Chapter 25: Sparks

The morning was calm. To anyone else, it may have been beautiful. The grey clouds that seemed omnipresent ever since the bombing of Vale had parted enough to let the warm sunlight beam down. There were hints of blue above them.

However, Cinder was too focused on what was in front of her to look up at the sky, and too anxious to appreciate it. She was wandering the waste with no weapon, which would have been enough to put her on edge on its own, but they were also approaching the place they had been abducted, and she still was not sure if she could trust the man leading the way or the two girls bringing up the rear. Emerald stayed close behind her, and Adam hung back with the twins, no doubt as anxious as Cinder was and ready to fight them if needed. Still, Cinder figured they had led them this far.

Junior ran over to the nearest building, carrying his club-like weapon over his shoulder. He stopped at the corner and peered around it, then waved his followers forward. Cinder, who was the first behind him, turned the corner and was immediately greeted by the still-beautiful sight of Forever Fall in the distance. It was for sights like that that Cinder wished she had both of her eyes. She gently touched the cloth covering her missing eye.

"Looks like the coast's clear," Junior said just loud enough for the group to hear him. "Girls?"

"No one behind," the twins said in unison.

Cinder looked around her to double-check that the Crownsmen's assessment was accurate, and to her eye, it was. While she looked, she could glimpse Adam doing the same.

"Where were you ambushed?" Junior asked.

Emerald scanned briefly, then pointed. "That Dust store," she said.

Junior nodded, then turned to the Malachite sisters and gave them a signal with his fingers. They nodded and hurried to the front of the group.

"What are you doing?" Adam asked.

"We're going to check the store first," Junior explained. "Wait here, and yell if you see anything. And I mean anything. Even if its a piece of paper in the wind or Nevermore Chick in the distance, you let us know."

Cinder raised an eyebrow. Was it possible that these people were just as anxious as they were?

The two girls ran ahead, ducking below the window ledge of the Dust store. Junior took the front door, standing just outside. Miltia craned her head up to look inside, then gave a signal to the others. Junior rounded into the doorway, his weapon ready, and stepped inside. The sisters jumped up and followed him. Things were uncomfortably silent for a moment.

"Clear," Melanie said.

"And your weapons are here," Miltia added.

"What? No way," Cinder said. She jogged over to the shop, careful of the environment around her, and Emerald and Adam followed.

Miltia nodded her head downwards, and Cinder looked down at the floor of the abandoned shop to see she was right. Laying in dust and dirt were her blades, Emerald's guns, and Adam's sword. Even Cinder's bag and the Dust crystals they were gathering remained.

Emerald looked confused as she picked up her guns and a Dust bullet. "Why wouldn't they take these?"

"They probably have enough resources," Junior stated.

"There's no such thing as 'enough resources' in Vale," Cinder said. She thought. "Well, those two bounty hunter girls were having a hard time carrying all three of us back to their hideout. I wonder if they physically couldn't carry our weapons and supplies as well."

"Could be," Adam said, picking up his blade. He examined it. "Check for tracking devices."
Junior raised an eyebrow. "You think they could have trackers?"

Adam shrugged slightly. "Not likely, but possible. I just want to make sure we cover every possibility before we can finally get the hell out of here." He pulled his sword out from its sheath, examined the red blade, then returned it to his belt.

Cinder opened her bag and looked through each item. Everything looked alright. She puled out a can of mole crab meat and inspected it. It had dented, but not been opened in any way, so it could not have been poisoned. She was starving. She raised the can up and banged it against the stone floor, cracking it open. She pried the metal off and cautiously dipped two fingers inside, scooping up some meat. She sniffed it, then tasted it. It did not taste the best, but it was edible. She ate a few more scoops, then passed the can over to Adam. He surprisingly did not take any, and instead passed it over to Emerald, who began scooping the meat into her mouth hungrily.

Cinder scooped ammunition and Dust that had spilled back into her bag. As she did so, she felt a sting in her eye socket. She winced and turned away from the others before pulling the scrap of fabric off and examining it. It was dirty and rugged, and some of the contaminants must have irritated her wound. She swung the backpack over her shoulder and grabbed her swords. Using the old fabric, she tried them to her belt. She sheepishly covered her eye socket with her hand, then stood back up and turned around.

"Everything looks clear," Adam noted.

