Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything seemed to finally be going back to normal recently. No more evil villains, no more terrorist attacks, no more against hordes of Grimm.

After the breach in Vale was taken care of, things seem to have finally died down for Team RWBY and the others.

Ruby Rose was content with this, glad to finally have a bit of down time after all the chaos they went through in Mountain Glenn. She was finally free to just sit back, relax, and finally try and beat the final boss of Demon Shall Sob 5 before the Vytal Festival began.

After 3 months, over 50 attempts, she could tell that this was the one. “Cmon cmon cmon cmon, just die already!” She was so eager to finally beat the battle and move on to the DLC.

“Alllllmost, just a few more hits!” She was getting close to fully draining the boss’s health bar, just one more combo or a special move would do it, and finally free her from the disappointment of not having beaten the boss yet.

“Just gotta go Demon Switch and I’ll win, cmon, I can do th-“.

And then, in an instant, she was no longer looking at her TV, and the controller was no longer in her hand.

“NO! DANGIT, I WAS SO CLOSE!”

“Uh, Ruby, I think we have more important things to worry about than whatever you’re talking about.”

Ruby was a bit caught off guard by the voice to her right. Turning that way, she was greeted by her partner, Weiss Schnee, sitting next to her on what appeared to be a movie theater chair.

“Aw, cmon Weiss, is anything more important than beating the final boss of Demon Shall Sob 5?”

“Ruby, you’re too young to be playing that.”

Turning to her left at the sound of another voice, Ruby found her sister Yang Xiao Long sitting 2 seats down, Yang’s own partner, Blake Belladonna was sitting next to her.

“Well technically I’m also too young to be a Huntress, but that didn’t stop me, now did it? Besides, age is just a number, maturity is what REALLY matters with those games.”

Yang rolls her eyes and sighs at her sister.

“Well then you’re too immature to be playing that.”

“I AM N-“

“Girls, please, settle down.”

The four are all caught off guard. Another voice sounds out from behind them.

Turning back, they see none other than their headmaster, professor Ozpin, sitting s few rows back.

“Oh, professor Ozpin, s-sorry to disturb you.”

“Unfortunately you were not what has done that.”

Yang pipes up after Oz’s response. “Do you know where we are? Any idea how we got here?”

“Unfortunately I am just as confused as the four of you.”

And then suddenly, a bright flash appears a few seats down from where Ozpin is sitting.

When the flash dissipates, the unconscious body of a just under middle aged man appears, reeking of booze and sweat.

Ruby and Yang immediately recognized the figure and his horrendous odor.

“UNCLE QROW!”

Ruby immediately jumped over the rows of seats and used her semblance to launch herself at her uncle.

Just before Ruby collided with him, Qrow was awoken by her shouting.

“H-huh, wuh? What’s goin-“.

Before he can finish his sentence, he finds Ruby rocketing into him and tying her arms around his neck.

“W-woah, easy there kiddo.”

“AH, IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN.” Ruby excitedly greets her uncle with a bright, starstruck expression.

Qrow chuckles a bit before answering. “I’ve been places, Y’know, Huntsman business.” He then takes a moment to survey the room around him. “I uh… think the better question to ask is “where are we” cause I have no damn clue.”

“Y-yeah, neither do any of us. We just kinda… popped in here in an instant, we don’t know what-“

Several more flashes pop up next to where Yang was sitting. After those bursts of light dissipate, four more figures appear in the theater, all as confused as the others.

“Wha- Huh? Where the heck are we!?”

Yang snorts slightly at the boys shocked questions before giving the best answer she could.“We don’t know vomit boy.”

The group is none other than Team JNPR, Team RWBY’s friends. Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren.

Blake looks past Yang towards the other team. “Yeah, none of us really know where we are or how we got here…. Well, I guess we’re in a theater of some sorts, that much is obvious.”

“Perceptive as always Blakey.” Yang jokingly congratulates her partner with a quick pat on the shoulder.

Blake’s response is to roll her eyes and smile softly at her. “Truly, I have the greatest sense of perception of us all, nobody else but me could figure out that we’re in a theater.”

Nora excitedly stares at the screen. “Ooo, cool. I hope they’re playing the new Operation Implausible movie.”

“Nora, I don’t find it likely that we’ve been brought here simply to watch a movie.” Her partner attempts to help her see reason.

Pyrrha also decides to speculate. “Maybe somebody has something important for us to watch.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Yang decides to respond to her.

Another flash appears, this one next to Qrow.

“Great, who’s it gonna be this time?”

Qrow’s question is immediately answered, as a young woman, older than anyone in either of the teams, appears next to him.

“WINTER?!” Weiss shouts out in excitement from her seat.

Winter Schnee, older sister to Weiss.

“Sir, I- W-what’s going on? Where am I?”

Qrow almost immediately takes the opportunity to mess with her. “Welcome to hell Ice Queen, knew I’d see you here eventually.”

Winter’s head snaps in Qrow’s direction, an expression of pure disgust on her face. “Qrow, where in the hell are we!?”

Ozpin attempts to circumvent the likely inevitable fight. “Calm down Mrs Schnee, nobody here knows the answer to that.”

Winter looks towards Ozpin and begins to question him. “So we are in an unknown location and have arrived here by unknown means?.” Ozpin simply nods at her question. “Great, I was in the middle of a meeting with General Ironwood, I have better things to do than-“

“Winter! It’s so good to see you!” Weiss has stood up and turned to face her sister.

“L-likewise sister, I’m just… a bit confused as to why exactly we’re-“

Yet another flash appears, this one next to Ruby’s seat.

“Hey, sis, I think you’re getting another neighbor.” Yang calls to her sister, who is still tightly fastened around her uncle in a hug.

“Who is it?” Ruby seems excited as to who could be sitting next to her.

Again, that question is answered almost immediately, as from her spot in the upper row, Ruby notices a head of bright orange hair topped with a pink bow appear in the seat.

Ruby lets out a very loud gasp, and boosts herself back down to her original seat.

“PENNY!”

“Huh, Ruby-“

Ruby’s robotic friend, Penny Polendina now sits next to her. Immediately being captured in a hug by Ruby when she reaches the front row again.

Penny instantly hugs Ruby back with serious force. “RUBY! IT’S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, I MISSED YOU!”

Ruby begins to struggle to breathe in her mechanical friend’s tight embrace. “P-Penny, I-I c-can’t-“

Before she can finish the sentence, the screen ahead of them lights up, and Penny lets her go in surprise.

On the screen, only one word appears in bright, capitalized letters.

‘Greetings’

Yang decides to try and alleviate some of the newfound tension with some sarcasm. “T-that’s not menacing at all.”

Yet more words appear, this time forming a full sentence.

‘You have all been brought here to view something very special.’

“O-Ok, I suppose I was correct.” Pyrrha shakily confirms her earlier suspicions.

‘I have brought you here so you can watch your own lives’

Everyone is utterly dumbfounded at that, with Weiss being the first one to break the silence. “Pardon?”

‘You will be watching the events of your lives from shortly before you arrived at Beacon, to almost two years in the future.’

“WOAH, we get to watch the future!” Nora excitedly exclaims at that last part.

“Apparently.” Ren’s calmer tone completely counters Nora’s excitement about the concept.

Blake begins to question the idea. “The future? Won’t that cause a time paradox or something like that? I mean, I’m not the most caught up on theoretical physics and time travel, but-“

Blake gets cut off by more words appearing.

‘Before we get into the meat of the story, we’ll be starting with a few trailers to introduce us all to Team RWBY, starting of course with Ruby herself.’

“I get a trailer!? Did they make a movie about me or something?!” Ruby seems rather excited at the idea of having her own movie.

“Sis, I dunno if we can condense two years of stuff into one movie without a lot of time jumps.” Yang attempts quell her sister’s excitement. “It’s probably more of a TV show or something-“

“STILL AWESOME!”

Meanwhile, back in the upper row with the adults, Qrow turns to Oz and begins to speak with him.

“Oz, how much do you think this is gonna reveal?”

Ozpin turns to Qrow before giving his answer. “I don’t know, hopefully not too much. And hopefully we’ll figure out who has been attempting to sabotage us recently.”

Winter is about to ask her own question, but Qrow puts a finger to her mouth and shuts her up, before he sighs and looks back to the screen. “Alright then, guess it’s time to watch the future or some shit like that.”

“FUTURE TIME, YEAH!” Ruby’s enthusiasm about the prospect of watching the future is definitely vast. Fortunately, her trailer is up first.

Chapter Text

“I can’t wait, this is gonna be so awesome!” Ruby was beyond giddy to see herself in a trailer like this. “Im so excited to see what they do here! I hope they show me kicking some major butt!”

Next to her, Penny was likewise very excited to see her best friend on the big screen like this, bouncing up and down in her seat in anticipation.

The rest of the gang was more skeptical, but most of them had resigned themselves to at least try and enjoy watching themselves.

The adults were far more concerned with how they had arrived here and how to return home to Remnant.

-The screen shifts to a night sky, showcasing a full moon, a single rose petal floating across the screen.

Yang seems a bit confused at the first shot. “Uh…. What’s up with the moon?” To her right, Blake echoed her confusion. “Yeah, it’s… intact…”

-Several more petals join the original, fluttering across the screen as well. A figure in a red hood and flowing cloak is seen under the moon and in a snowy landscape, the cape constantly producing dozens of wind-blown rose petals.

“IT’S ME, I LOOK AWESOME HERE!” Ruby immediately lets her excitement known. Penny only adds to the excitement. “I agree, you look positively sensational!”

“Ah- gee, c-cmon, I don’t look THAT good.” stammers a bit, her face slightly heated up from the embarrassment of the compliment. “A-anyway, I wonder what we’re gonna see n-“

-An altar is seen near the edge of the cliff that Ruby is standing at, who turns and walks away to let the audience see the rose symbol on the marker and the words "Summer Rose - Thus Kindly I Scatter".

“O-oh.” Ruby’s mood immediately drops at the sight of her mother’s grave.

A few seats to her left, Yang also sours. “….mom….” A slight tear wells up in Yang’s eye. Blake, noticing her partners shift in mood, lays her hand atop theirs.

Yang turns to Blake and smiles softly. “T-thanks…” Blake smiles right back at her. “It’s no problem. I know this is probably… hard for you to see.”

Back in the upper row, Qrow grumbles slightly and grips at the arm of his seat.

-Ruby slowly walks through a snowy forest, where shadowy, beastly shapes quickly dart through, before coming to a clearing and looking around at the sight of around a dozen black-coated, red-eyed Beowolves circling their prey.

Ruby seems to lighten up a bit as the Grimm begin to circle around her. “G-good, I get to whoop Grimm butt!”

Penny watches on in anticipation to Ruby’s right, clearly excited to see her friend in action.

-Three of the Beowolves dash forward and attack through jumping, but Ruby disappears in a swish of rose petals, and the creatures crash to the ground and look up.

-Outlined by the moon's light, her cape swirling around her body, is Ruby, who reaches behind her in slow-motion, pulls out a rifle, and fires a shot that blows a large part of a Beowolf's head out in a burst of blood-red smoke.

“WOW!” Penny is in pure awe at the entire scene, especially of the shot of Ruby in front of the moon.

Ruby is absolutely ecstatic to see Crescent Rose be pulled out. “AHHHH! YES, MY BABY MAKES HER BIG SCREEN DEBUT!”

Yang snickers a bit at her sisters enthusiasm over her weapon, while Blake flexes her ears in slight discomfort under how bow from Ruby’s volume.

Weiss, much like Penny, is quite impressed by the scene, especially the shot of Ruby outlined by the moonlight.

Team JNPR all stare at the screen in anticipation of the undoubted buttkicking that is about to happen.

Qrow looks on in pride at Ruby’s actions, while Oz and Winter remain slightly on edge about the whole situation.

-More Beowolves start to attack as Ruby lands. She leaps over the first beast and shoots it in the back, then, still in the air, blasts another one's side and gets into a position where she can fire at the third dead center. She rolls back and stands, unfolding Crescent Rose into its larger - and deadlier - scythe form.

Ruby lets out an ear piercing squeal of excitement when her onscreen self unfurls her weapon. To her right, Blake jerks slightly with a visage of discomfort plastered on her face.

Yang pats her partners back to try and alleviate the discomfort, and then turns to her sister. “Ruby, not so loud.”

Ruby turns over to Yang, noticing her attempting to comfort Blake after the assault on her ears. “S-sorry, I’m just.. really excited.” They all eventually turn back to the screen.

-One of the braver Beowolves goes forward, but Ruby merely spins, hooks its body in the curve of her blade, smiles at the camera as the monster growls, and fires the sniper section at speeds that sever the creature's body in a shower of petals. Both halves land on the ground, continuing to bleed roses, and the rest of the pack charges.

“Why are the bleeding rose petals?” Yang seems rather confused at that. “W-why are they bleeding at all? Grimm don’t bleed.”

A few seats to her right, Weiss answers her. “It’s likely just a stylistic choice, Ruby, did they bleed when you did this in real life?”

“Uh… no… also they… obviously didn’t look so “low effort” like they do here.” Ruby answers her partner.

It was true, the animation and models did seem a bit low quality overall. The fight choreography was on point though.

-Ruby, rotating the weapon, unloads her spent bullet and drives the blade into the ground, firing from a single spot at several approaching monsters until one swipes at her feet, narrowly missing as she jumps up with Crescent Rose and blasts back, digging it into the ground again when she sees more creatures emerging from the woods.

Penny once again goes wide-eyed in awe as Ruby dispatches the Grimm. “Ruby, your skill is absolutely outstanding. The fineness with your scythe is unparalleled!”

Ruby once again heats up with embarrassment at the compliment and turns to Penny with a goofy grin on her face. “Ah gee, thanks, I try.”

-A Beowolf almost gets her with its claws, but she twists out of the way, fires at the monster in front of her to make the weapon and wielder spin, and kicks at the one behind her. She twirls the scythe and cuts down Beowolves from both sides, dodging another attack to hook a beast in and blast out at an approaching creature to kill both.

“Atta girl.” Qrow makes his pride known from the upper row of the theater, clearly happy to see how good Ruby is in a fight.

