A/N: So. This is a RWBY baseball AU. No in-depth knowledge of baseball is really needed, because the story will have a large focus on character interaction. It takes place in Remnant, except baseball is now the most important thing because that means that there's no death, doom or widespread despair. Volume 3 messed me up, and this is my way of attempting to remedy it.

I================================I

The Vale Daily News

Season In Preview: Beacon Hunters

As the baseball season draws near, it's time to take a look at the team representing our corner of Remnant- the Beacon Hunters. Things don't look good this year. Despite a roster containing some of the game's best players, this team might not even be good enough to reach the playoffs this year. Past the small group of superstars and solid contributors, there's only players that are range from mediocre or unproven at best to simply terrible at worst. A run-through of some of the notable faces on this year's team:

Velvet Scarlatina, Center Field: This girl can do everything. A team full of Scarlatinas would be unstoppable. Too bad this team only has one.

Blake Belladonna, Right Field: Her picture is in the dictionary next to the word 'mysterious.' That extends to her abilities, too. Unfortunately, she's the best possible option at her position, for better or for worse.

Nora Valkyrie, Left Field: The best player on this team by miles. If there was ever someone that could singlehandedly carry a team to the World Series, it's this girl, who hits home runs at a rate faster than some people breathe.

Pyrrha Nikos, Third Base: Because having one superstar in the lineup wasn't enough. The road to the playoffs for Beacon starts with the girl who may or may not be a deity walking amongst mere mortals.

Weiss Schnee, Second Base: When Beacon signed Weiss Schnee, the general consensus was that it would have been less dangerous to light a trainload of dust on fire.

Yang Xiao Long, Starting Pitcher: This team's hopes rest on whether Xiao Long can take the next step and become a true ace. Seeing as how she's still prone to literally blowing up on the mound, this is indicative of Beacon's chances at success.

Jaune Arc, Starting Pitcher: Having a rocket for a pitching arm and a knee-buckling curveball sounds like a recipe for success, but Arc's missing one vital ingredient- accuracy. He couldn't hit the wall of a barn if he was standing inside it.

Yatsuhashi Daichi, Catcher: He gets paid millions of lien to squat behind a white pentagon and catch little white balls hurled at him at speeds upward of 90 miles per hour. That says a lot more than any of his statistics.

Lie Ren, First Base: There's not much to say here, really. He hits and he fields, and he does it better than other people.

Cardin Winchester, Starting Pitcher: Signed to an expensive contract over the offseason, he will provide a semblance of stability to the pitching every few days while also spouting off racist views every day. Maybe not the best combination.

Coco Adel, Closer: Led all relievers in the Vale League in Earned Run Average last year. But even more unbelievably, she has never had her beret fall off while pitching.

Fox Alistair, Relief Pitcher: Can generally be trusted with a lead. Like Coco Adel, except worse.

Ruby Rose, Shortstop: Well, this girl certainly fulfills one part of the job label, seeing as she looks like her listed height should start with a 4. Past that, it's anybody's guess as to whether she's any good. When Ozpin decided to sign this girl and give her first shot at the starting shortstop this year, it was viewed as a terrible idea. Maybe not so much anymore. Ozpin saw something in the girl that we didn't, and now we know she could be something special. But too much of Beacon's hopes rest on how good Ruby Rose can be. If she doesn't play well enough, then Beacon probably has no hope at a championship. But if she's good, then it's anybody's guess as to how far they can go.

This should be an interesting year.

One Year Ago

Ruby Rose was in her element. Bottom of the ninth inning. Two outs. Full count. Score tied. She knew how this could end. One pitch, one swing of the bat, and glory would be hers. Or at least as much glory that one could have while playing for Signal Academy's tiny baseball team.

She could- no, she would get a hit here. Besides, this was what she did best. She'd already gotten four hits today, and a fifth would be nothing.

The pitcher stared down at Ruby, preparing to throw, and Ruby tensed up, waiting for the pitch. He reared back and delivered, sending the ball spinning towards home plate, and in the thousandths of a second leading up to contact, eyes widened, muscles exploded into action, and she whipped the bat around, wood connecting with the ball as it crossed over the heart of the plate.

Crack.

There it was- the sweetest sound in all of baseball, when the bat met the ball in a perfect union. When that sound was made, it wasn't a matter of whether it would be a hit or not- it was a matter of how far the hit would go.

In this case, 'how far' was very far. It was an absolute moonshot, flying high and deep into the night and hanging in the air for what seemed to be an eternity, before landing far beyond the fence in left field. Ruby began an elated trot around the bases as the Signal bench erupted in cheers.

Home run. Game over.

With a groan, Ruby threw open the trunk of her car and tossed her equipment bag in. She couldn't wait to get home and collapse into bed.

