The door to the dust shop creaked open slowly, and the owner looked up. It was fairly late for customers, after all. Well, most customers, anyway. There were a select few who preferred to enter under the cover of darkness and snow, and this mid-December evening had plenty of both.

Standing at the door, half in and half out, head covered by a misshapen hood, was a girl. She was small, perhaps thirteen or fourteen, and he could hear the faint sounds of heavy bass and low drumming coming from her; perhaps she had headphones on? He smiled encouragingly, guessing where her shyness stemmed from. "Come in," he said, realizing only belatedly that she probably couldn't hear through the hard rock that was boring into her ears.

Still, she responded, stepping forward. She slid off her hood, revealing expensive headphones and gorgeous, soft ears that looked as though they belonged on some sort of deer. Then the headphones came off as well, the music getting louder so that intense vocals could be heard by the owner as well. "I... I heard you serve fauna," the girl said.

"I do," the owner replied. "What is it you're looking for? Dust? Crystals?"

The small girl shuffled her feet. "I actually was wondering if you had the latest issues of Weapons?"

The owner smiled. Something about this little dear... well, little deer faunus sat well with him. She didn't seem aggressive; still, she liked weapons. She would stand up for herself, probably others too, and not the way that the White Fang did, no. She had virtue. Morals. Or else she was a really good actor. He prided himself on being a good judge of character, but it didn't always work...

"In the back," he told her, pointing.

Her face lit up. "Thanks!"

Weapons was the best magazine in the world, according to fifteen year old deer faunus Ruby Rose.

Maybe it was just because it was currently the closest she could get to the world of professional huntsmen and huntresses. Maybe not even just currently, maybe ever.

No, no. She shook the thought from her head and slipped her headphones back on as she walked to the magazine display. So maybe fauna didn't get into a lot of major schools, and she'd had to work like a dog... or maybe harder... just to get into Signal Academy. Maybe Beacon, her dream school, was notorious for only taking the best of the best in fauna when they'd just take, y'know, the normal best of normal people. Ruby was the best of the best though. She hoped.

She'd find out in two years, when she was old enough to apply.

As she approached the magazine rack, she pulled her hood back up. The owner of this store was known for being fine with fauna shopping and browsing, unlike many shopkeepers in Vale. That didn't mean that anyone else who entered the shop would be cool with her ears, though. Normally, she could deal with anyone who caused her trouble, but it was almost Christmas... she was in too good of a mood to fight.

The song switched, and she grabbed the latest issue of her favorite magazine, flipping idly through it and trying to decide if it was worth a buy. The lighting was a little off, but it didn't matter; her eyes were good, better than the eyes of humans, even.

It had been only a few minutes when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Her head turned to face a man, probably human... she could not place any animal features right off the bat. Ruby's hands went to her headphones as he removed his hand and motioned for her to take them off. As the music faded, the man's voice replaced them. "I said, put your hands where I can see them!"

"...are you robbing me?" she asked. It seemed the most likely explanation. If he was going to beat her up for being a faunus, he would have just done it, not started making requests of her.

He sighed angrily. "Yes!"

"Ohhhh..." she hummed. Her hand went to her belt, and she grabbed the weapon she carried with her, unleashing its full power and knocking the man back.

And that was how it began. With a simple fight (that she technically started) in a (now destroyed) faunus friendly store. That was how she managed in incapacitate several robber goons and almost capture a wanted criminal.

That was how she got into Beacon Academy, when only hours ago she had doubted being able to. As it turned out, Professor Ozpin had an opening even halfway through the school year, and he was impressed. Ruby wasn't sure if it was his generosity, his kindness, or simply his greying hair that reminded her of Santa, that drove in the point that Beacon Academy was the very best Christmas present she was ever going to get.

Of course, there were things nobody told prospective students about Beacon Academy.

Like the bullying.

"Hey, little girl, be a deer and don't struggle," sneered Cardin Winchester as he held the small faunus against the wall. "You know, you're not as pretty as that Velcro girl that you replaced, but I bet you're a hell of a lot nicer. She dropped out cause she didn't like me, you know? Got a little afraid of her betters and ran away. I bet you're more human though." He tweaked one of her ears, and Ruby bit her lip to keep from crying. "Not enough, of course. But your ears are smaller. That means something, right?"

