Thanks for the (mostly) encouraging feedback so far. I was very close to not publishing any of this attempted fiction but knowing that even one person seems to be enjoying my drivel has been nice.
Pyrrha sighed deeply. She was sitting on the low, white marble wall near the front gate starring at the ground. She should have expected this she chided herself. Jaune was still chasing Weiss, she'd known it from the start, he'd never tried to hide it.
It's not like she couldn't see what he saw in her either, Weiss was not only extraordinarily pretty, she was one of the top students in all her classes and a fantastic huntress to boot. She also came from one of the most powerful families in Mantle, the Schnee family name was known across all of Remnant for their dust empire. Sure, Pyrrha had minor celebrity status in Mistral for her fighting tournament victories, and she'd even featured on Pumpkin Pete's cereal at one stage but she couldn't complete with Weiss Schnee!
Just thinking about it brought a physical pain to her chest, how had she let herself get to this point? She wasn't used to getting emotional, especially not over a boy. She cared about Jaune so much, he had been her best friend and her partner since their very first few days at beacon. She still remembered the look he had given her on their first trip to emerald forest, as he hung from the tree immobilised by Milo, that goofy grin he so effortlessly pulled that never failed to melt her heart.
Then after the dance, as they had held hands on the balcony and talked the night away like no one else was there. When she spent time with Jaune it was as if he saw through all the fame and buzz that so often surrounded her. He didn't seem interested in all that, he just saw her as she truly was, the true Pyrrha. When she was with him, she never felt any pressure to be something she wasn't, she could let her guard down and be her true self.
She had never felt objectified or like he was trying to gain something from her, they spent time together simply because they enjoyed each other's company. It was a feeling she'd never experienced with anyone else, not even her family. Being around him, felt like home to her, no matter where they were together, it was probably that feeling above all the others that had truly made her fall for him.
She knew as his best friend she should want Jaune to be happy, even if it wasn't with her. But finding out that he was still chasing after Weiss, who clearly didn't value or share his affection, it cut through to the core of her emotions, especially when the two of them had gotten so close lately.
This pain was something new to her, she'd never let someone in to her life like this, never let her shields down and left herself so defenseless. She hated the feeling, but even more so, she hated that she had let her emotions have so much control over her. What did Jaune even see in Weiss that he didn't see in her? Weiss had never even shown any interest or reciprocation of Jaune's efforts either. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes again as she let her emotions dwell on her current situation.
As she sat there on the wall, trying to hold back the tears she realised just how alone she truly was. Sure, she had her team, Nora and Ren were always there for her when she needed them. But they were also pretty much joined at the hip, she couldn't recall the last time she'd seen one of them without the other.
She had become close friends with all the girls in team RWBY now too, but they had such a tight-knit team dynamic that she always felt like an outsider when she was with them. Jaune truly was the one person at Beacon she truly felt comfortable around, but apparently the feeling wasn't mutual for him. She started to wonder if she would have been better off if she'd just stayed in Mistral.
"Pyrrha!" She looked up as she heard her name, Jaune was running across the grounds towards her at full pace, his gear bag swinging wildly behind him. That was strange, why was he was running, it wasn't like he was late, what was wrong? She quickly wiped her face and tried to bury her emotions behind the well-practiced smile she had developed for public appearances at events back home in Mistral. She hoped it looked more convincing than it felt. As he pulled up in front of her, he was panting a gasping, clearly he'd ran the whole way here.
"What's wrong Jaune? Is something up?" She tried to sound as calm and casual as possible. She couldn't bear the thought of him knowing she'd just basically been crying about him alone in the gardens.
"Oh, ah well... No" he panted; he had a slightly confused look on his face like he was expecting a different reaction from her. "Are you ok?" he finally broke the silence.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" There was a defensive edge to her voice, she wondered if Jaune would notice. He scratched the back of his head and partially opened his mouth a few times, clearly wanting to say something but unsure where to start.
"Shall we head out to the clearing then?" she asked when it became clear he wasn't going to speak up.
