Posted on: 2022/03/25

I tried some experimental stuff for this chapter, forgive me if it's a little clunky.

As for those who leave comments; while I might not answer to each of them, I love reading everything you have to say as they brighten my day.

Thank you and enjoy this chapter.

Shortly before the arrival of Ruby on the academy's ground, an ashen-haired woman with a bow on her head was standing in front of the school's entrance as she admired its appearance. She found it odd that it was so deserted considering the fact that she saw an airship land not too long ago. However, her answer came when she heard a rather large gathering of students at a landing zone which had a ship inbound.

Curious, she approached the gathering mass yet found herself growing increasingly anxious the closer she went. She stopped herself and opted to listen to any conversation pieces she could hear.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, look! There's tons of pictures online already."

"What would she even be doing at Beacon?"

"They did say that she doesn't have a license in those articles."

"Who's that with her?"

"I saw a post that said that she was her sister."

"Her sister? How did we not know that she had a sister before today?"

Her eavesdropping was interrupted when someone spoke from beside her. "Looks like I'm just in time. Oh wow, if so many people gathered here, it must be true then."

Surprised, the young woman considered running away before noticing the appearance of the person who spoke to her. Long brown hair and brown eyes, a woman maybe a year older than her was standing still, observing the crowd with some excitement in her eyes. What attracted the younger woman's attention was the pair of rabbit ears on top of the other's head.

Noticing the bow-wearing woman's distress, the rabbit faunus bowed her head. "Did I scare you? I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to." She lifted herself up and extended a hand. "I'm Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina. I'm a second year here."

The dark-haired young adult hesitated before shaking the faunus' hand. "Blake Belladonna. First year. Could you explain what you meant by 'It must be true'?"

It was Velvet's turn to be shocked. "I'm surprised you didn't know already. It's all over social media right now."

Blake scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "I'm not very present on those I'm afraid."

The rabbit faunus nodded before pulling out her scroll. "Tons of posts started to pop-up online saying that Ruby Rose is coming to Beacon and that she's on that ship over there."

Blake's eyes shrunk at the news as she saw one of the pictures featuring the smiling celebrity. "What?"

"Yeah, I'm a pretty big fan of her, so I couldn't really miss that opportunity." Said Velvet as she pocketed her scroll. However, when her eyes tried to meet the ashen‐haired woman's, she was met with an empty spot. "Huh? Where did she go?"

Not far behind the second year, Blake could be seen hiding amongst the branches of a tree as panic spread across her face. "Miss Rose? Here? Damn it, that wasn't supposed to happen."

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden silence that settled on the landing zone. Confused, she looked around for the cause until her eyes landed on a familiar red figure, leading a yellow themed woman by the hand.

"Woah... She's even more beautiful than the last time I saw her." She then stared at the person dragged by the celebrity. "I'm guessing that's the sister they were talking about."

They were too far away for Blake to understand what they were discussing, but when the ravenette hugged the blonde from behind, The bow wearer's blood ran cold when Ruby's eyes suddenly met hers. Heart pounding in her chest, the ashen-haired woman fled the scene towards the amphitheater, hoping to find a hiding spot that would still allow her to watch the headmaster's speech.

When she entered the room, she found herself lucky that there weren't many people present. Taking advantage of this opportunity, she quickly looked around for any vantage points when her gaze landed on the scaffoldings hung by the ceiling.

"Better than nothing." She thought as she furtively climbed and jumped to her target.

Blake laid down on the nearest spot where she would have the best view of the stage then laid her arm over her eyes. "What am I supposed to do now? She's going to kill me."

The ashen haired girl felt a shadow loom over her making her lift her arm to see who it was.

"Food for your thoughts?" Jokingly asked Ruby Rose as she handed a plate of various snacks to her.

Blake sat up, her cat ears flattened against her head as she shamefully looked down. "Thanks." She mumbled before nibbling on a slice of cheese.

"You disappeared out of nowhere, thought you'd be hungry by now." Said the silver-eyed woman as she sat down next to her. "You're pretty good with that thing."

The cat faunus eyed her weapon, Gambol Shroud, which sat next to her before nodding with an affirming grunt.

Ruby playfully rolled her eyes before she pulled Blake down on the ground with her, catching the plate of food in the air and setting it down next to them.

