Cover Art by CHE3ZY
As promised here's the next chapter. Please like, chare, and review. The more feedback I get the more I can improve this story so please let me know what's working and what can be improved on. Without further delay, here's Fall Part II.
Beacon Academy:
The boys stood in General Ironwood's office. They stood on one side of a large table while the general stood on the other side. Jai and Rahm were still dressed in their infantry garb. It didn't take the two Guardians and Flynt, Neon, Kobalt, and Ivori long to wrap up the Grimm extermination in their sector. Aside from the one instance where Jai had to intervene and save Kobalt and Ivori, team FNKI proved quite useful in helping to contain the threat.
Upon their return to Beacon Academy Jai gave the four students a quick debrief, emphasizing the importance of keeping what they'd seen to themselves. Luckily, team FNKI didn't need to be told twice. The underlying tone in Jai's voice delivered the unspoken threat of the consequences they would face if they started to run their mouths.
In all fairness, Jai wasn't going to kill them. The consequences would have been judicial in nature, but that didn't matter to the four students. They didn't want to play with fire.
Once that was done, they made their way to General Ironwood's office, where he and Terre were waiting for them. They had just been back briefed on the situation. It'd been an interesting night, to say the least. Yang and Mercury were the first, and final, match of the night. In a shocking turn of events, Yang attacked a downed Mercury and was subsequently apprehended by security and placed in her room until further notice.
General Ironwood believed her actions were a result of her not thinking clearly due to adrenaline and stress. The boys, however, weren't entirely sure about that. They knew that Yang was naturally aggressive, but she wasn't ruthless. They'd seen her in action firsthand when she fought against Terre and Jai when the two were in disguise. She never once displayed the level of aggression she exhibited here tonight. In any case, it didn't matter. Yang was disqualified and the whole scene generated a massive increase in negativity, which only energized the Grimm.
"Men," said General Ironwood as a hologram of the Greater Vale area appeared before them.
"The negativity generated by Ms. Xiao Long's match caused a spike in Grimm activity outside the kingdom." The general pointed to the few areas that were flashing red.
"These are the areas that the Grimm are active in. I've sent out troops to contain them, and for the moment we've been able to keep the situation under control. These areas, as of now, are not the concern."
The hologram focused on a mountain in the outskirts of Vale. The mountain began to flash a steady red.
"Aerial thermal imaging shows a significant amount of Grimm activity growing beneath the mountain," the general's eyes hardened, "and we have reason to believe that the Wyvern may soon awaken if the negativity in Vale increases."
The Bad Batch glanced at one another. They had heard stories that a massive Grimm Wyvern had wreaked destruction on the Kingdom of Vale centuries ago before it retreated into the mountain where it seemingly laid dormant.
"What are our orders, sir?" Asked Rahm.
"For now," said the general, "be ready to deploy within a moment's notice. I've sent a small reconnaissance team to confirm whether or not the Grimm activity within the mountain is increasing. If it is, then you men are going to find that Wyvern and kill it."
The three super soldiers responded with a resolute "Yes sir!"
"In that case, you're all dismissed. I'll contact you once I've heard back from the reconnaissance team."
The sad, conflicted outlook certainly didn't suit Yang. She was always so happy, confident, and upbeat, but now if she looked at herself in a mirror, she wouldn't recognize herself. She knew she wasn't crazy. She knew what she saw in her match against Mercury, but that didn't matter because everyone else apparently saw her attack an opponent when he was down. Not only were her hopes of winning the tournament dashed, but she just learned from her uncle that the woman she saw on the train, the woman who rescued her from Torchwick's girl, was, in fact, her mother.
What made it worse was that her mother said nothing to her, but she apparently still kept in contact with Qrow. A part of her always wanted to get to know Raven and understand why she left. There were so many questions left unanswered and Yang simply felt abandoned at the moment. To say she didn't have slight abandonment issues would have been a lie. Losing her adoptive mother and then learning that her biological mother left not long after her birth certainly had its effects on the blonde firecracker of team RWBY. She figured that her super social personality, which attracted many friends, was a way of helping to ensure she would never feel alone. On top of that, her overprotectiveness of her little sister was likely a result of those abandonment issues she had.
Yang let a tired sigh escape. She was currently scratching Zwei's ears as she looked outside the window. She hated being confined to her room. She felt like a prisoner.
Zwei's head perked up and looked to the door, getting Yang's attention. A slightly hesitant knock sounded.
"Yang," the sound of Jaune's voice permeated through the door, "can I come in?"
"The door's open," she replied.
The leader of team JNPR entered and closed the door behind him before turning to face her.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she replied as she went back to looking out her window while continuing to scratch Zwei's ears.
Jaune looked a bit uneasy, as though he were choosing his words carefully.
"So…uh…where are Ruby, Weiss, and Blake?"
"At the tournament."
"I see…"
Yang glanced at him with a disinterested look on her face.
"Is there something you need Vomit Boy?"
Jaune sighed.
"I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help."
"There isn't much anyone can do right now. I'm disqualified from the tournament and apparently, I'm crazy."
"I know you're not crazy Yang. Nora's crazy," he replied, "you're insane."
Yang burst out laughing, letting go of Zwei so that she could hold her sides.
"Okay Vomit Boy," she said, "that was a good one."
