Seeing Red

Chapter 8

"I must say, Mister Arc, this matter is certainly concerning," Ozpin said, leaning forward in his seat.

Jaune fidgeted in his chair across from the headmaster. He couldn't help but swallow nervously. "Y-yeah, it's just… I don't really know what to do about it, you know?"

"Yes, that is a problem. And it is one I wish I had a solution to, but unfortunately, there is little I can do unless Miss Rose or one of her teammates comes to me directly."

Jaune's heart sank into his stomach. "What do you mean, sir?"

"I mean exactly as it sounds – I cannot and will not intervene on a team's behalf simply because another team has concerns about them. To do so would be to come directly between them."

"But sir-"

Ozpin held up a hand, silencing him. "I understand you are, perhaps very rightfully, concerned about Team RWBY. But at the same time, you must try to see things from my perspective, Mister Arc – Team RWBY is not the first team to enter Beacon's halls that has had problems, nor will they be the last. They are also far from the worst instance of this. Or did you think it was truly unusual for a team to not get along?"

"Still, sir-"

"And, for that matter, if I were to get involved, while it would solve the initial problem, it would create others," Ozpin continued. "You are all here because you wish to fight the Grimm and protect humanity. If I cannot trust a team with something as simple as mediating their own differences between themselves without outside intervention, then how could I ever trust them to hold their own in the field during a life-or-death situation?" He shook his head. "So while it may not be what you wanted to hear, I do have a reason for being hands-off, Mister Arc – it is because teams need to learn how to deal with each other if they are to be successful, and if I were to come between them, it would severely handicap their development."

Jaune's face fell. "That's… I mean, I guess you have a point there, but… I just hate sitting idly by, knowing that there's a problem, but being unable to do anything about it. I've tried reaching out to Ruby, but she keeps insisting there's nothing wrong, even though I know she's having trouble, and is possibly being overwhelmed by everything. I mean, she skipped two years and got named team leader of a team that doesn't get along – that's a tall order, sir."

"I understand, but you must have faith in her abilities," Ozpin told him. "You have seven sisters, yes? I imagine that seeing Miss Rose going through such a difficult time must be hard for you."

"Yeah, it is. She reminds me of my younger sisters, obviously."

"Then perhaps you should try reaching out to Miss Rose in a less direct way."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it," Ozpin implored. "Your past attempts have all culminated in you directly confronting her, and her shutting down in the face of opposition. This obviously has not led to anything, so perhaps a different approach is needed. I wish I could offer more of a suggestion than that, but truthfully, you are the one with seven sisters, not me – if anyone in this school would know how to reach out to a young girl going through a tough time without it sounding confrontational or condescending, it would be you."

Jaune hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, I… I suppose you're right." He let out a heavy sigh, then stood up. "Thank you, sir."

"No problem, Mister Arc," Ozpin replied. "Hopefully, you found our conversation elucidating."

Jaune simply nodded as he stepped over to the elevator. The doors shut as he stepped inside, and while it began to descend, he let out another sigh.

Ozpin hadn't been wrong when he'd said that Jaune would know how to reach out to her. Ideas were already running through his mind, in fact.

He just hoped one of them would lead somewhere.

It was the next morning that Jaune put his plan into action. He'd sent a few texts back-and-forth to Ruby, and in the end, the two of them had decided on a place to meet.

"Hey, Jaune," Ruby said as she stepped into the room.

"Hey, Ruby," he greeted. "How's it going?"

"Good," she said, though he could tell it was forced. "So, I have to say… I never thought you'd be interested in something like this."

"What can I say? If I'm going to be a Huntsman, then I should probably learn how to shoot."

"True, true." Ruby set a hardshell pistol case on the counter, then pointed to the rest of the firing range. "Pick a lane, I'll get a target set up for you."

Jaune nodded, then moved over to the nearest lane. Ruby followed after him, pinning a paper target up to the cardboard backer, then sending it out to a distance of five yards. Jaune could only stare at it.

"Isn't that a little close?" he asked.

Ruby flashed him a grin. "Not if you've never fired a gun before. Trust me, I can already tell how this is going to go – all your shots will be low and to the left until I start teaching you."

"Ah. You've done this before, then?"

"Yup!" Ruby said, nodding. "I taught a few of my friends from Signal how to shoot. They were kinda like you – most of them just used melee weapons, but they all figured they'd need to learn how to shoot, too, just in case. So they asked me for pointers, and I gave them some of the very basics. You could say I'm a pretty good teacher."

"I'll put my faith in you, then," Jaune said, flashing her a smile. "Okay, how is this going to work?"

