Chapter 13

Weiss woke Neo early so they could head over to the Quartermaster's shop to pick up the uniform that was supposed to be ready for Neo's first day. As they were getting ready, Neo was practically bouncing with excitement, despite the nerves as she prepared to start her new life as a reformed criminal and future Huntress. Sensing her nervous energy, Weiss took Neo's hand and gave it a supportive squeeze as they made for the door while Blake and Yang were going through their morning routines. But, Weiss caught a flash of red and black hair in Yang's bed causing her to pause briefly and look again. She was shocked to see Ruby in Yang's bed and still wearing her combat skirt from the night before.

Weiss's smile drooped into a tight frown as she saw crusty lines from a night of tears covering the girl's cheeks. Releasing Neo's hand, she wrapped her arm around the woman's shoulders and pulled her close as they walked out of the room. She couldn't stop thinking about Ruby and that she was the reason for the girl spending the night in Yang's bed.

As they opened the door to the Quartermaster's shop, the tailor greeted them warmly and said he had been expecting them. Neo's uniform was waiting for her on the counter, tiny patches of fabric that would soon identify her as one of Remnant's own future Huntresses! She reverently picked up the garments and carried them as the tailor guided her towards the fitting rooms. After a couple minutes, she popped out of the fitting room and walked towards the mirror. With a little spin, she looked herself over, front and back, before she turned to Weiss and cocked her head inquisitively.

"You look… in… incredible, Neopolitan."

Neo wrapped the girl into a tight hug as she leapt into Weiss's arms and nuzzled her face into Weiss's neck and planted a long kiss on the crook of her neck. Weiss reluctantly set her tiny charge down as she felt her neck grow warm with embarrassment of the enthusiastic display of affection. Neo clasped her hands in front of her mouth as she turned to the tailor and bowed slightly in his direction.

"You're very welcome, Miss." He smiled at the ecstatic woman. "Since that looks good, I'll finish up the remainder of your uniforms to those measurements. Come back at the end of the day and they'll be ready for you."

Weiss thanked the tailor for Neo and lead the small woman towards the dining hall for breakfast. Not seeing any of their teammates, they took their seats with team JNPR.

"Say, Pyrrha," Weiss had an idea, "Since we don't have Goodwitch's class until Wednesday, do you think that you would be willing to do a little bit of sparring with Neo to help her get used to fighting in class, and, well, you know, not trying to land a killing stroke to finish her opponent off."

"I would be honored to spar with you, Neo." Pyrrha tipped her head towards the woman as she smiled with closed eyes and said so.

"Where's the rest of the gang?" Nora asked.

"Probably on their way? We had to get up early so that Neo could pick up her uniform, so we were out before everyone else." The now familiar feelings of guilt again crept into her as she thought of Ruby curled up in Yang's bed. Her eyes dropped as she thought about her leader and what she thought going on with the girl.

Blake startled Weiss as she sat down her without announcing herself.

"Blake! Stop sneaking around like that. I swear! I'm going to put a bell on you…"

The bow on top of Blake's head twitched slightly as she scowled at Weiss.

"Well, stop sneaking around and I won't have to, Blake Belladonna." Weiss looked around the dining hall, "Where's our fearless leader and Yang?"

Blake ignored the heiress as she turned her attention towards her milk.

"So, Neo. Jaune and I normally practice up on the roof of the dorms, but if you don't want to work out up there, we can make use of the fields next to the central courtyard." Pyrrha offered as she tried to move the conversation back to the enjoyable topic of sparring.

Pointing upwards, Neo nodded.

"That sounds grand! Why don't we head up right after class? We can come back down here when we're done to have lunch and evaluate your performance."

Weiss sighed as she the group gathered their items and started heading out towards class. Still no Ruby or Yang… I mean, it's not unusual for Yang to skip breakfast ~ she'd rather have the extra time to sleep; but Ruby never passes up an opportunity to pick up a few extra cookies to sneak into class. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but Weiss knew why Ruby wasn't there. She hurt her friend. Her leader felt rejected. She crushed the poor girl.

Before taking their seats, Weiss introduced Neo to Professor (Doctor) Oobleck, who said that Ozpin had already informed all of the teachers that the small former criminal would be joining their lessons starting today.

