Pyrrha to the Rescue

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Yep, you were going to die. The ground was looking really hard as you plummeted toward it.

Thump!

You were jerked out of midair and found yourself slammed against a tree. It hurt, sure, but a lot less than becoming a bloody mess on the ground. You were really beginning to rethink your decision to come here with no training. Now you were hanging by a red and gold spear against a tree. Well, someone was nice enough to help out.

“Thank you!” You called out to your benefactor.

“I’m sorry!” Came a familiar voice.

“Same old Pyrrha,” You muttered. “So nice. Now… Hmm, I can’t get down. Guess I wait.”

A minute later, Pyrrha waved up to you.

“Hi, Jaune!” She said, smiling. “Are you okay?”

“Just hanging around.” You replied.

There was a laugh far in the distance and you were sure that it sounded like Yang.

“Do you have any spots left on your team?” Pyrrha asked, still smiling.

“It’s your lucky day,” You tell her, trying to act confident even in your current position. “As of now, there is a spot on Team Jaune for a beautiful Red Head.” As you looked down, you got a perfect view down Pyrrha’s cleavage. Silver lining in everything. Finally, she let you down and you brushed yourself off, trying to act cool.

It must have worked, because she seemed happy.

“Shall we get going?” Pyrrha asked at last.

“Heh, yeah. Might as well.”

The two of you walked through the woods toward the north to find those ruins. Looking around, you didn’t see any Grimm, but knew they had to be close. There was an occasional explosion or gun shot in the distance. Still, you kept pushing through the underbrush as there was no paths for you to take.

“Did you here that?” You asked nervously, hearing some explosions drawing closer.

“Gunfire.” Pyrrha tensed up slightly. “It seems our comrades have encountered the enemy.” She pushed a branch out of the way and it flew back and smacked you in the face.

“Ow!” You fell back and rubbed your cheek, were a gash formed.

“Sorry!” Pyrrha cried out, turning around alarm.

“It’s just a scratch,” You assured her. “Nothing major.”

“Why didn’t you activate your Aura?” Pyrrha asked you concerned.

“Huh?” What was Aura?

“Your Aura,” she repeated and then stared at you. “You… do know what Aura is, right?”

“O-of course I do!” No you didn’t, but time to use you bluff skill. “Do you know what Aura is?” There, perfect plan and no one will suspect anything.

“Aura is the manifestation of our souls. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt like you were being watched without knowing someone was there? With practice, our aura can be out shield. Everyone has it, even animals.”

“Even Grimm?” You asked.

“No, they lack a soul.” Pyrrha told you. “We bare our souls as a **** that can deflect harm to us.”

“Like a **** field!” You realized excitedly. That sounded awesome.

“Yes, if you wanted to look at it like that.” Pyrrha stepped close to you, her face only a few inches away and you froze up as you stared into her emerald eyes. A hand of hers was pressed against your cheek. “Close your eyes and concentrate. For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by ****, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.”

Your body started to glow as warmth spread through. The your felt amazing. Like you could run a marathon, jump over buildings, everything. The cut on your cheek healed up and the pain was gone. Then you noticed she was kneeling over slightly.

“Pyrrha?” Did doing this to you hurt her?

“I’m fine,” Pyrrha assured you. “I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy you have no is your own. And you have a lot of it.”

“Wow… thanks Pyrrha.” You gave her a quick hug out of reflex and she stiffen up slightly before relaxing. It was almost like she wasn’t used to this. You quickly let go and thought she seemed almost disappointed, though you were probably just imagining things. “You saved my butt, not once, but twice.”

“It was my pleasure, Jaune.” She told you and then turned. “We should… probably get going.”

“Yeah.”

The two of you eventually came across a cave and stood outside, debating if you should go in. Ozpin said you were looking for some ruins, but never mentioned what they looked like. After a short debate, they decided to look. It felt like Pyrrha was humoring you, but she didn’t seem the type to do so. You make a torch and lit up the darkness, hopefully impressing her. They walked a bit of the way in before Pyrrha spoke up.

“I’m not sure about this.”

“Humor me. I already made the torch.”

You tripped and the torch went out. However, without the light, you noticed something glowing ahead of you. That had to be it! You stood up and moved toward it. Reaching out, you noticed it was pretty big…

… and seemed to be moving.

“Run!” Pyrrha yelled and you just obeyed without thinking. The two of you ran out of the cave without a second to spare.

