Terri-Belle's Request (New)
Terri-Belle’s Request
After Sunset left to go and speak to her mother – and Pyrrha couldn’t help but worry about that – Jaune arrived, armed and armoured and ready to begin their training. Pyrrha thought it would be better to get it done now, early in the morning when nothing was open in the city, and then have the evening to do as they pleased.
“Hey,” Jaune said, as he walked into the dojo, temporarily letting in the fresh air from the grounds beyond before he shut the door. “I mean, good morning.”
Pyrrha smiled at him. “Good morning, Jaune. Did you have a good night?”
“Yeah,” Jaune said enthusiastically. “I was kind of expecting there to be more noise, what with the city and all. I guess it’s the lack of traffic.”
“It’s also the part of town,” Pyrrha added. “I think it gets a little noisier further down the mountain, as you might see for yourself today.”
“Oh, really?” Jaune asked. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well… let’s talk about it over breakfast, when we’re all together,” Pyrrha said. “I’m glad you had a good night.” She paused. “Did you really ask Sunset to give you etiquette lessons?”
“She seemed to know what she was doing,” Jaune replied.
“Sunset seems to know what she’s doing quite often,” Pyrrha said softly.
Jaune chuckled. “I guess, but it works out, doesn’t it?”
“I suppose it does,” Pyrrha agreed. “Jaune, you know you don’t need to… there’s no need for you to change who you are or… you know that, don’t you?”
“I’m not,” Jaune assured her. “But this is your house and your city, what right do I have to come in here and insist that everything has to be just the way that I’m used to? If they do things a little differently here in Mistral, then that’s fine; I can do things differently here too.” He grinned. “I just don’t want your mom to think that your partner is an insensitive jerk.”
Pyrrha chuckled. “My mother can think what she likes; I know the truth.” She turned away and picked up Miló where it was currently resting against the wall. “And now, shall we get started?”
They spent an hour training, mostly sword and shield, although they spent a little time towards the end of their session – as a cool down – having Jaune activate and deactivate his semblance so that he became more used to it. Since discovering his semblance at the docks, there hadn’t been that many opportunities for him to make use of it – there had been more practical exercises on the edge of Vale, but none of them had been so dangerous as to require anyone’s aura to be stimulated – so Pyrrha thought it necessary to get him using it, or at least turning it on, each day so that his ability to call upon it didn’t ossify from lack of use. Plus, it allowed Jaune to relax a little more after the melee training, where she was starting to pick up the pace with him. He was improving, slowly perhaps, but he was improving, and Pyrrha had stepped up how much effort she put in against him in consequence; she held back less the more he improved.
“You’re getting much better,” Pyrrha assured him as they were finished. “By the time the new semester starts, you should be a match for Cardin.”
Jaune let out a sort of huff. “Cardin,” he muttered.
Pyrrha frowned. “Is something wrong?”
Jaune shook his head. “No, it’s just that… I mean, after what happened at the docks, Cardin seems like small potatoes, you know. That Adam guy…”
Pyrrha felt a shiver run down her spine at the thought of Jaune going up against a killer like Adam Taurus. “You can’t expect to reach that level after just a few months of training. You saved Ruby; isn’t that enough?”
“Yes,” Jaune agreed. “I mean, I guess. I just wish that I could do more than pick up the pieces with my semblance, you know.”
“I know it must feel like so much work to progress such a small amount,” Pyrrha said. “And I can’t imagine how frustrating that must be, but… I’ve spent more than half my life surrounded by tournament fighters who have stopped striving to better themselves because they’ve reached a point at which their skills are ‘good enough.’ Good enough to please the crowd, good enough to win a few fights, earn them a trophy or two. You could have said that with your semblance, you were good enough and settled into a support role, but you haven’t even mentioned it to Sunset because that’s not who you are. You’re not the sort of person to settle for 'good enough,' and that…” That’s inspiring to me, she wanted to say, but feared that if she said it, he might think… she was afraid that he wouldn’t understand that she was being sincere, and he would not have her think that she was mocking him. “I’ve never met anyone so determined to better themselves as you. You may think there’s so far left to travel, but I’m proud of how far you’ve already come.”
He looked at her. “Really?”
Pyrrha nodded. “Really.”
“You’re not just saying that.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Pyrrha replied. “Not any more, at least.”
Jaune’s smile was soft and tender. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said gently.
The two of them stared at one another for a moment. “Jaune,” Pyrrha murmured, “I…”
Jaune took a step towards her. “Pyrrha?”
“I… I think we should probably get ready,” Pyrrha said. I’m such a coward.
“Uh, yeah,” Jaune agreed. “Thanks for… this.”
“You’re welcome,” Pyrrha said, with a cheer in her voice that belied the extent to which she was kicking herself in private.
