Hey guys, Chapter 10

'How come Jaune gets home so late?' Nora asked, bouncing on the bed. Pyrrha sighed, staring out the window.

'He's become rather scarce ever since he's been fraternizing with Cardin.' Ren noted, cleaning his guns, and Nora cocked her head to the side.

'That's weird. Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow?' She pondered, spinning head over heels and splaying herself out on her mattress. 'We need our rest!'

'I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing.' Pyrrha muttered, glaring out the window. Ren and Nora glanced at each other, unsure of what to say.

'Hmm, I guess so…' The orange-haired girl said skeptically.

Outside the room, Jaune peeked through the door, watching his three team members. Sighing, he closed it with a gentle click. He couldn't bring himself to walk into the room. Sighing, he released the doorknob.

'Hey Jaune!' He turned around, startled, as a cheery and familiar voice rang out behind him. Ruby stood behind him in her pajamas, smiling cheerfully.

'Long time no see!' She mused, studying the boy. 'Did you lock yourself out again?'

'Oh, uuh, nope! Got it!' He laughed nervously, holding up his scroll. Ruby looked at him, and Jaune got the feeling she was seeing right through him.

'So…where have you been lately?' She questioned, and Jaune turned away.

'I uh…' He hung his head, sighing. 'I messed up.'

Ruby was slightly stunned at the easy admission, and took a step forward. Jaune swung his arms helplessly.

'I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin's got me on a leash and Pyrrha won't even talk to me and-…I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea.' He blurted, staring desperately at the dark-haired girl, and hung his head. He slid down the door, staring at his lap. 'I'm a failure.'

Ruby pondered what he said for a moment.

'Nope!' She replied cheerily, and Jaune glanced up at her.

'Nope?' He asked, and Ruby shook her head.

'Nope!' She repeated, walking towards him. 'You're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure.'

'But, what if I'm a failure at being a leader?' He asked, and the dark haired girl sat down beside him.

'Mmmm...nope!' She repeated again, and Jaune laughed weakly.

'You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff.' He mused, and Ruby laughed.

'Nope!' She replied again, thrusting her head towards him with a huge grin on her face. Jaune grinned back widely, and Ruby turned to face the wall.

'Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid, you might have even been a failure the first day we met!' Jaune sunk lower with every word, confidence crushed, and Ruby took a deep breath.

'But you can't be one now. You know why?' She asked, and the blond looked at her quietly. 'Because it's not just about you anymore!'

She waved an admonishing finger in his face. 'You've got a team now Jaune, we both do. And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us! We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second.'

Ruby got to her feet, hands on her hips, looking down at him. 'Your team deserves a great leader Jaune, and I think that can be you.'

Ruby turned away, pushing the door to her room open.

'Have a good night Jaune.' She said, slipping inside, shutting the door behind her, She turned to look at the shadowy corner beside her.

'Was that good enough?' She asked the shadows, and blinked as Jaye seemed to materialize out of nowhere, stepping quietly out from the shadowed corner.

'Yeah, that was fine.' He told her, and she smiled at him, walking back to her bed.

'Cool! Because that was terrifying to do. I hope he doesn't take things too harshly, considering I'm, you know, a few years younger than him.' She admitted, slipping under the covers, and Jaye shook his head.

'I don't think so. At least I hope he won't. Still, thanks for helping me with this. I needed another leader to talk to him, and you're the only one I'm on speaking terms with.' He walked over to his bed, chucking his scroll beside his pillow. Ruby observed him with a small smile.

'You know, the first impression we all got from you was that you didn't care about anything else, especially not anyone else. I never thought you'd be trying to help Jaune like this.' Jaye glared at the raven-haired girl, and she giggled, rolling over.

'What's that supposed to mean?' He questioned, pausing, and Ruby giggled again.

'Nothing~ ' She sang quietly, and Jaye narrowed his eyes at her. Smiling under her sheets, Ruby clutched her pillow close to her chest.

'Goodnight Jaye!' she called, and laughed at Jaye's grunt in response. Jaye, who was standing by the window, gazed out at the moon.

The Next Day

'Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall IS indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sight-see.' Professor Goodwitch informed the students as they strolled through the forest, and Jaye had to admit, it was extremely beautiful. The forest, as the name suggested, was in a state of permanent Fall. As he watched, red leaves rained down onto the ground around him, like a gentle red rain, and he was captivated by the sight. It was a tumult of maroon, and as he watched, he saw leaves grow at a rapid pace on the branches, falling off the moment they matured.

There wasn't a clear patch anywhere around him, and he swept away at a spot with his foot. He realized there was an immensely thick underbrush of fallen leaves under him, and as he dug down a bit further, realized that at the bottom, leaves were being swallowed up by the soil rapidly, just fast enough to prevent too large a pileup of leaves, but slow enough to allow the falling leaves to blanket the area in a beautiful red. He marveled at the wondrous system the forest had created, and silently prayed that no one would disturb its natural beauty. His thoughts were disrupted by Professor Goodwitch.

'Now, Professor Peaches has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so.' She said, halting rather abruptly. Jaune, who was holding a crate filled with glass containers, collided with Cardin, earning a glare from the boy. Jaune looked away, grinning nervously.

'Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap.' The blond professor continued, raising a jar of sap for reference. 'However, this forest is full of creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!'

Cardin, grinning, turned to Jaune, grabbing him by the hood. 'C'mon buddy! Let's go.'

