RWBY: Swapverse
(Part 1)
The screen loaded, a sectioned, multicolor background and what seemed to be letters fading onscreen. The four sections, from left to right, were crimson, orange, bright red, and silver.
CRAJ
"C-R-A-J? Does that even make an actual word?" Weiss questioned.
Spade shrugged, "I honestly couldn't tell you."
It was nighttime. A downward pan of an alleyway showed a white-haired woman in a white cocktail dress with a black jacket over it. She wore several pieces of expensive jewelry and the dress seemed to have been modified for combat. She had one hand on the handle of the rapier sheathed on her hip. Four henchmen in black suits walked behind her. The five came to a brief stop, the woman smirking.
Ruby nearly shot out of her seat, "WEISS?!"
Roman's eyebrows went up in surprise, "Huh. Well, I certainly didn't expect that."
"So that means Torchwick's family owns the Dust company?" Ironwood asked.
Spade nodded, "Indeed they do."
People moved to either side of the street as the group walked down the center. They went towards a shop called "From Dust Till Dawn" with the obvious intention of robbing it. Each of the henchmen carried a sword with a red blade that somewhat resembled an elongated cleaver. Weiss essentially slammed the door open, startling the worker.
Weiss could only watch in silence. Never in her life did she ever think she could be a criminal. A very infamous one at that, given what Roman's reputation had been in their own world.
Neo leaned forward, almost completely moving off her seat, and rested her arms on the back of the seat in front of her, which happened to belong to Ghira and Kali. She really wanted to know who she was swapped with. And if she could talk.
The camera panned down to behind a shelf in the back of the store. A young girl wearing a crimson colored jacket with gold accents and the hood up was reading a magazine, seemingly unaware of what was happening at the front.
Kali raised an eyebrow, "Does she not hear them?"
"She probably has headphones on like I did." Ruby stated.
One henchman looked at the Dust tubes on the wall while another looked at the crystals in the case. Weiss walked up to the counter and crossed her arms.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" she rhetorically asked as a henchman pointed a gun at the worker.
He put his hands up and backed up a step, "Please, just take my lien and leave!"
Weiss shushed him, "Calm down, we're not here for your money." She looked at the henchman to her left, "Grab the Dust."
"Why just the Dust? Why not take the money too?" Marrow questioned.
Roman feigned being offended, "I may be a criminal, but I'm not heartless! The S.D.C would have his stock back in no time, but it would take quite a while to earn back all the money he's made. Even if most Huntsman weapons use Dust."
Harriet rested her head on her hand, "Never thought I'd hear a criminal say that." she muttered.
A case was set on the counter and opened. Two henchmen took out the empty containers inside and hooked them up to the tubes on the wall, filling them with Dust. Another henchman set an open container in front of the store worker.
"Crystals. Burn. Uncut."
The worker quickly opened the case and starting taking out the crystals.
Muffled music could be heard as the last henchman went to a Dust tube on the other wall, about to fill a container. He looked over at the source of the music, scowling. The camera switched to show what he was looking at. The girl from earlier, who was still oblivious to what was happening.
Ruby raised an eyebrow, "That's definitely not the song I was listening to at the time."
"Then what's she listening to?" Penny asked.
Ruby shrugged and looked back at Spade, who had a mix of focus and confusion on their face. She looked back at the screen, wanting to see what this Cinder does.
He drew his sword and pointed it at her, "Alright, kid. Put your hands where I can see them."
No response.
"Hey! I said hands in the air!"
Still no response.
He walked over to her, pissed off at being ignored. He smacked her shoulder, "Hey! You got a death wish or somethin'?"
She looked at him with an irritated look, her hood falling down, "Huh?"
She was pale and had black hair, which was in a loose braid and pulled over her shoulder, and her eyes were amber. She had on crimson colored headphones, hence why she couldn't hear anything.
Most of the audience was taken aback at this Cinder's appearance, mostly because they were used to seeing her with half her face missing.
Ruby completely forgot her standing with the Maiden and awed at the one onscreen, "That's what you looked like?! You're so pretty!"
Cinder was caught completely off-guard by the sudden complement from her enemy, "I- uhm- th… thank you…?"
