Always be with You (RWBY fanfic)

Chapter 10

"Pyrrha?"

Jayne couldn't move. In front of him, was the girl he'd been missing for so long. The girl he had always admired- a honorable, selfless, hero.

But it wasn't her.

It was a Grimm, it may have been Pyrrha's body once, but it was now infested with Grimm parts and her once kind smile had been replaced with sharp teeth. Her green eyes were cold and she lunged at him, her spear blocked barely by his shield.

Despite all of the obvious signs that Pyrrha was no longer herself, Jaune could not take that as an answer. He lowered his sword but shielded himself from attacks.

"Pyrrha, what are you doing? Please, I'm so glad to have you...I-"

He gasped as her spear collided and he stumbled backwards, still staring in disbelief as Pyrrha continued to pursue him. The red aura from her eye was unsettling, yet it was Pyrrha. No matter how hard he tried, he saw Pyrrha.

It's not her.

The rest of the team stared at the two, eyes wide as they took in Pyrrha's appearance. Her red haired was still vibrant but her eyes were calculating and cold, unlike the warm aura they used to give off. She was... a shell.

She wasn't Pyrrha.

But for some reason, even though his mind screamed the truth, Jaune couldn't raise his sword against her.

Not even as she charged at him again. She was fighting with an even greater ferocity than usual, an animalistic look in her once hopeful eyes as she skillfully swung her spear. Ruby immediately jumped in, holding up her scythe to block Pyrrha's lance, but even though Ruby was incredibly skilled, Pyrrha had always been stronger.

The rest of team RWBY jumped in to hold Pyrrha back, but even Ren and Nora were frozen. After all, it wasn't just Jaune who had been affected by Pyrrha's death; everyone had loved the champion. He was surprised Ruby was even functioning, but she'd always been the girl who took action first and weeped later.

Pyrrha kicked Ruby's legs out from underneath her, swinging with her orange spear and piercing downwards. Ruby was able to turn into rose petals and avoid the blow, speeding away before Pyrrha could kill her. Weiss twirled in a circle before forcing her sword into the ground, sending a wave of ice towards Pyrrha.

Surprisingly, Pyrrha managed to jump over the ice and she threw her spear at Weiss with all her strength. Blake quickly jumped in, creating an ice clone that froze Pyrrha's spear in it.

Even this didn't slow her down. She had her orange shield held in her hands, and she was managing to take down Yang with ease. Ruby glanced over towards Jaune, Nora, and Ren with a desperate look in her eyes.

"Please, help..!"

"...I WILL!" Nora was the first to jump back into the fray, with a determined look in her saddened eyes. She slammed her hammer downwards, with such force that even though Pyrrha managed to block the blow, she staggered under Mjolnir's weight.

Ren was next to come to his senses; he ran in and began to shoot his guns at Pyrrha. He quickly dashed back and forth, creating little cuts on Pyrrha's hardened skin.

Weiss shot her ice dust towards Pyrrha, this time successfully freezing her one leg to the ground. Yang jumped in, swinging her arm back, and Ember Celica collided with Pyrrha's shield once more.

The Pyrrha Grimm threw her shield in a perfect circle around herself, forcing everyone away. As Ren fell to the ground, unable to dodge fast enough, Pyrrha hungrily darted straight towards him. With her shield raised, she prepared to slice his neck open with the metal, and Ren closed his eyes in fear.

But he didn't feel anything.

Opening his eyes, Ren saw Jaune behind Pyrrha, with his sword dug between her rib cage. The Grimm Pyrrha howled as Jaune winced, pulling the sword out slowly.

I'm sorry.

The Grimm fell to the ground, whimpering in pain, and Jaune felt tears slip past his eyes involuntarily. Slowly, Nora placed a hand on his shoulder, with he rest of team RWBY doing the same.

"I'm so sorry, Pyrrha.." Jaune weeped, unashamed of his tears. He dropped his sword on the ground, watching the Pyrrha Grimm howl and roll around in pain.

Time passed slowly and Jaune watched as it slowly began to fade away like it had never existed in the first place. His tears fell onto the ground, covering where her body had once been.

"...Are you okay, Jaune?" Ruby asked, a sensitive look in her eyes. He had never seen her so upset.

"...No. But I will be."

just the epilogue remaining now!

thanks so much for reading :)