Here we are again. The next number after ten, which is eleven. I'm in a bit of a good mood today, mostly because the other day, I posted chapter 100 of The Blind Huntsman. It is a great achievement of mine and I am happy to be able to say that I wrote a hundred chapters for the same story. Now I just got to get this story up there in the monstrous numbers. How long will that take? Eh, judging from my other stories, I garner that we'll be done with Volumes 1-3 in about 30-40 chapters.

Give or take a few dozen, perhaps…

Probably.

Beta: CrowSkull

YBWR

Chapter 11- An Offer

Pyrrha let out a sob as she wiped away a tear from her eye. She wanted to cry harder and longer, but she was supposed to be a huntress in training now, right? That meant she was supposed to be stronger than this. Cinder was right, after all. She was way in over her head when it came to sparring against people with the actual training of a huntsman. Ironically, Pyrrha thought that fighting Grimm was easier since they were somehow worse than her when it came to fighting. In any case, Pyrrha couldn't help but let out another choked sob and wipe away yet another tear that broke free from her squinting eyes. She desperately didn't want to let her emotions take control and held them back the best that she could, but it was proving to get more and more difficult as time went on.

"Stupid…" She berated herself as she plopped down on the seat, her hair dripped with water still. It was hard to dry it off completely, it was as thick as it was red. It was always difficult to manage, and in her current mood, she just couldn't make it perfect. Another thing she became annoyed with herself quickly. "What was I thinking…? I can't do this… I can't."

"Where'd you get that idea from?" Pyrrha jumped at the sound of Nora's voice, she only recognized it an instant later as she spun around to face the ginger. Nora's face was sympathetic, there wasn't a hint of negative energy to her form as she made her way to her and took the open seat beside her. "You are quite good, in my opinion. Sure, you're not exactly the best at fighting people, but you don't have to be a huntress."

Pyrrha huffed and looked away. "Sometimes huntsman and huntresses have to fight people…" Pyrrha pointed out. "My sister always used to tell me that, especially while I was growing… well, already mostly grown up by the time I decided that I wanted to be a huntress."

"That's not a good thing to tell an aspiring huntress." Nora pointed out.

"Obviously," Pyrrha rolled her eyes and chuckled. "But I always knew she said it because she knew me… she knew that even if I did get the proper training, I wouldn't be able to hurt a person. A Grimm, sure, but people…"

"It's difficult, not all people are capable of killing other people," Nora said. "Not that I have ever done it myself," She added quickly when Pyrrha's head snapped to her. "But I can certainly understand how and why it would be difficult. You are a kind person, Pyrrha. Perhaps too kind for your own good, it is a wonderful trait to have, but you can't be kind forever."

"Thank you," Pyrrha said first, feeling just a little flattered with the compliment. "I suppose it was just the way I was raised… I wasn't trying to be kind in that spar against Cassandra. I was actually quite frustrated that I couldn't hit her, and when I did, I hurt myself more than I did my opponent."

"You were vastly outmatched," Nora pointed out the obvious. Pyrrha hung her head in shame. "But even then, you were still holding back."

"E-Eh?" Pyrrha asked, confused now more than anything. "Why do you say that?"

"Pyrrha, I saw you throw your weapon so hard that it pierced not only through the wing of a Nevermore, but pinned that same wing to its body as well." Nora looked at her and smirked. "You are much stronger than you give yourself credit for. And when you were fighting on that stage, I didn't see that same strength come into play. Granted, that girl is probably still stronger than you even if you gave it your best, but the fact of the matter is that you still held back."

"I… didn't think that was the case," Pyrrha said, thinking to herself now that Nora had pointed out a few flaws in the way she was thinking this all out. She remembered that spear throw all too well. It was the first time she actually felt like a huntress as she watched that Nevermore fall back to the ground. "But why would I hold back? We all have an aura, surely she would have been more than fine if I put all my strength into my attacks…"

"I don't know," Nora shrugged helplessly. "Only you can know the answer to that question. I just came here to try and cheer you up."

Pyrrha laughed. "Is this how you cheer people up? By making them find out their problem on their own with sheer resolute logical reasoning?"

Nora shrugged her shoulders again. "Did it work?"

Pyrrha threw her head back and laughed again, only this time Nora joined her in it. She didn't know why it was so funny, perhaps it was because she was already so sore about what had just happened with Cinder and Cassandra, and the weakened emotional state she was just in. Nora coming in and making her figure out her own issue along with a hint in the direction of she could and should go about fixing herself, and with the way she said it, just made it too much for her to handle. Her already sore stomach felt like it was being bruised as she buckled over laughing.

