Chapter 10: Straining Resolve

A/N: Disclaimer: Monty Oum and Roosterteeth owns this. Need I say more?

So this is finally where things find some kind of silver lining, although it still involves some kind of dark theme (also long because a lot of feelies are on the way). And important note, please read until the very very end.

Don't forget to read and review

"Jaune, we need an immediate intervention for Pyrrha!"

Nora was moaning at her male leader while she was jumping up and down on her bed, making it squeak with each landing. She gave Ren a small glare when he came through their dorm's door, making him return a nervous gaze.

The blonde was lying on his bed in eagle style. With closed eyes, he used a lax tone to reply, "We tried that, but she only gave vague answers for our questions. And no, we're not going to snoop around. You already tried that and ended up getting into a fight with her."

"But there's something bad going on!" The ginger landed on the bed with her bottom. "She's missed out on our group meetings, been sleeping in classes, and is always up working on last-minute homework. It's crazy how she's had only training practice at these stupid committee meetings!" Her hands were going all around the air in a panic.

"Committee meetings?" Ren asked as he sat next to his partner.

"See?! Even the quiet one didn't know why Pyrrha was gone! I'm not sure what to think of her when the time comes for all of us to have our team evaluations!" Nora looked ready to pull out her hair until she grew bald; her fingers were already gripping on her orange strands.

"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" Jaune sat up and shook his head. "If Pyrrha says she's fine, then I-."

"Jaune, are you that blind?!" The sad girl looked extremely worried. "You never noticed that she's wearing clothes with long extensions?"

"I did, but it's getting kind of cold this time of the year. Isn't it normal to do that?" The leader winced from the pressure of his teammate's glaring eyes.

"Not when she's trying to cover up bruises and scratches on her body."

"What?!" Both males were shocked by the revelation. Although Nora knew this was meant to be a secret, she couldn't hide it anymore.

"She's always coming back with these wounds from her trips. I can't really blame you guys because I see it when we change, but…but seriously, you never bothered to notice? Ever?!"

From guilt, Ren's gaze hardened while Jaune looked down, not believing what he heard.

"Does that mean…every time?"

"Yes, Jaune," Nora sighed. "Every time, or at least for as long as I've seen it."

The male blonde was looking down with uncertainty. After making up his mind, he looked up and said, "Alright, let's talk to Pyrrha when she gets back."

"What do you need to talk to me about?" All heads turned to see the person-in-question come in.

"Is there a problem," the nervous redhead asked. As she closed the door behind, she saw her partner stand up, his eyes looking serious.

"Pyrrha, can we see your arm?"

"What?"

"Your arm." The boy pointed at her long-sleeved red sweater with her armor covering the outside. "Can we see it?"

"Why? There's nothing to see there." The one interrogated hid the limb behind her. She felt scared and very conscious of how her partner was walking into an uncomfortable range. Her eyes rose when she heard, "Is it true that you're hurt? If you are, then you should have told us before."

At that moment, the warrior found clarity and looked at Nora with a glare that could have sent the body into flames. "You told them," she growled. Seeing her orange-haired friend give an apologetic look made her turn around and yank the door open.

"I trusted you, Nora." Pyrrha bitterly said this before she went down the hall. A few minutes later, she burst through the door leading to the roof. Watching the orange sky of the coming evening, she felt regret from being angry at her concerned teammate.

Taking deep breaths, she tried to think of an apology. When she heard footsteps approach her from behind, she said, "Nora, look, I-."

"It's actually Jaune."

Pyrrha spun her head to see it was indeed her blonde leader. Quietly gasping, she tried to regain composure. "Oh, hello."

"Hi, are you okay?"

The redhead grabbed her arm with a free hand. "I'm fine. Is that all you want to know?"

"Of course not, it's obvious that something is happening. The problem is that you're not telling us what it is." When the worried Jaune tried to put a hand on his partner's shoulder, he missed as she took a step back.

"I told you many times it was nothing." She could see the boy's hurt gaze from her moving away. Although she wished she could apologize, she retained a firm stance. "I'm fine, you're all fine. Really, is trusting me that hard?"

"You're all fine? What does that mean?" Jaune could see his question made the girl's eyes look away as if she made a mistake. "Pyrrha, what is going on? Is it something involving us? Are we in danger?"

