Ozpin had had a long day. As the headmaster of Beacon Academy he was required to participate in a series of meetings to prepare for the beginning of the next semester. The meeting he had been in earlier that morning, was one of the more trying ones. It had been about the budget for repairs. Afterall, Beacon was a school for training future huntsmen and huntresses, people who would stand against the monstrous creatures of grimm that plagued their world. One could only expect yearly damage to the grounds. Last semester had been the worst semester in a long while, courtesy of a student 'accidentally' punching a bully through a wall and a statue, both of which had already been repaired, but the costs had eaten into this semester's budget as well.

The headmaster had only been able to sit down for a few minutes after the meeting before getting a message from his friend, General James Ironwood, which informed him that the Atlesian General was going to be arriving at Beacon later that night for a meeting. The only issue that Ozpin had with the message, was that he had no idea what the meeting would be about. He had just finished what was supposed to be the last meeting that needed to be taken care of for a few weeks.

Because of this Ozpin found himself and his assistant, Glynda Goodwitch waiting in his office, long after their normal hours. The two waited with a patience honed over years of planning, waiting, and meetings, for the time that their Atlesian friend would arrive and explain the nature of the meeting. The only thing they knew was that it wasn't a social visit, and if it was, then the general needed to re-examine his definition of a social visit.

Their wait, while several hours long, passed in silence as they each went through their own mental checklists to make sure that absolutely everything was taken care of. As such they were nowhere close to running out of patience when the general arrived. They were, however, surprised to note a second, shorter, silhouette next to the general's. The office that they were in, heavily relied on natural light to light the room. In fact, the only lights in the entire office were by the central desk where Ozpin sat. That, mixed with the fact that the room was very large, made it so that neither Ozpin, nor Glynda, could identify their second visitor. As a result, they waited for the other two to approach.

The general strode forward, his footsteps sounding loudly off of the ground as he walked. However, Ozpin spent most of his attention watching the small figure who was also approaching. They made little to no sound, and if he wasn't watching her he'd have assumed they were approaching slowly and shyly, but to the contrary they were walking side by side with the general. As the person got closer, he could tell more about them, they were wearing a skirt, had faunus ears, and had short, almost shoulder-length hair. Then, they walked into the light, and Ozpin froze for the smallest of moments. The cold, calculating, silver eyes that bore into his, the almost bored expression she had, and the red-tipped hair. The wolf ears were the only thing that brought doubt, but the fact remained that she was almost the mirror image of his former student, Summer Rose, quelled those doubts.

The headmaster quickly worked the shock out of his mind and turned his attention back to General Ironwood, and for a moment the two men just stood there staring at each other. "Three months ago," James Ironwood said softly, breaking the silence that had overtaken the room. "I found a secret group of the Atlesian military that was tasked to train assassins; the group was responsible for the kidnapping of Ruby Rose." The girl to the general's right smiled and waved in a way that would have been a convincing display of a normal schoolgirl, if her eyes weren't passively glaring at Ozpin. "I have since closed the organization, imprisoned all of its staff, and freed the "projects" as they were called. Miss Rose, would like to live a life that puts her talents to use, however if she were to do so, we'd need to keep a close watch on her, and officially none of the four kingdoms should have any needs of an assassin."

"What are you proposing, James?" Ozpin asked as he stared at his old friend.

"Would you be willing to accept her into Beacon Academy, despite her being only fifteen years old?" The general asked, almost hopefully, as he gestured to Ruby. "She's even built a new weapons specifically for being a huntress."

"James," Glynda started as she took a step forward, but was cut off by the very person she was trying to address.

"She's also proven to be more than proficient in combat."

The blonde assistant tried again, "James."

"And she's even proven to be useful in pointing out weaknesses in defenses. She could help you make Beacon even more secure."

"James," Glynda said for the third time while glaring at the general, causing him to sigh.

"Yes, Glynda?"

"If all of these things are true, why wouldn't you enroll her in your own academy?"

Ozpin took a sip of coffee from his mug before he answered in the general's stead. "He can't. He just personally shut down an undercover group under his jurisdiction, so he has the attention of most of Atlas' higher ups. If he were to enroll a fifteen year old, both of them would be accosted by media and officials to figure out why, with that kind of focus, she'll be found, and from there, one of two things would happen."

