AN: So, before we get started, I want to address a guest reviewer that's been leaving a series of messages in Spanish. First off, I don't speak Spanish, so I had to use Google Translate to figure out what you were saying. And hoo boy, did I feel insulted when I translated it. Not, the translation may have just been wrong, but it seems like you were telling me that I needed to delete all my other stories besides this one because you like how this story incorporates the worlds of both stories better than Aqua's Mission did. Yeah, get real. I'm not going to delete almost 4 years of hard work just because some dude that doesn't even have a account tells me to.

Anyway, sorry about starting with a rant, but let's get back to it!

Onwards!

Chapter 3

Cloud wasn't that surprised by how densely packed the auditorium was. Beacon was a very prestigious school, after all, so it would make sense that so many prospective Hunters would try their hand at attending.

He took a look around, trying to see if he could spot Ruby or Yang, but instead, a different familiar face caught his eye, standing alone in the back of the room. It was a girl with long red hair, and wearing very recognizable bronze armor. Cloud hadn't known that Pyrrha was going to be attending. He smiled to himself, and started to walk towards her, but a large boy with dark red hair and gray armor with the image of a bird emblazoned on the front suddenly stepped in front of him, giving him a scrutinizing look.

"Let's see… blond, spiky hair, Midgar-style clothing, oversized sword," the boy rather rudely listed off, as if he was going through a checklist. "You're Cloud Strife."

"Uh, yeah. Do I know you?" Cloud asked.

"The name's Cardin Winchester," the boy said. "And you're the guy that beat Pyrrha Nikos."

"Oh, listen, it's not that big a deal," Cloud said, trying to diffuse the situation before it could become a spectacle.

"I disagree," Cardin said. "No one else on Remnant can say that they've defeated the Invincible Girl. You must have some serious skills to do something like that."

Cloud sighed. "Right. Is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?"

"You bet. You see, there are a lot of Hunters in the world, but you and I are in a league of our own." Cloud rolled his eyes. The truly strong never felt the need to brag about it. "So, how about we become partners?"

"Partners?" Cloud asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yeah, think about it. If we work together, we could become the best Huntsmen that Remnant's ever seen and leave all these other chumps in the dust. What do you think, wanna shake on it?"

"I think I'd rather be with the chumps that you. See ya around, Chestnut," Cloud said, using his shoulder to shove Cardin aside as he continued his original plan to go talk to Pyrrha.

"It's Winchester!" Cardin shouted after him as if Cloud cared. "Winchester!"

Pyrrha watched the other prospective students mingle about in the auditorium with a little more hope than she was expecting. She had come to Beacon primarily because her celebrity status in Mistral was going to make living a normal life impossible. While a lot of people still recognized her, it wasn't nearly as bad as she feared. People still knew her name, but a few more had approached her than she was expecting, like that nice flower girl in the pink dress. She wondered if her loss against Cloud in the last tournament had something to do with it. After all, the "Invincible Girl" being defeated means she wasn't so invincible after all. Her thoughts were interrupted when someone called out to her.

"Yo, Pyrrha, how's it going, cuz?"

Pyrrha turned around and saw a young man with the same color hair and eyes as hers, but his hair was spiky with a pony tail in the back, was wearing a messy suit, and had goggles on his head.

"Reno!" Pyrrha said happily, the two cousins quickly walking towards each other and hugging. "It's so good to see you."

"Same here, kind of a nice surprise," Reno said as they ended the hug.

"But, what are you doing here?" Pyrrha asked. "Aren't you training to be a bodyguard?"

"I am. This is part of my training," Reno said. "I've got to make it through four years without kicking the bucket. A little too easy if you ask me."

"I wouldn't be so cocky, Reno," Pyrrha warned. "Being a Huntsman is very dangerous. Training or not."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. By the way, cuz, I heard what happened at the Mistral Tournament. How are ya holding up?"

"Fine," Pyrrha said. "In all honesty, I'm actually kind of relieved that I lost. Now maybe I won't be seen as the Invincible Girl anymore. Well, I hope at least."

"That's great, Pyr," Reno said. "I'm glad you're happy. Though, if one guy was able to beat you, then I guess you're getting a little rusty, cuz."

"If that was her being rusty, then I would hate to fight her at full strength," a new voice said. Pyrrha turned and, to her surprise, saw Cloud approaching. "Nice to see you again, Pyrrha."

