Cinders and Embers

"Ma'am, I think we found him." A young woman's voice chimes.

"What do we have, then?" The response comes from a more mature woman.

"6 and a half feet tall, light brown complexion, and a big sword."

"How big?"

"Very. His name is Tai Allucard, seen mostly in the forest of Forever Fall. What should we do?"

"I say we wait until night comes. Then we go have a little… chat."

"When do we depart?"

"Oh, do not worry. I'm going too, just for more persuasion."

"Oh, ok. Is he really that valuable?"

"He's a falling star, a meteor, not from around here. I think he's a bit valuable, yes."

"I'll make sure to track him down for you when we get there, ma'am."

"Good girl. For now, we just wait."

Meanwhile, within the Beacon Academy, Tai approaches the cafeteria, a large hall with high ceilings filled with brown tables linked together in rows, most of the students in the school held within here. Some are on a line with trays in their hands and various food bits. Tai walk up to the back of the line, grabbing a tray then carefully looks over the food selections as he slowly walked down with the line. Once he gets to some wonderful smelling baked ziti, he grabs a few spoonfuls of it along with smaller broccoli in the vegetable area of the line.

"I think that's good." He looks at his full tray, turning back toward the main area and scans for an empty table, seeing only a few scattered here and there. While scanning, he sees the various teams sitting together, such as Jaune's team sitting with Ruby's, and so on. Sitting at a table about 4 down from that group, he looks at his food and takes a deep breath, students passing by him occasionally.

"Isn't that the guy on a one man team?" Some would chime quietly, Tai poking at the food testing its quality.

"How's he going to compete in the Vytal Festival on his own?" Tai has heard of this 'Vytal Festival' a few times already, but he doesn't see how a team is relevant to a festival, unless this festival is not what he thinks. Dismissing the thoughts, he puts his fork in the pasta and as he lifts its cheesy goodness, he hears unpleasant groaning.

"Ow! That hurts!"

"See? I told you they are real!" Tai looks passed his food to see a big guy holding onto the ear of a female student. The male is Cardin Winchester, a tall strong built student with indigo eyes and a burnt orange hair color. With a light complexion and bright white teeth as he smiled in satisfaction of overpowering another, the one he's teasing is the Faunus Tai saw before. Her name is Velvet, not knowing her enough to know her last name. She's a rather small woman, wearing the same school uniform except her tie is replaced with a bow and she's wearing brown leggings with a look of pain on her face. The brown eyed brunette tries moving away from Cardin, her ear in his grip.

Tai frowns, placing his fork down and places his hands together, seeing someone else walk up to Cardin. He did not want to cause a scene; in addition, he knows sparring is happening today again. Surely, he will simply teach him a lesson then.

Velvet didn't seem to bother him at all, so I'm guessing he is just being a bully. She doesn't seem like a pushover though, I wonder why she didn't do anything to defend herself… maybe she didn't want to cause any problems either. Tai watches her walk around the tables with her head down, nearing the table he's at. "Hey, Velvet." Her head turns to Tai, stopping to also turn her body.

"Y-Yes?" Her voice is quiet with a bit of pain in it.

I'm guessing her ear might hurt. She's a little smaller than I thought, so why would a big guy like Cardin pick on her? Actually… that might be why. "Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really." She has an accent as well, Tai sighing at how low he views Cardin right now.

"Is this your first year?" Tai tries to make conversation to ease her up a bit, even if he didn't know her. He isn't trying to befriend her, but seeing her being a Faunus, it wouldn't hurt to get information from her as well.

"Oh no, it's my second." She replies, placing her tray down in front of him and taking a seat. There are a lot of vegetables on her plate.

"How was your first year here?" Tai finally takes a bite of his food, chewing slowly to measure the flavors of the ziti. Not bad.

"It was…fine." She clearly did not want to talk, quickly picking up pieces of food and eating them quietly.

"Was it?" Tai can see bringing up the past might now be such a good idea. "Being a second year student, you must have plenty of friends."

"You can say that."

"How many, if you can count them."

"3." She must be talking about her teammates. Naturally, they would be friends by now, himself guessing being a Faunus is hard.

"Why didn't you defend yourself against Cardin? You have more skill than you appear, even I know that."

"I didn't have to… He let me go."

"Your pacifism level is amazing." Tai looks up to her brown rabbit ears, eating more of the food. Velvet sees him looking at them and rubs the back of her right ear near a small red mark. "Are ears the only way to tell someone is a Faunus or are there other ways?"

"Well, not all Faunus have ears but… the 2 most common are ears and tails."

"Do you have a tail too?"

"No."

"Well, I think you look great how you are." Tai pointed out while continuing to eat, Velvet coughing a bit while eating her food.

"Uh…*cough*…thank you? But you don't have to try and cheer me up."

"I'm not. You are genuinely cute. Besides, we both know you'd beat him in a fight anyways." Tai finishes his food, Velvet poking her index fingers together.

