A.N. Hey lovely readers if you stuck around for the second chapter you're great and deserve a cookieXD. Anyway not much else to say other than enjoy the chapter^^
Chapter 2
Finding Penny was proving to be a more difficult task than Pyrrha thought it'd be. An hour later after first setting out with the purpose to find her. Pyrrha had yet to see any sign of the auburn haired girl. Pyrrha had to give it to her when Penny didn't want to be found, she wasn't going to be found.
Not yet anyway, Pyrrha was a huntress in training she wasn't going to give up so easily. Unfortunately this was going to be a particularly hard task. If she started asking around then Penny might catch wind and think it was the man in the car searching for her. That would only cause her to go deeper into hiding, and Pyrrha didn't know Penny well enough to come up with an idea of where she would go to hide. Pyrrha would just have to go on assumptions until she found a trace of her.
Thinking Penny was new to Vale, so she wouldn't know that many places to hide yet. Pyrrha snapped her fingers, quickening her steps Pyrrha started heading to the park. A large open place with plenty of people coming and going. A perfect place to get away from everything, plus it was large enough to offer an easy escape if someone was tracking you down.
The park was only a few blocks away, and Pyrrha easily crossed the distance within a few minutes. At the park Pyrrha began to search around for Penny. It was getting later in the day, so there were few people around. A few joggers and a park gardener were the only people around. Just when Pyrrha was about to give up and search somewhere else she heard a familiar voice giggling. It was coming from a tree far away from anyone else.
Rounding the tree Pyrrha found Penny sitting under the shade cupping something in her hands. Letting out a sigh of relief Pyrrha smiled making herself known.
"Hello again," Penny jumped covering whatever was in her hands looking up at Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha! I…" Pyrrha stopped her already sensing she was going to try and come up with a reason why she wasn't training.
"It's okay, I'm just glad I found you." Penny tilted her head in confusion.
"You were looking for me?" Pyrrha nodded sliding down taking a seat next to Penny her back resting against the tree.
"Of course I was worry when you ran off, I thought you might be in trouble. Who was that man in the car searching for you?" The auburned haired girl frowned in thought before realizing who Pyrrha was talking about.
"Oh! That was my father he was looking for me." Pyrrha's eyebrow rose wondering why Penny was running away from her father. A small tinge of worry crossed Pyrrha's mind hoping Penny's father didn't force Penny to run from him.
"Why did you run away then?"
"My father doesn't want me wandering around the city alone. He wants me to wait until General Ironwood arrives with his men to protect me." Penny was frowning clearly not happy with it. Pyrrha had to wonder, if Penny was a huntress in training why did she need protecting? Then again if Pyrrha had a child she would assume she would want them to have protection wandering around alone in a new environment, even if they were a huntress in training. Before Pyrrha could say anything else Penny spoke again.
"I wasn't supposed to leave the airship." The shorter girl mumbled guilty, and now Pyrrha fully understood why Penny ran. Pyrrha could understand not wanting to face an angry or disappointed parent.
"Well, technically you're not alone right now, so your father shouldn't worry. Maybe you should call him, and tell him you're with a friend. That way he doesn't worry, and you can keep exploring the city." Pyrrha offered, if Penny's father was actively searching for her. It would certainly be better to let him know than to keep him in the dark.
"He'll probably still worry, I guess I should…." A small chirp interrupted Penny, both girls looking to Penny's hands where the sound came from. Opening her hands Penny revealed she had been holding a cricket. The small insect seemed to be pleased to not be enclosed within Penny's hands now. Making a small chirping sound the bug hopped out of Penny's hand onto her arm, quickly jumping up to rest on her shoulder.
"I've never seen so many insects, Atlas is far too cold for most to survive." Penny was grinning at the cricket that seemed content to rest on her shoulder.
"I don't want to think how cold it must be up there. I grew up in Mistral, it's fairly warm and we have plenty of wildlife there, certainly a lot of bugs" It felt like forever since Pyrrha finished her training in Sanctum before coming to Vale and Beacon. Though northern Mistral was known for being colder. The area Pyrrha grew up in was warm all year round, Pyrrha had never seen snow in her life until she started traveling around to compete in different tournaments.