The henchman scowled and pointed at his ear, signaling for her to take her headphones off.
She rolled her eyes and did just that, resting them around her neck and glaring at him, "What do you want?"
"I said, put your hands in the air. Now."
She raised an eyebrow, "Are you… robbing me?"
"Yes!"
"Ohh…" her eyes narrowed slightly and she smirked.
The music started to kick in, still playing the song she was listening to. It cut back to Weiss, who was leaning against the counter. The henchman went flying by and crashed into something, catching Weiss' attention. She gestured another henchman to go see what sent the first one flying. He nodded and ran in the direction the first came from.
He pointed a gun at Cinder, "Freeze!"
"How's she gonna freeze when she has fire powers?" Yang joked, earning a couple groans and a few laughs.
A cut to outside the front window and a moment of silence. A very brief moment of silence.
The man was sent straight through the window with a loud crash, Cinder going with him. The other three men had their swords drawn and looked out the now broken window. Weiss followed behind, looking slightly annoyed.
All the cat Faunus and Velvet covered their ears from how loud the crash was.
"Spade, that was really loud…" Velvet said, looking back at their host.
"Ah… sorry 'bout that. I'll see what I can do about it later." they gave a sheepish grin.
Yuki had her paws pushing her ears down and glared at her owner.
Cinder stood up, a rather large black mechanical bow unfolding. She promptly split the bow into two pieces by breaking it over her knee, each piece turning into a scimitar-esk type sword. She spun the swords around in her hands, almost as if she was showing off. She stopped and look at the four, smirking.
Weiss blinked a couple times, "Okay…" she glanced between her henchmen and gestured towards the girl, "Get her."
"I like the music." Yang commented.
"I can download it onto your scroll later if you want." Spade offered.
"Hell yeah! Thanks!"
The three men ran out to attack the new threat. One attempted to do a downward slash, failing painfully as she parried it, swiftly spinning and slamming him in the side of the face with the back end of her sword, knocking him off balance. She moved forward, hooked her leg around his, and yanked it out from under him, causing his face to hit the pavement.
Most everyone winced. Tai and Qrow, on the other hand, looked at each other with the same questioning look.
Another ran towards her. She swept his feet out from under him, swiftly kicking him with one leg several times to keep him midair before quickly taking something out of a pouch on her belt and throwing it up with him. She used an upward slash, causing a small explosion when her weapon made contact with what she threw. The henchman was sent flying into the air, a trail of smoke following him.
"Is she using Dust?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It would appear so. Young Miss Fall seems to be using crystals. What kind of crystals is something I'm not sure of." Port stated.
"Fire, maybe?" Emerald questioned.
"Perhaps."
The last henchman started shooting at her with a machine gun. She ran to avoid the bullets, using both swords to block them every now and then. She took an orange crystal out of the pouch and squeezed it before chucking it at the last guy. It hit the ground beneath him and made a large explosion, making a hole in the ground and sending him flying up. She dashed forward and jumped, doing a neat looking flip and slamming her weapons into the guy, sending him into the ground and making the hole even bigger.
Ozpin put his hand to his chin, "I don't think she's taking this fight too seriously…"
"Tch! She should take every fight seriously. She could get herself or other people injured if she doesn't." Glynda crossed her arms and scowled.
Ilia tilted her head, "How can you tell if she's not being serious?"
Tai spoke up, "She's doing fancy tricks where they aren't really needed. Like the sword spinning and the flip she just did. She's basically just doing it for show."
"Is that a bad thing?" Neptune asked.
"Yes and no. This fighting style isn't usually used against Grimm since they're more dangerous than people. It's not too big of a deal against henchmen like the ones she's fighting, but since she's still a kid it's more dangerous than if she were a licensed Huntress."
Tyrian rolled his eyes, "Yes, yes, now can you shut up?"
Tai glared back at the Faunus but didn't say anything.
She landed a couple yards from Weiss, who simply looked at the guy closest to her with an irritated and mildly disappointed look.
She sighed, "Pathetic. I suppose I should get better men."
Police sirens could be heard in the background.
