Author's Note: Enjoy.
Beta: GeneralMayhem, kpmh2001
It didn't take long for the police to arrive, which made sense considering how loud the fight had been. Pyrrha had honestly expected them to never show up. Someone on the inside had to be protecting the White Fang, or covering for them in some capacity, if they had been able to operate so openly without a care in the world. It had taken a Huntsman calling in that they had attacked said terrorists to get a response. She quietly considered that it might have been incompetence, but realized that wouldn't be any better.
Despite all of that, they had arrived when called upon. She hoped that was a good sign, but judging by the glares she was getting from the officers as they carted away their prisoners, she severely doubted it.
"Why do they all seem so…" She struggled to find the words to describe their animosity.
"Pissed?" Qrow offered. "Probably because we had to do their job for them. Authority figures never like it when it's implied they can't do their job."
"But… we stopped the White Fang, nobody even knew that they were here. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Of course it is." Qrow waved his hand to dismiss the thought. "And they'll publicly thank us for it, I'm sure, but someones about to have to answer why it was us that made the move and not them."
Pyrrha thought for a moment. "Do you think they'll find spies?"
Qrow chuckled half-heartedly. "This isn't an action movie, more likely they'll uncover someone with sympathies that was willing to overlook more than they should have. Most likely a few people will lose their job… probably some who don't deserve it." Qrow nodded forward and Pyrrha looked over to see one of the Faunus police officers dragging away the prisoners. "Hopefully they'll catch the actual problem in their witch hunt."
Pyrrha looked down, sighing as processed everything Qrow said. Vale wasn't the worst for Human-Faunus relations, but it had a long way to go. In her past life the only real source of prejudice she ever saw first hand, in Vale at least, had been Cardin. She'd heard Blake talk about the plight of the faunus numerous times, but it had always seemed like an issue in Atlas or Mistral. Vale had been different, or so she thought.
She hadn't realised just how bad things were, none of them had until it was far too late. When the White Fang descended on their school in an attempt to kill the next generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses, all to send a message. It was easy to say they were extremists, and they were, but it was hard for her to see and hear about the things most people claimed were made up as propaganda. It was difficult to see that the extremists had their reasoning, as skewed and twisted as it was.
"We should be free to go." Qrow's voice snapped her attention back to the present.
"Shouldn't we give a statement?" She had never been involved in something like this before, and it shamed her to say it, but that's what always happened in the movies.
"I already did, most of it anyway." Qrow started walking towards the exit, Pyrrha following closely behind. "Left out how we knew of course, much to their annoyance."
"They didn't want to hear from me?"
"It's… best if we keep your name out of the papers." Qrow explained. "I'm a well known Huntsmen and they know I'm associated with Oz. If what you said about the White Fang working for her is true, then they won't bat an eye. You on the other hand..." They thought she was dead, or dying at least. "We took a big enough risk with a straight up fight, the ones that escaped will probably describe you to their higher ups. Thankfully Amber was never the most flashy of Huntresses, so I doubt they'll draw the connection so easily."
That begged the question however, how long could they keep that up before Cinder eventually found out? They knew where Amber had been kept in her past life, though it wasn't hard to guess at that, and they would almost definitely come to the same conclusion this time. Did they have spies at Beacon? People that knew to look out for her?
Pyrrha shook her head, attempting to dislodge the paranoia. It wasn't impossible, but if there really was someone reporting information back to Cinder, then there was little that she could do about it aside from hiding in a cave somewhere and never coming out.
That was why she hadn't been allowed to leave Beacon, the Headmaster had wanted her to keep as small a profile as possible to attempt and go unnoticed for as long as possible. But now that she thought about it, he had always framed it as putting off the inevitable, Cinder would come to Beacon eventually, the attack would happen, and Pyrrha would be discovered. It was only a matter of time.
What would happen then? She supposed the goal was to hold off the truth being discovered until Cinder and her team were already at the academy, where they could be apprehended. She made a mental note to ask the Headmaster about it.
"I don't know about you, but I could use a… distraction, before returning to our impending doom." Qrow stopped, sparing a glance back in her direction.
Pyrrha winced. "Do you really think the Headmaster will be that upset?"
Qrow shrugged. "Maybe, I'm more worried about Glynda." Pyrrha wicked again. "Figure we might as well try and relax a bit before heading back."
Pyrrha considered the idea, he made a good point in that regard. There was no way of knowing when she would be able to go out in Vale again. Ozpin had already barred her from going out and that was before tonight. Detention would be her getting off easy, in truth she had no idea how they would punish her.
"What did you have in mind?"
Pyrrha wasn't surprised by Qrow's idea of a relaxing night, nor was she surprised to find a bar open at such an hour during the week. What did surprise her was the location Qrow had chosen and the sheer amount of alcohol the older Huntsmen had been able to drink while seeming entirely unaffected.
She'd heard the stories of The Club from Yang, their shady connections to the underworld of Vale and their ties to gangs related to Torchwicks robberies. That was the end of the useful information from the stories. Yang had skipped on most of the details, instead focusing on how she had 'totally kicked ass' whilst literally tearing up the dance floor.
