Ruby and Jaune retraced their steps back to Beacon's main plaza. They followed the scattered trail of students walking to an auditorium on school grounds. The duo looked around and noticed that, while they weren't the last ones to arrive, they were part of the stragglers that got lost in exploration. When the two of them went inside the auditorium, they heard the murmurs of the other students.

"I still can't believe I got accepted!"

"I worked hard to get into this academy. You bet I'm going to succeed!"

"Hey, which of the First Years do you think are going to team together?"

"Did you hear? Weiss Schnee of all people is looking to become a Huntress at this academy!"

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Ruby's eyes went to the sound of her sister's voice. She watched as Yang waved to her, grabbing her attention and then beckoning her with the same hand. Ruby looked over to Jaune and said, "I'll see you after the opening ceremony. And I'm glad we talked."

"Oh! No problem!" Jaune watched as Ruby walked away, feeling content that he made a new friend. She was a nice, albeit quirky girl. Then again, he was never picky about the kind of friends he had, so long as they were decent people to be around. He walked off to find his own place in the auditorium, unaware that he had the attention of an armor-clad, red-headed girl with green eyes.

The crowd in the auditorium was dense, but the herd wasn't so packed that Ruby needed to squeeze her way past people. That didn't stop her from crossing paths with two students. From their posture, Ruby assumed they weren't fellow freshmen.

"Hey, you're one of the first-years that just got here," observed a girl wearing a beret and sunglasses. "Ruby, right?"

"Yeah?" Ruby's response came off as a defensive question, so she tried again. "I-I mean yes, yes I am."

"Cool. I'm Coco Adel, and this is Velvet." Coco casually nudged her head to the rabbit Faunus standing next to her as she introduced her.

"Hello…" Velvet timidly greeted as she waved to Ruby.

"Nice to meet you," Ruby replied, then returned her attention to Coco. "So how did you know my name?"

"Your sister's told me about you," Coco answered. "We met back when I was just a first year and we've been talking long distance until now. Still, I didn't think I'd be getting a two-for-one deal. I'm impressed you made it here with Yang."

With how her day had gone so far, Ruby found this refreshing. "Thanks!" she cheerfully exclaimed.

"Just don't get a big head," Coco warned. "You skipped a couple grades, but you still have to make it through initiation."

Ruby remembered the stories from her dad and her Uncle Qrow, so she wasn't nervous about the prospect. Then again, the information she had to go on was almost two decades outdated.

It wouldn't hurt to ask for help, Ruby thought to herself. Then she said, "Got any pointers?"

Coco lowered her sunglasses to make eye-contact with Ruby. "Figure out a good landing strategy," she told her, then raised her sunglasses back up. "Aside from that, just remember whatever you were taught at Signal."

In other words, not much has changed from when my parents attended, Ruby concluded to herself.

Coco brought a hand over to give Ruby a firm pat on the shoulder. "Good luck." With that, she turned around and walked off.

Velvet smiled to Ruby. "I know she might seem intense, but she's a great person when you get to know her." Velvet backed away, and just before turning to follow her team leader, she added, "It was nice meeting you!"

Ruby waved as Velvet walked off, then made her way to Yang. The elder sister already returned her attention to the stage the other students stood in front of.

"Hey," Ruby began. "Sorry I took so long to get here."

"That's okay!" Yang replied. "How's your first day of Beacon going so far?"

Ruby raised an eyebrow at Yang. "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"

"Yikes…" Yang commented as she winced. "Meltdown already?"

"Well—" Ruby paused as she mulled over the events that happened in her mind. There was the tripping, the arguing, the punching… Yet there was good that came out of the day. Not only did she meet Blake and Jaune, but just now met two other students who, beyond her knowledge, were second-year students.

"… I guess it wasn't that bad," Ruby finally answered. "I met a few people and even made a friend or two on the way here."

Oh, so she took my advice after all! Yang thought to herself.

"Coco and Velvet even said hi to me," Ruby added.

"Hey, that's great! What did they say?"

