Seeing Red

Chapter 5

–

It was funny to Jaune, how he couldn't stop thinking about her. It wasn't even in the sense that he had a crush on her or anything – not to say she wasn't attractive, because she was, but instead because he knew she didn't like him in that way, and that was fine by him. Rather, it was more along the lines of her occupying his thoughts in other ways. He worried about Eve, knowing that she was involved in a dangerous lifestyle; it'd almost gotten her killed once already, after all. And now she was running back to it like she'd never left. That made him worried, if not because of the cause she was fighting for, then because he simply didn't want to see her be injured again, or worse.

So occupied was his mind that he barely even registered the headmaster's speech. Jaune blinked, then against the advice of the small voice of rationality in his mind, looked down.

"That's a long fall…" he muttered as he stared down at the forest below.

"Eh, you'll be alright," he heard someone say from next to him in a cheerful voice. He turned and was met by a smiling red-haired girl who was almost jumping with anticipation. "Ooh, I can't wait! I've been wanting this all my life! Just need to get through this and then the fun can really start!"

Again, Jaune blinked as he tried to recall the girl's name. They'd met briefly the night before, along with several other people, but his thoughts had been so occupied by memories and worries about Eve that he'd been spaced out during their introductions. It was rude of him, he knew, but he couldn't help it.

"Ruby," Jaune suddenly recalled. The girl beamed at him.

"That's me!" she said excitedly.

"Do you know what we'll be doing? I was kinda not paying attention."

"Oh, it's no problem! So, first thing is-"

And that was as far as she got before something activated, and she was suddenly sent flying through the air towards the forest. Jaune watched her go, his eyes wide with surprise, until a realization struck him.

I'm next, aren't I?

And sure enough, the moment the thought crossed his mind, he was flying.

"Thank the Gods for trees and Aura…" Jaune muttered as he pulled himself out of the canopy of a large tree. He hadn't landed so much as been brought to a sudden and jarring stop thanks to the forest itself, though he was thankfully unhurt, save for his pride and his Aura.

Somehow, he could tell that wasn't how he was supposed to get down. Not very impressive of him, he had to admit, but at least it was over now.

Jaune grabbed onto the tree trunk and carefully slid his way down it onto the forest floor. Off in the distance, he could hear gunfire and explosions – apparently, other students had already engaged what had to be Grimm.

That, or they'd found a White Fang enclave in the forest. Between the two, he sincerely hoped it was the Grimm instead.

Jaune shook those thoughts out of his mind, instead drawing his sword and shield as he walked. The first step was finding out what he was supposed to be doing, because he was still very much completely lost. He let out a tired sigh, then ran a hand through his hair.

"Great job, Jaune," he said to himself. "You got accepted and you've already botched the first test so far by not paying attention. Can this get any worse?"

A sudden rustling from next to him cut him off. Jaune paused, then turned towards it. Eve's words from earlier rang in his mind – Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, so he had to stay as calm as possible if he didn't want to serve as a giant magnet for all of the Ursai and Beowolves in the area.

Of course, that wouldn't do anything to help him with whatever was lurking in those bushes. That, he was going to have to deal with himself.

Jaune swallowed nervously, his grip on his sword and shield turning white-knuckled. He'd already fought a Grimm once, but it had been nerve-wracking. Still, that was before he'd had his Aura unlocked, and even then, he'd still managed to kill it in the end. He'd had help, sure, but the fact that he was able to take on an Ursa without even having Aura to assist him was something to be proud of, and it certainly helped inspire confidence now.

Jaune tensed, dropping into a combat stance as he recalled Eve's lessons. They weren't much, obviously, but they were all he had, so they would just have to do.

"You might as well come out," Jaune challenged. "I know you're in there."

He doubted that the Grimm could understand the exact meaning of his words, but it at least seemed capable of discerning that he was calling out to get its attention. And he was proven right when it came lumbering out of the treeline, a snarl on its face. This was a Beowolf, he realized – he'd spent some time reading and practicing in the weeks between Eve leaving and Beacon starting, just to make sure he'd actually be somewhat properly equipped for when he arrived.

Thanks to that, he knew vaguely what to expect – Beowolves were faster and more aggressive than Ursai, but they weren't as strong or as resilient as them.

