SEPTEMBER 2ND, 3:45pm

"Can we please stop now? We've been doing this for hours."

"Nope. We're making this place spick and span for when your new roomie comes. Don't want anyone thinking you live in a pig sty."

"Ugh Yang..."

The two sisters had been preparing a new home for Ruby. The time she had been waiting for since the beginning of Summer, when she recieved her acceptance letter, had finally came. Ruby was a student at Beacon Academy, enrolled in Engineering, Chemistry and Mathematics. The very same academy her sister had been staying at for two years, in different courses respectively. It was hard for the smaller girl to get a grasp of the fact that after years of hearing how fantastic the area and school was, she was finally there. She was finally going to see it all for herself.

Moving another box into the dorm room, Yang had helped her unpack the majority of her things. From the boxes of clothes to her kitchen supplies. But she knew her sister all too well. There was no way she would be cooking most nights, as long as she had cheap packs of noodles. Didn't hurt to make her private kitchen her own at least. Unpacking a final box of pots and pans, she called out to her sister. "So, who is this new roomie of yours? You met her yet?"

"Weiss Schnee, I think!" The girl was already distracted, looking at the few plush toys she had taken with her to college. There was no way she was leaving those home! She had very carefully arranged them either side her precious Corgi pillow. A brief reminder of her dog she had to leave. Even if it was his, she couldn't resist stealing it for herself to have at college.

Weiss Schnee, she had met her before. At freshers week, they didn't get along all too brilliantly. In fact, Ruby had managed to offend her by knocking over some of her drink in the middle of a game of Cards against Remnant. All over her favourite white dress. Despite that, she was supposed to be her room mate.

Only a miracle could get her out of that one.

"I kinda ruined a dress that looked really expensive, though. So I think this will go down like a tonne of bricks."

"Ouch." That was all that could be heard from in the bathroom. Yang had then moved there to sort her sister's shampoos and soaps. And give the room a general clean. All things that Ruby would never think to do in her first few weeks. "Weiss Schnee, huh? Has she got an older sister called Winter? I see her sometimes in martial arts club."

"Yeah! That's the one! Their dad owns Schnee Dust Co' or something? I don't know, but it sounded important."

It was important. The Schnee Dust Company were a world renowned business, famous for their work into military equipment. Yet the work that had recently hit the news was that of their genetics work. Most unusual for a company that was only interested in advances of weapons that took lives to suddenly take a turn to try and save them. Still, they funded both Winter and Weiss's education, and had plenty to spare. It was a big deal.

Rejoining her in the bedroom, the bubbly blonde looked over to her younger sister. In the small moment between their shouting back and forth, her sister had sat on the edge of her bed, staring downward at the ground. "Hey, you okay?"

Ruby sighed. Although she was wide eyed, she looked worried.

"I really, really wanna do well here. You've been here for two years, and Dad and Uncle Qrow both graduated from here. I just don't wanna let them down."

"Hey, cut that out." Suddenly the large arms of Yang had engulfed Ruby entirely, as she was pulled in for a tight hug. Ruffling her sister's hair, she grinned. "You're gonna do great, you hear me? You're a way better engineer then Qrow already, and Chemistry-wise, well, I can't judge there, but I'm sure you'll be great. Even if you and roomie didn't get off to a good start."

When the only response was a forced smile, Yang frowned. Parting herself from Ruby, she tilted her head. "Tell you what. How's this; if you and Weiss don't get on, I'll send an application in to have her as my roomie. Deal?"

Ruby began to chuckle. "You may be the one tidying right now, but you're messier then me. I'd doubt she'd be able to handle you for too long."

"I can work my magic. I got ways."

But their sisterly moment was interrupted by a buzzing in Yang's pocket. Her scroll. Reaching into her pocket to retrieve it, she instantly groaned when she noticed the message.

"What is it?"

"Oh, Pyrrha. She just reminded me that martial arts club starts earlier today." Shuffling to one side, she hopped back to her feet, starting to make her way toward the door. "But hey, you're gonna be fine now. I mean, you'll wanna be on your own when Weiss gets here to get along with her, right?"

"Oh, she's not coming till mid-October. I pretty much just gotta keep the place tidy and... be alone for a while."

"Argh, bummer." Rubbing the back of her head, she held the handle of the door for a moment longer. Even when she heard the buzz of her scroll yet again. Seemed it really was desperate. "Look, I'm on the floor below if you ever need me, Rubes. Just come on down any time. I'll even get you a key cut for my room."

"You know you can't do that." She chuckled to herself, following through into the kitchen to see her out. It was the least she could do if this was her temporary home. "But thanks, Yang. For all the help with my stuff."

"No worries. And, uh, one more thing..."

She pointed toward the corner of the kitchen, specifically toward the large air vent there. Even if it was fancy enough to give them a private bathroom and kitchen, the air conditioning was shared throughout the dormitory complex. Whatever temperature one room was, the entire building was the same. It made sense, with how large the vent was in the first place.

"Make sure the cover's screwed shut, okay? Some of the girls got some stuff stolen last year. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty damn sure that people can climb through there."

Ruby looked up toward it, confused as anything. The vents? Surely not. Who would really be crazy enough to use an air conditioning vent to get in and out of people's rooms, when there were far safer and easier ways? Only a fool would try. Regardless, she didn't exactly like the idea of someone sneaking into her room to steal things.

With a nod, she smiled back to Yang. "Sure. If it'll keep you happy!"

"That a girl. And welcome to Beacon!" With a grin straight back, she swung the door open to take her leave. Leaving behind a rather confused, and worried Ruby Rose.