-Ruby leaps over two, goes in to dismember and cut down one, and catches another's neck in her blade with her on the beast's back before pulling the trigger and beheading it while flying upwards. Two Beowolves follow, but she shoots her way down and slices them up when she has to block from a wolf's swipe on the ground, which pushes her back and lets her see the large number of enemies left.

Everyone looks on, curious to see how Ruby got out of this jam. Penny is a bit concerned for her friend’s safety, hoping that she was able to make it out unscathed.

Ruby just watches, and waits for the pure awesomeness that she knows is about to come up.

-Nodding, Ruby drops her previous cartridge, inserts another with a cross symbol, signaling gravity dust.

Yang smiles at her sister on the screen. “Oh this is gonna be sick.”

-Ruby then blasts off at a higher speed than ever before, coming at the dumbfounded Beowolves like a rocket. Midway through the flight towards the Grimm, she converts the scythe to a sickle-shape and spins her way through the mass, cutting through the beasts like a turbine.

Everyone just watches on as Ruby mows the Grimm down like a tiny, kickass lawnmower plowing its way through a field of grass.

-Ruby begins cutting up and down, left and right, leaving bullets, rose petals, and blackened body parts flying into the air. She disembowels them quicker and quicker until the last one falls.

With the last enemy taken care of, Ruby knows that up next is her grand finale, her absolutely peak of coolness.

-Firing into the ground, she blasts into a jump, and lands in a pose with her scythe hanging behind her as bullets rain from the sky. Ruby's form is darkened to a silhouette against the red moon while credits are seen under her image, right before the picture spins and slides itself into the collection of other unseen girls.

With that last shot eventually fading away, everyone finally makes their astonishment heard.

Yang starts the trail of gushing her praise. “That was so cool sis, you kicked so much ass!” She is quickly followed by Penny. “Agreed, that was the most exciting display of skill I have ever seen!” Weiss also decides to join in. “I must admit, it was pretty cinematic.” Blake simply smiles and lets out a less enthusiastic compliment, but still one with a lot of pride in her teammate. “That was great Ruby.”

Behind them, Qrow also decides to show his pride. “Ya did good kiddo, seriously, that was some damn fine stuff.”

Meanwhile, Team JNPR are still in awe at the whole video they just watched.

Ruby is a bit overwhelmed by all the praise, but she gladly takes it all in. “Ah, guys, it was nothing.”

Before anyone else can say anything, more text appears onscreen.

‘That’s one of four trailers down, next up will be the White Trailer, spotlighting Weiss.’

Ruby turns to her partner in excitement. “Weiss, you’re up next!” Weiss affectionately rolls her eyes at Ruby’s energy. “I know Ruby, I know.”

Behind them, Winter speaks up. “Hopefully this trailer paints you in as good a light as it did Miss Rose.”

Weiss is a bit concerned at that. She sure hopes it does, she can’t bear the thought of disappointing Winter.

She just had to wait and see if her trailer is as good as Ruby’s.

Chapter Text

Weiss was…… nervous, to say the least. Hopefully this trailer about her wouldn’t be anything embarrassing. If it was, then she just had to hope it wouldn’t disappoint Winter.

Disappointing Winter is the worst thing that could possibly happen, ever.

“Weiss, are you ok? You seem a bit on edge.” Speaking of Winter, her voice rings out from behind Weiss.

Weiss answers her rather quickly and unsteadily. “Y-yes, I-I’m just hoping they don’t show anything too…… personal… in this trailer.”

Winter still seemed a bit worried for her sister, but felt that Weiss’ concerns were at least valid. She had no clue what they might show here.

Next to Weiss, Ruby lightly nudges her shoulder.

Weiss turns to her partner. “Cmon Weiss, I’m sure whatever it is will be just as cool as my trailer.” She tried to reassure her. Weiss felt at least a little bit more at ease with her partners reassurance.

“Alright fine, but if it’s lame then I get to complain about it.” She smirks devilishly at Ruby when she says that. “And you can’t tell me to stop.”

Ruby puts on a faux grimace and gasps audibly. “Oh no! That would truly be a fate worse than de-“

The screen once again begins playing a scene.

Alright, guess it’s time for Weiss to see whatever her trailer contains.

-The screen first displays a deep darkness, before a set of words appears from it. ‘ Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or forms of measure. And all of it... irreplaceable’

Weiss felt that rather deeply. Truly, nobody can just measure sorrow. It’s a personal feeling, different for everybody, and feelings cannot simply be quantified.

-An amplified voice begins speaking “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome... Weiss Schnee.”

Weiss is cautiously optimistic at the introduction for her. Her concentration is broken when Ruby speaks up next to her. “Woah, I think we’re gonna see one of your performances!”

Weiss just hopes they picked a good one to showcase in this video.

-Weiss appears, walking out on stage into the spotlight as a piano plays the opening of "Mirror Mirror" before a crowd of people, occasionally taking pictures from their stands around the white castle they appear to be in. She closes her eyes and begins to sing.

-“Mirror, tell me something. Tell me who's the loneliest of all...”

Ah, this performance. Weiss was rather glad this one was chosen, it’s one of her personal favorites. She believes that it highlights her singing voice extremely-

“Awww, Weiss, you don’t have to be lonely, you’ve got us!” Her train of thought is fully derailed when Ruby says that. Weiss’ response only contains some mild annoyance towards her. “I know Ruby. It’s just a song, and one that I sang quite a while ago.”

Ruby scratches the back of her head and chuckles a bit. “R-right, sorry, just didn’t want you to feel bad.” Weiss sighs slightly before placing her hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I know Ruby. Trust me, I’m well aware that I’m not alone, I have my team.”

A quick “Ahem” from Winter startles Weiss enough to turn to her and begin stammering. “A-and o-of course I-I have you too, I-I just-“ Weiss stops talking when she notices Winter’s look of smug sarcasm.

Weiss furrows her brows, lets out a high pitched “hmph” and turns back to the screen.

-While she sings, the view sinks down into her scar-free reflection on the stage, the world tilting until she opens her eyes and finds herself in another place, the light and shadows shifting until a warrior in giant armor with an equally massive broadsword appears before her.

Oh… it’s covering her test to prove herself worthy of attending Beacon. Well, it only makes sense to show that.

“Woah, what is that?!” Ruby seems awestruck next to her. Before Weiss can answer Ruby’s curiosity, Penny does it for her. “An Arma Gigas, a Ghiest Grimm possessing a suit of armor for better survivability.” Weiss isn’t entirely sure how Penny even knew that, but she decides to just continue watching.

-Weiss backflips just as the Arma Gigas brings its blade down on where she was, and the song continues as Weiss’ flashback takes over. Weiss unsheathes her own rapier, Myrtenaster, and darts forward, getting a hit on her enemy before twirling into a landing.

Ruby once again speaks up. “Oh I always forget how cool your sword is! Can I try it out some-“ Weiss immediately cuts her off. “No, no, absolutely not. Myrtenaster is a very delicate and precise weapon, and I mean no offense but you are not proficient with weapons that are either of those things.” Ruby visibly deflates when Weiss gives her answer, but Weiss manages to remain steadfast in her denial.

-The Arma Gigas swings again, but Weiss dashes away and lands several spinning slashes on the creature. It retaliates when she uppercuts into the air, arcing its sword around and hitting Weiss' rapier, which she brings up just in time to merely knock her back.

“Cmon, do something cooler than just swinging swords and punching already, this is way lamer than Ruby’s trailer.” To Weiss’ left, she can hear Nora complaining about the “lameness” of the action on her trailer.

-When Weiss slows down, she looks up to see the Giant Armor leaping into the air and hurling the sword down on her, only for her to dodge above it. It then swings the blade back up in an effort to get its fast-moving target. It finally hits her blade again, and she is knocked away until she rolls back on her feet.

If Nora wants to see something cool, then Weiss will give her something cool.

-With white energy now gathered on her fingertips, Weiss motions to the ground beneath her, and a glyph appears that propels her forward at extreme speeds.

Weiss turns and looks at Nora to gauge her reaction, only to be met with her yawning at the screen. Oh, so that’s how you want to play it.

-Despite the Giant Armor's attempts to slash at her, Weiss disappears and reappears all around it, leaping through the air using her glyphs and landing a blow with each pass.

“Not bad Ice Queen, you’re kicking its butt pretty cleanly.” Turning to Yang after her compliment, Weiss replies with a proud smirk. “Why thank you Yang, I believe that I did rather exceptionally during this fight.”

-After a slash to the face, the Giant Armor aims at Weiss' feet, who leaps over it.

Weiss thinks for a minute.. isn’t this when she got her-

-And suddenly, Weiss is struck by the Arma Gigas’ massive fist and sent hurtling backwards a great distance.

“Weiss?!” Ruby and Yang both very vocally voice their concerns, Blake simply widens her eyes and grimaces slightly.

Behind them, the kids all hear Winter speak again. “Relax, my sister can easily take care of herself, this is child’s play for her. She’ll be fine.” The praise from Winter absolutely floods Weiss with pride and enthusiasm. “T-thank you Winter, I won’t let you down!”

Winter softly chuckles at her. “I know Weiss, and you didn’t.”

-but this time, her attempt to get back up is weak and unsure. A worried Weiss closes her eyes, and in the real world, the spotlight suddenly cuts out. The moon makes itself known when the clouds in front of it pass, showering Weiss in its light as she sings, eyes still closed. In her mind, she stands back up, eyeing the Giant Armor with blood trailing down the left side of her face.

Ah, she was right, this is where- “So that’s how you got your scar!” Ruby’s enthusiastic observation breaks her train of thought yet again. “Yes, Ruby, that’s how I got my scar.” Ruby seems rather excited at finally figuring out how her partner got the scar over her eye. “Wow, cool. I would’ve asked but I didn’t want to pry.” Weiss supposes she appreciates the respect for her privacy.

-Weiss holds out her sword, spinning the revolver in the hilt until a red energy appears over the blade. The Giant Armor runs up and drops its sword on her, but it meets her rapier and is deflected off. Weiss switches it up and spins, a cyan light now creating a wave of ice when she strikes it into the ground that freezes the Giant Armor in place.

Nora again speaks up. “About time something cool happened.” Ren attempts to silence his partner. “Nora, don’t be rude.”

-The Grimm swings its blade again, but Weiss runs ahead and jumps on the sword. Myrtenaster is now glowing yellow, and she rolls on the broadsword and slashes at her foe, destroying the ice crystals in shards of purple while causing the the Ghiest’s blade to be launched out of its hand and be impaled into the ground.

“Nice disarming there, that’ll even the playing field a bit.” Yang’s compliments are once again appreciated. “I am a rather genius combatant, aren’t I.” Weiss’ retort just earns her a scoff and an eye roll from her teammate.

-Weiss rotates the hilt again and a glyph circle spins under her when the creature tries to hammer its fist down on her, but she rolls out of the way and activates the glyph, launching the warrior up into the air and becoming trapped by Weiss' beams of blue energy.

And now, for the grand finale to her performance. Time for her to finish the beast off for good.

-With one final leap into the air and her real self singing the last lines of her song, Myrtenaster glows with the white markings on its blade and Weiss descends onto the Giant Armor. When her attack is done and she lands in a crouch, the black hollows of the enemy light up and crash to the ground in a shower of ice and snow behind her.

“AWESOME, THAT WAS SO COOL! See Weiss, I told you that your trailer would be just as awesome as mine!” Ruby’s excitement over her partner’s trailer is rather vocal. “Y-yes, thank you Ruby, now please tone it down a bit.” Ruby nods enthusiastically before turning back to the screen.

-Weiss gets up and closes her eyes, finishing Mirror Mirror to a gentle shower of snowflakes and a roar of applause from her audience. She opens her eyes and looks around as if in a daze, then peers up at the slightly-scattered moon above. She dips her head and bows to the crowd as the curtains close around her, followed closely by RWBY's title and the silhouettes of its characters, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee.

“Well, I suppose that trailer was a rather good demonstration of my abilities.” Weiss seems a bit too unenthusiastic about her trailer. It’s up to Ruby to try and fix that. “Just “good”? Weiss, that was freaking awesome!”

Yang cuts her sister off. “Ok, we get it Ruby, everyone agrees that Weiss is really cool. Alright, looks like next up is your turn Blakey.” She turns to her partner with a rather large grin.

Blake is a bit too worried to reciprocate her partner’s enthusiasm. She knows all too well what her trailer will probably contain.

She’s not ready to see him again.

Chapter Text

Blake knew what to expect with her trailer, she knew that it likely wouldn’t be pleasant for anybody here to see.

What she didn’t know, is if she was ready to see him again. She didn’t know if she could handle it.

As Blake continues to question if she can get through this, she is briefly taken out of her concentration by a hand gripping her own. Turning to her left, she sees Yang firmly yet gently grasping her hand.

“You gonna be ok?” She stares straight into Blake’s eyes when she says that, seemingly trying to analyze them for any fear or concern.

At the concern from her partner, Blake can feel herself unwind a bit, appreciating the sentiment. “Y-yeah… I‘ll be alright, it’s just… bad memories.” Ones that Blake never wanted to relive, but she is being forced to do so. At least now she has Yang with her to help her get through this.

With that, the screen again begins playing. Just like the previous trailer, first a block of text appears.

-“Your hopes have become my burden. I will find my own liberation.”

Blake knows exactly why that text is appearing. She let his extreme ways cloud her mind and drag her down. Freeing herself from his control was the greatest decision she had ever made.

-When the screen finally fades to a new scene, Blake is seen sitting on a rock outcrop watching red leaves drift down in the Forest.

Yang takes a moment to breathe in her partner’s form highlighted by the bright red of the trees behind her. She can’t help but be enamored by Blake’s beauty standing out so perfectly even among the brightness of the colored leaves filling the background.

-After a few seconds of Blake sitting there in silence, another figure walks up to her, getting her attention. Adam Taurus. -Adam: Blake, it's time.

Blake immediately tenses up at the sound of his voice, reflexively shrinking back into her seat. All the while, she continues to let Yang’s hand grip onto her own, enjoying the gently caresses she preforms with her thumb in an attempt to soothe her.

It does manage to help ease her nerves a bit, but she is still on edge about the whole scene.

