Yo!
If anyone is at all a League of Legends fan, and hasn't watched the recent final between DRX and T1 (or, hell, even if you haven't), then holy shit, do yourself the favor of watching the hype video, and then put on the series in the background or something because it was the best damned series of league in at least five years. maybe even the best ever. My younger sister, who knew quite literally nothing about league, watched the entire series with me, because it was that good. And the storyline was so good it was insane. Would Faker win his fourth title? Or would Deft, the perennial uncrowned king, the one who could never quite make it over the finish line, alongside a group of underdogs who'd been doubted at all steps of the competition, finally win it all.
I won't spoil it, but it was legitimately epic. I screamed several times, far too loudly, at roughly one in the morning, and just in general caused my family no end of trouble as I kept them awake.
Chapter 19
Glynda Goodwitch groaned slightly as she rested her forearm atop her eyes, laid out on top of her bed and doing her best to pretend like she didn't exist.
It was, as per usual, going rather poorly.
Her stomach still ached, her head still hurt, and her emotions were currently being throttled from all angles by the, frankly, absurd number of things that'd happened earlier in the evening.
Firstly, she'd been dealing with Ms. Sustrai's… could she call such a thing a confession? It had seemed more of a slip than anything, and yet, the expression on the girl's face had told Glynda much.
That even if the words had slipped out unintended, they had not originated from nowhere.
So, she'd gone to dinner with Cinder Fall, her student who she was not actually going on a date with – it was simply a friendly dinner, Cinder had said it herself, even if they both knew she'd been lying – and just when Glynda had mustered up the will to turn the woman down, she'd…
She'd gone and…
Alone, in the comfort and silence of her own room, Glynda allowed her face to redden somewhat at the recollection of Ms. Fall's words.
"You've made me a better person. You've helped me to see myself as… better. To legitimately want to be better. And I hope that in some small way that I've done the same for you, even if I haven't."
"Thank you for that. For everything you've done. You're an inspiration."
…Had anyone ever said such a thing to her? Had anyone in her long and storied career ever said half of that to her? Had anyone taken her out to a fancy restaurant, and clearly taken the entire affair so seriously, dressed in that vibrant red dress that made her amber eyes shine, and told her that she was the reason that they wanted to live?
No. No one had. Not even James.
Because there were just… learned things. Accepted normalities. One did not fully reveal themselves to another. They did not say how they truly felt. That was how things just… were! Or at least, that was how Glynda had understood things were, up until tonight.
And then Cinder, without any grace, without any poise, with a defeated look and a complete lack of social knowledge, had taken a sledgehammer to those conventions. She'd gone and bared her whole heart to her, said the unsaid, the unknown, and now Glynda was meant to, what…
Somehow decipher her feelings on that? In the thirty or so seconds she'd have been given to realistically answer the girl… She couldn't have.
She was almost grateful that Winter Schnee appeared when she did. That she'd prevented her from having to say a word, had allowed her a day or two to clear her head, to more thoroughly orient herself.
…Almost glad.
Because as it turned out, Winter Schnee turning up had also brought up a number of problems.
In the moment, she was fairly certain she'd still had the strength to turn the girl down. To give her the 'no' that she knew she needed to. The line of teacher and student… it shouldn't be crossed.
No matter if Cinder had already been an adult when they'd met. No matter how mature the woman was. No matter how Cinder looked at her. No matter what Glynda herself felt about the matter – and the fact that she felt anything about the matter was enough to make her want to scream – that should've been irrefutable.
"I suppose I know that you can't see me that way."
And wasn't that just the problem!? Because whether or not she liked it, Glynda very much could see the woman that way.
She simply refused to think on it.
And now… now she was given more than enough time to think on it.
Not for the first time, Glynda Goodwitch groaned, her stomach twinging with pain, likely from a combination of stress and nerves, something she was fairly certain she'd never once feel again. Not after that day when she'd waited to hear of her friends' fates, of whether or not they'd escaped the dreaded hell that had become Mt. Glenn.
They'd not come back.
And yet, nearly a decade later, here was Glynda, feeling those same emotions.
It sounded ridiculous, but in the moment, she was unable to deny the weight of that truth. Surely, it wasn't to quite the same degree, nor did it come with the immediate and terrible wave of regret and agony-filled wailing, but the basic principle was similar.
