Luckily for Ruby the rest of the week passed by at an alright speed. She had been yelled at multiple times by Weiss, which was no shocker to the redhead. Though this time she tried to take Ozpin's words into consideration and not explode at Weiss. It did make the team appear to be slightly better than it looked on the first day, but any onlooker could easily tell that there was an everbuilding storm beneath that calm exterior. Each time Weiss yelled at Ruby, Yang would get more and more pissed off and that was not looking the greatest for the fledgling team. Blake was still standoffish towards the others, only choosing to slightly open up to her partner but even that was very little. Ruby herself was growing more and more frustrated but kept reminding herself that this was training for when she became a huntress. Not every person you talk to will be nice to you.
Of course that did not stop the building pressure and when classes ended that Friday it all came to a head with one statement from Weiss.
"Okay team, we will be doing training tomorrow followed by studying for class. Then Sunday we will do mock exams to see if everyone is at my standard." Weiss stated like it was something they had already discussed.
"What do you mean we will be training and studying? I can do that by myself and do not need you to hold my hand for it. Plus up to your standard, what bs is that?" Ruby commented.
"I simply believe that you are not ready for this, dunce. It's already bad enough that you are here with such abysmal aura levels, I can't have you holding me back when it comes to grades as well." Weiss replied.
"Hold up Weiss, you never told any of us this. I already have plans tomorrow." Yang retorts.
"Well that is too bad. I am your team leader and what I say goes, so we will be spending the entire weekend together." Weiss huffs.
"Yeah, no. There is no way that I am going to change my plans simply because you told me so last minute. It doesn't matter if you are a team leader or not." Yang spats back.
"I do agree with Yang. This is something that you should have brought up earlier in the week." interjects Blake.
"Yes and also I do not need your help. I am perfectly capable of doing this on my own. I already have to deal with you enough so I would much rather be alone." adds Ruby.
Weiss looks absolutely furious at the fact that her team is not instantly doing what she says. It would have been one thing if she tried to bring it up earlier in the week, although Ruby doubt's she would have agreed even then. The fact that she is still trying to tear Ruby down at every possible moment still grinds the redhead's gears.
"I am the team leader, so what I saw goes. Why must you all argue with me on the most simple of things!" Weiss hisses out.
"Because you treat everyone as being lower than yourself." states Blake as she pulls out a book and begins reading it. Rubyuuu looks at the title and sees that it is called The Man With Two Souls, an interesting name.
"Of course you are! I was made team leader for my excellent leadership skills, and I am the heiress to the SDC." Weiss growls back.
"Oh look at me, I am better than everyone else simply because I was born into a rich family." Mocks Yang. She then gets a chuckle out of Blake and the two look at each other for a second before Blake goes back into her book. Weiss was fuming at this point, and she still wasn't letting it go. In fact she was trying even harder now.
"I am your leader, so what I say goes!" Weiss screamed.
"Yeah just like how you didn't want bunk beds." deadpans Ruby. She then goes on and adds "Look at us now using bunk beds for this room. Definitely went the way you wanted to right?"
That finally got the heiress to huff and storm out of the room, leaving the rest of her team to sit in the silence of their room. Of course Ruby used this to grab out her textbook about Grimm and start the reading assigned to be done by the time their next class starts on Monday. The silence continued as Blake kept reading her book and Yang decided it was the best time for herself to take a shower. Once Yang was finished with her shower, she put on her combat gear and left the room. Leaving only Blake and Ruby behind. Where Yang went, Ruby had no clue; but that didn't stop Ruby from thinking that Yang made the best decision leaving the room.
Soon Ruby found herself agreeing with her elder sister and decided it was time to go to the combat room to practice her forms. She quickly changed into her combat gear and went to her locker to pick up her scythe. Upon entering the combat room she noticed a lack of her older sister, but did notice a certain heiress training. By the looks of it she was trying to perfect her use of glyphs and it was taking a rather large toll on her. True Ruby had the lowest aura in their class, but the redhead also believed that Weiss's aura was lower than average. Based on how she seemed to use her glyphs in more strategic points instead of how others in her class relied too much on their own. It brought a sort of kinship to Ruby's mind that she instantly shot down as it was with her icy team leader.
