Author's Note:
HERE IS A BIG POST CHRISTMAS CHAPTER! 3 :) :) I'M SO EXCITED TO CONTINUE THE STORY WITH SECOND SEMESTER! :)
End of Author Note!
On the last day of Team NEBA's two week break, Cinder walked onto the boardwalk in her two piece bikini with her head held high.
Pyrrha wore a simple shirt and swim shorts; Emerald, a full one piece swimsuit; Blake was the only one to have on a two piece like Cinder's.
Cinder paused, catching eyes on her. She turned, placing hand on hip and pulling a smirk. "Yes?"
Those eyes roamed her, then settled on her middle. They traveled from the scarring between her breasts, to the great scar lower down, on her belly. "How did you get those?" a man spoke, eyebrows furrowed. "You were attacked?"
Cinder raised her chin. "I survived being attacked." She about-faced and stalked for the end of the boardwalk, pulling the band from her hair and letting it all down. Loose, for once. She stroked it all, pulling it down one side of her head.
She lowered herself and sat down on boardwalk's edge, her legs sliding into the waters.
"Did you have to put Dust in your bikini?" Blake said from the water, gazing up at Cinder, treading like it was easy.
Cinder raised an absent hand, palm up, and pulsed her Aura to create shimmering flames. She clenched her fist and extinguished them, smiling to herself. "If you've been paying any attention at all in grimm identification classes, you'd know that there are all kinds of aquatic grimm - some of which like to come to harbors and beaches to find victims."
"So, you're being paranoid - got it."
"I'm being prepared," Cinder corrected. "But, if you want to be helpless when a grimm shark comes to bite you in two, then be my guest. I'll be telling you 'I told you so' after I save your life - with some very high amounts of satisfaction."
"I'm with Cinder on this one," Emerald chimed in, emerging from the waters after doing a full flip. "It's never stupid to be ready for a fight. If someone or something wants to attack us, we should be able to fight back! Or at least, be ready and able to make a run for it..."
"I think it doesn't hurt to have a little caution," Pyrrha spoke, sitting down beside Cinder, touching bare arms with her - and bare legs. "I'm sure we'll all be thanking you for it later, if anything does happen," she went on, flashing a smile.
"Sure," Blake said, rolling her eyes.
"Y-you know, Cinder..." Pyrrha began.
"What?" Cinder said.
Pyrrha smiled at her, looking her over swiftly, her cheeks pink. "You look amazing in t-that. Of course, you look amazing in anything you wear!"
"Thanks," Cinder said, flashing a bright smile in return. She kicked her feet, splashing up water. "So, can we start this - please?"
Pyrrha nodded. "Of course. Now, the most important thing about swimming is not to panic - at any point. Otherwise, you might not only endanger yourself, but any one of us as well. I need you to trust that I'm going to have you - that you're going to be perfectly all right, no matter what. Okay?"
"Okay," Cinder said seriously. She drew a breath and stretched her arms, like preparing for combat instruction. "I trust you, don't worry about that. I- I know you won't let me get hurt," she offered awkwardly, turning her head away. Old anxiety bloomed in her stomach: Was that the right thing to say? Was that something people said at all? Would Pyrrha even like it?
Pyrrha touched her arm, so soft, so warm. A tingling sensation shot through Cinder's body. "That's incredibly sweet of you. Thank you; I'm so glad to hear that!"
Oh, thank god. "Y-yes, well, I...y-you're...sweet too?"
"Oh, thank you, Cinder!" Pyrrha laughed, gave her arm a stroke, and then she was jumping into the water. "Just remember to hold your breath when you go under, and remember to keep kicking your feet and moving your arms - like this. And don't panic. Just steady, easy motions."
"I think I've got it," Cinder replied, staring down at her legs as she practiced the motions a bit more. She nodded to herself and sucked in a breath. Pyrrha's right here; she won't let me drown! But - get eaten by a sea grimm? Not so much...
Cinder pushed off from the boardwalk, and slid down into the ocean, plunging below the water line in the process.
It's just water; what can water even do to hurt you?
Apparently, a lot, if Blake's more tragic romantic books were anything to go by...
Focus! Calm! Be in control of your body, move it how it's meant to be moved! Get this right, get it perfect! Don't look like an idiot in front of your friends...
Cinder moved her limbs furiously, and she did rise and break the surface, sound and sight returning with clarity. She let her breath go at last, and turned her head to find Emerald and Blake right near her. But where was- "Pyrrha?"
"I'm right here." Her voice came from behind Cinder, calm and reassuring. "You're doing good - very good. But you're going at it a bit too hard. You'll probably-"
Cinder took in a hasty breath as she dropped under again. She kicked harder, and she broke the waters again. "Probably what?" She sputtered.
"Probably...that," Pyrrha's voice came again - again, from behind Cinder. "Here - let me help."
"Okay, h-help - starting to panic!" Cinder admitted, stammering. Suddenly, Cinder felt a pressing softness to her backside, and firm, slender hands gripping her hips.
