Sooooooooo this is late. Sorry about that. I know technically I don't have like... a solid schedule on any of my stuff, but it definitely *feels* late to me.

Life's been a bit difficult offline but that's pretty on par for this year so far. Good news is, I have a job now, so hopefully that'll help cut down on some of my anxiety so I can focus on my writing! I've been feeling in a better mood so hopefully I'll be able to write at a more consistent pace and get more chapters of everything out, Legacy and Hereditary are both super important to me and I want to continue them, too!

I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter, I enjoyed writing it a lot! Please leave comments and stuff to help fuel me with some extra endorphins!

Not many people would suspect it, but Ruby was actually something of a morning person. It wasn't to say that she really enjoyed waking up early, but she was rather good at it, even when she didn't want to. That was the case this morning, as she checked her scroll and found that it wasn't quite six o'clock.

With a reluctant sigh, Ruby climbed out of her bed, looking around her team's dorm as she stretched her arms. Weiss was still conked out, that was no surprise whatsoever at all, she certainly had the air of someone who valued beauty sleep. Ren was sleeping as well, but what Ruby hadn't expected was that Nora was awake.

The shorter girl was sitting on her bed, reading a book in her lap, though when she looked up towards where Ren was sleeping, she noticed that Ruby had woken up as well. "Good morning, Ruby!"

"H-Hey, Nora." Ruby bumbled out, a bit surprised by how loud her teammate was in greeting her, but thankfully neither Ren or Weiss were stirred by Nora's volume. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm good!" Nora replied with a wide smile. "I just needed to go over some of this stuff again, Ren and I didn't really have the luxury of attending a fancy school before this, so I wanted to take a crack at some of this stuff Professor Goodwitch gave us."

"You and Ren didn't attend a combat school?" Ruby asked, silently filing away the fact that she probably needed to ask Professor Goodwitch for some material to help get her caught up as well.

"The only combat school we attended was the school of hard knocks!" Nora exclaimed cheerfully, though at Ruby's blank expression she seemed to realize that she didn't understand what that meant. "Ren and I didn't really have anyone else, and we couldn't afford to attend a combat school, so we've got training but it's not from anything official."

"Oh." Ruby hadn't really expected that people who wanted to be Huntsmen and Huntresses might not be able to attend combat schools elsewhere. She knew that Vale provided it freely to anyone who wanted to attend, some provision of the Last King back when the Academies were first founded, but she had admittedly lacking understanding of how it was handled beyond the Kingdom of Vale. "I think it's really cool that you guys are here, I'll do my best to help out if I can!"

"Nah, that's okay, Ruby, I don't think it'll be a problem!" Nora waved a hand dismissively, before her warm smile turned somewhat mischievous. "So what're you doing up so early today?"

"Me?" Ruby squeaked, not expecting the playful tone in her teammate's voice. "I, uh, I'm up a little earlier than I planned, but I was going to go train a bit… I'm here two years early, s-so I want to make sure that I can keep up with all of our classmates."

That last part wasn't entirely true. She did want to train herself to keep up with everyone, but that wasn't why she was really awake, no, she was awake to make sure that she could start training Jaune. Her dad was a teacher, so surely it shouldn't be that hard to train her best friend in the basics, even if she wasn't sure she could give much help in the more complex parts of developing his combat style.

"Oh, that's a good idea!" Nora agreed with a wide, genuine smile that Ruby couldn't help but feel a little more at ease after seeing. "I hadn't thought about that, but it sounds like you're behind just like us, so maybe you and me and Ren can all figure something out once we have an idea of what we're missing."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, Nora, thanks." Ruby gave a warm smile of her own, before grabbing pants and a t-shirt to work in. As comfy as they were, trying to exercise in her pajamas would probably harm them too much to be worth it. Huntress workouts could be rough on unprepared clothes, thanks to the boost Aura gave to everyone's physical capabilities. "See you later this morning for breakfast!"

"Have fun!"

"Thanks!" Ruby called back quietly, before slipping through the door and into the hallway. She wanted to be quiet, as she didn't want to wake up anyone who was still sleeping. Well, anyone still sleeping who wasn't her best friend. Walking up to Team JNBY's door, Ruby hesitated for a moment before giving a swift two knocks.

