Howdy, folks, how's it going?

So, I think most people reading this will have heard the news about RT by now. If I am being honest, personally, it wasn't really surprising. It felt like things were in a downward spiral for a while now, and thus, that it was only a matter of time before this happened. Still, it's a sad thing, that it turned out like this. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens to the RWBY IP now. If nothing else, we'll always have fanfiction.

Anyway, there'll be more at the bottom if you'd like to see.

As always, shout out to Chaos Productions for his continued assistance and advice.

And as always, I own neither RWBY nor LoL.

Now, without further ado, enjoy.

/

As she finished adjusting her ponytail, Pyrrha allowed herself a sigh. The last few weeks had been… rough for her, to say the least, and there was hardly any sign that things were gonna improve any time soon.

Needless to say, when she had chosen to apply to Beacon, instead of continuing her education back in Mistral, it didn't take long for her fans and the media alike to find out. Speculation ran rampant about what that could possibly mean, not that any of those people with nothing better to do with her lives than scrutinize her own ever came even close to being right with their theories.

Beacon had simply been the best way she could find to distance herself a bit from it all. That was not to say she didn't like competing, mind you, there were few sensations in the world that could quite compare to the rush that came with challenging the skill and strength of the best and come out on top (although she wasn't nearly arrogant enough to not know that everyone in the tournament circles were just kids, nowhere near what actual huntsmen and huntresses need to be), but all the acclaim and fame that came with each victory had lost their appeal very swiftly. It was nothing but an uncomfortable paradox, to be known to so many, and yet not known by anyone, not in any way that truly mattered.

In Beacon, she had hoped against hope, maybe she could find people who were different. People who might not even know who she was, or that could be friends instead of sycophants even if they did.

She had nearly lost hope that this could happen when Weiss had first approached her (although after having had time to know and properly befriend the Schnee heiress, Pyrrha had come to realize they were not that different, in goals if not execution), but then had come Jaune.

In all honesty, Pyrrha was self-aware enough to realize she was so desperate for true companionship that she would have probably reacted positively to anyone who could have had a civil interaction with her without bringing her fame into the picture, but Jaune had blown all her expectations out of the water. To have someone truly, honestly not have a clue who she was, to treat her as just another person, had been such a positively delightful experience.

The initiation that followed, not so much, but from that crucible had risen team JNPR, the first people Pyrrha would come to see as friends.

Of course, it hadn't been without some bumps along the road.

The redhead was far too polite to ever voice the thought out loud, but from the moment she had first laid eyes on Ruby, the younger girl had made her feel distinctly… uncomfortable. The hypocrisy of the thought was a source of some guilt, but even with her own desire for companionship, Pyrrha would have been quite content to steer clear of the quiet, eerie leader of team RWBY. Which made it somewhat awkward when her own team leader, for reasons the redhead couldn't fathom, seemed to enjoy the girl's company, more than even his own teammates, in those earlier days of the semester.

That during this period she had come to know Ren and Nora better, and appreciate the duo and their eccentricities, had been a silver lining, but Pyrrha had to admit that for a while, she had even begun to wonder if she had expected too much, put too much hope into a boy who's lack of knowledge of her might just equate to a lack of care.

Then one day out of the blue he had walked into their room, apologized for being distant and sworn to do better. Pyrrha couldn't really tell whether she had been more surprised by that sudden development, or by the fact it had apparently been eerie little Ruby of all people that had berated him into doing it. But either way, she had been glad to give him another chance, and more willing to make an effort to withstand Ruby's disquieting presence besides. It had been awkward, at times, and honestly the uncomfortableness never truly went away, but from that moment on Team RWBY became part of her circle.

It was so wonderful to finally have friends, and to get to know them as time went on. Nora was bombastic, but much more acutely aware of others around her than it might seem, Ren was quiet, but wise beyond his years, Weiss might be haughty, but she was driven, Ruby was… well she was still creepy, but she had a firm set of morals and she stuck to them.

And Jaune… Jaune was passionate, perhaps not about the same things as she, but it was a passion she could understand nonetheless. What had first come across as apathy soon revealed itself to be social awkwardness, and underneath the capable, confident if hyper focused young man was a dorky teenager who liked to sleep in onesies, someone who could be slow to trust but who was absolutely loyal once he did. It was… endearing.

