Let it be known that Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna left Beacon in drastically different states. Weiss was dragged kicking and screaming from the foot of the tower, her eyes still burning from the blinding silver light, her ears still ringing from Ruby's scream. Blake ran away silently, leaving a trail of blood behind that only Sun used to follow.
Their exits did have several things in common, however. They were forced away by their abusers. They each thought they might never see their team again.
And neither of them knew that Pyrrha Nikos was dead.
When Weiss first met the legendary Pyrrha Nikos, she thought she had met the Invincible Girl. The first day of school, a true fresh start, and she had already made acquaintances with the most famous Huntress-in-training. She could clearly see the look on her father's face when he realized that she had done it all by herself.
But, her father wasn't important anymore. He was far, far away. She didn't have to live her life only to make him pleased anymore. She never did. Here she was, in Beacon Academy because of the work that she had put in. Not him.
She was quick to learn that Pyrrha wasn't all she had expected her to be. She was a formidable warrior, yes, one of the best she had ever seen. But she was also awkward and apologized way too often, had a huge heart that she wore on her sleeve, and was, for some reason Weiss could not for the life of her explain, absolutely enamoured with Jaune Arc.
After Weiss's reality check with Professor Port, she and Pyrrha became quite close. They weren't on the same team, but RWBY and JNPR were so close they might've been one big team anyway. They enjoyed study sessions in the library together every Wednesday night, Blake eventually joining them. And when Pyrrha was not training Jaune, she and Weiss would spar.
It wasn't quite an unlikely friendship. Anyone could have predicted the heiress and the famous Huntress becoming friends. But they shared a special bond, one that no one else on their teams could relate to.
The world was watching them. It had been for quite some time. And the world had expectations of who they were, what they would become. But the world was wrong.
Weiss Schnee would become a legendary Huntress who advocated for Faunus rights and tore down her father from his pedestal.
And Pyrrha Nikos would die in battle before she could show the world who she truly was.
Pyrrha knew who Blake was from the start. Apparently, her teammates weren't as informed as she was on the world and its happenings. She had seen the name Belladonna on the news multiple times and on several wanted posters. And then she had heard it during Beacon initiation.
But she never wanted to make Blake feel uncomfortable. She knew there was a reason Blake was never seen without her bow, and she wasn't about to expose her to potential danger and prejudice by bringing attention to it. So when team RWBY knocked on JNPR's door one night after an eventful weekend consisting of Blake going missing, Weiss getting a second reality check, and an apparent mecha fight, team JNPR welcomed them in with welcome albeit confused arms.
They sat down and declared they had something to tell them. Blake specifically. Pyrrha knew what was about to happen and mentally prepared herself to act surprised. With Yang's comforting arm around her shoulders, Blake told them of her past and removed her bow. Jaune, Nora, and Ren had genuine reactions while Pyrrha struggled with her performance. Despite Pyrrha's lackluster acting abilities, the night went as planned and ended with a group hug and assurances that they all still loved Blake no matter what.
Pyrrha thought she had gotten away with it until a week later in the library. Expecting Weiss for their usual study session, she was more than a little surprised when she saw Blake in her place. At her questioning look, she answered.
"Ruby dragged Weiss to Vale for shopping. Hope you don't mind me studying with you instead?"
Pyrrha quickly shook her head. "No, not at all. You're always welcome."
After a few minutes of tense studying, Blake broke the silence.
"How did you know?"
Pyrrha abruptly looked up from her textbook, a shocked flush on her face.
"Oh! I. Um. I mean - what are you talking about?"
Blake laughed a little at witnessing Pyrrha's impeccable lying abilities once again.
"You're a woman of many talents, Pyrrha. But acting is not one of them.."
Pyrrha knew when to quit and resigned herself to truthfully answering Blake's question.
Blake hummed in response before turning to Pyrrha with a mischievous look in her eyes. Despite never seeing it before, Pyrrha knew that it was right at home. "I think our teammates are even thicker than we give them credit for."
Pyrrha laughed. And from that moment forward, Pyrrha was privileged to see bits and pieces of the true Blake Belladonna. She didn't know what had happened to her to make her act so reserved, but knowing what she did about her past, it couldn't have been anything good. Maybe she would tell her someday.
(She never got the chance.)
Weiss was torn from her post at the bottom of the tower where she was anxiously waiting for Ruby after seeing a blinding silver light and hearing her partner's scream which would both haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.
