It had been two days since team RWBY had their first practice match under Weiss' leadership. During that time, the heiress had been constantly thinking about what had happened that day. She was still thinking about what could have happened, if it had been a real fight her team had been in, and what the results could have led to. The thought that one of her teammates would have gotten hurt or even worse due to her lack of proper leadership skills made Weiss feel sick. Images of her wounded and bloodied teammates kept appearing in her mind, along with faces of their families and friends, who had been told about what had happened to their loved ones under the fencer's command.
Thinking about all of this made Weiss feel like she was carrying a huge weight on her shoulders, like a boulder chained to her back. Along with that, she felt a cold pain in the pit of her stomach. The white-haired girl honestly felt like throwing up, as these feelings just got stronger the more she thought about what could possibly happen, if she were to fail as a leader again.
'Just what is this that I'm feeling? Am I... scared to be a leader?' Weiss thought to herself, before she shook her head furiously, hoping to rid herself of such thoughts. 'No! NO! I am NOT scared! I am the heiress of the Schnee family! I was born to be a leader! I just made a mistake and that's just messing with me! I can get over it!'
Despite what she had said to herself, the fencer couldn't help but doubt her own words. She was going to need something else to convince herself that she could handle her new position. Luckily, Weiss spotted Jaune nearby, heading towards the library to most likely study with his team. The heiress felt that talking to a fellow team leader could possibly help clear her doubts about herself.
"Hey Jaune," Weiss greeted the blonde boy, who turned to look at her. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Oh! Hi Weiss!" Jaune greeted the white-haired girl in return. "Sure, I can talk for a moment, but not for too long. I kind of agreed to have a study session with my team. What do you want to talk about?"
"It's something very important, but I'm sure it's going to sound weird," the heiress explained, before taking a deep breath to compose herself. "Jaune, do you... want to be the leader of your team?"
"...Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Do you want to be the team leader?" Weiss asked again, this time with a bit of an annoyed tone in her voice from having to repeat herself. "Ever since you were made the leader of your team, have you ever had second thoughts about it? Like, have you ever wanted to quit your position and give it to someone else?"
"Huh!? What are you talking about!? Of course not!" Jaune answered with a laugh. "Being a team leader is awesome! Why would I ever want to quit my position!?"
At first, Weiss was angered by the blonde knight's response, as she had been very serious with her question, and Jaune's answer seemed like he was making fun of her. However, upon a closer inspection, the heiress noticed something. It seemed like her fellow team leader was trying to hide something. Jaune wasn't looking at her while he was laughing and said laughter sounded rather fake. Not to mention, Weiss could also see a bit of sweat falling down the side of the boy's face.
"Jaune, what are you hiding from me?" the fencer asked in a serious tone. "Why are you faking laughter in front of me?"
Upon being called out on his bad acting, the blonde knight immediately stopped his laughter. He took a deep sigh, before answering.
"I just don't want to show how weak I am," Jaune answered with a heavy tone, which surprised Weiss. The way the blonde boy's voice sounded made it feel like the world was going to end. "The truth is that I... don't want to be a team leader. I just wanted to become a Huntsman and not a leader of Huntsmen."
"Why? Why wouldn't you want to be a leader?" Weiss asked. "I mean, don't you enjoy the benefits of being a team leader?"
"If there was something to enjoy with being a leader, I haven't seen it," the blonde knight said in a bitter tone. "In all honesty, the position of a leader is more of a burden than anything else."
Jaune looked through the library's entrance and saw his teammates sitting around a table, talking with each other with smiles on their faces. A small sad smile made it's way to the blonde boy's face, as he watched his teammates enjoying each others company, unaware of their leader watching them.
"I'm honestly glad I came to Beacon. Not only have I been able to grow stronger and follow my dream, I also feel like I belong somewhere for the first time in my life, along with making many wonderful friends," Jaune explained with a smile, before a look of anguish came over his face. "However, if there is one thing I regret about coming here, it's the fact that I was made into the leader of my team. This position that was given me has been nothing more than a source of torment for me ever since I got it. I almost want to punch Professor Ozpin for putting this on me."
"I-It can't be that bad, right?" Weiss asked nervously, hoping that her friend was simply overreacting. "Surely there must be something good about it!"
