Forever Fall
It's a calm night, stars shining over Beacon's grounds as thin clouds strafe across the sky. Pyrrha sits on her dresser by the window side, deep in thought. She sombrely stares across the academy, occasionally turning to glance at the city in the distance, and the lights that dance on and off in its streets and buildings. She struggles to distract herself from the only thought in her mind, but after another few seconds the constant squeaking of Nora's bed is making her ears hurt and she looks down and sighs.
"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asks, absentmindedly bouncing up and down on her bed, swinging her arms around a little every few jumps.
"He's become rather scarce ever since he started fraternising with Cardin." Ren answers distractedly rubbing a cloth over one of his pistols. He tilts his head slightly, looking down the iron sights of the pistol for a few heartbeats before returning to cleaning it, lightly gliding the cloth across the metal with care and fastidiousness.
"That's weird," Nora says, her fringe bobbing as she continues to bounce. "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest." She does a flamboyant flip and flops onto the bed, closing her eyes without even bothering to align herself or get under the covers.
"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Pyrrha frowns, glancing over at them before returning to stare into space.
It's obvious to Ren and Nora that her mood is poor, they look at each other sceptically at her words. "I guess so…" Nora mumbles, not wanting to upset her.
Unbeknownst to them, Jaune has been listening outside the door, the light from inside the room spilling through the small gap and onto his face. He sighs and gently closes the door, not wanting to alert his team to his presence. A long second goes by as he gently rests his head against the cold wood.
"Hey, Jaune." A familiar cheery voice says behind him, the sudden sound startling him enough that he almost loses his balance when he whirls around. "Long time no see, did you lock yourself out again?" Ruby asks with a smile; she is dressed in her pyjamas and giggles quietly at Jaune's flustered face, gesturing to his door.
"Oh, uh, nope. Got it." He stammers, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck before holding up his scroll.
"So, where have you been lately." Ruby asks curiously.
"I, uh…" Jaune starts, intending to lie, but he's unable to when Ruby's cheerful face fills with concern. He sighs, hanging his head. "I messed up, I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin's got me on a leash. And Pyrrha won't even talk to me… I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He sighs again, letting his head fall back against the door and sliding down it to the floor and resting his hands on his knees.
"I'm a failure." He mumbles dejectedly.
Uncharacteristically, Ruby thinks for a second, tapping her finger on her chin before responding. "Nope." She states.
"Uh, Nope?" Jaune asks.
"Nope," she repeats, stepping forward so that she is standing over him. He looks up at her. "You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure," she tells him matter of factly, a small smile on her face.
Jaune furrows his brow in confusion. "But, what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" He asks, bobbing his head slightly before looking at the floor.
"Mmmm… Nope," Ruby hums.
"You know you aren't the easiest person to talk to about this kinda stuff," Jaune chuffs, a small smile finally gracing his features. He watches her sit down next to him, bracing herself with her hands on the floor.
"Nope," she says again, making Jaune lightly throw his head back into the door again. "Look, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid," Ruby says, "you might have even been a failure the first day we met…" her bright silver eyes follow him as he slips further down the door and lets out another sad groan, so she hurries on. "But you can't be one now, you know why?"
"Uh, because-"
"Because it's not just about you anymore." Ruby interrupts him, leaning over and pointing a finger at him. "You've got a team now Jaune, we both do, and if we fail then we'll just be dragging them down with us. We have to put our teammates first… and ourselves second." She says proudly, standing up again. "Your team deserves a great leader, and I think that can be you. Have a good night, Jaune." With that she walks back across the corridor and steps back inside her dorm, quietly closing the door behind her, leaving Jaune to ponder her words.
"She's surprisingly good at those pep talks isn't she." Theodore's voice startles Jaune for the second time in as many minutes. He turns his head to see Theodore stood at the end of the corridor. He smiles at Jaune as he walks towards him and offers him a hand up from the floor, which Jaune takes. Surtur peers down at him form Theodore's shoulders, stretching around them in an almost territorial way. "And I couldn't have said it better myself. Goodnight Jaune."
