Author's Note: Another one! Man, I'm on a roll. Here is the third oneshot in my Bonds series. I'm planning another three, maybe four. Hopefully I can write them fast enough to post daily and finish the whole series before Volume 2 airs at RTX this weekend! Wish me luck!

A Simple Act of Kindness

Ruby Rose scowled as she watched Cardin Winchester torment yet another innocent victim. She had been attending Beacon for several weeks now, and had been forced to watch him bully her innocent classmates time and time again. Jaune, her friend and fellow team leader, had fallen prey to him more than once. This time, he had chosen to pick on Velvet Scarlatina, one of the very few Faunus who were attending Beacon.

"Ow! That hurts!" Velvet exclaimed as Cardin yanked on one of her rabbit ears. The rest of Team CRDL laughed at her misfortune. They ignored her pleas to be left alone, continuing to mock her as she reclaimed her ear from Cardin's grasp and fled the cafeteria.

"Atrocious," Pyrrha remarked quietly, having noticed the same commotion. "I can't stand people like him."

Ruby turned back to look at her teammates and the members of Team JNPR, who were all eating lunch together. None of them looked particularly pleased with Cardin, nor did they appear to be doing anything about what they'd just witnessed.

"He's not the only one," Blake muttered darkly.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus," Yang murmured, resting her chin on her hand as she sent a pitying look at the door through which Velvet had departed.

"Yang," Ruby murmured as Jaune left as well, "I gotta—"

"Forgot something at the dorm again?" Yang asked, deliberately misinterpreting what Ruby was about to say. "Alright, I'll see you in class then."

Ruby shot her a grateful look, then vanished in a burst of illusory rose petals.

It didn't take her very long to catch up to Velvet. The Faunus girl was seated on a bench in Beacon's main courtyard, staring up at the sky. As Ruby slowed and became visible to the naked eye once more, she saw tears in the other girl's eyes. She almost scowled again, but shook her head and tried to smile instead. It wouldn't do to show her potential new friend such a scary face.

"Velvet?" she asked.

The girl didn't even twitch at the sound of Ruby's voice. Faunus had many advantages over normal Humans, one of them being their hearing. Those Faunus with extra ears, such as Velvet's rabbit ears, could hear far better than the average Human.

So Ruby was disappointed to get no response to her call. With a sigh, she walked up to the bench and sat down next to Velvet, looking up at the sky as well.

"You're Velvet, right? Velvet Scarlatina?" Ruby knew her name already, but she was at a loss for what to say. She cheered up slightly when she saw Velvet nod. With a grin, she continued, "I'm Ruby Rose! It's really nice to meet you!"

She stuck out her hand. Velvet didn't even turn to look.

"Go away," the Faunus muttered quietly.

Ruby frowned.

"But I like it here," she said. "The bench is nice. You're nice. Everything's nice."

What the hell am I even saying? Ruby wondered, clamping her mouth shut before it could run away on her again.

"Nothing's nice," Velvet replied. There was a long silence as the two of them continued to watch clouds drift past. "Sometimes I wonder why I even came here..."

"To be a Huntress, right?" Ruby asked. "To help people?"

"What if they don't want my help?" Velvet asked her. "What if they'd rather a Human helped them instead?"

"Then they're probably gonna get eaten by the Grimm," Ruby answered succinctly, "because nobody else would be around to save them."

Velvet rolled her eyes, though a small chuckle escaped her. Silence returned between them until Velvet finally spoke up.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"Because Cardin is a big, fat jerk."

Velvet laughed again, though her smile faded fast.

"But why do you even care?" she wondered. "Why even bother coming to talk to me? You don't even know me."

Ruby Rose lowered her gaze to the rabbit-eared Faunus, who had finally turned to look back at her with a raised eyebrow. With a grin, she said, "Someone told me not too long ago that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. Friends are supposed to help cheer up their friends!"

It made perfect sense, after all. Strangers were friends, and friends needed to be happy!

"But why do you even care about a Faunus like me?" Velvet retorted angrily. "You're a Human, so what do you care?"

Ruby frowned.

"Faunus, Human, it doesn't matter to me," she answered. "We're all just people."

Silence reigned after her declaration. Velvet stared at her, her eyebrows furrowed. Ruby just grinned in response.

