... So much pain...
Such darkness...
It all came to a grinding halt on top of Beacon Tower. The scarlet hoplite knew all too well what had struck her. And what she'd willingly done. But in those final moments, as she lay on the ground, disarmed and wounded. Her powers had come to her in a flash. Cinder had been wounded and the day in Beacon... Saved, for now. Even if Grimm have overrun it. At least her friends and family made it out alive. She'd gotten shot in the chest and before she vanished, she heard Ruby.
For now, it was up to the young Huntress prodigy to find what had happened. Slowly, ever so slowly, emerald eyes opened to the dim light of a cloud-covered morning. Tears ran down to the ground below her as the scarlet-haired Mistrali warrior eyed the clouds above. She lay there, aware of what had occurred and thankful the whole ordeal was over. She knew not where she was, but that'd be secondary to figuring out if she was truly alive. For now, she was simply contempt with laying and resting.
She felt a hand through her scarlet hair, to find it loose. Long, wavy red hair, soft as silk, left untied and loose after the disappearance of her crown. She felt the middle of her chest and found an inkling of a phantom pain, but no hole drilled into her heart. No real pain, no wound. She suddenly perked up into a seating position, raggedly breathing as her eyes went wide, she looked at her fingers, those that touched where the wound had been and saw no blood.
That couldn't be. She recalled the hit nailing her. There wasn't even scarring there.
She took a long gaze around her, finding in her line of sight nothing but a clearing and trees. She was in the middle of said Clearing. Standing up, she pushed the hair back over her shoulders and got it out of her eyes, before scanning the area around herself. Her ankle didn't hurt anymore either. Her Achilles' Heel hadn't been cut or had randomly heled. She looked at her leg, only to see the armor plating present with no hole.
Left of her, embedded within the dirt and grass, lay a bronze shield. Akoúo̱... She ran to and grabbed the plated bronzed shield and looked over it, joyful she found at least something to defend herself with. She slid it onto her arm, then eyed the surrounding area for Miló, yet found no trace of the weapon. Not even its shards. Sighing deeply, she shook her head and wiped the tears away, realizing they'd been present for the better part of her wakeup here.
She shook her head and kept her hair in check as best she could, before swiveling about and holding Akoúo̱ close. As she walked, moving into the forest itself, she just wandered aimlessly. Perhaps in due time, she'd run into a settlement or something to rest at. Perhaps... She wasn't dead. Maybe whatever happened after her supposed 'death' to her flung her across into the Emerald Forest. No, a Grimm would've come to face her by now. They would've sensed her uncertainty, sadness.
She shook her head and steeled herself. This was no time to question why she survived.
The deeper into the forests she walked, the more she felt like she was getting surrounded, like she was getting watched. She stopped for a moment, clenching her fists and looked around. Silhouettes moved through the shrubs and trees and she heard boots slam into dirt. Readying Akoúo̱, she stood and watched as some of the figures emerged, rifles drawn and aimed at her. Humans.
She wanted to speak. She wanted to tell them she was friendly, but felt her words stick in her throat...
"Who are you!? Hold it right there!" Warned one of the soldiers, clad in red and holding an SMG. A squad of 10 soldiers. They were all wearing armors resembling those of medieval knights, with steel plating and brown uniforms worn underneath. Pyrrha took a defensive stance with her shield, frightened as she was unable to let a word out of her mouth. She swallowed nothing.
"She doesn't look local, sir." One of the other soldiers noted.
"She's in Imperial territory, Private. She'd better damn well answer," The officer in red growled. "Who are you?"
Pyrrha was unable to speak. For the first time in her life, Pyrrha Nikos was unable to let out a word as she stood face-to-face with these soldiers, who seemed ready to kill her on the slightest misgiving. She stood there, staring into the brown eyes of the officer. And froze as she heard a child's scream. She gasped, swiveling about as she saw a soldier pull a young girl with dark-blue hair out of the shrubs.
"Found her, Captain!" The soldiers, with a more gruff voice, noted, pushing forth the child. "Little Darkie bitch tried to get away!"