-Blake slowly turns back towards Adam, before uttering a single word

-Blake:Okay

-The pair run through the forest until they reach a cliff, the camera drifts down to show a train rushing through the forest along some tracks.

Winter seems to be analyzing the scene rather deeply, attempting to deduce what the two could be doing. After some quick deduction and accounting for when this trailer likely took place, she manages to figure it out. This is a retelling of the transport train robbery that happened around 6 months ago.

With that knowledge in mind, Winter carefully eyed Blake ahead of her, now knowing that she was previously part of the White Fang. She didn’t care much that she was a Faunus, what concerned her was her past actions and participation in violent criminal activities. She didn’t feel entirely comfortable with Weiss being on the same team as her anymore.

-Adam and Blake slide down the hill and jump onto the top of the train, digging their weapons into the roof as they land. Upon boarding it the two jump onto another car, Adam slashes at a hatch before lifting it as they enter a car full of AK-130 Androids.

-Adam: Looks like we're gonna be doing this the hard way.

Even if she knew this was likely very hard for Blake to watch, Yang had to admit that she was very much excited to watch her partner in action. She always fought with such a captivating elegance and weightlessness, traits that never failed to have Yang fully awestruck.

Meanwhile, Penny simply stares blankly at the Androids on the screen, analyzing their large and armored frames. She briefly looks down at her own hands, comparing them to the idle hands of Ruby sitting next to her. She knows that even though she appears the same as her friend, she isn’t truly a person like her. She’s just a machine…… like those drones.

-The Androids activate and circle the duo.

-Blake: Don't be so dramatic.

Another thing that always had Yang captivated, the soft, angelic tones of her partners voice.

-An Android activates the guns on its arms.

-Android: Intruder, identify yourself.

-Adam responds by firing his sword, dashing behind to shoot it's head off then cutting the Android in two.

Everyone is a bit caught off guard by the showcase of Adam’s weapons. Ruby in particular looks on in awe at the display. “Woah! That’s awesome, Blake can yours do that?!” Blake is rather unresponsive to Ruby’s question, not even bothering to turn to her leader after she speaks to her. Ruby shrinks back into her seat after that, finally realizing Blake’s discomfort about the trailer.

-The remaining robots switch their arms to a blade mode and begin charging at Adam and Blake. Two come up behind Blake, but she jumps backwards and uses Gambol Shroud to split them both at the chest. She leaps forward to cover Adam's back as he slices at several advancing robots. Adam uses Blush to fire at the robots as Blake backflips to evade another robot.

It definitely feels weird watching Blake fight so well with somebody other than her, but Yang nonetheless enjoys the action. Blake’s fighting style has always been one that she can’t pry her eyes away from when she gets to work. Speaking of Blake, she still blankly watches the trailer beside her, not saying a thing, just watching while Yang clutches her hand.

-They cut down several more robots before one switches its arms into a minigun mode. It fires rapidly at Adam and Blake, but Adam is able to deflect the bullets that get too close. After Adam sheathes Wilt, Blake charges towards the robot and it resumes firing. She is able to deflect the bullets and gets close enough to decapitate the robot. She immediately slices down another robot and cuts off another's legs. She rapidly unsheathes Gambol Shroud to begin dual wielding the sheath and the katana before striking another robot, then leaps into the air and slams it into the floor.

-Blake charges towards the remaining robots and begins cutting them down rapidly, slicing off one's arm and shoving her sword through another. She reaches the last robot in the train car, knocks it into the air, then proceeds to slice it several times before landing on the floor. The robot is still in the air when Adam leaps up and kicks the robot out the door of that train car and onto the flatcar ahead. A number of other robots run towards them from the other end of the flatcar.

-Adam: Let's do this.

Every time he speaks, Blake reflexively tenses up, clearly anticipating something unpleasant at the sound of his voice. Yang already knows who this person they are watching is. Clearly this has to be Blake’s old partner that she told them about. Yang doesn’t know much about him, but given Blake’s reactions, she already wants to bash his face into a bloody paste. She can tell that Blake has clearly been hurt by him in some way, and NOBODY hurts Blake and gets away with it.

-Adam hits a couple of robots up into the air, Blake leaps up towards them to slice them up, and Adam partly unsheathes Wilt to knock them away with the hilt. Blake switches Gambol Shroud to its kusarigama-pistol form, throws the sickle part past one of the robots, and pulls on the ribbon while using the pistol shot to launch the blade back towards her, cutting the robot in half.

-Adam jumps forward and kicks the upper half of the robot away while it is falling as Blake swings her sickle around to cut down another robot. Blake jumps in the air and swings the sickle blade around in a spherical motion several times using its gunfire, cutting down three more robots and getting the sickle wrapped around the neck of a fourth. Adam leaps forward and slices the fourth robot as Blake fires off the pistol, pulling the robot's upper half into the air.

Weiss and Ruby continue to watch their teammate in action. Weiss in particular is rather irked by the scene that plays before them. Not particularly by the fact that Blake is robbing her father’s company, but more so from the guilt over her complacency in her father’s actions that helped drive the Faunus to the point of these acts being necessary. When she takes over the SDC, she is going to make sure that Faunus get the proper treatment and opportunities that they deserve.

-Rushing forward, Adam slices up six more robots, causing five of them to explode. Blake charges up from behind, cuts off the sixth robot's head, and then knocks another robot up into the air using Gambol Shroud's katana form. She lunges forward as Adam takes down another robot, using the kusarigama form of Gambol Shroud to perform a continuous pinwheel attack that launches two other robots into the air. Adam then fires a shot from Blush to send one of the robots flying back.

-Adam jumps up and slices the other robot further up into the air as two robots approaching from behind are kicked into the air by Blake. The three robots are then sliced repeatedly by Wilt, keeping them in the air until Blake jumps up and slices through all three, with one going further up into the air with her. Blake kicks the robot down, while Adam slices another as it is falling then shoots it with Blush as it falls behind him. He sheathes Wilt and then he and Blake head into the next train car.

The adults all watch with an analytical gaze. Ozpin was already well aware of Blake’s past in the White Fang, so he is simply looking to evaluate her views on their extreme methods. Qrow seems less focused on Blake, and more so on her partner, knowing all to well how much of a threat that Adam was. Winter on the other hand is absolutely hyper focused on Blake, completely reevaluating her stance on her sister’s friend, unsure if she should trust the Faunus anymore.

-Inside the car, Adam opens a box and examines the contents inside before closing it.b>

-Adam: Perfect. Move up to the next car, I'll set the charges.

The what?!

-Blake: What about the crew members?

-Adam: What about them?

That settles it, Yang is definitely going to crush his skull in her hands when she meets this guy. Turning to her right, she notices Blake’s look of disappointed melancholy at her old partner’s words. Yang can already tell that this isn’t something new for Blake to hear. That just makes Yang want to beat him to death even more.

-Adam turns his head around and sees a Spider Droid climbing down from the ceiling of the car. Adam moves to fight it. Blake anxiously calls to her partner.

-Blake: Adam.

Adam Taurus. Winter is disgusted at the very thought of him. He is a dangerous megalomaniac and needs to be brought to justice immediately.

-Adam and Blake try to fight it, but it doesn't go so well. Adam grabs Blake before she is about to be crushed by the droid's legs.

-Blake: We need to get out of here.

-Eventually it fires a shot and knocks them back as the fight moves out of the car onto another flatcar.

Yang grows concerned for her partners safety, simply hoping that Blake manages to get through this without any serious injuries.

-Adam: Buy me some time!

-Blake: Are you sure?

-Adam: Do it!

-Blake distracts the droid while Adam readies his next attack. As she jumps back to Adam some time later...

-Adam: Move!

-The droid fires a powerful beam. Adam catches the beam with Wilt. As his body starts to glow, the droid jumps toward him.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?” Yang asks, beyond shocked by whatever the heck it was that Adam just did. “It’s his semblance.” She then turns to face Blake, who begins answering her question. “It works similar to yours, he’s able to store up damage with his sword and send it back.” Yang wasn’t expecting this guy to have a semblance so similar to hers, albeit much more cheap than hers. How come he gets to reflect damage without feeling it?!

-Adam chuckles then slashes out with his sword, disintegrating the droid and even affecting the trees in the Red Forest causing their leaves to fly into the air.

Everyone looks on in pure awe at the scene that just played out before them. Team JNPR all seem totally enraptured by the power of Adam’s semblance. Most of Team RWBY is much the same. All Blake feels at the sight of Adam’s semblance, is fear. Yang notices her partner’s unease, and moves her hand off of hers and raises it up to her right shoulder, catching Blake in a side hug. This seems to at least help Blake ease up a little bit.

-As Adam walks back towards Blake, he finds her on a separate train car standing near the coupler between the cars. As he reaches out to her...

-Blake: Goodbye.

-She severs the coupler and lets the released cars slow down as she lets the rest of the train continue en-route. As she leaves, the background becomes completely red with a black silhouete of Blake in the middle, with black leaves falling down. Then the camera zooms out from the RWBY title card and the silhouettes of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna becoming defined.

Blake knew that leaving him there was the best choice she had ever made. She has a chance to start over, to atone for all the atrocities she helped Adam commit, as a huntress. She has a new team… a new partner. One that she very eagerly leans into as she attempts to comfort her.

“You ok after that Blakey?” Yang looks down at her partner, who has buried her face into Yang’s collar. Blake breaks away from Yang, and looks up into her eyes. “Yeah… I’ll be fine.” That’s good enough for Yang, who flashes her partner a sizable grin.

Meanwhile, in the upper rows behind them, Winter finally comes to a conclusion about Blake. She supposed that she can at least trust the Faunus not to harm Weiss in any way. She clearly had no intention of supporting Adam and his extremist ways. Now, Winter simply needs to figure out more about Mrs Xiao Long before she can truly come to a conclusion about Weiss’ team.

Fortunately, her trailer is up next, the Yellow Trailer.

Chapter Text

“Alright, my turn next! Can’t wait to watch myself kick ass!” Yang was very enthusiastic about viewing her trailer, clearly excited to hopefully see herself in a fight.

Next to her, Blake rolled her eyes affectionately at her partner’s over-enthusiasm. “Yes, we’re all very excited to see you kick ass.” Yang clearly did not pick up on Blake’s sarcasm. “I KNOW, IT’S GONNA BE SICK!”

Yang’s lack of awareness doesn’t seem to dampen her partner’s mood, as Blake simply rolls her eyes yet again with a smile on her face and turns back to the screen.

As with the previous two trailers, it starts with a quote.

-"Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one sided and easily processed. Yet every misshapen spark's unseen beauty is greater than its would be judgement."

Yang is a bit perplexed at the quote. “That’s… a lot more philosophical than I was expecting.” Clearly she was not anticipating anything with a deeper meaning in her trailer.

-Yang is shown riding her motorcycle through the streets of Vale. She eventually stops in front of a club that is blasting music. Yang dismounts her bike and begins walking towards the entrance to the club.

”Oh, this is gonna be good.” Yang recalls this moment rather well. Though she doesn’t really recall that bird being there.

As the onscreen bird flies away, Qrow simply look on with pure contempt. Next to him, Ozpin likewise feels rather unenthused about seeing Raven appear.

-Drenched in a yellow silhouette contrasting the otherwise black entrance, Yang makes her way to the door to the club, entering through them and fully revealing herself.

Blake takes a moment to admire her partner’s figure onscreen, taking in every detail of her as she struts into the club.

-As she walks through the club, she sees Roman Torchwick ending a conversation with Junior. She makes her way to the bar where Junior stands.

“Wait, Torchwick was there?!” Ruby seems rather surprised to see one of their biggest enemies appearing in this club. She turns to Yang, seemingly curious if she knew anything about Roman’s appearance there. Yang notices Ruby’s confusion and gives her an answer. “This place is a total cesspool for crooks and assholes to get info and services, apparently he was there renting some of the owner’s goons.” Ruby lets out a silent “ah” as she returns to viewing the trailer.

-After getting settled at the bar, Yang places her order. Yang: Strawberry Sunrise. No ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas. -Junior: Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie? -Yang lets out a chuckle before she retorts -Yang: Aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?

“Dang, totally burned.” Ruby seems rather proud of her sister’s comeback.

-Junior: So you know who I am. You got a name, sweetheart? -Yang: Yes, Junior, I've got several. But instead of sweetheart, you can just call me sir. -She grabs his groin and squeezes it painfully causing Junior to cry out in pain comically.

Jaune, Ren and Qrow all cringe as onscreen Yang quite literally has Junior by the balls. Ozpin seems none too bothered by the action.

-Yang: People say you know everything. -She brings her scroll up to his face, showing him a picture.

“Mom……” Yang’s mood sours at the image of her mother, Raven Branwen. Noticing her partner’s distress, Blake leans into her shoulder. This catches Yang off guard briefly, but she eventually brightens up a bit, noticeably redder in the face, and wraps her arm around Blake’s shoulders.

-Yang: Tell me where I can find her and I'll let you go. -Junior: I've never seen her before, I swear! -Yang: Excuse me? -Junior: I swear, sir!

Everyone has to admit that it’s rather hilarious watching Yang totally dominate a situation like this, having Junior comedically submit to her.

-Junior's henchmen begin to gather around. -Yang: Hmm, looks like we have an audience. This must kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward.... Junior: Listen, blondie sir. If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now! -She lets go and Junior sighs in relief.

The men all relax as Yang lets go of Junior.

-Junior: You'll pay for that! -He puts on his sunglasses and walks away from her. Yang follows closely behind. -Yang: Oh Junior, I was just playing with you! Don't be so sensitive! Come on, lets kiss and make up, okay? -Junior stops and turns around. -Junior: Huh? Uh, okay.

”EXCUSE ME?!” Qrow immediately makes his disgust at the situation known very vocally. Yang attempts to quell his frustration. “Relax Uncle Qrow, I didn’t kiss anybody.”

-As Junior leans in to make good on Yang’s offer, she punches him in the face sending him flying across the room.

Qrow and Ruby both sigh in relief that they didn’t have to watch Yang kiss some random goon boss who thinks he’s hot shit.

All of Junior’s nearby henchmen run towards her. Activating Ember Celica, she jumps into the air and punches down, sending the goons flying back.

