Chapter 2: The Shining Beacon

"In other news," the voice of a female newscaster broadcasted across the ship from a holographic display, "this Saturday's faunus civil rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang interrupted the ceremony."

The screen displayed an image of the protesters, many of which had animal traits, such as tails growing from their backs or ears sprouting from beneath their hair in addition to human ears on the sides of their heads.

"The once peaceful organization has been at odds with its contemporaries for-"

The screen's projector suddenly shut off. Ruby and Yang stood at the back of the small crowd, watching a hologram of the august woman who saved Ruby replace the broadcast.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon," she began.

"Who's that?" Yang asked her sister.

"My name is Glenda Goodwitch," the projection said.

"Oh."

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy," Glenda continued. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and, as future huntsmen, it is your duty to uphold it.

"You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." As her speech finished, the image of Glenda faded as the ship's captain announced they would be landing soon.

"She's nicer than you let on," Yang said, looking over at Ruby.

"You haven't met her in person yet," Ruby objected. "She's a real witch!"

"Well, it is in her name."

As the ship pitched to make its landing, the blonde boy fell to his knees, using a hand to hold in his lunch.

"Hey Vomit Boy!" Yang called. "You doing alright?"

He gave a feeble thumbs up with his free hand before using it to lean against the exit door.

The ship landed smoothly, and Vomit Boy was the first new student to enter Beacon's campus. He took this momentous occasion to empty his stomach in the nearest trash can, which was luckily just around the corner.

The remaining students filed out, coming to face a busy thoroughfare that led all the way to a massive lighthouse: Beacon Tower. Ruby and Yang each let out an excited "Whoa" as they craned their necks up at the campus.

"The view from Vale has nothing on this," Yang said, turning to see her sister gawking at the people passing by.

"Oooh, sis, that kid's got a collapsible staff! Whoa, and she's got a fire sword!" With stars in her eyes, Ruby started to wander away from Yang, but was pulled back with a pinch, letting out an "Ow!"

"Easy there, little sister," Yang said, shrugging. "They're just weapons."

"Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves!" Ruby gushed. "They're a part of us! Oh, so cool!" She continued to stare at the weapons around them.

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon?" Yang asked playfully. "Aren't you happy with it?"

"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose," Ruby said, patting the bundle beneath her cloak. "I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better!"

As Ruby beamed at another passerby's weapon, Yang pulled her sister's hood over her face while saying, "Come on, Ruby! Why don't you go try and make some friends of your own!"

"Why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby pulled her hood back in time to see a group of four people approach her sister. She vaguely remembered them from previous events she went to with Yang, but couldn't place any of their names. Yang greeted them all, even giving a fist bump to the last guy.

"Well," Yang turned back to Ruby, "my friends are here, and I'd like to go catch up with them. Meet me at the entrance ceremony, ok? Have fun!"

Yang started racing two of the newcomers and their whole group faded into the crowd.

"Wait!" Ruby shouted after her. "What do we do with our luggage? And where are our dorms? Do we even have dorms?!"

Realizing Yang was long gone, Ruby shuffled back toward the luggage area with a groan, beginning the search for their belongings.

After an extended walk, she found their suitcases stuck under a stack of others. Gripping the handlebar, she pulled her bag out from the stack, which came tumbling down before her, knocking her on her butt.

A sharp rectangular box bounced free from the rack and hit the ground at an angle, jostling open. A clear bottle of red dust popped out of the case, covering Ruby in sparkles.

Ruby felt an itch in her nose, but she held back the incoming sneeze as she stood. From her right, she heard a yelp, followed by an indignant, "What are you doing!?"

A white haired girl in a dress of pale blue that bordered on white stomped up to her, pulling the dust box away from Ruby. She carried a rapier on her belt sash and had a scar running over her left eye.

"That is a volatile dust mixture!" the girl complained. "What do you think you're doing with it!?"

"Uh," Ruby started, the urge to sneeze contorting her face. The other girl picked up the loose dust container, holding it out to her.

"This dust was mixed specifically to create potent blasts of fire!" the girl said. "Mined from the Schnee Quarry, it-" she stopped, glowering at Ruby, who was wiping at her nose.

"What, are you brain-dead?" the girl in white ranted. "Dust! Fire, wind, lightning- Energy!"

At each word, she shook the dust bottle around, causing Ruby's face to contorted further as her eyes started to water.

"I can't believe my staff put this in like it's common luggage!" The girl continued her tirade. "Like they couldn't predict that some idiot klutz would come along and spill it everywhere!"

As the girl gave one last emphasizing shake of the bottle, Ruby finally sneezed.

The force created a spark within the dust cloud, which quickly became a small explosion. The angry girl and Ruby were left covered in a fine layer of soot; the bottle of dust flying away. There was a moment of silence between them before the girl in white filled with pure rage.

