Chapter 2: Reigniting the Fire
-/- Beacon Academy's main courtyard, Vale -/-
After a probably hilarious trek down the CCT Tower, Pyrrha followed Ethan to the courtyard of the Academy, her figure covered by a grey cloak that her companion had somehow produced out of nowhere. Looking around at what was left of the Academy after the Fall, she sighed sadly, silently mourning the place that she once called home.
"C'mon Pyrrha, we need to hurry," Ethan said when he noticed she was slowing down as they walked through the courtyard, taking a quick look around their surroundings. He was also wearing a cloak similar to hers, and Pyrrha was itching to ask why.
So she did. "Ethan? Why... Are we wearing these?" She inquired, complete with a slight tilt of her head. The boy let out a deep breath, before he replied, "Well, yeah. I mean, a lot of people think you're dead, so we need to hide you for a while."
"But in a place like this... Is it really necessary?"
"Ehhh..." For the first time since he had arrived in Remnant, the teenager was at a loss for words, before he managed to think further and said, "You'll see." It was probably a good thing that he wasn't facing Pyrrha as they walked on, because he sure didn't want to show her another sheepish look like the one he had given her earlier when he asked if she knew a way down the Tower.
They were quiet for a while as they walked, with Pyrrha still sceptical of her companion. He had told her nothing except his name, yet he knew hers before she even said it. Also, he claimed that he was on a mission, with her as his partner, but he hadn't explained what the mission was or how in Dust's name did he revive her. She was pretty sure that Cinder had shot her straight in the heart...
"Y'know, if you want to ask me something, go ahead," Ethan suddenly said, without even looking at Pyrrha, who was startled by the statement. How did he know she was thinking about that?
"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to tell me what's your mission, that's all," She answered, shyly hiding her hands behind her back. This was very unlike Pyrrha Nikos... But then again, everything she had done during the Fall was a bit unlike her.
Her partner grinned, glancing at her quickly. "I was hoping you'd say that," He remarked, before he plunged into the explanation. "You see, after the Fall, Team RWBY separated. It's part of my job to bring them back together."
"Wait, they split up ways?!" Came the astounded comment from the redhead. Ethan nodded. "Yang's with her dad in their place at Patch," He continued. "During the Fall of Beacon, she lost her right arm when she was protecting Blake from an enemy. She's pretty dejected now."
Pyrrha quietly pondered on what he had said about Yang, worrying for her friend.
"Blake... She ran off to Menagerie after saving Yang from the enemy and getting on board the last airship departing for Vale. The professors had to conduct a mandatory evacuation of the remaining students in Beacon who stayed to fight off the Atlesian mechas. When she left, Sun went after her." Ethan could tell that Pyrrha was beginning to worry even more, but because he promised an explanation, here he was. They were farther away from Beacon now, travelling through the woods.
"Weiss went home with her father, who thought it'd be safer for her to be in Atlas rather than in Vale. Ruby, well, being the determined person she is-as well as the last person to see you alive-is travelling to Mistral with your Team. They believe they can get answers once they reach Haven Academy." The young man stopped in his tracks as he and Pyrrha reached the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest, with the latter recognizing the place as where initiation took place.
Ethan glanced at her, noting a small hint of hope in her eyes, which he figured was from the thought of being able to see Jaune and the others very soon. He smiled softly, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. His gesture was received with a similar smile and a "So, where to first?"
"Patch. We're retrieving Yang," Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "And how are we getting there?" She asked, just as Ethan bit his thumb quite sharply, drawing a small amount of blood from the wound, and began to make unusual hand signals. "Ethan, what are you-"
"Summoning Jutsu!" The teen smacked the whole palm of his hand onto the ground, producing several symbols on the grass that looked like they were written by a thick bamboo brush. Pyrrha's eyes squinted as a cloud of white smoke spontaneously poofed from the symbols. Opening them once more, she found a large-sized hawk cocking its head curiously at her.
Without a word, Ethan got on the large bird, looking at Pyrrha with a raised eyebrow. "You riding or what?"
Mouth slightly ajar, Pyrrha could only climb onto the hawk's back, and scream a little as she hugged Ethan's waist from behind while the hawk lifted up into the air and began to fly towards Patch.
-/- Patch, Vale -/-
Hours after they had left Beacon, Ethan finally caught sight of the near island of Patch, nudging the napping Pyrrha gently. "Hey, we're almost there."
Pyrrha stirred from her short nap, head peering from behind Ethan to see the island. The bleak wind blew against their faces, and the former star student was glad that she kept her cloak on. Her companion, on the other hand, was doing fine even though he had discarded his cloak just before he got on the hawk, as he had his jacket.
