41With the initiation now over, Team ICCC was allowed back into their dorm and they had slept peacefully all through the night, waking up bright and early in the morning. "That was WAY better than the night before initiation when we had to sleep in sleeping bags." Cerule said as she stretched.
"I don't know how we EVER slept before without beds like this." Onyxia agreed, holding her pillow close to her.
"Plus, I wasn't too thrilled about sleeping out in the open around all those other punk students. Felt like I was trying to sleep out in the open in the Lava Caverns with Rakna-Kadaki's swarming the place." Wisteria added, her tail swishing around as if to ward off any threats.
"Well, luckily, we don't have to worry about that anymore, since we have our own space back." Silver assured her teammates, the four having eventually calmed down and gotten used to sharing the same space.
"And we don't have a bunch of stuff to put away like everyone else. So we have SO much more time saved." Cerule added. The most they had was a small shelf provided with the room, shared by Silver and Cerule, for their books and gaming stuff respectively and a number of weights that were shared by Onyxia and Wisteria.
"Yes, but we shouldn't waste that time sitting around and talking. Let's get ready for the day, everyone." The former Elder Dragon informed them.
And with that, they got up and started getting dressed in their school uniforms. Cerule didn't have much trouble getting dressed and, other than their armor plating and arm blades respectively slightly tearing up the sleeves of the uniform, Onyxia and Wisteria also had little problem as well. Silver would get the skirt on without issue, but then came the shirt and jacket. She, Coco and Glynda had eventually come up with the idea of her folding her wings into their sword-like forms and piercing the back of the upper bodyware in order to wear it, but it still wasn't the easiest process.
Regardless, eventually, the four girls had gotten dressed and headed to their first class, Grimm Studies with Professor Port. However, on their way, thanks to their heightened animal hearing, they couldn't help but notice the bickering of several new teams trying to decide how to decorate their dorms. "Jeez. Sounds like some of these kids are about to kill each other... And the doors aren't open so I can watch!" Wisteria lamented.
But what truly threw them for a loop was when they were walking by Team RWBY's dorm and heard what sounded like construction being performed in their room. "The hell are they doing?" The monster girl quartet couldn't help but wonder, but decided to ignore it and continue to class.
The four former monsters were among the first to arrive in the classroom, sitting down waiting peacefully for class to start, simply staring up at the various illustrations of the various Grimm, as well as Port's hybrid weapon of an axe/blunderbuss. "How do you think he even aims that?" Cerule whispered to Onyxia.
"I'd be more concerned with the blades taking my fingers off any time I fired the gun, or the gun going off any time I swung it as an axe." Onyxia whispered back.
"Half his aura in a fight probably goes to protecting himself from his own weapon." Wisteria threw in as well. None of them were very much a fan of the bombastic teacher. His long-winded stories wouldn't be so bad... if they weren't ALL about him and basically told to stroke his own ego.
That being said, Silver still at least TRIED to respect those in authority. "Well, quite a few of the weapons used by Hunters seemed nonsensical, but we can all agree they put them to good use." She reminded them.
And eventually, with only a minute left to spare, teams RWBY and JNPR burst into the room, panting heavily and slowly trudging their way to open seats, Team JNPR sitting on the other side of the room and Team RWBY sitting in front of Team ICCC. "Cutting it a little close, aren't you? Thought you four were some of the faster ones." Cerule said.
"There was a bit of difficulty managing space in our room." Weiss sighed.
"We built bunk beds!" Ruby cheered.
"Guess that explains the construction sounds." Wisteria said.
But finally, the bell sounded and class began. "Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" Port declared.
The members of RWBY, seated on the front row, are in varying stages of interest; Blake and Yang are sitting up and paying attention, Weiss is taking notes, and Ruby has her head propped in her hand as she takes a quick nap until she is woken back up by Port's bad joke, which receives a cricket-filled silence as a result.
"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." The portly teacher continued, stopping at the mention of Huntresses and giving Yang a wink, which she groaned uncomfortably at.
"Why do I feel the sudden desire to punch him?" Onyxia asked, strangely angered by the man's pass at Yang, but not understanding why.
"Probably because he opened his mouth." Cerule said.
"Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!" Port declared again.
"Ayyyy-yep!" One male student exclaimed, standing up and raising his hand, staying like this for a moment as everyone looked at him strangely before he sat back down, embarrassed.
"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..." Port began.
"No..." Team ICCC groaned all together as Port's words fade into the background into a series of "blah"s.
