After quick treatment and some hours of rest, Cinder lay in a hospital bed, listening to her teammates conversing.

"She could have finished us all off properly - but she didn't," Blake was saying weakly. "She just left us there."

"Maybe she changed her mind," Emerald murmured, with a glance at Cinder.

Cinder pulled the blankets up to her chin, sinking back against the mattress.

Blake sighed. She did her best to sit up a little, gazing at Cinder with a deep frown. "You don't have to hide it from us."

"Hide what?" Cinder said instantly.

"She was stabbed twice - we should let her sleep," Emerald spoke up, very loudly.

"No - she needs to know it's okay," Blake said, shaking her head. "Cinder, listen, after you ran off to the dorms last night - Pyrrha told us what she saw. She told us about your scars. And she told us not to bring it up with you. And when we got back and found you there...we're not idiots - we caught a fair few glimpses of it in person. You were in a really bad frame of mind that night, and you weren't as careful as you probably wanted to be about concealing it."

Cinder closed her eyes, turning her head away. So it wasn't just Pyrrha: it was her whole team! They knew. They all knew. Blake was right: they weren't the idiots here. She was. "But you're telling me you know now..." she mumbled. "Why?"

"Because we're teammates," Blake said simply. "It's better to...have everything out in the open so we can work through it together...instead of hiding from each other. We show ourselves to each other, and w-we- we accept each other. Support each other."

That again. Always with the helping, the caring. Real, true. All anyone wanted here was to help Cinder, not hurt her. Was it just a Beacon thing, or a Vale thing? Or was it just her teammates?

"Is that why you went along with it when I told the doctors I got this in a fight?" Cinder said suddenly, bringing hand to her neck.

"That's right," Blake said, encouraging. "We all accept you, no matter what's going on with you or where you come from. We'll always stand by you, even...if we don't really understand what it is we're standing by you on. But we know it has to be important, and personal, and...clearly something painful." She paused, sighing again. Then, she continued on. "We accept you, Cinder, for all that you are. And, Emerald, we all accept you as yourself, too. I just hope you can all accept me the same way..."

"Hey, I don't care who or what you are," Emerald said, waving a hand. "I wouldn't want to be a major hypocrite."

Blake looked to Cinder. "If I showed you something...something secret about myself...could you accept me, like you do Emerald?"

"Sure," Cinder said, more confused than anything. As long as Blake wasn't about to tell her she had been lying to her about caring, about helping, then Cinder was still...still going to- to like her. "Are you - trans-whatever - too?"

Blake smiled a little. "No, no. But I am- different from most girls, in my own way."

"Go ahead," said Emerald. "I'm all ears."

Blake burst into laughter - then winced in pain. She reached up for her head, for her black bow, and she pulled it free.

Emerald stared, her cheeks flushed, her mouth a perfect "O". "I retract that statement immediately."

"Those look like cat ears," Cinder observed. She smiled.

"T-they are," Blake said, nervous. "I'm a faunus."

Faunus? Cinder's mind flashed back to an image, a sight seen often around the Glass Unicorn hotel - signs that read: no faunus allowed. Just from eavesdropping, she'd managed to pick up that faunus were "weird, dirty, filthy freaks" with human and animal body parts. She'd asked Rhodes about it once, and he'd said faunus were treated different, and he didn't know too many himself. That because they were different, they weren't allowed to do a lot of things that other people were - just like Cinder. More "unfair treatment", as Rhodes had called it.

Blake was different for sure, but what did that really mean, coming from Atlas people? If faunus were treated anything like Cinder was...Cinder didn't understand why they should be, any more than she understood why she herself had been treated that way. She wondered if Blake had ever been treated like her before...

"Cinder?" Blake pressed. "You're...okay with this - right?"

"They're cute!" Cinder said quickly, unthinking. "I really, really- I love them," she amended, trying out the new word.

Blake's face shone with relief - then, she blushed intensely. "Thank you..."

"They are kind of cute," Emerald agreed, grinning at Blake. "I think I like 'em too."

Blake replaced her bow.

"I thought we weren't hiding things from each other," Cinder voiced, confused again.

"Oh, no; I'm not hiding them from any of you - it's from...everyone else," Blake explained. She nodded at Cinder's scarf. "Isn't that the same reason you hide yours?"

