Seeing Red

Chapter 7

"Hey guys, I've gotta run out for a few hours," Jaune said to the rest of his team.

"Now?" Pyrrha asked, looking up from her book with surprise. "It's almost five at night on a Saturday."

"I know, but one of my older sisters is in town and wants to go to dinner," Jaune hurriedly explained. "I shouldn't be more than a few hours, at most."

For a moment, he wasn't sure if they'd actually buy his flimsy excuse, but eventually, they all nodded in understanding.

"Have fun," Ren told him.

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief, then stepped out of the dorm room and began making his way to the Forever Fall, pausing only to retrieve his weapon from his locker.

It was dark by the time he saw her, standing in a clearing at the edge of the water. She was staring out into it, waiting for him, and when he finally showed up, she turned towards him, a scowl crossing her face. Jaune's relief at seeing her again soon disappeared, and he let out a sigh of disappointment.

"What'd I do wrong?" he asked.

"You're late," she said bluntly.

"How am I late? It's only a few minutes after seven."

"A few minutes could be the difference between a battle won and a battle lost," she reminded him. "If I were under attack, and you were my reinforcements, I would have died and my death would have been at your hands because you were late. Do not let it happen again."

Jaune wanted to argue, but ultimately held himself back. He knew why she was doing this – she was trying to teach him valuable lessons early on so he'd develop better habits as a leader. Whether that was because she actually cared about him or because she was simply falling back on old habits, he had no idea, but he very much suspected it was the latter.

"Draw your sword and take up a stance," Eve commanded. Jaune did as she told him, standing there just like she'd taught him all that time ago. She looked him over for a moment, the nodded approvingly. "You've been practicing."

"You can tell?" Jaune asked, surprised.

"I can. Your stance looks much more natural now – less forced or strained than it did before. There are still some minor corrections I could make, but it isn't bad, I suppose."

"That's a relief," Jaune said. "I was expecting you to-"

He hadn't even finished his sentence when Eve's sword went directly for his throat. Jaune gave a startled yell, raising his shield just in time to prevent her blade from biting into his Aura. The sword bounced off harmlessly, and he was quick to lash out with a clumsy retaliatory strike, though Eve was fast enough to move out of the way before it could connect.

"What was that for?!" Jaune demanded. "If I didn't have my shield and my Aura, that could have killed me!"

"It would have killed you," Eve corrected. "But it didn't, because you did exactly what you were supposed to do, like I expected you would."

"Still, that's-"

"We are here to spar," Eve said firmly. "I will not hold back on you, because an enemy in the field certainly would not."

'So this is all about training the same way you fight?"

"Precisely," Eve said with a nod.

Jaune let out a tired sigh. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

Eve gave him a small smirk in response, and his heart just plummeted.

A while later, Jaune collapsed to one knee, leaning against his sword for support. He was panting heavily, dripping with sweat, and covered in bruises. His Aura had long since broken, but Eve hadn't relented, and had instead switched to striking him with the flat of her blade rather than the edge. Part of him was tempted to taunt her for holding herself back, but he swallowed the words as fast as they'd risen up in his throat.

The last thing he needed to do was convince her he needed yet another asskicking.

Eve stood over him, staring down with a scowl. After a moment, she sighed, then sheathed her sword.

"That's enough for tonight," she stated.

"Had your fun…?" Jaune managed to gasp out.

"Indeed. Did you learn something?"

He had, in fact – as the night had gone on, he'd felt himself getting better and better. He'd even managed to land a few strikes on her towards the end, though admittedly that was probably more to do with the fact that she was still recovering from her bullet wounds than it had anything to do with his skill. But still, it was something to be proud of for him. It was a far cry from actually defeating her, or even coming close, but he could tell that he'd made a lot of progress just in this one night.

Jaune struggled to his feet, rocking unsteadily as he did so. With shaking hands, he sheathed his own sword, then turned back towards her, only to find that she was already walking away. His brow furrowed.

"Wait," he called, stopping her in her tracks. "Do you really need to leave so soon?"

"I need to get back," she said.

"You can't even spare a few minutes? I mean, you seem like you need it. It must be hard, only being able to speak freely over our scrolls."

Eve hesitated, but then turned back towards him. "...Very well."

She motioned for him to follow her, and he did so, the two of them ending up on the edge of the riverbank. They both sat down in the open clearing just above the water, with the light from the shattered moon landing directly on them. Neither said anything for a bit, before Eve abruptly broke the silence.

"I'm surprised you came."

"Are you?" Jaune asked, confused. "Why? I told you I'd come."