"Really? I've never been to Mistral, this is the first time I've ever left Atlas. What's it's like there?" Penny lite up at Pyrrha's words seemingly genuinely interested in Pyrrha's old home. Pyrrha paused for a moment trying to find a way to best describe her home.
"Well, I grew up in a village a ways east of Mistral's capital. Most people think of that area as just swamps, but there are a few groves that are more hospitable than most think." Pyrrha paused, no one has ever asked her about her home other than a few vague details. Usually all people were worried about were what kind of opponents she'd defeated or when her next big tournament would be. She was unsure what to tell Penny. She was so used to just giving generic answers that Pyrrha was uncertain how to give a genuine one. Penny saved her the trouble though seeming to accept her short answer.
"A village? Isn't it dangerous to live outside the main kingdom?" Penny must be from the capital of Atlas. Pyrrha wasn't too surprised most people who lived in the safety of the cites found it odd to live outside them. Though there were dozens of villages spread out all around Remnant they came and went yearly. It wasn't too surprising when a village disappeared like the wind, destroyed by the Grimm's hands.
"Mine was relatively safe, I haven't been there in awhile though…." Pyrrha trailed off remembering the missed calls from home on her scroll. Mentally Pyrrha scolded herself, she really should call before her mother decided to drag herself to Beacon, and demand a reason Pyrrha didn't answer her.
"Do you miss it?" Penny's voice broke Pyrrha from her thoughts, she blinked before her face took a melancholy expression.
"A bit, but who doesn't miss home every now and again. I'm used to it." The auburn haired girl tilted her head frowning.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm away from home a lot I suppose." Pyrrha quickly brushed to question away, thankfully Penny seemed to sense it and let the topic drop. For someone who seemed naive at first glance Pyrrha got the feeling Penny was more observant than she let on. Though Pyrrha couldn't judge right now, after all she just met the girl. Pyrrha had to to admit Penny was nice to talk to even if they only just met.
"Are there butterflies in Mistral?" Penny asked suddenly, Pyrrha blinked, the shorter girl looked completly serious in her question though.
"Yes, can I ask why you're wondering about butterflies?" The cricket on Penny's shoulder chirped as Penny laughed sheepishly.
"Sorry, I've never seen one in person before. That's why I came to the festival though, so I can experience everything I couldn't in Atlas." There was a brief pause from Pyrrha. She wasn't sure if never seeing something as simple as a butterfly was normal for living in Atlas, but then again it was very cold in that region of Remnant so maybe it was normal. Pyrrha made a mental note to see if it was a similar with Weiss, but Weiss was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. No doubt she has traveled with her family to the other capitals, so perhaps it would remain a mystery for now.
An idea came to Pyrrha, and she had a feeling that it would make Penny's day. Standing up Pyrrha told her to wait at the tree for a moment. Quickly Pyrrha found the closest flower patch, it was getting late in the day so it took a few minutes, but eventually she found a brightly colored butterfly resting on a flower. The small insect took off as Pyrrha approached, but she easily gently cupped the bug in her hands and headed back over to Penny.
"Well, you can cross one thing off your list now." Sitting back down Pyrrha opened her hands letting the small insect free. Penny gasped her eyes sparkling in amazement.
"Sensational!" Unlike the cricket that seemed content to stick with Penny. The butterfly fluttered in the air a bit before it took off back to the flowers. Pyrrha laughed lightly at Penny's reaction, it felt good to help out with something simple that clearly brought Penny emess joy. Plus Pyrrha was enjoying sitting here talking with Penny. Catching a butterfly to bring Penny some happiness Pyrrha felt was a good thing in her mind.
The two continued talking comfortably under the tree for awhile. Penny excitedly telling Pyrrha about everything she wanted to see now that she's left Atlas. Pyrrha inturn told Penny about Beacon and Mistral, or any other odd things the auburn haired girl came up with to ask Pyrrha. The sun was setting by the time Pyrrha stood up stretching, she offered her hand to Penny helping the other girl back up as well.
Pyrrha nearly lost her footing when Penny tackled her wrapping her arms around her hugging the taller girl tightly.
"Oh this was so much fun today! Thank you for hanging out with me Pyrrha!" Penny sounded so genuinely happy about it Pyrrha had to smile too.
