Chapter 2: She'll Be My Classmate?
To be a Huntress was something that required continuous effort.
Dedication, time, training. Many brave Huntresses went through the same exact things Pyrrha did, often forgoing a social life altogether, just for the job. She couldn't say she was ever scared of Grimm, when facing them one could always fall back on their training, to feel instead of thinking, because success meant there would be time for healing later.
She was never scared of an opponent in the ring. People made mistakes, and with a Semblance like hers, they often made more mistakes than not.
So why is it that the chance of studying with the new girl kind of daunted her?
"Hurry up everyone!" Professor Oobleck said. "You have until the end of the class!"
Was it because she didn't have a plan to just talk to people? Socializing was never her forte, why couldn't it be safe like texting? The emojis and abbreviations made it so much easier to express herself.
And if she was being honest, they were kinda fun to use, regardless if Nora thought she 'overused' them or not.
Professor Oobleck approached them, coffee mug in hand, "Team Juniper. Due to the... unusual status of Ms Fall, Ms Nikos will be the one to pair with her. I'll be allowing Jaune Arc to make his report alongside Ren and Nora, as a trio instead of a duo. Be aware that I will be grading it accordingly, " he finished, offering Jaune a stern look.
"Understood. Thank you sir," Pyrrha answered. She knew the end result as soon as Professor Oobleck announced they'd be writing reports on the ramifications of their hometowns local history, it was a foregone conclusion. She was from Mistral, and there was only one other person from there available.
"Cheer up Pyrrha!" Nora giggled, "At least you'll have something interesting to put in your report."
"Hey! Plenty of interesting things happened where I come from!" Jaune said, offended at the insinuation.
"Like?" Ren challenged, sarcasm bleeding through even his stoic demeanor.
"Like… Once it was windy, and a scarecrow came flying right off the crops nearby. Well, tumbled. Fifteen feet or so. But it gave a couple of kids a scare!"
"Wow, such high octane action," Ren said, rolling his eyes.
"I'm feeling just a wee bit of sarcasm coming from you two," Jaune said indignantly.
"Look at the bright side, Jaune," Pyrrha said, "if you manage to survive this class, Beowolf packs will be a cinch," she patted him on the shoulder.
Nora mimicked a sound, something alien, between an angry bull and a rattlesnake. Those definitely weren't the sounds Bewolves made.
Pyrrha moved to Cinder's row, leaving the banter and Vale farmhill stories behind. As entertaining as that would be, the class assignment wouldn't write itself.
The new girl was staring at the whiteboard, entranced, head resting in her hand, until Pyrrha approached. Maybe this time it would be better to talk a little less? It was hard to know if she'd made a good impression on the new girl or not.
Cinder faced Pyrrha, then moved to the side, inviting Pyrrha in with a pat on the seat, "Quite the turn of events, I certainly didn't expect Oobleck to be so… Understanding of my current affairs," She said, her voice raised just enough so Pyrrha could hear through the chatter of students
Pyrrha offered a chuckle as she sat down next to the raven-haired student, "Well, we do try to stick to the philosophy of Hunting, even in class."
"Ah yes, that tradition."
"Well, I'd say there's a little bit more to it than that, it could even be the subject of our report," Pyrrha smiled as she teased the subject.
Cinder raised an eyebrow, "Oh? How so?"
"One of the main principles of Hunting is unity. It's why we train in teams, and sticking together through the worst is something that goes beyond just Huntsmen," Pyrrha raised a hand to her chin, "You've been to Argus, right?"
"Only while attending Sanctum. I lived outside the kingdom before."
"Did you ever notice how since they stationed the dust barriers, military bases, robots, all of that, Grimm sightings on the outskirts of the city only increased?"
"I've heard rumors."
"Well, the principle of unity isn't just for tradition, it was developed after studying society as a whole, and how we succeeded the most when working as a group. Argus created a degree of separation, a division, that while it may seem to work in the short term, isn't a solution to Grimm attacks. They show exacly how and why we need each other as much as we need to survive."
Cinder watched intently as Pyrrha talked, nodding slightly, "That is true. But some would say that all that matters when it comes to survival is strength. That's it's power above all."
Pyrrha's stomach churned for a second, but she ignored it, "That's bandit talk, Cinder."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, they're cowards, the lot," Cinder said, "But the nomadic lifestyle itself could be seen as a divergent form of development, one that may have grown due to Mistral's different ecology of Grimm, among other factors."
Interesting. Pyrrha hadn't thought about it like that before. It was true that in part, because she detested the bandits that caused no small amount of strife among the smaller villages outside of the kingdoms. But it was nice to have a mental dispute once in a while, "That is true, but even the bandits require a degree of cooperation among themselves."
"And if we look at the way they act, the same basic necessity for survival is there, even if it didn't rise from formal studies. It's hard to deny the practical applications of mobility, especially when it takes time for a Grimm to detect negativity, and that's not the only way they track people down. In a way, settling requires a consistent effort."