"They told me she was impressed that I made it here early, then gave me a bit of advice about initiation. So how did the two of you meet, anyway?"

"Eh, long story," Yang replied. "Short version is that we met outside of a bar I caused chaos in."

"O-o-oh…"

Wanting to know more about Ruby's hijinx, Yang asked, "So how exactly did you explode? You don't mean that literally, do you?"

"No, no!" Ruby exclaimed, her voice betraying amusement at such an idea. "It went like this: I tripped over some girl's luggage. I didn't know it at the time, but she turned out to be Weiss Schnee."

"The SDC Heriess? At Beacon?" Yang wondered, skepticism apparent on her face and in her voice. "You're pulling my leg, aren't you?"

"No, really! She's here!"

"Okay, so, what happened next?"

"Well, after I tripped over her luggage, she started yelling at me. She kept belittling me and treating me like an idiot. It just got to a point where I felt so angry and left with so little options that I punched her in the face."

Yang's eyes widened at the ending to that story. But then a smirk grew. "Okay, now I know you're messing with me."

"She isn't."

Yang and Ruby looked over to see that Weiss had shown up during the conversation. She looked aloof, more-so towards Ruby. Yang glanced in Ruby's direction, then back at Weiss. She pointed and looked back at Ruby with, "So she really—"

"Yes," Weiss answered with a matter-of-fact tone. "I take it you're a friend of hers?"

Ruby stepped closer. "Actually, Yang here is my older step-sister."

"Older?" Weiss looked between the two of them out of mild surprise. It was almost hard to believe. Yang obviously had the height advantage, but Ruby was clearly more developed physically. But that introduced a new question, which she directed to Ruby: "Just how old are you, then?"

"I turned fifteen a couple months ago."

"And you're somehow attending Beacon?"

"Professor Ozpin invited me in-person."

A grade skipper, Weiss mentally concluded. Perhaps she isn't usually so clumsy or slow. This realization did give Weiss pause. Perhaps… I shouldn't have badgered her.

"What about you?"

Weiss's attention returned to Ruby. "Regarding?"

"How did you get into Beacon?" Ruby wondered.

Weiss's lips, for but a moment, became a thin line as a non-verbal response. "Same as everyone," she answered truthfully. "I took the entrance exam and I passed."

"So why here?" Yang wondered. "Couldn't you have attended Atlas Academy or something? I know Beacon's really popular for huntsmen and huntresses-in-training, but…"

Yang's words trailed off as she heard feedback of a microphone. Ozpin was on the stage adjusting it while Glynda stood beside him.

"I'll keep this brief. You have all traveled here today in search of knowledge, hone your craft, and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you will dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

"Well that's the idea," Ruby softly remarked, just before Weiss shushed her.

"But I look among 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."

The three of them watched Ozpin leave the stage without saying anything more. Their attention went to Glynda as she took his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. You are dismissed." And like Ozpin, Glynda walked off the stage.

"… That was… unusual…" Weiss commented.

"He did seem off," Yang agreed.

"Didn't his speech seem kind of… hollow?" Ruby wondered, looking between Yang and Weiss.

"Hollow?" Yang wondered.

"Yeah. I can understand it being rehearsed, but there was no soul in what he said, no conviction. I was also expecting something like, 'Welcome to Beacon! By the end of your four years, you'll go on to achieve greatness!'"

Weiss frowned. "That speech did feel underwhelming, on top of being vague," she agreed. There was a pause, then Weiss looked to Ruby. "By the way. I've given your proposal some thought. While I'm at least partially open to us being friends, what you did earlier has left me with a bad first impression of you."

Yang stood between them, yet remained to their side. "My baby sister is a sweetheart when you get to know her, really! And she's almost as good of a fighter as I am."

"Seriously!?" Ruby exclaimed.

Yang laughed. It was only playful teasing, but her sister's reaction was priceless. Her gaze returned to Weiss as she continued where she left off. "Besides, you're gonna have to find a way to look past what happened. You might end up on the same team as her."

