A/N: Here we are again muse..
Pyrrha had always found it hard to make true friends. That's not to say that she didn't have people around her all of the time, she constantly had acquaintances around her nearly nonstop at Sanctum. These people, these "friends" only ever wanted to be around her because of who she is. It was incredibly frustrating it was also one of the reasons she applied to Beacon, hoping that perhaps there she might be far enough away from her fame. Her hopes were temporarily dashed when the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company came running up praising her name hoping to be partners based only on who she was. It was then that a handsome blonde goofball and a quirky little silver eyed girl gave her hope.
Jaune seemed to know of her he just didn't seem to care if she was a celebrity. Ruby genuinely didn't know of her fame, and even when the tiny girl was told, then shown some of her work, her response was "So, she's still just Pyrrha." With a small shrug. Then there were Ren and Nora, bless their souls, the two of them were like Ruby they didn't know of her from TV or magazines. They had gotten to know the person first making the celebrity inconsequential. It was refreshing, for the first time in her life she began to feel like she had honest to goodness friends. She even had a few auxiliary friends in Yang, Blake, and even Weiss, her initial impression of the white haired girl seemed to be mostly wrong, she was glad to have misunderstood her.
She had expected to grow close with her own team, the kinship JNPR and RWBY shared was an unexpected surprise and an added bonus. The thing that surprised the insensible girl the most was how alike Ruby and she were. Ruby was a prodigy in both combat and weaponry, in battle her mind was second only to Jaune's when it came to strategizing. To say Pyrrha was shocked to learn the tiny reaper was two years her junior would have been an understatement. Ruby was frequently requested for sparring matches by those in the know. She would never say it out loud, but Ruby really, genuinely sucked at hand to hand combat. The redhead almost admired the way Ruby didn't even seem to care that she couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag without her weapon.
Speaking of her weapon.. holy mother of all things good was that some weapon! Scythes, in and of themselves being a rarity as a weapon due to their unwieldy nature and their habit of maiming their handlers as well as their prey.. it was also a gun.. not just any gun a fully customizable high impact sniper rifle. You could have picked Pyrrha's chin off of the ground when she found out Ruby had not only designed but engineered it by herself. Yang had beamed proclaiming "My little sister is a prodigy!" Pyrrha hated that word and didn't miss the small growl from Ruby when it was said. She understood the feeling well. These are some of the thoughts running through her head as she studies with Ruby in the library. Jaune and Yang were supposed to be there as well.
Yang being Yang didn't even bother with making an excuse to bail. The brawler said she had a night club to destroy. Ruby telling her sister to please not burn it down this time left Pyrrha confused. "That wasn't a joke?" She had asked Ruby. The serious way the silver eyed girl had answered "Oh, no, she totally destroyed a night club the night I chased Torchwick out of ol man shopkeep's dust store." Ruby's nonchalant delivery and explanation of the two events had the redhead a bit worried. Jaune had been acting weird the last few days, sneaking off, neglecting his studies and training and generally avoiding his team. Helping Ruby grasp the pythagorean theorem was truthfully a welcome distraction, though the redhead could tell her explanation was falling short. Ruby, bless her soul was trying so hard to get it, the younger girls frustration at her own lack of understanding was a familiar feeling for Pyrrha.
"Guhh, when am I ever going to use math as a huntress!" Ruby whines slumping back in her chair.
"Well, maybe when you need to repair your weapon?" The redhead thinks fast, hoping relating the subject to one of the younger girls passions would spark her interest. Her ploy sort of works and after another half an hour or so Ruby has at least a working idea of the math formula. Their studies done Pyrrha's stomach growls, it catches Ruby's attention and in turn her stomach grumbles.
"I guess we worked past dinner time." Pyrrha sounds a bit sheepish.
"The cafeteria is already closed too." Ruby sighs after checking the time on her scroll.
"I'm sorry." Pyrrha says, almost automatically.
"What for? Happens all the time! We'll just have to get dinner off campus!" Ruby nearly cheers. "C'mon, I know a great little bakery!" Ruby grabs the older girls hand without waiting on a response dragging her along. Pyrrha finds she is actually having trouble keeping up with the smaller girl as she's being dragged unceremoniously down the walkways. That girl was tiny, she was surprisingly strong, her speed was a given of course. Pyrrha found, that despite her stumbling she had a huge grin on her face. A memory of watching two of her friends in grade school in much the same situation crosses her mind. She had secretly wished she had a friend that would literally drag her with them at the time. Her prodigy status was well known even in her earliest memories, she was often left out of the fun out of jealousy or spite. She recalls being so lonely back then, but now she had friends, the real kind, the kind that didn't care about her fame.
