Something I'e been meaning to mention for some time but keep forgetting about, if you want to see artwork of Ruby's outfit and the Crescent Rose Keyblade, I've posted them on Tumblr where I am also Vengfulfate

A mass of students piled off the airship and onto the shining courtyard of Beacon Academy. Among them were a pair of sisters, one significantly more happy to be there than the other. "I know it's no Land of Departure," Yang laid her arm on her sister's shoulder, "but it's not so bad, right?"

Ruby considered briefly being rude about it, but the truth was this was her choice. Her frustrations weren't even about Beacon, but the still silent Gummiphone in her back pocket. Putting her frustrations on Yang wouldn't be fair. Ruby managed a smile, "It reminds me a lot of the castle, really. A ton more people, though."

"Really?" Yang seemed genuinely surprised. "I thought there's be trainees out the wahoo."

"Gross," Ruby shook her head, "and no. There were only four students, including me."

"Four students for all the worlds?" Yang frowned. "That's… a heavy burden."

"There's supposed to other schools, with other wielders… spread across The World… like dandelions..." Ruby recalled her studies distantly. Yang gave her sister a puzzled look, and Ruby realized she spoke aloud. "Sorry, old stories. Hard to tell what's fact and what's myth, but all fairy tales start somewhere."

"Old Keyblader stories?" Yang surmised, "What's this about 'The World'? You say that like there's only one."

"That's one of the longer stories, I'll tell you another time," Ruby smiled. "For now, where are we going?"

"I think we've got a bit of time before we all meet in the auditorium," Yang informed her, "Oh, and I see some of my friends!" Yang began to strut off before suddenly stopping and turning back to Ruby. "Um… so you want to tag along, or…?"

Ruby chuckled, "go with your friends, sis. We'll have plenty of time later." Yang smiled and waved goodbye. Ruby watched her walk off, her own smile fading from he face. "Now… what am I going to do?" With no other plan, she settled on wandering.

It wasn't too long before she found a distraction. A massive pile of large metal cases on one of those hotel luggage carts. Ruby approached slowly, looking around for the luggage's owner. She saw no one, and reached out toward one of the cases.

"Get away from that!"

Ruby jumped backward and spun around. A girl with platinum hair, a white combat dress with matching wedge boots and bolero, and a scar over her left eye was furiously tapping her foot at her. "Oh, sorry," Ruby offered, "I didn't see anyone."

"And that allows you to touch something that isn't yours?" The girl interrogated.

"I was just going to look for a name tag or something..." Ruby defended. "I mean, if it's so important, why did you leave it in the first place?"

The girl didn't answer. She instead began checking over the cases. Ruby hung by, mostly because she didn't know what else to do. The girl shot a few sideways glances Ruby's way. "What's with those clothes?"

Ruby looked down at her outfit in surprise. "What's with my clothes? Have you seen how half the people around here are dressed? What's so strange about my clothes?"

The girl's eyes passed over the courtyard before slowly returning to Ruby. "I… guess I don't know. Something's just… off."

Ruby smirked and leaned in closer, speaking quietly and exaggerating with her hands. "What if I told you… my clothes are enchaaaanted?"

The girl scoffed. "Don't you have an older sibling to see off?"

Ruby cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Whoever in your family is actually coming to Beacon," the girl reiterated. "Aren't you here to see them off? Why aren't you spending time with them?"

"Um… I am coming to Beacon, though?" Ruby informed her.

The girl laughed. "Nice try, but there's a bit of an age requirement you clearly don't meet."

Here I was worrying about hiding my magic, but I guess people would need to accept I'm actually attending first. Guess I am a few years younger than anyone else here. Ruby never thought about it before now. She shrugged mentally, not really seeing how it mattered to her. Instead, she focused on the girl having trouble with her luggage. "Need help?"

"Like I would let a dishonest child anywhere near my Dust," the girl grimaced, "Do you have any idea how much this is all worth?"

"After what I spent this morning, I have a bit of an idea..." Ruby muttered under her breath, glancing down to the Dust vials that now hung off her waist in plain view. "Wait, is this all Dust!? How much do you need?"

