Author Note: Here's an uber long, really dense chapter to make up for the two day wait! I was actually planning on splitting it into two, but decided not to! :) :) :)
So here you go!
End of Author Note!
Cinder's second real morning at Beacon brought many surprises.
"Cinder, is this your essay for Oobleck's class?"
"Yes..."
"A-and, is this your essay for Professor-"
"Yes..."
"And is this your essay for-"
"Yes! What's your point?" Cinder said from her bed, where she lay flat on her back, arms and legs carelessly strewn in every direction.
Pyrrha regarded her a long moment, putting the papers together in a neat stack on the desk. Her hands went to her waist, joining. "A-are you finding all of this...overwhelming? Or, difficult-"
"It's not difficult!" Cinder snapped, rolling over onto her side and pushing herself up on an elbow. She set her free hand on her hip, glaring at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha sighed, shoulders heaving. "Do you still think I'm mad at you over yesterday? Our match? If that's what you think, I promise, I'm not mad. I'm not even upset."
"I wouldn't care if you were..." Cinder murmured, looking away.
"I- I'm sorry you feel that way." A pause. "Cinder, please, if it's the textbooks, or the subject matter that's giving you trouble, you only need to tell me and I can help you with it. We can all help you with it! We're teammates for a reason - your teammates. That's why we're here."
Cinder let her glare die off, thinking. She looked from Pyrrha's imploring face, to Emerald's eager, to even Blake's...interested. Or was that worried? Cinder dropped herself to the bed, rolled back onto her backside. She fixed her eyes on the ceiling intently. "Fine...yes...help me."
"Alright," Pyrrha said primly, coming to sit on the side of Cinder's bed. "What, exactly, is it that you're having...troubles with?"
Cinder thought about it. She thought about it - but she had no real clue how to make it translate into words. "I- everything?"
"A little more specific, please?"
"I don't know!" Cinder erupted, sitting up in a flash. Face to face with the girl now, snarling. "I just- I don't know things, not like you; you can write and write away, all neat and nice, and I can't do that! I look at these stupid books and it's just- nothing to me! It's a mess, it's- I don't understand it, any of it! And then on top of that everyone wants me to write? I can't, not good, not like you! All three of you!"
Silence in the dorm room.
Pyrrha looked stunned. Emerald, downright shocked. And Blake...weirdly, something like sad?
"You- you don't know...how to read or write?" Pyrrha said slowly, very carefully. Cinder heard the unspoken part: You got into Beacon without knowing how to do those things?
"I can fucking read and write - it's just not perfect!" Cinder yelled, throwing herself off the bed and launching to her feet. She slammed herself against her desk, snatched up her would-be essay that was just lines and circles and scribbles (and some punctures). "Here, you want to see me write? This is what happens!" She took her pen in hand and started scribbling words over the page. After finishing, she tossed the pen across the room and stepped away.
Pyrrha walked to the desk, picking up the paper with a neutral expression. Emerald joined her, and then even so did Blake.
Cinder hunched her shoulders, looking at her feet.
"At least it's very- easy to read," Blake's voice, strained, quiet. "The letters are...nice and big."
"It's not...that awful," Emerald murmured. "It just needs...a bit of...um...you could try staying in the lines a little better...maybe straighten out some of the..."
"We can help you with this," Pyrrha said firmly, setting the sheet aside. "We will help you with this. We're your team, your friends. All right?"
Cinder glanced up, surprise coursing through her. No jeering, no insults, no parading it all in her face? Using it against her? Just...really wanting to help? Not even a thing in return, no catch? Just like Rhodes? Was Cinder really that lucky in her life, to run into more people like that? A whole team like that? "You mean that?"
"Of course," Pyrrha replied seriously. "Why wouldn't I?"
Cinder looked away.
"Ah, Cinder, so...it is just writing, isn't it? Or are you having problems reading over the materials, too?"
Cinder curled her fists, taking a breath. "It's...that, too. Yes. Half of it, I can't even...understand."
"Okay, then. Well, we'll work on that as well with you," Pyrrha said, nothing but kind. Gentle. "Would you like to start now, or in a few hours, when we have our study period in the library? But we do need to start. We can just help you with the essays today, and then we can start actual lessons tomorrow - over the weekend! We'll go to the library, spend a day in there; I'm sure they have some books on how to help people learn these things."
Books on how to help people learn to read books? What idiot came up with that idea without thinking it through first?
"In a few hours," Cinder said instantly, returning to her bed. She threw herself onto it, face-first, and buried said face into the pillows. She put her arms over her head. She was relieved when silence reigned.
Further relieved when, as they began their second official school day, the matter never came up again.
But throughout every class, they were plenty of looks; Pyrrha was spying on her quite closely as she opened up her books and payed their professors their due attentions. Every time, for many long, uncomfortable minutes.
Cinder did her best to duck her head and ignore her.
Lunch was another glorious time - during which she nearly puked this time, after actually trying to finish all her food before it ended.
Then it was back to classes, and then...study period.
Cinder refused to be intimidated by a library; but she was a little bit intimidated anyway.
"Right, so," Pyrrha began, turning to face Cinder at their table with hands in her lap. "Which essay would you like to start with?"
"Oobleck's," Cinder muttered, trying her best to burn a hole into the table's surface with her eyes alone.
"I know that this is probably frustrating, or- embarrassing, even, but I promise you none of us are going to judge you for it. We just want to help you."
Cinder nodded. She sighed and finally lifted her head. "So - how are you going to help me?"
"Well," Pyrrha began, delicate. She gestured at Cinder's bag. "If you could get out our history book, try going to page eighty-two; that's the chapter where I found most of my references to work with."
Cinder obeyed, propping the book open in front of her. She looked to Pyrrha again, scraping fingers absently back and forth on the table.
"Alright. Now, the subject at hand is the Great War, and how it affected people of all kingdoms, as well as how it started." Pyrrha paused. "You just need to read through the chapter and write down the things it says - oh, but make it your own words! It wouldn't look good if you just copied it all down exactly how it is in there."
