So this story broke 2000 views yesterday, almost 2400 when I started writing this chapter, with 31 favorites and 62 follows. I'm honestly amazed by how many times this story's been looked at and how popular it is. Hopefully I can keep the quality going and everyone can continue to enjoy it.

Chapter 10: Retribution and Support

"Today the Black Rose has committed the greatest act of betrayal one could inflict upon our family. We will mourn the fallen as we march forward to save those she has deceived. Never again will her name be spoken except to curse the stain on our family that she has become. For the sake of the people of Sanctuary and all of Remnant, we will not rest until the traitor is dead. Even if we have to fight to the last man. Even if we have to fight alone." -Aurelius to the Rose family, regarding the Black Rose Incident, year 497 of the reign of the Second Triumvirate

Beacon Combat Training Classroom

Ruby winced as she watched Jaune take another hit from Cardin's mace. The arrogant bully was almost lazily knocking the poor blond around the arena that made up most of the classroom, with the boy occasionally being able to defend himself. "The jerk could at least give Jaune a chance to improve… At this rate, he'll never get over his lack of confidence." Ruby glanced to the side to see Bisman glaring down from the desks that made up the arena's stands, hands behind him. Ruby was surprised when the professor had arrived, explaining that he didn't have a class to teach at the moment and was taking a break from his project, but had a vague feeling about why he was really there.

While not many other people had noticed, Ruby saw the small remote he hid in his hand and remembered his mention of teaching Cardin a lesson from the previous night. As she turned her attention back to the so-called "fight" below, she heard Pyrrha call out. "Jaune, you can do this!" Ruby glanced to the rest of team JNPR, sighing quietly. While Ren and Nora were both trying to show support for their leader, Pyrrha was by far the most vocal in her encouragement of the blond underdog.

"I feel so sorry for her… Jaune probably hasn't even noticed that she's interested in him yet…" Ruby glanced back in time to see Jaune get knocked down before Cardin raised his mace over his head. Ruby caught movement out of the corner of her eye as Bisman turned to walk toward the stairs, subtly pressing the button on the remote. Ruby looked back in time to see the head of Cardin's mace simply fall off, hitting him in the shoulder while he shouted out in surprise. "W-what just happened?"

"Mr. Winchester, what the hell are you doing?" Bisman asked, a tone of amusement in his voice as he watched Cardin pick up the pieces of his mace, surprising Goodwitch and continuing on before he could speak. "Do you expect me to believe you don't have the time or knowledge to maintain a metal rod with fins attached to one end?" Ruby had to resist the urge to laugh, but heard a barking laugh come from Yang and Nora. "Do you realize how unprofessional that appears, how unbecoming it is for a Huntsman-in-training? Maybe if you put as much time into your schoolwork and equipment as you do into your interactions with the rest of the student body, you this wouldn't have happened." By this point most of the class was at least chuckling and Cardin looked around, angry and embarrassed before he stomped back to his seat while Professor Goodwitch went to lecture Jaune.

Ruby smirked at Bisman as he passed. "You set that up, didn't you?" Bisman, for his part, simply shrugged.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but it is quite unfortunate that it had to happen with so many people here to see. I'd hope that he learns a lesson from it, but I have no expectations that he'll improve." Bisman walked out without another word, leaving the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR confused.

"Uh, Rubes? What was that about?" Yang asked, glancing toward the door.

"Nothing, just something Bisman talked to me about yesterday," Ruby said with a grin before Professor Goodwitch spoke up.

"Now remember everyone! The Vytal Festival will be held here in Vale during the second semester of this year. It's only a matter of time before students from the other Kingdoms arrive, so keep practicing and do your best to make Beacon and Vale proud!" Ruby let out a squeal, causing Pyrrha to slide away nervously as the bell rang. The redhead cast a glance down at the arena and went down to help her partner and team leader up before heading to lunch.

As the members of team RWBY left the room, they didn't notice the glare directed at their leader.

Beacon Cafeteria

Ruby sat down with a sigh, glancing over at the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR as Nora rambled happily about some dream she had last night, with Ren correcting her every few words. She looked at Jaune as he sadly moved around the food on his plate as Pyrrha spoke up. "Jaune, are you okay?"