"It is that bad, if not worse, Weiss," the blonde boy replied. "Many think that all there is to being a team leader is to give orders and take in the glory for successful jobs, but that's as far away from the truth as it can be. The one thing team leaders need to do is look after their teammates. The leaders are the ones responsible for their lives and have to make sure that they get back home alive. Just the idea that I would have to explain any of my teammates' families how they died is enough to make me want to cry."
The heiress was shocked to see the look on Jaune's face that was a mixture of sadness, anguish and fear. She could even see tears behind the team leader's eyes.
"Come on, Jaune! You have to be exaggerating!" Weiss said nervously, although she was mostly trying to convince herself. "I mean, we might face dangerous monsters, but that's why we are training here! Besides, we aren't put against anything that would really pose a threat to us!"
"Even if we are supposed to face Grimm that we are supposed to be able to take on, things can still go horribly wrong. Even a simple training mission can turn into a nightmare through a mistake or something unexpected happening," Jaune said. "During one of our team leader classes, we actually met a former Huntsman that had been the leader of his team. He told us how he made on mistake on a mission and it cost him the lives of his whole team. The look he had on his face is something I'll remember for the rest of my life, as it will haunt my dreams."
Weiss could feel her heart stop for a moment, as the idea of her losing her teammates due to a single mistake in her judgement crossed her mind. If that were to happen, the heiress had no idea if she could ever live with the guilt from that.
"I'm honestly scared over what might happen in whatever next mission my team goes to," Jaune continued. "I can't help but fear that I might lose my team, because of something stupid I do. I have lost count of the nights I've been unable to get any sleep from simply worrying over what the future might bring. If I could, I would gladly let someone else take the place of team leader, so I wouldn't have to carry this burden anymore."
"Then... why don't you simply ask one of your teammates to take over?" Weiss asked. "If my team could have it's leader changed, I'm sure it could be done with your team as well."
For a moment, the blonde knight looked down in thought, before looking at his teammates again.
"Because I don't want to put this burden on them. They have given me so much that I honestly can't do that to any of them, so I've decided to carry it myself," Jaune answered. He then started to make his way to his team. "I'm sorry, Weiss, but I feel like I should go to my team now. I did promise them that I would take part in our study session, after all."
The heiress gave a nod and watched as the blonde boy joined his team in the library. However, there was still a question she needed an answer for. If being a team leader was truly such a burden, how could one carry it? What could she do to get over the fear of failing her duties?
After her talk with Jaune, Weiss had thought about who she could go ask for advice one being a team leader. The problem was that while she had come to know a good amount of people since she came to Beacon, the white-haired girl couldn't really talk to most of them about her problem. The reason for this was that she needed someone who actually had experience with what she was going through right now, which meant that she needed to talk to another team leader. Unfortunately, there weren't that many team leaders she knew personally, which limited Weiss' options greatly. She had already talked to Jaune, she would rather die than to talk to Cardin and the heiress doubted that Sun would be of any real use. It was especially difficult as Weiss needed someone more experienced to talk to, as she felt that a person like that could help her.
Luckily, the white-haired girl knew one person that perfectly fit her criteria. Unfortunately, their advice wasn't exactly what she had been looking for.
"You just need to suck it up. There's nothing else you can do with that problem of yours," Coco answered the younger girl's question.
"...E-Excuse me?" Weiss asked, hoping that the older girl was joking.
"You heard me. There's really nothing you can do about the pressure and fear of messing up as a team leader. All you can do is try and live with it," the fashionista stated. "That job is something you're supposed to carry, after all. You shouldn't try to dump any of it's weight on your teammates."
"B-B-But surely there has to be something I can do!" the heiress said desperately. "You have no idea how bad all this pressure is that I'm feeling! I need something to make it feel at least a bit better!"
"First of all, don't say that I have no idea about how you feel. I've been doing this gig a lot longer than you have," Coco said in a slightly angered tone, not liking what the younger girl had just said. "Second, if there really was something us team leaders could do, don't you think we would have done it already? I'm certain that if that was true, most of the students who quit Beacon wouldn't be team leaders."
