A.N. I've haven't written anything for RWBY in a long time, but after finally finishing volume 3 I'm an emotional compromised mess in denial. Somehow along the way an idea of shipping Pyrrha and Penny(what's their ship name anyway?) came along and now here we are. I don't know how long I'll continue this, but just know that I'll stick somewhat close to canon. With that enjoy^^.
Chapter 1
"Are you okay ma'am?" Penny jumped not realizing how long she had been staring in the shop window. Apparently the candy shop owner had become concerned, and poked his head outside to check on the unmoving girl in front of his store staring at his display window. He gave Penny a kind smile though opening the door wider.
"You're welcome to come in and look." The shop owner offered gently, and Penny bounced on her feet excitedly. She'd only been in Vale a few days and she was having a blast. There were stores to explore, parks with vibrant trees and plants, Penny even got to make her first friend! She hasn't seen Ruby since they meet, but Penny assumed she must be busy doing whatever Ruby did.
Excitement buzzing in her circuits Penny zoomed into the candy some. Rounding the door Penny went to the other side of the window display watching the miniature amusement park made out of candy move with amazement. There was never something so frivolous in Atlas, though Penny has never seen much of Atlas. Other than the lab she was created in and the military base General Ironwood took her to of course.
The shopkeeper seemed amused by Penny's reaction, not that Penny noticed him to caught up in staring at the mini ferris wheel spin its candycane spokes carrying even more candy around. It wasn't long though before Penny gasped as a mini chocolate water fountain began shooting liquid chocolate into the air. The shopkeeper returned to the counter to help another customer leaving Penny to excitedly watch the display.
Penny was positively dazzled by the display, it must have taken the shop keeper weeks to construct the necessary parts to make everything in the display move. And everything was made out of candy no less! One would think since Penny was one of the most advance creations ever designed. Penny would find such devices beneath her, but it had the exact opposite effect. It was amazing what people could create, such creativity was slightly beyond Penny.
The bell tied to the door ringing broke the spell the display had on Penny. Glancing around she realized she must have been staring at the display for quite awhile. She felt quite bad, she had no money to buy anything. She wasn't even supposed to be out exploring the city, her father told her to stay put until the General's men arrived. However, Penny wasn't about to ignore the whole city she could explore.
Wasn't it customary when entering a store to purchase something? Penny hoped she wouldn't insult the kind looking shopkeeper by not buying something. Even if she could buy something Penny wasn't sure what to do with candy. She definitely couldn't eat it after all.
Carefully Penny slipped out of the store before the shopkeeper could notice her leaving. It wasn't until Penny was a good distance from the store that she resumed a normal stride down the street.
Safely away from the store Penny's previous excitement returned. Vale was so large, she had yet to visit every corner of the city. Penny was so wrapped up in trying to look at all the sights she didn't see the person walking her way until she felt herself stumbling from bumping into them.
"Oh Sorry!" A hand caught Penny before she could actually fall. After righting herself Penny looked at whoever she'd bumped into finding a woman holding her arm steadying her.
"I apologize I wasn't looking where I was going." Calm emerald eyes looked at Penny, the girl who Penny assumed was around her age gave her a kind look letting go of Penny once she was stable.
"It's quite alright I wasn't watching either!" Penny responded cheerfully, the girl smiled slightly at Penny's enthusiastic response.
"I'm Penny it's a pleasure to meet you!" It seemed Penny was developing a habit of bumping into people. If they all became her friends like Ruby though then Penny was alright with that. The girl seemed to hesitate before giving her name, glancing around as if to see if anyone in the vicinity was listening.
"Pyrrha, well meet. Sorry for bumping into you again." Already too soon Pyrrha was giving a wave goodbye begining to continue on her way. Penny wanted to continue talking with the fiery haired girl, but Pyrrha was already getting lost in the crowd of people before Penny could come up with something to say.
