RWBY: The Novelization: The First Step

Ruby was catapulted into the air. The feeling of the wind ripping past her face and the sight of the forest expanding out under her was exhilarating. Until she crashed into a tiny fowl.

“Birdie! No!”

But she quickly got over it realizing the bird to be a Nevermore. A small flock was coming right at her. She took out Crescent Rose and opened it into its rifle configuration and started firing.

Once the Nevermores had been dealt with, she began to fall. Ruby saw a high tree branch on a direct course with her. She opened her scythe and used its blade to swing around dispensing of her excess fall energy before dropping to the forest floor.

She burst into a run and the only thing on her mind was finding Yang. Ozpin’s proposal that she be partners with the first person she made eye contact with was highly unusual and didn’t seem fair at all. Weren’t you supposed to make regular eye contact with people when you met them? So why force partners based on a social norm?

In case she didn’t run into Yang, Ruby started ticking off all the people she knew. “Well, there’s always Jaune. He’s nice. He’s funny. But I don’t think he’s very good in a fight,” she said, imagining Jaune being eaten by Beowolves.

“Oh! What about Blake? So mysterious; so calm. Plus she reads books! Then again, I’m not sure I would be able to hold a conversation with her.” Ruby could just imagine Blake trying to back away from her.

“Okay. Who else do I know in this school? There’s Yang, Jaune, Blake, and…”

Ruby saw someone in the distance and skidded to a halt right behind them—it was her worst nightmare. And to Ruby’s dismay, Ruby was also Weiss’ worst nightmare.

Once Weiss saw her, they made eye contact.

Weiss quickly walked off in the other direction.

“Wait!” called Ruby. And then to the ground disheartened, “We’re supposed to be teammates.”

Weiss however wouldn’t hear of it. She preferred to trip through the underbrush to find someone else. After a few seconds though, she came to a large tree. She heard someone struggling and looked up. How had that idiot Jaune managed to land safely? He hadn’t. Weiss quickly recognized Pyrrha Nikos’ spear in the top of his hoodie securing him to the trunk of tree.

Jaune looked down and pathetically waved at her hoping for some help.

Weiss was between a rock and a hard place. Given those options, she went with the lesser of two evils and turned back to Ruby.

“You came back!” cheered Ruby.

“By no means does this make us friends,” said Weiss as she grabbed Ruby by the shoulder and dragged her the other way.

Jaune shouted, “Hey! Come back! Who’s going to get me down from here?”

“Jaune?” called a lilting, feminine voice.

He looked down at Pyrrha.

“Do have any spots left on your team?”

“Very funny,” said Jaune, crossing his arms. After a moment though, he looked at her sideways and smiled.

Pyrrha smirked back at him.

As Weiss continued to drag Ruby through the forest, Ruby was forced to ask, “What’s the hurry?”

“I will not let my mission be delayed because you’re too slow. I swear, if I get a bad grade because—”

Suddenly, there was a mad brush of wind and Ruby appeared in front of Weiss pawing the air.

“I’m not slow!” bragged Ruby. “You don’t have to worry about me.” Her semblance was in fact speed.

“Wait. What the—?”

 “Weiss, just because I don’t know how to exactly deal with people, doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to deal with monsters. You’re gonna see a whole different side to me today.”

Ruby threw her arm around Weiss’ shoulders. “And after it’s all over, you’re gonna be like, ‘Wow, that Ruby girl is really, really cool. And I wanna be her friend.’” Ruby zipped off again. For some reason, rose petals were kicked up in her wake.

“You may be fast,” called Weiss, “but you still excel at wasting time.”

                                                                         

Suddenly, there was a growl.

Weiss looked nervous and could feel dozens of eyes on her. “Ruby?”

No answer.

“Ruby?” she said more quietly.

Just then, a large Beowolf jumped out of the bushes.

“Ruby!”

The pack surrounded Weiss before she could act.

Without Ruby around, Weiss would have to hold them on her own. She slowed her breathing, drew Myrtenaster, her multi-action Dust rapier, and tried to remember her training.

“Head up, shoulders back, left foot forward—not that forward!” She drew her foot back a little. “Wait for the right time to strike, and…”

Myrtenaster possessed a revolving cylinder, much like any revolver. It rotated to fire Dust and Weiss pulled a trigger filling the blade with it. She charged.

But before she could land a hit, Ruby materialized in front of her and slew a Beowolf.

Weiss panicked, and tripped trying to stop. She waved her blade wildly and a streak of fire was expelled from Myrtenaster. It shot forward and hit a large tree setting it ablaze.

Ruby glanced back at her.

Another Beowolf took advantage of her split attention and whacked her into Weiss.

“Hey! Watch it.”

“Excuse me!” said Weiss. “You attacked out of turn. I could’ve killed you.” She seemed rather lax about it.

“You’ll have to try a lot harder than that.”

Ruby rearmed Crescent Rose with a fresh magazine and prepared to face the pack which had now turned into a horde.

But then the flaming tree fell and Weiss had a different idea.

“We have to leave!”

She grabbed Ruby and ran just as the grass erupted in a huge conflagration. The infuriated howls of the Beowolves could be heard for miles.

Once at a safe distance, Ruby turned on Weiss. “What was that?! That should’ve been easy!”

“Well perhaps, if you had exercised the slightest amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn’t have set the forest on fire!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“I’m just surprised that someone who talks so much can communicate so little during an encounter.”

“Well, I’m sorry that you need my help to win a fight. I’m just fine on my own.”

“Well congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon. Bravo,” said Weiss, leaving.

Ruby was so annoyed with Weiss she took out Crescent Rose and cut down a nearby tree with a single slash.

She begrudgingly followed Weiss as a giant black feather flittered down to the forest floor behind her.