Chapter 44 - Saviors of Mistral
Pyrrha sat in the hospital bed, waiting impatiently. She'd gotten better, healed up a fair bit from even earlier that day when Ren and Nora had visited her, but it wasn't enough. Her wounds still ached, body still stiff. Useless in a fight, so she had to 'sit tight', while the sounds of battle raged on loudly enough that even well within the city, she could hear them.
That burned more than any of her wounds, knowing that she, 'the Invincible Girl', now the Fall Maiden as well, could do nothing to help. Well, she could do something to help, she realized. Her magic didn't rely on the Aura she was using to speed her recovery, nor on her broken body. It would put her at risk though, not truly being able to physically combat them, and if she were to fall...
Faith. She had to have faith in her teammates, that they and the students could handle it. They had help, she had heard. Mistral was not in good shape, many people had abandoned it, but Blake had come back, along with Menagerie (she was the daughter of the chieftain, who knew?). They could hold, Pyrrha told herself. It helped her put aside some fears, even if it wasn't enough to truly rest like her body needed. Then she saw it.
Silver light burst out from beyond her window for a second, something she had only seen a few times, but completely unmistakable. Ruby. She had a power in her eyes, one that could end Grimm, turn them to stone, even cripple Maidens (for some reason). If she used that, then the Grimm would be no problem...
But she had only ever utilized her power when people were in great danger. Pyrrha had talked to the younger girl about it once, and she admitted she didn't really know how it worked. The first time it had been when Jaune died, and Cinder was poised to kill both of them too. The following two times were when Pyrrha was in danger. For her to activate that power now...
Someone was in trouble. Ruby might be in trouble, if there were still enough Grimm left. All hesitation left her as she jumped out of bed. Pain lanced through her legs, but it wasn't as bad as the thought of losing her partner again. One hand called her weapons, neatly piled beside the corner to her (some people wouldn't think it was a great idea to give patients easy access to their weapons, but many Huntsmen and Huntresses had very particular feelings on how far away their weapons should be from them, and being a fully licensed huntress was supposed to be a sign that you were level headed enough to accept that and not rush off early). In her other hand, she pulled up her Scroll, jumping out the window as her own eyes burst forth with small emerald flames.
Flying through the air towards her partner, she waited for the call to connect. It felt like it was taking a long time, but that might have just been from how panicked she was. "Nora! Ren!" She called out as the call finally connected, an image of Nora swinging her hammer one handed into an Ursa as she held onto her Scroll with the other sprung into view. Or they could be fighting Grimm, that was an option too.
"Wha-?!" It was hard to hear anything from the sounds of violence on Nora's end and the wind whipping by on Pyrrha's, so the long haired red-head shouted louder while silencing the wind with a twist of her magic.
"I'm going after Ruby, I need your help!" Then she let go of the Scroll, the device likely crashing down hundreds of feet below as she equipped Milo and Akouo. She could get a new one later. She'd fulfilled her promise, calling them for help, now she had to find Ruby.
Putting on more speed she quickly saw the red cloaked girl, easy to make out as the only fighter on the Eastern side, amidst a field of Grimm particles and a few rose petals drifting through the air as they disintegrated. There were a few fighters on the wall, some of whom were even making there way down to her, but Pyrrha knew they'd be too late. Grimm not destroyed in the blasts were surging in from the sides, and even closer were some large monster breaking free of their stoney prisons from near the trees that cut off the Eastern field, running towards the small girl with all their might.
She wouldn't make it in time. Even in perfect condition, Pyrrha wasn't sure she could fly that fast, and Ruby looked weak. Tired and sluggish, she had no chance of escaping her doom on her own. If only she was faster! If only Pyrrha could reach them-! An idea came to her and raising a hand, she called to the sky, clouds responding to her will. A bolt of lightning came thundering out from them, striking the Grimm nearest to Ruby then continuing on, blasting through several more.
The Silver Eyed girl whipped around to face the sky, looking up at her in awe. Pyrrha blushed for a moment before remembering more Grimm heading Ruby's way and dived down to help her.
"Pyrrha! Are you ok? I thought..." As Pyrrha flew down to the younger girl, she was aware her bandages were readily apparent and showing she wasn't truly fit for combat yet (one of her stitches ripped too, and a bit of red was coloring her ribs.
"It's fine, I'll be fine. I couldn't let you die." She's not sure if Ruby would have (falsely) contested that point, but there's no time to argue further as the Grimm are still rapidly approaching. Milo and Mechanical Rose fire out, snapping shots into the rampaging beasts, taking several down; Ruby's shots struck through several Grimm at a time while Pyrrha struck at the joints with pinpoint precision, causing Grimm to fall and others topple over the fallen. There's too many for that to be a viable strategy however, and the stronger Grimm are beginning to muscle in.
