Pyrrha had had a bad few moments inside while waiting for Shine and Wally to join her.
She wondered what they were saying to Qrow.
"Is something wrong?" Jaune asked.
"Uh...no," Pyrrha lied.
"Are you sure? Because that sounded like there was something going on," Jaune said.
"It's nothing," Pyrrha said.
"Pyrrha, you can say if something is wrong," Jaune looked hurt.
"I--" Pyrrha turned around and looked at the others. "Later, all right?"
She didn't really want to explain anyway, but she needed to buy time.
She wasn't sure of the identity of the man who was talking to the team right now.
"Pietro, this is Pyrrha Nikos," Maria said right then. "Where's that dusty old Qrow now? And the two odd ducks?"
"Still outside," Jaune said.
"Did you say Pyrrha Nikos?" Pietro said, glancing at Pyrrha oddly. "My, my, my, I heard she had.... How strange. Actually, she was the one who destroyed the girl."
Pyrrha, as she'd been slowly remembering everything that happened, hadn't remembered this yet--but now it came back to her, the horror of the moment, the crowd, the Nevermore...Penny's robotic self in pieces.
She put her hands to her mouth and gasped.
Funny, this reaction did more to convince at least some of the team that this was, indeed, Pyrrha, than anything so far had.
Yang still didn't buy it, but Weiss was starting to think the signs were a little too real to be a magic trick.
Jaune at least bought it.
He put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm...so...sorry..." Pyrrha said in a small voice.
Pietro looked at her oddly. "Was it on purpose?"
"No, no, I had no idea," Pyrrha said.
"It was Emerald," Ruby said. "I mean...this girl who could put illusions in people's minds. It wasn't Pyrrha's fault."
Pyrrha's heart was pounding, and she felt sick.
Pietro studied her, then he nodded. "I believe you... Well, I'm sorry. But I guess, in the long run, no harm was done permanently."
"How can you say that?" Ruby said. "Penny is gone--I mean, it was their fault, but it still happened."
Pyrrha felt sick still.
"Oh, well--" Pietro began, when they heard the alarms going off.
The others rushed outside.
Pyrrha remained standing there.
"I'm so sorry," she repeated.
Jaune had remained. "It's not your fault."
"You don't understand," Pietro said. "Penny isn't dead, Miss Nikos."
"She's...not?" Pyrrha sputtered.
"Oh, you destroyed her body, but her memory files were all still intact. I was able to retrieve them," Pietro said. "I'm the one who made her."
"Oh..." Pyrrha said.
"It took some time, but I repaired her," Pietro said. "In fact, she should be outside right now. She protects Mantle, and that alarm will call her to the danger. If you want to see for yourself."
"Oh, but...I think she might..." Pyrrha began.
"Blame you? Not at all," Pietro said. "She thought the whole thing must have been an accident. My Penny doesn't hold a grudge. I'm sure she'd like to tell you that in person, in fact. I'm glad you're alive also. Perhaps that whole incident was blown out of proportion after all? Though I think the General believed it was bad."
"So not just Pyrrha, but Penny is also not dead?" Jaune said. "Wow...what a day... So she'll be okay, then?"
"As long as nothing else happens to her," Pietro said.
"That's good news." Pyrrha wiped tears away from her face. "I'm very glad to hear it. You don't know what it was like when I thought..."
"I think I can imagine it," Pietro said. "You're not the only one who felt responsible for what happened... I still don't know how those hooligans hacked our servers..." He clenched a fist. "But things can be rebuilt. The perks of having a robot daughter, I suppose."
"You and your robots," Maria sniffed. "Stop crying, girl. It's all right now, isn't it? You kids are all so emotional."
"Who are you again?" Pyrrha asked her.
"I was the Grimm Reaper," Maria said. "Now I'm just Maria."
"Wait, I've heard of you." Pyrrha's eyes got huge. "You were the Grimm Reaper? You're a legend!"
"I'm a disappointment, same as everyone else around here, it seems," Maria said. "Don't look up to me. I still don't understand how this is all possible."