"Not all of it!" the girl defended. "There's my wardrobe and decorations for my dorm. Only half of these cases are Dust."

"Half..." Ruby counted the cases. "How? Are you rich or something?"

The girl's head turned slowly to look at her, her face one of genuine confusion. "Do you not know who I am?"

Here we go, it's the police station all over again… "I've been out of town for a while," Ruby excused, "so, no?"

"How far out of town, another planet?" the girl didn't sound like she believed her. "I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. If you've bought Dust at all in the past two generations, let alone the past night, those crystals came from my family's mines."

"Oh, neat!" Ruby smiled and held out her hand. "Good to meet you, Weiss! My name is Ruby Rose!"

"'Neat'?" Weiss was clearly not expecting this reaction. "My family's wealth and success is just 'neat' to you?"

"I mean… isn't it?" Ruby asked, confused.

Weiss rolled her eyes, grabbed her cart and began walking away. "Children."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. She had given this girl the benefit of the doubt, but Weiss seemed almost outright antagonistic. "Well, you're not much older than me, princess!" Ruby shouted after the heiress. Weiss only continued to retreat into the distance.

"Oh, that was lame, Ruby, you're lame..." she muttered to herself after. She felt another set of eyes in her and turned to see a girl with black hair, black and white clothing, and a bow on top of her head. The new girl was giving her a blank stare with wide eyes and an open jaw. Ruby assumed it had something to do with the interaction, and tried to salvage, "Can you believe her? I've met actual princesses less full of themselves."

The new girl's only reaction was to raise one of her eyebrows further than it already was.

Shoot, does Remnant have princesses!? "Well, see you around!" Ruby waved her off quickly and speed walked away before she could cause any more damage to her future reputation.

"Ruby! I saved you a spot!"

Ruby spotted her sister across the auditorium and quickly ran to her side. Yang tossed an arm over her sister's shoulder, "how's your first day going?"

"Does Remnant have princesses?" Ruby asked bluntly.

"Um… no…" Yang answered, "Why?"

"No reason..." Ruby sighed, looking out of the corner of her eye to see the bow-headed girl nearby.

"Wait, have you met an actual princess?" Yang deduced quickly.

Ruby laughed nervously, elbowing her sister in the ribs, "Well, obviously not since we don't have them hahaha..."

"Oh, right, yeah, haha..." Yang recovered quickly. She was so used to talking freely about these things with Ruby, she forgot she had to be careful about it now they were both at Beacon.

The mic sounded, bringing everyone's attention to the stage. Professor Ozpin stepped up to the mic, looking over all the new students. His eyes lingered on Ruby, something the redhead didn't fail to notice. He quickly looked away afterward to begin his speech. Ruby didn't really retain the words. She did get the general message that Beacon could only do so much and it was up to the students to dedicate themselves. Not for the first time, Ruby wondered if giving in and coming to Beacon was a bad idea.

Ozpin walked away after his speech, and Glynda Goodwicth stepped up to the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

By then the sun was already setting, and everyone began unpacking their sleeping bags onto the ballroom floor. Ruby looked around and noticed one thing in particular – the friendships. Everyone was interacting with someone or huddling into groups. Even Yang was chatting it up with a few girls she knew from Signal.

It all served to make Ruby miss her own friends more. She found herself leaving the ballroom entirely and wandering nearby empty hallways. She stopped by one of the larger windows, staring up at the stars. That was where Ozpin finally found her. "Ah, Ms. Rose. I was hoping to run into you."

"Professor Ozpin," Ruby greeted causually.

"I must admit, I was starting to lose faith that you would accept my invitation," Ozpin confessed. "Quite the definition of 'last minute'."

"I still almost didn't," Ruby reminded him. "Like I said on the pho- on the scroll, I'm probably not going to be here for very long." She was reminded of the Gummiphone weighing down her pocket, "I hope..."

"What other responsibility do you expect to come up?" Ozpin questioned sincerely.

However genuine his question may have been, Ruby knew she couldn't answer it honestly. Maybe a half-truth would keep him from further questions. "I'm waiting for word from my teacher."

"Teacher?" Ozpin asked, "So you are formally trained?"

"Yes," Ruby sighed.