A minute passed by, and Ruby was beginning to worry that Jaune had overslept, before she heard a loud thud from inside, followed by voices she couldn't quite make out. Another minute passed, and the door finally opened, Jaune looking out at Ruby with a rather flustered red hue to his cheeks. "H-Hey Ruby. Time to go?"

"Yeah. Come on." Ruby nodded, beckoning that he follow as she led the way out of the dorms. It was a short, uncomfortably silent walk to the lockers that were attached to the auditorium where combat classes were scheduled to be held three times a week, and finally Ruby felt too awkward to let it continue. "So, um, how has your morning been so far?"

"Oh, you know, it's been a uh… a lot." Jaune sheepishly chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Yang heard me wake up and uh… decided to tease me a bit."

"What was she teasing about this time?" Ruby asked, knowing all too well how Yang could tease. She never went too far with it intentionally, but it could be rather embarrassing.

"Oh, um…" Jaune took an unusually red shade, almost the same as her cloak, and she gave an empathetic pat on her friend's arm. "Yeah… It was just a lot more than I was expecting. She seemed to let up when I told her you were going to help me train. I… I think she probably guessed that I'm not exactly caught up yet, either."

"Well, I guess I'm glad she didn't give you any real trouble about it." Ruby said, offering him a warm smile that he was quick to return. "For this morning, I want to just work on your cardio. Being able to last a long time running is really important for Huntsmen and Huntresses, we won't always have work in places that are easy to access, so good endurance is key. Let's get changed and then come meet me outside the lockers in… five minutes!"

"Right, um… okay!"

Ruby was quick to change, something that was helped by her semblance. It was always easy to change when she could move in such a blur, even if she wasn't going so fast as to leave any petals behind. It wasn't like getting on some workout clothes was anywhere as complicated as her Huntress attire, too, so that definitely helped.

Soon enough, Jaune joined her outside of the locker, wearing his usual jeans and hoodie combo, Pumpkin Pete smiling proudly on his chest. With a brow raised, Ruby gave a lighthearted chuckle. "You're going to just wear that?"

"Uh, yeah…" He gave a sheepish grimace. "I, uh, didn't exactly bring a lot of spare clothes."

"You dope!" Ruby teased, giving her friend a gentle punch to the arm, not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to earn a playful pout. "We'll have to get that fixed when we get to the weekend. Having good workout clothes is super duper important!"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Jaune ducked his head in embarrassment. Ruby guessed that maybe he didn't have a great idea of how to exercise properly because of how his dad had reacted whenever Jaune made an effort to become a Huntsman. "Thanks, Ruby."

"Anytime, Jaune."

"Right, um, how do we start?" Jaune asked, chuckling nervously. "We're just running, right?"

"Yeah, but we should do some stretches first!" Ruby cautioned enthusiastically, even if she was mostly reminding herself. She didn't usually bother with stretches because of how often she was running around, but she figured it was a good habit to get back into. "We have to keep limber so we don't get a nasty cramp and stuff."

"Yeah, okay. Are there any in particular I need to do?" Jaune replied hesitantly.

"Yeah, just follow along!" Ruby could feel his eyes locked on her as she stretched her arms and legs, obviously trying to repeat her movements for his own stretching, though by the pain grumble, he couldn't quite achieve the same flexibility she had in her legs. "Ready?"

Ruby began the job around campus, Jaune following behind. She made sure to move just a little faster than her friend, not out of any sense of pride but rather to encourage him to try running faster without feeling helplessly outclassed. They finished by seven o'clock, and had run about four miles in total in the fifty minutes they'd taken. It wasn't terrible by any means, but nowhere near where Ruby wanted to get Jaune. Even without her semblance a mile in twelve minutes was easy, so she wanted to get Jaune to six or seven miles in fifty minutes.

As they arrived back at their dorms, Ruby gave him a quick one armed hug before they split up to get ready for the rest of the day. All in all, things had gone pretty well, it could have been better, sure, but it also could've been a lot worse, she only hoped that Yang wasn't too hard on Jaune.

Ah well, Ruby was sure the rest of the day wouldn't be too bad.

