*Legend 2*

A first impressions

...

"Oooh, I'm so proud of you!"

Before Ruby had a chance to speak, she found herself in the arms of her older sister, being crushed by her affectionate bear hug. "Yang...can't...breathe.." she chocked.

"Oh, sorry," Yang said as she let Ruby go. "It's just that I'm so excited to be going to the Tower together!" Yang's long yellow hair swished about as she displayed her enthusiasm. "Me and my little sister, knockin' some Fallen heads!" She punched the air several times to let off some steam.

"Sis, please, it was nothing..." Ruby shrugged modestly.

"But it's not nothing," Yang argued. "You have to be the youngest person in history to ever be made a Guardian!"

"Well, I'm not a Guardian yet. I still have to pass The Tower's initiation; we both do..."

Yang slung her arm around her younger sister's shoulders. "And with guns like these, that won't be a problem!" She un-holstered her hand cannon from her hip, the Hoss Mk.51, and gave the trigger a pull. The hammer clicked on the empty chamber. "Bang!" Yang said.

Ruby laughed along with her. Her confidence at the prospects of her initiation's success were quite high. With her uncle Qrow's training under her belt, and her amazing Crescent Rose, how could she possibly fail?

Ruby now finally had a chance to look about the room they were in.

The Skylark she boarded was flying it's slow way towards the northernmost city in the New United Kingdoms, the city of Vale. From here in the luxury cabin, she had a great view of the landscape as it scrolled lazily by. And of course, there were the other Guardian hopefuls that were aboard too. There must have been more than two dozen people here she was taking this trip with, all of whom were busy chatting about what the initiation could possibly hold. Out of natural instinct and habit, Ruby found herself inspecting each of their chosen weapons. As these people were not true Guardians just yet, their weaponry was mostly basic; she saw lots of level whites and greens, and just a smattering of level blues. She smirked just slightly, knowing she and her sister were far above the skill level of their piers; with Yang already approaching level purple, and Ruby herself capable of handling a level gold.

The chatter in the cabin came to a stop when a news report was transmitted from an invisible screen on the window:

"...In other news today, a small group of Fallen Vandals launched an attack in downtown Basel not twenty-four hours ago. How the Fallen even made it passed the Traveler's defenses and into the city is currently under investigation. However their advance was halted thanks in part to the heroic actions of the Tower's very own Glynda Goodwitch, and a currently unknown Hunter that just happened to be on the scene..."

The screen was now filled with images of Ruby, showing her running amongst the Fallen attackers and taking them down with expert skill. Watching herself on the screen, wielding Crescent Rose against the enemy, Ruby felt a flare of pride growing in her chest...which was quickly replaced by a blush of embarrassed exposure as she realized that every head in the cabin had suddenly turned in her direction.

The air was filled immediately with hushed conversation. "Is that really her?"

"Look, her weapon, is that the Red Death!?"

"Can't be. Only two of those exist in the world. It's a fake."

"A noob like that with a level gold?"

Ruby stared down awkwardly at her own boots. She was never at all comfortable in the spotlight, but she supposed that it was something that she would have to get used to if she truly wanted to be a Guardian.

Just then, the news report was cut off and the image of the Warlock woman Ruby met yesterday was projected into the room. "Hello," her projection began. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. And I would like to be the first to congratulate you on being accepted into our prestigious Tower. Our world is currently experiencing an incredible time of unforeseen growth and development. Not only has humanity tapped the riches of our own planet Earth, but we have spread out into the stars, populating other planets such as Venus, home to the Ishtar Academy; Mars, home of the Clovis Bray research center; and even our very own Moon. We have come to call this new time of development, The Golden Age. And none of it would be possible without the will of The Traveler."

Glynda's holographic image stepped aside from the window to reveal the view of the very Traveler she spoke of. Everyone in the cabin rushed the window to get the best look. The Traveler stood there, suspended just a few hundred feet above the city of Vale. It was probably the most beautiful thing Ruby had ever seen in her life. She was awed by it's silent spherical splendor, knowing that it alone was responsible for not only the blessings of their Golden Age, but for the wonderful powers that it gifted to it's Guardians.

