Brook

Brook lifted her giant bowl of noodles to her lip and tipped it over into her mouth, polishing off the broth inside of it and slamming it onto the table. The old man at the other side of the counter looked at her, and she waved her hand at him.

"Gimme another bowl, old man."

The old man raised an eyebrow, and she leaned over the counter, scroll in hand. "You think I'm not good for it? Come on, do I look like a girl who's going to dine and dash? I've just come into a lot of money recently. In fact, here."

She threw a bunch of lein onto the countertop, and the man counted it. He made to return some of it, but she waved him off. "Keep the change. You've earned it with the first bowl. Now, stop staring and get me another."

The man slid another bowl in front of her, and she picked up her chopsticks and began to shove the noodles into her mouth while staring at the people walking by the shop and on the sidewalk.

As she shoveled food into her mouth, she saw a little kid holding the arms of his parents, laughing and giggling as they swung him further and further. She took in the kid's smile and the looks on his parent's faces. They looked like the perfect family.

Would they be this happy in Mantle? She seriously doubted it. Vale was like paradise on earth, compared to that hellhole. The air was clean, the sky was clear, and people acted like they didn't have a care in the world. But try as she might, she didn't feel at home here. What was the expression? Like a sore thumb? Yeah, she stuck out like a sore thumb here in Vale, a scarred street rat among sedentary sheep.

In Mantle, no one even looked at her burn scars. Everyone had scars, either from some freak accident in the mines or because of some street fight. Here, everyone started at her like she was a freak who needed to be mocked and pitied. Given how these people treated the Faunus, it made sense. No matter how pretty Vale looked, in the end, it was rotten on the inside, the same as the other kingdoms. As Val would put it, assholes were a global occurrence.

She polished off her second bowl drained the broth, and then slipped off the stool she was sitting on.

"Come again." The man said after some hesitation.

She waved at him and headed in the direction of the industrial district, back to the little nest she'd made for herself in the rafters of one of the warehouses. As she moved away from the more populated parts of Vale, the city grew quieter and quieter until it seemed almost dead.

It was so quiet, in fact, that the footsteps of her the two idiots who were following her were as clear to her day. She walked into an alley and was delighted to note that it was a dead end. Within seconds, her tails had fled. With a sigh, she settled herself against one of the walls and took out her packet of smokes. She fiddled open the packet, put one to her lips, and lit it up, inhaling deeply and letting the warmth seep into her bones. As the smoke drifted upwards, she began to wrap her hands in boxing tape and slipped on her brass knuckles.

I'm not your mother, but those are bad for you. Val's voice whispered in her mind. Better to kick a bad habit than keep it.

She let herself have one more puff before she put out the cig on the wall behind her and tossed the half-smoked stub to the ground. As she did that, she heard the thrum of boots near the opening of the alley, and sure enough, a bunch of goons wearing Grimm masks and white outfits were streaming into the alley, weapons in hand. She started to undo the buttons of her cloak.

She kicked herself off the wall and cracked her neck, and the goons parted to reveal a tall, thin woman with a long, thin sword on her hip. A pair of triangular bobcat ears were clearly visible on the top of her head.

"You're a brave one, aren't you? You steal from us, and then instead of hiding like the little shit you are, you openly invite us to attack you." The woman said, contempt clear.

Brook cracked her knuckles. "Well, beanpole, I really don't give a shit about you or your goons. I just wanted some dust, and you guys had a lot of it. Thieves really shouldn't be mad when someone steals something they stole."

She pressed a button on the bracelet on her left wrist, and the giant box of metal on her back started unfolding, spreading out over her back and then over her arms, turning into a pair of arm guards. The pneumatics and the motors snapped into place under the armor, and the small generator on her back started to hum as soon as the assembly finished unfolding.

The goons all took a nervous step back while the woman remained standing.

The woman scoffed at her display and turned to her goons. "Prove your worth to the White Fang. Take care of her."

Her piece said, she walked off, leaving her goons behind to do her dirty work.

She looked at the crowd in front of her and shrugged off her patchwork cloak. It fell to the ground just as the first faunus rushed forward. The man swung his machete at her in a wild reckless swing. She sidestepped before driving her fist into his face, the motors whirring and pneumatics hissing as they added more power to her blow. The man was blasted back into his friends, bowling several of them over.

"Well, are we doing this or not? I have an initiation to get ready for."

