There Is No Way My Boyfriend Is The Protagonist's Rival! [RWBY AU] [Fix It Fic World] [Ruby PoV] - Chapter 2

It had been a very exhausting week, though for once, it wasn’t because she had spent too much time playing around with her friends in some random place, nor was it because she had too many sleepless nights binge-reading HunterX or any other Mistralian comic.

She still did the latter from time to time though, but most of the exhaustion came from all the training she did, all just so she could increase her odds against Beacon’s famous abysmal passing rate.

That wasn’t counting the time she spent studying many other difficult theoretical subjects, such as Grimm Biology, Combat Diction, and Smoke Tracking – the most boring part of being a Huntress.

Thankfully, the tedious reading didn’t take up too much of her time.

Aside from physical training and theory studying, she also spent many hours training her Semblance, whether by improving the speed of her movement, reducing the Aura required to use it, or increasing the number of rose petals she could split into, which was currently four at most. But if she trained hard enough, she believed she could split into five by the time Beacon’s entrance exam began.

Uncle Qrow was very helpful in that regard, making time in his schedule to assist her by keeping track of her speed. That, and also acting as her sort-of babysitter – oftentimes, she would overuse her semblance until both her Aura and stamina were depleted, causing her to collapse from exhaustion. When that happened, Uncle Qrow would bring her back, though recently, due to how often it occurred, she could now continue to fight or move after pushing herself to the brink, albeit barely, instead of flopping down to the ground, defenseless to all attack.

So, alongside increasing her Semblance’s speed, she was also able to improve her stamina and Aura capacity – two areas she was quite weak in.

She wasn’t even a quarter as fast, strong, or durable as her big sister Yang, nor Uncle Qrow or Dad, but she was one of the best Huntresses-in-training in her year. That had to count for something.

Just like Uncle Qrow and Dad often said, rather than rushing to improve herself in a single area, it was better to focus on what she lacked and train in those areas, so she wouldn’t have any glaring weaknesses that could be exploited.

Ah, crap! She was daydreaming again!

She was in the middle of training too!

Ruby took a deep breath and surveyed her surroundings, mentally mapping all the training dummies placed randomly around her.

The dummies she used for training were makeshift ones she had crafted using wood, clay, and scrap metal found in trash bins. She didn’t see a good reason to buy Atlas-manufactured dummies – the ones that could move and fight back – even though their prices had fallen significantly since the new version hit the market a few months ago, since she’s doing the kind of training where she need to cut apart the dummies.

Ruby shifted her stance slightly, tensing her leg muscles before taking a couple of deep breaths. She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Crescent Rose. She had just done some maintenance on her beloved weapon this morning, so it should still be in peak condition.

She instantly opened her eyes and pulled the trigger. The first shot destroyed the first dummy. Using the strong recoil from that shot to her full advantage, she let her body relax as the kickback propelled her towards the second dummy. As she neared it, she spun her scythe around herself, cutting through the second dummy and another one right next to it.

Just as the third dummy turned to bits, Ruby fired again, rocketing herself at an even faster speed towards the toughest dummies she’d made from reinforced steel. Harnessing her momentum, she cleaved one in half while still airborne.

Then, using the tip of her scythe to stop herself, Ruby landed with a soft spin. When it was all done, she relaxed her body and let out a sigh. A yawn threatened to escape her mouth, but she held it back. Instead, she turned her head, scanning the area to ensure she had sliced through every target.

Yep, all’s gone.

A big success.

Ruby couldn’t contain the smile forming on her lips, and she sat on the ground, morphing Crescent Rose into its more compact form before hugging it tightly and laying down.

As her eyes looked toward the moving clouds high in the sky, she couldn’t help the widening grin that crept across her face.

Soon, she was going to achieve her dream.

Her musings came to an end by a long whistle that caught her attention. “Oi, Rubes! You done yet?!”

Yang, now wearing a t-shirt with ‘The Achieve’ men poster on the front, a jacket draped over her shoulder, approached her with a grin. She stopped in front of a dummy, playfully kicking it aside, and flashed a knowing smirk. “Still, that’s impressive for someone your age. It’s a true ‘slice’ of brilliance!”