With that, he leaves just as suddenly as he appeared. Jaune watches him walk down the corridor and enter his dorm, he hears a distant greeting from inside. Jaune takes a breath. He turns back to his own dorm about to step inside when his scroll pings. Taking it out, he sees a message from Cardin.
"Hey, it's your buddy Cardin. I know you're busy with that dust project I gave you, but I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of rapier wasps. And make sure they have some really big stingers." The bully's voice comes from the device. "Don't screw this up." The message ends and Jaune grunts in fear then sighs, taking a last look at his dorm door; he wants to ignore Cardin and fix things with his team. Instead, he begrudgingly puts his scroll away and heads for the exit.
The next day comes quickly, bringing with it the Forever Fall Forest field trip. The journey there is mainly uneventful; the presence of Miss Goodwitch tends to keep most students in line, whether they're in a combat class or not. Theodore notices that something is still off about Jaune even after what Ruby said to him, and that he chose not to sit with his team for the flight, instead cowering next to Cardin, holding a large box that seems to move of its own volition every so often.
'What are you doing Jaune?' He wonders as they come into land. The jolt as they touch down wakes Surtur, who had been sleeping peacefully on his shoulder. 'Another thing to add to the list.' His gaze shifts from Jaune to Surtur, who stretches his wings and turns to face him. Theodore smiles at him before turning to Eliza. "Ever been to Forever Fall before?" He asks.
"No, but all the rumours say it's incredible. What's your expert opinion?" She asks, cocking an eyebrow at him. Everyone moves towards the bullhead doors, she stands up to join them, but Theodore stops her, holding her at the back of the crush. "Uhm, what was that for?" She whines.
"You asked for my expert opinion, it's to wait, so the experience isn't ruined by being stuck in a crowd of students who have just been on a two-hour flight." He smiles wryly when she pouts. They wait until the other students have filed off the bullhead and are lined up for a headcount before stepping outside. "I also think that the rumours don't do it real justice," he says as they step out. Turning briefly, he's satisfied with the wonder on Eliza's face.
Before them lies one entrance to the Forever Fall forest, in all its glory. The entire spectrum of red can be found in the canopy of leaves that hangs overhead, intertwined between the rich brown branches that entwine down into the trunks and the earth beneath. The forest floor is covered by fallen leaves and petals, creating a river of red that spans from as far as the eye can see to where they landed, halted only by the lighter dirt of the clearing they stand in. But even here, small sprouts of red grass and flowers are dotted around their feet as they slowly fall in with the rest of the group.
"This is… wow." Eliza finally says, slowly spinning around to take it all in. She hears the click of a camera and turns to see Theodore with his scroll out. "I thought Velvet was the photo buff?" She smiles, drawing her partner's attention away from his inspection of the image on the screen.
"She is, but I dabble." Theodore says, showing her the photo. It's of the bullhead, framed by the forest behind it, streaks of sunlight peek over the top of the hull and create a small bloom on the lens. Oddly, the modern vehicle doesn't look out of place, nor do the landing pads nestled in the small vegetation of the clearing.
Eliza ponders for a moment. "Nice, now come on let's go." She smiles excitedly, dragging him with her as she follows the group down a wide path through the trees. They don't get very far before people are stopping to marvel at the leaves continuously fluttering down around them in a cascade of Wine, Vermillion, Burgundy, and Crimson. Eliza spies Surtur gliding through them, flying back and forth, nipping at a petal or leaf every now and again.
"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sightsee," Miss Goodwitch informs them, prompting them to follow her when she starts walking again. "Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from trees deep inside the forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." They trek further into the forest, Miss Goodwitch looking back over her shoulder at the students, her gaze lingering on her son for a moment.