She let Jaune leave first while she tidied things up in the dojo after her two sessions.
Perhaps it was like Iris had said, that if he wasn’t impressed by her yet, he wasn’t likely to be.
Or perhaps he was just as afraid as she was.
That was, perhaps, the best she could hope for.
Pyrrha breathed in and out, centring herself as she contemplated the day before her. She couldn’t let worries about such things rule her right now; she had to give her friends a vacation to remember.
She headed out of the dojo and into the house, where she showered and dressed casually in a red tulip skirt and a gold halter-top, with just a narrow strip of bare midriff between the two. She slipped a pair of delicate golden sandals onto her feet and bound up her hair in its accustomed ponytail before heading downstairs to the dining room for breakfast.
Sunset was already there, seated at the table, looking at her scroll. She was dressed mostly in usual attire, with the exception that she had exchanged her normal T-shirt for a purple halter top that fastened around her neck with a black collar. Sunset’s brow was furrowed just a little.
“Good morning,” Pyrrha said as she walked in. “No Jaune or Ruby?”
“Not yet,” Sunset replied, as she put her scroll down on the table. “Morning. No circlet?”
“Not today; it doesn’t really go with the rest of my outfit. Did you sleep well?” Pyrrha asked.
“Pretty much,” Sunset said. “And if I didn’t, it was certainly nothing to do with the bed.”
“Was it to do with anything that I could help with?”
Sunset smiled thinly. “No,” she said. “It was… just a touch of homesickness, is all.”
“Oh,” Pyrrha said softly. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s fine,” Sunset assured her. “I’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” Pyrrha murmured. She pulled out her chair and sat down opposite Sunset. How was Mother? That was what she wanted to ask, but that seemed almost as hard as saying what she wanted to say to Jaune, and so, she settled for asking, “What were you reading?” as she gestured towards Sunset’s scroll.
Sunset glanced down at the scroll beside her. “Grimm attacks are on the rise, here and in Vale. Well, sort of.”
“What do you mean?” Pyrrha asked.
“It’s like…” Sunset hesitated. “There are grimm being sighted all over the place, in Mistral and in Vale, but they’re not attacking. Or at least, they’re not attacking much. Like, this report from a place called Higanbana: the grimm destroyed a farm near the village, and they’ve been attacking travellers coming in, but they haven’t assaulted the village yet.”
“That’s… strange,” Pyrrha admitted. “I don’t suppose that Professor Port has ever mentioned anything like that?”
Sunset shook her head. “It’s not how they’re supposed to act, as far as I’m aware.”
“Is it the same story elsewhere?”
“As far as I can tell,” Sunset answered. “Do you think they’re up to something?”
“I’m not sure that the grimm can be ‘up to something,’” Pyrrha replied. “At least I certainly hope not. They’re bad enough without developing low cunning of that sort.”
“True. I mean, it’s almost as if there’s some kind of intelligence guiding them, but that’s-”
“Worrying?”
“I was going to say ridiculous,” Sunset said. “Someone would have discovered it by now. Who’d keep a thing like that to themselves?”
“As you say,” Pyrrha murmured. “All the same, those poor people in those settlements, knowing that there are grimm nearby, even if they don’t attack. The fear that they must be feeling, the anxiety. I’m a little surprised that the grimm can resist it. Is anything being done?”
“Huntsmen are being sent out, here in Mistral,” Sunset told her. “And something called the Imperial Guard.”
“Also huntsmen,” Pyrrha explained, “but sworn to the service of the Lord Steward, at his personal disposal.” If he had sent them forth, then it must mean that resources were somewhat strained and huntsmen limited.
Sunset’s lip twitched. “Sounds like the sort of place you’ll be headed once you graduate.”
“It’s certainly something that… certain people might expect of me,” Pyrrha acknowledged without much enthusiasm, “but I might prefer the life of an ordinary huntress, going where I felt I was needed, particularly if the team stays together after graduation.”
“Yeah,” Sunset murmured.
“Sunset? Is something wrong?”
“No,” Sunset said quickly. “Everything’s fine.”
Pyrrha frowned. “Sunset… what did my mother want?”
“Nothing,” Sunset said. “Nothing I can share, at least.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t ask you to betray a confidence,” Pyrrha murmured. “I only hope that she wasn’t too hard on you.”
Sunset snorted. “I can handle your mother, don’t worry.”
“You shouldn’t have to ‘handle’ her, that’s the point,” Pyrrha insisted.
“She is within her rights,” Sunset said. “In Mistral, who can gainsay her the right to act as the Mistralians do?”
“No one, I suppose,” Pyrrha said with a slight trace of a sigh. “I just-”
“Want this to be perfect, I know,” Sunset said. “And it’s going to be great. Just stop sweating over it so much. Do you really think Ruby and Jaune are the kind of people who are going to judge you because of the way your mother behaves?”
