Akashic

[Caution! Due to the rise in grimm activity recently, it is advised that students should not enter the Emerald forest without their entire team, or at least one other individual. This is a warning, do not be 'brave' and go in alone, we are monitoring the forest and shall inform all students once the grimm population has returned to the usual numbers.]

Pyrrha read through the alert she had gotten on her scroll as she walked down the path leading to the cliff overlooking the Emerald forest, a frown on her face as she looked down the pathway to where they had been launched just a few months earlier during initiation.

Worried that Arthur might do something reckless she began to pick up her pace now lightly jogging down the path until she came to a stop just as she passed the treeline, her eyes falling on Arthur who was sitting on the edge of the cliff, one leg hanging off it while the other he used as an arm rest, just silently staring over the expansive forest.

Pyrrha began to walk to Arthur, eventually coming to a stop next to, her eyes first looking to Arthur seeing a frown on his face, and then also over the forest below them, trying to see what had gotten Arthur's attention, Neither of them saying anything just silently staring into emerald abyss, the odd tree rustling as grimm passed by, and various small black birds flying overhead.

"I, knew someone was probably going to follow me, wasn't expecting you" Arthur said, breaking the silence between them.

"Yang stopped Ruby, and everyone else was rushing to get to class, we apparently started half an hour earlier today" she said, "Ms. Goodwitch will not be pleased with us now that we're missing her lesson"

Snorting Arthur said, "Don't worry, knowing her, she already knows, most we'll get is a day of detention or a warning, just hope we don't have to write down Ports stories if we do get detention" he said with a chuckle, getting one from Pyrrha as well.

"Yes, I do suppose so" she replied as she sat down next to Arthur legs hanging over the edge of the cliff, both returning to silence, Pyrrha's eyes looking to Arthur who was blankly staring over the forest, something on his mind judging by his frown.

"Arthur… do, you want to talk about it?" she asked

Arthur remained silent for a while before responding, "I… am just thinking, yesterday, after the interview at VNN, I went to the fire just to see it, figure out how I did it, and I did… to a degree, still need to experiment with it though" he began to explain, "But when me and Coco were returning to Beacon, I saw something that I really didn't want to see" he muttered, his eyes going sharp while Pyrrha silently listened to him.

"I am weak Pyrrha, I know that better than anyone, when I first saw it, my mind was racing, trying to figure out why, just why, I saw it. But when I woke up this morning I realized, I haven't really changed, sure I can hold off team RWBY for a few minutes now, probably grind the bird brigade into the ground, but what I saw, what it means, is something, much, much worse, something much more menacing and insidious than just a group of teens training to fight monsters" he explained, turning silent once more as he thought.

"Arthur, if I may, are you not putting all the weight of whatever it is that has spooked you, solely on your shoulders? You have two… teams, that would be more than willing to help you with whatever 'it' is" she said, slightly pausing when she mentioned two teams, as her mind wandered to her ever absent leader causing her to frown.

"Yeah, I probably am, I'm also probably overthinking, it's just I don't like not know in. What happened with Fairy, the man who attacked her, it is scary not knowing who he is, why he's after her or who sent him, and then what I saw last night is not making things any better, the only difference being, I know what it is, and what is behind it, just not why it was there, and why now" he explained his finger rapping against the ground.

"That is another thing that can be solved by just talking to us, talk to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, me, Ren, Nora… Jaune…, you have been through a lot, and it is not surprising to have such insecurities, but keeping them to yourself is not going to help you" her voice turning soft as she spoke. "I said, I wanted to help you, and I do, but you just need to tell me what it is that is bothering you, I won't lie, I have also noticed how you look at me every now and then, it's as if something is eating away at you, am I somehow related to whatever it is?" she asked, her words causing Arthur's rapping fingers to stop as his entire body went rigid.

After nearly a full minute of silence, Arthur put his palm flat to the ground and began to lean back slightly, "Pyrrha, are you scared of dying?" he asked staring into the blue sky above.

Surprised at his question, Pyrrha began to think, "Yes and no… it's hard to say, it depends, if I were to say, pass on tomorrow, then yes I'd be terrified, I'd be worried for my mother, how would she react? What about my team, my friends? I don't want to leave my friends and family like that, I want them to know I've lived a happy and full life without regrets." She answered, "But if I could live just a few more years, make something my friends and family could be proud of, leave them with a smile on my face saying 'It's okay, I am happy, I've done everything I want, I've made every friend I've ever needed, I've fallen in love with the man of my dreams, gotten married, had a child that I couldn't be more proud of' then yeah, I'd say I wouldn't be scared of dying, I'd probably be more worried about how everyone else will be once I'm gone" she said a small but weak smile forming on her face.

