Chapter Text
Everything felt odd lately for Penny, or maybe it had already been odd and she just didn't notice it then.
Team RWBY and Jaune Arc along with many others were dead, she saw them fall, Winter had been badly injured but luckily she got to the portal in time with Penny... Jaune was not so lucky, before she could even fly back, it had closed right before her.
The people of Atlas had been panicking, grimm surrounding them and the sand storm made it hard to see, turns out they were right outside of Vacuo.
She's still getting used to her human body, sleeping had worried her the first time and eating made her taste buds spiral, but the thing that was harder to get used to was the grave full of names. Those People deserved better than to be forgotten and fall into darkness. The memorial had been strange, no bodies to bury and that was even worse.
Penny regretted not being able to save them, not being able to save her friends. She regretted not being able to save the person who had believed she had a soul from the beginning, the girl with eyes that shined like the moon as if she were light itself.
They would all be dearly missed.
She had dreams now, sometimes they were warm, sometimes they were not. It was scary feeling all these new emotions pile up on her, having the ability to cry. It overwhelmed her, made her feel like she was drowning even if she never did drown before.
Penny tried to shift her worries to something more productive, but she just.. couldn't, how could she? She was still alive, she wasn't supposed to be if it weren't for Jaune... She shouldn't be alive, shouldn't be here, it would be so easy for her to slip away and-
The knocking snaps Penny out of her thoughts, firm and loud, she had been laying in her bed instead of getting up and helping people, how selfish.
"Penny? Are you coming down for breakfast, you've been there longer than expected." Ah she recognized that voice, Ren, the boy was a great source of calmness for Penny.
Penny sat up from her soft bed. Her long hair was slightly tangled and her covers somehow ended up on the floor, she went up to her dresser. The mirror reflected her tiredness. Another day, another Grimm to kill.
She sighed and grabbed the brush, or was she supposed to use the comb? She might need to ask Velvet again, her tangles weren't as bad as the first day she tried combing her hair.
When she finished taming to it, she headed to her bathroom to quickly take a shower and brush her teeth.
The shower part always makes her feel weird, she felt out of place like her body didn't belong to her or that she was doing something wrong.
She didn't like looking at herself but maybe she would've if she had anything good to look at. She wonders if anyone else felt this before. No, of course they wouldn't, there's no one like her after all. Just because her guts are squishy now doesn't change that they used to be wired and bolts, it's hard adjusting to that feeling.
Penny decided she hates mirrors.
After breakfast, everyone once again went off to do their own things.
She had to kill a couple handful of Grimm that day, the bad part of being human was getting exhausted, she felt it before but never like this, like her body was going to crush even if squeezed just a bit, her head ached.
Penny went to sit down near the grave instead of going with Ren, Nora, and Oscar, she didn't want to interrupt their time together, they barely got to speak to each other lately so she wanted to give them space, plus she didn't want to invade on something she shouldn't..
She didn't really want them to feel like she's trying to replace a hole in the team.
The stars reminded Penny of her so she stayed a bit longer, maybe she'd feel better. She wanted to move on, tried to before, but she just couldn't stop thinking about them.
If she moved on, would it mean she had to forget? What would the future hold? What if she didn't protect everyone correctly?
Penny Polendina went to sleep that day with her mind filled with questions and what-ifs.