Jaye watched as the blond boy was dragged off by Cardin, and he shook his head in disbelief. Yang, noticing his gaze, patted him on the shoulder.

'Something wrong?' She asked, and Jaye watched the Jaune disappear between the trees.

'No, it's nothing.' He said, turning to follow his team, and Yang looked at him skeptically. Jaye paused as Ruby appeared in front of him. His leader looked him in the eye, studying him.

'Go, we'll take care of this for you.' She told him, swiping the jar out of his hand. Jaye looked at Ruby for a moment. Yang looked back and forth between the two, utterly confused.

'Thanks. I owe you one.' Jaye said shortly, darting off between the trees, and Ruby smiled after him. Yang grabbed her sister by the shoulders.

'Are you two hiding something from me? That hurts sis.' The blonde pouted, and Ruby laughed, patting her on the shoulder.

'C'mon, I'll tell you on the way.' She said, and the two jogged after Blake and Weiss.

Between The Trees

Jaye, slipped between tree trunks, searching quietly. He scaled a tree to get a better look, before hearing a clinking sound from just a little away. He saw a flash of sunlight, like it had glinted on something, and looked closer. He realized the glint was coming from Cardin's armor, and he quietly hopped between trees, closing in on them.

'Hey! Great work Jauney Boy!' He heard Cardin call, and saw Jaune collapsed on the ground, lying between several jars of sap.

'Ugh…I think I'm allergic to this stuff.' Jaune moaned, and Cardin got up from where he was splayed out against a tree.

'Great, great, great. So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, why'd my buddy Cardin ask me to gather SIX jars of sap when there's only FIVE of us?' Cardin continued, a malicious grin spreading across his face. Jaune' still on the floor, looked up at him suspiciously.

'That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes.' He admitted, pulling himself to his feet.

'Well…come with me and you'll find out.' Cardin grinned even wider, and the four members of team CRDL pushed their way through a clump of bushes, Jaune lagging slightly behind. Sliding down from the tree he was perched in, Jaye followed them quietly, keeping himself hidden between bushes. He watched as the five boys approached a small rise, keeping out of sight of someone.

Scaling another tree, Jaye glanced over the ridge, and swore. On the other side of the ridge, the other members of Teams RRWBY and JNPR were busy collecting sap. Thanks to that, they didn't notice the five boys on the small rise behind them. He saw Nora quietly drinking tree sap from Ren's filled jar, and chuckled quietly as Ren glared at her.

'Cardin? What's going on?' Jaune asked hesitantly, and Cardin continued staring at the group. Following his gaze, Jaye realized Cardin was staring not at the group, but rather, at a certain redhead amongst them.

'Payback.' The armored boy announced, and Jaune glanced at the group.

'Pyrrha?!' He murmured in realization. Cardin slapped his fist into the ground.

'That's the girl. Red-haired, know it all, thinks she's so smart.' Cardin muttered, glaring in her direction. He pulled forward a box he'd been carrying.

'Alright boys, last night ol' Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of rapier wasps. And now, we're gonna put em to work.' He declared, and Russel threw an arm over Jaune's shoulders, shaking him in anticipation.

'Now, according to one of the essays he wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets. I'm thinking it's time we taught her a thing or two.' Cardin's grip tightened over the box, and Jaune gulped nervously. Cardin got to his feet, giving the box to Russel, yanking Jaune up with him.

'And you're gonna do it.' He told the blond, shoving a jar of sap into his hands. Jaune stared at the jar blankly.

'Do what?' He asked, and Cardin rolled his eyes.

'Hit her with the sap! Either that, or I have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon.' Cardin smirked triumphantly, jabbing Jaune on the chest.

Jaye, meanwhile in the tree, pulled his shield off his back. Hitting another button on it, he transferred the shield to his right hand. The handle of the shield rotated, changing into a pistol grip, and the blades at the sides of the shield retracted. A shoulder stock flipped down from the back, and a scope rose out of the top. The underside of the shield opened slightly, extending a small forehand grip, and a barrel extended from the front. The sides of the shield opened, a small rail-slide extending from the right side, and the butt of a box magazine extending from the left. Jaye brought the shield, now a high-caliber dust/aura based sniper rifle, up to his eye, and took aim.

'What's taking it so long?!' Jaye thought to himself, cocking the rifle.

He contemplated shooting a hole in the box in Russel's hands and setting the wasps free, but that wouldn't do much good if Jaune threw that jar. He set his crosshairs on the jar of sap in the boy's hand and prepared to fire, but he hesitated. Through the scope it was easy to tell; the boy's hand was trembling. His finger paused on the trigger.

'No.' Jaune muttered, lowering his hand. Jaye heaved a sigh of relief, taking his finger off the trigger. Cardin glared at him, balling his hands into fists.

'What did you say?' He started towards the blond, and Jaune whirled on him.

'I said, NO!' He repeated, hurling the jar of sap at Cardin. It shattered against his armor, the sap splattering over his chest. Cardin stared at it for a moment in disbelief, before returning his attention to Jaune.

'Oh-ho-ho…You've done it now.' He gestured to his teammates, and two of them stepped forward, grabbing Jaune by the shoulders. They dragged him over, dumping him at Cardin's feet. The bully grabbed him by the collar, picking him off his feet.

'You're going to regret that, Jauney Boy.'

That's the end of this, thanks for reading guys! Also, if you're following this story, do favourite, review, follow etc. Those are the things that give me an indication that people are reading and enjoying my stories! So if you really like it, that's how I'm gonna know!