Ruby was not having a good day. She had awoken that morning tired, stressed and overwhelmed by the situation she found herself in. After Rook and Qrow had left she had simply stood in the shower for well over an hour, running the conversation over and over again in her head; not believing herself every time she replayed the last few moments. To make matters worse her whole family had been absent when she woke up, leaving nothing but a sticky note on the front desk of the bar saying that there was a large scale gang war happening on the southern side of Vale that they had to put an end to so business wouldn't be interrupted.

It was at this point that she noticed the time and scrambled as quickly as she could to get ready. The clock displayed midday; her ranking tests at Beacon had been scheduled to start at one o'clock and the journey was easily forty-five minutes long not including traffic. Which led her to the next problem; she didn't have a car and couldn't drive even if she did.

With generous use of her semblance she had made it to the first testing hall only three minutes late. At first, she had been proud of herself, for running around thirty miles in forty-ish minutes, only to notice that Glynda Goodwitch was, once again, the assigned instructor and was not pleased in the slightest. The scalding seemed to last almost as long as her run itself, and was definitely more tiring, but ended with Glynda telling her that she had failed the first test by default for being late. She was swiftly guided to the next test room in order to wait for the rest of the initiates to finish the test she had failed. To top it all off, the first test was scheduled to last for three hours and she hadn't brought anything to entertain herself.

She had quickly grown tired of waiting in silence; without anything to focus on, she couldn't help but relive the last few days in her head, wondering what triggered it all and why her life couldn't just be simple. She paused. No, she liked her life, it was rough, it was complicated and at times hard, but she would never wish for anything else, simple was boring and simple wouldn't have let her meet her family. She smiled, resolving herself to do something constructive with this time. She was far from the most creative person in the world and after trying, and failing, to find something stimulating, she resorted to what her uncle liked to call a 'therapy workout'. Unfortunately, she had lost track of time and was only stopped from her routine by a displeased voice clearing their voice.

Ruby looked up to see Glynda glaring pointedly at her, along with several initiates behind her, each doing a mixture of ogling, averting their gazes or outright wolf-whistling as they walked into the room. The instructor walked up to Ruby as she stood, a blush clear on her face from unintentionally giving a show for her potential piers.

"Miss Rose, whilst I applaud your drive to keep yourself fit and healthy, must I remind you that foyer to the combat hall is far from the ideal place for you to do so." Ruby nodded quickly and fell into step behind the professor as the older woman lead the initiates into aforementioned combat hall. Ruby wanted to rebut and explain that she was simply making good use of her time, but Bart had drilled into her the importance of nodding and ignoring Goodwitch, even if it is bit degrading at times. Her uncle had stressed the amount of times that his pay-check had been conveniently misplaced and so had to be re-written and authorised several days later than it was due, each time being coincidentally after he had argued with the deputy headmistress.

The doors swung open to reveal the familiar combat hall, the steel floor of the ring shinning as the overhead lights flooded onto it whilst leaving the seating in almost complete darkness. Ruby could hear as the faint hum of electricity flooded through various machinery both under and around the arena, and she couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine at the sight of around twenty pictures on the screen that had held various info for spectators about the competitors. She glanced around and saw a few older students, watching from the raised seats in the back, as they stared down at the potential newbies, often exchanging bets or jests at the expense of their juniors. The Blonde professor waited for a moment, in order to let the mumbling quiet down, before speaking to the gathered hopefuls.

"As you may already know, Beacon has a strict and ruthless curriculum both in the classroom and in the field. Whilst it is important that you maintain both, to at least an acceptable degree, in order to truly thrive at Beacon, you must be capable of overcoming your flaws and pushing yourself beyond expectations." A few initiates hummed in agreement or understand, but it seemed as if the Professor wasn't finished.

"What you may not know, is that Beacon only accepts eighty new students every year. This means that each and every spot is coveted and valuable, one is certainly not given out lightly. However, this year we have already accepted the admittance of seventy-six students, leaving the remaining spots for you 'special circumstance' initiates to claim." She paused, waiting for the students to the arithmetic in their heads. It seemed to dawn on most after a second and she seemed to take a cruel sort of glee as she smiled at them.