Weiss crossed her arms over her chest. "So we don't get to pick our teammates?"

"If the story our parents and my uncle told us still hold true?" Yang continued. "It's based on who we make eye-contact with once initiation starts."

There was a pause, then Weiss shrieked out a realization: "It's random!?"

"Basically," Ruby nonchalantly answered.

Weiss didn't know what to say at first. Her ambitions to be joined up with high-performing students like Pyrrha Nikos. Instead, there was the small chance that she'd be in a team with the dunce in front of her. At least her older sister looked capable enough. But… who knows? If she and Ruby do end up on the same team together, perhaps she would prove herself capable too. Weiss would have to mull over the possibilities later tonight.

"In that case," Weiss finally concluded. "Whichever team we end up on, I'm sure we'll do our best to excel."

Ruby and Yang looked on as she left. They were silent at first, but the latter started smiling.

Ruby took notice of this and stared at her. "What's that look for?"

"You know… I think the spoiled princess attitude is kind of cute."

"Are you for real!?"

"Well, yeah! I bet she's only prickly on the outside, like a cactus."

Ruby looked skeptically at Yang. "What, and she's soft on the inside? I'll believe it when I see it."

I'm sure the two of you will get along eventually, Yang thought. Moving on, she then asked, "So, did you meet anyone else?"

"Yes!" Ruby answered. "There's Blake and Jaune. Jaune is a bit of a dork, but not in a bad way. Plus he's nice, and… also the guy who threw up on the ship…"

Yang held back a snicker. "You met Vomit Boy?"

"Yep, the same one," Ruby answered. "And he went out of his way to tell me that he suffers from airship sickness, how there's plenty of people who have it, and so on."

"Yeah, I'd be embarrassed about that sort of thing too," Yang agreed. "What about Blake?"

"I don't really know what Blake's deal is yet. She showed up to help me stand up to Weiss, but that was it."

"O-o-o~! The mysterious type, huh? I wouldn't mind meeting her some time!"

Little did the two of them know, Blake had been listening to their conversation since both sisters met up. She wasn't trying to hide from them, but she accidentally found a spot within earshot and out of sight. From what she gathered, Ruby and Yang were good sisters to each other. She would go as far as to say that Ruby was, indeed, a sweetheart. It almost made her wish she had a younger sibling to spend time with. Maybe then, she wouldn't have made the mistake of joining the White Fang.

I just hope being a Huntress will help me make up for the wrong I've done…

Every student was given sleeping bags and were told to gather in the ballroom for the night. They were in the process ofpicking out spots to sleep at, spending time with each other, or just winding down after the first day. Ruby Rose, meanwhile, was in her pajamas and writing in a journal. Right next to her, Yang's sleeping bag had already been rolled out and she lounged along it, her back placed along the ground and her eyes to the ballroom's ceiling.

"This is like one big slumber party!" Yang commented.

"Not sure if dad would care for all the boys here," Ruby replied, still focused on writing.

"Well I do~!" Yang quipped, even whistling with approval at the sight of a few shirtless men. Her gaze eventually went to the object of Ruby's focus. "What's that you got there?"

"A letter for the gang back at Signal," Ruby rolled the pencil between her fingertips as she thought of what to write next. "I thought it'd be good to keep in touch with them and let them know what life at Beacon is like. It's something to help me calm down."

"Calm down?" Yang wondered. "Shouldn't you be excited to be here?"

"Of course I am!" Ruby looked up from her journal to look at her sister. "It's just that things are a lot different than what I'm used to. I feel out of my element here."

"Hey." Yang reached a hand over to touch Ruby's shoulder. "Things are rough now, but they'll get better. Plus, Jaune and Blake have your back, right?"

"I don't know. Blake and I barely talked. And while Jaune seems nice, I'm pretty sure Weiss doesn't like me. So I may as well be at zero friends."

"You shouldn't look at it like that," Yang replied. "You made a friend and an enemy, that's all. Even then, I don't think Weiss actually hates you."