"Yo, cuz, who's this?" Reno asked, before leaning towards her to whisper into her ear. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Reno!"

"What, I'm just asking."

"He's not my—" Pyrrha started to say, but sighed in frustration instead, remembering that her cousin always loved teasing people more than basically anything else. "Reno, this is Cloud Strife. He's the one that beat me at the Msitral Tournament."

"Really? Well, nice to meet ya, Cloud," Reno said, shaking hands with the blond young man. "Name's Reno Sinclair. You must be one heck of a fighter to beat Pyrrha."

"I just got lucky," Cloud said. "Pyrrha could've easily won that fight.

"It's still shocking that you beat her."

"I guess," Cloud said, before turning back to Pyrrha. "So, Pyrrha, how have you been doing after the tournament?"

"Fine, actually. Companies aren't asking to sponsor me… well, not as much as before anyway."

"The same can't be said for me," Cloud said with a sigh. "As soon as I walked out of the arena, a bunch of guys in suits with contracts surrounded me in hopes of sponsoring me."

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha said.

"Don't worry about it. I just had to grab my Buster Sword and they ran as fast as they could."

"I like the way this guy thinks," Reno said with a chuckle.

"Well, I'm gonna go find a spot to stand. Talk to you later, Pyrrha," Cloud said.

"Bye, Cloud," Pyrrha said, and the blond boy turned and walked into the crowd.

"Well, I'd say you found a keeper, cuz," Reno said, prompting Pyrrha to blush. She turned to her cousin, and encased his goggles in a black aura with her Semblance. She spun them around on his face, covering his eyes with the strap, and then tightened it. Reno immediately started struggling to get them off. "Hey! Pyrrha, I was just kidding!"

Pyrrha just smirked.

She was concerned about her ability to make friends at Beacon, but she never imagined she would be lucky enough to be attending with both her cousin and Cloud.

Something told her these next four years were going to be great.

"But no matter how hard I pulled, I couldn't get the spoon to move," Ruby said, telling Aerith a story to pass the time as they walked to the auditorium. "I think I used too much flour."

Aerith chuckled. "Well, now you'll know what not to do when you make cookies again."

"Yeah, I think I'm just gonna stick to buying cookies from the store. Or get my big sis to make a batch with my puppy dog eyes," Ruby said.

"Those methods work, too," Aerith said, prompting both girls to laugh. However, an awkward silence quickly fell over the two of them as Ruby ran out of things to talk about.

Well, she did have one topic left.

"So, I have this thing," she said, pulling out and unfolding Crescent Rose, surprising Aerith.

"Woah!" the older girl exclaimed. "You use a scythe?"

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle," Ruby said proudly.

"Impressive," Aerith said. "Where did you get it?"

"I made it, actually."

"You made this? By yourself?" Aerith asked, her respect for the younger girl only growing by the minute.

"Yep, all the students at Signal build their own weapons. What weapon do you use, Aerith?"

"I don't have it with me, but I use a bow staff called Striker," Aerith explained. "It holds Combustion Dust in both ends and can retract until it fits in the palm of my hand so I can put it in my pocket."

"Wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked.

"It's not that heavy," Aerith said. "It's made of a special alloy so it's durable but lightweight.

"Sounds neat. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days," Ruby said, putting Crescent Rose away.

"My dad would agree with you," Aerith said. "Now come on, you don't wanna be—"

"Late!" a panicked-sounding boy's voice said. Ruby and Aerith turned and saw the blond-haired boy that threw up on the airship. He looked lost. "I'm gonna be so late! Where's the auditorium?!"

Ruby turned to look at her new friend. "Hey, Aerith, you won't mind if we add another member to our party, would you?"

"Not at all, Ruby. Let's go ask him."

The two girls started walking towards the boy, who began talking to himself.

"Do they have a directory? Maybe a food court or some recognizable landmark?"

"Excuse me, are you lost?" Aerith asked.

The boy turned to look at them. "Very, and I don't su—" when he laid eyes on Aerith, he stopped talking, and just kind of stood there staring at her with his eyes and mouth both wide open. Ruby and Aerith gave each other confused looks.

"Uh, are you alright?" Aerith asked.

"…"

Ruby walked up to the boy and wave her hand in front of his face. "Hello, anyone in there?" she asked, finally snapping him out of it.

"What, yes, no. What are we talking about again?" he asked.

"We were asking if you were lost," Aerith said.

