Fate's Wild Card Ch.7

AN: She turned out to be nice company

----------------------------------------

After some careful thinking between his current options and taking everything into consideration, Pryce goes for the safe option, that being the redhead in bronze armor.

With a decision made he pushes himself from the wall and moves toward the empty chairs and takes a seat, putting his gunblade across his legs, leaving one seat distance from the girl. He studies her from the corner of his eye - the way she holds herself, the quality of her armor, the quality of her weapons. This is the best option for him.

Some time passes in silence as he thinks about what to say and how to start a conversation with her since he doesn't want to make this awkward or sound as if he wants to take advantage of her… Well, he wants to take advantage of her but it is for a good reason and nothing objectively bad for her. Just a little bit of sneaky help.

Still this isn't his usual approach, a drink always helps to start a talk. So he is just scanning more of his surroundings trying to pick up a topic. Finally, he lets out a sigh and turns slightly toward her.

"Those are cool weapons you've got there," he comments, nodding toward her shield and spear. "You look like you've done this before."

She perks up and turns around, seeming surprised at first and even points at herself in confusion, as if wondering if he's actually talking to her. "Oh! Um, thank you. I've had some training, yes." Her voice is polite but hesitant, with a hint of an accent he recognizes from Mistral's upper districts.

Pryce is surprised as he doesn't expect that from her. She looked so confident before, almost regal in how she carried herself. But up close, there's an air of awkwardness to her that doesn't match her warrior appearance.

"I'm Pryce Locke," he offers, deciding to keep it simple.

"Pyrrha," she responds with a stiff smile. "Pyrrha Nikos. It's nice to meet you, Pryce."

Pyrrha Nikos. A little strange name coming from Mistral but then again his name is Pryce Locke so it evens out.

However after she tells him her name, she keeps looking at him, tilting her head a little. Almost like she is waiting for something from him after introducing herself, as if anticipating some kind of reaction.

Maybe a custom from Mistral that he was never aware of?

So he simply nods in return, trying to be polite. Still he cannot help but knit his brows slightly.

That seems to get a reaction from her as she blinks a few times.

"You... don't recognize my name?" she asks hesitantly.

Pryce frowns. "Should I? I mean, we've just met."

Something shifts in her expression - tension melting away, replaced by what looks almost like relief. She straightens up, her smile becoming more genuine. "No, no reason at all. I just thought... never mind. It's actually quite refreshing."

"Uh, okay," Pryce says, still confused but deciding not to push it. "So, you're from Mistral too, right? I can hear it in your accent."

"Yes! How did you know?" She seems pleased by his observation, her emerald eyes brightening.

"I grew up there," he explains, carefully omitting the details. "Left a few years back to come to Vale."

"I've lived there my whole life," Pyrrha says. "Though I didn't attend the usual combat academies. I had private instructors and specialized training instead."

"That sounds expensive," Pryce comments before he can stop himself.

Pyrrha nods, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I was... fortunate. My tournament winnings also helped in covering most of the costs."

"Tournament winnings?" Now he's interested. "You compete?"

"Yes, I've participated in several tournaments in Mistral," she says, her voice becoming more animated as she talks about something familiar. "It's where I gained most of my combat experience. Though tournament fighting is quite different from real combat situations with Grimm. That's part of why I wanted to attend Beacon – to expand my experience beyond the arena."

Pryce whistles, impressed despite himself. "That's pretty cool. No wonder your gear looks so… professional."

No other word came to mind but it seemed it worked on her.

Her smile brightens at the strange compliment. "Thank you. And what about you? That's quite an interesting weapon you have." She gestures toward his gunblade.

"This? It's new, actually. Just got it a few days ago," he admits, running his hand along the blade. "Still getting used to it."

"May I?" Pyrrha asks, gesturing toward the weapon, her tone polite but interested.

Pryce hesitates - handing over his only means of defense to a stranger goes against every street instinct he has. But something about her earnest expression makes him relent. So he passes the gunblade to her carefully.

