Chapter 15: Pyrrha Nikos
A/N: Just a reminder, new chapter here officially means new chapter over on the P atreon now, where my patrons are currently voting on the future direction of this story!
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"A-Alright, everyone! Please listen up!"
As they come within sight of the village of Shion, Lieutenant Pyrrha Nikos of the Army of Mistral turns to face her platoon. Some twenty to thirty fresh young faces stare back at her, most in awe of her still, with only a couple seeming jealous or envious of her. For what, Pyrrha couldn't say. There were many reasons for them to hate her. She was better than them, possibly better than all of them combined. She was famous. She was fast tracked to Lieutenant, while they were all stuck as her foot soldiers.
Yes, there were several reasons for them to hate her, and Pyrrha was honestly surprised each and every time to realize there weren't more who disliked her. Instead, most of them worshipped the ground upon which she walked, keeping those who despised her and her skill from being too vocal about it, lest they find themselves on the wrong side of the platoon.
To say this wasn't what Pyrrha had wanted with her life would be an understatement. But after several weeks of training, in which she'd been given the officer's course while her platoon had been put through boot camp, Pyrrha knew she was where she needed to be, at least for now. Mistral was gearing up for war, and she was the only thing standing between these young men and women and certain death.
Case in point, them being here in the village of Shion. As the officer in charge, Pyrrha was currently privy to information that the rest of her platoon was not. Namely, they weren't just here in the village as a routine patrol assignment to make sure the place was protected from Grimm who didn't even exist anymore. No… they were here because the Mistralian Army had it on good authority that Shion was in the path of a bandit tribe and would soon be their next victim.
They'd sent Pyrrha and her troops here to get blooded, plain and simple. The Champion of Mistral, as they so loved to call her, would have no issue handling a bunch of bandits, or so they thought. Frankly, Pyrrha was more than worried… she was terrified. She and the men and women under her command were expected to kill humans in the next few days. And she wasn't sure she was ready. She wasn't sure she would ever be ready.
Still, she had to put on a brave face, for the people under her. To that end…
"I know some of you think this is a chance to slack off. That you don't need to take this assignment seriously, because it's just some village, just the calm before the storm."
Speaking in a measured, clipped tone, Pyrrha sweeps her gaze back and forth across the lot of them, talking with a confidence and a sharpness that she barely feels.
"You probably think that with war on the horizon, that's all you need to worry about. But I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. The war is in the distance. Here and now, however, is just as dangerous and just as deadly. The Grimm might be gone, but that doesn't mean there aren't still dangers, out here in the wilds."
Pyrrha takes in a deep breath, and frowns.
"You may think you're safe because you're assigned to me. And I promise you, I will defend you all with my life. But I am only one woman. That town down there is hundreds of people strong. I can only do so much and can only be in one place at a time. Which is why I'm relying on all of you. Why I need to know you'll have my back and stand with me as the bulwark between those villagers and the dangers of the wilds! Can I count on you?!"
""YES, LIEUTENANT NIKOS!""
As their voices wash over her, Pyrrha doesn't let herself relax. Not even for a moment. She can't afford to… not if she's going to live up to the expectations of her platoon, or of the villagers down below…
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She's still tense an hour later, after she's finally gotten her platoon settled and met with the Village Elder. That was… not exactly a fun conversation. The 'ruler' of Shion is an old, waspish woman. She's not happy that Pyrrha and her platoon are here, but also knows better than to actually try and fight it. In the end, the old woman's house is the only building in town big enough to house the platoon, and so she'd 'graciously' given it up to them, to turn into their barracks for the duration of their stay.
