Chapter 2) First Impressions

Blake Belladonna was among the last of the passengers to disembark the airship, having not really been paying very much attention to the announcements during the trip. She had been far too absorbed in her reading to notice anything else. It was only when she saw everybody leaving out of the corner of her eye that she closed her book, grabbed her bag, and followed after the rest, stepping out into the early afternoon sun.

Well, here I am. Beacon Academy.

Sighing, Blake double-checked that her bow was secure on her head, then began to slowly make her way across the courtyard, giving everyone else a wide berth as she did so. While she highly doubted that anyone here would have any idea who she was, Blake was not about to take any chances.

Granted, my being here at all is big risk all on its own.

Blake shook her head. That kind of thinking wasn't going to help her. This was a chance to start all over again, to make up for her mistakes. And it wasn't like this had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Leaving to attend Beacon had been something she had been planning on doing for months. She wanted to be here.

She needed to be here.

Slowing her pace a little more, Blake took the time to take in her surroundings. Beacon's courtyard was very well maintained. The trees that grew alongside the intricately cobbled pathway were neatly trimmed and almost perfectly uniform. In the distance, the main building loomed large, a truly impressive structure. Marble columns, tall windows, arching architecture…

This was Blake's first time seeing it all in person. She had to admit, it was quite something. The designers of the school certainly pulled out all the stops.

I wonder if the inside is as impressive as the outside? Well, I'll find out soon enough.

Picking up her pace a little, Blake began walking towards the main entrance in earnest. Although she didn't let it show on her face, she was actually a little excited.

"What are you doing?!"

Blake winced at the volume of the shout. She stopped walking and began to search for the source of the noise to make sure that they weren't talking to her.

"Uh, I-I'm s-s-sorry!" a quieter voice stammered.

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?"

Well, whoever they were, they clearly weren't shouting at her, so Blake decided that it was none of her business. Turning back around, she resumed walking towards the entrance.

"What are you, brain-dead? This is Dust! Purified Dust! Extremely volatile and dangerous! And you just blundered into it like an imbecile! Well? What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I-I-I-I…" Whoever the unfortunate individual was who was on the receiving end of this particular tirade, they didn't sound like they were doing too well. Nonetheless, Blake carried on walking. She was not about to go barging into other people's arguments.

"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"W-w-well, I-I, um…"

Blake stopped walking. The other girl, the one getting yelled at for what sounded like a rather trivial reason, sounded like she was starting to get a bit upset.

Despite her better judgement, Blake turned around to see for herself what was going on. Perhaps she could step in and help diffuse the situation before things escalated any further…

Blake's gaze fell upon the two girls who were standing amidst a rather large number of white suitcases that were strewn about the floor. Presumably they had been knocked over, sparking this entire incident. One girl was dressed in red and black, and was wearing what looked like a cloak. The other girl was slightly taller, and dressed in white and pale blue.

The girl in red was not someone Blake recognised, but the girl in white very much was.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school!" Weiss Schnee continued to vent her anger at the girl in red, oblivious to the fact that she now had an audience. "It's not just sparring practice, you know! We're here to become Huntresses!"

Blake watched as the girl in red fidgeted on the spot. She had her head down, looking at her feet, and was fiddling with the end of the cloak she was wearing. She did indeed look to be quite young, perhaps only about fourteen or fifteen. Maybe she was here with a family member and had gotten lost?

Whoever she was, the poor girl certainly didn't deserve to be berated so harshly for a simple mistake. Seeing how upset the girl looked, Blake found herself filled with a desire to help her out.

Well, that, and a simultaneous desire to bring a certain rich pampered heiress down a peg or two. So, filled with a certain feeling of recklessness, Blake began to make her way towards the pair.

"I mean, really! Can you not even watch where you're going? How do you expect to be able to fight Grimm if you can't even walk like a normal person?!"

Blake quickly bent down and snagged one of the Dust bottles that had rolled away from the open case by Schnee's feet. Straightening up, she held it out towards the angry heiress and cleared her throat to get her attention.

"Excuse me, but is this yours?" Blake asked in as polite a tone as she could muster.

Schnee turned towards Blake, her eyes flitting from Blake's face to her outstretched hand holding the bottle.

"It is," she said curtly, snatching it from Blake's grasp. "Thank you."

Blake kept her face neutral. "You seem familiar. Have we met?"

