Ruby arrived at the docks of Patch and realized she was a complete and utter fool, so foolish that she could potentially classify as a new kind of fool, one that operated on a whole new dimension of foolishness. She stood in front of a thin merchant vessel with two masts, blankly staring at the swaying ship until her best friend came to greet her.

"Ruby!" Jaune shouted as he jogged up to her. "What can I do ya for?"

Ruby shook her doubts away and hardened her gaze. "Take me to Vale."

Jaune recoiled, eyebrows shooting up his forehead. "No way, your dad would have me hanged!" Under his breath, he added, "if your sister didn't get to me first."

Ruby stepped close, locking eyes with him. "You owe me, Arc."

"Don't…" he shriveled up, preparing for the words he dreaded.

"I'm calling in my favor."

Jaune groaned. "Anything but this, Ruby, please!"

Ruby shook her head and nodded to the ship's wooden hull. "Do this for me, or I will take back every single nail I gave, for free, for that vessel."

Jaune stuttered, putting his hands up. "Y-you wouldn't—"

Ruby stepped forward, getting in his face until the boy was backed up to the edge of the dock. "I would, and you know it." She hissed, pressing a finger to his chest.

Jaune looked at the ship, then back to her, then the ship, then her, and sighed. His hands dropped to his sides, defeated. "Fine."

Ruby stepped back immediately, a huge grin erupting across her face. "Thank you!" She squealed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Jaune blushed. "Just don't expect to be comfortable," he mumbled.

Ruby separated with a puzzled look. "Why not?"

"'Cause you're stowing away on my damn ship, Ruby!" He hissed, keeping his voice low. "Now get in the hold, quick, while my crew are still landed."

Ruby nodded and gave him a goofy salute, then disappeared in a plume of rose petals. She appeared below the ship's deck, directly in the soggy, musty, cramped cargo hold. Rats scurried away at the sight of her. She grimaced, and began to search for a spot to hide herself.

She eventually found a place to stuff herself, though she had to take her baldric and cleaver off to do so. The numerous weapons clanged behind her, and the idea of the musty hold getting its salty, wet air on all of her weapons put dread in her soul, but she had already made up her mind. She would go to Vale, find a job, and prove herself to Tai. She may not be able to find a hunt without her Huntress' royal decree, but she could find something to test her mettle. And if she couldn't, she would find the damn Grimm herself, hunt or no hunt, and drag its bony plate to Patch for all to see.

She unclasped the brooch of her red cloak, the stuffy, humid air of the hold taking its toll on her. She even untied the laces of her linen shirt, pulling the off-white garment open above her bosom. She fanned herself and groaned.

There was thumping on the deck above, making Ruby scrambled more deeply into her nook. Thinking fast, she pulled a moldy canvas sheet from atop some boxes and covered herself.

The stomping boots came to the hold. Ruby stiffened and held her breath.

"Ruby, I know you're under there. It's Jaune."

Ruby slowly lifted the sheet off herself, giving her friend a sheepish look.

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Yeah, moving stuff is only gonna make it clear that someone is down here." He pulled the canvas away, setting it back in its original place. "I probably wouldn't have found you if you just stayed in there."

"Sorry, uh, I haven't done this before." Ruby replied, flushing with embarrassment.

Jaune chuckled. "I can tell."

"So…?"

The young captain sighed. "The crew will be back soon. The goods are already down here, so there shouldn't be any reason to come down and bother you. Just stay where you are, I'll get you when it's clear to come ashore."

Ruby nodded. Really, what was there to say?

Jaune pushed his blonde hair back from his face and sighed once more. "Alright. I'll grab my crew, I'll tell em I want to set out early, I'll treat 'em to some nicer Valian drinks at port. This stuff in Patch…" Realizing he might offend his best friend, he trailed off.

Ruby waved him off. "Thanks, Jaune."

Jaune shook his head. "Don't thank me, you're cashing in a favor. You'll need to find your own ship to get back."

