Autumn Leaves: Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Autumn Leaves

“She had… another weapon.”

“And was an additional blade enough to undo your your oh so perfect plan?”

“No, I… when she saw the glove… she killed herself. I didn’t have the chance to—”

“You had every chance that you required, Foolish child.”

“…”

“And I suppose, given your expression, that your… Emerald…was not fortunate enough to receive the Maiden’s powers.”

“No, My Lady, the Fall Maiden is gone.”

“Then we shall simply have to find her again.” 

“I understand.”

“This time, try not to be defeated by your own pride.”

* * *
Just a Child—Part 1

“Go Autumn! Kick some butt!”

Next to his seventeen year old daughter, Taiyang could only laugh. “Geez, you think you’d be a bit more put out that your baby sister is doing better than you are in the tournament.”

“Why would I be mad?” Yang said with a grin. “Rubes is kicking serious ass today. A vacation to Mistral and a chance to see my baby sis spread her wings? This is probably the best gift you’ve ever got me.”

“Well I’m glad that I’m able to do something right,” Tai said. The two of them shared a laugh.

“But, seriously, Dad, this is a great gift. I’m like the best fighter at Signal right now, except for maybe Autumn after today, yanno? It’s cool to see where I stack up in a big regional tournament like this.”

Tai said, “Take it easy, hot shot. You got knocked out on day two.” 

Yang shrugged. “Sometimes you win, and sometimes you get seeded against Pyrrha Nikos in the third round,” she said. “And I made her sweat more than any of her other matches so far.”

“Heard she’s going to beacon,” Tai said. “Looking forward to a rematch? I haven’t seen anyone push you like that since you’re first year at Signal.”

“Nah. I’m sure she has more than enough people gunning for her without me jumping on the pile,” Yang said. “Besides, she’s gonna have to go through Autumn too.”

“My little Ruby, making it all the way to the final round of her first tournament,” Tai said. “Think she has a shot?”

Yang and Tai shared a glance

“Give ‘er hell, Autumn!” They shouted.

Ruby waved at them from the sands of the coliseum. Even from the second ring of seats Yang could easily see her beaming smile. The crowd began to cheer as the tournament’s biggest unknown made her way to center stage.

The speakers blared to life. “Lady’s. and. Gentlemeeeeeeen!” the announcer roared. “In the Red and Black, coming all the way from the Island of Patch— the Dark Horse combatant that no one expected—the girl who burned her way through the lower division tournament without breaking a sweat, forcing bracket reset out of Andar Steel that carried her all the way to the final round!—Let’s hear it for the Girl on Fire: Ruuuuuuuby Roooose!”

The crowd went wild. Chants filled the air, drowning out even the caster’s voice. People stood up, pumping their fists in the air and stomping their feet against the ground. Ruby smiled bashfully at the crowd, spurring the spectators on even more.

If there was one thing Remnant loved, it was an Underdog.

Then over the speakers, drums began to play. The opening bars of Imperial Stride swelled up over even the roar of the crowd, and the far gate of the coliseum rose ponderously into the air. Banners rose into the air, trumpets blaring in unison.

“Aaaaand her opponent, the one we’ve all been waiting for!” The caster roared, “The one contestant that everyone knew was coming! The threeeee time reigning champioooooon! Everybody give it up for the Invincible Girl: Pyrrhaaaaaa Nikooooos!”

“PYR-RHA! PYR-RHA! PYR-RHA! PYR-RHA!”

Yang laughed, pumping her fist in the air with the rest of the crowd. “This is insane!” she shouted.

“They call it the City of Gladiators for a reason!” Tai said. “Biggest tournaments this side of the Vytal festival!”

Slowly, the chanting broke up into scattered cheers before quieting. In the center of the arena, Ruby and Pyrrha shook hands. To Yang’s delight, the sound system managed to pick up their words.

“…Good to know that, no matter what happens here, my place on the tournament circuit won’t be left empty for long.” Pyrrha finished saying.