"Don't panic, you're fine - I have you." Pyrrha's voice, right in her ear now. "Try to kick less frequently. Be more consistent, not faster at it. Oh, and try using your arms more! That helps."
I thought I was doing good, dammit.
"Can't I just use you to-"
"No, no! Cinder, if you want something to hold onto, you can use the boardwalk! But not me. You could drag us both down. Do you feel like you need to? I can get you over there."
"I want to turn around so I can see you," Cinder retorted. "I like seeing you! How do I turn?"
"Alright; I'll show you - just let me get you over here..." Pyrrha was leaning backwards, kicking expertly, and dragging Cinder with her. They drifted under the boardwalk, and Pyrrha grabbed Cinder's stray arm and put her hand on one of the support struts. "Hold onto this and try to relax - just watch me."
Cinder did her best to listen - and to watch as Pyrrha showed her, rotating around with ease in place.
It really was like their sparring sessions again. Once Cinder was sure she had it, she detached herself from the boardwalk and drifted out. She moved as Pyrrha had explained - and it worked. She turned herself around several times over, before next asking Pyrrha to show her how to actually move around. Pyrrha obliged, as ever. Soon, Cinder was moving free!
"Hah! Queen of the ocean coming through, out of my way! I can circle you people all day long!"
"Oh dear god what have you created?" Blake deadpanned, eyes narrowed at Pyrrha.
"I'm sorry...?" Pyrrha offered.
"Emerald - Emerald, look! Where am I? I'm over here - or so you think! Because I'm now..." Cinder dropped into the water like a stone, swam furiously forward, twisted around and popped up on the other side of her friend. "...right over here! What happens now? How about a...surprise attack!" She triggered her Aura very precisely out of her feet, and shot forward to ram into Emerald, sending her bobbing and spinning away. She laughed maniacally, flipping onto her back and raising her arms high as she swam backwards.
Emerald righted herself, and a fierce grin stole over her face. "Oh, you really - you really want to do this with me? I'm the girl who can make you see anything I want out here, remember?"
Cinder slowed to a stop, letting her body go vertical again. "No Semblances allowed," she said instantly.
"Fine with me, I can still get you back!" Emerald replied, swimming right for Cinder with furious strokes. "Come here already!"
Cinder activated her Aura again, shooting off a dozen feet to the left. "Catch me - if you even can!"
"No Aura allowed, either!" Emerald whined.
"Yes, Aura! You don't make the rules!"
"Neither do you!"
"Yes, I do!" Cinder shouted with glee. "I do whatever I want!"
"Pyrrha's team leader - she should decide," Emerald said swiftly.
Both girls looked at Pyrrha.
Pyrrha looked between them, raising her hands out of the water. "Well, in the interests of fairness, I think-"
"Aura's still in," Cinder interrupted firmly.
"You didn't let her decide yet!" Emerald said, exasperated.
Cinder grinned. "She's going to choose what I want, obviously."
Emerald looked at her. Then, at Pyrrha. "Well, yeah, obviously," she snorted. "She wants that Cinder booty way too badly to say no to you on anything!"
"What?" Blake said, in a high voice.
"What?!" Pyrrha exclaimed.
"What?" Cinder said blankly.
"Oh- oh come on," Emerald chortled, setting her gaze on Cinder. "You can't figure it out? How she was just pressing herself all up into that? How she totally wanted to lick that ear? And did she have to grab that waist?! I don't think so! And- and what about how she just goes nuts over you when you get a new dress? She looks at you like she wants to eat you up - or...out! Hah! Seriously: think about all those filthy Blake books you've read so far. In all of them, what does it even mean when someone is up in someone else's space like that? Especially from behind?! It's sexy, it's romantic!"
Cinder blinked. The realization hit her like an airship: Emerald was right! It was like all those- Pyrrha was acting like those people in Blake's books!
"Can we not bring me into this?" Blake said weakly.
"You just don't want to face the fact that Cinder has more to her than you'll ever be packing!" Emerald shot back. "I don't see Pyrrha lusting after yours!"
"Y-you- I- oh brother; I have more than she'll ever have!" Blake burst out. "Just because Pyrrha has an interest in a specific ass doesn't mean mine isn't better than-"
"Please, if yours was so much better, wouldn't our classmates be looking at yours instead of at mine?" Cinder snorted. "And since that's never happened, it clearly means I've got the better one!"
"Please, you didn't even know what it meant to be sexually attractive until a few weeks ago!" Blake said with a laugh. "I doubt you have any good enough of a grasp on the concept to make a judgement on the quality of your own ass, let alone mine! A-and for your information, I've noticed plenty of people taking peeks at me from behind!"
"Oh? Such as who?" Cinder said idly, relishing.
"That's not-"
"No, come on, who?" Emerald said eagerly. "No going back now! Let's get it all out here in the open! We're supposed to be teammates, right? Sharing things with each other? So share!"
"F-fine - Yang Xaio Long, for one!" Blake said furiously, furiously blushing. "And for a-another, that one second year girl with that- bushy tail! You know who I mean!"
"So, you have two admirers - well done - I still have more," Cinder said, triumphant.
