"I'm glad to see that all of you made it here without any incident." Ozpin said quietly over the rim of their coffee mug. Their eyes were lingering on Weiss, and that was something that Ruby couldn't help but think was at least a little bit weird. That wasn't to say that Ozpin wasn't usually being weird somehow, but somehow the focus on Weiss felt a little weirder than normal.

Despite all of that, Ruby didn't say anything about it. After all, she was there with her sister to get ready for a mission. What else could possibly be more important?

At least, that was what she thought the situation was going to be. The fact that Weiss had come late, and that the girl that Ruby had since learned was named Blake had come in with Uncle Qrow was enough to make Ruby think that there was definitely something more to this situation that she didn't know about.

When she thought back to her conversation with Yang, some of the things started to feel like they were falling into place.

This was going to be her team, Ruby realized as her heart jumped in her chest.

Ozpin smiled softly and looked between the four of them. "I'm sure that you all must have some questions?"

"Yeah, actually." Yang spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest and taking the first step forward to look over the rest of the group. "Ruby and I were told that we were asked here for a mission, but then you have us here with some girls that we've never seen before." Her eyes narrowed slightly, and for a moment Ruby couldn't help but worry that her older sister's eyes were going to flash red. "What gives?"

"I could ask the same." Weiss spoke up, though she was looking down at the floor in something akin to submissiveness. This wasn't like the girl that Ruby had first met, Ruby thought to herself. Weiss had seemed so confident and even mean during their first meeting.

But now, something was wrong.

Ruby wished she could do something to help.

"Allow me to explain." Ozpin said calmly. "The four of you have been called to my office because you've all demonstrated potential as huntresses." They paused, looking over at Ruby and Yang. "Of course, you two have been at the academy for some time." They said quietly. "But Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnee both were granted entry into this academy last night."

Ruby blinked and looked over at the two girls. They'd taken the chance to position themselves on opposite sides of Ozpin's office almost. It was like Weiss and Blake wanted absolutely nothing to do with each other, but neither of them wanted to say anything to each other about it. It left Ruby worrying, because she didn't know what she was going to have to deal with.

If they were supposed to be teammates, then it was going to be a problem if Weiss and Blake couldn't get along for some reason. It left Ruby worrying, at least a little bit. She tried hard not to let it show.

"Sure," Yang retorted, still seeming deeply displeased. "So why do you want us here?"

"I decided last night while doing performance reviews that it was time to see how you and Miss Rose are suited to the battlefield." Ozpin said calmly, sipping from their coffee. "And because of the two new arrivals, and your status as being without a team, it seemed like a good opportunity to place Blake and Weiss for their classes."

"So the mission?" Ruby asked quietly.

"Of course." Ozpin said quietly, like this was exactly the sort of situation that they'd been preparing themself for. The ghost of a smile began to make its way onto their face. "Allow me to explain the mission."

The four girls all took a moment where they exchanged a glance between them, but it was short. They all seemed to be equally skeptical about what was to come ahead of them. None of them were going to go ahead and speak up though.

They would have time for proper introductions later, Ruby thought as she stood there and waited. She already knew Yang perfectly well, and she'd met Weiss, but Blake was a complete mystery to her so far.

Ozpin turned and stood, stepping away from their desk chair and taking two steps forward before pulling down a map of the area around Vale that had surely been there for a long time. All four of them stared forward at the map, searching for something. All four of them seemed to be deeply interested in what was there for them to find.

"I've decided that I wanted to send the four of you on a simple reconnaissance mission." Ozpin explained. "As all of you are likely aware, there's been a high-threat grimm wandering just outside of the city and it's something that we've been keeping close watch on." All of the girls seemed to shift nervously, but some of them seemed to be much more uncomfortable about it than others were.

The girl named Blake in particular seemed to be tense about it. Ruby figured that she'd have to ask about it later, if they were going to be a team.

But for now, they needed to wait things out.

"Professor Ozpin." Weiss took a step forward to pull Ozpin's attention onto her as she stood there. "My father will notice my absence and I was sent here to-"

"You were sent with the intent of announcing your departure from Beacon?" Ozpin asked, so quickly that Weiss seemed to be stunned in place by the question.

Ruby blinked and picked her head up, watching Weiss' expressions as the girl began to attempt to explain her situation. Not too far away, Blake was standing there and rolling her eyes in some annoyance at Weiss' latest revelation.