With a feeble war cry, the rest of them surged forward, and she rooted herself in place with her arms up. They fanned out around her, trying to surround her. Thankfully, with the wall to her back, they would only crowd in front of her.

The first one jabbed his sword forward, and she slipped to the side, letting it sail past her head. Then she grabbed his arm and pulled him toward her. As he staggered forward, she headbutted him once, twice, thrice. His aura defended him against the first two hits, but the third hit cracked it open like an egg and left him on the ground with a broken nose.

Two more rushed her, and this time, they showed a bit of teamwork. The first rushed forward with a dagger while the other one drew his handgun to take potshots at her. The one with the dagger rushed forward and slashed at her face, and she slipped under it and struck his liver, causing him to stumble forward. With a yell, she grabbed his face and lunged forward, smashing it into the ground and causing his friend's bullet to go over her head.

The gunman tried to point his gun at her, and as he clicked the trigger a second time, she reached for her semblance.

The way guns with standard rounds worked was that the hammer fell, and agitated the dust behind the bullet. The dust ignited and made a lot of hot air, which expanded and pushed the metal slug very very hard, causing it to go super fast and put a hole in the first person it hit.

The key thing that made a bullet travel forward was the hot air expanding. And for her semblance to work, it needed heat, and so at her insistence, it stole the heat from the air inside the gun.

The gun made a popping noise and a ping and got jammed as the bullet got stuck inside.

The man frantically tried to unjam his gun, but she was too quick for him, and by the time he had ejected the jammed round from his gun, she was already rising upward using a spin and snapping two straight kicks at his head. As his head snapped back, she grabbed him by the collar and swung him around, smashing his body into the goons behind him and scattering them. At the height of her spin, she let go of his collar, and he smashed into the wall and didn't move after.

She rushed forward, vaulting over the first man she reached and landing in the heart of the crowd, causing them to surge away from her.

One of them slashed at her head, and she guided their weapon arm and redirected to hit someone behind her before breaking his elbow and clocking him in the face. The man who'd been hit by the first one stumbled, and she kicked him in the shin and slammed an elbow into his face without turning back.

As she fought, her semblance ramped up, and the temperature around her began to plummet, making the goons more and more lethargic.

A man next to her went for an overhead blow, and she blocked with her arm guards before chaining four punches to his sternum and kicking him in the head. She shoved the now kneeling man aside and turned back and ran over to the next man, who fell to a liver shot mixed in with a double drop kick.

They weren't bad fighters, but her fighting style was designed with huntsmen and huntresses in mind, and not stumbling cannon fodder who could barely manage to keep their auras up after one blow. In her experience, all her fights went the same way. She'd close distance with her opponent, crush open their aura, and then put them in the ground with an explosive finishing blow. These idiots eliminated the need for steps one and three altogether since they kept running at and dropping like flies as soon as she hit them.

Finally, her semblance had finished sapping enough heat, and it was primed and ready to go. With a deep breath, she snuffed out the fire inside her.

Everything went cold. Too cold. The chill seeped into her bones, and she felt like she was slowly dying, every organ failing as the chill got to it. Her heart seemed to stop, beating too slowly for her to even feel it.

One of the goons tried to hit her, and his sword passed through her like she was some kind of apparition. With a gasp, she relit the fire inside her chest with her stolen heat and hit him with a one-two.

Without her semblance, these idiots might have had a chance to win by wearing her down. With it though, they didn't even scratch her. Every time she ghosted, it was getting harder and harder to come back, the heat she'd stolen running out. Her fingers felt like they were about to fall off, and her breath in her lungs was so cold it was coming out as mist. Her movements were more jerky and her hands were shaking. Around the fifth time she ghosted, she could hear her grandmother's voice calling for her from beyond the curtain.

With her semblance, she was able to pass through people, and in a fight, if your opponent was behind you, you were in for a bad time. She kicked out the back of their knees or punched the base of their skulls and put them down before drifting towards another victim. Soon enough, there were only three of them left.

The last three rushed forward, and she leaped forward, scissoring her legs around his neck and spinning around, slamming both her feet into both of his friends using him as a fulcrum. Once both of his friends went down, she mounted his shoulders and leaned backward, slamming him into the ground.

She looked around to see if there was anyone left but didn't find anyone who wasn't a groaning body on the ground. She walked back to her cloak, put it on, and left the alley, thankful for its warmth. She lit another cig and breathed in, thankful for the hot smoke filling her lungs and fighting off the persistent chill.

She left the alley, stepping over bodies and weapons. She had an initiation to get ready for.