"This is exactly what I was talking about!" she cried, pointing a finger at Ruby.

"I'm really, really sorry!" Ruby said meekly, but the girl wasn't finished.

"You complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Well, I-"

"This isn't your ordinary combat school! We're here to fight monsters, not just practice sparring."

The girl examined Ruby quickly before continuing, "You're clearly not coordinated enough to be a huntress."

Ruby felt her cheeks flush. She stood on her toes, equalizing their heights as she shouted, "I said I was sorry, princess!"

"It's heiress, actually," a new, calmer voice joined their argument. The two girls turned to see a girl in black and white attire with a black bow tied atop her onyx hair holding the dust bottle idly. Ruby thought she'd seen her watching the newscast on the airship.

"Weiss Schnee," the girl elaborated, "heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Finally, some recognition!" Weiss said, shooting the stranger a smile.

"The same company," the girl in black continued, "infamous for its controversial labor practices and questionable business partners."

"Wha- How dare-" Weiss started, her smile vanishing.

Ruby snickered as Weiss inched towards Bow Girl, took back her jar of dust, and finally stormed off, dragging her luggage away.

"I'll make this up to you!" Ruby called after Weiss. "I promise!

"Thanks for-" Ruby turned toward the newcomer, only to find her disappearing behind another luggage rack.

Alone once again, Ruby sagged to the ground, muttering, "Welcome to Beacon."

Less than a minute went by before she heard a familiar voice call out, "Need a hand?"

Ruby opened her eyes to see a blonde boy holding a hand out to her.

"I'm Jaune," the boy said with a smile.

"Ruby," she said, returning his smile and taking his hand. She stood, chortled, then asked, "Weren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

"All I'm saying is that air sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune said, defending himself from Ruby's teasing. The two of them towed their luggage around Beacon's campus as they chatted.

"Look, I'm sorry," Ruby said. "Vomit Boy was just the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh yeah?" Jaune smirked. "What if I called you Crater Face!"

"Hey, that explosion was an accident!"

"Sure," Jaune said playfully. "Well, the name's Jaune Arc; short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it." He held up a set of finger guns at her.

Ruby paused for a moment, then said, "Do they?"

"They will!" Jaune insisted, before looking down. "At least, I hope they will. I mean, my mom always says that…" He trailed off, finishing with "Never mind."

Feeling an awkward silence rolling in, Ruby laughed dryly before removing Crescent Rose from her belt. "I've got this thing," she said, unfolding the weapon into its scythe configuration with a spin and resting it on the paving stones.

Jaune jumped in surprise, pointing at it and asking, "Is that a scythe?!"

Ruby nodded, continuing, "It's also a customizable, high-impact sniper rifle."

"A what?"

"It's also a gun," Ruby simplified, racking a round into the chamber.

"Oh," Jaune said. "That's cool!"

"So, what do you got?"

"Oh, uh," Jaune reached for his belt. "I've got this sword." He revealed a nondescript sword with a blue wrap on the handle. Ruby cooed as he held the weapon out.

Encouraged, Jaune continued, "I've got a shield too." He lifted the sword's scabbard by its clip. With a subtle flourish, the scabbard expanded into a heater shield with a gold design on the front, locking into place when Jaune gripped the straps. "See?"

"Neat!" Ruby said, patting the shield. "Very classic; do they have names?"

"Crocea Mors," Jaune said, then he paused. "I'm not sure I pronounced that right."

"Sorry to ask," Ruby said. "I'm kinda a dork when it comes to weapons. Compared to you, I went a little overboard when designing mine."

"Wait, you made that?" Jaune asked.

"Of course!" Ruby said. "All students at Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?"

"No," Jaune said thoughtfully. "It's an heirloom. Some of my ancestors fought with them in the Great War." He put the weapons away, folding his shield back into a scabbard with a pat.

"Oh. Well, I like it," Ruby said cheerfully. "Not every huntsman needs a super complicated weapon like mine." She stowed her scythe, folding the blade and compacting the shaft until it became a package again before clipping it to her waist belt.

Jaune smiled and said, "I hope you're right, or I'm done for."

They shared a small laugh, and then their conversation lulled for a moment before Ruby changed the subject.

"So, why'd you help me out back there?"

"Eh, why not?" Jaune said. "Like my mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'"

Ruby nodded, then looked about, asking, "Hey, where are we going?"

"Oh, I don't know," Jaune said. "I was following you."

Ruby looked around, surprised to find the pathway empty. "Don't we have to get to the entrance ceremony?" She worried, "Where even is it?"

"Beacon Tower's auditorium," Jaune said, surprising her. "We can take a right that way and get there in no time."

He paused, asking, "Do you know what time it is?"

They looked at each other with alarm, then bolted down the path, rushing toward Beacon Tower.

