Pyrrha let out a grunt as an arrow flew out of the smoke, impacting against her bronze shield with a loud clang. She threw herself into a roll, narrowly avoiding another two arrows that slammed into the wall behind her. Rising from a crouch, she twirled her spear in her hand before launching it towards where she assumed the archer was.

A cry of pain let her know she struck true, yet she had no time to celebrate. Hearing footsteps behind her rapidly approaching, she twirled to deflect a swipe from an axe before striking the soldier in the head with her shield. She acrobatically shifted behind him in time for another two arrows to strike him instead of her.

Breaking into a sprint, the red-haired general dashed out of the smoke and saw the terrified expressions on the enemy archers. The one closest to her tried to draw an arrow, but she was interrupted by a swift chop to the throat and a punch that broke her nose with a painful crunch.

The second archer backed away, but the green-eyed woman delivered a swift kick to his ribs before slamming her shield into the back of his head, knocking him out. Walking to the archer she struck with her spear, she removed the weapon from his shoulder before slashing his throat to put him out of his suffering. Tragic, but they didn't have the time to take prisoners right now.

"There she is! Get her!" A trio of soldiers cried out, drawing their weapons before rushing towards her. With a sigh she launched herself towards them, elegantly parrying the first one's swipe from his naginata with her shield before thrusting her spear into his chest.

Pulling the bronze and gold weapon out, Pyrrha twirled it in a circle to deflect a sword slash before reversing the spin to deliver a fatal slash across her foe's torso.

"You bitch!" The final soldier cried out, rushing towards her with reckless abandon. Pyrrha spread her legs apart to be lower to the ground, ready to thrust her spear out and catch him in his charge. There was no need to.

Nora's large hammer appeared out of the smoke, sending the poor soldier flying through the air into a nearby burning house. The man barely had time to scream before the structure collapsed on him, no longer able to bear its weight after having him crash through one of its walls.

Nora turned to Pyrrha and gave a pained smile. "You owe me for that one, boss." The orange-haired woman had certainly looked better, her silver chestplate stained with blood and dirt and her black coat in tatters. Fortunately, she seemed to have no major injuries, though a few cuts and burns littered her face, arms, and legs.

Not that Pyrrha was much better, covered in similar small injuries. "If we make it out of this, I'll gladly repay you," She replied, catching her breath and cursing her luck. Ordinarily, soldiers such as these would pose no threat to her, but exhaustion was taking its hold on her after fighting for so long.

What had been meant to be a routine contact with the Oniyuri Rebellion's spies in Shion Village had turned into a nightmare as they arrived to find the village burning. In a serious tactical blunder, Pyrrha let her emotions get the best of her and had her small convoy rush to the village's aid.

But not only were they too late to help any survivors, but they allowed themselves to be encircled by an unknown number of soldiers who proceeded to force them to take cover in the burning village lest they get turned into pincushions by the rain of arrows.

The moment she realized the enemy's trap, she ordered their fastest runner, Scarlet, to rush towards the location of the other convoy by crossing through the heavily wooded southern hill. Nora and her had managed to create a hole in their blockade just long enough to let one man through, though they had no clue if he managed to outrun any pursuers.

They held little hope of any aid. Yatsuhashi managed to keep the rebellion alive by being cautious and cutting his losses. Painful as it was, Pyrrha had long since accepted the truth that they would be receiving no aid. If they wanted to survive, they would need to escape on their own. A prospect that was looking less likely by the minute.

"General, look out!" A voice called out as more enemies entered the village, eyes darting around to look for rebels to kill. Hardening her emerald gaze, Pyrrha darted forward to meet them, Nora right on her heels.

The duo smashed through the enemy raiders with ease, Nora's heavy swipes forcing them to concede ground that Pyrrha quickly reclaimed while blocking any attempts at striking the other woman. Her quick spear thrusts left debilitating, if not lethal, wounds on anyone who got in her way.

A few Mistralian soldiers tried to flank her, but a yellow blur intercepted them. Sun Wukong twirled his bo staff, simultaneously deflecting blows and striking them. The enemies' armor did little to protect them against the brute force of Nora's hammer and Sun's staff, while Pyrrha's spear held powerful enchantments that let it cut through chainmail and gambison like butter.

Despite their best efforts, several of the enemy soldiers managed to get past them and engage their less skilled comrades. Pyrrha tried her best to ignore the pained sounds of several of her allies as the enemy callously butchered them, cutting them down like dogs. She couldn't afford to let her emotions control her.

