Life in Beacon - A RWBY Fanfiction - Chapter 02

Preface
The events that occur in this story are considered day-in-the-life, therefore do not necessarily have a fixed interval or date. Some will weave in and out of the realms of canon, following some episodes closely, while others may fill in the gaps or be completely unrelated. The deviation description often will give you a good idea of the time that the story arc occurs. Do note that the stories are in chronological order unless stated otherwise.
Thanks for viewing this story, and happy reading!

Practical jokes are common on any school grounds. Whether it be between friends, or arch nemeses, pranks are funny (to the pranksters, anyways) and harmless (mostly). For team RWBY, however, pranking was an elaborate scheme that deserved the utmost caution and the highest respects when successful. It's quite difficult to prank the supersonic scythe-wielder or the feline faunus, and frankly a terrible idea to trick the prissy princess or bipolar ... er, sister.

But difficult as it may be, these pranks were dished out by the dozens, and often times leading to a spectacular failure or anticlimactic  ending. However, on this fine morning, Ruby came up with a brilliant idea.

It was about time she'd played a prank on her team for keeping her from her favorite snack, and vengeance is a meal best served with cookies. And so Ruby woke up extra early, even before Blake's precise nap-timer expired, changed into her school uniform, and went down to the cafeteria. Most of the teachers were there, sipping coffee or tea and talking quietly amongst each other. Ozpin and Glynda were somewhere in this mix, sitting quite alone. Ruby grabbed two (handfuls of) cookies from the snack bar meant solely for the staff and headed towards the headmaster.

"Good morning, Professor Ozpin!"

He eyed the girl while finishing the last of his coffee. "Good morning, Ruby. You're up quite early today, is there something you need?"

She snickered, "Is there! I wanted to play a little practical joke on my team, just for fun, and I was wondering if you'd help me with it."

Now, Ozpin was fond of jokes. He'd played his share of them on his friends when he was but a lad, and just yesterday he'd replaced Glynda's glasses with empty frames. What a laugh that was. Hearing this come from the shy little girl spiked his interest. "Well, I can't promise, but why don't you tell me more."

Glynda remained quiet, knowing the headmaster's love of pranks. It was unbearable at times, but they'd make great stories later on. As well, it gave her another chance to scold him.

"Well, I was thinking that we might switch partners. Right now, I'm partnered with Weiss, and my sister is partnered with Blake. If I could switch that around so that I was with Blake, that would be the best prank ever!"

Ozpin was slightly confused, and rightfully so. "And how is this so great?"

"Oh, you'll see. But I need you to help me make it seem legitimate."

Ozpin pondered over it for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll provide your proof and backing, as long as you promise to return to your original partners afterwards."

"It's a deal, then!"

---

Weiss had just begun to wake up when she found Ruby hovering over her head. A scream would have followed, if it wasn't the one-hundredth time she'd seen Ruby's face first thing in the morning. "Good morning, Ruby."

"Good morning, Weiss!"

As Blake and Yang began to stir in their cozy nests as well, Ruby took advantage of their groggy state and practically pulled Blake out of her bed. "C'mon, partner! We have to get to breakfast!"

Blake simply purred, and curled up into a ball on the ground. Faunus were funny when sleeping.

"Part..ner?" mumbled Yang, slowly returning from the dream zone.

"What's wrong, Yang? Still asleep?" smiled Ruby.

Weiss, on the other hand, jolted straight up. "What?!"

Knowing Weiss was probably the biggest obstacle to this prank, Ruby feigned innocence with all her might. "What's wrong?"

Yang groggily replied, "Blake is my partner, isn't she...?"

"What are you talking about, sis? Blake has been my partner since the first day we met!"

The team member in question slowly sat up, ears twitching left and right. To Ruby, she still looked fast asleep. "What's this... about partners?"

Ruby leapt at the chance. "You're my partner, Blake! Isn't that right?"

"Hmm? Yeah, something..."

With that, the cat resumed its sleep on the floor. "5 more... minutes...nya..."

Weiss and Yang glanced at each other, wondering what was going on... And if in fact they had been with the wrong partners this whole time.

Even as the team headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast (for real this time) they were confused. Had something changed overnight? Was there an announcement that they'd missed? Did the school's email get sent to their junk inbox again? Whatever the case, Ruby seemed too matter-of-fact about the whole thing for it to have been a mistake. As they entered the cafeteria, Ozpin was just walking out on his way back to his office. Weiss and Yang leapt at the chance to clear up the confusion. "Professor Ozpin, we'd like to inquire about our team."

"What is it? Surely you aren't asking for Weiss to be promoted to team leader. I thought we were clear on that."

Weiss blushed. "Oh no, sir. Ruby is a fine leader now. As her partner, I've got a responsibility to make sure of that." Here, she lowered her voice. "Speaking of which, did you perchance change our team's partnerships?"

"Why would you ask such a thing, Ms. Schnee?" enquired Ozpin, recognizing the situation without so much as a twinkle in his eyes.

Yang explained hesitantly, "Well, Ruby has been calling Blake her partner the entire morning, when we've been partnered for such a long time together. I thought maybe there was a misunderstanding somewhere."

Ozpin chuckled. "I certainly don't recall ever changing partnerships within a team before. Are you sure you're not just remembering things wrongly?"
Yang interjected, "We're sure. I recall exactly the circumstances of when I first met Blake in the forest, and not meeting Ice Queen."

