Chapter 12

When the morning came, it was with a nightmare at its head. Pyrrha had worked herself to exhaustion last night, passing out on the carpet after she'd paused to take a rest. The sensations that never seemed to leave her returned in full. Clawing at her body, burning at the insides, until hands shaking her brought her back to the light.

"Pyrrha!" It was Ruby, concerned eyes looking down at her. She was still dressed in the clothes she'd worn for training the night before, only Weiss and Jaune having managed the energy to change into their pyjamas. "Are you okay? You were moaning."

In her dreams she'd been screaming, but it seemed she'd been too exhausted for them to truly manifest. "It's okay Ruby, I'm fine."

She didn't believe her, and Pyrrha looked to see the same expressions on her other companions. Jaune and Weiss looked at her worried, though only Weiss opened her mouth to speak.

"Pyrrha, you're- you... you're going to be late for class." Cowardice stole away her question of concern, but Pyrrha seized on the distraction regardless. Looking at the time, she could see they indeed were late, every one of them had been so tired they'd slept through any alarms they had set.

"Right, um... Weiss, you take the en-suite. Jaune, Ruby, and I will hit the communal showers."

The communal showers at Beacon weren't popular, privacy being a luxury the students were craving when so many were living away from home for the first time, but they were a necessity. Each room had an en-suite bathroom but, save for couples or those who were very comfortable with each other, they could only be used one at a time. Whenever people were running late, suddenly that limitation became very disruptive.

"Why does Weiss get the shower!" Ruby crossed her arms with a pout, glaring at the heiress who glared back.

"She has more hair, let's go." Pyrrha had hair arguably just as long, but it would have been bad form for the team leader to hog the bathroom to herself. Grabbing a handful of clothes, the three of them hurried out and raced for the showers, going in separately from Jaune.

The communal showers were full of plenty others, all rushing as many were late for their first class. Pyrrha passed by Yang who was wearing the biggest hair cap she'd ever seen, and immediately started joking with her sister, instead grabbing the first free stall to begin. The streams of water from the shower head masked the tears that Pyrrha let go. There was less this time. Few times now had Pyrrha been sleeping without her tablets, but each time she woke the pain was a little different. Terrifying, agonizing, yet still... different.

She felt numb sometimes. Exhausted in ways beyond just the physical and mental. It was a tiredness that would never go away, but the water provided some relief, and she hoped the classroom would give her some distraction.

_/\_TIG_/\_

"Monsters! Deeeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey. Ha ha."

Pyrrha flipped open her notebook and immediately began to ignore Professor Ports words. She couldn't remember everything that had been on the exam or her homework, but she remembered enough that she felt confident in skipping the initial steps.

Instead, she set herself to work on the first hurdle. Whether she liked it or not, Ozpin had said he couldn't act to arrest Cinder without proof. So that was what she needed to get. From what she recalled of Team RWBY's adventures, Cinder Fall hadn't been present herself until the attack on Beacon itself, aside from rescuing Torchwick at the dust robbery. So there was little chance to catch her in the act on any activities that she knew about.

As a teenager, Pyrrha was naturally experienced at pretending to take notes as she used her scroll instead, searching news articles for details about Torchwicks robberies. He had hit more between now and the docks, but Pyrrha's memory failed on any specifics, and when. The police were already looking to increase security around the city, so no doubt they'd already had measures in place that the thief had foiled.

It was probably part of why Torchwick had hit the docks in the first place. The dust stores in the city were drying up inventory, and drawing more police focus, so he'd pivoted to the docks. He must have been trying to complete one big score and close out everything he'd needed. Enough dust for an explosive train, one that could lure the Grimm directly into the heart of the city.

Ruby had literally fallen into the White Fang plot, so it was obvious they'd had to spring the attack early. With a few more days of waiting, the Beacon teams would have been fully dispatched on training missions with their Huntsman escorts, severely depleting Vale's security. Atlas would still be on the scene, but the virus had already been implemented then, installed during the night of the dance.

Pyrrha paused.

The night of the dance. A night where she'd been alone, until Jaune had approached her in that dress. A promise was a promise, and a night spent with him had been magical. Not that she'd had the guts to take it anywhere. Her eyes flicked over to him, a clear mild panic on his face as he struggled to follow along with the lecture. Forged transcripts, and not enough preparation. Jaune was woefully unprepared for what was coming. She'd known he was inexperienced, but she'd thought there would be time, that he would have four years to catch up.

