Ross was sitting with his head faced down on his desk, Violet was talking with Xavier about something unimportant, and Tanya was staring at her brother and his team. All four of them were sitting in Professor Port's classroom, listening to the old man ramble about fighting an Ursa.

Seriously!? How is it that my imbecile of a brother has become a Team Leader? Tanya wondered as she grit her teeth.

Xavier motioned toward a gloomy looking girl with a bow on top of her head.

"That's her! That's the hotty I was telling you about this morning." Xavier explained to Violet, who gave him a strange look.

"Blake Belladonna? Seriously?" Violet questioned.

Snoooore~

Ross' snoring broke up their conversation and gained a short glare from Professor Port.

Violet turned back to her Teammate, "But really? Blake? I mean, she's cute, but you only really met her on the ship. Even then, t was just for a moment."

Xavier sighed, "Yeah, maybe. But what about her hot friend sitting next to her!? I mean, look at the size of that blonde's b-"

"I do, sir!"

The class turned to see Weiss Schnee, raising her hand in response to the Professor's challenge.

Professor Port had apparently asked the class which of them thinks they deserve to be called a true Hunter.

Ross shook his head awake to see the Ice Queen in pitched combat with a Borbatusk.

"Wha!? How'd a Grimm get in here!?" He demanded from Tanya, receiving a hrsh shushing.

"You'll interrupt the girl's concentration and possibly injure her." She said, covering Ross mouth.

Weiss was thrown back by the beast's powerful tusks!

"Weiss, go for its underside! It's unarmored!" Ruby yelled at her teammate, getting a resentful glare from the girl in white.

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss screamed, then proceeded to fight the Boarbatusk.

"Well, she's obviously unhappy..." Xavier snarked.

Finally, Weiss stabbed the Grimm's underside, killing it.

"Excellent! It seems we are in the presence of a true huntress in training!" Professor Port cheered, applauding the Ice Queen.

"Pfft." Xavier scoffed, gaining glares from his teammates, "I could've done that in my sleep."

Ross nodded, "Yeah, no let me do it my sleep." And with that, his head went back down.

Brrrrring!

Bell rang.

Team VRTX got up from their seats to exit the class.

"I swear... That is the most stuck up professor I've ever had..." Violet exhaled to her teammates. "He would not stop droning on about himself. I mean, he made Professor Midori look humble."

Something about the name Midori made Ross stop dead in his tracks.

"Did you say Midori?" Ross asked, a sad look in his eyes.

"Uhh, yeah, yeah I did Ross. Why do you ask?"

Ross kept walking, his usually cheery demeanor now gone.

"Nothing Vi', it's nothing..." He kept walking on without saying a word.

"Um, Ross. The cafeteria is this wa-"

"I need to be alone." He grumbled, as he continued to walk down the hall.

Violet was about to go after him when Xavier stopped her.

"There's something up with Ross. I think you struck a raw nerve when you mentioned that professor." He explained.

"Yes. Perhaps he was closely acquainted with the professor and misses him dearly." Tanya suggested.

"That doesn't make any sense though, he's from the Dragon Lands. There's no way that name could mean anything to him." Violet explained, receiving a shrug from the wolf boy.

"I dunno. But what I do know is that something's bugging him. I think some alone time would be nice for the guy." Xavier said.

"Yes, perhaps a short session of isolation would benefit our friend Ross, I find that I can think the clearest when I am alone." Tanya added.

Violet gave an understanding nod, and the three of them watch Ross round the corner at the end of the hall.

Ross' plan was to go to his room, lay in bed, and refuse to wake up until his memories were once again supressed by the wonder of this new and high tech world called Vale.

Why did they have to ruin this for me? Why do my failures have to chase me to even here?

His forlorn thoughts were cut short when he bumped into someone, knocking her over and slipping on her long red cape.

He looked up and around to see a young girl with black and red hair rubbing her head and looking at him.

"Hey! that hurt!" Ruby Rose grumbled, getting to her feet and staring down at Ross.