Weiss started to walk forward, "You're a real firecracker, aren't you? Well, Firecracker, I believe we can all say it's been a rather eventful evening."
A small giggling fit could be heard amongst the younger crowd.
"'Firecracker.'" Nora said, looking at Cinder.
Cinder glared at her. Not that it did any good considering this was Nora she was glaring at.
She drew her rapier, "As much as I'd love to stick around and chat," she pointed it at the girl she's now nicknamed 'Firecracker,' "I'm afraid we must part ways."
A line of white glyphs appeared before Weiss and shot five large ice shards at her target.
The target in question promptly turned her swords back into a bow and shot a group of arrows at the shards, each one exploding on impact. The smoke created from the explosions gave Weiss the screen she needed to slip away and escape.
"Five arrows in one shot… very interesting." Vine commented.
Pyrrha grimaced a little, remembering when Cinder shot her. She rubbed her chest a little, still being able to feel the pain of when the arrow hit.
Cinder looked around for a moment before spotting her attacker using purple tinted glyphs to run up the wall of a nearby building.
The store worker came to the door, catching her attention.
"You alright if I go after her?"
He nodded and she quickly darted off.
Weiss leapt onto the building and ran, Cinder somehow launching herself up the building and running after her.
Summer tilted her head, "How did she...?"
"Hey!" she shouted.
Weiss came to a stop and sighed, "Very persistent… how annoying."
Cinder aimed her bow at Weiss, the arrow glowing a bright orange. A small airship suddenly came up in front of Weiss, a spotlight shining onto the roof. The door opened and she quickly jumped in, turning towards the girl below her.
She pointed her rapier at her, a large red glyph appearing, "Farewell, Firecracker!"
A large fireball shot out from the glyph, hurdling towards Cinder. She would've been hit if not for someone appearing in front of her, a pink parasol extending out and acting as a shield for the two. The fireball sent large chunks of the roof flying into the air and off to the side.
Neo went wide-eyed and started bouncing, pointing at the screen. She looked at Roman with an excited look.
"Is that you?" he asked, a small smile on his face.
She quickly nodded and looked back at the screen with anticipation, making Roman chuckle a bit.
Weiss giggled as the smoke and fire cleared, scowling when she saw that not only was her target unharmed, but that there was also someone else there. A Huntress. Neo Politan.
Cinder was in a bracing stance and looked up when she realized she was fine. The woman in front of her had half-pink half-brown hair with eyes to match and held a pink parasol in front of her. She didn't look very impressed by the criminal's attack.
"You going to help or just stand there gawking?" she rhetorically asked.
The audience was shocked to hear Neo speak. Neo herself had stars in her eyes seeing herself as a Huntress.
"Woah… you look so cool!" Sun commented, smiling at the girl behind him and getting a smile back.
"So that's what you would sound like... not really what I was expecting…" Mercury said.
Tyrian looked over at him, "And what exactly were you expecting, Mister Black?"
Mercury was about to answer before realizing Tyrian was just trying to start something. He kept his mouth shut and kept watching, making the scorpion Faunus frown.
"O-Oh! Right!" the younger stepped out from behind her savior and did a rapid-fire of glowing arrows, each one exploding upon contact with the ship.
This knocked the ship around, causing Weiss to stumble around and make her way over to the pilot, who was having a difficult time keeping the ship steady.
"Huntress is here! She herself isn't attacking but the kid is shooting exploding arrows at us!"
The woman piloting the ship scowled and got up, letting Weiss take over.
The Huntress in question focused and made what seemed to be some sort of dragon-like creature appear next the ship, startling Weiss and causing her to lose control of the ship for a moment. The woman went to the door, a red cape covering her. Neo glared at her.
The younger crowd were all on the edge of their seats, especially Ruby. Hazel glanced over at Emerald and saw a confused look on her face. He leaned closer to her, wishing to not draw anyone's attention to them.
"Something wrong?" he whispered.
Emerald glanced at him, then back at the screen, then back to him, "Well, when Beacon fell, Ruby injured Cinder by using her eye powers. But Cinder doesn't have silver eyes. So, I was just thinking… how's the fall of Beacon gonna go down here? I don't think we'll be watching long enough to see." she whispered back, fidgeting with her hoodie strings a bit.
