Chapter 16: Ice Water

"Let me go Ruby!" Weiss shouted as Ruby grappled her away from the door. "We have to go to the authorities- now!"

"No!" Ruby argued. "We need to find Blake; there has to be more to her story!"

"She's in the White Fang!" Weiss growled as Ruby spun her away from the door. "She was here to kill me!"

"Not true!" Yang said, gripping Weiss' shoulder. "If it were, there would have been plenty of opportunity to do so before she blew her cover."

The heiress faltered. Ruby tentatively let go of her.

"Then… she was part of a larger ploy," Weiss reasoned. "To get at my father through me. Something similar happened between my uncle and my aunt's favorite servant."

"Then why did Blake blow up like that?" Yang asked. "Besides, if the Schnee's treated their 'employees' better, none of this would have been a problem in the first place."

"My family pays all its workers fairly!" Weiss objected. "They cover an immeasurable amount of insurance for them, and give faunus significantly more prominence than they should considering our history with them!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

Yang's comment caused Weiss to bristle. Before she could retort, the blonde was heading for the door.

"I'm going to look for my partner," Yang announced from the hallway, looking back at Ruby. "You coming, sis?"

"I'll catch up," Ruby assured her. "You get a head start." Yang nodded, leaving without another word.

Ruby turned to see Weiss glaring at her.

"Weiss, please," she begged. "Just wait and hear Blake's side of the story. If she's in trouble, we can go to Ozpin about it then."

"No," the heiress said curtly. "I'm taking this to him right now."

"But Blake's our teammate!" Ruby pleaded. "Our friend!"

"She's no friend of mine!" Weiss snapped. "Now, move out of my way, unless you want to lose to me again!" She held up her scroll, finger poised to call her weapon.

Ruby froze, stepping away from her and the doorway. Weiss relaxed her posture, hands falling to her sides as she put her device away.

As she waltzed up the door frame, Ruby gave another weak, "Weiss…"

Weiss stopped at the door, looking back at Ruby as she said, "By the end of tomorrow, you and I will not be partners, and that terrorist will be expelled. Team 'RWBY' is over, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Weiss strolled out of the dorm room as Ruby sank to her knees.

"The lot of you are supposed to listen to me!" Cardin berated his team. "I'm the leader, yet you hardly do what I tell you!"

"Because your 'orders' always serve you!" Russel said, pointing at his leader's chest. "You only see us as lackeys, here to do whatever you say!"

Team CRDL was in their dorm, arguing over the actions of their leader. The room was scarcely decorated, the beds in their standard configuration. Cardin stood closer to the window, with Russel, Dove, and Sky between him and the door.

"You can't keep picking fights, man," Sky chided. "It's going to get you expelled."

"And it does nothing for our reputation," Dove added. "Your actions are dragging the rest of us down in the eyes of our peers."

"Then why don't you help me?!" Cardin rebutted. "We can show the whole school that we're stronger than them!"

"But we're not!" Russel countered. "None of us are above our classmates; least of all you!"

Cardin snarled, stepping over to tower over Russel.

The shorter boy held his glare while saying, "You aren't doing your own schoolwork, you can't seem to use your aura properly, and you constantly ditch us to bully faunus students."

Cardin balled his fists, struggling to keep his anger under control, when Sky placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If you need it, we can help you," he said. "Lashing out like you have been isn't going to make you a better hunter." Cardin looked at him, baffled.

"We're a team," Dove said, nodding. "If you can fix your attitude, we'll follow you, but we aren't about to alienate ourselves from everyone else."

"Huntsmen are supposed to be heroes," Russel said. "Seriously, Cardin; how has anything you've done recently made you one?"

"I saved your life!" Cardin snapped at him.

"And then you made it hell!" Russel snapped back. Cardin flinched.

A silence brewed as the boy considered their words. Eventually, he sat down on his bed, holding a hand to his forehead.

"I'll think about it," he said tersely.

"Well, think fast," Dove said. "Because we're not going to tolerate any more of your shenanigans."

Cardin looked up at him.

"Team RWBY is going to lose a member soon," Russel added. "Glenda's going to switch up their team. Maybe we need to do the same."

