Chapter 8: More Than Her Share

Weiss awoke to the sound of her new team leader getting dressed without a shred of decency. Weiss watched aghast as her team leader, who she had learned to call "Rookie", walked over to her pack, stark naked. It was hard to tell in the morning light, but Weiss could notice a number of scars across Rookie's body, including a long roping mark, as if she had been slashed across the back with a flaming sword, and barely survived at that. Weiss could also see a tattoo on the girl's left shoulder, a strange shape that looked vaguely like a coffin, with a flaming skull on it

"Do you mind? Some of us would like to preserve some of the decency we have left." Weiss said pointedly to the perpetrator. The person in question shrugged, then put on the school uniform, which the woman seemed to sneer at, and she walked out the door.

'The nerve of that woman,' Weiss thought to herself. Weiss wasn't a morning person herself, but at least she kept herself covered. With her team leader gone, it fell to Weiss to make sure the team was ready to go for the day. Team RWBY's room was a well organized carbon copy of the other rooms in the first year dorm wing. 4 beds aligned in a row along the wall, with shelves for storing books, tools, and quite possibly, weapons. Weiss looked over to the clock on the team's dressers.

/05:00/

Weiss sighed, and got about getting ready for the day. She brushed her teeth, brushed her hair, and put on the school uniform assigned to her. She was rather used to the short skirt, with her clothes chosen by her father's Chief PR Representative to appeal to the Atlas population. Weiss meticulously applied her makeup, made up her hair, and placed a tiara on the bun. After an hour of work, she was ready to start the day.

Weiss walked over to the shelves on the wall, and found a binder with team RWBY's assignments for the day. At 09:00, team RWBY was assigned to Professor Port in Grimm Study. That would be one of a couple classes they had together, Professor Oobleck being their history teacher at 1:00 PM. That gave Weiss another 3 hours to get everyone up, make sure they were ready, go over the necessary parts of the binder, and get them a hearty breakfast before starting classes. Weiss opened the curtains and turned on the lights in the room, summoning groans of protest from the 2 other inhabitants.

"Let's go, dolts. You can't lie around in bed all day. We have classes in 3 hours, and plenty to cover before then."

Blake stretched in her bed. She had been awoken by the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, which she was none too pleased about being on a team with. The occupant to her left seemed to be crawling out of bed and getting ready, albeit in a somewhat disorganized fashion. The Heiress looked like she was ready to attend another press conference.

Blake scanned the room. There was no sign of the soldier, though Blake was quite certain she was the cause of the earlier commotion. Blake sat up, stretched again, and went about the process of getting ready for a new day. Making sure no one was watching, she re-adjusted her bow, put on the ridiculous school uniform, and was ready to go. She never had to bother with makeup too much, and she never had time for it in the past.

Blake busied herself with the bit of unpacking she had left to do. She had brought a fair amount of her books with her, as well as a few changes of clothes that she put in the drawers.

Once Blake was unpacked, the room seemed a little cramped, but it was manageable. The soldier's stuff was stored in a corner.

Weiss Schnee spoke up first. "Well, since our valiant team leader decided to leave all of us, I guess we should go over what our classes are going to be. At 9 o'clock we have…"

Weiss sat in Professor Port's classroom, paying attention, as she was raised to do. Weiss took notes in neat, professional handwriting, and respectfully listened to the story he shared. Her teammates seemed less enthusiastic. Blake, the black haired girl seemed to pay attention, but didn't particularly care for what was being said, while Yang seemed to be paying attention to the story in awe. What unnerved Weiss was her team leader, who had introduced herself simply as Rookie. Weiss doubted that was her name, but she wasn't about to question it.

Rookie sat paying a rather fair amount of attention to the Professor. She wasn't taking notes, but she was definitely intrigued by the story, more so than some of the others in the classroom. Rookie was an oddity. Weiss had seen people like her before, around Atlas Academy, but she was different somehow. Like Rookie had seen a lot more, but at the same time she seemed new to basic concepts that children knew. Weiss couldn't make sense of her. She didn't act like she belonged in Remnant.

