RWBYond Destiny

AN: A little house cleaning, I do have a poll for what the best fight in RWBYond Vale was, with the ability to pick 5 options. If you read my previous story I'd like for you to pick some of the best in that poll. This is probably going to be a lengthy chapter just because it takes place over the greatest amount of time. There's somethings here, and also a little latter, that are really weird. But until the end of chapter 3, this isn't really the Cinder we know from the actual series. Significant time jumps will be identified with line breaks.

Chapter 2: A Story of Destiny

As soon as Cinder fell from the portal she barfed. She had never felt anything like that before. Her body was burning. Her clothes became charred from her power. Chunks of pizza and pasta fell from her mouth, some of it stuck to her nappy hair, some dripped down her chin but most just pooled up on the dark red brickwork her hands and knees were occupying. Some of the more liquid parts were oozing under her hands. She felt something warm under her legs; she had pissed herself.

Her eyes were wide and burning like she had just had a staring contest with the sun and she couldn't close her eyes. Her limbs were shaking. Her heart was pounding. Her whole body ached and trembled. She didn't know whether it was from pain, fear, or relief at finally being out of Bogden. But she couldn't even register her surroundings until Salem stepped out behind her. Dry tears started caking Cinder's eyes. She must have looked pathetic.

"First time through a Black Gate is always rough." She knelt in front of Cinder and craned her head up. Despite her strange features, there was something warm about those eyes. She pulled out a rag and started to wipe the drool and puke from her chin and hands. She helped Cinder blink and lifted her up.

"Thank you." Cinder said with a dry throat.

"It's especially hard for someone so young." Salem cooed. Cinder wrapped her arms around the back of Salem's neck as she was carried like a baby into a bathroom.

"Where are we?"

"This is my home…one of them anyway." Salem answered. "First order of business is to get you a bath and some fresh clothes. Then, I'll give you a haircut." She fondled the thick unkempt locks of Cinder's hair.

"What…what about the mess I made?"

"I'll have someone to clean it up." Salem assured. She filled the bath with hot water and got a glass of ice water from the sink. "Drink this."

Cinder downed it in one gulp. Salem left her to her own devices. She stripped of her charred nightshirt and torn shorts. And then removed the piss smelling panties and jumped in the tub. It had been so long since she had a nice warm bath. The tub at her old house had not worked properly. So she had to take cold showers instead. She hated them, so she would oftentimes go weeks without showering.

"Why did you help me?" Cinder asked when Salem returned with some clothes. It was a crimson red nightgown with yellow panties and pearly white socks.

"Help you?" Salem said strangely. "I wasn't about to just leave a girl out in the forests with nothing but a destroyed home and ruined clothes."

"No, before that." Cinder clarified. "Why did you kill my parents?"

"Oh." Salem put a finger to her lips as she contemplated. "I didn't go there to kill your parents…if that's what you're asking." She scratched her chin. "I was merely taking my pets for a test drive when we happened upon you and your house."

"So it was just a coincidence." Cinder said disheartened. She sunk deeper into the tub. She had been hoping that Salem was some heaven sent deity, some fairy godmother come to save her.

"I don't believe in coincidence." Salem said. Cinder's ears perked up. "Whatever our reasons for being there at that time, I don't believe it was just chance. Do you believe in destiny?"

"I…I never really thought about it."

"Well I do. I see a fire in your eyes Cinder, a fire I have not seen since I was a little girl. I'm usually not the best with these things, my husband has proven much better at these predictions, but I believe you are destined for greatness."

"You really think that!" Cinder said excitedly.

"Yes. I believe we all have a purpose."

"What's mine?"

"We won't know until it happens. Destiny works that way."


"Ms. Salem it's beautiful!" Cinder said with a gasp. It had been a week since she joined Salem in her underground castle. The dress was a stunning scarlet with orange patterns and a cross section that exposed her shoulder blades. She instantly stripped of her clothes and threw the dress on.

"I'm glad you like it." Salem said with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She twirled around in the dress. "You're the best!" She gave her master a hug. Salem lace the fingers of her hand through Cinder's short hair. And the other hand rested on her back. Cinder wrapped both her arms around Salem's waste and squeezed tight.

"Now Cinder, that dress is really special."

"Of course it is. Everything you do is special." Cinder blushed as Salem gave a short laugh.

"Gifts from the heart always are. But that's not what I meant. The night I found you, when you burned the dirt and grass, that was your semblance."

"Semblance?" Cinder asked. Salem started laughing, causing Cinder to blush.

"Oh my, I really do have a lot to teach you. I keep forgetting you're so young. I'm not used to interacting with people who don't know these things."

