Chapter 2: The Real World

Headmaster Ozpin's opening speech was, in Ruby's honest opinion, really blunt. It felt like he wasn't there, going through the motions for something he'd already done ten thousand times.

When they first met, Ozpin was warm and considerate, more like a nice uncle than the headmaster of a prestigious academy. He really seemed to understand all the turbulent, topsy-turvy emotions Roman Torchwick's death made her feel, and instead of taking her down a peg, he gave her a chance to redeem herself.

Even though he might have been somewhere else mentally, his talk about taking that first step still spoke to her. Choosing to take Ozpin's offer and attend Beacon was her way of becoming a huntress that could save lives, not just take them. Ozpin never blamed her, but she couldn't believe she wasn't wrong. If she was better, she wouldn't have attacked Torchwick the way she did.

Still, a part of her wanted to go back to Signal and be around her friends, since she wouldn't have to fend for herself with Yang as her only support. But now that she knew exactly where not being good enough led to, Ozpin's offer wasn't an offer she wanted to refuse.

When night time came around, Ruby settled in this big ballroom, hoping that she'd get a good enough night of sleep for their initiation tomorrow. First, she'd write a letter to her friends at Signal so they'd know how she was doing.

She was part way through that letter when Yang belly flopped onto the sleeping bag next to her.

"Whatcha doin', Ruby?"

Yang was propping up her face, grinning like a loon. Maybe she was excited by all the shirtless boys hanging around.

"I was writing a glorious letter to my friends back at Signal 'till someone interrupted me."

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Yang glanced at Ruby's paper before leaning on her arm and facing her. "Are you gonna tell them everything?"

Ruby scrambled to keep her pen from falling. She'd told Yang about everything that happened after Ozpin's speech, but she wasn't just a friend, she was Yang.

"Nope. I'm going to keep things simple."

"Great idea." Her eyes lit up. "Oh, what about Dad?"

Ruby sighed. "Professor Ozpin told him everything. He was really understanding."

She was glad that it happened that way, despite how frightening it was to wait for her dad to respond. If he didn't know, this wasn't something she'd want to share... until she saw him in person, at least.

"Duh. You were in a fight, and it's not like you can't control your opponent. Sometimes, things just happen."

Ruby tapped her pen against her half-formed letter, jutting her lip out. "I don't want to make a habit of this."

Yang smiled. "You won't."

The main thing their dad told Ruby to learn was responsibility. It brought Yang's escapades to mind.

"Does Dad know what you did at Junior's club?"

Yang chuckled, rather nervously. "He does. Guess who told him."

Ruby winced. "Ouch."

"Yep. Let's just say I'm glad I'm here at Beacon."

She could definitely agree with that. Yang started ogling those boys, leaving Ruby free to work on her letter. She was close to wrapping it up when Yang poked her ribs. More than once.

"Psst, Ruby. Hey, Ruby."

"Cut it out, Yang!"

Yang stopped, but her finger was still poised to poke her. "Check it out."

Some blond guy in sky blue footsie pyjamas was flirting with Weiss Schnee. He wasn't lacking in confidence, but things just weren't working out for him, and Weiss turned him down so harshly that Ruby winced.

"Yikes," Yang said. "Poor guy."

"Yep."

Ruby returned to her letter before Weiss could realize she was staring at her. She really didn't want a repeat of the courtyard incident with so many people around to watch.

She hated being away from Crescent Rose, but so far, the main fuel for the rumours was that Torchwick's killer wielded a scythe. A blood-red scythe. That meant that nobody would be giving her any strange looks for the time being.

"You think we should pay Vomit Boy a visit?"

Ruby glanced at the blond guy. "Vomit Boy?"

"He vomited after he got off the plane. Made a big show of it."

The urge to gag seized her throat, but Ruby swallowed it down.

"Do you know Vomit Boy's name?"

"Nope!"

Ruby frowned. "Then should we really be talking about him like this?"

Yang pursed her lips. "Point taken." Her smile returned. "Wanna go talk to him after you're done writing that letter?"

Her letter was practically finished, so it wasn't like anything was stopping her.

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"I can't call him Vomit Boy forever. Besides, maybe you two can become friends. Unless you can find someone else to talk to, that is."

She didn't really want to talk to anyone. There was a girl curled up against the wall, reading a book. It wasn't the first time she'd seen her, but it looked like she enjoyed reading more than people.

"You'll come with me, right?" Ruby asked.

Yang smiled. "Do you even have to ask?"

Ruby put down her pen. "Then I'm ready."

It was all about taking that first step. Yang led the charge, and it wasn't long until they found the blond guy pacing up and down the back of the ballroom.

"Struck out with Weiss, huh?" Yang said.

The guy stopped, turned to face them. "You saw all that?"

"Hard not to. I don't think she was in the right mood, though."

His whole face perked up, from his blue eyes to his clean, white skin. "So you're saying I have a chance? Can you put in a good word for me?"

Ruby stifled a laugh. Yang, on the other hand, held up her hands.

"Whoa, slow down. I only met Weiss today, and I doubt asking her for favours would do me any favours. We, uh... didn't get along."