Haytham

Vale was a terrible place, and it shouldn't be. The more he thought about it, the less sense it made. The people of Vale had everything they needed. They were protected from the Grimm by giant walls. They had a giant agricultural district that made more food than they needed. They had fresh drinking water everywhere. They even had luxury items like chocolate and tobacco aplenty, unlike in Vacuo, where you had to trade for them with caravans from outside the kingdom.

"Watch where you're going, freak." A man barked as he bumped into Haytham. With a sigh, he nodded, already numb to it.

He simply didn't understand why they hated the Faunus. It made no sense. The Faunus war was over, and it had been years since it had happened, allowing it to fade from memory. Their hatred served no purpose but to let groups like the White Fang thrive, and that was clearly bad for them. So why did they hate them?

At his side, Rene held his hand, and he felt a bit better. "Beacon will be better." She said resolutely.

"I hope it is." He murmured back.

They walked on, and the people around them judged them openly. He wanted to disappear into the folds of his hood, but Rene kept pulling him forward, uncaring of their cold hard stares.

Soon enough, they reached the edge of the commercial district and entered the airship docks, where students were already milling around. Rene let go of his hand and turned to him.

"Now, if anyone asks you're-"

"Seventeen, and I'm your fraternal twin."

She nodded. "Good."

She strode up to the grey-suited man checking their papers with an air of authority. The man looked at her sunset-red clothes and fox ears and looked down at her papers. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be judging them.

"Renarde Byrd, right?"

She nodded. He stamped the papers and held his hand out. "Next."

Haytham handed his papers over. "You her brother?"

"Yes." Haytham said, hoping the man wouldn't pick up on the lie.

The man stamped his papers. "Stay out of trouble. Your ship's docked at bay four."

They headed down the cobblestone path to bay four, where a massive ship was docked. They gave their papers to a man behind a table at the entrance to the ship, who filed them away and let them inside.

The ship looked like a palace on the inside, with metal arches with holographic webbing, carpets, and floor-to-ceiling windows aplenty. He gawked at it all, and Rene pulled him forward once again pushing past the crowds until they reached the very end of the ship. The ship was also extremely massive and filled to the brim with useless stuff that weighted it down. Did they really need couches near all the windows?

Rene leaned against one of the doors and gave everyone the stink eye until they stopped staring at them, and he slipped beside her, flipping his hood down and finally allowing him to see clearly. His hoods were great at keeping the sun out of his eyes in the desert wastes, but in here it was just annoying. It wasn't like hiding his eyes made him any less of a Faunus-his hands had talons and had the texture of bird feet.

They stood in silence for a while, and the ship took off, he was amazed that he didn't feel anything as the giant hunk of metal rose to the sky. Did they have an onboard stabilizing system for a ship this damn massive? Or were they wasting dust and slowly rising upwards to ensure they didn't jolt the people inside?

To amuse himself, he did the dust consumption calculations for a ship this size and weight, and the number he got was disgustingly high. Still, it was a marvel of engineering, unlike the old airships they used back home, which were several years out of date.

As the ship rose upwards and made its way forward, he decided to look at the scenery out of the window to pass the time.

As he flipped up his hood, several looks were directed his way thanks to his unnatural eyes. Alya had told him they looked like discs of amber surrounded by a bottomless pit. She was poetic like that. He missed Alya, and the rest of the tribe back in Vacuo. He hoped they'd be fine without Rene around.

"Homesick?" Rene asked him.

"A bit. I miss not being stared at. And I'm wondering if the rest of the tribe will be fine you around."

Rene was silent for a bit, and then put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair. "I think they'll be fine without me, but your absence will probably hit them pretty hard."

"Why's that?"

"You were the best mechanic we had in a couple of years. Without you, how will they keep their scrappy machines and vehicles running?"

He blushed.

"It was nothing special. Besides, I managed to get the basic maintenance procedures through Alya's skull, so they'll be fine. Can you stop messing up my hair now?"

"I thought siblings were supposed to be touchy-feely."

He lifted her hand up off his head. "I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to be this touchy-feely."

They were interrupted by a loud squeal from one of the girls in front of them. The blonde-haired girl crashed into another much smaller girl and hugged her.

"I can't believe my baby sister's going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" The girl yelled, all while crushing the other girl into her chest.

Rene shot him a look. "See? Touchy-feely."

"They're big sister and little sister. We're supposed to be the same age."

She waved him off. "A few minutes or few years, does it matter? Both in reality and in our lie, I'm older than you."

