Chapter 2: A Different Fire
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It was a snowy winter day, Cinder and Jaune were at the age of 14 and they had just finished killing a traitor to their Mother.
Jaune now sported a scar on his eye after the Mission with Tyrian. Cinder and her Brother sported winter wear. Cinder then looked at the dead traitor as his lifeless body leaked blood from the wounds she had given him. She looked down at the body with pity and then she looked at her hands, which were soaked in blood. Her eyes began to tear up.
Jaune glared at the body and then spit some of his blood onto it, and he then just sheathed his sword and looked at the body of the traitor with disgust written all over his face. "Damn traitor," He said "at least he was useful in the end"
Useful.
That's right.
That's all they were to their Mother, no, to Salem. Useful. Not needed or wanted. Just useful. And when their usefulness ran out, what then? What would become of her and her brother?
"Let's go" Jaune said
"No"
Jaune turned around with confusion on his face as if he was hearing something that baffled him beyond anything. "No?" Jaune asked "What the hell do you mean by "no" Cinder?"
"I mean no Jaune" Cinder replied, tears falling from her face as she looked away from her blood-stained hands. "No more Jaune, I've had enough of this! I will not return home to Moth- To Salem"
Jaune looked stunned, and a smile crept onto his face, "You're kidding right, you're just joking right Cinder?" Jaune asked as a sad smile graced his features.
Cinder saw the look of confusion of pain written on her brother's face. It hurt her, but she knew what needed to be done and said.
"No, Jaune, I'm through," She said
"No...NO! YOU CAN'T LEAVE!" Jaune cried in anger "You'd betray Mother? Our Mother!"
"SHE ISN'T OUR MOTHER!" Cinder said "DO YOU REALLY THINK SHE CARES FOR US!? FOR ME!? FOR YOU!?" Cinder cried
Jaune just stood there with a glare, but Cinder saw the pain on his face, and she was sure that he was feeling betrayed
"Come with me Jaune! We can leave together!" Cinder pleaded with her brother, "We'll disappear! Salem will never find us!" Cinder said
"Mother loved you! She favored you! She chose you! And you want to throw it all way! And for what!?" Jaune cried "Because of the traitor!?"
"No! Because of you!" Cinder cried
Jaune looked stunned but then his glare returned and hardened.
"Mother- Salem, beats you! Tortures you! Broke you! Humiliated you! I can't let that happen anymore! Not to us! Not to you!" Cinder cried
Jaune's tears fell more rapidly and he gritted his teeth as he looked to his sister, "You... You really think so little of me!? DO YOU REALLY THINK OF ME AS THAT WEAK!?" Jaune cried
"Jaune, no-" Cinder began
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I'M NOT WEAK! I'M NOT! I AM STRONG! AND I'LL PROVE IT!" Jaune cried
Jaune then unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Cinder, his immense aura flaring up as he looked to Cinder with a glare. He wiped his tears away, as to not show that he was weak. Cinder looked stunned at his action.
"Cinder Fall, Return to Forevernight Castle with me or be branded as a traitor and die here!" Jaune said as he seethed with anger
Cinder looked at her brother as tears continued to fall from her eyes, "Don't make me fight you Jaune... don't make me shed more blood today"
Jaune's teeth gritted and then took a fighting stance and looked at her with a hardened glare, "You will die here... my traitorous sister" Jaune told him "You've wounded me greatly, sister..." Jaune said
Cinder's heart broke and she cried more but she resolved herself and with a painful feeling in her heart, she used her semblance, and with the glass, she formed two glass swords in her hands. "Forgive me... Jaune" Cinder said
"I'll never forgive you... traitor" Jaune said with an angry tone
Cinder took a fighting stance with her two swords and flared up her aura as well as she looked at her brother.
'that day... despite wiping away his tears, my brother still cried as did I... and we didn't stop crying even when the battle was over... even after I had killed him'
Ruby ran out of her room to retrieve her board game from the Library as she had forgotten it. Before that, she and the rest of her team had agreed to find out just what Roman and the White-Fang were up to and they would hatch a plan... after she got her board game back of course.
