It all began only days ago in the far reaches of space in the reality of Earth-21917, a domain many would consider dark, cold, and empty; by all logic, the vacuum should be devoid of life. Yet, an asteroid hurtled through the blackened expanse, bearing an amorphous mass of living abyss that had laid dormant yet remained alive even in this inhospitable environment.

The creature was a Klyntar, having been shunted from its homeworld in the wake of a meteor strike, where its only chance for survival was to cling for dear life to a large chunk of debris from the space rock's impact. The odds of a Klyntar escaping its homeworld's atmosphere in a natural event such as this were one in a million. Several other Klyntar weren't so lucky and perished in the ensuing firestorm, where others still remained on the planet, continuing to maintain the image of black jungles and the celestial body's mantle. Yet somehow, this individual was sent careening towards its next destination.

The Klyntar and the asteroid it hitched a ride on eventually landed on a distant planet that was alien to anything the creature had ever known. Although the creature was in intense pain due to the heat of burning through the atmosphere, it had survived by retreating into the meteor in an attempt to use the layers of rock to shield it from the brunt of the energy.

"Where am I?" it thought. "This doesn't seem like any planet I've seen before… But there's no time for that. I feel… drained. I need to find a host as soon as possible!"

Crawling out of its mineral shell and manifesting eyespots to observe its surroundings, the Klyntar noted with great intrigue that from what it gleaned from the central hive mind, this planet was similar to Earth, but at the same time very different. For one, its moon was partially damaged and shattered in what appeared to be a great collision. However, like Earth, this world bore cities in which sentient beings, no, people must have lived, and the Klyntar soon made its way into the small town it landed closest to.

Perhaps more intriguing was the assemblage of potential hosts themselves, as many were like the people of Earth in a way, but also unique in their own way. Some bore the physiological characteristics of animals, and the Klyntar could sense that some exuded a powerful "aura", which made these people all the more enticing for it to bond to. In fact, many were well within a Klyntar's recommended compatibility rating of 4 on a scale of 1 to 5.

However, the Klyntar soon discovered exceptions among the populace. A robbery taking place in one of the buildings, more than likely a marketplace of some sort, that bore a sign that read "From Dust Till Dawn", had not gone unnoticed by the Klyntar. English was a language only known to a select few of its kind, so what knowledge this individual had of it was fragmented and incomplete. It could read and listen to it just fine, but it was mostly incapable of speaking in anything other than its native tongue.

Soon, the creature sensed the presence of a red-haired man in a white suit, bearing a stylish black bowler hat atop his head and holding a cane in his hand.

"This one is weak and selfish," it judged him. "He isn't worth it at all. Did he start this?"

Soon, a young girl dressed in black and red appeared, having tackled one of the robbers out of the window before brandishing a gigantic red, black, and white scythe. The Klyntar was in awe at not only the girl's dynamic entry, but also the strong sense of justice she emanated from her expression alone and the sheer levels of power it sensed she had borne. This noble warrior was ranked a 5 in compatibility by the enamored creature.

"Ah, yes," the Klyntar pondered regarding its would-be host. "She will do quite nicely."

The Klyntar didn't have much time to gather its thoughts, however, as more men charged at the girl. It decided that it would bond with her later, as the ensuing crossfire made approaching her directly too dangerous, especially with its diminished strength. For now, the Klyntar was content to conceal itself with its ability to camouflage and watch the onslaught unfold, continuing to be amazed as its ideal host easily dispatched the criminals. However, their boss was still standing, and the creature watched the girl continue to pursue him.

"She's young, intelligent, righteous, and quite skilled with that weapon," it observed. "She's perfect."

The Klyntar trailed close behind, watching as the girl caught up to the man, only for him to get into an aircraft and pick up a bright red crystal. It didn't know what material comprised the gem, but the creature was alarmed when he prepared to fire it at the girl.

"NO!" it panicked as the jewel was shot at them, causing a massive explosion.