The two girls were settled into a booth talking an eating ne of the best sandwiches Pyrrha had ever had, honestly. The bakery was a cozy little out of the way mom and pop shop. Pyrrha couldn't help but think Ruby had only discovered this place due to it being next to her favorite weapons shop. Pyrrha had opened up about her concern for Jaune's odd behavior as of late. She was actually beginning to wonder if her fearless leader was even going to show up for their field trip to Forever Fall in a few days. Ruby promises to talk to the blonde dork next time she sees him, she swears it won't seem obvious.
The door to the little bakery jingles and Ruby's eyes light up. The young man walking in was in the same class as her at Signal. Ruby calls out to the boy, smiling an waving. He scoffs at the silver eyed girl and glares grumbling under his breath. Ruby sighs, she's crestfallen, the boy had never been anything other than an aquantice and he ha never been one to appreciate her raw talents either. He was often vocal with his accusations that Ruby was getting special treatment because of her uncle and father both working at their school. It didn't matter to him that she consistently scored highest in armed combat and weapons, or that she was the first one in class to unlock her semblance. Yang ha caught the tail end of one of the boy's rants one day and nearly put him through a wall. He had been cordial, nearly friendly since then. Ruby sighs again.
"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asks, concern in her voice and on her face.
"Yep." Ruby chirps, trying to ignore the glare from across the room. "So, um, about Jaune…"
Pyrrha is about to chide the younger girl for hiding her emotions, not that she's one to talk, especially when it came to a certain blue eyed idiot. She's interrupted when the boy calls out. He had heard of Ruby's partnership with Weiss, a Schnee heiress, and here she was sitting at a café eating dinner with an outright celebrity. Pyrrha prickled at the barb, but ever in control managed to keep her face neutral. Ruby however wore her heart on her sleeve, though the speed at which her face was conveying her thoughts was a bit mind boggling. Another barb from the boy flew across the café, he accuses Ruby of thinking she's better than everyone else, his finishing blow he declares that the tiny girl never earned all the praise an opportunities she was given, chalking it all up to her connections. He sits a smug satisfied smirk on his face. Pyrrha is surprised to see Ruby's expression is mostly neutral, she had looked away to shoot a glare at the boy. "C'mon Pyrrha, if we don't get going we won't make curfew. I don't want to go to detention…again." The redhead arches an eyebrow., the two actively ignoring the boy. "Again?" She wonders out loud. The two girls cleaning up their table.
Ruby laughs a bit nervously. "I mean.. It was technically Blake's fault.. she forgot to clean up her book stack in the library.. Cardin was so mad!" Ruby laughs, purposely ignoring her former classmate, failing at not making it obvious .
Pyrrha snickers, covering her mouth with her hand. "He had a dent in his forehead for a week." She muses. The two leave the bakery, the boy huffs not getting the reaction he wanted out of Ruby, but he doesn't follow them out. The girls have walked a few blocks away from the bakery, Ruby has been uncharacteristically quiet, it makes Pyrrha uncomfortable for reasons he can't quite place. "Was that a common occurrence at Signal?" She speaks up breaking the awkward silence. She'd been on the receiving end of taunts like that more times than she cared to count.
Ruby surprises Pyrrha by fully letting her guard down, it's surprising because she had never had a clue the tiny reaper was actually so careful in the face she showed the world. Ruby sighs allowing her shoulders to sag and the seemingly ever present smile drop from her face. "Yea, he had a group of friends. Dad said they were just jealous of my natural skill, but I dunno, it seems like more than that. I know that not everyone will like me, but it was exhausting to deal with it every day. I miss Signal, but I'm also glad to be away.. that doesn't make sense does it?"
Pyrrha half chuckles, catching Ruby off guard. "No, I understand exactly what you mean." she really does understand. Like flipping a light switch Ruby is talking her ear off again. They have a lot in common, Pyrrha hadn't realized how badly she had needed a friend that shared the title prodigy with her. It was comforting to finally be able to talk to someone who just got it. The redhead finds that this revelation causes her to open up more than she had been able to in years. The two talk for over an hour after arriving back at Beacon. They are about to part ways, standing across the hall from each other, hands on their respective dorm room doorknobs when Ruby has a thought.
"Hey, Pyrrha, will you help me study again tomorrow?" She pleads puppy dog eyes already engaged.
"That sounds lovely!" Pyrrha smiles, looking forward to tomorrow.
A/N: I've been writing this for like a week, I would get a paragraph in and get instantly sleepy. Then again I worked 22 hours in two days, so there's that, I guess. I have like a fifth of a chapter for The Knight and the Griffon done, though what I wrote feels more like a middle of the chapter, so I gotta figure that out. Yang and Blake are still refusing to talk with the muse for their Arc in Following Our Way. I have like a tenth of a chapter done for Unexpected Arrivals, the muse is kinda being stubborn and wants to throw in a subplot that I frankly would probably rush and mess up. This week work wise promises to be exhausting, I have mostly 10 hour days, so I expect to have a mind o mush come Saturday.