"You think so?" Velvet looks up him and he puts a thumb up.

"Yeah." He stands up and throws away the tray, walking out of the cafeteria, Velvet watching him go and then a few moments later, gets up and walks out after him. Cardin looks over his shoulder when Velvet leaves the room, squinting his eyes then getting up himself.

In the hallway, Tai walks slowly through with his hands in his pockets, meeting a window looking over the courtyard. I wonder how strong she actually is. Seeing how this is her second year, she didn't get in for being a Faunus, she has to have a good degree of skill. I'll find out at some point, I'm sure.

*Snap*

The sound of a camera shot pulls him away from his thoughts, turning around to see Velvet behind him holding a camera. She snaps another picture, the camera in her hand as brown as her hair with gold trimming and a large lens.

"Uh… Pictures?" Tai raises an eyebrow, looking at the camera.

"Yeah. I love photography. See?" She shows him the pictures she took, half of his body in the first and his upper body with a confused face.

"Oh. These are… great." He did not want to tell her they aren't good, but they aren't bad either.

"You think so?" She looks at the pictures right before the camera is snatched from her from behind. She lifts her head and turns around quickly, Cardin behind her holding the camera.

"Oh man, these are garbage!" He exclaims while scanning numerous photos. "If you're gonna like something, you should try to be good at it."

"Give it back." She demands timidly, Cardin looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Fine, I guess you can have it back." He holds out the camera to her, Velvet reaching to grab it then he swipes it to the left. "If you can grab it, freak." Tai frowned, he didn't want to intervene but Cardin is bothering him by teasing her. He continued to move it back and forth stopping her from grabbing it, Tai reaching around her and grabbing Cardin's wrist. He is not a fan of assholes, and if it were up to him, he would have killed Cardin already.

"What the… what's your deal?" Cardin frowns, looking at Tai.

"You can grab it now, Velvet." Tai directs to her, Velvet looking over her shoulder and blushing from how close her is to her.

*Snap*

"O-ok." She reaches out and grabs it, Cardin trying to move his hand but Tai's grip hand him stationary. He squeezed on the camera instead, Velvet unable to pull it from him.

"Cardin, if you know what's good for you, I suggest you let it go." Tai warns, Cardin scowling at his remark.

"Or what? You together with this freak too?"

"If I am, would it be wise to pick on her?" Cardin's eyes get wide, feeling pressure on his wrist growing until it became a pain, loosening his grip on her camera and Velvet taking it back. "Just a warning, Cardin." He continued to squeeze Cardin's wrist, Cardin trying to pull away but fails in every attempt and drops on one knee trying to pull away.

"The next time you want to pick on her, remember that I will be there. And I will not be taking it easy on you like I am now." Cardin's hand becomes numb, trying to pull away more and more, panting hard. The sight makes Velvet giggle, only adding to his embarrassment. "Got it?" Tai lets his wrist go, Cardin flying back and hitting the ground from trying to pull away. Cardin gets up soon after, holding his wrist and shooting Tai an angry stare just to get a calm one back. He walks away from them, plotting his revenge on Tai as he walks away.

"You didn't have to do that." Velvet spoke quietly, turning around to him.

"You're right, I didn't. But he's gotta learn at some point that he can't pick on you just for being different than humans." Tai turns away, starting to walk away. "Hopefully I'll catch you around, I'd enjoy talking with you again sometime." Velvet's heart does a small flip inside her chest, smiling from the thought.

"Wait. You're Tai, right? The one man team, if I'm not mistaken."

"That's right. So feel free to approach me if you'd like whenever." Tai put his hand up and waves as he walks, Velvet looking down at the camera at the pictures. While Cardin was holding it, it had taken a picture when she looked up at Tai when he was behind her.

"Hmm…" She looks at the picture and blushes at her own blush.

*2 Making his way to his room before the next class begins, he walks into it and goes to his sword, pulling it out of its sheath. Picking up the sheath, he shakes it near the bed until a necklace drops out from it. It is a necklace with a silver half while the other is gold, meeting a small jewel. This small black jewel sits on a black plate and although the gem is small and onyx in color, it can be seen easily. Sliding the sword back in the sheath, Tai picks up the necklace and takes a deep breath, putting it on carefully and once it snaps together, the onyx gem seems to be filled with a blue and red mist. The 2 mists did not merge but instead swirled around each other balanced evenly.

Tai, on the other hand, cringed after putting it on. After a few seconds, he lets out a deep sigh, looking at his hands as he opens and closes them.

"I somehow forget each time to put this thing on. I think I need it in this world any way, otherwise we will have issues… On the plus side…" He looks out his window toward the mountains and forest areas. "Halving my own power means I can find that soul piece much faster. I just need a start of some kind to point me in the right direction, I can't be too distracted here."

