RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime

Chapter Seven: Cinder's Past

When Cinder started up her gang, it had been with the intention to swiftly become one of the most notorious gangs in all of Remnant's history. And her goal had been achieved rather easily. She was beautiful, powerful, and ambitious, and she used any asset or part of her personality that could help persuade those who stood in her way to either join her or to move to the side if they valued their lives. No one could stand up to her, not even Ozpin and his foolish school of child hunters and huntresses. Not even the Atlasian army with their guns and tanks. Her reign was secure and she controlled nearly every aspect of life in the cities. But, once an empire got too big, it was harder to control it and things slipped through the cracks. After all, it had happened to the Schnee family. Once power hungry monarchs that ruled Atlas, they had been kicked out of their own throne and were now forced to make a decent living by mining and selling dust.

So she knew she could expect trouble once her gang got to be too big. But she never expected trouble to come in the form of a small petite girl with honest eyes and a scythe that she wielded with terrifying ease. Cinder had no idea who the girl was and why she so ardently went after Cinder's gang but she wasn't going to let this girl make a mockery of her. There was no way that Cinder had braved whole armies and governments after her only to be taken down by a mere girl in a corset.

Cinder prepared herself for the inevitable battle that would occur between the two of them. Mentally and physically she trained as one by one her commanders fell to the girl's sharp blade. And when the moment had finally arrived upon the gang leader, she was shocked to find that the girl simply gave up. And why? Because Cinder was pretty.

If Cinder had been told by anyone that this would ever happen to her, she would have laughed in their face before she shot them, telling them not to waste her time with stupid tales and ideas. But now it had happened. Cinder was in so much disbelief and shock that even for two months after the initial meeting of the two, after Ruby had signed up to join the gang-yes, the little rascal actually wanted to work for Cinder now because the villainess was beautiful- Cinder would walk around her headquarters, attend all her meetings and all the evil excursions with a daft and dazed expression on her face. She wouldn't ever speak unless spoken too. That's how much she had been affected by Ruby's change.

But Cinder had been able to eventually snap out of the stupor and come to her senses. She then challenged Ruby to a fight but the girl had stubbornly insisted that she wouldn't dare raise a hand or weapon against Cinder and the match had gone unfulfilled. Which only vexed Cinder more. She couldn't figure this girl out at all. Despite her open and easy to read face, Cinder couldn't understand the motivation for the girl's sudden switch. She had hounded down the Grimm gang relentlessly and now she was working tirelessly for them, helping to ensure the gang succeeded. And with her help the organization saw higher profit margins, for the girl was wickedly talented with her semblance and her weapon. She looked like she would never harm a fly but once she hit a rampage...Cinder was honestly worried and felt a bit bad for the girl's opponents sometimes, who were on the receiving end of her ire.

But did the girl really only give up her quest because Cinder was pretty? This idea plagued Cinder, leaving her restless at night. Then one day she had finally cornered Ruby and demanded to know the truth, about why Ruby was working so hard for the Grimm gang when she had wanted nothing more than to tear them down from their place of power before.

Ruby, looking sheepishly at the floor and rubbing the back of her head, had mumbled out some words that Cinder had been unable to catch.

"What? What is it?" she had snapped, her lack of sleep making her very cranky and short tempered. More than usual. She tapped her nails impatiently against her thigh.

"I, uh, I'm...kind of...in love with you, I think," Ruby had softly said at last, in a timorous voice, and with wide and earnest eyes lifted up now at Cinder.

"Oh," was all Cinder could think to say, her face going blank. And this left her yet again in a flustered stupor for an extended length of time. What was going on? What was the deal with this Ruby girl? How could she be in love with Cinder? Cinder was a villain. One of the worst. She was manipulative, cold hearted and vindictive. She killed others as easily as she breathed. And Ruby was the opposite. She was sweet, kind, and always helping out others. She even picked up insects that found their way inside the gang's hideouts and let them out gently. She was a good person, minus her evil side that came out when she got angry. So what did she see in Cinder that caused her to love the older woman?

Not being able to take this pondering and constant worrying, for Cinder yet again lost more sleep over this, rather than gained sleep like she thought she would once she had accosted Ruby for answers, she approached the girl once more. Ruby was currently wiping down her weapon in the empty henchmen's locker room, trying to remove the last traces of gore on the silver steel.