The blonde girl continued yelling, and he managed to catch some of it.

"Everyone at Beacon's going to think you're the bee's knees!"

Rene looked at him. "Bee's knees...?"

"It means that everyone's going to be impressed by her because she's outstanding." He said.

The small girl and her sister continued to talk, and Rene listened on while he lost interest and turned back to the scenery outside the window. They were now just a couple of minutes away from the river that separated Beacon from the rest of Vale if his maps were correct.

Rene bumped into him with her shoulder.

"The girl in red is the same age as you." She whispered.

"What?" He said back, surprised. "How...?"

"She got moved ahead two years because she's a prodigy. So by Vale's standards, you're a prodigy."

He snorted. "Yeah, right. You killed your first Deathstalker when you were nine, Rene. If I'm a prodigy, what does that make you?"

"I had help." She replied.

They were quiet for a bit more, a he finally spat out what he was thinking about.

"I'm only here because of my semblance, Rene. It was useful, and it worked well with your semblance and helped make the journey to Vale easier. I wouldn't be here otherwise."

She shook her head and put her arm over his shoulders pulled him close. "You passed the combat exam even though you were tired, hungry, and ill. You deserve to be here, just as same as all of them. You think too little of yourself."

He felt comforted, and also a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry for being such a baby."

"You're not."

A holo-screen blared to life near them, and everyone turned to it. It was a news report about a series of dust robberies happening in Vale. A man detailed the robberies, and then a photo of the supposed mastermind was shown on screen.

"It seems that Vale isn't as peaceful as we thought." Rene said.

"Hmm."

"In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest was turned dark when members of White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization-"

"Along with humans who hate us for being faunus, we have to deal with faunus who hate other faunus for not being in their little murder cult. Just wonderful." Rene muttered.

At the mention of the White Fang, most of the people in the room turned to them, stares cold and disapproving. Rene started them down again, hand on the hilt of her sword. He caught whispers calling them freaks and agents of the White Fang. Thankfully, this would just be passive, and no one would walk up to them. Of course, as soon as he thought that, someone walked up to them.

A boy in plate armor with an emblem of a bird on the front and a mace on his hips strode forward, emboldened by the whispers and the staring.

"So, you freaks sneak in here or something?"

Rene just stared at the boy like she wanted him to drop dead, and Haytham looked at him in confusion.

"What? Fox got your tongue?" He taunted, leering at Rene.

She started to slide her sword out of her sheath, and Haytham caught the hand that was drawing her blade and held it in place.

"We don't want any trouble." He told the boy. "And we earned our places here, same as you."

"Oh, you won't be much trouble to take care of you two, bird-boy. And I'm sure you didn't earn our your spot as you did steal it from someone else."

"Care to repeat that?" Rene spat out.

The tension mounted, and Rene's hand was now fighting his to draw her sword while the boy was leaning forward. Thankfully, they were saved from a fight as the projectors flickered off and the woman from the exam took the place of the news broadcast. Uncaring of the situation in the room she began to talk, cutting through the tension like only a recording could.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among the privileged few-"

She continued to talk, and the boy seemed to be listening with half an ear. "Well, it doesn't seem like I'll have enough time to deal with you freaks. But don't sleep too easy-initiation should take care of you for me."

He sauntered off, and Haytham spent the rest of the speech trying to keep Rene from running towards the boy and murdering him, holding her back as she struggled to get free.

"-and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The woman stopped talking and the hologram vanished, and beyond the window, Haytham could see the entire city of Vale arrayed out under them. The pilot must have started to ascend when the woman began her speech.

Rene finally stopped straining against his hold and tried to peel his arms off. He let her.

"You should have let me beat him up." She snarled at him.

"This isn't Vacuo, Rene. Vigilante justice isn't the norm here. They might expel you if you get into a fight even before term starts."

"But we're in the right. That's the only thing that truly matters back home, and it's the only thing that should matter here. If we don't nip this in the bud, it will fester."

"At least wait until we set foot in the school."

Rene grumbled, but her moody stare fell away once she saw the full extent of Vale and the river below them. She stared at it, anger forgotten. And then a blonde boy with a rabbit t-shirt ran over and spat out a glob of vomit next to her, and she was back to being angry.

As Rene moved away from the boy with a couple of choice swears, Haytham moved closer to him and gave him a couple of gentle pats on the back.

"First time on an airship?"

"No. But I-" The boy paused as some more of his lunch splattered past his hands and onto the floor.

