"Of all sad words of mouth or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.'"
-John Greenleaf Whittier
CHING! CHING! CHING! The sounds of metal on metal echoed through the usually peaceful Forever Fall forest. The forest, just outside of the city of Vale, had trees that donned bright red, yellow, and orange colors associated with autumn all year round. The shattered moon, although barely visible due to the sunlight, hung over the forest, the only noises being the birds and the breeze going through the leaves. Except for one fraction of it, a small clearing where an outside force was stirring.
A mother and daughter sparring against each other. Although just for training, the daughter was determined to defeat her mother this time, ignoring the fact that she was one of the best huntresses in the world, meanwhile, she hadn't even graduated combat school.
The mother was Pyrrha Nikos, now under the last name Arc, a stunning woman who was famous for her exceptional skill on the battle field since a young age. She wore an outfit similar to a gladiator, with golden high heeled, knee high boots, a leather and gold corset-like chest plate, and golden armor that guarded her wrists. She also wore a red skirt, to match her long hair tied back in a ponytail that swung around with each flip and quick movement. She wasn't too competitive, always rewarding her daughter for her efforts with positive reinforcement. "Excellent form, Autumn! You'll be ready for Beacon in no time, I know it!"
"Yeah, and you should be ready to feel defeat once I graduate, just you wait!" The daughter, a young woman named Autumn, smirked. She donned a similar outfit to her mother, except more Celtic than Grecian. Her skirt was like a red, plaid kilt. She wore brown leather combat boots and a leather corset with golden accents on the neckline, back, and embroidered designs of maple leaves in the leather. Autumn's hair was a strawberry blonde that was the color of pumpkins, and was in a high ponytail as well. A long brown hood blew behind her, but it honestly got in the way in these kinds of fast paced battles with her mother.
In this fight, one minute it was speedy swordplay with javelins, the next, gun duels with the same weapons. Autumn was always better at the same style her mother used than any other style, a good old javelin and circular shield. Autumn liked training with her mother's weapons, Miló and Akoúo̱, so much, that Pyrrha got her her own set of a matching gold and red javelin and shield.
Autumn tried to resort to hand to hand combat with just kicks and elbows as much as possible, however. Pyrrha had something Autumn did not. She had her semblance, polarity, which allowed her to manipulate metal like a magnet once it touched her. Pyrrha was not one to go easy on her daughter, seeing that she needed to learn how to handle difficult semblances. Then again, no one can really quite beat polarity.
With every jump, slide, and tumble, fallen leaves sprayed up like sand after being kicked. Autumn wouldn't move her bright green eyes from Pyrrha, trying to decipher her next move, deeply hoping that this would be the day she finally discovered her semblance. Hopefully, it would be something even more powerful than Pyrrha's. Maybe then Autumn could finally defeat her. Autumn couldn't relish on these thoughts for too long, Pyrrha made sure of that with a shield toss or a javelin throw or a lunge towards Autumn's chest that she had to block. Pyrrha was strategic that way, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
Autumn admired her mother, Pyrrha. Her excellent form, her intelligence and amazing exemplification of the best battle strategies, her unbeatable semblance, and she looked amazing while doing it all. But, Autumn was thankful to have a teacher like her. An idol to strive for. That was one thing about Autumn people always pointed out. She was optimistic, seeing everything, even her own adversity, as a gift. She even reminded others of the gifts of life they take for granted. It was a special talent Autumn had since birth. She used her privileges and her pain to drive her in everything she did, and in this case, it was fighting Pyrrha.
Pyrrha ran towards Autumn, tried to jab her in the shoulder with her javelin, but Autumn dodged and left hooked Pyrrha in the face. Pyrrha didn't mind taking a few hits. It was all in a day's work for being a huntress, and raising one too. Pyrrha lifted her leg to kick Autumn in the neck, but Autumn ducked under and raised her own leg to kick while twirling back. Her right arm swung back during the twirl, shield ready to throw and jab in Pyrrha's stomach. They were close enough that Pyrrha couldn't do anything but take the hit.
Pyrrha grunted as she slid back a few feet away from Autumn. She looked up at her daughter, who had turned back around so that she was facing Pyrrha, twirling her javelin as a way to get ready. "Well done, Autumn. You're getting better! Maybe we'll see a semblance today, who knows?" Pyrrha said, smiling as if positive reinforcement took away from the fact she was about to win by using her semblance to propel her weapons towards Autumn at high speeds. Now that Pyrrha had both shields and her javelin on her side, Autumn was hoping for a miracle: a semblance.
