(Pyrrha)
Beacon was considered the best Huntsmen Academy, and that played a part in her decision to come to Vale. However, it wasn't the main reason she chose to not attend Haven. She just really wanted to get away from Mistral, where her fame was the most widely spread.
Back there, the people saw her as this idolized figure they called the Invincible Girl, and they all thought that Pyrrha should be the way they imagined her in their minds. This was especially prominent in those her age, and she always had to act a certain way with them. She constantly had to wear a mask and pretend to be this larger than life figure, even though she was just a normal girl with… uh, normal hands? She had to pick something, and knees and feet were already taken.
Pyrrha had a good start here. No, a great start even! She met people that didn't care about the Invincible Girl and perhaps didn't even know about her. They wanted to befriend and get to know the real her. However–
"... and this is why I believe we'll be the perfect team," Weiss Schnee said with a bright smile, looking as if she had just finished with a presentation, which she may as well have had with the way she spoke.
–her fame finally caught up to her.
"You do make a good point," Pyrrha replied kindly without giving her a confirmation.
Weiss wasn't wrong, and she agreed that they'd probably make a great team. Coming from the richest families in the world, she'd definitely grown up with the best teachers money could get you. Pyrrha would feel safer with someone like Weiss backing her up if she was half as competent as she described herself as. Plus, as the Schnee heiress, she could supply them with top-quality Dust.
All good things, really. However, Weiss reminded her of the people that only saw the Invincible Girl instead of Pyrrha. The ones that just wanted to use her for her fame. She didn't think Weiss was exactly like that, but she wasn't the partner Pyrrha was looking for, and If she could choose her teammate, then she'd go with Zagreus or even Ruby.
Both hadn't even mentioned the Invincible Girl, and it looked as if they didn't even know about that. Though Ruby might just not care since it seemed like she was only interested in weapons. Pyrrha found it endearing how the girl could talk endlessly about her scythe or any other weapon. She was a cute little munchkin that Pyrrha wouldn't mind teaming up with.
Though she'd go with Zagreus if given the option. She had been wary when he first approached her. Especially due to his Semblance? Pyrrha wasn't as sure now, but she initially assumed his appearance was some form of an illusion, because he was so darn handsome! She still believed his Semblance had something to do with illusions –due to what happened with Ruby and how he admitted to be messing with her– but she didn't think he was using it to make himself look better.
Over the past few years, Pyrrha had gotten incredibly good at noticing and figuring out other people's Semblances. It was one of the reasons why she won the tournament three times in a row since she rarely got caught off guard. She knew what signs to look for, and she was certain that Zagreus' looks weren't due to a Semblance.
After all, she carefully observed him during their walk, and it wasn't just because he was very pleasant to look at! There were no fluctuations or anything like that, so unless Zagreus had extraordinary Aura control alongside inhuman reserves, then he really was just that handsome…
Another reason why Pyrrha didn't think it was due to a Semblance was due to him not flaunting it. He wore a baggy hoodie, which he covered himself with, and the way he avoided others reminded Pyrrha of herself. If he was using an illusion to make himself look better, then why try to hide it? It made no sense.
Though Zagreus was an oddball, she had to admit as much. Not in a bad way, of course! He just seemed like he really wanted to fit in, but wasn't entirely sure how. That made sense in a way since he hadn't had much contact with other people.
His knowledge of the meaning of her name surprised her. Pyrrha could count the people that had mentioned that on the fingers of her normal hands, and all of them were from Mistral. Perhaps his family was originally from Anima before they moved to Sanus? Their names certainly sounded Mistralian in origin.
Overall, Zagreus was kind and friendly, and she really liked that about him. He was also very caring and had a great relationship with his family from what she gathered.
Yesterday, when everyone was getting ready to sleep, Pyrrha found him in one of the corners of the room with his face glued to his Scroll as he watched cute and funny dog videos. He reminded her of a kid who'd just got his hands on a new shiny toy, which seemed to be the case since his Scroll was brand new. She figured as much when she added her number to it and found out he had just one other contact saved.
Pyrrha joined him for a bit, and Zagreus told her about the cute dog he had back at his home. Cerberus was an odd name, but he was adamant that he was just the best boy.
