She deployed Crescent Rose with a flourish, the massive scythe extending to its full, complex glory.
Her new companion raises a fist to her mouth and lets out a chuckle. "A hard worker too? Impressive. Not many can say they built their weapon entirely themselves."
"Hehehe, thanks!" Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, her weapon morphing back to its compact form. "By the way, is your weapon dust exclusive, or does it have multi-elemental capabilities? And how many rounds of ammunition does it carry? Do you fight with all three weapons at once? Or maybe you have some kind of weapon-combining Semblance that—" She let out an awkward laugh, catching herself. "Oops, sorry, I was getting carried away."
Ruby cleared her throat. "Ahem. My name is Ruby. Ruby Rose!" She extended her hand. "Pleased to meet you!"
"Mine is Marygold Bright." The horned girl –Mary!–reached out her hand and grasped hers. Ruby faintly noticed that the skin of the girl's palm felt rough to the touch. Then, with a gentle smile on her face, Mary shook her hand. "And likewise, Ruby."
"So!" She settled back excitedly. "What brings you to Beacon, Mary?"
Mary blinked in a visible surprise. "Mary?" she echoed, tilting her head slightly. Her confused tone made Ruby's heart skip a beat in panic.
Darn it! Did that sound too rude? Did she just accidentally offended her first–potential–friend!?
"—gold! Marygold! My bad! I bit my tongue at the end! Hehehe~ silly me~"
The blonde-haired girl's golden eyes blinked again slowly, confusion still apparent in her face, but she didn't push nor question Ruby, instead, she simply leaned back in the plush seats, arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at the ceiling with a weird expression? It was hard to tell. Face reading was never one of her fortes.
After some time, the horned girl looked down again and replied. "Well, to answer your initial question, I was just curious how the best academy in Remnant would be. Perhaps I will learn something new, or reinforce what I already know." She arched an eyebrow. "What about you?"
"I want to become strong and protect everyone!" She shouted, thumping her fist against her chest.
A faint smile played across Marygold's lips. "You want to be a hero?" Ruby nodded her head eagerly, a beaming smile on her face.
Mary let out a chuckle and gave another gentle smile. "That's a noble goal, Ruby." She gave a solemn nod of approval. "Then I wish you luck in your exams."
"Hehe, you too."
A rude snort cut through their conversation. "Ugh, please. The last thing she needs is luck."
That rude snort piqued her curiosity, causing Ruby to turn her head, only to see the formerly sleeping girl beside her finally stirring. The newcomer had a roguish look with her messy, short brown hair. She wore a sleeveless studded jacket as she rolled her eyes and stretched with an exaggerated yawn.
Spoiler: Rude Girl
"Miss Champion here could kick all of our collective ass, if anyone here needs luck, it's you, shrimp." The girl shot Ruby a lopsided grin, her tone laced with sarcasm.
Ruby frowned a little at the dismissive tone the rude girl used, but looked back at Marygold, who maintained her polite smile. "I won't deny or confirm such a statement, but there is no certainty in this world."
"Ha!" the rude girl barked a laugh. "Me aside, do you really think any of these wimps have any chance against you?" She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, and Ruby's gaze followed to a tall, primly-dressed girl flashing a medal around her neck. "All bark, no bite, I say. All hung up on family names or achievements they got at those lousy place they call combat school."
"All bark and no bite? You should be more careful with your words, Miss..." she trailed off, realizing neither she nor Ruby knew the rude girl's name.
"Vernal," the rude girl supplied with a cocky grin.
"Miss Vernal, the worst mistake one can commit as a fighter is to underestimate their opponents, be they human, faunus, or Grimm." Marygold paused, then a faint smirk played across her lips. "Who knows, maybe one of those 'wimps' could be the reason you didn't join the academy."
Vernal's eyes narrowed dangerously at the comment. "Ha, as if! The only one here who can rob me of my chance is you, and side, Pride of Mistral, how bout we have a go? I'm itching to see if you are as invincible as they say."
Rather than rising to the bait, Marygold simply closed her eyes and leaned back into the plush seat, arms crossed below her chest. Her body appeared relaxed, as if drifting off to sleep, but Ruby didn't buy the pretense - she noticed the faint twitching of Marygold's fingers, a subtle sign that she was more than ready to act in case Vernal tried anything.
Ruby gulped nervously. Despite neither of the girls speaking to each other anymore, she couldn't mistake the huge, suffocating blanket of awkwardness that enveloped them and the staring contest.
There had to be something to fix this awkward situation.