Eventually, they were able to finish off the raiders, giving them a moment's respite. Sun and many of his mercenaries seemed in good shape, albeit not unharmed. Sadly, many of her rebels were either dead or too injured to continue. The injured were ushered to the center of town, the dead left to lie where they fell.

"Gods, do these guys ever give up?" Sun muttered, taking a sip from a flask of water as he used his staff to support himself. One of his senior mercenaries, Sage if she recalled, barked out a laugh.

"I'll bet they're wondering the same thing. Why the hell are we trying so hard? We're doomed anyway we slice it," He spat, rolling his shoulder before gripping his massive greatsword with two hands. "What's the point in us continuing to fight?"

"Do you want to just sit there and let them kill us?" Nora snarked. "Might as well make 'em hurt before we go out."

Her casual tone did a good job of hiding it, but everyone present could sense the underlying fear in her voice. They all knew they had a snowball's chance in Vacuo at making it out of here.

There was a good two hundred feet of empty field on all sides of Shion before rapidly being overtaken by dense woods and steep hills. An unknown number of soldiers surrounded the village, though Pyrrha took some small comfort in the knowledge that it was likely fewer than two hundred. Had the enemy possessed such an advantage they would have simply overwhelmed them long ago.

Still, the enemy could pelt them with arrows while sending in small parties to force them out of hiding. The limited cover the buildings provided was rapidly diminishing as the smoldering ruins were destroyed by the combat.

Pyrrha guessed that the enemy's plan was to weaken them like this before having the brunt of their force charge in and sweep through the remaining fighters. A crude but effective strategy, likely made on the fly after seeing an opportunity. It stung to know that she was going to die because of misfortune rather than being outsmarted by a worthy foe.

"General? Your thoughts?" Sun asked, startling her. He, Nora, and Sage were all looking at her with expectant expressions.

"Apologies, I was lost in thought. What is it?" The red-haired woman asked.

"I wanted to see if we could surrender. Sure, we'd be executed, but maybe the wounded and our recruits could be spared," Sage offered.

Nora just shook her head. "As I said, Mistral doesn't take prisoners. They'll just laugh and kill us all."

Pyrrha nodded along with her. "Nora is right. I don't see why they would change their ways now. Better to fight to the last and die with dignity than to suffer their mockery."

Sage just sighed. "Yeah, I figured. I just wish there was something we could do," He said despondently. "I knew it would come someday with my career and all, but I didn't think it would come so soon."

"Yeah..." Sun trailed off. A cry alerted them to the approach of several enemy soldiers, cutting off their brief reprieve and forcing them into combat once more.

Pyrrha wasn't one to leave things to chance. She preferred to focus on what she could do rather than pray for some kind of solution to all her problems. But just this once, she found herself wishing for a miracle.

Captain Nadir Shiko let a smirk form on his face as he stared down at the burning village. What had been a simple raid on a village of rebels had turned into the opportunity of a lifetime for him. When his scout had reported General Nikos of the Oniyuri Rebellion was headed toward the village, he immediately turned his men around.

They had rapidly surrounded their foe, using the cover of the dense woods to hide their trap until they had been fully ensnared. At his order, his soldiers began to rain arrows down on the rebel dogs and forced them to cower in fear in the ruins of their traitorous allies' homes.

The dark-skinned man preened, combing a hand through his pink hair and straightening his cream-colored captain's jacket, a prized possession ever since his recent promotion. He adjusted his katana on his belt, resting a hand on the elegant blade.

He couldn't help but smile to himself when he considered just how fortunate he had been. A mere four months ago, he had merely been an officer. But after Lady Fall had recognized his potential, he had been wildly successful. He had been rapidly promoted alongside his close friend Bolin, making the rank of captain only a month ago.

His luck clearly continued when on his first assignment he managed to ambush one of the heads of the despicable Oniyuri Rebellion. Lady Cinder Fall's dislike for the Oniyuri Rebellion was well known, so this success was certain to get him positive attention. Perhaps she would even be so grateful as to become his wife.

As Nadir was lost in his thoughts, a strand of drool dripping down from his mouth, his subordinates carefully observed the battlefield. Their strategy, while crude, was brutally effective against the small party of rebels. They lacked the numbers and infrastructure to mount a proper defense, leaving them easy pickings for the soldiers.

Nadir intended to soften up the enemy before swooping in and killing General Nikos himself. Her skill was legendary, so if he were to be the one to kill her his name would rise even further. He had been born a minor noble, but thanks to his lady he would be able to rise, perhaps even to the point where he could stand beside her.

