A certain character will have quite a few establishing character moments in this chapter.

I'm sure you'll know who it is when you read it.

Hope you don't mind a chapter or a few like it.

"Satisfied now?"

Glynda bluntly asked as she was pushing up her glasses with her Scroll in hand. Standing before holographic images of the Valean Council, she was requested to give the evaluation for the newest crop of Huntresses, mainly Ruby and Yang, in order to dictate their usefulness. That included sharing the recordings of the happenings that we're occurring within Aurora Town.

Predictably, some of them were more than a little bit queasy.

"Goodness..." One of them paled, having nearly lost her lunch at the barbarity of the footage that was currently being shown.

Glynda barely flinched at it all, but Amber could tell that she was far from emotionless on the matter. Far from it, so much anger was waving off of her that she had to restrain herself from shattering the floor from the weight of her Aura.

"I must say, Glynda, you've certainly a nerve of steel to see all of this unfold without so much an inkling of faltering." Another voiced while somewhat gagging.

"How could this have happened..." Another voiced, clearly upset and shocked at the sheer cruelty that was witnessed from this footage.

"Melanthia Blackthorn, former Huntress of Vacuo. Middle age, thought to have disappeared in a Grimm stampede." Glynda methodically read as she swiped across her Scroll. "Orchestrator behind several settlements being overrun with Grimm once she was finished using it as a place of refuge, leaving many to be slaughtered en masse. A disgraceful fallen Huntress who remorselessly tormented and tortured Faunus, seeing them as inferior creatures, she is guilty of crimes towards both Humanity and Faunus."

"Short version, bitch is gonna pay for her horrible crimes." Amber summarized with a glare.

"I have to admit some fault. Had I known someone that dangerous was the one who facilitated sending that request with tampered information, I never would have sent them there." Glynda sighed. The weight of that realization made her so intensely glad they came back alive. "But they surpassed expectations and performed admirably, defeating a dangerous threat in the process. Is this acceptable to all of you?"

After some brief murmuring to themselves, still a bit put off by what they've witnessed in the recordings, they managed to come to a decision.

"Very well, Goodwitch. It would seem that this new batch of Huntresses, particularly Rose and Xiao Long, might have some use to them after all. They've proved their merit."

"That being said, are you sure about bringing Belladonna into your ranks as well? From what we can understand, that's yet another person who could easily become a high profile target due to her surviving the Menagerie Massacre. Human-Faunus relations have been especially strained ever since that tragic day."

"That's one of the reasons why I accepted her." Glynda noted. "As she increases her strength and skills, she'll be better equipped to handle such situations regarding this subject. She wishes to become a Grand Huntress, in which there hasn't been a Faunus that became one as of yet. Achieving this ambition will set a precedent that more Faunus can reach high and grasp what they truly desire." She closed her eyes. "Being able to do this after recovering from such intense tragedy, will be further proof of her inner strength. As well as demonstrating the inner strength and pride that all Faunus are capable of displaying, get seemingly forgotten, in her eyes."

"And if the White Fang catches wind of her?"

"All the more reason for her to be here with friends than out there alone. I can't in my right mind send such a girl out into the world alone with the White Fang out there. She needs people who can support her in any way they can." Glynda opened her eyes. "That being said, she may still be traumatized and off-balanced due to her harsh experience in slave captivity. So I suggested they abstain from accepting any missions for the time being until she's better recovered in a setting that lacks active dangers."

"You are surprisingly thoughtful about all of this, Goodwitch."

"I am for all Huntsmen under my direction." Glynda hummed as she lightly swiped across on her Scroll again. "Will that be all, for now?"

After a bit more silent discussion amongst themselves, they came to an agreement. "Very well, Glynda. But we must repeat, we hope you know what you're doing with all of this."

Soon, one after another, each of the council members vanished from sight. Glynda soon sighed as her telekinesis was used to set her Scroll on her desk, while Amber lifted herself off of the wall and made her way to her side, seeing her superior taking a breath.

"That's one meeting over and done with. Now we must attend to the other."

"Sure you don't wanna postpone this one for a little while, Glyn? At least until we have everything settled and neat?"

"No. I'd rather get this out of the way now. Sooner the better. Best to not have this weigh on us more than it needs to." Glynda declared, while intent in following through with this decision, she had a feeling that actually carrying it out would be a bit more stinging than removing a bandage.

Soon enough after a brief wait, Qrow and Taiyang appeared before her. And following them, was Doctor Oobleck, and Peter Port. Of all of them, Qrow seemed especially frustrated with what has happened recently due to his discovery.

Glynda honestly couldn't blame him.

Soon enough, a projection was placed around them once again, this time with a face that greeted them all rather neutrally. Glynda pushed up her glasses.

"Glad that you answered the call, James."

"You're not one who reaches out often, Glynda. I had a feeling it was serious." Ironwood declared with his hands behind his back.

"I'm assuming Qrow has filled you in already on the subject of this meeting?"

"He has." Ironwood nodded to Qrow, who clicked his tongue and looked away. "Nevertheless, I would like to see for myself. Not because I think he's lying, but mostly to erase any doubts about it. Then I'll be able to properly think about what to do next with this information."