And again, Pyrrha could acknowledge that he wasn't unique, that if circumstances had been different, someone else who could have just as easily have filled his position in her life, but here and now, Jaune had been one of the her first, true friends, and in the privacy of her own thoughts (perhaps not so private, she had to admit, given all the knowing looks Nora and Ren and Yang and Blake and Weiss and altogether far too many people for comfort would give her), she had begun to entertain the idea that maybe, just maybe, there might be hope for more than just friendship…

And then along came Arslan, and with her, the realization that these hopes were doomed from the start.

Needless to say, it hurt. It hurt, and Pyrrha simply had no idea how to handle the hurt. Emotions and thoughts that she had never felt before swam through her mind from the moment she saw that kiss, and the fact that she frankly felt terrible for having them did little and less to alleviate the situation.

She'd been horrified when Jaune had lost someone who'd been as family to him. How she wished she could have offered comfort, been there to help him through his grief. How it tore at her to not be able to, to see someone else doing it so easily. How she hated the venom that it stirred in her, the shame of being bitter while he was suffering. Some friendship that was…

Pyrrha shook her head, trying to snap out of her spiraling thoughts. Every day she kept thinking about this, wondering at what could've been had things been different, and every day it led her nowhere.

Glumly, the tournament champion walked through the by now deserted locker room. Combat had been the last class of the day, and everyone else had already packed up and left. Pyrrha stayed behind, taking her time getting dressed and ready, partly because she was lost in her own thoughts, partly because she was in no rush to go back to her team's room and the tense atmosphere that reigned there, largely because of her. Surely, there was some corner of the academy where she could be alone for a while…?

"Finally. You were taking your sweet time."

"Gah!" The redhead startled, turning so swiftly in the direction of the sudden intrusion into her privacy that she nearly lost balance.

A surprise that was far from pleasant, given that standing there, casually leaning against the lockers with her arms crossed, was none other than Arslan.

"What are you doing here?!" Pyrrha couldn't help but voiced the first thought that crossed her mind, to which the other girl raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, waiting for you, obviously." The platinum blonde replied dryly. "It's the ladies locker room after combat class, Red, it's not like I am trespassing."

It took more effort than the redhead cared to admit to keep her eyebrow from twitching. She hated that nickname so much…

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Pyrrha schooled her features into a smile, doing her utmost to ignore how difficult it was feeling to pull off.

"I see," She replied, as politely as she was able. "Was there something you needed from me, Altan?"

Looking for some other piece of my life to ruin, you brutish little-

"Well, I kinda wanted to check in on you." Arslan replied, looking over the Pyrrha with a stern frown. "That was a great fight we just had, one of the best I had in a while. But I got the feeling that even though it was my loss, it was you who walked off feeling worse for wear, so I kind of wanted to ask if you were alright."

…

…

…

The nerve of this-

"Your concern is appreciated, Altan." Pyrrha replied, with as much fake sincerity as she could muster to mask the strain of the lie. "But it is unnecessary. I am quite fine."

"Yeah, I'm not buying it." The other girl replied, sounding rather unimpressed. "You can lie all you want, Red, but you are very much not fine."

Oh for… take the hint, you stupid-

"Even if that was the case." The champion among students replied politely, but firmly, her expression composed, measured, but her eyes all but glaring a warning. "Whatever you may be wondering about me, I hardly see how is it any of your business, given we are barely even acquaintances."

"It is my business when Jaune might be affected." Arslan replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And like a well-aimed blow, the words pierced through all of Pyrrha's struggling defenses, until she could feel something inside her snap.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me." She said, no longer polite, no longer calm. "And how magnanimous of you, to care so much about him. I suppose it shouldn't be surprising given how he is, what was it… oh yes, your promised one. Yes, he explained to us what that meant. A promise made by children, with all the lack of proper understanding that'd imply, but that really does not matter to you, does it? No, no, you want what is yours, and damn what anyone else thinks, right?!"

"…You got something you wanna say to me, Red?" The platinum blonde girl replied, and the sheer apparent lack of concern in her tone just angered Pyrrha all the more.

"Oh yes, I want to say I hate you." She all but spat out, the words measured, but with a fury like Pyrrha had never known before building with each and every one. "I hate how everything has taken a turn for the worse since you showed up. I hate how you manhandle Jaune and he just lets you. I hate your pushiness and your constant demands like the world owes you everything. I hate how you can just latch on to his side and speak to him without a care for what he or anyone else will have to say. I hate that even when I can beat you, you can just come back up and come demanding for more. I hate your constant, arrogant attitude, your cocky little smirks. I hate that you have the gal to come looking for me like you have any right to given a damn after showing me what I hoped for could never happen. I hate how even now you are just standing there without a care in the world, just to mock me. I. hate. You!"