The entrance to the cave exploded as a large scorpion looking Grimm burst out of the rock. White armor covered its large black body. It was easily the size of a bus and had a dangerous looking tail with a gold stinger on it. It was a **** Stalker, a large and old one. Pyrrha raised her shield and drew her weapon, while you did the same.

It charged at you two and both of you dodged to the sides. Trees were crushed from the beast’s size and power.

“This is bad.” Pyrrha told you, looking nervous.

“Run?” You suggested.

“It’s just going to follow us and it’s bigger and faster.” Pyrrha replied. “Its armor is nearly indestructible, but we might be able to cripple it if we hit the joints.” The **** Stalker turned around and clicked it’s giant pincers that were nearly the size of them menacingly.

“Look out!” Instinct warned you and you raised your shield. The pincer hit the metal and the vibration ran through your arms. It felt like being hit by a truck and you were pushed back. Amazingly, you were still standing and not dead. This Aura was insane! Pyrrha had it too, so you were thinking you had a good shot at killing this thing.

How we fool ourselves.

Pyrrha jumped and her sword formed a spear. The tip was jabbed between the Grimm’s armor plating, but the blow wasn’t deep enough to do any real damage and she was **** to retreat from the tail jabbing at her. The Grimm turned slightly and you thought you had an opportunity, raising your sword, you attacked the pincer.

The blade clanged against the armor, you just missed the joint, and bounced off.

The Grimm brushed its pincer like it was sweeping a gnat out of the air. Your sword and shield went flying as you lost your grip. Then the monster ran toward Pyrrha, cornering her against the rocks. You looked around and saw your sword was off in the distance. It had gone flying. Grabbing at your pockets, you desperately searched for anything that could save your friend and partner.

All you had was a marker.

A MARKER!

You forgot about it after being thrown from a cliff. They had no chance to defeat this large Grimm on their own, but maybe there was a better way. There were a lot of unknowns though. Did the marker actually work on Grimm? Would it obey you? Could you get it on a place where the Grimm could see it?

A bullet firing from Pyrrha’s weapon jolted you to your senses.

“Leave her alone!” You yelled, and ran forward, jumping on the right most pincer, holding on to dear life.

“JAUNE!” Pyrrha yelled, ducking under the other one. “Get away!”

“No way I’m letting my partner die!” You yelled back and did the riskiest part of your attempt. Letting go of the claw with one hand. You were now holding on for dear life with your legs and one arm. Scribbling down your name was a challenge and you hoped it was legible enough.

You just finished when you felt yourself fly off from the **** of the Grimm’s thrashing.

You went flying and hit a tree. Aura absorbed the impact, but it still hurt a lot. The **** Stalker moved towards you, pincers clicking. You gulped as you saw Pyrrha running toward you. What happened next caused you both to freeze up.

The **** Stalker sort of lowered itself in front of you, stopped moving, and waited.

One of its eyes were looking at its pincer.

It… WORKED!”

The marker really does work on everything!

“Jaune… what did you do?” Pyrrha asked, poking the Grimm and having it not react.

“Er… this?” You pointed to your name on the claw. Pyrrha stared at it and then looked back to you.

“You own a Grimm?” She asked confused. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Most people don’t like seeing a Grimm, even one I own?” That sounded plausible, right?

“It is kind of… unusual, but your name is on it.” Pyrrha put her weapons away. “What are you going to do with it?”

“This.” You climbed up on its back and stretched out a moment before patting the spot behind you. “Coming?”

“We’re going to ride it?” Pyrrha gaped at you.

“Why not? It’s mine?” You were finally getting used to the marker’s power. After initiation, you were going to explore its power in depth. “Come on. Think of it as our own transport with power grip capabilities.” You gestured to its pincers.

That got a giggle from her.

“Alright, but don’t forget your weapon.”

“Ozpin!” Glynda cried out, as the two of them monitored the participants. “Look at this.”

Ozpin sipped his hot chocolate as he was passed her tablet. His eyes widened as the screen showed Pyrrha and Jaune riding a **** Stalker toward the relics. It wasn’t a typical jump on the Grimm’s back and **** it to run forward. It actually seemed to be protecting them from other Grimm. A Beowolf, a typical black wolf on two legs, was torn in half by its pincers.

“Monitor them,” Ozpin ordered. “We need to find out how they did this.”

The cameras weren’t strong enough to pick up the name written on the Grimm.