He offered her a friendly smile.
"On a serious note, Yang," he said, "I know you didn't do what everyone saw. I know you're aggressive in fights, but you aren't ruthless."
"That's what I told General Ironwood, but he thinks the adrenaline got to my head or something."
Jaune sat down next to her on the bed, humming in thought as he did so.
"You think maybe there's someone else at work here?" He asked.
Yang looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what if someone made it look like you attacked a defenseless opponent? I remember you mentioning that the girl you fought was able to create illusions, right? If that's true, then maybe she or someone else with a similar semblance could have manipulated the way people saw the fight?"
Yang blinked.
He was right. That girl was certainly capable of creating illusions, but Yang doubted it was her. She remembered very clearly how the girl's illusions shattered into pink crystals when broken. That didn't happen with Mercury. Jaune still had a point. There could be someone else at work here.
Yang couldn't help but smirk.
"Looks like you're just as much brain as you are brawn Lady Killer," she said with a flirtatious wink. "That's some serious deductive reasoning there."
Jaune couldn't help but blush. Yang had a knack for getting him flustered. Jaune didn't have time to react as he found himself enveloped in a hug; a mane of blonde hair obscured his vision.
"Thanks for believing me Vomit Boy," she said playfully.
Jaune slowly found himself returning the hug.
"Don't mention it," he managed to say.
Two Days Later:
Penny rested her chin on the palm of her hand with her elbow propped up on the hardwood of the desk. The light of the early afternoon sun betrayed the mood within the room. While her eyes were wide open and focused on Ciel, she completely drowned out the military-minded girl's voice as she discussed potential plans and strategies for Penny to utilize against the different opponents she could possibly face. The two were alone in Penny's dorm room. Rahm, Terre, and Jai hadn't been there since the start of the tournament, what with them being busy helping General Ironwood. Ciel had been focused on two things since arriving at Beacon: Penny and the tournament.
In reality, Penny didn't care about the tournament right now. So far everything had turned out to be quite disappointing. She didn't get to compete with her brothers, Pyrrha became more and more distant as of late, Yang was under house arrest, and her brothers were off handling missions for General Ironwood. Penny felt alone and she hated it. The tournament had been placed on a brief pause after Yang's match. The negativity generated from the match caused a severe spike in Grimm activity. It wasn't until yesterday that the Grimm activity was pacified, that the tournament resumed. Penny knew her brothers had a large hand in it, but that was classified.
The only regular contact she had was with Ciel, who was more machine than her. Ciel was like her brothers in that regard, but Ciel didn't reach out to her as her brothers did. It was clear that Ciel viewed Penny as just a mission whereas her brothers saw her as far more than that.
A knock on the door put a stop to Ciel's little presentation, much to Penny's delight. However, Penny was smiling for more than just the one-sided conversation ending.
Ciel walked over to the door, looking slightly upset that her presentation had been interrupted. She opened the door to reveal three familiar young men of towering height.
Penny couldn't contain her excitement. She didn't bother to let Ciel or her brothers say anything as she rushed forward, unintentionally pushing Ciel to the side, and enveloped the three boys in one of her signature bone-crushing hugs.
"Oh, how I have missed you all!" Her voice was muffled from being buried in Rahm's chest.
The boys could feel the air forced out of their lungs but they, as usual, kept their composure.
"Nice to see you too Penny," said Terre, "you can let go now."
She looked a bit embarrassed. Penny let them go as she smiled.
"I was not expecting the three of you, but I am so happy you came."
"We had some downtime," replied Rahm.
"And we decided to see you," said Jai.
Penny's smile grew wider. This day started off as less than pleasant, but now she had her brothers here with her.
"Ahem."
Team PGRT looked over and saw Ciel straightening out her skirt after Penny accidentally knocked her over.
"I don't mean to interrupt," said Ciel, "but Penny and I were in the middle of discussing winning strategies for the tournament."
"This won't take long Ciel," said Rahm, "just give us a few minutes, will you?"
Ciel looked a bit reluctant but a well-placed pleading look from Penny made the by-the-book girl relent.
"Very well," she said, "I'll return shortly."
"Thank you, Ciel," said Penny.
Team PGRT watched as Ciel left the room. Once she was gone and out of range, they continued.
"She kind of reminds me of Specialist Schnee for some reason," said Jai.
"I can see it," replied Terre.
Rahm knelt slightly so that he was at eye level with Penny. He rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile.
"How have you been? Has Ciel given you any trouble?"
Penny's smile grew larger, her eyes beamed their signature warmth.
"I am much better now that you are here," she replied. "No, she has not, but I wish she was more engaging. I feel as though I am just a mission to her." Penny frowned.
Rahm squeezed her shoulder softly before he spoke.
"Don't worry about it too much."
Jai and Terre nodded.
"The tournament will be over soon," said Terre, "and when it is it'll be the four of us again."
Penny smiled again.
"I eagerly anticipate it," she replied. "I take it your efforts to contain the Grimm have gone well?"
"So far, yes," said Jai, "the Grimm have been pacified. For now, we're on standby until we hear back from the recon teams General Ironwood sent out."
She nodded.
"I read the Intel report. I worry that the Wyvern will awaken." She looked a bit nervous, mainly for the safety of the people of Vale.
