From Dust 'Til Dawn. A dust shop with a ridiculously punny name, located in one of the quieter commercial districts of Vale

What it did have going for it, was that it was the only 24 hour dust shop in the district and they stocked more than just dust. Weapons magazines, ammunition, parts. Anything a budding huntsman or huntress could ever dream to ask for on short notice.

If nothing else, hanging out here at night and listening to music was a fantastic way for any budding young hunter with a fascination for engineering and experimentation to spend their time without interruption.

Which was why this one in particular had a visage of deadpan disbelief when she was, in fact, interrupted...by a guy in a suit.

With a gun.

"Are you...trying to rob me?"

"Yes!"

"Wow, You're an idiot."

Before the man could even think of shouting some form of wounded indignation at the blow to his ego, the girl before him had swept his legs out from under him with her own.

He was coughing up blood before his mind even caught up to the fact that he'd been knocked to the floor.

Roman Torchwick had been expecting an easy night. It was quiet, there wasn't a cop in sight, so it should have been quick and easy; get in, get the dust, get out, nobody gets hurt.

So when he heard a crashing about in the back of the store and sent another one of Junior's thugs to investigate, he certainly hadn't expected to see a crimson missile crash through the front window of the store, carrying aforementioned thug with it.

As one, he and the remaining thugs turned out to the street to see a shroud of blood red flower petals fall away, revealing a slim figure rising up from their knees and rolling their neck.

From what he could see - and luckily the figure was standing smack in the center of a street light or else he wouldn't have gotten much information at all thanks to the night time shadows - the 'figure' was a young girl.

Silver eyes turned to face them and he noted that this girl was wearing a stylized black long sleeve shirt, with a red stripe about her chest and red sleeves below the elbow, though her forearms themselves were covered with segmented black armor pieces.

Black knee high boots, black thigh high stockings and a short black skirt completed the lower assemblage of clothing, all covered by a red cloak that lifted slightly in the night time breeze.

She was also casually twirling what appeared to be a black bladed katana in her left hand, fingers of her right lazily drumming against the scabbard gripped as a sort of blunt instrument in her right.

A blunt instrument, mind you, that had just whacked the dazed thug beneath her in the side of the head.

Nobody had moved.

"Well? You guys just gonna stand there or…?" The girl asked, arching a brow up towards crimson-tipped, raven locks.

"...Oh for the love of...get her!" Torchwick grumbled when all three of the remaining thugs turned to him for orders, instead of...y'know...fighting the girl.

"Whoops, missed me!" The girl taunted as she somersaulted over a two-handed mace swing by the first - mindlessly charging - thug. He was rewarded for his efforts by way of the girl stomping down on his head and using him as a platform for a semblance-boosted jump towards the next thug.

The force of the goomba stomp was enough to send him face-planting into the asphalt next to his co-worker.

Meanwhile Midnight Rose had blitzed through any attempt of a guard the second thug had even attempted, slicing deep into the man's side and sending him to the ground in a scream of agony while she casually flicked her blade clean of the blood - and raised her scabbard to block the swing of the last one standing.

As soon as his weapon met that scabbard, she spun, allowing his momentum to carry him forward while she took the chance to deliver a reverse gripped stab through his back with Midnight Rose, skewering him along the black blade and holding while he froze in shocked agony...before she twisted the blade a quarter turn and ripped it free.

She raised her head to lock eyes with the boss of the group and arched a brow at him.

"I'm gonna be honest, I think you could have done this shoddy attempt at a robbery better on your own."

She presumed, based off the grumbling she received in response, that he agreed with her.

He was also at least somewhat smarter than his employees for the night, because he didn't really give her much of a chance to get the drop on him - raising his cane and firing something at her before she had the chance to take advantage of a villainous monologue or anything of the sort.

All she could really do was raise her arms to cross in front of her face and focus her aura to weather the blast.

Thankfully, he hadn't really aimed at her, but at the ground in front of her.

Her first priority, upon dropping her arms, was to find out where her opponent was at. And when she registered the sight of him absolutely booking it for a rooftop across the street, she let her instincts take over.

The hilt of Midnight Rose clicked into the mouth of the scabbard and her right hand curled around the combined form, her left swishing her cloak back and grabbing an arrow out of the quiver that had been concealed beneath.

When the arrow found the side of the combined Midnight Rose it glowed a faint purple as the concentrated effect field of the gravity dust contained in the scabbard took hold of it. She drew back, feeling the resistance of that gravity field increase, then took aim.

