Chapter 2

The drive to Beacon was taking a little longer than expected to Theodore. He had been given a clean bill of health after 11 hours of being in the hospital. Once he found a phone in the city he called Ozpin and told him he was ready to go to Beacon Academy. After two days of waiting he was finally on his way to an academy that he had never heard of.

When the car came to a stop he got out and thanked the driver for the ride. When the vehicle was out of sight, he turned around and was stunned by what he saw. Beacon academy was huge, a lot bigger than he imagined. There were so many students here that he couldn't keep count. Looking up he saw ships landing and leaving the school. Having a better look, he saw that these ships were dropping off first years to Beacon.

They bring kids to this school in ships? He thought This must be the best school in the county.

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

Turning around, he saw it was the same girl he ran into while chasing Torchwick, Miss Rose as he remembered from Ozpin, talking to someone else. It was another girl his age with blonde hair, purple eyes and was a few inches taller than Miss Rose. Her state of dress, however, was something he could live without. She wore black short shorts that only reached 12 inches past her hips, a brown, short sleeved jacket that showed some of her mid-section, and an orange scarf that covered most of her neck.

Lady please, Theodore thought PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon?" the blonde replied to Miss Rose "Aren't you happy with it?"

Theodore was greatly surprised when Miss Rose activated her scythe right smack dab in the middle of the courtyard nearly making him jump.

"Of course, I'm happy with Crescent Rose," The girl replied while hugging her weapon "but I just like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people. Only better."

That last part she said with her head down. This brought a frown to Theodore's face when he saw how sad she looked.

She doesn't have any friends? He thought I may be lost in some new place, but I have assurance knowing I've got friends looking for me. She must feel so alone most of the time.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the blonde spoke up.

"Ruby, come on." She said while pulling the girls hood over her face "Why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?"

Ruby. Theodore thought That must be her first name.

"Why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby replied while pulling her hood back.

"Well actually," replied the blonde while seeing some other students "my friends are here now. Got to go catch up. See you, bye."

She then dashed right past Ruby, making her spin and causing her to become dizzy.

Well, that was rude. Theodore thought to himself.

"Wait! Where are, you going?" Ruby shouted "Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms? I don't know what I'm doing."

She then fell onto some luggage that was right behind causing it and her to fall on the ground. Seeing this Theodore decided to go and help her.

Nice timing Constantine. he scolded himself You just had to wait until she fell on the ground to be a gentleman.

"Are you alright?" he asked Ruby while crouching down and holding his hand out to her. Ruby had her eyes closed and was rubbing her head from the fall. When she opened her eyes, she saw a hand in front of her, opened in a gesture to help her up. Following the hand to the face, she saw it was the same boy she ran into when she was chasing Torchwick. The same one who got in the way of the blast that was meant for her.

"Uh, sure." She replied while blushing from the kind gesture, also from his handsome face all while taking his hand.

Oh great. Theodore thought This is one of the things I was hoping to avoid.

He helped to her feet and was about to ask her if she needed to see the school doctor when another voice made him jump a few feet back out of surprise.

"What are you doing?!" it said. Turning around both saw it was a girl Ruby's height but from the looks, Theodore's age. She had white hair that was tied into a right ponytail, light blue eyes, a white long-sleeved dress accommodated with a combat skirt that reached half way down to her knees, and high-heeled combat boots. She also had a sword on the left side of her dress. Theodore, however, wasn't concerned about her attire. He was concerned about why she was angry with them. He turned to look at the luggage Ruby fell into and put 2 and 2 together.

Oh, shoot. He scolded himself again Now you've done it Constantine. You got this poor girl in trouble because of your lack of timing.

Ruby must have made the connection as well because she quickly apologized to the girl. Sadly, that wasn't the end of it.

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

Ruby quickly gave one of her suitcases hoping that she gets the idea it was an accident.

"Uhh" she simply said while holding the suitcase.

