Cripes, we're back!
Welcome one and all to another installment of 'The Darkling Thrush'!
As always I'd like to thank those who left a review. jin0uga, noone297, Jack, Baoh joestar and Eternal King. Thanks for the reviews there mates, I appreciate it!
I wish I had more to say at the time of me writing this authors note. But my mind's drawing a blank. This would've come out sooner, but I've got other stuff going on.
But anyways! Enough of me yapping, on with the main event!
XVII
The Dance: Part 2
It was a week into the second semester and all the students could talk about was the fact some of their own had fought a giant robot. Headlines cried for Roman Torchwick's head, as did the government of Atlas, how dare such an underhanded dreg of society rob from them and drag their achievements into the public eye. But when all was said and done, all the people wanted to know was, who stopped Torchwick and his rampage through Vale?
Well Team RWBY of course.
Early Monday morning was a familiar setting to all who attended Beacon. Dragging themselves out of bed early in the morning wasn't all they had in common. Everyone not in trouble for pushing a fellow student down some stairs was there. If you wanted to catch someone with a mouthful of food, you've come to the right place. Such as one Velvet Scarlatina, renowned contributor and editor of the Shining Beacon seizing her chance to get the whole story.
"What was it like to fight Roman Torchwick?" Velvet asked eagerly after hitting the record button on her recorder.
On the other side of the table sitting across from Velvet sat a luckless Ruby who pancakes stuffed in her mouth. The leader of Team RWBY attempted to answer her fellow huntsman, but as it would, talking and eating didn't exactly go together.
"I think what Ruby's trying to say is," Yang stepped in, catching Velvet's attention. "We're aren't allowed to talk about it. Hush, hush, talk and suffer the consequences stuff."
"Aw, well that sucks." Velvet frowned as she reached for her recorder and hit the stop button.
"You know how these things are Velvet. Sorry." Blake looked to her editor sympathetically. "Maybe another Author X entry would keep the clamoring public at bay?"
"Nope. Everyone's dying to know what happened on that highway. Me included." Velvet shook her head. "The rest of my team and I are heading out on a mission tomorrow. I just wanted something to get handed in for the rest of the newspaper to send out while I'm gone. That's all."
"Sorry." Ruby finally managed to say before scarfing down on another one of the pancakes seated before her.
"We actually got scheduled for a mission after the upcoming dance. Any pointers you might wanna share?" Yang asked, placing both her elbows on the table and leaning forward.
"Don't die?" Velvet said in a joking manner. "No, but in all seriousness, the first year missions are supposed to be walks in a park. Reconnaissance and stuff like that, milk runs. But still, keep your eyes out. No telling what could happen."
"Thank you, Velvet, for the forewarning." Weiss said in a polite manner, the kind she'd been raised to apply whenever in a formal conversation.
"Anytime." Velvet smiled. "Back to business. I didn't come this way just to get a scoop. Coco volunteered us for the planning committee. Seeing as we're heading off on a mission beforehand, I'd like to ask if you girls wouldn't mind filling in for us if we get held up. These things are devilishly difficult to predict, you know."
"You're asking us to plan the dance if you guys die?"
"I was hoping to leave an air of optimism. But yeah, if we die you mind taking care of the dance? That'd be great." Velvet laughed cheekily. "But that aside, what've you guys got today?"
"Combat Class in an hour." Jaune spoke up after a long silence. For the most part, the Team JNPR crew had remained silent, respecting their fellow Huntsmen's business as Velvet had arrived for them and not the likes of JNPR. But with that over with, it sounded like a good enough time to contribute to the conversation.
"Last week Ms. Goodwitch said she'd start us off on pure sparring. No more practicing on dummies and robots that rebuild themselves. Just some good ol' fashion beating the snot out of each other!" Nora booped into the conversation ecstatically, adding extra emphasis on the 'beating the snot out of each other' bit by flexing her arms. "Gonna break Cardin's legs is what I'm going to do!"
"Oh." Nora froze. The bombastic and usually bubbly member of Team JNPR slowly turned her head around to come face to face with a familiar silver armor with gold trim. Towering over the seated Nora, stood Cardin and beside him Russel, with food trays in hand and on their way to find somewhere to sit in the jam packed Dinning Hall.
