Chapter 9

Weiss had gotten dressed in her battle cloths and readied her rapier to face the Grimm locked in the cage in front of her. On her right was Theodore in his attire with his sword in hand. He gave it a few twirls in his left and then placed his right on the hilt right below his left. Weiss gave him a stern look which said, 'Don't get in my way!' Theodore gave her a look that replied, 'Vent your anger on your opponent. Not me.' Both then faced the cages that held their true opponents and waited for them to be opened.

"Go Weiss! Go Theodore!" Yang shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

"Fight well!" Blake shouted while waving a flag with RWBY's logo on it.

"Yeah, represent team RWBY!" Ruby shouted with waving her arms in the air. Theodore replied by waving his right hand in the air and then returning his gaze to the cage in front of him. Weiss, however, gave a different reply.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" she shouted.

"Oh, sorry." Ruby replied with a sad look on her face. Theodore had an angry look on his face at Weiss for yelling at Ruby like that. He decided to confront her on the subject after the fight.

"Alright!" Port shouted getting everyone's attention. Raising his weapon, which looked like an old gun, like what Gaston used in Beauty and the Beast, except in had ax blades on the handle. "Let the match begin!" With that said, he brought his weapon down on the locks that were holding the doors in place. When the doors fell open it revealed two Grimm that looked like wild boars. They were black with four eyes and as usual had white armor on sections on their body. Its tucks were so long they looked like one its eyes would get poked out.

"You're uglier than the Ursas." He said to them. Both boars charged at the students hoping to land a hit. Both students dodged their assailants and delivered a blow to the Grimm heads with their swords. Sadly, when the Grim stopped to look at them, Weiss and Theodore saw they hadn't done any damage to them.

"Ha, ha! Wasn't expecting that were you?" Port asked.

"Not really." Theodore replied while holding his sword in a defensive manner.

"Hang in there Theodore!" Ruby shouted.

"Thanks for the encouragement! I needed it!" he shouted back with a smile. He then turned back to the Grimm that was charging at him. Stabbing his sword into the arena, he added his weight to the weapon so that it acted as a shield. When the Grimm charged at him it hit his sword as expected, but was disoriented from hitting the weapon. Seeing that the enemy was dizzy he found it as a perfect chance to attack. Pulling his sword out of the arena, he charged at the Grimm and stabbed it in its exposed back. The beast cried out in pain and then went limp.

"Outstanding Mr. Constantine!" Port shouted with approval.

Standing up he was about to put away his weapon when he saw the dilemma Weiss was in. She had her weapon stuck in the Grimm's tusks and was having trouble prying it free.

"Bold approach! I like it!" Port shouted to Weiss as she struggled.

"Come on, Weiss!" Ruby shouted, "Show it who's boss!"

Sadly, Weiss did not get the upper hand. Her weapon was wretched from her grasp and thrown to the other side of the classroom. The Grimm hit Weiss away from it causing her to roll away from it.

"Oh, ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port asked.

The heiress regained her footing in time to see the Grimm charge at her. It was about to hit Weiss when she was pushed out of the way. Looking in the direction she was pushed from she saw Theodore take the hit and flown across the arena, colliding into a desk in the process.

"Theodore!" Ruby, Blake, and Yang shouted out of worry. Looking around to see why he had not attacked back, Weiss saw his weapon 5 ft. away from her.

What is that fool doing?! She thought to herself He's defenseless! He's going to get himself killed!

I'm going to feel that one in the morning. Theodore thought to himself as he sat up and held his injured right shoulder with his left hand. He didn't have time to stand up, however, when the Grimm charged at him to finish the job. Theodore laid flat on his back, with only his head raised, and stopped the its charge by placing his feet on its tusks. As the Grimm tried to continue its charge, the boy made sure to keep pushing so that it couldn't.

"Weiss! You've got to help Theodore! Please!" Ruby shouted as the heiress grabbed her weapon.

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Weiss shouted back at Ruby with a scowl on her face. This caused Ruby's face to have another sad look. While keeping the Grimm at bay, Theodore had seen and heard the whole thing and he was mad. Ruby was giving Weiss good advice and the Ice Princess kept pushing her away. His thoughts were brought back to the Grimm as it pushed him into the desk.

"GET OFF ME!" he shouted to the Grimm as he kicked it away 3ft. making it land on its back. This gave Weiss an opening to stab it, which she did, ending the fight.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Port said, "It appears we are, indeed, in the presence of a true huntsman and huntress in training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and stay vigilant. Class dismissed."

