Chapter 5

As the airship arrived and touched the landing pad, the students filtered out of the flying machine. The family trio managed to move out of the crowd to look in amazement of the courtyard they are currently in.

"Wow, Signal has nothing on this."

Yang commented in awe. She gets a nod in agreement as a response from Ruby and Luffy. Ruby then starts scanning the many students that blanket the area. Well not the students themselves, but the weapons they have.

"Woah! He has a collapsible staff! And that guy has a fire sword!"

She says in childish wonder. Luffy hears this and can't help but join in on the search for cool weapons.

"Relax there kids, they're just weapons."

Yang said matter-of-factly. She couldn't hide the mirth of seeing the two look like little kids in a candy store. Ruby took slight offense to the statement and turned to her older sister.

"They are not just weapons, they're an extension of our bodies. And while I do love my Crescent Rose, it's just like meeting new people but better."

Ruby said, lecturing her sister about her obsession.

"Oh really... because last I checked, Luffy can already extend himself. Why don't you try to make some friends. If not, Luffy is going to make you."

Yang said with a grin. With Luffy around, it was pretty much impossible not to interact with others, and whenever he makes a friend, that by extension means they are also your friends.

This caused Ruby to pout and then look around for said cousin. When they couldn't find him, they were about to start searching until an explosion happened not to far from them. They only had one thing in their thoughts and that thought was...

'Luffy.'

they both thought in unison with dull eyes. Not even in the building and he already caused trouble.

"Welp, I'll leave that to you Ruby, cuz I got friends to meet and catch up with. See you later."

Yang said before she sprints over to her pals, leaving a slack jawed Ruby behind.

Yang just left her to deal with whatever trouble Luffy got himself into... that's a low blow.

With her head hanging in defeat as she walks over to the location of the explosion, only to find Luffy and a white haired girl to be covered in soot. Surprisingly enough, Luffy's straw hat remained unscathed.

Said white haired girl is at an inch taller than Ruby, only with the white wedge heeled boots on, has a pale complexion and ice blue eyes with a crooked scar down the left eye. Her hair is pulled up into a side ponytail that goes down to her thighs. She wears a pale blue bolero jacket with the inside being red over a thigh length dress of the same color. The accessories include an apple shaped necklace and thin rectangle earrings, and her snowflake symbol can be found on the back of the bolero. On her waist is a ribbon that is holding a small bag on the back of her waist.

Ruby continues her approach as the soot blows off, and then Luffy starts his boisterous laugh with the girl gritting her teeth in anger.

"Hahahaha, that was an awesome sneeze, I thought we were gonna die."

Luffy laughed out loud, casually mentioning their possible demise.

"Don't just say something like that so easily you idiot! You're lucky we didn't get blown off the cliff!"

the white themed girl shouted at him in growing anger. How he could laugh in the face of death was rather disturbing and very strange to her. The straw hat boy just rubs his head with a toothy grin.

"Shishishi, sorry about that. But we didn't, so that's nice. Hey, you wanna be friends? I'm Luffy."

Luffy said as if he never caused an explosion to begin with. The girl grabs him by the front of his hoodie and pulls him down to eye level and gives him a harsh glare.

"No, I refuse to be friends with a complete and utter idiot like you!"

she yelled harshly. She'd rather be dead than hang out with him. Ruby decides to step in and push them apart before things get out of hand.

"L-look, can we not get in a fight? And Luffy already apologized and introduced himself, so it's only fair to accept it and introduce yourself. Oh, I'm Ruby by the way."

Ruby said trying to defuse the tense atmosphere with a friendly tone. It doesn't seem to work as the girl turns towards her with a scowl on her face.

"Oh I'm sorry, but aren't you a little too young to be here?"

the snarky girl replied earning a flinch from the red head and a pout from Luffy for still not getting a name. He didn't have to wonder long as a new voice broke into the conversation.

"Weiss Schnee... heiress to the illustrious Schnee Dust Company. I'm surprised that you don't know her since you use dust with your weapons."

Came the voice of the amber eyed girl as she makes a remark on Luffy's weapons, noticing that they do use such materials upon closer inspection.

The three turn to her to see her reading a book while holding a vial of dust. Excluding Luffy since he sensed her presence, they wondered when she got there.

The girl, now named Weiss, looks smug at the recognition of her status, although it was quickly wiped away by the next comment by the same girl.

"The same company known for underhanded business tactics and questionable partners."

she said in a dry tone, which rewarded her with a gaping Weiss, a snickering Ruby, and a laughing Luffy. Weiss was affronted by the slander, and took the vial and marched away fuming, leaving Ruby and Luffy with the black haired girl who was about to walk away as well until Luffy asked her...

"Oi, what's your name?"

the girl sighed before turning her head to the side to answer.