"I was." Weiss confirmed. "To go on a mission like-"

"We'll discuss this later, Miss Schnee." Ozpin replied, keeping their voice calm. "Your status at this academy is guaranteed, but you'll need to make a decision. If you must leave, then I will not blame you, but this is a choice you need to make on your own." An uncomfortable sort of silence settled over all of them at that, and Weiss just nodded, her blue eyes downcast and her expression reading as dejected.

For the first time, Ruby could almost see some things beginning to fall into place. She didn't understand fully, but she could at least try to be a friend to Weiss if the other girl would allow for it.

Blake spoke up next, keeping her voice as even as possible. She looked disinterested, more focused on the mission briefing than anything else. "So this mission?"

Ozpin's eyes flickered between Weiss and Blake, and a moment later they decided to answer. "As I was saying, it's a simple reconnaissance mission outside of the city. All that you have to do is go out onto the roads and check that the threat isn't getting any closer. Reports of what things look like on the ground will be very useful to us." Ozpin didn't say who 'us' was, but Ruby figured they meant the local Hunters, or the people of the City. Surely it didn't matter, as long as everyone was safe?

Ruby raised a hand, knowing that it probably wasn't the best way to get Ozpin's attention, but she couldn't think of a better way of getting that attention without getting closer or leaving the spot that she'd decided to take. "Um, Professor Ozpin?"

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

Ruby brought her hand back down to her side, letting it hang there. "How will we know that it's gotten closer?"

"You'll be presented with recent information by a senior huntsman before we send you out into the field with him." Ozpin explained calmly. "Since this will be your first proper mission, it was more appropriate that we send you with someone who has proven his mettle."

"And if we run into trouble?" Yang asked, drawing the attention back over to her. "I know that Ruby and I are some of the best in our class, but I don't want us getting killed because of a bad mission."

Ozpin's eyes snapped over to Yang, and there looked like there was something akin to recognition swimming in their gaze. It was weird, like Ozpin had almost been expecting to hear that out of Yang. Of course, Ruby figured that Ozpin knew their parents, but that didn't explain that sort of reaction.

Why would Ozpin act that way towards Yang?

"If things go poorly on your mission," Ozpin began all too calmly. "Then the huntsman that I've decided to assign to assist you will be there to aid you in action."

"Who are we going with, anyways?" Yang spoke up, gesturing openly to try and get an answer of some sort out of Ozpin about what was actually going to be going on.

"That'll be something that you'll have to wait to find out." Ozpin said calmly. "Now, do understand, you'll be given more up to date information before your departure." They paused. "In the meantime, the four of you should take your time to bond as a team and try to find strategies that work before going out into the field."

Their eyes settled on Blake. "Will that be a problem?"

Blake seemed to grit her teeth, but Ruby tried not to think about it too much. Instead, she decided that the best that she could do was try to offer some sort of distraction.

"Will we be able to use the training rooms?"

"You will." Ozpin replied. "Miss Schnee, Miss Belladonna, will you be able to find them on your own?"

"Yes." Blake answered, keeping herself standing tall. Weiss' answer was to nod slowly.

Ozpin nodded and stood up, looking between the four of them. "In that case, I will be getting into contact with the four of you shortly when it's time to prepare to leave." They looked over at Weiss. "Miss Schnee, you and I have to talk it seems."

"Of course." Weiss responded.

Ruby and her exchanged a quick look as the three others left the room, and when the door closed behind her and her new teammates, Ruby couldn't help the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Yang was already waiting outside, and Blake was there as well, though she seemed to be doing her best to keep some distance between herself and the others in the group.

"So." Ruby said, offering Blake a hand. "I'm Ruby."

"Blake." The girl responded, reaching out to give Ruby's hand a quick shake before dropping it. "And you're?"

"Yang Xiao Long." The last of the three girls spoke up. "Ruby's older sister."

Blake looked between Ruby and Yang, looking for something, and a moment later she spoke up. "You don't look like sisters."

"We have the same dad." Yang answered, keeping her voice almost hard. Ruby couldn't help but start to worry about that, if only because she didn't know what was going to happen if her new team didn't start to warm up to each other. It was only a matter of time before Yang would get angry, and the fact that there was still someone in Professor Ozpin's office was worrying enough on its own.

Ruby didn't know how they were all going to fit together, other than the fact that they all had to work together on at least some level.

"I see." Blake said calmly. Her amber colored eyes flickered between Ruby and Yang, and it seemed like she was about to ask a question when the door opened and Weiss stepped out, looking a little exhausted but mostly silent.