As they walked out through the gates that divided the grounds of beacon from the forest beyond, an awkward silence hung between them that neither was brave enough to break. She hated this, lately Jaune and her had been able to speak about anything and everything freely. They spent so much time together chatting these days she often even saw Ren and Nora rolling their eyes in disdain at them when they thought Jaune and Pyrrha weren't looking.
They wandered down a well concealed path through the edge of the forest before it opened up into a small glade with a rocky outcrop and a stream running around the far side. It was quite a gorgeous little spot, Pyrrha had immediately fallen in love with it when she stumbled across it while exploring the forest one afternoon and hadn't shared its location with anyone yet.
Under better circumstances she'd been hoping to bring Jaune here one day. She'd planned it all out in her head that they could bring a picnic blanket and lay by the river, talking, laughing and cuddling. It has been a happy thought which now only brought her pain.
"Pyr, it's... Beautiful" Jaune broke the silence as he glanced around in amazement, his eyes wide and his mouth open in wonder. He stopped looking around and gazed at her thoughtfully, his look was disarming and she found herself struggling to maintain her defensive composure. Eager to divert his attention she put her bag down and began removing her weapons and armour. Jaune quickly followed her lead, and within minutes they were both suited up and ready to begin.
Again, Jaune opened his mouth a few times as if he wanted to get something off his chest, but couldn't seem to find the right words. Wanting to catch him off guard, she raised Akouo and darted at him, Milo making a swishing noise as it cut through the air towards his left shoulder. "Hey..." he exclaimed, barely able to raise his shield in time to deflect the blow.
Being unprepared for the sudden attack, he didn't have his stance ready yet, the force of the blow staggering him as he nearly stumbled over his own feet. He recovered sloppily, raising his shield and attempting to lunge at her with his sword out stretched. She parried the blow effortlessly with Milo, and using his momentum, executed a graceful pirouette around him, smacking him across the back of the head with Akouo as she passed. She hated to admit it but hitting him like that had improved her mood just a little bit.
"You always need to be ready, always be prepared Jaune" she smirked at him. Frustration flashed across his face as he spun around to face her. She expected him to make another wild lunge at her, but instead he raised his sword and shield, locked his shoulders in and widened his stance.
Good she thought, despite momentarily losing his cool before, at least he was using his head now. Maybe he was ready for the upcoming Vytal tournament, just maybe. She might have been mad at him currently, but she couldn't deny she felt a sense of immense pride seeing how much his skills had been developing as they trained.
She began to circle him slowly, closing the distance between them. He pivoted on the spot but kept his stance grounded, waiting. Again, she was impressed by his restraint. Hoping to catch him off guard again, she dashed forward but he had been ready, their shields clashed with a heavy blow, jarring both of their arms. Determined to land another blow, she pushed his shield upward with hers and then swung her leg underneath. Her greave making contact with the inside of his front knee, breaking his stance.
"Ooooph... Hey, what on earth was that?!" he grumbled indignantly. She wasn't proud of it, but again it had felt quite satisfying landing that kick. Maybe this is how Yang feels when she hits people, she thought to herself.
"Attacks can come from anywhere. You fight with honour and dignity Jaune, don't expect our opponents in the tournament to share that sentiment, much less the Grimm." Again, she could see the frustration flash across his face, this time mixed with self-doubt.
He recovered his stance but she could tell his confidence was wavering, one more good blow and she would break his resolve. She pulled back slightly out of his range and began circling around him again slowly, looking for a weakness to exploit.
Looking down, she noticed a large knot of grass on the ground just behind his right foot. Dashing towards his left side, she feinted to his right at the last second, he tried to shift his stance but kicked the knot, losing his balance and lowering his shield arm to recover. Seeing the opening, she battered his shield out of the way with Akouo then swung through hard with Milo, catching him across his exposed shoulder with the flat of the blade. He tumbled to the ground from the sheer force of the blow, laying in a crumpled heap.
I know this is a cruel place to end the chapter, but the next part was getting pretty long so I thought I'd leave it on the ol' cliff hanger while I finish up the next chapter. Will try to get the next part out quickly so you dont have to wait long to see if Jauney boy makes it :D
Feedback is always appreciated. I quite enjoyed trying to write combat but I can understand if what's in my head didn't translate so well
