At the Grand Clock Tower, 9:04 pm...
"Hmm..."
Ozpin was watching footage of Tiella's first match against Cardin and the free for all from Combat class on his scroll by the large window. Specifically, he'd been replaying the short one on one moments of Tiella against Pyrrha and Yang.
He was quite surprised to see that a soldier from another world was able to fight on a level that far surpassed his own students. Even Pyrrha Nikos who he's had his eye on ever since the start of the school year.
"Though... despite the clear gap between her and Ms. Nikos, she's wont to take spars casually. So it is a little difficult to measure for sure how well she'll do when she goes serious."
She showed prowess in fighting that supported her claim of being a mercenary. She had the experience that most—if not all—his students lacked. She knew how to put someone at a disadvantage and keep it that way for the remainder of the fight.
And most importantly, she had an incredible battle sense—picking up on her opponent's quirks in a matter of seconds.
"She has a habit of obscuring her opponent's vision by attempting to grab them by the face and then striking elsewhere to maim, disorient further, or finish."
One can say that she's very much like an actual Huntress already when it came to combat against another person.
"Perhaps I can have her work with Qrow on a few missions to get her acquainted. Qrow may not like it at first, but I have a feeling that they'll get along just fine."
He replayed the footage again starting from her match with Cardin.
"James on the other hand... would have reservations working with a mercenary."
The footage was showing the fight between Pyrrha and Tiella once more and Ozpin was watching just as he did the first time—intently studying both girls' performance.
"Even more so for Tiella. I don't doubt she'll have beef with James as soon as they meet."
Ozpin took a seat by his desk to refill his mug, still watching the footage.
"However, if I wish for them to work together, I must tell them everything. It is only right that I do."
Around the same time...
"Hey Glynda, do you mind if I work out?" Tiella asked, "It's gonna be a nightly thing if you're fine with it."
"So long as you don't make a lot of noise."
They were both in the living room and Glynda was on her couch wearing a cozy white sweater and dark blue jeans. Her feet were raised onto the couch with her leaning on one of the armrests as she worked on her scroll.
"Great. And you don't have to worry about that, I don't really use a lot of equipment."
"Good," Glynda said, adjusting her glasses to look at Tiella.
She started with light dynamic stretches, careful not to make too much grunting noise.
"She sure lives in a nice room. Do all teachers live like this?" she thought.
Glynda's apartment was room 201 on the second floor of the East Wing Dormitory and was fairly large for one person.
A hall began by the entrance to her apartment that leads into the living room where there were two couches and a small glass table in the middle. A television set was by the wall where the couches were—and to its left was a small kitchen and dining room. From there going right was the large bathroom—complete with a big tub, a shower, and a separate room for a toilet.
It also had three rooms that could be used as bedrooms—though with Glynda living alone, she used one for storage and the other as a guest room.
The guest room would be Tiella's new permanent residence until further notice.
Past the living room was a glass sliding door hidden behind milky white curtains that lead to a veranda. There, Glynda kept small plants and also where she hung her laundry to dry.
"You have a nice place, Glynda. I could get used to living here." Tiella said, getting down on the floor for her push-ups.
"Thank you. Do try not to mess up the place whenever I'm gone."
"Of course..." she huffed, "...Headmistress." and continued, mentally keeping count of her push-ups. She continued for a few more push-ups until she stopped and sat on the floor.
"Hey, Glynda?"
"Yes?" she said without looking.
"Is my Aura still on?"
Glynda peeked from behind the couch to give Tiella a questioning look. She stared at Tiella for a while, her eyes softly glowing before she spoke again, "Yes, and it's almost fully recovered."
"Can you help me, I dunno, turn it off or something?"
"Why?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I just wanna do my workout without it." she shrugged.
Glynda looked at Tiella for a moment before answering, "Very well. Tonight should be a good enough time for your first Aura lesson."
"Great!" Tiella said, eagerly standing in front of Glynda. "So, how do we do this?"
"There are a few ways, but the most common is to empty your mind. Focus on the feeling of nothingness inside you."
Glynda closed her eyes as she started glowing brighter and brighter for every passing second until the glow suddenly disappeared.
"That's how it should look like," she said, feeling slight exhaustion. "You'll know you've done it when you feel slightly drained and that everything feels a little heavier."
"Let me try it then," Tiella said, taking a seat on a separate couch.