Cinder dropped her head and turned the book to the proper page number. Chapter twelve. Atlas...something about emotions...slave labor...Vale's King and trade routes...
She slammed her textbook shut and shoved it away, pushing herself to her feet. "I'm not doing this. It's a bunch of crap."
"Cinder, you haven't even tried-"
"I don't care!"
Pyrrha stood, too, now. "Don't you want to be a huntress? You have to do this if you want to graduate; you can't get by simply on combat skills."
Cinder snarled at her and turned away. She's right - but I can't do this. Everyone else can, but not me. Maybe I just- wasn't meant to be a huntress, then?
"Please, just sit down again. If this isn't working for you, that just means we need to come up with another way to help you!" Pyrrha said confidently. "Please try to let us help you - we've hardly started."
Cinder reluctantly took her seat, gripping the edge of the table as she hunched over it.
"Can't we just write hers for her?" Emerald spoke up.
"What? No!" Pyrrha shook her head. "If we turn in her assignment with one of our handwriting, the professors would know immediately - it would cause all kinds of trouble."
"Just these ones," Emerald persisted.
"Oh...alright," Pyrrha relented. "Just the essays that are due on Monday, though! And we're telling the professors about the - issue - as soon as we can."
"No!" Cinder yelled. "You can't tell them - you're not telling them a thing!"
"Cinder, while I'm sure we're all glad to help you however we can, we aren't certified educators; we can't honestly do too much here - teaching someone these skills just isn't something we can do."
Cinder's mouth opened, silent, then closed. She dropped her head swiftly. "T-then why did you...why did you say you would? Why even g-go through all this right now? Was it all just to pull it out from under me and laugh?"
"No, no! I would never do something like that to someone!" Pyrrha said fiercely. She put her hand on Cinder's arm. "I only mean that I- I won't be nearly as good of a teacher as...as a teacher."
"You aren't telling them!" Cinder choked out, balling up her hands in her lap.
"Why? It's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, or embarrassed about! All kinds of people here have all kinds of problems - most of them we can't even see, like yours - but we just- we work through them and we get all the help we can, and we-"
"No!"
"Cinder...could you please tell me why?"
"B-because...I..." Cinder struggled. "I'm already in trouble with the professors - Goodwitch - a-and the Headmaster can't be happy with me either! They w-won't want to help, they won't help; they'll laugh, they'll hit me for it, they'll...You can't tell them! It will make it all worse for me!"
A hushed silence in the library. Pyrrha's hand delicately squeezed; Cinder flinched anyways.
"Do you...really believe that any teacher in this academy would bully and take advantage of a student like that?" Pyrrha's voice was very calm, and very quiet.
"Yes." It was all anyone did - any adults. At the orphanage, at the hotel (Rhodes didn't count; he never did - he'd always been different).
That slender hand was stroking at her arm now - it felt nice, not painful. No nails digging in, no pressure that felt like it would snap her bones...
Cinder refused to look up, look at any of her teammates.
"Alright: I promise you I am not going to tell any of our professors a thing about this."
Cinder glanced at Pyrrha's face. It didn't look like she was lying; she knew a lying face well by now. Just tricking you, just to hurt you behind your back anyways. But Pyrrha wasn't - she couldn't be. "Y-you...better not..."
A sigh, that hand patting at her before leaving. The nice feelings left too, leaving just cold absence.
"I'll do these for you," Emerald informed Cinder, stealing away her book and paper. "Don't worry about it!"
Cinder drew herself up and nodded, smiling with quivering lips. "Thanks."
But as she watched Emerald, her hand moving so precise and swift, Cinder began to feel every bit as worthless as her mother had ever told her she was.
"How do you know how to do this so well?" Cinder asked, choked.
"I wasn't always on the streets," Emerald said simply.
"You were on the streets?" Pyrrha spoke, aghast.
"No questions - I'm helping Cinder right now!" Emerald said quickly.
"Of course..." Pyrrha sighed.
After the study session, there were two more classes, and then Cinder was sitting out the sparring matches (Professor Goodwitch wouldn't even let Emerald sit and talk with her!).
But, Cinder managed to get some use out of it anyway, by observing all her classmates - taking note of weapons, Semblances, fighting styles and movesets, and thinking up ways to possibly counter them. It would all come in handy once she was free to rejoin them.
She was pleased with herself, and coupling that with the relief of the burden of essays, Cinder found herself in a good enough mood when the day's lessons ended. They want back to their dorm to enjoy their free hours together now in evening's fading light.
Her Friday was over; the weekend loomed - two days of total freedom! A small sample of the absolute freedom the life of a huntress would bring Cinder (if she could even graduate as one).
"Team: for our first weekend together, why don't we go into Vale tomorrow?" Pyrrha announced in the middle of their room, quite unexpectedly. Apparently, she was thinking ahead too. "We could all spend some real downtime together, and get to know each other a little better too. Blake, you seem to enjoy reading, don't you? Why don't we find a local library for you?"
"Sure - that sounds nice," Blake said, flashing a smile. Then, to prove Pyrrha's point, she went right back to reading.
"Emerald: I know how much you enjoy eating - we could stop somewhere and get some ice cream?" Pyrrha addressed her casually, lifting between her fingers a money card and waving it about.
Emerald's head came up from her prone position on her bed, and her face lit up. Maybe it was the enticing thought of ice cream, or maybe it was the tantalizing money card catching her eye (who could ever know?). "I like the sound of that; Vale is a nice place - and the food? Even better!"
Pyrrha smiled victoriously. Then, she set her gaze on Cinder. "Cinder..."
Cinder looked at her. Raised her eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Is there anywhere you'd like to go - something you'd like to do in Vale?"
"I...I'm not sure," Cinder replied. She hadn't exactly stopped to think about the specifics of what she wanted to do with her newfound freedom in life. Now that Pyrrha was making her stop and think, though...
Pyrrha gazed at her patiently, smiling slightly.
The idea came to Cinder after the bursting of an old memory, a sight and glimpse. "I want to find a weapon shop," she said finally, slowly. "I...I'd like to try something new, something I can start training with along with my swords."
