Chapter 2: Willbroken
-Skies of Beacon-
The flight was still in progress, and at the moment, the passengers were listening to a news report about the White Fang disrupting a peaceful protest by some faunus citizens.
And watching this broadcast was a girl who was wearing a black bow who seemed to be watching the broadcast with a look of displeasure and remorse as she turned away.
Elsewhere in the crowd, a teenage Guardian (his Ghost floated near him) watched and shook his head. After a bit, he turned and walked off, along with a blonde monkey faunus who was with him.
"It's a goddamn shame we couldn't find Neptune and the guys." Sun sighed as he caught up with the Guardian, who was revealed to be Ace.
"Don't worry too much. They're probably somewhere else on the ship." Sundance told him.
"Besides, we can find them later." Ace nodded. "Right now I'm more focused on finding…" He continued before he stopped mid sentence and stared at someone who was standing by a window. "Weiss?" The boy gasped.
"Huh?" The monkey boy uttered before following his gaze and spotting the whitette. "She's who you were looking for?" He blinked in surprise.
"Yeah…" The boy nodded. "Look, think you can go on ahead? I gotta–." He said.
"Say no more. I got you, you just do what you gotta do." The blonde told him.
Ace nodded before walking off.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile with Sky, Neptune, Ruby and Yang, the four all stepped back from looking at the Traveler right as an image of Glynda appeared as a hologram.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon." She began.
"Who's that?" Yang wondered.
"My auntie." Sky told her in reply. "She and my uncle dated." He explained.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch, and all of you are among the privileged few that have been chosen to become the next generation of Huntsmen. Even fewer of you will have the chance to become Guardians." The blonde woman continued. "So be ready, it will be your job to preserve our hard fought peace." She added as the airship landed.
Moments later, the boy from before slowly woke back up, rubbing the knob on the back of his skull.
"Ugh… Have we finally stopped moving…?" He groaned as he got to his feet and walked off the airship.
Meanwhile, Sky, Yang, Neptune and Ruby got off and looked around at Beacon's campus, Ruby in particular looking at every weapon she could see in excitement.
"Whoa little sister." Yang told her sister. "Why're you so excited? You already have one." She stated.
"But seeing new weapons is like meeting new people, but better." The red reaper said shyly.
"You weren't gushing out about mine or Sky's weapons when you met us." Neptune remarked, said swordsman nodding in agreement.
"That's because I didn't see them the first time we met. And by the time we got to know each other, I didn't feel excited anymore." She stated, right as Yang pushed down her hood.
"You should really stop gushing over weapons and try finding real friends." Yang told her.
"Why would I need to do that when I already have you guys?" The younger girl asked, pulling her hood back up.
"That's not very healthy." Sky noted… Right before he saw Yang backing into a group of teens he saw with her at Signal. "Yang, what the hell are you doing?" He questioned.
"Well… Some of my friends just arrived, so we gotta catch up, see you guys later!" The blonde said rapidly before Yang ran off with her friends, accidentally causing Ruby to spin rapidly before Neptune stopped her.
"I thought she said that she didn't want to be like her mom?" Neptune questioned rather curtly.
"I'll address that with her later." Sky grunted before noticing that the luggage cart had conveniently stopped next to them. "Might as well grab our bags." He mused, picking up his suitcase along with Yang's to allow Ruby to get hers.
"Neptune?" A voice questioned behind the boy as he got his own bags, before he turned around and saw a blonde monkey faunus standing behind him with a bag slung over his shoulder.
"Sun! You actually made it!" Neptune exclaimed with a grin as he shared a Predator handshake with the monkey faunus. "Here I thought you got on the wrong train!" He laughed.
"I almost did!" The faunus chuckled. "Wait, you're one to talk! You couldn't make your way through a race track without getting lost!" He retorted.
"Considering he somehow found his way to some Vex territory on Patch, I gotta agree with that." Ruby chimed with a smirk before she pouted. "My swimming spot was there, too, and that area had to be locked down for extermination." She added, still pouting.
"Hey, it's not my fault!" Neptune exclaimed.