"Pyrrha, do you think we should make sure the others are okay?" Jaune asked.
"Yes, excellent idea," Maria said. "Knowing them, they're already in trouble."
* * *
In fact, they were a little late.
Jaune rushed out anyway, just in time to help kill one Grimm and then immediately get caught by the police.
Pyrrha would have been right behind him, but Shine and Wally had seen the whole thing and they stopped her.
"Sorry, but you can't get arrested, honey," Shine said. "Can you imagine what would happen?"
"We can't just let them be taken," Pyrrha said.
"Relax, they'll probably call Ironwood and get this sorted out," Shine said. "We just need to follow them. But let's wait longer than this... Dang it! We didn't get a chance to tell the others not to tell Ironwood about you."
"Perhaps they won't anyway," Pyrrha mused. "I don't think they want to. But now what?"
"You're welcome to wait with me." Pietro had caught up. "I could try to make a call to Atlas and help sort this out."
"Can we have dinner first?" Wally said. "This cold is giving me a huge appetite."
* * *
Actually, the others weren't nearly as sure as Shine that things would be okay. The Lamp had been taken from them, and they were in the back of a police car/plane.
"What do we do?" Ruby hissed.
The only other person in the car was one talking about someone named Robyn (who must have been running for a government position, from the sound of it). No one paid him that much attention.
"Guys, what about Pyrrha?" Jaune asked. "She got left back there."
"Good," Yang said saltily.
Team JNPR looked at her in annoyance.
"Did you want her to get arrested?" Yang asked.
"She can't get arrested," Qrow said in a low voice. "If they look up her file, this whole thing is going to come out way faster than we can control. It'd probably make the news. Do you want that? She was smart enough to stay out of it. Let's hope those two bozos did too. They're not even in the system, that I could tell."
"They might be," Nora said.
"No," Oscar muttered.
But he was surprised that Shine and Wally had let them get arrested... Then again, what could they have done to stop it? Just because they could fight Grimm didn't mean they could stop the Ace Ops.
"I kind of am nervous about leaving them all alone," Nora said.
"They're not alone. Maria and Pietro are with them," Ren said. "They're probably safer than any of us. We should be glad."
Jaune hoped he was right.
He didn't like how they kept getting separated from Pyrrha...though the first time he'd gone along with it because he was still in a daze and not sure how to handle this.
But after a little more time, he was starting to think that keeping an eye on her would be smarter... What would their enemies do if they found her walking around alive?
Would she be smart enough not to try to fight them if they did turn up?
Funny, it took less than 48 hours for him to start panicking just as much about this as he had before she died...
But he also needed to focus, since the others were currently in trouble more than her.
[I can't imagine how hard it would be to divide your attention between these two weird situations.]
No one had really talked about how they felt about her being back--they were all still focused on getting the Lamp to Atlas...and now they'd lost that too. This seemed like a 0 for 2 win for them.
"I just hope I don't get sent home..." Weiss said.
But she had other things to worry about when they got dragged into the main...school? That's what it looked like, but it must also have been a base for people for the military from the look of it. Qrow didn't explain at all, and no one else really knew.
They were getting taken towards a holding area, no doubt, when they saw suddenly that Winter Schnee herself was coming that direction.
"Winter!" Weiss yelled.
Winter turned, looked at them, sizing up the situation, and then came forward with a purpose.
"Weiss?" she said. Then she glared at the other soldiers.
"You have 10 seconds to take those off before I start hurting you," she said.
The guards were all terrified of Winter and jumped to do this. A moment later, everyone was free.
"Winter!" Weiss hugged her despite Winter's attempt to scold her for stealing the plane.
"I'm surprised at you, Qrow," Winter said, reproachfully.
"You try getting these kids to do anything," Qrow said.
"But...still, what possessed you all to come here like this?" Winter said.
"We were kind of dragged..." Nora said.
"I mean here, Atlas..." Winter said.
"Well--" Before Weiss could answer, they saw a flash of light.
They turned and saw Shine and Wally and Pyrrha all coming out of the doorway.
Winter drew her sword immediately. "What is this?"