As he was lost in his fantasy, he failed to notice his scout stiffen next to him. The woman was peering through a spyglass, observing the battle and informing him when to send more raiders into the village. Her gaze was pointed straight across the field, towards the southern hill.

"Uh, sir? We've got a problem!" She loudly stated, much to the annoyance of Nadir and the shock of his soldiers.

"Oh, what could it be? Have a few of them tried to escape? It's not as though it will matter," The Mistralian noble sneered, upset at having his fantasies interrupted.

"N-no, sir! It's just that..." The scout stuttered out, still peering through her spyglass. "Our southern flank appears to have been... wiped out."

That got Nadir's attention. "What? How? Was it Nikos? Did she break through?" He demanded, face growing pale with panic.

"Er, no sir! The enemy appears to have come from the southern side of the hill."

"The southern side? But then Bollin should've..." His eyes twitched. "Damn that coward! He must have scampered off the moment trouble arrived! I knew he shouldn't have been left in charge of something so important!"

The scout wisely chose not to mention that it had been Captain Nadir who had ordered him to seize the southern hill to protect against reinforcements. Lieutenant Bollin Hori had been against this plan from the start, so Captain Nadir had given him the easiest job to calm his friend, assuming no reinforcements would dare try and march uphill into an ambush.

Captain Shiko ranted and raved about the unfairness of the situation while his soldiers looked nervously at each other. They, like their captain, were all ambitious youths who had thrown themselves into this ambush for a chance at the glory of victory. They weren't eager to lose their chance.

Eventually, Nadir managed to calm himself. He straightened his hair and adjusted his coat before pointing towards the burning town. "Change of plans! We no longer have the time or numbers to maintain this encirclement, but those rodents have got to be worn out by now! Charge!"

At his orders, the soldiers felt confident grins spread across their faces. Drawing weapons, they gave the signal to the other flanks to remain in place before rushing down the hill, Nadir near the front, though just far enough back to allow his men to break whatever meager defense they put up.

Unfortunately for him, the rebels seemed to have caught sight of their approaching allies and gotten their second wind. Rather than fleeing towards safety, they put up one last defense, allowing their support to come to them instead.

As the mass of soldiers met the meager resistance, Nadir expected them to be trampled. Perhaps they would suffer a few casualties, but he would be able to step over their bodies before finding and killing Nikos.

Instead, his men were pushed back as powerful blows from a hammer sent bodies flying into each other. Several heavily armored mercenaries held the line while faster fighters slipped in and out of safety, swiftly striking their foes before retreating.

Worse, he could not rely on ranged support. The mass of soldiers made it impossible to launch a volley of arrows to break their line, and what few mages he had in his company were unable to get cast without hitting their own allies.

With a growl, he drew his katana and cut down a mercenary, feeling a sense of sick satisfaction at ridding the world of another one of those rebels that Lady Cinder deemed so unsightly. He smirked as the enemy line was forced to back up toward the center of the burning village. His group consisted of around thirty soldiers, all fresh to the battle. Of course they would best the dozen or so lightly injured rebels.

His smirk grew when he locked eyes with the blazing emerald gaze of a red-haired woman. Her bronze and gold armor glittered in the afternoon sun peaking through the clouds. Pyrrha Nikos held up her shield before thrusting her spear out.

"That coat... I presume you are the leader of these soldiers?" She asked, to which he laughed.

"Of course. I am Captain Nadir Shiko! Sear it into your skull, bitch, because it's the name of the man who kills you!" With that, he rushed forwards, slashing aggressively. His first slash met her shield with a loud clang, his second striking nothing but air.

"Damn!" He cried as what should have been a lethal strike was stopped by her casually lifting her spear to intercept it. He jumped back as she swept low with her weapon before stepping forwards with an uppercut that she blocked easily.

"Aren't you supposed to be injured? Or what, did you just let your soldiers fight while you saved yourself?"

Pyrrha had the audacity to laugh at him. "No. Unlike you, I had the honor to fight beside those I asked to die for me. If you were expecting me to meekly lie down and die for you, however, then you were sorely mistaken!"

The bronze-armored woman charged forwards, thrusting her spear. Nadir sidestepped but was forced to duck as she twirled her weapon to try and cut his neck. He barely managed to slip away, losing a few hairs in the process.