"No, we have not," Schnee replied as she began to gather up her fallen cases and place them back on the luggage cart. "I've never been to Vale before. I don't know anyone here."

"Then I must have seen you on the news at some point." Blake made a show of looking like she was trying to remember, all while she surreptitiously moved herself in front of the girl in red, shielding her from sight. She hoped the girl took the hint to leave.

"Perhaps you did," came Schnee's reply, sounding quite annoyed.

"Oh, I remember." Blake nodded to herself. "Schnee. You're Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

Schnee turned to face Blake, looking a little less livid than she had done so a moment ago. "Not anymore."

Blake blinked; her momentum thrown off, her comments about the family business forgotten. Had she heard that right? Did Schnee just say that?

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get going." With that, Schnee began to push her luggage cart, going around Blake.

"And as for you," she said, pointing at the girl in red, who had not taken the hint to leave. "Stay out of my way."

Blake watched as Schnee walked away with a final huff of annoyance, her pace quick despite her short stature.

Not anymore? Did something happen that I haven't heard about?

Sighing, Blake turned towards the girl in red. "Are you OK?"

The younger girl startled at Blake's voice, turning towards her. She did not look at Blake, however. The girl kept her gaze downwards as she continued to fiddle with her cloak. Blake could only assume that she was still a bit off balance after getting yelled at.

"U-Um, I-I didn't m-m-mean to bump into her. I sh-should've paid m-more attention to w-where I w-was going."

"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself to me," Blake reassured her. "She was the one who overreacted."

The girl lifted her head a little. "Have you s-seen a girl with blonde hair? W-we got s-separated."

So she is here with a family member. Her older sister, perhaps?

Blake racked her brain. She recalled walking past a blonde-haired girl as she left the airship. Said girl had been in the process of throwing their guts up upon exiting the ship. Maybe both siblings were the nervous type? That or the older sister got travel sick very easily.

"I think I saw someone like that back in the direction of the airship." Blake turned and gestured towards where she thought she had seen the girl. "Try going back that way."

The younger girl looked unsure. "I think she actually w-went ahead of m-me."

"What's your name?" Blake asked.

The girl blinked at that. "Oh, um, it's Ruby. Ruby Rose."

Blake nodded, committing the name and appearance of this girl, Ruby, to her memory. "Well Ruby, if you go check the dock, I'll go on ahead and see if she's at the main hall. If I see her, I'll send her your way. I'm assuming she's your sister?"

Ruby nodded. "Sh-she is. Thank-you, um…"

For a moment, Blake considered giving Ruby one of her old fake names, before dismissing the idea outright. That life was over. She was starting again here, and that meant using her real name again.

"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna."

Ruby gave Blake a small smile. "Thanks, Blake. Um, m-my s-sister's name is Yang."

"Yang. Got it." Blake began to make her way towards the main entrance once again. "Bye for now, Ruby."

Ruby gave Blake a little wave, before turning and beginning to make her own way back towards the dock.

…

About thirty seconds later, Blake realised that she probably should have asked Ruby what her sister looked like. 'Blonde' was all she had to go on, and that wasn't really much.

Oh well, I'm sure it doesn't matter. How many blondes can there be?

Ugh, why did Saph and Terra insist on feeding me so much for breakfast before I left?

The airship ride had not been kind to Jaune Arc in the slightest. As soon as the ship had landed, he was one of the first to stumble off, staggering over to a nearby trashcan to void the contents of his stomach that he had not already emptied over the floor of the passenger bay mid-flight.

After that, he had spent a few moments leaning against a bench, catching his breath, and waiting for his insides to settle. By the time he felt well enough to straighten up without feeling queasy, everyone else had gone on ahead, leaving him all by himself at the dock.

Way to make a good first impression, Jaune. Hope you're ready to be called Vomit Boy by everyone for the rest of the year.

Groaning, Jaune began to make his own way across the courtyard and towards the main building in the distance, pulling his suitcase behind him. At least he had managed to avoid leaving that on the ship before he got off.

"Uh, excuse m-me?"

Jaune looked up. Then he looked down again to see a short girl in red standing in front of him.

Jaune quickly wiped the sour expression off his face and gave the girl a smile. "Hi, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for m-my sister. Did you s-see anyone else by the dock?" she asked, stammering a bit as she did so.