Ross looked up at her, but didn't get up.

"Oh, uh, sorry..." He apologized.

She looked down at him with a grumpy face that looked forced overall, before finally breaking and turning to a smile.

"Uh, what's wrong?" She asked him, leaning over him and staring at his face.

Ross sighed and looked back up at her.

"It's nothing... I just, well... I lost someone important to me." He said quietly.

"What!?" Ruby questioned, funneling her hand goofily around one ear to get a better understanding of him, "I can't hear you!" She mused.

"I lost someone important to me!" Ross almost yelled!

Ruby jerked back.

"Whoa... No need to shout."

She offered her hand to him in a similar manner to how Vomit Boy offered a hand to her.

"I'm Ruby Rose." She stated, shaking her hand a little to further extend her invitation.

Ross sighed and took Ruby's hand.

"Ross Mayweather..."

Once he was on his feet, he gave her a small smile.

"Hey, weren't you the girl who exploded?"

In a few minutes, the two of them were sitting in team RWBY's dorm together, talking about the school and such.

"All I'm saying is that dust allergies are a much more common problem than one might think!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah," Ross chuckled, already feeling better after his reminder from earlier.

But then...

"So, what was it that had you so bummed out?" Ruby asked, pushing Ross back into his depressed state.

Ross simply sighed...

"Ruby... Have you ever lost someone you deeply cared about?" Ross asked, receiving a sad look about Ruby's face. "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you-"

"Yes..."

Ross took a moment to let that sink in.

"I lost my mother when I was just a little girl..."

Ross listened intently to Ruby talking about her mother.

"She was beautiful... The most beautiful huntress my father had ever seen..."

Ross could only imagine, because now that he looked at Ruby, he'd be lying if he said that she wasn't in the least bit attractive.

"I'm... Sorry..." Said Ross, "I lost someone precious to me as well."

Ruby nodded, "Go on."

"Really? I'm a complete stranger though." Ross asked.

"Well, I'd call us friends." Ruby stated with a small smile.

"We're able to tolerate and hold a conversation for longer than five minutes, so we must be friends then." Ross cracked.

Ruby giggled at his little joke before returning to her focused manner.

"It was Master Midori that told me that when I first spoke with him." Ross stated, "Back then he was only known as 'the Outsider'."

Ruby nodded and Ross continued.

"Midori was a huntsman from a distant land. We didn't know that land was Vale at the time, as we we a very introverted little civilization." He explained.

"What's it like?" Ruby asked.

"Huh?" Ross asked in return.

"What's your home like?"

"Oh, the Dragon Lands? Much different than Vale, that's for sure. There's lots of high mountains, sakura trees, pagodas, and a lack of technology. We were only really 'discovered' by Vacuo eight years ago. It's really a wonder our civilization had survived to this point."

Ruby nodded, "It sounds interesting."

"Pffft!" Ross scoffed, "No way! You know how boring that place was? There was no excitement outside of a Grimm attack, which at the time we called Youkai."

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Well, we were pretty much defenseless until a certain huntsman came to stay. That huntsman was none other than Midori."

Ruby nodded, "I've heard that name before. He was a professor at Signal before I started going there. My old friend Violet had him for Weapons designing 101." She smiled when she remembered how much her friend used to complain about that class and teacher. "Then one day, he just disappeared."

"He didn't disappear, he moved." Ross clarified.

"He came to stay permanently in the Dragon Lands. He told me the story."

It started to make sense to Ruby now.

"Even though he cut down Grimm attacks immensely, the people still didn't respect him." Ross explained.

"No one?" Ruby asked.

"Well, just one..." Ross sighed, "A stupid little kid named Ross Mayweather, who thought that they green guy with the huge sword was awesome!"

Ruby stifled a small giggle.

"Yeah, I thought the guy was amazing, but everyone told me to stay away." Ross nodded as he spoke, "'stay away' they said, 'he's an outsider', 'he'll only get us killed.' they told me. I didn't care. I saw a hero." Ross sighed, "And I wanted to be a hero too."

