Chapter 1
You know, if you had asked me a few years ago how I thought my life would be like in the future, I could never imagine in my wildest dreams that I'd be swinging around the city wearing tights and beating down bad guys. But I guess it didn't matter anyway, as I always did just plan to follow where the chips fell. I just didn't expect it to play out like this. But honestly? I really can't complain too much. It's definitely more exciting than anything I thought I'd end up doing. Even if it has it's drawbacks, I still love being the Scarlet Spider, because I feel like I'm making a difference, even if it may not seem like it sometimes.
But I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself! How about we actually go over how this all started. My name is Ruby Rose. An average high school girl attending Signal Academy... Except I'm actually not that average, apparently, as I'm two years younger than my sister and I got to start at the same time as her due to my... apparently impressive grades that caught the attention of Zoroaster Ozpin of all people! He's the Headmaster of Signal, former Professor at Beacon Academy, and while looking into my sister whilst reviewing her application for Signal, he found out about me and came to our house to ask, in person, if I'd like to skip my last two years of middle school to attend Signal early. While hesitant at the start, I eventually agreed and so, here I am. That was three years ago. Now I stand in my fourth and final year at Signal alongside my sister and best friends. As for my family, I really only have my sister and uncle. My parents died a long time ago when I was four in an accident. My mom, Summer Rose, was a talented and respected scientist working for the Vale branch of one of, if not THE, biggest tech company in all of Remnant: the Schnee Dust Company. While my dad, Taiyang Xiao Long, was a science teacher at Signal himself, and met Summer at the Schnee Expo held in Vale. My parents were both in my mom's personal lab outside of work somewhere within the city when something went wrong with whatever it was she was working on and it caused the whole lab to explode. Our Uncle Qrow Branwen has been raising us since then, which was rough for all of us given his job as a police detective and his crippling alcoholism. Then there's my sister, Yang Xiao Long, who was actually my half sister if you wanna get technical about it. Qrow being our uncle comes from being the brother of Yang's mom, who Dad met in their college days attending Beacon. But she ran off and left Yang with Dad immediately after recovering from the birth. Dad never said anything about her before he died, and all Uncle Qrow ever said was how they met and that she ran away, even completely disappearing it seems, as he hasn't been able to find her at all since then. The only other thing we know about her is her face from a picture of her and Qrow together in Beacon left in the house, and that her name was Raven Branwen. Of course, Yang saw Summer more as her actual mom given her actually trying to raise her. This revelation about Raven didn't change, but it made her wonder why she left, even if she knew she'd probably never get those answers...
Anyway, we're only halfway into the first month of the new school year and today my class is going on a field trip to tour the Schnee Dust Company, and so you'll notice us all boarding the school bus, chaperoned by our vice headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch, an old companion of Ozpin's, though their past connections before Signal isn't quite clear.
Glynda: "Now students, please stay in an orderly fashion." Surprise, surprise, I end up on the bus last because despite my grades, everyone else looks down on me just because I'm two years younger, even after all these years. Thankfully Yang sticks with me in the line. And we typically sit in the back row with our friends. But as we're walking through the bus, something trips me up and I fall on my face, my glasses falling off mid fall. Then I just hear laughter... from Cardin Winchester, the school bully.
Cardin: "Ha! Looks like those specs do very little for you, huh?" This guy's actually far from a school bully and is just a full on local jerk, and he's been on my case since day one. And every time, the encounter ends in a fight with Yang, starting with her dragging him off of his seat by his shirt up to her face.
Yang: "You just don't learn you're lesson, do you!? How many times have I told you to leave her ALONE!?"
Cardin: "And how many times have I told you to butt out!?" He gives her a shove and they enter a quick staredown!
Glynda: "Students! Break it up now or I'm sending you both back inside to sit in detention until we return!" Yang is just about to argue, most likely about to say 'but he started it!', before someone else interjected first.
???: "Don't bother trying to argue Yang. It'll just come out childish and make it worse like it always does." We turn to the source in the back row, the voice coming from a girl with white hair in a side ponytail sitting next to a Faunus girl with short black hair and cat ears atop her head reading a book. These two are our best friends, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna. Weiss: "Just let him off with a warning for now and deal with him later, I don't want you messing up this trip for us." If her last name wasn't obvious enough, she's the daughter of the SDC's CEO, Jacques Schnee, and the company's heiress since her elder sister left the family to join the Atlas military. Jacques sent her to attend Vale schools to understand foreign independence and cultural understanding for when she took over. My friendship with her is... complicated. When we first met, she actually hated me as I kept rivaling her in academics when I was two years younger, and that Ozpin just let me in early just like that whereas she had to earn her place here. The breaking point that made her change her mind about me was when she learned that my mom worked for them, what happened to her, and that my resolve was to continue her legacy and hopefully finish whatever it is she started. As time went on, she went from not hating me, to respecting me as an equal, and eventually to respecting me as a friend, wanting to actually hang out and I came to help her learn not to be so stuck up and be more true to herself rather than what people expect of her... And as we grew closer, I actually came to develop feelings for her, I was never actually quite that attracted to boys, not to say I don't get along with them, but I just always found girls easier to get together with, unlike Yang who seems to swing both ways. I just never told Weiss 'cause I knew I'd never stand a chance with someone so high profile as her.
Blake: "I'd listen to her if I were you, Yang. Or did you already forget what happens when you don't?" Blake is also a transfer from Kuo Kuana in Menagerie like Weiss is from Atlas, and she has been transferring between schools all her life, starting from Elementary school in Mistral, then Middle school in Vacuo, and now High school here in Vale. She decided to transfer around in foreign schools for similar reasons to Weiss, learning all she can about the world's different cultures for when she grows up to claim her rightful place as Chieftess of Kuo Kuana, as she is the daughter of it's current chieftain. When she started at Signal, she quickly became friends with Yang and they've grown just as close as me and Weiss. Through this, I became friends with her before Weiss and she became like a second sister to me. When Weiss came along, it was rough between them at first due to Blake being a Faunus and Jacques' influence on her belief that all Faunus are filthy scoundrels that shouldn't even have their own nation and should all be working for humans as slaves. But over time, Weiss came to a better understanding of the Faunus and eventually came to see them as equals when getting to know Blake better.
Yang: *sigh*"Fine." She just walks past Cardin towards the back while giving him a look that says 'this isn't over' while Weiss comes over to help me up and towards the back. Once everything's calmed down, and Glynda's made sure everyone's here, we embark for the SDC... the place where it all started.