Ruby rolled her eyes at her big sister’s pun, but maintained her smile nevertheless. “Thanks, Yang.”

Her blonde-haired sis kept grinning as she walked, whistling all the way, and extended an open hand. When she was close enough, Ruby set Crescent Rose aside and took the open hand.

Sometimes, when Uncle Qrow was busy or had to cancel watching over here to do some ‘top hush hush secret mission’–Uncle Qrow Words, not her, he left the matter of watching over her training to Yang. Though, unlike her uncle, her big sis insisted on training her with a more practical approach.

“Up you go!” Yang released her hand. “Feel good enough for a spar?”

Yang’s ‘practical teaching’ were constant sparring matches, which, in truth, she felt was just an excuse for her big sis to beat the living daylights out of her. Even with Crescent Rose and her semblance, she could barely last more than ten seconds against Yang.

Ruby forced a smile and shook her head. “Pass.”

She liked sparring as much as her sis, but the memory of last week’s match was still too fresh.

Well, it was more of a beat-down than a match. From the moment Yang said “Go,” despite using her semblance at full power, while her big sis handicapped herself by only using her left hand, she never landed a single hit. Yang just kept launching punches one after another until her Aura broke.

That match didn’t even last five seconds!

So, of course, she didn’t want another fight.

At least not so soon.

Yang, for her part, just shrugged her shoulders. “Fine by me. Just don’t forget to take a break before your next round of training.”

Ruby giggled. “Okay~“

Then, she picked up Crescent Rose and started making her way home, but stopped mid-step. She turned her head and asked, “Say, why have you been helping me train in combat so much? Not that I’m complaining, but we’ve focused a lot on fighting lately. I would love some help with my studies too. There are a few subjects I don’t understand.”

“Nah~ you really don’t need that,” Yang waved her hand dismissively.

Then, just as her sister was about to walk with her, she stopped mid-track, a frown appearing on her face.

After a few minutes, she actually waved a hand in front of Yang’s face to snap her out of her stupor.

Yang swiveled her head left and right again, then beckoned her closer. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she leaned in and whispered, “Pretend you don’t know any of this, but 90% of this year’s entrance exam is about combat. The theoretical side is the other 10%, mostly just a formality.”

“Ah, really?” Ruby whispered back.

“Yep, but don’t tell anyone you heard it from me, or I’ll be in big trouble.”

“Ummm…what? I think I got something stuck in my ear. Yang, did you just say something?” she asked with an innocent smile.

Yang let out a short laugh and patted her back. “Nope, must have been the wind. Oh, right, I almost forgot.” She quickly pulled out her Scroll. “I have some important training videos for you. Check them out later.”

She tapped her Scroll a few times, and Ruby felt vibrations from her pocket as files came through. Pulling out her own Scroll, she saw Yang had sent a bunch of videos.

“What are these about?” Ruby Scrolled through titles like ‘How to Fight Clone-Based Semblances as a Melee Fighter.’ Curiosity piqued, she clicked on that one and it started playing, revealing a black-haired cat-eared girl facing a blond man in military-esque armor with a giant shield. When a black-haired man standing by the side shouted the word “Start!”, the faunus girl multiplied into a dozen clones surrounding him.

“My sparring videos from a few months ago. Consider it extra help,” Yang winked.

Ruby nodded, pausing the video and putting her Scroll back to sleep mode and sending it back to her pocket.

“Anyway, let’s go home. I’m sure dad is cooking something delicious” Her sister put an arm around her, pulling her close as they made their way home.

Since Semblances were exclusive abilities tied to each individual, Ruby had to get creative with different training methods to push her Petal Burst to its limits. And for that, she first needed a deep understanding of her current limitations – something she’d become quite familiar with over her years at Signal Academy.

Like how she lacked total control, unable to change directions mid-burst. That lack of maneuverability was why she always triple-checked to ensure her trajectory was clear before activating her semblance. Even a stray tree branch could spell disaster if she couldn’t adjust course.

