Thunderous cheers and applause filled the amphitheater. The curtains that hid them offstage kept them from seeing it firsthand but the shaking of said curtains and near vibrating of the air whenever a team was announced told them that the building was packed to the brim unlike its near empty state during Ozpin's introductory speech.
"What if they don't call me up? What if I failed? We-"
"Come on, sis. Have some confidence." Yang patted Ruby's shoulder. "You did great out there. There's no way you haven't earned your spot here." Yang said.
Ruby wasn't the only anxious one here. The backstage area, a spacious area full of all sorts of boxed equipment, was populated by their fellow first years. Many looked dead on their feet but even those people were swept up by the atmosphere, most anxiously shuffling among as they talked amongst themselves.
Making it out of The Emerald Forest didn't necessarily mean everyone among them would be admitted into the academy.
"Yang is right." Pyrrha said. "You handled yourself well against the Grimm. Any of the major academies would be lucky to have you as a student."
Yin stopped his scan of the room, refocusing on their little group of eight. Yang and those she teamed up with weren't bothered by the possibility of failure, the girl with the bow quietly reading through a book while the orange haired girl talked off the ear of the black haired boy. Pyrrha and Yang were more concerned with assuring Ruby then considering failure.
Then there was Weiss.
"Nervous?" Yin questioned as he joined her. She kept a small distance from the group, her arms crossed, and stare focused on the shaking curtains.
"As if. I've done more than enough to show I'm skilled enough to be here." Weiss said with a click of her tongue. Words were one thing. Her fingers tapping against one of her elbows, the faint click of her heels, the small frown. She might not be nervous like Ruby, but she wasn't all that thrilled about being here.
"Not a fan of crowds then?"
"Please, that's hardly an issue for me. What I don't like is the fact that we were brought here immediately. We just spent two days in a forest hunting Grimm. The least they could've done was given us a chance to get cleaned up."
"We did choose to stay in there until the very last second." Yin pointed out. Despite the eight of them not looking particularly worse for wear, unlike those who extracted far earlier the dirt and sweat on them was relatively fresh. Weiss's choice to wear so much white was backfiring, the dirt prevalent on her more than any other. Even her off-center ponytail had been completely spared from all the fighting. "Some huntsmen consider it a sign of a hard work."
"And I doubt those huntsmen shower as much as they should." Weiss retorted.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Yin agreed with a slight exhale.
The click of Weiss's heel stopped as her blue eyes met his. "I'm surprised that…you of all people would go out of your way to speak to me." The implication there was clear to anyone who knew anything about the Schnee Dust Company and their relationship with faunus.
Yin shrugged. "You haven't given me any reason to think we can't get along. Or at least be civil." The look she'd given his ears when they first met was just that, a look. It hadn't made a return since the first day of initiation, his skills demanding her respect. "Besides, is it really all that strange to want to talk to a beautiful woman?"
Perhaps a risky misstep to do any sort of flirting with her but now that they were out of the forest, he needed to get a deeper gauge of how she viewed Faunus.
"Oh, ahem." Weiss cleared her throat, turning away from him. Not before he caught the faint redness beginning to dust her pale cheeks. "Yes, I suppose not."
Prideful as she was, he expected the complimented to bounce right off her, not for her to be embarrassed by such a basic approach.
"Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren." Ozpin's voice called out from beyond the curtains once yet another round of thunderous applause came to an end.
"That's our cue. We'll see you guys in a bit." Yang said, ruffling Ruby's hair one last time before she and the rest of her team headed up the stairs leading out onto stage and disappearing beyond the curtains.
"You four have displayed a degree of flexibility that all huntsmen should strive to have while out in the field. I look forward to seeing how far you take yourselves as Team BYRN, led by Blake Belladonna." Ozpin declared, another round of cheers and applause filling the amphitheater.
"It sounds like they managed to impress the headmaster." Pyrrha said. So far, he'd been calling them out, revealing team names and leader, without much in the way of compliments.
"And we're the ones who helped them. We'll definitely be called up soon." Weiss said in a matter of fact tone.
"I hope so." Ruby said, messing with the end of her cloak now that her sister was gone. It must've been a nervous habit of hers.
Several more teams were called, few, if any, receiving similar compliments from Ozpin.
"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos, Yin Coalson." Finally, their names were announced.
Weiss instantly took the lead, Pyrrha urging along Ruby who dropped her cloak aside, while Yin followed from behind. The moment they stepped beyond the curtain they greeted a countless sea of faces to their right, much of the seats filled out by uniformed students. Straight ahead was Ozpin himself, standing directly beneath the screen showing off pictures of the four of them with his cane in hand.
Yin's hands twitched towards his weapons. Picking out threats with so many people around was far from easy.
Ruby instantly froze up, eyes widened. It took a tap from Pyrrha to get her moving again, the three of them following Weiss's lead and lining up before Ozpin.
"Over the course of initiation, the four of you displayed skill, adaptability, and teamwork that others would require far more time to cultivate. More than that, among all the teams today you all embodied something none of the other teams showed by lending aid to your peers." Ozpin announced. His dark green eyes scanned the four of them for a time before turning to face the crowd of seated students.
"These four took stock of their supplies and conditions, realized they were in a position to lend aid to another, and did so." He announced, voice carrying across the deathly silent building. "Some of you may be under the impression that we are all heroes. Perhaps there is truth to that but first and foremost, huntsmen are guardians. We will not teach you to throw away your lives, but rather, to make the most of your skills and whatever means available to you to protect as many people as you can."
Ozpin words hung in the air for a few moments before he turned his gaze back to them. "From this day forward the four of you will make up Team RWPY, led by Ruby Rose."
"Huh?" Ruby barely got the chance to voice her confusion before deafening cheers and applause reverberated throughout the building.
