Once the three girls were out of earshot, Ruby sighed, "What's even going on? Blake's… being weirdly defensive about the White Fang."
Yang nodded, "Weiss deserved to get some shit thrown at her for what she was saying about Faunus, but there's no point in pretending that the White Fang is anything but a genocidal terrorist group."
Ruby then looked at Violet with some concern. The Faunus girl was still looking at her scroll, walking between the two sisters while her tail swished listlessly behind her. Ruby asked, "Violet, are you okay? You were in your rights to not get involved in that argument, but you seemed pretty upset."
Violet grimaced, and though it was subtle, the constant slightly obfuscating effect around the peripherals of her form grew a bit stronger, "I… I reacted badly. I have my reasons for not wanting anything to do with stuff like that, and having Blake try to pull me into it just… brought me back to that for a second. I'm fine now."
"Well," Yang began, her lips curling to a small frown, "I'm sure if we tell her that later she'll understand." Her frown disappeared as quickly as it appeared, being replaced with a smile, "But that's later! Right now, clothes! I've got the perfect place, and we're almost there!"
Indeed, soon they were approaching a clothing store with a wooden sign on it naming it 'Diogenes' Closet', with a barrel in place of the O in 'Diogenes'. Violet had never heard of the place before. Yang gestured widely at it, "This is where all the cool kids go to get their clothes shopping done!"
They entered the store, and it looked fairly rustic, with wooden floors and walls and some instrumental music with Vacuan guitar playing from hidden speakers. There were barrels that contained discount items just tossed into them, along with the standard aisles of clothes one could find when going to any clothing store.
Behind the counter was a pale teenage boy, Violet felt he was a bit younger than her. His face was dotted with acne, and his hazel eyes were dull with boredom. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans, with a nametag on his chest with a sloppily written name on it, 'Skinny'.
Yang greeted him as the three girls entered, "Hey, Skinny! How's the fort holding?"
He responded boredly, "The same as always, terrible. My life is a wasteland."
Yang waved her hand dismissively, "It's alright, Skinny! Things'll look up for you soon."
The girls headed deeper inside and Violet asked, "So… what kind of clothes are we going for…? I don't know a lot about outfits…"
Yang grinned, "Violet, I don't think you understand what you've got here!"
Ruby groaned and facepalmed, "Here she goes…"
Yang placed her hands on Violet's shoulders, leading her to sit in a bench facing the dressing rooms, "So why don't you ruminate whilst I illuminate the possibilities?"
It looked like Yang was ready to start a song, but then Skinny called out, "No singing, Yang! I'll throw you out again, I swear!"
Yang rolled her eyes while smirking, "Damn, guess I gotta skip the musical number. Anyway, just wait here, I'll get you a bunch of clothes to try on and we'll see where it leads."
Yang walked off to do just that, while Ruby sat next to Violet and asked, "Soo, how're things going with your training? We don't really talk about stuff like that often, and I'm curious." In addition to being curious, it helped that Ruby had no clue what to talk about that wasn't training at the moment.
For her part, Violet hummed, "Uhm…" She sat back against the half-wall that was behind the chairs, in reality it was an aisle, but what could you do? "It's going fine, I can't really talk about it that much, but I'm learning to fight better and better." She yawned, "It's a bit exhausting."
Ruby hummed, "I get it, though, why do you have to keep it secret? Did Professor Ozpin tell you to?" At Violet's nod, Ruby rubbed her chin, "Mmm, okay. Has he had you fight any Grimm yet? Or anyone at all?"
"Well…" Violet began, "I've trained with Ozpin, and with a lot of androids. Atlas gave Beacon a way to make them, though they're just training droids. Recently, he's talking about moving on to more advanced forms of combat. He's going to have Qrow work with me, help me with my swordsmanship, and he's got someone else coming in to help with my hand-to-hand." She rubbed her chin, "I don't remember his name, though…"
Before that line of questioning could be followed any further, Yang returned, carrying a few outfits all piled onto her arms, "I got some stuff!"
Ruby blinked, "That was a bit quick…"
Yang grinned, "That's cause I already had an idea of what I wanted her to try! Here Vi, I'll put this stuff in one of the changing rooms. After you've put on an outfit, you step out and show us!"
Violet watched as Yang disappeared into the changing room briefly before reemerging empty-handed and gesturing to it, "In ya go!"
The nervousness and anxiety was coming back in full force, and she hesitated to get off the bench for some inscrutable reason. However, Yuvi separated from her, grabbing her by the wrist and leading Violet into the room. After that, Yuvi returned to Violet, who looked at the outfits and grabbed one before starting to change.
The first outfit she put on was rather simple, a dark blue skirt that stopped at her mid-thighs, black stockings that stopped at the end of the thigh, leaving a space where they were visible, a burnt orange shirt, and a black cardigan. She looked at herself in the mirror and hummed.
It wasn't bad, she'd take the whole outfit, but it wasn't her. She had to find something that really spoke to her, and so, after stepping out to show the outfit to Yang and Ruby (receiving approval from both), she disappeared back into the changing room to try some different outfits.
After a few back and forths, she finally had an idea, and when it came to her, Yuvi created a charcoal colored lightbulb above her head as she gasped, "Eureka!" She then went about getting it together, while Yuvi once more retreated to Violet entirely.
A red turtleneck sweater went on first, followed by a pair of shorts not dissimilar to the ones she usually wore, then the black stockings from earlier. Finally, she took a black, noodle-strap dress that stopped just above her mid-thigh, leaving the absolute territory (the best part, in Violet's mind) exposed. Finally, she put on her usual black boots and looked herself over.
The outfit, in her mind, perfectly spoke to her.
She stepped out and gestured to herself, "Well, what do you guys think?"
Yang and Ruby were both clearly surprised by the outfit. However, eventually Yang smirked, "I gotta say, it's got that 'Violet' quality to it. I like it."
Ruby agreed with a nod, "It's cute! I think it's the perfect kind of outfit for you."
"Great! Then I'll get this and some of the other clothes." Violet smiled, "Thanks for this, Yang, Ruby. I've… never actually done anything like this before. Going clothes shopping with friends, walking around town with friends…" Her smile grew a bit warmer and sadder, "It's nice."
