RWBY: Keep Moving Forward

Chapter 18

"You'll play the role as my boyfriend."

Emerald and Mercury nearly choked as Cinder said those words. "What?" Dean asked.

"Well, having someone in Beacon who 'knows' me would definitely make deceiving others much easier." Cinder replied.

"Right..." Dean scratched behind his ear.

"Seeing that you're from Mistral, your friends at Beacon shouldn't question how we know each other." Cinder added. "Plus, it would be a useful excuse for when you need out of a situation."

Dean slowly nodded, understanding what she meant. "True. And it wouldn't be suspicious if I hung out with you three."

"Exactly." Cinder smiled. "Tomorrow is when students from the other academies arrive for the Vytal Festival. When me and my 'team' arrive, I want you to show me around."

"I can do that." Dean placed a hand on his hip. "What do you want to see?"

"I want to know the rooms of all of the students that fought the White Fang at the docks." Cinder replied. "As well as any potential threats."

"Anything else?"

Cinder crossed her arms. "I can't think of any at the moment. But once I do, I'll contact you."

"I'll be in touch." Dean said as he left.

The next day

Walking through the dorm with his team, Natasha was stared at Dean. Feeling her gaze, he glanced over to her. "Somethin' on your mind, Nat?"

She, and the other two members of his team, stopped in the hall, getting Dean to face them. "What's up guys?" Dean asked.

The first to speak up was Makoto. "You've been disappearing a lot in the past few weeks." she said as she placed a hand on her hip. "Always dipping outta school the first chance you get."

"We've all noticed it." Desmond added.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked. "We're supposed to be a team, and you our leader, yet you just vanish."

"I..." Dean sighed. "It's complicated."

"Why not fill us in?" Desmond asked. "You're always so quick to leave, and we think it's because something important is going on."

"What's going on?" Makoto asked. "We're your team. You can trust us."

"I..." Dean clenched his fists. He was starting to get aggravated. "You wouldn't understand."

His teammates all shared looks. "Try us." Makoto told him.

Dean shook his head. "Fine."

Minutes later

Having gone back to their dorm room, Dean began to explain himself. "You've guys heard about the Anti-Faunus Group, yeah?"

"Yeah." Desmond nodded.

"Well...they..." Dean scratched the back of his head. "They killed my family when I was a kid."

Makoto and Desmond both turned their gazes to the ground. "Oh..."

"I've been trying to track them down, get revenge." Dean continued. "I know two of them are in Vale, somewhere, so I've...found some help in looking for them."

Desmond slowly looked up. "You're the one who killed those two that were shown on the news, weren't you?"

"Yeah..."

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Makoto asked. "We would've helped."

Dean was taken back by this. "Huh?"

"My family was killed by them too." Makoto said. "I guess it's one of the few things we have in common."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

Makoto glanced at Dean. "I'm surprised you didn't realize."

Dean was silent as Makoto twitched her cat ears. "You're a Lynx?"

"One of the few remaining." Makoto shrugged.

"I..." Dean was stunned. He was glad he knew another Lynx Faunus, but with all this other stuff going on, he didn't know what to say.

"You gonna tell us what's going on or what?" Desmond asked.

Dean sighed. "I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?" Makoto asked.

"Can't." Dean repeated himself. "Look, it's hard to explain. You'll just have to..."

"Have to what?" Natasha asked.

Dean fell silent.

"Let's just get-"

"Dean?" a voice came from behind them. Glancing back, Cinder, Mercury and Emerald approached Dean and his team.

"Cinder..?" Dean said, surprised. He was caught off guard with how quick they arrived at Beacon.

"I was just looking for you." Cinder said. "I wanted to know if you wanted to go out again tonight?"

Dean rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, y-yeah. Sure."

Cinder and Dean looked at one another as Desmond, Natasha and Makoto shared looks. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah." Cinder said, a bit upbeat. "We went to the same Academy. Sanctum."

"You're from Mistral?" Natasha asked.

"Me and Dean both are." Cinder said. "We used to date, actually."

"Really?" Desmond crossed his arms as he stared at Dean.

"Uh... Yeah..."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Natasha asked.

"Is that where you were yesterday?" Makoto asked. "With... Uh..."

"Oh." Cinder said. "I'm Cinder and these are two of my teammates." she gestured to Mercury then Emerald. "Mercury and Emerald." Cinder then looked back to Makoto. "And to answer your question, yes. He was with me. We were... Catching up." as she said that, a slight smirk spread across her lips.

"Oh."

"Why didn't you tell us you were on a date?" Natasha asked Dean.

"I... thought Cinder might want to keep it secret." Dean replied.

"I don't care if it gets out." Cinder said with a smile. "The way I see it, the more people know, the better."

"What makes you say that?" Dean asked.

Cinder walked up to Dean. "The more people know, the less likely someone will be to try and take you from me."

Leaning in, Cinder pressed her lips against Dean's, catching everyone off guard. Aftet a few seconds, Cinder pulled back. "See you later." she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder as she walked by him.

Glancing back at Cinder, Dean was at a loss for words. "Dude..." Desmond said softly. "You... Are lucky."

After Desmond said that, a voice came from behind them. "You two coming?" Cinder asked her team.

End of chapter 18