Yahallo! Kaage here with a new chapter! I'm aware that the earlier chapter was... not up to standard. I'm improving, but that takes time. So sorry again.

In other news, I did get enough sleep! Which was surprising seeing as I finished the earlier chapter when it was 2 a.m. in the morning. School is ABSOLUTE hell right now in the trimester as EVERYBODY is struggling in English and apparently I'm the only one that can actually pass the tests, so EVERYONE is asking for my help. It'd be fine if maybe one or two people, but a WHOLE class? Headaches all day every day, and it's worse since exams start soon. But club activities are doing great! And you know how much I LOVE my club activities. But hey, life is good and bad, right?

So see you at the end guys!

~Kaage

~Volume 1, Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon, Part 1~

The road to Beacon was peaceful. If you ignored the argument between Emerald and Mercury, of course.

"I'm telling you, stop doing your pranks. Do you want to get expelled? After Rain tried so hard to let us join him early?"

"Relax Em, it's not like I'll get kicked out for dousing water on a person"

"But you WILL get expelled if you do it long enough"

"... Ok. I'll cut down"

"No. Stop"

"I'll do it once in a while"

"I said stop"

"... I'll think about it"

Elsewhere, Cinder and Rain were discussing their plans for when they touched down.

"This is a mistake. Ozpin knows I took the Fall Maiden's powers. It's a deathtrap. I'll be killed the moment we touch down" Cinder said, sitting cross legged and staring out of the window, with Rain sitting beside her.

"Cinder, don't worry. The three of us are here to help you-"

"Emerald and Mercury are a part of this too. They helped me steal her powers. And we'll drag you down with us if you're not careful" She said, staring straight into his eyes.

"And you won't. I can handle myself. And I made a promise. And a Saber never breaks a promise. I'm standing by you. For now an forever" Rain said, taking Cinder's hand within his own and staring into her bright Amber eyes with his own Rose Red ones, making her blush slightly at the contact.

"Ok... I understand. I trust you" Cinder sighed. She enjoyed his company. Unlike Mercury, who was loud and lazy, Rain was a down-to-earth and hardworking person. And unlike Emerald, who was matured, yet too soft-spoken with her, Rain was outspoken, yet matured when he speaks.

"Hey lovebirds! We're landing. Let's go!" Mercury called, earning a smack from Emerald, a blush from Cinder and a sigh from Rain.

"Well, you heard him. Let's go"

As soon as they touched down, they saw an explosion from another Bullhead.

"Well, we're not even in the initiation yet, and there are already accidents and explosions. Who's up for some exploring?" Rain asked. And in an instant, Mercury walked away. "Well, let's go girls"

As they got closer, Rain surprisingly saw the two girls he met during the night of the robbery. Ruby Rose and... that white-haired girl. He never really got her name. Well, time to stop their argument.

"Hello girls. May I help you?" Rain said, approaching them.

"And who do you think you are- Oh" the White-haired stopped, wide-eyed at the sight of him.

"Oh, Rain! How are you! And who are they?" Ruby asked, pointing towards Cinder and Emerald.

"Oh, they're Cinder Fall and Emerald Sustrai. Guys, meet Ruby Rose. She helped me stop the robbery. And this is... uh..." Rain said, guesturing towards the White-haired girl.

"Don't you know who I am? I-"

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world" a young, bow wearing girl said, walking towards them.

The girl, now identified as Weiss, smiled smugly. "Finally! Some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners"

And to this the young heiress was left speechless. ""Wha- How dare you- The nerve of... Ugh!"

She gets up in front of the girl's face and takes the bottle of Dust away from her, and before storming off, she turned to Rain and said, "I would expect YOU to remember my name, Rain"

"I promise I'll make this up to you! I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day... So, what's..."Ruby asks but sees the mysterious girl walking off as well, then collapses to the ground on her back. "Welcome to Beacon"

"Hey, you'll get better. Just give it some time" Rain said, chuckling at the young girl's awkwardness.

She remains this way until a shadow comes over her.

"Hey... I'm Jaune" he said, holding out his hand.

"Ruby" she says, taking his hand and standing up.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

The only thing Rain, Cinder and Emerald could do was shake their heads and sigh.

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune said, putting his hands up in the air.

With a laugh, Ruby answered, "Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh, yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?"

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!"

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue- ladies love it!" Jaune said, giving them a 'charming' smile.

"Do they?" the four of them asked skeptically.

"They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that... Never mind."

"Well, name's Rain Gleave. That's Cinder Fall and that's Emerald Sustrai. There WAS supposed to be one more guy, Mercury Black. But he went ahead of us" Rain said, gesturing to his companions.

