Chp III: Start

Disclaimer: I, ARK, am not owning RWBY or RT anytime soon.

"/A dream that's been a lifetime/" ~ 'It's My Turn' by Jeff Williams

My hands or I suppose this person's hands began to shake.

"W-what?" I stepped back from the mirror. My back touched the wall of the bathroom. Who was this? Who was this?

"T-That isn't me. It isn't."

Neo watched me impassively. I could imagine what was going through her mind now. This person is crazy. This person claims she's Pyrrha Nikos of all people.

I ran this person's hand through this person's hair, sinking to the floor. I am Pyrrha Nikos, I am Pyrrha Nikos. I ignored this person's trembling. I could prove it. I know I could prove it to myself, to the people close to me. But to Neo? Other people?

No. I couldn't.

I would be seen as a sham.

I didn't care about that though. I never enjoyed the fame I gained by accident.

But doubt started gripping me. Can I prove it to everyone that mattered?

Can I prove it to myself? Who was I?

I'm pretty sure this person's face had gone completely pale. That this person was shaking uncontrollably.

Finally, Neo tapped the floor with her umbrella. I looked up. She seemed uncomfortable, but she waved at me to follow her out of the bathroom.

Well, I had nothing better to do. I wiped at this person's eyes. Oum, I probably look like a mess right now. A loony mess.

Neo frowned at me when we got back into the living room. She scribbled out words on the table again.

I sat down on the couch with no energy and looked at the writing.

What are you going to do now?

What am I going to do? I suppose I would still try to find my Team. ...even if they didn't recognize me.

I swallowed. "F-find my team." Oum, now I was stuttering.

Neo pointed at her list of Team JNPR.

"Yes."

She frowned. Neo didn't make any moves for a few agonizing seconds. It was like she was making a difficult decision of some sort.

Finally, she carved into the table again.

My breath hitched.

R w/ JNPR. Y at Patch. Y knows where R went.

I processed the information. "Ruby is with my team? And…" Does Y stand for Ruby's sister? "Yang is at Patch and she knows where Ruby went?"

Neo nodded.

Yes, I was getting somewhere! I pushed my identity crisis to the side. Worry about what you can solve. Not what you can't.

"Then my destination is Patch."

Neo looked at me. She tapped the crossed out Pyrrha and tilted her head.

"...I'm Pyrrha," I said, fully knowing how weak my voice sounded.

She slowly nodded, like she decided to accept it even if it's completely insane sounded.

I'm glad.

I put on a weak smile. If I think about it one way, life is still life and it would always beat death no matter what.

I stood up, determined to make progress.

This time, Neo really did look at me like I'm insane. I sent her a questioning look.

She pointed at the window. It was pitch black outside, even considering the smokey grey clouds that seem to always hang over the area. Oh, it was night time.

Tomorrow then. I slumped back down into the couch. I gazed at Neo as she sat into her own couch. I don't know what I should do now. Fall asleep? I don't want to think about this body.

What if I had taken over this person's body? That would make me a mur-No. Stop.

"...say, Neo?"

The girl looked at me. She seemed vaguely annoyed at me for bothering her...again. I should probably stop after this.

"Why isn't Yang with Ruby? They're on the same team." Teams are your family. For Yang and Ruby that was even more true. I couldn't see Yang just letting Ruby go with my own team...especially considering what happened to me.

Neo shrugged. Her multi-colored eyes seemed to glaze over for a second. She made a separating motion with her hands.

"...huh?"

She wrote down Team RWBY and made the same motion again.

"They...they're disbanded?"

Neo nodded. I couldn't believe it. I've seen the team, they were almost inseparable. Sometimes they would even seem to disappear together. What could possibly make them disband? And even if they did, why did Ruby leave Yang? Why didn't Yang go with her?

No…it can't be. "Is all of Team RWBY accounted for?"

Neo nodded.

I sighed in relief. I was wrong, and I was glad for it.

Though...what would that make Team JNPR and Ruby? Team JNRR? That wasn't even a color.

A chuckle slipped out of my lips. I wondered what that Team formation was like.

...I want to see it. And I want to be a part of it.

Though it does beg the question. How did Neo know all this? ...she was probably just really perceptive.

I decided to close my eyes and focus on my breathing. After a while, I drifted off to sleep.

I had done it. I had really done it. I looked up at Sanctum Academy. I glanced down at my fake transcript. It took me a lot of favors, a lot of work, but I managed to fake myself in here. To be accepted. To have a chance. To help others like me.

As Pyrrha Nikos.

I woke up as rays of filtered sunlight beamed through the window. Looking out the window, I still saw grey. But at least it was light grey, that wa something. I looked at the other couch. Neo was still asleep, her chest rising and falling slowly.

