JB's RWBY Volume 5: First Stand (Male OC Insert)

Chapter 11: An Old Friend

Kai: "I...I can't believe it's you"

Pyrrha: "It's nice to see you again Kai" She had barely finished speaking when Kai rushed forward, enveloping the startled huntress in an airtight hug.

Kai: "I'm so sorry, it was all my fault, I couldn't save you, I couldn't stop Cinder, I was too weak to..." Pyrrha giggled, causing Kai to stop and look at her as she smiled at him, "Seriously Kai, you can't keep blaming yourself like this. Like everyone keeps telling you, it's not your fault" Kai blinked. And then he smiled. Yes he had been told multiple times not to blame himself, but somehow, hearing Pyrrha say it herself, this time he actually believed it. It was as though this was the closure he had been seeking all this while.

Kai: "I really miss you, Pyrrha, we all do. How are you even here...?" He gestured to the environment around him, "...what is this place?"

Pyrrha: "This place is...well it's the realm of your subconscious"

Kai: "Subconscious? Wait..." The events of the past hour came flooding into his memory; marching into Haven Academy, Lionheart's betrayal, Cinder and Raven's alliance...the spear that went through his chest..., "Am I...dead?" Pyrrha shook her head, "No...at least...not yet" she pointed into the dark abyss below the cliff, "I pulled you out from there. I suppose that is what you'd call...death"

Kai followed Pyrrha and gazed down into the darkness as well, "You pulled me out from death itself...you saved my life" Pyrrha shook her head again, "Not really...I can't bring you back to life Kai, all I can do is hold on to your soul long enough for our friends to treat you on the other side. Ruby, Yang, Jaune...they need you now more than ever. Salem has to be stopped" Kai's eyes widened, "You...you know about Salem?"

Pyrrha: "I've been with you ever since that night on Beacon Tower, Kai, seeing the world through your eyes, hearing through your ears..."

Kai: "If you've been here ever since how come you've never said anything?"

Pyrrha: "I tried Kai believe me, but it's not easy to reach your conscious mind from your subconscious. It appears I'm confined to this space so I try to help in whatever way little way I can, like..." she smiled, "...waking you up from a bad dream" Kai's eyes widened in realization, "It was you that night! I wasn't crazy it really was you!" He let out a small laugh, "How..how did this even happen? How are you existing inside of me?"

Pyrrha: "Honestly Kai, I don't really know myself. One moment I could feel Cinder's arrow burning through my chest and the next, there was a bright orange light...then darkness. When I opened my eyes I found myself here...inside of you. It was strange at first...I could see the things you could see, hear the things you could hear...feel the things you could feel..." At this Kai turned red, "I-I see...m-must have been quite the uh, experience..." Pyrrha laughed, "I was referring to your emotions Kai, don't be weird!" Kai let out an embarrassed laugh, "Right right, I knew that..."

Pyrrha: "Anyway, if I had to guess, it has something to do with the powers you unleashed that night on the tower. Somehow, you were able to hold on to a fragment of my soul...and keep it" Kai sighed and stared down at his hands, "There's still so much of my abilities I don't properly understand...if I can't even use my powers properly what chance do I have against Salem? Everyone's counting on me and sometimes it just feels like I'm not strong enough"

Pyrrha: "That's not true Kai..." Pyrrha placed her hands in his open palms, "... you're so much stronger than you think. You had to go through a lot of trauma in the early stages of your life, but you didn't let that stop you. You became a huntsman and made a name for yourself at a young age. You, Kai Blaze, are anything but weak. We all look up to you, because we believe in your strength. If your friends believe in you, then what reason do you have not to believe in yourself?"

Just then, there was a humming sound, the source of which was the abyss beneath the cliff. Kai and Pyrrha peered down into the darkness to see that, it wasn't darkness anymore. A bright light shone from the centre of the abyss, growing stronger as the seconds passed.

Kai: "What's that?"

Pyrrha: "Your way out. It seems your wounds have been treated"

Kai: "I see... it's time for me to go back huh..." He turned to face Pyrrha with a sad, wistful look on his face, "Can't you come back with me? Everyone really misses you" Pyrrha shook her head sadly, "That wouldn't be possible. I don't have a physical body to return to. Plus, I'm only just a fragment of my soul...one that will be extinguished any moment from now"

Kai: "Extinguished? Wait what does that mean... you're...dying?"

Pyrrha: "Drawing you out from "death" was no easy feat. It took every ounce of energy I had...the same energy sustaining this part of my soul inside of you" Tears flooded Kai's eyes and he gripped Pyrrha's shoulders tightly, "No! No no no, I won't lose you again...I can't bear it..." Pyrrha smiled warmly at him, "I'm sorry it had to be this way Kai..." she squeezed him into a hug, "...at least this time, we get to say goodbye"

Kai: "But I don't want to...why does it always have to be this way?"

Pyrrha: "I'm sorry Kai...nothing comes easy in this path we've chosen to walk...but we walk it anyway. Because we believe in the cause we're fighting for. To save lives. To stop Salem and her forces from wiping out humanity. To protect the ones we care about..."

Kai: "That doesn't make it any easier" Pyrrha smiled, "I know Kai. I know" she released him from her hug and gazed warmly at him, as her form quickly began to shimmer and fade away, "Do me a favour Kai...take care of everyone for me...and tell Jaune that I...I..." she paused and looked away wistfully, before returning to Kai's face with a smile, "...tell Jaune that I'm proud of him. Do that for me, okay?" Kai shook his head, "Don't go Pyrrha, please..."

Pyrrha: "I'm sorry Kai..." Her body was very nearly gone at this point, all that was left was the majority of her head, "...and one last thing. There's something else in your subconscious... something...dark...and angry. Don't give in to it"

As the last of her form disappeared, Kai continued to cry out, "Pyrrha please come back! Pyrrha!" Suddenly there was a loud rumbling sound, and the cliff he stood on crumbled to nothing, giving way beneath his feet. As Kai fell down into the bright and brilliant light that shone from the abyss, there was only one word he cried out, with all his might.

"PYRRHAAA!"