"Here." Haytham pulled out his cleaning rag out of his cloak and held it to the boy's nose. "Strong smells can help with nausea."

The boy took a deep breath, and let out a gasp of relief. "It's working. Thanks. Why does this smell like alcohol though?"

"It's my cleaning rag."

The boy stared at the rag, and Haytham patted him on the shoulder. "Relax. I just use it to clean my weapons. I'm Haytham, by the way."

The boy stood up straighter. "Oh. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc."

Rene stared at Jaune with barely disguised revulsion, and Jaune turned to her. "And who might this be?"

"That's my sister, Renarde. Say hello, Rene."

"Hello. A pleasure."

Jaune smiled. "The pleasure's all mine. I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, and it rolls off the tongue. The ladies-"

Rene cut him off. "Heard you the first time. Don't see many people get sick on airships in this day and age. First time?"

"No!" Jaune squeaked out. "I just have motion sickness."

Rene laughed. "Sure you do. Well, better get over it quickly. We're coming in for a landing, and if you thought ascending was bad, landing will be even worse."

As soon as Rene finished, the pilot began to slowly descend, and Haytham felt his stomach dropping a bit and his chest constricting slightly. If this was a Bullhead, Jaune would have had it much worse.

As it was, Jaune was clutching at the cloth like it was a lifeline, whimpering as the ship descended and docked. The students began to line up at the door, and as soon as they opened, Jaune rushed out, people making way for him because no one wanted to be puked on. As soon as he was outside, Haytham heard the sounds of retching and barfing.

Rene looked at him. "Well, have fun with him. I'm off to explore the school."

Haytham glared at her. "I'm not some bleeding heart who can't resist helping him. I might be coming with you."

Rene smiled. "Never said you being a bleeding heart was a bad thing. And I know you won't be leaving him behind. Don't worry, I'll find you come nightfall."

"Fine. Stay safe. And don't get into any fights!"

Rene waved him goodbye and sauntered away. He slipped through the crowds and made it out of the ship, and he found Jaune. Jaune was barfing straight into a trash can, and he rubbed soothing circles on his back while he did his business.

Everyone slowly filtered out of the ship, averting their eyes from Jaune as they did. After a long while, Jaune finally finished, and Haytham pulled him up.

"Finished?"

Jaune nodded. "You stayed behind? Why?"

He shrugged. "Why not? Here." He handed him his canteen. "Rinse your mouth out with this."

Jaune took the canteen with shaking hands and took a swig. "Thanks."

"Want to get going to the school?" He asked Jaune, and he nodded, rinsing his mouth one more time before following him off the ship.

As soon as his feet stepped off the metal of the ship and hit the cobbled road that was supposed to take him to the school, Haytham was entranced by the beauty of it all. The stones perfectly interlocked with each other and even made patterns on the floor. And then he looked up at the rest of the school, and he almost fell over at the sight.

A giant tower seemed to be the centerpiece of the school, and around it, a veritable fortress had been built, taller than anything he'd ever seen. In front of the school, sparkling gardens ran alongside artificial rivers. It was more water than he'd ever seen in one place, and all of it was just ornamental.

Jaune gulped for beside him, and that broke him out of his spell. "Nervous?"

"No. Yes? I just can't believe I'm here."

He smiled. "Same here."

There was an explosion somewhere in front of them, and Haytham felt every muscle he had tense at the sound, hands going for his weapons. Jaune noticed.

"Hey, you alright?"

He chuckled. How pathetic must he look for the boy who'd been puking his guts out to take pity on him?

"I'm fine. Just...habit, I suppose."

"Huh. Pretty strange habit, but I'm not one to judge. Want to go check that explosion out?"

"Sure. But before that, where's my cleaning rag?"

"I, uhm, didn't know where it is. I'm sorry."

Haytham sighed. Curse his bleeding heart.

"It's fine."

Jaune shook his head. "I think I dropped it on the ship...hey! Hey! Wait up, my friend's rag is still on that ship!"

Haytham watched as Jaune ran back to the now departing ship, yelling for them to stop. He hoped Rene had found a better friend than him.

Renarde

Renarde stretched, feeling her joints pop and her aches lessen. After months of travel, it was nice to finally reach the place they were supposed to be. If she had it her way, she would be fine with not traveling for the rest of her life. She had her fill of it, and she wasn't impressed with it.

