The Shining Guide
Remnantian Year 875
When Ruby accepted the invitation to attend Beacon two years early, she did not anticipate one thing. The attention. Everyone on the airship to the prestigious academy was loud and asking questions and Ruby felt claustrophobic from it all. So when Yang finally pulled her aside, Ruby felt like she needed to vomit.
“Geez, those people act like no one’s ever moved up a couple of grades before,” Yang grumbled as Ruby sat down on the metal floor and let her ears fall, wincing as she did so, “Come here, sis.”
Ruby snuggled closely into her sister’s side as she sat down next to her, not caring about the looks everyone was throwing their way. Right now, Ruby was just trying to block out all of the background noise. But it wasn’t working.
“Too loud,” Ruby muttered into Yang’s side and Yang sighed in response as she gently stroked her sister’s hair.
“I know. Kinda regretting making us rush here this morning. Dad will probably send us your sound-dampening headphones soon. I’ll text him as soon as we get a signal again,” Yang smiled slightly and Ruby gave a nod at this as she wrapped her tail around Yang to pull her closer.
As this was happening, a girl with black hair and a bow atop it watched the scene in slight confusion and happiness as she looked up from a book. Confused as to how they could be sisters but one did not seem to be a faunus. Happy at their display of sibling comfort and the blonde helping keep the more hearing-sensitive girl calm.
“That’s one plus from being allowed in early. Having someone you’re used to being at your side in a new environment,” The girl thought to herself as she thought back to a time when she might have been able to have the same thing. Not even too long ago. But that was the past now, she had to focus on the present.
“No focusing on him, Blake. Nobody knows you here, you can start new,” Blake thought to herself as she let a frown appear on her face as she flipped through the book she had been reading, “Just focus back on the book. Don’t let this get you stuck in the past.”
As Blake began to once more read her book, her last glimpse of the people around her was a boy who looked as if he was on the verge of puking. She presumed it must just be nerves.
Soon enough, on the television in the airship, a video began to play of an older woman who held a whip at her side and stared forward seriously.
“Who’s that?” Yang whispered to Ruby, and Ruby yawned and tilted her head as she stared up at the screen and her eyes widened as she recognized the woman.
“Hello, and welcome new students to Beacon. I am Glynda Goodwitch, the deputy headmistress of Beacon and the combat instructor for first-year students,” The video answered for Yang, who just responded with a quiet oh as the video continued onward, “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. For now, you may believe yourselves too weak and lacking. By the end of your tenure at this school, we will make sure to prepare you to hunt, to protect, but most importantly… to survive. That is all. The airship will be landing soon. Be sure to make your way to the auditorium for our welcoming speech and tomorrow shall be your initiation. Welcome all and good luck.”
“Well she seems cool,” Yang smirked as she gave her sister a noogie, “I’m glad the huntress who saved your ass seems cool at least.”
“Yaaannggg! You know Tai doesn’t want you swearing in public,” Ruby whined as she saw a boy vomiting into a garbage can nearby, “Also Uncle Qrow would say…”
“Yeah yeah, save the swears for when necessary…” Yang repeated back to her and then snorted as she added, “And when people piss you off.”
“Do you want me to call Tai and Uncle Qrow about that bar you destroyed two weeks ago then?” Ruby scolded and Yang growled in response.
“If you do, then I’ll tell them that you have a girlfriend you met through social media,” Yang taunted and Ruby’s cheek brightened red as she shook her head rapidly.
“Nope nope, fine. You promised to keep Penny and my relationship a secret until she can visit at the Vytal Festival,” Ruby almost snarled and Yang just let out a laugh as the airship landed and they began to follow the crowd off of it.
“Rubes, you know dad would be fine with it. Qrow would just interrogate her for a few… days,” Yang teased lightly and put a hand on her shoulder, “But I get it sis. It’s your thing after all. Imma still swear though. Nobody can stop me!”
With that, Yang ran off towards the school with a cackle, leaving the other new students to stare at the two of them in disbelief and confusion. Ruby’s shoulders just slumped as she realized she had been left alone.
“Is it bad that I already wanna nap again?” Ruby whispered to herself as she sidestepped the crowd so she could take in the view of the school. The massive building gave an imposing view, dominating its height over the comparably small students in its size. As if Beacon Academy was made as a tower to the heavens above. Ruby however had a different thought.
“Whoever built this was definitely overcompensating,” Ruby muttered to herself, and behind her rang a snort of amusement. Ruby twirled around and saw that behind her was an orange-haired girl with a wide smile that exuded an energy Ruby had come to associate with Yang, as well as a skinnier, dark-haired boy with a strand of pink hair in his bangs.
“Heh, they were overcompensating,” The orange-haired girl snorted in laughter at Ruby’s small joke and shook the shoulder of the boy with her, “C’mon Ren, you gotta laugh at that one at least.”
“Nora… you should introduce yourself to someone first before you take over a topic they had brought up,” Ren said with a sigh, indicating to Ruby that he was very used to her behavior.
“Oh yeah right, got it Ren. You’re absolutely right though! Hi, I’m Nora Valkyrie! Nice to meet you!” Nora loudly introduced herself with an outstretched hand and Ruby hesitantly shook it.
“Hi… I’m Ruby Rose…” Ruby awkwardly introduced herself, tugging at her cloak as if it would give her more courage to talk.
“This is Lie Ren, just call him Ren though,” Nora pulled Ren over into her embrace and held him tightly, “He’s not too talkative. He’s super cool though! The coolest!”
“Uh nice to meet you, Ren,” Ruby greeted and looked away nervously. To this, Ren shook his head at the two of them.