He backed up, and Ruby fell to the ground. Her weapon, her beautiful Crescent Rose, was not in her hands as it had been days before; the huntsmen in training that made up Team CRDL had taken it from her as soon as their leader decided to mess with the new girl, and they were now throwing it around.

"We're hardly a different species," Ruby shot. "Just because I look sorta different..."

"You're an animal," he replied, kicking her. She didn't cry; she wouldn't cry. "Don't forget it, deer."

He grabbed Crescent Rose and threw it at her, motioning his team away. An anger rose up in Ruby. She had never been a violent person. The White Fang took care of that sort of thing, of making people respect the fauna through fear. She'd preferred to catch her flies with honey, not vinegar, and focus her upset on killing the Grimm. Then again... she'd never experienced the pure hatred she felt from Cardin before. She knew people didn't like the fauna. She never realized that they downright hated her kind before.

"Hey, you alright?" said a low, soft voice. Ruby looked up to see her new teammate, Blake Belladonna, standing over her, hand extended. "That stuff looked like it hurt."

"Not too bad. It could have been worse," the small redhead shrugged, though she didn't want to think of how.

Blake sighed and raked a hand through her hair, careful not to snag her ribbon. "I'll talk to Cardin tomorrow. I don't know if it'll do anything, but he needs to stop it. He already practically forced Velvet to drop out. I don't want to lose another teammate." The lovely girl offered up a small smile, that Ruby returned full on. "Now, come on. Let's get up to our room and fix you up, okay kid?"

"Yeah! Do you think I'll have any bruises or scratches?"

"I don't know."

"I kinda hope I do. I want to look absolutely terrifying for my audition into the Vale Christmas Games! They're tomorrow and I thought I couldn't enter before 'cause I wasn't a Beacon student, but now I am! So... I'm gonna! I'm good at fighting, even if you likely couldn't tell back there..."

Blake frowned. "...wouldn't let us enter into the Christmas Games," she muttered.

"What?"

"I said, they wouldn't let a faunus enter into the Christmas Games. It's stupid, but they'll do anything to keep them out."

"Oh. Well... are you gonna enter?"

"Nah. Not my thing."

"Oh."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they entered, Blake sat Ruby down on the older girl's bed. "Hang on for a moment," she said. "I'm gonna go get some antibacterial gel. Yell for me if Weiss comes in; I don't know where Yang is."

Ruby nodded. It had only been three days since she started at Beacon, but she already knew that she could trust Blake, that Yang was like a big sister to her, and that Weiss did not trust fauna at all. The pale woman was not as bad as Cardin, but she was still quite cold and quite mean. A large part of Ruby wanted to befriend her... there was something amazingly attractive about the girl, after all... but safety won out, and so she stayed away.

Blake came back with the gel before the rest of the team entered. She looked around, as if to ensure they were alone, and then began to treat Ruby's small wounds. "Listen, Ruby..."

"Yeah, Blake?"

"I'm not your boss, but I think you should consider taking part in the protest tomorrow."

"The protest?"

Blake nodded. "It's a faunus thing."

"I don't do White Fang."

"It's not White Fang; it's independent of them. Apparently, the fauna are going to picket the auditions for the Christmas Games, try to get to audition. It means a lot to you, right? So... you should go."

"I dunno... hey Blake? Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Why do you care?"

Blake's hand went to her bow. "No reason, really. I just... think that sometimes people need to take back what was stolen. Dignity. Rights. Humans are ruthless, Ruby. I get that you don't want to recognize it, but it's the truth."

"Does that include you?" Ruby asked softly.

Blake laughed, harshly and loudly.

Eventually, her chuckles faded. "Would you believe me if I told you I was a little different?"

The dark haired woman reached into her pocket and handed Ruby a pamphlet. Ruby stared at it with sparkling silver eyes. Vale Faunus Rights Association – Rally for Admission into the Vale Christmas Games – December 24.

"I hope you make a good choice," Blake said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the library."

By the time Ruby woke, she had made her choice. She slipped on her combat skirt, her boots, her hood... the whole nine yards of combat outfits. As she slipped Crescent Rose in its resting form onto her belt and under her cape, she wondered if it was a good idea. On one hand, the rallies she had seen on Vale News Network seemed to get violent. On the other, if things did break out, did she want to be noted as a faunus with a weapon?

It was better to be hated than dead. If she died, Yang would kill her.