”ALRIGHT, TIME FOR ME TO KICK EVERYONE’S ASS!” Yang is clearly at the peak of her excitement. While the others aren’t quite as enthusiastic, they still are excited to see Yang fight. Blake especially can’t wait to watch her partner in action.

-With a series of crazy kicks, punches, spins, recoil elbows and assorted other melee attacks, Yang quite easily dispatches of all the standard goons. She then turns up towards the DJ booth, noticing the DJ taking aim at her. As he fires down at her, Yang rushes towards him, avoiding all the gunfire, and propelling herself up and into him with her weapon. She uses the recoil of another shot to elbow strike them, before smashing them into the DJ table, and launching them off the booth.

Yang looks on in pride at the display of her beating down the thugs, though she knows that the fight is just getting started, and it only gets better from here. Blake is awestruck at her partner’s actions, completely enamored by her style.

-Back down on the dance floor, the two malachite twins step into the room. -Miltia: Melanie, who is this girl? -Melanie: I dunno Miltia but we should teach her a lesson.

Oh those two are so going down.

-Yang loads another belt of ammunition into Ember Celica. She then jumps off the DJ booth, firing several shells down at the twins, who manage to avoid all of them. -After recomposing, the sisters charge at Yang as she lands on the dance floor, continuing her barrage. As the sisters split to opposing sides, with Yang focusing her barrage on Melanie, they begin their counterattack, with Melanie dodging and deflecting Yang's bullets while Miltia takes a swipe at Yang from behind. -Ducking to avoid Miltia's strike at the last second, Yang turns and fires at her, only to have Miltia jump to avoid it as Melanie lands behind Yang and retaliates with a heel-kick. Yang blocks the kick with her gauntlets forcing herself back a distance away from the sisters.

Qrow had to admit that he was pretty impressed by Yang’s hand to hand combat skills. Tai clearly taught her well. The rest of Team RWBY and Team JNPR all looked on in awe, while Penny looked on very intently, analyzing and evaluating every single move made during the battle.

-Yang quickly grounds herself and fires a round at them, which Melanie deflects with a frontflip heel-kick off into a pillar. Miltia quickly closes in on Yang and delivers a couple of swipes that Yang defends against, only to have Melanie follow up with a series of jump-kicks while Yang is off-balanced. Blocking each attack, Yang quickly fires a round in response, which Melanie ducks to avoid. Miltia swoops in with a downwards swipe while Melanie sweeps Yang's right leg and finishes with a series of kicks that make contact, launching Yang across the stage. -Yang rolls and quickly regains her footing, firing both gauntlets to propel her back across the stage and landing a hard right punch onto Melanie's face, knocking her down. While Melanie lies stunned on the floor, Yang confronts Miltia in close-range melee combat, with Yang firing rounds with each punch thrown and Miltia defending with her claws. However, Yang overwhelms her with a low kick, a series of boosted body shots, and a final round from Ember Celica, blasting Miltia off the stage.

“One down, one to go.” Yang is at the edge of her seat in excitement watching herself fight the twins. Blake is likewise completely enraptured by the action on the screen.

-Melanie finally recovers from Yang's punch just in time to see her sister get flung into a pillar overhead. Yang confronts her by firing off a round at close-range, which Melanie again avoids by backflipping. After avoiding another round into the ground, Melanie retaliates with an upward leg swipe before kicking a third round point-blank in order to deflect it. Both Yang and Melanie resort to close-range melee combat, with Yang throwing boosted punches and blocking with her gauntlets while Melanie kicks and swipes as she defends with the blades of her boots. A hard side-kick pushes Yang away as each take a second of reprieve before Melanie closes in on Yang.

-Feinting with her boots to keep Yang off-balanced, Melanie shifts herself along the stage, forcing Yang to back-step continuously. This leaves Yang unable to ground herself while defending against Melanie's feints and kicks. A longer series of kicks from Melanie allows Yang to finally ground herself, spin to dodge Melanie's last kick while retracting Ember Celica, and land a body blow with her left elbow. Yang quickly grabs Melanie's right arm and uses it to twist and spin the rest of Melanie's body, using the built-up momentum to land a final devastating jump-kick to Melanie's face.

Everyone winces slightly at the force from that final kick, all of them clearly imagining the pain that Melanie probably felt in her jaw. Ruby is the first to comment on the action they just witnessed. “THAT WAS SO COOL!” Yang smirks smugly and looks towards her sister. “Oh it ain’t over yet sis.”

-The holograms in the club suddenly turn off and a spotlight shines on Junior as he brings out his Bazooka. Junior: You're gonna pay for this.

”As if.” Yang is clearly not impressed by Junior’s choice of weaponry.

-Junior fires off a stream of rockets from his weapon's bazooka form, and Yang backflips and siderolls to dodge several. Upon righting herself, Yang then destroys several more incoming rockets with well-placed shots from Ember Celica. -Advancing, Junior changes his weapon to its bat form and strikes at Yang multiple times, with the latter managing to defend and block all but one, causing her to recoil and stumble. This gives Junior an opening to hit her in the face, sending her flying backwards into a glass structure.

Blake looks on with concern for her partner, but Yang simply places a hand on her shoulder and reassures her. “Relax, I’ve got this.”

-Yang pushes herself to her feet, her hair ablaze and shining gold. She then slams her fists together, creating a minor shockwave, before dashing forward. Junior arms his rocket launcher and starts firing wildly, each shot missing as Yang sidesteps and evades them. She quickly closes the gap between them, dodging a strike from Junior before laying into him, landing seven punches, each amplified by her weaponry. The final punch sends Junior flying back, his weapon broken in two, one piece of it in one hand, a lock of Yang's hair in the other.

With the exceptions of Winter, Ozpin and of course Yang herself, everyone in the audience freezes in fear at the sight of damage to Yang’s hair. Blake turns to her partner, noticing that even now, Yang’s eyes have gone red from rage. Ruby decides to give Junior a proper send off. “And a goodbye to Junior, we knew him not at all other than the fact that he was kinda a creep, good riddance ya blowhard.” From behind them, Qrow chuckles at Ruby’s choice of insult.

-The sight enrages Yang, who promptly engulfs herself in a huge explosion of fire, which shatters the dance floor. She then charges Junior at a rapid speed, landing one final blow square in the jaw, which sends him flying through a window into the street, incapacitated, ending the fight. He lands fully knocked out in front of Ruby, with Yang exiting the club shortly after.

”Oh, so that’s what happened.” Ruby seems to have gotten a sense of satisfaction from finally learning what went down that night.

-Ruby: Yang? Is that you? -Yang: Oh! Hey sis! -Ruby: What are you doing here? -Yang sighs before the screen cuts to black. -Yang: It's a long story. The RWBY title pans from the left of the screen before unveiling all four characters: Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long.

”That was so cool!” Nora voices her opinion on the final trailer. To her right, Pyrrha also speaks up. “Yes, it was rather entertaining.” Behind the gang, Qrow pipes up as well. “You did good Firecracker, nice one.” Yang smiles and lets out a prideful hum at her Uncle’s praise.

”So those were the trailers I suppose.” Ruby is the next one to speak. Next to her, Penny follows up on what she says. “Next we should be getting to the actual show itself, likely starting from when you all began at Beacon.” To be honest, nobody in the audience could wait to see how the show handled their adventures at Beacon.

They were ready to properly star the show.

Chapter Text

“WE CAN FINALLY GET TO THE MAIN SHOW!” Ruby’s excitement was through the roof, unable to wait to see their adventures from Beacon captured in animation form.

“Yeah, this is gonna be sick!” Yang likewise was rather enthusiastic. Blake simply found herself fondly smiling at her partner’s enthusiasm. She was also excited, but not nearly to the degree either of the sisters were.

Weiss was mildly concerned about the prospect of seeing their early days at Beacon animated. She did not want to relive how much of a jerk she was to her whole team early on, especially not in front of Winter, who would undoubtedly be disappointed in her poor attitude.

Team JNPR were all mostly excited, though Jaune was a bit anxious to see his past idiocy onscreen. He had no doubts that he’d be relentlessly teased as the moments played out.

Penny was mostly just happy to be there with Ruby, not being present for many of the events that he’d and the others were. Winter was in a similar boat, only really content to be there with her sister.

The other adults were cautious about the experience. Neither Ozpin nor Qrow knew just how much was going to be revealed here, and they didn’t know when and of these potential reveals would even come up. Neither of them really wanted to dump the terrifying truth on the others present, but they might not have a choice at all if the show went into too much detail.

For now, they’d just have to sit back and hope to the gods that these poor kids didn’t have to learn what they were really up against.

“IT’S STARTING, IT’S STARTING!” Ruby’s high pitched voice cut through the atmosphere like a scythe. Her excitement was easily the most powerful of everyone present.

Finally, the screen begins to fade into a scene.

-Fade-in to an image of Beacon Academy.

-Narrator: Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past.

Ozpin is a bit unsettled at the voice narrating the scene. It sounded exactly like she did.

-The gems in the image glow green and fade to show simple pictures of a man rising from the earth before being surrounded by creatures, barely held back by warriors.

“Ugh, why the history lesson, we already know this crap!” Nora clearly did not want to sit through a history class in a show that promised them animated adaptations of their crazy misadventures. She wanted to see herself hit stuff.

“Nora, just be patient, this is a full series, it’s going to have to introduce its concepts to the uneducated viewers.” Ren immediately silenced Nora’s complaining with a rather sound explanation for the lore dump.

-Narrator: Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness — creatures of destruction — the creatures of Grimm - set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void.

-Black sets in, then suddenly lessens as a light grows brighter and brighter until a gem rises from it and lowers itself into the hands of man.

-Narrator: However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust".

“Truly, the greatest tool available to us, through one that takes great skill to master.” Weiss proudly stated her view on dust, being sick and adept user of it herself. Winter scoffed silently at her sister’s mild arrogance, but decided to let her pat herself on the back at least a little. She deserved some self-praise.

“Yeah, we get it princess, you’re good with dust.” Yang on the other hand was not afraid to poke fun at her friend’s ego stroking. “I am indeed.” Unfortunately, Weiss didn’t seem to get the sarcasm behind her teasing.

-The scene zooms out to show men shooting lightning, raising swords, and aiming rifles at the retreating beasts as a castle appears behind them.

-Narrator: Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life.

-The castle zooms out to show a map of Remnant, which houses other buildings until they disappear in flashes of white and the map is lowered to show the scattered moon over a city at night.

-Narrator: But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return.

“A sad but unfortunate truth.” Ozpin decides to take the stage and speak up. “Remember children, nothing lasts forever, not even you all. Though that does not mean you shouldn’t make the best of the time you are given, life is a precious gift after all.”

“Will do professor Ozpin!” Ruby enthusiastically replied to her headmaster. Next to her, Penny was rather caught up on Ozpin’s choice of words. She was rather curious as to why he specifically said “you” instead of “us”.

-Roman Torchwick and four of his henchmen head down an alley from the shadows. They stop behind Roman, who reignites his cigar without touching it and grins before walking down the road, frightening nearby citizens as they make their way towards the shop From Dust Till Dawn.

“Ugh, glad we threw his ass in jail.” Yang clearly has little patience for the crook. Blake is quick to agree with her. “Yeah, he deserved that…… did they ever catch his partner?” Yang thinks on that for a bit. “I… don’t know.”

-Narrator: So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world", but take heed... there will be no victory in strength.

Roman and his henchmen enter the shop, the camera lowering to a young girl wearing a hooded red cloak in the corner of the shop, reading a weapons magazine.

-Ozpin (voice over): But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to hear your voice in this Professor.” Ozpin chuckled at Ruby’s surprise. “Well as a teacher it’s part of my job to be a good storyteller.”

-The henchmen look around and at the Dust crystals in the display when Roman approaches the elderly shopkeeper. Roman flicks his cigar before he speaks.

-Roman: Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?

-One of the henchman points his gun at the shopkeeper.

-Shopkeeper: P-please! Just take my Lien and leave!

-Roman: Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, calm down, we're not here for your money. Grab the Dust.

“Ugh, jerk, picking on a defenseless old man like that. I say we go visit him in jail and break his legs.” Nora makes her disdain for Roman very vocal.

“Yeah, he totally deserves some broken bones for all the stuff he did.” Ruby agrees with her from her spot. Next to her, Weiss nods alongside her agreement, signifying that she also agrees.

-A henchman opens a case and removes one of several cylinders, which the group uses to take Dust from the tube containers on the walls.

-Henchman 1: Crystals. Burn. Uncut.

-The shopkeeper proceeds to fill the case. As another henchman goes for another tube, he hears the muted This Will Be the Day song from the girl's direction, and unsheathes his sword.

“Oh yeah, here it comes!” Once again, Ruby is barely able to contain her excitement at the prospect of watching herself kick butt. Most of the others are also excited, with Penny and Yang being the most visually and vocally so. “Kick their asses sis!”

-Henchman 2: Alright kid, put your hands where I can see 'em……. Hey, I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or something!?

-He goes over to her and turns her around, the hood dropping to reveal a surprised Ruby Rose wearing headphones. He motions for her to lower them. Ruby does so before answering

-Ruby: Yes?

Yang and Qrow both find the whole situation a bit humorous. Penny is mostly just concerned for her friends safety. Ozpin already knows why to expect. Everyone else seems to just be waiting for something to happen.

-Henchman 2: I said, put your hands in the air, now!

-Ruby: Are you... robbing me?

-Henchman 2: Yes!

-Ruby: Ooohhh...

-Roman is waiting for his men to finish the heist when a "Hey!" and "Hyah!" are heard, and the threatening henchman flies past him.

“HAH!” Yang shouts out a laugh at the scene, before devolving into a loud chuckle. “Bahaha! Oh that was great, Blake did you-“ As she turns to Blake, she notices her partner cringing and covering her bow. It doesn’t take Yang long to piece together how much her loudness hurt Blake’s ears. “O-oh, sorry, I’m sorry.” Blake calmly takes her hands away from her ears and turns to Yang. “It’s done, just… please remember that my hearing is a lot more sensitive than yours.” Yang nods at what Blake says before they both return to watching the episode.

-Roman calmly motions for another to handle Ruby.

-Henchman 1: Freeze!

