What We Call Home

Stillness and tranquility belonged to clear nights at Beacon Academy.

Nora Valkyrie adored the nights at Beacon. The moment that the sun set and the evening lamps were lit, the regulars around campus retreated into their homes, leaving nothing but serenity in the perfectly-landscaped grounds. Nighttime was the perfect opportunity to go for a walk, to see the hundreds of lights flashing and flickering off gently through the windows of the otherwise eternally-busy campus, then to come home and make a yummy snack. It was a breath of fresh air in a place that felt constantly muddied with bodies rushing in and out, searching for answers and results to whatever they were looking to find- success, skills, honour, fame, she didn't know.

Nora didn't want any of those things. Not really. When people asked her why she had chosen to train at Beacon Academy in order to become a Huntress, the orange-haired girl was never really able to answer them. She liked Beacon, yes- she cared about Team JNPR more than life itself, of course- but when it came to her own ambitions… her ambition was harder to pin down. Unlike the rest of the students, she didn't really know what she was looking for at the Academy.

And that was okay. Ren was always by her side, no matter what. Living and working together at Beacon had only strengthened her bond with him, and she wouldn't change a thing about the quiet boy.

Jaune was a sweetheart. Okay, he wasn't the smartest leader, and he wasn't the strongest, either- but there was a fire in him, and Nora knew that he'd cultivate the flame into something absolutely dazzling. She knew she wanted to be there when he finally caught ablaze.

And then, there was Pyrrha. Pyrrha, her best friend- her confidant, her partner-in-crime, her chocolate-loving buddy, her sister.

If anyone asked why Nora loved Beacon, rather than why she chose Beacon, she'd always be able to confidently quip why the oldest Huntsman Academy mattered to her. "It's where I met Pyrrha!" The redhead was a part of her family she had never thought she would ever get, and being by the redhead's side had made every little moment so much more worth it.

Pyrrha also loved the stillness and tranquility of Beacon's nights. Nora loved to titter and tease every time Pyrrha headed to the rooftop of their dormitory after sunset, because while Nora loved the campus for the change in the air, Pyrrha loved Beacon's nights simply because it meant that she would be with Jaune. Nora loved watching the two of them together- Jaune dancing obliviously around the redhead, with Pyrrha using her keen senses and sharp reflexes to promptly stick her foot in her mouth at every opportunity involving the blond. It was the most charming exchange Nora could ever ask to witness, and she was invested in seeing her two closest friends fall in love, no matter how long it took someone as dense as Jaune to realize.

Unfortunately, they didn't have as much time as Nora had thought.

With the air raid sirens blaring through the campus still, snarls of monsters ripping through the chilly air amongst the screams of fleeing civilians, and the smoke rising up from burning buildings thick enough to choke out the stars themselves, stillness and tranquility had no place there anymore.

The final civilians rounded up from all around Beacon staggered off into the airships awaiting them at the docks upon Main Avenue, the green headlights of each vessel glowing ominously- the perfect counterpart to the hundreds, if not thousands, of red, beady eyes that had stared up at them from the shadows throughout the battle. Main Avenue had been cleared of the Grimm, thankfully- but seeing the injuries afflicting everyone around them, it was hard for the warriors defending the innocents to feel triumphant that night.

Nora grimaced, collapsing onto the ground. By her side, Ren was trembling, clutching his shoulder. If it weren't for the fact that her own Aura had run out long ago, and her bruised ribs ached with a fierceness she had never experienced before, Nora would have held the boy in her arms, smoothing away the creases in his brow in a heartbeat.

But they were injured. Pyrrha and Jaune weren't back yet. Nothing was going as planned, nothing was okay-

From behind her, she heard a familiar voice announce, "That's it! Everybody on board!" The voices of frightened civilians rose as Peter Port, one of their professors at Beacon, continued authoritatively in his most stern voice, "This is a mandatory evacuation!"

Right on cue, Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck explained, "A safe zone has been established in Vale! Please, remain calm and listen to Atlas personnel!"

They made it out of Amity Colosseum. That's good.

As they spoke, guiding civilians along their way, Nora cast a desperate glance up to the figure standing before her. Weiss Schnee, the heiress with far-too-many haughty words and enough condescension to break Jaune's heart for a lifetime and more, was finally speechless as she stared at the limp figures laying in front of Nora. The orange-haired girl's pale blue eyes followed Weiss', trailing down to land upon the two broken girls curled up in front of her.

Bloody and battle-worn, Blake Belladonna wept softly, eyes transfixed on the blonde at her side. And Yang… Yang Xiao Long, one of Nora's favourite people at Beacon, with just as much fire and life as she herself, lay unconscious, right arm reduced to nothing more than a short stump staunched and bandaged to stop the bleeding. The very sight of it made Nora want to vomit.

Weiss covered her mouth in horror and disbelief as another familiar face ran towards them. Zwei, Team RWBY's little corgi mascot, barked excitedly at the newcomer. Ruby Rose gasped for air as she bolted down the lane and onto the docks, grabbing hold of Weiss' hands as the pale girl cried, "Ruby!"

The younger girl panted, "Oh, I found you!"

Weiss hissed, "Ruby, where have you-"

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Ruby interjected, still oblivious to the situation at hand. "What's going on? Weiss? What is it?"

Nora's heart broke in her already-damaged ribcage as Weiss stepped aside, letting the younger girl take in the image of her older sister and teammate lying on the ground, cold and broken. Blake shifted, reaching out the hand not staunching a wound on her waist to hold desperately onto Yang's remaining, unconscious one. "I'm sorry," the Faunus girl sobbed quietly. "I'm so sorry."