And Pyrrha's eyes went wide, horrified as she saw the soldier bring down the stock of her rifle onto the back of the girl's head, pushing her to the ground... Blood poured out of a wound onto the floor and the girl whimpered in pain, holding her hands over her head. The Scarlet Hoplite glared at the officer as the man lowered his weapon and said "Whoever you are, get out of here. We have bigger fish to fry," then walked and picked the girl, who was probably 6 or 7, by the collar and slamming her against a tree. "Thought you could get away, runt? Nobody escapes the Imperial Hunters, do you understand?" And he pulled out a handgun.
At that point, Pyrrha gritted her teeth. Her semblance activated due to her anger and, with all the metal present in the man's equipment and armor, she managed to use her polarity to slam him against another tree, liberating the girl from his grip. She looked to said girl, then waved her off as the soldiers raised their rifles once again to greet her... She pinned the Captain of these 'Hunters' to the tree, cracking the bark and his armor.
The first gunshot echoed. It bounced off Pyrrha's shield. She looked toward the soldier that shot it with a burning glare, dropped the officer to the floor, then surged forth and used her shield as cover while the Soldier emptied his machine gun in it. Bullets pinged and bounced off her aura-defended shield as she slammed into the man, pinning him to a tree and knocking him out. Using her polarity, she yanked the gun out of the next soldier's hand, charged him, then beat him over the head with the rifle, breaking the wooden butt-stock over his plated helmet and knocking him out.
She raised the shield as more bullets cracked the air around her. Her scarlet hair waved in the wind as she burst into a sprint toward those shooting at her, using her shields and armor plating to its utmost effectiveness as the rounds bounced off. She grabbed a second soldier with polarity, raised him off the ground and threw him into a tree hard enough only to knock him out, before she threw her shield toward a second soldier. It spun through the air and slammed him to the ground, then Pyrrha grabbed it as it returned to her, grabbed an Imp by the ankle and threw him over her head, disarming him and knocking him out.
She then grabbed another pair of soldiers using both hands and slammed them against each-other mid-air, utilizing her semblance yet again. Raising her shield, she found another bullet bounce off it, this one from afar. She glared toward the glint of the scope and saw the Imp sniper, then ran toward it. A second shot struck. Then a third. And a forth went into the dirt beside her.
As she got in range, she graciously pirouetted and threw the shield, then took cover behind a tree as she heard a metallic clang and a grunt of pain. She extended her hand and grabbed the shield out of mid-air. She looked at the three remaining soldiers, her emerald eyes filled with the wrath of a mother bear and the trio of survivors scrambled to leave. Pyrrha grabbed one of them using her Polarity, pulling him back and pinning him to the ground with her shield. She cocked back her fist, prepared to knock him out.
"By the Valkyria... Who are you?" The soldier asked, fear streaking across his face
Pyrrha grabbed him, then pinned him to a wall and pointed at the girl and asked what the hell they were doing, simply through hand signs. Though she could already tell, considering the fact their leader was dead set on grabbing a gun to shoot the kid Seeing the man unwilling to answer and avoiding eye contact, the girl sighed and let him go, slinging the shield onto her back and breaking the rifle he had on him. She grabbed a handgun, one of the unbroken Rifles and showed the little gal to follow her, extending her hand, which the young one took.
Her Death and her own problems could wait. Right now, she needed to find this girl a shelter.
The little girl tugged her hand and and pointed toward a way which showed promise, as the trees and shrubbery thinned out. And gunfire echoed in the distance, in that direction. And Pyrrha also noticed the bleeding was still going. She knelt and looked at the girl's head quickly, running a hand through the hair. The little girl winced as Pyrrha ran a finger over the wound. It was minor, not deep enough to be an issue, thankfully. She breathed out, then turned the girl toward her and wiped what seemed to be tears from her eyes. Despite her own heartbreak, Pyrrha gave the young girl a smile... She then placed her forehead onto the girl's and focused.
A thin, dark-blue cover enveloped the little girl and Pyrrha felt the warmth of her young, beautiful soul. In her sight, the wound at the top of the girl's head began to heal... Oh, thank the Gods. She smiled at the girl, ruffled her hair and that garnered a chuckle out of the cutie. Pyrrha then picked her up as the blanket of Aura she'd given the girl dissipated. She held the girl with one hand and dashed forward, past the trees as the baby girl held onto her neck.