"A new weapon? I can buy something for you - although, it will have to be a particularly cheaper model. What is it you want to try?"
"A bow - bow and arrows..." Cinder confessed her desire. Anxiety bloomed in her chest. "You'd...really just do that for me?"
"Of course," Pyrrha said simply. "We're friends."
That word again. Why does everyone keep using it? Maybe...it's something else I'm not good enough at to know about. Maybe everyone else knows better, and we are friends...and maybe that isn't a bad thing...?
Cinder smiled. "Friends - thanks."
"You're very welcome."
The feeling that came over her then was really, really nice.
Maybe...that meant Cinder should accept it, embrace it: after all, wasn't any pleasure better than any pain?
Whether it was combat training, food, or the surprising help people seemed to want to give her with no strings attached, or those ways they touched her and made her feel nice instead of pained...
It all made Cinder feel the same way. The same way that this declaration of friendship did.
It made her feel good.
"Now then, are you three ready to get outside and get in some training?" Pyrrha continued, smiling at them.
Cinder jumped off her bed and took up her swords. "Yes!"
Emerald bounced to her feet, grinning at Pyrrha. "Ready when you are."
Blake gave a sigh, shutting her book and carefully setting it aside. A small smile came to her face as she stood. "Let's get this over with."
The team left the dorms, descended the stairs to the ground floor, and emerged out onto the campus.
The dusk sky overhead was a swirl of fading oranges and intense reds.
They walked to the central courtyard, wide open and surrounded by curving rows of columns, a fountain in the center.
There they took up positions - three facing one.
"All right," Pyrrha spoke casually. "for these sessions I'd say anything goes: Semblances, Dust - if you have any on you - and any tactic or technique you can think of. The only rules we'll observe are the official tournament rules; when anyone's Aura drops into the red, they'll be considered defeated, and eliminated. If anyone's Aura goes so far as to break..." Her eyes flickered to Cinder (Cinder grabbed at her arm and looked away). "all conflict will immediately cease, so that we can be sure they're out of the way of danger. There isn't anything disallowing students from training like this in our off hours - but I'm sure if any accidents occur, the Headmaster will be wanting a few words with us. He might even be likely to forbid us from doing this anymore."
"I don't want to hurt anyone again." The words spilled forth from Cinder's lips, blurted and embarrassed. "It wasn't like I wanted to- I don't know what happened! I just...got a little lost..."
"We all understand that," Pyrrha assured, in firm tones. "Of course it was never on purpose - but, if you do find yourself getting...lost to it all, then you need to have the clarity of mind to stop yourself, and step away from the fight. Just try to be aware of what's going on inside yourself, in your soul and mind, as much as you are of what's going on around you. Some huntsmen would say that's always a key part of any battle; you need to know how to manage yourself as much as your enemies. Your wellbeing, your health, your state of mind."
Cinder nodded, drawing a calming breath. I can do this, it was just a mistake, it was a slip up - both times - I'm better than this, I was trained better than this, I'm in control of myself...I can't let them still get to me even when I'm in a whole other kingdom! I have to be...perfect. Even if I can't win against Pyrrha - not yet, anyways - I can still win against myself! And I can win against...them again. I already won by getting through it all, by getting free. I can win by not letting them screw me up here - screw me up with my friends!
Pyrrha seemed to notice her efforts; she smiled at her, nodded, and then drew her weapons. "We're ready to begin now?"
"I'm ready," Cinder said quietly, drawing her blades and falling into her stance.
"I trust you," Pyrrha said simply.
"I trust you, too!" Emerald said quickly, flashing a smile.
"Thanks," Cinder murmured. She breathed again, let it go free. She focused on Pyrrha, letting her body relax a little.
Blake drew her sword, her head turned away from Cinder.
"Okay, team: we'll start on three," Pyrrha spoke. "One...two...three!"
The fight erupted, instantly becoming a chaotic mess of Dust sparks and explosions, Aura flares (and even a few energy beams from Blake), and Semblances.
Despite everything at their disposal, hardly five minutes later and three girls lay on the ground, while one remained standing (the obvious).
"I'm not...done yet," Cinder panted, pushing herself up and grabbing her swords again. She wobbled on her feet and took a staggering step toward Pyrrha.
"Cinder, your Aura is already very low," Pyrrha warned. "You shouldn't be pushing yourself like this. In fact, just in general, you shouldn't be putting so much raw energy into these sparring matches. It's just sparring. Exhausting yourself to death isn't productive."
"I can still fight!" Cinder gasped, swinging her swords in figure eight before her as she continued her advance. "Who just- gives up in a fight if they can still move? That's just making yourself...a helpless...it's idiotic."
"In a real combat situation, yes," Pyrrha allowed. "But this is training, remember?"
"Training...for a real fight," Cinder argued.
"Well, yes, that's true, but- Cinder, stop moving." Pyrrha took two steps back, and then she put her weapons away. "I'm not fighting you anymore; the match is over."
"Fight me! You broke my Aura in our last fight."
"That was an accident," Pyrrha replied calmly, taking several more steps back, raising her hands. "We aren't generally supposed to get to that point - it's very dangerous. I misjudged the amount of damage I had already done to your Aura, and when I did that finishing move I accidentally took it the rest of the way down. But I never meant to."
"Well do it again." Cinder quickened her pace; Pyrrha matched her, backing up now off the stone courtyard and into the grass.
"No," Pyrrha shook her head, her voice hard. "Cinder: I really mean it - stop it. We are not fighting anymore."
"We barely even got started...You weren't even fighting as hard as you were in our last match! That didn't help me, it wasn't...I need more. Faster, stronger. Hit me harder!"
"Cinder, it's over, please!" Pyrrha begged, putting her hands out in front of herself.
"What's the problem? Just fight like before!" Cinder growled, frustrated.
"I don't want to - I don't want to fight at all anymore! You're not listening to me. And if you continue not listening, we are going to have a serious- I said stop!"
Cinder lunged, swinging her blades. Pyrrha gasped and thrust out her arms; the twin steel blades suddenly went flying out of Cinder's grasp, as if they had been plucked up by a giant, invisible hand. They flew across the courtyard, sailing high, before coming down with a clatter a good hundred feet away.