The group stops at another small clearing, this one punctuated by a decrepit arch that stands in its centre, moss and roots crawling throughout the ancient cracked stone. "Each of you needs to collect one jar of red sap, however, I remind you that this forest is full of Grimm, so stick close to your teammates." She looks meaningfully at each student. "We'll rendezvous back here at four O'clock." She watches the students take a jar from their leaders before heading off.
Jaune tries to sneak away but Cardin grabs his shoulder. "Come on Buddy, let's go." He sneers, grinning evilly at Jaune.
Jaune looks at his team, his eyes lock with Pyrrha's, who has been waiting for him to choose. She closes her eyes as her shoulders sag, tearing her gaze away from him with a sigh and turning sadly to follow Ren and Nora into the trees. Jaune sighs and looks away as well, allowing Cardin to pull him away with team CRDL.
"And I'm not allowed to bury him out here because…?" Eliza asks Theodore as they follow RWBY and JNPR after also watching Jaune being pulled away by his bully. She empathises with Pyrrha but wishes Jaune would break his hapless hero mindset; maybe then he'd be able to see clearly.
"Because it would ruin the tranquil beauty," Theodore replies somewhat ruefully, looking at JNPR. "That and you'd be my mother's prime suspect." he adds, a small smirk brightening up his face. Eliza clicks her teeth and bobs her head from side to side, as if debating the pros and cons. After a few minutes, the group stops in a small cluster of trees.
Ruby is at the head of the group. "This looks good," she declares. She wanders around looking for a tree to tap. Picking one a few seconds later she takes out her tap and jar, ready to collect the sap, but something drops on her head. She brushes it off and looks up, stepping back from the tree slightly, she sees a large gash cut into it. "Huh, my tree's broken," she says, catching the others' attention.
They congregate around the tree, curious as to what could have caused the gash. Eliza steps up to the front of the group and scales the tree with ease to inspect the broken bark. She scans the surrounding area after a second or two, the other's watching her curiously, parting slightly as Theodore steps beneath his partner.
"Beowulf?" He asks, watching Eliza pull off some of the bark and run her fingers over it.
"No, there are claw marks, but they're not wide enough to be a Beowulf," Eliza responds, looking at the long scrapes in the tree's flesh. "It's too high up as well; plus, this bark was taken off slowly." She looks back down at the group, pointing to the collection of darker dirt around the tree base that they now see is bark. "You can see the pile."
"So, there's a Grimm out here that hates trees?" Yang asks with a raised brow.
"It was probably and Ursa," Eliza says, dropping from the tree to land in front of Theodore. She scans the surrounding area as she dusts off her thighs. "They like to sharpen their claws on trees," she clarifies for those that may not get it, then she spots something in the dirt and strides over. The group follows, stopping when Eliza squats down. "Tracks."
"Are we safe here?" Ren asks, peering at the forest around them.
"Probably, look at the indents." Eliza points at the large paw prints by her feet. "They're deep and widely spread, an Ursa was chasing something, but these tracks are over a day old, that gash in the tree is even older." She picks up some loose dirt before gesturing back to the tree. "Those Grimm are long gone, so we should be fine. But I'd keep your eyes peeled, just in case." She smirks, brushing off her hands and turning back to them.
"Great, I don't need to find a new tree." Ruby says gleefully, gaining a collective chuckle from the others.
They quickly set about collecting the sap, most finding their own tree, but Ren and Nora and Theodore and Eliza sharing in pairs. They soon realise that collecting the sap won't be a quick task, it oozes from the tree's incredibly slowly, layering itself inside the jars like honey. Knowing it isn't poisonous, Nora tries it and immediately drinks the full Jar Ren has handed to her in the few seconds it takes him to turn back to the tree. He scowls lightly as she giggles, sap covering her mouth. Blake holds her jar under the tap with one hand and an open book in the other, comfortable with the slow passage of time.
'I suppose that's on way to stave off the boredom.' Theodore muses, glancing over at Blake before returning to his stroking of Surtur, now back on his shoulder. 'Or is this meant to teach us the benefit of patience?' He wonders, seriously considering whether Ozpin might do such a thing. His thoughts are interrupted by Weiss strutting over to him.
