Jaune's Resolve

6 - Depth

"Now that we have our crimson sap collected," she began with her usual chipper energy, "we can begin a little experiment! These lovely jars can be used for more than just extra credit. Crimson sap, when refined properly, makes a phenomenal organic fertilizer!"

She raised her arms dramatically, as though revealing a grand treasure.

The class—gathered loosely in clusters around raised soil beds—stared back in silence.

"Who wants to come up and help me mix a test batch?" she asked, smiling widely. "Don't be shy! Hands, please!"

No one moved.

There was a hesitant shuffle of feet. Some students awkwardly looked to each other. The room remained still. Not even Team RWBY stirred.

Weiss glanced around with a huff and was just about to raise her hand out of sheer exasperation—when someone else's hand rose first.

"I can try...?" Jaune said, stepping forward with only a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Several heads turned.

Professor Peach beamed like sunlight. "Wonderful! Come up, Mister Arc. Let me show you how to get your hands a little dirty—in the name of science!"

Jaune made his way to the front table, rolling up his sleeves, his movements still a bit stiff but confident enough.

Weiss froze.

'Jaune Arc?' Her hand slowly dropped back to her side as she watched him approach the table, listened to him respond with curiosity, nodding as Professor Peach walked him through the refinement process. No fumbling. No tripping over his words.

Just... him. Participating. Learning.

She frowned—not in malice, but in confusion. In surprise. And somewhere deep beneath that, a little dented pride.

A few weeks ago, he could barely stay awake. His notes were nonexistent. His answers, if he ever gave one, were wrong more often than not.

He was a liability, not just on the battlefield—but here, too. In the classroom.

But now... now he was trying.

Back at initiation, she had mocked him. Saw him as barely worth acknowledging. A buffoon. A background character. Now, in the span of a morning, he had contributed insight in Professor Port's lecture, answered questions in Doctor Theodore's class, and volunteered here—before her. Outperforming her this morning. And it bothered her more than she cared to admit.

Weiss's expression cooled into a tight-lipped silence as she turned her attention back to the soil in front of her.

____

RIIIIINGGGG~!

The bell rang with its usual sharp trill, signaling the end of the period.

A beat of silence hung in the greenhouse before students began to shuffle out, the quiet murmur of voices rising into conversation and idle chatter.

Outside, the Beacon courtyard had come alive.

Students from all years and classes poured into the open space—some moving in small herds toward the cafeteria, others peeling off toward the benches beneath the shade trees, laughing and unwrapping sandwiches. On the far side of the field, a group tossed a frisbee back and forth, its bright orange blur cutting arcs through the air. Some students sat on the stone walls or grassy knolls, sketching or dozing in the sun.

It was midday in Beacon.

And for a brief moment, it felt like nothing in the world could go wrong.

Team RWBY and Team JNPR made their way through the main walkway. Conversations layered over one another—some light, some teasing, some muffled by the distant hum of bullheads flying overhead.