Bringing her spear above her pointed at a downward angle, Pyrrha thrust into the ground, narrowly missing his foot in an attempt to pin him down. Capitalizing on her momentum, Pyrrha dashed forwards and delivered a punch to his stomach and tried to bash him with her shield.

Nadir managed to dive away before rolling to his feet, desperately reaching into his pocket to retrieve a tool to help him win. Pyrrha gave him little chance, however, kicking her spear lodged in the ground. The weapon spun in the air before she caught it and threw it at him with deadly precision.

As Miló tore a gash in his leg, Nadir let out a scream of pain. Pyrrha raced towards him, throwing her shield like a disc. The plate of metal slammed into his stomach and made him drop his sword before Pyrrha grabbed his shoulders and brought her knee into his face.

The pink-haired captain saw stars in his vision as Pyrrha continued to attack, sweeping his legs out with a low kick before stomping on his chest. His mind raced as he realized how big of a mistake he had made facing Pyrrha like this. He hadn't imagined she would still fight so well injured.

Fortune continued to favor him, however, when he saw what he had tried to grab earlier lying on the floor next to him, having fallen out earlier. Closing his fist around a red crystal, he pushed his aura into it and shot a blast of flames toward the general.

Pyrrha let out a gasp and barely managed to raise her arms in time to protect her face, allowing her enchanted vambraces to absorb most of the attack. Forced to back away from him, she could do nothing as Nadir rose up and launched another blast of fire that blinded her.

Grabbing his sword, Nadir crushed the partially-depleted dust crystal into a powder before spreading it across his sword, causing it to ignite with magic flame. "This'll deal with your shiny toys!" He cried, swinging the sword downwards. The magic fire would help him to cut through her enchanted armor.

At least, it would have, had he managed to hit her. Despite her numerous small injuries, General Nikos was able to dodge his furious swipes. Nadir knew she was likely looking for an opening to make a break for her spear, and thus positioned himself between her and it, not noticing her smirk.

Raising his sword above his head, he prepared to give an overhead swing that would cleave through her armor. "Just die already, bitch!" He spat before bringing the sword down with all his might.

Nadir dimly noticed her gauntlet glow with purple light as a small dust crystal embedded in it activated. Suddenly, an intense pain ripped through his abdomen as the point of Miló jutted out from his stomach. His strength left him, his katana fell from his grip as he stumbled forwards.

He placed his hands on the spear, as though to try and push it out of him. His hands felt warm, he dimly thought to himself as his vision began to grow dark. Falling to his knees, he felt his breathing start to slow.

The last thing he saw was the purple glow of the gravity dust crystal embedded into the spear, the exact same shape as the one in her gauntlet.

Weiss gave a sigh of relief as the last enemy soldier threw down her weapon and surrendered. Her assumption about the size of the enemy forces had been spot on, with around a hundred soldiers accounted for.

The Mistralian forces had panicked upon seeing her reinforcements arrive and charged toward the injured rebels, trying to kill them before they could flee south. But after the rebels held their ground and managed to lure them into the town, they were able to turn the tables.

Managing to break up the forces allowed the rebels to overcome the numerical advantage. And given how this convoy had consisted of some of the Oniyuri Rebellion's finest, they were able to best their enemies individually, even while wounded.

After Pyrrha had managed to kill their captain, the remaining forces panicked. The eastern flank had all fled towards the capital while most of the western flank had thrown down their weapons. A few tried to rally their comrades and charge, but failed to gain much ground with Ren filling them with arrows before they could start running.

As the adrenaline of the fight began to wear off, Weiss made her way toward where Pyrrha and the others were standing, watching the Stone Monkey Mercenaries tie up those who had surrendered. The red-haired woman looked surprised to see her, but was unable to say anything before a loud cry interrupted them.

"Ren!" Nora cried in relief as she rushed towards her friend, who was trailing behind Weiss. The energetic girl tackled her friend to the ground and held him tightly, placing her head against his chest. "I-I was so worried I was never going to see you again."

Ren smiled softly and stroked a hand through his friend's hair. "I was worried too. But it's alright. Thanks to Weiss, everything is alright." The pink-eyed man nodded respectfully toward her.

"Ah, I assumed this was your strategy. Yatsuhashi was too cautious to try something like this," Pyrrha spoke, placing her hand on Weiss's shoulder.

"Respectfully, General Daichi's strategies don't suit my needs. He weighed the risk and deemed the rebellion's survival to be more important. But I don't need you all to survive, I need you to win." Weiss admitted. She couldn't retrieve the translator book from the royal vaults otherwise.