"I-I'm sorry." Cinder said gazing to the floor.

"It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. Most people don't start learning these sorts of things until they are 12. But, you aren't JUST a seven-year-old girl, are you?"

"I am your ward…your servant…I do all that is commanded of me…for it is the only way to repay the immense kindness you have given me." Cinder nearly recited it from memory. She had written it herself on the third day of her stay. She didn't want Salem to send her elsewhere so she offered to cook and clean for her. Salem, it appeared, was never one to waste opportunity. So she put Cinder's skills to the test.

"That you are." Salem said stroking Cinder's cheek. "It's pleasant having you around. I…as you can imagine haven't really interacted much with children."

"Did you ever have kids?" Cinder asked.

"Not of my own."

"But you had a husband?" Salem's eyes darkened sending a chill down Cinder's spine.

"Don't…ask about him."

"O-okay ma'am." She shook her head frantically.

"Now…about the dress." Salem pulled up a chair and a book. She gave Cinder a crash course in everything from aura to dust. Cinder didn't have to get it all. Salem agreed to work with her on it for, the rest of her life really.


"Would you like some tea Ms. Fall." Jervis Clog asked.

"Why yes Mr. Cog I would be delighted." Cinder was now nine years old. She had taken to naming herself Cinder Fall, since she met Salem on the first day of fall. In that time, she had learned a lot about how to fight and control her powers from Salem. She had also met several of her associates. Baldur Gate promised to train her in hand to hand combat when she was a little older. Tobi had constantly chastised and challenged Salem's decisions regarding her. Who the FUCK did he think he was, challenging Salem's decisions like that.

"Now, take a small sip and rest your eyes." Clog said. He was her favorite though, other than Salem of course. He taught her the most important thing. How to read people, how to exploit them. To that, Cinder was a natural. She was used to throwing around her charm to get what she needed. She never imagined there were so many other tools at her disposal though.

"What…what is this?" Cinder was having a lucid dream, but she was still awake. Perhaps her liking for Clog had come with his games. He was a brilliant hypnotist and would always put on shows for her. They were some of Cinder's favorite days.

"What do you see? Tell me."

"I see my house in Bogden." Her words were bitter. "I…I think I see things from my father's perspective. I…I hear the Grimm. I'm…I'm beating my stepmom. I can't hear what their saying. It's like they're speaking a different language."

"It's a memory which you don't have all the pieces too." Clog clarified.

"Enough, Jervis." Salem said.

"Aww but it was just getting to the good part." Cinder said.

"Killjoy." Clog huffed.

"Cinder, it is time for your treading." Cinder beamed with that order.

"Oh please DO come back soon Mr. Clog." Cinder said.

"I will Ms. Fall." Clog said.

Cinder loved Salem's library. She loved libraries in general. The one in Bogden had been one of her few special places she could escape from her father to. There were many sections in the library, but Salem always had what she wished Cinder to read on the central table.

Cinder was practicing mixing the fire dust of her dress with her aura and semblance. Hypothetically, she should be able to control fire and lava with the combination. But it was hard. And Salem was a ver scary teacher sometimes.

"Focus on one little bit of dust." The book said. "Channel your semblance into it. Fuel it with your aura, don't rely on the dust to keep the fire going." It was working. But then after a minute of maintaining it, the fireball blew up in Cinder's hand burning her palm.

"Ah…fuck!" She cursed in a harsh whisper. "God Damn It!" She yelled a bit louder as she flipped the table over. Which made her burned hand hurt more. "Son of a bitch." She said sticking her swollen fingers in her mouth to try and cool them. After a minute her aura healed her hand. And then there was a smack on her cheek.

"Quit letting your frustration beat you!" Salem said harshly. She squeezed Cinder around the cheeks. "Anger is a powerful weapon and you will use it in time." She forced Cinder to look directly into her eyes. "But right now, control, you must learn control. Any savage with a gun can cause an explosion. Now quit acting like a damn animal every time you get mad and learn how to own it. Otherwise you're just wasting my time and yours."

"I-I'm sorry." A tear dropped from Cinder's cheek.

"Don't be sorry. Be reasonable. Don't stop moving forward or you will never grow into what I believe you're capable of."


The nightmare had been vague the night of her twelfth birthday. She was back in Bogden. Her father and stepmother were there. Screaming at her and hitting her. They took the dress that Salem had made her and ripped it to shreds until she had nothing but her underwear on.