"The Traveler came to us from parts unknown, and bestowed unto us the boundless knowledge of the universe, and The Infinite Wonders of Creation. And in return, we have dedicated our lives to the protection of The Traveler and it's secrets. And as future Guardians, you will be the protectors of all our accomplishments here in our Golden Age. I hope that each and every one of you are ready to become legend. Welcome to The Tower."

The ship finally came to rest at it's destination and all of it's passengers disembarked through the service tunnel as directed. Ruby and Yang were just about at the end of line of the Guardian candidates as they made their way the length of the tunnel. And then finally, they stepped out of the tunnel and into the late afternoon sunlight. "Whoaaaa..." was their uniform and awed response. Them and the rest of the Guardian candidates were at the base of the Tower Plaza. Ruby didn't think she could take in the sights fast enough.

Just at their right and left sides were long flags that bore the Vanguard's seal; the Titan, the Hunter, and the Warlock, united in trinity. Everywhere she looked there was activity; Guardians going this way and that, heading out on missions or just returning home. Ruby and the rest of the candidates were startled as a Guardian seemingly appeared out of thin air and landed next to them. She was rather short, but was given a few extra inches of height thanks to the high-heeled stiletto boots she wore. She wore a dark brown beret and matching sunglasses. Ruby couldn't see her eyes behind the lenses, but she was sure she was sizing them up. "Fresh meat for the grinder, eh?" She said. She shook her head and walked off into the plaza; her hand set stylishly on her hip.

While everyone was trying to make sense of this, Glynda got the group's attention. "I would like everyone now to please follow Cayde-6 to the Vanguards, where the Speaker of the Light will give you your orientation speech."

A cloaked Exo waved his hand in the air. "Alright, everybody follow me, and try not to get lost along the way, huh..."

As they fell in line behind Cayde-6, Glynda pulled Ruby to the side. "A word if you please, Miss Rose." Ruby exchanged a look with Yang, who shrugged and continued with the rest of the group. Glynda turned to face Ruby and said straightforwardly, "I'm sorry, Miss Rose , but your weapon will have to be surrendered."

"But why? I don't understand," Ruby whined.

"Your life outside of these walls was of no concern to us," Glynda began crisply. "However, inside Tower walls you are considered to be part of the Vanguard. And as a Guardian recruit, you are a rank one, and rank one's do not have access to level gold equipment."

"But loads of the other recruits brought their own stuff!" Ruby countered.

"Most of which was level white," Glynda clarified. "And thus, perfectly permissible by Vanguard doctrine. Any level greens or blues have been confiscated accordingly. In lieu of your current armament, you will be given a voucher good for one Vanguard-issue, level white primary weapon. I am sorry, Miss Rose, but those are the rules." She paused here to glare at Ruby over her glasses. "We all had to start at the bottom."

Ruby shut her eyes as she lapsed into a mental agony. She couldn't give up Crescent Rose! It was practically a part of her body. She huffed a sigh of defeat, seeing no way to turn this outcome in her favor. Ruby slowly unclasped her precious weapon from her back, and even more slowly...oh so slowly...did she hold it out for Glynda to take.

Glynda took the weapon and handled it gingerly, as though too firm of a grip on it would cause her physical pain; which was actually true seeing as the muzzle of the weapon was covered in rusty iron spikes, and there was a knife-blade bayonet at the end. Glynda walked over to a large electronic device and tapped a few keys. Crescent Rose was transmatted from her hands and into storage. She returned to Ruby's position and said, "You may have your weapon back when you achieve rank twenty."

"But that will take-"

"-In the mean time," Glynda said over Ruby. "Here is your weapons voucher." She handed Ruby a small chip. "Turn that in at the weapons dealer as soon as you can, and then report to the Vanguard hall." And with that, Glynda turned on her heel and left Ruby alone.

