The sound of thunder and howling wind that echoed over a once peaceful road was no longer concealing the symphony of battle that took place a mere moments before. At the center sat a fifteen year old girl clutching her now useless right arm and a woman in her mid twenties had her head across her lap. Her blood from the wound on her face mixed with the rain that she wasn't shield from by the girl. The feeling of aura approaching startled the girl and with her weapon destroyed she had no choice but to called on her semblance for the second time that night. Even if there was a shard of her weapon embedded in her thigh.

'Come on you bastards, I am still more than ready to die for my charge.'

That is when an older man appeared out of nowhere and touch the ground. He immediately started to run the twenty five yard distance between him and the two females. He tried to call out a name but was drowned by the clap of thunder overhead. Before he could try again he found himself going in the opposite direction with his aura completely shattered. Part of him cursed himself for being so stupid. He trained her to be smart and her mother's people taught her how to fight without mercy. Add the fact she was possibly injured and it was extremely stupid of him to run at her.

As soon as he hit the ground he found his vision filled with the face of of his former student. Her face twisted by rage and her raised left hand held the dagger he gave her for 12 birthday, but The Mother seemed to smile down on him as fear appeared in her eyes as she recognized the face of the person who's chest she was sitting on.

"Qrow?"

The fear in her whispering voice as the action she was about to commit became very real for her. He was about to attempt to comfort her, but then a voice boomed louder than the thunder overhead called out the girl's full name.

"RUBY FINCH ROSE!"

Almost immediately the fear disappeared in her eyes making way for the cold gaze of the soldier that she learned from her nine years of what he viewed as extreme training given by her mother and her people. She stood up and in movement that would put Ironwood's robots to shame went to stand behind his former lover. Summer had a look of disapproval hanging on her face as she looked down on her daughter. That is when he noticed that her right arm was destroyed a fact that was not overlooked by the adults and neither was the fact that there was a shard of metal sticking out of her thigh.

"Take care of that wound then make you way to back to the safe house."

As Summer strode forward to take account of the situation before her, Ruby reached down and took hold of the shard. When she pulled out the shard she bit down on her lip as to scream was unacceptable. Once removed she found herself on ground as the adrenaline was all but gone now. As she was attempting to gather her worn down aura Qrow's hand place itself on the wound and began to channel the little bit of aura he regained so the wound might stop bleeding. At first she held look of disgust, but she then placed her hand on top of his and joined him in the process.

Three weeks later Ruby found herself on a ship to Beacon Academy with others who were hoping to become Huntsmen. She found herself curious at some of the passengers when she first stepped aboard, but that quickly evaporated as they were full of excitement and slight anxiety. Their eyes were clouded by the romanticized heroes of days gone by.

'Perhaps that is for the best'

The memories of everything she has seen and the things she has done in order for the people that surround her to keep their fanciful ideas filled her mind's eye. She was in the middle of recounting the memory of when she lost her right arm when someone voice reached through her mental barriers to let her know someone was trying to speak to her.

"Excuse me, but can you move over"

Ruby opened her eyes to look upon a young female with light brown shoulder length hair was looking at her with violet eyes. Ruby grabbed her weapon case and stood up long enough to move further down the bench giving room for her to sit down.

"Thank You" She says as she sits down.

Once she is seated she turns to face Ruby with her hand outstretched only to notice Ruby has closed her eyes again with her head tilted back so it was resting on the top of the bench. She retracted her hand as she thought Ruby was trying to sleep. She turns back to look down at her lap. With her first chance to make a friend gone the girl sighed and opened her copy of 'The Thorn of the Rosy Crown'. While it was classified as historical fiction, she found herself utterly captivated by the harsh and unforgiving story. It wasn't long before everyone's attention was drawn to the central holographic display as a woman's voice echoed throughout the interior of the ship.

"Hello and Welcome to Beacon."

Ruby didn't bother listening to the rest of the automated greeting. It wasn't long before the ship was coming in for a landing when the students started moving to the door. After a few seconds of movement she decided to get up and join them weapon case in hand. The feeling of all these people standing so close to her reminded her of the time Amanda took her to first concert. A smile involuntary appeared on her face until the hiss of the doors sounded. Then her face returned to the cold neutral mask she wore most of the time.

As people funneled out, Ruby saw another transport ship coming down on the opposing side and was greeted with the sight of a young man with blonde hair running over to the nearest trash can. A single shake of her head was all the disappointment she allowed herself to feel towards him. With that over she began walking forward when the sound of people yelling at each other appeared in her ears.

"Watch where you are going, you oaf!"

"Well maybe if you didn't have so much shit I would not have run into it."

