Of Leaders and Warriors
Remnantian Year 875
“Whoo!” Ruby cheered happily as she jumped up and down in the dorm room, now decorated with individual posters and keepsakes, “Finally got my headphones from Uncle Tai!”
“Could you please keep it down, ugh, I need more coffee,” Weiss groaned as she let her head fall onto the desk she sat at, where a lot of papers were scattered everywhere.
“Weiss, you do know that essay is due next month, right?” Jaune asked hesitantly from his bed and Weiss groaned in response, picking her head up from the desk.
“Better to finish it ahead of time rather than procrastinate, slackers,” Weiss defended weakly and Ruby just shrugged as she put her headphones on and smiled.
“That is much better. Now it doesn’t sound like screeching whenever someone talks,” Ruby sighed in relief and Jaune raised an eyebrow.
“Does every faunus have trouble with their hearing?” Jaune asked nervously, looking unsure of if what he said would be considered rude.
“Nah, just a me thing. I was born with all my senses put up to eleven. Makes it good for hunting grimm though. But in a normal environment, I get overwhelmed,” Ruby explained as she sat down on her bed and grabbed a brush to begin brushing her tail.
“By the way, where’s Pyrrha at?” Weiss asked as she glanced around the room and Ruby shrugged.
“Think she said she was going to get some more training in. She should be back soon,” Ruby informed and Weiss looked down at her work and sighed before she stood up.
“I’m going to talk to her for a bit. Be back soon, leader,” Weiss spoke with a hint of venom in her voice at the end, but made her way out of the dorms and Ruby just groaned and fell back into her bed with a thud.
“Why does she still not even like me? I don’t think she’s even called me by my first name once in the last few weeks, and yet she calls my sister by first name,” Ruby complained and Jaune shrugged, eating a snack as he was scrolling through his scroll.
“Maybe she wanted to be the leader instead? Dunno, I thought you were a pretty good leader during initiation,” Jaune threw out there and that gave Ruby pause. Was that why Weiss had been cold to her, even after a few weeks together?
“But I’ve not even done anything for her to be mad at me about. Besides, that was the only time I’ve ever given out orders like that. I wish I understood why Professor Ozpin made me the leader, he says it wasn’t a mistake, or why Weiss dislikes me,” Ruby sighed before she buried her face into her bed and Jaune just sighed as he began to work on his homework.
“What are the major weaknesses of a boarbatusk? Hmm… might be its tail? I should check the reading again,” Jaune thought as he began to spill books across his bed and began to work while Ruby just began to snore, “Ruby always seems tired. I would be more tired, but I can’t fall behind with my extra lessons and aura training. I’m just glad that my aura staves off my tiredness for a while.”
“One, two, pierce… one, two, three, fire…” Pyrrha recited to herself as she practiced her weapon transformation on dummies. Nearby, she spotted Yang and Nora getting chewed out by Professor Goodwitch for destroying over twenty dummies. Pyrrha just kept herself focused on her training rather than the others around her.
“One, block, two, thrust, three, block,” Pyrrha continued to synchronize her attacks with her shield. As she continued, she paid no attention to the time passing by. Eventually, she noticed it was only her in the training room.
“Keep practicing. If you lose, then consider yourself as good as dead,” Her father’s old words echoed in her head and Pyrrha grit her teeth and was about to continue when suddenly a hand was on her shoulder.
“Pyrrha, Rose said you would be back soon. I asked Yang how long you’ve been here and she said since after lunch. That’s not good for you,” Weiss scolded lightly and Pyrrha blinked as she felt her legs begin to give out and she fell onto the floor and groaned.
“I may have pushed myself a bit too much today,” Pyrrha admitted as she wiped the sweat from her brow and Weiss just frowned more from this.
“Pyrrha it is an hour until curfew. Have you even taken a single break today?” Weiss asked with worry clear in her eyes and Pyrrha looked away, refusing to meet her partner’s gaze. This just made Weiss sigh and the prim and proper girl sat on the training room’s floor next to her partner. A glyph appeared next to Pyrrha and a small fountain of water shot up from it.
“Hydrate, you need it,” Weiss ordered and Pyrrha couldn’t find it in her to argue and so she drank the water for a few minutes straight until she couldn’t take anymore. As she backed away from it, Weiss dismissed the water.
“Why push yourself so far? You would have passed out in classes tomorrow if you were dehydrated,” Weiss questioned and Pyrrha bit her lip as she looked down at the ground.
“Useless girl! This is all you’re useful for!” Her father’s words continued to torment her thoughts. Almost immediately, Weiss saw a similar look on Pyrrha’s face that she had seen on her sister’s in the past, whenever their father would force Winter to dress up like a doll or be on display.
“I only married you for your family’s name! You’re a worthless drunkard!” Her father’s shouts at her mother on Weiss’s tenth birthday rang through her mind and Weiss quickly shook the memory from her head, looking to the present instead.
“Pyrrha, I’ve always been meaning to ask since I watched your first tournament win, but why do you fight? Now I want to know even more, because your facade is such a far cry from how you’re in a relaxed setting,” Weiss asked politely and Pyrrha looked away before standing up and walking away without another word, leaving Weiss to frown.
“Here I was, thinking that being a team was meant to make things easier? Would she listen to me if I was the leader instead of Rose?” Weiss wondered to herself as she began to wander her way to one of the many balconies of Beacon, overlooking the courtyards below, where even though the sun had set, students were still bustling about.