Ruby immediately went to the electronic vault and tried to activate it. "Access denied. Please present Guardian validation code," a digital voice said. "Crap..." she sighed. Ruby wandered for a few aimless steps and sat down on a crate near the vault. She felt deflated; with Crescent Rose gone, she was all but missing a piece of her soul...or that's what it felt like. But just then, something snapped her out of her stupor. "What do you think you're doing!" Ruby sprung from her seat and whipped around to find herself face-to-face with a girl who was probably only one or two years older than her. Ruby's first thought was that the girl was very pretty; she had fair white skin and beautiful white hair tied in an elegant ponytail on the side of her head. And her eyes were a clear ice-blue. Her second thought was that she was very angry. "I said, what are you doing!?" The girl snapped. Ruby couldn't think of an answer for her alleged discretion.

"Don't you know what this is?" She continued, scooping up the crate Ruby was formally sitting on and popping the lid. "This is light; purified and generated from my very own body."

"Umm..."

"Ugh!" The girl screamed. "Don't you hear me? Light! Solar, arc, void! Energy! Is any of this sinking in?"

She brandished an orb of said light under Ruby's nose. As Ruby stared into the crystalline depth of the little orb, she began to feel very peculiar..."Please, get that away from me..." she said shakily.

"What was that?" The girl said. "You are in no position to be making demands. I still want to know what you have to say for yourself."

And then without warning...Ruby exploded.

It wasn't a real explosion, but rather a forcible expulsion of excess light from her body. While it wasn't at all harmful or destructive, it was surprising enough that the girl dropped the crate and her orbs of light scattered about her feet. "Gott verdammt!" She cried. "This is exactly what I was talking about!" She dropped to her knees as she gathered up the scattered orbs. "Sie verdammter idiot! Sie fast zerstort alle meine Arbeit!" Ruby recognized the language the girl spoke as German. And even though she didn't speak a lick of the language, she knew enough to realize that those were probably not nice words. The girl had gathered most of her orbs and was frantically searching for the last of them. "Where is it..." she shot Ruby a nasty look. "I'd make you pay for that, but I doubt you've even a single ounce of glimmer to your name, do you?"

"Look, I said I was sorry, princess!" Ruby snapped, finally fed up with her superior attitude.

"It's heiress, actually," said a new voice from behind them. They both turned around to see a fair-skinned girl with long silky black hair standing there. Ruby wondered for just a second why this girl had such startling yellow eyes; a look to the top of her head revealed the presence of two dark purple cat ears there. 'Oh, she's a Faunus,' Ruby thought. The girl continued, "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee weapons company. The largest manufacturer of weapons, and weaponized hard light in the country."

"Finally, some recognition," Weiss preened.

"The same company infamous for it's controversial labor forces, and questionable business decisions."

Weiss set her hands on her hips indignantly. "How dare you!" She said. She narrowed her eyes and said menacingly, "Sie schmutzige Tier..." As the black-haired girl clearly didn't speak German either, the insult was lost on her. It was then that Weiss noticed that she was holding the final orb of light that she had been looking for. And without preamble, she strode over to her and snatched it from her hand. And without a word, the snow-white girl stalked away.

"I promise to make this up to you!" Ruby called after her. If the girl heard her, she gave no inclination. Ruby turned shyly towards the black-haired Faunus girl. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first..." Ruby didn't finish her statement as her eyes fell on the pulse rifle strapped to the girl's back. " ..." That was a level blue weapon; which meant that this was definitely not her first day.

The girl shrugged at the mention of her weapon. "It's a prototype," she nonchalantly. "I actually had to sign a waver regarding any damage I may suffer as a result of it's performance."

Ruby laughed just a bit uncomfortably, not really knowing if she was joking or not. "Umm...my name's Ruby," she said in introduction.

"Blake," was the Faunus girl's response. "You're one of the new recruits, aren't you?" She said as her glossy yellow eyes took in Ruby's weaponless profile.

"Uh, yeah..."

"Do you still have your weapons voucher?"

Ruby patted down her various pockets and pouches until she came up with the little chip. "Right here!"

"Take that to Banshee-44; he'll supply you with your first weapon."

Blake made to turn and leave. "But, ummm...that's kind of it. I have no idea how to get around this place, and I got separated from the rest of the group, and I'm gonna miss the Speaker's speech..." Ruby didn't want to come across as desperate, even though she's sure that what she just did.

Blake looked to Ruby, her mind working all the way back to her first trip to the Tower; being just as nervous, and just as lost. "I can escort you to the weapons dealer," she said. "But after that you're on your own; my team must leave very soon for our appointed mission." She took the lead as Ruby fell in step behind her.