"I know, but… not many people would agree to something like this. I pulled you away from your team to spar with you, which is a fancy way of saying I did it to beat you up."

"Hey, I'll have you know that I learned a lot tonight," Jaune told her. "And besides, I enjoy seeing you again. It's good to know that you're still out there, especially after how we met."

Eve fell silent for a bit before letting out a sigh. "We really shouldn't be meeting like this. If your friends or my friends found out about it-"

"My friends wouldn't care," Jaune insisted. "And I don't care what your friends think. For that matter, neither should you, it sounds like. They already don't respect you, from what I can tell; why should it matter what they think about anything?"

"Because, despite their personal feelings about me, we are still on the same side," Eve retorted. "And I do not wish to alienate the people who may have to save my life one day."

Jaune wanted to argue. He wanted to make a statement about whether she needed to reconsider her priorities in life, and get out from whatever situation she'd gotten herself stuck in. But he didn't – Eve, for better or for worse, was as bullheaded as they came, and he knew she wouldn't accept anything he had to say with regards to her situation.

At least, not yet.

Jaune hesitated, then said, "...Whatever the case, I hope one day you manage to find whatever peace you're looking for, Eve."

Eve nodded. "And you? What is it you're fighting for, Jaune?"

Jaune didn't even need to think about his answer. "I want to be a hero, Eve. I want to help people, and fight evil. Maybe that's childish, but-"

"It's noble," she begrudgingly admitted. "But you need to realize something, Jaune."

"What is it?"

"As evil as the Grimm are, the true evil are the people you'll be fighting. Ultimately, the Grimm are little more than mindless drones, driven by their own base instincts to destroy us. Can they really be blamed for simply following what their true nature demands of them?" She shook her head. "But the people out there, the ones who victimize and murder other people… they choose to to do that. There's nothing in their nature that forces them down that path; nobody is truly born evil. There's always a reason, and a choice to be made. But don't think for a moment that you can rationalize with them."

"That's… cynical," Jaune offered.

Eve shrugged. "It's true. You will see the darkest side of humanity you possibly can while working in this job, Jaune. You need to be prepared for that, because it's coming – maybe not any time soon, but one day, it'll be here."

Jaune's brow furrowed. "...I suppose you're right," he agreed. "Thanks for the warning."

"Hm. Just make sure you heed it – I'd hate to learn that you saw more than you could take and eventually broke. Seen that happen to too many people."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be; they did it to themselves, in the end." Eve looked up at the moon, frowning when she saw its position in the sky. "I must be leaving now, Jaune."

"I understand," he said, as they both raise to their feet. "Do me a favor, though."

"Yes?"

"Call more often," he said. "Doesn't need to be friendly or anything; you can even just vent, if that's what you need. But whatever it is, I'd appreciate it if you could check in more."

"Getting sentimental?"

"Just want to make sure my hard work at patching you up isn't going to go to waste."

"I suppose that's agreeable enough," Eve said. "But in return, I require something from you."

"Of course you do," Jaune replied. "So, what is it?"

"Take this seriously," Eve implored. "Beacon, I mean. You have been given an opportunity as a barely-trained civilian that most do not get, even combat school graduates. You need to be taking full advantage of it while you can. Four years may seem like a lot of time, but it really isn't; it will pass by in a flash. And after that, you'll be out in the field, fighting for your life. So promise me that you won't rest on your laurels, and that you'll do everything in your power to keep yourself alive."

"Of course I will, Eve," Jaune said, somewhat taken aback.

"You seem uncertain."

"Oh, it's just… that was a strong statement, coming from you. I didn't think you cared that much."

Eve was silent for a moment before speaking again. "...Good people are hard to find; good humans, even more so. It would be a shame if one of the few I've encountered went and got himself killed so easily."

Again, Jaune blinked, surprised. "...Good? You really think I'm-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Eve suddenly turned and walked off. He watched her go, a small sigh escaping him.

"Figures…" he muttered, though he couldn't hide the faint smirk that crossed his face even as he began the walk back to campus.

"You're late," Ren observed as Jaune stepped into the room. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, man," Jaune replied. "Going great, even. Dinner was excellent."

"Go somewhere fancy?" Nora asked.

"Nah, just pizza. My family can't exactly afford anything fancy; comes with having eight kids." Jaune flopped down onto his bed, a content sigh escaping him. He was still sore, aching, and bruised from his sparring session with Eve, but that was all under his clothes, thankfully, so nobody would know what he'd been up to.

"Don't get too comfortable," Pyrrha warned. "We've got a study group with Team RWBY in a few minutes."