"Distracted about what?" Blake's voice turns him around, seeing her stand in the doorway with some books in her arms.

"Nothing important, Blake." Tai walks away from the window and toward her. "Why are you around here?"

"Ruby forgot some of her books to class so I came and found them." Blake lifts the books up in her arms as proof.

"Do you know when more training is supposed to be happening? I heard about some festival that teams fight in earlier but I zoned out when Jaune was fighting."

"This evening. And if you are talking about the Vytal festival, that's in at the end of the year."

"I see. Thank you." Tai walks passed her and once in the hallway, makes a left to head toward his next class preemptively. "Will anyone else be fighting today, or do you have to be selected to do it?"

"It's voluntary. And it is only enough time for a few fights."

"Got it."

Later on in the day, Glynda Goodwitch is walking amongst the students to the rocket locker room. Once inside, she checks around for any changes, missing lockers, and the like.

"Excuse me, ." Tai grabs her attention and she looks behind herself then turns completely with her hands in front of her.

"How can I help you?"

"The practice from earlier, I wanted to know if I would be able to fight someone today."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot arrange that today. Perhaps the day after tomorrow, unless you have as an instructor, since I will not be here."

"I see. Well, is it possible to train somewhere on school grounds then besides that auditorium?"

"You can always train with your fellow students, but I advise it to be in a very controlled environment."

"I understand, thank you." Tai turns away and starts to walk away.

"Might I suggest a partner? Pyrrha Nikos is quite the prodigy and would be more than happy to spar, I am sure."

"Red hair, green eyes, Amazon type student?" Tai tries to recall her and nods after figuring it out. "Alright. And I would like to guess that fighting Grimm is ok to do as well?"

"I would not say it is ok, but if you are more than capable, I would not say no."

Tai walks out of the locker room, thinking of how to train without getting in trouble. I could just go out and kill Grimm all night but I see the same ones in the area. What if I go higher up? Maybe then I can find more variety and even some bigger Grimm. Fighting other students can be benefiting but if I can't do much, then I will not be training anything but restraint. Actually… that isn't bad either. Tai stops in the middle of the hallway and looks left through another window looking toward a large mountain.

"I will go there at night and spar in the day, then I can say I'm doing something, right? I also should make a little modification to my sword. That garage has more than car parts in it and I can even get a bit creative."

Tai spends that evening and night in his garage, from drawing blue prints to hammering molten metal pieces together. From designs of shotguns integrated in the handles to handguns attached to them, they were scrapped and remade, scribbled out and redrawn, hours of working until he finally made the decision to settle on something and gruffly work towards it until the sunlight began to rise over the horizon. Walking out of the garage with his sword in the sheath, he wipes his brow with his arm covered in a burnt tipped sleeve and sighed quietly.

"Damn, I didn't think time flew that much… In fact, what time is it…?" Tai pulls out his scroll and opens it to see 6:55 am. "Well, that gives me a solid hour and a half to sleep. I'm not tired yet but it can't hurt. I have to do some field testing today, don't I, Cerberus?" Tai looks over his shoulder to the sword, making his way all the way back to his room. "I also did some research on 'Dust' too, and I think I know what to do for clothing." Finally getting in his room, he passes his original cloak he arrived with which hangs on the wall. "It kind of works like this, just a bit more flexible." Putting his sword down onto its stand, he hops into the shower to get ready to rest clean.

Within the Forever Fall forest…

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sight see." Professor Goodwitch explains to her students as they walk down a small path of crimson leaves. Tai trails quite a bit behind, looking around this familiar area.

Seeing this place in the day while being escorted through it is a change. I believe the spot I landed is somewhere around here as well, in addition to that Nevermore. If these students see it, I'm certain they will try to kill it so I have to make it there first to get it out.

"We will rendezvous here at 4 o'clock. Have fun." The professor's ending order takes him out of his thoughts. The students, Team RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL, all disperse with empty jars in hand to collect tree syrup while wearing their battle gear. Still not having his own yet, Tai heads away from the group entirely, walking back to check where he originated. As he walks, some trees looked burned and having broken branches, leading him to the area of the crater itself. Leaves now cover majority of it, but the hole is still pretty obvious. Leaning down and touching the rim, he looks around for the Nevermore, nowhere in sight, luckily.

"It could have taken to the skies before we got here… Even so…it's odd having one at my disposal. From the classes I've taken so far, they kill just humans, or humanoid creatures, as well as their creations. I do qualify for that, so I don't know why it hasn't tried biting my head off like the first time… I put a 'collar' on it but when it doesn't listen, the chain burns it. Perhaps it simply learned not to try or it gets hurt." Tai stands back to full height, beginning to pace back and forth. "What am I even talking about right now? It's not important… what is important is at least trying to get clothes for fighting. I only have so many uniforms. If I can get some dust in my hands, I can use it to make some."