"Blake, Blake Belladonna."

the now named Blake said as she left the area. Luffy for his part, had a wide toothy grin at learning the names of his new friends.

"See... now we have more friends Ruby. We have Blake, Wise , and Jaune."

Luffy said to her with a cheerful demeanor.

It doesn't matter to him whether they wanted to be friends or not, once Luffy called you friend, you were stuck there. The cheerfulness seems to be contagious as Ruby finds herself smiling too, even though things are rocky with Weiss. Footsteps were heard as Luffy turned to the sounds to find a familiar face.

"Oh, hey Jaune! This is my cousin, Ruby. Ruby, this is Jaune, the guy that almost puked on the flying thing."

Luffy introduced the two with Ruby raising a brow at the blonde and Jaune bowing his head in defeat.

"Gee thanks... I really appreciated that Luffy."

Jaune said sarcastically, not wanting others to know about that event in fear of embarrassment.

"It could've been worse, if you did people would call you Vomit Boy.

Ruby reassured Jaune before turning to Luffy.

"So what did you do to make an explosion?"

she asked, with Jaune looking curious as well since he also saw the blast. Luffy tilts his head in thought, trying to remember how it happened.

"Hmmm... oh right, I was exploring the place until I ran into Wise's stuff, and then she was yelling at me while shaking a bottle of that red Dust, my nose itched when I sniffed it, and then I let out an awesome sneeze that blew us up."

Luffy said before falling into laughter. Ruby and Jaune sweatdropped at his short story as Jaune leaned towards Ruby's ear.

"Is he always like this?"

he whispered to Ruby, only to get a nod from her. Ruby wanted to move to a different topic, so she chose the one she is most comfortable with.

"Well I got this thing. Her names Crescent Rose and is a high-caliber sniper-scythe."

Ruby said with a bit of pride as she pulls out her scythe and planting it to the ground. The sight of the weapon startled Jaune as the scythe is taller than any of them.

"O-oh, that's cool... well I have this sword a-and a shield that turns into a sheath."

Jaune said lamely as he shows his own weapon, which gets him an 'Oooo' from the cousins. He looks over to Luffy expecting him to join in on show and tell, only for him to raise his fist, gesturing that Luffy is a brawler. Jaune inquired as he inspects the odd weapons.

."W-wait, then what's with the stick and rod?"

Ruby decides to cut in to add her own critique on Jaune's weapon

"First, if your shield is the sheath, wouldn't it weigh the same? Although you can't go wrong with the classics; and second, Luffy uses those weapons with his semblance and the stick is a cane sword by the way."

she explains quickly while clearing the misunderstanding about Soul Solid. How it's used to play music and fight at the same time, she won't know, but it's awesome

Jaune looks sheepishly at the mix up and internally admits that the weight indeed stays the same. Trying to steer away from the topic, he looks around for a sign of where they should be then sends his gaze to the two.

"Do any of you know where to go?"

he asked the two only to get a negative from them. He sighs and searches for a directory or map, until Ruby thought of an idea that she could try.

She closes her eyes and tries to focus extremely hard on at least unlocking Observation Haki so she can sense the 'voices' around her to find where a big group of them are, but to no avail. To spare herself of a headache, she stops the attempt and turns to Luffy, hoping he would get the message.

He didn't, so she just whispered what she planned on doing in his ear, Luffy nodding his head in understanding. After a few seconds, Luffy senses where the large number is coming from and takes point in leading them, with Ruby following and Jaune shortly after he realized they were leaving.

They managed to find the building that they're supposed to be in, much to Jaune's shock at what he assumed was a lucky guess. They hear a voice calling out to them and recognize who it is.

"Hey you two, I got a spot here for ya!"

Yang said over the volume of the other students. Ruby and Luffy part ways with Jaune in favor of their sister/cousin, with Jaune groaning about another quirky girl to talk to. The fifteen year olds make their way to Yang and stood next to her waiting for something to start.

"So, got yourselves a new friend already. Kinda figures since you have Luffy with ya. How has your day been so far?"

Yang said with a knowing look with Ruby frowning at her for the question.

"Other than the part where you ditched me to see what happened with Luffy, he apparently sneezed on fire Dust that this Weiss girl was shaking, which caused the explosion, then she yells at him for it, and now she is Luffy's friend even though she says she's not."

Ruby said, summing up the gist of what happened. If Yang wanted to know that badly, why didn't she follow Ruby in the place? Before anymore can be said, Weiss appeared behind them with a look of anger.

"YOU! I'm not done with you, brute!"

she yelled at Luffy as he looks at her with a blank expression. She hands him a pamphlet on the basics of dust and proceeds to lecture him, much to Ruby's horror.

Luffy fell asleep while standing in the middle of Weiss' lecture. Weiss notices this as she whacks him upside the head with the ever present scowl on her face.

