Jaune had finished his meal and was walking over to get his gear along with the rest of the students attempting to pass this year's exam. They made sure to give everyone lockers to store their items in preparation for today. He walked up to his locker, slipping into something smoother and light. He's unsure if he'll make it out alive so at least dress as if it his last. In times like these where having several sisters and the sole male sibling in his family, he always needed to overcompensate. It worked for him and helped him in various parts of life. Thus. it hasn't failed him yet, except in the name of love and flirting. The only time he was successful in such endeavors was yesterday, when he dropped the act and Cinder spoke in kind with him.
Nah, that was a fluke. He didn't trust that one moment as a moment to change his ways.
He's due for another failure mark when he eyes Weiss and some other red haired girl. He knew nothing of the girl, or what she stood for, only that she was cute, and believed he was good enough to be considered a possibility to the heiress of the Schnee company? Oh, his father told him by being confident, he'll succeed. After a hundred tries, there will be one that will eventually say yes. He didn't catch the girl who would be that outlier and would said yes every time standing next to Weiss.
"No." Firm, direct and to the point, the white haired girl was not going to accept his proposal. "It's not worth my effort."
"What? you haven't even seen me fight yet!"
"I think I've seen how you handle yourself and know what I'd be getting." An exasperated sigh leaves him, a little dejected. his teachings didn't net the results he wanted.
"Not taking it easy this morning?" This red hair girl tried to ease the put downs Weiss was making.
"I don't like giving people false hope. Best curb it when it comes up, you know?"
"Well, I'd be glad to join your team...Jaune, it was Jaune right?"
"Yeah. Thanks." He still wasn't in a good mood from Weiss' comments but it helped that someone would join. "Uh...what was your name?"
"Are you kidding me? You don't know who Pyrrha is? Have you been living under a rock?"
"No, it's alright Weiss. It's actually a nice change of pace. People normally know me so they try to push their status or grades by working with me. I don't think that trend will follow here." She gave a light joke, to which Weiss nervously laughed at. She wasn't far off from doing what this girl had disliked. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
"Pyrrha, huh? Cool name."
"Yeah, maybe we'll end up as partners throughout our stay here in Beacon."
"Maybe even as a team! The three of us."
"It's typically four members in a team, you do know that right?" Weiss reminded him of this crucial fact.
"Yeah, of course!" He continued to run this facade, forgetting that fact. "Wonder if Cinder would join us to make it a quartet?"
"Cinder?" Pyrrha wasn't aware of this fourth person that Jaune and Weiss knew, so the heiress to the Schnee company informed her.
"Yeah, a newcomer. I don't know anything about her, except she has strength that her body doesn't show."
"She's cool, a bit shy but, I think you'll like her a lot Pyrrha."
"Who's cool but a bit shy?" Speak of the devil, the raven haired girl got ready ten minutes after they packed their belongings. She brushed her hair back and greeted them with a warm smile. "Can't be me at all. I can see you're working the room and trying to make more "friends" with women" she motioned, keeping the conversation light. She added air quotation marks during friends as if she knew his real intention. She turns to meet Pyrrha for the first time. "I'm Cinder. I've already made my introduction to Weiss and Jaune yesterday." A little bit of bitterness shows on at the word choice of introduction. "I believe you are Pyrrha?"
"That's correct, did we meet before?"
No, I simply heard Weiss going on and on about how good you are as a fighter, so I did some research." Weiss grimaced as her attempts at looking naturally cool and a perfect partner going down the drain with one sentence. Either the motives were deliberate or Cinder didn't understand subtlety. "I'm interested, I want to see what you're made of considering you never lost a match." Her remarks were lacking any cockiness or over analyzation. A simple request to see their skill set first hand.
"I don't normally do battles with others cause it usually is for the wrong reason." She was quick to add to it. "You don't have a reason like the others that asked before you. It's actually a bit of relief. Just a simple duel, not to one up another." She was amused at this, along with Jaune for having completely different personalities she hasn't seen to this date. "I'd be glad to take you on Cinder." She acknowledged the girl in front of her.
"Well, let's leave that after we're officially enrolled in Beacon right?" Jaune tried to crack a joke and remind them they had a few minutes to get to the destination. The four already began walking until Weiss made a note.
"Where is your weapon Cinder?" Alarms rang in her head as she was going to head into the fight bare-handed.
"Oh right, my weapon." Cinder ran to her locker, removing her weapons. Weiss only looked in confusion. A weapon is a hunter's greatest asset and when heading to an exam to become one, it's the last thing to be recalled. Weiss figured she's possibly just a brute. Or simply unaware. Cinder grasped two metal blades with the edge curved to serve as a guard for her strike. Without thinking, she combined them together at the bottom of the handle to unite them as a single bow and held it in one hand, as if she's been doing this for years. "Alright, let's get going."