Cinder's heart clenched. Her hands formed fists in empty air, arms still raised.
"Enough," Pyrrha whispered, dropping her arms to her sides.
Cinder's lips parted. Her throat felt so tight now. Her shoulders trembled. "You...you said you'd help me. You said-"
"I said it's over, please," Pyrrha cut across firmly. Then she turned, and began walking away.
Cinder lowered her fists, and squeezed them harder at her sides; she gathered all the dust in the open courtyard, burning it and twisting it into two separate shapes to solidify: twin glass swords. With her Aura running through them, they were as durable as any steel blade. She hurled herself at Pyrrha, slashing and slicing furiously, screaming and snarling at her! She didn't care, she didn't really mean it, of course she didn't! Who ever did?! Whenever it came right down to it, nobody would help you! Nobody cared enough!
"I don't think she's even sparring anymore!" Cinder heard Emerald exclaim from the sidelines, very distantly.
"In her mind, I don't think she ever was," she heard Blake reply.
But none of it mattered, nothing registered! None of them mattered! Not enough to care, for her to care, for them...!
Pyrrha whirled back around, face etched with anger, fear, and hurt. Her leg shot out, moving precisely past the glass weapons in the briefest second of openings, and connected with Cinder's chest, sending her flying with an explosive force of Aura.
Cinder soared back across the campus, striking an arched column and shattering it; debris from the column fell around her, and dust rose up in a great plume. Her Aura was shattered from the impact, and so were her glass weapons without the former to reinforce them.
Cinder lay on her side, motionless on the ground, her chest heaving. Her blurry vision gazing up at dawn's sky. A swirl of colors now...
"C-Cinder, Cinder are you all right?!" A blur of red and orange was in her field of vision now. "I- I never meant to hit you that hard, I swear to you, I only wanted to make you stop!" Pyrrha was down on her knees in front of Cinder, grasping for her arms. Frantic green eyes, wide as could be, scanned her over. "Are you hurt - did anything fall on you, cut you? I'm so sorry! You were- you were supposed to control yourself, how difficult is it to just stop when I tell you to?!"
Cinder flinched and curled up on herself.
"I'm sorry," Pyrrha whispered. Her hand seized on Cinder's arm, lifting her to her feet forcibly. Cinder looked into her eyes. Pyrrha looked back into hers - and then her eyes went lower, sliding down from her face. They narrowed, fixed to a single spot. "What- what is that?"
Cinder's blood ran cold. She already knew, the absence was already noticeable; that lightest breeze playing across skin of her neck. Her eyes flickered around the courtyard, finding the scarf in the grass, ten feet away.
"Cinder...please tell me what that is." Pyrrha's insistent tones, hardly above a whisper now. "How did you-"
Cinder screamed, throwing her elbow into Pyrrha's side and breaking free. She ran for her scarf, snatched it up, and then fled the courtyard without looking back!
Voices called after her; she didn't stop for any of them.
She raced across the campus, all the way back to her dorm. She kicked the door open and ran into her room, then slammed it shut behind herself. She gazed around, breathing harsh in the total silence. Cinder went to her bed and pulled her blankets off of it, carrying it all into the bathroom (the door to which also got closed - and locked). She flung herself into the tub and buried herself under the blankets, arms and knees drawn in as close as she could get to her body.
Her teammates, of course, found her in short order - it could hardly have been ten minutes.
Banging on the door.
"Cinder, Cinder, are you in there?" Pyrrha's voice. Sweet and worried. She cared - just not enough. She wanted to help, sure, maybe, but she wouldn't - couldn't. Hadn't she said it herself, even? Why hadn't Cinder listened to the girl's own words? Her own warnings? Why had she ever let herself start to think anyone else in the world could be like him? There was nobody like him! If there was, Cinder would have been out of that hotel way earlier. Or even...even adopted from the orphanage by someone real kind, real good.
But she'd never been, on either count.
"Cinder, if you don't say something, I'm tearing this goddamn door down!" Emerald yelled, nothing but pure panic.
"Just kick it in," Blake's shaken voice was heard. "She's not responding at all."
Cinder shut her eyes and startled as a loud bang split the air. Several feet crossing the short distance; light and open air as the blanket was pulled up off of Cinder. She hesitantly cracked open an eye, turning her head slightly.
"You're all right?" Pyrrha spoke, an intensity to her voice Cinder hadn't heard before - it wasn't anger, it was something else. Pyrrha's hands shot out and grabbed Cinder's arms, pulling them up free. Her eyes slid along them before she let go, stepping back with a great sigh. "You're all right..."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Emerald cried - literally. "Why didn't you say anything?! For all we knew, you'd gone and hanged yourself with this thing!" she went on, giving the sheets a furious shaking.
"Hanged myself...on what?" Cinder said, utterly confused. Why would I hang from a blanket, anyway?
"I- you- don't try to be..." Emerald's mouth worked in silence before slamming shut. She swiped at shimmering eyes and laughed. "You're a moron, you know that?"
"No I'm not..." Cinder murmured, setting her chin on her knees.
"Cinder, come on now, let's all try to get calmed down," Pyrrha said firmly, reaching for her again and pulling her out of the tub. "I actually think I have just what we need - something we can have fun with as a team besides trying to literally kill each other, since apparently that's all we're capable of..."
Cinder meekly allowed her team leader to drag her out into the dorm room again. Allowed her to guide her down to the middle of the floor. She sat there in silence as Blake and Emerald joined her. And then, Pyrrha finally did, setting a loud, clattering box down in the center of the four of them.
Pyrrha began pulling out little bits and pieces, and unfolded a big, colorful plastic board on the floor.
"What is this?" Cinder asked, toneless.
"It's a game," Pyrrha said, as patient and kind as ever. She even smiled at her again - like usual. Like...like nothing had just... "I used to play it all the time with my friends back in Sanctum..."
"Sanctum?" said Cinder.
