Unfortunate. That was the single word that Weiss Schnee felt could sum up her entire experience since arriving at Beacon Academy, and she would mostly attribute everything wrong with a single girl named Ruby Rose. Her misfortune had started with when they had met and it had followed her ever since then.
The clumsy child had caused a mess and drew the attention of a rude girl who held a grudge, then in the auditorium her offhanded comment attracted the attention of a bitter boy. And now by chance, or a twist of fate, she was partnered up a gloomy girl with a grudge.
Weiss took a deep, but subtle, breath in and calmed herself as she walked forth to her new partner for the next four years. "It seems we got off on the wrong foot last time, nice to meet you. I'm Weiss Schnee and I hope our partnership is a prosperous one." She said as she holstered her weapon and held out her empty hand, Pyrrha Nikos was watching her and the chance of them still being on the same team was high.
"I know who you are." The girl rudely replied after a second, a fact already clear when she had corrected Ruby yesterday and didn't matter to her own introduction. "Blake… Belladonna." She introduced herself with an odd pause, and her eyes shifted away.
'Bella…donna? Why does that sound familiar?' In the end that thought didn't go anywhere as Weiss realized that Blake had turned around and began walking away, without shaking her hand. Again for emphasis, Blake didn't shake Weiss' hand. It was an utterly inconceivable fact that their partnership wasn't sealed properly.
Weiss blankly stared at her hand and then at the girl walking away.
A handshake represented a mutual commitment to trust and respect each other moving forth, it was supposed to be a sign that two people considered each other as equals and would cooperate peacefully from now on. Weiss had even gone the extra step and holstered her rapier, so even her unused hand would be weaponless, another sign that she was sincere in her keeping things peaceful between them and that the handshake wasn't just an empty gesture.
'T-that bitch! Who does she think she is! What does this mean? Is she telling me that she doesn't accept me as her partner? Me?' As her thoughts went wild with speculation at the apparent denial of their partnership, her extended hand curled up into a fist.
"Jaune Arc, right?" Yang suddenly spoke up behind Weiss, who had a feeling she had been watching her introduction. "And what else did you say? Oh yeah! It was short, sweet, rolls off the tongue and ladies love it, right?" Yang asked with a chuckle.
'Seriously? What type of moron would say that?' Weiss lost her previous train of thought at Yang's question. 'Even if you're just joking around, at least try to make it believable.' She shook her head, and turned her attention to Pyrrha Nikos.
The champion was holding her spear almost at the ready, oddly enough her gaze was zeroed in on the bitter boy, and her emerald eyes darted around his body. Pyrrha must have also sensed the danger lurking within that boy, that fact was a comfort to Weiss; she truly had an equal here.
"Haaa…" Jaune let out a low groan and then his voice cracked with a cough. "Y-you, uh, don't have to repeat it." He mumbled softly. Oh, how weak he sounded to Weiss as he admitted to those words, he sounded utterly and completely spineless and so very much reminiscent of the sniveling brats who thought themselves worth their own overweight bodies in riches.
'Even if he was a bitter boy with a fragile ego, I could at least admire how determined he had been to end my life, but I must've been mistaken by a bluff.' This time Weiss was fully aware of the sneer of disgust she flashed at Jaune. She was also aware of the confused face on the champion. 'I suppose his bluff had even fooled her.'
Pyrrha Nikos blinked when an unbelievable sight occurred before her eyes, someone had just shifted their stance completely. A changing stance wasn't odd by itself, rather that was to be expected form competent fighters, but the absolute shift was unnatural. The boy, Jaune Arc, according to Yang, had just gone from a highly competent and hyper-deadly stance to one that broadcasted complete and absolute weakness.
His current stance lacked literally everything resembling any sort of training, he wasn't even standing correctly. A gentle nudge could topple him right now.
'Is… this disappointed?' A thought occurred to her as she realized her emotional state. A challenge, that was what she had seen. Someone who might've challenged her undefeated title, when she had noticed how strong he had seemed her first thought was how a fight between them would play out, how to defend herself and how to attack him.
And for the first time in years, she could imagine not just her defeat but also her death if she took this match lightly. Something almost forgotten pumped through her veins, and her rusted body started back up, her heart, lungs, muscles and senses were brought back to life as adrenaline coursed through her body. She was alive and facing the risk of dying, the chemical she had longed for lit up the world once more.
When she had been a young girl, a normal girl, the very idea of a fight scared her. She had constant panic attacks during her harsh training, and adrenaline was her savior. When that chemical was released she wouldn't feel the pain, she would feel afraid and all that mattered was winning.
She was a weapon, that much was drilled into her from the beginning. So even when she was broken and reforged, she knew that she would succeed. And although she was dependent on the chemicals that appeared when she feared for her life, eventually the fear faded as she neared completion. Then she no longer required adrenaline to be victorious anymore.
And for a brief instant she feared for her life and the forgotten chemical began to fill her body, and then she blinked and her challenge had disappeared into a weak boy.