"You memorized those four safety rules I gave you earlier, right?" He nodded, and she continued. "Okay, great. Then, I guess the only thing to do is actually start putting shots on paper."

"So soon?"

"Yup! Won't learn anything until you do, after all."

She offered him the pistol case, and he tentatively took it and retrieved the gun from inside. He was careful to keep it pointed downrange, as well as ensure that it was unloaded before messing with it.

"It's lighter than I thought it'd be," he admitted, turning it over in his hands.

"It's funny, a lot of people say that at first," Ruby said with a nod. "Well, don't keep me in suspense."

She offered him a loaded magazine, and Jaune stared at it with hesitation for a second before swallowing any trepidation he had. He accepted the mag, then loaded it into the gun and racked the slide to chamber a round before taking aim.

"Shooting well is only about two fundamentals," Ruby told him. "Sight alignment and trigger control. If your sights are aligned properly and you're not slapping the trigger, then your shots should go exactly where you want them."

"Sounds easy enough," Jaune said. "So all I need to go is pull the trigger?"

"It's more of a gentle squeeze," Ruby insisted. "When you squeeze it, you'll eventually come to a wall. Keep squeezing through it and the gun will fire. When you're first starting out, you want to find the wall."

"What does that mean?"

"It means pull the trigger until you feel the wall. Trust me, you'll know it when you feel it. Basically, you're taking the slack out of the trigger first, and then once you've done that, you keep squeezing until it fires. It'll be slow at first, but you'll build speed the more you shoot. Right now, we're just trying to get you on-paper."

"Okay," Jaune said with a nod. "So I just do it like this."

He did what Ruby told him, squeezing the trigger until he felt the wall. Then he continued to squeeze it, and the gun fired. It took him by surprise, however – Jaune couldn't help but jump at the recoil and noise of it. Dismayed, he peered past the smoking barrel and down towards his target, and sure enough, his shot was low and to the left, just like Ruby had told him it would be.

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

'You flinched," Ruby reported. "Common with new shooters, or even experienced shooters trying out a bigger caliber gun for the first time. Basically, it really does come down to sight alignment and trigger control, but all that goes out the window if you flinch. Since you're shooting right-handed, flinching generally means your shots are going to go low and to the left."

"Any reason for that?"

"Yes, actually. People instinctively try to drive the gun down to counteract any recoil they may feel before the shot breaks. For a right-handed shooter, that generally means they drive the gun down and to the left. If you're left-handed, it generally means you drive it down and to the right, for the same reason. If your shot goes somewhere else aside from low-left or right where you're aiming, it's because your sights weren't aligned properly."

"You make it sound so easy…" Jaune muttered. "Okay, so how do I stop flinching?"

"Recoil control," Ruby answered. "It has to do with your grip, mainly. If your grip is bad, the gun will kick more, and you'll develop a nasty flinch. I'll walk you through all that, don't worry. We'll have you all in the X ring sooner than you can blink."

Jaune gave her a grin. "I'll hold you to that, Ruby."

About an hour later, Jaune laid the smoking gun on the table, a satisfied sigh escaping him. True to Ruby's word, she'd taken him from barely being on-paper to consistently hitting the center of the target with every shot. He was slow, of course, but she'd told him he'd develop speed the more he practiced. Jaune wasn't sure how much he'd be able to practice, but Ruby had forced him to promise her that he'd devote at least an hour of his week to getting time in at the range, and he hadn't had the heart to refuse.

She really was like one of his younger sisters.

"Well, that's all the ammo I had," Ruby said, brushing spent shell casings off the bench and onto the floor. They both removed their hearing protection, and she began to pack up her gear.

Jaune hesitated for a moment before taking a step forwards. "Hey, Ruby?"

"Hm?"

"I have to say, thanks for doing this."

"Yeah, no problem." She smiled at him. "I love teaching people how to shoot."

"I know, and you are a really good teacher… but admittedly, that wasn't my only reason for wanting to do this today?"

She cocked her head to the side, confused. Jaune let out a tired sigh. "Look… I'm a little worried about you, and your team. You all don't seem to be getting along all that well. My team and I can all see it. I don't mean that as a knock against you or anything, because you're a good friend. It's more like… if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm here for you."

Ruby hesitated. "...It's nothing I can't handle myself," she said quietly.

"Ruby-"

She shook her head. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Jaune, but this is something I think I need to do on my own. I mean, what kind of leader would I be if I couldn't even handle my own team? One of my teammates is my own sister, it'd just be embarrassing if I couldn't deal with them all."