"Yes," Cinder agreed, after some thought; maybe she didn't have to hide them from her team anymore, but she still wanted to hide them from everyone else. Her team, she felt she knew now, wasn't going to try to use them to hurt her - but everyone else? Strangers? Who knew?

And who knew Cinder's friends were so much like her? She wondered what kind of secret Pyrrha might be hiding. She couldn't ask her right now, though. Pyrrha was in another part of the hospital - an area they called "Intensive Care." Pyrrha had taken the most hits - it made sense to Cinder. But it also...made her worry about her.

She didn't want to lose any of her friends. Not for any reason! Especially not to some woman who wanted to kill them all. Cinder had to get stronger, better, perfect, now for a reason besides herself: she had to be able to protect her friends from getting hurt too! Like Emerald had protected her. Like Pyrrha had fought to protect them all (and failed).

Cinder had failed, too; she had been the first one taken out, and with one strike!

She had to make sure that couldn't happen again. Ever. No one was going to hurt her friends again - just like no one was going to hurt her again.

Cinder reached over to the stand next to her bed, and retrieved her new bow. She held it in her lap, caressing it. A new weapon would be a good start to that, she thought. If this woman used a sword, Cinder would learn to use her bow, so she could always keep her at a distance. And attack her from a distance to keep her away from her friends. Take away her power, her advantages in combat.

"I can't believe they let you keep that thing in here," Blake laughed.

"If it makes her happy, why not?" Emerald said. "And we are huntresses in training; we're meant to have our weapons with us at all times - like today just proved!"

"Indeed, Miss Sustrai." The door had opened, and striding in came the Headmaster of Beacon himself, Professor Ozpin. "Although, I'd say it wasn't so much to keep Miss Aryle happy as it was to keep their patient calm and in her bed." He sounded so casual, so amused. Cinder was expecting him to be furious at them for failing so terribly! Failing at the one thing they were meant to be doing at his school: fighting! But he didn't seem to be at all. "How are the three of you holding up?"

"We're all fine," Blake answered. "Have you seen Pyrrha?"

"I have just come from her ward," Ozpin nodded. "They've told me Miss Nikos is beginning to stabilize. When her Aura recharges, she should recover completely - as you three will. But even so, with the severity of your injuries, the staff here would like to keep you for another day, perhaps two if necessary."

"Yes, sir," Cinder said quietly.

"That woman who almost killed us..." Emerald began.

Ozpin raised a hand. "As difficult as it is to believe, I very much doubt that that woman actually ever intended to take your lives from you."

"What, does she have something against killing kids?" Emerald coughed. "Some little 'moral code?'"

"It is possible," Ozpin said simply. "Until her attack on Miss Rose, the only huntsmen she had ever gone after were full grown adults - all operating outside of the city of Vale. Either out on missions, traveling, or simply...living their lives at home." He paused, his eyes straying to Cinder's face. No, to the blanket she had pulled up to her chin. "However, I believe it's more likely that she only spared you because she wanted to send the world a message today."

"What message?" Blake asked.

Ozpin eyed them for a long moment. "The exact contents, I'm afraid, remain to be seen. But make no mistake, if someone of her skill level wished you dead, she would have finished the job without hesitation."

But she did hesitate, Cinder thought. With me. And then she just left. She left...because of me. Because of my burns. She changed her mind. Why?

"Regardless of intentions of our enemy," Ozpin was speaking again. "I'm indescribably relieved to see you all survived the encounter. Though, I fear next time we may not be so lucky," he finished quietly.

"If there is a next time," Cinder began furiously. "she's going to be the one to die, not any of us!"

Ozpin looked at her. Then, he nodded. "Perhaps. I'd certainly feel relieved if that were to happen, that the one threatening the lives of my youngest students was done away with. But I wouldn't advise you to let fantasies run away with you - you still have so very long a ways to go before you're even able to approach the level of a fighter like this one. She is-" He hesitated, glancing down. "She's a very dangerous individual, and was, even before events of recent months - her personal mission of hunting down our...huntsmen."

"It sounds like you know her," Emerald remarked, scrutinizing the professor.

Ozpin sighed, leaning on his cane. "Yes - but her identity matters little to the situation at hand. Or to any of you."

"I have a hole in my gut that says it matters a hell of a lot," Emerald retorted, scoffing.

