The Song of Awakening

White Gold

Cold. She hadn't expected it to be so cold. Bitter, not in the way you expect from the routines of life, but rather a cold that sapped any spirit from a tense, coiled spring and made it lethargic in action. She walked in this cold, breathed in this cold, consumed and enveloped this cold until there was little that could be said to be left of Ruby Rose but cold. On a journey such as this, there was not much to be said. And not much anyone wanted to hear.

"So the last anybody has heard officially is that the kingdoms are still avoiding war?" the green clad warrior questioned.

"So far, but in that last village I heard too many people whispering that Vacuo was marching east toward Vale," the maiden in pink answered. "There's so little we can trust now without the CTS."

Ren and Nora, a pair as unlikely as a tame Grimm, they were right out of one of those sappy children's videos. Well, they were, but now nothing but grim purpose forced them to march on. The old spark was still there, a friendship, perhaps even a love that refused to go out. But it was trounced by the need to focus on the journey, the need to find answers to this tragedy that had befallen them. Ruby couldn't help but envy them. They held onto each other, unmaimed and driven toward something together. She marched with them, but also marched alone.

Perhaps, not alone though. Ahead of the three strode a young man, sandy haired and armed in a simple way that belies his nature as a Huntsman. He was perhaps the one who Ruby could empathize with the most, losing nearly as much as herself. Jaune once had nothing more to care about than his own team and his own growth. That was before the tournament, before he lost a gold treasure he only knew he had just before it was too late. He survived, only to reap such reward as ruin and death with little hope of salvation. Now there remains a man, a leader to drive what remained of his comrades toward an uncertain future.

Funny, how much she had changed. Just a little under a year ago she was chosen to lead a team all older than her. Weiss, Blake, and her own sister, Yang. So she rose to the occasion and cast off some of her childhood. Ruby had found a part of herself she didn't know and nurtured it, giving the same advice she used to keep her going to Jaune when it came time. She grew when it came time to confront Blake's past, she grew when the city came under attack. Before there was any time to reflect on the things left behind, she was forced to leave everything behind. So she strode forward, forever changed into the woman she is now.

Jaune hadn't thought much for two months now. He hadn't given his heart time to heal, nor had he pondered what it was he was doing with the rest of them. He simply marched forward, surrounded by grief held at bay with raw determination. The forest hummed quietly in the winter air, life slowly making its way toward the inevitable spring and rebirth. So too did Jaune make his way toward answers, any that would put his mind to rest.

"How long have we been on the road?" he asked flatly.

"About three hours now, should we rest here?" Ruby replied. She had it just as bad as himself, maybe even worse. And still she carried on in a way that would fool anyone to her grief. Jaune didn't know how she did it, that unending well of strength and resolve to do what needs to be done. All he could do was soldier on, trying his best not to crack for the good of his team. What remained of his team.

"Yeah, sure. I can see a small clearing just up ahead" he answered.

It was clear as day to anyone that he hadn't slept well, hadn't had a true rest in near two months. The taste on his lips was still there, the last memory he had of her. The last thing she ever did for him. Jaune laid his gear down next to a stump and prepared for the long silence that always ensued when he rejoined the group. He wasn't ready to let the grief invade his soul yet, not ready to let that scar form. For now, he would simply exist to exact vengeance any way he could.

Ruby had refused to believe that anything was predetermined from the day she was accepted to Beacon, instead relying on her own prowess to make her own outcome. But twice in one day was she reminded that she couldn't do everything, couldn't save everyone. But before the end of that day her influence would save someone, something. A giant Grimm, and maybe even a wicked woman. Frozen, according to her uncle, by her own hand using something she didn't know even existed.

"Why are we even going to Haven?" she found herself saying.

"For answers." Ren stated.

"To do something, anything to fix this mess." Nora whispered. She may have been taking this harder than Ren. "This wasn't how it was supposed to be."