Or the embarrassingly limited vertical height she could achieve with her semblance, and how little excess weight she could carry along at maximum speed. She would just fall flat on her face if she exceeded that.

Which was the reason she now found herself standing on a mossy rock next to a pond. Her silver eyes were locked onto a wooden box situated across the water’s edge.

She wanted – no, needed – to learn how to alter her direction mid-flight, because her big sister Yang had drilled into her head that predictable movement left her defenseless against experienced opponents. Grimm were too dumb to anticipate her plentiful feints and spins. But other hunters or students could quickly analyze and learn her patterns. An abrupt 90-degree turn mid-burst might not be possible yet, but even a slight angled adjustment would be a huge step forward. Like not landing squarely on the box itself, but next to it.

Taking a few breaths, she activated her semblance, and in a burst of speed, crossed the body of water, reappearing on the other side – right on top of the wooden box. She frowned and tried again, but this time landed atop the mossy rock, a trail of rose petals peacefully floating on the water’s surface.

Changing direction mid-flight was actually much easier said than done.

Of course, it would be simpler to train over longer distances, but real fights weren’t like that. She had to learn how to adjust course across short bursts.

So she tried again.

And again.

And again.

Getting the same infuriating result each time, turning the once-serene pond a shade of red with scattered petals.

“Okay, one more time,” she muttered, activating her semblance and putting every ounce of focus on trying to change trajectory.

In that split second, she finally managed to alter her course.

Except it was in the wrong direction entirely.

The next thing Ruby knew, she was submerged at the bottom of the pond. She thrashed her limbs, quickly propelling herself back to the surface. Gasping for air, she sloshed her way out of the water, drenched from head to toe with rose petals sticking to her clothes and hair.

This was going to be a pain to clean, she could already tell.

Thankfully, she was only carrying her scroll, which was waterproof.

But it wouldn’t hurt if she checked to make sure her Scroll was okay. After squeezing some water out of her clothes, she pulled out her scroll and turned it on, noticing a pending message notification.

Maybe it was dad telling her to come in for lunch. Or her friends wanting to chat.

Unable to contain her curiosity, she unlocked the Scroll to check.

And it was neither of those things, considering it’s said that the sender of the said message notification is [Beacon Academy Administrator].

Ah crap, did her transcript not good enough?

After taking a deep breath, Ruby tapped the message icon with a feeling of dread. Her mind already conjured dozens of possible bad scenarios, but the moment she saw the word ‘acceptance letter’, a smile blossomed on her face.

“YES!”

It might be marked ‘conditional’–Which means she still needs to pass the entrance exam first – but that didn’t matter, she had been accepted! Nothing else was important. She had to tell her family right away!

Ruby took off in a burst of petals, using her semblance to race home as quickly as possible, very likely leaving a rosy trail in her wake. And when she’s at the entrance to her home, she practically slammed the door open.

“Wha-! Ruby?!” Her dad jumped in surprise, nearly dropping the broom in his hands.

“DAD, I DID IT!” She pulled him into the tightest hug. “Look! Look! I got accepted!”

She waved her scroll in front of her dad’s eyes. The message from Beacon is still in it. It only took him for a moment to see what’s written in it, before letting out a jovial laugh and giving her another hugfest.

“What’s with all the noise…” A drowsy Uncle Qrow appeared, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“UNCLE QROW!” Of course she wouldn’t forget him, tackling him with an equally fierce hug. “Look! I got accepted into Beacon!”

“Whoa! easy there…” Qrow blinked a few times, taking in her drenched appearance. “Did you take a swim with your clothes on?”

Ruby just giggled, squeezing him even tighter.

Patch may be small and a bit behind the times in many aspects, but there were other things the big cities simply couldn’t match. And Ruby could appreciate one of those reasons with her own eyes.

Standing at the edge of the cliff, looking out over the vast forest below, she let the wind caress her hair and listened to the peaceful silence.

“You truly have the best view of our home, mom.”