"Oh, um, maybe just a little bit. I kind of got turned around." Ruby raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Earlier, he admitted to being "very" lost, but now it was "Just a little"?

"Would you like me to show you to the auditorium?" Aerith asked. "I know my way around Beacon pretty well."

"Oh, well, if you're offering. Sure, lead the way, uh…"

"Aerith. And this is Ruby."

"Hello," Ruby said.

"Well, my name's Jaune Arc," he said. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

"Do they?" Ruby asked.

"They will!" Jaune said. "Well, I hope they will."

Aerith chuckled. "Come on, you two, the auditorium is this way. And Jaune, maybe when we get there, I can introduce you to some ladies I know."

"Oh, um, well," he said, laughing nervously. "You don't have to do that. I-I mean, it's a kind offer b-but uh… Come on let's get to the auditorium, time's a-wasting."

Jaune started walking more quickly, eager to get away from the teasing. Ruby and Aerith laughed before following after him.

"Here we are," Aerith said to her new friends as the trio entered the auditorium. It was already packed, as Ruby expected, since they were likely some of the last students to arrive.

"Thanks, Aerith," Ruby said.

"Yeah, you look great. I mean it's great that you helped us! That's what I meant," Jaune said, chuckling nervously.

"You're welcome," Aerith said with a smile. "It was nice to meet you two. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go see if I can find a spot. Bye, and welcome to Beacon!" She waved and walked away from Ruby and Jaune, who returned her farewell.

"Ruby!" she suddenly heard Yang's voice call out.

"Over here!" Cloud's voice joined hers. Ruby looked around and saw the two of them motioning for her to come join them.

"We saved you a spot!" Yang yelled.

Ruby looked back over to Jaune. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you after the ceremony." Without another word, she headed towards her sister and friend, leaving a bewildered Jaune behind.

"Hey, wait!" he called after her. When she didn't come back, he sighed. "Great, now where am I gonna find another nice girl to talk to?"

"So, Rubes, how's your first day going?" Yang asked once Ruby had caught up to them.

"You mean since you two ditched me and I exploded?!" Ruby yelled.

"We didn't ditch you," Cloud said defensively. "And what do you mean 'exploded'? Did you have a meltdown or something?"

"No, I literally exploded and left a big hole in front of the school. There was some fire and I think some ice?"

"Are you exaggerating?" Yang asked.

Ruby scoffed. "I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she yelled again, until this other girl showed up and started yelling at the mean girl, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted them to stop yelling."

"You!" a girl's voice suddenly yelled behind Ruby. Ruby yelped in fear and jumped into her sister's arms.

"Oh gods, it's happening-!" she initially panicked, until she realized that she didn't recognize the voice as Weiss's. She looked and saw a girl with long black hair and red eyes who was just as much of a knockout as Yang. She wore a very short, cropped white tank top that showed off her toned abs, with her black sports bra visible underneath, an extremely short black mini-skirt, black thigh-high stockings, red sneakers, black sleeves that went up to her elbows, a pair of black plated gloves, and a red-and-black leather vambrace on her right arm. "Wait, who are you?"

"You," Yang said, her voice practically a growl. She set Ruby down and approached the new girl. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" the black-haired girl asked. "I wanna become a Huntress."

"Well, go to another school cause I'm attending this one," Yang said.

"What, are you hoping to grab the Headmaster's 'batteries' until he lets you attend?"

"No, but are you planning to get the Headmaster drunk until he lets you attend?"

Ruby was extremely confused as Yang and the black-haired girl just glared at each other for several seconds. Until Cloud decided to step in, clearing his throat to get the two brawlers' attention.

"So, Yang, mind introducing us to your friend?" he asked.

"She's not my friend," Yang snapped.

"Yeah, I'm just the girl who kicked her butt last week," the other girl said with a confident smirk.

"Excuse you, that fight was a draw," Yang said.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself." Yang got up in the other girl's face, and they just glared at each other again.

"You wanna go again?" Yang asked. "Cause I'd be more than happy to."

"Same here. I would love to tear out more strands of that mess you call hair."

"Don't even think about it," Yang growled.

"Oh, I'm thinking about it."

Ruby slowly backed away from the tense confrontation, not wanting to get stuck in the crossfire. Until, she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry, I—" she said, turning around before she saw a head of long white hair.

"Watch where you're go-. You!"

It was definitely Weiss this time.

