A/N: Here is the last chapter of volume 2. With it are the end of my exams, and the end of my degree. It's been a wild ride, y'all.
Another early update, as this weekend will be extremely busy. I'll be starting a new job and moving to a new apartment, so no guarantees for next week's chapter as I settle into the new neighbourhood. Packing and unpacking are the dullest activities ever.
Also, Ozpin's speech in here comes from the Vytal Festival episode of WoR. Thanks for being an info-dumping bro, Ozpin.
*Bonus content at the bottom for your entertainment~
Laws of Attraction
The amphitheatre was packed with civilians, students and Huntsmen alike, the air buzzing with excitement and chatter. Despite it being bright and early on Monday, everyone was awake and ready. Pyrrha had never before seen this many people within the large room, barely able to keep her wits about her as she followed Nora's lead towards their seats in the stands. Their path led them completely around the outskirts of the room, and for that, Pyrrha was grateful- it ensured they would avoid crossing paths with any and all media sources, as all of the filming crews and reporters were based around the bottom of the stage.
She wasn't ready to face any filming crews yet. After Friday night, she hadn't been able to force a natural smile the way she usually could- she wasn't able to pretend anymore.
Why bother pretending?
I'll get back to normal soon, she kept telling herself. I have to.
After all, she didn't want to go another night watching Nora, Ren and Jaune tiptoe around her. They had been careful not to ask any questions all weekend, and she loved them for it, but she didn't want to burden them with concern any longer.
Sliding into a spectator seat between Nora and Jaune, she watched idly as the house lights began to dim.
A spotlight emerged upon the center of the stage, highlighting a familiar blonde Huntress. Professor Goodwitch's voice boomed from the speaker system as she read her introduction proudly. "Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and Atlas, welcome to the 40th biannual Vytal Festival Opening Ceremony. We are gathered here today at Beacon Academy, and we, the Huntsmen and Huntresses of the world of Remnant, welcome you with open arms. Whether you are in the room with us now, or are joining us through the live broadcasts, we are proud to have you here to celebrate the peace, unity, and safety of our world."
The crowd let out an uproarious applause, cheers and whistles deafening. Pyrrha clapped politely in her seat, trying to maintain her focus despite the excitement thrumming all around her.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spied a familiar flash of short, fiery hair. Bolting upright, she ignored the protests from those seated behind her in favour of searching the crowd, of seeing the redhead's face- but just as quickly as she had spotted them, they were gone.
She bit her lip, sitting down without a word. Of course Mother wouldn't be here.
Professor Goodwitch continued, "I would now like to invite to the stage Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, and General James Ironwood, headmaster of Atlas Academy, to say a few words."
With those words, she strutted offstage. The applause rang out once more as the spotlight focused in, illuminating two figures stepping out from behind the curtain- Professor Ozpin, who for once lacked his signature coffee cup, and General Ironwood, the man's military uniform a blinding white underneath the stage lights.
The former cleared his throat, raising one hand to calm the audience whilst leaning on his cane with the other. Underneath the bright spotlight, it was hard to tell, but Pyrrha felt as if the man's posture was tense, nervous. It was an unusual air for the normally-subdued man to possess. Before she could ponder further, however, the white-haired man took another step forward and began to speak.
"The Vytal Festival," the professor began, looking into the darkness surrounding the crowd with a calm, blank expression. "Where did it come from? It all began, as most things do, with war."
At his first words, the projector screen behind him lit up with a map of Remnant. A hush fell over the crowd as the map began to move closer, timed perfectly with his words. "The Kingdoms of the world had been locked in a violent struggle for years. But eventually, the Great War of Remnant came to an end on the small island of Vytal. It was here that humanity's leaders chose peace over bloodshed, and constructed the future of modern society, establishing new laws, new academies, and new traditions. "
Even Pyrrha found herself on the edge of her seat. Despite his earlier air of unease, his words today were unusually eloquent, rhythmic, melodic- his voice echoed throughout the amphitheatre like a lullaby, enticing every single audience member, drawing them within his story.
"The Vytal Festival was created to serve as a celebration of peace between the Kingdoms." On screen, the images shifted from the map to photographs of the historic signing, and then to images of the previous Vytal Festival celebrations. "Every two years, a Kingdom would be chosen to open its doors to the world, allowing citizens from every corner of Remnant to meet and indulge in one another's cultures." Images of street stalls flooded with people and night skies lit up brilliantly with firework displays appeared on cue. The solemn air within the amphitheatre itself seemed to lift as everyone watched the splendour of the previous festivals replay onscreen.