Pyrrha chuckled. “Well, when you put it like that, it sounds slightly ridiculous.”
Jaune came in, having exchanged his usual hoodie for one that was dark blue white stripes across the chest and arms.
“Pyrrha,” he said, “you’re not wearing your circlet.”
“No,” Pyrrha murmured. “You… you noticed.”
“Well, yeah,” Jaune said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dressed without it before.”
“Probably all the more reason to try something new,” Pyrrha suggested.
“I don’t know,” Jaune replied. “I… I think it looks good on you.”
“Oh,” Pyrrha said softly. “Well-”
She was spared from having to reply to that by the arrival of Ruby, dressed in her – already pretty casual – huntress outfit. “Hey Pyrrha, hey Sunset. Good morning, Jaune.”
“Good morning, Ruby,” Pyrrha greeted her with a smile. “Did you have a good night?”
“Yep,” Ruby said. “It’s almost as quiet here as back home.”
“It’s 'cause this is the rich part of town, apparently,” Sunset muttered.
“Well… yes,” Pyrrha admitted. “And we don’t have many close neighbours. In any case, I’m glad you slept well.” She herself had slept intermittently, going over in her head what they might do tomorrow – today, now. “Now that you’re all here, I’ll have them bring in breakfast.”
“Your mother won’t be joining us?” Sunset asked.
“No, not this morning,” Pyrrha said. “Mother breaks her fast at her desk, working.” Even though her mother had no job since she had stood down from the Council some years ago, she was kept busy managing the estate and portfolio of the Nikos family that financed their comfortable lifestyle and had paid for Pyrrha’s first-rate training and equally top-of-the-line equipment. Pyrrha had to admit she was relieved that they would be dining alone this morning; they could be themselves instead of anyone having to feel on tenterhooks thanks to Lady Nikos’ presence.
Sunset’s hand glowed green as she waved it to pull back Ruby’s chair.
The smaller girl flopped onto it. “So,” Ruby said, “what are we going to do today?”
“Well,” Pyrrha said, “I thought that…”
Breakfast was an enjoyable meal prepared in the style of the Cycladian islands south of Anima, with salted pork, omelette with potatoes, aniseed sausages, and various kinds of cheese ranging from hard to soft. Pyrrha might have neglected to prepare her friends for her mother’s manners, but she had prepared the kitchen staff for the fact that Sunset was a vegetarian, and they had made her some frumenty with almonds, currents, and saffron.
With breakfast done, Pyrrha led her friends out into the streets of Mistral, streets that were largely empty when they emerged from the Nikos house but grew more crowded as they descended into the middle levels of the city, lower than the houses of the mighty but higher than the more insalubrious areas of Mistral that lay closer to the foot of the mountain. In between were districts inhabited by folk of moderate prosperity and respectability: merchants who had achieved some success, functionaries in the service of the Council, tenured academics, and popular artists. Here, in this part of the city, were also thriving markets, open-air bazaars where vendors crowded along the sides of the streets to sell their wares and where places of civic significance sat amongst the tea shops and the taverns and the townhouses.
It was still reasonably early, but these streets were still more crowded than those in the immediate vicinity of Pyrrha’s house; already, people were thronging the market stalls and filling the streets, passing hither and thither.
A change of clothes and the absence of her circlet was not sufficient to prevent Pyrrha from being recognised, and eyes followed her as she led her friends through the city. Nobody interrupted her, nobody approached, and unlike in Vale, nobody took any pictures of her. Nobody dared to do so. It was as if she were a goddess amongst men, untouchable, set apart, hedged about by her exceptionalism as though by a hedge of thorns that would prick and tear at anyone who presumed to come too close to her. So, people kept their distance and stared at her and followed her with their eyes and with their whispers as she passed on by.
“Is this what it’s like all the time?” Ruby asked, and when Pyrrha glanced down, she could see that the other girl had her hood up, as though even to be caught by accident in all these stares was getting to her.
“I’m afraid so,” Pyrrha said softly, putting one hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about this, but don’t worry; once we get inside, it will get better.”
“You just have to get into the right frame of mind about it,” Sunset declared. “They’re staring at you because they think you’re awesome!”
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t negate the fact that they’re staring,” Pyrrha pointed out.
Sunset’s gaze flickered between Pyrrha and the equally uncomfortable-looking Ruby. She sighed as she pulled one hand out of her pocket. “Okay. Just give me a second.” As Pyrrha watched, uncertain just what it was that Sunset intended to do – and hoping that it wasn’t anything like yell at the crowd, which might make things worse – Sunset’s hand began to glow with the green colour that Pyrrha had become used to associating with her semblance.
