The ending days of that week of school had finally brought peace to the WYBR's room. It had turned out that Weiss's talk was what the team truly needed, even though it could have been done better than the business-like feeling that it brought. Though as if on cue that team WYBR had finally fixed some of its problems another team started to have their own. This team had been JNPR and it seemed to stem from a rift forming between Jaune and Pyrrha. At first those on team WYBR paid little attention to the change in tone from their sister team, but as the days drew on and the issue persisted it started to weigh on everyone's mind. The first to crack about the issue was Weiss herself, which granted her many teases from Yang. Mainly saying that she must have missed all the times Jaune had flirted at her, and that he must have melted her icy heart. Of course Ruby loved to see Weiss feeling uncomfortable, but she could do with less of the shrieking that accompanied it.

For Weiss's part she was rather straightforward with her reasons behind her concern. It mainly stemmed from a shared camaraderie of being team leaders and the hidden stresses that it places on themselves. While Ruby herself had never faced such stresses, she would probably agree with Weiss on this one. Mainly based on her conversation with Ozpin on her first day with her new team, it really had been an eye opener. That also being said by the looks of it, Pyrrha was not being the best support for Jaune. She seemed almost disappointed in his new actions and at times even hostile to the poor man. Did his bad luck strike again and he pushed away the only good thing in his life?

Well Ruby finally got a chance to figure that out for herself when on her normal Friday work out Pyrrha had shown up to the training area. At first the two had mainly done their own things while silently acknowledging that the other was in the room. It was rather odd to Ruby that Pyrrha was here at the moment, she was more used to seeing the woman in her afternoon workouts. On Pyrrha's end she finally realized why Ruby was the one of the few other students in their year that matched her own skills in combat without participating in any tournaments. The younger woman simply trained that much more than any other students at Beacon. It was an eye opener for the four time Mistral Championship winner, and she found her younger self in Ruby.

Eventually the two did finally openly greet each other, and that was for a shared exercise. They wanted to spar and while the training area did provide dummies for them to use, nothing compared to another huntress-in-training. The match mainly followed tournament rules, besides the fact that they would stop once someone hit yellow and without a referee it was on the honor system. While that sounded rather ebay to cheat to most people, to the two in the room that meant a silent pledge. They wished to become huntresses and huntresses were honorable. So the small skirmish proceeded, and while one went in using all of her aura, the other solely relied on her skills alone. Ruby would have wished that she could spare the aura for improved strength or speed, but she wanted to have a fighting chance in this duel. For that she needed every ounce of aura on defense.

Even with this mismatched pair, the fight lasted longer than one would have expected. Ruby's strenuous training showing its fruit to the champion, and Pyrrha's more defensive stance in the fight ensured so. While Ruby was not the best talker in Beacon, she often found that one could learn another through combat. Their fighting style was always a way to see into the soul for her. One such example was the way that her sister Yang had always fought. Straight forward and with brute force. Yang was one to get straight to the point and act on her emotions. She quite literally had her emotions on her sleeve at all times. Another example was her first fight with Weiss. She had found that Weiss was a perfectionist at heart, but something felt like it was not truly her nature. It felt more like it was forced upon her and that she wanted to escape that role. Though Ruby could never understand that one, a fighting style was something that you came up with. Yes you were trained by others, but ultimately you adapted what you learned into your own unique style. You could train over a hundred people the same style of fighting and every single one would have their own unique variants of that same style, it was just how people were. Even Ruby's fell into this category. Her style originated from her uncle, but over the course of time she had found ways to fight that he could never. She had moves that he personally could not pull off with his own weapon or frame that she found perfect for herself.

So while Ruby had lost the duel against the older red haired girl, she had learned invaluable information from her. This was a woman built up from many days training, with many different instructors. She had learned many styles and found what worked best for herself and built something truly unique through it. Her style of fighting was so unique that it couldn't even be slightly compared to another across Remnant. Yet it also told a story. A story of a woman who was also alone, yes her style was perfected across her many fights and training; but it also led her to a place where no one else was. A sort of stand higher than all those around her, almost as saying that she had focused so hard on getting there that she lost all connections along the way. That had finally shown a light for Ruby at what was going on in her sister team. Pyrrha wanted a connection to someone else and had felt betrayed when the other person pushed her away.