"The pinnacle of this event was the Vytal Festival Tournament." The images now shifted to clips from previous tournaments, Huntsmen and Huntresses from around the world locked in friendly battle. "After the newly formed Huntsman Academies proved to be a success, the Vytal Festival Tournament was designed to test the strengths of the Kingdoms' warriors in a safe, and friendly, competitive environment, a wonderful method in which to ensure that the world's Huntsmen would never settle for mediocrity, but would constantly strive to become the absolute best they could be."
Next, the screen shifted to a golden representation of the Amity Coliseum, the battleground where the Vytal Festival Tournament would take place. "As the skills of the Huntsmen grew, so did the games. And in time, it was decided that the tournament would need a stage equal in greatness, to that of its competitors. Amity Coliseum was the culmination of the four Kingdoms' efforts; a technological marvel and a shining symbol of harmony, capable of making the journey to all the Kingdoms of Remnant."
Finally, the screen shifted back to the world map, that final image of all four Kingdoms united fading away, allowing all of the attention to be returned to Professor Ozpin.
The man smiled gently at the crowd. "It's true that all of this began with war. But, it is peace that has served to shepherd humanity on its ascension to greatness. May we never stray from that path."
With that, he took a step back, igniting thunderous applause from the audience.
Pyrrha let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. His presence was incredible, bringing with it a sense of immense pride. She was now a part of this historic event. She was going to be put on display as one of the Huntresses of the next generation. This was the stadium, the battleground, that all of her previous competitions and tournaments had been leading up to.
For once, the thought of being in the spotlight didn't seem so revolting.
"Now, we would like to have General Ironwood speak on behalf of the Security Council of the Vytal Festival in light of recent occurrences around the Kingdom of Vale," Professor Goodwitch intoned through the speakers from backstage.
To replace Professor Ozpin's place in center stage, General Ironwood stepped forward. The stern man looked into the crowd, the spotlight exaggerating the shadows under his eyes. Although he wore a pleasant smile, the stiffness of his jaw and the weariness of his brow were evident, even from her place in the audience.
"I am honoured to be here as the representative of the Atlesian Military," the man began proudly. "For this year's Vytal Festival, Atlas is proud to protect the citizens of the world using the advanced tools at our disposal. We guarantee that we will ensure this festival continues to be the epitome of peace between our Kingdoms, despite any concerns which may have been felt leading up to this." Behind the man's head flashed an image slideshow of the different airships posted around Vale, Beacon and the Amity Colosseum.
As the man continued to explain the Atlesian presence for the Festival and the security measures which would be enforced, Jaune leaned over to Pyrrha uneasily. "Why is he focusing so much on their new tech?"
The redhead frowned, recalling the immense number of airships that littered the sky during the breach of Vale. "I don't know," she whispered back. "I just hope, with all of this military backing, that we don't need to use it."
"Yes to that, my heart couldn't take another attack," the blond groaned, collapsing back into his seat. He shuddered at the memory. "Downtown Vale was enough."
Soon enough, the opening ceremony was over. There was little pomp and circumstance, as most of the flair was saved for the festivities in Vale and the tournament itself. The students found themselves filing out of the amphitheatre slowly- unfortunately, with the amount of reporters and cameras in the vicinity, it took quite a while for the queue to truly get anywhere.
Team JNPR eventually found themselves outside of the theatre, with Ruby and Sun's teams hot on their heels. Immediately, they were accosted by flashes of Scrolls and cameras, the excited crowd taking as many snapshots of this year's competitors as possible. Thankfully, Professor Goodwitch shut the entire affair down with a quick word as she stepped out of the theatre. "The competitors need to go prepare for their matches in the Tournament," she announced curtly, glaring at the crowd. "You will see their skills tomorrow. Until then, please follow the signage along Main Avenue until you reach the docks. We will see you all at the matches in the Amity Colosseum."
One brave reporter called out, "Would we be able to just-"
Raising a brow, the blonde Huntress sent the man an icy glare. "Thank you for joining us in today's ceremony. We will see you all tomorrow."
The man immediately backed down, and soon the students were able to escape from the crowds and get back on the road to the dormitories.
"So what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Jaune asked curiously as they meandered home. "I mean, we're all in our armour already, so should we train for a bit?"
"You should always rest if you can before a match," Pyrrha replied kindly, although her mind was still a mile away. "We shouldn't train tonight, Jaune."