"I told you they'd be here," Shine said, looking at everyone.
"Hello again." Pyrrha waved.
"What are you guys doing?" Jaune said, worried.
"Looking for you," Wally said. "We had to wait till you'd landed, you know. Planes are kind of a hard place to portal onto."
"I was hoping you'd be with the General already," Shine said. "But this works too. Look, there's Winter." She waved.
"Do I know you?" Winter frowned. "Qrow, who are these people?"
"Why are you asking me?" Qrow asked.
"Oh, you know why," Shine said to him. "Of course she's going to ask the only adult in this group. But we can speak for ourselves. Are you guys all right? They didn't hurt you?"
"I knew you'd follow us," Oscar said in relief. "We're fine."
"Good," Pyrrha said.
"Wait..." Winter put her sword down and stepped closer. "Is that...Pyrrha Nikos?" She looked startled. "But I heard that--"
"It was exaggerated," Pyrrha said, shooting a look at the others to warn them not to contradict her.
They were surprised.
"Oh...I see," Winter said. "But all this time... How did you get out of Vale?"
"I... Well, it's a long story," Pyrrha said. "Maybe we should wait to go over it? Is it all right that I'm here?"
"I'm sure you're welcome anywhere in Atlas." Winter stepped back. "Who are these people?"
"They helped me." Pyrrha put her hand on Shine's and Wally's shoulders. "Is it all right if they're here also? We're sort of traveling together."
"I suppose if the General is all right with it, but you'd better ask him," Winter said primly.
"They're with us too," Jaune said. "And we need to talk to the General."
General Ironwood joined them right then.
"Qrow? Team RWBY and JNPR?" he said. "I never expected you to show up here."
* * *
"How do you want to play this?" Wally hissed at Shine, as Ironwood was greeting the others and saying they should all come to his office.
"Knowing the General? We probably shouldn't say anything unless we're spoken to," Shine said. "The less he knows about us, the better."
"You think so?" Pyrrha said in a low voice.
"You two coming?" Qrow shot them a sour look as the others began to move.
"They're with you, right?" Ironwood hadn't questioned Oscar, so there was little reason to question them.
"Yeah," Jaune said before the others could stop him.
"Then all of you come," Ironwood said.
"Looks like we don't get a choice, Qrow," Shine shrugged.
"I just bet you don't," he muttered.
But they all went into the office anyway.
Wally lost track of the hallways they went through--it was all so white...and lighter grey and blue. It was like being locked in an insane asylum.
"Somehow, I never noticed how inhospitable this place is." Pyrrha read their expressions.
"Pyrrha, come walk with us." Nora motioned at her. "Team JNPR is together again. Let's act like it."
Ironwood hadn't noticed Pyrrha was familiar till then, since she'd hung back. But he cast a surprised look behind him.
No sooner were they in his office and behind closed doors, then he said,
"I was going to ask you all what was going on, but I think I first need to ask--Miss Nikos, where have you been?"
All eyes turned to Pyrrha, who very much wished she was shorter and less brightly colored right about then.
"Oh...I...uh..."
"She's been MIA," Qrow spoke up, surprisingly, or perhaps not so much so. "Met us in Argus."
"This is good news," Ironwood said. "You were one of the most tragic losses of Beacon, Miss Nikos. I'm relieved to see it was not as bad as we thought."
Pyrrha realized her hands were shaking. Why was this making her feel so guilty?
"Well, that said, what are you all doing here?" Ironwood said.
"Jimmy, they took the Lamp," Qrow began.
"You mean the relic?" Winter spoke.
Penny, who was there in the background, they now noticed, nodded at them. "For Spring?" she said.
"You told them?" Qrow said.
Ironwood pulled the relic out of a drawer in his desk. "Yes," he said. "I thought we needed more help."
"You told all of these kids," Shine muttered behind Qrow, to his annoyance.
"It seems you had no issue telling these students." Winter took the words out of her mouth almost.
Qrow frowned again.
Shine choked down a laugh.
"Well, I'm sure Qrow had his reasons," Ironwood said. "May I ask who these new people are?"