Junior nodded to him, then turned and saw Cinder covering her eye. "Oh, right," he said, reaching into his pocket. "We have something for you." He pulled his hand out and revealed a black eyepatch. It was not a scrap of fabric or old wrappings, but an actual clean eyepatch. It looked like it was made of leather.

"We heard from our allies that you were missing an eye," Junior explained empathetically, clearly trying not to overstep boundaries or offend Cinder. "We had a hunch you might need one of these."

Cinder was stunned. For so long she could not even begin to imagine someone outside of her group showing her kindness. A part of her thought back to P.E.N.N.Y. and how she had mistakenly trusted the machine, but this felt different. This felt real.

"T-thank you…" Cinder muttered, gently taking the gift with her free hand. She took a deep breath and glanced around. She tried to hide her injury from everyone, including her friends, but now she felt like she could show a bit of vulnerability. She dropped her hand, revealing her injury. The hollow hole in her, scarred from slashes and stabbings. No one seems to mind. She covered the socket back up with the gift, the smooth material caressing lightly on her skin. She tied it in the back.

"We also have this for you," Junior said, pulling a white fabric pouch off of his belt and handing it to Emerald. She peeked inside.

"It's not much, I'm afraid," Junior said. "Just a little bit of bread and a few bottles of water, and the pouch is a folded cloth sheet that you may be able to use as a blanket."

"That's more than enough," Emerald said, seemingly on the verge of tears. "Thank you."

Junior nodded and turned back to Cinder. "Are you sure you don't want us to accompany you back to your hideout?"

Cinder nodded. "Yes, if for no other reason than to keep the others' minds at ease." She sighed. "Thank you."

Junior nodded. "We'll be in touch. If you contact your friends in Mistral, Dr. Watts should be able to get you through to us. We look forward to working with you."

"We'll see," Cinder said. She nodded one last thanks before waving to Adam and Emerald. They gathered their items and jogged after her.

Before they headed off, Cinder glanced one more time behind her at their potential new allies. She had a feeling about them, and she was not quite sure what it was yet.


The wad of hair drifted in front of her eyes again, and she angrily pushed it back up. She considered shaving it off, but damn if she did not look sexy when her hair was just right.

Nebula Violette walked down the dark chambers, holding her head high and keeping a steady pace. Her boots were loud on the smooth floor. Following close behind where her subordinates, Dew Gayl, Gwen Darcy, and Octavia Ember. The Huntresses had been personally summoned by Lord Ozpin to meet with him in his chambers. Nebula figured it was about time. She deserved any and all of the attention and praise that Lord Ozpin had to give. After all, she was the one who killed Lisa Lavender for him.

"Why don't you just cut if off?" Dew asked, echoing Nebula's frustrated thoughts.

"I didn't ask you," Nebula barked back. "Besides, what would you know about having immaculate hair?" Octavia snickered cruelly, and Gwen remained silent.

Dew brushed back her long, dirty blonde hair. "More than you," she rebutted.

"Both of you shut up," Octavia said. "We're here."

Neither Nebula nor Dew had even noticed that they almost walked into the massive brown doors leading to Lord Ozpin's office. Nebula ran her hands over her outfit, pushing out the wrinkles and creases on her grey shirt and lilac coat. Dew did the same with her green dress, then Nebula pushed the doors open.

The four Huntresses walked inside. It was dark, save for the large window showing the cloudy daytime sky. As they marched into the room and closer to the desk, the doors seemed to swing and slam closed on their own. Gwen jumped and looked behind her, but could not see anything but shadow. She decided it was nothing and hurried to catch up with her fellow Huntresses.

Nebula waved her arm and dipped down low in an exaggerated bow to a kneel. Dew knelt down as well, followed by Octavia. Gwen scanned the room one more time, and then knelt down as well.

"Lord Ozpin," Nebula said in a bold, authoritative voice, "it is our honor to be here."

Nebula waited for a response, but none came. She held her tongue for a few more moments, then glanced up at the desk. "Lord Ozpin?" she questioned.

"Nebula?" Gwen finally said in a worried voice. "I don't like this…"

"Be quiet!" Octavia scolded in a hushed yell.

"You're in the presence of our Lord!" Nebula added.

Finally, a response came, but it was not from the desk, and it was not from Lord Ozpin. All four girls almost simultaneously turned their heads to see a pair of red eyes peering from the shadows, accompanied by an angry growl. There was a roar, and a figure lunged from the darkness at them. All four Huntresses jumped up, Gwen screaming a bit. They dodged the large Beowolf that had charged them, gnashing its teeth and clawing at the floor.

