Chapter 4

On a long road a little girl walks a path she's walked for months. Right before heading to a left turn she pauses in front of one of the many different shops and stores that stood on this road. The girl had short black hair that was carefully cut and bright blue eyes that held a look of pure innocence. She was in a bright orange dress and looked to be only be 6 years old. She reached for the door and began to pull, barely able to get it open, she managed to pull the large glass door to the shop. The sign outside read "Ice's Quick Ice Cream" and she always visited this store before heading home. The bell rang, signaling that a customer was entering. She looked over behind the main counter and saw a man with salt and pepper hair in a white suit. He looked up and smiled at one of his "regulars" walking in.

"Well hello Ember." He said "Back again are ya?" Ember smiled back and answered

"Yeah! I always come here Mr. Ice!"

"You do?" he said in mock confusion "I never noticed." Ember laughed knowing that Mr. Ice was just joking. "So why are you here?" He asked, still playing with the little girl.

"You know why! I wanna see my big brother!" She jumped up and down to try to add emphasis.

"Oh of course. Let me get him for you." He turned around and called "Crim! Crim! Crimson! Someone's here to see you!"

A young man stepped out from the back room in his work uniform. His hair was a dark red and it was longer than his little sister's. The only real big family resemblance came in the blue eyes that they both share. He looked at Ember and immediately smiled.

"This little lady says she knows you." Mr. Ice said

"She does? What's your name then?" Ember rolled her eyes and said

"Ember! Your sister!" Crimson only laughed and rustled her hair.

"Does mom know you're here?"

"Of course she does I always come here."

"Oh that's right!" He slapped himself in the face as if he was so foolish for forgetting. "Well let me get your usual then" He walked behind the counter and grabbed a big waffle cone from the dispenser. Putting it under the ice cream machine he filled it halfway with vanilla and and put chocolate sprinkles in and then filled the rest with chocolate with regular sprinkles. The whole time Ember watched with wide eyes waiting for her treat. He handed the ice cream to her and said "One Ember special, for my favorite sister. On me." She started getting to work on her ice cream while Crimson started talking to her, just asking about her day and what she learned at school. "So Em" he started "You have any idea what you wanna be when you grow up?" She stopped for a second and proudly declared

"An ice cream man!" Crimson just started laughing at his little sister's comment until he looked out the front store window. Five figures were moving towards the store wearing large coats with hoods that covered their faces. Both Crimson and Mr. Ice had a look of worry on their face as they saw the men approach. Crimson turned to Ember and told her in a quick, hushed, voice,

"Em, listen to me. This is important. I want you to go into the back and hide there. No matter what don't come out unless someone you know comes to get you. I mean it! No matter what you hear you can't come out without someone trustworthy getting you. Promise me that Ember, promise me" Ember was shaking in fear and answered,

"Alright I promise."

"Good. Ember, I love you sis."

"I l-love you too big brother" She turned and ran into the back of the store and found a place to hide. Mr. Ice locked the door behind her and they both prepared for the men. The leader of the group opened the front door and walked in. Mr. Ice spoke up first,

"Hello sir, what can I do for you?" The man laughed at him and said in a gravelly voice,

"Just checking on the local businesses. After all who knows what might happen. Some group of Faunus might just wander in and cause trouble."

"I don't know what you want, but I can assure you we serve everyone here regardless of race." Mr. Ice said.

"Oh I know. But sometimes you have to send a… message even to the people who already understand. Let everyone know you won't be pushed around." Crimson got an angry look on his face and said,

"Why don't you go with the White Fang then, send people a message without violence." Once again the man laughed and said,

"Those fools, they don't understand that you won't get anywhere with peaceful protest. We aim to send a different message. We did warn you to close, but now I guess I have to deal with you myself."