…Glynda did her best to put that out of mind for the moment. To do her very best to separate herself from that particular line of thinking as she was drawn into the last thing that was bothering her.
Namely one Winter Schnee.
Who'd found her at Villa Avitas on the 27th of December.
Who was there because her boss, one General Ironwood, had been turned down by Glynda on a date, and had decided to allow the woman a pleasant evening to enjoy herself while in Vale.
(She likely hadn't needed the charity, but that was really beside the point)
And, if Glynda was right…
Then Winter would be reporting tonight's events back to her boss.
That she'd ostensibly been on a date with a young woman at the very restaurant she'd turned James down for.
Back to James.
Who she'd told none of this.
And Glynda wondered, idly, just what she must've done in some past life to deserve any of this.
…
She needed a second opinion.
Unfortunately, Glynda Goodwitch had long since learned the flaws of being the only adult in the building, which was that when one wanted help, they couldn't exactly turn to Port – who may have ones back in a fight, but wasn't much help in matters of the heart – or Oobleck – who tended to ramble for… far too long – or really anyone else at this gods' forsaken school.
No. Glynda wouldn't be getting any advice from another adult. Normally, she might call James, but…
…That option seemed off the table at the moment, however.
…
…Well, desperate times.
Her scroll rang once, and then a second time, and a third, and a fourth – around here was when a rather deep scowl formed upon Glynda's face – before, finally, the person she'd sought to reach out to picked up.
"Glynda," Ozpin answered her, sounding annoyingly chipper. The man was probably doing the crossword again instead of his paperwork – and he had the nerve to wonder why the council didn't much like him! "I must admit, this is a surprise. You don't often call without notice."
"Yes, well…" She muttered much lower than she'd normally speak, almost embarrassed to talk about this matter without really talking about it, and in the total solitude of her own room. "…I have something I need to discuss with you."
Glynda Goodwitch really did consider herself a rational woman. No, more than that, she found herself consistent. Steadfast. Unyielding in the face of nearly any problem that she may face – current events notwithstanding – but when Ozpin's brow drew down, and she watched in real time as the man in front of her tried to come up with something to say, some way to weasel his way out of this…
"…Can it wait until tomorrow?"
Glynda's eyelid twitched.
"…I'm guessing that's a 'no'?"
"That's a 'no'."
/
Cinder laid in her bed inside of the chamomile dormitory in complete silence.
She had been awake for nearly two hours now, simply peering up at the ceiling above her. Off in the distance, Mercury's glittering lights continued to change colors intermittently, and Cinder had half a mind to be upset about that, to go over and immolate them.
She didn't. There were quite a few reasons, but perhaps the most important of all was that she simply didn't have the energy.
Especially not with that look that'd been on Mercury's face, that…
Cinder frowned.
After the incident at dinner, she'd done her best to distract herself by wandering Vale until the last airbuses were departing, and she'd been forced to return to Beacon. She… hadn't wanted to run into Glynda Goodwitch… not so soon.
And yet, it hadn't helped much at all. She still felt horrible even now.
Nothing was going to be accomplished laying in her bed, with her comforter pulled up around her, and her mind running around in circles. She knew this to be a fact. She would not fall asleep like this. That she knew as well. And yet, when the thought occurred to her to get up, to try and walk the grounds, perhaps, she did not move an inch, did not budge a solitary muscle.
She simply… didn't have the energy.
The day had sapped her of all of it.
Realistically, there had been a definite part of her that had expected something close to this result. That had anticipated coming home disappointed, scorned, wronged.
…No, wronged wasn't… that wasn't…
Cinder hissed through her teeth as she flung her comforter aside and took to her feet, stomping across the room and towards the entrance. She felt more than one set of eyes on her back as she wrenched the door open, and she turned, meeting both in turn.
Both Neo and Emerald looked away from her.
Mercury was fast asleep.
She didn't say a thing to any of them, simply sighed and pushed her way out into the corridor beyond, shutting the door behind her perhaps a tad bit louder than she should've given that it was roughly two or three in the morning. She hadn't exactly kept track while staring aimlessly at the ceiling.
And so, now out in the hallway…
Cinder found she didn't have anything.
Nothing had changed. She was simply standing, alone now in a different space.
Her thoughts did not cease to hound her.