"That's not going to happen," Terre stated. His tone of voice left no room for debate. The Wyvern wouldn't see the light of day if the Guardians had anything to say about it.
Penny's smile returned.
"Thank you," she said, "I know Vale is in good hands."
Terre nodded. He checked his watch, taking note of the time.
"I think I'll go check on Ruby since I still have some time," said Terre.
"Yeah," said Rahm, "I should probably do the same for Weiss."
Terre took a few steps closer to Penny so that he was standing next to her.
"It was good seeing you," said Terre.
Penny latched onto him tightly.
"Thank you all for coming to see me," she said, "and good luck on your mission."
"There's no way we wouldn't come to see you, Penny," said Rahm, "you're one of us."
Penny let go of Terre and then hugged Rahm and then lastly Jai. The embrace ended after a few seconds. Penny watched with sadness as Terre left the room, followed by Rahm. Jai moved to leave but Penny stopped him by grabbing onto his arm.
"Yes, Penny?" Asked Jai with a raised eyebrow.
Penny frowned slightly.
"Before you go, I wanted to talk to you about Pyrrha."
Jai's emotionless gaze flickered for a moment as his eyes grew ever slightly larger.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I have noticed her demeanor become more and more downcast lately." Penny hugged herself with sorrow in her eyes. "She has not spoken with her teammates or anyone lately. I fear she may be depressed. I was hopeful that perhaps you would be able to assist her."
Jai didn't say anything. He didn't move or give away any tells. He had a pretty good idea why Pyrrha was acting the way Penny described. Unfortunately, Penny didn't have the clearance to know.
"I'll see what I can do."
Weiss was the only student training area of Beacon Academy. She appreciated how everyone else was busy watching the tournament or enjoying the festivities to have the training area to herself. Instead of her usual combat skirt, Weiss wore more appropriate workout attire consisting of a grey t-shirt, shorts, and athletic trainers.
Her breaths were coming out in sharp puffs as she went through a rigorous calisthenics routine. She'd done 500 pushups, 500 sit-ups, 500 jumping squats, and a back-to-back series of 500-meter sprints.
She was determined to improve her physical endurance and overall strength, having taken the lessons from Rahm to heart. Once she was done with her calisthenics, she moved on to the punching bags. She still hated the burning sensation within her muscles, but she'd be remiss to ignore the improvement in her physical endurance.
When she first started training with Rahm, her physical endurance and hand-to-hand combat skills were just average. Weiss preferred long-ranged attacks from Myrstenaster coupled with expert Dust usage or glyphs. When she had to get close, she could use her blade superbly well, but if she was disarmed she'd have been at a severe disadvantage.
After Rahm put her through the physical fitness gauntlet to iron out her weaknesses, he moved on to work on her fighting skills. To say that Weiss had no knowledge of hand-to-hand combat would have been a lie. She had a solid baseline understanding, but her technique needed refining and she needed a greater focus on a style that suited her.
Rahm took hours guiding her through the different punches, kicks, knee strikes, and takedowns as well as their many different combinations. Obviously, he couldn't teach her his many years of experience in the span of two weeks but he did manage to help her develop her own fighting style. Weiss' physical strength didn't permit her to be a heavy hitter like Nora or Yang. Weiss was quick like Ruby, albeit slower, and graceful like Blake, but Weiss possessed lower levels of stamina and endurance. From the day they first met the members of teams RWBY and JNPR, the three Guardian brothers and their adopted sister began to carefully analyze their strengths and weaknesses. Pyrrha stood out as the most adept warrior by leaps and bounds. She possessed speed, strength, endurance, grace, power, precision and accuracy. Yang, while a brawler by nature, was arguably the second most adept followed by Nora, then Blake, then Ren, then Weiss, then Ruby, and lastly Jaune.
Weiss needed a style that allowed her to take full advantage of her gracefulness. It had to lead her to retreat when the enemy attacked, attack when the enemy retreated, be soft when they were hard, and be hard when they were soft. Where she lacked in physical power to be a hammer, she could be a needle. Weiss didn't understand what he meant by her need to be a needle at first, but she quickly caught on soon after. Weiss had a natural gymnastic ability that she could combine with what he showed her. Rahm taught her the various joints and pressure points of the human body that were the most vulnerable. Even the largest, strongest fighters would crumble if these areas were struck. He also taught her how to utilize certain grappling techniques that took advantage of her smaller stature.
After completing her bag work, Weiss moved on to training her semblance's summoning powers. Winter was right. If she wanted to summon as good as her sister, then she would need to train her semblance like the muscle it was. Her glyph work was strong but her summoning was subpar.
As Weiss continued to train in what she believed to be absolute solitude, Rahm watched from a distance, silently observing Weiss's training. It wasn't hard to find her, thanks to the tracking device on her weapon. He wanted to see her before he had to leave with Jai and Terre per the general's orders to eliminate the Wyvern. They were still waiting for the recon teams to confirm if the Grimm activity near the Wyvern's lair was in fact on the rise. When he saw her going all out with her training he couldn't help but smile. She took his advice to heart. Deciding to make himself known, he approached her.
"Hey there, Weiss. Mind if I join you?" Rahm asked, a small smile on his face.
Weiss jumped in surprise, not expecting anyone to be there. She blushed, realizing that she had been caught off guard.