Everyone lined up onto the platform, as instructed by the headmaster. They were to head off into the woods, recover a chess piece hidden deep into a small cove in the woods and return back safely. Grimm will be present and they have all the authority to do what it takes to eliminate them if they grew to be a burden. No holds barred, the exams were to begin, except for a feared question by a young, upcoming lad.
"Will we have parachutes or something when we get thrown into the woods?" A calm sip of his cup was made before replying promptly.
"Nope. Anymore questions?"
"Yea-"
"Good, hang on everyone. Good luck." Everyone got launched one by one immediately, all with varying speed and velocity. There was one person missing however, Cinder, who stayed behind and looked puzzled at Ozpin and Glynda. She glanced down at hte metallic frame and didn't see anything wrong with it outright.
"Um, is my platform busted?" Ozpin walked up to her and every time, she felt uneasy, as if he stared right into her soul. Another part of her suggested it was best to listen.
"Cinder, we decided to give you a different role than the rest of our upcoming students. We will have to assign you a partner down the road thanks to uneven members, but that doesn't mean you can't participate."
"Oh, I thought I did something wrong." A warm relief flooded her, thinking she couldn't compete. Ozpin smiled at her brash nature.
"There's a certain grimm that will be present in this exam. It's airborne. simply kill it and you're in. Trust me, you'll know which one it is. But first, try to meet up with everyone to the listed location. We still need to test your aptitude if you end up cooperating with others." He turned his back on her, taking another swig at his morning joe. "Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." She crouched down, ready for what will come ahead. And as expected, her platform, launched her forward into the air, having been given a huge delay compared to the others. At first, she was worried, wondering how in the hell will she be safe when she nears the ground. Even now, she's falling head first towards sturdy trees and doesn't have the best game plan. A quick memory passes her, guiding her on what she should do in her position. Without thinking, she draws her weapon, using some left over dust on her to conjure an arrow to strike the upper half of an oak tree.
As she neared, the arrow exploded, breaking said tree in half, just for her to use as a vaulting mechanic, breaking her momentum until she became leveled with the other oak branches. She leaped, with incredible quickness and moved lightly to avoid the students from below and get to the objective as fast as possible. When she blinked, she couldn't believe she achieved that. She did have low standards for herself but it was like she moved on autopilot. She didn't realize her left eye glowed momentarily until returning to her natural color.
All of this action was caught on footage, relayed back to the practitioners, observing every single thing she does. Ozpin didn't react but Glynda looked in small surprise.
"You were right, she retained all of her information when it comes to combat. As Qrow stated, she's agile and quick on her feet."
"Yes, our dear friend Qrow also blessed us with Amber's staff and Cinder's original weapon. Our experiment is showing she hasn't missed a beat yet, on an unconscious level with her original weapon.
"Are you frightened at the chances the real Cinder might try and fight back" asked Glynda, knowing they are alone.
"I'm always scared when my students are in danger of a threat. I must put my life on the line for a better tomorrow. This is something I'll die for, if only that I'm ignorant to other solutions. Providing an amnesiac student with fake memories her true weapon wouldn't be problematic on it's own. But, providing her the weapon of a woman she nearly killed and now house the fall maiden's powers? Both decisions are equally bad. I chose the one which won't blow up in our face the most. We can remove memories, but as we spoke, body language and muscle memory are things we can't change as it's ingrained. She's attempting to become a huntress, she needs every little help she can get. And who knows what Amber's Staff would do, personality or power wise."
"Cinder did more than just steal her powers, she stole her aura, at some point the two auras are going to overlap. Will that cause a change in behavior? Or even Amber coming back?"
"That's uncertain. Which is why we minimize the risk by not giving her Amber's staff or anything resembling her for now. If Amber was conscious, I don't think she'll agree entirely to our decision. The out of body experience of how she is after her duel and knowing she's inhabiting the murderer's body will also be hard to explain. For as much glory they own as maidens, they are humans at the end of the road." He sighed, his head agonizing on the endless possibilities and running a mental stimulator and what ifs.
"Don't overthink it, it's only been a few days, stress shouldn't be eating away at you like this so early in the morning."
"Ah, such a morbid discussion that can be had at another time. Let's return to the exam, something more positive and up-lifting. Which reminds me, let's see how our future prospects are doing today." Grasping the tablet, he began to cycle through the other feeds to get a good, general idea of who will be representing Beacon, ever so often checking on Pyrrha.
Author Notes
I'm playing with more ideas, I'm not sure where this will go but hope it's an enjoyable read and show what path I'm heading for with Cinder. Anyone that'd like to help me would be greatly appreciated cause I'm learning I can't do this all on my own, or else this won't ever come out with a regular schedule. Beta readers are greatly welcomed. So, until I feel like writing again,
See You Next Time