"Ye-no! No, nobody is in any danger." The girl tried to cover her mistake, her wish to tell the truth, with a smile. She saw her attempt to hide was in vain after seeing the boy's frown.

"That's a lie and you know it."

"It isn't." Pyrrha became desperate. "If it's about my grades, then don't worry. I just need to try that much harder and I'll-." She couldn't finish as her partner did an unexpected move of grabbing her arm and pulling up the sleeve. Her heart jumped from seeing his eyes grow saucers at the sight of her limb covered with black bruises, scratches, and even one part holding teeth marks.

"These aren't scratches." Jaune used his other hand to gently touch them, making the owner slightly tremble from the feel of her sensitive wounds. "They're injuries; did you even try to get these healed?"

Pyrrha tried, but the constant times with Green made it seem pointless. She also couldn't get outside help because rumors would cycle around. With this in mind, she pulled back her arm and her mind become blank as she was out of excuses.

"So this is what you've been dealing with? It's almost been a few months; why haven't you said anything?!"

The redhead looked away, making silence her answer.

"Pyrrha, I demand you to tell me as your leader!" Jaune exclaimed this from intense worry, as a last resort. "I demand that you tell me what is hurting you!"

"I said I'm fine."

"You're not, stop lying!"

"I am. I'm really fine, Jaune." The girl could feel tears fogging her eyes. "Why can't you just believe me? Why can't you believe my lie?" she pleaded. She did this as seeing her friends, especially Jaune, pressuring her made her slightly doubt the purpose of her suffering, trying to protect them from the man who could end their life without blinking an eye.

At this point, Jaune felt that there is nothing more to do. He couldn't force her to tell him beyond the limits. Or rather, he chose not to because it would only be adding more pain to the amount she's already dealing with.

So the boy's only choice was to turn his body around with back facing her. In a quiet voice, he said, "Fine, if you don't want our help, it's just better to wait until you're ready to tell us. If you do need us, we'll be there for you. I'll also do my best, even if I'm not the best choice for things like this."

Although such words were all Pyrrha could ask for, she also felt the need to whisper everything in Jaune's ear to share her burden. Even more, she wanted to do it while hugging her partner as she yearned to feel the touch of the one she cares for, not like the man who gave forced pleasure. But as light and darkness were two separate natures, so was the purpose of a pure and carnal embrace.

As Green's prisoner, she felt her hug will hold no meaning for her beloved leader. Even simple as a kiss or desirable as united bodies is preposterous because of what she was involved with.

"I'm sorry, Jaune," she said while a hand wiped her eye. She felt sad as this was the only honest answer she could say.

"Don't be. This is really…the least I can do for you." The leader turned his head to make eye contact, his blue meeting green eyes. "Since the first day, you were so patient and kind to me. It felt great when I gave up on myself so many times, especially after Cardin found out about my enrollment. Do you remember that? How we didn't talk to each other for a while?"

Pyrrha did as they were also times when she took out her anger at Green. Those attempts failed, ending in the man's excitement.

"Well, things still worked out after Forever Fall," the blonde continued. "After that is when I was finally humble enough to train with you. Well, used to until we had to save our times for when you weren't busy. That reminds me, are we still on for tonight?"

The redhead shook her head as today was another planned meeting with her green-haired oppressor.

"See? That kind of makes me angry because it was your idea," Jaune bitterly laughs. "But things happen, like how your schedule is getting tighter thanks to whatever it is you're dealing with. And I'm just…hanging out. Only waiting because you're not asking for any kind of help."

Pyrrha realized that the blonde wasn't blaming her in any way. It was something much worse than that.

"I'm not calling you a hypocrite for the times you told me to ask for help. I'm just…more sad that I'm not reliable enough to return the favor. I would really love to do that, you know? Right now, you're still the only one who knows that I'm the least qualified student who got in because of a stupid lie."

By now, Jaune's voice began to grow weary. "So I'll do my best to believe in your own lie. I don't even think you're lying because of a selfish reason too…the only selfish ones are the people you're trying to help. I just hope it's not involving me again." With this, the heavy-hearted leader of Team Juniper made his exit off of the roof.

Once sure he was gone, Pyrrha fell to her knees, hands covering her face. Body shaking from heavy hiccup, she began to silently cry with tears falling from eyes like a waterfall as she made one sad epiphany.