"Of course not, Rahm. I'm just surprised to see you here."
Rahm nodded. He hadn't seen her in a few days and was genuinely curious how she'd been fairing.
"I wanted to see how you were doing and congratulate you on your performance in the tournament. I'm glad to see you've kept up with your training."
Weiss found herself blushing at the heartfelt praise that Rahm gave her.
"Thank you, Rahm. I couldn't have done it without your help and support."
Rahm smiled at her, "You're welcome, Weiss. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you, Rahm," she said, "but I'm a bit disappointed that I haven't seen you as much as I'd like to. I know you, Terre, and Jai have been helping eliminate Grimm, and I'm proud of you for doing that, but you could have come and said hello sooner."
Weiss had her arms folded across her chest and had a pouty look on her face. She had heard that he, Terre, and Jai had been helping to fend off Grimm on the outskirts of the kingdom with other Atlas students.
Rahm sighed, "I'm sorry, Weiss. I've been pretty busy."
Weiss smiled sympathetically, unaware of his half-lies.
"It's okay, Rahm. I understand. Maybe we can catch up more after the tournament is over?"
Rahm nodded, "That sounds like a plan, Weiss. In the meantime, keep up the good work with your training."
Weiss nodded in agreement, a determined look on her face as she continued with her training.
As Rahm turned to leave, Weiss called out to him.
"Rahm?"
Rahm turned back to face her.
"Yes, Weiss?"
Weiss averted her eyes and hesitated to speak. She thought back to the day when she spotted the multitude of symmetrical scars that adorned his body. Although he never told her the exact details, she knew that whatever he'd been through must have been horrific. She hugged him tightly back then, promising to be there for him just as he'd always done for her. In that moment she felt an empathetic connection between the two of them. She didn't want anything to happen to him. He was one of the good ones in a broken world. She finally locked eyes with him again.
"Just be careful out there, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you."
Weiss looked a bit uneasy, but she quickly regained her confident posture.
Rahm's expression softened.
"I will, Weiss. I promise."
With that, Rahm turned and walked away, leaving Weiss to continue her training.
Click click click.
"A little kickback. Heh, someone's feeling feisty today, aren't we?" muttered a pensive Ruby. The young Huntress-in-training was hard at work, performing regular maintenance on her Crescent Rose. It had performed beautifully during the initial team matchups of the tournament; it was in top condition no less. Despite her team's victory, she still felt this compulsion to tune up her weapon every so often, even though her participation was a nonfactor by now.
"Ah-hah, coil's a little too wound up. Better turn down the torque juuuust a smidge…"
Ruby clicked her tongue just as she took a precision tool to the part she was looking at, painstakingly making the gentlest, most meticulous adjustment that she could. Unfortunately for her, the weapon's spearhead nearly popped out into the hand she was using to hold it all together.
"GAH!" she shrieked in surprise. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest from how sudden it was, but she quickly recomposed herself.
She could only sigh as she gently laid the weapon down, taking off her safety goggles. She'd been at this for several hours now. There wasn't much else she felt she wanted to do; Yang had been kept under house arrest ever since the incident with Mercury during their match, and while she wanted to be there for Yang, her sister wasn't in much of a talking mood by this point. She gently laid her head down on the table, her mind drifting back to the meeting General Ironwood had with her.
At least he gave her more of a chance than most of the people in the stands. She recalled how her meeting with him had gone during the night of the dance. She was thankful that there was someone like that they could count on.
"I know she's not crazy, and I don't think she's lying. I just wish there was more I could do to help her," she said to herself aloud, lightly brushing her fingers on Crescent Rose. Every time something difficult came up in her life, she'd always run off somewhere to be alone. To work in silence as she pondered the great mysteries of life. People could be so complicated at times, but she couldn't blame Yang for not wanting to face the world right now. Seeing her big sister hurt so much just from trying to plead with everyone else to believe her…
There was only so much reassurance a person could accept from someone else, and it pained her knowing that even she could only do so much for her big sister. She lifted herself off the table, pulling out the blueprint schematics she had drawn up for her weapon so long ago. Her plans for Crescent Rose were initially so grand as a child, especially as her family encouraged her to follow her dreams. So many of the things she initially wanted didn't make it in her first working prototype, unfortunately.
She took up her precision screw again and began folding the spearhead back into its proper position, determined to set it right this time. So determined in her work was she, that she didn't notice the hulking giant who had just walked into the room with her.
"...Ruby?"
"AH!" a startled Ruby yelped, completely taken aback by her new guest. The spearhead popped out again, this time flying clean off of the table and into the nimble hand of Terre. He looked at the sharp object he had just snatched out of the air. Fortunately, his sharper reflexes spared him from being stabbed through the heart. The boy looked at its owner inquisitively, though his expression betrayed nothing of his curiosity.
"...I apologize for the intrusion," he uttered, walking over and gently laying the piece down on the table for her.
She heaved a sigh of relief, thankful that Crescent Rose didn't explode into pieces right then and there but felt a twinge of embarrassment. She was usually more careful and aware of her surroundings than this, what was wrong with her?
"Heh, it's no problem, I was kinda getting a little stuck with her anyway," Ruby tried to reassure Terre.