Weiss turned her attention back to Professor Port and his story. He had begun to draw to a close, citing the values of a true huntsman.

"So, who among you believes to be the embodiment of these traits?" the Professor asked. The room was silent for some time. Normally, Weiss would have jumped at the opportunity to prove herself, but she was disturbed by her team leader.

"How about you there?" The professor gestured at her team leader.

Rookie stood up and signed 'Yes Sir'

"Outstanding! Arm yourself then, and prepare for combat!" Professor Port exclaimed.

In a few excruciatingly long minutes, Rookie had returned with her armor and weapons. Professor Port counted down, and released a boarbatusk from the cage. Rookie quickly unslung her shotgun and fired an 8 gauge buckshot round at the beast, stopping it dead in its tracks.

The room was silent. Rookie looked around at the dumbfounded faces.

"My word! What an impressive weapon you have there!" the Professor exclaimed.

Rookie reminded herself that most people constructed their own weapons based on existing principles. She had basically shown fire to cavemen. Worst of all, she hadn't actually designed it. It was made by WST for a military contract.

The expressions around the room consisted of shock and intrigue, mixed with slight distrust. Rookie shouldered her shotgun, and looked back at the professor, and gave a mock bow, then walked back to her seat and sat down.

"Well! I do believe we are in the presence of a true huntress in training. And, I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Remember to do your readings, and have a page written on the concepts of fighting grim ready for tomorrow's class."

Everyone filed out of the classroom, most of them on the way to their next class. Rookie managed to overhear several people whispering about her and her weapon. A couple were complaining that their ears were ringing. Which, in hindsight, Rookie probably should've warned everyone about.

Oh well. Nothing to do about it now. It'll wear off.

Rookie was about to head back to the locker room when someone grabbed her arm. Before Rookie could truly process that whoever was grabbing her wasn't trying to kill her, she had her assailant pinned against the wall with a knife against the throat of a woman with black hair. Rookie then recognized Blake, one of her "teammates". Rookie released her, and Blake stepped away from the wall, completely unphased.

"You seem a little jumpy." Blake deadpanned.

Rookie just shrugged in reply.

"I'm not sure what to make of you. Clearly, you are, or were, a soldier, just not for any military I know. Who are you?"

Rookie signed 'It doesn't matter anymore.' She started to walk away from Blake, expecting some objection, but to Rookie's surprise, the black haired girl was silent.

Rookie decided to return to their dorm, and sleep off the day's excitement. There'd been plenty of drama that day, and she wanted no part in it at all.

Unfortunately for her, life didn't agree with her desires.

Waiting for her in the group dorm was Weiss. The "Ice Queen" as Rookie had overheard one student call her.

"I'm not sure what to make of you, but if you want to be the leader of this team, you need to step up and do it."

'I don't.' Rookie replied carelessly

Weiss seemed taken aback. "Wait, why? It's all I've ever wanted was to be a team leader, and yet you treat it like a hassle."

Rookie stared at Weiss for a moment. 'Leading isn't all it's made out to be.' Rookie was reminded of her team, and Gunny. Buck had always hid his guilt well, but Rookie always managed to see it come through when he thought they weren't looking.

"Well, that may be. But either you need to step up, or I'll have to talk to the headmaster." Weiss was very adamant that Rookie should do something

Rookie shrugged as she stripped off her armor, locked it and her weapons away, and promptly fell onto the mattress, passing out in seconds as Weiss scoffed at her.

A/N:

Alright, alright, I know. It's been a little bit. Let me catch you back up to speed on my life real fast. I got caught up in a job, got a girlfriend, then enlisted in the Navy. I am however, done with boot camp, and excited to start working on this again. So ideally, every weekend I'll do a little bit of work on this and get the ball rolling again. I appreciate y'all showing support, and I hope that y'all are still out there, waiting for chapters. As always, feedback is always welcome as I am a little new to creative writing. Now, this Chapter, Rookie continues to show her gruff and quiet nature, while also showing off her weapon and realizing it's not like everyone else's. Short chapter, I know. I kind of like it though, and if it means I can get you guys a short chapter at least bi-weekly, I'll take it. Have a good week y'all, and happy hunting!