AN: So for those who didn't catch the edit I made at the beginning of Chapter 1, I'm going to start putting the explanations for my changes at the beginning of the following chapters, to give my readers the chance to try and figure out the reason behind my changes while I'm writing the next chapter.

Explanation of my previous chapter: So yeah hopefully, that convo between Ruby and Weiss flowed okay. Also, look at that! The Dust robberies have consequences! Fancy that!

Jaune not knowing what aura is didn't make sense, so I used that as an opportunity to give a layman's explanation of what aura is, followed by Pyrrha's more "mystical" explanation.

I decided to throw in the earpieces because, for a show that's supposedly all about friendship and teamwork, there's a real lack of communication and teamwork in the series. But I understand how annoying it can be for characters to huddle up in the middle of a fight; so long range communication seems like a good way for communications to not interrupt the action. And now we don't have to wonder when Ruby explained her slingshot plan.

Also, I figured a little more explanation of Yang's reasons for not wanting to be Ruby's partner was necessary, although it honestly made sense to me when I saw the series.

From there it was just making dialogue a little less cringey and making Jaune's orders feel like actual orders. Plus, it didn't make sense for Ruby and Weiss to have their talk right in front of the Deathstalker.

And yeah, we're gonna introduce Fennec and Corsac a little sooner, because the White Fang needs to be more than a bunch of faceless mooks.

AN: Now we get to some of the big changes. I hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think.

Edit 6/30/2018: I made some changes to the ending conversation between Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha.

"It's 8:55, you dunce!"

Weiss rushed through the halls and courtyard of Beacon, barely noticing the rest of her team and Team JNPR hot on her trail. She barely arrived on time for the first class of the day.

"Welcome, welcome students!" Said the Green-haired man at the front of the room. "My name is Doctor Oobleck and I will be your history teacher for this semester! Some of you may be wondering what use this class could possibly serve for future huntsmen and huntresses such as yourselves."

As the professor took a sip of what Weiss hoped was coffee, she quickly prepared her notebook and pencil for note taking, figuring this man had no intention of slowing down. She gave a quick glance to see who else was taking notes. She was unsurprised to find Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha all equally prepared to take notes, while Nora already seemed to be spacing off, while Yang at least seemed to be trying to follow the professor. She was a little surprised to see Jaune also taking notes, though he probably felt the need to step up due to his leadership role.

"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. For example, the current rise in White Fang activity is a supreme example of both the bigotted portion of the human populations failure to recognize the capabilities of the faunus as demonstrated by the Faunus Rights Revolution, while also displaying the violent portion of the faunus populations failure to learn from the devastation caused by all conflicts between persons of all species and race."

As Oobleck once again paused for coffee, Weiss glanced in Ruby's direction and was infuriated to find her staring off into space while balancing a pencil on her finger.

"While many of these lessons may feel mostly political, there are also lessons to be applied to combat situations as well. Let's take a look at examples from the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the FaunusWar, during which human-kind was quite, adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie, as you should all know from the curriculum which would have been covered in last years curriculum. Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" Weiss's hand quickly flew up. "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle! Between human General Lagune and faunus leader Ghira Belladonna," she stated confidently.

"Precisely! And this next question is for the team leads since tactics and strategy will primarily be their responsibility, who can tell me the advantage General Belladonna had over General Lagune's forces?"

Weiss was once again surprised when Jaune's hand was the one that was raised. "Night vision. Most faunus have better sight in the dark than humans. General Lagune didn't know his enemy, even looking down on them, and made the mistake of trying to ambush Belladonna's forces in their sleep. His massive army was routed, his fort taken, and the general himself was captured."

Oobleck smiled at the boy's insight "Excellent!" and continued on with the lesson.

Weiss once again glanced at Ruby, who seemed to be doodling in her notes. "Maybe I should've joined 'Team Jaune'" she muttered furiously.

"So what's the plan?" Nora asked, "Divide and conquer?"

They were in combat class, and Team JNPR was preparing for a match against Team CRDL.

Jaune quickly grew nervous at Nora's idea.

"Well… it might be better if we stuck with partnerships. You and Ren know each other pretty well."

"But you and Pyrrha don't." Ren supplied "at the start at least the two of you should stay divided until you have a better feel for each other's fighting styles."

Jaune began to sweat a little.

"Don't worry" Pyrrha supplied with a smile "I'll come to your aid if you start to get into trouble."