Tiella did as told, and for a long while, she was just sitting there without anything happening. At that point, Glynda was already back on her scroll.
"Yeah, this isn't happening," she said in slight frustration.
"It takes time and effort to learn these things. Just keep at it for an hour," she said, her eyes still on the scroll.
"Alright, alright."
"'Empty', she said. 'Feel nothing', she said. How's that any different from how I normally am? Wait, maybe..."
She closed her eyes once more and tried again.
"Empty..."
She focused on herself.
"Empty..."
On the black nothingness in her mind.
"I am empty..."
"Tiella..?"
"..."
"Tiella..!"
"..."
"Tiella... please stop!"
"..."
"Please..!"
"..."
She focused intently like so for a few minutes. And unknown to her, she'd begun glowing a dark red hue.
Until she was shaken to attention by a deeply distressed and exhausted-looking Glynda.
"W-Wha? Glynda?" Tiella asked confusedly, "What's wrong?"
"Thank... Oum..." Glynda said gasping the words out, "...you finally... stopped."
She eyed Glynda who she hadn't noticed was already on top of her, gripping her tightly by the shoulders and breathing heavily. Tiella stared for a short moment until she realized the signs. Her eyes went wide and took Glynda by the shoulders to sit them both upright.
"Glynda? Did I-!? Glynda, I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean it! I-"
"It's..." Glynda pressed a finger on her lips, "..it's fine. You stopped."
"..."
"It's all that matters," she said, putting a hand on her chest as she tried to steady her breathing.
"I'm sorry," Tiella said with eyes downcast, ashamed of what she'd done, inadvertently or not.
"Don't apologize. I know that you don't like using your Skill, so I know that you know very little about it."
"I'm s-..."
Glynda glared, daring her to finish.
"Okay."
"We'll work on both your Aura and your Skill. One step at a time."
"My Skill too?" Tiella asked incredulously, looking up at Glynda with a pained expression.
"Tiella, ignoring your Skill won't make it go away," Glynda said in a knowing smile. "I believe that it would be better for you if you learned to control it as well."
Tiella's eyes went downcast again, understanding Glynda's intentions. She knew that Glynda meant well, that she only wanted to make things easier for not only her but for everyone else as well. But...
"No."
"Tiella?"
"I said no." she said indignantly, "I don't need it."
"But Tiella-"
"I don't need it!" she stood abruptly and turned her back on Glynda. "I will never need it again! Not when I have Aura! I just need to master Aura and I'll never have a use for it, anymore!"
"I know that you don't want to-"
"Then you should already know that I will never, ever want to use it again!" Tiella turned, facing Glynda with a glare. "I WOULD RATHER DIE!"
"But I don't want you to die!" Glynda yelled, standing abruptly to face Tiella's glare with her own. "Don't you get that!? Did it ever cross your mind that the people here wouldn't want you to go dying off, just like that!?"
Tiella was caught off guard by her words. She could only stare back at the pained and concerned eyes that were adorning Glynda.
"...I told you didn't I? I am your ally, no matter what." Glynda said softly, giving Tiella a warm smile as she spoke, "And that I won't let you be alone."
Tiella only stayed quiet, looking down, trying not to look at Glynda.
"If it wasn't obvious the first time, then I'll say it again." she cupped Tiella's cheek with one hand and raised her face to look at her, "You don't have to worry about being alone anymore, because I won't let you."
Tiella looked into Glynda's rarely seen gentle eyes. She felt a little warm inside, knowing that she normally would not show this side to anyone.
"And that should go the same way for you as well," Glynda said gently, giving her a small half-smile with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not just gonna let you leave me after you make me promise something like that."
"You're such a pain, you know that?" Tiella said so softly, in a small smile of her own.
"You're the one who's being a pain right now, you know?" Glynda said while gently rubbing Tiella's cheek with her thumb.
"Could you give me some time to think about it at least?" Tiella said softly, looking down on the floor once more.
"Of course," Glynda said, letting go of her cheek. "you can tell me about it when you've made your decision."
"Thanks." Tiella looked up at her once more—her sharp eyes softened.
"Why don't you take the night off from your workout? Surely one night won't hurt?" Glynda said in a small grin, "You already received a beating in Combat class after all."
"Pfft... yeah, that's probably a good idea," Tiella said with a roll of her eyes.