"No need for thanks Penny, it was splendid. We should meet up again sometime, though maybe we should try not to literally bump into each other." Penny gave a sheepish grin pulling away from the taller girl.
"I'll certainly try! I think I'd rather avoid upsetting anyone else…." A frown came to Penny's face thinking of the angry faunus from earlier today. Pyrrha gave her a reassuring smile giving the girl a playful punch on the shoulder to regain her attention.
"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. You're definitely doing better than I did the first time I visited a city." The first time Pyrrha ever went to a city was for her first tournament in Mistral's capital. To say the least city life didn't agree with her. At the time Pyrrha was young enough to not have full control of her semblance when she was nervous, and visiting a completely new place for a tournament definitely made the younger Pyrrha nervous. That left many things either magnetized to something else, or even worse stuck to Pyrrha.
Penny laughed no doubt wondering what happened to Pyrrha on her first visit to a city. The two left the park together Penny the entire time trying to get Pyrrha to tell her what happened to her in the city. Stating it was only fair since Pyrrha saw what happened to her. The playful banter continued until Penny had to zip away after spotting the car that Pyrrha assumed belonged to her father. Pyrrha gave her a disapproving look realizing Penny never did call her father to tell him she was fine. Still though she smiled as they waved goodbye going their separate ways agreeing to meet up again sometime. Not before Pyrrha gave Penny her scroll number so Penny could message or call her of course.
Pyrrha got back to Beacon happily going back to her shared dorm where she found a frantic Jaune who told Pyrrha that Ruby had to bail on him for some important reason. After trying to explain that he tried to study by himself he eventually relented admitting he had no idea about a thing that was going to be on the test. Sighing Pyrrha smiled spending the rest of the evening studying with Jaune.
The next day Pyrrha was in the sizable Beacon gym, a punching bag hanging in front of her. Leveling her breathing Pyrrha gave the bag a series of quick jabs finishing with kick that caused the bag to reel back from the force.
Letting out a breath Pyrrha wiped her sweaty bangs from her face. Stepping away from the punching bag Pyrrha picked up her bottled water that was sitting next to her bag taking a quick sip. It was still early in the morning so the gym was empty aside from Pyrrha. Strange as normally Pyrrha could find Yang here warming up before starting the day. Pyrrha herself did the same almost everyday usually giving herself one or two days off a week depending on her classes' workload for the week.
Sitting her water back down Pyrrha went over to one of the more open spaces getting down Pyrrha started doing push-ups, counting out loud so she knew when it would be a good time to stop.
She was around forty-five when she heard someone else enter the gym. Out of the corner of her eye she saw familiar shoes, so Pyrrha continued her workout knowing it was just Jaune. She heard Jaune plop down next to her with a yawn, then she heard the blonde munching on something.
"Morning Jaune," Pyrrha greeted in between rising and lowering her body back down. Jaune response was only a hum in greeting and the sound of more munching. This was a regular occurrence with her team leader, he was many things a morning person was not one of them. Pyrrha once offered to workout with him in the mornings, but Juane declined joking that he can barely speak in the morning let alone work out. Still the two got into a schedule where Pyrrha would wake up first go down to the gym to begin her workout. Jaune would wake up when Pyrrha was about halfway through her workout. Then he would come down and relax and eat a small snack before they both went down to breakfast with the rest of their team.
Ren and Nora wouldn't be back to later today, so it was just Pyrrha and Jaune today. Finishing up her pushups Pyrrha got back up to see Jaune sitting next to her with a bowl of cereal.
"Pumpkin Pete's really Jaune?" To Pyrrha's chargin it was becoming an inside joke among Team JPNR that the day needed to be started with Pumpkin's Pete. Due solely on the fact that one of their members was on the box. It was started by Nora of course who quickly dragged Ren into it, and Jaune already ate the cereal for breakfast anyway despite Pyrrha telling them the cereal was less than a good start of the day.
"You know we might have to call Pumpkin Pete's up, and tell them their mascot is less than supportive of their cereal." Jaune said grinning as he shoveled another spoonful into his mouth.