"I have consistent interest; you get new ones every time you change clothes!" Blake rattled off. "It doesn't mean as much!"
"I think it means more-" Emerald started.
"Oh, shut up," Blake laughed, shaking her head. "You only think that because you're one of Cinder's admirers! I guess it makes sense how you were able to peg Pyrrha down so easily: it takes one to know one, doesn't it?" she said sweetly.
"Tch, yeah!" Emerald said proudly. "It does! And getting back around to Pyrrha, she's been going in hard today on Cinder. Is it the bikini, something in the water - what's going on out here?"
"H-hold on now, team!" Pyrrha spoke, stammering. "Why are we even d-discussing people's b-butts like-"
"Teambuilding exercise," Emerald interrupted, with a wide grin. "Let it happen, you know you want to! Air out every last dirty thought you have about your fiery object of desire!"
"I- I-" Pyrrha sputtered, then fell silent.
Cinder stared at her. "So, you really do like my ass?"
"I- C-Cinder, it's n-not- I mean I..." Pyrrha went quiet again, very literally floundering. "Y-yes?"
"Better than Blake's?" Cinder pressed, grinning.
"Ugh, really?" Blake rolled her eyes. "Even this, you still have to find some way to be the one to win?"
"I don't have to win it - I've already won," Cinder said smugly. "Right, Pyrrha?"
"W-well, I- um...I've n-never really- taken time to- to look at my own teammate's- I mean...I c-can't compare between..." Pyrrha looked to Blake, apologetic. "It's...really just Cinder-specific, like you said y-yourself!" she finally exclaimed, covering her face with her hands and turning away. "Oh, why did I just say that!"
Cinder threw her arms up, crying out with joy. "Yes, I win - shit!" She fell beneath the water, coming up sputtering. "Pyrrha's team leader; she has final say," she informed Blake after resurfacing. "And she says I have the better one."
"Hey! You can't do that," Emerald pouted. "You just told me that Pyrrha's decisions as team leader didn't even matter!"
"That was different," Cinder stated.
"Different how?" Emerald demanded.
"Because it just is," said Cinder.
"It just is?" repeated Emerald. She shook her head furiously. "Screw it, I'm pissed - hope you're ready!" Aura exploded from her, casting water high into the air like a bomb had gone off, and she jetted right for Cinder.
"Okay, you asked for it!" Cinder snarled as she recovered, her Aura flaring briefly. She twisted her body and grappled with Emerald, then she kicked her feet straight under herself, and rocketed the both of them up out of the water completely. They rose a dozen feet high before crashing back down again. Cinder kicked out at Emerald, separating from her quickly.
Off to the side, Blake and Pyrrha were watching their teammates together.
"It's fine that you like her," Blake told her, patting her on the shoulder. "We're all going to be cool with it, you know that?"
"Of c-course - yes, I- I know that!" Pyrrha said quickly, anxiety in her voice. "It's just- it might change things for the team. A-and for her, for me. For us. If she even...I'm not sure Cinder's even emotionally mature enough for this. You said it yourself: she didn't even know what it meant to be...sexually attractive - or to be in touch with her own sexuality - until a few weeks ago! And she learned it from trashy romance novels!"
Blake glowered at Pyrrha intensely.
"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha said, empathetic. "I'm just so- so flustered and-"
Blake sighed. "It's fine. Go on."
"Well - Cinder isn't emotionally mature enough for this, like I said. It's clear in the way she is, how she treats her own newfound sense of sexuality like a new toy! Like another game, another- thing to win. She doesn't understand the full scope of it, of what it all- entails. The seriousness of it for a person. So it's a rather moot point, isn't it - being 'cool with it' or not. I'd feel quite awful if she- if I-"
"Like you were taking advantage of her or something?" Blake supplied, quiet. "That's a good thing to worry about. But we can figure that all out, too. As a team. Why not just let this rest for now, let it settle down a bit, and we can feel it out going forward? Slow and simple?"
Pyrrha nodded. "Thank you, Blake. You're right, of course. We'll need to go slowly with this. A-and a confession doesn't have to mean anything...if...if she's not ready for- yes, that's exactly right. Thank you!"
"No problem." Blake smiled.
"Y-you're really not offended that I'd prefer Cinder's over y-yours?"
"Really!" Blake giggled. "Don't even worry about that! Cinder's ego is bigger than her ass could ever be. And anyway, you know that saying about how it isn't the size of the thing. And I doubt she even knows a thing about how to use it!"
"Well, that is true..." Pyrrha laughed along with her, hand covering her mouth.
Cinder approached Blake's bed after returning to the dorms, after her long day of fun at the docks. "I want to borrow these."
Blake stared at the stack of books Cinder had in her arms, stolen off her personal shelves. Her eyes quickly scanned the titles on the spines, and she blushed. "F-fine, go ahead!"
"Thanks." Cinder carried the books over to her bed and dumped them all there. She sat down there and picked up the first one, leaning back and opening it up. She scrutinized it intensely, beginning to read. She had to figure out what to do about Pyrrha - what it really meant to be romantic (and to have someone else take a romantic interest in you); these books would be her guide on the subject.
