A.N - Yup, finally finished with the first chapter of my rewrite. It's going to be totally different from my last story. Enjoy!
Argus (1) - Jogging Buddy
Pyrrha Nikos had a light jogging routine that she did every Saturday morning.
Every week, she made her way to the nearby park and ran a few laps around the neighborhood. Since she normally woke up early to exercise, there weren't a lot of people around during that time. Which was usually one of her criteria, ever since she won two tournaments and gained no small amount of local fame.
So the fact that her jogging route had barely any people was just something she expected when she went out in the morning. Usually, that is...
Pyrrha glanced behind her and saw that the strange girl from before was still following her. For the past month now, Pyrrha's noticed the same exact girl running the same route as her. The two never spoke to each other, but Pyrrha made sure to greet the other girl with a nod every time she saw her.
She didn't think that the other girl knew that she was Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha usually ran with her hair tied up and hidden underneath her cap anyway, and she dressed quite differently from her usual combat outfit that was often shown on television. Still, the idea did cross her mind once or twice.
The two made their way around the neighborhood a few more laps before they both stopped at the same fountain to take a break. Pyrrha noticed that even though she herself wasn't tired from the run herself, the other girl was breathing heavily with her hands on her knees.
Actually, this was the first time Pyrrha's gotten the chance to closely observe the other person. Until now, they only greeted each other every time they passed by each other on their runs, so Pyrrha never got the chance to fully take in the other person's appearance.
The girl was younger than her by about a couple of years. She looked maybe eleven or twelve and wore an old but warm-looking tracksuit over herself. Pyrrha saw the other girl straighten herself and noticed the other girl's twintails fly around her when she did.
"Wow, that really does a good job at keeping the heart pumping."
Not knowing how to reply to that statement, Pyrrha awkwardly laughed. "Yeah, but that's how you know it's working."
"True," the other girl replied. After a moment, the girl held out her hand. "Might as well introduce myself. The name's Rin Tohsaka."
"Pyrrha Nikos," she automatically replied, before she flinched at the mistake. Luckily, the other girl didn't seem to react to it. The two shook hands quickly, before delving into further conversation.
"So, I noticed you've just started a couple of weeks back."
"Yeah, this is kind of a recent thing," Rin replied. "I wanted to keep in shape, and a friend of mine recommended this area since there usually isn't a lot of people during this time."
Huh, that was a similar reason to why Pyrrha ran here herself. "Oh? May I ask what made you take up jogging?"
Rin shrugged her shoulders. "There isn't really any particular reason, but if I had to think about it, it's probably because I'm usually stuck indoors all day. My friend noticed that I needed to get outside more, and I was interested in getting into shape anyway."
Pyrrha smiled. "Well, I think it's admirable that you would strive to improve yourself."
Rin smirked at that. "Still, I've still got a lot of room for improvement. I noticed that you ran almost twice as many laps as I did, and you barely look winded."
She blushed a bit. "Well, I guess I'm cheating a little bit. Having my Aura unlocked helps."
Pyrrha did notice that the young girl in front of her didn't have an active Aura like most of the people she knew did. It was a little trick she learned how to do when she was younger, in order to take into account an opponent's Aura reserves without relying on an external device.
Rin looked at her curiously. "Oh? Are you a Huntress?"
"In-training," she clarified.
The other girl hummed at that. "Haven or Sanctum?"
"Sanctum, I'm not old enough for Haven."
"Ah, that's right," Rin muttered. "Sorry, I'm not really that knowledgable about Huntsman Academies. Or really Huntsman in general. I only know the two names because my roommate talks about them."
Pyrrha felt something stir inside of her. Is that why Rin didn't recognize Pyrrha? Either way, she continued talking with the other girl and ignored that feeling.
"Roommate?"
"Yeah, I live in an apartment with a roommate who pays half the rent. Both of us moved to Argus recently, and the two of us figured that it'd be easier if we split the rent between us."
Pyrrha nodded at that and made sure not to ask why Rin moved to Argus. People learned to not ask questions like that, in case the reason was due to a Grimm Attack forcing them to immigrate.
The two trailed off as they both realized that they had nothing else to talk about. Sensing that it would be best to leave now, Pyrrha smiled and waved goodbye to Rin first.
"Well, I guess I'll see you another time."
"Y-Yeah," Rin replied back. "See you next week."
Pyrrha felt a flutter in her heart as she heard those words. It was almost like the two of them were making a promise to meet up later. Pyrrha liked to think that the two of them were at least friendly enough to call each other jogging buddies.
Running away, she found that the smile on her face didn't leave her.
}-{
Rin's smile faded away as she watched Pyrrha Nikos walk away. She sighed to herself once the girl finally left her sight.
"Damn it… I totally forgot that Pyrrha lived in Argus," she muttered with a sort of resigned tone in her voice. "Never thought I'd meet someone of the main cast this early on."
She sat down on a nearby bench and gave out a heavy sigh. "Hopefully I didn't say anything strange in front of her. I really don't want to leave an impression on someone who's going to go to Beacon."
What were the odds that the person she's been jogging with for the past month was actually someone she knew? She inwardly freaked out at first once she found out that her sorta-jogging partner was actually Pyrrha Nikos. Luckily, the other girl didn't notice her freaked-out state.