"Argus's combat school," Pyrrha explained. She bent forward, hair spilling as she began placing pieces and little tokens around the board.
"You're from Mistral too?" The words came unbidden. Cinder froze as soon as they left her.
Pyrrha glanced up at her, genuine surprise on her face. Then she continued setting up the board, a smile on her lips. "You're from Mistral?" she said casually.
"Y...y-yes..." There was no taking it back now. No lying.
"Where did you live?"
"Mistral..."
"I see. What was it like growing up there?"
"I- I don't...hard?"
Another glance from Pyrrha - but this one wasn't to her face. It was lower, again. "I can't imagine..."
Cinder quickly began wrapping herself up in her scarf, tucking it in firm and snug. She bowed her head.
"So, how about I tell you how to play this? Or do you know?" Pyrrha said, still so strangely casual. She'd finished placing everything where she needed to, apparently. She straightened, and smiled warmly right at Cinder.
"I...no idea," she admitted.
Pyrrha looked to Blake and Emerald. "How about you two? Ever played?"
Both girls shook their heads.
"Well then, there's still plenty of things I have left to instruct you all on," Pyrrha spoke, nodding to herself. She gave a little grin, pushing her hair out of her face. She paused, eyes flickering aside - and then the grin was gone. "Blake...you look like you have something to say. Something troubling you? We are a team; we're all here for each other. We're all willing to hear you."
"I just want her to hear me," Blake said, turning her gaze on Cinder.
Cinder frowned. She nodded. This was going to be it, wasn't it?
"I used to have a partner like you," Blake began, slow and quavering. "From a very young age, he was talented, dedicated. Driven. To succeed, to improve. And he did. He pushed himself, more and more, all the time. Further and further. He learned how to use a sword so quickly, how to win almost any battle. It was this intense, burning fire in him that he always had. What fueled his fire...was anger. Hatred. Spite. To hurt and...kill...because he hated his enemies so much. It even came to cause him to hurt his allies, even- friends. He was so consumed by it all." Her eyes went to Cinder, brief before looking away again. "I think you're similar to him, Cinder, except...except that what fuels your fire isn't anger. I think it's fear. You're not trying to hurt us just to hurt us, or because you hate us that much. Don't get me wrong, it's clear you're losing yourself to emotions in a fight, but it isn't anger. You're losing yourself to fear. Fear of what, or who, I don't know. But you are. And that can be just as dangerous as anger. Maybe more so. Because you...in your mind...you're desperate - desperate to put a stop to it. To the feelings inside you."
"He...worried me so much," Blake finished softly. "And you're worrying me so much, too. And I have no clue how to help you...any more than I did him. But I want to! He- you- are my teammate, and that means I need to be there for you. I'm just not sure how I can be..."
What? Cinder blinked rapidly. She let her head fall, her mouth and nose disappearing completely into her scarf. She wrapped her arms around herself, turning away as tears came to her eyes freshly. Why are they still just sitting here like this? Why am I still just sitting here? No screaming, no hitting me, no pulling at my hair or throwing me to the floor? Why isn't any of that happening? Why are they all still acting like nothing happened?! Like I don't deserve all of that right now? I do, I'm worthless, I'm nothing, no one loves me. No one cares. They can't care, why do they still care? How...?
Well...if this what they were going to still keep doing, then Cinder would just keep doing it too. It was probably going to end in a trick or a trap at the end anyways! Yank it out from under her, laugh in her face - "How could you really believe we'd forgive you? How could you ever believe we still cared after what you did?". And if she even tried calling them out on it, they'd go straight to hurting her, acting angry that she was being so rude and cruel. At least if you went along with it, usually the end wasn't as immediately painful as refusing to play along. And it did always delay the pain...
"I k-know there's something wrong with me," Cinder whispered. "but I don't know how to fix it..."
"Let us help you fix it," Pyrrha said. "We've helped you so far, haven't we? With all kinds of problems. This is just one more. Maybe it's a bit bigger, a bit more serious...but it is something we can be there to help you with."
"Help me? Like you said you'd help me get better at fighting?" Cinder accused. She winced as Pyrrha's expression changed. She braced for a hand to reach out and smack her.
But it never came.
"Cinder..." Pyrrha reached down and tapped at the game board. "Let's just forget all about that and play, all right? We can discuss it more some other time. When we aren't all so obviously stressed and upset."
"Okay..."
"So what about you, Emerald?" Pyrrha said.
"Huh?" Emerald startled. "What about me?"
"What was your life like before Beacon? Where were you born, raised - did you go to any schools?" Pyrrha continued.
"I was born here - in Vale. I've...lived here my whole life." Emerald sighed and held up a hand. "I know you're about to ask me how I ended up on the streets, so I'll save us all a headache and just get this out there."
"Only if you feel comfortable," Pyrrha replied.
"There's not much to it," Emerald said glibly, shrugging. "I lived in a normal house until I was fourteen, then got kicked out by my mom. Spent the last two years...on the streets. There? Happy?"
"Could I ask why you were kicked out?" Pyrrha said cautiously.
Emerald faltered. Then she shrugged again, throwing up her hands. "Screw it, it's not like it would be some big loss to go back to the streets again, and you people are bound to figure it out sometime soon anyways - mostly by my own fault..."
"Figure out what?" said Pyrrha.
"That I'm a trans girl."
"Oh. I see." Pyrrha smiled - she nodded. Bent down and plucked up a little figurine of a bunny rabbit, and held it out to Emerald. "Here's your piece."
"I've known a few transgender people before," Blake spoke, flashing a small smile.
"Where?" Pyrrha asked, sudden.
"Oh, nowhere," Blake responded instantly. "I grew up outside of Vale."
"I think that explains quite a bit about you," Pyrrha answered in turn.
Cinder was confused - What did "trans" even mean? - but nobody else seemed to be, so she wasn't going to say anything. She was still confused about her team in general! She didn't need to add more to the pile.
"That's it?" Emerald said, looking between Blake and Pyrrha. "You're not going to ask me anything? Have I had surgery up here or down there, have I always felt this way in my soul or did I just 'choose it'-" She scoffed here. Rolled her eyes. "-or maybe you want me to clear up which way I mean, because, you know, that's apparently hard for some people? Or do you want to come rummage around in my drawers and find my meds?"
