Shaking herself out of it, Ruby stumbled, a soft, apologetic "Sorry..." escaped her lips, her only thought to avoid making a scene. Her foot had caught on one of the many suitcases belonging to a girl dressed in pristine white, a collision that sent a jolt of anxiety through her.
The girl's eyes, however, were ablaze with a fury that went far beyond a simple apology. "Sorry?" she retorted, the word a sharp, icy shard. "Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?"
Her voice rose with each word, the anger a palpable force in the air. "You could have killed us with that trip! You have to be more careful!" she insisted, snatching a suitcase from the pile and unzipping it with a frantic motion. "Dust is a powerful substance," she explained, her voice dropping to an intense whisper. "One wrong move and we could have all exploded!"
The lecture felt like a storm of accusation, and Ruby's initial humility began to curdle into frustration. A low growl escaped her throat as her patience snapped. "Hey, I said I was sorry, princess," she shot back, the deference gone from her voice, replaced by a cutting edge of defiance.
Another voice sliced through their heated exchange, and Ruby's attention was drawn to a new figure. "Weiss Schnee," the girl said, her tone level but laced with a subtle edge. "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, the largest company that sells dust energies all over the world."
The girl had raven hair, tied back with a black bow. She glanced from Ruby to Weiss, a knowing look in her eyes. "The same company that uses Faunus as a labor force for their misdeeds," she added, the final words a quiet but potent accusation.
"Hey! How dare you!" Weiss bristled, her composure cracking. She snapped her luggage shut and snapped her fingers, summoning two men in black suits to her side. They silently began gathering her things. "I don't have time for this," she declared, turning on her heel and walking away, her two silent escorts following her.
"What an ass," Ruby muttered under her breath, watching them go. She turned back to the girl in black, only to find that she, too, had vanished.
Ruby sighed, running a hand through her hair. "God... people today."
"Hey," a familiar voice chimed in. It was Alex, who strolled up beside her. "I figured out where we need to go." Without another word, Alex took a handful of Ruby's red cloak and pulled her toward a large entrance hall, leading into the school's auditorium.
The hall was vast, dominated by a stage at the front. A man with silver hair and spectacles stood on it, dressed in a green suit and black pants, a cross necklace resting against his chest. He tapped the microphone and announced for everyone to find a seat so he could begin.
Ruby and Alex settled into two empty chairs. A young woman with bright blonde hair was already seated next to them. "Hey," she greeted them with a friendly smile. Ruby offered a small nod in return. "...Hey," she mumbled, just as the man on stage tapped the microphone again.
"Ahem... My name is Ozpin," he began, his voice calm and deliberate. "And I'd like to keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. When you are 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 can only carry you so far... It is up to you to take the first step."
He stepped back, and another professor took his place. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. All of you can gather in the ballroom for tonight. You are now dismissed."
"It's almost like he wasn't even there," Alex said, her voice a sudden break in the quiet of the auditorium. The blonde girl sitting next to her nodded in agreement. "Yeah...he was kind of off," she added, a thoughtful look on her face.
Ruby just shrugged, her mind already moving on. "Who cares? Let's just get to that ballroom," she said, her voice flat, as she pushed herself up from her seat and walked away from them.
The blonde girl turned to Alex, a puzzled expression on her face. "What's up with her?" she asked.
Alex sighed. "Sorry about that," she said, a hint of apology in her tone. "She can be a bit cold toward others. My name's Alex."
The blonde girl nodded in understanding. "I'm Yang. Nice to meet you," she replied. Alex gestured toward Ruby's retreating figure. "And that's Ruby," she said.
For some reason, the name Ruby struck a chord with Yang, a sense of familiarity she couldn't place. "Why don't we head to the ballroom?" Alex suggested. "We need our sleep before tomorrow." Yang readily agreed.
Later, in the ballroom, Ruby was settled into her sleeping bag on the floor, Alex in her own bag nearby. To Ruby's surprise, the blonde girl from the auditorium had followed them.
Ruby addressed the blonde, her voice tight with annoyance. "Exactly why did you follow us?" she asked.
"Well, I wanted to get to know you guys," Yang said, a friendly smile on her face. "I really don't have anyone else to talk to."
Ruby let out a long sigh and lay back down in her sleeping bag. "Right...just don't talk too much. I want to get some sleep," she said, her voice muffled.
Alex and Yang nodded, then continued their conversation, their voices hushed to a whisper. Ruby closed her eyes, trying to ignore them and drift off to sleep.
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The nightmare began as it always did, with the gnawing sensation of being watched from within. Ruby was in a silent, mirrored void, her reflection a monstrous distortion of herself. The creature, a demon born from the cruel experiments she had endured, lived within her, a parasitic entity that had woven itself into her very soul. Its eyes, a searing, malevolent red, glowed with a predatory hunger.
The demon's voice was a chilling echo in the emptiness, a mocking litany of her deepest fears and insecurities. It taunted her with every mistake she had ever made, every lie she had ever told, twisting them into grotesque caricatures of her failures. The demon laughed, and its laughter was a cacophony of sound that clawed at the walls of her sanity.
Ruby thrashed, desperate to escape the relentless assault. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the silence of the dream. She tried to scream, but no sound would escape her throat. The demon's face contorted into a monstrous sneer, and it lunged at her, its shadowy claws reaching for her, not to harm her body but to consume her very essence.
With a choked gasp, Ruby shot upright, her body drenched in a cold sweat. The phantom echoes of the nightmare still rang in her ears, and she clutched at her chest, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The terror of the dream clung to her, a chilling shroud.
Slowly, the cold reality of the ballroom replaced the suffocating horror of her dream. The first rays of dawn were filtering through the large windows, casting a soft, pearly light on the sleeping forms around her. It was morning. The sun had risen, and the demon was gone, banished for now by the light. But the cold dread of the nightmare lingered, a stark reminder of the darkness that lay within her.
With a shaky hand pressed against her chest, Ruby tried to calm the frantic rhythm of her heart. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath, the remnants of the nightmare still clinging to her like a second skin.
"Are you okay?" a familiar voice asked, pulling her from her thoughts. Ruby looked up to see Yang's face filled with concern.
"I'm fine," Ruby mumbled, pushing herself out of her sleeping bag. She stretched her arms and legs with a feigned yawn. "It was just a dream, nothing to worry about."
Just then, a clear chime echoed through the ballroom, signaling the start of the initiation.
"I guess it's time," Ruby said, her voice more composed now.
Alex's voice bubbled with excitement. "Then let's go! Let's show these losers what we can do!"