"Hey there Cardin…" Nora laughed awkwardly while the silent ninja of JNPR seated beside her shook his head in dismay. "Funny meeting you here…"
"Yeah. Funny." Cardin muttered dryly. The Team CRDL leader then looked away from the flustered Nora over to the other side of the table where Velvet sat. Cardin simply waved at the second year student and smiled. Velvet returned the gesture and looked on as he and Russel walked away to carry on with their breakfast.
As Russel passed by, Blake couldn't help but turn away. The action didn't go unnoticed by Russel who scoffed. "At least own up to it." He said over his shoulder before moving on.
Blake just buried her head in her arms. Everyone not a part of Team RWBY just looked to the resident cat faunus in confusion. The events that occurred the week before finals had since remained a secret. Surprisingly enough, Russel hadn't gone to any higher authority. They hadn't talked to him about it, leaving them completely in the dark.
Seeing her partner wallowing in regret, Yang reached over to her right and patted Blake on the back. "Cheer up, everyone makes mistakes."
"Ugh." Blake groaned. "Stupid White Fang…"
"I'm not gonna even ask." Jaune shook his head and threw his arms up in the air. But unbeknownst to any of his friends, Jaune was using the overly dramatic action to get away with staring at Weiss, the object of his affection. In order to cover up his actions, the Arc descended back into his chair and glanced away for deniability purposes. By now he was sure Weiss had developed some sort of secondary semblance to detect whenever his eyes had fallen onto her form.
But in doing so, Jaune had turned away to face his partner Pyrrha, and he couldn't notice a folded up sheet of paper set down right beside her elbow almost seemingly out of thin air. "Hey, Pyrrha where'd that come from?" Jaune asked, pointing to the paper beside her elbow. "Did Oobleck say anything about a test? Do I have to panic study? Oh Monty, last semester was insane! I can't afford another slip up!" Jaune flailed in his seat.
"What?" Pyrrha raised a brow at Jaune's dramatic actions, not catching him taking the opportunity to get another look at Weiss. Her emerald eyes soon dawned on the sheet of paper Jaune referred to, causing Pyrrha to raise another brow in confusion.
She reached out and claimed the paper and unfolded it and carefully read its contents. "It's nothing test related, I assure you Jaune." Pyrrha shot an affectionate smile at her leader.
"So what is it?" Jaune flailed once more.
"Jaune are you having a seizure?" Ruby asked in concern, taking a moment away from devouring what remained on her plate.
"No." The blonde said simply as if nothing was wrong while internally clenching. He'd gotten too cocky with that last one.
"It's just a sheet of paper, probably left behind by whoever else sat here before us." Pyrrha said in a reassuring tone as she reached over and patted Jaune on the back with one hand, and crumpled the paper in the other. She then tossed the ball of paper onto the floor, the matter settled.
Thankfully no one questioned Pyrrha about her littering or asked to take a look at the seemingly unimportant sheet of paper. It was a good thing too that everyone was preoccupied with the tense exchange between Nora and Cardin, they all would've caught Russel placing it there in the first place.
The two teams, plus Velvet, then continued with their breakfast. Before class, they each bid farewell to the upperclassman and set off to class, but not after depositing their trays of food for proper disposal.
The two teams reached their class around the same time as Professor Goodwitch. The older woman had just finished unlocking the doors to class and gestured for them to enter. They took their seats on the overlooking bleachers around the pit where those chosen to spar would do battle and watched as others began to funnel in.
Team WILL and then Team DNCE, and soon followed Team CRDL and behind them Team STAG. After that, an unfamiliar face entered the class. He had silver hair and was dressed in complimenting colors. He had an impressed look on his face when he'd entered the room, taking a moment to soak it all in.
"Who's the new guy?" Yang asked, pointing out the silver haired young man and getting a nice look at his posterior the moment he climbed up out of the pit and onto the bleachers.
"Oh, oh, I ran into him and his team just last week!" Ruby said excitedly. "Exchange students!"