Fortunately, they were all very detailed about it.
Cinder would spend long hours into the night, engrossed in it all.
Okay, don't mess this up. I need to be sensual, I need to be sexy, I need to be alluring, and I need to be...all those other words, too.
In morning light, Cinder approached Pyrrha's bed with all the poise and sway she could muster. She crawled up onto it, and slid herself up beside a drowsy Pyrrha.
"C-Cinder, what're you...?" Pyrrha said, blinking at her and rubbing her eyes.
"What the hell are you even doing?" Blake remarked, disbelief on her face.
"Holy shit, she's going for it," Emerald whispered.
Cinder moved in closer, face to face - caressed Pyrrha's face, grasped her chin - pressing chest to chest with her with arched back. "Whatever my scarlet-haired vixen wants from me...of course...And I know now just how much she's always wanted these...Well, she can feel free to give them a feel...Don't be shy now..."
"A-ah- um...no! No, no, no, Cinder!" Pyrrha sat up fast, grabbing Cinder's arms and pushing her away. "Cinder, I- oh my- of course you'd think...I am so sorry, I should have talked to you yesterday, I shouldn't have just left you with this!"
Cinder sat up and shrank back, frowning. "Wh-what do you- I thought you..."
"Oh, no - this is exactly what we have to talk about - this is why I shouldn't have-" Pyrrha shook her head, hair flying everywhere. "All right, Cinder: please, sit here, breathe, and know that I'm not in any way upset with you, or- or mad, or anything else! Okay?"
"O-okay..." Cinder wasn't sure she could do what Pyrrha wanted, though; her voice sounded weird, and her throat was tight. She blinked rapidly, ducking her head. "I j-just..." Where did I go wrong? How could I fail? After everything Emerald said, after what Pyrrha herself said to me yesterday! How did I mess it up?!
"I know, I know what you- but it isn't- just sit, please. I need to...compose myself as well. Please wait a minute." Pyrrha sprang up from her bed and disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind herself.
Cinder sat twisting her hands together, holding back sniffles.
"Alright now!" Pyrrha was back, sitting herself down next to Cinder. She touched her arm, patting at her. Then, she gave her a quick hug that had Cinder flinching. "Cinder, you...we...j-just because I am a-attracted to you, doesn't mean that I...necessarily want you to...No, that isn't quite right...it could have been enjoyable if we were..." She shook her head, huffing to blow hair out of her face. She put her chin in her hand, leaning forward, propped by elbow. "Let's see..."
"Being romantic isn't just a- a mask you put on," Blake spoke up, very quiet. "You don't just flip a switch and do that kind of thing, then turn it off and walk away."
"Thank you, Blake, but could you please...?" Pyrrha said delicately. She sighed, rubbing at Cinder's arm. She tilted her head to look at her downcast face. "That's almost right, I suppose. For you, Cinder, this kind of thing isn't just- it's not like a change of clothes, like some new dress you slip on for a while, and then change back out of. You can't just...totally change how you behave like that with- with someone you- might have romantic feelings for. Or who...has them for you. It won't- it's not the way to be. It- erm- being in love with someone is...daily. It's constant. It's...how you are normally, it's- the little things. It's not these big, involved...acts. And it most definitely is not the kind of acts you might have read about in those books! That isn't how people...really behave when they're in love. It's- it's meant to be...fun, to be...exciting or...a-arousing - but it isn't how people really are! It's not how you should be, Cinder!"
"Why? If it's all in there...?"
"Well...if you wanted to think of it as a battle, think of it as- spectacle, as- style. But it's not really...effective against your- opponent," Pyrrha said haltingly. "It looks flashy, but it doesn't really w-win you the- the match. Not that romance is a game, or a match! Being in love isn't about winning - especially not winning someone! But, what will be...most effective...is usually just being yourself, and loving the other person for being themselves as well. Do you understand?"
"I g-guess..." Cinder whispered, shaking her head at the same time.
"Oh, I'm sorry..." Pyrrha consoled, giving her another hug. She held this one longer than the last. "I know that you don't. But that's- it's okay. It's fine! We just need to do as teams do, as friends do, and just- keep talking to each other, keep helping each other out. To...get through this. You could even think of it as more...more training. More lessons to- to throw yourself into! Because these are- this is- it's so important, Cinder. It's very, very important, for both people involved, to understand what is going on. To understand how to behave, how we feel, how we think and what we say. And to never- to never cross a line and violate someone else's...bodily autonomy. You don't want to hurt me, do you?"
"Of course I don't!" Cinder cried.
"That's good, and I don't want to hurt you, either. And with romance, with love, with these feelings and the way your body can react, it can be...easy to hurt someone accidentally. Like- like in combat training. When you just...lose yourself to it, you- and you don't realize, or you ignore..." Pyrrha sighed. "So it's important to talk about things, to discuss boundaries and- and consent. And to respect that, no matter what else. They're like...extra special rules, specifically for- for girls like us. Who feel these things for each other. If- if someone doesn't like something, or- or they give a firm no, then you have to listen to that. You have to. And I know that you have been through things before that I can't imagine, things that have left you with a- a different view of the importance of things like consent and boundaries...of respecting other's wishes...But this is so, so important, Cinder. You need to try your best with this, if you- want to do this at all with me. Or else the consequences won't just be leaving Beacon - it could even mean being arrested, put into prison. It's very serious, and very important. Love, romance...is one of the most intimate, wonderful, and dangerous things to venture into in life. Do you understand this?"
