Authors Note: I return, just as the prophecy foretold! Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
They hadn't stayed in Dimwater long, only long enough to rest for the night and wait for transport. The Bullhead had arrived early the next day, well before they had been able to eat any sort of breakfast and Pyrrha was starting to notice.
She forced the thought aside, focusing on the shake of the hull and the sound of the engines. They were on their way back to Beacon. She would be able to tell Ozpin everything she knew about the attack, about the threat Cinder posed. She'd be able to protect her friends, maybe even prevent them from ever being in danger in the first place.
Then why was she so afraid?
After everything that had happened, dying and being brought back, was she afraid nobody would believe her?
No, she wasn't. Ozpin had told her about the Maiden powers, about magic. Was this really too much of a stretch?
It wasn't, and doubt wasn't what bothered her. She knew it would be difficult to accept but she planned on going through with it no matter what they thought of her after. It was something else she couldn't place.
Pyrrha was shaken from her thoughts as the Bullhead lurched suddenly, the engines powering down as they landed. She hadn't noticed the pilots warning nor had she realised how long they had been flying, too busy trying to understand her own thoughts.
Qrow stood from beside her, moving over to the door and pulling it open. He looked back at her expectantly and she shook her head, banishing the worrisome thoughts from her mind as she hopped out of the aircraft.
She hadn't spent long at Beacon, only a matter of months, but in that short time she had come to think of it as home. Her team had made the days enjoyable and her friends had been just that, friends. Not people trying to get to know her because of her title or because of what she was. They only cared for who she was.
It had meant the world to her and it had been the driving factor for her to accept Ozpin's offer.
Beacon was something she had wanted to save, something she still wanted to protect. Here she wasn't The Invincible Girl, she was simply another student training to become a huntress. As strong as she was, she wasn't on the level of actual Huntresses or even the uppermost year students.
Seeing Beacon was refreshing, seeing Miss Goodwitch's scowl on the other hand… less so.
"Qrow, you were supposed to be here two days ago." Pyrrha looked over to the Huntsmen she had watched face down dozens of Grimm without a hint of fear, only for him to quickly nod in her direction.
"Had to take things slow, her fault not mine." Qrow stepped aside, raising his flask to his lips as he looked away from Pyrrha's panicked expression.
Miss Goodwitch's attention snapped to her and Pyrrha winced. She opened her mouth to speak, only to be painfully reminded of how much that was a bad idea as her throat felt like it was on fire.
Pyrrha began to cough as she attempted to speak, all the while glaring at Qrows back.
"Don't strain yourself." Miss Goodwitch placed a hand on her shoulder. "Qrow informed us of your injuries, Tsune is waiting for you."
Pyrrha nodded, rubbing her throat softly as Miss Goodwitch watched her intensely. After an awkward moment of silence the professor pulled back, looking towards Qrow. "Ozpin wishes to speak with you as soon a yo-"
"I'll go now." Qrow interrupted her, pulling his flask back down to his hip. "Need to talk to the old man anyways. Amber knows her way around the school, or she should…" Qrow waited for her to nod. "Great, see you two later."
Qrow departed without another word, Miss Goodwitch watching him go before turning back to her and gesturing for Pyrrha to follow. "Ozpin will likely wish to question you after he is done with Qrow."
Pyrrha nodded, walking beside the professor as best she could. Her body was still sore, the long nights rest having helped but not done away with it entirely. The feeling was strange, reminding her of her early training days when she hadn't been as prepared for stressful or taxing fights. Her conditioning was lacking and she could feel it.
She turned her attention back towards the present however, simply walking beside her professor. It wasn't long before they stood outside the medical wing, MIss Goodwitch stopping and turning to face her.
"I'm afraid I have classes to attend to. Tsune is inside and will look after you until Ozpin can come speak with you." The older woman turned and took a step away. She stopped for a moment however and spoke with her back turned. "It's… good to see you again, Amber. We were worried."
Pyrrha didn't say anything, simply staring at the woman's back. What could she say? A moment later, she was gone.
True to her word, Tsune was waiting for her. "Ah, Amber! It has been quite a while since your last check up." Beacons Doctor raised a needle, squeezing it slightly and causing some of the medicine inside to squirt out. "We have a lot to catch up on."
Pyrrha's fear returned.
"Quite the mission, Qrow." Ozpin sat back in his chair, sipping from a cup of coffee as he always was. "Amber rescued and her attackers denied the Maiden powers." he chuckled warmly. "I only wish I could see the look on Salem's face."
Qrow wished he could share the sentiment. "Somethings wrong with her, Oz. I can't tell what but something's… off."
"We won't know if there are any lasting side effects until after Tsune has had a chance to look at her. In the meantime, the best thing we can do is try and figure out what her attacker was trying to accomplish, and what she was able to get away with."
"I've never seen anything like it, Oz." Qrow ran a hand through his hair. "It looked like something belonging to a Grimm except it was coming from Amber's attacker." Ozpin hummed but made no comments. "Has there ever been anything like that before?"
He took a moment to think. "Nothing so symbiotic, at least not to my knowledge, but Salem has had enough time and resources to look into such a thing. It would certainly give her own forces an advantage." Ozpin set his coffee down, bringing a hand to his chin. "What it does however, is not something I can predict, though I find it likely to be tied to the Maiden in some way."
"Yeah, no shit. That was kind of obvious." Qrow mumbled, more to himself than Ozpin. "What's the plan?"
"The same as it has always been." Ozpin stood from his chair, grabbing his cane and stepping out from behind his desk. "We work to limit our enemy's actions and prepare for the future. Nothing has changed."
