A Silent Huntsman : How It Began

Ch. 9 : Tree Sap Troubles

Speech (not you, clearly) : "Speaking"

Thoughts : 'Thoughts'

Whispering : "Whispering"

POV : 3rd

It's now nighttime, with Pyrrha looking out her dorm window with an upset face, probably because of what happened between her and Jaune. She sighs sadly, as she looks back at her team. Nora being a child and jumping on her bed, Ren cleaning his weaponry and Jaune... seemingly nowhere to be found.

Nora : "How come Jaune comes home so late ?"

Ren : "He's become rather scarce ever since he's been fraternizing with Cardin."

Nora (sad face) : "That's weird... Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow ? Which is why I'm kiiinda worried about Y/n... Besides that, we need our rest !" She yells that last part, as she finally stops jumping on her bed like a child.

Pyrrha : "I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing. Besides, how come you're worried about Y/n ? He's almost unbeatable, y'know."

Nora : "Yeah, but what if he gets in trouble tomorrow and can't call for help ? When he's down, I mean."

Ren : "I know Y/n. He's smart. He'll either find a way to win, or he'd find his own way of calling for help. IF he even goes down, anyway. Have you seen how... courageous he is ? He literally arm-wrestled Yang and won, even though he knew he'd either lose or he'd just barely win by miracle."

Nora : "Hmmm... I guess so."

She says. And surprisingly, Jaune was peeking through the open door which wasn't completely open, but just about enough to take a look inside. Yep. He heard everything. He looks down sadly as he closes the door quietly. He stands there for a second before-

Ruby : "Hey, Jaune !"

Ruby scares him slightly from right behind him. He looks back, surprised.

Ruby : "Long time no see. Did you lock yourself out again ?"

Jaune : "Oh ! Uhh... Nope ! Heh, got it !" He nervously says, pulling out his scroll.

Ruby : "So... Where've you been lately ?"

Jaune : "I-I... Uhh..." He pauses, before sighing, realizing he can't come up with anything to say besides the truth. "I fucked up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin's got me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and... I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea."

He says, sliding down on the door to the ground.

Jaune : "I'm a failure." He says, looking down.

Ruby : "Nope !"

Jaune : "'Nope' ?" He immediately replies, shocked.

Ruby : "Nope !" (A/N - okay i gotta admit the way she said it was really adorable lmfao) "You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."

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

Ruby : "Hmmm... Nope."

Jaune chuckles, before continuing.

Jaune : "Y'know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kinda stuff."

He says, as she sits down next to him.

Ruby : "Nope ! ...Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid." He sighs when she says that, sliding down a bit lower.

Ruby : "And you might have even been a failure when we first met."