Chapter 3

Sitting at a coffee table within their home were Ruby and Yang, the both of them enjoying their breakfast while the morning news played quietly in the background. The both of them were dressed in their bed outfits, with Ruby’s bruises from yesterday still faintly visible along her upper torso. With a smirk on her face, Ruby looked up at Yang, the elder sister preemptively groaning before Ruby spoke. “Guess that 4th difficulty must have been really tiring, huh?” Ruby teased, Yang rolling her eyes, taking a bite out of her eggs while attempting to ignore Ruby. “I’m sure that, like, that puppy or something, it really put the ol’ beatdown.” Staring forward, Yang continued eating her eggs, turning up the volume on the television when Ruby began talking once again. “Was it a puppy? Or was it, er… a kitten? Or a little baby bear - ” “It wasn’t a fuckin’ baby animal, Ruby!” Yang interrupted, Ruby giggling while Yang explained. “It was like, a giant slime thing covered in shields and spears! Just because it’s not all ‘super duper hard mode for nerds’ doesn’t mean it’s easy.” “Why didn’t you just pick 5, then?” Ruby questioned. Yang sighed, pushing her plate to the side. “I already told you. Too many options. They should just have, like, maybe 3 at most. Not five.” “That’s a dumb excuse.” Ruby spat. Sucking her teeth, Yang stood from her chair, Ruby eyeing her as Yang walked around the table towards her. “Huh?” Ruby hummed, not realizing what Yang had planned until it was too late. Jutting both of her hands forward, Yang sunk her fingers into Ruby’s sides, Ruby helplessly laughing out while flailing her legs around. “Ah - stop! Stop!” Ruby yelled, Yang grinning, kneeling down beside Ruby while tickling her. “Are you gonna stop getting on my ass about the test?” Yang questioned, Ruby trying to push her away, only able to stumble Yang slightly with her shove. “Agh - I - ” Ruby let out, Yang chuckling to herself. “Okay! I will! I wiiilllllll!” Ruby shouted, Yang releasing her hands from her sister’s sides. Sitting up, Ruby pouted, Yang standing over her with a smile on her face. “Gotta keep you in check sometimes. Remind you who’s in charge ‘round here.” “Whatever, wimp - ” “What?” Yang prodded, Ruby grabbing her plate as she walked away. “Nothing.” She answered, walking back into the kitchen. Yang sat back down at the table, leaning back in her seat while watching the television. It was currently showing a sharply dressed man standing at a podium, several reporters and journalists standing under him while he spoke.

“I am Sergeant Mason with the Central Vale Intelligence sector of the Agency. I understand that a recent financial report has been leaked to the public, containing incriminating evidence for several of the agents here.” He cleared his throat, taking in a deep breath before resuming his speech. “Unfortunately, after thorough investigation, we have come to the conclusion that there is confirmed siphoning of funds from other Vale government districts towards certain individuals within the Agency.” Before he could continue, several flashes and shutters of cameras would flick in front of him, with multiple reports reaching over the barrier between the Agency building and its adjacent street to try and question him. “These individuals will not be named at this time. But know that they will be dealt with appropriately, and funds will be reimbursed to the Huntsmen and Watchmen organizations. Thank you.” Mason turned around, with the sounds of jeering and shouting coming from the crowd as he walked back inside the Agency building. Snickering, Yang reached for the remote, changing the channel to some weekday morning cartoons. All she knew about the Agency was just about what every other civilian knew; they’re a partly clandestine organization that works across every kingdom, gathering intelligence from various fields, ranging from grimm, to military technology, to even groups of civilians. Many of those who become a huntsman or watchman join in hopes of being allowed entry into the Agency, though the prospect of joining it didn’t appeal to Yang. She looked over to see Ruby walking back to the table, a cup of chocolate milk in her hands while she sat down next to Yang. A gentle knock against the wall came from behind them, Ruby and Yang looking back to see Taiyang walking towards them, holding two letters in his hands. “You two got something in the mail.” Taiyang stated, handing both of them their respective envelopes, each of them addressed to their names. Narrowing her eyes, Ruby was confused at the sight of the letter for a moment, before noticing the Beacon Academy’s seal on the top left of it. Her eyes glittered, her mouth opening in awe as she quickly ripped the letter open, pulling the piece of paper inside of it, with a Beacon Academy ID card falling out of it and into her lap. Ruby dramatically inhaled, tears starting to grow in her eyes while she read the letter.