She carefully placed the bouquet of white and red roses in front of the memorial gravestone. The carved rose emblems were so beautifully rendered that if not for their gray color, she might have mistaken them for real flowers.

“I know this is unexpected, but a lot happened and I couldn’t wait to tell you!”

Ruby slowly took a seat cross-legged on the ground, beaming. “Your daughter got her Beacon acceptance letter!”

She proudly showed the digital letter on her scroll before setting it on her lap.

“Mom… I’m gonna be honest…”

“I’m scared.”

“From what Uncle Qrow and Big Sis said, Beacon has changed so much over the years. Yang told me all these crazy exams and tests you have to go through now–don’t tell anyone I got it from Yang. So I’ve been training really hard not to disappoint. And now I got my conditional acceptance letter! I’m one step closer to becoming a huntress….”

Rubbing the back of her neck, she let out a nervous laugh. “I mean, I still have the entrance exam to worry about, but Yang and Uncle Qrow have been helping me a ton. So I’m sure it’ll be… probably be fine. Ugh, okay I’m a little nervous because my friends were so mean about it! Can you believe they kept going on about the huge numbers of applicants and how few actually pass the exams?”

Even as she complained, a smile played on her lips. “But difficult or not, I’ll do my absolute best, I promise you that. And if it’s not enough, then I’ll just train harder so I can become as amazing as you were and protect everyone, just like you did.”

Ruby went quiet for a moment, feeling the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves behind her. Looking up at the sky, she thought back on fond memories of the past.

“I miss you, Mom. Every single day. And everyone does too. But I know you’re with me in everything I do. Thank you for always believing in me.”

With a deep breath, she stood and brushed some stray grass off her skirt. Giving the gravestone one last look, Ruby turned and left the cliff, her heart a little lighter.

Well, this was it. No turning back now.

Ruby turned and gave one last wave to Uncle Qrow, Dad, and Zwei, who was letting out a series of excited barks and furiously wagging his tail to see her off.

As the airship’s engines began to whir louder, preparing for lift-off, Ruby reluctantly headed inside. But she stopped abruptly as something small hovered right in front of her face, making her flinch back in surprise and it was flashing a red light.

Blinking a few times, she realized it was one of those new security robots she had read about.

“Greetings, potential student. Please present your conditional acceptance letter,” requested a synthesized voice.

“Uhh, sure thing!” Ruby quickly pulled out her scroll and displayed the acceptance email for the hovering drone to scan, and after a couple of seconds, the flashing light turned from red to green.

“Thank you. Please proceed with caution. We will be departing shortly,” the drone instructed before zipping away down the corridor.

Ruby watched it go with an awed smile. She’d read all about all the new cutting-edge robot security forces that Atlas was selling to other kingdoms–Though, from what Uncle Qrow said, Atlas is giving it for free to the other four Huntsman Academy – but it was still strange and exciting to actually encounter one in person.

As tempting as it was to try getting a closer look, she knew better than to touch or interfere with the drones – that would surely land her in hot water before she even become an official student.

No point in lingering there. She might block others still coming aboard. Ruby quickly walked down the corridor and ascended the stairs to the main lobby, where everyone seemed to be gathered for the best view.

And just as expected, when she reached the lobby floor, it was quite a busy scene, though the sleek décor and panoramic windows gave it an air of sophistication. The students’ candidates were clustered in small groups around the space.

“Hey, no fair! You had the hammer!” a dog faunus playing on his scroll complained loudly, glaring at his friend.

“Excuses, excuses,” the human girl teased, until her grin turned to shock. “Wait, what?!”

Their third friend only grinned wickedly.

Up ahead, Ruby noticed a tall guy proudly showing off his great-sword to a pink-haired rabbit faunus girl. On the surface, it looked like a complex weapon – the geared components suggested it could transform into a sword-and-shield combo with dust capabilities. The faunus, meanwhile, sported a massive warhammer with a propeller assembly on the back.