-Cut to outside the shop, when the henchman and Ruby crash through the window. The other men look outside as Ruby gets up and unfolds Crescent Rose into its scythe form. Roman scowls, but Ruby smiles back at them before twirling the weapon around, striking it into the ground and turning off her headphones.

“Heh, I’m so awesome!” Ruby was quite thorough impressed with herself on the screen. Next to her, Penny likewise is rather impressed with what Ruby had just done.

-Roman: Okayyy... Get her!

-The henchmen head out of the shop and run at Ruby, who spins around on top of her scythe and kicks the first approaching criminal in the face. She gets Crescent Rose out of the ground and fires it off to hit another one with the butt of her weapon, sending him flying. She fires again and brings the side down on one attacker and dodges the next's gunfire with her rifle's speed, getting close enough to knock him into the air and follow him upwards so she can beat him away to Roman's feet.

-Roman: You were worth every cent. Truly, you were.

-Roman drops his cigar and crushes it with his cane as approaching police sirens are heard.

“Oh yeah, I kicked so much butt. Ain’t that right guys?” Ruby continues to brag about her skills, looking around at the others for validation. Penny is the first, and only person to give her any. “That was truly spectacular! You are absolutely amazing Ruby!” Ruby smiles at her friend, clearly enjoying all the compliments. “Heh, thank you. At least somebody appreciates my awesomeness.”

-Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around......I'm afraid this is where we part ways.

-During the brief pause, Roman brings his cane up, pointing it towards Ruby. The bottom to reveal a rifle with a cross grid. Roman then unleashes a red blast at Ruby, who fires at the ground and leaps over it. When she lands and looks up, Roman isn't there, and is climbing up a ladder on a nearby building.

“Dang, he’s pretty fast.” Jaune seems a bit impressed by how quickly Roman managed to make his getaway.

“Yeah, why the hell is he so damn speedy?” Yang is more confused than impressed at his display of speed.

-Ruby briefly turns to the onlooking shopkeeper.

-Ruby: You okay if I go after him?

The shopkeeper gives a short "Uh huh", and Ruby sets off.

-Roman makes it to the roof, with Ruby high-flying again and landing right behind him.

-Ruby: Hey!

-Roman stops at the edge of the roof.

-Roman: Persistent...

-Ruby readies to fight him, but a getaway Bullhead rises up and opens the hatch to allow Roman inside.

“Uh oh. This can’t be good.” Yang’s begun to grow mildly concerned for her sister’s safety. When Yang asked Ruby how she got out of this jam, she just said “I kicked butt so hard that he ran away”. Yang’s getting concerned that she was in serious danger.

-Roman: End of the line, Red.

-Roman turns, holding a crystal of fire dust.

“Oh no.” Yang’s really grown scared at this point.

-He throws it out at her feet and fires at her, resulting in a large explosion.

“Ruby!” At this point her concern has grown much more vocal. To the point where Ruby notices it and turns to calm her sister down. “Yang, relax, I was fine.”

-Roman: Whoa-ho-ho-ho! Huh?

-Roman’s laughter is cut short when he notices something on the roof. A woman in a purple cape is now in front of Ruby, casting a circle of protection over them with her wand. As Ruby looks on, Glynda Goodwitch waves her weapon and summons several streaks of purple at the craft.

“It’s a good thing Mrs Goodwitch got to you when she did, it’d be a shame if you were hurt too badly.” Ozpin is the first to express his relief at Glynda’s save. “Yeah… I was getting really scared there.” Yang follows him shortly afterwards. “You sure you were ok sis?” She turns towards Ruby, trying to gauge her wellbeing. “Yang, I’m fine, and even if I wasn’t this was like, half a year ago.” Ruby is mildly annoyed by her sister’s constant nagging concern for her safety, but she at least appreciates the care.

-Roman is thrown around in the back until he goes to the cockpit, where a woman in red, her face unseen, is struggling with the controls.

-Roman: We got a Huntress!

-The woman gets up and heads toward the back as Roman takes the controls.

“Who’s that?” Jaune is a bit perplexed by this mysterious woman. “I don’t know Jaune, but she seems like she could be trouble.” To his left, Pyrrha voices some concern over the figure’s identity.

-Glynda glows purple for a moment and aims another blast above the craft, resulting in a dark storm-cloud right over the jet.

-Roman: The hell...?

-With a flick of her wand, large jagged hail starts falling that pummels the jet and even breaks through the window, narrowly missing Roman's head.

“Yikes, that was close!” Ruby is a bit relieved that the shard of ice didn’t hit Roman. “Ruby, he’s a wanted criminal.” Yang is less relieved. Ruby turns towards her sister and better explains her relief. “I know, but I don’t wanna watch a guy’s skull get skewered by jagged ice.” Yang processes Ruby’s explanation before shrugging and turning back to the screen. “Eh, fair enough.”

-Having reached the open door of the Bullhead, The woman reaches the back and her arms and chest light up like fire, aiming a burst of energy at Glynda. The Huntress blocks it, but the flame splatters behind her and glows hot with the enemy's raised hand. Glynda back-flips out of the explosion, which destroys part of the roof, and magically gathers the shards to create a large arrow, which she throws at the craft. The fiery woman shatters the arrow with several blasts, but it reforms just in time to hit the side of the jet due to Roman's quick aerial lean. The wreckage separates and reshapes into more arrows that encircle the jet, but the woman summons several glowing rings around herself that expand and destroy the shards.

“Woah, that was crazy! How did she do that without any dust?” Nora is rather impressed and confused by the display, but before she can piece things together, Penny’s voice breaks her concentration. “Actually, she did indeed use dust. I believe this woman’s dress used dust weaving in its creation. Notice the glowing marks on it? That is likely fire dust that has been strung out and grafted onto the fabric used to make it, creating a special weave made mostly of dust.” The explanation is one Nora finds rather exciting. “Wait, people can do that?! I should totally put lightning dust in my clothes so I can give myself a boost whenever I need it!” Next to Nora, Ren just sighs at her enthusiasm.

-Ruby, finally acting, reverts her scythe into its rifle form to fire at the woman, who blocks each shot and creates several blazing circles around her two opponents. Glynda telekinetically pushes Ruby and rolls herself out of the explosion's radius; looking up to see the hatch close and the craft fly away.

-Meanwhile, Ruby looks up at Glynda with an awestruck face.

-Ruby:You're a Huntress! Can I have your autograph?!

-The scene cuts to Ruby's amazed face turn to one of shame as Glynda, with a tablet computer, paces around the table Ruby is seated at, right underneath a bright light in the otherwise dark room.

“I never got her autograph.” Ruby seems rather dejected by Glynda’s coldness towards her. From behind her, Ozpin speaks up. “Well I’m sure I could possibly convince her to provide you with one.” Ruby‘s eyes widen in excitement.

-Glynda: I hope that you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger.

Before they immediately shrink from disappointed again. “Dang, she’s really not gonna thank you at all, is she sis?” Yang turns to her sister with an apologetic look. “She didn’t… meanie.” Ruby is once again visually dejected, wearing a big frown on her face.

-Glynda: If it were up to me, you'd be sent home... With a pat on the back......And a slap on the wrist.

-She demonstrates with her riding crop, which Ruby barely avoids as she gives out an "Eeek!

“Oz, please tell her to not try and hit my niece ever again or she’ll be sorry.” Qrow was not happy at all seeing Glynda attempt to strike Ruby.

-Glynda: But... there is someone here who would like to meet you.

-She moves out of the way so a surprised Ruby can see a man in green come through the doorway, holding a mug and a plate of cookies.

Ruby’s mouth begins watering at the sight of the cookies onscreen. “Ooooooh, gimme!” She’s only barely held back from jumping at the screen by Weiss. “Ruby, calm yourself, it’s just a video.” Ruby’s face falls into a very disappointed expression, before she returns to her seat mumbling to herself about wanting cookies.

-Ozpin: Ruby Rose... You... have silver eyes.

“Why are my eyes so dang important?” Ruby is still confused as to why Ozpin specifically pointed them out. Penny speaks up to her right. “Maybe because they are a rather rare trait, being the least common eye color ever recorded.” Ruby lets out a quick “huh” before going back to watching the video.

-Ruby: Uh, um...

-Ozpin: So! Where did you learn to do this?

-He gestures at footage of Ruby’s fight with the thugs.

-Ruby: S-Signal Academy.

-Ozpin: They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?

-Ruby: Well, one teacher in particular.

-Ozpin: I see…

Qrow grins widely, clearly impressed with himself for being able to teach Ruby how to use a scythe so efficiently.

-Ozpin puts the cookies on the table in front of Ruby. She tentatively picks one up, eats it in a single bite, and then, not seeing any rebuttal, shovels the rest into her mouth.

-Ozpin: It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty, old crow...

“Hey, the hell do you mean “dusty”? If anything, you’re the one who needs to be dusted ya geezer.” Qrow did NOT appreciate the way Ozpin referred to him. Oz merely chuckles a bit, not even bothering to answer Qrow. Who does give Qrow an answer however, is Winter. “Perhaps he was referring to the spectrum of color. Fitting, given how dull and unappealing you are.” Qrow turns towards her, briefly scowling, before his face shifts into a smirk. “And what, oh “bright and appealing Ice Queen” does that say about your tastes? If anything that’s more degrading of you than me.” Winter immediately snaps her head away, face burning a bright red.

-Ruby mumbles something with her mouth full, before swallowing to make her speech more intelligible.

-Ruby: Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like— Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!

Yang snorts rather loudly at her sister’s “demonstration of skill”. Ruby meanwhile, cringes so far inwards she feels like she’s going to implode.

-Ozpin: So I've noticed. And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?

-Ruby: Well... I want to be a Huntress.

-Ozpin: You want to slay monsters?

Ruby decides to try and defend herself. “Who doesn’t? Being a hunters is every girls dream! Or… at least… every girl who likes to fight stuff.” Yang comes to her sister’s aid. “Well, she ain’t wrong.”

-Ruby: Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!

“Damn sis, you sure talk fast.” Yang is honestly impressed at the speed in which Ruby could speak. Though, knowing how hyper her sister is, she really shouldn’t be too surprised.

-Glynda and Ozpin study her.

-Ozpin: Do you know who I am?

-Ruby: You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon.

-Ozpin: Hello.

-Ruby: Nice to meet you.

-Ozpin: You want to come to my school?

-Ruby: More than anything.

-Ozpin exchanges glances with Glynda, who shows her disapproval with a "Hmmph" before he turns back to Ruby.

-Ozpin: Well, okay.

“….thats it? Just “ok”? No big test of skill, no extra exam, nothing? Just “ok”?” Weiss is rather stunned by how easily Ruby was able to bypass the two years just because Ozpin felt like it. Honestly, she was a bit envious of the blatant favoritism towards her partner.

-Ruby smiles, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

-The scene changes again as Yang Xiao Long tackles her sister in a hug aboard the large Vale Airship to Beacon, crushing the air out of her.

-Yang: Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!

-Ruby: Please stop.

-Yang releases her sister and steps back.

-Yang: But I'm so proud of you!

“Yeah, you deserve all the hugs in the world. You’re the best, and you’ve done so many crazy things that most of us couldn’t do at your age!” Yang is very vocal with her pride in her sister. Ruby herself is a bit embarrassed by her sister’s vocality, but she definitely does appreciate it.

-Ruby: Really Sis, it was nothing.

-Yang: What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees

“Yang.” Yang turns to Ruby, who had called for her. “Yes sis?” Ruby’s face is one of pure contempt. “Don’t ever, EVER, say something that lame ever again.” Yang is… a bit surprised by her sister’s pure coldness towards her after that. “O-ok…”

-Ruby: I don't want to be the "bee's knees", okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees.

-Yang: What's with you? Aren't you excited?

-Ruby: Of course I'm excited... I just... I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything.

-Yang: But you are special.

“Yeah, you’re the most special awesome sister I could ever ask for!” Yang once again gladly voices her fondness for Ruby. Ruby herself continues to be embarrassed by how mushy her sister is being.

-The girls' attention is drawn to the 2-D animated newscast on Vale News Network playing nearby, talking about the robbery and showing Roman's mug shot.

-Cyril: The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa.

-The mugshot changes to Lisa Lavender, with a photo of animal-eared demonstrators holding signs saying "WE ARE NOT ANIMALS!" followed by an image of the logo of a growling red wolf's head with three scratch marks.

-Lisa: Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted...

To say that the report upset Blake would be a GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT. She was positively livid and also completely dejected at the same time.

Yang, taking notice of her partner’s distress, placed a hand on her back. Black almost immediately soothed at the contact from her partner.

-The news feed is cut off as a hologram of Glynda replaces it.

-Glynda: Hello, and welcome to Beacon!

-Yang: Who's that?

-Glynda: My name is Glynda Goodwitch.

-Yang: Oh.

A few of the audience chuckle at the perfect timing.

-Glynda: You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, 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.

-Ruby: Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here! I guess home isn't too far after all!

-Yang: Beacon's our home, now.

“And it’s one hell of an awesome home too.” Yang is clearly no less happy to be at Beacon as she was when they first arrived. Sure, things have been a bit…… tense…… for all of them, but still, the fact that she could even call Beacon her new home is one of, in her opinion, the coolest things ever.

-The two hear a passenger groaning and hunched over nearby, Jaune Arc himself, running to the back of the ship.

-Yang: Well... I guess the view isn't for everyone.

Jaune sighs at himself on the screen. Pyrrha turns to him and places a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. “D-don’t worry Jaune, motion sickness is a rather common issue.” Jaune immediately whips his head towards her. “Oh my god, finally somebody else said it!”

-Ruby: It was a nice moment while it lasted.

The view cuts to the outside of the ship as it is seen approaching Beacon across a large body of water.

-Yang : I wonder who we're gonna meet!

-Ruby : I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy. Oh, Yang, gross! You have puke on your shoe!

-Yang : Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!

-Ruby : Get-Get away! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!

-With that, the episode finally reaches it’s end.

“I still haven’t forgiving you for messing up my boots vomit boy.” Jaune sighs at Yang’s teasing. “I’m never gonna live that down, am I?” Ruby decides to poke him even further. “Nope.”

Jaune just sighs, not anticipating whatever humiliating acts he will surely have to see himself preform in the next episode.