"Indeed, it seems you have figured out my point. There are only four remaining spots for this year's student body, and as I'm sure you are all aware, there are thirty-two of you here today now that Miss Rose has joined us." The quick glare she sent Ruby's way wasn't missed by the teen, but she once again heeded her uncle's advice and chose to ignore it, this seemed to irritate the professor, but she recovered seamlessly and continued. "So, these tests are designed to find the best of the best amongst you and pick them apart from the pack." The Blonde gestured to the board, not bothering to hide her pleasure at the gulps she heard from the potential students.

"Each of you will partake in a double elimination tournament and ranked based on your individual performances compared to your potential piers. This rank will then be combined with your other rank from the previous test and the bets four will proceed to take the available slots, the others will be offered a chance to re-apply next year." Ruby's heart sank at Goodwitch's words, each and every word concreting her situation further and further into her consciousness. 'I automatically failed the first test, that means I will have the lowest score! Even if I get the highest here, assuming both are weighted equally, I can have at most fifty percent of the possible grade!'

She wasn't given much time to ponder as she was ripped out of her thoughts by the sound of the several images on the screen popping up and mixing around on the tournament table to decide match-ups. After a moment a loud, high-pitched beep split the tense air and displayed the match ladder. The teen's eyes darted around to find her picture, frantically trying to contain her panic at the concept of her situation. She quickly found herself and sighed in relief as she realised, she was the fourth match of the first round, meaning she had plenty of time to sit and think about her options. There were several varied reactions from her potential classmates, ranging from barely contained excitement to abject horror.

Ruby quietly sat down in the front row of seating, furiously running through her potential solutions to the problem. She was vaguely aware of the buzzer in the background signifying the start of the first match, but payed no attention to it, instead focused on her inner turmoil. How can I possibly overcome a fifty percent deficit? I mean, whoever places sixteenth in both tests will have the same overall score as me! Sixteenth! She ran over more possibilities but was always left disappointed by her answer. The buzzer sounded again, signifying the beginning of the second spar. The Rose around her arm was practically vibrating with happiness as her piers flung their anxiety and fear around. That's when it struck her.

'Glynda said we would be given a grade compared to our piers… meaning that if one is clearly superior to the rest it lowers others' grade as well as raising their own. Her intention became clear and her shadow seemed to quiver in excitement. I have to win, and I have to do so thoroughly. There's no way I can come first like this overall, but I may be able to get fourth. Her gaze snapped up at the sound of something shattering; the third match in progress before of her. She was surprised by what she saw.

There, on the stage, was the dual-coloured girl from before, Neapolitan. The petite girl was a sight to behold; seamlessly weaving in and out of her opponents swings and strikes. As she narrowly evaded an overhead swing, her opponent grinned and spun wildly, changing the direction of his strike to hit the girl. Ruby sucked in her breath preparing to wince at the blow as it neared the tiny girl, only to have her shatter into a million different pieces like a stained-glass window. The larger foe flinched and recoiled at the display, not noticing his opponent appear seemingly from nowhere and slip into his guard. Ruby watched amazed as Neapolitan began to use her opponent as a climbing frame, flipping and turning around their limbs and torso before ending with her legs wrapped around their neck, slowly starving the larger boy of air. A few moments passed before he resigned himself to his fate and tapped out.

The multi-coloured girl quickly stood and brushed herself off before catching Ruby staring at her. Luckily, Ruby caught herself, but she never managed to hide her slightly agape mouth. The smaller fighter simply smiled and waved before jumping off the stage on the opposite side from Ruby. After a moment Ruby's thoughts caught up with her, causing her to have a slight mental crash.