Her team, her leader was still suffering even when she was trying to make the most of her situation. Yet, her sacrifice seemed to hold no value, making her feel the dread of the coming evening.

"You bastard," Pyrrha coughed while she laid against a white wall, her body bloody from the recent battle. Standing in the open room across her was Green holding the head of a man in a black suit. The poor victim had a phone hanging next to his ear from his shattered brown desk.

Right now, the evil man was using his Semblance to control the caller, who finished, "Yes, a-all ac-counts ag-gainst Mr. G-Gom are f-false. Pl-please continue tr-transaction of l-lien to his ac-count, thank you."

The Huntress flung out her hand to bring in her fallen spear with magnetism. With her rifle's recoil, she threw her spear that went out like a rocket. However, the weapon made a complete miss, spearing the area above the target.

The grinning leader of Gomorom and False Prophets gave the girl a shake of his head. After he willed his victim to turn off the phone, his hand glowing green began to pulse with huge veins. "So naughty," he said right as his grip made a crushing noise.

Pyrrha closed her eyes from the blood as she had failed to protect an innocent life. Even worse, her attempts to join forces with the building's security force ended in failure against one man who had made the place he was raiding their meeting place.

It was likely that Green was testing to see if the redhead was still rebellious. She was, but unfortunately, her show of it will encourage the immoral adult to do something about it.

"Holy shit," said the approaching green-haired man while wiping off his red hand. "That was great, those pussies actually thought you were some kind of herald of victory. It's so sad that you were the only one who made me pause during my swag down the halls of this place."

The place they were at was a private bank in a far part of Vale. It was far enough to where by the time the police arrived, anybody would be long gone. Plus, Blac had the means to clean up the place without the need for killing, allowing Green full freedom to do whatever he wants.

"But, you keep forgetting that I'm a tough old bastard." By now, the man was standing near the fallen girl. "And my Semblance, Moral Astray, so great to have it with a guy like me."

Moral Astray, an ability to affect the behavior of any being to a cellular level. This means that anyone who faced against the man is also prone to negative influences, the most powerful coming from physical contact and any lingering essence. While the range of abilities is huge with this Semblance, one of the most notable is how it creates fear and doubt to a fighter's instinct to disrupt crucial attributes. The other is that it can interfere with a person's connection with Aura, making their abilities unreliable in battle.

This power is thought to be a bane to all living beings. Under a hierarchy, this Semblance could only be seen as one used to subjugate over all that breathes, lives with a beating heart.

And the worst of human beings used this to commit all the evils those of the real world would say can only exist in Sodom and Gomorrah. The most surprising is the effect it has on Grimm, creatures born of malevolence and instinct.

"Hello, Pyrrah. Are you awake?" Green bent down and had a hand roughly grab the girl's chin. "You need to get ready for our fuck. Should I do you now and kill the police once they get here like last time or wait for a nice shower together at a hotel?"

The female warrior swung the shield on arm at the man's face. She kept going through the influence, yet realized it was all for nothing as the sharp edge bounced off the thin green coating of Aura protecting the area.

"Let go of me!" The screams came with the older man grabbing the girl by her neck and lifting her with little effort. She gasped as her face was brought closer to the one with lust-filled eyes.

"Screw and kill it is," Green cackled and licked Pyrrha's blood off of her face to make her shiver. He then slammed the head into the ground, stunning her to where she couldn't move. As he began lifting his shirt, he said, "You know, you remind me a bit about Jet and the bitch who used to take care of him."

Pyrrha groaned as she tried to crawl away, but a hand grabbed her hair and turned her face to the topless male.

"They always tried to rebel, which made it so thrilling once I was finished with them. First her, then that untrained puppy. It's weird though, the little shit showed potential to take over what I'm trying to build."

The news made the redhead remember the mentioned boy's hatred for this person. This gave her a sense of sympathy for the one who also seems to be a prisoner of the one hurting her.

"Aww, did that story made you cry?" Green made note of the tears that Pyrrha shed more from pain, although some were indeed from the new information. "Just relax and give in to what's about to happen."

The next few hours had the victim experience the same stimulus that left her body shaking and voice screaming, all from erotic emotions.