Ruby nodded and tried to wiggle herself into a more comfortable position. What she ended up with was just as uncomfortable as she'd started, but when she felt the ship lurch and pull and pull away, she became still as a statue. The ship rocked and swayed, the water crashing audibly against the hull. Mere inches separated her from the endless, uncaring abyss of the sea.

She hugged her knees to her chest, squishing her tailbone painfully, but the added emotional comfort was worth it. If she screwed her eyes shut, she could imagine she was like a baby in her crib, rocked gently by her caring mother. Except her mother was the ocean, and the crib was nothing more than wooden boards affixed with nails she'd made in her own workshop, sweating and straining for hours upon hours for no monetary returns, only a favor. A favor that, minute by minute, separated her from her closest family in Remnant. At least it wouldn't be her only family.

She latched onto the idea, desperate for anything to distract her from the dread of being inches from a watery grave. She had no idea where her sister's mother, Raven, was nowadays, but she knew her uncle Qrow usually took missions around Vale. The idea of seeing him excited her, then terrified her. He would send her straight back home to Tai the moment he caught wind of her presence, all of this would be for naught, and her father would tighten her restrictions even more.

Perhaps it would be better not to show her face around the city. Her cloak, too, would be a dead giveaway to anyone who might recognize her, as much as that pained her. She stuffed the crimson garment deep into her pack. Thankfully, she still had a good chunk of coin from her last commission— enough to buy her a cloak, something to cover her face, and a place to eat and drink, at least for a night.

Patch wasn't actually too far from Vale proper, and it only took a couple more hours before she heard commotion from the deck. She felt the ship gradually slow all the way to a stop, then heard shouting from a familiar voice up top.

There was something like a stampede topside, followed by slow, methodical stomps in her direction. Fresh air rushed into the musty hold, and Ruby held herself as still as she could.

"Alright, Ruby, we're at port. You picked a weird time to come here, did you know what was happening?" Jaune asked as he came to her nook.

Ruby frowned, joints stiff as she got back to her feet. When she looked up to reply to her friend, his head was wrenched aside, face a bright scarlet. "What?"

Jaune silently pointed to her chest, which was almost completely exposed to the boy since she had unlaced it.

Ruby tied her shirt back up in a panic, muttering apologies all the while. While she didn't dislike Jaune, she certainly didn't want anybody seeing her like that. Not anybody that she knew, at least.

Covered once more, Jaune finally felt comfortable addressing her. "There's some kind of celebration happening, judging by the banners, fliers, and criers. Looks like a tourney being held by the Schnees."

"Schnees?" Ruby's nose wrinkled at the name. She didn't recognize it, though it sounded vaguely Atlesian. What was an Atlesian family doing hosting a tourney in Vale?

Jaune nodded and gave her a look when she remained oblivious. "You don't know them?"

Ruby shook her head. "I spend all my time in the forge, I don't really get involved in the matters of the upper houses." She said the last two words with a vaguely mocking tone. She didn't have anything against the nobility personally, but the things Yang had told her painted them as… unhelpful, to say the least.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "They were a minor Atlesian house until the widow married a noble from Vale— James Vicenzi, though now he goes by Jacques Schnee, taking his surname from his wife. Why he did that, nobody really knows, but Imperial authority recently put the city under his official protection since Vicenzi owns most of the country's dust mines."

Ruby felt the information enter her brain to a certain point, but the moment Jaune started talking about Imperial stuff, she completely tuned out. Important noble who changed his name running a tourney to show he still valued the people of Vale. That much she understood, so she nodded.

"Well, the crew should be gone by now. You're free to go." After a second, he added, "and by that, I mean please leave, now. I have to offload this stuff before I can get back to my crew; I promised I'd buy their food and drink tonight."

Ruby nodded, throwing her pack over her shoulder. When she was finally free of the musty hold, the city of Vale greeted her with a pleasant sea breeze.

She gasped. Colorful streamers and banners flew from every post and building, bright colors starkly contrasting the white walls and drab brick of most structures. Fliers were everywhere, criers were everywhere, and the city was bustling with noise and activity.

