Seeing Red

Chapter 9

"Jaune, are you okay?"

Jaune looked up from his spot at the table in the library, surprised to see Pyrrha standing there. "Oh. Hey, Pyrrha. How's it going?"

"I don't know," she responded. "That's why I'm asking you. Is something the matter?"

Jaune blinked, then looked back down at the schoolwork he was doing. "Everything's fine, Pyrrha."

"Really? Because it doesn't sound like it." Pyrrha leaned over to look at what he was doing, frowning as she did so. "Isn't that the history homework we all did as a group last night? Why are you doing it again?"

"Oh, you know me – I'm very diligent with my studies," Jaune replied without looking up. "Have to be, if I want to make the most out of my time at Beacon."

"There's a difference between being diligent and giving yourself extra unneeded stress, Jaune," she pointed out. "Look, why don't you take a break? You've been in here for hours at this point. Come work out and get some food with us."

"I appreciate the offer, but I can't, sorry," Jaune said. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

Pyrrha looked like she wanted to argue, but thought better of it, instead giving a slow nod. "...If that's what you think is best."

With that, she turned and walked out of the library, leaving Jaune there alone. He turned towards the nearby wall-mounted clock as she left, scowling when he saw that it was already eight at night. He'd been in the library ever since classes had ended for the day, around four hours ago, and he still wasn't close to being done – he had to do all the homework for Cardin's entire team, then his own homework, and at the same time, change the wording enough on everything to make it look like he wasn't just blatantly copying the answers down over and over. It was slow, tedious work, especially because Cardin had already made it clear that he wouldn't accept anything less than a perfect score for his entire team.

Jaune gave an irritated sigh as he stared down at the papers in front of him. He was tempted to take a break, if only to preserve his sanity, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't afford to, not if he wanted to finish before midnight. And so, he got back to work, trying his best to power through everything without issue.

It had only been a few days since Cardin had learned about his transcripts, but already, Jaune could tell his teammates knew something was wrong. To be fair, he couldn't exactly be subtle about it with what Cardin was demanding – most of the hours in his days were now spent in the library doing extra schoolwork, or otherwise running stupid errands for Cardin and his team.

"Hey, Jaune-boy."

Speak of the devil, Jaune thought to himself as he looked up.

"Cardin," he said. "Sorry, I didn't see you there – I was busy, you see."

Cardin laughed. "Yup, I can tell." He leaned down to look at the papers scattered across the table. "How's it coming along? I don't think I have to tell you that you're late."

"Of course I'm late," Jaune snapped. "Do you have any idea how long it takes to do five sets of the same homework, all without making it look like I'm the one doing all of them? You should pray that the teachers don't recognize the same handwriting across all of these, by the way."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," Cardin said absentmindedly. "After all, you'd take the fall for that one, since we're such good friends."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because what you did isn't just against school policy, it's illegal. Or did you really think there wasn't something in place to prevent exactly this situation from happening?" Cardin shook his head. "You're not the first to lie his way into a Huntsman Academy, and you won't be the last, either. But unless you feel like paying a hefty fine or going to prison, you'll do what a good friend does and help the four of us out however you can."

"Is that what we are?" Jaune spat. "Friends?"

Cardin grinned at him. "Your teammates sure seem to think so. After all, why else would you suddenly start sitting next to us in class, rather than by them?"

"Because you're making me-"

"But they don't know that. They just see you palling around with us, like we've been buddies for years." Cardin leaned in closer. "And unless you want them, along with the whole school, to know the truth, then you'll keep up with what you're doing."

Jaune grit his teeth, but didn't argue. Something caught Cardin's eye, and he turned to reach for one of the papers scattered across the table.

"Oh, what's this?" he asked, bringing it up to read through it. "Jaune, why is your name on this paper?"

"Because that's my homework," Jaune pointed out.

"You did your own homework before helping us with ours?" Cardin shook his head. "Jaune, Jaune, Jaune… that doesn't sound like you're being a very good friend."

Jaune watched in dismay as Cardin tore the paper in two, then balled up both parts and tossed them in the nearby trash can. Once he was done, Cardin turned to look at Jaune again, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Jaune growled. "Now, are you going to sit here and waste my time, or are you going to let me get back to work? I still have Sky's to do, plus my own now."