Jaune sat there unmoving. He still wasn't ready to acknowledge Pyrrha's death, how he felt about her. Ruby knew that feeling, she didn't want to acknowledge how she felt about Blake's desertion until much later. She didn't want to feel the pain her sister was in back home. But she did, and she grew to accept it and put it behind her for the sake of her journey. Now there wasn't much to feel other than the sense of dread for the future.

The forest was silent, not even the calming hum was around anymore. Dread hung over the group like a blanket ready to suffocate any unwary soul. A twig cracked, and everyone sprang to their own combat stance. Ruby held her Crescent Rose high, prepared for the first Grimm attack of the journey. What she saw was disarming to the point of madness. Standing before her and the rest was a young fawn, but it didn't shy away or even avert its eyes. It stood with the pride and manner of a full stag, demanding that the intruders in its land flee before its awesome might.

It reminded her of someone, someone she watched die.

And then she watched it again.

Jaune couldn't believe his eyes. A fawn, nothing more than a kid in this dark world stood against a wall of blades and guns. It stood there unflinching. It was more than he could take, and everything since his arrival in Beacon replayed in his mind. His initiation, his placement as team leader, his follies and triumphs. And her. The treasure he lost before he could even comprehend what she meant to him. The kiss that shouldn't have been, and forever haunts him with his failure to act.

The fawn stood there, and he saw what he couldn't bring himself to see.

Then there was no fawn, only the black and red monstrosity he had been trained to defeat. It had snatched the fawn up in an oversized claw, rending the noble creature thoroughly before tossing it aside to move toward its real goal. Jaune stood perplexed, shocked at the scene before him, the perpetuity of his suffering in the real world where only his mind had once dared to venture. A nightmare replayed before his waking eyes. A well of fury, the deepest parts of his soul hidden for the sake of sanity, burst forth until there was nothing in the world but the Grimm in his view. All of his sorrow would be placed onto this beast, as he was to strike down the enemy so he would strike down his pain.

Ruby was shaken at the viciousness of the Grimm before her, but also confused as to why it had attacked now. Two weeks on the road with no attacks and indeed, no sign of any threatening Grimm. And now, of all times it attacks not only them, but an innocent animal. Ruby was pulled from her reverie by Jaune's bloodcurdling cry, as he flung himself at the bearlike creature. She watched the man fly at the beast with no regard for his safety, swinging in a manner more akin to a butcher than a fighter.

She watched him fight, and noted that Ren and Nora were equally shocked by their leader. He began with a vicious side strike, following into a backhand swing to right himself. The Grimm ignored his blows and slashed back in a typical animal manner. Jaune began weaving more and more combos into this fight, changing from a maddened man into something altogether familiar. The twist of his blade, catching claws on his shield to close the gap, it all had a feel of Pyrrha's style to it. Less elegant and more robust, it felt like the very soul of her friend had manifested in his fight.

Little by little, the Grimm was pushed back, slowing and growing more sloppy in its movements. Jaune recovered from a straight blow to his shield and ran forward, angling his blade along his shield. A coup de grace. He charged headlong, and stabbed the beast where its heart would be, recovering and rolling away while the beast slumped forward and sank to the ground. They all stood in silence, waiting for the Grimm to vanish. It seemed to take too long and Jaune began shaking, perhaps finally realizing everything that had happened. Before Ruby could make her way over to him, he had turned his back and walked toward the fawn. His gait was unsure, and he began to slouch, letting his arms hang limp with his weapons. He let all of his pain spill out into the open air, every part of it on display for the world to see. Ruby couldn't take it anymore.

"It's not your fault," she yelled at him, "Pyrrha wouldn't want you to live just for revenge!" She couldn't want that, there was so much more to her. She may be unsure, with little time to be herself and even fewer people to treat as such, but Jaune was the one who gave her every ounce of the person that she wanted to be. Ruby felt she owed it to Pyrrha not to let Jaune waste himself in such a forlorn way. She had to make sure he began looking forward to the future, just as she had to make sure she was ready for it. She hadn't quite let her guard down when the grizzly beast began to stir and sprang back up and toward Jaune with death in its eyes. Before anyone could react, the beast slammed to the ground and skid to a halt some feet before Jaune. In its flank was a spear, ornate and ancient, yet familiar and advanced.