Hazel thought for a moment before simply shrugging, "Maybe you can ask Spade later."
Emerald nodded, looking back at the screen.
The woman moved her cloak out of the way and pointed a large mechanical scythe at the two. She fired three shots; two at Neo and one at Cinder. Cinder jumped back to dodge and Neo used her parasol to block the bullets. Fragments of said bullets landed around her and started glowing, exploding a moment later and making a crater in the roof.
"They sure are using a lot of Dust…" Weiss commented.
Neo barely had time to jump away before the explosion, making her stumble back a bit. Cinder shot at the scythe-wielder, each arrow being shot down before they could reach her. Neo made the creature she summoned swat at the ship, making Weiss move it around to avoid being hit. The woman looked at Weiss for a brief moment, stumbling and trying not to get thrown out of the ship.
Cinder took this moment of distraction to aim a single arrow at the ship. The arrow glowed a bright orange and she fired, it making contact with the side of the ship and causing a very large explosion and knocking it back.
The cloaked figure put her weapon away and looked at Weiss, "We're leaving! Now!"
Weiss nodded and closed the door, quickly flying away. The two below them watched as they left, Cinder's bow folding down into what looked like a rectangular piece of metal and Neo closing her parasol, hanging it on her hip. The dragon creature vanished as soon as the ship was out of sight.
"Neo's so cool as a Huntress… I wonder what her parasol's made of…" Ruby mused.
Penny looked at her, "Whatever it is, it's strong enough to block both the fireball and bullets that were shot at them. It's also possible she could be using her Aura to strengthen it."
A few people looked at Neo, who simply held up a sign saying "I'm not telling you."
Cinder looked at the woman next to her, who was actually only an inch taller, "You're a Huntress…"
Neo looked back at her, a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"Can I have your autograph?!" the younger asked with an excited look.
Giggles could be heard throughout the theater. Cinder groaned and facepalmed.
The scene immediately switch to Cinder sitting in a spotlight, looking both disappointed and slightly ashamed. Neo paced back and forth behind her.
"I hope you realize how much trouble you're in, young lady. Not only did you put yourself in danger by being a show-off, but you also became a danger to those around you. Just what we're you thinking?!"
Cinder looked at her, "They started it! I was just trying to stop them!"
Neo looked at a tablet in her hand, "I don't care who started it. If it were up to me, you'd be turned over to the authorities for your actions." she glared at the girl.
Cinder sunk down in her seat, placing her hands on the edge of the table in front of her.
"But… there's someone here who wants to meet you."
She stepped to the side and a woman with darker skin, white hair, and red eyes stepped into the room. She had a bowl of strawberries in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
"Lovely as ever, my Queen." Tyrian said, making Salem smile a little.
Ruby twisted around in her seat and looked at Cinder, catching the Maiden's attention.
"You like strawberries?" the heroine asked.
Cinder hesitated for a moment before giving an answer, "I… don't really know… I've… never had them before…"
Ruby gasped dramatically, making everyone look at her, "You've never had strawberries?!"
"U-Uhm… no?"
"We HAVE to fix that!"
Yang looked at her sister with a questioning look, "Ruby… you do know who you're talking to, right?"
Ruby paused for a moment and thought. She slowly turned her head to look at Spade, who was seemingly unaware of what was happening.
"Spade… did you do something to us?"
They didn't answer. Yuki looked up at them before facepalming. Or, as Yang might say, facepawing. She paused the screen.
"Spade…"
There was a brief pause before Spade finally answered.
"I may or may not have had Agatha place a serenity spell on the theater."
"A what?" Summer asked.
"Serenity spell. You cast it over an area and it calms down anything and anyone in said area. It takes thirty minutes to take affect and, depending on the strength of the spell cast, one to five hours to wear off once the effected target has left the area. I had her cast it as more of a safety precaution."
"Can you remove it?" Marrow questioned.
"I was planning on removing it tonight while you're asleep. Leaving it up for too long can have weird side effects."
"Such as?"