There were a myriad of things assaulting her from all angles. Not the least of which was her scorching anger, the name Fall that hung about her and substituted her weakness and her fear with fury and strength. It was entwined with the Maiden's fire, that which swirled within her breast.
And yet, what was normally all of her was… met. Something had arisen in her that challenged it.
She could not much put a name to it, and yet it was undoubtedly something. It had been the same something that had prevented her from making some idiotic move earlier, from utilizing her power on the innocents of Vale. Had prevented her from thinking herself as being wronged that the evening had not gone entirely her way.
It was the same thing that sung Glynda Goodwitch's story over and over again in her head. Of her team and Mt. Glenn. The same location she was currently planning on mounting a terrorist attack on Vale from. The same location that the White Fang was currently preparing a traincar filled with bombs inside, planning to launch it upon the center of the shopping district during the middle of the evening.
When the population would be at its fullest.
…It did not please her, this new entity.
She shook her head, even as she kept moving.
It was about fifteen minutes later that Cinder found herself walking the courtyard quite a way's outside of Beacon, the heeled boots of her melee-fighter persona clicking with every step she took. It had been so long since she'd really, truly thought about what it was she was doing here in Beacon. That which she had been sent here to do.
No. No, that was unfair to say.
That which she had come here to do.
To raze this place to the ground. To ruin Beacon, to cripple Vale, to take both the second half of the Maiden's flame and the Relic of Choice from under Ozpin's nose. And, while she was at it, to snuff out as many future huntsman and huntresses as she could.
Such had brought such fire into her gut. Such had left her feeling so powerful, so grand and important. Like she was the protagonist of some grand drama, or perhaps the antagonist, in her case. Even still, this story would have no happy ending for anyone but her.
Her revenge against the world that'd taken everything from her.
…
That hand atop her own… it'd all been because of that. All of this, this infernal squabbling inside of her head, the way that her stomach writhed, the way her mind cried out, the way she could not stop her hands from shaking…
No… no that wasn't entirely true. The hand had been the start, but it'd all spiraled out from there. Helping with Emerald's feelings. Helping her to realize the extent that she had… had become the very woman who had once forced a collar onto her neck. Helping her to want to live her life, helping her to think and reason and perhaps even…
…It was all her fault.
Cinder bit down on her bottom lip, her emotions churning within her like a tempest of damned souls, endlessly wailing out in pain and suffering. Half of her demanded vengeance. Vengeance for that little girl who'd been taken into an orphanage, and promised the world, and then trodden upon, and beaten, and enslaved, and shocked, and frozen, and–
…and the little girl herself just…
Cinder breathed harder in that moment than she ever had, feeling like she was going to break entirely. Her hands shook, no, her being shook. She felt her vision swaying, her breathing quickening.
She did her best to make her way towards a nearby bench before she collapsed, rasping out breath after breath in an attempt to bring air into her lungs. She curled in on herself almost subconsciously.
She… Cinder had never…
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. S–
The lightning coursed through her throat, arcing through her body as the matron pressed down upon the button in her hand, as her 'sisters' laughed and called her names, as her world spun around her, as she wished beyond all reason that this would all just end, that she could just know peace, no matter what s–
–he couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She coul–
The snows of Solitas bore down around her, and Cinder did her best to keep the weak kindling in her hands alive. To try and keep her frigid, nearly unfeeling body going. To try and fight the blizzard enveloping her form. She couldn't stop running, she coul–
–dn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. Sh–
'All you'll ever do is run' played on repeat inside her head like a broken record, unending, eternal, and it was the thing that mocked her the most as she collapsed in the snow, because even that she'd given up. The thing Rhodes has told her was all she'd ever do, even that sh–
–e couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe–
She just wanted it to end. Maybe… maybe if she just laid down in the snow, and closed her eyes… maybe then it would end. Maybe then… maybe then she'd… she'd wake up with a family. She'd get a mommy, and a daddy, and they'd love her very much. She'd get a home to call her own, and a room all to herself, and maybe she'd feel that warmth that some she'd seen seem to feel, the warmth that her semblance could bring to other things, could bring to anything, but of course, that which it could never bring to–
/
"And what are you doing here, all alone in the cold?"
Cinder's head rises, looking up without any fight to see a woman in front of her who is…
Who is as ghastly pale as the snow that falls around them. Whose veins run with black and red. Whose eyes glow with an indescribable power.