Cardin laughed again. "Sure, sure. Okay, boys, you heard the man – let's leave him be. He's very busy, after all."

Cardin and his boys turned and left, leaving Jaune alone in the library. He watched them go, sighing as he did so.

His scroll buzzed in his pocket, and for the first time, Jaune had to ignore it.

He was too busy to speak with her right now.

Eve stared at her scroll in dismay as her call went straight to voicemail. For some reason, it had been exceedingly difficult – and now apparently impossible – to get hold of him over the past few days, ever since their call in the gardens. She wasn't sure why; Jaune had been his same self then, eager and willing to listen to anything she'd had to say. She'd been blunt with regards to her words for his friend, sure, but at the time, she'd thought she was doing the right thing.
Now, Eve couldn't help but wonder if maybe she'd gone too far. Or worse, he'd heeded her advice and it had backfired in some way, driving a rift between him and his team leader friend. A scowl crossed her face as she ran the possibilities through her mind. None of them really made any sense aside from that, which irritated her to no end.

If she'd truly alienated Jaune by giving him some bad advice, then she was going to be completely alone. And even worse, it would be her own fault.

But then again, what else was new? That was why Blake had left, after all.

"Blake…"

Eve hadn't thought about her in a while, not since returning to the White Fang. Blake's betrayal had stung, to be sure, but on a certain level, she'd also realized it was inevitable. The questions Blake had been asking over the months before finally leaving all pointed towards the fact that she'd been uncomfortable with where the White Fang was heading, but Eve hadn't seen the signs, she'd been so caught up in the cause.

"Eve."

At the sound of her commanding officer's voice, Eve turned to face him, one hand falling to the hilt of her sword. "Commander Bane," she greeted, though a small tinge of venom leaked into her tone despite her best efforts. "Do you need something?"

"Walk with me," he said gruffly.

Eve hesitated, but followed after him as he began to lead her out of the forest clearing and back towards camp.

"What is this about?" she asked as they moved through camp.

"It's occurred to me that I may not have been treating you fairly," Bane said without looking back. "And Sienna as well."

Eve paused, taken aback. "Is that so?"

"Indeed. A soldier of your caliber deserves better than what we've given you since your return. We've kept you on-ice out of fear that you were compromised in some way, but it's been a few weeks now, and we both feel as though you're ready to prove yourself to the cause once more."

The two of them stopped outside of Bane's tent. He turned and looked back at her, crossing his arms in the process.

"We're giving you a solo mission," he said. "Pass it and we'll give you more important tasks. Complete those and we'll put you in charge of a squad."

Eve blinked again. "...A solo mission? What is this?"

"It's simple – there's a prominent anti-Faunus politician that needs to be dealt with. We don't care how you do it, we just want him gone."

"You want me to eliminate somebody?"

Bane nodded. "Yes."

Eve's brow furrowed. "No offense, but this is a tall order for a single person. Generally, we'd send a squad for something like this."

"A squad would be too conspicuous. We can't afford to make too much noise or have too many eyes on us at this point, and we also can't afford to lose an entire squad if the mission goes wrong. No, the parameters are clear – this is going to be a one-person mission. And I can think of none better-equipped to handle it than you."

Bane stepped forward, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Do this successfully for us and you will be rewarded."
Eve was stunned. She'd spent the better part of the last few weeks trying to get back into the good graces of the rest of the group, waiting for an opportunity to prove herself, and now she had exactly the chance she'd been looking for the entire time. It took her no time at all to come to a decision.

"I'll do it."

And so it was, hours later, that Eve found herself on the outskirts of the politician's mansion. She cast one last glance down at her scroll, the dull blue light from the screen illuminating her in the darkness, though she didn't pay it much mind – from her spot in the bushes, nobody would be able to see her.

Her scroll contained a picture of her target, a man named Aleister Cobalt. Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at him. He was in his mid-forties, with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and the barest traces of facial hair shrouding his jawline. This picture was from a rally he'd held not too long ago – he was perched up at the podium in front of a baying crowd, gesticulating with his arms as he spoke, riling them up with whatever racist rhetoric they wanted to hear.

And tonight, he was going to die.