Well that was mainly until she heard the quiet sniffles from the room. Weiss was crying for some reason, and while Ruby definitely didn't care about the heiress that didn't stop her from doing the right thing in that moment. That being approaching the heiress slowly, as if in an attempt to not scare her. She didn't want another yelling session while they both held weapons, now that could turn ugly fast. Once she was a few feet from Weiss and the other girl didn't seem to notice Ruby finally asked "Why are you crying Weiss?"
Of course this got a startled yelp out of the heiress as she had assumed she was currently alone. She quickly rubbed her eyes with her sleeves before turning to face Ruby with the ever present icy stare. An icy stare that didn't really have its effect today as her eyes were currently puffy. "I-I'm not crying. A Schnee does not cry." Weiss retorted with a cold voice that cracked. Yup every part of her mean icy attitude was falling apart right now, and that only added to Ruby's mind that something was wrong.
So Ruby went for the age-old trick that she had learned back in Patch from her father "Ok, so why are your eyes sweating than Weiss? They don't usually do that."
Weiss sighed at the stupid remark that was just trying to go around her denial of crying, but at the same time she welcomed it. She had never truly had someone other than her family's butler care for her in the past to ask why. It had a slight warming effect to her ever present cold heart, and somewhere deep in her mind it was what she wanted her family to ask. True this girl who asked it was a child, and often severally got on her nerves; but she still cared enough to ask. So for the first time in years she opened up slightly "I am a Schnee.. And with that name there are certain standards I must meet… Said standards are higher than I would like to admit.. One such standard was becoming a team leader who excels and has the best team in Beacon. As I see it, we are nowhere close and we just cannot work together.. I do not know what to do."
Hmm that was a much more open statement than Ruby was ever expecting, she was honestly expecting the heiress to just go on a rant about how her teammates won't follow all her orders. Of course Ruby really can't relate much with the statement itself, as she was never really held to a standard. She never had to prove something before, other than maybe that she could actually wield a scythe for her uncle. Yet that doesn't compare to this, Weiss seems to have to be perfect in what she does and to be frank that sounds downright horrible. It sounds like Weiss never really had fun, and though Ruby had trained for the last seven years almost non-stop she still had time to be herself. Even if she sometimes had to fake the fun for her family, that didn't matter too much to the redhead. Actually at times it even lightened her mood to be around her happy family in those moments.
"Weiss, sometimes things don't go your way.." Ruby started as she eyed the heiress who raised her eyebrows at this part. Of course the heiress to the largest dust company in the world would have never faced that before, but darn it Ruby was going somewhere. "And sometimes you just feel like a failure. Just like every battle you lose some and you win some. Yet despite knowing that we came here to be huntresses Weiss, and to be honest huntresses don't quit that easily. True nothing went to your plans this weekend, but that was less to do with your leadership and more to do with planning. We can't always drop everything on a dime at your beck and call princess. We are not your servants, we are your team. Something like this has to be discussed beforehand so we can plan around it."
Weiss puffs out her chest and exclaims "I know you are not my servants, and please stop calling me princess. I am a heiress, true it's the largest dust company in the world; but it is still heiress."
Ruby sighed, this girl had a lot of pride "Yet you treat us as your servants. You demand us to do something, not ask. You plan things without our knowledge and expect us to be fine with it. That is not a team, true when in battle you have the highest say; but we are not in battle. We have been a team for less than a week, and have our own lifes. True some of us understand your sentiments, but your actions drive us away. So please next time you want to do something like that, ask us our schedules and opinions. I know I would like that, and Yang would too. I do not know about Blake, she kinda is a mysterious girl. So best luck on that front." Ruby ends this with a faint smile to ensure the heiress.
