A/N: Hey people, I'm a bit new to fanfiction but I'll surely put my best into it. This one is about Ruby Rose, kicked from beacon do to an incident brought about by the death of her uncle and her journey to find herself with her new mentor Aaron. The first couple chapters will be snapshots in the first few months of her life under this master's tutelage as she slowly grows stronger and more mature. If there is interest I will make a prologue series which covers more of the events of her life as a student. Once it's beyond that point, the focus will shift to her relationship with her team and especially Weiss. (Yes, whiterose will totally be a thing)

Prologue

"Ruby, there's someone here to see you." I glanced up from my pillow at Taiyang and tried to wipe the tears out of my eyes.

"Not now…" I pulled the blanket around me and turned my head away, too upset to face anyone. Outside the door, Taiyang spoke to someone, a man with a calm and low voice. The words were too low for me to hear but after a minute the door opened wider and I heard footsteps coming in.

"So, this is the famous Ruby Rose, Qrow told me you never cried." Yeah… well Qrow's dead.

"Leave me alone, I don't need to talk to anyone."

His weight pressed down on one part of the bed as he looked out a window, "I'm not a therapist. I'm a hunter. Taiyang says you got kicked out of beacon because you started an incident, well Qrow was a friend of mine and he told me you were stubborn as hell, strong and braver than anyone he'd ever met."

I gulped down a breath as it became hard to breath, "well it doesn't matter anymore."

"The only way to lose a fight is to stop fighting. Ozpin and I have a complicated relationship, sometimes we've fought beside each other and sometimes we've nearly killed each other but I know him well. I need a student… who can carry my teachings past me when I die. You need to become so good Ozpin has to let you back into his school as a second year with your team. I know you think you threw your dreams away but the girl Qrow told me about doesn't know how to give up. If you want to be part of team RWBY, you need to become my student."

I gulped at that, unsure how to respond to the statement until after a few moments of awkward silence I said, "how would it work?"

"I'd become your master, we'd train every day from dawn to dusk. I'd teach you to fight, to use your aura, teach you about the Grimm, to cook and how to carry yourself as a hunter. I'd lead you around all of Remnant, showing the people and the lands so when you're on your own you can choose where you'd like to be your hunting grounds. With me, you'd have a hard and difficult regime of training but also you'll see all the wonders the world has to offer."

"See the world? That sounds fun. I can take hard training yeah. So, I'd be strong and I'd get to train with my teammates?" Dare I have hope?

"The strongest, the fastest and the most skilled hunter in your school. If you take to the training and have a strong character." He stretched out his hand in front of me and it felt as if a ray of hope had washed over me, "will you, Ruby Rose swear on your life to become my pupil, to train dutifully, listen well and be the best hunter you can?"

I turned to face him, he was a tall man with a scared face and long white hair in a blue shirt and jeans. His eyes were closed shut but had a warm smile that made him seem like a kindly old man, "I swear." If it was gonna be my only chance, I'd take it so I reached my hand out and shook his.

"Good. We leave for Vacuo tomorrow at dawn. Pack, say your goodbyes and the next chapter of your life will begin."

A while later

"Hey Yang, how's the team?" I held my scroll with one hand while munching on cookies with the other, feeling excited, nervous and hopeful.

"RUBY! I'm glad to hear from you, were doing fine! How are you?" I sighed happily, glad to hear her voice.

"I'm actually doing pretty good, feeling miserable a while ago but I got good news! Taiyang found a hunter to teach me, an old friend of Qrow's." The response took a while as Yang seemed to be talking with someone on her end.

"Really? That's awesome!"

"That's not the best part. He says if I'm good enough, Ozpin will have to make it so I join back up with you! I'll have to train really hard but I promise, in a couple of months I'm gonna be so strong you won't even recognize me."

Yang laughed cheerily, "that's great! I hope you come back soon, we all miss you. Even the Ice queen."

I flinched at the mention of Weiss, remembering what happened when I went into the forest. "I miss you all to, sis. I just wanted to hear your voice but I have to sleep, call you later."

"Alright sis, just don't be a stranger." I hang up and smiled, just talking to Yang made me feel a hell of a lot less nervous than I was.

Just nine months until next school year, then I'll be back with them all. I repeated that a dozen times before drifting off to sleep.