However, by the time the smoke cleared, a bespectacled woman with a purple cape had stepped in and conjured a circle of energy, saving the girl and the Klyntar from being immolated, much to their attacker's confusion and chagrin. The man retreated into the vehicle, where a woman with black hair and a red outfit took his place in the ensuing brawl.

"Who is that?! She's as powerful as the girl, but something's just not right about this bad woman! It's almost like she's made of pure malice…"

It observed the "Huntress", as the man referred to her, using her powers to try and stop the two from getting away, casting purple energy constructs that hailed onto the jet. Soon, the "bad woman" produced bursts of fiery energy from her body, and she and the Huntress were locked in combat and evenly matched. The girl with the scythe quickly morphed her weapon into a sniper rifle and tried to cover the Huntress by shooting at their opponent.

The creature soon detected that something was wrong when the dark-haired woman created rings of fire around the pair, and it knew at that moment that it couldn't let a match this good die. Still invisible, it wrapped a tendril around the girl's leg and yanked her out of the way of the ensuing explosion as the Huntress dodged the blast. Still, the distraction was enough for their enemies to escape.

"What was that?" the girl asked, confused.

At that moment, the Klyntar's camouflage failed as it overexerted itself, leaving it helplessly writhing on the ground in front of the two. The Huntress became cautious and aimed her riding crop at the creature, ordering her ally to get back.

"Wait, what are you doing?" the girl anxiously asked.

"It's a creature of Grimm!" the Huntress replied defensively. "If we don't kill it now, it'll threaten other people!"

"If that was true, we'd have been killed by it already! I don't even think it's a Grimm! Whatever this thing is, it's not trying to hurt anybody! I think it even saved my life…"

A few seconds later, the Klyntar's movement ceased entirely before it slipped through the cracks in the building's infrastructure to hide. With the Huntress's hostility and power making her too much of a threat, it wasn't worth the effort of trying to establish a connection with the young girl yet. That would come when it was truly safe.

A few minutes later, the girl was taken to a dimly lit room for questioning. The Huntress paced around, clearly angry at her. The Klyntar, having retreated from its hiding place and remained camouflaged followed them in, out of notice.

"What's your problem, woman? The girl didn't do anything wrong. She was only trying to help! This world is full of ugly people…"

"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady," the Huntress berated. "In recklessly charging into combat against armed assailants and trying to prevent me from killing a creature of Grimm, you put yourself and others in grave danger."

"They started it!" the girl spoke in defense. "And I'm pretty sure that thing is gone by now!"

Nonetheless, the Huntress remained displeased.

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home...with a pat on the back..."

At this, the girl began to smile.

"...And a very harsh slap on the wrist."

The Huntress proceeded to smack the table with her riding crop, shocking the Klyntar and eliciting a startled yelp from the girl.

"But..." the Huntress continued. "There is someone here who would like to meet you."

At that moment, that "someone" walked through the doorway and entered the room. It was a man in green bearing a mug and a plate filled with chocolate chip cookies. The Klyntar surmised by his white hair that he was fairly old, or at the very least quite seasoned.

"Ruby Rose..." he addressed the girl before leaning in to observe her face. "You...have silver eyes."

"Silver eyes? Exotic… but why is this so important to you, old man?"

The Klyntar continued to listen in to their conversation as they talked about Ruby's extraordinary combat abilities and her skills with perhaps one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed. However, it was still mad at the Huntress for berating her and snaked up to her before sinking its teeth into her ankle.

"Ow!" the Huntress exclaimed in pain as she recoiled back, knocking the plate of cookies off the table. "Something bit me!"

"Bit you?" the old man paused from his talk. "But there's no one else in the room besides the three of us…"

"Earlier tonight, we encountered a… very strange type of Grimm. It got away because someone decided to interfere, but… what if it's here right now?"

The adults looked down, but there was nothing there, the alien having hid itself again.

"Wha…? It was right here!"

"What happened tonight happened, Glynda. I'm sure it's nothing to work a fuss over. Still, it's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty, old crow..."

