Greetings everyone! First off thank you for taking the time to read what will be my first fanfic in many years but also sadly more than likely my last as well. Getting on in life, graduating University and pursuing a dream will require sacrifice. Yet my co-author and I will do our damndest to ensure that we do finish this fic. With that please enjoy our story and see how events change when unexpected feelings arise. With that, we present to you know for your reading pleasure...RWBY: Fall for a Rose
It was on. After all the training and planning, the insurmountable time slowly chipping away at their foe's defenses, the years needed to build up their force to their zenith, at long last had the time come to strike. At last was the time to finally execute the hammer stroke that would mark the beginning of the end of their enemies and the final road to humanity's ruin. For millennia the master plan of her master, the Grimm lady Salem had been carefully nurtured and cultivated by the malevolent woman. It had long been her master's utmost desire to see humanity crumble; to wither and die, all done in an effort to spite the Gods and the one who had betrayed her. It would begin with the destruction of Beacon Academy and the acquisition of the Fall Maiden's power by herself. Soon she would finally have the power she had desired for so long. The power to take vengeance upon all those who had wronged her, to never be weak again but most of all its power would aide not only in attaining her master's goal, but also her own.
These were the thoughts of Cinder Fall as she walked the empty halls of Beacon Academy. With cascading obsidian locks, eyes crafted of amber, skin of snow and a physique that warriors dreamed of, Cinder was an alluring and encapsulating young woman. The Haven Academy uniform she wore at that moment also aided in enhancing her mesmerizing appearance. Only a year or two out of her teens, it gave her the youthful air of someone still naïve to the reality of the world, while adding an appearance of professionalism. However, as her thoughts revealed, her personality did not match her regal appearance. Cinder Fall despised the world around her. She held contempt for nearly everything or anyone she had come in contact with. There were save few that did not earn her scorn, the most prominent was, of course, her master, the wicked witch, Salem. When Cinder was young and had already lost and suffered so much to the unforgiving world of Remnant, it was Salem who had saved her and offered her the chance to attain the power to make her desires a reality. There were very few others that she held she seemed to have affection for but aside from them Cinder hated all of Remnant and could not wait to see it all burn. With her master's plan at last proceeding into the first phase of its endgame, Cinder simply chuckled to herself as a sly grin carved its way onto her face. She and her team had already slipped unnoticed into one of the world's strongest bastions of hope, Beacon Academy. Hidden beneath arguably the best Huntsman institution lay two deep and powerful secrets. It was Cinder's purpose to not only find and collect these secrets but to ensure that Beacon and its headmaster burned in the process.
'Soon. Very soon that power will, at last, be mine,' the dark-haired beauty thought to herself as she failed to notice her surroundings and thus She wasn't prepared for when someone shouted, "Watch out!"
Within an instant of the audible warning, the one who uttered it collided with the disciple of Salem, knocking the both of them to the ground. As her bottom landed unceremoniously to the floor, Cinder could only grunt in slight annoyance. Normally, one would react rather hostile to someone slamming into them and having them fall to the ground in such an undignified manner, however, Cinder Fall was not most people. As annoying what had transpired was, Cinder merely brushed it off as a mere triviality. The raven-haired pyromancer simply sighed as she began her attempts to arise from the floor when to her surprise a hand was thrust forward offering assistance.
" Oh, my gods I'm so sorry! Please let me help you up!" came the voice of apparently a young girl, the one who had crashed into her, already on her uniform styled shoe covered feet and offering to remedy her unintended transgression.
Cinder's amber colored eyes looked up curiously as she took in the sight of the young women with the outstretched hand The girl standing before her appeared to be around slightly younger than herself, perhaps five years her junior. She wore the standard beacon uniform. Similar to that of Haven's with some minor changes, the uniform was black with a gold trim accompanied with a red-checkered skirt. Yet, what stood out most with her attire was the addition of a rather unique red cape and hood. The young huntress' complexion was that of snow with cheeks the color of a rose. She had hair that was a fascinating mixture of red and black but her most striking feature as Cinder looked up at the Beacon student, was her eyes. The visual orbs that stared down upon Cinder appeared as if they shined with silver liquid. Cinder could not pull her sight away from them as she moved to grasp the still outstretched hand. Never before had the nefarious mastermind seen such beautiful eyes nor had she seen what lay within the eyes. Sadness, regret, youth and innocence, hope but above all kindness and love. For all her twenty-one years of life, Cinder Fall had never beheld such melancholic pureness contained within eyes of one so young. As she peered into them, Cinder felt a slight sensation flutter through her body, something she quickly shook off as the wanna-be fall maiden was finally pulled from her mesmerized state when she, at last, realized that the young girl was speaking to her once more.