Rin thought about all of her current list of worries up to that point. Having lived on Remnant for almost an entire three years now, she had forgotten for a moment that this was the world of a fictitious show she once watched in another life. That there were people she needed to avoid at all cost.
"Hah, now what am I supposed to do?" Rin asked herself. "Should I avoid Pyrrha from now on? But that kinda sounds like a jerk move to do to her. And it's not like it matters if I get to know her right?"
She thought about the first few days when she suddenly appeared here.
—
A young girl stared blankly at her surroundings.
Several glances from the people passing by her showed that she stood out. If she had to guess, it was probably due to the fact that she was young and alone without a caretaker around.
The girl continued to look around her without paying attention to them.
Somebody must have called the authorities because a few minutes later a man dressed in some kind of uniform came up to her. The man took off his cap and lowered himself to her height, making sure not to startle her while doing so. He gave her an easy smile.
"Hey there little one, are you lost?"
She turned to look and scrutinize him for a few seconds. For some reason, she seemed to be staring intently at the extra set of fuzzy ears that adorned the top of his head. Maybe she was just curious about Faunus? He continued to press her when she didn't respond.
"What's your name?"
Her face scrunched up in confusion - as if she didn't know the answer to the simple question. Eventually, she replied with an unsure response, "...Rin Tohsaka."
"Well then, Miss Tohsaka. Where are your parents?"
Her face tilted in confusion before her face showed some kind of realization. Maybe it was the fact that she was ten years old and by herself.
"Erm, they're busy at work. I left the house because I felt bored," she said, the lie coming out smoothly.
"Well, that's no good. You shouldn't sneak out like that, you'll worry your parents."
She bowed her head in apology. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to play outside for a bit. I'll go home in a few minutes."
The man still looked unsure but seemed to accept her answer anyway. Standing up, he gave her a mock salute. "Well, then I hope you have a good day young miss. The police are more than happy to help the people of Vale."
As he walked away, the child stared at his retreating back. "...Vale?"
—
She was Rin Tohsaka, a girl about maybe ten years old.
But before that, she was a young man who lived and died on a normal Earth without Magecraft or Grimm. Who had no idea how she came to this world or why she now inhabits the body of a fictitious character.
The horrifying realization that she… he… they both lost everything dear to them. Be it their home, their family, their world. That first week since her arrival was a dark time for her, and it didn't help that she didn't exactly have a place to sleep or money to spend.
If it wasn't for her knowledge of Magecraft - knowledge she somehow knew instinctively - she might have not survived up to this point. Somehow, her head was filled with the knowledge on how to cast various branches of Magecraft, even if the associated episodic memories of how she acquired that knowledge were missing.
So what did that mean? Everything about her situation stunk of being artificial in nature. Someone or something sent her here, and for some insane reason, decided that she would inhabit the body of a little girl.
Luckily, there wasn't anything like a little Rin somewhere buried in the depths of her consciousness. As far as she knew, she woke up somehow with the memories of a young man from Earth already in her head with the knowledge on how to cast Magecraft. Nothing that suggested she had amnesia or her soul eaten and possessed.
Not that she could tell in the first place if her soul was eaten or possessed. She's never had her soul taken over before after all.
Either way, someone orchestrated events so that she was sent to Remnant without her knowledge or consent. Not that she was complaining about the fact that she could live again. Still, she didn't have a clue who or why someone would do this.
Maybe Zelretch…? She guessed at one point. No, why would I not remember meeting him then? If it was him, then he either erased my memory or he's never confronted me in person. Why would he just drop me here if he hasn't told me what he wanted me to do? And it might be someone else who sent me here...
Even after three years have passed since she came to this new world, she still had no idea what purpose she had there.
Not as though the excuse she gave Pyrrha earlier was a lie. She actually did move to Argus recently, having decided to leave Vale a long time ago and taking her time traveling across Mistral to reach here. She did end up staying in a few villages for a few months whenever she decided to research something that picked at her interest.
And at the reminder of the fact that she just met Pyrrha Nikos, she reminded herself that she wanted nothing to do with the cast of RWBY. Already, she was in danger due to the fact that she was a young girl who had the ability to wield magic, even if it was actually another dimension's form of Magecraft. Better make sure she doesn't get on Ozpin or Salem's radar.
Sighing to herself, Rin began to make the trek back to her home with her thoughts filled with what to do about Pyrrha. Despite the fact that Pyrrha seemed like a perfectly nice girl, it was probably best that Rin changed her jogging route and never met with Pyrrha again.
She wasn't planning on getting involved whatsoever with the events of RWBY.
I decided that I'm not going to keep a strict schedule for this fic. This is first and foremost a passion project of mine, which means that I'll now update whenever I'm in the mood instead of bi-weekly. That said, I've written up quite the amount ever since finals ended. So expect a few chapters over the next few days. Each chapter will be around 1500-2000 words.
Just like last time, Rin came to this world five years before canon when she was around ten. Except in this timeline, Rin was never found by Tukson and decided to leave Vale in order to not get involved with the plot. Right now it's two years before Beacon starts when Pyrrha is fifteen and Rin thirteen.