As if saved by the bell, Ozpin arrives on the stage with Glynda beside him. Ozpin scans the room to oversee the new youths applying to this academy and can't help but have an amused smirk upon seeing Luffy. Luffy turns his head towards the stage and spots the two people from the police station.

"Oh, look it's Ozzy and Witch."

he said, making the three turn their attention to the stage in anticipation of a speech. Ozpin cleared his throat on the mic to get everyone else's attention in which he succeeded.

"I'll... keep this brief. You all have come from afar to seek knowledge here, to improve yourselves in your craft and skills. And once you graduate, you will decide to take upon the duty to protect the people. But what I see amongst you is wasted potential that lack a purpose and direction. Knowledge can only go so far, as you will learn here, so it is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin said, giving a commencement speech to the soon-to-be huntsman in training, and lets out a silent chuckle upon seeing a sleeping Luffy.

'Guess Luffy hasn't been one for speeches and backstories, only believing in the present and actions displayed.'

he thought to himself in amusement.

In Luffy's group, they watched as Ozpin gave his speech and Glynda later informing them that they would be sleeping in the ballroom for tonight. Ruby and Yang look on in slight confusion of Ozpin's mood.

"There might be something going on Rubes, cuz it looked like he wasn't all there."

Yang stated to her sister, and then wakes Luffy up by smacking his head without looking, as if very used to his problem of staying awake in the middle of long winded talks. Luffy bolts up awake upon contact and looked around frantically.

"Awww... and I had a dream about an island of meat. Why did you wake me up Yang?"

Luffy complained to the blonde. Yang sweatdrops before walking up to his ear.

"Because dinner is coming soon Lufes. Which is better, a dream with food or having food in real life?"

Yang retorted to him, with Luffy drooling at the thought of a meal. Yang couldn't help but roll her eyes at Luffy's simplicity.

***************************************

The ballroom became a blanket filled with sleeping bags as nighttime approached. Ruby and Yang were already in their pajamas while Luffy was getting into his in the men's locker room.

The two had the occasional snicker at the memory of every student looking at the straw hat boy during dinner as he shows off his insatiable hunger by devouring every ounce of food in sight. He was so fat after the marathon he looked like a globe, only to somehow make the fat disappear in an instant a minute later, earning a lot of jealous looks from both men and women.

It was something that Yang was envious of, being able to eat so much but not gain any weight with that insane metabolism of his. Yang was standing around taking in the sight of the sea of sleepwear with Ruby writing while laying down.

"Wow! It's like a huge slumber party in here!"

Yang said enthusiastically with her arms spread out gesturing to the entire room.

"I don't think dad would approve of the boys though."

Ruby stated flatly

"I know I do. Meow~" Yang purred at the sight of some of the many men going topless. She had a disgusted look on her face when she caught sight of Jaune in his blue onesie before turning to her sister in curiosity.

"So sis, what are you doing?"

she asked Ruby.

"Just writing a letter to our friends at Signal. You know, keeping in touch with them."

Ruby replied simply. She knows she'll see them again, but it doesn't hurt to send letters to let them know you haven't forgotten them.

"Awww, that's so adorable."

Yang cooed, only to get hit in the face by a pillow courtesy of a pouting Ruby.

"Shut up. I don't get to bring my friends with me to Beacon. But thanks to what Luffy told me, I know I'll see them again, it's only a matter of time."

Ruby said in a soft voice. She appreciated what Luffy said to her after it was brought up, it was like his simple thinking allowed him to cheer someone up very easily. He always had that unknown charm that makes your day brighter.

Yang had a soft smile as well, internally thanking Luffy for comforting Ruby when she couldn't at the time. Shaking herself from the thought, she looks at her sister with a grin on her face.

"Well there's Jaune... he's nice. And then there was that Blake girl Luffy mentioned. I'm sure the Ice Queen would come around eventually and become friends with us. It's usually what Luffy does best."

Yang said with a tone of confidence. One of the many stories she heard from Qrow about Luffy's past life was about how he turned almost anyone into a friend before you could blink, and this applies to people that were once his enemies.

The aforementioned boy was spotted coming into the ballroom with only shorts, sandals, and his precious straw hat. He may be scrawny, but has shown to have well defined muscles.

The sister's breath hitched at the painful sight on his chest, an X-shaped scar that looked like two deep jagged cuts from large claws. It was the wound he received when he protected them from the Beowolves ten years ago. It was proof of their resolve to become stronger for the safety of their family, and a reminder of what could've happened if they weren't.

At first, they couldn't look at it straight as they would remember all the blood that was spilled that fateful day. Now, for the most part, are slightly affected but not enough to tear their gaze from it. They need to see it more often so they can cope with it.

