A/N: I think my I accidentally corrected some Abathur dialogue with my grammar program.
As always, Weiss Schnee was the first one of Team RWBY to wake up, though to be honest, today it was more due to the fact that she hadn't been able to sleep at all. The sun was still on the rising and it wouldn't be until another hour had passed that the others would need to get up and prepare for the day ahead of them. Their first semester as Huntresses in Training was almost over, which meant that they would soon have exams, next week to be precise. Not that she was worried about her own grades. Weiss had a very good memory, almost photographic and just to be sure she always studied a little more to make sure she got nothing but good grades. Blake and Yang were good on their own. Neither bothered with perfect grades, the latter allowing herself to slip up once in awhile, but all in all they were above average. It was Ruby, their leader, that always had trouble with tests and the like, as long as they don't some form of combat. Ruby Rose was a prodigy fighter and as such personally selected by the headmaster of Beacon Academy to become a huntress at this prestigious school. The backlash was, Ruby lacked two entire years of education and as such it was up to their teammates to bring her up to speed. Easier said than done. Ruby wasn't a slacker, not by a stretch, but she was easily distracted, at least in class. Plus the amount of knowledge the poor girl's brain had to process in the short amount of time given was just too much. The end result being that her almost all of her grades were just high enough to not fail in class. But at times, they got pretty close.
Weiss let out a sigh, as she figured the following week would be a stressful one. As if the past days hadn't been stressful enough, what with Blake revealing to be secretly a Faunus and a former White Fang member at that! It was probably good fortune that Blake decided to run away and gave Weiss the time to cool down, no pun intended, else the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company or SDC for short would have lashed out at her friend to the extreme. As things were, Weiss had the time to consider where Blake came from and how Faunus were generally treated at Atlas. Weiss had known of it before, but only yesterday she fully realized just how biased she was against Faunus, not only thanks to her upbringing but also given her family's dispute with Faunus and especially the White Fang. Taking all that into consideration, as well as the time she had spent with the cat Faunus, not to mention the training missions they went on, Weiss now fully understood Blake's position.
Looking over to the girl, who was lying in her bed on the opposite side of the dorm room, Weiss saw for the first time that Blake was not wearing her ribbon while sleeping. It was quite the unusual sight, but thinking about it now, it had been kind of obvious from the beginning that Blake was a Faunus, given the eyes.
As a result of everything that transpired, the team promised themselves to not hide anything from each other anymore. It had been Weiss' idea and just thinking about it, caused her chest to tighten, for there was something she had yet to tell any living being on this planet.
"Hypocrite…" the girl mumbled to herself, which apparently was still loud enough for Blake's ears to twitch. Weiss allowed herself to smile, something you didn't see often. People genuinely freaked out, when she was happy and Ruby for some reason was so used to Weiss insulting her, that the youngest girl in the academy would suffer from genuine withdrawal.
Shaking her head, Weiss figured she might as well get ready for the day. Gathering her clothes, she tip-toed into the bathroom and firstly took a long shower. Since none of her teammates were awake, she was able to take the time and allow her muscles to relax. In a matter of seconds her hair was sticking to her skin, which was actually a quite nice feeling. The only downside, of course, was it got in her way of cleansing her body, not to mention tending and caring for such long hair took it's time. The others always complained of how long it took her to get ready. The heiress of SDC thought that at least Yang would understand her, given that the blonde was a fanatic when it came to her hair. You touched it, you would wake up a cripple (except your name was Ruby Rose). You cut it, you would wake up a cripple and die from internal damage six months later (even if your name was Ruby Rose).
After finishing her morning routine, Weiss stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready in her school uniform, only to find that Blake was already awake and was still not wearing her ribbon.
"You're up early." the heiress commented.
"I could say the same thing." the Faunus retorted.
"I couldn't sleep," Weiss admitted, closing her eyes for a brief second. "It's...a lot has happened these past few days and I guess my mind has yet to fully process it."
"I see." Blake looked down on the ground, her voice faltering a little bit.
"Hey, none of them," Weiss said harshly, causing Blake to look up. "We have already been through this yesterday, so let's not dwell on it, alright? Else I fear Ruby is going to put handcuffs on us until we have settled our differences."
Blake chuckled at the statement. "Is it weird that I can actually imagine that happening?" The Faunus asked rhetorically. "Anyways, since the shower is free now, I think I'm gonna take one."
Weiss walked out of the way of her fellow teammate, so she could enter the bathroom. The heiress in the meantime prepared her school bag for the day or rather she checked if she had forgotten to pack anything the previous day. As it turned out like it always did, everything was in order and she was ready to head for breakfast. However, out of courtesy she waited for her fellow teammates to wake up and get ready for the day. Aside from them being more tired than usual, it was actually a relatively normal morning for Team RWBY, as they headed towards the cafeteria.