Arthur was left speechless at her answer, but eventually a smirk formed on his face as he began to chuckle, confusing Pyrrha who turned to him her head slightly tilted to the side, "That really is like you, always thinking about others before yourself, you really are the most selfless person I know" he said, bringing his leg up from the ledge and bringing himself to a stand, "Thank you for answering that, I suppose it would be an idea to talk to someone about it… would you be willing to listen to me Pyrrha?" He said holding his hand out to her, a small smile on his face

Pyrrha felt a smile form on her face as she soon took his hand, "I would be happy to" she said, pulling herself up.

"But you think we could do it another time? I was originally intending to do some training after clearing my head, just get used to my semblance and do a few experiments with it, and there are too many ears around us, listening" Arthur added turning his head left and right, his eyes coming to stop on a pitch-black crow with red eyes that was staring intently at him, he could also swear he could hear what sounded like birdlike growls coming from it.

Pyrrha also looked around and said "But… we are the only ones here, aren't we?"

"Oh, yeah, we are, just the birds have ears and are very, very nosey, even if they do have TINY BRAINS" he said, emphasizing his words at the end while looking to the crow with a smirk on his face which had now left claw marks deep into the branch it was standing on.

"Okay…" Pyrrha muttered, unsure of how she should react to that. "Would you like me to help with your training? I'm not really an expert on semblances but I could probably give you a few pointers if you need them" she asked.

"Sure, I guess" Arthur said hesitantly looking to his right hand. "Then, uh, I guess let's start with my aura, there's something I've been curious about since I got my aura unlocked, so I want to see if I can do something" he said, still unsure if he should really do it.

"Sure, sounds like an idea, what is it you want to do?" she asked.

"Well, uh, that's the thing, it's my arm, I don't think you've properly seen it yet, so it's easier to just show you" he said and held his right arm up ready to transform it, but stopping when he realized something, "Sorry, one second" he said and quickly unbuttoned his jacket, throwing it to the side, leaving him in his white undershirt and blue vest, "This is going to ruin this shirt, really should have thought this through…" he muttered to himself and looked to Pyrrha.

"So uh, yeah, please don't scream or try to kill me" he said.

"Why would I…" she was about to question but found her words stuck at the back of her through when she saw Arthur's arm transform into a giant black, metallic, claw nearly as tall as him, each finger looking more like finely sharpened blades than anything that could pick something up.

"So, uh, yeah, don't think you've ever gotten a proper look at it… you okay there?" he asked, waving his disproportionately sized hand in front of Pyrrha's face, breaking her from her trance.

"Ye-yes, I-I saw it once before, during initiation when you were… injured, but I never really thought about it much, things were just happening to fast to really process everything. Is-is that normal?" she said.

"For a human to do this? No, good god is this not normal, for what it is? Yeah, mostly, depends on the type" he explained, "You still willing to train with me? Not going to start a manhunt on the possibly monster man?" he asked nervousness in his voice.

"What!? No, no, I'm just surprised, I've never seen anything like it, can I?" she asked holding her hand out to it.

Letting out a breath of relief, "Go ahead" he said, lifting Cross but making sure to make a fist so as to not accidentally cut Pyrrha.

Pyrrha slowly brought her finger to the dark metal that made Arthur's arm, her fingers eventually grazing its smooth and cold metallic material, a ticklish feeling running up Arthur's arm as she gently inspected it. "Is it made of a metal? Is it a prosthetic? But your hand felt so… normal, even with that scar." She said, her curiosity overpowering her as she tried to use her semblance to manipulate his arm.

"Oh, that is a weird feeling…" Arthur muttered as he felt his arm slightly twitch and moved up ever so slightly, before just as quickly returning to its previous position, which he then lowered to the ground, but quickly raised to catch Pyrrha as she began to stagger and hold her head, as if she had an intense headache.

"Whoa, you okay?" he said, slowly lowering Pyrrha onto the ground, away from the edge.

"Yes, just, used a lot of aura at once, I'll be fine, just give me a few minutes" she replied, giving Arthur a small smile.

"You sure? Want anything to eat or drink?" he asked, concern on his face.

"No, no, I'm fine, really, it's not the first time this has happened, happens to every one when you over extend you semblance" she explained, already feeling her headache lightening.

"Okay… so that was your semblance then?" he asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

"Yes, my semblance is Polarity, I control magnetism to a degree" she explained,

"Huh, that explains the weird feeling of my arm moving on its own, so it's made of metal as well then?" he said, knocking on the metal of his right arm.

"Apparently, so what is it you wanted to do with it and your aura?" she questioned, curious as to what his aura had to do with the arm, 'Maybe it requires aura to activate?' she thought.

"Well, I want to make it smaller'

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Alternate Chapter names: [Fear of death] [Reduction training]

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