Chapter 11: The Badge and The Burden(PT2)

Weiss, now back in her regular attire, readies her Myrtenaster at the growling creature in the cage barely seen at. Her teammates cheer her on from their seats in the front row.

"Goooo, Weiss!" Yang cheered, raising her fist.

Blake was waving a small flag saying 'RWBY'." Fight well!"

"Yeah, represent teeeeam RWBY!" Ruby cheered.

Weiss lowers her sword and looking over at her 'leader'." Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

"Oh, um...Sorry..." Ruby said, looking sheepish.

"Good luck, Miss Schnee!" Ilivane said from the third row."

"You, be silent!" Weiss yelled at him.

"Allllright!" Port, next to the cage, pulling out his axe." Let the match...begin!"

The professor swings down and breaks the lock, dropping the cage door and revealing the Boarbatusk inside, Which immediately charges at Weiss. She uses Myrtenaser to deflect its attack and roll to the side, readying herself for its next move. The Grimm stands a distance away from its enemy, studying her.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?"

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby cheered.

Weiss is now speeding towards the oncoming Boarbatusk, sticking her blade straight at its skull until they meet and Myrtenaster is trapped in the beast's tusks. Weiss is still hanging on to the hilt, and is tossed around as she struggles to get the rapier back

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

"Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby continued cheering.

Weiss turns to glare at Ruby, only for the Boarbatusk to turn its head and rip the sword from her grip. Myrtenaster lands far away from its master, who is knocked back by the creature's tusks.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do with out your weapon?" Port commented.

Weiss looks up just in time to see the Boarbatusk to charge again, rolling out of the way just in time to avoid getting trampled and make it crash into a desk. Weiss rushes at her sword and slides to get it back in her hand.

"Weiss!" Ruby called out to her." Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-

Weiss turns to Ruby." Stop telling me what to do!"

Ruby is hurt by Weiss' rebuttal. Meanwhile, the Boarbatusk leaps into the air and rolls into a ball, spinning rapidly in the air and landing on the ground, consistently gaining speed until it launches itself at Weiss. It comes closer and closer, but Weiss activates one of her blue-white circles and blocks the roll, leaping up into the now-black snowflake symbol and turning it blue again so she can drive the blade into the Boarbatusk's stomach. It squeals and falls silent while Weiss gasps in relief.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Port congratulates her, as Weiss stands up at attention from her exhausted position and Ruby continues to frown." I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and...stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss glares and turns away, walking hurriedly to the exit past her teammates.

"Sheesh, what's with her?" Jaune said, watching her leave.

The remaining members of team RWBY look at each other with the same question.

Weiss is still storming off, but Ruby turns a corner and manages to catch up with her.

"Weiss!"

Weiss turns around." What?"

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

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be a leader, and all you've ben so far is a nuisance!"

"(scoffs)What did I do?"

"That's just it-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." Weiss turns her back to Ruby, trying to reach out but dropping her hand with the following words." Ozpin made a mistake." Weiss walks away, as Ruby looks dejected.

"I..." Ruby reaches out to her, but puts her hand down. She looks down in shame." What if he did make a mistake..."

(Flashback)

Roman Torchwick and four of his henchmen head down an alley from the shadows. They stop behind Roman, who reignites his cigar without touching it and grins before walking down the road, frightening nearby citizens as they make their way towards the shop From Dust Till Dawn. Roman and his henchmen enter the shop.

The henchmen look around and at the Dust crystals in the display, as Roman approaches the elderly shopkeeper.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" Roman asked, flicking his cigar.

One of the henchmen points his gun at the shopkeeper.

"P-please! Just take the Lien and leave!" The shopkeeper said, raising his hands.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, calm down, we're not here for your money. Roman turns to the henchmen." Grab the Dust."

A henchmen opens a case and removes one of several cylinders, which the group uses to take Dust from the tube containers on the walls. The henchmen places another open case on display to the shopkeeper." Crystals. Burn. Uncut."

The shopkeeper proceeds to fill the case. As another henchmen goes for another tube, he hears the muted This Will be the Day song from the direction of a young girl wearing a red cloak in the corner of the shop, reading a weapons magazine.

"Alright kid, put your hands where I can see 'em." Henchmen 2 said, pointing his sword at her back. The girl didn't respond." Hey, I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or something!?"

He goes over to her and turns her around, dropping the hood to reveal a surprised Ruby, wearing headphones. He motions for her to lower them.

"Yes?" Ruby asked, doing so.

"I said, put your hands in the air, now!"

"Are you... robbing me?"

"Yes!"

"Ooohhh..."

Roman is waiting for his men to finish the heist when a "Hey!" and "Hiyah!" are heard, and the threatening henchmen flies past him. Roman calmly motions for another to handle Ruby.

"Freeze!" He said, raising his gun at her.

Outside the shop, Ruby and the henchmen come crashing through the window. The other men look outside as Ruby gets up and unfolds Crescent Rose into its scythe form. Roman scowls, but Ruby smiles back at them before twirling the weapon around, striking it into the ground and turning off her headphones.

"Okayyy..." Roman turns to his remaining henchmen." Get her!"