"I understand your feelings. But I ask you all to focus on improving yourselves, making it through Beacon. After you've emerged on the other side as fully fledged huntresses - of undoubtedly great prowess - then you may feel free to pursue our enemy. I'll even give you my blessings. But until then...please, just keep yourselves out of harms way, and focus on your education."

Ozpin left them at that.

"Hey there - Nebula!" a voice called.

Team NEBA walked back into Beacon together after a day and a half - and found Team RWYJ right at the entrance to their dorms.

A blonde boy stepped right up to them, frantic. "Listen guys, we're so sorry that we couldn't have stuck around to be there. If we had been, maybe we could've-"

"Who are you again?" Cinder said flatly, eyeing the blonde boy.

He stared at her, jaw dropped. His shoulders dropped. "Oh- oh come on," he cried, throwing up his hands. "You guys know me! I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc - fourth member of Team RWYJ!"

Cinder shifted her new quiver of arrows on her shoulder, offering a small smile. "I don't remember you."

"Ah geez, do you seriously not...?" Jaune looked even more desperate. "You met me over the weekend, down in Vale! The ice cream place! I was sitting right there with- okay, you know what, whatever! It's cool..."

Cinder strode past Jaune, heading into her dorm building, leaving several laughing voices behind her.

"Did you actually just joke around with someone?" Blake remarked, stepping up beside her. "I've never seen you do that before."

"No," Cinder replied. "I really don't remember him being there." She hesitated, smile coming back to her lips again. "But, it was fun to see him get like that."

"Get like what? Offended?" Emerald laughed.

Cinder smirked. "Yes."

"Hah!" Emerald exclaimed. "So is that the reason why you keep taking shots at that Schnee girl? Because that's just how you have your fun in life?"

"No," Cinder said seriously. "I just really hate her."

"Well, let's not get into that right now," Pyrrha said quickly, putting a hand on Cinder's arm. "Let's just get back up to our room and settle in. It's good to be back, isn't it?"

"It is," Cinder agreed. It felt like coming back to her room in the hotel basement, after every typical bad day there. A nicer place. Beacon was definitely a nicer place. The nicest place she could ever remember being. Not the hotel, not the orphanage, for sure! She...liked...Beacon.

After an entire week of waiting for what she'd missed, it came back around again: another weekend, and with it, another chance to try and sign up for driving lessons.

Cinder walked over to the garages on the east side of campus - for students - with her team behind her.

There was a sleek silver car sitting out in the open. Standing near it was her instructor, presumably - Professor Uri. The woman was tall, with scaly blue skin that glistened under the sun, blue hair, and strange slits on her neck. Her skin looked damp.

Cinder stared. And stared. And stared. "Are you a faunus?"

"That's correct, Miss Aryle," came the casual reply.

Cinder frowned, staring some more. "Why don't you have cat ears?" she finally asked.

Pyrrha gasped: Emerald snorted; Blake looked torn between outrage and amusement, shaking her head.

The professor's expression flickered, then she gave a small smile. "I suppose where you're from, there weren't many faunus around?"

"No, ma'am!"

"And I suppose this also means you haven't been paying too much attention in your normal classes?" The professor didn't wait for Cinder to respond. "Faunus aren't solely people who hold traits of mammals - we can come in all kinds of different shapes and sizes."

"Of course, ma'am..."

"Well, I hope I've sated your curiosity, Miss Aryle." Professor Uri waved a hand. "Let's get started with this, why don't we?"

Cinder ducked her head. "Yes, ma'am."

"Do you have any experience with driving before at all?"

"None at all, ma'am."

Professor Uri blinked at her. "Then this will be interesting for both of us. Come here, come on; let's sit you down - get your Aura up - and we can give you a...crash course." She opened the door and gestured inside. "Just be sure to listen to everything I say."

Cinder seated herself in the driver seat, and her professor closed the door gently after her; Professor Uri went to the other side, sitting down beside her. She noticed her team retreating very far back from the vehicle.

"This isn't working!" Cinder exclaimed in middle of Beacon's library one afternoon.

"All right; so how about we try something that will work?" Pyrrha said easily. "We're in one of the best libraries in the kingdom, in the best combat school in the kingdom. Why don't you try finding a book about something you'd actually like to learn about? Something you're interested in?"

Cinder glanced around at the packed shelves of books, thinking. "I don't know what I...Dust?" She hadn't learned much about how to use it; Rhodes had needed to save his limited supplies for his missions when he would leave the hotel, and he had told her more than once that he himself wasn't too good with it. "Passable," had been his word.