The four of them all stood there for a little while and did nothing more than stare at each other.

After a day of endless travelling, annoyances, and having nothing to do with themselves but talk and check roads, the group of four finally came to a stop in a clearing where they thought they'd be able to rest for a little while before continuing.

Presently, Arthur stood there with his nose buried in a map as he made an attempt to find a way to make the group's travels get a little bit easier. He seriously doubted that it would work, but seeing as the children seemed to need a break and Hazel was insisting that they were on the right path, it was up to Arthur to do all of the fact checking for them.

It was a pain being the only remotely competent one amongst them. Tyrian was unreliable, Cinder was near useless, and Hazel was too single-minded to be of any true usefulness out of a battle most of the time.

And Arthur Watts hated having to do all of the thinking for the four of them.

Everything that they had found, and all of the information that they'd found ever since starting their search said that they were close. During the nights, the appearance of grimm that weren't the hulking behemoths that dominated the landscapes were becoming more and more common. Arthur had been doing his best to keep track of their emergences, but appearances of smaller grimm were walys infrequent and too commonly only seen from a distance. The possibility that they had only seen animals in many cases was one that Arthur loathed to acknowledge.

The fact that they hadn't had any close calls with the real things- large or small, was a miracle in itself, Arthur supposed. Why, back in the day the four of them would have surely been attacked by now. Arthur didn't have a single doubt in his mind that would be the case.

Hazel leaned against the rock at Arthur's side, almost silent. Arthur had to suppress the all too powerful urge to roll his eyes at the man's presence there. All of the years that he'd spent working with Hazel had told him that the man would only come to talk to him if he sincerely thought that there was something worthwhile to discuss.

"What do you want, Hazel?" Arthur asked the question in a deadpan as he flipped the page that he was focused on, folding it down halfway to find some of the spots where he'd hidden extra information. "Because I can assure you that unless it's relevant-"

"It burns." Hazel said quietly, his voice coming out like it was the all too familiar growling sound that Arthur had long ago begun to associate with the man. Hazel lifted his hand up and rubbed at his chest. "Tyrian was saying that it was getting worse for him too."

"The-" Arthur picked his head up, almost feeling like he'd just been prompted to discuss something that he'd been trying hard not to think about too much. He was experiencing certain pains, of course, but Arthur had become accustomed to ignoring it long ago. A prickle at the back of his neck dragged him into the conversation all too easily. "How bad is it?"

"You don't feel it?"

Arthur didn't answer. It wasn't worth showing such a weakness to the others, regardless of the situation at hand. "Oh, I do." Arthur answered. "I've just become used enough to it to ignore it."

"I think we're going to be finding it soon. Tonight maybe."

"We don't have any information to suggest that it'll be a night hours only event, Hazel." Arthur said all too calmly. "If we're going to find one of Her spawning sites, then we shouldn't have to worry about time of day."

"It shouldn't matter." Hazel growled. "Our best bet is based on grimm- they're more active at night." The man's eyes narrowed slightly. "You were a huntsman, you should know that."

Arthur rolled his eyes and picked his head up, glaring over at Hazel who was standing there and running a calloused thumb over the back of his knuckles. Checking for an injury, Arthur had no doubts about that. This was Hazel, the man was always the most rough and tumble member of their alliance- even more so than the faunus boy was, and that was saying something. The only difference was that Hazel possessed the ability to be calculating rather than rely on impulse alone.

"It's an old wives tale, Hazel. Never truly proven." Arthur replied, closing his dossier book and tucking it back away in his breast pocket. "And you should know better than to believe in such things."

The four of them were going to have to leave their current location soon enough. Arthur definitely didn't want to be spending all of his time debating myths with Hazel, that was for sure. But of course, there was something wrong, which occurred to Arthur that he couldn't think to bring up.

"Where are the children anyways, Hazel?" Arthur asked, picking his head up and casting a glare in the other man's direction. "You know that it won't do to lose Tyrian."

"I'm surprised that you include the girl."

"She's dreamt of Her, and so I have to assume that it will only be a matter of time before she becomes marked like us." Arthur smirked. "I do hope that wherever Cinder's brand ends up appearing, it's not a complete pain to treat."

Hazel grunted, sounding a little more than thoroughly unconvinced by Arthur's words. Arthur couldn't help the impulsive that nagged at the back of his mind and told him to roll his eyes as a response, but decided quickly enough that it was for the best if he ignored that feeling.