She walked to her room and opened the door. She went inside, and before she shut the door, she spoke.
"Goodnight, Glynda."
"Goodnight, Tiella."
And the door shut quietly, leaving Glynda by the living room—wondering whether she'd need a cup of tea or a glass of beer to cool off.
"And she/I just moved in too."
When the morning came for Tiella, she felt quite refreshed.
Gone were her anxieties from the night before, though that didn't mean she did not care anymore nor would she forget.
She's simply refreshed her state of mind.
So she got up at her usual time, 6 in the morning, and went on for her daily morning ritual. She met up with Velvet again along the way and told her about how she's now moved in with Glynda.
"So as punishment you're to stay with Professor Goodwitch indefinitely?" Velvet said during their light stretches, preparing for the laps around the campus.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer but all in all, I don't mind." Tiella said while doing jumping jacks, "Glynda's been taking real good care of me since I got here, too so I can't really complain since it was all my fault in the first place."
"Professor Goodwitch has been one of the best teachers I've had all my life as a huntress trainee, so I'm sure you'll be fine under her care too." Velvet said in that cute smile of hers.
"I know," Tiella said while rolling her shoulders alternately. "Are we ready?"
"Ready." Velvet said, actually ready, unlike the first time.
"Oh, so Coco isn't a morning person like you?" Tiella said, standing beside Velvet by the shower room lockers.
"Yeah, she can be a bit grouchy first thing in the morning." Velvet said, wiping her sweat away with a dry towel. "Something about not functioning properly unless she gets her morning dose of caffeine."
"And what about the guys?" she asked after drinking from a bottle of cold water.
"Fox likes to do his calisthenics inside the room; we don't really mind. Yatsu meditates until everyone's ready for breakfast."
"What about you, Pyrrha? You the only morning person in your team?" Tiella asked.
Pyrrha was sitting by the bench pouring the rest of the cold water over her head after drinking from the bottle.
"Well... Jaune likes to sleep until 7, Ren would wake up at 5 to practice his kata, and Nora prefers to wake up whenever she wants," she said with an amused smile, remembering her team's quirks. "She would sometimes wake us all up at 4 in the morning trying to wake Ren up because she suddenly craved for pancakes."
"Speaking of Ren and Nora, are they an item?" Velvet asked curiously.
"Nora said they've known each other since childhood and have been 'together' but not 'together-together'."
"Almost there then." Tiella chimed.
"Whatever their decisions will be, I wish them both happiness," Pyrrha said in her ever gentle smile.
"Let's hit the showers?" Tiella asked both girls, to which both of them simply nodded.
Tiella got back to Glynda's—their—apartment and as soon as she opened the door, she was immediately assaulted by the appetizing scent of something cooking.
"Tiella? Are you back from your morning routine?" Glynda asked from inside.
"Yeah, mornin' by the way." Tiella sniffed once, peeking into the kitchen and asked, "What's cooking?"
"Our breakfast," Glynda said matter-of-factly.
It was a bit of a sight for Tiella, seeing Glynda in an apron over what she wore the night before, cooking breakfast for the both of them.
"Even my share?" she asked curiously, holding a finger up to her lower lip.
"Of course." Glynda scoffed as if she was offended by the question.
"Oh, wow. I was just planning to go to the cafeteria again but I could get used to this." Tiella said while heading for her room. "Let me just get changed before I help you out."
"It's fine. I'm almost done anyway." Glynda said with a wave and immediately went back to cooking.
"Alright," Tiella said while entering her room.
"I never thought I'd ever eat Glynda's home cooking."
She thought while changing into the clothes Coco picked for her.
"And yet here I am."
She did her hair into her signature braids and wore her accessories soon after.
"Waiting for her to finish cooking right after my morning workout."
She opened the door and stepped into the living room.
"It feels so unreal."
She walked towards the table in the dining area.
"So many things that I never expected to happen to me... just happened to me and today's only just the beginning of my 3rd day here."
"We're having eggs benedict, bacon, and pancakes," Glynda said while preparing the table. "We also have milk and coffee."
She gave Tiella a small smile, proud of her work before she noticed the look on her face.
"Tiella? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.
Celeste! It's morning already. Come on, breakfast is ready. If you don't get up now, you'll be late for school. We wouldn't want you to be left behind by Daddy now, do we?