The pair came to the tower's front entrance, trailing behind the last few students walking into the auditorium. The space was packed, the whole crowd making a colorful blur with varied outfits, hair color, luggage bags, and the occasional weapon.

"Ruby!" a voice called out to her. Ruby found her sister waving to her, shouting, "Over here! I saved you a spot!"

"Oh!" Ruby turned to Jaune. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony!" She left the boy the next instant, joining her sister.

"Hey, wait!" Jaune called after her, but she was soon out of earshot. He sighed and said, "Great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?" before moving on to find a better spot.

"How's your first day going, little sister?" Yang asked, turning to Ruby as she appeared in a flash of rose petals.

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby said, dropping Yang's bag at her feet.

"Yikes! Melt down already?"

"No, I literally exploded while finding our luggage." Ruby tried motioning to her clothes, not realizing she had brushed most of the soot off.

Yang studied her sister before asking, "Are you being sarcastic?"

Ruby snorted. "I wish. I spilled some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she yelled again, 'nd I felt really, really bad, 'nd I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"

"YOU!" the voice of Weiss Schnee, who had been standing behind her for her entire rant, startled Ruby so harshly that she jumped into Yang's arms.

"Oh god! It's happening again!"

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss chided Ruby with an accusatory finger.

"Oh my god," Yang said, looking from the heiress to her sister in shock. "You really exploded."

"It was an accident," Ruby said hurriedly, opening her eyes and getting off Yang. She turned to Weiss, repeating, "It was an accident!"

Weiss held up a pamphlet, shoving it in Ruby's face.

"What's this?" the younger girl asked, tilting her head.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company Product," Weiss ranted. "Although not mandatory, the Schnee family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust Application and Practice in the Field."

Ruby gave her a confused, "Umm…"

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked.

"Absolutely?"

"Read this," Weiss said, shoving the paper into Ruby's hands, "and never speak to me again."

"Look," Yang chimed in, "it sounds like you two got off on the wrong foot." She looked between the two girls with a broad grin. "Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

"Yeah!" Ruby said, beaming. "Great idea, sis!" She cleared her throat, and began introducing herself, holding her hand out awkwardly to Weiss. "Hello Weiss; I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies!"

"Yeah!" Weiss said, pitching her voice up an octave. "And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there." She motioned through her points exaggeratedly, ending with a derisive thumb pointed at Jaune, who glanced in their direction.

"Wow, really?" Ruby asked eagerly.

Weiss stared at Ruby for an extended second, then flatly said, "No."

Before the conversation could continue, a speaker sounded through the hall, quieting the room.

"I'll keep this brief," Professor Ozpin said slowly from the center of the stage, his voice projecting through the sound system of the tower.

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills; and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people; to save them from the threat of the grimm and the disasters that they leave in their wake.

"But I look amongst you, and 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."

With his speech concluded, Ozpin left the stage, and Glenda Goodwitch stepped up, listing off instructions for the new students to follow.

"And you said he was the nice one," Yang said, gently elbowing Ruby.

"He was!" Ruby insisted. "He gave me cookies!"

Yang chuckled, smiling down at her sister.

As the three girls shuffled with the crowd, Jaune came up, leaned over to Weiss and said, "I'm a natural blonde, you know."

Without even glancing at his smirking face, she palmed her forehead and walked away.

In the dead of night, Roman Torchwick finally arrived at his rundown home- or one of them, at least. The door creaked with age as he pushed it open, revealing disheveled and broken furniture. He walked in briskly.

"Thirty hours," he muttered, "with no sleep. Again." He leaned on his cane, rolling his shoulder. "Damn tails almost had me dead to rights.

"And those goons!" He stomped past a table with a missing leg and into a hallway as he ranted. "Worthless! I'm never talking to that Junior again!" He came to a door in the hallway, paused and dusted off his coat, then pushed it open.

Inside was a girl that had pink and brown hair with a few white streaks in it, lying in bed under a fresh set of blankets. Her eyes fluttered open as Roman entered, her irises changing after every blink; each maintained a separate color from one another, alternating between cream, pink, and brown.

With a sigh, Roman sat on the bed, looking over the girl. "Are you feeling better?" he asked softly, emphasizing with a few hand gestures. The girl nodded, smiling at him.

Roman smiled back, taking off his hat. "I missed you during that last job," he said. The girl squirmed worriedly, trying to sit up, but Roman put up a hand.

"Easy," he went on, "I've got something big planned that I'll need your help with." He placed a gentle hand over her forehead. "So get better soon, okay?"

The girl nestled against his touch, closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep. Roman turned toward the window, becoming lost in thought as he stared out at the full moon.

