Glynda Goodwitch felt like she was about to have a heart attack. Three times she had woken up over the course of the night. Three! And she woke up tired, troubled by worrying dreams of red flower petals and flashes of silver light. Glynda had never been a heavy sleeper on the best of nights; her many years of experience as a huntress keeping her senses sharp and forever on alert. And that night she had slept alongside her daughter. Ruby had her own fitful sleep, kicking out lightly with her leg, with her head nestled up against her mother's chest. The only difference between mother and daughter that night was the reason for their fitfulness. Glynda knew she was worried, as well as the reason for her worries.

It all came back to the girl curled up in her arms with a blissful smile on her lips, softly snoring. Her little girl had always wanted to be like the heroes of the stories Glynda had read to her before bedtime. No doubt she was dreaming about being in the place of the potential students during Initiation. Maybe she was acting out both the roles of huntress and civilian in it.

Glynda loved her daughter's bravery and her spirit, but it was those things which worried her the most. Ruby was only ten years old for heaven's sake! She was too young to do this. Yes, Ruby had always been gifted, but intelligence did not make up for experience. Nor did it make up for maturity. Feeling her daughter kick out once more, lifting a cute little grunt from her lips, Glynda massaged her hair. Ruby instantly relaxed into her mother's embrace.

It was early. If it were any other year, Ruby would be allowed to sleep in for another forty-five minutes while she got ready to start the final preparations for Initiation.

But this wasn't a normal year. This was the year she was forced to trust her daughter. Her ten-year-old little girl who had yet to even be old enough to join the huntsmen training schools. Sometimes Glynda wished she had denied Ruby's pleas to have her aura unlocked early and had given her training in aura control. If she had held off by a year or two, Ruby would lack the necessary control to participate in this. She would have to wait until she was twelve. And by then, Glynda could have denied her participation and had her go to school instead. Ruby would experience Initiation for the first time as an Initiate and nothing more.

But no, that was wishful thinking on her part. Ruby would have unlocked her aura eventually. And eventually, she would have gone to her Grandpa Ozpin to help with Initiation, just as she had this year. And Ozpin would have agreed that fool. He knew how important she was. Not just to her, but to Remnant as a whole. He would have ensured her training and knowledge was always above the average, even if she wasn't a prodigy.

Huffing in frustration, she finally let her eyes flutter open, knowing it would be no use to stall. Glynda sat up, taking the time for one last yawn and a careful eye rub.

She turned to look at Ruby, who had inched forward into where Glynda had just been laying, trying to claim the bit of warmth she had lost from Glynda's movement. With a smile, Glynda began to shake the girl, "Good morning, my little girl. It's time to wake up."

This earned a grunt from Ruby and a mumble of something that sounded very much like, "no, don't wanna."

Glynda continued to rock the girl, petting at her hair, twirling the tips around her fingers. "But if you don't wake up, how are you going to have time to join Initiation?"

At that, Ruby sat up. Suffice it to say, Ruby was not a morning person. Her hair was a complete mess; a strand somehow ending up in her mouth. She looked ready to fall back down when touched with the gentlest breeze. And the yawn that was elicited from her lips.

Glynda had to hold back a giggle. She doubted there was anything in this world that was cuter.

As Ruby rubbed her eyes, in a manner that was eerily similar to how Glynda had done so a moment earlier, she mumbled something in a cute little whine. "But I'm tired and I wanna go sleep."

"If you want, I can tell Grandpa Ozpin that you were too tired."

Ruby shook her head slowly, "make it start later."

"I can't do that, Ruby. Maybe I can help you wake up faster. Would you like some hot chocolate?"

Ruby nodded with another yawn, before relaxing back down into bed, her breathing thinning out as sleep began to overtake her.

"Oh no you don't." Quickly, Glynda pulled Ruby up and back into a sitting position. With one hand on the girl's back, keeping her from falling back down, the other went to work straightening out her hair. "Why don't you start to get changed and washed up, and I will make you some hot chocolate?"

"Noodles."

"Hmm?"

"Noodles," came Ruby's order.

"You will be doing a lot of running and we both know you eat too much noodles when given the chance. How about I make you a person-sized breakfast and I ask Mr. Noodles to save you a really big bowl."

"Two bowls!"

"One really small bowl."

"Okay, one bowl," Ruby accepted, a sad tilt in her voice. Glynda still had to wonder how her daughter could still be so freaking cute all the time.

And with that, the two parted ways. Ruby went into the bathroom, shutting the door and stepping into a shower, while Glynda began to prepare breakfast for the two of them. A healthy mix of food for her little girl to ensure she had enough energy to continue running all day. Plenty of fruits and veggies, some slices of bacon, sausage and eggs. As well as a few pieces of toast with enough strawberry jam to give a person a heart attack. With breakfast prepared, she got to work filling up a bag of goodies for Ruby to snack on during Initiation. While it was usually up to the student hopefuls to find and forage their own lunches, and often dinners, if the Initiation lasted that long, Glynda felt like her daughter was allowed to break that one rule. So, along with two peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches, and a juice-box, Glynda added in a handful of chocolate chip cookies. While it was by no means enough to last her an entire day, it was a good enough start to fill her up so she could find her own food.

Not that Glynda particularly worries she wouldn't find anything to eat. She knew that Ruby knew the forest quite well. But a mother still worries.

A few minutes later, Ruby was in the kitchen. Her hair was nice and shiny, and she was dressed in her sparring outfit; a red t-shirt and a black skirt, over top black leggings. She was hugging her red cloak to her chest as she skipped over to the breakfast table, thanking her mother for the food with a happy smile and began digging in.

"Now, don't overexert yourself today, honey. You have a very long day ahead of you. You have your scroll on you, so if you need help, give me a call. I will be watching you and everyone else with Grandpa Ozpin."

"I know, I know. And Uncle Porty and Uncle Oobleck will be in the forest."

"And Aunty Peach, along with some past Beacon graduates. Your… cousins."

Ruby giggled at how Glynda said the word 'cousin'. It was no secret that Glynda thought Ruby's insistence on calling everyone who went to the academy cousins was a little strange.

"Ready to go?" Glynda asked, seeing her daughter finish up the last few bits of scrambled eggs on her plate.

With a nod, the girl stood up and fixed her skirt, walking towards the front door. "It's time to go! Time to help the big kids with the biggest game of tag ever!"

"Do you have your pins with you?"

"Nope," Ruby said with a head shake, popping the 'p'. "Grandpa Ozpin said he was going to keep it with him until we get there so I don't accidentally lose them."

"Smart choice."

And with that final word, the mother and daughter held hands and walked into the very early morning light, ready to start their work for Initiation.

Hoped you enjoyed the break between chapters.

Dragonqueen1993 - You are going to be shocked (shocked I tells you!) about who it ends up being.

Midnightwolf64 - It is super not obvious! Nobody knows who the civilian is going to be! I am a writer of mystery! Muahaha! No, not really.

chinaluv - And hopefully it only gets better from here.

The Real Ruby Rose - Yup! A whole lot of (actual) mystery behind Ruby and her family, as well as Team STRQ in general. I'm very excited to start writing Initiation, mostly because I'm not quite sure how it's going to go. Or how long it is going to go for.

merendinoemeliano - Thanks!

See you all next time.