Chapter 4

Ruby Rose

Without any warning, without any hint of remorse, Ozpin came and dropped...him...into my next 4 years of Beacon. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one put off by this turn of events, as Weiss made quite clear to the room.

"I will not stand for this! Teams have already been assigned and I for one will not be boarding with some strange man! What does Professor Ozpin think he's doing?!"

Slowly, Hound turned away from staring at the door the Headmaster had fled through. Those green eyes looking as cold and sharp as before. "Look I'm not exactly thrilled either. I'll get it sorted out tomorrow with Ozpin."

"Well I for one am more than happy with this turn of events." Yang, honest to god, PURRED, as she lay on her bed with a smirk.

"Of course YOU would."

"Hey! Whats that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, I think you know what I me…"

"Enough!" This was a disaster. We hadn't even made it one night and we're already at each others throats. I'm supposed to be a leader, and I can't keep a simple fight from happening. "Look! We were all...caught a little off guard...but we're a team now at the best school for huntresses! So can we please not fight over something so stupid as a boy sleeping here, on our first FUDGIN NIGHT?!"

"Uh Oh. Rubes broke out the F bomb. Things are serious."

"Shut it Yang!" I yelled, hitting her with my patented "little sister is having none of your shizzle" stare. Finally she looked away and Weiss and Blake shared a look. And through it all HE NEVER ONCE CHANGED HIS EXPRESSION! Would it have killed him to to at least look like cared!?

Finally Weiss broke the silence. "Mr. Hound, I lost my temper, and it was unfair to yell at you, this day has...not gone as I expected."

With a wave of his hand and a shrug, our newest teammate carried his bag to the chair in the corner of the room. "No harm done. And just call me Hound. I'm not some old man. To be fair, I know next to nothing about where we are or what to expect. We've got some time. Would anyone like to fill me in?"

With a quick look around the room it seemed I had been volunteered to act as the source of all knowledge for Hound. "Um...sure. What would you like to know?"

Sitting in his chair, he began to unpack his bag as he said, "no need to tell me everything. There's plenty of time for all the minute details. Just a basic run down of how I can expect my day to go will suffice."

"You mean when you're not falling out of the sky and fighting monsters?" Yang chimed in.

"Exactly."

Then he started to lay out and incredible arsenal of weapons in front of him. They were BEAUTIFUL. These were really weapons from another….place? There was the rifle we had seen him use before, and two pistols and what looked like grenades and several knives. With careful and practiced movements he began to inspect and clean every part of the arsenal. I wanted to stop and ask so many questions about each and every part but, I caught myself. He was the one he needed information.

So started to tell him about what felt like everything. About Patch, Vale, lien and our favorite shops in the city. Anything I would think of really, with the others adding to my information dump every now and again. Surprising no one at this point, Hound was a really good listener, he continued to work but would sometimes repeat things back or ask for occasional clarification.

Eventually, as Weiss was showing him how to use his Scroll, Blake asked something we should have probably thought of sooner. "Hound, how can you read the Scroll?"

Mid tap on the screen he froze, "Well….shit I don't know."

"LANGUAGE!"

Ignoring Weiss's outburst he proceeded to pull from his bag a small leather bound book and handed it to me. "Can you read this?"

Opening the book I was met with small, crisp and neatly organized writing. Which I could not make heads or tails of, it was completely foreign to anything I'd ever seen before. With a shake of my head I returned it. "It's just lines to me."

Sitting back on the chair he was silent for several long moment while we all waited with bated breath for what this revelation could mean. Finally he said, "Well this complicates things."

Well that was anti climatic, "Ohhkay...care to elaborate?"

"Before I could assume that this was some sort of cosmic accident or result of a strange phenomenon in my world. But that wouldn't account for me being able to read and speak your language. Which means…"

"This was no accident." Yang finished with a wide eyed understanding.

"But what would be the point? Who could even do that?" Blake asked incredulously.

"I'm not sure...but there's no sense in worrying about it I suppose. Whoever or whatever is responsible will play their hand eventually. All I can do is be ready." The way he said it was so un bothered. As if this really was just some mildly interesting piece of information to file away for later. How could anyone stay this calm with all this craziness?! "Regardless, it looks like I'll have plenty to keep me busy until then, I assume we have classes fairly early tomorrow?"

Annnddd a quick reboot of basic math had me come to the unsettling realization that there were one too few beds in our room. Based on the looks shared by the rest of the team they had just come to the same conclusion.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take the chair tonight and get a bed from Ozpin tomorrow."

Looking at the basic, and for sure not comfortable, arm chair I couldn't help but feel bad about making him sleep in that after the day we'd all had. "You can take my bed if you need...actually as team leader I could order you to take it…" I trailed off lamely barely.

It was just a second, the barest upturn of his lips. But for just one heartbeat there was just a ghost of a small smile on his face and I felt like he really looked at me. "You could, but like I said, I've slept in worse. Plus you've had just as tiring a day as me. I appreciate the thought, but I'll be fine Rose."

Not waiting for an answer, he proceeded to pack away his weapons, pull out the small book from earlier and began to write. Looking at Yang, she shrugged and we all took that as our cue that the conversation was over, and proceeded about our various nightly routines. After putting a stop to the argument between Weiss and Yang about shower rights, I finally crawled into bed and felt sleep calling to me.

Looking around the room one last time, I couldn't help but think of my new team mates, and how I had to do so much more than I ever thought I would at Beacon. I was a freakin team leader! I had no idea how to do that! Day one and I had, my sister, an heiress, a mysterious and quiet bookworm, and some guy from ANOTHER fudgin world! How was I supposed to hand that curveball?!

With a glance at Hound in his chair, I could see that he was asleep. But he didn't seem to be at rest even now. He seemed so...tense. Like a coil ready to spring at any moment. He clutched tightly in his left hand a different book from before. Tucked to his chest his grip seemed desperate. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad. Sure he was SUPER bad at small talk, but maybe he would open up a little over time. I definitely couldn't judge someone for having poor social skills that was for sure. Maybe...he just needed a friend to help him...

Sure in my purpose, before closing my eyes I whispered, "Goodnight Hound, I hope these next few years are as amazing as I always dreamed."