Sucker for Remnant

Volume 1, Chapter 5: Bad Memories may Forever Fall

Pyrrha Nikos looked out the window of Team JNPR's room in sadness. Lie Ren sat on his bed as he examined StormFlower, making sure his personal weapon would be ready for tomorrow's events. His partner Nora Valkyrie was jumping up and down on her bed nearby.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" she asked without stopping.

"He's become rather scarce since he started fraternizing with Cardin," Ren noted.

"That's weird... Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest." As she said this, she twirled in mid-air and hit the covers on her back.

Pyrrha's sadness switched to anger. "I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing."

Nora and Ren exchanged glances. She'd been like this ever since she came back alone from dragging Jaune away after Oobleck's class some time ago. She always brushed them off when they tried to ask her about it, same with Jaune the little time he was with his team.

Speaking of the blond swordsman, the subject of their limited conversation was looking into the room through the slightly cracked-open door. He hung his head and silently closed the door when he heard Nora say, "Mmmm... I guess so."

His thoughts were interrupted by a "Hey, Jaune!" from his side. Startled, he turned to see Ruby in her pajamas.

She giggled at his reaction. "Long time, no see! Did you lock yourself out again?"

"Oh, uh, nope!" he answered as he pulled out his scroll that also served as his key for JNPR's room door. "Got it."

"So!... Where have you been lately?" Ruby asked, changing the subject.

"I, uh..." Jaune tried to come up with something, but he failed as usual. He simply sighed and lowered his head again. "I messed up, Ruby. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has 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 pressed his back against his team's door and slid down to the floor, depressed. "I'm a failure."

"Nope!" Ruby said.

Jaune looked at her in surprise. "'Nope?'"

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

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

Ruby thought for a moment before replying "Nope!" and joining him on the floor.

Jaune laughed. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope! Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..."

Jaune groaned and sunk lower into the ground.

"... and you might've even been a failure the first day we met!"

Jaune groaned again and lowed himself further.

"But you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uhhh, because...?"

"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 got up and placed her hands on her hips. "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you."

"She's right, you know."

Ruby and Jaune both turned to see Simon walking towards them in his fatigues and armor, his bullpup rifle slung over his shoulder having just come back from the school's shooting range. He stopped in front of his two friends.