The guy's shoulders dropped. "Ah, well. I'll just have to give it another shot tomorrow."

Yang smiled. "You do that. By the way, I'm Yang, and this is my sister, Ruby."

"Hi," Ruby said.

"Hey. I'm Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue – the ladies love it."

Jaune capped off this... routine with a confident smirk.

"Did Weiss love it?" Yang asked.

Jaune's smirk disappeared. "No. Honestly, I'm not sure where I went wrong. I was confident, I complimented Weiss' looks. And it's not like I was interrupting her or anything."

Yang glanced at Ruby, but Ruby shook her head. This wasn't her battle.

"I'd say give it time, but I don't think Weiss is playing hard to get. From what I've seen, she can be very aggressive when it comes to getting what she wants."

Too aggressive.

Jaune crossed his arms. "She does have presence. Still, I don't just want to give up."

"Some girls can smell desperation coming from a mile away," Yang said. "Most girls, actually."

"But I wasn't being desperate!" Jaune said, sounding awfully desperate. "I just took my shot."

Yang nudged her shoulder, hard.

"What are you doing?" Ruby hissed.

She gave her the same look she always gave when she tried to tag along because she couldn't make any friends. No way she was getting out of this one without talking.

"Slow things down a bit, maybe?" Ruby said. "If you were interested in Yang, would you ask her out the first chance you got or get to know her a bit?"

Ruby caught Jaune's blue eyes trailing up and down Yang's body. Yang caught him, too, and she winked at him, stepping into his personal space.

"Like what you see, ladykiller?" Yang asked, soaking in the attention. Show off. It was so embarrassing sometimes.

Jaune gulped, arms unfolding themselves. "Um, is this a trick question?"

"Mine isn't," Ruby said.

"Mine wasn't, either," Yang said.

"Oh, right." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm not sure. I guess I'd want to learn more about Yang, but can't I do that on a date?"

"You can," Ruby said, "but she has to be interested first, and you can't force it. It's sort of like cleaning out a weapon: elbow grease really helps, but you need the right tools to make sure that you don't get stuck on a hard spot and waste your time. This one time, I was trying to get some Dust out of my rifle –"

"Dust as in those magic crystals, or the flaky stuff?"

"The magic crystals. Anyway, you can't blow away Dust particles or it'll get all over some really sensitive parts, so I had to get this special cloth, because any regular cloth wouldn't do, but I was too far away from my cleaning kit to just sprint over there!"

Jaune's blue eyes bulged out. "Oookay. This sounds really interesting, but what does this have to do with asking Weiss out?"

Ruby's whole face turned as red as her favourite hood. When she saw Yang clutching her mouth, tears forming around the edges of her eyes, she felt like crawling into a deep ditch.

"Yang! Why didn't you stop me?" Ruby asked, teeth grinding against each other.

Yang snorted. "You were on a roll!" She took in a heaving breath, struggling to fight back heaps of laughter. Jaune was frozen like a deer caught in the sights of a Beowolf.

"Come on, Yang! It's not that funny!"

Her favourite sister burst out laughing, making Ruby as red as her scythe. It felt like forever, but Yang managed to control herself.

"Finally!" Ruby said.

Jaune blinked, repeatedly. "You guys really are sisters, huh?"

Ruby opened her mouth just to close it. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"It's not that; I've got seven sisters, and sometimes, they can go pretty overboard. You guys made me feel right at home."

"Sounds like one big happy family," her sister said. "Ruby's got a point, Jaune. You can't force Weiss to like you. Try talking to her, no strings attached, and if you guys click, then you can try asking her out."

"Right." Jaune nodded to himself. "Right. Thanks, guys."

Yang smiled. "No problem."

Ruby smiled, too. It wasn't that big, but she wasn't faking it for Jaune or Yang's sake. "We're happy to help."

She looked at Yang, but Yang took a step back and mouthed 'this is your chance!' at her. Jaune didn't seem to be that bad: a bit hapless, sure, but not nearly as confrontational as Weiss.

"So, Jaune, where are you from?" Ruby asked, since that seemed to be a completely harmless question.

"Mistral. What about you two?"

"We're from Patch. It's close to Vale."

Ruby didn't have a hard time talking to Jaune after that, and with Yang chiming in every now and then, she could put those rumours and her blood-stained hands aside for the time being. She left Jaune in higher spirits.

Hopefully, she'd be able to build on this come tomorrow.

In the dead of night, cocooned by her sleeping bag, Ruby only had her thoughts for company. They leaked into her dreams, dripping their poison like blood pouring out of a bullet wound and robbing her of the rest she desperately desired.

Her eyes creaked open, meeting her sleeping mask. Ruby pressed her lips together and dug into her pillow, trying to salvage her night before the morning and its promise of initiation came.

She tried to fall asleep. Her aching, fatigued body begged for the siren call of slumber. Unfortunately, she didn't get what she wanted, and after struggling for too long, Ruby ripped off her sleeping mask.

Her blanket was a mess and Yang was sleeping like a log. Why was it so hard to get a good night of sleep?