That meant that when the Grimm inevitably charged him in a flurry of teeth and claws, Jaune was prepared. He sidestepped the Grimm's wild strike at the last minute, only taking a brief claw to the shoulder for his troubles; his Aura absorbed the blow, but it still earned a wince from him.

"Need to be more careful…" he said to himself.

The Grimm rounded on him once more, and this time, Jaune didn't bother to avoid the incoming strike, instead letting his shield take it. The Beowolf fell upon him once more, but all Jaune needed to do was to wait for an opening. He found one when there was a sudden lull in the Grimm's attack – as soon as he saw that window of opportunity, he took it, lunging forward and thrusting his sword deep into the Grimm's chest cavity before tearing up and out with it. Crocea Mors had always been a sharp blade, but when reinforced with his Aura, tearing through the Grimm was like ripping apart wet tissue paper. He was surprised at how easy it was, even as the Beowolf fell to the ground and began to dissipate. Jaune stared at the remains of the slain Grimm as they faded into nothingness, his heart still pounding in his chest as he watched.

More rustling suddenly caught his attention, and he whipped around, bringing his sword and shield up in preparation for another threat. But instead of a Grimm lumbering out of the forest, he was met by the sight of a tall, red-haired girl in ornate armor pushing her way through the brush. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before she gave him a friendly smile and wave.

"Hello, there!" she greeted.

Jaune let himself relax, lowering his weapons. He sheathed his sword, then walked over to the girl.

"Hey," he said. He peered past her into the forest. "Were you alone?"

She nodded. "I was. I suppose this makes us partners now, yes?"

"Partners?"

"Yeah. Do you not remember the speech the headmaster gave?"

Jaune let out a soft exhale. "...Truthfully, I was distracted by something, so I didn't hear it. Sorry."

"Oh. Well, that's no problem. Anyway, the headmaster said that the first person you made eye contact with upon landing in the forest was to be your partner for the next four years. Unless, um… you don't want to?"

Jaune shrugged. "Being partners sounds great. I'm Jaune. And you are?"

"Pyrrha Nikos," she answered, her smile returning. For some reason, she seemed very relieved by his question, though he had no idea why. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jaune."

"Likewise."

They briefly shook hands, Jaune wincing when he felt Pyrrha grasp his. She was strong, that much was certain – it reminded him of Eve, in a way.

After a moment, they pulled apart, and Pyrrha motioned for him to follow her.

"Come on," she urged. "We're supposed to get our hands on a relic of some kind, and then leave. I figure we should get that taken care of as soon as we can."

"No arguments here," Jaune said. "I'll take the lead, if you don't mind – figure it's probably better if the guy with the bigger shield is in front, just in case we run into something."

Pyrrha gave him a friendly grin. "Worried I can't handle myself?"

"Nah, I can tell you know what you're doing. It's just that being a meat shield is kinda my thing."

She giggled, and the two of them set off.

The rest of initiation passed by in a blur. Pyrrha had proven to be even stronger than Jaune had expected – none of the Grimm stood a chance against her. Then again, that was the case for everybody, he was finding – they'd eventually linked up with several other students, including Ruby, and the eight of them had completed their task together. Of course, it had been complicated a bit by Ruby and her partner's arguing eventually attracting a large Nevermore to them, but with the rest of them there to help, that fight had been over fairly quickly.

Still, though, their arguing was cause for concern, at least from what Jaune could see. They were currently all standing in the crowd together, watching as teams were formed and named, but Ruby and Weiss were still arguing with each other, even through the lights and sound that had engulfed the room. Jaune couldn't hear what they were saying, but having grown up with seven sisters, he could tell when two people were not-so-subtly trading unfriendly barbs with each other. Ruby, to her credit, seemed to be reluctant to participate, but her partner, a short white-haired girl named Weiss, had no such qualms.

That wasn't to say that the other two members of their group were much better, though – the blonde-haired girl was Ruby's older half-sister, Yang, and what Ruby lacked in terms of capacity for insulting others and pushing their buttons, Yang more than made up for. For every scathing remark Weiss seemed to send Ruby's way, Yang was sure to retaliate with one of her own.

And the final member of the group, Yang's partner, wasn't doing much of anything to stop it, instead content to stand there and read her book in peace. The only thing that even made it clear how she felt about what was going on around her was the slight furrow of her brow and occasional pointed glare at the others, but aside from that, she was basically in her own little world.

