Starlight and Shadows

Chapter 8: My Valiant Knight

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."

Shaking his head out of his own thoughts, Jaune 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."