Hello, and happy Friday! This chapter, pilot boi has a couple of concerns, and Pyrrha has a question.

78. Question

The next morning was very quiet. Sage made sure to soothe Zircon, who had gone to sleep shaking last night after being chased around by the hybrid. It was hard to know what to do with himself once all his and Scarlet's things were packed up—he pretended to be very interested in one of the straps on Zircon's saddle, so that he would stop glancing at Pyrrha and Professor Goodwitch.

At least their professor was better this morning. At least, she could walk in a straight line, instead of stumbling and leaning on Pepper. She didn't eat very much, but neither did anyone else except for Gigas. The memory of the dead hatchling was too fresh.

By mid-afternoon they were sweltering in the desert sun. Sage was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that he hardly noticed the glint on the horizon until Scarlet grabbed his hand and pointed. Both of them squinted uselessly into the distance.

It looked... shiny.

Yang let out a delighted whoop. Scarlet watched the oncoming airship with a bit more suspicion, until it got close enough for them to make out Steele pacing alongside it through the glare. He and the airship landed just in front of them. The hatch banged open, revealing an empty hold and a harassed-looking man Sage didn't recognize.

"All aboard," he said, without enthusiasm. Then he froze, and slowly raised his visor to reveal eyes wide with shock. "I told you I could fit a dragon or two!" he burst out, "Not—gods, how many of you are there?!"

"You'll only need to take two on board," Winter told him, nodding towards Storm and Gigas. "The rest of us will fly alongside you."

"To Atlas."

She glared at him. "I thought I made this very clear."

The pilot raised both hands. "You're the boss, I guess, but... someone's definitely gonna notice that."

"We'll manage," she snapped. "Ruby, you and Storm should go first."

Ruby nodded and jogged towards the open door, with Storm loping along behind her. The Lieutenant followed much more slowly. Gigas immediately started sniffing around the inside of the cargo hold.

"Miss Nikos?" Professor Goodwitch prompted. "If you'd like to join them...?"

Sage looked around, and found Pyrrha hesitating. She backed up a few steps. "Yes. I only—there's something I need to do first."

Winter stared at her. "Speed is of the—"

But Pyrrha was already walking away, and waving off Jaune's attempt to join her. "I'll just be a moment!" she promised over her shoulder.

Somehow, that wasn't very reassuring.

"Hello?"

She curled up into a ball in a shallow dip between dunes and put her paws over her ears. It didn't block out the sound of footsteps, or of that stupid voice calling for her.

What could the human want, anyway? She'd tried to free Gigas and Justice, and she'd failed. Now she wasn't even sure if she should want them free. Which didn't matter anyway, because she couldn't get them away from a whole flock of much older dragons who knew she was coming.

She lay her head down on the ground. It seemed like far too much effort to pick it up, and she didn't feel like getting into another fight. Especially since attacking the human didn't vent her frustration like the Grimm did—she couldn't go all out unless she wanted to really hurt her, and she couldn't actually hit her if she was being careful. She'd just stay here until she got bored and went away.

But then the voice grew distant, and she felt a sharp pain in her chest that had nothing to do with the fight from the previous night. Her head came up without conscious thought, poking over the dunes and scanning her surroundings. It was easy to pick out the bright red hair, moving off into the distance. The human glanced around and spotted her.

She approached slowly, picking her way up and down the dunes, and finally sat cross-legged about twenty feet away with her hands clasped in her lap. Yet another position that meant she wouldn't be able to fight or run away if she needed to—but by now she was used to this oddly reckless human, and barely noticed.

"I'm sorry about last night," Pyrrha said softly. She hissed, but the human kept talking as if she hadn't heard the noise. "We're going, now. Out of the desert. A friend of ours found a ship that can carry Storm."

Good. Her tail lashed back and forth, and she forced it still. This place was much nicer than the forest, with lots of sunlight and no hidden streams. When they were gone she'd have it all to herself.

Except for the Grimm, of course.

"We're going to fight the Council. They're... well, there isn't really time to explain it properly, but they're the ones who handle laws about dragons. They..." She hesitated. "They cull hatchlings, if they have problems, and they made hybrids illegal. A lot of our dragons are in danger from them, so we need to do something to stop them."