No.

Everyone's abilities would have to progress much faster. Last night was a start, but more would be needed. Daily training on a level none of them had ever experienced. Enhancing their strength, their semblance's, and changing their mindset. None of them had the killer edge that was going to be needed.

She looked again to Jaune, remembering all the times he'd made her smile. Jaune was not someone with a killer instinct. He was good, he was kind, he was the biggest dork she'd ever met. Her finger tapped at the page anxiously. Teaching Jaune and the others to be what they needed, versus her desire to claim the goofball she knew and loved? Getting both would be hard, but Pyrrha had never been the quitting type.

She briefly considered writing a note, but when her eyes glimpsed the page she saw what she had been writing about before. Cinder Fall... Something akin to guilt gnawed at her. She was getting distracted, unable to focus on her plans to stop Cinder whilst also thinking about how best to make Jaune actually notice her. She sighed and rubbed her head into her hands.

"Do you have something to add Miss Nikos?"

Her head raised, suddenly noticing how the entire rooms attention had shifted towards her.

"Um... No? Sorry..."

She shrank in slightly until Port returned to his lecture. Pyrrha certainly hadn't been the only one not paying attention, but they'd all been aware enough at least to not make noise. She sighed mentally this time, and turned the page of her paper. The longer she sat and thought about it, the harder it would be to act. So she chose the first plan she could think of, and acted, scribbling down a few words then tearing out the sheet.

Balling it up, she waited for just the right moment where she was sure the professor wasn't going to see, then she threw it.

Jaune was only sat one row in front and a few desks across, so it wasn't hard to aim, though she was still proud when it landed softly on his desk. It startled him, and he briefly looked around before noticing her. She gave a soft smile and a wave before motioning him to read it.

He unfurled the crumpled ball and read it, looking surprisingly confused as he took in the words YOUR OUTFIT LOOKS VERY CUTE. He looked back at her to confirm, to which she nodded, and he began to write a reply.

His throw back to her was a little sloppier, landing on the desk of the girl next to her instead of Pyrrha's. The girl took one look at the ball, then to Pyrrha, and passed it along without any desire to be involved in note sharing. Pyrrha took the ball and unravelled it like a birthday present, only to slump slightly at reading its contents.

MY SCHOOL UNIFORM?

Pyrrha only barely managed to restrain herself from faceplanting into the desk in embarrassment.

Great plan Pyrrha, way to put that first foot forwards and trip yourself up immediately. Perhaps upon reflection, she should have taken more than a few moments to think of something before acting on it. She was already getting tired of putting her foot in her mouth as a failure of a flirt.

So instead she took a breath, thought for a moment, and wrote a response.

IT SUITS YOU WELL

When Jaune read the note this time, he did respond a bit quicker.

IT'S MY SIZE

The complete lack of anything to work with had Pyrrha's eyes rolling into the back of her skull. How could flirting be this hard, seriously? Weiss hadn't said anything nice to Jaune in all of Beacon and he'd been head over heels for her. Maybe Pyrrha needed to start wearing a white dress...

A piece of paper smacked against Pyrrha's head.

WHAT ARE YOU CHATTING ABOUT?

It was from Ruby, who was looking at them with the kind of cheeky smile that Pyrrha imagined younger siblings just innately had.

NOTHING IMPORTANT

She threw it just as another piece landed on her desk.

YOU SHOULD STOP THROWING PAPERS. THE TEACHER WILL SEE.

Of course, it was Weiss who had thrown that one. Pyrrha began to write out a response, crumpling the ball before another landed on her desk.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

Jaune again. Pyrrha scrambled to write a message back, deciding to adopt a far bolder approach. She crumpled, waited for the right opportunity, and then got hit in the head by another ball of paper.

WEISS SEEMS ANGRY

It was Ruby again. Quickly, Pyrrha hurled off the two paper balls she'd prepared before writing another for Ruby.

SHE'S MAD A LOT, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.

When Ruby got the message, she suppressed a giggle and Pyrrha turned back to Jaune with a smile. Only to see him... frown. A mild panic surged through Pyrrha, and she turned to see Weiss with a mild blush.

