The ride to Beacon was long, she mused. Unnecessarily so, even. No one needed this much time to prepare themselves for future hunting, right? She spent the last four hours of the ride doing just that, though, so she can't really say anything.

Okay, she was completely lying on that, she had no interest hunting at all. In fact, the only reason she'd ever agreed to join this academy instead of bolting out of that interrogation room was the offer- wiped record? A constant flow of info on Blake's wellbeing and whereabouts? It sounded good to her, but she'd admit she had jumped the metaphorical gun a bit. Forget about dodging bullets- that was for pansies. She lived for the thrill of the fight; Ozpin simply won the fight through non-negotiable terms, that's all. She'll keep telling herself that for the next four years to come, and everything will be A-Okay.

So, what did that leave her doing right now? Why, just everything that she'd always wanted to do, of course! I mean, who wouldn't want to get berated and shouted at over the scroll?

Sarcasm. Right now, though, Ruby was doing just that. Sat in a dark corner with her scroll on loudspeaker and her head held in the hand not being occupied by said scroll. The device was a gift, really- a black scroll, nothing too extravagant, with a small gemstone of near-useless quality inlaid at the centre of the back of it. When folded it was designed to look a little slimmer than the standard scrolls seen everywhere, and it had a little bit more functionality to it. Melanie had given it to her- the usually outspoken and brash girl, she remembered, had gone unusually soft and shy when handing it to her. Militia, on the other hand, was almost-always the source of shyness from the two, and she'd taken the time to tease Melanie about it. Though Ruby did note her voice always seemed a little softer when speaking to her.

Not right fucking now, it didn't!

"Are you serious, Ruby!? How in the fuck did you get snatched by Ozpin of all people!?"

This question, she swears, had been asked a hundred times in the whole five minutes of this conversation; and Ruby had given the same answer over and over again. It was becoming stale, but they were worried, Ruby could see that. Hell, she was worried about herself. The amount of stupidity she'd shown in this choice of hers made herself feel very stupid- if the action was stupid, and it made you feel stupid, you knew that right then you were stupid. Or, in the very least, you could pass it off as a bad day brought on through lack of good sleep, and the only sleep you did get was from the solid-metal of a chair with arms and legs confined of freedom to move. In short, however, she'd just say she didn't get enough sleep and leave it at that.

While attempting not to sigh, because really she knew they were just looking out for her, Ruby turned to the accidental video chat she'd done- yeah, sure, it was great having it on loud speaker for everyone on the damn ship to hear, but what was even better? Why, seeing your girlfriends'-but-not-quite-girlfriends' smug and angered, yet also worried, faces! Nothing better than it, she'd say…while smacking her head into a brick wall until she started giving said brick a new colouring of red.

"It's like I've said the other fifteen times you asked: Oz made a deal, it had Blake involved, and like the self-deprecating retarded moron I am, I accepted it without thinking it through."

Militia was sat there, one leg over the other with hands held to her chest in that clichéd 'worried about you' expression; for some reason it did weird things to Ruby's gut, made her feel bad but satisfied, so she focused on Melanie next. The girl had an indignant look about her, eyes furious but with gentle concern being masked well by the fury, arms held to her sides with balled up fists…yeah, they were aiming to make her feel guilty for worrying them, now, weren't they? Great.

"Ruby?"

"Hm?"

Militia unclasped her hands, holding them down onto her lap while she changed the position of her crossed legs. Her hands were being wrung, as though she was nervous, and Ruby knew enough about body language to know there was also embarrassment. From what it was exactly was what Ruby was wondering about, but it didn't take long before the answer presented itself in the form of a red face and two sets of sad yet hopeful eyes.

Melanie had shifted from looking angered and concerned to an odd mixture of worried, hopeful and loving- dare she say the last one for fear of 'getting soft'. Now that she noticed it, Ruby saw how ruffled the twins' hair was, and how messy their clothing was compared to what it was usually like; prim, proper, elegant, and she would die a happy woman when she said they were sexy as fuck. All of that made for a fatal combination that had men and women both coming up to them and 'propositioning', for lack of a better word, them both for either sex or a good relationship. Ruby had no idea why they were both saving themselves, but each day she spent with them the answer was getting clearer and clearer by the second. It made her feel…actually she doesn't know what it made her feel- but Ruby knew that they were both serious about it, and she could respect that by trying to take it seriously too.

"Is…is that date still on?"

Ruby removed her eyes form Melanie and looked Militia in the eyes; anything to indicate they weren't looking forward to it, anything to indicate they were just joking, anything. But as it turns out, she could find nothing more than hope, embarrassment, worry, and that little look of love that she's seen a couple of her marks give to their wives or husbands.

They were taking this seriously, and Ruby wouldn't lie by saying that they didn't interest her, so she'd take it seriously too.