He pouted, but nodded in understanding. "That makes sense," he said glumly. "I just- oh, I don't know. I'm feeling really antsy, you know? I need to move, otherwise I'm gonna go crazy!"
"Why don't we have a little party or something?" Ruby chirped from his other side, poking Jaune's shoulder repeatedly. "We could host, like… ooh, let's have a potluck!"
Everyone in their group stared at her blankly at the sudden suggestion. "That is the most random thing you could've said," Neptune laughed.
"Well," she pouted, "what's wrong with wanting to hang out with everyone before the competition really starts? We haven't had any noodle Sundays for a while, right? We've all been… busy." The word hung over their heads, but no one responded. They all knew that their weekly adventures in Vale had been halted after the attack downtown. No one wanted to venture to close to the central plaza. It brought back too many memories.
"With what food?" Jaune finally groaned awkwardly amidst the silence, pushing the younger girl away playfully. "We don't exactly have a lot of options here."
"Well," Weiss muttered, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "we definitely could host a little celebration. We don't have to be assembled for the tournament until tomorrow afternoon, so that leaves us with the option of having a later night and still being well-rested."
"Which means," Yang jumped in, "we have lots and lots of time to find food!"
"We did just buy that giant box of pasta for the kitchen," Ren murmured. "That could be the main dish."
Sun gave the entire group a thumbs-up, skipping ahead of them all. He began walking backwards, tail waving lazily back and forth as he grinned widely. "You want some food for a crowd? I'll get you some food for a crowd. Don't worry everyone, I'm on the case," he called with a wink.
To everyone's surprise, Blake snorted at that comment. "Don't steal it," she said, deadpan.
"Psh, as if I would," Sun brushed off her words easily, but already, his eyes were flashing mischievously.
Pyrrha sighed, feeling a slight headache coming on. As everyone continued brainstorming what to bring for their sudden dinner celebration, her eyes were still drawn to the crowd in the distance, to the sea of heads bobbing up and down as the guests of the opening ceremony headed towards the passenger ships. There was no red hair in sight. Although she was used to this- her mother never actually attended her matches, after all- it still sent a pang of regret through her heart.
She doesn't want to see you again, the black box hissed, low and slow, creeping twisting tendrils into her gut. She's said goodbye.
It was Ren who brought her attention back to their group. He pulled her aside as their friends stopped in front of the dormitory building, everyone going their separate ways as they went off in search of the perfect party food. He stared at her impassively- yet, without a word, he placed a hand against her arm. Gradually, a sense of calm settled over the redhead, and the voices began to fade into the noise in the background.
Eventually, Ren released her, staggering for just a moment. Pushing through the sudden blanket of calm which his Semblance had draped over her, Pyrrha whispered, "How did you know?"
Giving her a rare, wide smile, Ren simply shrugged. "We're teammates, right?"
She laughed tiredly, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. Gratitude swelled up in her heart. "Yeah. Thanks, Ren."
He swivelled on his heel and walked towards the door. "You still have the apron Nora and I made you, right?"
Pyrrha grinned. "Of course. Am I the sous-chef today?"
"Somebody's got to plate the pasta while I make the sauce," he said dryly.
With that, Pyrrha and Ren set off on their next task. Keeping busy was the perfect way to keep her mind away from the thoughts which had been plaguing her all weekend- her entire mind had been clouded by periods of self-doubt and frustration. She was proud to be a part of the tournament. She was excited to fight in Amity Colosseum. Yet, the question remained- why? Why was she still fighting in the tournament, if not to please her mother?
It's for my team, she insisted to herself as she worked alongside Ren. They need me here. They want to win- I'll bring victory to them.
The doubt never really quieted its head, however, and their cooking spree was mostly silent.
Eventually, the entire gang had assembled in the lounge of their dormitories. Arms were laden with snacks, sandwiches, desserts and more as everyone stumbled in. Somewhere along the way, Sun had nicked an entire crate of fruit from the dining hall, and he cheerfully poured the contents into the center of the kitchen island. Weiss managed to procure disposable cups and plates, and Yang pulled out some suspicious (yet, much to Nora's disappointment, non-alcoholic) wine and sparkling juice.
The food was set up on the kitchen island, and soon, everyone was pouring glasses of juice and clinking plastic cups merrily over plates of various snacks. Music played in the background, and the entire room was alight with a warm, cheery atmosphere. Despite everyone representing different teams- and, with SSSN, different Academies and Kingdoms- everyone was here to spend time with friends.