Jaune jumped in surprise before he looked at her with a weak smile. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"You don't really look like you're okay…" Ruby said with a sigh. The sound of laughter drew their attention to team CRDL harassing a rabbit faunus nearby, causing Ruby to growl. "Look at him, he's racist against faunus and he's a bully… I can't stand him. And he goes after you too, Jaune."

"Please, name one time he's "bullied" me," Jaune said nervously. Ruby immediately started speaking.

"There was the time before lunch the day after Initiation he threw your book into the school fountain. Then when you were going to the library, he made your shield deploy, it got stuck in the doorway and almost hit you in the throat. And let's not forget yesterday before classes he stuffed you into a locker and launched you off."

Jaune chuckled weakly. "I-I didn't land that far from the school."

Weiss stared at him blankly. "From what I heard they found you on the other side of the city, if that's what you consider close to the school I'd hate to see what you consider far away."

Pyrrha put a hand on his arm. "Jaune, if you ever need help you can just ask."

Nora jumped up with a grin. "I know! We'll break his legs!"

Ruby looked at her strangely. "I don't think getting expelled will help the situation at all Nora, sorry…"

"Guys, look, it's fine. Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone!" Ruby glanced over at Cardin to see him roughly pulling on the rabbit faunus' ears, eliciting a growl from the cloaked girl.

"That doesn't make it any better, Jaune. And besides, besides you, he only ever goes after faunus. I can't stand him one bit." The group watched the rabbit faunus walk by, gently rubbing her ear. "Nox, what I wouldn't do to see him get learn some humility…"

Blake looked up. "He's not the only one who's like that," she said, causing Ruby to nod while Yang sighed.

"I wish more humans were nicer to faunus," she said quietly. "I don't understand why people treat them like they're not people simply because they're not human."

Ruby nodded quietly before getting up. "I've got to go, I promised Professor Bisman I'd help him with some more translating, I'll meet you guys back at the dorm room later tonight." As soon as she said that, she turned and followed after the other faunus.

Yang let out a sigh and turned to her partner. "You wanna go get some practice in? I know you'd rather read your books, but I feel like punching something right now."

Blake looked at the blonde next to her before sighing. "Maybe burning through some energy will get my mind off things… It couldn't hurt to try, right?" She closed her book and stood up. "Alright, I'll humor you today." The duo left the cafeteria, leaving Weiss and team JNPR alone.

Weiss let out a sigh as she stood up, intent on going to study when she noticed team CRDL leaving through the cafeteria door behind Ruby. "Cardin, what are you up to?" Weiss decided to follow along behind, staying as quiet as possible. Eventually, they reached a quiet part of the school, at which point Cardin moved forward and grabbed Ruby's hood, causing her to spin around.

"Hey! Watch the… cloak…" She let out a growl as she pulled free. "What do you want, Cardin?" she asked as the four surrounded her.

"Easy there, mutt, I just wanted to know what the hell Professor Bisman did earlier," he said, glaring down at her.

"I don't know what you're-"

"Bullshit!" Cardin cut her off before pulling out his mace with a growl. "I know you're a teacher's pet, and Sky here said he heard you asking Bisman if he set that thing up with my mace! Either you tell me what he did or we're going to have… Problems." Ruby reached behind her to grab Crescent Rose, only to find it missing, followed by a laugh behind her.

"Looking for this?" Russel asked as he held up Ruby's weapon, causing her to let out a growl.

She glanced around, trying to think. "I'd be able to take out two or three of them without too much trouble, but the problem is that if I go after Cardin the others would probably attack me all at once and if I go after any of them first, Cardin might be able to hit me with his mace…" Before she could think further she noticed a chill in the air. "W-what? Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"

"I-I'd give her b-back her weapon and leave h-her alone if I were you," Weiss said as she stepped out from behind a row of lockers, breath visible in the air, trying desperately to hide the chill in her body. Cardin shivered slightly as he looked at her, glaring slightly.

"And what are you going to do if I don't?" he asked before Dove let out a cry, drawing his attention to the boy to see ice forming on his boots.