"Wherever it appears-" Hazel finally grumbled, sounding fully frustrated. "It'll be a matter of Her choosing."

Arthur hummed quietly and tilted his head back. He let his eyes slip shut for a moment and stared up at the sky above them, checking the time of day by watching the position of the sun. They'd only have a few hours of daylight left before they were going to have to stop and find a place to rest for the night.

"Did she place your mark so carefully, Hazel?" Arthur asked, finally glancing over at his partner and letting a slow, teasing smile stretch across his face. "Or Tyrian's marks?" Arthur didn't question his own- he knew that there was a reason for it's placement, and that wasn't a reason that he wanted to confront.

"You know She chooses in her own way." Hazel grumbled, raising a hand to rub at his chest through his shirt. Pain, of course. The only good thing that Arthur could see about it was that there was no open wound that he was going to have to contend with. Once it had been open and bleeding, Arthur supposed, but those days had long passed.

"I suppose She does." Arthur responded. He pushed off from the rock and looked to the path where Tyrian and Cinder had decided to scout ahead. "Shall we?"

"It wouldn't hurt." Hazel replied, falling into position behind Arthur as the two of them walked. It wasn't a long trip before the two of them found their targets.

Tyrian and Cinder were there, at a spot where the path had gotten to be too overgrown, almost to the point where it disappeared from view entirely. It was worrying, but Arthur didn't think that he was going to find so much to be concerned about in the long run.

The world was full of roads that were no longer travelled. They'd stumbled on one. It only made sense, when Hinagiku's abandoned state was brought into consideration.

The only reason that the paths out of that village and to the other ones seemed to still be serviceable was because of the usable land in between.

Not that it mattered all that much.

Arthur looked between the two children and sighed heavily before raising a hand to gesture Hazel forward.

The largest member of the group was quick to step up to the front before crouching down in the underbrush. If it wasn't for the fact that Arthur knew exactly what Hazel was doing, he wouldn't have normally questioned it.

But he knew Hazel. He knew the man had a knack for survival that was so strong that one didn't dare be caught in his orbit in an inopportune time. In a way, Hazel was like a cockroach or a phoenix- impossible to kill and you didn't dare get too close for fear of disgust or burns.

Arthur didn't fear Hazel, no.

But when the worst came to worst, he was sure that out of all of them, Hazel would be the only one to survive.

That was just how he was.

"Well?" Arthur asked, egging a response out of Hazel as quickly as he could manage. "Is it poisonous?"

"No." Hazel replied, not bothering to look back at the rest of the group. "Just an old road that nobody uses anymore." He paused for a moment and stood back up a moment later. "Seems like it's been a long time. Probably stopped being used when Hinagiku-"

"Has there been any traffic through here?" Arthur asked with a roll of his eyes. He didn't need Hazel's hearsay, he needed answers.

"If there is any traffic through this area, it's infrequent. Animals at best." Hazel grumbled as he got back up to his feet and brushed his hands off. "Best stay close though."

Arthur raised an eyebrow.

Hazel shrugged. "You never know what's in the bushes."

A snide remark wormed its way forward to the tip of Arthur's tongue, but he didn't let it get out. No worth in destroying their already fragile morale.

If he was going to have his way, the four of them were going to continue down this path until they finally managed to find something worthwhile.

So when he made his decision, it was with a devilish grin and a taunting phrase as he focused on his target.

"Ladies first, Cinder."

The girl stared back at him and her mouth dropped open just slightly.

The hesitation only lasted a moment before Cinder clamped it back shut wordlessly and began along the ruined trail.

As promised, there was indeed a room that had been set aside at Beacon Academy where Blake could stay. She hadn't been sure how much she was actually able to trust what Qrow had said, but being able to see the room herself firsthand was interesting.

In a way, it was terrifying.

The first thing that Blake realized was that it was a space that had been all too clearly set aside for a group of four people. She hadn't bothered to ask the others about their living situations, if only because she didn't need to know that. If it became relevant, then Blake would deal with the issue when it became impossible to avoid.

Blake went ahead and picked one of the beds for herself. It was pressed up against the wall and as far away from the door to the room as possible. Blake didn't like to think about the reasons that she'd chosen that position in the room, but it was hers.

No matter what, at the very least, Blake had a warm place where she could go to bed at night. The back to the wall would be enough to provide some level of comfort.

No monsters wearing masks here.

Only students, all her age.

Surely some of them would be monsters, but none had given her and reason to be afraid yet. Not directly, at least.