"Well, be that as it may-"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Ruby said softly. "This is something I need to do on my own."

"Ruby-"

Ruby didn't answer him any further. Instead, she zipped up her range bag, slung it over her shoulder, and walked out.

Jaune watched her go before slumping against a nearby wall, a tired sigh escaping him.

"How did it go?" Pyrrha asked as Jaune entered the room.

"Not well," he replied without looking over to her.

Pyrrha frowned. "I'm sure you did your best."

"I certainly tried. Ruby just seems to think that this is something she needs to do on her own, for whatever reason. Nothing I can do if she won't accept my help."

"That's a shame." Pyrrha hesitated for a moment. "Say, Jaune – we were all going to try and get some extra studying and workouts in today. Would you care to join us?"

Jaune was about to respond when he felt his scroll begin to buzz against his thigh. His eyes widened, and he hurriedly shook his head.

"Sorry, I have to take this," he said, stepping out of the room. "Go on without me, I'll catch up."

Pyrrha said something after him, but he wasn't able to hear it. Instead, he kept moving, looking for a quiet place he could answer his scroll. Eventually, he found an empty study room, and ducked inside before closing the door behind him and ripping his scroll out of his pocket.

"Eve," he said. "Something that matter?"

"You could say that," she replied.

"Ah. Is it the usual?"

"It is, indeed. So easy to guess?"

"What can I say? I know how to read you."

"Or so you claim." She let out a sigh. "Things are not going well. I have been trying to work my way back into everyone's good graces, but they seem unwilling to give me the time of day. But that is neither here nor there, I guess."

Jaune was confused about what she meant for a moment, until a flash of realization passed through his mind – she would never admit to it, but she had called just to speak with him for a bit. He couldn't hold back a thin smile at that knowledge. It made sense, of course – she must have felt very lonely and isolated with the way she was being treated. Nobody was an island, after all, and if he had to be her lifeline, then so be it.

"Things aren't exactly going well here, either," he admitted. "My team's doing fine, but we have a… sister team, I guess would be the term? They're friends of ours, but they're not doing well."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Well, it's… kinda hard for me to say much," Jaune admitted. "They're all being pretty tight-lipped about the reasons behind it. Best I can tell is that there are some differences between them all, they're finding it very hard to get along because of them."

"Hm. And I take it you've tried to reach out to them?"

"I have. I've really been trying with their team leader, Ruby. She's actually a prodigy when it comes to schoolwork and fighting – she got accepted into Beacon two years early. It's just… her people skills aren't the best. She seems to think she has something to prove to someone about being a leader, because she really doesn't want my help, and keeps saying this is something she needs to do herself."

"Ridiculous," Eve snapped. "Does she not understand that, as the leader, the lives of her teammates are in her hands? If she makes a mistake, it could end with someone being killed."

"I know."

"But she doesn't. Have you brought that up to her?"

Jaune bit his lip. "I mean, I could, I'm just not sure if it'd be the best idea."

"Why not?"

"She's already stressed enough, Eve. I don't need to add to that stress by rubbing her face in something that might happen."

"Perhaps you should try exactly that," Eve told him. "She seems unwilling to accept the realities of being a team leader – that as the commander, the lives of everyone else rest in her hands. She cannot afford to make mistakes or be disliked by the rest of her team, Jaune. To do so would be condemning them. Maybe not in the immediate future, but certainly further down the road when the missions begin to get far more dangerous than they are now."

"I know, I know…" Jaune let out a tired sigh. "I just don't want to make it rough on her. Ruby's a good person, she's just a little immature."

"Then it sounds like she isn't cut out for being a team leader."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing at all, I am merely making an observation," Eve said. "From the sound of things, she needs to either accept the realities of her position or abdicate it and give it to someone else who can. If she is so reticent to accept her own responsibilities and move past her own faults, then she cannot be trusted to lead people into battle."

"She's just young," Jaune insisted. "I'm sure she's very capable."

"Truly? Because she doesn't sound capable to me." Eve's expression narrowed. "Leaders are not born, they're made, but there are some people who simply aren't fit for the role, for whatever reason. Maybe it's because they're too hesitant to make important decisions, or riddled with self-doubt, or are egomaniacs. Whatever the case, there are some people who simply should never be placed in command of others, for the good of both themselves and the people they would otherwise be in charge of."

"What are you saying?" Jaune asked. "You truly don't think she can be a team leader?"

"I'm saying she needs to figure that out for herself, and quickly," Eve pointed out. "She needs to decide if this is a position she's comfortable with staying in. And if not, then she needs to step down early and let someone else who's capable take over the role. There would be no shame in doing so, either – this would be for her own good, and for the good of the others on her team."

