Chapter #7: Sparring & Persuasion

Friday afternoon, the day before the dance that so many were getting worked up about. It was Professor Goodwitch's class and the sparring was almost complete. Pyrrha's name had been called out earlier to fight one on four with the whole of team CRDL. Blake's ears had twitched and her eyes had shot up from her book. She knew Pyrrha was good but taking on four opponents at once, them being huntsmen in training was going to be no easy task even for the invincible girl.

With a book on her lap, Blake was intent on ignoring the entire match. She was sure she could learn a thing or two but within that book was a small map of places she'd been in search of the White Fang. She wanted to memorise it and decide where to look over the next couple of nights.

But as she heard the footsteps of the solo competitor she couldn't help but look up from her plans and see Pyrrha walking confidently into the arena. Her long red hair and emerald eyes, pale skin and armour coloured bronze. The cuisses that started about half way up her thighs travelled down her long legs and turned into the greaves that protected her lower legs.

The bronzed vambrace on her left arm covering her unconnected dark brown sleeve while her right arm just had the sleeve. The red ankle length drapery trailed slightly from her right hip where is was tied around her dark brown A-line mini skirt. Her torso was protected by a bronzed plate made to fit with leather underneath for added protection and comfort. The bronze circlet adorning her head was the final piece, making Pyrrha an intimidating foe even without her set of skills.

Russel and Dove were the ones to test out Pyrrha when the horn to start rung out. They were both easily and effortlessly blocked or redirected by Pyrrha who then changed her weapon to a rifle and fired a few shots at Sky. She does it so fluidly even compared to the better trainees. Blake notes while still watching the red headed warrior fight.

As the fight continues she charged Cardin while shifting her sword into a spear. She struck him with it once and dodged, Cardin's strike hit the shield on her back while Pyrrha came up with a powerful upwards sweep the connected along his body. As she pulled her spear back up to a thrusting position she once more struck him. The speed and precision were such that she was poised and struck hard, sliding passed him as she connected without Cardin having the chance to even react.

When Blake sees Cardin look up to where Pyrrha had stopped sliding she felt a little bad for him. He was completely outclassed one on one as Pyrrha's speed and strength already had her falling down from her jump above him, spear now a sword. Blake breathed a sigh of relief as he rolled forwards and out of the way as Pyrrha's powerful blow struck where he previously was. She wanted Pyrrha to win, but not cause any major harm, even against the bully.

Rolling into a jump she carried her momentum and all the while switched her sword again to a spear and threw it with a gunshot to increase its velocity. Dove managed to deflect it with his sword but Pyrrha tripped him with a leg sweep. She's so fast! Using her semblance, not that many knew save for Ruby and Weiss and the teachers, Pyrrha pulled her spear back into her hands.

Standing upright she twirled it and for only a moment it was a rifle and she fired it. Sky blocked the shot and swung at Pyrrha with his halberd. There was a clash as it met a bronze shield. Pyrrha pushed Sky's weapon up and away as she twirled, her weapon changing to a spear she struck him with the flat end before bringing the blade around and down.

From there she spun it quickly changing it to a rifle and shooting twice before again attacking with her spear. Blake could hear that Ruby was in awe at the speed alone, not to mention how she was changing her weapon to its various forms like a pro. She truly did had mastery over her weapon. Pyrrha's body twists and turns along with her weapon, her tall stature and muscular physique giving her more strength than most girls. Sky is sent flying backwards at the combination of Pyrrha's spear thrust and a gunshot making it so much more powerful.

Cardin got struck as he watched his teammate soar past him. A horizontal strike to his core before he blocks the return strike from Pyrrha's sword. The share a few more blows as each block before Cardin winds up for a powerful hit. Pyrrha just cartwheels to the side eliciting a cheer from many of the onlookers, classmates some of which were long time fans.

Pyrrha waits for a reason that Blake doesn't know, but Cardin seeing this, spins bringing his mace flying at her. Raising her shield Pyrrha blocked but is sent skidding back several meters still on her feet. Sky had rushed around and tried to strike Pyrrha from behind as she regathered herself. It wasn't a flip that she did but a jump and a twist.

Cardin bore down on her again while she was in the air and struck. Using her shield Pyrrha took the blow and its momentum. Landing on her side she proceeded to leg sweep Sky who fell easily. Blake's eyes widened as Pyrrha put all her weight onto the back of her neck before pushing herself back to her feet with a backwards flip using her neck strength and a leg flick that created momentum.

The movement caused Cardin to miss a punch that he threw. Pyrrha charged him and rolled over his back twirling in the air after pushing off him. She threw her shield. It struck Cardin square in the head and bounced over doing the same to Sky. There was a large amount of cheering.

An acrobatic backflip allows her to grab her shield while landing on Sky's back doing even more damage. Russel and Dove then charge her while their leader recovered. Pyrrha answered with a charge of her own, connection against Russel with him nearly wrapping around her shield that she led with.