"How do we know Amber won't run off again?"
"We don't."
Qrow sighed, reaching for his flask and the short distraction it would provide. "I'm gonna head into the city, see if I can't find a bottle to climb into."
"As you will," Ozpin followed him towards the elevator. "In the meantime, I shall converse with Amber and see if I can impress upon her the importance of staying at Beacon."
Qrow scoffed. "Good luck with that. You may want to take Goodwitch with you, at least Amber trusts her."
Ozpin pressed the button for the ground floor. "Unfortunately she is busy teaching a class at the moment, so I shall be going alone… unless you would be wi-"
"That truly is unfortunate." Qrow stepped out of the elevator the second the door opened. "Best of luck with that, give the girl my well wishes."
"I'll be sure to pass the message along."
With that, they went their separate ways. One to the medical hall, the other towards the closest bar.
"Your injuries aren't too severe," Pyrrha waited patiently as Tsune flipped through a couple pages on her clipboard. "In truth, I had expected far worse. With your aura depleted, you were lucky to get away with only scars."
Lucky. Pyrrha wanted to laugh. Amber had died, maybe not physically but in every way that counted. Amber had been lucky to only be in a coma, and Pyrrha was hesitant to even call it that. Being kept alive by a machine, unable to move or interact with the world.
It wasn't a pleasant thought. Amber was dead, her body just hadn't cought up to the fact.
And now it never would because it was her body. Luck didn't begin to describe what had happened.
"There shouldn't be any long term effects, the odd aura fluctuations aside." Tsune looked perplexed for a moment before continuing. "Your throat also took some damage, though if that was due to the attack or your vocal response to the pain I can't say. Either way, without your aura the damage was worse than it should have been but will heal in time."
Pyrrha had explained the basics of what had happened, despite the pain she was still able to speak. With her aura back damage was unlikely, but Tsune had stressed the importance of keeping her voice low so as to not risk further damage, however unlikely.
"Your scars however…" Tsune's voice was sympathetic. "They may heal in time but there is nothing else I can do about it for now."
Pyrrha offered a slight smile that she didn't truly feel. The scars wouldn't heal, not completely anyways. She had seen Ambers body and, while the skin would return, there would be a permanent discoloration. It would serve as a horrifying reminder of just who she was.
"Scars serve as reminders," A voice called from the doorway. "and are far easier to live with than the alternative." Headmaster Ozpin stepped in, a soft smile gracing his lips as his eyes met hers for the fraction of a second. Pyrrha looked away a moment later.
"Ozpin, I sent my final report to your office should you wish to review it." Tsune gestured back towards her. "In short, she will be fine with a little bit of rest and some time to recover."
Pyrrha looked down towards the floor at her words. She didn't have time to relax, time wasn't on her side. There was work to be done, least of all she had to start training again. Fighting Cinder had been a doomed effort, a fact that she had refused to accept. Despite all her years of training, all her experience, she had been unable to defeat the monster that was Cinder Fall.
She had something new, however, Pyrrha turned her hand over, feeling the odd power from deep inside her core. The power of the Fall Maiden was hers, and it would be enough to give her the edge she needed. It would have to.
Despite that, she knew she wasn't physically ready. Years of conditioning, muscle memory, and practice had given her an edge over many of her opponents, now she had none of that.
Amber was a huntress, to that extent she had been training for years of her life, but as she was Pyrrha knew she would die. As strong as she was, Amber wasn't stronger than Pyrrha had been, and Pyrrha couldn't hold a candle against Cinder.
Amber had spent her life training in a fighting style Pyrrha didn't know, muscle memory would help somewhat, natural instinct allowing her to act accordingly, but if she wasn't fast or strong enough to take advantage of those moments it would mean nothing.
She had a lot of catching up to do.
"-n't you give us a moment, doctor. I would very much like to speak with your patient alone, if that's alright with you."
It took Pyrrha a moment to realise they were both staring at her. She nodded her head, slightly embarrassed that she had allowed her mind to drift. Tsune set the clipboard down, turning and leaving the two of them alone.
The silence was awkward, and Pyrrha felt an odd churning in her stomach that reminded her of the few times when she had gotten told off by her parents when she was young.
"I'm glad you are safe, we feared the worst." Ozpin's voice was clipped. "We were worried when you left, you know how dangerous it is out there alone." He paused for a moment, causing Pyrrha to hesitantly look up in an attempt to read his face. "You could have been killed, or worse, captured. Amber… what were you thinking?"
"I'm not-" Pyrrha coughed as her voice croaked from her throat, quiet and barley audible as she struggled to speak against the pain. "A-Amber."
Ozpin stared back at her. "Pardon?"
Pyrrha forced it out, wincing against the pain. "I'm not Amber."
The headmaster's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Oh? Then who are you?"
As she started to speak, his suspicion quickly fell away. A look of sheer surprise and confusion slowly dawned on his face as she told him everything.
Authors Note: Okay, I am finally back from break and moving… little bit longer than anticipated but I really needed that time off. 12 months without seeing any of my friends or family was starting to get a tiny bit taxing. But as I said, I am back.
Ideally I would have done a one off to warm up my skills a bit but I wanted to get back to this story before people thought I was abandoning it or something. As a result the writing is a bit shaky and the chapter is noticeably shorter. Shouldn't be a trend moving forward I just have to get my bearings again.
Other than that, I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter and as always I welcome any and all reviews regardless of what they have to say. Criticism is just as helpful as anything else.
Sincerely SE