Another projection came up, this time notably from Mistral. Glynda turned towards the projection in question. "Arrastra Skye."

"Hi, Glynda." The Faunus in question waved politely while adjusting her own pair of classes. "If you're the one calling everyone, then it's definitely something serious."

"Oh, right." Qrow lightly scratched the back of his neck while looking to the side. It's really hard for him to remember that Leo was no longer in charge of Haven. Ever since the Menagerie Massacre five years ago, Human-Faunus relations have taken a turn for the worse all over, especially in Mistral. Poor Leo couldn't handle the increased pressure on him from all directions, not exactly I own for his courage. On top of no longer having Ozpin around to back him, he simply didn't have the spine to stand his ground, and thus quietly left his position without a fight.

The newfound Faunus Arrastra Skye, however, proved herself to be significantly more tenacious once she took his place. With her rank as a Class C Huntmaster, as well as being a leading type, she was taking to the position well. Though of all the ones currently leading bases of Huntsmen, Arrastra may be the youngest.

"It's serious indeed, Miss Skye. Details will be given shortly." Glynda soon turned the other way, where another projecting came up, this time from Vacuo. Soon enough, a man appeared as a projection in due time. "Theodore."

"Glynda! You're the one that actually called me up! That's rare for you!" The man greeted somewhat jovially, while one could hear a tired groan in the background. "Of course, it's so rare because you don't usually call unless it's important."

"Meanwhile you call every time you've gotten into some crazy battle." Amber shrugged.

"Amber, come now. You know me better than that."

"And Xanthe knows you even better than I do. And she's backing me in this perspective."

"No she's not...wait, you are? Xanthe how could you?!" Theodore sighed while scratching his head. "Anyway, Glynda. What's so important that you've brought us in for a group chat?"

Glynda pushed her glasses, deciding to get straight to the point. "Ozpin is dead."

Silence filled the feeds for a while. Qrow grunted with his hands in his pockets, while Taiyang folded his arms. Ironwood looked somewhat troubled but stayed composed due to already hearing the news ahead of time. Arrastra looked the most surprised at the news due to being a newcomer in this, while Theodore took a moment to take in the news with a more serious expression.

"As usual, Glynda doesn't waste too much time." Oobleck noted while pushing up his own glasses.

"Glynda, Qrow. Are you absolutely certain?" Ironwood pressed, less out of doubt in them telling the truth and more to make sure that it was really what happened.

"I saw the body myself, James. He was lying in a giant crater amongst a bunch of other craters. The Long Memory was shattered too." Qrow briefed while scratching his chin, as an image of the scene he took was pulled up, much to the other's shock aside from Glynda. "I dunno what kinda scrap Oz was in when it happened, but he definitely didn't go down without a fight."

"Of course, that's the worrying part. Who or what was he fighting?" Taiyang picked up. "More on that matter, I think it's safe to say that they must have had him at a pretty significant disadvantage for him to be defeated and in such a state. Maybe he walked into a trap? He was cornered and had no way out? It was a massive group effort from several powerful parties?"

"Any of these could be the case, but we won't know for certain who or what is the cause without further investigation." Ironwood chimed in again.

"Right. The only thing we know for sure is that Ozpin kicked the bucket." Qrow sighed. "It's definitely his body. Checked with the others and even had an autopsy done quietly just to be sure it wasn't some kind of double left behind to throw someone off. If you want, I can even give you all reports of the results to further prove my case."

"No. I believe you." Ironwood raised his hand with a sigh. "You're many things, Qrow. And many of them are rather discouraging."

"Tch."

"But you wouldn't deceive us over something this important, that I know for sure." Ironwood pinched the bridge of his nose. "Still. Ozpin really perished. Without any of us knowing."

"Hell, we never would have known if Qrow stopped looking." Theodore clenched his fists tightly. "What does Lionheart think of this? I know he's not in charge of Haven anymore, but this feels like something he'd at least should be notified about. Ozpin was his friend, too."

"I don't think we should expect a response from Leo. If he says he's done, he's done. I don't have the right or will to drag him here against his wishes." Qrow shook his head.

"Right, so that leads us to our next little thing regarding this. Are we going to let others know? Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, and Atlas as a whole? Ozpin was a pretty big deal. They might want to hear about it?" Amber put the suggestion out there, looking around at everyone for their take on the situation.

"Oobleck. What do you think?" Glynda turned towards the one she figured best to answer this question.

Oobleck sighed as his glasses flared for a moment. "I'm going to be honest with all of you. I don't think that we should." He stood up straight. "Not that I take any pleasure in hiding away truths or whatnot. Far from it! Passing down knowledge is rather important when we want people to learn from something." He lowered his head. "However, Ozpin was one of the best Huntsmen that Remnant had to offer. Thus, from a perch so high, it becomes much easier to decry them when they fall that much harder. The last the world has heard of Ozpin, it was as a disgrace, and that disgrace fueled his self-exile for our sakes. If we were to bring this up further than within this room, we would only invite further desecration to his name, both within the Huntsmen community and the eyes of civilians. As a friend, I cannot bring myself to do that to him."