Blake sat there on the bed for a while, having some great difficulty as she tried to figure out how she felt about being there. There was a large part that screamed at her that someone else was going to end up being moved into this room with her eventually. When that happened, Blake feared for what could happen.

But for now, it was hers alone.

And if there was anything that she needed right now, it was the ability to rest for a bit, above all else.

Thousands of possibilities flitted through Blake's mind as she laid there in the bed that she had to call hers for the first time that night. Mostly, Blake thought of a home that she had left long ago under less than good circumstances. Thoughts of it flit through her mind so constantly that she knew that it would be more than enough to force sleep to evade her that night.

A part of her called to her and told her that what she really needed to do was get up, go over to one of the four empty desks in that room, and she needed to sit down there and try to get something productive done. So far she hadn't been given anything to suggest that she had studies to catch up on, though Blake suspected that was going to be coming soon enough. Perhaps she was just being given a chance to settle in before all of that came up.

If there was a library on campus, Blake was sure that she wasn't yet able to check anything out to read just yet.

But there were some things that the room that she was in did provide. Most importantly of those things, there was paper and pens. Envelopes would be easy enough to get in theory.

But when Blake put her pen to paper and tried to think of the words that she wanted to say, nothing came. All that she wanted to do was tell her parents that she missed them, and yet absolutely nothing came to mind that she could actually say to them.

There were apologies, but Blake was sure that they would never accepted. Why would they ever be?

Blake was in the process of laying her pen down in resignation to the fact that she had absolutely nothing that she could think to say when the door to the room that she was slammed open and the first of the two all too energetic girls that she'd been assigned to a mission with was there.

It was the blonde one. Yang, Blake remembered her name was.

"Hello!" Yang announced her presence in a singsong voice, and Blake had to force back the urge to sigh in frustration. She looked back over her shoulder to see that Yang was standing there with a yellow duffel bag slung over her shoulder as she stepped into the room. She was out of the clothes that she'd been wearing earlier on that day.

Of course, Blake told herself as she sat there.

Normal people had civilian dress. Blake didn't have that anymore- all of her things had been left behind when she'd needed to take everything that she had and run away from the White Fang.

Blake didn't respond, just watched as Yang stepped in and made a beeline for the bed that was closest to the one that Blake had chosen. At the moment, the only thing on that bed was Gambol Shroud.

"Hello." Blake responded finally, folding the sheet of paper that she'd been writing a letter on before tucking it away out of view. She turned in her seat, finally facing Yang properly to see that there was someone else about to enter the room.

A man, not that much taller than Yang was but with the same too-vibrant yellow hair stepping in behind her. He was trailed after shortly by Ruby. He stepped out of the way of the door and looked between the two girls.

Blake recalled the meeting with the two sisters earlier that day. Ruby and Yang shared a father, and so Blake had to assume that this was that man.

"Where do you want me to put this?" The man asked, looking between his two daughters. Ruby and Yang exchanged a look and soon enough the two of them were shrugging. Ruby walked towards the bed nearest the one that Yang had chosen for herself and gestured to it.

The man took a few steps forward and placed the box there before looking between Ruby and Yang, his eyes then flitting over to Blake.

In a way, all that it managed to do was make Blake miss her own father a little bit more. He would have come with her to the school and helped her move in with whatever little she brought along with her. He would have even dwarfed the man that Ruby and Yang seemed to call their father.

Hell, he would have even shot the man a glare for interrupting.

The thought almost made Blake smile.

Almost.

"So." The man spoke up finally, grinning and crossing his arms over his chest. "You're one of the teammates?" He was watching Blake and the first thing that came to mind was that he was cocky. Blake didn't think that she trusted him, and she certainly didn't want to find out how far this could go before she started to worry about the situation at hand.

"I am." Blake responded.

"Oh, Dad!" Yang piped up, dropping into place at her father's side and grinning just as cockily. They had the same smile, Blake realized quickly. "This is Blake. We met her earlier today."

"It's nice to meet you." Blake said quietly as she pushed herself up to her feet and stepped away from the desk that she'd chosen to occupy that evening.

"Blake?" The man asked with a blink of his eyes. He looked between his two daughters and sighed heavily before stepping forward and offering Blake a large, welcoming hand in a more proper greeting. "You're the one that slept on Qrow's couch then?"

"I am." Blake responded with a slight shrug. "Why?"

"He's my brother-in-law." The man said with a slight shrug. "Taiyang Xiao Long. Glad to meet you."