"Yes?"
Pyrrha sighed again. "You're not sure, are you?"
"I'm not sure..." Cinder confirmed, muttering.
"Alright. And that's fine. Just- first important rule: Never do anything that you read in those books with me again. It isn't- accurate- or effective- it's not...just, no. I am telling you not to try it again, and I need you to really respect that. If you don't, I am going to be quite angry with you. You aren't the same girl who first arrived at Beacon; I know you can listen and control yourself now. Do not ignore me on this, no matter how much you might want to. Okay?"
"Okay!" Cinder said firmly. "I won't, I...I promise!"
Pyrrha gave a nod, a little noise of relief. "Good."
"B-but- what else do I do, then?" Cinder blurted out. "If all of that is worthless crap, what do I...I mean you- you were acting all- romantic to me, weren't you? Why can't I do it, too? With the- the hands and the...how is that different from what I just did? I don't...u-understand," she finished, frustrated.
Pyrrha looked at her a long moment. She scooted away a few inches. She looked ashamed, and even maybe horrified with herself. "Right...Cinder, you're right. That- I'm sorry. That is exactly- a perfect example of what I was talking about. And it was my own mistake. I made that mistake already with you. And I'm so sorry. Of course, I- you didn't realize, and I was- I am sorry. I never should have behaved that way with you, I shouldn't have...started putting my hands on you that way when you didn't even know. It was wrong of me. I shouldn't have done any of that toward you. I should have asked, I should have made sure you even understood, and above all, asked whether or not you were even comfortable with it."
"B-but you- did it because you love me, right? You were just being- you said- with the body and the feelings..."
"Y-yes," Pyrrha agreed, looking Cinder in the eye. "I was wrong, Cinder. I was wrong to let myself act how those feelings were...urging me to. I was wrong to ignore that you didn't know what I was doing at the time. No matter what I felt, I should have been much more aware, and conscious, and I shouldn't have laid my hands on you that way before talking to you about it. I'm sorry, Cinder. I disrespected you, and I violated you."
"It's okay," Cinder said, confused. "I- you didn't hurt me. It felt...nice? It always feels nice when you touch me," she elaborated. "I like it when you do."
"If that's how you feel." Pyrrha nodded seriously. "But even so, Cinder. In that specific- situation, I shouldn't have. Not without permission, without making sure first. Romantic touching, physical affection like that...it's different from just hugging, or touching an arm. It's very different. It's more intense, more serious. And I was wrong, then, with you. A-and even if you didn't want me to hug you, and you told me, I'd still listen," she added firmly. "Any kind of physical contact, whether it hurts or not, is always up to the person being touched. If they want it or not. And if they don't, that's the end of discussion. It isn't so much about pain as it is about respect, Cinder. Just...listening to others."
"Well, I'm okay with it," Cinder stated. "I liked it! I really did."
"That's good! I'm very happy that you did - it's very important."
"So...so what can I do?" Cinder asked.
"Well..." Pyrrha gazed at her evenly, still hints of shame in her face. "What do you want to do? Why don't you come up with some idea, and we'll see if I want to do it as well. If we can both agree, we can do it, then - alright?"
Well, if everything in those books is out - trash and lies! - then I need something...real she'd be okay with. What had Cinder seen around the school, then, that was real, and had to be obviously good? She racked her mind, searching all her recent memories. She found something, finally. It was small, simple, but she thought it had to be something good and real. It had even been in some of those books! So, maybe it might not be accurate, but it wasn't all entirely fake either...? A mix of truth and lies?
"I- I want to hold...your...hand? A lot?"
Pyrrha smiled. "All right, I think I would like to do that as well." She raised her hand, offering it out. Cinder took it, smiling uncertainly back at her.
They sat like this together a minute; Pyrrha guided their joined hands to rest between their bodies, and she let out a contented sigh.
"Ah - there is a very small way to show your affections like this, if you want to really be...a bit more romantic," Pyrrha said suddenly. She held up their hands, and started stroking Cinder's with her thumb, sending tiny thrills up her arm! "Is this something that feels nice to you as well?"
"Yes," Cinder said immediately. She hesitated, looking from their hands to Pyrrha's face. "Could I...do the same thing to you - please?"
"You can - thank you for asking." Pyrrha nodded, flashed a smile. She lowered their hands again, and soon stopped stroking. Just letting Cinder work on her, alone. "You can stop whenever you like, Cinder."
Cinder carefully scrutinized Pyrrha's face again. "Is it- nice for you too?" she asked, not sure why she felt the need to. Why it even came out at all. There was something in her, a feeling like...almost remorse? Like when she'd hurt Pyrrha during sparring matches before. But it was different. What was it-
"It is," Pyrrha said lightly. "I'm enjoying this. Thank you."
