The task at hand was fairly simple, at least according to Professor Peach. Just gather sap, one full jar for each team member. However, she did warn that various hostile creatures were attracted to the sap, that it likely wasn't a good idea for any student to get sap on themselves less they want to become a target for such creatures.
Team RWBY was surprisingly having an easier time, Team CFVY had also decided to accompany them because really they just wanted a reason to be outside of class, and if it included helping Team RWBY out then it couldn't have been that bad of a choice.
The group upon getting off the airship and starting into the forest were halted by Glynda Goodwitch. "Students, remember you're her for tree sap. Not sightseeing. Once you've successfully gathered enough sap to fill your jars, you're to report back here so that I may log your jar for Professor Peach to know you've finished."
With that everyone broke off into the forest. There were plenty of trees to choose from, though they definitely had to make sure to pick the ones with enough sap as they weren't the first group to venture out today on this trip.
Ruby was having trouble trying to reach a hole in the tree where sap was starting to come out. "Need some help?" Coco asked, lowering her shades a little.
"Y-Yeah that'd be appreciated." Ruby smiled before Coco lifted her up by the waist slightly, letting her collect the sap for her jar, filling it up half way.
"You know, Ruby. As fun as it has been with you four, we're not gonna be around for you guys forever. I mean, it's been what? a week? You guys have been progressing very slowly." she shook her head.
"Y-Yeah well Yang and I get along fine." Ruby chuckled.
"True... But that's to be expected when you got a sibling on your team. Although the same isn't true for every sibling." Coco stated. "I would know, having two brothers... Heh... But Toma and Mate are just a couple of trouble makers." she then looked off towards Blake. "What about Blake?"
"What about her? She doesn't wanna talk. I can't make her talk unless she wants to." Ruby frowned. "I mean she's fine with me, but I feel like she thinks of me just as naive kid. I mean sure my dreams are pretty lofty, but I mean I don't think they're too far out there..." she then turned her attention to Weiss.
"Oh and I know the deal with you and Weiss." Coco stated.
"Y-Yeah..." Ruby looked down. "But, Weiss has agreed to at least let me take charge of certain tasks as leader for the time being. I think that trip to Ozpin's office really shook her and made her realize that maybe Professor Ozpin didn't make the wrong choice with me as the leader... Although I still feel don't feel too good on the whole... 'leadering' thing..." Ruby stated with air quotes before she spotted a lower source of sap.
"It takes time." Coco followed her.
Blake had just finished filling her jar when she spotted something... It was a rock in the distance. Something about it seemed familiar to her. She walked over to it and looked at it... Something was flashing through her head. Memories? This wasn't far from a cliff was it? she put a hand to the rock when suddenly a camera flash lit up behind her and she turned around only to see Velvet with a camera in hand, having taken a photo of her.
"Oh, right I should probably ask." Velvet looked down as Blake picked her jar back up and walked over.
"It's fine." she shook her head. "What's the picture for anyway?"
"It's something Coco doesn't really want me to share much about. It does have to do with my box though." she smiled and put her camera away.
Yang smirked and threw a punch out at one of the trees before her, the sap spilling out and right into her jar, filling it up right away.
"Such a brash way of doing things..." Yatsuhashi commented.
"Well, it got the job done, didn't it?" Yang smirked, closing the jar up as she then looked to Yatsuhashi shaking her fist off from the punch.
"Yes, but look at what you did to that poor tree." he remarked watching the sap continually ooze from the hole Yang had punched, like a dripping wound.
"It'll heal it up, won't it?" Yang asked.
"It might, in time. But at the same time, it may not recover." Yatsuhashi put his hand to the tree and closed his eyes.
Yang just seemed a little perplexed. "You do know that, even if it was in pain it can't really express it to us..."
"I... I know. But even then it is a living thing and therefore it is hurt."
Yang just rolled her eyes and walked over. "I'm sorry Mister tree." she pat it's side before walking off, picking her jar up off the ground. Yatsuhashi just shook his head before following after her.
Weiss with her rapier out paced around a tree till she saw the correct spot to strike and with a careful cut that almost seemed like an incision, removed the bark and then collected more sap. She would have to do this with a few more trees as Fox was merely just following behind her.
"You know, there's a much simpler way to do this." he chuckled.
"Oh? And what's the blind man going to tell me now?" Weiss asked, a hint of sassiness in her tone as it was clear she was starting to get used to her conversations with Fox by now.
"Well, this blind man was going to tell you that the trees with the bark that feels a lot looser like say..." he walked over and put his hand to a tree. "This one. Will give you a little more sap for what you're looking for. I thought as a Schnee you'd have the sense for this sort of thing."
"Well, I'm not really too invested on the business side of the family company." Weiss admitted as she would move to the tree Fox directed her to and make another incision.
Cardin leaned back on a tree stump as his other teammates were loitering around waiting. "What's taking him so long?" Russel asked in annoyance.