"Ahem, Theodore, could… could you help me collect my sap?" She fumbles slightly over the words, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. "I've tried, but it just won't come out, and those two have been no help." She gestures to Yang and Ruby desperately trying to get sap from Weiss's tree. Theodore cocks an eyebrow at their ineptitude before looking back at Weiss. "Please?" She begs, brushing some loose hair behind her ear.
Theodore looks back to Eliza; she gives him a smile and a thumbs up. "Of course, though I'm no tree surgeon." He chuckles. Weiss smiles happily, but quickly composes herself. "Check on Jaune, would you." He asks Surtur, knowing Weiss still isn't wholly comfortable around him, and also because he's somewhat concerned about his friend's recent behaviour.
Surtur glares at him, not wanting to move from his comfortable perch, but he doesn't get a choice as Theodore is taken away by Weiss. He looks at his friend and Weiss for a second before puffing some smoke out of his nostrils, rolling his eyes and reluctantly flapping off in search of Jaune.
"Uhm, Cardin, what are we doing?" Jaune asks nervously, lying beside the bully on a ridge overlooking his friends, watching them collect sap. He sees a dark scowl on Cardin's face, his blue eyes narrowed as he focuses on one particular figure.
"Payback," he spits.
Jaune follows his gaze. "Pyrrha and Eliza?" He asks, seeing Pyrrha squat down to tap another tree as Eliza leans next to her, absently flipping a full jar in her hand. They appear to be talking. His heart skips a beat when Eliza flicks her eyes up to the ridge, she seems to scan it for a second before returning her eyes to Pyrrha. "What are you-"
"Red-haired know it all's, think they're so smart, so much better than me. Now, where's Goodwitch's brat…" Cardin snarls, looking around and smiling when he finds Theodore next to Weiss. "Ok boys, last night old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps, and now, we're gonna put em to work." He slides the box closer for his team to see; it shakes and buzzes as the wasps try to escape.
Jaune gulps as Russel claps a hand on his shoulder, eliciting a nervous laugh from him. "Now, according to that essay you wrote for me last week," he tells Jaune, "these nasty things love sweet things, and I'm thinking it's time we teach those losers a thing or two." Cardin says, looking from the box to the teams below. Pyrrha lifts up her second jar, checking the contents while Theodore steps back from the tap he has just successfully put in the tree for Weiss. Eliza is still flipping her jar. "And you're gonna do it," he adds, pulling Jaune to his feet.
"Do what?" Jaune asks.
"Hit her with the sap," Cardin orders. "You can get the brat next." He roughly pushes a sap jar into Jaune's hands. "Unless you want me to have a chat with Miss Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." He grins, poking Jaune in the shoulder as he looks down at the jar of sap in his hands. Cardin takes a step back and places his hands on his hips expectantly.
Jaune looks down at Pyrrha, the jar held above his head, ready to throw. He grips it tightly; his mind racing, he can't decide what to do. Seconds go by as he watches Pyrrha and Eliza, flicking to Theodore for a second before his focus becomes centred on Pyrrha. His heart beats quickly as she stops inspecting the sap and turns to Eliza, her hair swishes as she smiles at the other girl, her bright green eyes are the happiest he's seen them in days.
He grits his teeth. "No." He lowers his arm.
"Excuse me?" Cardin scoffs angrily.
"I said, NO!" Jaune shouts, whirls around and hurls the jar at Cardin. It cracks against his chest, the pieces fall to the ground. For a moment Jaune's confidence soars, but it plummets once again when he looks at Cardin and sees him smile. Cardin looks down at the sap on his chest for a second before laughing, that scares Jaune all the more.
"Oh, you've done it now." Cardin's grin is that of a devil as he marches toward Jaune…
Hello again, first of the Forever Falls two-parter! As always, thank you for reading, all comments, reviews, and criticism is greatly appreciated. Have a nice day!