"I suppose you're right…" Jaune let out a sigh. "It just… bothers me, having to do this. And it feels wrong, too."

"Why would it feel wrong?"

"Because I'm the one saying it. You know exactly how I got into Beacon."

"You passed initiation, same as everyone else," Eve reminded him. "Forged transcripts or not, you've earned your place here by this point. And if what you're telling me is accurate, you at least recognize that you have been given the opportunity of a lifetime, and that you need to work hard in order to live up to the expectations placed upon you. So do not sell yourself short."

Jaune blinked, taken aback. "...Thanks," he said, a thin smile crossing his face.

"Hm. Now, I have to go. Remember what I said."

"I will. Thanks, Eve."

The line went dead, and Jaune stared at his scroll for a moment before closing and pocketing it. He turned to march out of the garden and head back to the dorms, but just as he'd left and was about back to the buildings, someone called out to him.

"Hey, Jaune-boy."

Jaune paused, then turned around, surprised. "Cardin," he said carefully. "What are you doing here?"

Cardin marched over to him, a smirk on his face, flanked by his three teammates. Jaune couldn't help but shrink back a bit – Cardin already had a reputation as a bully among the rest of the first-years. Whatever was about to happen, it wouldn't be anything good.
Still, that didn't bother Jaune too much – as far as he was concerned, this was just the first of many beatings he was going to take while in Beacon. He could take losing a fight, embarrassing as it was.

His hands clenched into fists as Cardin approached, his heart hammering in his chest. Cardin's smirk widened when he saw it.

"Relax, Jaune," Cardin said flippantly. "I just want to talk."

"What are you doing here?" Jaune repeated.

"Well, I'll admit, you weren't my first choice. Really, I was looking for a little rosebud – see if I couldn't have some fun with her."

"You leave her alone," Jaune snapped.

"Oh, believe me, after what I just heard, I fully intend to."

Cardin stepped over to Jaune, throwing a hand around his shoulders. "Let's have a talk, Jaune. Man-to-man, as it were. You know?"

"About what?"

Cardin's grin grew downright predatory as he leaned in. "Oh, you know, just a little chat about those transcripts of yours. I'm sure Ozpin and Goodwitch would be very interested to hear what your little girlfriend just mentioned over the scroll."

"She's not my-" Jaune caught himself, then gave an irritated sigh. He may have earned his way into Beacon by passing initiation, but at the same time, his transcripts weren't something he wanted coming to light, despite that. He grit his teeth, then turned back to Cardin and gave him a harsh glare.

"Fine," he spat. "What do you want?"

Cardin's only response was to laugh.

And thus is begins – the worst, most groan-inducing story arc in all of early RWBY. I know, I know, but it kinda had to be done. I swear we're not going to spend a ton of time on it, and I'm not gonna harp on it over and over. I want to get through it as much as you guys do.

Anyway, that aside, sorry for the delay on this one – I needed to get my head straight before I was able to continue with fan fiction. I've decided to take things down a notch for my fics and take things up a notch for my originals instead. I still enjoy writing fics, of course (it only took a fucking month off to realize it lol) but I enjoy writing originals more, so I want to devote more of my time to them.

I'm putting Darkbloom and Plastered Paradox on hiatus for the time being so I can focus on Auras and Alibis, Seeing Red, and Black Sun, along with my originals. Updates are going to slow down for my fics, but I'm going to keep updating those three.

But yeah, that's about the gist of it. TL;DR – Jaunedice arc incoming but I'm gonna keep it as short, sweet, and relatively painless as I can, and also I'm gonna be focusing on originals more than fics but I'm not quitting fanfics any time soon, though I'll only be focusing on Seeing Red, Auras and Alibis, and Black Sun for the time being.

I think that'll about cover it. Thank you all so much for all the support you showed me while I was going through my little month-long funk, it seriously means way more to me than I think I can properly put into words. I hope you all have a great night/day/morning and that you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all next time!

Enjoy my work and want to help me out a bit? You can support me, as well as read more of my writing, over on Amazon. My second original story is available for purchase now, you can find it by going on Amazon and searching for 'Dead World' by John Haruspex. The story is available now for three bucks in ebook format (or free with Kindle Unlimited) or twelve bucks in paperback format, if you prefer physical media. (Remove the spaces)

www . amazon Dead-World-John-Haruspex / dp /B0C2RPGXVC / ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1682982861&sr=8-2

My first original story is also still available at the following link as well:

www . amazon dp/ B0BLFL72MX