Breakfast was nice enough, Ruby had grabbed a bowl and filled it to the brim with strawberries, accompanied by a small carton of milk. Ren and Nora joined her, the latter's plate filled to the brim with pancakes and doused in syrup, but Weiss had elected not to join their table. Jaune and the rest of Team JNBY sat beside them all, Yang and Jaune near Ruby while Pyrrha and Blake sat on the other side of the table with Ren and Nora.

It was mostly a muted affair, aside from the occasional quiet conversation, but Ruby noticed her sister continued to have a mischievous look to her eye, so there was an impending feeling of doom knowing that Yang had something planned, and it followed them all the way to the first class of the day.

After breakfast, they returned to their dorm rooms to get their things for class, and wound up almost being late to class after getting distracted trying to order the room. If anything, it was Weiss' fault for having so much stuff, but gosh forbid Ruby try to actually tell her partner that.

They finally made it to class with barely seconds to spare, and Ruby rushed to grab the first free seat she could, right beside Jaune. Weird that things had worked out so that she could sit next to them, but she had a feeling it was somehow Yang's fault. Oh well, she couldn't complain, so if this was her sister's idea of teasing her more, then she could ignore it easy enough. Her partner was next to her on her left, sitting at the end of that particular row of seats, while Ren and Nora were at the desk behind them, next to Yang and Blake.

"So, um, which class is this again?" Jaune leaned over to ask Ruby, ducking his head a little in embarrassment at the question. Ruby couldn't exactly blame him for not remembering, they hadn't gotten a lot of time to go over the schedules before classes, considering they'd only been assigned their teams a day ago.

"Grimm Studies, with Professor Port!" Ruby chirped cheerfully. She knew the professor from whenever he would visit her dad, though it had been a few years since he had last come to Patch. He always would try to convince her dad to get back to taking missions, but to no success. He was nice, if a bit boisterous, but Ruby was curious to see how a class taught by him would be.

Jaune opened his mouth to ask another question, but Weiss rather loudly shushed them both as the stout teacher took his place in the class with a cheery laugh. "If everyone has joined us, it's time to start!" The professor announced, "As I'm sure many of you recognize such a distinguished Huntsman, I am Professor Peter Port, and I'll be leading you in the pursuit of Grimm Studies!"

Unsurprisingly, most of the class didn't seem to recognize him, even as Ruby joined her sister in offering a polite wave to their father's friend. Professor Port had been teaching at Beacon since their parents went to the Academy some twenty five or so years ago, when he was an assistant to the previous Grimm Studies professor.

Professor Port looked at the passive audience of students, before a moment of silence passed and he began speaking again. "Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night!" He exclaimed as he paced behind his desk at the center of the room. "Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

No one seemed particularly roused by his words. In fact, even Ruby found herself with a growing disinterest. It was sort of sad, she'd hoped that he'd be a great teacher after how much her dad had talked up how great his lessons were back when Team STRQ was attending Beacon, but it seemed like Uncle Qrow had the right of things again when it came to this stuff.

Looking over to her partner, Ruby was surprised to see that Weiss was attentive as one could possibly be, a notebook and pen at the ready to take notes of the upcoming lesson.

"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy!" Professor Port attempted a save, but it didn't really land, the majority of the students in the class continuing to look rather disinterested in what he was saying. Ruby was pretty confident in her skills against Grimm in general, but she did spot some diagrams at the end of the room near the whiteboard that actually looked useful. She'd have to take a closer look next time.

Professor Port continued chattering on, meanwhile Ruby found herself doing anything other than focusing on his speech, which had devolved into a story about how great he was. It was just… really boring, and had something to do with cabbages? Eventually, about halfway through Ruby's second sketch of herself atop a pile of dissolving Grimm, the professor cleared his throat loudly, and with a nervous squeak she joined the rest of the class in focusing on him.

"Ahem!" Professor Port stood proud in front of his desk, burly chest puffed out and chin held high. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to the village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

Ruby could understand wanting to tell a good story, heck, she'd enjoyed more than a few the times Professor Port had babysat for her dad during the more difficult times of her childhood when Uncle Qrow was absent and her dad wasn't recovered yet. Still… Professor Port's stories just weren't great for learning, in her opinion, she struggled to find motivation to follow along with his braggadocious words.