"Just give him a minute before I tell him to hurry it-" before Cardin could finish his sentence, Jaune had come forward with several jars of Tree sap in his hands almost spilling out if Dove hadn't moved to grab a couple to prevent him from dropping them.
"Attaboy Jaune." Cardin smiled as he took the jars for his team and then ordered them up.
"I think i'm allergic to this stuff..." Jaune groaned as he held his stomach before Cardin shoved 2 of the extra Jars he had gotten into Jaune's hands.
"Now you're probably wondering why I asked you to get those two extra jars..." Cardin began.
"Yes, that is one of the many questions I had today Cardin." Jaune responded with a hint of annoyance in his tone as Cardin then dragged him along.
"Well, if you'd look over there, you'd see it... Her..." Cardin grit his teeth in anger. "Pyrrha Nikos. 'The Invincible Girl' as people see her as. She's so full of herself. Thinking she can tell me off in class. Both her and that Blake girl. But now... We're gonna teach her a lesson." Cardin stated as he pulled Jaune to his feet again, picking a jar up and handing it to him.
"Now, I had you gather the two boxes of Rapier wasps for me for a reason. According to one of the papers I had you write for me they're apparently attracted to the sap from here So we coat Pyrrha and Blake in that and watch a fun show." he explained.
"And you're gonna start with Pyrrha." Cardin explained, with Jaune looking at the jar in his hand.
"..." he looked down at the jar in his hand and back to Pyrrha... The words from his conversation with Ruby the previous week ringing out in his head.
"What are you waiting for, Arc? I'll go to Goodwitch and have you expelled from Beacon if you don't do as I'm telling you right now!" he grabbed Jaune by the collar before letting go of him.
He bit his lip, dropping the jar to the ground. "No."
"What did you just say?" Cardin glared.
"I SAID NO!" Jaune kicked the Jar and hit managed to hit Cardin square in the chest, shattering it and covering his armor in the tree sap.
"Oh... Big mistake..." his eyes narrowed as Russel and Sky grabbed his arms and Cardin punched him in the gut with enough force to make him cough before pulling him further into the forest.
"Forging papers to get into Beacon... Not only will telling that information to Professor Goodwitch get you expelled. But it'll also land you in jail for fraud." he then opened a jar of the tree sap and poured it over Jaune's head.
"Oh, but before we tell Goodwitch... Let's see how you like those rapier wasps-"
Before he could open the box stomping was heard from the distance and having smelled the sap was a Badger Bear, it let out a mighty roar as Cardin turned to face it with his weapon in hand. However right as he was about to attack it, a shadow loomed over it and a set of glowing red eyes along with a strange pattern between them were the only part of this figure Cardin could make out before it knocked the Badger Bear aside, scaring it off into the forest as a fully matured Ursa Major stood before the five now.
Dove immediately fired off shots from his sword at it, the shots merely bouncing off it's armor harmlessly as it let out a roar that could be heard from quite a distance away.
"Jaune..." Pyrrha dropped her jar, just as Nora had finished drinking the sap from her jar yet again.
Cardin grit his teeth and swung his mace at the Ursa Major, activating it's explosive fire dust. However, this attack seemed to do no more than annoy it as it then swiped at Cardin, knocking the weapon out of his hand and send him flying back several feet as the rest of his teammates immediately Ran, Dove again firing off more useless shots at the beast.
"We'll get help!" Russel assured while Cardin looked to his teammates before then glancing over back at Jaune.
The Ursa major appeared to sniff the sap, which Jaune was covered in far more of, yet it was still moving for Cardin.
It made another swipe at Cardin as he was trying to stand himself up, hitting him and knocking him into a rock before continuing towards it's prey.
Cardin was barely able to come to his senses when it made it's next attack on him, only for that attack to be blocked.
Jaune had drawn out his weapon and was barely holding the beast back. "W-What're you sitting there for?!" Jaune glared at Cardin. "MOVE!"
Cardin without a word moved out of the way just as Jaune was knocked back several feet, the Ursa major roaring at him before turning it's attention back at Cardin who it still seemed more fixated on.
"URSA! URSA!" Russel called out while running, before running right into Yang who headbutted him and held him up by his collar.
"Where?" Yang asked.
"I-It's back that way!" Russel explained. "It's got Cardin! O-Oh and Jaune too!"
Yang dropped him as he continued to run back towards where Professor Goodwitch was. Blake, Yatsuhashi, Coco and Fox all looked at each other.
"Blake and I can go make sure they get Professor Goodwitch. You guys just go on ahead!" Coco directed as Blake nodded in agreement the two running off.
Cardin was scrambling to pick up his weapon after it had been knocked out of his hand again while Jaune shouted at the Ursa major, still being ignored till he threw a rock right at it's head, causing it to turn around and snarl.
"C'mon you big stupid bear! Attack me!" he threw yet another stone that harmlessly bounced off it's armor.