Shortly after he says this, a white case falls from the trees near him and slides a few inches toward him. Looking over at, it is a small white steel briefcase with silver handles and rims, rather large too like one used for money. Walking to it, Tai stops when he sees a small girl standing in front of it, staring directly at him. She is a small, emerald haired girl with a dark complexion wearing a small green gown and big red colored eyes, pointing at the case.

"Do you want the case, mister?" She asks him, Tai lowering his gaze from her to the case then back up to her.

RRRRAAAHHHRRRR

In the distance, a Grimm roars loudly, followed by a few shouts. Seeing it as an odd coincidence, Tai walks a few more steps toward the case, the girl not moving. Nearby, Blake and Yang run by, Blake halting when she sees Tai in the corner of her eye.

Skidding to a stop, Yang looks back at Blake who is looking through bushes. "Blake, what is it? Do you see Professor Goodwitch?"

"No, just go on ahead. She is bound to be there already. I'll catch up." Blake reassures her partner, Yang nodding then resumes running. Blake looks back into the bushes and sees Tai standing a few feet away from a silver case.

"What is in the case?" Tai asks the little girl.

"Inside is the Dust you want." She answers in a melancholy tone, Blake looking back and forth between Tai and the case.

"Dust?" Tai looks down at the case then the girl.

"Who is he talking to…?" Blake shakes her head then pulls out of the bushes. "No time for that, I have to head to the Professor." Blake runs in the same direction Yang did. He was talking like someone was there, I wonder if the syrup does that.

"Yes. Dust IS what you want, right mister?" She smiles with her eyes closed, putting her little hands behind her back.

"Alright, I'll play your game. How much Dust do I need from it?" Tai puts a hand on the hilt of his sword behind him.

"All of it is yours…"

"I'm going to say it isn't free, right?" The little girl slowly opens her eyes and smiles still.

"Very perceptive, mister." She giggles and sways left and right. "If you want the Dust, all you have to do is use your scroll and make a simple call."

"And if I don't?"

"Then you may find it very difficult to open the box." Tai pulls his sword from his sheath slowly then places it on his shoulders, walking up to the girl and the box.

"I think I could manage. But for the sake of time, tell me who to call."

The little girl's smile turns into a sheepish grin. While she gives him the information, the dying roar of the Grimm from before rings in the air again. Once Tai has the information, he looks at the girl and glares at her.

"There you go. All the information you need, so now you can take the case, mister."

"Hmm…" Tai doesn't move from his spot.

"What's the matter? It's yours now." Her cheery voice turns into a more harsh growl. "Take the case."

"Next time you want to tell me something, tell me yourself." Tai picks his sword up off him and thrusts it straight through the girl and into the ground. "And I don't like my mind being toyed with." He had his suspicions but seeing now that the sword passes right through the girl confirms it was an illusion. Becoming angry, nearby Grimm started raising their heads in his direction. The little girl disappears completely, leaving Tai with just the case, but that was all there ever was. Someone played a trick on his mind, he wasn't prepared for something like that to happen here.

"Is that what they call a *semblance*?" Tai pulls his sword from the ground and grabs the case. "An ability that huntsmen and huntresses have when they train enough that originates from the aura. But they didn't say that MIND tapping or whatever was one. Then again, it is unique across all people, most people. I wonder what mine would be…" Trying to open the case, it did not budge one bit no matter how many pulls he tried at it. "I forgot to call whoever that was… right." Hearing growling, Tai turns around to see red eyes all around him, even a flying a Grimm hovering around him. It's a small 4 limbed creature with a slim body, the head of a bird, and wings on both sides of its body. Along with smaller, more menacing tiny Nevermore littered around.

"I don't have time for this." Squeezing down on the hilt of his sword, he shakes his head getting more frustrated every second, the air around him getting warmer. From the area around him, Ursai and large Beowolf with bone like spikes protruding from their arms and backs as they reveal themselves, the flying 4 legged creature landing known as a Griffon behind him. The Grimm all start to run at him and as they did, a circular plate of fire shows up underneath all of the Grimm and pillars of fire shoot out from them and incinerate all the Grimm. Tai stands there with his sword in hand looks to his left, a woman standing there with her right eye glowing a fiery yellow.

This woman has ashen black hair lying on her right shoulder and bright glowing amber eyes, one covered by hair and standing at 5'5 or so but she's wearing black heels. She wears a dark red v-neck mini dress with yellow designs off her shoulders and a blue feather accessory on her right hip, at the top of an open portion of her dress. The dress ends in an upside-down triangular tail in the back, ending above the knees. The sleeves end in a triangle shape, which are wrapped around her middle finger, with the gold designs of the sleeve taking over at the wrists. She wears black shorts underneath her dress, as well as a black choker on her neck and dark red fingernails. She wears a gold loop earring with a black gem dangling from it on her right ear and dark, glass, high-heeled shoes and a jeweled anklet on her right leg.

