Ragnarok 52

Fenrir heard the cracking of sticks beneath him. He didn't care. How dare Pyrrha accuse him of being some monster? Some mindless beast who took pleasure only in the destruction of living things! Sure, when he first awoke he wasn't someone who would have cared about a burning village or something, maybe he unintentionally attacked one. But he wasn't that person anymore!

"Fen slow down, you're making a lot of noise." Nora said breathlessly, half running to keep up with his stride. Fenrir glanced at her incredulously. For Nora to say he was loud had to mean something. This was a girl who used Grenades as part of her standard weapon after all.

Fenrir slowed his pace, more to stop Nora collapsing from exhaustion than because of her pleas.

Fenrir almost immediately regretted it, He needed to move, and he felt like tearing something, anything, in half.

Pyrrha, she's being so self-righteous! She's blindly done more damage to Yggdrasil than anything I would ever do, and she doesn't even get it!" He thought furiously. His scowl deepened as he balled his fists tightly, turning away from Nora.

The sight of magenta eyes next to him nearly caused him to jump.

'What the Hell Ren?" He snarled, his fury seeping into his voice.

"You need to calm down." Ren replied.

"I need to calm down?" Fenrir asked, "It's Pyrrha who is so blinded by- "

"Pyrrha's opinion doesn't matter right now. Look at how you are reacting." Ren interrupted, pointing down the path they had taken.

Fenrir's relaxed his fists as he saw the damage he had wrecked on the path. Heavy footprints were clear in the dirt, and splinters of wood littered the pathway.

"I didn't hit that many trees."

"Fenrir, the trees you hit exploded. It would have been cool if we hadn't spent the last ten minutes dodging falling trees." Nora said, still catching her breath.

"How long have we been out here?" He asked.

Nora shrugged, "Long enough I carried Ren part of the way." Knowing Nora, carried and dragged were not all that different.

"Probably an hour or so." Ren said, ignoring Nora's comment.

Fenrir sat down, ignoring the splash of dirt and the discomfort of broken sticks beneath him.

"We should talk about this." Ren said, leaning up against a nearby tree. "Ignoring the problem will only aggravate the issue. We need to resolve it."

"How?" Fenrir huffed, "she wants me dead for something I didn't do."

"She wants you dead because she thinks you'll do it again and kill more people as well." Nora pointed out. Setting herself down next to Fenrir.

"What choice do I have?" Fenrir begged, "Yggdrasil created me to solve a problem! How do you solve a problem without getting rid of it?"

"Find a third option." Nora replied.

Fenrir laughed. It was hollow and without a hint of mirth.

"A third option. That's what the Fenrir who destroyed Valhalla tried. Want to know what happened? The locked him up and demanded he serve the Gods without question."

"So, you do remember what happened in Valhalla then?" Nora asked.

Fenrir felt their eyes on him. His mind told him to run. That he was being held back, without them, he could solve the problem of the gods easily enough. It wouldn't be hard, use Pyrrha to get to wherever the gods now resided, and end them once and for all.

Instead Fenrir took a breath.

"No, I remember images, certain things, but after he gets to Valhalla it gets… blurry and then after the arrest there's nothing." He said, his fingers tracing lines in the ground.

Nora nodded. And placed a hand on Fenrir's shoulder. She remained silent, but gave Fenrir's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"That's a dilemma we can solve later." Ren said. "Right now, we have a much more immediate problem."

"Pyrrha." Fenrir groaned.

Ren nodded.


Back at camp, Pyrrha was busy.

'What the hell are you thinking Pyrrha?" Jaune shouted.

"preparing." Pyrrha said as she rotated her arms.

"He just beat you to a pulp! You really think you can win now? You're injured!" Jaune argued.

"yeah," Ruby added, "Besides, Fenrir is Nora and Ren's friend. They are not just going to stand aside while you try to kill him."

"And what about you two?" Pyrrha asked, turning to look at both.