Pyrrha gets a good grip and brings it closer to her face. She examines it as her green eyes narrow before she starts doing a couple of things that Pryce assumes is some sort of testing. "The craftsmanship is excellent. The dust chambers are well-positioned for maximum effect with minimal kickback. And I can see that they added a heat gauge too. I assume it is for one full chamber release, correct?"

So she also notices that with a glance?

The redhead then changes her grip, and he quickly understands that she is demonstrating a proper grip. "If you hold it like this when firing, you'll have better control of the recoil. And if you shift your stance slightly—" She adjusts her posture to show him, "—you can better absorb the impact through your legs rather than your arms. It helps with maintaining accuracy during rapid fire."

"Thanks," Pryce says, genuinely appreciative as she hands it back. "My... mentor showed me some moves, but I'm still learning."

Even if it was just a few hours Pryce still took the drunkard's lessons to heart. Since he will be facing Grimm pretty soon.

"We all start somewhere," she says encouragingly, her voice warm. "I'd be happy to help you practice sometime, if you'd like of course. It's always important to practice against different weapons otherwise you stagnate as a fighter. And working with someone who uses a different combat style can help both partners improve."

That sounds like solid advice.

But this already shows that Neo's advice has paid off very well. A sparring partner who is an expert fighter, he can get a lot of training from this girl. And she is pretty, that's a bonus too.

"I'd really appreciate that," Pryce says, his ears perking up with genuine interest. "Seems like you know what you're talking about. Tournament fighter, huh?"

Pyrrha blushes slightly, looking down at her hands. "I've been fortunate in my matches. The Mistral Regional Tournaments taught me a lot, but there's still so much more to learn about being a true Huntress. Combat is just one aspect of what we do."

"I bet," Pryce agrees, thinking of his own street fights. No rules there, just survival. "So what made you choose Beacon instead of Haven? Mistral's got its own academy if I recall correctly."

"I wanted..." She pauses, for some reason. "A fresh start. Somewhere people might see me differently. In Mistral, people have certain... expectations of me. Here, I hoped I could just be Pyrrha, not..." She trails off, not completing the thought.

Pryce can relate to that more than she probably realizes. "Yeah, I get that. Vale's good for new beginnings."

A comfortable silence falls between them, and Pryce finds himself surprisingly at ease with this girl he just met. She's clearly skilled, well-trained, but there's something approachable about her that he hadn't expected.

"Are you nervous? About the initiation, I mean," Pyrrha asks, breaking the silence, her eyes studying him with genuine concern.

"Trying not to think about it," Pryce admits, which is about as close to the truth as he's willing to get with someone he just met. "You probably aren't, with all your experience."

"Everyone gets nervous," she says with a gentle smile. "It's perfectly normal. The unknown can be intimidating, but that's why we train – so we can be prepared for whatever comes our way. But I'm sure you'll do well. Sometimes fresh perspectives can be an advantage in unexpected situations."

Her confidence in him, a complete stranger, is both baffling and strangely comforting.

"Well, if we end up as partners, at least I know I'll be in good hands," he says with a half-smile.

"That would be nice," Pyrrha replies, and there's something in her tone that makes Pryce wonder if she might actually mean it. "I think we could learn a lot from each other."

The airship suddenly lurches as it begins departure, causing several students to stumble. Pyrrha instinctively reaches out to steady herself, her hand briefly touching Pryce's arm.

"Sorry about that," she says, quickly withdrawing her hand once the ship stabilizes.

"No problem," Pryce responds, watching as Vale's skyline begins to grow smaller through the windows. "So, these tournaments you were in – tell me more about them. What kind of fighters did you face?"

Pyrrha's expression brightens at the question, clearly comfortable with the topic. "All kinds! Mistral's regional tournaments attract competitors from across the kingdom with diverse fighting styles. There were staff wielders, dual-blade fighters, even a man who fought exclusively with dust-infused playing cards."

As they continue talking, Pryce finds himself genuinely interested in her stories. There's a passion in the way she describes combat techniques that's almost contagious, and he finds himself sharing bits of his own fighting experience – carefully edited to remove any illegal activities, of course.

By the time Beacon Academy comes into view through the airship windows, Pryce realizes he's actually enjoyed the conversation. Maybe this whole school thing wouldn't be completely terrible after all.

Before he can say something more, the airship's announcement system crackles to life, informing them they're approaching Beacon. And that's the cue for everyone inside that were scattered around to begin to gather their things and head to the exit in orderly fashion.

Only then Pyrrha stands up, collecting her weapons. "It was nice meeting you, Pryce. Perhaps we'll see each other during initiation." Her voice carries that same warmth he's already come to associate with her, and she offers him another genuine smile.

He also stands up and puts his gunblade back to its magnetic holster.

"Yeah, I'd like that," he says, meaning it more than he expected to.

As they move toward the exit with the other students, Pyrrha taking the lead, however Pryce notices several people whispering and pointing in Pyrrha's direction. Some are nudging their friends and gesturing excitedly, while others are staring with open admiration.

Pyrrha does her best to ignore them, but he can see that she has tensed her shoulders noticeably. Her previously relaxed demeanor shifts subtly as she straightens her posture and puts on what seems like a practiced smile when someone waves at her. There must be something going on that he isn't aware of, but that isn't his problem for now. He got what he wanted, so now he just needed to focus on passing initiation.

But when he is about to take the first step he gets bumped hard on the shoulder, the kind that he knows is on purpose with clear intention to attack him and mock him, but before he can lash out, the person responsible is seen running towards a large trash bin close to the landing entrance and practically throwing themselves inside it.

And his ears pick up clear sounds of someone puking their guts out.

Ah, that wasn't a direct attack, just somebody who got sick and wanted to throw up.

Who gets airsick though? That's pretty stupid.

Either way, Pryce can let that go, so he just keeps walking with the rest until they reach the main avenue, and he is greeted by the sight of Beacon Academy, causing him to stop in his tracks.

And while he hates to admit it, the academy does look magnificent, amazing, and very big. The central tower rises high above everything, gleaming in the sunlight. Immaculate gardens stretch in every direction, with fountains and statues positioned artfully throughout the grounds. It's nothing like the cramped, gritty neighborhoods he's used to in Mistral or even Vale's residential districts.

"So this is the place I will be trapped in for the next four years, huh?" He mutters to himself before letting out a chuckle.

However, he is distracted by a notification from his scroll which makes him pull it out to check and it is from Neo.

He quickly moves aside stepping onto the grass before he checks the message.

Neo: 'So how's it? Stabby time?'

Pryce snorts and types back. 'Place is huge. Hasn't even started yet. But your advice worked, found a good fighter to help me.'

Neo: 'Told you so.'

Pryce: 'So anything interesting happened while I was gone?'

Neo: 'Kinda, the bitch came to the warehouse again'

Pryce: 'Sounds rough'

Neo: 'I really want to stab her.'

Pryce: 'I can stab YOU instead'

Neo: 'Don't tempt me bunny'

Pryce smiles at the nickname, though his ears twitch with slight annoyance. He's about to reply when an explosion draws his attention across the courtyard. Smoke billows near the entrance, and he can make out a couple of figures arguing amidst the cloud.

But he notices there is luggage scattered everywhere and some of them has been forced open by the impact, revealing a lot of refined dust inside. And every element at that.

He quickly checks his surroundings and notices that there are practically no people around anymore.

His instincts immediately kick in. Unattended dust crystals, no witnesses, easy money. His fingers twitch with the familiar urge to grab what he can and disappear. In Mistral, he wouldn't have hesitated – it would have been enough to live on for months.

Or he could just go and interfere in the heated discussion to try to meditate and maybe even earn a favor from the owner of that expensive luggage, meaning potentially getting access to lots of resources he could definitely use for the academy life.

Decisions, decisions.

Except that thought dies down when he notices from the corner of his eyes the same girl with a bow, badly trying to cover her staring with her book.

Seriously, what's up with that woman? If she wants to speak with him just do it, don’t go acting all creepy and suspicious. That’s the kind of attitude he deposed back in Mistral streets.

He should straighten her out and be done with it.