"I think both of us will live." Pyrrha stated dryly, it was pretty cool being a cereal mascot, but it just added to Pyrrha's fame. Jaune laughed though at Pyrrha's expression as he took another spoonful of cereal.
"Any plans for the day? Other than your usual workout, study, and all that jazz." Jaune asked while Pyrrha got set up at a pull up bar bolted to the wall. Grabbing the bar Pyrrha started counting off every time she brought herself over the bar, answering Jaune whenever she lowered herself back down.
"Nothing in particular, I'm most likely going to work on Akoúo̱ later why?" The blonde hung his head for a moment sighing.
"Ruby bailed on me again, saying something about important team business." Jaune exaggerated important team business showing he didn't believe the scythe wielder's excuse.
"Maybe she does have something to do with her team." Pyrrha offered trying to give Ruby the benefit of a doubt. Ruby didn't seem like the kind of person to ditch someone without reason.
"I know, but it seems fishy doesn't it? Did you notice they all left their dorm early this morning. Except for Blake I haven't seen her in two days. Then again I never really see her, always doing her blending in the shadows thing." Pyrrha thought on it noticing she hadn't seen Blake in a while either. If that was the case they should leave team RWBY be. They must be working out a dispute or something, if they were really in trouble Pyrrha doubted they wouldn't hear about it.
"I'm sure they'll all fine Jaune, if they need help with something they know they can ask us." Compared to the other teams in their year team JNPR and RWBY had a pretty solid friendship between the teams. It was still growing of course, but Pyrrha imagined that the two team would make an efficient group together on any missions that came their way.
"Right, I guess I just thought they were all good since snow queen and Ruby made up." Before Jaune could say anything else Pyrrha's scroll buzzed being heard coming from her bag she brought with her.
"I'll grab it for you." Jaune got up letting Pyrrha continue her workout while he grabbed her scroll. Pyrrha nodded giving him permission to get the device. After a moment Jaune returned Pyrrha's scroll in hand. Dropping down Pyrrha took the scroll thanking Jaune. The small mail icon was flashing indicating Pyrrha had a message. Tapping a key Pyrrha opened the message smiling seeing who it was from.
"Good morning friend Pyrrha!" Pyrrha could practically hear Penny's excited voice saying the words.
"Who is it?" Jaune asked taking up his original position sitting on the floor eating his cereal.
"One of the other huntresses coming for the festival. I met her yesterday after we bumped into each other." Pyrrha told Jaune as she keyed in a response to Penny bidding the auburn haired girl a good morning as well.
"Cool, so what do you think my chances of beating her in the tournament are?" Pyrrha gave Jaune a deadpanned look. The blonde really needed to have some confidence in himself.
"I can't say Jaune we only talked I don't even know how she fights. You really should stop worrying about the festival, you'll do fine." Jaune gave her a doubtful look finishing off his cereal getting up and stretching.
"Says you, some of us aren't world renowned fighters." Though Jaune said it with humor lining his voice Pyrrha still knew Jaune had little confidence in his skills.
"Which is why we're here training, you have to have a little faith Jaune. You only just started practicing with me, and you've already improved a great deal." Pyrrha smiled and Jaune just scratched the back of his head.
"Ya I guess," Pyrrha's scroll buzzed again putting to a pause anything else Jaune wanted to say. Pyrrha opened the message finding a picture of a cricket resting next to a strawberry at what looked like a cafe table. Pyrrha grinned upon realizing it was the cricket from yesterday still sticking around with Penny it seemed. Tapping a response Pyrrha asked if Penny planned on naming the cricket before turning her attention back to Jaune.
"Let's go get some breakfast, no offense to Pumpkin Pete of course. I'd rather have something not made purely of sugar." Jaune laughed giving Pyrrha a fake hurt look.
"Sometimes it's the simple pleasures in life Pyrrha, like overly sugary foods." Pyrrha shook her head seriously doubting the benefits of putting such unhealthy things in one's body, but she wouldn't argue with her team leader on this. The two went off to breakfast once they got there Pyrrha's scroll buzzed again another picture of the cricket greeting her though this time another message followed quickly after.