Careful not to wake Weiss or the others, she slid out of the room, running through the halls of Beacon. It seemed as if no one was up yet, which was good. She could avoid Cardin.

She emerged from the school and into the city within ten minutes. Even from the borderline, she could almost hear the chanting, the cries of outrage, coming from downtown. Shyly, she ran towards them, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"This will be the day we waited for," she thought she heard as the voices grew more distinct. "Today is the day you will have to let us join in the games."

Someone scoffed. "Why would we? You have unfair advantages. Besides, this is a human tradition of Vale. We can't change it. It's in the rules."

Ruby crept closer until she was hovering on the edge of the crowd.

"Rules are made to be broken!" someone yelled.

The man who had scoffed earlier laughed this time and scanned the group. His eyes set on Ruby. "These aren't reindeer games, animals. These are the bigshots, and you aren't allowed. Go back to your pens."

The cries of outrage intensified, and Ruby bit her lip. This was the non-violent rally. Why did it seem so violent then, in words if not actions?

Two hours later, and the cries had died down slightly, as many of the faunus seemed to grow hoarse. The humans began to trickle in to audition, avoiding the crowd. Most of them were from Beacon; Ruby recognized the minor celebrity Pyrrha Nikos, the awful Cardin, her own partner Weiss. Ruby sighed. She wished she could join them. She wished she wasn't who she was.

Once, she had heard a theory that any universe you could think of actually existed. So somewhere, there was a universe where she was not a faunus. She hoped that Ruby was having a better time.

The trumpets started from the inside of the Games' dome, and she imagined that the first auditioner was about to go up.

Then drums were added to the mix.

Ruby didn't remember the use of drums in the Games.

"For the Faunus!" someone yelled, and Ruby turned to look behind her, to search for the voice.

Running through the streets of Vale, weapons drawn, was the White Fang. Ruby's hand went to her weapon. Then, it slipped off of it. What would she do? Fight the White Fang? Fight with the White Fang?

The crowd cleared, letting the group through – whether in respect or in fear, Ruby was unsure. The White Fang members smirked. "Good crowd," one said.

"Yeah," said a member with prominent fangs. "Better than that last one, anyway. They know what's good for them."

"Mmm," the first speaker agreed. He raised his voice, addressing the crowd. "So, they're keeping us out?"

A roar rippled through the group of fauna.

"Easy enough to do. You know what they can't keep out? A Minotaurus!"

The White Fang formation adjusted, revealing a Grimm at least three times the size of Ruby, chained up like the fauna used to be, in the pictures in the history books. "This is Bob. We're gonna unleash him on the humans in there. Sure, they're all warriors, but we... ah, we made a few modifications. Like us, it has one weak spot... like us, the heart is not one of them."

"But what about the ones who aren't keeping us out? Who want us there with them?" Ruby blurted out.

The speaker paused. Ruby gulped. She hadn't realized he could hear, but as her eyes slipped to his bat-like ears, she realized that there must be very, very little that he did not hear.

The bat faunus stepped closer to her. "When you're older, you'll learn that sacrifices must be made... and that no human is ever innocent. With luck, you'll learn it before I learn to dislike you."

He turned back to the snake girl. "Unleash it!" he ordered.

The Minotaurus reared back as his chains came undone. He blew air from his nose and charged at the dome, knocking down the door in one go. Someone screamed; Ruby couldn't tell if it was human or faunus.

Then the bullets started. From all directions, people fired at the Grimm. The thing snorted, almost seeming to laugh. Bullets continued to hit it. It just kept going.

"It's bulletproof!" yelled someone familiar. "Adjust your strategies!"

"Let's see how it does against pure Schnee dust!"

"Nothing those filthy animals send can be that dangerous!"

Another scream. Then, a split second later... "It killed a faunus!"

Ruby gripped Crescent Rose. "It's not going to distinguish between us!" she yelled. "We're not the animals! It's the animal. We can think. Everyone who can't or won't fight against it needs to leave, now. Anyone who will take up arms... well... let's go get this thing!"

The crowd around her seemed to universally run away. As it dissolved, people scurrying to safety, Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder for the second time in a week. She turned around.

Professor Ozpin. Was he there for the rally? No. More likely, he was there for the Games. At this point it didn't seem to matter.

