Chapter: The Pre-First Day of School

Ruby leans back on the front wall of her house - beside the open front door - sighing at the lack of music. Honestly, as grateful as she is to be going to Beacon with her sister, she's still miffed that her headphones were destroyed while attempting to stop the robbery.

"Are they here yet?" Yang asks, poking her head out.

"No," Ruby groans.

Yang seconds the groan. "We're going to be late if they don't hurry."

The blonde sibling goes back inside to grab her bags. Ruby huffs and blows the hair out of her eyes. She looks from the sky to the ground.

Blinks.

Stares at her aunt and uncle.

Her aunt falls to her knees, huffing. She waves off the man's concern.

"They're here!" Ruby shouts. She scrambles to grab her bags and weapon before running forwards at them.

"Hey, kiddo," Qrow smirks, catching her in a one-arm hug. His free hand ruffles her hair.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby whines, dropping her things to try and break free. "Stop it."

"Finally!" Yang shouts, slamming the door.

"Hi, Yang," their aunt huffs, waving as she stands.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Yang asks, raising and eyebrow.

Danny snorts. "Nothing." Their aunt stands tall, arms above head as she stretches her back. "You two excited for your first day of Professional Huntress school?"

"Heck ya!" Yang says, fist pumping. Ruby finally breaks free of her uncle and stands back, looking uncomfortable. "I am stoked for today!"

"Ruby?" Qrow asks, looking amused.

"Well," Ruby says, hands clasping together as she avoids their eyes. "I'm a little nervous."

The adults share a look. They break out laughing.

The siblings look confused.

"Your first day is going to suck," Qrow tells them, chuckling. Danny rolls her eyes and wacks his arm half-heartedly. "What? It's true."

"Second day will be much better," Danny tells them. "So don't worry too much about what happens today, alright?"

"Is your weird pre-cog talking," Yang asks, unamused, "or are you speaking from experience?"

"Experience," Danny answers while Qrow says, "Both."

He gets whacked again.

"We just wanted need to make sure you two to go in there not expecting it to be all sunshine and rainbows," Danny says sternly, a smile playing at her lips. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't be happy, but know that whatever happens today, it's really only your first day. Everyone is nervous and excited, so there may be some, uh, short fuses."

Yang chuckles and ruby rolls her eyes so hard her head moves with her. "We know, Auntie," Yang says, grinning. "Don't worry; we won't be the ones blowing up."

Qrow starts choking he's laughing so hard. Danny's shoulder's shake as she holds out a hand to the two. "Alright, alright, let's get going." The older woman looks at Yang and winks. "We've got a surprise for both of you at the docks."

"Oooh," Ruby scrambles to grab her stuff, and then latches her arms around the outstretched one. "What kind of surprise?"

"Nothing too horrible," Qrow says, wrapping his arm around Danny's free one. Yang takes the outstretched hand, making sure all her bags are on her person. At his partner's glare, he protests, "Hey, I'm allowed to say that!"

"I'm telling," Danny taunts before she turns to the teenagers. "You know the drill. Breathe out in three, two, one-"

;;;

Ozpin stares out the window in his office.

He remembers the creature flying towards him.

He remembers fear.

The edge caused from last night's nightmare is finally fading. He can stare at the mountain in the distance without the paranoia that the mountain won't be there.

Doesn't mean he isn't anxious looking at it. Knowing what rests under there, who could glance at it without some unease?

The elevator dings behind him.

He turns.

The dread fades.

Ozpin smiles, hiding his relief.

"Ah, hello, Amber," he walks over to his desk, going to sit for this conversation. "We're glad you could make it."

"So am I," Amber mutters, smirk playing on her lips. She watches Glynda walk past to stand beside the headmaster. "No one else is coming for little old me?"

Glynda does not look impressed. "Students, new and old, are arriving today. You could have picked a better time to come by."

"You break my heart," the fall maiden says sarcastically, complete with eye roll. "I was planning to be in Mistral right now, but Danny needed me assisting the Askans group. Can't say no to the group that helped you, you know?"

"They dropped you off today, correct?" Glynda asks a curious glint in her eyes. "Why come here then, instead of Mistral?"

Amber's face flashes for a second. Fear. Then she's all smirks and sass again.

But Ozpin sees.

He's been seeing it in himself all morning.

"Thought I should deliver some things Qrow's found," Amber explains, reaching into her side bag. "Less suspicious to Danny if I asked her to drop me here than have Qrow miss seeing his family off."

Ozpin chuckles a little as he takes the files she finds. "Thank you, Amber. Would you care to stay for lunch? Students don't arrive for another couple hours."

Glynda sighs and heads towards the elevator. "I'll go to the kitchen."

Ozpin gratefully nods his head when he catches her eye. Glynda raises an eyebrow, and then nods to the fall maiden. She caught the fear, too.

The elevator doors close.

Ozpin turns to the tired looking woman. "What's been bothering you?"

It turns out, Amber's nightmares are worse than his.