Yang waved her hand dismissively as she stood up, "Don't worry! You've got The Yang™ on your side, and she doesn't leave her friends hanging! Now, how about you change back into your other outfit and we ring all of this stuff up for you?"
Violet's smile grew in size, "Yeah, sounds good."
/-/
Violet returned to her room and stowed all the clothes. She got a text from Ruby that apparently Blake and Weiss were still fighting, and while Violet offered her sympathies, there wasn't anything she could do about it. As a result, she turned her attention to preparing to meet the man who would become her fist fighting instructor.
They weren't going to be doing anything heavy, since today was technically supposed to be her day off, but he still wanted to get an idea of where she stood. In terms of fist fighting, she knew a decent amount of the basics, mostly because she had to learn to help Yuvi become a better fighter. Indeed, even if Violet herself used her weapon, she would still need to become better at fist fighting so that Yuvi could get stronger as well.
She took the elevator down to the basement once she was squared away, and found Ozpin waiting there alongside the man who would be her instructor.
He was a muscular, slightly stocky man, with blonde hair kept short and neat, save for a couple strands that stuck out from the top of his head. He had blue eyes and facial hair that consisted of a soul patch and small stubble along his jaws. He also had a tattoo that looked like a heart.
He was wearing brown cargo shorts with a dark belt, black shoes, a red bandana on his left arm, and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off. He also had on a metal spaulder, leather vambrace, and a brown fingerless glove on his right arm,
As Violet approached, garnering the attention of Ozpin and the man, Oz spoke, "Violet, I'm glad you could make it. This is Taiyang Xiao-Long, he's one of the foremost hand-to-hand fighters in Vale, and a skilled teacher."
Taiyang grinned and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I had to learn to teach if I wanted to teach Yang. Nice to meet you, Violet."
Violet blinked as she came to a stop in front of the two men, "Xiao-Long? Are you Yang's dad?"
"Yep!" He responded, maintaining his grin, "She's one of two beloved daughters of mine, Ruby's the other, but I guess you already knew that." He punched his fist into his palm, "Anyway! I think it's about time we get started, huh? I've gotta get home before too long, there's a new episode of my favorite sitcom on tonight."
Violet's nose scrunched up as she thought, 'Sitcoms? Ooolddd.'
Then she smiled, "Alright, let's get to it!"
Ozpin stepped to the side, "Don't mind me, I will simply observe."
And so Taiyang began to train Violet. They didn't waste much time prior to beginning, although Tai was a very talkative guy. Violet attempted to deliver a right hook to him, only for him to grab her arm and turn, throwing her to the ground behind him. While she was getting up, he asked, "So how's Beacon treating you? This has to have been a lot to take in."
Violet dusted herself off as she stood again, "It was at first, but I'm used to it for the most part by now. Magic's cool, my room at Beacon Tower is far better than the one I had at home, and I've actually made some friends." She smiled as she readied herself again, entering into a standard fist-fighting stance.
Tai smirked, "You're taking to this a lot better than most!" He then stepped forward and went for a right hook, only to feint as Violet tried to pull the same trick he had and then swept her legs out from under her, "I'm sure most people in your situation would hesitate. Hell, I think most Huntresses in general would balk at becoming this paragon of virtue and glory."
"Well…" Violet began as she stood up, "It's not like I had much of a choice. This power ended up with me purely by random chance, it's not exactly something I can run away from."
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong." Tai smiled as he placed his hands on his hips, "Oz has told plenty of stories about Maidens with very different reactions." He began to pace as he started to tell a story, "Like this one girl, apparently she was chosen at random to become Fall, prior to Amber. She'd been training to be a Huntress, just about out the door too. Then, she suddenly had these powers, but instead of wanting to hone them, she turned tail. Even the bravest of us can waver at the idea of the world relying on us!"
He stopped and looked at Violet, "Fate came knocking on her door and she ran away. Fate came knocking on yours and you answered. The way I see it, you've got some real guts."
Violet had admittedly never thought about it like that before. To her, running away was never even a thought in her head. She got the powers and she used them to make her life easier; she tried to learn to control them without any help, even if it wasn't for the most noble reasons. She only hesitated a moment to join Oz here at Beacon, and now here she was, training to become a hero of the future.
"Well…" Violet began, "The way I see it, there really wasn't a choice. Grandpa gave his life to protect the world, so many people have done the same, and… if I have the power to do something about that, to fight for a world where there is never a reason for people like him to sacrifice themselves, then I owe it to him. He gave me everything, and I'm not exactly much at all, but… I have to try, right?"
She smiled, "If I've really got the power to move mountains, then I don't see a reason not to try, if it makes people happy. Who knows, maybe getting these powers was destiny. Maybe I'm supposed to work towards becoming a hero. Never really put much stock in destiny before, but… I don't know, maybe it's different from what most people think. Maybe it's the end goal, not the destination."
Taiyang nodded along to what she said, "Destiny, huh?" He chuckled, "Maybe. Maybe there's a destiny in store for all of us. I guess we won't know until we hear the last bell ring. Now, enough philosophical stuff, let's get back to training, yeah?"
Violet's smile grew and she shook herself out of her introspection before saying, "Yeah, let's not waste anymore time."
/-/
Once her training was done for the day, Violet had gone back to her room and prepared to relax until it was late enough for her to sleep. She'd changed into her pajamas and was ready to sit down and play some games when there was a knock on her door. She sighed and groaned at the intrusion before turning her chair towards the door, Yuvi separating to go open it.
She was surprised to find Pyrrha Nikos, dressed in her full Huntress outfit, on the other side. Pyrrha smiled sweetly and gave a small wave as she greeted Violet in a sing-songy voice, "Hello again~! May I come in?"
"Uhm… sure." Violet responded uneasily. Not because she was afraid or uncertain of Pyrrha, she knew the girl was a great person and Violet was never really afraid of people, but because she had no clue why Pyrrha was there.
It was clear that that confusion was evident in her eyes and posture, as as Yuvi returned to Violet and Pyrrha stepped inside, shutting the door behind her as she did, she turned to the other girl and said, "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here. We haven't really… talked before."