Extraordinary. Many times had she been described in this manner, when she began showing prowess unbecoming of someone her age. When she found she could manipulate metal to a degree one wouldn't expect out of a trainee. When she took on the mantle of Huntress and dedicated her life to the prosperity of others. But now what would they say? She had transcended even her fate and strode once more on the waking world, something no one had told her could happen.

Through the forest she walked, making her way in the shadow of another group both familiar and foreign. They were her charge, self imposed by her own choice and her own heart. She had been given a second chance to right her wrongs and devote her life, at what cost she didn't yet know. She had been awake for a month now, and seen her world in ruin for a month now. She awoke on the tower, bare and alone save for the frozen visage of a monster she had vague memories of. By her was a frozen bow, a memento of a time before her destiny. She arose and stood to the scene of a barren city, a barren school.

The journey down from the tower was arduous, her semblance seemed just outside her grasp. Perhaps it was for the best, she had relied on it for so long that a good rest would be ideal, lay her head down and sleep... no, she must continue. Pyrrha descended the tower, her luck tested many times as she plead for the tenuous hand holds to bear her weight. On the ground she found the area free of life, no humans, no fauna. No Grimm. The weight of the scene was tremendous, the ability of her enemy immense and terrifying.

And yet there was no fear. She strode forth, the singular command ringing in her mind.

"Find Glynda." She walked through the town, determined to see this one purpose through, the burning drive that had ignited upon her awakening beginning to fan to life. The sound of rubble crashing nearby brought her to a trot and in a short time she was face to face with the stoic woman. Approaching Glynda, the veteran Huntress turned and fell back in horror. Was she so ghastly? There were no mirrors on the way here, much to her chagrin.

"H-h-how are you here?" Glynda sputtered "You died!"

"I'm here because I am, just as I was told to find you." Pyrrha replied flatly. There was really no more to it than that, she was back for a purpose. Her destiny was real, and she would see it through to the end. "I hope you know why I'm here?"

Her words rang clearly through the desolate streets, as if spoken much louder than they were. The woman regained her composure, visibly straightening and, oddly enough, brightening entirely at Pyrrha's words. "Indeed I do know, I just didn't think it would happen in my lifetime. Please follow me." Glynda began walking away at a brisk clip, the energy that was gone when Pyrrha arrived returned in full force. They walked toward the tower, where her entire world had come to a screeching halt. Passing the route up, they traveled down into the familiar basement where even the last hopes of peace were dashed. Glynda stopped and stared at a place on the floor, scarred by forces that only now Pyrrha could comprehend.

Moving past the scene, and past the pods containing dashed hopes, Glynda guided her toward a blank wall. A quick flick of her crop and the wall parted, revealing a still lit part of the building. Down they descended into the very bowels of the earth, and still deeper into the sanctum of a man who knew far more than his fair share. Pyrrha walked in silence, apprehension building about what she would find in such a well guarded secret. Glynda marched forward without so much as a murmur, but with a visible pride that could have lit the corridor itself.

Finally at the foot of the descent they came to a stockpile of ancient artifacts. Machinations at first glance that looked primitive and beneath the Huntsman of the day. On closer inspection the workmanship and inner machinery was second to none, equal to the finest weapons Atlas could spawn. Glynda walked up to an opulent armoire, and spun around to stare Pyrrha squarely in the eyes.

"Once I give this to you, there is no turning back. It is a symbol that only the old and infirm will understand, but also one that will speak volumes to the young who will come after us." She spoke with deadly severity. "You are the one it was built for, through the time that Ozpin has guarded it he has searched for its inevitable heir. Many have worn the style, even come close to the very words the legend spoke of. None have been down here to receive it. Until you."

"I understand," Pyrrha had no more to say than that.

Glynda opened the chest and turned back. "You understand. You will have the hardest fate, for the mortal coil doesn't bend so easily to allow you here. There will be times when you will wish to return to your deserved place. You must not go until your task is done." Glynda began sizing Pyrrha up for additional garments. "And, you must understand, you will have to go. No matter how hard it is, you must go, with or without your heart's approval."