"I'd like my answers to have syllables, Blake." She chuckled as the faunus tried to fight against the older woman's grip with a blush on her face.

Seeing as it amounted to wasted effort, the amber eyed girl gave up and laid lazily on top of Ruby as she buried her head in the woman's breast. "Why are you so nice to me?"

The twenty year old hummed curiously. "Do you want me to be mean?"

Blake hurriedly propped herself up and stared into her captor's silver-eyes in panic. "No! No... I just... You heard what they said back there; that I'm part of the White Fang."

Ruby looked pensive for a moment before a teasing grin formed on her lips. "Oh yeah, I think I remember hearing something about that."

Tears were welling up into the faunus' eyes. "Then... then why don't you hate me? You know that I've hurt other humans!"

The raven-haired woman changed her grip so that her hug had a gentler hold, motherly even. "Have you killed any?"

"Huh?" Replied Blake, her sobbing slowly coming to a halt.

"How many humans have you killed Blake?" Gently asked Ruby once more.

"I-I didn't kill anybody! But the others, Adam, they have and I still fight with them! Doesn't that make me worse?" She exclaimed, letting herself sink into the woman's grasp.

"Do you think that I am a bad person Blake?" Questioned the silver-eyed woman.

The faunus shook her head fiercely as she tightened her own arms as well as she could around Ruby.

"Do you remember the people who brought me here? Where we came from and why they allowed me to come with them?"

"Vacuo, and they said that you saved their lives." Blake answered, wondering where she was going with these questions.

"I did, didn't I?" Ruby's eyes gained a distant expression. "But did you know that I saved them by killing their assailant?"

The cat faunus laid still. Once a moment of silence passed, she sat up on the woman's stomach who's grip loosened. "Y-you did?"

Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the tears pouring from her usually warm, silver eyes. "See Blake? Aren't I such a terrible woman?"

She immediately wrapped her arms around Ruby's neck and cried once more. Both laid on the ground, tears flowing from their eyes until they ran dry, yet still they cried more.

The sun was setting when they managed to calm themselves down. Blake felt tired and could feel her eyelids drop against her will as she snuggled herself against the older woman's neck.

"You're not a bad woman..." She mumbled, exhausted. "You did what you had to."

"Maybe so, but I could still have tried." Calmly answered Ruby. She then noticed the faunus state. "I think it's time for you to go to bed."

Blake whined. "I'm fifteen, I'll go to bed when I want."

A giggle escaped the raven-haired woman as she reached for something under her cloak. "Alright, how about a story then?"

Blake glanced at Ruby's hand and saw that she was holding a novel. "What is it about?"

"I have no idea. Why don't we find out together?" Answered the twenty year old as she opened the item to its first page.

They spent the rest of their night, cuddled in each other's arms as Ruby read outloud the novel she had brought.

Blake's eyes fluttered open as she woke up. She glanced around herself in confusion before remembering where she was. The amphitheater was now filled with first year students all engaged in their own conversations.

"You're not following me around because of my sister, right?"

Peeking from the scaffolding's edge she saw that the one who spoke was none other than Ruby's sister... who's name she still didn't know. However, the hidden faunus' eyes narrowed when she saw who the blonde was talking to.

"Weiss Schnee." She bitterly thought, her cat ears flattening against her head, displacing her bow in the process.

She fixed her accessory before nervously gazing at the crowd below. The memories of her time with Ruby came back as she took a deep breath and let herself silently fall down. Once sure that no one saw her, Blake approached the colorful pair from behind while they were still talking to each other.

"Look, you are the only person I've had a proper conversation with here, okay?" Sulked Weiss which surprised the faunus.

"What a surprise, a Schnee showing discomfort publicly." She mocked, gaining their attention.

"And you are?" Demanded the white-haired woman with a glare.

The amber-eyed woman glared back as she crossed her arms defiantly. "Blake."

The blonde, who had been standing on the sideline for a while, tried to defuse the situation with an awkward smile. "Well, I'm Yang! This is-"

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." Interrupted Blake, her glare still strong until her expression turned into a leering smirk. "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

By then, the heiress seemed ready to explode as she raised a finger towards the ashen haired woman. However, much to Blake's surprise, she lowered her hand as she seemed to take a deep breath. Once done, Weiss glared at the hidden faunus once more not out of anger, but with confidence and determination. "That will change once I take my father's place. Then I will make you eat those words."