"...ummm hey? Again I'm really sorry for running into you like that. I guess I was just really excited for the cool stuff that's arriving today for the festival and all that. Hehe...are you ok?" the black cherry haired student inquired to the now standing undercover criminal.
"...oh ummmm yes. Sorry... I was distracted for a moment. I'm fine and it's all right. I can understand the excitement of the festival." Cinder responded with a collected smile that betrayed little emotion except for a slight playfulness. The worried expression on the maiden's face quickly evaporated at the kind and understanding answer she received. It was then the Beacon student herself too took notice of the woman before her and after several seconds a slow blush grew upon her cheeks. In her mind, the red-cloaked huntress in training could only marvel at the beauty standing before her.
'She's so beautiful so mysterious…dangerous,' she thought, 'but…there's something else…I can't put my finger on it but…' Before she could continue her train of thought, several sets of running feet approached from the opposite ends of the hall they occupied.
"Ruby!" came the call of a white-haired young woman also attired in Beacon's uniform from behind the girl who now stared at Cinder in wonder. Two others, a blonde haired brawler and a black haired feline Faunus accompanied her. The one called Ruby turned her head in embarrassment as she turned to meet the three closing in on her and Cinder.
"Hehe, sorry guys I got a little ahead of myself," she apologized to the three.
"Honestly, how can you be this excited simply over the opening ceremonies? Besides, they are four days away!" the white-haired lady stated with a slight inflection conveying aristocracy.
"Hehe yeah, Rubes. You gotta relax," cheekily grinned the blonde haired woman.
"Cinder!" rang a new voice, this one coming from behind Cinder. To this, the woman with the name of Fall turned to see her subordinates, Emerald and Mercury as they sprinted up towards their superior. "Are you alright, Cinder?" the bronze-skinned red-eyed Emerald asked.
Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. Both were around the same age, nineteen years old and both held more combat experience than most Huntsman gained in their lifetime. Emerald was a former thief that Cinder, similar to what Salem did for her, picked her out of the gutter when seeing the girl possessed a potential for something greater. Granted Cinder did not expect to garner a slight maternal sentiment for the girl two years her junior, and yet she did. Mercury was the trained son of a now late master assassin. He was an absolute psychopath that hid his sociopathic mind beneath a calm and collected exterior, only showing the briefest glimpse at his true nature when locked in combat. Cinder more or less viewed him as an annoying but useful younger brother.
"It's fine, I just simply had a small accident by bumped into someone when I had my mind somewhere else," she said with a small giggle and a smile. She responded in such a way to Emerald and Mercury in order to not only calm the short green haired woman and the young man with the metallic legs but also in order to remind them both to keep their roles now that there were in front of a group of huntresses.
"More like it was the product of our hyperactive and childish leader that had too much sugar in her breakfast," the white-haired young woman said with a continued scolding of superiority in her voice, a tone that quickly began to annoy Cinder since she had always despised any form of aristocracy. That and for reasons she couldn't quite place, she didn't like the way the aristocratic woman was speaking of the sweet petite woman who she had bumped into. However, that annoying sensation began to dissipate once she saw the cute and funny reaction that the young woman with the red cape had at this.
"Weiss! This doesn't have anything to do with that! I was just thinking of all the stuff that's arriving today for the festival and well the tournament itself," the young silver eyed woman stated with her arms crossed, snowy cheeks more puffed and sporting a more bright shade of pink.
"Are you still thinking on that? Ruby for the one hundred and twenty-ninth time, the festival starts in four days, being nervous is fine but thinking about it twenty-four seven will make you no good!"
