{ this is where your book begins }

Title: your story's alternate outcome
Fandom: RWBY
Characters/Pairings: Pyrrha, referenced Arkos
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Referenced character death/accidental murder, near-death experiences

Summary: She woke up, and that was the first sign that something was wrong.


Credit goes to cypsiman2 because this is heavily based on an RP we did with this premise.




She woke up to find herself back on solid ground with her teammates. No time for the usual can you hear us, how many fingers are we holding up like whenever Ren passed out from low stamina or Jaune got knocked out in the beginning. As long as she could stand, they had no choice but to run.

The sound of the Grimm roaring and people screaming thundered in her head, her shoulder throbbed with pain from where she'd been hit, her heart pounded in her chest, and for the moment she could only follow her teammates as far away from Beacon as possible.

She didn't recognize the forest they finally came to a stop in, but it was quiet. No Grimm, not even a single ordinary animal. Pyrrha sank to her knees as it fully sank in just how wrong this was. The fact that she could hear anything at all, or feel pain, or see where they were.

The fact that she'd woken up in the first place. She remembered the fire, the arrow aimed at her chest, a blinding light just before everything went dark. That was supposed to be the end.

But I'm still here.

"We should be safe here." Ren, voice tight with lingering pain, leaning on Nora as much as he could. Nora was unnaturally quiet, looking towards Pyrrha with a sad smile. And Jaune...

"All four of us." His voice was quiet, his eyes wide with soft disbelief, looking at her as if she were afraid she might disappear. "W-we'd better tend to our injuries. Let me just find the first aid kit-"

"I'll take care of Ren," Nora said just as quietly. And leave you two alone. Pain and fire and blinding light weren't the only things Pyrrha remembered, but that moment, those feelings seemed so...not necessarily hollow or useless, but less important.

That was supposed to be our last moment together.

"Right, of course."

"Hey, Pyrrha?" Nora wiped at her eyes. "I'm...glad. That you're still here, with us." Pyrrha swallowed.

"Thank you, Nora." She wished she could say the same, but all she felt was a strange cocktail of uncertainty, confusion, and resentment. Turning away, she watched Jaune digging in his bag, heard him swear. "The first aid kit is on the left," she said, "right next to your bunny boxer shorts."

"Heh, right. Of course." He laughed, but it sounded weak and forced. "Always thought Mom was just being a worrywart, but I guess she was right. Can't exactly go to the nurse, can we?" He dug out the kit, poured some antiseptic onto a gauze pad, and moved closer. "This...this might sting, okay? Who am I kidding, you're tougher than that." Not really, she thought bitterly.

She was still, quiet as Jaune dabbed at her wound, clenching her teeth against the sting. That was how you knew it was working, when it hurt.

How you knew you were still alive. Not dreaming.

This isn't right. I didn't put you in that locker so I could live on, that was supposed to be my ending. My story was supposed to be over. But her lips refused to form the words, her teeth worried away at the tip of her tongue as Jaune wrapped a bandage around her arm.

"There," he said. "I'm no nurse, but that ought to hold for now."

"I'm not supposed to be here," she ground out. "I fought her knowing I wasn't going to survive, this isn't how it was supposed to be." Jaune snapped the kit closed, tucking it into his bag under his shorts.

"Well...you are. And I'm glad for it, I wasn't ready to have you taken away from me," he said.

"I wasn't being taken away!" The cocktail exploded like chemicals in a lab, and she was too aware she was raising her voice. Pyrrha Nikos seldom raised her voice, even on the battlefield. "It was my choice, Jaune! My destiny! I was supposed to become the Fall Maiden, but I waited too long to make the decision!"

"So you thought you'd make up for it by dying?" His voice was tight. "That's not a choice, Pyrrha, that's you resigning yourself to fate."

"But that's still my choice! And what did Ruby think she was doing, coming up on the roof?! She's just a novice, if that weird light hadn't kicked in she would have gotten herself killed, too!"

"Well, it did! And I'm glad it did, I'm glad you failed in your destiny because I wasn't ready to say goodbye!" Jaune shouted. "You didn't even tell me about the Fall Maiden thing, I had to find out when the Grimm and the White Fang were already swarming the place! Then you...shove me in a locker so I can't at least go with you to help you! I could have saved you, and you didn't...you didn't..."

He trailed off, burying his face in his hands, muffled sobs bursting from him. Instantly, Pyrrha wished she could take back everything she'd just said. Selfish, she thought, I'm making this all about me.

"I'm sorry." She edged closer, placing her hand carefully on his back.

"No, I'm sorry," Jaune muttered, wiping his nose on his arm. "You're the one who almost died, you don't need me bawling all over you right now." And she embraced him, not caring about the pain in her arm, burying her face in his hair as she tried to hold back her own tears.

They'd all lost something precious to them tonight. Beacon, but more than that, what it represented. Security, stability, a safe space where even if they went on dangerous missions and were preparing to fight evil, they would always have Beacon's halls to return to. The routine of classes and training.

A time where the worst thing that could happen to someone was being bullied by a pathetic coward, or where your biggest worry was wishing the boy you liked would ask you to the dance but keeping quiet so you didn't look selfish.

A time before your Semblance tore an innocent girl to pieces in front of everyone.

Really, in hindsight, it was her fault; even if Cinder and her group had set this up, they'd used her in their plans. Making Penny her opponent, using her Semblance and Penny's robotic nature, making sure everyone saw as Pyrrha Nikos slaughtered her, the Grimm, the takeover-

A sniffle from Jaune drew her back from the doom spiral, and she tightened her arms around him.

She wasn't supposed to have this ending - no, not an ending. A continuation. Her story wasn't supposed to go on like this, but here they were. Even if she still couldn't wrap her head around it being okay, her team needed her.

"Let's go find Ren and Nora," she said quietly. Reluctantly, Jaune let go of her and they gathered their things.

Her story wasn't over yet, and she had no way of knowing what would happen next. Only that the first act was over, and that she could never return.