Pyrrha hadn't even had to ask, but she was getting pretty good at reading people. The Village Elder didn't care that she was Pyrrha Nikos, Champion of Mistral. Normally, that'd be a good thing, but in this case, it just meant that the Village Elder despised Pyrrha and her troops for their perceived disruption of Shion's way of life. Never mind that they were here to hopefully save them from a bandit tribe. None of that mattered…
Would they change their tune when the bandits showed up and Pyrrha and her platoon fought on their behalf? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, Pyrrha would have to get used to cold shoulders, for the way the Elder went was apparently the way the village went. Hopefully no one would pick fights with her soldiers, because she doubted all of them would be as understanding as her…
All of this is to say, when Pyrrha steps into the village's general store, she's a little surprised that the young man behind the counter keeps on smiling, even after he takes in her uniform and her clear military bearing. Blinking, for a moment Pyrrha suspects he knows who she is and is one of those who idolizes her… but she doesn't see a hint of recognition in his eyes.
"Ho there, good morning! What can I do for you miss?"
Taking him in for a second, from his blond hair to his big blue eyes, Pyrrha can't help but flush a little. He's… conventionally quite attractive. To say nothing of his surprisingly sunny personality. Stepping up to the counter, she clears her throat and with it her moment of embarrassment.
"Lieutenant Pyrrha Nikos, with the Army of Mistral."
Pulling a piece of paper from her vest pocket, she holds it out to him."
"By order of the Mistralian Government, your shop is being requisitioned of the following supplies. Present that to the bank in the City of Mistral and you will be reimbursed for the full cost."
She says it all in a rush, trying to get it out before any objections, which she's fully expecting from the young man. After all, this… is highway robbery. Shion is days away from the City of Mistral, and though the absence of Grimm has made traveling safer for your average citizen, it's still an awful long way to go for a shopkeeper to get paid only a fraction of what they're truly owed by the penny pinchers in the Mistralian Army.
Unfortunately, she has to do this if she wants her troops to be fed and watered. It's a lesser evil, in order to stop a greater evil.
The blond behind the counter looks over the paper she's given him, and instead of blowing up like she expects, he just shrugs.
"Bit above my paygrade, Lieutenant Nikos. One moment please. BOSS!"
Pyrrha blinks, and then flushes. O-Of course. Ugh, she's such an idiot. The boy behind the counter is pretty much the same age as her. Of course, he would only be a shopkeeper's assistant. The actual shopkeeper, an older balding man, comes out of the back a moment later. HIS reaction, of narrow-eyed scorn, is much more in line with what Pyrrha is expecting.
Luckily, once she explains herself again, he doesn't do much beyond scowl angrily and gesture to his assistant, telling the young blue-eyed man to help her before disappearing back into the back of the shop. Pyrrha keeps her shoulders from slumping in relief, but it's a near thing, even as the assistant stays surprisingly chipper and sunny, even after that interaction.
As she collects the things she needs, trying not to feel like too much of a thief while doing so, she can feel his eyes on her, watching her all the while. Feeling self-conscious, Pyrrha turns back to him and bows slightly.
"U-Um, t-thank you… I didn't get your name?"
Almost like he's been waiting for it, the blond chuckles and throws her a wink.
"Ah, of course. The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. I have it on good authority that ladies love it."
Pyrrha is taken aback. He is, without a shadow of a doubt, the suavest shopkeeper's assistant she's ever met. Her blush is back and nearly as bright as her red hair as she stammers in response for a moment before regaining herself.
"I… I see. W-Well, thank you Jaune Arc for your help. T-The Army of Mistral greatly appreciates your loyalty, citizen."
Jaune's blue eyes twinkle as he nods.
"Sure, they do. You take care now, Lieutenant Nikos. Stay safe."
He really doesn't know who she is, does he? When was the last time anyone told her to 'stay safe'? She… actually couldn't think of a time. It sounded like the sort of thing one's parent might say to them when they were about to go off to join the army, even as an enlisted officer… but she hadn't even gotten that. No, it had been 'do us proud' and 'don't tarnish the family name' and that had been it.
For the faintest moment, Pyrrha is nearly overcome with emotion, all because some handsome boy she just met told her to… to 'stay safe'. But she manages to overcome the moment, to swallow down her feelings and keep the lip wobble to a minimum. Her eyes remain dry, as she looks to the young shopkeeper's assistant and gives him a nod.
"You too!"