Still, it could have been worse. If she didn't have Haytham by her side, she may have very well either murdered someone or be dead in a ditch somewhere. She turned back to see him patting vomit-boy on the back as he emptied his stomach into a bin on the ship.

Her eyes settled on Jaune, seeing if he was like the other idiots in this kingdom. Thankfully, he seemed oblivious to the fact that they were even faunus, not flinching when Haytham touched him or spoke to him. In fact, he seemed pretty decent.

He was still a scrappy-looking runt, but at least he wasn't going to call them freaks or try to pick a fight with them. As for the vomit on her boots, well, she could just wipe it off. It wasn't the worst thing she'd had smeared on her boots, and accidents happened. All in all, he'd made a strong first impression.

Rene admired Beacon for a bit before walking over to a bench near the entrance and plopping down on it, picking up a loose pebble to scrape the vomit off her boots. As she scraped, she saw Little Red and her sister talking, and her ears perked up. Those two had been pleasant to listen to, and they'd offered her a lot of information on how the schools worked in Vale. She got up and walked closer to the pair, finding a bench just close enough so she could listen in and hopefully get a couple more titbits of information and pick up some more tips on how to act like an older sibling.

The two chatted for a bit about banal topics like weapons. And then they moved on to the topic of friends, which wasn't any more important.

"But...why do I need friends if I have you?" The red one asked, and Rene winced. That hit too close to home for her. That was what she thought about Haytham.

As the yellow one abandoned the red one, she thought about how her days had been before Haytham. She remembered what the rest of the tribe thought about her, what said about her when they thought she wasn't hearing them.

She killed her own mother. She's a devil child, that one. I don't understand what Isra was thinking when she took her in. She's an animal. Did you see how she killed that Grimm? Bloodthirsty psychopath. Freak of nature, she is.

She was aware of her faults. She knew she was quick to anger, too quick to use violence to solve things. She liked violence a bit too much. But in Vacuo, that was what she'd been taught. The strong took what they wanted, and the weak wallowed at the bottom. That was the way things were.

Even after her mother had died, she had held firm to the one thing she'd taught her, separating herself from the rest of the spineless idiots in the tribe and only doing what Isra asked of her. And then Haytham had come along and had proved that she really hadn't wanted to be lonely at all.

He'd taken a chance on her, and she was ever grateful to him because of that.

Red was dizzy with anxiety, and she twirled around and tripped over a bunch of crates. Then a girl who was wearing white with white hair and pale skin began to scream at her. The girl was so white Rene was half-sure she was a ghost. The girl shook something at Red, who sneezed and then exploded. Rene sat up and paid closer attention to them after that, worried they might kill each other.

If she was being honest, she wanted to be far far away from those crates. That much pure dust in one place was an accident waiting to happen. She watched the girl in white tore into Little Red, and Little Red showed some spine and began to bark back. Then another girl in black walked up to both and complimented the girl in white, calling her an heiress. Then she said her name, and Rene had to clench her hands on the bench to keep herself from walking over there and slapping Weiss Schnee. Shame she hadn't been blown up by Little Red's accident.

While outsiders were generally hated as a rule in Vacuo, none were as hated as the Schnees. Along with the Mistral trading company, they'd stolen much of Vacuo's dust, ruining serval oasis towns and destroying a lot of arable land to build their giant mines. Their machines and factories had ruined the great oasis and poisoned much of its water. They'd grown rich and fat on stolen dust, uncaring of over-mining and exhausting the mines because it wasn't their kingdom and so they could ruin it for profits all they wanted.

Then the dust had dried up, and the dogs had fled back to their homes, uncaring to the suffering masses they'd exploited and left behind.

The girl in black said something to Schnee, and she fled like the dog she was, servants following her and helping her with the crates. Red turned to thank the girl in black, but she had walked off too. Little Red collapsed to the ground. She really didn't want to get involved with her, but she had pissed off Schnee, and she was just a kid with no idea how to talk to people. Plus, she could probably pump her for more information.

Mind made, she walked up to Little Red and lifted her up by the arm.

"Woah!" Little Red spluttered out. "What? I mean who are you?"

"You shouldn't lie on the floor. It's dirty."

"Oh. Uhm. Okay. Thanks for lifting me up, I guess."

She was looking at the ground while fiddling with her hands, the very image of awkwardness. Rene took pity on her.

"I'm Renarde. Rene for short."

The girl looked up at her. "I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose. I like the color red, and cookies and milk, and I know I'm younger than everyone here, but I'm here because the headmaster-"

"Don't care. Come on, everyone's heading that way."

