Asher and Donut walk into the Auditorium and they look around to see many students already there.

"There's so many people." Asher silver eyes glance around.

"That means so many friends to make!" Donut states with a smile.

Asher spots Yang among the crowd, and he turns to Donut. "I'll see you later, Donut. I'm heading over to my sister." He walks off.

Donut waves. "Bye-bye now, and don't be a stranger."

Asher walks past several students, and past a certain white haired heiress. Asher's stares at her for a few seconds, before shaking his head and moving on.

Asher reaches Yang. "Yang." She turns to him. "Um, where's Ruby?"

Yang shrugs her shoulders. "I dunno. I thought she was with you?"

Asher shakes his head as a couple strands of black hair fall over his eye. "So, you ditched her?" He moves the hairs back up.

"Hey! You ditched her too ya know!"

Asher goes to speak, but just frowns. "Fair point."

"So, how's your first day going so far, Ashie?"

Asher rolls his eyes at the nickname. "It's fine, though I'm very excited to get my hands on the robot parts this school has! Though I find it a little unfair that me and Ruby got in trouble for the Roman thing."

"What? Dad didn't punish you though?"

Asher stomps his foot. "He hid the cookie supplies! How am I suppose to stock up on cookies, if I can't bake them!"

Yang looks at Asher with a 'Really.' look. "Asher, you can buy cookies from the store."

Asher points at Yang. "IT'S NOT THE SAME!"

Several students glance over and Asher blushes in embarrassment. Yang chuckles and pats Asher's back.

"Already making a scene." Yang smirks.

"Not trying to..." Asher nervously chuckles.

Yang chuckles and she looks towards the entrance. "Oh, hey, there's Ruby." She then cups her hands over her mouth. "RUBY!" She waves. "Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Asher looks towards the entrance and spots Ruby along with Jaune.

Ruby says something to Jaune, and runs over to her brother and sister.

"Finally, was wondering when you'd make it." Asher smirks, until Ruby pinches his cheek.

"You left me!" Ruby whines. "My own twin, betrayed me!"

"Wet gwo!" Asher slaps Ruby's hand away and rubs his cheek. 

Yang turns to Ruby. "How's your first day going, little sister?"

"You mean since you two ditched me and I exploded?" Ruby asks.

"Yikes! Meltdown already?"

Asher smiles to himself. 'I knew it.' He turns to Yang. "I think she meant she actually exploded."

"Yeah, Asher's right. I literally exploded a hole in the front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice...?"

Yang smiles broadly. "Are you being sarcastic?"

Ruby scoffs. "Ugh, 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 again! And I felt really, really bad! And I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"

'Wow, what a start to the school year for her.' Asher says in thought.

Weiss, who was behind Ruby the whole time, yells. "You!"

Ruby jumps into Yang's arms. "Oh Oum, it's happening again!"

'Hey, it's that cute girl...' Asher's cheeks turn a little red. 'And she's right here...'

Weiss puts her hands on her hips and leans towards Ruby. "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

Yang's eyes widen in horror. "Oh my Oum, you really exploded."

"It was an accident!" Ruby climbs off Yang. "It was an accident!"

Weiss puts a pamphlet in front of Ruby that says "Dust for Dummies"

"What's this?" Ruby asks.

Weiss goes onto explain. "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."

'Does she like the sound of her own voice?' Asher asks in question as he looks at the Pamphlet Weiss is holding.

Ruby is confused. "Uhhh..."

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asks.

"Absolutely!"

Weiss sticks the pamphlet in Ruby's face. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again."

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

Asher glances at Yang. "Wow, for once you have a good idea." Yang glares at him.

"Yeah!" Ruby agrees with Yang. "Great idea, Sis!" She clears her throat and holds out her hand to Weiss. "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! One of the two Rose Twins. Want to hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"

Weiss speaks, seemingly enthusiastic. "Yeah, and we can paint out nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!" She points her thumb at Jaune behind her.

'Darn, I'm barely blond and not tall!' Asher complain. He then pops up next to Weiss. "I'm almost blond, does that count?"

