Chapter 3: the Badge and Burden
A/N: Wow! Shout out to the 5 follows, 5 favorites, and nearly 200 views! I'm glad people are liking this story it gives me more of a reason to write and makes me super happy! Thanks for the support! Also I still want reviews! It'd be nice to know what you guys think and what your input is! Thanks!
The next morning Will woke up in his dorm room before everyone else. By everyone else he means the four girls he had to share a room with for four years. He sighed and stretched his back screaming in protest. Yesterday when they arrived at the dorm they had discovered there were only four beds so Will volunteered to sleep on the floor which now explains his aching back. Although he should be used to sleeping on the floor by this point unfortunately his body still disagreed with this statement. Will sighed it was 6:00am 3 hours before class starts and I can't go back to sleep fantastic he thought sarcastically. He looked around his team was still asleep so he decided to get up and take a shower. He enjoyed the warmth of the water for a bit before deciding he indulged himself long enough and got out. He returned to the dorm in a towel and saw that his team was still asleep I really don't know what I was expecting he thought. It was now 7:00 in the morning and Will was contemplating whether or not to wake his team up or not. I should let them sleep in they deserve the rest after what they did yesterday. So he went for a walk to familiarize himself with the school. He went over most of the school until he realized it was 8:30 class starts at 9:00. So he made his way to class. His Professor was a portly man with grey hair and a large mustache. He was coincidentally named Professor Port.
"Ah it's good to see a young youth so eager for class!" he said in his baritone voice. Will nodded not really wanting to talk and sat down in a spot to reserve spots for his team. Jay walked in next, the two boys regarded each with slight nods and sat in the row next to him reserving seats for his team same as Will. 30 seconds before class started their teams came barrelling in through the door causing Will and Jay to face palm. Later their teammates took their seats and Ruby sat next to Will.
"Hey Will!" She chirped to him.
"Hey Ruby why were you guys almost late?" he asked.
"Oh we were decorating and cleaning the room." She replied a little sheepishly. Will nodded in understanding.
"Hey Will?"
"Hmm?"
"We were going to organize your stuff too but you didn't have anything to organize."
"So?"
"Nothing just wonderin." she stuttered not expecting that answer.
"Uh hunh." What is he hiding? Ruby wondered. Then class started Professor Port started the class with a story about his life boring the life out of Ruby and Will. Then to distract herself Ruby started performing tricks and drawing doodles earning chuckles from all of her teammates except Weiss who looked like she was ready to explode. Then Port wanted an example student who would prove the three main traits of being a Huntsman/Huntress. Weiss, unsurprisingly, raised her hand. Her opponent would be a boarbatusk a boar grimm, obviously, that had bone covering most of its body except for its underside. As the rest of the team gave her encouragement Will just said, as nonchalantly as possible, "Pro tip: Don't die!" Which caused the Heiress to glare at him. For the entirety of the fight Ruby gave Weiss very sound advice only to receive "Stop telling me what to do!" which caused Ruby to visibly flinch and caused Will to have some very violent hate towards the heiress. Will's right/silver eye started flashing into a deep red like his other eye. Ruby noticed this and knowing it was a sign of anger, because Yag does the same thing, tried calming him down.
"Will its ok I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it." Which appeared to work. Only... it didn't it caused the red eye to go away, only because Will could control it, but not his anger. After Weiss' match Port asked for another student Will raised his hand. Port smiled and took the class outside.
"Um what are we doing outside?" Ruby asked her sister as they watched Will walk down the hill with Port. Yang shrugged she didn't know either until she saw a large cage she didn't know what was inside it but it made her nervous. Port released the Grimm and it was a Drake, a dragon Grimm one of the rarest kind of Grimm, but unlike real dragons, which have long been extinct, they do not breath fire. The Drake seeing it's opponent started sizing Will up. But it only got one sensation Will's bloodlust and anger, it found those emotions enticing. Will was not a happy camper even after putting on his equipment. His fists tightened in his fingerless gloves and he did the last thing everyone expected him to... he pulled his swords off his back and threw them. They landed in a neat pile next to Ruby who gave a surprised,
"Eep!" Will cracked his knuckles, shoulders, and neck loosening them up as he took his stance.
"He's fighting a Drake with no weapons? Is he insane?" Weiss asked.
"Well he is our teammate so we have to trust him." Ruby replied.
"You're team leader! You should be more concerned!" Weiss shouted loud enough for Will to hear. Alright I've had it with her. Will thought angrily but instead of yelling at her he was content to just glare at her.
"You shouldn't doubt him." Jay said, "He's very skilled weaponless or not." Then Ruby caught the fact that both of Will's eyes were red again and was worried that his anger might get him hurt. Will then turned his attention back to the Drake which was circling him.
"Let's dance!" He said to the Drake with a smirk. The Grimm charged him and tried to slash at him with his jumped up and slammed his aura enhanced fist into the claw shattering all the bone inside of it. The Drake howled in pain and swung its other claw at him. Will dodged back then rushed back in and punched it in the face, without aura, sending it reeling back. Will sighed.
