Authors Note: Don't forget to review when you're done. Hope y'all enjoy.

Beta: GeneralMayhem, kpmh2001

"Again."

Pyrrha grit her teeth, taking a deep breath to distract herself from her aching muscles and the subtle burning of her core. The Maiden powers were unlike anything she had ever experienced. It wasn't similar to when she had unlocked her Semblance , nor was it linked in any way to her aura. Whatever powered the magic was something far deeper, something that she hadn't ever realized she had been capable of feeling.

Until it had been pushed and prodded to be used as fuel. Until it had been eroded.

She was exhausted in a way she couldn't describe and yet she was sure her aura was still green.

Ozpin had given her a few pointers, vague lines about reaching within oneself and tapping into the power from there. All words she had heard when she was first using her aura, when she had first unlocked her Semblance. Just like then, it meant nothing to her.

Despite that, she had nodded her head and promised to work it out.

She wasn't sure how, but his advice of reaching within had helped more than she expected it to. Unlike with her aura or Semblance, where she had to consciously move or manipulate it, magic acted in tandem with the will of its user which made it incredibly easy to manifest.

It was also incredibly difficult to control.

Magic wasn't fueled by emotion, but it was linked somehow. Manifesting the power in rage or frustration was easy, doing so while calm was less so, but both Miss Goodwitch and the Headmaster had insisted on the importance of control.

Pyrrha closed her eyes and sighed, releasing the tension from her shoulders as she attempted to reign in her emotions. A moment later, her eyes snapped open as a familiar flame burned with them. Reaching out her hand, ice began to materialize in her palm. Slowly growing in size and mass, before flying from her hand and piercing into a training dummy sat on the opposite side of the arena.

The ice dissipated a moment later and Pyrrha fell to her knees, breathing heavily.

"That will be enough for today." Miss Goodwitch allowed the protective shield she was holding to dissipate.

"I can go again." Pyrrha stated, struggling back to her feet.

"No, you can't." Such a certain response nearly drove Pyrrha back to her knees, would have too were it not for her teacher's words. "You have made incredible progress in such a short time, but it can't all be done at once."

Pyrrha nodded and moved over to the section reserved for onlookers. There weren't any of course, nobody could be allowed to know about what power she truly had and so they had taken steps to ensure their time alone.

She almost wanted to laugh at the irony of her situation. Growing up, she had hated being given extra time with teachers and trainers, being singled out as special and an example that somehow deserved more than the rest of her peers.

Now she wished they would keep going until she collapsed, it just went to show what having real motivation could do to someone. She had to protect her friends, and in order to do that she had to train harder than she ever had before.

Rising from her seat, Pyrrha stepped back towards her instructor. "Thank you, Miss Goodwitch. I'll be sure to remember what I've learned."

"I shall see you tomorrow at the same time, don't be late." Pyrrha nodded and left.

Her lessons with Miss Goodwitch had been helpful but also… awkward. The professor was as professional as ever but there was an air of something else, moments were the silence would drag on and it felt like something was supposed to have been said.

Moments like that had Pyrrha cursing her own social issues and wishing she had been able to figure out what to say. She was sure it had something to do with Amber and her relationship with Miss Goodwitch, whatever it might have been, but she couldn't figure it out and asking felt like an invasion of privacy.

Instead, she had chosen to ignore it, a decision that grew a little more difficult with each passing day. Pyrrha pushed the thought aside, making her way to her next training session.

"Huh, thought you'd take longer." Qrow had been far more vocal than the professor, but even he was prone to moments of awkwardness or slip ups. More than once she had been forced to correct him when he called her Amber and it was easy to see how much it hurt him, if not by the pain in his eyes than by the way he always sought his flask after.

"Miss Goodwitch had me doing practical tests today," She chose to keep her words vague on the off chance that someone was listening. "She felt it best I not push too hard so soon."

"Hmm, and what do you think?" Qrow smirked at her scowl. "I expected as much. Well, if you were hoping for more practical tests than you're out of luck. I've got something else in mind today." She made to interrupt but he cut her off before she could. "We're gonna work on getting you a weapon."

Pyrrha's jaw snapped shut, Qrow turning away and motioning for her to follow.

"I did some looking into your… old weapon, and think we can get you something similar enough. I'm guessing you know the weight and balance of it by heart?" He looked over his shoulder long enough to see her nod before turning his attention forward again. "Good, you'll be able to adjust whatever we find to your own preference. Just uh… don't try and make it a copy of your old one, don't wanna raise too many questions."

