Location: Sora and Neo's Dorm
Sora and Neo were up bright and early (surprising Neo for the fourth day in a row) and were getting dressed. Sora's first few days at Beacon weren't too bad, he was following most of his classes pretty well. Oobleck's class was the big one he was struggling in mostly because the good Doctor talked much too fast for him. Luckily for him Neo had recorded the lessons for him so he could follow in his own pace and he was grateful for that. He felt that he and Neo had gotten slightly closer in the past few days. While Neo couldn't talk, she was able to convey her emotions well enough for Sora to understand her with or without texts.
"Ugh! I really don't like this thing!" Neo looked to her leader after tying her uniform bow around her neck and saw that he was having trouble with his tie… again. She gave a silent giggle and walked over to the brunette.
"He's hopeless." Neo thought as she tapped Sora on the shoulder. The brunette turned around to see his partner and her smirk. He then gave an exasperated sigh and slumped in defeat.
"Help me please." Neo laughed in silence before taking the boy's tie into her hands. "I'm sorry, I'll learn, I promise." Neo's smirk got wider and she raised an eyebrow at her partner as if to say 'Really?'. This just caused Sora to pout and for Neo to ruffle his spiky hair. She then finished tying his tie and she pulled out her scroll to send a message.
Neo: Oh stop pouting, you'll get it… in a month or so.
Sora read the message and gave Neo. deadpan stare.
"You're Hilarious." He said in a slightly annoyed tone. Neo just stuck her tongue out at him and handed him her vest before turning around with her arms stretched backwards. Sora rolled his eyes and took the vest. "Almost the end of the week, ready for Sharing Day?" He asked as put her vest over her shoulders. Neo nodded her head and sent a new message after she buttoned up her vest.
Neo: Yup, I've been craving more of that Sea-Salt Ice Cream!
Sora chuckled at the message and put his jacket on.
"I know how you feel, take me back to the days of Twilight town." He said unconsciously. Neo raised an eyebrow at this, she had never heard of Twilight Town. Sora had always made off hand comments about places he had been on Remnant that Neo had never heard of.
Neo: Twilight Town?
Sora saw the message and mentally kicked himself.
"It's a small town where my Master took me too a few times for my training." Sora explained. Neo seemed to accept the answer as she just shrugged her shoulders. Neo had reported these kinds of things to 'Matchstick' in hopes of finding some sort of connection to his training or a way to find his master but nothing came up. Despite Neo's true intentions for being at Beacon, she wasn't going to deny that she didn't find the past few days enjoyable. Sora was a breath of fresh air for her, her 'Dum-Dum' was the exception, but most of the grunts that he hired or was forced to work with were all either morons, cocky assholes or a combination of the two. Sora was sweet, helpful, humble and despite him being a goofball, he was competent.
Neo: You go to some weirdly named places, ready to go?"
Sora nodded to his partner and the two walked out of their dorm. As they did, Neo felt her scroll go off and saw a new message.
Dum-Dum: Guess who's back.
Neo smiled brightly and began typing.
Neo: Took you long enough! How are you doing, how was the job?
Dum-Dum: Nice to hear from you too. I'm beyond exhausted, all that work only for a couple dozen crates of Dust. Matchstick and her brats really need to start pulling their weight.
Neo rolled her eyes when their employer was mentioned, the less she thought about that bitch the better.
Neo: Go ahead and get some rest, I'll text you after classes are over.
Dum-Dum: Sounds good, have a good day.
Neo's smile got bigger as she pocketed her scroll and she began skipping happily.
"Good news from your caretaker?" Neo simply nodded her head and continued to skip. Sora couldn't help but smile at his partner, he was happy to see her in a good mood.
"Oooh Someone's happy." Team SN both look ahead to see Yang and Blake both with granola bars in their hands. "Morning Keyboy, Morning Sundae." Yang said, winking, more to Neo than Sora. Neo just stuck her tongue out at the blonde and waved at Blake. Yang pretended to be stabbed in the heart and dramatically put a hand on her chest. "You're so cold, Sundae." Neo just walked past the blonde, but not before bumping her hip with Yang's. Both girls smirked at each other all the while Sora and Blake watched on amused.
"Those two have quite the rivalry." Sora said with a chuckle.
"They certainly have something." Blake said before looking back to her spiky haired friend. "You got your homework done this time?" She said with a sly smirk. Sora just crossed his arms.
"I finished it this morning." She said, turning his head away from her. Blake laughed at the boy's response causing him to pout.
"And I'm guessing Neo needed to help make sure that most of it was somewhat correct?" She said through her laughter. Sora didn't even need to say anything, both of their scrolls went off and a message from Neo could be seen in their group chat.
Neo: He woke me up at six just to go over it a few more times.
Sora stared at his partner with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Neo just gave the Keyblade Wielder an evil smile and she ran off.
"You Traitor!" He said running after her. Yang and Blake just laughed at the two and began walking to class again.
"Sora and Sundae really make a good pair." Yang said, calming down a bit. Blake nodded in agreement.
"I told you Sora can make friends with just about anyone, Neo doesn't seem to be an exception. Speaking of Neo, you and her seem to be having fun messing with each other." She said with a smirk. Yang chuckled a bit.
"She's fun to mess with and it's cute when I get her to pout." Blake rolled her eyes but kept her smirk.
"Nice to see you making a real friend." Yang smirked back at her partner and put an arm around her.
"What!? Are you saying that we're not real friends?" She said in a dramatic tone. The secret cat faunas casually got out of the Blonde's grip and walked ahead.
"Not yet, right now you're an 'annoying acquaintance'." She said with a smirk. Yang was gobsmacked.
"You're so mean!" Blake chuckled.
"Don't take it too personally, Sora was there too. You just have to work your way up like he did. That was a part of your little challenge right?" Yang pouted for a few seconds before smiling at her partner.
"Well, at least I'm getting somewhere." She said before running back up to her partner.