"Grimm!" Dew shouted, hoping to get someone's attention. "Grimm in the fortress!" However, with the heavy doors shut, no one could hear them.

The Beowolf roared again and lurched forward, swinging its claws. Each of the Huntresses reached onto their belts and bags and pulled out their weapons: a crossbow for Nebula, a collapsable spear for Dew, throwing knives for Gwen, and a long jagged dagger for Octavia. Nebula rolled out of the Grimm's range, then began loading a bolt into her weapon. Dew pointed her spear at the monster and began stabbing forward, driving the Grimm back as it backed up to avoid the weapon. Gwen and Octavia readied their weapons until Gwen felt something on her foot. She looked down and felt her heart sink as she saw a terrifying Spider Grimm crawling on her flat shoe and exposed skin. She squealed and kicked it off, and it landed near Octavia.

"Octavia! Spider Grimm!" Gwen yelled, backing up. Octavia whirled around, saw the Grimm approaching her, and stabbed down with her dagger, impaling it on the ground and destroying it.

Gwen, beginning to panic, turned and began to run to the door. However, she stopped and gasped loudly when she saw the exit blocked, covered with a small swarm of Beetle and Spider Grimm. They hissed and clicked at her and began to move forward. Gwen drew a few knives into the swarm, impaling a few Beetles and crippling a Spider, but the group moved on.

Nebula fired her bolt into the Beowolf's back, and the Grimm howled in pain as it turned its attention towards her. It growled as it pursued, and Nebula made a break for the desk to try and hide behind it. Her whole body shook and bobble as she ran, and a wad of hair fell into her field of vision. She threw her hand up to brush it away, slowing down just enough. She gasped loudly as she felt stabbing pain in her back, the Beowolf digging its claws in. It pulled, and she screamed in agony and fear as she dropped her crossbow and was dragged helplessly across the ground, bleeding profusely.

Dew readied her spear and ran over to the Grimm, stabbing it in its side. The Beowolf growled, ripping its claws from Nebula's back, taking chunks of flesh and fabric as it did. It snapped its jaws at Dew, who raised her spear up and allowed it to bite down on the weapon instead of her head. The Beowolf began thrashing, dragging Dew with every twist and swing of its canine head.

Meanwhile, the swarm of smaller Grimm were closing in further and further on Gwen and Octavia. Octavia kicked nearby monsters away, stabbing and slashing at any that came near or tried jumping at her. Gwen kicked as well, then saw a baby Ravager Grimm swoop down from the ceiling on its bat-like wings. She ducked and let it pass over her, and instead it sunk its talons into Octavia's long red hair. It thrashed and tangled at her hair, clawing at her scalp in the process. Octavia yelped and screamed, and began stabbing above her head in an attempt to get the Grimm out. Blood ran down her face from her injured scalp, but she finally managed to stab the Ravager and make it drop dead in her hair before turning to black smoke, leaving a tangled, knotted, bloody mess it its wake.

However, Octavia had been so occupied with the Grimm in her hair that she had forgot about the ones at her feet. Her eyes grew wide as Beetles and Spiders began crawling up her legs. A few jumped onto her arms and torso. Octavia screamed as she tried to shake the swarm off, but they were crawling everywhere; on her arms, up her skirt, around her waist. Small Beetles and Spiders began crawling up her neck and towards her face. The Huntress wailed in fear, brushing them away and running around madly, attempting to shake the monsters off.

The Beowolf released its grip on Dew's spear, throwing her to the ground. Dew kept hold of her weapon, but landed on her rear. The Beowolf growled and turned back to Nebula, who was attempting to drag herself away, leaving behind a streak of blood on the ground as she did so.

"Lord Ozpin…" she strained, reaching towards the desk. Then she screamed again as the Beowolf's jaws clamped down around her boot, dragging her back to her original position. The Grimm climbed on top of her, pinning her down right on her injured back, and then bit down on her neck. Nebula released one last strained cry before the Beowolf twisted, breaking Nebula's neck as it ripped off a sizable chunk of flesh and bone. It chewed for a few seconds and then downed the flesh, then growled and turned back to Dew, who was scooting away, horrified. The Grimm pounced at her. Dew screamed as the entire weight of the Beowolf fell on top of her, knocking all air out of her lungs. She could feel her ribs break. The Beowolf got off of her and circled around to her leg, then bit down on it like it had with Nebula.