"Oh, where are you going?" Ruby was eager to hear what kind of mission this experienced Guardian had undertaken.

"To Venus," Blake said. "The Cryptarchs have discovered an area in the Ishtar Sink they dubbed, 'The Vault of Glass'. They believe it to be a place of many valuable treasures. However, all attempts to enter the Vault have been thwarted by highly aggressive cyborgs. My team's mission is reconnaissance; to scout any possible alternative methods of entry."

Just then, Blake's ghost materialized into being, floating beside her head. It had an all black shell with small purple highlights at it's tips. "Blake, we really should get going to the hangar bay. Pyrrha and Ren are already waiting for us there."

"I know, Adam," Blake said. "As soon as I'm finished here we'll head off."

Ruby eyed Blake's ghost with extreme interest. She always wanted one of her own, of course that couldn't happen until she began a full-fledged Guardian. A few steps later, the pair arrived at what was no doubt the weapons dealer of the Tower. He was a dark blue Exo, with two antenna-like horns on his head. At the moment, he seemed to be lost in a recollective conversation with himself. "What was her name? Fierce eyes; full of light. What was it...?"

Ruby looked questioningly to Blake, who only folded her arms and shook her head. Seeing that she was on her own, Ruby approached the dealer. "Um, Mr. Banshee?" The Exo grunted acknowledgment. "I have a voucher for one-"

"-Primary level white weapon," Banshee grumbled in his rough voice. He took the chip and cast it onto a pile with many of it's like. "So, what do got in mind?"

Ruby looked over the selection on hand. "What do you have in pulse rifles?" She asked.

Banshee turned and perused his inventory until he found the weapon in question. "The Psi Umbra I. Accurized for long-range work."

Ruby looked over the gun. "Do you have a left-handed model available?" She asked with a sheepish smile. The Exo grumbled to himself, wondering why this kid hadn't asked for that the first time. Banshee located the weapon and set it on the counter. "We done here?" He said roughly.

Ruby took up the Psi Umbra I and tested it's balance and it's iron sights. It was light years away from Crescent Rose...but it would do. "Yes, I think we are done here." She said finally. She turned and was somewhat surprised to see that Blake was still there. "Thank you for your help," she said.

Blake inclined her dark-haired head. "The least I could do." She said simply. "Good luck on your initiation." She turned to leave...and came face-to-face with her fire team leader, Pyrrha Nikos. "Ma'am!" Blake stood rather stiffly at attention in the presence of her leader.

The red-haired woman chuckled pleasantly. "We're not in the field, Blake; at ease." Blake nodded and joined her leader's side, next to an Asian boy with a long dark ponytail. Pyrrha's golden eyes fell on Ruby. "Hello there," she smiled. "You're one of the new recruits I take it?"

Despite Pyrrha's friendly greeting, Ruby couldn't help but be slightly intimidated by the presence of this full fire team. Looking over them, Ruby came to the conclusion that Blake was their Hunter; she had a very light and speedy look to her. The boy next to her was definitely a Warlock; Ruby could literally see the Void in his eyes. And there was no doubt that their leader Pyrrha was a Titan; one look at her red and gold armor could tell you that. "Um...hi..." Was all that Ruby could eek out.

"Ma'am" Blake said to Pyrrha. "Can I ask why we are still here? We should be off for Venus about now, correct?"

Pyrrha sighed somewhat forlornly. "That will no longer be necessary," she said. "The mission has been re-assigned."

The Faunus girl's cat ears flicked inquisitively. "To whom?" She said.

"To them," Pyrrha said, with a jerk of her head.

And just a little less than halfway across the plaza was the fire team in question. Ruby was once again able to quickly determine which member represented each class. The tallest of the three, a man with spiky pale blue hair and armored boots was clearly their Titan. A girl with long white hair and a pretty caramel-colored skin tone practically screamed Gunslinger, as she was busy twirling a hand cannon around her index finger simply by it's trigger. But it was their third member that gave her pause. By process of elimination, she was of course their Warlock. But there was something different about her...much different. Even here across the courtyard, Ruby could sense her enormous and enigmatic power. She was clad in a rather revealing fire-red slip, and she wore buckle-up boots that went up to her thighs. And here, as though she could sense Ruby watching her, did she turn in her direction. Ruby was startled to see a jet of yellow flame escape her one visible eye that wasn't covered by her long hair. "Whoa..." she breathed. "Who are they?"