"Will you get in my way?"

"I saw our Pyrrha die on Beacon's tower." Ruby said quietly. There was an edge in her voice that Pyrrha couldn't quite place but she almost thought it was anger.

"I am not going to watch another friend die like that."

Pyrrha smiled. "good, then- "

Quick as a flash, Ruby's scythe extended. Jaune nearly yelped at the speed at which her weapon appeared.

"If you try to fight Fenrir I will stop you."

Pyrrha almost rolled her eyes at the drama. "Ruby- "

"NO!" Ruby shouted. "You will die. He will kill you and your death will be for nothing! Don't be selfish and think this helps anyone but your own ego."

Ruby had tears in her eyes as she gritted her teeth, two hands on her weapon as she pulled it behind her.

"I won't let you, or anyone else die today. You don't deserve it and neither does he." Ruby said, her voice trembling with emotion.

Pyrrha paused, her mouth wide open. She wasn't quite sure what to do, Fighting Ruby was out of the question, but she couldn't let Fenrir do to Remnant what he did to Valhalla. Somehow, the Aesir had stopped Fenrir last time, but the most powerful gods were all dead. There simply wouldn't be anyone to stop Fenrir if he really went on a rampage.

"Then what do you propose?" Pyrrha asked, her hands on her hips.

"Huh?" Ruby asked, her stance jerking awkwardly at Pyrrha's response.

"Why don't you try to get to know Fenrir? Nora and Ren did that easily enough." Jaune proposed. Stepping in for a gobsmacked Ruby.

"And do you really think that would work? I did just recently try to kill him." Pyrrha pointed out.

"But you thought he was some sort of monster! Not a person! I'm sure he'll give you a chance." Ruby said excitedly as she collapsed and sheathed Crimson Rose.

Pyrrha looked at her skeptically. The Great Wolf, Destroyer of Valhalla, bringer of Ragnarok, sincerely trying to Befriend a God? It was absurd!

But Fenrir had seemed to sincerely try to avoid that fight between the two of them, and clearly not because he was in any real danger. He had also argued he was a reincarnation of the previous Fenrir not the old Fenrir himself. Maybe personalities had changed.

Pyrrha sighed and nodded.

"Fine, but if I see anything off, anything suspicious I will do everything in my power to stop him." She said.

Ruby cheered as Jaune smiled and nodded.

Silence reigned for a few seconds.

"So, when are they getting back?" Pyrrha asked.

Ruby moaned as she slumped to her knees.


"Guys, you are being naïve! Pyrrha tried to kill me." Fenrir said after hearing what Ren and Nora had proposed.

"Because you didn't explain you're not the Fenrir she is afraid of!" Nora argued. "Just say you want to start over, be completely honest!"

Fenrir groaned and sprawled himself out on the ground.

"So, she can try to kill me when I sleep? You already saw how she spoke to me, and that was after I stopped our fight without killing her!"

"Which is why it'll work. Would some wild Grimm monster spare someone it could just as easily kill?" Nora asked.

Fenrir rolled his eyes.

"No, but she's been told her entire life that I am a monster, that killing me is A-Okay just because the last one ended up blowing up Valhalla. That kind of thing isn't something that goes away overnight!"

"No, it's not." Ren agreed. "But even if she is distrustful, what you need is a chance. She doesn't need to trust you now, she simply needs to give you a chance."

"that's still a lot to ask for." Fenrir pointed out.

"It's Pyrrha," Nora said with a wave of her hand, "She'd give just about anyone a second chance."

"You're Pyrrha might, but we don't know this Pyrrha very well."

"But Jaune and Ruby do, they're good at finding out what the people close to them want. I doubt Pyrrha would still be with them if she was a cruel or vicious person."

"Pyrrha doesn't need to be cruel or vicious to want me dead." Fenrir muttered.

Nora reached out and yanked Fenrir into a standing position, earning a grunt from the Great Wolf.