Location: Professor Port's Classroom
"You can't seriously be listening to this!" Nora whispered as she, her team, team RWBY, team SN, and the rest of the class were listening to another one of Professor Port's 'Riveting' adventures. The hyperactive redhead saw that Sora had a smile on his face while listening intently to the story.
"It's better than writing notes." He whispered with a smirk.
"Ha! You admit it!" Yang hissed in a hushed tone. Blake rolled her eyes with a small smile but continued to read her text book. Neo, Nora, Juane and Pyrrah all chuckled to themselves while Ren shook his head with a smile. Ruby was snickering as well at her sister's comment, Weiss was irritated that her teammates and fellow students were acting so childish and talking during an important lecture. Sora could only shrug his shoulders at the blonde.
"What can I say, I don't like studying." He said with a soft chuckle. Weiss heard this and she grit her teeth.
"Seriously, I don't care if the Co-Head Mistress had anything to do with it! How could someone so blatantly carefree and unfocused have been accepted here!?" Weiss ranted in her head as her face began to turn red with anger. Ruby looked to her partner and saw that she was quite miffed.
"Weiss, are you ok?" The Schnee Heiress looked to her leader with a glare .
"I'm fine, now stop acting like a child and pay attention!" With that, Weiss turned to put her attention back on the Professor. Ruby frowned at Ice Queen's attitude and went back to her notes. Yang and Blake watched the interaction with differing reactions. Yang was five seconds away from grabbing the Ice Queen by her ponytail and forcing her to apologize. Blake just narrowed her eyes and shook her head at the Schnee. The past few days had been quite hectic in Team RWBY. Ruby, Blake and Yang had been on good terms for the most part, the problem for all three for the past four days was Weiss. The Schnee Heiress had been very critical towards them since they got back to their room after the first day of class. Giving them the cold shoulder, insulting their battle skills and apparently her favorite pastime belittling Ruby. She was quite bitter at the fact that she wasn't made leader and she was definitely showing it.
Sora and Team JNPR also saw the interaction and noticed how heated things had been between the girls. Neo rolled her eyes and shifted her gaze back to the professor.
"Typical for a spoiled rich brat to act like she owns the world." She thought, as her former parents came to mind. The thought caused her to frown in disgust and Sora took notice immediately.
"Neo" The heterochromic girl heard her partner's voice and she turned to him. "You good?" Neo could see the worry in his eyes, so he took a deep breath and nodded towards him. "Just making sure, you seemed angry." Neo shook her head and picked up her scroll.
Neo: It's nothing Spiky, Frosty's attitude is just putting a bad taste in my mouth is all.
Sora nodded his head, he understood that Weiss could be a bit difficult and that was putting it lightly. He didn't understand why she acted so cold towards people, Blake said that the Schnee's were greedy, irredeemable humans, but he didn't want to judge the accusations about her or her family without knowing the whole story.
"Chill out Weiss, she just asked you a question. No need to be so mean to her." Nora said, crossing her arms. Weiss turned to the redhead with a glare.
"Stay out of it, my team isn't of your concern." Nora glared back at her and Yang spoke up.
"It's not 'your' team Ice Queen, it's 'OUR' team!" She growled.
"And if you hadn't realized, Ruby is the leader. So by your logic it's her team." Blake said in a low tone. Weiss grit her teeth hearing this and Ruby put her hands up.
"C'mon girls let's not fight please!"
"TEAM RWBY!" The four girls all jumped and saw Professor Port glaring at them with his arms crossed. "It seems my lesson isn't as important as your petty squabble." He then looks to Ruby. " , I hope you realize that this class is vital to not just yourself but for your team as well. I understand I can be a tad boring, but that doesn't mean you all shouldn't listen from time to time." Ruby sighed to herself and stood up before bowing her head.
"Yes Professor Port, I understand and we'll do better in the future." She said in an apologetic tone. Team JNPR, SN, Yang and Blake felt bad that the young leader had to take the full brunt of the scolding, but Ruby knew she had to not just for herself but for the team. Weiss scoffed silently and rolled her eyes.
"And this child she's supposed to be our 'Leader'? Ridiculous!" She thought bitterly. She might acknowledge Ruby's fighting skills to a certain extent, but as a leader, absolutely not.
The Professor nodded his head towards the young leader, signaling that she could sit back down.
"Since we've gotten a tad off track, I believe we should move class in a different direction." Port said, as he brought out his scroll and entered a code. After a few seconds, a hole opened next to him and a large cage appeared out of it with a Boarbatusk Grimm inside of it. The students all stared at the Professor as if he was crazy. "Tell me students, which one of you feels that they have the spirit of a true Huntsman? Strong willed, well-educated and wise!" The words echoed in Weiss's minds, this was her chance to-
"I do!" Weiss turned to see Sora out of his seat and a smile on his face. Port looked to the young Keyblade wielder and he gave a hardy laugh.
"Young Sora, I expect nothing from you. Step up kiddo, would you like a spare weapon since yours is in your combat locker?" Sora shook his head as he made his way down to the Professor and extended his hand.
"No, it's fine." He said as his Kingdom Key appeared in his hand. Blake, Nora, Yang and Ruby were getting excited to see the brunette in action again. Ren, Jaune, Pyrrha and Neo just smiled at the boy and silently wished him luck. Weiss grit her teeth as she watched the boy walk towards the teacher and the cage Grimm. She remembered her spar with him on the first day of school and while she accepted his explanation on why he gave her weapon back to her, it still bothered her that he could analyze her limitations so easily. Sora walked in front of the teacher and the cage and gave a small smile.
"I'm ready!" He said resting his Keyblade on his shoulder. Port smiled back at the young man, impressed by his confidence.
"Very well!" Port then grabbed his Axe that was hung up on the wall and in one swift motion he destroyed the lock releasing the Boarbatusk. "Show us how ready you really are!" The Boarbatusk roared before charging at Sora who jumped out of the way and on top of the cage.
"Go Sora!" Ruby Cheered.
"Fight well!" Blake said, holding up a small flag with Sora's name on it.
