Chapter 2: Opportunity
"I hope you know that your actions today will NOT be taken lightly, young lady!"
This… wasn't quite what Ruby expected to happen. As she was being berated by the blonde who was pacing in front of her, she thought back on everything leading up to this moment. She was really surprised when the robot separated back into the flying machines without her doing anything, and even more so when they brought her somewhere near Beacon Academy on some kind of autopilot.
"You put yourself and others in great danger-"
"I couldn't sit around and do nothing!" The teenager interrupted, only to be met by the coldest glare she had ever seen, and so Ruby decided it was best to remain quiet for now.
"If it was up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…" The huntress said, surprising Ruby with the kind look she was given. Whatever pride she may have felt at the moment was replaced with fear as the older woman's expression changed back to what seemed to be her signature glare, "... and a slap on the wrist!"
"EEP!" Ruby flinched back as a darn riding crop hit the table near her aforementioned wrist. She was beginning to regret getting in the robot… nah, who was she kidding? That was too cool to ever regret. Apparently her lack of regret or shame was evident, because the huntress gave a resigned sigh.
"But… there is someone here who would like to meet you."
That gave Ruby pause, her mind running faster than her semblance trying to figure out who it could be. The most likely answer was her dad, and hoo boy would that be a lecture and a half about safety… but the one who did show up was the last person she expected.
The man dressed in emerald before her was none other than the headmaster of her dream school, Beacon Academy. More important was the plate of cookies he was holding.
"Ruby Rose, you…" He said leaning over the table as he seemed to analyze her. She waited, expecting some grand words to come out of his mouth, "... Have silver eyes."
Caught off guard and confused, all she could muster was an awkward, "Um…"
"So!" He began, interrupting her confusion as the huntress held up a scroll tablet that displayed her piloting the Super Robot from a distance. Ruby finally noticed that it was… white, like it was unpainted. Did that mean it was a prototype, or perhaps it was just finished being built? Regardless, the footage seemed to rewind until it showed the machines combining midair.
"How is it that you knew how to do this?" Professor Ozpin asked, raising an eyebrow. However, whatever Ruby was about to say was cut off by a newcomer who had just entered the room.
"She simply followed my instructions, Ozpin," A middle-aged man with long white hair said. He wore a lab coat, but if his wild and cunning eyes were any indication along with his scars, he's had his fair share of battles, "and she's quite good at following instructions while in combat, it seems."
Ruby simply stared at this man, trying to figure out if she'd ever seen him before. After drawing up a blank, she just decided to ask him, "Um, thank you mister…?"
"Doctor Jin here is the one who developed the machine you piloted," Ozpin said as he placed the plate of cookies before her. All thoughts halted as her mind devolved to a single track that obeyed one order: Devour. She had shoved over half of the cookies in her mouth when she heard a small chuckle, and she looked to see who it was.
Surprisingly, it was Dr. Jin, who was interrupted by Ozpin clearing his throat.
"Now, this," The huntress held up the tablet and showed Ruby holding a fully unfolded Crescent Rose as she was getting up from landing on the jet, "I presume that you know how to use this weapon?"
"Yes?"
"Where did you learn to do so? Quite a dangerous weapon to not only face in combat, but to use proficiently," He asked, curious. Doctor Jin nodded in agreement, but he didn't seem as invested in that question as Professor Ozpin.
"S-Signal Academy."
"They taught you how to wield one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"
"Well, it was one teacher in particular," She clarified, remembering her uncle fondly as she stuffed her face with the rest of the cookies.
"Forgive me, it's just that I've only ever seen one person with a scythe design quite similar to that," Was Ozpin's reasoning, to which Doctor Jin gave a scoff.
"A dusty drunk of a crow, that one, and ironically one of our best pilots," Jin said, a slight smirk on his face.
"Mhm! Thsh muh unkul!" Rub responded with a mouth full of cookies. On seeing Ozpin's raised eyebrow, she swallowed and wiped her mouth, "Sorry, that's my uncle Qrow! I was complete garbage before he trained me, and now I'm all like-" She interrupted herself to make a bunch of random martial arts poses, accompanied by corresponding noises.
"Heh, I can feel Ryoma rolling in his grave," said Doctor Jin, a full smile on his face that somehow made him seem more dangerous than he probably meant to be, "now, what's a girl like yourself doing training to fight monsters like the Grimm?" He asked, seeming to analyze her based on her answer.
"Well, I want to be a huntress!" She replied, the answer being the most obvious thing in the world to her, "Just got two more years left at Signal, and my sister is starting this year and-" She proceeded to, well, gush about her thoughts on huntsmen and huntresses. Afterwards, she could see Doctor Jin lock eyes with Professor Ozpin with some kind of unspoken message, then they looked back to her.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Of course, you're Professor Ozpin! You're the headmaster at Beacon."
He responded with an amused noise and a "Hello."
"Nice to meet you, sir," She responded politely with enthusiasm.
"You want to come to my school?" He asked her. Such a simple question felt… very loaded, to Ruby. This could potentially be a question that changed the course of her life forever, and she already knew the answer.
"More than anything."
Professor Ozpin and Doctor Jin shared a look again, the headmaster then looked to the blond huntress who simply rolled her eyes and gave a huff of disappointment, "Well, okay."