"Oh, that's my Uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed. "He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like— Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!"

"So I've noticed," the man said before sitting down. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well... I want to be a Huntress," Ruby replied.

"You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! I mean, the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!"

"I don't know whether she's a complete dork or just loves being the hero that much…" the Klyntar thought.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon," Ruby noted before he smiled at her and began talking again.

"It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Rose. You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

"Ozpin, can we discuss this outside?" Glynda queried.

"Of course," he replied. "Please wait here, Ms. Rose."

The two adults walked out of the room and began talking amongst each other. Ruby could just barely hear their muffled voices from behind the closed door.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Ozpin? She put many people at risk earlier tonight!"

"I know, but that's because she's inexperienced. If we enroll her, we can teach her to minimize the damage of each fight. And with what we're up against, a Silver-Eyed Warrior appearing on our doorstep is a godsend. Speaking thereof, you know who her mother is, right?"

That was the last thing she heard before they walked far away enough for their voices to be completely silenced, but Ozpin's words caused Ruby to tear up a bit.

"If only you were here right now, Mom…" Ruby lamented. "You'd know what to do… But am I really cut out for Beacon? Ugh, face it, Ruby! You heard what they said! You know you can't be a good Huntress if you end up hurting the people you try to help! You can't even make Mom proud because…"

She noticed something lifting the fallen plate of cookies back onto the table.

"…she's… gone?"

Ruby rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't just seeing things, and true to form, the plate was still there. Curious, she took one of the cookies and dropped it back onto the floor, only for whatever it was to place it back onto the dish.

"You… you're here…"

The Klyntar reflexively and nervously ducked its tendrils back under the table, ashamed at having eavesdropped on Ruby's moment of self-doubt.

"Wait! I don't know if you can understand me, but you don't have to be shy! Come on out, I'm not going to hurt you. My name's Ruby, by the way."

The creature slowly acquiesced with her request and showed itself to her, crawling onto the wall in front of her and timidly looking back at her. Despite the fact that it was as black as the Grimm and lacked an Earthly shape, Ruby wasn't afraid of it. How could she be, especially since it hadn't tried to harm a hair on her head?

"I… I never properly thanked you for saving me tonight. If you hadn't been there, I probably wouldn't be alive right now. But now I'm just disappointed. I know I shouldn't be, but with what those two are saying, I can't stop thinking about Mom."

The creature tilted what appeared to be its head as Ruby slowly ate the cookies in the middle of talking.

"She was one of the best Huntresses in the world, and she's the reason why I want to be one in the first place! But one day, she came home from a mission before she… she was gone the next day. Dad said she was hurt pretty bad when she got back. If I become a Huntress, I can be someone Mom would be proud of. But I want to do it my way, without other people telling me how to be or not to be a hero, because it doesn't matter as long as I'm making a difference! I don't know why I'm telling this to a bunch of black goo, but since everyone I've met in the last hour either tried to kill me or yelled at me… you're a nice change of pace."

"Powerful and strong, aren't you, Ruby?"

Soon, Ruby was left with one cookie and glanced at it before looking back at the Klyntar.

"Here! You can have this. You look starved to death. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

The weakened organism looked tentatively at the snack in Ruby's hand before gently grabbing it and devouring it in one bite. While it didn't do much to heal its injuries, the creature was grateful to her for this act of kindness and slowly reached out with a tendril.

"Right… You can't talk. I'm still glad you're okay…"

Ruby began to extend her finger towards the Klyntar, if only to return its gesture, when they heard the door begin to open again. The creature recoiled back and quickly camouflaged itself again, to Ruby's dismay.

Ozpin and Glynda reentered the room, having debated for a good stretch of time while Ruby confided in the alien. The area seemed exactly as they left it, minus the plate. However, even then, they chalked it up to the girl cleaning up the mess.

"After much deliberation, as well as a good laugh at Professor Goodwitch's expense," Ozpin told her, "we've decided to officially welcome you to Beacon Academy."