When class began it went as they expected. Goodwitch called on one student who'd then challenge another to combat. Yang was summoned up first and then she proceeded to challenge Danny Matchstick of Team DNCE. It was fair to say Danny didn't stand a chance against Yang's boxing techniques.
Willa of Team WILL, in hopes of an easy win, challenged one Jaune Arc. Though his sessions with Pyrrha had improved his skills immensely, Jaune had a long road ahead of him before he could be considered an actual threat. The match ended with him in a familiar place, on his ass.
As the last two combatants cleared the pit, Goodwitch called on Pyrrha. But none were prepared for what happened next. "I challenge all of Team CRDL." Pyrrha declared dramatically.
A sizeable amount of gasps erupted from the class. It was a surprising request, normal sparring matches were conducted one on one. But the driven look on Pyrrha's face was enough for Goodwitch to indulge such a request.
"Alright boys, we've been drafted." Cardin stood up from where he sat amongst his team on the bleachers.
"Is Pyrrha crazy or what? It's going to be four against one." Dove muttered disbelievingly.
"Don't let the numbers go to your head there, Dove." Russel said as he and the rest of Team CRDL descended from the bleachers into the pit. "This is Pyrrha Nikos we're talking about." With that said, Dove quickly shut up and gulped. Never had he once thought he'd be fighting the face on a cereal box other than for the prize inside.
The five combatants quickly ran to the locker room and gathered their gear. To locker number '2030' Russel went, reclaiming his daggers for the first time since they'd been confiscated. He tested the weight in his hands, making sure hadn't gotten to rusty since parting with them. Satisfied, he and the rest of CRDL returned to the pit and were greeted by Pyrrha, who was now standing on the other end of the matt.
Goodwitch then synced their scrolls to the large monitor above. Soon their aura levels pooped up on screen for careful monitoring.
"You may begin." Goodwitch took a step out of the arena.
"You heard the lady, time to dance." Cardin raised his mace into the air and pumped it even higher.
That young man with silver hair, Mercury, watched attentively from where he sat. He couldn't help but crack a smile. The way Pyrrha moved was captivating. She dodged, blocked and attacked all at once.
Whenever Sky would swing his mighty halberd, she'd leap, knock back Dove with the butt of her weapon and retaliate. When Cardin came at her with his explosive mace, she'd jump back and switch to ranged attacks. She'd have knocked the CRDL leader off his feet if not for the timely intervention of Russel and his daggers.
But not even an eye popping triple somersault could deter Pyrrha. Any and all attacks they threw, she countered. Every defense they mustered she shattered. She'd even begun playing mind games with Cardin, playing on his temper and causing him to knock Dove out of the match. And then, for lack of a better word, she devastated Cardin single handedly by dropping him in the air and throwing him back into the ground.
"You think she broke his legs?" Mercury glanced away from the match to catch Nora whispering to Ren, who shrugged in response. The pain of others got a quiet laugh out of the man.
"Lucky shot." Cardin managed to say before collapsing.
"Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the Vytal Tournament." Goodwitch half applauded.
"Thank you Professor." Pyrrha bowed.
Slowly the members of Team CRDL picked themselves off the floor and limped off back to the bleachers. "Hey Dove?" Cardin called out to the youngest member of their team.
"Yes?" Dove asked as he clutch his sides, relying on his aura to fix all of the internal damage.
"No hard feelings right?" Cardin asked, only to receive the bird in response.
"Alright, now I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match." Goodwitch looked around, observing her students "Any volunteers? Ms. Belladonna?" . There was always something about calling on students that just seemed to osadistic to not enjoy. You picked on the one who least expects it.
"You've been rather docile for the past few classes. Why don't you-"
"I'll do it." Mercury raised his hand.
"Music to my ears." Yang purred.
"Mercury, is it? Well, let's find you an opponent." Goodwitch said, her eyes beaming at Blake once again.
"Actually, I wanna fight her." Mercury pointed at Pyrrha.
Another series of gasps erupted from the crowd. "I'm afraid Miss Nikos has just finished the match. I recommend you choose another partner." Goodwitch said, silently pointing at Blake.
