Broken
Remnantian Year 875
Where did Pyrrha’s life truly begin? A question she often asked herself during her low points, which seemed to only grow more frequent. Was it the day she was born? Was it from her first memory onwards, a simple memory of playing in the snow with her mother as a small child? Perhaps it was when they had received the news of their mother’s illness. But if Pyrrha was being truthful, her life had always felt like it had begun the day her mother died on her eighth birthday.
So when asked to explain her motivation and reason for pushing herself so far to her teammates, she knew she’d have to begin there. But how could she, without condemning her father, her only family left?
“The invincible girl. What a joke,” Pyrrha scowled to herself in front of the mirror of the bathroom shortly after she had been allowed to go back to her dorm. She had immediately retreated to the bathroom to avoid her teammates asking questions immediately, “I feel more shattered than invincible.”
Soon though, fears pushed down enough to talk, Pyrrha found herself sitting on her bed, beginning to weave her tale to her friends.
“I guess you could say that I’ve always been pushing myself too hard. I started training at eight after my mother died and I used that to just keep pushing myself further. I often forget how to regulate myself though,” Pyrrha began and Ruby frowned at this, the familiarity landing sharply on her tongue, her ears twitching as if something was wrong though.
“She’s lying. Her heartbeat is irregular and she's not nervous right now. But about what?” Ruby wondered to herself as Pyrrha continued.
“My father usually kept me in check and made sure I took breaks. I’ve been getting better with self regulation in recent years but it’s still an uphill battle to always remember, I’ve only myself to blame,” Pyrrha spoke calmly and Ruby’s frown just deepened at this. When she was younger, she’d blame herself for a lot of events outside of her control as well. Penny and Yang helped her work through that but what Pyrrha was saying… It reminded her too much of herself. Before Ruby could speak up though, Weiss did it herself.
“Pyrrha, just the day before you were sent to the nurse, I had tried to discuss this overtraining with you. Your face in that moment told me that you think it hurts to talk about, or think about. Just now, you had that same expression on your face as soon as you brought up your father. The same that I bare. I’ll… make it no secret that Jacques Schnee is a horrible man and father,” Weiss hesitantly admitted but shook her head, still continuing, “But when you brought up your father just then, you had the same look in your eyes that me and my sister have had.”
“I… Wh…” Pyrrha stumbled over her words and looked away, tears in her eyes, “At least your mother is still alive. I know the stories of the Schnee family. Your mother may be an alcoholic but she’s still alive. My father is all I have left… I… I can’t… he’s all I have left of a family…”
“Blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,” Jaune spoke, a subdued tone evident in his voice, “It’s a phrase my sister Saphron taught me as a kid. Just because you’re related to him doesn’t make him entitled to your care, your love. I know we’re still struggling as a team. Hell I’m pretty sure we rank dead last in the teamwork department and that’s against Cardin being a leader. But… we’re working through it right now, aren’t we? Cause even if we’re starting off a bit iffy compared to other teams, what with Ruby and Weiss’s tension, to your overtraining, to my lack of training requiring me to have more lessons. Even with all this against us, look at us right now. Sitting down, talking through these issues. Sure things won’t improve overnight, but I’ve got a feeling that our struggles will make us the best team Beacon has ever put together.”
“I… Jaune, how the hell are you failing in public speaking class again?” Weiss blinked, a laugh almost coming out from her throat at this, as Jaune let out a sound of disagreement at this, “But he’s right Pyrrha. Please, just… tell us the truth. And if you don’t want to tell us, fine. We won’t force this.”
“You want to know? You want to know why?!” Pyrrha all but screamed out, tears flooding down her face, “Why I became the invincible girl?! Because if I wasn’t the best, I’d have to endure more of his training. Training he started not even a week after my mother’s death. So if everyone saw me as invincible maybe I could finally be free of him. But I wasn’t! I was dragged into commercials, advertisements, everything, to make more money for him. I push myself because I want a way to be away from him permanently.”
“Ok so who’s down to kill a man today?” Ruby tried to joke, but she looked very out of it, heart not into joking at the moment, “But Pyrrha, we’re here for you. You don’t need to be the invincible girl around us. You can just be… you.”