“Sunset,” Pyrrha said nervously, because Sunset attacking all of these people just going about their business was definitely not what she had in mind. “What are you-?”
Sunset didn’t give her a chance to finish before a burst of green light flew from her hand and struck Pyrrha square in the chest. It didn’t hurt. Pyrrha didn’t feel an impact, nor any damage to her aura. But when she looked up, she found that people were no longer looking at her. In fact, it was as if their eyes were sliding over her, as though they didn’t really see her at all.
Of course, they hadn’t ever really seen Pyrrha Nikos, so the fact that they had gone on to physically not seeing her was, in many respects, quite an improvement.
Even if she didn’t really understand how it had happened.
“That ought to be good for a couple of hours, at least,” Sunset muttered.
Pyrrha blinked. “Sunset, how did you-?”
“I wouldn’t want to bore you with the technical details,” Sunset said smoothly. “We should probably keep moving before it wears off.”
“You have a really versatile semblance,” Jaune said.
“Yep,” Sunset answered. “I’m like Weiss Schnee, but poor… and a better singer.”
“I’m not sure about that last one,” Ruby murmured.
“Traitor,” Sunset said, without any malice in her voice. “Oh, Pyrrha, one more thing, you might have trouble attracting attention, so it’s probably best if we buy anything you need for you.”
“I… see,” Pyrrha murmured, not really seeing at all. What had Sunset done, and how in Remnant had she done it?
Sunset’s semblance was a lot more than just versatile; in some respects, it verged upon impossible. And yet, it could not be denied.
Pyrrha smiled; this wasn’t the time to worry about such things, especially when Sunset had just given her a great gift of temporary anonymity.
They continued through the streets, passing through Castle Square, which was dominated by the immense General Lagune monument: a large, oval-shaped marble plinth, carved with ornate columns and scrollwork, topped by an equestrian statue of the general himself. Someone had spray-painted the White Fang symbol onto the plinth.
“You know,” Sunset said as she took a picture of the statue with her scroll, “I could have sworn I remember Doctor Oobleck teaching us that this guy lost the war.”
“Yes, but he lost very nobly and refused to abandon his soldiers,” Pyrrha explained. “That… counts for a lot in Mistral. We prefer to honour victors, but where there are none, we will celebrate a good loser instead.”
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “Didn’t he also promise to advocate for peace in return for his release and then go home and try to whip up support for continuing the war?”
“Yes,” Pyrrha acknowledged, “but then he returned to the camp of the faunus, who put him to death for his treachery, so you see, although he was… very misguided, he was not ignoble.”
Not far away, a man in a red waistcoat over a white shirt had gotten up on a box in the middle of the square and was addressing the modest-sized crowd gathered to hear him speak.
“Where are the leaders of the land?” he demanded, his words carrying through the air. “Where are the men who run this show?”
“What’s he talking about?” Ruby asked.
“Our taxes go to swell the coffers of the Council, and what are we offered in return? Death stalks the land from here to Argus, and where are the huntsmen to defend us? Walk the walls and see if you can find a huntsman on them! Walk from Mistral to Shion and see if you find a huntsman there! Mistral is prostrate before the monsters, and what recourse have we but to pay even more of our hard-earned lien to grasping Lord Rutulus and his like? How long before we cut the fat ones down to size?”
“We should go,” Sunset said.
“I quite agree,” Pyrrha replied, as she began to walk away. Sunset followed quickly, and Jaune and Ruby followed after, although the latter kept looking backwards.
“What was he talking about?” Ruby asked again.
“Grimm activity is on the rise,” Sunset said, “but from what I read this morning huntsmen have been sent out, so I don’t know what he's complaining about.”
“The territory of Mistral is very great,” Pyrrha admitted. “It may be that there are not enough huntsmen for all the settlements that would like one, at least to have one there permanently.”
“I can see how that might upset some people,” Jaune said, “but I’m not sure what you can do about it; I mean you can’t magic up more huntsmen out of nowhere.”
“Some people just want something to complain about,” Sunset said.
“Some people certainly do,” Jaune muttered.
“Hey!”
“At least the Mistral Council is sending out its huntsmen,” Ruby murmured. “I’m not sure Vale would do the same.”
Pyrrha and Sunset glanced at each over Ruby’s head and wordlessly came to the decision not to mention that Vale might be in a similar position to Mistral; there was no point in giving Ruby something to worry about that she couldn’t influence.
Pyrrha led her friends to the Mistralian Museum, a magnificent building fronted with marble columns like an antique temple and a frieze atop the columns depicting various peoples from all across Anima presenting their treasures in tribute to a Mistralian Emperor. They climbed the steps – after a brief pause to let Sunset take some more pictures – and Pyrrha found that Sunset was absolutely right about not being noticed: whatever it was Sunset had done caused the eyes of the woman at the ticket office to slide off her, and she had to give her lien to Sunset to purchase the admission tickets for her.