"Doesn't seem like they're getting along."

Jaune blinked, then turned towards the voice. Ren and Nora were standing there, next to him and Pyrrha. They'd fought alongside each other during initiation, and he'd found both Ren and Nora to be pleasant enough, though complete polar opposites of each other in terms of personality. That was funny to think about, given that the two of them were also best friends with each other, but then again, Jaune wasn't one to judge, especially when there were far more obviously unhealthy relationships blooming just a short ways away.

"Give it time," Jaune offered, turning back to look at the stage. "I'm sure the four of them will figure it out eventually. Until then, all we can really do is offer them support, I think."

Ren nodded, but somehow, Jaune could tell he wasn't fully convinced. Truthfully, neither was Jaune, but there was nothing he could do at the moment.

"Jaune Arc. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. Lie Ren."

At the sound of his name being called, Jaune stood up straighter. Pyrrha gently shoved him from behind to get him moving, and together, the four of them marched up to the stage.

They'd made him team leader. Jaune still couldn't believe that. Somehow, he'd not only made it into Beacon, but someone had decided he'd done a good enough job to be put in charge of three other people. That realization left him stunned, even as he laid in bed later that night.

He didn't know anything about what it meant to be a leader. He certainly didn't feel qualified to lead anyone. Granted, he'd always had dreams and aspirations of it, but it was one thing to dream; it was quite another to be thrown into the deep end like this. No, he was no leader. He couldn't inspire people – he could barely even inspire himself.

He was no Eve Taurus.

At that thought, Jaune turned his attention to his scroll, which was charging on the nearby bedside table. Somewhat predictably, the only messages he could still see on it were the ones from his parents and sisters, which he still hadn't answered yet. There was nothing from her. Jaune let out a disappointed sigh, then shut his eyes.

He hoped he'd hear from her soon, even if he knew he probably wouldn't.

When Eve came marching into camp once more, it wasn't to any kind of fanfare. Rather, the troops – her troops – eyed her like she was a ghost freshly returned from the dead.

Admittedly, it wasn't far off, but still. She was their leader, and she'd earned their respect.

"Commander," one of the men finally said, standing up straight. Eve turned towards him, looking him up and down; he was one she recognized, though it took her a moment to assign a name to the face.

"Simon," she greeted. The man stood up even straighter at the confirmation that she recalled his name. Eve approached him, keeping one hand rested on the hilt of her sword. "Who was in charge in my absence?"

"Bane assumed command once you… disappeared," he offered. He shuffled his feet nervously. "With all due respect, ma'am… we didn't think you'd be coming back. It's been a long time-"

"It's been a few weeks, Simon," Eve said. "It took me time to make it back here."

That wasn't a lie – it had taken several days to get from the town she'd been staying back to the White Fang camp on the other side of Vale, not made any easier by the fact that she'd needed to avoid populated spaces for fear of being easily recognized.

Of course, that was leaving out the part about being nursed back to help by a human – the most infuriating human, at that – but the less her men knew about that, the better.

Eve shook those thoughts out of her mind, then looked back to Simon. "Where is Commander Bane now?"

"In his tent, ma'am," Simon offered.

Eve nodded. "As you were."

Simon relaxed at that, and Eve turned and marched to the branch commander's tent. It wasn't hard to find – it was the largest tent among a small sea of lean-tos and pup tents. She didn't bother asking for permission, instead pushing her way through. As Simon had said, her second-in-command was there, seated at a desk. He looked up, his eyes widening in surprise behind his mask.

"Eve," he said, rising to his feet. "I must admit, I didn't think I'd see you again. We'd all thought you dead or arrested after you and Blake didn't come back from your raid."

At the mention of Blake's name, Eve scowled. That particular can of worms would have to be opened and dealt with at some point, but for now, she could get away with just giving them the basics.

"Blake betrayed me," she growled. "Decoupled the train cars and left me for dead among the remaining Atlesian soldiers and robots. I only just managed to get out unscathed."

"Unscathed?" Bane said. "Impressive… as expected of you. Though, it certainly took you a long time to get back here."

"They were looking for me," she lied. "I had to evade Atlas patrols these past few weeks; it wasn't easy, even for someone like me."

"I can imagine." Bane crossed his arms. "Am I to assume you'll want to reclaim your old post as branch commander now that you're back?"