"Tsk. Damn this thing is hard." he said shaking his now bleeding hand. He flexed his fingers to make sure his hand was still working while his aura healed the damage. He sighed again. Well it looks like that is the only way I'm going to kill this thing.Will then started to sync his breathing with his heartbeat and his aura started rising. Ruby's scroll started beeping so she pulled it out. The feature that showed her teams aura was flashing so, out of curiosity, she pressed it. What she saw was unbelievable Will's aura was rising so much that 4 more bars had appeared over his original. No way! she thought then something caught her eye the spot where Will's name should be had a different name. "Who's Wesley?" she asked aloud. Jay paled visibly which Ruby caught.
"Do you know Jay?" she asked. Jay having a weakness to girls couldn't lie but he also knew the consequences of telling Will's secret.
"It's not my place to say. It's Will's." he said deflecting the question. Ruby pouted but her attention was drawn back as the Grimm howled in pain once again as Will had crushed another one of his paws. From a distance Will looked pretty much the same but up close you could see his eyes changed to a yellowish color.
"Alright enough playing around!" Will said then he charged forward putting all his aura into one hand and slammed into the Drake's head. The aura pulsated throughout the Drake's body before it exploded. His anger now vented Will gave a huff as Professor Port congratulated him and sent a video of the fight to Ozpin secretly. They then returned to class to listen to more of Port's stories. After class Ruby chased after Weiss and Will followed but as he arrived he caught the end of their conversation.
"Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team." He heard Ruby say.
"Not a team led by you. I've studied and trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better. Ozpin and Will made a mistake." He heard Weiss say. OH THAT IS IT I'M FED UP WITH THAT ATTITUDE OF HERS! Will thought angrily he walked out past Ruby, controlling his anger, gave her a pat on the head and quickly whispered,
"Meet me out in courtyard later." before he gave chase on Weiss. After, once again, controlling his emotions he later found her on the balcony.
"Hello Ice Queen." He said causing her to jump.
"Oh it's just you." she said to him.
"So do you mind telling me what your problem is?" he asked.
"My problem?"
"Yes! Your problem ever since I've met you you've had this chip in your shoulder and your cold to EVERYONE." he said losing his patience.
"My problem is that insufferable little red brat is team leader! She doesn't know anything!"
"Do you think you would be better?" He asked. Weiss turned around and said,
"Yes."
"HA! You're hilarious. You're so funny because the fact is that outta the four that were chosen to be leader you'd probably be the worst candidate for leader."
"Wha- How dare you!."
"Only proving my point Ice Queen."
"How is that?"
"Because you are a spoiled insufferable little white BRAT and you've had everything handed to you on a silver platter."
"That doesn't explain how she makes a better leader!"
"WEISS IT'S ONLY BEEN ONE DAY!" He shouted before calming himself down. "Plus she was moved two years ahead she hasn't had the privileges you've had which also makes her a better candidate for team leader because she's more flexible and just to add she actually cares and has faith in her teammates which makes her a far better candidate than you."
"Well why did you turn down being leader if you know so much?!"
"Because it's not my place, it's not me I'm too… wild to be a leader."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing." Will inwardly cursed himself, "Anyway I want you to do something." He said changing the topic. "Instead of whining about something, because throwing a tantrum doesn't change people's minds, take in consideration of what you do have and improve upon it make it work. Be the better teammate and not the leader. We're a team and there is no I in team Ice Queen." With that he left letting her think about his words. Next up is… Ruby. He made his way down to courtyard, found a bench and sat on it until Ruby came and sat down next to him on the log. They sat in silence for a long time waiting for the other to say something.
"Hey" Ruby said breaking said silence.
"Hm?"
"Do you think you and Ozpin made a mistake?"
"No not really."
"Why?"
"Well it's only been one day. So sure you were goofing off in class who doesn't? Weiss is just overreacting. Plus I'm pretty sure you were the one that had a plan that killed the Nevermore. But I want you to remember something the title of 'Leader' is a badge as well as a burden."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it's a badge that you wear constantly and if you don't set an example then what reason do you give to people to follow you? Understand?" Ruby nodded her head. Will smiled but it quickly dropped at her next question.
"So who's Wesley?" Will's heart beat quickened. Where did she get my name?
"W-w-where did you hear that from Ruby?"
"Um, when you were fighting the Drake my scroll started beeping and when I opened it your name was replaced by that one." Then she noticed how he looked. "Is something wrong?" YES! he wanted to say but strangely enough he didn't plus there was no pain this time. Strange. As this revelation occurred to him his heart slowed.
"No. There's nothing wrong... but-" Should I tell her? Ah screw it. "Can you keep a secret? Ruby nodded her head. and Will sighed.
"I'm not exactly what you would call… human."
Cliffhanger! OH NO! Sorry to end it there but kinda had to… its getting late. I should really stop writing late, but school is a thing so what can you do. Also how'd you like my newly invented Grimm? I know I made it seem a little weak and I tried not to make Will look overpowered but if I did… Sorry! I thought the Grimm was a little creative. Let me know your thoughts! Again reviews are much appreciated and thanks for liking my story.