"…I don't…" She can barely find the strength for those words alone.
The woman simply hovers there – literally hovers, her feet not quite touching the snows beneath her, and Cinder finds some part of her burning with jealousy, for desire, to in that single moment take flight like her. To leave this wretched, cold, meaningless world behind.
No… not just leave it behind… but to… to…
And for some reason, the little growl she gives then entices the woman before her into a long, languid smile.
"How odd. A moment ago, you seemed entirely content to simply lie there and die. And yet now…"
Cinder isn't quite sure what allows her to lift her arm, and reach out towards the woman in front of her. She's not quite sure what part of her conjures up that desire, what even drives her to do so.
And yet the woman before her shows teeth now, clearly pleased.
"What is your name, girl?"
Her lips are frozen over. There is no spittle in her mouth. Dried entirely. And yet somehow, her hoarse throat regains the strength needed to emit her name.
"…Cinder…"
That draws a tiny chuckle from the woman hovering above her.
"How quaint a name. And do you wish to live up to that namesake, little Cinder? Do you wish to strike back at this world that has not but taken from you?"
…Cinder isn't really sure.
Because surely, there is a piece and part of her that only hates. That only rages. That only wishes to set the entire world alight and marvel in its heat. And yet…
There is another part of her that wants only the warmth. That simply desires something to block out the cold.
Perhaps… perhaps this woman would…
Again, she finds strength she did not know she possessed. Cinder climbs to her feet desperately, using every last muscle in her young body. And she stares hard at the woman across from her, her breaths showing in the freezing air of the blizzard that engulfs them.
She simply nods her head.
And that seems answer enough for the woman across from her, whose eyes glow even brighter, whose crimson veins flash with an ethereal power that seems to burn through the storm around them, whose laughter rings out above the howling winds, stronger even than the mightiest of phenomena Solitas could possibly conjure.
"In that case…" The woman says as she turns herself around, beginning to float away before stopping just a little bit further.
"Follow me… and I will give you a pyre to burn."
And Cinder does as commanded.
Her body, at least, survives the day. But Cinder… that tiny girl who'd fallen in the snow, who'd longed only for warmth…
Perhaps she'd been left there in the cold.
/
Cinder wretched as the final bits of vomit poured out of her throat, coating the stone beneath the bench she was laid upon. She panted desperately, trying with all her might to not revert back to that weak and pitiful state she'd just been in.
What a… what a farce… what a pathetic…
She balled her hand into a fist and curled it so hard that her knuckles went white. She felt for the first time in a long while a genuine rage, not at something else, but at herself.
How frail was she? How pathetic was she?
She'd… what… had some sort of panic attack? How astronomically… how immensely…
Cinder slammed her hand against the metal bench, and felt her aura dip as it protected the muscle and bone within her. Even still, it did not block the pain, and she allowed such to flow through her as she seethed.
Her breaths came now. And yet… and yet even so, they were wretched things. She was unable to fully ground herself in that spot, so furious was she with her own self.
She let out a rasping yell as she flooded her semblance into her hands, and wrapped her hands around the bench she had been sat upon. She flooded the metal with heat, heat enough to kill any living being, heat enough to warp and melt the pathetic steel that made up this ornamental fixture. In the next moment, she ripped the entire construct from the stone, and sent the now warped material flying into a nearby bush.
And then silence filled the courtyard as the material clanged against the concrete, before it settled into place. And Cinder was simply left standing there, panting, her muscles aching from flinging a good deal of steel a ways away.
Do you feel any better? That same part of her that'd prevented her from lashing out at those people in the city seemed to sneer. Oh, how powerful the great Cinder Fall is. Oh, how strong. Oh, how the very world shudders.
Cinder's fists vibrated at her sides, and she found herself yelling again, the Maiden's fire flaring from out of her lips more out of instinct than anything, and she wanted to smack herself for such an idiotic showing. Had anyone been out, had anyone seen such a thing–
Cinder felt herself shake, felt her body quake in place as she fell to her knees. She slammed her hands into the stone ground beneath her repeatedly, yelling and screaming like some sniveling welp. Like some wailing babe.
Like a lost, confused child as the concrete cracked, and splintered, and was ripped away.
And then, when her aura had been exhausted, when her fury was gone, she was left with nothing.
She was always left with nothing.