Chapter Text

“Alright! Now that the intro is over with, we can finally get to the stuff at Beacon!” Ruby was rather excited to finally see their time at Beacon be put to the big screen. So far most of what they’ve seen has been just a bunch of flash fights, and while those are awesome as heck, she wants a bit of substance to her style.

Penny was also very excited to see her friend’s life at Beacon, hoping to learn more about how the school operates. And she was also rather excited to see how well Ruby does in her classes. Maybe the two of them could study together sometime soon.

Weiss was a bit antsy, mostly because of Winter’s presence in the theater with them. She knows that she was…… how could she word this properly? Oh, right, Weiss knew that she was a stone cold bitch during her early days at Beacon, and she was concerned that Winter would be rather disappointed by her actions.

Jaune was just concerned about how much of his constant abuse that they would show…… and mildly worried about a certain secret he didn’t want Ozpin to find out about. Pyrrha was very much in the same boat as he was.

“CMON, LET’S START ALREADY!” Yang was getting a bit impatient, yelling at whoever the hell was playing the videos to play the next episode already.

Fortunately, her shouts to the Heaven’s were answered, as the screen began to start up again.

-The episode begins with a view of several ships carrying students and docking at the entrance of the school. As soon as one lands, Jaune Arc emerges and goes over to the nearest trash can, hunching over it as he loses his lunch.

Jaune immediately was getting a bit irked by how he was being portrayed. He knew it wasn’t inaccurate, but it was still very demeaning. Ruby and Yang on the other hand, couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the sight of everyone’s favorite “vomit boy”.

-Ruby and Yang, alongside several other students, walk out of the ship and head down the paved path to the front of the school. The sisters take in the entirety of Beacon ahead of them

-Ruby and Yang: Wow...

“Yeah, taking that all in for the first time was really something exciting.” Yang made her previous amazement at Beacon rather well known.

-Yang: The view from Vale's got nothing on this!

-Next to her, Ruby gets so excited that she turns into a 2D Chibi.

-Ruby: Ohmygosh, sis! That kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!

Ruby shrinks in embarrassment at the sight of her cartoonish self, while most of the others laugh or at least chuckle at the sudden shift in Ruby’s artstyle. Penny meanwhile, is absolutely enamored with how adorable chibi Ruby is.

-Ruby tries getting closer, but Yang pulls her sister by the hood back into realistic proportions

-Ruby: Ow! Ooww!

-Yang: Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons!

-Ruby: 'Just weapons'? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!

-Yang: Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?

Ruby immediately took out Crescent Rose and clutched it tightly against her chest. “I will always be happy with my baby!” Weiss just stared at her partner with mild concerned.

-Ruby suddenly has Crescent Rose out in its scythe configuration

-Ruby: Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better...

“That’s sad if you think that.” Nora did not waste even a moment to tell Ruby what she thought. Ren elbowed her lightly in the side to get her to stop being rude.

-Yang: (playfully pushing her sister's hood down over her face) Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?

-Ruby: (taking off her hood) But... why would I need friends if I have you?

-Yang: Well... (in a flash, a group of other students surround Yang and they all dash down the road) Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!

“TRAITOR! You abandoned me!” Ruby turns to Yang and aggressively points at her. Yang just whistled and turns away with a slightly guilty look.

-Ruby: (spinning and dizzy-eyed from Yang's sudden leaving) Wait, where are you going?! Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms? (stopping for a moment, still reeling) I don't know what I'm doing...

-Ruby falls backwards into a luggage cart, sending cases flying. Someone is standing over her.

-Weiss: What are you doing?!

-Ruby: (getting up on her hands) Uh, sorry!

-Weiss: Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?

Oh boy, here it comes. Weiss just had to hope Winter wouldn’t be TOO disappointed in her.

-Ruby: (holding a case) Uuhhh...

-Weiss: Give me that! (she snatches the luggage from Ruby and opens it to reveal its twinkling-sounding contents) This is Dust - mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!

-Ruby: Uuuhhhh...

-Weiss: What are you, brain-dead? (holding out a vial of red Dust and shutting the case) Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!

-Ruby: I... I know... (starts coughing from the Dust pouring into her face)

-Weiss: Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?!

“And what do YOU have to say for YOURself dear sister?” Winter’s voice cut through the room like a sword through flesh. Weiss couldn’t even answer her, instead just shrinking into her seat.

-Ruby, who had been receiving more and more Dust to her face, finally sneezes, which erupts into a full-blown explosion of flame, snowflakes, and electricity right onto Weiss. The bottle she had been holding flies over the courtyard and at the feet of Blake Belladonna, who picks it up and notices the Schnee Dust Company logo on the side as she reads from a book and looks over at the scene.

“S-sorry about that Weiss.” Ruby rubbed the back of her head and turned to Weiss with a rather embarrassed expression. “I-it’s alright Ruby.” Weiss was a bit unfocused on reassuring her partner, as she was still in fear of catching any true ire from her sister.

Yang was just excited to finally see Blake in the show again, glad that her partner was finally getting the screentime she deserved.

-Weiss: (now covered in soot, though it quickly disappears) Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!

-Ruby: (apologetic and embarrassed) I'm really, really sorry!

-Weiss: Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?

-Ruby: Well, I-I...

-Weiss: This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight monsters, so... watch where you're going!

“Weiss, I believe I taught you to have better manners than this.” Once again, Weiss shrank back in horror at the sound of her irritated sister. “Please make sure not to put up such a poor display of attitude again in the future.”

-Ruby: (finally fed up) Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!

“Nice job standing up for yourself sis.” Yang reached her hand over Blake and Weiss, patting Ruby on the shoulder. Unfortunately, this resulted in the two being squashed together along with Yang in the process. Weiss was simply annoyed by Yang’s actions. Blake was desperately trying to keep the blush from being pressed up against Yang from getting to bright.

-Blake: (off screen, entering the conversation) It's heiress, actually. (Ruby and Weiss look over as Blake approaches with the bottle) Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world.

-Weiss: (smiling smugly) Finally! Some recognition!

-Blake: The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners.

“Damn, going for the throat with that one, eh Blake?” Yang, despite how she knew that was a low blow for Weiss, was a bit proud of her partner’s sass. “Well pardon me for being a bit biased against her at the time.” Yang supposed that was fair.

-Weiss: (getting angry again as Ruby chuckles) Wha- How dare- The nerve of... Ugh! (gets up in Blake's face and takes the bottle from her, walking off in a huff as her helpers gather the luggage and follow)

-Ruby: (to the storming Weiss, still sorry) I promise I'll make this up to you! (sighs) I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day... So, what's... (sees Blake walking off as well, then collapses to the ground on her back) Welcome to Beacon... (she remains this way until a shadow comes over her)

“Dang Blake, why so cold?” Yang questioned her partner’s distant behavior, curious as to why she refused to interact beyond tearing Weiss a new one. “I just…… didn’t know if I could properly hold a conversation with her, ok.” Blake’s slow and unenthusiastic response kinda made Yang feel bad. She didn’t mean to upset Blake or anything, she was just curious.

-Jaune: (holding out his hand) Hey... I'm Jaune.

-Ruby: (taking his hand) Ruby. (stands up) Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?

“And thus, the two most awkward people ever had met, forging an unbreakable bond between two teams that shall persist until death!” Nora spoke of their friendship like it was some sort of ancient prophecy. Ren continued to be exasperated by his partner’s overenthusiasm.

“She’s right vomit boy, we totally created an unbreakable friendship between our teams!” Ruby enthusiastically agreed with Nora. “Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point crater face.” Jaune, despite how tired he was of the stupid nickname, couldn’t help but agree with her.

-Beacon inside the walls are filled with scenic trees, arching architecture, and a winding road alongside a river, down which Ruby and Jaune are walking.

-Jaune: All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!

“YEAH, WHY DO YOU ALL TREAT IT LIKE IT’S A ONE IN A MILLION FREAKING GENETIC DISEASE?!” Jaune clearly still had no care for his “vomit boy” moniker.

Nobody really had a good answer for his question except for Pyrrha. “I do not believe so at all. If anything, I believe that your nickname is actually rather disrespectful.” Jaune turned to his partner and placed an appreciative hand on her shoulder. “Thank you.” Fortunately for Pyrrha, Jaune turned back to the screen before he could notice how red in the face she had gotten.

-Ruby: (laughing) Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind.

-Jaune: Oh, yeah? What if I called you Crater Face?

-Ruby: Hey, that explosion was an accident!

-Jaune: Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!

-Ruby: (skeptic) Do they?

Jaune immediately deflated at Ruby’s teasing. “They’re going to someday.” He quietly grumbled to himself, not at all appreciating the insinuations of what Ruby had said. He didn’t seem to pay any mind to the one lady who did actually love it trying to make him feel better by placing a hand on his shoulder.

-Jaune: They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that... Never mind.

-Ruby: (giggles before a short, awkward silence falls) So... I got this thing! (she pulls out Crescent Rose and stabs it into the ground)

“Is that just how you introduce yourself?” Yang was trying not to laugh at her sister’s choice of conversation topic being to whip out her scythe. Ruby, meanwhile, was a bit peeved at the teasing.

-Jaune: Whoa! Is that a scythe?

-Ruby: It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!

-Jaune: A-wha...?

-Ruby: (cocks it, smiling) It's also a gun.

-Jaune: Oh. That's cool!

“Hey, you ever realize how basically every melee weapon we see has a gun built into I?” Nora brought up a good point, basically every weapon they’ve seen is usually a gun in some way.

-Ruby: So what've you got?

-Jaune: Oh! I, uh... (unsheathes a blade) I got this sword!

-Ruby: Ooooohh!

-Jaune: Yeah, and I've got a shield, too! (he gets his scabbard, raises his arm and expands the metal into his defense)

“Well, except Jaune’s, he doesn’t get a gun sword.” Nora continued after Jaune displayed his own weapon. Jaune was secretly a bit envious of how much cooler his friends weapons were compared to his.

-Ruby: (touching the shield) So, what do they do?

-Jaune: (fumbling with the shield as it retracts off his arm, expands, and retracts again before putting it back in place and finally shrinking it down for good, placing it on his belt) The shield gets smaller, so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away...

-Ruby: But... wouldn't it weigh the same?

-Jaune: (dejectedly) Yeah, it does...

“Despite the consistent weight, the smaller size should make the shield much less awkward to carry when not in combat. I for one think it’s a useful feature to have.” Pyrrha attempted to defend the shield’s compact mode. Jaune appreciate her defense.

-Ruby: (giggling) Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, sooo... I guess I did go a little overboard when designing it.

-Jaune: Wait - you made that?!

-Ruby: Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons! Didn't you make yours?

“I am an engineering genius, aren’t I?” Ruby was very obviously fishing for compliments. Fortunately, Penny was more than willing to give her some. “Indeed! Your mechanical skills in weapon design are absolutely spectacular! You may be one of the best engineers I’ve ever met!” Ruby slunk backwards in her chair, trying to ignore the heat rising to her cheeks at Penny’s words.

-Jaune: It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war.

Nora was a bit interested by the information about Jaune’s sword. “Oooooooh, lore!” She turned to Jaune. “I bet your double great gramps was a badass.”

-Ruby: Sounds more like a family heirloom to me! (laughs) Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days.

-Jaune: (sheathing his sword) Yeah, the classics...

-Ruby: (moving on again) So why'd you help me out back there? In the courtyard?

-Jaune: (walking alongside her) Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'

“Mister Arc, I suggest you take that advice with a grain of salt. Sometimes strangers may have malicious intentions, other times they may have a personal quarrel with you. Not everybody you haven’t met yet is a possible acquaintance.” Ozpin decided to squash Jaune’s saying a bit. Jaune was a bit soured by that, but Oz wasn’t finished yet. “However, do not let that discourage you from trying your hand at making new friends along the way. Not everyone will get along with you, but that does not mean that nobody will. Your friends here are proof enough of that.”

“W-well, guess I can’t really argue with that.”

-Ruby: Hmm. (looks around) Hey, where are we going?

-Jaune: Oh, I don't know! I was following you. (as the scene fades to black) Y-You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some sort of recognizable landmark? Is, uh... Is that a 'no'?

-Ruby: (laughing) That's a 'no'.

“Alright, that was a bit bare bones compared to what I was expecting. And it was really short too, I was expecting full 20 minute TV episodes from this.” Nora was a bit disappointed by how short the episode was. Down the row to her right, Penny spoke up. “Given the calculated release date as well as the animation quality, I believe the overall budget for the show was rather insubstantial, meaning that they likely had to cut down on runtime in order to better animate the people and scenes. Notice how many of the background characters are simply silhouettes, another cost cutting measure.”

Ruby turned to her friend, very impressed. “Woah. How’d you figure all that out.” Penny eagerly gave Ruby her answer. “I have a vast array of media production knowledge. Television budgeting was one of my favorite aspects of it.”

Yang’s voice broke their conversation. “Who cares about the budget, let’s just get to the next episode already.”

Chapter Text

“Alright, next episode. Hopefully it’s something good this time.” Yang wanted some excitement, and so far the show kinda began taking things slow. Yang didn’t DO slow, she did it fast and loud…. She realized a bit too late how that sounded.

“Yeah, I wanna see cool stuff already.” Nora was likewise impatient, also desperately hoping for some major action soon. Ren was just happy to be able to see himself and the others on the screen.

The episode began to play.

-We open up to an aerial view of Ruby and Jaune entering Beacon Academy's giant auditorium, filled to the brim with people. Ruby looks over when she hears Yang's voice.

-Yang: (waving) Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!

-Ruby: (to Jaune) Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony! (leaves)

“Who’s the abandoner now Ruby!?” Yang had a smug smirk directed towards her sister. Unfortunately, Ruby didn’t seem to care about her sass. “Still you. At least I didn’t leave Jaune dazed and confused alone in the courtyard.” Ruby didn’t even bother looking at Yang when she said that.

Yang just deflated at the lack of a reaction, clearly having hoped to get a rise out of Ruby. She sank down in her chair and leaned to her right, laying it on Blake’s shoulder. Blake was a bit caught off guard at first, but she eventually placed a hand on her partners shoulder.

-Jaune: Hey, wait! (sighs) Ah, great. Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?! (he moves on to reveal Pyrrha standing behind him, hand on her hips as she watches him walk away.)