Jaune frowned. After his night with Eve, the last thing he wanted was to study. But her words echoed in his mind, about not wasting the chance he'd been given, and so he bit his tongue, instead sitting up in bed.

"That's fine by me," he forced himself to say. "I've got some stuff I need to catch up on, anyway. What are we going over?"

"The basics," Ren reported. "History, Grimm Studies, and I think Ruby wanted to go over leadership tactics and theories with you."

"Sounds great," Jaune said. "Shall we head over?"

"Sure," Pyrrha replied, a smile crossing her face. Jaune stood up and began to gather his books and notes, but as he did so, her grin faded. "Hey, Jaune?"

"Yes?"

"Why are your jeans covered in grass stains?"

Jaune immediately paused, his eyes going wide. His teammates were staring at him, suddenly confused, and he hesitated, searching for an answer. Thankfully, he found one before long.

"Oh, we went walking in the park after dinner," he said. "I slipped and fell down a small hill. I know, I know – pretty clumsy of me, I'll admit. But it was nothing serious, just a little fall. My clothes took the worst of it, really."

Pyrrha relaxed, and Jaune breathed a tiny sigh of relief when he saw they'd all bought his tall tale.

"Just as long as you're okay," Pyrrha emphasized.

"I'm fine, thanks," Jaune said. "I'll be more careful. Let's go, then – we don't want to keep Team RWBY waiting."

"Alright, so remind me again why we're in the library on a Saturday night?" Yang asked. "Because, no offense to any present company, but there are about a million other things I'd rather be doing right now."

"It's just a way to get ahead of our studies and catch up on anything we might need to catch up on," Weiss emphasized as she opened her book.

"Uh-huh," Yang deadpanned. "And I take it, you suggested this?"

"Ruby agreed with me. Right, Ruby?"

"Y-yup," Ruby managed to get out, giving the rest of her team a nervous smile. "I thought it'd be a good idea, you know? Plus, Weiss made a pretty compelling argument…"

Across the table, Jaune watched as Team RWBY talked among themselves. Something didn't seem right about what was going on between all of them, at least to him, but the others didn't seem too concerned about it.

"So where should we start?" Jaune asked, interrupting their conversation.

"I'm so glad you asked," Weiss replied. "I think we should begin with history-"

"Hold on, Ice Queen," Yang interrupted. "Ruby is the leader, so she should get to decide."

"Yang, it's quite alright-" Ruby began, only for Weiss to cut her off.

"She agrees with me. Right, Ruby?"

Ruby hesitated, biting her lip. "Actually… I kinda wanted to discuss Grimm Studies first? I figure that'll be the easiest to get out of the way…"

"But that doesn't make much sense," Weiss pointed out. "We should start with the hardest stuff first, just to be done with it."

"I'm inclined to agree with Ruby," Blake said, looking up from her own textbook. "If we take care of the small things now, it'll make it easier to focus our efforts on the big things, too."

"Sounds like you've been outvoted, Weiss," Yang pointed out.

"Hmph." Weiss crossed her arms. "I wasn't aware this was a democracy."

"Girls," Jaune cut in. "Why don't we all just pick something and go from there? I don't think there's really a wrong answer here. It all needs to get done, and we're wasting time by just sitting here and arguing about what to do first instead of just picking one and working through it."

"He's got a point…" Yang said begrudgingly. "Alright, Jaune. What do you feel like?"

"How about this?" Jaune asked, picking up a book on Dust chemistry. "I don't know about all of you, but Dust is still a complete mystery to me."

"Well, your weapon doesn't use Dust," Pyrrha offered. "So that's probably why."

"Right, but it's still something I'll need to know about," Jaune replied. "So, everyone cool with that? I imagine it'll be more of a review for some of you who use a lot of Dust or something, but I'd wager I'm not the only one who could use a refresher."

"He's not wrong…" Yang admitted. "Alright, we'll start with that."

"Cool." Jaune opened the textbook and began to read. "Okay, so what are the main applications of Dust in a combat environment?"

"Ammunition, fuel for weapons, and improvised explosives," Nora rattled off. "Often, the same Dust mixture can be used for all of those, provided the mixture is scaled up or down properly, you just need to be aware of the ingredients."

Jaune blinked, looking to her in surprise. "Wow, that's… actually spot-on, Nora. Consider me impressed."

"Eh, I've spent years messing with the stuff," Nora said, waving him off. "Comes with the territory of making your own grenades. Do you have any idea how much time it took to not only create a high-explosive mixture I liked, but also turn it pink? It wasn't easy."

"Why am I not surprised…?" Weiss muttered. "Anyway, Ruby, you'd know a lot about this, wouldn't you?"