Nora swallowed, sending another wave of pain coursing through her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Yang's reaction- or, lack thereof- to Ruby's broken plea of, "Yang…"

Sun Wukong slowly approached the red-caped girl, voice uncharacteristically gentle. Nora winced, remembering just how lively he had been only half an hour before whilst they were still in the heat of battle. "Hey," he murmured to Ruby, "she's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."

That sent alarm bells screaming through Nora's mind, far louder than the sirens ever could be. "But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing," she protested. She grit her teeth, pulling herself to her feet- but she barely got to her knees before the pain became far too dizzying. She groaned, falling back down and clutching her side.

She had never run out of Aura before. It hurt. Everything hurt.

Where's Pyrrha and Jaune? Where are they?

"What!?" Ruby screeched at the news of their missing friends.

Sun spat out, "Look, guys, that giant Grimm is circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out! We all have to go, now!"

At her side, Ren gasped, "We're not... leaving!" Her heart broke yet again as he attempted to stand up too, only to fall a moment later with a weak cry.

Nora bit her lip, eyes filling up with tears. This wasn't supposed to happen. She glanced up at the Grimm Dragon Sun had pointed out, the giant creature menacingly holding a circular pattern around the campus grounds. It flew slowly, methodically- waiting for its time to strike.

Even from here, Nora could see its eyes flash red, and the wave of memories that washed over her in her weakened state was almost more than she could bear. No. I can't ask Ren to save me. I have to be strong. She grit her teeth and looked back up to Beacon Tower, Jaune and Pyrrha's last known location. I have to be ready to welcome them back.

Ruby declared brokenly, "I'll find them... I'll find them, and I'll bring them back."

Nora shared a look with Ren, a shuddering breath coursing through them both in unison. We won't lose them.

Suddenly, Weiss said, "No! We will find them." The pale girl turned to Nora and Ren, locking eyes with them meaningfully. "Watch after Blake and Yang. We'll be back." Solemnly, Nora, Ren and Sun nodded. With that, the two girls bolted back towards the school.

A disgruntled Sun yelled back, "You better be!" Turning back to his injured friends, he muttered, "Idiots." The blond Faunus boy then knelt down, scooping the sobbing Blake up in his arms. "Yo, teach!" he called towards the two Beacon professors, no longer caring for decorum. "Come help us!"

By that point, all the remaining civilians had boarded, leaving behind only the students of the Huntsmen Academies behind. Professor Port jogged over, easily lifting the still-unconscious Yang up in his arms. "Barty!" the Huntsman called, beckoning the other professor over with a jerk of his head. "Help Mr. Ren and Miss Valkyrie!"

The doctor complied immediately, but Nora pushed him away with surprising force despite her waning strength. "We have to wait for them!" she argued. "You can't make us go!"

"Miss Valkyrie," the green-haired man sighed, propping the girl up on one shoulder and helping Ren stand with the other, "I know you want to wait for your teammates. But being a team means you need to trust them to-"

"No!" Ren protested, staggering away from the man. "We can't leave!" Through his heaving breaths, Ren's eyes were frantic, terrified. "You don't understand-"

Professor Oobleck's face twisted in pure sympathy. "I know this is hard," he insisted gently, "but we must-"

"We can't leave yet," Nora squealed, forcibly extracting herself from his grip. Without his support, she fell onto her knees, wincing as the cold concrete scraped away the pale skin. She let out a shuddering breath, gagging and retching as the pain struck straight through her abdomen and threw bile into her mouth- but she rolled over despite the pain, sitting on her bottom and facing Beacon Tower. "We have to wait."

With shaking fingers, Ren tried calling their two teammates as he took a seat by her side, despite the Huntsman's objections. Neither picked up, and Nora could only clutch her side and lean against Ren and shiver.

We have to wait, she thought, glancing up at the boy.

Determined, yet terrified eyes gazed back down at her. We will, his look seemed to say.

They didn't have to wait long. Before their very eyes, all they could do was watch the Grimm Dragon, the horrifying Wyvern that had been circling the school all night, finally swoop in and destroy the clocktower and headmaster's office at the top of Beacon Tower. It shot a blast of energy and darkness towards the CCTS antennae, the massive structures falling helplessly to the ground below. And soon, even from that distance, they could see the light of the moon reflecting off of glints of gold and raging fire at the crumbling summit of the tower.

"Pyrrha," Nora breathed. She'd recognize that gold anywhere. She's okay.

A dark shape shot up the side of the CCTS tower, silhouetted by the moon. "It's Ruby," Ren muttered.

And then, just as the dark shape reached the apex, a flame so bright it looked like a pyre burning through the sky blazed at the top of Beacon Tower, the light fading away like a whisper on the wind. Afterwards, a piercing scream echoed through the air, haunting and harrowing in its grief, and the entire sky filled with such a great white light that everything was suddenly gone, fallen away into a void.

And then… stillness and tranquility. Nora's gut heaved, and she retched again, mouth dry and sour and acidic. There was nothing but silence, not even the sound of her own gagging registering in her mind. The bright light drowned out everything except for the sound of ashes flying away on a distant wind- the sound of Nora's world crumbling yet again.

A/N: Nora is my second-favourite RWBY character, right after Pyrrha; that is why this fic is the sequel to Laws of Attraction, my retelling of RWBY Vol. 1-3 through Pyrrha's POV. It's not necessary to read that fic first since this is set in canon, but reading LoA will provide the context for some of their extrapolated relationships/adventures. If you have any questions about those contextual details, feel free to PM me- I can explain whatever extra details not in the canon show.

Important notes:

1. This story is written from Nora's perspective, meaning that she will not experience everything the audience does in the show, since she is just one character. Keep that in mind.

2. If you are reading this fic while it's ongoing, and something isn't addressed right away, just have faith that things will come up in due time. I've rewatched this show a million times in order to make sure that everything lines up.

I'm excited. Let me know what you think!