Violet Rose

AN: Skipping way ahead for this chapter. This will be focusing on Violet's second year and introduce (or reintroduce as it may be) some power players for the remainder of the story. And if you've been keeping stock on all my OCs from RWBYond Vale, then this is the fan-service-y chapter I've been building too.

Chapter 11: Vytal

The sixteenth biennial Vytal Festival Tournament. A celebration of thirty-two years of peace. Over three decades of huntsmen as we know them. It's hard to explain to someone so young, but back then we didn't have Amity. We had The Pit.

The first few tournaments had a different set of rules each time. A survival challenge, a pure bracket system, a free for all, all per whoever was hosting. But for the tenth tournament a new system was set up. Teams would fight in the first round, pairs would be in the second and from there, one-on-one brackets.

The feeling that washed over me as my team stepped down there was breathtaking. It was suffocating, the cheers of two-hundred thousand spectators all cheering. Half of them cheering for me and Team LVNR a good proportion cheering for the Haven team we were faced to face with. The rest were cheering for a good fight, or were just indifferent.

My palms grew sweaty. My heart pounded like a goliath's steps. I must have been breathing heavily from all the anxiety. Lucky grabbed my shoulder to comfort me but it did little to ease the pressure. Two-hundred thousand people watching here, and countless more watching at home. The whole world was watching.

"Show them what we got." Lucky said.

The team from Haven were called JPTR (Jupiter). Their leader, Suroh Jackal, had blonde hair that was short at the sides. He held two dust infused trench knives. Pipa Solace was an odd-looking girl with dark grey eyes and magenta hair that protruded from the beanie she wore on her head. She held up two hatchets. Titania Theodora had a pair of bracers on her arms and white hair. Rounding out the team was Rhea Agne, a tall girl with red hair and blue eyes.

"Contestants are you ready?" A booming voice said over the loud speakers. I darted my eyes, the arena was massive, plenty of places to move.

"Just like we planned." Suroh said.

"Hold off a bit Vi." Lucky said. "We need to save that talent of you for later rounds." Amazing, I was so caught up in the moment but Lucky was already planning all our moves from here on in.

"Begin!" The match started. I scattered just in time to dodge a fire sweep from Suroh. Lucky knocked her sticks together to cause a sonic ring. Suroh's knives intersected with Lucky's batons. Nellie blasted him back with a wind shot. Titania constructed a sword and stood between Nellie and Suroh. Lucky rushed Suroh and the two were evenly matched. Pippa was the only one who tailed me as I sped back.

Pippa was fast but I was faster. I dodged all her incoming strikes and landed a few of my own. I didn't focus on my teammates at all. And I could tell she was doing the same. I could hear the battles. Rah's wingsuit lifted off and sprayed gunfire down on Rhea. Titania focusing in on Nellie. Suroh keeping the fight close and personal against Lucky.

"Hold still!" Pippa commanded. Her eyes flashed and I was blinded. Instinctually, a rocketed up.

"Pippa, up!" Suroh said. As my vision returned, Pippa was rocketing up thanks to some glyphs. I managed to block the attack just in time. The nature of my semblance gave me an air advantage. I came up with a plan and put it into action as soon as we touched the ground. I ducked under a swing aimed at my neck. I put my axe to the ground and sprouted a tree that knocked Pippa into the air.

I looked to my teammates. They seemed to be having some trouble. I saw an explosion hit at Rah's feet. I scattered over there and pulled him out of the worst of it. And in one fluid motion I smacked Rhea in the face with the business end of my axe, smashing her into the wall of the pit.

I heard a battle cry above me and sidestepped Pippa's assault. I swung for her head and she leaned back to dodge it. Only to be kicked in the face by Rah. Pippa took Rah's feet out from under him. With coordination brought on by years of training with Dad, I stepped on Pippa's torso and slid my blade into her side and slung her into Titania.

