"…so wait, you're telling me…" Ruby began.

"Yes." Blake was firm in her assertion, though she continued reading her book.

"But I've read it so many times…" Ruby's voice was small.

"I know, it's common. It's not your fault."

"So nonplussed actually means that you're really confused?" Ruby spoke loudly, in a somewhat-affronted manner.

"To be so surprised or confused that you aren't sure how to react. A lot of people online use it wrong, though it's become almost a Valean slang version so it isn't exactly incorrect, but it's not really right either. Sorry Ruby. And don't even get me started on words like niggardly..." Ruby sucked in breath.

"You can't say that!" She hissed.

"Yes she can." Weiss stated bluntly. "It means being ungenerous. People can get these words confused all the time." Weiss looked thoughtful as she gently filed her nails. "I suppose it's like 'bemused' in a way."

"Doesn't that mean 'amused'?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"No." Weiss replied bluntly.

"What?!" Ruby cried in exasperation. "Everything I knew is wrong. What does it even mean then?"

"To be confused, puzzled, or bewildered." Blake spoke without looking up.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Nora asked in an impressed tone of voice.

"She reads a lot." Ruby, Yang and Weiss spoke in unison, with Yang gesturing at Blake's book in an exaggerated manner with both hands.

Blake's only reaction was to narrow her eyes as they continued scanning the pages before her.

"So you like stories? Well I've got a story for you… So! There we were, in the middle of the night…" As Nora launched into a heavily embellished retelling of the story JNPR had heard repeatedly over the last week, Blake kept reading her book. Weiss resumed her nail filing pointedly, while Yang listened intently. And Jaune…

Jaune poked his food.

This didn't go unnoticed, as both Pyrrha and Ruby looked on in concern. Upon the conclusion of Nora's story, and Ren's amendments, Pyrrha voiced her thoughts.

"Jaune, are you OK?"

"Huh?" Jaune looked up to see the table looking at him with varying levels of anguish. He looked back to Pyrrha. "Oh yeah! Why?"

"It's just you seem a little... not OK." Ruby butted in eloquently.

"Guys, I'm fine! Just, got stuff on my mind..." Jaune trailed off. He was, in this instance, telling the truth.

It was difficult yielding in combat class, even if it was the only way he could survive to finish it. But the issue was that no matter how often he tried to repeat the class, Cardin always found a way to crush him. Fighting against Grimm in a team and fighting a trained hunter in single combat with nobody to distract his opponent were two very different problems. It was one thing to know how someone would act in the fight; it was another to actually respond correctly. Jaune simply did not have the skill to react in the best way. And every time he successfully carried an attack, Cardin replied with his mace in turn. Jaune had to be perfect every time. And Cardin - while practically standing still in comparison to any of RWBY or Pyrrha – was far from slow.

Given time, Jaune could have danced around a slower, but hard-hitting opponent. But Jaune was simply not practised enough to even be on Cardin's level in terms of speed. And it showed, in more deaths than he'd experienced before. His chestplate, and his entire chest as well, had been stoved in frequently... as well as his head and limbs. Cardin had managed to finish him off both times he'd broken arms due to his unrelenting manner, rather than sheer bloody-minded brutality (though it was a close thing). On top of that, whenever he did manage to score a hit, it simply lacked strength, whether due to his lack of technique, physique, or inability to use aura properly.

In the end, Jaune had managed to fake it through a few glancing blows, enough to look like he'd taken serious hits but without actually taking damage. After that, he'd yielded, to spare himself yet another sudden start to the morning. It was still humiliating though... he seemed weak and pathetic. He knew that if they'd seen his ordeals, the spectators would have been awed by his capacity for punishment... but they hadn't, and he felt like they were judging him harshly for it. He was just so frustrated; angry even. And he felt so powerless about the whole situation.

As he snapping out of his reverie, the group turned to look at Cardin and his team flagrantly belittling a girl with long brown hair, and rabbit ears to match. They appeared to be laughing at her paid in a disgraceful display of brutish behaviour. Pyrrha turned back to her leader.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week!"

"It's nothing serious. Just... jokes?" His hopeful face failed to sway the table.

"Jaune, he's a bully." Ruby said bluntly. Jaune scoffed at that.

"Please, name on time he's 'bullied' me."