"Is... there something you don't like?" Glynda asked, "There're some buttered toast if you're not up for pancakes."
Where's my little girl? Daddy's been waiting for you to join him, you know? Even big sis has gone tired of waiting.
Tiella was staring at the table full of food, prepared just for both of them—and was filled with a strong sense of nostalgia.
"Tiella?" Glynda asked, standing just in front of the wistful girl.
Finally realizing that Glynda's been calling for her, Tiella shook her head lightly and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Sorry about that Glynda, I'm just a little surprised that you'd be so great at cooking," she said teasingly.
Glynda gave her a small pout, "At least give it a taste before you start flattering me."
"I'm pretty sure eggs benedict isn't as easy as scrambled eggs," Tiella said in an amused smile, taking her seat by the table.
Glynda took hers just across Tiella, "I have my own tricks." she said in a small grin as her silverware floated above the table.
Tiella chuckled, "Using your Semblance to cook? My, how flashy."
"It's actually a good form of practice for me," Glynda said while grabbing her silverware from the air and preparing to eat.
"Yeah?" Tiella asked, taking one of each that was prepared into her own plate.
"Yes." Glynda said after swallowing a bite, "Using my Telekinesis on daily things such as cooking and cleaning helps me refine my control over it."
"Oh, I get ya." Tiella said, "Mmm, these are great." already done with her own pancake and moving on to her bacon and eggs benedict. "So, what do I have for today's schedule? Same as yesterday?"
"Thank you." she said, "And yes, you'll be following the same schedule for today."
Tiella mixed coffee with milk and downed half the cup before answering, "Great, great. Does Port always teach like that?"
"Yes, he imparts his knowledge on Grimm his own way. I admit that it can be tedious just listening to his stories, and may even be a little exaggerated, but he definitely knows what he's talking about."
"Uh huh... And Oobleck? Are you sure he's not a robot?"
"Don't be preposterous."
"I'm just sayin', you know? How anyone can talk that fast and that much without needing to breathe is beyond me unless it's a robot."
"He's just a little hyper from all the caffeine."
"Alright, fine. Keep your secrets."
"..."
"So what about Peach? Is she a child genius or did she just never have a growth spurt?"
"She's... a little of both. She used to be our youngest staff, at age 24, until you came."
"'A little...' she says... pfft, yeah, okay."
"..."
"I can definitely get used to this."
Glynda was rolling her eyes after hearing another one of Tiella's dumb jokes while cleaning up the table.
"But do I deserve it?"
"Let me help you out," Tiella said, standing from her seat, stacking her own plates and silverware.
"A happy life like this, after everything I've done?"
"It's fine, I have Telekinesis, remember?" Glynda said in a small smile.
"Of course not."
"Yeah but, that just makes me look like a freeloader."
"Don't delude yourself, girl."
"You already are," Glynda said in her own cheeky smile.
"Wha-!? I've been pretty worried about that, you know!? And you just come out and say it to my face!? Fine! If that's how it's gonna be, then I'm doing all the chores before you could even think to do them!"
"The only thing you deserve is to die alone on the side of the road."
"Is that so?" Glynda said, eyebrow raised questioningly.
"It is so. I'll show you who the freeloader really is..."
"Gunned down like a stray dog."
The start of her day was much like yesterday. She was made to observe as there wasn't really much for her to do during class, save for fetching things as well as keeping an eye on students that weren't paying attention.
Cardin and his gang were a little more docile compared to before, and while not really paying attention during classes, they've stopped picking on Jaune and Velvet. He's still abrasive as ever though.
But Tiella's fine with that. Now that Cardin's stopped acting like a jackass, he sort of reminded her of Bardel. Just that Cardin's a little bigger, probably a bit smarter, and a lot less hot-headed and impulsive. What a man child.
Port had invited her to a Grimm hunt by the weekend as soon as class ended, which she graciously accepted. She was eager to see the Grimm up close and personal before they disappear like before.
Dr. Oobleck also invited her to be his assistant in a short, one-day expedition to the Emerald Forest. He needed someone to carry his tools with him and figured he could focus more on the archaeological part of his expedition than the trying not to get eaten by Grimm part with her help.
"Wait just a second, my weekend's already fully booked just to assist these geezers? Don't I get a day off? Whatever, I wanted to see more of this world anyway."
"Hey, Tiella!"