"You almost swept me off the cliff!" Ruby barked as she waved around her arms–knocking over a white suitcase in the process.
(Elsewhere)
As this was going on, Ace managed to narrowly dodge the dust cloud that Yang and her friends kicked up as they zoomed past him as he tried to catch up with Weiss.
"Watch it, assholes!" He barked at the teens before he looked back at Weiss. "Hey, Princess!" He called the girl.
"What the–?" Weiss blinked before turning to look at him. "And just who are you to act so familiar with me?" She questioned.
"Seriously?" The Guardian questioned, taking off his hood. "You don't recognize me?" He continued. "I'm Ace Scarlet, we met at one of the Schnee family's galas about… twelve years ago?" He hummed. "Cayde 'Six' Scarlet, is my father. Ya know, the former Mantle Hunter Vanguard?" He added.
"... You're definitely ringing a few bells…" Weiss hummed as she felt some memories come up.
"Well? You don't got anything to say to me?" The Hunter questioned.
"Confirm this: Were you the one to get me this necklace?" The girl questioned, pointing at the necklace around her neck.
Ace took a look at the necklace, seeing that it was a ruby apple pendant with a silver inlay that made it look like it had a bite taken out of it.
"... No, not that one." He mused, stroking his chin. "The one I got was a piece of costume jewelry I got from a gumball machine." He added.
That was what made everything click for Weiss. When it did…
"I missed you!" She exclaimed in joy, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Well, that's definitely an interesting reaction." Sundance chuckled.
"Shut up, Sundance." Her guardian hissed as the two separated. "Well, guess I'll see you later?" He asked.
"Yes. We have a lot to catch up on." The whitette nodded with a small smile before she walked off to grab her luggage.
"... I have a feeling that she's probably not that nice around other people." Sundance mused.
"What was your first clue? The fact that she was raised as a spoiled rich girl? The fact that she lives with a racist authoritarian father, narcissist brother, and an alcoholic mother?" The boy began. "Or the fact that she lives in the most racist country on this planet?" He added.
"... You should probably follow her to stop something from happening." Sundance pointed out.
"Yeah, plus, we gotta find Sun." The boy nodded.
Then he ran off in Weiss' direction.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back with Sky, Ruby, Sun and Neptune–the bag the girl knocked over burst open and covered all of them in potent… Explosion Dust (A combination of Earth and Lightning Dust).
Uh Oh…
"What are you imbeciles doing?!" Weiss yelled as she stomped towards him. "Stupid school staff, who was the simpleton who put my bags in the public pool?" She questioned while the others tried to hold in sneezes.
"Uh…" Ruby tried to say, but was too focused on holding her sneeze back to find more words.
"Uh, Princess?" Ace questioned as he walked up behind her. "I think these guys are about to sneeze." He continued as he pulled her back.
"And judging by the fact that they just inhaled Explosion Dust…" Sundance mused.
"AAAAHH-CHOO!" Ruby, Sky, Sun and Neptune sneezed, lighting up the combination and blowing them up. They had sensitive noses.
"Called it." The Ghost stated.
"Unbelievable!" Weiss yelled, shaking off the soot. "What is going through your stupid heads?!" She demanded.
"You're the one with a suitcase full of improperly secured Dust vials! I should be asking you what's going through yours!" Sky snapped back with an irritated look as he shook the soot off his head. Spoiled people always got on his nerves.
"Why you–!" Weiss began before Ace got between the two.
"Whoa there, Weiss, wait a sec–he's got a point." The gunslinger said.
"Yeah. If just knocking over a suitcase is gonna cause this, then you have to take some of the blame." Sundance pointed out.
"Ace, why're you taking their side?" Weiss questioned with a whine.
"Because I can't be on your side all the time. When someone makes a good point, it's best to listen to them." Ace told her in reply. "Plus, frankly, I'm not a fan of your new attitude." He added with a disapproving frown.
"But–." The girl gasped.
"You're better than this, Princess. You need to start acting like it." The boy told her, before turning to Sun and the others. "You guys need help getting to the auditorium?" He asked.