Pyrrha found herself hanging out at the kitchen sink the moment she was done eating. Holding the pleasant smile on her face was growing exhausting. She wanted to join everyone- she really, truly did- but the effects of Ren's Semblance had waned over the course of the afternoon, and now that dinnertime had come around, the frustration was back in full swing. With a tired sigh, she collected all of the empty dishes and began to wash them methodically, letting the mindless action blur out the noise behind her.
An arm slung around her shoulders dragged her out of her thoughts. To her surprise, the face that appeared next to her belonged to Yang. The bubbly blonde said, "Hey, girl. Come join us. Why are you sittin' alone by your lonesome over here? Is something wrong?"
Pyrrha's eyes snapped to the rest of the group. For the first time, she realized how odd she must have looked, leaning over the sink contemplatively while the party was going on. With trembling hands, she shut off the running faucet and wiped her hands on a dish towel, putting away a clean plate. "I'll be there in a moment. I just… was lost in thought."
A light touch on her back brought her to face Blake, who had crept around her other side. "Everyone's waiting for you," the quiet girl murmured. Despite the shadows haunting her still drawing her face tight, Blake wore a tiny smile on her lips.
Pyrrha blinked at the two girls, leaning back against the sink. "I'm fine," she insisted lightly, slipping on a pleasant smile. "The party can live without me for a bit! I just wanted to get a head start on some of the cleaning."
Instead of listening to her, however, Yang tugged her arm towards the rest of the group. "Nope. Not allowed. Party can't start until all of our friends are having fun."
All of our friends.
"Let's leave the cleanup for later, Pyrrha," Blake said, pushing the girl gently towards the couches. Pyrrha found herself seated beside Nora fairly quickly, but although the orange-haired girl immediately jumped into an excited story, the back of Pyrrha's mind stayed fixed upon the exchange between Blake and Yang.
Even though we rarely talk, I'm still considered one of them. They really do view me as a friend. For some reason, that realization was surreal to her, despite their friendship being totally normal by now. They spent all of their meals together, sat together in most classes, and hung out with their teams nearly every weekend. There was no reason for Yang and Blake to not consider her a friend. Still, the thought melted her heart, and the warmth only bubbled hotter as Blake handed her a fresh plastic cup of sparkling juice and smiled. "Ruby told me how you've been worried about me lately. Thanks," she murmured quietly.
Pyrrha beamed. I'm one of them. I'm not alone.
After the incident on Friday, this glowing feeling growing in the pit of her stomach meant all the world to her, and the little black box was finally quieted for the night.
Soon, the atmosphere grew livelier in the room, everyone breaking off into their own groups to chat and play. Neptune had fished out a deck of cards and was entertaining the crowd with amateur magic tricks, and Ren was busy playing host and refilling dishes. Ruby and Nora seemed to be tightly engaged in a competition of who-can-tell-the-most-outlandish-story, and Yang and Sun had decided it was high time they arm wrestle their way to earning the last few pieces of cake. Pyrrha sat next to Blake through most of this, the Faunus quietly reading a book, seemingly unperturbed by the ruckus around them.
It was quite a while into their little party when the door swung open fully. "Well, I heard that some of the first-years were having a blast in here, but I didn't expect this!" a smooth voice announced from the door. Coco Adel sauntered into the room, hip-checking Jaune off of the armrest upon which he was perched to take his place. As the blond fell with a quiet cry, she continued, "Is this little party invite-only, or can we get in on it?"
Velvet poked her head into the room next, floating in with Yatsuhashi and Fox on her heels. "It smells really good in the hallway," the Faunus explained, rubbing her nose happily. "We were hoping you'd have some extra."
"Of course you can!" Ruby called, waving the second-years over. Fox and Velvet found seats on the floor, while their tallest member stoically began grabbing them all food. "We're holding a little pre-tournament potluck."
"That's so sweet of you," Velvet beamed, clapping her hands in delight. "Do you have any party games or anything?"
Sun chimed in, "Meh, nothing in particular. We could bring out some board games if you wanted."
"Too much work," Blake muttered as she picked at the small stack of tuna salad sandwiches she had on her plate.
Ruby rolled her eyes, but very quickly switched back into her excited mode. Leaning towards Velvet, she whispered loudly, "We can always play the game where… I get to look at what you've got stored in your camera?!"