"Teach that overgrown pig who's boss!" Yang said, raising a fist in the air. The Blonde then got a message from Neo who gave her a peace sign. "Neo says 'Show no mercy!'" Sora looked over to his partner who gave him a smile that was a mix between supportive and sinister. Team JNPR were also cheering for the spiky haired boy, Nora cheering the loudest. The Boarbatusk stopped in its tracks and turned to charge back towards the cage. Sora jumped off the cage and outstretched his Keyblade.
"Sliding Dash!" Sora said as his body began to slightly glow and in a swift motion he dashed towards the Grimm and stuck it in its head, sending it back.
"Very nice young Sora, but it's going to take more than that to defeat this Grimm." Port said, gesturing towards that Boarbatusk that was getting it barings back. The Grimm then let out a roar and curled up into a ball, spinning rapidly towards the Keyblade Wielder. The sudden spin dash from the Boarbatusk shocked Sora, but he held his Keyblade in a defensive position.
The Grimm clashed with Sora as its spinning body continued to spin, sending sparks all across the room. Sora thought of the Soldier Heartless as this attack was happening, they would always spin randomly and luckily for him he knew exactly how to deal with this.
"Counter Rush!" Sora then pushed the grimm back just long enough for him to strike it with a three-hit combo causing it to stop spinning and fall on its side. Sora then jumped into the with his Keyblade over his head. "Blitz!" He then brought the blade down and whacked the Boarbatusk on the head, causing it to cry in pain before disintegrating. Weiss flinched as she saw Sora's 'Blitz' technique, she remembered the headache she received before Sora healed her at the end of their fight and hit. Sora landed back on the ground and dismissed his Keyblade and turned back to Professor Port who had a proud smile on his face.
"Well done young man! Now if only you could put as much effort into your school work as you did in that battle." Port joked, getting the Keyblade Wielder to pout and his friends and most of the class began to laugh. Sora crossed his arms and sulked off back to his seat but Port put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "You did very well, young man. You have an amazing amount of potential and the makings of a true Huntsman." Sora smiled at the old man and bowed slightly.
"Thank you." Port nodded and Sora returned to his seat.
"Nice buddy!" Yang said, as she and Ruby gave the brunette a smile and a thumbs up.
"Thanks, I kinda wish there were two for me to fight. That wasn't much of a warm up." Sora said with a sheepish smile. Neo jabbed him softly in the arm with her elbow with a smirk on her face. "What? You said no mercy, right?" Sora asked, smirking back at her. Neo giggled silently and patted the boy on his head.
"You make it look so easy." Jaune said resting chin on his hand. Sora then put his hands up in mock defense.
"Aw come on, I'm sure any of you guys could have gotten it done just as easy. I told you before, I'm nothing special." He said, waving off the blonde's remark. Nora then came up from behind Sora and put an arm around the brunette's neck.
"Awww! Listen to you being all humble!" She said giving a noogie to her new friend. Sora started turning blue and did his best to pull off the redhead.
"Let go Nora!" He struggled to say as his neck and head were being assaulted. The group began to laugh at the two as did the rest of the class minus one lone Ice Queen who was gripping the pen she was holding rather tightly.
"Nothing special is right, it was just a Boarbatusk! I could have taken that thing out just as effortlessly and just as fast!" She seethed in her mind. Port then chuckled at the children and put a hand up to calm them.
"Alright kiddos that's enough of that, class is about to end so you all may gather your belongings and await the bell." With that, Port walked over to his destination and began preparing for his next class. The students all shuffled around their seats collecting their things and awaited the bell.
"Finally, Combat class is next! I hope Glynda splits us up into pairs again, fighting most of you guys is a whole lot of fun!" Yang mused. Neo, Nora and Ruby nodded their heads at the Blonde's words. Jaune just gave a heavy sigh.
"You're excited, I'm dreading it." He said with a groan. Pyrrha began patting her partner on the back with a comforting smile.
"Cheer up Jaune, you're doing your best and that's all that matters." She said, but Jaune just shook his head.
"Yea, losing every fight against the same guy in the past 4 days. That's my best, alright." He said in a defeated tone. The members of Team JNPR all looked at their leader with looks of concern. Before any words of support could be said, Weiss spoke up once she put her things in her bag.
"Honestly, it's a wonder how you even got here along with those two" Gesturing to Sora and Ruby. "And it's an even bigger wonder how Ozpin left the three of you in charge of three separate teams." Weiss's words were met with glares from most of the group.
"What is your deal Princess!?" Nora asked angrily with her fists crackling with pink electricity.
"Seriously, do you have any positive qualities or do you just get off on bringing others down to boost your own ego?" Yang asked as her eyes turned red in anger. Weiss to the blonde and the redhead with narrowed eyes.
"How dare you! I'm just stating facts, excuse me for giving criticism!" Neo then sent a message to the group chat.
Neo: There is a difference between criticism and being a bitch, Schnee!
"Swear!" Sora said to his partner who just waved him off. Yang, Nora and Blake all agreed with the message sent by Neo. Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren all sighed all the while Weiss was red with anger at the message she saw.
RING! RING!
Once the bell was heard, Weiss got up immediately and stomped out of the room. The rest of the group just watched her leave and decided to leave together.
"What is her damage?" Nora asked, crossing her arms.
"Hell if we know, she's been like that since day one. After our first round of two truths and a lie, she proclaimed it was stupid and left." Yang said, rolling her eyes.
"She is a Schnee so this doesn't really surprise me." Blake said in a neutral tone.
Neo: Spoiled Atlas brats like her always act so high and mighty, thinking they're above us normal people.
Yang, Nora and Blake once again agreed with Neo's message. Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha all look to one another with looks of concern while Sora was looking at Ruby who seemed quite dejected.
"Ruby, are you ok?" He asked softly. Yang and Blake also looked to their leader to see her sad face.
"What's up Rubes?" Yang asked in a worried tone before putting arm around the red reaper. Blake also looked a tad concerned for her young leader. Ruby then took a small breath and spoke one name.
"Weiss." Yang and Blake narrowed their eyes when they heard the Schnee's name.
