A/N: Yay, 'nother Monday! I just love Mondays... :) I hope y'all enjoy
Cinder never knew boundaries. If she wanted something, she would cross any lines to get it.
There was something different about the man that stood in front of her though. Something about him made her hair stand on end, made her move cautiously around him. With the mask that he wore constantly, Cinder wasn't even given the chance to discern his expressions. If it wasn't for the rhythmic tapping of one of his hands, she wouldn't even be sure that she was facing a person or a statue. Cinder had spent all her life trying to hoard power over others, going the distance to try and seek out any means necessary to gain said power. Whether through attempting to steal the powers of the Fall Maiden to seeking forbidden artifacts in the Wildlands, she did it all.
And whatever power this man had, she wanted it. Whatever the cost.
And so, swallowing her pride, the woman knelt, hand placed over her heart.
"You called for me?" She asked in a quiet voice. The man who sat so still finally moved into action, nodding slowly, standing up out of his seat, a throne made out of melted weapons of the people who dared try and challenge him.
"Yes."
Cinder kept her pose, waiting for him to speak. Kneeling on the ground, frozen in place, Cinder felt the man getting closer and closer, hand finally gripping her chin, forcing her gaze upwards. The woman was still kneeling though, and the amount of power the man in front of him had over her made her struggle briefly, rage apparent in her eyes at being handled like this. A low gasping emanated from underneath his mask, which Cinder figured out to be a chuckle.
"You are quite spirited. And strong. Stronger than many here." Cinder didn't bother answering him, knowing that he wasn't asking her but rather making a statement. The fingers curled around her chin, stroking her. She had to drown a shudder that traveled along her spine, but couldn't put away the disgust in her eyes fast enough before Imaar noticed. The man straightened up, finally releasing her from his grip, but still Cinder stayed frozen.
"You are a woman that quests for power. Someone who would go to the edges of your world to become stronger. And I have a question for you." The masked man stared directly at Cinder, the shadowed eyeholes preventing Cinder from looking directly at him. Cinder nodded.
Imaar gestured with his right hand, wisps of magic flying from his fingertips and forming an image or an embroidered scroll, beautiful and golden. Cinder, a master of information, schooled her expression into a mask that revealed nothing to Imaar. The man was impressed.
"Have you ever in your journeys encountered something that looks like this?"
Cinder drew in a breath, before summoning some will, as well as some defiance. "Well. It depends." Imaar tilted his head in curiosity. Cinder finally stood up, back straight and only having to tilt her head up slightly to face the mask. "It depends on what you're planning to do for me." She purred out, thinking that she had the upper hand. Imaar didn't move from his position, nothing moving, even the winds outside the tent quieting down. Cinder felt a feeling rise to the pit of her stomach, a feeling of dread that was quickly made apparent when once more, Cinder was frozen in place, this time not by choice. Ice wrapped up around her legs, locking her in place. Stunned by the sudden attack, it took her a second before she summoned her powers, melting the ice and ready to face down Imaar.
The man calmly pointed a finger at her, the tip glowing bright red.
Cinder's flames extinguished themselves as she knelt down, muscles clenching everywhere, her mind screaming at her, begging her to run somewhere and hide. She fell to her knees, and when she opened her mouth, she did something that she hadn't done since she was beaten almost a year ago.
She screamed.
The scream was raw, primal, something that if any human was around would make their hairs stand to attention, knowing that it was filled with pure terror. She screamed so loud that her throat nearly collapsed under the strain, and yet still, she continued to scream. Then Imaar lowered his finger, the light disappearing.
And as suddenly as it had came, the feeling left her, the suddenness creating a hollow sensation in her chest. With the sudden changes in emotion, Cinder leaned over and threw up, retching loudly as she did so. The masked man stood in place, not having moved while this was happening, but there was an air of amusement around him.
If Cinder wasn't completely wiped out by her earlier episode, she would have summoned some energy to hate the man. Cinder's vision blurred, and was filled with black boots as Imaar stepped in front of her, before kneeling down.
"I may consider you useful, but do not ever think that you are in a position of power." Fingertips touched her forehead, glowing a brief red, making Cinder's body convulse in fear for a brief second before the spell subsided. "I can just as easily tear any information I need out of your head. But as a sign of respect, I have not. And as a sign of that respect, I will not kill and enthrall you for that sign of defiance. This time." Hands clutched the woman's hair and pulled her head up, so that Cinder's eyes could meet his.
"Now I ask you again," Imaar laid his staff down, the hand sparkling with a dangerous glow. "Do you know of the scroll that I had shown you?"
Forced to speak, her head unable to move with his firm grip, Cinder croaked out a quiet yes. Imaar nodded, letting go of her and letting her flop back onto the floor, standing up.
"Very good. I will let you recover, and we will continue with our questioning." Without another word, the Dragon Priest exited the tent, leaving the prone Cinder there, finally gathering enough energy to seethe, mind working furiously to cast her revenge.
"This is getting a little weird."
