I don't own RWBY.

A thanks given to Katana of the Blade for the episode script.


Stavros kept his eyes on the vision showing wall as the image began to appear. He was very curious as to how the clear issues between his daughter and her team leader would play out.

The scene opened to a view of the Beacon Academy student dorms, where Pyrrha looked out the window sadly as Ren loaded StormFlower and Nora was jumping on her bed in the room for Team JNPR.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asked.

"He's become rather scarce since he started fraternizing with Cardin." Ren pointed out.

Summer frowned at that comment, seeing that the blackmail from Cardin was having a very noticeable effect on the team.

"That's weird... Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our REST!" Nora proclaimed while twirling in midair so her back hit the covers.

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Pyrrha said angrily.

At that comment, Summer winced. She knew from experience that having your partner be angry at you tended to end badly.

"Oh, she is not happy." Qrow commented, clearly sharing her thoughts.

Nora and Ren exchanged glances, not knowing that Jaune himself was looking in through the crack of the door. "Mmmm... I guess so."Nora said.

Jaune hung his head and closed the door, just as a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby greeted. Startled, Jaune turned around to see her in her pajamas. She giggled at his reaction. "Long time, no see! Did you lock yourself out again?" She asked.

Amelia, choosing to focus on what she could understand to comment on, groaned at the young Rose's question, "How do you lock yourself out enough times for that to be an immediate question?"

Based on the group of hunters looking towards the male twin in their group, clearly it isn't as uncommon as she thought.

"Oh, uh, nope!" Jaune said, raising his Scroll, attempting to laugh. "Got it!" He assured her.

"So! Where have you been lately?" Ruby asked.

"I, uh..." Jaune tried to come up with something, but just sighed and lowered his head. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and..." He explained, stopping to breathe heavily through his nose. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He said as he pressed his back to his team's door and slid down to the floor in depression. "I'm a failure." He said.

It said something about how bored even Raven had gotten of her own commentary that she didn't take the very obvious shot.

"Nope!" Ruby said simply.

STRQ immediately turned their gaze towards their leader.

"Are we sure she isn't just your clone?" Tai says, "Because that sounds very familiar."

Summer just pouted in response, she had used that exact same tone before on her team so she couldn't say anything against it.

"'Nope?'" Jaune asked, looking at her in surprise.

"Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure." Ruby explained.

"But... what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" Jaune asked.

Ruby thought about it for a moment, then gave her answer. "Nope!" She said once more.

Taiyang grinned, "Quite the stubborn kid isn't she."

Ozpin chuckles at the blonde huntsman, "Not unlike her mother."

The laughter caused by the comment went completely ignored by the white-cloaked Rose, who simply smiled at the image of her daughter.

Jaune laughed as she joined him on the floor. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff." He told her.

"Nope!" She confirmed as Jaune leaned into the door some more. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..." She said, to which Jaune groaned and sank lower to the ground. "... and you might've even been a failure the first day we met!" She said as he groaned and went lower still.

Raven stared with an almost dead expression on her face, "She is just as stubborn as her mother, but she has even less tact."

"Well, she is younger than her." Tai spoke in the girl's defense.

As the hunters talked and ribbed their blushing leader for her daughter's familiar actions, across the room Amelia was torn between being extremely worried for her son, of being indignant on his behalf.

"But, you can't be one now. You know why?" She asked.

"Uhhh, because...?" Jaune started, unsure of where this was going.

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." She explained as she gets up and placed her hands on her hips as she spoke. "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you." She continued as she walked over to her door and opened it as Jaune, now slightly inspired by her words, watched her wave. "Have a good night, Jaune!" She said as she went inside.

Amelia could see both Ozpin and Ghira nodding their heads in agreement.

"A leader can't afford to flounder at important moments," the faunus said, "the are allowed to make mistakes, however."

The headmaster nodded his agreement to Ghiras words. "No one can be the perfect leader, and truthfully they shouldn't aim to be."

With new energy, Jaune pushed himself off the ground and faced the door, ready to turn the knob and face his team, but his scroll beeped and he pulled it off of his side to open it, seeing Cardin's contact relaying a message.

"Hey! It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps." Cardin explained over the scroll as Jaune made a terrified sound in response. "And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!" He warned.