But then, Silver noticed Ruby was very focused on penciling the paper in front of her. The girl then chuckled at her creation and showed it to her friends and teammates: a ball-with-limbs-and-a-head drawing of the teacher with stink lines coming from him and "Professor Poop" written underneath. Ruby then blew a quick raspberry, to which Blake, Yang, Cerule, Onyxia and Wisteria all laughed. "Nice job, squirt. Perfectly captured his likeness." The Barbarous Beast praised.
However, Weiss and Silver weren't very amused. "Ruby, you DO remember this is an INCREDIBLY elite, exclusive school that you are in TWO YEARS early, so you should do EVERYTHING in your power to earn that spot, right?" The former Elder Dragon reminded the younger girl.
"O-oh. Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry." Ruby said, looking a bit ashamed.
Weiss sighed in relief at this. "Thank you, Silver. I'm glad to see at least SOMEONE takes our learning seriously." She said gratefully.
"Ah-heh-hem!" Port cleared his throat to regain their focus. He waited until he had their attention again, before continuing. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!" The teacher declared, taking a bow as Silver at least TRIED to humor him with some slow clapping.
And then, despite Silver's previous words and her attempts to get Ruby to focus with a light poke from her tail when the younger girl started to goof off, she still did continuously goof off: balancing an apple on a book with her pencil held only by her finger while making a silly face, falling asleep in the first class of the year and Ruby is not-so-subtly picking her nose, much to Weiss' building anger.
Especially because Port was listing the qualities of a true Huntsman, all of which Ruby seemed to be lacking. "The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!" He explained, Weiss anger rising drastically as she seethed at Ruby's childish antics. "So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port finally asked.
And finally, Weiss' rage boiled over as she reminded herself THIS GIRL was her team's leader instead of herself. She had to prove something to her team, the teachers and herself. "I do, sir!" She declared, raising her hand.
"Well, then, let's find out!" Port declared as he turned to gesture a cage beside him, containing a figure with glowing red eyes, surrounded by shadow, shaking the cage. "Step forward and face your opponent!" He instructed as the unknown monster continued to growl.
Weiss had briefly left the classroom to grab her weapon and change out of her school uniform and into her regular attire, readying her weapon at the growling creature in the cage.
Meanwhile, her friends and teammates cheered her on from their seats. "Goooo, Weiss!" Yang cheered, raising a fist.
"Fight well!" Blake encouraged her, waving a small flag saying "RWBY".
"Best of luck!" Cerule, Onyxia and Silver all told her, with a thumbs up from Cerule and small wave from the other two.
"You got this in the bag, Weiss! Take that thing down!" Wisteria spurred her on, while also giving a wink, which caused Weiss to smile and blush a bit.
However, that was ruined when Ruby opened her mouth. "Yeah, represent Teeeeam RWBY!" The younger girl cheered.
"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Weiss snapped, lowering her sword and looking over at her "leader".
"Oh, um... Sorry..." Ruby said, looking sheepish at this.
"That was a little harsh." Silver said quietly, narrowing her eyes a bit at the heiress. Sure, Ruby had been a bit childish, but in that moment, she was trying to encourage her friend. She shouldn't be snapped at for that.
"Allllright!" Port began as he stood next to the cage, pulling out Blowhard. "Let the match... begin!" The professor declared as he swung down and broke the lock, dropping the cage door and revealing the Boarbatusk inside, which immediately charged at Weiss.
She used Myrtenaster to strike the creature's side as it charged, but the weapon bounced off the tough armor, only serving to deflect the beast, while also taking her off-balance and making her roll to the side, readying herself for its next move. The Grimm stood a distance away from its enemy, studying her.
"Rookie mistake. Way too much armor there." Onyxia said quietly.
"Yeah. It's like going after one of you, you don't whack at the stone armor, you go for the soft belly." Cerule quietly agreed. Onyxia gave her a small glare at that, but couldn't disagree.
"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port laughed.
"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby encouraged her teammate.
Weiss was now speeding towards the oncoming Boarbatusk, sticking her blade straight at its skull. However, the beast impressively maneuvered its head to deflect the attack and catch the weapon, Myrtenaster now trapped in the beast's tusks. Weiss was still hanging on to the hilt and was tossed around as she struggles to get the rapier back.
"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Port said.
"I don't. She went for something so obvious a mindless Grimm saw it and countered it. She's being sloppy." Silver said to herself.
"Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby cheered once again.
