Okay, so this is a concept that I hope is new, but if not, I hope you enjoy.
Italics=Thoughts.
Cinder Fall stood over the wounded Pyrrha Nikos and readied her bow and arrow.
"Do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yes." Cinder replied.
Ruby rushed up onto the top of the tower, only to see Cinder shoot Pyrrha through the chest with one of her arrows. Pyrrha gasped for air as Cinder put her hand on her forehead and caused her to turn to ashes. All Ruby knew next was that a bright flash had engulfed everything on top of the tower and that she fell unconscious.
It had been months since the Fall of Beacon, everyone was still recovering from the many losses incurred, primarily the death of Pyrrha. But today, the skies seemed bright and everything was calm.
Ruby held the group's map, clearly lost but acting like she knew where they were going.
"So the next town is... Uh huuh. Uh huuuuuh. We're lost." Ruby said, lowering the map.
"We're not lost, the next town is Shion." Jaune said, "My family used to visit it all the time."
"Oh yeah. Don't you have like...four sisters?" Ruby asked.
"Uh, seven..." Jaune nervously replied.
"You know, that actually explains a lot." Nora said.
"Wait...what do you mean?" Jaune asked.
"So! What did you guys do there?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, all sorts of stuff." Jaune said, putting a hand on the map, "Over here is a great hiking tail. And over here is where we went camping all the time. I got my own tent because I was special! Also so my sisters would stop braiding my hair."
"Didn't like the look?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, they just kept doing pigtails, but personally I think I'm more a warrior's wolf tail kinda guy." Jaune said.
"That's just a ponytail." Ruby said.
"I stand by what I said." Jaune said.
The skies turned dark as the group approached the ruins of Shion.
"Uh... guys..." Nora said.
"Huh?" Ruby asked.
"What?" Jaune asked the same time as Ruby spoke.
Jaune and Ruby looked ahead in horror at the demolished village. Ruby and Jaune dropped the map (for some reason) and RNJR ran into the village to search for survivors.
"There could be survivors!" Ruby said.
"Over here." Ren said, running over to a lone survivor.
"A Huntsman." Ruby said as the others approached the survivor.
"What happened?" Jaune asked, "Who killed all of these people?"
Before the Huntsman could speak, everyone could hear the faint panting of a nearby woman. Moments later, Cinder came crawling out from behind a pile of rubble.
"Cinder?" Ruby asked.
"What's she doing here?" Ren asked.
"Is she hurt?" Ruby asked.
"If she is, it makes my job a lot easier." Jaune said.
"Wait, what are you...?" Ruby asked.
Jaune approached the downed Cinder, with his sword at the ready.
"J...Jaune?" Cinder asked.
Jaune walked over to Cinder and kicked her, causing her to roll onto her back.
"Did you show them any mercy?" Jaune asked.
"What?" Cinder asked.
"Don't play dumb." Jaune said, "I know that you killed these people, and Pyrrha."
"J...Jau...ne." Cinder panted.
Jaune raised his sword up so he could stab Cinder.
"You're going to pay for what you've done." Jaune said.
"Wait..." the Huntsman uttered, "She...helped...us..."
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked.
"Bandits attacked...she came and tried to protect us...but then the Grimm came and...that was it..." the Huntsman said with his dying breath.
"She...helped them?" Nora asked.
"It's all a trick." Jaune said, raising his blade higher, "There's no way she could turn."
Jaune thrust his sword down, but it was stopped by Ruby, who swung Crescent Rose's blade in the way, stopping Jaune.
"What are you doing!?" Jaune asked.
"Give her a chance to speak." Ruby said, "Which she seem to not be able to do very well right now."
Cinder nodded and motioned for Ruby to come closer.
"Be cautious." Jaune said, "If she tries anything, nothing will stop me from killing her."
Ruby nodded and leaned towards Cinder.
Cinder whispered, since that was all she could vocally do at this point, and told Ruby what to relay to the others.
"She says that, this is going to sound crazy, she's Pyrrha." Ruby said.
"That's hard to believe." Jaune said.
Cinder whispered to Ruby again.
"She asks if there's a way she can prove it to you." Ruby said.
"Fine." Jaune said, kneeling down, "Tell me something that only Pyrrha would know."
Cinder motioned for Ruby to back off and then whispered something to Jaune. The moment Cinder stopped speaking, Jaune smiled and hugged her. Everyone was taken aback.
"It's her." Jaune said.
"What did she tell you?" Ruby asked.
"Everything about a stupid bet I made." Jaune said, still embracing the one he knew to be his friend.