"Afraid not, sorry," Jaune replied. "I was the last one to leave the dock. Pretty sure everyone else went on ahead."

"I thought so," the girl mumbled, mostly to herself it seemed.

Jaune offered his hand to her. "The name's Jaune Arc, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

"Uh, Ruby Rose," she replied, not taking his hand, or even looking him in the face.

Crap, am I making her uncomfortable?

Jaune hastily withdrew his hand. "Well, I'm heading up to the main hall. Are you heading that way as well?"

Ruby nodded, still not looking at him directly. She fidgeted a bit on the spot, one hand reaching to grip the end of the cloak she was wearing.

Ah, I see.

Realisation dawned on Jaune as he noticed how Ruby was acting, and how similar it was to the way one of his sisters would act at times. He knew how to handle this.

Jaune took a step backwards, giving Ruby a bit more space. "I'm sure she's looking for you," he said. "Let's head up to the main hall and see if she's there. Unless you'd prefer to go by yourself?"

Ruby raised her head and looked at Jaune. She didn't quite meet his gaze, but it was something, and she didn't look like she was about to cry, so that was a good sign.

"I'll w-walk w-with you," she said, speaking a bit more firmly, albeit her stammer was still there. Probably something she always had, by the looks of things.

Jaune nodded and began to walk, smiling slightly when Ruby walked alongside him without trailing behind.

"So, are you enrolling as well?" Jaune asked, deciding to chance making small talk. If Ruby didn't want to answer him though, he wouldn't press any more.

Fortunately, it seemed like she was OK to talk. "Yep. M-me and Yang."

"That your sister's name? Are you twins?"

Ruby shook her head. "No. I m-mean, she is my s-sister, but we're not twins. She's older."

Jaune was a bit surprised at that. Ruby did seem a bit younger than everyone else who was on the airship, but he hadn't been aware that Beacon took people early.

"Wow," he said. "You must be pretty good to get in early, then."

Jaune noticed Ruby blush a bit at that and dip her head. "Not really," she said quickly. "I-I'm just lucky, I guess."

Jaune chuckled a bit at that. "Me to. Honestly, I never expected to be accepted at all."

Ruby turned to look at him, a small smile of her own now adorning her face. "Is that your weapon?" she asked, pointing at his scabbard on his belt.

Jaune stopped walking and drew Crocea Mors, holding out for Ruby to see. "It's been in my family for a while. My great-great-grandfather used it in the war."

Jaune saw Ruby's eyes light up as she looked over the blade, all traces of nervousness or awkwardness gone. "That must m-mean that it's eighty years old at least!"

"Yeah, and I've got a shield as well." Jaune removed the scabbard from his belt and triggered the mechanism to unfold it, revealing the full shield form as it slotted into the brace on his left arm. "Although I don't think that it's as old as the sword is."

Ruby stepped forwards, standing very close to Jaune as she inspected both sword and shield with interest.

"The folding m-mechanism is pretty simple, but very efficient by the looks of things. The edges look like they're fairly sharp, so it could probably double as a second offensive weapon as well. As for the sword, the blade is really high-quality. The handle looks like it's been replaced a few times, but it fits really well, it's almost not noticeable-"

Jaune took a step back as Ruby got a bit too close for comfort, almost stepping on his feet. "You uh, really know your stuff, huh?" he said awkwardly.

Ruby stopped talking and flushed bright red, her face now matching her cloak quite well. "S-s-sorry. I-I get a little carried away s-s-sometimes."

Jaune suddenly felt a bit guilty for making her feel self-conscious. Collapsing the shield and re-sheathing Crocea Mors at his side, he offered Ruby an apologetic smile.

"Well, what about your weapon?" he asked, hoping to get her to feel better. "What do you have?"

Ruby's blush faded as she reached behind herself and pulled out a curious red object, which she unfolded into a giant scythe that was almost twice as long as she was tall.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, both impressed and intimidated at the sight. "Now that's a weapon! What's it called?"

"Crescent Rose," Ruby said with a smile. "And she's a hybrid scythe that also functions as a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"So it's also a gun?" Jaune was very impressed. "That's so cool! And scary looking! Seriously, that thing must weigh a ton."

"Nope," replied Ruby, sounding a little smug as she did so. "I m-made sure to keep the weight down."

Jaune blinked. "Wait, you made that thing?!"