He raised an eyebrow at her remark. Ruby getting 'stuck' with her weapon was unusual; in the dozens, if not hundreds of times he'd seen her trying to work on her weapon while ignoring everything else, she was usually lost in her own world. The young huntress stared at him awkwardly before deciding to pipe up.
"So uh, you just come here for a talk?" she asked him, hoping to get her mind off of things.
"Well, I saw you working here, while everyone else is out and about. Why is that?" Terre replied.
He knew the situation with Yang's detainment had not been an easy one, especially not for the rest of her team or their friends and family. Yet, it felt strange seeing Ruby working all to herself while the festival was still ongoing.
"Yeah, it's just… Yang, you know? She's back in the dorm with Zwei. Thankfully she's not going to jail, but it feels like the whole world is either against her or thinks she's off her rocker. I know she wouldn't do something like that, that's just not how she is," Ruby dryly answered. She wasn't sure which camp Terre fell into, but surely, he believed her sister wasn't nuts.
"If you want my opinion, I think something may have happened to her that caused her to react like that. Stress is stronger than people would think," Terre answered. He was there in the overhang when he watched Yang cripple Mercury; he'd known the blonde long enough to recognize she wouldn't be so vicious as to randomly attack a noncombatant. The fact remained that she had done it in full view of the entire world, however, and all the theorizing in the world wouldn't be able to explain why.
"I guess nobody knows right now why it happened, especially her," Ruby said. At least he didn't think she was some insane liar, but he didn't seem too convinced of anything else.
She picked the errant part back up and began to push it back into place in the scythe rifle. Although she'd done this step a bunch of times by now, she seemed to be having trouble locking it in. She pawed at the table for her precision screw but couldn't find it. She turned her head around, looking every which way for the blasted thing.
"Where the heck did it run off to now…?" Ruby muttered but was quickly answered by Terre presenting the screw in front of her.
"You dropped it when I walked in. Again, my apologies for that," Terre explained.
She lightly smiled as she took the tool from him. She nimbly slipped and twisted the head into its compartment and began securing it with the screw. Terre's eyes drifted over the table she'd been working on. Countless screws, riflings, and all manner of hardware littered it, with blueprints and concept drawings draped around like casual tablecloth. Even for a Guardian like him, maintaining her scythe seemed like a lot of work. Her meticulousness was certainly praiseworthy if nothing else. Though, he did notice something was off while she was making the final push to tighten the spearhead into place.
"That doesn't look right," Terre said.
"Huh? What doesn't look right?" Ruby asked, confused at what he could have been referring to.
The boy pointed at the scythe's head. Ruby still couldn't quite identify what he found wrong with it.
"Is there something wrong with it?"
"Some of the blades don't look like they'll unfold right with how tightly you've wound those servos. Won't that put more strain on the central servo for the main blade?" Terre tried to explain. Ruby had to inspect it more thoroughly before realizing that he may have had a point.
"Weird…I usually don't wind them up that much…Nothing a little WD-40 and elbow grease won't fix. Thanks for pointing that out, Terre!" Ruby exclaimed.
She quickly set to work on correcting that mistake. Terre almost managed a smirk at the display. For some reason, seeing her busy as a bee put him more at ease.
"You know, that aside, for all the maintenance you do on that weapon, I have to say it's superbly designed. Dangerous, but expertly made," Terre added, with a hint of genuine respect for her craft. A faint rose blush blurred its way to Ruby's cheeks.
"Really?! You know, Professor Ozpin told me the same thing when I first got accepted to Beacon, but I think that was because I went a little overboard on the design when I first made her," Ruby excitedly jabbered, clearly enthused by Terre's praise. Terre looked over the weapon a bit more, noting something else about it.
"Then I take it you're open to a piece of constructive criticism at this stage?" Terre asked.
"What, for rea–" Ruby almost blurted out. She coughed and cleared her throat when she caught Terre's stare.
When she started at Signal Academy, her weapon was her whole life; she staked her pride on how it pushed the proverbial boundaries in everything about engineering. Soberingly, that ego had been bruised something fierce following the incidents with Torchwick and Blake's friend. For all the envelopes it pushed open, the innovations she had made with her precious weapon proved useless in those situations. Terre for his part had been nothing but helpful from the beginning: why would he steer her wrong now?
"I mean, yes. I'd be open to any suggestions for improvement," Ruby sternly corrected herself. A part of her hoped she came off as mature with that answer. Terre faintly smirked, seemingly satisfied that she wasn't about to let his praise get to her head.
"Have you ever considered flaring the magwell here for easier reloads? You'd be surprised at how much time it can shave off," suggested Terre. Ruby looked at what he was referring to, pensively nodding as she considered his advice. For all the features she packed Crescent Rose with, she'd overlooked such a simple idea for efficiency.
"I'd also suggest getting textured grips for where you normally hold it; those would make it less likely to fly out of your hands when you're flying around or if it gets wet," Terre continued.
"You know, I considered that a couple of weeks ago, but I actually forgot about it until you brought it up, heh," Ruby abashedly admitted. Terre nodded, clearly approving of her trying to brainstorm her own ways for improvement. Before he could keep on with his analysis, unfortunately, a ping from his scroll alerted him.
He checked his scroll, taking care to angle it away from Ruby's eyes.