He spoke about his dog in the same caring tone he did about his family. Obviously, he really loved them all. His two awesome moms –as he described them– his grumpy father, and his two brothers. Hypnos was apparently very lazy and a bit too fond of sleeping while Thanatos was all work and no fun, though she wasn't sure what kind of work he did out in the wilds. All of their names were a bit odd, to say the least, but they sounded like a lovely family.
Still, Zagreus was nice and friendly, and that's all that really mattered to her. Pyrrha definitely liked him. Not in that way! Though…
"Mhm." Pyrrha absentmindedly nodded to Weiss as her eyes scanned the room until she spotted the one she'd been thinking about. He caught her gaze, and she hoped the pleading look in her eyes would be enough.
It was enough, and Zagreus walked over. On his way, she couldn't help but notice how he'd changed his attire to a… more revealing one, and wow. Just wow! Pyrrha was so distracted she almost didn't notice the intricate sword strapped to his hip. She couldn't help but wonder what was that black material that held it in place. It was definitely one she hadn't seen before.
Still, the sword looked nice, but the skull was maybe a bit too much. Though it looked as if it was literally part of the handle. She wondered who would even forge a weapon like that.
"Pyrrha," he greeted her with a smile that made her feel funny. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Zagreus," she replied in kind. Years of battle helped her keep her calm at almost all times.
"I hope you've slept well and are prepared for the initiation," Pyrrha said after. After she unwillingly left to sleep, he continued watching funny videos online.
"Ah, my Scroll died and I couldn't find a place to charge it, so I managed to doze off for a bit," he replied, knowing exactly what she meant.
"Who is this?" Weiss directed her question at her as she seemed to have had enough of being ignored. Pyrrha resisted the urge to sigh since the Schnee could've just asked the man in question.
"I'm Zagreus." He, however, didn't seem to care about the slight. "Just a normal guy."
"With normal feet," Pyrrha added with a smile.
"Exactly!" Zagreus grinned. "You know me so well."
"Well, I'm Weiss Schnee, and I'll appreciate it if you don't use your Semblance on me," Weiss said with an aggressive tone.
"My Semblance?" Zagreus asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Yes! Stop using that," Weiss demanded as she waved her hand at him.
"Um." Zagreus very slowly leaned in towards Pyrrha and placed a hand over his mouth. "What's a Semblance?" He asked not so subtly.
"Ugh! How can you not know what a Semblance is?" Weiss threw her hands in the air. "What kind of education do you have? How did you even get into Beacon if you don't know what a Semblance is for that matter?"
That was rude and uncalled for! Weiss was shaping into a person she'd definitely not wish to be teammates with. She didn't need to be so mean, especially since she didn't know his past.
"A Semblance is the natural and unique ability that manifests in people who have awakened their Aura," Pyrrha explained to him.
"Oh." He nodded slowly. "Ohhhhh." He repeated before waving his hand up and down. "This has nothing to do with a Semblance."
"Yeah, right." Weiss rolled her eyes, obviously not believing him.
"It's the truth," he said before adding. "And I don't see you accusing Pyrrha of the same."
She kept nodding along until her brain processed his words, and her entire body turned rigid.
"That's different!" Weiss said defensively while Pyrrha stood still like a statue.
"Aha." Now Zagreus rolled his eyes. "Plus, this is my, uh, Semblance."
He showed his hand with the palm facing up, and suddenly a coin appeared on top of it.
"Clearly that's an illusion," Weiss said, refusing to believe him while Pyrrha watched in interest, trying her best to keep her mind from dwelling on his previous comment.
"Take it." He offered it to her, and Weiss begrudgingly took the coin.
"You could've hid it under an illusion." She was adamant about her theory.
Zagreus grinned and a bunch more coins appeared in his hand. He tossed them up and down, and the clinking sound from them hitting each other was loud and clear. Weiss stood speechless as he then proceeded to make them vanish before he flipped his hand up and down to showcase he held nothing.
This was a surprise. Pyrrha really thought it had something to do with illusions due to what happened with Ruby, but maybe the girl had really hit her head. She hoped she was fine and that it wouldn't hinder her performance today.
"Fine." Weiss took a deep breath. "I apologize for my previous words," she said begrudgingly. At least she had the decency to apologize.
"So this is the sword you told me about," Pyrrha said, changing the topic before Weiss could say anything else.