Port looked troubled at the perspective, even though he could sort of see where he's coming from. "So that is it, then? A good man, Ozpin was. He did his best, and it didn't always work out, but he always meant well. Are we really just going to let this be the end of his legacy? It seems quite cruel."

"I can't help but agree. We're really just going to sweep this under the rug and keep it to ourselves, are we?" Taiyang looked away, eyes reflecting off the lights from within.

"People's capacity for cruelty far surpasses our own imagination, Peter. And Taiyang, Ozpin's only friends were the ones currently participating in this meeting, aside from newcomer Arrastra Skye, and the absent Leonardo Lionheart." Glynda sighed while shaking her head. "We may be the only ones who care about the fact that Ozpin has passed. We're personally connected to him, and he cut himself off from us to keep us from suffering from stigma by association more than we already did. As such, we may be the only ones who have the heart to truly mourn for him at all. In the eyes of everyone else, they may barely bat an eye for longer than a minute."

Ironwood lightly hung his head. "One of Remnant's best Huntsmen, and we can't even give him a dignified funeral, because that will only bring scorn that's more trouble than it's worth."

"It definitely brings a bad taste in my mouth, but we don't have a choice." Theodore shook his head. "No, we do have a choice. What's to be weighed is whether or not the one we make is worth whatever comes after."

"I didn't know Ozpin as well as the rest of you did, but it sounds to me that we should keep this quiet." Arrastra offered with a slightly raised hand. "Not to simply keep secrets from people, but to prevent anyone from speaking ill of him while he's dead and further making a mockery of him when he can't defend himself. The quieter this is, the better."

Qrow grumbled while scratching the back of his head. "It sucks, but this is how it's gotta be."

"Not the way we imagined the Great Oz would go out in the eyes of the world." Amber lamented while pushing her hair to the side. "Fallen into disgrace, never having a chance to recover. That's seriously messed up."

"So, for better or worse, we're all in agreement?" Glynda eventually brought up. Eventually, everyone did indeed agree, with Ironwood and Qrow being the most reluctant. "Very well. That is all for today. I'll handle Ozpin's burial. If any of you would like to come by to lay respects, please don't hesitate to do so. As we suggested, as unfortunate as it may be, we must mourn quietly." Glynda pushed her glasses up, as they flared for a moment. "Remember. Despite this, our duties have not changed. We will keep protecting the world, and making sure that aspiring Huntsmen can do the same, hopefully better than we ever could. But until that era comes, we have to keep doing our part, and do what we can."

With this, everyone was dismissed, with the projections shutting off with bright blinks. Qrow, Oobleck, and Port each left Glynda and Amber to themselves. The former looked out the window, seeing the view of Vale from where she stood. She lowered her head with a saddened, frustrated sigh.

Hopefully, we will never meet again.

Glynda recalled Ozpin's last words to his friends. No one guessed that would mean he'd be killed nearly without notice, and it would have never come to our attention if Qrow wasn't seeking him out. Glynda couldn't tell if he knew that would happen and thus didn't specify what he meant for their sake, or the universe decided to play a sick joke, leaving out that they'd never meet him again while he was alive.

Either way, even in death he was a pain to deal with.

But they were still friends. Thus, Glynda will also have to mourn quietly for the loss of her friend, which they almost never found out about. And after that, they'd start doing some digging on who was behind it. That was Ozpin's last battle, and he didn't go gently, that much was for sure. She'd leave that to Qrow for now, as he has more freedom to move around without worrying about other duties.

Glynda will just have to keep doing what she could from where she was.

And hopefully, she can keep preparing newer, aspiring Huntsmen to become better than they were before, to be able to meet up with the troubling times that are sure to come. She had a feeling that things would become difficult in due time. It's only a matter of when and how.

Even so, Glynda wouldn't bow to those difficult times. She wouldn't have become Grand Huntress if she couldn't overcome hardship.

Vale at night was rather more daring than it was when the sun was up.

Because the more daring people come out within the darkness of the night, where there weren't many who were awake to keep an eye on them. Sure, there's the police and their night shifts and all, but when it comes to what actually goes on in the nighttime, sometimes the police aren't much more than another party to whatever's happening.

Some say that Vale has quite an active criminal underground out of the four nations, with Mistral beating it out by a wide, considerable margin. Although, just because Mistral's criminal underground was bigger and more expansive, doesn't mean that Vale's on its own was small and compact. Mistral simply had more to work with, and more time to conduct said work. Whilst Vale has more people watching out for suspicious activity, thus one needs more caution to move around.

At least, that's what Cinder was informed.

She figured she'd have much more luck finding who she was looking for at night rather than the daytime. It would certainly make a few things easier. But at the same time, there was a much greater risk of things happening in the dark, at the hands of people who didn't think of believe anyone would see or catch them within it. Regardless, she's confident enough to believe she'll be fine, so long that nothing unexpected happens.

Though she's already learned that the unexpected can happen at any time. That's why they're unexpected.

Cinder was strolling down the street, the night sky littered with stars, which she took some time to look at and admire. They really did look nice when one had a city backdrop to pair it with. Something about that sort of combo tended to speak to her, give her a sense of comfort. Yet at the same time, gave the city a flair of open adventure to it. It was a nice, somewhat surreal feeling for her, one she wasn't all that upset to be exposed to. It certainly felt much more, she wasn't sure of the word. 'Open-minded' compared to Mistral.