Jaune took some comfort in that. "All right, Ren and Nora take Russel and Cardin, and try to work together if you can, Pyrrha takes Sky, and I'll take Dove."

"Everyone ready?" Goodwitch asked.

"Ready!" Jaune called in what he hoped was a confident voice.

"Then begin!"

The buzzer sounded and the two teams charged forward. Nora and Cardin quickly clashed, with Cardin attempting a powerful overhead swing on Nora's head, which she blocked with the handle of Magnhild. She dropped to a knee and It seemed that she would be crushed until she slowly began overpowering Cardin and rose to her feet with a manic grin on her face. Cardin quickly backed away, barely avoiding the powerful swing she sent his way.

Russell was working on keeping Ren away from Nora, as he and Cardin had recognized that the two of them had a good rapport, and would likely be a deadly duo. Unfortunately, Ren always seemed at least one step ahead of him. Russell was fast, but he could barely keep up with Ren's agility and fluid natural movements. It was all he could do just to keep Ren occupied, knowing that if he and Nora were able to work together, it'd be all over.

Team RWBY looked on from the bleachers. Weiss was glad that Ruby seemed to be paying attention to this at least.

"You knew Cardin and his friends in Signal right Yang?"

Yang nodded "Cardin's the only one that could ever beat me, but they were no pushovers."

"Looks like Ren and Nora have their numbers though" mused Blake.

"And with Pyrrha on their team, there's no way they'll lose" Said Weiss.

Their commentary was suddenly interrupted by a buzzer as Jaune's aura hit the red after a flurry of blows from Dove. Weiss looked at the match timer to find that barely a minute had passed since the beginning of the match. Pyrrha wouldn't have had time to help him even if she had noticed.

"You were wide open dude" Dove looked down at his opponent with a look of both sympathy and disappointment, before turning to aid his struggling teammates. He first focused on Nora, who was chipping away at Cardin's defenses as he used all his energy just to keep her from landing a solid blow on him. Dove rushed to their battle, firing three shots at Nora's back which distracted her long enough for Cardin to go back on the offensive, landing a solid hit on her chest to send her flying and allowed the two to quickly dispatch her. The three then focused on Ren, whose speed was no match for three enemies at the same time. Three members of Team JNPR had been defeated in as many minutes.

Cardin, Russ, and Dove all turned to where Pyrrha and Sky were fighting, only to find Sky retreating towards them. Cardin glanced at his scroll, to find that Sky's aura was already in the orange, and then glanced at the screen to find Pyrrha's aura untouched.

"I can't get a hit on her! It took everything I had to keep her from helping her team!" Sky despaired.

"It's fine" Cardin called, preparing for battle "She's just one girl!"

Pyrrha glanced with sadness at her downed teammates, and then faced her four opponents.

(Insert Pyrrha vs CRDL fight from Volume 2 here)

"Well done miss Nikos" Professor Goodwitch was unreadable at the moment. "This match is a fine example of the positive and negative impact that a single person can have on their team. On the one hand, one person can pull their team from the brink of defeat" she gestured at Pyrrha "but if a chain has even one weak link, then the entire chain is compromised" She glared at Jaune "I certainly hope you don't plan to rely on Miss Nikos for everything Mr. Arc."

Jaune barely heard Goodwitch's announcement of the Vytal Festival that would take place at the end of the second semester. He could only hang his head in shame as Pyrrha joined the rest of the team.

"I'm sorry" Jaune muttered, "I underestimated him."

"No" Pyrrha attempted to reassure him "You suggested that we stick with pairs, and we should have listened."

"We figured you'd last more than one minute." Ren gave Jaune a furious glare before heading back to the locker room

In the bleachers, the rest of Team RWBY continued to express sympathy for Jaune Ren and Nora, while praising Pyrrha's talent, while Weiss had once again begun to seethe.

"They made that klutz leader but not me!?"

By the end of Grimm studies, Weiss had had it with the injustice that had been dealt her. Ruby continued to goof off and Jaune remained silent for most of the class, probably still stewing in his failure.

Weiss had volunteered to fight a Grimm in class to demonstrate her superiority in the hopes that Professor Port would vouch for her case to Ozpin, but Boarbatusks were tricky enough for her, and she was having a hard time thinking straight. And then Ruby had the audacity to give her advice when she'd been goofing off all day. Even if the tip had worked.

Ruby ran after Weiss as she stormed off

"Weiss!"