'We just got here and people are already fighting. Real shining example of the best of humanity right here'

With that final thought the other students were unknowingly put into a category inside Ruby's head. She continued her walk forward to the main hall were the welcoming ceremony. She just past the steel arch at the front of the main path when the a certain song started playing.

We are warriors born from the light

An army for freedom, defenders of life.

Ruby's left hand immediately descended to her scroll after she realized where it was coming from and turned her scroll to silent. With that incident over she took a deep breath and looked down at her scroll screen. With careful eyes she read the number on the screen, 2-587-352-4972. She looked up and went to a shaded corner. She flicked her screen and brought it to her ear.

"This is Ruby."

"Enjoy the ringtone?"

"Fuck you Amanda."

Ruby relaxed against the stone at the sound of laughter on the other side of the call. She brought her head to rest on the stone. She should have known that Amanda would have pulled a prank like this with non-disposable scroll. Now that the song had been silent for a few seconds she allowed herself to enjoy the irony of those words coming from her scroll. When Amanda's laugh slowed into a consistent chuckle she spoke.

"Okay it was a bit on the nose."

"Yea just bit, especially for us, but I am guessing you called for more than a simple troll."

"Yeah just a few things. The rest we can go over this weekend at a secure location."

"You're in Vale?"

"Tel."

With that one word meaning yes Ruby's mind switch to the only other language she knew. It was only spoken to those who knew the words. Though it was not uncommon for the words to slip out as it was second nature to slip between the two languages. That being said Ruby doubted Amanda switch was accidental.

"What did you want to speak to me about."

"I want you to remember that you are not only to watch over Amber, but to learn how to be around humans effectively. After all not all battles are won with your scythe.

"That is also a gun."

"That is also a gun."

The laughter in her voice was kind of force and Ruby knew what was going through her head as she had the same thoughts. The names and memories of people that were no longer with them sometimes became too much. With the reason for the call revealed Ruby's mood changed to the one that she has exercised far more than anyone her age should have had to.

"Amanda, I…"

"Just promise me Ruby, that you will at least try to call for help if you run into trouble. We have already lost so many thanks to our pride."

"I promise."

Those were the only words she found herself of speaking. In the end those were only the words she could say that might bring any comfort to her friend. The reality of that made her sad however enough tears had cried over their situation Ruby didn't want to add to it and so she pushed her emotions down.

"By the Allfather, I am such an idiot. I called you for a reason and here I am about ready to pour a glass for you. How is the new arm holding up, I tried to make the wrist and elbow less clunky this time as well as updating the kinetic recoil pistons. It will be able to handle the extreme situations of stopping very quickly. However I would suggest caution when using your semblance fully as the arm might come off."

"Understood."

"Ever forward Ruby."

"Ever forward Amanda."

With the conversation over Ruby returned her scroll to her pocket and came out of the corner and joined the last of the first years to arrive. It took a minute or two to reach the main hall and seeing all the future huntsmen made her feel sick. All these people trying to fill the role that was originally their sacred duty. She knew she shouldn't be angry at them, but to see all these thrill-seeking arrogant glory hounds be the legacy they left felt like a spit on the grave of those who fell defending humanity. That echo of a microphone sounded and Ruby turned her sight to the stage were to figures stood a woman in her late forties and a man with silvery hair who was clearly Ozpin and that means the woman standing slightly behind him must be one of them.

"I'll keep this brief."

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you are finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

With his speech over Ozpin turned and walked away with purpose and just before the woman spoke, the girl next to her leaned over and spoke to her ear.

"He seems to a bit of a weirdo."

"Show some respect."

"Or what, little red."

Ruby turned to look up at the person who clearly thought highly of themselves. Her long blonde hair was slightly wild as it fell down to touch her lower back. The sleeves of her brown jacket were pushed up revealing her forearms and a similar situation was in play with her abdomen. Ruby's gaze went up to her lilac eyes held a playfulness to them. That was until the playfulness disappeared as they widened at Ruby's cold gaze.

"...Tomorrow your initiation begins be ready. You are dismissed."

With that Ruby turned to find the nearest food station since she could feel the beginning stages of hunger, but before she could the blonde grabbed her arm. That was her mistake as Ruby rolled into her forcing her to bend her arm. Then Ruby used her small frame to duck under her opposite arm. Once there she grabbed the hand that still held onto her and sent her foot to the blonde's ankle. Then just like her mother taught her she used the blonde's falling momentum to her advantage and spun sideways out of reach. The blonde went to the ground while Ruby stayed on her feet. Feeling confident that she was not going to be bothered again, she went back to her original task of finding food and ignored the looks of the people around her.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay but once I got to the second chapter I found I didn't like the flow of the first. So I decided to go back and redo first. So here you are the new and hopefully improved chapter.