"The moral of the story?" Professor Port asked, no one in particular looking to actually know. "A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

The professor looked across the classroom, brow furrowed in contemplation. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do, sir!" Ruby almost let out a surprised squeak at how loud her partner was as the Atlesian shot up like a bullet, arm raised rigidly. She wasn't sure what to think of her partner's eagerness, she definitely understood wanting to be a Huntress with enthusiasm but the way Weiss acted had a weird edge to it she couldn't quite figure out.

"Well then, let's find out!" Professor Port chuckled, approaching the oddly missable cage will telltale glowing red eyes looming from within. "Get into your Huntress attire, Miss Schnee, and be ready to face your opponent when you return!"

"Welcome back, Miss Schnee!" Professor Port announced as soon as Ruby's partner returned to the class, now donning her white dress, her weapon at her side. Professor Port took his weapon, Blowhard, if Ruby recalled correctly from the last time she'd heard its name, off of the wall, before standing beside the caged Grimm, which was still obscured from view of the class.

As Weiss stepped into the center of the classroom, drawing her blade, Nora let out a loud cheer, while Ren gave a single confident nod. Looking at her other two teammates, Ruby smiled and gave a small nod. Even if Weiss was being a bit frosty towards her, they were all teammates now, and she wanted to support her. Heck, that was probably the best way to become friends with her! "You can do this, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully. "Represent Team Roseland!"

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" The redhead shrank away at how annoyed her partner sounded saying her name, Weiss lowering her blade to look over at her with a rather fierce scowl. It reminded Ruby a little of how her dad would look at Uncle Qrow sometimes, and that wasn't a good thing.

Ruby ducked her head sheepishly, trying to not feel hurt by how Weiss had snapped at her. The Atlesian was right, she shouldn't have shouted like that, she needed to focus on the approaching test and not on Ruby being a bad partner who distracted her. Professor Port's brow furrowed slightly at the exchange, but he made no comment, instead letting out a loud cheer of his own. "Alright, Miss Schnee! Let the match begin!"

With that, he brought down his weapon on the cage's lock, before stepping to the side swiftly as the captive Grimm burst out, honing in on Weiss. Ruby recognized it immediately as a Boarbatusk, a rather hardy Grimm that was mostly seen in the Kingdom of Vale's territory, though occasionally they would be sighted on Anima.

They were sometimes seen on Patch, she recalled seeing her dad kill one during one of Signal's excursions into the less settled parts of the island. He had grabbed it by the tusks as it charged, flipping it onto its back before bringing down one of his axes onto its underbelly, which had remained relatively unarmored compared to the rest of it.

Ruby watched as the fight between her partner and the Boarbatusk unfolded, wishing she could actually help. Weiss did her best to block the Grimm's initial attack, deflecting the Boarbatusk's charge with her sword before rolling to the side. As Professor Port gave another hearty laugh, Ruby bit back the urge to call out to encourage Weiss, as her partner charged at it.

"Go Weiss!" Nora gleefully cheered from her seat, while Ren remained mostly passive aside from a subtle nod of support.

"Oh no," Ruby mumbled quietly as Weiss' attack backfired, her weapon getting caught between the Grimm's tusks. As her partner struggled to get her weapon free, Ruby decided that maybe a little encouragement might help. "Come on Weiss, you can do it!"

Weiss could not, in fact, "do it." Instead, she was shook free from her weapon and thrown to the ground, while the sword was sent the opposite direction. Standing up, she shot a severe glare Ruby's way before diving for her sword. The Boarbatusk made another charge, Weiss using a glyph to send herself backwards to dodge it, only to get caught by the professor's desk. Thinking back at what she remembered from watching her father fight one of them, Ruby realized the Grimm's weakness and shouted it out for her partner.

"Weiss! Go for its belly!" She exclaimed, shifting up from her chair slightly as the Boarbatusk began steadying itself after its latest attack. "There's no armor!"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss snapped back, before turning her focus back on the battle. Ruby was hurt, but her partner did do as instructed, flipping the creature with a glyph before impaling its stomach. The Boarbatusk let out a pained squeal as it went rigid, before its body slacked and it began to fade into the air, Weiss pulling back her blade and wiping her brow.