"That hurt Nora." He said without anger.

"Sorry, but you can't be so down. You have a new friend to make!"

"Nora's right and we should be getting back" Ren said giving Fenrir a supporting smile.

Fenrir shrugged. "Well there's no harm in trying." He said, his wolf years flattened towards his head clearly ready for Nora's excited squeal and fierce hug.

"It'll go great! Just wait and see!"

Fenrir rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his face.

The return to camp was announced by a shout.

"Finally!" Ruby said, speeding up to them in a burst of petals.

"How long does it take to go one a walk? We've been waiting for hours!"

"We were probably gone less than an hour Ruby." Ren said.

Ruby puffed out her cheeks, "yeah but it felt like hours! Pyrrha's been waiting!"

At this Fenrir, Nora and Ren exchanged glances, some hidden message passing through the group. Soon, Fenrir hung his head and sighed.

"I'll go see her." He said quietly.

"Best of luck." Ren said as Fenrir headed towards the campsite. Fenrir raised a hand in thanks before spying Pyrrha by the fire. The flickering flames almost as bright as her hair. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, with a blanket lazily draped over her back. She sat gazing deeply into the fire, as if searching for some secret with the flames. A frown on her face.

"Well better now than never." He muttered as he picked up his pace heading to the fire.

The thudding footfalls must have knocked Pyrrha from a stupor of some sort, as she turned her head almost lamely. Recognition flashed in her eyes as he came closer. Her body tensed, but she did not move, instead tracking his movement with her eyes.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked gesturing to a spot across from her.

She shook her head an open hand offering the spot.

"Feel free" she said. Fenrir nodded his head in thanks before sitting down.

"So," Pyrrha began, "I suppose we have a lot to discuss."

"Yeah. I think we do."

Silence reigned for a few seconds as Fenrir scrambled to find something to say, some way to gently ease them into this discussion.

"I'm not a killer." Pyrrha said abruptly.

Fenrir's ears perked at this and he quickly bit back a smart retort.

"I don't like killing. I do it because it protects people. Innocent people who have done nothing wrong. They don't deserve to get killed by Grimm."

"I don't like it either." Fenrir said, once again tracing lines in the dirt.

"To be honest, I'm not an enthusiastic fan of fighting. I may spar with Nora from time to time, but actually fighting people, it… it just doesn't feel right."

"As if there is something wrong with fighting another person." Pyrrha said.

Fenrir nodded. "I don't want to destroy things. But, I can't help but think that the previous Fenrir must have tried to find a third option and failed. I don't know what happened, maybe it was too far-fetched, or maybe he didn't have a chance."

"Maybe if he had just told someone that would have solved things?" Pyrrha proposed.

Fenrir nodded "yeah, I think a lot of pain could have been avoided."

"So, what are you going to do now?" Pyrrha asked.

"I don't know." He said. "But watch me, watch my actions, and see if you still think I'm lying."

"And if I think you are just playing the long game? Convincing me that you are good so I'll bring you to Vytal?"

"Then I'll have to convince you otherwise." Fenrir said with a grin.

"We'll see…"

Fenrir quirked his head. "What changed? Just a little while ago you wanted to kill me."

"Ruby can be… convincing." Pyrrha said.

Fenrir laughed casting a glance over at the hunters and huntresses they had been traveling with.

"Ren and Nora were convincing too." He admitted.

"So, peace for now?" Pyrrha proposed.

Fenrir nodded. "And hopefully for a lot longer."


A/N: Well missed my self imposed deadline again. Maybe I'm too worried about it... do specific day deadlines actually matter to you guys, or are you happy just to have a new chapter?

Anyway, this Arc is over, but will kind of blend with the next one. I'm going to take a brief break to finalize things for the next arc. so the next arc will probably start up in two weeks.

Have a great weekend everyone!

All the Best,

DeamonHunter