A/N: So ever since we learned more about Cinder, I have been dying to write a Falling Petals fic. Because of friends and their convincing conversations, here it is. I'm not sure how long this will be or even how it will be received, but rest assured I will not abandon Love Falls Forever, this was nitpicking at my mind and it needed to be written down. Thank you to Brandon for proof reading this, and to Chris for planning this with me :) Anywho, lets get on with this then shall we? Thank you for clicking on this story, and I hope you enjoy :)
Oh, and there is some description of broken bones in this chapter, 'cuz, well, she was thrown off a train, ya'know. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or its characters, they belong to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.
Her body registered the grip on her foot before her brain could, and when she was pulled with a violent force, her hand snatched out and grabbed onto the train.
The grip increased as the holder stopped in its tracks, causing her to be stretched as she tried to hold on to the still speeding train. Obviously, she didn't hold on for long.
"RUBY!" she heard Yang yell, and she seemed to fall in slow motion. She looked up at the blonde reaching out to her, watching her slowly become encased in protective ice.
Then time sped back up, the train shot off and she was slammed down into the tunnel wall by the hungry Grimm. She collided with a crunch and fell on her back, gasping through the pain that shot down her spine.
The Grimm, one she hadn't seen before, that looked like a Raptor, snapped its jaws in glee, and lunged towards her. She tried to move, willing her arms or legs or anything to move, but nothing did. Her legs stayed motionless, and the best she could do was twitch her left arm, which was held up by a rock under her elbow. Apart from that, her body was motionless.
She was paralysed.
Because of this, she could do nothing but watch as the dinosaur Grimm dived towards her, so her eyes slid shut in defeat.
Then an almighty boom blared across the tunnel, the force hitting the Grimm that was now above her and sending it crashing into the wall where she had been seconds before. Unfortunately, it also fell where she was now.
Its head slammed to her ribs, a second crack echoing from her. Its body also fell on her, crashing onto her leg, and a third snap was heard.
She barely had time to cry out when the rocks from the tunnel wall fell, directly on top of her and the dying beast. It whimpered as one slammed on its head, rolling off and too the left.
Right onto her arm.
This time she could scream, her arm snapped like a twig and all she knew was pain.
It was too much. All of it, too much.
A sob broke past her teeth before the blissfulness of unconsciousness took her.
The last thing she saw as her head fell to the right, facing the remains of the tunnel wall, was fire burning across from the collapsed train, the dust in its compartments finally giving out.
She felt the flare on the left side of her face, and then darkness.
~Ax~
White fuzziness surrounded her vision, sight blurring in and out as she tried to focus on anything.
Laughter from her right caused her to turn her head, and frown in confusion at what she managed to see.
The people were blurry; the only distinct things she could make out about them were their hair colours and heights. And gender, from the tone of laughing voices.
The shortest had white hair, the colour fading into the brightness around her vision, the second tallest had dark black hair, and the tallest had bright yellow hair.
It was creepy, as all she could see was that, no faces, no bodies, just height and hair.
"Hey, look who's awake! You alright? You're lookin' a little ill there." what seemed to be the tall blonde figure, asked.
The black haired one interrupted her before she could manage a reply.
"Oh stop Yang; you know she hasn't been feeling too well."
"Yeah," the final and third figure, who had the prettiest voice of them all, stated, "let's infect you with the flu and see how it goes."
The blonde snorted and seemed to shake her head. The third voice spoke again.
"Are you feeling better?"
Not knowing how to reply, she merely nodded her head.
"Good, you had me worried, Dunce. I told you to get a flu jab when I did."
The figure leant forwards, and she felt a cool yet warm pressure on her lips.
"Weiss! In front of me? Really?!"
"Shush!" the other two replied at the same time at the blonde figure.
She felt her eyes droop, and then she was in darkness again.
~Ax~
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Ma'am, this girl has been an annoyingly large thorn in my side for a while now."
"Well from what I have seen she is good at her job, which is more than I can say for you. Don't think you aren't in trouble for this."
The fog around her began to fade at the sound of this new person. Her voice was deep, not in a masculine way, in an attractive way. It sounded smoky, warm, yet dangerous at the same time.
Unfortunately, with waking brought back the pain.
A whimper burst from her lips when weight was lifted from her chest, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
"Neo, stun her."
She heard a thump as something was dropped, then several quick jabs flew around her body, aiming for her pressure points.
As sudden as it was there, the pain was gone. Replaced with an uncomfortable relaxation which unsettled her, but anything was better than the pain.
"Can you hear me? Open your eyes if you can."
The voice was closer, and if it were any other situation she would have blushed.
Slowly her eyes cracked open, expecting a pain that never came.
The woman above her was… stunning. Black hair with silver tips curved around her shaped pale face, eyes like a contained fire burning down on her.
The woman smirked, revealing some of her perfect teeth, and nodded.
"I'm Cinder, I want to help you. What's your name?"
If there was anything she wanted to do in that moment, it would be to tell this goddess her name. However, things are never easy.
"I- I don't know…"
Her voice sounded odd to her, scratchy, dry, and it hurt to talk.
Cinder tilted her head and frowned.
"What?"
"I- I-"
A third voice groaned from behind the goddess.
"This is taking forever! Mercury, give me that flask."
"Its not water Emerald."
"Do you think I care?"