Cinder felt a strange relief. She smiled. "Great."
"So, hey," Emerald spoke, after several minutes. "when the two new lovebirds want to leave their nest, could you let us know? Because we've got classes starting up again, annnnd breakfast ends in less than ten minutes."
Pyrrha and Cinder broke apart, jumping up at the same time.
Cinder hurried to get dressed - and to be the first one out the door!
Her first semester might have been rough, but she was going to make sure her second one would go a lot smoother! All her grades, all her essays!
And, of course, all her sparring matches; she wasn't going to lose to a single person by the year's end! And that included the Vytal Festival Tournament! The greatest win of all, the win she was already dreaming of: a huge cash prize, international fame, and the personal satisfaction of her ultimate victory, of course! She would win it all, and take it all.
And then she'd do it again in another two years, at the end of her anticipated third year here at Beacon.
Flawless, spotless - perfect!
Cinder's plans for perfection were derailed at lunch.
Derailed very predictably, by Team RWYJ.
They started a fight with Team RNBW (Rainbow) - a team consisting of Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Bondi Zahn, and Wisteria Nix.
Team NEBA was caught in the middle, as the entire lunchroom fell to chaos.
Cinder was more than a little annoyed with herself that it wasn't her starting the chaos and destruction.
And even more annoyed that this eruption of chaos, started by Team RWYJ, had caused Pyrrha to stop holding her hand!
Most of the student body evacuated immediately.
"We should get out of all this," Pyrrha spoke loudly, as plates flew and shattered, food was sent in all directions, and the many long tables were upended.
"Are you kidding?" Emerald exclaimed, her eyes shining as she surveyed the area (and ducked under a flying turkey). "This is awesome! I want to get in on this! Look, Cinder's already got the right idea!"
"Cinder's already...?" Pyrrha sighed. "Of course she is."
"And of course, she's taken the first excuse to go after Weiss," Blake said dryly. "Who could have seen that one coming?"
Cinder raced along the top of a long table, smelting twin glass swords out of the Dust in her school uniform. She leaped high, coming down on the Schnee girl with both blades swinging! Weiss gazed up at her in horror, and rolled away quickly; Weiss snatched up a swordfish, reinforcing it with her Aura and holding it poised, her eyes narrowed.
"I really should have expected something like this out of riffraff like-" Weiss began furiously.
Cinder flashed out her palm and sent a fireball at the girl; Weiss shrieked and ducked - but her long ponytail was still singed. Cinder smirked, and lunged, twirling and slicing with everything she had.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Weiss exclaimed, backing up quickly and blocking what strikes she could.
"No," Cinder said honestly, as she kicked Weiss in the face and slashed viciously across her chest twice over.
"Somehow I don't believe you," Weiss breathed, clutching her chest as her Aura flared.
"That's your problem, not mine," Cinder said mildly. She leaped and twisted over Weiss's head, swiping at her shoulder as she did. She kicked Weiss in the back to knock her off balance, then lunged forward and slashed at her back three times before she could properly turn around to defend against Cinder.
"A little help, please!" Weiss called out to her teammates, desperate.
Ruby Rose came sliding in on a lunch tray, right down a long table. She narrowed her eyes and flipped herself forward at Cinder, aiming the bottom of the tray for her with strong legs backing it. Cinder lifted her swords and turned, catching the girl in mid-air. She pressed back and burst with her Aura, sending Ruby flying wildly away - and then smashing through a window with a high shriek.
Weiss tried to get a strike on Cinder, but Cinder did a quick side flip up onto a table to avoid it. Weiss jumped up onto the table with her and came at her again.
Cinder blocked and redirected, getting in slashes on her stomach, thigh, and one on her arm that almost made her drop her fish. Then she flew forward and kicked Weiss in the chest, sending her flying back into a small mountain of tables that Team Rainbow had set up - the high ground. Several tables collapsed onto Weiss, burying her.
"Hmph." She made eye contact with Yang, who took a flying leap at her with two turkeys for gauntlets, and simply waited for the girl with a smirk on her lips. And here comes a new challenger - not that she'll be much of one. I've already beaten her before; I've beaten her entire team.
As Cinder fought with Yang, using the same tactics as last time, Nora Valkyrie came roaring in with a metal pole tipped with a watermelon, swinging it like a giant hammer. She smashed down onto the table, shattering it and upending the portion of it that Yang was standing on, sending Yang airborne.
Cinder growled and tried to decide whether to engage Yang or Nora. Both were heavy hitters - but Nora hit far heavier, she knew. Things were getting more hectic than ever, in this three-way team battle! She decided to deal with Yang first, thinking she didn't want to risk her Semblance coming into play. She leaped up into the air to begin slashing at the girl in mid-air; Yang threw a hard punch at her, which she dodged by wrapping her legs around the girl's arm and flipping herself up over her head. She sliced her across the back of her neck and kicked her, spiking her into the ground with an exertion of Aura powerful enough to crack the floor beneath Yang.