/
Glynda did her very best not to glare at Ozpin as she sat down in the chair facing his desk, though it was difficult knowing the man had attempted to shirk her off for the evening in favor of, likely, finishing the crossword.
Actually, scratch that likely, she could see the damned paper jutting out from one of the shelves on his desk.
"So." Ozpin began, likely not knowing quite how to begin. "You wished to speak with me."
"I did."
Silence reigned for a good deal of time after that, which prompted Glynda to let out a horrid sigh. It was her own cowardice, now, that was holding her back.
"I… I apologize, I… this topic is difficult for me to even want to think about, let alone talk about."
"Mm. I see." Ozpin hummed, before leaning back in his chair. "Perhaps I could keep you abreast of current happenings while you build up your nerve?"
The man was offering to, what, talk to her while she found some confidence?
…Honestly, she'd take it.
"Why don't you."
"Well, then. I suppose you should know firstly that the Maiden's condition has become critical."
She sucked in a breath then, looking up at the man before her as he took a long sip of coffee.
"She has a few months at best. Perhaps 'til the end of the semester."
"…That is…"
"Quite bad. Yes." Ozpin sighed as he placed his mug back down on his desk, right beside the 'world's #1 teacher' sign that Glynda still harbored suspicions he'd bought for himself. "We will need to select a Maiden candidate in the near future."
Glynda's heart wrenched at the very thought, and it was yet another thing to be added to her endless laundry-list of worries, that only ever seemed to grow.
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Glynda felt the need to ask, simply to keep herself informed.
"I have a potential candidate." Ozpin spoke measuredly, not betraying anything. "But time will tell if that angle proves fruitful. I suppose the second most important piece of news is that I've called for Qrow to arrive earlier than I'd originally intended."
Her eyes widened somewhat. "Oh? Is something amiss?"
"I simply felt that we might benefit from a… bird's-eye view." Ozpin said, smiling somewhat even as Glynda shook her head. "In all seriousness, I simply let him know the situation with the Maiden. He requested that he be moved into Vale for the time being. I agreed. Though I imagine the paid leave he'll be getting from teaching at signal had a small hand in that."
Glynda sighed.
"Yes, well, I hope you manage to limit his alcohol consumption this time, or I fear this will go rather similarly to the hunt for the Summer Maiden."
"Ah, you mean the Vacuo incident?" Ozpin straightened his spectacles. "Yes, well… Theodore accepted our pay for the damages."
Glynda just rolled her eyes.
"Now, are you ready to discuss what you came here to talk about?"
And suddenly Glynda's improving mood ground to a halt once more.
"I am… not entirely ready…"
"Do you believe you will ever be?" Ozpin somehow managed to make that sound non-judgmental.
"…No."
"Then I believe you should simply air whatever grievances you have." The man spoke evenly.
It… made sense, no matter how much Glynda wished to claim it did not. There was no point in coming here for advice and then remaining silent. No… no, she needed to get over herself and speak. That was all she could do.
"You know of Ms. Fall, correct?"
Glynda watched with an odd sort of feeling hovering at the back of her mind as Ozpin sat up just the smallest bit straighter, as if the conversation had drawn his attention just that little bit more.
"I do."
"Well, she… she invited me out to dinner earlier this evening. Or, well, I went to dinner with her earlier this evening, she invited me a week or so ago, and then Winter Schnee arrived, and I believe she'll be reporting what she found back to–"
"Glynda," Ozpin cut her off. "Are you… okay?"
"I…" Glynda shook her head, letting out a deeply beleaguered groan. "I am rather pointedly not okay."
"May I ask why?"
"Because I… I'm…" Glynda realized there was no use holding this back any longer. She might as well simply come forward and say it. "I am having… illicit thoughts about a student!"
And annoyingly enough, Ozpin only nodded his head, as if he were not the least bit surprised by this news.
"Feelings towards Ms. Fall, I assume?"
Glynda brought her hands up to her face and ran them down it, doing her best to keep herself calm, and not hyperventilate. She would not be having a panic attack right now. Not now of all times.
"I…"
She balled her hands into fists, before slamming them down into her own thighs.
"By the gods, I am disgusting, aren't I?" Glynda aired her grievances fully, allowing her true feelings to slip out from inside of her. "I am her teacher! She trusts me to be there for her, to stick up for her! Not to be some… some perverted groomer!"