'It's gone, I… almost felt alive… Why? What's wrong with me? Am I not happy?' Pyrrha knew that she wasn't happy about being placed on a pedestal, but her path there was carved by her victories and she was satisfied with her accomplishments. 'Right?' Her close encounter had drawn her attention to how utterly uninterested she was in the rest of her life.
She had known that her training took up the time most girls used to develop hobbies and the like, but she was never concerned about herself, winning was all that mattered. But now she had won four years in a row, and aside from her fame nothing changed, nothing except that she realized she didn't care about winning. Her fights had been completely boring, not once had she feared for her life, not once did she feel alive.
And know she was aware of that fact, and so with a glimpse of what she could be feeling, she was now aware of how dull her body and the world seemed.
Disappointment didn't even begin to describe the emotion that was engulfing her mind.
"And I doubt I need to introduce my partner." Yang was suddenly speaking right in front of her, the walking disappointment was staring at her in confusion.
'It's… your fault. Why? Why did you show me what I was missing and then reveal how weak you are? Scare me properly! Make me fear for my life! What's wrong with me!?' A hunger was coating her thoughts, and how could she care about a disappointment when she realized how hollow her life was in the absence of a proper surge of adrenaline.
"Why? Am I supposed to know her?" The disa- Jaune Arc asked and his face showed confusion as he looked at Pyrrha.
'…He doesn't know? No, he must think I wouldn't be here and I'm just a look alike?' A small hope sawm through her turmoil and surfaced.
"Uh yeah? She's the Pyrrha Nikos!" Yang said and used her arms to emphasize her words.
Jaune blinked, and then squashed her small hope as realization filtered across his face with a small scowl. "Oh, like… the Hero?" He muttered out and tilted his head in more confusion.
'Hero? Isn't that a little too grand? But I guess if they could get away with calling me Goddess, it doesn't matter.' Reflexively a smile graced her face and she almost began speaking in the measured tone she made for fans when he spoke up again.
"Or not? I'm sorry but I've really never seen you before in my life, so are you famous or something? Am I supposed to know you?" He asked with visible frustration.
'What?' Pyrrha almost couldn't believe her ears.
Weiss cleared her throat and stepped in front of Pyrrha. "Jaune? Correct?" She asked but didn't wait for a reply. "Pyrrha Nikos graduated from Sanctum with the highest marks in her year, and she's the reigning champion of the Mistral Region Tournament for the past four years. Is she famous? Are you supposed to know her? Anyone with half a brain could put a face to a name, you'd have to be blind to not recognize her."
Jaune backed away from Weiss, who had spoken down to him with a cold tone. For a second Pyrrha could feel danger coming from only his left hand as it twitched at his side, but the rest of his body appeared flustered. "Oh well, she's probably not that famous, right?" He nervously looked around to the two other girls present.
Yang smiled and shrugged. "Don't look at me dude, I watched her first fight live on my Scroll."
Ruby, who seemed oddly confused for some reason seemingly unrelated to the current matters. "Her weapons were cool enough for me to watch all her fights." She admitted.
As silence settled through the forest, Jaune seemingly looked off into the trees and scowled lightly as danger twitched through his body. And then he weakly sighed in defeat. "Fine, I guess I'm an idiot or something, my bad for not recognizing you." He admitted in a bitter tone.
Hope was burning away all her other thoughts. "No no, it's not a big deal, more importantly you mentioned a hero? Can you tell me who you were talking about?" Pyrrha didn't particularly care for old tales, but she needed to ensure he didn't start off with a sour first impression of her.
"Oh, well, You know, from The Pyrrha Eos." Jaune sighed as he began walking away, seemingly surprised as his legs moved with dangerous intent.
The boy was odd, not only did he emit a dangerous air but he also didn't know who she was. "I don't recall that one." She spoke as she walked alongside him.
"Me either." Yang said as she walked between Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Did you get the name wrong? Because I don't recognize that one." Weiss rolled her eyes as she walked on the other side of Pyrrha.
Jaune turned his confused face to his other side and to his partner, Ruby, who just shrugged and offered. "I've heard different areas name stories differently."
Jaune looked at his feet and waited a second. "The Pyrrha Eos, you know? The Flame Colored Dawn?" He repeated and then offered what was probably a translation.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think I've heard of that one." Pyrrha apologized. "Can you tell us a little bit more?"
"I'm up for a story time!" Yang said as she stretched. "We've already cleared out a bunch of Grimm looking for a partner for Blake." And then she waved up towards a tree. "Who's sulking for some reason."
Pyrrha spotted Blake high up in the trees above them, and she was keeping pace with them.
"Can you think of anything more childish?" Again Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Ignore the princess!" Ruby suddenly shouted and raised a hand in the air. "Her opinion doesn't matter! The people have voted and overruled the royalty!"
"Down with the crown!" Yang joined her sister in shouting anti-royalty sentiments.