"Yes, definitely; but it'll have to be another week that you girls will have to wait." Her face morphed from serious to apologetic in an instant, relaying just how sorry she truly was. Mentally though she ticked off her list of 'promises broken'. They were tallying in the fifties now. She noticed the feeling of hairs standing on end, and her breathing began to subconsciously quicken; turning left and right, she couldn't see anyone, but she knew that she was being watched- no, that feeling she's still feeling went far beyond watching. She was being observed, probed from afar, and she's felt this feeling before. When those coloured eyes she was so familiar with locked with her own when she returned from a heist-gone-well, or came home with more money than her supposed 'waitressing job' should allow.

Sighing, she turned to the girls on the scroll. "Sorry girls, gotta go now; call me 'round about nine tonight, yeah?"

After receiving her farewells from the twins, Ruby closed her scroll and sat up slowly while rotating eyes around rapidly, her head throbbing from the feeling of a distant headache undoubtedly about to come into play within her skull. Nevertheless, she spun around, hoping to find someone else…someone other than the person she suspected would be there.

Instead, she came face to face with the one person she was hoping would never notice her being here. Yang Xiao-Long.

"Uh…" of course, for all her intelligence- or, Ruby would argue, lack thereof- Yang simply stared, muttering that same thing over and over again. It was as though someone had thrown an EMP into her ears and it fried her brain good and proper- then again, Ruby had no need for EMPs, so she knew not if that was physically possible. Looking closer, as in below her eyes, Ruby noticed her sister's jaw just flapping there. Apparently she'd had enough of simply muttering 'uh' for the rest of the hour's trip, and stood there catching flies instead.

So being the generous sister she is, Ruby swung her hand up and clamped Yang's jaw closed, gently but firmly- hey, if she was bringing in the money for them to survive off of, she was damn-right taking liberties in who 'wore the pants', as people would say. While definitely not interested in that kind of relationship because…well, Ruby didn't like that kind of thing…people would argue that she was the 'bossy, strict' younger sister and Yang was the 'loose, party-happy' older one.

As soon as Yang felt her jaw close not of its own volition, her brain caught up with the present and she stared at her slowly-becoming-annoyed sister with both disbelief and joy.

Ruby closed her mouth, covered her ears with both hands, turned around and bent her head slightly.

Any second now…

"RUBY!?"

The ear-splitting shriek of equal measures joy and shock being emitted by her sister lasted for a full five seconds, in which time the ship came to a slow descent and landed just outside the 'prestigious' academy Ruby was to spend four years of her life in. in those precious five seconds, Yang had done something Ruby never thought possible; she'd managed to clear the entire ship of human and Faunus life.

Surely a new record.

"R-Rubes!? I thought you didn't want to be a Huntress?" Of course, no 'hi sis, how've you been?'. Although to be fair…they did only see each other just the other day, before this whole charade started in the first place. Still though, it did bother her that Yang would open with that statement, because she was completely correct with saying it. It was Yang's dream to become a Huntress, a person who fought to keep the light burning brightly. It was Yang's dream to battle back the ever-closing darkness that had completely surrounded the human and Faunus races since creation. It was Yang's dream to be a huntress, and the older girl must be feeling some sort of betrayal; not in the sense of being stabbed in the back, but in the sense of being lied to, at least.

Running a hand down her face, Ruby looked at Yang with an intense expression of thought while Yang babbled on and on about how much she knew her sister would 'come around'…whatever that meant. To be honest, most of what Yang had said flew right in one ear and out the other. Not to say Ruby ignored her on purpose, it'd just been a long day and she had a feeling it would be a little longer.

"-I still haven't found Bumblebee though; I think they have her in a garage at Beacon or something." After Yang's rather long two-minute babbling session had finally ended, Ruby decided it was time to at least make it seem like she'd been paying attention. Sure her head throbbed and, yes, she did know Yang could tell she wasn't paying attention, but for the sake of convenience it was kinda needed.

Moving towards the exit of the Bullhead while simultaneously answering her, Ruby lead them both towards the- what seemed to be- courtyard of the place. Not that they had a choice to take in the sights. Too many people crowding around and nattering away at each other ruined any and all view she would have gotten. Yang hums in distaste as well; while she may be a fighter and a partier, Yang can appreciate a good view.

"I would say yes to that, but don't hold your breath."

Yang, in response, clutched a hand to her chest and whined pitifully. "B-But…my precious!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Deal with it. I told you not to get too attached but nooooo, you had to just buy it because, and I quote you here, 'it's yellow, and everybody loves yellow'."

This would have been a good view of a large gothic castle-like building straight out of some sort of Lovecraft-themed novel or other. Instead, they both got a face-full of crowding nondescript humans and Faunus both intermingling with each other, both being incessantly loud to the point of hurting Ruby's ears, and both wearing the most stupid type of clothing she'd ever seen. For god's sake she saw a girl wearing a onesie! What fucking use did a onesie have during battle!? Then she'd seen even worse types of clothing; ranging from skirts short enough that a slight breeze would show the world their underwear, to battle dresses long enough to hamper any form of athletic movement. Then came the weapons. Sure, she'd gotten over the petty fact that people moved on from the 'classics' as she called them to weapons that insisted on shifting beyond one form, but no one needed a fucking flame sword! How did they not injure themselves wielding it!?