Honestly, it was impressive how she hadn't gotten in trouble for destroying the place. Despite how much the damages must have cost, there hadn't been any mention of legal action or even so much as a reprimand.
Then again… Pyrrha watched Qrow tip his head back, downing another bottle likely meant for a group of people. I can see where she gets it from.
The bartender had taken one look at them, set a bottle and a glass down, and then stepped away. She had been confused why he had only left one glass until Qrow had started drinking from the bottle itself. She wasn't quite sure what the bartender saw that made it so obvious.
"Not really your kind of place, huh?" Qrow asked as he waved for another bottle.
"I don't have anything against it, it's just…" Pyrrha sighed. "I never really got the chance to go out all that much."
"Oppressive parents?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "Public opinion."
Qrow raised one eyebrow. "What the hell's that got to do with drinking?"
"Back home everyone knew who I was, they looked up to me." Pyrrha stared down at the glass she had barely touched. "People were always looking for dirt or scandals, anything they could get their hands on. If I went to see a doctor, I was pregnant. If I talked to a boy I was trying to get pregnant. Going out for a night with friends? Surely I was developing an addiction of some kind."
"Sounds like bullshit." Though she would never say it, Pyrrha couldn't help but agree. "Doesn't have to be that way now though. Only a handful of people knew who Amber was, you can slip right into the crowd now."
Pyrrha wished that were true. As she stared into her drink she could just make out her reflection and the scarring over her face. She jumped as a foot kicked her underneath the table.
"Huntsmen get scars, the good ones anyways. The others get dead." Qrow knocked his bottle against her glass. "Bottoms up, don't make me feel like I'm drinking alone."
Pyrrha grabbed her glass, swirling it around for a moment to disrupt her reflection before leaning back and drinking it. A moment later she regretted it, the burning in her throat reminded her of more than one fire dust attack she had received and she hacked involuntarily.
"You'll get used to it." Qrow rubbed her back for a moment before returning to his own drink. "It couldn't have all been bad. Your life before…"
Pyrrha took a moment to compose herself before speaking. "My time before Beacon was fine but… it was lonely. People always looked up to me and put me on a pedestal. Beacon was… my team, they were different." She smiled softly as Qrow filled up her glass.
"Is. Your team is different. Or… will be, I guess." Qrow shook his head. "The point I'm making is that they aren't dead, so things aren't hopeless. You're probably the only person in history to get an honest second chance at something this serious. Most people don't come back after death…" Qrow stared at nothing for a moment, his eyes gaining a distant look that made Pyrrha slightly nervous. He seemed to snap out of it a moment later. "You talk about your friends a lot, but aside from their names I don't think you've said much more."
"Well, you'll meet them soon enough." Pyrrha said. "You can make your own impressions but… fair warning Nora can be a bit… much." She winced at the slight insult to one of her closest friends. "Ren, her partner, usually keeps her from doing anything too... "
Qrow smirked. "Much?"
"Overzealous."
"Right." Qrow rolled his eyes. "What about your partner? John?"
"Jaune, he's… nice."
Qrow stayed silent, expecting more. When none came he continued to remain silent. Pyrrha felt blood rush to her checks and she brought her glass up in a desperate attempt to hide her face.
"Nice… that it?" Qrow waited silently before a small smirk worked its way onto his face, before growing to Yang levels of smugness. "So how long did it take you to realise you had a thing for your partner?"
"I… I don't know what you mean." Pyrrha busied herself by filling her glass, and then proceeding to take another drink when that wasn't enough.
"Right… and how long did it take him to notice?"
Pyrrha whimpered and sagged in her chair. "He never did."
"Oof, that's rough."
"I could never work up the nerve to tell him."
Qrow paused, looking towards the bottle in his hand before responding. "Did you ever try taking him drinking?"
Pyrrha looked down at her glass, hoping that it would have an answer. She held it up and clinked it against Qrows bottle before drinking it and pouring another. After the seventh or eight, she was starting to see why people enjoyed it so much.
Qrow staggered out of the Bullhead, struggling to stay standing with another person using him as a crutch. He refused to acknowledge that, under normal circumstances, he would be doing much the same. He forced himself onward as he attempted to complete an age-old quest. One that had defeated many a man, himself included. Delivering the fair maiden back to her bed.
The fact that said maiden was practically unconscious only managed to make the battle all the more difficult. There were a lot of things to say about Pyrrha in the short time he had gotten to know her. High in tolerance was certainly not one of them.
He had to admit, in fairness to all parties involved, most people failed to stack up when they tried to drink with Qrow and, for once, people's failure wasn't chocked up to his semblance. He was a master of drinking, a master of holding his liquor, a mas-
Qrow stumbled forward once more, smashing his face into the steps of the school as he struggled to find his way to the dorm rooms. Pyrrha didn't wake up, though she did mutter something about pancakes as he grumbled profanities aimed at every deity he could think of, he got back on his feet and continued on his way. By the time he got to the room in question, he was presented with a problem he hadn't accounted for.
Beacon liked to give its students privacy, rather, it liked to give it's teams privacy, as each would get a private room. The goal was two fold. First, it helped to forge bonds between teams that could last a lifetime. Second, it made sure nobody's shit got stolen. That meant each room had a personal lock that could only be unlocked via a scroll belonging to each team member.
