Chapter 1 – A New Beginning
Pyrrha Nikos stepped out into the warm afternoon air. In the room behind her, she could hear the gossip between the reporters for different magazines throughout Vale. When she agreed to the interview, she didn't realise just how forceful they were going to be with their questions. She let out a deep sigh. Far out, they tire me out more than some fights, she thought to herself light-heartedly. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath of the welcoming air and began striding toward the amphitheatre, which doubled as a training arena. After all, she couldn't afford to miss class.
"Is that Pyrrha Nikos?"
"I still can't believe she's here at Beacon. There's no way I want to fight her."
"Yeah, she's far too strong for any of us to take on."
Pyrrha quickened her pace a little. As she headed for the amphitheatre, she could feel every set of eyes gazing upon her as she walked, almost as if she had some sort of physical affliction. After all this time, you'd think I'd be used to it, she thought. I still don't get why people can't just treat me as another person. It's not like I'm any different from them, just a bit better at fighting is all. In the end, she welcomed the encompassing walls of the building, as they put her out of sight of many of the onlookers.
"Oh, hey Pyrrha!" a voice came from her left.
Turning toward the voice, Pyrrha noticed Jaune walking toward her, his usual smile on his face. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Jaune had had no idea who she was before the initiation only a few days ago. I get that he's not skilled and all, but you would've thought he paid some attention to the worlds of hunters and huntresses before he came here, but apparently not. It's just nice to hear his voice, one that sees me as a friend and not an idol.
"Hey, Jaune," Pyrrha said in a happy voice. "It's good to see you today. How have you been?"
"I've been better," Jaune admitted. "I ran into Cardin in the hallway on the way here. I don't understand why that guy seems to have it out for me."
"Bullies like him only care about attention," Pyrrha offered. "Just ignore him and he'll go away eventually."
"Yeah, I sure hope so," Jaune said with a slight nod.
"You ready for the practise bouts today?" Pyrrha asked.
"I… uh, yeah, sure!" Jaune managed to splutter eventually. "Couldn't be more ready. You know me, always ready for a fight."
"Jaune, you don't have your equipment," Pyrrha noted.
"I… yeah," Jaune said defeatedly. "Tell Glynda that I'll be back soon."
Pyrrha laughed slightly. "Of course, Jaune, of course. Just hurry back, okay? Can't afford you to miss your fight."
"Of course not. Save me a seat!" the blonde-haired boy said as he rushed out the door Pyrrha had just come through.
After informing Glynda Goodwitch of Jaune's error, much to Glynda's distaste and anger, Pyrrha took her place in the stands to watch the sparring matches that would be happening today. Although she wasn't one of the first to be seated for the class, she soon realised that no one else came to sit in her area of the stands apart from Ren and Nora. I mean, we are on the same team, Pyrrha thought to herself. But they're nice people too. Nora is probably just too energetic to care about who I am to be honest. I still don't get why Ren and her are so close. They're polar opposites.
"Hey Pyrrha, have you seen Jaune?" Ren asked her, interrupting her thoughts.
"Oh, yes, I saw him in the hallway," Pyrrha replied, struggling to focus on the conversation. "He had forgotten his gear though so he had to go back and get it."
"Who do you think's gonna fight today?" Nora asked happily. "Oooooh, I so wanna face Yang. Or maybe even that Yatsuhashi guy from CFVY. Yeah, he really seems like he could take a hit or two."
"Yatsuhashi and CFVY are second year, Nora," Ren reminded her. "They aren't in this class."
"Fine, I'll just fight that Cardin guy."
"You just want to bludgeon people."
Nora simply laughed. "Well of course! That's the point of these things, isn't it?"
"Not necessarily," Pyrrha chimed in. "It also means you get pitted against a great many different types of fighting styles, and so you get to learn and adapt to all the different strengths and weaknesses of these styles. For example, the same things that would work against you, Ren, might be ineffective against me."
Nora's smile dissipated. "Or I could just hit them," she said in a much less enthusiastic tone.