Then again, she just got here, after all. That can very easily change the longer she's exposed to this place.

She suddenly heard a bit of noise off to the side, which sounded like fighting of sorts. Curiosity driving her, she makes her way down an alleyway, taking care not to bump into anything on her way to the source. The dark of the night nearly made it even harder to navigate, but luckily she was able to see her way through thanks to numerous people having their lights on outside, and her own scarf flowing slightly through the patterns.

Once she finally made it through the alleyway, she stopped just short of fully entering the new clearing she found, where she also discovered the source of the sounds.

A young woman was seen rolling across the ground and harshly crashing into a wall with a pained cry, before slumping with a grunt.

"Seriously, Emerald? This is all you have for us?"

The young woman with green hair, which Cinder can now identify as Emerald, slowly pulls herself up and glares at her harassers, particular the tall woman in blue and green that just relieved her of Lien. "I would have been able to get more, if you'd quit interrupting me!"

"You're ways taking your sweet time, Emerald. Too much time. We have to make sure that you're not running away from your duties." Her harasser noted as her subordinates looked to kick Emerald in the stomach to emphasize her position. Emerald coughed and recoiled from the blow, which only got a laugh out of them. "Good to know that you weren't running, because we would have eventually found you. That being said, you're still taking far too long."

Emerald spits at their feet, struggling to at least sit up due to her injuries. "I'm doing the best that I can! What the hell else am I supposed to do?!"

Cinder quietly tilted her head at the scene, wondering what to do about it. Was she going to interfere? Or would she walk away from it considering it's none of her business and had nothing to do with why she was in Vale in the first place? She weighed her options carefully, thinking over which would be a route she would prefer.

The answer was obvious to her, of course.

"Well, it turns out that your best simply isn't good enough as it is. You either need to step up your game or find some other way to earn the Lien." The leader gruffly stated as she had her helps pick Emerald up from both sides, stepping up to her with a tilted head, giving her a once over. "There are other ways you can earn the money, some more profitable than others. What we have in mind might even be easier on you. You don't have to run for your life every time you steal, for instance. We know some nice guys who c-"

"Like hell." Emerald spits in her face, glaring right at her. She didn't regret the action even as she was struck in the gut for her defiance, nearly falling to her knees. She breathed heavily, before looking up again, glare still intact. "If you think I'm just going to lower myself to such straits just to earn you money you can't be damned to get yourself, you can just shut up and piss off!"

"That's quite an unfortunate response, because I don't remember giving you a choice in the matter!" The leader shouted as she pulled back her fist to strike Emerald in the face. Emerald briefly flinched and closed her eyes, heading for the impact.

An impact that never came.

"What the?!"

Emerald heard her harasser ask with a dumbstruck tone, as she opened her eyes to see what has happened. Someone came along and grabbed the woman by her arm before she could proceed with brutalizing Emerald further.

"Hm. What a scene I've come across." Cinder declared while curiously tilting her head. "It seems you ladies have come to a rather troubling impasse. One that can't be peacefully resolved, it seems. I'm no stranger to solving things through violence, but it would seem that Emerald is in no position or condition to fight back or defend herself. Don't you find that a bit, distasteful?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Cinder was briefly thrown off by the woman's harsh tug, and was struck across the face with her fist. Cinder briefly slid back a few paces, before stopping in place, briefly hanging her head enough for her hair to cover her face. Once she took a breath, she simply lifted her head and smiled, lightly wiping her lip.

"Out of your league."

"Kill this bitch!" Was the woman's angered shout, as her subordinates dropped Emerald so they could go after Cinder, who simply kept smiling as she prepared to engage them. Though she had a pretty strong feeling that it wasn't going to last too long.

One of them attempted to come at her with a knife of sorts, stabbing at her with a forceful lunge. She found herself without a knife once Cinder turned her around and easily knocked it out of her hands, before she felt herself kicked hard enough I to the ground to shatter the concrete, face first. The next one to come attempted to attack her from behind, taking the opening the previous seemingly left for her. It didn't help her, for first Cinder pushed away the oncoming attack, which was yet another attempt to stab at her. Having knocked her off balanced, she clenched her fist and smashed it into her target's cheek, sending her tumbling across the ground and into the wall.

She heard something click, and turned around to see that it was the loading of a pistol. She turned around to see the leader hastily loading said firearm before taking aim. She eyes the dagger that one of her underlings possessed, and picks it up quickly. Cinder heard the gun fire, and had deflected the bullets with the dagger. Her amber eyes coolly stared at the stunned woman who fired, before she shook her head and attempted to fire again. Cinder deflected that bullet too, and the next, all while casually walking towards the shooter with casual grace.

Soon enough, she ran out of bullets, and Cinder took the time to slice off the pistol's muzzle just to add insult to injury. She then reached out and patted her shoulder, as she was staring back at her in fear.

"You shouldn't be firing off guns at night in a neighborhood like this. People are trying to sleep, you know?" Cinder stated sincerely. The poor woman was left speechless from the entire ordeals thus didn't really respond well to Cinder suddenly kneeing her in the stomach, then kicking her against the wall, nearly smashing her through it. "Of course, I'm not really quiet right now myself, so I guess I have no room to talk." She admitted with a shrug. "Still, least I'm not firing firearms."