Sighing to herself, she journeyed back into her bedroom, only to slump completely on her bed, staring at the ceiling. This was a huge step after all. One minute, she was in a comfy home with only the odd scrap of homework and feeding her dog to fuss over. The next, she more or less had a whole apartment, an entire year of coursework, friends to try and make, and now possible burglars to worry about. None of which particularly took Ruby's fancy. Closing her eyes, she muttered the simple phrase again.

"Welcome to Beacon."

SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2:16 AM

Why was a groggy redhead awake at this hour? It was pitch black, the day previous had been a long and tiring walk around Vale, which left her going straight to bed at 9pm. The days before that were long lectures, explaining how the semester would go on, the basic rules of the college, all in all rendering her exhausted. What reason did she have to be suddenly awake.

As soon as she sat up, she realised why. A very tight bladder made that clear.

"Oh. Right."

Muttering to herself, she had managed grasp her scroll from the bedside table and haul to her feet, slipping on her favourite pair of Grimm slippers and heading straight to the bathroom, with only the torch from her scroll to guide her. Thank goodness for the privacy, fumbling around the corridors in the dark would only make things frightening. At least this was a simple flick of a light switch, in to do business, and then out again. The only sound to follow was the flush of the cistern.

Or at least, that's what she thought the only sound was, until she headed out the room. And heard a quiet rustling sound.

Something was in her kitchen!

Freezing on the spot, she listened out for any further sounds. What on earth could that be? Yang hadn't warned her of rats, or any other vermin in the buildings. It was far too loud to be a simple mouse or cockroach. The only thing she could think of, which struck fear into her; the possibility that someone was in the apartment.

Things were going to be frightening after all.

Gulping, the small girl paced very quietly to the kitchen, attempting to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible. If someone was there, she wanted to make sure she got to them first, rather then them finding her. Not that it would be very easy in the pitch black of the night. Although she did debate on using her scroll's torch feature, she decided against it, turning it back off. The light would be a dead giveaway.

Looking toward the cupboards, there was no signs of disturbance. Every door was shut, nothing had moved from it's place. Then she spied toward the oven and microwave. Yet again, no disturbance. So what was making the rummaging sound?

CLANG

In a flash, Ruby instantly spun herself around, finding herself staring straight back at that corner Yang had warned her about. The air vent. Although it had seemed locked before, the vent cover swayed back and forth slightly.

'Okay.' Ruby thought to herself. 'Of all the things that could have been open, that is the most creepy.' With yet another gulp, a very shakey hand reached for the vent cover, slowly pulling it upward so she could reach up on her toes, hoping for a sheer glimpse of what was causing the ruckus. A rat was a possibility, considering how fast everything had happened. But upon looking inside, her eyes snapped open.

That was far bigger then a rat.

A pair of bright, beady, yellow eyes stared right back at Ruby from inside the vent, belonging to an indistinguishable form. It was big, as far as the girl could tell. Far too big to be a rat, or even a raccoon. Too big even for a canine of some kind. It was human, it had to be.

With a rather loud scream, the girl stumbled backward, her grip of the cover lost as it clanged shut once more, swinging back and forward. Whatever was in the vent, it had seen her! And it was big! Fear plaguing her mind, she ran straight to the bathroom, looking around for something, anything she could use.

'Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod, there was someone in there!' Between the shakey breathing, it was all the girl could think. Eyes don't just appear in vents! Having found grabbed the first thing that came to mind, the toilet plunger, she heading straight back to the kitchen.

'Okay Ruby, this is it. It's probably just a rat, you can handle this.'

Shining the light of her scroll around the kitchen, she looked back and forth around the cupboards, holding the plunger out as if it were a sword in her spare hand. Still nothing. Whatever was in the vent hadn't moved, it had stayed put, it seemed. If it had done, she would have heard it. Metal doesn't exactly sound silent when one is crawling through it.

Putting down the plunger, he placed a shakey hand on the cover once again, attempting as best she could to take a deep breaths to quell her nerves.

'You got this Ruby. On three... One... Two...'

"THREE!" Swinging the cover straight up, she shined the light directly down the vent, standing on her toes once again to try and get a view of the eyes and the figure inside.

Nothing. Whatever she had saw before, had vanished. There were no signs of anything in the vent, no eyes, no figure. Whatever was there before, had disappeared. Without a trace. Impossible! Nothing was that stealthy.

'Am I dreaming?' She thought to herself, taking another look in the vent, before she very slowly closed the cover again. 'Did I dream up that whole thing? There were eyes there, I swear it!'

Another quick scan around the undisturbed room, and there was no further evidence. Nothing was taken, nothing was moved. There was no figure in the vents. It was just a silly dream. It had to have been.

Sighing deeply, she wiped the sweat from her brow, unable to help but laugh to herself as she paced back to the bedroom. "Wow, Ruby. Barely here for three days, and you're already going crazy." Dropping the plunger back off in the bathroom, the girl made her way straight back to bed. Instantly wrapping the covers around herself, and placing the scroll on her side table, she sighed to herself, closing her eyes.

"This is just nerves. It's all gonna be better tomorrow."

And with that smile, she shut her eyes once more, trying desperately to get back to sleep. The morning bought another big day, after all.

It was the Schnee Dust Company's big lecture.

[Authors Notes]

Hiya guys, YYBB here. You miss me? This fic is gonna take a whole lot longer to update then Bodyshock did, seeing as I have to write each chapter myself this time. It's fun, of course! But very long process. Although on saying that, each chapter start to finish is planned out at least so it won't take as long as some.

No chapter warnings in particular, but they will be posted at the bottom with plenty of spaces if there ever are any, but this fic is probably gonna be relatively tame :D Enjoy folks!