So Ruby went off what she found "Nice fight Pyrrha, thank you for the challenge."

Pyrrha instantly blushed at the praise "No, no thank you Ruby. You really surprised me there with how efficient you had fought. Plus I never even expected you to be here in the morning."

Ruby just shrugged at this "I find this to be the best time to practice forms and to do light exercises. Not too many people around, so I can have Crescent Rose fully out."

Pyrrha nodded her head to that "Ah, thank does make sense. Can't have many people around when you are using a scythe."

Ruby just agreed by saying "Yep" adding a pop on the 'p'. She finally asked her real question "So Pyrrha, what's really going on?"

Pyrrha looked a little surprised at that and almost went into a defensive stance before replying "I don't know what you mean."

Ruby just sighed and stated "For the first two weeks of school your team was a very commutative team. Now all of a sudden you and Jaune are having some issues. I should let you know that partner issues are solely reserved for me and Weiss."

Pyrrha deflated at this, even the quick joke at the end. It seemed more like she didn't want to get caught at all with the issue at hand, though she was rather bad at hiding it. She must be as socially awkward as Ruby herself if she thought she was hiding the issue. With a long sigh she answered "We ran into a disagreement about training, and now he seems to be avoiding the team. I have seen him more with Cardin than his own team this week."

Ruby took in the information that she just received, by all accounts Pyrrha didn't like the last part the most. A difference in training was a simple issue to resolve, a lack of teamwork was not. Though to be honest whatever training Jaune was doing, it would be much better to go with Pyrrha's. She was extremely skilled at fighting and almost anyone would pay to be trained by her. After thinking it over for a minute Ruby responded "Are you sure that Jaune is willingly joining Cardin over your team?"

Pyrrha looked almost confused by this statement and quickly replied "What do you mean?"

Ruby thought for a few seconds, trying to figure a way to articulate what she wanted to say. After coming up with her best reply she said "I mean Jaune never seemed to like the guy before, so maybe Cardin has something over Jaune. Like a dirty secret, maybe?"

Whatever secret it may be, it seemed Pyrrha knew one. Because when Ruby had said that the woman's eyes just went as wide as dinner plates as the words sunk in. There definitely was a secret and one that looked like it could get Jaune in trouble if it was found out. The fact that Pyrrha knew though also said something about the duo, Jaune must have trusted Pyrrha at least at one point. Otherwise why expose yourself like that? It also didn't help that anyone who knew Cardin knew he would do something like that. The man seemed to get a rush over anything that made him feel stronger. Whether that be the normal way or the cheap way it didn't seem to matter to him, as long as he had it over you.

Through a panic filled voice Pyrrha replied "B-but how would he know such a thing?"

Ruby shrugged at this, true one thing Cardin wasn't was stealthy. The man was quite literally a muscle head and it was easy to hear him coming down the halls. Ruby responded with "Maybe he simply overheard when Jaune told you?"

Pyrrha shot back instantly as she fell back into her defensive rhetoric "What do you mean he told me?"

Ruby held her hands out in her best attempt at replicating Yang's surrendering motion. It always seemed to work for her sister, so why not try it out herself? "I mean based on how you are acting you must know. The easiest way for you to find out was by Jaune himself telling you. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact I would say that it means he already trusts you greatly."

It seems that attempting to be Yang worked out. Pyrrha once again relaxes as she ponders the newest theory. She seems to be thinking about when Cardin would have found out and then her face has an eureka moment. She also mumbles out involuntarily ".. The roof.." With that she seems to have an instant pep in her step as she starts to rush out of the room, making sure to grab all her belongings on the way out. Before she leaves she turns around and yells out "Thank you Ruby!" With that she disappeared beyond the door and Ruby went on to finish her workout.