"It sure felt like it to me…" Ruby bemoaned.

Both sisters had their attention drawn to the sound of a match being lit. Blake held a golden candlestick in one hand, while the other held the flame which lit the candle on top. She waved the match to put out its flame, then set the candlestick down.

"It's her," Ruby observed.

"Who? Blake?" Yang asked.

Imperceptible to the two of them, one side of Blake's bow gave a subtle twitch when she heard her name. She cracked open one of the books she brought with her and pretended to read, acting as though she couldn't hear what was being said.

"Yeah," Ruby answered.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" After all, why not? Yang could see Blake and her baby sister becoming best friends.

Better yet… Ruby might be happy if they were more than that later on. They might make a cute couple. Yang smiled at the thought, then said, "Better yet, you can move your sleeping bag over to her. Spend some time together."

Ruby looked over to Yang with mild surprise. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! We're gonna be here for a while, so now's a better time than any to make some friends."

Ruby realized Yang was right. If Beacon still did teams the same way that her parents and relatives went through, then she had to count on Blake becoming her teammate. Already, Ruby got up and rolled up her sleeping bag.

"Thanks, Yang." If it weren't for her, Ruby might not have the encouragement necessary to put herself out to someone who was still a stranger.

"No problem! You've got this."

Ruby smiled and gave a nod, then grabbed her sleeping back and walked away.

Blake heard Ruby's footsteps as she got closer. It was then that she looked up from her book to casually glance into those silver eyes.

"Hello again, Blake," Ruby greeted in a soft voice. "Mind if I sleep with you tonight?"

Blake remained silent. The only outward reaction she gave to that question was a simple eyebrow raise. It was enough to give Ruby pause and think over the words she just said.

"Sorry," Ruby said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I didn't think it'd come out like—"

"It's okay," Blake interjected, softly smile. "I know what you meant. Just one question: do you snore?"

"Uh, no? I don't think so. Pretty sure my sister would've told me if I did…"

"Good. Then by all means." Blake returned her gaze down to the book she was still reading.

Ruby unrolled the sleeping bag and sat down on it. It was then that she took a cursory glance at the front cover of Blake's book. "… 'The Man With Two Souls'," she read aloud. "I haven't read that one. Is it good?"

Blake perked up and looked back over to Ruby. "Yeah. It's one of my favorites."

"What's it about?"

This was the first time in a while anyone took an interest in the books Blake read, so there was noticeable hesitation in her voice. "It's… about a man with two souls. Each one is fighting for control over his body."

"Sounds freaky," Ruby commented. She took another glance at the book's title, then back up at Blake. "Which soul wins out at the end?"

Blake gave Ruby a sly smirk. "You'll just have to read and find out. Maybe I'll let you borrow it once we all get settled in."

"Yeah, I think I'd like that."

There was a pause, which gave Blake a moment to reflect on the events that transpired earlier. "Sorry I ran on you, by the way. I'm… shy around new people." Then Blake thought to herself, a coward would be more accurate.

"I know what that's like," Ruby replied. "Especially today, I feel like I could be better when it comes to talking to people and making friends."

"Don't worry about that," Blake advised. "You should focus on being liked by the right people. I can tell you're a good person with a lot of heart, so you shouldn't be with someone who'll give you a hard time like Weiss did." She then smiled. "What you did to her was awesome, by the way. I don't care what she said about you; if you're strong enough to stand up for yourself, then you do belong here."

Ruby gave a bright smile and said, "Thanks. You're pretty cool too!"

Finding the conversation more interesting than the book in her hands, she set it aside and turned to give her full attention to her newest acquaintance. "It's refreshing to meet another book worm. What kind are you into?"

"Oh, I haven't had the time for them since I started attending Signal." Ruby tucked her legs inward to sit cross-legged. "But my favorites will always be old fairy tales my sister used to read for me when I was little. I always liked stories about heroes fighting monsters and saving the day. It's one of the reasons why I want to become a Huntress. I wanted to be like those heroes in the books."