The Asian Warlock spoke up for the first time. "That," he said. "Is fire team Cinder."

They watched as the trio made their way to the hangar bay, clearly setting out for the mission that was previously assigned to fire team Nikos. "Well, if we'd lose the honor to anybody..." Blake sighed.

"Well in any case, we are officially off duty now," Pyrrha said, seeing the positive side of things. "We could sit in on the Speaker's speech..."

"With your permission Ma'am," the Warlock said. "I would like to run a patrol on The Moon. I am in need of quite a few helium coils for my weapon." He signaled to the auto rifle strapped to his back, the Silvered Hushwind-D.

"Granted," Pyrrha said with a nod. "Blake, please accompany him on his patrol."

"Of course," Blake responded with a small bow. And the two were off for the hangar bay.

'Wow' Ruby thought. It must be great to be a fire team leader. Pyrrha clearly had the respect and then some of her members. Ruby didn't think she had it in her to lead her fire with such calm and precise orders like that. Of course, after she passed her initiation, she was hoping against hope that she would at least end up on a team with her sister Yang...but there was absolutely no way to guarantee such a thing. "Perhaps I could escort you to the Vanguard's hall...um..." Pyrrha trailed off as she never properly learned the girl's name.

"Oh. I'm Ruby," she said, holding out a hand to shake.

"Pyrrha Nikos." Was the return introduction. "Leader of fire team Nikos, and Titan Vanguard Captain."

Ruby's eyebrows lost themselves in her bangs. "Wow..." she breathed. "It's an honor."

"Likewise, future Guardian," Pyrrha said. "Now we really should be off to the hall."

Ruby nodded and allowed Pyrrha to take the lead. The sun was more than halfway across the sky now here in the very late afternoon, and was beginning to cast it's shadows over the highest spires of the Tower. As they made their way to the Vanguard's hall, they passed many a Guardian, who bade Pyrrha waves and nods of respect, recognizing her rank and position. However, it was the Titans who reacted most spectacularly. Upon seeing their Vanguard Captain, they seemed to drop everything to offer Pyrrha their respect; holding their backs perfectly erect and their chins in the air, they clenched their right fists over their hearts whilst giving a stomp of their left foot.

The Titan salute.

Pyrrha returned each of these tributes with a modest incline of her head as she lead Ruby to their destination. And not much longer from there, did they descend the staircases that lead to the Vanguard's hall. Just at the entrance was the seal of the Vanguards, emblazoned on the outer wall. Ruby ran her hand over the seal with a slow reverence, pausing on the seal of the Hunters. She scanned the series of upward facing arrows as she remembered what her father (who was a Hunter himself) had told her about them. He said that to each and every Hunter in the universe, the seal held a different meaning. Ruby always thought that they looked like a flock of birds flying in perfect formation. Freedom in flight. Freedom in life. She asked her father many times what the seal meant to him, but he would only smile vaguely and shake his head.

Pyrrha allowed the young girl her time for reflection, but brought her gently back to earth by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Come now, Hunter," she said. "The speaker is waiting."

And together they proceeded into the Vanguard's hall.

...

*End of Legend 2*

...

-A/N:

(In my Pyrrha voice) Hello again! Back with an update. Pretty slow writing this one, it's just the weight of all the projects weighing down on me as I fumble around in deciding which ones to update. Seriously, I need to stop creating new fanfics...

Anywho, thanks a million for the faves and the follows, and for the constructive criticism in the reviews thus far. There are some things that people want to see and need explained. Everything will be reveled as the chapters wear on. Until then, I'll be signing off for now. See ya next time.

-B.D. Skunkworks

-P.S.

For some reason, I feel like some readers may not like the whole Weiss being German thing. Just keep in mind the "Ethnic Liberties" I mentioned in the first chapter's header. It won't excuse it, but it might explain it.