Weiss turned to glare at Ruby, only for the Boarbatusk to turn its head and rip the sword from her grip. Myrtenaster landed far away from its master, who was knocked back by the creature's tusks.
"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port asked.
"That's the nice thing about OUR BODIES being the weapon. We can't be disarmed." Cerule said to Onyxia.
"Yeah, someone should really teach these kids how to fight without weapons." The Wandering Colossus agreed.
Weiss looked up just in time to see the Boarbatusk charge again, rolling out of the way just in time to avoid getting trampled and make it crash into a desk. Weiss rushed at her sword and slid to get it back in her hand.
"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-" Ruby tried to helpfully instruct her partner.
However, the heiress turned to Ruby. "Stop telling me what to do!" She snapped, to which Ruby looked hurt at Weiss' rebuttal.
"Evidently, she forgot what the purpose of a LEADER is." Silver said, giving the Schnee girl a glare.
"Come on, Weiss! Focus! Ignore everything else! Just you, your weapon and that damn pig! Now take it down!" Wisteria told her.
Weiss looked at her in shock for a moment, before nodding and giving her full attention to the Boarbatusk as it leapt into the air and rolled into a ball, spinning rapidly in the air and landing on the ground, consistently gaining speed until it launched itself at Weiss. It came closer and closer, but Weiss activated one of her blue-white circles and blocked the roll, leaping up into the now-black snowflake symbol, turning it blue again and launching herself forward, driving the blade into the Boarbatusk's stomach. It squealed and fell silent while Weiss gasped in relief.
"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Port cheered as Weiss stood up at attention from her exhausted position and Ruby continued to frown.
But then, a voice rang out. "True Huntress? Are you kidding me?" Cerule asked as she sat up from her more relaxed position, leaned back with her feet on the table.
Weiss turned to glare at the former Fanged Wyvern. "What is THAT supposed to mean?" She demanded.
"Those Grimm are some of the weakest out there, but you could barely handle it. Then, when someone- your leader- actually tried to help you, you just snapped at her. Even though you used her advice anyway. You know leaders are supposed to- you know- LEAD, right? That means telling you what to do." The Moonlight Nocturne explained.
"She wasn't LEADING, she was DISTRACTING!" Weiss said.
"Really? Then why did you only win AFTER she told you what to do? Sounds like she lead you pretty good to me." Cerule told her. "Besides, you two were perfectly fine yesterday, now you're acting like a brat. What? Are you mad you didn't get made into the leader? Oh well, too bad. Get over it." The wolf girl said.
Weiss grit her teeth furiously at this. "How dare... The nerve of... URGH!" She cried out, storming off.
The room was filled with an awkward silence after this. "W-well... I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and... stay vigilant. Class dismissed." Port said awkwardly.
The rest of the students started to leave as Team ICCC stayed behind. "Tch. Real nice, frost face." Wisteria said, glaring a bit at the wolf girl.
"Oh, come on. She's gonna be fighting giant monsters! How is she gonna handle that if she can't handle some mean words." Cerule questioned.
"Besides, she was being pretty harsh with Ruby, even though her advice was probably the only reason she won that fight. Someone had to put her in her place." Onyxia admitted.
"That may be true in our old world, but not in this one. Humans don't seem to respond well to 'being put in their place'. Anger and harsh words only seem to hurt and anger them, making any arguments or animosity between them even worse. If you want to get through to a person, scathing words like yours aren't the way to do it." Silver told them, looking to Cerule in the end.
"Wow, that was deep. Guess we should've expected that from an Elder Dragon, though." Cerule said.
"I've already experienced this with Weiss firsthand. I was able to reach her in the forest, at least a little bit. And I managed to clear the hostility between us. She's not beyond reasoning, you just have to be reasonable." The former Elder Dragon advised.
"Ugh. So, someone has to go talk to her?" Cerule groaned. "I do not envy them." She said.
"Well, you WERE the one to anger her, so maybe YOU should be the one to set things right." Silver suggested.
"Yeah, don't bother. Wisteria already left, I think she's gonna do it." Onyxia said, the other two monster girls turning around to confirm that the former Malice Tiger Wyvern had disappeared without a trace.
Wisteria walked around the halls until she came across a balcony where Weiss stood alone, watching the sunset over Beacon Academy's rooftops. She then chuckled a bit as she approached her favorite singer. "Yeah, she's not just icy because she breathes ice. Her words can be pretty cold, too." She said as she walked up and leaned against the railing beside Weiss. "You okay?" She asked, looking to the Schnee girl.