"Team leaders are quitting Beacon?" Weiss asked, disturbed by this new piece of information.
"Well, not team leaders specifically. A good amount of students can't handle the pressure and end up quitting Beacon and decide to live as civilians," the older team leader explained. "However, when you look at the people that quit, you'll find out that over half of them were team leaders. It makes sense, since team leaders have to handle a lot more pressure than other students."
"So... What you're saying is that my options are to either quit or to simply live with it?" the white-haired girl said. "Those aren't exactly great options."
"That's life for you, I'm afraid. We don't always get any good choices and have to choose only from a bunch of bad ones. It's your job to decide which one is the least bad for you," Coco said with a shrug. "But if you want my advice, I think you should just give Ruby her position back. You haven't exactly been able to handle being a leader, so I feel it might be for the best to at least stop before things get too bad."
After giving her advice, the brunette started to leave. Before she managed to completely leave, Weiss still had one more question.
"Why should anyone be a team leader? If all this position gives you is just more work and pressure that is unbearable to handle, why would anyone want to take this job?" the heiress asked. "I know there are some positive sides to this, but they can't really make it worth all this. So why even have team leaders in the first place?"
"Because somebody has to do it. There needs to be someone there to look after the well-being of a team and to shoulder the responsibility the other team members can't," Coco answered. "There always needs to be someone who can look after everybody, even if it's a tough job. They just need to learn how to live with the pressure and responsibility."
Once her talk with Coco had been finished, Weiss was left alone to think about what she had just learned. In all honesty, her whole world had essentially just been turned upside down. For as long as the heiress could remember, her whole life had been about pursuing whatever was the highest. Whether it was the highest score in a test or the highest possible position for her, Weiss had always done everything she could to achieve it. However, now she was facing something that she had never thought of before. The white-haired girl didn't want the highest position in her team.
After having talked with both Jaune and Coco, Weiss had a different view on the position of a team leader. What had first seemed to be a honor and a glory that was only reserved for the best like herself, now seemed like nothing more than a burden that some were forced to carry. Right now, the fencer was facing an internal struggle between what she had been conditioned into wanting and how she had truly started to feel.
"If it's such a heavy burden, do I really want to carry it?" Weiss asked herself while sitting on a bench that was in the front yard of Beacon. "Not only that, but if I were to choose to carry it, would I be able to?"
"Well, I personally didn't choose you to be a team leader, as I didn't think you would be able to handle it," a familiar voice suddenly said, snapping the heiress out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Ozpin looking down on her with a cup of coffee in his hand. "However, I have been proven wrong before, so if you believe you can do so this time, I urge you to do it."
"P-Professor Ozpin! I didn't notice you there!" Weiss said with a blush on her face, embarrassed over being caught talking to herself. "Ummm... How much did you hear?"
"Only the last part, but I'm pretty sure I can guess what it was about," the silver-haired man answered and took a sip from his drink. "Now, would you like to talk to me about your problem or do you want to think about it on your own some more?"
"Actually, there is something I would like to ask you," the white-haired girl replied. "I can't help but wonder about one thing. Why did you choose Ruby as our team's leader? I'm not trying to say that she shouldn't be the leader or that there was a better candidate for the job. I just want to know what qualities she had that made her a better leader than anyone else in our team. I mean, she is even younger than any of us, so didn't you have any doubts about your choice?"
"It is true that Ms. Rose is younger than any other students in our school, but I have learned a long time ago that age isn't what makes a good leader," Ozpin began to explain. "As for why I made her the leader of your team, she was simply the best candidate for it in my opinion. When I watched her lead you all against that Nevermore and the Deathstalker, she honestly reminded me of someone. A student that used to be here that became one of my most trusted friends with time. The way I saw Ms. Rose act during the initiation reminded me so much of that student that I immediately knew she would become a great Huntress. She has the same potential and qualities that my students used to have back in the day."
"So if she hadn't acted the way she did during the initiation, you would have chosen someone else as our leader?" Weiss asked.
"Not necessarily. It would have surely made me think harder on my decision, but I feel that I would have chosen Ms. Rose as the team leader regardless, as she is the best qualified for it," the headmaster answered. "Even before she joined Beacon, I had been hearing a lot about how skilled she was, which made me look through her files. After I read through what kind of a life she had been through, I knew that she was a very gifted individual that could very well become one of the best Huntresses in the world."