In a span of ten minutes, she'd gone from hitting a game-winning home run to being the last person left on the deserted field. Glory was hers, indeed.

She picked up her bat, and then suddenly, a voice came from behind her.

"Hello."

"GAH!" Ruby spun around, wielding her bat, only to be greeted by the sight of a famous face.

Glynda Goodwitch, the three-time MVP of the Vale Baseball League and the current manager of the Beacon Hunters baseball team, stood before her.

Ruby gaped at her, momentarily unable to react, before voicing the first thought that popped into her head.

"You're Glynda Goodwitch! Can I have your autograph?" she asked eagerly.

Goodwitch's face was unreadable. "I see you know who I am, then." She held out her hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Pl-pleased to meet you too," Ruby said, shaking Glynda's hand and wondering if this was a dream. "I'm Roby—no, Ruse—Sorry, I mean Ruby Rose."

"That was quite the home run you hit," Glynda remarked, and Ruby almost collapsed out of sheer excitement, because someone who had once been one of the best baseball players on the planet was complimenting her.

"Yeah!" she said. "That guy thought he could just get a fastball by me on a full count, but he was wrong and I think that was the longest home run I hit all year, but not by much, I've been amazing this year and there was no way he was gonna strike me out-" She cut herself off, mortification overtaking her, as she realized that she was bragging about her baseball skills to someone who was exponentially better at said skills.

"It was definitely impressive," Glynda said, and Ruby had to resist the urge to squeal. Glynda. Goodwitch. Thought. She. Was. Impressive.

"There's someone here who would like to meet you," Glynda continued. She looked around and sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't know for the life of me where he's gone."

"Apologies, Glynda," another voice said. "The popcorn from the snack stand was superb, and I had to get some more before they closed."

This voice belonged to a gray-haired man walking up to them, a travel mug in one hand and a bucket of popcorn in the other. Ruby fought back a gasp as she realized who it was— Ozpin, the legendary owner of the Beacon Hunters- one of Remnant's major league baseball teams. He exuded wisdom, walking with the air of someone who knew more about anything than anyone. This was the calm, shrewd, and powerful man that had run the Hunters for more years than Ruby had been alive, and he was right here in front of her oh sweet dust she wanted an autograph—

Ozpin walked past Glynda and up to Ruby. "Ruby Rose," he said, fixing an intense stare on her. "You… have silver eyes."

Ruby blinked. "Um… Thanks?"

"Out of curiosity, have you ever heard that old legend about those with silver eyes?"

"Yeah. Pretty sure that I'm no warrior."

"Perhaps," Ozpin said vaguely. "But maybe you have the spirit of a warrior." He paused and started to take a drink from his mug, but then he seemed to think better of it and stopped. "So. You put on a tremendous show during that game. We were watching."

"Thanks," Ruby said, her voice shaky. This had to be a dream.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions," he continued.

Ruby shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Why do you play baseball?"

Ozpin's query caught Ruby off-guard. She'd been expecting something that didn't really require a lot of soul-searching to get an answer. Something more like we'd like to sign you. "Well…" She shrugged. "I've always wanted to play baseball, since my mom played it, and I want to follow in her footsteps, that's all."

"Your mother played baseball?" Ozpin tilted his head, gazing off into the distance in deep thought. "Was her name Summer Rose, by any chance?"

Ruby nodded eagerly. "Yes, that's her."

"Third baseman, played parts of five seasons for the Vale City Crusaders and the Azmarin Silver Storm, correct?"

"That's my mom."

"She was part of Azmarin's world championship team..." Ozpin trailed off. "Never mind that. Go on. You have more to say?"

"Kind of…" An ache filled Ruby's chest as she pushed the next few words out of her mouth. "She died when I was pretty young."

Ozpin lowered his head. "My condolences. If this subject is uncomfortable for you, by no means should you continue to talk. I am already asking questions that are far too interrogative."

Ruby swallowed down a lump in her throat. "No, it's fine. I only have a few memories of her. But one of my best memories is this time that she told me that I should always do what makes me happy."

Ruby remembered that moment well. More than a decade ago, on a sun-drenched summer day, in the middle of a field, wildly swinging a baseball bat that looked comically large in her hands as her mother tossed pitch after pitch to her. Hitting a ball so high and so far that it seemed to vanish into the sky. Her mother, laughing as Ruby danced around the bases that they'd drawn into the ground, and then speaking words that she still took to heart- Touch all the bases, Ruby. Make it count. You've earned it.
The aftermath of that day, with Ruby tired but content in the backseat of their car as they drove home. Her mother asking,

Does baseball make you happy, Ruby?

Yes. The answer was always yes.

Then don't ever stop doing what makes you happy.

That scene flashed through Ruby's mind as she spoke her next words to Ozpin. "And that's why I'm here. I'm doing what makes me happy. Playing baseball."