Weiss glares heavily at Asher, and he silently waddles back towards Ruby.

"Oh wow, really?" Ruby asks Weiss.

Weiss is dead silent under her glare. "...No."

"Oh, can we go shopping them?" Asher raises a hand. 

Weiss groans and looks at Asher with an annoyed face. "And who are you?"

Asher does a pose. "The amazing Twin of Ruby!" He winks at Weiss. "But you can call me Asher, snowflake."

Weiss, with an unimpressed look. "So there's two Ruby's now... great." She turns away.

Asher sighs and lowers his shoulders in defeat. "Almost had it."

"Ahem..." Ozpin's voice is heard over the speakers. 

Everyone looks towards the stage and they see Ozpin at the microphone, Glynda is a few paces behind him, and there's someone else next to Glynda.

Ozpin continues. "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."

Ruby and Asher glance at each other in excitement. 

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. 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."

Ozpin then walks away, and Glynda walks up to the mic. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. There's also one more person who wants to talk to you all."

The third person walks up to the microphone. They have slightly dark skin and are wearing a lab coat with purple pants. They have black hair with purple strands, and glasses on. "Hello, I'm Medical officer Frank DuFrense... I'm a Huntsmen and a Medic. And I'm also a pacifist, so I won't actually help with fighting Grimm. But I can treat most of your injuries, but I can't prevent you from dying. So please don't get to hurt."

DuFrense steps back.

Glynda walks back up to the mic. "You are all dismissed."

Yang turns to the twins. "Ozpin seemed kind of off."

"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby says.

"I wonder if something big is going on right now?" Asher questions.

Jaune pops over beside Weiss. "I'm a natural blind, you know!"

Weiss sighs and puts a hand on her head.

.

.

.

Moonlight shines through the ballroom windows, as many students get ready for bed. Sleeping bags line the ballroom floor as several students walk about.

Ruby, in her pajamas, is currently writing a letter to her and Asher's friends back at Signal. Asher is playing on his scroll on his sleeping bag next to her. He's not wearing a shirt, showing off a little toned stomach, he's got red pajama pants and his cloak on. 

Yang, in her pajamas, flops down next to Ruby. "It's like a big slumber party!"

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby says.

"I know I do." Yang purrs as she watches several topless boys flex their muscles. 

Jaune walks by in a onesie while humming. Asher snickers, but then flexes his own arms and notices little muscle.

"Aww man...." Asher sighs.

Yang notices that Ruby's writing. "What's that?"

"A letter to the gang back at Signal." Ruby informs. "Asher and I promised to tell them all about Beacon, and how things are going."

"Awww, that's so cuuuuuuute!!!!"

Yang gets a couple pillows to the face.

"Shut up!" The twins nearly shout, as Yang takes the pillows off her face.

Asher crosses his arms and looks away. "I'm not cute. I am handsome."

Yang drags Asher into a hug. "But you are cute. My cute baby brother." She swings Asher from side to side.

Asher struggles to get out of Yang's grasp. "Stop Yang! You're ruining my mojo." He says in an annoyed tone.

Yang lets go of Asher. "Ok, ok, I'll stop." She then boops his nose. "Boop."

Asher huffs and smacks Yang's hand away.

Ruby then speaks. "Asher and I didn't get to take our friends with us to school. It's weird not knowing anyone here."

"Come on, Ruby." Asher starts. "You have to know someone, I mean I already made a friend."

"What about Jaune?" Yang asks. "He's... nice!"

"Is that his name?" Asher asks and Yang nods.

 Yang turns back to Ruby. "There you go! Plus one friend! That's a 100 percent increase!"

Ruby rolls onto her back and puts her hands behind her head. "I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a 'negative friend'. Back to zero."

"Is that a thing?" Asher asks Yang and she shakes her head.

"There's no such thing as 'negative friends'!" Yang smiles at Ruby. "You just made one friend and one enemy!" A pillow hits her in the face.

"Ruby, it's only been one day." Asher says with a smile as he grabs one of Ruby's hands and holds it.