"No, it's fine! I'd be happy to oblige." Pyrrha said in her ever pleasant polite tone.
Once again, Pyrrha found herself in another spar. But unlike the previous one, Pyrrha was starting on a full tank of gas. The theatrics with Cardin at the end had taken a bit of a toll, but as always she soldiered on and met Mercury evenly on the plane of battle.
"Hey, your friend's doing pretty good." Ruby said as she nudged a familiar green haired and dark skinned young woman she'd accidentally ran into last week.
Emerald smiled at the sentiment. But the moment Ruby looked away, turning her attention back on the fight below, Emerald couldn't help but roll her eyes. But her actions didn't go unnoticed. Out of the corner of her eye, should could catch one Russel Thrush smirking.
Unprepared for Mercury's skillful legwork, Pyrrha was forced to use her semblance. Now with the tide of battle shifting in her favor, Pyrrha now had the silver haired young man at her mercy. Attempting to regain his footing, Mercury was left wide open for an attack. So Pyrrha charged at him.
"I forefeit." Mercury said, causing Pyrrha to freeze in place.
"You…don't even want to try?" Pyrrha questioned.
"What's the point? You're a world-renowned fighter. We're obviously leagues apart." Mercury raised his hands in the air and shrugged.
And so with that, Goodwitch called an end to class. They would gather again tomorrow as usual. One by one the students funneled out with Team JNPR congratulating Pyrrha on her efforts while Team CRDL silently wallowed in their embarrassing defeat.
As everyone began to file out of the classroom, Mercury stopped beside Emerald who was busy saying her goodbyes to Team RWBY.
"Making new friends I see." Mercury said casually.
"Shut up." Emerald said through her smile. "You get what we need?"
"Oh yeah." Mercury laughed. "Learning is so much fun."
After the rest of the day's activities, from Port to Peach and then finally the caffeinated lessons of one Doctor Oobleck, Pyrrha finally found some time to herself. In need to decompress and hone her own skills, the four time Mistral Champ found herself back in the gym, fighting against the training drones.
It was during these moments, in the heat of battle, that Pyrrha was truly herself. There was no need for her to meet smile and nod in front of a camera. There was no meeting her parent's expectations. It was just herself, lost in her head, countering, attacking and acting on her instincts. It was Pyrrha at her purest. Without the social anxiety and doubt. This was where she was truly the Invincible Girl.
"You could've held back just a smidge today." Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder and smiled coyly at the sight of Russel.
"What exactly does beating up your entire team have to do with you helping me anyways?" Pyrrha asked as she waved a hand in front of the training drone she sparred with, causing it to freeze in place. "Besides giving me a workout of course."
"You're a winner Pyrrha. You showed that when you faced impossible odds today." Russel placed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Four against one's unfair. Five if you count the new guy. Yet you trounced us. Any other guy or gal would've been pissin' themselves at the sight of me triple somersaulting at them. But you won. Aces you won."
"What was that about not being the coaching type again?" Pyrrha said, referencing their last conversation in the gym. "Hello Atticus, it's great to meet you."
Russel laughed. "Cool beans, Scout. But what I'm trying to say is, how come you can take apart a team of guys like a high school science project, but not work up the nerve to say 'Hey Jaune, I'd like to be more than just partners on the battlefield'?"
"You're rough, you're tough. You can multi task life or death situations. Now all you really need to do is apply that to everyday situations. And you're golden."
"Easier said than done."
"Not with that attitude." Russel shrugged. "Look that dance things coming up, I don't know, maybe this should be the test. Can you lockdown Beacon's golden boy before then? Consider it a challenge, get aggressive and accomplish your goal."
"Thank you, Russel, I appreciate it."
"Alright, we'll work on this some other day." He said before turning around and heading back the way he came. "I've gotta get going. Them books ain't gonna hit themselves."
"Take care Dennis." Pyrrha held a hand against her lips to stifle a laugh.
"Bother you some other time Mr. Wilson."