Jaune closed his scroll just when it began to beep again. Sighing, he wearily headed down the hallway and away from his room.

Amelia's anger at her son being used by a lazy bully, quickly faded into fear. "Rapier wasps! Those bugs are horribly vicious! Why would anyone want a bag of them?!"

"Likely," growled out an angry looking Goodwitch, "as some form of payback for his injured pride."

The ugly looks from Cardins order to Jaune magnified at this point, especially from the hunters. Someone with that mentality would just be a risk on the battlefield.


An overhead shot of a forest bustling with red leaves and gray trunks was seen as the camera descended and showed Glynda leading teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL through the area.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach 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." Glynda explained to the group.

The group stopped and Jaune, grunting and carrying a large case with six empty glass jars on top, tried to catch up with them and ended up bumping into Cardin. The bully scowled at Jaune, who attempted to feign innocence by whistling tunelessly.

"Okay even I think that's not fair", Raven spoke up, "He is literally carrying all of the stuff for CRDL and trying not to drop it, the armored bully does not get to be angry for an accidental nudge."

"Wow," Taiyang spoke up in response, "You normally don't care about the schoolyard stuff at all."

Raven rolled her eyes at the blonde, "There is a difference between not caring and acknowledging common sense. I would like to think I'm at least decent with that second one."

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" Glynda finished instructing her group, holding up a full jar of their objective.

While Yang and her sister smiled at one another, Jaune attempted to (noisily) sneak away from Cardin to his team, but the blackmailer saw this and grabbed Jaune by the back.

"Come on, buddy - let's go!" Cardin said, dragging Jaune along with him.

Jaune miserably looked up at his team, where Nora and Ren were already walking into the forest's depths and Pyrrha was staring sadly at the scene. Dropping his gaze, Jaune turned and followed CRDL, to the disappointment of a sighing Pyrrha before she continued on.

"It looks like Pyrrha has just given up at this point."

Summer's comment caused a few frowns from the people who cared about the ongoing drama.

"Well," Qrow spoke up, "Considering their last conversation we saw was him telling her to leave him alone, she probably has given up over the probably weeks in between these visions."

Amelia's face had not stopped being a frown since they entered the forest, and the (probably correct) comments from the hunters just made her frown deeper.


Team CRDL was making themselves as comfortable as possible by leaning on stones, trees and the ground while Jaune returned to the group with six full jars, setting them down just as he collapsed face-down. The surrounding team got up in response.

"Hey, great work, Jaune-y boy! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin asked.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." Jaune groaned, still on the ground, cross-eyed and sounding dizzy.

"Greeeeat, great, great. So, Jaune, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'" Cardin wondered.

"That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune confirmed, nodding, still exhausted.

"Presumably some of the other questions have been; 'Why am i still doing this?' 'Why is it so hard to carry these things.' and 'Why do I feel so dizzy?'"

Qrows attempt to insert levity was appreciated by a few people, but didn't help the very stressed blonde on the other side of the room.

"Well, come with me, and you'll find out." Cardin said as Jaune sat up.

Jaune moaned and gulped in worry.


Now perched on a hilltop overlooking the other students, team CRDL - plus Jaune, squeezed between Cardin and Russel Thrush - peaked their heads over the crest and watched as everyone was retrieving their samples of sap. Ren, kneeling to collect it from a tree, passed a full jar to Nora, who "Mmmm!"d at the gift as Ren traded it for the other jar in her care. He turned back to the tree and started filling it up while several licking sounds are heard off-screen until the camera panned back to Nora, now with an embarrassed smile covered in red and an empty jar in her hands.

Goodwitch sighed, "That girl is not going to be feeling well later in the day if she has that little self control."

This sight and comment broke Amelia from her frowning with a flinch. The memories of her current children learning their lesson of too much sugar wasn't something she would ever forget.

"Cardin, wh-what's going on?" Jaune asked, turning to his left.

Cardin was still staring at the unsuspecting group sharply. "Payback." He growled.

Jaune widened his eyes in understanding. "Pyrrha...?" He asked as he watched her gather more sap from a tree. "Wh-what are you-?" He asked.

Cardin pounded his fist on the ground. "That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys..." He started, pulling out a buzzing cardboard box with a large "W" written on its sides. "Last night, old Jaune here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put him to work." He explained.