"Of course, Bane," Eve confirmed with a nod. "What else would I be doing now that I'm back?"

"Hm… that might be a problem. We all thought you dead when you didn't return and didn't pick up any of our scroll calls. We even reported as much to Sienna."

Eve scowled. "And what did she say?"

"She said the Vale branch needed a commander." Bane uncrossed his arms.

Eve stared at him, shock lancing through her mind. "...I have been relieved of my position?"

"It would seem that way. Sienna named me as your replacement."

Eve blinked, surprised. "Then we will need to call her and set things right-"

"She is in a meeting for the rest of the day," Bane reported. "I know because I just tried to call her. This will have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest. But rest assured, we will get this figured out in time."

Eve could do nothing but nod along to his words. "...Very well."

With that, she turned and left Bane's tent. Once she was outside, she let out a tired sigh, then brought a hand up to rub at her one good eye.

She should have anticipated that there would have been some changed during her absence – after all, the Vale branch needed a commander, and she couldn't exactly lead them in absentia. Bane was the logical choice, too – he was her second-in-command, loyal to a fault, and as dogmatic as they came.

Still, that didn't exactly make her feel much better, or even reassure her. The fact was that, justified or not, understandable or not, she'd been stripped of her rank and replaced by her second-in-command. As of now, she was little more than a glorified grunt herself. That shouldn't have stung as bad as it did, but it certainly wasn't making her feel any better.

Eve grit her teeth as she walked through camp. The other White Fang members eyed her with a mixture of confusion, admiration, and fear – they could tell she was angry about something, and that meant she was someone to be avoided. She couldn't even blame them for it – she knew she had a temper; it was both a weakness and a strength.

Still, though, at the moment… at the moment, all she felt was betrayal. And even worse, she had nobody to vent to. In the past, that would have been Blake, but not anymore. Blake was gone, and that meant she was alone.

Eve sighed, shoving her hands into her pockets. As she did so, one of them brushed against something – a piece of paper. Confused, she drew it out of her pocket and stared at it, and in that moment, memories came flooding back. Temptation suddenly filled her mind, and Eve bit her lip.

She hated Jaune, she truly did. But he'd told her to call him if she ever wanted to talk, and at the moment, she really wanted someone to vent to. With Blake gone, there was nobody else she could turn to...

As soon as the thought entered her mind, Eve shook it away.

"Ridiculous…" she muttered.

And yet, it lingered, and in a way that she couldn't just push away, for some reason. She needed someone to vent to – what Bane had done amounted to a usurpation or a soft coup; he'd gone behind her back and told Sienna of her so-called demise, all to get to her position, and Sienna had given it to him. That bothered her, in ways she couldn't articulate to any of her men without exposing a weakness to them.

Jaune, though… he was just dim enough to offer little more than sympathies, provided she kept things vague enough for him to fill in the blanks on his own.

Eve sighed tiredly as she ducked behind a series of tents, then pulled her scroll from her pocket.

"This is stupid…" she muttered to herself.

That wasn't enough to stop her as she typed out a message, though. Once it was done, she eyed it with no small amount of trepidation.

It's me. Got a minute? I need to vent.

Again, she bit her lip. The smart thing to do was delete the message and throw away the piece of paper he'd given her, and then think nothing of it. That was the smart thing to do… but it wasn't what she wanted to do.

And so, Eve hesitantly pushed the send button, and waited for a response.

You know, I've realized that there are a few things i fucking hate writing with regards to RWBY fanfiction, and funnily enough, most of them have to do with V1. I really, really do not like having to write initiation or the Jaunedice arc, not because of anything the show did with them, but instead because... I mean, come on; we've all seen them done a million times in fan fiction before. Do we really need to see them again?

Don't get me wrong, sometimes you need to write those scenes out. But in my case, if I need to do it, I'm gonna be keeping them as short as I can, because writing them out bores me at this point, you know?

Anyway, that's it for that topic. Onto other stuff.

Brief announcement: I will be in London for most of September on a work trip, so updates for everything may be sparse or non-existent. Don't be surprised if I have to go without updating anything from the beginning of September until, like, October. Believe me, I don't particularly want to go, because it'll be work and I won't be able to do much writing while I'm there, but I've got to do it, and I don't really have a choice in the matter.

But yeah, that's about all I've got for now. I hope you all enjoyed the story, and I'll see you 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