;;;

"Thank you, thank you, thankyouthankyouthankyou-" Ruby repeats, words muffled as she hugs the taller woman's middle.

Yang is still squealing at the keys in her hands.

Raven chuckles and pets Ruby's head. "Little Rose, I can't feel my spine."

Ruby squeaks and jumps back, cradling the new headset in her hands. "Sorry."

"This is awesome, Mom!" Yang shouts, now getting her chance to crush Raven. She tilts her head to her other parents. "Thanks Mum! Thanks Dad!"

"No problem, dear," Summer chuckles, coming up to run her fingers through Ruby's hair. The younger girl hugs her biological mother.

"Only the best for our girls," Taiyang adds, throwing his arms around both women. Quieter, he adds, "Raven had to pick everything out."

"She had ultimate veto power," Summer says sadly.

"They wanted to get you an orange Mini Car," Raven says dryly. Yang looks appropriately horrified. "And they wanted to get you cat eared headphones."

Ruby giggles while Summer looks offended. "What's wrong with cat ears?"

Raven deadpans, reaching over to tug Ruby towards Yang. The blonde sister smirks and puns, "Yah, mom, why aren't you rav-en about cat ears?"

Summer cracks a smile and Raven turns to her biological daughter. The woman steps back and holds the laughing Ruby closer. "You're both dead to me."

Taiyang chuckles and steps back as the final announcement is hear overhead. "Come on, Danny and Qrow should have your stuff onboard by now. Can't miss your boat if you want to make it to Beacon on time."

While the family goes on ahead, Yang tugs her bio mother back for a second. "Seriously," the blonde says in a moment of vulnerability, "thank you. For the new bike, and for coming."

Raven hesitates, and then pulls her daughter into a solid hug. "I'm sorry there was doubt I'd miss it."

The woman's eyes drift over to her brother. They lock eyes. He smirks knowingly.

Raven holds on tighter.

;;;

"Not until year two?" Qrow asks with certainty he shouldn't have. He just needs to hear it again.

Danny sighs and watches the ship rise into the air; destination: Beacon. She rolls her shoulders to ease the pain in her back. "Not until year two. Sorry I don't know the exact date."

"Sorry I won't tell you," Qrow replies with a snort.

Danny cracks a smile. "We'll figure it out."

Qrow smiles and nudges her. "You're the worst partner."

Danny smiles and snorts so hard her body jerks.

Her foot slips in a wet spot on the dock.

She can feel her semblance flare.

And falls into the ocean, a few meters away.

Her head comes up out of the water as she sputters. Qrow is laughing as he jogs over to the edge. He kneels down, sticking out a hand as she swims closer to shore. He chuckles as he says, "Sorry."

Danny grabs his hand and kicks off the dock.

Qrow yelps as he falls in.

When his head pops out of the water, Danny innocently looks back at him. "Sorry."

"You ruined my good shirt," he tells her with an evil grin.

"Whoops," she replies with a smirk.

Later, when they're drying off, and Summer is scolding them, and Raven is laughing at them, and Taiyang is trying to explain to civilians that they are okay in the head, everything feels right in the world.

Everyone forgets the nightmares of Grimm and death, of arrows and eyes, and is happy for at least that day.

A/N: Thanks for reading! So, it was a tie 2-2 votes for team CFVY and Penny, and 1 ½ votes for Cinder. Because the first vote came in for team CFVY, Coco will have the next chapter. Then the rest of team CFVY, followed by Penny, and then Cinder. Sorry Cinder fans, bit of a wait. Hope you all like what I do with them, though!

Thank you, Littlest1, for your review! I'll list the Soul marks revealed for JNPR in this chapter, and go back to Chapter 5 to list RWBY's. Thank you for voting, reviewing, and reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, , for your review! Thank you for voting and giving Cinder some love! I hope, that when her chapter comes, you'll enjoy! Thank you again for voting, reading, and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, TheParadoxicalOxymoron, for your review! I hope you enjoy the chapter for Penny when it comes! All will be revealed then. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, and voting! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, hypernova2718, for your review! I'm going write at the end of this chatper JNPR's revealed marks, RWBY's in chapter five. I'll be sure to add the episode they come from, if they come from an episode. Thank you reading, reviewing, and voting! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, Guest, for your review! I hope you're not too disappointed that they won't be next, and that you enjoy their chapters when they do come. Ruby will eventually have a Penny! Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, and voting! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Have a great April, everyone

Team JNPR (Known) Soul Marks:

Jaune (1):

'Nice to meet you, Jaune!' – Pyrrha (Season 1, Episode 4)

Nora (2):

'Hey!' – Lie Ren (Season 4, Episode 10)

'Let's go.' – Ruby (Season 1, Episode 8)

Pyrrha (2):

'Yeah, yeah.' – Jaune (Season 1, Episode 4)

'Did you just throw your javelin straight through and Ursa's eye?!' – Yang

Ren (2):

'I'm scared…' – Nora (Season 4, Episode 10)

'Right.' – Ruby (Season 1, Episode 8)