"Bravo! Excellent job, Miss Schnee! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Weiss went rigid at Professor Port's words, standing at attention as though she was some sort of soldier, the only emotion she showed the prideful smirk on her lips. "It looks as though that's all the time we have for today's class. Everyone give Miss Schnee a round of applause for the excellent demonstration!"

The students gave a rather halfhearted applause, many seeming particularly disinterested in the whole affair, though Ruby gave it her all, as did Ren and Nora. Weiss didn't look particularly pleased with how the spectacle was treated so lackadaisical by her classmates, though Professor Port was content with the ordeal, giving a hearty chuckle as people began getting up and grabbing their things for the next class.

"Great job Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, running up to her partner to cheer her on, only for any enthusiasm she had withering away as the Atlesian shot her a severe glare. "Weiss?"

"Don't ever do that in front of the class again!" Weiss snapped, giving Ruby a hard poke in the chest to emphasize what she'd said. "I am fine without your help! Being a distraction like that could get someone hurt in the field!"

"Weiss…" Ruby's shoulders shrank slightly, her expression falling. The idea that she could've gotten someone hurt on a mission was more than a little distressing, despite her best efforts to dismiss what the Atlesian said. "What's wrong, why are you so angry?"

"Why am I what ?" Weiss' volume raised as she prodded Ruby once more, leaning closer as she glared into her silver eyes. "Why am I angry? Maybe because I'm stuck dealing with you for a leader for the next four years, when all you've done is be a nuisance!"

"What did I do?" She tried to contest what Weiss was saying, but there was a lack of conviction to her voice.

"That's just the problem! You've done nothing to earn your position!" Weiss shouted, drawing looks of concern from the rest of their team and Team JNBY. "Back in the forest, you were acting like a child, and you've shown no inclination towards changing that behavior now!"

"Weiss, where is this coming from?" Ruby asked, her voice barely a whisper now. She hadn't asked to be made leader, but she'd hoped that Weiss would still be okay with being her partner despite the surprise. "I thought you said we were going to work together. How can we be a team if you won't work with me?"

"Not on a team led by you ." Weiss stated, sneering at Ruby. "I've studied and trained for years to lead, and you're just some child from the backwoods of Vale with no experience! I deserved to lead this team, not you."

With that, Weiss stalked off, pushing past Yang before the blonde could try to speak up in defense of her sister. Jaune frowned, looking at Weiss as she departed. "Sheesh, what's wrong with her?"

Ruby wilted where she stood, shrinking back into her cloak as best she could, gripping the ends tightly as she pulled it as closed as it could get. Weiss stalked off, but Ruby wasn't sure she had it in her to chase after now. If anything, she wanted to just run back to her dorm room so she could cry.

Sinking down to the floor, Ruby hugged her knees, shutting her eyes as she slowly breathed in and out. When she felt arms wrap around her, she expected it to be Yang or Jaune, but opening her eyes, she was shocked to see Nora hugging her, a gentle smile on the shorter redhead's face.

"Hey, um, I don't know why Weiss is acting like this, but… I think you're going to be a good leader, Ruby." Nora said softly, reassuring Ruby as best she could. "Don't listen to her, she's just got a stick in her- she's just a stick in the mud."

"Thanks, Nora." Ruby replied quietly, only able to manage a halfhearted smile. "We… We should get going to our next class."

Unfortunately, Weiss refused to sit with the rest of the team for the remainder of the day, and as Professor Peach finished up with explaining her plans for the year's lessons, Ruby found herself reluctant to go to the cafeteria for dinner with Ren and Nora, instead lingering in the gardens that the Professor's class was held in.

The others had tried to get her to come along, but she gave a silent refusal, and Yang and Jaune's experience with her in the past was helpful in having them encourage the others to just give her some time. Even if she wasn't on their team, Ruby was grateful to have her sister and best friend able to be there to help out when she needed space.

Sitting alone on a bench, Ruby took slow breaths in and out, trying not to focus on the growing doubts she'd been experiencing all day. It was nice, knowing that Ren and Nora both had faith in her, but Weiss' absolute lack of it cut deep.