Before any of them could speak another word, the sound of someone tapping a microphone brought the attention of the whole room to the stage. On it, headmaster Ozpin could be seen in front of the microphone while Glynda Goodwitch stood behind accompanied by Ruby Rose, to everyone's curiosity.

The headmaster cleared his throat before starting his speech. "Forgive us for the tardiness, we had some last minute arrangements to do. I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

He then raised a hand towards Ruby. "Now, I don't believe that I need to present her, but you all must be wondering why Miss Rose is at Beacon today. Once done here, she will be taking the licensing tests for every theoretical class that we teach."

The students whispered amongst themselves in confusion.

"However, she will have to attend from the first year, every class of the tests that she fails. Additionally, whether she passes all of them or only a few, we have come to the agreement of creating a new optional class that Miss Rose will teach when circumstances allow her to. I will let her takeover."

Ruby thanked Ozpin as she stood in front of the microphone. "I... won't lie when I say that much of what headmaster Ozpin said is true. However, I have traveled the world ever since I was your age and I have come to realize something that escapes the realm of our education system."

She wrapped her arms around herself with a sad look on her face, pushing her breast upwards which caused the students to be confused about how they felt at the sight.

"It is one thing to know how to hunt the grimm, to understand the mistakes and conquests of the past, to know how to build an efficient weapon or how to use your environment to your advantage, nature included. What you will mainly learn at Beacon is how to fight properly and orderly. How to communicate with teammates or strangers during a battle to achieve victory, whether they be grimm or people. But what happens when victory doesn't simply mean beating your opponent? Will you be able to make the first step then?"

The students became nervous at the implications of what their idol was saying.

"In miss Goodwitch's class, you will learn your limits and how to break through them, how to gauge your strength along the one of your opponent and make strategic decisions on whether to engage or retreat."

Ruby's eyes then glared at the mass of people in front of her. "In my class, you will learn to fight losing battles, how to push through impossible odds, show that no matter the challenge, you will live and once you do." Her expression changed to a compassionate smile. "I will be with you when you take your first step."

A cold chill ran through the room as the reality of Ruby's words settled.

"In my class, I will teach you how to take a life and when to do so."

Without another word, the red draped woman left the stage to follow the headmaster as Glynda took the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Multiple numbered beds were set up in groups of four next to one another in the ballroom, separated down the middle for men and women. Coincidentally, Yang, Blake and Weiss were all next to each other, Yang between the two other girls just in case, along with a fourth empty bed. The entire room was silent if one ignored the few hushed voices.

"That... was... something." Muttered Yang loud enough for her two neighbors to hear.

Blake's answer came in the form of a pensive hum.

Weiss however... "To take a life, she said. It isn't like I was unaware that huntsmen have to kill sometimes, but..."

Yang released a somber chuckle. "Yeah, it's different when we're told that we will too."

The room suddenly became louder as tons of hushed conversations erupted. Curious, the three girls gazed where the other occupants in the room were, to see what caused such a ruckus. They were greeted by the sight of Ruby Rose, slowly walking down the middle of the room as she gave a sympathetic smile to whomever met her gaze. She turned in their direction and sat on the empty bed once she got there.

"This wasn't really the reunion I was hoping for." She said with a sad chuckle. "How are you girls holding up?"

The three girls blinked in confusion simultaneously before Blake stared at Weiss while the heiress and Yang stared back at the hidden faunus.

"You know her?" They all asked at the same time, turning towards the silver-eyed woman once more.

Ruby giggled. "I do. I met Blake a while back and tutored Weiss while I was in Atlas. And well, I think you both already know about Yang." She shook her head with a smile. "But those are stories for another time. Are you girls okay?"

"To be honest, Rubes, I don't think any of us know exactly how to feel right now." Yang sighed as she looked around the room, seeing all of the gazes pointed at them.

"I understand that it must have been a bit shocking. Don't forget that it's an optional class if you don't feel like taking it." Tried to reassure the raven-haired woman.

Blake hugged her knees to her chest. "We know, Miss Rose. It's just that you made it sound pretty important."