“That’s the problem Ruby! I don’t even know who I am! Worry about yourselves, not me! Ruby, you’re way too anxious and overly sensitive about everything, Weiss is too damned arrogant, and Jaune shouldn’t even be here if he didn’t train before coming here!” Pyrrha slammed her fist into the wall, her aura flickering slightly as a crack grew from where she had punched and Pyrrha stormed out of the room, intent on ending the conversation there. Ruby went to stand, but Weiss held her back.
“Let her go for now. Give her some space.” Weiss advised and Ruby slumped back as Jaune just stuck his hands into his hoodie’s pockets and shook his head.
“I have some work to do in the library. I… just need to think right now,” Jaune went to leave and Ruby whimpered at this, her wolf ears pressing down into her head.
“Jaune…” Ruby whined out as Weiss sighed and put a hand on her team leader’s head in an attempt to comfort her.
“I think Pyrrha was just overwhelmed. She was probably going into this talk expecting to keep things buried and quiet. And when we saw through that, of course she lashed out. My sister, Winter, reacted the same when I first talked to her about our family problems openly. It’s a defense mechanism.” Weiss explained and Ruby’s shoulders slumped and she trudged over to the window.
“Weiss, can I be left alone for now?” Ruby asked quietly and all Weiss could do was nod, knowing Ruby could not see her, and made her way out of the dorm room and into the hallway, words swirling in her own head.
“Am I arrogant?” Weiss thought to herself as she began a small walk around the campus, hoping the fresh air would help her hurricane of thoughts, “No, that’s not the question. I have been arrogant. Wanting to be a leader. Seeing myself above Ruby for my grades and family name, hell even if I’ve grown used to some faunus because of being around Ruby and knowing she isn’t White Fang and wanting to kill me, I saw myself as better than most faunus for years. I never questioned why they wanted me dead. All because of my name. I’ve become an arrogant and rich bastard because of Jacques Schnee. I need… I need some perspective.”
As Weiss debated her own mind, she began to make her way to the Beacon shipyard, where flying vehicles would transport students between the city of Vale and Beacon itself. Weiss got aboard one and sat down on a seat as it began to make its way down to the city, not uttering a single word, even as a black haired, bow wearing girl looked at her in confusion.
“Rubes? Ruby are you in there?” Yang knocked on the door of her sister’s room, concerned from not having seen her sister nor her sister’s teammates since after classes. She knew something had to be wrong for Ruby to avoid her without a word. As the silence kept echoing through the halls, filling Yang’s lungs with worries. Just as Yang almost began to do something that she knew her family would say was rash, the door opened a smidgen and Yang burst through into the room to find it in complete darkness and Yang immediately understood what was happening. Ruby had been upset by something and as her sister, it was up to Yang to help her through this. Yang quickly took a deep breath and looked through the room and saw a small clump of her sister huddled into a chair next to the closed window and Yang sat on the bed next to her and sighed.
“What’s the matter, Rubes? Didn’t see you at dinner tonight. Something happen?” Yang asked quietly, careful to not speak too loudly to upset her further.
“Mmmn…” Ruby shook her head, her ears still down on her head in sadness. Yang took a small breath before continuing.
“Was it something with Penny?” Yang began to ask and Ruby shook her head negatively and Yang nodded as she continued, “Team problems then. Weiss again?”
“Mmmm Pyrrha like me… blame self,” Ruby muttered out, unable to speak fully as her voice kept hitching, suddenly stopping at the end, “She… I… her mom… dead… yell… upset… I… mama… need mama… ma…”
“Oh this is really bad if she’s in this state again. She said Pyrrha is like her, blaming herself for her mistakes I guess, and her mom is also dead. Then she lashed out, like Uncle Qrow does when way too drunk. Maidens damnit! The only thing that helps Ruby like this is Zwei or her bird plush. Both those are in Patch. Fuck it, I’m going to get Qrow to help. I don’t know what to do here.” Yang deduced quickly to herself and bit her lip as she fished out her scroll from her pocket and looked down at the contacts list and her eyes lingered over the number Qrow had once put into her phone. Said it was only for emergencies. An upset Ruby was an emergency to her. So she clicked it and heard a voice that made her want to strangle her uncle.