"I believe he wants to become friends, I think I'll call him Jim!" Pyrrha laughed lightly at the message only prompting Jaune to ask what was so funny. Pyrrha waved him off since it was doubtful he would find Penny's enthusiasm for an insect as humorous as Pyrrha did.
It was certainly a good start to the day, though in the back of Pyrrha's mind she did wonder what was going on with team RWBY. Her worries were forgotten though after getting to the cafeteria, answering another message from Penny while talking with Jaune.
"Come on Penny the explosion came from the docks!" Ruby rushed off Penny following behind her, though thanks to Ruby semblance the auburn haired girl was lagging behind slightly. Penny was frowning, General Ironwood always went on about some danger that Penny would be need to confront. Penny's father claimed Remnant was in a time of peace, but General Ironwood seemed to think otherwise. Perhaps the General was right.
Following Ruby, Penny could hear the sounds of fighting going on. Explosions, blades clashing against blades, gunshots, and Penny felt a strange feeling sparking through her circuits. She was combat ready she knew this as fact, but the auburn haired girl had only ever fought against Atlas military personnel. Strong opponents no doubt, but Penny knew they would never actually hurt her.
Penny pushed the feeling away to analyse it later Ruby had stopped pulling out her scythe calling out to some people down below.
"Hey!" Ruby called, a red haired man in a suit looked up at her smirking.
"Red! Isn't it past your bedtime!" Penny frowned not liking the tone the man was speaking at her friend with, but if this man was Ruby's friend then he couldn't be all bad.
"Ruby are these people your friends?" Ruby's head spun around giving Penny an urgent look.
"Penny get back!" In the next second the man fired something at them, and Ruby was thrown back. Something clicked in Penny's mind, these men were definitely not any friends of Ruby, or anyone for that matter. Glaring Penny approached the edge of the crate they were standing on. Ruby groaned sitting back up she saw Penny standing near the edge in plain view of the enemy.
"Penny don't…" Ruby started getting back up to stop her, but Penny just smiled at her happy her friend was okay.
"Don't worry Ruby, I'm combat ready!" Penny's backpack clicked and soon ten swords hovered behind her. Internally Penny activated her combat mode though unseen by the enemy Penny's computerized mind was coming up with at least a dozen different strategies to take them down. Things became less of reality and more a string of data telling Penny how to react.
Jumping down Penny landed with a thud, glancing at the people in grimm mask who immediately started running at her. With a quick wave of her hand Penny's swords flew through the air spinning knocking the people away with ease. If it weren't for their aura they would be sliced clean in half.
Penny would imagine Ironwood calling these people undisciplined as they started running once they were tossed aside by Penny. Penny soon had the upper hand easily dispatching the foes that dared to hurt her friend. Penny saw the man that shot at Ruby running towards a jet. She wanted to go after him, but her combat mode forced Penny to prioritized targets, and the aircrafts approaching with reinforcements definitely required attention more than the red haired man did.
Calling her swords back to her, switching to ranged mode the weapon charged up unleashing a devastating laser blast cutting the aircrafts in two before they could even get close to land. There was still one remaining aircraft though, it was trying to lift off with a metal shipping crate the Schnee dust company logo emblazoned on its front.
Switching her weapon back to sword form, Penny launched them at the vessel each sword digging deep into the metal hull of the ship. Wire strings that were connected to her swords being pulled taunt making Penny dig her heels into the ground. A normal human would have been lifted off the ground in second by the force of the ship taking off, but Penny was far from human.
It didn't take too much effort on Penny's part to keep the ship from taking off. With a sharp tug Penny pulled on the ship sending it careening into another stack of shipping crates. Satisfied that they were neutralized Penny turned frowning as the ship carrying the man that hurt Ruby too far out of reach.
Distantly Penny could hear sirens and saw out of the corner of her eyes flashing lights. She didn't pay them any mind instead calculating if her weapon's ranged mode could reach the airship. Coming up with a negative Penny searched around for any other threats before allowing herself to deactivate combat mode. Penny blinked shaking her head coming out of combat mode. Though Penny liked to think she was at least somewhat close to human. When it came to fighting Penny's combat mode kept Penny's head clear of any miscellaneous data. Almost as if Penny's emotions shut off briefly allowing her to fight more efficiently. It was something Penny remembered Ironwood pushed for after her father first had her demonstrate her combat capabilities.
