As the day came to an end, Pyrrha prepared herself for her guard shift. Everyone had their tent and/or sleeping bag set up. Pyrrha still had her hood up, too afraid to show herself out in the open, even when no one else was around that she could see.
"Well, I admit, we've had better days." Ren threw a log onto the fire.
"But we've had worse days." Ruby said in response.
"Hopefully tomorrow will be better." Pyrrha placed a few dead tree limbs onto the fire. "Goodnight everyone."
"Goodnight!" everyone said back.
Pyrrha sat on the log and let the fire warm her up.
Oh fire... An element of warmth and an element of destruction. So many lives that have been saved yet so many lost. Mine nearly among the lost...
The red-haired warrior's thoughts turned to Cinder. How she knocked away every one of her metal columns and gears during her duel like it was nothing.
She's so powerful. How can I possibly defeat her? I knew I wasn't... A new question formed in her mind. Why did I even attempt to challenge her in the first place?
The gladiator girl looked at the fire. She knew how dangerous Cinder was, but yet she chose to fight her. But why? For what reason? To try and stop her? For glory? For... power?
No. That can't be. I'd never make an evil, selfish grab for power. I'm not like Cinder. But why didn't I get one of the huntsmen or huntresses to stop her? Was I... jealous? No, that can't be it. I'm a good girl, I'm a hero. She sighed. But much of the world believes I'm a villain, all because I unintentionally tore Penny apart. She took out one of Penny's swords and looked sadly at it. Can I fulfill my promise to Penny? Or am I really walking towards my own death?
As she silently sulked and debated with herself throughout the night, Jaune was curled up in his sleeping bag. For once, he fell asleep easily. He hoped that he'd have good dreams that night.
Of course, he didn't realize how wrong he was.
His dreams began with Pyrrha facing off against a shadow in an underground area. The shadow seemed to be tall woman with short hair and a long loose left sleeve on her dress. Her eyes possessed an orange fiery glow around them. Pyrrha struck her spear against the shadow, only for the shadow woman to dodge it. The shadow formed a large sword that manifested from magic. She tried to hold back the sword with her spear and shield.
Pyrrha Nikos will fall. a feminine voice said in a whisper. He knew that voice. Cinder. You will be powerless to save her. How does it feel, knowing that she will die and that you can't do anything to stop it?
Milo and Akouo broke, and before she could move, she was fatally struck with the sword in her chest. The gladiator girl fell down to the ground as the shadow of the evil maiden held out the sword with her right hand. A red projection of Pyrrha's soul began falling into the abyss, completely unconscious she fell farther. Jaune wanted to scream, but he found himself unable to speak.
It hurts, it burns. Destiny is so cruel, isn't it?
Jaune found himself mentally screaming, Pyrrha!
He woke up, feeling his heart pound as he took in his surroundings. He was alone in the tent and Pyrrha was still guarding the night. The knight groaned somewhat loudly. "Not again..."
It seems every nightmare I have about losing Pyrrha is worse than the last. He paused for a moment and then asked himself, Is this the last? Or is it far from over?
The next day in Atlas, Weiss was practicing one of her songs for the concert in the piano room. The calendar on the wall had days 1-6 crossed out.
[cue Path to Isolation, starting at "The light that showed the way is gone... And darkness takes control..."]
As her words were heard throughout certain parts of the Schnee Family Manor, Estelle Blanche stood in front of the grand staircase as she was handed a letter from her follow servant, Klein. As she held the envelope, her eyes darted to the first line in upper left corner. She gasped in disbelief.
"Is it true?"
Klein smiled. "It seems she's finally answered."
"I can't believe it..."
My eldest granddaughter has answered me...
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Klein asked. "Open it!"
Estelle opened the envelope and held it in between her left index fingers and thumb as she looked at the letter in her right hand. She began reading the letter to herself. She smiled at first, then after about fifteen seconds, her eyebrows scrunched closer together and a moment later, she gasped. "No..."
"Estelle? What's wrong?" She stood in silent shock, frozen in fear. "Don't tell me... She's dead?"
"No. She's alive, but... To put it simply, things didn't go well with her over the summer."
Klein looked at his coworker grimly. "What happened? Is she angry with you?"
"She asked me to remain silent about it. And no, she's not mad at me. In fact, she really misses me. "
"Very well then. I just hope that she's okay."
Estelle sighed heavily. "I always feared this day would come... But who would have ever guessed that it would have come to this?" She folded the letter, put it back into the envelope and began walking away. "I think I'm going to my quarters for a while."
As the elderly maid left, Klein stood there sadly, concerned for his friend.
[music is at the instrumental part before "Smile's spinning..."]
As Weiss continued rehearsing, Whitley walked through the servant's quarters, looking for someone.
He saw a young maid with long blonde hair and blue eyes carrying a large folded grey sheet and called for her attention. "Hello. Could you help me?"
She looked at him in surprise, dropping the sheet she was carrying, causing it to unfold slightly. "Oh! Master!" She kept her gaze at him as she dropped to her knees to refold the sheet. "What brings you here?"