He turned and left the room, followed shortly by Sky and Dove, leaving Cardin alone.

"What kind of school do you think you're running here!" Weiss shouted as she barged into Professor Ozpin's office. The man was reviewing paperwork, midway through a sip of coffee when the heiress entered.

"First incompetent leadership, and now a faunus terrorist on my team!" Weiss continued her tirade, giving Ozpin no pause. "This school is a mockery to higher education and the entire huntsman profession!"

The headmaster finished his sip, setting the mug down and fixing Weiss with a flat stare.

"Ms. Schnee," he began, "I have been following team RWBY's exploits- and subsequent drama -for quite some time now. You've made no shortage of problems for poor Glenda.

"While you may be frustrated with Ms. Rose, what I witnessed before and during initiation was nothing short of prodigy. Despite retaining much of her childish enthusiasm, she has progressed remarkably at shedding it to become a healthy leader- were she not dealing with an unruly, unrelenting teammate causing friction."

Weiss stopped, stricken by his words.

"As for Ms. Belladonna," Ozpin continued, "I've regularly observed her amicable personality; always willing to compromise or find a non-confrontational approach. All the more surprising if your revelations about her are correct. However, what would a 'faunus terrorist' be doing at this academy? Beacon is a symbol of unity; what would they gain by causing an incident here?

"I personally investigate every student's background before they attend my school," Ozpin said, his voice remaining even. "If I find something discordant with the cause of protecting society, I would never permit that student to set foot on this campus.

"With all that considered, do you, Weiss Schnee, believe I have made a mistake?"

"No," Weiss stuttered, wincing at the glare the man gave her. "No, that's not what I-"

"I suggest you consider what it means to be on a team- particularly one you are not in command of," Ozpin talked over her. "Otherwise, perhaps the only mistake I made was allowing a certain heiress to enroll at my academy."

Weiss' eyes went wide, horror playing across her form as she inched away from the headmaster. She reached the door to the hallway, fumbling for the handle.

"Have a good night, Ms. Schnee," Ozpin said as Weiss left the chamber, never breaking eye contact with the heiress until she was out of sight.

"So what are you gonna do the next time this happens?" Coco said, finishing her reprimanding of Velvet's inaction.

"Tell my team about it," Velvet said dejectedly, her ear's drooping.

Team CFVY were in their dorm, the doors to both sub-rooms open so the conversation could flow between the whole team. Night was falling soon.

"That's the third time you've made her repeat that," Fox commented, leaning on the door frame to the girl's room.

"She needs to get it through her head!" Coco said, snapping up to look at him. "You wouldn't have let that behavior continue if you were in her place!"

"I'd have send that boy to the hospital," Yatsuhashi commented. His whole team looked at him.

"What?' he asked with a wry smile. "It was a joke."

"It didn't sound like one," Fox said, shifting in place. "And you could do far worse than that, Yatsu."

"Guys, it's fine," Velvet said, standing. "Cardin won't do anything like that again without you knowing. Besides, that was the only time he…" she trailed off.

"Got violent?" Coco asked, shaking her head. "That doesn't matter, Vel. While yes, Cardin is the one at fault, you should have done something instead of letting him escalate things."

"But I can't fight him!"

"""Like hell you can't."""

"That's not what I meant," Velvet said. "Cardin has a hard time keeping his aura on. I don't know if he has less time than average, but I'd likely kill him if we sparred."

"And that's a bad thing, because?"

Fox chortled and Coco let out a full belly laugh as Yatsuhashi shrugged at his own joke. Velvet cringed, unsure how to explain herself.

"I know you're mad at him," she started, "but-"

"Of course we're mad at him!" Coco said, recovering from her fit. "You like to see the best in people, Vel, but sometimes they don't want to see the best in themselves. We aren't training to just fight grimm, you know."

She pulled Velvet into a hug, patting her back. "Your team is here for you." She pulled away to look her friend in the eyes. "So no more hiding things from us, okay?"

Velvet nodded, returning Coco's hug.

As they separated, Coco's scroll rang. She picked it up, and froze at the caller id.

"Shit," she muttered, then hit a button on the device and held it to her ear.

Her tone became overly eager as she said, "Professor Ozpin! How is your evening?"