"Yep," Zagreus said, proudly showing it off. "This is Stygius, the, uh… sharpest blade in the world."
" I really doubt it could compare to a mechashift weapon, even though it looks masterfully crafted and in a very good condition," Weiss said with a haughty tone.
'Why is she acting like this?' Pyrrha couldn't understand her. There was no reason for Weiss to act so aggressively. Unless…
'Is she trying to chase him away?' Pyrrha couldn't think of anything else, and it looked as if Weiss was afraid someone would steal her away from the Schnee. As if she was hers to begin with!
"I'd offer for us to test that out, but I'd rather not be blamed for breaking your toothpick right before the initiation." His tone was friendly, and he had a smile as he said that, but this definitely caused a reaction.
Pyrrha's cheeks puffed as she did her best to suppress her laughter. Weiss' weapon was beautiful, but it really did resemble a toothpick when she looked at it.
"How dare you?" The Schnee asked in an outburst. "Myrtenaster is a rapier, first of all, and it's one of the most complicated weapons in existence!" She was absolutely seething.
"Speaking about the initiation," Pyrrha interjected before this could go any further. "I do believe that we should be making our way there."
"Yes, you are right," Weiss said and took a deep breath. "Wasting my breath on someone like him is just not worth it," she muttered before turning to Pyrrha. "Let us go."
Weiss then walked away with her head held high, but Pyrrha stayed back next to a chuckling Zagreus. "She thinks pretty highly of herself, doesn't she?"
"Weiss is the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company," she explained to him, but his looks said it all.
"Anyway." Zagreus just shrugged. He either didn't know or just didn't care about Weiss' status. This just made her smile because he certainly wouldn't care about her own fame.
"Um, Zagreus?" Pyrrha asked as they began walking towards the initiation area.
"You can just call me Zag," he said. "It's what most of my friends call me."
Pyrrha resisted the urge to jump in joy. This was her first true friend! One that she was sure just wanted to get to know her, the real her!
"Oh, and, by the way, may I say that this look really suits you," Zag then added with that smile of his that made her feel all funny, and she clamped up.
Was this flirting? He indirectly told her she was beautiful earlier, and now he complimented her chosen attire. Was he flirting with her?
"Um, thanks." Oh, Gods, she didn't know what to say in response since her brain turned to mush.
How did this happen? Their roles from yesterday day were reversed, and now she was being the awkward one. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't even realize they reached the initiation area.
'Darn it! I didn't get to ask him if he's interested in being my partner.'
(Zagreus)
As we all lined up near the cliff, I noticed Weiss giving me the stink eye, and I couldn't help chuckling. That was just so adorable. I had to grow up with Alecto and Tisiphone, and this girl had nothing on them. Compared to the two Fury sisters, Weiss was just a cute little barking puppy.
"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," Ozpin said loudly, grabbing everyone's attention. He was standing on the edge of the cliff with Glynda by his side.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Glynda followed up after him.
"As for how your partners will be chosen… the first person you make eye contact with in the forest will be your teammate for the next four years." Ozpin's words caused a commotion among the students.
I agreed with them for the most part since this just sounded stupid. What if someone ended up partnering with a person they heavily disliked? How can you trust someone who hated you to have your back? That's just a recipe for disaster.
"Once you have met your teammate, you will both travel to the Temple in the forest and retrieve a single relic from it," he continued as if the students' outburst didn't matter at all.
"Any questions?" Ozpin asked, but before anyone could even voice their thoughts, he said. "No? Well, then do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. Good luck to all of you."
And then the first student was launched by the platform underneath us. He made a nice arc in the air before he dove towards the forest. The next was launched shortly after, and one by one, all of the students were being sent to the forest. I caught Pyrrha staring at me, and she offered me a smile shortly before she flew out as well.
Soon enough, it was my turn, and I laughed joyfully as I flew through the air with the wind playfully brushing against my face. This was something I had to do again in the future! Hopefully, Ozpin would allow me to use those pads on my own. I could perhaps convince him by masking it as some form of a training exercise.
Oh! Out of the corner of my eye, I caught something red and bronze in one of the taller trees. When I focused on it, I noticed Pyrrha staring right at my flying form, and we ended up making eye contact. What a cheeky minx!