"Permanent personality changes, loss of anxiety and/or fight-or-flight reflex, in rare cases delirium will happen-"
Harriet cut them off, "Okay, we get it! Leaving it up is bad!"
Yuki yawned and unpaused the screen, not wanting to wait any longer. Everyone resumed watching the screen.
"Cinder Fall." she said with a small smile.
She leaned in closer to Cinder's face, the girl looking very confused. The camera cut to show Cinder's face, specifically to get a better look at her eyes.
"You have very pretty eyes." she stood up straight, "So, where exactly did you learn to fight like that? I've never seen someone so young be so skilled with two swords and a bow."
Neo held up her tablet and a recording of Cinder's fight played.
Cinder hesitated, "Uhm… Signal Academy…?"
The woman gave a questioning look, "They taught you how to do that?"
The younger gave her a semi-worried look, "Well… my uncle taught me how to use swords… I sorta learned archery on my own…"
She raised an eyebrow, "I see… and who might your uncle be?"
Cinder didn't answer until the strawberries were set on the table.
"Jaune Arc. He teaches at Signal." she said while stuffing her face.
Cinder and Jaune looked at the screen in shock. The majority of the audience was shocked as well.
"I'm her uncle?!" Jaune said in disbelief.
Neptune made a face, "Damn… that's rough, buddy."
Spade glanced at Neptune for a second and quietly laughed.
"Ah, so that's why your weapon collapses like that."
"Mhm! I was trash at fighting until he started teaching me. But now I'm one of the best fighters in my class!"
"So I've noticed…" she set her coffee on the table and placed both hands on the edge, leaning down a bit, "And what is and adorable young girl like you doing a school training warriors?"
"'Adorable' is not a word I would ever use when describing Cinder." Salem commented, earning a few laughs.
Cinder stopped eating and looked up at her, "I wanna be a Huntress."
The woman sat down, "You want to slay monsters?"
"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal, then I'm gonna apply to Beacon. See, my brother's starting there this year, and he's trying to become a Hunter. And I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. And ourparentsalwaystaughtustohelpotherssoIthought'Eh,Imightaswellmakeacareeroutofit.' ImeanthepolicearecoolbutHuntsmenandHuntressesarejustsomuchcoolerandwaymorebadassandit'swaymoreexcitingand-" Cinder cut herself off after realizing she was rambling. She gave a sheepish grin to the amused woman before her. Neo looked less amused and more annoyed.
Weiss rolled her eyes, "And I thought Ruby and Penny talked a lot."
Ruby gave a sheepish grin while Penny smiled, not really understanding Weiss' statement.
A moment of silence passed.
"Do you know who I am?" the woman asked.
Cinder nodded, "You're Professor Salem. You're the headmistress at Beacon."
Salem smiled and chuckled, "Hello."
"Nice to meetcha." the younger said with a smile.
"You want to come to my school?"
"More than anything."
Salem looked at Neo, who rolled her eyes and sighed. She looked back at Cinder.
"Well, alright."
Cinder's smile grew and her eyes lit up.
Salem rested her head on her hand, "'Professor Salem'… I'm not sure how to feel about that…"
Hazel looked at the screen with a subtle, sad look, "I haven't seen Cinder that happy since Salem took her in… and since she shoved Watts down that flight of stairs…"
The scene switched with a figure going across and hugging Cinder, who appeared to be dazed.
"I can't believe my little sister is going to Beacon with me!" a male voiced said, snapping the girl out of her daze.
It switched to show the one hugging her, a boy a little older than her with black hair and blue eyes.
"Is… is that me?" Ironwood asked, bewildered.
"Yup."
"I'm her brother?"
"Yup."
Ruby looked over at the general, "You're either half-siblings like Yang and I or one of you is adopted."
"I'm saying adopted." Sienna chimed in.
"This is the best day ever!" he hugged her tighter, squeezing the air out of his poor sister.
Cinder had a pained look, "James… please stop…"
He let go and stepped back, "But I'm so proud of you!"
"Really, bro, it was nothing…"
"What do you mean 'nothing?'"
The two appeared to be in a large airship, supposedly a transport ship.