"Hmm," pondered the professor. "there seems to be a discrepancy. Shall we look at the school records?"

He quickly flipped through several pages on his tablet, swiping past various team names until he arrived at RWBY. "Ah, see? Ruby and Blake are officially recorded partners. Weiss and Yang, you two are partnered."

Ruby grinned. "See? I'm not the crazy one here."

In unison, all three others blurted, “Ehhhhh?!”

---

Weiss, Blake, and Yang sat around a library table, heads spinning. How had they made such a mistake? No, it couldn’t have been a mistake. They all remembered the exact events so clearly, how was it possible that their memories had failed them in such an extreme manner?

Ruby joined them, several manga books in her arms. “Still confused?”

“Yes!” they all shouted, irritated that Ruby was the one that had seemingly remembered reality.

Ruby faked a sigh. “You know team JNPR? Jaune and Pyrrha and paired, and Nora and Ren are paired, but their names go in the order of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren. It’s the same with RWBY! Even though I’m paired with Blake, I’m first and she’s third. There’s a pattern, don’t you see?”

Yang was on the verge of ripping out her golden threads. “Argh! I just can’t believe that this is true! It’s almost like I have Alzheimer’s or something!”

Her mind clicking into place, Ruby gasped, realizing that this was the perfect follow-up. “You may be right, sis. I recently read something about Dust contamination, where if you breathed too much Dust, it could severely affect your memory. Weiss’s rapier is full of Dust, Blake’s pistol fires Dust-bullets, and Yang’s gauntlets explode with Dust. Even though Crescent Rose uses some Dust-enhanced bullets, the barrel is so far away from me that I don’t ever breathe it in!”

Noting the pale faces surrounding her, she continued: “The first time I met Weiss, I accidentally knocked over some of her Dust bottles. She began to shake one, and Dust went everywhere – but I was the only one that sneezed! She didn’t even notice it anymore – she probably had gotten used to it already.”

The ghastly white faces that stared back at Ruby were hilariously frightening. They totally believed what Ruby was saying; it made perfect sense! Almost immediately, Weiss declared, “I’m never using Dust again.”

While it would be entertaining to watch Weiss combat without using Dust to fuel her glyphs, the team leader knew that if her entire team refrained from using Dust, they’d never win against other teams during practice, and certainly not Grimm.

“Ah, wait, Weiss! There’s a way to prevent this from happening! The article said that cocoa had some natural enzymes that could counter the negative effects of inhaling Dust. Why don't we try that?”

“How are we supposed to get cocoa?”

“Well, for starters, why don't we try chocolate milk? There's not a ton of cocoa in that, but I'm sure that it's a good starting point.”

Blake was out the door before Ruby could finish her sentence; whether she was impatient about the cocoa or just fond of milk was up for discussion.

She returned with four cartons of the school's chocolate milk, tossing one to each member before attacking her own. Weiss attempted to maintain her composure as she downed the cocoa goodness, only finishing half before Yang slurped the last drops of hers. Ruby grinned secretively, watching the panic consume her teammates. If everything went according to plan, she'd have revenge for last time.

“So? Do you guys feel any better?”

Yang shook her head. “I can't tell any difference. I did recall something though.”

“Wuzzat?”

“I'm lactose intolerant...”

---

The following days were the talk of the neighborhood. Team RWBY had gone chocolate-insane. Everywhere they went they were munching on chocolates, especially during combat practice. When asked why, they shirked away and avoided answering the question.

Now came the final phase of the prank. Ruby cleared her throat, and announced: “Team RWBY, tomorrow is the day we've been preparing for. Now that you all have a week's worth of cocoa in your systems, we've got to let it do its magic. Tomorrow, no more chocolate.”

Blake was unsure. “Are you sure that one week is enough? I think we should go for another week just in case.”

Ruby made an X with her arms. “Unless you want cocoa poisoning, (and for us to run out of funds,) we have to stop tomorrow.”

Weiss shrugged. “Fine by me. I seem to already feel the effects of the cocoa anyways. My test scores gave been improving.”

“Your already perfect test scores got even better?” jeered Yang.

“Well, they have.”

---

The effect of the chocolate ban was immediate. Team RWBY, save Ruby, were feeling a craving so strong they could barely focus in class. Their hands trembled, their mouths drooled at the slightest whiff of that heavenly food, and they couldn't eat anything else. Meanwhile, Ruby continued her tradition of nomming chocolate chip cookies, defending herself by claiming that her previous diet of cookies meant that she could tolerate the chocolate more than her peers.

It was only two in the afternoon before Yang called Ruby on her tablet begging for a chocolate bar. Ruby had stashed it all in her locker, so that no one could sneak another bite. Ruby refused happily. Blake’s call followed shortly, to which Ruby refused happily. Finally, Weiss’s reluctant request rang, and Ruby refused that happily as well.

Evening seemed to take forever to arrive, as their cravings wracked their minds. Ruby had promised them they’d each get a little nibble if they could hold out for the entire day without sneaking off to get any by themselves, and so they were more than slightly confused when Ruby returned to the dorm room empty handed, triumphant grin painted across her face. The elaborate prank had finally reached the finale.

“Now you know how it feels!”

“Huh?”