"O-of course, I am. Schnee's are always okay. I wasn't crying whatsoever." Weiss insisted, quickly wiping her eyes and letting out a sharp sniff to compose herself. "Did you come to make excuses for your teammate?" She asked grumpily.
"Hell no. She can deal with her own problems, I'm not doing it for her." Wisteria denied. "But those things she said, they're just words. They only have as much power as you let them have over you. They don't mean anything." She said.
But Weiss sighed at this. "Yes, they do. Because I've heard it all my life. People hear my last name, Schnee and they think I'm some kind of rich, spoiled brat. They just see me as a miniature version of my father, who throws money at their problems and can't do anything for myself. But I can. And I want people to see that. And the best way to do that would be as the leader on an elite team of Huntresses. But I'm not the leader, Ruby is. Ozpin thought a child who still picks her own nose is more worthy to be a leader than me." She huffed.
Wisteria chuckled again, nodding a bit. "Yeah, it was like that with our team, too. The place we come from is a lot more wild, ruthless and lawless-" She began.
"Vacuo?" Weiss asked.
The former Barbarous beast froze at this, as they never discussed a place for them to say where they came from. Ozpin just suggested avoiding talking about their pasts. "Sure, why not?" She said, causing Weiss to look at her and tilt her head in confusion. "Anyway, we all thought of ourselves as the biggest and baddest around, you know? Apexes, alphas, at the top of the food chain. So we weren't too thrilled at the idea of having to listen to someone else when Ozpin told us about teams and leaders over the Summer. We all wanted to be in charge, either to do our own thing or make the others listen to us and what we wanted. And so, that's what we did at first, doing whatever we wanted, not even really paying attention to each other. But this made us sloppy and uncoordinated. We took each other's kills, got in each other's way and even attacked each other sometimes. So we wound up struggling against groups of Grimm any of us should be able to take on alone." Wisteria explained.
Weiss sighed at this. "Well, that certainly sounds familiar." She said, remembering how she was too slow and meticulous when facing the pack of Beowulves in the Emerald Forest with Ruby and Silver.
"Exactly. So, it wasn't good for us as a team and it wasn't good for us as individuals. We even almost got taken out by one of those giant Deathstalkers. But then, Silver figured out what we needed to do and once we started listening to her, we squashed that oversized bug like nothing. So we finally understood the importance of working as a team, even if you don't like not being the leader and having to follow orders. Then, we worked the rest of the Summer on fighting like a team and now we're an actual solid group. And that's probably the only reason we survived against that Espinas." The former Malice Tiger Wyvern explained.
"Espinas?" Weiss asked.
Again, Wisteria froze for a second, again having revealed too much. "Uh, it's what Ozpin named the new type of Grimm we fought while you guys fought the Deathstalker and Nevermore. Ask him, I don't know." She quickly recovered with another lie.
"Fair enough." The heiress accepted, then sighed. "But I certainly see what you are saying. And it certainly was easier working WITH Ruby than against her. And she WAS the one to come up with the plan to defeat the Nevermore. AND how to defeat the Boarbatusk. I really wasn't being fair to her earlier. Or to Blake and Yang, them having to deal with our bickering. Besides, I realize now that I was acting like the rich, spoiled brat I said I didn't want to be. If I keep behaving like this, I won't be worthy of being a Huntress." She admitted.
"Well, you're realizing you were wrong and you're working to fix it. That's the first step. Now, a good place to start would be learning to be a good teammate. And learn to let your team help you when you need it. Also to help them when they need it. That's how Ruby will be a better leader." Wisteria told her.
Weiss nodded at this. "You're right. I'll do my best to be the best teammate they could ask for. And the best friend they could ask for." She declared, before smiling. "Thank you, Wisteria. I believe that's the second time you've saved me now." She said, starting to walk away.
Wisteria chuckled at this. "I'll start you up a tab." She called, Weiss giggling a bit as she left.
"And people say we Elder Dragons are the smart and wise ones." Silver said as she descended down behind Wisteria.
"I knew you were up there. I'm surprised Weiss didn't hear your wings flapping." Wisteria said, turning to face former Elder Dragon.
"You did a good thing there. I really think Weiss will be able to grow because of your words. The other students we've met here are sure to grow as well. And even we might just grow along with them." Silver told her.
"Yeah, maybe. I gotta admit, I wouldn't mind sticking around for a while and seeing just how much they'll grow." The former Fanged Beast admitted.
"I am as well. I think they might just surprise us." Silver said.