If any of the others are as good as her, I might have a problem. I think I can win, but not with the ease I need to. The rose seemed to nuzzle against her arm, as if prompting her, giving its answer. Should I? Junior said I could. It's not like I have to hide it anymore, but if I do so then other people will know what I am, who I am. The king said it might be best if I stay hidden for a while, but that doesn't help me now. Her glare shot to the professor who was scrawling something on her clipboard, most likely her report of the previous fight, she was already growing to dislike the instructor. Forced to fail the test for being three minutes late, THREE MINUTES! The blonde caught Ruby's gaze.

"Miss Rose, if you are quite done gawking, you may want to take your position in the ring. Unless, you want to forfeit another examination?" There was a slight mocking hint in the voice and Ruby fought to not grit her teeth and growl at the woman who was seemingly enjoying her plight. She had thought her uncle to be overreacting, as he often did, when describing how the woman was a tyrant, now, she considered his vocabulary to have been far too polite. The teen slowly trudged up to the ring, eyeing up her opponent who ascended the steps in the opposite corner.

She would admit, the girl opposite her was intriguing. She was, as Jax would say, a tall glass of water. The girl wore a black, buttoned vest with a single silver button on the front holding it closed. Underneath, clearly displayed, was a white sleeveless high-necked, crop undershirt. To finish off her outfit, she wore long black, form-fitting leggings that ended by connecting into the top of black low-heeled boots. The girl sported mesmerising golden eyes and long, velvet-like, dark hair which was tied up neatly with a slightly oversized black bow. She held herself well, moving almost silently and never once showing any hesitation in her step. She drew a long katana from a sheath at her side before also gripping the sheath itself. Closer inspection revealed the sheath was also sharpened so it could be used as a weapon even on its own. The dark coloured girl shifted her stance, preparing herself for the match.

Ruby once again had to snap herself out of staring in order to remind herself why she was there, the taller girl seemed to notice and allowed a small smirk to form on her features. Ruby tried her best to ignore the heat dusting her cheeks and lowered her own stance. She left her dagger and handgun holstered in her jacket; better to reveal them later, when her opponent assumed her unarmed. With both fighters seemingly ready, Glynda began the countdown for the match. The screen, with each of their respective pictures displayed, declaring each second as timer reached its end.

"10,9,8…"

I'll have to see how well I do without it. Then, I guess, I'll see how much I need it.

"7,6,5…"

I've got this right? I mean, I've been trained to not rely on my mark, hell, I barely know how to use it.

"4,3,2…"

But this is my place at Beacon on the line here. If I used it, they would have to accept me. They wouldn't dare turn down a Branwen right?

"1…"

No, I won't rely on that. I got this far on my skill alone, If I use it then I'm throwing away everything my family taught me for something I didn't earn. If I have to I will, but only as a last resort.

"Begin!"

For a moment neither combatant moved, simply sizing up their opponents and judging what sort of ranges and tactics they would have to use. Neither of them broke the silent staring contest as they inspected each other and slowly rotated around the ring in a clockwise direction, looking for the slightest fault in the other's stance.

The golden eyed girl seemed to find it first and closed the gap quickly, attacking in short precise arcs and stabs to keep her opponent on the back foot. Ruby slid between each strike, deflecting the odd swing that she couldn't avoid. For several moments the fight continued with Ruby weathering the deadly flurry, waiting for her opponent to make a mistake or overextend. Eventually, her moment came, and the taller girl delivered an overhead swing that held slightly more weight than it should. Ruby pivoted on the balls of her feet, causing the swing to just barely miss, and the younger girl jumped into the other's guard.

The fight seemingly switched in dynamic with the sword wielder being forced to move between quick, ruthless jab combos. Ruby never let her get her guard up, instead forcing her opponent to take steps back in order to gain space. Her opponent had a range advantage on her for the moment, meaning she had to keep the fight close so she could make it hard for the other girl to use her weapon. After another second of her relentless push, Ruby was rewarded by her opponent stumbling slightly in order to keep their footing under pressure. The younger girl immediately seized the opportunity and set her feet to land a powerful right cross to her opponent's ribs.