Ruby and the Klyntar were both delighted, with the young girl getting closer to following her lifelong dream and the creature knowing where to follow its ideal host.

The Klyntar tailed Ruby to a large airship headed for Beacon, where it saw a girl with blond hair and a brown top pull her into a massive bear hug.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me!" the older girl said. "This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop," an out-of-breath Ruby pleaded before her sister obliged.

"But I'm so proud of you!"

"Really Sis, it was nothing."

"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees."

"I don't want to be the 'bee's knees,' okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I'm excited... I just..." Ruby began before sighing. "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

It was then that her sister pulled her into a one-armed hug and sincerely reassured her, "But you are special."

"How adorable…" the Klyntar was touched by this display of affection. "You have no idea how special Ruby is…"

Its attention was diverted to the newscast, which informed those watching about the robbery and the man behind it, Roman Torchwick. The Klyntar recognized Torchwick as the man Ruby fought that night and was incensed that he had gotten away. However, this wasn't the time or place to be angry and so the creature instead placed its attention on the screen, which displayed a picture of the crater it landed in.

"Thank you, Cyril," a second reporter began. "In other news, an asteroid landed in the outskirts of Vale last night. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the impact, but traces of a mysterious black ooze have been found near..."

Soon, the news feed was cut off, and in its place was a hologram of Glynda, greeting all in the room with a resounding "Hello, and welcome to Beacon!"

The hologram made a motivational speech about how the world was in a time of peace and that it was the responsibility of the future Huntsmen and Huntresses aboard the vessel to maintain it, and soon the students gathered by the windows to gaze out onto Vale, with many admiring the view. The Klyntar silently agreed that the view was indeed magnificent.

"Even if people like the bad woman or Torchwick live here, maybe this world isn't so ugly after all."

"Oh, wow!" Ruby marveled at the sight. "Look, you can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all!"

"Beacon's our home, now," her sister replied.

However, the majesty of this event was undercut when one of the students began to retreat to the back of the ship, clearly holding back his efforts to puke.

"Poor guy… Still, this is the first time I've seen someone this squeamish about fast travel…"

"Well... I guess the view isn't for everyone," Ruby's sister commented before rolling her eyes.

"It was a nice moment when it lasted," Ruby agreed. "I wonder who we're gonna meet! I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy. Oh, Yang, gross! You have puke on your shoe!"

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!"

"Get-Get away! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!"

The airship carrying Ruby, Yang, and the other students landed near the entrance to the school alongside several others. The boy who puked on the ship immediately ran out and headed for the nearest trash can, as he still clearly needed to lose his lunch. His departure was followed by that of the two sisters and many other students, as well as the Klyntar.

Ruby and Yang marveled at the majestic sight of Beacon Academy, eliciting an awed "Wow…" from both girls.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" Yang noted.

"Indeed," the Klyntar agreed. "This place is beautiful…"

Ruby gushed about the different weapons each of the students wielded, including collapsible staffs and fire swords among others, before her sister held her back by pulling her in by the hood.

"Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons!"

"Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!"

"They are impressive, but you're a little crazy about them, aren't you?"

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?"

At that, Ruby transformed her weapon into its recognizable scythe form.

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones! It's like meeting new people, but better…"

"And that thing from last night made surprisingly good company…" she mulled in her head.

"Ruby, come on," Yang asked while pulling her sister's hood over her face in a playful gesture, "why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?"

"But… why would I need friends if I have you?" Ruby replied.

"Well…" Yang started to make an excuse to leave. "Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!"

"Why are you leaving your own sister so eagerly, Yang? Though to be fair, Ruby does need to leave the nest a little…"

Ruby was dizzy and confused, stumbling backwards into a luggage cart carrying several cases, sending them flying everywhere. A young, prim and proper-looking girl with white hair was standing over her, more than likely the owner of the cases.

"What do you think you're doing?!" the white-haired girl asked.

"Uh, sorry!" Ruby apologized.