“Nora, I think you’re making her anxious,” Ren lightly scolded his friend, who slumped and let go of Ruby, “Please forgive her. She means well, but she doesn’t always understand boundaries.”
“I… it’s okay. It was just the noise combined with the sudden touch that made me, uh… hesitant?” Ruby responded unsurely, trying her best not to sound rude at all.
“I’m sorry!” Nora apologized while shaking her head rapidly but stopped as Ren put a hand on her shoulder.
“We should be heading to the auditorium. Do you want to walk with us?” Ren asked politely and Ruby waved her hands in front of her.
“No, that's alright. I just need a minute to myself. Thank you though,” Ruby declined and Ren gave a small nod as Nora bounced on her heels. Ren began to walk beside her and Nora was hopping excitedly towards the school.
“They seem nice,” Ruby thought to herself as she took in a breath of the air and sighed as she lost herself further into her thoughts, “Though… even if they were nice I still feel out of place. I still had two more years left at Signal out of my planned six years of learning there. I wonder what Ma and Mama would think of this.”
“Hey! Watch it!” A snooty voice snapped Ruby out of her thoughts just in time for her to see a white-haired girl with a visible scar across one of her eyes looking at her with contempt written clearly on her face, “Honestly, do you have no manners? I mean really, standing in the way and not hearing anything around you. Who do you think you are?!”
“I uh…” Ruby tilted her head and let her ears flop to the side with her, “Didn’t realize I was on the path? I thought I was out of the way.”
“Hmph, no matter. Just move aside and never talk to me again and we’ll have no further issues,” The girl stuck her nose up as if to say to Ruby that the wolf Faunus was beneath this girl. Ruby blinked for a minute, feeling like the girl felt familiar for some reason.
“Sorry…” Ruby looked away as she backed away from the girl, who just crossed her arms in response.
“At least someone like you has some manners,” The girl gave what Ruby perceived as a backhanded compliment and Ruby just blinked at her as the girl continued, “At least you don’t look like a farmgirl.”
“Uh, thanks?” Ruby responded in her confusion, “But who said I worked on a farm? I wake up too late to do that.”
“Hmph. Well, you can be late if you wish, farmgirl, but I won’t be,” The bratty girl stomped off with a scowl written all over her face from the interaction, completely ignoring Ruby’s words of protest at the title forced upon her. Close behind her was a butler helping with her luggage and belongings.
“Great, less than an hour and someone hates me,” Ruby bemoaned, letting herself fall to the ground to stare up at the sky, “Welcome to Beacon, I guess.”
“Uh, do you need help getting up?” A boy’s voice asks from above her and she blinks as she tilts her head slightly backward to see a blonde boy with a sword in his sheath, who looked to be wearing armor over a… hoodie? Odd choice, but Ruby had seen odder.
“Gimme a sec,” Ruby proceeded to jump up in place, outstretching her arms to keep her balance as her tail accidentally hit the blonde. Ruby winced at this but the boy didn’t seem upset, but her next words did lower his mood, “Hey weren’t you the guy I heard vomiting? You still stink a bit.”
“Aww man. Really? Guess I’ll have to shower tonight,” The boy’s shoulders slumped in slight sadness, “But, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jaune.”
“Nice to meetcha Jaune. I’m Ruby,” Ruby greeted back as they both began to walk together toward the school, “So uh… motion sickness? Or like food poisoning? I didn’t see anyone else vomit.”
“Hey, motion sickness is more common than people think!” Jaune defended and Ruby tilted her head to the side as she registered his reaction in her head. From what Ruby understood, someone whose aura was unlocked shouldn’t have issues with motion sickness. So unless… was his aura not…?
“Hey, Jaune… is your aura unlocked?” Ruby asked hesitantly and Jaune’s face froze as he looked away from her, giving Ruby all the answer she needed, “You know that’s dangerous, right? Initiation at higher combat schools is almost always fighting grimm. And to get here to begin with, you do need some training.”
“I have like… the bare minimum,” Jaune admitted with a sigh as they made their way through the hallways, “My parents wouldn’t let me train and if they ever caught me… well… it wasn’t always good. My oldest sister, Saphron, did teach me the basics. But then she moved away and… the only reason I even got in was Saph, she’s a teacher at a combat school near Argus, thinks it’s Brightside Academy, and she has some friends who work here. So, here I am, probably behind everyone else and only getting in because of nepotism.”
“Well, everyone’s gotta start somewhere. You’re just a bit behind the line of everyone else. But so long as you dedicate yourself, you can improve in no time. Also, hmm… nepotism is a tricky thing for me cause both my uncles worked at Signal Academy so I could usually get into the more advanced classes early. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. If it lets you be a hunter, then I’d say that it’s good!” Ruby smiled as she tried to cheer him up, “But you should have someone unlock your aura before tomorrow. I would, but I don't know how. It’s usually taught in our last year at Signal and I moved up early.”
“I guess you’re right, I’ll give my sister a call after the orientation in the auditorium” Jaune admitted with a sheepish laugh before looking around them in confusion as the two had somehow made their way back outside, “Speaking of the auditorium, do you happen to know where we’re going? Any noticeable landmarks or anything? Cause I have no idea.”
“Huh?! Heck! I get lost so often. Yang’s gonna tease me so much for this,” Ruby whimpered as her ears dropped and her tail fell and Jaune felt himself wanting to fall over to exaggerate his feeling of being lost, “I get lost just on a walk home.”
“Great…” Jaune moaned and Ruby let out a small laugh at their own misery. The day may not have played out how Ruby imagined her first day at Beacon would go, but so far she’d say it’s definitely been memorable. She even seemed to have made a friend or three.