't find you or them!? What do I do!?"

"Yup..."

"Ash!" Azura said very angrily, "Are you even listening to me!?"

I rolled my head over to my right and looked at her in the eyes before replying to her. She did look angry at me for "not listening" when, in fact, I had been paying attention this whole time to what she was saying, somehow.

"Yes, I am," I replied dryly, "You are really excited about tomorrow and really want to be on my team, or be my partner. But you wouldn't mind being on Jaune's, Ruby's or Yang's team. You are also afraid of not finding of any of us or getting on some other team without us."

She didn't say anything after I finished talking, she just stared at me, with some anger still on her face. For a second I wondered if I had just pissed her off somehow.

"Ok you win." She finally said to me after a few seconds, before finally laying down in her sleeping bag. "But you have to promise me that the first thing you will do tomorrow is to find me, ok?"

"Yeah, I promise. First thing." I replied, ready to doze off. I then rolled onto my left side, and closed my eyes.

"Ok, 'night Ash."

"'Night Azura..."

I finally had the chance to sleep. Most of the other students were already sleeping, with only a few talking amongst each other very quietly. Sleep would finally come. I could feel myself falling asleep-

"Cut it out!"

...

You've gotta be kidding me.

"What in the world is going on over here!? Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

Jesus-fucking-Christ!

"Oh not you again!"

Motherfucking-just... why?

I opened my eyes slightly, and saw the source of the loud noises. Ruby, Yang, the black haired girl from earlier, with the bow still on her head, and the one and only Ice Queen. I let out a small groan as soon as I saw Weiss. But to be honest, she did have a point.

"Shhh! Guys, she's right!" Ruby said, seemingly very worried about waking anyone else. "People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, now you're on my side!"

"I was always on your side!"

Please go to bed already...

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!"

For fuck's sake, people.

Then, the black-haired girl put down a book she was holding and picked up a candle, the source of light for her book reading, before blowing it immediately returned to that part of the room. I thanked the sleep gods for the silence that followed, with the exception of the sounds of a very angry girl stomping away. I closed my eyes again, and drifted away into sleep.

I opened my eyes to realize that I had returned to the white nothingness. I wasn't really surprised, I had come here alot the past few months. It was snowing, like it was the first night on Remnant. Summer was always here whenever I came here. I didn't have to look around to find Summer as she was standing in front of me with her back to me. She had the hood of her white cloak covering her head. Normally she would face me and we would then either be training or discussing the gems.

"Summer?" I asked, but she did not say anything, nor did she acknowledge my existence. I began slowly walking towards her.

"Summer?" I called her name again, hoping this time to get her attention. She just continued to face away from me. I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Summ-"

She jumped in surprise when I tapped her on the shoulder and turned around to face me. At first I was confused as to why she was spooked by me. She always knew when I would be here and would never be surprised by me. In fact, sometimes she would be behind me and jump onto my back as soon as I would arrive. Then I noticed what looked like a stream of tears rolling down her face. Was she crying?

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah..." She replied while wiping away her tears and sniffling. "Yeah I'm- I'm ok."

Obviously I didn't believe her. She was crying about something, why would she cry for no reason? I thought I saw something glowing in her right hand, but a quick glance made me realize that there was nothing there.

"You sure?" I asked. She suddenly began sobbing uncontrollably.

"No, no I'm not!" She then fell to her knees and buried her head in her hands. "How could I have taken that mission!? I- Ruby- I'm so sorry!"

I went down on my knees and enveloped her in my arms. She continued sobbing as she buried her head into my chest and as I tried to calm her down. I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by Summer.

"Ruby is my daughter. I went on a mission and I never came back. Imagine what that was like on her! She grew up without her mother! How could I do that to her!?"

"It wasn't your fa-"

"It was completely my fault!" She yelled, looking up into my eyes, tears streaming down her face. "If I never took that mission- If I stopped being a Huntress I would still be there for Ruby!"

She continued sobbing and buried her face back into my chest, I didn't know what to say or what to do. I was in Ruby's position with the loss of a parent, not Summer's. What was I supposed to do? After another minute of sobbing Summer finally spoke up.

"I need you to do me a favor, Ash." Summer said, letting out a few sniffles. "I need you to protect Ruby from everything you can. I need you to do everything in your power to protect my daughter from harm. I need you to promise me that you will not let Ruby's fate be the same as mine. Can you promise me that?"

I looked at Summer in the eyes, the same silver eyes I had, the same silver eyes that Ruby had. I took her hands, and I made her a promise.

"I promise you that I will do everything I can do to protect Ruby, and I will put her life over my own. I will not break that promise, ever."

Summer gave me a small smile, and a few more tears fell from her eyes.

"Thank you, Ash." Summer said softly, sounding like she was about to cry again. "Thank You."

She then stood up, once again wiping away her tears, and I stood up as well.

"You should probably get going." Summer told me. "There isn't anything to do or talk about tonight."

"Ok," I replied, "And if you ever need me for anything don't hesitate to ask."

I took a couple steps back, lowered my head and closed my eyes.

"One more thing."

I opened my eyes and looked back up at Summer. She had stopped, but she had some look of worry on her face.

"We both know what being a Hunter entails. No matter what happens, no matter what situation you are in, keep moving forward."

"Ok, I will."

I then closed my eyes and lowered my head. And with that I left the snowy sanctuary.

"Ash, wake up!"

"Uuugh..."

"Aaash!"

"Azura, lemme sleep..."

"Ashiiieee!"

I was use to Azura shaking me whenever she wanted me to wake up. She never called me "Ashie", though. I then realized that it wasn't Azura after listening to the voice. I started to open my eyes and I saw yellow and purple above me.

"Wake up sleepy!"

"No I wanna sleep..." I said, opening my eyes more. I saw the same yellow and purple above me, but I saw it clearer than before. The yellow and purple was Yang. Yang was waking me up, but why?

"Don't you ever get tired of sleeping?" Yang asked with a smirk on her face. I immediately let out a small groan at the terrible pun I had just heard.

"No, I don't." I replied, sitting upright and rubbing my eyes. "What times is it?"

"Six o'clock in the morning."

Why do you people hate sleep?

"What's up?" I asked, keeping my annoyance of being woken up suppressed.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat before we have initiation."

As much as I loved sleeping, I really wanted to go eat food. I also wanted to get to know my friends more, so this was a good opportunity to get to know Yang.

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" I replied, much to Yang's delight.

"Great! Just get ready and meet me outside the ballroom, ok?" She told me, standing up from a crouched position and walking away. I realized that she was already dressed and ready to go. I looked around and realized that most of the first years were still asleep, with only a few people gone. They probably had the same idea as Yang, or they could have been preparing for initiation. I looked at Azura, who was still dead asleep. I didn't want to wake her up, so I got up, grabbed my clothes, and left to go get changed.