Chapter Ten: The Badge and the Burden, Part Two

Weiss had taken the time to change into her regular battle clothing, the white dress and skirt that she had worn in the Emerald Forest. Myrtenaster in hand, she awaited for the creature in the cage to be released, as her team cheered her on from their seats.

"Gooooo, Weiss!" cried Yang with a fist pump.

"Fight well," called Blake.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, "represent Team RWBY!"

Weiss turned angrily to her leader. "Ruby, I'm trying to focus!"

Ruby's face fell. "Oh, um… sorry."

Port, having retrieved his blunderbuss from the wall, stood next to the cage. "Alright!" he called out. "Let the match… begin!" With that, Port sliced the lock open on the cage, and the beast burst forth, growling and snorting. The Grimm was a Boarbatusk, a medium-sized Grimm that resembled a wild hog and had two wickedly curved tusks protruding from its face. The Boarbatusk growled again and rushed at Weiss with speed unbefitting to its lumbering form.

Weiss deflected the attack with her rapier and rolled to the side as the creature skidded to a halt and turned. It stood back warily, taking it its foe as she did the same.

"Ho ho! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port said on the sidelines, axe at the ready in case things got out of hand.

Weiss glyphed her way towards the monster as it ran at her again, rapier pointed at its head. The Boarbatusk's tusks caught Myrtenaster between them, and Weiss was shaken from side to side by the hilt as the creature tried to get rid of the weapon.

"Bold new approach, I like it!" Port said.

"Come on, Weiss!" came Ruby's encouragement. "Show it who's boss!"

The comment distracted Weiss as she shot her leader an angry glare, and the hog used the opening to shake its head hard and rip Myrtenaster from the heiress's grip.

"Oh-ho!" cried Port. "Now what will you do without your weapon?"

The beast charged at Weiss again, and she rolled out of the way to let it crash into a sturdy desk. She dashed for where her weapon had fallen and scooped it up in a slide.

"Weiss, go for the belly!" Ruby advised from the sidelines. "There's no armor underneath–"

Weiss turned fiercely towards Ruby. "Stop telling me what to do!" she shouted.

The Boarbatusk began to rapidly roll towards Weiss, tusks transformed into spinning blades as it gained speed and drew near. Weiss summoned up a glyph that blocked the rolling Grimm's attack and knocked the creature off balance onto its back. She jumped into the air and used another glyph to send herself down towards the pig, ending it with a thrust to the stomach as it squealed and fell silent.

Weiss gave a relieved gasp as Port applauded her efforts. "Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress in training!" Weiss stood as she caught her breath and glared at Ruby, who continued to look downcast under the withering gaze.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today," Port said as he looked at the clock. "Remember to cover the assigned readings and stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss gave Ruby one final look, then stalked angrily out of the classroom.

Jaune walked up next to Blake, Yang, and Ruby as they watched the heiress go. "Sheesh, what's with her?" he commented, more to himself than anything else.

Weiss' heels made quick clicking noises as she stormed away from Port's lecture hall. Ruby rounded the corner and ran to catch up with her teammate. "Weiss!"

"What?" snapped the heiress as she turned.

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

"What's wrong with me?" Weiss asked in indignant disbelief. "What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be a leader, but all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

"What did I do?" Ruby protested in confusion.

"That's just it!" Weiss continued in her tirade. "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!"

Ruby pulled back a bit, hurt. "Weiss," she tried again softly, "where is this coming from? What happened to all that talk about working together? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

"Not a team led by you." Weiss let the statement hang in the air for a moment. "I've studied and trained, and I deserve better." She turned again and began to walk away. Ruby reached after her, but her hand fell back to her side at Weiss' next words. "Ozpin made a mistake."

Weiss walked out of hearing range, and Ruby slumped with a dejected sigh.

"Hmm." Ruby jumped in surprise at the sudden voice from behind her. She turned, and there was Ozpin himself, coffee and cane in hand. "Now that didn't seem to go very well," he said in a comforting voice.

Ruby turned to him, eyes meeting his even as her head turned down. There was a slight shine in her eyes as she asked, "Is she right? Did you make a mistake?"

Ozpin gave her a slight smile and chuckled. "That remains to be seen."

Weiss walked through the halls of the academy towards the main entrance, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Professor Port was standing on an outer balcony over the courtyard, watching the students exiting the school and the brilliant orange sunset over the skies of Beacon.

Weiss walked out to the balcony behind him. "Professor Port!" she called.

The older man turned, and she thought that a smile appeared under his mustache as he recognized her. "Ah, Miss Schnee! And to what do I owe this fine pleasure?"