That was when a red blur came right into the scene and fired off a shot at the Ursa Major, the shot strong enough to make it stagger back, but unfortunately not strong enough to make a dent in it's armor. "You stay back from him!" Ruby yelled as she transformed her scythe, attempting to slash at the Ursa, only for her scythe to hit it's shoulder blade and it to look rather annoyed with her before standing up, it's height was enough to pick her up off the ground as well before it then lashed out with it's closest arm, sending her flying back several feet onto her back.
"Ruby!" Jaune called out as the Ursa Major now was focusing on her before Jaune grit his teeth and closed his eyes. "I'm always so damn useless..." he admitted. "I just want to be the damn hero for once, but I'm even a failure at it when I try!" tears were streaming down his face now as the Ursa suddenly turned it's attention towards him.
That was when it hit him... This Grimm wasn't attracted to the sap at all... Negativity. Professor Port's lecture in class.
Jaune then stood his ground as the Ursa Major ran towards him and raised a claw up, that was till Jaune slashed at it, cutting it right at the joint where it's arm connected to it's shoulder. The beast wailing out in pain now as it now was solely focused on Jaune who then, moving around it slashed at the back of it's leg, making it yell out in more pain before it spun around and hit him, knocking him several feet onto his back, but he stood right back up.
It was at this moment Pyrrha, Weiss, Fox and Yang came up to this scene, Yang helping Ruby up off the ground.
Weiss and Fox were just about ready to go, that was till Pyrrha halted them. "Wait."
Jaune cut at another joint along the Ursa's body, black mist gushing from the cut as the boy then checked his aura level upon being knocked back again. It was below 10% now, he had to end it with this next attack. He knew exactly where he needed to aim as he then ran at the Ursa major, swinging his sword towards it's neck, however he hadn't raised his shield to block.
Pyrrha smiled and raised her own hand up, Jaune's shield suddenly moving itself to block the Ursa Major's claw and with one swift movement his sword sliced through the Ursa major's neck, causing it to stumble before collapsing on it's side, fading away into mist as Jaune was catching his breath now, sheathing his sword.
"What just happened?" Ruby asked.
"I gave him a little help." Pyrrha stated.
"How?" Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"Weiss, you have your glyphs, Ruby has her speed... My semblance is polarity."
"Whoa... You can control poles..." Ruby remarked.
"No, you dunce, it means she can control magnetic metals!" Weiss corrected.
"Magnets are cool too..." Ruby noted as they watched this scene from a distance.
"Well we should tell him, shouldn't we?" Yang asked.
"Hmm... I don't think that'd be the best idea." Pyrrha remarked. "I don't really broadcast my semblance out for people to know, just so you know." she stated, everyone noting that. "Though my friends can know. But we'll keep this incident as a little secret between us, as I don't want to ruin this..."
Cardin peered out from behind the rock, seeing Jaune standing over a mist cloud as he then stumbled over, holding his side before falling over.
Jaune then offered a hand to Cardin, helping him stand up and pulling his arm over his shoulder. "Jaune, I... I had no idea-" Cardin was cut off.
"After today, I never want to speak to you or your team again, and don't even think about messing with my friends again either." he stated as Cardin looked down, in shame now just as Professor Goodwitch with the other students came over to the scene.
Cardin had notably confessed what he was trying to do and accepted the punishment him and his team would be given as a result of his actions, especially after they had put a lot of people in danger.
Later that Night, Jaune sent out a text message to Pyrrha, asking her to meet him on the roof.
She was surprised to see him in his combat attire, holding his sword and shield in hand. "Pyrrha, I'm sorry I-" she took hold of his sword hand.
"There's no need to apologize Jaune... I saw how Cardin had you wrapped under his thumb." she looked down.
"But, I'm done with him now." Jaune stated. "A-And I've been thinking about your offer. Would you, please train me?" he asked. "Please?"
Pyrrha let go of his hand and started to walk away with him looking down, thinking that she had rejected his offer when suddenly he was shoved over by Pyrrha.
"You need to hold a firmer stance with your legs spaced out a little more. Let me show you." she instructed as she then took his sword and shield from his hands and posed in a stance. "Try to do this."
Jaune just smiled as he got up, taking his sword and shield back and attempting to mimic her pose.
"No, further apart!" she called out, coaching him now.
This was going to be a long night... But, maybe this wouldn't be too bad, after all the neglect he had given his team over those past weeks with Cardin. He certainly had some making up to do with this, and his own skill as a fighter.
Commentary: Forever Fall time! Except here it isn't used exclusively to further Jaune's arc. Instead RWBY gets some more moments with CFVY. Which Jaune does still have his big moment here so rest easy with that i suppose. Also the Grimm here is again shown to not be a pushover. At least not the heavily armored ones as that Ursa knocked Ruby aside with ease and shrugged off Cardin's strongest attack. Now that Jaune's arc is done we can progress things a little more, so look forward to that! We are going to meet some new students as well...