"And you are…?" Tai asks, seeing this is a real woman but could possibly be the one who played with his mind. His eyes open wide after acknowledging her, a strong aura coming from her body. It isn't natural, and Tai knew that glow better than anyone.

She has the piece of the soul he was looking for.

"My name is Cinder." She closes her eyes which no longer glows and bows to him. "It's a pleasure to me you, Tai."

"I figured you knew who I was. Judging by how breathtaking you are, the rules say you can't be a good guy. Right?"

"That is all based on the opinion of the one judging. The rules also say you are an angel, right?" Her response is calm like her soft voice, looking at him with a smile.

"You can say that, but I am no angel. However…" Tai pulls his sword apart, looking at Cinder carefully. "You have something that doesn't belong to you. I am going to need it back."

"Whatever do you mean?" Cinder places her right hand on her hip, looking back at Tai.

"You have a power within you that doesn't belong to you. I simply have to take it from you and I will be on my way."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Well, if you just stand there and look pretty, I can just take it. Otherwise, I'll have to use a bit of force, and we don't need that, do we?"

"By all means, come and take it." Her eyes scan him to the case. "And I might as well open up that case for you." Waving her left hand, the locks on the case glow bright and then turn to dust, allowing the case to be opened.

"Neat trick, I take it you weren't the one playing with my head then." Tai moves the case away from his feet and starts to walk over to her.

"Oh no, I can't do that. But I am afraid I can't turn down the chance to test this power before you take it from me."

"Oh, I figured it wouldn't be easy." Tai smirks and his swords ignite with flames on their edges. Cinder's eyes glow again, the yellow design throughout her dress glowing as well.

"I hope I get to see you fight with your angelic and demonic power." Tai stops walking, frowning now from her comment.

"How do you know about that?"

"Let's just say I have my sources." Cinder shifts her right leg in front of her left.

"Sorry to disappoint but my 'other power' is a simple change here and there. In fact, I won't need it now will I?"

Cinder chuckles with her smirk still unbroken. "That remains to be seen."

"Is everyone ok?" Glynda stands before her students, doing a head count. "I heard Grimm activity but I see you all handled that well enough." After a quick check once more, she noticed Tai is not there. "Does anyone know where Tai is?"

Crackling noises and clanging metal echoes in the air, the students and Glynda looking around when the sound erupts. From where they are, the sounds originate a hundred yards away then seem to drift off to a half a mile away. 2 flames clash into each other within the trees, moving closer and closer to a stream cutting through the forest. Within the dark shades of trees, a spark ignites on the ground then several feet away in the branches, 2 blurry characters seeming to fade in and out of the tree shades. Tai and Cinder clash again, his sword ignited against her sword which is one of a pair similar to his also on fire. They separate so quickly then clash again further away it seemed like a blur, Cinder easily holding her own. Tai clashes with her with an overhead swing and while her hands are up blocking it, he kicks her diaphragm, sending her back with her heels skidding along the ground.

Sliding her right hand along a fallen tree as she skids, it becomes molten and rises into the air, dividing and then hardening into glass. Swinging her arms toward him, the glass shards fire at him, Tai swinging his sword horizontally burning them into nothing then puts his sword back together as one. Lunging into her, she uses her swords to slam it away into the ground, Tai using the momentum to punch her chest and she retaliates with a back flip with her heel on fire kicking him in his chin sending him backwards. Surrounding her is more fire in a large ring, small fire blasts jetting from them toward him. Recovering quickly, he lets his sword go and swings it around on its chain, blocking the blasts with the sword then pulls it back holding it once more.

Getting in close, Cinder's weapons break apart like shattered glass and she jabs her hand out like a lashing snake on fire, making Tai sway his head and she jabs again, Tai blocking it with his free arm and then slams his sword again, Cinder nimbly dodging it but Tai leaves his sword in the ground, detaching the chain and lets it wrap itself around his arm. Closing in on her, he kicks at her leg with his left, Cinder blocking it with her hand and kicks back, Tai using his knee to block. Kicking repeatedly near her head, she weaves through each one until his leg is whizzing over her head, Tai bringing it down and bends his knee so it head locks her head with his leg. Jumping over her while locked, she is forced to bend and while in mid air, Tai uses his other leg and before he lands, uses it to kick her in the back and sends her straight up into the air. Cinder is sent flipping in air then as she comes down, Tai jumps and spins rapidly and as her head is about to hit the ground and her front is facing him he lashes out a fierce fiery kick that generates a shockwave sending some trees into a tilt and Cinder onto the stream, skipping across it and lands on the other side hitting a tree.