Pyrrha entered her team's dark dorm, returning around the time of midnight. She noticed that Nora and Ren were gone as they earlier mentioned there was a project in need of being done at the last minute. This left her alone with her partner, who was lying on his bed.

"Hi Jaune, I'm a little early today." The girl said this after seeing that her leader had his eyes closed, a sign that he was sleeping. She made a quick change out of her ruined clothes into her night ones of black shorts and a red shirt with long sleeves. Putting her long hair down, she sat on the chair nearest to the boy and placed her head on top of arms that were above the desk.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time for training, but you already knew that." Pyrrha didn't know where she was going with this as nobody, not even Jaune, was listening. Despite the strangeness, she didn't restrict the words coming from her exhausted heart.

"You knew I was absent from the things that mattered. It's not because of the Mistral Committee. Honestly, it's a fake compared to the one I'm dealing with right now. The real one is…something much worse and the man involved is practically a Grimm himself." Grimm being an equivalent to a monster, even a demon.

Although her depression lingered, Pyrrha could feel resolve from what she said next. "But I won't let that stop me. We have a presentation coming up tomorrow in the evening, right? It's a group evaluation, so I have to be there to support our team and keep my place on the team."

The redhead felt foolish that her words seem to be more for herself than Jaune. However, she felt happy to find them when she was around the person she cared about. "This time, I won't fail. Even if people doesn't believe it because of my combat scores…I won't be a failure to you…I can't."

Tears came down her face, her smile turned into a sour frown. To think of how she'll have to make the time to meet Green and come back to school made her doubt that things will end well.

"I shouldn't have allowed things to have been as they are in the first place." Pyrrha did her best to wipe her wet face with hands. "And I can't say much more than this. I'm sorry, but it has to be this way."

With a hard sniff, she continued, "That's why you were wrong when you said it's your fault because it's really all of mine. But you're right to say that I can't trust any of you because…I'm afraid. If all of you knew, then that monster might come after you and…and you may never look at me the same. Everything about me is so dirty right now."

Pyrrha admitted her second fear, one where those of soiled bodies would be considered to be a whore, a slut by choice. She couldn't take the chance of hearing such words from the people she cared about. She didn't want to be alone when her fame is already doing that for her.

The thought had hiccups escape the girl's lips. Keeping them down hurt her throat while her arms tried to wipe off the tears.

"If I can't do what I promised tomorrow, then I'm not fit to serve on this team. That's one promise I can't break, so I'll be there for sure. It's a promise between you and me, okay?"

The question was answered with soft snores, reminding Pyrrha that she was talking to a sleeping person. Fed up with her pitiful need for disclosure, she went to the other bed and collapsed right on top of it. With tears still falling, she silently let them fall until her mind shut down to put her into a dreamless sleep.

A few minutes after Pyrrha's start of slumber, Jaune opened his eyes and looked over at the sleeping girl. He got up and came over to move a blanket onto the top of the girl's body.

"Then do your best, Pyrrah. Just come back safely, okay?"

Lemon Start

The next day, a groaning Pyrrha bounced up and down while her sweat-drenched skin was shining from the sunlight coming through a nearby window of the hotel room. Stark naked, her large breasts were moving up and down as her pussy was riding the huge cock slick with her juices. Her ass made contact with the thick body underneath while her red unrestrained hair stuck to her slim muscular back.

"Wow, you're excited today," Green said while he grunted with each upward thrust to meet his partner's entrance. Large hands on her thighs, he smiled from hearing a panting orgasm that the one on top had from her cowgirl position. He growled when the beautiful girl put her hands on his arms and slid them down his own wet body that left trails of static pleasure.

"I'm…I'm just trying to be a good bitch for once." The words were lies, but the girl had to excite the man so they could end sooner. For one day, she was willing to please and hope to find an early end to their session. It seemed to be working as she felt the Aura-covered length inside her became warm from the ejaculated semen.

"Ooh yeah, going to have fun today." The horny fiend pushed the girl off of his length. Pointing right at the giant mass of flesh, he remained lying on the bed with his back. "Do what I taught you the other day."

For a moment, Pyrrha looked disgusted. She quickly disguised it by placing the dick into her cleavage. She grabbed both breasts and pushed them to the middle while making her entire upper body go up and down. She eventually leaned her head down so she could lick the penis head with her tongue and make her movements go faster in her breast fellatio. Eventually, she made the man climax inside her mouth as she desired, yet the standing flesh stick did not lose any of its hardness.