Did that count, though? Well, it did in my opinion since this aligned perfectly with my future plan of making sure she didn't die. I would be stealing her from whoever should've been her original partner, but I really didn't care about that.
My memories of this place were wonky, to say the least. I just had some vague impression that certain people were important or at least familiar. The Weiss girl from earlier held some importance if I wasn't mistaken, and Ruby and her sister also played important roles.
Of course, I got that impression from Pyrrha as well, but I couldn't remember a thing about her partner. I checked all of the students, but none of them looked like her teammate, or at least I didn't recognize them. Either way, if I couldn't even vaguely remember them, then they just weren't important enough.
So, me teaming up with her was perfectly fine in my eyes. Not to mention that I could actually protect her from whatever was going to happen in the future. Pyrrha didn't look like a girl that needed saving –she was definitely a warrior, and I could tell that much from her posture alone– but she wasn't invincible. Neither was I, though a mortal would be hard pressed to put up a fight against me.
Distracted by my thoughts, I didn't even realize that I had begun descending and was closing in on the ground. Now, I had no landing strategy whatsoever since this was something I never had to worry about. Off the top of my head, I could think of a few ways to cushion or even slow down my fall, but some of them might be a bit too flashy.
I already messed up a bit since I hadn't realized how… limiting Aura was. From the conversation earlier I got the impression that people only had a single Semblance, so I decided to stick with just my pocket space since it was the first thing I showed to Peter and Ozpin. Hopefully, not too many people had noticed my extra abilities. And if they had? I hoped they wouldn't ask too many questions.
At this point, I was even starting to doubt that Aura was Magic since it seemed too limiting. With luck, I might find some information about Aura in the library of Beacon and figure out exactly what it was.
That was for later, however, and now I had to stick the landing. At this point, it was already too late for me to try to slow down my descent, so I simply crashed feet first into the ground. Definitely not the most graceful of landings, but it worked.
Though… I looked down. It appeared that I had twisted my ankles. Durability never really was my strong suit, and they were a bit oddly angled, but… my bones snapped into place, fixing themselves in an instant. With that out of the way, it was time to hunt down my teammate.
This forest was my playground, so I knew exactly where I needed to go. As I expertly moved towards my target –who appeared to also be heading my way– I couldn't help but wonder how Artemis felt in such environments. After all, she was the Goddess of the Hunt among other things while I only had her blessing.
"Hello there, partner," I said as I walked from behind a tree, startling Pyrrha in the process. She looked nice in her armor, resembling a Greek warrior of all things. I really couldn't have asked for a better teammate.
"Zag," Pyrrha greeted me back with a smile.
"That was a cheeky move on your part," I said with a chuckle as I stepped closer to her.
"Ah, I, um, just wanted a teammate who I knew I'll get along with," Pyrrha said, looking a bit embarrassed as she now avoided making eye contact. "Though I'm surprised you spotted me."
"I have very good eyesight." I grinned.
"Must've eaten your veggies while growing up." She playfully grinned back.
"Not exactly…" After all, there weren't any vegetables or any kind of normal food in the Underworld. "But I did make sure to eat anything I was served!" Which was Nectar and Ambrosia for the most part.
"Anyway." I changed the topic before she asked for some details. "I believe we have a task to accomplish."
"Right." Pyrrha nodded, and her posture changed, going from a relaxed one to a stance ready to battle.
"And the Temple we are after is in that direction." I pointed toward the location of our task.
"Are you sure?" Pyrrha questioned, but she followed after me without hesitation.
"Trust me, I can't get lost in a forest," I stated proudly.
"Oh, because you grew up in the wilds," Pyrrha muttered, but I didn't respond, choosing to keep quiet.
Though… I could perhaps argue that I grew up in the wilds since the Elysium Fields were part of the Underworld. Still, I didn't give her a confirmation.
As we traversed through the forest, we ended up encountering a few Grimm, but they were of no real threat to us. I could've handled them on my own, though that would've been counterproductive. Pyrrha and I were going to be teammates, so we had to be able to work together, and this looked like the perfect opportunity to start working on our chemistry.
"Nicely done," I complimented her as she dispatched a pair of Beowolves with absolute ease.