Ozpin exchanged a brief look with Goodwitch before he spoke again. "I understand that you graduate from Signal after this year. What are your plans for the future?"

"Oh, um…" Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. It was always about baseball for me, and now I guess this is the end of the line. Maybe if I had gone to a different school, then a Remnant Major League Baseball team might have noticed me. Guess I missed my chance. My sister didn't miss her chance, that's for sure. I've always wanted to play baseball with her. She's already pitching for your team, you know."

"Your sister?" Ozpin asked with surprise.

"Her name's Yang."

"Ah, Miss Xiao Long," he said mirthfully. "Extremely skilled, even if her attitude is a bit… bold. I remember, she mentioned to me once or twice that she had a sister that played baseball. Fancy the odds that I would run into you."

"Yeah, fancy that." Ruby glanced back and forth between Ozpin and Glynda. If there was a point to this talk, she wouldn't have minded getting to it right now.

"Glynda and I have spent the last two weeks scouting players up and down this corner of the continent. This game was a stop on the way back to Beacon. I came purely to relax and truly enjoy the game I love." He smiled slightly. "I should have guessed that it would be here that I would find someone better than anyone else I looked at."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Are you- talking about- about-"

Me was the word she wanted to say, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, for fear of monumental disappointment.

Ozpin's expression revealed nothing as he leaned forward. "Now, do you know who I am?"

That was an easy question. "You're Ozpin. The owner of the Beacon Hunters."

A slight smile crossed Ozpin's face, and he took a sip of his coffee before speaking. "That's what I was waiting for, Ruby Rose. Now, you want to play Remnant Major League Baseball?"

Ruby's heart sped up. "More than anything."

Ozpin glanced over at Glynda again. The woman stared at him, and after a moment, she nodded. The aged owner turned back to Ruby, a smile playing over his face, and he spoke two words that conveyed a message that Ruby had been hoping to hear for the entire conversation.

"Well, okay."

Present Day

"Oh, I can't believe that my baby sister is going to be on the Hunters with me!" Yang squealed, enveloping Ruby in a bear hug.

"Please stop," Ruby muttered.

"But I'm so proud of you!" She tugged at Ruby's gray-and-red jersey. "Look, you're wearing our uniform and everything!"

Ruby pushed her car door shut and shouldered her equipment bag. "It's nothing. I haven't even made the team. All I did was get invited to spring training."

"But that's incredible!" Yang gushed. "If you make the Hunters, you'll be the youngest shortstop in the Vale League! And we'll be the first sister teammates in a decade! Come on, why are you moping around?"

Ruby sighed and looked around. "It's just… I guess I'm nervous."

"Hey, everyone gets nervous."

"But you're good. I'm new here. What if I don't play well? What if they cut me from the team because I did so badly? What if this is my only chance ever?"

"Don't worry, sis," Yang said, putting an arm around Ruby. "There's a reason that Ozpin signed you. We both know you have talent." Her expression turned serious. "Hey. I'll tell what happens if you don't do well, though. They won't release you. You'll go back to the minor leagues, where you played all last year, and you'll start kicking but again. Then you'll get called up to the big leagues in a few months. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm already proud of you, and there's nothing you can do to change that."

By that time, they had arrived at the edge of the parking lot, and a metal gate along the side was all that separated them from the field. Yang vaulted over it and gestured for Ruby to follow. "Come on. I'll introduce you to some of your teammates."

Ruby tapped into her semblance and hopped over the fence, not bothering to point out that these people weren't her teammates yet. There would be no stopping Yang now.

She surveyed the field. Beacon's spring training field, set on the warm southern coast of Vacuo along with twenty-nine other teams from the Vale and Vacuo leagues, was a sprawling compound, with what seemed like hundreds of players milling around on the grass. Most were stretching, jogging, or playing catch. A few were hitting off batting tees in one corner of the field. Some of them milled around in groups, and a few clipboard-toting coaches were scattered around. Ruby took it all in with unreserved amazement. This was the big leagues. She was so close to realizing her dream.

Yang pulled Ruby towards the batting tees, practically bouncing with excitement. "Oh, Nora is going to love you!" she gushed.

"Wait. Nora? As in Nora Valkyrie?" Ruby asked, not sure if she'd heard Yang right, because holy—

"Yup! Now, no hero worship, she's going to be your teammate in a few weeks!"

Hero worship? Ruby wasn't a hero worshipper. She just got really passionate about her favorite players.

"Nora!" Yang called, pulling her forward. Ruby didn't put up much resistance to being forcibly dragged, because it wasn't like she had to be forced to meet Nora Valkyrie.