Pyrrha nodded, squeezed her shoulder and went to look for books about Dust (with help from Emerald, unfailingly eager to help). Cinder's teammates traded looks and furious whispers before finally coming back with a single, thick book in hand. It was tattered and old, and dusty. Pyrrha sat down beside Cinder and began flipping through its pages with a look of deep concentration, nodding to herself and letting little odd words escape under her breath. Then, a final, satisfied nod and a smile. She slid the book over in front of Cinder. Her finger tapped under a sentence at the top, and stayed there.

"Alright, why don't you try reading this out," Pyrrha said, patient and quiet. "Just follow along with me here, and give it your best shot. Say the words you know, skip over the ones you don't - or give pronouncing them a try. If you are interested in Dust application, I think you'll find this section to be-"

"I can figure out how to say words just fine, I just don't know what most of them even mean!" Cinder flared up.

"Of course. My mistake, Cinder," Pyrrha said, immediately and kindly.

"Sorry..." Cinder deflated, sinking down in her chair a little.

"It's all right. Why don't you try to...think of it as a battle? Another fight, a challenge?" Pyrrha said, rallying. "Except it isn't with swords - it's with your mind. A battle you need to win to become a huntress."

Cinder straightened up, narrowing her eyes at the words above Pyrrha's pointer finger. She has pretty nails. She doesn't even have to smear makeup all over herself to do it, like those girls in Atlas always do...not that that ever made any of them look pretty anyways...

"Ahem," Pyrrha cleared her throat, tapping finger to page. "Are you ready to try?"

"What? Y-yes!" Focus! She took another breath, and began trying.

"The concept of weaving Dust into clothing requires a great degree of skill and dedication, but can allow the wielder a great degree of versatility during combat - often to the surprise of an opponent. But this method also requires high upkeep, repairing the clothing after every battle, and replacing the Dust. Hence, in modern times, most fighters prefer to use sand Dust placed into cartridges and containers, processed and ready made for battle..."

It took a hundred stops and starts, interruptions and catches - a great deal of explaining on Pyrrha's behalf. Many corrections, when Cinder botched plenty of words she tried to pronounce. But Pyrrha was always clear and good about, not even seeming to mind if Cinder blew up at her a few times. She'd just sit back, tell her to take a break, and they'd get back to it in a minute.

And in the end, they got through it.

Cinder felt as exhausted as she did after a hard fight. "So...it takes time to set up, time to fix up after a fight - but it's really useful, in a lot of different ways?" she struggled to understand. "And it can be a nice surprise for an enemy?"

"That's about right, yes," Pyrrha nodded.

"I want to try it," Cinder decided.

"Cinder," Pyrrha started carefully. "it's good that you're interested - but you already have your new bow to try learning, and I'm afraid Dust weaving isn't something you can just pick up and start. First, of course, you need to know how to sew-"

"I know how to sew."

Pyrrha blinked in surprise. "You do? Do you mind if I ask who taught you?"

My mother, in a way; I fixed up enough outfits of hers, and my sisters. "I mind," was all she said aloud.

"A-alright, then...Well, I'm sure there are instruction books around here somewhere that actually go in depth into the process," Pyrrha said confidently. "We can find you them, and you can-"

Cinder stood, moving off for the shelves.

A sigh from Pyrrha, who stood too, and followed suit.

It was three weeks later (making it a full month since Cinder had started at Beacon), when team NEBA met on a sunny day out on the edges of the campus.

Cinder had asked Pyrrha three weeks ago, on another weekend trip to Vale, if she could have a new outfit, some new clothes for once (which led to Pyrrha asking her questions she refused to answer). Pyrrha had agreed, and Cinder had gone off on her own in a clothing store to buy what she wanted - making sure to keep it secret from her team. A bag she refused to let any of them look inside of. A bag she'd then hidden at the bottom of her personal dresser for the next three weeks to come, only ever removing it when no one else was around her.

Cinder even managed to find time to go off on her own to secluded areas of the campus, to dedicate her entire focus to her "secret project" as she'd come to think of it as.

Until now, three weeks later, she was ready to reveal the secret. The secret that wouldn't just help her against her teammates in private training hours, but also in Goodwitch's more official sparring matches - and, later in life, she hoped it would also be a great asset on actual huntress missions.

