A Cinder in the Wind

2

5 Days After the Fall of Beacon - Patch

Ruby Rose felt like she could be forgiven for jumping at the small sound impacting her window. She'd been so concentrated on the maintenance of her baby that the smallest of sounds, like a pebble hitting her window, had startled her. At first she thought she'd imagined it so she stayed there for a minute, head cocked to the side and ears straining in the silence with sharpening tool in hand.

Crack!

The sharp sound came again from her window and, curious, she got up to look out the window. Down in the middle of the clearing outside was the last person she had expected to see, a relieved smile broke out on her face because of it. The blond mop of hair of Jaune Arc, attached to the man himself, stood down there while he waved at her and then pointed to the trees. By the time she had opened the windows to shout at him he had ducked back into the woods surrounding her home.

A distressed whine escaped her throat as she threw herself at her clothes, tearing off her pajamas and quickly getting into her regular clothes before grabbing Crescent Rose and running out the door, not even acknowledging her father shouting at her do slow down in the house. Slowing down to a trot Ruby entered the treeline by their log house.

"Jaune?" The hooded girl called out, cupping her hands to her mouth, "Jaune! I'm… here. You wanted to talk to me, right?"

With only the silence answering her she headed further into the trees, her house fading from view. She wasn't concerned, Grimm on the island were few and far between and even if she was one she had Crescent Rose with her. A Beowolf or Ursa wasn't something she'd think twice about, she was more worried about Jaune.

Pyrrha was gone. Dead, she forced herself to admit. Even the thought brought tears to her eyes, but she shook them away, she couldn't imagine what her friend was going through, he'd lost his partner. While Ruby had lost a friend, two in fact, he'd lost his partner. None of them knew what the relationship between the two had been at the end, maybe he had begun to return the champion's affections.

Only to have that torn away. It was just too cruel.

"Jaune? It's okay! I'm… It's only me." Maybe he was worried about her dad, he could be overprotective at times. If he knew she was out here meeting a boy? Yeah, no.

"Good." The voice froze her to the ground, it wasn't Jaune's. It wasn't even male and to make matters worse, she recognized it. Crescent Rose was out, barrel aimed at the source of the voice who stepped out from behind a nearby tree and Ruby shook with rage and grief.

"Emerald." The young girl grit out from between clenched teeth her eyes blurring from barely restrained tears. A whirlwind of emotions running through her from rage to betrayal and grief. This woman, who she had once thought of as a friend, had been responsible for the death of her two friends and the state of her school. Ruby's had twitched over the firing mechanism and Emerald visibly flinched, her hands out front of her, unarmed. She wasn't going to take any chances with the criminal though, "Keep your hands where I can see them! I don't know why you're here but I'm… I'm turning you in. You're gonna pay for your crimes."

"We're here for you, Red." Mercury came out from behind another tree, towards her left and made her jump back but she couldn't keep her weapon trained on the both of them. This was the man who crushed Yang's spirit at the Vytal Festival. Made the crowd turn on her for their own gain. Despite him being unarmed as well, his hands also held out in a placating manner before him, Ruby's fingers tightened around Crescent Rose's firing lever.

"Easy Ruby. We aren't here to fight. We came to talk."

"We can talk when you're behind bars." Her aim shifted to Emerald.

Mercury took a step forward, "We need your help."

Crescent Rose returned to the silver haired boy, "I'll never help you." Ruby's voice came out in a growl. As much as her instincts were telling her to attack these two she knew they had her at a disadvantage, "What have you done with Jaune."

"Nothing."

Back to Emerald, "Liar! I saw him. Are you forcing him?"

"He was never here Ruby. It was my semblance." The green haired youth spoke up when Ruby opened her mouth, "I can cast illusions on people. Make them see things that aren't there."

It took Ruby a mere few moments to put things together, "Yang." Her silver eyes narrowed when the girl nodded. So that was what they had done to her sister, it made her blood boil.

"Please Ruby!" Emerald pleaded and it just caused another spike of rage within the normally cheerful girl, "We need your help, it can't be anyone else!"