One of the players at the tees turned to face Yang, revealing a cheerful face framed by short orange hair, and Ruby almost forgot to breathe. She was just a few feet away from Nora Valkyrie. The starting left fielder for Beacon. Remnant's reigning home run champion for two years straight. The girl who won the Vale League Rookie Of The Year award two years ago, who hit home runs as easily as she breathed, the girl who'd won the Vale League MVP last season, and the girl who celebrated her frequent home runs with the enthusiastic rally cry of "NORA SMASH!"

And she was smiling at Ruby like they were old friends.

"Hey, Yang!" Nora said cheerily, giving Ruby's sister a high-five. "Long time no see!" She cocked her head at Ruby. "Is this the little sister you've told us so much about?"

Yang puffed up with pride. "This is Ruby, all right. Our team's best hope at shortstop. She's also a big fan of yours, so don't be surprised if she's a little tongue-tied."

"Hello!" Nora held out a hand to Ruby. "Nice to meet you!"

Ruby was a professional. She could do this. She could do this. "Hi," she managed, shaking Nora's hand. Good. She didn't stutter. She was too old to stutter anymore.

Nora looked over Ruby and winked. "Well, looks like Yang was right about you being a shortstop."

Ruby groaned. That one joke was enough to make her opinion of Nora drop a few notches, and suddenly the awkwardness was gone. "Thanks. I've only heard that joke about five million times."

"Now you've heard it five million and one times!" Nora said. "Hey, have you met Ren? Ren!" she called.

The batter at the tee next to Nora lifted his head. "Hm?"

Nora smacked Ruby's shoulder. Ruby fought down a wince; the girl was strong. "Ren, meet Ruby Rose! This is our new shortstop for this year!"

Ren—who Ruby by now recognized as Beacon's starting first baseman—glanced at Ruby. "Ah. Pleased to meet you. Yang has spent quite a lot of time talking about you. I'm Lie Ren."

"Nice to meet you," Ruby said, shooting Yang a glance. Just how much had her sister said about her already?

Yang put a hand on Ruby's arm. "Well, I hate to cut the introduction short, but I want to introduce Ruby to as many people as possible before Glynda starts the drills."

"No problem!" Nora said. "Good luck making the team, Ruby!" With that, she turned back to her tee, as did Ren.

"How many people did you tell about me?" Ruby hissed to Yang as they walked away.

"Well, to be honest, I told everyone," Yang admitted. "I was so proud when Ozpin signed you last year that it was all I could talk about for a few weeks. I told the team, the batboys and ballgirls, the training staff—heck, even a few hot dog vendors outside the stadium. Showed everyone your minor league highlight reels, too."

Ruby groaned. "Great. Now everyone's going to think I'm special."

Yang stopped, placing her hands on Ruby's shoulders, and looked her dead in the eyes. "But you ARE special, Ruby. They're going to think you're the bee's knees!"

Ruby flushed and looked away. "I don't want to be the bee's knees, okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal baseball player with normal knees."

Yang rolled her eyes. "You're too adorable, sis. Something tells me that you're going to be anything but normal." Her eyes drifted to something over Ruby's shoulder. "Hey, there's Coco and Velvet!"

She grabbed Ruby's arm again and dragged her towards two people at another tee before Ruby could protest.

A rabbit faunus was at the tee, swinging a bat, while another girl sat on a bucket next to her, putting a baseball on the tee after each swing and occasionally throwing in words of advice.

Smack!

"Your back foot came up a little bit there. Don't forget to keep it planted."

Smack!

"Much better. Make sure that your hands don't roll over."

Smack!

"Perfect."

"Hey Coco, Velvet," Yang said as they walked up.

The girl supplying the balls turned around, and Ruby's breath caught as she realized that she was looking at Coco Adel, Beacon's renowned closer. This was the girl who wore a ridiculously fashionable beret while pitching and could get away with it because of her record—and the rabbit faunus could only be Velvet Scarlatina, the team's starting center fielder.

"Yang," Coco said, inclining her head. She lowered her sunglasses and gave Ruby a scrutinizing look. "Ruby Rose, I presume?"

Ruby gaped. "How do you know me?"

Coco smirked. "Yang made sure that your reputation precedes you." She gave a gentle elbow to the faunus. "This is Velvet, although I'm sure you've heard of her already."

Beacon's impossibly fast center fielder looked up and held out a hand. "Hi. I'm Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina," she said quietly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi." Ruby shook her hand with a brilliant smile. Velvet was something of a mystery. Her on-field play was flawless, but she had a habit of staying away from the press and the public eye. And now the mystical center fielder was talking to her. Ruby fully expected to wake up from this dream any moment now.

"I'll look forward to seeing you at shortstop on Opening Day," Coco said, putting another ball on Velvet's tee.

"Thanks." Ruby scratched the back of her neck. "I could still get cut from the team, though."

Coco scoffed. "Ruby, please. You're going to be our shortstop. Have you seen your competition for the job?"

