White Sheep

Chapter 3 - A New Flock

"Thank you Cyril, and in recent news the unknown figure that attacked two huntresses in downtown Vale is considered on the loose and dangerous. Any citizens are warned not to approach but to contact the authorities immediately."

"Is that the guy you fought?" Yang asked.

Ruby hummed as she looked at the crooked picture on the screen. It wasn't an actual photo, since apparently the shopkeeper didn't have any CCTV. Instead, she and Miss Goodwitch had been asked to provide a description as best they could. It had been dark and she'd been in the middle of a fight, so she wasn't sure she'd gotten it down perfectly, but the image did have the white hair, red eyes and crazy veins - and that was pretty distinctive.

Enough so that the police officer taking down the details had looked at her like she was high on sugar and hallucinating. The scary huntress beside her had soon silenced their doubts, however. None of the terrifying things he'd done had been mentioned on the news report... she'd been asked to keep it to herself as well, just to avoid any panic among the population. As far as everyone was concerned, he was just a typical criminal, albeit a dangerous one.

Naturally she'd told her father, uncle and sister – but that didn't count, right?

"I wouldn't say fight," Ruby said. "I shot and attacked once or twice... but I never really got into danger and didn't even scratch him."

"I'm sure dad would disagree on the danger part," Yang growled at the screen, only for it to blink away and be replaced by an image of the scary-hunter-lady welcoming them to Beacon. "Still," her sister laughed, "You got to come to Beacon two years early, so I guess it paid off."

"Yeah, I guess."

"And now you're probably the youngest person to get into Beacon. My sister's so special, the bee's knees."

That was an unwelcome thought and sent butterflies straight to her stomach. "I'm not special," she quickly said, "and I don't want to be the bee's knees. I want to be a normal person with normal knees."

"Oh, it'll be fine," Yang wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug. "Don't stress about it. You'll do fine... and stop worrying about that guy too. You didn't stop him, but look at how tough he was. Like dad said, it was a victory that you got out in one piece, and you saved that old man."

She wasn't so sure herself, but she smiled for her big sister anyway – and somehow doing that helped her to feel better too. Yang was right. What did it matter if she'd technically not managed to beat that guy? He could summon Grimm – which was absolutely terrifying – and sure, he'd called her a villain, which was kinda weird. But still, it wasn't like she had been expected to do any better. She'd saved the shopkeeper's life, and who could tell what cruel Grimm ritual that monster wanted him for? And Ozpin had even recognized her awesomeness and invited her to Beacon.

"Yeah, you're right," Ruby nodded, a little more certain this time. "I can't wait to get to lessons and show people what I'm made of!"

"And to make friends, right?"

"Erk..." Oh Gods, she'd been so excited about Beacon that she'd totally forgotten! She didn't have any friends here and the ones she'd relied on to be there at Beacon with her were not stuck back at Signal. "Eh... heh heh, well I was thinking that with you and me..."

Yang frowned at her stutters, but luckily she was cut off before the situation could get any worse. Lucky was, of course, a relative term – since a blond guy rushed past them and towards a window, which he opened – only to spew vomit from the flying vehicle. Yang winced and backed away, while everyone around him found some reason to be elsewhere.