The pieces clicked in Glynda's mind. "They'd realize she was a part of the group he shut down."

"Or," said the youngest girl in the group, her voice sounding out confidently despite being surrounded by some of the most powerful and influential people in Remnant. "They'd assume, incorrectly, that he had me the entire time. It's a stupid thing to theorize, but everyone has enemies, and the smart ones take advantages of unexpected circumstances."

Glynda stared at the smaller girl in shock. "If that became the popular opinion, he'd be drowning in riots. People only stopped looking for you a couple of years ago, and everyone remembers how heartbroken your mom was."

" 'People' apparently need to get better at looking, or stop wasting time trying," Ruby responded with a mild look of irritation. "But yes, that would be the result, and there might be some people, smart, or stupid, enough to try and spread that rumor."

"Doesn't Ozpin face that same risk though?" Glynda asked curiously.

"To a degree," was the response that came from the general. "He has three major factors in his favor though. Factor number one, he lives at Beacon, and the school grounds are submitted to an inspection every year in between semesters, therefore it is known that she hasn't been hidden on the campus. Number two, Ozpin hasn't done anything major recently, people aren't looking at him or his academy. If Ruby just happens to be there, then it will likely be taken as some form of miracle. Finally, and possibly most importantly, her mother and father live in Vale, meaning that they're close enough to visit her, and close enough to vouch on Ozpin's behalf, should he come under scrutiny." That final fact led to a silence in the room as Ozpin and Glynda both stared at the girl in front of them. A pressing question, that they should have asked by now, brought to the forefront of their mind by that final fact that the general brought up.

"... Do your parents know?" Ozpin asked with a hint of authority in his voice.

"No, they can't be allowed to know until my future is decided."

That caused the headmaster to let out a sad sigh. He could see the reasoning, even if he didn't agree with it. "You know your sister is enrolling this year."

A small smile found its way across Ruby's face, though her eyes remained hard. "That's fine."

"Very well then, the semester starts next week. Tomorrow, Glynda will ensure you have everything you need and help fill out your enrollment papers. One thing though, I need you to tell your parents before the semester starts."

Ruby merely nodded her head in acceptance of the terms given.

"Is that everything you needed to discuss, James?" Ozpin asked wearily.

"Yes," the general responded.

"Then let's leave, it's late and I would like a good night's rest before tomorrow. Glynda, will you show Ruby to a room where she can stay until the semester starts?"

After Glynda gave a nod, the four crossed the room to the elevator together and left.

Ruby decided that the walk to her new room would be a good time to compare her initial impressions of Glynda and Ozpin, to her current opinions on Ironwood and the elder Schnee sister.

At first, Ozpin came of as a little subpar. Unlike the general, the headmaster seemed more than content to let stuff happen. Such a passive attitude rubbed Ruby the wrong way. Over the course of their meeting though, she had realized something. He wasn't simply letting it happen in front of him, he was putting himself in a position, where he had enough information to control the events. It wasn't necessary, as he had control of the outcome anyway, but someone who was cautious enough to do that when meeting with their own friends, was someone Ruby could respect.

Ironwood on the other hand was rash, and quick acting, someone that you'd want leading the troops, but not making the important decisions. In Ruby's mind, the general was far higher up than he should be. One day he'd make a mistake and show too much force, and it'd come back to hurt him.

Before she allowed herself to compare Glynda and Winter, she noted a window that needed reinforcing. Well, the wall did at least. The window was bullet proof, and could likely take all but the largest of nevermore feathers beating on it before it broke, but the wall around it was weak, and could easily be broken by an Ursa, or a huntsman. 'Leave it to the huntsmen to fortify the obvious weak spots, but forget entirely to check the surrounding area for weakness as well. No skilled opponent is going to walk in your front door or break your windows unless they absolutely have to,' she thought to herself, before noticing that the windows opened, and she instantly knew how she'd break out, or in, if she ever needed to. Well, at least if she ever needed to break into the dorm rooms. Then she noticed something even more pressing, but along the same line of thought.

