Author's Notes: This is a chapter that probably feels familiar and a little redundant, but it has some important stuff in it. More author's notes at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 2

Not What Was Planned

Ruby's scroll pinged in her pocket. She stepped into the nearest open shop to check her scroll. The part of town she was in was a little on the shady side of things and evening was drawing near. It was better to be safe than sorry, wasn't it?

Ruby waved at the clerk at the cash register. He was an aging man with balding gray hair and bushy gray eyebrows.

"How may I help you?" the man asked in greeting with a shaky voice.

"Oh. Um. I'm just window shopping for now," she replied, pulling out her scroll, "but I'll let you know right away if I need any help."

She headed straight for the aisle furthest from the cash register so the clerk wouldn't see that she was just using the shop as a refuge to check her scroll. Stepping in front of a magazine rack she unlocked her scroll. Ruby expected a text from Yang inquiring when Ruby would be home. By home that would be more like current residence, lodgings, or bed and sometimes meals. Home away from home was the title Ruby settled on.

Her eyes widened as she gazed down at the alert on her scroll. She quickly pulled up her custom headphones from around her neck as well as her hood to cover up her headphones. She then pressed play on Penny's brand new song, "Beacons".

It sang of four beacons of hope that would bring us to the end. It sang of trials and growth. It sang of endings that would be new beginnings. At the end of the song, her scroll went onto one of Penny's older songs. Ruby pondered some of the symbolism in the song. Penny's songs always had a certain depth to them that Ruby never found in other music. She picked up her favorite weapons magazine and thumbed through it to give herself more of the appearance of window shopping. She was about to change the song back to "Beacons" when she heard a distant voice.

It sounded like someone was trying to get her attention. For a moment it felt like she couldn't breathe. She didn't want to talk to a stranger. It was in the very word. They were stranger than she was, and she could be rather strange at times. Ruby pulled in a deep breath, as the stranger roughly placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him, knocking down her hood.

Ruby took in the situation as the man pointed at his ear. She happily concluded that talking would not be the objective. The man before her was a mere goon of Junior, a man she had seen Yang beat to a pulp less than an hour ago. Before Junior had been sent flying through his own club's window, Ruby's attention had been drawn to the club when she saw a couple of men dressed in clothes that screamed goon flee the building. The man before her wore the same uniform as the thugs she'd seen earlier. He wore black on black. Black button-up shirt tucked into black pants over black shoes. He wore a red tie and a pair of heavily red-tinted sunglasses. Other than the red saber that the man was pointing at her, he looked rather lame and goonly.

If goonly was a word that is. She'd have to ask someone later.

His crimson short sword did interest her mildly. Although it was rather plain, the metal itself was red which was a little unusual.

Refocusing on the man, Ruby noticed that he was still pointing at his ear with a look of growing annoyance on his face. Was he trying to hear something? No. Ooh. She was supposed to listen to him. She slipped her scroll into her pocket and pulled her headphones down.

"I said put your hands in the air," the man commanded her, "now!"

"Are you robbing me?" Ruby asked politely with a tilt of her head.

"Yes!" came his exasperated response.

Fighting would definitely be considered self-defense at this point. It had to be. Right?

"Ohh," came her reply, happy to have the chance to test her mettle.

Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose and took advantage of the man's open stance. She used her Semblance to burst forward, closing the gap between them and slamming the still collapsed Crescent Rose into the man's stomach. The man was sent flying into the far wall of the store. A moment later another man dressed in the same black and red uniform stepped into view bringing his pistol up to point at her. Before he could fully raise his pistol, she activated her Semblance again, dashing into him. She ended her Semblance bringing her foot up to his chest, letting her momentum carry her into a flying kick. They crashed through the store's front window.

Ruby landed on her feet leaving the man sprawled out on the asphalt unconscious. She unfolded Crescent Rose turning back to look at the shop. Three goons wielding red sabers protectively surrounding a man in a bowler hat stared at her in shock. She spun her scythe in a flourish slamming it into the ground and stared back at them with determination.

"Okay," the man in the bowler said with a calculating calmness to his voice. He tilted his head towards the front door, "Get her."

The men around him were instantly pulled out of their daze. They rushed out the door, charging towards her. As the first one swung his saber down, she jumped up above Crescent Rose to dodge the blade. She spun with one hand on her weapon, bringing both her feet slamming into the man's head. With a yank, she dislodged Crescent Rose from the ground and used her momentum from the spin to put some distance between her and the others. She waited a moment with her back to them.

When they drew closer she pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose sending herself into another spin with the momentum from the recoil. The back of the scythe slammed into the man who had been approaching her. In a fluid motion, she changed the spin of the scythe from horizontal to vertical, slamming the man into the ground.

Ruby fired after a moment and activated her semblance to put some distance between her and the final goon who had pulled out an automatic weapon. Using her Semblance dodged his shots till she had closed the distance between them. Using her extreme speed, she slammed her scythe into him knocking him into the air. She stuck the blade of her scythe into the ground allowing her momentum to carry her into a spin that brought her into the air when she pulled the weapon out of the ground. She slammed Crescent Rose down on him once again sending him to the ground.