Violet nodded and gestured for Pyrrha to take a seat on the foot of her bed, and so she did. Then, Violet admitted, "I uh… I am, we haven't really talked, like… at all. I only really know as much about you as I do through proxy, because Jaune talks about you sometimes."
Pyrrha's eyes widened in surprise as her face dusted red, "H-He does?" She asked in surprise before looking around and leaning forward as if this was some big secret, "What does he say?"
Violet's lips thinned and in her mind rattled one thought, 'Sus.' Nevertheless, she explained, "He talks about how great a teacher and friend you are, and says he's glad to have met you." She giggled, "Although sometimes he says you act like a mother hen."
"O-Oh. Mother hen? Well… that's not bad, is it?" Pyrrha leaned back and spoke, voice filled with insecurity, "I'm just worried about him, is all. I see that he's got tons of potential and want to see it realized. That's not weird, is it?"
"Uhh… I guess not?" Violet shrugged, "Honestly you'd be better off asking him, I don't have any experience with stuff like that, so I've got no clue. Never had a 'mother hen' in my life, well… no mother at all."
Pyrrha blinked a few times, "Really?" Violet nodded and so Pyrrha awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah… uhm… w-well, I-"
"You… really don't need to trip over yourself about it." Violet tilted her head curiously, "It's not a big deal." Well, there were tons of big deals relating to parents in Violet's life, but this was certainly not one that bothered her these days. She grabbed a soda she had off her desk and began to drink it.
"Oh, right." Pyrrha tried to relax, "I'm sorry. I'm not very good at… meeting new people. Ironic, I know, but talking to fans and talking to peers is… very different. That's why I wanted to ask… would you like to spar with me, Violet?"
Violet nearly choked on her drink and coughed as she set it down before asking, "Huh? You? Me? Spar? You?"
"Yes." Pyrrha nodded, "I've found that the best way to get to know someone is through a sparring match. The way they fight and behave in the ring is a tell-all, it lets me see exactly the kind of person someone is, and, well…. I want to learn about the person that Jaune's been spending so much of his free time with."
Once she had recovered, Violet cleared her throat, "Well… I guess. I'm not that tired, and if it's what you really want…" She was just going to delay her new save of Radioactive: New Vacuo until later, "Where do you want to go?"
Pyrrha smiled brightly, "Wonderful! I'll wait outside so you can get ready, then we can head to one of the sparring arenas. They keep a few of them open all night for students such as ourselves."
"Well alright," Violet responded, standing up and stretching as Pyrrha left and let her get ready. She had no clue if Pyrrha wanting to meet her was what this was really about, but she knew this was going to be a tough fight regardless, especially because she couldn't use her Maiden powers. Having Pyrrha figure out what a Maiden is seemed like the last thing that should happen. At least, not as a result of this fight.
As she dressed, she thought of Pyrrha's weaknesses. Her semblance would make it difficult to land direct hits on her, but luckily Violet had alternatives. Yuvi could pull her own weight, she knew that, and Pyrrha couldn't use her semblance on everything she had, not unless she wanted to burn through her aura.
Violet decided that she'd figure out the specifics as she went, and after dressing in her usual combat outfit and strapping Suncutter to her back, she left her room. Pyrrha was waiting for her and led the way out of Beacon Tower. There wasn't much conversation exchanged, which made things a little awkward, but Pyrrha looked like she was struggling to come up with something to say the whole time, so at least Violet appreciated that she was thinking about it.
The arena they arrived at would be better called a colosseum. It was used in sparring some days, and free sparring fairly often. To that end, there was a large amount of open space in the arena, its ground covered in dirt and its stone walls that rose until meeting the spectator areas Dust treated to prevent any unintentional collateral damage.
The two girls walked to the center of the arena before walking a few paces away from each other. They turned to face one another and drew their weapons, with Violet's sword breaking apart and forming the chakram and Mini-14 as it always did. Pyrrha, in turn, drew her spear and shield and smiled as she asked, "Ready?"
Violet nodded and tried to steel herself for what was to come, "As I'll ever be."
Pyrrha didn't waste any time, she bolted forward and brought her spear back, ready to thrust it towards the other girl. Violet, in turn, shot several rounds from her rifle that bounced off Pyrrha's shield. Just as the Invincible Girl was about to close in on her, Yuvi separated from Violet and met Pyrrha head on, cocking back her fist and delivering a right hook that Pyrrha caught with her shield. However, the force of the attack caused her to skid backwards.
She dropped low just as the chakram sailed over her head and she surged forward again, stabbing her spear at Yuvi as they met each other in the middle. Her spear went through her, and Pyrrha couldn't tell if it had any effect on her, as Yuvi appeared to smile and then tried to punch Pyrrha in the face.
Pyrrha, however, dropped low onto her back and managed to sweep Yuvi's legs out from under her. Violet's chakram came down to attack her from the air, but she was able to block it with her shield and use her semblance to cause it to float away from her, albeit with difficulty due to the gravity Dust within the Chakram.
As Pyrrha began to stand again, she was forced to cartwheel to the right to avoid several more Dust rounds as they flew towards her. Two of them caught her in the chest, but her armor and aura blunted the attack. Yuvi ran at Pyrrha as she recovered, and Pyrrha backflipped away as Yuvi drew closer. While she was doing so, she changed her weapon into her rifle before firing several rounds, but not at Yuvi, rather, at Violet.
Violet, shocked by this move, took three fire Dust rounds to her torso, causing her to stagger backwards and grit her teeth. She returned fire, prompting Pyrrha to begin to run to the right while still focusing on her. Both girls took two shots each before Pyrrha suddenly tripped. As she hit the ground, she found that Yuvi had grabbed her leg.
Pyrrha switched her rifle into a sword and slashed at Yuvi's arm, and though it simply cut straight through the aura, it was enough to cause Yuvi to let go of her leg. Pyrrha rolled backward and then started to bolt directly for Violet, who directed her chakram to stop her.