After a few more minutes, the bird landed in the outskirts of the city. The place was filled with trees, and luckily there was no one in sight to see the hawk poof into nothing after Pyrrha and Ethan got off, though Pyrrha seemed quite mind-blown by the experience.
"What?" Ethan asked after he had petted the hawk just before it dissipated, seeing a blank look on his companion's face. Pyrrha realized he was staring at her and shook her head, muttering, "I am never getting used to this..."
The walk to Patch was quiet, with Pyrrha lost in thought and Ethan focusing on finding a path to the port city. Just as they reached the city, the redhead's stomach grumbled loudly, startling both of them and other passerby.
"Someone's starving," Ethan commented, looking around for a place where they could grab some food, finally settling on the stall called A Simple Wok. He tugged on Pyrrha's arm and they made their way to the food stall, with him ordering two bowls of noodles.
A memory flashed through the former Huntress-in-training's mind, which led to her nervous question, "Are you sure we can afford these, Ethan...?" Her partner smiled at her, fishing a few Lien out of his pants pocket and waving them at her before handing them over to the shopkeep.
The two of them ate in peace, and thankfully they both managed to finish the ridiculously large amount of food placed in the bowls. Just as Pyrrha swallowed her last mouthful of noodles, Ethan caught a glimpse of someone familiar and gestured quickly for Pyrrha to pull over the hood of her cloak before doing the same with his jacket, which, thankfully, had a hood as well.
The redhead was utterly confused until a new costumer-a blond-haired man-came into the stall ordering takeout. The man looked somewhat familiar to her until she realised it was Yang's father, Taiyang Xiao Long.
"Tai!" Another new costumer called out, a grin on his face as he took a seat beside the standing blond. "Getting some takeout, eh?" Taiyang chuckled nervously, nodding his head quickly in response.
Ethan and Pyrrha remained silent as the conversation continued, both trying to look very interested in their almost empty bowls. Ethan wondered if he could have seconds-he still felt a little bit hungry even after eating a large amount of noodles; Pyrrha awkwardly tapped at her bowl with her wooden chopsticks.
As the shopkeep delivered the ordered takeout to the waiting Taiyang, the man asked, "How's Yang? She doing fine?" At this, the hooded duo perked up while Taiyang only sighed as a reply. "She's... Alright, I guess." That was all he said before grabbing the takeout and leaving the stall, not without a quick goodbye to the costumer with whom he was talking with.
After Taiyang had left, Pyrrha took off her hood, looking at Ethan with a hopeful expression. "Do you think they were referring to the Yang?" She asked quickly as Ethan removed his hood and shrugged.
"I don't know," He replied, getting up from his seat and began heading towards the direction where he saw Taiyang go off, his companion immediately following after him. "But I do intend to find out."
A mental note Ethan made while he and Pyrrha were stalking Taiyang was that the teenager had to work on his stealth or on masking his presence, because the blond seemed to sense that someone-or some people-were following him. The older man wasn't a Huntsman for nothing, and after the fifth time he had looked behind his back and saw nothing out of the ordinary, he was feeling the signs of irritation.
Another mental note was: beware of dog, also known as the adorable and well-trained Zwei.
As soon as Taiyang had reached the close perimeters of his house, he whistled for the black and white corgi to come out of the house and sniff out the area. Catching sight of the dog running on his little legs towards his master, Ethan immediately understood what was going to happen and quickly looked around, spotting a large tree nearby and pulling Pyrrha with him to it.
"What are you doing?" Pyrrha asked nervously as Ethan motioned for her to climb up. The black-haired teenager, in panic, whispered, "Climb up! Zwei's going to sniff us out!"
The former Huntress-in-training awkwardly began climbing up the trunk and hide in the foliage with her companion, who was out of breath and seemingly jumpy. His current panicky attitude reminded her of Jaune, which brought a sad mood about her as she remembered her team leader-
"Arf! Arf!" A loud and alarming bark sounded as Zwei, unfortunately for the two, found them and began alerting his master of their presence, jumping up in futile attempts to get them down. As the corgi was small, it seemed quite comical to the unknowing eye. Both Ethan and Pyrrha sweatdropped, but dared not to make a sound until...
Thud! A strong and sudden force hit the trunk of the tree, which shook the hiding teens out of the leaves and branches, and onto the hard grassy ground. The teens yelped in surprise as they crashed onto the grass.