The henchmen head out of the shop and run at Ruby, who spins around her scythe and kicks the first approaching criminal in the face. She gets Crescent Rose out of the ground and fires it off to hit another one with the butt of her weapon, sending him flying. She fires again and brings the side down on one attacker and dodges the next's gunfire with her rifle's speed, getting close enough to knock him into the air and follow him upwards so she can beat him away to Roman's feet.

"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were." Roman said, to Ruby, dropping his cigar and crushing it with his cane as approaching police sirens are heard." Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around..." He raises his cane and opens the bottom to reveal a rifle with a cross grid."...I'm afraid this is where we part ways.

Roman unleashes a red blast at Ruby, who fires at the ground and leaps over it. When she lands and looks up, Roman isn't there, and is climbing up a ladder on a nearby building.

"You okay if I go after him?" Ruby asked the on looking shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper gives a short " Uh huh", and Ruby sets off.

Roman makes it to the roof, with Ruby high-flying again and landing right behind him.

"Hey!"

"Persistent..." Roman said, stopping at the edge.

Ruby readies to fight him, but a getaway Bullhead rises up and opens the hatch to allow Roman inside.

He turns around and holds up a red Dust gem." End of the line, Red."

He throws it out at her feet and fires at her, resulting in a large explosion.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho!" Roman stops laughing when he see something on the roof." Huh?"

A woman in a purple cape stood in front of Ruby, casting a circle of protection over them with her wand. As Ruby looks on, Glynda Goodwitch waves her weapon and summons several streaks of purple at the craft. Roman is thrown around in the back until he goes to the cockpit, where a woman in red, her face unseen, is struggling with the controls.

"We got a Huntress!"

The woman gets up and heads towards the back as Roman takes the controls.

Glynda glows purple for a moment and aims another blast above the craft, resulting in a dark storm-cloud right over the jet.

"The hell...?"

With a flick of her wand, large jagged hail starts falling that pummels the jet and even breaks through the window, narrowly missing Roman's head.

The woman reaches the back and her arms and chest light up like fire, aiming a burst of energy at Glynda, The Huntress blocks it, but the flame splatters behind her and glows hot with the enemy's raised hand.

Glynda back-flips out of the explosion, which destroys part of the roof, and magically gathers the shards to create a large arrow, which she throws at the craft, The fiery woman shatters the arrow with several blasts, but it reforms just in time to hit the side of the jet due to Roman's quick aerial lean. The wreckage separates and reshapes into more arrows that encircle the jet, but the woman summons several glowing rings around herself that expand and destroy the shards.

Ruby, finally acting, reverts her scythe into its rifle form to fire at the woman, who blocks each shot and creates several blazing circles around her two opponents. Glynda telekinetically pushes Ruby and rolls herself out of the explosion's radius; looking up to see the hatch close and the craft fly away.

Ruby looks at Glynda." You're a Huntress!" She puts on a pleading, awe-stricken face." Can I have your autograph?!"

Ruby's amazed face soon turns into one of shame as Glynda, with a tablet computer, paces around the table Ruby is seated at, right underneath a bright light in the otherwise dark room.

"I hope that you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger." Glynda said.

"They started it!"

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home... with a pat on the back..." She notices Ruby's smile."... And a slap on the wrist." Glynda demonstrates with her wand, which Ruby avoids as she gives out an 'Eeek!'." But... there is someone here who would like to meet you."

She moves out of the way so a surprised Ruby can see a man in green come through the doorway, holding a mug and a plate of cookies.

"Ruby Rose..." The man leaned in to look at her face." You... have silver eyes."

"Uh, um..."

"So! Where did you learn to do this?" He gestures with his head at the tablet showing Ruby's fighting.

"S-Signal Academy."

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"

"Well, one teacher in particular."

"I see..."

He puts the cookies on the tablet in front of Ruby. She tentatively picks one up, eats it in a single bite, and then, not seeing any rebuttal, shovels the rest into her mouth.

"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty, old crow..."

"Oh! That's my uncle!" Ruby said, mumbling through her full mouth. She swallows and wipes her mouth, embarrassed." Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like-Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!" She proceeds to make some karate-style poses and noises.

"So I've noticed." He places his cup on the table as he leans in, then sits down opposite Ruby." And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well... I want to be a Huntress."

"You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon!" She begins to talk faster and faster with her enthusiasm growing." You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress' cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it!" Ruby giggles." I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!" She flips out at the last part, staring at the two with a wide, crazy smile.

Glynda and Ozpin study her.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon."

"Hello." Ozpin said, smiling.

"Nice to meet you."

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

Ozpin exchanges a glance with Glynda, who shows her disapproval with a 'Hmmph' before he turns back to Ruby." Well, okay."

Ruby smiles, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

Hero:" Ruby?"

(Flashback Ends)

Ruby snaps out of her flashback, and turns to see Hero." Are you okay?" He asked.

"Uh...Y-Yeah..."

Hero looked at her closely." Are you sure?"

"...Do you think...It was a mistake? Me, being the leader of Team RWBY?"

Hero looks at her."...Nope."

(Balcony.)