"D-do you really need t-to ask? J-just leave her alone a-and every walks away p-perfectly fine…" Cardin glanced around before letting out a frustrated groan, putting his mace away, gesturing for Russel to return Ruby's weapon.

"Why the hell are you going out of your way to help an animal, Schnee? I thought your family had it all figured out."

Weiss glared at Cardin. "M-maybe because the only p-person acting like an a-animal here is you. N-no get lost before I c-call the zoo and tell them a gorilla got loose."

Cardin let out a growl and stomped off with his team behind him. As soon as they were out of sight, Weiss dropped to the ground, wrapping her arms around her stomach as she shivered. Ruby made her way over quickly. "W-weiss, are you okay? You didn't need to do that for me, I would have found a way ou-"

"R-Ruby, I'm c-cold, could y-you get m-me back to the d-dorm?" Weiss looked at the girl in front of her. "I can't even feel my fingers right now, this is bad… What was I thinking?"

Ruby quickly helped her up, hesitating for a moment before lifting her cloak to wrap around the heiress. "Professor Bisman's office is just ahead, I think he had some blankets or something in there." Ruby moved as fast as she could to a nearby door and pounded on it. "Professor Bisman! Are you in there? We need your help!" The door opened to reveal the man standing on the other side, a look of annoyance on his face before he saw Weiss.

"Get her to the couch, I'll see if I have anything to help warm her up," he said before turning and heading back into the office, leaving Ruby to quickly help her friend and partner over to the couch and wrap her up in a few blankets laying there. After a moment, Bisman returned with a tray holding two cups and a bowl of soup. "Sorry about the mess, ever since about a week ago Ozpin's been on me about progress enough that I decided to just sleep here." He put the tray on the table in front of Weiss before handing a cup to Ruby. "Speaking of our headmaster, he's the only one who makes regular visits and I don't drink coffee, so all I have is hot chocolate."

Ruby paused as she heard this before fishing a pill bottle out of a pouch she had on her, quickly swallowing a capsule before putting it away, causing Weiss to look at her strangely for a moment. Before she could think too much on it, she felt the chill return to her body and carefully picked up the mug in front of her, taking a slow sip and letting the warm milk and chocolate mix go down her throat with a sigh. "T-thanks Professor Bisman, I-I should really be heading back to the dorm once I warm up though…"

Bisman let out another sigh. "It might be a better idea if you stay here so we can make sure you're truly fine. Besides, I'd still like to know why Ruby is knocking on my door with you suffering from extreme hypothermia this time of year."

Ruby quickly started explaining the situation, starting with the incident in the cafeteria and her departure to help him translate his collection of texts, letting Weiss' gaze wander around the room as she ate the soup. Shelves covered in dusty books and worn scrolls dominated the room, with the wall behind the desk containing a map of Draconys, with names of a few locations on it, such as the Leviathan's Gulf directly below the continent, the Plains of Jormungand that made up the southern tip, and the Dragon's Talons, a mountain range that made up the center of the continent. Looking at the table in front of her, she saw a few books and scrolls, all in what Ruby referred to as "Ancient Draconian" along with a few drawings. She picked one up and looked at the armored figure holding a bow as Bisman let out a sigh. "I don't intend to sound like I'm encouraging violence, but it might be a good idea if you start carrying a knife or another small weapon with you Ruby, something you can conceal in case you get disarmed or captured so you don't end up in a situation where you're completely defenseless… That, or learn a martial art."

Weiss spoke up for the first time in the conversation. "Professor, this looks a bit like an Atlesian Knight, what is it?"

Bisman glanced over at the picture before humming. "I haven't translated it fully yet, but apparently it was one of the "Sentinels" used by the ancient Kingdom of Sanctuary. Some kind of automaton driven by Dust, more or less like how Atlesian Knights are powered by a battery from what I can tell, but I have no clue what they used to control it. Thing is, those aren't the only kinds, and they're not even the only type with that basic frame."

Weiss nodded as she looked around the room. "Professor, I know you said that I should stay here, but I think I should rest."

Ruby hopped up and helped Weiss to her feet. "Do you mind if I help you out another time, Professor?"