Oh gods, now it's really happening again! Ruby thought.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss yelled.

"I-It was an accident!" Ruby insisted for what felt like the hundredth time. Weiss suddenly shoved a pamphlet in Ruby's face. It was called "Dust for Dummies and other Inadequate Individuals". "What's this?"

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating SDC products. 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." Weiss recited, presumably, her company's policy, but as she droned on, it all started to sound like gibberish to Ruby.

"Uhhhh…" Ruby said.

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

"Absolutely."

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again," Weiss said, shoving the pamphlet into Ruby's hand and began walking away.

"Wait!" Ruby called out, getting Weiss to stop and look at her with an annoyed glare. "I know we didn't have the best introduction, but maybe we can start over and be friends?" She cleared her throat. "Hello, Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out, maybe we can go shopping for school supplies."

"Yeah, and we can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blond, and… scraggly over there," Weiss said, pointing to Jaune.

"Huh?!" Jaune exclaimed.

"Really?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"…No."

The loud noise of someone clearing their throat got everyone's attention, and they looked towards the stage to see that Professor Ozpin had taken the mic, with Mrs. Wallace standing next to him.

"I'll…keep this brief," he said. "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 life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." His cryptic words led to nervous whispers among the students. "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."

A hushed silence fell over the students, and Professor Ozpin stepped away from the microphone, only for Mrs. Wallace to take his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she said. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Weird, Ruby thought. He didn't act this way when I met him. It was almost like he wasn't even there. Ruby barely noticed Weiss walk away with a scoff.

"Welp, might as well get ready for bed," the black-haired girl Yang had been fighting with said as she turned to leave. "Good luck, Yang. I hope you get in so I can wipe the floor with you again." She smirked and walked away, leaving behind a very irritated Yang.

"In your dreams, Tifa!" Yang yelled back, but Tifa had already left. Yang scoffed. "Stupid bar waitress."

"So, mind filling us in on your beef with this Tifa girl?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, and what did she mean that she beat you?" Ruby asked.

"Uh, come on, let's go find a spot to sleep in the ballroom!" Yang said quickly, desperate to avoid answering their questions. She took off out of the auditorium.

"Hey!" Cloud called after her.

"Yang! Wait for us!" Ruby yelled.

That night, Ruby laid on top of her sleeping bag, writing a letter. She had already changed into her pajamas, a black tank top and white pants with hearts on them. Yang and Cloud plopped down onto their own sleeping bags on either side of her. Cloud wore a white tee shirt and black shorts, while Yang wore an orange cropped tank top and black boy shorts.

"It's like a big sleepover," Yang said.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though," Ruby said.

"No, he wouldn't," Cloud said. "He nearly had a heart attack when you two invited me to sleepover at your house."

"Well, these boys definitely got my approval," Yang said with a purr. "And so do some of the girls." Yang looked across the ballroom and saw two shirtless guys roughhousing and a girl flexing her biceps. She then saw Tifa walk across her field of view, her sleepwear consisting of a black sports bra and black boy shorts which caught the eyes of most around her, including the boys and girl Yang had been looking at. Tifa noticed Yang looking in her direction and gave her a cheeky smile and wave, prompting Yang to look away in irritation. Finally, Yang noticed the pen in Ruby's hand. "What's that?"

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

"Aww, that's so cute," Yang said, prompting Ruby to hit her in the face with a pillow.

"Shut up! I didn't get to bring any of my friends with me. It's weird not knowing anyone here."

"I understand, Ruby," Cloud said. "It was weird being away from Patch when I was traveling, and talking to you and Yang over our scrolls was even stranger. But over time, it eventually became the norm for me. You'll get used to being here before you know it."

"Yeah. Plus, you already met Jaune and Aerith," Yang said. "Two friends in one day. That's a two hundred percent increase."

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend," Ruby said. "Down to one."

"There are no such thing as negative friends," Yang said. "You just made two friends and one enemy." Ruby hit her in the face with a pillow again.

"Not sure if having an enemy is a good thing, Yang," Cloud said. "You didn't look too happy with Tif—"

"All I'm saying is," Yang said, cutting Cloud off. "It's only been one day. You've got friends all around you, you just haven't met them yet."

The trio heard a match be lit, prompting them to look over and see the black-haired girl that interrupted Aerith and Weiss's argument. She was wearing a short black yukata, and was using a three-pronged candelabra to read a book. Laying on a sleeping bag next to her was a cute girl with short black hair and a fix tail, wearing her own green yukata, and was currently playing around on her scroll.

