Author's Note: Enjoy.
Ironwood entered the medical bay as quietly as he could, hoping to avoid any undue noise in the event that its occupants were still asleep. Pyrrha was still asleep, her friends from Beacon sitting next to her bed. The Doctors had managed to deal with the venom as well as patch up the numerous cuts across her body, but she had yet to properly wake up.
From what he had been told by Taiyang she had earned the rest. Such a massive display of magical power was rare to see, especially from a junior maiden such as herself. It was difficult to tell what the damage might be, adding on the fact that her aura had been completely depleted, and it was a miracle she was able to run as long as she had.
It was an awe inspiring feat of determination that he would have given a medal for if she were one of his soldiers, sadly the best he could do was see that she was properly taken care of. While he would have liked to speak with her, she wasn't the reason he was here.
Scanning the medical bay, it didn't take him long to find the real reason he was here. Winter sat next to a bed tucked away in the corner of the room, her arm in a sling wrapped over her shoulder and with numerous bandages covering her body as well. She had been lucky that the majority of the venom in her system had come after her initial dose of anti-venom, though where exactly they had found it, her report hadn't specified. It was only because of that medication that she wasn't currently bedridden.
She had been told to stay in bed of course, the doctors had said that she needed the rest so that her body could properly expel the toxins from her system, but that hadn't stopped her.
The man on the bed she sat next to was a different matter. Qrow had been spared the venom, but that was the extent of his good fortune. Nearly every bone in his left arm had been broken, his face was badly bruised, and there were a dozen other spots on his body that had been bruised or at the very least sprained.
The doctors said that the venom might have actually helped to numb the pain, if Winter and Pyrrha's reaction to it was anything to go off of, it might have caused him to fall unconscious. In the end he had suffered more pain as a result, and if what the report said was true, he had done it for a fairly selfless reason. He planned to thank him once he woke up, though he very much doubted Qrow would accept it; hence why he'd sent word for an order of Atlesian Whiskey, that he was sure Qrow would accept.
His approach had gone ignored, a surprising detail considering how aware of her surroundings Winter usually was. Clearing his throat slightly, Ironwood hoped to get her attention. She jumped slightly, looking back over her shoulder to see him standing there before quickly moving towards her feet.
"General, my apologies Sir, I didn't hear you come in." Winter made to salute, before realizing her arm was currently unavailable. The grimace that crossed her face made Ironwood smile but he managed to hold back his laughter.
"You can relax, Winter." Ironwood gestured back towards her seat, waiting for her to sit before continuing. It took a moment for her to realise that, the two standing in silence before she sat down with a slight huff. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"
"I'm fine, sir." Winter said, notably dodging the question. In truth he wasn't surprised to see her where she was, it was where he had seen her the last time he had stopped by. In fact, she had been sitting beside Qrow almost constantly since he had been treated waiting for him to wake up.
"And how is Qrow?" He switched the topic away from her own health, as he knew that if he wanted an honest report on her status, he would have to ask the Doctors once he was done speaking with her.
"He'll live." Winter sagged a little bit in her chair, her carefully kept posture slipping for a brief moment. "With his Aura and the doctor's Semblance, he should be up and moving around in a couple days; he'll be back to full strength in a couple weeks."
James nodded along, gratefully for having brought along such a competent medical team. Their expertise and knowledge had made treating such a wide range of injuries almost trivial, something he would try to reward them for.
"Just in time for the school year to start." He mumbled, silently hoping that nothing would happen where they would need him before then. As much as the two argued, James would never discredit the man. He was one of the best Huntsman in the world; they would need him for what was to come.
"I still find it hard to believe that he's a teacher at a combat school." Winter had voiced such concerns in the past, the two never having met on good terms, but there was something different about it now that James couldn't quite place. Less resentment, and more... curiosity.
"Despite his outward appearance, Qrow is… a professional." James assured her. He had no doubt that the man's classes were hardly what anyone would call professional, but he also had no doubt that they were important lessons that most people would likely be forced to learn the hard way. "While he may not embody what we think that means, there are few people you could trust more than him."
"I would have to agree." Winter added, an exhausted sigh escaping her as she sat up once more. "Why are you here, General?"
"Can't I come by to check on a friend?" James smiled, taking no offense towards Winter's words.
"Of course sir, but you seem troubled." Winter had always been extremely perceptive, of not just her surroundings but people in general. It was that perspective ability that enabled her to be such an effective combatant, as she could find the smallest trace of a weakness in their defenses and exploit it.