"Of course! I guess I did go a little overboard when I designed her," Ruby admitted. "But I like it."

Jaune laughed. "I can tell. But anyway, we should probably get going. We don't wanna be the only two people late on their first day, after all."

"Good point." Ruby collapsed her gigantic scythe and stowed it away once more. "Let's go, then."

With that, the pair resumed their walk towards the main building.

I think that went well. She seems nice. A bit quirky, but friendly enough. I'm glad I could cheer her up a bit.

The two of them carried on making small talk as they walked, Jaune noticing that Ruby seemed much more at ease than she did when he first bumped into her.

It seemed like he had made a friend.

Yang stood by the entrance of the main hall, waiting to catch a glimpse of Ruby as she approached the building, and feeling quite guilty for leaving her sister behind like that. Not that she had meant to do so. Yang had been so excited to arrive that she had failed to notice that Ruby wasn't standing with her. Assuming Ruby would have gone ahead, Yang had made her way to the main hall, only to find that no, Ruby was not there.

A moment later, a black-haired girl called Blake had told her that Ruby went back to the dock to look for her. Hence why Yang was now standing outside.

Sorry, Ruby. But hey, it's no big deal. I'm sure she's fine.

"Yang!"

Yang turned her head and smiled as she saw her sister waving at her, accompanied by a scraggly-looking blonde guy… girl? They looked a bit girly.

Yang walked down the front steps and met her sister halfway. "There you are. How's your first day going, little sister? Making friends already, I see." Yang gestured to the blonde boy by Ruby's side. Yep, definitely a boy. A girly-looking boy.

"Jaune Arc," said the boy, holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you!"

"You too, blondie," replied Yang, holding out a fist towards him, which he tapped with his own after a moment. "Sorry about leaving you behind, Ruby. I was a little distracted."

"It's fine," replied Ruby. "Should we go in?"

Yang nodded, turned, and led the way up the steps and into the main hall. The blonde boy, Jaune, went off somewhere else, leaving Ruby and her alone.

A few dozen people milled about the main hall, mostly in groups of two or three. At the far end Yang could make out a podium with a mic set up, but besides that the room was rather sparse. Given how huge this place was, there didn't seem to be very many people here.

"Eep!" squeaked Ruby suddenly, ducking behind Yang. "Hide me!"

Yang turned around, puzzled, to see her sister hiding behind her with her hood drawn up over her head. "From what?"

"You!" came a rather loud yell, drawing Yang's attention as she saw a short white-haired girl striding towards them.

"Another new friend?" Yang quipped.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" snapped the white-haired girl, pointing at Ruby and levelling her with an icy glare.

"It w-was an accident, I s-swear," stammered Ruby, still cowering behind Yang as much as she could.

"Did something happen, princess?" asked Yang, feeling her temper begin to rise. Whoever this prissy girl was, Yang didn't like her tone towards Ruby.

"Weiss," she replied. "And I take it you know this girl?"

"I'm her sister," said Yang, folding her arms and raising herself up to her full height. "Is there a problem?"

Weiss was about the same height as Ruby, maybe only an inch or two taller, yet she did not seem to be all that intimidated by Yang looming over her. "Just make sure your sister stays away from me. She's a hazard to my health."

Yang quirked an eyebrow at that. It didn't seem like this Weiss girl was trying to bully Ruby, at least. Maybe this could be fixed?

"Look, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot." Yang stepped to one side to reveal Ruby. "Why don't you start over?"

Ruby turned to look at Yang with wide eyes. "Yang…"

"Weiss, was it?" Yang carried on as if Ruby hadn't spoken. "This is Ruby. Whatever she did, I'm sure she didn't mean it. Can you at least accept her apology?"

Weiss fixed Ruby with a glare, but after a moment her eyes softened a little and her scowl shrank into a smaller frown. "Fine. Just be more careful in the future. You could've gotten us both badly hurt."

Yang watched as Ruby nodded her head slowly. "I-I'll be m-more careful."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me." With that, Weiss turned on her heel and walked away.

"Well," said Yang simply. "That was a thing. Maybe steer clear of that one, at least for a few days."

The sound of someone tapping a microphone drew everyone's attention then towards the main stage at the end of the main hall. Standing front and centre was none other than Professor Ozpin himself, flanked on either side by what Yang presumed were the rest of the teachers at Beacon.