Trying to approach her thoughts in an appropriate manner, Weiss began, "I… I enjoyed your lecture.

Port laughed his belly laugh. "Of course you did, child; you have the blood of a true Huntress in you!"

Weiss gave a slightly bashful smile. "You really think so?"

"Most surely!" the teacher exclaimed. However, when Weiss' face fell and a small frown appeared, Port switched gears, his voice a bit softer. "But something's troubling you."

"Yes, sir," Weiss confirmed.

"Dear girl, confess to me your strife!"

"Well…" she hesitated. How could she put this? Might as well be direct. "I… I think I should have been the leader of Team RWBY."

There it was. She had laid her opinion out on the table. Port paused for a moment, as if thinking, and Weiss grew a hopeful smile.

"That's preposterous," the Huntsman said directly.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked the headmaster, confused.

Ozpin closed his eyes and gave a small shake of his head. "I mean, it's only been

one day. Ruby... I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them." The headmaster leaned in on his cane closer to her face. "Do you?"

"Excuse me?!" Weiss said in disbelief.

"I've believed in Professor Ozpin for many years," Port stated, "and the man's never once led me astray."

"So you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional I am?" Weiss demanded.

"With all due respect," Port replied in a measured voice, "your exceptional skill on the battlefield is only matched by your poor attitude."

Weiss jerked back as if she'd been slapped. "How dare you?!"

"My point exactly," the professor said. The comment drained the color from Weiss' face and halted the tirade that had been about to spill from her lips as she realized what he meant.

"I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted," Professor Port told her.

Defensively, Weiss crossed her arms and replied, "That's not even remotely true!"

Port looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

Weiss' posture slumped slightly. "Well, not entirely true…" she acceded.

"Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle," Ozpin told the young girl before him, "but a badge you wear constantly. "If you're not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?"

Ruby gave a small appreciative smile at the headmaster's encouragement.

Port fixed Weiss with a pointed stare. "So the outcome did not fall in your favor. Do you really believe that acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision?" Weiss, who had been looking down, met his eyes. "So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be."

Weiss considered the wisdom that had been presented to her and gave a small nod with a smile.

Ozpin turned away from the reaper. "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby," he said over his shoulder as he departed. I advise you take some time, to think about how you will uphold it."

Ruby watched as the headmaster turned the corner and disappeared, and then she turned around and continued walking to the exit, thinking hard about their conversation. As she walked by an open door, Ruby looked out and saw Weiss with her back to her leader, gazing at the sunset with a hand on her chin. Rather than call out to her, Ruby left her teammate to her own thoughts, the corner of her mouth turning upward in a tiny smile.

The door to Team RWBY's dorm swung open slowly and quietly, and Weiss walked into the room. Blake was in her bed, head on the pillow and body under the covers. Yang was similarly asleep, snoring quietly. Weiss walked over to her side of the room and lifted the blanket away that covered Ruby's bed. Weiss was momentarily surprised when she noticed that Ruby had fallen asleep on her open textbook with a pencil in her hand. Trying not to wake the other two, Weiss gently shook her leader.

Ruby came awake slowly, rubbing at her eyes, but then jumped up when she noticed Weiss standing next to her bed. "Weiss, I-I was studying and then I fell asleep; I'm sorry–"

Ruby was cut off as the heiress placed a hand over Ruby's mouth and put a finger to her own lips. Ruby quieted.

"How do you take your coffee?" Weiss asked, noticing a Beacon Academy mug on top of Blake's bookshelf.

Ruby, confused, fumbled for words. "I-I don't–"

"Answer the question!"

"Uh, cream and five sugars!" Ruby blurted out.

Weiss grabbed the mug. "Don't move." Her head sank under the bed, and a minute later, she reemerged with a steaming cup in her hand. "Here," she said as she handed it to the younger girl.

Ruby accepted it with an appreciative smile. "Umm… Thank's Weiss."

Weiss smiled back, until her mouth went down a bit in an apologetic frown. "Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader." She paused and smiled at the reaper. "Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have!" The girls smiled at each other, and Weiss stepped away from the bed. "Good luck studying!" she said softly before she ducked under, only to reemerge a moment later and point to a question on one of Ruby's sheets of paper. "That's wrong by the way!"

She went down again, and Ruby looked down at the cup of coffee in her hands.

"Hey Ruby?" Ruby looked over to the door, where Weiss had a hand on the handle.

"Uh huh?"

The heiress smiled. "I always wanted bunkbeds as a kid." She closed the door, and Ruby, with a smile on her face, went back to studying her notes.