On their first night of school, the first year Beacon students were forced to sleep in the cafeteria: a one-story building with a high arching roof a short walk from Beacon Tower. Ruby was laying on top of her sleeping bag in her pajamas, typing on a laptop with a light blue screen when Yang plopped down beside her.

"It's like a big slumber party!" Yang said, propping her head up with her forearm. She was dressed down to a tank top and shorts.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys though," Ruby said, starting a new line in her email.

"I know I do," Yang purred, glancing across the room to see several boys without shirts flexing while others wrestled with each other. She looked back to Ruby, noticing her typing and asked, "What's that?"

"A letter to the gang back at Signal," Ruby explained. "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."

"Aww," Yang cooed, "that's so cu-"

"Shut up!" Ruby said, hitting Yang's face with a pillow. "I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here."

"What about Jaune?" Yang asked, removing the pillow from her face. "He's… nice." She winced, catching Jaune shooting finger guns at an annoyed heiress. She looked back at her sister. "Plus one friend! A one hundred percent increase!"

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend," Ruby said, closing her laptop and turning over. "Back to zero."

"There's no such thing as a negative friend," Yang said. "You just made one friend and one enemy!"

Ruby smacked her with another pillow, this one shaped like the head of a dog.

"Look," Yang said, recovering and becoming more serious. "It's only been one day. Trust me, you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."

Ruby rolled her eyes with a frown.

The sound of an igniting candle caught the sister's attention. They twisted to see the girl with the black bow place a candle on the floor and hold a book up, reading near their section of the room.

"That girl…" Ruby muttered.

Yang looked at her sister, asking, "You know her?"

"Not really," Ruby said, turning away. "She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything."

"Welp," Yang said, standing up. "Now's your chance!" She lifted Ruby to her feet by an arm and began strolling over to Bow Girl.

"Wait!" Ruby protested. "What are you doing!"

"Hello!" Yang said musically, waving to the girl while dragging a struggling Ruby over with her. "I believe you two may know each other?"

Bow Girl looked up, asking Ruby, "Aren't you that girl that exploded?"

"Uh, yeah," Ruby said, befuddled, reaching over to shake hands. "My name's Ruby."

When the girl looked back to her book, Ruby retracted her hand, placing it behind her head.

"But you can just call me Crater…" Ruby trailed off before saying, "Actually, you can just call me Ruby."

There was a brief pause, then the girl gave a curt, "Ok."

"What are you doing!?" Yang whispered to Ruby.

"I don't know!" Ruby whispered back. "Help me!"

"So," Yang interjected, facing the girl, "what's your name?"

Bow Girl sighed, then said, "Blake."

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang!" the blonde girl said. "Ruby's sister!"

Blake flipped a page in her book.

"I like your bow!" Yang said. "It goes great with your… pajamas!"

Blake gave them a nod, still reading her book.

"Nice night, don't you think?"

"Yes," Blake said, looking up at Yang. "A lovely night to read by candlelight… Which I was doing... And will continue to do… As soon as you leave." She stared intensely at them during her pauses.

Yang threw her hands up, turning to Ruby to whisper, "Yeah, this girl's a lost cause."

As her sister stepped away, Ruby asked Blake, "What's it about?"

"Huh?" Blake looked up again, blinking.

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

Blake was quiet for a moment before responding, "'A Man With Two Souls.'"

"I've read that one!" Ruby said excitedly. "It's about two people fighting for control over a single body, right?"

"Yeah," Blake said, meeting Ruby's eyes.

"I love those old stories, " Ruby continued. "Yang used to read some of them to me before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters. It's the reason I want to be a huntress; to fight for what's right and protect people who can't protect themselves!"

"That's admirable," Blake admitted, glancing away. "But unfortunately, life's not like those fairytales." A bitter look grew on her face as she finished.

"Well, that's why we're here," Ruby said, smiling. "To make things better!"

Blake turned to Ruby, struck by her innocent words.

"Oh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang gushed, leaning over to pull Ruby into a tight hug. She lifted her sister up, babbling like a parent to a child. "You'll make plenty of friends! I know it!"

"Cut it out!" Ruby said, twisting part way out of Yang's grip and starting a messy tussle between the sisters.

A small smile crept onto Blake's face as she watched them wrestle. "Well," she said, "Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure to-"

"What in the world is going on over here?!" Weiss, wearing a light-blue nightgown, marched onto the scene. Ruby paused, dropping Yang's foot.

"Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" the heiress continued, before recognizing Ruby and Yang.

""Oh, not you again!"" Weiss and Yang said in sync, while Ruby snapped to attention, shushing both girls.

"She's right," Ruby said worriedly. "People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, now you're on my side," Weiss asked indignantly.

"I was always on your side!"

"Yeah!" Yang cut in. "What's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss stomped.

Annoyed with the bickering, Blake lifted her candle and blew it out, leaving all the girls in the dark.