Inside the museum, they were greeted first of all by the skeleton of an immense dinosaur, a four-legged creature with – judging by the size of its ribcage – an immense body and a long neck, albeit with a small head in comparison to the size of the rest of it. It dominated the museum atrium, four legs resting on a raised plinth, while the long neck and the tail almost as long stretched back and forth towards the door and the next hall.
Ruby’s eyes went wide at the sight of it, and Jaune looked almost as awed. Even Sunset looked pretty impressed.
“Woah,” Ruby whispered.
“What is that thing?” Jaune asked.
“An animal that lived a very long time ago,” Pyrrha explained.
“Things that big lived here?” Sunset gasped.
Pyrrha nodded. “Their bones are found all over Anima.”
“It’s the size of a dragon!” Sunset cried in a strangled voice.
Pyrrha looked at her. “Well, yes, they think the dragons were of the same order. That’s why the dragon skeleton is displayed with the others.”
Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “You… you have a dragon skeleton here?”
“Yes, it’s one of the most prized exhibits.”
“And we’re not talking about a grimm?” Sunset asked.
“No,” Pyrrha said calmly. “Would you like to see it?”
Sunset nodded, eager and anxious in equal measure. “Lead the way!”
The dragon skeleton had rather scared Pyrrha when she was young, but now that she was a little older, she could see that there was a kind of majestic grandeur to it. The bones of the great beast had been arranged in such a way that it seemed to be in combat, its long neck drawn backwards, its immense jaws open to snarl in anger, baring its teeth as long as spears. Its foreclaws were bared, and the skeleton frame of its wings were spread out as if trying to intimidate its enemies by making itself seem bigger than it was.
For size comparison purposes – and also because whoever had arranged the museum displays had an eye for an exciting set up – the dragon skeleton was opposed by a false grimm, one that was large and almost draconic in its own right, a grimm version of the artist’s representation of the dragon that faced it across the hall. They snarled at one another, both frozen, poised to attack but never actually able to charge.
“A real dragon,” Sunset whispered. “A real… what in Celestia’s name? How did you get here?”
“I want to know where they all went,” Jaune asked as he turned in place and looked around the edges of the hall, dominated by the skeletons of giant herbivores and carnivores, most of them larger than the oldest and most terrible of grimm. “What killed all these huge creatures?”
“Men, probably,” Sunset muttered.
“Some believe that whatever caused the moon to shatter caused debris to fall to Remnant, causing great devastation,” Pyrrha replied, “but no one really knows for sure.”
Fortunately, however it was that they had eventually met their end, the giant lizards – and the giant mammals in the next hall – proved to be a big hit, which was a great relief to Pyrrha as she watched her friends gasp in awe of the mighty behemoths that had once bestrode the world. Even more popular – with Ruby at least – were the classical weapons and armour exhibits. There were probably at least as many reproductions as there were actual ancient weapons in the exhibits, but then, a lot of them were quite old reproductions, some from before the Great War, so that made them rather historical in their own right, and it wasn’t as if they were sprung out of thin air. All the swords and spears and suits of armour, all the chariots, were based on detailed readings of the sources.
“Hey, Pyrrha,” Ruby said as she stood before replicas of the sword and spear of the legendary Pyrrha, her namesake who had fought before the walls of Mistral to defeat the invading hosts of the south. “These weapons look really similar to the sword and spear mode of Miló.”
Pyrrha didn’t need to look at what she meant. She knew exactly what Ruby was referring to already. “Yes, that’s… not a coincidence,” she admitted. “I designed Miló’s sword form and spear form to look that way… I suppose I’m a bit of a fan.” She laughed nervously.
Ruby chuckled. “I think that’s really cool.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, I mean a cool weapon is a cool weapon, but I think it’s great when someone’s weapon is based on something that means something to you, you know?” Ruby said. “Like, Crescent Rose is based on the scythe my Uncle Qrow uses, and your weapons are based on the weapons of a hero you admire. They ought to mean something, because they’re not just weapons; they’re a part of who we are.”
Whatever Sunset had done to Pyrrha had worn off sufficiently by lunch time that Pyrrha was able to get everyone lunch in the museum restaurant: cheese tartlets and almond cookies, the latter of which caused Ruby to look slightly askance… right up until she actually tried one.
“Do you like it?” Pyrrha asked as she watched the enjoyment blossom on Ruby’s face.
Ruby nodded eagerly, and crumbs fell out of her mouth as she spoke. “I wouldn’t have thought they’d be this good without chocolate, but these are really nice, Pyrrha.”