Ruby tugged at her hood, ducking her head at the older girl’s praise. “Well, uh, I’ll have big shoes to fill,” she said. “I never even thought I’d make it into the upper division…”

Pyrrha smiled, placing a hand of Ruby’s shoulder. “Some people are born great,” she said kindly. “Others have greatness thrust upon them.”

Ruby gaped. Then she giggled. “Wow, you’re pretty good at this motivational speech thing.”

“I’ve had practice.”

“Good luck?”

Pyrrha nodded. “Best of luck to you.”

In unison, Ruby and Pyrrha settled into their stances a few paces away from each other. Ruby’s hastily added fire dust crystals glinted on Crescent Rose’s exterior.

“Competitors! Are you READY?” The announcer said. The giant screens around the stadium flared to life at their nods, showing the girls’ smiling faces and aura bars. “Then…. BEGIN!”

A buzzer blared over the speakers, and Ruby sprang into action. She blurred through the air, leaving a haze of burning razor petals behind.

“And Ruby Rose opens up with her deadly BURNING BLITZ!”

* * *

In his office, Ozpin watched the battle unfold over steepled fingers. In the monitor: a wave of flame cresting over Pyrrha’s shield, forcing the older girl to dash away. “While your information is excellent as always, Qrow, your timing leaves something… to be desired.”

“Least she’s got good form,” Qrow said. Then he winced preemptively, a second later Pyrrha’s grieved boot smacked Ruby in the side of her head.

“Indeed,” Oz replied. “And we should be so lucky that her ‘dust sorcery’ is indistinct enough to be mistaken as such. The question, as ever, is what we shall be doing about your niece’s newfound… ability. Now, I am no great ally of progress reports, but would I be wrong to surmise that, until this point, young Miss Rose has shown absolutely no aptitude for dust manipulation?”

The two figures on Ozpin’s screen blurred back and forth across the sands, but the headmaster’s gaze never faltered for a second. At this point, Ruby was on the back foot, but between the constant bursts of flames and petals, Pyrrha was unable to close distance. 

It looked as those something was aggravating the younger girl, but Ozpin could see the gears turning behind those silver eyes.

Qrow shrugged. “It doesn’t really run in the family. And if there’s one thing my ‘star pupil’ does well, it’s following in her family’s footsteps.” He took a long draw from his flask. “Tai should have named her ‘Apple’, he has the taste for it.”

“Now, now,” Oz said. “There’s no need to be so ornery simply because your brother-in-law chose to take his daughters to Mistral.”

“Yeah, well, excuse me if I’m not feeling too charitable at the moment,” Qrow said. “Heh, looks like Autumn isn’t feeling too charitable right now either.”

Indeed, she was running literal rings Pyrrha at the moment, leaving spent casings in her wake.

“You’ve taught her well. She’s even picking up on Miss Nikos’s surprising reaction time.” Oz said.

Qrow rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to butter me up, Oz. Do I look blonde to you?” Qrow said.

“I’m sure Glynda will be happy to know what you really thing of her.”

“Hey, she’s the one who started the name calling,” Qrow said.

Pyrrha went flying from an explosive shot, and rolled out of the way of the next one. 

Oz raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t the two of you agree ‘incorrigible drunk’ was, in a word, too accurate to be considered an insult?”

Qrow paused, flask already raised. He grunted and stuffed it back into his coat.

“What’s going on in the match?” He said.

The explosive rounds chipped at Pyrrha’s aura, but hardly enough to be noticeable. Ruby would run out of bullets first.

With a flash, Ruby tore across the arena. Pyrrha read the movement, easily ducking the wave of fire. She slammed her shield into Ruby’s stomach.

“Mmm. It’s not going well for our fall maiden,” Ozpin said with a wane smile.

“She’s testing out a theory,” Qrow said.

The two girls clashed again, in an explosion of light and sound.

When she was keeping the older girl at a distance, Ruby almost looked like she stood on equal footing, that her skill maybe even matched Pyrrha’s own. Or at least, it looked convincing enough that the spectators held their collective breath as sword met scythe.