"Look she's getting on your nerves, me and Blake can-" "No!" Ruby exclaimed, causing the group to flinch. She then took another breath and put a hand on her head.
"I just want us all to get along, that's all. I know Weiss is being difficult, but still it's only been a few days. I didn't expect things to be perfect right off the bat, I know proving myself to her as a competent leader isn't going to be easy either. That doesn't mean I won't stop trying." Yang and Blake looked to one another and then back to Ruby.
"You sure about that Ruby, Weiss is a brat and she treats you worse than the two of us." Blake nodded her head.
"Yang is right, it's easy to see she's bitter that you got chosen to be leader." Jaune raised an eyebrow at this.
"Why would she be bitter over that, being the leader isn't that big a deal is it?"
"She's a Schnee, they hate everything they can't control." Blake answered with venom in her voice. Sora looked to Blake with concern, but he just sighed before speaking to Ruby.
"Ruby." The red reaper looked at the brunette who gave her a small smile. "Do what your heart feels is right, I know Weiss seems like a tough wall to break through but if you and she can build some sort of connection then those walls can be slowly broken down." Sora then turned to Blake and Yang. "The same goes for the two as well, give her time and be patient. Not all of your problems are going to be solved in just a few days." Blake and Yang looked at one another and then back to their leader.
"It's your call Ruby." Yang said, crossing her arms. Ruby then took a deep breath and smiled at her teammates.
"Sora's right, I know that Weiss can be… difficult, but she's a member of this team like it or not. I know her attitude can be much too, but I'm asking you both to let me handle it when she gets to be too much." Blake and Yang gave their leader looks of worry, but the confidence and determination in her voice made them both nod in approval.
"Alright, whatever you say." Blake said in a neutral tone.
"Just let us know if it's too much for you." Ruby nodded to her sister. Sora smiled at Ruby's confidence, Weiss may not see the Leader she truly is yet but he did and he could tell she was gonna go very far in life.
Neo: You really know the right thing to say in these moments, don't you Spiky?
"Neo's right, you have a knack for inspiring others." Pyrrha said, impressed with the brunette. Jaune, Nora and Ren nodded in agreement. Sora just scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile on his face.
"I just don't like seeing my friends fight." He answered. Nora looked to Sora with confusion.
"You actually consider Weiss a friend even though she doesn't feel the same towards you or the rest of us?" Sora nodded to the redhead.
"When we all fought together to destroy that Hear-Grimm in the forest, she had our backs when it counted and she was willing to swallow her pride to do so. I think that's at least one small step in the right direction. It's up to her to take the next step in building that connection with Ruby, Blake, Yang and us." Team JNPR all smiled at the Keyblade wielder's words while Neo just shrugged her shoulders and Typed a message.
Neo: You're far too optimistic for your own good Sora, not everyone is as good a person as you might think they are. Sorry, but the day a Schnee acts like a decent human is the day hell freezes over.
Sora could only sigh at his partner's message, but Ren put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.
"We all must grow in our own way." Sora's eyes widened at his words before he continued. "Neo may be right that there are people in the world that aren't so good, that's why we're here to show the world that it's not all that bad." Sora took in the green ninja's words and he smiled back at him.
"There may be a lot of darkness in the world, but our light is what will keep it safe." Pyrrha then spoke up.
"That is a wise way of putting it, but the world is made of both light and dark and you can't have one without the other."
"You're right, even the brightest lights have their dark corridors and even in the deepest darkness there is always the smallest spark of light." Neo raised an eyebrow at her leader's words and began to type.
Neo: You sound like a fortune cookie.
JNPR laughed at the message while Sora pouted and crossed his arms. Neo giggled at his reaction and typed another message.
Neo: It is a nice way of looking at things though. Like I said I'm not sure if Schnee can make nice with her team or not but if she does… Maybe there might be hope for this world. I doubt it, but maybe.
With that, Neo skipped ahead of the group with a small smile on her face and Sora watched her with a look of approval. Nora then put her arm around the Keyblade wielder's neck.
"That partner of yours has a cynical look on the world, but I think you're getting through to her a bit." Sora nodded to the redhead.
"I've come to notice in the past few days that Neo can be dark, violent, and a tad cynical. But she also can be playful, sweet and outgoing. Neo is very different from anyone I've been friends with before and in all honesty she's awesome to be around, I couldn't ask for a better partner." Nora then gave Sora a noogie while laughing.
"Awww, ain't that sweet!"
"Knock it off Nora!" Sora yelled trying to pull the redhead off of him. Juane, Pyrrha and Ren just began laughing at the pair. The group was so distracted by their conversation, that they didn't notice that a certain headmaster was watching on with curiosity and a smile on his face.
With Weiss
Weiss was heading towards her class, the loud clicking of her heels making it very easy to see that she was still steaming over her argument with her supposed 'friends'.
"How dare that mute, discolored eye freak talk to me that way, she and Valkyrie should have minded their own business! What goes on in my team is NOT their concern, worry about your own incompetent leaders! Seriously, how did those three morons get leader positions? I'm far more exceptional than them, I'm smarter, I'm more skilled and I'm far more-" Weiss was so caught up in her heated thoughts, she failed to notice someone was standing in front of her.
"OOF!" She cried out before falling on the ground. " SERIOUSLY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU IDIOT!?
"Forgive me , but I believe you ran into me." Weiss's blood ran cold as she looked up to see Glynda looking over her with narrowed eyes. Most of the students in the hallway all stopped dead in their tracks as they saw the Schnee heiress and the Witch of Beacon stare each other down.
"I… I… Professor Goodwitch… I'm I-I I…" All Weiss could do was stutter as she felt she had no way out of this situation. Glynda's eyes were still narrowed as she looked over the girl in front of her and she shook her head causing Weiss to flinch.
" , I would hope that if it weren't me you ran into you wouldn't speak to your fellow students with such cruel words." Glynda's tone was cold and devoid of any kind of compassion towards the young heiress. Weiss could only swallow a lump in her throat as no words came out of her mouth anymore. Before Glynda could say more to Weiss, Ruby swiftly approached and kneeled down to Weiss.