Weiss is still walking around the halls until she comes across a balcony where Professor Port is watching the sunset over Beacon Academy's rooftops.

"Professor Port!" Weiss said, approaching him.

He turns to look at her." Ah, Miss Schnee! And to what do i owe this fine pleasure?"

"I...I enjoyed your lecture!"

"Of course you did, child; you have the blood of a true huntress in you."

"You really think so?" Weiss said, smiling.

"Most surely!" He notices Weiss' small frown and lack of eye contact." Hmm...Something's troubling you."

"Yes, sir...?"

"Dear girl, confess to me your strife!"

"Well...I-I think i should have been the leader of team RWBY!"

Port is silent for a moment until he speaks." That's preposterous!"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked Hero.

"Ruby...It's only been one day. I'm just like you, i'm also questioning why i was made the leader of team HIRO, but i think you make a great leader." He looked at her closely, still seeing her a little unconvinced, he finally thought of something." Hey, follow me! There's something i want to show you!"

Ruby looked at him in confusion, but followed him. The two leave, not knowing that Ozpin was watching them, smiling, he leaves.

"Excuse me?!" Weiss said, now getting angry.

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

"So, you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional i am?"

"With all due respect, your exceptional skill on the battlefield is matched only by your poor attitude."

"How dare you!" Weiss was seething now.

"My point exactly. I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted."

"That's not remotely true!" She said, crossing her arms, looking defiant. Under the teacher's gaze, she reluctantly relents." Well...not entirely true.

(Team HIRO's room.)

Hero took Ruby back to his dorm room and showed her the inside." What do you think?" He asked her.

"Nice! You guys really got room decorated." She then saw their beds." Ah! You made bunk beds, too?!"

"Well... yeah." Hero said, embarrassed." I thought it was a cool idea."

"That's awesome! We have bunk beds in our room as well!"

"Hehehe...I suggested the idea to the guys, and they liked it, so we worked on the beds all morning."

Riku's bed was normal, but only his Katana was mounted on the wall, next to it. Ilivane's bed was on the right, with several history and strategy books on a small night stand. Oliver's was above Ilivane's, it had a poster on the wall entitled: 'GRAY VS YELLOW' on the wall, with a guitar on his bed. Hero's bed was above Riku's, His bed was also normal, and there was his Blue Wave, also on a wall stand. Both beds were screwed together.

"You guys look a little more organized than us."

"Hehehe...There was always a saying my master said. He always said:'Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, 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?' I think it was something like that."

Ruby takes the words to thought, then smiles at Hero.

"So the outcome did not fall in your favor. Do you really believe that acting in such manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision?" Port tells Weiss, as she finally calms down and looks at him again." 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 smiles a little at the words of wisdom.

"I guess...What i'm trying to say is that...We are the leaders of our teams, It's a hard responsibility, but i think we can get through it!" Hero said to her.

"Yeah!" The two share a smile." Well...gotta go!" She turns and heads for the door." Thanks for the advice!" She leaves.

As soon as she leaves, Hero becomes sad, and sits down."(sighs)Practice what you preach, Hero..."

Ruby goes to the balcony where Port is walking away from Weiss and smiles a little at her partner.

The full moon shines over the green lights of Beacon, and in the room of team RWBY, the door opens and Weiss comes in. Blake is sleeping under the covers, Yang is spread out on her bed and snoring, and when Weiss lifts the blanket of Ruby's tent, she finds the occupant with her head resting on notes, a pencil in her hand, and open books all around her. Weiss, looking amazed at Ruby's determination, clears her throat and gently shakes the other girl awake, who takes a second to regain consciousness and start flailing in surprise'.

"Weiss! I-I was studying, and then i fell asleep! I'm sorry..." Ruby tried to explain in a hurry.

Weiss places a hand over Ruby's mouth and puts a finger to her own so Ruby understands the need for lowering her voice. Weiss looks near Ruby's pillow and spots an empty Beacon coffee mug.

Weiss lowers her hand." How do you take your coffee?"

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

"Answer the question!" Weiss asked, getting irritated.

"Uhh, cream and five sugars!"

"(sighs)Don't move." She dunks under to her own bed and comes up a moment later with a fresh cup, offering it to Ruby." Here."

"Um...Thanks, Weiss."

Weiss smiles, then looks apologetic." Ruby, i think you have what it takes to be a good leader." Ruby smiles appreciatively." Just know that i am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have!" They share a smile." Good luck studying!" She ducks under again, and her voice comes from the doorway this time." Hey, Ruby?"

"Uh-huh?"

Weiss stands in the door with her hand on the knob." I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." She starts to close the door.

Ruby, grinning at the progress with her friend, goes back to her notes.

And that's another chapter! This arc was short, and it mostly centered on Ruby and Weiss, but the story must go on!

So, as you all can see, I added the origin of how Ruby meet Ozpin, and how she ended up becoming a student at Beacon. You all may say that it may be pointless, just like the trailers, however, this is a story I had to put in, because it is important to Ruby's story.

Next Arc is one that a lot of fans really don't like. But like i said, the story must go on!

Anyway, comment and let me know what you think. Until then...Keep moving forward!