Grunting and slumping to the ground, Cinder pants lightly and Tai uses the chain to latch back toward his sword hilt, pulling it back to his side. Holding it out to his left, the swords fold apart and are hilt to hilt, the guards stopping around his wrist. The half circles within the swords form a small ball of fire in each of them, a flame lining the outside blades then the tips let a string of fire connect themselves together. Cinder stands up again, brushing herself off and looks at him, seeing his swords together like a Great Bow. Putting the weapon above his head, he slams the bottom tip into the ground and aims it stands in front of him like a bow, Tai grabbing the flame string and draws it back slowly, a giant fiery arrow forming and being pulled back until the tip is near the hilt. Aiming it right at her, his glowing silver eyes fixated on her, he lets the 5.5 foot arrow go, the ground behind him breaking as well as the crimson leaves fly around him from the release force. Cinder puts up her hands and forms a barrier of fire around her as fast as she could, the arrow exploding in a glorious pillar of golden flames.

The gust generated does not sway him, pulling his bow from the ground and collapses it back into the original claymore design, walking up to the edge of the stream. As the debris clears, he sees the dusty shadow of Cinder stand there, barely moved. Her hand is on her hip once more, looking at Tai with a satisfied smile on her face.

"I see… When you access your real power, your eyes turn to silver." Cinder analyzes him, Tai's once red eyes still glowing silver. "I'm afraid I can't stick around anymore, so we will have to pick this up again sometime." Putting her hands in the air, the 2 swords she had form again but as a bow, just like Tai's only far smaller. Drawing back, 3 black arrows with silver tips form and she shoots them into the water between them, the arrows hitting the floor and explodes with flaming energy, creating steam and water to jettison from the stream and reduce the visibility to almost zero.

"…!" Putting his arm up to shield his face, he looks to where she should be, no longer seeing even a shade.

"We will meet again, I assure you. Next time, you should just call me~." Cinder's teasing voice echoes around him, the water drizzling back down and clears the steam, seeing her nowhere in sight.

"Yes… we will." Tai turns away from the stream and slides his sword back onto his shoulders, returning to the place where the fight started around the suitcase.

Later that afternoon, Tai is in the town, traveling down a street alone save for a few bystanders, walking past book stores and jewelry stores until he finds the one he is looking for: a sewing facility. With the suitcase in hand, he looks at his scroll with the other.

"This is the place. I wonder if it will take a lot of time…" Tai walks into the store, the afternoon sun shining its orange glow across the kingdom. A few hours pass, the moon a waning crescent in the sky, Tai walking from within the store and looks up to the moon, the case in hand still. He looks down at it and waves it around, the contents in it exhausted. "It's definitely lighter now since it has clothes in it now. It wasn't as expensive as I thought but then again, I don't know what a lot of money would even be." Shrugging, he heads back to the school and into his dorm room, laying the case down on his bed and opening it. Taking out the clothes, he grabs a white dowel and heads into the bathroom, taking a well needed shower for what he planned to do. Plus it was nice to get under some hot water to get clean anyway.

Stepping out of the bathroom 20 minutes later, he is wearing his new clothing and even new boots, walking out into the hallway and shutting the door quietly.

"What are you up to?" A sudden voice turns him around, Yang walking toward her room with a mug of steaming liquid, probably coffee like everyone else, in a yellow tank top and black shorts showing him she was either in bed already or going to it.

Looking him up and down, Tai is wearing an ashen jacket with the inner coat lined with white vine like designs reminiscent of Chinese culture, the design outlining the bottom of the outer side as well. The duster is open over a black short sleeve shirt and black pants. The pants resemble sweatpants with a white flame design at the bottom that goes up to half his shins, zippers along the sides of his pants. His boots are also black, white soles and black laces. A chain wraps around his waist like a belt, a loop of it on the right side and a small design of a feather similar to a Nevermore's is seen on the back center of the coat and the bottom left of his shirt. Around his neck is the gold and silver necklace with the swirling red and blue smoke like substance inside of it. Yang whistles as she looks him over.

"Whoa, nice clothes man. Must've been expensive to get that stuff." She compliments him, Tai putting his hand in his pocket.

"I believe so. And to answer the other question, I have to go out looking for information."

"Information huh? What kind of information?"

"Finding someone. But it won't be easy so I need to find someone who at least knows a lot of… unsavory people."

"Oooh. I have a friend who knows anyone and everyone." Yang points to herself with a smile. "I bet he can find who you are looking for."

"Hm… Ok, where is he?" Tai pulls out his scroll and finds a map of the area, Yang looking at it and scrolling around then points to a corner.

"Down there. His name is Junior, tell him I sent ya! He is a really cool guy." Yang smiles and turns away from him, walking away. "Oh yeah, and sorry for yesterday. I was super hyper, like, more than usual, so I hope you can forget about that. Goodnight." Entering her room, Tai heads in the opposite direction. Looking at the scroll, he follows it for the next 30 minutes, making his way through the night streets carefully until he sees a large brick building on the edge of the city with lights blinking like strobe lights of white, red, and liker grays through them.

"This is a… questionable area. I wonder what kind of friend am I looking for…?"