Cinder shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Her brother patted her head.
Nora giggled, "Aww, he gives her head pats!"
"You'll be fine, Cinder. Besides, now you get to show everyone how cool you are!"
"Yeah, I know… but Miss Politan didn't seem very impressed with my fighting…"
"And for a good reason." Glynda said with a stern expression.
James rolled his eyes and smirked, "Maybe that's because you show off with fancy tricks." he ruffled her hair and she blew a raspberry at him.
She sighed, "I got moved ahead two years… I don't want people thinking I'm special or anything…"
He went to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "Don't worry! With the way you dress, nobody will think anything of you- ow!"
"Real funny, James."
Giggling could be heard throughout the crowd.
"I mean she is just wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The only thing interesting about her outfit is her jacket." Coco commented.
Velvet looked at her, "Coco!"
"What?! It's true!"
James rubbed where Cinder had elbowed him. A TV caught their attention. A news report was showing a mugshot of Weiss.
"The robbery was lead by nefarious criminal Weiss Schnee. The heiress-turned-criminal continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on her whereabouts, please contact the Vale police department. Back to you, Lisa."
Weiss sat up, "Wait, 'heiress-turned-criminal?!' Does that mean my family still owned the company?!"
Oobleck adjusted his glasses, "It would appear that way, Miss Schnee. Perhaps you turning into a criminal wasn't exactly the best for your family's image."
"Or maybe her family's image fell and then she became a criminal." Raven suggested.
"That is also possible."
The screen switched to a different reporter, the name "Lisa Lavender" on the bottom of the screen.
"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark, when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-" she was cut off as the screen shut off, a hologram of Neo appearing in its place.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon." she said.
James leaned over to Cinder, "Who's that?"
"I am Neo Politan."
"Oh."
"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is you're duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." the hologram disappeared as soon as she finished.
Blake raised an eyebrow, "Is that a scripted speech, or…?"
Glynda sighed, "It is. We didn't want to have to come up with a different speech every year so we just used the same one."
"Makes sense."
Cinder and James both went over to the window and looked out at the sights beneath them.
"Look! You can see Signal from up here!" Cinder said.
The camera zoomed out to show just how big the airship was.
"I guess home isn't really that far."
James patted her head, "Beacon's our home now."
The two heard a groan and looked over, seeing a boy with blackish-gray hair with a hand over his mouth. He hurriedly ran past them.
Winter stifled a laugh and Raven tried her best to hide a smile. Qrow quietly groaned and shook his head. Clover patted his shoulder with a sympathetic yet amused smile.
"I guess the view isn't for everyone." James said.
"It was a nice moment while it lasted."
The airship sailed over a giant lake.
"I wonder who we're gonna meet."
"I just hope they're better than vomit boy… oh, James, gross! You've got puke on your shoe!"
James repeatedly said "Gross" while Cinder shouted "Get away from me" at him.
The younger crowd broke into laughter while most of the older group had amused looks.
The screen faded to black as the ship sailed on.
Kali looked back at Spade, "So… is that it?"
"Nope." they pressed a button on the remote and a loading symbol appeared onscreen.
The screen faded back in, showing the airship headed towards what seemed to be a landing pad on the side of a cliff. There were multiple transport ships and a few smaller ships. The transport with Cinder and James came to a halt next to the pad.
The doors opened and a crowd of people walked out, including "vomit boy" who ran to the trash can next to the door and threw up into it.
The majority of the audience said "Eww" while Jaune was a little embarrassed remembering when that happened.
Cinder and James walked out of the ship. The crowd walked down the path to what appeared to be a small courtyard area near the front of the school. The siblings came to a halt and awed at the sight of the building.
The camera panned out and up to show the entirety of the building.
James crossed his arms, "The view from Vale's kinda sad compared to this."
Cinder wasn't listening. She was distracted by people passing by with all sorts of neat weapons in hand. James looked at her with a half-concerned half-questioning look as she rambled on about all the weapons she was seeing.
Marrow tilted his head, "Was Ruby really that much of a weapon nut?"
"Yes." Tai, Qrow, and literally anyway else who knew Ruby back in Beacon said in unison.