"No," Pyrrha said simply, shaking her head. "I'm sure whatever information any of us might be curious about can be found in library books. I wouldn't want to pester you with such personal questions."
"If you want to tell us more, I'm sure you'll tell us more," Blake added, shrugging. She looked to Pyrrha. "Do I have a piece?"
Pyrrha dropped a little brown bear figurine into her hand without comment. Then she picked up a small orange cat, and turned to Cinder. She offered it out. "Here you go - this one is yours to play with."
Cinder took it, looking it over in hand. She smiled. It was cute.
"W-what do you think about me?" Emerald said suddenly, peering at Cinder with apprehension.
Cinder looked at Pyrrha. At Blake. Back to Emerald. She shrugged, ducking her head to inspect the game board itself, properly and critically. "I think you're nice."
Emerald beamed at her.
It was the most unexpected gift in the world.
When Cinder woke up, the world was exactly the same for her!
This place of pleasure, of good feelings, of people who it felt nice to be around. It was all still here, all still here for her.
It hadn't changed, gone up in smoke and burned down in ashes!
For whatever reason, it just hadn't. And Cinder wasn't going to try too hard to even figure it out.
She was just so, indescribably grateful that it hadn't.
Because Cinder had had to come to a single, solid conclusion - two choices. Either, A: They were playing a very long game to get revenge on her. Or, B: They were still telling the truth. People who really cared would still care - wouldn't they? And that made sense to Cinder, and so...so...
It was still true, and still real.
Somehow.
Those laughs and smiles late into last night hadn't been faked, or imagined, or dreamed up.
And neither was the mood in the dorm this morning.
Cinder had asked whether or not they were still going into Vale - and Pyrrha had said yes.
"Go faster, or I'm going on my own! I don't mind spending all Saturday in Vale by myself!"
"Alright, calm down, we're coming," Emerald responded, laughing. "You really think you want a weapon more than I want ice cream?"
Cinder dithered out in the hall, giving her teammates glances through the doorway. A low growl escaped her lips.
"Try having a little patience for once," Blake responded, rolling her eyes as she patted at the black bow in her hair with deft fingers.
Cinder's growl intensified. She shut the door - for lack of anything better to do - and a fluttering paper caught her eye. She tore it off the door and looked it over quickly.
Professor Uri...free driving lessons on campus...weekends - 9:00 AM to 5 PM...
Cinder jumped back as the door opened, only narrowly avoiding being smacked in the face.
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "I didn't think you would be right there..."
"It's- fine," Cinder grunted, clutching the paper still.
Blake's keen eyes noticed. "What's that? Oh - you want to sign yourself up for driving lessons?"
"Have you never driven before?" Pyrrha spoke, a strange note of concern in her voice.
"No, I haven't," Cinder admitted, looking away. "But- that's why I want to learn now." I have to learn everything I can to be a good huntress! I'm still here, I still have a chance! I can't give up on that chance.
"I think it's a great idea!" Emerald said cheerily. "I'm sure you'll do great at it."
"Thanks," Cinder said instantly, smiling.
"Of course you'll do well," Pyrrha agreed swiftly. "If you apply yourself properly."
"Definitely," Blake said, giving a brief smile and a thumbs up.
Pyrrha took the paper from Cinder, giving it a glance over. She handed it back - eyed Cinder a long moment. "Why don't we come with you? We could watch, offer support. If you plan on doing this today or tomorrow..."
"I want to get it in today, after we come back from Vale," Cinder said. "And I don't need support-" She broke off, seeing the way Emerald was looking at her. "Alright, you can come," she sighed. She guessed it would be...nice...to have her- friends around to help her. They were good at that. Good for her, for that!
So good it was still so hard to even believe.
"So, should we vote on where to go first?" Pyrrha spoke, as Team Nebula (NEBA) stepped off the airship.
"I vote ice cream," Emerald said instantly.
Blake shrugged. "I don't mind who goes where first."
"Cinder?" Pyrrha said.
"Ice cream is fine," Cinder replied. "I- I've...never had it."
"Never?" Emerald gaped. "Where did you live? Seriously!"
"M-Mistral..." Cinder said quickly, looking at her feet. "I told you all last night - I said Mistral..."
"Yes, you did," Pyrrha said firmly, trading looks with Blake and Emerald. Her tone became relaxed again as she went on. "Ice cream without breakfast is going to ruin our stomachs, but I suppose it's just too irresistible...we'll have to risk it." She flashed a grin Emerald's way.
Emerald responded with one of her own, setting hands on hips. "I've had worse on an empty stomach. At least this is going to be delicious before it all comes right back up!"
The team set off through the streets together (Emerald's expert knowledge of the city was relied upon to get them to anywhere - let alone the nearest ice cream parlor).
But they did arrive at their destination, entering the building in high spirits.
Cinder's high spirits fell, far and hard, when she spotted a group of familiar girls already seated in a booth (eating ridiculously tall ice cream stacks). Well...just one girl out of the four there, actually.
"Hey, look who it is! Team Nebula!" Yang Xiao Long was calling out, waving. She had a big grin on her face. "You guys had the same idea we did on how to spend your first weekend, huh? Great minds think alike, and all that!"
"Team Nebula?" Ruby Rose turned to eye them, her eyes bright. "Oh, hey, friends!"
Cinder only had eyes for the Schnee girl. Very narrowed eyes. The girl glared back, then turned her back to her with a huff. Pyrrha set her hand on Cinder's arm.
"Are you all right?" Pyrrha said quietly.
"Fine," Cinder hissed. "Just fine."
"You're not; you look like you want to hurt someone - Weiss Schnee?"
"You don't understand..." Cinder muttered.
"You keep saying that, and you are right: I don't understand," Pyrrha whispered. "But I could, if you would only open up to me a little more. Tell me what it is that's-"
"No."
Pyrrha sighed. "Then I can't help with this."
"I don't want help - unless you're going to help me hurt her."