Seeing that class was over, Theodore got up and went to retrieve his weapon. As he stooped down to grab it, he heard a voice that he didn't want to hear now.

"What is wrong with you?!" Weiss said as she stood right behind him. Theodore stood up with his sword in his left hand. Turning around Weiss saw his hand an angry look on his face.

"Funny. I was about to ask you the same question." He replied.

"Excuse me?!"

"What has Ruby done that has earned your contempt for her?"

"The fact that she was made leader instead of me?! Ozpin, obviously, made a mistake."

"I doubt that. From what I can tell, Ozpin is a very wise man. I don't think he would make the wrong choice. But enough about that problem. You asked what was wrong with me. I would like to know what exactly."

"Why are you so…so…reckless?!"

"You mean the fact that I pushed you out of harm's way?"

"I would have been fine!"

"Maybe, but I wasn't planning to wait and find out."

Unknown to both students, they were drawing attention from the whole class. Even Professor Port was surprised and curious as to what was going on. Ruby, Blake, and Yang were getting worried for both Theodore and Weiss as the argument was going on. They were worried for Theodore because of how Weiss was lecturing him for saving her life and favoring Ruby over her. They were also worried for Weiss because every time she said something harsh, Theodore looked to be getting angrier each time. They also noticed that his left hand was clutching the hilt of his sword harder after every word.

"Where did you get that trait?!" Weiss asked, "From your father or mother?! Were your parents both officers in the force, or was your mother a coward while- "

She didn't get to finish that last statement as Theodore's sword missed her an inch of her right ear, planting itself in the ground. She had nothing but pure shock on her face. Seeing that the sword had missed she looked back at Theodore only to see rage etched all over his face.

"Don't…you…ever…call my mother a coward." He growled at her, "My mother took a bullet that was meant for me. She died…protecting…ME!"

While speaking, Theodore had started to walk towards Weiss, making her take steps to back away from him. She kept backing up until her back met the wall and Theodore stopped within two inches from her face.

"You judge people before you even get to know them and it's really starting to tick me off! Until you can learn to accept that they are different from you, JUST SHUT UP AND DEAL WITH IT!"

"MR. CONSTANTINE!" Professor Port shouted, "Please step away from Miss Schnee!"

Theodore did as Port asked while keeping eye contact with Weiss. Once he was five feet away from her, her turned and started walking out of the classroom.

"Where are you going young man?" Port asked.

"To blow off some steam." Theodore answered back while continuing to leave. The members of team JNPR and other members of team RWBY had surprised look on their faces. Ruby, Blake, Weiss and Yang had all seen Theodore mad before but never extremely angry. Even the always smiling Nora had a look fear on her face.

"I'd hate to talk to Theodore about a personal matter on a bad day." Jaune remarked. Ruby decided to go find Theodore and see if she could find a way to cheer him up.

Looking everywhere Ruby found Theodore outside, at the pavilion, swinging his sword around with only his left hand. His right arm was in a sling to make sure he didn't injure himself anymore. Ruby slowly made her way to him while avoiding being caught in the way of one of his swings.

"Theodore?" she said to get his attention. It worked because he stopped mid-swing with his back turned to her. He slowly lowered his sword and turned around to face her. He no longer had the angry look on his face but another showed. It was a look of regret.

"Oh, hey Ruby." He replied.

"You okay?"

"Physically, I'll survive. Emotionally, I feel like I got run over by a thousand mustangs."

"How come?"

"I feel really bad about yelling at Weiss that way. It was wrong of me to raise my voice like that."

"She did insult your mother though."

"It was still wrong of me."

"I'm surprised to hear you say that, Mr. Constantine." Said a new voice. Turning to the source, Ruby and Theodore saw Professor Ozpin walking to them with his can in his right hand and a coffee cup in his left.

"Hey, Mr. Ozpin." Theodore said with waving his sword in the air "Came to see me about what happened in the classroom?"

"Indeed. I was planning on giving you a lecture, but I see there is no need. Instead, I would like to have you tell Ruby something."

"What would that be, sir?"

"Why you chose the white pawn."

Professor Port was on a balcony, enjoying the view from Beacon, seeing all of Vale. He was reflecting on the conversation he and the other teachers, including headmaster Ozpin had with Theodore after the ceremony of completing the initiation. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a voice behind him.