Oh no.

She'd switched the messages.

What she had meant to say to Jaune was to tell him more clearly how good he looked in his school uniform, and to tell Weiss to stop sending messages. Except instead she'd told Jaune to shut up, and Weiss... The blush on Weiss' face hadn't disappeared, but the girl was pointedly looking anywhere but at her.

This time, Pyrrha didn't stop herself when she felt the urge to slam her forehead into the desk.

"Miss Nikos, were you trying to volunteer?"

"Yes! Absolutely!" Anything but sitting with the thoughts of her failure.

_/\_TIG_/\_

By the time lunch rolled around, Weiss had already cornered her to talk about the note. One awkward "I am flattered but not interested that way" followed by an even more awkward "it wasn't meant for you" left the two back on speaking terms, even if the awkwardness wasn't fully gone. Weiss was firmly not willing to pry into who she might have been interested in, and Pyrrha was more than happy to try and move on. As they sat in the lunchroom, Pyrrha decided to address the other elephant in the room.

"We need to really improve ourselves."

Ruby slumped and moaned, Jaune grimaced, and even Weiss looked saddened.

"I know you said so last night Pyrrha but that was so hard. My muscles are still sore in places I didn't even know I had them." Ruby dangled her arms in the air. "Look at me! I'm all bones and even they hurt."

"Loathe as I am to agree with Ruby-" Weiss pointedly ignored the way Ruby stuck her tongue out at her, "but she'd right. Last night was torture, and I don't think I can do that again any time soon."

Pyrrha bit back her sigh. "Okay, we'll mix things up. Training our bodies, and then team coordination."

"That's still exercise." Ruby moaned, slumping from pre-emptive exhaustion.

"What about our homework?" Weiss asked. "We're going to need time to review our lessons, and then our pre-study, plus exam preparation and reviewing the notes from other teams."

"It's the same notes from the same class." Ruby side-eyed Weiss. "And why would we need to start exam preparation, we've only just had our first class?"

"Exactly, we're already behind!" In unison, Ruby and Pyrrha rolled their eyes at Weiss' complaints. Jaune at least had the grace to pretend as though he understood Weiss' argument for the sake of their partnership.

"Okay how about this. Everyone lists off something they need us all to be doing. Ruby, you go first."

"Um… weapon maintenance? Crescent Rose needs a lot of delicate care with all her moving pieces, and the other day I found a scratch on one of her internal screws! Oh my poor baby…" Ruby cried theatrically, but none disagreed. All of them, arguably save for Jaune, had weapons which would require intensive and regular maintenance.

Pyrrha wrote down on the list. "Okay. We've got exercise, upper and lower body strength, speed, and stamina. Weapon maintenance. Weiss, homework?"

"Homework."

"Homework." Pyrrha added it, though with full intention of finding a way to skip as much of it as possible. "Jaune?"

He considered. This was where she could see the team leader she had known, the surprising intelligence in how he considered all the different team requirements. "I guess rest time? We need to make sure that we aren't overexerting ourselves mentally or physically, and socialising with other teams as well."

"Ooh! Yang and I can do sleepover movie nights again!"

"And I could look through the study notes of other teams!"

Of course it was typical that Weiss and Ruby were on complete opposite ends of their priorities, but at least they were agreeing for once. Honestly, Pyrrha remembered their rivalry being bad, but she'd had the benefit of several walls between them for the worst of it. Not to mention, Ruby had been trying to bridge a gap between them, but this time there was no such luck. While Pyrrha couldn't blame her for feeling that way, but Ruby had completely given up on the idea of trying to meet Weiss halfway, and could be just as snipey to Weiss as the other way around. Fitting, she supposed, given Ruby's weapon.

For Pyrrha herself, this would also prove opportune. She could use this time to get closer to Jaune, or have her meetings with Ozpin, or just take her own time apart from the others when she needed to focus on her plans.

"Okay, sounds good to me. Ruby, can you speak to your sister, and we'll see about setting up a weekly catchup night?"

Ruby nodded as a bell rang, and they all began to rise for the second half of their classes. There would be more work to do, but Pyrrha was happy to have at least started making progress, and eagerly made her way to combat class.