Cinder stared into Pyrrha's eyes, was it a challenge?
"It follows, but the benefits of creating a settlement far outweigh the risks, which is why bandits are forced to live in small groups, and prey on even smaller villages. Food supplies, culture, economy, relations with other villages and cities, it increases the strength of the kingdom, and all it takes is extending a hand."
Pyrrha smiled and extended her palm, to demonstrate. Unexpectedly, Cinder took it, a soft, warm hand enveloping hers.
"You make a superb point. As expected of the champion."
"I- just Pyrrha is fine."
Cinder didn't let go, moving closer instead, "But what if they take advantage of it? We both know Mistral's reputation. Of lies, deceit, disguises of the elite. Corruption. What if they take your hand, and use it to hurt you?" Her hair fell over one eye, and gods, was it getting hotter in the classroom? Pyrrha could swear they had the air conditioning unit on.
"Well… ummm, I..."
Cinder's eyes widened as she let go of Pyrrha's hand, "Oh! I must be making you so uncomfortable."
"No!" Pyrrha uttered, in a tone that was almost loud enough to cut through the classroom's chatter. She winced, and upon realizing that nobody was looking, carried on, "I just… hadn't considered it before."
Cinder hummed in response, an unspoken question, but Pyrrha didn't know if they were talking about Mistralian history anymore. Heat spread to her ears, and she hoped it was simply a transitory feeling, "I'm ninety-nine percent sure we're right on track with what Oobleck assigned for class, so we should get to writing the paper, or else we'll run out of time."
Cinder smiled, "Yes, we should."
Truly fascinating.
The invincible girl had the fighting expertise to compete with the best of the best, and the mental aptitude to be accepted as a teacher before she even graduated.
Not that it says much. Especially considering that even Beacon's standards for Huntsmen and Huntresses were somewhat lacking compared to some of the more vicious criminals and warlords out in the world, and there seemed to be a terrible trend among Vale's Hunstmen. They'd either die on the field, or become teachers, with rarely any other option in between and a colossal overlap between the two.
Her talent was wasted here, and why she chose to hamper her development so much remained an enigma to Cinder as she gazed at the redhead. One of Ozpin's many flaws was that he used them as pawns, never realized their potential. He held them back. True that potential didn't mean much, other than them not being good yet. But it was important.
And Cinder loved potential.
Could she perhaps convince Pyrrha of how useless their struggles were? She would make for a particularly powerful ally, an equal if she did say so herself, but Pyrrha had nearly closed off since she decided to write the fruitless piece of busywork in front of them. All by herself too, despite Cinder's protests. Perhaps she pushed her a little too much? She didn't misread her, that was for sure, so maybe-
Pyrrha asked her a question.
"I'm sorry?" Cinder snapped herself back to the present, stopping her train of thought.
"It's just, you know, you said you're from outside the kingdom. That must've been tough."
"Well, I was. I'm sure you've met plenty of outsiders."
Pyrrha stopped writing, "Don't talk about yourself like that, you're not an outsider."
Oh? Why did the invincible girl even care? "I didn't mean it in any particular way. It just came out."
Pyrrha looked at Cinder, concern spreading over her face, "Still, you're not an outsider. You're with us now, right?" Slowly, concern gave way to a bold grin, "In fact, I think we should make it official"
Well, well, the champion was a box full of surprises wasn't she? "What do you have in mind?"
"All this talk about Mistral history and life, it has me thinking. You know how a long time ago, before the war, for every successful hunt there would be village-wide celebrations?"
"From what I understand, back then hunts were long, sometimes lasting weeks, and the future was always uncertain."
"Yes! You see, due to some… duties my team has been a part of lately, we've had access to Beacon's kitchen, and we managed to sneak some food into our dorm."
Pyrrha lowered her voice to a whisper, then moved closer, "Ren is quite the cook, and we've been planning a party with team RWBY. One more person wouldn't be a bad thing, and we'd get to add you as an honorary Beacon student!"
Cinder paused for a second, confused at the mental image of Pyrrha Nikos, Mistral regional champion… nicking food from the beacon kitchen. Perhaps she had more of a rebel streak than Cinder gave her credit for.
What could she even say? It would be such a leap in her plans, not only would Cinder get the redhead to trust her completely, but also her team, and the adjacent, meddling team RWBY. She would be able to follow their affairs with more efficiency and accuracy than ever before, how could she ever turn that down?
And of course, a night that isn't marked by the sound of crickets chirping outside her window was simply a bonus. Having nothing to do while infiltrated was a slow and insidious killer after all.
"That sounds like fun," Cinder smirked.
"Great! I can't wait to tell Ren, Nora and Jaune about this, they'll be so excited!" Pyrrha sang the words, turning back to finish the paper
Oh yes, so much fun.