Tiella just finished History Class and was heading out to the cafeteria for lunch when she was called out to from behind. She turned to look for the voice but couldn't find the person immediately.
"Down here!"
"Ah, Ruby, was it?" Tiella said after looking a little lower, remembering the name of the girl.
"Yep!"
"What's up, Little Red?" Tiella asked, resuming her walk to the cafeteria.
"Oh, nothing much really," Ruby said, following suit. "I've just been wondering... how come you don't like using your weapon during spars?"
"Who even takes spars seriously?" Tiella asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's just that everyone wants to get better with their own fighting style here so I was just wondering if you're actually just more comfortable barehanded?"
"No, not really." Tiella dismissed casually with a wave of her hand, "I feel more comfortable with at least a knife in my hand."
"Your weapon is a knife?" Ruby asked in barely hidden curiosity.
"It's one of them, yeah." she said, giving Ruby a wry smile, "And I just figured I shouldn't be showing everything off. Trump cards only work because your enemies don't know about them."
"That makes sense." Ruby nodded in agreement.
"Yyyep."
"So can you show me your weapons?" Ruby asked, almost bouncing in place.
"Uh... why?"
"Sorry!" Ruby said after realizing that she was weirding her out, "I'm just super curious about all sorts of weapons and stu-"
"Ruby's a weapons maniac so she'll take any chance she gets to look at your weapons."
Interrupted by a familiar voice, they both turned to see Weiss walking up towards them on the way to the cafeteria.
"She did the same with all of us." she continued.
"Is that right?" Tiella said, wearing a wry smile again.
All Ruby could do was rub the back of her head shyly and laugh in response.
"I guess that's fine." she said, "I need some target practice anyway."
"You use guns too?" Ruby asked, already looking like the most excitable puppy.
"Yeah but," Tiella said, entering the door to the cafeteria, "they're nothing amazing like the ones I see you guys using. They're simple as can be."
"Well..." Ruby drawled, unsure of how to react.
"But alright," Tiella said, patting Ruby on the head, "I'll show them to you after classes end."
"Awesome!" she beamed, clinging to the tall girl by the shoulders. "Oh, I can't wait!"
"Easy there, girly." Tiella said, raising the arm Ruby was hugging, "I'm telling you now, they're really nothing fancy."
"It's okay." Ruby said in a grin, "I can help you make upgrades if you like!"
"You're that much of a geek, huh?" Tiella said, lining up to order from Mama.
"Oh, it's just that in my old school every student has to forge their own weapon, so..."
"Yeah? Sounds pretty neat. I'll hold you to it then."
Ruby jumped off and grabbed her own tray. "I won't let you down!"
They all made their orders and went for the table where Blake and Yang were already sitting. Team JNPR were elsewhere as they had other business to attend to. Namely, trying to find a proper training regime for Jaune.
And while Tiella was gladly joining in on Team RWBY's banter, her mind was elsewhere.
"What are you smiling at?"
Yang dared her to eat a whole Sloppy Tiella in under 30 seconds, betting 10 Lien that she wouldn't get to half of it even if she tried. So as someone who's always happy for a challenge—she endeavored to prove Yang wrong.
"Acting as if you belong there."
Yang's mouth hung agape at how easily—and messily—Tiella proved her wrong. Ruby was cheering and praising, Blake's eyebrows shot up all the while, and Weiss was disgusted beyond words.
"Keep in mind,"
Tiella, in all her sloppy and messy glory—proudly beamed at Yang her smuggest smile—extending an open palm out and waited for her 10 Lien.
"you're only there because you have nowhere to go."
Yang begrudgingly gave up 10 Lien while muttering something about eating loads being Tiella's hidden Semblance.
"You'll be thrown away as soon as Ozpin's done with you."
Tiella then licked her lips and fingers clean in front of the girls, to which they had varying reactions.
"So don't get too complacent,"
Yang gave her a wink, Blake was trying to ignore her by going back to her book but kept failing as she kept on stealing glances. Ruby just went back to eating like normal and Weiss had a faint blush and was pretending she didn't know the disgusting woman.
"alright?"
The Dust Theories class was much like before—lots of moving equipment around, erasing things on the high part of the board, standing by in case Peach or a student caused an explosion—the works.