_/\_TIG_/\_

This… was not what Pyrrha had expected. The sheet of paper in front of her was a familiar one, a questionnaire on their knowledge of physiology, Grimm weaknesses to specific types of weapons, and more. To the surprise of many uninitiated, combat class did actually have a theoretical component, albeit a much smaller one than the practical, and this sheet was a direct copy of the one they normally completed several weeks into the semester and then repeated as a refresher, it was never normally given to them at the start.

Still, Pyrrha blitzed her way through it from memory, then sat waiting for the rest of the class to catch up.

"Pen's down class." Glynda used her telekinesis to quickly collect the sheets onto her desk. "Now, this questionnaire is being used to determine your knowledge level and place you into initial rankings. We will be monitoring your performance throughout each semester, where you will repeat this questionnaire several times. You should be showing a steady improvement in both your physical and mental abilities, and we will adjust your lessons accordingly should you not."

Miss Goodwitch then went on to explain her usual introduction, which was much more what Pyrrha had expected. Going through the first class was a fairly relaxing overview of how the classes would be structured, what would be taught, what was expected, how the sparring sessions would be used educationally for all, and what could be gleamed for their application to fighting Grimm. Nothing surprising.

What did come unexpectedly, was the request for Pyrrha to stay behind after class when the rest were dismissed. Even more surprisingly, was the sheet filled with red marks that was put in front of her.

"I only had time to mark your questionnaire in this class Miss Nikos, but truthfully it was the only one I intended to anyway."

"You never did this before…" Pyrrha muttered as she looked in confusion at all of the answers marked wrong. "I don't understand."

Glynda sighed. "When we had our meeting yesterday, I had fears that your priorities were going to be entirely on your… past experience, and that you would be neglecting your school work. I changed the wording on the questions in advance. Clear to anyone looking at it for the first time, but subtle enough that someone not paying attention would make the mistakes." She pointed to the big red 0 written at the top of the page. "You relied entirely on your past knowledge."

"I-" Pyrrha checked to make sure there was nobody around before she leaned in and whispered. "I've done all of this before, this doesn't matter."

"That's precisely the point Pyrrha. I know that given what happened you will be focused entirely on other matters, but I don't want that for you. I asked your other teachers to take note of what you did during classes, and every one of them has told me that you were not paying attention and focused elsewhere."

"I was… I was thinking about Torchwick. Making plans, what we can do to catch him." Pyrrha sounded naturally apologetic, but her mood soured quickly. "And that's what matters. I know all of this information already, and none of it matters if I fail again. Cinder needs to be stopped, and the first step is getting Torchwick."

Perhaps it was unwise to speak so tersely, but Glynda's expression softened. "Sit down Pyrrha." Reluctantly, she took a seat and Glynda took her friendly teacher pose, leaning on her desk with arms crossed, a soft smile on her face. "Pyrrha, you're not going to fail. Cinder is going to be stopped, and we're going to be here to help you. I understand you feel like you can't think of anything else, but I want you to. This is a second chance for you. Not just for Cinder, but for the rest of your life. Your life does not end after we have dealt with Cinder, and the things you do now are still going to matter. I don't want to see you neglecting your studies and ruining your academic chances because you've focused everything on Cinder."

She knelt down in front of Pyrrha. "And I want you to speak to someone about what you've experienced."

"What? I can't-" Words jumbled in her mind as she instinctively rejected the idea. "How could I explain any of what happened to me. Who's going to believe me?"

"I do. And if you need to, I'm here if you want to talk about it. Don't bottle this up and shut us out, we're here."

"I-… I'm fine. I'm fine…"

"Okay. Well, if ever you feel like you're not, or if you just want to talk anyway, I'm here." Glynda rose to her feet. "That's all, I won't keep you. But please, don't neglect your life because of this. There will be more than just Cinder to focus on."

Pyrrha chewed her lip, unwilling to look her in the eye as she stood up. "I'll think about it. Thank you."

Pyrrha left the room to find Ruby waiting for her, happily joining her as they walked to the next classroom. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Just a couple of questions is all."

Pyrrha changed the subject for idle chatter as they reached the next room, sitting down by Weiss and Jaune as the next lesson began.

Pyrrha pulled out her notebook and scroll, then hesitated. With a few moments of indecision, she slipped the scroll away and began to take notes, listening to the slight differences of what she remembered from the subject.