Pyrrha raised her shield and let the Chakram grate against it as she continued towards Violet. However, once again, Yuvi ended up in front of her after turning into pure aura, flowing her way in front of Violet before reforming. Pyrrha was able to push the chakram away and charged towards Yuvi, sword raised and ready to strike, only for Yuvi to suddenly turn into aura again, causing Pyrrha to run right through her with shock clear in her eyes.
Violet shot several rounds at Pyrrha, two of them connecting with the girl's leg; however, soon Violet found she was running low on ammo. Yuvi reappeared behind Pyrrha and grabbed her by her waist, falling backward and taking Pyrrha with her. She suplexed the other girl, and once Pyrrha connected with the ground she let out a grunt before rolling back further, escaping Yuvi's grasp and reorienting herself.
This gave Violet the time she needed to change her magazine and fire off several ice rounds at her foe, who was able to duck and dodge them before having to kick outward due to Yuvi drawing closer to her. Her foot connected with Yuvi, who turned back into just aura in order to try and get behind Pyrrha again. This proved to be a mistake, as it let Pyrrha dive forward and start rushing towards Violet.
This time she was able to reach Violet, though her shield took several ice Dust rounds as penance. Pyrrha threw her shield towards Violet, who wasn't fast enough to dodge as it connected with her chest, staggering her backward. Pyrrha then stabbed outward with her sword, catching Violet in the gut before pulling back and shifting it into her spear, which she used to try and sweep Violet's legs.
However, Violet was able to jump over them, and soon Yuvi was at her side, although Pyrrha was able to see that she was more translucent this time. Yuvi punched out towards Pyrrha, who once again tried to backflip. However, this time, Yuvi's arm extended out and instead she was able to grab Pyrrha's leg again. She then raised her arm, taking Pyrrha with her, and then slammed her on the ground again. Violet used this opportunity to start changing mags again for an idea she'd come up with.
Pyrrha's breath was knocked out of her as her back hit the dirt and she bounced on the ground; however, she recovered quickly enough to jab her spear outward at Yuvi's arm, causing her to have to release again after taking another hit. Pyrrha then spun on the ground before rising to her feet, all the while shifting her spear into her javelin.
She brought her arm back and then threw her javelin forward with all the force she could muster, infused with her semblance. She managed to fly straight through Yuvi, leaving a hole in her chest, and then connected with Violet, who gasped in pain as the javelin connected with her arm. However, soon the javelin was flying back to Pyrrha's hand, thanks to her semblance.
She shifted it back to a spear and focused on Yuvi who was still recovering from having a hole put through her. Pyrrha jabbed her spear forward, straight through Yuvi, and made her finally flicker and fade as she retreated to Violet.
Pyrrha kept going, preparing to attack Violet. However, Violet had a different idea, and aimed at the ground before shooting it, a gravity Dust round shooting her into the air. Meanwhile, her chakram unfolded itself and flew back to her as she fired several fire rounds towards Pyrrha to keep her busy before her Mini-14 turned back into a grip.
Suncutter reformed as she began to descend towards the ground; meanwhile, Pyrrha changed her spear to her rifle and tried to fire several rounds at Violet, who was able to deflect almost all of them with Suncutter, only two connecting with her arms.
Violet raised her weapon in the air and, as she descended upon Pyrrha, brought it down. Her foe jumped backward, but Violet recovered quickly as she hit the ground, charging forward and stabbing her sword forward. It caught Pyrrha in her gut, causing her aura to flicker, and Pyrrha retaliated with a jab of her spear. That caught Violet's arm and caused her aura to flicker.
Both girls brought their weapons back and swung. Pyrrha's shield was caught by Suncutter and was hit hard enough to cause its straps to break, her shield clattering to the ground in the process. She swung her spear at Suncutter, knocking it out of Violet's weakening grip. However, to her surprise, Violet caught her spear by the shaft and yanked it forward, pulling it out of Pyrrha's grasp.
Pyrrha brought back a fist and swung to strike Violet just as she did the same thing. Both girls hit each other, and both girls' aura shattered and dissipated. Yet, neither were ready to call it quits. Violet stepped forward and gave an uppercut, striking Pyrrha in her jaw and causing her to stagger back before Pyrrha lunged forward and delivered a left hook on Violet, hitting her cheek and making her stumble back as well.
Violet swung again and hit Pyrrha in the gut, knocking the wind out of her, but her eyes fluttered. As Pyrrha tried to retaliate, she stumbled forward. Both girls tried to use each other as balance before they let go and stumbled to the left and right respectively before landing on the ground.
Violet and Pyrrha both were breathing heavily, and in spite of the pain, Pyrrha had it in her to be amazed as she breathed out, "Wow… I've never… I've never… been fought to a draw."
Meanwhile, Violet was having a much different experience. The fight was invigorating, sure, that wasn't the problem. The problem was what she was missing. She struggled to sit up, "Yuvi…?" She asked softly, wincing as her side hurt her.
Now, she knew that Yuvi would be back, once her aura returned, she would be back. However, there was still a part of her that didn't care. A part of her that felt too vulnerable, too weak.
As if she was back there.
Her legs felt numb as she made to stand, but that just made the clawing darkness in her heart and soul grow as it tried to drag her down again. Her knees were shaky as she walked towards the nearest wall, her hands on her head as she looked down and watched her feet, knowing she'd fall if she didn't sit down. She was just that weak, of course she was, who was she when you took away that protective shell?
Violet Merino?
No, no.
Someone else.
Someone much younger, who'd been dead for years.
'What was her name? No, no. Don't think about that. Don't. You're not…'
She couldn't finish the thought, her mind was quickly being subsumed by static. She was able to make it to the wall of the arena, and sat against it. Her legs felt like they'd given out, and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get up again like this.
Her heartbeat was growing erratic and loud, she could hear it crashing. What had been steady thumps grew into erratic and loud BANGS. Doors were being opened and slammed shut, and there were two. She knew there were two, there hadn't always been two doors, but the second had been there for a long, long time.
They had been one, once.