She hung her head sadden at the lost chance to make a new friend, but something on the ground caught her eye. Picking it up it was a scroll, looking back up Penny realized it was Pyrrha's. The device must have fallen out of her pocket when they bumped into each other.
"Pyrrha wait you dropped this!" Penny called out racing after Pyrrha.
"Of all the places to lose my scroll." Pyrrha muttered to herself, later she would have to apologize to Jaune for laughing when Nora poked fun at him for always losing his. Pyrrha frowned she wouldn't be able to catch a ride back to Beacon without her scroll. The ferry required identification in order to board. Looks like she was going to have to use a public phone and call Jaune to come get her.
The shopkeeper of the weapon shop gave Pyrrha an odd look when her expression changed upon noticing her scroll was missing. Quickly paying the man Pyrrha exited the store, double checking her pockets just to be sure her scroll was actually gone. It appeared to be so, certainly unfortunate but nothing to be all too concerned about.
It wasn't long before Pyrrha found a payphone punching in Jaune's number the phone rang a few times before a familiar voice answered.
"Hmf...hell...hello." Pyrrha heard Jaune's groggy voice and the huntress smiled fondly. The night before the two had a pretty intensive training session on the rooftop. It wasn't surprising her team leader was sleeping in, though perhaps sleeping in till noon was a bit excessive.
"Jaune it's me." After a short pause of Jaune no doubt fully waking up before he answered.
"Pyrrha? Why is your number different? What time is it?" Pyrrha laughed lightly listening to Jaune try and get his bearings.
"It's about noon Jaune, I'm calling from a payphone I lost my scroll." Pyrrha admitted smiling sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. Another moment Pyrrha heard shuffling on the other end.
"You lost your scroll?" Disbelief was apparent in Jaune's voice and Pyrrha sighed. While Jaune never put her on a pedestal like everyone else for being who she was. He did have his moments where he believed her incapable of making silly mistakes due to her skills.
"Yes, I think it fell out of my pocket. I'm in Vale right now, and I was wondering if you could come by and help me catch a ferry back to Beacon." More shuffling on the other line which Pyrrha would guess was Jaune getting dressed.
"Ya sure only fair after all the times you came and got me. Can it wait a little bit though I promised Ruby I'd study with her for that history test coming up. We'll be done by three I swear!"
"That's fine Jaune I think I'll manage on my own till then." Pyrrha said soothingly, though Pyrrha wasn't sure what she'd do, but she wasn't going to cut into Jaune's study time. After the accident with Cardin Jaune has been trying so hard to improve. Pyrrha didn't want to keep him from that. She couldn't ask Ren and Nora as it was a weekend and they were visiting their home village for the first time in a while, and despite considering herself on friendly terms with everyone on Team RWBY. She had yet to memorize any of their numbers to try calling them.
"You sure? I'm sure Ruby can just bother Weiss until she studies with her." Jaune no doubt felt a tad guilty that whenever he lost his scroll Pyrrha was there in an instant to bail him out. Pyrrha didn't mind at all though she understood history was not Jaune's subject, and he had to take any time who could get to study.
"It's fine Jaune, I think I have a few more things to get done anyway." It was a lie, but Pyrrha didn't want Jaune to beat himself up over this. In truth Pyrrha didn't like walking out in the city. Too many people would recognize her, and would swarm her asking for autographs or some ridiculous questions. A downside to having your face plastered everywhere as the Mistral regional champion.
Pyrrha bid Jaune goodbye the two agreeing to meet by the docks in about three hours. Hanging up the phone Pyrrha sighed again wondering what she should do for three hours. She already bought a good amount of spare parts that should keep her occupied modifying Akoúo̱ for at least the end of the semester. Other than that Pyrrha couldn't really think of anything else to do. The Mistral champ would admit outside of training to become a huntress she lacked many hobbies. It suited her just fine as Pyrrha was fully committed to becoming the best huntress she could be.
Times like this though Pyrrha wished she had something to occupy her time. Exiting the phone booth Pyrrha began walking down the busy Vale street. Perhaps she could go to the local library and get her own studying done.