"No!" Dew cried, her eyes full of tears and her other leg kicking at the Grimm's face. The Beowolf then quickly retreated back into the shadows, dragging its prey with it.

"No!" Dew screamed as she was pulled away into the darkness. Moments later, a squashing sound was heard, and red blood leaked from the shadows.

Gwen threw a few more of her knives at the Grimm swarm, killing a few and kicking others away. She made a sprint towards Lord Ozpin's desk, but only made it s far as the chair that was kept on the other side for visitors. She jumped on top of it, squirming with fear. She glanced out at Octavia, and gagged.

Octavia was covered on almost every part of her body, save for her terrified face. The Beetles excreted acidic bile on her ankles, making her cry out and stumble. The Spiders bit at her calves and thighs, forcing the Huntress to fall backwards into the swarm. The Grimm bit and clawed at every piece of her they could be exposed to, and small members crawled up her face. Octavia screamed, and that proved to be a mistake, as the small Beetles and Spiders entered her mouth. Gagging and unable to scream or call for help, Octavia raised her swollen arm in a desperate reach towards Gwen. Blood leaked from her head as Grimm burrowed into her ears and nostrils. One of her eyeballs falling out and a Spider emerging from the bloody socket was the ultimate signal of her fate, as Octavia's body fell limp and her gagging stopped before she was completely enveloped by Grimm.

Gwen panted heavily, scanning the dark office for another exit. She heard scraping and saw the bloodied claws and fangs of the Beowolf reemerging from the corner. She looked to the large window. It would be a several-story fall, but if he managed to jump to the desk, she would be able to smash through it. Even if she died, it would be a far less painful and gruesome fate than falling to the Grimm. She kicked a Beetle off of the chair, then took a deep breath and prepared to jump. Just before she did, she saw something else in a separate corner of the room, something she had overlooked among the chaos. It was a pair of glowing silver lights, bright circles with what looked like shimmering silver flames coming off of them. Gwen's heart stopped when she heard a voice.

"Do you like my new pets?" a female voice asked. Before Gwen could even process what she heard, she felt the chair sweep out from underneath her. The Beetles and the Spiders, instead of attempting to crawl up it to get to her, had gnawed and sprayed on the legs to make them break. Gwen shrieked and jumped, landing on her feet in the swarm. The Grimm covered her feet, but did not immediately climb. Gwen heard a metallic clicking and scraping from the shadows. Her fearful eyes glanced up just as the silver lights shot towards her.

Pain was the last thought that went through Gwen's mind. Her vision and cognitive abilities ceased almost immediately after her head was separated from her neck. A scythe blade, glazed red, had lurched forward and cleanly decapitated her in a single swift strike. Gwen's face retained an expression of shock as i fell into the swarm of Grimm, and her body crumpled to the ground.

The Reaper exhaled deeply, smiling from ear to ear. She used her free hand to pull her red hood off of her head, shaking out her dark hair. She kept her eyes glowing, still unsure of how the Grimm would react if she deactivated them, but stood in triumph among the carnage.

There was a yelping sound, and the Beowolf fell dead to the ground, its body disintegrating. Lord Ozpin, readjusting his grip on his cane, stepped out of the dark and brushed off his sleeve.

"I'd say that was a pretty good test run," Ruby grinned. She looked down at Gwen and Nebula's bodies. "Still, you think you should just be killing your Huntresses like that?" Her smile never left her face as she asked.

"They always had a poor track record," Lord Ozpin muttered, walking over to his large chair and seating himself in it. He set his cane aside, then glanced indifferent to Nebula's corpse. "She's still intact enough to send to Oobleck," he said aloud, though mostly to himself, as Ruby did not know about Project Deadwind, and she did not need to.

Ruby's eyes glowed brighter, and the Beetles and the Spiders all disbanded. The doors opened a crack, and they all poured out and returned to whatever dark holes they had come from. They left behind them the stolen and mutilated carcass of Octavia.

Just as the Grimm began to leave, Ruby felt a pain in her eyes. She groaned and cupped her hands over them, careful not to hit herself with her scythe.
"Your new abilities will take your body some getting used to, no doubt," Lord Ozpin said coldly.

Ruby blinked a few times. The glow and energy dissipated and disappeared, and the pain subsided. She refused to let a little discomfort get in her way now.