After class, she asked Professor Peach for a good beginner's book on Dust. Her excuse was that it was good to brush up on the basics again before she started asking Peach on ways to put Dust on her own weapons and armor.
She got a tip to visit the library after classes ended and to just ask the librarian. Apparently, there were a large number of beginners books, oddly enough.
Then came the Combat class.
Tiella stood by Glynda's side as she officiated the random selection matches. She was eagerly waiting for a chance to get picked again though it never came. When the time for volunteer matches came, however, she was challenged to a one on one match by Pyrrha. And it seemed like Yang wanted to get to it first.
As they both entered the arena in their sparring gear—Pyrrha fully armed while Tiella staying otherwise—the class stayed silent, both in anticipation and etiquette, mindful not to distract the combatants.
Tiella walked towards Pyrrha with an extended fist, stopping by the middle. Remembering that Tiella attempted the same thing with Cardin yesterday, Pyrrha met her in the middle of the arena with an extended fist as well, however, she knew not what to do next.
Tiella smiled contentedly, happy that Pyrrha was willing to play along, she lightly bumped her fist with hers and stepped back to her original spot.
Pyrrha blinked in confusion for a short moment but smiled and nodded nonetheless—understanding the act as a form of greeting or respect for Tiella—she stepped back to her spot as well.
Glynda stood just outside the arena, and with a clear voice, "Begin!"
"Now then..."
Tiella entered her fighting stance—relaxed arms raised to guard, left foot forward, and right foot backward.
"She'll probably never throw her weapon at me again if she can help it."
Pyrrha entered hers with a raised Akoúo with Miló pointed at Tiella in its sword form, raised at shoulder level.
"Which means she'll also stay on guard, never letting me disarm her so easily."
They both circled one another, wary of each other's movements.
"So the only thing to do would be to stop pulling my punches."
Tiella rushed in, forcing Pyrrha to raise her defenses in anticipation.
"And stay on the aggressive."
Pyrrha lowered her stance and shifted Miló to its spear form to thrust at Tiella's head, keeping her at a distance.
Tiella saw the thrust coming, so she tilted her head to the side and grabbed the spear by its extended shaft and pulled towards her.
Pyrrha fought back, pulling on her spear as well but decided at the last second to charge in with a shield bash.
Tiella turned on her heel while still holding on to the spear and lowered herself to the ground, both to send a sweep kick to trip her over and to further try disarming.
Pyrrha saw the sweep kick coming, so she raised her left leg and tried to intercept by stepping on Tiella's calf.
Seeing the attempt to step on her, Tiella quickly pulled her leg back in and rolled away, letting go of Pyrrha's spear. And as soon as her feet touched the ground, she got back up and rushed forward.
Pyrrha shifted her spear to its sword form and did a downward slash coming from her top right. Tiella used her backhand to parry the slash, then sent a strong high kick aiming for Pyrrha's head.
Pyrrha raised her shield to block the blow but was confused as it never came. She looked back at Tiella and saw that the high kick was pulled in as a feint at the last second, switching to her left leg instead for a kick that aimed for her extended right arm.
Tiella held on to the sword's blade tightly and kicked as hard as she could, aiming for the underside of Pyrrha's right forearm.
Not expecting the move at all, Pyrrha braced herself and waited for the kick to collide with her arm. When the kick came, she instantly locked Tiella's leg in using her arm and used the edge of her shield to bash Tiella by the head.
Tiella let go of the sword and jumped with her remaining free leg to aim for Pyrrha's midsection. She made a direct hit, sending Pyrrha backward, but not before getting hit by the edge of Pyrrha's shield on the chest, making her fall to the ground hard.
She got back up in a kip up fast enough to see Pyrrha rushing for her. And from there they exchanged a series of blows—both staying in each other's range—never letting up as soon as one of them got the advantage.
Pyrrha lost her weapons any number of times during the exchange but was quick to make opportunities to retrieve them.
Tiella went in hard, never really stopping in her attempts to disarm Pyrrha, while at the same time landing as many good blows as she could whenever the opportunity presented itself.
They continued the exchange until Tiella had gone low from continuously blocking Pyrrha's attacks with her Aura, leading to her loss.
"And that's the match," Glynda said as soon as the lights in the class returned. "The winner of the match is Pyrrha Nikos."
The screens showed Tiella with 23% Aura while Pyrrha still had a good 32% to hers.
