Ceremony

"So how's your first-day going sis?" Yang asked with arms crossed as Ruby found her way to her.

"It's been great so far! Well, mostly!" she said with a chipper tone. "After you ditched me," she glared at Yang, "I kinda sorta got into an argument with someone called Weiss because I accidentally tripped over her luggage, then I exploded, but I think we're good now?"

"Yikes, meltdown already?" Yang asked.

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school!"

"Okay then… How did you make up with this Weiss person? Sounds pretty bad if you ask me."

"W-well I was trying to apologize to her, but she kept yelling at me. But then there was this guy named Rindel that I also kinda blew up accidentally that helped me out. He managed to convince her it was an accident," Ruby rapidly explained. "And then he helped Jaune and I find the auditorium since I was sorta lost. Oh, and he has this super cool weapon!"

Hugging Ruby, Yang said, "I'm so proud of you! Making your first friend already! You're growing up too fast!"

"Yang! Let me go!" Ruby said, struggling.

"So who's this guy Jaune?" Yang asked, releasing her.

"I-it may have been the guy who threw up on your shoe," Ruby nervously laughed.

"Really? That Guy!"

"He's really not that bad once you get to know him."

Yang stared at her for a moment before smirking. "Alright, sis, whatever you say. I'm still surprised that you made a few friends already. Maybe you'll even hook up with this Rindel guy. Guess you're taking my advice already," she said mischievously.

"What do you mea-" Ruby asked with a confused expression before realizing what Yang meant. "I-it's not like that!"

Yang laughed, "Chill out Ruby. I was just joking."

Ruby calmed down for a moment before Yang said, "So is he hot?"

"Yang!"

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Rindel could only manage to find a space near the back since the auditorium was steadily filling up. The amount of people in the room was beginning to make him feel claustrophobic.

"Hey… Rindel, we're friends right?" Jaune asked after a few moments.

"Sure. We could be considered that."

"S-so would it be fine if I asked what happened to your eye?" he tentatively said, referring to his eye patch.

"People were going to ask sooner or later so it's fine." Brushing a finger over his black and silver eye patch with a hanging purple crystal, Rindel said, "It was back a few years ago. I lost my right eye from a Grimm attack on our village. Not exactly the most pleasant memory."

Before Jaune could reply, Rindel said, "Looks like the ceremony is starting."

As Ozpin entered the podium, the whole room quieted. He emanated an authority that made you want to listen to him. Every eye turned to him as he began his speech.

"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. 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."

"Not bad," Rindel thought. Instead of the usual comforting welcome, Ozpin delivered a more direct speech, and he found himself agreeing with the headmaster. They were too naive currently, believing by simply learning here, they would obtain the skills necessary to protect humanity. Even with the strength needed, presently the students didn't truly know what they wanted at this point. Some are driven by personal gain, greed, authority, and a choice few for the benefit of others.

As Ozpin walked off the stage with his coffee in hand, Glynda stepped to say, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow our initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

With those last words, the chatter resumed once more and people began to leave. As the students did, Jaune turned to Rindel and said, "Well, that was interesting. What do you think he meant?"

Rindel inwardly sighed. "Dunno. Anyways, we have a few hours before we have to be in the ballroom. Where are you going to go?"

"I kinda thought I would just hang with you," Jaune said, fidgeting with his shield.

"Wouldn't it be better to explore and try to meet new people?" Rindel asked.

"I'm not exactly good at meeting new people."

"You did fine with me and Ruby," he stated. "Just think of this as training to be a Huntsman. We can meet back at the ballroom in an hour or two."

Resigning himself to fate, Jaune reluctantly agreed, "Alright, see you in a few hours then."

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After finally getting rid of Jaune, he wandered the enormous campus. So far, he's found the cafeteria, armory, workshop for weapon-making, combat arena, and a few entertainment facilities such as the theatre and gyms for sports. Now he was currently at the school library. It was quite large as everything was in Beacon; large wooden shelves stretched as far as the eye could see, storing thousands of years of history, culture, along with all works of fiction.

Rindel was there in search of something that had been bothering him ever since he met Ruby. Walking along the rows of books, he stopped before a sign that said fables, myths, and fairy tales. The book that he was looking for had the ancient fairy tales of Remnant. The book he found was dusty, old, and worn, with a cover bound in leather.

Rindel sat at the nearest table and began flipping through the pages, scanning for the answers he wanted. There it was, the tale of the Silver-Eyed Warriors. Predating the Huntsmen, those born with the legendary silver eyes were said to be destined to lead the life of a warrior. Myths described the silver eyes as being able to turn Grimm to stone with a single glance.

"So Ozpin wanted Ruby under his watchful eyes huh," he thought to himself. It wasn't just because of stopping the robbery that Ozpin suddenly invited Ruby to Beacon two years ahead of everyone. No, it was an excuse. There was more to Ozpin than met the eye.

"Ugh!" he unintentionally let out a small noise. What was he doing? Why was he even researching this? This had nothing to do with him. All he wanted was peace, away from that place, from that life. All he wanted was a regular, ordinary life even if that meant he had to become a Huntsman.