"O-oh gosh, my stomach," Pyrrha said as she recovered, still giggling and chuckling moderately as she reeled back up. "I needed that, Nora. Thank you."

"Anytime," Nora patted her on the back gently. "Now, won't you come back to the others with me? They're all worried about you, and Yang almost came here herself to make sure that you were okay. Jaune too, but you can imagine what it would have looked like seeing a boy enter the girl's locker room. And Ren… I am just glad you are better now."

"Hah, of course, they would have tried that." Pyrrha nodded her head, agreeing with herself on the matter. "I believe Yang has done that thing that extroverts do. What was it? Oh yes, I believe she adopted me. And Jaune is very kind, I have a feeling he would have walked right in here despite what whispers would have been spread about him."

"You are fortunate to have been picked up by such good friends," Nora said as she stood up. "As I am fortunate to have a team that I am perfectly content with. The chances of Ren and I being paired up were slim, but I knew he would come search for me the minute we landed. But I was concerned about the other two teammates we'd get. I am happy to say that I am glad that my concern was not warranted."

"Awe, Nora!" Pyrrha jumped back up and pulled the ginger girl into a tight hug. Nora reacted awkwardly at first, simply patting her back in return for the first few seconds. But quickly after she returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around the taller girl's back and gently tugging. When Pyrrha pulled back, her eyes were bright and her smile had returned. "Thank you for coming here for me, I feel a lot better after our talk."

"That's what teammates are for," Nora replied, smiling. "Now let's go, we've been in here long enough and Cinder doesn't seem the type to be patient."

"Sh! Don't let her catch you saying that!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

"Hm, you're right, maybe I should be quieter about that." Nora shrugged her shoulders once again. She was just glad that Pyrrha was back to being herself. Bad moods were always temporary, so she would have gotten better soon anyhow. Still, she felt good that she was able to help with that.

"Pyrrha!" Yang whispered loudly as she saw Pyrrha and Nora return into the crowd and take their places beside them. "I'm glad you're back, how are you feeling?"

"Much better," Pyrrha said, smiling. "Thank you, both of you," She said, catching Jaune's attention as well. "Nora told me both of you were about to come after me as well. Thank you for caring for me so much, even though we've only known each other for just a few days…"

"Pft, I was just doing what my mom… no wait, what my Uncle said I should do when I find someone that's nice and loyal, and that was to follow my dad's old advice and befriend them immediately! That way they don't turn out to be an enemy later on in life, 'cause that would suck."

"Hmph, as if that has been working for you so far," Blake remarked.

"Hey! I've got Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Pyr to call friends! That's a lot for just a few days, eh?"

"Pft," Weiss snorted quietly. "Ruby is your sister, so she is always going to be on your side. But I can't help but notice how Blake isn't on that list."

"Eh," Yang waved dismissively at the white-haired girl. "Blake is a work in progress."

"Excuse me!?"

"Excuse you!" Cinder looked over the class and immediately locked on their group. "If you are not willing to listen to my equation on the angle a Bullhead would fall at after losing one engine to a medium-sized Griffon at ten-thousand feet while falling at terminal velocity, then I do not want you in my class. Now, are you going to pay attention for the last half hour of class we have left? Or should I write you down for a visit to the headmaster's office?"

"No! We'll behave!" All eight members of the Team's YBWR and PLAN announced at the same time.

"Good," Cinder's chalk struck the black chalkboard with a loud click. "Time for speaking is reserved for only when I speak to you first while you are in my class. You all have lunch next period anyhow, restrain yourselves for that long, surely you can go without talking until then."

Cinder went back to her lesson and the moment she turned her back on them, Yang lowered herself so that she was behind Ruby, who was tall enough to hide her behind her back and gestured for Pyrrha to do the same. Blake scowled at them as she did so, but did her job as a partner and made sure that they wouldn't be caught as well since it would mean she would most likely get in trouble as well.

"You sure you're okay?" Yang whispered to her friend quietly.

Pyrrha chuckled as quietly as she could and prayed that it was enough to not get Cindersattention. "Yes, I am quite okay now, thank you for asking."

"Ah, finally!" Yang stretched her arms over her head after she set down her first tray of food Beacon had provided for them. She didn't count the breakfast that Ruby hastily got for them earlier that morning. She wasn't even able to savor the taste, much less actually remember exactly what it was that she ate. Now she had a second chance, a second chance to win.

"You are eating too much fat," Blake commented as she scooped another spoonful of that disgusting looking porridge into her mouth. "That much grease is enough to make me gag."

"Hey, not all of us grew up in a castle," Yang said through a mouthful of cheese and chicken. "And I need to eat a lot of this stuff, I gotta get the strength to punch stuff to death somehow, right?"

