Upon a stage stood a bespectacled man, looking serious despite the uproarious applause around him. He had a job to do though, and he would do it with all the dignity he could muster. He spoke,
"And finally Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as... Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose." He knew his words held impact and surprise, as a young girl, younger than anyone else in attendance, looked around, as if expecting to find someone else standing next to her, but all eyes were on her.
"I'm so proud of you!" A taller girl flung herself at and embraced the girl, who finally seemed to accept that indeed, she had been chosen as leader of a team.
"It looks like things are shaping up to be... an interesting year," the bespectacled man said. Indeed it did, it was almost enough to make him start forgetting again. Almost enough to let himself slip back into the more comfortable haze of blissful ignorance. Almost.
At least for the moment the smiles and excitement of the younger generation put him a little more at ease.
But our story takes place one year before that.
It was that time of year again. The airships were in flight, laden with the hopes and dreams of those who sought to protect the hopes and dreams of all others in the world. Or perhaps they just sought fame, or excitement. Whatever it was that motivated them, it had been enough to gain them passage to a most prestigious academy -- the academy known as Beacon.
And if one were to look to his or her right, one would see that Beacon.
- Felix -
Why had he done this? He regretted everything. It was too much. Just too much. There were just so... so... many... PEOPLE! There were at least two dozen others on the airship with him. How was he supposed to deal with that? Two dozen people who meant him no harm at all. Were they insane? Did they really expect him to be OK with that? Yes, probably, because any sane person would be. If only he was sane his life would be so much easier. If only he didn't recognize the fact that he was insane maybe he'd be a little better off. But then... wouldn't that have made him more insane? Then he wouldn't have been here, but then again that was what he was wishing for right now. But then...
There were just so many buts and what ifs for him to deal with, it was numbing... but not numbing enough to make him forget his predicament. He was doing his best to deal with it. Hopefully once he was off the airship, which wasn't really cramped by most people's standards, he'd feel better. But as it was he had found a little corner to hide in and was hoping to be ignored so he could focus on not throwing up as waves of anxiety rippled through him.
It wasn't excessively crowded and no one had been mean to him... but there was no escape. He was a mile or more up in the air, and he had no where to go.
"Ugh... why couldn't I have just walked...?" he muttered weakly. "Because then I wouldn't have ever gotten here even remotely in time to be accepted." The more rational part of his mind answered for him.
-Randy-
She stood at the window, staring wide eyed at Beacon. She had been fidgeting madly the whole trip there, just staring, waiting for it to come into view, and finally it had. It was true, she'd actually done it. Beacon.
"Oh my god this is actually happening," she whispered to herself in awe. Well, maybe now that she'd confirmed that she should take a look and see who else she might be working with. Had anyone she knew from Signal made it? She looked around, no it seemed n- oh wait, there was that girl everyone had always whispered about... Enyo was it? Yes, Enyo. She looked... unhappy. The rumors had always hinted that she had an abnormally aloof attitude toward everyone else. Perhaps those rumors were true.
Randy gasped in shock when Enyo glanced up at her, caught her staring, and frowned. She quickly averted her gaze and kept looking for familiar faces. She almost gave up but then saw someone huddling in a corner. Felix, someone who she had thought was Enyo's friend, but they currently weren't anywhere near each other. Oh, wait, hadn't there been rumors about that too? Some sort of falling out? She wondered why Enyo was the center of so many rumors, but she supposed it was probably because she hadn't fit in. That was usually how it worked with teenagers, right?
Another boy with a rather... rebellious appearance caught her eye but she was startled out of her thoughts when...
"HEY RANDY!" a female voice spoke to her loudly.
"WAH! Who, why, wha- Melody? You're here too!?" That would make at least four people from Signal. Melody was one of the classmates who had tutored her. She was a petite girl with short, dyed blue hair and bright green eyes. Not quite as petite as Enyo though. She was pretty sure no one was that small.
"Um, yeah. I said hi when we were boarding." Melody smirked in amusement.
"D-did you?"
"You said hi back..."
"Ah..." Well... this was awkward.
-Amalger-
"N-no way... really?" a boy stared in awe at "Jack Cannon." This was the second person. Apparently it was an impressive weapon or something. Well, he guessed not everyone was as hoity-toity as the instructors at Flare. Amalger was mostly impressed that they were even allowed the carry their weapons on the ship, but he was well past questioning it. The ride was almost over after all.
"Yep. This thing produces over 7,500 psi of pressure to drive the blade," Amalger explained. "That's more than some industrial hydraulic systems, and it only has to move one 'tiny' blade." The blade actually weighed around 30 pounds. The average sword weighed maybe... 10 at the most. Needless to say, he had needed to work on his upper body strength just to move his arms after designing the weapon. His aura helped a lot, but still.
"That must hurt..." the boy mused.
"It kills," he said bluntly. Amalger resisted the urge to shake his head. He wasn't really annoyed, but had this guy really been accepted to beacon just like him? He seemed... slow. Oh well, at least he hadn't been too bored for the ride over. If only there was someone more interesting to fill in the rest of the ride. He knew that kid Nevin had been accepted just like him, but he'd never gotten along particularly well with him. Everyone had always assumed there had been a rivalry between the two of them, and it had created a sort of tension. In reality, he was pretty sure neither he nor Nevin had ever intended to compete. He was pretty sure the gap between the two of them and everyone else would have been much larger if they had been.
-Enyo-
She couldn't believe it. She was stuck on the same airship as Felix. Hadn't there been two of the damn things? Why was she on this one?! At least he was being quiet, as usual, and staying away from her. Somehow though just his presence made her feel... prickly. Maybe that was why no one was sitting next to her. Judging by the expression of the dunce known as Randy, they were getting close to Beacon though, so at least this temporary purgatory was almost over. She'd never understand how that girl had passed, let alone made it to Beacon.
How were all these sub par people somehow keeping up with her?! First Felix, now Randy. It was enough to give her an aneurysm out of sheer frustration? What was all her effort for if people could keep up with her so easily? She caught Randy staring at her, and her anger must have been showing, because Randy looked to nearly have a heart attack and quickly looked away.
"Ugh! I hate this! Forget it, just forget it! Focus on what you were doing!" She looked down at a small, handheld computer she had been using to occupy herself. Mostly she was working on drafting more ideas and upgrades for "Ratchet Hydra."
. . .
. . .
"I CAN'T FOCUS!" She screamed mentally. "DAMMIT FELIX! She shot the boy, who had literally done nothing, a truly scathing glare. She was actually kind of happy that he caught it, because she was rewarded with the sight of him flinching and pulling his knees to his chest. "Idiot..."