/X/
"Remember students," Professor Oobleck spoke in his usual fast paced matter, making it hard for students to keep up with his lectures "you will all be examined next week," he took a sip from his coffee, which he always carried around with him "I expect of you to use the last week to review everything we have gone through so far. Hopefully, none of you have set it aside until the very last moment. But alas, if there is anything to learn from history, it is bound to repeat itself. I hope the people who really put your studying aside until now will learn from your mistake and not repeat it in the future. With that being said, let us go on from where we left off."
As Oobleck continued his lecture, Weiss looked over to Ruby, her hand not stopping to take notes. The leader's expression was crestfallen, which was understandable under the circumstances. Pushing through classes you technically weren't ready for was one thing, as you had teammates you could rely on to help you through. But passing an exam, where you couldn't just silently communicate with the people around you? That was something entirely different. No doubt, Ruby was afraid to crash and burn in about every test that would come up. It didn't matter how much of a prodigy she was, if she failed too badly, she could possibly be expelled from Beacon. Granted that actually took a great amount of effort, but still, it was a real threat for Ruby and by proxy to her entire team. Something needed to be done and Weiss had the feeling that normal tutoring wouldn't do the trick this time.
/X/
Classes went on as expected. Every teacher went on as to how tests would be coming up next week, at the lunch table Nora, Jaune and Ruby vocalized very loudly their displeasure about the upcoming exams, while the rest tried to cheer their fellow teammates up. It didn't work at all. The same could be said for the study sessions in the library. Ruby was so nervous about the upcoming test that they didn't make any headway, which in return made the red hooded girl feel even worse.
On that evening, Weiss pulled her teammates, Blake and Yang, aside, while Ruby was busy clearing her head by taking care of her beloved weapon Crescent Rose in one of the many workshops, which were located on the fifth floor of Beacon Academy.
"I know you don't like hearing this" Weiss specifically addressed Yang "but at this rate, Ruby is going to fail in every single subject next week."
Yang let out a groan in response. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It's not even that Rubes is not smart, it's just…"
"...she's two years behind us." Blake finished for her partner. "But it's not like the tests are that important. If she fails now, she can always improve later."
"That I am aware of, however, the thing is, should all of her grades be really bad, there is a chance she might get expelled from Beacon. I informed myself about the regulations, before entering. In theory, it should be impossible for anyone to be so bad that they get anything worse than a letter to the parents. However, this is practically the first time someone has entered this school without the proper knowledge. They have very high standards at every academy in the four kingdoms, after all."
"Tch, we know that Ice Queen." Ruby's elder sister scoffed. "Do you have a plan or anything that might help us with Rubes' problem?"
"Actually, I was hoping you could provide us with any information regarding Ruby's study methods. Does she, for example, listen to any music, when studying?"
Yang thought for a moment about the question. "Not really." she shrugged. "Usually she just sits down somewhere and goes through her notes, like everyone else. Sometimes we would ask each other questions for an upcoming test or I would help her with the subject she was struggling on, but nope. No specific study method."
"Which means, we simply need to find a suitable and efficient study method for our leader," Weiss said as if expecting such an answer.
"Not a bad idea." Blake nodded thinking. "We could maybe use the pet method."
"Er...what?" Yang titled her head.
"It's simple, really. If you want to teach your pet, say your dog, a trick then one method is to reward your pet with a treat, every time he gets it right. We might be able to pull off the same thing, by allowing Ruby to eat a cookie every time she gets a question right."
"That….might actually work." Yang conceded, imagining Ruby with a wagging dog tail, while Yang held a cookie above her head, just out of reach for the girl. "Though, we might want to throw in the occasional strawberry. She loves those too."
"Disturbing mental images aside, I guess it might be worth a try." Weiss vocalized her thoughts. "But in order for that to work, we need to make sure Ruby is cut off from every and any cookie she might have stashed around our dorm."
"That might be a problem." Blake scratched the back of her head. "She has them hidden literally everywhere. It'll be pretty tough to find every single one of her hideouts."
"Not to mention, she gets pretty zealous, when someone even touches one of her treats." Yang pointed out.
Weiss let out a sigh. "It can't be helped. If Ruby wants to continue her time at Beacon, then she has to make the necessary sacrifices."