Ruby smiled a knowing smile that said 'I can totally relate'

"So, one day, I talked to the guy." Ross said sadly, "Now, six years later, I'm a student at Beacon and he's a body in a grave."

Ruby jerked back when he said this.

"He trained me to fight the same way he did, and when he left us, when he left me, I had to be the one to defend the people from Grimm." Ross lamented.

"I'm... Well..." Ruby tried to find the right words.

"I have to become a huntsman like him, so I can defend my people and honor his sacrifice."

Ross was looking down and suffering a lump in his throat.

"They sent a hunter to take my place while I train here, Ozpin made sure of it."

"Then why are you so sad? It's not your fault you mast-"

"But it is my fault!" Ross exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air! "It was the middle of another training session when some guys in pitch black suits with bone white armor attacked us and held my master at gunpoint!" Ross was on the verge of letting tears flow, "His sword was on the floor, I reached out and grabbed it, I was ready to fight, then I ran away!"

Ross struggled to catch his breath. Ruby stared at him with a worried look on her face.

"I ran away because I was scared, I ran away with his sword and it is the VERY sword I still use to this day! Bullet-breaker."

Ruby looked at the collapsed buster on his back, then gave Ross a sorry stare.

"I... I don't know what to say Ross..." Ruby told him, moving to sit next to him now.

"W-What're you-"

Ruby cut him off and gave him a big hug from the side. As she hugged him he could feel some of his sadness drain.

"You don't have to feel sad anymore..." She told him, "I'm your friend, I know it'll be okay."

Ross tried hard to hold back the tears.

"It's okay to cry, Ross. I don't care..."

That was when he let it out. He hadn't cried since Midori had died, not once. His parents wouldn't let him mourn the death of 'the outsider' and were even glad the man died. He couldn't cry if he was to be a great warrior, so he kept it all in. Now, it flowed from him. Ross cried while ruby hugged him, and eventually he stopped. He was done.

"Feel better, big guy?" Ruby asked him, receiving a shaky nod from the boy.

"I'll live." He replied simply, as she let him go and he stood up.

"Thanks Ruby, for listening to me..."

"No problem!" Ruby mused as he walked out of the team RWBY's dorm.

As Ross walked down the hall, he saw something strange moving outside. It looked like a person, but they were covered head to toe in pitch black. White plates armored the vital areas on their body, and a mask reminiscent of a beowulf covered their face. Their body looked masculine, so Ross assumed it was a man.

What the heck?

Ross hopped out the window and raised his fist to summon a column to land on.

As soon as Ross hit the floor, the mysterious man dressed like a Grimm turned to him and let out a growl.

"Who are you!? What are you doing here!?" Ross demanded, unfolding his Bullet-breaker and pointing it at the intruder.

The figure let out a low laugh, that seemed to have the gruff growl of a beowulf mixed into it.

"You know nothing, huntsman." He said, revealing a low, gravelly voice, with a ghostly overtone.

The figure suddenly reached behind it to pull out two bone white katanas with revolver chambers mixed into the guard!

"But you've seen too much," The man gave his swords a spin, "I gotta tie up a loose end now, human. Nothing personal."

Ross brought his buster back and assumed a guarding position, ready to fight this mysterious enemy.

Alright! You've trained for this Ross! Let's show him what we've got!

I'm gonna leave that cliffhanger there because I'm evil. Mwauhahahaha~!

So, Ross backstory is kinda interesting, right? He was trained by a huntsman named Midori (Japanese for Green) who acted as a father figure to him, then was killed by a mysterious organization while Ross ran like a coward because he was young and afraid.

Do you think Ross and Ruby have a thing going for each other? I'm not gonna tell you what I plan on doing. Xavier thinks most girls around him are hot, so don't think he's gunning toward Blake or Yang.

I really enjoy seeing reviews and follows and favorites and such, so please continue to do so.

I want to know which character is your favorite.

Next up: A fight with the Unknown.