"I suppose, but still, there are better meals you could eat," Blake said. "Such as Seitan salad. It is the heaviest source of protein you can get from a plant, as well as tofu-"

"Sorry, gonna have to stop you right there," Ruby snorted as Yang put down her fork and spoon and turned in her seat to get a better look at Blake. "Tofu? Seriously Blake? I know it hasn't even been a week since we met, but what makes you think that'd I'd ever put that disgusting block of whatever in my mouth at any point in time?"

"If you want to get in the best shape you can," Blake said as she slid another cup of the stuff she was eating to her partner. "Then Seitan salad is the way."

"Did you save that just for this very moment?" Ruby asked, chuckling when Blake's eyes widened ever so slightly and she turned to cough into her fist to hide the light flush of red on her face.

"Not at all," Blake said. "I am simply offering my partner an opportunity to put herself on a diet so that she may gradually get in even better shape."

"So you think that she is in good shape?" Weiss saw the chance and reached out to it immediately and grabbed it. "My, my, Blake, I wouldn't have thought you to be the type to have wandering eyes over another girl's body."

"W-What? How dare-" Coughing into her fist a second time, Blake composed herself and replied calmly. "No, I will not rise to your bait. I've been foiled enough by the two sisters one too many times already."

"Damn, she's learning," Ruby said, laughing along with her sister while Blake drank water from a carton.

"Quickly too," Pyrrha added. "Before, I remember her always having something to say to any of you. Ah, I remember like it was yesterday."

"That's because it was yesterday, human." Blake rolled her eyes when that only brought forth another round of laughter at her expense. "I don't see how this can be amusing to any of you. I am simply stating the facts."

"This is going to be an interesting four years," Jaune said after swallowing a portion of something similar to what Yang was eating. He found himself grateful that neither of them pointed that out. It was probably for the better if Yang had noticed Blake would be down by yet another point. "Speaking of such, how goes our next classes? I believe we have one left, don't we?"

"We do!" Pyrrha exclaimed happily. "Grimm studies with a Mister Callows… Huh, I wonder what that's gonna be like."

"I have just one strip of advice for you guys," Yang said, pointing her fork at Team PLAN who all sat across from her and her own teammates. "Don't be the loudest in the room. He will take note of that, and he will know."

"Why do I feel like somehow that is a jab at me?" Blake muttered.

"Dunno must be your imagination."

The lunch period went on without incident. Pyrrha didn't know why she thought that there would be one, but she was happy to see that she was clearly wrong to have those doubts. For the entire forty-seven minutes that remained of lunchtime, she spent it chatting with her friends and enjoying the feeling of joy that came with it. Listening to Yang and Blake bicker back and forth one moment only to see them agree on something later was an amusing sight to behold, as usual. It was nice listening to Ren as well, who had quite the wonderful story to tell about the Grimm he had apparently slain in order to save Nora one time when they were children. It was supremely exaggerated and everyone knew it, but they all let Ren believe that they believed him at every turn and pivot in the story.

Her first day at Beacon was turning out wonderfully so far. If she cut out the part when she got her butt kicked in front of the entire class so badly that Cinder had to stop the fight not because she was losing but because she was doing so terribly that it disgusted her, then it would be even better. Pyrrha liked what was happening so far, in any case. And she had just one more class to go to before she could officially consider this day finally over.

Grimm studies with Tyrian Callows later on in the day was certainly an experience that should never forget. Could never forget. She had a feeling that Mister Callows wouldn't let her even if she tried.

"Hah…" Pyrrha sighed heavily as she sat down on her bed. "Today was… a day."

"It certainly was," Nora said, still reeling from not only her first spar in Cinder's class but her being chosen to be put up against a live Beowolf all of a sudden in Tyrian's class. How did he even get the Grimm in the cage? Then after that, how did he manage to bring that cage and the Grimm alive back to Beacon before it killed itself on the bars? The man was insane, that was the only way she could put it. She had a feeling that if she asked the man herself if he was truly insane, he wouldn't even deny it.

"I think he definitely has a… eccentric way of teaching his students, but we did learn much from his unorthodox ways." Jaune pointed out. "Such as the apparent weakest part of Beowolf's body, the back of the neck."

"I'm pretty sure if anything gets hit hard enough in that spot, it would die," Ren remarked.