"Not really…"

"Allow me to fill you in. It's some washed-up guy from the Vale City Crusaders who's got no business challenging you. I've been watching him. You're better than anything he's got."

"Oh, I know the guy," Yang added. "Trust me, you're not in any danger. He's weak. I punched him through the window of a nightclub once."

Ruby gawked at Yang. "Wait—my competition is the guy you put in the hospital with a broken rib last year?"

"Hey, hey." Yang held up her hands defensively. "He started it. All I did was escalate it."

"I remember that," Coco said. "You caused two thousand lien in damage that night."

"Junior and his crew had it coming."

"I'm not saying they didn't," said Coco. "I'm just questioning your methods of revenge."

"Should I be worried?" Ruby asked nervously. "What if he's got a grudge and tries to take revenge or something?"

Yang cracked her knuckles with a slow, deliberate motion, rippling the muscles across her brawny arms. "You don't need to worry. If anyone lays a hand on you, I'll make sure that the next thing they touch is the cold hard ground of a shallow grave."

"Now, now. The last thing we need is our best pitcher getting arrested for murder. That won't help our playoff chances," Coco said mildly. She reached for another ball. "I'd like to get back to practicing with Velvet. But if you're looking for anyone else, I saw Yatsu and Fox over by the bullpen."

"Thanks. See you guys later." Yang pulled Ruby forward again and headed for the other side of the field. "Now, where are Fox and Yatsuhashi?" She shaded her eyes against the morning sun. "Oh, there, down at the end. Come on!"

Having long since resigned herself to Yang's eager introductions, Ruby followed without complaint. They passed by another pitcher's mound, where a blonde boy was warming up. Ruby didn't take much notice of him until he froze, mid-windup, and made a hideous gagging noise. A few moments later, he fell to his knees and vomited all over the mound.

Ruby wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, gross. Looks like someone had a bad breakfast. Who is that?"

Yang glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. "Beats me. Never seen him before. Hey! Fox! You got a minute?"

Further past the vomiting boy, two people were playing catch—one was a copper-haired boy, and his imposing partner could have been the tallest person on the field. Ruby knew these two as well. The copper-haired one was Fox Alistair, the man just behind Coco in the Beacon bullpen's pecking order, and the giant was Yatsuhashi Daichi, Beacon's stone-faced starting catcher.

Fox looked over. "Hey, Yang! Sorry, not really."

"Just wanted to introduce you to my sister, that's all!"

"Tell her I'm Fox Alistair, setup man extraordinaire!"

Yang grinned. "Will do. See you around!"
She leaned over to Ruby as they moved on. "Too bad. Fox is a cool guy. He's sort of like Coco, but Coco's better. As for Yatsuhashi, you didn't miss much. He wouldn't say anything that you couldn't already guess by looking at him." Yang looked around the field. "Hm… I don't know if there's anyone else worth introducing to you… we traded a lot of guys over the offseason… Got a lot of new blood coming in too, I guess I should get to know them, too—and then there's the minor league call-ups. I wonder…"

While Yang mused, Ruby looked off to the right, and for the first time that day, she saw someone that she actually knew personally. That someone was a black-haired girl leaning against the fence and stretching. Blake Belladonna. They'd been on the same team for a few weeks last year in the minor leagues, and while they hadn't talked much, it was at least a familiar face.

"Well, I know her." Ruby pointed. "That's Blake. We were teammates last year. Have you met her?"

Yang turned to look and stopped, blinking. "Oh. I've never seen her before… Sis, why don't you go and find some other people to talk to? I'm going to go over and introduce myself to that lovely lady."

"I'll come with—" Ruby started, only to realize that she was talking to nothing, because Yang was already sauntering up to Blake.

"So what am I supposed to do…?" She trailed off futilely. Hmmph. Fine. Yang was going to leave her all alone; she could deal with that. She wouldn't dare to introduce herself to anyone, though. The awkwardness of doing it alone would be too much. Especially since, even for all of Yang's reassurances, Ruby wasn't confident in her ability to make the team. If she tried to go around meeting everyone like some bigshot, that wouldn't go over very well if she was unceremoniously sent down to the minor leagues a week later. This still felt like an impossible dream. Just a year ago at this time, she was finishing her time at Signal and wondering if her dream of a baseball career was over. Ozpin had changed everything by taking her in the third round of the amateur draft. With that came the blizzard of news coverage, and everyone seemed to agree that Ozpin had made a massive blunder by using a valuable draft pick on a nobody player from a no-name school. Then came the year spent in the minor leagues and taking the baseball world by storm as she shot through the levels. The coverage whiplashed from 'mistake' to 'one of the best prospects in baseball' so fast it made her head spin.