As Pyrrha pondered this a familiar voice caught her attention.
"I'm so sorry I didn't mean to…." Pyrrha looked up ahead to find the girl from earlier today looking quite distraught standing next to a fruit stand. Half the fruit though was laying on the ground and from the look on the faunus stand owner's face he was less than pleased.
"You better have the cash to pay for all this. Half my stock ruined!" The fruit stand owner spat, Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. Glancing at the people passing by as if nothing was happening this outburst must be a normal occurrence for him. Penny, Pyrrha recalled was the girl's name was wringing her hands looking rather nervous.
"I..don't have any money." The faunus' eyes narrowed, something akin to a snarl coming to his lips.
"You're not going to pay me back! Humans! All the same, all of you! I'm calling the police unless you wanna pay up girl." Pyrrha's frown deepened, it was men like this that gave faunus a bad name. He clearly was making a big deal out of this just because Penny was human. Quickening her step Pyrrha began to approach to the two.
"Please don't! I didn't mean to knock over your fruit I swear!" The threat of police seemed to actually scare Penny, and the girl looked frantic to stop him from involving them. Before the stand owner could spit out a response Pyrrha stepped in between the two.
"What do you want?" The faunus growled out, Pyrrha stood between the two, her taller frame hiding the smaller girl behind her. She gave a man a cold glare, pulling out her wallet she got out her card.
"Here I'll pay for the fruit, now leave her alone it was an accident." Pyrrha stated calmly handing over her card. She wasn't concerned how much the fruit cost, she had plenty of money from the tournaments she won. Glaring at her the man took the card, swiping it through the machine waiting a second to make sure it was legit before tossing the card back to Pyrrha.
"Fine get away from my stand now before you ruin more of my stock." Still glaring at the man Pyrrha turned placing a gentle hand on Penny's back guiding her away from the stand.
As soon as they were a decent distance from the stand Pyrrha took her hand away from Penny. Before she could say anything though she nearly fell over as Penny tackled her throwing her arms around Pyrrha's tall frame hugging the taller girl.
"Thank you! I wasn't sure what to do, that man wouldn't stop yelling." Pyrrha carefully disentangled herself from Penny's arms. The smaller girl seemed to sense Pyrrha's discomfort she let go taking a step back, though she still smiled. This caused Pyrrha to smile as well happy to have helped get Penny out of that situation. That man was out of line freaking out as he did.
"It's no problem, that man was overreacting a bit." Though Pyrrha could slightly understand the man being upset over losing his product. He didn't need to lash out as he did if it was just an accident.
"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you or anything?" Pyrrha gave Penny a look over she appeared fine, but Pyrrha just wanted to be sure.
"Don't worry I am operating at one hundred percent efficiency!" Pyrrha laughed lightly at the shorter girl's enthusiasm. She certainly jumped back from appearing so distraught moments before.
"Good to hear, try to be more careful next time though." The huntress in training went to continue on her way when Penny jumped in front of her.
"Wait! Isn't this your's?" Penny held out a scroll, Pyrrha stared at it for a second before taking the offered item. A smile came to her face, it was indeed her scroll. She must have dropped it when she bumped into Penny the first time.
"Yes thank you, I thought I lost this." Penny beamed her neon green eyes seeming to sparkle in happiness.
"That's a relief, I was looking all over for you trying to give that back. You have several missed calls by the way. I thought it'd be rude to answer a phone that wasn't mine." Pyrrha activated her scroll, looking at said missed calls. Frowning they were all from home, they must be trying to get in contact with her to discuss break plans with her. The end of the semester was fast approaching and they were probably wondering if Pyrrha intended to come home. Something Pyrrha herself wasn't sure if she intended to do so yet. Looking back at Penny the girl was standing with her hands folded behind her back waiting for Pyrrha to say something. Pyrrha smiled, thankful Penny went through all the trouble to return her scroll to her. Now she could call Jaune and tell him not to worry about coming to get her.