"This is Oscar Pine," Ruby spoke up.
"He's the new Ozpin," Qrow said.
"Really?" Ironwood said, getting up and walking closer to Oscar.
Winter scrutinized Oscar like she thought he might not be the best choice, which only made him feel more nervous.
Penny just waved cheerfully. She didn't care.
"Ozpin?" Ironwood said.
"He's, uh...not here right now," Oscar said.
"What do you mean?" Ironwood said.
Before anyone else could answer, Ruby spoke up.
"We don't know," she lied, to everyone's surprise. "We were in a train crash, and since then Ozpin has been silent."
Oscar looked at her oddly.
But no one questioned it.
They then proceeded to tell Ironwood none of what they'd learned from the Lamp--which is to say, no one volunteered any more information.
Ironwood didn't like the news. "Strange," he said. "This has never happened before. But I'm sure there has to be some way to fix it. We can work on it."
"Sure..." Oscar said.
Shine rolled her eyes at Wally.
"In the meantime, you can all stay here and train," Ironwood said. "Now that the relic is here, we should be prepared."
"But what are we going to do?" Ruby asked.
"Maybe it would be better to go over that once you've had time to rest," Ironwood said.
They were all exhausted.
"You can stay here!" Penny clapped her hands. "At the school. It'll be so much fun, just like Beacon. Even better, Pyrrha is here too."
Pyrrha winced visibly at that.
No one pushed it further, and they all turned to go out, but Ironwood gave the Lamp back to Ruby.
"I wouldn't have thought he'd do that," Shine said.
"Yeah," Wally said.
"I think he thought she'd say for him to keep it, but he didn't want to force it," Shine said. "Then it would look like he's commandeering the relic."
"He's...what?" Wally said.
"Taking it as an act of war," Pyrrha spoke up quietly. "I agree... Even so, it's a little odd. He's always so quick to take over."
"How well did you know Ironwood?" Weiss glanced at her.
"I used to fight in tournaments in Atlas," Pyrrha said. "I've met him a few times. Just like we've seen each other, remember, Weiss? Though, we weren't friends at the time, I suppose. I just remember thinking he was someone who liked to be in charge."
Winter had followed them part of the way out.
"I'd like to spend some time catching up soon, Weiss," she said. Her tone implied it was non-negotiable.
"Of course," Weiss agreed. "We should."
"Wait a moment." Ironwood was following them, with Qrow. "You didn't introduce your other new friends... Who are they?"
"They're friends of Pyrrha's and mine," Oscar spoke up fast before the others could. "They're helping us. That's okay, right?"
Shine smiled. "Yeah, we couldn't let a 14-year old go around by himself in this dangerous world that we live in now, could we? And we thought we'd stick around the team for a bit."
She sounded completely serious, the others had to give her credit.
"I suppose that's reasonable," Ironwood said. "Actually, good thinking to bring body guards, Mr. Pine. You're vulnerable right now. I trust they checked out." With a look at Qrow.
"Oh...well, it was kind of hard to do any checking," Qrow said, "on the road. But they're...fine."
If he said they weren't, there'd be more questions to answer that they couldn't, even if no one believed that they were, in fact, fine.
"Is that right?" Winter said frostily. "I suppose this is the kind of irresponsibility I should expect from you, Qrow."
"It's not his fault," Ruby said. "We were on the run too much."
"They're fine, really," Pyrrha said. "I looked into them while we were in Argus. I thought I should."
She smiled at them.
"Oh, really?" Weiss didn't get that Pyrrha was covering and thought she was serious.
"Yes," Pyrrha nodded. "They've got a clean record."
"I see you haven't forgotten your training," Ironwood said. "Good. Well, I have work to do, so I'll leave you."
He left.
Winter remained, frowning at them.
"I didn't think you had the authority to check backgrounds, Nikos," she said coldly.
"Perhaps not thoroughly, but--" Pyrrha began.
"That's what I thought. So you won't mind if I run a check on you two also," Winter said. "I didn't get your names before. What were they?"
"I see the General keeps you around because he's too sleep deprived to think to ask things like that," Shine noted aloud. "I'm Shine."