“It is quite calming here, is it not?” A refined, old voice spoke behind her, and the heiress spun around to see the headmaster behind her.
“Hello Professor. How are…” Weiss went to greet but Ozpin held up his hand, signaling her to stop and he made his way to the railing of the balcony, looking down below at the many students.
“Miss Schnee, I hear you’ve been making waves with your stellar performance in class,” Ozpin praised lightly and Weiss beamed at the words.
“Thank you sir. I study every day I can, unlike Rose, who studies at best one day a week,” Weiss thanked, while not so subtly insulting her leader and Ozpin just shook his head and drank from his mug that he had been carrying.
“That is not what I wish to discuss, though study habits are important. I truly came to ask you about why you continue to call Miss Ruby Rose by her last name and yet you call Mister Arc and Miss Nikkos by their first names. Why alienate yourself from your leader, I wonder?” Ozpin asked and Weiss looked away with a scowl.
“I just… why is she the leader? She’s not really done anything to lead us. Besides, she’s far too anxious and lazy,” Weiss spat out and Ozpin sighed as he put the mug down on a nearby small table.
“So you wanted to be leader,” Ozpin picked up on from between the lines and continued as Weiss began to sputter, “After all, you have been given everything you could want in your life. You’ve had very little to want for.”
“You’re wrong,” Weiss muttered out and Ozpin motioned for her to continue, “I… I want to be free. That’s something money can’t buy, and often, because of my father’s riches, means some people’s freedoms are taken away.”
“Ahh, and so being a leader would equate to that freedom, you believe?” Ozpin pushed further and Weiss shook her head.
“No, yes… I don’t know! I just… maybe you made a mistake making Rose the leader?” Weiss attempted to deflect and Ozpin just leaned over the balcony and looked up at the shattered moon.
“You and Miss Rose are quite similar, Miss Schnee. She came to me just days ago believing it was a mistake that she was made leader because of her observing your dislike of her. She is not quite as out of touch with emotions as some believe. But I believe that, as a man who has made more mistakes than any other person who has walked Remnant’s face, making her the leader was not one of those mistakes. Give it time, and don’t close yourself off. Leadership is not as freeing as you may think and instead a great task to uphold. After all, a leader has more responsibilities and restrictions put upon them by their team. Give Miss Rose a chance and maybe you’ll see what I saw in choosing her,” Ozpin wisely told before picking up his mug and sipping from it once more, “Oh, and Miss Rose did lead you during initiation. After all, you took to her plan quite quickly against the grimm without complaint. Have a good evening.”
“Wait,” Weiss spoke and Ozpin paused as he was partially through the doorway, “What exactly do you mean by making more mistakes than anyone else? From what I’ve read, you were quite unremarkable before becoming a teacher at Beacon and eventually headmaster. Surely if you made so many mistakes, then people would know about them.”
“Hmm, not all of my past is as it is told. You’ll often find that to be the case that people will hide their dark secrets. Look beyond the surface and you may answer your questions without my aid,” Ozpin gave a knowing smirk as he advised her before continuing on his way and Weiss just frowned.
“Just who are you, headmaster?” Weiss quickly wondered before she began to make her way back to the dorms, mentally preparing herself for a conversation with her… leader tonight. She has been
“Why’d you call me here, Junior? You know I’m only in town for a few more days. Got a few loose ends to tie up for a previous raid. Heard one of my daughters wrecked your bar up recently, though I’ve also heard that your sister is keeping an eye on it right now,” Raven smirked confidently and Junior scowled as he kicked some stones away from him at the campfire the two sat at.
“Oh shut it Branwen. I’m keeping the girls safe and laying low for a bit. Was hoping the spiders would leave town soon, but they’ve been persistent. And it took forever to contact you,” Junior spat on the ground and wiped his arm across his face, “Shouldn’t you be making sure your other daughter is kept safe from Torchwick?”
“Ruby? What d… of course Oz would keep that from me until after a meeting when he knew I’d head back to Mistral,” Raven growled and glanced behind her, where the floating island of Beacon was very faintly visible, “Qrow probably hid it too. I did wonder why she was at Beacon early at all? I thought Oz was just playing more obvious games. Have half a mind to go have some words with him, maybe tear out his eyes.”
“Yeah yeah, you, your brother, and the old man can have your weekly pissing contest later. I’m cashing in my favor,” Junior scowled and tapped his foot on the floor, “I need some documents stolen from Malachite.”
“Oh great, her,” Raven rolled her eyes and sighed, “Always a headache dealing with her.”
“At least you weren’t married to her,” Junior joked and Raven snorted.
“My wife was infinitely better, we can both agree, it’s no contest. Now, where exactly are these documents and why do you need them?” Raven questioned, trying to push down the ache she felt when her wife was brought up.
“I’ll send you the information tomorrow. Don’t want the old man or the witch to catch wind of this,” Junior stood up and began to walk off and Raven just sighed and put her head in her hands.
“For you, Summer. For you. I’ll visit you before I leave for Mistral. Finally time to stop being a coward about it and seeing it from a distance. Your grave is in a nice place at least. That old cliff side you always ran off to… maybe I’ll finally give the girls answers soon too… I miss you, my shining sun,” Raven transformed into a bird and began to fly off into the night, hidden by the blackened skies, unaware of the jellyfish grimm staring at her as she flew off.