And then she flees the general store as fast as she can. Part of her regrets taking on the job of gathering supplies for her platoon now. She'd wanted to spare her soldiers the hassle of arguing with the shopkeeper and head off what might have turned into an altercation. Now though? Now she's torn. Part of her wants to push any further supply runs to the general store on one of her subordinates. The other part of her… wonders if it might not be so bad, seeing Jaune Arc again sooner, rather than later.
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As he watches Lieutenant Pyrrha Nikos leave, Jaune reflects on their interaction, as well as this past month. It's been just over four weeks since he arrived in Mistral, and more specifically in the town of Shion. With a cover story involving the orphanage over in the City of Mistral kicking him out because he was too old, he'd been able to secure a job with the local shopkeeper and had been faithfully working at Shion's General Store for the past few weeks.
It was… interesting work, to say the least. Perhaps he should have gone straight to the City of Mistral, instead of pretending he was from there. Perhaps it would have been better to go to the heart of the matter. But no, he'd wanted to see how the little people were living, and you didn't get much littler than Shion. It was one of Mistral's smaller villages after all.
And yet, even here the preparations for war, which was said to be about to start in earnest any day now, could still be felt. Lieutenant Nikos had certainly felt bad about what she'd just done, but that hadn't stopped her from doing it. Jaune wasn't an idiot, for all that his Grimm experiences sometimes overwhelmed his human ones.
His new boss hadn't been at all happy about Pyrrha offering that paper instead of actual currency. From the sound of things, he would most likely never see the money back for the supplies that Lieutenant Nikos took.
At least Pyrrha wasn't a total monster. She'd felt bad about it… all of it, pretty much.
Mm, speaking of monsters… Jaune looks down at the back of his hand, not for the first time marveling at the pinkish complexion. It was still amazing, what a true mistress of magic could do. Salem's power was immense… so immense in fact, that she could cast a spell which gave him a human form illusion, and then tied it to his senses so that he could control it if need be. If it broke, the magic was still within him and could be reactivated at any time. If he needed to deactivate it for any reason, he could do that as well.
He hadn't had a reason to do so yet, and so he'd spent the last month as a human, experiencing what living with other humans was like for the first time in years. Summer and Cinder hadn't counted. They were about as weird as humans could get, frankly.
Still, it'd been a nice change of pace. Living here in Shion, Jaune hadn't minded-
"Boy. That bitch gone?"
Blinking, Jaune looks to his boss and raises an eyebrow, making the older man scowl and cross his arms over his chest defensively.
"Don't give me that look. She just cost me thousands of lien! I'm entitled to a bit of name-calling!"
"… Yes sir, of course sir."
Scowling even harder, his boss shakes his head.
"Cheeky damn brat. Just… go on. You're done for the day. See you tomorrow."
Glancing at the clock, Jaune blinks in surprise as he realizes the older human is right. He is done for the day, in fact, helping Lieutenant Nikos with her supplies took him a half hour past the usual end of his shift. Giving an appreciative nod to his boss, Jaune sets aside his apron.
"Thank you sir, see you tomorrow."
He gets little more than a grunt in response, before heading out. In the end, Jaune finds himself gravitating towards the only place really worth spending your free time in all of Shion… the local watering hole, aka the town bar.
The moment he enters, Jaune immediately notices two things. One, there's a group of soldiers in the corner, and with them is a certain Lieutenant Nikos, looking uncomfortable and like she'd been dragged there against her will. Which was odd, because somehow Jaune doubted she could be forced to do anything against her will, at least by those she found under her command.
Two, the barmaid Indi is currently giving him eyes again. With matching purple hair and eyes, Shion's resident barmaid has been chasing after him since he arrived. He hasn't let anything happen yet, but that hasn't stopped her from trying.
Hm, he WAS beginning to feel a little pent up, after a month away from home. Perhaps tonight was the night he saw what Indi had to offer? Or maybe… maybe he'd approach the Lieutenant instead, even with her surrounded by those soldiers of hers.
Decisions, decisions…
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