Pyrrha smiled. “I’m glad to hear it,” she said.
After a little longer spent at the museum, Pyrrha led the three of them to an observation deck between half and three quarters of the way up the mountain, set in the cleft where the waterfall ran down between the two peaks, offering an expansive view of the city spreading out around them on either side.
Ruby, Jaune, and Sunset all rushed to the wooden railings that prevented accidents, standing at the edge of the platform with the city spread out before them.
They had already seen the city from the air, of course, but they were all good enough sports to at least seem excited to see it from this angle also. Pyrrha didn’t join them, but rather hung back a foot or so from her friends, choosing to watch them rather than watch the view.
She was glad that they appeared to be having a good time so far.
She was very glad that things were going much better today than they had yesterday.
Sunset leaned upon the rail, her tail swishing back and forth, and began to softly hum a tune that Pyrrha didn’t recognise.
“That sounds lovely,” Pyrrha said as she walked closer to the others. “What is it?”
Sunset glanced up at her. “Oh, just a little ditty from my home. This place… it’s beautiful.”
“I certainly think so,” Pyrrha murmured. “Mistral is not without her problems, but for all that, she remains… Mistral. Old and proud and fair and… home.”
“So what’s the song?” Ruby asked.
“Hmm?”
“The song you were singing,” Ruby explained.
“Oh, no,” Sunset said. “No, I am not singing it.”
“Well, now you’ve got to,” Ruby said, with a slight pout on her face.
“I do not have to do anything,” Sunset insisted.
“I think we’d all like to hear it,” Pyrrha said with amusement in her voice.
Sunset rolled her eyes, even as her face reddened a little with embarrassment. She cleared her throat, not once, but twice. She coughed into one hand.
The fire of friendship lives in our hearts,
So long as it burns we cannot drift apart,
Though quarrels arise their numbers are few,
Laughter and singing will see us through.
“Aww, that’s so cute!” Ruby cried.
“How did a people with songs like that turn out someone like you?” Jaune asked.
“You are on very thin ice today, Jaune Arc,” Sunset growled.
“I thought it was lovely,” Pyrrha said, putting a hand on Sunset’s arm. She looked away from the others, out across the gorgeous vistas of her home. “If… if more people valued song and good cheer over the accumulation of riches or the hoarding of power and prerogatives, it would be a merrier world, I have no doubt.”
They stood together in companionable silence until they were disturbed by a voice hailing them from behind.
“Pyrrha Nikos.”
Pyrrha turned around. “Lady Terri-Belle?” she asked.
Terri-Belle Thrax rested the butt of her spear upon the ground as she regarded Pyrrha with a flat gaze from her grey-green eyes. The daughter of the Steward was tall, of a height with Pyrrha herself, and a little broader in the shoulder. Her face was stern, her features sharp and a little hard-edged. Her hair was metallic grey and worn in a tall Mohawk resembling the crest of a helmet, while the rest was braided tightly together and fell over one shoulder. She was armoured in a linthorax cuirass with studded pteruges and gleaming silver vambraces upon her forearms. An armoured headband protected her brow, nose, and cheeks. The straps of sandals wound their way up her legs, and upon her hip, she wore a great horn, bound about with silver and carved with ancient runes.
“Indeed, Lady Pyrrha,” she said. “Your mother suggested I might find you here.”
“I see,” Pyrrha said quietly. “Allow me to introduce my teammates-”
“I would have words with you,” Terri-Belle said sharply. “Alone.”
Sunset tensed visibly from the insult. “Who do you think you are-?” she began.
“This is the Lady Terri-Belle, of the House of Thrax,” Pyrrha explained. “Daughter of the Lord Steward of Mistral, Captain of the Imperial Guard, and Warden of the White Tower.” The House of Thrax had for many generations served the Emperors and Empresses of the House of Nikos faithfully and with honour, and while the Great War had brought about the end of the Imperial throne, it had not abolished the chair of stewardship, and Terri-Belle’s father, Lord Diomedes, possessed a permanent seat on the Council.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “I see. I would have hoped my lady’s pedigree would have sufficed to grant her a small measure of courtesy.”
Terri-Belle did not look insulted. She barely seemed to notice that Sunset had spoken. “I would have speech with you, upon a matter of grave importance,” she repeated. “Will you come with me?”
“Yes,” Pyrrha said. “Yes, I will. Excuse me, everyone, I won’t be long.”
“We’ll be right here,” Jaune assured her, while Sunset looked as though she had sucked on a lemon.
“Thank you,” Pyrrha said gratefully. It was a little concerning that Lady Terri-Belle spoke of grave matters, but hopefully, whatever it was she wished to speak with Pyrrha about would not take long, and she could return to her guests.