He landed at the feet of the man in the bowler. Ruby took a moment to scrutinize the leader. There was something distinctly familiar about the man. The man was expensively dressed in black pants, brown shoes, black gloves, a gray scarf, and a white coat. The bowler was black with a red band and a black feather stuck on the left side. Between his lips sat an expensive cigar. It sat atop red hair that came down and covered his right eye completely. His exposed left eye was dark green. There was a casual cruelty in his eye, a cutting wit holding up the corners of his mouth, and a conscious callousness in his stride as he stepped over the fallen man at his feet. He twirled a cane in his right hand.

"You were worth every cent," bowler man said to the bodies littering the street, "truly you were."

He turned to Ruby, pulling out his cigar, "Well, Red, I think we can all say it has been an eventful evening." He dropped his cigar and smashed it with his cane, "and as much as I'd love to stick around," he pointed his cane at her and the bottom popped open to become a crosshair, "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

A blindingly bright, large blast of red Dust rocketed towards her. She bolted up into the air with her Semblance and landed ready to fight. Only the man was nowhere to be seen. Ruby scanned her surroundings for the man. Catching a glimpse of the white coat at the top of a ladder she sprinted towards it.

Once she reached the top of the ladder, she changed Crescent rose into its sniper configuration. The man was already in an airship pulling away from the building.

"End of the line, Red," he called down to her as he tossed a red Dust crystal down to her feet.

No. Two Dust crystals one behind her and one in front.

He fired a blast of his cane at each crystal before they had even hit the roof.

Bright fluorescent lights and the sharp scent of antiseptic assaulted Ruby's senses as consciousness poured into her. She glanced around the room as memories came back to her.

After Professor Glynda Goodwitch had found Ruby injured on the roof of the building, the professor had taken Ruby to the hospital. Professor Goodwitch had given a presentation about Beacon Academy at Signal Academy just a couple of months ago. She had seemed rather strict and cold at the time, but Ruby saw the huntress side of the professor tonight. She was a woman who was driven to keep and put everything in its just and right place. Although the woman was still cold in demeanor, Ruby could see a side of her that was passionate about her calling and willing to do beyond what was required of her.

The professor had checked Ruby into the emergency room of Vale General and told the medical staff assigned to Ruby to charge Beacon Academy with Ruby's medical bill. She had an extensive list of mostly minor injuries as well as something to do with her head. A lot of details seemed rather fuzzy and vague which either was caused by the head injury or caused the head injury. One of those seemed distinctly wrong, and Ruby was distantly concerned that she did not know which.

Glynda told her that the staff had cleared Ruby to leave. After Ruby gave her the name of the strange man she and Yang were staying with, the professor was immediately off to contact the man to get Ruby a ride home. Ruby was mostly just left rest for a while after that. Her much-needed rest was briefly interrupted when Glynda briefly yelled into her phone, but Ruby quickly fell back to sleep.

Ruby, now conscious once again, peered around the room for any changes. Professor Goodwitch was sitting in a chair next to Ruby's hospital bed tapping her foot with an uneasy expression on her face. The uneasiness on the huntress' face looked very out of place and not an expression that had ever spent much time on her stern features.

Ruby coughed lightly to draw the professor's attention.

Glynda stopped tapping her foot, stood, and froze her expression into a very strict one that she seemed much more comfortable to wear.

"Miss Rose," Professor Goodwitch started as she began to pace in front of Ruby's bed with an authoritative stride and a rigid posture, "there is someone here to see you, but before they do I wanted to have a quick word with you."

"First of all, while I do think what you did is heroic and that you as a person might be positively brimming with heroism, I personally do not put much stock in heroism. I think what you did was not courageous but foolhardy. You put yourself, a barely moderately trained huntress, into excessive danger that could have been avoided. Secondly, you are not to inform anyone outside of those that you receive specific permission from me or my superior to tell about my whereabouts tonight. Thirdly, you will understand this in a minute, but if you are not ready, take your time," Glynda turned back to Ruby and put her hand on the door, "Lastly, you are injured, do keep that in mind and take care of yourself."

With that Professor Glynda Goodwitch strode out the door and vanished around the corner.

After a minute of reviewing the professor's parting words, the door opened to reveal a familiar figure. A grey-haired man dressed in grey, green, and gold stood in the doorway. He wasn't a particularly large man, yet his presence was incredibly imposing. His eyes had a certain inviting fire in them, and his smile radiated warmth. He carried a plate of freshly cooked chocolate chip cookies in one hand and a steaming Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate in the other.

"Ruby Rose," he started as he leaned towards her and gazed deeply into her eyes, "you have silver eyes."

"Uhh," was all Ruby could muster in response to the unorthodox greeting in her dazed state.

"There are a couple of questions I have for you," he began nodding towards her, "that is if you feel up to answering them."

