Author's Note: So this was an idea planted in my head by discussion on both the RT forums and the RWBY wikia. Basically a parallel universe in which everyone and almost everything is the polar opposite of what it is in the actual show. You may not like the characterisation of some characters (Velvet and Blake spring to mind) but nevertheless I hope everyone enjoys this little experiment.

A quick shoutout to Slayer-One for all the help with planning and organising ideas, and Dust-117 for his input as well. A big thank you to gin-1994 from DeviantArt for letting me use his fanart as the cover for the story. You can find more of his work at:

Oh and as always: Suggestions are welcomed and reviews are encouraged.

Chapter 1: Arrival

Beacon Academy, it was the most prestigious combat school in all of Vale, and was even amongst the most respected in all of Vytal, it had conditioned countless generations of heroes and hunters that were now depicted in legends and fairy tales; those that sought a more disciplined life became prominent figures in Vale's military and all who did make it through the rigorous training process were heralded as the best of the best that Vale had to offer.

The school itself was a sight to behold, a towering bastille of black, grey and white ore that cast a great shadow over the breath-taking gardens that surrounded it. Red flags flew proudly, caught by the gentle breeze and numerous street lamps lined the courtyard, presently unlit as dictated by the time of day. The world renowned Beacon Tower stood proudly in amongst the massive buildings that made up Beacon Academy, dwarfing even the most prominent, its bright flame forever burning as if extinguishment would lead to an unforgiving and unrelenting darkness being cast over the kingdom; nature condemning humans and faunus alike to the abyss.

The air was crisp, clean and carrying the faint intoxicated hybrid aroma of sweetness, spice and peppermint from the kitchen that prepared the welcome dinner and the weather was fair, the sun high in the sky radiating a warm glow that the students basked in; a cool breeze preventing the heat of the sun from becoming overwhelming.

Yang however did not have the opportunity to enjoy these fresh, new experiences as she rushed off of the airship, a mortified look on her face as she rushed to the nearest trashcan that lay out of sight of the other students and proceeded to hurl once more. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, could this day GET any worse? She asked herself as she reviewed the events of the still new day. For the first time in sixty seven weeks she had slept in, in her ditzy hurry she had nearly forgotten her enrolment papers and her ticket and when she did finally make it to the transport jet she realised that she had never flown before, at least not in a jet. The feeling of ground actually moving beneath her brought feelings of nausea and resulted in a flight-long battle with her stomach which she lost, succumbing to motion sickness and vomiting down the front of the one guy that had tried speaking with her.

She hoped vainly as she wiped her mouth of the residual mess that he, Jaune she remembered his name as-though of course you don't forget meeting someone as well known as Jaune Arc-was the ONLY person to have bared witness to such an embarrassment and that he would never mention it again.

Peering up from the bin situated behind an untrimmed, overgrown bush she spied two girls in the centre of a courtyard; briefcases were strewn about everywhere, vials of dust rolling aimlessly on the floor. The smaller of the girls, an adorable looking redhead in a black combat skirt with red trim, a red hood, black tights that faded to a reddish-brown as they neared her matching black and red boots and adorned with few accessories she couldn't quite make out from this distance was apologising profusely the other.

Yang double checked herself, ensuring no evidence of her past ten minutes of personal hell were present before walking out from behind the bush. She got a closer look at the other girl, an almost porcelain beauty wearing a dress similar to the redhead only a pristine bluish white in colour with a belt pulling it tight. Clasped to the white fabric seemed to be a small bag of similar colour with a custom made button in the shape of a snowflake holding it closed.

Her face was pale, her eyes blue, and her hair also ivory in colour-even the pair of cat ears that lay perched on the top of her head nestled between her styled locks of hair were white. The only traces of a contrasting colour were the red velvet that laced the underside of her extremely pale blue bolero jacket. She looked older than the redhead, and judging by the roles each played she likely was.

"Weiss, I'm really, really sorry!" the redhead repeated for the umpteenth time to the girl Yang would now call Weiss if she ever spoke to her. Remember to ask her name first though, she'd think you were a total weirdo if you just managed to guess a name such as that and you don't want that… or a stalker, you definitely don't want that.

The white-haired girl placed a reassuring hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Calm down Ruby, it's fine, it's just a little wasted dust, father won't care." She drew the girl into a tight hug, which the redhead now known to Yang as Ruby reciprocated in kind squeezing the ivory girl tighter as she settled into the embrace.

"I know but… it's your dust, you need it for the initiation…" the redhead maintained, apologising a few more times. Wow this girl is as awkward as I am… Yang was now watching the two with intent, shyly using the gardens that surrounded her to obscure her form, she'd never live it down if the two girls suddenly noticed her spying.