"Nonetheless, I appreciate the help. We weren't expecting to make it out, but we managed thanks to you."

"Yeah, thanks Weissy," Nora beamed.

The Atlesian noble spluttered. "W-Weissy? Are you mocking me?"

Nora just laughed. "You've saved my ass twice now. That means we're friends now!"

The white-haired girl didn't have much experience with friends, given how her closest companion was the ghost that floated silently several feet away, but she was sure of one thing. "I don't think that's how friendships work, Nora."

"Nope. We're best friends."

"I-"

"Just save your breath, there's no arguing with her," Sun chuckled good-naturedly. "Still, I appreciate the save. Thanks for that."

"Thank your man for warning us. He managed to catch up to us and tell us about the danger," Weiss stated.

Sun and his men looked relieved. "So Scarlet made it out alright?"

Ren spoke up, sounding strained from the bone-crushing hug Nora was giving him. "He's a little worn out and beat up, but he'll survive."

Weiss nodded. "I was able to guess that the enemy force wasn't very large, and thus gambled on us being able to break their line."

Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow. "How did you manage to break through the ambush on the southern hill?"

"We used the Grimm as a battering ram."

Weiss blushed at the amount of attention she got as everyone who heard Ren turned to look at her. "W-why are you assuming it was me?"

"Weiss, I'm so glad you're my best friend and not my enemy!" Nora cheered.

"It's a perfectly normal strategy! And I already have a best friend!"

The bonfires at their camp raged as roars of laughter could be heard all across the campsite. When Weiss and her company had arrived at the Oniyuri Rebellion's new campsite with Pyrrha's convoy, with minimal casualties to boot, there had been much celebration.

General Daichi had publicly apologized both to her and the soldiers he left behind for doubting them, though Weiss didn't blame him. Unlike him, she didn't need to focus on the rebellion's long-term survival; she just needed short-term success to get into the vault.

There had been a large feast, with double the usual rations being given out alongside a few kegs of Mistralian sake being cracked open. Weiss ate little, massively uncomfortable after being given a place of honor. She was used to trying to keep a low profile.

Of course, she had done a terrible job of that. Since coming to Mistral, she managed to help kill the legendary Nuckelavee and orchestrated a strategy that saved several major members of the Oniyuri Rebellion. What was next, personally dueling King Lionheart?

Eventually, she was able to slip away. She had been seeking a moment to talk with Ruby. The ghost girl was clearly upset about something, and Weiss was willing to bet her father's fortune on what it was. Sadly, fate had other plans.

"Slipping off to bed already?" Ren asked, approaching from the shadows. "Nora's going to be sad her best friend didn't say goodnight to her."

Weiss just snorted. "She's far too drunk to notice. Besides, aren't you her best friend?" Ren gave her a weird look.

"Something like that. But if it's not too much trouble, may I ask you a few questions?" The raven-haired man queried. Perhaps it was the cheerful mood, but Weiss wasn't as on-guard as she usually was, so she answered.

"It shouldn't be too much trouble, so long as you keep it brief," She agreed, casting a quick glance towards Ruby.

"That depends on how you answer my question," Ren stated ominously. Any relaxation in Weiss's body left as her hand crept towards Myrtenaster. Something about his tone set off warnings in her mind.

"What would that question be?" Weiss's mouth felt dry.

"You're a necromancer, right?"

Weiss has zero clue what a healthy relationship looks like. The only positive romanctic relationship she has heard of ended with Summer getting killed, so forgive her for not picking up on the clues between Nora and Ren. Or Yang and Blake. Or herself and Ruby.

Also, yeah, a lot of you predicted this would happen, especially after last chapter. I knew from the start that I needed someone to find out Weiss's secret before anyone else, and Ren was my best bet. Yang and Jaune were too emotionally attached, Blake is tied to Yang, and Nora wouldn't be smart enough. It was down to Pyrrha or Ren, and I chose Ren because I figured it would be more interesting.

I've been trying something new with this story, writing several chapters at once and saving them up so I can release them evenly spaced out rather then releasing them the day I finish writing/proofreading. This chapter was written a few weeks ago, but I decided to hold off on releasing it until now that way I could write several more.

On a personal note, I've grown up reading fanfiction and always dreaded seeing those author's notes that said they started college. It usually led to a decrease in updates and potentially the death of the story. Well guess what I started?

To be honest, I don't see college impacting this fic all that much. I've had plenty of time to write so far, even between work, school, and social life. So yeah, expect a new chapter sometime next week.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day.