"Are you just cranky because you didn't get your coffee at breakfast?" Ruby asked with a playful wickedness on her face that made Cinder let out another small giggle. Something that didn't escape the ears of both Emerald and Mercury. Though they understood the role they had to play in front of others, the duo couldn't help but wonder if maybe their black-haired superior was taking her role too far...or maybe she wasn't.
"That doesn't have to do with anything!" the woman now identified as Weiss answered to Ruby.
"Jeez these two should get a room already, eh Blake?" the long blonde haired one said with a funny smile while she lightly nudged the arm of the Faunus girl.
Blake simply rolled her eyes and answered with a bored, "Sure thing Yang...," she then directed her words toward the other two girls, "Guys, if you two keep fighting like this we won't last that long in the tournament," she said as the 'voice of reason' for the two girls which stopped fighting once they heard their voice.
"...She's right. Sorry, Weiss." Ruby apologized looking away embarrassed at her own childish attitude, something that made Cinder raise a quizzical eyebrow.
'Hmmm youthful but with a hint of maturity…interesting…'
"Well...I'll admit…I was perhaps a bit to harsh as well...I offer my own amends." the heiress said, she too looking away from embarrassment at their bickering. What immediately followed was a small awkward silence as both teams merely stood across from each other, while both Schnee and Rose were turned from each other. Yet, it was that same Rose that broke the silence as she noticed that the young women still standing before her albeit now with what appeared to be her own team.
"Hehe again sorry about the whole knocking into you." Ruby awkwardly smiled while scratching the back of her head. Cinder simply smiled at the repeated apology. "And, OH! Your uniforms! Are you guys from Haven?" Ruby cried out before becoming increasingly excited at the prospect of having literally run into students from a rival school. Cinder blinked several times for a moment, slightly shocked at this sudden burst of excitement emulating from the red-cloaked warrior. Just as quickly though she recomposed herself and once more gave the girl a genuine smile.
"Hehe yes, we are. Allow us to introduce ourselves, I'm Cinder Fall and these two are my teammates..." she began before gesturing to her lackeys to introduce themselves to the Beacon team.
"Ummm Emerald Sustrai." the jade hair colored woman said as she stepped forward and offering a slight bow of greetings. Mercury followed suit of his partner by simply offering his name and adding a quaint bow as the end.
"OHHHH! So cool! Welcome to Beacon! I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose and these are my teammates!" the scythe/sniper wielding protégé sang as she too sought to introduce her team. However, Cinder firmly kept her fiery eyes trained on the grinning and innocent face of Team RWBY's leader.
'Ruby Rose? A rather lovely name...' thought Cinder as she came to realize there was truly something special about Ruby that drew her full attention.
The heiress of the Schnee family simply couldn't help herself but kick herself mentally at the over exaggerated way that Ruby had to present herself and the rest of the team. Yang giggled at the normal hyper attitude of her younger sister while Blake calmly remained stoic with her poker face at the loveable madness was Ruby.
Of the three the first one to break the silence after Ruby's awkward introduction was the long blonde haired young woman that with a foxy grin in her face proceeded to introduce herself "Name's Yang, Yang Xiao Long I'm Ruby's older sister, nice to meet ya."
"Greetings my name is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you all," the white-haired girl said with an educated and sweet way.
"I'm Blake, Blake Belladonna, nice to meet you," the long black haired faunus said in her usual distant and monotone way.
Still, all three presentations barely managed to truly register with Emerald or Mercury, both who really could care less about becoming acquainted with any of the students. Cinder also barely recognized the introduction of the rest of team RWBY as her focus remained focused on Ruby, who in turn kept her own focus on Cinder. Cinder gave a brief acknowledgment to the three others before the young woman before her suddenly erupted into a flurry of enthusiastic questions.
"So what are things like at Heaven? Is it true that you have fighting tournaments year round? What are your weapon construction programs like? How difficult is the training there! Is it deadly? How strong are you all three? Are you the leader of your team Cinder?" the black and red-haired young woman threw question after question with a big smile on her face. Said face was a few inches beneath Cinder's face, but her body was nearly pressed up against her. Due to her excitement at meeting others from another academy, Ruby had yet to realize her invasion of the evil woman's personal space.