"You know the way?" Neptune asked.
"Yeah, follow me." Ace nodded as he gestured for them to follow.
As the boys left, Weiss could only fall to her knees in despair, dropping the Dust vial in the process.
"Hey…" Ruby said as she knelt next to her. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Go away…" Weiss tried to hiss, but couldn't. She felt too defeated, being (kinda) betrayed by her childhood friend.
"Come on, you can't get to the auditorium on the ground, silly." Ruby sighed with a smile as she helped the girl up. "So, you're a princess?" The silver eyed girl asked as she kept the girl from falling over.
"Um…" Weiss started to say before a new voice joined the conversation.
"It's heiress, actually." The voice stated, causing them to turn and see a ravenette with black hair topped with a bow and amber eyes. Her clothes were black, white and had a dash of purple. She also had a weapon that looked like a cleaver on her back.
"Huh?" Ruby questioned as she faced the girl with Weiss.
"Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust company." The girl stated.
"At least I–" Weiss started to say before…
"The same company infamous for its controversial treatment of employees, equally poor treatment of Faunus and questionable business partners." The girl finished, causing Weiss to sink back to her knees again.
"Oh no." Ruby sighed. "Weiss, get up." She told the girl.
The new face wordlessly walked off, leaving them alone… For a few moments.
"Um…" A male voice began, getting the two girls' attention. "You girls need help?" He asked.
"Huh?" Ruby asked as she faced the boy. "Hey, you're the guy who fainted on the plane!" she exclaimed.
"... He fainted?" Weiss blinked in bewilderment.
(Later)
"All I'm saying is that: If you saw something that was that big up close, you'd pass out too." The boy, Jaune, stated.
"Except we didn't." Ruby shrugged. "But it's fine, not everyone's cut out to see the Traveler up close, Fallout Boy." She snickered, causing Weiss to stifle a snort.
"Hey! How'd you like it if I called you crater-face?" Jaune retorted defensively, causing the heiress to nearly guffaw.
"That was an accident!" The red cloaked girl yelped.
"Changing the topic…" Weiss hummed, looking at Ruby appraisingly. "You look rather young to be in Beacon." She noted.
"I skipped two years." Ruby explained. "Professor Ozpin let me in personally–but I really don't want people to treat me like I'm special." She continued.
"Why?" The heiress asked with a raised eyebrow. "Anyone who can skip two years and get into Beacon ahead of schedule has to be worth their salt." She added.
"Because it makes me feel nervous!" Ruby told her.
"I hear that. If I get too much attention? I break out in hives." Jaune shuddered.
"That aside, what weapons do you use?" Weiss asked, causing Ruby to perk up.
"I have this!" The cloaked girl chirped, brandishing Crescent Rose with a twirl and stabbing the blade in the ground.
"A scythe?!" Weiss gasped in surprise, unable to stop herself this time.
"Yeesh." Jaune gulped.
"This is Crescent Rose. A giant scythe that…" Ruby began before changing her weapon's form. "Transforms into a compact sniper rifle." She added.
"Um, what?" Jaune questioned.
"It's also a gun." She stated.
"That's… Rather sophisticated for your age." Weiss blinked. "Where did you get that, anyway?" She asked.
""Where did I get it?" she asks." Ruby scoffed in amusement. "I made this myself." She corrected her.
"No way!" Jaune gasped. "I… Have my sword and shield." He said, holding up said weapons.
"Simple, old, but reliable." Weiss nodded. "But these look like they should be priceless museum pieces. You'd let these risk damage?" She questioned.
"These were my grandfather's. He fought in the Great War." Jaune explained, which reinforced her point a bit.
"These seem well tended for weapons that have seen their fair share of battles." Ruby hummed.
"True…" Weiss nodded, before she drew her own weapon. "This is Myrtinaster, my Rapier and revolver weapon." She explained, causing Ruby to light up like a Dawning tree.
"It looks so magnificent!" She squealed, zipping around and analyzing it. "Hm, guard piece is solid, definitely works. Blade made for quick jabs as opposed to slashing; poor performance against armored targets. Revolver looks like it houses Dust; definitely helps with the weakness of the blade if the right Dust type is applied." She rambled, the speed of it confusing the heiress along with Jaune.