/X/
In the end, Ruby had been entirely for the idea, but the problem was, the girl was simply spent from learning all day. Team RWBY had no choice but to postpone their idea until the next day arrived. Weiss and Blake decided to stay up a little bit more and go through the material of Oobleck's class one more time. Yang thought her brain needed a rest and played some video games under her blanket. Ruby was already asleep, which was unusual for the normally highly energetic girl, but this was probably due to the fact that her teammates had mentally pushed their leader to the limit.
Weiss let out a mental sigh. As much as she had come to respect their leader (she would never admit that to anyone), there was still much work to be done. The lack of education was only one of those things.
~Terran brain, inefficient. Subject Ruby Rose can only use minimal amount at once. Focus limited to one specific task. Can improve, easily.~
~I didn't ask for your opinion, Abathur!~ Weiss scolded her gen-master over the mental link she shared with any creature that was under her direct control.
~I hope there is an actual reason for you to barge in like that.~ the heiress continued, while flipping a page on her book. ~I have a rather tiring day behind me and the following two weeks will be just the same. What is it?~
~Analysis of Team RWBY strains complete. An important discovery in strain of subject Ruby Rose. Possible Anti-Grimm weapon.~
The only reaction Weiss Schnee showed on the outside, was that she "accidentally" dropped her pen to the ground. On the inside, however…
~WHAT?! RUBY, THE DOLT RUBY, AN ANTI-GRIMM WEAPON?! EXPLAIN IMMEDIATELY!~
~Integrated various strains into Zerg. Strains of Ruby Rose resulted in Zerg having silver eyes. Sent Zerglings against Grimm. Expected result: Speed Semblance assimilated. Unexpected result: psionic reaction. Zerglings eyes glowed. Upon eye contact, Grimm froze. No movement, no fighting back. Grimm killed.~
It took Weiss a while to digest the information her gen-master had given her. She thought after she first encountered the oversized worm, nothing could surprise her anymore. But then came Ruby. And then there was the revelation about Blake being a Faunus, something she should have known from the very start! And now this!
~How is this possible?! I know silver is not the most common eye color in Remnant, but still! It can't be just because of that!~
~Cannot give definitive answer.~ Her gene-master replied.
~Need living test subject for further studies. Recommend bringing subject to outpost hive cluster with subjects Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. Can assimilate semblance. First Prototypes proven useful.~
Weiss let out a mental groan. As useful as Abathur was, he only cared about the improvement of the swarm and didn't consider other factors, like Weiss' social life (minimal, but still there) or the consequences of abducting random hunters in order to gather their unique semblances. Hunters were with a little exaggeration about a million times stronger than the average human. With their weapons, they can tear Grimm apart, like they're nothing and to be frank the same went for most of the Zerg. So far Weiss had successfully managed to keep the swarm hidden from unnecessary prying eyes, but as of late the Grimm attacks had significantly increased. With each battle, her swarm fought, there was always the chance of the humans noticing the Grimm activity. They might possibly send out huntsman to investigate and the strength of a regular huntsman, it would be hard to just kill one before he or she could report their findings to the wrong person. Having the Grimm as an opposition was bad enough for the heiress, as they regularly attacked her hive clusters throughout remnant, sometimes even destroying them.
Back to the matter at hand, Weiss was still contemplating about the fact that her leader was supposed to have a unique DNA-Strain, which allowed her to metaphorically turn Grimm to statues. The girl had never talked about having such an ability, let alone use it on the field. But then again, Abathur did say that the ability was psionic and so far Weiss had not sensed any other psion aside from herself.
~Psionic abilities possibly dormant. Possibly not useable due to brain structure. Cannot say for certain. Need living test subject.~
~...I'll think about it.~ the heiress answered eventually. ~For now, keep working on giving our Zerg an Aura.~
Back in reality, Weiss closed her book, deciding to call it a night. She put her school supplies into her backpack, quietly wished the other two awake roommates a good night and closed her eyes. However, she did not plan to fall asleep just yet. Using her psionic abilities, she reached out with her mind towards Ruby's, until she could a calm sensation washing over her. Ruby was in deep slumber, not dreaming, but mentally not there as well. Despite what Abathur had told her about this "silver eye ability", Weiss could not find the slightest hint about Ruby having any kind of psionic potential. Her mind didn't show the slightest hint of noticing Weiss' intrusion. The heiress could go through her leader's memories and see if anything was to be found there, but Weiss had too much dignity (and bad experience) to do such a thing. She was actually about to break the connection between her and Ruby when a sudden thought came to her. A subject she once read upon, on how the things humans learn are being processed, while fast asleep. Teaching Ruby about the subjects at school, while she was asleep? It certainly was worth a try and would save the girls from a lot of headaches the coming week. With that in mind, Weiss deepened her mental connection to Ruby and began whispering into her mind.