Cinder though couldn't help but look with wide eyes as Ruby continued her comical and sudden interrogation. She could barely process the cute huntress' myriad of questions in the rapid succession in which they were asked. Cinder had prepared to be questioned by other students and perhaps even the staff regarding the school they supposedly stemmed from, she just didn't anticipate the an overly excited like Ruby. What was most distracting the nefarious women was how the younger girl was all but pressing her body up against her own. It was then Cinder realized that her heart rate had begun to elevate. For a small moment, Cinder almost believed that she was having some kind of heart attack or worse, but she quickly drove that thought from her mind. She thought for a brief moment of the possibility that she was perhaps scared of the cute and innocent team leader. The feeling was similar to the first time she had met Salem. The feeling Cinder experienced those years ago was similar to what she felt at that moment, unique and terrifying. However, this time around it felt different. It felt good.
"Do you also havbwaggh!"
Cinder shook her head as she was snapped from her trance. The sound of Ruby's questions transforming into choking sounds pulled the fiery archer from her contemplation. She bore witness as Ruby was pulled backward by her own older sister who gripped her by the back of her cape. Yang would then proceed to lift her younger sibling off of the floor and held the gagging scythe wielder at arm's length.
"Eaaasy there Ruby, I know you want to know more about them and Haven, but I bet our new friends have things to do now," Yang said with a smile.
"That's right and besides we have our own things to do now Ruby, remember?" Weiss followed up with a more calm and friendly tone than before.
Cinder chuckled at the sight of Ruby being dangled off the ground by her elder sibling before commenting, "Yes, while my team and myself would love to become better acquainted we do in fact still have much to unpack."
Ruby pouted at the fact her inquiries would have to be delayed. The young warrior wanted to discover more about the Haven trio, to be more precise she wished to learn more about Cinder. Within the minuscule amount of time since Ruby's crash into the exchange student, the youngest Beacon student had become highly interested in the young women. As she had already noted, there was an air of mystery about the raven-haired women that drew Ruby in and ignited a spark within her. Unknown to Ruby, a similar spark had been ignited within Cinder the moment both their eyes locked, yet it still remained a mystery to Cinder herself.
"Fret not little rose. I'm sure we'll see each other again. After all the festival does last for over a month," the agent of darkness said to the leader of Team RWBY. The response of Ruby came in the form of a wide and happy grin and a fervent nodding of her head.
"Ya hear that Rubes? Alright then! Let's get a move on team RWBY!" Yang cried to her team, while still holding her younger half-sibling in the air. "It was nice meeting you three! You can always find us either on the third floor of the dorms or out on the training fields!" The Xiao Long girl then marched forward, carrying her little sister. Blake and Weiss gave a passing farewell wave as they followed the Rose/Xiao-Long sisters.
As soon as the Beacon group had rounded a corner further down the hall and were well out of hearing, even for the Faunus did Emerald click her tongue in annoyance, "Tch. Little brat, knocking into you like that and then demanding all those stupid questions."
"Yeah. That and she's the leader of that team? If that's what Beacon has as students, then this is going to be easy as hell." boasted the man with the prosthetic legs. "Right Cinder?"
But he got no response, as Cinder stood still clearly deep in thought. Her chin rested in between the amber-eyed woman's thumb and index finger. Her thoughts could not escape the feeling that was fluttering inside her. What was it about the girl she had simply crashed into and spent little over five minutes talking too that made her feel such an unusual way. So deep in thought over this abnormality in an otherwise straightforward operation, that she still had not realized that Emerald and Mercury had been attempting to get her attention for the better part of a minute.
"Cinder?" Emerald inquired once more to their silent leader. Still nothing. The red-eyed girl gave a slight tap on the pyromancer's shoulder before she, at last, got a response.
"...Apologies I was thinking...Emerald, Mercury..." Cinder said in her sultry but commanding tone. Both underlings stood ready to listen to what she had to say. "I want to you two to gather information on that team...particularly their leader. That Ruby Rose."
"Ummm if I may ma'am…why?"
"She intrigues me."