Ruby looked over her shoulder and saw that the whole room was looking at them, paying close attention to their conversation. She sighed and talked in a louder voice. "I was alone when I took someone's life for the first time. I had no other choice and I still have trouble accepting that fact. At first, I wished that no one else would have to live through that, that I would shoulder the weight of death for those who cannot, should not. As time went by I met many who were forced to make the same choice. I understood then, that my wish could never come true. But maybe there was something else that I could do."

She shifted on her bed, so that most of the room could hear her clearer. "When I visited the headmaster's office this afternoon, we talked… about a lot of things. When it came to the five years I spent mostly on my own, he listened to everything I had to say and offered his own wisdom to my questions. When I explained my wish to him, he confirmed that such a thing was impossible, but that there was still something I could do: Teach and support the future generations of huntsmen."

She stood up to properly face the entire room. "I can't give back the lives I've taken nor can I prevent you from ever taking one, but I can be there for you when you do — should you let me."

Ruby looked around the room and saw that while the young adults still had an air of awkwardness around them, they were less wary than when she came in. Some even looked a bit relieved. Satisfied, she walked over to her sister's bed, lifted the blonde's head by the chin and kissed her on the cheek. "A couple of faculties caught my eyes as I headed here. I'll check them out before heading to bed. Will you be alright, sunshine?"

Yang was stunned as she stared into her older sibling's eyes with tinted cheeks. "I... uh, y-yeah."

The raven-haired woman smiled as she released the brawler's chin and gazed at her sister's neighbors. "It's wonderful to see you both again. You all have a big day tomorrow, so lights off early alright?" She was about to leave when she suddenly side glanced at the bow wearing woman. "Keep your reading at twenty pages maximum tonight. We wouldn't want you to be tired because you stayed up all night again, would we?"

The hidden faunus blushed and buried her head into her knees as both Weiss and Yang gave her a curious look. Ruby giggled, causing the heart of those who heard her to skip a beat before she left the room, unwillingly making the room of hormonal young adults to stare at her voluptuous figure as she gracefully marched down the middle of the room.

"This... might be a problem." Mumbled Yang as she looked at her two neighbors. She noticed that Weiss' face was beet red as she hugged her pillow to cover herself while Blake had left the confines of her knees and was left frozen in place as she stared at the opened doors of the ballroom.

"And that's another..." Sulked the brawler in her head as she laid underneath her covers.

"Ugh, twenty already?" Mentally groaned Blake as she closed her book and set it down next to her.

She had begun reading as soon as she snapped out of her earlier stupor to distract herself from what she saw. "I didn't think she could be any more attractive than she was three years ago, yet here she is, proving me wrong."

She was about to settle into her bed's covers when she heard the vibration of a scroll close to her. She was about to reach for hers when she saw Yang sit up and open her device. To the faunus' curiosity, the blonde's tired eyes suddenly widened as she got out of her bed.

"Is something wrong?" She asked which caught Weiss' attention who had been writing a letter.

Yang almost jumped, having forgotten about the two girls momentarily before facing her interlocutor. "Nah, no worries. Just got a text from my sister, that's all." She was about to leave, yet suddenly stopped. "You guys wanna come with?"

The heiress and the faunus shared a confused look, the latter barely holding back from glaring at the former.

"I-if you're offering." Said Weiss trying to sound indifferent, yet her excitement was written all over her barely contained smile.

Blake simply nodded as she picked up her book.

"Alright, follow this bombshell." Boasted Yang which had her two companions roll their eyes.

They walked down the halls of Beacon for a few minutes before the blonde finally stopped in front of a door labeled: Music and Sound Design Faculty.

"Why would they have a faculty for music in a huntsmen school?" Asked Blake as she stood besides the brawler.

"There are various additional classes you can choose from, should you wish to fill up your free periods." Replied Weiss as she went to the blonde's other side. "How did you not know that?"

Amber eyes glared at the heiress. "Well, I'm sorry that I don't know everything, miss Schnee."

"Would you girls cut it out?" She demanded while reaching for the door handle.

"Why are you...?" Tried to ask Weiss before trailing off when she saw what awaited them inside.

Sitting next to a desk with a computer hooked up to various speakers and instruments, Ruby could be seen wearing headphones, nodding her head to something with a joyful smile on her face.