"Professor Port." It said. Turning around, he saw who it was.

"Ah, Miss Schnee," He replied, "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?"

"Most surely. You and Mr. Constantine." Saying that last part caused Weiss to look downcast. "Hm. Something's troubling you."

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Dear girl. Confess to me your strife."

"Well, I…I just wanted to ask how you could be so calm after what Theodore displayed in the classroom."

There was a small silence after that confession that lasted for about five to ten seconds. Port then finally spoke up after that.

"I stayed calm because I could tell that Theodore had every right to be angry with you."

"Excuse me?!"

"Insulting his parents, calling his mother a coward no less, was a very low thing to do."

"So, you would immediately take his side after seeing how he cornered me into a wall?!"

"I wouldn't say I would take his side, but I would agree with how you needed a lecture on how you see other people and on your poor attitude."

"How dare you!"

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

"That's not even remotely true." Weiss said looking away. Port just cocked his left eyebrow, not believing what she said. "Well, not entirely true."

"When I look at Theodore, I see a boy who has had to fight his way through many troubles, one of them being his mother's death."

"That doesn't explain why he is so reckless."

"You call saving lives reckless?"

"Not the saving lives part. Nearly getting himself killed."

"Tell me, Miss Schnee. When he was doing his initiation, did you notice what piece he chose at the temple?" This caused Weiss to have a surprised look on her face.

"Yes," she replied, "he chose the white pawn. Why would he choose a piece which is easily disposed of at the beginning of a game?"

"I was hoping you would ask."

"Why did you choose the white pawn Theodore?" Ruby asked, "Those pieces are the least important in a game of chess. They are the ones who go down first."

"That depends on how you look at them Ruby." Theodore replied. He planted his sword in the ground and leaned against for support. "Where I come from, most people in power don't have the needs of citizens in mind. Instead, they take advantage of their weakness so that they could use them to their own advantage. Take the Schnee Dust Company for example. They under pay and overwork Faunus just so that they can make easy money with their special abilities that no human could do. They also ruin other companies so that they can get rid of the competition, not caring about the people they hurt or the lives they ruin. Basically, they take weaker things with value and use them as pawns."

"He used my father's company as an example?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Yes, and a very fine example at that." Port said.

"Well, that may be true…but it still doesn't explain why he chose that piece."

"I was just getting to that."

"Then there are the gifted." Theodore said.

"Gifted?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. People with exceptional skills, like how fast you are for example. The ones in power usually try to exploit those people so that they will have no choice but to come and work for them. What they don't count on, however, is something else they have."

"What's that?"

"A good heart. Not as in keeping your blood pumping, but in who they are. You wish to help people, like what you said to Blake in the auditorium that night. You, Yang, Blake and Weiss, even team JNPR, have good hearts and the people of Vale's needs in mind."

"How does Weiss have a good heart?"

"The Ice Princess may have an attitude problem," that statement cause Ruby to laugh, "but she is a good person on the inside. It's people like you and her that fight back against those other people and help those in need."

"Kind of like how you've been helping the people of Vale?"

"Exactly."

"He said that about me?" Weiss asked surprised.

"Indeed, he did." Port said with a smile on his face. Weiss looked at the ground with a regretful look on her face.

"I didn't think he thought of me that way."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about Theodore."

"What else did he say anything else?" She asked looking back up.

"Ha ha! The good part is getting started now!" Port exclaimed.

"So, these people become huntsmen and huntresses just like Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin?" Ruby asked with a smile on her face.

"No," Theodore answered while shaking his head, "they don't become huntsman or huntresses Ruby. They become the people that Yang told you stories about."

"What's that?"

"Heroes. That's what they become. They rise to the occasion to protect those who can't protect themselves, help those in need of assistance and bring the hurt to those who deserve it. Like in the game of chess when a pawn reaches the other end of the board, one of the fallen pieces can rise again. A knight, bishop, rook, or even a queen. These people rise of to become what the people need, a beacon of hope. They become…heroes. That's why I chose that piece."

Ruby had a look of awe on her face, while Ozpin just had a smile.

"That's so cool!" Ruby said, "I'd like to see where you live one day."

"You might, one day." He replied with a smile and got off his sword. He then pulled it out of the ground and leaned it against his shoulder. "Well, I got to go to the infirmary and have this checked. See you later." With that said he walked away. Ruby stayed behind and looked at Ozpin.

