The Last Jubilee
(A/N: This is my submission for r/RWBY's MonCon for July 2015. The theme was fireworks and character Cinder Fall. God bless)
The start of the Vytal Festival was a day of celebration and of remembrance for the people of Remnant. Huntsmen gave their lives every day to a merciless enemy that threatened their very existence. To commemorate their long history the City of Vale filled the streets with parades, balloons, and dedicated the day to their protectors.
Old huntsmen would sit down and tell stories to anyone who would listen about their youth and the glory days of the huntsmen, before the military had stepped in or the kingdoms had even split. Veteran huntsmen were celebrated as heroes and could not go ten feet without being recognized or asked for their autograph.
Atlas' military made their presence felt throughout the festivities and one could not turn around without a man in clean white armor staring back. Many of the citizens didn't mind and even made them a part of the event. They had been the ones who saved the city after all.
The huntsmen had been no where to be found, or so they'd been told.
Cinder's eyes burned brightly as she caught glimpses of the city through the spotless windows of Beacon's stairwell. A smile tugged at her lips seeing the still battered city silhouetted against the sunset. Even after weeks of reconstruction the impact of the Grimm could still be seen as well as felt.
"The city's so beautiful now." She remarked to the two Haven students following behind. "I can't wait to see it all gone."
The silver haired boy with heavy footsteps smirked and glanced out the window.
"I'd call it an improvement." He turned away and didn't give it a second look. "What about you Emerald?"
The young woman with bright green hair narrowed her eyes and took a long look at the city as if to commit it to memory. Emerald saw concerned eyes in her reflection and coughed.
"Won't miss it a bit." She lied.
Mercury looked as though he were going to argue but Cinder seemed to sense it.
She turned around and both Mercury and Emerald swore they could see the City of Vale burning in her eyes.
"Enjoy it while you can. Tonight will be last Vytal Festival on Remnant."
Cinder glanced down to four female students on the balcony below and smiled.
"Oh this is just so exciting!" Ruby squealed as bounced on the balls of her feet.
Popcorn dribbled out of her bowl only to be swallowed by the jaws of Zwei. The corgi waited patiently as the caped-girl's feet knowing that more junk food was inbound.
Laying in her lawn chair Weiss couldn't decide who had actually eaten more popcorn, Ruby or the dog.
"It's just a firework show." She scoffed. "I don't see what the big deal is."
"Neither do I." Blake muttered.
The faunus had wanted to stay inside but Ruby had dragged the entire team to the top of their dorm to watch the firework show. She sighed and went back to reading.
"It's the biggest firework show of the year!" Ruby cried. "They always pull out all the stops for the Vytal Festival. Tell them Yang."
The blonde stuffed her mouth with popcorn and nodded.
"Yep. We always climbed to the top of Signal with our dad to watch the show and even from Patch it was amazing. I got to see it in the city last year but this will be Ruby's first time."
"This is gonna be awesome!" Ruby declared.
Yang shot a round from her gauntlets into the sky as an early celebration. Her sister cheered spilling even more popcorn to Zwei's appreciation.
The heiress only rolled her eyes while Blake turned the page.
"How much longer?" Ruby whined.
The heiress glanced at her scroll.
"Five minutes ago I told you ten minutes so you do the math."
Ruby held up her fingers and subtracted five.
"You got it dolt."
"Why don't you come sit down sis?" Yang laughed. "Zwei's gonna get overweight at this rate."
The caped-girl hung her head but took a seat next to Weiss on the lawn chairs they'd set up and
Zwei jumped in Weiss' lap.
"You want to watch the show with me don't you puppy tart?"
Zwei licked her face sending the heiress into hysterics.
"Puppy tart?" Ruby mouthed to her sister and Blake.
They shrugged.
"I hope it's as good as last year." Ruby said while taking a bite out of a chocolate chip cookie she'd hidden in her pockets. "Ir wus awesmum."
"Please don't talk with your mouth full Ruby." Weiss cringed. "And use a napkin."
Ruby wiped her mouth on her sleeve and gave a toothy grin full of chocolate chips.
Weiss shuddered.
"At least you have table manners." She said to the dog.
Blake's bow perked up and she tilted her head up.
"What's up Blake?" Her partner asked following her gaze up to the top of the academy.
Although they were at the top of the freshmen dorm the upperclassmen and visiting academies' dorms rose above theirs.
"Nothing." She shook her head. "I thought heard someone."
She went back to reading her novel.
"She's good." Cinder remarked stepping out of the shadows.
Her teammates nodded but it seemed the silver haired boy was only following along.
"Maybe we should add them to the list." He suggested.
Cinder shook her head.
"That will not be necessary Mercury. I'll take care of it."
Emerald blinked. "What are you gonna do?"
The dark haired woman laughed and her eyes lit up.
"Paying them back for wasting months of planning."
She held her hand out and a red glyph appeared in her hands.
"Here it comes!" Cried the girl wearing red down below. She had a sniper rifle in her hands staring off in the distance.
"Time to say goodbye..." Cinder whispered with glee.
"Here it comes!" Ruby announced jumping out of her seat.
"Hey move!" Weiss shouted. "I can't see!"
Rockets shot up into the sky with elegance before exploding in an array of colors in a cross like pattern.
Ruby and Yang gawked at their majesty and Weiss had to admit to herself they were pretty, in a completely over the top way. Even Blake glanced up from her book.
Arf, Arf!
"Hush puppy tart." The heiress chided.
No one besides the dog noticed the red circle at their feet.
SSSSBBLOOOOMMM!
The rooftop erupted in flames causing nearby windows to be blown out by the explosion. The scorched remains of the chairs flew off the dorm to the ground below.
As the black smoke cleared. Three bodies lay on the ground.
One however was still on their feet. A certain red eyed blonde with flames wrapping around her body.
"COME OUT AND FIGHT!" She shouted as her gauntlets activated.
"Y-yang..." Said a low voice.
"Ruby!" Her sister breathed as her eyes returned to lilac for just a moment.
The caped-girl grimaced trying to lift herself before falling back down to the concrete. Beside her Blake and Weiss lay unconscious while Zwei snuggled under the heiress' arms licking her burns.
Yang didn't have a choice. She ran to her teammates' sides checking on them before calling the medical bay and the campus security.
Fireworks exploded behind her causing her to jump.
Her red eyes lit up and the air was filled with her violent aura. She gritted her teeth looking down at her sister who was breathing heavily.
"You're gonna pay!" She promised.
A smile rose on Cinder's face at the blonde's so called threat. She watched as another volley of fireworks screamed into the air before showering the sky with sparks. She could smell the Dust in the air and it gave her goosebumps.
"The city will be so beautiful without any people." She said mesmerized by the lights.
"You know it's good luck to make a wish the opening night of the Vytal Festival." Mercury grinned.
"Why don't you make one."
Cinder looked up to the sky that was now covered in white smoke then down below to the blonde haired girl worrying over her unconscious sister and friends.
"I want them all to burn." She said before turning around. It would do no good to stick around and get caught. She had business to attend to.
"Come along Mercury, Emerald." Her eyes lit up. "We have city to raze."
(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has made these stories possible. God bless)