The young girl was instantly met with both a laugh and a quick smack on the head, leaving her to sulk in response. "Don't try and trick her into using her camera," Coco commanded. "She's been saving those weapons all year."
Velvet giggled. "Sorry Ruby."
Ruby shrugged, nonplussed. "It was worth a shot." She paused, waiting for Yatsuhashi to finally give a plate full of food to all of his teammates, and then stood up, tapping her plastic cup like a wine glass. Slowly, the conversation died down and the group turned to look at the short girl.
She cleared her throat, then puffed out her chest. With a grandiose voice, she announced, "We are gathered here today to-"
"You better not have stolen another one of my binders, Ruby," Weiss called.
"-celebrate- I'm getting to it, Weiss- our entry into the Vytal Festival Tournament. We don't know what we're doing, but we'll kick butt for sure!" Her words were met with a chorus of amused approval, so she continued, "So raise your cups! Let's toast to the competition ahead of us, and… um… Well, to all of us! May the best team win," Ruby announced.
"Um, yeah, and that team is going to be us, obviously," Weiss insisted haughtily.
Neptune elbowed her playfully, eliciting a giggle from her. "Not if Team SSSN has anything to do with it."
"Oh, please, children. As if we're going to let you first-years claim any glory for yourselves," Coco drawled, swirling her drink in her glass elegantly.
"Either way, we're all going to do great!" Velvet smiled. At her soft, gentle words, the atmosphere instantly grew cozier.
"Let's take down the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Nora cheered loudly, jumping onto an armrest of a sofa. Everyone raised their glasses and cheered along.
While everyone hollered and began playfully trash-talking each other, Pyrrha simply sat in her seat and sipped her drink quietly. Watching everyone be so excited for the upcoming tournament was enough to fill her heart with enough warmth to melt away the tension of the previous few days, if for just a moment. This is the first time I'll ever be competing in a team. She paused, eyes widening just a fraction. I've never been friends with my opponents before. Her cheeks coloured slightly at the thought, so she ducked her head to hide away the giddy smile on her lips. It… this is so nice.
To think- she wasn't going to be alone on the coliseum floor any longer.
The evening continued on, everyone settling into whatever seating was available to them. Soon, bodies were crammed into every nook and cranny of the couches, laughter filling the air and the non-alcoholic refills flowing endlessly.
Suddenly, figures pausing at the door caught everyone's attention. Pyrrha's eyes swung over to the entrance of the lounge, disbelief morphing her features. Standing in the doorway was Cardin and the rest of his team. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see all of her friends wearing similar expressions of shock and distrust, the dialogue quickly dying down as they all awaited what Cardin would say.
The tall boy's face flushed red, and he averted his eyes to the floor immediately. "We heard the noise," he grumbled. "Just wondered what was going on. Didn't know it was you losers. Go back to your stupid party."
Immediately, Nora stood up from her seat, a scowl firmly etching itself onto her normally-bright face. Ren held her back with a quick touch to her shoulder and a shake of the head, so the girl simply hissed, "Whatever, Cardin," and took a seat once more.
"Do you have a problem or something?" Yang muttered, crossing her arms.
Russel, who had been standing awkwardly behind his team leader, groaned. "C'mon, Cardin, let's go," he mumbled. Glaring at everyone in the room, he grabbed Cardin's arm and began to pull him insistently out.
"Wait!" Jaune cried from behind Pyrrha. She swiveled in her seat, curious. After the incidents in first term during their trip to Forever Fall, Team CRDL hadn't approached any of Pyrrha's friends, especially Jaune. The last time she had even interacted with them had been the larger training match in Professor Goodwitch's class. Why would Jaune want to talk to them now?
To everyone's surprise, Jaune shuffled to the front of the room with a paper plate loaded high with snack foods from their spread. "We- we were celebrating getting into the Vytal Festival Tournament," he said quietly. Offering the plate to a shell-shocked Cardin, he added, "You guys got in too, right? You should have some."
The taller boy's upper lip curled instinctively into a sneer, but after a moment, all the energy drained from his face, and he slumped over. "Yeah. Whatever." Despite his pout, he still took the plate and shuffled out of the room, his teammates awkwardly stumbling after him.
"Good luck in the tournament!" Jaune called after them. They didn't respond, but it didn't seem to bother the blond- instead, he wore an expression of smug satisfaction, as if he had accomplished something incredible.
"Oh my gosh," Ruby breathed, staring slack-jawed alongside Pyrrha at the blond's amiable expression across the room. "He's grown up."