Stavros growled, "How did that boy think that being a protector was a good job for him?"

Ozpin sighed, "As much as people believe that Hunters are there to protect them, Many wish to become Hunters mainly so they can commit violence against acceptable targets, or because of the mystique surrounding the job. I do not doubt that mister Winchester is one of those people."

This fact did not lessen Stavros' anger against the young man, but it did at least give him some perspective.

Russel grabbed Jaune by the shoulder, who barely laughed in nervousness.

"Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets." Cardin elaborated as Pyrrha was seen finishing her sap collection. "I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two." He said. The members of CRDL got up. Cardin offered his hand to Jaune, only to painfully yank him up on his feet and shoved the jar into his grasp. "And you're gonna do it." He told Jaune.

"Do what?" Jaune asked.

"Hit her with the sap!" Cardin ordered, leaning in close to Jaune's face. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon." He threatened.

"That boy is foolish," Goodwitch said ,frowning, "Considering that Ozpin likely knows about the transcripts, all this would do is get him in trouble for both blackmail and attempting to severely injure another student."

Ozpin nodded, "Even if mister Arc had slipped past me, my priority would have been mister Winchester's actions first. Either way it would not have been good for him."

Jaune looked down at the jar of sap in his hands and then up at the four grinning teammates waiting to see what happens. Jaune turned towards the group and aimed his throw at an oblivious and smiling Pyrrha, trying to steel his nerves and shaking hand to do the deed, but ultimately steeled himself for what he's about to do.

"No." Jaune refused.

"What did you say?" Cardin demanded.

Jaune gripped the jar tightly. "I said... NO!" He snapped as he turned and threw the jar at Cardin, instantly recoiling his hands to himself as he looked at Cardin's breastplate, covered in sap. The other team leader, however, just looked at himself and laughed darkly.

"Oh, you've done it now..." Cardin said evilly.

Jaune humorously laughed to himself once more with his hands still raised in an attempt for defense as Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark grabbed Jaune's shoulders and pulled him in so his terrified eyes can fill the screen before it went dark.

Stavros smiled, "That boy is quite brave to stand up to his tormenters like that, though doing that sooner would have been good."

Next to the red-haired man, Amelia was torn between being proud of her son for standing up for himself, and terrified for him, since the bullies were likely not going to like that exact fact.


Jaune was pushed to the ground of Forever Fall right after the events of the "Forever Fall", groaning as he looked up and saw a sap-covered Cardin looming over him. The bigger warrior picked Jaune up by his front and grinned while punching him back to the ground.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jaune-y boy." He said darkly as he picked up a bruised Jaune again while the rest of Team CRDL watched. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny tiny pieces." He said.

"I don't care what you do to me..." Jaune started, head hanging back, before he looked at Cardin with fury. "... but you are not messing with my team." He warned.

"Well," Qrow speaks up, "Gotta give the kid props for showing a spine where it counts."

Tai grimaces, "Developing it a bit sooner probably would have been better though."

Summer glanced at her male teammates for a moment before turning her eyes to the nervous blonde civilian in the room, this vision was going to give the poor woman a heart attack.

Cardin looked momentarily shocked, before glaring once more. "What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?" He demanded.

Jaune smiled in defiance. An enraged Cardin roared and raised his fist again, but just as the hit connected, a bright light shined from Jaune.

When the white fades from the screen, Cardin was crying out in pain as he held his hand. Jaune, now back on the ground but completely healed, looked confusedly at his hands as they faintly glowed white. While he stared, though, Sky Lark kicked Jaune in the back and got him on his stomach, but he looked up and glared at the approaching Cardin.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are..." Cardin said.

Just as he said this, a low growl was heard and a surprised Team CRDL turned around and saw a large paw crash onto the scene, belonging to a huge Ursa Major with dozens of jagged spikes sticking out from its wide back.

Amelia's eyes fly wide open, as she gasps and pales in fear.

The civilians not directly connected to the issue all react in some way as well, though the most noticeable is Stavros startling in his seat. Partially because of the Grimm, partially because the woman next to him had turned ghostly pale.

"Well," Qrow comments into the silence, "That's unfortunate."

It leapt forward and stood over the terrified students, lifting its head in the air to smell the sap on Cardin's breastplate.

It landed back on its forelegs and roared at Cardin while his teammates heroically flee.