Nora jumped up for Cinder, twirling her watermelon hammer with a fierce grin on her face; Cinder responded with one of her own, and waited for the right moment to plant her boot on the watermelon and kick up off of it, soaring higher to reach the ceiling. Cinder flipped herself upside down and bent her knees, and then she launched herself straight back down for Nora, picking up speed.
Nora braced herself, hammer held in front of her, that grin still fixed to her face.
Cinder waited for the absolute last second, seeing the girl tighten her grip and start to shift her stance...and then she thrust out her hands and blasted fire into Nora's face; the girl, already swinging, already in motion, could only take it, and fall to it. Cinder's heels collided with Nora's chest, riding her to the floor and slamming her down. She slashed her furiously across the neck, destroying her Aura, and then she leaped away in search of a new victim.
She found it in Team Rainbow's Bondi, a thickset girl with dark hair and dark eyes. Bondi had an armful of stuffed animals, five purple bears, each about a foot long. The girl was standing off in a corner by herself, watching everything with wide eyes. Cinder smirked as she sauntered up to the girl, twirling her blades leisurely. "Your turn," she drawled. "Try not to cry too hard after your face hits the floor now..."
Bondi dropped her stuffed animals and stepped backwards.
She wasn't even going to try to fight? If that was the case, she should have just run, Cinder thought. Her mistake, then; she was still here, so in Cinder's mind, she was fair game.
Cinder stepped over the stuffed animals and brought back her arm for a swing. Bondi radiated a wave of purple energy, her eyes narrowing...
And suddenly Cinder felt something heavy and strong wrapping around her leg, weighing her down and squeezing her Aura.
She glanced down, and her jaw dropped.
One of those purple stuffed animals was hugging her leg! It was alive! Shrouded in the same purple energy that Bondi had radiated!
Cinder shook her leg violently, stumbling backwards, staring at Bondi. Bondi offered a shy little smile, and a shrug. A fucking shrug to this?! Cinder lifted her other leg and bashed the toy in the head repeatedly, vicious! "Get the hell off, get the hell off of me! Get this thing off of me right now!"
"Cinder, are you...Holy. Shit!" Emerald arrived on the scene, and stared. She clenched her fists, shook her head, and threw herself forward. Two of the other bears turned to look at her, and they ran to intercept her. They jumped up high and collided with Emerald's chest; a shockwave of Aura rippled out, and Emerald was sent flying back a dozen feet! The two bears high fived and ran back to Bondi's side (the part of Cinder that wasn't panicked as all hell wondered if there was a range limit to the Semblance).
"Grrrr!" Cinder flashed her hand down and recklessly began casting a stream of deadly flames onto her own leg, completely shrouding it in burning fires. Aura flickered amidst the fires, purple. And she kept kicking, all the while, with her free leg. The remaining two bears moved on her in this time - one latched to her other leg, and the other one took a running leap at her chest. Cinder wasn't going to get hit with that, not after Emerald had been; she slashed her sword and swiped at the bear, sending it flipping away into a wall. On impact, the bear flashed with a purple Aura, as the others. Then, it was back to frantic attempts to dislodge the two bears from her legs. "Die, die, die, fucking die- huh?"
Cinder barely had time to look up before Bondi's powerful fist was slamming into her face, sending her rolling across the ground. She rolled over and made to sit up, and found a purple bear standing atop her. She lashed out with a blade, sweeping it aside! The second one leaped for her face and drove a limb into it; Cinder's head whipped back as Aura burst from the bear's limb, and the floor under her cracked.
I am not losing to some toy!
Cinder burned her entire body over with flames, using up the Fire Dust in her uniform in seconds. The explosive force cast the bear up off of her, twenty feet high! She jumped to her feet and let the flames die, shaking her head. She had hardly found her balance, when Ren was coming at her with twin weapons swinging - some kind of vegetable. Cinder twirled and danced with him, and sent him flying away with a blade thrust to the chest. Movement from corner of her eye, suddenly; she turned to find Bondi standing there, all five bears in a row at her feet.
"No!" Cinder warned, raising a blade and jabbing it forward. "Don't you dare send those little monsters after me again- no!"
The bears ran at her, and Cinder backpedaled furiously.
Shit, shit, shit!
Suddenly a vending machine came rolling across the floor, sideswiping the bears and carrying them on to crush them against a wall.
Pyrrha came striding into view, holding a long bread stick, and put herself at Cinder's side. She glanced at her, a grin on her face.
"Oh thank god!" Cinder cried with pure relief. "I love you, I love you so much!"
"A-are you okay?" Pyrrha said, from out the corner of her mouth.
Cinder gestured at the destroyed vending machine. "Those didn't terrify you?!"
"What? No! Why would they? I thought they were very cute," Pyrrha said, with a radiant smile. "And rather clever, the way they used teamwork!"
"Just- help me destroy this girl," Cinder said flatly, pointing her sword at Bondi.
"Alright, then." Pyrrha gave a nod, and they advanced together on Bondi.
Cinder slashed once across the girl's left-
And the girl's Aura went down instantly.