As they reached the tree line, Pyrrha skid to a halt, eyes wide at the sight. A village lit afire, under attack. Her heart skipped a beat, a thousand thoughts scrambling through her mind as she gazed down at a gate under attack, then glared at the Imperial troops that were sieging it. The young woman saw the Gate's defenders whittled down to the last four. Each of the Town Watchmen fought with every bullet in their magazine to keep the bastards away. Leading them, a fair, brown-haired maiden with hazel eyes and a red bonnet stood guard, firing her rifle with clear intent to kill.
The Huntress moved down the hill, set the little girl behind a house, then watched as the Defenders lost another, blood spraying the ground as the blonde screamed for help, for a medic, for anyone. Down to three... She growled, then ran and jumped, pressing a foot over the Sandbag walls used for the defense, before jumping onto and pummeling an Imperial officer, then raised her shield as Machine Gun fire rattled and struck her shielding. As she was charged, she grabbed one of them by the rifle, spun him and threw him over her head, slammed another man with her shield and sent a third barreling through a house's window. Eyes wide as she heard a tracked vehicle move toward them, she staggered as she saw an Imperial tank. It turned its turret toward her and its machine gun fired, but Pyrrha was quicker, raising her shield to block the bullets and kneeling to keep herself defended.
The rounds pinged off the plate and her Aura flared as the onslaught of bullets intensified, with a dozen Imperial troops joining. Did those she let go come to warn them? She drew a handgun from her belt, then snapped off a shot into the leg of an Imperial trooper, blood painting the pavement below. She hid back behind her shield as the firing became worse... And took her scroll out of her pocket, checking her Aura. It was in the yellow, nearing red.
She heard return fire and looked back to see the Town watchmen engaging while the others were distracted. Pyrrha took this as her chance. She stood up and charged forward, punching a man in the mouth and denting his armor through the use of her semblance, a hit which immediately sent him flying. She raised her shield to block a sniper shot coming in from behind her, then used Polarity again to pin a man to the floor and disarm him.
She drew the Rifle she picked up, used the shield as a support and fired toward a pair of Imperials coming in from behind the tank. The brown-haired girl ran toward her, firing her rifle and killing an Imperial trooper about to outflank her, before going back-to-back with Pyrrha and saying "Whoever you are, thanks for taking those shots for us!" before she gasped and cried "DUCK!", diving on her belly to the floor as the Imperial tank aimed its main gun, its Machine Gun having ceased firing. It aimed for her as she looked back to see the brown-haired girl firing her rifle. If she didn't... If she would miss, the people...
She won't... She won't miss. She willed herself not to miss. As the tank's short-length barrel thundered, Pyrrha took a stance that shocked the young woman behind her. One foot back, one forward, holding her shield with both hands and yelling. The shell left the barrel of the gun, a 75 millimeter cannon with low-velocity shells, and struck Pyrrha's now-magnetized and fully aura-covered shield, slamming against it as Pyrrha cried in pain. She howled a battle cry so loud that everyone halted, feeling her muscles strain and then tear, the bones in her forearm bend, crack and break. Burning pain ran through every muscle fiber in her body as what felt like shards of bone pierced them, tearing them.
Tears welled in her eyes. The pain was immeasurable for those few seconds Pyrrha had the Shell trapped in the magnetic field of her Polarity. The longest seconds of her life passed as she roared. Using her shield and pushing hard to the side with the last of her remaining strength, she deflected the shell. Deflected it into an already-ruined building It spun through the air aimlessly, punched through a window, sending the last few remnants of glass shattering, then detonated inside. The sheer mass of the shockwave set Pyrrha flying across the ground, her shield out of her grip hand and slamming into the pavement in front of her.
Her arm broken, Pyrrha watched from the ground, face dirty, cut by shrapnel, as the Imperials had halted. The tank commander appeared out of the hatch, eyes wide with shock. The Watchmen themselves had seen the event. Then, as the stupor passed, the redhead heard another vehicle approach and its main gun immediately roar to life. Had she failed? She felt her heart sink as Alicia lowered her rifle...
Then... The Imperial tank burst aflame, its engine burning a deep azure hue before being engulfed in a deafening explosion. Six soldiers were caught in the blast and the young woman who led the town watch staggered the moment the blast ripped through the air around them. Pyrrha looked at her broken, swollen arms and grunted in pain, trying to use them. She saw as a tank with blue camouflage appeared and a man spoke to the young, brown-haired maiden. Her lip trembled and she smiled, leaning her head onto the pavement as she felt unconsciousness overtake her.
