In the dark of the Mistrals underworld, far below Haven Academy and beneath the Vault of the Spring Maiden, Cinder Fall realised that she was going to die.

Her body was broken in ways she couldn't even begin to understand. Blood oozed slowly from her chest, taking her life with it. Every agonising breath bubbled with the liquid that filled her lungs, and every minute or so, she would begin to choke on it. Every time Cinder thought that was it, that her life would end and she would finally expire. But every time, she endured only for it to begin again.

She couldn't see, there was no light down here. Cinder hated the dark. Her cheek was pressed against cold damp rock, unable to move. She could smell damp and moss somewhere, could hear the sound of water and the taste of copper never left her tongue. All her senses worked to show her just how alone and helpless she really was. But sight eluded her, increasing her torment as she was powerless to know where she was or what was happening.

Except she did know what was happening. She was dying.

All because of a trick. Because Raven had played her for a fool, hidden behind a girl like a shield to strike at Cinder and stab her in the back. It was what always happened to Cinder. No matter how much she planned or how much she trained. Every plan Cinder made, every victory she earned, all the power she gained, it was always taken away, her dreams kept just out of reach.

Qrow Branwen had cheated her out of Ambers powers, delaying her destiny for a year. A year of feeling half empty and incomplete with power that yearned to be made whole. It hadn't stopped her. She had beaten them all. She had destroyed Beacon, defeated Ozpin and killed the pretender. She had stood triumphant in the ruins of Ozpin's office with a dragon bent to her will. Only for the Silver Eyed girl to wrench her victory away, leaving her scarred and deformed.

The moment of her failure had left her a mockery of her peers. A joke to Tyrian, a child to Hazel and failure to Watts. Even Emerald looked at her with pity seeing a fragile doll that needed to be looked after as she put it back together. Haven was meant to be her redemption, her chance to quell any doubts of her power once and for all. Instead she had failed again. Raven had tricked her, beaten her and dropped her into an abyss.

And now she was dying.

It wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She couldn't let it end like this. She refused to yield, to give up when she had come so far.

With what little strength remained within her, Cinder forced her hand to move until it found the wound on her chest. A rib was sticking out through her skin, the source of the worst bleeding. Gritting her teeth, she pushed the bone back under the skin and into place. Her aura protested, its regeneration pushed to its limit trying to heal all the trauma inflicted upon her, but it would have to last a little longer for what came next.

The blood still flowed from her chest, faster now that she removed the bone. Pressing her hand on the wound, Cinder took a deep breath and her eyes glowed. Screams were wrenched from her throat as she seared the wound closed. The smell of her own flesh burning filled her nostrils and she convulsed in agony before everything went black.

When she next awoke, Cinder wasn't alone. A dim golden light sat in the air like fog, dull and lifeless. The sounds of clicking echoed in the silence, preceding the creature that had come to find Cinder like a warning. She knew the sound and what creature created it.

"Now isn't this familiar."

Salem's voice echoed into the darkness, quiet yet strong as the Seer came into view. It hovered in the air in front of Cinder, it's tendrils moving with an unnatural purpose. It should have relieved Cinder that's her master had found her but instead only dread filled Cinder now.

"Master..."

"Do you remember how we met my dear Cinder," Salem said, her pale face expressionless in the black globe. "Such hate and fury within you. You called to me without even realising it. Just a little girl but with so much potential..."

"Master... please... help me," Cinder said, every word an effort, blood still in her lungs and her voice gurgling. "Raven ... She's the Spring Maiden. It was a trap"

"Ahh of course, so that's what's happened. I had wondered. Of course, Raven wouldn't be able to resist the power." Salem let out of a hum of disinterest, the information filed away for another time. "Not that it matters now. Ozpin has the relic... because of you Cinder, because you failed me, again."

"I-"

"Arthur told me about what happened at the Branwen Camp. Your obsession with revenge on the Silver Eyed girl has become a problem. Did you not think to check with Leo that this was the Maiden? That boy almost killed you because of your lack of focus. You couldn't even kill the heiress and now the boy is stronger for it. Raven played you like a fool and you let her. I thought Beacon was an anomaly, an unfortunate but unavoidable happen-stance that would not be repeated. It seems I was mistaken..."

"Master I-"

"Enough Cinder."

A tendril shot out and stabbed into Cinders Grimm arm, pinning it to the ground. Another wrapped out her human hand, holding it still. Fear filled her and suddenly all pain and injury was forgotten as she struggled against the seer, but it was useless. The tendrils were like a vice, crushing her wrist and they kept coming, overwhelming her with volume. The Seer lashed out, cutting her skin, piercing her flesh and leaving welts and bruises on her body in an effort to restrain her. Cinder cried out, fighting desperately to hold onto her mortality even as Salem began to effortlessly her pull it away from her.

"You can't do this," she shouted through tears. "You need me."

Salem's stared down at her through the glass and Cinder could see her own broken form reflected in Salem's bloody globes. There wasn't even contempt in Salem's eyes, there was simply disinterest in a tool that needed to be replaced. The final tendril was raised above Cinder, the spike opening into four flat prongs.

"No Cinder, I don't," she said. "I just need your power."

It struck like a scorpion, burning through her dress, latching onto her chest above her heart. It felt like a thousand needles stabbing her skin, icy cold and spreading across her flesh, electrifying and tensing her muscles taunt. Cinders back arched, her mouth opened in a silent scream and then the seer started to glow gold.

She could feel it draining her, Cinders frantic attempts at escape getting weaker and slower. Instant fatigue spread across her and the flame that had burned within her since her battle with Amber started to flicker. She could feel it being stolen away and there was nothing she could to stop it.

"No, please don't..." she whispered. "This is... my destiny..."