"That's the stuff," said the ecstatic old man as he sat up. "And you seem awfully excited today. I think I might start to fall in love with you instead." His head suddenly came closer to Pyrrah's, who knew, but didn't move away from the kiss. Instead, she felt excited by the incoming contact.

Right as lips met, the redhead leaned back and punched out. When her hand was caught by the devious adult, she spat, "How dare you." She was referring to how her enemy's Semblance momentarily made her think of her current lust as love.

"Yeah," the delighted Green said. "But it's progress after months, right?" His other hand covered the girl's mouth before he sent mental instructions into the body. After letting go, his smile grew from Pyrrha unwillingly lie down on her back and lift her legs with shaking arms as if offering herself.

As Green plunged his entire dick inside, he took pleasure from hearing the one at the bottom moan with pleasure. "To commemorate this moment, we're going to keep going throughout the whole day."

"N-no," Pyrrha gasped right as her orgasm shook her body. She tried to push the one on top away, but the powerful thrusts of the penis slapping into her overpowered the effort.

"Why," the man grunted. "Is it for the same reason why you tried to finish me off early?" His next gasp of pleasure came from seeing the girl's face grow fearful. Hearing her silence made him only move harder as he realized she was indeed trying to end this early.

"Whatever, if you want to end this quick, then you better do me good." Placing a hand on Pyrrha's head, he finished, "But first, you got to deal with this," right as he sent mental commands inside the head. This had his victim suddenly scream out of pleasure while her vagina tightened around his length. He used his other hand to twist a nipple, creating one cry full of strain.

Green had his Semblance double the pleasure until the warrior was arching her back while her vagina spurt out multiple times. Feeling this had him cackle, "So, let's celebrate your progress by humping till we're both spent, and I mean the both of us."

From there, Pyrrha couldn't keep up with what happened. She was placed in many positions that involved her lover defiling her without any sense of decency. Her mind was blank from the pleasure, especially after one large orgasm left her face blank and unresponsive. Her drooling mouth had Green in a laughing fit before he stuck a tongue down her throat, making her gag on it.

Soon, her sight blacked out from exhaustion right as she heard a nearby door open. The last words she heard was a familiar voice exclaiming, "Green, you sick bastard!"

Lemon End

Pyrrah woke up to find a white ceiling. Confused, she looked around to see that she was on a white bed with curtains surrounding her. Sitting up, she noticed her clothes were white garments, standard wear for patients in Beacon's medical room.

However, her location mattered little as she was not aware of the time. She found a stand at the left side of the bed, its top holding a digital clock that made her eyes grow wide.

It was 9, a time way past when she was supposed to have the group evaluation. It was past the time she not only promised Jaune, but herself to be there for her team.

Yet in the end, she didn't meet it. Even if she did manage to maintain her reputation as the strongest warrior, her grades and value as a teammate will fall even further thanks to this event. That's why it wasn't exaggerated when she said her attendance was going to determine her place on the team, whether it be by a teacher or her teammates' judgment.

"I…didn't make it." Lifting up sheets to her face, the shocked Pyrrha had it cover her face. As the result of what happened replayed in her mind, she began to make muffled cries into the fabric. The sobs grew harder, making her body bend over from the immeasurable pain.

"Pyrrha?!"

Curtains opened to reveal Jaune, standing on the white floor. Behind him were more beds with cabinets holding medicine supplies covered by glass doors. These details mattered less to Pyrrha, whose tired red eyes exchanged glances with her partner's.

"J-jaune, why are you here?" The redhead did her best to wipe her eyes.

"I was worried, so I came by. When I was coming in, I heard you crying." The boy stood with concerned eyes that couldn't meet the ones looking elsewhere out of guilt. He could see she was worse for wear with her disheveled hair and swollen lips.

"You knew about the evaluation, right?"

"…I did." Pyrrha's hands gripped the sheets below.

"That was supposed to happen a while ago. It was a big deal to us because it was going to see how we progressed as a team."

"I know. I know." The news made the girl feel sick, but deserving of any scolding she will hear.

"I…I was so sure you were going to come earlier. When you didn't, what came after was kind of difficult to deal with."