"Ruby, you do remember that our family owns the Schnee Dust Company right?" Weiss asked her sister rhetorically, a wide, warm smile on her face. "I'll have plenty of dust for initiation, daddy will just have to send more sooner than expected, you understand?" Ruby gave a small nod, nuzzling slightly into the collar bone of who Yang now assumed was her older sister. "Now are you going to cheer up? I hate seeing you frown…" the younger girl nodded again. "Good, then let's help Franz and Marcus pick up this mess." she gave her sister a kiss on the top of her head, her lips nestling in between a pair of dark grey wolf ears, her nose lightly flicking against the soft appendages for a few moments before she pulled back away.

So they're the Schnee sisters… Yang thought to herself as she paid closer attention to the pairs of animal ears poking out of their respective hairstyles. I thought Weiss's parents were both white lion Faunus? Maybe Ruby's actually a half- Yang was pulled out of her thoughts by a soft, sweet, curious voice "Hello, are you okay there?" she sounded so innocent, so young, and then she realised who it was, her face flushing red as the girl named Ruby dashed over.

"Hellooo, Remnant to blonde girl, are you okay?"

She wasn't, Yang's mind was racing, every thought going through her mind BUT how to greet the girl that was now stood in front of her waving her arms in her face in an attempt to snap her back to reality. Oh no they saw me, how do I explain this to them? "Hi, I'm Yang; I'm the bear Faunus that was spying on you just a few seconds ago. Do you like invading privacy too?" Of course regardless of how awkwardly funny Yang found the response she'd never have the confidence to say that, in fact right now she was doing nothing but mumbling incoherently earning a quizzical look from the redhead as her sister strutted over.

"Is everything okay sis?" asked the heiress to the Schnee fortune.

Ruby scanned Yang's face once more, searching for any sign that she wasn't having a panic attack… or currently failing to impersonate a statue. "I… don't know." The teen finally admitted clicking her fingers in front of the blonde's face, the odd blonde blinking twice before gulping as the sisters finally got her attention. "Hi, I'm Ruby." She said reaching out a hand, offering a handshake to Yang "And you are?"

"Uh…" Yang opened her mouth to speak, nerves racking her body rendering her quite literally speechless. "Umm…" Yang could feel herself growing hotter and hotter, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Ah…" finally she settled on her oldest defense mechanism: Running away. In an instant the blonde had disappeared leaving Ruby alone with her sister once again, her out-stretched hand now only offering thin air a handshake.

"Strange girl…" commented her sister off-handedly as Ruby lowered her right hand.

"I wouldn't call it strange, maybe nervous? I think she needs a friend or two, don't you?" she noted with a smile. Those last two words weren't even a question, it was entirely rhetorical and Weiss, even if she didn't want to befriend the strange blonde, knew better than to even try and deny her sister something she'd set her mind to. Those eyes and that smile would let her get away with murder, she cringed at the thought. Pushing away such anxiety inducing thought processes she rolled her eyes and let a smile of her own appear.

Before Weiss could agree to Ruby's already made up mind the duo heard the tell-tale clacking of footsteps on the pavement behind them. Spinning on the spot they found themselves face to face with a stunning girl, practically radiating beauty and walking with a swagger. A single vial of light blue dust lay clutched within her right hand which she handed over immediately once she was close enough to do so. Ruby noted the distance between the human-looking girl and her sister, accepting the dust vial for her much to Weiss's chagrin.

"Thanks." Ruby said dryly, her free hand popping open Weiss's small bag and dropping in the extra vial before buttoning it back up. "What's your name?"

The pale girl studiously inspected Ruby's own form, fiery amber eyes soaking up every last detail. Ruby clearly did not trust her right now, her left hand had now returned to her waist though was displaced slightly; she could grab hold of her weapon in the blink of an eye if the situation demanded it. Her body had moved closer to Weiss's, her own overlapping with the lion Faunus's ever-so-slightly. It was not enough to convey dominance or coercion but still enough that she could easily block any attempt at harming Weiss's flesh with her own. The black-haired girl finally answered the girl's innocent and harmless question "Blake."

"Are you a… human?" Ruby asked cautiously, it sounded like more of a challenge to Blake.

"Snake faunus actually…" she returned in kind, the redhead visibly relaxed. All the smaller, barely noticeable changes in stance evaporating-her shoulders even slouched a little. Blake would remember that, though she could hardly blame Ruby for such edginess, humanity were well-documented as being incredibly violent, attempting to overcome their lesser status by subduing the superior Faunus race. It was only half a decade ago that the Black Tooth had started attempting diplomacy after their seventh consecutive failed coup attempted.