"Shit!" The woman spat as she staggered to her feet, along with her stragglers. "Damn it! You'd better watch yourself! We're not going to forget this!"

"I hope not. I'd be insulted if you did." Cinder watched as they all scrambled to get away from her. Once she was sure they were gone, Cinder turned to the rather stunned Emerald, who had watched the whole thing with disbelief and confusion. "Judging by the look of you, you must be rather famished. You haven't been eating, have you?"

"W-What's it to you?" Emerald asked suspiciously, still in a bit of pain from her brief beating.

"I got a brief feeling for your strength. If you weren't weak from hunger, you could have taken them down easily. I believe this might have been the intention, to keep you under their thumb. Starving, as mundane as it may be in a world like ours, definitely isn't a pleasant way to die. Having that threat hanging over your head kept you obedient." Cinder folded her arms. "But it seems you've found the resolve to break free from their grasp, even though you haven't the strength to back it up at the moment."

Emerald looked confused still, before looking away. "What's your point? What do you want from me?"

"My point is that you need to eat. As for what I want..." Cinder walked up to Emerald, and bends down to offer her hand with a smile. "For someone who's quite new to Vale, I could do for a friend to help me move around."

"...What?" Emerald blinked owlishly at the words, as well as the offered hand.

"I believe we can help each other for the time being. I have an objective I would like to see completed for another friend of mine. You could help me with that. As for you, you look like you could use a bit of food in you, for at least a little bit of reinvigoration. I can help you with that. Seems pretty fair, right?"

Emerald clicked her tongue, still looking away for a bit. "I don't buy it. Why should I trust you?"

A very low rumbling echoed throughout the alleyway, and Emerald found herself blushing fiercely. Cinder's smile turned for the amused.

"I do believe your stomach is accepting the offer. How about you?"

Emerald still didn't know what to make of this, of any of this happening so suddenly. But considering that she really didn't have much other options at the moment. Someone was willingly offering to feed her, and she hasn't eaten in quite a while. She still feels like it could be some sort of trick, but at the moment, hunger was quickly overriding any suspicious thoughts she might have had.

So with a grunt, Emerald reached out and took Cinder's hand.

Emerald was prepared for many things to happen once she actually took Cinder's hand. At any moment, she expected to be backstabbed in some way. Some time while they were walking down the street, she expected to be less into an ambush she set up so she could be sold off for who knows what amount of Lien. Or literally getting backstabbed and being left to bleed out on the street with no one to care about her corpse until days after the police find her.

None of these things happened.

Instead, Cinder simply asked if she knows anywhere she can buy Emerald lunch. The sincere curiosity baffled her again, before she answered that there was a nightclub that would serve food, but she had no chance of actually getting inside it. When Cinder asked her if the name, Emerald shrugged and answered that it was simply known as Ursa's Den.

Cinder chuckled at that.

"Well, I can give them points for straightforwardness. Creativity? A bit lacking, but not at all terrible." Cinder looked forwards and nodded. "Come to think of it, this might even be the place I have as looking for, as well. Well wells, I get to accomplish multiple things with one visit! How about that?"

"You do?"

"Nevermind that for now, let's get inside."

Cinder and Emerald soon made their way into the establishment, and Emerald was a bit unprepared for the copious amounts of blaring lights and loud music that was playing within. Regardless, she felt a little bit more secure now that she was inside, though was still a bit unsure as to what Cinder was up to. There was no way she was being this upfront with her intentions, is there?

"Patrons here are certainly energetic." Cinder couldn't help but notice as the duo were passing by, until she finally spotted the bar, along with the man she was slightly looking for. "Ah, there he is." As said man was busy with a few other patrons at the moment, it took him some time to notice that he was being approach by two women. Once briefly finished, he turned to them with slightly little care. "Mind providing my friend here with something of substance to eat? I'll be paying, so let her choose what she wants."

"Really?" Emerald turned to her in surprise, in which Cinder smiled and nodded.

"As for me, people say you know quite a bit, Junior. Which is good for me, since I have several things to ask you."

"Do ya now?" Junior turned towards her as some of his subordinates quickly went to prepare food for Emerald. "And to whom and I doing business with at the moment?"

"You can simply call me Cinder. Buy my personal business can wait for the moment. Right now, I'm here to fulfill a favor for a friend." Cinder lightly rested her chin in her hand. "You know of a pair of girls? The Malachite Twins?"

Junior raised an eyebrow. "And what if I do?"

"They haven't called their mother in a while and she's worried sick." Cinder chuckled. "You could say that she was worried enough to get someone to tell them to call her. She didn't have much faith in you doing it."

"Why that...ugh, whatever. They're fine."

"I'd like to see that for myself, 'Junior'."

The man's eyes widened as he could hear Lil' Miss's voice from Cinder's Scroll, which she just pulled up to dial the women during their conversation. Cinder was smiling serenely during the exchange, while the man's eyes twitched in annoyance.

Emerald was busy stuffing her face.