Bisman hummed before nodding. "I'm making some progress on a cypher to speed up translation on my own, so I suppose we can put this off for another time." He watched the pair leave the room before opening up the binder Ruby had given him the night before, continuing his work with a sigh.

Beacon Training Area, with Blake and Yang

Blake paled as she used her semblance to jump out of the way of Yang's fist, her clone and the area around it being reduced to rubble. "Yang, calm down, you're going to destroy the school at this rate."

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down when someone like Cardin's running around, thinking he can torment any faunus he sees, with my little sister being unable to hide that she's a faunus and he could go after her at any time?!"

Blake flinched as she heard this. "She can take care of herself, she's a Rose after all, right?"

"That's not the point!" Yang shouted before dropping to the ground with a sigh. "I-it's not fair that she has to go through all this… Up until a few years ago nobody looked at her differently because she had wolf ears or a tail. They thought she had to be weird because she was a Rose, but then didn't hate her for being a faunus… And then the White Fang had to go and screw everything up!" Blake flinched as Yang punched a wall, causing the stone to melt slightly. "After they started attacking SDC shipments and inciting riots at protests, and because of the SDC's PR department, a lot of people got it into their heads that every faunus was either this bloodthirsty animal waiting to tear them apart or a spy for the White Fang… Ruby lost so many friends after that and she's always had a hard time trusting people since…"

Blake looked down, trying not to think about the implications. "Have my actions in the White Fang really done any good? If someone like Ruby had to suffer, how many others were hurt?" Blake shook her head to clear those thoughts. "No, it wasn't like that in Mistral or Vacuo, and even then, it wasn't that widespread here in Vale. Just because a few members here and in Atlas went too far doesn't mean we're all monsters… Does it?" Blake held her hand out to her blonde partner and helped her up. "Come on, I think that's enough for tonight."

Two weeks later

Ruby let out a happy sigh as she left Bisman's office at the end of the day. Ever since her run-in with Cardin team RWBY had decided to start training as much as they could in their free time, with Ruby managing to get an oxygen tank and diving mask to help her practice with Rose Storm's Wind aspect without having to worry about passing out and also managing to convince Yang to help Weiss with Flash Freeze. The blonde had, unsurprisingly, required little argument after hearing about Weiss helping Ruby deal with Cardin, but the pair spent a few hours convincing her to leave him be rather than beat him to a pulp the next time she saw him.

While schoolwork, and helping Bisman with his translations in Ruby's case, didn't give them as much time as they would like, the duo was already fairly satisfied with their progress. Weiss was able to use her semblance to reduce the temperature of the air within three feet of her for up to ten seconds, or create a coating of ice reaching her knees, before she started to feel the effects of her semblance without Yang's support. Ruby, meanwhile, had already learned to activate her Wind and Rose petal aspects with a bit of effort and could keep smaller objects in the air for 10-15 seconds, or keep herself off the ground for 2-3, before she started to get lightheaded without the tank. Ruby had also decided to take Bisman's advice and practiced with a knife, having one hidden in her boot at all times in case of emergency.

As for Bisman's translations, they had made decent progress, but Ruby had noticed the normally friendly, if eccentric professor become a bit more distant as time went on, often catching him trail off mid-thought or suddenly zone out without warning during their work before returning to the task with a sudden flash of inspiration and his normal, friendly attitude. "I wonder if there's something wrong… Or maybe having a few events and locations to focus on in Draconys is allowing his Insight to work there too? I've never actually seen him use it, after all…"

Even with the strange professor's random shifts in behavior, Ruby was more interested in next week's concert. After Weiss had given her a ticket, the faunus girl spent the next two days trying to resist the urge to squeal in delight. Ruby wouldn't admit it to her newfround friend, but it was one of her dreams to actually attend one of the heiress' concerts. "I can't wait! The only thing happening between now and the concert is the trip to Forever Fall!"

At the thought of the upcoming trip, her mind drifted from the concert to team JNPR. For some reason Jaune hadn't been spending much time with his team lately and Ruby could tell it was affecting them. She wasn't sure what it was, but something happened after Jaune was left floundering in Dr. Oobleck's class and Pyrrha humiliated Cardin. Now, with the field trip to Forever Fall coming up, the blond boy was nowhere to be seen, which is why she was surprised when she rounded the corner to see Jaune sitting on the floor in front of his team's room. "Hey Jaune," the boy jumped as Ruby greeted him. "You look like something's bothering you. Want to talk about it?"