Did I say something wrong? Pyrrha thought to herself, cringing in her mind. I was just pointing out the advantages these classes hold. Isn't that the point of being here at Beacon? To better evolve our fighting styles? Her thought process was interrupted once again as an image of Glynda Goodwitch appeared in front of all the students present in the stadium, causing the vast majority of the chatter to die down instantly.
"First years of Beacon Academy, welcome to the duel arena," Glynda said through a microphone. "Today will be the first sparring matches of the curriculum. Here, you will hone your skills against a large variety of different fighting styles. This will prove valuable knowledge throughout your time at Beacon and in the world beyond as a hunter or huntress."
"Isn't that exactly what you said, Pyrrha?" Nora commented in shock.
"It is, yes," Pyrrha replied without looking away from the screen. "The point of this Academy is to train us to fight after all."
"Today there will be three matches, chosen completely at random," Glynda announced. "When your name is called, please proceed to the stairs down to the arena at once. For the first match up, it will be Sky Lark against Lie Ren. Could the two students please enter the arena."
"Oh, good luck Ren!" Nora said excitedly.
"Fight well," Pyrrha added.
"Thanks, Nora," Ren said as he left his seat.
This should be interesting, Pyrrha thought to herself as Ren and Sky entered the arena. Ren has StormFlower, which is essentially two machine pistols was blades attached to them. Sky has is halberd and has his body armour, but this will serve to slow him down. Against Sky's halberd, this will give him the advantage both at range and in close, not to mention his maneuverability. In reality, this shouldn't be a difficult fight at all for him, but he can't afford to take a single hit from that halberd. Sky wouldn't wield such a heavy weapon if he didn't have the strength to back it up.
"Three, two, one…" Glynda's voice came over the microphone. "Begin!"
Ren immediately jumped backwards, launching a barrage with the machine pistols in StormFlower as he did so. Sky charged at Ren at the same time, attempting to close the distance between them somewhat, blocking Ren's bullets as he did so. Seeing that the attack had done little to affect his charge, Ren planted his feet on the ground, his feet facing left with his right foot towards Sky.
"Left dodge," Pyrrha whispered.
Sky raised his halberd high above his head and brought it down hard over Ren, but he was too slow. Just as Pyrrha had predicted, Ren jumped out of the way of the attack to his left before rolling into a standing position and letting another volley fly from the machine pistols. The bullets pinged off of Sky's armour, although it did cause him to stagger somewhat. Sky was so intent on landing that attack that he failed to take into account Ren's body position and feet direction, Pyrrha thought as she watched on. Had he been aware of Ren's position, he could've changed the direction of the attack before raising his halberd to thrown Ren off balance with his, and his halberd's, momentum.
Lifting his halberd from the ground, Sky turned to face the direction that Ren had shot from, but his opponent was already gone. He searched frantically around the arena for Ren, only to have the blade of StormFlower's right half careen into his back, causing him to fall forward as a consequence of the attack.
"Too slow," Pyrrha whispered. "Ren's much too fast for this guy."
Angrily, Sky swung his halberd wildly, and he somehow managed to catch the left half of StormFlower in between the two halves of the halberd's blade, sending it flying across the arena, far out of Ren's reach. Pyrrha noted how unperturbed Ren seemed about this, opting to stop and face Sky instead of running to get the other half of his weapon.
"Did I miss much?" a voice came from behind her.
Pyrrha smiled. "No, this fight's just getting interesting," she said. "Have a seat, Jaune. You might learn a thing or two."
"Right, of course," the blonde boy said, taking the seat between Nora and Pyrrha.
"Beat his ass, Ren!" Nora cried as he did so, causing Jaune to reflexively lean away from her and cover his left ear. "Oops, sorry!"
Down in the arena, Sky gave a little laugh, leaning the halberd on one shoulder. "What's the matter, can't handle this fight without both your weapons?"
