Patch may be small and a bit behind the times in many aspects, but there were other things the big cities simply couldn't match. And Ruby could appreciate one of those reasons with her own eyes.
Standing at the edge of the cliff, looking out over the vast forest below, she let the wind caress her hair and listened to the peaceful silence.
"You truly have the best view of our home, mom."
She carefully placed the bouquet of white and red roses in front of the memorial gravestone. The carved rose emblems were so beautifully rendered that if not for their gray color, she might have mistaken them for real flowers.
"I know this is unexpected, but a lot happened and I couldn't wait to tell you!"
Ruby slowly took a seat cross-legged on the ground, beaming. "Your daughter got her Beacon acceptance letter!"
She proudly showed the digital letter on her scroll before setting it on her lap.
"Mom… I'm gonna be honest…"
"I'm scared."
"From what Uncle Qrow and Big Sis said, Beacon has changed so much over the years. Yang told me all these crazy exams and tests you have to go through now–don't tell anyone I got it from Yang. So I've been training really hard not to disappoint. And now I got my conditional acceptance letter! I'm one step closer to becoming a huntress…."
Rubbing the back of her neck, she let out a nervous laugh. "I mean, I still have the entrance exam to worry about, but Yang and Uncle Qrow have been helping me a ton. So I'm sure it'll be... probably be fine. Ugh, okay I'm a little nervous because my friends were so mean about it! Can you believe they kept going on about the huge numbers of applicants and how few actually pass the exams?"
Even as she complained, a smile played on her lips. "But difficult or not, I'll do my absolute best, I promise you that. And if it's not enough, then I'll just train harder so I can become as amazing as you were and protect everyone, just like you did."
Ruby went quiet for a moment, feeling the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves behind her. Looking up at the sky, she thought back on fond memories of the past.
"I miss you, Mom. Every single day. And everyone does too. But I know you're with me in everything I do. Thank you for always believing in me."
With a deep breath, she stood and brushed some stray grass off her skirt. Giving the gravestone one last look, Ruby turned and left the cliff, her heart a little lighter.
=+=
— — — — — — — — — —
Well, this was it. No turning back now.
Ruby turned and gave one last wave to Uncle Qrow, Dad, and Zwei, who was letting out a series of excited barks and furiously wagging his tail to see her off.
As the airship's engines began to whir louder, preparing for lift-off, Ruby reluctantly headed inside. But she stopped abruptly as something small hovered right in front of her face, making her flinch back in surprise and it was flashing a red light.
Blinking a few times, she realized it was one of those new security robots she had read about.
"Greetings, potential student. Please present your conditional acceptance letter," requested a synthesized voice.
"Uhh, sure thing!" Ruby quickly pulled out her scroll and displayed the acceptance email for the hovering drone to scan, and after a couple of seconds, the flashing light turned from red to green.
"Thank you. Please proceed with caution. We will be departing shortly," the drone instructed before zipping away down the corridor.
Ruby watched it go with an awed smile. She'd read all about all the new cutting-edge robot security forces that Atlas was selling to other kingdoms–Though, from what Uncle Qrow said, Atlas is giving it for free to the other four Huntsman Academy - but it was still strange and exciting to actually encounter one in person.
As tempting as it was to try getting a closer look, she knew better than to touch or interfere with the drones - that would surely land her in hot water before she even become an official student.
No point in lingering there. She might block others still coming aboard. Ruby quickly walked down the corridor and ascended the stairs to the main lobby, where everyone seemed to be gathered for the best view.
And just as expected, when she reached the lobby floor, it was quite a busy scene, though the sleek décor and panoramic windows gave it an air of sophistication. The students' candidates were clustered in small groups around the space.
"Hey, no fair! You had the hammer!" a dog faunus playing on his scroll complained loudly, glaring at his friend.
"Excuses, excuses," the human girl teased, until her grin turned to shock. "Wait, what?!"
Their third friend only grinned wickedly.
Up ahead, Ruby noticed a tall guy proudly showing off his great-sword to a pink-haired rabbit faunus girl. On the surface, it looked like a complex weapon - the geared components suggested it could transform into a sword-and-shield combo with dust capabilities. The faunus, meanwhile, sported a massive warhammer with a propeller assembly on the back.
As intriguing as their choices of weapons were, Ruby shook her head, not wanting to come across as a weirdo for staring too long. Some might think of her as a creep. Trying to find a relatively open spot to wait, she turned and—
"Oops! Sorry, I didn't see you ther–" Ruby started as she nearly bumped into something knee-high. She blinked at the small droid, with its little digital eyes that flashed to display a soda can icon.
"Greetings. Would you care for a refreshing cola? Or perhaps some chips?" a tiny synthesized voice offered.
"Ah–! No, thank you," Ruby quickly refused with an awkward wave, still getting used to these service robots, which seemed to be quite a number of them moving around.
The robotic server drifted back slightly, and its tinny voice replied, "Have a safe trip." The food displayed on its screen changed back to the digital eyes and then the small droid turned and trundled away at a sedate pace until it was stopped by another girl.
Ruby let out a sigh and headed for a relatively uncrowded area with plush-looking seats. She sank into one with an appreciative hum – they were even comfier than they appeared!
Though not entirely alone in this section, to her left, someone was sprawled using multiple seats as an improvised bed, a jacket covering their head. And just a few seats away to her right sat a very tall faunus girl with long blonde hair... and an utterly massive pair of jutted horns atop her head, instantly catching her full attention.
She'd certainly never encountered horns that big before, even among the faunus she knew and had seen in Vale.
Those had to be heavy, right?
Before Ruby could stop herself, the faunus girl turned towards her, a neutral smile on her lips. "May I help you?"
"Eep!" Ruby flinched, cheeks flushing red at being caught gawking so brazenly. "S-sorry! I didn't mean to stare, I swear!"
Spoiler: Mini comic done by Zephyr Teucher
The girl's expression didn't change as she adjusted a few stray locks of hair. "Don't worry, I get that a lot."
Ruby fiddled nervously with her fingers, mind racing to not make this interaction even more awkward than her terrible first impression. This was not how she envisioned things to go and she wasn't even at Beacon yet!
Think Ruby, think!
"Cool weapons!" Ruby finally blurted out.
The faunus girl raised an eyebrow curiously, then retrieved a sword that had been stowed under her seat. And then another blade from her other side.
And another one, though, this time, the sword looks bigger than the other two.
"I appreciate the compliment, but which weapon did you mean, exactly?" she asked, now holding three different swords.
"You have three?!" Ruby leaned in closer, eyes wide as she examined them. "How does that even work? Wait, I see–- you have two big swords and one broadsword. Do you like... combine them into one even bigger weapon somehow? But the greatswords look pretty simple with no gears or anything compared to that broadsword..."
Rather than explain, the faunus girl smoothly twisted the broadsword, which rapidly transformed into a rifle configuration.
"Ooooh, I get it now!" Ruby nodded enthusiastically, satisfied her initial confusion had been resolved.
The rifle shifted back into its sword form. "An enthusiast in weapons?" the girl observed with a small smile.
"Yep!" Ruby beamed, retrieving her own compacted sweetheart. "Look, I built this baby myself, you know? Well...I had a tiny bit of help from my uncle, but the rest are self-built!"