Weiss turned around furiously "What?"

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? And Jaune?!

Ruby scowled at the mention of Jaune "What's Jaune got to do with this?"

"You two are supposed to be leaders, and all you've been so far is a nuisance and dead weight! You've done nothing to earn your position! Back in the forest, you acted like a child, and you've only continued to do so!"

"Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

"Not a team led by you. I've studied and trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better. Ozpin made a mistake."

Weiss continued to storm off, leaving Ruby feeling terrible

"Hmm... Now that didn't seem to go very well."

Jaune continued to sulk as he roamed Beacons halls, trying to work out his thoughts when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Mister Arc!" came the rapid greeting of Doctor Oobleck

"I appreciated your contributions to the discussion in my class today!"

"Oh," Jaune stammered "Thank you."

"I supposed you would know quite a bit about the Faunus Rights Revolution, seeing as your father was a veteran of it. One of the few humans to aid the faunus" the Doctor continued to ponder "In fact, I dare say many of your ancestors have been present when history was being made!"

Jaune felt himself become even more depressed at the mention of his family's history but tried to keep his smile, only slightly succeeding.

"But don't let that burden weigh you down" Oobleck offered kindly "we all have an important part to play in the making of history, and I'm sure yours will be just as significant as anyone else, no matter how small it may seem at first."

He then sped off. Jaune was sure that he didn't mean to make him feel worse but he couldn't help but feel even more down by the time Pyrrha found him and said she wanted to show him something.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked confused.

Ozpin persisted "I mean it's only been one day. Ruby... I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider yours or Mr. Arc's appointments to leaders to be one of them. Do you?"

Jaune felt his self-loathing finally boiling over "I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy! I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

Pyrrha was shocked at this confession "What? But... why?"

"Because this is what I've always wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too." He then clenched his fists in resentment "But my father refused to train me because of the peace, and I was never good enough to get into any combat schools."

Pyrrha persisted "Then let me help you!"

"You heard Goodwitch! I can't keep relying on you!"

"Jaune, I-"

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own... then maybe coming here was a bad idea."

"Nope!"

Jaune turned around in alarm to find Ruby there.

"Ruby!" As the panic faded he began to feel a sense of acceptance "You're going to tell Ozpin aren't you?" he asked calmly.

"Nope!"

"'Nope?'"

"Nope! I've been given a chance despite being two years younger than everyone. It wouldn't be right if I didn't give you a chance."

"But... what if I screw up that chance?"

"Nope!"

Jaune laughed "You know you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope!" Ruby grew a little more serious "Jaune, if you're going to risk everything to try and be a hero, then you can't screw up this chance! You know why?"

Jaune paused "Because it's not just about me anymore."

"You've got a team now, Jaune. One that wants you to lead them" she nodded at Pyrrha, who nodded back "Which is a little more than I've got right now. But if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. If that means swallowing your pride and accepting help to get better, then we need to do it. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you."

Jaune smiled then turned back to Pyrrha. "You really want me to be your leader after all this?"

Pyrrha nodded "I already consider you a good friend that I don't want to lose. And I really do think you'll be a great leader."

Jaune faltered "I still don't like the thought of relying on you for everything."

Pyrrha smiled "Then learn fast, and someday soon I'll rely on you."

"And speaking of needing help" Ruby began to tap her pointer fingers together sheepishly "I've pretty much got the Grimm stuff down, but even if I wasn't two years behind, I'm terrible with history. Do you think you could tutor me?"

Jaune smiled, looking behind Ruby "I think you might have that covered."

Ruby turned to see Weiss behind her. Weiss took a deep breath, remembering Professor Port's earlier advice "Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader. Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have!"

Ruby smiled.

"But even if you do know the Grimm stuff, you still need to pay attention in class!" She added sharply, which Ruby nodded quickly at.

"As for you" Jaune flinched when she turned to him "You'd better learn fast because if I still feel like you're holding your team back by the time of the Vytal Festival, I will report you!"

Jaune smiled appreciatively "Thank you."

Weiss then grabbed Ruby as they went to study

"How do you take your coffee?"

"I... I don't..."

"Answer the question!"

"Uhh, cream and five sugars!"

Jaune turned to Pyrrha. "So what's first?"

Pyrrha grinned and then stepped forward to shove him down.

Unbeknownst to any of them, that roof was right above Team JNPR's room, and on the windowsill seethed a very livid Lie Ren.