“Dear Ms. Rose,

It is with great pleasure that I inform you that you have been accepted to attend Beacon University. In recognition of your combative, academic, and mechanical prowess, it is nothing short of what you deserve.

Enclosed in this letter is your Beacon Identification Card, which is used to be allowed access within the school grounds and the various faculties surrounding it. Keep it handy; the first day of schooling begins next week!

We look forward to having you at Beacon Academy. Let the next two years we spend together be a time to remember fondly.

Sincerely,

Ozpin

Headmaster of Beacon Academy”

“Yang!” Ruby yelled out, jumping out of her seat and wrapping her arms around Yang’s shoulders, shoving her acceptance letter in front of her. Smiling wide, Yang held up Ruby, the two spinning around while laughing gleefully. Taiyang watched the two with a faint smile on his face, stepping forward once the both of them calmed down. “Looks like you both got accepted, then.” Taiyang stated, crossing his arms while he stood before them. “Yep.” Yang answered, Ruby grinning wide as she held up her Beacon ID. “If Beacon’s like how I remember it, I’m gonna need to put a tracker on you two.” “Aww. C’mon, Dad, we’ll behave.” Yang reassured, Taiyang nodding his head, heaving a deep sigh. “Good goddess. You two grew up so fast. It felt like yesterday when I was driving you to school. Now,” Taiyang sniffled, bowing his head downwards slightly, leaning up against the corner of the wall. “Now you’re off to be huntresses.” Walking up to him, Ruby threw herself forward, taking her father in a hug. Cracking a smile, Taiyang chuckled, watching as Yang joined into the group hug. “We’ll always be right here with you, Dad.” Ruby spoke. Taiyang inhaled, the group hug ending as the three put some distance between each other. “Alright. Just know that if it ever gets too much, we can always run to Mistral.” Taiyang jested, Ruby giggling while reaching back for her glass of milk. “Pff. We’re not gonna run to Mistral or become watchmen, Dad.” “Wasn’t gonna bring that up. But, now that you mention it, being a watchwoman instead of a huntress has a lot of - ” Ruby and Yang collectively groaned, Taiyang laughing out, turning his head from side to side while he went to leave the room. “Okay, okay. I’ll be upstairs, come get me if you need me.”