"Owww..." Ethan groaned, sitting up slowly as he rubbed his back. "You okay Pyrrha?" He asked the wincing redhead, who only managed a nod of her head as a reply while she sat up as well. Zwei was nearby, growling and barking at them with hostility, his tiny tail raised up in alarm.
"Who's there?!" Taiyang's voice thundered, and Ethan heard footsteps coming closer to where he and Pyrrha were. There was no use in running; they had a goal to complete and Zwei already caught their scent.
The only thing that the two of them could do was gulp nervously as Taiyang, wearing somewhat familiar shotgun-gaunlets, discovered them. Luckily, Pyrrha was still wearing her cloak, which hid her identity from the already suspicious blond.
"Who are you?" The older man asked in a not-so-polite tone. The two teens were silent, so he prepared to fire at them again when Ethan-in panic-exclaimed, "Don't shoot! We're looking for Yang Xiao Long and we overheard you and someone else talking about her so we followed you and-and-" He faltered, unable to say anything else.
Taiyang sighed, lowering his gaunlets. Pyrrha could only look at her jumpy companion in disbelief, completely surprised with his reply. (When looking back on that moment, she'd look at Ethan for a while and wonder how in Oum's name did that incident happen.)
"So you're looking for my daughter, huh," The blond clarified, before calling Zwei back to his side and motioning for the teens to follow him back to the house. "Well, you could have just come up to me."
Ethan, while helping Pyrrha up on her feet, replied, "You'd probably think us crazy or something if we did so." Taiyang chuckled, only nodding his head in agreement as they arrived at the house.
Yang glumly sat on her bed, hand clutching a photo of her with her sister, Weiss, and Blake, as she lingered on memories long past. Why did everyone leave her nowadays? Was she not worth their time, their effort, their friendship? She thought they were worth her own, but she was wrong to think that she was worth theirs.
The cloudy little dragon sighed sadly, tears threatening to form in her eyes as once happy memories flashed through her eyes before a more painful one began to resound over and over again in her mind.
She could see those hidden eyes burning with spite, hatred, digust-
"Yang!" Her dad's voice echoed through the house as he came inside. "Yang! You have some... Uhm... Visitors!"
What? Visitors? Yang immediately hid the photo of Team RWBY under her pillow before she stood up, cautiously making her way down the stairs. However, the events that followed once she stood still at the last steps of the stairs was just too good to be true.
"Yang Xiao Long?" An unfamiliar male voice addressed her, and it belonged to a light-brown skinned guy with unkept, black hair and piercing dark blue eyes. Beside him was a hooded figure, whom she didn't find familiar as well. Her dad was by the doorway to the kitchen near the stairs, arms crossed, with Zwei panting by his side.
"Yeah, that's me," Yang replied, still cautious of the boy who had addressed her. The guy sighed in relief, before saying, "We're here to ask you something." The darker blonde haired girl raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, we?" She asked suspiciously.
It was at this moment the hooded figure removed their hood, and Yang's purple eyes widened in shock as familiar bright green orbs met her gaze. Red hair in a ponytail, missing a golden circlet around her forehead... Oh Dust.
Pyrrha smiled nervously at her, waving shyly, "Hello again!"
"Pyrrha!" Immediately, Yang lunged towards the redhead, wrapping her friend in a quick one-armed hug. "Y-you're... You're alive!" She pulled back, tears almost trickling down her cheeks. "But how?"
"It's... Complicated," Pyrrha replied, almost flinching once she saw the missing arm, its stub covered by Yang's gray long-sleeved short jacket. "You... You really lost it..." The redhead trailed off, unable to say anything else. Her friend only looked down sadly, nodding slowly.
Pyrrha's companion stepped towards Yang, clearing his throat as to gain her attention. "If... If you had a chance to get your arm back, would you?"
"I still don't know who you are," Yang answered, her eyes slightly narrowing at him. He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck in an awkward motion. "My name's Ethan. Ethan Kenway. Can you answer my question now?"
Yang thought for a while, glancing at her lost arm before looking at Ethan straight in the eyes and replying, "Yeah. I would."
"Would you believe me if I told you I could help you get it back?"
"That's... That's impossible," The dragon looked at her dad, who shared a similar surprised look in response to Ethan's inquiry. "You can't regenerate limbs."
"Well, I can," He said, and upon seeing Yang's skeptical look, he answered, "I can give it to you. I mean, I was instructed to."
"By who?"
"I... Can't say. But hey, just... Trust me, okay?" Yang looked at Pyrrha, who only shrugged, then at her dad, who did a similar action, before she turned to Ethan with a sigh. "Fine. How?"
