Disclaimer: Don't own RoosterTeeth and the late Monty Oum's RWBY.

Ruby's first official day of the "Exciting First Year at Beacon Academy" started dull. She wasn't sure if it was because of the cloudy morning or the numbness in her arms after the academy's medical staff poked and prodded her team yesterday. Probably the latter, since they only had time to gather their uniforms and other belongings. A shower didn't ease the numbness or the nurse's severe scolding.

"Believe me, hon', you and your team need it after that Ursa business. Why the headmaster didn't have you all checked immediately is beyond me!"

Ruby shivered more at the memory than the lecture hall's cold air. Behind her, some students gossiped and teased each other. A few had their notebooks out, only to put them aside. One still ate her breakfast, slurping down a pancake. Lacking food and sleep, Ruby couldn't listen to Professor Peter "Long-winded and Loudmouthed" Port. His twenty-minute-long intro, and the belly beneath his burgundy suit, confirmed everything Ruby heard from the older students on her way to class.

"... will survive the toughest of challenges," the professor said. "Now, does anyone have any questions?"

Silence.

Port played with his bushy mustache. "Very well. As we will be talking about Grimm, I would be glad to hear your stories. You newcomers undoubtedly had your share during the initiation ceremony. What can you tell me about Grimm?"

Ruby's tired head slipped from her hand, along with everything else into sleep...

"Ah yes, you!"

Her head swung up beside her treacherous hand. "Y-Yes?" Ruby asked.

"What can you tell me about your experience with Grimm, Miss...?"

"... Ruby Rose." She paused, swearing the professor's thin eyes grew thinner. "Well, uh, they taught us at Signal about dealing with regular Grimm. Then, there's that mutant Grimm during the initiation. It was all glowing and… and…"

Ruby shrank. The stares filling her peripheral vision came from the other first-year students, the ones not accepted two years earlier like she had been, save for her team. One, in particular, had a familiar icy grip.

"... and I'll just stop right there," Ruby finished meekly.

Professor Port, for better or worse, took over. "Yes. Mutant Grimm. No doubt, you heard the dangers of being near one. They are a phenomenon of the last decade. The Grimm's numbers may have decreased in that same amount of time, but they have also become more sporadic. Wild. Dangerous. As Miss Rose has said."

Ruby shrank again, wishing to have been asleep in her bed instead of class.

"Usually, I would begin with testing your capacity against a weaker Grimm. Seeing how you already have some experience, we will do so another time," Port said. "For now, I shall regale you with tales of a young, gallant Huntsman…"

Ruby's ears focused behind her instead. Those who whispered words like "show off" and "know-it-all" fell silent under the glare of a blonde brawler. Anything else said grew less as time went on as everyone grew more bored. Port's stories stretched into minutes of "blah, blah, blah." Ruby swayed between sleep and consciousness, whispering, "Please, let it be over…"

BRRRIIIIIIIING!

The hourly bell hid Ruby's sigh. She barely heard Port mentioning homework over the other students' chatter. Her sister was among those leaving. "Hey, Ruby! You coming?"

"In a sec!" Ruby called back. After fewer people filled the room, she noticed audible breathing to her immediate right. "How long has he been like that?" Ruby asked about Orion resting his face into his propped-up hand.

"Since Port started talking," Blake said from Ruby's left, shaking off any fatigue.

"A lot did happen yesterday," Pyrrha said from Blake's other side. Ruby only saw her thanks to the circlet the amazon still wore.

Ruby, suppressing another shiver, said, "Do you think we should…?"

She and her team–Orion, included–jumped from the hand slamming on their desk. "Heya, Rai!" said the grinning girl before them, her voice as fiery as her orange hair.

Orion, awake and eyes wide, said, "Oh Dust, please tell me this is a dream!"

"Sorry, but no. There are no flying pancakes. At least, I think so," the strange girl said.

A boy, tall and with a pink streak in his black hair, appeared beside her, saving any need for Team PBRZ to speak. Ruby remembered the duo from yesterday, having seen the boy in green and the girl in a white outfit at the time. "I'm sorry about her, Orion. Again," the boy said and gently grabbed his companion's sleeve. "Nora, we have to go."

"Wait, I didn't get to talk to Rai!" said the girl named Nora as the boy pulled her away.

"There will be plenty of time during combat class. Come on."

"But Reeeen!"

Beside the blinking Ruby, Orion trembled after the duo left. "No more piledrivers. Please, no more piledrivers…"

Ruby jumped with him after she tapped his shoulder. "You okay?" Ruby asked.