"Say, why were you eating alone?" Ruby suddenly asked. "Where's the rest of your team?"

Velvet sighed and looked down. "We're in a lot of the same classes together, but they have a different lunch period so I don't get to eat with them."

"Aw, that sucks," Ruby grumbled. She was thankful that she could spend her lunch with the rest of Team RWBY as well as her friends on Team JNPR.

Wait a second...

"Oh! Oh oh oh!" Ruby exclaimed. This time, Velvet stiffened in shock as Ruby bounced in her seat and grinned at her. "Why don't you eat with us!"

Velvet's jaw dropped. "...Huh?"

Ruby's grin widened. "Eat lunch with us!" she clarified, speaking quickly. "I don't mind. I know Yang won't mind. Blake probably won't. And Team JNPR is okay with pretty much anything! Weiss might not like it but too bad for her because she'll get outvoted again anyway!"

Velvet stared at her.

"Are you always this..." the Faunus trailed off, unable to come up with the right word.

"Yep!" Ruby answered anyway. "So come on, what do you say? Wanna eat lunch with us instead of Stupidface Winchester?"

This time Velvet actually giggled. It took a moment for her chuckles to subside, but when she finally regained control of herself, she nodded. "Alright."

"Awesome!" Ruby shouted with glee, leaping to her feet and doing a strange little dance that set off Velvet's giggles again. "Another new friend!"

The bell rang. Both of their eyes widened as they turned to look at the distant clocktower.

"Uh, I gotta—"

"I've got class—"

The two of them glanced at each other, nodded, then took off in different directions to head to their respective classes.

Or, at least, that was the plan. Except when Ruby activated her semblance and shot forward with incredible speed, she slammed face-first into an unfamiliar bust.

"Oww..." Ruby muttered as she rubbed her head and looked up at the interloper.

She saw a very familiar face.

"Oh! Blake!" Ruby leaped to her feet and offered a hand. Blake accepted, and Ruby pulled her taciturn teammate to her feet. "Sorry, I'm running late for class and I used my semblance and I didn't see you there I'm so sorry I ran into you—"

"It's okay," Blake interrupted, with a strange sort of half-smirk. She gently rubbed her breastbone. "You didn't hit me too hard. And you're not running late, yet. We still have a few minutes to walk to class."

Ruby blushed as red as her cloak. "Oh, right," she mumbled sheepishly.

Blake smirked again, then turned to walk down the hallway at a rather quick pace. Ruby dashed forward in another flurry of rose petals to catch up. The two walked in silence for a while, before Blake chose to speak up:

"Ruby...I heard what you said to Velvet."

Ruby frowned. "Oh, right, um, so are you okay with Velvet having lunch with us? I probably should've asked, huh?"

"It's fine," Blake said with a smile. "It was nice of you to offer."

"It's no big deal," Ruby replied. "Just being nice. I just didn't want Cardin to ruin her whole day."

Blake stopped suddenly. Ruby went a step further before realizing that her teammate was no longer next to her, and turned to see Blake giving her a serious look.

"It was a big deal to her," Blake said quietly. "Kindness is always special to those who receive it. Especially those who aren't accustomed to it, like the Faunus."

"Well, it's like I said when we first met," Ruby responded hesitantly, shifting uncomfortably under Blake's intense gaze. "The reason why I want to become a Huntress. To make things better."

"Some people would argue that a Huntress's only duty is to fight the Grimm," Blake replied easily, her gaze searching.

"Then some people are stupid," Ruby retorted with a shrug. "We're supposed to help make the world a better place. Sometimes that means fighting the Grimm. Saving lives. Protecting people. Other times it means just being nice."

"It doesn't bother you that she's a Faunus?" Blake asked, finally getting to the point of her impromptu interrogation.

"Nope," Ruby chirped with a grin. She turned to continue walking.

"Empathy and understanding are good qualities to have," she heard Blake say from behind her. "For what it's worth, I think Ozpin was right to choose you as our leader."

Ruby skidded to a stop and spun on her heels to stare at her teammate.

"You think...I...really?!" she stumbled over her words, her shocked expression slowly morphing into a delighted grin.

"Really."

"Aw yeah!" Ruby exclaimed as she spun around and started skipping. "That means my whole team respects me now!"

Blake, chuckling at her leader's antics, followed the hyperactive girl to class.