"Give me that!" the girl said while snatching the suitcase and opening it. "This is Dust. Mined and purified from the Schnee Query."

"Uhh"

"What are you!? Brain dead!?" the girl said while pulling out a red vile and closing the suitcase. "Dust! Fire! Water! Lightning! Energy!"

Theodore was getting annoyed with this girl for not even letting Ruby reply while acting like a brat. He was mostly a patient man when it came to most people. The only ones in the world who ever made him this impatient were his dad and some of his friends back home, mostly his dad. This girl, however, was really irritating him. Here she was, acting like she was queen of the hill, scolding Ruby while shaking a vile in front of her and not giving her a chance to speak.

What he was most focused on, however, was the powder that was in Ruby's face while the girl was shaking the vile. He noticed that some powder came out of the suitcase when it was closed as well. Ruby now looked like she was on the verge of sneezing. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Are you even listening to me?!" that annoying voice brought him out of his thoughts "Is any of this sinking in?! What do you have to say for yourself?!

Having enough of this nonsense he started walking over to give this girl a piece of his mind when the unthinkable happened. Ruby sneezed, igniting the Dust causing an explosion her size composed of fire, lightning, and ice. It may have been small, but it was powerful enough to throw Theodore back a few inches making him land on his back. Getting up he bent his back until it cracked and stretched a few times to make sure he hadn't broken anything. Seeing he was fine he set his sights back on the girl he was going to give a talking to.

"Unbelievable!" she was shouting at Ruby who was pushing her right and left trigger fingers together out of nervousness "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about."

"I'm really, really sorry." Ruby replied with her head down.

"You complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Well I-I-I-"

"That's enough!" said Theodore marching right in front of Ruby and facing the girl "She said she was sorry. It was an accident she fell on your luggage, but it was your fault that the explosion happened."

"I beg your pardon?!" the girl retorted surprise evident all over her face.

"If you hadn't been so busy criticizing Ruby, who was trying to help you I might add, you would have noticed the vials weren't properly sealed. That caused Dust to get in her face, make her nose itchy and sneeze triggering the explosion."

"Why you-do you even know who you're talking to?!"

"No, I don't." Theodore said while crossing his arms over his chest "And to be honest, I don't care, empress."

"It's heiress actually." Said a new voice. Turning around all three saw a girl Theodores age. She had black hair, with a bow on top her head, and gold eyes. She was wearing a white-black colored, sleeveless vest. She also wore white-black skinny jeans with purple shoes. There was some rope tied to both of her hands that almost reached to her elbows. Her left arm had a sleeve that reached from her wrist all the way to her shoulder.

"Weiss Schnee," she continued while holding up a vile with a logo on it "heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy prepollent in the world."

"Finally," the girl, known as Weiss, said with a smile "some recognition."

"Wait for it…" Theodore whispered to Ruby.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The girl finished causing Weiss' face to show both surprise and anger.

"What?! How dare-?!" she nearly shouted getting in the girl's face "The nerve of-?!"

Theodore had a smirk on his face while Ruby was trying to contain her laughter of how the tables had turned for the young heiress. Finally having enough, Weiss took the vile from the girl, which was obviously hers, and walk away with some helpers pulling her luggage behind her.

"I promise I'll make it up to you!" Ruby shouted at Weiss as she walked away. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day."

"Hey, don't be sad." Said Theodore putting a hand on her shoulder. The cause Ruby to look up at him at a questionable look. "It could have been worse. You might have been the one caught in that explosion instead of me. Oh, that reminds me." Turning around he was going to say thank you to the girl who put Weiss in her place, but saw her walking in the other direction instead.

"Guess she likes her privacy." He said to himself "I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Turning back to Ruby he held out his hand to her. "My name is Theodore, Theodore Constantine."