"Why?" Cinder blurted out, coming to a rest by the girl but careful to keep out of range of her weapon. She saw what the girl could do with it. A professional butcher did less damage to flesh than she did.

"Why what?" Ruby had looked up, cocking her head to her side in confusion. Adorable confusion. Gah! Cinder had to stop that. Ever since the girl had confessed her love to Cinder, all the black haired woman could do was be super hyper aware of the other girl at all times. It was infuriating. Beyond infuriating!

Cinder felt like a girl with a stupid high school crush. It was totally not like her.

Cinder cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest to get some control over this situation. So she could look as powerful and intimidating as she wanted to feel. "Why do you love me? I'm evil."

"Oh," Ruby said with realization and a smile graced her lips. Lips that Cinder wanted to kiss. Not this again! The woman thought with a hint of fear and panic. She couldn't fail in love. It was going to make her soft. And a gang leader couldn't be soft. "It's because you're so awesome!" Was Ruby's simple answer, one that did not satisfy Cinder's curiosity.

"Awesome?" Cinder arched a brow. Ruby finished cleaning her weapon and let it fold back into a more manageable shape before she reattached it her hip where she normally carried it.

"Yea." Ruby nodded her head enthusiastically. "You're like female empowerment and stuff. You are a strong independent woman who gets things done her way and I admire that greatly."

"Ruby, I'm sure not many women would agree that I am a suitable role model to look up to," Cinder argued, feeling a sense of relief in her chest. So it seemed the type of love the girl felt for her was admiration. Cinder had no more reason to worry over this issue. Maybe the girl simply wanted to learn to be as strong as Cinder was when it came to using her powers. But then why did Cinder feel a small nag of pain in her chest? Was she sad about something? She shook her head to try to get rid of that sadness. "Anyways, if that is the only reason you joined me...then please leave the gang."'

"Why?" Ruby's brows furrowed up in a pained expression.

"Ruby," Cinder said with a heavy sigh as if this should be obvious. "You are obviously a very talented individual and I don't want you to waste your time in the gang. Sure, you've helped me a lot. But, you're a child. You deserve to have a better future than this."

"But you chose this path for yourself. Why can't I?" Ruby stood up at this, upset.

"Ruby, I didn't as a child dream for this to be my job. Things happened that lead me onto this path. Bad things." Cinder laid a gentle hand on Ruby's shoulder, wondering why she was worried about letting the girl down without hurting her feelings. Normally she would just kick someone out roughly and if they tried to argue with her than she would shoot them, shutting them up for good. "And I don't want you to take the same path as me. You still have time to turn your life around. To use your powers for good. You're just a child."

Ruby's eyes filled with anger. "I'm not a child. Stop calling me that! I'm an adult. I can make my own choices! My own!" Ruby stomped her foot.

Looked like it was time for Cinder to be harsher. "Ruby, no."

"Is this about me liking you?"

"What? No," the change in topic had momentarily thrown Cinder off. "This is about the sake of your future. Choose to do good with your abilities, like I couldn't with mine."

"But I want to work with you. I want to be by your side." Ruby was getting angrier and angrier, something that wasn't good. Cinder didn't want to be in the way of her ire.

"Stop looking up to me. You're delusional. Brain washed by my beauty," Cinder snorted.

"I...it's not like that. I want to help you. You said you didn't have a choice to becoming this villain...and I want to change that. I want you to have a normal life too. No one should be forced into a life choice they don't want."

"You are naive then if you think that!" Cinder spat back, unable to keep her cool. She was trying to let Ruby down easily but it wasn't working out. "Not everyone can have a fairy tale ending! A fairy tale story where a prince comes in and swoops up the princess in her arms and takes her away from the evil stepmother. My path has been set. And I like it the way it is." Cinder said this through gritted teeth. "I enjoy watching the fear dawn on people's faces when they see me enter a room. I enjoy the scent of warm blood as it gushes out of their bodies. I enjoy ripping money from helpless hands!" She placed a hand to her chest, her breath heaving up and down in exertion after nearly screaming this out.