The little girl ran toward her and fell to her knees beside her savior, looking at her broken, weeping form, but with a smile. The deep emerald eyes of Pyrrha stared into the dark-blue eyes of the little girl whose Aura she'd just awakened. She yelled something, but Pyrrha couldn't hear. All she heard was a deep ringing in her ears thanks to the explosion. Slowly, Pyrrha, whilst praying she'd wake up, closed her eyes as footsteps came toward her. Maybe this was just a last-moment dream, before her death. Some joke played by the Gods, something in the Afterlife...
She felt her eyes flutter. Her heart beat in her chest and a sharp, stabbing pain across her entire upper body awoke her. Her arms felt heavier than they'd ever been. Shaking her head and groaning, Pyrrha felt herself on a metal surface, laid on a tarpaulin of some kind. Her arms had been splinted into place. She heard a joyful voice say "Thank God, you're alive." before her eyes opened fully... It was blurry, but she saw beside her, the brown-haired woman she'd saved... The woman smiled widely, then said "What you did out there was awesome... And you saved a lot of us. You got a name?"
Pyrrha swallowed... She felt her throat coarse, rough... She tried to move her arms, then yelped in pain as she felt shocking, sharp pain travel through them, all the way to her fingers. Looking down, she saw them bandaged and with wood supports attached to the bandages to keep them in place. On the right side was Akoúo̱. It had a black mark, a deep gash, across its front, perhaps from the impact of the tank shell. She counted the people in the vehicle with them. A man clad in civilian's clothing, sitting on the turret, meaning this was the tank she'd seen drive in. The brown-haired girl... And a little girl with dark-blue hair and a shoal. She gasped, not seeing her little ward, then looked around frantically, scared and panting.
"The girl... The girl..." she whimpered, her voice rough, toward the brown-haired girl.
"Little Misha? The girl you saved?" The town watchgirl said "She's fine. We dropped her off with her aunt, in the Civilian convoy we're escorting..." She then told Pyrrha. As the young woman processed the information, she felt a weight lift off her heart, leaning her hair back. She sighed in relief, then closed her eyes, feeling tears well in her eyes yet again. She finally allowed herself to weep... A silent sob, more of a hiss. Her tears, welling in her eyes, fell to the metallic floor of the tank. She pursed her lips and the watchgirl got to her side, wiping the tears away and saying "Hey, hey. You're safe now. What's your name?"
"... Pyrrha..." The girl whimpered again. Her throat itched.
"Nice to meet you, Pyrrha. I'm Alicia. The guy in the turret is a friend of mine, Welkin and the girl driving the tank is Isara. Like I said, you're safe and sound now... And your arms are healing surprisingly quickly, so don't focus on the pain for now and tell me what you need." Alicia then offered, smiling. "I owe you that much for saving my butt back there..."
"Water... Please..." She pleaded. Alicia nodded, took her canteen from her belt and popped the cap open, before holding up Pyrrha's head and pouring the water down her throat. The Scarlet Hoplite swallowed the cold, sweet relief like there was no tomorrow. Droplets escaped her mouth, running down her cheeks and intercepting new tears. She leaned her head back and Alicia set it back down onto the makeshift pillow. Pyrrha panted, then said "Thank you, Alicia... Where am I?"
"... Uhm, Gallia. Why do you ask?" Alicia noted "Also... You seem Mediterranean in origin, at least from your outfit... You from Hellas or some place near by it?"
Pyrrha blinked. "Gallia...?" she asked, then received a nod.
She wasn't home. She really wasn't home anymore. No Grimm to have found her, an Empire attacking a nearby village, firearms. Murder, tanks, war. She was most definitely not home. She spoke "I'm... From around the bend..." before breathing in. The air scratched her throat worse than anything, but at least she was breathing it. She was alive to breathe it, in a whole other place.
Alicia sighed, then gave a nod and said "Get some rest, Pyrrha. We'll wake you up when we reach Randgriz."
"Okay..." The girl said... And immediately upon leaning her head back, her eyes closed shut and she fell asleep...