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?"

A confused Ruby grabbed one of the cases to try to help, only for the cases' owner to snatch the luggage out of Ruby's hands and open it to reveal multiple vials of colored powder, Dust at its most finely mined and purified.

"This looks familiar… like that weapon Torchwick used before!"

Ruby was still confused, and the girl explained the elemental properties of the substance while cavalierly waving a vial in her face, causing her to cough as the powder entered her lungs. Soon, the Dust she inhaled was starting to take its toll.

"Don't sneeze, don't sneeze…" the creature panicked as it awaited the inevitable, knowing firsthand how volatile the Dust was.

Ruby sneezed, creating a massive explosion that left her unharmed but caused the white-haired girl to be covered in soot and the bottle of Dust she was holding to fly away at the feet of another girl, dressed mostly in black with hair and a little bow to match.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" the prim and proper girl berated.

"I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby embarrassedly apologized once again.

The girl continued to show a negative attitude towards her, accusing her of being on the younger side of new students at Beacon and making an out-of-the-blue comment about how the school wasn't all fun and games and since they were learning to battle monsters, she should watch where she was going from now on. How the two correlated with each other was a question the alien could not answer.

"Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!" Ruby was furious.

"For someone so prim and proper, this one is quite rude," the Klyntar noted. "How dare she speak that way to Ruby!"

The witness to the incident stepped in holding the bottle and introduced the not-princess as Weiss Schnee, next in line to inherit the Schnee Dust Company. While Weiss was at first elated to be recognized, she started to get angry again when the other girl brought up what was so wrong in the company, provoking a light snicker from Ruby.

The still-invisible Klyntar continued to watch and extended a tendril to tug downwards on an oblivious Weiss's skirt, revealing a pair of light blue panties with the SDC's logo printed all over in a darker shade of blue. Ruby quickly covered her eyes before laughing even harder. The other girl also averted her gaze, as did the servants helping with the packages of Dust.

"What? What could be so funny to you right now?!" Weiss asked.

The black-haired girl silently pointed downwards, prompting the heiress to wisen up to her misfortune, turning as red as a beet and quickly pulling her skirt back up before glaring daggers at Ruby.

"You… You did this, didn't you?"

"Wha…?" Ruby stopped laughing, now half-distressed and half-confused. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! I wouldn't do something like this! I didn't even touch your skirt!"

"Well, someone did, and they have a lot of nerve messing with… Ugh!"

She stormed off in a huff, spouting a series of expletives as she left Ruby and the other girl behind. The students in her wake were just as disturbed by her sudden potty-mouth as these two were.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby shouted out to the embarrassed heiress one last time.

As Ruby turned to the black-haired girl in order to try and strike up a conversation with her, only for her to walk away as well, leaving her to collapse onto the ground and sulk dejectedly.

"Welcome to Beacon… Who knew it could be so lonely even though there are a ton of students?"

Soon, a shadow loomed over her, and there was a boy extending his hand to help her up.

"Hey… I'm Jaune," the boy introduced himself.

Ruby introduced herself in turn before taking Jaune's hand, recognizing him as the one who threw up on the ship.

The two spent a moment walking and talking, making their way down a winding road and unaware that they were being watched.

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune said.

"Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind," Ruby replied with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?"

"Hey, that explosion was an accident! A pretty funny accident, sure, but still an accident!"

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!"

"Are you sure about that yet? It's only the first day!"

"They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that… Never mind."

Ruby giggled at this before the moment between the two dorks began to become awkward.

"So… I got this thing!" she finally said to break the silence, pulling out Crescent Rose and planting the gigantic scythe into the ground.

"Finally! We will be one, Ruby Rose!"

Seizing its chance, the creature slithered over to Ruby's weapon and seeped in through the cracks before affixing itself to its new host. Ruby felt no sign that something else was entering her body.

"Whoa! Is that a scythe?" Jaune asked regarding the weapon.

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"A-wha…?"

"It's also a gun."