"Is this seat taken?" Ruby nearly fell out of the bench as she jumped in surprise at hearing Professor Ozpin's voice, letting out a startled squawk as she looked up at him and shook her head sheepishly. Apparently, he found it somewhat amusing, the headmaster chuckling lightly as he sat down beside her. "Thank you. I couldn't help but notice something seems to be wrong, do you have a problem, Ruby?"

"I… It's complicated." Ruby mumbled, looking towards the ground as her hands instinctively went for her cloak, grabbing it tightly.

"Well, this may be a bit of a surprise, but running Beacon Academy has also been known to be complicated from time to time." Professor Ozpin replied with a hint of mirth to his voice. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, Ruby, but I am willing to listen while I am here."

She frowned slightly, trying to think it over in her head. This was like a once in a lifetime opportunity, having a chance to speak one on one with the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. If he was offering, she should accept, darn it!

"I'm… Why did you make me the leader of Team Roseland?" She asked, looking up towards Professor Ozpin. "I… Weiss is older than me, smarter than me, she's trained for leadership all her life, I'm just… I'm some kid who managed to get lucky and get into Beacon early. Did… Did you make a mistake, choosing me as leader?"

"Well, I suppose that remains to be seen." Professor Ozpin gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders at her question, taking a sip of cocoa from his mug (did he always have that on him?).

"What do you mean?"

"Ruby, it's only been one day." Professor Ozpin said with a chuckle. It didn't come across mean, though, like he was dismissing her or anything, rather, a little fond, as if he was remembering something from long ago. "I have made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on Remnant, but I do not consider your placement as leader of Team Roseland to be one of them at this time. Do you?"

Ruby almost replied, but paused, her brow furrowing at his question. For a second, she thought the idea that he had made so many mistakes to be odd, but then she considered how from his position, every life lost to the Grimm might feel in some way his fault, even if that wasn't really fair. "I-I don't know, sir. I… I don't have the same experience Weiss does, or even Ren and Nora. I-I'm two years behind the other students, but… I don't want to give up, just because I'm at a disadvantage."

"That's the spirit," Professor Ozpin replied with the slightest hint of a smile on his face, before his expression grew more serious. "Ruby, being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle. It is a badge you wear constantly, and one you must consider always. One is not simply a leader by strength or merit alone, but by the inspiration they give others."

"A strong man might command the respect of a few peers, but only a true leader can inspire her comrades to fight on when the odds seem truly hopeless." Professor Ozpin continued, his tone sinking into something slightly remorseful, though Ruby wasn't sure why. "I have burdened you with a terrible responsibility, Ruby, and it was not something I did so lightly. You must perform at your absolute best to uphold it, but I have faith you will succeed just as Summer did."

"My mom?" Ruby barely managed to squeak out, eyes widening a little at the mention of her long absent mother.

"There is the saying that "Mistral wasn't built in a day," and the same is true of any great leader." The Headmaster said, a weight to his words that made him seem many years older than a man in his mid forties. "When Summer came to Beacon, she was no more an excellent leader than you are today, it was only with time and effort that she became the Huntress that she could be, and the same is true of you, Ruby. If you are willing to put in the effort, I'm sure that you will be just as excellent of a leader for Team Roseland as she was for Team Stark."

"Thank you, sir." Ruby said quietly, as Professor Ozpin stood up and offered her a slight smile. "I'll be sure to live up to your faith."

"Don't live up to my faith, Ruby." He shook his head slowly, earning a confused look from the girl. "Live up to Summer's legacy, and you'll do just fine."

As the professor departed, Ruby's expression became serious, brow furrowing as she pondered what to do, before recalling her discussion with Nora earlier in the day. A confident smile on her face, she stood up, knowing what she needed to do. It wasn't about just appeasing Weiss, she had to do what was best for the team as a whole, just like her mother would have.

Weiss was, in a word, furious. Furious that she was stuck partnered with a child. Furious that her other two teammates seemed to have a lack of any sense of respect for her, and hardly any manners at all in the case of Nora. Furious that Ruby was the leader of their team and not her. Honestly, the very thought of appointing that brat as leader instead of herself was outrageous.