Weiss on her part just stood there, as if contemplating it in her mind. Then she relaxed a little, not greatly noticeable to most but was noticed none-the-less by her partner who looked for any small signs in the heiress's changing mood. "I guess you do make a point, I did not consider your schedules when doing this. I had just assumed that you all had open schedules like me and that was wrong. Both Yang and you have come from close by, so it is expected that you would possibly have plans on weekends. Also we are a team, so we are going to try to convince Blake this is needed." This time Weiss had a faint smile back as her mood was approving.
Ruby slightly chuckles and says "Woah there, I am not exactly the people person of this rag tag group. I have no idea how to talk to Blake. Both Yang and you have the charisma of this group."
Weiss's smile grows as she rolls her eyes. "That's true, I would probably see you speaking to Gambol Shroud before you had a meaningful conversation with Blake."
"Hey, a weapon is an extension of its wielder, so it counts as talking to Blake." Ruby counters with a little mirth in her voice.
"Only you would count a one sided conversation as talking. What could you even learn from her weapon?" Weiss teases.
"Oh I don't know… Maybe that she loves stealth and quick movements." Ruby quips back.
"Oh how could you tell that?" Weiss asks.
"Hmm, she moves fast and her weapon is relatively short. So she either sneaks up on you or she runs close to you fast. Plus she is by far the quietest and I already have seen her sneak out of our dorm to head to the library." Ruby replies. She then quickly adds "She must really love books."
Weiss chuckles now "Well you are observant, and I think she really does. If she isn't doing something for class she reads. Though some of those books are not the best example of literature."
"Ah, you are talking about the smut right?" Ruby's eyes glisten, nothing better than saying something like this to a conservative girl.
"Ruby! Please do not bring that word up again!" Weiss exclaims as her face turns almost as red as Ruby's cape.
They ended up talking for another thirty minutes there, sometimes laughing, sometimes embarrassed (mostly Weiss) yet it was a very enjoyable moment. Though as all moments that came to an end, the two decided that they could train together that night. Going over each of their partners' combat styles as they trained. Weiss was pleasantly surprised that her partner was more than just a childish weapons freak and Ruby was surprised that the heiress actually had a fun side to her. They indeed grew closer, not close enough to be called friends by most, though to them this is probably the closest they have ever been to someone that wasn't family, but with how rocky their start had been it was an overwhelming enjoyable time.
It was finally Friday of the next week. Classes had ended for their official second week at Beacon and the four were lounging in their room once again. This week had gone by much smoother than the first, with Weiss and Ruby yelling at each other considerably less. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, because that wouldn't be truly who they were. Ruby still had her truly childish sides to her, such as a crippling addiction to chocolate chip cookies, and Weiss was still trying to reign in the misfits of the year. So the two will butt heads, but their arguments were less heated and most times ended on a rather pleasant note. This in turn led to Yang lightening up on Weiss a lot more as her main grievance against the white haired woman was her treatment of her baby sister. As for Blake the only one to get slightly into her almost impenetrable fortress of mystery was Yang and that took a lot of hard work on the blonde brawler's part.
Yet it all led up to a noticeably less amount of tension in the team's dorm room that was noticed by both teachers and students alike. Their unofficial sister team since initiation JNPR had even started to mingle around them more at this point. Though that led to a new issue for the white haired team leader, Jaune Arc. The man had apparently flirted with her since the first time that he met her and now with the two teams around each other it was growing in intensity. Of course it did not bother Ruby at all, as even if she and Weiss were on decent terms now she loved to see the woman squirm. Nothing caused it more than the blonde haired man's super obvious attempts at flirting with her. The best part? For Ruby it was the fact that Weiss was extremely obviously in the closet, and that brought a smile to Ruby's mind. Poor boy never truly catches a break, whether it is in combat class where he gets his butt handed to him, history class where he has to do extra assignments for falling asleep in it, or hitting on women the man just never caught a break.