Pyrrha walked the forest resplendent in armor received that day, a gift from ancestors of ancestors who could not know who would make the sacrifice, or what she would sacrifice. Glynda had told her where her team had ended up after the attack. Pyrrha followed them for a time, making every preparation to come back and protect them on this new journey. But each day had the same pattern, with Ruby walking with Ren and Nora while Jaune strode ahead in a straight eyed lock step. She couldn't come back yet, so she waited.

This day had started like any other. She awoke in a startled huff, being surprised to be alive once more. As her collective senses returned, her purpose returned and she staved off the need to return to sleep once more. She scanned the area for the group and found them packing for the days progress, without words. Without joy. For a week and a half they had been like this, presumably since they started the journey. As they began walking Pyrrha found her eyes drifting toward Jaune, and then back to Ruby. They both were dealing with grief in their own way, and both needed time that was slowly but surely running out.

They had come up to a clearing when they began to slow up and began taking positions to rest up. Pyrrha had been focusing on Jaune, feeling the agony of not being able to simply take away those pains that had to be there. She touched the part of her exposed chest, the hole still there where she had been fatally pierced.

"Some things won't heal, some things will not go away. You have to be prepared for the worst to come and steel yourself against even further atrocity," Glynda had said, pointing to her still tender wound. She had been explaining the legend that had brought about her armor's sealing as well as the purpose to her resurrection. That time had been a blur, words and commands, advice and apologies for her allotment. Now was a more peaceful, if no less painful time. Pyrrha stood by a tree just out of sight, watching as her friends, her... family wrestled with demons known and unknown. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a fawn bound up to the edge of the clearing and pridefully walk into it. All three Huntsman were at the ready in admirable time, a small pride in her training welling up inside her for Jaune.

Just as quickly as the scene had formed it was shattered by a bearlike Grimm, charging the fawn and fatally rending it. Pyrrha tensed as she saw the beast was of elder stature, though not quite old enough to realize it was outmatched. Before she could decide whether to intervene or not, Jaune sprang forward with a roar that could only be described as grief incarnate. She watched the sandy haired man begin combat with the beast, noting his usual sloppy approach to fighting. Then she saw him grow, using techniques and movements she herself had taught him. The small pride began to grow into an overwhelming tide.

With a final blow to what she could only assume was the heart region Jaune rolled out of the way and stood at the work he had done. Pyrrha watched as he stood there, and watched as he let go of his anger. He slumped, and walked loosely toward the fawn that had been thrown. It was time to return, she felt it in her heart that it was now or never to give him at least some closure. Pyrrha had left her hiding spot and began walking when the Grimm stirred back to life, finding a last reserve of strength to attack a defenseless Jaune. Without a second thought she lined up the throw and hurled her spear, sealing her decision in blood.

Ruby stood in disbelief, watching the Grimm finally disappear and a familiar spear fall to the ground. She regained her composure as the owner came into view, readying her weapon without a second thought. Before her stood a dead woman, something that nothing, no one had ever prepared her for.

"Who are you?" she screamed, adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Why do you look like her?"

"Because I am her, although not quite as you remember," the doppelganger replied.

"That isn't possible, we saw your circlet, we know you burned to ash," Ren argued

The armored woman began to shudder slightly. "I am who I've always been, I am Pyrrha Nikos," she continued.

"Then why are you here?" Nora interrupted. "Why come back now?"

Ruby glanced over to Jaune, he was still standing limp over the fawn, oblivious to the scene unfolding behind him. If this was some trick, some illusion she wanted him to give her a sign, anything that could right her world. Jaune still stood there, now tears streaming down his face. He wasn't going to be any help in this situation, and she wasn't prepared to handle this. There was only one way to handle this, one way to draw out the truth and pull Jaune out of his self-inflicted misery. She hoped she wasn't throwing his life away.

"If you are Pyrrha, you can prove it. Fight Jaune."