The reconnaissance teams have confirmed that Grimm activity within the mountain has increased. Operation Uppercut is greenlit. Unit 117 is to report to the landing pads immediately.
-Gen Ironwood
It was time to go. Terre put his scroll away.
"Sorry," said Terre. "I have to go back out on security detail," Terre said. He could see the young Huntress looking up a bit ruefully at him. She found she'd been enjoying his company more than working on her weapon alone, and she wanted to keep talking with him more.
Just as Terre was halfway to the door, she blurted out: "Did you want to keep trading weapon tips later? Like over a pizza or something, next time?"
Terre looked back at her, raising an eyebrow at the sudden outburst. She could feel her face getting warm as she realized she hadn't even thought about what she had said beforehand.
"Next time?" Terre inquired, his tone belying an air of slight bemusement.
Ruby tried to hide her face from the boy, almost instantly regretting her impulse to call out to him like that. She'd always been awkward with putting her foot in her mouth, but this was especially awkward for her. What was wrong with her today?
"I mean…I mean, it's just that you've offered a lot of super helpful advice and I'd like to know what else you think I can do to improve, and I thought that since we already play video games together and I really like talking with you, we could just–" Ruby babbled on, unable to keep her thoughts from flooding out of her mouth. Terre turned back to fully face her, his expression returning to its neutral state.
"Oh god, I mean as long as you're okay with it, I don't want to push you into something you don't want to do!" Ruby was stammering amid her mile-a-minute babbling, struggling to control her speech.
Terre only exhaled through his nostrils. He had to admit, even though he was only charged with her protection from the General, he didn't mind Ruby or her antics much. In fact, he found her presence to be refreshing, in a sense.
"I'd be perfectly happy to continue these discussions, Ruby," Terre gave her a faint smile.
Ruby immediately stopped her chatter in a dumbfounded stupor, processing what she had just heard.
"...Really?" Ruby asked, her tone begging for confirmation.
"Yes. Really," Terre affirmed. He watched her collapse in her seat from the nervous breakdown she almost suffered. She heaved a sigh of relief, taking a moment to calm herself down.
"So…like later today, then?" Ruby asked, deciding to continue with the initiative.
Terre carefully considered his answer. His reassignment from Beacon was inevitable, and soon, from the looks of things. It was only a matter of time until Torchwick broke from the interrogations. At the very least, Terre did not want to lead her on with a lie.
"Unfortunately, I'll be tied up until after the end of the festival, but I promise you that I'll try to make time if I can," he finally said.
"Oh…" Ruby uttered, clearly wrought with disappointment. But he didn't say no, so at least there was that. She mentally pulled herself together and tried to muster a smile. "Okay…I'll do your share of cheering during the rest of the finals, then! Just let me know when you're free!" she chirped at him.
"Thanks, Ruby. Good luck with your tune-up," Terre replied, leaving Ruby to her work. Before he could head through the door, he suddenly felt a pair of arms embrace him from behind. He looked around him to see Ruby hugging him in a grip that could have rivaled Penny's, burying her face into his extremely firm back.
"...Hey, Terre?" Ruby quietly muttered, muffled by her pressing her face into him.
"Yes?" Terre answered noncommittally. Another moment passed before she spoke up again.
"...Thanks," Ruby uttered as firmly as she could. Before Terre could think of a response, Ruby quickly relinquished her hold of him and slapped her safety goggles back on, darting back to her table to continue her work. Uncertain if he should have said anything, he decided to leave her to it, figuring that he'd kept his post waiting long enough.
Although her fingers moved much more nimbly than a while ago, her heart was practically racing into her stomach. She didn't know why she felt compelled to ask him out on what was essentially a date, but she felt happy that she did it, more so that he had said yes. She could still feel the faint edges of a smile etched on her face. It wasn't much, but she felt a little better now.
Pyrrha sat alone outside the dining hall with her head bowed in the mid-afternoon sun. She saw the wind blow a single orange leaf onto the cobblestones at her feet. She looked at the fall colors with a face of total fright, remembering the sight of Amber in her comatose state and the choice weighing her down. If she inherited the Fall Maiden powers, would she still be herself? Could she say no? Was it selfish to say no? Of all people, why did it have to be her? Those were just a few of the many questions that were running through her mind.
"Hello Pyrrha."
Pyrrha gasped, looking up to see Jai standing there. She hadn't seen him, Rahm, or Terre in days. The last she heard from Penny about where the boys were, she said they were here and there training, watching the matches, or helping with General Ironwood's student volunteer force. Pyrrha hadn't followed up with Penny recently, though. Pyrrha hadn't been in the best of moods as of late and didn't want to speak to anyone. She was too burdened by the overwhelming choice to interact with others.
The presence of the boy before her, however, was not an unwelcome surprise. She would have been lying if she said that Jai hadn't been in her thoughts. She wasn't used to him being gone for so long. He always just seemed to be…there. She snapped herself out of her stupor and forced an uneasy smile.
"Hello Jai. It's good to see you. I haven't seen you in days. I heard you, Terre, and Rahm were among the volunteer Atlas students helping to contain Grimm threats outside the city."
"Yes," Jai said, "and ever since Yang's match with Mercury, the negativity sparked an even larger increase in Grimm activity. We're just taking a break before we head back."