Ren said nothing to this, but instead gave a wry smile as he chose to throw the remaining half of StormFlower over to its counterpart, leaving him completely unarmed. Pyrrha could see Sky's eyes flash with anger at this, but she could see the look on Ren's face. He's goading Sky into attacking him head on, she noted. Without any weapons, Sky has assumed that Ren is defenceless and will go for a single crushing blow. This won't take long.
Once again, just as Pyrrha had predicted, Sky charged forward once again, apparently not remembering what happened the last time he did so. However, unlike last time, Ren's stance shifted so that both feet were pointing directly at Sky, almost as if he was willing to charge at the oncoming attack. He must be planning to get under the attack when it comes in, Pyrrha realised. He knows that Sky will go for a heavy overheard attack just like last time, and so he will prepare a countermeasure.
Pyrrha was right. As Sky lifted the halberd above his head once more, Ren moved in, focussing his Aura into the palms of his hands, with Sky realising what was happening far too late. Ren thrust his right palm hard into Sky's right shoulder, stopping any and all momentum in his attack and causing him to drop his halberd as Ren darted behind him. Furious, Sky thrashed out with his left arm, but Ren was ready for this and ducked under the attack, thrusting a palm into his left shoulder this time, rendering him useless. Sky could only watch as Ren hit him one more time in the chest with his Aura-infused palms, causing him to topple over next to his halberd, completely defenceless.
"The winner of this fight is Lie Ren!" Glynda Goodwitch announced. "However, I would recommend never throwing your weapons away in a real fight, Ren."
"Ren crushed that guy," Jaune said in awe. "I'm glad I didn't have to face him."
"Ren uses his head to beat his opponents," Pyrrha told him. "It doesn't matter how strong you are if you don't know how to use it effectively. Brute force can only do so much."
"Now we move on to the next fight of the day," Glynda Goodwitch announced as Sky and Ren left the arena, one much easier than the other. "Yang Xiao Long and Jaune Arc, could you please make your way down to the arena thank you."
"Oh god please no," Jaune whispered in dread.
"Your shield's going to be very important in this fight Jaune, don't forget to use it," Pyrrha said helpfully.
"Right. Uh, wish me luck?" Jaune said half-heartedly.
"Go get another win for team JNPR!" Nora said enthusiastically.
Poor guy, this isn't going to end well for him, Pyrrha thought as she saw Jaune's slumped figure head off. She had seen Yang's fighting style a couple days ago during initiation, and so she knew just how outmatched Jaune was. Yang uses Ember Celica, two gauntlets that can fire all types of shots when she throws punches. It can help to make her attacks more forceful, she can fire on enemies from a relative distance, and get even use them to move herself out of enemy fire or into positions for quick attacks. Pyrrha also knew that Yang had seen Jaune practising by himself just yesterday, as she had been with her as a part of Nora's idea to get to know the other groups. Yang knows how weak Jaune is. It'll be like a wolf toying with its prey.
As the two entered the arena, Ren returned to his seat beside an excited Nora, StormFlower returned to its holster. In the arena below, Yang had walked in full of confidence, a smirk across her face. Jaune, meanwhile, was in the process of getting his shield out, and his sword was pointed at the ground leaving him completely open to any attack Yang could throw at him.
Glynda's voice rang through the amphitheatre. "Three, two, one… begin!"
Yang, unsurprisingly, made the first move, shooting a shot from Ember Celica at Jaune. Pyrrha watched as Jaune put his shield in the way of the shot, which exploded and caused him to take a step back. Even from here, she could see that Jaune was absolutely terrified. Like a wolf toying with its prey, Pyrrha repeated to herself.
Casually, Yang began to move toward Jaune, firing shot after shot from her gauntlets as Jaune took a step back with each attack. Pyrrha could see that Yang was completely unworried about getting attacked by Jaune. In fact, as Pyrrha soon realised, she was using Jaune's shield to make a tune with her bullets. THUMP THUMP, THUMP. Left, left, right. THUMP THUMP, THUMP. A few jeers went up from the student around her as they too realised that Yang was playing a tune with Jaune's shield as the instrument.
"Yang's really doing a number on him," Nora said dejectedly. "Does she have to use him like that? It's embarrassing!"