"So… Weapons enthusiast?" Weiss asked.
"Yes!" Ruby nodded while Jaune looked around.
"Uh, guys?" He said, getting their attention.
"Yeah?" Ruby responded.
"How do we get to the auditorium?" He asked, causing Ruby to freeze.
"Uh…" She uttered while Weiss shook her head while putting Mytenaster away.
"Come on. I'll show you the way." She beckoned.
"Thank you…" Ruby sighed in relief.
(Later)
"Uh Sky?" Neptune asked as he, Sky, Sun and the Guardian they met–Ace–arrived at the Auditorium.
"Yeah?" The swordsman questioned.
"Where's Ruby?" He asked, looking around.
"... Fuck, she must've stayed behind with the Schnee." The sword using drifter sighed after taking a look around.
"That's certainly selfless." Ace noted.
"Back in Vacuo, we call helping people who were rude to us to smooth things over: good manners." Sun stated.
"I'm well aware of that." Ace nodded before he shook his head. "What the fuck has her father been shoving into her head over the years?" He sighed.
"You two know each other?" Sky asked.
"When we were kids, yeah." Ace nodded.
"I was wondering why you two seemed familiar with each other." The thalassophobe commented.
"I'm sure we'll be able to get along with her, but first—." Ace began.
"We'll have to make her unlearn her bad habits." Sky nodded.
"No small task." Neptune mused.
"But not impossible." Sun pointed out.
"Ever the optimist, I see." The swordsman noted.
"Someone has to be." The monkey boy shrugged. "Plus, I had a good mother." He added.
"Considering who your old man was? I think you'd have to." Ace nodded.
"Ain't that the truth." Sky mused before he spotted Yang, who was joined by Ruby a moment later. "Excuse me, there's something I gotta address." He told the boys before he walked off.
(Elsewhere)
Right before Sky saw Ruby…
"Finally, we made it!" Ruby sighed in exhaustion. "Thanks again, Weiss." She sighed.
"It's fine, just don't make… all this, a habit." The heiress said.
"All what?" The girl asked.
"Yeah." Jaune nodded in confusion.
"All the chaos and shenanigans." The whitette elaborated.
"Oh, that." Ruby breathed, calming her heart from the run she just did. "I'll… Try to restrain myself." She nodded. It was then that Yang waved at her. "Oh, that's my sister. I gotta go!" She said as she ran off.
"I better move too…" Weiss mused as she walked away, leaving poor Jaune alone.
"Aw man! Now where am I supposed to find another quirk girl to talk to?!" He lamented, completely oblivious to the green eyed redheaded girl watching him.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Ruby and Yang, the former was chewing out the latter for leaving her behind when Sky came up behind them.
"I see you got a head start in chewing Yang out for what she did." He noted.
"Oh, don't start! You and Neptune did the same!" Ruby huffed, glaring at him slightly.
"Oi, me and Neptune expected you to follow us!" Sky retorted defensively.
"I was trying to help somebody!" She snapped, right before she whipped around to face Yang. "And you left me alone while me and the guys literally exploded!" She added.
"Are you being sarcastic?" The blonde questioned with a grin, thinking she was exaggerating.
"Oh no, she's being completely literal." Weiss said behind Ruby, causing her to leap into Yang's arms.
"Aaaah! It's happening again!" Ruby yelped as she clung to her sister.
"Oh hush. At least we weren't blown off the cliff." Weiss huffed.
"See? We did explode in the literal sense." Sky told the blonde, jutting a thumb at Weiss.
"Oh shit…" Yang uttered with wide eyes.
"I'm really sorry about that, Weiss. I promise I'll make it up to you." Ruby told her.
"You guys could always start over." Sky chimed in.
"Let me put a pin on that." The heiress told him, still not really liking Sky due to his blunt nature.
If there were any more words to be said, they were cut off by Ozpin tapping on the mic on stage. This made everyone go silent, listening to the man in question.