"Hei Xiong. Bring me my daughter's. Let me see them." Lil' Miss was a tone change away from outright demanding it. "Don't give me a reason to take more drastic measures."

"Grrr...Militia, Melanie!" Junior briefly called out, while glaring right at a smiling Cinder. "How the hell do you know Lil' Miss Malachite?"

"I've already told you. I'm fulfilling a favor for a friend." Cinder nodded to her Scroll. "Said friend would be Miss Malachite right here."

"What? Is this true?"

"Like, how the heck is she so close to Mama?"

Cinder looked up to see the twins in question approaching, and she could hear their mother sighing with relief.

"Thank goodness you're both alright. Look at what ya made me do, having to send Cindy all the way here just to get you two to pick up yer damn Scrolls!"

"It's no trouble. I'm more than happy to help." Cinder waved off.

"Mum, seriously, who is this woman? And why are you so chummy with her?" Melanie insisted, to which her mother lightly huffed while palming her cheek.

"As she likely already told you all, we're friends. It took a bit of effort, but we've struck quite a friendship with each other after overcoming a few hurdles while she was working with me." Lil' Miss hummed. "Plus she also saved my life once, but that's neither here or there."

"She did?" Militia blinked, while Cinder was calmly listening in, while Emerald was still nearby, eating.

"I've recently asked her to do this favor for me while she was on her way to Vale. And considering I've managed to see you're both doing well, I believe I can call the favor completed. Next time, pick up yer damn Scrolls!"

"S-Sorry, Mama..." Both twins bowed their heads sheepishly.

"Good to have that point across. Thank you kindly for taking the time to do this for me, Cindy. Good luck with your own thing, though I'd exercise caution while doing so if I were you. Take care of yourself, you hear?"

"You too, Lil' Miss." Cinder nodded as the call disconnected, before pocketing her Scroll in her jacket. "Well, glad that's taken care of and out of the way. Now we can get down to why I'm personally here."

"Woah woah, hold on! You're moving a bit fast, lady!" Melanie exclaimed in a bit if frustration, which has Cinder blinking in confusion.

"I am?"

"You can't just waltz in here asking for us, then having called our Mum, reveal that the two of you are pals, then just move on to other business! That's a lot you've just dumped on us!"

"Really? I don't feel like it's a whole lot."

"It most certainly is!"

"Calm down, Melanie." Militia briefly patted her sisters shoulder.

Emerald gasped as she was done eating for the moment, taking a bit of care to not eat too much to the point where she gets sick. She turned to Cinder with no small degree of surprise. "You're seriously friends with someone like that? What's the exact story behind that?"

"It's not too interesting, I promise you. But if you truly desire to know, remind me to tell you if I forget." Cinder offered while turning back to Junior. "In any case, Junior. With that out of the way, I would like some information on a few things, if you don't mind proving just how knowledgeable you are."

"Cheeky little..." Junior growled, before he shook his head with a sigh. "Fine, what do you want?"

"Nothing too demanding, I hoping. I'd first like to know if one Roman Torchwick is around in the city. I've heard quite a lot about him. I'm hoping he could help me as well."

"Tch, what do you want with him?" Melanie rolled her eyes in what felt like disgust. "Wait, don't tell me-"

"No no, nothing like that." Cinder chuckled at the implication. "I'd simply like to make another friend. And he sounds like quite a capable person. You see, I'm quite new to Vale as a whole, and I'd like as many friends as possible to help me navigate it a bit more clearly. I'm not a fan of getting lost, you see."

"You're taking a seriously risky gamble looking for that guy, lady." Junior grumbled, before he shrugged. "Yeah, I know where he is. He usually comes here to wind down when a night gets exhausting even for him. That or he wants something from me regarding when planning heists and such." Junior lightly grit his teeth. "I'm his damn errand boy."

"Oh? Seems to me that he's offended you three in some ways. And it sounds personal." Cinder observed while taking note of their gestures, figuring that she was correct on that front. "I'll take that as a yes. I do apologize if I've brought up some old wounds. I'm guessing that Roman is quite infamous when it comes to the criminal underworld, as I expected." Cinder lowered her eyes. "Still, I do need his help. What I'm aiming to accomplish here in Vale, I can't do alone. Which is why, risky or not, I do need his help."

"What the hell is so important to you that you'd need his help?" Junior questioned. "Because, if you haven't heard, he doesn't help anybody but himself."

"Is that so?" Cinder gently rubbed her chin, then nodded. "Right. Yes, I think I can work with that, with enough effort out into it."

"She seems really adamant about this. I seriously can't understand it." Melanie shook her head in a brief fit if frustration.

"This must be really important to her if she's this set on seeing Roman Torchwick." Militia turned towards Cinder, who was still in a bit of thought and wondering about what her next actions should be regarding her pursuits. Though, she also spotted Emerald again, and was briefly confused. "That being said, if you were looking for Roman, then who's this girl you've got with you? She looks pretty beat up from the looks of it."

"A bunch of harassers were giving her trouble. I interfered." Cinder cupped her cheek with a sigh. "Although, given what they were harassing her for, it's doubtful that it's the last we've heard of them. I'm fully expecting to see them again very soon so they can try and take revenge."

"How do you figure?"