"Yeah, but still, it's good to know at least," Jaune explained. "He is the one man who actually tried and succeeded to capture a Grimm and keep it alive long enough to study. Well… there was one other, but we all know how that turned out." The Mountain Glenn incident happened before any of them were born, twenty years ago, but it still had an effect on the world as a whole. Doctor Merlot did his best to prevent the tragedy and immediately put a stop to his work when requested by the Valean council, but sadly it was just too late. Despite Merlot's efforts to save the city with his research, the first expansion in centuries still fell to the Grimm when they attacked en masse. The world would have strung him up if Salem herself hadn't intervened and deflected the blame onto the Grimm, saying that sooner or later, the overexcitement and concern that the citizens moving to the new city would have brought Grimm to their doorstep anyway. With that logic in mind, Merlot was dismissed of all charges but still stripped of his position as the head scientist of the Scientific Beaurue.

Thankfully, Salem had saved him from such disgrace. Offering him a position as a teacher of the Plant Life and Nature class. Looking over to the plants that Nora promised to take care of for all of them made her remember him. He was very kind for a man who might have been holding the guilt for the deaths of thousands, but in time, the world had come to forgive him. Or forget him, she didn't know which was better.

"True," Pyrrha said, ending the train of silence. "I am more concerned with Miss Fall's class however… she said that if I don't get better quickly, she won't let me pass the semester…"

Jaune sat up. "I could help you if you want," he offered immediately. "I've been trained by some of the most renowned huntsman and huntresses in the world, I'm sure that I have picked up a few things from them that I can pass down to you if you want."

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Ren commented. "We can all make a thing out of it too. No offense Jauney, but since you're this grand champion or whatever, we could use a few pointers from you every now and again."

Jaune chuckled at that. "No offense was taken at all! I wouldn't be offering this if I didn't expect you to bring up such an idea. So, what do you say leader?"

"I-I…" Pyrrha stammered, unable to look into his eyes as she thought hard on the decision. "G-Give me some time to think about it. I'm perfectly alright with you training others!" She said quickly after she got weird looks from her other two teammates. "But I don't think it would be fair to the others if I got trained by someone so good… I would like to try getting stronger myself if you don't mind that is…"

"Heh," Jaune smiled kindly and scratched the back of his head. "I can respect that, I really can. Don't worry Pyrrha, if you want to get stronger on your own that is your decision to make." He said, leaning back in his bed and shutting his eyes. "I won't be making any major decisions for you, that'd just be cruel…"

"Eh?" she raised one of her eyebrows at that. It sounded strange, especially coming from Jaune who was usually always so nice. She looked to Ren and Nora, the former shrugging his shoulders helplessly and Nora looking at her strangely. "Did I say something wrong?" Her eyes seemed to ask the ginger.

Nora simply sighed and shook her head, though it didn't to be in reply to her silent question. She leaned back in her bed and continued reading a book while Ren was just as clueless as to what was happening as she was. Eventually, Pyrrha just let it go and lied down in her bed, opting to start texting with Yang since her other teammates were seemingly done with the day. She could understand that, she was surprisingly sleepy herself, although that might have just been because she was so sore from the spar she went through in Cinder's class.

Oh well, another day another class was a saying her sister used to say when she was a student in high school and beyond. Maybe she'd shoot her a text as well before she went to sleep to let her know that she was okay. She wouldn't blame her for being worried sick about her after what she did…

This is a short chapter, I know. That is partly due to me being eager to play Cyberpunk 2077 now that it came out today and I also didn't really have much planned for this particular chapter. So, I guess it works out Lol. You guys can probably guess what's coming next. Pyrrha is tagged as one of the main characters for this story for a reason, and I've actually got a lot down for her in terms of her 'Pyrrhadice' to her Jaunedice counterpart. Looking forward to getting through all that.

I read in one of the reviews that my genderbend idea wasn't exactly the best in the world. And yes, I actually read all of them Lol. I get it, on paper, it probably is a lazy idea for a reversed role story like this one. But I am doing it for three reasons; One, because I thought it would be funny. Two, there is a lot more going on with the genderbending plan than I have yet to reveal, and Three, because some of these groups of characters for the life of me I just cannot find a way to reverse them with like, anyone. I found a reverse for CFVY, obviously Salem, Ozpin/Ozma, RWBY, JNPR, STRQ, etc, but CRDL is just so relatively unimportant to the story and the show alike that I just figured that I might as well do something to change them. I didn't just want to leave Cardin exactly how he was in the show, because that just wouldn't make sense for this. Hopefully, I manage to change things up enough with the Cassandra version here to sorta redeem myself for being unable to find out what the hell to do with them.

But as a little warning from here on out, Cardin is not the only one who has been genderbent. I had to pull some of my own strings and will be claiming creative liberty for the next ones coming up soon enough. But with this in mind, I will try harder to make it seem like it is deserved and not forced.

With that said, after a bit of a break, I'll see you guys next time!