Pyrrha couldn't help but nod slowly, just as dumbfounded. Her eyes followed Jaune all the way back to his seat across the room, where he had been animatedly talking to Neptune and Sun. Continuing on as if nothing had happened, he launched back into whatever story he was telling them, and quickly the silence from Cardin's sudden visit fell away back to noisy, amicable chatter. Unlike the Jaune of six months earlier, he was no longer shaken up after talking to Cardin. Instead, he seemed confident and at ease. "He has indeed." Pride suddenly surged through her chest, and she dropped her gaze down to the cup clutched tightly in her hands. Closing her eyes, breathing in slowly, she let her mind wander until it landed on the perfect image to express her emotion.
The dream which she had seen months earlier; Jaune, perched atop the Great War memorial statue. The outline of the laughing blond across the room matched the figure in her mind so well.
He was finally gaining the maturity of a real Huntsman.
"Well, I'm just saying," Nora mumbled around a mouthful of food, "that he's totally wearing his armour now. Eh? Eh? If you wanted to, you could-"
Instantly, dread and embarrassment washed over Pyrrha. "Nora, please don't do this," Pyrrha hissed- but instead of hiding her face, she simply slung her arms around Nora's shoulders in a soft hug. Nora's eyes widened, the girl immediately dropping her plate onto the table and throwing her own arms around Pyrrha's waist in response.
The redhead laughed at her sudden excitement, quietly thankful- Pyrrha rarely initiated much physical contact, after all. It was nice to see Nora so happy (and distracted from the previous topic) after a rough few weeks.
However, more arms wrapped around Pyrrha's. Glancing up over her shoulder, her face instantly flushed as Jaune beamed at her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Group hug for the tournament! Ren, get in here!"
The other boy rolled his eyes but obeyed nonetheless, resting his hands amicably on Nora's and Jaune's shoulders.
We must look ridiculous. The other teams cooed and cheered as they held on another, but she didn't care. Pyrrha let herself giggle with Nora, let herself get swept away. For the first time in weeks, she felt truly and utterly safe.
Nothing could touch her with the three of them by her side – especially not with Jaune's arms holding her tight. It was such a silly thing, but in that moment… it was all she could've ever asked for. They were everything she never knew she wanted. They were the family she was going to protect.
And she'd fight for them till the very end.
-end of term 1.5-
xXx
***BONUS CONTENT FOR THE END OF VOLUME 2!
Just like at the end of the first volume, I thought it might be fun to put in some behind-the-scenes of my draft/notes for the last few chapters, since you all seemed to find it pretty funny the first time. Enjoy!
[47]
She notices cfvy appear and vaguely watches, maybe dodges a bullet from coco and is like ho shit machine guns that's normal okay so that's what she has in that bag damn
[48]
Pyrrha joins them, she's a little awkward, Nora's like so polarity huh? Wanna just grab Jaune's armour and schmoop
Pyrrha is horrified like what the actual fuck
That's when Ren finally realizes that Pyrrha likes Jaune and he's like HOLY SHIT THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME and Nora just cracks up laughing like of course doofus why do you think I've tried to get them together so much
Ren is just hollowed out over pancakes and Nora's cackling away being like USE POLARITY and Pyrrha's like NO
Finally Jaune wakes up and wanders in in footy pyjamas and Nora's like yo Jaune are those buttons metal, He's like yeah
She goes to Pyrrha and is like OPEN UP HIS SHIRT, Pyrrha starts screeching]
[50]
Ironwood talks about security, Pyrrha can sense ozpin is pissed about it, she thinks of the military force outside of the vale attack and says ooh boy I hope nothing happens hur dur
…
So Nora is kind of a wino isn't she
And she realizes that even though they don't talk a lot, they really do consider her one of them
So even though she's lost her fam she still has one in her friends my friends are my power bullshit
…
Ruby is proud of Jaune, so is Pyrrha, she's surprised by just how much he's grown
Nora's like WELL HE'S DEFINITELY WEARING ARMOUR TO RIP OFF NOW and Pyrrha starts screeching again
xXx
And that's that! See y'all soon (hopefully) with volume 3. I'm going to try and pump out as many chapters as possible over the next few weeks, so… maybe expect a schedule with multiple-updates/week in the coming future? No guarantees. I'd love to hear from you (especially considering there's so many people reading along now holy moly) about your thoughts on volume 2, and what's ahead in volume 3. Your reviews/PMs are part of what make this so fun. Thanks for all the love and support, as always!