"I utterly humiliated them in a one-sided fight. And given how they spoke and acted, that's not something they're willing to forgive." Cinder sighed as she suddenly realized something, pushing back from her seat. "Oh dear. I might have brought trouble to your establishment if they followed me here."

"Ah hell. A troublemaker." Junior facepalmed.

"Uh, hold on. Let's give her the benefit of the doubt." Militia offered somewhat. "It couldn't have been that bad, right? They're not really willing to come all the way here to where they think Cinder is, just for payback, right?"

"HEY! We know that black haired, amber eyed piece of shit is in there! Bring her out right now!"

"Damn." Militia pouted. Even over the music they could hear those infuriated shouts.

"Never forget the power of an intense grudge, Mil. Even over the most petty of shit. You and I know that better than most." Melanie gently scolded while nudging her sister.

"I know, I know..."

Cinder sighed as she slowly stood up from her seat. "I'll take care of it."

"You will?" Junior blinked.

"You provided my friend with some food and gave me plenty of information despite your frustrations." Cinder turned and began heading out. "Letting some thugs who I thrashed earlier bring trouble to your establishment because of me? That's not a proper way to honor such treatment. So I'm not going to let it happen."

With that, Cinder strode off to meet with her new enemies, leaving the others in a brief stint of surprise. Emerald was the most surprised of them all, if only due to it being compounded with her confusion. She knows that Cinder just said that she wishes to honor the treatment and assistance she was given, but it was still very strange. She doesn't have any reason to care about this place outside of the fact that it somewhat gave her what she needed and requested. She obviously doesn't have a strong attachment to it, so she probably wouldn't be all that bothered by it getting destroyed in some sort of violent skirmish.

But instead, she's going out of her way to do this.

Cinder soon stepped outside into the night, a hand on her hip as she greeted her visitors. Which was a lot more people than the ones she beat down before. She could count at least three dozen of them, all ready and waiting to kill her at a moment's notice. She could even see the leader amongst them, looking a lot more smug than she did beforehand.

Cinder was impressed that she managed this so quickly. She must have really been offended.

"Oh dear. All for me? You shouldn't have." Cinder smiled while clasping her hands.

"Keep laughing if ya want. You really thought I was gonna take what happened earlier and let it slide just like that?"

"A part of me did think you would, yes. I didn't take you as very bright."

"Why you-!"

"Anyway." Cinder interrupted with a wave of her hand. "Can we not do this here? This nice nightclub has been very accommodating so far, and I'd rather not see anything bad happening to it."

"Tch, shoulda known that you were from the Xiong Family. Trying to make a comeback even though you're completely washed up and forgotten?"

Junior could be heard gritting his teeth at this, while Cinder brought a hand to her mouth and smiled. "You believe me to be a member of the Xiong Family, hm? So what if I am?" She already knew they wouldn't believe her denying such a thing, so she wasn't going to waste her breath trying. Might as well play along and commit to the accusation.

"You punks should know better than to poke your head out when it's already been beaten into the dirt." She huffed while holding up her chin with a smirk. "How tragic that Ursa's Den managed to completely collapse from the inside due to structural failure, killing numerous people inside? Maybe it'll catch the news."

Cinder simply yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Please, try not to bore me with threats. Unless you can back them up with action, that's all they'll ever be. Empty words."

The woman's she twitched, and she raised her replacement pistol towards Cinder. "We're gonna try this again-"

"You'll fail rather spectacularly."

"Ugh! Kill this smug bitch!"

"Hm." Cinder smiled serenely as the ground beneath her glowed bright for a moment, almost as if it were drastically heating up. "Yes, do make the attempt. Kill me of you can."

She stomped the ground with her right foot, and the heated concrete around her rose up and blocked the bullets that came her way. They watched baffled as the concrete appeared to be really hot, before noticing that chunks of it were being launched towards them, slamming right into them and burning them with their intense heat. Gritting teeth could be seen as they took aim again, with their target having somehow molded the concrete due to the heat and shaped it into a pair of swords. Effortlessly, she began deflecting the bullets heading towards her, this time having two blades to work with rather than one short one, thus granting her an asked time than they expected. She even managed to deflect some of them right back, and they pierced their chests knocking them back.

They continued firing straight at Cinder, which left them blindsided as Melanie kicked one of the across the head, sighing at the escalation.

"Knock it off! Like, one of your stray bullets could hit the patrons inside! Then we'll seriously be in trouble!"

"I think we're in a bit of trouble right now, Mel." Militia muttered as she claws another one of their guns in half, leaving them disarmed before slashing them across their chest.

"No way, they shot first! It's totally self-defense now!"

"Still, let's try not to make too much of a mess. We'll be the ones who have to clean up and pay for anything broken."

"I say again, no way! They started it, let them pay!"

"Now of all times?" Junior sighed as the Malachite Twins progressed with their brief dispute while clawing and kicking down any enemy that stood before them, particularly slashing apart their guns when they got close just to troll them, then effectively took them down with a well placed claw and kick.

Cinder gracefully deflected another bullet with her blade and kicked aside the one firing it, stalking towards the leader once more with a golden glint in her eye. She was staring into those gold eyes with nothing but terror.