Approaching the building, Tai walks up a small flight of stairs and past 2 guardsmen dressed in black suits and red ties, black glasses and hats, and he pushes open a large silver door. Turning out to be a club, music bumping and people inside dancing, it's a virtual themed club with a lot of white. There are more people with suits holding red swords and some have guns dancing as well, for some reason, and the DJ is also wearing a suit with a giant teddy bear head on. Walking down the into the main area where the lights are above moving slowly and alternating colors, he passes by many folk with the scent of alcohol and sweat to the bartender counter with a big man standing behind it. He has a suit on without the jacket and a very smooth goatee and gruff figure. A man in a white suit walks away from the counter with orange hair and a cane, an aura catching Tai's eye like Cinder's only lighter.

"What'll it be pal?" He asks, picking up a shot glass and a white towel, shining it.

"Information, on the rocks. No bullshit." Tai says, sitting down.

"Take it you know who I am?" He replies instantly.

"Of course, I heard from a blonde girl that you are good for info, like telling me who that man was that was just here."

"Just a business associate, name's Torchwick." He shrugs, looking away to the door. "Blondie sent you, huh? Well, in that case, I should be a bit hospitable." He gestures to the men in black and they close the doors. Noticing it, some people start to file out immediately then nearly everyone is gone but for the suited men. Tai shrugs and gets up, walking on the floor heading out.

"I'll go find him then. It shouldn't be hard." Tai says to the man, putting his right hand in his pocket. "Thank you for the name; I'll be back when I need more."

"Sorry, but you are gonna help pay off Blondie's tab. Just with a bit of… entertainment." Junior walks around the counter past 2 twin girls. One wears a white, strapless dress with cyan lining. Her massive amount of accessories are a large white flower hairpin above her left ear, a white feather scarf, a silver pad with cyan and red feathers on her left shoulder, white gloves, a small silver bracer over the glove on her left arm, a bow in the center of the top-most part of her bodice, a silver chained belt, cyan wings on the lower back, and long white boots with blades at the heels. The other twin is wearing a red and black equivalent and red claw weapons.

The men in black walk around him, cutting him off from anywhere standing in the middle of the dance floor. Tai is not bothered by this however, looking back at Junior who is sitting in a stool with a grin on his face.

"I see. No problem, but I hope you know you will owe me after this, Junior." Tai takes his hands from his pocket, looking around at the men. "You might need more men though." The men growl around him, and aim guns at him and tries to shoot but their guns are jammed, throwing them away before feeling stupid and pulling out red axes. Running toward him, things slow down and Tai takes a deep breath, holding out his left arm a bit with his palm up and open. "Maybe some men that have brain too." Focusing with a sarcastic grin on his face, he closes his eyes and as they closed in, he clenches his palm into a fist, a large white explosion of fire emanating from Tai instantly.

They are all knocked back, Tai's duster now white and appearing like flames and the lines that were white are now black. Tai turns around, grinning with his eyes silver and clothes giving off ember like energy. I see... It's not like Ceraza's, but it's close enough. As long as I don't summon any Infernal Demons, I should be ok. Tai thinks as he inspects himself. More men rush him, Tai punching the closest one in the chest with a small gold explosion on hit, punching the man again into one behind him. Turning quickly, he hits a man behind him with his elbow, grabbing him, and then tossing his over his head into more clumsy men. Sweeping left, he trips 2 men then double kicks them away from him, the DJ pulling out a rocket launcher from under him and aiming it at Tai, shooting it right away. Tai jumps and twists over the rocket, waiting for it to pass and grabs it from the air and changes its path back to its sender, blowing up the DJ booth and then lands on another man's shoulders. Flipping down to the ground, Tai kicks backwards and sends him into the broken and destroyed booth.

Walking up to Tai is the 2 twins he saw earlier, the one in white with her arms folded.

"Melanie… doesn't he remind you of that girl…?" The one in red asks quietly from behind.

"Yeah Militia. People are so rude nowadays, we should hurry and get rid of him." Melanie says to her twin coldly.

"Yeah ok…" Militia puts up her claws, Tai walking up to them then takes a sudden jump and slams his boot down above them, and the both of them cartwheel away nimbly. Moving back to him at fast speed, Melanie kicks at his feet, keeping Tai moving with her and her twin jumps over her back, swinging her claws down at him. Tai blocks them and tries to kick her but Melanie blocks his kick with hers. Clawing at him, Tai blocks the twin onslaught and they push him back, tripping Tai with a full sweep under him. He shifts in mid air and kicks Melanie away from him into the stairs of the club. Giving her no break, Tai closes in on Militia and uppercuts her stomach, then punches her back even though she blocks it.