Terri-Belle turned away, not waiting for Pyrrha to follow – Pyrrha had to walk quickly to close the distance between them – and strode off towards the doors leading to a corridor that wound through the mountain itself and which Pyrrha and her friends had taken to reach this spot. Pyrrha followed her into the darkness of the dimly-lit tunnel, the little light glinting off Terri-Belle’s armour and the silver band about her horn. Pyrrha could hear the spear-butt tapping upon the ground.
Terri-Belle stopped, her eyes gleaming in the darkness as she turned once more to face Pyrrha again. “Your mother told me that you had returned to Mistral, Lady Pyrrha,” she said.
“Indeed,” Pyrrha said. “I’m here for the vacation. I brought my team with me to show them our fair city. Did you have to be so rude to them?”
“They do not concern me.”
“Sunset is right; you were discourteous, my lady,” Pyrrha said reproachfully.
Terri-Belle did not reply to that. “Is it true that you have done battle with the White Fang?”
“Once,” Pyrrha confessed. “Alongside my teammates.”
“Stop harping on your teammates, Lady Pyrrha. We both know-”
“No,” Pyrrha said firmly. “You do not know, and I doubt I will recognise whatever you are about to stay against them. I am sorry, Lady Terri-Belle, but I will not stand for it.”
Terri-Belle was silent for a moment. “Forgive me. I did not come here to pick a quarrel with you. I will even apologise to your teammates if it will mollify you.”
“That would be very kind, thank you, Lady Terri-Belle.”
“But you did fight the White Fang?” Terri-Belle asked.
“As I said, it was only once.”
“Once was enough for many in this city,” Terri-Belle declared. “When reports of your actions reached Mistral, the commons rejoiced at your success; amongst the high, there were those who were not best pleased that even at school, you had found some way to aggrandise yourself and swell your reputation in the field of arms.”
“That was not my intent,” Pyrrha said softly.
“Perhaps not, but fame cannot be set aside simply because you did not intend to gain it when you did the deed that made you famous,” Terri-Belle reminded her. “For my own part, and I was not alone in this, I was afraid.”
Pyrrha’s brow furrowed slightly. “Forgive me, Lady Terri-Belle, but I do not understand why my living or dying should concern you.”
“My father does not understand it either,” Terri-Belle muttered. She was silent for a moment, but her breathing was heavy enough that Pyrrha could hear it in the badly lit tunnel. “You are the pride and glory of Mistral reborn, Lady Pyrrha. I was Haven’s great hope once upon a time, but I never had your speed, your sheer blinding skill. I had four years at Haven and more years in the field since, but I have no doubt that with your one semester at Beacon, you would best me, such is your skill. In you, the valour and the brilliance of the heroes of old lives once again.” Terri-Belle paused. “I fear you are the evenstar of our people, the last gleaming of a brilliant light which, once it shall cease to burn, shall never shine upon the world again.”
“I am but an arena champion,” Pyrrha said.
“You are a champion sprung out of the line of Nikos, the blood royal,” Terri-Belle declared. “You are fair and gentle and beloved of the general for all these things besides the skill which would alone be quite enough to make you well beloved. If you shall fall in battle, far from home, then the House of Nikos shall die with you and all of its achievements… turned to ashes. You are the hope of Mistral, and as such, your place is here in Mistral, not engaging in squalid street battles in far-off Vale.”
Pyrrha swallowed, for her throat felt dry. “What are you saying, Lady Terri-Belle?”
“I am asking you to do your duty and come home to Mistral,” Terri-Belle declared. “I shall make you my second in the Guard, in place of my sister Shining Light, and when my father dies and I take up the chair of Stewardship, I give you my word that I shall name you my captain and Warden of the White Tower. The defence of Mistral and all our lands shall be yours, to shepherd the people against the grimm.”
Pyrrha’s mouth hung open. The Imperial Guard? Second? Captain? This was… this was too much, too soon. “You mock me, Lady Terri-Belle. I am only a student-”
“And I am the Steward’s daughter; if I wish to make you a huntress, then none will gainsay my right to do so,” Terri-Belle declared. “You are skilled enough to fight in the field; do you not think it is your duty to do so instead of wasting time in classrooms that teach you nothing?”
“Were you wasting time during your four years at Haven?” Pyrrha asked.
Terri-Belle snorted. “I spent four years out of my father’s shadow.”
“Yet you would begrudge me the chance to do the same at Beacon?” Pyrrha replied.
“Mistral had not such need then,” Terri-Belle said. She paused. “My father is a noble man, but age has hardened him until now… he is as solid as wood and as hard to bend. You have heard of the unusual behaviour of the grimm?”
“I have.”