"Congratulations Ruby!" Pyrrha yelled over the noise while patting her shoulder.
"Congrats, Captain." Yin doubted his words were heard but he patted the slack-jawed girl's other shoulder.
Naturally, Weiss made no move to congratulate her partner, just as shocked by the decision as Ruby herself. By the time they were heading off stage and joining the other officially minted first years down in the center seats at the foot of the stage, that shock had morphed into a deep scowl.
He figured there'd be tension between Ruby and Weiss, but the new hierarchy would make it far worse than a simple matter of tension.
XOXO
"Whoa, this place is bigger than my living room." Ruby said, buzzing with excitement.
The room, the shared dorm they'd spending much of the next four years, adopted an open-concept design. The right side of the room was both a bedroom and a general living area, four sets of full sized beds and accompanying dressers between each one. Opposite to the beds was a dark wooden desk, chair, and empty bookcase all set up along the walls. One door sat between the dresser and desk.
The left half was a relatively modest kitchen area partially separated by a long island with stools for them to sit on. Cabinets, microwave, fridge, sink, and just about anything else expected of a kitchen was fitted in with another door beside the fridge.
Ruby didn't waste any time, rushing for the door next to the desk and bookcase, swinging it open and revealing a sizable walk in closet. There was plenty of space for four to hang clothing and upper shelves to store other stuff.
Weiss, on the other hand, went the opposite way after removing her heels, pulling open the door beside the fridge. A large freshly cleaned bathroom was on the other side, containing all the standard appliances alongside a washer and dryer.
"It will do." Weiss said after returning to the main room and taking a seat on the bed closest to the right side. "But we should set ground rules if we're all going to be living together."
"Come on, Weiss, we came from a ceremony and initiation." Ruby whined, swiftly taking the bed right beside hers. She was either oblivious to Weiss attempts to put distance between them since Ozpin's declaration of their leader or making an attempt to get along with her in spite of them. "We can figure out rules and stuff in the morning. Didn't you say you wanted to go straight in the shower?"
Weiss grimaced, tempted by the suggestion but shook her head. "We should at least get the basics rules out of the way. I expect all of us to respect each other's space and make an effort to keep things clean." She emphasized that last word, eyes dropping to Ruby's boots. She'd tracked more than a little dirt across the wooden floors.
"Ahah, sorry." Ruby said, laughing awkwardly before rejoining him and Pyrrha at the door and taking off her boots.
"I'll take whichever bed you don't want." Pyrrha said to him as they headed towards the two remaining beds. The one in the corner made for the most easily defensible position but the other offered easy access to only set of curtain windows in the room.
Beacon was safe enough for the risk of attack to be minimal.
"I'll take this one." Yin said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed close to the window, placing him between Pyrrha's and Ruby's.
"So, we keep clean and stay away from each other's bed. That sounds-" Ruby began as she sat back down on her bed only to be cut off.
"We also have to agree on a set curfew. I'd rather not be kept up into the night by anyone's childish nonsense. I doubt they'll provide us with staff to clean after us, so we'll also have to distribute chores and such. On top of that, there's the closet space to consider-"
"Curfew, no childish nonsense, chores, closet space." Ruby muttered, nodding along as she paid Weiss's tangent her full attention.
"I guess we know who the high maintenance roommate is going to be." Yin said, opting to ignore the list Weiss was throwing together to look Pyrrha's way.
"I guess we do." Pyrrha agreed with an amused smile as she got comfortable on her own bed. "Ruby is clearly trying to get along with her, but do you think they'll be alright?"
"No." He whispered back. There might not be any arguing or name calling now but it was only a matter of time before Weiss's pride demanded she challenged Ruby's leadership. She was already doing so in her own subtly way with her attempt to lay down rules, the whole list of concerns full of jabs at Ruby's age.
Pyrrha sighed. "Yes. I would be naïve to think otherwise." She reluctantly admitted. "Still, I hope they find some way to get along. I think we all make a rather good team."
Yin hummed, glancing their way once more. Ruby was already looking burned out while Weiss showed no signs of spotting her list.
Fortunately for Ruby, a series of knocks hit their room door. She shot to it in a burst of roses, the wind produced by her speed, messing their beds somewhat.
"And no semblances in the dorm." Weiss added as Ruby opened up their door.
"Is this the dorm of Team RWPY?"
"Yep, that's us." As soon as Ruby answered a trolley was rolled into their room, whoever delivered it taking off to deliver others. It was stock full of suitcases and bags. "Alright team, time to unpack, hit the showers, then finally get some sleep." She declared.
Yin hung back as the three brought their things over to their respective beds.
Weiss brought the most, the area around her bed blocked by a barricade of thick white suitcases when she was done. Pyrrha and Ruby had just about the same amount of baggage, the surface of their beds covered. And in the end only a pair of black suitcases were all that was left on the trolley along with several sets of Beacon's school uniform.
"That can't be all you brought." Weiss questioned as he finally got up to grab his stuff. "Is everything you need really in those two bags?"
"Clothes and bathroom stuff." Yin said while picking up one bag, not a single sound coming from it. "And combat equipment." He added while picking up the other, clicks of metal among other things coming from within. "All I need."
Weiss raised a brow, doubt in her eyes.
"I'll hit the shower first while you all unpack your stuff?" He suggested. With the vast disparity between what they had to unpack no one put any protest, not even Weiss despite her frown. He figured they'd want the privacy to unpack their clothes first and this was the best way to go about offering it without being blunt.
Spending his next four years living with women. Tact would be a requirement.
XOXO
I meant for team BYRN to be pronounced burn and team RWPY to actually be pronounced Rupee as a reference to the colorful currency of good old Zelda. Not sure if either is creative but I like them. You can go with your own alternative pronunciations if you have something cooler.