"Bull!" That was the most foul language she'd ever used before and her weapon was shaking in her hands, "Why me. After everything you've done, the people you've hurt, what makes you think I would do anything for you!"

"Because it's not for us. There's lives on the line here Ruby." It was the genuine tone of his voice that caught her by surprise when she brought her attention back to Mercury.

Lives? She wanted to ignore it but she couldn't, not if there was even a slim chance that she could help someone. Not them, but an innocent.

"Explain." They seemed to relax a bit when she said it.

"Look. First off we didn't want to do any of this. We were forced."

"Everyone has a choice." Ruby told them coldly and the two exchanged a glance.

"Right well there was something wrong with Cinder. Right after… Right after Beacon," Ruby's grip tightened but Mercury continued, "She woke us up. Told us that someone put a Grimm inside her and that it's been controlling her for years."

Ruby couldn't contain herself, "Get to the point and stop lying!"

"We aren't!" It was Emerald this time, "There's a Grimm controlling her but you did something. Something with your eyes and it weakened it's control over her long enough for Cinder to ask for help. We need you to do whatever you did on that tower again. Help us save Cinder."

"Even if I believed you, why would I help you?"

"Because it's not going to stop." He continued when it looked like she wouldn't say anything, "Because this...thing that's controlling her has a plan it's working off of and Beacon may have been the first but it won't be the last. I know you don't care about us or Cinder but we know you do care about innocent people."

"Prove it." Ruby glared at the two teens, "I can't trust you."

"It's not much proof but…" Mercury slowly reached into his pocket and withdrew a thick envelope, carefully he withdrew it's contents, a long, multi-page letter. Taking a few steps forward he laid the letter on the ground and then backed up. Trying her best to keep an eye on both criminals Ruby snatched the letter off the ground and took glances at it. The writing was elegant and befitting of Cinder and her near unnatural beauty. The brunette glanced up every other sentence to make sure the two didn't try and make a move on her. Both stood stock still and watch her attentively. The first page was addressed to the both of them. It detailed the fact that some being named Salem had tricked her and implanted a Grimm inside her, matching with what the two had said.

The second page, and the rest, was addressed to her.

Ruby Rose,

I know you must hate me for what has been done but I assure you that it was all out of my control. While my associates, Emerald and Mercury, are indeed criminals, we do not condone senseless violence. Such things are unproductive and wasteful. I know for a fact you will not wish to help me or them but that is fine. What I wish for should align with your desires anyways.

I want you to stop me. I want you to free me from being a captive within my own body. Towards that end I will tell you the truth, as I have seen it. The Grimm are not as mindless as they may seem, they have a leader in the being known as Salem. What, exactly, she is I do not know. But what I do know is that she leads the Grimm, directs them, and has a vested interest in destroying the schools and securing the power of the Maidens as well the relics.

The rest of this letter will explain everything that I know about both the Maidens and the Relics. The plan was always to cripple Beacon and seize the Fall Maiden before scouring it for the Relic of Choice. After the fall of Beacon the next target was that of Haven Academy in Mistral. How this will be accomplished has not been decided at the time of writing this and I feel my control slipping, the creature will wake soon and I will lose my liberty once again.

Ruby, I ask this of you because I cannot stand being so helpless. I would rather die than to live as a tool for Salem's plans. There is one thing that concerns Salem and that is you and your silver eyes. You have a special power, what exactly I do not know. I would tell you if I could.

What I do know is that the Grimm fear those with silver eyes and the proof is what you did atop the tower that night. You loosened the bonds that held me and harmed the creature within me. Only you can foil Salem's plans.

Find me. Stop me.

-Cinder Fall

Ruby didn't know what to make of the letter and as she read on about the maidens and relics a gnawing feeling swam in her gut. They had her and she knew it. Could she in any conscience let this go? The bad guys were right here and it sickened her to even think it but could she do this if it was to save even more people. She almost dropped her weapon as her had came up to her mouth, nausea hitting her like a bullhead. Silver eyes widened in panic but neither of the other teens made a move even though they could easily overpower her.