By the end of her tirade, Pyrrha was panting heavily, all the hurt and anger and jealousy that she had so desperately been trying to keep contained rushing forth in a torrent. It took a moment for her own mind to catch up to what she had just let out, but for once in her life, she didn't find it in herself to apologize for any of it.

Instead she just stood there, glaring angrily at the girl who had taken her hopes from her, who glared right back…

…Until suddenly the tenseness in the air was broken by laughter. Pyrrha blinked, taking a moment to realize that it was Arslan, she was laughing. And the laughter took the wind off the sails of her rage, replacing it with confusion, for this was no derisive, mocking laughter. No, it sounded genuinely happy, pleased, even… approving?

"Finally!" The girl declared, raising her arms wide as she did. "I was starting to get really worried about you, Red!"

"…Excuse me?" Pyrrha stated, uncomprehendingly.

"By the Sea God, girl, you are Pyrrha bloody Nikos!" Arslan said in amused exasperation, sounding for all the world as if she was explaining thing to a little child. "The number of students in all the academies that hasn't heard of you probably doesn't reach the double digits. You're the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the "Invincible Girl". One would think that someone that strong would have the ability to speak her bloody mind!"

…

…

…

"Wait a minute." Pyrrha said at length, gears spinning in her head. "You wanted me to snap at you…?"

"I wanted you to stop stewing in your own hang ups and turning into a stagnant mess." Arslan huffed. "Seriously, kindness can be a strength all its own, but for crying out loud, girl, there's kindness and then there's this doormat bullshit you were doing. Hate me all you want, but at least be honest about it. If I have to listen to an angry rant just so you can learn to move, then so be it. I got a nice fight out of it."

"…You challenged me to a fight knowing that I disliked you?" Pyrrha could only ask in bewilderment.

"Hate, I believe was the word you just used." The platinum blonde chuckled. "And you're not nearly as subtle as you seem to believe, Red. It was obvious you didn't like me from the moment I arrived. I don't think anyone missed it, not even the crow girl."

"But… why? Why did you do that?" The invincible girl once again asked, simply unable to comprehend what was going through the other girl's head.

"Worked to get that bile out of your system, didn't it?" Arslan replied with a slight shrug, giving her a pointed knowing look.

Pyrrha opened her mouth to reply… and stopped.

She couldn't quite say that she felt better, but letting it all out in the open like this made her feel… lighter. Lighter in a way not even her recent matches in combat class had provided.

"Uh…"

"See what I mean? Keeping it all bottled up inside never does anyone any good, Red. Nobody says you gotta be an asshole about it, but learn to act on your feelings. And on that note…" Arslan stood up straight, walked towards Pyrrha, and placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder in a firm, almost painful grip, her amused expression from just moments ago suddenly stern. "You've clearly been hurting, so I am going to let your assertions that I see Jaune as property to own and control slide. He is his own person, and I love him, because he taught me what true strength really was. What we have is something we have settled for ourselves. Although, honestly, this whole thing could probably have been settled way before it became an issue if he weren't so bloody dense when it came to stuff like this, so at least on that front, I can sympathize with you there. And if you want proper closure? Stop avoiding him. Talk this shit out between yourselves. It might not be in the way you hoped, but he cares about you, and not knowing what he can say or do to help you is likely tearing him apart."

With her piece said, the leader of team ABRN let go and walked away, Pyrrha watching her, uncertain, confused.

"I still hate you." She called out, making the other girl stop in her tracks. "But… thank you."

Arslan didn't look back, simply waving casually as she walked out the room.

/

So, this confrontation has been coming for some time, methinks.

I have to be honest, from the moment I came up with the idea to use Arslan in this fic, I knew I was taking a risk. We know so little about the character, that any personality I tried to give her would inevitably push her into OC territory, which can be a hard sell. Still, I did my best to meld what little we know of the canon character with what we know of Buhru culture, and Illaoi's personality in particular, and I like to think I did a decent job of it. There have been, however, some reviewers who have expressed an immense dislike for the character and I… I kinda have to see this as my plans having worked better than expected. Arslan was always meant to make a rough first impression, but as I hope some moments like the last couple of chapters showed, this was never out of malice but rather because she simply marches to the beat of her own drum. To those who still hate her regardless, however, I am sorry to say that she is here to stay, and if that is a problem, then this might not be the fic for you.

Anyway, next chapter, this unpleasant situation may well be on its way to mending.

But before that, next time we got the next update to Beneath a Broken Moon, so look forward to that.

Cya all on the next one, stay safe and take care.