Sitting at his desk was Ozpin, the older man finishing with writing the final acceptance letters before the school welcomed a new batch of first year students. While he was in the process of doing this, a Scroll laying on the table began to ring, Ozpin reaching over and grabbing it. “Hello?” Ozpin said, squinting his eyes as he placed his signature at the bottom of one of the letters. “This is James Ironwood. I’m calling to ask whether there is still an opening for this year’s student registry.” Bringing his pen up to his chin, Ozpin thought for a moment, clicking his tongue before he managed an answer. “I… believe we do have one opening left. We haven’t had as many applicants this year as I anticipated.” “I see. I was hoping there would be enough for an entire team, but… one is better than nothing.” Chuckling, Ozpin folded the finished letter and began placing it into an envelope, holding his scroll between his shoulder and ear while he worked the parchment. “You’ve still yet to explain to me why you’re interested in my academy’s upcoming students, James.” “Very well.” There was some shuffling and movements coming from James’ end, Ozpin raising an eyebrow while he awaited the others' explanation. “The Atlas chapter of the Agency has partnered with the AI Warfare Commission, in efforts of getting closer to the goals of Project Steel.” “And what are the goals of this ‘Project Steel’, exactly?” Ozpin asked, James sighing before answering. “The creation of androids who match the combative capabilities of a hunter.” Ozpin sat in silence for a moment, James quiet as he awaited what Ozpin had to say. “Uh-huh. How does this concern me, though?” “We’ve finished the prototype of a unit, and we mean to send it to attend your school.” “...why?” Ozpin questioned, his tone somewhere between amused and confused. “To compare its growth to the growth of the average aspiring huntsman.” “I… I suppose that makes sense.” Having finished sealing the envelope, Ozpin gently placed it in a neatly stacked pile of other envelopes, leaning forward in his seat while he went to talk again. “I don’t see why not. In fact, I believe it wouldn’t even be the only android there.” “Interesting. So it’s agreed upon, then?” James asked, Ozpin giving a quick “It is.” as a response. “Great. The unit will be shipped to Beacon within the next 3 days. Thank you, Ozpin.” “You’re very welcome. Now then, I’m sure neither of us have the time to afford any further chatter.” “Indeed. Goodbye.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Hearing a faint “Farewell.” coming from the other end of the scroll, James closed the device, turning back to a group of 3 similarly dressed individuals. Each of them were wearing a dark-colored suit, a ballistic vest snugly fitting under each of their coats. Most notably was the symbol of the Agency resting above their right coat pockets, a red minimalist eye within a red circle, all of it contained in a simple, white background. “Well?” One of them asked, James drawing in a deep breath as he stuck his scroll back into his pocket. “He said yes.” The three agents looked between each other, the one in the middle stepping out and standing in front of James. “It’s settled, then. I’m sure the roboticist companies appreciate the work orders you’ve just given them, but…” They began, eyeing James while they continued to speak. “Why exactly do you want an agent within Beacon?” Exhaling deeply, James rested his hands behind his back, his fingers anxiously clamping together while he answered. “I have several reasons. Not only to encourage innovation in factory production, and not only to make progress towards softening the high casualty rates of huntsman operations,” James turned back around to his desk, the same agent following behind him. He bent over the table, pulling out a printed sheet of paper, holding it out before the agent. “I received a report from a low-ranking Vale agent monitoring a watchman operation, one which involved one of the students about to enroll into the academy.” The agent narrowed their eyes, James handing them the paper while they began to read it. After a brief moment of reading, they began to run their forefinger under some of the words, their eyes widening as they spoke. “...‘the target had peculiar markings on her forehead, some sort of circle with spiked designs symmetrically placed within it, all surrounding what looked like a vertical eye. When asked, she claimed she was born with it, though I personally believe it simply to be the tattoo of a rebellious teenager’… you… Ironwood, seriously. You don’t genuinely think it to be anything more than a tattoo, right?” The agent questioned, Ironwood taking back the paper as he spoke. “It could be. But its description and explanation, it sounds too much like something else.” Sighing, the agent shook their head, beginning to turn away from Ironwood as they spoke. “I will not question your sanity, Ironwood, but we have not seen any Revenant activity in the Patch area for years, if not decades. Nonetheless, I wish you luck on your endeavor.” James sighed, waving off the agents while they left his office. He sat back down behind his table, rubbing at his forehead while he looked down at the report. “Maybe I am just being paranoid.” He thought to himself, rubbing his fingers along his chin while he leaned back in his seat. “Surely Ozpin wouldn’t let something like that into his school.”

The rest of the week passed her by before she even realized it, Ruby musing to herself while finishing up with packing her bags. Hoisting her backpack around her arms and onto her back, Ruby then picked up her two suitcases, one filled with clothes, and the other filled with her weapon, as well as some replacement parts. Descending down the stairs, Ruby ran down to her house’s front door, Yang already exiting through it with Taiyang in tow. The three exited the house, Taiyang looking up to see a Beacon-marked shuttle helicopter beginning to land down across the street, the wind from its turbines pushing the grass down and blowing hot air up against him. “Well, guess this is it.” Taiyang spoke, Yang chuckling, playfully smacking against his back as she walked by him. “We’re only gonna be, like, an hour away, Dad. Don’t worry.” Taiyang smiled, heaving a deep sigh before he spoke. “That’s not gonna stop me from missing you. Please,” He began, looking between Yang and Ruby, his face with a more solemn look. “Stay safe.” “You got it!” Ruby chirped, leaving him with a quick hug before running over to the shuttle. “I’ll miss you too, Dad.” Yang stated, hesitantly turning around and following after Ruby into the aerial vehicle. Taiyang placed his hand on top of his eyes, guarding them from both the sunlight and harsh winds, watching as the helicopter took off into the sky.