Eve pocketed her scroll, then moved from her spot in the bushes. She stealthily approached the gates of the mansion, then leaped over the six-foot concrete wall keeping it separated from the outside. She'd been scouting the area all day – at this point, she knew where all the blind spots for the cameras and lights were, and where the guards frequently patrolled.

Not that she was too worried – Cobalt was a low-level local politician, barely able to squeak out victory in his last election by a few hundred votes. He wasn't rich or famous enough to afford much in the way of security; a few security cameras, motion-activated lights, and lightly-armed guards were about the extent of what he was capable of bringing to the table.

Child's play for someone like her.

Getting to the rear part of the house was a simple matter. There was a guard standing watch in front of the back door; Eve sneaked up behind him, then lashed out, grabbing him and choking him out. He struggled in her grasp, but whatever training he'd had, it was nothing compared to her – she would place him at about the same level as a first-year Beacon student.

"Pathetic…" she muttered as the guard lost consciousness. Once he was out, she dragged him into the bushes and left him there, then moved back to the rear of the house. Picking the lock was easy, and soon enough, she was inside.

The interior of the house was mostly darkened – not surprising, since it was already past midnight. Aside from a few hall lights that were still on, there were no signs of life. Eve crept through the hallways, keeping one hand on her blade, just in case. She crossed paths with a few more guards, but they were as trivial to take out as the first one had been.

And soon enough, she was upstairs, standing just outside the bedroom of her target. Without skipping a beat, she kicked the door in and flicked the light switch on.

Cobalt sat bolt upright in bed, his eyes going wide when he saw her standing there in her White Fang garb. He tried to scramble away, but only succeeded in backing up against his bed's headboard.

"W-who are you?" he demanded, fear leaking into his voice. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Eve retorted, stepping into his bedroom. "You've spent your entire career spreading misery for my people, Cobalt. That's quite the debt you've racked up. Consider this us finally coming to collect."

"W-wait!" he stammered out. "Look, we can talk this over-"

"No," Eve stated. "We're done talking."

She took another step forward, and out of desperation, Cobalt looked around for anything he could use to save himself. His gaze landed on a framed picture sitting on his bedside table; Eve wasn't surprised when he picked it up and threw it at her. The frame bounced harmlessly off her Aura, landing on the ground below, where it shattered, scattering glass shards across the floor. Eve looked down at it dismissively, only for her eyes to widen when she saw who was in it.

"Jaune…?"

No, she soon realized – it wasn't him; just a young boy who looked like him. He was around fifteen, if she had to wager a guess, not too far off from Jaune's age. But he had the same brilliant blue eyes and mop of golden hair and big, Golden Retriever-like smile on his face. The similarities ended there, but it was still enough to give her pause as she thought about him.

Jaune was the one person she could still somewhat trust and rely on, she realized.

How would he react if he saw her doing this?

Eve let out a low growl, trying to shake that thought from her mind. What Jaune thought didn't matter – all that mattered right now was the mission. She went to take another step forward, but as more glass crunched under her boots, she felt her gaze be dragged back to the picture yet again. Finally, almost involuntarily, she looked back to Cobalt.

"Is this your son?"

To his credit, Cobalt seemed to suddenly grow a spine in that exact moment. He sat up straighter, his fearful expression turning into one of pure hatred.

"You leave him out of this," he snarled. "He didn't do anything to any of you. I'm the one you want, not him."

Eve shook her head. "I'm not here for him. I just want to know."

"Why?"

She hesitated. "...Your son… do you love him?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"It's the only thing keeping me from killing you right now. I'll ask again – do you love your son?"

"I love my son as any good father loves his son," Cobalt answered. "Now, if you're here to kill me… all I ask is that you make it quick, and that you don't make it too brutal. I don't want him to see me cut into pieces."

His vision fell to the sword on Eve's hip. Again, she hesitated for a moment, before finally letting out a sigh. Her hand fell from her blade, and she brought her other hand up to rub at the bridge of her nose.

This shouldn't have been this hard, and yet whenever she looked at him, she thought of his son, and of Jaune's disapproval.

Eve had killed people before – cut them down like rabid dogs with nary a thought, and no remorse. But that was different – they'd been soldiers, themselves; either actual Atlesian troops or mercenaries hired by Atlesian companies to guard their wares and mines. This was different, though – this man was little more than another pathetic politician in a suit spewing hatred to an eager audience.