"Do you know where Irving might be?"
As she folded the sheet, she answered, "Last I saw him, he has in the laundry room drying towels. I believe it was about three minutes ago."
"Thank you kindly."
He walked further down the halls until he saw an open door with the words, Laundry Room in big black font. As the youngest Schnee entered the room, he saw a wooden room with unpainted walls and a line of several washing and drying machines on each side, only opening on the right side to create an open doorway to another part of the room. The open doorway had a sign on the right of it reading, Hand wash/Line dry/dry-clean only. At the very end of the first room nearby a window with purple curtains stood a man in his twenties with strawberry blond hair, green eyes wearing a butler uniform with a green necktie as he held a dirty towel in his hands and waved it up and down to shake the dust off it. This was Irving, who was well known for knowing lots of information and for gossiping.
As he stopped waving, Irving turned to find Whitley standing there. "Ah, Master Whitley! Didn't expect to see you here."
"Apologies." He gave a respectful bow with his right hand behind his back. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"I can work and talk at the same time. So, what would you like to know?
He straightened himself and smiled as his left eyebrow formed an arch. "How did you know I was going to ask for information?"
Irving smirked. "Lucky guess. A lot of people come to me seeking intel and juicy gossip. So, what do you wish to know?"
"I need to know if there are any local artists in the area. Someone who hasn't entered the art auction. Someone unheard of."
"Don't know too many, but there is one I know of that may fit the bill. Her name is Iris Khloris. Rumor has it that she may have once been part of a middle class family of huntresses and huntsmen, but is now poor and living on her own. Also gets teased and ridiculed on a regular basis."
"Do you know where I can find her?"
"I can figure that out and get back to you."
"That would be most appreciated."
"Irving, where are those towels?!" a female voice called from the other room. "Are the dryers empty yet?"
"Alright, alright, calm down!" He sighed. "She's always like this."
"Thanks for the aid."
"You're welcome, Master Whitley."
"Irving!" the same voice from earlier called.
"Hold your horses!" Irving screamed back at his co-worker. He sighed.
"Thanks again, Irving."
Whitley walked out without another word.
Alright, now I know what, or rather, who I'm working with.
In the gardens outside Schnee Manor, Weiss drank out of a glass of water as she spoke to her mother in the garden. For once, Willow was not wasted when speaking to others, but she was kinda tipsy. Weiss told her about her invitation to Atlas Academy.
"So you've been invited to Atlas Academy by General Ironwood himself?" Willow asked her daughter.
Weiss nodded in confirmation. "I have. What do you think I should do?"
"Take it. Who knows if you'll get another opportunity like this? You could get away from here, you could still become a huntress. That is what you wanted, isn't it?"
"It is, but..."
"You would be successful. You'd be free. You wouldn't be... a sl... I mean, stuck here."
Weiss raised an eyebrow before giving her mother a forlorn look. "Mom... Why is it that you drink? Is it because of what father admitted all those years ago?"
Madame Schnee took a sip of red wine from her glass and sat silently for a moment. "One of the reasons."
"What are the other reasons?"
"Please... don't ask me further."
Why is she avoiding answering the question? Is there something else she didn't know? Is she on the path to isolation? Or is she already on it? Has she already been down that path and met the end of it?
"Do you think that I should try to make some new friends? Join a new team?"
"Do what you feel is right, my little snowflake." She took a sip from her glass of red wine. "I just don't want you to be alone." Under her breath, she added, "Like me..."
What happened to make her say that?
Meanwhile, in Salem's palace, a library with purple and black colored arch domes was shown. As the camera slowly panned downwards, the library was revealed to be as big as a three story building, with wooden stairs on both sides of the room leading up to white carpeted floors with other bookshelves. Footsteps were heard as the first floor was shown to have a few black couches and chairs scattered throughout the room as well as a few black filing cabinets to the left and right sides of the room. The footsteps continued as the camera showed black heels and then showed the owner of said heels- Cinder Fall. As the injured woman reached the third floor, she looked around, walking forward and saw white letters on black paper. Eventually, she found a bookshelf area with the letter 'S'. There were four different bookshelves all placed side by side. Cinder internally sighed and started looking through the books, finding many books that she had never heard of or seen before, and a few she had, such as Slave to the Sword.
Huh. Who knew Salem liked to read for pleasure? She continued searching. Come on, it has to be around here somewhere. There it is.
The fall maiden pulled out a black book with the following words written in silver font on the spine;
Silver Eyed Warriors- The Truth Beyond the Legends
Cinder looked at the front of the book, the title being the same. She looked at the back cover, which was blank. Holding the front of the book to her chest with her right arm, her fingers over the text block of pages, she descended down the stairs slowly, being cautious of every step she took. As her descent ended, the maiden made her way to the entrance and used her foot to open the handle of the library's door. She swiftly left the place as though she had never even been there.
The scene transitioned to Cinder shutting her bedroom door with her foot, still holding the book in her hand.
If I can't ask Salem for the answers, then I'll just figure them out for myself.