"Y-yeah. Just tired. A bit." Orion paused to stop trembling and add, "And hungry."

Pyrrha, ever the leader, stood up. "We all need a quick bite. I'll find a vending machine."

Blake wordlessly joined her. Much like yesterday, Ruby found Orion's gaze following the other two. He had looked at the girls more than he had spoken to them. Well, save for Ruby, who said, "You don't have to be so… shy. We're your teammates."

"Yeah, I know. It's just kinda weird. And not 'cause of Pyrrha." When Ruby stared back, confused, Orion scratched where his goggles would've been on his head. "Okay, kinda is, but there's more. For one, you're all girls, I'm a guy, so..."

Ruby played with the ends of her red cloak, the only thing she kept from her old clothing. Her dad told her enough about boys, more than anything about being a Huntress. That fell on her uncle Qrow, who taught her how to build and wield Crescent Rose. "Well, that explains the beds," Ruby said. "By the way, that curtain you put up. Is that a Vacuan thing? Mistrallian?"

"Uh, think a bit of both. My parents were never clear on that."

"You could ask Pyrrha. She's from Mistral."

"Nah, she's got more important things to worry about."

"Like getting us food?"

"Yeah, like getting us…" Orion's voice fell, then shot up with the rest of him from his seat. "Ah man, I can't let her pay! What would everyone think if they see her?"

Exhausted yet confident she could catch up, Ruby left the lecture hall after her partner all while asking herself, "How did mom and dad even manage?"

More than an hour later, some feeling returned to Ruby's body. The snacks, courtesy of Orion–not Pyrrha–halved the team's fatigue, even if they had to sit about in the hall to catch some shuteye. Hanging out with Orion kept Ruby's mind off the remaining half on the way to class. "Ah, missed!"

"Here, lemme try," Ruby said. Her empty milk carton entered the recycling five feet away. "Yes! And they said spending more time with Crescent Rose never builds any skills."

Much to Ruby's obvious dismay, a crushed can flew into the same bin from ten feet away. "I'm sorry!" said Pyrrha by the lecture hall's door.

"Four-time champion, Ruby. Can't just beat that," Orion said and walked with her after disposing of his bottle. "So, any plans for the week?"

Ruby shrugged. "Save for homework, not much. Oh, did Professor Port give us any?"

"Uh, didn't hear much." Orion paused to grumble about his red tie, which the boys wore with their dark suit. "But yeah, I'd wanna head downtown to get some Dust for Saiph."

"Oh, can the rest of us come along? It might be good for the team."

"Uh, maybe? Dunno what Pyrrha would think. Or Blake. 'Fore you ask, I already found a store. 'Dust to Something,' I think."

Ruby's mind left Beacon's sunlit hall for a tiny shop alive at night. "From Dust till Dawn?"

"That's the one! There's a new shipment of Dust coming in a few days. I dunno if the others would…" Orion's voice stopped with him at a door. "Oh, Dust."

Confused, Ruby only saw the students in the identical lecture hall. Some looked a bit different, like the boy with a green mohawk, or a bunny-eared girl, or the one so far back they almost looked like a shadow. Nothing unordinary, though. Whatever the reason, Orion kept his hand up against his face to hide it from the other students. "Uh, Orion?" Ruby asked.

"Huh. Oh, I'm good," Orion said unconvincingly. "Yeah, just fine. I'll, uh, be over there."

With Orion gone in one direction, Ruby took another. Her steps slowed after seeing two familiar figures–sadly so, regarding one–talking with her other teammates. Yang, her long mane and warm presence ever welcoming, said, "So, your partner abandoned you too, huh?"

"Yeah, looks like it," Ruby said, sighing. In the corner of her eye, Orion sat alongside four other boys. She recognized the two big guys from her sister's team.

"It should be alright," said the standing Pyrrha. "It can just be us girls talking. There's nothing wrong with that. Right, Weiss?"

The petite girl sitting with Yang frowned. Weiss acted to be as tall as her teammate. Certainly a lot colder. From the icicle-shaped tiara atop her head to her dead silence, she gave off an aura that made her uniform, particularly the red skirt and dark vest, be as pale as herself.

Feeling a chill, Ruby leaned towards her warmer sister. "Is she still mad about…?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Yang whispered back. "She wouldn't stop talking after we got to our dorm. If you ask me, I think she's salty you got Pyrrha on your team."