Tiella walked over to Pyrrha and extended an open palm, "I guess I shouldn't be taking so many hits even if I can take them, huh?" she said in a casual smile.
"You were fighting so well that it was hard for me to find another way to lower your Aura," Pyrrha said, taking the offered hand for a good, firm shake.
"Hahaha!" she laughed, "It was a good match, little sis. You really had me going the entire time."
"L-Little sis?" Pyrrha asked in slightly wide-eyed confusion.
Tiella gave her a cheeky grin and held the end of both twin tails up to her face.
Understanding what Tiella meant, she herself responded in a small amused smile.
"One day, I will definitely make you use your weapons against me," Pyrrha said with eyes filled with determination.
"Oooooh, no." Tiella pursed her lips and shook her head lightly, "You wouldn't want that." she leaned close and whispered by Pyrrha's ear, "I only take them out when I kill."
"And I don't wanna kill you, Pyrrha." she said in a soft, cold voice, "For both our sakes, I hope you don't give me a reason to."
Pyrrha felt a slight shiver run down her spine when she heard the small change in tone from the taller girl. A moment later and she saw Tiella back away with a casual smile on her face once more, leaving her wondering whether what she heard was actually from the same girl.
"I was definitely giving it my all though!" Tiella said, patting the still slightly confused Pyrrha on the shoulder, "Beating you is gonna be good training for me."
They both went back into the locker rooms to freshen up and waited back in their seats.
The class ended after seven more matches, all with Tiella simply watching in the sidelines.
Tiella wandered the school for a while, going from place to place with no particular direction in mind. Eventually, she stumbled upon a staircase circling high up. She followed the staircase and after a couple of minutes reached a door at the top. She opened the door and found herself on one of the higher rooftops at the academy.
She walked to the edge and sat with her legs hanging off the building. She sat there for a while—just admiring the view of the academy below, the city from beyond the lake, as well as the late afternoon sun.
"Wish I had smokes with me."
"Ruby's still waiting for you, you know?" a voice from behind her came along with footsteps that got closer and closer to her.
"Blake," Tiella said, not bothering to turn and face the girl.
"Hn." Blake said, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"
"It's a free country."
Blake simply sat beside her, not saying another word, with a bit of space in between.
"Sorry about keeping Ruby waiting, I needed a bit of time to think."
"Do you have her contacts in your scroll?"
"Nah, I lost mine a couple weeks before I got here."
"Then I'll tell her that you're a little preoccupied at the moment."
"Thanks."
Blake fetched her scroll and typed in a few words to send to Ruby. A short moment later, she received a reply.
"[That's okay, Blake. Tell Tiella she can always show me some other day. Come back to the dorm as soon as you can.] is what she said."
"She's a good girl."
"She is, so I don't appreciate you standing my leader up."
"I'll apologize to her when I see her."
"Bring cookies and strawberries."
"I'll do that."
"And milk."
"Sure."
They were silent for a moment, back to observing the view in front of them, letting the strong breeze blow through their hair.
"So were you looking for me or was this just a coincidence?"
"A bit of both. I come here from time to time to take a short break from everyone."
"Something on your mind, too?"
"Yes, I was wondering why you didn't show up."
"Hahaha, you're really looking out for your leader, huh."
"She's a good girl, just like you said. She looks out for everyone, not just her team."
They were silent for a long while once more, the setting Sun their only light on the high rooftop.
"Looking out for someone, huh?"
Blake said nothing. She only glanced to her side, noting the wistful expression over the enigmatic tall girl.
She still didn't quite agree with the girl and her mindset, but her opinion of her is still up in the air—unsure of whether to hold the girl in a good or bad light.
Tiella stood and put a hand over Blake's head and ruffled it a bit.
"Thanks, Blake. I needed that."
Blake got worried for a bit, holding on to her head and her bow to see if she got found out—but she only saw the figure of Tiella walking away,
"I'll see you around." waving at her before disappearing.
"I don't belong here... and I don't deserve to be here."
Tiella thought, walking back to the cafeteria for a big helping of cookies, strawberries, and milk.
"But that doesn't mean I should make a mess for everyone just because I feel a little guilty about being here."
She had a tray full of everything she needed from Mama, so she left for RWBY's dorm as soon as she could.
"Especially for Glynda."
She knocked on their door after asking around for their room from random students and waited.