"Oh. That's cool!"

"So what've you got?"

"Oh! I, uh…" Jaune began before pulling out his weapon. "I got this sword!"

"Oooooh! It's huge!"

While nowhere near as technologically advanced as Crescent Rose, the blade still thoroughly impressed Ruby.

"Yeah, and I've got a shield, too!"

"So, what do they do?"

All of a sudden, Jaune's shield abruptly retracted, expanded, and retracted yet again as he clumsily fumbled with it before finally catching it.

"The shield gets smaller," he nervously explained, "so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just… put it away…"

"But… wouldn't it just weigh the same no matter the size?"

"Yeah, it does…"

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, sooo… I guess we did go a little overboard when designing it."

"Wait - you made that?! By yourself?!"

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons! Didn't you make yours?"

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me! Well, I like it! It's good to see that even with the latest tech, some people still have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics…"

Jaune sheathed his sword as Ruby kept moving on.

"So why'd you help us out back there?" Ruby asked. "In the courtyard?"

"Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet,'" Jaune replied as he followed close behind.

"At least you still have a mom… My mom died when I was very young."

"I'm… sorry to hear that."

"He's cute," a thought popped in Ruby's head. "I think I like him already."

"What was that about? Did I just think that? Although… he is kinda cute…"

"Hey, where are we going?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, I don't know! I was just following you." Jaune replied. "Y-You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? A statue? Is, uh… Is that a 'no'?"

Ruby laughed with a blush on her face and answered, "That's a 'no'."

A few minutes after they hit it off, Ruby and Jaune made their way to Beacon's gigantic auditorium, which was packed with students. Yang was there, too, having waited for her little sister to find her way to the massive room.

"Ruby! Over here!" Yang shouted to her sister while waving to her. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go!" Ruby told Jaune before leaving to join Yang. "I'll see you after the ceremony! It was nice meeting you!"

"Very nice indeed…" another of Ruby's intrusive thoughts popped in. "With Jaune gone, how are we supposed to find another nice, quirky guy to talk to? I miss him already…"

"How's your first day going, little sister?" Yang asked, snapping Ruby out of her thoughts.

"You mean since you ditched us and we exploded?" Ruby angrily responded.

"Yikes! Meltdown already?"

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and we think some ice…?"

"Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked with a cheeky smile on her face.

"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 her skirt fell and she yelled at us again, and we felt really, really bad, and we just wanted her to stop yelling at us!"

As Ruby kept detailing what happened to her sister, she failed to realize that an angered Weiss was right behind her, rising like a great white shark from the deep.

"You!" the crabby girl yelled at her.

"Oh, God, it's happening again!" Ruby cried as she leapt into her big sister's arms.

"You're lucky you didn't blow us off the side of the cliff, you pervert!"

"Oh my God, that actually happened," Yang deadpanned.

"It was an accident," Ruby said to Weiss as she got down. "It was an accident!"

In response, Weiss held up a pamphlet reading "DUST for dummies and other Inadequate Individuals", starting slow as she read its contents but picking up speed with each word, confusing Ruby as she was unable to keep up with the pace. She caught a glance at the "Inadequate Individuals" in the pamphlet's title, provoking another intrusive thought.

"Is she calling us inadequate? Was all of this an excuse to be rude?"

"You really wanna start making things up to me?"

"Absolutely?"

"Read this, and don't ever speak to me again."

"Look, uh, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot," Yang chimed in. "Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

"Yeah! Great idea, sis!" Ruby agreed before holding out her hand as she cleared her throat. "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can 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 sarcastically replied.

"Wow, really?!"

"No. And if you ever speak of this or what happened earlier today again, just know I can find ways to get you expelled."

"She can suit herself for all I care. You have me, don't you?"