Blake saw a little bit of herself in Ruby just then. Someone young and impressionable, wanting to fight for fairness and justice. "That's pretty ambitious for a child. It's just a shame that real life isn't nearly as black and white."

"I know," Ruby replied. "And I know becoming a Huntress isn't going to be easy. But it wouldn't be worth doing if it was. And if none of us here wanted to become a Huntress, then who else would?"

For someone so young, Ruby had a poignant perspective on life. She clearly wasn't naive to how the world worked. So there had to be more reason to become a Huntress than living the life of a knight in shining armor.

"Was there any other reason why you want to be a Huntress?" Blake wondered.

Ruby paused. Her hesitation wasn't because the question surprised her. She had to reach back into her older memories and then figure out a way to put it into words.

"Aside from me and my sister, the rest of my family actually attended Beacon. They were a whole team. My uncle, my dad, my sister's mom, and… mine…" Ruby did her best to shrug past the empty void in her life left by her own mom. Having been reminded of Summer Rose for the second time today still stung, however. "I just thought it made sense," she continued. "I'd go as far as to say it's my destiny. I want to become a Huntress, I want to help people and slay monsters. And nothing in the world is going to make me change my mind."

"But…?" Blake wondered, expecting there to be more for Ruby to say.

"… But," Ruby continued with a sigh. "It feels like I'm living up to my mom's legacy. That I can't just carve out my own path, but to live in someone else's shadow. I want to be "Ruby Rose, Legendary Huntress." Not, "Ruby Rose, Daughter of Summer Rose." You know?"

Again, Ruby had touched Blake in such a way that they seemed more alike than either of them realized before. "Yeah, I do. Not the exact circumstances you're going through, but something similar. I know what it's like to be tied down by a family name. I didn't feel like my own person for a while." Tactfully, Blake skipped over the part where such feelings drove her to join what's now recognized as a terror group. "So, I'm attending Beacon so I can change that."

Ruby blinked, then let curiosity drive her to ask another question: "So what is it?"

"Huh?"

"Your family name," Ruby clarified.

Blake opened her mouth to answer, but went quiet as she thought about what she was about to do. She was trying hard not to be recognized as a Faunus. It's why she wore the bow on her head. The last thing she wanted as for people to treat her differently because of her heritage. She didn't want to be bullied because she had two cat ears on her head. And yet… there was something about Ruby that made her want to open up. To trust this girl that she barely knew.

She confided in me, Blake thought. Why wouldn't I do the same for her? Finally, she satisfied Ruby's curiosity with one word: "Belladonna."

Ruby inquisitively squinted her eyes as she mulled the name over in her head. It sounded familiar, but she didn't have anything to go on. She could ask for more from Blake, but Ruby could tell she was testing her luck trying to pry into a stranger's life. So she dropped the issue for now.

"Blake Belladonna," Ruby said aloud. With a smile, she added, "That's a pretty name."

Blake gave a slight giggle. "Think so? I think 'Ruby Rose' has a better ring to it. The imagery your name brings up is beautiful too." Then she thought, Being named after certain colors is one good thing to come out of the Great War, at least.

Blake's train of thought went away when, just within her peripheral vision, she caught Yang staring at the two of them. Blake knew who this girl was, but feigned naivety. "While we're on the topic of names," Blake mentioned, gazing back to Ruby. "You mentioned you had a sister? What's her name?"

"Yang Xiao-Long," Ruby answered. "She's my half-sister on my dad's side. Why do you ask?"

"I think she's been staring at us the whole time."

Ruby perked up and was wide-eyed with surprise. She whipped her head over to look in her sister's direction, and sure enough, Yang was watching them. She didn't even bother to hide it, either! The moment both sisters made eye contact, Yang grinned and gave a thumbs up.

Feeling embarrassed, she defeatedly fell onto her back and along the sleeping bag. Ruby mumbled, but Blake caught the words: "And she calls me a dork…"

Thankfully, Blake took the whole thing in stride. She turned her attention to Yang and waved, receiving one back in return.