Both twins come back and Tai moves sideways when a red claw cuts straight to him, grabbing her arm and lifting her up, preventing Melanie from seeing him and he takes a step toward her and elbows her hard enough to break glass around him and send her into a glass pillar seemingly unconscious. Militia twists above him and swings both of her claws in a cat scratch motion, Tai blocking and parries her right claw to the side. Kicking her left shin, she buckles down and he grabs her right arm, back flips and kicks her upwards. He keeps her suspended by kicking her repeatedly each time she comes down, golden explosions following every kick. He then steps back, then kicks his right leg outwards into her stomach, Militia screaming as she is flying into the DJ booth. Melanie tries sneaking up behind him and kicks at his back, Tai using his arm to block her.

He grabs her ankle and pulls her toward him, forcing her to wobble to him. He uses his free arm to wrap around her waist, picking her up and then throws her over his head, punching her 3 times before she could hit the ground then punches her one final time hard enough to send her to the booth as well. From behind, Junior swings a large metallic baseball like weapon and clocks Tai in the back of the head, sending him hurling into nearby stands and creating debris around him. Mounting it on his shoulders, it transforms slightly into a rocket launcher and when he pulls the trigger, 10 rockets fly out in swivels and explode where Tai is hitting him directly. With a satisfied smile, he slides it into a bat and taps it on his shoulders.

"Had enough, punk?" He asked in a snooty tone, the debris still.

The club starts to rumble and the lights start to flicker until they stay white and red, the debris starting to rise. From the debris Tai stands up slowly, his amount of continuous aura lifting the debris and keeping it suspended. He cracks his neck and starts walking toward Junior.

"I was just got these clothes. You mess them up and you'll be paying the tab, Junior." Grunting, Junior changes his weapon back into the RPG and shoots it again. Wanting to get to him as fast as possible, Tai lunges forward. The sudden speed burst left behind a white flash of energy and then it appears again in front of Junior, taking him by surprise and slugs him in the face. Punching the weapon away, Junior tries punching Tai but he vanishes again, behind Junior and he punches both shoulders and vanishes again. He uppercuts Junior into the air then gets above him to kick him down again. Junior can't handle the teleporting, standing turning around just to get hit from the side of his head then Tai gets in front of him and plants his right foot and kicks Junior's face with the sole of his big boot. Junior falls back hard, letting go of his weapon and gets dizzy, shaking his head as Tai switches his legs up and spins around with golden embers trailing his boot and kicks Junior's face, shattering all the glass in the building and sends him spinning out of the doors of the club.

Cracking his knuckles together, Tai comes from the club and jumps up high in the air. His fist burns with the same golden embers, coming down right in the center of Junior's chest leaving a crater around him and knocks him out cold.

Clearly unconscious, Tai walks out to look at Junior then down to his own clothing. "Thanks for that, Junior. I wanted to see if this worked with my abilities and your boys and girls definitely helped. Although… I don't know how I did all that… 'teleporting' when I fought you. Maybe that's from this world." Bowing toward Junior, his clothing and eyes returned to normal, no longer emitting his aura. He walks away from Junior, going around a corner. "I still have so much to learn here… But if I know one thing: I'm going to have to find Torchwick so he can lead me to Cinder. In the mean time, i should practice my new abilities while I can. Maybe I don't have to use 'Witch Time' here after all..." Suddenly, his head begins hurting and he holds it with his right hand, covering his forehead and eye. "The hell is this..?!" Just as quickly as it happened, it was gone, Tai paused in place then looks around him, ending his gaze at the sky. "What just happened...?"

In a small and dark cell...

Within the silence of darkness, a small confined room of white tile flooring, a single bed, and a sink with a mirror over it holds a single soul. Reminiscent of a jail cell, a sole person wrapped in a ruby red sheet is sitting on a poor quality hard bed near the corner of the room, her hair damp and occasionally dripping on the stained sheet. Her features are hard to make out as she is covered head to toe save for her pink lips and cream white complexion in addition to being in fetal position.

(Voice of Rebecca Shochet)"Dear God..." She whispers feebly, her lips parting only a little. "Please help me... Some...one... A-Anyone..." Her jagged voice barely bounce from the walls as she attempts to pray. Her hair in the darkness begin to glow a golden color under the sheet, then return to the crimson red it is, into the black which match the darkness of the room. "Th-there must be...one. J-just one... out there... Right-t?" The door, a steel rusted old door at that, to the room shakes and the sounds of locks are undone makes her shudder but she knows who this was. When the door opens, it lets in just a shred of light before being shut closed again. The sound of clicking heels move closer to the battered female then stops, a flame igniting in the intruder's hands, her eyes glowing amber.

"You and I... have to talk." Cinder states, with a calm smile on her face.

Please feel free to leave any feedback as it would be greatly appreciated and lets me know if you enjoyed reading this or if I may need to work on it. Nothing is perfect so don't mince words if you don't have too! Also, I'd like to know if music suggestions would help the imagery of this series. This is 'canon' without changing the outcome of the story so I try to use only what's available. Thanks, and stay classy.