Throwing Akouo out, her shield smashes many of them, ricocheting around under her direction even while she uses that now free hand to conjure a semi-circle of flame around them. The toss hurt her shoulder more than she expected, but she musters on, cutting a leaping Creep in half with Milo before it can get too close to Ruby.
Ruby can barely move, Pyrrha's amazed (and more than a little worried) she could fight in that condition, but it's clear she's spent now. Even with that, her little grim reaper is defiant to the end, firing off blasts to take out as many Grimm as she can, quickly reacting to the situation as it changes. Which is good, because Pyrrha is forced to keep a constant elemental pressure up, rotating around with blizzards, lightning, gale force winds and more as they try to make there way back.
They survive, but can't manage to press onward with the number of Grimm. Also with how weakened Pyrrha is. She might be doing better than Ruby, but she's sure she's ripped up several of her wounds and can't fight like she'd used to at all, forced to rely mostly on her semblance and magic. The magic doesn't seem to weaken, not having a limit in how much she can use, just how much she can draw on at once. Idly, she wonders if it'll be fun to experience using this power at some point, like there will be a time when she isn't fighting for her and her friend's lives.
Semblance (or really Aura), does run out though, and by the time she's starting to feel as bad as Ruby is looking, one of the larger Grimm breaks through. A three headed quadrepedal dog like Grimm, it smashes through one of her walls of conjured ice, another head smacking her to the ground, shattering her Aura before she could recall Akouo. Milo proves little defense against the large snapping canines. Before she can meet her end though, Mechanical Rose smacks against one of it's heads and shoots another, drawing the attention of all 6 hate filled eyes. Pyrrha conjures another burst of wind to blow away the lesser Grimm about to attack her partners even before the Cerberus, but she didn't need to worry, as Nora takes that moment to make her entrance.
Bounding off from another Grimm, Nora soared into the air, giggling slightly as she brought her massive hammer down hard upon it's middle head, the force pushing down the rest of the Grimm's body. Ren follows swiftly behind, a green blur whirling around like a tightly controlled storm, stabbing and shooting dozens of Grimm as he passed. Darting under the swing of a large Ursa Major, he flipped up, tapped it on the head, and with a controlled burst of Aura, blew it's skull open before finishing the flip and landing in the center with them and Nora.
"And they call me the reckless one" Nora squawked, firing a grenade into the half open mouth of the Cerberus, causing it to reel back.
"We got your message" Ren adds, appreciation tinting his voice, hearable even as he unloads 2 dozen rounds into the Grimm behind them. "Come close" he said, holding a hand out. Pyrrha could see the slight, blink-and-you-miss-it, trepidation on Nora's face at that, but also the acceptance, the pink girl stepping back and grabbing a hold of them. They must have cleared things up after they visited her, which Pyrrha was glad to se- It was alright.
Everything entered a grey monotone as his semblance washed over the three girls, and in that moment, the Grimm fell to confusion, their prey suddenly lost. Nora leapt forward, ready to capitalize on that, and Pyrrha boosted her, conjuring a powerful bolt of lightning to strike through her.
Supercharged, Nora crashed her way through the Grimm, laughing maniacally as Ren's Semblance wore off and she beat them to literal pieces. Even a larger Grimm ten times her size was shoulder checked hard enough by her that it was sent tumbling away. The sparks coursed through her as she brought down Magnhild again and again.
Even that strength might not be enough, but with Ren there, he brought shelter. The Grimm could barely notice them, and so the new Fall Maiden gathered her magic, twisting and pulling in winds, fire, and electricity. She compressed it into a tight ball before expelling it outwards just before she felt her control would break. A terrible storm burst onto the battlefield, a fiery typhon scorching the grass and ground beneath and obliterating the Grimm it came across. By her magic she directed it and kept the energy going, letting it devastate the horde, and by the time she was done, it was far less a horde, than a disorganized bunch of groupings of lesser Grimm.
The other hunters arrived, having dealt with their Grimm and sweeping through the stragglers, only a few of the more intelligent beasts retreating back into the wilderness. They knew the day had been won for humanity. A roaring cheer came from the warriors of the battle, from all of Mistral, as they knew the city would stand another day.
Ren let go of his Semblance on them as the Grimm were driven back, panting tiredly alongside Nora as she dropped down too, the electricity-fueled energy burnt out of her. The Maiden hadn't put any thoughts to how they were faring, how many Grimm they had faced already, and their distance on the opposite wall from Ruby that they must have rushed through (without flight like her) to get there in time. Yet still they made it.
'Thank you', she mouthed, not able to be heard over the chanting. Chanting, she realized of her name. And Ruby's, and even Ren and Nora's. They had did it. Despite all the gloom and despair, every hardship they faced, they finally saved the day, beat back the darkness. Having people cheer her name for that? That felt a lot better than any silly tournament win. With that thought in her mind, she fell, dimly aware of Ruby's warm arms grabbing her as she drifted off to sleep.