"Oh there you are Weiss, I know Professor Port's class annoyed you but that's no reason for you to stomp out of the class so angrily." Ruby said with a sheepish smile. Weiss gave her leader a confused look and Glynda raised an eyebrow.
"Port?" she asked curiously. Ruby nodded furiously and pulled her partner off of the ground.
"Yes, Professor Port was regaling us with another one of his amazing tales of adventure when he was our age." Glynda then pinched the bridge of her nose.
"That makes much more sense, I'm going to have to have a talk with him later." Glynda then looked back to Weiss. "I'll look past your folly this time , but in the future please do your best to control your temper." Weiss had a dumbfounded look on her face, but quickly composed herself and nodded.
"Yes Ma'am, please forgive me." She said with a bow. Glynda nodded and proceeded into her classroom to begin class. Once she was out of earshot, both girls sighed in relief.
"Talk about taking a huge risk, thank the brothers that Professor Port has a horrible reputation with his storytelling." Ruby said with a chuckle. Weiss, after composing herself, looked at Ruby with confusion.
"Why did you do that, I didn't ask you to." She asked, crossing her arms.
"You didn't have to, it's my job to make sure my team is safe even from the clutches of Beacon's Goodwitch." She answered, giving her partner a smirk. Weiss's eyes widened at this and she looked down slightly before taking a deep breath
"Thank you." Ruby didn't get a chance to say anything after that as Weiss quickly retreated to the classroom. Ruby watched as her partner rushed away, but she smiled.
"Baby steps." She said as she walked into the classroom.
The rest of the day went by pretty quick for the group as they were now sitting in the Beacon Courtyard. Jaune and Pyrrha were reading the new 'X-ray and Vav' comic, Nora and Yang were playing a fighting game of their scrolls, Blake was reading a book, Ruby, Sora, Ren and Neo were going over homework and Weiss was sitting next to Blake looking at the ground looking like she was deep in thought. Blake took notice of the Schnee's surprising silence and was about to just enjoy the peace, but the Sora in her head told her to be compassionate. Blake groaned internally and turned towards the Schnee.
"Hey… are you… ok?" She asked hesitantly. Weiss was pulled out of her thoughts and turned to the secret faunas.
"Yes, I'm alright just thinking." Weiss then got up. "I think I'm gonna head back to the dorm." With that, Weiss walked away leaving the group confused. Blake watched her walk away as did the rest of the group. Ruby quickly gathered her things and followed Schnee Heiress with haste.
"I'll see you guys later!" She yelled. Before catching up with Weiss. "Weiss, wait up!" Weiss looked back to see her leader running up beside her. "What's wrong?" She asked. Weiss continued to walk.
"Nothing is wrong, I'm just tired, it's been a very long day." Ruby smiled at her white haired partner.
"I can understand that." The two then walked in silence for a few minutes. Weiss kept stealing glances at her young leader.
"I don't know what's more embarrassing: yelling at the Co-headmistress or getting bailed out by her!" Weiss thought. The Schnee heiress thought about what happened throughout the day and she racked her brain trying to understand why Ruby would defend her like that.
"Hello ladies, I trust you both are well." The two girls looked ahead and saw Professor Ozpin with a cup of what looked like coffee in his left hand and his cane in his right. Ruby and Weiss both straightened themselves and the former spoke up.
"Oh hello Professor Ozpin, we're doing fine. Thanks for asking." Weiss nodded towards the professor who smiled at the two.
"That's good to hear, I was worried when I heard from Port and Glynda about your team causing a few problems." He said with a chuckle. Both girls flinched upon hearing the Professor's comment.
"Uh… yeah we're sorry, it won't happen again." Ruby said, looking down while twirling her hair with her finger. Weiss was also looking down, gripping her skirt with her left hand. Ozpin just shook his head.
"Think nothing of it right now girls, it's only the first week of school. It will take you both as well as every other first year to get used to how things work at Beacon. You aren't the first and most likely not the last to cause trouble." Ruby and Weiss let the headmaster's words sink in before the former spoke up.
"We know Professor, thank you." She said with a smile. Weiss gave a respectful bow to the headmaster who nodded his head.
"You're very welcome, I hope you both have a good rest of your day." With that, Ozpin walked past the two girls who both sighed. "Oh and ,-" Weiss immediately straightened back up and turned to the Headmaster who looked at her with a small smirk. "I made , and leaders for a reason, I would suggest you think about the reasons they are instead of the reasons why they shouldn't." Ozpin then turned the corner on the hallway, leaving both girls to stare at him with wide eyes.
Weiss's mind began to race after she heard the Headmaster's words and she grit her teeth. Ruby stared at her partner before taking a deep breath and speaking up.
"You truly believe I'm a terrible choice for leading this team, don't you?" Weiss faced the red reaper with narrowed eyes but before she could talk. Ruby continued on. "I just don't get why, sure being the leader is a deal but you don't need to be so mad that it wasn't you." She said in a soft tone. Weiss balled both of her hands in a fist and finally spoke her mind.
"I worked myself to the point of breakdown to get where I am today! I trained, I bled, I studied and yet I get upstaged by a fifteen year old who doesn't have a single clue and who got lucky enough to be accepted early!" Ruby flinched slightly at Weiss's sudden outburst, she took a step back but let Weiss continue. "Leaving Atlas and coming here was supposed to be the start of my new life but instead I got stuck with a child, a rude bookworm and a dumb blonde with anger issues! Nothing is going the way I wanted it to go! What's worse is apparently Professor Ozpin has a knack for selecting leaders without real merit because somehow Arc and Hikari both got chosen, HOW AND WHY I DON'T KNOW BUT IT MAKES NO SENSE AND IT'S NOT FAIR!" Weiss yelled, stomping her foot and finishing her rant. Her breathing was heavy and her fist tightened to the point that if she didn't have her Aura, her hands would probably be bleeding.