“Yang? What’s wrong? Are you in danger? Where are you?” The slightly panicked voice of Raven came from the scroll and nearby Ruby seemed to relax as she recognized the voice. Yang just growled quietly.
“Hey mom. I’m going to strangle Qrow and you as well later for keeping your number an ‘only emergency’ call, but right now I need you to use one of your damned portals and come comfort my sister, like a mother should!” Yang snarled out and Raven just sighed.
“Yang, I…” Raven began but Yang quickly cut her off.
“You can’t. Can’t be a good mother. Can’t even stick around to help raise Ruby. Probably too busy with being a fucking huntress to care. But Ruby needs you right this second and I don’t give a fuck if…” Yang was about to continue when suddenly a red and purplish portal appeared in the room and into the room stepped the raven haired, sword wielding mother of Ruby and Yang, Raven.
“You get your temper from Tai, you know that,” Raven rolled her eyes at her older daughter but her attention was immediately elsewhere as Ruby clung to her leg and began sobbing.
“Mama. Please stay mama. Don’t go with Ma,” Ruby cried and whined as Raven’s harsh red eyes faded away to a calm purple and the mother reached down and easily picked up her child.
“Yang, we’ll sit down and talk about my whole… whatever later, with Qrow and Tai. I was gonna do some information gathering tonight, but you said Ruby needed me, so what’s the issue at this moment?” Raven asked her daughter calmly as she sat down on a bed and gently placed her wolf daughter on her lap, gently petting her head, as her avian daughter sighed and let her own eyes turn back from a raging fire of red to a calm sea of purple.
“I’m not 100% sure, but as far as I can tell…” Yang began to explain the situation once more to Raven as Raven silently thought to herself.
“Sorry Junior. Seems my family called me back sooner than I thought. I’ll try to get those documents soon, they’ll still be there,” Raven internally apologized before she refocused herself on the reality around her, internally glad to finally be able to see her daughter up close once again.
“Jaune,” Velvet put a hand on her junior’s shoulder as he dropped his sword to the ground after the sun had begun to set, with Velvet having found the boy practicing in his usual location, but with tears streaming down his face, “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Pyrrha?”
“Nothing,” Jaune bent down to grab his sword, but was stopped as Velvet grabbed the sword instead and threw it far away from them, leaving it to clatter against a tree.
“V… fine. We tried to talk to Pyrrha. Things were going well. Well as well as things can go when discussing trauma I guess, but then Pyrrha snapped at us and stormed off,” Jaune explained, eyes darting away from Velvet’s piercing gaze.
“She said something about you, didn’t she?” Velvet asked quietly and Jaune slumped to the ground and gave a shaky nod.
“She called me out on not training before Beacon. I’ve been trying and trying as much as I can, but I still feel so far behind my team. Hell, I still haven’t even discovered my semblance yet. I’m always messing up in combat class despite your tutoring. At this point, I’m sure I’ll get expelled sooner or later,” Jaune admitted and Velvet sat down, her back to Jaune as she put her hand on his.
“Hey, remember, I also didn’t have much training, or my aura either. My semblance took a while too. I had those own worries myself. But you know what got me through all that?” Velvet prodded and Jaune shook his head and Velvet looked up at the sky as it painted itself an orange and purple color from the setting sun, “Coco. Even when I was at my lowest, and believe me when I saw it was my lowest point, I knew I couldn’t give up because I had Coco at my back. You’re not alone Jaune, there’s people who believe in you. Ruby, Weiss, me, Coco, Team BRNY, Oz, and Professor Goodwitch. And I’m sure Pyrrha does too, people just lash out sometimes. It’ll probably be better soon. Before you get down about your position in your team, Ruby may be the leader of your team, Weiss might have the smarts, and Pyrrha the strength, but you have something that is far more important.”
“What’s that?” Jaune asked hesitantly and Velvet just smiled brightly.
“The drive to improve. Motivation for both yourself to get better and to drive your teammates to both help you and themselves. And despite all the setbacks you’ve faced, from a lack of training, to a late aura awakening, and as of yet no semblance, you haven’t given up. Your first reaction to hearing someone say you weren’t as good was to practice more. I have a feeling you’ll be one of the best huntsmen out there.” Velvet assured him, her hand gently squeezing his as they continued to sit, back to back. After a few moments of silence, Jaune sniffed and gave a small nod.