Ember sat in the corner of the back room curled up and crying. She could hear everything that was being said and heard the other men walk into the store. The sounds of a struggle could be heard and screams from both Mr. Ice and her brother rang throughout the store. Then she heard the leader speak again and he said,

"Alright boys, let's tear this place down." The sound of breaking windows and smashed tables were heard all throughout the street. Eventually the smashing stopped and she heard the bell ring from the men leaving. She peeked through the door and saw no one in the store. Police sirens rang out as a bunch of patrol cars began pulling up to the street. She knew she promised her brother but the men were gone and the police were here so she figured they were trustworthy enough. Opening the door she finally got a full look at the store.

All of the windows were smashed and glass was scattered all over the floor. They had smashed all sorts of chairs and tables into the counter and machines. At the very center of the destruction she saw Crimson and Mr. Ice lying face down on the floor and not moving. She rushed to her brother and started shaking him.

The police finally made it to the store after getting directions from the neighbors. They saw the place completely destroyed and a little girl inside, crying and shaking a young man.

"Crim… Crim… get up please." her sobs were easily heard between every word. "please get up… Crimson… don't go… please… don't go… I love you… please!"

In a dorm room at Beacon, Ember nearly bolted upright out of her bed.

"Another nightmare" she thought. Tears began to slide down her face as she thought back to that horrible day. She couldn't help but cry every time she thought of Crimson.

"You ok?" a voice asked in the room. She turned over to see Mikado sitting in her bed, lightly sharpening her daggers.

"What are you doing up?" Ember asked.

"I don't sleep" She stopped sharpening her weapons and looked at Ember. "You ok?" she asked again. Ember nodded and said

"It was just a nightmare. A sad one but just a nightmare." With that she let Mikado get back to her weapon and went to sleep.

The sun rose up, bathing Beacon in a brilliant light as Team EMLD awoke to their first day as an official team. Ember looked around to find everyone else was already awake. Their wide room was only a bare minimum with four beds all set up with a small amount of space between them. Lavender was busy making her bead, Mikado was cleaning and polishing her weapons at a table in the corner, and Dorado was on his bed tinkering with his Dust bombs. The previous anger she felt towards him had amplified after last night. Lavender was the first to notice that their leader was awake and said,

"Good morning. You might want to get ready, we all have class in thirty minutes. It looks like Ozpin gave us all the same classes. Up first we have… Professor Goodwitch."

They all took their time to get dressed in their school uniforms and made their way to Goodwitch's class. Inside they saw the large stage built at the very front of the room with seats built in a U around it. The common school layout seemed completely innocuous to all the students arriving, however they had no clue that the stage would be used for more than just Goodwitch's lesson. After a few minutes everyone was seated and professor Goodwitch walked into the room.

"Good morning class. As you all should know I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch." she started "I am responsible for teaching you the ins and outs of combat and the different things related to said combat. However that is my only job." Her face adopted a far more stern look "I am not responsible for whether or not you learn it. I can drone on about how much you need to listen but I will not. If you so choose not to listen to me then I will choose not to aid you and to merely teach you. If you do choose to listen then I will help you to the best of my own ability. And finally if you engage in any form of misconduct," She brought her riding crop down on the front row desks making an audible and intimidating smack. "I will have absolutely no mercy or tolerance for you" The class was silent, nearly scared out of their wits by such a stern teacher. "Now we will begin. Can anyone tell me what Aura is?" Ember raised her hand and began her answer,

"Aura is a manifestation of our very souls. It can protect us, heal us, and even augment our own strength. Every creature with a soul has it, which is why Grimm do not."

"Correct Ms. Flame. Thank you." The class continued on in this manner with Goodwitch explaining things such as Aura, Dust, and Semblances. Most of the class understood the basics of all of these but she still felt that a review would be helpful. Not only that but many of them didn't know the more advanced natures of some of these things and how they relate to combat. Eventually she stopped her teachings and looked at the clock. "Now that class is nearly over I would like to move on to demonstrating what we just learned. Tell me would two volunteers step up for a quick duel?" The room was silent for a moment before Ember's hand once again raised into the air. "Ms. Flame, please step up to the stage. Who else?" No one seemed ready to fight so early at after their journeys through the forest and so not a single hand went up. "Very well I will choose for you." she looked around the room and saw Dorado barely paying attention and pointed her crop directly at him. "You young man! You will be the one to duel Ms. Flame!"

