Ruby was baffled, she'd eaten human food before over a century ago, but it didn't stay down. She ended up puking it up, out of fear, she ran away from the only person who'd actually accepted how different she was. But tonight, she managed to keep the food down. She tasted every sweet, decadent, sugary crumb. She could feel something building inside of her. "R-Ruby," Cy said as the girl in his seat scrunched up, "is everything okay?"

"I hope she's not allergic to chocolate," Winter said.

"I hope so too," Ivy said, "I spent most of the afternoon baking enough of those cookies for everyone."

Ruby groaned, getting everyone's attention. The groaned grew into a contained squeal of delight, "I LOVE IT!" She shouted, "THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I'VE EVER TASTED! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!"

The group shushed her, "Sorry Ruby," Cy said in a whisper, "but other people living in this building are asleep at the moment. Don't draw any attention toward yourself."

Ruby didn't care, the cookie was too delicious to resist. "But it's so~ good, Cy." She said with a grin of giddiness.

Ivy blushed, "Thanks, I baked them myself."

Ruby looked to the older girl and hugged her, "Your cooking is extraordinary, Miss…"

Ivy couldn't help but chuckle, "Thanks, I learned all I know from…" She hesitated, "… well two very wonderful people."

Winter looked at this strange girl wearing Ivy's old clothes. Something about her appearance struck her as familiar. "Ruby," She said getting the brunette's attention, "Have we met before?"

"Hmm," Ruby hummed as she lightly scratched her chin, "not that I'm aware of, no. I don't even know your name."

Winter smiled slightly, "My name is Winter," She said, "Winter Schnee II. I'm named after my great-aunt of three generations ago. Back during time of Jacques Schnee, whom the family doesn't bring up in conversation, for certain reasons."

"With the kinds of things that scoundrel and Winter I's brother committed, I'm not surprised," Umbra said. He looked to Ruby, "It'd be better looking up the events of the Schnee family in a local encyclopedia, I've tried all online sources, but most of the accounts of Jacques and Whitley Schnee," These names both sent small, yet subtle shudders of disgust through Ruby's body, Umbra still kept going, "were heavily redacted. The Schnee family went to great lengths to make their names disappear. Only Winter I, and her younger sister Weiss, and the names of most of the family staff aren't redacted."

Weiss Schnee, that name filled Ruby's recently noticed heart with warmth. She saw so much of a resemblance in Winter II, that it almost brought tears to her eyes. The young vampire kept herself composed, a trait that Weiss had helped her learn through working tirelessly with the brunette all those years ago. "Ruby," The brunette's attention turned to Cypress, "is everything okay?"

Ruby smiled, "Yes, why wouldn't everything be okay?"

"You looked like you were spacing out for a moment," Nora said.

"I assure you all, I'm fine," Ruby said, "it's just been a little while since I was in a situation like this."

"Surrounded by total strangers, with only one person you know completely?" Luna asked. Ruby nodded, "I can understand that. I mean that's why we do this every other week."

"What do you normally do during these get-togethers?" Ruby asked.

"Play games, have fun, laugh," Azure listed, "Most of the time we play Dungeons and Dragons to start it off."

Ruby suddenly remembered the book she'd found in the bag of clothes Cy had given her. She stood up and walked over to where her poncho had been hung on the wall. From one of the poncho's detachable waterproof pockets, she pulled out a small, leather bound book. "Cy you left this in the bag of clothes you left with me."

Cy looked at the book, "That's where it went," he said, "I'd been looking for that for weeks. It must have been knocked into that bag by accident."

"I hope it's okay that I read some of it." Ruby said.

Cy's eyes lit up, "That's absolutely okay." He said.

"I actually couldn't put it down," Ruby added, "you're a pretty good writer, Cy."

Cypress blushed, "Th-thank you." He stammered, "But, I can't take all the credit. I mean it's mostly from all of us, I'm just one person."

"But Cy," Umbra interjected, "You're the one who wrote down all of the events from our campaigns. And who knows, one day you might actually bring D and D to the literary popularity of World of Warcraft."

"Never heard of that title," Ruby said, "I'm only familiar with the Dungeons and Dragons games."

"Oh, you're a classic roleplay game fan," Umbra said, "that's awesome. I can totally respect that."

Ruby laughed, "Well, not really, I'm more of a fan of literature as a whole."

"That's a rarity in this technology heavy era." Azure said, "But I can see why you prefer books."

Ruby smiled, "But, I'm open to new things," The others at the table felt at ease with the brunette, "And it's been a while since I've done… well something similar to this."

Cy looked to Azure, "Do we have to do the initiation thing?" he asked.

"Hm," Azure scratched his chin, "since she's your new friend, I say we make it a team trial."

"Initiation," Ruby asked, "team trial?"

Ivy sighed, "It was Azure's idea."

Luna looked to Ruby, "These doofs decided it would be a good idea to initiate new members to our group."

"Basically," Nora added, "you're set in a game against the person in the room who is most skilled in that game."

"And since it's a team trial," Winter spoke up, "you're teamed up with a person of your choice while you play. That gives you a fairly nice handicap."

Ruby thought about it, "Are there any other rules about this trial?" She asked.

"Only that you get to choose your opponent in the initiation." Ivy said.

"And trust me, kiddo," Umbra said, "we're a few of the best gamers in this region, though most of us thrive in fast paced card and action games. They're Cy's weakest game type, by the way."

"Yeah, but I'm good at other types of games." Cy protested.

"This is true." Ivy said, "But, it's Ruby's decision who to battle against and who she'll battle alongside."

Ruby went into a state of deep thought. She wanted to impress Cy, but she wanted to do it her own way. She took her finger and pointed to the strawberry blonde haired boy and said, "I choose you as my opponent, Cypress." She said.

There was an audible gasp as the younger members of the group's eyes went wide with shock. "Ooh," Umbra said, "You just wanna charge right into a swarm of yellow jackets, don't you kiddo?"

Ruby looked at everyone at the table, "What's the matter?" She asked.

Nora laughed, "Well, ya see," she said nervously.

"Lemme break it down for you," Luna said, "Each of us specialize in game types. Nora's forte is smash your opponent into the pavement types of games like Doom, Smash Bros., and Mortal Kombat. I'm pretty good at the games in the survival horror and mystery genre, like the Nancy Drew games, and Five Nights at Freddy's. Umbra, over there, prefers the roleplay table top games, like D and D and the like. Azure's specialties are arcade style games like Mario Bros. and Galaga. Ivy specializes in turn based strategy games like Final Fantasy and Pokémon. Winter, as Umbra said, is balanced in her specialties. Any kind of game is something she can adapt to."

"And what about Cypress," Ruby asked.

"Puzzles and platformers," Luna said, "like Balloon Fight and Ultimate Chicken Horse."

The latter of the titles that Luna had mentioned was one that was unfamiliar to Ruby, "I'm pretty good at puzzles too. But in the traditional sense, not video games."

"Oh, hoho, boy," Umbra said, "I think this is gonna be good. Who do you choose to be your teammate?"