"I suggest you test your abilities further before attempting to apply them in combat," Lord Ozpin said. "Find out what the limitations are." He raised a hand and swept it through the air. "I'm sure the Grimm around the fortress will be serviceable. I only request that you not turn their or your attention towards my subordinates. They still have jobs to do, and unlike today's test subjects, are not entirely useless."

Ruby cocked her head with a look of frustrated disappointment, but rolled her eyes and complied. "Fine, I won't kill your guys. Managing resources and all that." She turned and began to leave.

"She may just be of some use," Lord Ozpin thought.

"He might just be useful for something," Ruby thought.


Mercury perked his head up, and readied his fists. Roman stood up and grabbed his cane.

"I heard it too," Roman said.

They both had heard what sounded like footsteps above them, and they were approaching the stairs to the basement. They were ready to fight whoever it might be.

"Guys!" came the recognizable voice of Emerald. "It's us!"

Both men sighed in relief and lowered their defenses. Emerald came down the stairs first, followed by Adam and then Cinder.

"Thank gods," Mercury said. "We thought you guys were goners when you didn't come back."

"We… had a bit of trouble," Adam said.

Roman raised an eyebrow. "That being…?"

Cinder signed and set down her backpack and the satchel of food net to Roman, who bent down to pick the satchel up. "Bounty hunters," Cinder said. "They're working with the White Fang. They were after Adam and got us too."

"Holy shit," Mercury said. "How did you get away?"

"I'll tell you in a second," Cinder groaned, sitting down. "My feet are killing me." She yanked her boots off and threw them aside, stretching her sore toes.

Roman looked through the bags. "Well, looks like you found food, water, Dust, and ammo," he said. He motioned towards Cinder. "And I can't help but notice that you're wearing an actual eyepatch."

Cinder glanced at him briefly, then over to Salem, who was sleeping next to a wall. "How was Salem?" she asked.

Mercury sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Not good," he replied. He hesitated. "She had a seizure."

Cinder and Emerald froze. "A what?" Emerald asked, worried. "A… seizure?"

Mercury nodded. "It was about twenty to thirty seconds. She fell asleep right afterwards. She's since woken up and seems okay now… well, as okay as she normally is." He made eye contact with Roman, who shook his head. They both nonverbally agreed to not tell about her plea for help. Cinder sighed and rubbed her eye.

"Now, about your escape," Roman continued, "we're sure we're safe here?"

"Pretty certain," Adam said. "We got help."

"From who?" Roman asked.

Cinder exhaled and took over explaining. "The Crown reached out to us," she said.

There was a pause. "The Crown?" Mercury asked. "Those terrorists?"

Cinder nodded. "Not only are they another rebel group, but they said Carmine and Bertilak are members, and they've been keeping tabs on us."

Mercury gritted his teeth. "Motherfuckers…" he muttered.

"What did they want?" Roman asked.

"They want to help," Cinder said. "We have a common goal, and that's to stop Lord Ozpin. They saved us from the bounty hunters and gave us the food and water."

"And how do we know we can trust them?" Mercury asked. "Last time we trusted someone outside of our group, our base was destroyed."

Emerald shook her head. "No, the last time we trusted someone we got new allies in the form of Lionheart and his people," she said.

Mercury shrugged. "I'm personally still a bit on the fence about them."

Cinder interrupted. "The point is we've potentially got more allies. I want to call Hazel and Tyrian and confirm if what the Crownsmen said about Carmine and Bertilak is true. If it is, I want to start planning. We're going to attack Beacon Laboratory in three days."

Everyone went quiet and turned their eyes to Cinder. Even Salem seemed to stir in her sleep.

"Three… days?" Adam questioned.

"Cinder…" Emerald asked, "what are you…"

"I'm not going to wait anymore," Cinder said. "We've got a chance, and I'm sick of being too worried about the consequences to act. If the Crown really is on our side, then we need to set up the Haven distraction now while everyone involved is still alive and healthy. Because if we wait for one more minute, the chances of someone we need getting killed or injured increases. We're going to act, and we're going to act now." She turned to Roman. "Now where's that damn Scroll?" Roman pointed to a corner of the basement, and Cinder marched over to it.

"What happened out there?" Roman asked.

"I think she was motivated by the help we got from the Crown," Adam replied.

"Yeah, but what exactly lit this spark under her?" Mercury murmured.

Emerald stepped closer to Cinder. "I think… it's hope."