Ruby giggled at Jaune's introduction, before an awkward silence befell them. "So... I got this thing!" Ruby said, pulling out her Scythe and planted it on the ground.

"Whoa! Is that a scythe?" Jaune said, wide-eyed.

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"A-wha...?"

She cocks it, smiling. "It's also a gun."

"Oh. That's cool!"

"So what've you got?" Ruby asked, now curious.

"Oh! I, uh..." Jaune said, unsheathing his sword. "I got this sword!"

"Ooooohh!"

"Yeah, and I've got a shield, too!" he says, getting his scabbard, raising his arm and expanding the metal into his defense.

Touching his shield, she asked, "So, what do they do?"

Jaune fumbled with the shield as it retracts off his arm, expands, and retracts again before putting it back in place and finally shrinking it down for good, placing it on his belt. "The shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away..."

"But... wouldn't it weigh the same?"

"Yeah, it does..." Jaune said, dejectedly. Well, what about you guys?" Jaune asked the trio, hoping their weapons weren't as flashy.

"Well..." Emerald started, taking her weapons out. "I've got these dual pistols. They turn into kusarigamas..." she continued, changing the weapons into their alternate forms. "… That can also be detached using chains" she ended, demonstrating the weapon further.

It was Cinder's turn next. "Well, these are my weapons" she said, pulling out a pair of blades. "they can be used as normal blades, or as a bow" she demonstrated, combining her blades into a bow and firing three arrows towards the sky, which exploded when they reached their maximum height. "I can also manipulate fire" she continued, forming a ball of flames in her hands.

Now all eyes were on Rain. Jaune expected his weapon to be something sleek and simple due to the way he carried himself. Oh, boy was he wrong. And now Ruby was trembling in excitement.

Rain pulled out his baby, Caliburn. "This is Caliburn. She has three weapon forms. Sword, Rifle, and War-Scythe, with different variations for each. The Sword form comprises of two blades combined into one. I can use the Dust vents to dispel Dust that can be ignited to produce various effects like burn, freeze, paralyze and others. I can also use the Vents that can propel me forward at high speeds" Rain says, demonstrating the Sword Form's capabilities. Next was his Rifle form. "The Rifle Form allows for different munitions to be used and can shoot in bursts, semi-automatic and full-automatic. There's a bi-pod stand installed, which allows it to function as a sniper rifle" he continued, further demonstrating the Caliburn's ranged capabilities. "Lastly, there's the War Scythe. It functions as both a Scythe and a Glaive, which complements my flexible acrobatic fighting style for the weapon. The rifle function now also acts as a propellant, letting me move twice as quick. And makes my attacks twice as fast" Rain said, changing Caliburn into it's final form.

By the end of his explanation, Jaune was dazed, being overloaded with information, and Ruby was screaming with joy. But then she noticed a dagger strapped behind his back.

"Hey Rain, what's this dagger for?" she asked, pointing at his intricately designed black, blue, yellow and gray dagger.

"It's for... emergencies" Rain answered, putting a finger on his lips.

They then both turned to Jaune, who's mouth was agape.

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, sooo... I guess I did go a little overboard when designing it." Ruby explained, giggling.

"Me too, I guess" Rain answered sheepishly.

"Wait- you guys made that?!"

"Yup, all me" Rain said, slinging Caliburn over his shoulder.

"Yes" Cinder answered.

"Me too" Emerald said, sheathing her weapons

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons! Didn't you make yours?" Ruby asked.

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war" Jaune answered, dejected.

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby laughed. "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics…" Jaune said, sheathing his sword.

"So why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?" Ruby asked.

Jaune just shrugged, answering, "Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'"

"That's true" Rain agreed, with Cinder and Emerald nodding.

"Hmm" Ruby said looking around. "Hey, where are we going?"

"Oh, I don't know! I was following you. Y-You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some kind of recognizable landmark? Is, uh... Is that a 'no'?" Jaune asked, nervous.

"That's a 'no'" Ruby laughed.

And that wraps it up! I had to sneak my laptop into school to write this. Thank god school starts at 8.30, so I went to school at 6 and spent until homeroom writing the story. And lunch time. And the time between the end of school and my club activities, as well as the train ride back home and after I got my homework done. The response for the earlier chapter was AMAZING! Save for a few reviews. And that really spurred me to write the next chapter. And since this episode was short, it was really easy to finish.

Thanks for the favorites and follows and please voice your opinions and ideas if you have any!

So from my comfort of my own home in Japan. See you in the next chapter!

~Kaage