She cocked her head. She'd never heard of any council before, except maybe the one with Sienna, the Lieutenant, the Albains, and Ilia—and she doubted that was what Pyrrha meant.

"It's... like the lab, I suppose. They're doing something we think is wrong, so we're going to try to stop it."

Why tell her this? The evil tent was gone, but they were only going to rebuild it somewhere else—and since she'd followed Justice and Gigas, she didn't know which way they'd gone. What was she supposed to do about this Council?

"Do you want to come with us?"

She was so startled that she reared up on her hind legs, her wings flaring. Pyrrha jumped, but stayed where she was. Waiting for an answer.

No one had ever asked before.

Warily, she circled Pyrrha. Sniffed her. Sweat and leather and a distant hint of smoke. She still couldn't figure out what the trick was. She turned her back. There was a slight intake of breath behind her, the tiniest sound of disappointment... but still, no knives. No nets.

Finally she stopped pacing and sat, her tail twined around her legs, only a few feet away. Pyrrha looked up, wide-eyed, and stayed perfectly still as hot, dry breath stirred her hair. Slowly, she rumbled agreement. A smile broke across the human's face, and she had to look away.

She would stay with the one who asked, for now. But the second she sensed any hint of a trap... well. It wouldn't hurt to leave this one behind.

Jaune waited for Pyrrha to come back, fidgeting anxiously and exchanging glances with Twiggy. He knew they were both itching to run off after her... but she knew what she was doing. Which was good, because he definitely didn't.

Especially not when she returned, walking a few steps in front of the rogue hybrid that had attacked them all the night before. The same dragon that had left long scratches across her back that had only just scabbed over. He tensed. Twiggy dropped into a crouch, ready to pounce, the hybrid drew itself up and bared its teeth—

"It's alright!" Pyrrha said hurriedly, stepping in front of the dragon. "She isn't here to fight."

The hybrid's eyes narrowed. It didn't exactly look like she was just here for a quick chat and a bite of camel jerky.

Winter stared at them both in open shock. "Where and how did you find a wild dragon out here?" she demanded. "Is that—" Then she paused, shot a venomous look towards the Lieutenant, and said, "I see."

"I asked, and she agreed to come with us."

No one spoke for a long moment. The hybrid noticed the tension and hissed again, flaring her wings slightly. Pyrrha murmured something to her. She didn't relax.

"You cannot be serious," Winter said flatly, when the request had sunk in. "We can't bring a White Fang dragon into this fight."

To Jaune's shock, Goodwitch shook her head and said, "She isn't a White Fang dragon. She isn't bonded to anyone."

"And, what, you think this is a good idea? The risk simply isn't worth it for a dragon that's only half-grown."

At that, Qrow stifled a snort.

"Is something funny?"

"No!" He waved his hands, but couldn't get the smirk off his face. "I'm just saying, Gigas is a hell of a lot younger, and he was a pain in the ass to fight."

Twiggy made an indignant noise. Jaune hesitated. He didn't want to argue with Pyrrha, especially in front of everyone, but...

"She attacked you, though!" Nora burst out.

"It isn't like that!"

The hybrid, meanwhile, wasn't even trying to look friendly. Her teeth were very sharp, and she loomed over Pyrrha while fixing them with a wary, predatory stare.

Finally, Goodwitch snapped, "Enough!"

The argument, which by now had drawn in almost everyone, came to a screeching halt.

"I don't hear any alternatives," Goodwitch said, "aside from leaving a riderless hybrid wild in the Vacuan desert, and completely vulnerable to the Council should she be noticed."

The dragon herself hissed. She seemed offended by the idea that anyone would notice her if she didn't want them to.

But Jaune... couldn't find it in himself to argue with that. They could bring the hybrid along, keep a close eye on her in case she got aggressive with Pyrrha again, and find somewhere safer for her to live as soon as they could.

Still, as Storm and Ruby boarded the airship, he couldn't help asking, "Are you sure?"

Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder at the hybrid. "I am."

He wanted to say something else, but before he could figure out what, Professor Goodwitch approached them and cleared her throat. "I doubt she could carry you, even if she wanted to, but the two of you should fit inside the hold." She gestured towards the ship.

Instantly the hybrid readied herself to pounce, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"You don't have to!" Pyrrha said quickly. "You can fly alongside it if you like. That's what everyone else is doing."

Warily, the hybrid rose out of her crouch and shot a hostile glare towards the airship. Then, when Pyrrha moved towards it, she put a paw down in her way, making Jaune's heart jump painfully in his chest.

"Um..."

Pyrrha backed away, and the hybrid relaxed. But when she made as if to board again, the dragon blocked her again, this time with her tail.

"You don't want me in the ship," Pyrrha guessed.

No response from the hybrid, except to drop her tail. She did let Pyrrha mount up behind Tai on Quake, and flew overhead as everyone else took off. Twiggy didn't need Jaune's nudge of the reins to keep close beside Quake, and they both watched the hybrid circle lazily above them.

"It's okay," he told Twiggy, though he knew he was reassuring himself as much as his dragon. "We'll keep an eye on them."

The woods outside Beacon were dark, and eerily silent. Mercury slid from Rudder's back as quietly as he could. Emerald jumped off, and still somehow managed not to make a sound. There was probably a joke in there somewhere that would annoy her, but he didn't have the energy to look for it.

It had been three days, and Jade still wouldn't stop looking at him. Like he was gonna bolt the second she turned her back on him for a second.

Not that he wasn't tempted...

"Where the hell is Tyrian?" he muttered. "He should be here by now."

"We're too close. She said he'd be at the bottom of the cliffs, but I didn't want to fly under the canopy in the dark."

Mercury sighed. "Great. All the best hikes have a freak waiting at the—" he cut off as she elbowed him hard in the gut. Before he got the breath back to swear at her, he heard a noise off towards the campus.

"Is someone there?"

He rolled his eyes. What did this jackass think they were gonna do, say yes?

"Oh for—do you smell anyone or not?" There was a sharp snap as something cut through the air, and a yelp.

Oh. Shit.

He and Emerald scrambled back into the dark as quickly as they dared, careful not to step on any twigs. Jade and Rudder struggled to follow.

The same voice again. Male, an arrogant drawl. "Go check, then."

A series of shuffling noises, as something forced its way through the undergrowth. At the same time, a light swept the trees. Mercury ducked down instinctively, but it was still too far away to reach them through all the leaves. He caught a glimpse of a teenaged boy with a flashlight, his red-brown hair swept up into a carefully trimmed peak.

He wasn't a problem—he didn't even move from where he was standing, and in seconds they were well out of sight of him. But the shuffling in the undergrowth followed them for a long time before the boy finally let out a frustrated growl and said, "Fuck, how useless are you? Just get back here already."

Emerald didn't stop shooting filthy looks over her shoulder until they found the path that led down the cliffside. Mercury was pretty sure this was at least as dangerous as flying in and way slower, but they made it to the bottom without either of them breaking their necks. The sound of a waterfall blocked out any further sound from the student that had almost caught them—and it meant that they didn't hear anything from Tyrian until he popped up out of a small dip in the ground.

Mercury just managed to keep himself from jumping in surprise. Instead he turned and folded his arms. Tyrian was leaning back against a bed of soft moss, with Ozone curled up on his chest. "You look comfortable."

His smile stretched all the way across his face. "There you two are. Ozone and I have been sleeping here, waiting for you."

At the sound of her name, the dragon opened one eye and yawned hugely. Sparks jumped between her pointed fangs. She was getting too big now to sit on his shoulders, but he picked her up anyway and carried her against his chest as he stood up.

Emerald took a step back when he stepped a bit too close to them, but he didn't seem to notice. Mercury grimaced and said, "So? What's the plan?"

Tyrian started to giggle—and didn't stop.

Mercury exchanged a look with Emerald—frustrated on his end, disgusted on hers. Both of them resigned, at this point.

Tyrian kept giggling.