Also this week communication had finally happened between the teammates of WBYR. Weiss had even apologized for her actions the previous week, and said she was working towards correcting them for the future. The heiress actually swallowed her pride for a moment and went to correct her mistakes. Now that is something Ruby really thought would never happen. It also led to Weiss asking if they could do some team exercises this week and the team unanimously agreed. Well it was more like Ruby agreed reluctantly, followed by her sister as she grinned, and Blake huffed. Though based on the team's expert Blake reader Yang that meant a yes. So this Saturday Weiss had rented out the combat room for a two hour slot, not enough time for Ruby to do her proper workouts, but it was moving somewhere. Weiss had even set up a system to help tutor anyone who had an issue with classes. Though at this moment that was mainly only Yang, she might be the older of the two sisters but everyone knew that Ruby actually put the work in to learn what was needed. It wasn't hard for most of the class to already tell that the red reaper was doing everything she can to improve her knowledge and skills.
Though it was still Friday and Weiss had said that she wanted to do something special today with her team. What it was no one knew except for the heiress, but she was adamant that they spend the time together. That led to their current predicament, being in the shopping district of Vale. While some of the team was alright with the crowds of people swarming around them there were two that noticeably weren't fans of it. One being Blake, which was not that much of a shock to anyone that actually spent time around her, and the other was Ruby herself. This was a little more surprising to the heiress as she lived relatively close to the city and based on stories that she and Yang shared Ruby had been to the city before. The thing is Ruby keeps a rather bare bone selection of clothing, citing that she is still a growing girl and thus the clothing will become too small for her rather soon. Though that is a cover story to her family, despite her constant drinking of milk to grow she has barely grown within the last two years. The real issue is that she despises clothing shopping and doesn't understand why other girls her age only want to do that. If it was up to Ruby she would own a shirt for as long as it fit or wasn't torn apart. The only clothing that she even put any attempt into was her battle gear, as it actually mattered in appearance of a huntress. Of course the only other shopping she would do here would have been at a weapons store. She can get her dust rounds, parts for Crescent Rose, and check out the latest weapons magazines there. Now that she is at Beacon they actually have that on campus, though apparently it is behind a month of the weapons magazine so she still might stop by a weapons store in Vale monthly.
So imagine her displeasure at the Weiss's plan of shopping for stuff to make their room special. To Ruby it already has its own flair to it, not many other rooms that she saw had bunk beds when Beacon doesn't offer any. Plus Yang has a poster of her favorite boy band, Weiss has her classical paintings up that probably cost more than all the tuition added up and Blake has her giant book collection that could start its own library. Also Ruby has her mother's weapon there too, she even got it approved by the headmaster to have it in their room. Quite literally no other room in Beacon's history looked like theirs, but it wasn't enough for Weiss. She wanted to do more to it, something about how she never got to do this before in her parents mansion. And yes she did say mansion, way to rub it in that she was wealthy. Of course she wanted ideas from her teammates on such things to grow closer together or some crap like that. There is a reason Ruby didn't bring much, and that was because she has absolutely no idea about any of this. What was she supposed to suggest, a poster for a game that she played with Yang before? A poster of the song that she wrote in and submitted to a local band that turned into a major hit across Remnant? A poster of her favorite brand of weapons manufacturers? She truly had no idea, well except that song one. She knew that the others would love to have that poster hung up there to show off to the world that she wrote a hit song, but Ruby was keeping that one a big secret. She could only imagine Yang and their father's concern once they found out she wrote it. Especially since the band toned it down a bit from the original piece.