She understood, if two people had the exact same weapon it would draw unwanted attention if anyone looked too closely, and it wasn't like her combat ability was entirely dependent on her aesthetic choice. Red and gold, or just simple grey, a well made sword was still a good quality weapon. She'd have to be careful on balancing it out but she would be able to adapt. Besides, plenty of people fought with swords and a shield.

It didn't take long for them to reach the landing pad and the trip over to Vale was even shorter, though the silence made it feel longer. Once they reached the streets however, the normal sounds of a bustling city drowned out any awkwardness.

Despite all the bad things about her predicament, being stuck in someone else's body, there was one noticeable upside. Nobody knew who she was. Though to be fair, she supposed, she wasn't anybody important anymore. Not to the average person anyways.

Pyrrha Nikos was still a celebrity, a famous fighter from Mistral that was recognized as far as Vale. Only, she wasn't Pyrrha Nikos anymore.

It was oddly relieving, not having random people and passersby stop to ask for photographs or autographs, instead, people simply ignored her in the same way they ignored everyone else. They would politely nod at her if they caught each other's eyes, maybe step out of the way and offer a smile, but it was nothing more than the common courtesy one gave a stranger. The city was far more pleasant when there weren't a hundred eyes watching you at any given time.

Shaking her head, Pyrrha caught back up with Qrow, having allowed herself to become distracted for a moment. It took roughly thirty minutes for them to reach their destination, a small store located a couple blocks away from the main road.

"Not the highest end place, but if you want a good starting point to build off of, this is the best place in Vale." He tapped his own weapon holstered on his back. "It won't make up for that personal touch, but you gotta start somewhere."

Pyrrha nodded in understanding. Weapons were a deeply personal thing, especially for Hunters. They could quite literally be an extension of oneself in some cases and it was important to be familiar with all aspects of your weapon. She had built Milo from scratch, but the process of fine tuning and getting all the parts to work together had taken years of work to refine.

Now, she would have to start all over again.

Qrow held the door open for her, ushering her in as he took another drink from his flask.

True to what he had said, the shop wasn't anything flashy or impressive. The store was a little larger inside than she had thought from looking in, shelves stocked with various Hunter gear stretching father into the back of the building carrying a wide range of supplies. To the right of the door was a small counter, behind which sat a bored looking man with a perpetual scowl.

"What do you want?" He grumbled, sounding displeased with their presence in his shop.

Pyrrha elected to remain silent and let Qrow do the talking.

"Stop being so pissy to your customers, might have more come back if you did." Qrow mumbled the latter under his breath. "We're here to see about getting a weapon commissioned."

"Break yours again so soon?" The old man's eyes slipped down to Qrows lower back, where he could see the man's weapon still in one piece. A second later his eyes shifted to her with much the same expression. "Friend of yours?"

"Student of Beacon, lost her weapon out in the Grimmlands and needs a new one. Figured I'd bring her to the best palace in the city."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, you'll still be paying full price." The old man leaned down slightly, grabbing a notebook from behind the counter and setting it out for her to see. "Give me the basics of what you want, size, weight, material, caliber, if you don't give me something specific I'll make it up and you'll still be paying full price."

Pyrrha hesitantly stepped forward, pulling the notebook to that side and getting to work on redesigning her weapon. All the while Qrow and the old man bickered over the price beside her.

It didn't take her long to get the important details down, having long since memorized her own weapons specifications it wasn't hard to detail out the basics. In the end she had gone for as close to what she knew as possible, with some practical modifications considering her predicament.

Milo had been perfect in terms of what opportunities it afforded her. With it's rifle form for long range combat, and its sword and javelin forms for close quarters, she was able to adapt to almost any situation. That being said, there were still opportunities for upgrades.

A larger barrel would allow her to use a higher caliber of round, allowing her to more viable use her weapon at longer ranges. Considering how weak she felt in melee combat in her new body, the choice was an obvious one.

Another thing she had changed was her shield, most notably the size and weight of it. Without her Semblance to allow her to bring it back to her, she wouldn't be throwing it at her enemies anytime soon which meant that she no longer needed it to be so small and light.

She hadn't gotten it too much larger than Akouo had been, but large enough to be more effective in defense, again seeing as how she would be weaker in melee it was a practical choice. The added weight behind it would take a little getting used to, but she was sure she could adapt.