And while once that would have been enough, tonight was different, somehow.

"...My orders were to get rid of you," she announced. Cobalt stiffened, and when he did, she added, "But they didn't say how, exactly, I needed to do that. In fact, they specifically said they didn't care how I did it, so long as you were gone."

"What are you saying…?" Cobalt asked.

"You said you love your son?" He nodded. "Then do this for him. Take him and go somewhere safe, where the White Fang won't be able to get to you two."

Cobalt stiffened. "You want me to just pick up and leave-"

"Do you really think I'll be the last?" Eve asked, silencing him. She shook her head. "They'll keep sending more and more until you're dead. And the others won't be as merciful to your son as I'm being. If you're smart, you'll heed this warning. Leave, while you and your son still have the chance. Do it for him, if not for yourself. This war's left too many children without parents already, do you really want him to be added to the list?"

Cobalt stared at her for a moment before nodding. "...Alright. We'll pack up and go first thing in the morning."
Eve said nothing, instead nodding in response. She turned and walked out of the room, making her way back through the darkened house until she got to the back door.

She stepped back out into the night, and somehow, despite everything that had just happened, she felt weightless.

"Jaune."

Jaune sat bolt upright, his eyes flying open. He looked around, relieved to find that he was just in the cafeteria. He blinked, then turned towards Pyrrha, a sheepish grin crossing his face.

"Sorry."

Pyrrha seemed unconvinced, however. "Jaune, how long were you in the library last night?"

"I was back by midnight," he offered. Pyrrha opened her mouth to chastise him, no doubt, but he cut her off by holding up a hand. "I know, I know – it was stupid and irresponsible of me… but I really wanted to do some extra studying."

"Why?" Nora asked. "You're already doing pretty well. I've seen your grades."

"I know, but I always feel like I should be doing more," Jaune replied. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I don't want to squander it."

"There's a middle ground between wasting your time at Beacon and working yourself to the bone, you know," Ren explained.

"I know." Jaune sighed. "Sorry, guys – I didn't mean to make you worry about me. I'll be careful in the future."

Pyrrha nodded. "That's reassuring to hear, especially since we have that trip to the Forever Fall coming up soon."

Jaune perked up at that. "Oh, right! When was that, again?"

"This Friday. We'll be going out to collect tree sap for Professor Oobleck. Apparently, it can attract Ursai, and he needs it in order to draw some of them in for study."

"You know, I never would have figured the Grimm would have a sweet tooth."

"I did," Nora said.

Jaune went to respond, only for his scroll to start buzzing. He paused, then gave his friends another sheepish grin.

"Sorry," he said. "I need to take this – family stuff. I shouldn't be long."

"Do what you need to do," Ren offered. "We understand."

Jaune nodded thankfully, then ducked out into the hallway. Once he was clear, he pulled his scroll from his pocket and took the call.

"Eve," he greeted.

"You've been avoiding me the past few days," she surmised.

Jaune winced. "Yeah… I didn't mean to, it's just… I've been busy."

"With what?"

"That's… a hard question to answer." Jaune sighed. "You remember our last conversation a few days ago? Well… someone heard about it."

There was a heavy pause before Eve spoke again.

"How much did they hear?"

"Everything about my transcripts."

"I see. And who is it?"

"It's the worst person," Jaune admitted. "Cardin Winchester and his team – the biggest bullies out of all the first-years."

"Hm. And I take it they're holding it over you in some way? Blackmailing you, perhaps?"

"That easy to guess?"

"Do you think this is a joke?" Eve snarled.

Jaune was taken aback by her sudden change in tone. "Eve, what are you-"

"You are letting yourself be taken advantage of by some idiot, and for what? Because you're worried about your secret being exposed?"

"Well, it's illegal, Eve-"

"Only if the headmaster decides to turn you in."

"Even if he doesn't, if word got out, they couldn't keep me here."

"And why not? Did you not pass initiation, same as the rest of them?"

"You keep bringing that up…"

"Because you don't seem to realize how important it is," Eve declared. "The transcripts are just a way to get your foot in the door, Jaune. The real first test is initiation – the test which you already passed, on your own merit. You were even named team leader as a result. Do you really think they're going to expel you over your transcripts being faked, when you've already proven they don't matter to your success?"