Luckily for Ruby though Yang seemed to be the one mostly engaging Weiss as the two more the most up for the idea. All Blake had suggested was changing the curtains to a darker color and a thicker curtain to help keep the sunlight out. That idea was instantly shot down by both Weiss and Yang as they said it would make the room feel smaller. Logical, yes, but still Ruby liked the idea. She did wake up usually before the sun rose to start her training for the day, but it would be nice for any midday naps on the weekends. Plus you could never go wrong with extra privacy, true they were on the fourth floor of their dorm but in a school that literally starts you off by jumping off a cliff most of the students can find a way to peek through such windows. As for Yang's suggestion, some were practical and some were not so practical. Such as getting a projector system for their room, practical for any viewing of their scrolls for movies, games, or notes. Most systems had easy use for scroll connectivity so it was a rather smart idea that Ruby could get behind. Another practical idea was getting a mini fridge for the room as well, while the room had a small kitchen that was something that it lacked. So with that they could store drinks and food at the proper temperature. It would also save them on their many purchases of the vending machine drinks by just buying the sodas by the case. See these made sense and the whole team agreed to it.
As for her many impractical ideas there was the inflatable pool for their room. No way that was going to be allowed into the dorms by the teachers and there was no way Blake would allow such water to be anywhere near her books. Too many things could possibly go wrong for any of the others to agree. Then there was the scantily dressed woman lamp that she wanted on her desk, judging by how red Weiss got at that one it was a prank by Yang who most likely also noticed Weiss's orientation. Yang had also wanted to get a doorbell for their dorm that when pushed would spray the person in the face. It is a funny gag idea that will work the first time, but having it at a school where everyone was strong enough to bust through your door.. Let's just say it was not a good idea for their privacy. Especially since Yang likes to change in front of the team to show off her goods. Don't need the whole school to think that the entire team is all in on some naughty actions together. Especially since two of the members are half sisters, and Ruby did not want people to think that she was reenacting some of the dirtier comics out there.
Weiss on her part wanted some things to show off their emblems on the walls. In her eyes that will really show that the room is theirs, and it wasn't the dumbest idea. Though that did mean they would have to have it custom made and thus had to stop by the shopping district again, much to Ruby's dismay; but it would be nice to see the emblem that she shares with her mother everyday. It would remind Ruby of her goal and how much more work she needed to achieve it. Though of all the emblems Weiss's would actually have to be imported from a special store in Atlas so Ruby didn't understand why she couldn't have them all made there. Apparently the Schnee emblem could only be made by one other store outside the SDC and that was because Weiss's grandfather made sure they kept the right to make it as her father started restricting who could make such an emblem. Yet Weiss wanted her team's emblem made in Vale, as if she wanted to distance herself as much as possible from her home kingdom.
With that all said and done Ruby had finally survived the horrible night of shopping, or so she thought. No Yang had another idea what four huntresses-in-training should do on a Friday night. Go to a nightclub and fake that they are eighteen years old so they could have some drinks and flirt with some people. Yeah that one really is something Ruby was not a fan of, Weiss seemed reluctant at first too but alas the sunny dragon had convinced her. So after the grueling hours of walking around, shopping, and having to deal with people Ruby was face to face with the loudest place she has ever seen. It was even louder than Nora when she went into one of her pancake rants, and Ruby swore they shook all of Beacon.
Junior's nightclub was like a beacon in the night on this side of town, its bright neon lights made sure of that. Though there were still some signs of repair after Yang's last incursion into this place, so Ruby wondered why her sister would take them here of all places. Maybe she roughed them up enough that they wouldn't complain at her spending money here. At the same time the neon lights also highlighted all the garbage that surrounded this little oasis on this side of town, a sign that no one else wanted to really be around here. That and also the loud blaring music that could be heard literal blocks away, RUby felt bad for anyone that was forced to live within a walking distance of this place. Plus now that they were less than a block away she could smell the tell tale sign of booze. Ruby knows that smell from her many times around her uncle while training, her dad on a practically bad night, and recently Yang. Yes, since Yang graduated Signal she was taking up what appears to be the bad habit of the Xiao Long's, drinking and flirting with any woman you can see. How else can you explain how their dad was able to have children with the two women on his team? Ruby swears that if uncle Qrow was a woman there would be a third sister amongst them.