As intriguing as their choices of weapons were, Ruby shook her head, not wanting to come across as a weirdo for staring too long. Some might think of her as a creep. Trying to find a relatively open spot to wait, she turned and—

“Oops! Sorry, I didn’t see you ther–” Ruby started as she nearly bumped into something knee-high. She blinked at the small droid, with its little digital eyes that flashed to display a soda can icon.

“Greetings. Would you care for a refreshing cola? Or perhaps some chips?” a tiny synthesized voice offered.

“Ah–! No, thank you,” Ruby quickly refused with an awkward wave, still getting used to these service robots, which seemed to be quite a number of them moving around.

The robotic server drifted back slightly, and its tinny voice replied, “Have a safe trip.” The food displayed on its screen changed back to the digital eyes and then the small droid turned and trundled away at a sedate pace until it was stopped by another girl.

Ruby let out a sigh and headed for a relatively uncrowded area with plush-looking seats. She sank into one with an appreciative hum – they were even comfier than they appeared!

Though not entirely alone in this section, to her left, someone was sprawled using multiple seats as an improvised bed, a jacket covering their head. And just a few seats away to her right sat a very tall faunus girl with long blonde hair… and an utterly massive pair of jutted horns atop her head, instantly catching her full attention.

She’d certainly never encountered horns that big before, even among the faunus she knew and had seen in Vale.

Those had to be heavy, right?

Before Ruby could stop herself, the faunus girl turned towards her, a neutral smile on her lips. “May I help you?”

“Eep!” Ruby flinched, cheeks flushing red at being caught gawking so brazenly. “S-sorry! I didn’t mean to stare, I swear!”

The girl’s expression didn’t change as she adjusted a few stray locks of hair. “Don’t worry, I get that a lot.”

Ruby fiddled nervously with her fingers, mind racing to not make this interaction even more awkward than her terrible first impression. This was not how she envisioned things to go and she wasn’t even at Beacon yet!

Think Ruby, think!

“Cool weapons!” Ruby finally blurted out.

The faunus girl raised an eyebrow curiously, then retrieved a sword that had been stowed under her seat. And then another blade from her other side.

And another one, though, this time, the sword looks bigger than the other two.

“I appreciate the compliment, but which weapon did you mean, exactly?” she asked, now holding three different swords.

“You have three?!” Ruby leaned in closer, eyes wide as she examined them. “How does that even work? Wait, I see–- you have two big swords and one broadsword. Do you like… combine them into one even bigger weapon somehow? But the greatswords look pretty simple with no gears or anything compared to that broadsword…”

Rather than explain, the faunus girl smoothly twisted the broadsword, which rapidly transformed into a rifle configuration.

“Ooooh, I get it now!” Ruby nodded enthusiastically, satisfied her initial confusion had been resolved.

The rifle shifted back into its sword form. “An enthusiast in weapons?” the girl observed with a small smile.

“Yep!” Ruby beamed, retrieving her own compacted sweetheart. “Look, I built this baby myself, you know? Well…I had a tiny bit of help from my uncle, but the rest are self-built!”

She deployed Crescent Rose with a flourish, the massive scythe extending to its full, complex glory.

Her new companion raises a fist to her mouth and lets out a chuckle. “A hard worker too? Impressive. Not many can say they built their weapon entirely themselves.”

“Hehehe, thanks!” Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, her weapon morphing back to its compact form. “By the way, is your weapon dust exclusive, or does it have multi-elemental capabilities? And how many rounds of ammunition does it carry? Do you fight with all three weapons at once? Or maybe you have some kind of weapon-combining Semblance that—” She let out an awkward laugh, catching herself. “Oops, sorry, I was getting carried away.”

Ruby cleared her throat. “Ahem. My name is Ruby. Ruby Rose!” She extended her hand. “Pleased to meet you!”

“Mine is Marygold Bright.” The horned girl –Mary!–reached out her hand and grasped hers. Ruby faintly noticed that the skin of the girl’s palm felt rough to the touch. Then, with a gentle smile on her face, Mary shook her hand. “And likewise, Ruby.”