"Thank you Penny, I wouldn't be able to get back to Beacon easily without this." Penny seemed to light up at the mention of Beacon.
"You go to Beacon? Are you going to be participating in the Vytal festival?" Here it comes Pyrrha thought, she's going to recognize Pyrrha as the invincible girl and there went any pleasant conversation.
"I do and I am." Again Penny lite up in excitement.
"Sensational! Perhaps we will get a chance to duel then." Pyrrha's eyebrow rose at that, Penny didn't really seem like a huntress in training at first glance. Then again neither did a lot of students at Beacon, and some of them were the best fighters in their class. Ruby for example seemed like the most non-threatening person around, but she wielded one of the most dangerous weapons designed. It was then Pyrrha noticed that Penny had still yet to recognize her, or if she did she didn't mention it. An idea that made Pyrrha smile.
"Maybe we will, you came for the festival then. Where are you from?" Pyrrha didn't really notice that the two had started walking down the street, but Penny was following by her side.
"Atlas, I've come to test myself in the tournament." Penny seemed quite proud of that fact, and Pyrrha could relate. She had a similar feeling when she entered a tournament of any kind. Though after so many times the feeling of pride and excitement was starting to dull.
"Aside from earlier are you enjoying your time here in Vale?" Being a renowned regional champion Pyrrha has traveled to nearly all of the main kingdoms for tournaments and other such events. Vale was certainly pleasant though Pyrrha had to admit it was colder than her home kingdom of Mistral.
"It's simply wonderful here! Unfortunately I keep looking at everything around me instead of where I'm going." Penny gave a sheepish smile having run into both Pyrrha and the faunus' fruit stand due to being distracted by the sights around her.
"I'd say there are worse problems to have. It worked out in the end after all." Pyrrha motioned to the scrolled Penny returned to her smiling. Though Penny frowned remembering the accident with the fruit stand.
"I am truly sorry you had to pay for all that fruit…" Pyrrha stopped her before she could even offer to pay Pyrrha back in some way.
"It's alright Penny, anything to help out a new friend." Penny was positively beaming as soon as Pyrrha called her friend.
"We're friends? Really?" The shorter girl was almost vibrating with excitement, and Pyrrha nodded.
"Of course, after two chance encounters. I'd say destiny would declare we should meet."
"Sensational!" Penny then went on to happily talk about all the things they could do as friends, Pyrrha listening with a small smile on her face.
The moment didn't seem to last though, as Pyrrha saw something catch Penny's eye. Bright eyes widening Penny grimaced. Pyrrha turned her head to see what Penny had seen only for Penny's strained voice stop her.
"I...have to go now. I have to…. train for the tournament." A small hiccup followed Penny's hurried words. The shorter girl was out of sight dashing away before Pyrrha could say anything to stop her.
Once Penny was gone Pyrrha turned to see what had spooked the girl so much. There wasn't anything of note though an expensive looking car pulled up next to Pyrrha. The windows were tinted, and one of them rolled down just enough to let sound pass through, but not allowing Pyrrha to see who she was talking to.
"Excuse me miss have you seen a young girl about your age around here?" Pyrrha immediately knew the masculine voice was asking about Penny, but Pyrrha's eyes narrowed suspiciously. If the sight of this car made Penny run, then Pyrrha didn't believe he should be trusted.
"No sir, I haven't." Pyrrha answered coolly, she could just barely hear the man saying something to another person in the car.
"Sorry to bother you miss, thank you for the help." The window was rolled back up, and the car pulled away. Once the car was gone Pyrrha pulled out her scroll checking the time. It was about quarter after two. Tapping a few keys on her scroll she called Jaune to tell him that he didn't need to come get her. That car left Pyrrha was a bad feeling, and her conscious wouldn't let her go without making sure Penny was okay.
After a quick call to Jaune who wasn't surprised Pyrrha found her scroll. Pyrrha pocket the device then quickly went on her way to find Penny.