Ruby huffed up her chest. Signal started today. And while Ruby had only leveled up some of her skills, she felt somewhat accomplished.

She may not be better than most Hunters, in training or not, but she wasn't a complete mess. It made her a little happy.

Her mood was improving but she was still somewhat sad most of the time. She wished she could express her, albeit small, joy for that. She might be a broken doll of a person forever, but at least she could fix some part of herself.

She felt odd to be feeling positive. It might have been her younger soul's influence, she conceded.

Oh god, she sounded like Ozma now! Ruby unintentionally scrunched up her nose. Eww! She wasn't old! She was a feisty young woman. She had been 26 years old when she was sent back. Physically anyway.

She wasn't at all like Ozma. He was just a weirdo that was interested in silver-eyed little girls. Seriously, he was freaky. Ruby wished she was more cautious last time around. She wouldn't put it past that creep to have watched her since she was born. She never would understand how she had become such really good friends with him. Probably being the only two humans in the world for thousands of years does that.

She smiled sadly. Maybe he was a creepy old man, but he's still family. She had cried for days when he had died. And not just because she was alone. Only family mattered, she reminded herself.

Some people may think she was bitchy and rude for only caring about her family. But say that to the citizens who rioted because 'Huntsmen couldn't protect them well enough.' People were on the verge of war and resources were short and they knew that. Yet they felt entitled to use precious dust for lights! Cooking! Stupidity! Those stupid fucking citizens and their small brains. She blamed them for what happened to Weiss. Those people. Those things, they weren't even people now! Just deadweights. Oum, she couldn't understand them! They. Were. Just. So. Stupid. She would like to go and kill them all if it wouldn't cause world inbreeding. Inbreeding would be a serious problem. She didn't want her descendants to look like pugs.

Ruby scowled at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair had gotten longer all of a sudden it seemed. It was now down to her shoulders and a lot more red. It looked weird! She wanted to cut it, but at the same time, she didn't! It was just so frustrating! Why? Why did she have to be so indecisive? It was yet another thing she got from old Ruby's soul. Old her sucked, she had realized. So she just ended up putting her hair in a ponytail.

Ruby put on her new uniform. Signal's uniform was easily customizable. Ruby had gone with what she had done in her last life, except there were a few things she changed just a bit. For one, she had made the tie a deep forest green. The jacket was black with gold outlines and the skirt was deep crimson. Ruby wore the optional thigh high socks, but unlike most of the socks, hers were striped black and white. She also had the basic shiny black shoes and the white blouse all the other students would have. She liked her uniform.

Ruby went downstairs. Her dad was cooking breakfast and Yang was sitting at the table with her own uniform on. It was like Ruby's but the skirt and tie were yellow and she didn't have socks. It suited her.

"Hey, Rubes." Yang grinned, "Excited for Signal?" Yang ruffled Ruby's hair. Ruby smiled and felt her personality shift to younger ruby in response to her sister, "Yep, super-duper excited!" Young Ruby, or little Rose as she had come to call her, had been more active recently with nothing around to harm her.

Dad turned around and placed the bacon and waffles that he made on the table. "Eat up, Rubes." He smiled, "you'll need a lot of energy for your first day!" little Rose pouted, "I already have enough energy, I don't need more!" Yang nodded, "You said it, sis!"

Ruby quickly finished her breakfast, eager to get to Signal. Yang quickly followed suit. "Well, we're off!" Ruby said excitedly before sprinting out the door. "Wait up, Rubes!" Yang yelled before running after her.

After a bit of running, they got to Signal. "The student orientation thing is over here," Yang told her as she headed to a big door.

They found a big hall, much like the one when she went to Beacon. To be honest Ruby didn't remember much about Signal. With what happened at Beacon and her lack of any good friends here, she didn't seem to have much to remember. All she had done at Signal was train and study. Some had thought she was a prodigy because she was just a natural or something. But it was all hard work. Most people at Signal had viewed her as a child who did nothing to get her skill, but she worked more than they ever did.

She was weaker than they ever were. Yet she became strong. She wasn't going to be weak like them. This time she would work even harder than ever before. She wouldn't let things happen the same way. She had survived but they hadn't. It was all her fault and now she had to fix it. She couldn't feel guilty now. They have to survive. Nothing would stop her from saving them this time.

Ruby blinked. Signal's headmaster was walking to the front of the auditorium. He gave the usual boring school speech and we all went around to meet our new teachers. Ruby went straight to the teaches for her electives. The hand to hand combat teacher, Mrs. Wheat, wasn't very interesting. The acrobatics teacher, Mr. Gem, was even more boring. The subterfuge and stealth teacher though, Jingle, as she called herself was a bit annoying. It was the same with the rest of them. Normal teachers. Nothing special to see here.

Ruby stretched, arching her back like a cat. Over her years with Blake, she had gotten more cat-like. If she met Blake now, she guessed she would be more cat-like than even her. Blake had gotten more feral over the years because of the war, or something else. Ruby didn't know. Of course, that was before the cat became a traitor. She had trusted her. Ruby understood why she did it though. She wanted to protect us, but all she did was get used and killed. That idiot.

Ruby couldn't worry about last time right now. Things wouldn't be like that. No one would have to sacrifice anything for her. She could do this. She could fix this.

Ruby went over to the reception desk to find her dorm room. The room system was like Beacons, but there were separate dorms for each gender, hallelujah for that. While Ruby had an all-girls team, others weren't. They were all teenagers too. You can guess what happened.

Her dorm room was 12B. Ruby rushed to her dorm, wanting to call dibs on her chosen space. She skidded to a stop in front of the door before using her scroll to unlock it. She looked at each of the beds. They were evenly spaced with two on each wall. She chose the furthest one on the left. Ruby pushed her bed into the corner. Taking out the luggage she packed the night before, she started hanging various posters on the walls. She had gotten dad to let her get some stuff for her room. So these posters were, for once, not of weapons or bands.

These were posters of the Grimm. Ones she had drawn herself. She had somehow maxed her drawing skill while working on her weaponsmithing, so she just made some custom posters with Grimm on them that near nobody had ever seen. Of course, she had seen them in that place.

The first was of a shark Grimm called Clypso, that was a myth for most people. The thing was huge and could eat ships whole, it had ripped fins and tons of bone spikes. Thankfully it lives in the deepest sea. The second was of Crocoidlie/dog mix Grimm called a Crokog. It had the long snout and teeth of a crocodile and the ears and fur of the dog, its body was a mixture of both though. The last poster was of the fox Grimm that Ruby had named Kyin. Its figure was long and wiry, its skinny snout in a permanent feral grin. The claws that seemed to be longer than its fingers, and those eyes. Those eyes were icy blue, unlike other Grimm. Ruby shivered at the thought and started to rub her left cheek. A Kyin had fought her once. It was a close fight and it had clawed her cheek before she killed it. That scar she had gotten had always been a reminder that she was not strong enough. She didn't have the scar now but did not need it. She would be strong.

Ruby stared at the three posters in front of her. The Clypso eating the ship. The boney Crokog eating a deer. The Kyin with blue eyes staring down at you as it prepares to kill you. They were cool looking but quite a bit creepy.

Ruby liked them.

Ruby put her clothes in her closet and put her Grimm plush on her bed. She was done decorating! She looked at her corner and nodded. It was fit for living.

She would like it here.

Well, maybe.