However, the Young Reaper was not looking where she was going and she had run into someone, causing her to fall back onto her butt. She looked up to see three teenagers that she had never seen before, two boys and a girl. one boy had grey hair, the girl had jade green hair, and the other boy had scraggly blond hair and a scar going down his left eye. He was the one he had pumped into.
Ruby looked sheepishly at him, "O-Oh god sorry!" Ruby said "Are you ok?" she asked the blonde boy
Jaune smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine," Jaune said with a chuckle, he held out a hand for her and helped her up
"R-Right, well I'm Ruby" Ruby introduced to her
"Jaune Arc" Jaune replied "These are my teammates Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black," Jaune said
"Hello," Emerald greeted with a fake smile
"Sup" Mercury said with a smirk
"Nice to meet you all!" Ruby said with a smile "Are you guys new?"
"We're visiting from Haven actually," Jaune said
Ruby looked to Jaune and Jaune looked back. Both stared into the eyes of the other and that's when Jaune noticed her eyes. They were Silver. In fact, she looked very familiar for some reason.
"Ooo! you must be here for the festival!" Ruby said with excitement, "But exchange students have their own dormitory"
Mercury shrugged, "I guess we just got turned around," He said with a smirk
Ruby giggles, "Oh well, it happens to the best of us," She said with a smile "Um, your building is... just east of here"
Emerald and Mercury began to walk away and Jaune just looked at Ruby with a smile. "Thanks for the help" Jaune said, "Maybe we'll see each other again some time" Jaune finished as he walked away
Ruby turned to him with a smile, "Yeah, hopefully!" Ruby Cried "Oh! and Welcome to Beacon!"
Hearing that, Jaune's smile widened and it became wicked as he continued to walk, happy to finally be here at Beacon and have his plan going so well so far.
Eventually, they had made it to their dormitory on the eastside just like Ruby had told them. They found their room and Jaune unlocked it and they entered the room and once they were all inside the room, Jaune closed the door and locked it behind him.
"So, what's the plan now, Jaune?" Mercury asked
Jaune smiled as he sat on one of the beds and looked to his two Teammates, "For now, Neo will be helping Roman at the docks tomorrow and will join us eventually, meanwhile, Adam and the White-Fang will be at Mt. Glenn preparing for Phase 3 of our plan and as for us, we will act as regular students of Haven" Jaune replied, "But while we pose as students, the two of you will also need to find who might pose a threat to us and our plans"
"There's that Ruby girl, she fits Roman's description, of the girl that's been stopping him lately" Emerald said
Jaune nodded, "Yes, I already knew she was trouble when I saw her eyes," Jaune said
"Her eyes?" Emerald asked
"She has silver eyes, those with them are called Silver-Eye Warriors," Jaune said, he then touched the scar on his left eye, "Let's just say that the last one I fought, I was almost killed"
Mercury and Emerald were stunned to hear this, Jaune was the strongest of them, he even took down Grimm that Huntsmen had trouble dealing with. To hear that some silver-eyed person had almost brought Jaune to near-death was crazy.
"So she's threat number 1?" Mercury asked
"More like threat number 3 or 4" Jaune said "She might not have control of them or even awakened them at all, the two biggest threats we have to worry about are Ozpin and The Fall Maiden" Jaune finished
"What about that Nikos chick?" Mercury asked
"She's no threat, if she tries to ruin our plans I'll take care of her with my Semblance," Jaune said "Besides, for now, it's Ruby and her team we must worry about, they always seem to find themselves ruining our plans," Jaune said
The two nodded in agreement
"For now, you can enjoy yourselves and do whatever, but keep a low profile," Jaune said
They agreed and decided it was best to rest for now and then explore Beacon the next day. Jaune was just excited that he had slipped past right under the nose of Ozpin and his little pawns.