That as much as proved it, at least as a show of faith. With the two of them, as skilled as they were, they may have been able to attack her. Even defeat her before her dad came to investigate. She knew it, logically, they were taking an incredible risk just being here. There was absolutely no reason to come to Patch for them.

They had no choice. She was the only one that could help them. If that was the case…

No, it was crazy. But maybe…

"I'll help." Shame pooled in her stomach as she pushed the words out. It made her sick to admit it, to work with these people and she begged forgiveness from Penny and Pyrrha, "But under one condition."

"Anything." Emerald answered after sharing a look with with Mercury.

"You turn yourselves in. All three of you." Ruby held both of their gazes for a moment, daring them to defy her.

Almost to her surprise neither did, Mercury speaking up first, "If you can help Cinder out of this, I'll do it." His partner nodded along, both looking dead serious.

It was hard, so incredibly hard, to put Crescent Rose away, hooked to the back of her belt. But she had to do it, put her pride by the wayside to do what was right. Or rather what she hoped was right. Ruby felt like she was drowning and looked back to the cabin, where sister was undoubtedly moping.

No, she couldn't tell Yang. She had enough of a beef with Mercury over the festival, she'd punch first and ask questions never. But she couldn't handle this alone. She was naive and trusting, she knew that, but she couldn't trust these two. She needed someone to watch her back. She didn't think she could miss the rest of her team more than she already did but she felt like she would give anything to have Weiss or Blake here to watch her back, their absence leaving a bigger hole than usual within her.

That's when a crazy idea came into her head. Maybe her team wasn't here to help her but she had more friends than that. However, there was one problem.

Jaune.

The blond would probably have much the same reaction to the two criminals that Yang would, especially after what happened to Pyrrha, her stomach flipped at the thought of her friend, but she had no one else to turn to. However maybe Ren would have a tempering effect on his leader. The black haired boy always seemed to be the voice of reason within team JNPR and maybe she could appeal to that. This too important to afford feelings to get in the way of saving lives. It was what she'd signed up for as a huntress. And besides, she needed someone to watch her back. Just in case.

Finally the hooded girl turned towards the two criminals who had been watching her with wariness, like they couldn't quite believe that she had agreed, and maybe they couldn't. She didn't trust them and she didn't expect they trusted her. This was a necessity, nothing more and neither would turn their back on the other, at least not willingly.

"If we're going to do this we'll need help." The two stood silent as they waited for her to elaborate, "We need team JNPR."

The others grimaced, neither had forgotten who was on the team nor exactly who had been killed atop the tower. That was fine, Ruby didn't need them to like it, they would face justice once everything was said and done. She would make sure of that. The hooded girl pulled out her scroll and looked at the contact information set in there along with the picture of her blond friend.

Ren and Nora would be with him as well, all the better. Without having anywhere to go the two had been invited by their leader to his home, to stay with them until something could be figured out regarding their schooling. Before leaving he had left her father with his address so that they could exchange letter, though not with her sister but Ruby had yet to regain consciousness by the time he had gone home.

"Where to, then?" Mercury asked.

"Ansel." Ruby answered, looking both criminals in the eyes, "We're going to Jaune's hometown."

A/N: And this is probably a surprise. I'm still technically on hiatus I guess but hey, I had some time on my hands so I decided to write. This is the chapter that would have been up next, I will still be adhering to my rotation.

Also, those of you who have read Coeur Al'Aran's works you would know what Ansel is. So yeah, I'll confirm I'm using his Arc Family for this fic and the main reason is that I absolutely love Juniper and Nicholas Arc, and they are going to feature in the next chapter. I don't think any version of Jaune's parents I could create would differ greatly enough to Jun and Nic. I've just read his works too much and love the characters too much not to be influenced by them. So I skipped the middle man and just used them. So this is me giving credit where it's due, to Coeur. I'll probably reiterate next chapter as well with the credit.