Ruby let Weiss's words sink in as she stared at the Schnee heiress with wide eyes. After a few seconds, Weiss had calmed down slightly and loosened her fists slightly.
"Weiss… life isn't fair." Weiss flinched back at Ruby's words. "If life were fair most of us probably wouldn't want or need to be at this school, if life were fair the Grimm probably wouldn't exist, if life were fair… my mom would be alive." Ruby let a tear escape her eye, but she kept her attention on Weiss who was looking a tad uncomfortable.
"Weiss, I know some things might not be going your way but you need to deal with it. Everyone in the world had days, weeks, years where things didn't go their way and they have to deal with it because as I said Life isn't fair." Weiss stepped back slightly and stared at her leader with wide eyes. Ruby then took a small breath and continued.
"Weiss, I don't know what your life is like and I'm not going to pretend that I do. I just want you, me and our team to find some sort of common ground. Like it or not, we're all stuck with each other for the next four years and you're acting like you're above us and the world itself. That's not gonna help the team, it's only gonna isolate you and make us resent you, do you really want that?" Weiss's hands were shaking slightly, she thought back to her time back in Atlas.
How her father treated her like nothing more than a puppet, Her mother who had all but left her life and drowned her sorrows in alcohol, her brother who to her knowledge didn't really care for much and her sister who was part of the Atlesian military was never around much. Weiss's anger melted away and a familiar feeling was filling her heart… loneliness.
Ruby could see Weiss struggling internally and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Weiss?" The Schnee Heiress flinched slightly and moved away from Ruby.
"I… I…" Weiss turned and ran from the red reaper.
"Weiss!" Ruby yelled to her retreating partner. The young leader could only sigh. "I think I pushed too hard.
Location: Warehouse in Vale
A massive groan had come from what was supposed to be an abandoned warehouse. Inside said warehouse was Roman Torchwick, world renowned thief, most wanted man in Vale and caretaker to one Neopolitan. The thief was sitting in front of a table with a map spread out in front of him and a cigar in his mouth.
"Alright, I just need to get through this week and I can finally get some sleep!" He said to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose. As he released a small puff of smoke from his mouth, a white Fang member with dog ears and glasses over his mask was walking up to him with a cart filled with dust.
"Excuse me, Roman." The redhead turned to see the white Fang member walking up.
"Yes Perry, what is it?"
"We've just finished securing the final shipment of Dust for this week, we just need to wait until the end of the month for the final Schnee Dust shipment to arrive. After that, we should be ahead of Schedule for the rest of the mission." Roman sighed in relief to hear that.
"Finally some good news, thank you Perry. Glad the raging bull sent you to oversee everything, you got some serious organizational skills." Roman complimented, causing Perry to smile proudly.
"I do my best sir, I may not be a fighter like most of the others in the Fang, but I try to make up for it in other areas." Roman could respect that, fighting wasn't everyone's forte and he couldn't deny Perry was doing just fine.
"It shows and between you and me, if the White Fang gig doesn't work out for ya…" Roman gave the young man a smile to which he returned.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm content where I am for now." Perry said in a grateful tone. Roman nodded.
"No problem, the offer is always open." Roman then turned back to the map in front of him. "Has Matchstick been updated on this?"
"Yes sir, she was very clear with a sword to my throat, that and I quote 'I am to be updated on all progress before that bowler hat wearing idiot.' end quote." Perry said in an unamused tone. Roman only shook his head in disgust.
"People, am I right? I know it's more humans for the Fang but- ""No no you're right, humans and faunas can suck sometimes and that's coming from a White Fang member, crazy I know." Perry said before laughing. Roman laughed as well, ever since Neo left for her mission he had been enjoying Perry's company.
"Glad we have something we can agree on, I know I'm not the nicest person in the world but compared to Matchstick-" " You're a saint!" Both men burst out laughing for a few seconds before calming down.
"I'll leave you to your work, have a good night Roman."
"You too Perry." With that, the dog faunas walked away and Roman smiled.
"Good kid." Just then, Roman's scroll went off and he then frowned slightly. "Great." He said as he answered.
"I trust you've been updated at the end of the month." Roman rolled his eyes.
"Yea, I was told. I'm guessing you're returning to Vale by that time?"
"I should be back the moment your job is over." Roman gave a silent sigh, wishing he had more time to think of a way out of this deal.
"Alright then, anything else?"
"Yes, get control of that midget of yours. Her disrespectful attitude is getting on my nerves, see to it she knows her place." Roman grit his teeth, if there was one thing that set him off it was someone bad mouthing Neo. If his And Neo's lives weren't at her mercy, he would tell her to go jump off a cliff.
"Yea sure."
"Good!" With that, the line went dead and Roman slammed his scroll on the table.
"Dammit!" He growled.
Location: Neo and Sora's Dorm
"Quite the eventful day huh?" Sora asked, laying in his bed with his arms behind his head. He, Neo and the rest of the group bid their goodbyes to each other and split off when the sun started going down. Neo was also sitting on her bed looking at her scroll and she nodded towards her key wielding leader.
Neo: Understatement, so much drama. Normally I'm all for it, but this was just… UGH!
Sora nodded and sighed at Neo's message, he hated when his friends fought and sat up.
"Yea, hopefully things calm down by-" Sora then looked outside and saw a familiar white haired girl walking around the Courtyard alone and looking sad. Sora then jumped off his bed and ran out the dorm.
"I'll be back Neo!" Neo raised an eyebrow at the boy, but decided to let it go and put her attention back on her scroll.
Dum-Dum: The kid still can't tie it on his own?
Neo: Nope, he either ties his finger up or chokes himself by accident!
Dum-Dum: HA! Seriously, what's wrong with this kid?
Neo: I've come to realize that Sora is pretty hopeless, strong but hopeless.
Dum-Dum: I'm starting to see why you're thinking that, well as long as you can tolerate him long enough until this mission is over, we should be fine.
Neo silently giggled at the message.
Neo: Tolerate is a strong word, Sora's not irritating or annoying to be around. He's actually pretty chill… and he buys me ice cream so bonus!