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The next day, Jaune had decided to explore Beacon and truth be told, his mother was wrong. Beacon was very beautiful. Its great hall was a thing of beauty and its gardens were stunning. Even the bright green glow of the CCT tower rivaled the forever night sky back home. Jaune knew his mother was strong and quite wise, but she had let her hatred for Ozpin blind her to the beauty that the Kingdoms held.
He eventually made it to the courtyard where the statue he had heard about stood. He smiled at it because it showed victory and strength. Everything he had thrived to have. But more than that, it showed power. Power over one's enemies, power over the weak.
Weak.
Jaune hated that word with every fiber of his being. He was once weak and he knew what weakness brought.
Nothing.
It had brought them nothing but heartbreak. His weakness brought about his torture at the hands of his mother, His weakness causing him to be marked by a Silver-eyed warrior, and his weakness caused his sister to leave.
Weakness had cost him everything and he would not be weak anymore. His weakness would never take away what mattered most.
But he wasn't weak anymore. He was strong and he had power.
With his strength, he was unmatched by most, and with his power, he found he could do anything. He picked up many tricks since he had to become stronger. Since his sister had left him. He learned how to manipulate people, he learned to play this little game of chess smart, he learned how to be discreet.
Jaune smiled, He used some of these tricks when recruiting Emerald and Mercury, though, even he had admitted that while he had just wanted to use them at first, he had grown a soft spot for the two. He found them to be annoying at first but he had found their banter to be funny.
Mercury was an assassin, skilled in killing without remorse, which was useful and the biggest reason Jaune had kept him around. Mercury was useful, and that's what mattered the most to the Blonde Knight, however, Jaune had no idea what he would do without Mercury's snark.
As for Emerald, her skill on par with Mercury, and her Semblance was very useful. And if it wasn't for the two, Jaune would have never offered to take her away from her old life. However, she was also a woman, and Jaune needed someone to take the Maiden's powers... and Emerald would be strong enough to use the power, and because of her obvious infatuation with him, he could use that. But, He had found that he had come to somewhat care for her after he learned just what she had suffered.
Despite what his mother said, Fear doesn't always work with getting help. Fear made you obey, but eventually, the fear would cause others to leave and abandon the cause of his Mother.
Connections through actual bonds made people follow you, even into hell. Which was what Mercury and Emerald were doing
He wondered how Cinder would recruit them?
Probably through fear just like his mother, but then again, he didn't know, after all, she had abandoned the cause. Abandoned him.
Jaune would bring his sister back, or he would do what he must and kill her. He might just kill her anyway. After all, she had left him for dead... abandoned him to his fate with his mother.
As he remembered his sister, the center of his chest began to burn. Anger and hate had filled his body like a cup of water, and a glare formed as he stared at the ground.
'Control yourself Jaune... she isn't even here, There's no need to have your aura begin to flare up!' Jaune scolded himself
He regained himself and returned to thinking about how far he had come
"I shouldn't be concerned with her..." he told himself aloud "She's not he-"
"Onward fearless leader! We'll be able to go and get dinner finally!"
Jaune was taken out of his thoughts and inner monologue by the annoying sound of a Beacon student. He was very annoyed that he was taken out of his thoughts.
"Nora calm down, we just got through training"
"I'm sorry about my shield Ren"
"Don't bother Pyrrha, he knew what he signed up for when he fought you"
That last voice caught his attention.
He had heard it before.
He had heard it his whole life.
His eyes widened and he became shocked, so he turned around quickly to find the source of the familiar voice. Once he did, his expression turned to shock, before finally turning into anger. Unyielding Rave filled him and his anger and disgust now overflowed through him, and his chest began to burn once more.
He saw her... But she didn't see him
He saw Cinder.
He saw his sister with her team.
He saw how happy she looked and how she laughed alongside them
And it really... PISSED HIM OFF!
"DO IT! NOW! SHE'S HERE WE CAN KILL HER!" Cried a voice inside his head
Jaune fought the urge and the voice, despite how much anger he felt 'I need to think of the overall mission... I can not fail mother!' Jaune cried to himself
Jaune then began to slowly walk to the emerald forest itself, making sure he wasn't followed
"YOU WILL FAIL MOTHER IF YOU DON'T KILL THE TRAITOR! REMEMBER WHAT SHE DID TO US! SHE PROMISED! SHE MADE A PROMISE AND SHE BROKE IT!" Cried the voice yet again
Jaune was almost there. He could feel his mind and heart become overtaken by hate and anger and, slowly, his own aura began to flare up, going past its normal 100% limit. He tried to hold back until he was far enough in the forest. But his Aura levels kept rising...
110%
120%
"SHE LEFT US FOR DEAD! BETRAYED US! AND FOR WHAT!? SO SHE CAN PLAY A GOOD GIRL HERO AND BE HAPPY!? HAPPINESS IS NOTHING! FRIENDS ARE NOTHING! ALL THAT MATTERS IS STRENGTH AND POWER! BONDS ARE WEAKNESSES! WE ARE NOT WEAK!" Cried the voice
130%
140%
Jaune finally made it into the Emerald Forest and he was a good distance away from the school and he began to take deep breaths, trying to calm himself and the raging voice that was inside his head.
"SHE BETRAYED US! DID YOU SEE HER LAUGHING WITH THESE FOOLS! SHE DOESN'T EVEN WANT US! SHE NEVER WANTED TO BE BY OUR SIDE! SHE NEVER CARED!"
Jaune grunted in pain as he clutched his head and he fell to his knees. "Enough! I don't want to hear anymore!"
"BECAUSE YOUR WEAK! YOU STILL CARE FOR HER AND THAT'S YOUR WEAKNESS!"
150%
160%
"I-I do not still care for that traitor sister of mine!" Jaune cried out as he slumped next to a tree still clutching his head
"LOOK HOW PATHETIC YOU ARE! YOUR WHINING LIKE A CHILD OVER CINDER! THE TRAITOR! THE WOMAN WHO LEFT US FOR DEAD AFTER SHE SHIT US IN THE CHEST WITH AN ARROW! THE ONE WHO LEFT US ALONE!"
170%
180%
Tears began to leave Jaune's eyes and he clutched his head tighter, "Stop! Stop! Make it stop damn it! MAKE IT STOOOOOP!" Jaune cried
190%
1,000%
Jaune's aura then just spiked and rose rapidly to the point it seemed believable. The force his aura unleashed causes the ground beneath him crushed underneath the weight of his aura and trees were blown back and even torn right from the ground. The area where he unleashed his spiked aura was clear of all trees and bushes, there were even a few small creatures that were dead.
Tears fell from his now dull cobalt blue eyes as he stared at the destruction lifelessly. His mind was not completely there, "I am strong... I am strong... I am strong... I'm not weak... I'm not weak... I'm not weak... Wait... W-Who am I?" Jaune asked himself, he looked at his hands and he began to think hard, "I-I'm Jaune Arc... That's right I am Jaune Arc, second child to My mother, Salem, Queen of the Grimm and most loyal and strongest of her servants..." Jaune told himself as he picked himself up and began walking back to his room, he wiped the tears from his face and looked down at his wet hand, and he just glared at his hand.
"How Pathetic of me... I thought I wasted all those tears on her all those years ago" Jaune said aloud
He made it back eventually and he opened the door and looked to see a worried Emerald as well as a slightly worried Mercury. Emerald ran up to him and hugged him tightly before breaking away from the hug and looking at him with a worried expression.
"Jaune, Are you ok!? What happened to cause your aura to spike like that!?" Emerald asked a worried tone heard within her voice
Jaune wanted to be angry at her but he couldn't, he needed to be, he was their leader and he wasn't supposed to show weakness. "I'm fine Em, Merc, I just got carried away with training," he said with a fake smile
Emerald sighed in relief and Mercury's smirk returned to his face.
"You always go too far Jaune," Mercury said with a smirk
Jaune just chuckled more, "yes, I suppose I do sometimes" Jaune replied "Also... The plan has slightly changed"
The two looked to their boss/friend in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Emerald ask
"I've recently discovered that a traitor from long ago is here at Beacon and I know that she is here for a reason... So, Emerald, I want you to get close to her and whoever might be on her team, gain their trust" Jaune said "This traitor is strong and very dangerous, in fact, she overlaps Ruby rose as the 3rd threat, do not underestimate her"
Emerald nodded, "who's that target?" Jaune asked
"Her name is Cinder Fall," Jaune said "And she appears to be on the same team and the Pyrrha Nikos"
Emerald nodded,
"Whoa, hold on, why are you choosing Em to get close to this Cinder chick?" Jaune asked
"Because our dear Emerald is the only person here who can take the Fall Maiden's powers, Emerald will be my Fall maiden, and I have a feeling that Cinder is either the Fall Maiden or knows who she might be... and If Emerald can gain her trust, then half of our mission will be complete," Jaune said "Don't. Underestimate. Her" Jaune finished
Emerald nodded but then looked at Jaune with a bit of a worried look, "Jaune?" Emerald called out
"Yes, Emerald?" Jaune asked
"You and this Cinder woman... Why is she so important to you?" She asked
Jaune's chest then began to burn a little but he ignored the "She and I... have history," Jaune said "History that needs to end soon... and it will end" Jaune said with a smile
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Cinder walked through the snowy landscape. It had been only 2 hours since she had... Since she... Took her brother's life.
Cinder's eyes were red from the crying she had done. Not only that but her right arm had been broken and a long and deep gash on the left side of her body went from her hip to her rib. A wound Jaune had given her.
Jaune.
Her brother.
The person she was supposed to have his back and he with hers. The person she had grown up with, the person she trained with, the person she had fought with... The person she loved more than anyone in the world, was dead.
Dead by her hands. She had killed him. His blood was strained on her clothes, her body, her face, and her hands. She looked to her hands, now that we're stained by the blood of her brother, her entire form was stained with the blood of her brother.
"Oh... Oh gods"
Cinder's hands began to shake and she began to cry yet again. Tears fell on her bloody hands and she fell to her knees in the snow. She began to sob uncontrollably as her bloody and tainted red hands mixed with the pure white snow and tears fell from her eyes.
"By the brother gods, what have I done!? What have I done!?" Cinder cried, she then looked up to the sky as tears fell from her eyes and a terrified look graced her face, "FORGIVE ME! GODS FORGIVE ME! I KNOW WHAT I HAVE DONE! I KNOW I'M GOING TO HELL! I KNOW! I KNOW! I'M SORRY! FORGIVE ME, BROTHER! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! JAUNE! JAUNE PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR BEING SUCH A TERRIBLE SISTER! FORGIVE ME! PLEASE JAUNE! I BEG OF YOU TO FORGIVE ME!" Cinder cried out into the sky
Tears fell from her eyes as she sobbed loudly. He cried and cried till finally, she could no longer because her wound had begun to act up and her vision began to blur and she fell right into the snow. Her eyes were half-open as she slowly began to lose consciousness...
"Forgive me..." She said as she completely blacked out.
However, just as she blacked out, a horse and its hooded rider approached her unconscious body. "Oh, my..." said the hooded "what has happened to you?" they asked
Cinder woke up quickly, her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, her breathing quickened and she quickly got up and ran to the bathroom in her dorm room and closed the door shut before locking it. She turned on the shower and quickly began to strip down. When the water of the shower was at a certain temperature, which was hot, she jumped into it and began cleaning herself with her hands, she scrubbed and rubbed her chest, arms, and face. Trying to remove something that wasn't there, but something she thought was.
"I-I can't w-wash i-it off!" Cinder sobbed as she rubbed her arms in a furious fashion "why w-won't it come off!? I-I keep sc-scrubbing but why won't it w-wash off!? W-Why won't the blood go away!?" Cinder cried as tears fell from her face
Cinder saw blood. Blood covered her, she could feel it and she looked to see blood covering her hands, her chest, and even her face scrubbed harder before finally deciding to grab lufa and use it to scrub her skin, which began to cause pain.
"GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!" Cinder cried loudly as she scrubbed her arms harder
There was a loud knock on the bathroom door, "Cinder!? Are you ok!?" Came the loud voice of Pyrrha
Cinder didn't answer; she just looked in fright and anger, as if she was faced with her biggest fear, as she continued to scrub her skin to the point that she actually began to bleed, causing real blood to seep from her arm. Since there was no answer, the bathroom door was kicked open by Pyrrha as Ren and Nora stood behind her.
Once the door was kicked down, they rushed over to the curtain and Pyrrha threw it to the side and saw the sight before her. Cinder was scrubbing her arm rapidly and small amounts of blood leaked from her arm
"Oh my Oum! Cinder Stop!" Pyrrha cried
Pyrrha grabbed Cinder's arm and stopped her from her scrubbing. She then pulled Cinder out of the shower and managed to remove the lufa from her hand and held her tightly as she struggled and tried to continue to scrub her arm.
Pyrrha looked over to Nora, "Nora get me a towel! Ren, go get one of the professors!"
Nora and Ren quickly did as Pyrrha said. Nora went to grab a towel and Ren ran out of the room and rushed down the hall to get one of the professors, as he ran he pumped sides with someone and apologized as he continued to run.
Emerald turned to see the boy run before she turned back to see the commotion that was taking place with Team FVPR and she also saw Team RWBY get out of their room and see what it was about. Emerald smiled to herself and decided to use this opportunity to get close to the two teams. She ran over to the two teams and looked into the room and saw a Raven-haired teen wrapped up in a large blanket, her hair and body were wet and dripping on the blanket. When Emerald saw her, she knew who she was right away, Jaune had given her a description of her after all.
This was Cinder Fall. The traitor who had betrayed Jaune. She looked at her and saw how pathetic she looked. Emerald's anger for the woman grew. Emerald already hated her for betraying Jaune. She betrayed the person that had saved her, mentored her, that had... Loved her. She shook her head from thinking about that now and decided to play her role.
"Oum, is everything ok!?" Emerald asked
"Everything's fine for now," Nora said with a bit of a worried look
"Are you sure!? I could go and get a professor?" Emerald said
"We already have someone doing that," Nora replied "Thank you for trying to help though, we really appreciate it"
"Anytime, I just heard some loud noises and came rushing here, I thought someone might be in trouble," Emerald said, still acting
"Again, the help is very much appreciated," Weiss said "Weiss Schnee" Weiss introduced herself to the green-haired girl
"Hi, I'm Nora" Nora introduced herself as well
"I'm Emerald Susitari" Emerald introduced "What happened?" Emerald asked, faking a worried expression
"We... don't know," Weiss said with a glum expression. She looked like someone had just broken something important to her, "We heard screaming and then a door being kicked in, and then we got up and came over here to investigate what was going on" Weiss finished
Emerald nodded, "Well, I'll stay here in case you may need help" Emerald said
Nora shook her head, "You don't have-"
"Please" Emerald cut her off "It's the least I can do," Emerald told the Ginger-haired girl
Nora softly smiled at the green-haired girl and thanked her. Emerald just nodded and waited for the boy to return with one of the professors. Emerald looked to Cinder and she saw how the fellow team looked. She was out of it, in some sort of dazed state just hugging her knees under the blanket like some scared little girl hiding from the boogie-man.
It really pisses her off. She felt nothing but hate for the girl. She and Jaune had history, it wasn't hard to figure out that they were once partners or worse... They were once lovers. The way Jaune had made her a priority to them, the way he held anger in his voice and she saw the burning rage in his eyes, she knew that this Cinder girl's betrayal had hit Jaune deeply and now here she was. Acting so innocent, helpless, and kind, even though Emerald knew Cinder was a monster, and she was a killer just like the rest of them... She was just a coward. A coward and traitor that betrayed Jaune and ran away. Why Jaune had told them to watch out for her was beyond her.
Emerald didn't see a threat.
All Emerald saw was a young woman too weak to handle the harsh reality of this world, so she betrayed the one she cared for.
She betrayed Jaune.
Emerald glared at Cinder. Emerald wasn't Cinder. She was just some coward that hid behind some false life.
Meanwhile, Emerald faced it head-on. She was different and better than Cinder. She was going to be Jaune's Fall Maiden. His Maiden. Not anyone else's... Her. He trusted her more than anyone.
Emerald was not Cinder.
She would not hurt or ever betray Jaune. Emerald would prove herself to him, show him just how better she was compared to Cinder, if need be, she even be the one to kill Cinder and free Jaune from his pain. She would do this all for him. Everything she did was for Jaune. Because he had saved her. He had cared for her, he trusted her more than anyone, and he had loved her... Just as she loved him.
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Cinder was in the infirmary, finishing up her bandages. She looked at her team and felt embarrassed. She had never wanted them to see her in such a state, she had never wanted to see them worry about her. Not because she didn't trust them to see her in a weakened state, she just wished it was later than now and she just wished it wasn't about her brother. She knew that they were going to ask questions, after all, they would want to know why she had a breakdown and why she scrubbed herself so hard with a lufa that she began to bleed.
"I'm sorry," Cinder said, her voice sounding sad
"It's alright, we're just glad that you're ok," Pyrrha told her
Ok wasn't the word Cinder would use to describe herself right now. She was feeling like a mess, and the dream and made her feel so guilty, which only grew more for putting her team through one of her breakdowns.
"Cinder, do you wanna talk about it?" Pyrrha asked
Cinder looked at her partner and saw the concern written on her face, she then looked over to Ren and Nora and also saw their worried expressions. Truthfully, she didn't want to tell the about Jaune, but she didn't think she had a choice at this point. They were going to ask anyway and even if she didn't and brushed off her breakdown, they would just be more concerned, and Cinder didn't want that, it might just cause problems for all of them in the future.
"I... I do, but not here" Cinder told them, "When we get back to our room I'll tell you guys," Cinder said
Pyrrha nodded in agreement.
After their little talk, Professor Peach came in and told her that she would be fine and to let the rest of the wound heal naturally. Cinder thanked the Professor and with that, she left the Infirmary, but not before Peach had told her that she would be reporting this to Professor Goodwitch. Cinder sighed and knew that she was going to have to talk to both Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch about this, which she was a bit hesitant about because it meant that she might have to talk to her about this... and Cinder didn't want to burden her more then she already is.
After that, Cinder along with her team left the Infirmary completely and headed back to their Dorm room. As they walked back, Cinder saw the worried looked that her friends were giving her. Again, she couldn't blame them, but it also made her feel bad that she had put them in such a situation and also made them see her in such a vulnerable state.
FVPR had made it back to their dorm room, Cinder looked across the hallways to their sister team and had noticed that team RWBY was gone now. Cinder thought it would be best to tell them as well, but she supposed it could wait till they got back from whatever it was they were doing.
They entered their dorm room and Cinder sat in the desk chair that they had and turned it so she could see her friends.
"So, what do you want to know first?" Cinder asked
"What caused the Breakdown?" Ren asked, his voice sounding worried
"I was reliving an old memory... one that I relive a lot," Cinder said sadly
Nora looked at her leader with more concern, "But what was it? W-What could've happened that... that... hurt you so much?" Nora asked
Cinder wanted to tell them. She really did, more than anything did she want to tell them, but she was afraid. Afraid that they would look at her differently... that they would not see her as their leader, as their friend, but as a monster. She didn't want that. She couldn't have them look at her like that, she didn't want Ren, Nora, or even worse, Pyrrha to look at her like that. She couldn't... she just couldn't te-
"Cinder"
Cinder was taken out of her thoughts by her partner's voice and she looked to her. Bright Green eyes met crimson-yellow. Pyrrha just smiled at her partner, with a soft and understanding smile that Pyrrha was known to wear. Pyrrha was one of the most understanding and kind people she knew, and if Pyrrha could understand, then she was sure that Nora, Ren, and even RWBY would understand.
"It was about my brother..." Cinder said
"You... had a brother?" Ren asked, "How come we never knew?"
"Because he isn't someone I like to talk about... I don't like to talk all that much about what I did before I came to Beacon" Cinder said, "I and My brother... we did a lot of terrible things before we came to Beacon" Cinder said
"Like what?" Pyrrha asked
Cinder sighed, "Before I tell you any of that... I think it's better if I tell you how I grew up first before I get to... my sins" Cinder said
they all nodded
"Just take your time Fearless leader," Nora said with a soft and kind smile
Cinder smiled as she felt relaxed that Nora was giving her the chance to talk and tell her story, "I and my brother were raised by our mother... she was and probably still is a cruel woman and a major criminal" Cinder began "My mother hated weakness and those who couldn't be useful to her, so in order to make us stronger and to not be weak, she taught us to find those without strength, and those with dreams to be weak... for a time, we- I believed her, and to make us stronger, she had made I and my brother fight each other until one of us were beaten and bloody, the winner would be praised and the loser was punished... severely"
Pyrrha looked at Cinder with a very concerned look, "What... what happened to the loser?" Pyrrha asked
"They would be whipped, beaten, tortured, starved... removed of their clothing while put in a cold place, but that wasn't even the worse thing" Cinder began "There was a pit... thing was so big and wide we could move around, and it was so deep that we needed a rope to climb out... worse, we were forced to try and climb out... we did, but it would take many tries," Cinder said
Her teamed looked at her with a sad look, she knew it would happen, and they pitied her no doubt, it made her feel cared for since they were saddened but it hurt, knowing that she was showing them a weak side of her, a side of her that she thought she had gotten over with her time with her parents.
"Did you lose?" Pyrrha asked
"Rarely, I won more times than I could count... it was my brother who got the worst of it" Cinder said "He was punished more out of the two of us... and while I tried to be there, he kept pushing me away... and the more he wanted to prove to my mother that he was strong and that he could be useful"
"What happened between you two?" Nora asked, "What caused you to leave your mother?"
"When my brother and I were 14, we were sent to kill a traitor that left my Mother's little group... and we finished the mission, we killed the traitor," Cinder said, She looked up at her friends and saw their expressions of horror and shock, and it hurt her, but she decided to continue, "But in the end, I realized that we were nothing more than pawns in her little game and I couldn't do it anymore, so when my brother wanted to return, I refused, and I tried to convince him to come with me, to run away with me so we could make a better life for ourselves... but he just saw me as a traitor..." Cinder said
Nora looked at her leader with worry, "Then what happened?" Nora asked, and she became worried about the answer
"We fought, just like we always did, just like all siblings do I suppose... but this fight, this fight broke us, we slashed and stabbed at each other, and during the entire fight, we cried, I cried because I failed at protecting and saving him... he cried because he thought I betrayed him, that I betrayed our mother... and in the end, I won, I won but I didn't feel any victory"
Ren looked at her with a concerned look, "Did you...?"
Cinder nodded, knowing the question Ren was asking, as she did, as she finally admitted to it, tears fell from her eyes, "I had to, I had no other choice! HE GAVE ME NO OTHER CHOICE!" She cried as tears fell from her eyes rapidly... "He wouldn't have stopped doing my mother's will! He would have hunted me down! He would've become a monster! All because I couldn't save him!" Cinder cried as she finally broke down
She sobbed loudly, but this time instead of suffering alone in the snow, she felt many pairs of arms wrapped around her and held her tightly as she sobbed. A warm feeling rose up into her chest, despite telling them about her past, and about her sins, they still cared for her. They didn't need to say it, they were already showing it, and that was the greatest response that she had received from them. It just proved to her that Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. Hopefully, when Team RWBY got back, they would understand just like her team.
For now, Cinder felt at peace.
If only she knew the revelation she would come to learn soon...