The last part was a lie. In reality, he and his fellow Guardians were waiting for the reconnaissance team to report back their findings on the Wyvern.
"But," he said as he sat down next to her, "I also wanted to see how you were doing."
That, however, was not a lie.
The pressure Pyrrha felt from having been told of her destiny didn't seem as heavy now for some reason. She merely smiled at the giant next to her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jai noticed Nora and Ren coming into view. For some reason, however, Nora rushed Ren back the way they came. He didn't think much about it, and instead, he turned his attention back to the troubled Fall Maiden to be.
"I believe I've come to know you well by now, and I can tell when you're not yourself." His statement earned a slightly surprised look from the champion of Mistral. "Also, Penny told me she noticed you seemed upset," that last part earned a small laugh from Pyrrha.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Jai asked.
Pyrrha's astonishment melted away into contentment, as she leaned over and rested her head on Jai's well-muscled shoulder and placed her hand on top of his, closing her eyes as she did so.
"You're already doing it," she smiled.
Despite Pyrrha's physical proximity being completely unfamiliar to him, Jai didn't pull away. It appeared that she was being put at ease and that's all that mattered. The two stayed there for a long moment, but as an additional autumn leaf fell and joined the first, Pyrrha's expression darkened once more.
"Jai…"
"Yes, Pyrrha?"
"I don't know what to do," she pulled away from him, sitting up straight.
"What do you mean?" He feigned ignorance. He knew that she was struggling to choose whether or not to accept the Fall Maiden's powers, but he couldn't give it away.
The girl looked up to the sky. "Do you believe in destiny?"
"Yes."
She blinked. She wasn't prepared for such a straightforward answer.
"How do you view destiny, Jai?"
"From my own experiences, I've come to think that destiny is something that you are born into."
"That's…certainly quite different from how I view it," she replied.
"How do you view it?"
Pyrrha watched as the wind blew the two leaves away. She responded.
"When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape. But rather... some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life."
Jai nodded. "My views of destiny are mine and mine alone Pyrrha. Terre views destiny as something that is forged and controlled by others while Rahm believes destiny is determined by the choices you made in the past."
"I see," she replied. "Well... what would you do if something came along that you... never expected? Something that could suddenly fulfill your destiny in an instant…" Pyrrha began to visibly shake. Jai could hear her breathing become faster. "…but at the cost of who you were?"
Jai needed to tread carefully. He wasn't entirely sure how to speak to her without letting her know that he knew exactly what she was talking about. Truth be told, he didn't feel as if he were the right person for her to speak to. He was a soldier. A Guardian. A sword and shield for humanity's defense against Salem. He did not see himself having the luxury of choice. The only choice, for him, was to fight on for humanity. That was him, however. Pyrrha, though, was something else. For one, she was not a Guardian. She still had her mother, and she lived a far more normal life than he ever did.
The girl before him was still shaking. It took Jai a moment to remind himself that she was merely human. She was scared. She had just been presented with such mindboggling information and now she had to make a decision that would change her life forever. Jai placed a hand on her shoulder which seemed to ease her a bit. Her shaking seemed to subside.
"Pyrrha," he said, "only you can make this decision. You have to do whatever you think is right."
Pyrrha stood up. The scarlet-haired girl hugged herself.
"I've always felt as though I was destined to become a Huntress - to protect the world..." she sighed, "…and it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right. But...I don't know if I can do it."
Jai stood up and walked over to where he could look her in the eye.
"Why are you unsure?"
Pyrrha frowned before she snapped. "This isn't how things were supposed to happen!" She brought her hands up to cover her mouth. She hadn't intended to snap like that. "I…I'm so sorry…."
Jai wasn't affected by her outburst.
"How were things supposed to happen Pyrrha?"
"Wha-What?"
"How were things supposed to happen?"
"Well…I…" She wanted to say that she was supposed to graduate from Beacon, save the world, get married, have kids, and live happily ever after. When she thought about it, though, she realized how preposterous it was for her to assume everything would go according to how she envisioned it. "…I don't know…"
"You seemed so certain just a moment ago."
"I…I'm so confused…Jai…what should I do?"
Guardian Zero-Three-Seven was silent for a moment. The wind blew another cluster of leaves away as they stood there. The sound of Jai's scroll got his attention. The super soldier retrieved it and sighed as he read the message. He wished that he could have received this message just a bit later so that he could properly end his conversation with her. He looked back at her.
"I'm sorry Pyrrha, but I have to go…"
She looked devastated upon hearing his news. She wanted to hear what he had to say. She needed to hear it.
"…but I will say this before I go. Pyrrha, if you believe that you are a Huntress and that you are destined to protect the world then you need to do what is required of you. If that is something you cannot do," his eyes slightly narrowed, "then you shouldn't be a Huntress."
His words stung. They weren't laced with venom or malice.
No.
It was simply the truth. The truth was oftentimes the most painful thing to hear. She'd endured the sting of his truthful words before when she was struggling with her feelings toward Jaune. Pyrrha watched as Jai moved closer to her, stopping just short of her. Jai placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, remembering just how tall he was.
"As a Huntsman in training, I have a duty to perform. If you feel that you are truly a Huntress at heart, then I believe you have a duty to perform as well."