Her mind swarmed, 'Oh Gods, where is she? If she's not here, I can't stop them. I can't. It'll all end. I'm going to die. They'll find me, and they'll kill me. That's what they want. They'll suffocate me. They'll beat me. They'll…'
Her thoughts continued, her breathing began to grow erratic, it felt as if she was drowning above water. She knew then what it was, she'd had it before, but it had been years. Grandpa had staved them off, her life sequestered away stopped it from ever happening.
She began to hyperventilate.
Her fingers and toes felt numb, she clenched and unclenched her hands, curled and uncurled her toes, but nothing would wake them.
Unbeknownst to her, the Maiden Fire activated, ringing her eyes like a mask. There was a thunderstorm outside, but the weather had projected clear skies. The wind was supposed to be calm, but now trees were struggling against it. Rain fell on Beacon Academy, in the city of Vale.
'Oh Gods, oh Gods… why can't I stop? This is just a panic attack! I'm fine. I'll be fine. I'll be okay…'
It was then that she felt a hand on her knee, making her look up. Pyrrha was looking at her with clear concern, and she spoke, though it was hard for Violet to hear, "Violet. Focus on me, okay?" Violet wasn't sure how to feel about the hand on her knee, she was pulled into two separate directions again. Was it good? Was it bad? Was she in danger?
Pyrrha moved and sat next to Violet, placing a hand on her back and gently rubbing it, "It'll all be okay. You're not in any danger, and if you were, I'd help keep you safe, just like Jaune would. You're not alone."
She repeated that in her head, a silent mantra, 'I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone…'
Pyrrha kept softly speaking platitudes to calm Violet, to assure her of her safety. It took time, but eventually the fire around her eyes quenched, and the doors in her mind flew open and stayed that way. The slamming in her heart was gone, replaced by steady thumping. Her breathing started to normalize, and now she simply felt very tired.
At some point in all of this, she wasn't sure when, she had leaned against Pyrrha, and the other girl had pulled her into a gentle hug. Violet didn't move from it, and her eyes, once squeezed shut, slowly fluttered open.
The storm outside died down. The rain remained, but the wind was calmer.
Violet was very tired.
"Thank you…" she muttered, voice hoarse, "I'm so sorry."
Pyrrha shook her head, "Violet, it's okay. I've been there before… you're okay."
Violet's mind caught up to the fact that Pyrrha had seen the Maiden Fire, she had no doubt heard the change in weather outside, and Violet whispered, "Did you see what happened to my eyes?"
"I did…" Pyrrha began, "What… was that?"
"Pyrrha…" She began softly, looking up at the other girl, though her vision was growing blurrier and blurrier, "What's your favorite fairytale?"
Her eyes fluttered shut, and it all went black.
/-/
The hallway was long and poorly lit. The lights above flickered uncertainly, on either end of the hallway there was a single door. Both were closed, and Violet found herself torn, looking in two different directions.
There were two other doors. One was new, open to the sight of Forever Fall, leaves falling in serenity.
The fourth was covered in chains, old and unopened. On the other side, the sound of a young girl sobbing. Violet knew what it was, who it was. It wasn't her, it wasn't Yuvi. She reached her hand out towards the door, but hesitated.
She drew her hand back and turned away, towards one of the two doors on either end of the hallway. Behind her, Yuvi flickered into existence, although now her hair was longer, stopping at the middle of her back, while still seeming frazzled and wild.
Both walked in opposite directions, reached their doors, and pulled them open.
/-/
Pyrrha's worldview had been shattered and rebuilt in a matter of minutes.
After Violet passed out, she took the girl back to Beacon Tower, but ran into Qrow and Ozpin along the way. She explained what had happened, and that prompted Qrow to take Violet to her room while Ozpin took Pyrrha to his office.
Fairytales? Makebelieve, of that she had been certain.
Now?
Not so much.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. More than seasons. More than a story about girls who were given powers by an old wizard. It was real, very real. What else was real? Who could say? Now, she was certain, anything could be real.
Reality was getting fuzzier by the minute, but Pyrrha kept her head on straight.
She was told to keep it secret, to not breathe a word of what she had seen to anyone. She was told that Violet was very, very, important. She was Fall, the Maiden of Choice, someone who would one day have powers unequaled by anyone other than three others.
Pyrrha had to ask if Violet had used any powers during their spar, but from what she was told, she'd have been able to tell. Violet's eyes only ringed with fire during her panic attack, so she hadn't resorted to magic against her. Pyrrha felt both happy and disappointed. She was holding back?
Next time, Pyrrha was going to tell her to go all out. She needed to fight Violet at her full strength, with everything she had. Fighting was already exhilarating to Pyrrha, but that fight with Violet? Pyrrha hadn't felt that alive in years. In a world where one was the master of their passion, they found they stood alone, with no peers to challenge them.
She wanted to be a normal girl, sure, but even if she managed to stomp out the Invincible Girl title, she still wanted to be a fighter; she still loved fighting. She'd get her no-holds barred sparring match some day. Of that, she was completely and utterly certain.
Even if she'd have to bribe or convince Violet into going all out.
Other than that, Pyrrha had promised to help keep Violet safe. This didn't mean much at the moment, Violet wasn't in any danger, and Qrow was always around to protect her, but if things went wrong? Well, Pyrrha would be happy to stand at Violet's side.
However, for that night, Pyrrha wanted to rest. She was tired, and so she went to her dorm and got some sleep. Luckily, everyone else was already sound asleep by that point, nobody would question why she'd been out for so long.
Violet, meanwhile, stayed similarly asleep all night, and for once, her eyes blinked open in the morning. Her aura was back, Yuvi was at her side, sitting on the bed, and Violet smiled at her, saying softly, "Glad to have you back."
Yuvi smiled back and then dissolved, returning to Violet, who sat up and yawned, stretching.
Then she remembered what happened yesterday, and her eyes widened. She saw her scroll on the nightstand, and grabbed it to check the texts.
She had one from Pyrrha.
Pyrrha: "I know, don't worry, I'm here for you."
Violet sighed, disappointed in her inability to keep her head on straight, but finding herself unwilling to beat herself up over it. Instead, she got up and went about her morning routine, ending it with taking a shower.
However, just as she was getting out and wrapping herself with a towel, her daily ritual was interrupted.