“So!” She settled back excitedly. “What brings you to Beacon, Mary?”

Mary blinked in a visible surprise. “Mary?” she echoed, tilting her head slightly. Her confused tone made Ruby’s heart skip a beat in panic.

Darn it! Did that sound too rude? Did she just accidentally offended her first–potential–friend!?

“—gold! Marygold! My bad! I bit my tongue at the end! Hehehe~ silly me~”

The blonde-haired girl’s golden eyes blinked again slowly, confusion still apparent in her face, but she didn’t push nor question Ruby, instead, she simply leaned back in the plush seats, arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at the ceiling with a weird expression? It was hard to tell. Face reading was never one of her fortes.

After some time, the horned girl looked down again and replied. “Well, to answer your initial question, I was just curious how the best academy in Remnant would be. Perhaps I will learn something new, or reinforce what I already know.” She arched an eyebrow. “What about you?”

“I want to become strong and protect everyone!” She shouted, thumping her fist against her chest.

A faint smile played across Marygold’s lips. “You want to be a hero?” Ruby nodded her head eagerly, a beaming smile on her face.

Mary let out a chuckle and gave another gentle smile. “That’s a noble goal, Ruby.” She gave a solemn nod of approval. “Then I wish you luck in your exams.”

“Hehe, you too.”

A rude snort cut through their conversation. “Ugh, please. The last thing she needs is luck.”

That rude snort piqued her curiosity, causing Ruby to turn her head, only to see the formerly sleeping girl beside her finally stirring. The newcomer had a roguish look with her messy, short brown hair. She wore a sleeveless studded jacket as she rolled her eyes and stretched with an exaggerated yawn.

“Miss Champion here could kick all of our collective ass, if anyone here needs luck, it’s you, shrimp.” The girl shot Ruby a lopsided grin, her tone laced with sarcasm.

Ruby frowned a little at the dismissive tone the rude girl used, but looked back at Marygold, who maintained her polite smile. “I won’t deny or confirm such a statement, but there is no certainty in this world.”

“Ha!” the rude girl barked a laugh. “Me aside, do you really think any of these wimps have any chance against you?” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, and Ruby’s gaze followed to a tall, primly-dressed girl flashing a medal around her neck. “All bark, no bite, I say. All hung up on family names or achievements they got at those lousy place they call combat school.”

“All bark and no bite? You should be more careful with your words, Miss…” she trailed off, realizing neither she nor Ruby knew the rude girl’s name.

“Vernal,” the rude girl supplied with a cocky grin.

“Miss Vernal, the worst mistake one can commit as a fighter is to underestimate their opponents, be they human, faunus, or Grimm.” Marygold paused, then a faint smirk played across her lips. “Who knows, maybe one of those ‘wimps’ could be the reason you didn’t join the academy.”

Vernal’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the comment. “Ha, as if! The only one here who can rob me of my chance is you, and side, Pride of Mistral, how bout we have a go? I’m itching to see if you are as invincible as they say.”

Rather than rising to the bait, Marygold simply closed her eyes and leaned back into the plush seat, arms crossed below her chest. Her body appeared relaxed, as if drifting off to sleep, but Ruby didn’t buy the pretense – she noticed the faint twitching of Marygold’s fingers, a subtle sign that she was more than ready to act in case Vernal tried anything.

Ruby gulped nervously. Despite neither of the girls speaking to each other anymore, she couldn’t mistake the huge, suffocating blanket of awkwardness that enveloped them and the staring contest.

There had to be something to fix this awkward situation.

And that solution came in the shape of another of the robotic servers carrying a tray with a chocolate cake. “Hey look! Chocolate cake!” Ruby shouted, pointing at the delicious-looking pastry.

“Greetings, customer,” the robot server droned. “It appears you are interested in a slice of chocolate cake. How many portions do you wish for?”

“Ummm…one?” Ruby replied, failing to mask the nervous tone still evident in her voice.

“Tsk, I was getting hungry anyway,” Vernal scoffed. “Oi, tin shit, give me five.”

