(F/N) turns to find himself face to face with the same girl that squealed earlier. Standing just behind her are her teammates. Yang, the blonde that inquired about (F/N)'s identity at the beginning of the match, Weiss, whom he had just fought, and another girl with long black hair, whose identity still remained unknown to him.

"Uh, thanks." (F/N) mutters.

"I've never seen anything like it!" She continues. "Where'd you get it? Or did you make it? Can it do anything else besides turn into a gun? How many different types of dust can it utilize? What happens if..."

"Hey, Rubes." The blonde says. "Why don't you start by asking his name?"

"Oh, right." The smaller girl blushes. "My name is Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY."

"I'm (F/N). (F/N) (L/N)." (F/N) replies. "Is this your team?"

"Uh huh. That's Blake." Ruby says, indicating the girl in black. She then turns and points at the blonde. "That's Yang, she's my..."

"Older sister." (F/N) mutters to himself, having noticed the two's dynamic and Yang's pet name for the younger of the pair.

"What?"

"Sorry. It was nothing."

"Uh, okay. Anyways, that's Yang, my older sister. Ice Queen you've met."

"Hey!" Weiss says indignantly.

"It's nice to meet you all." (F/N) says.

He extends his hand to shake Ruby's, but the young huntress in training grabs it and pulls him closer, bringing the Mortar up to her face, just inches away from her silver eyes.

"So how does this thing work?" Ruby asks, her attention refocused on the arm. "How do you get it to switch between being an arm and being a gun?"

"It's uh, it's complicated." (F/N) responds, gently tugging his arm back in hopes that Ruby will get the hint. She doesn't.

"Well duh. All weapons are complicated. But I've never even seen anything like this before. I mean, Yang's weapons are kinda like it, but not really. Can I get a closer look at the gun?"

"Hey, listen." (F/N) says, prying his arm away. "It's really nice to meet you and all, but my clothes smell like burnt hair and it's starting to get to me. Maybe I can change, and we can talk more later?"

"Aw," Ruby whines, clearly wanting to see more of his arm, "can't you just..."

"Ruby." Her older sister cuts across. "That sounds like a great idea. Why don't you sit with us at lunch?"

"Yeah." (F/N) nods. "Yeah, sounds great."

Ruby, Blake and Yang all head for the doors, but Weiss' destination keeps her on the same path as (F/N). The two make their way backstage, headed for the locker rooms.

"Good fight," (F/N) says in an attempt to break the silence.

Weiss replies with a disgruntled 'hmph'.

"Okay." (F/N) says awkwardly. "You did really well. That downward cut almost got me."

"Stop patronizing me." Weiss says impatiently.

"I wasn't trying to..."

"Your arm surprised me and because of that you managed to get the better of me. It won't happen again."

"You too, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss snaps.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. It's just, you remind me of your sister." (F/N) chuckles.

"What would you know about my sister."

"Well," (F/N) starts, "from the way you said 'you', it's very clear you and Winter have very similar opinions of me. But I managed to change her mind. I hope I can change yours as well."

"Stop pretending." Weiss says angrily. "You don't know the first thing about me. Or my sister."

"Is that right?" (F/N) smiles. "I know you look up to your sister. The way you fight, you demand perfection, just like her. Even more, you've based your style of combat completely around Winter's. Probably explains the similarity in your weapons. It's obvious you admire her, idolize even. That's why you take everything she's ever told you to heart, and why you desperately cling on to any small compliment she throws your way."

Weiss has stopped moving, clearly agitated and, albeit, surprised.

(F/N) stops walking and turns to face her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." He apologizes. "And I'm not saying that you're misguided in looking up to your sister. I'm just saying, maybe leave some of her less desirable traits. She has an unfortunate habit for judging people before she's really gotten to know them. Alas, it seems you've developed this habit as well. I'd suggest doing away with it, it's not a good quality to have."

Turning, (F/N) leaves Weiss with her thoughts. Coming to a fork in the hallways, he turns right towards the men's locker rooms. Weiss slowly follows, taking the left hallway instead.

"You know," (F/N) calls from behind her, "I don't think that makes you a bad person. And I do hope we can be friends."

Time Skip:

"So let me get this straight. Ruby is only 15 but Ozpin bumped her up two years because she stopped a robbery. And then Ruby got placed on a team with you three, forming Team RWBY, not to be confused with Ruby, who is the leader of RWBY, despite Ruby being the youngest member of RWBY, the team, not the girl."

