Ruby looked out the window of her uncle's car, thinking about her fencing tournament that had occurred just a few days ago. Her opponent was definitely a tough one. She kept Ruby on her toes the entire fight. If it hadn't been for Ruby's quick reflexes, she totally would've lost the match.
Looking back, Ruby felt she should've lost. All she had been doing was looking for a way to earn money for her sister. Ruby had seen a poster on the street a couple months ago saying:
"Beacon Girls' Fencing Club Tournament Starting July 10th. Gold medal and $500 cash prize will be awarded to the winner."
She had never held a rapier in her hand until she suddenly ran to her uncle, babbling about a fencing tournament. Standing with a sideways straddle on a mat with a really long plastic stick in her hand just felt natural. Her uncle and sister were so impressed with her newfound talent that they let her join the tournament.
"So, Ruby," her uncle said, interrupting Ruby's train of thought. She looked at her uncle through the rear view mirror. "Yes, Uncle Qrow?" "You never told me what the match this weekend was like," he reminded her.
To Uncle Qrow, the best way to defeat your opponent is to analyze their strategies. Ruby was supposed to explain her fights to him in order to help her learn from them. But this was her last one.
Ruby told him everything, anyways. "Well, she was an offensive fighter and used quick, short bursts to try and throw me off my guard if she got in a tough spot." Qrow responded, "Hmm. That's a strategy I see rarely." (He had once been a fencer, coincidentally. Maybe it ran in the family.) "Depending on her own speed, it may have been a way to even out the odds against a crafty little weasel like you." He smiled. "That was a person who knows their opponent's weakness just by looking at them." He turned to Ruby, who smiled back nervously. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"She basically predicted your every move based on your stance," he said.
"But she couldn't even see my face."
Qrow just laughed and kept on driving. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of Beacon Academy, the neighboring, top-notch high school ideal for both brainiacs and athletes. Ruby was mostly the latter.
"Have fun on your first day, Ruby!" Qrow called out as Ruby slung her book bag over her shoulder and hopped out of the car. She turned back and replied with a smile, "You have a good day too, Uncle Qrow! Bye!" She waved and made her way onto the campus.
"Ruby!" someone shouted from not too far away. Ruby turned in the direction of the voice to see her best friend, Penny. She had orange cream colored hair, which went down to her collar bone and had a bow on the back of her head. Light freckles dotted her face, emphasizing her bright green eyes. She wore a light green blouse and a flowing white skirt that went down to just below her knees. Her black leather boots covered just about the rest of her legs.
"Salutations!" Penny exclaimed. "Hey, Penny!" Ruby called back as the two came together. "How was the tournament?" Penny inquired. Ruby looked down with a gloomy expression on her face. "Well, I was up against a pretty tough opponent, but I tried my best..." Penny looked upset. "I'm sorry, Ruby. Better luck next time!" Ruby looked back up at Penny and grinned. "I'm just pulling your leg," she admitted. "I won." Penny's eyes lit up, and she squealed in joy, "Sen-sational!" Ruby laughed. Penny was a quirky girl, but that was all the more reason to have her as a best friend.
The two got along so well that sometimes, others were jealous of their friendship. Ruby and Penny had met last year, when they went to the same middle school. Once they found out they both had a love for technology, they became the best of friends.
"Did you completely obliterate them?" Penny asked Ruby. Ruby replied with a shrug, "I got 'er in a rough spot more than once, but I admit she almost had me."
"Well, I am not surprised," Penny said with a smile. "You are the best fencer I know."
Ruby blushed a little under the praise. "Penny, you and I both know that isn't true." Penny crossed her arms and voiced exactly what was on Ruby's mind. "That Schnee girl is not everything they say she is, I just know it." Ruby just rolled her eyes. "If you say so, Penny."
"That Schnee girl" was the one and only Weiss Schnee, the daughter of an extremely wealthy business owner. In Beacon City, she was basically famous. Sometimes, she even appeared on the cover of Fencers Weekly (which Ruby always had the most recent issue of since she began fencing). Weiss' fencing skills were legendary, even though she was only seventeen. Just a couple years behind, Ruby aspired to defeat her and anyone else who stood above her. But she was so...
The ringing of the school bell interrupted Ruby's train of thought again. "C'mon!" Penny exclaimed, grabbing Ruby's arm and tugging it forward. "We can't be late on our first day of high school!" Ruby picked up the pace. "Right!"
And so, the two of them rushed off to get to their first class.