"So for now, I'll start with an apology for Little Red."
"Yes?" came the answer of Ruby as she opened the door. "Tiella! I thought you had something else to do?" she asked with a cute tilt of her head.
"Taken care of. I'm here to apologize for standing you up," she said while raising a tray full of goodies Blake told her to get for Ruby.
"Oh, you didn't have to! But I can't really say no to free cookies, strawberries, and milk." Ruby beamed at her, graciously accepting the tray full of her favorites. "Why don't you come in and join us?"
"That's alright, wouldn't wanna suddenly interrupt whatever you were doing."
"Oh, it's fiiiine." Ruby said with a wave of her hand, "We don't mind! Right, guys?"
Ruby looked back, slightly opening the door some more, revealing all members inside.
"Yep."
"I don't mind."
"As long as you don't make a lot of noise."
"See?" Ruby beamed at Tiella after getting approval from all her teammates.
"Then if you'll excuse me," Tiella said, letting herself in. "You're a good girl, Little Red."
They sat by the middle of the floor as the desk was occupied by Weiss doing her homework. Yang was on her bed peeking down on them and Blake was by the edge of her bed, holding onto one of her books.
"I- Uh-... Thanks?" she said in confusion, not really knowing where that came from. "And, uh, you could just call me Ruby. Little Red was how that Torchwick guy called me when I was foiling his robbery."
"Is that right?" Tiella said with a raised eyebrow, "How abooout..."
Ruby tilted her head, waiting for Tiella to continue as she went chomping down on the cookies.
"Little Rose?"
When the name came out, Yang and Ruby paused with raised eyebrows and shared a look, then back at Tiella.
"What? Is it a bad name?" Tiella asked worriedly.
"No!" Ruby immediately tried diffusing her worries, "It's just that..." she said, a wistful smile on her face, "...it's how I remember Mom used to call me."
"Is that so?" Tiella said in her own wistful smile, understanding completely what Ruby meant. "Well, it's only if you let me call you that anyway."
"It's okay, I like the name a lot."
"That's good. Little Rose, it is, then."
They both shared a chuckle before going back to eat with Tiella holding back a lot so as to try not to eat everything like she usually did with all her food. Yang watched them both with a gentle smile on her face, reminded of the mother she grew up with. Seeing the look, Ruby gave her a reassuring smile as well as an offer to join them below. Yang gladly obliged.
Yang took a cookie and spoke, "You know, now that I think about it... you sort of remind me of Mom."
Blake and Weiss noted the nostalgic looks and wistful tone from Ruby and Yang as they spoke.
Tiella choked on a cookie after hearing the words and started coughing heavily. She gave herself light pats on the chest and asked for a glass of milk to help down the food.
"I don't look that old, do I?" she asked worriedly, rubbing her chest to ease the pain of choking.
"No, I mean," Yang started, trying not to laugh too hard, "the way you act and talk. Though, mom was a lot less..."
"A lot less rude and crass?" Tiella finished for her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.
"I was gonna say a lot less of a potty mouth, but yeah."
The trio shared another chuckle between them before Ruby invited Weiss and Blake to join in. Blake easily obliged and Weiss faked being bothered while picking a seat between Ruby and Tiella. They all ate merrily, sharing jokes and groaning at each and everyone before eventually laughing at them.
"I still don't feel like I belong here... nor do I deserve these moments...
the guilt is just a tad heavy to let me believe otherwise,
but maybe...
I can try?
I can try by looking out for these kids.
It's probably what Gramps would have wanted."
AN: Hello again!
I'm sorry I took a while before uploading. I had a little bit of trouble trying to get into Tiella's state of mind.
I managed to get there after a bit, I just felt that I got a little too into it that I actually didn't feel like writing her guilt-ridden conscience for at least a day.
So thanks for the tissues! It really helped with the sweaty eyes.
And thanks for the tip with the whole arms akimbo thing. I always pictured it as hands on the side/hips but I guess to make it a lot less confusing, I'll just describe it like so from now on.
As for a Remnant style weapon... well, it might be a little sooner? Maybe?
Honestly, I'm not sure, though I do have an idea of what it could be already. Hahaha!
Anyway! Thank you very much for reading another chapter of Lost Star.
Reviews, please!
P.S. Yes, I agree. We all need a Coco. Even if I prefer a Velvet or a Glynda.