"I'll… Keep this brief." He began. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft—and when you are finished—you plan to dedicate your life to the task of protecting the people from the threat of the Grimm, or any other threats that may arise—be they long forgotten, or from places not of this world we call home." He continued. "But I look at you and all I see is… wasted energy, in need of direction, purpose. You assume knowledge will free you of this. But soon you will realize that knowledge can only take you so far." He added. "It is your job to take the first step." He concluded.
Most of the hopefuls looked down at that.
"Did any of that seem… Off to you?" Sky asked.
"Yeah, he sounded kinda…" Yang nodded.
"Tired." Ruby added.
"Like he'd said this more times than he'd like." Neptune noted.
"That's actually rather odd, now that you mention it." Weiss commented with a small frown.
Then Glynda came onto the stage.
"You will sleep in the cafeteria tonight. Make sure your belongings are properly secured. They will be delivered to you after initiation." She told the hopefuls before leaving.
"I'm a natural blonde, you girls know that?" Jaune smiled, causing the three girls and guys to snort in amusement.
(Elsewhere)
Roman stumbled into a run-down safe house/apartment, still banged up from his previous scruff with the kids and Glynda, cursing under his breath.
After taking a moment to collect himself, he heads to a bedroom where a girl with pale skin and pink, brown and white hair is bedridden presently. Upon hearing the door open, she opened her eyes and blinked a few times, her eye color changing between the colors of her hair each time.
"Hey Neo, you feeling any better?" Roman questioned.
The girl looked at him weakly before nodding her head ever so slightly. 'Little bit.' She replied, holding up a small sign.
"Well, I missed you during that last job—so get better soon. I'm gonna need you for a big heist that's coming up." He told her with a small smile, rubbing her head.
'Love you, Roman.' The girl replied.
"Love you too, partner." The redhead replied.
(Elsewhere)
Back at Beacon, the kids were all setting up in the cafeteria, and in particular—Yang was sitting in Sky's lap while lying back on his chest—while Ruby was writing a letter.
The silver eyed girl was still sulking about her inability to make friends despite her best efforts to do so.
"Aw cheer up, Ruby. You made a few friends." Yang pointed out.
"I'm not sure I can really count Weiss as a friend, I think she still doesn't like me all that much." Ruby sighed.
"That just means you made three friends and one frenemy." Neptune pointed out.
"Yeah, that's the best kind of enemies: you can make them into friends later!" Sun added, giving Neptune a fist bump.
"They do have a point…" Sky hummed.
"Yeah. You just need to know where to look." Yang nodded. "Besides, you don't know what'll happen next." She added.
"I guess." Her sister nodded, before noticing a face she saw before.
(Elsewhere)
As this was going on, Ace was busy cutting and shuffling his deck of Dust cards idly after changing into his pajamas—up until a familiar whitette approached him.
"Ace… Can… Can we talk?" She asked almost nervously.
"I don't have a problem with that, as long as you're not going to have an attitude." The boy replied nonchalantly, patting his sleeping bag for her to sit on.
"Right… Right…" The heiress sighed as she sat next to him. "What's happened since we last saw each other?" She questioned lightly.
"Dad got his final death." Ace sighed in reply, much to Weiss' shock.
"Actually… that explains why you called him the 'former' Hunter Vanguard, and… Why you have his Ghost." The heiress nodded after a moment of thought. "What happened? Who did it?" She questioned.
"Adam Taurus." The Guardian replied. "The asshole did my old man in after he saved his fucking life, no less. The guy's got a target on his back cuz of that." He added.
"Was he a member of the White Fang? That would make sense—them, and the Faunus in general are just a bunch of degenerates, whining about having rights that they aren't really showing signs of deserving." The girl questioned before huffing as she answered her own question.
"Watch it." Ace warned. "Some of my best friends are Faunus." He told her. "They deserve as much respect as anyone else, hell, there are plenty of Faunus I know that have more good character and integrity than most humans I know." He continued. "It was a single Faunus in a group of radicals that killed my dad. Not the whole damn race." He elaborated.