"But...how is this possible?" Ren asked, "Pyrrha was killed on Beacon Tower."
Cinder, now thought to be Pyrrha, whispered something else to Jaune.
"She says that she was." Jaune said, "She doesn't know how it happened, but she woke up in Cinder's body and escaped from their lair, eventually coming here."
"Well, it might be possible." Ren said, "But I don't see a valid reason."
Pyrrha gave Jaune the needed reason.
"She guesses it has something to do with the Fall Maiden's power." Jaune said, "She believes that she possessed a small, undetectable, fragment and became a part of the collective being of the Fall Maiden's energy. She thinks something happened that caused her to come in possession of Cinder's body."
"Wait...Fall Maiden?" Nora asked, "Who's that?"
"You've never heard of the story of the Maidens?" Ruby asked.
"No." Nora said.
"Okay, well, it all started when..." Ruby said.
Ren walked off, trying to think on things, but he came across a footprint that was familiar to him.
"It was here." Ren said, "Nora."
Nora walked over to Ren as Ruby finished telling the story and saw the print. Nora and Ren gave each other looks that showed they were thinking the same thing.
Jaune released Pyrrha and stood up. Pyrrha tried to stand up, but she could hardly sit.
"You must've taken quite a beating." Jaune said, "Here, let me help."
Jaune put Pyrrha's arm over his shoulder and helped her up.
"Believe me, Pyrrha, you have no idea how happy I am to see you." Jaune said, "But...this is going to take a bit of getting used to."
Pyrrha gave Jaune a confused look.
"The whole thing that you're Cinder right now, it just looks a little weird." Jaune said.
Pyrrha nodded, agreeing with Jaune's point.
As the group walked off, knowing that there was nothing more that they could do, Ren called Ruby and Nora over to him.
"What is it?" Ruby asked, as the threesome walked slightly ahead of Jaune and Pyrrha.
"I don't fully believe that Cinder really is Pyrrha." Ren said, "Jaune might be so happy that he can't think, but we must remain aware that this could be an elaborate trap."
"But, Ren..." Ruby said.
"No, buts, if anything seems suspicious, follow that lead, got it?" Ren asked.
Ruby sighed.
"Alright...I'll keep an eye out." Ruby said.
"I'm sorry if it feels like I'm forcing this upon you two, but you can never be too careful." Ren said.
"It's okay, Ren." Nora said.
Ruby solemnly nodded.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha was deep in thought.
"I hope that me going with them won't put them in unnecessary danger." she thought.
Later that night, Ruby was having a strange dream.
"Jaune..." Ruby hears Pyrrha say, "Jaune... Jaune!"
Ruby woke up, but heard nothing more and closed her eyes again.
"Jaune..." Pyrrha's voice said off in the distance.
Ruby's eyes shot open. Ruby sat up and looked around, she saw that Jaune's sleeping bag was open.
"Follow these instructions..." Pyrrha's voice said in the distance.
Ruby got up and walked in the direction of the sound. Ruby eventually stopped and hid behind a tree. Ruby looked over and it looked like Jaune and Pyrrha/Cinder were about to face off.
"Oh no." Ruby thought.
Ruby was about to dash in, but then she heard Pyrrha's voice.
"Alright Jaune, just like we practiced." Pyrrha said in an old video recording on Jaune's Scroll, "Follow these instructions. Shield up."
Jaune raised his shield up as Pyrrha stood, watching.
"Keep your grip tight. Don't forget to keep your front foot forward." Pyrrha said in the recording, "Ready? Go."
Jaune parried.
"Again." recorded Pyrrha said.
Jaune turned around and swung his sword in a diagonal path.
"And again!" recorded Pyrrha said.
Jaune spun around and swung his sword horizontally.
"Okay!" recorded Pyrrha said, "Now assuming you aren't cheating, we can take a break."
Jaune panted heavily.
"I know this can be frustrating...and it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount. But...I want you to know that I'm proud of you. I've never met someone so determined to better themselves." recorded Pyrrha said, "You've grown so much since we started training...and I know this is just the beginning. Jaune...I...I...I want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of my life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune..."
The recording automatically rewound. As it rewound, Pyrrha walked over to Jaune and put a hand on his shoulder. Jaune looked at her and she smiled in response. Jaune grinned at the one who he was sure had come back.
"I'm glad you're back." Jaune said.
Ruby smiled at the scene and walked off to get some sleep.
And that's the first chapter of this story. I hope you'll enjoy this whole thing. Posts on this story will not be too frequent.
BTW, there is a poll on my profile page, please check it out.
Powerhouse out.