With him sent flying Dove engages Pyrrha one on one and the two trade blows. Dove reads Pyrrha's first fake attack and many others. That is until Pyrrha fakes with her sword and pivots, kicking him in the jaw with the sole of her boot. To his credit he landed on his feet while Cardin joined the fray once more with a jumping attack.

Pyrrha jumps back and turns it into a flip, firing rounds from her rifle even before she lands. Russel steps in front of Cardin and blocks them all before following Dove into close quarters combat. He overtakes Dove with a dive that turns into a rolling attack. Pyrrha blocked with her shield as his feet connect. Come on Pyrrha! You can beat them! Blake silently cheered while scanning to see if any of her team is watching her.

She'd not been on good speaking terms with them since a couple of days ago, even more so since snapping at Ruby yesterday. Dove and Russel press their attack as they see the advantage. Two versus one they strike rapidly. Three blades versus Pyrrha's one and a shield. She does well blocking Dove with her sword and Russel with her shield. She still hasn't taken a hit! Blake realises as she looks to the aura levels displayed overhead for everyone to see.

Even as her two attackers roll and flip around her, Blake sees Pyrrha block every attack. She watches with growing unrest as Cardin swings at the warrior again. A dive roll past him lets Pyrrha evade the hit while allowing herself to reposition herself with her opponents all in front. Three shoots erupted from her rifle that changed from a sword during her roll, Cardin spinning his mace blocked all three as he charged yet again.

Blake let out a laugh as Pyrrha countered his jump with one of her own. A hard knee connected with his chin and as the two landed, Cardin unbalanced, Pyrrha attacked and put him on the back foot, mixing in kicks with her sword play. Though Cardin might be strong, Pyrrha matches him blow for blow, never allowing him to touch her as she moves her body around his blows.

Ducking or dodging she lands blow after blow as her speed was too great for Cardin to combat. He stumbles back, reeling from multiple strikes as Russel takes over. Three strikes that Pyrrha dances around find nothing but empty space. "Did you see that!" Ruby yelled from beside Blake. The Faunus could only smile at the show Pyrrha was putting on, no one could call this a match.

Pyrrha rests her blade on the back of her neck and performed several twirls with it becoming a spear. Russel threw a sword, something they were told never to do in a fight as it left oneself defenceless, thankfully he used two. He paid the price however, as Pyrrha wrapped her shield arm around her back and threw it at him. The hit stunned him and Pyrrha used the advantage to swing her spear in an arc attack him.

Dove came in to help his teammate so she turned her attention to him. Standing side on with her spear raised behind her neck held with both hands seemed awkward to Blake, but as a shot rang out the spear darted at Dove. He blocked and Pyrrha spun it around. Bang! Another shot, the tip coming from a normal grip in front of her body this time. He blocked but is sent back a few feet.

Catching her shield, the warrior charges Dove who fires a few shots of his own at Pyrrha. Every single round hits her shield before she attacks Dove who rolls away from harm. It was a surprise since most didn't see him as very athletic in the sense of rolling and jump or spins but he performed one really well. Blake heard a few murmurs from some girls in the class commenting on how cool it was that he managed to dodge the Mistral Champion like that.

It didn't last long as Cardin charged up an attack, his backswing as he wound up caught Dove and flattened him. That useless bully! So careless. Blake thought as she leered at the giant fool. Slamming his mace into the ground he caused it to crack and a stream flames to protrude from the broken ground. He must have used fire dust.

It was the only explanation Blake could think of as she knew Weiss augmented her weapon with dust to achieve a greater variety in her attacks. Pyrrha, however, did a backflip and brings her head around fast to keep watch over Cardin's moves. She completely avoided the flames and landing she pivoted, launching herself at him. Landing a barrage of attacks, she sends him flying into the air and follows with a jump of her own.

As they fall apart Blake thought the match would be over when they hit the ground, only Pyrrha just continued her attack. Using her shield as a base she pushes off it right towards Cardin and wraps around him. With their backs touching and Pyrrha holding her spear shaft against his neck, she drived down, slamming Cardin into the ground that would kill anyone without aura protection.

As if to make sure, she done a backflip, kicking him in the head and causing him to flip and crash further back on the ground again. Pulling her shield back she readied herself for the fight to continue, but she righted herself as the lights came back on full and professor Goodwitch called the match. Pyrrha Nikos the victor.

Blake only realised then that she was grasping her book within her hands extremely tightly. It's not as if she could have lost that. She told herself, trying to calm her nerves down. There was still that feeling there that Pyrrha meant more to her than a friend, not that Blake thought they'd ever amount to anything more than that, friends.

As the warrior and professor shared some words that the rest of the class couldn't hear, Blake returned her focus to her book and her need to find the White Fang. She'd wasted enough of her precious time and worry watching Pyrrha dismantle team CRDL.

