A Grimm Retelling

Chapter 1

“Ruby Rose” Ozpin looked down at the excitable young girl in front of him, face unreadable. “You have silver eyes.”

What suffering will befall you because of it?

Pyrrha had known this would be a suicide mission. It was why despite his protests she had sent Jaune away. The way he had screamed her name broke the young huntress's heart, but he would get over it. All of them would. With any luck they would all go on to live long, happy lives.

The pain in her ankle made thinking of anything else difficult. She watched with resignation as the bowstring drew back, arrow pointed to her chest. All that could be done now was to die with dignity, Pyrrha realized.

She looked up, glaring at the woman who had ruined everything. Every part of her felt like it was burning, her armor melted and her weapons scattered out of reach. This was the end.

Her voice was raspy as she choked out her last words, a whisper of a question. "..Do you believe in destiny?"

Cinder smiled, victory written across her face as she opened her mouth to answer- only to be interrupted by a thunderous scream.

Ruby Rose flew to the top of Beacon tower in a swirl of petals, already grief-stricken and exhausted. When she saw her friend moments from death, it broke her. Sliver energy exploded from her tiny body as something very, very old awoke. Raw power tore through stone like paper as she screamed in primordial rage.

Pyrrha watched as Cinder whirled to create a fiery barrier, countering the wave of negative energy. The two forces clashed, and she found herself almost hoping that the shield would hold. There was something so destructive about the way silver tendrils seeped from Ruby. The power felt almost Grimm in nature.

Despite the deafening combat around her, the 'invincible girl' just wanted to collapse and let her shattered aura do its job. The black splotches in her vision were getting wider, and she suddenly noticed that her head was lying against cold stone. She should help... she.. she should...

A boom echoed across the tower as fire and magic exploded outwards in a searing blast.

Then, everything went black.

When Pyrrha finally regained consciousness, the pain had dimmed to a dull throb. She felt drained. Her limbs were too heavy to move and bright, artificial light shone into her eyes. Groaning, she tried to shift her face away. A hand firmly pushed her back, and a distracted Atlesian voice muttered above her. "Say there, please. I'm almost done."

Not in any position to disobey, she went limp and a moment later the light turned off.

"Thank you" a tall, tan-skinned man with a rather large mustache was fiddling with a set of tools by her bed.

With what little she could see in her field of vision, Pyrrha was at the far end of a lab room. Various jars lined the wall, filled with strange dark blotches that seemed to pulse in the corner of her eye. She glanced back to the man, who was now looking at her seemingly waiting for a reaction.

"Where's my team?" The huntress's voice was strained, even breathing brought painful movement against scorched flesh. Still, she had to know if they had got to safety.

"On an airship by now, I imagine"

"How long was I out?"

"Two days."

She frowned. "But then, my aura-"

"I'm afraid we had to put blockers on it." He didn't sound particularly sorry.

Pyrrha tensed, splaying a hand out toward some of the more metallic looking equipment. Nothing happened.

The man hummed, "your semblance as well"