"Uh, sure!"

The girl began to walk alongside her, but she was still stiff, and an awkward silence descended upon them.

"So...I overhead you like weapons?" Rene said.

The girl squealed and began to talk, and Rene let it wash over her.

Rene began to walk forward, and she was secretly glad that Ruby was now following her, hands moving animatedly as she talked about how cool weapons were, nervousness and anxiety forgotten. Maybe there was some hope for the girl yet. Then she pulled out a slab of metal, unfolded it into a scythe, and slammed it into the ground, and Rene winced.

"So this is Cresent Rose!"

Rene stared at it. "A...scythe? A rather difficult weapon to wield, isn't it? A bastard child of a spear and sickle, and unbalanced to boot."

"Yeah, but my Uncle Qrow taught me how to, and now I'm super good with it. Plus, it's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"Hmm. A good weapon. It...contrasts well with you."

"Thanks! So. What've you got?"

Rene drew her blade and the girl squealed. "Woah. Is that a khopesh?"

Rene nodded. "I think it's steel. There's a shotgun built into the hilt so that once I hook something in, I can shoot it at point-blank range. And as for my other weapons, I have an old antique lever-action shotgun."

"So cool."

"Both don't have any ammunition at the moment. I used it all up during my travel here."

"Oh, I can help with that! My sister uses shotgun ammunition too, so I'm sure she can lend you some!"

She smiled. "That would be wonderful."

As the now animated Ruby walked along with her to the heart of Beacon, she smiled. She might lack the innate goodness Haytham had, but she could make up for it with bouts of selfish kindness.

Charlotte

Everything was too noisy. Charlotte was getting used to it, but it was still hard to stay so close to so much movement and noise. Charlotte slipped out of the now bustling dorms through her window and made her way across the grounds, moving towards the back of the school and towards the lone bench and fountain she'd found a couple of days ago.

When she got there, she found that it was already occupied. With a sigh, she popped down next to the bench's occupant.

"Whoa. Someone's a bit tuckered out today. Didn't sleep well, kid?"

Charlotte looked at Coco, who Goodwitch had assigned to be her guide. "No. But better than yesterday."

Coco hummed and gave her something in a cup. Charlotte stared at it suspiciously. Coco pushed her glasses down and rolled her eyes. Weirdo.

"Relax. You're acting like I tried to poison you or something."

"You did try to poison me. That drink made my heart go crazy and made me unable to sit still."

"That's what coffee does. You're just too young to revel in the high of a caffeine rush. But I know you can't handle your coffee yet, so I brought you some hot chocolate instead."

She knew what chocolate was, but hot chocolate was something she'd never had. Coco wordlessly handed her a straw, and she took it and pierced it through the top of the cup. Her mandibles had grown from when she was a child, and so tended to bump against cups when she brought them close to sip. Coco had come up with the straw solution.

She took her first sip of the hot chocolate. It was...unbelievably good. It was extremely sweet, but also heavy and had hints of something sharper in it. It tasted rich and refined. It was incomparably good compared to raw rabbit meat, and she almost started crying, just like the first few times she'd had proper food here in Beacon. She wanted more.

She sucked on the straw with so much force the cup crumped, and Coco laughed.

"Slow down, kid. Learn to savor things."

She didn't slow down, not until the cup was empty. After it was empty, Coco patted her on the back.

"Glad to know you liked it. So, big day today. How are you feeling about it?"

Charlotte played with the straw, circling it around her mouth.

"Don't really care about it. I can handle a couple of Grimm. But the people are what I'm worried about."

"Still not used to taking things slow, yeah?"

She nodded. "In the forest, I had to learn to constantly be on alert. My eyes learned to track every single thing moving around me, and my ears picked up every sound so I could never be taken by surprise. I helped me there. But here, every time someone makes a sudden movement or I hear a weird noise I tense up and my heart starts pounding."

"Worried about how you'll come off to your team?"

"Yes."

Coco pulled out a stick made of chocolate and put it between her teeth before offering her one. She took it.

"Look, old man Oz might be many things, but incompetent isn't one of them. When our team was first formed, everything was a mess. Velvet was hiding the fact she was a faunus because she didn't want to be ostracised from the rest of us, Fox was hiding his blindness because he didn't want to be babied, and Yatsuhashi was a stoic go-with-the-flow rock with no backbone. I thought we were going to crash and burn, but despite all the differences we had and the drama between us, we came out of our first year as a single unit, able to rely on each other and cover for each other's weaknesses."