Qrow and Pyrrha were, in fact, not team members and thus he didn't have a way into her room. He attempted to wake the girl up, only managing to elicit more pancake ramblings before giving up entirely. He didn't want to search her pockets, mostly because it was creepy and he didn't need that kind of reputation, but aside from leaving her leaned up against her door, he was out of options.
It was at that moment Qrow realized that his angry ramblings against the gods hadn't gone ignored.
"I seem to recall it was Mr. Xiao Long who was taking girls to their rooms late at night."
Qrow unceremoniously dropped Pyrrha to the ground and stood up straight, turning just as the Headmaster tossed something in his direction. It was a miracle that he managed to catch it, seeing as how he saw two of them. Waving the scroll in front of the lock, the door opened slightly.
A few minutes later and he had finished his mission, depositing the Fall Maiden on her bed. As the door closed and the two men were left standing in the hallway, Qrow groaned.
"Can this wait till morning?"
"It has." Ozpin gestured to a window at the end of the hall, where Qrow could see the clouds had begun to lighten. The sun wasn't up by any means, but it was closer to morning than it was night.
"The next morning?" He tried, only to be met with a blank stare. "So that's a no…" Cursing his Semblance one last time, Qrow followed behind the Headmaster.
Pyrrha winced as the elevator began to move, her brain feeling like it was hitting the back of her skull as her headache. She wanted nothing more than to go back to bed and to attempt and sleep off her hangover. Sadly the Headmaster had called and told her to meet him in his office. Even with her slightly impaired state of mind, it didn't take a second to think about why that was.
She hadn't heard from Qrow since last night. The last thing she could really remember was sitting at a table and talking about her past life, after that, things became hazy and difficult to imagine. Somehow she had woken up in her dorm room, likely due to Qrow's influence, but she couldn't actually remember any of it.
As the elevator came to a halt, Pyrrha's brain didn't seem to get the message and it felt as if it had been smashed against the top of her skull. She didn't mind drinking, in fact she had even enjoyed it, but she couldn't understand how people put up with the pain and sickness the day after. Rubbing her temples she came to the conclusion that it definitely wasn't worth it.
As the door opened she put on her best face, stepping forward with a sense of determination she didn't truly feel. The Headmaster sat behind his desk, his arms folded over each other as he watched her approach. Qrow was sitting next to the only other chair in the room, looking for all the world like he hadn't slept in weeks.
Pyrrha sat down, politely nodding to Qrow and the Headmaster. "Good morning Sir, you asked to see me."
Before he could speak, Qrow interrupted. "He knows everything, you don't have to put on a show."
She spared a glance towards the Headmaster, waiting for him to nod before sagging backwards in her chair. Her hands again returned to her temples. She didn't fail to notice the slight bolt of amusement across the Headmaster's face as she struggled.
"You had quite the night, Miss Nikos." She groaned in response. "I would like to ask how you feel about what you've done, but I doubt you could give me an honest answer at this time."
Pyrrha suffered as silently as she could. She didn't regret what she had done, going after the White Fang with Qrow had been the most productive thing she had done since arriving at Beacon, and she would do it again without hesitation. That being said, she still felt guilty for doing so behind the Headmasters back.
"Qrow informed me as to the specifics. It's unfortunate that your mission went the way it did, but given the circumstances I think it's understandable." Ozpin adjusted his glasses as he spoke. "You handled the fight well, from what details he was able to provide."
Pyrrha took a deep breath before sighing, finally looking the Headmaster in the eyes. "I only won because of the Maiden powers. Had it not been for that…"
"The Maiden powers are a part of you, relying on them is not a reason to be disappointed." Ozpin's voice was somber. "What matters is that you survived and learned from your experience, you know more now than you did before in regards to your ability." Pyrrha nodded her head but stayed silent. "I am disappointed that you would put yourself at such risk given what you know. Your safety and continued secrecy are paramount to our victory against Cinder and Salem."
Pyrrha winced at the dejected tone of his voice. It was an unfamiliar feeling, though she had heard the stories about it before. The "I'm not mad, just disappointed" speech. She had never done anything to warrant it from her parents but that only served to make it even more awkward and painful as the Headmaster watched her with an intensity she couldn't handle.
"And yet, you managed to do what many later year students would have failed at. You took on a group of dangerous terrorists, captured people who might very well have valuable information, and even captured what appears to be their leader, and for that, I am proud to have you as a student of mine."
Pyrrha looked up from the floor, surprised to hear any form of praise.
"You are hereby restricted to the main academy, if you attempt to leave under any circumstances I shall be forced to take James' offer of housing you in Atlas. Am I understood?" Pyrrha swallowed hard and nodded. "Good, we'll talk again later after you've had a chance to rest."
Authors Note: This chapter gave me issues, hence its shorter nature. I've tried to maintain somewhere between 2.5k to 3.5k words as a minimum for chapters for this story but sometimes that is easier than others.
Hope you enjoyed it and as always don't forget to review and tell me what you think.
Sincerely, SE