"Mistral has ordered all Atlesian forces out of their territory." James answered, taking a nearby chair from an empty bed and pulling it over.
"I can't help but notice that we are still here." Winter noted. Despite the ship's inertial dampeners, it was easy to tell when you were in flight. The sound and vibration of the engines would have given away any movement.
"Acting Headmistress Tawny has officially allowed us to stay while we treat our wounded." James said. Whether or not the former Deputy-Headmistress would remain in her new position or not had yet to be discussed, though from his brief interactions with her, James thought she would do a good job. She was a hard worker, and had plenty of experience to back up her years, the only real issue was her age. In fact, all of the potential replacements were of the older generations; a horrific reminder of what Lionheart had done.
He would need to speak with Ozpin about whether to bring her into the fold or not, and if not then they would need to replace her with someone that they could. Such a position was too valuable to be left open to people who didn't know about Salem.
There were many things he needed to discuss with him actually.
"And unofficially?" Winter asked.
"She thinks we did the right thing, most of the real professors do." James explained. "It's just the pretenders and politicians that think I overstepped my authority."
"I'm sad to say they may be right." Winter winced ever so slightly, quickly rushing to explain herself. "You had no authority to do what you did as the General of Atlas, that is likely all they are seeing however. As the Headmaster of Atlas Academy? Perhaps, this is a school matter after all."
"That is the angle Headmistress Tawny is trying to push." James sighed once more. "But for the time being, we are to withdraw from Mistralian soil."
"Surely they will change their mind, Atlas and Mistral have always maintained close ties." Winter tried to assure him. "Atlas protects Argus after all, and most of their northern settlements-"
"Not anymore." James said remorsefully. He had tried to make the council of Mistral understand the importance of his men in Argus, it not only protected Mistral and Atlas but the entire world's shipping lanes.
There were few places ships could make it through the ice and Argus was the perfect resetting place while they refueled. It was safe, protected by the strongest military in the world, and it was a symbol of what could be achieved. It had been, at least.
"The Council of Mistral has deemed that they can protect it better than we can." James explained. "We're to transfer the base to the Mistralian military within the next month."
Winter paused, a rare look of uncertainty on her face. "How is the council in Atlas taking it?"
James smiled. "They're on my side, thankfully, but if it weren't for the support of Mistral's Huntsman, they might be calling for my resignation right now." There was a severe disconnect between the politicians and the people of Mistral, which was something that James would have fixed if he knew how. Atlas was suffering from similar issues.
The Huntsman and people in Northern Mistral were very much on his side, even the majority of the everyday citizens seemed to be, but those in power were frightened. Hopefully the expulsion of his troops would be a short term issue.
"Is the Mistralian military even capable of managing that many installations?" Winter asked, a concern James had very much voiced in his effort to stop the decision from going through.
"They are expanding their military as we speak." A fact that James had mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it would almost certainly give them a potentially great ally against Salem. On the other hand, the last time that the other Kingdoms had built up their militaries, they had used them against one another.
Whoever took the forefront of Mistral's military would have to be told about Salem as well, he just hoped that he could convince Ozpin of the same.
"What about our secondary target?" Winter changed the subject away from politics, something James was always willing to do; he just wished he had better news on that front.
"She had already fled Mistral by the time we arrived." James said. "According to the Headmistress, she and her team left on a 'family emergency' the day before Glynda and myself arrived."
"Damn," Winter cursed softly, an incredibly rare thing for the usually refined and proper Schnee to do. "Did we win? It doesn't feel like it."
James chuckled dryly, Winter echoing his own personal sentiment. "Rest assured, this was a victory, it just came at a cost. Lionheart was destroying this Kingdom, they'll come to see that in time, and if he had been allowed to stay, Mistral would have eventually collapsed."
"Were it not for you?" Winter looked towards him, a subtle smile on her face as she raised one eyebrow in question.
James shook his head, gesturing over to where Pyrrha was still asleep. "Were it not for her." He turned back to look at Winter and Qrow. "And you two."
Winter's cheeks darkened slightly as she looked away. "I was just doing my duty, sir."
"Mistral thanks you for your service, or at least, they damn well should." James replied, smiling widely at her embarrassment. "Now, try to get some rest. I'm sure Qrow wouldn't want you to worry yourself on his account." Winter stood from her chair as he did, the formality returning despite his attempts at otherwise. "We'll be stopping off in Vale before we head back to Atlas, but we won't leave until everyone is at least awake. So get your rest while you can, you've earned it."
"Sir." Winter stood a little straight, despite not being able to salute. He saluted her back, subordinate or not, she'd earned the sign of respect.