Ruby was surprised to find herself stumbling forward, wisps of black smoke curling around her fist. Her confusion was halted as she heard a faint whistling if a blade behind her. She rode her momentum into a forward roll, regaining her footing facing the new direction her opponent was now pressuring her from.

This time her opponent was making sure to keep her at range, never once over-committing to a strike, seemingly happy to wear her down through attrition. Ruby inwardly cursed, she couldn't blame the other girl for doing this, in fact it was the right move on her opponents' part, but the fight had just gotten a lot harder.

Of course, she had to be a teleporter. Why wouldn't she be? Now how am I supposed to close the gap? Even if I draw my dagger, I'm still out ranged. I could use my semblance, but I will have to fight Neo later and I've already used it a lot today.

Ruby's family, at first, had thought her a teleporter, after all to them she disappeared and reappeared somewhere else in the blink of an eye when she used her semblance. She herself would describe it as teleporting in passing, to make it easier to understand. However, as she grew older, she realised it wasn't quite the truth. Whereas teleporters often had to imagine where they wanted to be and would appear there, Ruby was slightly different. What she did was certainly akin to teleporting and as such fell under the same description, but it was certainly different in at least some manners. The main difference being that she actually physically moved to her new location rather than simply appearing there. This is to say that, to her, when she 'teleported' to the other side of the room, she actually ran the whole distance. She tried describing it her family as moving whilst everything else couldn't, but she wasn't allowed to touch another person or to touch anything she wasn't already touching before moving, in order to interact with the world again she had to stop using it. However, the longer she used it, the less effective it became. It was like it had a limit on how long she could use it and the more she used it in a short time, the shorter the time she could use it at once became.

The taller girl broke her train of thought by managing to catch her shoulder with a small cut. Ruby's eyes widened in shock and her opponent continued to push the advantage. It was clear to Ruby that this girl would make it to the top four; whilst she hadn't been able to watch the other matches too closely, she knew from experience that this type of skill came from necessity rather than training. This girl was like Jax and Nora, she had learned to fight to protect herself or someone else, not because she wanted to. Once more her guard was opened and her opponent planted a boot in her gut, sending her tumbling a few feet before she rolled back into her stance.

Ruby let out a breath and settled herself on her feet. Well, it seems any plans I had involving holding back early on have gone down the drain. Might as well make a show out of it. The other combatant leaned forward slightly, giving away her intent, Ruby smirked.

The black-themed girl seemed to disappear into smoke, the only hint she still existed being the low hum of her sword cutting through the air. Time seemed to slow as Ruby turned around seeing her opponent static in the air with sword and sheath swinging at her previously exposed midsection. Ruby was impressed, even as she beheld the girl now, she was hardly letting any emotion show on her face, only a faint tinge of excitement gleaming in the back of her golden irises. Not wanting to waste much more of her semblance Ruby ran behind her opponent and prepared to drop her semblance, hesitating for only a second. She glanced up at the screen displaying their vitals, quickly finding what she was looking for, there under the picture of her opponent was her name. Blake B. A small smile ran across her features as her semblance came to an end.

Blake Belladonna was a little underwhelmed by her experience so far; the written tests had been a breeze and the combatants she had come across so far hadn't been much different. The multicoloured girl was certainly a standout, Neapolitan was it? However, no one else was even remotely interesting so far. She remembered how her mother and father had romanticised their time at Beacon, speaking of the warriors and sights that they beheld like fables of great people. It seemed people had gotten softer as time went by, it was hardly surprising, but certainly disappointing.

She had been pleasantly surprised when she had been paired with the young red eyed girl; she had seen her training, along with everyone else, when exiting the written exam hall and had been impressed. The girl, despite her smaller frame, was clearly well toned and fit, perhaps even more than herself and aside from the multicoloured girl she was possibly the only interesting person here.

