The Melancholy of Jaune Arc

The halls of Beacon were for the most part silent at night. The students had settled in and were slumbering in their respective dorms. This eve however, a figure could be seen roaming the corridors. The shadowy figure made its way through the halls and up to the roof of the Academy. Once up and in the open, the figure removed it's hood, and revealed itself to be none other than Jaune Arc.

He stood in the middle of the roof for a while, looking down at his feet with a grim look on his face. He was thinking about what he was doing, what had to be done. How he had gotten out of his dorm room unnoticed was a mystery since he knocked just about every piece of furniture possible on the way out. He recalled how he watched each member of his team drift off one by one, and how he had waited for a small while to make sure that they were sleeping. He didn't want them to know about this choice. Not yet. He remembered climbing off his bed, turning straight to Pyrrha, his best friend and fighting partner. He looked at her sleeping, mesmerized by how peaceful she looked, before planting the smallest of kisses onto her soft lips. She would never even know that it had happened. Nora was the next dozing figure that he saw, and he watched at the bubbly girl now slumbered lazily, almost like a sloth. He ran a hand down her face, smiling as he did so. If only she knew where he currently stood. Ren was the final friend that Jaune saw, once again sleeping but at the same time, the most alert looking. Jaune simply watched him in his state of deep sleep for a while, a tear running down his face. Before he could start making audible sobs, he left without saying a word.

Slowly, he walked up to the edge of the roof until he reached the lip of it and sat himself down. Jaune looked around at the surrounding city. It looked almost like a group of fireflies without motion in the distance as the soft glow from the lights comforted the boy. He had been up here so many times with Pyrrha fighting, training, attempting to become a better man, a better friend, and a better leader.

No more.

He let out a sigh as he reached into the left pocket of his jeans and retrieved a note. He lay his sword and shield on the roof next to him, before gently placing the note in between the two, so that it wouldn't flutter off.

He felt odd. For once in his life, he wasn't afraid. This really was for the best. He started to cry, knowing that nobody would hear him wail he let all of his emotions flow free on the roof. All of the times that he let his friends down and all of the times that he had been bullied would finally be coming to an end. At least in this final action, he would be remembered.

The birds chimed an eerie tone the next morning. Ozpin was sitting at his desk in his office, reading through notes while cradling his morning cup of coffee. He heard a knock at the door which he answered to find a grief stricken janitor. The headmaster immediately invited the cleaner in and asked her what had happened.

"Sir, I'm afraid we found a body this morning on the academy grounds. It looks as if they had thrown themselves off the roof."

The headmaster looked up, his blank expression hardly changing. This was a first. Of course, the academy was training young hunters and huntresses, so students had died before this but suicide? This was new. He stood up from his desk and shifted his glasses to meet his eyes. "I want this body identified straight away. Take me with you."

Outside, the grounds were misty and the birds were still chirping. Ozpin stood with the janitor as they stared at the fallen student.

"Mr Arc. You were so promising. You were not the best hunter here by far, but you had a good soul and you were loved by many." He said to nobody in particular. The two people stood for a while, mourning as they waited for the infirmary staff to collect him. "This is going to be a long day."

Team JNPR were still snoozing when the knock at the door came. Ren was the first to wake, and answered to find the hard gaze of the headmaster. The young hunter looked slightly perplexed, but remembered to be polite.

"Sir?"

"Good morning Mr Ren."

"It's a pleasure to see you, but there must be a reason you are here. Is it about the Vytal Festival."

"I'm afraid not. I wish I could have arrived under less dire circumstances. Please, rouse the rest of the team. I will knock again in ten minutes.

"Um.. Yes sir."

Ren slowly closed the door before doing as he was instructed. He first woke Nora, who lay around for a while, it was only a matter of time until she was her usual self. He then went to wake up Pyrrha, who stretched and seemed almost entirely awake instantly. The boy walked over to Jaune's bed, only to be left dumbfounded when the leader was nowhere to be seen. The Spartan asked him what the matter was and he pointed it out, however she didn't seem overly concerned. She thought that he probably went for a walk after the curfew and got caught, hence the headmaster being at their room. The team changed as quickly as they could before Ren approached the door, opened it and invited Ozpin in.

The professor walked into the dorm, and looked each and every person present in the eye. He wanted to make sure that he had the full attention of the room. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before talking.

"I have joined you here this morning to deliver some grave news. Early this morning, the body of Jaune Arc was discovered. It is clear that he jumped from the roof above. From the roof, we found his weapons as well as a note. They belong to you now." He motioned to the door and in walked a teacher, who simply laid out Jaune's possessions, and walked out again. The silence in the room was asphyxiating as the three students looked at the sword, shield and note.

Ozpin coughed, gathering the pupils' attention once more. "We will discuss the future of your team tomorrow. As a teacher I am sorry for your loss, and as an academy, we are sorry that we couldn't do more. We have failed him." The grey haired headmaster said as he let out a final sigh, and walked out of the room, shaking his head slightly.

'This is a note to my team. My friends. This will be the last thing that you hear from me and by the time you are reading this, I am dead. The one thing that you all have to do is carry on. I don't care how hard it is, you're all hunters, and it's your job to make the world a better place. I tried to, but it was all too much.

Cardin. You've been tearing into me ever since I landed in this academy. You made my life a living hell for weeks, and it would still be going on if the incident with the Ursa hadn't have happened. I tried to make a new start for myself here, and you did nothing but falter that. In my eyes, you will never be a hunter. How can you protect people when you go around senselessly abusing them? It's pathetic. You should be in my place right now.

Pyrrha. You won't have to worry about me anymore. You won't have to put up with the bumbling boy in class or have your grades suffer as a consequence for helping me. I really do appreciate what you have done for me, and I think that it's only here that I can express how truly grateful I am. I will miss you, and I hope that you will miss me too, but you need to carry on. Find another partner, another leader. I was no good. Perhaps you can find someone that is actually worthy. I love you

Ren and Nora. I never got to know you as much as I would have liked to, but I want you to know that I will deeply miss the both of you. You guys always supported me, even through my mistakes, and I am thankful for that. I want you to stay together with Pyrrha and carry on. You will only grow stronger without me. I'm sorry for what I have done, and I know that this will be hard on both of you, but I know that it is for the best. Goodbye my friends.

I have one more thing to say. I don't want my parents to find out about this. Can somebody tell them that I fell in combat or something of the like? I have let down my family's name for too long and I don't want this to be a final act of shame. I love you, mom.

In any other world, I could have stayed. I could have been Jaune Arc, famed hunter, protector of the people. I could have still been around. In any other world, just not this one.'