"I tried to help catch her up to where we are this semester, Doctor. I'm sure she'll be up to speed in no time!"

"I'm sure you're right, Miss Schnee." He turned towards Neo, "If you'd like to speak with me about anything you're not understanding, Neopolitan, please do not hesitate to ask."

As they took their seats, Neo once again started feeling anxious. She practically bounced in her seat as she waited for the upcoming opportunity to learn something new and, more so thanks to Weiss's descriptions of their professor's teaching style, to see Doctor Oobleck's high-energy display and he dashed from point to point around the room.

How does he talk so fast? He's more hyper than Ruby and Yang together. Neo thought as she rubbed her aching hand. A life of crime entailed far less writing than this, and yet, they were barely – she tapped on Weiss's scroll to see the time – half way through it.

Regardless of her pained hand though, she was fascinated by Oobleck's passion for the history of the Faunus wars. A long history with countless details she wasn't aware of. As she listed to the disheveled man, she couldn't grasp how the White Fang ever agreed to work with Cinder and Torchwick, given the rather unpleasant history between the Faunus and humans.

Neo tried her best to reconcile the lessons from the past Oobleck was lecturing on with the things that she has lived through. Her mind began wandering from memory to memory as she tried to piece the story together, and before she knew it, the bell rang and class was over. Wow! There's so much to learn and remember. The time went by so fast. I just hope that it's always this interesting.

She softly ruffled Weiss's white hair as she dashed past and ran up to Pyrrha. A few feet away, she launched herself at the Amazon and threw her arms and legs around the redhead. Clinging to the muscular warrior, she gave her a pleading, imploring look.

Pyrrha laughed. "Oh, Neo. Were you worried that I was going to take off and forget about our sparring match?"

Neo nodded her head enthusiastically. Pyrrha chuckled at that, until she looked over Neo's shoulder and saw the furious look on Weiss's face as the Ice Queen marched towards them.

"NEO! What are you doing, you little dunce?"

Neo released her arms as she squeezed her legs tighter around Pyrrha's midsection and let her body fall backwards so she was hanging upside down from Pyrrha's waist. She smiled innocently at Weiss's obvious jealousy.

"Wha- You infuriating…"

"Weiss. There's really no reason to overreact like this. She's not bothering me. Really, I'm surprised this isn't Ruby's normal greeting for me!" Pyrrha looked around, "Speaking of which, where is Ruby? I didn't see her in class today."

"Oh, yeah… She's, umm, not feeling well." Yang shifted nervously and studiously avoided Weiss. "I told her that it was probably best for her to stay in bed. Actually, it's probably time for me to go check on her."

Neo put her hands on the ground and did a handspring flip, landing between Yang and Weiss. She wasn't completely sure what was going on. But, thought she might need to keep an eye on things.

Want me to come with you?" Blake said as she caught Yang's hand.

"No. It's all right. Why don't you hang out with Weiss, Neo, Pyrrha, and Nora and spar with them for me. I'm totally bummed I'm not going to be able to put a beat down on you guys!" Yang laughed as she turned towards the dorm.

Laughing, Pyrrha shouted after Yang, "I'll try not to beat up your teammates too much!"

Yang raised her arm and dismissively waved Pyrrha off.

The women were all laughing, except a serious-looking Weiss and a concerned Neo, who was watching Weiss hold some thing back. Neo reached for Weiss and put a calming hand on her shoulder. Tilting her head down, she gently shook it 'no' just once.

Weiss's mind was racing. Is Neo telling me that she knows why Ruby was upset and it isn't my fault? Does she even know? Is that why she's acting like this towards Pyrrha? But she's still comforting me. She pressed her lips together into a tight line and chanced a look at Neo. The tiny woman flashed her eyes pink just once before they returned to her normal pink and brown combination.

A/N: Sorry for the late upload ~ meetings all day and working on NaNoWriMo again. Bear with me through November ~ the editing cuts into my writing time, so I might be a little late with some of the chapters. As always ~ thanks for the Follows / Favorites / Reviews and your messages! Have a great weekend and get ready for another fight scene! I know you've been waiting for it :-)

Best,

~shdwmchn