Her final alteration had been a mix of practicality and sentimentality. She had requested that her shield be able to shift forms as well, specifically into a sheath for her main weapon. In the past, she had kept both her weapons attached to her back, something she could still do with her sword if she wished but something that would no longer be viable for her shield.

She had relied on her Semblance to move it into and out of her hand quickly in a fight, something that she would likely never be able to do again.

Just one more thing I have to get used to.

She couldn't help smiling at the fact that it mirrored her partner however. Jaune may have complained about his shield and sword being simple, but there was a certain beauty to its practicality and a Shield-sheath wasn't a bad idea. It would serve as a good reminder of why she was doing this, not that she truly needed it.

"Hmm, I think I can whip something together." The old man looked over her drawings closely. "Fitting the larger barrel in without making the weapon bulky might be tricky but… I should be able to manage." He looked up to Qrow. "It won't be cheap though."

"It's on Beacons tab," Qrow sighed and withdrew a plastic card from his pocket. "Any idea how long it'll take?"

"It'll take just a few weeks to get the right material." The old man said. "I'll let you know when it's finished."

Qrow muttered his thanks and turned to leave, Pyrrha offering the old man a polite goodbye to which he simply grunted in response.

"Give it a month or two, he's slow but his work is good." Pyrrha nodded but didn't say anything. "Best get you back to Beacon before Oz freaks out."

"He doesn't want me in the city?" Pyrrha couldn't help sounding worried, watching the people around her a little closer.

"More that he doesn't want you going anywhere without him knowing about it."

It took Pyrrha a moment to realize the problem with Qrow's statements. "You didn't tell him?"

"Heh, uh, no." Qrow sounded quite amused. "I told him I was going to see about getting you a weapon, I may have forgotten to mention that I planned to take you along."

"Why?" Pyrrha didn't usually question the judgment of her elders, especially seasoned Huntsmen, but Qrow was far from the responsible adult most would have expected.

"If he had his way you'd probably stay locked up in Beacon training until the attack." Qrow sounded tired as he spoke, voice just loud enough for her to hear. "That's what he wanted to do with Amber, and that's part of the reason why she left."

"Is it…" Pyrrha struggled to find her words. "Is it so wrong to want to be ready?"

"Of course not, but if all you ever do is train you'll miss the things that make it all worth it." Qrow held his arms out. "What's the point of risking your life for Vale if you can't at least walk its streets."

It made sense, the expression 'stop and smell the roses' came to mind, but she couldn't help but sympathize with the headmaster. There was a battle coming and they had to be ready, after that she could relax in the knowledge that her friends were safe. She could enjoy Vale after she had saved them.

She wasn't entirely sure why she was surprised to arrive back at Beacon to see the Headmaster waiting at the landing pad, Qrow had practically confessed to stealing her away without permission. That didn't stop her feeling uneasy or awkward as the Headmaster watched them disembark.

"Qrow, I was wondering where you two had gotten off to." His face was neutral, much as it always was, but as he looked to her she couldn't help but look away.

"Decided to take the girl out with me, figured she'd be able to answer the Weaponsmith's questions better than I could."

"And you felt it necessary to hide this from me?" Qrow didn't respond. "Amber, I trust you won't mind if I steal your instructor away from you early today? We need to discuss his findings involving the White Fang."

It took Pyrrha a moment to realize that he was talking to her. "Uh, s-sure, Headmaster. I'll be on my way." She turned towards Qrow. "Thank you, Mr. Branwen."

With a nod from Qrow, she turned and left. Slowly making her way back to her lonely dorm room.

Pyrrha had spent much of her life training, be it physical or mental. Learning how to wield a sword was only useful so long as you had the strength and endurance to finish the fight. Conditioning like that took a lifetime to build and it was something that Hunters learned from a very young age.

Amber had been training for much of her life, but it hadn't been the same as what Pyrrha was used to. Where as Amber trained with the Maiden powers, Pyrrha had focused on physical skill and conditioning. Many people liked to say she was gifted and talented, but they often forgot about all the hard work she had put in to become the champion-level fighter she had been.

A small part of that had been spending hours upon hours at the gym, just like she was now. In the early morning hours, while most people slept, she was working to get stronger. Now more than ever.

Even by Huntsmen and Huntress' standards she was going above what was typical. She had gone to sleep shortly after getting back from town with Qrow, getting enough to be healthy before going back to work.