"Wally." Wally waved. "Hey, can I just say, I'm a fan of yours? I mean, not in a weird way, but I saw that fight you had, and you remind me of one of my best friends."
"You have friends like her and you consider them a friend?" Qrow said snidely.
"I hope you're not referring to that embarrassing incident in the courtyard," Winter said stiffly. "I'll have you know that was an exception."
"I hope not," Wally said.
Shine elbowed him. "Sorry, Wally and I are not ones for standing on ceremony, no offense to you or your rank, Winter."
"It's Lieutenant Schnee," Winter said.
"Uh...no way, you expect us to call you that?" Wally said. "That sounds like a sneeze."
Winter wasn't amused. "You will address me by my rank."
"Why?" Shine asked.
"Because you will show me the proper respect," Winter said.
"Are you ordering us to or asking us to?" Shine asked.
"Ordering," Winter said.
"Ah...but we're not from Atlas," Shine asked innocently. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't military people only have authority in their jurisdiction?"
Qrow wondered if Winter would kill her.
Weiss gaped at them in horror.
No one else got why this was such a snarky thing to say and wondered what she was talking about.
Winter's eyes narrowed. "But while you are here in Atlas, you will follow my orders."
"Is that also an order?" Wally asked. "Because I can't tell. You keep saying these words like it's an order, but that sounds more like something we'd do because we wanted to be nice."
"Do you have a problem with authority?" Winter asked.
"If we don't like being told what to do, you of all people should sympathize," Shine said. "And not being a huntsmen, nor a citizen of Atlas, I feel no compulsion to listen to you. If that's a problem, of course...I suppose we'll be in an awkward position. But isn't there some clause for tourists not to be treating like other citizens in countries like this?"
"Maybe that's not a thing here," Wally mused.
"What is wrong with them?" Winter asked Qrow.
"I dunno," he sighed.
"Hey, we can speak for ourselves." Shine waved at Winter, annoyed. "Don't ask him--he doesn't know anything anyway."
"Well, on that we can agree," Winter said. "But I can't tolerate disrespect from any of you."
"Challenge us to a duel then if you're so particular," Shine shrugged. "Whatever."
"Can you not antagonize my sister?" Weiss asked. "We just got here."
"Better to do it now than when it's important," Shine said.
"What? That makes no sense!" Weiss said.
"What are your last names, civilians?" Winter was having enough of this pretty quickly.
"You can just call us by our first names. We're not big on titles." Shine shrugged.
"I want to know so I can run a check on you," Winter said coldly.
"Did she not get that that was why you weren't telling her?" Wally asked Shine in a low voice that Winter still heard.
"I think she did, but she doesn't want to acknowledge it," Shine replied.
"Fine, someone else. Miss Nikos?" Winter said.
"I don't think I should if they don't want me to," Pyrrha said politely.
"You're not helping yourselves," Qrow said to them. "You're only making an enemy out of the Ice Queen."
"Never stops you," Shine said. "Anyway, you're not helping us either."
"I sense some dissension in this team," Winter said.
"She's better at this than team RWBY," Shine hissed at Wally, who choked on a laugh.
"Are you mocking me?" Winter asked.
"Oh, no, not you, someone else." Wally waved his hands. "Sorry, that's not cool of us to laugh like that in front of you."
"Both of us are still a little tired from the lag." Shine rubbed her face. "I may not be as sharp as usual, but I know enough to know that if Winter Schnee wants to run a background check on me, I have a reason to be nervous. After all, she always did have high standards for who her sister hangs around."
"Thank you," Weiss said.
"Who said that was a compliment?" Qrow asked.
"It would be if I had any choice about the matter," Winter said tightly. "But then, you wouldn't be here, Qrow."
"You know, I think she was easier to deal with before I--" Qrow stopped short and glanced at Ruby.
"Yeah, she sounds like Shayera," Wally said to Shine. "Just missing the mace."
"Don't put it past her. I'm sure she can use one," Shine said. "Hey, all of you should go on to the dorms and let us just settle this ourselves."
