Prelude
Cinder Fall thought this would be it. She had spent so long with training, with planning, with tracking—no, hunting down one Amber Barc. Because it was only right to call it exactly what it was when Amber Barc had what was rightfully hers. Power that had been scattered through time. A power that could make Amber strong, make Amber feared, make Amber powerful. A Maiden.
Everything Cinder wanted for herself. Everything Cinder was destined to have. It did not matter if Amber had to die in the process. As unfortunate as the situation was, that was simply what Amber was destined to do.
She made sure to remind Emerald and Mercury of the plan while they awaited their prey. The two were valuable assets, easy to recruit as well. A street rat deprived of affection yet with a Semblance that let her easily invade the mind, play tricks on it, and a murderer's son that was just like the father he murdered, in it only for what Cinder could promise him if he utilized his unique set of skills.
"Exactly as discussed. Not a foot out of place," she ordered.
Admittedly, it was easier said than done. Although the information Cinder received told her that Amber was still coming to terms with the power she wielded as a Maiden, Amber had a look of fierceness as a fiery blaze, power radiated from her eyes when Emerald and Mercury managed to knock her down. However, this was the moment of truth for the two. If they couldn't handle this much, then Cinder had no need for them.
So she stayed still as a whirlwind erupted from Amber with Emerald and Mercury having to cover their eyes from the savagery of it. She even stayed still when Amber rose to her feet, thunder beginning to rumble, accompanied by spikes of lightning in the sky—and made no sort of movement when Amber, with a simple gesture, hurled a bolt of lightning directly at the two teens, but luckily, Emerald and Mercury had enough sense to quickly leap clear, the ground shattering into bits and pieces where they had been standing.
It was no longer playtime. Amber knew her life was in danger. Good.
As electricity rained from the clouds, Emerald and Mercury desperately jumping and leaping to different places to avoid the deadly bolts of lightning, Cinder got into position. She would have what was rightfully hers.
…Except that was not the case. Even after Cinder joined the fight, helped Emerald and Mercury wear down Amber to shatter her Aura, with Cinder able to shoot an arrow into the upper back of the Maiden—and Emerald and Mercury forcing Amber to her knees, holding her in place just as planned—something went terribly wrong all of a sudden.
Though there was horror in the Maiden's eyes as Cinder slid on the long white glove that her master told her to use to ensure the Maiden power would come to her, Amber's eyes suddenly glazed over, expression dull. "You won't take her," she then murmured, voice low and power rising from the Maiden's eyes again, but the color wasn't like before. This time it was a glowing teal rather than the yellow-orange it had been.
It was not possible. Salem would've informed Cinder if it was. So Cinder hurried, outstretching her gloved hand to Amber, but—
Glowing cracks of teal appeared across Amber's body instantaneously, looking like an intricate spider webbing all over her skin. But in that instant, everything was devoured in a deafening, earth-shattering blast that sent all three assailants flying, with Cinder's vision going dark as she endured not only the full force of the Maiden's surprise attack but the very rough landing, tumbling to the ground.
The ringing was nearly unbearable as Cinder forced her eyes open to find she was looking through some kind of fading tunnel vision, as though she'd been knocked out cold and was finally regaining her senses—but it was very fortunate that Cinder never put down her cloak of Aura, relatively unharmed physically. However, whatever Amber did almost depleted whatever reserves she had left from the fight, and as she picked herself up off the ground, vision clearing more, she spotted Emerald out-cold, glowing particles fluttering off her body that was a dead giveaway that Emerald's Aura was gone.
…Yet Cinder also spotted another thing. Red. Almost the entire left side of Emerald was splattered with blood, and as Mercury, seemingly still having some Aura left unlike Emerald, entered Cinder's vision, picking Emerald up off the ground, Cinder could see that he had just as much blood on him as well. Suddenly, Cinder became all too unaware of how sticky she felt, and it didn't take any genius to realize that much like her two followers, she was covered in blood.
Warm, fresh blood. Her eyes darted to where she thought Amber was, only finding a crater. With a mangled body at its center. Amber Barc at its center. Amber Barc, who self-destructed, mutilating and pulverizing herself and reducing many parts of her body to bone from… from some kind of explosion that was completely unnatural.
And she was dead. Completely dead.
Yet Cinder was no Maiden. The Maiden power was gone. Cinder was not the Fall Maiden like she was destined to be—
Cinder let out a roar, an agonized, rage-filled scream at the top of her lungs. She didn't care about the slightly worried look she received from Mercury, how Emerald seemed to be coming to but was startled by the scream. Everything was supposed to go accordingly, but the Maiden—Amber killed herself.
You won't take her.
No. No. Something killed Amber, Cinder realized. Something was getting in the way of Cinder's destiny.
Just like one Huntsmen in particular it seemed. She almost had no time to react as the only indication of the attack was the sudden, running footsteps that were rapidly approaching before a man suddenly leaped high, large broadsword with a clockwork gear at the hilt in hand. He sliced downwards, trying to slice her in two, but Cinder jumped back, movements ragged.
Despite the calm look he had, Qrow Branwen seethed with rage, his weapon gripped tight with malice radiating from his slim build as he glanced from what little remained of the Fall Maiden's corpse to Cinder and the two teenagers she recruited. It was not a fight Cinder and Mercury could win with such low Aura and with Emerald incapacitated.
"Retreat," she hissed.
Mercury stiffened for a moment but nodded, darting away with Emerald in his arms, but Qrow didn't move for them, his red glowering eyes focused on Cinder. She had only one chance, it seemed.
So when Qrow made the first move, ready to kill, she grabbed the canisters of Burn and Ice Dust, letting the powder fall out onto her hands. She waited until he was too close for comfort and superheated the powder, her Aura flickering in the process as she used her Semblance, but she didn't stop until the Dust materialized into dozens of small shards of glass, and with a motion, hurled all of the shards at Qrow.
Like she expected, Qrow was caught off-guard with the glass containing the Burn Dust exploding with fire and the glass containing the Ice Dust freezing whatever surface it came into contact with—and the glass combining the two Dust types shattering into thick steam that made it hard to navigate even for a famous Huntsmen.
Perfect for getting away.
And like that, Cinder Fall was gone without ever having achieved power. The power of the Fall Maiden, and the one thing she desired the most.
there is not much to say here beyond that this is a "what-if" scenario because i realized that almost the entire bulk of events in Vol 1 to 3 would simply not be possible if Cinder didn't obtain at least half of the Fall Maiden's power. because with half of that power, she strongarmed the Vale faction of The White Fang into working with Roman, and Roman was definitely afraid of what Cinder could possibly do to him with said half of the Maiden power. but if you take that away... well, it leads to a lot of different possibilities on what exactly happens. this will probably go up in rating to an M soon, ngl.
however, i'll also say that this fic will be a bit of revision as well. retcon and the like. because as much as i like RWBY, its lore is a minefield to jump into nowadays because it's really just. not consistent, honestly. retcons on top of retcons. but this is mainly just me trying to make sense of what RWBY has laid out and combine it seamlessly rather than what Roosterteeth has done with releasing canon information across multiple media rather than just the show itself. also, this will feature original characters, even original teams, although the canon cast is still a priority. you actually kind of already met an original character, and bonus points if you can figure out what exactly happened with Amber. :3 and yes, i gave Amber a surname. Barc as in tree bark, to fit with how amber is just fossilized tree resin. all i'll say is that it relates to a future plot point.
finally, reviews are always welcomed, and please do feel free to give constructive criticism if you have it; it'll help me improve as a writer and hopefully generate the best content that i can. thanks for reading.