Her father and his lackeys came after her. In her weakened state from the battles she had fought that night alone, she couldn't fight back. She screamed for someone to help, praying JNPR, SSSN, CFVY, anyone would hear.
She couldn't leave Beacon. Not with Yang missing a limb, Pyrrha missing, and Ruby's status unknown. She didn't know if her partner was safe. She didn't know if her partner was alive. It wasn't Ruby that she should've been worried about.
The weeks following the Battle of Beacon were a blur for Weiss. Back in her prison, she lived in an inescapable fog. She thought she would never have to come back here, let alone like this. Everything she had worked for was to leave this place. Now she was right back where she started, in a far worse place than before.
In one of Klein's many visits to her room to deliver food and make sure she was doing at least the bare minimum of taking care of herself, he turned on the news before he left. He thought it might do some good for her to focus on something other than a wall.
Her fork was halfway to her mouth the moment her last shard of hope shattered. The words of the newscaster echoed in her head.
"The memorial for Pyrrha Nikos, a Beacon student slain in the Fall of Beacon, has started construction in Mistral."
Her fork clattered to the ground. The following words of the news broadcast were lost. She heard someone screaming. She thought it was Ruby's screams haunting her again before she realized that her mouth was open and her throat was aching and oh god that was her.
She barely noticed Klein bursting in, a question on his lips before he noticed what was still on the screen. He turned it off before picking her up from where she had at some point fallen to the floor.
"Weiss? Please princess, answer me. You're scaring me."
She couldn't hear him. Her ears replayed Ruby's screams and the words with which her last bit of hope she didn't even know she had was shattered. Her eyes were shut but she could still see silver. Her throat was raw from her screams.
Eventually, her screams turned into sobs. She was only silent when she found herself unable to voice her pain. Her throat would heal. But the pain would never vanish.
Her friend was dead. Her friend had been dead for weeks and she hadn't had a clue.
Weiss thought back to a conversation they had back at Beacon, back at home, on their titles: The Ice Queen and the Invincible Girl.
"You know Weiss? Ice Queen doesn't fit you. You've come a long way since we first met."
"Really? Thank you Pyrrha."
"I don't think my nickname fits me either."
"The Invincible Girl? Well, of course it doesn't. No one is invincible. And that's alright."
But a small part of Weiss had still believed that Pyrrha was untouchable. That out of all of them, she would've been the one to make it out.
It turns out the world was wrong about both of them after all.
Blake's wound had completely healed thanks to her aura. But it still left a scar - a constant reminder of what she convinced herself she had let happen. A constant reminder of her mistakes.
Another constant reminder of her past grievances came in the form of Sun Wukong. Surely, his presence had to be her punishment for her wrongdoings. He never shut up, was basically her shadow, and had literally stalked her since she left Beacon. She appreciated the sentiment, but she would really rather have done this journey alone.
Now, she was back with her parents - an experience that was surreal in itself. So many things had gone wrong these past few weeks, but this was the one thing that had gone right. Her parents, despite her many, many worries, still loved her just as much as they had before. Maybe even more.
With Kali and Ghira in town, Blake was left alone in the living room. Sun was dead asleep in the guest room despite it being the middle of the day. Left with nothing else to do, Blake decided to turn on the news and catch up with the happenings in the world.
That push of the button changed her life.
"The memorial for Pyrrha Nikos, a Beacon student slain in the Fall of Beacon, has started construction in Mistral."
The remote clattered to the ground. Blake kept listening in hopes that she had misheard it.
"She is survived by her teammates: Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren. Her -"
Blake picked the remote off of the ground and turned off the TV, her hands shaking. Her breath was coming in short pants as her head began to feel light. Her vision turned blurry as her eyes filled with tears.
She was gone. Pyrrha was gone.
The girl who knew her secret all along but waited for her to feel comfortable enough to tell them.
The girl who had apologized way too often.
The girl who had red hair the color of the most vibrant of sunsets.
The girl who cared for others far more than herself.
Her study buddy, her honorary teammate, her friend -
Was dead.
A sob escaped her throat. Then another. Followed by a scream that seemed to never want to end. She barely noticed Sun rush in, bedhead and all. His questions abruptly stopped when he saw the screen and joined her in where she had fallen on the floor, his hand to his mouth. And together, they mourned.
The Invincible Girl was dead - a cruel lesson to the hopeful. The invincible never fail to fall.