Leaning against a tree Jaune Arc promptly lost his lunch.
Spitting to help remove the foul acidic taste from his mouth Jaune leaned his head against the tree for a moment, letting out a quiet sigh. 'Today had been going so well…'
Glancing around with a dazed expression, Jaune shuffled over to a nearby tree, its shade offering a momentary refuge. As he slumped down against its sturdy trunk, he fought to steady his swirling thoughts. 'I couldn't do anything…,' the thought gnawed at him, igniting a brief flare of anger that quickly flickered out, replaced by resignation.
Sighing he leaned back and rested his head against the rough wood of the tree. Jaune watched the branches sway gently in the wind; the soft sounds of the forest filling the air. "Well Jaune… Beacon is going great…"
"Hi Jaune!"
"Ah!" Jaune not screamed.
Standing off to his side, grinning down at him, was Zeffre, her blue scarf and hair swaying gently in the wind. "Why are you screaming?" she asked, tilting her head.
Jaune shot to his feet before giving a cough. "I wasn't screaming. I was…" He glanced upwards, thinking, "clearing my throat."
"Oh… okay then." Zeffre's smile faltered slightly, betraying her confusion.
The two of them stood together in silence.
Jaune shuffled his feet, avoiding eye contact.
Zeffre looked around, seemingly finding sudden interest in the surrounding trees.
"So…" Zeffre finally broke the silence, her gaze returning to Jaune. "Nice forest, huh?"
Jaune furrowed his brow after looking at her again. "Wait… Zeffre why are you even here," he asked before his eyes widened in shock. "Did Cardin shove you into a rocket locker too?"
"Huh? Oh, nah," she began with a dismissive wave, "I launched myself in one of the rocket lockers."
"Uh… why would you do that?"
"Because I saw him shove you into a locker and wanted to make sure you were okay," she said before grinning again. "That, and I thought today would be a really nice day for a walk anyways."
"Oh… okay," Jaune said, still a little confused. 'Someone else thinking I need rescuing.'
"So… are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Great!"
'Well, she seems nice enough.' Jaune looked around at the surrounding forest, trees stretching out in every direction. "Uh… Zeffre?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you know the way back to Beacon?"
"317419."
Jaune shook his head out of his own thoughts, looking up and over at Zeffre as she walked next to him. "What?"
"317419," she said as if that clarified anything.
"What's that?"
"It was the six-digit code that Cardin used," she said looking over at him. "Something about it is really catchy to me… 317419~."
"Huh… okay," Jaune said before looking back at the grass, content in walking back to Beacon in silence.
She was still looking at him.
"Hey Jaune," she began. Jaune was a little surprised at how soft her tone was. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Jaune didn't bother looking over. "No."
"Okay," she said before her voice went back to normal. "So! Jaune, how's Beacon been treating you," she said, nudging him with her elbow.
Jaune blinked, shaking his head and looking at Zeffre. 'That was a jarring change in tone.'
"You know, considering," she added, rolling her hand.
"For me? Well, considering, it has actually been going pretty great!" 'Ignoring Cardin.'
Zeffre nodded her head. "That's good."
"How about you?"
"Same. My team is awesome, the foods good, and I've got a room to myself," she said nodding her head. "It's been pretty nice to take it easy, gives me time for… projects."
"Why do I get the feeling that I should be concerned about how you said the word 'projects?'"
Zeffre simply smiled back at Jaune.
"So…," Zeffre began, leaning back with her arms behind her head, "Got any good stories?"
Jaune's brow furrowed at the question. 'Do I?'
"Hey Zeffre, you weren't there during our initiation right?"
"Yup. I was doing… other things at the time."
"Great," Jaune smiled at her, "that means I can tell you about how Team JNPR valiantly defeated a Deathstalker," he proclaimed with an outstretched hand.