"That girl," Ruby said.

"You know her?" Yang asked.

"Not really, she helped me with Weiss this morning. But left before I could say anything."

"Well, here's your chance to talk to her."

"What, no, it's fine," Ruby said. "Plus, she's busy reading and I don't want to disturb her."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Cloud, could you do me a solid?"

Cloud looked at the blonde before sighing, knowing what she was implying. "Alright, but you owe me, Yang." Cloud got up, walked over to Ruby, pulled her to her feet, and then hauled her over his shoulder before following Yang over to the girl in the corner.

"Wha- hey, p-put me down, Cloud!" Ruby demanded, and began pinching Cloud's back.

"Ow!" Cloud exclaimed. "Ruby, stop pinching me."

"No!"

"Come on," Blake heard Yuffie mutter to herself. Blake had gotten nice and comfortable with her book, and was doing her best to try to get engrossed in it, but her friend had decided to play a game on her Scroll right beside her.

And when Yuffie got frustrated with a game, she got vocal.

"Come on," Yuffie muttered again. Blake realized that she had re-read the same line four times now, much to her irritation. She lowered the book and gave Yuffie an annoyed look.

"Yuffie, don't you think it's time to put your scroll away and go to sleep?" she asked.

"Can't, I'm in the zone," Yuffie said without looking up.

"Well, get out of the 'zone'," Blake said. "How are you gonna participate tomorrow if you're half-asleep?"

"Ugh, fine," Yuffie groaned, putting her scroll back in her bag. "You know, you should give my games a chance instead of just reading all the time. You might actually enjoy yourself."

"I did, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Yuffie said with a laugh. "I still don't get it. How did you lose on training mode? The CPU wasn't even moving!" The memory triggered a giggling fit in the fox Faunus. Blake rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book.

Or, at least, she tried to.

"Hello," someone said in a singsong voice. Blake looked up from her book at yet another interruption to see a busty blonde girl and blond boy, with the boy carrying a black-haired girl over his shoulder for some reason. The blonde girl gave her a friendly smile and the boy set the black-haired girl down, whom was clearly very irritated at being manhandled like that.

Blake quickly recognized the shorter girl as the one Weiss Schnee had been yelling at earlier. Now that she saw her up-close, she realized that the girl's silver eyes had slit-pupils, like a cat.

It came as no surprise that the first thing a Schnee did after enrolling in Beacon was harass an innocent Faunus girl.

"I believe you two may know each other," the blonde girl said. Before Blake could say anything, Yuffie jumped up and got their attention instead. Blake just silently went back to reading.

"Hi, the name's Yuffie, it's good to—" she paused, staring at the shorter girl. "Whoa, your eyes."

The girl suddenly looked very nervous. "W-what about them?"

"They look so cool! The silver coloring really makes your slits pop. Though I gotta admit, they're not as cool as my tail," Yuffie said, wagging her tail a bit for good measure.

"Oh, thanks," the girl said. "I'm Ruby."

The blonde girl next to her cleared her throat.

"Oh, and this is my sister, Yang."

"Hey," Yang said, giving a small wave.

"And this is our best friend, Cloud," Ruby said, gesturing to the blond young man next to them.

"Nice to meet you," Cloud said.

"Nice to meet—" Yuffie started to say. "Wait, did you just say she's your sister?" she asked, gesturing to Yang with an incredulous look on her face.

"Yep, I'm her genuine older sister," Yang proudly stated. "Why do you ask?"

"Cause we're sisters!" Yuffie said, excitedly pointing at Blake.

"Really, are you half sisters like these two?" Cloud asked.

"Well, okay, we're more like sisters in arms," Yuffie said. "But, that doesn't matter to us. Right, Blake?"

Blake said nothing, instead choosing to continue reading. Yuffie walked up to her and put her hands on her hips.

"Come on, sis, say hi to our new friends."

"Hello," Blake said without looking up.

"Oh come on, Blake, don't you think it's a nice night to meet new people?"

"Yes, it's lovely," Blake said sarcastically. "Almost as lovely as this book, which I will continue to read as soon as they leave."

"But you've already read it. Twice."

"Well, this girl is a lost cause," Yang said quietly.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked, finally prompting Blake to look up.

"Huh?"

"Your book."

"Well, it's about a man with two souls. Each one fighting for control of his body," Blake said.

