I'm honestly surprised by how popular this story is after only three days. I'm glad people seem to be enjoying it so much and I'll try my best to keep the quality up. Also, I'd like to apologize for the lack of indents at the start of paragraphs, for some reason the site removes those when I upload a chapter and I have no idea how to fix it. The next two chapters are going to focus more on the formation of the two parts of Team RWBY than anything else.

Chapter 5: A Pact Formed

"I will not abandon a comrade if they are too weak to fight. I will not abandon my post until those under my care are safe. I will not let down my guard in times of peace. If another chooses to die so I can complete my tasks, I will ensure their last words are heard and their last wishes fulfilled. I make this vow, in hopes that others would do the same for me." -Oath used by members of the Order of the Blue Rose and other groups defending Sanctuary

Emerald Forest- with Ruby

"Finally, I can do something!" Ruby let out a sigh as she flew through the air, ears flat against her head as she watched the trees fly past below her. After a moment, she unfolded Crescent Rose and fired a few shots to slow herself down before hooking the scythe onto a tree branch, bringing herself to a stop. As soon as her feet touched the ground she started to use her analysis semblance to improve her situational awareness. Once she was sure the area was safe, she deactivated her semblance and started walking in the general direction of the ruins, Crescent Rose at the ready.

After a few steps she let out a sigh, shoulders sagging as the weight of her current situation sank in. "I'm alone in a forest full of Grimm, trying to find a partner that can both help me and doesn't hate faunus or me in particular. Counting that Pyrrha girl, I only know five other people here, one of which already doesn't like me." She looked up at the sky for a moment as she thought. "Pyrrha would be an obvious choice since I know she's a capable fighter and seems friendly towards everyone…" She frowned as she remembered Pyrrha's interaction with Jaune "But it was pretty obvious that she's interested in Jaune… Except maybe to Jaune himself. I think I saw her spear flying through the air a little while ago, so I guess I know who she's going to look for."

Ruby smiled lightly. "There's Jaune. He's a nice guy… Except for maybe flirting with Weiss when he doesn't even know who she is!" Ruby took a deep breath as she felt her grip on Crescent Rose tighten. "On top of that, he doesn't even seem like he'd be all that good in a fight right now, maybe he'll improve but I'm not sure I could help him there…"

"I know how Yang fights and we work, um, well together… But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to live through the embarrassment of her constant teasing and I'm pretty sure she used Ember Celica to fling herself closer to the temple anyways, so I doubt I'd be the first person she ran into…"

Her ears perked up and her tail wagged slightly. "There's always Weiss! She's even better in person than I expected considering she hasn't just brushed me off for being a faunus and if her fighting style is as good as her singing she's probably one of the best fighters here!" Ruby paused and let out a sigh as her ears dropped. "But I'm pretty sure she's getting annoyed with me as it is and thinks I'm weird, especially after last night's incident… Maybe Yang's right, maybe I do overthink things."

The sound of something growling behind her drew her out of her thoughts as she spun around to face the pack of Beowolfs with a grin, pulling out her headphones. "Perfect timing, I need something to take my mind off things!"

With Weiss

Weiss had her eyes forward, scanning the trees to make sure no branches got in her way as she used her Glyphs as stepping stones on the way down. The moment she touched down she let out a sigh, rubbing her temples in an attempt to ward off the approaching headache. "I can't believe I still don't have my Glyphs perfectly mastered. That should be my first priority so I don't have to deal with the mental strain." She started walking, going through a mental list of everyone she knew at Beacon in an effort to decide who she wanted to be paired with.

"Pyrrha Nikos would be an ideal choice. Combining the her, the strongest girl in our group, with myself, the smartest girl, would create an unstoppable force…" She frowned slightly. "But she seems to have an interest in that Jaune Arc boy for some reason and with his interest in me… No, the last thing I need is to worry about my being jealous of me because of a boy I have no interest in." She hummed quietly as she quickly continued down the list.

"Jaune Arc would be the worst choice. His interest in me and general lack of knowledge would make him unbearable to converse with and, with his seeming lack of combat skill considering how he almost dropped his weapon just showing it to us, he'd probably get himself killed in a fight. Yang Xiao Long would be almost unbearable to deal with. She's so loud and her constant puns about my semblance are obnoxious!" Weiss took a moment to inhale, trying to avoid screaming at the thought of being partnered with either of them. "That girl, Blake Belladonna I believe Yang said was her name, would probably be just as bad. I don't know how skilled a fighter she is and I don't really care, I'm not willing to risk being partnered up with someone that might decide to kill me in my sleep."

She let out a sigh and pinched her nose as she reached the last name on the list. "Ruby Rose… She might be willing to look past my family's name and reputation, but she's obsessed with my music, has a habit to rant randomly, and is probably the most confusing person I've ever met. On top of that she wields a scythe. A scythe! From what I've heard, there's no true middle ground with people who have that kind of weapon. Either she's reckless and incompetent in a battle and could cut someone's arm off with a careless swing, or she's skilled enough to dominate a battle."

After a moment, Weiss suddenly heard gunshots and howling in the distance. "I only know about two people who have a gun as part of their weapon… Professors Ozpin and Bisman said we'd be paired with the first person we made eye contact with, not the first person we saw, so there's no harm in investigating as long as I stay hidden." With that thought in mind, Weiss started carefully making her way through the forest.