Weiss, the royalty in this scenario, huffed with flushed cheeks. "Fine!" She threw her hands up. "Tell your stupid story." She relented and then she glared at the sisters. "And you two be warned that if I ever become a queen I'll be using you two as an example for any would be rebel."
"Ohh, how scawy." Yang gasped and shivered in mock fear.
"Ignore them Jaune, just tell us the story." Pyrrha hoped the warm atmosphere was changing how cornered Weiss had made Jaune feel for not knowing her identity.
Jaune needed a second to get his eyes away from the two girls arguing. "Okay, well it's been a while since I've read it but I'm pretty sure I remembered the major points." He cleared his throat. "Long ago on an island where night had long since overtaken the day, where the moon never set and the sun never rose, uh, and the evil wolf king, Lykos, had began his harsh rule a, uh long time, and every year he demanded a sacrifice of a young girl or else he would eat everyone on the island."
"King? So another example of corruption amongst the royalty." Yang interjected with a mock somber tone as she looked at Weiss.
The small girl silently raised a fist and shook it at the blonde girl, the way her eyes kept darting to Pyrrha, gave her the impression that Weiss was restraining herself because of her presence.
Jaune coughed. "And then one year a little red haired girl, or Pyrrha, was chosen as the sacrifice. She was taken away to a large palace and she was forced to strip down because the wolf king hated clothes and although Lykos had a reputation for being evil he treated her with kindness as he fed her with large feasts and talked to her about how beautiful she was. Of course it was all a ruse as he suddenly ate her one day." He abruptly skipped to the end.
Ruby blinked. "I thought you said she was a hero." She almost whined at the unsatisfactory ending.
"Uh, well, that's how the first story ends, in the next part around six months have passed and then a fire burns through the king's stomach, and Pyrrha emerged unharmed and her red hair was flowing and her eyes were ringing with fire. As she killed the king, the sun rose and people saw a flame-colored dawn break over the night as spring returned to the island, oh yeah it had also been winter the entire night, forgot that part."
"That… sounds like an abrupt way to resolve the story." Yang didn't joke around this time, she appeared genuinely confused. "Trust me, I've read all of the stories in my house to Ruby, so I know my fair share of unrealistic happily ever afters, but even then they at least had some build up."
Pyrrha couldn't tell, she hadn't read enough fairy tales to contribute to this conversation so she kept her mush shut.
Jaune shrugged. "Ah, well, it's only a small part of a bigger collection of tales, I think you're supposed to read them all to see the pattern. If I remember correctly, it's a collection about lost girls with unfortunate circumstances awakening to the power of nature. There was even one where a slave with rose colored eyes lost a sandal and the king who found it forced her into a marriage and when she denied he locked her up, but she broke out with miniature suns in her hands. I think it the book was called The Horae, or The Seasons."
"Oh, hey wait!" Ruby suddenly perked up. "I don't know about all that other stuff, but you said a little red haired girl was tricked and eaten by a wolf and then she came out of its stomach. That's basically Little Red Riding Hood." She smiled.
Jaune blinked. "Pardon? I… haven't heard of that one." He appeared more surprised than when Pyrrha's celebrity status was revealed. "Can you tell me about it?" He asked nearly the same thing the celebrity had asked but his interest was genuine.
Suddenly Ruby's face went stiff and then she smiled. "Sure!"
"Once upon a time a little girl with a red hood was sent deep in the woods to deliver her grandma some medicine but then she got tricked by a wolf and swallowed whole before a Huntsman came by and sliced her out." Ruby sped through the story and skipped over the morals.
Ruby Rose's mother had told her to be wary of strangers because although some wolves might seem tame and gentle, a wolf is still a beast regardless how kind he might appear.
Jaune Arc smiled warmly down at his partner with a warm gaze, the other side of him no longer visible on his face as he cheerfully interacted with a group of people. "Yeah I guess they do share some similarities, but still I've never heard of that version of a girl being eaten by a beast before, thanks for telling me."
Ruby was certain that his mother hadn't heard of the story either, not when she had apparently told her son that: strangers were just friends you haven't made yet. And yet even though her own mother had warned her, she also bought into that dangerous line of thinking for a moment, and now it was too late for her.
Thanks for reading! I'm always open to feedback so please leave a review, or reply in my forum, about what you liked or hated about this chapter or the whole story. If anyone wants to be a Beta Reader then PM me and we'll talk details.
Cold move Blake. How could you leave an Angel hanging like that? Sad face, you hurt her feelings.
Ooh boy, so Pyrrha's segment should've been shorter and Ruby's would've been extended.
In other news, I was surprised when I was doing research on LRRH and learned that Pyrrha was a legitimate replacement in Greek versions. That was the major reason that her segment was longer than originally planned, she definitely ate into Ruby's portion of the story.
Anyways, the central moral of stranger danger for cute girls in red hoods vs the Arc way of considering all strangers to be friends, who would win? And isn't that funny? Even canon Jaune disregards the moral of Ruby's allusion but fortunately for her that version of him is a nice enough guy without the soul of a cruel terrorist in his body.