The fight so far had been possibly the most fun she had had in months and she hoped it continued in such a matter. The smaller girl had been able to keep up with her pacing and had even, at one point, forced her to keep up as she laid into her defence. The fight could have ended there if it weren't for her semblance allowing her to put more space between them. She could tell the girl was trying to conceal something, but she couldn't tell what it was and opted to just force it out of her. She had managed to bat both of the girl's arms wide of her core and deliver a powerful kick to the other's torso, landing the second strike of the match.

However, it was then that things changed. The girl stood up with a grin on her face and fire in her eyes, almost unfazed by the fight so far, she had seemed almost happy that the fight had gone like this. Blake could understand the thrill of a fight, but this was different, the girl was smiling at her, as if peeling back her skin to reveal who she was, and Blake knew she had underestimated the girl. She couldn't afford to give the girl space, to allow her back on the front foot, she had to end it here. She had leaned into her stance before disappearing into smoke and reappearing behind her opponent. The girl didn't move, it was over…

Blake felt an arm grab her by the waist as she hung in mid-air, the space where her opponent was now only filled with a few, slowly cascading rose petals. She was quickly thrown to the floor and had her arms pinned by her opponent's knees. Blake moved to struggle only to be stilled as the cold steel of a knife pressed to her neck. She looked up to see the grinning face of the younger girl just inches from her own. She cursed inwardly.

Most teleporters had some sort of limitation on their semblance. Some could only go somewhere they could see, some could only go into darkened areas and some had the embarrassment of being unable to take their clothes with them. Blake however, had the limitation of being unable to teleport whilst being in physical contact with someone else. The limitation was definitely one of the easiest to work with but was annoying in moments like this, where she found herself pinned to the floor by an opponent.

It was her turn to smile as she tapped the floor three times indicating her surrender. The sound off the computer announcing the winner blared out and hid the silence of the surrounding student body. Blake thought their suddenly quiet nature odd but thought nothing of it. The smaller girl got off of her and offered a hand to help her up.

"Good fight, was not expecting that from the first match." The smaller girl was smiling at her, slightly reserved but happy and she couldn't help but returned the gesture. "I mean, there are like three teleporters out of ever ten thousand people and I get paired against one in the first round." Blake chuckled slightly offering her hand for the other to shake.

"You're one to talk; you're a teleporter too right?" the smaller girl took her hand but slowly shook her head. Blake looked on confused, the red eyed girl caught on.

"It's complicated, it's not quite teleporting, but it's similar, maybe I'll tell you if we are on a team at Beacon." A hopeful smile wrote itself across her features and Blake felt a pang of guilt well up inside herself, connections to people were not her thing, nor her intention. They would only get in the way.

"Perhaps" she tried to make it sound genuine, but it was clear from the girl's eyes that she wasn't fooled. She nodded anyway.

"Well, guess I'll maybe see you later Blake." The smaller girl began walking off stage leaving the older girl a little baffled. Blake looked up at the screen to find her opponent's rapidly disappearing name. Ruby R. What an odd girl.

She mentally scolded herself for getting distracted and loosing. Idiot! You're going to lose if you do that again!

Ruby had been left perplexed. After her bout with Blake, she had continued to watch the other matches, learning that it was best to know as much about potential opponents as possible. Overall, she was unimpressed, most made no effort to hide their abilities and as such often struggled to keep a solid winning streak after relying on the same tricks multiple times. Many of the fights had become stamina wars, where it simply came down to who could trade more hits with their opponent. Not many that lost their first match would recover in time to comeback in their next, which quickly led to the ladder being climbed, with Ruby barely acknowledging her next few opponents, all the way to the winner's quarter finals.

All of this she had expected to at least some degree; many of the individuals here were talented, but few had been put through enough experience to warrant continuous fights. She herself wasn't the most experienced, but her family was mainly consisted of fitness models that often appeared primarily in fantasies; Jax and Nora were sculpted like gods, her sisters had been honed into lethal machines by the aforementioned pair, and even Junior was more accurately described as a six foot ten mountain of flesh and muscle than a man. No, what left her baffled was how certain applicants were fighting.