Cinder eyed her teammates very seriously, standing apart and away from them with her arms crossed - her secret bag next to her foot. "Okay, listen closely: everybody is going to close their eyes and turn around, and don't take any peeks! Don't try, not until I say so! And god help me Emerald if you use your Semblance on me-"

"I promise I won't!" Emerald assured instantly.

"Okay, then," Cinder went on. She picked up her bag and started backpedaling. "But just to be sure, I'm going over here." She stepped around corner of a building, and quickly began changing. She enjoyed the feel of bare feet in the grass after removing her boots. She tore off her school uniform and threw it down, and hurried into her new outfit. Her labor of love over long, painful weeks now. A shuddering, nervous breath, an equally shaky smile, and a minute later she stepped out again into the grass to present herself to her friends.

"You can look now!"

Cinder's team turned around. And they stared at her, jaws dropped comically.

Did I mess this up? Does it make me look more like an Atlas girl rather than a Vale girl? Did normal Vale girls go around wearing a long-sleeved black dress with a high neck, black stockings and garter, and shiny black high heels? Cinder was sure they must, or else why would that store have even had it all on display?!

Even still, her arm reached across her waist to grasp the other firmly. "I- I thought it looked nice..." she voiced nervously. It certainly felt nice! It felt so nice on her.

"It does; you look amazing!" Emerald cried.

"You're really rocking that look!" Blake agreed, giving double thumbs up and flashing a grin. But her cheeks were noticeably flushed.

"It's extremely...p-pretty," Pyrrha stammered. "Sadly, you won't be able to wear it around the school; but that just means you might want to think about modifying your school uniform as well! You won't have time to change in a battle." She cleared her throat after sweeping Cinder up and down in a way that had her squirming - and smiling very widely in a way she couldn't control. "Ahem, so, you're using Fire and Earth Dust, mainly, it looks like...and is that Lava? Is that all to compliment your Semblance?"

"Yes!" Cinder said, beaming. "Let me show you," she went on eagerly. She focused, pulsing her Aura through her clothes and raising a hand; her clothing lit up, and flames and burning dirt intermixed around her hand. She triggered her Semblance, just so briefly, and the particles coalesced and transformed into a solid black bow, and an arrow with a burning tip. Cinder turned, drawing her hand back as if with a cord, and she used her Semblance again and sent the arrow zooming toward the nearest stone pillar. It pierced the stone, and began to burn it inside. She flexed her fingers and dismantled the arrow, turning it into falling amber particles to litter the ground.

She materialized and notched a second arrow, using her Semblance to integrate little slivers of Fire Dust crystals into its tip, and released it into the pillar a few inches above where the first arrow had struck. She narrowed her eyes and triggered her Semblance in a powerful burst of heat; the shards of Fire Dust crystals smelted into the arrow's glass tip exploded, blowing a fist-sized hole in the side of the pillar, sending flakes of hot stone out to scatter the ground.

Cinder did away with the bow, and melded Lava and Earth Dust to form two hard, obsidian blades. She turned to her teammates with a smile, twirling the swords about before disintegrating them to scattered embers. She waited a beat, spreading her arms wide.

"That was incredible," Emerald breathed, grinning at her.

"It really was," Blake agreed, looking suitably impressed.

"It must have taken a lot of hard work and talent - even seasoned huntsmen don't usually try doing this," Pyrrha praised. "But you've managed it as a first year student, and in a matter of weeks."

"I- had a few failures..." Cinder admitted quietly. "Some attempts literally blew up in my face. If I hadn't had my Aura up, I might have lost an eye..."

"But you did it," Pyrrha said. "That's so amazing of you."

"I'll still use the real bow you bought for me," Cinder said quickly. "It will help keep down the number of times I have to use my Semblance, saving on Aura; I'll only need to make explosive arrows, or make weapons if I lose my real ones - or if I don't have them on me when a fight happens." She looked at her friends with a wide grin. "I want to try using it in combat now - who's up for some sparring?"

"I don't think you should be jumping to trying to use a dangerous new ability against your teammates - not so soon," Pyrrha said swiftly. "You should wait until you have a sure handle on it. We wouldn't want any accidents - like the kind you said have happened to you already."

"But we all have Auras," Cinder protested.