Blake found a smile crossing her face, as it dawned on her exactly how clueless the Black Tooth had been to attempt the same endeavour time after time, no wonder they continually failed. Ruby took a step forward, offering Blake a handshake in much the same way she offered the bear Faunus earlier "Well, I'm-"

Blake cut her off, her eyes narrowing slightly, the conversation was beginning to drag on, not that she hated conversation, in fact she was very social and would have been if she wasn't starving and could smell the taste of duck filling the air. "I know who you are, your Ruby Rose." She turned to face the white-haired girl whom looked visibly annoyed at her sister's overbearing. "And this is Weiss Schnee. You are the daughters of the president of the Schnee Dust Company." Weiss's eyes lit up slightly, the happiness quickly dying as Blake continued. "Can't say I particularly care though…"

Weiss's face dropped something that did not go unnoticed by her sister. "What's your problem?" Ruby spat almost venomously.

Blake turned slightly snarky, sarcasm evident in her tone. "Nothing, you two are lovely, and I'd love to stand here all day and be regaled with tales of your perfect lives." Ruby's teeth gritted together, something that amused Blake. "But I have to run, that feast isn't going to eat itself…" And with that Blake shouldered her way in between the sisters heading towards the mess hall, she hated when she got grouchy, the sooner she got food in her stomach the sooner she'd actually feel like talking to those two. They don't seem that bad…

Ah, the fresh air, nothing like the smell of cinnamon on a nice, warm day… especially after that blonde girl- Jaune chuckled to himself as he stepped off of the ship, already enjoying fond memories of his time at Beacon and he hadn't even set foot on the school's grounds yet. A few of his fellow hunters in training had stopped mid-stroll and were giving him confused looks, he waved them off with a nervous laugh as he slowly made his way down the ramp and set foot on solid ground for the first time in several hours.

I wonder how she is, she seemed very awkward and sensitive earlier, the sickness probably further embarrassed her, poor girl. I should try and-HUAA! Jaune found himself tumbling to the ground, landing with a thud against something sturdy and surprisingly soft that luckily broke his fall. Come on Jaune, you're more aware than that… he scalded himself before jumping to his feet and brushing himself off. His gaze snapped to the figure now struggling to stand, his wolverine ears granting him exceptional hearing and allowing him to hear the quiet, frustrated groans that soon turned into audible growls.

The larger man got to his feet and turned to face Jaune. "Hey what's your-" the larger male stopped in his tracks, giving Jaune a double and a triple take. "Are you Jaune Arc?" The blonde just smiled, taking great pride in being recognised.

"Why yes I am."

The simple response earned Jaune a complete switch in the other's mood, all prior resentment instantly dissipating and being replaced with a small amount of fear that Jaune hated seeing in the mysterious stranger's eyes. "I am so, so sorry Mr Arc!" Jaune also hated such incessant formality; he did not deserve this treatment from this assumed human, come to think of it: nobody did.

"What? Why? You didn't do anything." Jaune explained, Cardin's guard dropped as did his mouth, Jaune had to admit that he was amused by the situation.

"You mean you're NOT going to yell at me?" the stranger's voice was genuinely curious, seemingly disbelieving that such a thing was even remotely possible. It was Jaune's turn to play the shocked student standing there speechless before his new friend having been taken completely by surprise by his gentle nature and the revelation that he had been conditioned, either by himself, his family or by Faunus to apologise to the self-proclaimed superior race for every transgression committed.

Jaune shrugged, his hands brushing off what the other boy considered a punishable offense. "Pfft, please it was my fault for getting side-tracked-I should've been looking where I was going." For the first time Jaune heard the other guy laugh, or at least meaningfully laugh-it was just a solitary chuckle imbued with realisation that everything would be alright. "What is it?"

The redheaded giant held back his laughter for a few moments, recovering quickly he placed a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "You're not like the others…" he straightened himself up, using Jaune as sturdy support. "The name's Cardin, Cardin Winchester. It's nice to meet you."

Jaune shrugged off the friendly gesture, Cardin flinching as he pulled back his hand defensively, once more slightly worried about offending the man heralded as a national hero. Jaune reassured him that everything was fine once more before glancing around, realising that, at some point, the ship had taken back to the skies and the other students had all funnelled passed and into the academy, there was not a soul in sight. Jaune had one question on his mind, one which he hoped Cardin had the answer to because the food smelled delicious. "Uh… Cardin: Where are we?"