First of all, Neo's skill seemed to fluctuate greatly. The first match she had been in had left most of the stadium impressed and awed, but her next few had been clumsy hairline victories. Ruby was no fool; she saw how every fight where Neo would barely win, she approached seemingly downtrodden or angry, and yet, every one where she wiped the floor with her opponent, she smiled and radiated with thrill and excitement. This would be expected, most people didn't like the prospect of loosing and often showed it when fighting, but this was different. Even after she had earned the victory, there was no celebration, like it had been hollow, worthless undeserved. The girl was holding back. Ruby was curious but her mind flicked to one of the other confusing individuals.

Blake was killing it; ever since her fight with Ruby, she hadn't been hit even once, it had come close a few times, but never actually happened. Ruby knew Blake was skilled, more so than perhaps than everyone else in the room, besides a few, but this wasn't what surprised her. It was how Blake was fighting that intrigued her. Whereas other participants would aim to damage the body and reduce their opponent's aura, gaining strikes and hits wherever they could, she instead almost killed each and every one of them. Every match had ended with her blade at her opponent's unprotected vitals with no aura to speak of. It was like a switch had been flipped, whereas the Blake Ruby had fought had seemed enthralled by the fight and the adrenaline, this Blake seemed furious and driven. Like an agitated bull she could not and would not be stopped.

Finally, she found herself staring at the blonde combat instructor. The professor had been paying an almost unhealthy amount of attention to the first round of matches, watching with a trained, critical eye and scrawling notes furiously after each bout. Yet, since the second round began, she had looked rather bored, no longer paying much attention, if any, her clipboard and notes long forgotten. As much as she was loath to admit it, she couldn't blame the professor; the fights since the first round had seemed repetitive and uninspiring. Blake's were slaughters, Neo's were much the same with her, for some reason, almost purposely throwing some and the others were glorified slugfests, unpredictable sure, but not entertaining or outstanding.

Despite sympathising however, Ruby didn't understand why the blonde was so relaxed about neglecting her apparent job. If the test would be decided on an individual performance, then it seemed as though the instructor should at least watch the matches, even if she learned nothing from them. However, Glynda could be seen paying attention to seemingly anything else. Some matches, her vigour seemed to return, yet most seemingly went unobserved.

Ruby's matches were much the same as Blake's; though she did not have the same ferocity as her dark acquaintance, she left her opponents flat on their backs with nary a strike hitting her. It was welcome change from the unexpected challenge of Blake and she made sure to showboat a little in order to display just how skilled she was, however, it had been Jax that had told her that greater skill was often best showed by cleanest wins, so she kept her displays minimal but apparent. At one point Neo and Blake had faced off, with Neo seemingly trying for the first few minutes and breaking even with her opponent. However, she eventually seemed to stop trying, her foot work getting clumsier and less rhythmic, before she eventually feigned a stumble, causing Blake to move in and win the match. The dark girl was clearly not satisfied with the result and quickly left the ring, not even acknowledging her opponent.

As the rounds passed Ruby found herself in the final four participants. She had been positively thrumming for a match, the initiates having been granted a fifteen-minute break just before the beginning of the previous round and her match that round had served as little more than a warmup. However, rather than start the first match of the penultimate round, the instructor simply walked into the ring and addressed the initiates. Before she spoke, Ruby heard a shuffling noise behind her and spared a glance to the viewing stalls, only to see as the older students were filing out, seemingly satisfied with the results they had seen. The girl narrowed her eyes; surely, they would want to stay for the final few fights, amongst the best new imitates. Her attention was rapidly grabbed as the blonde professor cleared her throat on stage.

"Congratulations to those who made it this far, you have grabbed the highest spots available with this test. Your individual performances will still be compared with each other, but you have earned extra points for beating your respective branches in the event. This concludes the final test for entrance, your results will be accumulated and graded by tomorrow morning and will be sent to each of you respectively, with the four of you who make it in being notified alongside your results." The room was cast into stale silence as the message sank in, eyes widening and confusion proliferating. The professor was not bothering to hide her smirk as she finished. "Any questions?" A hand in the front row shot up and Glynda nodded at the boy to speak.