Maybe a drink would help. Since they didn't have their own dorms yet, she couldn't warm up a nice glass of milk, but she could drink some water. Ruby grabbed her bag of toiletries and made her way to the nearest bathroom.

She didn't like what she saw in the mirror: her eyes were bloodshot and the grimace in her face made her look like an old lady. Slapping some water onto her face freshened it up, and so did brushing her teeth. It was still really dark, so she wasn't sure if it was before midnight or before sunrise. According to her scroll, it was 2:53. If she'd gone through a nightmare just to wake up an hour after going to bed, that would have been awful.

Nobody else was awake, except for one girl reading a book by the candlelight. She would have left her alone, like before, but this could be her chance to make another friend. Yang wouldn't be around to help her out, but if she could protect herself from an armed robbery, she could definitely talk to someone on her own.

Also, she probably wouldn't be able to sleep, so there wasn't much point wasting time on a lost cause.

Ruby took a moment to psych herself up. Clamming up or being awkward wouldn't work without Yang to cover her tracks, so she had to project an aura of unflappable confidence, like the huntress she wanted to be.

Once her game face was on, she tiptoed her way to the bookish girl, and saw that she was already looking at her.

"Can't sleep?"

The dim candlelight flickered against her golden eyes. "Neither can you."

Ruby chuckled. "Yeah. If only."

The girl turned a page. That candle wasn't bright enough to let her see everything in the room, yet Ruby was certain that she was looking at her, not in her general direction.

"So... did you know I was coming or something?"

She clicked her tongue. "I... read a lot at night. My eyes adjusted."

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"Not really."

It seemed pretty off to her, but she wouldn't badger some stranger. Ruby heard the book slam shut. The girl was looking up at her. With the flickering candlelight, Ruby could make out the girl's long black hair and smooth, creamy skin. A black bow sat on the top of her head.

"What's your name?"

"Blake."

"Blake," Ruby repeated. "I'm Ruby. It's nice to meet you, Blake."

Blake nodded, standing up: closed book in one hand, candle stand in the other, lighting their faces.

"You own a scythe, don't you?"

Ruby flinched. "Scythe? What scythe? I don't see a scythe anywhere, do you?"

She frowned. "You were showing your scythe to the Schnee heiress."

It would've been nice if she was too distracted by her book to pay attention, but at least she hadn't heard her tell Yang the truth about Torchwick. Hopefully.

"Well, what about it?" Ruby asked.

"If you were involved with that armed robbery, then I'm sorry you had to experience that."

She felt her eyes start to burn.

Blake's frown deepened, forming creases that marred her cheeks. "It's not easy to move on from witnessing those kinds of crimes, let alone seeing someone die, remorseless criminal or not. Especially when you're still so young."

Ruby frowned. It wasn't easy, but as much as she appreciated Blake's sympathy, it didn't sound like Blake was assuming she was Torchwick's killer. Maybe she suspected it and didn't want to blurt it out, but maybe not.

Did she have to point out her age?

"It wouldn't be easy for anyone," Ruby said.

"No, it wouldn't."

Chances were that she'd snuff out the truth from her if they kept on talking, so maybe she could change the subject.

"If you don't mind, can you tell me what you were reading?"

Blake shifted, then held up her book. "It's a story about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over one body. I just finished the part where the souls joined forces for the first time."

A small smile graced Ruby's face. "I love reading those kinds of books: the story about the maiden in her tower and the knight that rescued her, the lady in the lamp who can answer any question, the soldier who brought daylight to a village trapped in eternal night, those stories were part of the reason why I wanted to become a huntress."

Blake smiled. Something about it didn't sit right with Ruby, but she couldn't put her finger on what that was.

"How sweet. Do you think you can be like those heroes in those books, help people find their happily every after?"

"There's no reason why I can't. As a girl, I was inspired by those stories because those heroes fought for what was right, and they protected the people who needed protecting, even if it meant risking their own lives."

"Pretty ambitious for a child, but the real world isn't some fairy tale. I thought you'd understand, but –"

Now she knew what was wrong: Blake was treating her like a child just because she liked story books and she was younger than her, even though she had no idea how the stress from killing Roman Torchwick ripped her mind apart and mangled her spirit.

Ruby scowled, baring her teeth.

"You don't know anything! Just because you know criminals doesn't mean you know what it's like to kill somebody!"

Blake flinched, regret and fear spreading across her face. Ruby staggered back. She didn't mean to lose her temper, but she was tired and hurt and...

No, she wasn't going to make herself feel worse just because of someone else.

"I came here to make things better, not to live some fairy tale. And you wanna know something, Blake? Nothing's going to stop me."

Ruby ran back to her sleeping bag before Blake could open her big mouth. She covered herself up, breathing heavily, heart hammering in her chest as her forehead begun to ache. This wasn't what she thought was going to happen: she just wanted to make a friend, and Blake seemed nice enough.

Unfortunately, things didn't go her way.

As she got her breathing under control, one thing became crystal clear in her mind: she wasn't just going to become the huntress she wanted to be. She was going to become the greatest huntress ever. That way, everyone would know the name Ruby Rose, and remember it forever.