I leaned back in my couch. What an unusual time for my brain to dig up that memory again. It certainly reminded me of Jaune though.

Someone who had done something much more daring than me, faking a transcript into the prestigious Beacon Academy of all places.

Haven would have been easier, much easier in fact. Heh, but that wasn't the Arc way was it?

Jaune looked at me angrily as he revealed the truth. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon."

"W-what do you mean?" Didn't he have a family? It wasn't like he had to create his own identity.

He turned and for a few seconds, the wind was all that we could hear as we stood on the roof.

"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" He looked at me again. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts and lied!"

My mind went blank. All this for Beacon? When he could just live comfortably in a house with his ridiculously large family? "What? But...why?"

Jaune turned away again. "Cause this is what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one too. But I was just never good enough."

I realized that my former situation wasn't similar to his. Not even close actually, but still, my heart went out to him. I couldn't help but draw the parallels. So I placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "than let me help you!"

Jaune turned on me. "I don't want help. I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!"

"Jaune, I-"

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the trees while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?"

You're fine, everyone has to start somewhere. I should know. I reached out to him, but he pulled away.

"Just...leave me alone. Okay?"

I bowed my head. "If that's what you think is best."

And I walked away. I was going to say I had been through the same thing. That I was never always the top of my class, never always the four times Mistral Region Champion, never always Pyrrha the celebrity, the household name. That I too, had faked my identity into a school.

...I never did mention that did I? In hindsight, maybe my team didn't know a lot about me. We never did talk about our pasts much. Jaune was just average, barring his ridiculously large family, Ren and Nora were childhood friends, but they never brought up their story, and I didn't for obvious reasons.

Did Team JNPR knew each other that well in the end?

I shook my head. Positive thoughts, Pyrrha, positive thoughts.

Look towards the future. How was I going to get to Patch? From what I remembered, it was an island on the west of Vale, meaning I'd have to cross water. First, I'd need to get to the west, then I have to find a boat or airship of some kind…that was willing to take in a broke teenager. I could manage that. I didn't like calling upon old abilities, but it could be done.

Then what? Would Yang even tell me where Ruby was? She would think I'm a lunatic, I barely looked like Pyrrha Nikos. ...This body looked an awful lot like Ruby for some reason though.

I shook my head. I set my jaw. I would try, that's what got me this far, that's what will get me farther.

But this body, wha-Please stop wandering, mind.

Neo drifted awake. She shook her head and looked at me. She raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"Yeah," I said. "Guess I'll get moving now."

Neo nodded. She pointed a thumb to the door. More specifically, the door that was not to the bathroom.

I'm guessing that's the exit. I grabbed my lance and stood up. I stretched and there was a few cracks in response. Looks like sleeping in a couch isn't good for you. I made a mental note to get in a bed as soon as possible. One should always take care of their body after all. …or another person's body.

I strided across the room and opened the door. There was a set of small, compact stairs leading down. I hadn't realized that we were on a higher level. I glanced back, Neo was already preoccupied with what looked like sharpening her umbrella's point. ...I decided I don't want to be at the end of that anytime, ever.

I hesitantly took my first step down. It was like the start of a journey. Or a quest. Sounds like something out of a story, huh?

But it was just the start of a selfish goal of an insignificant person like me. A person who didn't know who she was anymore.

I turned the knob of the door at the end of the steps. As I cracked open the door, grey light filtered into the building. I stopped, an idea forming in my head.

I closed the door and rushed back up the nearly claustrophobic stairs. I must have slammed open the door to the room, because Neo jumped out of her seat. She gave me an incredulous expression.

I smiled. Neo did help me when I needed it the most. It was only fair.

"Neo, I would like you to accompany me on my travels." I held out a hand.

'What?' Was the look she gave me. But after a few seconds of pause, she put on a look of resignation.

Neo walked up to me and took my hand.

Author's Notes: And the plot starts rolling! Cheers! Though I do wanna know, I'm making a lot headcanon for Pyrrha, so what do you guys think of it? Is it unnatural?

Brother is home sick so he couldn't beta….

Reviewer Responses

Knight7572: Kinda obvious isn't it? Poor Pyrrha is clueless though…

merendinoemiliano: It's always the autocorrect, lol...and people always just assume Arkos, huh? Well they are adorable. =)

Soundwave's Cassette Store: Hope I don't disappoint!

bayhon282004: =)

Clementine Davidson: Wow, thanks! Heheh, it really means a lot.

TheSetupMage: I did not think about the Remnant continuity thing. Oops. Ah well, whatevs. And lol, I can't imagine why...

Constructive Critisicm and Suggestions super appreciated!

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