After a beat passed…
"Besides, making racist comments like that is unbecoming of a girl like you. Not to mention unbecoming of a future huntress." The Hunter added.
Weiss wasn't too thrilled about Ace disagreeing with her, but that last part did make sense. She should be acting more professional as opposed to saying such things without thinking.
"It's not like I don't have reasons for hating the Faunus." Weiss grumbled.
"Again, why not try and do what I do? See them as people, realize that Atlas is racist as hell, and hate the White Fang while treating regular Faunus like you do anyone else you talk to." The boy offered, tossing his knife into the air idly while catching it. "Trust me, it's just the better way to be." He added.
Now Ace wasn't an idiot, he knew that Weiss wasn't going to change overnight—no one would—but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try to nudge her into the right direction.
Weiss… Couldn't come up with anything to say to that. After being raised like she had been for so long, she didn't know what else to think.
"… I don't know." The girl sighed.
"That's fine. Just think about it, okay?" The boy told her, before he finally noticed a scar on her eye. "Weiss… Who gave you that scar?" He questioned seriously, cupping her cheek as he looked at her.
"I-It was from a fight with an Arma Gigas." The heiress replied, blushing a bit at the contact with him. "I wanted to choose where I got my Huntress education, so my father set me up to be tested against that." She explained.
"Tch, bastard." The gunslinger growled, pulling away. "I can't tell you how many times I've contemplated shooting that prick when we crossed paths." He huffed.
"I do not blame you. In fact, my brother and sister wouldn't either." The heiress shrugged, not really bothered by his statement.
A bit of silence passed as Ace put his cards away, right before Weiss hugged him again.
"I missed you." She whispered, burying her face into his lap.
"I missed you too, princess." Ace sighed in reply, running his hands through her hair.
(Elsewhere)
Back with Ruby and Yang the two were currently talking—or trying to, rather—with a girl who the former mentioned earlier.
"Yeah, she's a lost cause." Yang stated dismissively when the girl rather rudely brushed them off.
"Yang…" Sky sighed.
"Um… Wh-What's your book about?" Ruby asked, trying to find a common subject.
"It's called 'A Man with Two Souls'." The girl replied.
"Urg, reading that book back home gave me a serious headache…" Sun groaned, clutching his head at the memory.
"There was one supernatural book I did enjoy. I can't recall the name, but it was about a girl who got trapped in limbo after she landed in a coma." Sky mused thoughtfully. "I think it was 'The Girl Who Fell Through The World.'" He hummed.
"I enjoyed that one, too." The ravenette nodded in recognition, sounding a bit pleased that she had a fellow reader in front of her.
"I always liked books. Yang would read to me every night." Ruby sighed. "They're one of the things that were what inspired me to become a Huntress." She added.
"Real life isn't like a fairy tail, though." Blake pointed out.
"Not usually, but people can get pretty close when they try making it that way, though." Sun countered.
"Yeah, and it's our jobs as huntsmen to help with that, isn't it?" Ruby nodded. "To make the world a better place." She hummed.
"And cut away the bad parts of it." Sky hummed with a nod.
"That is so cuuuuute!" Yang gushed as she watched her sister, causing the girl to hurl a pillow at her.
"Shut up!" Ruby whined comically.
"Dogpile!" Sun yelled as he, Neptune and Yang all piled on top of Ruby.
Sky and Blake wisely backed away, but the blonde brawler reached out of the tangle they were in and pulled him into it.
"Wah! Hey! Leave me out of this!" The blue eyed swordsman protested as he was dragged into the dogpile against his will.
"What is going on… Here?" Weiss started to demand before blinking upon spotting the dogpile. "Um…" She uttered.
"Please help, I've been bound by arms." Sky said flatly, feeling Yang's arms around his neck.
"… I think I'm just going back to my cot…" The Heiress said as she decided to wash her hands of the entire situation, while Ace—who saw the situation—busted out laughing.
Blake, meanwhile, chose this moment to blow out the candle she's been using, covering the area in darkness.
(The next day)
Sky groaned as he came to, the sun hitting his face. After waking up enough, his eyes blinked open… And saw Yang kneeling with his head in her lap, a smirk adorning her face.