She was Weiss Schnee , how in Dust's sake could that little girl from the middle of nowhere compare to her? Surely there had to be some sort of favoritism at work here, some sort of improper action to explain how the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company was not the leader of her team, let alone supposed to be subservient to a child . Whitley was only a year younger than her partner, and the very thought of him being able to boss her around was nauseating.

She had eaten without the rest of her team, who were no doubt fretting about trying to cheer up their younger member. Admittedly, with how satisfied her father seemed whenever he talked down to people, Weiss had expected some sort of satisfaction with how she'd spoken to her partner, but deep down she couldn't deny she found no joy in how Ruby seemed to wither away at her comments earlier in the day.

Weiss had to tell herself again that she was just doing the proper thing, Ruby wasn't equipped to be a leader and it was wrong to have her as one, so that was why she had to act that way. She wasn't acting like her father, she was just… doing something similar to him. That was it.

"Professor Port!" Spotting the professor on a balcony overlooking the campus, Weiss picked up her pace, seeking affirmation in her beliefs that Ruby wasn't ready to be a leader.

"Ah, Miss Schnee, to what do I owe this… fine pleasure?" The stout man asked, turning to look at her with a brow raised.

"I, um, I enjoyed your lecture!" She sputtered out, not sure how to go about getting to the topic she wanted.

"Ha ha! Of course you did, child!" Weiss wasn't too keen on being called a child, but given the professor's age, she was willing to let it pass by without retort. To him, most of the staff at the academy must seem children, after all. It was a rare honor to have a Huntsman who lived such a prodigious life. "You are the granddaughter of Nicholas Schnee, after all, and he was indeed a true Huntsman."

"Thank you, sir." Weiss perked up at the mention of her grandfather, holding herself as high as she might without appearing improper. She was proud that the professor saw a resemblance between herself and her grandfather, and it could work well as a segway into what she actually wished to speak about. "Professor Port… I must confess, I feel as though my placement on Team Roseland was a mistake."

"That's preposterous!" The older man let out a rowdy laugh, completely unphased by the offended look Weiss gave him at the hearty denial he gave. "In all my years believing in Professor Ozpin, he has never once led me astray! What could possibly have led you to believe that was the case now?"

"You would just-" Weiss caught herself before she said anything too harshly, the shot of pain as she pinched her leg forcing her to stop and reassess what she was saying. "I merely find it out that someone of such exceptional skill and pedigree as myself was waylaid for the sake of some… girl without any such background."

"You speak so confidently for someone with a lack of knowledge, Miss Schnee." Professor Port chuckled, only furthering her ire as she began to lose any pretense of calm. "Your skill on the battlefield may be great, but an attitude such as yours would only be a detriment to your team."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss snapped, clenching her hands to her sides as she tried to not give further in to her frustration.

"Ha ha, my point exactly, Miss Schnee." The older man smirked. "You have lived a life of incredible privilege, and now that you've come to Beacon Academy, you expect things to continue to operate just as they had before, bending to your desire so easily? I'm afraid you'll find no such luck at this academy, Miss Schnee, and if that's truly what you wish, perhaps it would be best to lay down your sword now and return to Atlas."

"What?" Weiss practically shrieked at that suggestion, though Professor Port didn't seem at all moved by the panicked display. "How dare you even suggest that?"

"Tell me, Miss Schnee, why did it bother you so much that someone, as you put it, "without any such background," was able to tell you exactly where to strike the Boarbatusk?" The professor asked casually, as though he already knew that answer. "It seems to me Miss Rose was doing her job as a team leader quite well in informing you of the monster's weakness."

"She… She was being a distraction." Weiss tried to defend her previous actions, but she could see on Professor Port's face that her words convinced him of nothing. Still, she tried her best to justify the way she'd acted. "She shouted at me while I was facing a Grimm! She almost got me hurt!"

"Did she now?" Professor Port gave her a skeptical look, frowning. "Tell me, Miss Schnee, are you aware that Miss Rose comes from a distinguished family of Huntsmen and Huntresses? While you have lived in luxury, Miss Rose has been educated far more about this life than any tutor could provide. She was quick to tell you the Boarbatusk's weakness as soon as she could. Is that not exactly what a leader should do on the battlefield, to make sure her comrades are able to slay Grimm without coming to harm?"