He paused, like there was something that he was thinking on, but didn't get a chance to ask whatever question was on his mind. Blake didn't give him the chance.

"It's nice to meet you too." Blake said, knowing that her delivery was a little bit stiff. She looked between her two new teammates to see that Ruby and Yang were beginning to pick the box that they'd brought along with them apart. It looked like the two of them were just doing their best to get their own personal affects sorted out.

However, Ruby was the one to break the awkwardness.

"Oh, Blake!" She said, picking her head up and smiling across at her. "Have you seen Weiss-"

"No." Blake replied quickly in an absolute deadpan.

Ruby frowned and her expression sank as she pulled out a plastic container of something and set it down on the bed. "Oh." She said quietly. "That's fine, I guess. I was just hoping-" Ruby pursed her lips in something akin to frustration before forcing a smile and her cheeriness back onto her face. "We brought cookies."

Blake blinked, a little bit surprised by everything that Ruby had just said but not really wanting to go ahead and question it, if only because things were a little too awkward and strange for Blake's liking. Why would they bring cookies?

"You brought cookies?" Blake asked.

She didn't know when the last time that she'd had something like cookies could have been. There was a part of Blake that told her that she hadn't had such a thing since she had last been on Menagerie, but Blake wasn't confident in that. Her mother had never been much of a baker, and the same could be said for her father.

"Well, yeah." Ruby said quietly. "Everyone likes cookies unless.." Her expression sank. "You're allergic, aren't you?"

Somehow, Ruby always seemed to be able to surprise Blake, but she wouldn't dare tell the girl that. The last thing that she needed to do was to get the other girl so worked out, and so Blake was quick to dismiss Ruby's concerns.

"No, it's just-" Blake paused, looking for the words that she needed, but for the second time that night, found herself a little more than unable to find them. "I just wasn't expecting you to bring cookies is all."

"Oh, well-"

"It's a family recipe." Taiyang spoke up with a slight shrug. "And since your team is supposed to become your family, we figured that it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and get the four of you started off on the right foot."

"Not that it matters if Weiss isn't here." Ruby muttered, sounding frustrated. She earned a quick pat on the head from her father as a response. After that, she seated herself on her bed and began to pick things out of the box that were hers, looking a little more than dejected. "But you're here-" Ruby picked her head up to look up at Blake with those silver eyes of hers. "How long have you been in here anyways?"

"A couple hours." Blake said calmly as she walked over to her bed and picked up Gambol Shroud. She turned the weapon over in her hands before storing it on one of the tables next to her bed. "I didn't feel like exploring the academy too much."

"It's pretty nice." Yang spoke up, now sitting cross-legged on the bed beside Blake's. "The food could be better, but they take good care of us." She smiled softly at Blake. "Oh, uh... do you have stuff for classes yet or-"

"No." Blake responded calmly. "Ozpin hasn't provided me with anything, and neither has anyone else for that matter."

Yang frowned visibly and shrugged, relaxing back into her bed a little bit more. "If you need it, me and Ruby have some notes that we probably wouldn't mind sharing." She paused, looking across at her little sister. "But they might not be the best."

Blake sighed quietly, figuring that it might end up being the best- possibly only lifeline that she ended up being offered in her time there at Beacon Academy. "Thank you," Blake said quietly after a moment. "How long have you two been going here anyways?"

"Couple years." Yang responded. "Probably at Signal started when I was... thirteen or so."

"Same." Ruby replied. "But I was doing too well so they decided that they wanted me to get moved up to Beacon two years early" She looked a little bit more than sheepish, and Blake supposed that wasn't a bad thing.

If this girl was a prodigy of some sort, then surely that meant that the team was going to be at least somewhat capable on a battlefield. At least in theory, Blake thought to herself.

"Right." Blake said finally. She knew that she probably wasn't coming off in the nicest way possible, in that she was sure that all that she had managed was to come off as unimpressed. "So I guess this makes us teammates?"

"Yeah." Yang said, smiling a little too wide and crossing her arms over her chest a little too cockily. "The three of us and princess."

Blake bit her tongue over the rebuttal that threatened to make its way to the surface. It wouldn't do any good for her to alienate her two teammates so quickly.

"That's right!" Ruby exclaimed, ripping the cover off of the box of sweets that she and Yang had brought along before offering it up to Blake. "Teammates!"

Blake sighed quietly and reached in to take one of the cookies.

It was still warm, and it was enough to match the unfamiliar feeling that built so steadily in her chest.