"Wakey wakey, honey." The blonde smiled, kissing him softly good morning.
"Let's get it on." Ace smirked as he twirled his gun and holstered it, clipping his cards in place and slipping his knife into his boot. "… Just to be clear, I wouldn't be opposed to being on a team if you guys were in it." He mused. "You seem like guys who know what they're doing." He added, looking at Sky, Sun and Neptune.
"Heh, I wouldn't mind being on a team with you guys either. You three are alright." Sky chuckled as he got up, taking a moment to stretch his muscles.
"I'll say." Sun smirked.
"Same." Neptune nodded.
(Later)
As everyone continued to get ready, Ruby was currently getting Crescent Rose while Yang tried to get her to consider finding a team so she could make new friends.
"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you don't want to be on the same team as me?" The girl snapped haughtily, hands on her hips.
"What? No! I-It's just…" The blonde tried to say as she messed with her hair a bit, a sign she was nervous.
"Yang, I advise that you stop trying this route. You want to avoid being like your mom, remember?" Sky told the blonde pointedly as he got Willbreaker and Bolt (his Hive Boomer adaptation) out of his locker and put them in their places.
"I feel like I'm doomed to be like her, so I better prepare for that." The blonde whispered as Jaune walked by, fretting over his locker.
"Self fulfilling prophecy…" Ace pointed out as he walked past the two, shuffling his cards.
"Damn it, Yang…" The swordsman sighed with a shake of his head. He cared about Yang, despite how short a time he's known her, but he really needed to snap her out of that feeling she has. "A person isn't born to turn out like their parents. It's a choice; you either choose to repeat history, or you choose not to. What you're worrying about is asinine!" He hissed.
"He's got a point." Sun noted from atop a locker, snacking on a banana. "I mean, I used to be just like how you were about my dad. And ya know what I did?" He questioned as Ruby went over to Neptune.
"What'd you do? Say "fuck this noise" and go on with your life?" Sky guessed.
"Yep. And it's worked for me since." The blonde smiled.
"See Yang, this is what you gotta do with your thoughts on your mom: Say "fuck this noise" and carry on." Sky told his blonde [trial] girlfriend.
"… I'll give that a thought." She nodded.
As this was going on, Ace put his cards away as he passed by Weiss again, who was talking to a redhead.
Said redhead was Pyrrha Nikos, and the Gunslinger was familiar with her, though he personally never thought she was all that good—as the girl was basically a walking doormat and he didn't really respect people like that.
"I'm thinking that we'd do great as a duo, the smartest girl and the strongest? What could go wrong?" She questioned.
"A lot of things." Ace interjected, getting the whitette's attention.
"Oh hush, Ace." The heiress stated.
"Heeey, ladies." Jaune grinned, leaning against the locker between Weiss and Pyrrha.
"What are you doing?" Weiss questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Just thought I'd see if you ladies wanna try joining my team. I could always use brains and brawn on my hip." He grinned flirtatiously.
"Ahem." Ace coughed. "Barking up the wrong tree, Jaune." He told the blonde.
"How would you know?" Jaune questioned cluelessly.
"Cuz she's taken." The gunslinger stated matter of factly.
"Yes, I'd much rather prefer being on a team with Ace." Weiss nodded, standing next to him.
"Your loss, I guess." Jaune shrugged as he turned to Pyrrha. "But you seem like you'd make a good fit." He noted.
"Maybe. I'm more inclined to let the chips fall where they may, however." Pyrrha mused.
"Now hold on." Weiss stated. "Just what makes you think you can impose on Pyrrha? Don't you know who she is?" She questioned.
"Not in the slightest." The clueless boy replied with a shrug.
"Here we go…" The Hunter sighed as he lit a cigarette and started smoking it.
"She graduated from Sanctum at top of her class, set several athletic records and also was on the box art of Pumpkin Pete's cereal for two years." The girl listed.
"Wait, you were the one on Pumpkin Pete's cereal?!" Jaune gasped in amazement.
"That's what gets you?" Sundance deadpanned.