"That's a big Ursa!" Russel cried out.

"If you get that scared of an Ursa Major," Raven sneered, "Then you really are not cut out for this job."

"Cut them some slack Raven," Summer said, glaring at her partner, "They're first year trainees, we didn't start to encounter stuff like this regularly until halfway through our second year."

Raven grumbled at her leader but at least quieted down about her complaints.

Summer sighed, she sometimes forgot that Raven's perception of danger was very skewed towards things that were far beyond reasonable.

Cardin was rooted to the spot when the Grimm swung its claws and knocked him sideways, revealing Jaune cowering behind him. The Ursa continued to sniff, uninterested in Jaune and following its nose to Cardin. He watched at it towered over Cardin, who got his wits and pulled out his mace weapon only for the monster to swipe it away to Jaune's feet. He looked conflicted, wondering whether to fight or run away.


Meanwhile, the roar of the giant Ursa was heard by the members of Teams RWBY and JNPR, still collecting sap on the other side of the forest.

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked, getting up, concerned.

Suddenly, the remaining members of Team CRDL were seen running the other way from the roar through the other students.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel screamed, looking back until he ran into Yang accidentally.

"What?!" Yang asked, completely unfazed by his collision as she picked him up by the front of his shirt. "Where?" She demanded.

"Back there! It's got Cardin!" Russel explained, struggling and still running in air, but pointed back from where they came.

Goodwitch frowned, "While running for help would have been a valid decision, the fact that they knowingly left their friend to a Grimm is not a good showing on their part." The professor holds up her hand to forestall Summer, "I am aware they are first years, however the fact remains, they knowingly abandoned someone to save themselves. Even for first years that is not a good sign."

Summer leaned back into her seat, unable to counter any of the professor's points, while Ozpin nods in agreement with his employee. "Even if they had simply taken Mr. Winchester with them, it would have been a better showing than they had put up at this point in time."

"Jaune!" Pyrrha said worriedly, dropping her jar of sap.

"Yang! You and Blake, go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby ordered, going into leader mode. Dropping Russel, Yang and Blake nodded before following the order.

"You two, go with them! There could be more!" Pyrrha said to Ren and Nora as she and Ruby activated their weapons.


Cardin was attempting to run from the following Ursa, but it leapt over its prey and clawed him away. He tried to get up and crawl away. "Crap! Crap, crap!" He cried out fearfully.

"Oh, no!" Pyrrha said worriedly as she, Ruby, and Weiss came on to the scene.

They watched as the Ursa leaned over the helpless victim, raising its paw and swiping it down... only to be blocked by Jaune's shield, Crocea Mors.

Summer clapped her hands, causing others to look at her. "He's scared, but he's still protecting the other boy," she explained to the group, "If nothing else, he has the mindset of a protector."

While the room turned away from Summer and back towards the vision, Ozpin smiled into his cup. Trust one of the most kindhearted people in the room to see that nature in the boy.

He struggled to defend a stunned Cardin from its attempts to lean on him, but Weiss lifted Myrtenaster as she prepared to go help.

"Wait!" Pyrrha told Weiss.

Jaune took the shield out from the Ursa's paw and slashed at its stomach, causing it to lash out and try to crush him. He rolled out of the way and jumped over its swipe at his feet, but he was unprepared for when it launched a claw at him in mid-air. He landed far away, yet was immediately back on his feet and passing Cardin as he charged again. The Ursa knocked Jaune behind it when he tried for a leaping attack. He looked at the scroll in his shield to find out that his Aura level was in the red. He grew angry again and started to run at the Ursa as it also began to dash towards him.

As they were just about to clash in slow-motion, Pyrrha saw that Jaune had left himself completely open to the Ursa's attack and lifted her hand out to him, gathering dark red energy in her arm. Just as the Ursa was about to hit him, the glow surrounded Jaune's shield and made it lift up to block the swipe.

"Well," Raven spoke, "That's interesting."

Summer nods in agreement with her partner, "That semblance seems very useful, especially against other people."

Amelia, recovering from her near panic attack, doesn't hear the hunters conversation, instead feeling immense relief that her child is okay.

Jaune used the surprise defensive move to lean on the ground, push his shield back up and swing his blade right through the Ursa's neck. The head fell to the ground as the body slammed onto the ground.