"And maybe I do too!" Ruby shot back, saying something that Cinder hadn't suspected to be true of the girl. "Maybe I like being able to fight others, to be some sort of use to someone. For too long everyone has cast me aside because of the fact that I'm too young, or too dainty looking to do anything. They don't ever let me do anything, fearing I will hurt myself. I had dreams too. I wanted to be a huntress but I was rejected," the girl's anger had melted into something bluer, into a sadness that made the corner of her eyes leak. "And so here, at least I can do something. I can use my abilities. That's all I ever wanted."

Cinder was touched by the girl's speech but she had to remain tough and kept her voice harsh. "Ruby, you can still achieve that dream. You still have time to make good-"

"But I don't want it anymore. Now, more than ever I want...you, more than I've ever wanted anything else," Ruby said softly and with bashfulness. This made Cinder's face feel warm and her heart thump just a bit harder in her chest. "You're my dream," Ruby looked up at this, chuckling awkwardly. "Sorry, that...was really corny."

"No, it's alright. I liked it," Cinder blurted out before she could even stop herself. This made her face flush fully. She wasn't one to do that and so she felt even more embarrassed that she was blushing and thus blushed harder for it.

"Haha, sorry for flustering you. But you look so cute right now," Ruby smiled and laughed to herself, ruffling the back of her head sheepishly.

Cinder felt something stir in her that she thought never would again and she reached out one leather clad hand to grasp Ruby's soft cheek in it. "Ruby, it is you who is the cute one."

"Stop that, you're going to embarrass me to death," the girl said but in a manner that said she didn't really mind the words as much as she claimed to.

"I'm going to kiss you now Ruby," Cinder announced and the smaller girl's eyes got wide at this as an "eh?" cutely left her lips. "You said you loved me, but I need to check if you meant that and not admiration love." And also to see if I harbor feelings for you of the romantic kind, Cinder said to herself, before she slowly pulled Ruby's face up to hers, giving the girl enough time to back out if she wanted to. But the girl merely maintained eye contact with her, lips parted in anticipation. When the two of their lips met only then did Ruby's eyes close.

The kiss was chaste and short and when Cinder pulled away she could feel her heart soaring in her chest. The kiss felt right. So that had confirmed her suspicions. She did indeed harbor something for Ruby. If not love than maybe lust? Or maybe it was love masquerading as lust? Only time would tell. And further kissing.

Ruby's eyes had softly fluttered up at this, roses blossoming on her cheeks. "Did that prove my feelings for you? When I said I loved you I meant...you know...in the kissing way," Ruby stammered, looking off to the side, unable to hold her gaze even with Cinder's.

"Then it's a good thing it seems I like kissing you," Cinder whispered and brought her lips to Ruby's trembling ones. The girl got more bold, letting her hands come up to clutch at Cinder's shoulders, the woman letting her free hand go to the back of Ruby's neck. They than had spent the better portion of the afternoon just making out.

Cinder's mouth watered at that memory.

"Hey, don't go off falling asleep on me!" Ruby pouted, slapping Cinder hard on the cheek to wake her up.

"I wasn't sleeping!" Cinder clarified, rubbing her red cheek, and jerking out of her recollections.

"Yes you were. And you were drooling!" Ruby drew herself closer to Cinder's face. The two of them were still on the bed where they had been lounging on before, thinking about the past. "Were you cheating on me? Were you thinking of someone else?"

Cinder let out a chuckle at that. There was no way she would do that but she didn't say that. "And what if I was?" was her coy question. She knew this would rile Ruby up. Just what Cinder wanted.

"Then I'll just have to make sure to erase your thoughts off of them with my body!" Ruby insisted and immediately straddled Cinder's waist, pinning the older woman's arms above her head. "I'm not going to lose you to them!"

"Then show me how much you love me, because right now I'm not very convinced," Cinder taunted, riling up the girl even more.

Ruby let out a growl and bit down hard on Cinder's collarbone, making the woman arch up with a barely stifled groan on her lips.

Yes, the memory of her and Ruby's kiss was sweet, but Cinder much preferred the girl's more aggressive actions, like spice to the sweet fluffy topping of whipped cream. And so she surrendered herself to the present.