"Yeah." Yang takes the pillow off her face. "Trust me, you've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."

"Yeah, we're gonna make so many friends here over the next four years." Asher lays on his back and looks up to the ceiling. "This is gonna be the best time of our lives."

Ruby smiles. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Suddenly a candle lights up nearby and the three look over to it. Blake Belladonna is seen leaning against a wall, reading her book.

"That girl..." Ruby mutters.

"You know her?" Asher asks.

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

"Well, now's your chance!" Yang stands up and grabs Ruby.

"Hey, wait!" Ruby gets dragged by Yang.

Asher stands up, grabbing his shirt and he tries putting it on while following. The skirt gets stuck and Asher trips over and falls onto the ground with a thud.

"Ow..." Asher jumps back up and gets his shirt on, and steps up behind Ruby and Yang.

Blake hears them approach and she lowers her book and looks at the three.

"Hellooooo~" Yang says in a sing-song voice. "I believe you two may know each other!

"Aren't you that girl that exploded?" Blake asks.

"Uhh, yeah! My names Ruby." She greets and holds her hand out. Blake looks back down at her book, and she retracts her hand. "But, you can call me... crater... actually, you can just call me Ruby."

Asher face palms.

"...Okay." Blake responds.

Yang turns to Ruby and whispers. "What are you doing?"

Ruby whispers back to Yang. "I don't know, help me!"

Yang turns back to Blake. "So... what's your name?"

"Blake." She responds.

"Well, Blake, I'm Yang!" Yang points at Asher. "And this is Asher. I'm their older sister! ... I like your bow!"

"Thanks."

"It goes great with your... pajamas."

"Right."

"Nice night. Don't you think?"

Asher then whispers to Yang. "What are you doing?"

Yang whispers back to Asher. "Trying to make conversation!"

Blake then responds to Yang. "Yes, it's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book..." She motions to the book she's reading. "That I will continue to read... as soon as you leave."

Yang turns to the twins. "Yup, this girl is a lost cause."

Asher elbows Yang. "Yang!"

Yang rubs her side. "What, it's true."

Asher face palms. "Oh my, Oum."

"What's it about?" Ruby asks Blake.

"Huh?" Blake looks up at Ruby.

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

"Well... It's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

"Oh, I like that book." Asher says. "I like the squeal as well." Blake smiles.

"Oh, yeah..." Yang says in boredom. "That's real lovely..."

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

"Why is that?" Blake asks. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will."

"Yeah, me and Ruby will take care of all the grimm in the world, then we'll open up a bakery and sell cookies!" He brightly smiles, along with Ruby.

Ruby continues. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and who protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

"That's very ambitious for a child." Blake says. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Well, that's why we're here... to make it better."

"Ohhh, I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang brings Ruby into a big hug.

"Cut it out!" Ruby yells as she and Yang get into a fight.

Asher nervously chuckles and turns to Blake. "I'm so very sorry."

"It's ok..." Blake responds. "Well, Ruby, Asher, Yang... It's a pleasure to.."

Weiss stomps over. "What in the world is going on over here?!" SHe asks angrily.

Ruby and Yang stop fighting. Ruby's holding onto Yang's foot, while Yang tries not to fall over.

Weiss continues. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?!"

Weiss notices Ruby and Yang notices Weiss.

"Oh! Not you again!" Weiss and Yang shout.

"Shh!" Ruby and Asher shush them. "Guy's she right! People are trying to sleep!"

Asher then waves to Weiss. "Hello Weiss~ It's ICE to see you again." He gives her finger guns while winking.

Ruby and Weiss groan at the bad pun while Yang laughs.

Weiss points at Asher. "Never do that again." Then she turns to Ruby. "And now you're on my side?"

"I was always on your side!" Ruby states.

Yang gets a little angry. "Yeah, what's your problem with my sister?!" Blake grabs her candle. "She's only trying to be nice!"

"She's a hazard to my health!" Weiss says angrily.

"Hey, now let's all calm down." Asher holds his hands out.

Blake blows out the candle.

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12-08-2023

2371 words