With that said he turned and walked away, leaving the conflicted girl to think to herself. He wanted to say one more thing, but he knew he couldn't. He wanted to tell her that he would always protect her. This assignment to Beacon would be temporary, but Pyrrha would soon be the Fall Maiden. He knew that General Ironwood would not risk another Amber incident and Jai couldn't agree more. He needed to protect Pyrrha, but he knew that Pyrrha's protection would come from Guardian Zero-Three-Seven and not Jai Gris. He didn't know when the general would enact the Ghost Protocol, but when he did it would mean Jai Gris, Terre Verte, and Rahm Tangerin would be no more in the eyes of the public. A part of him felt uneasy knowing that Pyrrha would most likely be devastated by the news; it felt as though it went against his duty to protect her. Jai brought himself back to focus on the task at hand. He and his brothers had a job to do and so Jai continued to walk away.
Outskirts of Vale:
Rahm gave himself a quick look over as he inspected the infantry gear he was once again wearing. His two brothers were dressed identically to him. All three were armed with their usual weapons. Terre had his three-sectioned Dust staff, Jai had his sword that doubled as an assault rifle, and Rahm had his partisan that doubled as a rocket launcher. Seeing how it would be only them on this mission, they opted to use their personal weapons this time.
On top of that, some of their old gear was returned to them as well. The general made sure to bring their old gear with him when he arrived at Beacon. Terre had his hard light gauntlet and his short-barreled shotgun again and Rahm donned his full explosives kit along with his grenade belt. Jai's combat knife and his high-caliber pistol weren't anything special when it came down to it. Being from Bravo Squadron, he was used to being content with the simple, less extravagant things.
The only thing that could have made them complete would have been their armor, but alas that was the one thing that would yet to be returned to them. Ironwood wasn't about to run the risk of them being spotted in their armor in Vale.
Rahm's eyes darted over to the pilots up in the cockpit. They were the same pilots from when he and Jai were sent out with team FNKI. They were good pilots, and they were certainly discrete. Rahm returned his attention to the matter at hand.
The three were standing around a holographic display table in the cargo bay of a bullhead. The boys held their helmets off as they watched and listened to the holographic display of General Ironwood.
A few feet away there was a semi-large cylindrical device that was about one meter wide, a half meter thick, and a meter and a half long. The object had a digital timer on the frontal portion and the whole thing was made of what looked to be a dense metal.
"Does anyone have anything that needs clarifying?" Asked General Ironwood.
There was a brief moment of silence before Terre answered.
"No sir."
"Good," said Ironwood, "then let's get down to business."
The general's holographic form gave way to a display of the mountain and the surrounding area. A series of cave networks running deep within the mountain were highlighted in green while the innermost section of the mountain was highlighted in red.
"The intel provided by our reconnaissance team shows that these old caves, that are still intact, lead deep within the mountain." The general's holographic form once again appeared, and he gestured over to the device. "This bomb, courtesy of Dr. Haze and Dr. Polendina, is an experimental warhead with a calculated payload of over 3 kilotons of TNT. According to the simulations our analysts ran, the force of its detonation will either destroy the Wyvern or at least bury it beneath the collapsed mountain. Either way, it will be dealt with."
The boys silently admired the weapon from where they stood.
"I cannot stress just how important it is that the Wyvern be dealt with here and now," said Ironwood.
"We understand, sir," replied Jai.
"Good," said the general, "then I trust you to do whatever it is you need to do to accomplish the mission but see to it that it's done expeditiously and discretely."
"Consider it done, sir," replied Rahm.
General Ironwood smirked before he nodded.
"In that case, good luck. We're all counting on you. Ironwood out."
The general's holographic form vanished.
Terre donned his infantry helmet before he addressed his Guardians.
"Any questions?"
"Nope," replied Rahm as he put his helmet on. He grabbed hold of the bomb, and with a slight grunt of effort, he hoisted the bomb over his shoulder. If he had to guess, the thing weighed just under two thousand pounds. "We've got a package for the Wyvern. Thirty minutes or less is our standard delivery policy or your money back."
"Sounds pretty simple to me," said Jai as he too donned his helmet.
Terre nodded.
"ETA one minute," said the voice of one of the pilots, "we'll be circling a safe distance away until you call for extraction."
"Copy that," said Terre.
The Guardians took the time to do one last check of their weapons and gear. The boys felt the bullhead descend. They stood by the ramp door, waiting patiently. Finally, the bullhead landed, and the ramp door opened. In the distance, they could see the sun beginning to set. The boys stepped off the transport vessel with their weapons ready.
The bullhead's engines spun up and soon the aircraft lifted off and sped away, leaving the three super soldiers alone at the base of the mountain. A direction arrow flashed on their HUDs, pointing towards their target destination, a cave entrance.
"Let's bury this Grimm," said Jai as he moved towards the entrance.
Rahm smirked.
"Love the attitude, Chap."
Rahm strode forward after Jai.
Terre took one last look around, making sure their six was clear before he followed Rahm.
Lots of stuff to unpack this chapter. Pyrrha is going through her existential crisis just like in the original series but her resolve, in my opinion, will be stronger. Weiss is working hard to improve her physicality and her fighting skills. Ruby is growing a bit more confident. Let's see what happens next chapter.
-Dude64