A/N: hellooooooo

This takes place sometime after the end of volume three, probably sometime in volume four. It's meant to sort of explain why Neo was going after Cinder in volume six, though this is no way canon.

this was also prompted, the prompt being anger, for Writer's Bingo on the TDRPU. Im not sure how well I used the prompt, I made her anger subtle since imo its more fitting with her character.

Melo is a character I made up for this story, and any other named characters belong to Rooster Teeth.

Enjoy!

The clicking of heels on the uneven pavement echoed through the alleyway. The tip of a lacy umbrella dragged slightly across the loose pebbles, the handle clutched in one hand. The individual wielding it had her head turned down slightly, shadowed by the bowler hat she wore atop her long and messy dual-colored hair.

The scumbags she passed watched her walk by and those who were able to recognize her advised their friends to back off and not give her trouble. One unfortunate, tall fellow didn't heed that warning and waltzed up to her, a hand on his hip. He had a spear slung on his back; it likely doubled as a gun or some other weapon. "My, ain't you looking real sweet," he called out to her.

The girl stopped and glanced over at the man, not showing her eyes right away. She said nothing, lifting her umbrella off the ground and up to rest on her shoulder. She was giving him a once over, and must have found him to be quite useless, because she turned again and moved on through the alley.

Several more thugs whispered as the girl emerged from the alley into what was a sort of hot spot for the lowlifes of Remnant to collectively scheme. Wanted posters hung from the walls for bounty hunters and anyone possibly plotting murder. The girl walked up to a group that included a couple of humans and a Faunus who were discussing a certain poster that had been recently put up.

"I tell you, no one is sad that girl went missing," the Faunus, a male with shoulder length black hair and a slightly lighter skin tone, insisted. He had a cracked White Fang mask in one hand that didn't look like it would fit, and a wolf's tail and ears.

"I heard she did some messed up stuff over in Vale," one of the humans, a woman with ripped clothing, added to the conversation. "And she was just poof!"

"Wonder where she's at. I'd love to get that sweet money for the reward but, y'know, there's only so much effort one guy can put into a search like that," the other human, geared up with some sort of dark armor and a massive pair of guns strapped to his thighs, remarked.

The three crowded the poster further so it was difficult for outsiders to see.

The girl from before tried to get a look, but being short and the three crooks having a significant height advantage, it was impossible for her. She frowned under the hat and brought her umbrella off of her shoulder to tap the armored man with the end of it.

He turned, wondering aloud who had tapped him and instinctively reaching for one of his guns before seeing who it was and spotting the hat, one that was very well known in the underworld of Remnant. He then felt his eyes widen slightly, seeing the girl's expression, and glanced at his two friends, who backed off as well.

The girl looked at each of them, nodding to acknowledge that they had done what she had wanted, and stepped up to the poster. She reached up with a gloved hand and tore it off, bringing it down to her eye level. Her frown only deepened, and she folded it up and pocketed it. She turned to walk away but was stopped by the Faunus, who was also frowning. "You're Torchwick's partner, aren't you?" he asked.

The girl looked at him; her eyes were two different colors, pink and brown. She nodded twice. She took pride in the position, despite the fact she could not fulfill it any longer. Her grip on her umbrella did tighten at the mention of his name.

"Rumors are going 'round he's dead," the Faunus continued.

The humans looked at each other warily. "Melo, you might want to back off-" the woman warned.

"Failed to stop a little girl," Melo continued. "Probably not unlike yourself, er...sorry, I've forgotten your name but it probably doesn't matter."

The girl opened her umbrella.

"Never did like working with him," Melo kept going.

The girl tilted her head at him, now with a straight face, as if asking if he wanted to be stabbed in the chest. Still she did not speak.

"I just remembered I had to meet someone else," the human man said, quickly moving away.

"Me too," the woman agreed, splitting in the other direction.

Melo watched them go and looked down at the girl. Other people were watching them. "I don't want a fight," he claimed. "Just stating my opinion."

The girl closed the umbrella but then grabbed the handle and partly unsheathed the sword within her umbrella, her eye color changing again.

Melo took another step back. "Hey, I'll leave you alone. I have no problems with your guy anymore; if he were even still alive he'd have turned up by now-"

She re-sheathed the sword, turned, and walked away from him, or so it seemed.

Melo blinked, then shrugged and moved on.

It was when Melo had moved outside that he found his fate.

Once he'd slumped onto the ground bleeding to death, the girl twirled her umbrella and walked away to a corner, where she took the poster out again and unfurled it.

The picture on the paper was of an all too familiar girl who wore her black hair pushed to one side so it covered one of her flaming eyes.

The girl holding the poster clenched her fists, tearing it on the edges. It was the fault of Cinder- the girl on the poster- that Roman was dead. She could almost hear him telling her to seek her out. 'Brilliant idea, Neo,' he would have said, and she would have smiled.

Melo had been painfully correct; if Roman were still alive he would have come back by now. It had been long enough. He wouldn't have just disappeared, not without her. Not without his hat.

Neo folded the poster once again and looked out of the alley, towards the world where evil was frowned upon. She would be the one to find Cinder, and was going to make her pay for Roman's demise.

She smirked to herself. Revenge would be bittersweet...like chocolate.

If you have feeback or anything like that, feel free to review this. Thanks for reading :)