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Yang nods.

"God, that's confusing." (F/N) says. "That's confusing, right? It's not just me?"

"No, it's pretty confusing." Ruby (the girl) nods.

"You get used to it." Blake says.

"Wait, so how come you're not Team Jaune or something like that?" (F/N) asks, turning to look at Team JNPR.

"I don't think it works like that." Ren says. "The team names are all resembling of a color, formed by combining the first letter of the team member's first or last names."

"And Ruby just so happened to be paired with people who could spell out the word RWBY?"

"I guess so." Jaune says.

"So what happens if the team's names don't spell a color?"

"I don't know." Weiss says after a few seconds of silence. "It hasn't happened yet, so..."

"Huh, that's really convenient."

"Boring!" Nora shouts. "Who cares about team names and all that crap? We want to know about you!"

"What about me?"

"Uh, hellooo? You're a kid with a metal arm."

"Yeah, but you already know what happened."

"We don't" Yang interjects. "Why don't you tell us?"

"Tellustellustellustellus!" Ruby squeals, bouncing in her seat.

"Right, okay." (F/N) says awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck as he tries to remember the story he told earlier. "Uh, it was a few years ago. My teammates back at uh..."

"Atlas?" Weiss offers.

"Right, thank you. Sorry. My teammates back at Atlas, we got into a bit of a scuffle with some Ursai and..."

(F/N) raises his right his right arm as if to say, 'this happened'.

"That's it?" Ruby asks, disappointed.

"Well what more d'you want?"

"Details!" Ruby shouts. "Where was it? How'd it happen? Where'd the arm come from?"

"The arm was a gift from General Ironwood." (F/N) says casually.

The table falls quiet at the name drop.

"You know the General?" Weiss asks slowly.

"Well, he was my headmaster." (F/N) says quickly. "And he felt responsible for what happened, so he had the Mantle scientists whip me up this arm."

"Atlas." Pyrrha says.

"What?"

"You said Mantle scientists." Pyrrha says. "But it's Atlas. It's been Atlas for nearly a century."

"Right, sorry." (F/N) says in a panic. "It's just, my minds still in history mode, you know. I tell ya, that Dr. Oobleck is somethin' else."

"Ugh, tell me about it." Jaune groans.

"You don't like him?"

"I hate him!"

(F/N) leans back a bit, clearly surprised. Looking around the table he sees the others nodding in agreement. Even Pyrrha gives a noncommittal jerk of her head.

"I don't know." (F/N) says quietly. "I thought he was fine. His lectures are great, albeit a little fast."

"Pfft, you haven't taken one of his tests yet." Yang groans.

"Are they that bad?"

"You have no idea!" Ruby warns. "Half the stuff on there we never even cover in class."

"You know, you're supposed to read the textbook." Weiss says.

"Who has time for that when there's video games?" Yang says. "It's hard enough just paying attention in class..."

The group's conversation dies off suddenly as a somber looking student with scales down his face is led from the cafeteria by Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch. The cafeteria watches in silence until he's exited, some giving him looks of pity, others confusion.

"Yatsuhashi." Ren calls to a large armored gentleman sitting one table over. "Any idea what's wrong with Aaron?"

"You haven't heard?" The soft-spoken giant asks, turning in his seat.

Everyone shakes their head.

"His parents were found dead a few blocks from their house."

"Oh my God." (F/N) says.

Pyrrha covers her mouth with her hands, Jaune releasing a heavy sigh.

"Do the police have any idea what happened?" Yang asks.

"They haven't released any official statement." Yatsuhashi says.

The girl sitting next to Yatsuhashi turns to join the conversation as well, a pair of rabbit ears sitting atop her head.

"The media is saying it's most likely purifiers."

A dark look passes over the faces of everyone present. Pyrrha's fists clench and Blake releases a low growl. (F/N) however, looks around at his friends in confusion.

"Uh, purifiers?"

"A group of human extremists." Velvet explains. "They claim to be humanities defenders against the White Fang."

"It's all just a façade." Blake says angrily. "A way to justify their racist treatment towards the Faunus."

"They popped up in Vale just a few months ago." Pyrrha continues. "But since then, they've gained a massive following. A lot of the citizens of Vale think they've got the right idea. That the only way to fight back against the White Fang is to match their violence. To 'purge the Kingdom of all those impure.'"

"Impure?"

"Faunus." Blake says. "They mean Faunus."