"How come the last four aren't going to fight?" The question was met with a few acknowledging grunts and affirmations before the Professor responded.

"Fair question, this is because everyone, bar one of you, has lost at least one match meaning that there is little point in continuing. The winner of the tournament is Miss Rose." The room somehow descended into a deeper silence as various initiates turned to stare at Ruby who simply blanched wide-eyed at the professor who refused to look back. After a moment protests and noise began again, one voice taking over the rest.

"But professor, I believe you said the tournament was a double elimination, meaning we had to lose twice to be knocked out, there are still four people with one or less lose to their name." Glynda barely acknowledged the boy, looking down at her nails but adopting a harsh tone as she spoke.

"I did indeed, but one must learn that on the battlefield, it is rare for someone to be gifted a second chance. Take Miss Belladonna for instance, she came second in the overall tournament ranking, but was defeated in the first round by Miss Rose herself. Whilst, it was a great display of skill from her in both that match and her later matches, this means little. If it had been a battle, she would have perished at the beginning along with another fifteen of you. The double elimination rule was implemented for me to easier observe those that lost in the early rounds and rank you accordingly, but in order to earn top marks in this test, one could not be defeated even once." The blonde finally looked up from her fingers, meeting Ruby's gaze with a sneer as she did so. "If that is all, then I feel it is time I bid you all farewell. The campus will remain open to you for the next hour whilst you wait for your various methods of transportation to arrive. Good day." With her final words spoken, the professor strutted up to a different door than the one they all knew to depart through.

Luckily, the other initiates filed out shortly after, leaving Ruby with her thoughts. On one hand, she was ecstatic; she had come first and hadn't even had to fight Neo or Blake for her last fight. She clearly had earned the most points in this test and she hoped to the gods that was enough to get her through to Beacon. On another hand, she was a little scared that she had made the wrong choice; perhaps she should have used her Grimm in order to win harder and by larger margins. She was happy with her results, but that did not mean they were good enough and a part of her was reeling from her decision to hold back. Finally, she was curious. Her sisters often joked that she had adopted many of Bart's traits, ranging from coffee addiction to fast speech patterns, but most importantly her curiosity.

Some of the other initiates were interesting, Blake and Neo coming to mind, with both definitely hiding something. The way that this test had been held was interesting too, there had been zero tolerance outside of orders and seemingly different win conditions that were indirectly revealed to them. The way that the older students had reacted was strange, leaving as if they knew the results already, not bothering to see their various bets out to conclusion, simply going with what they thought or knew would happen. It was like there was something unseen happening in the fights and that was the actual test rather than the tournament itself. Perhaps… unfortunately Bart had refused to tell her anymore, saying that Glynda would castrate him if she found out, and after meeting the demon woman for a second time, Ruby found herself forgiving his tight lips.

However, as she exited the hall and watched the others leave, she realised, most annoyingly, what the biggest mystery had been. How was she going to get home? She could run again, but after fighting and already running the trip once, she was too tired and was sure she would collapse if she did it again. She had tried ringing her aunts, uncles and Nora but none seemed to respond, seemingly still dealing with the gang business. Ruby huffed a tired sigh, a slow, occasionally semblance assisted, jog it was then.

I feel like I've forgotten something about today… Well it can't be that important.

An: Hope you enjoyed and as always constructive criticism and reviews are appreciated. I apologies for the delay on this chapter, life can be a bit crazy and I have had multiple family scares in the last couple weeks, on top of University stuff to do. This and the next chapter was originally supposed to be the same chapter, but the tone changes between them and I feel like its a good point to end a chapter because of it. I will endeavour to be quicker with the next update and get back to my previous schedule. Next chapter will likely be the last chapter of the pre-Beacon stage. Thank you for reading.

-Tabaxi