“Another nice, quirky girl, ripe for the taking has appeared.” Nora gladly voices her excitement at the first time her “OTP” has appeared together on screen. Ren and Jaune both just sigh at Nora’s antics. Pyrrha meanwhile, really wishes that Nora had worded that differently.

-Yang: (once Ruby joins her, arms crossed) How's your first day going, little sister?

-Ruby: You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?

-Yang: Yikes! Meltdown already?

-Ruby: No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice...?

-Yang: (smiling broadly) Are you being sarcastic?

“I didn’t really believe you, even after Weiss confirmed it, but now that Ive seen it, I definitely believe it.” Yang was still surprised that Ruby had actually caused an explosion in Weiss’ face. She couldn’t lie, it was a little bit funny.

-Ruby: (scoffs as the camera pans around to reveal Weiss right next to her) 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 at me again, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!

-Weiss: You!

“Weiss jumpscare!” Yang attempted to try and alleviate the irritation from seeing early days Weiss again. She was REALLY annoying back then. Weiss was just cringing to the point of implosion at the nervous anticipation of some of the terrible things she said. She really didn’t want Winter to find out.

Speaking of Winter, she was practically having a migraine at the sight of her sister’s poor behavior. If Weiss hasn’t fixed this by now than a serious talk would be necessary.

Next to Winter, Qrow was internally laughing at the visible annoyance that Weiss’ actions were causing Winter.

-Ruby: (quickly jumping into her sister's arms) Oh, God, it's happening again!

-Weiss: You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!

-Yang: (deadpan) Oh my God, you really exploded.

-Ruby: It was an accident. (getting down; to Weiss) It was an accident! (Weiss holds up a pamphlet titled "DUST for dummies and other Inadequate Individuals" to Ruby) What's this?

-Weiss: (listing off policies to a clueless and horrified Ruby, going faster and higher pitched with each word) The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field.

Most people were completely unable to keep up with Weiss’ increasingly fast paced and high pitched dialogue about her family’s company. The only ones able to keep up with what she said were Penny, Winter and Oz. Unfortunately, Winter already had that entire rant memorized.

Weiss meanwhile, continued her quest to cringe so hard that she created a singularity of pure embarrassment.

-Ruby: Uuhhh...?

-Weiss: You really wanna start making things up to me?

-Ruby: Absolutely?

-Weiss: (handing the pamphlet to Ruby) Read this, and don't ever speak to me again.

“Ruby, I-I’m sorry about that… I was.. I know I wasn’t the nicest back then.” Weiss attempted to apologize to her partner. Unfortunately, Nora butted in before Ruby could respond. “You were a massive bit-“ Ren had already clasped a hand over her mouth before she could finish. Ruby took the chance to reassure Weiss. “I-It’s ok, you’re doing way better now, that’s what really matters.”

“Yeah, the ice queen has begun to thaw.” Yang also joined in on helping Weiss feel better. And when Yang joined in, Blake predictably followed. “Mhm. Your improvement in attitude is quite remarkable. Thank you, for trying so hard.” Weiss definitely felt the sincerity in all of their words. That made watching her past rudeness much easier.

Behind them, Winter softly smiled at how much Weiss has seemingly gotten better for her team. She wouldn’t tell her outright, but she was proud of her sister for her improvement.

-Yang: Look, uh, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?

-Ruby: (putting the pamphlet away) Yeah! Great idea, sis! (holding out her hand as she clears her throat) Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!

-Weiss: (seemingly enthusiastic) Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blond, and scraggly over there!

-Jaune: Hm?

“Uh, what does scraggly mean exactly?” Jaune still had no clue what that word meant, assuming that it was a compliment of sorts. Unfortunately, Penny squashed his hopes of Weiss having complimented him. “Scraggly, it refers to something seen as thin or boney.” Jaune deflated rather spectacularly. He wasn’t “boney”, all things considered he’d say that he was pretty decently built. Unfortunately, only one person would ever agree with him on that.

-Ruby: Wow, really?!

-Weiss: (dead silence under her glare) No.

“Ok, the delivery for that was freaking perfect.” Nora had to admit that the entire interaction was rather entertaining to watch. It was always fun to see Ruby and Weiss bicker.

-The girls' attention is drawn to the stage, where Professor Ozpin is readying the microphone, with Glynda beside him.

-Ozpin: I'll... keep this brief. 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.

“Gotta say Oz, your introduction speeches have improved. Way better than the 10 minute crapfest you gave us back in the day.” Qrow’s sass was not very appreciated. “I was a lot less collected and experienced back then Qrow, so show some respect for a person who was going through a rather rough patch.” Oz’s response was enough to shut Qrow up.

-Ozpin: 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.

-Glynda: (as Ozpin leaves, she steps up to talk) You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed.

-Yang: He seemed kind of... off.

-Ruby: It's almost like he wasn't even there.

“You do always seem a bit spaced out during those Oz. You need to work on that, people don’t like a guy who doesn’t act like he’s paying attention to his own damn speech.” Once again, Oz did not enjoy the constant sassing from Qrow.

Even to this day, Ruby was still trying to figure out why Ozpin always seemed so…… distant, like he was always thinking about something else.

-Jaune: (approaching Weiss from the side) I'm a natural blond, you know!

-Weiss puts her hand to her face in exasperation.

Both Weiss and Jaune cringed at that scene. Weiss for her continued coldness towards everyone, and Jaune for finally seeing the first of many terrible attempts to flirt with Weiss. He was really not looking forward to seeing any of the rest.

-The first night at Beacon, students are splayed out in sleeping bags. Ruby, in her pajamas and with a sleeping mask around her head, is writing in a journal when Yang crashes next to her, similarly dressed.

Yang: It's like a big slumber party!

-Ruby: (not looking up) I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though.

-Yang: I know I do! (purrs as she watches several muscular, shirtless guys... and Jaune, dressed in feetie pajamas, waving to her, which makes her groan before she returns her attention to Ruby)

“Yeesh. No offense Jaune, but I think that was the moment I realized that I prefer women.” Yang didn’t necessarily WANT to hurt Jaune’s feelings, but somebody needed to put into perspective how ridiculous he looked. “Y-you see, people always start with “no offense” before they say something very offensive. I take a lot of offense to that actually.” Jaune was a little beyond upset with how undesirable Yang had just presented him as.

-Yang: What's that?

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

-Yang: Aw, that's so cuuuute! (knocked back as a pillow is launched at her face)

Ruby did not appreciate her sister embarrassing her like that. She wasn’t “cute” she was an awesome warrior. She deserved to be treated as such, and that included less babying from Yang.

-Ruby: Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!

-Yang: What about Jaune? He's... nice! There you go! Plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase!

-Ruby: (turning on her back) Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero...

-Yang: There's no such things as negative friends! You just made one friend and one enemy! (hit with another pillow, this time looking like a dog, to the face) Look, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!

Blake placed an exasperated hand on her partner’s shoulder. “Yang, there is absolutely a such thing as “negative friends” I have had quite a few of them myself.” Yang felt a bit bad after Blake said that. Meanwhile, Weiss decided to speak up. “Ruby A-as much as I didn’t enjoy your company at first, I never considered you an enemy.” Ruby was glad that Weiss didn’t used to hate her THAT MUCH.

-The two sisters notice a candle being lit nearby, and Blake Belladonna is seen leaning against a wall, reading her book.

-Ruby: That girl...

-Yang: You know her?

-Ruby: Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything.

“S-sorry about that Ruby.” Blake apologized to her leader. “Ah, it’s fine. You didn’t know who to trust so you didn’t go making conversation, it’s cool.” Ruby was quick to dispel her teammates worries.

-Yang: Well, now's your chance! (grabs Ruby's arm and lifts her up)

-Ruby: Wait! What are you doing?!

-Blake looks over her book to see Ruby unsuccessfully struggling against Yang's grip as she leads her sister over to Blake's spot before letting go.

-Yang: (singing) Hel-looooo! I believe you two may know each other?

-Blake: Aren't you... that girl that exploded?

-Ruby: Uh, yeah! My name's Ruby! But you can just call me Crater... (smiles, embarrassed) Actually, you can just call me Ruby.

“That was, without a doubt, one of the most awkward introductions I’ve ever seen.” As expected, Nora didn’t think twice before loudly spouting off her complaints with the scene.

-Blake: (back in her book) Okay.

-Yang: (whispering to Ruby) What are you doing?

-Ruby: (whispering back) I don't know - help me! (goes back to smiling)

-Yang: So... What's your name?

-Blake: (sighing as she's distracted yet again) Blake.

-Yang: Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister! I like your bow!

-Blake: (irritated) Thanks!

-Yang: It goes great with your... pajamas!

-Blake: Right...

“Ugh, this feels like crappy flirting, cut away before I die from how cringeworthy this is.” Again, Nora broke the silence. Pyrrha spoke up to her right. “Nora, it’s not THAT bad.”

Yang’s face absolutely went nuclear at the implications of what Nora had just said. She wasn’t flirting with Blake!….. ok, maybe she was. Next to her, Blake let out an awkward laugh before speaking herself. “Y-yeah, it does kinda sound like some terrible romcom flirting.” Yang wasn’t sure why Blake seemed so embarrassed at the moment.

Little did Yang know, that Blake’s face was just as bright red as hers was. Blake had turned away from her partner to hide her enormous blush. Unfortunately, Weiss had noticed her brightness.

-Yang: (as Ruby laughs uncomfortably) Nice night, don't you think?

-Blake: Yes - it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book! (Ruby and Yang stand there) That I will continue to read. (Ruby and Yang continue standing) As soon as you leave!

“Wow… we can’t take hints, can we?” Ruby sheepishly asked to nobody in particular. Unfortunately, Qrow answered her question. “No, no you can’t, and you never could.”

-Yang: (to Ruby) Yeah, this girl's a lost cause.

-Ruby: (to Blake) What's it about?

-Blake: (surprised) Huh?

-Ruby: Your book. Does it have a name?

-Blake: Well... i-it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body.

Ozpin sighed briefly at the premise of the story. It was likely based on his own life at some point or another, it was getting hard to recall when all these stories about him were made. Honestly, he felt like the literature propped him up a bit too high.

-Yang: (sarcastically) Oh, yeah... That's real lovely!

“It really isn’t” Oz quietly said to himself, making sure that nobody except Qrow could possible hear him as he let out some of his frustration. The soul merger was never pleasant for the poor man that Oz unfortunately was chosen to inhabit next.

-Ruby: I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!

-Blake: (laughing a little) And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?

-Ruby: Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!

-Blake: That's... very ambitious for a child. (her smile turns into a frown) Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale.

“Yeah, it’s way more of an action thriller in reality.” Jaune was definitely one of the more media adept members of the audience. He had always compared his adventures alongside his team and Team RWBY to that of a sort of action television series. Lo and behold, an action tv show of them existed.

“Mrs Belladonna has a point. Reality may be a bit fantastical at times but that does not mean that it’s always as linear and imaginative as the stories.” Ozpin also spoke up, commenting more on Blake’s meaning instead of her choice in genre.

-Ruby: Well, that's why we're here! To make it better.

-Yang: Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister! (hugs Ruby into the air)

-Ruby: (kicking out) Cut it out! (the forced sisterly bonding evolves into a dust cloud of fighting limbs and flying stars)

“That looks a lot more cartoony than it should.” Yang was a bit confused as to why the drawn on effects were necessary.

-Blake: (laughing slightly) Well, Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure to ha-

-Weiss: (storming onto the scene in her own pajamas as Ruby traps Yang's leg) What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?

-Weiss and Yang: (at the sight of each other) Oh, not you again!

“And the ice queen spoils our fun.” Yang continued to be a bit annoyed by seeing past Weiss again. Weiss herself continued to be embarrassed at how much of a jerk she used to be.

-Ruby: Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!

-Weiss: Oh, now you're on my side!

-Ruby: I was always on your side!

-Yang: Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!

-Weiss: She's a hazard to my health!

-Blake, who rolls her eyes at the fight, simply closes her book, reaches over to grab her candle, and blows it out, enveloping the scene in black.

“Ugh, enough of this slice of life stuff, gimme some pulse-pounding action already.” Nora continued to desire some serious excitement from the series. Down the row, Yang and Ruby both nodded in agreement.

“Maybe the next episode will be more exciting. Just calm down Nora.” Ren attempted to keep his partner from going crazy. “Ugh, it better be, cause this is getting kinda boring.”

Chapter Text

“Alright, next episode, let’s see something cool this time around.” Nora continued to make her desire for some action very vocal. Ren just sat back and continued to be exhausted by his partner’s constant energy.

“Honestly, I’m with Nora. We know all this stuff, we lived through it. If they’re gonna make a series about our lives, focus on the cool fighting stuff.” Yang couldn’t help but make her agreement known. Unlike Ren, Blake was much less tired of her partner’s constant thirst for action. She instead took her adventurous enthusiasm in stride, finding it endearing instead of exhausting.

“Alright, let’s start the episode already, we can’t see any action if we don’t watch the show.” Ruby just wanted to get on with it so she could see herself on the screen again. Yeah, she also wanted to see some action, but the novelty of watching herself on TV was enough for her.

As most of the audience continued to either vocally demand action or grow exasperated at the constant demands for action, the next episode finally began.

-The episode begins with a character's eyes wearily opening and closing before waking up fully and seeing Nora Valkyrie fill their view.

-Nora: Wake up, lazy butt! (dashes to the side)

-Lie Ren gets up with a groan as Nora hounds him.

“AHA! Finally, we make our grand entrance!” Nora was excited to see herself and Ren (mostly Ren) finally arrive in the series. Ren was likewise pleased to see himself and Nora (mostly Nora) debut as well.

Jaune and Pyrrha were both also glad that their friends have finally been put into the show, having silently wondered where they were up until this point.

-Nora: (singing) It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! It's morning!

-Ren sighs again and the scene changes to him brushing his teeth in the restroom while Nora continues to talk.

-Nora: I can't believe we've been at Beacon for a full twenty-four hours! Not that I thought we'd get kicked out or anything, I mean, you're the perfect student and I'm... well, I'm me! But it's just crazy, you know?