"Eve-"

"Be a man, Jaune," she growled. "Face him head-on and dare him to expose the truth. See what happens."

"I can't do that," Jaune said. "If my friends find out-"

"If they find out and reject you for it, then they weren't as good of friends as you thought," Eve said flippantly. "You would be better off without them. Now stop stalling and go confront-"

That was as far as she got before the scroll was ripped from Jaune's grasp from behind. He turned around out of surprise, only for two people to hold him in place by his arms. He struggled in their grasp, glaring daggers at the person who had just stolen from him.

"Cardin," he said through gritted teeth. "Give it back."

"Now, why would I do that?" Cardin asked, holding his scroll up. "Sounds like you were talking about me behind my back. That's not very nice, Jaune." He looked into the scroll. "Who is this, anyway? Your girlfriend?"

A chill went down Jaune's spine when he realized Eve was still on the call, and was staring at Cardin through the screen.

"Am I to assume that you're the idiot in question?" she demanded.

"Idiot?" Cardin echoed. "That's rich, coming from a filthy animal like you."

"How original," Eve said dryly. "I haven't heard that one before."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Anyway, who are you supposed to be? His girlfriend?" A lecherous grin crossed Cardin's face as he leered at her. "You know, you're not bad-looking for a Faunus. You're actually pretty cute."

"I would sooner offer myself to a Grimm than get with you," Eve said, almost absentmindedly. "Put Jaune back on before I start to really lose my patience."

"Aw, don't be like that, babe," Cardin said. "Come on, blow me a kiss."

"Cardin, don't," Jaune implored.

"Oh, shut up," Cardin said, rolling his eyes. "I'm having some fun here and trying to get some. You're a guy – you should be able to understand that much, at least."

"You don't know who she is," Jaune said, sweat forming on his brow as small tinges of panic began to set in. "You really don't want to piss her off-"

"And why is that? Does she see red when she gets mad?" Cardin's grin widened. "Get it? Because she's a bull Faunus? Anyway, babe, I'm sorry to say, but our little face-to-face meeting is going to have to wait – we've got a big trip coming up, you see."

"Oh?" Eve asked, suddenly sounding interested enough that it sent a chill down Jaune's spine. "Do tell. I'm sure a big, strong Huntsman trainee such as yourself has an important mission coming up."

"Ha! Hear that, boys? She sure changed her mind fast."

"Cardin, I am begging you to let this go," Jaune pleaded.

But Cardin ignored him, instead looking back to Eve. "If you must know, we've got a mission in the Forever Fall on Friday. Could be dangerous – there are Grimm out there, even this close to Beacon."

"I'm sure."

"Then again, if you wanted to make the trip to have a little fun, I'm sure we could arrange to protect you."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Eve said, grinning back at him for the first time. Unlike Cardin's smirk, however, hers carried with it an air of anticipation rather than joviality. "I can assure you, I'll be in touch soon enough."

Cardin's expression faltered for the first time. "Is that a fact?"

"It is. Jaune."

Jaune stood up straighter at hearing his name called. "Y-yes?"

"You'll be on that trip Friday, right?"

"Y-yeah…?"

"Good. I'll see you then."

And then the line went dead. Cardin stared at the scroll for a moment before dropping it to the ground. Jaune winced when he saw the screen crack down the middle.

"Weird bitch…" Cardin muttered. "Come on, guys. Let's get some food."

His boys released Jaune and followed their leader into the cafeteria. He picked up his scroll with shaking hands, hurriedly pocketing it before bringing a hand up to rub at his face.

"Oh, Jaune, what did you get yourself into this time…?" he muttered.

You'll all be pleased to know that this is the absolute worst the Jaunedice arc is going to get in this story, because next chapter is going to be its conclusion. The arc's conclusion, that is, not the entire story's, lol. Figured I'd throw that out there because I know people hate Jaunedice with a passion. I'm only including it here in this story because I felt I kinda needed to, and also because I knew it was going to be relatively short. So there was last chapter for it, part of this chapter for it, and next chapter where the arc is concluding in favor of something else.

Anyway, with that out of the way, I don't really have too much else for now. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter (well, as much as one can enjoy a chapter about Jaunedice, at least) and I'll hopefully 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)

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

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