"Just one misjudged shot and one of those could be blowing up in our faces," Blake said quietly.

Cinder looked at them, her throat tight. Her fist clenched at her side. "I- I asked you out here, I asked you to-"

"I'll help you try it out!" Emerald said quickly, cheerfully. She took Cinder's hand and pulled her away. "It's going to be so fun."

"Emerald, as team leader, I don't think you should be encouraging her to-" Pyrrha began, warning.

"As her friend, I don't care," Emerald retorted. "I guess you guys just don't care about seeing her happy as much as I do! Some teammates you are..."

"This isn't about happiness," Blake said evenly. "It's about caution with our lives and limbs."

"Ignore them," Emerald told Cinder, striding away and then wheeling about to face her with her weapons drawn. "We can do this on our own."

Cinder drew breath, lifting her metal bow. She managed a smile, and focused her mind on manipulating the Dust to form a new arrow...

"Please, come in - sit down. If you'd forgive me this opening statement: you look quite troubled tonight."

"Thank you, Professor." Pyrrha gave a nod, moving to seat herself at the Headmaster's desk.

Professor Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, peering at her in silence. He set it down and straightened up. He put his hands together on the desk. "What is it that's troubling you, Miss Nikos? That which brings you all the way up to my office on a Saturday night - a night you could be spending with your teammates and friends."

It was the perfect opening, Pyrrha thought, and she grasped for it like she would any opening in battle, any chance. "That's just it, Professor, what troubles me are my teammates. I- I don't want to sound vain, or arrogant, but I've always considered myself to be a very straightforward, honest, and kind person. And now I'm the leader of a team, but my team is entirely comprised of...of introverted, guarded, c-complicated people. And, in many ways, I suspect...a fair bit dishonest. And I just can't seem to- to reach them, to talk to them in a way that- it's been weeks, and even after our shared experience, I still know next to nothing about any of them." Pyrrha twisted her hands in her lap, dropping her head with a sigh. "I've made some progress, I've learned bits and pieces - some more major than others - but I can tell they are all, in their own ways, still holding most of themselves back. And there's- I...I would hate to sound overdramatic, but there are some issues with them that I...I think could be serious. One, in particular."

"You mean Miss Aryle," Ozpin said plainly. "I presume you aren't merely speaking about her intellectual difficulties."

Pyrrha pressed her lips together, nodding. She'd kept her promise to Cinder, but it had been unavoidable fact that the professors would find out - and they had; they'd assigned Cinder daily lessons to help her improve. Proper, real lessons. But even though they had, Cinder daily professed to hate them, and had begged Pyrrha to be the one to help her instead. Pyrrha had, of course, agreed, but only after extracting from Cinder a promise to try in her actual literacy lessons with Professor Goodwitch.

They both knew Cinder wasn't trying too hard to keep her side of the deal.

It just made Pyrrha sad for her friend - and more determined to help her, herself, in their very unprofessional version of those lessons.

"Yes," Pyrrha spoke, returning her mind to the present. "We...our team has been having personal sparring sessions together for weeks now. They all seemed eager to improve, once they learned about my past - my accomplishments. I was happy to oblige them, to help my team how I could. But, during these matches..." She hesitated. "Whenever Cinder fails, loses, she always seems like she's expecting me to land a killing strike on her - a follow-up finisher, as if we were truly in a life or death fight. And...conversely, whenever she's winning, she starts to act like she's always just on the verge of actually trying to kill me. She- she puts so much raw effort into these fights, it's like she thinks it really is a matter of survival."

"That is problematic, indeed," Ozpin spoke quietly. "I've spied a few of her matches against fellow students, spoken with Glynda, and she reports seeing the same behaviors in Miss Aryle, even in very clear training matches. I suppose we must then ask ourselves: for what reason does Cinder behave this way? What reason would she have to believe mere sparring matches are matters of survival for her? What is she thinking, what does she feel, where is her mind going, when she loses herself to these battles? Is it personality, nature...or is it some form of nurture? Instinct, memory, reaction learned and honed over years in an environment...not suitable for the healthy growth of a child?"