Her scroll rang from its place on the counter. Ruby's ID, with her nickname having been set to 'Riggy Ruse', was clear on the screen, and Violet made sure the towel wasn't going anywhere before she answered.
Ruby appeared on the other side, looking worried, "Violet! Ah-" She stopped, and nervously hummed before asking, "Uhh, bad time?" She could see Violet's head and neck, but it was still fairly obvious what she had been doing, "I didn't interrupt your shower or anything?
Violet shook her still wet hair, "I was just getting out. What's up?"
Ruby shook herself out of her embarrassment, "Right, right! Blake's run off. She and Weiss were arguing all day and night, then Blake let slip that apparently she used to be a member of the White Fang. She's a Faunus, Violet!" Ruby worriedly looked offscreen before looking back, "My team's already going out to try and find her, but I was wondering if you'd like to help? The more eyes the better, I'd have asked Jaune and his team but we don't want to drag them into this when they're busy with other stuff."
Violet's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "A Faunus?" She hummed, "That explains why she was so interested in the White Fang…" Then she caught what Ruby had said and made a show of squinting at her, "Wait, do you think my time's less valuable? I'm hurt!"
Ruby's eyes widened and she stammered, "H-Huh? N-no! No no! I didn't mean anything like that, I just-"
"Ruby," Violet began with a smile, "Relax, I'm fucking with you, I'll help." She sighed, "I'll miss the new episode of SABL, but I can just catch it after premiering. Hope I don't run into too many spoilers… OurTube is such a swamp of that stuff after release…" She pronounced 'SABL' like 'Sable'.
"Oh." Ruby gained a look of relief and mild embarrassment, "Uhm, great! Weiss and Yang are already out in the city, so I'll meet you at the courtyard! We can look around together for a bit, then split up."
That sounded just fine to Violet, and so they ended the Scroll call and Violet went about dressing in her regular gear, taking her weapon with her just in case, before heading out towards the courtyard.
Ruby was there, although she wasn't alone. She was talking to Team JNPR, who seemed to have discovered that something was up, and were all wearing their Huntsmen gear. Ruby turned her attention to Violet as she approached and smiled, "Heeyy, Violet, Juniper found out about what was going on, so they're going to be looking too."
Jaune smiled at Violet and waved slightly, "Hey, Violet. Bit of a weird day off, huh? But we weren't going to let our sister team go without extra help!"
Nora grinned, "Exactly! We'll find Blake, no problem!"
Pyrrha nodded in agreement, "What kind of friends would we be if we didn't join in?"
Ren crossed his arms and looked over towards the Bullhead Port, "Yes, although it's going to be difficult to find her, even with all of us searching."
Violet was glad to see Jaune again. It'd been a couple days, but all the same, she smiled, "Well, let's not waste any time then."
Ruby nodded a few times, "Yeah! Uhm… Let's see… we should split up. Partner pairs make the most sense for right now, and I'll go with Violet, then we can meet up if anyone finds anything."
That seemed fair to everyone, and so soon the six were out and headed down to Vale. The city was busy, as it always was, but Violet was acquainted enough with it that it didn't bother her too much. If anything, Ruby seemed a bit more uneasy around crowds than she did, staying close to her as they walked around.
At first, their trek was silent, but soon, Ruby let out a defeated sigh, "I feel awful about all of this. I'm the leader, and there wasn't anything I could do about Weiss and Blake arguing…" She sighed and looked at Violet, "What would you have done?"
"Probably the same thing I did already." She responded easily, "I… don't like getting in the middle of arguments like that. There wouldn't be much I could do, even if I cared enough about racial stuff like that to want to intervene. I'm not exactly 'authoritative'."
She paused, thinking of what else to add to her thoughts, since she saw Ruby still looked lost. Eventually, she settled on saying, "But, you're not exactly a seasoned leader or anything like that. It's your first semester, you know? And you were moved up two years, so of course you'll struggle a bit. You'll take hits, but that's not really what matters. It's like that one quote from a show I watched, how'd it go…"
She thought for a moment before remembering, "'It doesn't matter how many times you fall, what matters most is your will to stand up again and fight.'" She looked over to Ruby, "Get it?"
Ruby thought for a moment before nodding, "I… I think so. I screwed up, but what matters is that I keep going and learn from my mistakes. So… next time my team has a fight like this, I'll have a better idea of what to do! Or, well…" She smiled awkwardly, "Maybe I can stop them from fighting in the first place!"
"Yeah!" Violet responded with a smile, proud of herself for getting her point across, "And hey, you mentioned making up with Weiss, right? So you've at least got her in your corner, Yang too."
Ruby sighed, "Yeah, although Yang still treats me like her baby sister rather than her leader. It suuucks." She rubbed the back of her neck, "But she means well, so… I guess I can't get too mad at her."
Violet had to wonder what it was like having siblings, as she'd never had any. Given her lifestyle, she figured that it probably wouldn't have changed much, but there really was no telling. She thought about it for a moment, "You know, I've always wondered what having siblings would be like."
"Well…" Ruby began, "It's got its upsides and downsides, I'm sure Jaune can tell you that. They get under your skin, sure, but from our experience, they'll always have your back. That's probably not the same for everyone's siblings, but… it's ours, at least. I think the only person on my team that doesn't have siblings is Blake. I know Nora and Ren only had each other… dunno about Pyrrha."
That was an interesting thought, Pyrrha Nikos having siblings. Violet had to wonder what they'd be like, if they existed. Maybe they did, and were just really good at staying under the radar. It's not like the media ever really looked at Pyrrha's family, they were focused solely on her. Maybe that was for the best.
She was torn out of her thoughts when Ruby gasped, "Is that… Penny?" She pointed to a girl a bit further away, and indeed, it seemed that Penny was looking inside the window of a shop, "Hey, Penny!" She called out with a wave, and Violet noted the small dust up of blush on her face.
Penny turned and gasped as she saw the two of them, though her gaze was primarily on Ruby. She raced over at top speed and Ruby barely had time to look shocked (and mildly horrified) before Penny dove and tackled her into a hug that sent them both to the ground. Ruby groaned, "Peennnyy! You're crushing me!"