On the way out, Russel couldn't help but notice a familiar face peering into the gym from the glass panel on the exit door. Pushing the door open and stepping outside, Russel found one Marie-Anne Cherri standing coolly outside against a wall. The soul remaining Thrush glanced at his fellow Oakwood native suspiciously but said nothing.
"What?" Marie-Anne looked at him almost attempting to provoke him.
"Don't choke." He said before tipping an imaginary hat on his head. Marie-Anne just glared at Russel who blurted out laughing. She attempted to muster up a comeback only to find the boy was walking away.
Marie-Anne gritted her teeth, she then peered back into the gym and activated her semblance, giving her that much needed boost in her eye sight to see Pyrrha continuing with her workout. There were several things wrong with this picture, first of them being Pyrrha associating herself with Russel Thrush of all people. The second being, Russel associating himself with someone like Pyrrha. That in itself was an omen for trouble.
When Pyrrha had finished testing her mettle against the highest training setting allowed for first year students, she'd decided to call it quits and head back to the dorms. There was still plenty for her to do on her list, chief among them take a shower. It had been a long day and she was in need of one. So out the door of the gym she went, totally unprepared for what happened next.
"Couldn't help but notice how close you and Russel are hanging out." Marie-Anne said, making the Invincible Girl stop in her tracks. Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder, spotting Marie-Anne leaning against the wall of the gym's entrance.
"I don't know what your insinuating." Pyrrha turned to face Marie-Anne fully. "But he's helping me with a personal matter."
"I'm not insinuating anything, Ms. Nikos. In fact I come in peace." Marie kicked off the wall and slowly approached the four time Mistral champ. "Piece of advice? Cut ties with that guy now. He ruins lives Pyrrha, he'll do the same to you like he's done to everyone." Marie-Anne muttered darkly. "I should know. I grew up with that fucker."
Pyrrha winced at Marie-Anne's sailor mouth. "I may not know Russel as well as you do. But I'll have to ask that you refrain from referring to him in that manner."
"I bet you went to him asking for help with that Jaune fellow." Marie-Anne looked out off into the distance, over the horizon where the cliffs dangled over the seas. "You got a minute? I got a story to share with you. Just so you know exactly who you're dealing with."
"Back in Oakwood, amongst the raging hormones and puberty, we all became enamored with the drama of relationships. Who was hooking up with who and that sort of thing." Marie-Anne recalled almost longingly for the days she'd spent in Oakwood. "But there was this one couple who caught the heart of everyone. Their names were Ruddy Grand and Burgundy Blue."
"They were at the heart of everything. Ruddy was kind, athletic, cool. Burgundy was just the same, but smarter, good with her hands, a mechanic. She helped out the local farms whenever something went broke." Pyrrha watched Marie-Anne describe her friends, catching sight of almost a misty quality to her eyes.
But Marie-Anne caught onto that as well. She briefly paused her story to regain her composure. After she'd gathered her bearings she'd gotten right back to it. "Russel was friends with Ruddy. He didn't have many of them, friends I mean. Not a lot of took kind to him and his attitude. But Ruddy put up with him. I guess that was one of the reasons Burgundy loved him. But it wasn't enough."
"The break before graduating from Oakwood, the pair had a falling out. No one knew the specifics, but the entire academy's dynamic changed after that. Burgundy began to slip down into some sort of depression. Ruddy wasn't making any sense. We all could tell they needed each other more than they knew."
"So, when Prom came around, me and the rest of the committee set into motion the perfect plan. Get Ruddy and Burgundy back together."
"It was simple, get them both voted up as Prom King and Queen. They'd be forced to put aside their differences for a dance. And then they'd realize exactly how bad they loved each other." Marie-Anne couldn't help but laugh at how much it sounded like a fairy tale.
"Oakwood is miles behind the technologically superior Beacon, we used paper ballots for voting. Everyone wrote down their names and handed them in. Problem solved right? You would think." Marie-Anne chuckled sadly. "But we made the mistake of attracting Russel's attention. He came to us under the pretense of lending a helping hand, Ruddy was his friend after all. We thought he had a vested interest to see his friend happy again. So we let him do the honors of counting the ballots."