Dum-Dum: HA HA! I knew there was a catch!
Neo: I have no idea what you're talking about.
Dum-Dum: Sure you don't, well I'll let you go. Oh one thing, Matchstick spoke with me today and she tells me your attitude is getting on her nerves.
Neo grit her teeth upon seeing this.
Neo: Give me one reason why I should care about what the bitch thinks of me. If anything she needs to get over herself, we're her clients not her servants!
Dum-Dum: I get that Neo, but we have to remember that she has numbers and the power to disintegrate us if she so wished and you getting on her bad side isn't gonna help the two of us.
Neo hated to admit it but Roman was right, she may have hated the Matchstick for threatening them but she and her groupies could kill them at any time. What was worse is that since she was at beacon, Roman was on his own and that scared her a bit.
Neo: Fine… I'll do my best to… behave.
Dum-Dum: That's all I ask until we finish this mission and ditch this town. I was thinking since the Malachite twins owe us a favor, they would introduce us to their mother. I hear she's pretty big in Mistral and with her connections, we could be set for a while.
Neo liked the sound of that, Mistral had way more opportunities to make a living than Vale did.
Neo: Sounds good to me, I'll hang in there a bit longer.
Dum-Dum: That's my girl, I'll talk to you tomorrow.
Neo: Goodnight!
Neo then placed her scroll under her pillow and she laid there with a blissful smile on her face.
"Just bear Matchstick a tad longer and then I'll never have to see her smug face again. Me and Roman will finally be able to do what we want again."
Location: Courtyard
After her confrontation with Ruby, Weiss had been avoiding her team and the rest of their group for the whole day. She then found herself back in an area of the courtyard where they were hanging out before she left, only now there was no one there. Weiss then walked over to an empty bench and sat down. She then began to think about the events that took place today. All the anger that she had this morning had turned into nothing but pain and… guilt?
"Weiss… life isn't fair. If life were fair most of us probably wouldn't want or need to be at this school, if life were fair the Grimm probably wouldn't exist, if life were fair… my mom would be alive."
Ever since Weiss ran away from Ruby, her words kept playing over and over in her mind and they kept getting louder and louder.
"Weiss, I don't know what your life is like and I'm not going to pretend that I do. I just want you, me and our team to find some sort of common ground. Like it or not, we're all stuck with each other for the next four years and you're acting like you're above us and the world itself. That's not gonna help the team, it's only gonna isolate you and make us resent you, do you really want that?"
Weiss then began hugging herself and a few tears escaped her eyes. Thoughts of her being alone in her room began flooding her mind, that huge, lonely and cold room.
"No…" She spoke softly as a sob escaped her mouth.
"Weiss?" The Schnee Heiress jumped and turned her head to see a familiar spikey haired boy. Weiss quickly wiped her face and tried to compose herself.
"Wha… What do you want?" She asked, doing her best to look presentable. Just then, Sora handed her a pack of tissues.
"Here, these will work better." He said with a smile. Weiss just stared at the boy with wide and teary eyes. She then looked at the pack of tissues and slowly took them.
"Thank you." She said softly as she began to wipe her face. Sora nodded and sat next to the Schnee Heiress.
"Are you ok, I haven't seen you since you left us earlier." Weiss scoffed slightly.
"I just needed some time to myself, why do you care?" She said, returning to her cold tone.
"I was worried, you've been all out of sorts today and Ruby's worried about you too." Weiss flinched at hearing her leader's name.
"I don't need your worry, I'm fine." She said, looking away. Sora sighed.
"No you're not Weiss, you were crying and crying rarely means something is fine." Sora said, pushing slightly. Weiss glared at him.
"Don't go analyzing me! You don't know what you're talking about and you don't know a damn thing about me!" She yelled. Sora simply stared at her for a few seconds before speaking up again.
"I'd like to." Weiss's eyes were now wide, those three words pulled a small string in her heart and she didn't know why. "Look Weiss, your business is your own I get that but I'd like to get to know you better than what everyone perceives you as and I'm sure Ruby, Blake and Yang would like to get to know you better too, if you give them the chance." Weiss stared at the brunette for a few seconds before looking down. Sora could see the gears turning in Weiss's head so he decided to continue talking.
"Blake told me you were mad that you weren't picked to be leader of your team." Weiss flinched, but said nothing.
"Weiss, let me ask you something, what do you think makes a leader?" Weiss looked back at Sora with a raised eyebrow.
"Strength, discipline and knowledge, what else makes a leader other than that?"
"Physical Strength or Strength of Heart and Character?"
"Huh?"
"Discipline for your own self interests or Discipline for the good of your team?
"What?"
"Knowledge for one alone or Knowledge for all?"
"Why are you-" "Because it seems to me you're only thinking about yourself and only what you want." Sora said in a serious tone. Weiss narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists.
"How dare you!?"
"Weiss, I'm gonna say something that I don't think anyone has told you. When it comes to being a leader, It's not all about you. It's about your teammates, the way you impact them to do their best. Neo calls you a spoiled brat and sorry for that but to her all she sees when she sees you is a girl who has pretty much gotten everything she asked for."
"That is not true!" Sora crossed his arm with a raised eyebrow. Weiss then deflated slightly and looked away. "It's not… entirely true." She said softly. Sora then sighed and smiled.
"Wiess life isn't always fair, so you weren't picked to be leader of your team, so what? You're still on a team with three amazingly strong and dependable individuals, One of them has killer boxing skills, one is a master of stealth and one of them is a master scythe user! What about that is not cool?" Weiss thought about his words for a few seconds before answering.
"I… guess I didn't really take those things into account when we teamed up."
"Because you were only looking at their flaws and not their positives. You should really give them a chance-" Sora then got up from the bench. "-and start looking at them as people and not as obstacles in your way Weiss, you'll get much farther in school and life that way." Sora said with a smile before walking away for the Schnee Heiress who just watched him walk away. "Oh one more thing," Sora then turned his head back to Weiss. "Ruby is my friend and I believe in her ability to be a great leader for your team. She deserves an amazing partner to help her reach her full potential and I think that can be you Weiss." Sora then walked back into the dorms.