Though for a moment she thought she was alright once one of her allies attempted to pick themselves up and shoot Cinder in the back, they themselves ended up knocked out with a swift kick to the head, courtesy of Emerald, who was breathing heavily from everything going on at once. Cinder briefly looked at her, nodded once, then turned towards the leader again, who's now dropped her weapon and was crawling backwards.

"H-Hey now. I-I know I kind of overreacted a little, but it should be alright! Nobody from your side for seriously hurt, right?!" She urged, smiling weakly up towards Cinder.

She wasn't amused.

"And now that you're defeated, you've completely lost your spine in a matter of seconds." Cinder glared harsher than before, nearly spitting out the words. "Disgraceful."

"H-Hey. Hold on! You're not thinking about killing me, are you?!" She shouted back. "Don't even think about it! My boss will hear about it! And when she-"

She was silenced by Cinder roughly gripping her by the jaw, shutting her mouth. Her eyes were wide with tears of terror as she gazed into Cinder's own golden eyes, which no longer have fire in them, but were now ice cold.

"You're the kind of subordinate who bends the knee whenever you come across true opposition, and whines like an injured pup as they call for their master. Honestly, I'm doing your boss a favor. Your true reliability is utterly nonexistent due to sheer cowardice on your part." Cinder replied frigidly, tightening her grip as her hand began to quickly warm and get hotter. "Trash should be burned."

If the Malachite Twins ever wondered what it looked liked to see someone's head catch fire, well, they can consider that curiosity sated. For Cinder heated up her hand so quickly as to catch fire, and that fire immediately latched itself onto the woman's head, sending her screaming and rolling across the ground in a desperate attempt to put it out. Cinder watched without flinching as life quickly left the woman and she was left slumping lifelessly on the sidewalk.

Cinder soon sighed as she adjusted her scarf and patted down her skirt, turning to the others with an apologetic smile. "Sorry you had to see that side of me. I can get a little bit heated."

"Yeah, I think we figured that out." Melanie deadpans while casually watching the burning corpse.

"Ah, now we gotta clean that up. That's gonna be a pain." Militia pouted in annoyance.

"Let some of the help take care of it. I'm not getting this dress dirty again just to clean up after someone dying."

"That was pretty ruthless." Emerald had to agree, though she didn't seem all that bothered about it either, considering what the woman tried to put her through earlier. "She smells like burnt ham..."

Cinder chuckled at this, until she heard someone walking amongst the smoke.

"Well well well. And just when I thought that coming here tonight would be as calm and carefree as always." Someone called out while talking their cane on the ground. "But little did I know, things were actually heating up around here for once! That's a rarity and a half, especially from your turf, Junior!"

"Oh great..." Junior facepalmed in annoyance, while Militia and Melanie scowled. Cinder could take this reaction as the arrival of one person. She turned around to see him.

"I heard that little coward comment by the way. Now I know that some people like to rag on cowards for being spineless wimps who can't take the best they brought on themselves...but hey! At least they're alive. Sometimes, cowards do survive." The man with the black bowler hat tipped it slightly, before lifting it with a smile. "In fact, how about this! Don't think of it as dirty cowardice! Think of it more as slightly less clean pragmatism! Decreases the stigma!"

Cinder shook her head and smiled. "You're as chatty as they say, Roman Torchwick."

"And you're awfully calm for someone who just murdered a woman in cold blood. Which is funny, cause you simply burned the lady." Roman shrugged. "But it is what it is. Saying something like that implies that you've been looking for me. Are you an admirer, perhaps?" Roman smiled and tipped his hat. "Can't blame ya. Devilish good looks and irresistible charm, what's not to like?"

"Nothing of that sort, Roman." Cinder hummed while clasping her hands. She briefly noticed something white shirt and with pink hair standing behind him, twirling her parasol and eying her suspiciously. "I'm here to establish a deal with you."

"A deal?" Roman lifts this head, briefly twirling his cane before sticking it against the ground. "So upfront, so suspicious. Or simply gullible. All three are viable. Long and the short of it, I'm not a fan of deals I don't have a single clue about."

"If you'd like, I'm more than willing to discuss it with you."

"Hmmm...Neo, how's my schedule?" He turned to the short woman known as Neo, who briefly thought it over for a moment, before waving her hand in a so-so manner. "Great, I've got time! Try not to waste it. Got things to do and see. I'll humor you for a little bit thanks to your audacity despite knowing who I am. Can't promise that you won't regret it though, Miss...?"

"Fall. Cinder Fall."

"Right! Now, let's go somewhere that's a bit more fitting of discussion. Also, with a bit less burning corpses. Kinda distracts from a civil talk, doesn't it?"

Cinder turns towards the burning corpse which henchman from Junior were a bit panicky in trying to put out. Cinder turned back towards Roman, sheepishly rubbing her neck.

"T-That, would be wise, yes..."

Cinder's official entry into this story! Alongside Emerald, Junior, the Malachite Twins, as well as Roman and Neo!

They're bound to get into quite a few misadventures as some of them will definitely not try and double cross Cinder in some shape way or form.

No! That would be preposterous! There's no way!

...Okay there might be a way...

...I'm sure everything will be fine.

Let's see where this goes!