The instant Pyrrha began to awake she shot up, her eyes snapping open to search her surroundings. The last thing she could remember was watching Callows die, before everything faded black. It took her a moment to process the fact that she was no longer out on the streets of Mistral, instead she had been taken to what looked like a medical facility of some kind. Judging by the color scheme it belonged to Atlas, the dull metals and people in white snow white uniforms giving it away.
She felt something touch her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly as she turned to look to her side. Yatsuhashi watched her with an almost neutral expression, his hand pulled back slightly as he waited for her to calm down. It was only then that she began to truly take in her surroundings, as well as the awkward feeling of her body.
She hadn't noticed Yatsuhashi or Fox sitting next to her when she had first woken up and, judging by the looks on their faces, her sudden movement had startled them. The chairs they had been sitting in were tipped over on the floor as both of them had no doubt shot up the moment she started looking around.
The second thing she noticed was just how hard she was breathing. In the immediate panic of waking up, her breathing had quickly become erratic, and she was starting to feel slightly dizzy as a result. Taking a moment to calm herself she took several deep breaths, Yatsuhashi's hand finally returning to her shoulder.
"It's good to see you awake." Yatsuhashi said. "Are you feeling alright?"
Pyrrha made to speak, coughing slightly as she finally noticed how dry her throat was. A glass of water was quickly pressed into her vision and she drank it eagerly. When she was done she sighed. "Thank you, and I'm fine, Yatsu."
"See, I told you it would take more than that to stop her." Fox smiled from beside him. "Coco will be thrilled to hear the good news."
Pyrrha froze. "W-what do you mean?"
Yatsuhashi and Fox both winced.
"Well, you see…" Fox started, but quickly faced away. "You must be hungry, I'm gonna go find you something to eat." He quickly disappeared through the doorway on the other side of the large room.
Pyrrha turned towards Yatsuhashi, waiting for him to explain what Fox had meant.
"Coco… uh…" The man she had come to know as nearly perpetually calm began to sweat slightly. "You see, she could see your aura on her scroll and… when it broke she was notified."
It took her a moment to realize what that meant, before a slowly dawning panic began to build up as she began to look for her scroll. Noticing that she was no longer wearing her clothes but rather a hospital gown she began to search the nearby tables on either side of her bed.
Yatsuhashi held up her scroll gently. "You'll have to forgive her."
It didn't take Pyrrha long to realize what he was referring to. Taking her scroll from him she quickly noticed that she had several dozen missed calls as well as roughly a hundred messages, all from Coco. Reading through them she couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach.
What started as concerned questions about her situation quickly evolved into threats of retribution if she didn't. Those didn't bother her too greatly however, as they would all no doubt look back on them and laugh at some point, what bothered her was what came after. Before long they turned into panicked messages begging Pyrrha to pick up their calls.
That was when she noticed how long ago the messages had been sent to her.
"Yatsu… How long have I been here?" She slowly looked up to him from her scroll.
"About two days." Yatsuhashi winced once more as she looked at him.
She turned her attention back to her scroll, pulling up the contact and setting it to call. When it connected the screen lit up to display Coco standing outside somewhere. It took the girl barely a second to register who had called her, and the immediate moment after that Pyrrha was flinching as she desperately tried to turn the volume of her scroll down.
"What happened to you!?" Coco screamed through the scroll. "What the hell were you thinking!?" Pyrrha tried to respond, but was quickly cut off as her friend began to ramble. "No, you weren't thinking! You just rushed off into danger like you've always done, I can't believe I trusted you to take care of yourself!"
Pyrrha made to defend herself just as Coco nearly ripped the sunglasses off her face, and she was fairly sure she heard the frame crack as she did it. That fact alone would have been cause for concern, but the look in her friends eyes was what really caused Pyrrha to hesitate. She was concerned, beyond that, she looked afraid.
In all the time she had known Coco, through both of her lives, the girl had always been the embodiment of confidence. While she now knew it was partly for show, it was still concerning to see her friend so worried. Pyrrha squirmed under the girl's gaze, even through the screen. Looking towards Yatsuhashi for help, she realized that he was looking anywhere but at her.
"You said you'd be okay!" Coco said accusingly, and Pyrrha couldn't blame her. It hadn't been a secret that this mission was going to be dangerous, but she had been so certain that it would work out because it had to. She was going to rescue Qrow and Winter because there was no other acceptable alternative. She was the Fall Maiden, the Invincible Girl, she should have been able to handle it.
