Chapter 15: Forever Fall

Pyrrha looks out of the window sadly as Ren loads StormFlower and Nora is jumping on her bed. I lay on my bed, thinking about the incident with Cardin I had recently. I haven't told my parents about it yet because I don't want them to worry. I do have some bruises on my face, but I covered those up with make-up and my black eye with make-up as well. Thankfully no one has said anything yet.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asked.

"He's becoming rather scarce since he started fraternizing with Cardin," Ren answered her.

"That's weird... Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!" Nora said. Nora proclaims this while twirling in midair so her back hits the covers.

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing," Pyrrha said angrily. Pyrrha has been keeping her distance from Jaune since their fight. Nora, Ren, and I exchange glances, not knowing that Jaune himself is looking in through the crack of the door.

"Mmmmm... I guess so." Nora said.

I walked over to Jaune as he was about to close the door. "Daddy? What are you doing?" I asked.

"N-Nothing Lana," Jaune said. I looked at Jaune with suspicion. Jaune hangs his head and closes the door, just as a voice interrupts our thoughts.

"Hey Jaune, Lana!"

Startled, Jaune and I turned around to see Ruby. Ruby giggles at our reactions.

"Hi Mommy," I said.

"Long time no see, Jaune! Did you lock yourself out again?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, uh, nope!" Jaune said and raised his scroll, attempting to laugh. "Got it!"

"So! Where have you been lately?" Ruby asked.

"I, uh..." Jaune started. Jaune tries to come up with something, but just sighs and lowers his head. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me and..." Jaune stops and breathes heavily through his nose. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." Jaune presses his back to the door and slides down to the floor in depression. "I'm a failure."

"Nope!" Ruby said.

Jaune looks at her in surprise. "Nope?" Jaune said.

"Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure." Ruby said.

"But... what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" Jaune asked.

Ruby thinks about Jaune's response for a moment, then gives her answer. "Nope!" Ruby said.

I gave out a small chuckle. Jaune laughs as she joins him on the floor. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff," Jaune said.

"Nope!" Ruby said as Jaune leaned into the door some more. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..." Jaune groans and sinks lower to the ground. "...and you might've even been a failure the first day we met!" Jaune groans and goes lower still. "But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uhhh, because...?" Jaune said.

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." Ruby said. Ruby gets up and places her hands on her hips as she speaks. "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. We have a daughter now too, Jaune. Our daughter deserves great parents, and your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you."

Ruby walks over to her door and opens it as Jaune, now slightly inspired by her words, watches her wave. "Have a good night, Jaune!"

"Goodnight, Mommy," I said.

"Goodnight, Lana," Ruby said. I watched Ruby go inside her dorm. With new energy, Jaune pushes himself off the ground and faces the door, ready to turn the knob and face his team. I gave Jaune a small smile to encourage him, which he returned. Our moment was ruined when the scroll beeps and he pulled it off of his side to open it, seeing Cardin's contact relaying a message.

"Hey! It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you and Lana to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps. (as Jaune and I make a terrified sound in response) And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!"

"What could he possibly want with those wasps?" I asked.

"I don't know," Jaune said nervously.

Jaune closes his Scroll just when it begins to beep again. Sighing, he wearily heads down the hallway and away from his room. I hesitantly followed Jaune to collect some wasps. I didn't want to do it, but if I did not then there would be a punishment.

The next morning, we got ready for our field trip. Before we left, Weiss pulled me aside.

"Mother?" I said, a bit worriedly.

"Lana, I noticed you have been distant with us recently. Is everything okay?" Weiss asked.

"Yes." I lied. I did not want to tell her about Cardin. I was hoping to get away with it, but Weiss noticed I was lying.

"You're lying. I need you to tell me what is going on with you." Weiss said, calm but firm. I felt tears forming in my eyes. Before I knew it, I broke down, crying.

"I- I... Cardin's bullying is worse. Since he found out Jaune has cheated, Cardin has been blackmailing me into being his boyfriend..." I sobbed. Weiss's eyes widened.

"What?" Weiss said angrily. I nodded.

"Has he hit you?" Weiss asked. I nodded and took a cloth to remove the make-up, revealing the bruises I got from Cardin hitting me.

"This is not going to fly with me. I am going straight to the Professor with this!" Weiss said. Weiss started walking away, but I stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Wait, Mother, please!" I shouted.

"Let go, Lana! I need to tell them about this!" Weiss shouted.

"No, Mother! You don't understand! No one can know about this! And Daddy asked me to keep this a secret. He doesn't want anyone else to know." I said.

Weiss stayed silent for a moment but spoke up again. "Fine. But if he hits you one more time, then I am telling the Professors. I can't have someone hurting my daughter."

"Okay," I said and sighed as I watched her leave. I slowly followed the group. We made our way to the Forever Fall Forest. Glynda is leading teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL through the area. I looked around at the forest with amazement. The forest was a beautiful red color with leaves falling to the ground.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Glynda said.

The group stops, and Jaune, grunting and carrying a large case with six empty glass jars on top, tries to catch up with them and ends up bumping into Cardin. The bully scowls at Jaune, who attempts to feign innocence by whistling tunelessly. I tried walking up to team RWBY, but Cardin grabbed my arm tightly, pulling me back.

"You're not going anywhere," Cardin said dangerously.

Glynda is still instructing her group, holding up a full jar of their objective. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!" Glynda said.

While Yang Xiao Long and her sister smile at one another, Jaune attempts to (noisily) sneak away from Cardin to his team, but the blackmailer sees this and grabs Jaune by the back.