"Sir?" Ruby asked

"Good luck," he said simply, smiling and tilting his head towards the dome.

Ruby nodded and ran towards the dome, ears and hair blowing in the wind.

The dome was more abandoned than Ruby might have thought. Perhaps the humans, like most of the fauna, had bailed when the going got tough... all except the warriors. She recognized almost everyone fighting from school. Some teachers. Some students. Even a janitor.

Weiss Schnee took aim with her rapier and shot a spray of dust out, hitting right at the Minotaurus's forehead. The beast looked unfazed. "Dust isn't working," Pyrrha noted as she shot a spear at it. "Weiss, try a more up-front approach. Distract it."

"Nonsense! The dust will work if I just put a little more into it!"

"No it won't," Ruby said. "This Grimm is genetically modified. At least... I think it is. They said it only has one weakness."

Weiss gracefully leaped out of the way of the monster and towards the young faunus. "Why should we trust you? No doubt you're working with those mongrels! You're likely sent in just to get us to do the wrong thing!"

She spun the barrel of Myrtenaster. "I, for one, am no idiot. I'll fight like a real human... smart, informed, and not taking false information from some ruthless animal!"

"Fine then!" Ruby shot. "But I'm not lying! I don't like the White Fang any more than you do!"

Pyrrha pulled her spear from the Minotaurus's hide. "So if it only has one weakness, what is it?"

We... ah, we made a few modifications. Like us, it has one weak spot... like us, the heart is not one of them.

"Stop trying to go for the heart," Ruby ordered. "I know it has protection there. What do you know about other vital organs?"

"They're not killable!" Yang yelled from across the room.

"Great."

What else could be a weak spot?

"Has anyone tried the back of the neck?"

There was a pause... still, it was not silent, the sound of metal hitting unbreakable flesh echoing throughout the room. "No," admitted a quiet, dark-haired boy near Pyrrha.

"How would we?" Weiss demanded. "It's so big!"

I know how.

Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose to its full potential, to its scythe form. She was small, but her scythe was big... not big enough. "Weiss!" she called. "Give me a boost!"

"A what?"

"Can you create a glyph for me to stand on?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm trying to save everyone and this is our best shot!"

"Ugh! Fine!"

A glyph appeared without fanfare, and Ruby boosted herself up onto it with the help of her scythe. She took a deep breath and aimed.

Then, she jumped, nearly throwing Crescent Rose into the air, holding on with only the loosest of fingers. But it was enough. She and her weapon slashed into the beast's neck. It roared, staggering backwards and collapsing, then dissolving into petals of blood that showered upon the hunters.

"You defeated it," said a voice from the door.

The hunters turned to see the Chairman of the Christmas Games. "Yeah," Ruby said.

He stared at her. "A faunus. You mean to say you had something to do with this?"

"She did," Pyrrha said. "I doubt we could have defeated it without her."

"I know we couldn't have!" Yang added.

"Well, we could probably have done it," Weiss disagreed. "We have, after all, had more training. It would just have taken a bit longer. No big deal."

The Chairman frowned. "Please leave," he said. "We don't allow fauna on the premises of the Games."

"But... I just saved your Games!" Ruby protested.

"That doesn't change the rules. Please leave before I am forced to call security."

"O-okay." Her ears pressed against her head, Ruby made her way towards the door.

"Hey, wait!"

The fifteen year old looked behind her and gasped. The entirety of the group was following, leaving a very befuddled Chairman looking after them. Even Weiss was vacating, albeit because she seemed to be dragged by a girl with orange hair and a cheerful grin. Even Cardin, though he did not look happy.

At the back of the group, Ozpin winked.

"Guys, you can stay if you want," Ruby said. "I won't think differently of you."

"The Games are no fun anyway," Yang said. "I'd rather be doing something with cool people. Hey, we could start up our own Games!"

"I..."

"Besides, after what you did, no way are we sending you back to Beacon alone! What if the White Fang attacks? Shut up and let us do what we want, okay?"

A smile crept onto Ruby's face. "Okay!"

Not everything got better. Some people would always hate what was different. It was unrealistic to believe a single act of heroism made everyone love you.

That never meant it wouldn't help.

Sometimes you do heroic things and nobody's opinion changes. Sometimes nobody shouts your name.

Sometimes, however... like in the case of Ruby the red-haired reindeer faunus... you go down in history.