How wrong she'd been.
"I'm sorry, Coco." Pyrrha apologized, trying to calm the girl down as best she could. "But I'm okay now."
"That doesn't change anything!" Coco snapped back. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been? How worried Velvet had been!?" Pyrrha flinched as her volume continued to rise. "We thought you had died!" Coco's voice cracked slightly at the end as she struggled to control her emotions, the slight moisture building up in her eyes threatening to spill forth. "Yatsu and Fox only told us what happened a couple hours later. What the hell were you thinking getting involved in this crap!?"
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to worry you." Pyrrha tried to calm her down but struggled to find the words to say. She had never been great at talking to people during the best of times, dealing with something like this was far beyond her ability to handle. She decided to settle on the closest thing to honesty she could. "I thought I could handle it."
"Well clearly not!" Coco snapped back.
"Yeah, clearly not." She closed her eyes in shame. "I wasn't strong enough, I was more of a liability than anything else… I'm sorry." Pyrrha took a deep breath to calm herself. "But I'm okay now."
She expected Coco to say something back, despite her words Pyrrha knew it wasn't okay. They had been worried about her before the mission started, now their concerns had been justified and they had feared the worst; a few words weren't going to make that right, but Coco tried to calm herself. Sliding her sunglasses back on, she looked at Pyrrha closely for a moment. "You look like crap."
Pyrrha smiled and laughed softly. "I feel like it."
"How about the other guy?" Coco asked.
"Dead." Pyrrha replied coldly.
"Good." Coco said, and judging by the emotion in her voice Pyrrha had no doubt that the woman would have hunted Callows down if he were still alive, if only to correct that. "When are you going to be getting back?"
"I don't know." Pyrrha answered, looking towards Yatsuhashi and hoping he had overheard something.
"You were… in a pretty rough shape when you got here." Yatsuhashi answered. "They will likely wish to keep you here to make sure you are fit to travel at the very least."
Turning back towards her scroll, Pyrrha could see that Coco had heard him. Her shoulders were stiff, and it was clear she wanted to say something, but she didn't.
"I'll let you know as soon as I do." Pyrrha assured her. "Hopefully I'll be back at Beacon before too long. I'll need to replace some of my clothes."
Coco perked up slightly, bringing a smile to Pyrrha's face. "I'll hold you to that. Give Velvet a call so that she can stop worrying please."
"Of course." Pyrrha had intended to, especially after seeing just how worried Coco was. "I'll see you guys soon."
"You better." Coco said, the call ended and Pyrrha set her scroll down for a moment.
The call had gone better than she'd hoped, but she could tell the issue was by no means resolved. While having real friends again might have been a relatively new concept, Pyrrha understood the fear of losing them all too well. Her entire motivation for fighting was because she wanted to protect her friends, imagining what she would do if Jaune was in the kind of danger she was in was hard. Team JNPR was worth fighting for, as was Team RWBY.
Despite how she hadn't intended it, Coco had become a friend and it went both ways. All of Team CFVY had become her friends and, though she couldn't quite figure out how or when it had happened, Pyrrha was grateful for it.
The door to the medical room opened, Fox stepping back through with a tray of food; the smell immediately hit Pyrrha and her stomach growled loudly.
"I can't believe Ironwood's ship has an actual dining facility." Fox stated. "And this is one of the small ones?" He handed the tray over towards Yatsuhashi, as he in turn set it down in Pyrrha's lap.
"You should see their battleships." Pyrrha said, her mouth beginning to water as she looked at her food.
"I believe you owe someone a call first." Yatsuhashi insisted, nodding slightly towards her scroll before turning towards the door.
Fox spun around where he stood, following his teammate back towards the door. "Oh boy, have fun with that one."
Pyrrha watched them both disappear, confused by their sudden departure. Looking down to her tray she contemplated waiting until after eating to call Velvet, her stomach very much in agreement with the idea. Sighing, she pulled up her scroll.
Velvet's call picked up almost immediately, and she realized why Yatsuhashi and Fox had run. The look of Velvet's face was a gut punch, forcing all the air out of her lungs. She looked on the verge of tears, and the moment Pyrrha noticed her lip quiver she began apologizing for everything she had ever done; anything to stop Velvet from crying.
Mentally, she cursed Fox and Yatsuhashi for abandoning her.
Author's Note: Be warned that there may be a gap in chapter uploads at some point while I refine the plot draft moving forward, not sure when it will be but it will be coming at some point.
I hope you've enjoyed it and as always let me know what you think.
Sincerely, SE