Ozpin did not seem to see things that way, given the way that the man chuckled quietly, before sipping at his coffee, and then answering her.
"Glynda, she is twenty-one years old. In fact, it's been a few months since I looked over her transcripts, by this point in the semester she may very well be twenty-two." The man spoke in an even tone that made her want to both throttle him, and thank him. "She is a transfer student. You have known her for all of four months. You could not have groomed her in any way. Besides, it's not like you are in anyway holding your position over her. You monitor combat classes."
"Not like she'd need the help, regardless. But I–" Glynda found herself growling under her breath. "No. Stop. Please do not give me encouragement. I do not need encouragement, I need to be told off, reprimanded–"
"Well, you had best go elsewhere, then, seeing as how I have nothing of the sort."
She slumped in her seat somewhat at that, watching as the man across from her sighed lightly, before sitting up just the smallest bit straighter and addressing her seriously.
"Glynda, please. It's been good to see you so alive again. So full of vim and vigor for the first time in a long few years."
She found herself glaring up at the man petulantly. "…Are you calling me old?"
Ozpin coughed into his left hand as he reached for his coffee mug. "I wouldn't dream of it."
"…Right."
"What I am saying," He fought to bring the conversation back. "Is that your relationship with Ms. Fall, were it to even stoop to such a thing, would not be terribly untoward. The woman is an adult, she is able to make her own decisions. Besides, I have never been blind to the way she looks at you. Neither, I believe, are you any longer."
Glynda hid her face; such was her shame at the faint dusting of pink along her cheeks.
"I am not going to force you to be true to yourself, but I can ask you to be." He smiled that annoying smile, the one that said he knew better than her, but wasn't about to call her on it. It was infuriating, even if she knew he was an immortal wizard from the dawn of time, and likely did know better than her. "Now, I find myself rather busy with paperwork, I hate to send you away so suddenly, but…"
She sighed, even as she ran her hands down her cheeks, before rearing back up and slapping herself with both hands. Ozpin shot her a look, but she ignored him, simply shaking her head.
"I will… think on the idea."
"That's all I ask."
And then she stood, avoided eye-contact with Ozpin as she waited for the elevator, and stepped inside. The moment the doors shut behind her, she turned, and leaned her head against the cool metal as she let out a low groan.
Somehow, this had all seemed so much simpler at the beginning of the Semester, when it had all been about helping young Ms. Fall heal through her pain.
…Well, technically it had all been a guise to distract from the fact that she had been investigating the woman to see if she and her team were agents of Salem – and what a ridiculous thought that was now – the witch who controlled the Grimm and likely had some sort of grand plan revolving around the city of Vale that threatened hundreds of thousands of lives, but…
Actually, wait, now that she thought about it, it hadn't been simpler then at all!
"Why must my life be so complicated?" Glynda groaned into the metal door, even as gravity helpfully pulled her downwards as the door to the elevator opened up.
Glynda Goodwitch, famed huntress of Beacon Academy and second in line only to Ozpin, let out a rather undignified yelp as her nose struck the floor.
From her place on said floor, she heard as the elevator let out a soft ding, letting anyone inside it know that they'd arrived at their destination.
She could only moan quietly in pain.
/
Cinder wasn't quite sure when it was that she heard footsteps approaching her position. Perhaps ten minutes after her little meltdown? Her pathetic display that'd left the courtyard a bench short and in need of repair?
She had nothing left. No energy. No fight. Whoever came would see her in this state. They would likely laugh at her, or call security on her, or any other form of mockery that they could come up with. Cinder might even be expelled for such a stunt. Hah, how humorous that would be. For her to be expelled completely normally before her plan could even begin.
"…Cinder?"
…She recognized that voice.
A tiny bit of something flowed through her body, and it was enough, at least, for her to turn her head, to look at who was behind her.
And there, in the darkness, standing fully decked out in armor at three in the morning like some sort of loon, was one Pyrrha Nikos, with a half-guilty expression upon her face.
And just the smallest determination in her eyes.
It was all Cinder could do to laugh at the absurdity.
Just how low could she fall?
End Chapter 19
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'm speeding up canon a bit and introducing Qrow and Winter slightly earlier than they were in the show. I just like them both as characters honestly. I don't have much more reason than that.
Anyways, see you all next week!