After a moment she nodded to spur him on.

"Okay, Miss Rose, question one is the most important question I have for you," he said with an expression on his face that only reinforced the importance of his question, "Do you want these cookies?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Ruby nodded emphatically, "Um yes, most definitely!"

The man smiled warmly down at her and handed her the plate of chocolate chip cookies which she began to devour immediately. The chocolate oozed in her mouth filling her mouth with its bittersweet flavor. There was a thin layer of sugar coating each cookie adding to its sweetness and giving a soft crunch to the otherwise soft morsels. They all had a warmth to them that went beyond temperature but the flavor itself seemed to radiate warmth. Ruby Rose was the foremost expert on sweets, and these cookies certainly did take the cake. She'd have to mention that to Yang later. Each and every one of the cookies were perfectly golden brown with just the right amount of chocolate chips to balance out the sugar. Eating the cookies, she realized that she was already feeling a bit better.

"I baked them myself," the man said with a sunny smile on his face as he watched Ruby enjoying his creation.

Ruby stared up at him with an expression of wonderment on her face slowed her consumption as she came to the last two cookies. She pushed them to the side of the plate to save them for later. She continued to stare at the man astonished that such a busy man would have the time in his day to bake such a perfect batch of cookies.

"I don't want to keep you long," he said interrupting her thoughts, "so I shall move onto my next question if you are ready." After a momentary pause in which Ruby nodded for him to continue, he asked, "How did an adorable girl such as yourself learn to fight like you did against the dangerous criminal element?"

"Well I am training to be a huntress at Signal Academy and my family is helping me as well. My uncle, Qrow, is helping me learn to fight with a scythe and understand fighting strategy. My sister is helping with having a person close to my skill level to fight against. My dad helps with moral support," Ruby proclaimed happily before pausing scanning the older man's eyes. She found something trustworthy within them and continued, "My dad, he also helps me understand Manifestation, Aura, and Semblance. He has a quite powerful Manifestation as I am sure you are aware," she trailed off realizing that this man knew both her father and uncle well.

"And after Signal," he said nodding for her to continue.

"Well I intend to go to Beacon Academy to become a fully-fledged huntress, so I can truly help other people."

He smiled warmly at her, "I take it that you know who I am."

"You're Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy."

A knock came from the door behind Ozpin. After turning his head to the side to confirm who had knocked, he continued, "As your ride home is here I should probably ask my final question in my trio of question. Would you be averse to the idea of attending Beacon Academy starting this upcoming semester?"

Ruby's jaw dropped as she stared at the headmaster in wide-eyed disbelief.

"Um," seemed to be all she could muster at first.

She sucked in a breath and let words pour from her mouth.

"I would not be averse to the idea of attending Beacon Academy. That is to say that I would love to go. I mean, what? I. As in. What? Me going to Beacon Academy two years early is absurd. I don't want to be rude, but why would I get to go early?"

Ozpin smiled at her with a glint of something bordering on mischief dancing across his eyes, "Because I'm the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and I say so."

With that, he turned to the door and pulled it open revealing a tall green-haired man.

"Dr. Oobleck," the headmaster nodded to the man.

"Professor Ozpin," Oobleck responded with prompt, clipped speech running into the room, "I was not expecting you."

"Oh," Ruby said startled, "I knew I was forgetting someone. Dr. Oobleck, although not family, helps with just about everything else that I didn't mention. He's letting me and Yang stay at his house during the summer while dad is away. He also helps with pretty much everything intellectually."

"Very good," Ozpin responded turning to Oobleck, "I don't have much time at the moment but in summary, Miss Rose will be attending Beacon Academy starting next week."

Ozpin turned and left the room letting the door close behind him.

Oobleck stared at the door as it closed. His eyes flicked to Ruby. Then back to the door and to Ruby again.

"Ruby," he quickly queried, "would you care to enlighten me as to what just happened?"

Ruby paused to think over all the recent events. She had seen Yang beat Junior to a pulp. Penny had released a new song. She had fought off an armed robbery and been injured in the process. She had eaten some truly awesomely scrumptious chocolate chip cookies. She was just told that she would be attending the, arguably, best hunter academy in all of Remnant two years early.

Her mind settled on one thing with the rest of the events just melting for later.

Ruby tilted her head slightly and asked the doctor, professor, hunter, teacher, and her personal tutor, "Is goonly a word?"

Author's Notes: I'm a little bit disappointed in this chapter. I hoped for this chapter to be longer, but this is how long it turned out to be with everything it was supposed to have. This chapter is much shorter than I hope any chapter ever is.

On a note of success, I am fairly happy with my writing of Ruby's voice. I would like to request that if you leave a review of this you consider telling me what you think of Ruby's voice. Specifically, if Ruby's voice is distinctly different from Weiss', and if it sounds like her. I don't want to be pushy, so just if you have thoughts on this and extra time I am interested in your opinion and thoughts.

Lastly, I want to emphasize that I very much do know that "goonly" is not a word.