The forest grew still once more, Pyrrha had begun shuddering intensely while Ren and Nora stared in disbelief at Ruby. "This is insane! You're sending Jaune to his death," they shouted, "you have no idea if this is a trap!"

He had shut himself off from his grief. He lost that wall, and now he was drowning in his own despair. Then he heard a familiar voice behind him claim she was Pyrrha, and stand by her claim in the way only she could. Ruby's demand rang inside him clear as a bell, it was time for him to face this test like so many others. The protests from his team grew in intensity. He turned and stared the claimant, no, the true woman in the eyes. He knew the answer as soon as he saw her.

"I'll do it, I know her best and I can tell you if she is the one and only Pyrrha," Jaune proclaimed.

He gazed on the armored woman. She wore near the exact same apparel, though instead of bronze, it was a whitened gold color. Instead of bare shoulders she wore ornate pauldrons, elegant yet sturdy. The circlet he had left behind in Beacon was back with her, though engraved with foreign patterns and clearly of a rich make. Attached was a piece of cloth draped back along her hair and covering the fiery mane that had long flowed free. It was the armor of someone out of legend, someone who could right the wrongs and end the evils of the world. It was hers, and she knew it was hers no matter the price she had paid for it.

"We'll find out if the person matches the appearance," Jaune stated as he brought his weapons to bear "no holding back on me."

"Jaune, I-"

He cut her off with a yell, a yell that would not have been his before today. He put his heart, his very essence into the fight, taking all the lessons Pyrrha, this woman before him, had taught him. Pyrrha leaped out of the way, retrieving her weapon in the process and readying her shield. They were similar to her previous weapons, yet of a quality that would come only once in a generation. Jaune wheeled around and began a three step combo to land within her reach, rendering the spear useless. She reacted by rolling the blows off her shield and batting him away with the shaft of the spear.

This fight was different than his training with her. He went into a high-low series of attacks to break her concentration, something that normally he would feel a slight tugging and correcting. None of that was present, and Pyrrha instead batted the blows away with her spear shifted to a blade. It was still no use, he didn't outclass her then and still couldn't, let alone how tired he was from fighting the Grimm. Jaune poured himself deeper and deeper into the fight, reminiscing on all those training nights. A weave here, a stab back to a dancing step there. On the fight went, Pyrrha never attacking. She didn't have it in her, not to hurt him or to hinder his progress.

Jaune lined up for another two step to batter her defenses.

"You've gotten better, Jaune," Pyrrha said with a breath. He felt all the life leave him, his will to fight drained to nothing. The fight was pointless, this was his partner. This was the woman snatched before he could say the things he wanted to say, do the things he wanted to do. Jaune felt his grief well up again, and he ran. He ran through the clearing, toward the forest, toward anything and anywhere where he could bleed out his soul from the events of the last three months.

Pyrrha didn't know what emotion was most overwhelming, her pride, her relief, or her sorrow. She had held back as much as she could to keep him from getting hurt, the fight with the Grimm being foremost on her mind. Jaune was reckless, mad, and still grieving. But she could feel that he trusted her already, that she had passed the test by simply being. She could feel that he wanted to get through this fight with her before letting go of everything, and she also felt that it was time for her to start acting like the Pyrrha she knows she should be.

"You've gotten better, Jaune," she said with a breath. It had slipped out, a compliment she felt was innocuous enough get by with his fragile state. Instead, his entire being seemed to come crashing into himself, he dropped his guard, then his weapons. And he ran from her. Pyrrha could only stare at her fleeing heart, still prepared for his next attack. The torment of the past month, her fate, her duty, her desires refused to back down. She sank down to her knees, feeling that soft reminder to sleep eternal once more. No, she couldn't. But what couldn't she? Her body trembled, wracked with a grief only she would ever truly know.

A small body was nuzzled next to her, holding on as if for her very life. Ruby was clinging to her shoulders, sobbing uncontrollably. Looking over, Pyrrha could see Ren and Nora in a solemn embrace as well, letting every ounce of guilt and misery wash away in a sea of tears.