Jaune turned to see Ruby with a slightly disgusted look on her face, watching as Yang draped an arm around Jaune. Crooking an eyebrow, Yang smiled at her little sister. "What do you mean, sis?" Ruby shook her head, eyes narrowing.
"You know exactly what I mean. You. Jaune. This!" Ruby gestured at the position they were in with horror.
After the first kiss in the medic tent, Yang and Jaune had decided that it wouldn't hurt to have one or two more kisses. Or maybe several dozen more, as Ruby stepped in on them half an hour later with some rations, before screaming and throwing them up in the air, mortified to be stepping in on her best male friend and big sister making out.
Yang rolled her eyes, casually lifting her legs and placing them over Jaune's lap and squirming a little, causing her to end up comfortably on top of Jaune. The blonde boy squeaked a little, face turning a little red as he concentrated very hard on making sure he didn't get very hard.
"Oh come on Rubes. Are you sure you don't want a front row seat to all of this?" Yang gestures at the two of them, smirking. "It might be something good to learn from for the future after all. When you're older." Yang added with an afterthought. Ruby covered her face, not wanting to see anymore of this.
"First off, I am only two years younger than you, and I don't need to wait until I'm older. Secondly, I am not going to be watching my sister… canoodling with someone even if I needed a reference. Which I don't!" Yang chuckled mischievously, before having a brilliant idea.
"Are you sure you don't need a little bit of guidance? I mean, I'm pretty sure—oh, stop it Jaune, not while Ruby's here!" The brunette wailed a little, something about broken trust before the blonde knight raised both his hands, face completely red.
"I have no idea what she's talking about." He denied vehemently, which was true, but something that Ruby wouldn't know seeing as how she was covering her eyes.
"Don't lie to me Jaune! I thought I had someone that could keep Yang in line!" Ruby almost looked on the verge of tears. "I knew it though. I knew you would side with her in the end." Finally her hands lowered to expose a glare that Jaune didn't know Ruby could do. "Guys always side with her. It's probably because of…" Ruby blushed a little, but continued to glare at Jaune. "I didn't realize that you would be so easily swayed by… by her long hair." And with that, Ruby disappeared in a blur, the tent flaps waving in the wind. Jaune groaned, collapsing onto the bed.
"I can't believe you would bully your own sister like that." Jaune said blandly, an arm across his face. Yang laughed, getting off his lap and leaning next to him on the bed.
"Oh, what's the harm with a little bit of fun?"
"Well, she could tell Professor Goodwitch." Jaune pointed out, rather sanely. Yang opened her mouth to retort, before closing it again with a frown.
"She wouldn't do that." Yang said unconvincingly, eyebrows drawn together. "Probably."
"Oh. Wonderful. Glad to know that you have such confidence in your sister."
"It's your fault, you ass." Yang countered, before sighing. "You weren't worrying when you had your tongue down my—"
"There was no tongue down anywhere, and you know it." Jaune rose up, glaring at Yang with a healthy blush on his face. The two of them stayed like that for a while, faces close before Yang broke out a softer smile, eyes flickering.
"Well, maybe we should change that." Yang whispered, which made Jaune gulp nervously. The two of them drew closer together before the tent flaps flew open again, causing Yang and Jaune to separate quickly, each on their side of the bed.
Pyrrha's head popped through, eyes looking around to spot Yang and Jaune. Locating them, she smiled, stepping inside the tent.
"Pyrrha." Jaune said, calming his rapidly beating heart. "What're you doing back here?"
Pyrrha shook her head, eyes worried. "I saw Ruby running away from the tent, screaming something about 'betrayal' and 'drinking more milk', and wanted to make sure everything was alright in here." Jaune waved a hand, shaking his head.
"Yeah, everything's alright here. Ruby just caught the two of us in here at a… bad time." Jaune didn't see Yang trying to subtly stop him from speaking. Pyrrha's eyebrows furrowed, before her eyes widened in shock… along with a bit of betrayal.
"Oh I.. I see." She said in a small voice, eyes cast down towards the ground. "I'll, I'm glad everything's alright." A small pause. "I'll just take my leave now." Without another word, she left, leaving Jaune with a frown on his face.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Yang covered her face with a hand, shaking her head, not knowing that Vedrahgol was doing the same thing. They even muttered the same phrase as well.
"Jaune, you idiot."
"I did do something wrong." Jaune decided, hearing them both say that. He scratched his head, confused.
"Do you think she was mad at us because we weren't supposed to be kissing in the medical tent?" Yang shook her head.
"You're half right." Yang said flatly, before standing up off of the bed, deciding that she had scarred enough people for the day. "Just. You should probably talk to her. Later." Yang said, looking at Jaune, who nodded.
"Yeah. Don't want any bad air between us." Jaune's eyes were glued onto the exit, a frown on his face as he tried to figure out what was wrong. Yang clenched a hand, squashing the feeling of jealously that she felt because Jaune was feeling concern about his partner.
"We should get going. The faster we can put Imaar into the ground, the better." Yang said, casting a weak smile before she left the tent, leaving Jaune sitting by himself, head wrapped in confusion.