"Y-yes!" Ruby said excitedly. "I load my own ammo. Like Nora said, it took quite a bit of time to figure out the load data I liked. Personally, I'm partial to a 700-grain bullet with a Fire Dust charge of 214.9 grains behind it. Pretty exact, I know, but the effect on target tends to be quite devastating. I don't really like to mess too much with elemental effects in my bullets, either – it tends to destabilize the round as it travels, which makes long-distance sniping a lot harder and more unreliable. I do like to use Gravity Dust bullets to enhance my melee attacks, but-"

"Alright, sis," Yang cut in. "Sorry to interrupt, but you're doing the thing again."

Ruby blinked, a faint blush crossing her face. "Ah… sorry; weapons and terminal ballistics are kinda my thing…"

"It's fine, let's just focus on the next part," Weiss said dismissively. "So, what was the first type of Dust to be successfully weaponized?"

"Fire Dust," Pyrrha answered. "Which makes sense, because it's naturally very stable and quite versatile compared to the other forms of Dust – makes it much easier to control and harness its capabilities."

"Correct. And the second?"

"Lightning Dust," Ren replied. "And if I remember right, it was discovered by complete accident, too."

"Also correct." Weiss looked over to Jaune. "You're taking notes on all this, right?"

"Way ahead of you," Jaune answered, holding up his paper to show her. "Trust me, I'm not about to let any of this slip by me."

Weiss nodded in approval. "At least someone understands the importance of all this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yang asked.

"Simply that one of us is being responsible."

"Alright, you know what? Screw this," Yang declared. She suddenly stood up and began to walk off.

"Ah! Y-Yang!" Ruby called after her.

"Don't even try it, Rubes. I'm done for the night."

Weiss and Blake stared at each other for a second before they, too, stood up and walked off. Ruby could only despondently watch them go before letting out a tired sigh.

"Sorry, guys…" she softly said to Jaune and his team. "I just… I guess tonight's just a bad night."

"Ruby, is everything okay?" Pyrrha asked, concerned.

"Fine!" Ruby hurriedly said. "Yup, everything's just… just peachy."

Jaune couldn't help but frown. "Ruby-"

He didn't get a chance to say anything more to her before she sped off, however. Jaune blinked as rose petals fluttered in the air around them, then let out a tired sigh.

"What was that about?" Nora questioned.

"I don't know, Nora."

"Can you talk to her?" Pyrrha requested.

"I can try, Pyrrha, but I can only help her if she wants me to. I can't exactly twist her arm and force her to open up to me, no matter how much I'd like to."

"Perhaps we should bring this up to the headmaster?" Ren asked. "Their team is clearly not getting along."

Jaune rose to his feet. "I'll do it," he offered. "Hopefully, Ozpin has a recommendation that can help."

Hey, guys. Back at it again with a bit more for this one. Been a while, I know, but if you've been keeping an eye on my other stuff, you know what I'm talking about already. I'll keep it brief in case you're already familiar, but if not: I'm still debating whether or not I want to continue with fan fiction in general. That's probably coming out of nowhere for some of you, I'm sure, but believe me when I say I've had time to think about it already. I still need some more time to make up my mind, though – I don't want to make a rash decision in the heat of the moment. So I'm giving myself to either the end of October or until I'm out of updates for everything before deciding what I want to do. I suspects the updates I've stockpiled are probably going to take longer to post than October, especially since I probably won't be able to post anything next week (which, by the way, isn't due to anything bad – I've got old friends coming into town so I'll be spending time with them, which I'm super excited for).

Essentially, I've realized two things: The first is that as I get older, my time is becoming increasingly valuable and scarcer. The second is that I really enjoy writing original stories more than fanfics right now, which I hope will eventually lead to a career as a full-time author. I understand that's going to take some time to come to fruition, but believe me, I won't be quitting my day job any time soon, and I will not give up on that dream.

And so, I find myself at an impasse. I love you guys, you've all been good to me and I don't want to leave you all hanging. But at the same time, I need to consider where I want this path to take me, and what I need to do to get there. Do I really want to be a published author, to the point where my time becomes so limited that I won't be able to write fanfics anymore? I suspect yes, but I'm taking time to think on it since that's a huge decision.

Obviously, if I do decide to pursue writing originals more, I'd post a summarized ending of each of my stories that are currently updating, just to give you all some closure. And, of course, I'd drop a line to where anybody who wants to can contact me – maybe an original website of my own, or something like a Discord server. I'm still thinking about that.

Anyway, I said I was going to keep this brief and I apparently lied through my teeth, so I'll go ahead and end things here for now. Hope you all have an excellent day, and I'll see you all next time.