Being unable to move sucked, she couldn't see who was talking or who else was there. A silver flask came into view, and Cinder took it.
"This will let you talk better, blink once for no or twice for yes if you want to drink it."
She frowned and looked at the flask.
Well, anything is better than not being able to talk.
The blinked once, then again. Cinder smirked and brought the flask to her lips, pouring the liquid into her mouth.
It seemed that whatever that other woman did to freeze her also affected her mouth; she could taste pretty much nothing, only a slight tinge of a burning sensation down her dry throat.
Cinder's fingers started to rub down her throat, easing the liquid down. After a few seconds she removed the flask and dropped it down besides her.
"Now try again, what's your name?"
"I don't… I don't remember." She whispered, closing her eyes in annoyance at her pathetic answer and the fact that her head now started to spin a little.
"Hm, really?" Cinder asked, dragging the last word and making it come out more as a purr, a grin stretching across her face.
"No matter, until your memory returns we shall call you… Shade."
"S-Shade?"
"Yes, short for Shadow. Now, go back to sleep. We will wake you at our hospital."
Cinder stepped away and before Ruby could figure how she was meant to go to sleep, a girl with pink and brown hair practically glided into view, and jabbed her in the neck. She quickly passed out at the sight of her gleaming mismatched eyes.
~Ax~
Cinder looked down on the girl who slumped down, grin slipping from her face. She turned her head and stared at Roman, who fake smiled nervously and slowly started to step back.
"You had one job, Torchwick, and look at what's happened."
"I'm sorry boss, but what do you expect when all I have as lackeys are half witted Faunus? I need real defence, maybe you could lend me some help?"
His eyes slid over to Emerald and Mercury, and Cinder felt an angry fire burn in her chest.
"You already have Neo's assistance, why is more necessary?"
"Well if you want the job done right I need more skills! Neo is great, but there's only one of her! Just a loan, that is all."
Cinder sighed and pinched her nose, nodding regretfully.
"Occasionally you may borrow them."
The two started to complain from behind her and she held up her hand to silence them.
"I can take care of myself, besides…" she moved her gaze to the heavily injured brunette by her feet, "I have an idea as to whom can replace you."
The group remained silent after that, something she was sure would be difficult for Roman especially, all of them watching Neo lift rocks off of the Huntress in training like they were made of paper.
With a flick of her wrist Neo threw the last rock off of her left arm, a manic grin stretching her face at the sight of the Grimm dust, and the girl's arm.
She turned to Cinder and started to sign to her.
"What was that?" Cinder asked, pulling her eyes away from the heavily burnt teenager.
'Her arm is infected. It needs to be removed.'
"Why do you say that? What good is she if she is missing an arm?"
'Her arm has gone green; we both know that means she has Gangrene.'
Cinder sighed and pinched her nose again.
"So now what?"
'Well, a mechanical arm would be much more useful.'
A slow smirk spread across Cinder's face.
"Neo, you are a genius. Take her to our infirmary and have it removed, and then start design plans, I want my Shadow to be in good condition." She commanded, eyes taking up a new excited light at the possibilities this possessed. If she played her cards right, she could really be in a chance of taking down the meddlesome fool once and for all.
'Yes Ma'am.'
Cinder faced Roman and barked an order at him, telling him to get transport. Mercury and Emerald snickered at the sight of him running off to his task, unluckily drawing Cinder's attention to them.
"You two get rid of any evidence that might suggest her survival, blood trails, drag marks, anything. But leave behind her cape, from what I remember she would never willingly part from it, which of course her friends know. We want them to think that our Shadow is long gone. Rather they think her dead and mourn than think she's alive and come looking for her."
"Yes Ma'am." The pair replied in sync, disappearing off to find any evidence of the red caped girl.
Cinder brought her attention back to the small girl. There was something about her that Cinder couldn't place her finger on. Maybe it was her scars, her newly gained ones. She always did have a thing for battle wounds…
Although she did feel some pity for the girl Neo was currently brushing Grimm dust off of. The left side of her face looked pretty badly burned, surgery could help the bottom part of her face, but from the cheek bone and up it looked too damaged to repair, obviously that was where the blunt of the fire had hit her.
Her arm was just as bad, bent horrible with white bone peaking out from the ripped flesh, which had decoloured to a grotesque green. If she were not used to sights of bodily injury the visual might have made her sick. The girl's face was covered in shallow and deep cuts, including one large gash across her forehead that had stopped bleeding a while back, but was covered in dirt and most likely infected. Her leg was also bent at an unusual angle, from the sound of her breathing, she had a few broken ribs too.
And she had lost her memory, but that was something Cinder was pleased for. While she wouldn't admit it, Roman was right. He needed more guards to protect his flimsy self, which would leave her defenceless to her own power, so an extra helping hand wouldn't be too bad. That and she had seen the young girl fight; she was a formidable Huntress and with the correct training, could become a master fighter within a few months.
Cinder leant down and caressed the girls face, ignoring the knowing look Neo shot her, accompanied with a smirk.
"Hmm, yes… you will do nicely… my little Shadow."
A/N: Damn, that escalated quickly. Any way, like? Continue? Please let me know in a review or a PM :)
The characters may seem a little OOC, but I'm trying to get to different sides of characters, Cinder and Ruby especially, I'll try to stick to them but Ruby especially will change :J So, until next time, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed :)