Chapter 3: The Maiden

The blonde girl had led the Mandalorian to a bar in the center of town. As Djarin expected, every patron in the bar stared at him with curious looks on their faces. "Over there." she said, pointing to a woman sitting at a table to the right of the bar stand. The woman sat smoking a cigarette, not looking very happy seeing one of her employees in the arms of an uninvited guest.

"Why, Jill…" the woman said with a tone of false sympathy. "What seems to have happened to you?"

Slowly looking down to the girl in his arms, Djarin was prepared to act if Jill went back on her word. However, Jill wasn't born yesterday. She knew right at once what to do.

"He saved me." she quickly replied. "A few bandits came into town asking about you. Jack and I wouldn't talk, so they killed Jack and the others. I tried to run, but their shots hit my legs. Right before they finished me off, this man saved me." she said, showing the wounds on her legs.

The woman examined her wounds, putting her cigarette in an ash tray. "I see. Only bandit tribe around here is that Branwen tribe. Not sure what they want with me, but you did the right thing Jill. You should get those wounds checked out." Another man in purple cautiously walked over to the Mandalorian. Putting her down, Djarin watched as Jill reached out to the other man and started to walk away.

"Well, it seems I owe you a debt, stranger." the woman said with a smile. "Lil' Miss Malachite never forgets someone who helped her. However, you don't strike me as the 'daring hero' type to me, Mr…?"

Not wanting to waste any more time, the Mandalorian got straight to the point. "I'm told you know something about 'Cinder Fall'."

Lil' Miss Malachite's smile disappeared, realizing now was the time for business. "I do. But I should warn you, you're not the only one looking for her." she said, pointing towards the bar. Sitting at the far end was a short girl with pink and brown hair. Looking at his direction, Djarin saw her carrying what looked like a small umbrella. But what caught his immediate attention was the look on her face. If looks could kill, Djarin would be dead before he hit the floor. Her face was filled with anger, apparently not taking a liking to the Mandalorian.

"She's looking for Cinder as well. She won't say why, though. As a matter of fact, she won't say anything." Malachite told the Mandalorian. "If you're planning on taking Cinder to the police, it seems you have some competition." Djarin was all the wiser, though. It was clear that whoever this woman was, she wouldn't be taking Cinder to the police. Not alive, at least. Worried she would kill Cinder before getting the chance to question her, Djarin decided to clear the air. Walking towards the girl, she immediately grabbed her umbrella, as if she was going to use it as a weapon against him.

"Look," he said, stopping a couple of feet away from her. "I don't know what you want with Cinder, and I don't care. I have some questions I need to ask her. All I ask of you is that you leave her alive for a couple of minutes. Once I have what I want, she'll be all yours. Just five minutes, that's all I ask." Grabbing a napkin from the bar and a pen next to her, she quickly wrote something down and slid it to the Mandalorian. "No promises."

A hooded woman arrived at the empty bar later that evening. Spotting Lil' Miss Malachite at her usual table, she walked towards it. "Do you have my information?" she asked.

"Of course I do, darling. Lil' Miss always delivers. Although, I can't be promised you'll be pleased. Word is they were seen boarding the Argus Limited a few days back. While that isn't exactly far from here, Argus is rarely a destination for folks. Chances are they'll be going straight to…"

"Atlas", the woman said as she started to walk away.

This brought a smile to Lil' Miss Malachite's face. "You know, you turned out to be quite the interesting customer… Cinder." The hooded woman stopped walking after hearing her name, turning back to face Lil' Miss Malachite. "It's not often a single client brings me triple the business."

Cinder then heard a creak above her, turning towards the ceiling. "Wait…" she said, seeing a multi-colored girl with mismatching eyes starting back at her, a smug grin on her face. "Neo?" A click from behind immediately caused her to forget about Neo and stare towards the bar stand. What she saw also caught her off guard. A man in silver armor was standing behind the bar with a pistol pointed at her chest. "I have questions for you." He said, walking out of the bar stand. "Come quietly, and you won't get hurt."

Neo apparently didn't like what she heard, her smug expression quickly turning sour. Leaping from the canopy, Cinder quickly raised her arms to shield herself from Neo. However, Neo's body shattered into a million pieces, catching both her and the other hunter off guard. Looking to her right, Cinder saw Neo leap towards her again, only this time she didn't shatter. This time, she pushed Cinder back a couple of feet before jumping away. "What are you doing?!" Cinder yelled. Neo flipped back towards the man in armor, unfolding her umbrella. Regaining his focus, he fired a couple of shots in her direction. Only instead of bullets, they looked like red bolts of heat. Cinder quickly dodged both shots, not worrying about what she just saw. Neo took this opportunity and managed to hit Cinder with the tip of her umbrella and kicking her in the gut, launching her into Miss Malachite's table. With her hood off and her face filled with anger, Cinder launched herself at Neo, sending a bandaged fist in her direction, which was quickly blocked by the umbrella. After her firsts made contact with the umbrella again and again, Cinder felt her arm get wrapped in a cable. Turning around, she saw the armored man holding the other end of the cable and felt another kick to her gut, which sent her flying backwards. However, Cinder was able to use the momentum to flip on her hands and kick her other attacker right in his helmet. Landing on his back, he narrowly avoided her fist making contact with his neck and landed a punch of his own in her face. Getting back on his feet, Djarin sent more punches in her direction, which she successfully blocked. Djarin then saw a flaming fist hit his helmet, which fazed him. Before she could hit him again, Djarin pulled out his vibroblade knife and slashed at her chest. He felt it make contact with something, but he didn't see a scratch on her robe. Instead, he thought he saw an orange light around her chest. Cinder sent a kick to his chest, which only seemed to be absorbed by his armor. Before she could send another one, Cinder felt something shatter at the back of her head. Turning around, she saw Neo use her umbrella to throw more cups and bowls from the bar in her direction. Running towards her while dodging the projectiles, Cinder grabbed Neo's leg from a failed kick and threw her towards Djarin. Using the umbrella to slow her down, Neo quickly backed away as Cinder used a chair to send a kick in her direction. After blocking more punches and kicks with her umbrella, Neo saw Cinder use a table to send her flying towards the ceiling. Pushing against the ceiling, Cinder sent a flaming fist at Neo's face, which she barely dodged. Instead, the fist caused the ground to explode, with Neo jumping to the side and Cinder jumping to the canopy.

"That's enough, ladies!" Miss Malachite yelled, catching Cinder and Neo's attention. Standing behind a table, the Mandalorian saw an opening and fired a blue circle from his blaster. Hitting his target, Cinder let out a weak groan and fell to the floor motionless. Neo looked towards him, with an angry expression.

"Don't worry, she's stunned." he replied. Picking her up and placing her on her shoulder, he turned back to Lil' Miss Malachite. "Sorry about the mess." he said throwing her the bag of Lien he got from Jill. Catching it, the woman smiled. "I love dinner and a show, but whatever you're doing with her, it's time to take it outside."

After a minute of walking through the forest, Djarin felt someone tap his back. Turning around, he saw Neo with a small device in her hand. Looking at the blue screen, he read "Where are you going?"

"My ship is out there. I need someplace private to talk to her." he replied.

"You're camping out here? You're not very bright, are you?"

"What?"

Rolling her eyes, Neo went back to her Scroll and typed something else. "Camping among the Grimm isn't easy. Or safe. You're either brave or stupid."

"Camping among the WHAT?" he asked.

Looking confused, Neo went back to her Scroll. After about half a minute, he looked back at her screen. "You know, the creatures of Grimm. Monsters, demons, whatever you like to call them. Let your guard down for one second, and you're as good as dead."

After reading this, the Mandalorian turned around and started running deeper into the woods. Shocked by this, Neo quickly regained her senses and gave chase.

It took Djarin about ten minutes to walk from the Razor Crest to town. He made it back in less than five. But what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks. Three black creatures were clawing at his ship, looking for a way in. Setting Cinder down against a tree, Djarin quietly took his Amban sniper rifle off his back. Aiming at the closet creature, he fired. As his target quickly disintegrated, the other two looked in the direction of the sound. Seeing the Mandalorian trying to reload, the two creatures quickly ran towards him. Jumping out of the way, Djarin quickly aimed his rifle at another one. Firing, he saw the other Grimm turn into nothing. Before he could reload, a clawed hand struck the Mandalorian. Falling to the ground, the Grimm quickly pounced on its prey. Using his rifle, Djarin was able to keep the creature from biting his head off. But he was quickly losing his strength, with the monster coming closer and closer. However, it felt a sharp pain in its back. Turning around, Neo had tried to use the blade in her umbrella to kill it, but failed. Forgetting about the Mandalorian, the Grimm knocked away her umbrella. Slowing crawling towards its prey, the Grimm could smell her fear. It smelled sweet. It enticed the Grimm. Before it could attack, the Mandalorian fired three shots into its back. Falling to the ground, it slowly turned into dust. Walking back to his ship, Djarin quickly opened the door, leaving Neo outside.

"Fine." she said to herself, looking at Cinder against the tree. "Guess I'll carry this bitch inside." Normally she would kill Cinder right here, right now. But this man just saved her life. And Roman always taught her to clear away a debt quickly and efficiently. So, the least she could do was wait a few minutes before killing her.

Opening a smaller door, the Mandalorian looked inside to see the Child standing and smiling at him. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned around to see Neo dragging Cinder inside the Razor Crest. "Alright." he said, closing the small door. "Hand me that wire."

Slowly scrubbing a wooden floor, the young woman was still trying to recover from what happened earlier. Seeing the blood-stained bandage around her arm starting to loosen, she put down the brush and rewrapped it tighter. Hearing footsteps coming from in front of her, she kept her head down and focused on her work. Only to feel a hard kick to her face. Falling on her back, she kept her eyes closed, too afraid to face her attacker. "How many times do I have to tell you?! You're supposed to wash the floor in the direction of the wooden beams, not against them! My God, can you do anything right?!"

"That's a good question." a woman said to him. "Not only can she not clean the floor properly, she's extremely incompetent with the laundry. Honestly, why do you keep her around?"

"I have my reasons." he quickly replied. "But don't worry, I'll make sure she'll get something done properly today. You hear me girl?' he said facing the young woman. Her eyes still closed, he grabbed her by the collar and started to shake her. "I'm talking to you!" he then sent a hard slap to her face. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

"WAKE UP!" Cinder woke up to a loud yell and a black "T" staring back at her. Trying to move, she found herself wrapped in wire sitting on a metal floor. "Alright." her captor said. "Let's get started."

Author's notes: thanks again to everyone who read and replied. You have really good points and I'm glad you're enjoying Mandalorian Remnants. One thing I should mention is that I changed one detail about the canon RWBY story. There's a big time difference between Cinder's and team RWBY's time in V6, but I actually have plans for them to meet sooner than they did in Atlas. So, I changed the time period Miss Malachite mentioned from "a few WEEKS" to "a few DAYS". But don't worry, I think you'll like what I have planned.

To DarkPhoenix455, thanks for the tips. I'll be sure to take my time on these chapters. I'm glad you enjoyed my first two. As for your questions, I'm starting to consider including some shipping. After all, RT's been baiting Bumblebee for YEARS now, something has to be done. Also, I think this chapter may have answered your second question. (But if you were asking about romance for the Mandalorian, no I won't be doing that. I think getting a girlfriend is the last thing on his mind right now).

I hope you enjoyed my little bit of Cinder's backstory. If not, tell me what you think. This is my first story, so I'm open to any criticism. If you liked it, there will be more to come. Again, I don't have a set schedule for updating. Future chapters will be coming, don't worry. While you're waiting, I'd recommend reading some other RWBY works from another user; Unknown user3324. He has really good RWBY stuff, so definitely check him out. Here's his link: u/9620171/Unknown-user3324

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Update: you may see this updated with a new chapter, but I just had to edit this one, made some grammar mistakes.