Luffy walks towards the two, ignoring the many looks he is getting. Some are from the slightly blushing women that found his scar 'hot'; some are of jealousy and anger from the guys seeing the hardcore scar; while the rest are either concerned or disturbed, wondering how one survives a serious wound like that.

Luffy reaches his two cousins sets down his sleeping bag next to them, still having the idiotic grin.

"Oh man, that was some good eating. I'm actually full for once."

Luffy said with a cheerful tone. The sisters rolled their eyes, knowing Beacon is going to restrict his eating habits very soon after witnessing the conundrum that is Luffy's stomach. Ruby spots a familiar face with eyes widened briefly with Yang and Luffy noticing and turning to the direction of her gaze. Luffy's eyes also widened a little at the sight of Blake in a yukata, which happen to be her pajamas, as she is reading a book intently with a lit candle to help read.

"You know that girl?"

Yang inquired the two seeing as they look like they met her before. She gets a nod in response from Ruby.

"Shishishi, yeah that's Blake. Lets go say hi to her."

Luffy said with a cheerful demeanor, thinking that Blake could use the company since she is by herself in the far side of the room.

Yang smiles at this and picks Ruby up to drag her to where Blake is, knowing Ruby can be socially awkward to new people, but that can get fixed once she starts chatting with said new people. Blake looked up from her book when she heard the sounds of footsteps heading her way and sighs, wanting to be alone but knows they aren't going to leave so soon.

"Hiya Blake, nice to see you here. Oh, this my cousin, Yang, and Ruby is also my cousin."

Luffy cheerfully said to her, trying to get her to open up. Blake simply nods in confirmation and waves in greeting, not really one to talk much. Ruby couldn't really get any words out as she doesn't know what to say, but waves back at her. Yang notices that the conversation died as soon as it began.

"Nice night, don't ya think?"

Yang said trying to start some small talk to get things moving.

"Yes, it's almost as lovely as this book I'm reading... that I will continue to read alone... as soon as you leave."

Blake said with an annoyed tone, making sure they would get the hint, but none of it got through as they just stood there. Yang was about to comply to leaving her alone, thinking that it was a lost cause until Ruby spoke up.

"What is it about?"

Ruby asked, getting a questioning look from Blake.

"Y-your book I mean."

Blake was taken off guard at the innocent question, not thinking that someone would be curious enough to care about what she read.

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

Blake replied. Luffy couldn't help but compare that to himself, with the exception that he has seven other spirits inside of him and there is no fighting for control.

"I like books too. It's one of the reasons for becoming a huntress, stories of heroes overcoming evil and bringing good to the world. To defend those that couldn't do it on their own."

Ruby said with a sense of naivety, having an innocent outlook on the world.

"To what end, so people can live a 'happily ever after'. That's pretty ambitious for a child, but the outside world isn't a mere fairy tale that you make it out to be."

Blake retorted, knowing how gray the world is by experience. The conversation was interrupted by Luffy's chuckling, which caused Blake's eyes to narrow, wondering what was so humorous.

"You say that, but I think you have an ambition like that too, huh Blake."

Luffy said before switching to a more serious expression, much to the surprise of the three.

"Why do you want to be alone? There is no way you can be okay with it. Besides, we're your friends so you can't ever be alone."

he finished with little emotion in his voice. Blake was taken aback by the presumption, weird question, and declaration that followed.

He looked like he knew more than the average teenager. But when she thinks about it, he's right. Wanting equality and peace between humans and faunus is just as naïve with the way things are, but she still believes it's possible, despite the world she lives in. And when he asked that question, it was as if he knew how it felt to be alone.

She never said that she loved to be alone, but she prefers to be. And how can he just say that they're friends without so much as knowing each other. Blake found herself speechless at Luffy's words, not knowing how to respond or argue against it. Before she can get into deeper thought, a shrill voice was heard.

"Would you dolts be quiet, people are trying to sleep!"

Weiss yelled as she stomps her way to them. Yang groans in exasperation at the Ice Queen starting her rant once more. Luffy turned to Weiss with a frown on his face.

"Oi, oi... you're the one that's yelling. Keep it down so people can sleep."

he told Weiss, rewarding him with a red faced Weiss as she was at boiling point in her anger.

Ruby and Yang decide to leave it be and go to bed, hoping for the rant to tire Weiss out. Blake sighed to herself as she bookmarked her page in the book and blew out the candles before entering slumber, Luffy's words still ringing in her head. His opinion on the White Fang, questioning her desire to be alone, becoming friends without her consent, and presuming her dream is just as naïve as Ruby's with no knowledge of what her dream is.

She mentally exhausts herself to sleep with all the things on her mind. Shortly after, both Weiss and Luffy follow suit after she had enough of berating the idiot. Tomorrow marks the day of their initiation, the test to see if they have what it takes to be in Beacon Academy.