"What she said!" Weiss exclaimed, pointing at the Ghost.
"He's a kid from Vale, Princess, he's not gonna know half the stuff you listed." Ace stated, puffing out a ring of smoke.
"The cereal is more important to me." Jaune shrugged.
"I rest my case." The gunslinger deadpanned.
"Regardless, do you really think you've any right to ask Pyrrha to be on your team?" Weiss questioned.
"I guess not." The blonde sighed.
"Now I'm not so sure, I'm sure you'd be a great leader." Pyrrha chimed in, causing Ace to take a long contemplative drag on his cigarette.
"… Maybe?" He hummed.
"Will all first year applicants please report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation." Glynda announced over the intercom.
"That's our cue." Ace said before turning back to the rest. "Come on, gang, let's boogie!" He grinned as he turned and walked in the direction of Beacon Cliffs.
(Later)
Everyone was gathered at Beacon Cliffs in front of Professor Ozpin and Glynda, all the applicants standing on plates in the ground.
"Today you'll all be assigned to teams as you go through your initiations. Specifically…" She trailed.
"You will first form pairs with the first person you make eye contact with upon landing. Teams will be made up of the pairs who work together the best at the end." Ozpin explained.
Idly, the kids all looked at each other. Ruby smiling and waving at Weiss, who couldn't help but giggle at this, unable to really fault the girl's goofball nature.
"The start of initiation will involve practicing your landing strategies." Ozpin continued. "The plates you are all standing on are strong, and will launch you into Emerald Forest. Take your positions." He told them.
Everyone immediately braced themselves for launch, except Jaune, who was clueless still.
"Um, sir?" He began to question.
"Now, as far as we know—there are no Grimm in the forest. But, the local wildlife are just as dangerous, so take care—or you will die." The headmaster said.
"Um, what about the Vex?" Neptune questioned.
"Shit, that's right. You're a Vex magnet." Sun nodded.
"We have ensured the forest stays clear of Vex, so no need to worry about them." Glynda assured.
"Well this is going to be boring for me, then." Sky sighed in disappointment.
"All I'm gonna say is that if I see any Hive, I'm running." Ace stated.
"Same." A boy, Cardin, nodded.
"Guys, the Hive haven't been seen in centuries." Yang pointed out.
"Better safe than sorry." Sun shrugged.
"Speaking of landing strategy, how do we…?" Jaune asked—right before he was sent flying by his plate. "AH HO HO HOIIII!" He exclaimed.
Then everyone else was launched into the air, all of them ready to take on Emerald Forest's residents.
ThemalsniperN7: And another chapter is done. We decided that we wanted to take a different approach to Weiss' first interaction with Ruby, so we went with the frenemy path.
Dragon Emperor0: We may be basing this story off of Fixing RWBY, but we don't want to have this be a one to one recreation of it—that'd be plagiarism, unoriginal, and lazy writing all at the same time. So, we decided that instead of going with the show's version or FRWBY's version exactly—we'd have Ruby and Weiss be frenemies instead. That way we can still get all of the excellent character drama of both versions, but not have it be cranked up to 11 like FRWBY's version for example.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah, so this should be efficient for us. It helps the story feel more like its own entity. Anyway, we also had Weiss recognizing Ace after a moment, which ended with a nice moment for them. Meanwhile, we have gotten our first look at the bedridden Neo… She needs meds, soon.
Dragon Emperor0: Poor girl. And we also want to make it known that the Hive, Vex, and Cabal will be in this story but won't become major components until Vol. 2 onwards. Additionally, the Eliksni will be excluded as well, the Faunus already fill the role they would have posed. So there's really no need to include them. The Taken will be here as well, later.
ThermalsniperN7: Speaking of the Taken, since Sky is partly based on Oryx, they will NOT be against human and faunuskind.
Dragon Emperor0: Well, at least not until The Witness comes to town. But that's neither here nor there. Anyway, things will be picking up with the initiation next chapter. And for those of you who are Hive fanboys, get ready.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah, because a certain Hive figure will make an appearance. Anyway, see you next time.