"You okay over there?" said a feminine voice from in front of him.

Looking up, he saw a girl with wavy black and a pair of amber eyes. She wore a black buttoned vest with coattails. Underneath were white, sleeveless, crop undershirt, and white shorts. A black ribbon was tied with a large bow on the top of her head.

"Hm? Oh sorry, I must have been focused on my reading." He must have been so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't notice the person sitting across from himself.

"Fairy tales are an interesting choice of literature," the girl said, raising an eyebrow.

"There's a grain of truth in every legend and myth," Rindel simply stated.

The black-haired girl nodded and turned back to read her book. They were both silent once again after the short exchange. Checking his gilded pocket watch, he saw he should probably be going back. Seeing as the girl made no further attempts at conversation, he left the table quietly and headed towards the ballroom.

Everyone was already getting prepared for the next day. Sleeping bags, luggage, and people packed the room from corner to corner. Rindel had changed into a white hoodie with shorts since he really didn't have anything to wear.

Seeing as Jaune wasn't there yet, he went to find a spot. The only place not crowded was near the corner up against the wall. Crossing his fingers, he walked over but noticed the same black-haired girl from earlier was sitting there.

She had another book in her hands and gave off a vibe that screamed, "Don't bother me." Looking around the room, the only other space was across the other side where guys were flexing their muscles shirtless trying to impress the girls. He definitely was not going over to where a bunch of guys were posing.

"Hello again. Is this spot taken?" Rindel asked.

Looking up with brief surprise before going back to looking bored, she replied, "Not really."

"Would it be fine if I could stay here?" Rindel said with tonelessly.

Probably wondering if he was going to be a nuisance, she stared at him before saying, "Sure, just don't make too much noise."

"Thank you. I didn't get to introduce myself earlier but I'm Rindel White," he said while sitting down against the wall.

She didn't reply and instead went back to reading her book. "At least I have somewhere to sleep in peace and quiet," he thought. Waiting in silence for a bit, he glanced at the book she was reading, The Man With Two Souls. Not a common book someone would read.

"Is that the Man With Two Souls that you are reading?" he asked.

She was slightly surprised at him knowing it. "Have you read it before?"

"A while back. It's about the duality of man, right? Every person has the capacity to do both good and evil.

Smiling, she said, "Yeah, I'm halfway through. I enjoy reading this to pass the time."

"I promise to not spoil it for you then."

The girl nodded before going back to her book. The silence wasn't as awkward before and he decided to enjoy the peace for once, allowing him to think about the black-haired girl. The bow she wore was strange, twitching at moments when she showed emotion like surprise from earlier. While subtle, it was still there.

The conclusion he could come up with was that she was a faunus with animal ears. If she wanted to hide them, he wouldn't bother her, and it wasn't his secret to tell. As he pondered about the day, she suddenly called out, "Blake."

"What?" Rindel said, confused.

"My name is Blake Belladonna. It's nice to meet you," she said smiling before returning to the pages of the book.

His thoughts were again interrupted when someone cheerfully said, "Hel-looooo! I believe you may know each other?"

Both Rindel and Blake looked up to see Ruby unsuccessfully struggling against Yang pulling her over.

Yang looked him over before saying with a grin, "Dang Ruby, you snatched a good one. He's pretty hot with that body of his. You work out a lot by any chance?"

Rindel could be considered handsome, even if he only thought he was average. He had a lean athletic build with defined muscles, more similar to that of a swimmer than a bodybuilder. Rindel had thick, wavy dark brown hair along with a sharp jawline. One eye was hazel while the other was covered by a black eye patch with silver patterns; a small amethyst crystal hung, attached.

"Yang! Please don't embarrass the first friend I made here," Ruby cried out while secretly blushing along with Blake.

"Um, nice to meet you. I'm Rindel White, and I just run some," he said with a shrug

"Sure you do. I'm Yang by the way," she said with a wink.

Turning to an annoyed Blake, Yang asked, "So… What's your name?"

Blake looked over at him as if pleading to make them go away. Rindel could only look on helplessly as he said, "I've already met Ruby… and Yang isn't too bad. You could give them a chance."

She sighed before saying, "Blake."

After that, Ruby, Yang, and Blake awkwardly had a conversation that shifted to books, much to Blake's enjoyment. Ruby professed her dream of being a hero like in a fantasy book. Hopefully, she'll realize eventually that not every huntsman or huntress gets a happy ending.

Lost in thought, Rindel completely missed Weiss arguing with Yang and Ruby. Jaune came by shortly afterward, wearing a blue bunny onesie, talking about a crazy girl yelling about pancakes, and at one point a pig was involved? He wasn't quite sure he heard that part right as he was already beginning to fall asleep. "Freedom is great," he thought while drifting off to dreamland.

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A/N: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ALREADY, I CHANGED A FEW THINGS IN THE PAST TWO CHAPTERS.

Have absolutely no idea when the next one will come out. Maybe a week or two?

Again, if you guys have any ideas for semblances, plot, or if you spot a mistake, let me know in the comments.

Thanks to anyone who reads this! Have a great day!