"Yang's just having fun," Ren countered. "It's at Jaune's expense, yes, but I doubt she realises that."
Yang finally got to within striking distance, but it was clear to Pyrrha that the cheers from the other students had gotten to her. Instead of finishing the fight as she easily could, she began beating against Jaune's shield with her bare fists in the same pattern she had been doing before. Left, left, right. Left, left, right. Although Jaune simply had to strike out with his sword, it was clear that he was much too terrified of getting hit by one of Yang's blows to even think about attacking himself. He didn't even know about Aura until the initiation, Pyrrha thought. It probably hasn't even occurred to him that he will be protected by it should she hit him with an attack instead of his shield.
As if on cue, Yang stopped her assault on Jaune's shield, as it was clear that Jaune was struggling to keep it up against her attacks. Instead, she grabbed the top of the shield and effortlessly pulled it downward, leaving Jaune's face and upper body completely exposed to her right fist which was ready to strike.
"Peek-a-boo!" Yang said, and threw the punch.
The fist stopped just before Jaune's face, but it was enough to throw him off balance and fall to the floor. His sword and shield had slipped from his grasp in the process, Yang still gripping the shield in one hand as the sword clanged against the cold, hard ground. Defenceless against Yang's attacks and clearly out of breath from taking all of Yang's blows, Jaune simply bowed his head and admitted defeat.
"The winner via surrender is Yang Xiao Long," Glynda Goodwitch announced in a disappointed and angry tone. "Jaune Arc, please report to Headmaster Ozpin immediately, please."
Pyrrha could only watch as a defeated and humiliated Jaune excited in the arena. If he's to stand any chance of surviving at this place he needs to get better fast, she thought. I could probably teach him a thing or two since he fights with a sword and shield like me. Get him on his feet at least. It's the least I can do for him treating me like a person and not a celebrity.
"And now we have the final fight for today's sparring session," Glynda Goodwitch said through microphone. "Well how about that. Could the last two members of team JNPR, Nora and Pyrrha, please make your way to the arena please."
"OMG I have to face you?!" Nora exclaimed. "I can't tell whether I should be ecstatic or terrified. Oh well. See you down there Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha shook her head cheerfully as Nora ran out the doorway and down to the arena. Maybe Jaune isn't the only person who sees me as no different to them, she thought as she followed Nora toward the arena. Nora and Ren have treated me pretty well as well. Who knows? Maybe there are others who would see me for who I truly am here at Beacon.
As she made her way into the arena, Pyrrha began to go through Nora's fighting style in her head. She liked to go for heavy attacks, but she also knew how to wield her hammer at high speeds, something that often caught her opponents off guard. If she was to win this fight, she would have to find a way to either neutralise that speed or find a way past the hammer and get in extremely close to land punches similar to how Ren had done against Sky. It was a similar fighting style she faced, after all.
"Nora and Pyrrha, ready your weapons," Glynda said. "Three, two, one… fight!"
Just as Pyrrha had predicted, Nora decided to close the gap immediately, leaving her unable to switch Milò into its rifle form. Instead, she switched it into its javelin form, and as Nora brought her hammer down over her head, Pyrrha dodged to the right and jabbed at Nora's side, catching her clothes fabric with its point and tearing it. Turning to face Pyrrha, Nora began to swing her hammer around her with speed and accuracy, to which Pyrrha replied with blocks and jabs in quick succession. Upon realising that her spinning assault was getting her nowhere, Nora grabbed the hammer in both hands, and Pyrrha could see what she was about to do immediately. Frontal strike.
Dodging to her left side, Nora thrust her hammer straight forward like a battering ram, which Pyrrha promptly deflected with her shield as she did so. Using the momentum to her advantage, Pyrrha spun right and flung the pommel of Milò into Nora's side, causing her to stagger backwards and let out a small grunt in pain. There is one major weakness with Aura, Pyrrha thought to herself as she had Nora had a small standoff. Slashes from swords and impacts from bullets still hurt, but the majority of the physical damage is nullified. However, the blunt force trauma is something that even Aura has a hard time stopping. It won't stop her completely, but if I can land a precise enough blow, it'll be enough to incapacitate her long enough to end the fight.