But there was no mercy in Salem's eyes.

"Yes Cinder, I'm afraid this was."

And then the flame died, and Cinder was still. The glow faded from her eyes as they closed and there was a hiss as the arm Salem had so graciously gifted her, broke into smokey ash.

The seer removed its tendrils from her, unravelling from her skin and pulling out of her flesh. Blood dripped down onto the stone next to Cinder. Salem looked down on her former champion watching her with disdain as her chest rose weakly. Lazily she gestured, and the seer obeyed, lifting Cinder by the shoulders and turning her over to see her back.

With a slash of its spiked tendril, the fabric of her dress was cut revealing her neck and lower back. It was bare, the mark of the Fall Maiden Cinder had taken as her own was gone. Salem smiled, content the seer had secured the powers of Fall and dropped Cinders form to the rock before turning and leaving without hesitation.

There was nothing left to interest her here anymore. Cinder was alive but not for much longer. The final punishment for Cinder was to let her die like this. Empty and alone with her failure. Let her contemplate that. Let her drown in it. Ozpin had once told her that humanity's greatest strength was their hope, well it was also their greatest anguish when they finally gave in and realised that hope was empty.

"Good bye Cinder," Salem said turning away from the Seer. "Thank you, for your service."

She limped across the moon lit field, clutching the wound in her side as blood oozed through her fingers. Exhausted, she stopped, taking a moment she probably didn't have, examining the claw marks and grimacing at how badly she was bleeding. After everything she's been though, killed by a Beowulf. She laughed despite the pain. Her sisters would never let her live this down.

She hit the ground before she realised she was falling. Blinking, she laid on her back staring up at the sky and looking at the stars. She was far from the nearest settlement and there no lights to dim the sky. The moon was full and unbroken, surrounded by pin pricks of stars glistening like beacons in the dark. There were worse views to go out on. It was just a pity that she had so much more left to do.

Her eyes fluttered but before they closed, she remembered something she had been told years ago. Back when she had first been given these gifts and what might happen if she accepted.

Falls eyes closed as her breath got shorter. Still so much more to do.

Perhaps the next time around.

Wake up

Cinders eyes snapped open and she gasped for breath like it was the first of her life. Coughing up congealed blood, she rolled over onto her stomach gasping as she sucked greedily from the air like nectar. Her whole body screamed in pain, every cell on fire and every fibre of her being hurt. Cinder was accustomed to pain. Her life had been filled with it but this, this was agony.

She tried to stand, pushing her arms off the rock and-

Her slammed into the ground again, scraping her face against the sharp rock, bursting her lip. Blood filled her mouth once more and she spat it out, disorientated and confused. Instinctively, she reached with her left hand to wipe it away and-

Nothing came. She could feel her arm moving but nothing happened. It was like it wasn't even there...

Panic filled her, as she reached out with her left to grab her arm and found nothing. Frantically she searched until her hand reached her shoulder and a short stump. Her arm was gone. But if her arm was gone, that meant the Grimm was gone and if that was the case...

"No..."

Raising her hand, Cinder summoned all her strength into a blast of fire that could burn the strongest huntsman aura to nothing in an instant. And nothing happened. The world remained black. The powers of the Fall Maiden were gone.

And that was when she screamed. A howl of primal fury that echoed deep into the darkness but with no one to hear. She slammed her fist into the rock lashing out at the world even if it hurt her to do so. Hot tears of rage ran down her dirt coated face. This wasn't right. It wasn't fair. She had been betrayed and left to die by Salem and-

Salem...

With her remaining arm, Cinder pushed herself up, ignoring the screams of protest from her body. She made it too her knees, panting and having to stop from the exertion. Blood dripped down her chin and onto her legs, punctuating the silence of the cave along with her ragged breaths.

Part of her wanted to give up. Why go on when the world seemed to fight against her at every turn? Why not just lie down and die? She didn't have anything left, no power, no followers and no weapons. She had nothing left to drive her.

You have hope?

Cinder laughed at the idle thought. She must have been in even worse shape than she thought if these delirious ideas came to her now. No hope was for children. Children who hadn't accepted what life was like. Cinder knew what life was like and hope would not sustain her now. Hope made a hollow crutch as you waited for others to save you that wouldn't ever arrive.

With a cry of agony, Cinder rose to her feet.

But hate? That she could rely on. Hate was a call to action, to rise up and spite the world that tried to beat. Fury would grant her power, vengeance would direct her, and this pain would be her inspiration for what she did to them. This was the last time this would happen to her. Never again. She was going to make them all pay and anyone who stood against her would burn.

Wind

It was still too dark for her to see anything but the smallest gust of wind was blowing, pushing her hair across her face. She hadn't noticed at first but it was there. And if there was wind, there was a way out. Even if she couldn't see, Cinder would escape.

More than once she fell, tripping on a rock, invisible in the darkness or sometimes her body would just give out and she would collapse. But every time, no matter how much it hurt or how long it took, Cinder would rise and continue her slow limp to freedom.

Her leg was probably broken, and she knew her ribs were. She was bleeding from countless gashes, she was concussed, and her aura was pushed past its limit trying to keep her conscious. She was still wet from blood and grime, her body was freezing and she couldn't even hold herself for warmth now.

But Cinder Fall refused to die.

Not here, not yet. Not until she found them. Not just Salem. Ozpin, Ruby, Raven, Watts, Jaune, Hazel, Tyrian, even Emerald and Mercury if they tried to stand against her. Anyone who had ever made her suffer. Her hatred burned within her as the tiniest speck of light appeared in the distance and the landscape shifted from impossibly black to formless grey.

Cinder was going to find them and when she did, she was going to kill them all.