Chapter Four: Tension

Tension. Pyrrha Nikos' body was tense. Muscles were tightly coiled, threatening to burst to spring into action.

Clang!



The sound of Milo meeting resistance. Pyrrha pushed forward, relying on strength to overpower it. She could move the object out of the way, or tilt it so it slid off of Milo. However, that in of itself held no purpose. Unexpectedly, the force yielded, causing the red-haired teen to nearly lose her balance.

Woosh!

A sword came in a fast sweep towards Pyrrha's head. Leaning back, the blade nearly struck the huntress' aura, it's lazy arc filling the girl's vision. Closer and closer, before the sword reached apex, the gray blade became smaller and smaller, as it swung past her head.

Clack-clack-clack

Milo reverberated from each hit. Metal grated on metal for a brief moment before Pyrrha pulled Milo back to block another of the increasingly wild sword swings. Forming a constant tempo of steel impacting steel, Pyrrha continued to block the assault.

Chink!

Milo taps her opponent by the flat of the blade. Not enough to hurt him, or even cause his aura to activate, but loud enough that it is audible. It signified an opening in his stance. The combat stopped as her opponent adjusted his stance, Pyrrha giving him a few pointers before the melee duel began again.

The process repeated itself, over and over again, as the Pyrrha and Jaune kept at it on the moonlight roof. A few opening strikes by Pyrrha, followed by Jaune responding in kind, eventually over extending himself and needing correcting. A process that Pyrrha had experienced for a few months, now. The fact that this process had been interrupted for the previous few nights had been odd in its own right, but ultimately out of Pyrrha's control.

Not that Pyrrha particularly needed the practice, no, but her partner certainly did. As much as Jaune had improved under Pyrrha's tutelage, he still had a long ways to go. In a sense it made sparring a relaxing exercise; Pyrrha didn't need to go all out to be a good instructor, but Jaune provided enough of a challenge to keep it interesting for her.

Yet why am I so tense?

One would think that anyone would be tense during a sword match, regardless if it was merely a friendly practice match. Usually Pyrrha felt a sense of relaxation during these matches, almost viewing it as a way to unwind at the end of a long day of class. Sure, she was tense; it was a sparring match after all… not, however, to the point where her knuckles were white from gripping Milo, such as today.

It felt like a knot was formed in her chest as she blocked another strike from Jaune, Crocea Mors sliding off Milo's length. I need to relax; Pyrrha took a deep breath in and letting it out, as she tried to loosen her grip. Not that Jaune made it particularly easy, taking the brief moment to lunge at her.

Crocea Mors bounced off Akouo, Pyrrha spinning into a low kick, her back taking the blow as she her center of mass shifted closer to the ground.

Jaune not expecting the leg sweep ended up on the ground.

"Ow." Jaune mumbled, stumbling to his feet, "I didn't even see you going for the sweep" his head hung down in dejection, "…are you sure I'm improving?"

Pyrrha nodded quickly, "Your swordplay has improved immensely!" It wasn't a lie, it truly had. When Jaune had started with her, he didn't even know how to hold a sword properly. The only reason he had ended up on his ass now, was because Pyrrha had been at this a lot longer.

The teen gave a weak smile, "Thanks, Pyrrha."

She gave a polite smile before looking at Milo, still in a death grip. Relax. I need to relax. Breathe in, breathe out. Little by little her muscles started to un-tense, the feeling of being ready to spring diminished. So caught up in this, she nearly missed what Jaune said.

"-I'm going to be busy this Saturday with Velvet, what about Sunday?"

Pyrrha blinked in confusion at Jaune, "I'm sorry?"

Jaune's head tilted, "The Captain Mistral movie… y'know the one you said you wanted to see last weekend… wanna go see it on Sunday?"

"Oh!" It took a moment for Pyrrha to realize what Jaune was saying, having completely forgotten about the movie. Her response was automatic; "Sure, that sounds grand!"

That was a lie; it actually filled her with apprehension of the negative variety. Tension swelled back up in her hands, her grip tightening once more.

Knowing that the source of it was Jaune did not make it any easier. In fact it just made Pyrrha feel guilty. Guilty that she was feeling… well, angry at the fact that it would be them going as friends and not the date she had envisioned seemingly a few short days ago. Guilty that she felt this way and Jaune had even remembered about the movie when she had forgotten entirely.

"Great! Uh." Jaune looked sheepishly at Pyrrha, "I know we usually do some aura training but…um, c-can I go early? Velvet said she'd help me with Oobleck's assignment…"

A slight face twitch was all that displayed on Pyrrha's face at the mention before the professional smile made its home. "That's fine Jaune; see you back at the room."

Jaune mumbled thanks as he hurried off the roof, leaving Pyrrha, alone.

Looking down at her right hand, Pyrrha kept a tight grip on Milo. With no one else around, the polite smile faded into a frown, emerald eyes staring at her clenched hand.

Why does it feel like I'm in fight or flight mode? The match is over, and it's not like I usually get this tense, even during class matches.



Sighing loudly, Pyrrha took a deep breathe in, and held it for a count of five before releasing. The process repeated, again and again until the tension in her knuckles started to abate. The grip loosened, the metal hilt of Milo stopped cutting into Pyrrha's palm and formed a more comfortable grip. A natural grip, one that she normally had. A grip that she had spent years perfecting at Sanctum. It left a thought in her mind.

Does Jaune really cause that much tension in me?

AU: I'm back!

Okay I imagine that I'm going to get a lot of crap over this because this is by far the lowest quality chapter to date. In my defense I haven't written anything for fun in three weeks which sucks, and I'm sorry guys and gals. Seriously, I'm really sorry.

Yes there was a lack of Ruby this chapter, I know, its Pyrruby story, but I really felt the need to make the sparring its own separate chapter. The late night training is honestly the only time we see Jaune and Pyrrha having alone time in the show, and this story is as much as about Pyrrha and Ruby eventually getting together as Pyrrha's dynamic with Jaune.

Plus I have plans for the next few chapters. Actually I outlined the next 9 chapters or so. Maybe 11? I outlined a lot. I wasn't COMPLETELY idle during the last few weeks.

Unrelated to Acceptance, but still relevant, is that I will be putting new chapters out for my stories soon! Dilation should have one tomorrow, and Skyros The Peerless within a week! (Sorry to averhan who I think my inactivity worried. You may of commented on Skyros the Peerless, but I know you read this as well mate :P )

Hopefully I will have a new Acceptance chapter this month!

Finally I have cover art! The wonderous Dashingicecream, the most dashing of all the iced creams, has provided, thank you kindly!

Edited July 8th, 2015 by ASouthernRussian