The Invincible Girl quickly set that record straight.  She slid past every strike. At times, she edged so close to strokes of flame that one could not tell where the embers stopped and her flaming hair began.

Qrow whistled.

“You should have seen her application,” Oz said.

But Ruby rolled with the bone shattering blows, spinning like a dervish, gunshots flinging her scythe through the air faster than any mortal could strike.

“So that’s her plan,” Oz said.

Ruby hooked Pyrrha’s shield, bracing her other hand on its face. The blade of her scythe wrapped around Pyrrha in a mockery of an embrace. 

Qrow chuckled. “Nobody believes me when I say the scythe is a precision weapon.”

To her credit, Pyrrha realized her folly almost immediately. She pushed back, legs tensing.

Ruby pulled the trigger.

Crescent Rose shot back, blade flashing with all the ravenous hunger of the guillotine.

Pyrrha leaped, but her shield, the scythe’s haft resting comfortably in its own cutouts, acted as a channel. The girls’ own weight held the weapons together.

Red and bronze flashed. Qrow chuckled.

Then, Pyrrha landed on the ground a few feet away, barely a sliver of her aura draining from the boards. This time, the older girl immediately made distance. She hurled her shield like a discus. Sparks flew when it crashed into Crescent Rose.

For a mere handful of seconds, the girls traded shots across the sand. Pyrrha’s shield and Ruby’s flames filled any space left between the bullets.

“She knows,” Qrow said. 

“So sure?”

Ruby dodged to the side in a wave of red. She had little maneuverability with her semblance, but the sheer speed alone made up the difference. Pyrrha, no doubt remember this song and dance, played safe and waited for her opponent to run out of bullets.

Qrow nodded in response to Ozpin’s question. “Taught her that move myself. Kid spent the next week practicing it every time she had the chance. She doesn’t miss.”

Oz chuckled. “Which means she must needs know why she did miss this time?”

Ruby played Pyrrha’s blind spots, chaining dashes together so quickly that it put a noticeable drain on her aura. But it was enough that even Pyrrha couldn’t keep up with human reflex alone.

“You’re the one who said she has a ‘good head’ for this,” Qrow said with a shrug. “She’s got good instincts. The Fall Maiden’s powers just give her the juice to keep going when she mess up… well, as long as she’s in the kiddie pool, at least.”

One clip fell to the sand. Ruby reloaded with a flourish, hands ghosting along Crescent Rose’s grip with such grace that even Ozpin almost missed her sleight of hand. The two veterans shared a single glance as Ruby’s next dash carried her back behind Pyrrha once more.

Crescent Rose landed in a reverse grip. Ruby only had a single hand on it, one finger on the trigger.

She pulled it. And then she let go.

The scythe, unburdened, tore through the air like a shot. Pyrrha turned with it, for the briefest moment missing the flash of red that carved a wound in the sand directly towards her instead.

Pyrrha’s eyes widened when she saw the scythe. It was barely even a moment’s pause.

Ruby took that moment and ran with it for all she was worth.

Pyrrha did not slow. She continued her turn with grace, spinning to face her actual foe with her shield raised to bear—just in time for a fire dust crystal to slam into the bronze disk. One of the two that Ruby had added to Crescent Rose less than week ago.

Ruby blew Pyrrha’s guard wide open with a single burst of aura. Green eyes met silver, in the instant before smoke concealed them both.

Pyrrha thrust her spear into the cloud even as the explosion sent her skidding backwards—a blind thrust to end of her charging opponent.

Then the second fire dust crystal, its matrix already glowing with a rapid cascade of energy, flew out of the smoke.

The roar of the crowed drowned out the explosion.

In his office, Ozpin allowed himself a small chuckle. “They’ll be legends one day, I imagine.”

Qrow snorted. “Yeah, if they live that long,” he said, taking another drink. “You still haven’t told me what you plan to do with my niece, Oz.”

“Well. I imagine that I might offer her a place at my school,” he said. “Do you think she’ll accept?”