“Lionheart has mismanaged the huntsmen; there are too few to respond to this sudden crisis,” Terri-Belle said. “I have persuaded my father to let me send out the Guard, but… there are not enough men to garrison every village… our people lose hope. And I… I do not have it in me to be beloved. But with you by my side… when people hear that the Champion of Mistral has returned and taken up the defence of the kingdom, they will rejoice, and all fear will be banished from their hearts.”
“You would have my name,” Pyrrha murmured.
“I would have you and all your gifts and blessings,” Terri-Belle declared. “I have need of you, Lady Pyrrha, for your name and also for your unconquered spear, for of spears, we have too few.” She stepped closer, so that Pyrrha could get a better look at her face. “I do not ask this lightly, believe me. I know, at least I think I may guess, why you went to Beacon. But Mistral has need of you, and so as a daughter of Mistral and the line of Nikos, I ask you to put your kingdom above yourself and do your duty.” She paused. “I must go; I have scarcely returned from Sakuraso when I must set out again for Higanbana. But think on it, for Mistral’s sake; promise me that you will think on it.”
Pyrrha hesitated. She wanted to refuse to do so. She wanted to simply refuse. She wanted to go back to Beacon once this vacation was over. She wanted four years away from her fame, away from the shadow of all it meant in Mistral to be Pyrrha Nikos of the many titles.
But how could she refuse? How could she refuse to even consider? Mistral was calling upon her, how could she refuse to answer?
“For Mistral’s sake,” she said, “I will consider it.”
For Mistral’s sake, how can I say no?
Even if ‘no’ is the only thing I want to say?
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Stop, it hurts. Getting flashbacks to Jaune training alone to a video of her.
Hmm. So this could lead into the hunt that happened in the original run of this story. A compromise of sorts with Terri-Belle. I doubt Pyrrha's going to actually stay. That would require SO much more rewriting.
And Pyrrha semi- quotes one of my favorite lines from the Hobbit.
It might have taken Thorin being on his deathbed to realize it, but the Hobbits really do have some of the keys to happiness. To bad not as many people value them IRL.
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I love that line too, and it's a very MLP line, I think; it fits very well wit the Mane Six and the way they live in Ponyville.
Another original new chapter! An early tour of Mistral just like the one for Vale! Sunset reveals more about her ‘Semblance’, we find that dragons actually once existed (does Sunset recognize it’s body structure as Equestrian in origin?), and we see an earlier introduction of Lady Terri-Belle. Although we all know that her offer is take advantage of her growing fame and success, now that she has had her first battle with an actual enemy of Remnant.
Also, there should be more of Sunset Shimmer demonstrating her Equestrian heritage in singing. Eeyup, needs to happen.
Terr-Belle? Like from the Student 6 comic? That's obscure. I LOVE IT.
Wonder how will she work out. From the short part in the comic we don't know much about her. I like to think she's more misguided than evil.
As both Professor Ozpin and this story teaches us, Choice is a powerful and invaluable thing. Freedom of choice is the right of all sentient beings. So what will you choose, Pyrrha Nikos? Loyalty to your dearest friends, or your duty to the Kingdom? Of course, when it comes to the latter, there are those who would claim that you are not allowed such a choice.
Wow, you are going all out on the changes aren't you? This even makes the later distrust of Pyrrha's motives.
How in the world is she going to get back to Beacon? She sense of duty would compel her to agree to this. Irs going to take an outside force, or possibly her mother to get her to go back.
Eagerly awaiting more or this new plotline.
So Lionheart is already as useless as in the show.
i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/017/204/CaptainAmerica1_zps8c295f96.JPG
oh, good. I was beginning to get annoyed at the lack of proper spellcraft from sunset, understandable as it is.
Last part is debatable.
Also I’ll be damned if you didn’t strike a cord with how museums make me feel, and if you didn’t write the noble talk so well.
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To be fair he was incredibly useful, just for Salem.
You know, the way Sunset talks, and how anxious she is, you'd think dragons aren't supposed to be in Remnant and this dragon is one that somehow found its way from Equestria.
I'm digging the cultural exchange from Pyrrha and Sunset, and it's good to see Sunset starting to broaden the scope of her 'semblance' in public. This does remind me that we haven't heard from Twilight and Celestia in a while though. I hope those two and Sunset aren't done with each other now that Sunset is opening up to the magic of friendship.
Talking about Sunset's magic...
I want to complain about you doing classical "spell of the moment" and "situational magic" things.
First of all, that ignorability spell would have been great to use when she was stealing from archive. It would also be ridiculously overpowered in any battle. Imagine hitting enemies when they can't see you. Yet it only appeared now for casual use.
Secondly, I don't believe that Sunset never ever learned any healing magic, even for her own safety. In fact, how can she can call herself archimage when only things she can use are tp, shield and laser blasts with utility spells?