"Your windows are powered?" She asked with a questioning glance at Glynda, the general and the headmaster had stopped a while back to converse some more.

"They are, is that a problem?" The blonde haired-teacher answered curtly.

"Do you know how easy it is to hack that kind of stuff? Sure you can unlock non-powered windows from the inside if you prepare before hand, but that's still safer than powered windows, at least against someone with the proper skillset."

"Could you hack it?"

Ruby adopted a thinking position in response as she stopped to look at the window to her left more closely. "I've never been good at hacking, personally I'm more skilled at sneaking and digging. Even so, if I had the right tools and a few hours to try, I could get in through the window. Ice Cream on the other hand, it'd probably only take her a couple of minutes."

Ruby turned to see the teacher staring at her incredulously. "Digging? Ice Cream?" Glynda asked in confusion.

A small smile found its way onto the red-tipped brunette's face as she saw how confused the teacher was. "Digging, is what we call searching for information. Generally through less-than-honest means. I'm one of the best informants you can find, though there are a few who have more information than I do. Ice Cream, is the nickname of a friend of mine. She's great with technology."

Just like that, Ruby ended the conversation and briefly compared Glynda Goodwitch, to Winter Schnee. They were both strong, organized, and seemingly strict. The main difference she could find, was the level of pride they had. Winter was a prideful person, even when she had no idea what she was talking about, she had to put on an air of confidence. It was because of that fact that Winter almost refused to ask Ruby any questions all together. Glynda on the other hand, did not take her pride to the same level. She was prideful in her level of skill, and organization, however, she was not afraid to admit to a lack of knowledge, and therefore had fewer problems asking. 'Of course, this is just first impressions, I could be terribly wrong about her,' the small assassin thought to herself as they walked.

With first impressions out of the way, Ruby returned to looking for any weaknesses in the academy's defenses. Taking a mental note of them, and preparing to write them down and submit them to the headmaster some time in the future. Something she was not prepared for, was how close her new room would be. She and Glynda had been walking for maybe fifteen minutes before they stopped in front of a room and Glynda opened the door. She glanced questioningly at the blonde teacher in front of her.

"Ozpin decided that this will be your room and workshop," Glynda said while looking at her scroll, as if hoping to receive another message. "Even during the school year you will have full access to this room, and only a select few teachers will have keys to open it, so it will be up to you to keep it clean."

"Thank you, Miss Goodwitch," Ruby said respectfully.

"I'll stop by at six in the morning, be ready to complete your papers by then, and we'll also be going into Vale to buy you any school materials you may need. I'll need to inspect your weapons when they arrive."

At first, Ruby was a little confused. She had Crescent Rose, the weapon she had designed specifically for Beacon, magnetically connected to the mag-plate on her back. "Ironwood is sending my other weapons as well?" She asked after a few moments. She had thought he was going to dispose of them.

Glynda nodded in response. "He and Ozpin apparently thought it prudent to keep the weapons you're most familiar with nearby, in case of emergency. They will be arriving in two days, and I'll have them for two more, so expect them in four days."

"Thank you," Ruby said again. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Miss Rose."

A/N

And that marks the end of the introduction I guess. I got a review asking of Ruby was a faunus now, and I guess I should clear that up here. She's still a human. Just because she has faunus ears does not change what she was born as. Honestly, you're going to get very little information as to how the ears were added on, and why they work, 'cause I'm not a genius, so I don't have detailed and finely woven explanations to that. There's also the fact that she still sees herself as a human, a modified human, but a human. Nyway, how'd you like the introduction to the story? Good? Bad? Neutral? Mildly intriguing?
Hope you all have a great day, and please leave a review.

Sauron Note

Hey there peeps. So I'm told to say things here… so here goes. I just kinda sit in the background and do ideas and stuff. More importantly leave reviews because they make everyone smile :D

B/N

And that makes 3 chapters down, perhaps about time I leave a word or two. To those who don't know me, I'm the beta of everyone's favourite Shaded. We worked together on Wilting, and I'm happy to be helping out on LTH as well. Please do feel free to leave reviews, they help a lot and keeps Shaded motivated. -Imoshen