Cinder pulled back, while Pyrrha froze with bread stick a foot from striking Bondi in the face.
"I g-guess I'm out now..." Bondi stuttered, looking heartbroken. She wandered over to the vending machine to yank her bears out from behind it (which were all dead, lifeless things again, thank god), then turned right around and strode for the exit, shaking her head.
Cinder looked at Pyrrha. Pyrrha looked at her.
They shrugged at each other.
"Let's go and help Blake!" Pyrrha said, determined, pointing across the cafeteria. Blake was engaged with Ruby and Jaune, and Ren and Wisteria, creating shadow clones to evade and avoid their attacks, and retaliating with a length of sausages; it was one versus two, versus two. Which still added up to four against Blake, when Ren and Wisteria weren't taking potshots at Ruby (and Jaune wasn't trying to go after Ren or Wisteria in turn).
Cinder nodded, blew a breath, and followed after Pyrrha in racing across the cafeteria.
Wisteria (a very tall, lanky girl with a shaved head), immediately turned to lock her gaze on them. She raised her hand, and a wave of pure white energy cast off onto the world. It passed over Cinder and Pyrrha, and then, beyond them, it began to twist and bend, and solidify. It became a sphere around them, cutting them off from everything.
There was no sound whatsoever, there was no sight but that pure white, that looked like an endless expanse. There wasn't even touch anymore! Cinder looked down, and didn't see the floor - it was just more endless white.
Cinder threw herself forward, slamming her fist out, empowered with Aura. Her fist hit nothing. It moved forward as if through air, and nothing else! No barrier, no boundary! Cinder's whiffed strike sent her to her knees - or, not to her knees. She just felt like she was floating, flying, hovering, like nothing was even...she couldn't get out, she couldn't move anywhere, she couldn't escape, she couldn't-
Pyrrha gazed all around them, her face disturbed. She reached out with her eyes closed, her hands enveloped in magnetic energy. Then, she dropped them. "I can't even sense anything...it's just- just this."
"Fuck. This!" Cinder thrust out her palms, casting out streams of magma from her Lava Dust! It arced, going on for a good ten feet before falling...and falling...and falling. "Arrrgh!" She screamed, exploding her Aura out of her body in a radius; Pyrrha was swept up in it, twisting and flipping through the void until she stopped at a point above and to Cinder's right. The void vibrated, rippling, a deep droning noise echoing - and then it stilled again.
"This is an incredible Semblance," Pyrrha said, in a trying-to-be-calm voice. "I wonder what effects it would have on-"
Suddenly, it ended.
The white void evaporated, bleeding away like wet paint, and sound and sight and smell all came rushing in again.
The cafeteria was still engrossed in a battle.
Wisteria was laying on her side nearby, with Blake standing over her. Ruby, Ren, and Jaune were fighting some distance away, around a still standing table.
"What happened to you two in there?" Blake spoke, staring.
"In where?" Pyrrha asked with pure interest.
"Wisteria just trapped you two in this big white sphere," Blake explained, shaking her head. "I did everything I could to breach it, but nothing worked."
"She trapped us in fucking-" Cinder began, heaving, stalking over to the fallen girl and raising a blade.
"Cinder, no!" Pyrrha seized her arm, yanking her back harshly. "It was- an experience, but it is not an excuse to hurt someone! Just let it go, and let's go."
Team rainbow? Team half-of-it-is-fucking-insane! Maybe even three-fourths, counting Nora's brand of lunacy!
"Cinder. We're going. Now."
"We haven't won yet," Cinder said, breathless, holding her ground even as Pyrrha tried to drag her to the exit. "We still have a chance-"
"I don't think you need more adrenaline in your system right now," Pyrrha cut her off sharply. "Now. I'm putting my foot down as team leader. I'll let you hold my hand again if you come outside with me now!" she added quickly, desperate.
Cinder stared at Wisteria's unconscious form. She relaxed, her glass weapons shattering, the pieces littering the floor. She let Pyrrha haul her out of the building, as the remains of the three teams continued the fight.
Pyrrha kept pulling her along, even outside - far from the cafeteria.
"Okay, where are we even going?" Cinder asked, mumbling.
"Right...here." Pyrrha pulled Cinder out onto the grass, then shoved her down roughly. She sat down beside her and seized her hand, immediately taking up stroking at it with her thumb. "Just sit, just breathe, and let's just...calm down."
Cinder nodded, falling back into the grass. She let her Aura go, amber particles drifting off her figure. The warm sun shone down on her face.
Pyrrha lay back with her, and she scooted closer, so that they were touching shoulders now.
"I'm sorry..."
"Why? What did you do?" Cinder said, confused.
"I- I just mean that I- if what happened back there...reminded you of...something in your past, a- a moment or, or a feeling, or- I'm sorry that you had to feel that way again." Pyrrha's voice was soft, and neutral.
"It doesn't matter," Cinder muttered. "Nothing about it matters. I'm here now - with you guys."
"All right. Then it doesn't matter." Pyrrha turned her head, and smiled at her.
Cinder squeezed Pyrrha's hand with her own shaking fingers.