The muttering of conversation ceased as everyone focussed on the Headmaster, who began to address them all.

"Future Huntsmen and Huntresses, I welcome you all to Beacon Academy. You will all have met me in some capacity before now, but allow me to introduce myself nonetheless. I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin. With me today are the other Professors of this school. They will all introduce themselves to you in time, but for now, I would like to take this time to explain how initiation will proceed."

A few murmurs rippled around the hall, before being quickly silenced by a glare from Professor Goodwitch, who then proceeded to point her Scroll towards a holoscreen behind Professor Ozpin. The screen switched on to show an aerial view of the grounds around Beacon Academy.

"Tomorrow, you will all gather at the Beacon Cliff, whereupon you will be tasked with making your way through the Emerald Forest, where your abilities will be evaluated. You will need to make your way through the forest to the northern end, where you will find an abandoned temple."

The holoscreen display switched to a photo of some rather striking ruins in the clearing of a forest.

"Within the temple ruins, you will find a number of relics. You must retrieve one of these relics and return with it to the top of the cliff. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but we will not be intervening at any time. You will meet opposition along the way, and you must not hesitate to destroy everything in your path. If you do not keep your wits about you, you will die."

No one said anything at that. Everyone here knew exactly what the Professor was talking about.

"Now, I'm certain that many of you will have heard rumours about the assignment of teams."

This did get many people muttering, before again being silenced by a glare from Goodwitch.

Rumours… Yeah, right. Maybe some people here don't know much, but Dad and Qrow already filled us in. I know how this works.

Professor Ozpin carried on with his speech. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. You will rely on each other, fight beside each other, and support each other through thick and thin. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well.

"That being said, once the initiation had gotten underway, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."

…

A collective shout of "WHAT?!" echoed in the hall as almost everyone voiced their shock at this revelation. Yang, however, just chuckled to herself in amusement.

"That will be all, children," called Professor Goodwitch, her voice cutting across the indignation of the crowd quite effectively. "You will stay in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. For now, you are dismissed."

And with that, the Professors all began to usher everyone towards the ballroom.

Oh man, this is gonna be great!

Night fell over Beacon as everyone settled into the ballroom. Bedrolls and sleeping bags were arranged all across the floor haphazardly as everyone went about preparing for sleep. Most everyone had changed into pyjamas, and a few had already drifted off.

Yang, however, was wide awake. She had never been one for turning in early, so she didn't feel particularly tired. She just laid back on her bedroll, eyes lazily scanning over the rest of the students.

He's a five. She's a six. He's a three. Seriously, who wears footie pyjamas these days?

Yang could only eye up her fellow students for so long before getting bored, so she rolled over to see what her sister was doing.

"Whatcha got there, sis?"

Ruby was scribbling away at something as she laid on her stomach, her sleep mask pushed up over her forehead, making her already messy hair look quite funny.

"My journal," she replied. "Dad suggested it before I left. Figured it w-was worth a try."

Yang couldn't help but squee a little. "Aw, that's so cute! Maybe I should take a look sometime."

"Please don't." Ruby repositioned herself to hide what she was writing a bit more. "This is private."

Yang raised her hands. "I'm just kidding, Ruby. You know I'd never do that."

Ruby sighed, closing her new journal as she did so. "I think I m-might just go to sleep."

Yang scooted closer to Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's only been one day. Try not to worry too much. Everything's gonna be fine."

Ruby smiled at Yang. "I'm fine. Just tired."

Yang returned her sister's smile, giving her shoulder one more small squeeze before letting go. She scooted back over to her own bedroll and began to fluff up her own pillow, before she stopped, having spotted someone out of the corner of her eye.

It was the black-haired girl from earlier, Blake. She was sat up against a wall nearby, reading a book by candlelight. She was wearing some sort of yukata or dressing gown, and that bow was still in her hair.

She seemed nice earlier. Wait, did we ever thank her for her help?

Yang nudged Ruby to get her attention. "Hey, let's go over and say hi."

"To who?" asked Ruby, who had just been about to pull her blanket over herself and looked a bit annoyed at having been disturbed.

Yang paid that no mind. She just grabbed Ruby by her arm and pulled her up to her feet and across the room towards Blake.

"Hel-lo!" Yang sing-songed with a cheerful wave. "Blake, wasn't it?"

Blake looked up from her book. "I see you two found each other."