"Ruby Rose." She said with a smile while shaking his hand. Just then a boy Theodore's age came up to them. He had blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He was wearing what looked like a black hoodie with armor covering it. He also wore shoulder armored shoulder pads and brown fingerless gloves on his hands. On the left side of his belt, a sword in its sheath was tied there.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?" Ruby said with a snicker.

"Nice way to start a conversation Ruby." Theodore said sarcastically "Why don't we take a walk. You're welcome to join us mister…."

"Oh, I'm Jaune." The boy answered joining them on their walk.

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on." Jaune said to the two. The three kids were walking in what looked like a pavilion. It was surrounded by trees, grass and bushes. There was pavement only for walking a path to not cause any harm to the plants.

"Look, I'm sorry." Ruby apologized. "Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh yeah," the boy replied "what if I called you Crater Face?"

"Hey, that explosion was an accident."

"Well, the names Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

"Do they?" Theodore asked.

"They will. Well I…I hope they will. I mean my mom always says that…Eh, never mind."

"Well, at least your name is easier to pronounce than Theodore Constantine."

"Theodore Constistrine?" Jaune asked cause Theodore to a do a face palm.

"No, it's Constantine," he replied "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-E. Con…stan…tine."

"Wow, you're right. At least I got a name that's easier to pronounce."

Ruby chuckled at how the two argued about their names and decided to start a conversation.

"So…I got this thing." She said while pulling out Crescent Rose and slamming it into the ground causing both boys to jump back in surprise.

"Woah! Is that a scythe?" Jaune asked with a hint of fear.

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

"A what?"

"It's a big gun." Theodore answered.

"Oh…that's cool!"

"So, what have you got?" Ruby asked Jaune.

"Oh, uh…I-I got this sword." He answered while drawing his sword from its sheath. This brought a whistle from Theodore.

"The blacksmith, who made that, did a fine job." He said.

"Yeah, I've got a shield too." Jaune added while grabbing his sheath and morphing it into a shield with a symbol on it.

"OK, that is awesome." Theodore said.

"So, what do they do?" Ruby asked while touching the shield. She must have pressed a wrong button because the shield started to transform from what it was to a sheath and vice versa. Jaune tried to catch it but failed. Theodore picked up the shield, now transformed to a sheath, and handed it back to its owner.

"Thanks." Jaune said while taking his sheath from Theodore and turning it back into a shield.

"You're welcome." He replied.

"The shield gets smaller," Jaune explained while turning it back into a sheath "so when I get tired of carrying it I can just put it away."

"Wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, it does." He replied.

"Well," she started with a nervous laugh "I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in designing it."

Overboard? Theodore thought I think overkill is the proper word for-

"Wait, you made that?" Theodore and Jaune both said at the same time.

"Of course," she replied "all students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?"

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

There was a war? Theodore thought to himself I really need to look at the history of this place.

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me." Ruby said. "Well, I like it. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah," Jaune said while putting away his weapon "the classics."

"I have to agree with Ruby on this one." Theodore spoke up "Swords, spears, clubs, bows, arrows, those were the first weapons that everyone used before guns and cannons were invented."

"You have a point there." Jaune replied.

"Theodore," Ruby said getting the boys attention "why did you help me back there? In the courtyard."

"Why not?" he replied "Do I need a reason to help someone?"

This caused Ruby to look up at him in surprise. He didn't know her, she didn't know him, and he just helped her because he wanted to? The only type of people who did that were heroes in stories she would hear about.

"I'm sure Jaune would have helped you even if I didn't." he continued gesturing to the said boy.

"Of course," he replied with a smile "my mom always says 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'"

"Your mom is real smart." Theodore said.

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

"Oh, I don't know." Jaune replied "I was following you guys."

"I think I got us lost." Theodore said.

"You think there might be a directory?" Jaune asked "Maybe a food court? Some sort of recognizable landmark?"

Those two last questions caused Ruby and Theodore to laugh.

"Is, uh, is that a 'no?'" Jaune asked.

"That's a 'no.'" Ruby replied with a smile.