Part of the reason was so that she would have the gym to herself. Pyrrha had never been fond of crowds, most of that stemming from her fame, but there was a large part of her that enjoyed the silence and peace of being alone. Combining that with the cathartic nature of working out and it was even better.

She wasn't sure how long she had been working, but her arms and legs burned all the while making it difficult to stand. Her weakness was never more evident than now, time spent in the gym where she could see how different her new body was than her old. How far behind she was from her old self. It was a bitter feeling and one she struggled not to focus on.

As she prepared to finish her final set however, her isolation was finally interrupted. Two somewhat familiar faces coming to start their day much as she had, albeit at a far more reasonable hour.

Coco Adel was a well known woman, if for no other reason than her fashion sense and outgoing personality, and Pyrrha had run into her a few times during her first year at Beacon. They were also the only people she saw in the gym when she was in there.

"Damn, and I thought we were the ones waking up early." Pyrrha hadn't noticed the two girls approach her, laying down on the bench as she was. "I thought it was just a one-off but you've been here before us the last couple days." Coco paused, waiting in silence for a moment before continuing. "What gives?"

"Coco!" Velvet Scarlatina was less known, mostly by virtue of Coco taking all the attention of those around her. "That was rude!"

Pyrrha thought about her answer for a moment. "I like to have the time to myself."

"Like to be left alone huh?" Coco seemed to ponder the idea for a moment. "I can respect that, the name's Coco." She nodded to the girl standing beside her. "This is my teammate, Velvet."

Pyrrha threw her legs to the side, finally standing from the bench to properly speak to the two girls. "My names P… A-Amber, my name's Amber." Thankfully the slip went unnoticed due to her heavy breathing. Coco offered out her hand and, after a moment of hesitation, Pyrrha shook it.

"How long have you been here, anyways?"

"A couple... hours." Pyrrha looked away, a slight blush on her cheek at the look of disbelief on Coco's face.

"A couple hours!?" Coco shrieked. "Do you not sleep, or do you just not have a social life!?"

"Coco!" Velvet hit her leader on the shoulder before looking at her. "I'm sorry about her, feel free to ignore her if you want."

"N-no, it's ok." Pyrrha waved her hands in front of her. "She's kind of right, I mostly just spend my time training."

Velvet was quick to change the subject. "A-Anyway, if you don't mind me asking, what year are you in?"

Pyrrha again struggled for an answer. "I... suppose this is the end of my first year."

"Really?" Coco looked surprised. "I mean, we're first years too and I don't think I've seen you around anywhere. Plus, no offence, you look a little old to be a first year."

Velvet hit her teammate again, mumbling something about how rude she was being.

It was a fair question though, one that she would probably have to answer sooner or later. Amber was a couple years older than a first year, though Pyrrha hadn't asked her exact age she knew Amber was more likely at the age of a third year student, if not older.

That still left her with the issue of coming up with an excuse for being at Beacon. Sadly, that was one of the things she hadn't had the chance to talk to the Headmaster about yet.

"It's… complicated." She could tell they wanted to ask more, and for a moment she thought Coco just might, but Velvet spoke before she could.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Amber. We had better get to our own training."

Pyrrha nodded and offered a small smile.

"Yeah," Coco added. "Next year Beacon's hosting the Vytal Festival and you know what that means. We've got a tournament to prepare for."

Pyrrha's mood soured instantly, being replaced with a grim determination. Looking back at the light weights she had been using she sighed. She had a lot of work to do.

Authors Note: This chapter is a bit longer than intended but oh well. Got done what I wanted done.

In other news, how the fuck does magic work, you may ask. The answer is I have no idea. It's never really explained in canon so I'm going for a sort of "mana pool" type deal in that it has its own power source separate from aura and Semblances, magic running on a completely separate system. I'm trying to avoid a "midichlorians" disaster and keep it vague but… ugh, pain in my ass sometimes.

Also, I'll go into more detail about Pyrrha's weapon later. Maybe I'll even see about getting a drawing of it done or something, who knows. One of the fun things about it was figuring out how Huntsmen and Huntresses get their weapons, since it's never really fully fleshed out in canon. I mean, yeah Jaune inherited his and Ruby built hers but… what about everyone else? Mail order? Part shopping? Forged from scratch? I'm going for a sort of mix, it'll all make more sense in time if it doesn't already.

Anyways, ramblings aside, I hope you all enjoyed and as always remember to review and let me know what you think. I always enjoy reading them and try to respond when possible.

Sincerely, SE