RWBY Through Worlds

79: Frozen Proof

Later that night, Pyrrha mentioned to Shine that she'd met someone rather odd at the movies.

"Did she seem familiar?" Shine asked.

"It was too dark, but I felt like I'd seen her before," Pyrrha said. "Or maybe it was just that she was striking--I've hardly met anyone who seemed so intense in so few words...other than yourself."

"Me? Intense?" Shine said.

"Imagine that." Emerald put her pillow over her head. "Can you keep it down?... Ugh, I knew this was a bad idea."

"Love you too," Shine said dryly.

"Can you stop saying that?" Emerald seemed cross.

"Is something wrong?" Pyrrha asked.

"No. Why the h--- would anything be wrong?" Emerald snapped.

Shine hadn't heard of anything going on with Emerald that day, but then, she couldn't have eyes and ears everywhere.

"I just thought you seemed upset," Pyrrha said kindly. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me, you dumba--!" Emerald sat up to glare at her. "Just mind your own d--- business!"

Pyrrha looked taken aback.

Shine put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, then said very calmly, "Emerald, you know that guilt is easier to live with when you own up to it. Try us."

"Huh?" Emerald said.

"Could it be that things being a little quieter has left way too much time to think?" Shine suggested. "You'd be happy Mercury is here finally, I'd think, but maybe that was a distraction also. And now it's not. But if there's something you need to say to Pyrrha, just say it. I promise she is a wise and kind listener, even if she has a bit of temper."

"Excuse me?" Pyrrha looked at Shine.

"It's okay," Shine said. "I have a lot of temper. I'm not one to talk."

"Yeah, you can talk plenty of smack with the others," Emerald said. "You know, Raven says that we shouldn't mess with you two because of your freaky powers."

"And I told you that's nonsense," Shine said. "You shouldn't mess with me because it's a bad idea, not because of my powers. Those come and go, but I'm afraid my personality is a permanent fixture of my life."

Pyrrha laughed at that.

[Put that on a t-shirt.]

"But seriously, Raven says that?" Shine said. "My, my, I would think... No, actually that makes sense. I suppose she'll get over it."

"You don't want that?" Pyrrha didn't expect much different.

"Not really," Shine said. "Only bad guys should be scared of us. And that more for Who we represent than who we are ourselves... Emerald, please, I want to help."

"Did I do something?" Pyrrha asked.

"No..." Emerald grumbled.

She hugged her pillow nervously and fidgeted. 

"I just think it's weird how you keep acting like nothing happened at Beacon. Aren't you pissed at us for what we did?... I mean, you literally died."

"That wasn't your fault," Pyrrha said.

"What happened to Penny was," Emerald said.

There it was...

Pyrrha pursed her lips.

"I'm not totally oblivious," Emerald said, still very distant. "I've heard that s--- talking some of you have been doing. But the twig and you always stick up for us, like we ever did you any favors. But we didn't."