"Like h--- we will," Qrow said.
"Actually that's a good idea," Winter said. "Go on."
"Are you sure about this?" Pyrrha asked Shine.
"You'll get dragged into this if you stick around," Shine said. "Don't worry about it. I can handle Winter. But not if she starts bullying all of you. So go on."
"All right, if you're sure," Pyrrha said hesitantly.
There was nothing the others could do to stop it, now, so they followed Penny, who was cheerful as ever.
"Now are you going to answer my question?" Winter asked.
"Are you going to arrest us?" Wally asked. "Because you seem like you're going to arrest us."
"Do not give me a reason to," Winter said.
"Can I ask if your martial law you've got going on here allows you to pull aside anyone at any point and demand to see their identification?" Shine asked.
"This is a military base," Winter said.
"Ah, right, that makes her like the law," Wally said..
Winter pursed her lips in a thin line. "You want arrest as the alternative?"
"No," Wally said quickly. "Right, Shine?"
"No," Shine said, flatly. "We'll have to comply. I was just wondering if she would make us do it or not."
Winter stared at her, thinly. "You are pushing it, Miss...?"
"Likstar," Shine said, not very happily.
"Wally West." Wally waved.
Winter seemed to type a note on her scroll.
"In the future, I suggest you show the proper respect for Atlas Military," she said. "I could have arrested you the first time you refused. Consider yourselves lucky."
"I consider myself lucky to be reminded how little privacy I have, yes," Shine said tightly. "And I suppose you consider it a big favor to give us leeway, and, to you, perhaps it is. After all, every move you make is regulated. But perhaps to people who didn't sign up for that, it feels a little too confining."
"I suggest you get used to it," Winter said. "This is Atlas."
"Yes...I have a question," Shine said. "You know that fear brings Grimm. Why do you guys run this place in a way that will inspire fear in people? You have robots patrol the streets where Grimm are showing up every day, but you're creating the fear that is partially responsible for drawing them. You're trying to intimidate us now, but that doesn't help us. Or you. You make no sense to me."
Winter raised an eyebrow. "People should find our strength reassuring. We cannot help it if they do not feel that way."
"I think you could help it a little, like changing those PSAs to be less creepy," Wally said. "You're freaking people out. It was like something out of a movie."
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but we believe it is necessary," Winter said.
"I know you do," Shine said. "Because you want to believe that...because what would you do without that reassurance? If you were just like the rest of us? Just as uncertain and just as powerless?"
Winter looked at her strangely.
Shine shrugged. "This is a big lie, and everyone seems to know it except you people. No one down there is buying this, unless it's because they just don't want to see it any other way. Your methods are counter-intuitive to the results you claim to want. And I know you know what it is. You have the right to demand things of us--that does not make it a good idea. Anything you demand, you get out of fear. That will not move us forward. Something you all ought to be thinking about up here. Damage control will not win the war you claim is coming. But then, as usual, Ironwood is shortsighted."
"Watch what you say about the General." Winter grew angry. "I see Qrow has rubbed off on you."
"No," Shine said. "I think you've forgotten what is was like to live under fear, Winter Schnee...and to feel powerless to stop it."
Winter looked like she'd been slapped.
Shine folded her arms and then turned away. "I just hope that you look down from that glass house eventually. You know, I saw your fight at Beacon. I sensed a lot of blind loyalty to Atlas and misplaced passion...but I never sensed the intent to bully people into submission. Or to intimidate even innocent people...not from you."
"How dare you say that to me?" Winter said.
"Is that a crime now?" Shine replied.
Winter began to speak--and then stopped.
"That will be all," she said after a pause. "I'll be running that check on you. Pray I don't find anything."
"I think we can be sure of that," Shine muttered, walking away.
Wally followed her.
Winter stalked away the other direction, still silently fuming. Why could she not think of a response to that last part? It wasn't that clever of a remark! [What she tells herself after every interaction with Qrow, I think.]
"Are we sure ticking her off is a good idea?" Wally asked Shine as they began to catch up with the others.
"No, but it is the most fun idea," Shine said.