Obviously angered by Pyrrha's strike, Nora held her hammer by her side and shifted her weight onto her back foot. Overhead strike, Pyrrha thought instinctively, and got ready to dodge and deflect the blow as before. However, as Nora brought the hammer over, Pyrrha realised too late that Nora's finger was over the trigger on her hammer's handle, and as such, her jump out of the way came far too late.
As the hammer hit the ground in front of Pyrrha, Nora pulled the trigger and an explosion erupted from the hammer itself. Although Pyrrha had jumped to avoid the attack, it still threw her off slightly, and Nora took full advantage of this. With surprising speed, she spun the hammer around herself, and Pyrrha was only just able to get her shield Akoù o in the way as the hammer connected, sending Pyrrha flying across the arena. However, as she connected with the ground, she entered into a roll, minimising the damage and ended it with her facing Nora once more, who seemed displeased at the fact that her attack had done so little.
Switching Milò into its rifle form, Pyrrha took shots at Nora, who proceeded to deflect them with the handle of her hammer as she charged forward. Pyrrha watched Nora's hands as she charged, and she saw that instead of going for the overhead attack that most people would have expected, her grip suggested that she was going to try and use it as a battering ram once more. Time to finish this, Pyrrha thought to herself.
Just as she had thought, Nora switched the position of her hands at the last second, bringing the hammer head around to the front to use as a battering ram. Pyrrha deflected the blow to her left, except this time, instead of spinning around, she pushed away were her shield and, after reversing her grip on her sword, thrust forward with the pommel of the blade at the same time. With her shield pushing Nora into the line of her sword's pommel, Nora could do nothing as it hit her in the temple, causing her to stagger and fall over, the blunt force trauma having bypassed the majority of the protection given by Aura. Although still conscious, Nora was completely out of it, and thus out of the fight.
"The winner via knockout is Pyrrha Nikos," Glynda Goodwitch announced. "I hope a lot of you were taking notes during that fight, like how both Nora and Pyrrha used their head for the fight instead of just trying to barge their way to victory. That will be all for today children. You are dismissed."
"Hey, are you alright? I hit you quite hard," Pyrrha asked, extending a hand to Nora.
The firebrand took it and gingerly got to her feet. "What? I'm fine, I'm fine," Nora protested, but Pyrrha could see that her head was still swimming. "Just unexpected is all. You really are as good as they say, you know."
"Thank you," Pyrrha replied, bowing slightly.
"Pyrrha that was so cool!"
The voice came, surprisingly, from Jaune, who was entering the arena alongside Ren. As Pyrrha sheathed her weapons, she picked up Nora's hammer and handed it to her, with the pink-haired girl taking it in one hand, the other on her head. Ren, despite the seeming closeness of the two, appeared to be mostly untroubled by the blow Nora had taken.
"You're so skilled with the sword and shield!" Jaune said in awe. "I've never seen anything like it that was amazing!"
"Thank you," Pyrrha said, noting the genuine nature of the compliment. "Weren't you supposed to go see Ozpin though?"
Jaune nodded sadly. "I did, it didn't take long," he said. "He basically told me that if I wanted to remain at Beacon, I'd have to improve quickly."
"I see," Pyrrha said. "You know, I could help you with that. We do both use a sword and shield after all."
Jaune's eyes lit up. "Could you? That'd be so nice of you," he said gratefully, but then looked confused. "I ask to ask though. Why?"
"Well…" Pyrrha said, thinking it over. "All four of us are a team now, so teammates should support each other, right? This is me supporting you."
"Alright," Jaune said, still obviously coming to terms with the offer. "Alright, I can do that. I want to learn. I want to get better."
"How about I come find you at six-ish?" Pyrrha offered. "We can start right away."
"Thank you so much for this, Pyrrha," Jaune said. "I can't wait to start learning."