"… And then," Jaune said, building anticipation, "as the Deathstalker's severed stinger fell onto its head I said "Nora! Nail it!, and Pyrrha launched her into the air. Nora then used her momentum and 'POW!'," he said smashing his fist into his palm, "The stinger pierced through its armor, and the Deathstalker fell down into the ravine."
Zeffre was watching him with rapt attention, eyes wide. "Wow… that is so freaking cool," she shouted, jumping up and down. "God, you and Ruby both got to do something so awesome for your initiation, I'm a bit jealous," she said, crossing her arms in a fake pout.
Jaune could feel himself flushing at the praise. "Heh… Yeah, it was pretty awesome," he said rubbing the back of his head.
"Quick thinking on the stinger by the way. Can't believe that a Deathstalker just showed up right as you got to the temple."
"Uh… yeah, well, things happen." Jaune might have embellished the story. Just a little.
Looking around Jaune saw that the sun was hanging lower in the sky. 'We have to almost be back at this point.'
'What else could we talk about? Hm… oh! I know,' he thought, snapping his fingers.
"So… Zeffre. Got any family," Jaune asked. 'Perfect! I know that I can talk about my family for hours and hour—'
"No."
Jaune stumbled over a root.
"What?" 'Oh crap.'
Zeffre was staring straight ahead, her tone completely flat. "You asked if I had a family right?"
"Uh… yeah," Jaune said, wincing.
She shrugged. "Then the answer is no, I don't have a family."
Jaune was screaming in his head.
"You have to have somebody at least, right?" 'Why the hell would you say that!?'
"Nope."
Jaune stopped. "I… uh… eh…," he began, not knowing what to say. "Zeffre, I am so sorry I—"
"What are you sorry for?" She had stopped next to him.
Jaune wanted to die. 'Oh god… I'm just making it worse!'
"I'm sorry for bringing it up, I didn't know and… uh… yeah, sorry."
Zeffre looked over at him, her deep blue eyes noticeably less bright. She gave him a slight shrug. "You couldn't have known. Besides…," she paused, looking back ahead, "my family's been… gone for a very long time. I'm over it," she said before continuing to walk forward.
'She is definitely not over it,' Jaune thought as he walked next to her.
"How about you Jaune… do you have any family?"
"Uh… yeah. Both my parents and… uh… seven sisters," Jaune said rubbing his shoulder.
"…"
"…"
"So… What are they like," Zeffre asked, glancing over at Jaune.
"What, my family?"
Jaune rubbed the back of his head at Zeffre's 'duh' look. "Sorry, dumb question," he said, giving a nervous laugh.
"Uh… my family is pretty great," he said, looking down. He didn't really know what else to say.
"Jaune."
Looking over Jaune saw that Zeffre was staring at him. She looked annoyed. "I'm not going to break down crying just because you're talking about your family," she said before giving him a small smile. "I'm happy to hear that your family is great."
"Sorry, I just… I feel a little guilty you know, considering," Jaune said, making an effort to look her in the eyes.
Her smile widened. "Please don't. If you don't want to talk with me about them that's fine, but uh…', she said before smirking, "if you don't say something uplifting then the rest of our walk back is going to be supremely awkward." She reached over and lightly punched him on the shoulder. "We wouldn't want that, would we?"
"No… we wouldn't…," Jaune said, rubbing his chin. 'Alright, in that case…'
Reaching out Jaune wrapped an arm around Zeffre's shoulder before gesturing with his other arm. "In that case, m'lady let me regale you with the tales of heroics that my family has performed for generations," he said, trying to sound as confident as he could.
She giggled. "Very well, my valiant knight, I am ready to be regaled," she said grinning back at Jaune as they continued their walk back to Beacon.
Author's Note:
I wanted to try something different in this chapter. It ended up being a lot of fun writing from another character's perspective and I'll definitely be doing it more often in future chapters. I'm also really interested to hear from others how good/bad a job I did in writing from Jaune's perspective. Thanks for reading!