“Yeah I’m not giving up. And I’m not giving up on helping my team either,” Jaune affirmed, standing up on shaking legs as he blinked away his tears, “Thanks Vel, for believing in me and being my friend.”
“Anytime,” Velvet brushed herself off as she stood up and gently pet her bunny ears, getting some dirt off of them, “Now, you should probably get talking to your team. Pretty sure I saw Pyrrha near the docks before I saw you here.”
“Gotcha. Meet you for tutoring soon, also I do owe you a win against Cardin. I’ll make sure it’s memorable,” Jaune gave a wide smile before he quickly retrieved his sword, sheathing it, and then running towards the docks of Beacon. As soon as he was out of sight, a fashionista wearing sunglasses stepped out from behind the trees.
“Hey Coco,” Velvet smiled even more brightly as she jumped into the other girl’s arms, who easily caught her and swung her around, “You were listening the whole time, huh?”
“You know, if you weren’t such a raging lesbian, I’d have assumed you had a small thing for Jauney boy,” Coco teased as she set the bunny faunus back down on the ground. At this, Velvet just blushed.
“You know I can’t help but blush from all your teasing. That does not make me a raging lesbian,” Velvet pouted and Coco rolled her eyes and lowered her sunglasses.
“Oh? Guess the brat is out today,” Coco smirked with a playful tone and winked at her, “Saying I’m wrong and all. Oh well, I suppose I’m also wrong to say you’re all mine.”
“Eep!” Velvet squeaked and buried her face into Coco’s shoulder, “N… not in public.”
“I suppose we’ll just have to take this to our room then. Don’t you agree?” Coco suggested with a suggestive raise of her eyebrow and if at all possible, Velvet’s blush deepened.
“Mhmm.” Velvet nodded as she removed her face from Coco’s shoulder.
“Good girl,” Coco drawled out and smiled as Velvet squealed even more from this and Coco laughed slightly, “Not a raging lesbian then, a useless one.”
“You’re the raging one then,” Velvet muttered as the two began making their way to their dorms and Coco shrugged.
“True. I even managed to snag the perfect girl as well,” Coco complimented and Velvet began stuttering as they grew closer to their dorms, ready to be out of the public eye for the rest of the night. And if Yatsuhashi and Fox had to sleep in a different dorm for the night, well Velvet didn’t complain.
Pyrrha didn’t really think where she was going when she left her dorm. All she could think of was to get away. Run. She needed to run away. This led Pyrrha to finding herself in the city of Vale, in a darkened alleyway. Pyrrha felt herself exhale tiredly as she looked up and saw the dark sky hang overhead. It seemed she had been out of it for a while.
“Wh… what time is it?” Pyrrha muttered out, trying to regain her senses. Last she recalled from before that… talk… it had been before sunset. Pyrrha cautiously stood up, shaking legs leaving her to use the brick walls around her as support.
“I should probably stay away. My team probably hates me now,” Pyrrha internally scowled to herself, regretting what she had said not too long ago.
“Ah, it seems miss redhead is back with us. You seemed out of it, you’re lucky we’re in the city or the grimm would have come after your negativity alone,” A nearby voice drawls in a bored tone and Pyrrha blinks and shakes her head and suddenly she spots a green haired and dark skinned girl leaning against a nearby dumpster.
“S… sorry,” Pyrrha stuttered an apology but the other girl just snorted in response.
“Girl who’s so out of it, she doesn’t notice me trying to talk to her for an hour is apologizing? Must be my lucky day,” The girl sarcastically retorts and Pyrrha looked away in shame and the girl sighs, “Well you seem like you need a pick-me-up. C’mon, I know a good taco shop that’s open late. That alright with you?”
“I uh… sure. I don’t even know how long I’ve been gone. I definitely missed dinner. But… what’s your name?” Pyrrha hesitantly accepted as she began to walk towards the girl and she just smiled with a dark glint in her eyes.
“Name’s Emerald. And I think we’re gonna be good friends,” Emerald introduced herself and Pyrrha nodded, glad to have someone to talk to at the moment that did not probably hate her now. Emerald seemed trustworthy, or at least as trustworthy as someone you met in an alleyway could be.