Penny recalled her swords standing still for a moment wondering what she should do now. Looking over Ruby had rushed over to Blake who had been laying on the ground in shock of what just happened. Penny felt something jump on her shoulder, she smiled looking over to see Jim chirping happily.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to drag you down here with me. You should have jumped off before hand." The cricket chirped, having previously taken shelter in Penny's sleeve. He was fine, though it looked like he was less than pleased with Penny's swift movements during the fight.
"Penny! Are you okay?" Penny looked over to see Ruby calling over to her. Approaching the two teammates Penny smiled.
"Don't worry Ruby I told you I was combat ready." Penny told the scythe wielder cheerfully, though her face became serious looking at Blake.
"Are you okay?" Blake nodded getting up giving Penny a small smile.
"I'm fine, thanks." Before Penny could inquire further she heard a flurry of footsteps approaching them. She could tell her combat mode was gearing up reengage, but quickly deactivating itself again upon seeing it was Vale police. Penny frowned, her father told her to avoid any conflict with the police.
The police quickly demanded to know what happened here. Luckily it seemed both Blake and Ruby were quick to begin telling them what happened. The police lead the three girls out of the docking area.
Once they were away Penny spotted a black car and she hung her head. Glancing at her friends neither of them were paying much attention to her right now. Weiss was approaching assumingly to talk to Blake. Before anyone noticed Penny slipped away going over to the car, the door opened for her allowing her access.
She slipped inside, not looking at the man sitting across from her in the spacious car. Penny already knew her father was frowning without having to look at him. Jim seemed to sense Penny's distress and took cover back in Penny's shirt sleeve.
"Penny," Penny's father deep voice rumbled, and Penny's shoulders scrunched up looking out the window instead of at her father.
"You weren't hurt were you?" Penny shook her head still not looking at him.
"Good, now you know you shouldn't be wandering alone. Two days I've been searching for you…"
"I wasn't alone, I was with my friends." Penny cut in before her father could go on. Finally Penny looked at him, Penny's father was an older man. With frazzled greying hair and a bushy beard. He raised an eyebrow at Penny's declaration.
"Friends? You've made some friends?" His voice was soft none of the typically scolding parent tone remain.
"Oh yes, I've made friends with a few people. Well I don't know if Ruby's team considers me a friend, but any friend of Ruby's is one of mine. Then I meet someone else named Pyrrha. She's really nice, she even gave me her scroll number so I can keep in touch with her!" Penny pulled out her scroll to show her father the messages she'd been exchanging with Pyrrha all day. They stopped about an hour ago as Pyrrha had to train with her teammate. Still it was nice, all day Pyrrha had messaged her asking what the auburn haired girl was up to. The two talking about Penny's new cricket friend Jim, and various other things before Pyrrha was called away and Penny had to help Ruby find Blake.
A rare smile came to her father's face looking at the messages.
"That's nice Penny, I'm glad you're making friends. I don't think Ironwood will be too pleased though." Penny frowned, Ironwood was rarely pleased when it came to Penny. She wasn't sure why though, but it didn't matter right now.
"I can keep seeing them right?" Penny knew if she were asking Ironwood this question it'd be no for multiple reasons the General could come up with. This was her father though, and he was always less focused on how many people Penny could defeat in combat, and more on Penny herself.
"Okay, as long as you tell me when you're with them. When General Ironwood gets here though you'll have to take it up with him." Penny practically flew across the distance between them hugging her father.
"Oh thank you! I promise they're nice people you'll have to meet them sometime they're wonderful!" Penny's father chuckled returning the embrace not at all phased by her unnatural strength. General Ironwood wouldn't be showing up until after the break before the next semester that was plenty of time to enjoy her time with her new friends before the General would no doubt tell her to stay away from them. Penny could live with that it was certainly better than before having no friends at all.
A.N. Since there isn't any solid canon info about Pyrrha's family and life prior to becoming the famous athlete we see her as I'm going to include some of my own headcanon about how her family. Same goes for Penny since the only thing we know for certain is that she has a father/creator that she cares a lot for. I am definitely having a lot of fun writing these characters hopefully I do them some justice.