"Uh Yang… I don't want to do this." Ruby mumbled out as the nightclub grew closer and closer.
"Come on Rubes! This is so going to be fun!" Yang replied happily as she looked back at her sister.
"I am going to say no to the nightclub for me. I have already seen enough drunks in my life." Ruby deadpans her reply back.
"Rubes you are no funnnnn. How else can you flirt with no repercussions other than at a nightclub?" Yang shots back, making sure to let the 'n' in fun last long.
"Well I am perfectly fine not flirting right now. So I think I will meet you back at the dorm later." Ruby says while thumbing towards Beacon.
"But Ru-" Yang tries to pout back before Weiss interrupts the two.
"Don't Yang. She is her own woman, so let her make her own choices." Weiss firmly states.
"Yea if she doesn't want to drink then let her go back. She has already been with us on our planned trip." Blake adds on. At this point Yang looks betrayed as if she thought those two would have her back in peer pressuring Ruby into drinking. At this point Ruby just thinks that Yang wanted to see her little sister get wasted and have a laugh about it. So RUby takes this moment to internally thank her teammates in their defense of her from her sister and books it out of there. No harm in getting out before Yang can do the impossible and convince them that Ruby is needed in this endeavor of theirs.
Heading through Vale at night on the bad side of town alone was never the brightest of ideas. Especially when you were on the shorter side and had a bright red hood on. Plus said hood hid the weapon that was currently strapped to Ruby's back and thus painted a picture of an innocent little girl that didn't know better make her way through these dirty streets. A sight that any sleazeball would easily take advantage of. While slavery was illegal in all four kingdoms, that didn't stop the underground from having such things in place to purchase said slaves. Especially if they were for more personal needs. Of course nothing was better than young women in this regard as they could be molded into how you wanted them to act later on with enough 'training'. Of course this immoral act should be one of the first to be stopped, but alas the VPD never truly got around to it. Mainly because of the corruption that ran rampant through both the VPD and even some of the councilmen.
So imagine Ruby's surprise when a group of men approached her wanting to take her someplace special so they could have some fun. Of course she was one hundred percent against such a stupid act, even if she didn't remember her mother saying to never follow strangers as a kid. She isn't dumb enough to not see what was going on, nor intimidated enough to listen to their demands. In fact Ruby was actually happy that this had happened to her instead of another poor kid, because she could make sure that these low lifes ended in the hospital instead.
So she went and did just that. Within the matter of seconds she grabbed Crescent Rose out, transformed it into its scythe mode, and dashed to the first low life in front of her. This man was sporting a greasy green mohawk as his truly only defining feature and the look on his face before the blunt end of her scythe smacked him across the face was priceless. She saw him go from a look of satisfaction, to confusion, and then pure fear as she approached him and that brought pride to her heart. They had recognized her as what she truly was, something to be feared by their weak butts. Of course that only lasted for a partial of a second for this man as when the blunt end of her scythe collided with his face he was face planted into the ground rendering him unconscious.
The rest that followed went how you would expect for this kind of scenario. They were clearly outmatched, but still yelled to get her and thus sealed their own fate. Quite quickly she picked them off one by one and noticed that none of these guys even had an aura, so she had to ensure not to fire off any rounds. Finally the last guy did the most stereotypical thing while in this scenario and felt it was the best time to pull out a knife. Yes a knife was going to make a difference when all your buddies got demolished by this little girl in front of you, who was currently wielding a scythe taller than she is. Of course like the sun is sure to rise tomorrow this guy soon found himself knocked out of the ground.
With that all said and done Ruby twirled Crescent Rose as she made it go back to its compact form and strapped it to her back. Beating up bad guys sure were a great stress reliever for the red hooded girl. She was so ecstatic about it that after she called the VPD about their current location that she skipped away while whistling her favorite song. Any people that saw that fight and how the girl left felt a chill go down their spine. There was something seriously wrong with her in their books. Thus the legend of the 'bloodied girl' started on the bad side of Vale.