She stepped off the boat, attention drawn to the nearest post. Looking at the flier on it, she saw what she surmised to be the Schnee family crest, and an illustration of two knights fighting. It was, of course, filled with black scrawling denoting huge, exciting words, but Ruby couldn't read. Thankfully, she didn't have to, as she could hear the nearby crier loud and clear.

The small boy rang a bell, holding a similar sheet to the flier and shouting, "our gracious protectors, the Schnee family, have decreed a tournament be held! Knights and warriors, tomorrow will be your day! Fight for the hand of Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee name! Report to the market square to enter!"

Ruby's eyebrows rose. Knights and warriors? She didn't know who this Weiss person was, but perhaps she could make a name for herself here. All she had to do was defeat someone of renown and stature, someone who she could, without argument, definitively say is stronger than a Grimm, and then she was done! She could take such an achievement home, and Tai would have no leg to stand on! Genius!

Ruby had been to Vale only a few times, not enough to see it so decorated, but enough to find her way to the market square. Many stared at her as she passed, considering she was a lady in a linen shirt and trousers, with a belt full of weapons hanging at her waist and a sheathed weapon of unreasonable proportions slung around her shoulder. She kept a careful eye out for her uncle, even if she doubted he would be here, and found herself in the square before long. Before she could register, though, she needed something to cover her face.

Being in the market square made finding such an item simple. She acquired a long brown cloak without even saying a single word, throwing it over her shoulder and pulling the deep hood as far over her face as she could comfortably.

The place to register was quite obvious, judging mainly by the many criers, streamers, and tall poles with colorful banners and Schnee flags. She approached the booth nervously, her eyes frequently cast over her shoulder for anyone who might recognize her.

"Ah, here for the tourney?" A female voice greeted her, belonging to a ginger girl with a shining breastplate.

"Y-" Ruby felt her voice, high as it was, and realized she might want to fight under a different name. She cleared her throat, trying her best to make her voice as deep as possible. "Yes. Name's Ru… pert. Rupert the Red."

Ruby smacked herself internally, and the person at the booth hardly seemed convinced. "Ru… pert?" She repeated, then leaned in to look at Ruby's face. "Wait…"

Ruby prepared to bolt.

"Ruby?" The girl in question turned to run. "Wait, wait, it's okay!"

Ruby stopped, slowly turning to the person.

"You don't remember?" The ginger girl asked, then pulled her sword from its scabbard. It was a curved piece of simple steel, one which Ruby did remember. "My name's Penny, I commissioned this from you a few months ago."

Ruby was on the edge of cutting her losses and bolting for the port, hopeful to be able to stow away on Jaune's ship before he left, this time without his permission. "My name is Rupert the Red. I don't know a Ruby."

The girl, Penny, apparently, gave her a look. "Okay, okay, Rupert, your entry fee?"

Ruby fumbled for her pouch. "Entry fee?"

Penny nodded. "Three hundred gold pieces."

Ruby's jaw dropped, and she stopped searching. "I… don't have that."

Penny stared at her.

Ruby looked around as if three hundred gold pieces would magically appear at her feet.

Penny hummed, then leaned close to the smith. "Look, Ruby," she lowered her voice, "how much do you have?"

Ruby thought of how much she left with, and how much she spent for the cloak. "Thirty pieces?"

Penny's eyebrows raised and she dropped back into her stool. She seemed to be deep in thought, then made up her mind. "Okay. Fine."

"What?"

Penny looked over shoulder, then back at Ruby. "I'll cover your entry, but my next order is going to be free, okay? Whenever I want it, whatever it is, however many I want in one order, you make it. This sword is honestly one of the best I've ever had. And on top of that, you're quite cute, so do that and I'll put you in, okay, Rupert?"

Ruby nodded furiously, making Penny smile.

"Perfect. See you at dawn, Rupert the Red." Penny stamped a piece of parchment and handed Ruby the slip, then looked beyond her shoulder. "Next, please!"

Ruby stumbled away, dumbfounded by the run of her luck. All she had to do now was find a nice bed, for… all of 30 coins.

Great.

AN: rupert