Weiss was left alone with only her thoughts, she then looked down and stared at her hands before taking a deep breath and standing up.
"Strong and Dependable, I haven't really been either of those things those past few days." Weiss then began walking back into the dormitory. "Strength of Heart, Discipline for the team and Knowledge for all." Weiss then entered the dorm wreck room and made her way over to the small kitchen. "It's not all about me anymore." Weiss pulled out four cups and placed them on a tray and began filling them with… coffee?
Loctacion: Team RWBY Dorm
"I'm worried, it's almost eleven and she still hasn't come back." Ruby said pacing around the room in her PJs. Blake and Yang, also in their PJs, were laying in their respective beds watching their leader with worried looks.
"Chill Ruby, I'm sure Ice Queen is fine." Yang said, trying to calm her sister down.
"Yea, she's probably blowing off steam. She'll be back before tomorrow, I'm sure of it." Blake said. Ruby wasn't too convinced, her last conversation with Weiss wasn't the best. She felt she pushed her too hard and might have just ruined any chance of this team coming together. Yang and Blake both looked at one another and sighed. Before they could try and comfort their leader again the dorm door opened to reveal Weiss holding a tray of cups, coffee, cream and sugar. Everyone stared at her as she walked in and placed the tray in the middle of the floor. She then walked over to her dresser and pulled out her nightgown.
"I'm going to change, you three are free to make a cup while you wait." With that, Weiss walked into the bathroom leaving Ruby, Blake and Yang very confused.
"What just happened?" Blake asked.
"Not sure, but I'm not passing up free coffee." Yang said, jumping out of her bed.
"Yang it's almost eleven!" Ruby scolded.
"Yea and?" Ruby and Blake just sighed at the blonde and decided to join her. After a few minutes, Weiss emerged from the bathroom in her PJs and her hair down. She saw the team were all sitting around the tray drinking the coffee she had made and she joined them.
"So, what's this about Weiss?" Yang asked before taking a sip of her coffee. Weiss simply put three cubes of sugar in her coffee before answering.
"I enjoy gardening, I'm secretly writing a novel about my life, my favorite flavor of Ice Cream is strawberry." Everyone looked at the Schnee Heiress with raised eyebrows before Ruby quickly caught on and smiled.
"You don't seem like a strawberry girl." Weiss widened her eyes slightly before nodding.
"Perceptive, Mint Chip for life."
"EW!" Ruby and Yang said, sticking out their tongues. Blake agreed and shook her head with a look of disgust
"Do you actually like the toothpaste flavor?" Yang asked in disbelief.
"Yes I do, it has a soothing and refreshing taste." Weiss said, crossing her arms. The two sisters stared at her in disbelief before laughing. Blake covered her mouth and giggled slightly. Weiss sighed and looked around at the girls carrying on. She saw the looks of joy on their faces and she cracked a small smile. She then looked over to Ruby.
"Ruby." The young scythe wielder turned to her partner.
"Yes?" Weiss took a deep breath.
"You were right, this team isn't just me so I can't just be thinking about myself and my own self interests." She then looked at Blake and Yang. "I have to think about what's best for our team." She then looks back to Ruby. "Your team." Ruby, Blake and Yang all stared at Weiss with wide eyes, but didn't interrupt her. "I know I can be difficult at times, but I want to let you know that I will be the best teammate I can and be the partner you deserve." Ruby, Blake and Weiss were speechless, what the hell happened to Weiss in the past few hours. Ruby got over her surprise and smiled at her partner.
"I think that's all we can ask for, and we'll do our best for you. Right?" She asked Blake and Yang. The pair looked at one another before Yang spoke up.
"As long as the whole 'Superiority Complex' thing is over sure." Yang said, crossing her arms. Weiss nodded slightly and looked at Blake. The secret cat faunas had conflicting feelings about Weiss's words, but a certain brunette came into her mind and she nodded.
"Sora told me that time and patience can yield results when breaking through a tough wall, despite previous arguments, I'm willing to give that to you for as long as you do the same for us." Weiss nodded at Blake's words and sighed.
"Sora seems pretty good at giving out advice, huh?" Weiss asked. Blake raised an eyebrow before coming to a realization.
"Sora… he talked to you didn't he?" Weiss nodded and Blake gave a small smile. "Now it makes sense."
"Yes, the boy has… a way with words." Weiss said, looking away slightly.
"Tell me about it, Sora may be a goofball but he has his moments." Blake said in a soft tone. Yang then got a mischievous look on her face.
"Sora seems pretty good at getting on people's good side, especially yours Blake?" She said putting her arm around her partner. Blake blushed slightly and pushed the blonde off of her.
"Don't go there Yang, I get enough of that from my Aunt."
"Really, I gotta meet this aunt. She and I have similar thoughts about you and Sora." Yang said with a chuckle. Blake shuddered at the thought of Yang and Elena meeting.
"Me and Sora are just friends and you will never meet my aunt, you hear me!" Blake said, causing Yang and Ruby to laugh. Weiss also giggled at Blake's outburst. Blake just crossed her arms and pouted slightly. Ruby then calmed down and raised her coffee cup in the air.
"To Team RWBY and to the four of us doing our best as a team." Weiss, Blake and Yang all raised their glasses as well and brought them together.
"To Team RWBY!"
A/N: That's That! I hope you all enjoyed it, all comments and criticisms are welcome. I'd love to know what you all think. This Chapter was originally going to be Neo and Sora centric, but I figured I'd get a slight hurdle out of the way and that was Weiss's Attitude. Weiss was my least favorite character in Volumes 1-2 but now she's in my top 3 and I wanted to develop her as well as her relationship with not just Ruby but Yang and Blake as well. I believe I made a small step in the right direction with this and I hope to develop them more as the story goes on. Don't worry Weiss isn't going to immediately be nice to everyone, she's just going to put her best foot forward for the team. Don't want this feeling too rushed.