Ruby herself giggled and had a sheepish grin as she rubbed her neck.
"Cinder!" he smacked the back of her head to snap her out of her ramble.
"Ow! Sorry, sorry!" she rubbed her head, "It's just that everyone has such cool weapons! And you can really tell what kind of person they are just by looking at what kind of weapon they use!"
"Why don't you fawn over your own weapons? I don't think many people have a collapsible bow that turns into swords."
Cinder rolled her eyes and groaned, "Because I like seeing new ones, dummy! It's like meeting people. But better. Haven't I told you this already?"
James shrugged, "I probably wasn't paying attention."
Yang smiled, "I did that a lot. Whenever Ruby would go on and on about a new type of weapon she saw I would just tune her out until she was done."
"What?! I thought you actually listened!" her sister shouted.
"Only sometimes."
The little weapons enthusiast crossed her arms and pouted, being upset by this new information.
Another eye roll.
"Cinder, how about you go make some friends on your own?" he pulled her hood up and over her eyes and she smacked his hand.
She pulled her hood back down and looked at him as he backed up, "But I have you?"
"Ah, well, actuallymyfriendsareherenowIgottagobye!" a small group formed around him and they all dashed past her before she could say anything.
She spun around a few times, becoming very dizzy, "Aren't we supposed to go to our dorms?! Where even are the dorms?!"
"So, he just ditched her?" Harriet asked with a semi-confused look.
"Yes. Yes, he did." Elm answered.
She stumbled and fell back onto a luggage cart, sending white suitcases up into the air.
"What are you doing?!" a male voice said as she sat up.
"Sorry!"
A boy James' age was standing in front of her. He was pale with orange hair and green eyes. He also had a black cane in his hand.
Weiss slowly pulled her hair to curtain her face, knowing what was about to happen. Winter glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry?! Do you have any idea how much damage you could've caused?!"
Cinder picked up a case next to her and handed it to him, a slightly worried look on her face.
"Give me that!" he snatched it from her and opened it, "This is Dust, you moron! Mined and purified from the Torchwick quarries!"
"Damn, you're kinda mean here, dude." Neptune said, looking at the former criminal.
Roman simply shrugged, "I've called my henchmen morons before. I don't really see the problem here."
She rubbed her head, "Uhh…"
"What?! Are you brain dead?!" he took a vial out and snapped the case close, making a small could of Dust, "Dust! Fire! Water! Lighting! Energy!" he shook the vile, creating a red cloud of Dust.
The cloud flung over to Cinder as she went to get up.
"Are you even listening?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
"Uh oh…" Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Jaune said in unison.
Cinder stood up and tried to turn away, but it was too late. She sneezed, causing the Dust to have a reaction and explode, sending the vial flying out of the boy's hand. It clinked to the ground and rolled over to a pair of black boots.
A gloved hand reached down and picked it up. It was another boy James' age. This time with bright red hair and a cyan eye. His other eye was covered by bandages. He wore a black beanie and had a book in his other hand.
"A beanie? Really?" Yang questioned.
Spade rolled their eyes, "Yang, if you had a pair of horns on your head, how would you hide them? Hm? It's not exactly like you can hide horns with a bow without looking completely ridiculous."
"… I guess you have a point." the blonde grumbled.
Adam scanned the area the bandages covered on his other self's face, and noticed something was… off… the area the bandage covered didn't match up with the area of the branding scar he had. It was more vertical instead of horizontal… and it seemed to be slightly wider. Maybe even a bit longer. He'd have to ask Spade later, though they might not have an answer for him.
He looked at the vial, glancing up when he heard shouting.
"I cannot believe you!"
Cinder pressed her index fingers together as she was being yelled at.
"This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"
"I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to do any of that!" she glanced at him before looking back at the ground.
"You dolt! What're you even doing here?! Aren't you too young to be attending Beacon?!" he bent down to eye level with her.
"Uhm… well…"
"This isn't just some ordinary combat school! We don't just spar and practice! We're going to be fighting actual monsters, y'know!"
Cinder glared at him and stood up straight, "Hey, I said I was sorry! Are you some arrogant prince or something?!"