Before the situation could get any more awkward, everyone's attention turned to the stage, where Ozpin readied a microphone to deliver a speech before the student body, with Glynda by his side. He kept it brief, stating that although the students were here to hone their skills and dedicate themselves to protecting the innocent, among them he saw wasted energy that needed to be focused and that the knowledge they gained from the experience would be best complimented by their own proactivity. After Ozpin finished his speech, he left as Glynda stepped up to talk in his place, informing the students of where they would gather and what the next step to officially enter Beacon would be.

"He seemed kind of… off," Yang noted regarding Ozpin.

"It's almost like he was… lost in his own little world," Ruby concurred.

"I'm a natural blond, you know!" Jaune flirted with Weiss as he approached her from the side, much to her exasperation as she began to facepalm.

"Finally, she has the right idea for once," another thought popped in. "Jaune is all ours."

The first night at Beacon was quite uneventful, with students splayed out in sleeping bags all around the room. Ruby was dressed in pajamas and writing in a small journal when a similarly dressed Yang crashed next to her.

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang observed.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though," Ruby replied.

"I know I do!" Yang purred as she ogled several muscular, shirtless guys before her gaze fell upon Jaune, clad in footy pajamas and waving to her. This immediately turned Yang off.

"Yang's opinion is irrelevant. She doesn't look at him the same way we do. She doesn't understand why he's so special to us…"

"Why can't we stop thinking about Jaune? We haven't liked anyone like that before, but now… Is this how Mom felt when she met Dad?"

Yang noticed Ruby writing in her journal to her old friends at Signal to fill them in about Beacon, but midway through her English began to subconsciously transition into strange characters that looked almost like Satanic iconography.

"That's cute," Yang opined, "but I don't think they'll understand whatever this is supposed to say."

"Shut up!" Ruby ignored her sister. "I can read it just fine! And I'm upset we didn't get to take our friends with us! It's weird not knowing anyone here!"

"What about Jaune? He's… nice! There you go! Plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase!"

"A very attractive increase, too…"

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero…"

"There's no such thing as a negative friend! You just made one friend and one enemy!" Yang rebutted before Ruby hit her in the face with a second pillow.

"I don't see how that's a good thing, Yang."

"If you don't have enemies, you don't know who your friends are! And you've got friends all around you! You just don't know it yet!"

The sisters then noticed a candle being lit close by, where a student was seated and reading her book. Ruby recognized her right away.

"Is that…? That girl…"

"You know her?"

"Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but we couldn't get a chance to say anything before she left…"

"Well, now you've got one!" Yang then grabbed her sister by the arm and tried to lift her up, intent on helping her befriend the enigmatic girl. However, her efforts were thwarted when Ruby's feet seemed to stick to the floor, eventually tiring the blonde with repeated attempts to dislodge her.

"Wait! What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Oh, stop it, Ruby! You're not fighting a pack of Beowolves, you're meeting another person! How hard can it be?"

"Ugh, fine…"

The black-haired girl looked over at the sight of an unamused Ruby and her boisterous big sister approaching her.

"Hel-looooo!" Yang greeted in a cheery sing-song voice. "I believe you two may know each other?"

"Aren't you… that girl that exploded?" the girl addressed Ruby.

"Uh, yeah! My name's Ruby! But you can just call me Crater…" Ruby began before realizing how embarrassing the nickname Jaune gave her was. "Actually, you can just call me Ruby."

The girl simply gave a disinterested "Okay" before returning to her book.

"What are you doing?" Yang whispered to her sister from the side.

"I don't know - we're not ready for this!" Ruby said, leading Yang to oblige and try to salvage the situation.

Unfortunately, "try" was as far as Yang could go without falling flat on her face. She had nothing to talk about with the girl, who introduced herself as Blake, and could only compliment her bow and pajamas, which went as well as one would expect.

"This might be more embarrassing than blowing up in the courtyard," one of Ruby's intrusive thoughts popped in as she laughed uncomfortably. Somehow, Yang was even worse at making small talk than she was.

"Nice night, don't you think?"

"Yes - it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book! That I will continue to read. As soon as you leave!"

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause."

"Is she really?"

"What's it about?" Ruby chimed in regarding Blake's book.