A minute later, she found herself nearing the edge of a clearing and was greeted by the sight of a group of around thirty Beowolfs surrounding a red-cloaked figure as she loaded a magazine into her weapon. "Ruby? Why aren't you running? I don't think I know anyone in our group that could take this many Beowolfs on their own… Right?" Ruby, however, was smiling as she glanced around the group before spinning around, taking a swing at the nearest cluster and slicing three in half before another leapt at her, only for the girl to spin her scythe around and fire a shot at it, leaving a massive hole in its chest as Ruby used the momentum to move onto the next group.

Weiss watched wide-eyed as Ruby almost danced around the clearing, each swing or twirl of her scythe either moving her into position for another strike or preparing for a shot from the rifle. Weiss was able to see the girl's face briefly, a peaceful expression on her face as she moved between strikes. Weiss paled as she noticed the headphones covering her human ears. "Seriously? She's in the middle of a fight and she's still listening to music? I mean, her wolf ears aren't covered by them right now, but still…" Eventually, Ruby came to a stop with her scythe behind her, eyes closed as she let out a sigh, leaving her unaware as a Beowolf jumped out of the forest at her.

"This is just what I needed, a bit of practice, a chance to unwind-" Ruby's thoughts were cut short as she heard something fly past her head, followed by a whine, causing her to turn around and get her weapon ready again. The moment she saw the ice shard embedded in the Beowolf's chest she started looking around. "Where did that come from? I can't believe I let myself slip up enough that I didn't notice-" At that moment she noticed the other occupant of the clearing, rapier pointed in her direction, and blue eyes met silver. Ruby turned off her music and put her headphones around her neck. "Weiss? What are you doing here?"

"You complete dolt! Who in their right mind listens to music when they're surrounded by Grimm? I've heard about your family liking to take risks, but I didn't think you were this insane!" Weiss shouted before pinching the bridge of her nose while Ruby at least made the effort to look embarrassed. "And now I'm partnered up with a lunatic, this is just great…"

"Come on Weiss, I'm sorry! I've killed hundreds of Beowolfs before and needed to unwind! Music helps me calm down and I tune everything out in a fight sometimes anyways! You can't seriously be thinking of judging me from what you've seen in a day and a family reputation, can you?" Weiss blinked as she processed that before looking down guiltily.

"Here I am, judging someone for their family when they're the only person who's never done that to me…" She took a deep breath. "Ruby, I-I'm sorry, it's just that I've never seen anyone do something that careless in a fight before. What am I supposed to expect?"

Ruby hummed before walking up to Weiss. "How about we make a deal then Weiss? Since we're partners now, I'll promise not to listen to music in a fight if you promise to trust me, and we both promise not to judge each other by our family's reputation, alright?" Ruby held out her hand and Weiss hesitated for a moment before shaking it.

"Alright, that sounds fair. Just don't call me Ice Queen like your brute of a sister and we'll be fine," Weiss said, causing Ruby to smile and nod in response.

"We should get going, we have to get to the ruins and grab a relic still after all, right?" Weiss nodded and the duo started walking into the forest. After a while Ruby smirked at Weiss, tail wagging slightly. "Hey, want to hear about why Yang has to make sure she doesn't get mad around people with cologne or hair spray?"

Observation Area

"Fifth pairing has been confirmed: Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee," came the almost bored voice of Bisman as he glanced at Ozpin. "Considering their family's reputation and their backgrounds, that went better than expected."

Ozpin took a sip out of his mug before glancing at the man next to him. "Just remember our agreement. You now have to tell one-" Ozpin glanced at the monitor before continuing. "-make that two sets of students that you lied to them."

Bisman looked at the monitors in confusion. "I guess you're right. Sixth pairing has been confirmed: Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos."

And that's where I'm going to cut this off for now. I'm not going to lie, I had large chunks of this story planned out in my head and then other parts I didn't even think about. I know, more or less, what I plan to have every character do in the last bits of volume 3's events, but then I'm probably going to have a few chapters like this where I didn't even think about it until after I started.

Since someone commented on it I think I should point out that Ruby's relative isolation from everyone else isn't really because people don't like the Rose family in this, but because they don't trust them or think they're insane. More or less, the Rose family is the only group that tells many stories about Sanctuary, which is essentially an Ancient Rome/Atlantis hybrid when it comes to influence and technology. For most, these stories are ridiculous. This, combined with their unwillingness to talk about their family or its history, along with another thing that will be discussed in a later chapter, makes most people view members of the Rose family as highly enigmatic, possibly insane individuals. For a Rose, you don't reveal anything to "outsiders" unless you absolutely have to.

This, of course, won't apply to Ruby since her mom died early on, meaning that the only information that would be passed on would be basic things every Rose is expected to know, mostly about their semblance, bits of knowledge that led to her freaking out in the previous chapter, a few Rose family traditions (which will be revealed later), and how to read and write in the language used by the people of Sanctuary, most of which would have been done through recordings. Ruby doesn't even know what the true power of her silver eyes is at this point. That doesn't mean Ruby will tell anyone most of it, however.