"And where are they now?" Ozpin continued.

"Away," Ruby answered shortly, hoping to end this little interrogation.

Ozpin seemed to get the message. "Well, I am sure you will find some value in your time here. I do hope you will not come to regret your decision."

Ruby watched Ozpin walk away before responding under her breath, "Yeah, me too..."

The next morning, Glynda lead them to a cliff side by way of the locker rooms they were encouraged to drop their weapons in the night before. Once at said cliff side, they were instructed to stand on a series of metal plates that looked suspiciously like launch pads. Professor Ozpin stepped up to inform them their 'initiation' was essentially a combat exam before Professor Goodwitch took over proceedings.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams," she opened. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

"Wait, teams?" Ruby muttered quietly. Dang it, Yang, no one told me about teams!

Ozpin took back over the explanation. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

That seems… inefficient, Ruby frowned. She listened half-heartedly to the rest of his information, picking up just enough to know what she needed to do while skipping over the grading half of his speech. Next to her, people started to be shot into the forest in turn by the little catapults they were all standing on. I knew it.

"Well, see you in a few sis," Yang winked before she was launched into the forest.

Soon Ruby was flung through the air herself. It certainly worked to get her blood pumping better than even Little Chef's best coffee. Despite herself, a smile found her face. Of course, it wasn't long before she realized the ground was coming quickly. Someone up on the cliff had said the words 'landing strategy', though she didn't know who. But why land when you can fly?

Ruby's smile grew as she summoned Crescent Rose and threw it ahead of her. One flash of red light later and the redheaded Keyblade wielder was gleefully dodging trees on her glider. "Okay, so I guess I need to find a partner. Yang would be best. The longer I can push off my 'space semblance' excuse, the longer before someone can poke holes in the story."

She slowed her glider to a more leisurely speed and she started looking out for students on the ground. She passed a few that had either already partnered up or she had zero interest in. "I 'coulda sworn Yang flew this way…" Ruby sighed, seeing someone with long crimson hair helping a scraggly blond down from being speared to a tree.

Then, the sounds of combat. Ruby clearly heard the growls of beasts and snicker-snack of a thin-bladed sword. Her training as a protector kicked into high gear. Yang was completely forgotten as Ruby charged toward the fight. She found the 'princess' from earlier, Weiss Schnee, fending off a collection of Grimm like bipedal wolves. Beowolves, I think…

Ruby charged, high speed, directly at a Beowolf pouncing towards Weiss. She jumped off her glider at the last moment. It caught the Beowolf in the chest and pinned the monster to a nearby tree. The Grimm began to dissolve. Ruby landed back-to-back to Weiss and summoned Crescent Rose back to her in Keyblade form. The heiress gave her a sideways look. "What are you doing here!?"

"Helping?" Ruby shrugged.

The redhead looked forward again seeing three Beowolves stalking slowly towards her. She ran forward toward them, Crescent Rose at the ready. The Grimm leapt at her in turn. First the Beowolves from either side, followed by farthest Beowolf from between the two. Ruby knocked each of the first two aside with two heavy swings back and forth. The last Beowolf she jumped over, spinning sideways, Keyblade out, striking the Grimm face-first into the ground. Once she landed behind the three monsters, Ruby raised the point of her Keyblade into the air. "Thundara!" called down three bolts of lightning to fry the Beowolves, finishing them off.

Weiss was no less efficient with her Beowolves. She stabbed one straight through its chest with her rapier. A second lunged, and she merged the extraction of her blade from the first beast naturally into a leg sweep for the second one. The two Beowolves fell on top of each other, and Weiss skewered them as she activated Burn Dust down her blade. The Grimm were scorched from the inside out. A blue snowflake glyph appeared underneath the last monster, and a cylinder in Weiss's sword hilt spun. Suddenly, the last Beowolf was encased in ice. A black glyph appeared in the air vertically behind Weiss, which she promptly backflipped onto. Weiss launched off the glyph like a rocket, sword first, and the force shattered the frozen Grimm.

Ruby saw no other Grimm nearby and dispelled Crescent Rose. Weiss sheathed her own blade before rounding on the young redhead. "I didn't need your help."