"What about the rest of our team?"
"You are all obviously skilled and have great futures ahead of you, but I couldn't see any of you having the skills necessary to be a leader. Ms. Xiao Long is obviously too hotheaded and not much of a thinker. If she were to lead a team, I fear they would run headfirst into danger. On the other hand, Ms. Belladonna might seem like a good choice, but she unfortunately hides things from others. When a team leader can't trust their own subordinates, the team is going to fall apart. And as for you, Ms. Schnee-"
"Let me guess. I am a spoiled little girl that expects everything to be handed over to me?"
"Well, there is that, but it isn't the real reason you wouldn't be chosen as a leader," Ozpin replied, surprising Weiss. "The real reason I wouldn't make you a leader is because you are too concerned with proving yourself. I believe we saw it best during your sparring match against team CRDL, when you refused to listen to Ms. Rose. You were so set on showing everyone that you could come up with a winning strategy on your own that you refused to let any other opinions to question your decision. Whatever was going to bring your team victory had to have come from you or you wouldn't see yourself as the leader you have always imagined yourself as. Because of this, you rushed into battle with a badly thought strategy, just so you could prove yourself."
As much as she wanted to, the newly-appointed team leader couldn't defend herself, since the silver-haired man was completely right. She had wanted to show her skills by coming up with their winning strategy on her own, which was why she didn't listen to Ruby's warnings at all. This led to Blake being put in danger during their match against team CRDL, and their whole team facing possible defeat.
"Since I'm unfit to be a team leader in your opinion, what do you think I should do?" Weiss asked. "What is the best thing to do, not just for my sake, but for the sake of my team as well?"
"I fear that is something you must think of yourself," Ozpin answered. "However, the way I see it, you have two options. The first one is for you to stay as team leader and hopefully learn how to fulfill your duties properly. After all, people can change for the better. The second option is for you to admit your faults and let Ms. Rose be your team leader again. Whatever you choose, just know that I will accept and support it. And I'm certain Ms. Rose will do so as well."
Back in team RWBY's dorm, the three other members of the team were spending their free time on whatever hobbies they liked. Yang was sitting on her bed and playing a game on her Scroll, Blake was reading one of her books, and Ruby was watching a movie on her Scroll.
Suddenly, the door to the dorm opened and Weiss walked in. The white-haired girl's three teammates immediately turned their attention towards their teammate. Much to their surprise, their new team leader seemed to be bothered by something, as she had a bit of a saddened look on her face.
"Weiss?" Ruby called out to her partner. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's really wrong. I've just had a lot of on my mind today. However, I do need to talk with you, Ruby," the heiress replied, before looking at her other two teammate. "And I kind of need to talk with her alone."
Blake and Yang looked at each other, before looking at Ruby, who simply shrugged. However, since the two girls had seen the look on Weiss' face, they assumed that their two teammates needed this, so they left the dorm.
Now that Ruby and Weiss were alone, the younger girl jumped off her bed and walked up to her partner, wondering what she wanted to talk about.
"So, Weiss, what did you need to talk about?" Ruby asked.
"Well... it's about me being our team leader," the fencer replied. "You see, I've been thinking about how I've performed as our leader, which led to me asking about some of the things that come with the job. That in turn taught me a lot about all the things I'm supposed to do, the things YOU had to go through while you were being our leader. And in the end, I think I've come to realize some things."
"And what would those things that you have realized be?" the redhead asked.
"First, I have to admit that I'm not fit to be a leader," Weiss answered in a defeated tone. "I'm too focused on being the best that I am unable to see what's truly important, like the needs of my teammates. And that's simply unacceptable for a leader. Second, I need to fix this mess that I've caused, and the way I do that is by giving the position of team leader to the person who truly deserves it. That person is you, Ruby. So could you become the leader of team RWBY again for the sake of us all?"
After asking her partner to become the team leader again, the heiress had expected the younger girl to say "yes" with a big smile on her face. Instead, Ruby gave an answer that she had NOT expected.
"No."