"Y-yo-u're really back?" Ruby sobbed. That's right, she is so young to be experiencing death and war. "How? Why? … no, not right now. There is time for that later," she held on tighter "don't worry about Jaune, I think he just... needs time to find himself."

"I'm... sorry. Sorry it took so long for me to come back," Pyrrha mumbled, "I thought it would be best to wait until everyone had become more like themselves. I didn't want to-"

"You didn't, whatever bad things you thought you did now, you didn't. Coming back isn't a bad thing, just... something everyone will need time to take in," Ruby said, regaining her voice as she spoke.

Pyrrha stirred back to life and regretfully pushed Ruby back and to her feet. "I have to go to him, there's... so much to say," Pyrrha whispered. So much had happened, so many emotions in such a short period of time. It was time to cast all of them to the side, confront them, and embrace them. As she began to walk, the fawn caught her eye. Such an innocent and strong being, taken in the prime of its life. She found herself next to it, kneeling and touching its neck. Pyrrha called deep upon herself, reaching where her semblance once was and grasping something new. The fawn began to glow, then evaporated much like a Grimm, yet it dissolved into white.

"I'm sure you can explain that?" Ruby said behind her.

"Not really, it just felt like the right thing to do," Pyrrha replied, feeling a little woozy.

"Well, it's not like you have time to waste now, Jaune's waiting," Ruby said coyly. For how young she is, she sure is resilient. Perhaps this day won't end in tears and sadness. Pyrrha strode away, confident in herself once more to do what she was born to do, what she was destined to do.

The sandy haired man had been sitting there by a frozen river, racked with sorrow for so long he looked like he was going to faint any minute. He'd ran from something, someone who he couldn't handle apparently and now he couldn't do anything but let it out. Reminds me of someone I know, after a time so long ago. Seems I can't escape it. The sandy haired man was still sitting there when an armored woman walked up and out of the forest toward him, hands held tightly together. She hesitated, perhaps pondering what to say, what to do?

I'd just go in and tell him how it is, no matter how strange and unbelievable it was. But then, I'm not so young anymore, not quite at the stage where love is such a new found force. The woman shook her head, seemingly shaking off the worry of how she thought she looked. She unclasped her hands and strode toward the man, purposely staring straight at him. Stopping several feet away, she waited for the man to grow quiet, to cry his tears and quiet his soul. The watcher had to shift in his perch to get a better view on the proceedings.

"Jaune... I'm here. Again," the woman spoke with a forceful undercurrent, as if she hadn't quite made herself believe her words. "I'm back, and... I want to come back. To you." The man stirred but otherwise didn't move from his spot. Come on kid, get that stubborn butt up and listen to her. The woman began to move forward, with a little shake to each step. She's giving it her all to stay focused in this, poor girl. The watcher rustled a little, enough noise to make the man glance up.

The woman moved in a bit faster until she was nearly on top of him, the difference in their stature stark as day and night. He looked out over the river until he noticed her shadow. Without moving he sunk down into himself. It's not working. She stood there gazing down on him, and without warning sat next to him. They stayed like this for some time, never looking at one another.

"I don't know what to say Jaune, what to do, how to be," the woman said softly "I just want to go back to the way it was, when I could rely on you being there, when I could open up to the first and maybe last person to truly treat me as a person." The woman began shaking, hugging herself closely as she let all her weaknesses out in front of him. "There's... just nothing I can stay certain in. Except you. And in the end, I wasn't certain enough to have you by my side when I truly needed you. I'm sorry."

She began to get up, her will clearly spent as she left the last of her heart sitting on the frozen river next to the man. A hole in her chest the watcher hadn't noticed made a bitter sense to him now, as he ruffled his wings in frustration. Fool kid, don't let her walk away.

"Pyrrha," Jaune uttered. She looked back at him, he at her. They held each others eyes for a moment. "Hello again." Her trembling stopped and she sank down to be by the man she had trusted her soul to, the one she wished most to accept her return. Qrow decided now was a time to leave, kicking snow from the branches he was on, he took off into the sky. You sure do have an eye for greatness Ozpin, I'm sure he'll exceed those expectations of yours.