"I don't think I've ever seen Miss Rose with an expression like that." Said Blake with a sad tone.

Yang had a longing smile. "That's 'cause she usually smiles like that only when she does something truly for herself. Most of the time, it's when she's playing music."

"Beautiful..." Silently gushed Weiss as she took a couple of involuntary steps forward.

The older woman noticed them and took off her headphones before giving them a warm smile which, while still breathtaking, looked completely different than the one she had earlier. "You brought Blake and Weiss with you? I didn't expect you three to be friends already."

That comment snapped Weiss out of her reverie as she turned to glare at Blake. "As if I'd be friends with this rude woman."

Blake glared back. "Being associated with a Schnee isn't appealing to me either, trust me."

Yang jabbed them both in the ribs when she saw the sad look that grew in her sister's eyes before looking back at the silver-eyed woman. "You said you had a song for me to listen to?"

The older woman's expression became joyful once more as she reached for an acoustic guitar. "I did! See, I got inspired after, well, everything that happened in the ballroom and remembered that I saw this faculty on my way there, so I thought why not y'know? Plus, they have so many different instruments in here." She said before gazing back at them. "It's actually quite the coincidence that you brought these two, since I made that song for you three."

"You did?" They asked simultaneously.

"Well, you certainly inspired a couple of verses." She chuckled before sitting down with the guitar on her lap. "There are a couple of chairs over there if you want to sit down."

Once properly seated, Ruby set up a couple of things on the computer before she started to play.

(The song is "All I know so far" by P!nk for context since I wouldn't want to clutter the chapter with the full lyrics of a song. I highly recommend at least searching up the lyrics since I chose this song specifically because they matched the three main girls on top of Ruby's new role and her feelings towards it.)

As soon as Ruby had finished the last verse of the song, she set the guitar aside to engulf all three girls in a hug which they all protested to. At some point during the song, they had all sat together on the floor with Yang and Blake on each of Ruby's sides while Weiss sat on her lap with the guitar since she was the shortest, which she did not appreciate yet kept quiet.

"I'm so glad that the world gave me the chance to see you three again." Mumbled Ruby which made the others smile. "Alright now, enough playing around, we should head to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow after all."

With a groan, they did as the older woman asked and left while she cleaned the workstation she used. As soon as they closed the door to the faculty behind them, Weiss turned towards her two companions with a deep shade of red decorating her skin.

"Not a word of this gets out. Got it?" She threatened unsuccessfully yet still received nods of confirmation.

Carefully walking in the ballroom, trying to not wake up the others, the three girls went to their respective beds and let the exhaustion of their day take them to the land of sleep.

At some point during the night, Blake was woken up by the sound of someone walking past her and Yang's bed, stopping next to Weiss'. Taking full advantage of her faunus night vision, she opened her eyes and saw that Ruby was kneeling next to the heiress' bed, fixing her sheets and tucking her in without waking the girl up. Once satisfied, the raven-haired woman changed her focus to her younger sister, she replicated the same actions she took with the heiress and added a gentle kiss on the brawler's forehead.

Blake panicked when Ruby started heading in her direction and pretended to sleep as she heard the woman kneel beside her. Just like the other two, the silver-eyed woman fixed her sheets before tucking her comfortably. However, as she was about to leave for her own bed, Blake caught Ruby's hand making them both freeze in place.

"What the hell am I doing?!" She screamed to herself when her mouth decided to move subconsciously. "C-could I also, maybe, get a kiss?"

While it wasn't visible in the now dark room, she could feel how hot her face was after she uttered those words. "That was weird. She must think that I'm weird. Why did I say that?"

To her surprise, Ruby knelt back down with a chuckle as she brushed the faunus's hair behind her human ears. "If that's all you ask." She could feel the soft lips of her idol, pressing against her forehead which made her feel even hotter. However, she suddenly winced when she felt the raven-haired woman's fingers softly travel along the underside of her bow, making her desire — more than ever now, to take it off.

"I think we'll need to have a serious discussion at some point." Seriously followed Ruby, yet she left a hint of gentleness in her voice that let the faunus know she wasn't in trouble, at least not any serious trouble. "Sweet dreams, Blake."

As if suddenly put under a spell, Blake felt her eyelids become heavy as she fell into a deep sleep.