“Reaching destination in T-minus 20 minutes.” An intercom from within the helicopter spoke, Ruby’s excitement beginning to peak, her increasing energy causing her to be barely able to sit still in her seat. With a wide grin, she looked around at her fellow passengers of the airship, tilting her head as she counted the amount of bodies in the aircraft. There seemed to only be 8 seats, Ruby simply figuring that there were multiple helicopters going around to pick up the students. With each of the other seats filled, Ruby curiously looked at the other passengers, noticing a look of exhaustion and tiredness about them, likely from the sustained flight. One of them, a tall, athletic-looking faunus woman, her dark skin sprinkled with green scales, and her barely-open eyes like that of a serpent. Sat next to her was a heavy-set, pale-skinned human man, him dressed in thickly-layered, military style armor, sporting buzzed-down red hair. Ruby turned to the person in front of herself, seeing a tall, thinly built faunus man, his rather short shirt pulled up to reveal a naval piercing, his skin under being a two-colored combination of a grayish brown and a light blue, its pattern like that of a shark. It was easy for Ruby to tell he was sitting rather uncomfortably, him lurched forward to keep the fin on his back from squishing against his seat. Between all these new people, Ruby noticed one common trait they all shared, her slouching down in her seat and anxiously rubbing at her neck as reality set in. Each of these people were around Yang’s age range, reminding Ruby of her status as being two, or even a dreaded three painful, downright egregious years younger than everyone else, with her sister coming into this academy being 19. “Yang…” Ruby let out, Yang perking up, meeting Ruby’s gaze. “Huh?” Yang mumbled, sitting up in her seat while Ruby spoke. “Do you think the people here will, uh… like me?” Narrowing her eyes, Yang cocked her head, inching towards Ruby as she gave her answer. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t they?” “It’s just I’m, y’know… everyone’s all old, and I’m all… not old…” Yang chuckled, patting Ruby on her shoulder, a slight smile on her face. “Don’t worry, Ruby. People aren’t gonna care about how old you are. If anything, they might even respect that you’re a couple years ahead of everyone.” “But that’s the thing, I just want to be normal, like everyone else. I don’t want to be treated like a kid, or - or like some kind of local celebrity, or whatever.” Yang laughed out, Ruby also not helping but finding the humor in her choice of vernacular. “They won’t care about your age, Ruby. They’ll care about what’s here,” Yang playfully gripped her hand along Ruby’s head, Ruby giggling to herself while Yang continued with the routine. “They’ll care about what’s here,” Yang pointed towards the center of Ruby’s chest, Ruby smiling, bowing her head down while resting her hands on her knees. “And some people might care about what’s here,” Yang gestured higher up towards Ruby’s chest, the younger sister giggling to herself, shaking her head while backing away from Yang. “But those people are weirdos, and you shouldn’t worry about them.” “E - Eww! Stop being gross!” Ruby said, her bout of laughter ending shortly afterwards, giving a deep exhale as she sat up straight in her seat. “Reaching destination in T-minus 1 minute.” The intercom stated, Ruby tensing up, her anxiety quickly returning to her despite Yang’s earlier encouragement.

The helicopter hovered over one of Beacon’s landing pads, its door slowly sliding open, each of the students inside slowly standing up to begin exiting. Taking in a deep breath, Ruby stood up from her seat, stepping off of the helicopter alongside Yang. The older sister noticed Ruby’s apprehensiveness, gently patting her back as the two entered the school grounds together. “Just be confident in yourself, Ruby. If you think you’re gonna fail, then you’re probably gonna fail.” “Yeah, I - I guess you’re right.” “Wait…” Yang looked over towards the faunus man from the helicopter, stepping closer to him. “Alex?!” Yang yelled out, Alex turning around when his name was called out, spreading his arms out as he stopped in front of Yang. “Was wondering when you’d notice me, you dumb slut.” Alex replied jokingly, Ruby wincing from his rather harsh wording. “I’ll meet ya inside, Ruby. Just need a sec.” Yang stated, giving Ruby a wink as she broke off from her. “Who are you calling slut?! You’re the one who…” Yang’s voice was obscured by the surrounding noise of all the chatter, Ruby’s pace slowing down while staring at her sister, watching as she took Alex in a hug. Frowning, Ruby stared down at the ground, crossing her arms defensively while she shambled in the same direction as everyone around her. What she felt could only be described as like a fish out of water, Ruby too occupied in her thoughts to even notice the stack of luggage she was about to collide into.