Penny got back up, "Apologies, Ruby!" She then saluted to Violet, "Sal-u-tations Violet! It's wonderful to see you two again! I was just looking around Vale, at some of the shops! I can't buy anything, but I like to look anyway! What brings you here?"
Ruby got back up and dusted her outfit off, "Uhm… well… we're looking for a friend, one of my teammates. Wanna… come with us? I can explain while we walk." Penny nodded, and so they were off.
Ruby explained the situation to them as they kept walking. By this point they'd been out in the city almost all afternoon. The sun was about to start sinking beneath the horizon, and Violet silently pouted over the loss of her day. Blake had better apologize for all of this!
When Penny had been told of almost everything, she resolved to help in the search. It was pretty unnecessary; with this many people looking, they could have most of Vale covered, but Ruby seemed overjoyed to have Penny along for the ride, even if she tried to hide it.
The sun began to get lower, and just before it started to creep below the horizon, all three girls heard a loud bang in the distance. It sounded like something exploding, coming from the docks. The three of them headed for the source of the noise; luckily they weren't too far from the source. In order to get a better vantage point, Ruby suggested they get on top of one of the warehouse roofs, and so they did, though Violet honestly felt it was unnecessary.
They saw a decent number of White Fang troops (at least thirty of them) armed and paying attention to Blake and the blonde Monkey Faunus from before. A shipping container had fallen to the ground, splitting the two, and Roman Torchwick had his cane pointed at the boy!
Ruby called out, "Hey!" and got his attention.
Torchwick sighed, "Aren't you kids out past your curfew?" He sighed and pointed his cane at Ruby before firing it. The projectile went fast enough that none of them had a chance to react before it hit Ruby in the chest and sent her back a couple feet as she landed on the roof with a groan.
Penny narrowed her gaze, "Don't worry Ruby, Violet, I'm combat ready!"
Violet went to grab her weapon, but froze as she saw Penny's back open, revealing one sword that split into several before jumping down to face the White Fang. Violet shook herself out of it and moved to join her, drawing Suncutter as she jumped off the rooftop and used her aura to blunt the fall.
Penny began to cut down swathes of White Fang members and Violet could only watch in shock once again. She snapped out of it once she saw Torchwick attempting to flee, and so she ran off to face him. He was looking away from her as she raised Suncutter and started to bring it down on him, but he pivoted towards her and caught her blade with his cane, "Woah there, Tanuki! I'm a busy man, ya know, can't stick around."
Violet growled, "I'm a raccoon, not a tanuki! You could at least call me Trashy or something, at least that'd make sense!"
"Mmmh, nah." He smirked, "I think Tanuki fits you just fine." He stepped back as Violet brought Suncutter back up and swung again, and again he blocked. They entered into a pattern of swinging and blocking, andTorchwick laughed the whole time, as if this was nothing but fun to him.
However, eventually, he got a rude awakening as Yuvi materialized behind him and grabbed him by the waist. His eyes widened before he got brought into the air as Yuvi's arms stretched out. She then slammed him down onto the concrete while Violet separated Suncutter into its chakram and Mini-14 components.
Torchwick got back up and was immediately put on the defensive again as suddenly a Chakram was sailing at him all the while he had to deflect Dust rounds. He was fast, able to dodge that much, but Yuvi was on him as well, charging at him before delivering a punch to his gut, strong enough that it snapped his cane in half as it connected and sent him flying backward.
He collided with the ground and slid across it for another foot before coming to a stop. Violet hurried to make sure he was down, but suddenly she was faced with another foe. A strange woman with brown and pink hair appeared before her suddenly and swung a parasol at her, forcing Violet to stop as Yuvi took the hit for her.
There was no time to question this new combatant, instead Violet focused on firing at her. Every Dust round met and was stopped by the woman's parasol, as she opened it to block the attacks while still managing to keep moving, avoiding most of Yuvi's strikes.
Eventually, Yuvi got a good hit on the woman's side, causing her to stagger. She didn't even look annoyed, just amused. Every strike that Yuvi attempted was met by a jab or another light attack from the woman, and Violet knew this couldn't go on, otherwise Yuvi might be forced to retreat, or worse.
So, when the woman finally jumped over Yuvi and landed before charging at Violet herself, Violet knew that there was only one real way she could end this fight favorably.
Her eyes ringed with charcoal flame as she glared, a gout of fire shooting from in front of her and forcing the woman to skid to a stop. However, the moment she stopped, a powerful spout of water shot from the ground, knocking her into the air.
Yuvi caught fire and punched the air several times, sending fireballs at the woman as she tried to right herself in the air. While she was able to block a few fireballs with her parasol, one eventually hit hard enough to send her flying backward. However, before she could fall into the water, Violet used gravity magic to grab her and send her hurtling towards the ground.
As she collided with the ground, Violet's focus was suddenly disrupted as she felt the force of a Dust round collide with her chest. She staggered backward and glared, seeing that Torchwick had recovered. The usually smug man looked… afraid? As he called to his ally, "Neo! We're leaving!"
The woman named Neo scrambled to her feet, and though Violet moved to shoot Torchwick while Yuvi raced for Neo, both shattered into pink shards of translucent glass. Violet looked up and saw the two of them inside a Bullhead. She was about to start sending magic at it, but that was when she heard Ruby call to her from behind, "Violet!"
Violet quenched the fire around her eyes as the Bullhead flew away. She turned around and saw that the White Fang had been dealt with, with Weiss, Yang, and JNPR having arrived to help secure the area, although the White Fang themselves seemed to have been mostly taken care of by Penny, who was conspicuously absent from the scene.
Ruby stopped before her and asked, "Are you alright?" At Violet's nod, Ruby grinned, "Great. I didn't get to see what you were doing in the heat of all this, but… you were able to hold off Torchwick? That's amazing! He's no joke."
'She didn't see the magic? Good.' Violet had gotten a bit preoccupied with the fight and surviving, she hadn't considered being caught, only resolving the situation. Thankfully that misstep hadn't gotten her caught, "He was stronger than I expected, but… nothing I couldn't deal with." She looked out to the White Fang, a grimace crossing her face as she averted her gaze, "Bastards…" she whispered.