"I don't know," Pyrrha began. A white lie; she had some ideas, for certain - especially since seeing the burns imprinted on her neck. All kinds of sickening thoughts, of abuses. "But ever since I first met her, Professor, I- I saw it in her. The way her body moved, the way she would get this look in her eyes...that's honestly why I chose to be on a team with her at all. I hoped that I could figure her out, maybe even try to help her with...whatever it is she has going on. Or at least be there to stop her from making...very big mistakes. I thought it was my duty as a huntress. Of course, now it's not just because it's the right thing to do, but because I care for her!" Pyrrha went on hastily. "Because she is-" Pyrrha stopped. She glanced around. Leaned in. "She's dangerous, Professor. One of these times, someone is going to lose their Aura, and she isn't going to stop herself, or I won't be there, and someone is going to get seriously injured. Maybe even...even killed."

"I'm certain it wouldn't be on purpose, not- not conscious, not malicious, she's not like that!" Pyrrha said swiftly. "But...she does have problems that could affect those around her."

"My thoughts exactly," Professor Ozpin said, leaning forward as well. "It is quite a concerning matter. I think, to truly fix it, we must first discover the origin - get to the heart of it. I will ask you to direct Miss Aryle straight to me after you leave this room, so that I may speak with her. I...honestly believe this talk is long overdue with her."

"Of course, Professor," Pyrrha whispered, clenching her fists tight.

"It is not a betrayal to voice your worries, even about your friends," Ozpin said, as if reading her mind. "Some of them are indeed more serious than others." He paused. "As for getting your team to open up to you in general...I would think time, persistence and patience, and continuing with small steps along the way could yield results. Inklings, nuggets, yes, but that might be all they are capable of giving you at the moment. And perhaps, in the end, you will have enough pieces to put them all together and form a greater picture of who they are, and where they come from. The very past that defines them, and keeps them from being wide open and vulnerable with even you, their team leader and friend."

"Yes, Professor. Thank you."

"Do not thank me, thank yourself; you are what they need, Miss Nikos, rest assured of that - only, they may not know it yet. But in time...I'm sure they'll come to realize, and appreciate your efforts, and thank you for them even if they resisted them at first."

"Thank you," Pyrrha nodded, standing. She breathed, her shoulders lighter. She would be as patient as she could with her teammates, take every inch she could get with them. It was just how they were, for whatever reasons they had in their lives, their pasts. And Pyrrha could never blame them for it. Only try to understand, and work through it with them. She would continue on as she was with them.

"Do you know that the information given by every Beacon candidate at the entrance exams is meant to be as accurate as possible? Names, date of birth, addresses - information to allow the staff at Beacon, and the kingdom of Vale's government, to record and learn about every single prospective huntsmen that enters it. Yet, even with the information you gave, by all normal means I was entirely unable to track down anyone named Cinder Aryle - anywhere. Not in Vale, not even in Mistral, where you claimed to hail from."

Cinder shrank down in the seat provided by the Headmaster. She said nothing, bowing her head.

Ozpin gazed at her from across the desk. "Now, the obvious conclusion would be that the information you gave was not entirely truthful. The next conclusion after that, would be that perhaps it was done for some nefarious, malevolent reason. But I'm not the sort of man to jump to so cynical of conclusions. So, I'd like to ask you, Miss Aryle: is what little you've told us about yourself true?"

"Y-yes," Cinder dared to lie, flinching to herself as she did. "I- I was born in Mistral, on the date I gave, and my name is real. First and last."

"Yet there is no record of you anywhere. Can you shed any light on this seeming contradiction between your word, and what is fact?"

Cinder dipped her chin further, hiding her mouth in her scarf and placing a hand over it. "No..."

"You're afraid, Cinder." A drop in volume, in tone. "Why are you so afraid?"

Cinder blinked, hating the tears that spilled free so suddenly. "I..."

"Are you in some kind of trouble? Are you perhaps on the run from something - or someone? The law, or is it family?" A brief pause. "You wouldn't be the first, you know. Beacon takes all sorts, from all kinds of backgrounds - sometimes very controversially, in the eyes of others. But most of the time, I've managed to give them all the kind of help they need, along with benefit of the doubt. I would like to give you the same, Cinder. Are you in need of help?"

"I- I j-just need...y-you..." Cinder tore the words from the depths of her soul, preparing for the punishments to come. "to s-stop questioning me...I- I'm here, what else matters?"

"I think there is a great deal else that matters when it comes to you, Cinder. Clearly." There was no change, no snap, no flash to anger.

Cinder waited for it to come anyways. Any moment, she was sure it would. It always did. You did not talk back! You did not snark, you did not hurt.