Weiss felt herself faltering. She couldn't exactly deny what Professor Port was saying, but she was serious when she said she thought Ruby was a distraction! Maybe the issue stemmed more from how she viewed her partner and less from Ruby's actual actions…

"When I see Miss Rose, I see someone who has already experienced the depths of what a Huntress will go through in life, the loss of those close to her, and has the strength to go on." Professor Port's tone softened slightly, as though his thoughts went briefly elsewhere. Maybe Weiss was wrong, and Ruby did have a pedigree of some sort if the professor was familiar with her situation at all. "When I see you, Miss Schnee, I see someone who has gone through life getting exactly what she always wanted, and expected that to continue here at Beacon."

"That… That isn't entirely true." Weiss halfheartedly defended herself. "What… What am I supposed to do?"

"Why Miss Schnee, isn't that obvious?" The stout professor let out a hearty laugh. "You came to Beacon Academy to become the best Huntress you could, right? Simply do that, and remember that part of becoming a great Huntress is learning how to work in a team. You have experience with leadership that Miss Rose might lack, yes, but that is exactly why you aren't in a role to learn how to be a leader. Perhaps now is the perfect time for you to learn to act from a perspective different than that of one highest on the mountain, and become the best person you can be?"

"I… I'll do my best, sir." Weiss said after a moment, her voice wavering a bit. It was one thing to say, but another thing to actually do , and she wasn't sure she could just… erase the preconceived notions she had about her partner so immediately. "Thank you."

When Weiss opened the door to Team RSLN's dorm room, of all the things she was expecting, the rest of her team crowded around one of the tables studying wasn't one of them. The fact that in her absence someone had decided to set the beds up in haphazard bunk beds? That wasn't all that surprising, her teammates were… eccentric. But that they were all studying? That caught her off guard.

"Oh, um, hello." She sputtered out as Ruby turned to look up at her when the door closed loudly behind her.

"Hi Weiss." Dust, her partner sounded dreadfully apprehensive, and she couldn't blame her at all. Some errant part of her cried out that she was being childish, but the Atlesian quashed that down as she took a step forward and tried to give an earnest smile.

"I… wanted to apologize... for my actions earlier." She started, quick to continue when it looked as though Ruby was going to try apologizing as well. "I acted rather… indecorous in how I spoke to you, both as your partner and a subordinate."

"What does "indecorous" mean?" Nora chimed in, looking up from her work with a bemused smirk. "So fancy."

"It's another way of saying "rude," Nora." Ren replied calmly, earning an enthusiastic "oh" from the shortest member of the team.

"It's okay, Weiss, you really don't have to apologize!" Ruby was quick to insist, earning a slight frown from the Atlesian. If she was going to be her team leader from now on, Weiss was going to have to help her gain some more confidence. "And you're not my subordinate! Just because I'm the team leader doesn't mean you're lesser than me in any way! I'm going to need to rely on all of you just as much as you'll need to rely on me if I'm going to be a good leader."

"I do have to apologize, Ruby. The way I acted was… beyond unacceptable." Weiss insisted, looking down slightly as she averted her eyes from the smile her partner was giving her. Weiss wasn't sure that she deserved that sort of smile, not really. She hadn't earned that sort of warmth from her partner yet. "I won't allow myself to act so improperly again, for both our sakes. Now, what are you three working on?"

"Oh, um. Well," Ruby returned to sheepish as soon as Weiss diverted attention towards what the trio had been working on. "Ren, Nora and I… none of us really got the chance to attend a full four years at a Combat School like Signal, so we're trying to work to get caught up to everyone else."

"That… sounds like an excellent idea, Ruby." Weiss gave her partner an approving smile. "I'd be happy to help however I can. I may not have attended Sanctum in Argus or Prometheus Academy in Mantle, but I had many tutors over the past seven years since I first expressed a desire to follow my grandfather's footsteps, so I'm sure I can provide assistance."

"You'd be up to it?" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully, a bright smile on her lips as her eyes seemed to almost radiate joy. "Pull up a seat and we'll be sure to ask for help, Weiss. Thanks."

Ren and Nora shared a look, the brunette boy nodding slightly as the redhead smiled warmly.