Pyrrha's footwork was extraordinary, and she easily avoided the attacks of the Grimms, dancing around them with grace. She held the shield in her left hand like a master and didn't hesitate to use it for more than just blocking. She also expertly wielded her sword/spear weapon and barely wasted any movements as she used it to kill the Grimm as efficiently as possible.
"You too," Pyrrha praised me back with a radiant smile, looking very happy for some odd reason.
"Hah, I had a great teacher growing up," I chuckled embarrassingly.
"Really?" She asked as we continued on our way. We both judged the skill level of the other, and we were confident we could take it easy. Either one of us could've completed this task on our own, so we relaxingly conversed as we walked.
"Yeah, you actually remind me of him a bit," I said as I passed next to a Beowolf and lazily cleaved it with Stygius.
"How so?" Pyrrha questioned as she pierced another Grimm with her spear.
There were many reasons. Her name, her attire, but I chose, "He is also an expert with a shield, sword, and spear, just like you."
"What about a rifle?" Pyrrha asked as her weapon morphed into a gun, which she used to shoot down the Grimm.
I just stared, thinking that I should've expected this. Almost every single weapon I've seen so far in this world was a combination of a melee one plus a gun. The people here really seemed to love their firearms, didn't they?
"No, Achilles is an old timer, so he's not that good with a rifle," I replied in a moment, and I was fairly sure he didn't even know what a gun was. "Good with a bow, though."
"And what about you?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'm great with a bow!" I declared proudly. Achilles was naturally talented and was good at nearly anything he picked up, though he hadn't used a bow in… I don't even know how long. I, on the other hand, was not only gifted when it came to bows, but regularly practiced with Coronacht, and I was a dead shot with it.
"You'll have to show me then," Pyrrha said, presenting a good opportunity for us to bond over later.
"I…" My head snapped back as I felt something that tried to… influence me. I couldn't describe what it was trying to do, but it felt negative in a way.
"Zag?" Pyrrha called out to me.
I knew that something or someone had been following us for some time now, but I assumed it was one of the Professors, who was just making sure nothing bad happened to us. I didn't think it was a Grimm since, although they displayed a minor form of intelligence, they looked like mindless beasts for the most part.
Of course, I could be heavily underestimating those creatures, but I was confident it wasn't one of them. And there were absolutely no signs on the ground, so…
"Zag?" Pyrrha called out to me again, sounding worried this time.
There! I spotted a black bird perched on a nearby branch, just silently watching us.
"Crows are considered birds of bad omen, right?" I asked her, my eyes focused on the bird, which stared back at me.
"I believe so," Pyrrha replied, sounding unsure of that.
"Hmm." I hummed and took a stance as if I was about to go after the bird. The crow immediately jumped off the branch and flew away, and the negative aura disappeared the moment it left. How peculiar.
"What was that about?" She asked me after seeing the bird fly away.
"Nothing to worry about," I said nonchalantly. "Just me getting worked up for nothing."
I wasn't sure if the bird was an enemy or not, but I now knew what to look for. Not to mention that the negative aura was hard to miss, so I will know if it approached us again.
Pyrrha obviously didn't believe me, and I didn't blame her for it since I wasn't being truthful. Still, she decided to trust me since she didn't call me out on it.
We continued on our trek through the forest and talked about this and that before we shortly reached our destination. We seemed to be the first ones to arrive, and I had to say, the place honestly looked more like ruins than a temple as it was almost entirely in shambles. It might've been a great structure a long time ago, but now it was barely holding itself together.
"Told you I knew the way," I said as we looked around. There were a bunch of pedestals with a chess piece on each one of them, but nothing else of importance.
"You did," she replied with a smile. "We just need to grab one of those, right?"
"I think so," I said. "Go ahead and pick one."
Pyrrha just looked around before picking one of them at random. I would've done the same since I didn't think that what we chose mattered much. We left the ruins and were about to make our way back towards the Academy when another pair arrived.
"Damn it! We got beat." I heard Yang silently curse while her partner, the sneaky girl, just rolled her eyes at her.
Despite her words, the blonde didn't seem too saddened from not being the first to reach the temple and walked over with a swagger in her steps.
"Hey there, big guy. Fancy meeting you here," Yang said with a wink as she cocked her hips. I honestly couldn't tell if the girl was just playing or actually flirting with me.