"Yep! Thanks, by the way." Yang tugged Ruby forwards a bit more, causing her to stumble a bit.

"Well, I'm glad I could help." Blake then returned to her book.

"I like your bow."

…

Yang had no idea why she just blurted that out.

Blake looked up, her expression a mix of puzzlement and annoyance. "Uh, thanks?"

"It goes great with your… pyjamas!"

What the hell am I doing?! I sound like an idiot!

"Right…" said Blake slowly. "Again, thanks."

Yang probably should have just left it at that, but for some reason, her brain insisted on making her blunder on ahead anyway.

"Nice night, don't you think?" she said, and now she knew she was losing her mind. Why was she acting like such an idiot? She never tripped over herself this much talking to people!

"Yes, it's lovely," replied Blake, a definite note of irritation in her voice now. "Almost as lovely as this book. That I will continue to read. As soon as you leave."

Yep, I have definitely blown this one hard. I should just go-

"W-what's it about?"

"Huh?" Both Yang and Blake turned to look at Ruby with surprise, albeit for different reasons.

Ruby?

"Your book," Ruby continued. "Does it have a n-name?"

"Well…" Blake looked at Ruby with a curious expression. "It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

That didn't sound like an especially cheerful book to Yang. Certainly not the sort she and Ruby used to read together.

"I-I love books," said Ruby. "Yang used to read to m-m-me every n-n-night before bed. S-s-stories of heroes and m-m-monsters… They're one of the reasons w-w-why I w-w-want to be a Huntress."

Yang was a bit stunned. Ruby was stammering quite a bit, even by her usual standards, but she was soldiering on nonetheless trying to talk to this girl she had only met that day.

Yang felt a swell of pride as she watched her sister speak. She really had grown so much.

Blake's expression was unreadable. "And why is that? Hoping that you'll be able to live happily ever after?"

"W-well, I-I'm hoping w-we all will. I w-wanted to be like those heroes in the books… S-someone who fights for w-what's right, protects people who can't protect themselves."

Blake frowned slightly. "The real world isn't the same as a fairy tale. Things don't always turn out OK for everyone."

Ruby, in turn, smiled slightly, her cheeks turning a little pink as she spoke. "W-well, that's why we're here. To m-make it better."

Blake looked a little taken aback by Ruby's words. After a moment, however, her expression softened, and she gave Ruby a small smile of her own. "Well, it's a pleasure to have met you, Ruby. You too, Yang."

Yang couldn't help herself. She scooped Ruby up in her arms and gave her a tight hug. "Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!"

"Yang, cut it out!" Ruby squirmed in Yang's embrace, trying to wriggle free. Yang just laughed and set Ruby down, ruffling her hair playfully after she let her go.

"What in the world is going on over here?!" came a rather indignant-sounding cry. "Don't you realise some of us are trying to sleep?"

Yang turned to see who was yelling at them, groaning as she realised who it was.

Oh, not her again!

Ren stared up at the ballroom ceiling, feeling one eye begin to twitch in annoyance. Whoever those girls were across the room, they were making far too much noise.

Please, I just want to sleep.

"Nora, can I borrow your headphones?"

"Sure thing, Ren. Here you go!"

The cheap plastic did very little to block out the bickering, but Ren supposed it was better than nothing.

"Good night, Nora," Ren sighed, resigning themselves to an unsettled night's sleep.

"Good night, Ren" their long-time friend replied. "See you in the morning."

Hello there! I'm Not Scot! Welcome back to those of you who read the first chapter when it was uploaded, and hello to those of you who found this fic and read both chapters in one go. I hope you are enjoying the story so far, although I suppose it's only really just started. Nonetheless, I hope you like the way I'm approaching it this time around.

I have to say, I'm having a lot more fun writing this one than I was writing 'A Different Way Down'. I think I prefer the slower pace, and having more time to get into the heads of the characters is very welcome.

Next chapter will be the start of the Initiation. I'll say up front, it's going to be a little while longer before things really start to diverge from canon, as I want to properly set up everything before I start to knock all the dominoes down, so to speak. That being said, I'm sure a lot of you will be picking up on things already (at least, you will if I've done my job properly).

Not much else to say at this point, so for now, I will take my leave.

Until next time,

Not Scot.

P.S: I'm not sure if Jaune's sisters are all older than him in canon, but here he has at least one who's younger.