“A chocolate cake? I won’t refuse to purchase one slice.” Marygold said more politely as she took out her Scroll, likely to pay.

Ruby let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, she’d worried the growing tensions might escalate into an actual fight. But scoring some tasty cake seemed to have diverted potential disaster. Now she just needed to pay for her emergency solver sugary treat.

The server handed them each a slice of chocolate cake on a small plate with a plastic spoon before trundling off in another direction. Ruby didn’t say anything else, instead taking her first bite and savoring the rich flavor as she looked out the window at the passing scenery.

Ah, they had already departed Vale and, by the looks of it, had been flying for quite some time – the city was growing smaller and smaller in the distance as the airship carried them further away.

Surprisingly, the ride became relatively quiet after that. Vernal returned to sleeping once she’d polished off her cake and discarded the plate on the floor, while Marygold simply watched the scenery in silence.

As for Ruby, she pulled out a past volume weapon magazine, an older volume but no less interesting to her eyes, happily immersing herself in the articles and schematics.

Eventually, the airship began its descent and docking procedures. The signal to disembark sounded, and a crowd immediately formed at the exit.

“Finally!” Vernal exclaimed, rousing herself and following the crush of people towards the exit.

Ruby decided to wait a little longer, not eager to get jostled in the melee. Marygold seemed to share the same idea, remaining seated until the mass exodus had thinned out. Only then did they stand and make their way off the airship.

It was just a short walk from the landing pad, but Ruby couldn’t help but gawk when she took her first steps onto the grounds of Beacon Academy. The prestigious school looked even more amazing up close, its towering central spire appearing to scrape the clouds themselves – it maybe even dwarfed even the skyscrapers of Vale!

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Ruby. I hope we meet again as classmates,” Marygold’s gentle voice broke through her awestruck state.

“Good luck, Mary!” Ruby giggled and waved farewell to her new… friend? Oops, she’d slipped and shortened her name again.

But rather than taking offense this time, Marygold simply smiled warmly and continued on her way towards the main academy building where everyone was going.

Ruby watched her go for a moment, then turned to take in the sight of Beacon once more, filled with a sense of breathless possibility.

This was it – the start of her journey to become a badass Huntress!

Ruby grinned, struck by a thought. Of course! She needed to tell her friends that she’d made it to Beacon! Pulling out her scroll, she took a quick selfie, the magnificent central tower looming in the background as proof she’d arrived at the best academy in the world.

With a few taps, she posted the picture to their group chat.

[ I’m finally here girls, wish me luck! ]

It didn’t take long for the replies to start rolling in. Abi was first with a picturesque shot – clearly enjoying the sunny beaches of Menagerie, if the turquoise waters were any indication.

Next came a selfie from Cerise, proudly showing off the latest DustLink model in her hand, tongue stuck out playfully.

[You got it already?] Ruby typed back.

[Yep, turn out, for this term, they are letting us use the student benefit early on, just to make us motivated to pass the entrance exam. ]

[Then you better kept burying your head in book Cerise, Atlas’s not Beacon level, but it’s still up there. ]

[Abi, you are literally playing on a beach right now. Unity is easy, but not that easy. Don’t come crying to us about you not getting accepted. ]

[Ha ha, very funny. ]

Ruby grinned at her friends’ antics, her thumbs poised to respond, when a heavy impact slammed into her back. “Whoa!”

Her Scroll went flying from her hands. Ruby lunged desperately, somehow managing to snatch it back before it could crash to the ground. She clutched it protectively to her chest, letting out a relieved sigh.

“Watch it!” A gruff, completely unapologetic voice barked out.

Oh no, she was not going to let that rude behavior slide! Wheeling around, ready to give the rude person a piece of her mind, she was met with… an empty courtyard behind her.

“… Was that a ghost?”

So much for the auspicious start she’d hoped for. Taking a calming breath, Ruby tucked her scroll safely away and re-centered herself. She refused to let one probably supernatural entity that may or may not be real to ruin this momentous day – she had made it to Beacon, the most prestigious huntsman academy in all of Remnant!