Yang, spotting her sister's inevitable mental breakdown, decided to herd her towards a spot she'd found that contained nothing but suitcases- but no one there for them. Perhaps, she mused as she pushed her fuming sister towards the space, they all belonged to one person? If so, then there was either a really rich person here, or there was just that many stupid people forgetting their suitcases. For some reason she was leaning towards the latter- while she wasn't the smartest she did have above average intelligence; came with the street smarts that Ruby had drilled into her admittedly thick skull. It's honestly not even her fault! I mean, what Yang really should have been questioning was "How in the hell does my little sister seem to be more successful in bringing in money, Dust, clothing and who knows what else while all I do is fight at bars?", but then she remembered Ruby's supposed well-paying day job, and wiped the question from her mind.

Ruby, however, was simply burning with rage at the stupidity of the masses. Why did she agree to this again? Why did she risk her life for Dust to soothe her hands only to be captured, interrogated and pretty much bribed into coming to a school filled with people that trained to be her very antithesis?

Then, her hands went into her pocket and touched a black and red ribbon- oh, that's why. Of course it was all for Blake, the only person in the world she'd dare to call a friend. Besides her sister of course, but you couldn't really be friends with family members you've been lying to. Ruby and Blake never did leave anything out of conversations, never did hide things. If one was in pain the other would come to soothe it, if one needed something the other would have it. She remembered the embarrassing moment of them both thinking they were in love with the other, making out, then realising after a full two hours of mind-blowing sex that the feeling they felt was more familial than anything. It was one of the reasons that Blake and Ruby both couldn't even mention 'bed' and 'whiskey' in the same sentence. Of course after the embarrassment had worn off they both were closer than ever to each other- just…never in that way again.

She remembered a lot by touching that simple piece of cloth, but it was enough for her anger to dissipate and her sadness to vanish. She was here for Blake- no one else, not even her sister. Just Blake. And that thought alone was enough to make the tension of being in a school filled with her supposed enemies disappear. She was a thief, and no amount of living on the 'light side' was enough to change her point of view. Four years of Hunting was nothing to eleven years of crime, thievery and general hatred of the justice system. Hunters and Huntresses, in her mind, were simply overpaid cops potentially even more corrupt with a side job of eliminating Grimm every once in a while.

Taking out her scroll, muttering noncommittal 'sure' and 'uhuh' every two minutes when her sister began explaining what Beacon was supposed to be like, Ruby looked at the picture of her one and only friend. She lifted a hand, tracing the picture's head, where the bow was.

She hoped Blake would skin her after she'd explained herself. Of course, she'd rather not get skinned, but she deserved it. Her apparent betrayal would need a lot of ironing out anyway- then came the details, then the reasons, then the ethics…yeah, she'd better get planning her will and testament, and most likely her epitaph.

After a full two minutes of just staring at the image, Ruby realised the blabbering of her sister had stopped, and silence reigned; for once she was thankful for her sister's presence in a time like this. Then again, whenever her sister was silent it was always because of one of two things; she found something else to occupy her time, or she'd left the area. A small cursory scan had indeed revealed to her that Yang had left the area, and to her immense gratitude Ruby could hear her sister a little bit away walking off with some friends she'd quickly made. Yes, Yang was indeed a social butterfly that could latch onto one person and infest them with smiles and happiness, with a willingness to open up to her. Ruby on the other hand preferred her quiet, her books, her planning and her thievery.

Night and day had more similarities than those two, but Ruby supposed it was just the way things worked.

Sighing in despair and the odd feeling she got when her sister was gone- called satisfaction- Ruby unceremoniously slumped backwards, slamming into a bunch of crates that seemed a little too light to contain anything like clothing and weaponry.

'Peace and quiet, finally'. By closing her eyes, she could just imagine the empty meadow with roses and nightshades and tulips and all other manner of flower that had no reason to co-exist but did anyway. She could just feel the gentle breeze and see the deep blue sky and smell the myriad scents of flowers in the air. Her little haven, her mindscape, her happy place; all words used to describe the deepest recesses of her mind- past the black and the shadows that made up her conscious thoughts, her subconscious was the exact opposite. It was a peaceful place that soothed her very soul of all immoral and unjust deeds she'd committed. This was her place to go when the world grew too dark for her to see in, or when her hands became too stained with blood, and her ears became filled with all manner of noise- from shouts to halt her movement, most likely from pursuing police, to cries of anguish, most definitely from an unlucky victim that had four kids and only enough money to feed three mouths.

The place in her head provided respite, peace, calm…

…Then white stung her vision, and that whole two seconds of peace and quiet was shattered.

"What do you think you're doing!?"