"Oh, yeah, that sounds… lovely…" Yang said, clearly not interested but trying to not be rude.

"It's actually a pretty good read, Yang," Cloud said. "You might like it."

"You've read it?"

"What, did you think I did nothing but train with Zack when I was traveling around Remnant?"

"Well, no, but—"

"I like reading, too," Ruby said to Blake, completely ignoring the conversation between the two blonds. "Yang and my dad used to read to me every night before bed. Stories about heroes, monsters, and Grimm. It's one of the reasons why I wanted to be a Huntress."

"Why's that? Thinking you'll live happily ever after?" Blake asked.

"Well, I hope we all will," Ruby said. "When I was little, I wanted to be just like the heroes in those stories. Someone who fought for what was right and couldn't protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Whether it be human or Faunus."

"That's… very ambitious for a child," Blake said. "But, the real world isn't like a fairy tale."

"Well, that's why we're here. To make it better."

Despite herself, Blake couldn't help but smile at Ruby's determination. Yang suddenly lifted Ruby up into the air with a big hug, which visibly annoyed Ruby.

"Aww, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang gushed.

"Cut it out!" Ruby shouted, starting a brawl with her sister that created a dust cloud around the two of them.

Cloud sighed. "Not again." He walked towards the two siblings to try to break them up.

Yuffie started laughing. "Oh man, these girls are a riot."

"They're… alright," Blake said. Cloud successfully broke the two sisters up, though Ruby was still holding onto Yang's leg.

"Alright you two, that's enough," he said. "At least wait for me to sell tickets before you start fighting."

"What is going on over here!" a voice shouted. Everyone turned and saw Weiss standing angrily, wearing a white nightgown with her hair let down. "Don't you know some of us are trying to—" She froze when she noticed Ruby.

"Oh not you again!" Ruby and Weiss yelled simultaneously, pointing aggressively at each other.

"I should've known it would be you causing all this racket," Weiss said.

"Hey, there's no reason to be angry with her," Cloud said.

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister, anyway?" Yang asked.

"She's a hazard to my health," Weiss said.

"I bet her eyes aren't that appealing either, right, Schnee?" Yuffie asked, prompting Weiss to turn and glare at her. The heiress's eyes noticeably lingered at Yuffie's tail.

"Guys, she's right," Ruby said, putting her hands up in a placating gesture. "People are trying to sleep."

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

"I've always been on your side."

Before the argument could continue, Cloud stepped between Ruby and Weiss. "Listen, uh…"

"Weiss."

"Weiss. It's been a long day, so how about we all go to bed so that we'll all be ready for tomorrow? Cause I doubt you'll be able to perform if you stay up all night yelling at Ruby."

"…Fine," Weiss said, before pointing at Ruby. "But keep her away from me." She finally stormed off back to her sleeping bag.

"Uh, have a nice night," Ruby said to the leaving heiress, before sighing in relief. "Thanks, Cloud."

"No problem, Ruby. Now, let's go to bed," Cloud said.

"Right." Ruby turned back to Blake and Yuffie. "Goodnight Yuffie, Blake."

"See ya in the morning," Yang said.

"Goodnight, guys," Yuffie said. The trio turned to head back to their own sleeping bags.

"Ruby," Blake called out, making the younger girl stop and look at her in surprise. "I hope we'll have more time to talk next time."

Ruby smiled brightly at her. "Of course. See you tomorrow, Blake." She turned and left, leaving Blake and Yuffie alone. Blake decided that she likely wasn't going to get any meaningful amount of reading done after all, and put her book away.

"Alright, it's our first night here and we've already made three new friends," Yuffie said, pumping her fist triumphantly.

"I wouldn't say they're friends yet, Yuffie," Blake said. "But, they are interesting company."

"So, does that mean…?"

"Yes, Yuffie, it was nice to meet new people tonight."

"Ha, I knew it!" Yuffie said. "Welp, goodnight, sis. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Yuffie."

Yuffie laid down in her sleeping bag and curled up to sleep. Blake picked up her candelabra, and blew out the candles, engulfing their corner in darkness.

She was already starting to feel a lot better about coming here.

AN: Yeah, don't really have much to say this time. We learned that Pyrrha and Reno are cousins, and Yuffie and Blake have taken a liking to their fellow Faunus. And Yang's reunion with Tifa went about as well as you'd expect.

As always, thank you very much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!