"When the time finally came, Russel handed in the results sealed in an envelope. A teacher, our old coach read them aloud. She read aloud Burgundy's name for Prom Queen. But then, instead of hearing her say Ruddy's name, she called out someone else's."
"We didn't find out until later that Russel had taken just enough of the ballots with Ruddy's name on them and burned them outback in the parking lot." Marie-Anne shook her head, mentally kicking herself for allowing things to go the way they did. There was a part of Pyrrha that wanted to reach out and place a hand on Marie-Anne's shoulder as a show of sympathy, but she didn't. Marie-Anne wasn't exactly the type who'd be coddled. "We confronted him and he laughed. He told us he did it with a smile."
Marie-Anne looked Pyrrha in the eyes, causing the Invincible Girl back up, taken slightly off guard by the eye contact. "That's who you're getting into bed with, Pyrrha." She muttered. "Russel is not a nice guy. Everything he does, he does because he finds it entertaining. You could be his best friend, his only friend, and he'll still screw you over because he simply gets off on it."
"I just thought you might know who you were really dealing with." Marie-Anne sighed. "I wish we knew. It would've saved us a lot pain then."
"Thank you, Marie-Anne." Pyrrha glanced down at the floor sadly. "I will take your words into consideration…"
"Don't be another life that monster destroys." Marie-Anne said, with her words carrying the full weight of not only her pain but those affected by Russel's actions. "I'll be seeing you Pyrrha. Take care."
"Yeah, thanks…" Pyrrha looked on as Marie-Anne walked away.
The Mistral Champion's thoughts fell back onto the Thrush, her whole world view about him changed. She'd first thought him as jerk who might one day be redeemed under the right circumstances. But now all she recognized was the possibility that she may very well be dealing with the devil.
Not too far away, on the east side of campus. In the transfer student dormitory, there was a trio of so called students who sat around scheming and plotting. Had someone actually taken the time to actually look over the student list of Haven, they would've been able to tell the trio of transfers didn't actually attend Haven.
"And Finally, Pyrrha Nikos." Emerald said as she read off a list she'd compiled on her scroll.
"Ah, the invincible girl." Cinder mused as she busied herself with sewing a black dress.
"She's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible." Mercury muttered from where he lay on the floor, a comic book in hand.
"Do tell." Cinder glanced momentarily away from her work.
"Her semblance is Polarity. But you'd never know just by watching."
"After she made contact with my boots, she was able to move them around however she wanted. But she only made slight adjustments." Mercury said, recalling his brief fight with Pyrrha. The living weapon had felt a strange tug, unnatural even against his feet during the fight. It didn't take him long to put two and two together.
"Just enough to make it look like she's untouchable. She doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts her opponent at a disadvantage." Emerald said
"Hmm... People assume that she's fated for victory, when she's really taking fate into her own hands. Interesting. Add her to the list." Cinder smiled.
"You should be able to take her no problem." Mercury looked up from his comic book and smirked.
"It's not about overpowering an enemy. It's about taking away what power they have. And we will, in time." Cinder said before resuming her sewing.
"I hate waiting." Mercury grumbled.
"Don't worry, Mercury. We have a fun weekend ahead of us…"
That Prom story Marie-Anne shared was actually referenced all the way back in chapter 3. Which was right around when I started moving ahead with pursuing more chapters. So yeah.
In regards to the somewhat perverted stuff Jaune does in the chapter, I based it off something I used to do back in Elementary. In retrospect if I wasn't seven it wouldn't be cute. It would be exactly how its portrayed in the chapter. Kind of messed up if you think about it.
I initially planned to write in depth fight scenes, but they really don't matter. I'd just be describing what happens in Extracurricular, and I have to do that enough with all the cannon dialogue. So I didn't bother.
The dynamic between Pyrrha and Russel has definitely changed in light of Marie-Anne's interference. Expect something out of that. Fun fact: given the revelation that at RTX that Pyrrha was created to die, and there's definatley no chance of her magically coming back to life because its an anime, that basically just signed off on moving ahead with insane Pyrrha related material for the story. So yeah expect some of that later.
Next chapter will be out next week, hopefully. 'Til then, thanks for being patient. Later days!