Ruby's heart skipped a beat, who knew such a casual response could mean so much to her? Oh, she just had to find Yang after this and tell her everything-
"On one condition-"
Oh, okay, she could work with that. No price was too big to attend Beacon! Well, maybe giving up Crescent Rose, cookies, or strawberries, but other than those things she was fine! Oh yeah, Zwei too.
"You must regularly meet with Doctor Jin regarding certain subject matters that are not meant for public ears," Said Ozpin, "He will also help tutor you regarding knowledge you miss out on regarding the fact that you will be moved up in your schooling by two whole years."
Oh, that's it? She could deal with that, she thought to herself as Ozpin continued to speak.
"Just because you will have a tutor does not mean you can slack off on independent studying, there will be times where Doctor Jin is unavailable due to important matters that we will discuss privately," He explained, laying out some ground rules. "And one more thing."
"Yes, Professor?"
"I sincerely request that you keep the fact that you piloted that machine to yourself."
What? But then she couldn't tell Yang or any of her friends about it! Or dad, for that matter!
"I do hope you understand why," The headmaster said, probably upon seeing Ruby's expression, "we can't exactly have word spreading that the kingdom's greatest line of defense against that giant Grimm was a young girl who is not even a licensed Huntress or pilot, can we?"
Oh. That made sense.
"Oh… of course, Professor, I'll do my best."
At the wording, Doctor Jin raised an amused brow but said nothing.
"Good, you are free to go. We have transportation to take you back home or to a ferry, whichever you prefer," The emerald clad huntsman said, motioning that it was fine for Ruby to go now. As she got up, Doctor Jin opened the door for her and led the way.
"I'll show you the way out, we can speak a little on the way," He said, stepping out before she could say anything. She looked to Professor Ozpin, who simply nodded for her to go, and she followed the strange scientist.
Doctor Jin had kept walking without her, but she caught up quickly. "Um," She began, thinking on what to say, "thanks for your help, Doctor."
He looked at Ruby, and she suddenly realized how much taller than her he was. He cut an imposing figure, and the calculating look that could often be seen in his eyes unnerved her somewhat.
"My help? You mean with piloting?" He asked, then went back to watching where he was going, "or with leading you to the exit?"
"Uh, both I guess," She shrugged, still processing everything, "It was your voice I heard in the robot, right Doctor-"
"Just call me Hayato," He cut her off, "Jin Hayato."
"Oh, are you from central Mistral?" Ruby asked, connecting the dots on how his name was arranged. Many people from Anima's central area had their family names before their personal names.
"Correct, you're a sharp one," Hayato said with some amusement, "You even narrowed down the region."
Smiling at the praise, Ruby suddenly remembered something that had been bothering her, "I just remembered something I wanted to ask you…"
"Oh? What is it?"
"Why…" She began, scratching the back of her head, "Why did you ask who my mom was? Was it really that important for me to pilot that robot?"
Hayato was silent for a few moments, the only sound in the hallway being their footsteps as he seemed to think about how to answer that question.
"What do you know of the requirements to become a pilot? Not from an official point of view, but from a physical one." He answered her question with one of his own, to which Ruby gave a pout before providing her answer.
"You need pretty strong aura reserves since some mecha may use some of it to help power it or project it as a shield," She says, counting off with her fingers, "You also need to be pretty fit in order to withstand the g-forces, and your chances are higher if you have some semblance that helps with any factor…" She realized what was the most important out of those three as she said it.
"Your mother's semblance, what are the chances you inherited something somewhat similar?" Hayato asked her.
"I… I create petals just like her, and can handle really high acceleration because of my semblance, both physically and mentally," She explains, putting more emphasis on the second part.
The scientist smirked.
"Then you're perfect for the job. Aura Rose extracts a heavy toll on anyone unprepared for its drawbacks," He says, placing his hands in the pockets of his lab coat as the exit came into view, "Just out this exit is a bullhead waiting for you. Like Ozpin said, whether you want to go straight home or to a ferry is up to you, just be ready for the semester to start in a few days."
"Thank you!" She called out gratefully, practically skipping to the exit, "I look forward to working with you Mr. Hayato!"
"Oh, one more thing," He called out, stopping her in her tracks, "You still have to pass the initiation like everyone else. Do not disappoint," He left her with that message, then turned and left.
With that… warning? She made her way outside and squared her shoulders. This day opened up a lot of unknowns for her, yet also opened the door for the future she's always dreamed of. Despite all the uncertainties, there was one thing she was sure of.
She was NOT going to let this chance go to waste.
Author's note:
As you can probably tell, I've jus decided to go along with the crossover aspect of this fic. This also means that, yes, there will be other robots and pilots from actual franchises instead of references and changed names. I can't guarantee that I'll keep certain pilots the same, because I'll be doing my best to make each robot and pilot fit into the world of Remnant. This unfortunately means that certain characters may be replaced by preexisting RWBY characters or even OCs to better fit the setting.
But that's all in the uncertain future, lets just focus on the here and now. I kinda fought repeating the interview of episode 1 in my head, but I realized I really needed that scene to happen in order to set the stage so I kept it in.
Until next time!