"No," Pyrrha retorted, very firmly. "I'm not, and neither are you."
"Not yet." Not until after I'm a huntress; I only need to wait four years, and then I can finally...anything I want to that- that...that cunt! Cinder moved away from Pyrrha, stalking for the counter to join Emerald, who was relentlessly questioning the clerk about every single item on the menu.
Pyrrha and Blake hung back together, talking in whispers a minute before coming over to rejoin the other half of the team.
"We should sit near them," Pyrrha spoke decisively.
"No," Cinder snapped.
"You can ignore Weiss Schnee," Pyrrha said, calm and immediate. "But I think this is a great opportunity to get to know the other three members of the team. After all, we're going to be working together in the future - we'll have to go out on missions with them from time to time."
Cinder startled. She hadn't ever considered that. But now that she was...a dangerous mission did offer plenty of opportunities to make accidents happen... Just another huntress taken down by the grimm - who would think twice? "Okay," she said, smiling widely. "Let's go and get to know them."
Pyrrha gave her a strange look, but she didn't say anything. She turned and walked directly for Team RWYJ's table.
Cinder happily went along with it. Another consideration was that she would learn all the right buttons to press on the Schnee girl, and that would do nicely for now.
"So Ruby, do you mind my asking how you got into Beacon?" Pyrrha was asking the small girl in red.
Ruby looked flustered, waving her hands about. "Oh, tch, it wasn't anything special - just almost stopped a really bad baddie!"
"A really bad baddie?" Emerald repeated, staring.
"Yup!" Ruby said happily. "It was about a week ago now; I was around here in Vale, on my way to get some comic books, when a woman just came at me out of nowhere! She was really cool-looking, honestly - but scary. She had this black armor, this really long black cape, and a really long sword! It was thin, sharp, and deadly! It had to be ten feet long! She sliced off a big chunk of my precious cape! But I got it fixed up pretty soon after that."
"What did she look like?" Pyrrha asked. "Face, eyes, hair - that sort of thing? How about her age?"
"Oh! Well, I'd say she was early to mid twenties. She had really long red hair - right down to her knees! - and pretty normal brown eyes. Nothing too special there, really," Ruby dismissed. "It was her weapon and her Semblance that were off the charts! She was sooooo fast, I could hardly even keep up! I'm pretty sure I would have been dead if Professor Goodwitch hadn't shown up and saved my butt..."
"Did she say anything?" Blake inquired, serious. "What she wanted, why she attacked you seemingly out of nowhere?"
Ruby frowned. She shook her head. "Not really - just something about how she hated huntsmen, and wanted to kill us all. Standard baddie dialogue, you know? But Professor Goodwitch said she's been a big problem across all of Vale lately. She hasn't just attacked me; she attacks all huntsmen, everywhere. She's gone after a couple of others before, over the last few weeks now...and they mostly all ended up dead."
"You were really lucky," Emerald commented.
"Don't I know it!" Ruby agreed fiercely. "But even though it was scary, it was still kind of amazing to watch her and Glynda go at it! They were both so fast, so strong, it was like nothing you ever see in our sparring matches!" She turned and jabbed a finger at Pyrrha. "I don't think even you could have landed a hit on this woman! She would have beaten you in five seconds flat! Like she kind of...did to me." She deflated at the end, cheeks rosy as her name.
"Then Professor Goodwitch was right: this woman is a very dangerous threat to huntsmen," Pyrrha said quietly. "If she's coming after us, it makes sense that she would stick around Vale. There are numerous targets to choose from."
"Seven of us are just sitting right here," Cinder murmured.
"I don't think someone like that would attack people in the middle of a shop in broad daylight," Emerald said, quick to reassure. "I'm sure we're all safe."
Ruby Rose quickly counted the tables. "Hey, don't you mean eight? You left someone out..."
"Yeah, she did. And I'll give you three guesses who," Yang snorted.
"Hrrrrg," the Schnee girl growled, glaring at Cinder head on. "How dare you imply that I am not a huntress!"
"What did Professor Port say?" Cinder began idly, smirking. "Oh, that's right: 'huntresses are noble, wise, and honorable.' You're none of those things."
"Excuse me?!"
Cinder settled back in her chair, smirk broadening. "Your whole family are none of those things, Schnee."
"What's your problem with my family?" Weiss shouted, jumping to her feet. "From day one you've been nothing but rude, confrontational-"
"Confron..." Cinder burst into laughter. "Does using big words make you feel better? Too bad it won't work on me; I don't even know what that means!"
"Hmmm..." the Schnee girl hummed, putting finger to her chin. "Rude, disrespectful of my family, and surprisingly - illiterate? Are you by any chance some dirty faunus? Is that what this is all about? Where are the ears? The tail? Come on, let's see it! Or are you properly ashamed of yourself that you're hiding it!"
Several people at both tables gasped, cringed, and...then started shouting at each other.
The end result was that everyone was thrown out of the shop.
Pyrrha and Ruby were getting between their two teams - well, their two teams' most volatile members, specifically.
Cinder was happy to let Pyrrha guide her away, down the street in the opposite direction Team RWYJ was retreating.
Weiss Schnee was too easy.
And it was just way too fun!
Half way down the block, Pyrrha suddenly turned and stared at Emerald.
"What?" the girl said, ceasing her licking of a big chocolate ice cream cone.
"Nothing - it's just that I was going to pay for all of us," Pyrrha replied.
"Well, now you get to pay for none of us, and I still got mine with my own money," Emerald answered gleefully.
Even funner than getting a Schnee kicked out of an ice cream parlor, was entering a weapons shop for a brand new weapon.
Cinder told the shopkeep what she was looking for, and the woman waved around at all the racks and displays, simply telling her to find what looked nice and bring it up to her for purchase.
Pyrrha helped her with finding the right one - not too expensive, but not something that might break easily.
It was a metal bow, solid, weighted - but not too heavy. Powerful, too.
Cinder set it down on the counter top while Pyrrha did something with a card and a little machine.