"Save that for later," the sneaky girl muttered as she bypassed us, walking over to one of the pedestals to grab a chess piece.
"Bah, you're no fun, Blakey." Yang shook her head at her partner.
Whatever she was about to say got interrupted by an Ursa that barged out of the forest. A guy was holding onto it for dear life while an orange-haired girl was stirring the monster by beating it with a large hammer. The Grimm, the creature that hunted the people of this world, dropped to the ground as it was quite literally bullied to death.
"Now that's one way to make an entrance," I whistled, impressed by what I witnessed.
"Aww, it broke," the girl said in disappointment as she watched the Grimm turn into smoke.
"Nora... Please... Don't ever do that again," the guy pleaded as he panted in exhaustion.
"Hehehe." Nora stuck her tongue at him before she hopped away, going over to grab a chess piece. "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle."
Oh, I liked this one. She definitely knew how to have fun if anything else. Her partner, on the other hand, seemed to be the exact opposite of her enthusiastic personality. I wanted to introduce myself to them, but I didn't get the chance since we heard screaming from up above.
A flying Grimm was circling us in the air, and Ruby jumped off from its back. Okay, at this point I was starting to get jealous of their frankly amazing entrances. I leaned over to my partner. "Do you think we can top that?"
"It won't be easy, but we can try," Pyrrha said with a light chuckle.
The yelling continued, and I noticed Weiss was also on the flying Grimm. However, I also saw the crow pass right above us. The Schnee girl got thrown off the Grimm, but none of us made a move to try and save her. After all, we were all thrown into the forest from an even greater height. Weiss really didn't need saving, and she proved as much when she created platforms that looked like glyphs, which she used to slow down her descent by hopping on them.
I paid attention to that out of the corner of my eye, but I was focused on the direction the crow came from. Something was coming from there, and I could feel it in the vibrations of the ground. So the bird was an enemy, that was good to know for the future.
I peeked at the rest, and only Pyrrha and Nora's partner had realized that something was coming. The rest were animatedly talking and planning on how to take down the flying Grimm. Ruby was leading the way from the sound of it as she was the most vocal one. Though Weiss was a close second.
My attention returned to the forest as a massive scorpion-like Grimm jumped out from amid the trees. "Oh, I know this one," I said and began slowly walking toward the charging monster.
"Zag." Pyrrha's worried voice reached, but I made a small gesture with my hand to reassure her everything was fine. She still followed after me, ready to assist should I need any help. What a caring partner!
"It's called Deathstalker. It has a very durable carapace, and it won't die even if you cut off its limbs." It's how Peter had survived his, ahem, grim situation. He had snapped the stinger of a Deathstalker and used it as a weapon while he fought the rest naked as the day he was born.
"However, if you manage to get through its defenses," I said as I slightly leaned to the side, avoiding the stinger that was aimed at my head. My free hand parried its left pincer by lightly brushing it aside, and I placed my sword in front of its head.
"You can easily kill it," I finished as the Deathstalker rammed into Stygius and practically killed itself without me even doing anything. I did have to use a bit of my strength to stop it from barrelling into me, but that was about it.
"See, easy." I turned around only to be greeted by most of the group watching me with stunned expressions. I… hadn't overdone it, had I? I mean, I pulled it off at a walking pace, so it shouldn't have been that surprising, right?
"What did I miss?" Ruby broke the silence by dropping from the air at that moment with her scythe in hand.
"That was yanging amazing!" Her blonde sister said excitedly.
"That was atrocious, and you should feel bad for it." I deadpanned at the awful pun. Was that even considered a pun? I wasn't sure, but I knew that whatever it was, it was bad.
"Yeah, that was bad." The rest agreed with me, and their attention was no longer on me as they all turned on the pouting Yang.
"You're… really good," Pyrrha said as she stepped closer.
"I told you I had a great teacher," I chuckled embarrassingly. "I might even be able to teach you a thing or two."
"Oh?" Pyrrha beamed me a smile, but her eyes lit up with a competitive fire. "I'll hold you onto that."
We then made our way back to the Academy as one big group. I kept an eye out for the crow, but the bird made no further appearances. Or at the very least it stayed so far away from us even I couldn't notice it. It didn't take us long to reach the cliff and climb up the stairs, and we ended up being the first to arrive back.