And that solution came in the shape of another of the robotic servers carrying a tray with a chocolate cake. "Hey look! Chocolate cake!" Ruby shouted, pointing at the delicious-looking pastry.
"Greetings, customer," the robot server droned. "It appears you are interested in a slice of chocolate cake. How many portions do you wish for?"
"Ummm...one?" Ruby replied, failing to mask the nervous tone still evident in her voice.
"Tsk, I was getting hungry anyway," Vernal scoffed. "Oi, tin shit, give me five."
"A chocolate cake? I won't refuse to purchase one slice." Marygold said more politely as she took out her Scroll, likely to pay.
Ruby let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, she'd worried the growing tensions might escalate into an actual fight. But scoring some tasty cake seemed to have diverted potential disaster. Now she just needed to pay for her emergency solver sugary treat.
The server handed them each a slice of chocolate cake on a small plate with a plastic spoon before trundling off in another direction. Ruby didn't say anything else, instead taking her first bite and savoring the rich flavor as she looked out the window at the passing scenery.
Ah, they had already departed Vale and, by the looks of it, had been flying for quite some time - the city was growing smaller and smaller in the distance as the airship carried them further away.
Surprisingly, the ride became relatively quiet after that. Vernal returned to sleeping once she'd polished off her cake and discarded the plate on the floor, while Marygold simply watched the scenery in silence.
As for Ruby, she pulled out a past volume weapon magazine, an older volume but no less interesting to her eyes, happily immersing herself in the articles and schematics.
Eventually, the airship began its descent and docking procedures. The signal to disembark sounded, and a crowd immediately formed at the exit.
"Finally!" Vernal exclaimed, rousing herself and following the crush of people towards the exit.
Ruby decided to wait a little longer, not eager to get jostled in the melee. Marygold seemed to share the same idea, remaining seated until the mass exodus had thinned out. Only then did they stand and make their way off the airship.
It was just a short walk from the landing pad, but Ruby couldn't help but gawk when she took her first steps onto the grounds of Beacon Academy. The prestigious school looked even more amazing up close, its towering central spire appearing to scrape the clouds themselves - it maybe even dwarfed even the skyscrapers of Vale!
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Ruby. I hope we meet again as classmates," Marygold's gentle voice broke through her awestruck state.
"Good luck, Mary!" Ruby giggled and waved farewell to her new... friend? Oops, she'd slipped and shortened her name again.
But rather than taking offense this time, Marygold simply smiled warmly and continued on her way towards the main academy building where everyone was going.
Ruby watched her go for a moment, then turned to take in the sight of Beacon once more, filled with a sense of breathless possibility.
This was it - the start of her journey to become a badass Huntress!
Ruby grinned, struck by a thought. Of course! She needed to tell her friends that she'd made it to Beacon! Pulling out her scroll, she took a quick selfie, the magnificent central tower looming in the background as proof she'd arrived at the best academy in the world.
With a few taps, she posted the picture to their group chat.
[ I'm finally here girls, wish me luck! ]
It didn't take long for the replies to start rolling in. Abi was first with a picturesque shot - clearly enjoying the sunny beaches of Menagerie, if the turquoise waters were any indication.
Next came a selfie from Cerise, proudly showing off the latest DustLink model in her hand, tongue stuck out playfully.
[You got it already?] Ruby typed back.
[Yep, turn out, for this term, they are letting us use the student benefit early on, just to make us motivated to pass the entrance exam. ]
[Then you better kept burying your head in book Cerise, Atlas's not Beacon level, but it's still up there. ]
[Abi, you are literally playing on a beach right now. Unity is easy, but not that easy. Don't come crying to us about you not getting accepted. ]
[Ha ha, very funny. ]
Ruby grinned at her friends' antics, her thumbs poised to respond, when a heavy impact slammed into her back. "Whoa!"
Her Scroll went flying from her hands. Ruby lunged desperately, somehow managing to snatch it back before it could crash to the ground. She clutched it protectively to her chest, letting out a relieved sigh.
"Watch it!" A gruff, completely unapologetic voice barked out.
Oh no, she was not going to let that rude behavior slide! Wheeling around, ready to give the rude person a piece of her mind, she was met with... an empty courtyard behind her.
"... Was that a ghost?"
So much for the auspicious start she'd hoped for. Taking a calming breath, Ruby tucked her scroll safely away and re-centered herself. She refused to let one probably supernatural entity that may or may not be real to ruin this momentous day - she had made it to Beacon, the most prestigious huntsman academy in all of Remnant!