The teen showed her his palms, which had the separate etched marks of a sun and a moon. "Remove your jacket," Was his first instruction. She immediately shrugged off her jacket, showing him her lost arm.
"Now, embrace yourself. This may sting, but when it's over, I assure you, you'll be feeling great," He placed both hands on the stub, muttering something inaudible under his breath. Soon, his hands glowed softly as a white cocoon-like thing began to grow from the stub, becoming as long as her previous arm... Then it began to sting like hell.
You know those times when you get a hell of a wound and someone just has to fuss over it, dropping pints of hydrogen peroxide on your open wound to clean it? Yeah, that was how Yang felt as the healing process began.
Both Taiyang and Pyrrha were alarmed, and the older dragon was about to take a step forward when Ethan-still holding onto Yang's stub, warned, "Stay back!" Yang only gritted her teeth, enduring the pain. She did have a Semblance that exploited pain, and if something went wrong, she could always punch Ethan where the sun didn't shine with all the pain she absorbed from this.
After a few minutes, the pain subsided, and Ethan removed his hands from her upper arm. The cocoon then dissolved into dust, revealing a perfectly healed arm. Yang gasped in surprise, a grin slowly forming on her lips as she tested her arm by forming a fist then opening her hand.
"This is so-owww..." Yang slightly winced as the pins and needles made themselves known, since her arm was still beginning to function once more. Everyone else-sans Ethan-was speechless, until Yang looked up at Ethan, whispering hoarsely, "Thank you."
"Eh, it was nothing."
"No, that was something!" Taiyang suddenly exclaimed, startling the teenagers. "You managed to give Yang back her arm... How?"
"I... I can't really say why," Ethan faltered, sighing sadly as the marks on his palms began to fade away, having served their purposes. "But it's a one-time thing, so..." He turned to Yang, saying, "Congratulations, you are now-"
"ARMed and ready!" Yang cheered, earning comically disapproving looks from Pyrrha and Taiyang, who was mumbling something under his breath as he facepalmed, though Ethan caught, "Damnit Yang..."
"Actually, I was going to say, you're now reARMed," The boy said, smirking as Yang began laughing while the others only groaned at the arm jokes. "Well, I gotta-" The sunny little dragon held out her healed hand-"HAND it to you Ethan-"
"Alright! Enough arm puns before the house gets blown up," Both Ethan and Yang childishly whined and pouted when Taiyang cut them off, while Pyrrha giggled lightly at the fun scene. She had a feeling there wouldn't be a lot of happy scenes like these in the future.
"Let's head over to more serious matters," Taiyang said after everyone was seated in the living room, giving off a solemn aura as he turned to Ethan. "You came here to give my daughter's arm back, but I'm guessing that there's something else that you want to discuss with Yang, no?"
"Yeah," The boy nodded in emphasis to his answer. "There is something I have to do that requires Yang's help." He looked at Yang, his dark sapphire eyes meeting her purple ones. "I need you to help me reunite Team RWBY."
"What?" The dragon asked in disbelief, looking at Pyrrha with a face that said, For real? The redhead only nodded in confirmation. Yang frowned, thinking for a while before she returned her gaze upon Ethan.
Looking at him, she was somewhat reminded of her sister: they had that same determined look on their faces when they had something important to do. The thought of her sister began to fill her mind, blacking out the negative thoughts of a certain Cat Faunus.
"Alright, I'll go with you guys," She decided, getting up from her seat and sighing. "I'll just... Get my stuff first." She then made a beeline for the stairs, and the three people downstairs soon heard a door opening and closing.
"Hm, is that all?" Taiyang looked at the boy, raising a brow. Ethan shurgged, "More or less." The boy didn't want anyone else-much more Taiyang-to know that he had knowledge about the Relics, Maidens, and even Salem. It'd be too alarming.
In a few minutes, Yang came down the stairs, wearing a tan jacket with an orange crop top underneath, black fitted-pants, and dark brown boots. She had a backpack slung behind her shoulder, the remaining inactive shotgun gaunlet known as Ember Celica on her left wrist, and a determined look on her face. "I'm ready. Let's go."
"Wait, Yang," Her dad interrupted, giving her a worried look. The blonde haired girl smiled softly and took a few steps forward to hug her dad tightly. The father and daughter hugged for a while before Taiyang pulled away, whispering, "Be careful."
Ethan and Pyrrha got up from their seats, nodding at Taiyang respectfully before they, as well as Yang, left the house, closing the door behind them. Taiyang only sighed, glancing at the whimpering Zwei, who was already beginning to miss his fiery mistress as much as he missed his younger sweets-loving mistress.
"They've got a long journey ahead."