By the time the two teams met each other again there had been a lot less tension in team JNPR. Pyrrha seemed to have talked it out with Jaune, as the two now were openly talking to each other again. Almost as if nothing had ever happened, the rest of Ruby's team seemed to have thought nothing of it and washed away all of their concerns' but not Ruby. No this was not finished yet, they may have talked it out; but they still had to deal with whatever Cardin had on Jaune. Plus Ruby was now curious what the blonde team leader had hidden in his closet. What could be so detrimental to find out that he had to give into Cardin's whims? Though that afternoon she did see an extra rare sight. Pyrrha had shown up to her usual training session in the afternoon, but she had also brought Jaune along. It seemed whatever the issue was it stemmed from the training differences that they also had.

Though to be honest it was not Ruby's problem to be had, she was curious, but she would not intervene anymore in their issues. Though she was invested in the Cardin aspect. She had yet another reason to hate the man, a list that seemed to grow quite often. If anyone ever thought Ozpin was an idiot for allowing her into Beacon she would show Cardin as the best example of who to truly be mad at. There is no way that the man is showing any traits of being a true huntsman other than the fact that he had unlocked his aura. He did not care about the people, based on all his previous actions, he was not honorable based on this Jaune fiasco, and he was a coward. He only bullied someone if they were weaker than himself, almost always choosing to back down when the cards were not in his favor. That was the biggest sin in Ruby's book. A huntsman was supposed to stare down death and continue onwards, even if all that greeted them at the end was death itself. The statistics showed that nearly sixty percent of huntsmen never survive their careers. It was a dangerous job that had been romanticized by others, most likely in the hopes to draw more into its deadly grasps.

So despite her not wishing to get involved anymore than she had, Ruby will continue to keep an eye on the situation. Afterall the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Or in Ruby's case at least an ally. She truly didn't know if she had friends. She was one to set out and constantly improve herself and what little hobbies that she did have seemed odd to most others. She had already got the runarounds at Signal, she knew that most other students considered her a weapons freak, but what could she say. A weapon was everything to a huntsman and she wanted to perfect her weapon for her many battles to come. Even her cookie habits had come across as odd to her fellow peers. While almost everyone would agree that cookies were amazing, none were at the levels that Ruby was at. It was mainly a guilty pleasure to herself, a reminder of a better time in her life. When she was still that innocent little girl in the aging village on the other side of Patch.

After her workout was done she hit the training areas showers, as she knew Weiss wasn't particular to the smell of body odor. Even Blake seemed against it, though she hid it much better. Though Ruby preferred to avoid the communal showers as she wasn't particularly comfortable around all the naked bodies. Luckily Beacon had the foreknowledge to keep the women and men's showers separate. Another issue Ruby had with communal showers was her sister. Yang was bisexual, meaning anyone outside of the family was fair game. Unfortunately one of Yang's many quirks was to flirt with anyone that she felt even the slightest attraction to. Sometimes she would even flirt to just get a laugh out of the situation. So Ruby was already mentally scarred from the showers at Signal. She has seen her sister flirt enough with other women, and definitely seen enough of her flirts succeed. Though luckily for Ruby she knew that Yang had plans outside of Beacon tonight so she would not have to deal with her sister. No instead she was greeted with the sight of the Mistral Champion herself taking a shower.

Pyrrha seemed not disturbed at all with being naked in the shower room, something Ruby pieced together to be from her many times doing so when training and competing. Though Ruby was quite not on that comfort level, especially when she could see every bulge of Pyrrha's muscles twitch under her smooth skin. Pyrrha also seemed to have a rather large breast size, especially for a woman that exercised as often as she had. If one was to ask who won the genetic lottery, Ruby would instantly point out Pyrrha. True the muscles were her own hard work, but the body itself was proof of it. Though one thing Ruby liked about her own body was her smaller breast size. It was much more convenient for herself in fighting situations, the extra weight would not be appreciated. Or the possible limitations that they might bring to her combat style. Plus she had even read online about how larger breasts could cause back issues, definitely wasn't to help Ruby cope when Yang started to really grow into hers.