"Violet, are you okay?" Ruby asked with concern.
"Y-Yeah." Violet nodded, looking back at her, "So Blake was one of these guys, right?"
Ruby hesitated, but given the situation at hand, there really wasn't any hiding it. She nodded, "Yeah…"
"Hmm." Violet frowned, "...At least she's better now." She started over towards the others, all the while her chakram unfolded itself and her Mini-14 collapsed, turning into a grip again as the chakram attached to it, reforming Suncutter. She complained under her breath, "Man… this took so long. I missed game night for this, ugh, the GM's gonna be annoyed."
Well, all's well that ends well, at least.
/-/
A Warehouse in Vale
Cinder hadn't been paying attention to what Roman was doing, she had no idea what Roman had been doing in the first place. Yet, she couldn't miss the sudden burst of news on her Scroll about an attempted raid on the docks by the White Fang that had gone bust. She also couldn't miss the phone call she'd gotten after that.
Roman sounded worn out, and Neo looked like she'd been thrown around like the ragdoll she was. He said that they needed to talk at the warehouse, and so Cinder had to put a pause on watching her favorite soap opera in order to go and wait for him.
That was how she found herself sitting on a wooden crate in one of Torchwick's many hideouts, this one once a factory warehouse, now long abandoned and free for him to use off the books.
Cinder ended up waiting for fifteen minutes before Roman and Neo stumbled their way inside. Neo immediately went and sat on a couch that had been brought into the place, while Torchwick used a wooden cane that hadn't been with him earlier for balance as he started towards Cinder, "Hey, Cindy, you're on time. Hope I didn't interrupt your PMS Broadcast."
"Watch your tongue, Roman." Cinder glared, "I wouldn't talk big if I were you, you look like a stiff breeze could topple you. That's not even mentioning your failed attempt at robbing the SDC, I thought you said you had this handled? I let you have free reign, and you somehow managed to screw this up. I'm beginning to doubt our partnership."
"Oh shut up." Roman snapped back, "You won't be saying that when I tell you I found your little target."
That got Cinder's attention alright. She hopped off the crate and stalked over to him, "You found the Fall Maiden?! Who is she? Where is she? I need to know!" Was this it? Was she finally going to be able to fulfill her ambitions? Roman held the key to her future in his hand.
He knew that, he knew it well. He grinned, "You owe me for this one, Cindy, and I'm not gonna let you skimp out on this favor. It's a check I'm gonna cash whether you like it or not, so listen up, dig?"
Cinder grimaced, the idea of being in debt to anyone other than Salem was disgusting to her. Yet, that wouldn't matter if she got her powers. If she got her powers, then Roman would be ash alongside the rest of Vale, "Alright, Roman. I'm in your debt. Now, tell me what I need to know."
"She's this shortstack raccoon girl, shorter than Neo there, now that's a damn accomplishment." Neo smiled, as if proud of her height, or perhaps proud of the fact that someone shorter than her existed? Who knew, really? Roman continued, "I heard Little Red call her name as we were leaving. Her name's Violet, and she's clearly in with Beacon already, if she's hanging out with Little Red and her gang of goodie-two-shoes. That good enough for you?"
"I'd kiss you if you weren't a repulsive slug." Cinder quipped, a satisfied smile on her face, "Yes, that'll do perfectly." She turned away, "There can only be so many people named Violet in the city, and with a more thorough description I'm certain we can find something about her."
She began to pace, "She's a Maiden, so she has power on her side, power that should be mine, and will be in time. I will have to get creative when looking for a weakness." She looked towards her uneasy allies, "Roman." He raised an eyebrow and she said, "I'm going to need your intelligence network. I need you to find out everything you can about this 'Violet' character. Government records, other official documents, anything that can tell me anything important about this girl. Allergies, relatives, aliases… if you do this for me, I'll deliver double the Lien I had promised for a successful Dust heist."
"You're playin' hardball now, huh?" Roman smirked, "Right, Cindy. I'll see what I can do, but there's absolutely no way that just you and your lackeys are gonna be able to take her out. There's, what, two of your goons? Neo and I aren't gonna have a damn thing to do with this Maiden business, alright? She could probably turn us inside out if she wanted, and that means jail time for Neo and I. All the rewards and promises you make ain't worth jack shit in supermax, or worse, death row."
Cinder frowned, "Fine, coward. I won't ask you to face down the Maiden, you've got your uses, and if I almost had Amber with my allies, then I will simply have to bring more." She turned and began to pace again, muttering to herself, "Tyrian? No… Salem would refuse, he's busy in Anima, and he's unpredictable. Watts? Useless in a fight if he's not in an advantageous position. Hazel? No… Ozpin would recognize him from a mile away."
She was going to need new allies for this. The rest of Salem's court was preoccupied or otherwise not a good choice for Maiden Hunting. Mercury and Emerald were a powerful combo, but if Cinder wanted to be certain, she was going to need help.
Mercenaries?
Yes… she was going to need mercenaries. People that wouldn't ask questions and get the job done for the right pay. She could turn them to ash after she got what she wanted, anyway. If things went wrong, then they could take the brunt of the damage while Cinder made her escape. Expendable pawns, yes… she needed minions to do dirty deeds, preferably dirt cheap.
"Roman." She said, looking at him as he made his way to sit with Neo, "I need access to mercenaries. Not two bit thugs like the ones you used during that Dust robbery, real fighters. Do you have access to those?"
"For the right price, yeah." He grimaced as he sat down, Neo placing a worried hand on his arm, "It's gonna cost money upfront to get the wheels greased, and more for the contracts. The people I can get are strong, the real deal, but they aren't gonna do shit without the pay, but once you pay em? Well…. wind them up and watch them go, metaphorically speaking."
A grin grossed Cinder's face. Already, she could see her victory. Already, she could see her foes falling before her, and she could see Salem providing her the means to get the rest of the Maidens' power, and she would be close to a goddess. Cinder Fall, Goddess of Remnant… yes, she liked the sound of that, "Perfect, then…
"Put in the call."