"Pippali Solace is down!" The announcer said. Pippa shrugged it off and started leaving the arena. Rhea charged me and I dodged it. But she was aiming for Rah the whole time. With an explosive hit, she leveled the playing field and took Rah out. Nellie was also caught in the explosion. Titania moved to finish her with a hammer construct. Nellie shot back with her semblance, turning her lower body into a horse's. Titania was kicked right into my axe. "Rah Godwin is out of the match." The announcer claimed.

Titania rolled to her feet and blocked my next attack. Rhea separated us and focused on me. As soon as I was on awkward footing, Titania switched with her to strike me. I dodged by folding into my cape. Purple rose petals flew all around as I struck them both with a spinning swing.

Nellie got up and joined me. Rhea tried another explosion and I pulled Nellie out of it. I then sprung board off her to intercept Titania before she interfered with Lucky's battle with Suroh. I jabbed Titania with the tip of my axe and she fell into Suroh right as Lucky used her semblance to create a portal. Titania and Suroh fell through and the portal ended up at the top of the stands.

"Wait, does that count?" Lucky said.

"We have a double knockout…" The announcer bellowed.

"Lucky us that totally counts!" She jumped into the air. As she landed, she fell on her face.

"In every sense of the word." The announcer laughed. "Lucky Charm is out from aura level."

"I'm. Okay!" Lucky said with her face in the dirt.

Rhea grunted as she raised her sword against Nellie. In an instant, I slammed into her gut. She slammed into the wall. She looked furious. Nellie was breathing heavily and leaning on one leg, now back in her normal form. Rhea rushed at us again. Together, we combined my blade beam with her wind shot and knocked her out.

"Rhea Agne is out. What an amazing display by Team LVNR!" The announcer yelled. All the Vale citizens, or those who bet on us, cheered with joy. "And what an amazing display by young Violet Rose, not even a scratch." He said. "She truly does live up to her local nickname. The Untouchable Violet Rose!"

And like that, victory faded from my eyes and I was once again crushed under the magnitude of expectation. I couldn't dare look up at the audience. I just gave a humble bow and left. I didn't even bother going into the stands and watching the other fights. I just walked back to my room where I could get away from all the crowds.

As soon as I crossed the threshold into safety, I felt like I could finally breathe again. I looked at my scroll and saw a few messages from my friends. Most of them were just good job remarks. Lucky sent a heartwarming text about her handling all the P.R. and for me to just focus on preparing for the double match.

"Ms. Rose." There was a knock on my door. It was Ozpin. I opened the door.

"Hello Professor." I said.

"May I come in?" He asked.

"Of course, you can." I straitened up some of the mess and pulled up a chair for him.

"Your father will be joining us shortly but…I wanted a word with you alone."

"What about?" I asked.

"That was quite the impressive display out there." He said.

"Thanks."

"I've never seen anybody manage to get through a team fight without a scratch." He said.

"I do my best. No matter who I'm fighting. You've seen my record, you know better than anyone what I'm capable of."

"True…I might even know it better than yourself. Tell me, what is your favorite fairy tale?"

"Huntsmen and the Goddess of Spring." I answered.

"I like that one too. Do you know that that's the story of your people?"

"I know all about the Argentware. There's no need to worry. I won't give up the fight against the Grimm…no matter what."

"Indeed. My favorite fairy tale was always the Four Maidens."

"My mom told me that one when I was young."

"Would you believe me if I told you that one was true as well."

"Yep." I finally looked him in the eye. "I know all about them. But I'm not one of them."

"Have you tried…"

"She has." My dad stepped in. Another sigh of relief escaped my lungs. I ran up and hugged him. "I'm so proud of you." He stroked my hair. "But we have something to discuss. Ozpin has it on the best authority that something is going awry in Mountain Glenn. He may need our help with it later. Think of it as a little Winter Break project we'll do together. Nothing to worry about now, just focus on the tournament."

"We do want to plant the thought in your head though." Ozpin said. "This may run deeper than Vale."

AN: Well that's freaking ominous. Thank you, Mistral Man, for letting me use your team. I hope I did their brief appearance justice. For the unimportant teams in this stretch of the series, I'm pulling from Team THRY OC and Team's Facebook page.