Of course the fact that Pyrrha was in the showers with Ruby did in fact help Ruby speed up her own shower routine. As much as she would like to sight see more, she had better things to do. An added plus was that she herself did not want to be seen in such a state by another person, she was never a fan of getting flirted with. She just didn't know how to react to such an advance on herself, and often instantly became colored like her cloak. It also didn't help that she just didn't see the importance in such a thing, it didn't line up with her true goals in life. Add on that any poor person that flirted with her and got caught by Yang would most likely have a few burn marks the next day. It was kinda strange to Ruby on the areas that Yang would be overprotective. She would be more than glad to help Ruby drink, but flirting itself was off the table.

Ruby had finally exited the showers after ten minutes without once saying a word to Pyrrha. It almost seemed like the champion was in her own little world while in the showers. Though that did help Ruby out a lot. She wouldn't know what to do if she had been caught staring at Pyrrha while lost in thought and she did not want to find out. She arrived to her room and entered to find a rather common sight on a Friday night for her team. Yang was gone to some unknown place, Blake was also missing, and Weiss was currently working on some of her studies. Blake was most likely in the library, it was more her home than the room she slept in at this point, and thus wouldn't be back until much later. When the door had finally closed Weiss looked over to see who had entered and after noticing Ruby just nodded her head in a silent greeting. Ruby replied back and went to work on her next project.

That project was not something that pertained to school, no. It was much more personal to the red hooded woman. It was her monthly time to clean Sundered Rose, and she wouldn't miss that for the world. Though at this point in time the weapon never truly needed any maintenance done to it, as it was never truly used, it was something that Ruby had kept from that small village. True she used to do it so much more with her mother, but her family had told her that it didn't need it as much anymore with lack of use. Well her family had said that she truly didn't need to do any maintenance at all to it in its current state, but compromised after Ruby broke down. The compromise was that she could do it once a month and she really enjoyed that time. It brought her back to a simpler time in her life, a much happier time. A time where she could hear her mothers soft singing as the two worked together on this very same weapon and enjoyed themselves.

Though Ruby was enjoying the cleaning while involuntarily humming her mother's old tune, Weiss was not. To Weiss it seemed rather idiotic that someone would be tearing apart and cleaning an unused weapon that literally sat in a glass case. More so in the room that they all slept in. At least Ruby had the common courtesy to do it all over a towel so none of the weapon grease would get onto the floor. Though Weiss would prefer not to have that smell linger in her bedroom for possibly the next few days. "Ruby.." Weiss started to say as Ruby's head immediately shot to look at the heiress directly in her eyes. Weiss flinched at this and remembered Yang's warning the first time she talked about the weapon. Though she decided to forge onward ".. Can you please do the maintenance of that weapon at the school's forge?"

Ruby continued to stare at the heiress as she pondered the question. Eventually after a minute Ruby began to carefully wrap the pieces up of the disassembled ax and replied "Ok". Within a minute she left the room and once the door was closed Weiss was alone again. At this point the heiress let out a breath that she didn't realize that she was holding. It was a simple request and one that Ruby had listened to luckily, but anything to do with her mother was already a taboo amongst her teammates. The only one that knew anything about it was Yang, and she was being quite tight-lipped as well. Even while horribly drunk. So Weiss dropped it for now, but she will one day get it out of her younger partner no matter what. So she went back to what she was currently working on, an evaluation of her team for the upcoming field trip into the Forever Fall forest on Monday.

Cleaning Sundered Rose was a rather easy task for Ruby to do at this point. She knew it just as well as Crescent Rose and it had far less parts to it. Though every time Ruby had looked at all the inner components she was reminded of how times had changed. While every gear was expertly made, they were outdated. Even with much less parts the weapon still took the same amount of time to transform that Ruby's scythe would take in total. If Ruby would switch out the mechaswift parts for the newest model she bet she could cut the swift time in half, though she would never change any parts of the weapon. It was more about the memories that it held than its functionality at this point, and those just wouldn't be the same with the newer pieces.