Poised. Athletic. Incredible. First-class. Game-changing. Future superstar. The next Glynda Goodwitch. These were all words being used to describe her, and Ruby didn't know what to think of it. From being a nobody, to this?

It had been a shock when she turned on the RMLB channel and saw herself on the screen for the first time. As time went on and she didn't stop hitting, the hype around her grew. People began clamoring for her autographs at minor league games. Opposing pitchers were afraid of her.

Now she was on the cusp of the major leagues, the world of her childhood dreams, where all she had to worry about was the next pitch. And she was afraid. She was afraid of letting everybody down. What if she couldn't be good enough?

While in this cycle of morose thoughts, she'd put her bag down, gotten out her glove, and started tossing a ball against a wall. Walls made good partners for playing catch. Even if they weren't very mobile, they never missed anything.

Bounce. Toss. Bounce. Toss. Bou-

Thunk!

"OW!"

Okay, scratch that. Walls were terrible partners for catch. They had no qualms about depositing an errant throw right in the face of someone who was walking by.

The girl that Ruby had just hit with a bad bounce off the wall was kneeling on the ground, clutching at her face, and Ruby feared the worst as she ran over. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry, are you okay? I didn't—"

The girl looked up, cradling a bruise on her cheek, and Ruby briefly forgot how to speak.

Everything about this girl reminded her of wintertime, from her long, snowy hair that was artfully tied up in an off-center ponytail to her eyes that were a deep, piercing icy blue to her flawless porcelain-white skin to the graceful point of her chin, and— The girl opened her mouth, and all of Ruby's awe suddenly came crashing down.

"What are you DOING?!" she screeched, stabbing an accusing finger at Ruby. "YOU COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY INJURED ME!"

"I'm- I'm- I'm-" Ruby stammered, trying unsuccessfully to push an apology out of her mouth.

"What sort of IDIOT throws a ball around while people are walking by?"

"I'm sorry!" Ruby said finally. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, and no thanks to you!" the girl snapped, getting up and brushing off her uniform. "What are you even doing here? This is a major league camp!"

"Hey!" Ruby said. "I've got as much of a right to be on this field as you do!"

"Oh, really?" The white-haired girl scoffed. "You do realize that you're talking to the starting second basewoman for Beacon?"

"Well, you're talking to this team's future shortstop!" Ruby snapped.

"Shortstop—?" The girl looked Ruby up and down. "You're Ruby Rose? The top-ranked prospect in Beacon's system?"

"Yes!" Ruby said angrily. "And just who are you?!"

"Weiss Schnee!"

"Schnee…?" Ruby trailed off. "As in the Schnee Dust Company?" And finally, she put an identity to the furious girl. Weiss Schnee was infamous for her decision to follow a career in baseball against her father's wishes, which resulted in her being disowned from the Schnee lineage and losing her status as heiress to the SDC. Beacon had drafted her in the same round as Ruby Rose, and if anything, people were even more vocally against Weiss than they were against her, especially after she got a 50-game suspension last year for using performance-enhancing dust.

"The Schnee Dust—!" Weiss's face reddened. "There's more to me than just that company!"

With that, she stalked off, and a confused reply died on Ruby's lips. Great. She'd just pissed off a potential teammate and future double-play partner.

With a groan, she spun around and hurled the ball at the wall in frustration, only for it to rebound and smack her in the shin.

"YEOW!" She fell to the ground, clutching her leg, and for one alarming second, the pain didn't abate. A thousand scenarios flew threw her head, none of them good- a fracture, a break, a bone bruise—and then the pain faded in a flow of Aura. She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, letting herself flop to the ground.

A shadow fell across her face, and a concerned voice spoke. "Hey, are you okay?"

Ruby looked up and was greeted with the sight of… Well, she didn't know his name, but... She squinted. "Aren't you Vomit Boy?"

Okay, she could've used a better conversation starter.

His face went bright red. "Hey! It could happen to anyone who's nervous! What if I called you Crater Face because of the crater you just put in that girl's face?"

Ruby jumped up onto to her feet. "You know… that's fair. I guess I should ask what your real name is."

"I'm Jaune Arc," he said, still carrying a note of indignation in his voice. "And you are?"

"My name's Ruby Rose. I'm a shortstop. You're a pitcher, right?"

"Yeah." Jaune shrugged. "I wanted to be a catcher, really. That's what I was at first. But they kept telling me that I would find more success as a pitcher. So I've been trying to pitch for the last year."

Trying? That didn't sound good at all. Ruby looked over him again. He was kind of stocky like a catcher, but nothing about him screamed pitcher. "Why did you become a pitcher?"

Jaune shrugged. "I've always thrown pretty hard, and management liked it enough to have me start pitching."

"Hm." Ruby nodded. "Were you in the minor leagues last year? I don't remember seeing you, though."