"Hmm."

"I said all that, and you're only response is 'Hmm'? You're worse than Yatsuhashi."

"Well, I think I should get going. Maybe after this is over, I can meet the rest of you guys?"

"Good luck, kid. And once this is over, I'll convince the rest of my team to stop being so guilty and come and see you. We can even make it a shopping trip!"

Charlotte didn't understand why the rest of the team was guilty, but she didn't push the issue. Coco had been helping her and Goodwitch trusted her, so she trusted Coco. Coco trusted her teammates, so she was sure they were good people.

"Shopping for what?" She asked.

Coco snorted. "What do you think? Clothes, of course. That hoodie pants combo isn't doing you any favors."

"I like it." She replied, a bit offended.

"You like it, sure, but it isn't completely yours. But we can talk all we want about fashion later. You have an initiation to get to. No stalling."

"Okay. I'm leaving now." Charlotte got up and began to mechanically walk back to the school.

Coco smiled. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Charlotte tried to clear her mind as she joined the crowd streaming into the auditorium. Her eyes and mandibles drew looks, but they didn't do anything but stare and point. She walked through the crowd, then took her place at the back next to a girl who seemed to have a personal bubble free of people around her. She had red hair in a ponytail and was dressed in bronze armor, and she didn't seem like a Faunus, so why was no one standing next to her?

They both looked forward in silence, and Charlotte noticed that everyone was staring at the girl too, but until the cold and disgusted stares she was getting, the girl was getting looks of awe and respect. Despite the positive looks, the girl was still uncomfortable with the attention. Charlotte's eyes caught the tension in her shoulders and she recognized the girl's expression. She was trying to intently focus on something and pretend that the stares didn't exist.

"People in Vale are rude." The girl's head whipped to the side to face her. She moved so fast that Charlotte almost jumped away from her.

"I'm sorry?" The girl looked confused.

"The stares. You don't like them, right? They've been staring at me a lot, too." She replied.

"I've never been able to get used to the attention, even though I should be used to it by now."

"Why should you be used to it?" Charlotte asked her, confused.

"Oh. I suppose you're right. There isn't any reason for me to be used to people staring at me."

Charlotte nodded, and faced forward once more, staring at the empty stage.

"I'm Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha looked at her intently, like she was waiting for something from her. Oh, yes, she needed to introduce herself too!

"I'm Charlotte. Charlotte Candesco."

Pyrrha continued to stare at her for a while and then broke into a smile.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Charlotte."

Charlotte grunted in response, and both of them stopped talking. Thankfully, Ozpin stepped onto the stage with Goodwitch before things could grow awkward.

Ozpin cleared his throat and spoke, his voice suddenly louder once he got close to the metal pole on stage. "I'll keep this brief."

"You have traveled here 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, 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."

Ozpin walked off the stage, leaving her feeling strangely...scummy.

Goodwitch stepped up to the metal staff on the stage and gave them more information.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You're dismissed."

Goodwitch walked off as well, and the hall exploded with noise, causing Charlotte to put her hands over her ears.

Pyrrha turned to her. "Well, that was certainly a...somber speech. Charlotte, are you alright?"

"Fine." She shot back. "It's just too noisy. Not used to it."

Pyrrha grabbed her by the hand and led her out of the hall.

"Thanks for that."

There was an awkward silence after that, and it grew longer and longer the more time they spent silent. Charlotte liked Pyrrha and wanted to be friends with her and to do that, she needed to talk to her. Coco had told her what to do in a situation like this, she just didn't remember what it was. Should she complement her clothes? No that was for the middle of a conversation. If she wanted to keep a conversation going the best thing to do was...

Asking a question. Coco's voice said from inside of her head.

"So, are you new to Vale?" She asked Pyrrha.

Pyrrha nodded, and Charlotte sprung on it with all the desperation of a starving wolf. "I'm new here too."

They were now walking among the many side paths that littered the school's grounds, and Pyrrha was still walking forward. They still had some more time before nightfall, so they needed to pass the time somehow.

And so Charlotte talked. She talked about Vale, about food, and about Coco. Throughout it all, Pyrrha simply smiled at her and asked a couple of encouraging questions, and even spoke about things she liked and the places she'd been.

Charlotte felt at ease. If every new student was like Pyrrha, then she really didn't need to worry about teams. But that was a concern for later. For now, she simply chatted with her new friend. Initiation could wait.