Once she fully assembled the ax she went onto polishing it. When she was younger her mother always did this part while Ruby would watch, mainly because when she was younger she was too energetic by this point to get the right amount of polish on it. She still remembers the time when her mother had allowed her to try for the first time and she almost blinded them with how much light was reflected off the blade. Remembering this brought a small smile to Ruby's face and the start of a tear in her left eye. She really loved those days.

All in all the entire time it took her to clean Sundered Rose was under an hour and once she was down with it she was checking for any mistakes across its surface. Once satisfied with her work she cleaned up the station that she had used and returned to her room. On the way back she got a few odd looks from fellow students, mainly because she was cradling the weapon like a precious child, yet she did not mind. They did not know her story, and truthfully she would rather keep it that way.

Arriving back at her room she had found that the rest of the team had arrived as well. Yang was already changing out of her combat gear and looked ready to take a shower, while Blake was now on her bed reading a book. Weiss was still in the same position as earlier, but looked to have changed textbooks she was reading. Once Ruby safely placed the ax back in the case and gently closed the glass Weiss coughed to get everyone's attention. Once she had it she asked a question "Does anyone have plans tomorrow?"

After getting a no from all the other team members in the room her face brightened a little and she went on "Then I think we should make it a partner day. Spend time with your partner for the day, that way we can learn to trust each other more when out on a mission."

It did make sense, trust was a key component when going on missions, but why did she have to spend the entire day with Weiss. Of course Yang had no problems and even used it as an attempt to flirt with Blake, saying something about how she would so like a date with Bellabooty. Blake seemed to sense that it wasn't a full attempt at a flirt and agreed as long as Yang never used that name again. Yang made no promises, and knowing her she would definitely use it sometime in the future.

"I do exercises in the morning at five. If you want to be with me all day, then you would have to join in as well." Ruby answered hoping to discourage her partner.

Of course it didn't work. "I can do that, though, is there a day where you don't do exercises?" asked the white haired heiress.

"Nope" replied Ruby with extra emphasis on the 'p'. Truthfully she didn't need to rest, one of the glories of aura was that it easily healed any muscle tears by the next day. So one truly never had to have an off day from training, and Ruby used that to her advantage.

"Ok, then if we are going to start the day off with doing what you wish to do then we will do something that I wish to do after." Weiss articulated. Reasonable compromise for the two, yet something about it made all the hair on the back of Ruby's neck stand up.

"And what would you want to do?" Ruby asked.

"That is a secret." Weiss teased the red hooded woman with a playful smirk. Oh that just set off another red flag in Ruby's mind, but she had no explanation to disagree so she agreed.

With that the four women went about their usual end of the day routines. Yang was taking a long shower so she could ensure that her hair was perfectly cleaned from whatever she went to do earlier in the day, said shower always threatened to use up all the hot water for the others. Blake was reading yet another book, how fast does this woman read? Weiss was taking some more notes for classes on Monday and Ruby was doing the same. That was one thing that Ruby was happy about getting in her partner, someone that also understands the importance of studying for class. She would have lamented if she ended up with someone like Yang, someone that always was trying to do anything but study. Yang also had a knack for getting others caught up in her shenanigans and that would not sit well with Ruby.

Luckily for Ruby she had taken a shower after her afternoon workout, so all she currently had to do was make sure her arms were cleaned fully again from the cleaning earlier. When she got to the shower last she was greeted only with cold water as the heater could not handle how much hot water that they had used. So being extra quick Ruby pulled her arms out when they were cleaned, though even with just having her arms in the cold liquid it caused her to shiver. Though that did mean when she went into her bed she was just that much more cozy with the warmth that it supplied her. It only took a few minutes for herself to fall into the sweet slumbers of sleep, thinking of how Weiss was going to be so sore tomorrow.