"I was on the Fencing… You know, that team. The one in Aberville."

"Ah." Ruby nodded. "That explains it. I skipped over that level."

"Oh, cool. Did you—" Jaune was cut off by a voice echoing from the PA system.

"May I have your attention, please? May I have your attention, please? All players are to report to the pitcher's mound at Field One for a general introduction. I repeat, all players will report to the pitcher's mound at Field One immediately."

Ruby picked up her equipment bag. "Guess we should get moving. See you later!" With that, she activated her semblance, and moments later she was sprinting across the field in a blaze of rose petals.

Everyone was congregated at the mound, and Ruby was currently trying to push through the crowd so she could get to the front and actually see what was going on. Being short had its downsides. Finally, by squeezing somewhat impolitely between two players, she managed to get to the front, where Glynda Goodwitch, clipboard in hand, was standing on the pitcher's mound with Ozpin and surveying the crowd.

"Attention, please," Glynda called.

The noise around them barely quieted. The esteemed manager's sigh was loud enough to reach Ruby's ears. Then she raised her clipboard, and to Ruby's astonishment, it transformed into a baseball bat, which Glynda hefted over her shoulder.

"ORDER!" she boomed. The silence was instantaneous.

Glynda glanced off to the left. "Miss Valkyrie, please save the pyrotechnics for when we are not all in a huddled mass." There was a hurried shuffling, followed by a heavy thud.

She continued with, "And Miss Adel, if you wouldn't mind putting him down-"

A grumbled 'fine' went up from Ruby's left.

"Thank you. Now," Glynda began, satisfaction evident in her voice, "Greetings, everyone. Welcome to spring training. Before I do anything, the owner of this team has a few words to say."

A ripple of applause greeted Ozpin as he stepped forward, leaning on his cane. "Hello, everyone," he began. "I'll keep this brief." He sent a sweeping gaze around the crowd. "You all know who I am. I pay your salaries. Around me is a bounty of all types of professional baseball players. Some of Remnant's finest are amongst this crowd."

"But, as of right now, I see nothing. Your statistics in the past do not matter to me. Past results cannot predict future performance. When this team breaks camp, we will have pared the number of players down from seventy to just twenty-five. Not all of you will make this team. That is a mathematical certainty. However, I want you to make my decision to cut you as difficult as possible. And I assure you, we will be watching every one of you very closely."

It was at those last few words that Ozpin's searching eyes briefly met Ruby's.

"Now, I understand that the team has been changed in quite a few ways during the offseason," Ozpin continued. "There are many, many new faces in this crowd—whether brought in by trade, called up from the minors, signed as a free agent, or otherwise. Quite a few of you do not know each other at all. Glynda and I have come up with a plan that we believe will help to breed familiarity within the team." He produced his scroll from his pocket and opened it. "Each of you has been assigned a partner. For the first few weeks of spring training, you will share a hotel room with your partner and one other pair. You and your partner are expected to act as a support system for one another."

At this revelation, a murmur spread through the crowd. Ruby shifted nervously. Partners?

"The partners have been selected by a process in which we carefully weighed the personalities of each and every member of the team and found a suitable match. I will now read off the list of partnerships. Please listen carefully for your name." He cleared his throat. "Russel Thrush and Roche LaDrake. Fox Alistair and—"

Ruby tuned out Ozpin's voice as she glanced anxiously around the field. Who was going to be her partner? She desperately wanted to end up with Yang, but—

"Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna."

Well, then. Ruby heard Yang whoop loudly from her left. At least Yang was happy about that pairing. Who else was there? It would be cool if it was Jaune. He seemed nice enough. Then there were the ones she'd just met—Nora, Ren, Coco, Velvet, Fox. They all seemed like nice people, and being partners with them certainly wouldn't be the worst outcome. Unfortunately, it was pretty unlikely, due to the fact that they were all-stars and she was nothing but a rookie shortstop.

"Ruby Rose," Ozpin started, and Ruby stood ramrod straight, listening intently for the second part of the statement.

"...and Weiss Schnee."

Wait, WHAT?!

Why was the universe conspiring against her in this way?! She just had to be partnered with the one person on the team who was mad at her, didn't she?

A search through the crowd showed that Weiss looked just as dismayed, which bothered Ruby. What right did Weiss have to be disappointed? Ruby hadn't done anything except accidentally hit her with a ball. Weiss was the one who'd had a meltdown and screamed at her. If anything, Weiss should be happy to have her as a partner!

Resigned, she made her way through the crowd to Weiss, who was watching her with a mixture of consternation and disgust. Mostly disgust.

"So…" Ruby said slowly. "I guess we're partners?"

Weiss's glare could've frozen a full-grown Ursa. "It seems so."

Just how carefully had Ozpin thought out these partnerships?