"Come on, buddy - let's go!" Cardin said.

Jaune miserably looks up at his team, where Nora and Ren are already walking into the forest's depths and Pyrrha is staring sadly at the scene. I stared at my parents, desperately wanting to be with them, but Cardin dragged me away. Dropping his gaze, Jaune turns and follows CRDL, to the disappointment of a sighing Pyrrha before she continues on.

Team CRDL is making themselves as comfortable as possible by leaning on stones, trees, and the ground while Jaune and I return to the group with six full jars, setting them down just as we collapse face-down. The surrounding team gets up in response.

Jaune and I have been forced to collect the sap while team CRDL did nothing to help. He also made us get an extra jar, which I am not sure what it was for.

"Hey, great work, Jauney boy! Lana! Now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Cardin said.

Jaune is still on the ground, cross-eyed and sounding dizzy. "I think I'm allergic to this stuff..." Jaune said.

"Greeeeat, great, great. So, Jaune, Lana, I bet you're asking yourself, 'Why did our buddy Cardin ask me to collect six jars of tree sap when there's only five of us?'"

Jaune nodded, still exhausted "That is one of the many questions I have asked myself today, yes." Jaune said.

"Same here." I said.

"Well, come with me, and you'll find out." Cardin said as Jaune sits up. Jaune moans and gulps in worry. Jaune helped me up before we followed the rest of team CRDL.

Now perched on a hilltop overlooking the other students, team CRDL - plus me and Jaune, squeezed between Cardin and Russel - peek their heads over the crest and watch as everyone retrieves their samples of sap. Ren, kneeling to collect it from a tree, passes a full jar to Nora, who "Mmmm!"s at the gift as Ren trades it for the other jar in her care. He turns back to the tree and starts filling it up while several licking sounds are heard until Nora, now with an embarrassed smile covered in red and an empty jar in her hands. Ren gives her an annoyed look.

Jaune turned to his left. "Cardin, wh-what's going on?" Jaune asked nervously.

"Yeah, what are we doing here?" I asked, also nervous.

Cardin is still staring at the unsuspecting group sharply. "Payback," Cardin answered.

Jaune and I gave each other nervous glances and widens our eyes in understanding. "Pyrrha...?"

"Mom?" I said.

I look down and watch her gather more sap from a tree, so does Jaune. "Wh-what are you-?"

Cardin pounds his fist on the ground. "That's the girl. Red-haired know-it-all, thinks she's so smart. Alright, boys..." Cardin said and pulls out a buzzing cardboard box with a large "W" written on its sides. "Last night, old Jaune and Lana here managed to round up an entire box of Rapier Wasps, and now, we're gonna put them to work."

Russel grabs Jaune by the shoulder, who barely laughs in nervousness.

"Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me last week, these nasty things loooove sweets," Cardin said. Pyrrha is seen finishing her sap collection. "I'm thinking it's time we teach her a thing or two."

"No..." I said.

"Yes," Cardin said. Cardin grips my chin in a tight grip. "You will do everything I say or face the consequences."

At this point, I knew I had no choice but to comply. The members of CRDL get up. Cardin offers his hand to Jaune, only to painfully yank him up on his feet and shove the jar into his grasp. I was already standing so I didn't need to worry about the Bullie's rough force.

"And you and Lana gonna do it," Cardin said.

"Do what?" Jaune asked.

"Hit her with the sap!" Cardin said. He leans in close to mine and Jaune's face. "Either that, or I'll have a chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon. And you Lana, you will be without your precious daddy."

Jaune looks down at the jar of sap in his hands and then up at the four grinning teammates waiting to see what happens. Jaune turns towards the group and aims his throw at an oblivious and smiling Pyrrha, trying to steel his nerves and shaking hand to do the deed, but ultimately steels himself for what he's about to do.

Cardin grew impatient and yanked the jar from Jaune's hands, shoving the jar into my hands. Cardin roughly gripped his hands on my shoulders.

"Do it, Lana. Do it or else." Cardin said dangerously. I prepared to through the sap but I couldn't. I couldn't hurt my own mother.

"No," I said.

"What did you say?" Cardin said, dangerously again.

"You heard her! She won't do it!" Jaune yelled.

I gripped the jar tightly. "Yeah! I said... NO!" I yelled, braver than I felt.

I turn and throw the jar at Cardin, instantly recoiling my hands to myself as I look at Cardin's breastplate covered in sap. The other team leader, however, just looks at himself and laughs darkly. My eyes widened, realizing what I had just done.

"Run!" Jaune yelled. Jaune grabbed my hand, and we began running. We kept running and running until we felt something trip us. I landed flat on my face. I looked up to see team CRDL standing in front of me and Jaune.

"Oh, you've done it now..." Cardin said.

Jaune humorously laughs to himself once more with his hands still raised in an attempt for defense as Dove and Sky grab Jaune's shoulders and pull him in. Russell grabs me and holds me down.

I gulped, knowing that Cardin's punishment for us was about to get a whole lot worse.

With team RWBY and JNPR, Pyrrha's POV:

I am worried about Jaune and Lana who went off with team CRDL. I looked around, paranoid as I heard some rustling in the bushes.

"Pyrrha, are you okay?" Ruby asked me.

"Yeah," I replied. I heard some slurping from behind me. I looked down at my jar to realize it was empty.

"Nora!" I yell angrily, clenching my fists. Ruby jumps at my yell.

I am still paranoid. Deep down, I know something is not right.