"When you fight, you fight as if your very life and limb depends on it - even against your own teammates. Kill or be killed, put very simply. Clearly, you have a reason for being this way. I want to find out why so that I can help you change this, move past this; so that you don't one day accidentally injure a friend. Or, perhaps even take their life. Would you not feel guilty if you did, remorseful? Would you not miss them?"

"Of course I would!" Cinder burst out, furious. She looked down quickly, throwing her hands down at her sides, loose and still. Screwing up her eyes for what surely was coming now!

"Then, please, allow me to help you. Give me more, more about yourself. Help me understand you."

Even he just wanted to help her? Could she really...

If you ever tell anyone about this, I will kill you - and no one will notice you're gone. If you run, I'll bring you back every time, and make you pay for it.

"I can't."

"Whatever it is you're so afraid of, surely you know they couldn't hurt you here. Myself, your professors, and your teammates would all be here for you - to stand between them, and you. And if it is family, you are seventeen - they couldn't take you away from here if they wanted to. You are safe here, Cinder. I promise you that."

"I'm not safe!" Cinder exploded, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands down on the desk's surface. Her palms burned with the power of her Semblance, forming superheated circles on the desk. "It w-was legal, nobody cares, nobody ever stopped it - nobody's going to stop it now! You can't stop it, no matter how much you care!"

Ozpin stood, too, very quickly. He reached out and grabbed her wrists, lifting her scorching hands from the desk. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't damage this."

Cinder collapsed into her seat, gasping and shoving her hands into her lap, the burning power released.

Ozpin sat down too, slow and careful, his eyes never leaving her. "What was legal, Cinder?" he said gently.

Cinder's mouth worked, but nothing came from its strangled depths. She let a wild, quavering breath free and jerked her chin up. She gripped at her scarf, and pulled it down and away.

Ozpin looked, for a brief moment, outright horrified. Then his features were smooth and neutral, and calm as ever. "I would like to know - please, if you can - how you got this."

She couldn't say it, she couldn't tell, she couldn't...she couldn't, she couldn't, she couldn't- "Atlas."

Ozpin gazed at her a long time. Then, very slowly, he stood, turning away to walk to the window. He stood with hands behind his back, silent and still as a statue.

Cinder let her head fall again, and took up stroking the smooth dust shards woven into her school uniform, in patches.

"I'm aware..." Professor Ozpin's voice came, quiet and controlled. "that Atlas has very different laws when it comes to 'indentured servitude', as they call it - laws that those of us here in Vale have long called what it is: slavery. I'm aware, as well, that these laws were written in lax enough a way that they include minors. Atlas has always had very different ideas about things like crime and punishment - mostly of the corporal kind - justice, and what most people call abuse. Domestic - child. It's something that I-" Ozpin cut himself off, his voice cracking, before going on as normal. "that Remnant has tried very hard to change in recent decades. Something that was never intended to be in the first place. Not how it is now. But I'm terribly sorry to say not much headway has been made there. As a consequence...many children continue to suffer horrific, unjust treatment under that system. Blind eyes are turned by even the minority that knows the wrongness of it. Children are not helped because the government itself endorses it, allows it to continue. Even supports preventing of attempts to otherwise act against it."

Ozpin finally turned to face her, bringing his hands to his front. "You were one such child?"

Cinder could only nod.

"Until only a few weeks ago? Your seventeenth?"

Another nod.

A sigh. "The age when those laws cease having affect, power over those bound in them, if applied to a minor." The man was silent again, a minute. Then- "The date of your registration at Vale's huntsmen liaisons offices, and the date you gave for your birthday in said register, are a single night apart. You came straight here from Atlas? After reaching age of majority? Straight from your...family?"

Cinder glanced up, seeing a calm face struggling to contain anguish. "Y-you- you can't send me back..."

"No, I can't," Ozpin said firmly. "I assure you, I've absolutely zero power to send you back there - just as there is now no one in Atlas with the power to take you back. You are right, Cinder: what matters is that you're here. Return to your dorm, to your friends. But, I wish to speak with you again tomorrow, please. Come here again at this same time, if you would."

"Y-yes, sir." Cinder stood, pulling her scarf up into place again. She bowed her head, and left the office.

The last thing she saw before the elevator doors closed, was the sight of the man sitting with his head in his hands.