"Attention!" Glynda barked, breaking up the awkward moment. All noise around died off as Ruby turned to listen again.

"I want everyone to take a moment to play catch with your partner. Grab a baseball and loosen up your arm. In ten minutes, we'll reconvene and break into groups based on your positions."

"I'll get a ball!" Ruby whirled around, only to run smack into what felt like a brick wall. Then, at second glance, she realized that it was actually a person.

"I'm sorry! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, thanks…" Ruby looked up. And then she looked up some more. Finally, she made eye contact with the speaker: a powerfully built redhead who gave Yatsuhashi a run for the money in the size department. This could only be the singular and indomitable Pyrrha Nikos. The two-time MVP of the Mistral League. Traded to Beacon in the offseason for a king's ransom of prospects. And powerfully built did not even begin to describe her.

Ruby was trying not to stare, but… it was distracting. Pyrrha's shoulders were big enough to get their own CCT.

Pyrrha's voice drew Ruby out of her stupor. "Are you sure you're all right? You seem a little… dazed."

Ruby blinked. "No, no, I'm fine, really. Don't worry."

"Thank goodness." Pyrrha bent down and pulled a baseball from the bucket next to her. "Need a ball?"

"Yeah, thanks." Ruby turned to go find Weiss, but stopped as she realized that the snow-haired girl was right next to her, looking inquisitively at Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, do you have a partner?" Weiss asked.

A tinge of jealousy shot through Ruby at the eager undertone in Weiss's voice. What, was she not good enough?

"Actually, yes. He's—"

At that moment, Jaune came up beside Pyrrha. "Hey, where do you want to throw?"

Weiss stared at Jaune with astonishment. "YOU'RE her partner?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you know who your partner is?"

"Yeah. Her name's Pyrrha, right? I thought your name was Pyrrha," he said uncertainly.

Pyrrha gave him an encouraging smile. "That's right."

"No, you dunce!" Weiss snapped. "Do you know who she is?"

"Should I?" Jaune responded.

"YES! She won the Mistral League Rookie Of The Year Award two years ago!"

Jaune shrugged. "Good for her."

"She went to the World Series with the Sanctum Paladins that same year!"

Jaune shook his head. "Don't remember that series."

"Last year, she had the highest single-season batting average in fifteen years!"

"That's cool."

Weiss looked fit to burst now. "GOOD GRIEF! Have you ever seen her on a box of Pumpkin Pete's cereal?!"

For the first time, a shred of recognition dawned on Jaune's face. "Ohh… yeah! Hey, I do remember seeing you on the box once!"

"GAH!" Weiss threw up her hands. "Pyrrha, you're okay being partners with this… this… minor league mop-up man?"

"Hey!" Jaune said angrily.

"Of course I am," Pyrrha said. "I trust Ozpin and Glynda's reasoning. Do you?"

Weiss opened her mouth, appearing to be on the verge of a snappy rebuttal until she abruptly closed it, a red tinge spreading across her cheeks.

"Come on, Ruby. Let's throw." With that, she walked away, not waiting for an answer.

Ruby gave Pyrrha and Jaune an apologetic glance before following after her partner.

"So," Ruby said after a few minutes of playing catch in pointed silence. "We really started off on the wrong foot, didn't we?"

There was no response from Weiss except to throw the ball.

Ruby caught it and returned the toss. "I'm really sorry for throwing that baseball in your face earlier."

Silence. Another throw.

"I'm just glad that you're okay. I would've felt terrible if I hurt you."

No reply.

"I'm on your side, Weiss. I really am. I want to be friends with you. Come on, if we both do well enough, we'll be right next to each other on the baseball field on Opening Day! Wouldn't that be great?"

Nothing.

"Okay… What I'm trying to say is that I want to try again. Let's pretend like I didn't ACCIDENTALLY throw a baseball in your face. Let's pretend like this is the first time we've met."

Still nothing. Weiss's lack of responses was starting to unnerve Ruby.

"So, what do you say? Friends, maybe? At least not enemies?"

Finally, Weiss did something other than stare silently. She pocketed the ball and walked slowly up to Ruby, still as expressionless as before.

"…Weiss?" Ruby asked.

Weiss was standing directly in front of her now, and seemed to be wrestling with some internal decision as she studied Ruby. At last, she opened her mouth.

"All right," she said.

Ruby blinked. "Eh?"

"Let's try again. I admit that I may have treated you unfairly during our unfortunate first meeting. It certainly wouldn't be good for me to make an enemy on the first day of spring training. Maybe I judged you unfairly. After all, you aren't Beacon's top prospect for nothing."

Ruby brightened. "You mean all this? You really want to start over?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes, I do. Don't mess up this time."

"Oh, you bet," Ruby said happily. "I'm going to be the best thing that's ever happened to you!"