Most of the audience felt a bit sorry for Ren having to put up with Nora’s constant unrelenting energy. Nobody really knew how he was able to survive for so long together with her. Ren occasionally asked himself this question, but even though he never really had a proper answer, he didn’t really care. Even if he doesn’t know how he survived so long with Nora, he doesn’t regret even a minute of their time together.

-The scene changes to the ballroom, where the two are readying themselves. Nora is brushing her hair and still chattering while Ren is tightening the strings on his sleeping bag.

-Nora: We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not "together-together..." Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?

Yang almost immediately speaks after those last few lines. “Wow. And you call my flirting bad?” Nora is briefly caught off guard by Yang’s reversal of her earlier tease. She briefly turns to Ren, but notices no change in his demeanor, clearly only thinking of Yang’s remark as a fun little comeback against her own jab at Yang’s flirting skills.

After the heat in her face finally dies down, Nora realizes an opening to counter Yang’s counter. “So you admit it was flirting?”

Yang was not expecting that rebuttal. “N-No, I-I never said that, I was just, I-I-“ She quickly turned to Nora to try and defend herself, and did a very poor job of it.

Nora was about to continue, before she felt Ren place a hand on her shoulder. “Nora, let’s just keep watching the episode.” Nora just sighed and turned back to the screen. Meanwhile, Yang was about as red as a tomato and trying her hardest to look anywhere other than towards Blake.

-The scene changes again as the two are in the middle of eating their breakfast, Nora having a pancake hanging from her mouth as she is still talking.

-Nora: (muffled through her food) Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together! (slurps up the rest of her pancake) Oohhhh! We should come up with some sort of plan, to make sure we end up on the same team together! What if we bribe the headmaster? No, that won't work. He has the school.

Oooooooooh no, Nora did not want that line to be in the video. “Mrs Valkyrie.” Ozpin’s calm voice startled her more than anything else in recent memory. “Bribery of an official for the Vale education system is a serious offense. I suggest you watch what comes out of your mouth next time.”

“W-will do professor.” Nora responded without even turning back towards him.

-The scene changes again as the two are readying themselves in the locker room, Ren loading StormFlower and Nora still talking.

-Nora: I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal! (gasps) A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?

-Ren: (finally replying) Nora?

-Nora: Yes, Ren?

-Ren: (sheathing his weapons in his sleeves) I don't think sloths make a lot of noise.

“Y’know… he has a point. I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard what a sloth sounds like.” Jaune had to agree with Ren, sloths were never very vocal. Though to be fair, Jaune hasn’t really seen many sloths in his life.

Farther down the row, Penny spoke up in response to him. “A sloth usually makes a noise that sounds similar to an exhausted cry from an adolescent.”

“Ah… well ok then.” Jaune wasn’t really expecting that to be the answer. To be fair, he wasn’t really expecting to get an answer in the first place, apparently Penny just knew a lot about animals.

-Nora: (thinks about this for a moment) That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!

-Ren: (smiling and shutting his locker) Come on Nora, let's go.

-Nora: Not "together-together..." (giggles)

-Ren heads out while a skipping Nora follows, passing Ruby and Yang as they are busy readying themselves.

“I swear, those two are more glued at the hip than James and Glynda were during the Vytal Feativals, eh Oz?” Qrow chuckled a bit and turned towards Ozpin. “Yes, they are rather close. It’s good that they wound up as partners, working with somebody you get along well with only improves your teamwork.” Qrow just sighed as he assumed the joke went right over Oz’s head. In reality, it didn’t, he just didn’t care to discuss the love lives of his students.

-Ruby: Wonder what those two are so worked up about?

-Yang: Oh, who knows? So, you seem awfully chipper this morning!

-Ruby: Yep! No more awkward small talk or "getting-to-know-you" stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking. (strokes Crescent Rose as she sighs happily)

Most of the audience was a bit… unnerved, at Ruby’s rather… “unusual” way of handling her weapon. Yang and Qrow were both very used to it by this point, but the others were all still very perplexed why she treated that scythe like it was a living child.

Well, everybody except Penny, she was glad that Ruby took so much pride in her greatest feat of engineering genius.

-Yang: Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together.

-Ruby: (sighs in frustration) You sound like Dad! (shoves her weapon into the locker) Okay, first of all: What does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!

Qrow shook his head and sighed a bit before speaking to Ruby. “Kiddo, you’re gonna need a lot more than some calcium to really “grow up”. It’s not about how big and tall you are.” Ruby would’ve usually tried to clap back at her uncle, but after everything they’ve been through this past school year, she couldn’t really refute him.

-Yang: But what about when we form teams?

-Ruby: (suddenly nervous) Um, I don't know, I... I'll just be on your team or something...

-Yang: (Bringing her hair around her shoulder and stroking it) Maybe you should try being on someone else's team?

-Ruby: My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?

“Hah! She wanted to be on Blake’s team more than your team.” Nora again tried to poke a little fun at Yang’s blatant feelings. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to appreciate that joke. Ruby and Yang both turned to Nora with glares. “Nora, not cool.” Ruby sounded rather unenthused by Nora’s attempt at “comedy”.

“Jeez, learn to take a joke. I didn’t mean it, I was just… n-nevermind, sorry.” She wanted to defend herself at first, but a bit of thought gave her more of a realization about how what she said probably hurt Ruby a bit.

-Yang: What? No! Of course I do! I just thought... I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!

-Ruby: What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely-

-Jaune: Ridiculous! (suddenly walking in between the sisters, holding a map and looking lost) There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today?

“Well if that wasn’t perfect timing, I dunno what is.” Jaune chuckled a bit at how perfectly his own dialogue began after Ruby’s. “Yes, that was rather comedically timed.” Pyrrha also found herself chuckling a bit at how perfectly the dialogue lined up.

-Jaune passes Weiss and Pyrrha Nikos as they ready themselves at their lockers.

-Weiss: So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well-known individual such as yourself!

-Pyrrha: Hmm... I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may.

-Weiss: Well... I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together.

-Pyrrha: Well, that sounds grand!

-Weiss: Great!

“Weiss. You seem rather excited to be on a team with Mrs Nikos. Is there-“ Winter attempted to tease her sister a bit, but was cut off when Weiss raised a finger in her direction. “Winter, outing me for formerly having a crush on Pyrrha is as surprising as outing somebody for breathing oxygen. EVERYONE who likes girls likes Pyrrha.”

Pyrrha just turned to Weiss, with a confused look. Weiss noticed her gaze, and turned to speak to her. “Pyrrha, there’s probably only three people in this room other than the adults that haven’t had some degree of feelings for you.” Pyrrha just sat back, a bit shocked by the revelation she was just given.

-The background disappears into a thundercloud as Weiss adopts a scheming pose and manic smile in her head.

-Weiss: This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be celebrities! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!

That got a chuckle from most of the audience, everyone finding Weiss’ true motivation a bit humorous. Weiss herself just grew red with embarrassment as the others saw the scene. Winter sighed exasperatedly as she began to bury her face in her palm.

-Jaune: (coming between them and interrupting Weiss' evil train of thought) You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you.

-Weiss: (irritated) You again?

-Pyrrha: (hurriedly letting herself be seen) Nice to meet you, Jaune!

-Jaune: Yeah, yeah. (pushes Pyrrha aside and talks to Weiss, posing slightly) So, Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day.

Now the laughter fell towards Jaune’s horrid attempts at flirting with Weiss. Weiss herself was just happy that the focus was no longer on her. Pyrrha was… mildly upset at the recollection of Jaune’s former feelings for Weiss.

From the back row, Winter’s face contorted from one of disappointment to one of rage. She immediately turned her gaze towards Jaune, giving him the most horrid death glare anyone in the room had ever seen. Jaune could swear that he could feel a slight burning on the back of his head.

-Weiss: Oh, you've got to be kidding me!

-Jaune: Don't worry! No need to be embarrassed! So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?

-Pyrrha: (getting Jaune's attention) Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so-

-Jaune: You don't say. (advances on his new target) Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team.

Jaune just continued to die inside at his continued attempts at “flirting” with every female in his general vicinity at the time. Pyrrha found herself getting a bit red in the face at the recollection of Jaune calling her “hot stuff”.

-Weiss: (separating the two) Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?

-Jaune: Not in the slightest, snow angel.

-Weiss: This is Pyrrha.

-Pyrrha: Hello again!

-Weiss: Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum!

-Jaune: Never heard of it.

-Weiss: (scoffs) She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!

-Jaune: The what?

-Weiss: (waving her arms rapidly in anger) She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!

“I’m still surprised THAT is what tipped you off as to who she was.” Weiss smirked towards Jaune as she teased him. Jaune just buried his face into his hands, hoping that the scene would end soon and he wouldn’t continue to watch himself be the most cringeworthy person on Remnant.

-Jaune: (gasping suddenly) That's you?! (as the design of the cereal box in question is seen with Pyrrha's smiling face on it) But they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!

-Pyrrha: Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you.

-Weiss: (appearing as the box design crumbles behind them) So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?

-Jaune: I guess not... Sorry... (hanging his head)

“Well, now I know that I was in the perfect position to ask her to be on my team.” Jaune proudly recalled Pyrrha’s words to him during the Beacon Dance, and took more pride in knowing that him just treating her like a person and not like a goddess was exactly what she needed.

-Pyrrha: Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader!

-Jaune: (immediately brightening back up) D'oh, stop it!

-Weiss: Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!

-Jaune: Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?

Once again, Jaune found himself dying of pure cringe as he continued to watch his former escapades. He also once again found a strange burning sensation in the back of his head.

-Weiss: All right, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help, please?!

-Jaune looks back just in time to see Miló strike him, sending the would-be leader flying off the screen.

-Pyrrha: I'm sorry!

“R-really, I’m-“ Pyrrha attempted to again reiterate her apology to Jaune, but she was cut off when he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Pyrrha, don’t apologize, honestly I would’ve just about died if I had to watch myself do anything else that stupid.”

-An announcement plays on the intercom system.

-Glynda (voice only): Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately.

-Weiss passes Jaune as he hangs from the wall of a locker on her way out. Pyrrha follows her, grabbing her spear and dropping Jaune to the ground.

-Pyrrha: It was nice meeting you!

-Jaune: (slumping against the locker) Likewise...

-Yang: (as she and Ruby approach) Having some trouble there, lady-killer?

-Jaune: I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong? (accepts Ruby's offered hand and uses her to lift himself back up)

“He probably also left out the “don’t be a dumbass about it” part, cause I’m gonna be honest, you were being a total dumbass about it.” Yang didn’t even try and hide how stupid she thought Jaune’s poor attempt at flirting was. Jaune just sank back into his chair, defeated and dying on the inside.

-Yang: "Snow Angel" probably wasn't the best start.

-Ruby: Come on, Jaune, let's go.

-Ruby leads Jaune out of the locker room by supporting him and his damaged self-esteem

-The scene shifts to the Beacon Cliff, overlooking a forest, where several students — some old, some new, and some unseen — are standing on silver tiles in front of a mug-holding Professor Ozpin and Glynda with her tablet.

-Ozpin: For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest.

-Glynda: Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today.

“Glad to see that hasn’t changed since we got out.” Qrow had some very fond memories of his own entrance exam. He could’ve done without being shot through the air, but if he wasn’t then he might not have been partnered up with Summer. Honestly he kinda missed how much she used to geek out over his Scythe back in the early days of Team STRQ.

-Ruby: What? Ohhh...

-Ozpin: These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well.

-Ruby: (groaning)

-Ozpin: That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years.

-Ruby: (the shocked expression mirrors her world cracking like glass and falling apart) Whaaaat?!

“Ah relax kiddo, all’s well that ends well. Everything worked out for you.” Qrow attempted to try and lower Ruby’s previous concerns about the process. “Yeah, but like… it might now have.” She was not so eager to accept his words.

-Nora: (to Ren) See? I told you-!

-Ozpin: After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die.

-Jaune laughs nervously and then gulps loudly.

-Ozpin: You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?

-Jaune: (raising his hand) Yeah, um, sir?

-Ozpin: Good! Now, take your positions.

“Guess that hasn’t changed either, eh Oz?” Qrow turned to Ozpin with a bit of an annoyed look. “Qrow, if we are to train the next generation of warriors, we must make sure they know how to act in a tense situation with little information.” Qrow just sighed at Oz’s reply and sat back down. Next to him, Winter found her ire now directed at Ozpin for putting her sister in such a dangerous situation.

-Everyone strikes a pose on their tile. Nora crouches low, Ren wields his weapons, Yang raises her fists, Ruby readies her body, and Jaune is still raising his hand.

-Jaune: Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. (he misses the tile under Weiss rising up into a springboard, rocketing into the air and over the forest, as the platforms activate down the line) So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?

-Ozpin: No. You will be falling.

“Y’know, apparently my sister had to fish your dad out of a tree when they landed.” Qrow spoke to his Nieces, trying to try and get a laugh out of them. It worked on Ruby, but Yang, not so much. Qrow realized that bringing up Raven to her was probably not a great idea.

-Jaune: (missing more students being thrown) Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?

-Ozpin: No. You will be using your own "landing strategy."

-Jaune: (still not seeing an excited Nora and Ren getting launched) Uh-huh... Yeah.

-At her turn, Yang winks at her younger sister, puts on a pair of aviators, and flies off with a "Woo-hoooooooo!" a second before Ruby joins her.

Yang’s mood improved a bit at the sight of herself being cool. She found herself leaning to her right for comfort to try and kick out all her thoughts about Raven. Blake wasn’t expecting the sudden weight of Yang’s head on her shoulder, but she gladly let her continue resting on her.

-Jaune: So, what exactly is a landing strategYYY!...

-He asks this part just when he finally has to get hurled with the cloud of students now making their way down into the forest below under the eyes of the teachers. Ozpin, for his part, simply takes a sip of his drink before the scene goes black and the credits roll.

“Alright, now that the boring stuff is done, we can finally get to the entrance exams and watch ourselves kick some ass.” Nora grew excited to see just how much cool stuff from the entrance exam would be shown. She really hoped they showed her riding an Ursa, she had a lot of fun with that.

“Hell yeah, next episode and we finally get into the real meat of things.” Yang was likewise excited, hoping to see some serious action for the first time since the trailers.

And see some action she would… eventually.