As they listed numerous instances, including the desecration of his books, and the use of his shield as an object of amusement, Jaune winced internally. At least they don't know about the rocket locker... he thought to himself, then shuddered at the memory.

That had been a very unpleasant experience. Being battered half to death after being forced into the locker and sent to a random location was one thing... but breaking his neck and finishing the job on landing? That was another. Technically it made Cardin a murderer, rather than just a bully or belligerent bas-... person, but since he'd expected Jaune to have aura in its normal form, Jaune didn't really pin that badge on him quite yet.

Still, he'd rather not go through it again. He zoned in as Pyrrha spoke again.

"Jaune, if you ever need help, you can just ask."

"Ooh!" Nora stood and punched her hand, a maniacal grin on her face. "We'll break his legs!" Weiss' eye twitched, but otherwise she kept an even face as the display of savagery in front of her.

"Guys, it's fine, really! Besides, it's not just me, he's a jerk to everyone." He gestured back to CRDL, as they continued to harass the faunus girl.

Pyrrha grimaced. "Atrocious. I can't stand people like him."

"He's not the only one," Blake added, glowering at him with fervour.

"It must be hard being a faunus," Yang sighed. Blake's eyebrow flickered briefly, her face momentarily a complicated expression: a mixture of relief that her partner sympathised with their plight, and sadness at the truth of her words. Blake quickly schooled her features into a more neutral look.

Unnoticed by the sister-teams, Jaune stood, and slowly walked away. I just need to figure this out...

Unbeknownst to him however, Cardin watched him leave, a sickly smirk on his harsh face.

It was later that same day that Jaune found himself pulled to the rooftop by his partner, following a humiliating dressing down after Oobleck's lecture. He'd never felt more powerless. Jaune glanced over the city, its beautiful lights twinkling in the distance, before peering over the edge.

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but I'm not that depressed." He sighed. "It's not like it would even work anyway..." Jaune mumbled under his breath. Pyrrha gasped as she realised what he was implying.

"N-no! That's not why I brought you up here!" She pulled him back from the edge as she spoke, clearly worried. "Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class, and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so I want to help you!" At this, Jaune's eyebrows furrowed.

"You think I need help?"

"No! No, that's not what I meant." She tried to backtrack, seeing that she'd wounded his pride.

"But you just said it." He sounded bitter. He knew he was being unfair to her, but he was just so sick of feeling weak. Of feeling like no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't compete with any of the other students. And it was crushing to realise his partner saw it the same way. She tried to explain.

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon, you passed initiation, you were made the leader of our team! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Jaune snorted bitterly.

"You're wrong. I... I don't belong here." He glowered at the floor to one side of her.

"That's a terrible thing to say! Of course you do!" Pyrrha vehemently denied his statement.

"No, I don't!" He sighed, as Pyrrha looked nonplussed. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon..." He turned away, looking out over the city. Ashamed.

"What do you mean?"

""I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" He turned back to her, anger and shame written across his face. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied! And I'm only stood here, right now, because of some bullcrap that I should never have been able to pull off. I don't deserve any of it." Pyrrha's shock was evident

"What? But... why?" Pyrrha spoke quietly.

"Because this is always what I've wanted to be!" He turned back to the city, and spoke quieter, but still with some force behind his words. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough." Pyrrha laid a hand on his should.

"Then let me help you!" She spoke, almost pleading. He turned on her, almost snarling.

"I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!" He was practically shouting now. Pyrrha tried to backtrack

"Jaune, I-"

" I'm tired of being the loveable idiot who can't fight, who needs to hide behind his friends while they do all the work! If I can't hold my own... If I can't do this myself, then what good am I?"

Pyrrha stretched out to touch him, if only to offer some modicum of support, but he leant back from her. She paused, fingers out, before retracting her arm and slowly closing her hand. Her eyes were shining in the moonlight, until she closed those too, and breathed out a weary sigh.

"Just... leave me alone. Okay?" Jaune spoke, faintly. Pyrrha nodded.

"If... that's what you think is best." She said quietly, hating every word.

With that, she turned around, leaving Jaune to stare out into the distance, alone.

It was a long time before he went back inside.

There isn't really a lot to change in this section. While I could have avoided it completely, there were some sections in Forever Fall I really wanted to do... which I'm sure you can figure out.

There's a few smaller changes, namely in speech, but one much larger one that you might notice... can't imagine why that would need to happen though...

Thanks for reading!