Blake thought there would be no more time for another sparring match, so it was a huge surprise when her own name got called out. Slamming her book shut she looked down at the professor, wide eyed like and animal stuck in headlights. "…. You've been rather docile for the past few classes… why don't you…".

Luckily for her a boy with grey hair and similar clothing said he'll do it. She caught the professor say his name, Mercury, but thinks little to nothing of it, until he asks to fight Pyrrha who just fought a four versus one round. Though from where she was, Blake couldn't tell if Pyrrha was tired or not, but the audacity to challenge a weakened opponent in a sparring lesson was terrible.

Both Pyrrha and professor Goodwitch seem surprised but the professor leaves it to Pyrrha to decide. Use your head Pyrrha. Blake pleaded while asking something of Pyrrha that she herself should be doing. Mercury got declined and said he was no longer interested. 'Hm! What a jerk". Weiss commented from Blake's left.

The last few minutes of class are spent talking before the bell signalled the end. Professor Goodwitch reminded everyone about the dance followed by the fact that Monday was the start of the missions for a lot of the teams, including Blake's.

Blake tails her team a few meters back as they leave. Too preoccupied with her book she didn't hear Sun approach until his hand turned her to face him. "You doing ok?" His question was warranted not that Blake cared.

"I'm fine". Was her simply and short reply.

Clearing his throat Sun spoke again, a different subject than her wellbeing. "So I hear there's this dance going on this weekend. Ah, sounds pretty lame but, you and me I'm thinking not as lame huh?"

"What?" Blake asked with a small hint of annoyance at the confusion he caused her. It was mostly due to the fact she hadn't been sleeping right the past week or so.

Her reply didn't stop Sun though. "The dance, this weekend, you wanna go or what?" His tone was hopeful and confident, something that might have worked on someone else but at that time Blake didn't want a bar of it.

"I don't have time for a stupid dance. I though you of all people would get that". She stated as she closed her book and walked away leaving Sun with both a surprised and sad look on his face. The rest of team RWBY looked at the slumped over, turned down Sun. He'd asked her because of an obvious attraction. While Yang was glad someone else had asked her partner, she was also concerned as she knew of another vying for her partner's attention.

Several hours later after dinner and night was falling, the energetic leader of team RWBY had called a meeting of great importance. Blake had thought it was to let her know that they would be helping her out again, but hope sank when the meeting started.

"We want you to go to the dance". It was Ruby, the leader asking her of this.

"That's ridiculous". Blake answered. You're not even planning to go yourself. She wanted to spit out.

"Blake we're worried about you. This investigation is starting to mess with your head" Her partner said from the seat they shared on the bed.

"You can't sleep, you hardly eat, and to be honest your grades have been suffering". Weiss chimed in, always a top student in terms of grades.

"You think I care about grades? People's lives are at stake!" She answered with her voice beginning to rise, it was clear to her it was three against one.

"We know and we're all still trying to figure out what Torchwick is up to." Yang answered. The others including Yang went on to explain how it was thanks to Blake and Sun that they even knew the roundabout location. Weiss revealed she'd gathered information that put Vale as the highest target for Dust robberies while Yang commented on the loss of missing military tech that surely, said military, would be searching for.

"Blake… you won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open". Ruby told her, referring to the bags Blake had growing under her eyes, getting worse each day.

"All we're asking is that you take it easy for, one, day". Yang said holding a single finger before the Faunus's eyes.

"It will be fun! Yang and I will make sure of it". Weiss sounded so sure of it as Yang attested to when she revealed that they were planning the entire event since team CFVY's mission has last longer than projected. So, they were asked to take over and organise the dance.

"Weiss and I were asked to pick up where they left off. And now we can make sure you have the perfect night".

"And once it's all over we'll return to our search, rested and ready". Weiss followed on from Yang, both wearing joyous smiles on the faces trying their best to convince their tired and antisocial teammate it'd be fun.

"So what do you think?" Ruby asked before silence feel over their team meeting.

Blake had closed her eyes and was thinking. Not of attending the dance but of how stupid and foolish her teammates were. They didn't care that there were lives on the line. Faunus or human for that matter. So she said the only thing that she could think of.

"I think this is a colossal waste of time". She said before getting up from her bed and walking to the door. None of the others could even say a word as their friend declined, even the sweet deal of being promised a great night by the two who were running the show.

"I'll be in the library". She told them bluntly before shutting the door. Jaune was there and they exchanged a strange look. Blake knew why he was there since he had a guitar in his hand. Not you too. She groaned internally before going to her destination.

Wanted to practice writing some fighting so Pyrrha's match against team CRDL was a good opportunity. Followed the episode with a small or was it a big change in Pyrrha declining to fight Mercury? What consequences will that have further down the line?

As always, if you want to leave a comment or some constructive criticism I'd appreciate it. Thanks to everyone who is following or just tuning in.