She had this dream before. And every time she had woke up in a cold sweat. And the first two or three times she had even wet the bed. But every time she had time dream, it ended with a fire radiating out from her eyes to burn them away. But this time, the fire never came. She watched as everyone who had shown her kindness turned her away. None of them could help. Only Salem could. And she was nowhere to be found.

Cinder woke what appeared to be hours later with a blood curdling shriek. She checked the clock in her room. It was 3 a.m. She had only been a sleep for less than 4 hours. And Salem would be waking her up in another 3. She curled up into a ball. That's when she realized all her clothes were soaked with sweat. In all likelihood she probably would have pissed herself had she not woken up several hours earlier for just that. So she bottled up her emotions, careful not to set the bed ablaze.

She got up and walked into her personal bathroom. She changed her underwear and took off her shirt. She had started to develop a little bit. At least enough to warrant a training bra. She slipped on a yellow shirt she grabbed from her drawer. She loved primary colors. Her whole room looked like a painting of a flame. There wasn't a single article of clothing in her wardrobe that didn't have one of the 'hot' colors on it. Red was still her favorite color. But she admitted, she looked just as good in yellow or orange.

When she finally got the courage to look in the mirror, she saw that she had been crying. She washed her face and combed her barely neck length hair. She starred in the mirror for several minutes telling herself it was all a dream.

She curled into a ball on her bed and prayed that whatever deity might be out there could show her what her destiny was. She thought, if she knew the end, it would bring her peace. But it brought nothing. She refused to cry herself to sleep. It was something that, from the day she joined with Salem, she refused to do.

So she went for a walk around the castle to clear her head. She admired the architecture and all the tapestries and sculptures. As if the clothes she made weren't enough evidence, Salem had wonderful taste for beauty.

As she approached the throne room she heard a heavy breathing in her ears. The room was dark so Cinder channeled her aura to make her hand glow. She had gotten quite adept at that. The breathing was getting louder and louder, clouding her thoughts. She felt dizzy and drained, more so than she should have in this state. And then, he appeared. Materializing in front of her was a child.

"What the hell?" Cinder jumped as the boy materialized in front of her. Green flames lit across the hall way giving her a better look at her surroundings. The boy wore a black leather jacket and a gas mask. His thick greasy red hair hung in strands, some of which hung down the mask's goggles. He looked at her curiously, tilting his head back and forth.

The sound of his breathing had become deafening. Cinder curled up and cupped her hands over her ears. She could hear distant whispers and screams fill her head. She started reciting formulas for dust equations out loud to try to calm herself. But no matter what she did, the breathing just got louder and louder. She begged him to stop. But other than the indiscernible mumblings he remained silent.

"Mantis!" Salem yelled. "Leave the poor child be."

Everything went silent. Cinder looked up to the throne. A king Taijitu slithered around Salem. Ratattas scurried in the shadows. And a tall man with a bald head and a gas mask stood by her side. Cinder had never seen the man before, but his jacket was the same as the ghost child's. The man gave a short bow before disappearing into a Black Gate.

"Who…" Cinder said.

"Mantis is another one of my associates." Salem answered. "You must forgive him, he's a paranoid psychic who doesn't take kindly to strangers."

"I see." Cinder shook her head in understanding as she approached the throne.

"What brings you here at this hour in the night?" Salem sounded quite cross.

"I…I had a nightmare."

"I see." Salem said. She motioned for Cinder to follow her. Cinder did so.

A minute later they were in Salem's bedroom. It was much more elaborate than Cinder's. Ancient, indecipherable manuscripts lined a shelf. All the tapestries and colors stood in stark contrast of Cinder's room. Everything was cool, blue, green and mostly violet. Salem sat on her bed and pulled out a book.

"Perhaps you would enjoy a story." Cinder shook her head yes and climbed into bed with Salem. Salem fondled a bronze ring that stood on her nightstand. "Today you turned twelve years old correct?"

"Yes Master." Cinder said, getting cozy.

"It is time you learned the truth. The truth about me. The truth about my husband. The truth about all those fairy tales you've grown up with. We shall discuss them at length tomorrow. But for now we should do just one. A story of destiny."

"Which shall we do?" Cinder asked.

"What is your favorite fairy tale?" Cinder knew that was an easy question. She had long since been drawn to the story of the Four Maidens.

An: That was actually pretty standard length for one of my chapters. The bit with her studying almost got cut. But I don't know how the pacing next chapter is going to play out. I wanted to show a little of the teacher student dynamic as well as the more family dynamic. And I wanted to do that before next chapter, which will be a fourteen-year-old Cinder. Also shoutout to familiar faces from RWBYond Vale. Please leave a review, follow and favorite. See you (hopefully) tomorrow.