"Uhhh... What?" Ruby asked as Pyrrha's hand stopped glowing and she smiled.

"How did you...?" Weiss started, equally amazed.

"Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity." Pyrrha explained.

"Whoa, you can control poles..." Ruby said in awe.

Summer, feeling immense secondhand embarrassment, pulled her hood over her head.

Her teammates, on the other hand, burst out laughing.

"Well," Qrow spoke through his snickers, "We can definitely say that little red isn't the brightest bulb of the bunch when it comes to word definitions."

Qrow thought his comment was worth the murder stare from his team leader.

"No, you dunce! It means she has control over magnetism!" Weiss corrected.

"Magnets are cool, too..." Ruby whispered, still impressed.

Only the fact that Summer may actually kill him kept Qrow from making another comment at the elder Rose's expense.

It didn't stop his, or anyone else's, laughter from returning though.

Weiss noticed Pyrrha started to leave. "Wait, where are you going?" She asked.

"Yeah! We gotta tell them what happened!" Ruby said.

"We could... Or perhaps we could keep it our little secret?" Pyrrha suggested, walking away again as Ruby and Weiss smiled to each other in understanding and a bruised Jaune sheathed his weapon before going over to Cardin.

Cardin, still covered in sap, looked up at Jaune as his savior offered a hand. Cardin smiled as he took it and was lifted back up on his feet. "Holy crap, Jaune!" Cardin said, clearly impressed.

"Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again." Jaune ordered threateningly as he stared Cardin dead in the eye. "Got it?" He demanded.

Cardin looked intimidated, possibly even apologetic. With his order spoken, Jaune turned and walked away from a frozen Cardin.

"Well," Goodwitch spoke up, "Hopefully the boy has learned something from this near-death experience."

"We can hope," Ozpin sighs, "But if I have learned anything over my years as an educator, it's that sometimes people simply do not learn."

Across the room, Amelia let out the breath she had been holding for the past minute in relief.


Later that night, on top of the dorm building, a uniformed Jaune stood on the edge and looked into the distance at the green lights of Beacon.

"No Cardin tonight?" Pyrrha asked off-screen, before she walked to his side. "I thought you two were best buds?" She questioned.

Jaune turned to her. "Pyrrha... I'm sorry. I was a jerk! You were only trying to be nice, and... I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head-" He explained.

"Jaune! It's okay!" Pyrrha assured him as they smiled at one another. "Your team really misses their leader, you know." She added as she began to walk to the exit. "You should come down! Ren made pancakes! No syrup, though - you can thank Nora for that!" She said.

Amelia, finally free from the stress of the episode, spoke up, "Well, according to my children, if there's no syrup, then they aren't pancakes."

Stavros, picking up on the woman's relaxation, responded. "My wife says the same thing."

Jaune smiled, but held out his hand. "Wait!" He called out as Pyrrha turned around, Jaune now looking sheepish. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but... would you still be willing to help me... to help me become a better fighter?" He asked.

Pyrrha turned around so a worried Jaune wouldn't see her satisfied smile. She went up to Jaune and suddenly pushed her leader to the ground.

"Hey!" Jaune whined.

Stavros snickered, "Oh that girl is going to milk every ounce of enjoyment out of this that she can."

Others clearly agreed with him if the laughter meant anything.

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." Pyrrha explained with an evaluating tone as she stood over him with her arms on her hips. She offered him her hand, which he graciously accepted and they continued to hold onto and grinned at each other. "Let's try that again." She said.

The camera moved above the two and on the night sky over the school before the scene cut to black.

"Well that was fun!" Summer exclaimed, "But I kind of hope that we can some stuff other than school drama soon."

Raven sighed, leaning her head back, "I agree with Summer, can we see something other than teenager problems? We've lived through the majority of it we don't need a refresher."

"While the blackmail wasn't cool, and probably not considered traditional 'school drama'," Tai spoke up, "I also agree with those two."

"Well," Ozpin interjected, pointing at the vision beginning to come into view, "As the next one seems to be beginning, we shall soon find out."


So this one feels kinda bad, but honestly I really don't like the 'bullied Jaune' story arc, so I kinda had to trudge my way through this. I promise the next chapter of this, whenever I get it written, will be better.

Anyway, Read and Review!