They both got up and proceeded onto the stage which doubled as an impromptu arena. Both teammates readied their weapons and stood waiting for Goodwitch to start the match.

"He doesn't stand a chance. I hope this hurts." Ember thought to herself. The lights around them dimmed until only the stage was lit. The signal to begin was given and both fighters hopped away from each other. Ember shot the threads on her left hand straight at Dorado. He swiftly jumped over them and prepared a fire bomb in his pocket. Before he had a chance to throw it a second set of blades got launched straight up at him. The second set of threads connected and he was thrown back by the impact. His Aura blocked the strike but he was still sent to the ground. He rolled to the side just in time to avoid the daggers being sent down over him. In his roll he threw a fire bomb directly at her. She in turn rolled forward to dodge the explosion. Dorado then threw an ice bomb in front of her, it worked perfectly and Ember slipped on the layer of ice she was rolling into. She tumbled forward and nearly fell off of the stage. Regaining her balance she slammed her fist on the ground in anger and leapt back up. Dorado had already thrown a wind bomb and she was nearly caught up in the gigantic gust. Her daggers retracted back into her gloves and she charged straight at him. Put into a close combat fight her blades were much more effective than Dorado's bombs. Many of her blows were connecting and slowly whittling away at Dorado's Aura. He finally managed to get a kick to her chest and, using her moment of surprise, cartwheeled away. He pulled out a fire bomb and threw it at Ember, hoping the explosion would knock her out. The bomb went soaring and right before it could hit her she reached out and pulled it right from the air. She held a look of smug satisfaction on her face when she said,

"You think my weapon wouldn't be able to handle Dust? Ha, idiot." Dorado smiled in turn and pulled out a slightly bigger device than what he normally used. It was a thin cylinder with a two switches in the middle of it. He clicked the top button on the device and responded

"You think my weapon would be that simple? Ha, idiot." The irony wasn't lost on Ember as she quickly turned to stare at the bomb in her hand. It made a small click sound and exploded in her hand, launching her straight out of the arena. The lights turned back on and Goodwitch returned to the stage.

"As you can see Dorado has won the match. In some duel types being sent outside of the arena constitutes a defeat. Ms. Flame, take care not to gloat so much in battle, had you thrown his weapon back at him immediately you might have caught him off guard. Either way we are just about out of time for today. Make sure you all read up on the workings of Dust before next class. Class dismissed." Students began to pile out of the classroom after Goodwitch had left, but Ember still sat on the ground off of the stage in disbelief. Dorado walked over to her and offered his hand to help her up.

"Hey sorry about the whole 'idiot' comment. Couldn't help myself in battle." he said. Ember slapped his hand away from her and started to get up.

"Don't talk to me like we're friends" she told him. He looked at her slightly confused and asked,

"What's your problem with me? As far as I can tell I haven't done anything." She looked at him with hate burning in her eyes and told him,

"My problem with you is your entire, idiotic, horrible, destructive, cruel race! You and all the Faunus do nothing but cause problems! You hurt people, steal, destroy, and kill!" Dorado's look of confusion shifted to one of anger as he yelled back,

"My race! Is that what this is about! Sorry, I had no idea our team leader was a bigot! I never did anything but exist! Is that my fault!"

"You and all you other Faunus do nothing but hurt and kill! The White Fang, the war, and all your other criminals! You're all a bunch of murdering, thieving, vandals!"

"Yes because I've obviously committed hundreds of crimes!" He pointed to his horns "These must mean I'm a criminal and nothing else! How dare you!"

"Shut up! All of you are like this, you stupid, moronic, can muncher!" The team went silent at Ember's outburst. Dorado looked her in the eye, turned around, and walked out of the classroom. Before he walked out the door he stopped and said,

"I don't know why you think like this but it's not right. I don't care what happened to you, it doesn't excuse racism." And with that he walked out, leaving the rest of the team standing there.