"Was Weiss really like this at Beacon?" Oscar asked.
Teams RWBY and JNPR looked at each other before all nodding.
"I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was a major brat during our first year at Beacon… I got a bit better closer to the festival, though. At least… I think I did…" Weiss scratched her head.
Ren spoke up, "You did, but you still had your moments."
"He's an heir, actually."
The two looked over to the boy holding the vial as he walked over.
"Roman Torchwick, heir to the Torchwick Dust Company… one of, if not the, largest producers of energy propellant in the world…"
Roman interrupted him, "Well, at least someone knows what they're talking about!"
"The same company infamous for its former owners, the Schnee's, controversial labor forces, and questionable business partners." the redhead added, a faint hint of a glare on his face.
"Excuse me?!" Roman looked appalled and offended.
Cinder giggled as he struggled to find the words to insult his insulter. He gave up and just snatched the vial from his hand and walked off, servants following behind with all the Dust cases.
"So the Schnee's did own the company… what could've happened?" Ironwood muttered.
The Schnee siblings all had the same question the general had, though none of them asked it out loud.
"I can make this up to you later! Maybe." she shouted as Roman stormed off, although she mumbled the last part.
She sighed, "Didn't think my first day would go like this… so, what's your…" she turned to see the other boy walking away, "…name…" she hung her head in defeat.
"Adam."
Ruby looked appalled, "Wha- hey! How come she got an answer and I didn't?! Blake just ignored me!"
Blake and a few others laughed at the flabbergasted Ruby.
She perked up and look at him- although he was still walking away- with a smile. Her smile quickly faded when she remembered she still didn't know what to do. She plopped down to the ground and fell on her back.
"At least I made one friend… I think…" she closed her eyes.
A shadow appeared over her, making her open her eyes again. She raised an eyebrow.
"… aren't you the kid who threw up on the way here?" she asked as he extended his hand and helped her up.
"Uh… yeah… I'm Qrow."
"Cinder."
The scene cut to Cinder and Qrow walking around a different area of campus.
"Ironic, right? I can turn into a bird and fly around yet I easily get motion sick."
Cinder stifled a laugh, "Yeah… that's- that's pretty ironic. Lucky you, huh?"
Qrow winced a bit at the last statement.
Qrow chuckled, "That's usually how my luck goes… anyways, 'vomit boy?' Really?"
"Look, that was the first thing I thought of, okay?"
"Oh really? What if I called you 'crater face?'"
"That was an accident!"
"Right, well, my name's Qrow Branwen. And Raven is my twin sister."
"I'm Cinder Fall. James Ironwood is my older brother."
Qrow raised an eyebrow, "Half-brother?"
Cinder shook her head, "Adopted.-"
"Called it." Sienna muttered.
"-My bio parents left me at an orphanage when I was three."
The theater fell quiet and a few people looked at Cinder, who just shrugged it off. It wasn't any of their business if that was true.
"Oh… sorry about that…"
She shrugged, "Eh, it's fine. I like my current parents better anyways."
"Right… so, I have this." Qrow pulled a compacted sword off his back, extending it into a single-edged greatsword, and dug it into the ground, "It's also a shotgun and a scythe. Although, I don't use the scythe very often…"
Cinder looked amazed by it and quickly took out her own weapon, which was still in the form of a metal rectangle. Qrow gave her a look and she flipped it around her hand, causing it to extend into a bow.
She broke it over her knee and it shifted into the two swords, "I made it myself! With a little help from my brother and uncle."
"She's going to break her knee if she keeps doing that." Arthur commented, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Spade looked at him, unsure if he had a headache or a migraine due to onscreen Cinder's constant attempts to bust her knee.
Now it was Qrow's turn to look amazed, "I've never seen a weapon be able to completely separate to be a melee weapon. That's really cool!"
"Thanks!"
They both put their weapons away and started walking again.
"So, uh, where are we going?" Cinder asked.
"No clue. I was just following you."
. . .
"We should probably ask for directions."
"Yeah, probably."
The screen faded to black again as the two laughed.
Continue to next... uh... page? Chapter? Idfk.