Destiny No More

Chapter 60

Pyrrha fought the urge to yawn, coughing in her fist as she desperately fought off the instinct to lean up against the wall of the Bullhead. The party had gone on late into the evening, despite the event itself having ended around eleven. They'd spent some time talking after, Qrow, Winter, and James all telling stories of their older missions; of simpler times. Pyrrha and Coco had even managed to fit in a couple, though obviously not many due to their lack of experience.

Still, it had been nice, and by the time that she and Coco had made it back to Beacon it was nearly two in the morning. That wouldn't have been too much of an issue with it being the weekend, they could just sleep in, and Coco was doing just that, but a message to Pyrrha's scroll had dashed such hopes before she had even laid down.

The General was preparing to head back to Atlas, with his departure set for the crack of dawn. Three hours of sleep and Pyrrha had been back on a Bullhead heading for the single warship the General had brought with him on his brief return to Vale. When he had left for Atlas before the start of the school year he had been aboard what she was assured was a small cruiser of some sort designed for covert actions. She hadn't been truly convinced at the time, but she had seen some of the larger ships in Atlas' fleet during the festival and so knew it was far from the largest.

The ship he returned with was not that same cruiser however.

The flagship of the Atlesian fleet was an intimidating vessel, nearly four times the size of the cruiser she had been on before and staffed with about six times as many personnel. It was a sight to behold, or it usually was anyways, as she was now, Pyrrha just wanted to sleep and so the grandeur of the vessel was lost on her somewhat.

When the Bullhead entered the hangar she was surprised to see so many people running about, although she figured it made sense if they were planning to leave so early; the oddly synchronized chaos was fascinating to watch however. Men and women ran back and forth, moving to locations as if they had been instructed to without ever saying a word. Their work was done with practiced ease and she had no doubt that they had spent countless hours doing just that. The General would accept nothing less than their best.

Off to the back of the hangar she could just barely spot Winter standing along the far wall. After carefully navigating her way across the Hangar, a walk that took several minutes thanks to the numerous craft that were being moved around, she was finally greeted by an equally tired expression.

"Good morning, Pyrrha."

Once again she had to fight the urge to yawn, the reminder of the early hour threatening to suffocate her. "Good morning Winter. Where's Qrow?"

Winter scoffed. "At this hour?"

Pyrrha chuckled tiredly; she shouldn't have been surprised. The idea Qrow would be up so early after going to bed so late? Were this a life or death matter she knew he would be here, anything short of that and she wouldn't hold out hope.

"The General is waiting for us in the War Room." Winter gestured for her to step through the doorway and into a surprisingly wide hallway. She walked beside the Specialist, and even then people were able to slip by them with a foot of space between them. "He wished to pass along an update on our hunt for Fall, though he wished to do so in person. It should be a relatively short brief, you may sleep after."

Pyrrha coughed nervously. "I'm fine."

Winter looked around the hall as they continued to walk as if scanning for something; then, after a noticeably long pause, yawned into the ball of her hand.

Pyrrha's body naturally followed suit, and this time she made no effort to fight it. When she finally managed to wrestle it back under control she didn't miss the subtleness of smug looks on Winter's face; it was terrifyingly similar to Qrow's.