Jaune let out a sigh. "I-I did something I shouldn't have and now Cardin's got me on a leash, Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and… I'm starting to feel like coming to this school was a mistake… I'm just a failure…"

Ruby sat down across from him. "Nope, you're not a failure Jaune. You're a leader now, you're not allowed to be a failure."

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?"

Ruby hummed before responding. "Nope, I don't think you're a failure there either. What could you have done that's so bad anyways?"

Jaune looked down with a sigh. "I-I don't think I should talk about it…"

Ruby sighed. "Jaune, I'm a Rose, and while I might not agree with all of my family's values over the past thousand years or so, I still value keeping a secret and trust. If you can't trust me to keep a secret, who else could you trust?"

Jaune hesitated before he spoke up. "I… I didn't actually get accepted to Beacon. I've never been in a combat school before I came here, I got my hands on some fake transcripts… and I lied… I lied to get here, I told Pyrrha when she wanted to help me get better, I pushed her away, and then Cardin heard. Now he's threatening to tell Professor Ozpin if I don't do what he says."

Ruby sat quietly for a moment before responding. "And why did you fake the transcripts?"

"B-because… This is what I've always wanted to be. My father, grandfather, and his father were all warriors and heroes. I wanted to be one too…"

"Do you want a piece of Rose wisdom Jaune?" The boy looked at her in confusion. "A true hero isn't someone who fights for fame and prestige or for the sake of being a hero. A true hero is someone who fights for others, even if it means nobody ever knows their name. A true hero is someone who puts others first, striving to become the best they can be, so that when the time comes and they look back on their lives… They can say that, no matter what they regret, they wouldn't change any of it…" She got up and helped Jaune to his feet. "You have a team that's counting on you Jaune, and you should learn to depend on them too. I know Pyrrha's been hurting pretty bad the last two weeks, and I think you should really try to stand up for yourself, if not for your sake, for team JNPR's sake."

Jaune looked at the door behind him. "Y-yeah… Maybe you're right… Thanks Ruby."

"No problem. Just think about it and get some sleep, we have the field trip tomorrow after all." Ruby turned and went into her team's room, leaving Jaune in the hall as Cardin walked up.

This one ended up much longer than I expected. I meant for it to mostly be Bisman's prank, a bit of minor things in the middle, and then Ruby's pep talk near the end. Then the encounter with Cardin came to mind and a few other things… It was fun to write though. I'm not entirely sure how the chapter started with Bisman sabotaging Cardin's mace and ended with Ruby giving a motivational speech and playing matchmaker at the same time though.

The incident with Ruby being cornered by team CRDL was, admittedly, something I spent about an hour and a half agonizing over on if I should even include it, and then what should actually happen. If there's any part of the story so far that I can't say I'm completely happy with, it's probably that moment. Still, I realized that I needed some reason to get everyone to take training more seriously and with Bisman's antics, Ruby being a faunus, and their little agreement from last chapter, it actually made the most sense for me to include it in the story.

To give a brief summary of the members of team RWBY and their opinions of the White Fang, Yang has a distrust and dislike, if not outright hatred, for the group due to having to watch Ruby suffer through the paranoia they brought out in everyone. Ruby has a general dislike of them as well, but more for the fact that they don't differentiate between the true monsters, like Jacques Schnee, and innocent bystanders. Weiss actually has a deep, personal hatred for the group because of a specific event that made her life worse, while Blake, still trying to justify her actions in the White Fang, is insistent that the group overall is still good.

Ruby having a knife on her is actually something I needed to have happen at some point and I needed to more or less explain how she and Weiss were working on mastering their semblances. One thing I should point out, however, is that Ruby won't be carrying diving equipment into battle, mainly using it to help with training.

Bisman's condition is going to be… complicated from here on out. There's not much I can say, sadly, but he's going to take part in two more lore dump chapters before we reach the Vytal Festival.

As always, please leave a review if you have questions or input. I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to seeing you all next chapter.