The shopkeep eyed a screen, then nodded. "I figured you were huntsmen in training - but it's good to be certain. The payment is clear; the weapon's yours now." The woman fixed Cinder with a smile. "Put it to good use defending our kingdom."
"I will," Cinder answered earnestly, taking the weapon up again with reverence. She slung it over her back, along with the straps of the quiver (which held twenty, sleek black arrows), and they were out onto the streets once more.
"It's nearly been two hours," Pyrrha said, glancing at her scroll before stowing it away. "Time to visit that library of yours," she grinned at Blake.
Blake smiled brightly. "Emerald, do you know the way?"
Emerald nodded, delighted to play guide. She pointed off down the street. "That way. I've ducked into the largest public library a few times - they're always nice enough to give me a place to get out of the elements...or give me a nice glass of water."
No one commented on that.
It was past noon when they finally left the library.
Blake had several brand new books stowed in her bag, a relaxed smile on her face and a bit of a spring to her step.
Cinder couldn't help smiling too, holding her bow in hand and caressing it, while they walked back through the city for the airship that would return them to Beacon.
"You're already quite attached to that thing, aren't you?" Pyrrha said, amused.
Cinder nodded. "I- I really like it. Really, really, really."
"There is a word for that many really's, you know..."
"What word?" Cinder asked.
"Love," Pyrrha said simply.
Love...that word. That was the word that everyone liked to tell her she wasn't worthy of the most. That no one loved her, no one would ever love her...that she didn't deserve to be loved by anyone...
The thing was...Cinder really had no clue what that word even meant. So it never hurt too much when people used it against her.
Maybe she could ask her friends what it-
Cinder felt something poke her in the back - and then untold agony tore through her body. She dropped her bow, and glanced down to see a very long, thin blade sticking out of her chest, right between her breasts. A pressure, internal tearing, and Cinder was suddenly lifted up into the air on that blade and tossed through a storefront window.
There was screaming, yelling, gunfire, movement out on the street...
"Cinder! Oh god no, no, no, no!" Emerald was there, picking her up in her arms. "You're going to be okay, you're going to be just fine!"
A yell, a cease in gunfire, and then there was a swirling trail of blue energy, and a woman was stepping in through the broken storefront. Boots crunched on glass, long dark red hair swayed. Brown eyes gazed coolly at Emerald. A long, long sword was held out at the woman's side; it was smeared with blood. Cinder's blood.
Emerald narrowed her eyes at the woman, and slowly began walking backwards with Cinder. She was using her Semblance on their attacker.
The woman's expression changed. Changed from being utterly expressionless...to a light smile. She raised her sword in a flash, and swept its ungodly length before herself with a high whistling noise. She was shrouded in that blue energy, and she slashed twice more in a single second's time; three long, thin, horizontal Aura beams erupted, moving through the air at different heights.
Emerald was unable to avoid them, unable to go anywhere. She realized this immediately; Cinder saw the panic in her eyes. But then she turned herself around and flung herself to the ground atop Cinder, wrapping her up in her arms.
Cinder wished she could have raised her Aura for extra protection, but her Aura was currently occupied trying to heal the gaping hole in her chest.
The lower-most beam struck Emerald, flaring her Aura and causing her to cry out in pain. The other two burned through several aisles of foods, sliced through a total of five terrified civilians hiding behind the shelves, and finally struck the far wall, burning wide horizontal slits in them that showed off the alleyway behind the store.
Emerald had barely even moved to push herself up again when there was a trail of blue, and the woman stood over her; the woman drove her long sword through Emerald's back, and through Cinder's stomach. Spearing them, pinning them to the ground.
Both girls screamed.
Cinder's head lolled to one side, cheek touching cool floor tiling. The pain was too much, she couldn't think, let alone try to move! And it was even more work for her Aura now.
The woman stared down at her - at her face. Something shifted there, and she knelt down before her, a hand gliding down the length of her own blade. Her eyes narrowed; Cinder realized she was looking at her neck. At her burn scars.
"Ah- a-are you...g-going to rub it in before I d-die?" Cinder choked, bitter, furious. Her lips spread into a grin she didn't feel.
The woman reached out for her, and gloved fingers touched her neck. They traced the scars, from one side to the other. She looked Cinder in the eye, her face naked with an emotion Cinder had seen on her friend's faces plenty of times before already: it was care. Tenderness. It was concern. And then, she spoke. Her voice was hardly a mutter, it was a bit low, a bit raspy - hoarse. "You don't deserve that...and neither did I-"
A rush of wind, a blitz of orange and red, and Pyrrha was flying at the woman; the enemy rose to her feet and turned to meet Pyrrha, ripping her blade free of Emerald and Cinder, and began to engage her - all in two seconds, her body covered in that blue energy.
Speed Semblance... Cinder thought absently. This was her, the very woman they'd been discussing not hours ago. The one who had attacked Ruby Rose. The hunter of hunters...
Pyrrha was fighting incredibly - faster, stronger, smarter. Powerful, and angry. It was the kind of all-out battle that Cinder had been trying to get out of her, with her! And it was more amazing than Cinder could have imagined.
Yet even so, it was nowhere near enough.
The woman was on an entirely different level from Pyrrha - maybe several - and it wasn't just her Semblance (Cinder noted the woman used it conservatively, turning it on for a brief second or two, and then switching it off again).
In the end, after twenty seconds of solid fighting, Pyrrha's Aura broke. The woman lit up blue again, twisted and flicked her sword, and Pyrrha's spear was sent flying away. The long blade stabbed Pyrrha in the chest. And then again. And again. And again. Cinder counted seventeen stabs in under three seconds. Pyrrha tried to bring her shield around to block, but the woman used her free hand to grab her wrist, holding Pyrrha's arm away with seeming ease as she finished her stabs.
The blue energy faded, and the woman stepped away, letting Pyrrha collapse at her feet with gasping breaths and clutching hands. With nothing said and not a single glance spared, the woman used her Semblance and disappeared from the store, leaving a trail of blue energy behind her.
The only positive thing Cinder could find in her mind about the situation, was that Vale's medical airship response time was very fast: they arrived in just two minutes.