RWBY does not belong to me, but to Rooster Teeth. This work of fiction is non-profitable.

My RWBY poll is still up for anyone who's interested. I'll keep it up for the weekend as well before taking it down.

Anyway, here's a story brought to you by popular demand!

Red Velvet

Prologue – Fateful Encounter

"WHAT?! You all've got plans?!"

The brawler of Team RWBY smiled apologetically. "Sorry Ruby, but I barely get to hang out with my other friends, so I kinda want to take the chance today. Heck, I haven't even seen them since we first enrolled here at Beacon!"

"There's a new book that came out today by my favourite author, so I'm heading to Tukson's Book Trade to get it," Blake replied.

"And I have sparring practices to attend, and then I'm off shopping," Weiss said. "I suppose you will have to find someone else to entertain you for today."

It's funny, sometimes; you have an idea so great, so much fun, and you want to share it with all your friends, but something shows up to ruin it. Then again, shopping, hanging out with other friends, or a simple book might be more fun or at least preferred than whatever you may have come up with.

At the very least, that's how the young redhead tried to tell herself as she wandered around aimlessly around Beacon Academy. It was one of the rare times the students had a day off, and ever since last night Ruby had worked diligently to come up with various activities for her team to do on such a great day.

Sulking, Ruby had tried to enjoy the day as best as she could, but it seemed pointless if her team wasn't with her – she wanted to enjoy this with them, after all.

However, in retrospect, she was glad that things had turned out the way they did that day, now months ago.

"Ruby! Hello!" The redhead had turned, curious to whom the familiar voice belonged to, and just like that her sour mood vanished and the young girl waved back with joy.

"Hey Velvet!" Ruby eagerly jogged over to the bunny-faunus. "Watcha doin´?"

The brunette smiled warmly at her underclassman. If the redhead had known the reason for that smile back then, she would have never believed it. Looking back on it now, however, it was clear as day. "Oh, you know. Working on my photography, as always," Velvet replied with that beautiful accent of hers.

"Huh, that's great!" Ruby commented. "Say, where's the rest of your team?"

Long ears drooped. "They had other plans, I'm afraid. I kind of wanted to spend today as a team, but Coco said there was a new clothing store opening today, Fox just wandered off and Yatsu said something about meeting some old friends…So, here I am!"

The team-leader rolled her eyes. "Yeah, tell me about it. Weiss wanted to go shopping, Yang went to see her friends, and Blake—"

"Wanted to read a new book?" the brunette finished and smiled knowingly. They shared a giggle.

"Yep!" Ruby nodded. "That's Blake for ya… So, taking pictures, huh? May I see?"

Velvet beamed at that. She must've been happy to share her hobby with someone, Ruby thought at the time. It wouldn't be until much, much later that she'd come to understand the true fascination with taking pictures. "Yes, of course! Here you go!"

Scrolling through the pictures, the redhead smiled nervously at her friend. The pictures themselves were of good quality, but the images that was captured was not quite what she had expected, seeing how it only were of people's backs or hips—

Something clicked inside her mind. "Oh my gosh! You like weapons too?!"

Bunny-ears quipped, a small smile curving the upperclassman's lips. "Y-Yes, I do…"

"That's awesome!" Ruby exclaimed. "It's like meeting new people, right?! But even better! I mean, I'm happy with my own, but I love to see what kind of weapons other people wield, you know?!"

"So I've heard," Velvet said and giggled. "I actually have one of you and… Crescent Rose, was it? Scroll back a few pictures."

"Really?" Scrolling past picture by picture, silver eyes eventually found themselves staring at a picture of the leader of Team RWBY standing rather triumphantly in a forest, her self-made weapon in hand and fully evolved in its scythe-mode glory. "Huh, neat! Say, Velvet? Would you like to hang out today? I would love to talk about weapons with you, if you don't mind? I'm kind of a dork when it comes to these things…"

The Faunus girl smiled, long ears fluttering. "I would love to, Ruby."

/././././

Looking back on it now, it was funny how things had changed since then. Not that Ruby minded it.

Especially when she curled up against Velvet's soft form and almost falling back asleep again. Alas, she couldn't afford to; it was 06:32 already.

"Velvet?" Ruby whispered. "You should hurry back to your dorm."

The older girl groaned. "…Few more minutes…"

The redhead let out a quiet giggle. "Few more minutes it is, then."