"I didn't think you needed help," Ruby defended.

"How did you even get here?" Weiss asked. "This forest is dangerous, you know."

"Same way you did…?" Ruby was confused. "Oh, right! Eye contact! I guess we're partners, aren't we?"

"Partners?" Weiss's face scrunched, "Are you still trying to convince me you're attending Beacon?"

"I mean… I am, though..." Ruby tried to tell her.

"Whatever, let's go," Weiss dismissed, "I still need to find an actual partner, and I won't be responsible for leaving a child in the Emerald Forest."

Ruby watched Weiss strut away. Sigh, "this is going to be interesting…"

It was a peaceful stroll through the forest. Weiss, ever proper and classy, led with a confident strut and her head held high. Ruby kept pace behind her with a more comfortable gait and her hands behind her head. Her eyes turned upward and remained fixed on the canopy for several minutes. "Um, Weiss? Ozpin said the artifacts were north, right?"

"He did," Weiss answered.

"Mhmm," Ruby nodded, "aaand it's still morning right now, right?"

"Where are you going with this?" Weiss asked abruptly.

"If we're supposed to find a northern temple, why have we been walking west for the past twenty minutes?"

Weiss's strut stopped short as she turned toward her companion. "Excuse me?"

"Look at the sunbeams coming through the canopy. It looks like the sun is that way," Ruby pointed behind them. "And, correct me if I'm wrong, Remnant's sun rises in the east, right?"

Weiss looked toward the canopy in disbelief. "I do believe you are correct."

"So, north is that way," Ruby pointed what would indeed be north by her logic.

"I… do believe you are correct..." Weiss sighed. Did I really just get shown up by a child? "We'll have to retreat east somewhat to make up the distance," she quickly tried to recover.

"Or we can fly?" Ruby shrugged.

"Or we can- what!?" Weiss's eyes widened. "How exactly are we supposed to do that!?"

"Did you not see my entrance back with the Beowolves?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. She only suggested it because she thought she already blew that secret. But if Weiss didn't notice, maybe she should backpedal? Though, that might be more suspicious… and she would keep calling me a liar.

"So what, your semblance allows you to fly?" Weiss shook her head.

"Not quite," Ruby summoned Crescent Rose, "but it does allow me to do this."

"Where did that come from?" Weiss asked. She didn't get an answer. Instead she watched as Ruby threw the weapon in the air and it came back down looking similar to the villain's flying machine from the Arachno-Guy movie.

Ruby hopped on, making sure to leave room on the footpads for her partner's feet. "It'll be tight, and you'll have to accept holding on to me, but I think we can manage?"

"Ruby… what exactly is your semblance?" Weiss asked.

"Spatial Manipulation," Ruby answered with her and Yang's practiced story. "It took a long time to make it work with my weapon, but I'm pretty good at it now."

Weiss didn't look like she entirely believed her, but it's not like she had a better explanation. The heiress climbed on and wrapped her arms around Ruby's middle. "I swear to the Brothers, if you let me fall, I will destroy you."

Ruby smirked, "Up, up and away!"

Weiss screamed as the glider launched off above the canopy. Only once she felt them slow down did she dare open her eyes. However incredible the view was, Weiss's attention was focused on just how far above the canopy they had already gotten. Her hold of Ruby's middle tightened. "O-oh my… h-h-holy…"

"Woah," Ruby voice strained in response to the heiress near-vice grip. "Afraid of heights?"

"Of course not!" Weiss defended, "But we are standing on a… a… drone with no kind of fastener to secure us, three hundred feet above the forest! How are we even still on this thing!? How do you control it!?"

"I think I see the temple!" Ruby pointed to a stone ruin in a nearby clearing.

Weiss saw it too. "Great! Can we set down now!?"

"Sure, if you don't mind walk-"

A scream cut Ruby off. Weiss noticed her companion's mood shift. "Did that come from the temple?"

"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby deadpanned, "but hold on tight."

Weiss heard a noise from the glider that sounded like something charging up. "Oh no." 'Blasting off' was the only way to describe their acceleration. They flew off, faster than the first time, rocketing towards the temple and the sounds of battle.