"Yang," Weiss said, with as much haughtiness as could be allowed for a seventeen-year-old, "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell that… ruffian everything I say."

A hint of red flashed in Yang's lilac eyes. "I think I can stay whatever I want to my sister." Her hands flexed, her fingerless gloves unable to hide the anger.

Ruby scooted to her teammates to escape the clashing hot and cold glares. "What exactly happened between you two?" asked a concerned Pyrrha.

The answer came from Blake beside her. "The day we arrived, Ruby spilled some of Schnee's Dust and caused an explosion on the academy courtyard."

"I said I was sorry!" Ruby exclaimed.

Weiss broke away to point at Ruby. "I worry for you, Pyrrha. This one will give no end of trouble. I guarantee it. I don't even want to imagine your other teammate over there."

To that, Pyrrha said, "Well, Orion does… act like a bit of a fan, but he and Ruby did hold off that Ursa during the initiation. That has to show for something."

Ruby flashed a smile at Weiss, who told Pyrrha, "Perhaps… Still, the headmaster could have given you a different name. 'Brass' certainly does not fit someone of your reputation."

"Many could say your team name is a little on point," Blake retorted, eying her book.

"Well, I think it is fitting. I am the leader. Obviously, my team should be named after me."

Ruby snickered before Weiss' prideful glare stopped her. "Actually," Yang told Pyrrha, "I'd like to see what the fuss is about. They say you're some champion from Mistral, right? Well, I hear they keep the arena open between classes."

Pyrrha said, "Oh no, I don't want to burden–"

"Nah, it's fine." Yang grinned. "You're just proving your medal, am I right?"

Pyrrha blinked, Blake sighed, and Weiss facepalmed. "I am so sorry about her," Ruby told every one of them. Though the older sister, Yang never outgrew her terrible puns.

"Come on, it wasn't bad!" Yang said. "Seriously though, just a round of two."

"We can't," Blake said. "We have to see the nurses afterwards."

"Really? Again, Ruby?" Yang shook her head after Ruby nodded. "I do not envy you one bit. Guess it's just me and my team. We'd probably just talk about Dust or something."

"I'll have you know Dust is extremely important," said Weiss. "My family provides only the best Dust gems cut by the finest–"

"Settle down, class!" said a high-pitched and far older voice.

Ruby zipped behind the desk with her teammates, sister, and Weiss. The tall professor by the board had been faster. It wasn't hard noticing his yellow tie, messy green hair, the mug in his hand, or his round glasses. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I am Doctor Oobleck," he said. "Now, some of you are already familiar with my class. As for you first-year students, Professor Port has given you enough introductions…"

Ruby chuckled with the few others, interrupting the serious Oobleck.

"... Yes. Anyway, I will provide a syllabus by the end of class. You all understand the basics, so let's cut to the chase, shall we?" A second later, Oobleck's form blurred across the board. Stopping at its other side, he pointed to the propped-up chart. "Today, we will begin with the most known yet bizarre event within recent history. The Second Sun Tragedy. Now, do take notes, as you will be quizzed about it next week…"

This time, Ruby didn't take notes. She instead traced her pencil over the few sheets of paper Blake could spare. Sure, Oobleck was faster than Port, but she didn't want to hear about that day from eleven years ago. Everyone should've remembered it clearly. She did, and had been four. Weiss talking about Dust would've been more interesting… Wait.

"Psst, Pyrrha," Ruby whispered behind her sister and Weiss. Pyrrha leaned back, somehow hearing her. "Got time in three days? Orion's shopping for Dust."

"What was that?" Pyrrha whispered through Oobleck's lecture.

"Orion. Dust shopping. Wanna come?"

"Ladies!" said Oobleck, making Ruby and the others jump. "I hope you are paying attention."

Ruby quickly waved her sheet of scribbles. "Just asking for paper, Professor!"

"That's 'Doctor,' thank you. Now, where was I? Ah yes!"

A sigh later, Ruby found her two teammates whispering to each other. Then, Pyrrha passed a sheet down to Weiss and Yang. Ultimately receiving it, Ruby found it to be a written note saying, 'I would like that.'

Ruby stopped herself from hugging the note like it was her childhood toy. Spotting Pyrrha's smile made Ruby more impatient to tell Orion after Oobleck's class. Shopping with her team would be worth waiting through the other classes. Besides, tomorrow will be different.

AN: A bit I had for my planned RWBY AU. Given how convoluted the whole process has become, I don't know if I'll ever published it as is. Still, I hope this is interesting to you. Thanks and take care.

Raika out.