When she let fly, the arrow rocketed across the street, up into the air and buried itself into the calve of the man scrambling up the ladder.

She smirked.

His cry of pain and the fact that he nearly fell off the ladder gave her plenty of time to catch up to him with her semblance and meet him on top of the rooftop.

"Leaving already? We're having so much fun!"

More muttering.

And then there was a Bullhead.

"Really?! You have the funding to get a Bullhead but not enough to get better mercs than that?!" The girl complained, shooting another arrow in his direction and hitting him in the shoulder before he could stumble onto the aircraft.

"I've had about enough of this, Red. End of the line!"

Well if that wasn't pretentious.

Or at least, it would have been had he not thrown a burn crystal out of the bullhead and skittering across the roof towards her feet.

A glance up to see him aiming his cane at it was all the incentive that Ruby needed to dart forward the three steps it took to scoop up the crystal and fling it back at him before he shot, then turning her back and shielding herself under her cloak.

When she heard the explosion, but felt none of it, she was briefly confused.

The confusion went away when she turned around and saw a woman a blonde woman in very fancy getup maintaining a violet barrier glyph.

Well, this is going to be interesting…

"Three men dead, two in the hospital. I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady."

"Really? C'mon! They were robbing the store while pointing guns at me, am I not allowed to defend myself?"

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…"

"You don't even know where I live!"

"...And a slap on the wrist."

And then the riding crop slapped down onto the girls wrist.

She winced, but otherwise didn't respond to the hit while she maintained eye contact with huntress. "Ow." She deadpanned, stretching her hand open and closed to try to work the sting out.

"But there's someone here who would like to see you."

As she stepped out of the way, the girl found herself looking up at a white haired man clad in green, carrying a tray of cookies and a glass of milk. She arched a brow.

Hey, free cookies. She wasn't going to complain.

"I'm afraid I never caught your name, Miss…?"

"Rose." The girl identified.

He looked at her further, seeming to expect more.

"Just Rose." Rose clarified, drumming her fingers on the table.

"Hmm…" He mused, leaning close to her.

She arched a brow again.

"You have silver eyes."

"Uh...yeah? Thought that was pretty obvious."

"Interesting...Where, may I ask, did you learn to do this?" He questioned, motioning to a display that the huntress now held in her hands, showing the battle - if it could even be called that - between her and the thugs from the store.

"My mom."

"I see…" He mused, placing the tray of cookies in front of her.

"Did your mom teach you to kill people as well?"

"She taught me to do whatever's necessary to stop a threat, yes."

"Hm." He mused again, blinking slightly when he noted that she was...basically inhaling the cookies after giving one the sniff test.

He arched a brow.

"Mmhat?" She asked, then paused, swallowed the rest of her cookie and cleared her throat. "Sorry, what? I didn't get the chance to eat dinner yet."

He waved her off. "So, what's an adorable girl such as yourself doing learning to fight like this?"

"I want to be a huntress."

"You want to slay monsters?"

"I want to help people." Rose corrected...Mostly to stop herself from saying that not all Monsters were Grimm.

"I'm fifteen. I grew up in Mistral, in the wilds. My mom and her family taught me everything I know, I didn't get the chance to go to a prep school, but I passed my Gen Ed cert course. So I figure I have two years to try to make an impression on someone if I want to go to Beacon, Atlas, or Shade."

An arched brow from the man on the other side of the table. "You said you're from Mistral, but you want to go to Beacon?"

"It's where my mom, dad, aunt and uncle all went." Rose explained, giving a one armed shrug. "And failing that, Atlas or Shade. I don't...have a very high opinion of Haven."

"I see...Do you know who I am, Miss Rose?"

"Either you're Professor Ozpin, or you're a very convincing duplicate of the Headmaster at Beacon."

"I am indeed. Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"You want to come to my school?"

"It's my goal. And I don't give up on goals."

"...Well, alright then."

"...Wait, what?"

Rose was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was, in fact, going to Beacon - Not in two years, but in two days.

She was staring up at the ceiling of her darkened hotel room, hands behind her head while she considered this, when the air in her room was ripped apart and everything was lit up by a sinister red glow.

She didn't react.

At least, not until she gave a small half smile when a figure stepped out of the tear and the portal collapsed in on itself a moment later.

"Hey, Mom." Rose greeted the masked woman standing over her bed, shifting up onto her elbows as the woman raised her hand and removed the mask, revealing the face of Raven Branwen.

"Good evening, Ruby."