Pyrrha wasn't sure if she heard a nervous or mad remark. Yet, it didn't matter as she could feel her heart become heavy from her sadness. With a shaky voice, she asked. "So….what happened? Is our team…going to make it?" She couldn't ask what would happen to her since it was obvious her position was going to matter more.

"Nothing happened because we were able to postpone the whole thing."

"What?!" The redhead looked up to see her partner's sad smile.

"Yeah, we talked to Professor Ozpin and he was cool with it. We kind of fibbed, which didn't work because…well, he's just too smart, but so awesome for being understanding!"

For a moment, the female warrior was confused as she didn't expect to hear good news. This had her smiling leader take a seat near her on the bed.

"You know, I heard everything last night." Hearing the gasp had the boy continue, "I remember how you were apologizing for what was going on. You were also crying because of the times you couldn't be there for us as much as you wanted to be."

Pyrrha didn't know what to say, only fear the worst of what she'll hear.

"And then you said you were scared of what would happen if we knew what was happening. Honestly, I was scared of the same thing since it sounded more like you were out because you didn't want to be with us. Weiss might be doing the same thing, but I think her teammates know the gist of her reasons."

"No, no, it's never because of the team. I could never hate any of you. It's really because…" The redhead stopped herself from saying more. She felt she didn't have to when her partner looked relaxed.

"That's good. In the end, you're just looking out for us from some great evil…gosh, it's hard to believe there's something that dangerous out there that isn't a Grimm." Jaune's face went from sad to firm, eyes full of determination. "You're smart enough to know what we can and can't handle. But even so, we'll find out what's happening and when that day comes, we're going to help you take care of it. That I swear."

"But for now, the only thing we can do for you is take care of the battles here. Don't think you're alone Pyrrha, we're all going to pitch in to help. We decided this while you were gone today because…well, that's how much you matter to us."

The blonde raised an open hand in the air. His fingers went down as he happily said, "You do girl talk with Nora and seem to understand Ren when he's silent; it's like you're a big sister. Plus, you're the reason why I made it this far. Teacher, study buddy, and friend. That's more than I deserve, but-whoa!"

Jaune felt the one in bed hug him with arms around his neck. Before he could ask what was wrong, he heard Pyrrha start to cry and feel tears soak his entire shoulder. He could tell she wasn't doing this from grief, but relief as she found she could rely on the people she cared for.

"Thank you Jaune," she sobbed. "Thank you so much!"

Right then, the worn Pyrrha found a new reason to love her leader, the one who had more faith in her than she did for the entire team of Juniper before today. The idea made her cry harder while the one she embraced returned her hug.

Outside the room and peeking was Nora smiling at the moment. Pulling her head back, she looked beside her to see Ren. "Aww, she's all better now. Makes me want to give her a hug, but I think it's best to leave them alone."

The male partner shrugged to show he agrees, lacking awareness of his friend's implication towards a romantic moment. He turned around to see Jet standing still with arms crossed. "Thanks for bringing her back, we were worried."

"You're welcome. It's time for me to leave, so have a good day." The muffled voice from the bikers helmet became silent as the owner walked away. After a few steps, he heard the ginger growl, "You got some explaining to do, buster. Jaune already told us that this Mistral Committee is fake and you've been doing deliveries for those guys."

Jet stopped and turned around with hands inside his black trench coat. "It's not something you should be concerned about. Also telling you would disrespect Pyrrha's wish for your safety."

"And the same goes for me, except for the safety part. No one's going to be safe once I find a head to smash with old Magnhild." Nora was referring to her hammer, although her fists may be enough to get the job done.

"…Delivery policy states I'm unable to disclose information about my clients. Thank you for understanding and have a good day." The boy of black quickly walked off not from fear, but seeing the threat was about to be carried out.

Nora stood surprised and looked at Ren. "Did he just…just pull that on me?"

"I think it's because of what's in your hand." The quiet boy pointed at the grenade launcher. He sighed as he saw his friend leave while yelling, "I'm not even a customer, so how does that make sense?! Hey, I'm talking to you!"

A/N: Happy ending for once, right? We'll see.

So no questions? Like how Team Juniper is going to get involved and what else is going to happen to Pyrrha? If not, then the next time is going to see how Team Ruby is doing as of now and how the leader is going to handle it.