Jaune, Autumn's father and Pyrrha's husband, was sitting against a tree watching the two women fight. He wasn't too muscular nowadays, but not as scrawny as when Pyrrha first met him. He had a youthful, kind face, even if his expression was most of the time an awkward one, and he had scruffy blonde hair, along with a little bit of facial hair of the same color growing on his chin. Surprisingly to most, Jaune was a huntsman too, although it took a bit to get him where he is today. He knew adversity well, and understood what Autumn was going through in not finding her semblance at the same time as everyone else in her class. "Um, Pyrrha, don't you think using your semblance against her is a little too much for her level?" Jaune stuttered, just loud enough for Pyrrha to hear.
"She's fine, Jaune. She's stronger than you think." Pyrrha gave Jaune a reassuring smile before she drew back both her arms, closed her eyes and threw the levitating weapons all in Autumn's direction.
Autumn froze in her spot. It was strange, for she hadn't gotten that nervous since her first day at combat school. Autumn knew this attack like the back of her hand, and yet she didn't dodge...she couldn't. It was like she was stuck in quicksand. The only thing she could do was use her javelin to block and hope for the best.
What happened next, Autumn had no idea whether to call it the best or the worst.
With a loud WHOOSH and a blinding orange light, a beam similar to a comet suddenly came from out of nowhere, shaking more leaves off the trees before it hit Autumn in the chest, giving her a burning, yet strangely energetic sensation all over. Her eyes glowed with a silver and orange flame, and a fiery orb surrounded her, lifting her into the air for a few seconds before her body absorbed the fires and dropped her back down in front of Pyrrha and Jaune, who had run instantly to the scene to aid Autumn.
Pyrrha didn't want to admit it, but she knew what was happening. She remembered seeing it with her own eyes during the Battle of Beacon. Autumn had just been selected, selected to be the next Fall Maiden, just like Cinder was all those years ago. The thought terrified her greatly, but then again, a maiden was meant to be a symbol of safety and good, not the indescribable evil that Pyrrha associated it with.
Autumn, meanwhile, had no idea what had happened once she landed, and wasn't sure if she wanted to keep it that way or not. All that mattered was that she was safe, and that the match with Pyrrha was a draw, at best. She had minor injuries as well, just a few new scratches and a headache, which was surprising compared to the situation. Jaune and Pyrrha immediately slung Autumn's arms over their shoulders and lifted her to her feet, although she didn't really need the help.
"What happened? Is that what finding your semblance is supposed to look like?" Autumn asked as her parents started to carry her towards their horses, some of the only transportation that can carry people deep into the Forever Fall Forest.
Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other and sighed in unison. "No. It's something much different." Pyrrha said, keeping her head down.
The rest of the day after that was just confusing. Autumn's parents took her straight into Vale, all the way to Beacon Academy. Autumn had no idea how she could go from the excitement about finding her semblance to feeling crushed at the news all her huntress training was for nothing. In all the books, the "special" girls were meant to be heroes, not told to go into hiding and put their dreams on hold just to protect themselves.
Although she considered herself an adult, Autumn had to sit outside for most of her visit at Beacon while her parents arranged things with a small committee of protectors, a group of random people that would soon become the only friends she was allowed to have contact with. She twiddled her thumbs dismally as she sat against the wall across from the door to the room her parents were in. She jumped as the same door opened, and Pyrrha and Jaune stepped out.
"Hey." Autumn said quietly, standing up.
"Hey, Autumn...Uh...Pyrrha help me out here..." Jaune tried to speak before looking to Pyrrha, who sighed and placed her hands on Autumn's shoulder gently.
"Autumn...I remember being offered this same power, a long time ago. I had no idea what to think of it. I started to think that by accepting this, I was discarding who I was, my entire future, everything. It's scary to think about, I know. But, you'll figure it out. I know you will." Pyrrha explained reassuringly.
"But mom-" Autumn stuttered.
"You may not believe it now, but this is all a part of you. A part of your destiny. You just haven't realized it yet. This is a gift, Autumn." Pyrrha cupped Autumn's face in her hands. "I know you'll find a way to use it in ways no one else will ever have dreamed." Pyrrha smiled as she pushed Autumn's hair out of her face, then hugged her before taking her hand and leading her out of Beacon, to a new, and unexpected future.