"Do you think that Theodore could be what he said?" she asked him.

"What would that be Miss Rose?" Ozpin replied.

"A beacon of hope." This caused Ozpin to look to where Theodore was walking away as he disappeared into the building before looking back at Ruby.

"Yes, I believe that is something he can be." He replied with a smile.

"I was all wrong about him." Weiss said after hearing the whole explanation. Hearing how others with gifts rise to help the people she fully understood why he helped her in the classroom. It was something he believed in, doing the right thing. With that information in hand, she turned to walk away.

"Where are you going young lady?" Port asked.

"To apologize to Theodore." She said, turning back around. "Thank you for your help."

"You're very much welcome." Port watched as Weiss left with a smile on her face. He had a smile of his own, thinking about how amazing of a friend Theodore could be to her.

The Hero of Vale, helping other students in Beacon. He thought to himself. You were right about him Ozpin. That boy is a beacon of hope.

Failing to find Theodore, Weiss headed back to her room planning on apologizing to him in the morning. Once inside she saw both Blake and Yang asleep in their beds. Yang was snoring up a storm on her bed, surprisingly not waking Blake up. Turning to the bunk beds that belonged to her and Ruby, she saw the scythe wielder asleep on her bed, snoring up a storm as well. What caught Weiss' attention, however, was the many textbooks and notes scattered on her bed. Planning on asking her about it, she gently shook Ruby awake.

Ruby partially opened her eyes and was about to close them when she saw who it was. She immediately woke up and propped herself up with her left arm.

"Weiss!" she exclaimed, "I was studying and then I fell asleep. I'm sorry." Ruby was quieted with the heiress covering her mouth and raising a finger to her own, telling Ruby to stay quiet. She then looked around the bed and saw a coffee cup. She then removed her hand from Ruby's mouth.

"How do you take your coffee?" she asked.

"Uh-uh, I don't- "

"Answer the question."

"Cream and five sugars!"

"Don't move." Weiss went down and then came back up with some coffee, offering it to Ruby. "Here."

"Um, thanks Weiss." Ruby said while taking the cup.

"Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader. Just know that I am going to be the best teammate that you will ever have." That last comment brought a smile to Ruby's face. Their friendship moment was interrupted, however, when they heard a thud. Turning to the source they saw Theodore face down on the ground.

"Sorry." He said while picking himself up, "I was going to knock when the door gave way and then I fell."

"It's alright Theodore." Weiss replied while walking up to him. "Theodore, I…I wanted to apologize to you, for what I said back in the classroom."

"That's funny, because, I actually came to apologize to you."

"What?" Weiss asked with a look of surprise.

"It was wrong of me to yell at you like that. Even if I was defending my mother, she would not be pleased with how I raised my voice at a lady. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, Theodore. Can you forgive me as well for judging you?"

"Consider yourself forgiven." Theodore said while holding out his hand. Weiss took his hand and shook it. Theodore then gave a questionable look at her. "Um, Weiss, I think there's something in your hair."

"What?!" Weiss exclaimed. She reached up into her hair and felt around. Indeed, feeling something out of place she pulled it out to find a white rose in her hand. "When did this get here? Did you put it there?"

"Was that one of your magic tricks you promised to show me?" Ruby asked now standing next to Weiss with a smile on her face.

"That is part of my apology to you Weiss and yes, Ruby, that is one of my magic tricks for tonight."

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"I promised Ruby after class that I would show her some of my magic tricks that I learned from my mom. I was her assistant after all in most of her shows. Since your awake, however, I can show you as well."

"Awesome!" Ruby exclaimed.

"That would be wonderful." Weiss said and went to sit on her bed. Rudy did the same as well, so Theodore did magic tricks for them through the next hours of the night before they both went to sleep. Sneaking of their room, and closing the door quietly, Theodore headed to his own room which was right next to team JNPR.

If they knew how I really did my tricks, their minds would be blown. He thought to himself. Theodore then entered his room, dressed into his night wear, laid on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

Hey everyone. I had to re-edit this document seeing that there were no line breakers and it was hard to keep track of who was talking. I hope this helps. I haven't stopped doing Wolverine Re-Clawed, I am doing research on Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple to make sure I don't get anything wrong. Hopefully, I will be able to update that story soon. Thank you for being patient. Sentinel Prime, out.