"Huh?"

"Your book. What's it called?"

"Well… i-it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh, yeah… That's real lovely!" Yang sarcastically replied.

"Shut up, Yang!" Ruby chided her sister. "I like books. Our dad used to read to us every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters… They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"

"And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?" Blake asked with a slight laugh.

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books… Someone who fought for what was right, bringing the bad guys to justice and protecting people who couldn't protect themselves!"

"That's… very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Maybe, but that's why we're here! To make it better for everyone."

"Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister!" Yang squealed as she pulled Ruby into a hug.

"For the last time, cut it out!" Ruby was embarrassed and tried to kick herself free from Yang, which caused the embrace to devolve into a cloud of violence, to Blake's slight amusement.

"Well, Ruby, Yang, it's very nice to meet-"

"What in the world is going on over here?!" Weiss interrupted, irate at the other girls' shenanigans. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

It was then that Weiss and Yang noticed each other, prompting them to both exclaim "Oh, not you again!"

"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep, so stop shouting so loudly!" Ruby acknowledged that Weiss had a point despite not liking her bad attitude.

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

"We were always on your side!"

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?" Yang argued in Ruby's defense. "She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health and reputation!"

An annoyed Blake rolled her eyes at the others' bickering and decided to put an end to the drama by blowing out her candle, leaving nothing but darkness. The girls proceeded to finally get the rest they needed for the initiation tomorrow.

As Ruby slept, her mind began to wander and eventually, she began to dream. However, they felt less like dreams and more like… visions.

"I… I feel… weird…" she thought as she tried to assess the situation. "Wait, what is this place? Why am I trapped in a jar?! What's going on?!"

While unable to exert any control over her situation, Ruby managed to look in the reflection, but she didn't see herself.

"Why do I look like that creature from last night? That's impossible! Unless… I can see through its eyes…?"

Eventually, a man wearing a red-and-blue skin-tight suit entered the chamber, and Ruby was perplexed.

"Who is that? Is he a Faunus? Wait… he's opening the jar… and I'm… covering him?!"

She watched as the organism formed an all-new, all-different alien costume, and soon another vision flooded through her mind, one where the man lost what was most dear to him in his greatest and earliest failure.

"I've never met this man before. I don't have a clue who he is, but seeing him dead… it's like I've known him my whole life. Just like Mom…"

Then the visions became more abrupt, and soon the air began to ring out with the deafening sound of church bells, and the alien began to peel from the man's skin.

"AAAGH! So loud…! It hurts! Make it stop! Who… Who is it this time? This is so weird…"

Ruby watched as the creature caressed the man she saw, joining with him to become what could be best described as a lethal protector. Then it cycled from host to host.

The lethal protector was abandoned for a bloodthirsty killer, and Ruby felt the urge to vomit as she recalled the putrid aftertaste of a regurgitated squirrel. The bloodthirsty killer was stripped of the alien, which made its way to a government agent who became a space ranger, righting wrongs across the galaxy to the girl's awe. But the creature would soon find its way from the space ranger back to the lethal protector from the church.

Soon, everything faded to black before Ruby awoke in a very strange location. She looked down at herself to assess her situation.

"I'm me again! But this still isn't Beacon! What's with all the black goo?"

Ruby looked around and walked forward, unsettled by the new and eldritch environment before her, and she saw someone that terrified her to her core, a grotesque, emaciated, pale figure clad in armor that was the same black as the otherworldly ichor. At his side were hundreds of the creatures, bearing pulsating red veins and a spiral-like eyespot on each of their faces.

Then he saw her and began to advance towards her, intrigued.

"It can't be… He's not supposed to be here!" a voice shouted from inside her head.

"N-No! Get away from me! G-Get back! Please… Help me… HELP US!"

The next thing she heard drove her to absolute dread. It was a single sentence in an ancient language that penetrated her brain like broken glass at the sound of its voice, but for some reason, she understood it all too well.

"GOD IS COMING…"